Thursday, april 23, 2015 binder1 by Newtelegraphonline

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Vol. 2 No. 428

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Ondo Assembly directs CJ to set up probe panel on deputy gov

N150

Foreign reserves rise to $29.5bn Tony Chukwunyem

fter falling for four straight months, Nigeria’s foreign reserves have

started rising as data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website showed that the reserves have now hit $29.507 billion.

The steady accretion began on April 20 when it rose from $29.481 billion on April 16 to $29.50 billion and by April 21, the foreign reserves had

risen to $29.507 billion. Prior to the current uptrend, the last time the reserves headed north was on January 5 when they rose to $34.49

billion, which was an increase of $20 million from the $34.47 billion recorded on December 31, 2014. Since then, CBN sta-

tistics indicated that the reserves have witnessed continuous decline every business day of the month. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Diezani: Oil cabal behind my travails

lBuhari to publish PwC audit report on NNPC

Quick Read

Editorial Former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Suleiman Abba (right), handing over to his interim successor, Mr. Solomon Arase, in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO-NAN

Shortage of weapons hits Boko Haram l43 child soldiers rescued as military launches attack on Sambisa Forest

The thaw in US-Cuba relations }19 N'Assembly wants FG to move against South Africa }9

News

THURSday, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Diezani: Oil cabal behind my travails Adeola Yusuf and Anule Emmanuel

inister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, yesterday opened up on her turbulent stewardship, blaming oil cabal for the travails she faced during her tenure. Alison-Madueke, who is billed to bow out with her principal, President Goodluck Jonathan, on May 28, spoke about corruption in the oil industry; allegation of her squandering public funds on frivolities and the accusation that she was seeking asylum abroad to escape being questioned and possibly prosecuted by the incoming administration of Major General Muhammadu Buhari. The minister, during her encounter with State House correspondents in Abuja, shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, also cleared the air on the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit report on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) accounts, carried out in the wake of the allegation that the oil corporation could not account for $20 billion oil revenues. Already, the Buhari camp has promised to release the full report as against the highlights which the Jonathan administration made public. Alison-Madueke told the reporters that she knew that in carrying out the reforms she executed in the industry, she stepped on toes. She said although her actions during were misconstrued, everything she did was in the interest of the country. She said: "In this period of time, I have stepped on many big toes, particularly the feet of the cabal in the industry when we came in. Because I have said severally that we will open up the industry to all Nigerians and we have; but that is not to the pleasure of certain members of the cabal." Through her doggedness, the Federal Government, in the last six years, was able to take away billions of dollars' jobs from multinationals and their sub-contractors to give Nigerians throughout the Local Content Act, and I have been continuously maligned because of this "Quite frankly, I think as unprecedented as it is, it does not please everybody and that cannot be helped but let us remember the unprecedented reforms that have happened in the oil industry during our

time, such as major gas reforms, the Petroleum Industry Bill, which has been completely revised, reformed and put into the hands of members of the National Assembly where it has languished for two years. "In that bill are all the reforms needed to tear NNPC apart, make it a national oil company, an equity share company through transparency, accountability and responsibility and reduce corruption in the

industry. We did all these and we put them in place to reduce corruption," she stated. She said it was because of the reforms that the cabal embarked on a smear campaign against her, which led to the allegation that she blew N10 billion on private jet charter and the alleged $20 billion missing oil revenue. The minister added that contrary to the Federation Account Allocation Committee's (FAAC) conclu-

sion, the NNPC has started remitting the N294.5 billion uncovered by a recent forensic audit to the Federation Account. She said, "The PricewaterhouseCoopers forensic audit that was done few weeks ago in its recommendation mentioned that $1.48 billion was owed by Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) for a block that had hitherto been assigned from the NNPC to NPDC which is its subsidiary and they

felt that the right process would be that NPDC will refund that money to the Federation Account. NPDC has apparently started those refunds and it is also in discussion with NNPC and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on same. So the refund has actually begun. Alison-Madueke also explained that NNPC under her watch was the first to admit openly that there are gaps. According to her, during

her tenure the corporation was open, transparent and audited. She also dismissed allegations that she was planning to go on exile after the handover on May 29. "Let me state it clearly for the records that Nigeria is my country and am not going anywhere. I love my country and I do think that I have done the best for my country," she said. On the emergence of fuel queues, the minister CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

L-R: Former Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande; former Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Dele Alake; President-elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari; former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu and Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, during a visit to Buhari in Abuja…on Tuesday.

APC to PDP defectors: We don't want you Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

he All Progressives Congress (APC) has told members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that they are not wanted in the opposition party as they move ahead to form the government at the centre on May 29. There have been rash of defection of PDP leaders across the states to the APC after General Muhammadu Buhari, defeated President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 presidential poll. The party stated that the PDP members should stay put in the party or at best quit politics. The President-elect, Buhari, and APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had earlier told PDP members to halt the mad rush to the opposition party to accept its present role as an opposition party. The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described as laughable the allegation by the PDP that the APC

is trying to turn the country into a one-party state by luring and making irresistible offers to the leadership of the PDP. Mohammed said: “The truth of the matter is that the leadership of the PDP is not even waiting to be approached before fleeing to the APC. PDP leaders and members are falling over themselves shamelessly and swearing undying allegiance to the APC. Well, in case they did not get the message of the President-elect and our National Chairman, we want to repeat it in very blunt terms: PDP leaders and members, you are not welcome in APC. Please stay in your party, but if – as we suspect – you cannot survive in opposition, then take a walk, quit politics,'' the party said. Also, APC said there is no truth in the PDP’s allegation that the opposition party is planning to use the Election Petition Tribunals “to truncate and subvert the freely given mandate by the people in the states and constituencies.” “No amount of blackmail from the PDP will

dissuade us from seeking redress in the Election Petition Tribunals, especially in states where the whole world knows there were no elections. Since we don't believe in selfhelp like the PDP, we see a recourse to the Tribunal as a lawful means of giving vent to our rejection of the massive electoral malfeasance and the resort to violence in some states. “In case the PDP, beaten and battered by electoral pummelling, has forgotten, the recourse to the tribunals to seek redress is the only lawful means of resolving electoral disputes. Anything else amounts to self-help, which is not our forte,” the party said. Mohammed said PDP should come to reality that its fortunes have since plummeted and that it is now in opposition. APC stated that the fact that the PDP devoted a substantial part of the communique, issued after the inaugural meeting of its National Working Committee (NWC) and Governors/Senators-elect, to complaining about alleged harassment and intimida-

tion by the APC, shows that the PDP still does not understand the enormity of the challenges awaiting it as an opposition party. The party said: “We don't blame them as they have neither the capacity nor the commitment to be in opposition. A party that stood for nothing but looting and rent collection will naturally be afraid of being in opposition, where there is nothing to loot or rent to collect.” APC admonished the PDP to stop repeating obvious lies as it is not capable of making an opposition party effective. It rather advised PDP to be creative, knowledgeable, resourceful and above all credible. Mohammed said: “This is why we wish to extend to the National Working Committee of the PDP a free orientation, just as we have offered the party's spokesman a free crash course in how to be an opposition party spokesman. The theme of the orientation for the PDP NWC members will be 'transiting from the ruling party to an opposition party'. “In the first instance, there is no substitute for

experience. Also, we believe that democracy will be deepened only when there is cooperation between the governing party and the opposition, hence the offer.” APC slammed the PDP for daring to complain of harassment and intimidation by the APC, saying if any party is guilty of harassment, intimidation and impunity before, during and after the 2015 general elections, it is the PDP. “Have they so soon forgotten the reckless show of shame by their Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) lackeys with the full support of the Nigeria Police Force in Lagos or the mindless bombings and killings of APC members in Rivers and Gombe states, among others? Only on Monday, APC supporters were again reportedly killed in Rivers and Kaduna states. “Haven't the folks in the PDP seen the pictures being circulated of their (PDP) supporters brandishing machetes in broad daylight during the party's campaign in Aba on Tuesday (April 21)?” it queried.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSday, APRIL 23, 2015

Travel Advisory

THURSday, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

International Flight Schedule Air France

Destination Abuja- Paris Paris-Lagos Paris-PHC PHC-Paris Paris –Abuja Lagos –Paris

Flight No. AF 513 AF 3822 AF514 AF513 AF514 AF3849

Departure 23.55hrs 10.55hrs 11:00hrs 21:20hrs 11:00hrs 23:55hrs

Arrival 6:05hrs 17:15hrs 19:15hrs 6:05hrs 17:00hrs 6:20hrs

Amsterdam-Lagos Lagos-Amsterdam

KL587 KL588

13:15hrs 23:05hrs

20:00hrs 05:50hrs

KLM

ARIK AIRLINES

Lagos-London London-Lagos Lagos-New York

W3 101 W3 102 W3 107 (Mon, Wed , Fri) New York-Lagos W3 108 (Tues,Thurs, Fri) Lagos-Johannesburg W3 103 Johannesburg-Lagos W3 104 Lagos-Douala - (Tues, Wed ,Thur) Douala-Lagos - (Tues, Wed, Thur) Lagos-Accra Accra-Lagos

Abuja-Accra Accra-Abuja Lagos-Freetown Freetown-Lagos Lagos-Banjul Banjul-Lagos Lagos-Dakar Dakar-Lagos

-(Tue, Thur, Sat, Sun) -(Mon, Wed, Fri) -(Daily) - (Wed, Fri, Sun) -(Wed, Fri, Sun) -(Wed, Fri, Sun) -(Wed, Fri, Sun) -(Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri,Sat) -(Tue,Wed, Fri,Sat,Sun)

BRITISH AIRWAYS

London-Lagos Lagos-London Abuja-London Abuja-London

07:00hrs 20:05hrs 20:10hrs 11:45hrs

Lagos-Cairo Cairo-Lagos

MS 876 MS 875

14:25hrs 08:30hrs

22:20hrs 13:30hrs

EGYPT AIR

KENYA AIRWAYS

16:00hrs

Lagos-Kigali

11:15hrs

16:45hrs

10:45hrs 09:35hrs 11:10hrs 13:25hrs 07:20hrs 17:00hrs 08:05hrs 13:35hrs 18:00hrs

hrs 14:44hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs

AWB 201 (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) AWB 202 (Tue, Thur, Sat, Sun)

14:00hrs

17:30hrs

22:35hrs 15:10hrs

06:00hrs 21:20hrs

17:00hrs 06:00hrs 08:00hrs 17:00hrs 08:00hrs 15:20hrs 21:00hrs

hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs hrs

01:00hrs

hrs

3:00hrs 14:00hrs

8:00hrs 19:00hrs

EK 7821 (Sun-Sat) EK 7822 EK 7831 EK 7811 EK 761

21:30hrs 14:40hrs 07:35hrs 14:20hrs 23:55hrs

07:40hrs 01:05hrs 12:50hrs 19:45hrs 10:30hrs

Lagos-Doha Flight Doha-Lagos Flight

QR 1414 (daily) QR 1415

14:55hrs 07:20hrs

23:45hrs 13:35hrs

Lagos-Atlanta Atlanta-Lagos

DL053 DL 054

22:15hrs 5:15hrs

05:32hrs 16:15hrs

Lagos-Houston Houston-Lagos

UA 143 UA 142

10:10hrs 19:10hrs

6:05hrs 15.15hrs

Lagos - Addis Ababa ET900 Addis Ababa - Lagos ET901 Abuja - Addis Ababa ET910 Addis Ababa - Abuja ET911 Enugu - Addis Ababa ET930 Addis Ababa - Enugu ET931 Kano - Addis Ababa ET930 Addis Ababa - Kano ET931

13:15hrs 09:00hrs 13:40hrs 09:40hrs 12:00hrs 09:20hrs 14:05hrs 09:20hrs

20:25hrs 12:15hr 20:10hrs 12:20hrs 20:50hrs 11:15hrs 20:50hrs 13:20hrs

Lagos-Madrid Madrid-Lagos

IB 3337 IB 3336

22:55hrs 16:00hrs

5:25+1hrs 20:20hrs

Lagos-Casablanca Casablanca-Lagos

AT738 AT 737

06:25hrs 02:15hrs

09:55hrs 6:00hrs

air maroc

20.45hrs 09:50hrs 09.20 hrs 06:30hrs

12:30hrs

Lagos-Dubai Lagos-Dubai Dubai-Lagos Dubai-Lagos Abuja-Dubai

IBERIA

Abu Dhabi-Lagos

EY 0672 (Sunday) (Monday) (Saturday) EY 955

19:35hrs 23:45hrs

MEA 571 MEA 572

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

Lagos- Abu Dhabi

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

12:30hrs 18:00hrs

to Lagos)

UNITED AIRLINES

17:00hrs 4:40hrs

KQ 533 KQ 534

11:55hrs 5:50hrs 14:35hrs 06:00hrs

DELTA AIRLINES

11:00hrs 22:40hrs

Lagos-Nairobi Nairobi-Lagos

17:55hrs 00:00hrs 09:00hrs 22:40hrs

QATAR AIRWAYS

VS 652 VS 651

18:30hrs 05:15hrs 05:30hrs

BA075 BA074 BA 082 BA 083

EMIRATES AIRLINES

Lagos-London London-Lagos

12:00hrs 21:30hrs 23:50hrs

Middle East Airlines (Two flights weekly (Tues & Friday)

Lebanon-Lagos Lagos-Lebanon

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

RwandAir

Kigali-Lagos

Turkish Airlines

Lagos-Istanbul Nairobi-Lagos

332 333

Air Côte d'Ivoire Lagos to Abidjan Abidjan to Lagos

HF 851 (Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun) HF 852 (Mon,Wed, Thurs, Sat)

ASKY AIRLINES

Destination Lome to Abuja Abuja-Lome- Kinshasa Kinshasa-Abuja Abuja-Lome Lome-Lagos Lagos-Libreville Libreville-Kinshasa Kinshasa-Libreville Libreville-Lagos Lagos-Lome Lome-Lagos Lagos-Libreville Libreville-Brazaville Brazaville-Libreville Brazzaville-Lagos Lagos-Lome

10:10hrs

10:50hrs

19:20hrs

21.50hrs

Flight No. KP 032 (Tue-Fri) KP 032 ( Tue-Fri)

Departure Arrival 14:00hrs 15:55hrs 16:30hrs 18:15hrs

KP 033 (Wed-Sat) KP O33 (Wed-Sat) KP O40 (Sun-Sat) KP 040 (Sun-Sat) KP 040 (Sun-Sat) KP041 (Tue-Sat) KP 041 (Tue-Sat) KP 041 (Tue-Sat) KP O44 (Tue-Fri) KP 044 (Tue-Fri) KP 044 (Tue-Fri) KP O45 (Wed-Sat) KP 045 (Wed-Sat) KP 045 (Wed-Sat)

8:20hrs 10:35hrs 13:00hr 14:40hrs 17:00hrs 7:15hrs 9:35hrs 11:55hrs 13:10hrs 14:50hrs 17:10hrs 07:00hrs 09:20hrs 11:40hrs

10:00hrs 12:20hrs 14:00hrs 16:30hrs 18:45hrs 08:55hrs 11:25hrs 12:45hrs 14:10hrs 16:40hrs 18:50hrs 08:40hrs 11:10hrs 12:30hrs

Local FLIGHT SCHEDULE ARIK AIR

LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:00; 09:00; 11:00 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SAT) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SUN) 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00; 20:00 (SAT) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SUN) 09:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 07:00; 09:30; 11:00; 13:30; 15:00; 17:30 (SAT) 07:00; 11:00; 15:00 (SUN) 09:30; 11:00; 13:30; 15:00; 17:30 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 09:00; 11:30; 13:00; 15:30; 17:00 (SAT) 07:30; 11:30; 09:00; 13:00; 17:00 (SUN) 11:30; 13:00; 15:30; 17:00 ABUJA-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 06:45; 10:10; 13:30; 16:50 (SAT/SUN) 06:45; 10:10; 13:30 PORT-HARCOURT-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30; 11:50; 15:10; 18:30 (SAT/SUN) 08:30; 11:50; 15:10

AZMAN FLIGHT SCHEDULE

WEEKLY SCHEDULE Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Abuja 10:30am Abuja-Lagos 12:40pm

Lagos-Abuja/Kano 4:00pm Abuja-Kano 5:45pm Kaduna-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kan 10:10am Kano-Abuja/Lagos 12:40pm Abuja-Lagos 1:00pm Abuja-Lagos 2:40pm Lagos-Kaduna 5:00pm WEEKEND SCHEDULE SATURDAY Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Abuja 10:30am Abuja-Lagos 1:00pm Lagos-Kano 4:00pm Kaduna-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kano 4:00pm Sunday Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kano 10:30am Kano-Abuja/Lagos 1:20pm Abuja-Lagos 2:40pm Lagos-Kaduna 5:00pm

FIRST NATION AIRWAYS

LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06.50; 09:30; 11:45; 16:00 (SAT) 06:50; 11:45 (SUN) 11:45; 16:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 11:30; 13:40;18:30 (SAT) 09:00; 13:40 (SUN) 13:40; 18:30 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 14:45

(SAT) 16:15 (SUN) 14:45 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:50 (SAT) 18:20 (SUN) 16:50

AEROCONTRACTORS

LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06:50; 13:30; 16:30; 19:45 (SAT/SUN) 12:30; 16:45 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 13:00; 19:00 (SAT) 12:30 (SUN) 15:30

MEDVIEW AIRLINES

LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:50; 12:00; 15:30 (SAT) 10:00; 15:00 (SUN) 17:30; 18:30 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 14:00, 15:00; 18:30

OVERLAND AIRWAYS LAGOS-ILORIN (MON-FRI) 07:15 LAGOS-IBADAN (MON-FRI) 7:00 IBADAN-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:00 IBADAN-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:30 ILORIN –ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30 ILORIN –LAGOS (MON-FRI) 17:00 ABUJA-ASABA (MON-FRI) 10:00 ASABA-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 14:15 ASABA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 11:30 LAGOS-ASABA (MON-FRI) 13:00 ABUJA-ILORIN 16:00 ABUJA-IBADAN 15:00

News

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSday, APRIL 23, 2015

Shortage of weapons hits Boko Haram Emmanuel Onani and Ahmed Mringa

oko Haram, which has been severely degraded by the military with assistance from troops from Niger, Chad and Cameroon, has been hit by shortage of arms and ammunition, New Telegraph learnt yesterday. Members of the sect have been grossly incapacitated by a better-equipped military that has inflicted losses on them, especially since about two months ago when they launched renewed offensive against the insurgents that have killed about 15,000 people since 2009. The support from Nigeria's neighbours, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, has also

blocked routes through which they smuggled arms to prosecute their insurgency while many of their arms factories and armouries have been destroyed in the fresh onslaught against the insurgents. A resident of Tabe village of Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State who narrowly escaped from the area in the wake of the fresh push by the military to raid Boko Haram's haven in Sambisa Forest, said yesterday in Maiduguri that they saw many of the insurgents who were barely armed unlike before when they bore modern weapons. “The Boko Haram terrorists have run out of arms and ammunition as the military intensifies attacks on the Sambisa For-

est. “You can find more than 500 members of the sect with only a few of them having rifles and even when one or two of them have rifles, it may be sticks as they have run out of ammunition because supplies are not forthcoming,” the source, who asked not to be named for security reason, said. Another resident of Yamtake village, who also asked not to be named, said the terrorists, as a result of the recent aerial bombardment of the Sambisa Forest, have fled to Yamtake, Tabe and Jangoro villages of Damboa Local Government Area. He said: “The Boko Haram terrorists have only bows and arrows, machetes, daggers and other local weapons as they have run

out of arms and ammunition and were roaming about in the bushes of the villages along the fringes of the Sambisa Forest.” He called on the military authorities to come to their aid by mopping up the remnant of the insurgents before they regroup to unleash terror on villagers. A security source from Bama, one of the recaptured local government areas in Borno State, also said Boko Haram had destroyed the town, as corpses littered the streets while some were dumped in destroyed buildings and wells. “There is no building standing as the terrorists have virtually destroyed all structures in the town. Very soon, we are also going to the Sambisa Forest

for mop up operations as we have been directed to clear the Sambisa before the May 29 handing over dateline,” the source stated. Besides shortage of weapons, the insurgents also faced a drastic reduction of members as many have been killed while some have been captured. A report yesterday by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Chadian Army spokesman, Col. Azem Agouna, as saying that they have repatriated 43 children, who had been kidnapped by Boko Haram and forced to become child soldiers. He said in N'djamena that the children, who are aged 12 and older and are Chadian nationals, were found in Damasak, Borno State. Damasak was under

L-R: Minister of National Planning, Dr. Olanrewaju Sulaiman Abubakar; Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Serah Ochekpe, during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN.

Buhari to publish PwC audit report on NNPC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

blamed it on distributors, saying there is enough fuel in stock for Nigerians. Also yesterday, the Buhari camp said the incoming administration would publish the full audit report by PwC on the NNPC accounts. Policy Director, All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Organisation, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, told Bloomberg in an interview in Lagos that the NNPC might need to refund more than $1.48 billion recommended by the PwC in the highlights of the report released in February by the Auditor General of the Federation. Although NNPC spokesman, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, declined to comment, Fayemi said the corporation lied on the $1.48 billion, which

it said the report recommended for it to refund. “I have a figure that’s more than $1.5 billion that’s being talked about. We’ve seen credible information that what PwC says is more than that. We will release the report. We’ll make it available to Nigerians as soon as we have full information on this,” Fayemi stated. Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was suspended by President Goodluck Jonathan last year after he alleged that the NNPC had not turned over about $20 billion of oil revenue to the government, which earns two-thirds of its revenue from the commodity. Sanusi, now the Emir of Kano, said last month that the issue was not ad-

dressed sufficiently. The oil company said the PwC report, which Jonathan’s government has not published in full, absolved it of Sanusi’s allegations. However, Fayemi said the APC might also reorganise the NNPC, which regulates the petroleum sector and takes part in production through joint ventures with Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Exxon Mobil Corp., Total SA, Chevron Corp and other companies. “NNPC will not be in the form or shape it’s currently in. Some measure of unbundling will happen,” he said. Fayemi also said the military’s failure to defeat Boko Haram was an “embarrassment,” adding that the military will be “re-professionalised” after a gov-

ernment audit of spending. “Democratic control of the military is significantly lacking. The leadership will change,” Fayemi said. Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and largest oil producer, has been battered by the 47 per cent fall in Brent crude prices since a one-year peak in June. Economic growth will slow to 4.8 per cent this year, about half the average of the last 15 years, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The naira has weakened 17 per cent against the dollar in the past six months, more than any of the 24 African currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Also, Buhari’s government would be “clearly to the left” of Jonathan’s outgoing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and might

boost social spending, including on free school meals and care for the elderly, Fayemi said. The APC will be able to fund its plans by saving about N3 trillion ($15 billion) from plugging “leakages” and by improving non-oil tax collection, he said. “This will be deployed to the power sector, to the social safety net,” he said. Nigeria spends as much as $7 billion a year subsidising fuel, an expense several economists have criticised. While the subsidies create “artificial” pricing at gas stations, there’s no guarantee the APC government will cut them, according to Fayemi. “In the short term, I don’t see us removing any subsidy,” he said.

Boko Haram control until Chadian and Nigerian forces recaptured the town last month. Agouna said the children managed to escape during the clashes between the insurgents and soldiers, while the local families helped them to hide from the jihadists. He added that when it was certain that Boko Haram had been defeated and would not return to the town, the children came out of their hiding places and asked Chadian security forces for help. The spokesman said the army would look into how and when Boko Haram abducted the children from Chad. It was also learnt yesterday that Nigerian ground troops had joined an offensive on the Sambisa Forest, which has been subjected to aerial bombardments since February. There has been speculation that some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped more than a year ago are being held there. A report by the BBC quoting a military spokesman, said the aerial bombardments on Sambisa, have been slowed down by weather conditions and poor visibility. Military spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade refused to give any further details about the offensive. However, Olukolade, in a statement yesterday, said the military had killed "a notorious" Boko Haram commander, Abu Mojahid. He said Mojahid was killed alongside other fighters in a fierce battle at the outskirts of Alagarno on Tuesday. According to him, the terrorists staged a daring attack on troops who were on patrol of the area and were repelled. "A number of the terrorists died as the troops repelled the attack. Some Rocket Propelled Grenades as well as vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns were either captured or destroyed in the encounter. "The military operations are continuing in the form of offensive action on identified terrorists in some forest locations. Aggressive patrols, mopping up as well as cordon and search are also continuing in the other locations in search for weapons and terrorists. "Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by the terrorists to deter the comprehensive offensive by the advancing troops are also being carefully cleared as troops continue to pursue fleeing ones. The operations, especially in forest locations are progressing in defiance of obstacles and land mines emplaced by the terrorists," Olukolade stated.

News

THURSday, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Impeachment: Assembly directs CJ to set up panel on Mimiko’s deputy Babatope Okeowo Akure

arely 24 hours after passing a motion to serve impeachment notice on the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, the House of Assembly has directed the Chief Judge, Justice Olaseinde Kumuyi, to set up a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct levelled against the deputy governor. This development came as the state government said that the impeachment process of the deputy governor is a constitutional matter which the executive is not prepared to dabble into. The government made the clarification while reacting to a claim that the deputy governor had sought Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s permission to travel out of the country for medical check-up. The Assembly, at its sitting on Monday, levelled seven allegations bordering on corruption, gross misconduct, abuse of office for personal enrichment, diversion of public funds, breach of peace among cabinet members

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and the state at large at large against the deputy governor. But the Speaker, Ms Jumoke Akindele, who presided over yesterday’s sitting of the Assembly, directed the State Chief Judge to set up the sevenman panel after the 22 lawmakers present had given their consent to the move. The Majority Leader, Ifedayo Akinsoyinu, who moved the motion, said the action of the House

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man, House Committee on Information, Kunle Olujuyigbe, assured that the House will follow due process and allow the deputy governor respond to all the allegations against him. Meanwhile, the government said it would not interfere with the impeachment process of the deputy governor as it’s strictly a constitutional matter being handled by the Assembly.

Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said the deputy governor should be in Ode-Irele on official assignment as assigned to him by the governor and not outside the country as stated by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). Akinmade, in a statement, said: “As far as government is concerned, the deputy governor should be in Ode-Irele on Wednesday

to represent Mr. Governor at a function. “Those who claimed the deputy governor left the country on April 18 may actually be speaking for themselves because he still spoke with the media in Lagos on Tuesday and should be in Ode-Irele on Wednesday (yesterday) on official assignment since he couldn’t have travelled out of the country without Mr. Governor’s permission.”

L-R: Group Head, Public Sector Group, Lagos, First Bank Limited, Shade Omoniyi; Managing Director, Dunn Loren Merrifield Asset Management and Research Company, Tola Odukoya; Director of Arts, British Council, Ojoma Ochai and event moderator, Oreka Godis, at the Nigeria Entertainment Conference in Lagos…yesterday.

Foreign reserves rise to $29.5bn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ABUJA

was in consonance with section 188 subsection 3 of the 1999 Constitution which was corroborated by Hon. Fatai Olotu from Akoko Northeast. The Speaker, who directed the Clerk of the Assembly to forward the House's resolution to Justice Kumuyi for appropriate action, said the Assembly will follow due process in the matter. Addressing reporters after the sitting, Chair-

Fo r instance, while they stood at $29,778,223,398 as at April 1, they had dropped to $29,514,719,127 by April 15. Financial analysts who spoke with New Telegraph attributed the sudden uptrend in the reserves to attempts by the fiscal and monetary authorities to ensure that the incoming government meets healthy buffers. They also cited the recent increase in the price of oil. According to a foreign exchange dealer who asked not to be named, “The only explanation that I can give for the sudden rise in the reserves is that they (monetary and fiscal authorities) do not want the new government to come in and immediately start asking questions about the reserves. This is because the CBN is still finding it difficult meeting demand for foreign exchange,” he said. He added that although the price of oil recently rose above $60 per barrel, the demand

for forex has risen sharply in recent days after having dropped significantly in the aftermath of the general elections, thereby making it difficult for the CBN to supply enough dollars to the interbank market. With oil exports constituting over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign earnings and over 70 per cent of government's revenue, the sharp drop in oil prices in the middle of last year resulted in huge pressure on the reserves as the CBN used them to defend the naira. However, the regulator attributed the pressure on the reserves and the attendant weakness of the naira to the activities of currency speculators. It has, in recent months, introduced several measures to address the problem, including a devaluation of the naira by eight per cent in November last year and the scrapping of the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) window in February which also led to the naira dropping to N199 to the dollar.

PDP to raise committees on repositioning Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

ollowing the loss of the presidential election and its woeful outing in the just-concluded general elections, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has resolved to set up special committees on the repositioning of the party. This decision was arrived at yesterday after a meeting of the party's National Working Committee (NWC) with National Vice Chairmen, the 36 state chairmen and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as well as members of the House of Representatives-elect. The NWC, on Tuesday, held a similar meeting with governors and senators-elect where they pledged to give all necessary support to the national leadership of the party. In a communique jointly signed by Ambassador Ibrahim Kazaure, PDP National Vice Chairman (North-West) and Dr. Emmanuel Agbo, Chairman PDP state chairmen's forum, the NWC/ state chairmen meeting condemned "the attitude of fair-weather and

unprincipled members who are rushing to the APC," describing them as saboteurs and moles who worked against the PDP in the general elections.” "The meeting notes the outcome of the 2015 general elections and accordingly resolves not to allow the temporary setbacks affect the party’s contributions to the democratic development of the country. "The meeting salutes the courage and faith of committed and dedicated members even in the face of the setbacks and intimidations and assured them of adequate protection of their inalienable rights as citizens in a democracy," the statement added. The communique blamed its poor performance in the elections on the alleged widespread irregularities that characterised the March 28 and April 11 general elections in most states to the disadvantage of the PDP. The party, therefore, directed all its candidates who believe that they were short-changed to channel their reports through their state chairmen while promising to give full backing to the various pursuits of re-

dress in this regard within the ambit of the law and tenets of democracy. PDP also resolved to resist undue harassments, witch-hunt and any form of intimidation or undemocratic tendencies from the opposition aimed at bringing down its members psychologically. "The meeting notes the subterranean moves by the APC to undermine the structures of the PDP across the country with the sinister motive of imposing a one-party state in the polity. "The meeting strongly cautions the APC and their leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, against any action or inaction that could threaten or erode the gains of democracy and personal freedom that have been established by the PDP government in the last 16 years. "The meeting charges the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders involved in the supplementary elections to be forthright, transparent and ensure that the will of the people in the affected states are not in any way subverted," the statement added.

News

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSday, APRIL 23, 2015

Court strikes out forgery suits against Buhari Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

he Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday struck out two of the suits filed against the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, over alleged certificate forgery and perjury. The two suits were filed by Chike Okafor and Max Ozoaka respectively. Asides the two suits struck out, there are still about nine other suits on the same subject matter. At the resumed hearing, counsel to the plaintiffs, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) brought an application for withdrawal of the suits. Ozekhome informed the court that he had advised his clients to withdraw the suits so as not to distract the President-elect in his new assignment. Counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), did not object to the application.

In his short ruling, the trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, consequently struck out the suits. The court, however, fixed May 22 for hearing of other suits. At the last adjourned date, Buhari through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) had informed the court of his intention to challenge the suits filed by Okafor and Ozoaka seeking to stop him from contesting. Buhari told the court that he opposed the suit in its entirety. He also opposed the order for substituted service which the court earlier granted in favour of the plaintiffs. Though Olanipekun did not file any process as at the last adjourned date, he, however, informed the court that he was still within time. He then prayed for a short adjournment to enable him file his defence to the suit. Okafor’s suit was the first to challenge Buhari over alleged certificate forgery. Okafor premised his

suit on the grounds that there was no evidence that Buhari possessed the academic qualifications he claimed. Okafor, via an originating summons, is asking for an order compelling the INEC to remove or delete the name of Buhari and his party, the APC, in the list of persons and political parties eligible to contest for the office of president. The plaintiff wants Buhari disqualified from contesting the 2015 general elections by reason of giving false information on oath in his Form C.F 001 and the affidavit dated November 24, 2014. In the other suit filed by Ozoaka, the plaintiff raised eight questions for the court’s determination, praying for an order disqualifying Buhari from contesting or participating in the election. The plaintiff had submitted that INEC FORM CF 001, which Buhari submitted to INEC, was incomplete because he allegedly failed to accompany the form with all relevant academic credentials.

Reps may pass 2015 budget today Philip Nyam Abuja

he House of Representatives may pass the 2015 appropriation today as it considers the report of its Committee on Finance on the N4,425,930,000,000 estimate and additional sum of N21.030 billion for Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). Joint chairman of the Committees on Appropriation and Finance, Hon. John Enoh presented the report at yesterday's plenary session. The House had before proceeding on break to participate in the governorship and House of Assembly elections mandated the joint committees to study the budget proposal and make recommendations to the House. The report showed that the sum of N366.280 billion is for statutory transfer; N953.620 is for debt service; N2.607 billion is for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure while the sum of N642,848,999,699 inclusive of N144.420 billion is for capital expenditure. From the N366.280 billion approved for Statutory Transfers, N73 billion is for National Judicial Council (NJC); N45.780 billion is for Niger Delta Development

Commission (NDDC); N67.3 billion is for Universal Basic Education (UBE); N115 billion is for National Assembly; N2 billion is for Public Complaint Commission; N62 billion is for Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) while N1.2 billion is for National Human Right Commission (NHRC). From the total sum of N953.62 billion approved for debt servicing, the sum of N894.610 billion is for domestic debt while N59.010 billion is for foreign debts. Under the N1,993,891,830,842 recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, Education gets the highest allocation of N392,242,784,654 followed by Defence/MOD/Army/ Air Force/Navy with N326,697,219,431 and Police formation and Commands with N303,822,224,611 while the sum of N236,975,742,847 is for Health sector. From the N13,965,664,092 approved for the eight federal bodies, the sums of N5,299,416,374 is for National Population Commission (NPC); N1,935,767,344 is for Code of Conduct Bureau; N473,656,088 is for Code of Conduct Tribunal; N2,214,028,373 is for Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC); N1,129,445,636 is for Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC); N740,477,185 is for

Police Service Commission (PSC) while N2,172,873,092 is for Federal Character Commission (FCC). Out of the sum of N368,335,011,023 approved for Service Wide Votes, the sum of N20.270 billion is for Zaman Lafiya; N22 billion is for operations – Internal for the Armed Forces; N9.6 billion is for payment to Nigerian Army Quick Response Group including arrears; N5 billion is for payment of outsourced services; N2.3 billion is for entitlements of former Presidents/Heads of State and Vice Presidents/Chiefs of General Staff; N5.5 billion is for Employees Compensation Act – Employees Compensation Fund; N17.5 billion is for General Election logistic support; N17,397,993,277 is for contingency; N6 billion is for country’s contribution to West African Examination Council (WAEC); N4.5 billion is for assessed contribution to African Union and others; N5 billion is for margin for increases in costs; N11 billion is for external financial obligations; N3,099,600,000 is for recurrent adjustment; N38,987,017,746 is for public service wage adjustment for MDAs (including arrears of promotion and salary increases) while N11.755 billion is for improved remuneration package for Nigerian police.

ADAMAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, MUBI [Office of the Registrar]

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES 1. Introduction The Adamawa State University, Mubi is desirous of constructing a state of the Art Faculty Complexes for Arts and Education using its Normal TETFund Intervention Fund 2. Scope of work. In this regard, interested, competent and reputable consultants are hereby invited to express interest to carry out the following services in respect of the proposed projects in accordance with relevant public procurement guidelines as per procedure outlined below:i. Architectural design ii. Structural design iii. Electrical and Mechanical design iv. Bill of Quantities and estimate based on market rates v. Tender documents for construction and engagement of contractor vi. Any other services that will be required by the University for Success of the projects. 3. Submission Requirements I. Evidence of registration as a company in Nigeria with the corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). II. Company audited account prepared by a reputable Accounting for the last 3-years (2012, 2013, and 2014) III. Evidence of tax clearance certificate issued by FIRS for the previous (3) years (2012, 2013, and 2014) IV. Evidence of compliance with the Pensions Fund Act 2004 V. Evidence of Contribution to the ITF in accordance with amended ITF Act 2011. VI. Evidence of registration with VAT and remittance of contribution VII. Registration of the practice with respective registration boards i.e ARCON, COREN and QSRBN VIII. Sworn affidavit that no Staff of ADSU, Mubi was a former or current Director or shareholder in the company submitting the bid. IX. A sworn affidavit that none of the Directors of the company was convicted of a criminal offence or was ever declared bankrupt. NOTE: Items (I) – (IX) are basic requirements for which failure to supply any will result in automatic disqualification of the bidder. Other Requirements X. Company profile indicating key Personnel and Qualifications of Professional Staff. XI. Verifiable evidence of execution of similar projects in the previous 5-years. XII Evidence of financial capability and possible bank support. 4. Submission of Documents The bidding documents are to be addressed to the Registrar, ADSU, P.M.B 25, Mubi and be deposited in appropriate boxes in the office of the Registrar at Yola, Liaison Office of Adamawa State University not later than 10:00 am on 13thMay, 2015 5. Opening of bids i. Bides are to be opened publicly immediately after close of submission 13thMay, 2015 ii. Bidders, their representatives, relevant NGOs and the general public are invited to witness the opening, iii. Late submission howsoever arising shall be rejected. 6.

Additional Information i. That by the submission of EOI documents, Adamawa State University, Mubi is neither committed nor obliged to commission any prospecting consultant. ii. That participating in EOI exercise shall not be considered as commitment on the part of the University, nor entitle to any prospecting consultant to any claim whatsoever and/or seek indemnity from the Adamawa State University, Mubi. iii. Only shortlisted consultants that have been found suitable will be invited to submit proposal for the projects Signed Hassan S. Tanko FCBA, FBMA(UK), FIPMAN. Registrar

News

thursday, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

national

Jonathan to honour Buhari Anule Emmanuel

resident Goodluck Jonathan is considering an award for the presidentelect, General Muhammadu Buhari. The award is expected to be handed over to the incoming President at a dinner that would hold on May 28 at the presidential villa, Abuja. Minister of Information, Patricia Akwashiki, disclosed this at the Presidential Villa, when she

briefed State House correspondents at the end of weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting. Akwashaki was, however, not certain on the plans but explained that the outgoing President may honour the president-elect at the ceremony with an award. She also did not explain the nature of the award and its purpose. The minister also clarified that May 29 remains the official date for President Goodluck Jonathan

to hand over power to Buhari. She said against media report, Jonathan at a dinner to be organized on May 28 as earlier announced, would be presenting handover notes and briefs from Ministries, Departments and Agencies and not instrument of power. The minister explained that the dinner would still be hosted by President Jonathan for Buhari on May 28, but not as a hand over cer-

emony. According to the minister, all hand over briefs being coordinated by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim would be ready by May 28. She allayed the fears of Federal Government contractors, who may be worried about revocation of their contracts by the incoming government, saying government was a continuous process and all viable contracts would be sustained.

She stressed that if there had been any slowing down of projects by contractors, it could only be a result of non-assent to the 2015 budget, and not because of fears of revocation. On the sack of former Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, just a few weeks to the hand over date, Akwashiki said it remained the prerogative of the President to take such decision and he had done what he felt should be done.

L-R: President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Aliyu Wabba; Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomole and General Secretary, Peter Ozon-Esan, during a visit by the governor to the new executive of the congress in Abuja…on Tuesday. PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

Re-run: Imo APC calls for arrest of REC Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

wo days to the Imo State governorship supplementary elections, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its rival All Progressives Congress (APC) are trading accusations against each other and alleging partisanship

of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state. While the PDP has called for the total cancellation of the entire gubernatorial poll conducted on April 11, alleging falsification of results by officials of INEC in favour of the APC, the APC called for the immediate arrest of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC),

Dr. Gabriel Ada for allegedly superintending the illegal thumb-printing of ballot papers in the INEC office. Briefing newsmen yesterday, Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie , state Chairman of the PDP, said, “The PDP is calling for the outright cancellation of the entire governorship election of April 11, and for a fresh election to

be conducted with new set of INEC officials from outside the state because what happened was simply the allocation of votes to the APC after huge sums of money changed hands. It is the unveiling of these critical facts that has made it imperative for a fresh election to be conducted.” Anyaehie averred that no voting took place in Isu,

INEC sets committee on 2015 China plans huge investments in with Buhari, also pledged Johnchuks Onuanyim general elections report the cooperation of his Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

he Independent National Election Commission (INEC) has inaugurated a 12-man committee to produce a comprehensive report on the 2015 general elections. The committee headed by the National Commissioner-in-charge of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Dr. Chris O. Iyimoga, was inaugurated yesterday

by Professor Attahiru Jega. Jega urged the members of the Committee to produce “an excellent report” before the 30th of June 2015, which marks the end of tenure of the present Commission. The INEC Chairman, who tasked the members of the Committee to give its full commitment to the job ahead, assured them of the Commission’s full support in order to facilitate effective execution of the assignment.

Abuja

he President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday received assurances of the Chinese government of investments in the areas of agriculture and social infrastructure. The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gu Xiaojie, made the investment promise when he paid a congratulatory visit to the president-elect in Abuja. Addressing Journalists, Xiaoije, who had earlier held a closed door meeting

country with the incoming government to foster a formidable relationship between Nigeria and China. He said: "Like I said, China and Nigeria are going to further our cooperation. As part of our desire for collaboration with Nigeria, I discussed with the President- elect on some of the potential areas of investment. We plan to invest in such areas like Agriculture, infrastructure and other projects that are tailored to impacting positively on the lives of the people of Nigeria.

Ideato North, Ideato South, Orlu, Nkwerre , Nwangele , Oru East and Ikeduru council areas, yet results were declared for the areas in favour of the APC. Buttressing the alleged partisanship of the Imo REC, the Director General of the Rochas Okorocha Campaign Organization, Barr. Iheukwumere Alaribe, informed newsmen that the Head of Operations of the INEC state office has been arrested over illegal thumb-printing.

IPMAN leadership tussle resumes Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

he protracted leadership tussle at the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday took another dimension ahead of the inauguration of President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. At the Chief Chinedum Okoronkwo factional secretariat located at plot 2201, Katamkpe District, Cadastral Zone B07, Abuja, it was a free for all as the Lawson Obasi faction attacked the secretariat with armed police men from zone 7 Police Headquarters. The Okoronkwo-led faction was about to have its National Executive Council meeting when the Obasi-led faction came with a team of police men numbering over 17 to arrest Okoronkwo for impersonation. According to the Obasi faction, Okoronkwo was impersonating as the President of IPMAN against the Port Harcourt Federal High Court ruling recognizing Obasi as the substantive President of IPMAN. They also alleged that the Ministry of Petroleum and the PPMC were fuelling the crisis by recognising the Okoronkwo faction, thereby benefiting from it. They explained that the PPMC benefits through withholding the Kerosine and the subsidy meant for IPMAN. But the Okoronkwo faction stated that the members of IPMAN have rejected Obasi. Also, they stated that it was illegal for Obasi led faction to storm their secretariat to arrest its President when the case was pending in court.

Fire outbreak averted at Lagos airport Wole Shadare

ut for the intervention of workers of the Bicourtney Aviation Services Limited, the ultra modern MMA2 terminal would have been razed. A fuel-laden tanker caught fire on the everbusy Lagos Airport road, yesterday afternoon. The tanker, which belonged to a petroleum company, HEIZOL, with registration number: LAGOS MUS 165 XK was reportedly conveying diesel from Apapa to an un-ascertained

location in Ogba, when it suddenly burst into flames in front of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) headquarters and close to MMA2’s multi-storey car park. FAAN’s fire fighters immediately mobilised to the scene but could not do anything because there was no water in their fire truck. It was at this point that the management of BASL intervened and ordered its water hydrants to be opened up for the use of the fire fighters.

NEW TELEGRAPH thursday, april 23, 2015

News

national

My support for Jonathan irrevocable — Fayose Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

kiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, yesterday, said he would be in support of President Goodluck Jonathan whether in or out of government. According the governor, his support was like a life project, and he had no regret doing so. Fayose said this in a statement he personally signed in Ado-Ekiti. He said no circum-

l Alleges plot by APC to persecute him from May 29 stance would make him abandon Jonathan mid way or quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), no matter the situation. He said contrary to what was being insinuated in some quarters, he had no regrets neither would he have any in future, for supporting the candidacy of Jonathan in the last presidential election in which the latter failed to win. The governor said de-

spite receiving what he called “bloodied nose” in both the political and judicial arena in the hands of the Ekiti masses as represented by him, information at his disposal revealed that those who were after his office had made up their mind, that even after May 29, the state and himself would not know peace. “I have been informed that I became the prime demolition target of the

All Progressives Congress national leadership because of my overt and unalloyed support for President Goodluck Jonathan during the campaigns. “Insiders in their party also told me that APC leaders were also yet to get over the fact that in the entire South-West, Ekiti was the only state they could not "rob" for General Muhammed Buhari (rtd). “I wish to declare

unequivocally that I remain loyal to President Jonathan even after May 29 as my support for his re-election and administration was not about bread-and-butter. I was convinced he was moving Nigeria in the right direction, despite all the noise. I have no regrets supporting him. If same situation presents itself again, I would do it all over again,” he said. According to him, “It is no longer news that I defeated an incumbent governor in all the 16 Local Government Areas in the state and that for the first time in the history of Nigeria, attempts were

made to use the courts to prevent someone who clearly won a governorship election from assuming office. “Since June 21, 2014 that the All Progressives Congress (APC) suffered that humiliating defeat, the party has suffered defeats in the entire local government areas in Ekiti State in four other elections, the latest being the House of Assembly election in which APC won no single seat out of the 26 seats. “Ekiti people have been persistent in their preference for me and my party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to correct the ills of the last four years and set the state on the path of greatness.

Nwodo, Ude pay tribute to Chukwumerije Uchenna Inya Abakaliki

F L-R: Registrar/CEO, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM),Mr. Sunday Adeyemi; National Treasurer, Mrs. Ifeoma Adeniyi; President-elect, Mr. Eromonsele Arabome; Vice-President, Mr. Udom Inoyo and past President, Mr. Victor Famuyibo, after the election of the institute’s president in Lagos …yesterday. PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

he National Industrial Court, Abuja, has ordered the Federal Government to pay the former staff of NITEL/MTEL their final entitlement representing 20 per cent of their annual salary within 30 days. Justice Peter Lifu (JP), who gave the judgement in Abuja, however, dismissed three other claims by the claimants. The claimants had prayed the court to order the payment of three months’ salary in lieu of notice as their final entitlement. Furthermore, they

Court orders FG to pay ex-NITEL/ MTEL staff 20% of annual salary had demanded payment for loss of office and redundancy in line with section 11, sub-section 12 and 13 of staff condition of service and the existing labour law, general damages and cost of suit. The judge only upheld the demand for repatriation, which is the final entitlement and dismissed their claim of N20 billion as general damages and N10 million cost of suit. In dismissing the

prayer for the payment of damages and cost of litigation, the judge stated that there was no evidence of suffering, trauma or torture throughout the trial, neither did the claimants show how they the cost of litigation. On redundancy, the judge refused the demand on the grounds that they resigned voluntarily and could not be paid compensation. The judge stressed that

if the repatriation was not paid within 30 days, it would attract 10 per cent interest. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Mohammed Jiyah and 197 ex-staff of the erstwhile government establishments had filed the suit against the 1st to 6th defendants at the Federal High court on Jan. 20, 2011. The case was later transferred to NIC in April 2013.

ormer National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP and former Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, has described as a huge loss, the death of Senator Uche Chukwumerije. Nwodo said that the three-term Senator of Abia North was a patriotic and dogged fighter, whose contributions to national development were immeasurable. "He would be greatly missed by many including, family, the Peoples Democratic Party, Ndigbo, the Senate, Abia State and the Federal Republic of Nigeria," Nwodo said. While condoling with the family, friends and associates for the loss, Nwodo said that they should find solace in the fact that Chukwumerijie left a chequered political career that will be treasured for a long time to come. He said: “His contri-

butions to the growth of democracy in the country will be remembered for generations, especially his role in halting the third term campaign. History certainly will reserve many positive pages on the big impact he made in the 12 years he spent in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As a former Information Minister, he made even bigger contributions to the country and my fervent prayer is that God Almighty will give his family the strength to bear the irreparable loss of this great believer in Nigerian unity.”

LOST OF DOCUMENT This is to notify the general public that original document of PLOT 642B 1ST AVENUE, FESTAC TOWN belonging to LATE Prince Tiamiyu Ariyo with Ref No FHA/82/EST/ FT/P/642B is missing. If found please return to the nearest police station or Mrs Bolanle Ariyo the Administratrix of the Estate or call 08074362847

N’Assembly: FG must move against S’Africa over xenophobic attacks Chukwu David, Philip Nyam and Mojeed Alabi

he National Assembly yesterday called on the Federal Government to step up actions against the South African Government over the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other immigrants in the country by its citizens. On its part, the Senate urged the Federal Government to recall Nigeria High Commissioner to the

lReps demand compensation lS’Africa closes consulate in Lagos Republic of South Africa for consultations over the attacks. The Senate also summoned the Minister of Foreign Affairs to appear before its Committee on Foreign Affairs in order to brief it on the situation and measures taken so far by the Federal Government to safeguard the lives and property of Nigerians in South Africa. The Upper Chamber further urged the Federal Government to pressurise

the Government of South Africa to bring the perpetrators of the evil act to justice and ensure adequate protection of Nigerians and their investments in the country as well as compensate families who lost members and property as a result of the attacks. It also urged Federal Government to file a suit at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Zulu King, who allegedly instigated the attacks on foreign nationals in South

Africa. The Senate made these resolutions sequel to the motion entitled, "rising incidence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa," brought before it at plenary by the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba and supported by other 106 Senators. President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, warned that the government and people of South Africa should not push Nigerian government too far

to react in a manner that would be regrettable. Mark said: “What is happening in South Africa is totally unacceptable, it is unexpected and my humble suggestion will be that South Africa should not stretch us beyond our elastic limit on this matter. There is a limit beyond which the nation will not accept what is happening in South Africa; and if we go beyond that limit then Nigeria will be forced to act otherwise.

“All of you have very clearly enumerated the assistance we gave to South Africa to liberate them when they had their crises; students contributed, we accommodated so many of them, we gave them scholarships. For them to repay us this way I think it is totally unacceptable and uncalled for; we need to stand up also for all other Africans in South Africa.” Mark described the pictures shown on Xenophobia as very barbaric and therefore, urged that all those involved must be punished.

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Metro

Woman gets 266-year jail term for N8m theft

Fire razes Kwara Energy Ministry building Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

Ezeji

Olayinka

COVETOUSNESS For her greed, a female worker is to refund N8 million she stole and still go to jail Juliana Francis

female employee of Sweet Sensation, one of the leading eateries in the country, who scooped her employer’s N8 million has been sentenced to 266 years imprisonment. The convict, Oluremi Olayinka, was convicted yesterday by Justice A. A. Akinyemi of Ogun State High Court, Abeo-

kuta, for stealing N8 million belonging to her employer. According to the Head, Media and Publicity, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, the offence is contrary to sections 390(6) (7) (8), 467 and 468 of the Criminal Code Law Cap 29, Laws of Ogun State. He said: “The court found the convict guilty on all the 34 charges. She was sentenced to seven years on each of 30 counts and 14 years on the remaining four charges. The sentences are to run concurrently. “Additionally, Justice Akinyemi ordered her to return the money she stole in restitution to her victim.” Olayinka was arraigned

before Akinyemi on May 13, 2014 following a petition, alleging that she stole N8,000,000, which she received on behalf of her employer. When the convict was confronted with the allegation, she admitted to the crime only for her to dramatically plead not guilty upon arraignment. In the course of trial, the EFCC presented four witnesses and tendered 16 exhibits to prove the case against the convict. In another development, a suspected fraudster, Julian Ndubueze Ezeji, is in EFCC custody for allegedly swindling one Onyeka Okoye of N81,250,000 in a phony oil transaction.

Kunle Olayeni

Six suspected robbers held in Ogun

Abeokuta

P ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

olice in Ogun State have arrested six suspected armed robbers at various locations and recovered arms and ammunition from them. The suspected bandits were reportedly nabbed at Otta, Ibafo and Ago-Iwoye areas of the state. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muyiwa Adejobi, who dis-

closed this in a statement in Abeokuta, said the suspects were arrested with two locally-made guns, live cartridges, complete set of Army camouflage uniform and some masks suspected to have been used for robbery operations. Adejobi added that the Commissioner of Police, Val Ntomchukwu, had ordered the affected police divisions

Uwujaren said the 62-yearold Ezeji, a native of Ibeme, Isiala-Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, fraudulently presented himself as a petroleum dealer and approached Okoye to supply his company, Initial Energy Nigeria Limited, petroleum products to the tune of N81,250,000 with a promise to remit the money into the complainant’s company account. According to the EFCC spokesman, the suspect, however, neither honoured the promise since April 2014 nor made a refund. He said Ezeji would be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded.

irefighters spent over five hours to put out fire which razed a major portion of the Kwara State Ministry of Energy building. The Tuesday night incident, ministry officials and witnesses said, might not be unconnected with the power supply problem being witnessed in the state capital in the last week. It was gathered that throughout the day there was no power supply to the premises but there was a surge when electricity was restored later in the night. The surge caused a spark in one of the offices which later engulfed the building. Although no life was lost in the incident which started about 8pm, 17 offices, including that of the commissioner, were affected. The fire also consumed property worth millions of naira. Already Governor AbdulFattah Ahmed has directed immediate investigation into the disaster with a view to determining its immediate and remote causes and those responsible for it. The governor, according to a Government House statement, also advised all commissioners and heads of agencies to put adequate fire prevention mechanism in place to avoid an outbreak of fire in their various organisations. The Commissioner for Energy, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, attributed the cause of the fire to power surge in one of the offices. He said his office, those of his Permanent Secretary and directors were affected. Abdullahi noted that it took the combined efforts and prompt response of the Kwara State Fire Service and the Federal Aviation Authority Fire Service to stop the inferno about 1am.

to carry out proper preliminary investigations into the robbery operations. He said: “The police detectives attached to Ago Iwoye Division led by the Divisional Police Officer of Ago Iwoye, stumbled on the hideout of some armed robbers, who terrorise the people of Ago Iwoye and Ijebu axis in general, at No 40, Ijesha Road, Ago Iwoye,

Ogun State, and arrested three suspected armed robbers: Balogun Akin, Olayemi Mustapha and Mohammed Kola on Sunday 19th April about 10pm. “In the same vain, the Police Anti Robbery teams in Otta and Ibafo have arrested additional three suspected robbers who operate and terrorise the people of the areas respectively.

Metro 11

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

‘My wife warned me against stealing’ Flora Onwudiwe and John Edu

55-year-old man, Tokunbo Ojo, is now in police custody for breaking into people’s vehicles and stealing valuables. Ojo, however, said he would not have been in his present predicament if had had listened to several warnings from his wife to desist from crime. The suspect said that his wife had warned repeatedly that the crime would only bring him shame. Ojo was arrested by detectives attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command. A police source said: “The suspect was caught right in the act. He was stealing lap-

Ojo

tops and other valuables from people’s cars with the use of a master key.” The suspect was arrested on April 6, at Yaya Abatan Street, Ogba, where he was caught while committing the crime. Ojo, who has two children and a car dealer wife, said it

was the first time he was arrested by the police. He said: “I went into stealing because I was financially frustrated. I have been doing this now for quite some time. I steal alone. I do not belong to any gang or group. “Whenever I see any packed

car, I would peep through the windscreen to see if I could see any valuables. If any, I would quietly move towards the car, pretending to be the owner. I would use the master key to open the door and then pick items I wanted.” Ojo explained that he got the master key from a friend he met at a joint where they used to take cocaine and smoke Indian hemp. He added: “I do not really like committing such crimes, but I found myself doing it each time I got involved in drugs. “My first operation was at Agege, where I stole laptops. I have not achieved anything good in this business. Rather, it had brought me disgrace. If I had listened to my wife who advised me to stop this, I would not be in police custody today.”

500 houses to go for Mile 12 Market relocation

Traders in a section of the Mile 12 Market

Muritala Ayinla

bout 500 houses at Parafa community near Ikorodu may soon be demolished by the Lagos State Government. The government disclosed yesterday that land where the houses were built fell within acquired land meant for the relocation of the Mile12 Market. The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Lands Bureau, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola

Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

n employee of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) posted to supervise candidates in the ongoing examinations at Ayila, a community in the war-torn Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State has been killed. The man, an indigene of Ogwule-Kaduna, met his death on his way to supervise examination, The man, who identity could not be verified, was allegedly killed on Monday by youths of one of the warring communities who mistook him for a Fulani insurgent that invaded the

and the state SurveyorGeneral, Joseph Agbenla, made the disclosure at the 2015 ministerial briefing in commemoration of Governor Babatunde Fashola’s eight years in office. Muri-Okunola and Agbenla said the government would not allow illegality to prevail over and public interest. According to them, government’s decision to use the parcel of land for relocation of Mile 12 perishable

food market still stands. Muri-Okunola, who also disclosed that the state raked in N27 billion from the sales of land in the last one year, said Parafa community remained government’s land and it would be used for the project it was designed, for the overall interest of the general public. He said: “The question is basically what will be the fate of the residents in Parafa if there is overriding public interest? Just like I

identified to you, Lagos Badagry Expressway, Lekki Expressway, people were living in those areas before. But the general good was that public interest overrode the personal interest that they had over the land and that is the reason we have issue of compensation and relocation. Our compensation and relocation standard are at least the minimum acceptable international standards.” Also speaking, Agbenla said: “Parafa village located on the international market. I made personal visit to the 500 landlords that you stated and I have advised on what to do.” Meanwhile, Muri-Okunola said the state had made a remarkable progress in the revenue generated in the land transactions. He said: “The total revenue generated by the bureau as at December 31st, 2014 was N27,054,031,674. And the revenue performance which is considerably more than the total of the previous year (2013) by about N18.65 billion was due to transaction on the sale of land for industrial development in the free trade zone.

WAEC supervisor murdered area to unleash mayhem on the residents. About 45 people were feared dead in Agatu last week following a disagreement between the people of Ologba and Egba communities in the local government over a piece of land. Earlier in March, armed Fulani insurgents killed 82 people at Egba and rendered thousands of others homeless. Reacting to the killing of the supervisor, a representative of Agatu in the state House of Assembly, Hon Sule Audu, said the man was kidnapped in the

war-torn Egba-Ologba area and killed. Audu added that the incident prevented prospective candidates and supervisors from going for the examination. He said: “I will not be able say who killed him, whether it was Egba or Ologba people because I was not there. But based on the report I received from the police and the local government chairman, where the man was killed is a war zone and anybody that passes there could be a casualty. “He should have taken an alternative route instead of that

war zone route.” The lawmaker said he had appealed to the people of the community and youth leaders of Ogwule-Kaduna to remain calm and not to take laws into their hands to revenge as the killers of their kinsman had not even been ascertained. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Austin Ezeani, confirmed the incident. The PPRO also said the Area Commander in Otukpo, Samuel Drakoji, had confirmed the brutal murder of the supervisor.

City Briefs NIS rescues 14 victims of child trafficking Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

hree suspects have been arrested by the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) in Oyo State for human trafficking and child labour offences. They were apprehended with 14 minors, who were their victims. The state NIS Controller, Mr Innocent Akatu, told journalists while parading the suspects yesterday that the three adults were intercepted and arrested at Iseyin, having successfully trafficked the 14 victims from Ilesha-Ibaruba area of Kwara State into Oyo State. Noting that the effort was part of NIS’s continuous fight against human trafficking and child labour in the country, Akatu tasked the media to help in educating the public on the evils of such activities. The controller said that the suspects would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Order Related Matters (NAPTIP). Speaking journalists, the suspected trafficker, Ibrahim Sani, who hailed from Ilesha-Ibaruba, said that it was their tradition to attach children to adults travelling out of the town. Sani, a 30-year-old Fulani, acknowledged collecting between N6,000 and N9,000 on every child, depending on age and size. According to him, in return, he pays their parents for the children’s labour. Also a man, Badmus Musa, and his wife, Jumoke, were apprehended for using the victims for labour contrary to the law. They disclosed that they had received three of the girls for labour on the terms for which the children were engaged.

Four arrested for kidnapping father, daughter Dominic Adewole ASABA

olice in Delta State have arrested four men for allegedly kidnapping one Ngadonye Joseph and his one and a half years old daughter. The victims, residing at Okukuokuo in Warri, were abducted on Ubulu-Uku Road, off Asaba-Onitsha Expressway, while travelling to see their grandparents. The hoodlums waylaid their victims’ Lexus ‘Jeep’ with registration number LEH 975 AA, manhandled them before driving them away in the vehicle. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Celestina Kalu, said yesterday at the command headquarters in Asaba that the hoodlums drove them to their hideout before releasing them. She said: “The victims were later pushed off from the vehicle when they discovered that the victim (Joseph) had no money on him and drove the vehicle to an unknown destination. “However, while operatives of the Special Anti-Kidnapping Squad in Asaba were investigating the case, they recovered the victim’s vehicle at PortHarcourt with the aid of the tracking device, and consequently arrested one Auwalu Abdullahi, Christopher Joseph, Chibuzor Godwin and Abdul Yusufu.” Kalu added that efforts had been intensified to track down the principal suspect, one Idah aka TJ.

12 News Abdulwahab Isa and Sola Adeyemo

he Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki, yesterday said only 1, 169 of the 47, 913 workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were yet to be paid their final entitlements. The affected number included workers that had left the company before the severance payment was made; those being processed for validation and those yet to be identified by PHCN as bonafide workers. Dikki made the disclosure while updating members of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) at a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The BPE disclosed this in a statement issued by Chigbo Anichebe. BPE said a working group was looking into these cases to arrive at a final closure. He told the council that 2, 791 retired staff of the organisation, representing 65 per cent of the re-

national

thursday, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

BPE: 1, 169 defunct PHCN workers yet to receive terminal benefits tirees had been paid N16, 414, 926, 902.38 with an outstanding number of 1, 516 retirees, who have so far failed to turn up for verification or were still undergoing further verification or their nextof-kin have not been able to produce the necessary court papers. The council was informed that 46, 744 of the 47, 913 bonafide staff, representing 98 per cent of the workforce of the defunct PHCN had been paid their entitlements amounting to N373, 170, 291,200.38. The NCP noted the commendable progress achieved by the implementation committee on the payment of the severance, pension and gratuity of the workers and retirees of the PHCN and directed that the committee should handover to the BPE all information and documents concerning outstanding active

staff and pensioners verifications and payments. The council also directed that the process of verification and payment of all the outstanding cases should continue until the final resolution of the exercise. Meanwhile, about 384 casual workers of the defunct PHCN, who had sued the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and the defunct PHCN

for the non-payment of their entitlements, were yesterday shocked to hear that the bureau was not responsible for the payment of their arrears. The BPE through its lawyer, Obasa Osoka, revealed this while addressing the National Industrial Court Ibadan, where the case was filed. According to Osoka, the body responsible for the payment of the

defunct PHCN workers was the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and not the BPE. He said the Ministry of Labour in conjunction with the Ministry of Power had recently conducted a verification exercise for the casual PHCN workers in which about 112 of them were paid by NELMCO. According to him, BPE

is not responsible for the payment of the severance packages, gratuities, pension and other entitlements and benefits of the claimants. But in his response, Mr. Ahmed Tarfa, counsel to the claimants, told the court that the BPE privatised PHCN and so other liabilities that come from it are acquired by the BPE. Tarfa said he had a letter in his possession which emanated from the BPE, where it claimed responsibility for the payment of the allowances and other benefits of the casual PHCN workers.

Agbakoba tasks Buhari on national order Wale Elegbede

former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, has urged the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, to entrench a culture of national order that would revamp the badly damaged psyche of Nigerians. Addressing a media briefing yesterday in Lagos, Agbakoba said Buhari should work on giving Nigerians a new deal as he assumes office on May 29, adding that the Presidentelect should within 100 days set out a framework to address broad issues concerning the nation. In a letter addressed

to Buhari titled; “Giving Nigeria a New Deal,” Agbakoba said: “The disease of disorder has eaten deep into our national fabric. The absence of order has badly damaged the national psyche. Love of country is absent. It is suggested that your government works out a framework to reverse disorder and instill discipline. “The issue of national order is closely linked with a new constitutional order. It is strongly recommended that priority should be given to the national question and resolved urgently. The nation will not settle or move forward without solving the issue of disorder.”

Planning Minister: Incoming govt must embrace NIIMP Amadi Nnamdi Abuja

he Minister of National Planning and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, has counselled the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, not to jettison the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) put in place by the present administration. The minister noted

that the 30-year developmental plan, which is holistic in nature, is expected to gulp a whooping N485 trillion ($3.05 trillion). The minister, who stated this yesterday during the bilateral seminar on ‘Economy, Diplomacy and Management of Nigeria in 2015,’ held at the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO), Beijing, China, said the five-year operational plan of the NIIMP has since taken off and is expected to lapse by 2018.

L-R: Member, House of Representatives' Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Ajibola Famurewa; Chairperson, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa and South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Louis Mnguni, during the presentation of resolution of the House of Representatives on the xenophobic attacks on African immigrants in South Africa, in Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO:ELIJAHOLALUYI

PDP, APC renew war over Rivers’ council poll Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

here is a looming crisis brewing in Rivers State over the planned conduct of local government election in Delta State as the Chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Felix Obuah and his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, have strongly disagreed over the election. While Obuah has described the decision by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commis-

Emmanuel Onani Abuja

he Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, yesterday, formally assumed duties at the Force Headquarters in Abuja. Arase, who was appointed the 18th indigenous IGP by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, was handed the instruments of authority by his predecessor, Mr. Su-

sion (RESIEC) to conduct council election on May 23, 2015 as “undemocratic, provocative and illegal,” Ikanya of the APC said the election was “long overdue” and that the PDP was only afraid of losing the election because of its unpopularity. Obuah, who spoke through the telephone, said RISIEC should have given the parties a 90-day notice according to the law in order for them to make preparations, stressing that the state government intends to use the election to cause crisis in the state. The PDP chairman,

who described the election as unnecessary at this point in time, called on the other political parties, security agencies and the entire state to reject it. He said: “The so-called Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s announcement to that effect is rather a wishful thinking, because it is illegal, and he knows it. It is not only illegal, but retrogressive, provocative and a colossal waste of the state’s resources.” “We will challenge the illegality in court and we will stop it there. Amaechi has always taken our

people for a ride, ruling the state like his own private estate. He has no respect for the rule of law, but we will floor him in court. “Aware of his ouster in the general elections, Amaechi is hell-bent on putting the state in crisis as his hand over package.” But Ikanya, who equally responded via telephone, said all the political parties had long been informed by RISIEC and had expressed readiness for the election, noting that the PDP was merely afraid of losing the election.

Acting IGP takes over list priorities leiman Abba, at a Handover/Takeover ceremony, which began at about 3:17pm with a parade. In his inaugural address, the Acting IGP listed the peaceful conducts of run-off elections in Abia, Imo and Taraba states, as well as hitch-free inauguration ceremonies for the President-elect and governors, as his major national assignments. To achieve violence-

free supplementary polls in the aforementioned states, the new police chief assured of massive deployment of personnel and materials. That was as he declared that electoral violence will be deemed intolerable, adding that perpetrators will identified, isolated and dealt with. His words: "Let me use this opportunity...to quickly remind you that aside

our routine operations, we have within the short term, two major national assignments where our professional expertise and commitment will once again be subjected to national and international scrutiny. "First, is the conduct of governorship elections in areas where they were declared inconclusive by INEC in Imo, Abia and Taraba States."

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, april 23, 2015

Guber poll

Benue State

Governance

Presidential poll 17

A’Ibom: APC’s petition will die at tribunal – Umana

My administration’ll not owe workers’ salaries, says Ortom

I’ll support Buhari 100 per cent –Adams

Jonathan, hero of united Nigeria – Uranta

Politics

Why APC defeated PDP, by Ndoma-Egba it is a very tedious and elaborate process. It requires not just the normal procedure on the floor, but also the involvement of the states Assembly, public hearings at all levels, from the national level to the federal constituency level. Now, the whole essence of public hearings is to allow the public make their input and the public at large involves government. And I remember that government also sent representatives to each of this public hearing. How come these issues were not raised at that point? How come when we have gone through this very tedious process, the state Houses of Assembly went through and made returns that these issues have propped up? So, I think that it is a rather unfortunate development and the National Assembly, I can tell you very clearly, is not happy about this development and I will not be surprised if they resort to the other constitutional solutions.

Senator Victor NdomaEgba is the Majority Leader of the Senate. For him, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was weakened before the general elections. In this interview, he speaks on how PDP can reinvent itself. CLEMENT JAMES reports There has been this rumour in the state that you are planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Is this rumour true? Well, you said it is a rumour. If I want to take any major political step, I will tell you directly. For as long as I have not told you anything, it remains a rumour. But one thing I find very amusing is that anybody who leaves PDP today and goes to another party is an Ndoma-Egba’s supporter. That’s what I find very amusing. Meanwhile, the story before now was that I had no supporter; so, where are they coming from? Anybody who leaves, is an Ndoma-Egba supporter, including those who have been Chief of Staff for more than seven years, when they leave, they become my supporters. So, I think that there is an oversimplification in our dynamics in politics in Cross River State today. We are no longer thinking deeply, we are no longer analysing issues, we (as a party) became mentally lazy and when mental laziness comes in, it breeds impunity and impunity breeds arrogance. So, that is where we are and we are paying a very high price for the impunity that has become a culture in our party. Now that the Seventh Senate will be going, can you point out those things

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY EDITOR, PoLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

Ndoma-Egba

it will bequeath to Nigerians? If you look at the history of Senate from time immemorial, you will discover that the Senate was designed to stabilise the polity in times of crisis. It wasn’t expected to descend into the arena of conflict. I have heard criticisms that like ‘oh Senate is a rubber stamp, it is not active.’ The Senate is not designed for activism; it is designed for stability. And I believe that at very critical moment in our recent political history, where we have been constitutionally tasked, the Senate has always risen to the occasion. You will recall that in the unfortunate absence of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, it was the Senate that came up with the resourceful Doctrine of Necessity to get us out of a constitutional bind. If you also recall the last labour strike as a result of the removal of the oil subsidy, it was the Senate that played a role. So, at every stress point in our recent political history, Senate has intervened to stabilise the polity. Essentially, that is the role of the Senate – to stabilise the polity. That our democracy has endured, that we have moved from one election to another is made possible because we have a stable polity and that stability must be credited to the Senate largely and to the National Assembly. Now, talking about specifics, we have passed as many bills

When a party depreciates to the point where it becomes the personal property of somebody, it will implode in the person’s pocket

as we can possibly passed; I don’t have the statistics here. But they are far-reaching bills and we committed ourselves to an open society and that was why we were able to pass the Freedom of Information bill which is now an Act of the National Assembly. You know, structurally, that bill was meant to alter the way we do things, to alter the way we view public responsibility and the way we respond to public responsibilities. So, I think that the Senate has done fairly well given the circumstances of our political history. There have been issues raised about the constitutional amendment which President Goodluck Jonathan has withheld his assent. Can you throw more light on the current situation? Again, let us look at the history of constitutional amendments in Nigeria. From 1960 until the sixth Senate, we never succeeded in any constitutional amendment in a democratic setting. The only time we succeeded, I think, was about 1963 when there was an amendment to the then constitution to allow for the creation of the then Mid-West region. But beyond that, we never succeeded. That jinx was broken in the sixth Senate where we passed the first, the second and the third amendments to the constitution. Now, constitutional amendment is not an easy process;

Can you throw more light on these constitutional solutions? The constitution is very clear, within 30 days of a bill being transmitted to the president, he should either assent or in the case that he’s refusing to assent, the National Assembly can override his veto by subjecting the bill again to the normal process of lawmaking. It happened before when President Olusegun Obasanjo withheld his assent to the bill creating the Niger Delta Development Commission. So, that bill was passed without presidential assent. The National Assembly overruled his veto. What’s your take on the delayed justice where an individual who manipulated his way through an election is sworn in only to be removed by the court towards the end of his tenure? If you recall, before now, there was no timeline for election litigation. But now, all the electoral cases must be completed within 180 days. So, there is an improvement. It is tedious on the judiciary, it is a heavy burden on them but I think they are trying to cope. So, at least those cases are disposed with within a reasonable period of time. Electoral reform will remain an ongoing process, you cannot have perfect elections. Even in the United States, there are still issues regarding their electoral processes. There is no perfection when it comes to electoral processes. Indeed, there is no perfection when it comes to anything human. So, you can only continue to fine-tune CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Politics

THURSDAY, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

A’Ibom: APC’s petition will die at tribunal – Umana Mr. Aniekan Umana is the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information and Communication. He speaks on the conduct of the general elections, calls for cancellations of the polls and ‘undertakers’ in the state. WALE ELEGBEDE reports The conduct of governorship election in Akwa Ibom State has generated controversies with allegations of violence and irregularities. What is your take on the fallout of the poll? The noise about Akwa Ibom election is not correct. The position of the African Union (AU) monitoring team is not correct. The correct position is that of the domestic observers because those were the people who actually went to the villages. They went to every unit and they are Nigerians accredited from every part of the country by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). We didn’t know who they were but they were seen at the polling units because I remember they were moving round and most of them were moving with the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in their buses, moving with media in most places they visited. Also, the AU team talks about reported cases of violence. Clearly that does not hold water and I think nobody should run with that impression. The most important thing is that elections have been conducted and won. If the election was conducted 10 times, every week, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will win 10 times in Akwa Ibom because there is foundation of performance and inclusiveness. Forget about one or two people who are saying they are elders and are making noise, who have become septuagenarian undertakers, addressing press conferences here and there. If you see those undertakers, these are people who worked with the same government; these are people who earned very big contracts they did not execute. How do you see the calls for the cancellation of the governorship election in Akwa Ibom? It is poverty of knowledge and display of illiteracy. How can you call for cancellation; cancellation of what? If election has been held, you cannot call for cancellation of election. If you have any issue, you go and petition at the tribunal. As for that, we are not bothered about the tribunal; it is a known process that is constitutional. If there are complaints, people will go to the tribunal. After all, there was a particular man, Frank Okon, who never came for the pri-

mary election in 2011, he didn’t contest election, but he stayed in courts for four years up to the Supreme Court. He didn’t even come to the primaries. If you read the judgement, the Supreme Court said he must have been a spirit for him not to be at the primaries and scored the highest number of votes. It means if the matters get to the tribunal, there is no cause for alarm? We are not worried at all; there is no cause for alarm. We would defeat them roundly whether at the tribunal or anywhere whatsoever. The matter would die at the tribunal level because they can’t even go further because they are the ones who don’t have any issue. If elections are conducted 10 times in Akwa Ibom, PDP would win 10 times. As I said earlier, there is a background of performance of the PDP government under Governor Godswill Akpabio. With Akpabio’s performance, we don’t have any problem. Even in the presidential election, we supported President Goodluck Jonathan head to toe, and we have no regret whatsoever. We took it to the very last point, we also delivered as promised. Former Governor Victor Attah said there was no election in Akwa Ibom state? What is your take on that? That is his opinion. At his level and position, Attah should be able to call INEC and ask them that question because the materials belong to the INEC. Anybody could say that because he was part of the conspiracy for disruption of the electoral process. They say they are members of Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP but then they were supporting the APC candidate, Umana Okon Umana. Attah, Don Etiebet, General Akpan and others were working for APC. In fact, Akpan was caught after he abducted 10 youth corpers and kept them in his house. He forced the corpers, who served as INEC ad hoc staff, to thumb print for the APC. They were arrested with thumb printed ballot papers. Umana had denied him in public. Do you see the governor-elect as having the capacity to govern a complex state like Akwa Ibom? He has the qualities. You must

Umana

We are not worried at all; there is no cause for alarm. We would defeat them roundly

also understand that even in cooperate governance, for you to rise to an executive director of an organisation like Zenith Bank and be on the board of IFC, and on the board of Zenith UK, Gambia, Sierra-Leone and all of that, you must understand that the quality is not small. It may not be as big as the politics of the state, but you see, it is essentially the same thing; it is power game. Power is power, no matter the colouration. So, the struggle for the control of resources and the allocation of resources, that is power. So, Udom has that capacity in his corporate endeavour and when he came in as Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, he also showed capacity and ability to run the government. In fact, it was one of the reasons why the decisions to support him was not difficult. You could see that he is firm and fair-minded, that I can say from stand-point of knowledge. He set a process when he was SSG that changed a lot of things. And when we left for the primary election, it was not difficult to get support no matter what anybody says. There is always a conflict between an incumbent governor and his predecessor. What do you think will happen to the Akpabio-Emmanuel relationship? I don’t see any problem, everything on earth depends on doing the right thing. Once you do the right thing, you would not have problems, once there is mutual respect, you would not have problems. You know the disposition of Governor Akpabio, he is very friendly, he has a large heart, he is somebody who doesn’t want to see anybody in pains. The in-coming governor is also a very detailed person; he is somebody with very

great humility and very respectful. We even used to call him Mr. Respect and Mr. Humility. He is coming with an idea of creating a major economic hub in the state. He is looking forward to creating economic partnership. He is looking at furthering industrialisation idea and so on. His business really is to take the state off the infrastructural base that it is now and position it as an economic hub, and that is what he is looking at. And one of the major things for all is the Deep Seaport. As we have achieved the road infrastructure to a very great extent, we have achieved the aviation infrastructure to a very great extent, what is left is for us to also become a Lagos as a maritime corridor which is the focus. The idea is there, there is a lot of international investors, once we get the Federal Government’s approval and it is sorted out at the Federal Executive Council level and the maritime corridor is opened, the businesses would naturally flow and it would also help Nigeria in terms of shipment and trans-shipment and all that. The opposition in Akwa Ibom accused the Akpabio-led administration of spending a lot of money on the Deep Seaport without anything. What is the situation? Again, it is poverty of knowledge. Developing a Deep Seaport is not like going to build a guest house or building a school. It is a process. Don’t also forget, it is not within the purview of the state. It is also within the exclusive purview of the Federal Government so they must give the necessary approval. The starting point is that we needed to get the necessary approval and we have gotten that. We even have the Free Zone licence CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

Politics

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, april 23, 2015

Dr. Samuel Ortom, former Minister of State for Trade and Industry started life working in the motor park, but through dint of hard work, he acquired education up to a Doctorate degree. Against all odds, he emerged the governorelect in Benue State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with PHILIP NYAM, he speaks on his plans, workers’ welfare and his determination to govern with the fear of God. Excerpts:

There were killings and pockets of violence across the state during the Governorship/State Assembly election. Now that the elections have been won and lost, what message do you have for the people of Benue? Well, let me say generally that I want to first and foremost appreciate God for hearing our prayers and disgracing the pessimists who had predicted that the elections were going to be marred by violence and that was not going to be free and fair, but at the same I do appreciate their fears as a result of the fear that was created by desperate politicians who were out to win at all cost. People had sent signals that anyone who stood on their way would be eliminated. But this came to pass. Prior to the elections, there were sporadic gun shots in Makurdi, Vandeikya, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Kwande and Konshisha local governments sending signals that people should be careful. All these were strategies to instill fear into the people and those who tried to resist them were shot at and killed; some who sustained injuries are in the hospitals as I am talking to you now. But we thank God for his intervention at the end of the day; the elections were peaceful, free and fair. I have always told people that for us who are Christians, a man receives nothing except it is given to him by God (John 3:27) and so power belongs to God and He giveth it to whoever he wills. Again, as Ecclesiastes 9:11 says: “the battle is not for the swift nor for the strongest nor the race for the fastest runner nor success for men of wisdom or understanding but everything comes by time and chance as the Lord willeth,” so it is what God decides that matters. I stand here as an example, nobody believed I was going to be a candidate of APC in December and no one also believed that I was going

Ortom: My administration’ll not owe workers’ salaries be reduced to its barest minimum. I believe that If we eliminate corruption we should have enough resources to take care of teachers and workers’ salaries and pensioners because if you talk of government not being able to pay and see what government operatives are doing in terms of private things, it sends a wrong signal all together. If you can’t pay salaries, how come you are building mansions all over the place? So, for us as a government, we are going to set the standard and I am going to take the lead as governor of Benue State to ensure that we render selfless services to the people because a worker deserves his wages.

Ortom

to win this election, but God had designed that it should be me. I do remember that throughout the electioneering, I told the people that I was going to rule with the fear of God and this translates to truthfulness, equity, fairness, justice, transparency, accountability, selflessness, integrity, integration, reconciliation, forgiveness and peace. And so when we are united as a people, we can have development. What type of governor do we expect from you? We will run an all-inclusive government. For me as the governor of the people, as soon as I am sworn in, the first thing I would do is to reconcile the people because people are heavily divided along sectional lines and this is not helping the state. We can do better. I am also very conversant with the challenges in the state today having been a grassroots man, having passed through the local government to the state and then the federal level and having a background of a grassroots politician and also having a stint in the administration of local government and at federal level. Most importantly at this particular time as someone with the private sector background, I think that God has adequately prepared me for the task that is ahead of us in the state. I have told people and they have accepted that for me to be governor of Benue State, I will promote excellence above mediocrity and sycophancy so that we can excel. We will seek to promote talents to compliment what

If you can’t pay salaries, how come you are building mansions all over the place?

the state is doing. We will seek to professionalise, we will seek to ensure that those who excel are given attention, support and the enabling environment. With this, we will be able to tap various talents that we have in Benue State. For instance in sports, if government provides the enabling environment, in all the 23 local governments, I can assure you that we will fish a lot of talents that are wasting and lying idle in the villages, bring them up and support them. For me, I know that government does not have the capacity to contain the number of graduates that we have on the streets today. We are going to think outside the box to see how we can partner with the organised private sector to industrialise the state so that our primary products can be processed to add value to them and then sold to average farmers to have something to take home at the end of the day. We shall massively encourage micro, small and medium scale enterprises so that the two can give our people the opportunity of providing jobs for themselves and even others and also creating wealth. We shall also encourage investment activities into our state. All government can do is provide the enabling environment for the private sector to come in and of course, worldwide that is what is obtained. And then with industries coming up, government can generate revenue internally to cater for basic amenities. One of the things I have always said is that when you rule with the fear of God, corruption will

You talked about the issue of nonpayment of salaries and everywhere you go in the state people are complaining of hardship occasioned by this unusual practice. How soon would you offset this debt? You know today I am governorelect. I am yet to take over; I am yet to look at the pulse and actual challenges that we have. I am yet to know the actual amount that is outstanding to be paid. So, it is a difficult question now but the assurance I can give is that I have the confidence of the people, I have told them and by the grace of God, they can confirm to me that yes, it is difficult to find a man of his words in the game of politics. But they are confident with me as a child of God, as a born again Christian who is standing by the throne, who is ready to do everything with the fear of God. And so, whatever it will take and whatever I find we will put them on the table. I have given my word that I will be transparent and I will let the people know. And I will be accountable too and all that I am doing is going to be selfless. I believe that once the people know that I am not doing anything to short-change them and there are facts, they will also accept me and we shall reason together. Until I have the facts with specifics, that is when I will know how to handle it. But I can assure you that this is not a first time. As a local government chairman, I was able to do it. And as a governor of Benue State I will do it for the entire state. The President-elect was recently quoted to have said that the new decampees into APC will not be given preference over old party members. What is your take on that? I believe the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari was quoted out of context. The APC is a movement; it is a resolve by the Nigerian people to change the way government is run and the way things are being done in the country. General Buhari is a man of the people and will not discriminate against any Nigerian. One incontrovertible fact about General Buhari is that he is incorruptible and he represents honesty, integrity, non-violence, patriotism and unity. So, anyone who does not share these values is not fit to work with him.

16 Politics Now that the general elections are over, what do you think is the way forward for Nigerians? There is no permanent friend or enemy in politics. During the election, I said it several times that I don’t have problems with General Muhammadu Buhari as an individual. I can assure him that he should be ready to have 100 per cent of my support. I will support anybody who will bring transparency to this country on the basis of accountability. I am fully in support of Buhari’s position that those who will serve with him should declare their assets at the court of law and not the Code of Conduct Bureau. With that step, if anybody lies on his asset, he will be committing perjury, which is seven years imprisonment. If you are leaving office again, you will declare your assets so that people will know what you are worth. I think that is the foundation of transparency in governance. If he (Buhari) acts on his statement, corruption will reduce and many people will run away from taking up appointments. Those who believe they got their appointments on a platter of gold and make money will run and technocrats who want to move the country forward will take the appointments. I think from that we can insinuate that the change will come in his government. There are speculations in some quarters that there are plans to reunite you and former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Is that true? Apart from politics, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a Yoruba man. He is one of the respected men in Yorubaland and Nigeria. Anything I said about Tinubu is what I know and that does not mean that I am in enmity with him. I am a freedom fighter; I should be bold to give facts and figures of what I know, learnt and read. I don’t have any personal grudge with him and as a politician he should not have a permanent grudge with me. The issue between us should not have escalated; it was Alhaji Lai Mohammed who caused it. He accused me of what I have never done in my life, so I have to push back to say my own side. At the beginning of the campaign, you will realise that I didn’t touch any personality; I only talked about our group’s support for President Goodluck Jonathan. That was the statement credited to me when I was going to Istanbul and Cyprus. But by the time I came back, the media have dug deep into that statement. And after our rally in Lagos, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, lied that we destroyed billboards, possessed arms and brandished weapons. You can’t fabricate lies

THURSDAY, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

And it was because of my promise to him that I didn’t make any political statement after the presidential election. The chairman of APC, Chief Henry Ajomale also called me that Oba Akiolu said he should call me and I promised him the same thing. Ajomale still called me till the morning of the governorship election. I remained silent because I don’t want to give an impression that I compromised to the public.

Adams

I’ll support Buhari 100 per cent –Adams Chief Gani Adams is the National Coordinator of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). In this interview with TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE, he speaks on his support for President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 election, General Muhammadu Buhari and his relationship with the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu. Excerpts: against me and I will remain silent. If I have kept silent at that time, many people would have believed what he said. He said somebody brandished weapons and nobody was killed, maltreated and even caned. That was how the issue degenerated. I don’t have a permanent issue with Asiwaju. I am fighting for Yoruba people and I cannot hold personal grudges with anybody. In politics, your best friend today may be your worst enemy tomorrow and your worst enemy today may be your best friend tomorrow. Is there any possibility of you and Tinubu reuniting very soon? Three days after the presidential election, the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, called me. I first got a call from Oba Akiolu’s

I am fully in support of Buhari’s position that those who will serve with him should declare their assets

Special Assistant, who told me to come by 6p.m. I ignored the call because I found it difficult why somebody should asked me to come to the palace of Oba Akiolu. Kabiyesi later called me and asked; “Gani, when will I see you?” As we were talking, something struck my mind that if I go to the palace three days after Jonathan’s defeat, PDP members and those who knew that I supported Jonathan will see me as a traitor knowing that Oba Akiolu sympathises with the All Progressives Congress (APC). So, I had to be very careful. I told the Kabiyesi that he is our king and he should say what he wants. He raised Ambode issue and I told him no problem. I promised Kabiyesi that throughout the governorship election, I will not utter any statement to support anybody.

Why did you pitch your tent with President Jonathan and not General Buhari? My argument from the beginning was that nobody discussed the issue of Buhari with me in the South-West. When you say Gani Adams is a betrayer for supporting President Jonathan, what about over 200,000 people that voted for Jonathan in Ogun State? Are they betrayers? What about 300,000 people that voted for Jonathan in Oyo State? Are they betrayers? Jonathan had about one million votes in South-West; are those people that voted for Jonathan betrayers? Is Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) which supported Jonathan, betrayers? Is Afenifere who adopted Jonathan, betrayers? Are those personalities that adopted Jonathan because of the implementation of the National Conference, betrayers? We have 28 political parties in Nigeria and we have 14 presidential candidates, and everybody has the right to vote for any candidate of their choice. It is wrong for anybody to call me a betrayer for supporting Jonathan. Nobody came to canvass for the APC candidate to me. The issue of National Conference is very important and highly imperative to us; no matter what the president do, without restructuring, there will be a limit in transparency. So, we are talking about the issue of ideology, not issues of candidate. Politics is about local interest and you have to choose your candidates based on where your interest lies. So, it is not about enmity with our people in the APC. Supporting Jonathan does not mean that I am a PDP member. I don’t know the secretariat of PDP in Lagos and I have never been in PDP secretariat in Abuja. A good politician must not think of what he achieved today, he has to be thinking of the future. There is no assurance that the people in APC today will be in APC in the next two years and there is no assurance that people in the PDP today will be in PDP for the next four years. But we have to make sure that in anything we are doing, we should do it in name of justice.

Guber poll: No cause for alarm in A’Ibom, says Umana C O N T I N U E D F R O M y e s terd ay

ness Case (OPC).

because the whole area is mapped out as Industrial City. Now we have to do the acquisition, which has been done, over 14, 900 hectares. Even the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) came as partners and it has acquired 5,000 hectares within there because port management is not something that can be done alone. Every port belongs to the federal authority. It can concession it or allow private interests to run it depending on what it wants. We have also gone through the design, we went through the Open Busi-

Your party, PDP by May 29 will be in opposition to the APC at the federal level. How do you want to relate with the ruling party at the centre? We are running a federation and states are federating units. So, there is no government that totally depends on another. It is only this monthly congregation in Abuja that really brings them together. Otherwise, you can actually decide to run your affairs but it does not stop on a mutual basis. So, the government of Akwa Ibom will relate well with

the centre. It is all about mutual respect. The president-elect would be sworn in as president. We would respect him and his office and we will also expect the same from the ruling party. However, one thing I can say is that nobody can ignore the South-South because this country is kept especially by the South-South. This country must be fed and the food actually comes from that food basket. The South- South will continue to play its role and the South-East will also continue to play its role and it is important for true federalism to begin to take its roots in this country because when that happens,

it becomes possible for you to run a government in your own way and develop it to suit your people against this monthly congregation. With a senator in the calibre of Governor Akpabio and the calibre of other senators and House of representatives members we are sending to Abuja, we expect a very strong relationship between Akwa Ibom at the centre. With someone like Akpabio in the Senate, whether the party at the centre is different from PDP, he will use his own prowess and political knowledge to ensure that what is good for Akwa Ibom comes to the state.

Politics 17

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, april 23, 2015

Jonathan, hero of united Nigeria – Uranta What are the expectations of Nigerians from the President-elect as he takes over by May 29? I think it will be proper to begin by congratulating General Muhammadu Buhari for having become President-elect through dogged persistence, because I am still astonished at a General of his age repeatedly contesting for that office and not being deterred by the fact that he was losing consistently. So, he kept at it, like they say Abraham Lincoln did, and he is Presidentelect today. I say congratulations to him. I will not restrict the congratulations to General Buhari alone, but will expand it to include one of the most savvy politicians Nigerian has today, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who finally succeeded in creating a national opposition party. I don’t know how well wielded together it is, how sustainable it may be, but one thing we cannot wish away is that Tinubu has been able to put up a very formidable fight and put in a new president in Nigeria, and was able to win over nearly all the states that were opposed to the APC before. Having said that, I think the greatest applause has to necessarily go to the man who many have described as the hero of democracy in Nigeria, but whom I want to modestly but in all sincerity acknowledged as the father of new Nigeria, that is President Goodluck Jonathan. Had Jonathan not created and allowed for the expansion of an enabling environment for democracy to thrive via a free and level playing field; had he not subscribed to and encouraged freedom of information, freedom of discourse, freedom of association and freedom of protest on a level that we have never had in Nigeria, not even in the pre-military era; had he not been such a democrat that he was even seen to be subtly sympathetic to, in some cases, individuals that did not belong to his party (for example, in Edo, Anambra, Ondo); had he not created a new atmosphere of “come out and run” and “come out and vote, and know that it is one man, one vote and each vote will be counted and each vote will count”; had he not enabled this terrain of democracy, even the best of Tinubu and Buhari would not have changed the ‘forever-winning’ pattern of the PDP nationwide. Do you agree that President Jonathan did the most honourable thing by conceding defeat to the President-elect, General Buhari? We cannot now just wave away the portents of danger being about to engulf us, the reality that Nigeria may have been on the skids, about to break up, post-March 28, or that a civil war may have erupted by now. But by his (Jonathan) conceding, and conceding in time, and graciously also, and by compelling his party (PDP) not to contest the outcome of the presidential election, he did not only create a first in Nigeria, but has gone into the annals of history as a leading selfless and patriotic African leader who cared more for his country than his personal ambition. We must applaud him, for he consciously calculated everything, held back and has allowed peace to prevail. That is the first thing we have to recognise in President Jona-

Executive Secretary, Nigeria National Summit Group (NNSG), Mr. Tony Uranta, speaks on the creation and encouragement of an enabling environment for democratic space by President Goodluck Jonathan and expectations of Nigerians from the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari. WALE ELEGBEDE reports religious, ethnic etc) if they wish this nation well. They cannot say, for example, I am going to restrict governance to members of my party. General Buhari cannot for example say, I won’t have Igbo in my cabinet, he cannot say, I will punish the South-East and the South-South for not voting for me or against me. If he does that, he would have fully played into the hands of his detractors. If he does that he would have laid the foundation for the crumbling of Nigerian unity, peace and progress within less than six months of his coming to power.

Uranta

than. He has shown that he is a man greater than even the office of the President of Nigeria. Accept it or not, Jonathan has fathered a new opportunity for a New Nigeria to grow out of this mess we are currently in. What blueprint should the Presidentelect work with when he assumes office? The first thing he has to do is let us learn to stop calling him ‘General’. He has to shed that toga of him being military, whether benevolent, autocratic or brutal. He has to become a truly democratic civilian president in a new Nigeria where peace, democracy, rule of law and respect for other people’s sensibility has to take control. We expect him, most of all, to focus on the restructuring of Nigeria. You will remember that the Yoruba’s Afenifere and a great deal of people supported President Jonathan not because they liked his face, not because they necessarily liked his politics, but because they like the fact that he committed to restructuring this nation as it is needed and necessary if it is to sustainably continue as a united, progressive Nigeria. One of the biggest platforms on which he now created this ethos of restructuring is the platform of the National Conference. Many of us, who were supportive of the National Conference and its recommendations, have been calling for the implementation of the recommendations of the Conference. If all that General Buhari does is to implement the National Conference recommendations, the President-elect would be a hero. But, he has already begun to win my heart by announcing that he will not nominate or appoint anybody into public office who has not sworn to declare his assets in court, not just to the Code of Conduct Bureau. People should note the elements here: if you lied to the Code of Conduct Bureau, you could be indicted and sanctioned. But if

Jonathan has fathered a new opportunity for a New Nigeria to grow out of this mess we are currently in

you swear to a falsehood in court you are liable to be prosecuted for perjury. I believe that means he may be serious about appointing only non-corrupt Nigerians into office. I don’t know how many non-corrupt politicians we have in the county, but then he has said that even his transition committee will be filled with technocrats, so maybe he is going to lead this country with technocrats, which could be a welcome development. We must remember that one of President Jonathan’s major key players, who also was a key player under former President Olusegun Obasanjo is Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a technocrat’s technocrat. Maybe with more technocrats, we will have less corruption, maybe. All that remains to be seen, but it is a welcome development and we are going to hold General Buhari to this. If anybody he appoints or needs to be appointed cannot stand up to the full glare of public scrutiny, we are going to shout and shout very loud. Let me sidetrack and repeat, I am not a member of any party. I was, and I am, a friend and supporter of President Jonathan. But I am primarily a citizen of this nation that wants Nigeria to improve, and I have the pedigree to prove this beyond any reasonable doubt. What is your perspective on the voting pattern of the South-East and SouthSouth? Do you agree with the notion that they played elementary politics by putting all their eggs in PDP’s basket? I think anybody who thinks that the voting patterns would influence the composition of government as to ethnic or religious biases, does not understand what modern nationhood is all about. General Buhari or any leader at the national or state level cannot but be seen to fully carry along every member of their relevant electorate’s demographics (be they women, youth, elderly, disadvantaged physically,

How do you think the opposition was able to warm its way into the hearts of Nigerians and do you think the PDP would be able to serve as a virile opposition party? Again, I applaud mainly the Jagaban of Bourdillion as they called him, Bola Tinubu. He is a man whom I have had a lot of respect for long before he went into politics and social activism in the Senate and NADECO, even from his fledgling Chicago days as a friend of Otunba Remi Abdul. I respect his being able to weld together different existing political forces that were seen as existing parties and already held sway in certain regional enclaves in Nigeria. He welded them together and presented them as a formidable opposition and for the first time since the military took over we had a truly virile national opposition party in Nigeria. Anybody who does not give kudos to Tinubu for that does not know anything about politics. However, he did not win over Nigerians through the welding together of those enclaves or those parties, he putatively won the hearts of Nigerians by strategically positioning himself in the media both by owning, subscribing to and having controlling interest in many traditional media- radio, television and newspapers, while he very calculatedly and assiduously developed and encouraged the new/social media in Nigeria, helping to sustain and create new blog owners dotted all over the cyberspace. We forget that, at the end of the day, it is not just the truth that sets you free, but the truth that you know and do. He was able to tell us what he wanted us to know. For example, Jonathan was beaten in media space outright long before the election by the APC. Nobody knew any achievement of the president and we must lay that blame squarely at the feet of his so-called image makers, they failed him woefully; they are mainly my friends but they failed to market President Jonathan’s remarkable achievements, person and potential adequately enough to Nigerians and the world. It is sad that Ifeanyi Ubah’s TAN did better marketing of GEJ in four months than all the President’s men did in four years. Tinubu and the APC managed to market themselves through the media, which as I said he owned, controlled and influenced greatly.

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion May 28 handover, unconstitutional Fred Nwaozor

n the Nigerian political terrain, Sen David Mark made history, precisely in June 2011, as the first Nigerian to become the President of the Senate for two consecutive terms. Indeed everyone looks forward to making history. On Wednesday April 1, 2015, as soon as the electoral umpire (INEC) announced the winner of the Presidential polls, virtually everyone rushed to the media, including social, electronic and print, to express their personal feelings. In view of this, one of the paramount opinions that were raised was that, at last, democracy has come to stay in Nigeria. According to the public, for an incumbent President in an African country to be unseated, speaks volumes in the democratic development of the affected country. Suffice to say; history was recorded in Nigeria on the aforementioned date. Yes history was made on April 1, 2015, but the overwhelming and astonishing one remains the concession of defeat that was wholeheartedly expressed or registered by President Goodluck Jonathan. In other words, some historic events or records could be far more extraordinary than others. During my last trip to Asaba, Delta State, a bosom friend of mine who resides in the city

JONATHAN

BUHARI

told me unequivocally that he was yet to see a man or a leader loaded with absolute integrity than the present Nigerian President, Dr Jonathan. From my perspective, I told him, though President Jonathan tried in saving the nation from a possible state of anarchy or chaos, but sometimes we might not really explain how things transpire in our lives. I made effort to let him acknowledge the spiritual aspect of the step taken by the leader in question. Of course there is no need reiterating the fact that the peaceful outcome of the Presidential polls was as a result of the Almighty’s timely intervention and not by any human effort as being presumed. Needless to say that, if God wasn’t by our side, Mr President would have reacted differently, contrary to the exemplary gesture he showcased. Acknowledging this singular fact would enable us to give God the deserved glory each time we discuss the said epochmaking occasion.

Right now, almost every Nigerian is anxious or cannot wait to embrace the forthcoming handover ceremony, which is constitutionally expected to take place on Friday May 29, 2015. Regarding the handover, several concerned Nigerians, are currently apprehensive or filled with mixed feelings which is not unconnected to the news making the rounds that the incumbent administration intends to hand over power to the incoming one on Thursday May 28, contrary to the date stipulated in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is May 29. I grew up to comprehend the fact that the content of the constitution, bye-law or the Act as the case may be, of any organization/society remains sacrosanct and must be treated as such unless until any of its section, or subsection, is duly altered or amended by the concerned authority or apt quarters. If such mandate still holds water, I wonder why the Presidency would want to act

otherwise, or propose to hand over on May 28 which is wholly unconstitutional. I’m of the view that an action or intended plan that is candid and genuine may awaken a state of imbroglio if wrongly expressed or implemented. Sure, the Presidency might not have any skeleton in their cupboard or any sinister motive, but for the fact that the proposed exercise is against the directive of our law as well as the expectation of the people, I suggest they have a rethink. This is not a matter of reaching an agreement; even if the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the incoming administration concurs with the proposal, I still don’t believe it would be fair and legitimate for such intended practice to take place; it won’t be healthy to the nation at all. This is about Nigeria; it is about the entire citizenry; it is about the electorate; it is about the nation’s nobility; it’s about the impression we are about to create in the sight of the international community; it’s about the anticipated implication of the intended illegitimate act. I would say without mincing words that the proposed May 28 handover is not just an innuendo but a misconceived plan that is liable to create a mischievous circumstance. No gain saying that; it is not unlike placing a round peg in a

square hole. Even seemingly innocuous plans or intentions, in certain contexts, are taken to be offensive, not to talk of when our constitution which content is bound to be kept sacred is about to be abused. The judiciary, which remains the law custodian, must come in at this juncture; they shouldn’t be silent at a time their services are needed most. They ought not to await our reminder before they do what is expected of them. Since I was ten, I was taught that no one is mightier than the law, not even the makers. Thus, a different impression must not be cited before our young ones, for posterity sake. We should note that as we lead, some other persons are rightly watching our footsteps; so we must endeavour to showcase exemplary ideas at all times in order not to mislead our teeming followers. Mind you; he who thinks he is leading but has no one following him, is only taking a walk. I know Nigeria is in a hurry to embrace ‘a change’, but on the contrary, we can’t afford to encounter a comatose state. Besides, the difference between Thursday May 28 and Friday May 29 is barely twenty-four (24) hours; so why the rush? Nwaozor, a Public Affairs Analyst writes from Owerri frednwaozor@gmail.com

Buhari, please education is key Ashaolu Thomas

eyond the agenda to fight insurgency, corruption and economic challenges, the rot in education is equally appalling - both in private and public institutions. The craving for mass literacy should not be misconstrued as relegation of everything called standard. While literacy is simple ability to read and write to enhance communication among and across the populace, education relates to acquisition of skills and knowledge to serve as bedrock for all-sector development and growth. Education, we are told, is best legacy but that is if the education is genuine enough to develop the individual’s intellectual capacity for positive achievement. Of course, the future strength of our nation depends on the youth who would sooner become economic drivers and managers but the type of foundation they stand upon matters a lot. We must endeavour to strip issues that directly shape our future from mundane political and ethno-religious considerations. The emphasis on IGRs has almost

blinded hitherto renowned citadels of learning into awarding frivolous degrees, diplomas and certificates. We also seem to be engrossed with deceptive competition for fluttering global ranking that is essentially based on web-exposure rather than quality academic impartation. Japan and China, I believe, did not bother themselves with peripheral matters in their pursuit of growth drivers. The administration must review the priorities of our education managers. Bastardisation of standards in education must be taken as an intellectual cankerworm no less destructive than financial corruption. Talents abound in our youth which unfortunately, have been denied necessary nurturing and development in their formative years. The devilish tactics include mass promotion, requirement of minimum success rates at both internal and external examinations, recruitment of incompetent hands as teachers and lecturers, undue emphasis on paper qualifications, collapse of discipline at homes and schools etc. We are not even talking of examination malprac-

tice which of course, is a direct crime. Little wonder that Ghana which less than 20 per cent of candidates for the regional West African Senior School Certificate examinations has been producing the best three sets of results from 2012 to 2014 while ‘giant’ Nigeria with almost 80 per cent of the students continue to accuse the examination authority of ‘too high’ standards. Of course, the head of WAEC national office wondered how the standard could be lowered for ‘giant’ Nigeria but not the other four smaller nations that are excelling under this ‘high standard’. Eventually, things are as bad as producing graduates who cannot spell N-IG-E-R-I-A while filling forms nor could they communicate in simple official English. Yet such graduates alongside other youths possess the raw ingenuity to defraud corporate executives and foreigners thereby constituting themselves into pests in the social media world. These are potentials we neither nurtured nor cultured and, invariably manifesting themselves negatively. With an acknowledged disciplinarian and retired army general at the

helm to be deputised by a renowned professor, the duo must muster needed courage to reverse the downward journey of Nigeria’s education sector. Expectation from them should not be in performing magic with austere resources at their disposal but to emphatically re-direct the ship of the nation on the path of integrity, hardwork, discipline and innovative thinking so that the latent potentials of our citizenry of all age groups can be harnessed for a better Nigeria of tomorrow. In any case, Nigerians have developed thick skin and if only a little sacrifice will launch us and our coming generations to glory, this should be worth the while. Like the late Tai Solarin’s bitter pill ‘may your road be rough’, there is need to create the atmosphere for sweat in education so that the products thereof can thereafter reap enduring sweetness in their individual and national life, otherwise, the Scriptural injunction will prevail – ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’. Thomas wrote in from Lagos bioashaolu@gmail.com

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

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The thaw in US-Cuba relations

n Tuesday, April 14, United States President Barack Obama informed the country’s Congress of his decision to remove Cuba from its list of countries sponsoring terrorism, thus moving forward efforts to normalise relations between the two decades-old enemies. The announcement came days after President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met on the side-lines of a regional summit in Panama. It was the first formal meeting between leaders of the two countries in a half-century. Cuba was designated by the United States as a state sponsor of terror in 1982 and put on a ‘blacklist’, which includes Iran, Sudan and Syria. United States also does not have formal diplomatic relations with Cuba and has maintained an embargo which makes it illegal for U.S. corporations to do business with Cuba. U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the United States Interests Section of the embassy of Switzerland in Havana, and there is a similar Cuban Interests Section of embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. A commercial, economic, and financial embargo was imposed by the United States on Cuba on October 19, 1960, almost two years

after its government was deposed by the Cuban Revolution. The embargo outlawed exports to the island country except for food and medicine after Cuba nationalized American-owned Cuban oil refineries without compensation. On February 7, 1962 the embargo was extended to include almost all imports. The United Sates had been maintaining that the embargo would continue so long as the Cuban government refuses to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights. However, the United States had of recent stopped actively accusing Cuba of supporting terrorism, such that on December 17, 2013, Obama and Castro announced the beginning of a process of normalizing relations between their two countries. This deal was negotiated in secret, with the assistance of Pope Francis, in Canada and Vatican City, over 18 months preceding the December announcements. Apart from removing Cuba from list of countries sponsoring terrorism, the agreement would see the lifting of some U.S. travel restrictions, fewer restrictions on remittances, U.S. banks, access to the Cuban financial system, and the establishment of a U.S. embassy in Havana, which closed after Cuba became closely allied with the USSR in 1961.

The removal of Cuba from the list countries of sponsoring terrorism, which takes effect in 45 days under US law, was one of the most repeated demands by the Cuban government in the current negotiations to restore diplomatic ties. “Today the president sent to Congress the (State Department) report required by law and the documents showing the intention of his administration to terminate the designation of Cuba as a country that sponsors terrorism,” said the White House press office in the April 14 statement. “The government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism in the last six months,” and has assured that “it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future”, the statement added. According to reports, United States officials also noted that in recent years Raúl and Fidel Castro denounced terrorism, most recently in January, when Raúl Castro called the terrorist attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo “atrocious.” In a statement also issued on Tuesday, April 14, the Cuban government called President Obama’s act a “just decision” and said Cuba should never have been on the list in the first place. “Cuba rejects and condemns all acts of terrorism in all their forms and manifes-

tations,” the statement said. The isolation of Cuba by the United States, particularly its embargo of the island, has been a perennial source of hostility in Latin America, uniting governments across the region regardless of ideology. The presence of Cuba on the United States list of countries sponsoring terrorism was considered one of the main obstacles for restoring diplomatic relations between the two countries. Though Havana recently stressed that it was not a “condition” to reopen embassies, it demanded once again during the summit in Panama that Washington remove the island from the list “which it never should have been on.” We join many across the world in welcoming the thaw in relations between the two countries, particularly President Obama’s bid to get Cuba removed from the list of countries sponsoring terror, and expected consequence of restoration of diplomatic ties. We hope the current efforts will also lead to the lifting of the embargo, as we believe that citizens of both Cuba and the United States stand to gain a lot when relations between the two are fully normalised. The whole of Latin America also stands to benefit in terms of greater stability.

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20 Politics

THURSDAY, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ndoma-Egba: Xenophobic attacks in S’Africa unfortunate CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

the legal infrastructure to make sure that you get the best possible election. What is your take on the drift to a one-party state? I think our concern really should be how do we ensure that the will of the people is reflected? If the will of the people reflects, one party, so be it. But if the will of the people reflects something else, my appeal is that the powers that be should let the will of people prevail. One big lesson that we’ve learnt

from this election is that impunity is not sustainable. Impunity can only hold for a while but in the long run, it’s not sustainable and it’s going to be very costly. We’ve seen the price we have paid. Let’s take Cross River for instance; we have almost 1.2 million votes. We could only deliver about 400,000 votes to the president. That is about 30 per cent of the votes. The impunity is costing us a lot and it is going to cost us much more. So, PDP as far as I am concerned, needed this shock treatment; we need-

ed to be shocked back into reality and this is an opportunity, rather than be boastful and be arrogant, to go back and do proper introspection. If we think that what has happened can endure for much longer, then we are living in self-denial. Impunity is not sustainable. It is not sustainable in PDP and I believe that APC would have learnt a lesson too. Impunity cannot be sustainable anywhere. That is the biggest lesson, as far as I am concerned, that we have taken out of this election.

So far, are you under any form of pressure to leave PDP, considering the treatment you received there? I have pressure, not only from my supporters, but from every quarter. But it is for me to reflect on it. But I will like to just make this point and that is one of knowing whether what we are doing is right or wrong. After the so-called primaries nationwide, there was a lot of traffic, a lot of movement. But that movement was in one direction, and that is where we ought to have gotten the alarm

bells. It was out of PDP to other parties. We did not see a corresponding traffic from other parties into PDP. That should have sounded an alarm. Two, the crisis over the primaries were more pronounced in states that were ordinarily PDP strongholds. Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Benue, Nassarawa and Adamawa; these are ordinarily strongholds of the PDP. That was where we had the crisis. So, the party was weakened long before the election and with our own

complicity. So, I will advise that moving forward, parties should be owned by members of the party and not individuals no matter how powerful they are. Because the PDP, especially at the state level, is not even a parastatal, it is worse than a parastatal. It is the personal property of certain people. And when a party depreciates to the point where it becomes the personal property of somebody, it will implode in the person’s pocket. A party is supposed to be a vehicle for a contest of ideas, but it is not so. So, it is now a venue for us to perfect sycophancy. This is an opportunity for the PDP to reinvent, to recreate itself and for other parties to learn that this kind of situation where the party is donated to an individual will not endure. As a serving senator, what is the National Assembly doing about the xenophobic problem in South Africa which involves Nigerians? The crisis just started a few days ago so when we resume, I believe that it will be one of the issues we will discuss. But first of all, I feel diminished as an African that Africans are doing this to fellow Africans, especially in a country where all of Africa united to bring down the apartheid regime. As an undergraduate, we made financial contributions to a fund to fight the apartheid system in South Africa. As a young lawyer in Ogoja, I was made to accommodate South African students who were receiving free education at the College of Art and Science, Ogoja. Young Nigerians at that time were encouraged to make contributions. But I suspect, what has fuelled the crisis in South Africa is that the ordinary man was not made to know, to appreciate the sacrifices that other Africans made to free them from the slavery of apartheid. So, it’s a big lesson for us now that every contribution we make through our foreign policy, we must insist that the people in the beneficiary country know. It should be drummed up. We’ve made contributions in Liberia, in Sierra Leone, in South Africa and Angola. People who were born after apartheid fell or after the war in Liberia for instance, probably wouldn’t know what contributions countries like Nigeria made. So, I think it should be part of our foreign policy component that where we are making this kind of contributions, we insist on what the beneficiary country should do.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, april 23, 2015

Interview

File

Quakers: Buhari must ensure police independence

Preliminary issues Buhari must consider

22&25

Law

Fayose

Ahamba

Fayose’s sack plot divides lawyers Although the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has extended an olive branch to the embattled 19 members of the state assembly, their determination to unseat the governor thickens as a seven-day request sent to the Chief Judge expires today. But there is a legal question that must be resolved first-which of the two lawmakers laying claim to Speakership of the House has powers to initiate impeachment proceedings? FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE, TUNDE OYESINA and AKEEM NAFIU report

FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE JUDICIARY Editor

foluso.ogunmodede@ newtelegraphonline.com

otwithstanding that he had asked for forgiveness from those he might have offended and an expression of his readiness to dialogue with the opposition party in the state, the impeachment plot against the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose thickened at the weekend. Reason: The seven-day request by the 19 lawmakers to the

Everything must be put on hold to determine who the actual speaker of the house is

State Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola to raise a sevenman panel to probe Governor Fayose’s alleged impeachable offences expires today. The lawmakers being led by their embattled Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, last week requested Justice Daramola to raise a seven-man panel within seven days of receipt of the letter to investigate Fayose and his deputy, Dr. Kolapo Olusola over allegations of impunity, violence and stalking, among other constitutional breaches. Already the two political parties in the House of Assembly- the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) lay claim to the Speakership of the House. While the PDP in the minority claims the House’ authentic Speaker is Dele Olugbemi, the APC with majority members insists that Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly remains Dr. Adewale Omirin.

Omirin was last year November sacked by only seven members of the House, which comprises 26 members of which 19 are in the APC. The question however is: which of the groups has the powers to initiate impeachment proceedings against the governor? Lawyers are already pitted against each other on who of the two Speakers has the powers to initiate impeachment proceedings. While some believe the legality of the impeachment notice must first be determined by the court, others said Omirin’s group has the power to initiate the impeachment against Fayose, hence it is legal. For instance, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and titled chief, Mike Ahamba although said whoever that must occupy the Speakership position must have the backings of the maCONTINUED ON PAGE 23

22 Law | Interview

THURSDAY, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Quakers: Buhari must ensure police independence not want to say 7 or 8 points agenda because we all know the ailing areas of the nation’s polity. If all these areas are addressed by putting round pegs in round holes and square pegs in square holes, then, we can say we are on a path to recovery. The key sectors must be addressed because the economy is badly damaged. Even, the society is no longer organised and disciplined. So, orderliness must come back. Then, there must be respect for the rule of law and human life. We must allow the law to have full bites. This is because the challenge we have is not the laws but how to get the laws obeyed.

He is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Norrison Ibinabo Quakers in this interview with AKEEM NAFIU believes Nigeria is too sophisticated to become a one party state contrary to insinuation in some circles that the country itches towards a one party state with the taking over of power at the center by the All Progressives Congress (APC). Besides, Quakers speaks on the just concluded election and its implications for Nigeria’s unity, Ekiti political debacle and sundry issues. Sir, what do you think should be the priority of the incoming President, General Muhammadu Buhari? There are a number of areas that the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari has to impact on. One of the areas is the administration of justice in the country. It then means that he must look into that area by appointing a competent and apolitical Attorney-General who can do his job professionally. I am one of those who believed that it is not a question of spliting the office into two. If you have an Attorney-General who could be apolitical, he can deliver on the job. Sometimes back, Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN) was appointed as the Attorney-General and most of the development in relation to the Ministry of Justice and judicial reforms are credited to him. I remember that one of the assistants that he had then is the current Vice-President Elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN). Awa Kalu (SAN) was also there too. He indeed had a formidable team. A lot of the laws that we are using now as references started within his time in office. So, if we have an Attorney-General that will have a competent team to work with, the justice sector will be reformed and there will be a complete transformation. I read in the papers a story attributed to the incoming President that all those who will work with him will have to declare their assets. This is heartwarming. We have enough laws that will keep us in check. For instance, the Code of Conduct is very clear. If a government functionary is found to have breached the code of conduct, the Code of Conduct Tribunal can come in to do what it is empowered constitutionally to do. If all law enforcement agencies are also given free hands to do their jobs without any political influence, it means we will then be as a country on a track to social reforms and a path to living a life of prudence and accountability. It is sad that this is absent in the

Quakers

outgoing government. We need a situation whereby the police and the military will be made to work independent of the executive. We also need an economic team that will be manned or co-ordinated by the Vice-President as constitutionally empowered to do. This is because the Vice- President by the provisions of the Constitution is the Chairman of the National Economic Council and not the President. So, if we have a situation like this, I think we are on the path to recovery and reform. So, the agenda I think even if the incoming President has not set it has been set because it is not enough to seek elective office if you are not clear as to what you are coming to do. So, I believe the incoming President’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has formulated policies that would address the various sectors of the Nigeria state. Aviation sector must also be looked into. Transportation must also be looked into. Housing and infrastructural maintainance must also be looked into. However, one of the most fundamental areas is the energy sec-

Sadly, we cannot legislate crosscarpeting. It’s all about freedom of association

tor which must also be looked into. The refineries must also start working to full capacity. But again, these are problems that have been with us for more than 16 years and I don’t think they can all be addressed within four years. However, the work and the recovery mission can be put in motion to start sustaining, what I will call, the institutional reforms, so that with or without the administration, we have a structure in place that can outlived the outgoing administration. Somebody was even arguing that the reason why APC won in Lagos was because the party must continue with the infrastructural developments and other structures that have been put in place by the two previous administrations since 1999 starting from Tinubu to Fashola and now to Ambode. So, you can’t retrack, softpedal or retrogress an otherwise progressive administration. So, to that extent, I think government has put certain measures in place on these issues. In essence, Buhari’s administration is not expected to come in to do trial and error. So, for me I would

Sir, what is your take on the mass exodus of politicians to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the aftermath of the general elections? Don’t you think we are drifting towards a one-party nation? The political space is now being dominated by carpet-crossing politicians. There was a time it was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that was in power. Suddenly, the PDP has disintegrated as it were and everybody is now hobnobbing and rushing into APC. This goes to show that we seem not to have a good political culture of standing by our political ideology. What is the ideology of PDP and the APC? Why the sudden exodus or mass movement of politicians from PDP to APC? Is it about power, political standing, governmental apparatus, financial consideration or economic empowerment? Why will a politician leave a ruling party that has lost power to a ruling party that has just gained power? Sadly, we cannot legislate cross-carpeting. It’s all about freedom of association and once you start putting laws in place to checkmate that, it then means you want people to start living a straight jacketed life or make the process mechanical. Human beings have the right to choose and freedom of choice but in doing so, what this is telling me is that our politicians do not have clear-cut ideologies. Now, if political parties are divided along ideological lines, why will I for instance, as a leftist move to the right? What is the ideology of our political parties? Is it about winner takes all? Or I am in politics for the purpose of all I can gain? So, the essence of carpet crossing has to do with economic empowerment. In fact, there is already a law in place. There is a constitutional provision that if you use a particular party platform to seek elective office and if for any reason, you are no longer on the same frequency with the political party that gives you governmental exposure, you are expected to relinquish your hold on that office. There are also constitutional exceptions. One of these is if you feel or know that there are crisis, disagreements or disintegration of that political party, then, you have a right to cross-carpet. So, we have enough laws but you can’t stop CONTINUED ON PAGE25

Law

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, april 23, 2015

Plot to sack Fayose divides lawyers C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 1

jority of the members, there was the need for a judicial interpretation to determine the authentic Speaker especially if there was an unfavourable circumstance to the majority. He said: “But if there is a legislative coup under a circumstance that does not support majority members of the house, then incumbent have not been removed. “It is a matter for judicial determination. Before the action of that house can be used, there should be a judicial determination of who is the Speaker and everything should be kept in status quo. “Assuming a speaker spearheads an impeachment, and only for the court to say tomorrow that he was never a speaker, what do you do to the impeachment proceedings? “I believe that everything must be put on hold to determine who the actual speaker of the house is”. But another group of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Chief Awa Kalu, Norrison Ibinabo Quakers and Amaechi Nwaiwu differ. Others include a former chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Monday Ubani, Olusoji Toki and Olu Awolowo. All said Omirin’s group had the legal powers to initiate impeachment proceedings against Fayose. Kalu said that the issue could only be resolved by looking at the proceedings of the House of Assembly itself. He said: “If you have the majority in the house, it is the majority of members that can select a speaker, because speaker must be produced by the House and not from outside. “It is not like a governor appointing a commissioner or special adviser. The speaker must be chosen by the members of the House of Assembly. “So, any speaker within that House of Assembly who was chosen by the majority, in my view is the Speaker of the House of Assembly. You can have two captains controlling a ship but one must be in full control”. Awa was echoed by Nwaiwu who simply said the legitimate speaker was the one with the maze. “Once you have the maze and you sit in the legislative building and not at other place different from the legislative chambers, you are the one. “That is why they scramble for the maze. From Ladoja’s case, the Supreme Court said you have to sit in the legislative building”, Nwaiwu said. Quakers said: “What they have done is that it suddenly appeared to them that it is mathematically wrong for 7 members of the House to impeach the Speaker. It’s quite absurd. You cannot have 7 members of the house to impeach the Speaker where you have 26 lawmakers. If you have 26 members of the house, how can you now have 7 members impeached the Speaker? The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were impeached. It is not done. What we now have is that because there are 19 members who are out of the house, it then follows that the purported impeachment is constitutionally unknown.

Omirin

Olugbemi

“There is no stretch of imagination or explanation that can sustain the work. It cannot be backed up by the Constitution. It does not even appeal to common sense and reasoning. The Governor has said it consistently that nobody is stopping them from coming to do their legislative works. So, if they have returned to do their legislative works and they are in the majority, then, it stands to reason that they have to do what they have to do. The Governor has also gone to court to challenge the purported transmission of the impeachment notice. So, he has also recognise it as well. It’s not done. It’s a recipe for chaos. The court will now have to decide the validity of the transmitted notice of impeachment”. To Ubani, proceedings in the State Houses of Assembly was being guided by the Constitution the

members’ internal regulations. He said: “It is only the functions of the majority of the members to take any decision binding on the house. What is playing out in Ekiti is an absurdity of the highest order. The minority are the ones holding sway. They purportedly sat and impeached the Speaker even when the Constitution has clearly spelt out what is required if such an action is to be carried out. They also have internal regulations that prescribe the quorum that is needed for such an action. Now, if a minority, in clear breach of the express provisions of the Constitution purported to have impeached the Speaker, in my view, that cannot stand in the face of the law. The court, no matter how much time was wasted, will declare the act illegal. “The majority actually supposed to be the one presiding over the

house but due to the fact that the executive seems to be controlling the instrument of coercion, the majority members are now running helter-skelter for their lives. The minority is now in charge with the passing of resolutions, clearing of commissioner nominees and passing budgets for the executive to implement. These are clear illegalities. “So, the Speaker in the majority is in a better position to serve any impeachment notice on the Governor. This is because the number of members with him indeed formed the quorum needed to carry out the action. Seven members cannot in anyway form a quorum for a 26-member House of Assembly. Also, there is no way the seven members can said to have impeached the Speaker”. Awolowo said: “Impeachment proceeding is a political weapon provided for under the Constitution. What the Governor needs to do at this time is to clear himself of the charges because he is not immune from the provisions of the law. So, Dr. Adewale Omirin, has the constitutional rights to commence impeachment proceedings against the Governor”. Toki while identifying the implication of the impeachment notice, said that “the problem whether wrongly or rightly, six members purportedly sacked 19 members and the 19 had gone to court. “Having gone to court, technically it means that the 19 members have recognized the illegality not that they have accepted it but they have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court. So, until the court decides, there should not be any further action. “Because, having gone to court to set aside what the six lawmakers did, all should wait for the decision of the court. “If the lawmakers have got an injunction, it would have given them the opportunity to do something substantially. “Where the problem will now lie is that if eventually the court rules in their favour, all actions the six members might have taken is void”.

Law | News

THURSDAY, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Why law favours Fayose, by lawyers TUNDE OYESINA writes that after days of soaked tension and apprehension over his eligibility to contest the June 21, 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State and his political future, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Governor Ayodele Fayose

upporters of the Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose were in wild jubilation last week as the eligibility suit initiated by the opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) collapsed at the nation’s highest court, the Supreme Court. Already, lawyers have hailed the Supreme Court’s judgement which affirmed Governor Fayose’s election, describing the judgement as one of the best in recent times. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on June 21, 2014 conducted the governorship election in the state where Fayose who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerged as the winner when he defeated his predecessor and incumbent governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Although Fayemi conceded defeat and congratulated Fayose, his party APC approached the Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the victory as the party which bent to unseat Fayose said the governor was not eligible to contest the election. According to APC, since Fayose was sacked from office following an impeachment process having being found guilty for embezzling public funds, his election was null and void and of no effect. Specifically, APC insisted that Fayose was not eligible to stand for the 2014 election having been impeached by the recommendation of a panel on the grounds of embezzling public funds. Besides, the petitioner said Fayose was not fit to rule Ekiti State as its chief executive because the Higher National Diploma certificate he submitted to INEC was a forged one. But the petition suffered a hitch as the Election Petition Tribunal dismissed it as lacking in merit. Dissatisfied, the APC headed for the Court of Appeal to challenge the tribunal’s verdict. Again, the petition was dismissed while the appellate court upheld the tribunal’s decision, insisting that Governor Fayose fulfilled the requirements to vie for the office of the Governor as his impeachment under whatever guise could not vitiate his election. Apparently dissatisfied, the party and its candidate approached the Supreme Court, insisting that the apex court must invalidate the lower courts’ decision and sack Fayose from office. Again, they were disappointed last week as the apex court resolved all the issues brought before it against the APC and its candidate. It said the contentious impeachment and the certificate issue brought

Fayemi

against Fayose were not enough to disqualify him from contesting the 2014 election. However, lawyers including the APC’s Rafiu Balogun hailed the Supreme Court, describing it as one of the court’s verdicts in recent time. Balogun said the judgement was acceptable especially as the court for the first time laid to rest legal controversy over the correct interpretation of Section 182 (e) of the Constitution. “But now, it has been resolved that it is the court that has that power to pronounce a governor guilty and not impeachment panel before he can be barred from contesting”, Balogun said. The Attorney-General of Ekiti state, Mr. Owoseni Ajayi said the judgement had laid to rest a number of issues on impeachment proceedings. Ajayi said: “First, impeachment is not a ground for disqualification. Secondly that there was no impeachment at all in Ekiti state, that the Justice Aladejana’s panel was an illegal one which ought not to have been considered at all and thirdly, if anybody is found guilty of contravention of any breach of the code of conduct or any governor is impeached for any criminal offence, he should be taken to an appropriate court. “If it is the violation of any simple offence, it is a regular court that will try him and if it is a breach of code of conduct, then the code of conduct tribunal and get convicted before he can be disqualified from contesting in an election”. Ajayi was backed by another lawyer, Mr. Kola Kolade, saiying that the case had finally laid to rest the issue of whether Fayose was impeached in 2006. According to him, “the court has resolved that Aladejana’s panel that allegedly impeached the governor was an illegal panel and therefore the first panel set up by the then Chief Judge of Ekiti state, Justice Bamisile

Mahmud, CJN

was the only panel and that Section 188 (8) of the 1999 Constitution, when the panel set up by Justice Bamisile submited it’s report, that should be the end of the matter and it ought not to be re-opened again”. The judgement will certainly develop the nation’s jurisprudence, Kolade added. Robert Emukperuo said that the judgement was a seminar judgement that had resolved some burning issues within the nation. Emukperuo said : “One of them is the role of the armed forces during election. The clear implication of the judgement of the Supreme Court is that the pronouncement made by the Court of Appeal concerning the role of the military during elections has been set aside as being a mere Obiter Dictum, not predicated on any issue before that court. “The issue of whether impeachment could be a foundation for disqualification has also been resolved that it cannot be. One can only be disqualified in accordance with the provision of the Constitution and so even if somebody is impeached, such impeachment remains invalid until it is pronounced by a court of law”. To a former Attorney-General of Ekiti state, Mr. Obafemi Adewale the judgement will enrich both the lawyers and the politicians. Adewale went on: “Most issues that have bothered the nation have now been laid to rest, especially about impeachment and forgery. “This is a landmark judgement; it is a judgement that will be a precedent and reference point for us in the legal profession and for us politicians. “It also showed that political war cannot only be fought on the field but also in the court room”. However, the Supreme Court in a unanimous judgement delivered by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta held that the tribunal was right to have struck out the names of the IGP and COA as

parties in the suit. He noted that a party to a suit was one whose his interest was in dispute or which a suit could not be decided without him. The court specifically noted that both the IGP and the COA had no interest in the election in Ekiti state and going by the provisions of the Electoral Act as to who constitutes a party to an election petition, the IGP and COA did not fall into such category as they were not INEC’s staff. The court said: “Appellant did not show that the IGP and the COA have special interest in the election in Ekiti state. It did not even show that they are indegenes of Ekiti state. None of them falls under the category of who can bring a petition to the tribunal as provided for by the Electoral Act. Any group outside the officers not employed in the election, does so on its own and they cannot answer for their conduct. “IGP and the COA at all material time are not INEC’s staff, they are not parties to the election in Ekiti state. Assuming they are parties, the relief sought against them is not as to the cancellation of the election, it does not therefore make sense to join them”. On the issue of impeachment, the court held that the ground raised by the appellant was not part of the provision of the Electoral Act as to disqualify a governorship aspirant. The court further cited Section 182 (1)(e) of the 1999 Constitution which provides qualification for a governorship aspirant. “A conviction and sentence are the major issues here. The code of conduct is not an impeachment panel. Jurisdiction cannot be shared between code of conduct tribunal and impeachment panel. Even though, it was alleged that the governor was impeached for embezzlement, he was not arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction”, the court held.

Law | Interview

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, april 23, 2015

‘Buhari must ensure police independence’ resulted in chaos was averted by the Chairman of INEC. So, we can attribute the success of the election to him. I believe institutions thrive when you have strong characters, who are also apolitical, manning them. But we cannot continue like that. We must get to a situation where the institutions are self-sustaining and self-running. So, it’s no longer about an individual but the structure itself. But, is INEC truly independent? If INEC is truly independent, then there will be no alternative to having a credible election and there can no longer be any monetary inducements. Also, the advent of the introduction of the card reader is a fantastic development and election rigging was minimal. So, by and large, INEC has done well in the conduct of the elections.

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 2

people from seeking aspirations from other political platforms. It’s just that it goes to show the kind of people that we are to the extent that we can’t stand by our convictions and beliefs. The essence of joining a political party is not simply based on the quest for seeking power or governmental apparatus. It goes beyond that. I don’t think the mass exodus to the APC can lead Nigeria into a one-party nation. I don’t see that happening. Nigeria is too sophisticated for us to have a one-party state. No one will have thought that the opposition parties will come together and seize power at the centre. At the time they were discussing the merger, nobody gave the merging parties the chance that someday they will be able to wrest power from the PDP. But today it has happened. That can also happen in the future. PDP right now has broken into components. The party is no longer at the centre and we now have splinter groups at state levels, so to say. We have PDP at different state levels and not at the centre. But, we could have a situation whereby other political parties who might have similar ideology with the PDP will come together to give APC a run. In other words, a time might come where we will have another political transformation of parties coming together and forming another strong political party to form a viable opposition. What I see in Nigeria is that a time will come when you now have two major political parties. By then, we are not going to have a multi-party structure any longer because it is already happening now because even the just concluded general elections were built around two major political parties, the PDP and the APC. Other parties have been swallowed up by the size and spread of these two political parties. So, we might have a situation whereby the other political parties will either be subsumed or go to alliance with other existing political structure. So, it would not be right to suggest that Nigeria is drifting towards a one-party state because as a people we were never satisfied largely owing to lack of internal

Quakers

democracy in the parties. So far sir, what is your assessment of INEC’s performance in the just concluded elections? INEC has not performed badly. If I am to score INEC, I will give them 70 per cent. Now, the 30 per cent that is left is as a result of certain challenges in some of the states where there are complaints and violence. In some places, I learnt that voting did not hold and INEC’s staff in some other places, have been compromised. What I see that has happened to INEC is that because of the man at the helm of affairs particularly in relation to the Presidential election is that Jega put his feet down if not we would have experienced another inconclusive election similar to what happened in 1993. This situation that would have

It is not constitutionally incorrect for the 19 APC lawmakers to seek to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose

Sir, what is your take on the impeachment notice served on the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, by the 19 APC lawmakers? It is not constitutionally incorrect for the 19 APC lawmakers to seek to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose. What they have done is that it suddenly appeared to them that it is mathematically wrong for 7 members of the house to impeach 19 members. It’s quite absurd. You cannot have 7 members of the house impeached the Speaker where you have 26 lawmakers. If you have 26 members of the house, how can you now have 7 members impeached the Speaker? The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were impeached. It is not done. What we now have is that because there are 19 members who are out of the house, it then follows that the purported impeachment is constitutionally unknown. There is no stretch of imagination or explanation that can sustain the work. It cannot be backed up by the Constitution. It does not even appeal to common sense and reasoning. On the withdrawal of a suit, challenging the Speaker’s impeachment, perhaps, the lawmakers suddenly realise that they were in the majority and that there is no need for a fight. The Governor has said it consistently that nobody is stopping them from coming to do their legislative works. So, if they have

returned to do their legislative works and they are in the majority, then, it stands to reason that they have to do what they have to do. The Governor has also gone to court to challenge the purported transmission of the impeachment notice. So, he has also recognise it as well. It’s not done. It’s a recipe for chaos. The court will now have to decide the validity of the transmitted notice of impeachment. I am a bit worried and alarmed because I also see complicity in relation to our security agencies. It’s not good for our democracy and it is a dangerous trend which I believe that the incoming government has to correct. All agencies of government must be apolitical. The Army, Police, Navy, Airforce and others must stand apolitical. They cannot play politics with their assignment, including the Directorate of State Services (DSS). It appears we are desecrating all the government agencies and enforcement organisations. These are things that I think should be discouraged. A situation where the lawmakers are going to sit and then you have policemen cordoning the House of Assembly of a state does not augur well for our democracy. The function of the police is to maintain law and order and protect public institutions and places. So, if the House of Assembly is a public place, they are duty bound to protect it. Secondly, they are also duty bound to protect the legislators. The question is who are the legislators? You have 7, you have 19. You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that something is fundamentally wrong. Will you not be seen to be playing politics, if you now align yourself with the 7 as opposed to the 19? I feel bad that our law enforcement agencies have been compromised to the extent that they now play politics with the duties. Some of them are politicians in uniform. 7 against 19, it’s only in Nigeria that it can happen. Look at what happened in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), it’s all part of it. Once something has been done and there is no heavy legal sanction, then, it will spread all over. It becomes a norm and every other person will be doing it.

NBA tasks police on branch chairman’s murder Foluso Ogunmodede

or the umpteenth time, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has tasked the police to unravel the mastermind of the gruesome murder of the Chairman of the Ughelli, Delta State’s branch of the association, Mr. Austin Icheghe, urging the police to bring the perpetrators of the heinous act. Icheghe was murdered last week Thursday at his 14, Ekredjebor residence in Ughelli by yet to be identified gun men. The gun men who

snuffed life of the deceased arrived his residence at about 9.30p.m on April 16 where he was ambushed and shot at sporadically. In a release by the NBA and signed by its President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria tasked the police not to leave any stone unturned until Icheghe’s killers were apprehended. The release reads: “The Nigerian Bar Association received with shock the sad news of the gruesome killing of our distinguished colleague, the Chairman of the Ughelli Branch

of the NBA, Mr. Austin Icheghe, who was shot by unknown person(s) near the entrance gate into his house at Ughelli, Delta State at about 9.30pm on Thursday, April 16, 2015. The NBA family mourns the demise of an active member of the Bar and condoles with his family and the members of the Ughelli branch of the NBA. We condemn in strong terms this gruesome murder of one of our members and will not rest on our oars until the perpetrators of this dastardly act are brought to book. The Nigeria Police

Force and indeed, all law enforcement agencies should take immediate steps to address these current security challenges to stem the increasing number of unresolved killings and other violent activities in our country. We hereby request the Nigeria Police Force to ensure that investigation into this matter to unravel the circumstances of the killing as well as the person(s) responsible for it. We will not allow this killing and indeed other killings to remain unresolved. The perpetrators must be apprehended and brought to justice.

Alegeh

26 Law | File

THURSDAY, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Preliminary issues Buhari must consider Wahab Shittu

B Buhari

eyond the euphoria and celebrations that greeted Buhari’s victory at the recently concluded presidential elections as declared by INEC, there is the urgent need to examine what Buhari has to offer including the likely impact that the Vice Presidential Elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on his administration from May 29th 2015. I have listened to the pronouncements of the

Presidential Elect and observed the disposition of the incumbent President since the outcome of the historic elections. I have also watched the comportment of the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega during and after the announcement of the outcome of the Presidential election was made. The first point to make is the seeming statesmanlike comportment of the incumbent president which is salutary. He may have raised the bar of democratic spirit and ethical conduct by the swiftness

with which he congratulated Buhari even before the formal announcement of his victory by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). The whole world is already celebrating this remarkable gesture which is uncommon in this clime. The second point to note is the outstanding integrity and comportment of the INEC Chairman at the time the results of the election was being collated and proceedings became rudely interrupted by the seemingly unguarded utterances of

Elder Godswill Orubebe. The matured manner he handled the proceedings inspite of the tantrums thrown at him by elder Orubebe may have elevated the rating of the Nigerian in the consciousness of civilized nations of the world. I commend his maturity in the face of provocation. The other issue worthy of mention is the magnanimity of General Mohammadu Buhari in victory consistent with the democratic spirit. He had extended his hands of fellowship and conciliation to President Jonathan and those who voted against him saying that he has no ill wind against anyone, describing the incumbent president as a great Nigerian who is still our president. These are pronouncements of a statesman and indicative of a very positive beginning signposting the fact that politics ought to be about service to the people without bitterness from the contenders including politicians and their supporters. These actions may have contributed to the deepening of the democratic process including enhancing the quality of the peace process in the land. Thirdly, the President elect also pledged to deliver just and peaceful governance subject to the rule of law including declaring massive war against corruption, saying quit significantly that ‘corruption will not be tolerated by this administration’. He also pledged to tackle insurgency that is ravaging the land declaring with a strong resolve that ‘the strength of our collective will would spare no effort until we defeat terrorism’. Overall, it can be said that Buhari has started well judging by the quality of his pronouncements. But what are the preliminary issues that he ought to consider moving forward? The first issue that he needs to address urgently is the unity and cohesiveness of the country because never has our country except during the civil war been so divided by politics, ethnicity, religion and other primordial sentiments making it imperative for him to immediately unify the country as a matter of priority. I am happy to observe that he has also pledged to prevent the discrimination of any Nigerian on account of ethnicity, religion and such other base sentiments. TO BE CONTINUED

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

27 Health Living

What you should know about nail abnormalities

Health Appolonia Adeyemi

s traders bargain with buyers to make better profit margin along the road by the popular Oyingbo Market in Lagos, a truck driver pulled up by the road side. Opening the rear access door into the Merzedez Benz vehicle, he lowered a mobile staircase leading into the van, placing it on tarred road. This will make access easy for those coming into the van for products targeting mostly underprivileged in the society – truck pushers, street cleaners, traders, buyers, among others. Among wares displayed in the truck for sales are insecticide treated bed nets and antimalarial drugs. Similarly, an official manning the van brought out rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits, ready for those intending to test their malaria status. One of the first callers in the truck was a fish seller who bought the anti-malarial drug on sale. She had come into the truck complaining of severe pain all over her body. Could the pain have resulted from malaria? To be sure, her blood sample was promptly taken and in less than 10 minutes, the official explained that the result was negative of malaria parasite. Doing the rapid test to confirm existence of malaria parasite in the blood of patients before treatment is necessary before treatment. This is the current trend in malaria control. Before now, many who showed symptoms of fever simply resorted to taking malaria treatment. Even in public and private hospitals, many doctors simply prescribed malaria drugs without necessarily conducting the malaria tests but not anymore. Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. It is caused by Plasmodium parasites which are spread to people through the bites of infected Anopheles

Appolonia Adeyemi appolonia.adeyemi@newtelegraphonline.com

Health News

Study: Fake drugs pose urgent risk

Nature Power

Getting used to colours

Fresh hurdles in anti-malaria war

An anopheles mosquito on its host

mosquitoes. While justifying the test before treatment policy, the former National Coordinator for the National Malaria Control Programme at the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Dr. Chioma Amajoh said the measure would prevent drug resistance which is one of the major challenges to malaria control in the country now. A published in ‘The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal’ recently found signal of artemisinin drug resistance in Myanmar and in the Sagaing Region, only 25 km (15 miles) from the Indian border. Resistance to antimalarial medicines is a recurring problem. Resistance of P. falciparum to previous generations of medicines, such as chloroquine and sulfadoxinepyrimethamine (SP), became widespread in the 1970s and 1980s, undermining malaria control efforts and reversing gains in child survival. In recent years, parasite resistance to artemisinins has been detected in five countries of the Greater Mekong subregion: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. However, Amajoh while confirming that artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT)

PHOTO: en.wikipedia.org

Minister of Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan

In recent years, parasite resistance to artemisinins has been detected in five countries

Dr. Amajoh

currently deployed to treat malaria in malaria-endemic countries worldwide, is still potent, said Nigeria cannot afford to wait until the drug fail before adopting measures to prevent resistance in select places. Amajoh said Nigeria is already conducting routine monitoring of antimalarial drug resistance as recommended by the WHO. Executive Director, Health Matters Inc, Mr. Peter Ujomu confirmed that although, Nigerians are responding positively, doing required malarial tests and whenever they prove positive, treat, “the

major problem is that it is difficult to come by rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) kits.” Besides, Ujomu blamed the often stock out of the life-saving kits to bureaucracy of clearing the products, which often prompt long delays resulting in almost expiration of some of them before they are finally cleared. He called on the federal government to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks that hinder/or delay clearing of drugs. Similarly, Ujomu lamented the high cost of malarial drugs in the country. “Even though, there is access to drugs, as an organisation working on malarial control, we buy these drugs from the open market. “We think that the government has to do more to ensure that malarial drugs are affordable, not just by proclamation but in continuous provision of these drugs.” Highlighting the experience of Health Matters on the field, he noted, “What we observe is that after one round of Global Fund project which is the surest guarantee for subsidised malarial products, between one phase to another, there is almost a complete stock out of products.” This development has left available malarial products in the market at prices that are unaffordable for consumers, he added. Blaming this on bureaucracy, Ujomu urged relevant government agencies to also ensure that available drugs are safe for consumption. He lamented that often what is pushed out through the open market is drugs that are about to expire most of which are unwholesome. “The overconsumption of these drugs without appropriate malarial tests is known to result to liver damage, kidney damage, among others. According to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, released in December 2014, there were about 198 million cases of malaria in 2013 (with an uncertainty range of 124 million to 283 million) and an estimated 584 000 deaths (with an uncertainty range of 367 000 to 755 000). Malaria mortality rates have fallen by 47 percent globally since 2000, and by 54 percent in the WHO African Region.

Health News

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

New fund targets billions for children’s nutrition

Healthy Living Dr. Ihuoma Uko-Ndukwe ada.ndukwe@yahoo.com

What you should know about nail abnormalities

Various foods contribute to right nutrition

PHOTO: www.healthowealth.com

Appolonia Adeyemi

and communities that lasts and lasts.

Multiplying funds for nutrition For the first time, a combination of private and public finances will support country-led programmes that target child under nutrition at scale. The Power of Nutrition will act as a catalyst to multiply the financial resources going into this area, through a combination of grants, government funding and International Development Association (IDA) financing, The fund has developed an innovative matching offer that guarantees that every dollar in private funding is multiplied up to six times with new financing secured from other funders. Governments seeking financial support for their national nutrition programmes will also be able to multiply their resources through the fund. The Power of Nutrition is launched with arrangements in place to unlock the first $200 million of financing. Contributions include $55 million from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, up to £32 million ($47m) from the UK Department of International Development, and up to Swiss Francs 25m ($26m) from the UBS Optimus Foundation. These resources will be channelled through a new World Bank Group (WBG) trust fund for nutrition and through a UNICEF matched-funding mechanism. The new WBG trust fund of at least $55 million will leverage at least another $100 million from the IDA, the WBG’s fund for the poorest. The new agreement with UNICEF provides an opportunity for donors to fund UNICEF through a matchedfunding mechanism dedicated to ending child nutrition. “Good nutrition is an essential part of a healthy life. Yet every day, millions of children die, are sick, or are disadvantaged because they are not receiving the right nutrition and care at the right time. Investors in The Power of Nutrition can change that, so good nutrition becomes the new normal,” said Michael Anderson, Chief Executive Officer at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. We are very proud to be a founding partner of The Power of Nutrition. This groundbreaking new fund will help many more children reach their full potential by ensuring they get the right nutrients early in life. It’s an investment in children, families and communities that will last,” said Phyllis Costanza, Chief Executive Officer at the UBS Optimus Foundation.

new independent nutrition fund which will help millions of children reach their full potential has been launched. The fund tagged, ‘The Power of Nutrition’ and backed by leading organisations from private philanthropy and international development, aims to unlock one billion dollars to tackle child under nutrition in some of the world’s poorest countries. ‘The Power of Nutrition’ will save lives and help millions of children escape from the effects of malnutrition. It will help countries build healthy and prosperous communities. It launches with arrangements in place to unlock the first $200 million from high profile backers such as the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, the UK’s Department for International Development, UNICEF, and the World Bank Group. It is already open to new private and public investors. Unlocking children’s potential Without the right nutrients, health services and care within the first 1,000 days of life, a child’s brain and body fail to develop properly. Unlike hunger, these effects are largely invisible and essentially irreversible. Under nutrition is the underlying cause of 45 per cent of all under five mortality – or nearly three million deaths every year. Under nutrition leaves nearly four in ten children in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia with underdeveloped brains and bodies. As a result, these children have lower intelligent quotients (IQs) and are more likely to drop out of school. As adults, they are a third less likely to escape poverty. The problem does not stop there. As undernourished girls grow into undernourished mothers, who give birth to undernourished children. This creates a vicious cycle that holds back the growth of future generations. Money raised by the Power of Nutrition will finance large-scale, high-impact nutrition programmes to help break this cycle. Evidence shows that with the right nutrients and care early on in life, a child’s brain and body are able to develop to their full potential, improving their health, education and future livelihoods. It is an investment in children, families

he nail is bound to an underlying skin and any disruption in the attachment of the nail plate to the underlying skin may dispose one to localised infections because nails grow slowly taking about six months to replace a fingernail and about 12 to 18 months for a toenail. DYSTROPHIC NAILS are self induced and caused by repeated manipulation by manicures/pedicures, biting and rubbing. It can lead to changes in the cuticle or nail bed, as the cuticle becomes pushed back, splitting or indents in the midline. MELANONYCHIA are hyperpigmented bands that can occur in black people mostly as normal variants, but dark lines especially if vertical lines can be a sign of melanoma cancer in black people but some of the distinguishing features that increase the chances of cancer is sudden change in appearance and if it affects only one nail. PARONYCHIA can occur as immediate appearance or long term and in most cases is caused by bacterial invasion of the folds of tissue surrounding the nail. Similarly, it can be fast in onset, red with pain and most are caused by bacterial infection but the non infectious causes can be excessive moisture, contact irritants and trauma. Antibiotics both oral ointments normally take care of the bacterial paronychia. Peolpe at risk of bacterial paronychia are bartenders, dishwashers and habitual nail biters. SQUAMOUS CELL CANCER ON NAILS can initially appear as a discoloration to nails but if the colour change is fast, does not get better with antibiotic/treatment and changing shape, biopsy needs to be done for definite diagnosis CLUBBING involves thickening of the nail beds soft tissue, affects all fingernails and nails are shaped like a diamond shaped opening that

Photographs show different types of nail abnormalities

appears when the digits are opposite each other. It is thought to be caused by alteration in vasculature and can be a sign of various diseases. Example of such diseases include liver damage and lung damage from smoking KOILONYCIA a condition that makes the nail concave is called spoon tail and is associated with anaemia which can be corrected with proper diet.

Health News 29

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

Rotary seeks cataract patients for free 1,500 surgeries Appolonia Adeyemi

ith more than one million cataract affected patients , suffering from complete or partial blindness in the country, the Rotary Club of Palm Groove Estate is providing poor and underprivileged cataract patients free surgical treatment. To this end, the Rotary Palm Groove Estate has advised all residents of Lagos and Abeokuta who can be prospective beneficiaries of humanitarian free cataract surgery to visit the club’s office premises at No 1,D’Alberto Road, Palm Groove Estate, Ilupeju. Although the screening started last Saturday, April 18, more eye screenings have been scheduled to hold at the Rotary’s Club’s office in Ilupeju on April 25, May 1st, 2nd, 9th, and 16th. The club is expecting around 400 to 500 patients every Saturday for the initial screening from which the probable cataract patients, needing surgeries will be shortlisted, said Mukesh Bhat, past president of Rotary Club of Palm Groove Estate and chairman of the club’s Light Up Rotary programme tagged, ‘Mission for Vision’. He added that the club “is targeting around 800 to 900 such patients for final surgeries, which will be done from May 25 onwards at the Lagos General Hospital, Marina”. Similarly, Bhat noted that the activity is conducted at Abeokuta in Ogun State, wherein the club is expecting surgeries of around 500 to 600 patients. A cataract is a clouding of the lens inside the eye which leads to a decrease in vision. It is the most common cause of blindness worldwide and is conventionally treated with surgery. Visual loss occurs because opacification of the lens obstructs light from

passing and being focused on the retina at the back of the eye. Cataract is most commonly due to ageing, but has many other causes. Over time, yellow-brown pigment is deposited in the lens, and this, together with disruption of the lens fibers, reduces the transmission of light and leads to visual problems. Chairman of Publicity, Palm Groove Estate, Ravindra Kamat disclosed that God sent philanthropists, late Dr. Viral Purohit representing Rotary Eye Institute Navsari, India & Rotn. Naranbhai Patel, representing Rotary Club of Lagos - Rotary Palm Groove Estate joined to assist in making medical facilities available to the poor and underprivileged cataract patients free of cost. Kamat said their dream came into reality with the huge support of Indian as well as Nigerian supporters of humanity and Rotary Eye Institute Navsari India in partnership with the Rotary Club of Lagos Palm Groove Estate to provide free cataract eye surgeries every year in Lagos and Abeokuta. “A full-fledged team of doctors and para-medical staff from India come specially to Nigeria every year to conduct these surgeries,” the chairman of publicity added. “Normally such surgeries would cost anything around N200,000 which is beyond any poor patient’s pocket, but the Rotary Club of Palm Groove Estate does it absolutely free,” said the chairman of ‘Mission for Vision’. He added, “On top of it, a kit, medicines, black goggles are also provided to the beneficiaries.’ According to him, the club has accomplished 18,000 free eye surgeries successfully, “a project which has changed lives for thousands of families in Nigeria.”

A patient doing eye screening ahead of the Free Cataract Surgery by the Rotary Club of Palm Groove Estate

Study: Fake drugs pose urgent risk

hen you take a medication for, say, high cholesterol, do you know that pill is really what the label says it is? Depending upon the type of medicine and where you live, the threat of falsified medications (also referred to as counterfeit, fraudulent, and substandard) can be quite real, yet the full scope and prevalence of the problem is poorly understood, said researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in a new report published April 20 in the ‘American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.’ Counterfeit medicines have traditionally been defined as those for which the identity or source is mislabeled in a way that makes them appear to be a genuine product when they are not, though definitions of the problem itself are the subject of international debate. The UC San Diego report is part of a special journal supplement featuring a variety of studies examining aspects of the “global pandemic of falsified medicines.” Produced by diverse universities and institutions across the country and world, the supplement investigates the quality of vital, broadly sold drugs, such as anti-malarials and antibiotics; new tests and assays to detect counterfeit drugs; and proposed

policy changes and laws to reduce the distribution and sale of falsified medications. The UC San Diego study looked at the depth of counterfeit drug penetration in global legitimate medicine supply chains. “Our study was based on data from the Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI), a non-profit organisation with members from the pharmaceutical security community,” said lead author Tim K. Mackey, MAS, PhD, assistant professor of anesthesiology and global public health, director of the Global Health Policy Institute and associate director of the joint masters program in health policy and law. “PSI data is collected from its industry members, law enforcement, drug regulators, the pharmaceutical industry, and media reports, and confirmed by a team of multilingual investigators. It’s the only study of its kind with global statistics on counterfeit medications. We limited the scope to legitimate supply chains, places where you expect to get legitimate medicines, such as hospitals and pharmacies.” The primary finding and “surprise,” said Mackey, is how little is known about the precise scope of the problem and how few mechanisms exist to monitor it despite the availability of some data.

During the period studied, 2009 through 2011, there were 1,510 total counterfeit incidence reports tabulated by the PSI. But “nobody has a good idea how big the problem really is,” said Mackey. “There are guesses, but it’s hard to get accurate statistics on a criminal activity of this magnitude.” The falsified drug problem is not new, just bigger than ever, said experts. It covers widely used drugs, notably anti-malarials, and more high-value, high-demand drugs, such as medications to treat HIV/AIDS, serious cardiovascular disease and cancer. According to a 2000 World Health Organisation (WHO) report, almost one-third of identified counterfeit drugs contained no active ingredient; and more than 20 percent either had incorrect quantities of active ingredients or contained the wrong ingredients. Other fraudulent practices included false packaging and high levels of impurities. Each year, it is estimated between 100,000 and one million people die from using counterfeit drugs. “The most important takeaway of our study is that we don’t have the necessary data or surveillance to effectuate meaningful public health interventions or policy change,” Mackey said.

Bauchi bank introduces free medical assistance Mohammed Kawu Bauchi

ijarah Micro Finance Bank, a Bauchi based Islamic financial institution has said that it would soon introduce free medical assistance package for patients seeking medical support in the state. The Managing Director, Jamil Hassan who unveiled the Bank’s plan, explained that it has recently introduced feeding scheme to the less privileged

members of the society called ‘Sabil’ to ameliorate their sufferings and enable them have a sense of belonging. Hassan who was weekend commenting on the operation of the bank in Bauchi, noted that the Islamic bank has therefore introduced different packages to economically and socially empower less privileged members of the society. According to him, the bank has also empowered small and medium enterprises in Bauchi as part of its deliber-

ate effort to create wealth among citizens and diversify the economy of the state He said that the bank as Interest-free financial organisation, prospective customers and entrepreneurs are eligible to benefit its “shams and Qamar” packages where they are to open account and secure interest-free loan to improve their businesses. Alhaji Jamil Hassan recalled that the bank achieved fifty percent of its mandate in the state since its establishment

in October last year, as it captured high number of customers. He outlined the objectives of the bank which includes nurturing small and medium enterprises with a view to promoting its operations, revealing further that plans are underway to expand its scope to local government areas of the state, as well as neighbouring states Tijarah Bank was established October last year following the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in principle to operate in the state.

Health News

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Stakeholders task Buhari on health sector Ladi Patrick Abuja

L-R: Chairman, Services Project, Rotary Club of Palm Groove Estate, Suresh Nair; Past President of the club, Suman Ramesh; Past President and Chairman of the Club’s ‘Mission for Vision’ project, Makesh Bhat; and Rotary’s Chairman of Publicity, Ravindra Kamat at the press conference to announce Rotary Palm Groove Estate free cataract surgery held in Lagos recently

Orile-Imo community benefits from Nestlé boreholes Esther Albert

bout 10,000 community members from Orile-Imo community in Owode-Egba, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, will now have access to safe and clean water. This came to light last Saturday when Nestlé Nigeria donated two water boreholes to the community which is located near Nestle Flowergate Factory, in Ogun State. Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Nestlé Nigeria, Mr. Dharnesh Gordhon said: “We are committed to improving access to water and sanitation across our value chain. We believe there

is a clear and compelling economic case for businesses to demonstrate leadership by addressing lack of access to safe water in rural areas.” The WHO estimates that every person needs 50 to 100 litres of fresh water per day to meet their basic daily needs. But, more than 63 million people in Nigeria still don’t have access to safe water. Lack of access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene can cause illness or death, impairs productivity, and restricts markets for some products and services. Improved water availability and access is essential for rural development and quality of life in the communities Nestlé depends on for manufacturing and for raw material supply.

In his response, His Royal Highness, Oba Matthew Kolawole Olubiyi, Olu of Orile-Imo thanked Nestlé Nigeria for the donation. He recalled that the company in 2013, renovated two blocks of six classrooms at St Paul’s Anglican Nursery and Primary School, the only school in the community. He stated: “Nestlé is an exemplary corporate citizen that cares about the wellbeing of the communities from which the company draws agricultural commodities and local labour.” In appreciation of Nestlé’s contribution to the economic and social development of the Orile Imo community, Oba Olubiyi announced that the council of chiefs and the entire community unanimously decided to honour

Nestlé Nigeria Managing Director with the prestigious title of Taiyese (someone who makes the world a better place to live in) of Orile Imo and his wife, Anita Gordhon with Yeye Taiyese of Orile Imo. In Nigeria, Nestlé is also raising awareness on water conservation through its sponsorship of ‘Project WET’, a global water education programme implemented in schools. To date 3,275 children and 161 teachers have benefited from it. These activities are part of Creating Shared Value, the company’s way of doing business. This is based on Nestlé’s firm belief that for a company to prosper over the long term and create value for shareholders it must create value for society.

eproductive Health and Family Planning stakeholders in Nigeria had advised the President-elect, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to give priority to the health sector through the provision of cost-effective interventions and accelerates investment in Family Planning, Reproductive Health and Women Empowerment, saying these would reduce the incidents of maternal and child mortality in the country. Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, the National Coordinator, Civil Society for Family Planning in Nigeria (CiSFP) Mr. Wale Adeleye noted that health services were very critical in any society as it had to do with human lives as well as improve economic development of a nation. According to him, “Health services should be put in the front burner and I will task the incoming government to even do more than the current administration had done. Adeleye called for the speedy implementation of the 2014 National Health bill and an increase in funding for health to be committed to 15 per cent of the national budget as previously agreed. “The president elect should also encourage unfettered access to maternal health, by removing barriers to access

compulsory blood donation, high cost of health services, power and inadequate drugs. “The new government should also put the requisite mechanism in place to monitor and enforce quality services in health facilities. “Adopt best practices that have been confirmed to reduce maternal deaths and work towards achieving FP 2020 target, of 36 per cent contraception prevalence rate.” According to him, “reproductive Health and Family Planning services and commodities must be available and accessible to adolescents, youths and women of reproductive age”. He lamented that the commitment by the federal government to provide a total of $11.35 million for procurement of family planning commodities annually have not been fully realized as promised. The following associations were present at the briefing: Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), Nigeria Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI), Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) Advocacy working Group, Civil Society for Family Planning in Nigeria (CiSFP), Pathfinder International, Evidence for Action (E4A), International Pregnancy Advisory Services (IPAS), among others.

Getting used to colours (3) CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK

n the treatment of mental illness and psychic invasion, yellow is vital. Mentally disturbed persons should be made to wear yellow cloths. In cases of insomnia, hypertension and anxiety, avoid yellow. Yellow helps to relieve mental congestion, confusion and lack of direction. For typhoid fever, liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, indigestion, ear/ eye problems, stone in the gall bladder, yellow will help. Apply yellow oils. Drink orange, Lime, Lemon and grape fruits. Trees of the citrus family are the favourite tree for yellow energy. For active meditation, which involves visualisation, yellow is very useful. Yellow strengthens self-confidence, promotes good self-image, and brings good luck, courage, determination and good memory. When going for interviews and business meetings, yellow is the colour you need. Psychologically, yellow helps us to accept our place in this life. We have the capacity to become what we want to, to have our dreams fulfilled. On the other hand, there

Nature Power Fr. Anselm Adodo, OSB

naturepower@paxherbals.net; twitter: @anselmadodo are many things beyond our control. We just have to change what we can change and accept what we can’t change. We create our own happiness. We should not put the responsibility for our happiness on other people. We are responsible for our lives. We need yellow energy to help us accept the fact that we can take control of things and know that the challenge of our lives consists precisely in finding our balance in the midst of so much to do. GREEN Green is the colour of healing, wisdom and intuition. It is also the colour of nature, of balance and moderation. Lack of balance of the vitamins lead to lack of balance in the body. Our bodies and the cosmos are sustained by subtle arrangement and balance of vitamins and minerals. Too much of one will have a negative

repercussion. The vegetables radiate green energy. Eat plenty of vegetables for energy and strength. Green is good for ulcers, (external and internal), heart problems, and all forms of infections, such as STD, allergy, skin reactions. Rub green oil for all this. When faced with difficult situations where you must make a decision, relax and be still. Wrap a green cloth on your face and head. Green is a helpful colour for leaders, counsellors, and those who make decisions. When confused, unable to sleep or agitated, squeeze bitter leaf in water and drink two glasses. When agitated and worried, you radiate red. The solution is more radiation of green through application of oil to the body, and eating greens like bitter leaf and plantain. Do not make serious decision when your aura is red. Balance it

Green vegetables and fruits

Eat plenty of vegetables for energy and strength

PHOTO: www.mogreenjuice.com

with green before making decision. Green is the colour for healing. We all need healing. A lot of people are sick simply because they do not know why they are here on earth, what they are destined for and what their life is all about. They become confused and find it difficult or even impossible to make decisions. They are afraid of what tomorrow will bring. Such people need a lot of green energy to help them rediscover the dynamism of life. Green gives us wisdom and inspiration to forge ahead in this life. It is true that there is a lot of uncertainty, insecurity, unhappiness, injustice and evil in the world. Yet, we can still be happy, despite all these. In green we find the courage to face life and befriend uncertainties.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

Industry

ICT

Nigeria still imports 60% paint needs

Fixed telephony on the verge of rebirth

Business What's news

Dollar rents: Landlords devise ways to beat CBN’s directive Landlords in exclusive neighbourhoods of Ikoyi and Victoria Island of Lagos who collect dollar rental payments are now mandating accommodation seekers to convert to naira equivalent before remission, no thanks to recent threat by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to wage war against the dollorisation of the economy.

p.32

Telecoms: Nigeria ranks 47th in connectivity index Despite efforts being made by the Federal Government to deepen broadband penetration in Nigeria in its telecoms industry, the country has been comparatively ranked low in terms o connectivity level in the sector.

L-R: Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Obinnia Abajue; Deputy Group Managing Director, Coscharis Group, Mr. Okey Nwuke and Executive Director, Personal Banking, Access Bank, Mr. Victor Etuokwu, at the partnership signing ceremony for the Coscharis Motors auto finance scheme in Lagos.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT Some investors used fictitious names during the indigenisation era Chris Ugwu

p.32

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Tony Chukwunyem

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Dele Alao

Industry & Agric Editor

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Wole Shadare Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

Capital Market Editor

Abdulwahab Isa

ontrary to expectations that efforts by regulators and other stakeholders would lead to a significant reduction in unclaimed dividends, the investors’ return on investment (RoI) have continued to rise year-onyear without being claimed. Checks by New Telegraph revealed the value of unclaimed dividends to have increased to about N90 billion as at the first quarter of 2015. A senior staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told our correspondent on the condition of anonymity that efforts were being made to bring down the value, which has been of great concern to market regulators and investors. He expressed disappoint-

ment that the e-dividend system of payment, which was introduced by the SEC and adjudged to be more acceptable in addressing the delays associated with the verification of proceeds of public offers as well as delay encountered by investors in getting returns on their investments, had not recorded the expected impact to help in checking the menace. Chairman, Board of SEC, Alhaji Suleiman Ndanusa, had said at the maiden meeting with publishers and chief executive officers of media organisations in Nigeria that the commission was going to reduce the quantum of unclaimed dividends in the Nigerian Capital Market, which then stood at N60 billion. “We are going to reduce the quantum of unclaimed divi-

INFLATION RATE February 2015.........................8.4% January 2015...........................8.2% December 2014.........................8%

LENDING RATE InterBank Rate....................12.57% Prime Lending Rate...........17.93% Maximum Lending Rate...26.83%

Finance Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Unclaimed dividends hit N90bn dends. When I was at SEC from 1999 to 2004, I was an advocate for doing away with unclaimed dividends, because it’s a governance issue,” he said. Ndanusa, who expressed worry over the rising wave of unclaimed dividends, affirmed that at the time he was the Director General (DG) of the Commission, the level of unclaimed dividends was just about N8 billion. The SEC Chairman said that it was either a company was declaring paper profit and

N8 billion Value of unclaimed dividends about eight years ago

does not want to pay dividends or that it was giving other excuses. The market must do something to ensure that this practice is stopped, “otherwise in the next three to four years, we would probably be talking of hundreds of billions of naira as unclaimed dividends.” A senior broker told New Telegraph on the condition of anonymity that the inability of the registrars to key into the e-process had remained a constraint to the initiative meant to reduce unclaimed dividends. Reasons responsible for the growth of unclaimed dividends include issues of shareholders who have died and without information on next of kin, multiple applications by applicants CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

Rates Dashboard EXCHANGE RATE (BDC as at Apr. 10)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N207 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N300 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N230

l Foreign Reserves – $29.589bn as at 4/04/2015

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Interbank as at Apr. 10)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N200 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N301 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N214

Business | News

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

MONETARY POLICY

CBN has declared war against dollarisation of the economy Dayo Ayeyemi

andlords in exclusive neighbourhoods of Ikoyi and Victoria Island of Lagos who collect dollar rental payments are now mandating accommodation seekers to convert to naira equivalent before remission, no thanks to recent threat by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to wage war against the dollorisation of the economy. Despite the threat, New Telegraph discovered that some of the vacant apartments in Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Lekki neighbourhoods still secretly carry dollar price tags. Survey by New Telegraph revealed that some three bedroom apartments in neighbourhoods such as Victoria Island Extension and Adeola Odeku Street are still valued in dollars. Though not displayed by property owners, findings from estate surveyors in the area showed rental values of $85,000 per annum on luxury three bedroom apartments, while rents of two and one bedrooms in the locations cost $55,000 and $25,000 per annum. Wary of the implications if caught, further investigations revealed that some of the landlords were now mandating new tenants to convert the rent to naira equivalent.

L-R: American Transportation Safety Administration’s (TSA) Attaché for Central and West Africa, Ms Loretta Mcneir; Federal Security Director, Transport Security Administration [TSA], Germany, Mr David Basset; Personal Assistant to the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority (FAAN), Mr. Ma’azu Dahir; Managing Director /CEO, Saleh Dunoma and General Manager, Planning, Multilateral Relation and Data Management, Mrs. Nse Ikiddeh, at the 53rd Airports Council International (ACI) Board meeting and regional conference in Casablanca, Morocco .

Dollar rents: Landlords devise ways to beat CBN’s directive Before now, most landlords had insisted on dollar rental payments due to the on-going plunge in oil revenues, coupled with naira devaluation. CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had recently declared war against the dollarisation of the economy by landlords and school owners in Lagos and Abuja. Emefiele said: “It is illegal in Nigeria to transact business in foreign currency. We will be looking at areas where people are

Unclaimed dividends hit N90bn CONTINUED FROM PAG E 3 1

during the investment process and deliberate actions to deny investors their benefit through various schemes by some registrars and companies who lack liquidity to pay. Other factors are loss of dividend warrants following poor postal system, change of mailing addresses without notifying the registrars and lack of awareness on the part of some investors. The Managing Director, Crane Securities Limited, Mr. Mike Okpara Eze, while reacting to the rising unclaimed dividends, said that majority of the problems bedeviling the e-dividend emanated from shareholders. Eze traced the genesis of the rising unclaimed dividends to the indigenisation era of the administration of General Yakubu Gowon. According to him, “during this exercise, those in position of authority who had the wherewithal ac-

quired shares in the privatised companies with fictitious names of their drivers, cooks, gardeners, dead brothers, dead fathers, in such a way that when the dividends came, they were not able to claim them because there is no such persons to claim it.” Also, the Managing Director, Lambeth Trust and Investment Company Limited, Mr. David Adonri, explained that unclaimed dividends were increasing every year due to several factors. According to him, the problem started several years ago during the indigenisation exercises when several shareholders made multiple subscriptions in fictitious names whose signatures they cannot remember. He noted that the affected shareholders were also unable to open bank accounts in these fictitious names for the purpose of e-dividend collection.

making demands for foreign currency; people who are landlords who are asking for rents in dollars; schools that are asking for school fees in dollars or transacting business in dollars.” The CBN governor noted that the demand for foreign currency has been impacting on the rate at which the naira is being exchanged for dollar. The declaration of war by the CBN governor has been be a source of concern for landlords

in locations such as Ikoyi, Victoria Island and some parts of Abuja highbrow locations where rents are denominated in foreign currency. Speaking with New Telegraph, Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Lagos chapter, Mr. Stephen Jagun, confirmed that most of the landlords now advise accommodation seekers to convert the dollar rent to naira before payment.

CHALLENGE

Nigeria should strengthen its broadband blueprint implementation in the coming years to deepen penetration Kunle Azeez

espite efforts being made by the Federal Government to deepen broadband penetration in Nigeria in its telecoms industry, the country has been comparatively ranked low in terms o connectivity level in the sector. This is according to a new connectivity index report released by a global ICT firm, Huwaei Technologies. The report, which is the second annual Global Connectivity Index (GCI) of Huawei released in Shenzhen, China, during the week, ranked 50 economies in terms of connectivity, ICT usage and digital transformation. The index focuses on a total of 38 variables such as networks, connectivity, computing, mobile adoption, digital economy, service demand and e-commerce to

He disclosed that there have been situations where home seekers would discover that their rents were outrageous after conversion to naira. In such occasions, he said that home seekers would have to sit with the landlords to agree on a reasonable price common to the neighbourhoods through the intervention of a professional estate surveyor. He said: “When some of the home seekers convert $85,000 to naira

and find out that it is up toN17 million per annum; they see the rent as outrageous. They always seek audience with landlords through the professional estate surveyor in charge of the house and at the end agree on a reasonable price base on the value of other property.” Despite the current economic downturn in the country, real estate is still seen as a safer haven for investors. Prices for luxury apartments in Ikoyi, Lekki and Victoria Island of Lagos currently range between N120 million and N700 million, depending on location, while rental values range between N2.5 million and N5 million per annum.

Telecoms: Nigeria ranks 47th in connectivity index determine the position of each of the 50 nations. The variables are divided across four areas namely supply, demand, experience and potential being measured and analysed. The 50 countries are listed under three categories - leaders, followers and beginners on the GCI list. According to the report, South Africa and Egypt are ranked number 33 and 36 respectively and fall under the followers’ category. While, Morocco, Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana fall under the beginners section of the index – the countries are ranked 42, 43, 46, 47, and 48 respectively. Already, Huawei has said that for ICT growth, African countries need to develop national broadband strategies to compete with developing nations. New Telegraph learnt that though five countries in Africa were ahead of Nigeria in connectivity index, according to the

report, Nigerian government has put in place a broadband strategy aimed at increasing broadband penetration fivefolds by 2018. While close to 40 per cent of Nigerians are connected to the Internet, official data show that actual broadband penetrationhigh-speed access- in Nigeria is still around eight per cent. The telecoms industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has also lined up activities such as the auctioning of 2.6Gz and 5.4GHz spectrum bands as well as the licensing of infrastructure companies (InfraCos) to bridge broadband infrastructure gap in the country. Meanwhile, commenting on the connectivity index report, Principal Analyst for Global Connectivity, Index Group Market Insight Department of Huawei, Ms Chin Foong Ling, said that countries with higher GCI scores were also countries with a higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

‘Govt not interested in growing private sector’ p.34

Industry

Nigeria still imports 60% paint needs DEARTH Manufacturers not producing up to 40 per cent of the country’s paint needs Dele Alao

espite its huge potential in terms of employment generations and multiplier effects on the economy, the paint industry in the country is in near comatose. Checks showed that the paint industry, which consists of architectural paints, industrial paints and marine paints used in the oil and gas industry for protection rather than decorative purposes, is operating below the optimal capacity. The Chairman, Paint Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Mr. Sulaimon Tella, said in Lagos that the country still imports over 60 per cent of the country’s paint needs as a result of local manufacturers’ dwindling production capacity of less than 40 per cent. According to experts in the sector, one of the major problems militating against paint manufacturing just like any other business is access to fund and working capital.

“Sourcing loans in Nigeria is very difficult. The commercial banks’ interest rate is too high for any manufacturing company to pay and still survive. Manufacturing is different from trading. In trading you can do many turnaround of the fund, but this is not so in manufacturing as it takes a longer period. Due to this high interest rate, we do not apply for loans in Nigeria. Even the Bank of Industry (BoI) only finances equipment and not working capital, but they need to blend, once they can do that, the sky is the limit,” the experts said. They added that importation of substandard paint from abroad was another problem militating against the industry. Meanwhile, Tella, who noted that the prospects in paint lie not in decorating, but protective, said that for instance the oil and gas pipes, where the refinery pumps at zero degree centigrade has to be coated and protected. “A gallon of protective paint costs about N4,500, but a gallon of protective coated paint like Aesol is about N14,000. Unfortunately for the local producer of paints, most of the oil and gas companies hide under the pretence that they cannot get quality coated and protective paint from Nigeria and then import the protective paint, and in the process bring in oth-

PZ Wilmar gets ISO certification Shola Adefuwa

palm oil processing, packaging and distribution company, PZ Wilmar Nigeria Ltd, has been awarded the International Standard Organisation (ISO) 22000:2005 Certification for food safety. The Managing Director, West Africa, PZ Wilmar Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Santosh Pillai, said at the presentation of the certificate in Lagos that the certification was an affirmation of the firm’s commitment to delivering safe products. He added that the certification made the company the first palm oil processing, packaging and distribution company to achieve the feat without extension from any parent company or parent site. “ISO 22000:2005 is an international standard on food safety that confirms that a company’s supply chain process is well under control, and safety and quality of all products from its factory down the value chain to the end consumer is guaranteed.To provide a demonstrable food safety management system, PZ Wilmar Limited was subjected to rigorous stages one and two Certification Audit by Bureau Veritas, following documentation and implemen-

tation according to ISO 22000: 2005 standard,” Pillai said. On his part, the Deputy Manager, Technical of the company, Mr. Nana Damoah, said that the company sought the ISO certification to ensure that its products were manufactured in line with international standards and are safe. Also, Systems Certification Manager, a global leader in testing, inspection and certification, Bureau Veritas, Mrs. Adenike Akinbote, said that the process for ISO certification was not easy and that PZ Wilmar made it after fulfilling all its criteria. She, however, said the certification could be withdrawn or suspended if the company’s food safety and quality standard fails in future. The feat, which is a demonstration of the company’s commitment to its organisation, food safety and quality policy, came on the heels of an investment of about $80 million in crude palm oil refinery. The investment, according to Pillai, was in line with the company’s backward integration aimed at developing local capacity of palm oil production and restoring Nigeria’s position and visibility as a global player in palm oil.

er forms of paints,” he said. He added: “When government realised the problem of influx of all sorts of paints, it enacted the local content law and inaugurated a board to protect the local producers. Though it has good intention in putting in place the local content law, but it is not considering what it takes to achieve the objective. A good example is that of a quality assurance for

the paint industry where the country can save lots of foreign exchange. Quality certification for coated protective paint is not done in Nigeria, which is what is needed by the oil and gas industry, all they need is quality product. For instance, we are paying $50,000 for the certification of one set of paint in Europe, so it will do us a lot of good if the certification is done here in Nigeria,

thereby saving us lots of foreign exchange. Supplying protective and coated paint to oil and gas industry is money spinning, but the classification and certification certificate is the problem as it cannot be done in Nigeria, and majority of the chief executives of the oil and gas industry are foreigners so they prefer to import the paints where it has been certified.”

L-R: Executive Director, Coleman Wires and Cables, Mr. Michael Onafowokan, Managing Director/CEO, Mr. George Onafowokan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga and the company’s Chairman, Otunba Solomon Onafowokan, during Aganga’s visit to Coleman Wires and Cables Industry in Sagamu, Ogun State.

Firm wants Buhari to develop mining

n Abuja-based mining firm, Nasaman Mining Company Ltd., has called on the president-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to develop small-scale miners in order to develop the sector. Addressing the media in Abuja recently, Chairman of the company, Mr. Mamman Ali, said that over 80 per cent of the solid minerals in the country was produced by artisanal and small-scale miners. The chairman said that the groups lacked both financial and technical capabilities to develop as a truly sustainable industry as mining was capital intensive.

He urged government to adequately fund the mining sector and encourage miners to add value to the raw products from mining instead of exporting the raw materials. Ali said that development of the sector would ensure acceleration of economic diversification, attract foreign investments, create employment opportunities and teach technical skills to operators. The chairman advised government to ensure continuity of the roadmap and other policies of government for rapid development of the sector. Ali said that the company had been operating in line

with Federal Government’s road map, industrial revolution plan and others, to ensure best global practice. He said that the Operations Manager of the company was also an adviser to the UN on artisanal mining development. He said: “We are already providing jobs, teaching technical skills and drawing the artisanal population out of economic obscurity. They have been neglected for long. Using our processing facility across the country will empower millions of them. The mining industry in Nigeria is young and requires expatriate expertise to assist.”

NASME urges in-coming govt to revive SMEs

he National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) has urged the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to revive small scale businesses. Executive Secretary, NASME, Mr. Eke Ubiji, said in Lagos that sustained policies on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) would enhance economic development. Ubiji, who noted that Buhari’s experience in governance was an added advantage to have a better

understanding of the needs of the real sector and its strategic place in sustaining national development, said: “The president-elect should give cognisance to MSMEs by addressing the various challenges facing it because that sector will help generate employment for its teeming unemployed youths. The challenges of infrastructure, transportation and power are critical to the survival and growth of viable MSMEs. The issue of multiple taxes should

also be addressed. If you listen to entrepreneurs in different parts of the country, they are saying the same thing. Federal Government is charging tax, states and local governments are also charging, all on a sector that is not moving forward.” He added that for Nigeria to attain its goal of becoming one of the top economies, special attention should be given to MSMEs, a critical sector that would drive the economy effectively.

Business | Industry

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘Govt not interested in growing private sector’ Professor Bello Akingbade, the chief executive officer, Machine & Mercantile Warehouse International Limited has, in the past three decades, passed through the business environment in Nigeria. He bares his mind on challenges facing the private sector, especially the vexed issue of poor power supply, the need for government to streamline regulatory agencies, among other issues in this interview with OLUSHOLA RICKETTS What exactly do you do at Machine & Mercantile Warehouse? Machine & Mercantile Warehouse International Limited was registered in Nigeria several years back and we specialise in the importation and resale of high quality packaging machines, plastic blow and injection machines, nylon extruders, freezing and air conditioning equipment and generating sets, among others. Our company has more than 5000 square meters of modern standard show room with over 500 sets of equipment. The company has invested in new technologies over the years. We have both patents and design rights on several machines, including ice block machines, bottling plant, pet bottle machine, water filter tanks etc. Our products cover over 80 types of machines, such as: packaging machinery, building materials machine, ice block and ice cream machines, candle, tooth pick, school chalk machines, wood working series, diesel engines & generating sets, bakery machines among others. We have created many excellent achievements and won good reputation from our extensive customers and established a stable position in the industry. We welcome clients from home and abroad to honor us with full enthusiasm and sincere cooperative attitude. Why are you not manufacturing machines in Nigeria? I decided to take my designs overseas to manufacture at the height of government irresponsibility. There was no electricity to power us; we were not encouraged at all. It was a running battle between us and government agencies. You pay double tax and you still need to deal with corrupt government agencies. Though the initial idea was to make money, it became a passion at a point. It was challenges that really pushed me into taking my designs overseas. My machines are produced over there and I ship them here. What has been the challenges? There are several challenges facing the industry. For instance, getting visa to some parts of the countries where we have operations could be troublesome due to the insurgency and perception that an average Nigerian is a criminal. We are also subjected to racism. I have been personally refused hotel accommodation in China on several occasions despite possessing a yellow card. Nigerians are specially screened at the point of entry into other countries. Foreign countries read a lot of negative stories on corruption, insurgency, human and drug trafficking, murder, assassinations, strange diseases, etc about us and this is really telling on our image. Competition from foreigners is another problem facing local traders and manufacturers. The Lebanese or Chinese are competing with us and most times evade taxes. They have better chances of smuggling and bring-

Consumer Complaints Commission is of no use. Billions of naira is paid as grant to this and several agencies that are contributing nothing to the economy. They constitute waste and business bottle -neck. A situation where SON will want to regulate drugs, food and drinks is not acceptable. It is the duty of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to look into the quality and administration of the items. Duties on goods that are not made in Nigeria should be minimal and goods that are in need by the masses should carry almost zero per cent duty. For instance, bicycles and motorcycles are used by local farmers and poor masses to enhance their means of livelihood. Inconsistent electricity is another big problem facing our growth. Any government that can solve the problem of electricity would have solved almost half of our problems. Nigerians are hard working people. We provide our water, electricity, security, road, etc and still pay tax. Give us electricity today and I see crime reducing by half in the first year. With constant electricity, one could use money diverted into running generators in setting up other businesses. You won’t only employ yourself, but you will help to develop the country. Most of those goods imported into Nigeria could be locally manufactured with consistent electricity, enabling environment and policies. Also, government should set up special courts to try petty stealing and abuse of business trust. Several companies have been shut down due to the activities of fraudulent employees. Corruption is an area a good government should look into. A corrupt individual is insatiable and can go at any length to seek more and frustrate possible prosecution and punishment for his crime. It is one of the reasons there are insurgents around the world because insurgency is funded by money realised through corruption. No hard working individual will finance such venture with his hard earned money because he knows what he went through to get the money. Another way to move the industry forward is to make politics a business of service to the people and not a money stealing or sharing forum. Let our lawmakers and similar bodies work on bases of sitting allowances. We should remove immunity clause from governors and make politicians declare their assets before and after office. People see our policemen as enemies of the public. It is not so. In fact, Nigeria police is one of the best in the world. If you have seen American, European or Asian Police made an arrest, you will understand my point. Do you know that the business of policing has been commercialised in many countries? Their policemen have daily targets on the number of arrests to be made. You pay penalty for speed. Also, police needs constant training, promotions, good salary and other emoluments. A better-paid, trained, equipped Nigeria police will be in a good state of mind to fight crime.

Akingbade

ing in substandard products into the country through the cooperation of the agencies in their home country. They hide under the Libra Economy Law. Presence of multiple agencies at the seaports is another serious problem. Some of them are usurpers. They are there for selfish interest and they deliberately delay cargo clearance to realise this ambition. Another challenge is in the area of terms and conditions of business relations with foreign partners. Only a few foreign partners will allow “letter of credit” as a term of trade from Nigerians. Letter of credit means guaranteed payment from a Nigerian bank after delivery of goods. They believe that Nigerian banks are weak and unreliable. Economic, currency and policy instability had contributed to this assertion too. How have you been able to survive these past years? My biggest asset is character and trust. This is a driving force and the reason I am in this line of business for over three decades. I didn’t diversify and I am happy about that. Business climate in Nigeria is generally dull. There is insecurity and there are no infrastructures. Purchasing power is eroded daily and government is not interested in growing the private sector. Foreigners are granted duty waivers and soft landing, while the indigenous business people groan under very hash terms and conditions in the ports and hands of government agencies. If you do business successfully in Nigeria you can do it better in any part of the world. How do you think government could help? Government can help us by creating an enabling environment. Multiple taxes should be checked; agencies of government doing the same thing should be scrapped. For instance, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is enough to check standardisation. This same agency has a whole unit in charge of consumer complaints. So, the establishment of

Any government that can solve the problem of electricity would have solved almost half of our problems

How do you advise new entrants into the industry? They are welcome; it is a good line of business. But honestly, this is not the right time to do this because the purchasing power in Nigeria is presently low. You need experience; you need funding; you need good health and endurance; you need honest foreign partners and good workers. You should also know that production machines do not sell like hot cake; you have to be patient to strive in the business. Experience really thought me all these. Do you really think things could get better? Honestly, I see the future of this and other businesses in Nigeria very bright. God has blessed Nigeria; we have both upscale human and natural resources. I see Nigeria being the Dubai of Africa, the China of Africa and the United States of Africa. With good leaders, Nigeria certainly will get there very soon.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

ICT

Samsung’s annual sales in Nigeria, others hit $196bn p.36

Fixed telephony on the verge of rebirth Contrary to prediction on the apparent extinction of fixed telephony in Nigeria, recent developments suggest that the country may witness a rebound of fixed line business, reports KUNLE AZEEZ

oing by the official industry statistics by telecoms industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), it would be unthinkable for anybody to suggest that fixed telephony business can witness a rebound in Nigeria. For instance, according to the latest statistic released by the NCC for February this year, fixed line segment has the worst outlook in terms of subscriber base, when compared with the subscriber base on the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks and those of the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). According to the NCC, Nigeria’s telecommunications sector currently has 142.5 million active telephone subscribers. Of this figure, GSM networks control 140.2 million (98.38 per cent), while CDMA and fixed line networks control 2.1 million (1.49 per cent) and 183,270 (0.13 per cent respectively. Inactive status Over the years, the poor performance of most local telecoms companies, majority of which are either in the fixed line segment of the CDMA section, have become alarming, a development that has also necessitated the regulator to categorise such companies as inactive. Last year, NCC declared 13 telecoms networks as inactive operators though they were hitherto vibrant in the industry. New Telegraph learnt that the affected operators became inactive, following the total loss of their customers to other operators that are currently pulling weight in the industry. Majority of the inactive operators had since gone into dormancy and could no longer offer competitive services to their customers who decided to choose other network operators, mostly the GSM networks. Consequently, the list of inactive operators, which is made up of one national carrier, one GSM operator, five CDMA operators and six fixed wired/ wireless operators, includes NITEL, MTel, Starcomms, Reliance Telecoms (Zoom Mobile), Intercellular, MTS First Communications,

Minister of CommTech, Omobola Johnson

Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Eugene Juwah

the bid price within 90 days. NATCOM Consortium won the bid to acquire the assets with a bid price of $252.25 million on Wednesday, December 3, 2014, when the financial proposal of its bid was publicly opened. Consequently, the Chairman of the Consortium, Dr. Olatunde Ayeni, on Monday, December 22, 2014, in Abuja, signed the Assets Sale Agreement and was given the Offer Letter by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). NITEL, till now, has one of the most expansive and national fixed line infrastructures, which the new owners can larch on to offer fixed line services in a more innovative way, in a country where the cost of mobile telephony, which most Nigerians are already used to, is still comparatively higher.

WiTel, O’ Net (Odua Telecoms), Rainbownet, Monarch Communications, Xs Broadband, Webcom, and Disc Communications. However, fresh findings have shown that the only surviving CDMA operator in the country, owned by the Founder of Zenith Bank Plc., Mr. Jim Ovia, is on the brink of being acquired by South African MTN Nigeria in an ongoing talks, whose value is yet to be unmasked. NITEL’ successful sales While the foregoing may have suggested an end to both fixed line networks and CDMA business in the fastest-growing telecoms market in Africa, industry pundits said that two recent developments in the industry have pointed to a possible rebound of the fixed line networks. One of the developments, they said, is the successful sale of NITEL/Mtel to new owners, NATCOM Consortium. The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), a fortnight ago, confirmed that NATCOM, the preferred bidder for NITEL and MTEL assets, had paid the balance of its total bid for the purchase of the national telecoms entity. NATCOM Consortium, had, in January this year, paid $75.75 million, which is about N12.7 billion being 30 per cent of the $252.5 million bid price for the acquisition of the assets. The deposit payment was in line with the offer letter by the BPE to NATCOM, which mandated it to make an initial deposit of 30 per cent of the bid price not later than 14 days on receipt of the offer letter. With the payment of the 30 per cent, NATCOM was expected to pay the balance of 70 per cent of

Anywhere in the world, landline is always almost 40 per cent cheaper than the normal mobile lines

Staging Intercellular’s comeback The second development, pointing to the resurgence of fixed telephone business in the country, is the reported purchase of a majority stake in the dormant Intercellular by a Jordanian investor. While most might dismiss this as just another wild goose chase by investors who do not know their “telecom onions”, Brandish online reported that there was available information, which clearly suggests that the network was making its return with a war-chest that could shake even the biggest. “Malam Ahmad El-Rufai, founder of Intercellular, had his last real public outing as Chairman of the company more than a year ago on March 24, 2014 but it appears that so much have been happening behind the scenes and may lead up to what promises to be stern competition in the Nige-

rian telephony and telecommunications landscape,” the report said. It was gathered that El-Rufai, having struggled without success, to breathe life into a brand that was once the nation’s number one, has reportedly followed the wise counsel of selling the company. Already, reports indicate that the Jordanian billionaire is the next owner of the company in a deal said to be worth N15 billion. However, this is quite a tidy sum for a company with little or no hopes of full and proper recovery. Analysts say that the market has moved on since the fixed wireless networks lost their voices to the loud drums of the GSM operators, who have effectively taken over the voice, data and associated lifestyle businesses. But as Malam El-Rufai laughs all the way to the bank, following what looks like a good deal, industry observers maintained that the Nigerian market is set to be treated to a new deal in telecommunications services by the new owners of Intercellular. Already, reports say that the Jordanian investors in Intercellular will bring to the market, a new form of telephony system that play heavily on the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) platform, a channel that will not only be cheaper, but will also connect to the new playground of young people in Nigeria, the internet. According to sources, the investors have taken critical looks at the Nigerian telecom industry and seem to have seen gaps such as drop calls, frustrations in data services, among others and are determined to invade the market with best-in-the-world VoIP infrastructure and interface that will draw millions of young people to the network. Stakeholders’ expectations Meanwhile, industry stakeholders have counseled on the need, especially for new owners of NITEL/Mtel, to ensure they leverage the expansive infrastructure of the telecoms network to revive the fixed line. President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi, said: “NITEL also has the opportunity to venture into the process of resuscitating landline network, which has almost been relegated to the background by the mobile telephony.” Also reacting, President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, (NATCOMS), Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, said, “As a national carrier, we expect to see the return of landline. I expect the return of the landline calls to Nigerians. Usually, anywhere in the world, landline is always almost 40 per cent cheaper than the normal mobile lines that all of are now used to in Nigeria.”

Business | ICT

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Samsung’s annual sales in Nigeria, others hit $196bn INNOVATION The mobile device maker continues to lead in terms of innovation Stories by Kunle Azeez

he annual sales of Samsung Electronics in Nigeria and some 85 other countries where it currently operates has hit

$196 billion. The company stated this during the unveiling of its latest advanced smartphones, the Galaxy S6 edge and S6 duos, into the Nigerian market. Successors to the Galaxy S5, which was released in 2014, the Galaxy S6 edge and S6 duos are a blend of premium components with the most advanced Samsung technology. The devices are imbued with incredibly intelligent cameras and have set a new industry

standard for design, craftsmanship and performance, redefining the company’s signature Galaxy series, introducing ‘The All New Galaxy.’ Speaking at the launch, Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa (SEWA), Mr. Brovo Kim, who stated that the company had been recording increased sales globally, said that the new Galaxy S6 edge and S6 duos highlight the most refined phone experience ever by combining the latest technology that

L-R: Director, Bitflux, Mr. Biodun Omoniyi; Managing Director, Carrier Business, Huawei Nigeria, Mr. James Lee and Director, Bitflux, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, at the service roll-out contract signing ceremony between the two companies in Lagos.

Glo pledges commitment to quality service igeria’s indigenous Global three minutes of calls to one N System for Mobile Com- person while subscribers who munications (GSM) operator, load N100, will get instant boGlobacom, has reiterated its commitment to delivering quality products and services to its over 28.7 million subscribers in the country. Regional Chief Marketing Officer, Globacom, Mr. Ashok Israni, stated this during the introduction of a rich bouquet of three exciting offers for its customers in Lagos recently. The offers include 200 Per cent Bonus Airtime and Data, Glo Bounce and Data Bundles on Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Samsung Galaxy S6 Flat smart phones. According to Israni, the 200 per cent bonus offer is aimed at empowering Globacom subscribers to derive much more value and satisfaction from using the network. “Any recharge of N200 and above on the platform instantly gives Glo subscribers 200 percent bonus airtime which can be used to call any network any time of the day within seven days. Also, subscribers are entitled to extra N200, which they can use to call 10 family and friends,” he said. Israni stated that the subscriber also gets 15MB of data instantaneously. “In addition, each subscriber gets one minute free for every

nus of 100 per cent and 5MB of data,” he added. On Glo Bounce, Israni stated that it would facilitate seamless and affordable communication among young telecommunication subscribers, while adding that the product allows subscribers who sign up to the platform to call each other at a heavily discounted rate of 11 kobo per second. The newly-enhanced Bounce product also has a feature tagged ‘Campus Zone’, which, when activated by customers, will enable them to call other lines at the rate of 11 kobo per second. Israni explained that they will also get free 15MB for every recharge of N200 and above as well as free, unlimited SMS with the offer. “They also have an option of migrating to Generation G to enjoy 200 per cent bonus on every recharge of N500 and above; 100 per cent bonus on recharges of N200; and 50 per cent bonus on recharges of N100,” he said. The third offer, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, comprises Samsung Galaxy S6 Flat and Samsung Galaxy Edge, which, according to Israni, have been bundled with free SIM and 4.5GB data upon activation by customers.

users expect from Samsung’s Galaxy series. Kim reiterated the company’s commitment to fulfilling its brand promise of inspiring the world and creating the future by bringing new and outstanding innovations to the doorsteps of consumers. “Our innovative technology has adequately captured customers’ aspirations and desires,” said Kim. The Galaxy S6 edge has the world’s first-ever dual curved edge display, which distinguishes the device as the ultimate premium smartphone. Samsung has clearly placed a particular focus on intelligent camera, futuristic design and super-fast charging. The Galaxy S6 duos is the dual sim version of the S6, which has flat style screen. According to Kim, some of the exceptional features of the Galaxy S6 Edge include People Edge, Edge Lighting and Information Stream, saying that the People Edge and Edge Lighting work simultaneously. “While the People Edge allows users assign different colours up to five favourite contacts making it easier to identify a caller, the Edge Lighting feature kicks in, lighting up the edge of the screen in the corresponding colour when notifications from the selected contacts are received, including when the phone is placed face down. Users can easily dismiss the call or send a default message simply

by touching the heart rate sensor on the back,” he said. Also, the information stream feature allows users choose from a selection of feeds that will steadily scroll along the edge display. “From RSS feeds, to stock reports, sports scores, weather, facebook and twitter updates and notifications, the S6 Edge Information Stream definitely has you covered,” Kim added. The Galaxy S series are imbued with Samsung’s legacy of high-performance camera system that generates brighter and clearer images. The devices’ 16-megapixel rear-facing camera and the 5- megapixel frontfacing camera are equipped with F1.9 lenses and high resolution sensors that enable users capture every precious moment with friends, even in the dark. The camera captures in about 0.7 seconds, which is super-fast. Users can easily launch the camera app by double clicking the home button, while the volume keys can be used as a shutter button. Combining that speed with the quickness of launching the camera with a double tap of the home button delivers an all around great experience. Both devices support built in Qi wireless charging where you can charge your device wirelessly using a wireless charging pad. It’s an impressive set of charging feature that supports the non-removable battery capacities.

Airtel’s mobile subscriptions hit 28.3m

igeria’s telecoms services provider, Airtel, has grown its subscriber base to hit 28.3 million, gradually closing up on Globacom. According to the latest official subscriber status released by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Globacom currently has 28.7 million subscribers, making it the second largest telecoms operator in terms of subscriber base in Nigeria. MTN Nigeria is leading the industry with over 61 million telecoms subscribers while Etisalat remains the fourth largest operator in the country with over 22 million telecoms subscribers. New Telegraph gathered

that Airtel’s current subscriber was helped to grow faster by its introduction of a new proposition, SmartConnect, aimed at attracting new subscriber base to its network in order to beat Globacom to second position. Meanwhile, Airtel had embarked on a roadshow to create awareness on its newly-launched product. Airtel SmartConnect is a special four SIM family pack with bonus to call family and friiends and enjoy 200 per cent bonus on recharge of N200 and above to call all networks. Speaking during the smart connect Lagos Central zone roadshow, Regional Operations Director, Lagos, Mr.

Femi Oshinlaja, said that the roadshow was a forum to communicate both existing and potential customers, trying to educate them about the smart connect offering, which caters for the needs of people in terms of smart voice calls, smart data usage and smart value added products on Airtel smart SIM. Oshinlaja said: “Airtel smart SIM offers the consumers additional bonus for every N200 and above and 200 per cent bonus. In terms of the family and friends it comes with the airtel four in one SIM, whereby you can connect your close family and friends and be able to enjoy the special tariff in them.”

Vodacom Business connects to IXPN

n Information and Communication Technology firm, Vodacom Business Nigeria, has connected its global network to the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN). The IXPN provides a platform that allows several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network operators in Nigeria to exchange traffic between their networks by means of peering agreements based on transparency and confidentiality.

Vodacom Business Nigeria is the first enterprise solutions provider connected to the newly created IXPN exchange point in Ikeja, Lagos. Connecting to IXPN not only reduces Internet transport costs and network latency, but also ensures faster access to local content as traffic is exchanged locally. The real value of an Internet exchange is in encouraging a maximum number of local ISPs to connect across the IXPN peering points.

Speaking on the development, Chief Technical Officer of Vodacom Business Nigeria, Mr. Vernon Van Rooyen, said: “With our connection to IXPN we have improved on our ability to connect locally and with a large number of the world’s Internet networks directly. This improves latency times and reliability for all our customers.” He added that Vodacom’s customers can access locally-hosted content within Nigeria rapidly and securely.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSday, APRIL 23, 2015

Photo | News

L-R: Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio; Governor-elect, Mr. Udom Emmanuel and the former Deputy Governor, Engr. Chris Ekpenyong, at the traditional marriage ceremony of his daughter in Obot Akara Local Government Area.

L-R: Special Adviser on Rural Development, Mr. Babatunde Hunpe; Commissioner for Rural Development, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi; Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Lateef Raji and Permanent Secretary, Mr. Jafar Sanuth, at a ministerial briefing by the Ministry of Rural Development in Lagos. PHOTO: GODWIN

L-R: Head, Corporate Communication, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mrs. Hadiza Olaosebikan; Divisional Director, Large Enterprise, BoI, Mr. Joseph Babatunde; Comedian/Actor, Ayo Makun (AY) and Group Head, Creative Industry, BoI, Mrs. Cynthia Nwuka, at a business forum in Lagos.

Workers of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), during their health walk to kick-start Safety Week, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi (right), addressing residents of Saki West Local Government Area, during his ‘thank you’ tour to Oke-Ogun area of the state.

Cross River State Governor-elect, Senator Ben Ayade, displaying his Certificate of Return at the state INEC headquarters in Calabar, shortly after the presentation by the National Commissioner in charge of Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States, Thelma Iremiren

L-R: Deputy President, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Otunba Wasiu Afolabi; National Chairman, Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Dr. Frederick Fasehun and National Welfare Officer, Dr. Nneoma Nnamah, at a press conference in Lagos. PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

L-R: Most Senior Apostle Sunday Adebanjo (New York); Chairman, Cherubim & Seraphim Movement Church, New York District, Special Apostle Gabriel Kassim and Special Adviser to Baba Aladura C & S Movement Church World Wide, Special Apostle Kunle Alonge, at the burial ceremony of Special Apostle Prophet G. O. Fakeye in Imesi-Ile, Osun State.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

Mom&Parenting

Twins: Beyond myth and mystery Normally, the birth of a child is a joyous thing that gladdens the heart; but the birth of twins is regarded as double blessings, especially in Africa where they are idolized and even envied. Adebanke Falade report

any cultures in Nigeria have different explanations on how to handle and care for twins. The myths, for example, that twins have supernatural powers which could be beneficial and or harmful to the parents, both children represent two distinct forces, one could be seen as good, the other evil. Some myths seek to prove that a twin cannot leave without the other, even to the extent of falling seriously ill prior to the death of the other twin, remaining ill-even dying so he could be reunited with his other in the world beyond. How else will one describe a funny scene at Ogba retail market, area of Lagos? A mother was carrying two children on her arms, crying and singing, “give alms to my twins so that God may bless you.” As she was singing, she was dancing to a local drum beat. Asked why dancing in the middle of the market, she answered that it was the oracle’s instruction according to the myths surrounding twins. Myth of Yam and Beans According to Olamide Awesu, she owes her conception of twin babies to yam. She said she loves eating yam, and was told that is the reason she had twin boys. There was a time when her twins fell ill consecutively, when one got better, the other would fall ill, until her driver advised her to make beans as it will not only restore them physically but spiritually as well. “To my shock, because I am someone who does not believe in myths, my twins got better. Ever since I fed them beans, they cease falling sick , apart from slight malaria,” she said. Traditional family praise For the twins of Florence Oluwatoberu, secretary with a private NGO, until she praises her twins, they will not stop crying. “Without that heritage praise, my twin sons fall sick often. But whenev-

er I dance, chant their oriki, they bounce alive, full of laughter,” she said. Not only that, by making them happy, they bless me spiritually. I noticed that there is this special feeling of peace of mind and sense of accomplishment. I don’t lack financially at all,” she revealed. Myths of Idol Awesu idolizes her twins. “I wake them up every morning with prayers and ask that they pray for me. I have also heard that when a person is fighting with the mother of twins, it is best for the mother not to get angry or engage in a physical battle with her opposition, her children will fight the battle for her-spiritually. I have also learnt to do as my children say, no matter how ridiculous it is, if they ask me to start dancing, I will. If they ask me to carry them, I will, just too continually make them happy, I will adhere to their requests, it is a blessing for me. I don’t believe in myths and superstition, but after the beans episode, I believe. Myths and Facts of Ignorance Adedamola Adams, father of twin girls, the case is the reverse, ‘yes, I have heard about the Yoruba myths but I do not believe any. The Yoruba have a lot of myths about uncommon birth and giving birth to twins is one of them. I treat my girls like any child of mine,

with normal fatherly love and affection, but I hardly ever pamper them. The conception was not due to any kind of food; my senior brother also had a set of twins. The birth of my girls wasn’t a shock at all; we went for a scan.” According to him, ‘due to ignorance and limited exposure to modern world, our father developed myths for what were mysteries then.’ Oladeinde Olotu, a sister to twins recounts growing up with twins in the house. ‘My grandma believed in the myths, she acted on them, but my

Mom&Parenting Team

Oluwatosin Omoniyi Coordinator

The Oputa twins (Charley boy’s grand children)

Photo: michajah.blogspot.com

parents never treated them specially, we all were the apple of my parents eyes, the only thing I can point out was that when the twins were born, people stopped calling my parents by my first name, preferring to call them Baba and Mama Ibeji. I strongly believe some things have scientific backings while some are unexplainable. If there is peace and love in a home, there won’t be need for special treatment of any kind. My sisters have never liked yam or beans, they were forced while they were young, but now, they refuse to eat it’. We didn’t have any statue in the home; my parents didn’t succumb to their every request. Adedoyin Aduroja naturally loves eating beans and yam but that is not because of twin boys. “Nor do I see them as small gods. They are like any other normal children to us, no preferential treatment,” he said. He explained that their mom eats a lot of yam, it doesn’t have any connection with the conception of their twins. “In fact, I didn’t name my children Taiwo or Kehinde and people do not call them that, I named them based on God’s instructions, God has been keeping them, we don’t pamper them, we don’t fail to discipline them when they need to be disciplined, beans is just for protein and yam for carbohydrates, the same thing beans does in your body is what it does in theirs.’ He concluded by saying whatever you believe will happen to you. Beans day Grandma Kike Ogunbanjo talks of the practices of twins, ‘the only thing mothers practice now is the making of ‘ewa beji’ for the twins and their friends, their beans day is different from their birthdays, they sometimes sing for them and play with them, but no special treatment is given to them, they are treated as every other child.’

40 Mom&Parenting

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Truths about your kids and anxiety

MOM’S ALERT with

Grace Essen

grace.essen@gmail.com

Playing ‘Hero’

W Sign of anxiety

nxiety is a part of everyone’s life, to some degree. But for kids, it’s an emotion that can be frustrating, scary, and overwhelming. “More than anything, we want our children to know that everyone experiences anxiety. We need to teach our kids that it’s normal,” child development expert Denise Daniels said. Denise has served as an adviser on children’s grief issues to both former First Lady Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is the cofounder of the National Childhood Grief Institute, and has partnered with the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence to develop The Moodsters, a line of toys designed to teach kids to work through emotions. Here, seven things every parent should know and what you can do to help your kids work through their anxieties and fears. Relax, it’s normal. “Anxiety is just such a normal part of life; everyone experiences it,” Denise told us. “It’s the most commonly known health issue there is. More than anything, we want our kids to know that everyone experiences it, we need to teach our kids that it’s normal.”

PHOTO: Www.mommybrown.com

Anxiety can be turned into a teachable moment. While it’s tempting for parents to shelter their kids from discomfort and fear, Denise encourages us to take advantage of teachable moments. “We can help our children grow if we help them face the risks,” she says. Offer them plenty of support, and discuss anxiety in small, manageable doses for maximum impact. You’ll be able to spot the signs. In toddlers and preschoolers, be on the lookout for signs of regressive behavior, as they can indicate underlying anxieties. Are they having meltdowns or tantrums or becoming clingy? Avoidance of situations (for instance, not wanting to walk by a house where there’s often a dog outside barking) can also be an indicator of anxious feelings in a younger child. Your responses have a major impact. If you sense that your child is feeling anxious about something, encourage them to talk about what they’re afraid of. “Be sure that you’re validating your child’s feelings,” Denise says. “Those are real. A child’s perception is different to our perception. Don’t minimize or dismiss it. The reality is, they are afraid of it.” Relate to your kids. “It’s always good to share with them,” Denise told us. “Try saying: ‘When I was your age, I was really afraid of XYZ.’ It levels the playing field and enables kids to recognize that you’re going to be there to validate those feelings.” Anxious parents can lead to anxious kids. But there’s something you can do about it. “If you’re having stress and anxiety and it’s ongoing, be sure you have someone to talk to,” Denise says. “You have to have support for yourself — whether it’s from a friend or psychologist.” As your kids get older, Denise says that it’s OK to acknowledge your own anxieties around them. “Talk about what anxiety feels like and the effects that it can have on the brain and the physical body. Explain to them that it’s not a bad thing — it also keeps us safe.”

A kid with anxiety

PHOTO: WWW.FREEPRINTABLEBEHAVIOURCHAT.COM

Kids crave a model of calmness. “Be calm when your kids are experiencing anxiety,” Denise says. “When things happen, they make us nervous, but you can handle this. Model that by staying calm and reassuring them — your children will develop skills that can help them manage these feelings.” • Culled from www.circle of moms

e all cannot just stop talking about the man who held all Nigerians and indeed the entire world spellbound when he conceded defeat and made a call to congratulate his opponent even before the final results of the fiercely contested election was officially announced. After we recovered from the shock, it’s been admiration all the way, and we have not stopped singing the praise of the man who made history and become a hero by taking one simple action no one, (I believe) not even his close aides knew about. I have heard some argue, what is so special about that, after all he lost the election and he accepted it. Yes that is true, but it’s not that straightforward. Thankfully, those who don’t see anything special in the action of the president are in the minority. Are we talking politics today? Not really. I want us to see how such scenario also play out in our everyday lives. Take the home for instance, where everyone has got their personal interests, views and all. Sometimes couples find themselves engaged in some kind of tussle that can be likened to that between the two major political parties APC and PDP, and whatever the outcome is, affects the children; just like whatever happened to be the result of the battle between APC and PDP would affect the average Nigerian, in some way at least. Everyday fresh missiles are fired from one party to the other all in the bid to outdo the other, while the children run for cover. Tension mounts as the ties that bind the family gets weaker and weaker with every tug at it by the parties at opposite ends. The children are repeatedly told by both parents, “Not to worry, all will be fine.” They nod in agreement, but wonder how. We hear of ideas and tips from experts on how to keep children out of the fight between parents, just like sharing tips on how Nigerians can stay out of the tussle between APC and PDP. How practical can that be? And then when it looks like the worst is about to happen, one party, the stronger party, takes one simple action that calms the heightened tension, and diffusing every reason for rancour, and the other party in shock lets go his weapon instantly. All President Goodluck Jonathan did was make a call that must have lasted only a minute or two, and out of the drums of war came beats we all trooped to the streets to dance to. A winner emerged; but more importantly, a hero was made. How much

blood shed was averted just by that action, how many properties are still standing because of that simple action? How many businesses are still open and running because of that simple action? We cannot imagine just how much that simple action saved us. But was the action really that simple? I sit and imagine how there would have been a battle in the mind of the president as he picked his phone to make that call. There must have been a reminder of who he is, the position he holds, and the resources at his disposal to resist the results, and crush whoever stood in his way, possible reactions form PDP members, the shame, the embarrassments, and all. What if he consulted with his many advisers first, what would it have yielded - a massage on his ego, and 101 reasons why that’s not such a good idea? He went ahead anyway, most likely sweating in the air conditioned room, his heart beating ten times faster. A mom, in response to a post in Praying Moms Nigeria Facebook group on the election said: “President Goodluck Jonathan is truly a Christian.” I couldn’t agree more. If we all think that was a good thing the president did, why can’t we do the same in our homes? How many marriages could have been saved, how many children could have been kept from undue stress and discomfort, how many heartbreaks and illness could have been prevented only if one party decided to concede defeat and for whatever it’s worth, play ‘the hero’, and let the other ‘win’? You may wonder why you should play hero, particularly when the other person does not deserve it at all. And I ask, does APC deserve President Jonathan’s action? Did he do it for General Buhari? I don’t think so. Did he do it for himself ? I don’t think so either. At times it’s not about what feels good, or about being right, but about doing what is right at that moment. He must have thought of Nigerians first; so must we think of the children first, too. A simple action can be a text, a call, a smile, a hug, a card - something really simple but unexpected. Will it make you feel embarrassed, uncomfortable? Oh yes it will. And it is very likely no one will even notice, let alone celebrate you, (that’s really hard, isn’t it?), but I am convinced that taking that simple action will not go unrewarded. Grace Essen is the author of Successful Working Mom, president and founder Mum To Mum Support Initiative.

Business | Money Line 41

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

Rising

Low quality of infrastructure constrains economic growth

ub-Saharan Africa’s infrastructure could exceed US$90-billion per year over the coming decade, the latest in a series of white papers sponsored by commodities trading company, Trafigura, has shown. The white paper stated that the deficit was particularly large in the

Africa’s infrastructure deficit to exceed $90bn by 2025 areas of electricity access, paved-road density and access to water and sanitation. Energy sector infrastructure, the report said, has particularly largescale network effects and has the most powerful impact on output and productivity of all the sub-sectors. “For example, water is often distributed by electric pumps. Natural

energy products seem to exert especially significant effects at all stages of development.” Titled: “Foundations for Growth: Infrastructure Investment in Emerging Markets,” the white paper was written by independent economist, Llewellyn Consulting, and it looks at how investment in infrastructure is of vital importance for the global econ-

omy, and in particular for developing nations. The report finds that globally, infrastructure outlays equivalent to some 3.5 per cent of global GDP per year are required to 2030. This deficit extends to all the major infrastructure categories -- energy, water and sanitation, telecommunications and transport -- and it is in the most under-developed ar-

Banks rely on SMEs to drive growth

early 40 per cent of bank heads globally plan to enter into joint ventures in the next one year to attract new clients and access new technology, according to Price Water House Coopers’ ( PwC) report on African financial services released on Monday. This trend is considered particularly pertinent to financial services in Africa, where mobile phone use is growing strongly. “More than a third of Chief Executive Officers are planning to enter into

joint ventures and strategic alliances over the next 12 months, and I think we are going to see a lot more of that in Africa, particularly with mobile phone operators,” said Johannes Grosskopf, PwC banking and capital markets leader for Africa. For example, M-Pesa, which allows customers to use cellphones to withdraw and deposit cash and to pay electricity bills and taxi fares, has more than 19-million customers in Kenya. According to Gallup, nearly two-thirds of households in 23 sub-Sa-

haran African countries had at least one mobile phone in 2013 and the region is the fastest-growing mobile technology market in the world. However, Victor Muguto, long-term insurance leader for PwC Africa, said alliances with technology start-ups should be considered an interim measure. “The Kodak story has huge application to financial services, as if insurers and banks that don’t innovate they will become irrelevant, but this joining up with other nontraditional operators is an interim solution.”

Instead, financial services players needed to find new ways of doing business, including how they organised their distribution platforms and developed new products, he said. The heads of financial services companies are also concerned about finding skilled people and the reams of regulation they have to comply with, according to PwC’s African report. The report is based on interviews with 410 CEOs in the sector, including those from banks, capital markets, insurers and asset managers.

Economic Indicators As at M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

N16,833,244.57 N16,509,472.5m 8.2 0.0000 13 10.899 7.96 17.01 US$61.39 US$29,507,913,302

Description

TTM

4.00% 23-Apr-2015 13.05% 16-Aug-2016 15.10% 27-Apr-2017 16.00% 29-Jun-2019 16.39% 27-Jan-2022 10.00% 23-Jul-2030

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

Ecobank partners Edo on money transfer service

Dec, 2014 Dec, 2013 Feb, 2015 2/5/2014 24/2/2015 11/6/2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 24/2/2015 21/4/2015 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

E Offer Yield 13.01 13.40 13.47 13.49 13.44 13.59

Price 90.35 99.40 104.40 109.65 114.45 76.90

Tenor (Months) 1 2 3 6 9 12

Rate (%) 12.1827 12.2737 12.3744 12.8521 12.8535 13.8443

Treasury Bills Maturity Date 08-May-14 07-Aug-14 22-Jan-15

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

Bid Spot ($/N) 163.28 THE FIXINGS –NIBOR,NITTY and NIFEX of February 6,2014

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80 Offer 163.38

eas of the world, many of which are in Africa, that the greatest transformation is required. “In Africa, where existing infrastructure networks are particularly sparse and underdeveloped, the deficit exceeds US$90billion per year over the coming decade, or a 15 per cent of the region’s GDP per year. In some of the more fragile states, the infrastructure gap amounts to an even more startling 25 per cent of GDP per year,” said the report’s co-author and partner at Llewellyn Consulting, Russell Jones. He said while infrastructure is not a cure-all for development, without decent and well-maintained infrastructure development may prove impossible. “If we were to fill this infrastructure hole, would that solve most of the continent’s problems? Quite frankly, the answer is ‘no’. There is no such thing as a silver-bullet for development. A better way to look at infrastructure is that it is necessary but not sufficient. Without these infrastructures, catching up with the rich nations will be impossible, “he said. “Nearly 70 per cent of

the population in developing countries has no access to electricity; road links -- particularly paved road links -- are minimal, especially in rural areas; and nearly 800 million people are without access to an adequate, safe water source. The sanitation situation is even worse, with 2.5 billion people lacking access to adequate facilities,” Jones said. The “colossal” infrastructure shortfall, Jones said, is being driven by a number of factors including a ballooning global population, which is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 from 7billion today, and half of that growth is to come from Africa. Increasing urbanisation, world trade growth and the need for sustainability are other factors that Jones expects to drive the need for massive infrastructure outlays across the globe. Infrastructure projects which span national borders, he said, directly encourage international and inter-regional trade; and sometimes even help to deal with longstanding conflicts between neighbouring countries. According to the African Development Bank (ADB), the low quality of infrastructure constrains economic growth by around two percentage points every year, and has reduced business productivity by as much as 40 per cent.

Open-Buy-Back (OBB) Overnight (O/N)

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

cobank Rapid Transfer has been named the official money transfer service for the 3rd Okpekpe 10km road race scheduled for May 16 in Okpekpe town, Edo State. Announcing the bank’s premium partnership in Lagos, Ecobank’s Deputy Managing Director, Tony Okpanachi, said that the Ecobank Rapid Transfer is best suited for the competition that has grown to have global recognition. According to Mr. Okpanachi, the Ecobank Rapid Transfer is an innovative money transfer service available within Nigeria and countries in Africa where Ecobank is present. “The service was conceived out of the need to provide quick, convenient, accessible and reliable money transfer services for customers and non-customers of the bank.” Okpanachi is optimistic that the Ecobank Rapid Transfer will provide the much-needed ease of financial transactions

during and after the competition and urged participants to avail themselves of the opportunities provided by the bank. He said: “This is an Ecobank proprietary send and receive money transfer product available in all Ecobank branches in Nigeria. The product allows you to send and receive money where Ecobank has its footprint within Nigeria and in over 36 countries in Africa. It is our way of supporting this international race to ease the burden of fund transfer.” The Rapid Transfer he reiterated is very suitable for sports men and women, schools/students, travelers, parents, foreign nationals residing in Nigeria. The Okpekpe Race, now an International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Bronze Label Race will attract over 3000 local and international professional athletes. Also sports enthusiasts from across the world are being expected.

Business | Financial Market News

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

22-Apr-15

The DQL contains data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities and instruments in the financial market (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute professional, financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information is accurate; however, the Information is provided “AS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE” basis and may not be accurate or up to date. We do not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of any of the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information.

Bonds FGN Bonds

Price

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description ^13.05 16-AUG-2016 ^15.10 27-APR-2017 9.85 27-JUL-2017 9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.70 30-MAY-2018 ^16.00 29-JUN-2019 7.00 23-OCT-2019 15.54 13-FEB-2020 ^16.39 27-JAN-2022 ^14.20 14-MAR-2024 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 ^10.00 23-JUL-2030 ^12.1493 18-JUL-2034

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

16-Aug-13 27-Apr-12 27-Jul-07 31-Aug-07 30-May-08 29-Jun-12 23-Oct-09 13-Feb-15 27-Jan-12 14-Mar-14 28-Nov-08 22-May-09 20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

13.05 15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 15.54 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00 12.1493

581.39 476.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 98.31 600.00 524.68 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 279.50

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,582.44

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,256.39

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

16-Aug-16 27-Apr-17 27-Jul-17 31-Aug-17 30-May-18 29-Jun-19 23-Oct-19 13-Feb-20 27-Jan-22 14-Mar-24 28-Nov-28 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 23-Jul-30 18-Jul-34

1.32 2.01 2.26 2.36 3.10 4.19 4.50 4.81 6.77 8.89 13.60 14.08 14.58 15.25 19.24

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

13.62 13.68 13.71 13.71 13.76 13.81 13.84 13.85 13.86 13.90 16.88 17.32 17.84 15.47 13.92

13.49 13.59 13.62 13.63 13.63 13.71 13.74 13.77 13.80 13.84 16.81 17.25 17.74 15.40 13.87

99.28 102.42 92.66 91.43 92.44 106.74 77.63 105.74 110.81 101.45 90.07 74.75 51.97 68.25 88.21

99.43 102.57 92.81 91.58 92.74 107.04 77.93 106.04 111.11 101.75 90.37 75.05 52.27 68.55 88.51

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

24-May-12 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 2.40 112.22 116.70 66.49

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.09 1.07 1.63 1.99 2.21

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.99 2.85

14.56 16.11 15.66 15.68 16.55

98.68 101.14 100.42 101.49 96.68

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.38

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

322.08

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.36

4.44

15.75

98.81

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

2.16

30-Sep-15

0.44

3.23

15.46

98.95

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.71

4.46

17.77

97.55

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.72

3.48

16.79

99.10

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

1.99

1.00

14.69

92.15

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.26

1.00

14.76

98.85

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.69

1.79

15.52

96.69

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

2.07

1.80

15.49

97.49

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

2.09

1.00

14.69

98.78

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.06

1.00

14.69

99.63

‡ /Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.07

4.78

18.47

92.87

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.26

1.00

14.71

101.37

BBB+/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

*GOMBE LAGOS

15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019

BBB-/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12

15.50 14.50 14.75

15.09 80.00 25.70

02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19

2.69 4.59 2.66

1.00 1.00 1.00

14.73 14.84 14.73

101.55 98.85 100.02 99.95

BBB-/Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

10.78

10-Oct-20

3.20

1.00

14.77

Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

13.50

87.50

27-Nov-20

5.60

1.00

14.87

94.89

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

5.00

31-Dec-20

5.69

1.00

14.87

100.42

‡ /Agusto A-/GCR

*EKITI *NASARAWA

14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

31-Dec-13

14.50

4.55

31-Dec-20

3.35

1.44

15.22

98.20

06-Jan-14

15.00

4.56

06-Jan-21

3.38

1.00

14.78

100.48

99.38

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

452.88 440.50

Corporate Bonds ‡ /Agusto BBB-/Agusto

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

2.50

17-Aug-15

0.32

1.00

11.92

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

18.75

09-Dec-15

0.38

1.00

12.57

99.76

BB/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.42

06-Jan-16

0.46

2.63

15.11

99.52

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.44

1.00

14.67

97.88

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.51

1.34

14.99

99.03

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.44

1.00

14.72

96.56

BBB-/GCR

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.64

30-Nov-17

1.46

1.88

15.54

103.78

Nil

*C & I LEASING *DANA#{r}

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

5.40

09-Apr-18

1.72

1.00

14.66

101.92

A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.54

09-Sep-18

1.88

1.00

14.68

105.07

1.88

1.00

14.68

101.99

AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR

*TOWER

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.70

09-Sep-18

A/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

3.42

3.00

16.78

92.94

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.10

18-Oct-18

1.99

2.29

15.98

99.61

BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

Nil

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

17-Feb-19

2.07

6.11

19.80

97.17

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

2.69

2.16

15.89

100.19

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

17-Feb-12

15.25

18.00

2.05

0.36

14-Nov-20

5.56

2.76

16.63

95.09

A/GCR

UBA

16.45 UBA I 30-DEC-2021

30-Dec-14

16.45

30.50

30-Dec-21

6.69

1.13

15.03

105.81

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.44

1.00

15.22

83.76

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.44

1.00

15.22

90.28

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

161.53

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

158.35

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

2.81

1.00

14.74

89.82

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

4.75

1.00

14.85

86.37

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

24.95 21.96

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value ($mm)

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

5.70

5.50

105.11

106.10

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.98

4.67

100.42

101.35

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

5.98

5.81

102.55

103.61

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

FGN

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,540.39

Corporate Eurobonds B/Fitch; B-/S&P

AFREN PLC I

11.50 FEB 01, 2016

01-Feb-11

11.50

450.00

01-Feb-16

161.22

43.00

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

6.50

4.18

101.00

103.41

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

11.36

92.00

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

11.08

9.85

89.40

92.37

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

7.52

6.83

95.34

97.43

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

41.69

42.00

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

7.13

97.00

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

11.67

10.95

90.74

92.91

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

8.96

96.25

B-/Fitch; B/S&P B-/Fitch; B/S&P B-/Fitch; B/S&P

AFREN PLC III ACCESS BANK PLC II FIRST BANK LTD

6.63 DEC 09, 2020 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

09-Dec-13 24-Jun-14 23-Jul-14

6.63 9.25 8.00

360.00 400.00 450.00

09-Dec-20 24-Jun-21 23-Jul-21

26.20 11.15 9.31

26.20 10.84 9.31

44.00 91.57 93.00

44.00 92.86 93.00

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

10.87

10.52

89.63

91.13

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,760.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

3,918.50

**Treasury Bills^ DTM 8 15 22 29 43 50 64 71 78

FIXINGS Maturity 30-Apr-15 7-May-15 14-May-15 21-May-15 4-Jun-15 11-Jun-15 25-Jun-15 2-Jul-15 9-Jul-15

Bid Discount (%) 13.05 9.70 11.77 11.62 11.05 10.87 11.63 11.54 10.25

Offer Discount (%) 12.80 9.45 11.52 11.37 10.80 10.62 11.38 11.29 10.00

Bid Yield (%) 13.09 9.73 11.85 11.73 11.20 11.03 11.87 11.81 10.48

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 21.2500 15.7410 17.0013 17.9805

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

21.75

O/N Tenor Call 1M 3M

23.92

REPO

Rate (%) 23.50 23.75 24.00

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M 6M

197.94 201.81 202.13 202.87 204.24 205.60 206.28

198.04 201.93 202.28 203.37 205.31 207.21 213.47

0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

06-Jul-12

0.00/16.50

66.49

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.38

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

322.08

06-Jul-17

2.21

2.85

16.55

96.68

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.36

4.44

15.75

98.81

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

2.16

30-Sep-15

0.44

3.23

15.46

98.95

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

4.86

30-Jun-16

0.71

4.46

17.77

97.55

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.72

3.48

16.79

99.10

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

1.99

1.00

14.69

92.15

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.26

1.00

14.76

98.85

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.69

1.79

15.52

96.69

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

2.07

1.80

15.49

97.49

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 ‡ /Agusto *BAYELSA

Business | Financial Market News

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

2.09

1.00

14.69

98.78

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.06

1.00

14.69

99.63

‡ /Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.07

4.78

18.47

92.87

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.26

1.00

14.71

101.37

BBB+/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

*GOMBE LAGOS

15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019

BBB-/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12

15.50 14.50 14.75

15.09 80.00 25.70

02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19

2.69 4.59 2.66

1.00 1.00 1.00

14.73 14.84 14.73

101.55 98.85 100.02

BBB-/Agusto

*OSUN

SEC targets reduction in transaction costs 14.75 for market growth10.78 and 13.50 87.50 development. 15.00 5.00 “We14.50 are streamlining 4.55 15.00 the operations of4.56the Commission to focus on 452.88 440.50 its core mandates as apex regulator. We believe this will make effec10.00 us more 2.50 12.00 tive and efficient. We18.75 have 14.00 0.42 worked on a new organ13.00 15.00 isational structure which 14.25 5.53 will be13.00 fully implemented 20.00 this year,” 18.00 he said. 0.64 16.00 noted that 5.40 Gwarzo one 2.54 of his 18.00 earliest actions as 16.00 0.70 acting 14.00 DG was to get the 35.00 Minister Finance/ 15.75 of 2.10 CME 18.00 to approve0.36the 16.00 4.50 rules on demutualisation which15.25 had stalled2.05for 16.45 30.50 some time. 11.93 0.10 “We13.25 have finally 15.44released those rules 161.53 which should form a good158.35 basis for the NSE to proceed on its demutualisation 10.20 12.00 plans,”11.25 he said. 12.95 On securitisation, he

10-Oct-13 14.75 OSUNon II 10-OCT-2020 “We deliberated the and when we finished the 27-Nov-13 Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR LAGOS 13.50 LAGOS 27-NOV-2020 PROMISING investigation we came up issue of transaction costs 31-Dec-13 A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro KOGI 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 with our own report and and members agreed that 31-Dec-13 ‡ /Agusto 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 Apex regulator set *EKITI A-/GCR *NASARAWA NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021 we gave them a letter06-Jan-14 and we need to 15.00 shed some to increase moreVALUE weight in transaction ask them to clarify, they TOTAL OUTSTANDING TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION costs in order to move requested for an additionmarket participants the market forward. Comal time to respond and we Corporate Bonds mittee on this10.00 has already they UPDC 17-AUG-2015 granted them and 17-Aug-10 ‡ /Agusto *UPDC 12.00 FLOURMILLS BBB-/Agusto 09-Dec-10 been set and they will give9-DEC-2015 responded. *FLOURMILLS Stories by Chris Ugwu BB/GCR 06-Jan-11 *CHELLARAMS “With the response we us feedback14.00 at CHELLARAMS the next06-JAN-2016 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 A+/Agusto; A-/GCR 29-Sep-11 NAHCO felt it was good to clarify CMC meeting.” he Securities and 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 A-/Agusto 25-Oct-13 FSDH that Gwazo reiterated the some certain things,30-Sep-10 Exchange Com13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 A/GCR UBA is the situation we are in commission’s 18.00readiness C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 BBB-/GCRmission (SEC) has 30-Nov-12 *C & I LEASING MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 09-Apr-11 Nil now and we set up an into revive corporate bond said that one*DANA of MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 B+/GCR country, terim management09-Sep-11 that itsA-/DataPro†; near-term targets is *TOWER the market in the MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 09-Sep-11 AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR *TOWER noting that corporate already moved in and is reduction of transaction 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 A/Agusto; A/GCR 22-Sep-11 UBA bond market had been doing the job. I don’t want costs in theBBB+/GCR stock market. 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 Bbb+/Agusto; 18-Oct-13 *LA CASERA MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS 17-FEB-2019 very dormant leaving fed- IIto preempt whatever17-Feb-12 they Acting Director GenBBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR *CHELLARAMS DANA II 1-APR-2019 will come up with 01-Apr-14 Nil of the Commission, *DANA eral and state16.00 government but eral 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020 A+/Agusto; A-/GCR 14-Nov-13 NAHCO when they finish, SEC dominating the activities Mr. Mournir Gwarzo, who 16.45 UBA I 30-DEC-2021 A/GCR 30-Dec-14 UBA look at their report in the bond market. disclosed this while brief182D T.bills+1.20 STANBICwill IA 30-SEP-2024 A/GCR 30-Sep-14 STANBIC IBTC While speaking on the ing the media on the outand take action.” 13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024 A/GCR 30-Sep-14 STANBIC IBTC latest suspension of BGL come ofOUTSTANDING the first quarter He noted that since the TOTAL VALUE 2015 Capital Market Com- Plc, the acting DG said, beginning of the year, the TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION mittee (CMC) meeting in “What we did for BGL was new management had Supranational Bond Lagos, said this became extending our investiga- recorded appreciable 10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 AAA/S&P IFC 11-Feb-13 the necessary to attract more tion process.11.25 WeAFDB took tar- progress in some of10-Jul-14 1-FEB-2021 Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P AfDB areas that were critical operators in the market. get investigation on BGL TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

#{r}

24.95 21.96

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

Stock market records marginal gains Rating/Agency

Description

Issuer

Issue Date

FGN Eurobonds espite came

the way of to N11.758 trillion. discerning investors yesMeanwhile, a6.75turnover of JAN 28, 2021 terday after days of bear342.9 billion shares worth N3.4 BB-/Fitch; FGN 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 ish run occasioned by profits takbillion in 5,500 deals was recordBB-/S&P BB-/Fitch; ing on the floor of the Nigerian ed in the day’s trading. 6.38 JUL 12, 2023 BB-/S&P Stock Exchange. The banking services sector TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE With a marginal gain of N8 of the financial services sector TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION billion, the bulls made a slug- was the most active during the gish return after investors’ day (measured by turnover volCorporate Eurobonds wealth depreciated significantume); with 67.7 11.50 million shares FEB 01, 2016 B/Fitch; B-/S&P AFREN PLC I lyB+/Fitch; following negative market worth N1.2 billion exchanged by 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I sentiments. deals. 7.25 JUL 25, 2017 B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC investors in 1,729 MAY 09, 2018 was B/Fitch; B/S&P BANK PLC Specifically , at closeFIDELITY of transVolume in the6.88 sub-sector 6.00 activities NOV 08, 2018 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC actions, the All-share index rose largely driven by in 10.25 APR 08, 2019 B/Fitch AFREN PLC II slightly by 18.61 basis points the shares of UBA Plc and AcAPR 22, 2019 B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P ZENITH BANK PLC cess Bank Plc. 6.25 orB/Fitch; 0.06B/S&P per cent from DIAMOND 34,526.46 8.75 May 21, 2019 BANK PLC recorded the previous day to Also, other financial services 8.25 AUG 07, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK PLC 34,507.85 while the market capisub- sector, boosted by 09, activities 6.63 DEC 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P AFREN PLC III 9.25/6Mof USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN fol24, 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&Pequally inched ACCESS BANK talisatioin up byPLC IIin the shares FCMB Plc, USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021 B/S&P FIRST BANK LTD a turnover of 87.09 N8B-/Fitch; billion from N11.766 trillion lowed with8.00/2Y BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P

B-/S&P

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

Coupon (%)

million shares valued at N458.7 million07-Oct-11 in 2,970 deals.6.75 Further analysis of the day’s trading12-Jul-13 showed that5.13 UBA Plc topped 12-Jul-13 the day’s gainers’ table 6.38 with 6.86 per cent to close at N5.61 while Mansard Insurance Plc followed with 4.93 per cent to close at N3.19 per share and Neimeth International Plc with 01-Feb-11 11.50 a gain of 4.85 per cent 7.50 to close at 19-May-11 N1.08 per share. 25-Jul-12 7.25 09-May-13 6.88 Hotels On the flip side, Ikeja 6.00 a drop Plc led08-Nov-13 the losers with 10.25 of 9.54 08-Apr-12 per cent to close at N4.17 22-Apr-14 6.25 per share while UBA Capital 21-May-14 8.75 Plc shed 5.00 per cent to close 07-Aug-13 8.25 at N1.52 per share. 6.63 GSK Plc 09-Dec-13 9.25 to close trailed24-Jun-14 with 4.99 per cent 23-Jul-14 at N53.45 per share. 8.00 14-Aug-14

8.75

500.00 500.00 500.00

1,500.00 1,540.39

450.00 500.00 350.00 300.00 400.00 300.00 500.00 200.00 300.00 360.00 400.00 450.00 250.00

14.77 this new product 99.95 which 14.87 94.89 can have a transforma1.00 14.87 100.42 on housing, 1.44tional impact 15.22 98.20 1.00infrastructure 14.78 100.48 and business financing,” he said. 1.00 1.00

Berger Paints records 87% growth in net earnings 17-Aug-15

0.32

1.00

11.92

09-Dec-15

0.38

1.00

12.57

99.76

06-Jan-16

0.46

2.63

15.11

99.52

99.38

29-Sep-16

1.44

1.00

14.67

97.88

25-Oct-16

1.51

1.34

14.99

99.03

14-Aug-21

10.87

10.52

89.63

91.13

erger Paints Nige- 1.00leading to a dip in 96.56 pre-tax 30-Sep-17 2.44 14.72 ria Plc has1.46report- 1.88profit by15.54 41.2 per cent 30-Nov-17 103.78dur09-Apr-18 14.66 months 101.92 ed an 87.451.72 per cent 1.00ing the nine ended 09-Sep-18 1.88 1.00 14.68 growth in net earnings September 30, 2014.105.07 09-Sep-18 1.88 1.00 14.68 101.99 for 22-Sep-18 the 2015 first3.42 quarter 3.00 The company in a fil16.78 92.94 ended March 31,1.99 2015. 18-Oct-18 2.29ing with 15.98the Nigerian 99.61 said According reports 6.11Stock Exchange 17-Feb-19 2.07 19.80 97.17 its 01-Apr-19 2.69 Stock 2.16third quarter 15.89 100.19 from the Nigerian net earnings 14-Nov-20 5.56 16.63 95.09 Exchange (NSE), the 2.76decreased from N154.464 30-Dec-21 6.69 1.13 15.03 105.81 company’s post-tax profit million in 2013 to N109.407 30-Sep-24 9.44 1.00 15.22 83.76 grew from N8.7839.44million 1.00million 15.22 accounting for a 30-Sep-24 90.28 in 2014 as against N70,025 drop of 41.2 per cent. Its pre-tax profit equalmillion recorded during the period under review, ly fell to N160.892 million representing a growth of down 41.2 per cent from 11-Feb-18 2.81 1.00 14.74 89.82 87.45 per cent. N227.1514.85 million 86.37 in the 01-Feb-21 4.75 1.00 Its revenue equally in- same period last year. creased to N705.930 milTurnover decreased lion from N587.851 posted by 5.7 per cent to N1.817 billion during the nine inMaturity 2014, Date accounting Bid Yieldfor (%) 16.7 Offer Yield (%) Bid Price Offer Price months to September 30 per cent growth. from& Yields N1.921 billion reBerger Paints had post- Prices ed a28-Jan-21 27.3 per cent decline 5.50corded 105.11 during the com5.70 106.10 in profit before tax for the parable period of 2013. 4.98 4.67 100.42 101.35 full12-Jul-18 year ended December, Addressing stockbro31, 2014. kers and investment com12-Jul-23 5.98 5.81 102.55 103.61 The company’s pre- munity at the company’s tax profit dropped from fact behind the figures, N342.7 million in 2013 as the Managing Director, against N249.2 million Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, during the period Mr. Tor Nygard, noted 01-Feb-16 161.22under 161.22 43.00 43.00that review. aim to regain 19-May-16 6.50 4.18with the 101.00 103.41 its Profit equally 11.36dominance 25-Jul-17 after tax 11.36 92.00 in Nigeria 92.00 and 02-May-18by 42.2 per 11.08cent to 9.85then reach 89.40 out to92.37 dropped other 08-Nov-18 7.52 N257.5 6.83markets95.34 97.43 in West Africa, N148.8 million from 08-Apr-19 41.69 41.69 42.00 42.00 million a year earlier. plans had been concluded 22-Apr-19 7.13 7.13 97.00 97.00 However, the company’s by the company to build 21-May-19 11.67 10.95 90.74 92.91 dwindling fortune had set a fully automated paint 07-Aug-20 8.96 8.96 96.25 96.25 plant in with the third26.20 quarter 26.20manufacturing 09-Dec-20 44.00 44.00 in 24-Jun-21 11.15 were 10.84 92.86 its Oba 91.57 Akran premises of 2014 as earnings 23-Jul-21 9.31 93.00 93.00 compressed by weak sales 9.31in Lagos.

4,760.00

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

Outstanding Value ($mm)

3.20 expesaid10-Oct-20 the commission 27-Nov-20 5.60 dited efforts to release the 31-Dec-20 5.69 rules on securitisation. 31-Dec-20 3.35 06-Jan-21 3.38 “We hope the market leverages the Rules to grow

22-Apr-15

3,918.50

The DQL contains data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities and instruments in the financial market (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute **Treasury Bills^ FIXINGS Money Market & Forwards) professional,DTM financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information isOffer accurate; however, theBid Information is provided “AS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE” Tenor basis and may Rate not be accurateForeign or up toExchange date. We(Spot do not guarantee Maturity Bid Discount (%) Discount (%) Yield (%) (%) NIBOR the accuracy, timeliness, completeness,30-Apr-15 performance or fitness for13.05 a particular purpose of12.80 any of the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information. 8 13.09

15 22 29 FGN Bonds 43 50 64 Rating/Agency 71 78 85 92 99 106 113 127 134 141 NA 155 162 176 225 239 260 274 288 302 TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE 316 330 CAPITALISATION TOTAL MARKET 337

7-May-15 14-May-15 21-May-15 4-Jun-15 11-Jun-15 25-Jun-15 Issuer 2-Jul-15 9-Jul-15 16-Jul-15 23-Jul-15 30-Jul-15 6-Aug-15 13-Aug-15 27-Aug-15 3-Sep-15 10-Sep-15 NA 24-Sep-15 1-Oct-15 15-Oct-15 3-Dec-15 17-Dec-15 7-Jan-16 21-Jan-16 4-Feb-16 18-Feb-16 3-Mar-16 17-Mar-16 24-Mar-16

351

7-Apr-16

Rating/Agency

Issuer

9.70 11.77 11.62 11.05 10.87 11.63 Description 11.54 10.25 ^13.05 16-AUG-2016 11.09 ^15.10 27-APR-2017 9.71 9.85 27-JUL-2017 11.16 9.35 31-AUG-2017 11.19 10.70 30-MAY-2018 12.03 ^16.00 29-JUN-2019 12.37 7.00 23-OCT-2019 11.70 11.33 15.54 13-FEB-2020 12.32 ^16.39 27-JAN-2022 11.84 ^14.20 14-MAR-2024 12.08 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.41 12.49 22-MAY-2029 12.31 8.50 20-NOV-2029 12.40 ^10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.69 ^12.1493 18-JUL-2034 12.48 12.81 12.54 12.57 12.53 12.62

*for the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration #

9.45 11.52 11.37 10.80 10.62 11.38 Issue Date 11.29 10.00 16-Aug-13 10.84 27-Apr-12 9.46 27-Jul-07 10.91 31-Aug-07 10.94 30-May-08 11.78 29-Jun-12 12.12 23-Oct-09 11.45 11.08 13-Feb-15 12.07 27-Jan-12 11.59 14-Mar-14 11.83 28-Nov-08 12.16 22-May-09 12.06 20-Nov-09 12.15 23-Jul-10 12.44 18-Jul-14 12.23 12.56 12.29 12.32 12.28

9.73 11.85 11.73 11.20 11.03 11.87 (%) Coupon 11.81 10.48 13.05 11.38 15.10 9.95 9.85 11.50 9.35 11.56 10.70 12.49 16.00 12.92 7.00 12.22 11.85 15.54 13.00 16.39 12.50 14.20 12.82 15.00 13.43 12.49 13.38 8.50 13.60 10.00 14.03 12.1493 13.84 14.32 14.07 14.18 14.17

12.37

14.36

Description

Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Bonds

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Rate (%) 21.2500 15.7410 17.0013 17.9805

OBB

21.75

O/N

23.92

REPO

Maturity Date

581.39 16-Aug-16 NITTY 476.80 27-Apr-17 Tenor Rate (%) 20.00 27-Jul-17 1M 12.1827 100.00 31-Aug-17 2M 12.3382 300.00 30-May-18 3M 12.3481 351.30 29-Jun-19 6M 13.0100 233.90 23-Oct-19 9M 13.0224 12M 13.9293 98.31 13-Feb-20 600.00 27-Jan-22 524.68 14-Mar-24 75.00 NIFEX 28-Nov-28 150.00 22-May-29 Current Price ($/N) 20-Nov-29 BID($/N)200.00 199.0000 591.57 23-Jul-30 OFFER ($/N) 199.1000 279.50 18-Jul-34

Tenor Call TTM (Yrs) 1M 3M 1.32 6M

Rate (%)

Bid 23.50 Yield (%) 23.75 24.00 13.62 24.25

Tenor

Spot 7D 14D 1M Offer Yield 2M (%) 3M 6M 13.49 1Y

2.01 13.68 13.59 2.26 13.71 13.62 NOTE: 2.36 13.71 13.63 3.10 13.76 13.63 :Benchmarks 4.19 Bond 13.81 13.71 * :Amortising 4.50 Bond 13.84 13.74 µ :Convertible AMCON: Asset Corporation of Nigeria 4.81 Management 13.85 13.77 FGN: Federal Nigeria 6.77 Government of13.86 13.80 FMBN: Federal of Nigeria 8.89 Mortgage Bank 13.90 13.84 IFC: International Finance Corporation 13.60 16.88 16.81 LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables Management 14.08 17.32 17.25 NAHCO: Nigerian Aviation Handling Company 14.58 17.84 17.74 O/N: Overnight 15.25 15.47 Company 15.40 UPDC: UAC Property Development 19.24 Africa Portland13.92 13.87 WAPCO:West Cement Company

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

197.94 198.04 201.81 201.93 Price 202.13 202.28 202.87 203.37 204.24 205.31 Bid Price Offer Price 205.60 207.21 206.28 213.47 99.28 99.43 220.29 226.27

102.42 102.57 92.66 92.81 91.43 91.58 92.74 NA :Not92.44 Applicable 106.74 107.04 ^ : Market Prices 77.63Rate Bond 77.93 # : Floating ***: Deferred 105.74 coupon bonds 106.04 110.81 111.11 ‡ : Bond rating under review 101.45 101.75 †: Bond rating expired 90.07 90.37 N/A :Not Available 74.75 75.05 {r} :Issuer in receivership 51.97 52.27 68.25 68.55 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 88.21 Bank for Africa 88.51 UBA: United

4,582.44 4,256.39

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.09 1.07 1.63 1.99 2.21

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.99 2.85

14.56 16.11 15.66 15.68 16.55

98.68 101.14 100.42 101.49 96.68

% Exposure_ Mod_Duration

Implied Yield

Implied Portfolio Price

INDEX

YTD Return (%)

Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums

Agency Bonds **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

FMBN ***LCRM

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

Modified Duration Buckets

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017 Porfolio Market Value(Bn)

Total Outstanding Volume(Bn)

FMDQ

Weighting by Outstanding Vol

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 FGN BOND 0.00/16.50

Weighting by Mkt Value

24.56 2.40 112.22 INDEX116.70 66.49

322.38

Bucket Weighting

322.08

1,409.48

42.01

1,099.68

32.78 31-Aug-10 25.22 30-Sep-10 100.00 30-Jun-11

13.00

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.72

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

1.99

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.26

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.69

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

2.07

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

2.09

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

13.73

09-Dec-18

2.06

‡ /Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

10.20

12-Dec-18

2.07

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

3<5 >5 Market

1,440.52

24-May-12 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

1,171.83 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 628.23 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 3,240.58 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

846.07 3,355.23

44.45 12.50 14.00

36.16 19.39 100.00

8.50 2.16 4.86

0.42

19.63

13.72

106.8584

1,197.24

8.0685

0.33

38.60 31-Aug-15 41.77 30-Sep-15 100.00 30-Jun-16

13.88 0.36 14.88 0.44 14.27 0.71

109.0995 4.44 76.6578 3.23 99.9774 4.46 3.48 1.00 1.00 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 4.78

1,088.60 15.75 1,077.43 15.46 1,129.74 17.77

7.5090 98.81 6.9925 98.95 7.0654 97.55

0.25 1.00

16.79

99.10

14.69

92.15

14.76

98.85

15.52

96.69

15.49

97.49

14.69

98.78

14.69

99.63

18.47

92.87

Business | Capital Market

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015

Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025

Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015 Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at April 22, 2015 Daily Summary (Bonds)

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal

Bond Name 15.10% FGN APR 2017 16.00% FGN JUN 2019 16.39% FGN JAN 2022 Federal Totals

Symbol FG9B2017S2 FG9B2019S3 FG9B2022S1

No. of Deals 1 1 1 3

DEBT Board Totals

Current Price 104.00 107.90 112.00

Bond Activity Totals

Quantity Traded 300 2,500 1,500 4300

4,300

4,898,333.68

4300

4,898,333.68

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Value Traded 334,276.65 2,824,970.03 1,739,087.00 4,898,333.68

HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC Healthcare Providers Totals Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Pharmaceuticals Totals

Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015 LIVESTOCK FEEDS Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025

AGRICULTURE Totals

Symbol OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 15 8 23

Current Price 27.25 26.25

Quantity Traded 1,372,570 74,877 1,447,447

Value Traded 37,390,135.08 1,955,172.48 39,345,307.56

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 37 37

Current Price 2.29

Quantity Traded 1,314,665 1,314,665

Value Traded 3,037,731.56 3,037,731.56

2,762,112

42,383,039.12

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Page

CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. CHELLARAMS PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. S C O A NIG. PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

Symbol AGLEVENT CHELLARAM JOHNHOLT SCOA TRANSCORP UACN

No. of Deals 16 1 1 1 276 121 416

Symbol COSTAIN

38,580,112

253,226,386.76

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.91

Quantity Traded 36,000 36,000

Value Traded 29,920.00 29,920.00

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction

Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

Daily SummaryJULIUS as of 22/04/2015 BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025 Construction Totals

Symbol JBERGER

No. of Deals 24 24

Current Price 51.70

Quantity Traded 254,218 254,218

Value Traded 13,176,203.80 13,176,203.80

Symbol UAC-PROP

No. of Deals 42 42

Current Price 11.80

Quantity Traded 1,372,133 1,372,133

Value Traded 15,881,254.99 15,881,254.99

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

No. of Deals 1

Current Price 10.00

Quantity Traded 245,000

Value Traded 2,450,000.00

416

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol UPDCREIT

Page

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Totals

Symbol

No. of Deals 1

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015 Food Products Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025

DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC Food Products Totals

Quantity Traded 245,000

Value Traded 2,450,000.00

1,907,351

31,537,378.79

Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW NB

No. of Deals 32 82 15 257 386

Current Price 7.60 168.00 21.70 151.20

Quantity Traded 576,500 948,531 264,100 2,847,873 4,637,004

Value Traded 4,390,765.00 154,998,310.89 5,722,721.90 434,344,542.68 599,456,340.47

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 24 24

Current Price 177.85

Quantity Traded 34,939 34,939

Value Traded 6,076,006.64 6,076,006.64

No. of Deals 41 62 171 21 (Equities) 41 336

Current Price 4.62 7.09 37.00 3.46 8.27

Quantity Traded 549,470 809,697 2,300,054 430,359 682,583 4,772,163

Value Traded 2,490,773.42 5,726,677.21 84,590,453.00 1,484,842.14 5,764,265.92 100,057,011.69

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR Daily Summary NASCON

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

CONSUMER GOODS Published by The Products--Diversified Nigerian Stock Exchange © Food CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Current Price

Current Price 39.20 948.00

Page Quantity Traded 79,635 86,257 165,892

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Household Durables Totals

Symbol VITAFOAM

No. of Deals 37 37

Current Price 4.38

Quantity Traded 1,929,384 1,929,384

Value Traded 8,041,150.27 8,041,150.27

Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 53 52 105

Current Price 28.35 40.00

Quantity Traded 265,478 1,055,144 1,320,622

Value Traded 7,362,931.38 42,198,991.01 49,561,922.39

12,860,004

848,213,059.46

Quantity Traded 47,574,527 3,333,285 524,188 22,846,497 5,950,789 8,699,941 1,886,634 63,813,828

Value Traded 321,479,728.79 15,345,274.70 10,832,631.69 44,418,496.22 169,153,932.71 22,432,713.45 4,240,559.57 356,188,205.22

CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015 GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025 SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC

1,001 Symbol No. of Deals ACCESS 345 DIAMONDBNK 57 ETI 59 FIDELITYBK 175 GUARANTY 331 SKYEBANK 100 STERLNBANK 27 UBA 325 Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 6.74 4.60 20.80 1.96 28.70 2.62 2.25 5.61

Page

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking

Daily Summary as ofBANK 22/04/2015 UNION NIG.PLC. Printed 22/04/2015 WEMA15:22:25.025 BANK PLC.

ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC.

Symbol UBN WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

No. of Deals 74 32 204 1,729

Current Price 11.30 0.94 22.82

Quantity Traded 1,119,991 897,181 11,120,315 167,767,176

Value Traded 12,640,827.90 874,131.22 255,037,155.45 1,212,643,656.92

Symbol AIICO

No. of Deals 70

Current Price 1.09

Quantity Traded 3,259,900

Value Traded 3,391,943.56

Daily Summary (Equities)

Processing Systems E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC

Symbol CONTINSURE CORNERST INTENEGINS MANSARD NEM STDINSURE WAPIC

Micro-Finance Banks NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals

Symbol NPFMCRFBK

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

No. of Deals 6 1 5 7 11 1 51 152

Current Price 0.88 0.50 0.50 3.19 0.68 0.50 0.53

No. of Deals 10 10

Current Price 1.16

No. of Deals 46 15 601 262 6 32 117 1,079

Current Price 2.90 4.11 10.54 3.31 0.55 27.03 1.52

2,970

Quantity Traded 575,200 350 201,899 258,000 1,291,582 20,000 3,255,901 8,862,832 Quantity Traded 482,001 482,001

Page

Quantity Traded 1,677,449 1,698,040 19,859,603 47,850,338 840,590 2,340,254 12,829,479 87,095,753

Value Traded 4,882,324.03 6,959,580.69 209,307,521.68 154,084,334.63 459,212.70 63,225,629.90 19,881,096.43 458,799,700.06

264,207,762

1,679,436,230.44

Page

Current Price 1.99 3.35 53.45 1.87 1.08

Quantity Traded 6,670 1,154,674 2,562,167 373,167 252,019 4,348,697

Value Traded 12,673.00 3,868,733.58 136,974,657.22 706,930.29 269,878.30 141,832,872.39

4,368,697

141,842,872.39 Value Traded 10,000.00 10,000.00

Symbol TRIPPLEG

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 1.77

Quantity Traded 3,380 3,380

Value Traded 5,712.20 5,712.20

Daily Symbol Summary (Equities) No. of Deals Current Price

Quantity Traded 11,466 11,466

Value Traded 39,089.74 39,089.74

Totals ActivityProcessing Summary Systems on Board EQTY

ETRANZACT

2 2

Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals Packaging/Containers Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015 BETA GLASS CO PLC. Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025 GREIF NIGERIA PLC Packaging/Containers Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

3.39

Page 34,846

Metals ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. Metals Totals

Current Price 2.72 20.57 9.50 35.66 11.59 174.00 0.83 3.49 92.00

Quantity Traded 10,000 82,736 806,228 44,048 185,681 22,220 1,595 151,000 2,475,022 3,778,530

Value Traded 25,900.00 1,677,711.21 7,721,000.38 1,591,026.27 2,059,872.83 3,936,325.34 1,355.75 522,950.00 225,128,825.89 242,664,967.67

Symbol CUTIX

No. of Deals 12 12

Current Price 1.83

Quantity Traded 181,385 181,385

Value Traded 348,205.20 348,205.20

Symbol BETAGLAS VANLEER

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 28.70 11.48

Quantity Traded 100 150 250

Value Traded 2,870.00 1,636.50 4,506.50

3,960,165

243,017,679.37

Daily Summary (Equities) 196

Page

Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

OIL AND GAS Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

Current Price 5.21

Quantity Traded 3,000 3,000

Value Traded 14,850.00 14,850.00

Symbol ALEX

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 10.43

Quantity Traded 1,100 1,100

Value Traded 11,000.00 11,000.00

4,100

25,850.00

4 Symbol JAPAULOIL

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 100 100

Value Traded 50.00 50.00

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 443 443

Current Price 19.33

Quantity Traded 9,821,572 9,821,572

Value Traded 189,896,372.85 189,896,372.85

Symbol

No. of Deals

Current Price

Quantity Traded

Value Traded

Daily Summary (Equities)

Symbol CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 17 24 37 19 1 17 115

Current Price 38.00 2.84 193.10 160.00 50.54 171.00

Quantity Traded 44,898 493,438 28,587 14,413 Page 750

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 23 23

Current Price 398.00

Quantity Traded 93,028 93,028

Value Traded 36,943,484.80 36,943,484.80

10,524,645

242,332,245.11

27,859 609,945

582

Value Traded 1,712,416.03 1,405,154.30 5,504,163.84 2,290,946.49 9 of 12 36,015.00 4,543,641.80 15,492,337.46

Symbol RTBRISCOE

No. of Deals 14 14

Current Price 0.93

Quantity Traded 668,015 668,015

Value Traded 595,785.01 595,785.01

Symbol

No. of Deals 1 9 10

Current Price 3.60 1.17

Quantity Traded 50 192,200 192,250

Value Traded 189.00 226,498.00 226,687.00

Symbol CILEASING

No. of Deals 6 6

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 789,956 Page 789,956

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 14 14

Current Price 4.17

Quantity Traded 205,276 205,276

Value Traded 856,630.92 856,630.92

Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Printing/Publishing Totals

Symbol ACADEMY LEARNAFRCA STUDPRESS UPL

No. of Deals 5 9 1 3 18

Current Price 1.06 1.50 2.30 4.70

Quantity Traded 10,220 52,555 1,200 4,647 68,622

Value Traded 11,071.95 77,297.50 2,760.00 20,910.09 112,039.54

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 10 10

Current Price 0.59

Quantity Traded 426,100 426,100

Value Traded 251,399.00 251,399.00

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 1 34 35

Current Price 2.20 6.36

Quantity Traded 100 759,599 759,699

Value Traded 209.00 4,806,487.04 4,806,696.04

Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 10

Current Price 3.13

Quantity Traded 591,385

Value Traded 1,845,851.65

Symbol

No. of Deals 10

Current Price

Page Quantity Traded 591,385

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Activity Summary on Board EQTY Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals SERVICES Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Employment Solutions Totals

No. of Deals 2 2

OIL AND GAS Totals SERVICES Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015 Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025 R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

Symbol BOCGAS

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Daily Summary as ofOIL 22/04/2015 Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025 Energy Equipment and Services Totals

of 12 54,801.94

No. of Deals 1 14 56 13 26 15 1 2 54 182

Activity Summary on Board EQTY NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. Chemicals Totals

Symbol AFRPAINTS ASHAKACEM BERGER CAP CCNN DANGCEM DNMEYER PORTPAINT WAPCO

Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015 Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025 Transport-Related Services

AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals

Value Traded 507,484.00 175.00 100,949.50 821,151.02 878,375.76 10,000.00 1,720,598.46 7,430,677.30 Value Traded 562,196.16 562,196.16

No. of Deals 2 10 34 20 13 79

Quantity Traded 20,000 20,000

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC. ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DN MEYER PLC. PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC MANSARD INSURANCE PLC N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH

Current Price 0.50

TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. IT Services Totals

of 12 Value Traded 3,153,131.56 81,867,496.44 85,020,628.00

Value Traded 10,000.00 10,000.00

No. of Deals 1 1

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors

No. of Deals 26 87 113

Quantity Traded 20,000 20,000

Symbol COURTVILLE

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

Current Price 0.50

ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals Daily Summary as of 22/04/2015 Printed 22/04/2015 15:22:25.025 IT Services

Value Traded 315,237.99 251.92 574.20 1,890.56 111,073,799.78 141,834,632.31 253,226,386.76

No. of Deals 1 1

HEALTHCARE Totals

Quantity Traded 218,824 67 638 448 34,809,979 3,550,156 38,580,112

CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Current Price 1.52 3.95 0.94 4.44 3.20 40.00

Symbol UNIONDAC

Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC

Activity Summary on Board EQTY SERVICES Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Support and Logistics Support and Logistics Totals

Daily Summary (Equities) REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR

Daily Summary (Equities)

SERVICES Totals

Value Traded 394,978.00 of 12 394,978.00

11 of 12 Value Traded 1,845,851.65

117

3,701,303

9,090,067.16

EQTY Board Totals

5,500

342,911,097

3,491,159,610.54

Equity Activity Totals

5,500

342,911,097

3,491,159,610.54

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund

Name LOTUS HALAL EQUITY ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) STANBIC IBTC ETF 30 VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals

Symbol LOTUSHAL15 NEWGOLD STANBICETF30 VETGRIF30

No. of Deals 3 1 9 4 17

Current Price 10.56 2,308.00 107.95 15.90

Quantity Traded 110 22 234,359 1,656,477 1,890,968

Value Traded 1,175.60 50,776.00 25,285,554.05 26,307,984.30 51,645,489.95

ETF Board Totals

1,890,968

51,645,489.95

ETP Activity Totals

1,890,968

51,645,489.95

Page

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

Features Scientific fact only stands until new fact has not disputed it. But African traditional belief is difficult to challenge or prove. That is the quagmire the people of Ondo State find themselves over a ‘strange’ disease which has killed at least 20 persons, writes BABATOPE OKEOWO

Science takes on tradition

t has no known name or cure yet, but the strange disease has killed about 20 people in OdeIrele in Irele Local Government Area of Ondo State. The strange disease, which kills its victims within hours, has sent the government and health experts to back to the drawing board. But the disease or the general reaction to it has pitched the traditional belief against modern medicine. It has, once again, brought to the fore the long drawn battle of supremacy between orthodox and unorthodox medical practice in the country. The agrarian community of OdeIrele was thrown into mourning when about 20 persons, mostly youths, were killed by the strange illness. The outbreak of the disease has drawn world attention to the rustic community. In the last couple of days, the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and other world bodies have visited the town to determine the cause and find solution to the strange disease that gives its victims little chance of survival. The intriguing part of the issue is the importance attached to it by the residents of the town and medical personnel who saw it from different perspectives. While the people blamed the strange illness on the desecration of the shrine of a river goddess, Malokun, the medical personnel blamed it on the consumption of contaminated liquor popularly called ogogoro. Sources in the town said some youths broke into the sacred Malokun shrine located in the heart of the town and stole some of the items particularly ‘Agogo Ide’ (brass gong) which should not be seen with naked eyes. According to the residents, the ‘Agogo Ide’ which is usually wrapped with white clothes and seen twice in a year by its adherents, was stripped naked while being carried away. They added that those who saw it while being taken away were the first victims

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

Ode-Irele women pouring water on the shrine of Malokun

while those who had anything to do with the proceeds of the illegal dealing were the secondary victims. Another version alleged that somebody died as a result of an alleged offence committed against the god of the land and was buried, as a rite, near the shrine. It was alleged that four of his friends went to the shrine in a bid to exhume the corpse and cut the head for money ritual. The four persons reportedly died mysteriously after complaining of blurred vision and headache. But the Chief Priest of Malokun shrine, High Chief Lemo, said in an interview that the breaking into the shrine by unknown persons was a sacrilege hence the casualties recorded in the community. Lemo, who noted that such ugly incident was the first in the history of the community, said the gods had been appeased otherwise the death toll would have been alarming. Also, one of the traditionalists, High Chief Akingboye, confirmed that some unknown persons broke into Malokun shrine and carted away sacred objects. Akingboye said over 20 persons had died as a result of the sacrilege committed by some youths. To appease the gods, the people of the town, mostly women, have been pouring water on the shrine while the traditionalists have engaged in other rites. But the medical personnel deployed in the town said the incident had nothing to do with Malokun. They said the victims drank a concoction mixed with roots which caused blurred vision, loss of consciousness and eventual death. The Commissioner for Health, Dr Dayo Adeyanju, who briefed journalists alongside his Information counterpart, Mr Kayode Akinmade, health officials, WHO and UNICEF represen-

tatives, said the victims were within the age range of 25 to 35. He added that they were commercial motorcyclists popularly called okada riders who drank the liquor at the same joint. Adeyanju, who said the disease was purely medical, disclosed that the victims drank the liquor mixed with roots at the same joint and the same time. He said the particular batch of the liquor had been taken to laboratory for examination. The commissioner said the government was getting close to unravelling all issues surrounding the strange deaths in Irele as it had ordered a toxicology test for surviving victims following the discovery that the strange disease might have resulted from poisoning. He said the visit to the town showed five survivors of the 23 reported cases. The survivors, according to him, have been referred to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, for treatment. During his visit to Irele, Adeyanju said he interacted with some of the survivors who confirmed that they took the local gin at a particular joint and had no connection with all pictures trending on the social media. The commissioner said the survivors with blurred vision had large intake of alcohol, which, according to him, gives a clue of possible poisoning from ethanol. He said: “From the preliminary reports, most of the victims have something in common which is the consumption of a large quantity of the same alcohol at a joint over the last weekend. There was a particular person who consumed alcohol with other four people and three of them are late. We found out that their names are on the list of those who have died. So, this is actually giving us clue that this might be some kind of ethanol poisoning. But we cannot

confirm that yet until we conclude our toxicology test.” Adeyanju, who noted that cultural belief is making the people run away from using the hospital, said the people were at liberty to give their own traditional interpretation to the incident. He, however, promised that government would intensify enlightenment campaign and deploy necessary machinery to take care of those who manifested symptoms. Adeyanju, who said no health worker had been affected, thanked the WHO, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), UNICEF and other partners for their support. On his part, Akinmade said government would constantly provide necessary information until the issue ended. Also, Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, has allayed fears over the reported strange disease in Ode-Irele. The governor gave the assurance that government efforts at containing the development were paying off as there had not been a report of a new case. In a state-wide broadcast at the weekend, Mimiko said government was taking all necessary and available actions to respond to the health crisis. He said cerebrospinal fluid, blood and urine specimens of the victims had been taken for examination. The governor added that the specimens had been cultured and examined and the preliminary results showed that no known viral infection had been detected. He said: “We have further ordered toxicology test. We have commenced active surveillance through the Local Government Area Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer. We await final laboratory results to be able to fully apprehend and finally surmount this challenge.”

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SOUTH-WEST

Lagos hotels lost N8bn to Ebola –Commissioner Muritala Ayinla

agos State Government yesterday said that top hotels in the state lost over N8bn during the outbreak of deadly Ebola Virus Disease last year. Speaking at the ongoing ministerial press conference in commemoration of Governor Babatunde Fashola’s eight years in of-

fice, the state Commissioner for Inter-Governmental Relations, Mr Oladisun Holloway, said hospitality business was badly hit by the outbreak of the deadly disease last year. According to him, “the impact of Ebola on hotel patronage was significant. Patronage in the sector fell from 76 percent to 35 percent for a period of four months that the disease lasted. It really af-

fected the turnover of the hotels. Hotels lost about N8 billion within this period. They were losing about N2 billion per month. This only applied to big hotels. We did not factor in what smaller hotels lost. Again, until we have returns from all the hotels, we can’t have accurate annual turnover of the hotels. The Commissioner added that when the

Ebola crisis started, the state was immediately contacted by the registered hotels, saying that government could not also capture the impact of the dreaded disease on other hotels who were yet to register with the state government during the period. Explaining that tourism was a major earner for any country blessed with such potential, Hol-

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

loway who said the hotel industry in the state make an annual turnover of N46 billion before the outbreak the disease, said the patronage of hotels dropped during the period of the Ebola scare in the country. He added: “In one year, the industry makes a turnover of about N46 billion. And within that time they lost about N8 billion. And these are just the top hotels alone. This fund represents the top 12 hotels in Lagos. And it doesn’t represent the over 3, 200 hotels in Lagos State. This shows that hospitality contributes substantially to the state GDP.”

L-R: President, Nigeria Guild of Editors, Mr. Femi Adesina; Otun Olubadan, Oloye Lekan Alabi and former Managing Director, Nigeria Tribune, Mr Felix Adenaike, at a lecture to mark the 75th birthday of Adenaike in Ibadan …yesterday

Ekiti elders summon Fayose, APC lawmakers over crisis Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

kiti Council of Elders (ECE) and Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State (CCES) yesterday summoned the state governor, Ayo Fayose and the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the House of Assembly, to a meeting which they hope would find a lasting solution to the political crisis in the state. Briefing newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, the chairman CCES, Chief Deji Fasuan, also advised the parties to note that Ekiti was bigger than any individual inter-

est. Fasuan was, however, silent, on the exact date the elders would be meeting with the governor and the legislators. Fasuan and Prof. Tunde Oluwasanmi (Chairman Ekiti State Council of Elders), signed the communiqué issued by the elders. The elder statesmen said previous efforts by the group to intervene in the matter were rebuffed because of the recalcitrant nature of the parties involved. “We had met with the warring parties separately and we agreed to meet with them together at a specific

date. However, 24 hours to the proposed meeting, one of the parties in the dispute called to inform us that it was not honouring the invitation because the matter was in court. This was despite the willingness of the other group to attend,” he said. On whether external forces are behind the crisis, Fasuan said, “There is difference between the egg and palm fruit and Ekiti people must know that we are carrying the egg and if it hits the ground, it would have broken and become useless. We must not allow anybody to foment trouble in the state.”

Adesina tasks journalists on technology advancement Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

he President of Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Femi Adesina, yesterday implored practising journalists in the country to embrace the global benefits of technological advancement in order to keep abreast of challenges of if the profession was to occupy its pride of place as obtained in the developed system. The Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Sun Newspapers gave the advice at the NUJ Press Centre, Iyaganku Ibadan, during the commemorative birthday lecture in honour of one of the three famous musketeers, Mr. Felix Adenaike, who turned 75. The event which attracted eminent Nigerians from all walks of life especially from journalism profession, had hundreds of well-wishers in attendance, among which was Prof. Tayo Adesina, Department of History, University of Ibadan, former Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Femi Ajayi, among others. Presenting the lecture titled, “Journalism; yesterday, today and tomorrow”, Adesina advised media professionals to be in tune with the current trends in technology.

Ondo deaths: Mimiko says disease not contagious O

ndo state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, yesterday declared that the mysterious disease that killed about 18 people in OdeIrele town in the state last week was not contagious, saying the disease was also not infectious. Mimiko stated this while answering questions from journalists in Abuja on the mysterious illness that ravaged OdeIrele, stating that the discovery that the disease was not an epidemic outbreak has brought relief

to the people of the state. He said epidemiological findings have shown that the deaths might be caused by methanol in a local gin in circulation in some localities of the state, adding that the state government has commenced sensitisation of its citizens, especially those who indulge in local liquor brewing. The governor said while the government awaits confirmation from the experts on the actual cause of the deaths, there were no new deaths re-

corded, adding that government was on top of the situation. He said: “We have discovered that the cause of the death is neither infectious nor contagious. That gives comfort that it is not an epidemic outbreak. What we suspect based on epidemiological finding yet to be confirmed by toxicological test is the fact that this is likely to be death caused by methanol. We will confirm that when we get the result of the toxicological test.

APC files petition against Kashamu at election tribunal Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

he All Progressives Congress (APC) has filed a petition against the Senator-elect for Ogun East, Prince Buruji Kashamu at the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in the state.

Kashamu, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared winner of the election held on March 28, after polling 99, 540 votes. The APC candidate, Prince Dapo Abiodun and his Social Democratic Party (SDP) counterpart, Senator Adegbenga Kaka, emerged second and third

in the election, having polled 84, 001 votes and 12, 972 votes respectively. But the APC candidate, in his petition filed at the tribunal, said Kashamu was not qualified to contest the election, having been indicted for drug-related offences in the United States. The petitioner, who

said he would rely on form EC8E (1) to prove his case, alleged that the first respondent did not score the highest number of lawful votes as required by law. The PDP, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) were joined as second, third and

fourth respondents respectively. The petitioner said: “The first respondent, Prince Buruji Kashamu, was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and therefore did not meet the requirements of the law to be returned as the winner of the election.

“The election of the first respondent, Prince Buruji Kashamu, is invalid by reason of substantial non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2015 (as amended), the Manual for Election Officials 2015, the guidelines issued for the conduct of the election and the law in the conduct of the election.”

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

Ebonyi varsity expels 131 students for misconduct Uchenna Inya ABAKALIKI

he Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, has expelled 131 students of the institution and suspended 459 others for various offences ranging from examination malpractice to cultism. The Vice-Chancellor of

the university, Prof. Francis Idike, made this known yesterday during a press briefing to mark the fourth to the sixth convocation of the school. He said the students were sanctioned between October 2011 and October 2014. Idike said 61 members of staff of the university were dismissed for misconduct with 15 of them demoted while 25 were terminated, adding that

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42 were warned. He announced that a total of 7, 956 students of the institution, who graduated between 2011 and 2014, will be involved in the convocation. According to him, eight will receive Diploma certificates while 7, 316 will get Bachelor’s Degree, adding that 122 graduates will bag PGD and 341 PhD certificates. On funding the univer-

sity, the Vice-Chancellor said: “The state government has sustained a monthly subvention of N245 million since April 2011. But this one single line subvention is hardly enough to carry our currently N354 million monthly salary bill apart from overhead and running costs of the university. The university is in dire need of additional funding from within and outside.”

Ndigbo seek befitting burial for Chukwumerije Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

he traditional prime minister of Igboland, Chief Mike Ozua Okoye, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to grant a befitting burial for late Senator Uche Chukwumerije, whose demise was announced earlier in the week. Arising from a meeting of Igbo traditional stakeholders in Enugu, the traditional prime minister said the death of Chukwumereije is a big loss to the Igbo nation and Nigeria as a whole. He said the threetime senator died at a time his wealth of experience and knowledge is mostly needed. The stakeholders described him as a rugged politician, whose dynamics and constructive contributions on the floor of the Senate had not only endeared him to millions of Nigerians, but across

the globe. Okoye, while commiserating with the family, Ndigbo and Nigeria, said the late senator lived and died a fulfilled man and prayed God to grant him eternal life in his bosom while asking all to bear the loss with fortitude. In their tribute, the South East Traders’ Association of Nigeria said the country has lost one of the greatest Igbo leaders in the recent times, describing him as a man with courage, vision and hard work, who has contributed immensely to the shaping and re-shaping of Nigeria’s democratic process in his 12 years at the Senate. According to the President of the association, Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, the association received the news of his demise with shock and apprehension while praying God to grant the family and Ndigbo the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Orphans, others receive empowerment in Ebonyi Uchenna Inya ABAKALIKI

L-R: Former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo; celebrant, Dr. David Ogbodo and former Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, during the presentation of Doctor of Public Administration degree to Ogbodo by the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (FSUT) in Enugu…recently

IPAC calls for cancellation of Abia elections Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

arely two days to the rescheduled Governorship and House of Assembly rerun elections and two weeks after the election in Abia State, a body of election monitors known as the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Abia State chapter, yesterday called for the cancellation of the elections. The body described the exercise as a charade, saying that it was characterised by so much irregularity for it to pass for an acceptable election. In a statement signed by its Chairman, Prince Emeka Okafor, IPAC called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state, saying what happened on April 11 was a mockery of democracy. IPAC made the call after its review meeting in Umuahia in which it expressed dismay over the

way the election was conducted. It further said that the April 11 poll in the state “was marred with irregularities, violence, massive rigging, ballot box snatching, tampering with results’ figures by INEC officers and a host of other manipulations that completely undermined the exercise.” The body mentioned specific areas where the malpractices occurred to include, Ohafia, Isuikwuato, Arochukwu, Obingwa, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa East and West, among others. “Various reports and evidences indicate that many Electoral Officers (Eos) and youth corps members were complicit in the manipulation of electoral results. In Abia North, Ohafia Local Government specifically, the voting was marred with irregularities, particularly in Nkporo and in the localities of Ania and Abia. “In Isiukwuato, Umunneochi and Arochukwu, there were reports of late arrival of materials and incidents of snatching of bal-

Freed prison inmates get lifeline Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

he Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State and governor-elect, Dave Umahi, yesterday donated N50, 000 and bags of rice each to 43 inmates freed from Abakaliki prison. The inmates, whose freedom was facilitated by the Governor-elect, were said to have been arrested as a result of the Ezza-Ezzillo crisis that took place in the state and have been awaiting trial for up to five years. The Governor-elect, while distributing the items to the freed inmates through the Deputy Director of his campaign organization, Dr. Hyginus Nwokwu, said his emergence as the next governor of the state was the answer to the collective

prayer of the entire Ezza nation and urged the freed inmates to remain resolute and in support of the incoming government to achieve success in its vision. He further enjoined them to see their sufferings while in prison as a sacrifice they paid for the liberation and freedom of Ezza people, just as he lamented that Ezza people were humiliated and forgotten by the Governor Elechi administration.

t least 10 orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) selected from nine local government areas of Ebonyi State were yesterday presented with educational support materials by the wife of the state governor, Mrs. Josephine Elechi. Also, 20 caregivers were presented with cash each to enable them face challenges arising from catering for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children. In her remark at the event, Mrs. Elechi said the programme was designed to impact positively on the lives of OVCs and their care givers in the state. She said the gesture was

done in partnership with a foreign partner, the Initiative for Good Health (IGH) and assured that the programme will continue even after leaving office with the support of partner agencies. She said: “The programme, which has been a regular feature in my efforts at enhancing the living condition of the OVCs, also aims at encouraging our OVC caregivers in their efforts at promoting the wellbeing of this class of children. “Today’s event will witness the presentation of educational support materials to 10 OVCs from nine local government areas of the state, while 20 caregivers will be economically empowered to enable them face the various challenges arising from catering for the OVCs under their care.”

Group demands transparency from INEC in rerun poll

While NUA insists that the judicious option for the agency, considering all available evidence, showed that Okezie Victor Ikpeazu scored a total of 248, 459 votes while his closest rival, Alex Otti of APGA scored 165, 406 votes, which gives Ikpea-

zu a clear lead with 83,053 votes. The group said based on that, INEC should do the needful by declaring Ikpeazu the Abia State governorelect. It, however, said that any re-run election, if conducted, must be seen by all to be fair and above board.

Umahi inaugurates transition committees

they were set up to advise on how best to pilot the affairs of the state. The committees were directed to visit the 13 local government areas of the state, ministries, parastatals, development centres and agencies to ensure a peaceful hand over.

Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

he Ebonyi State Deputy Governor and Governor-elect, Chief Dave Umahi, has inaugurated transi-

political group, the Ngwa United Alliance (NUA), based in the United States, has demanded that INEC demonstrates an unquestionable transparency in the conduct of the gubernatorial supplementary election in Abia State on Saturday.

tion committees to ensure a smooth takeover of his administration on May 29. Inaugurating the different committees yesterday in Abakaliki, Umahi, who was represented by the Deputy Governor-elect, Eric Kele-

chi Igwe, charged the members to work assiduously for the purpose for which they were chosen. He said Ebonyi people would hold them responsible if the administration fails to deliver, adding that

48 News

Appeal Court adjourns hearing on Rivers' Chief Judge appointment Emmanuel Masha PORT HARCOURT

Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned the hearing on the appointment of Chief Judge of Rivers State to June 29, 2015, to enable parties in the matter to appropriately file their briefs for the hearing to commence. The court, sitting under Hon. Justice M. I. Garba, adjourned the hearing after listening to applications on the regularization of processes, to ensure the hearing of

thursday, april 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

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the substantive matter that has thrown the state judiciary in crisis since August 2013 when Justice Iche Ndu retired as Chief Judge. There were three cases before the court that hinged on the appointment of the Chief Judge, before Garba. Counsel to Justice Peter Agumagu, Beluolisa Nwafor SAN, who spoke to reporters, said that the state’s Attorney General, Nwogu Boms, had not been served, as well as the Attorney General of the Federation, who is also involved in the matter. He said: “The court called the cases and it ap-

peared that the AttorneyGeneral of Rivers State, who backed an application to appeal as an interested party that the appeal has not been served and the Attorney-General of the Federation. “Also, the first respondent who brought the matter in the Federal High Court and sued everybody, including the National Judicial Commission, NJC, Justice Agumagu has also not properly filed his own brief of argument in spite of being served eight months ago. The counsel to Justice Daisy Okocha, Emmanuel Aguma, said that the mat-

ters that were brought up would ensure that the appeal is heard. “Basically, procedural matters were addressed today. All of the three matters concern the appointment of a substantive Chief Judge of the state, and basically, all that came up are interlocutory applications of rejoinder or regularizing processes,” he said. Also speaking, the counsel representing the National Judicial Commission, NJC, Jumo Lasisi said the Rivers State government was being awaited to file its own case.

Associates lobby Okowa for appointments Dominic Adewole ASABA

ressure from political associates over political appointments has mounted on the Governor-elect in Delta state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa. Besides that, over 100 support groups have tabled their demands before the Governor-elect for the role they played during the March 28 presidential election and April 11 governorship election in the state. The New Telegraph gathered in Asaba yesterday also that the present political appointees of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan have started

lobbying their political leaders and monarchs on possible way of being re-appointed into juicy positions. The elders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the platform on which he coasted to victory in the state are equally waiting on the Governor-elect to take cue from his predecessors. But determined to deliver on the mandate of equal opportunities, experience in the prudent application of resources and change from corruption to accountability in governance, which produced him on April 11, it was further gathered that Okowa has started to reject inordinate advice.

Dickson commends INEC, security agencies over peaceful assembly polls Chris Ejim YENAGOA

L-R: Sir Etekamba Umoren; Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio; Mrs. Gloria Umoren; Governor’s wife, Ekaette Unoma and Akwa Ibom State Deputy Governor, Lady Valerie Ebe, during the inauguration of Methodist Church Nigeria, Ukana Ikot Ideh in Essien Udim Local Government Area…on Monday

Philip Nyam ABUJA

s the intrigues over who succeeds Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal continue to unfold, a group, Niger Delta Stakeholders' Forum for Peace has endorsed the candidature of former president of NUPENG, Hon. Peter Akpatason as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. The group in a statement in Abuja signed by its national coordinator, Mr. Ifidon Dominic, said the former union leader was the best material from the South-South in

Niger Delta stakeholders endorse ex-NUPENG chief, Akpatason, as speaker the House of Representatives and should be supported by all to emerge as speaker of the 8th Assembly. Ifidon explained that Akpatason who represents Akoko Edo Federal Constituency of Edo State has the requisite qualification and experience to function effectively as Speaker. According to him, Akpatason has performed creditably in the last four years in the lower chambers and could bring his hardwork and commitment to bear on the office

of speaker if elected. "Hon. Peter Akpatason has distinguished himself as a grade A lawmaker. His exploits are not in doubt, particularly his enviable contributions to the development of Akoko Edo, his constituency and the state at large. "We are aware that Hon. Akpatason has, since coming to the House, sponsored quality bills and motions that have helped in deepening our democracy", Ifidon stated. The Niger Delta Stakeholders extolled the lead-

ership qualities of Akpatason, saying that as a foremost unionist, the lawmaker has the requisite pedigree to lead the House. "The Niger Delta Stakeholders' Forum has closely followed Hon. Akpatason's activities both as a union leader and, most especially, as a national parliamentarian, and we are convinced that he is the one that is best fit to be speaker. "He has the capacity to be tolerant and dependable; he is intelligent, matured and composed."

ayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and the security agencies for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the rescheduled state House of Assembly polls in eight constituencies in the State, over the weekend. A Government House statement was also full of praise for the electorate in the affected areas for the matured, orderly

and peaceful manner they conducted themselves before, during and after the elections, describing it as a manifestation of the government’s huge investment in security and the growing level of exposure and understanding of the electoral process by the citizenry. Governor Dickson, who was elated by the tremendous achievements of the PDP in the assembly election, also felicitated with the party’s candidates for returning victorious and maintaining the leading position of the party in the State.

Gunmen invade Jonathan’s home council, abduct LG chairman Chris Ejim YENAGOA

uspected gang of kidnappers yesterday invaded the home council of President Goodluck Jonathan, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, kidnapping the Local Government Chairman, Anya Abah. The kidnappers, numbering about four and armed with sophisticated weapons, barricaded the official Prado jeep vehicle of the Chairman and dragged him out of his vehicle at gun point along the Otuasega-Okaki road area of the Council. According to eyewit-

ness account, the Police orderly attached to the Council Chairman, reportedly came down from the vehicle to investigate the reason for the blockage mounted by the kidnappers, “but on sighting heavy arms and on hearing the volley of gun shots released towards the vehicle, he scampered for safety and abandoned his principal.” Relatives of the abducted Council Chairman claimed that he was on his way to the Council Headquarters to attend a stakeholders' meeting on the need for the peaceful conducted of the aborted State Assembly Constituency election in the Area.

Militants issue fresh threat to FG, NNPC, NPDC over surveillance contract Gabriel Choba UGHELLI

Militant group in Delta state, Urhobo Gbagbako yesterday issued a fresh threat to blast more Oil pipe-

lines if the National Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, Federal government and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, failed on their part to comply with their demands to award to them the oil

pipeline surveillance contract job. The group, which gave this threat, had in their request for the award of the Oil Pipeline Surveillance Contract Job which runs through the twenty-four kingdoms of

the Urhobo nation blown up the Ekiugbo, Ighwerenene/Afiesere, Erhoike/ Kokori/Orogun, Ogor, Kwale and Isoko oil pipelines in Ughelli North, Isoko and Ndokwa local government areas between late March and

April, 2015. In a warning statement through its spokesman, Priest Omodjuvwu and sent through e-mail, the group said the latest attack on Ogor Oil tunkline on the early morning of Sunday,

April 19, 2015, was skeletal, but a welcome development, in addition to another attack taken by another of their small, but gallant unit, which fire was put off by the fire department on Monday, 20th, 2015.

NEW TELEGRAPH thursday, april 23, 2015

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Benue workers, NLC on collision course over strike Cephas Iorhemen MAKURDI

ivil servants in Benue State and officials of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) were yesterday on collision course over the indefinite strike by workers of the union. The NLC, under the leadership of Comrade Simon Anchaver, had given the outgoing governor, Gabriel Suswam, a seven-day ultimatum to clear the backlog of five months salaries owed workers before handing over to the incoming administration. But the governor failed to honour the ultimatum, forcing the union to declare an indefinite strike yesterday, which the workers refused to comply with. When New Telegraph

visited some government offices, including the ones at the Government House, to ascertain the level of compliance yesterday, workers were seen carrying out their normal businesses, describing the action as an exercise in futility. The civil servants under the auspices of ‘Benue Aggrieved Workers,’ who labelled the strike as selfserving had, in a press statement signed by their leader, Hundu Emmanuel and made available to New Telegraph, said that the strike by the Anchaver-led NLC in the twilight of the present administration, was illegal and called on all Benue workers to boycott it. Hundu said: “Anchaver had lost all constitutional and moral rights to call a strike or even lead the NLC, having resigned and left for partisan politics,

as according to the constitution of the union, he had since ceased to be a member of the union. “I wonder under what authority Anchaver will summon labour in the state. He ceased being a member of the union the day he joined partisan politics to contest for the governorship seat. How then would a politician tell us what to do? This is just another ploy hatched by him and his cronies to get their last 30 pieces of silver before this administration bows out,” he averred. The aggrieved workers said the planned industrial dispute was another scheme to get more money from the state government using the workers as bargaining chip. Anchaver had mobilised workers in the state for several successful industrial disputes, but

after compliance, would sneak behind and collect huge money from the state government and share with his cronies at the neglect of workers. But in a swift response, Anchaver threatened to sanction any worker who declines to embark on any strike called by the body, stressing that the national body of the union was aware of the ultimatum given to the state government to pay all outstanding salaries of workers or face a strike action. New Telegraph observed that the embattled labour leader was yesterday seen picketing from one office to another in order to compel workers to comply with the strike, but the workers resisted. “If they like let them not join, we will go and chase them from their offices.” Just leave them, they

are just talking nonsense, just leave them, everybody will join the strike if we fail to agree with government. The national secretariat is very much aware of what we are doing,” Anchaver said. He described the allegation that he was using strike as a bargaining chip as nonsensical and wondered if there was any better alternative to take than embarking on strike. “If we don't go on strike they will complain, now that we've given an ul-

timatum to embark on strike, they are complaining. What do they want me to do? Do they want me to start chasing Suswam about?” Anchaver queried. On the allegation that he lacked jurisdiction to oversee the NLC in the state, because he had resigned to contest the gubernatorial primary election, Anchaver said: “Did I resign and give them a letter? Were they the people that elected me? Are they my employers? he queried further.

Niger commissioners to prepare handover notes Dan Atori MINNA

he Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, yesterday directed commissioners in the state to prepare comprehensive handover notes for the next administration. He said this while inaugurating a 27-man transition committee to midwife the handing over of government to the next administration next month. He said: “Everything we did since the past eight years were done in council.”

Aliyu urged the commissioners and other key government officials to ensure that they prepare proper records, adding that the incoming government will work on available records provided. Accordingly, he said: “Allegations from those who do not understand the workings of government are already flying around that I need to account for certain government actions. It is therefore imperative for us to present comprehensive records of government activities in the various ministries.

Aliyu advocates establishment of education bank Dan Atori MINNA

T L-R: Catholic Archbishop of Jos, Ignatius Kaigama; Catholic Archbishop of Umuahia, Dr. Lucius Ugorji and representative of the Emir of Wase, Mustapha Umar, at a meeting of Justice, Peace and Development Committee of Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) in Jos …yesterday

Group backs Saraki for Senate president Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

political group, the APC New Generation Initiative, yesterday threw its weight behind Dr. Bukola Saraki, to become the next Senate President. In a statement appealing to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to consider Saraki for the job, the group noted that Saraki's sterling leadership qualities will bring about a productive Federal Government under the leadership of General Muhammadu Buhari.

Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

he Campaign Coordinator of Kaduna State Governorelect, Nasir El Rufai, Mr. Markus Ishaya, may have been murdered owing to his insistence that votes must count during the last gubernatorial election in the state. Speaking to New Telegraph on telephone yesterday, Malam Nasiru Shuaibu, the Coordinator of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ward B in Kafanchan, described the late Ishaya as a veteran of opposition politics in Atuku Kasa area of the state. It will be recalled that Ishaya, who was El-Rufai’s coordinator at Atuku Ward in Jemaá Local Government, was murdered by gunmen around

‘How El-Rufai’s campaign coordinator was murdered’ 2.00am on Tuesday. Shuaibu recalled that the deceased played a prominent role in stopping rigging during the just-concluded elections. He said: Unlike before when the difference between the ruling party and the opposition used to be very wide, this time around he didn’t give room for manipulation, even though APC did not win the ward,” he added. Narrating to our correspondent how Ishaya was killed, Shuaibu said the assailants went to his house in the early hours of Tuesday morning and demanded the coordinator’s whereabouts from his wife. “Ishaya’s wife told

them that he wasn’t in the house,” Nasiru told New Telegraph, adding that “the gunmen dragged the wife out of the house and started beating her.” According to him, Ishaya had come out from hiding when he saw the ordeal that his wife was being subjected to. “That was when they shot him,” Nasiru added. Describing the deceased as an opposition politician, Nasiru said the late Ishaya was in the defunct ACN and CPC at different times. “He was also planning to contest for the councillorship of his ward on the platform of the APC before he was murdered,” Shuaibu revealed.

he Niger State governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, yesterday canvassed the establishment of an education bank in the country, saying such will enhance the nation’s education standard. He also said that the establishment of such a bank will also give more impetus to the development of infrastructure in the sector. The governor spoke in Minna when he received the President and mem-

bers of the National Association of Education Executive Secretaries, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House. He said the establishment of an education bank has long been given a legal backing by the Supreme Court, but that such legal instrument was never implemented. Aliyu added that a bank in that category will also contribute to the establishment of private schools and will help in assisting indigent students to get financial assistance to any level they wish to go.

El-Rufai sets up transition committee Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

he Kaduna State Governor-elect, Nasir El-Rufai, yesterday inaugurated a transition committee comprising experienced technocrats and politicians to facilitate the smooth hand over between the outgoing and the incoming administrations. In a statement issued by El-Rufai’s spokes-

man, Mr. Samuel Aruwan yesterday, the committee is chaired by Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, a seasoned public servant and the former FCT Minister’s Chief of Staff. Aruwan said the Governor-elect has officially replied Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero's congratulatory letter, adding that El-Rufai had also met with the governor in the spirit of moving the state forward.

News

THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

France foils church attack

rance said yesterday it had foiled a jihadist plot to attack a church after an Algerian who accidentally shot himself was found with a stash of weapons and documents mentioning Islamist militant groups. The 24-year-old IT student Sid Ahmed Ghlam’s plans were exposed purely by chance after he called an ambulance saying he had been shot during an armed robbery at his Paris home, prosecutor Francois Molins told journalists. However, police uncovered an arsenal of weapons in his car and home, and detailed plans to attack a church, as well as DNA evidence linking him to the murder of a woman who was found shot dead in her car over the weekend near the capital. The suspect, who was admitted to a Paris hospital after his arrest, was known to intelligence services over comments on social networks expressing his desire to go and fight in Syria alongside jihadists, said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. Paris is still on high alert with memories fresh from a jihadist killing spree that left 17 dead in January. Police

called to the scene where Ghlam was wounded found traces of his blood in car as well as a Kalashnikov rifle, a pistol, a revolver, bulletproof vests, several cellphones, a laptop and documents on “potential targets and how to carry out attacks”, said Molins. Another three Kalashnikovs, police armbands and vests, and documents in Arabic mentioning jihadist groups Islamic State and Al Qaeda were found at his home. The city prosecutor said that Ghlam had told police “far-fetched” tales of how he had received the bullet wound to his leg, such as that he had shot himself while trying to throw his weapons into the Seine River. Analysis of his communications equipment indicated Ghlam “was in touch with another person who could be in Syria on how to carry out an attack, with the latter clearly asking him to target a church”, said Molins. A source close to the investigation said Ghlam appeared to have carefully calculated how long it would take police to respond. Several members of his entourage and family have since been detained, some of whom

sympathise with radical Islam, sources close to the investigation said. Yesterday, his 25-year-old girlfriend was taken in for questioning. The sources said she was a convert to Islam and was the only woman in her neighbourhood who wore Islamic garb. The arrest comes some three months after Islamic extremists gunned down 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo magazine, a policewoman and four others at a Jewish supermarket in a three-day reign of terror in the French capital. The attack sent shock waves around the world, and prompted several reforms in France including controversial new spy laws that are currently being debated in parliament. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls yesterday reiterated government warnings that the country was facing an “unprecedented terrorist threat”. “Terrorists are targeting France to divide us and our response must of course be to protect citizens but also to rally together, unite and to be hugely determined faced with this terrorist threat,” he said on French television.

Mediterranean migrants’ crisis: Italy ‘at war’ with people

taly says it is “at war” with migrant traffickers, and has urged the EU to take robust action to stop more people dying in the Mediterranean. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi made the comment ahead of an EU summit today to discuss the crisis. Italy’s Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti told Italian TV that the EU should consider military intervention. More than 800 people drowned off Libya’s coast on Sunday, bringing the number of deaths this year to 1,750. The number of people attempting to flee war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, particularly Eritreans and Syrians, has spiked in recent months, leading to huge numbers of people drowning in unseaworthy and often overcrowded vessels. The Interna-

tional Organisation for Migration (IOM) says there have been 30 times as many deaths so far in 2015 as in the same period last year and the figure could rise to 30,000. More than 500 people rescued from several other boats were brought ashore by Italian coastguards yesterday. Small children, Arab and African, stood together and grinned and waved at us from the deck of an Italian navy ship as they waited to disembark. They were a few of the more than 400 new arrivals rescued from the Calabrian coast a day ago. They had spent eight days at sea after setting sail from Egypt on a fishing boat. Others had been plucked from the sea in separate operations and were brought here for medical treatment.

South Africa’s image suffers after anti-immigrant attacks nly a few kilometers of three South Africans (miles) separate Al- and four foreigners. O Tuesday, Alexandra was exandra, a gritty Johan-

France has been on a heightened state of alert since the terror attacks in January 2015

Drone found on roof of Japanese Prime Minister’s office

apanese authorities said they were investigating after a small drone laced with traces of radiation was found yesterday on the roof of the prime minister’s office, sparking concerns about drones and their possible use for terrorist attacks. No injuries or damage were reported from the incident, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Indonesia to attend an Asian African conference. Police said it was not immediately known who was responsible for the drone. They were investigating the possibility it had crashed during a flight. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said a drone landing at the prime minister’s office was a wakeup call to problems caused by the unmanned aerial devices, including possible terrorist attacks when Japan

hosts a Group of Seven summit next year, as well as the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. “There is a possibility that drones might be used for terrorist attacks,” Suga told a regular news conference. “Taking into consideration the latest incident, we will review drone use and measures for possible terrorist attacks using drones. We’ll do our utmost to prevent terrorist attacks.” It was not clear when the drone landed. Officials at the prime minister’s office, located in central Tokyo, said they rarely go up to the roof, which is also used as a heliport in case of an emergency. News reports said the drone was found by an official who was taking new employees on a tour of the prime minister’s office. What was initially considered only a mishap turned eerie when investi-

gators detected small traces of radiation from the drone, which police said were not levels harmful to humans. TV video showed several uniformed policemen without hazmat suits carrying a blue plastic

box containing the drone for further examination. Video from public television broadcaster NHK earlier showed dozens of police officers and officials around the drone, which was covered by a blue tarp.

nesburg township where South Africans attacked immigrants last week, from Sandton, a district jammed with high-end stores, restaurants and gleaming office towers symbolizing the upper reaches of the prosperity that attracted so many job seekers to South Africa. Adding to South Africa’s allure was its image as a “rainbow nation” of diversity and inclusion after white racist rule ended in 1994. Now a nation that seeks to lead in Africa is struggling with perceptions that some of its communities breed intolerance toward foreigners, many from elsewhere in Africa. The violence against immigrants and the looting of their shops that erupted this month in parts of Johannesburg and the coastal city of Durban appear to have abated after the deaths

bustling as uniformed students walked home after school and a few police cars patrolled streets lined with shacks made of sheet metal. The unrest, however, has been a public relations disaster for South Africa, a country that a visiting Zambian said had been perceived as a “heaven of Africa” because of its relative wealth, stability and freedom. The Zambian, Dennis Nyati, was attending a Johannesburg conference hosted this week by African Monitor, a South Africabased group that promotes development. Another delegate, Yoadan Workneh Shiferaw of Ethiopia, speculated that South Africans involved in the attacks had forgotten “how cruel it was during apartheid,” when the country’s white minority rulers harshly suppressed dissent.

India takes Al Jazeera off air in Kashmir map row

ndia’s government took Al Jazeera news channel off the air yesterday for five days after officials insisted it had repeatedly shown wrong maps of disputed Kashmir. Al Jazeera in India showed a blue screen yesterday with a sign saying “as instructed by the ministry of information and broadcasting, this channel will not be available”. An official said the order was made earlier this month over the maps that showed parts of the Himalayan Kashmir region in arch rival Pakistan and China, an extremely sensitive issue in India. “The ban has been imposed for five days and it was done on instructions of an interministerial committee, who took cognisance of an incorrect map of India in which the channel showed parts

of Kashmir in Pakistan and China,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The order comes amid a simmering censorship row in India over a series of recent bans that have sparked accusations of a growing climate of intolerance under Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They include a ban on screening a BBC documentary on the fatal gangrape of a student that sparked mass protests in Delhi. Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English, called the ban “a disproportionate response.” “Unfortunately, this is the latest in a series of ongoing issues. Our journalists have not been granted visas for years now,” Anstey said in a statement to the media. “We have though been severely

hampered for too long by constraints placed upon us when trying to tell Indian stories to the world,” the statement added, urging the information minister to hold talks “that will help us move forward in a constructive way”. According to local media reports, Al Jazeera breached India’s broadcasting code over the maps shown in 2014 and 2013 which on some occasions also did not include the Lakshadweep and Andaman islands. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but both claim the whole of the region and have gone to war twice over its control since partition in 1947. New Delhi imposes tight restrictions on all printed maps, insisting they show all of Kashmir as being part of India.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2015

News

International Sport Young players Chelsea’s future, says Mourinho

Zenith Bank increases Women’s Basketball League fees

Depleted Team Nigeria arrive Mauritius

NFF intervenes in Awoniyi’s transfer tussle

Sport

Athletics

Did you know? That Readings FC of England goalkeeper, Adam Federici, whose Wembley blunder led to his club being dumped out of the FA Cup by Arsenal, is due to get married on weekend of the final.

Eagles must start AFCON well –Musa S Âjibade Olusesan

uper Eagles striker, Ahmed Musa, has said that their opening match in the 2017 Africa Nations Cup qualifiers is a must-win for if they are to stand a chance of making it to the tournament. Nigeria are drawn in Group G of the AFCON qualifiers alongside Egypt, Chad and Tanzania. The Super Eagles will open their campaign against the Chadians in June and Musa said it was most important for them to win the tie. He recalled that Eagles’ failure to win their first match in the last AFCON qualifiers against Congo haunted them throughout the series and they couldn’t afford to pass through same route again. He said: “It is a fair draw in my own opinion and it is very important for us to start very well. Our first match is so important for us to win. We failed to win our first match

the last time and we ended up not qualifying. Although we tried to make amends later but we still could not make it to Equatorial Guinea. It is still painful for us as players that we could not defend the title we won in South Africa. “We can’t allow that to happen again and that is why we

CBN Tennis: Serena causes major upset in Lagos

have to do our best, we have to avoid distractions and remain focused. Chad may not be a big name in football but in Africa there is no small team, we just have to be at our best.” Egypt have been identified as the country that can stop Nigeria from that group but Musa said there was no cause for

The Sport Team Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Editor, Sport

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sport Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sport Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sport Correspondent

Super Eagles’ Ahmed Musa (left) being challenged by Argentina’s Pabio Zabaleta during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Argentina won

alarm, insisting that “the Eagles must remain disciplined and focused. We have what it takes to beat any team but we also need luck on our side. We can qualify despite Egypt being in our group. It is going to be tough because they are also desperate, it has been a long time they qualified for the tournament.”

erena Teluwo, eight years old, the youngest player in the ongoing CBN Junior Tennis Championship justified the investment of time and money her parents are making on her tennis by beating the No.2 seed Mary Udofa from Kogi State 9-6 in the Girls 10 and under round robin playoffs. Playing on centre court with her mother, Joy and two elder sisters, watching, Serena, peeled off at 4 -4 winning five out of the next seven games to secure a semifinal place. The Teluwos had sent their daughter to the JC Fererro Tennis Academy in Spain in 2013 at age six to establish a firm foundation for her development and played in two age group tournaments in America in March 2015. “Serena has got the talent and enjoys playing tennis. We would give her all the support and encouragement she needs to excel.” Her mother who led the cheers for her daughter said. In other matches, national junior champion, Angel Mcleod was pushed by Peace Udoh in the Girls 16s but finally overpowered her opponent who showed some remarkable improvement from the last junior tournament. Mcelod who played in the Senior Masters last December won 9-6. In some of the boys matches, Nmesoma Ekeugo edged Taiwo Olufemi 9-8 in a Boys 12 match. The two Lagos -based players needed a tiebreak to decide the match. In a Boys 14 match, Gabriel Friday from Kaduna beat Wilson Igbinovia from the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club 9-2. The round robin matches are expected to be completed on Thursday with four players emerging from each age group for the semifinals. The competition is featuring singles events in five age categories: boys and girls 10. 12, 14, 16 and 18.

Keshi makes U-turn on Flying Eagles players

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Sport

THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Silencing the noisy neighbours (2)

t was one of the short messages that came from Sonde-(I guess Sunday in local parlance) in Otukpa (some say Otukpo)- who complained that the first part last week was not only lousy but sloppy. That was his opinion which he is entitled to. Others feel not quite as harsh. The sign-off last week was the headline that brought Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi, to the attention of coach Clemens Westerhof. That was not a game of the Ranchers “Bees” noisy neighbours - Raccah Rovers but in a West African Football Union Cup tie. The same could be said of Alloy Aguwho was the goalkeeper of coach Femi Siwoku’s –ECN (later NEPA)- in an epic FA cup tie against National Bank , handled by colleague and friend, Dan Ajibode, at the King George V now Onikan Stadium. Alloy had not noticed the lurking striker who was later to become the Chairman of the Lagos State Football Association, Taiwo Afinnih. The ball went to Afinnih’s left leg which was the potent weapon and Wham! the goal. The headline was – “Alloy’s Greek gift to Affinih “ There had been more encounters of neighbours all through the domestic scene either in the League or the FA Cup which has been so bastardised in the country that one can only imagine the af-

Muyiwa Daniel on Thursday

md_muyiwa@yahoo.com 08023525087 (sms only) around the FA cup fixtures in the entire European setting or even on the continent of Africa and it is discovered to a shocking state that our country’s FA Cup is on its own. But the noisy neighbours must keep getting noisy as we sat within the Sports Hall of the Lagos National Stadium for the third games of the Basketball Premier League season where those who supported Dodan “Warriors” of Sam Ahmedu are mostly Arsenal supporters who however relieve memories of Stores and ECN with coach Joe Erico of Jogo Bonito fame shared experience of matches at Onikan, UAC (later Teslim Balogun) Stadium. It was in those days where a Stores/ECN/ NEPA fixture at the FA Cup, League or Oba Cup fill the stadium before 9am for a game scheduled to kick-off at 4pm. Then the trees adjoining the stadium and surrounded by the prestigious Island Club, Police Area 2 headquarters, the Nigeria Army Officers mess and

fair that pitched BCC “Lions” against Stationery Stores at the final which held at the Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi and where three times Eagles coach, Shaibu Amodu, came to national reckoning. BCC had survived Lobi Stars of Makurdi in the state finals. Nigeria is however still pitching states’ champions and runners-up against themselves in an FA Cup format that makes no sense in competition and can never produce another Arugo United put together by former colleague and Iwuanyanwu Nationale team manager, Uche Ejimiofor, or an Amukpe United upsetting Vasco da Gama in Sokoto. That has effectively put paid to a look-alike English FA Cup tie where a Reading almost certain of relegation from the first division to the second tier dragging EPL title chasers and defending champions, Arsenal, into extra-time at Saturday’s semifinal at Wembley before the Gunners 2-1 escape to meet conquerors of Liverpool, Aston Villa, in the final. Look

Flag Staff House are filled by humans who could not access the stadium stands. ECN and Water Corporation produced the highest number of teams as they are present in all states of the federation in a determined effort by management of both corporations to achieve presence nationwide. These chats in the admixture of football and basketball is provided by the game Union Bank almost threw away in the fourth quarter against Oluyole Warriors and a furious boss and Nigeria Olympic Committee Secretary-General, Tunde Popoola, threatened the technical crew with a sack. The coach later made the players run with stones on legs –practically - the ramps of the scoreboard end of the National Stadium main bowl. Then came the game of midweek as Dodan Warriors practically overran Raptors before Police got their season on the ground with a defeat of Scott Nnaji’s Custom. The beauty of it was that Nigerians didn’t give a serious thought to xenophobia in South Africa as the three matches which ran through the better part of seven hours were transmitted live on Superport. As the teams were cheered it was the fixture of noisy neighbours that

will pitch the Nigeria Army and skillful Warriors against Lagos Islanders who have moved to their “home” in Lekki and the return of former internationals – Olumide Oyedeji and Tunji Awojobi – enliven the floors and certainly it will be more noisy than that Old Trafford clash of the neighbours –United and City – where an inspired Wayne Rooney got the home team maximum points to pressure Arsenal 4-2 before losing at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea giving off the 10-point lead that inches near the title of City who closed in winning through Arguero’s goal on Sunday. Don’t you think noisy neighbours can turnaround with the likes of Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga and his colleagues in the telecommunications business - and those in the oil and banking sectors turning soccer around by investing in clubs and running them professionally. That scenario will present the country the opportunity of keeping players from slavery in some backyard country and then an influx of best legs in the continent and beyond. Think about it – Noisy neighbours! CONCLUDED

NFF intervenes in Awoniyi’s transfer tussle Balogun relishes Keshi’s re-appointment

he Nigeria Football Federation has queried all the parties involved in the transfer imbroglio threatening to derail the career of Flying Eagles striker Taiwo Awoniyi, SL10.ng understands that back in 2014, the 17-year-old penned a preliminary contract with Kalmar but United Academy supremo Razaq Olojo recently petitioned the local football regulator to render the agreement null and void. Coach Olojo has based his argument on the assumption that the Swedish Allsvenskan side had reached an agreement in principle with Imperial Soccer Academy whereas the player’s registration rights were never transferred

to the club. In his own defence, former Hull City midfielder Seyi Olofinjana has said that Taiwo Awoniyi’s father (without the knowledge of the striker’s mom) signed a two-year contract with Imperial Soccer Academy, Odogbolu in 2012. Therefore, in the eyes of Olofinjana, the club-to-club agreement his academy signed with Kalmar in 2014 is valid. The Nigeria Football Federation Legal Department has written to the two academies and Taiwo Awoniyi’s agent to attach all relevant documents on the said matter in order to enable the NFF determine the status of the player.

igeria international Leon Balogun has hailed the decision of the Nigeria Football Federation to put to rest the issue of the Super Eagles head coach. Stephen Keshi was on Tuesday given a fresh two-year contract after several months of speculations and uncertainties. The Germany-based Nigeria defender Balogun with three caps told AfricaFootball.com from his base, “It was very important that the issue of the

Awoniyi

Abia Warriors end Heartland’s unbeaten start Charles Ogundiya

bia warriors on Wednesday inflicted the first loss on Heartland of Owerri to end the Naze Millionaires’s unbeaten start to the season. Ifeanyi Onyeali was the hero for the Warriors, scoring the only goal in the 88minute of the game in Owerri to continue the tradition of away

wins every match day since the start of the new season. Warriors’ sister club, Enyimba, also recorded a 1-0 victory away from home against FC Taraba to make it two away wins in the midweek games. In Ibadan, Shooting Stars recorded their first victory of the season after beating Kwara United 2-0 while Nasarawa United put an end to the league defending champions, Kano

Pillars’ fine start to the new season in a 2-1 victory in Lafia. Giwa FC was the biggest winner of the day, winning 4-0 at home against Akwa United as Gabros defeated Lobi Stars 2-0 in Nnewi. El-Kanemi Warriors, Wikki Tourists and Dolphins defeated Sunshine Stars, Warri Wolves and Rangers 1-0 respectively in other matches played.

Balogun

trainer has now been sorted out. “The coach is one of the most important persons, he is the one who picks the players, he is the one who sets up the strongest team, he is the one who prepares the road to success starting with the qualifies and hopefully we would be participating in the AFCON 2017. “It’s very important that there are no more struggles on who is trainer of the national team.”

Intertional Sport 53

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2015

Mourinho: Young players are future of Chelsea

ose Mourinho believes he has found the right balance between youth and experience at Chelsea and intends to supplement his squad with up to four academy prospects next season. The Blues have been dominant in the Premier League this season but are still waiting for their first youth-team player to make the breakthrough since John Terry more than a decade ago.

However, the future looks bright at Stamford Bridge after Tammy Abraham’s double blast and Dominic Solanke, strike took the club to a 3-1 FA Youth Cup final first leg win over Man City Tuesday night. Solanke is one of a select few players, including highly-rated midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who have been permitted to train alongside the first-team by manager Mourinho this term.

The coach said: I can’t have 10 of these young players in my squad but I can have three or four and we did that with LoftusCheek, [Izzy] Brown, [Andreas] Christensen and [Nathan] Ake - and Solanke a few times. “Next season, Ruben will not be a kid in the development process. He will be a first-team player, absolutely ready to play and compete. And we will do the same with two or three or four players.”

London marathon live on DStv

hile the world eagerly awaits the fight of the century between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas next weekend, across in London, a potential race of the century is in the making as the greatest marathon field ever assembled gathers for the 35th running of the London Marathon. Headlining an elite field which consists of five of the seven fastest runners in the history of the marathon, are the two most recent world-record holders, defending champion Wilson Kipsang and his compatriot Dennis Kimetto, the current world-record

Solanke (right) in action for Chelsea

Edo FA honours Bazuaye, Onaghise

holder and first man to ever run a sub 2:03 marathon. Broadcast of the race starts at 9.50am CAT on SS5 and is available only on SuperSport across Sub-Saharan Africa. “It’s exciting times indeed in the world of sports. In the next two weekends, we could witness two events (the fight and marathon) that could go down the annals of sport history as being among the greatest ever. The World of Champions is thrilled to be able to bring events of such magnitude to the masses across the continent,” said Brandon Foot, Acting Chief Kipsang Executive of SuperSport.

he Edo Football Association has organised two matches in honour of fallen coaches from the state, Willy Bazuaye and John Onaghise. The matches are scheduled for the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, on Friday. It is part of the state FA’s effort to ensure a befitting burial for the respected coaches. According to the chairman of the association, Frank Ilaboya, the novelty match for ex-Bendel United coach Onaghise will involve old players of the defunct club and a selected side, while a Lagos All-Stars team will play against players who played

Keshi makes U-turn on Flying Eagles players • Gives conditions for invitation

Flying Eagles’ Kelechi Ihenacho

uper Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, has made a retraction on his earlier stance that Flying Eagles players were not ripe to play for the Super Eagles. The 53-year-old coach made reference to himself, having earned his first senior cap as a teenager, and says if the players can show personal excellence, he’ll have no problems bringing them in. “Of course there are talents there and this is also about their personal excellence,” he told SL10.ng. “If they’re doing well in the Flying Eagles, why not? We’ll bring them in. I did it when I

was 17, when I was still a junior. “So also did Henry Nwosu, we all did it, came through at very young ages, so if any of them can do it, I will play them. There’s no problem.” He however warned that, “They must understand that playing for the Flying Eagles is not the same as playing for the Super Eagles. The Super Eagles is the highest level of the game and if they can cope with it, good, because I did it too. “So if any of them out there can do it, no problem. But such players must have the quality and commitment.”

Zenith Bank increases Women’s Basketball League fees Ifeanyi Ibeh

enith Bank Nigeria Plc has increased the sponsorship fees of the Nigerian women’s basketball league from N25 million to N30 million for the 2015 league season tippingoff on Friday in Abuja. Zenith Bank’s AGM/ Head, Research and Economic Intelligence Group, Marcel Okeke, while speak-

ing during the cheque presentation ceremony in Lagos on Monday said, “The NBBF is doing a good job, while the players who are the major stakeholders in the league have shown that they have the skills to take the game to a higher level. He added that, “Though the sponsorship package will run out next year, we will continue to support basketball in the country.

The NBBF has also shown that they have the wherewithal to run a flawless league and for this they shall continue to enjoy the support of Zenith Bank beyond the 2015/2016,” Okeke added. NBBF President, Tijani Umar, announced an increase in the prize money for the winning teams. “With the improved fees, the winner of the league

will get N1.2m, the second placed team will receive N1m, while the third placed team will smile home with N800, 000. This is the biggest prize money in the history of the women basketball league in the country,” he said. The 11th edition of the Zenith Women Basketball League starting with the jump ball in Abuja on Friday, is to end on May 4.

under Bazuaye and ex-internationals, in honour of the former New Nigeria Bank coach. Seventy-nine-year-old Bazuaye was an assistant coach of the national U-23 side when the team won an Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. At club level, he managed top sides NNB, Flash Flamingos and Calabar Rovers. Aside coaching Bendel United, Onaghise is reputed to have produced top coaches. Meanwhile, Ilaboya has congratulated one of the state’s representatives, Kukuruku Dragons of Auchi, for qualifying for the next round of the Federation Cup.

Women League: Delta Queens battle Confluence Queens Confort Chukwu Abuja

elta Queens will confront Confluence Queens in a star match of the opening day of the 2014/2015 season of the Nigerian Women Football League. The NWFL starts on May 2, 2015 and the League Management Committee hinted that it would deploy digital means of analysing matches. Chairman of Nigeria Women League, Mrs. Dilichukwu Onyedinma, told women league chairmen from different states in Abuja during the draw for the new season, that stiffer penalties awaited clubs that work against the rule. She said the committee had new strategies in place to ensure that any match which ended in protest would be properly investigated. “We are improving the Nigerian women league, this year, we are moving from the analogue to scientific stage for match analysis,” she said.

Dilichukwu

54 Sport

THURSDAY APRIL 23, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

FANS ZONE

Is Keshi’s return a good omen for Super Eagles? Keshi is a disgrace

It took the Nigerian Football Federation 282 days to finally reach an agreement with Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, who is expected to lead the nation toward the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. CHARLES OGUNDIYA speaks with sports fans on the issue…

What is he coming to do? Where are the jobs he was talking about? Are the countries not interested in him again? It is a big disgrace on his part to have return to his vomit. He came back because he was unable to get another job which shows he is not a good coach and he cannot move our football forward. Maybe the NFF has something up their sleeve that’s why they decided to give him the job after so much drama, let us wait and see.

A big mistake bringing him back

The Nigeria Football Federation has made a great mistake by re-employing Stephen Keshi as the Super Eagles’ coach. I don’t think he has anything to offer especially after what happened at the World Cup in Brazil. We can see that he is already out of ideas on what to do as evidenced by our inability to qualify for the last AFCON. We will continue to experience the issues of using wrong players and collecting bribes from players for inviting them to the national team. There are better coaches out there, locally and foreign. Bosun Olabelurin Abuja

NFF board must resign if he fails

Keshi back to kill Nigerian football I was surprised when I heard that they have re-instated Stephen Keshi as the Nigeria national team coach, is he the only one in your country? It’s a bad call from your country’s football administrators. He was the guy behind Nigerian football downfall. Let’s forget about the trophy he won two years ago, he is coming back to bury Nigerian football after killing it last year. Why go for him if he failed to qualify for 2015 AFCON? Paul Muchiri Kenya

I am not too comfortable with the return of Stephen Keshi because he was the one who master-minded our non-qualification for the 2015 African Cup of Nations. ‘He flirted with other countries and that shows he is not a loyal servant to the country. He shouldn’t have returned. NFF feels they know better than those that called for a change. They should be prepared for the consequences if Keshi fails again.’ Nura Musa Kano Pillars supporter

Depleted Team Nigeria arrive Mauritius

eam Nigeria touched down in Mauritius today (Thursday) for the second edition of the African Youth Athletics Championship scheduled for between Thursday April 23 and Sunday April 26. The athletes who departed Nigeria Wednesday night aboard Emirates Air for Mauritius were optimistic of winning medals even if it will now be a herculean task for the team to defend the title they won two years ago in Warri, Nigeria. The athletes were reduced to 12 from the initial 25 invited for the competition due to lack of funds. Defending champion Nigeria was on the verge of missing out of the competition after the National Sports Commission failed to release funds for the Athletic Federation of Nigeria to prosecute the competition. It took the intervention of the president of the federation, Solomon Ogba, for the athletes to travel for the competition late on Wednesday night with event starting today (Thursday). Some of the athletes will have little time to rest before their first event of the day. According to the flight schedule, the athletes landed in Mauritius at 4.50am local time with the 100m events starting by 11am local time. Five girls and seven boys made the trip with three coaches. Bisi Afolabi led the team to Mauritius.

Aniekeme Alphonsus, Abolaji Omotayo, Idamadudu Praise, Adiakerenwa Blessing and Olude Fadekemi made the trip in the girls’ category, while Ijesa

Odus Oluremi, Ibadan

He should not be trusted For him to have accepted the ‘slave’ contract, then he is desperate now. He decided to accept the job because no other job was forth coming. We cannot trust him, if something else comes he will dump the country without thinking twice which might be dangerous for the country’s football development. Akinwale Olanrewaju Lagos

TRACK & FIELD

Uruemu, Nwokocha Tobechukwu, Itsekiri Usheoritse, Adewale Sikiru, Ojeikere Omon, Ayebide Kingsley and Prior Ochonogor made it for the boys.

WITH CHARLES OGUNDIYA

Ecobank named Okpekpe Road Race official banker

Edidiong Ofonime (left) and Junaid Abimbola celebrating Team Nigeria’s victory at the first edition of the AYAC

he Ecobank Rapid Transfer Service has been named the official money transfer service for the 3rd Okpekpe 10km road race scheduled for May 16 in Okpekpe town in Edo State. The meet, now an International Association of Athletics Federation Bronze Label Race, will attract over 3000 local and international professional athletes with sports enthusiasts from across the world also being expected.

Olumudi set for Florida race

igeria long distance race rave of the moment, Aderonke Olumudi, has said she is ready to win her race on Saturday in Florida in the United States. Olumudi will be competing in her fourth and final race in the US when she takes to the track at Saturday’s 12km Lake Minneola Half Marathon in Florida.

“I am ready for the other athletes coming for Saturday’s race,” she said. “I have been training hard since my last race where I won gold and I am looking forward to another gold medal before returning to Nigeria.” She recently won the 10km women’s category of the 3rd GE Irving Marathon

race in the US. She also won silver and bronze medals at the 5th Longview Marathon and the Bearathon Marathon races in the US. She has also set her sight on becoming the first Nigerian athlete to win the annual Okpekpe 10km Road Race scheduled for May 16 in Okpekpe town, in Edo State.

Announcing the bank’s partnership in Lagos, a statement quoted Ecobank’s Deputy Managing Director, Tony Okpanachi, to have said the bank is best suited for the competition that has grown to have global recognition. According to Mr. Okpanachi, the Ecobank Rapid Transfer is an innovative money transfer service available within Nigeria and countries in Africa where Ecobank is present. “The service was conceived out of the need to provide quick, convenient, accessible, and reliable money transfer services for customers and non-customers of the bank,” Okpanachi said. Okpanachi was also optimistic that the money transfer platform would provide the much-needed ease of financial transactions during and after the competition, and urged all the participants to avail themselves of the opportunities provided by the bank.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSday, APRIL 23, 2015

On Marble The chicken eats corn, swallows pebbles, yet complains of having no teeth

Pele remains the first 17-year-old to win football’s World Cup

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Gladiators who destroyed PDP

he debate is already on as to who really caused the downfall of the almighty Peoples Democratic Party PDP, the once self styled largest political party in Africa. The party that boasted that it was going to rule Nigeria for 60 years uninterrupted has nose-dived just after 16 years. What happened? What went wrong? Who is liable for this disastrous outing? If your thought aligns with that of the Rivers state Governor, Rotimi Amaechi who left the PDP and joined others to engineer the formation of the victorious All Progressive Congress, APC, you are likely to blame President Goodluck Jonathan and the current leadership of the party for the mess. But if you are from the geo-political north of the country, you are also most likely to blame President Jonathan for creating problem for the party by backsliding on his promise to return power to the north after one term. On the other hand, if you are in Jonathan’s camp, you are most likely to blame the current leadership of the party for not providing leadership when it mattered most, not minding that they facilitated the party’s novel idea of giving him the party’s Presidential ticket unchallenged. Similarly, if you are in the camp of the current leaders of the party, you will quickly heap the blame at the door step of the President. At the party circle, you often hear such things as “ Jonathan has killed our party,” “if this man was not ready, why did he not step down instead of ruining our party. “ Such people insist that his inability to provide the much needed leadership opened the way to all other short comings that eventually drowned the party. They blamed the poor outing of the party during campaigns and election proper to the deliberate sidelining of the party structures by the President. “The President brought in adhoc people to handle his campaign and because they had no structure, they groped all through spending their money wrongly and achieving little or no result” But before you settle for the argument, hear Jonathan’s men on why they did not find the party route attractive. They argued that some of the party leaders are corrupt and not committed to the Jonathan project . Their position may empirically be supported by the disgraceful outing of the party in the supposed catchment areas of these party leaders. Of all the problems that bedeviled PDP these last 16 years, lack of internal democracy topped them all and it was planted in the party by the military. General Abdulsami Abubakar who as military Head of state facilitated the emergence of PDP as well as foisted General Olusegun Obasanjo on it as candidate and later president, is the same man that ironically sat close as President Jonathan conceded defeat to the APC on June 1, 2015, thus halting its sixteen years dominance of

Political Musings IKE ABONYI

igwebuike2001@yahoo.com 08024024029 (sms only)

Abdulsalam

Obasanjo

the nation’s political space. Is it a coincidence, happenstance or a design? Only history will tell if not now later. But as a political journalist who has operated within and outside this party in the last 16 years and who has been a keen observer of its activities, I wish to argue that I find three groups of people actually responsible for the PDP woes. And they are President Olusegun Obasanjo, the pioneer Presidential flag bearer of the party, President Goodluck Jonathan and a group of PDP governors from 1999 till date. Actions and inactions of these three groups accounted largely for the destruction of the Party. How ? you may ask. When exactly on Wednesday, the 19th of August, 1998, the founding fathers of this great party converged on Abuja to pronounce into existence the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, they were unambiguous what their agenda would be. The aims and objectives set out by these great Nigerians were patriotic and their dreams lofty and visionary. Their manifesto captured all, “the morals and conduct of our people collapsed to abysmal levels and rampant corruption in all its forms became the norm while integrity became a subject of derision. The spirit of fair play whether in official dealings, or interpersonal relations was destroyed” and again” The decline in political morality and integrity in public offices has eroded the commitment of political leaders to the country and destroyed the faith of common people in any form of political leadership. “ But the first challenge began early when the founding fathers were not allowed to pick one of their own as flag bearer instead. The then supervisors of events, the military headed by Gen. Abdulsami chose to draft one of their own from prison to lead a party he did not know anything about. In doing this, the military hierarchy were being selfish, they were on a mission to right the wrong of the annulment of

Jonathan

the June 12, 1993, presidential election for which the ethnic Yoruba were at the forefront, shouting blue murder over injustice to their kinsman, Chief M.K. O. Abiola. The military wanted the June 12 wound healed by handing over to Abiola’s people and the only person they could rely on was Obasanjo who was actually not part of June 12 struggle but hails from the same area as the main victim. That was the first tragic error; handing over the presidential candidacy of the party to a person who did not know its vision and mission. When in 2003, the politicians fed up with his undemocratic attitude attempted to dethrone him using his Vice, Atiku Abubakar, he played a smart one on them and begged. When he eventually got it, he used the next four years to ‘crush’ the party. Obasanjo in fact wanted a third term and when he could not get it, he defied party’s opinion and imposed a sick Umaru Yar Adua as the Presidential candidate. When he was leaving office in 2007, he caused the party to amend the constitution to make him, Obasanjo its Chairman of Board of Trustees, the clearing house for every major issue in government. For Jonathan, his offence was his apparent inability to provide the much needed leadership to save the party from going down. He weakened the party structure when he intimidated Prince Vincent Ogbulafor out as National Chairman for making an inauspicious statement on the party zoning formular after the death of President Yar Adua. When Jonathan attempted to reinvent the party later by bringing in Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo, he lacked the much needed political will to back the re engineering policy that Nwodo brought that would have guaranteed independence to the party leadership. Perhaps the greatest damage done to PDP that eventually brought it to its knees as it were came from the group

of governors. Like a thunderbolt a forum of state governors emerged in the country’s political space and became a monster thereafter. President Jonathan was helpless and could not save the situation. In a space of five years, he worked with six National Chairmen as he could not resist the pushing around by the governors.They made sure the party never had independence, starving it of the much needed internal democracy, thus serial set backs . When President Jonathan realized that the party was having challenges, it was too late in the day. The clear consequence became the imposition of candidates and impunity which has been there since the inception of the party climaxing in the party primaries that produced various candidates for the 2015 elections. Since nothing last forever, the brazing injustice in the party reached a peak that aggrieved members now out number the beneficiaries of the injustice and they found APC an alternative abode. Things got to that sore point that the current National Chairman, Adamu Muazu had to cry out at the inauguration of the party presidential campaign last January, that it was high time the “monkey de work, baboon de chop policy of the party” stopped. It was therefore not surprising that when the almighty governors forum cracked, the spinal cord of the party cracked and final result was what happened on March 28 and April 11, 2015. There is no doubt that 80 percent of those who defeated PDP candidates in the just concluded elections were the PDP’s original first choice who were unfortunately sidetracked and frustrated out . Almost all the PDP governors who insisted on their choice candidates against popular ones could not deliver them thanks to the card reader revolution. For the party to survive therefore, it must return to the labour room where the baby was born 16 years ago to pick those core values of its founding fathers. And when it returns, it must in line with its slogan, make the people the anchor. Those who can make it happen must be those who share in the dreams of the founding fathers and not opportunists and psychophants. God bless Nigeria. Two of a kind, Zulu King and Oba of Lagos There are some striking similarities between the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini of South Africa and Oba of Lagos Rilwan Akiolu of Nigeria. The duo are monarchs in their countries. They all have phobia against none indigenes in their domain. They incite and encourage hate against non indigenes in their domains. They also share denial tendencies even when evidence against them is empirical. The duo on the marble, “foreigners must go, they are taking my peoples jobs”- Zulu King. “Any non-indigene who votes against Ambode my candidate will drown in the lagoon- Oba of Lagos.

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