Thursday, july 9, 2015 binder1 by Newtelegraphonline

Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

Vol. 2 No. 505

Thursday, July 9, 2015

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N150

EFCC goes after Nyako, Ohakim, lamido }6

Foreign reserves rebound to $31.9bn –CBN

Law

Disquiet over Jega’s successor

lSenate to apex bank: Recover N30bn rice waiver Chukwu David Abuja

}21

he prudent management of dollar demand by the Cen-

tral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Government's effort to plug leakages have increased the nation’s external reserves to $31.89billion, CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said.

The position of the reserves, which Emefiele gave yesterday at a meeting with the leadership of the Senate, shows a rise of $3.79billion, representing 13per cent from the $29.1 billion Presi-

dent Muhammadu Buhari inherited on May 29. But the $31.89 billion, which is the position of the reserves as at July 7, is below the $37.3 CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

N'Assembly crisis: APC peace talks deadlocked lReps may opt for election of principal officers

QuickRead

Coroner seeks trial of T.B. Joshua's church, }5 contractors

Marketers: FG to pay N159bn fuel subsidy debt }8

Former Imo State Governor, Mr. Ihedi Ohakim, on arrival at the Federal High Court, where he was arraigned for fraud, in Abuja...yesterday

Former Adamawa State Governor, Alhaji Murtala Nyako (right), his son, Senator Abdul-Aziz Nyako, during their trial in Abuja...yesterday

Chibok girls: Buhari indicts Jonathan

NDLEA arrests man with $2.198m at Lagos airport }10

Court rejects lAgain, Boko Haram offers to swap detainees for abducted pupils }2, 7, 49 Nyanya bomber's }5 lSponsors of Jos, Zaria attacks arrested as NUT confirms 37 teachers dead right suit

News

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

N'Assembly crisis: APC peace talks deadlocked Philip Nyam Abuja

fforts by the All P r o g r e s s iv e s Congress (APC) to resolve the lingering leadership crisis in the House of Representatives have suffered yet another setback as a meeting between the feuding factions of the lawmakers and an ad hoc reconciliation committee, chaired by Sokoto State Governor, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, to resolve the crisis ended in a deadlock. It was learnt yesterday that the ad hoc committee met separately on Tuesday night with the two groups,

led by House Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and former Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, respectively during which they remained adamant on their positions. According to sources, while the Dogara group shifted ground by conceding the position of House Majority Leader to the Gbajabiamila group, but with a proviso that it must not be filled by the SouthWest and the North-East that have already produced the speaker and the deputy, the other group rejected the concession. In rejecting the list of principal officers from the party, the Dogara group restated its argument for the

need to adhere strictly to the federal character principle in the sharing of the offices. On its part, the Gbajabiamila group insisted on the sanctity of the APC list in which the former minority leader, from SouthWest, was tipped to emerge the majority leader while Hon. Mohammed Monguno, from the North-East, as his deputy. New Telegraph learnt that due to the lack of consensus between the two groups on the way forward, they might resort to an election to be conducted amongst all. The source said the position of the Dogara group was informed by the fact

that “considering the constitutional requirement of equitable representation and federal character, such a candidate should be from any zone other than the North-East and South-West zones that had already produced the speaker and deputy speaker respectively. “Members were also said to have taken a stand that where the concession of the position of House leader does not resolve the matter, then emergence of the principal officers be resolved through free and fair election in accordance with the Standing Orders of the House and established precedents”. Confirming the devel-

opment, spokesman for the Dogara group, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin (APC, Kano), said they both met with Tambuwal. “Concessions were made completely against the original plan that we went to the meeting with. We went to the meeting and you have always known our position, we believe that we did not go against any provisions of the laws of the party or the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in electing the speaker or his deputy. “We also believe that there should be level playing ground for everyone in terms of the occupation of the remaining of-

to ISIS, the whole attention again was brought squarely to Nigeria. And now we are rated with Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. This is very unfortunate," the president stated. He also told the group that strategies and tactics have been drawn, multinational task force has been put in place, headed by a Nigerian and with its headquarters in N’Djamena, Chad. While presenting the demand of the group, Ezekwesili said the Federal Government should spare no resources in urgently rescuing the 219 Chibok schoolgirls as promised by the president and the National Security Adviser (NSA). The group requested for an apology for the failure of government that led to the abduction. The 13-point demand includes immediate

fices of principal officers; that has always been our position. But after a very lengthy meeting with His Excellency, the immediate past speaker and governor of Sokoto State, we were able to make a far-reaching concession and this is to allow for peace to reign in the House. “It was very tough and of course the wise counsel of governor of Sokoto on the need for a concession on peace informed our decision to shift ground. Three things were agreed on. One, we maintain the position that we do not recognise the letter written by the party in quotes and I'll give you reasons. “We have utmost respect for the chairman of the party, but that letter did not pass through the relevant organs of the party. It was neither approved by the National Working Committee, the National Executive Council, not even the Caucus was consulted and it was a product of one of two governors and, of course, the national chairman. “Let me maintain the fact that we respect the national chairman and we will only respect a letter through legal organs of the party. Our position is that we do not recognise the existence of such a letter. Secondly, the principal officers of the House must be in tandem with the principle of equity and federal character as prescribed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The six positions that are usually occupied by the majority, the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, House Leader, Deputy House Leader, the Whip and Deputy Whip must go to the six geo-political zones. In other words, it must reflect the principle of equity and fairness and to that end after the deliberation, we have agreed to concede the position of the House Leader to the Femi's (Gbajabiamila) group and we took this decision, bearing in mind that we need peace in this House and we want to get down to work. “We expect the Femi group to accept this concession so that we can be able to move forward. In the event that they do not accept, we also provided that it should be left for us to choose principal officers of the House in line with the standing rules of the House; so we have to come back and hold an election. The entire APC members would hold an election to elect the House leaders. If someone says he has 174 members; fine, let's hold an election in line with the standing rules of the House and that is our position,” he stated.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

L-R: Editor, Daily, New Telegraph, Mr. Yemi Ajayi; Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Mrs. Funke Egbemode; Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Dangote Group, Mr. Anthony Chiejina; Head, Special Projects, New Telegraph Newspapers, Mr. Biodun Durojaiye and Business Development Manager, Mr. Taiwo Ahmed, during a courtesy visit to Dangote’s headquarters in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Chibok girls: Buhari indicts Jonathan Anule Emmanuel Abuja

resident Muhammadu Buhari has expressed disappointment at the way his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, handled initial reports on the kidnap of the over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State. The president spoke yesterday when he met with the#BringBackOurGirls campaigners, who have been leading the crusade for the rescuing of the schoolgirls, who have been in captivity for 450 days, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The meeting was historic for the group as previous attempts to meet with Jonathan were rebuffed by his administration. On several occasions that they had attempted to meet with the former president, they were either

chased away or barred from entering the State House. The nearest the activists and the families of the Chibok girls had got to the State House was in October 2014 when the former president, rather than agreeing to receive them, sent a delegation comprising the then Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide and former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina, among others, to address the campaigners who had attempted marching on the State House to press home their demand. But at their meeting yesterday with Buhari, the president expressed regrets about the lethargy of the previous administration to finding the captive girls. He said: "It's unfortunate that the security and Federal Government's con-

flicting reports initially presented the government and its agencies in a very bad light both nationally and internationally. This is so because the law enforcement agencies and the government were contradicting each other sometimes within hours or within weeks. That is not very impressive. "The delay and late reaction by the immediate past government and its agencies were very unfortunate." Buhari commended the former Education Minister, Mrs. Obi Ezekwesili, and her group for the consistency in drawing government's attention to the Chibok girls' kidnap and the parents of the girls for their patience. "And I thank the leader of Chibok community for the articulated priorities he has drawn about welfare of the families, of the communities and rehabili-

tation of infrastructure. I think government should provide the infrastructure as a matter of right," he said. Buhari assured the group that his administration was serious in addressing all issues of insecurity in the country, not just in the North-East. "I think you will agree that the present government takes the issue very seriously. Within a week of being sworn in, I visited Niger, Chad and would have visited Cameroon, but for the invitation of the G7 to go to Germany and listen to them. "I'm very impressed with the leadership of this important group (G7) and the United Nations because they are very concerned about the security in Nigeria led by abduction of the Chibok girls by the terrorists. "When the terrorists announced their loyalty

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Travel Advisory

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 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

W3 101 W3 102 W3 107 (Wed, Fri, Sun) W3 108 (Thurs, Sat, Mon) Lagos-Johannesburg W3 103 Johannesburg-Lagos W3 104 Lagos-Douala W3 380 (Mon, Tue, Thurs, Sat) Douala-Lagos W3 381 (Mon, Tue, Thurs, Sat) Lagos-Accra W3 300 Accra-Lagos W3 304 Lagos-Banjul W3 301 Banjul-Lagos W3 305 Lagos-Dakar W3 386 (Wed, Fri, Sun) Dakar-Lagos W3 387 (Thurs, Sat, Mon) Lagos-Luanda W3 386 (Wed, Fri, Sun) Luanda-Lagos W3 388 (Tue, Thurs, Sat) Lagos-Abidjan W3 387 (Thurs, Sat, Mon) Abidjan-Lagos W3 389 (Wed, Fri, Sun) Lagos-Cotonou W3 380/390 (Daily) Cotonou-Lagos W3 381 (Mon, Tue, Thurs, Sat) W3 391 (Wed, Fri, Sun)

12:00hrs 21:30hrs 23:30hrs 12:25hrs

18:45hrs 04:15hrs 05:30hrs 04:00hrs

13:30hrs 23:15hrs 11:15hrs

20:40hrs 04:30hrs 14:00hrs

14:45hrs

17:30hrs

07:20hrs 17:00hrs 08:05hrs 17:45hrs 19:49hrs 01:50hrs

07:20hrs 17:hrs 10:05hrs 19:45hrs 22:15hrs 06:25hrs

19:40hrs 20:30hrs

22:15hrs 00:30hrs

00:25hrs

06:25hrs

03:00hrs 11:15hrs 17:00hrs

09:00hrs 11:45hrs 17:30hrs

16:40hrs

17:10hrs

London-Lagos

02:00hrs

05:hrs

11:15hrs

12:50hrs

KLM

ARIK AIR

Lagos-London London-Lagos Lagos-New York New York-Lagos

BRITISH AIRWAYS

W3 363 (Wed, Fri, Sun) W3 390 (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) W3 391 (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) BA 083

13:35hrs

17:10hrs

22:40hrs

06:00hrs

Lebanon-Lagos Lagos-Lebanon

MEA 571 MEA 572

3:00hrs 14:00hrs

8:00hrs 19:00hrs

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

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 Addis Ababa - Lagos Abuja - Addis Ababa Addis Ababa - Abuja Enugu - Addis Ababa Addis Ababa - Enugu Kano - Addis Ababa Addis Ababa - Kano

ET900 ET901 ET910 ET911 ET930 ET931 ET930 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

Lagos-London Abuja-London Abuja-London

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

EMIRATES AIRLINES

QATAR AIRWAYS DELTA AIRLINES

UNITED AIRLINES

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES

IBERIA

air maroc

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Lagos-London London-Lagos

VS 652 VS 651

11:00hrs 22:40hrs

17:00hrs 4:40hrs

Lagos- Abu Dhabi

EY 0672 (Sunday) (Monday)

20.45hrs 09:50hrs

07:00hrs 20:05hrs

(Saturday)

09.20 hrs

20:10hrs

Abu Dhabi-Lagos

EY 955

06:30hrs

11:45hrs

Lagos-Cairo Cairo-Lagos

MS 876 MS 875

14:25hrs 08:30hrs

22:20hrs 13:30hrs

Lagos-Nairobi Nairobi-Lagos

KQ 533 KQ 534

12:30hrs 18:00hrs

19:35hrs 23:45hrs

Lagos-Kigali

AWB 201 11:15hrs (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) AWB 202 14:00hrs (Tue, Thur, Sat, Sun)

16:45hrs

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

EGYPT AIR

KENYA AIRWAYS RwandAir

Kigali-Lagos

Turkish Airlines

Lagos-Istanbul Nairobi-Lagos

332 333

22:35hrs 15:10hrs

17:30hrs

06:00hrs 21:20hrs

Air Côte d'Ivoire Lagos to Abidjan Abidjan to Lagos

HF 851 10:10hrs (Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sun) 19:20hrs 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

10:50hrs 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, JULY 9, 2015

Collapsed building: Coroner indicts T.B. Joshua's church, contractors Akeem Nafiu

he Coroner handling the inquest into the collapsed six-storey building within the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) on September 12, 2014, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, has indicted the church and contractors handling the construction works. The church is founded by Prophet T. B. Joshua. The coroner stated that structural failure due to the combination of designs and detailing errors were responsible for the

collapse and not the movement of any aircraft as alleged by the church. The Coroner also disclosed that building permits and approval were not obtained in respect of the collapsed building. Foundation failure, according to the Coroner, was the remote cause of the collapsed building. Magistrate Komolafe made the disclosures while delivering his verdict yesterday. The magistrate said: “The contractors, Engineers Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun, of Hardrock Construction Company Ltd, of the collapsed building at the

Reps may opt for election of principal officers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

However, the Gbajabiamila group’s spokesman, Hon. Rufai Chachangi (APC, Kaduna) gave a different account of the proceedings of the meeting. He denied that the position of leader was ceded to their group, but taken away from the South-West. He said: “We, the 174 APC Loyalists Group of the House, are aware that there was a private discussion between Governor Aminu Tambuwal and President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday evening at the State House. Also, we are aware that Governor Tambuwal briefed the press that there would be a meeting between him and Speaker Dogara's group same day. “To the best of our knowledge, no counteroffer has been made to the APC Loyalists Group after her first meeting with Tambuwal peace committee wherein the APC Loyalists clearly stated that in line with party supremacy and the resolution reached at the last APC NEC meeting, the position of the party on Femi Gbajabiamila as the House Leader is nonnegotiable. “We understand that the Dogara group is now playing the zoning card after same group had hitherto before the speakership election of June 9, 2015, rejected the zoning formula of the party prior to the mock election. Interestingly, the six geopolitical zones in the country are not recognised by the constitution. But if they wish to play the zoning card, then the Senate and House cannot be headed by the North. “For the avoidance of

doubt, the issue of SouthEast being denied a principal officer's seat in the House is hogwash. We have respect for the people of the South-East, but we cannot hold brief for a zone that produced only two "new" APC members. The issue of the exclusion of the South-East does not exist; rather they are not qualified to be principal officers of the House. For emphasis and clarity, the provision of standing rules of the House, Order 7 Rule 37 states that 'Only members with cognate legislative experience as members of the National Assembly shall be eligible for appointment as principal officers'. ‘’We are also surprised that a group led by Speaker Dogara, who is a lawyer, is talking about a court action presumably instigated by him based on federal character, when a fresh law school graduate knows that the issue of federal character as enshrined in S.14 of the constitution is non-justice able and of no legal consequence." Chachangi said Tambuwal agreed to take his group's position to the Dogara group for consideration while a joint meeting of both groups would hold later to resolve the differences. He restated the commitment of his group to peace and the quick resolution of the leadership crisis. "The APC Loyalists Group would equally subscribe to an election among entire members of the APC House Caucus where all members, irrespective of zones, would exercise their right to elect their principal officers,” he stated.

Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) should be investigated and tried for negligence by the relevant authorities. “Synagogue Church of All Nations should be investigated and prosecuted under the law by relevant authority for not possessing necessary building permits. “Relevant authority should carry out detailed 'fitness for habitation test' on all the structures and buildings within the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).” The September 2014 incident left about 116 people dead, majority of whom are South Africans. In his verdict, the Coro-

ner said the death of the victims of the collapsed building was consistent with the blunt force trauma that would normally be sustained from such an incident. In her verdict, Magistrate Oyetade also made some recommendations which include that: Individuals and organisations must endeavour to obtain relevant building permits before commencement of any building construction; Individuals and organisations must engage the services of qualified and competent Engineers and Consultants in carrying out building constructions. She also recommended that the Divisional Police

Officer, Ikotun Police Station, CSP Haruna Alaba, should forthwith be transferred from the said Ikotun Police Station and another Divisional Police Officer takes over. According to her, government should reduce the cost of obtaining necessary building permits and approval and remove all administrative bottlenecks in order to encourage people go through the due process of obtaining the documents before commencement of building construction. Earlier on, the Coroner had revealed the identities of the victims of the incident. The identities of six out of the 116 victims could however not be

traced. Some of the causes of death of the victims, according to the medical team led by the Lagos State Chief Medical Examiner, Prof. John Obafunwa, are: multiple injuries, severe cerebral injury, congesting cardiac failure, multiple rib fractures, skull fractures and building collapse. The inquest was instituted under the Lagos State Coroner’s System Law No. 7 of 2007 for the purpose of establishing the cause and manner of the collapsed building incident. While the proceedings lasted, 32 witnesses testified while 45 exhibits were also tendered.

President Muhammadu Buhari (fourth right); Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (third right); Coordinator, BringBackOurGirls (BBOG), Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili and some members of the group during a meeting with the president in Abuja …yesterday. PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Court dismisses Nyanya bomber's fundamental right suit Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

he Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday dismissed a fundamental human rights enforcement application brought by the alleged mastermind of the April 14, 2014 bomb blast in Nyanya, an outskirt of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Aminu Ogwueche. Ogwueche through his counsel, Ahmed Raji (SAN), had on October 16, 2014 approached the court seeking an order of court to release him from the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS) and award N600 million as damages in his favour for being kept in detention since his arrest in July 2014 without arraignment before any court. Delivering judgement

in the matter, the trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola held that the suit lacked merit as the applicant’s detention by the DSS since July 15, 2014 in order to complete its investigations was backed by court orders. The court also held that the orders made by the various courts allowing Ogwueche’s detention for successive periods were in line with the powers the court could exercise under section 27 of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013. Justice Ademola, however, noted that the suspect, who had been kept in detention since his extradition from Sudan, where he allegedly escaped to after the bombing incident, had been subsequently arraigned on terrorism charges before Justice Ahmed Mohammed also

of the Federal High Court in Abuja. At the argument stage, Ogwuche had accused the Nigerian government of violating his fundamental human rights as enshrined in sections 34, 35, 36, 41 and 43 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Articles 2, 6, 7(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right (Ratification& Enforcement Act). Aside asking for damages against the government, Ogwuche further urged the court to invoke its powers and order his release from detention pending whenever the government is ready to conduct his trial. His application was further anchored on Order 2, Rule (1), (2),(3) of the Fundamental Enforcement Procedure Rule.

Reacting to Ogwuches's submission at the argument stage, the Federal Government said the suspect is under lawful custody following his role in the Nyanya mayhem. DSS counsel, Clifford Osagie, also drew the attention of the court to the fact that Ogwuche has been allowed to have access to his lawyers, family members and adequate medical attention. Osagie argued that the right to liberty accorded to the accused person under section 35(1) was not absolute, even as he adduced two exhibits (SS-2 and SS3) to show why Ogwuche should not be allowed to regain his freedom yet. Meanwhile, Ogwuche and five others are still standing trial before Justice A.R Mohammed of the same court.

News

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

EFCC goes after Ohakim, Lamido, Nyako, son lBegins trial of ex-governors, others for money laundering Tunde Oyesina and Emmanuel Onani ABUJA

he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned a former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim; former governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Murtala Nyako; his son, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and two others over money laundering related offences. While Ohakim was arraigned on a three-count charge before Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Nyako, his son and two others were arraigned before Justice Evoh Chukwu of the same court on a 37-count charge also bothering on corruption. Ohakim pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge. Counsel to the accused, Chris Uche (SAN), thereafter moved an oral bail application. The court, however, asked him to come formerly. The trial judge, Justice

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Ademola Adeniyi, later adjourned till today to hear the bail application. He ordered that the accused be remanded in the EFCC custody. Similarly, Nyako and three other accused persons pleaded not guilty to the 37-count charge bothering on the misappropriation of over N40 billion when it was read to them. Nyako and three others were alleged to have at various times between 2011 and 2013 used five companies – Blue Opal Nigeria limited, Serore Farms & Extension Limited, Pagoda Fortunes Limited, Towers Assets Management Limited and Crust Energy Limited to siphon over N15 billion from the Adamawa State coffers. One of the counts reads: “That you Murtala H. Nyako, Abdulaziz Nyako, Zulkfikik Abba, Abubakar Aliyu, Blue Opal Limited, Sebore Farms & Extension Limited, Pagoda Fortunes Limited, Tower Assets Management Limited and Crust Energy Limited between January and December 2013 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did disguise the genuine origin of an aggregate sum of N6,366,280,000, which sums you reasonably ought to have known to be proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit; monies derived from the theft of Adamawa State Government’s funds.” The court thereafter adjourned the bail application till Friday and ordered that the accused

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need to go through before the prosecution will start calling its witness. He therefore sought for an adjournment. Part of the charge slammed on Ohakim reads: "That you Ikedi Ohakim, on or about the month of November, 2008 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court made a cash payment of $2,290,000 which was then equivalent of about N270 million for the purchase of the property known and described as Plot No. 1098, Cadastral Zone A04, Asokoro District, also known as No. 60, Kwame Nkrumah Street, Asokoro, Abuja, which amount exceeded the

amount authorised for an individual by Section 1 of Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, and thereby committed an offence contrary to the saidsection and punishable by section 15(1)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004". In the case summary against Ohakim, Prosecution counsel, Festus Keyamo submitted that the case is of conspiracy, abuse of office, misappropriation of public funds and money laundering reported to the anti-graft agency by 27 persons, each representing the 27 Local Government Councils of Imo State under the auspices of 'Alliance of

Redemption and Destiny Organisations' against the former governor. The prosecution also alleged that Ohakim fraudulently entered into a tenancy agreement with Tweenex Consociate Nig. Ltd for a two-year rent of the said property for the sum of N20 million. It was also alleged among others that the accused did not declare his Asokoro property to the Code of Conduct Bureau and also EFCC Assets Declaration Form. Meanwhile, EFCC is expected to arraign former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido and his sons on money laundering charges in Kano today.

L-R: Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu; Senate President Bukola Saraki and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, with others after a meeting in Abuja…yesterday.

Senate to apex bank: Recover N30bn rice waiver CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

KANO

be remanded in the EFCC custody. Speaking after the court session, Nyako said the charge against him is very ridiculous and that the allocation given to Adamawa State was not up to N40 billion which he is being tried for. He, however, stated that he is ready for the trial. Prosecution counsel, Aliyu Yusuf, had earlier told the court that the commission was ready to continue with the trial and that one of its witnesses was in court. Defence counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), however informed the court that he had just been served with the charge and will

billion it was a year ago. The banking watchdog has spent around $5 billion since last January defending the naira, which was hit by last year's plunge in oil prices. With "the strong efforts of Buhari to plug all leakages, as well as the vigilant demand management of the Central Bank, we have seen our foreign exchange reserves begin a gradual recovery," the CBN governor said. He said the CBN's forex policies had led to a "significant stabilisation" in the exchange rate and an improvement in market sentiments. The CBN, worried about rising inflation, has rejected another devaluation of the naira, after it tightened access to hard currency for the importation of a wide range of goods, to save re-

serves. Since the new measures, the naira has weakened steadily on the parallel market, hitting a new record low of N233.50 to the dollar yesterday. On the interbank market, it traded near the Central Bank's pegged rate of N196.95. Investors questioned how long the bank's rate could hold there, when the currency was trading further and further away on the parallel market. But Emefiele told the Senate that the country's banking system was in good health and that financial market liquidity conditions were stable. He explained that the 45 per cent drop in crude prices and the depreciation of the naira from N155 to N197 made the CBN to take certain decisions to preserve the nation’s foreign

reserves. He told the senators that some of the steps taken by the apex bank to strengthen the economy made it more conducive for Nigerians and foreign investors to be attracted to do business in the country. "Since Nigeria does not exist in isolation, let me begin by drawing your attention to the rest of the world as you may all now be aware. The global economy has experienced three major shocks in the last one year. "These developments include the significant and seemingly permanent fall in the price of crude oil, Nigeria’s main revenue earner; the end of the quantitative leasing programme of the Federal Reserve Bank of United States of America and the continued USled sanction on Russia for its annexation of Ukraine,"

Emefiele added. He expressed appreciation that the Senate, after about three-hour deliberation with the CBN, endorsed the actions of the bank towards revamping the economy, stating that the actions are taken in the interest of the country. During the meeting, Senate President Bukola Saraki told the CBN to recover and return to government coffers the N30 billion waivers granted to rice importers by the immediate past administration. He also promised that the Senate would prompt the Customs to support the apex bank to ensure the recovery of the money. Saraki also stressed the need for relevant government agencies to do everything within their jurisdiction to plug areas of revenue leakages and ensure that smuggling, which

has adversely affected the economy, was stopped. He expressed the readiness of the Senate to collaborate with the CBN and other government agencies in salvaging the nation's economy. Saraki further tasked the apex bank to apply all legal and constitutional instruments to ensure that all revenue-generating agencies remit their revenues to the Federation Account, warning that Nigerians must not continue to run the affairs of government with impunity. He reiterated the urgent need to diversify the economy through development of other sectors, particularly agriculture, expressing concern that with the prevailing global crash in the price of crude oil, Nigeria could no longer depend on oil as its major revenue source.

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NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Troops arrest sponsors, executors of Jos, Zaria bomb attacks – Army lInsurgency will soon end, says Buhari

Emmanuel Onani and Anule Emmanuel Abuja

he Nigerian Army has announced the arrest of the mastermind and executors of Sunday's coordinated suicide bomb attacks on Jos, the Plateau State capital, and another in Zaria, Kaduna State, by

troops. A statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations (DAPR), Colonel Sani Usman, said the mastermind of the deadly attacks and his two accomplices were arrested at a checkpoint in Dadin Kowa, a town in Gombe State. The statement said the successful arrest of the suspected Boko Haram

members, who "disguised in a trailer while trying to evade checks", was consequent upon the establishment of a security cordon by troops of the 3 Division, Jos, those of the Special Task Force (STF), as well as operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), around Bauchi, Gombe and other parts of the North-East.

Presidency to PDP: Stop misleading Nigerians on bail-out Anule Emmanuel Abuja

he presidency has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of misleading Nigerians over the release of funds from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) accruals to the Federal Government. Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement yesterday, deplored the attempt by the PDP and its agents to create an unnecessary controversy over the well-intentioned effort of President Muhammadu Buhari to give

relief package to state governments in order to meet their obligations, especially in the payment of workers’ salaries. "We reject the banal and ludicrous demand by the PDP spokesman, Olisa Metuh, that the PDP government which was ousted by Nigerians at the last general elections for running the country aground, be given some credit for "saving" the funds that were disbursed as part of the intervention package approved by President Buhari. "Metuh's claim that a significant amount of the funds came from savings accumulated in the Excess Crude Account

(ECA) and handed over to the Buhari administration is completely false and deliberately intended to mislead the public.” Adesina restated that the funds approved by Buhari for sharing to the three tiers of government on Monday came entirely from dividends and taxes paid to the Federation Account by the NLNG not from ECA. Adesina added that "the public may also wish to note that the Buhari administration itself has never referred to the actions which it has taken to ease the current financial difficulties of states as a bailout."

Again, Boko Haram offers to swap detainees for abducted pupils CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

strategies for curbing the emergence and growth of curious sects, setting up of a structured feedback and communication system. Other demands include the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry for Accountability on Abduction and Rescue of the girls. The commission will be charged with the task of transparently investigating and reporting on the security lapses that caused the abduction and the operational leadership failure that led to the long captivity of the Chibok girls in terrorists’ enclave. The group also called for the setting up of a Missing Persons Bureau. Wife of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mrs. Mariam Uwais, also presented to the president an overview of what the group stands for and development regarding the abduction of the April 14, 2014. Meanwhile, Boko Haram terrorists are offering to free more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls in ex-

change for the release of militant leaders held by the government, a human rights activist has told The Associated Press (AP). The activist said Boko Haram's current offer was limited to the Chibok girls. The new initiative reopens an offer made last year to the Jonathan government to release the 219 students in exchange for 16 Boko Haram detainees, the activist said. The man, who was involved in negotiations with Boko Haram last year and is close to current negotiators, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters on this sensitive issue. "Another window of opportunity opened" in the last few days, according to Fred Eno, who has been negotiating with Boko Haram for more than a year. He said he could not discuss details, but explained that the recent slew of Boko Haram’s bloodletting – some 350 people killed in the past nine days – is consistent with past ratchet-

ing up of violence as the militants seek a stronger negotiating position. Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, had said on Saturday that Nigeria's government "will not be averse" to talks with Boko Haram. "Most wars, however furious or vicious, often end around the negotiation table," he said. Eno said the five-weekold administration of Buhari offers "a clean slate" to bring the militants back to negotiations that had become poisoned by the different security agencies and their advice to Jonathan. Eno told APC that as the president pursues a necessary military solution, he hopes Buhari also understands the need for negotiation. He said the latest overture comes through respected Islamic scholars and Muslim elders who were ignored by Jonathan's people, but now have taken dangerous and courageous steps to engage the insurgents.

The Army disclosed that the suspects were currently being "processed", preparatory to their possible prosecution on terrorism and murder-related offences. Scores of people died from the separate attacks, with many others sustaining varying degrees of injuries. Boko Haram has stepped up suicide bomb and gun attacks in recent times, even as the military continues its counterinsurgency operations in the North-East. Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that with renewed efforts by his administration in tackling issues of insecurity in the country, the insurgency in the North-East being perpetrated by Boko Haram sect would soon end. The president in a statement yesterday by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, conveyed sincere and heartfelt condolences

to Nigerians who lost relatives in the latest terrorist atrocities in Jos, Kano, and Zaria. Buhari said government would not rest until total normalcy regarding security of lives and property is returned to all parts of the country. He regretted the loss of several innocent Nigerians who were brutally murdered in the suicide bombings and attacks that also caused horrifying injuries to others. The president urged all Nigerians not to be unduly disheartened by the seeming resurgence of terrorist attacks and atrocities in the country as his administration remains fully committed to overcoming the challenges of insecurity as quickly as possible. "Already, the intensified onslaught by the military on terrorists' strongholds has led to significant seizures of weapons and vehicles, a blockage of their sources of arms and ammunition, and a decima-

tion of their fighting men,” he said. Buhari also assured Nigerians of the ability and readiness of the country's armed forces and security agencies to contain the frantic resort by the terrorists to attacks on soft targets such as crowds and places of worship. The president said he was convinced that with recent increases in troops deployment, improvements in the supply of arms and equipment to the military, as well as the ongoing effort to mobilise greater international cooperation and support, the end of Boko Haram and terrorism in Nigeria is in sight. He called on Nigerians to remain vigilant and report any suspicious persons to security agents as his administration continues to give the highest possible priority to eradicating Boko Haram and ensuring greater security of lives and property across the country.

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thursday, july 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Marketers: FG to pay N159bn fuel subsidy debt Adeola Yusuf

he Federal Gover nment has agreed to pay outstanding subsidy-related debts on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to marketers - a move to check the growing queues for fuel at filling stations across the country. Spokesman for Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Yakubu Suleiman, disclosed this yesterday. He said that the agreement was the outcome of

l DPR threatens to delist fraudulent dealers from subsidy scheme a meeting between representatives of the Federal Government and the marketers. An acute fuel shortage crippled Nigeria in April and May as fuel importers shut their depots to press their case. Importers were worried that the new government, elected in March, would not honour the debt. "They agreed to pay the remaining balance

last week. Nothing has come yet but maybe this or next week. It's N159 billion" ($800 million), Suleiman, spokesman for IPMAN said. He revealed that he was present at a meeting last Thursday with the permanent secretaries of finance, oil and the state agency regulating the costly subsidy scheme for gasoline and diesel.

Nigeria, one of Africa's top producers of crude oil, subsidises gasoline and other fuels. The country must import the bulk of the 40 million litres a day that it consumes owing to a neglected refining system. The presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has

read a riot act to marketers who engage in fuel hoarding, profiteering and other sharp practices. Acting Director of DPR Mr. Ladan, said this during a meeting with officials of Depot Products and Petroleum Marketers Association(DAPPMA), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria(MOMAN) and

Glo strengthens GloMpaper, Mobile Tutor, others

lobacom said it has strengthened its unique offerings on the Value Added Services (VAS) platforms in voice, web, text and video channels to delight subscribers across all age brackets. The repackaged VAS products include Glo Mpaper, Glo Lifestyle Update, Voice Lifestyle Update, Soccer on Voice, Image Store, Glo Mobile School, Glo Mobile Tutor and Genie Voice. All the products are provisioned to be received as either SMS, Voice, Web or Video. Globacom’s Regional Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Ashok Israni, said the products were specially re-energized to resonate with the youth market and increase the network’s dynamism and dexterity. According to Ashok, “Our Value Added Services are the best in the industry, and Nigerians should sign on to the Globacom network to stay connected for limitless access to advanced bouquet of Value Added Services whilst relishing the greener pasture experience powered by our underground fibre optic cable.”

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (right) with Executive Director , Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Mr. Ignatius Edema, during his meeting with Tank Farm Operators in Apapa, in Lagos …yesterday.

Emirates’ aircraft undergoing damage Army: Command and Control assessment in Lagos, says company Centre now operational Wole Shadare

he management of Emirates Airways yesterday said the B777200LR aircraft that was involved in an incident with a parked B737-300 belonging to HAK Air is currently undergoing damage assessment and checks at the Lagos airport. The carrier, in a statement made available to New Telegraph yesterday, disclosed that it is also conducting its own

Fani-Kayode alleges plan to frame, blackmail him Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

ormer Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said the story by an online publication, Premium Times on Tuesday, which it said emanated from his facebook account, was a calculated attempt to ridicule him before the public. The publication had re-

ported that Fani-Kayode had posted on his facebook account that "Nigerians deserve Boko Haram for rejecting Jonathan." But the former Minister, who was Director, Media of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation in the 2015 general elections, said it was a misrepresentation of fact, describing it as absurd.

internal investigation into the incident, while also co-operating fully with all the relevant authorities. It would be recalled that immediately the incident happened, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) also, promptly deployed a team of investigators to determine the circumstances surrounding the serious incident with a view to making possible safety recommendations. The bureau stated that the aircraft marked A6EWD was taxing for a take-off en-route Dubai when its wing tip cut into the B737-400 aircraft parked on the apron of the domestic wing of the airport. While the Emirates aircraft had a little damage on its wing tip, the Hak Air B737 sustained substantial damage. The Commissioner, AIB, Dr. Felix Abali, had inspected the scene of the occurrence and promised that the investigation would be handled with speed.

Emmanuel Onani

he Military Command and Control Centre (MCCC), is now operational in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the Nigerian Army has said. The disclosure was made exclusively to New Telegraph yesterday by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations (DAPR), Colonel Sani Usman, upon an enquiry. New Telegraph had, on the strength of a statement by the Army on June 17, to the effect that the MCCC will be operational within three weeks, sent a text to the DAPR, seeking to know what the situation was like, 21 days after. In a short response, Colonel Usman said "It is." President Muhammadu Buhari, while delivering his inaugural speech on May 29, had ordered the movement of the Command and Control Centre to Maiduguri, the theatre of operation. In compliance with the presidential directive, the

Army had maintained that "the installations of hi-tech equipment, infrastructural development of the Centre and posting of additional operations staff have also commenced. These are to be completed within 21 days when the MCCC would be fully operational." The Army added, in the statement released on June 17, that "With the establishment of the Centre, all strategic and operational decisions on the fight against terrorism and insurgency would emanate from the MCCC. This will ensure faster response time; improve situational awareness and better coordination of all stakeholders. "The centre will also give the needed impetus that would ensure prosecution and successful conclusion of the war against terrorism. It will also provide the required interface between the Armed Forces of Nigeria and Multi-National Joint Task Force to be deployed at the Lake Chad Basin area at the end of the month of July 2015."

the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN). He threatened to delist the names of fraudulent petroleum marketers selling petrol above the regulated pump price of N87 per litre from further participation in the Petroleum Support Fund (Fund). Despite several warnings issued to marketers to desist from selling above the regulated price, Ladan said some marketers have consistently flouted Government’s directive. ‘‘This meeting is therefore convened to reiterate the resolve of the DPR to ensure that henceforth, the DPR would not allow a situation whereby supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is dictated by the private interests of marketers and dealers to the detriment of the Nigerian public, neither will the Department condone any act of selling PMS above official pump price in Government licenced facilities under any guise whatsoever,’’ he said. In the main time, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to review closely the subsidy scheme, which was revealed to have paid out over $6 billion in fraudulent claims in 2012.

ECA probe: Set up neutral panel, group tells Buhari Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

group, Voice of Arewa Youth (VAY) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a neutral body to probe allegations that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) withheld N3.8 trillion of the N8.1trillion generated from oil receipt and $2.1 billion said to have been unilaterally withdrawn by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. It prayed that the fourman committee to be set up be made up of parties in the matter and unbiased. Speaking at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, leader of the group, Mallam Bello Khalifa, stressed that as desirable as the probe is, considering the deficit of development in the country, the composition of the probe panel was faulty, maintaining that an interested party in a matter cannot be an unbiased umpire.

NEW TELEGRAPH Thursday, july 9, 2015

Ex-NBA boss calls for restoration of military check point Tunde Oyesina Abuja

gainst the renewed insurgency in some parts of the country, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, J.B Daudu, SAN, yesterday called for the restoration of the military check points, adding that the country should do all it could to stop the killings by the Boko Haram Sect. Daudu made the call yesterday during a round table discussion organized by the Rule of Law Development Foundation in Abuja. "We express sadness over the loss of over 600 lives in the past one week to the insurgents", he added. He further pointed out that the correlation between the removal of checkpoints and the rapid rise in bombing were not mere coincidences. "We also note the coincidence between the removal of military checkpoints and the increased bombings nationwide. These happenings are not mere coincidences; these happenings now deflate government’s position that such military check points are inconsistent with the practice of genuine democracy", Daudu stated.

Anule Emmanuel Abuja

resident Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday assured Nigerians that his administration will soon intervene in the textile industry with deliberate support to local firms with a view to reviving them for effective performance. The President said the decision was part of his plans to reduce unemployment in the country through industrialization.

he Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has commended the owner and management of Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, for what it described as improvement in its facilities and the contributions to the nation’s education sector. The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, who made this remark during a recent visit to the institution, was full of praise for its founder, Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, saying his investment in the education

sector has significantly helped the students of his polytechnic and the university in no small measure to conquer the challenge posed by access. Adedoyin, in his remark, also recalled the contributions of Ojerinde to his success particularly during his tutelage under him as a student. He said as a disciplined man, Ojerinde made significant impact in his career choice and achievements in the education sector. He commended the registrar for series of innovation brought into the conduct of the Unified

He stated this when he granted audience to a delegation of foreign investors at the presidential villa, Abuja Buhari declared that the creation of more jobs for Nigeria’s unemployed youth was the key objective of his administration's economic agenda and will be pursued with the greatest possible dedi-

Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, including the adoption of computer-based test mode. He added that the initiatives have helped greatly in restoring the dignity of the examination body. The university’s ViceChancellor, Prof. Olajumoke Olayiwola, expressed the institution’s appreciation to JAMB for the support and cooperation of the examination body. She pledged the commitment of the university to continued improvement of the facilities and promotion of quality academic standard while also advising the students to be dedicated to their studies.

Nigeria must unite to fight "common enemy" — PFN President

he National President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Dr Felix Omodube, on Wednesday charged Nigerians to unite to fight all the current challenges facing the nation. Omodube, who made the call during a courtesy visit to the Ekiti State House of Assembly, AdoEkiti, expressed optimism

that the nation could surmount its present challenges of insecurity, poverty and unemployment, among others, if there is unity of purpose. “Nigerians must be united to fight the common enemies of the nation. If we are united, there is nothing we cannot do with the Almighty God on our side," he said.

Buhari promises quick revival of textile industries cation. "I still recall with clarity that at some point, the textile industry in Nigeria was employing about 320,000 Nigerians. But today, the same industry employs less than 30,000 people and the factories operate below capacity or they are completely closed. He explained that, "I have made a promise to

Nigerians that jobs will be created as part of efforts to revive the economy and that promise will be fulfilled. We will move as fast as we can to resuscitate the textile and mining industries, and also improve production in our agricultural sector. "Now that we are trying to create jobs, we cannot allow industries and

L-R: Marketing Manager, Reckitt Benckiser West Africa, Bamigbaiye-Elatuyi Omotola; Harpic Brand Ambassador, Helen Paul and Marketing Director, Oguzhan Silivrili, at the unveiling of the new Harpic in Lagos …yesterday. PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

JAMB commends Oduduwa varsity for rapid improvement Mojeed Alabi

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The PFN president thanked God for Ekiti State, saying that he followed the politics of the state and believed that the war days were over in the state. He, however, called for cooperation between the Executive and Legislative arms of Government, to move the state to a greater height.

PDP will return in 2019, says Ihedioha Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

he Chairman of the post-election review committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, yesterday declared that the party was on the path towards taking over power and government at the national level by 2019. The former Speaker, House of Representatives in the 7th Assembly, made this assertion at the South West Zonal office of the party, Bodija in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while briefing journalists at the commencement of a two- day sitting for the zonal post- election review of the party. In company with other members of the committee, among them: Adamu Maina Waziri, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa and Hon Uzor Azubuike, Ihedioha said that the party decided to investigate why it lost power to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during

the March 28 elections, and set up a committee to that effect. The committee members, according to him were tasked to dig deep into why the party lost in different zones and proffer solutions to ensure victory in future elections. His words: "It just appears to all of us that Nigeria is still largely a PDP state. In every ward, local government areas, states, zones and indeed in the entire country, PDP remains the most popular party by our reckoning. "What has happened to us was that we made very costly mistakes. We took steps that we shouldn't have taken. And those steps today are beginning to hunt us", he said. In spite of the bitter experience the party had in the last election, Ihedioha said, "the party in its wisdom decided to take steps early enough. As early as May, to set up this committee, and the committee can begin to review what happened in the election."

factories to close down. Instead, we should be making every effort to ensure that we re-open the closed ones and attract new ones to reduce unemployment," Buhari told the investors who are the proprietors of Olam Farms Nigeria Limited. Buhari assured the delegation, which was led by Mr. Mukul Mathur of Olam Group of Companies that his administration will encourage investments in agriculture and other sectors of the economy by creating a more favourable environment and enabling laws. Buhari said that he had already ordered some immediate interventions to address current challenges faced by industrialists in the country after receiving briefings from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment. "We will move very quickly to see what we can do to help you and other investors in the country so that you can help us to create jobs for our people,’’ the President told the team. Mathur had earlier told the President that Olam Group of Companies was established in Nigeria in 1989, and currently employs about half a million Nigerians, directly and indirectly.

Voters' Assembly hails Jega's exit from INEC Temitope Ogunbanke

he Nigeria Voters Assembly has described the exit of former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega as honourable, saying his tenure which ended last month was an unbeaten record in the history of INEC in Nigeria. The group in a statement signed by its President, Comrade Mashood Erubami, commended Jega for leaving with legacies of effective leadership, efficient and wholesome performance that made the 2015 general elections free, fair and credible. “It was good that God gave the country a person like Prof. Jega, who made himself a sample test that Nigeria still have people with undoubted integrity; those with clear grasp of the challenges plaguing this country and possess the capacity and strong leadership to fix them.

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Metro

Man arrested with $2.198m at Lagos Airport

Juliana Francis

46-year-old Bureau De Change operator has been arrested at the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA2) Lagos for being in possession of $2,198,900 (about N500 million). The suspect, Ibiteye Bamidele, was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). Already, the NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade, has directed that the suspect and the exhibit be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further action. But Bamidele said the money belonged to a client identified as Dr Martins Thomas, a medical practitioner in Lagos. He said he was acting on the instruction of Thomas, who asked him to take the money to Abuja. He said: “I used to work for Ebi Bureau De Change at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, before I established my company with the name ND&C Global Investment Limited which is yet to be fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). “One of my clients, Dr. Martins Olufemi Thomas, gave me the said amount to take to Abuja. I was arrested by NDLEA officers while checking-in the mon-

Bamidele

ey at MM2 on my way to Abuja.” NDLEA intercepted the money at the airport. The money was seized by anti-narcotic officials on the grounds of suspected money laundering at the local wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA2) Lagos. The Head, Media and Publicity, NDLEA, Mitchel Ofoyeju, said

Mba returns to Lagos, as IG redeploys 27 ACPs Juliana Francis

ormer Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Frank Mba, has returned to Lagos State Police Command, following the redeployment of 27 Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs) across the country. In the redeployment, which occurred last week, the Lagos State Police Command re-

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

corded the highest number of affected officers. Four ACPs were transferred out of Lagos and four new ones, among them Mba, moved in. Emmanuel Ngwu, formerly in charge of operations in the command, has been transferred to Force Headquarters, Abuja, while Julius Okoro takes over. Dan Okoro, formerly in charge of Area ‘E’ Police Command, Festac, Lagos, has been moved to Akure Ondo State, while Mba takes over. Tunde Adagunduro, in charge of Area F Commander has been transferred to Owerri, Imo State as Edward Ajogu moves in. Patrick Longe, Area ‘H’ commander, has been transferred to Awka in Anambra State, while Aliyu Haruna takes over his office.

The money

Bamidele was being investigated in connection with the case. He said: “The suspect was apprehended on his way to Abuja. Preliminary investigation conducted by the Assets and Financial Investigation Directorate of our agency revealed that the man’s action is in contravention of the Money Laundering Pro-

hibition Act 2011 (as Amended). He alleged that the money belongs to one Dr. Martins Olufemi Thomas, a medical practitioner in Lagos.” Ofoyeju added that investigation conducted by the agency did not link the money to proceeds of narcotics, stressing that a country having insurgency chal-

lenge could not afford to ignore suspicious movement of large amount of money. Giade said: “The outcome of preliminary investigation did not link the money to proceeds of narcotics. I have therefore directed that the suspect be transferred to the EFCC for further investigation.”

Adebutu donates mosque to Nupe community A lawmaker representing Remo Constituency of Ogun State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, has built and donated a mosque to the Nupe community in Sagamu. The mosque is located at Olodo, Sabo, Sagamu. Inaugurating the mosque, Adebutu, who is also the Maiyakin Nupe, said he was inspired to build the place of worship based on his scriptural conviction that it was not everybody that could do so, but only those that God permits. He said he had always thought of building a structure for Muslims, whenever he heard prayers being offered in mosques, and owing to the fact that he also has a Muslim name - Abdulkamar given to him by his late grandfather, Alhaji Kareem Folarin Adebutu Owoiya. According to a statement signed by his Senior Legislative Aide, Hon. Seye Sonuga, the legislator condemned the spate of attacks by the terror group, Boko

Adebutu (middle) and others during the inauguration

Haram. Adebutu also urged e Muslims and Christians to always regard themselves as one, thereby coexisting peacefully. He said: “I am a Christian and I built a mosque because I see myself as one with Muslims.” The lawmaker urged them to always have faith in God. According to him, whenever a prayer is offered inside the new

mosque, with faith, the prayers shall be answered. He thanked his associates and supporters, as well as the Nupe community for their support, while promising to provide more dividends of democracy. In his response, the Wakili Nupe, Alhaji Abdullahi, thanked the donor for his philanthropic gesture and prayed for God’s protection over him.

Metro 11

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Suspect ingests 55 wraps of cocaine, dies at airport Juliana Francis

here was panic among travellers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, when a man slumped and later died of cocaine ingestion. The deceased, a Lagosbased trader, identified as Ndulue Obiefuna (32), collapsed at the departure hall and was taken to a nearby hospital. Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) immediately took over the case after it was discovered he ingested cocaine. Obiefuna was an intending passenger on an Ethiopian airline flight to China en route Addis Ababa on July 5. The Head, Media and Publicity of NDLEA, Mitchel Ofoyeju, disclosed that the agency had contacted the father of the deceased. According to him, Obiefuna, who hailed from Anambra State, decided to abort his trip after collect-

ing his boarding pass. He said: “This was due to complications arising from the cocaine he ingested. He collapsed immediately he notified the airline officials of his intention to cancel his trip. At the hospital, 55 wraps of substances that tested positive for cocaine with a total weight of 1.20kg was evacuated from his stomach.” The NDLEA Commander at the airport, Mr Hamisu Lawan, said the deceased confessed to cocaine ingestion at the hospital. He said: “The deceased collapsed at the departure hall and was being attended to by port health officials. The collapse triggered our suspicion and a narcotic officer was assigned to monitor the development. “When the suspect’s condition stabilised at the hospital, he confessed to cocaine ingestion. At that point, the NDLEA took over the case from the Port Health Services. He later died while receiving treatment.”

fake corporal arrested at Ikeja ‘under bridge’ in Lagos said he pretended to be a policeman because he wanted to claim ‘staff ’ in commercial buses to avoid paying fare. The suspect, Godwin Akhenemen (33), was arrested on June 30. A police source attached to X-Squad said: “When the fake police corporal was arrested, he claimed he was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force in 2003. He, however, later changed his story. He said he was using the uniform to fool commercial drivers in Lagos.” Akhenemen, a father of two, explained that it was frustration that pushed him into impersonating a policeman. He said: “I was once a member of ‘Man O War’ some time last year. I got information from a friend that spy police were about to be recruited at the Ikeja Police College. Before I could get to the venue of the exercise, they were through. I left in anger. “I was also sacked that day because of my lateness to office. When I did not make the spy police list, I travelled to my village in Saboginda Ora in Edo State. After spending about

commercial motorcyclist popularly called okada rider, Livinus Agaba, from Okworke town in Igbeagu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State reportedly committed suicide at the weekend. The incident occurred at Okpoko in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State. A witness, Mr Okechukwu Awai, said the deceased called his wife on the phone to return home immediately for an urgent message only to hang himself before his wife got home. He said: “It was when the wife arrived that she saw her husband’s dangling body and raised the alarm.” Some of the man’s neighbours said Agaba had been complaining bitterly over his poor income since the operations of commercial motorcycles were banned in some areas in Onitsha, Anambra State.

Miscreants clash, damage nine vehicles Camillus Nnaji

NDLEA chairman, Ahmadu Giade

BENIN

Akhenemen

two months at the village, I explained my living condition in Lagos to my family. They contributed money and insisted I should use it to set up a business. “Three days after I returned to Lagos, I got a security guard job at Ojodu Berger. To avoid paying commercial drivers whenever I go out, I sewed the police uniform.” Asked how he got the force number on his uniform, Akhenemen said: “I copied one of the spy policemen force numbers when I went for the exercise. I later started using it.” The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Kenneth Nwosu, who confirmed the story, said the suspect would soon be charged.

Pamela Eboh

Cajetan Mmuta

Motorcyclist commits suicide Awka

‘I wore police uniform not Man dies during to pay bus fares’ deliverance session Taiwo Jimoh

City Briefs

here was confusion at Uselu in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State over the sudden death of a 44-year-old man, who slumped and died while being delivered of ‘evil spirit’ at a Pentecostal church. The deceased, identified as Osayande Ekhator, was among members of the deliverance and miracle church who came out for special marathon prayer on Monday meant to cast out demons and other forces troubling their lives but died in the process. The deliverance prayer session was said to have gone sour at Hope Ministry aka Holy Ghost Deliverance Centre, Uselu Quarters, when Ekhator was ‘overwhelmed by a strange spirit’ and hit his head against a generator. He died immediately. His death sparked a protest by aggrieved youths in the area. They stormed the church with dangerous weapons and damaged church property, including musical instruments, electrical appliances and vehicles parked on the church premises. The father of the deceased, Pa Erase Ekhator,

said his son visited him and told him he wanted to go for deliverance at the church. He said: “They forced him and tied both his legs and hands and poured a bucket of water on his body. His mother asked why and they said that it was what they usually do to calm him down. After struggling for five minutes, Osanyade died in their custody.” Also, sister of the deceased, Mrs Omoregie Osas, claimed that church members “beat him to death because they removed the clothe he was putting on and gave him another”. But the resident pastor of the church, Mrs Isoken Okudaye, and another church member, who claimed they witnessed what happened, said the victim was violent during the deliverance prayer session. According to them, he accidentally hit his head against generator and died. Okudaye said: “We have been taking care of his father without any money; we don’t kill, beat or destroy souls here. If they bring people with insanity here we heal them.” A witness said: “We were in a meeting when we got a distress call that somebody died in a church and before we got there, some youths have attacked the church.”

t least, nine vehicles were destroyed yesterday during a clash at Oshodi, Lagos by the ubiquitous street urchins popularly called Area Boys. Fear gripped the residents and shop owners on Afariogun, Salami and Sadiku streets when two factions of the street urchins clashed over money from scavengers. It was learnt that the fight started about midnight and lasted till morning. Even yesterday afternoon, some of the hoodlums were still brandishing machetes and other weapons. The clash led to the destruction of five commercial buses and four private cars parked on the streets, while some shops were looted. Trouble started when miscreants from Orile reportedly collected money from the scavengers picking scraps from an abandoned caterpillar. According to the residents, the caterpillar had been abandoned near a canal for over three years. But the miscreants from Mafoluku said the canal was on their territory and wondered why Orile miscreants should collect money from the scavengers.

18 die in 859 fire outbreaks Muritala Ayinla

t least 18 persons have lost their lives in 859 fire incidents which destroyed property worth N10.09 billion in Lagos State in the last three months. It was learnt that the figure of fire incidents was the highest recorded in the rainy season in recent years. According to the activity report of the Lagos State Fire Service, the agency recorded 55 rescue calls in the last three months, while five buildings collapsed. Thirty-six persons were also rescued from fire while 18 died in the inferno before help came. The report also showed that 40 people were rescued in the incidents while property valued at N60 billion were saved. The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mr Rasak Fadipe, who blamed the fire tragedies on human errors, said the period was regarded as rainy season where low emergency fire calls were expected.

12 News

national

thursday, july 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Again, FCTA Perm Sec warns directors

Bail-out to states, bad precedent, says LP

Yekeen Nurudeen

Abuja

ABUJA

or the second time, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration, Engineer John Obinna Chukwu, has read the riot act to various Directors of the administration to be more alive to their official responsibilities or be ready to face the negative consequences. He made this charge during an emergency meeting yesterday with the directors in charge of City Management and Cleaning where he urged them to step up the tempo of activities to rid the city of garbage, street urchins, hawkers and other miscreants who pose security threats to the residents of the territory. The Permanent Secretary also directed for the strict enforcement of policies and rules on the restrictions of movements of trailers and trucks between the hours of 8pm and 6am within the city to forestall undue crashes.

Niger LGAs to get caretaker committees

Yekeen Nurudeen

espite commendations to President Muhammadu Buhari for the bailout granted some state governments to be able to pay workers' salaries, the Labour Party (LP) has accused state governors of blackmailing the President to release over N700 billion bailout to them. The party

said the move has set a proportional but different level of bad precedent. National Chairman of LP, Alhaji Abdukadir Abdulsalam, said yesterday in Abuja that not minding that the party agrees that many workers would get part of the backlog of their salaries and the society would be good for it, the errors of the bailout far outweigh its benefits. “This over N700billion of Nigerians’ money the President used in the

bailout, where did he get the appropriation, or they just collect money and give out just like that? Although it is good that the workers will get their salaries, it has created a bad precedent. For withdrawing such quantum money without appropriation is tantamount to illegality and is not following the rule of law. “Buhari came with the concept of change, but it seems he has not learnt from the mistakes of pre-

vious administrations, because what is happening now was what happened to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when the governors prevailed on him to basterdise the local government system, when local government funds were diverted to personal use of the governors then,” Abdulsalam said. He added that when former President Goodluck Jonathan came on board, the governors also

Dan Atori

L-R: Leader of the delegation, Prof. Jerry Gana; Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu; his deputy, Rt. Hon. Udeh Okochukwu and Prof. Felix Anyaegbulam, after a courtesy visit by the management of Brainfine tek Plasma Power Limited to the governor in Umuahia…yesterday.

MINNA

he Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has approved the constitution of Caretaker Committees for all the 25 Local Government Areas of the State. This follows the recent dissolution of the Transition Implementation Committees by the Governor. In a statement issued by Secretary to the State Government, Shehu Umar Danyaya and made available to the New Telegraph yesterday, governor Bello said the composition of the Caretaker Committees is with immediate effect. The statement further explained that the Committee for each local government has Director, Personal Management (DPM) as Chairman, Director of Works, Vice Chairman, Director of Finance, Member, Director of Planning and Research, as members while the Director of Social Development will serve as the Secretary of the Committee. The Chairman and members of the Committee who are all staff of the Local Government are to serve for an initial period of three months.

igerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that it was putting legal and regulatory framework in place to give law enforcement agencies the authority to intercept communications legally in the country. This is contained in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja by the NCC Media Department signed by the Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Mr Eugene Juwah. It said the commission has commenced finetuning legal framework to ensure that the rights and privacy of telecoms subscribers are protected by the security agencies.

NCC fine-tunes legal framework to intercept communications The statement said the commission made public inquiries on the lawful interception of communications regulations and licensing regulations as part of its rule-making process. According to the statement, this is aimed at ensuring wide consultation in the enactment of regulations for the industry. It said the proposed regulation by the NCC also sought to give security agencies power to intercept communications legally without any

violation of the citizens’ privacy and rights. “The Draft Lawful Interception of Communications Regulations was aimed at providing legal and regulatory framework for lawful interception of communications in Nigeria as well as the collection and disclosure of intercepted communications. “It also specifies the nature and types of communications to be intercepted, penalties for noncompliance and measures to safeguard the privacy of citizens as contained in

the constitution. “These regulations shall complement the NCC Act and the obligations of law enforcement agencies and operators in connection with the interception of communications,’’ Juwah said in the statement. The statement gave an assurance that the regulation would provide the guiding standards and principles for an effective regime on lawful interception of communication and licensing in the telecommunication industry.

Insurgency: 160, 000 Nigerians take refuge in Niger, Chad, Cameroon — UNFPA

he United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has disclosed that about 160,000 Nigerians have fled the north eastern part of the country seeking refuge in neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. This is contained in a statement signed by the UNFPA Media Associate in Nigeria, Kori Habib, as part of activities to mark

the 2015 World Population Day scheduled for July 11. The statement indicated that Nigeria would join the rest of the world to commemorate the World Population Day with the theme: “Vulnerable population in emergencies”. According to the statement, the theme of the 2015 world population day is of crucial relevance and timely to Nigeria.

“Nigeria has about 1.5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) largely due to communal conflicts and insurgencies in the north eastern part. “The majority of the IDPs are women, children and elderly, and 52 per cent of the IDPs are estimated to be children under the age of 18 years,’’ the statement said. It lamented the vulner-

able population in emergencies were exposed to series of protection risks and threats that included forced labour, physical abuse, torture abductions and forceful conscription. “The insurgents also subject them to forced conscription, sexual and gender based violence as well as poor living condition and debilitating poverty,’’ Habib said.

deceived him to carry out certain policies and projects, at the end of which, they disappointed him, adding that President Buhari has fallen into their trap. He said: “They must have deceived him that they used money meant for workers salary to campaign for him and the party and that he must now save them. But unfortunately, Buhari has spent over three trillion naira without appropriation, without recourse to the rainy day, or recourse to other considerations. The gover nment claimed the bailout were loans, but under what conditions were the loans given? What is the mode and processes of the repayment? In this regard, the President has started on a very bad note. This is unfortunate and we are going to suffer for it.” According to the Labour Party boss, the bailout would only encourage many of the governors to steal more and mismanage the finances of their states instead of developing their states by alternatively helping them and encouraging them to look inward and finance themselves and only use the monthly allocations to offset workers salaries.

National carrier will improve Nigeria's GDP — Ex-NCAT boss Wole Shadare

he former Rector and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Capt. Adebayo Araba, has said that the country's economy would benefit with the floating of a national airline. Speaking at an event in Lagos, Araba insisted that Nigeria required a national carrier for the sector to compete with others, provide jobs for qualified Nigerians and increase the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) for the country. He maintained that quota system was good for the development of the country, but should not apply to every sector of the economy especially the critical ones. He, however, warned that introduction of quota system in the airline project may spell doom for it just the way the defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways was set up.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JUly 9, 2015

Parliament

Governance

Why Benue lawmakers fought, by Speaker

Buhari must tackle corruption, unemployment – Enabulele

Interview

Power tussle

Nigeria must shut oil production to develop – Adeyanju

Izuogu: APC should avoid destruction before 2019

Politics In this interview, a former Chairman of the Nigerian chapter of Transparency International, Major-Gen. Ishola Williams (retd), speaks on the renewed effort of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prosecute some former governors for corruption. WALE ELEGBEDE reports

How do you see the spate of arrests of ex-governors by the EFCC in recent times? I think everybody should be happy about that. At least we are now having a turnaround against impunity and there are no untouchables. But it appears the EFCC is giving the impression that it could have taken action if not for political interference. Actually, EFCC is just waking up with all these things that are happening now. It is also an interesting twist that it’s not the governors alone but their children too. That is quite interesting to the whole issue of recklessness by various people who were elected as leaders, especially at the state level. On the other hand, one should also be happy that Chimaroke Nnamani, the former governor of Enugu State, has been told to forfeit his properties to the Federal Government. In the real sense of it, he converted the money given to the people of the state to look after them for his own personal use. I think those properties should be forfeited to the Enugu State government and not the Federal Government. But it is very good that a judge has taken that stand. And if it continues that way, you can be rest assured that impunity is

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY EDITOR, PoLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

Nigeria rising against impunity – Williams health. He spared Bola Tinubu, Patience Jonathan and Michael Aaondoaka. What sort of person is that? So, regardless of all the praise, that guy was a fake with respect to anti-corruption. What also happened again was that Ibrahim Lamorde was working with him and remember that he said that former Governor James Ibori bribed him with $15 million and it was not him that carried it to Central Bank, it was Lamorde. Where is the $15 million that they took from Ibori? Where is the receipt? Where is the paper that Central Bank gave to them that they deposited $15 million in Ibori’s account? Delta State government woke up one morning and said if that money is from Ibori, then it came from us, please return it. So, where is the $15 million? So, we should learn. Journalists too also have a fault in this thing. You cover up too many things. So, with the new regime now, with what is happening now, you have to step up.

Ishola

going to be reduced to the minimum. Many years ago I used to tell people that in my lifetime, this sort of thing is going to happen. I am so happy that my dreams are coming through and that in my lifetime this sort of thing is happening. I am so happy and I want to see more of it before I die. In the past, arrests like these have been made only for the victims to resort to plea bargain. Are we not going back to that era? It is difficult for people like us to do something about it, but having listened to the Chief Justice of the Federation, he has said that the judges can continue to do what they do but if they are caught, they are going to be punished. Therefore, we require the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to play their own part; we also require the prosecutors from the Ministry of Justice and EFCC to play their own parts too, that is, don’t tempt the judges with bribe. And also, on the part of all these

anti-corruption bodies and Ministry of Justice, don’t go there like the case of Femi Fani-Kayode with untidy books; they must do their homework properly. Both the prosecution and defence counsel must help the judges to do their jobs properly and not to be giving them money to be able to get people off hook.

You can be rest assured that impunity is going to be reduced to the minimum

Do you believe that the political leadership of the last administration impeded the performance of the anti-corruption agency? Very much so! After all, the anti-corruption agency is a political institution. Who set it up? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo set it up and he is a politician. And it has also shown that when Nuhu Ribadu was there, in spite of what journalists said in the newspapers, he too was politically influenced. And then when he left EFCC and wanted to become president of Nigeria, the people who were supporting him, he said they have no case and gave them a clean bill of

What do you think should be done to the oil sector, do you think the NNPC should be investigated? Already, President Buhari has done a very smart thing because it doesn’t cost the government anything to probe NNPC. He left it to the National Economic Council (NEC) to set up a committee of governors to probe NNPC itself. I believe this is very smart. Let the governors do it themselves and come up with a report. The other challenge is the issue of subsidy but I don’t think it’s a challenge anymore because in many places we are already buying fuel more than N87 and in some parts of this country, they have never bought fuel for N87. So, what is the whole hypocrisy all about? And like many people have written, they are just making some people rich doing nothing through subsidy. In the case of NNPC, I think the transition committee made some recommendations and when the governors finish their investigation they should be able to make some recommendations and that will provide the president the opportunity to reorganise the whole place. Are you supporting the view that the stewardship of some of these former CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

Politics | Interview

Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Hon. Terkimbi Ikyange, speaks on his emergence as presiding officer, the brawl among lawmakers and the independence of the legislature. CEPHAS IORHEMEN reports

The seventh Assembly in Benue State shut its doors against journalists in the state raising suspicion of fishy deals, but you have started by meeting with the media. Why the development? You see, journalists are partners in the progress of governance. Your aspirations, policies will only be known by the people if there is a medium through which such policies would be heard. If we have laws that are enacted by the House of Assembly, the people may likely not know except they are told and the only medium they will know these things is through journalists who are the purveyors of these information. So I felt that I should meet with you people to let you know that we need your support to succeed in this task which we have as lawmakers. In the seventh Assembly, we had sittings where major decisions that affected the lives of the people of Benue were taken but the public did not know, probably because we did not involve the journalists. So, in a way the people did not know that important activities and decisions were taken in the House, but I think that we have a whole lot of work to do and the present Assembly will depend largely on the media to succeed. We were talking about ‘change’, we don’t mean changing from one political party to another; we mean changing the ways we think and the ways we do things and by so doing we are going to achieve some feats in the development of the state and the country at large. What is the position of the present Assembly on financial autonomy for the House? We have a new person who is now our president and I want to believe that his disposition to the idea of the arms of government being independent the way he speaks and generally his antecedents tells me that he will be supportive of this cause. If the outgone president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, had supported what came up from the National Assembly, when the state legislatures also voted for the financial autonomy of the legislative arm of government, by now we won’t be talking about the financial independent of the legislature. The bill was sent back to the National Assembly because Jonathan refused to assent to it. If President Buhari is going to revisit the issue, I will assure you that there is no time that we as members of the Benue State House of Assembly will refuse to vote in support of it. This is the only way that we can have some freedom; we are depending on the

THURSDAY, JUly 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Why Benue lawmakers fought, by Speaker goodwill of the executive arm of government to function. What is your take on the wrangling in the state Assembly over election of principal officers, which led to some of your colleagues exchanged blows? What happened in the Benue State House of Assembly and elsewhere shows that there is no clear cut rule that people who are in the majority will always produce the speaker of the House; it’s a matter of lobbying and talking to your colleagues and if they are convinced in your abilities that you can be their leader, they can give it to you. I want to tell you that if the man from Labour Party had convinced members of the eighth Assembly that he is capable of becoming the speaker of the House, he would have been voted. So, there was no rule that said the people that have the majority in the House should have a speaker, but the issue was just that of simple majority. So, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) felt that because they are 15 in number, they can have the speaker, but remember that I came from the seventh Assembly I also had colleagues who were there with me and who also knew that I had potential to be in the leadership. There is no rule in the world that says that people in the majority will always have it. So, there was no disagreement on the issue of speakership; if you had watched the proceedings of the House, we did voting peacefully. I got 17 votes and the person that contested against me had 13 votes. I was able to convince my colleagues to vote for me, three votes came from PDP added to the ones from my party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and that was how I became the speaker. For the position of deputy speaker, we supported somebody and eventually he won. As for other principal officers, something happened. The activities that led to me becoming the speaker actually didn’t go down well with people from the PDP. They were not comfortable with some of their members who supported an APC because they felt that they were in the majority. So, somehow they had disagreements among themselves and it led to the expulsion of our colleague, from his constituency because of disagreements. He felt he was embarrassed because of what they did to him as a member who had served for four years should not be treated because he exppressed himself the way he wanted, he is entitled to his opinion. So, what did he do after he was expelled from PDP? When he was expelled, he joined APC, and what did we do to him, because of what he did, the House considered him for a position. When this happened, the PDP felt he shouldn’t have left, that there were other procedures that ought to have been followed before

Ikyange

that decision was taken. When the letter was read about his leaving the PDP as a result of his expulsion, his colleagues in the party who were also interested in the leadership became uncomfortable and the argument that followed led to tempers not been controlled and that was what brought the crisis you saw.

What happened in the Benue... shows that there is no clear cut rule that people who are in the majority will always produce the speaker

The seventh assembly was rated below average in terms of carrying out oversight functions. How does the eighth Assembly intends to improve on this? I am assuring you that by the grace of God, the eighth Assembly will do much better in terms of oversight functions; we want to improve on what we had in the seventh Assembly. Once the standing committees are constituted, we are going to set a template of doing our jobs here as legislators. In these areas too, we need the assistance of journalists like you, because this issue of oversight , most people look at our constitutional roles that we have to play as confronting the executive arm of government for checks and balances to be in the system so that you see effectiveness in governance. The role of over sighting is key but most times in the course of doing it, the persons that should understand what you are doing, looks at you as intruding and saying things that shouldn’t have been said. But before these things are done and before we begin in earnest, we will sit together and talk.

I will also use my position as Speaker to seek audience with the executive arm of government and talk, they will understand us from the beginning how things work at our own end. Once that is done, we will not have much of the challenges we had in the seventh Assembly. The relationship between the legislature and the executive in the past has been that the House was looked upon as been an appendage of the governor. Does the present Assembly intends to make a difference? I wouldn’t want to believe that the seventh Assembly of which I was a member was pocketed. When you were not part of what we were doing, there was no way you would have understood our plight. But by the special grace of God, we are beginning on this note. You (journalists) are going to be fully incorporated in whatever we will be doing and then you will be the ones to tell the people whether we are an appendage of the executive or we are actually standing on our own. But I want to assure you that we are going to stand as an arm of government and we will be duty bound to do what is expected of us as members of the legislative arm of government. And as we set to do this effectively, we want to believe that our partners in this business, the executive arm of government will give us the necessary cooperation that we need. We will not be pocketed and you (journalists) should not be used against us.

Politics | Interview

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JUly 9, 2015

Dr. Osahon Enabulele is the Vice President, Commonwealth Medical Association and immediate past National President of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA). He speaks on expectations from President Muhammadu Buhari. CAJETAN MMUTA reports As a former President of NMA, what are your expectations from the Muhammadu Buhari administration? I think the first thing is to expect that we have a government that exhibits very high level of commitment to the health sector in the sense that over the years, we had this lip service being paid to the health of Nigerians. Yes, budgets are made, statements are made but there are no attempts to strictly adhere to those words and promises. In other words, I expect the words of Mr. President to be his bond with Nigerians. I expect him to show high level of political commitment to the health sector in several ways. One is to as a policy statement ensure that his government will not tolerate any public or political office holder travelling abroad to seek medical care for ailments that can be treated in Nigeria. That is one level of commitment. The second level of commitment is to truly give expression to that universal truism that health is wealth and that health is the fundamental pivot for a productive economy of a healthy nation. So, I expect the president to carry this mantra through in his actions and declarations for the health of Nigerians. Another area of commitment I expect him to have is to show greater commitment to the fundamental health rights of Nigerians. In other words, the rights of Nigerians to have access to healthcare services and indeed qualitative healthcare services wherever they maybe. His government must necessarily ensure that health is not given on the basis of affordability but on the basis of need. In other words, he must now be able to give very profound expression to the health rights of Nigerians and we all know that rights to health is rights to wealth and rights to life. Once your health is not there, you are as good as gone. So, the President must give full expression to the fundamental rights of Nigerians by way of giving very committed expression to the now existing National Health Act which makes provisions for access to at least the basic healthcare services for all Nigerians and also against provision for deterring public and political office holders from wasting the resources of Nigerians on account of foreign medical tourism as provided for in Section 46 of the National Health Act. President Buhari should also increase the budget provision from five to 10 per cent. What are you expecting the Buhariled administration to do on the issue of electoral reform?

Buhari must tackle corruption, unemployment – Enabulele I expect the president, having battled with electoral issues since the first time he threw his hat into the political ring, to do a proper dissection on the electoral problems of our country because if he does not do that we may not be able to move to that level of electoral transparency and credibility that we all yearn for. Granted that the 2015 elections were fair, but there are still issues to be addressed in terms of independence of the electoral umpire, internal party democracy, involvement of state actors in the electoral exercise, the issue of criminal justice system, and prosecution of electoral offenders. So, I expect him to dust the Justice Muhammud Uwais electoral committee’s report that was constituted by the late Musa Yar’Adua and see what else has not been implemented by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and see how they can give bite to it and also further reform the electoral landscape of the country. The issue of prosecution of electoral offenders is still a far cry from what the people expect; people commit all sorts of electoral offences and still walk around. How do you want the president to address the growing rate of employment in the country? You know that in spite of the trumpeted figures that was released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently as to the

Enabulele

The issue of corruption is key; if he does not address corruption, then he has failed

level of unemployment in Nigeria, which gives the impression that we are making progress, I think even the deaf and dumb will tell you rightly that unemployment rate becomes a huge problem in the country. So, I expect Mr. President to look into several opportunities that will generate employment for Nigerians. He needs to ensure that Nigeria gets more industrialised because when you do not have the industries, when you do not have the necessary facilities or firms to employ your able bodied graduates, then of course, all they can best do is to recline to either self-help or some other tendencies that may not be in the interest of the county. I expect him to take on the issue of industrialising the country by way of addressing the issues of power. I expect Mr. President to also create opportunity for a reformed agricultural system because agriculture remains a very huge platform for employing a lot of Nigerians. I also expect him to look at the ICT world as a very formidable platform for creating employment for Nigerians. The ICT world is now opening up all levels of employment even at the private level. And of course the issue of public works. This creates space for employment. You talk of road construction, for instance, rail construction, all that can be expanded to create jobs for our teeming unemployed youths. He should look at employment as not

only for empowering the individuals and creating some level of income for them but moving Nigeria away from this very serious level of poverty. Over 70 per cent of Nigerians still tend to be earning less than $1.25 a day and so he should look at how to create opportunities for them to make daily income and that will not only empower them but reduce the acts of criminality that we have in all parts of the country. It is going to reduce the tendency of Nigerians to yield to some other criminals who want to exploit them towards their own tendencies. I think security wise, it will help us to address the very high level of insecurity we have in our country today because when people are employed or engaged, they will not have time to find themselves being used for all sorts of criminalities. So, the issue of employment is key; there is no point graduating students when there are no jobs to give to them; there is no use having a population of over 170 million and yet over 70 per cent of them are unemployed and you say we are a country. So, the issue of employment is key towards addressing the anomalies in our country. Corruption has been a major issue in Nigeria. What do you think the new administration should do to address this menace? I think corruption was one of the issues that played out during the elections and so if Mr. President must address corruption, he must have done something in addition to other capital projects that Nigerians expect him to address. So, the issue of corruption is key; if he does not address corruption then he has failed because one of the issues that really gave him some level of acceptance of his Presidency or aspiration to Nigerians was that Nigeria today is still unable to confront this very huge monstrosity called corruption. If a man who in his time as military head of state gave some level of moral rebirth to Nigerians by way of addressing all sorts of vices of which was corruption, so Nigerians expect that he begins to address the issue of corruption. In other words, all those who are going to serve with him must first of all be people who are transparent, credible and acceptable to Nigerians. They must mandatorily declare their assets publicly. Also, any act of corruption must be brought to a final conclusion. More often than not, we have initial celebration of people being arrested, thrown into jail and later you hear of all sorts of plea bargain. So, I think Mr. President must not treat corruption with kid gloves. Again, Mr. President should re-enact this old issue of remoralisation of the Nigerian state. He must be able to reintroduce civic studies for instance in our primary, secondary and even university level as to let Nigerians know their obligations to their country; let them know the values of their country.

16 Politics | Interview Dr. Dayo Adeyanju is the Commissioner for Health in Ondo State who strongly believes that human development should take centre stage in the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration. In this interview, the former World Bank staff also speaks on why Nigeria must shut down its oil. Mojeed Alabi reports The reality today is that most states of the federation are broke and Ondo State is not an exception even with its status as an oil-producing state. Is that not an indictment? It is never an indictment and can never be an indictment. Here in Ondo, we have prioritised our needs, and unlike other places where workers are owed more than seven months in salary arrears, we only have two months arrears left. Aside that, the complaints haven’t been much in Ondo State because the state is already carrying more than 50 per cent burden of parents including free health services, free education, among others. For instance, under health alone, we have saved the people more than N12 billion in the last six years when the Mother and Child hospitals started running. How will you explain the N12 billion claim? When we came in, all the indices indicated that Ondo had the worst health status with our maternal mortality standing at 745 per 100,000 live births. So, as a responsible government, we decided to launch the Abiye project and built Mother and Child hospitals to reverse the then increasing and totally unacceptable trend. So, between 2009 and 2012, the maternal mortality dropped to 317, and today, we have come down to 187. These services are completely free and we have done this by partnering the traditional birth attendants and mission homes, where we found out these deaths were occurring. The Abiye project was followed by Ondo State Routine Immunisation to keep the babies safe even after birth and till age five. And today, we have sustained the state free of polio consistently for the past six years, and what that has earned us is that the two

THURSDAY, JUly 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Nigeria must shut oil production to develop – Adeyanju

Adeyanju

times that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Immunisation Leadership Challenge held in Nigeria in partnership with the Governors’ Forum, Ondo has come first twice across the whole country and the award earned us $500,000 for 2013 and 2014. We also launched another programme tagged Adolescent Youth Health Programme aimed at ensuring that the children’s given energies are directed towards productive lifestyles. Also, we launched the Ondo State Emergency Medical Services which within the last one year, have rescued more than 213 crashes on our highways and saved more than 578 lives. In our medical village, we have a kidney care centre because we know that kidney diseases have been part of what have been shortening the people’s lives. We established that with 15-chamber dialyses so that we can take care of the people’s kidneys including another programme we tagged Community

Nigeria’s problem is mainly our poor orientation and not necessarily the fall in oil prices

Nigeria rising against impunity – Williams C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

governors in their respective states should be probed? What has been happening before is this; they come to Abuja every month to collect money and nobody has asked them how they are spending the monthly disbursement. Nobody. In fact, our newspapers concentrate on the Federal Government. They don’t bother to ask. Therefore, we

must start asking questions as ‘what do these governors do with these money that makes them not pay workers?’ Now they have been given what they call bailout, what is happening now is that there are some governors who are very prudent, who are paying their salaries regularly. Some incompetent ones have been unable to pay, at the same time some are putting hundreds of mil-

lions of naira in their security votes that they are unable to account for. So, which one is the priority now: Payment of salaries and the issue of security votes and contracts that they give to people that you cannot even pay? So, it is not only the workers that are suffering, contractors too are suffering. And these contractors too employ people. That is how the whole thing goes round.

Kidney Care. Apart from this, we also have what we call First Aid Support Team (FAST) which is to sensitise the communities on what to do when accidents occur. The Gani Fawehinmi Diagnostics Centre is also aimed at eliminating the guesswork by health workers. All these have now culminated in the establishment of Nigeria’s pioneer University of Medicine which is aimed at training medical doctors who can sustain these initiatives and to ensure that across the globe, doctors can get trained on our Abiye project, trauma, mother and child hospital, so that they can be replicated across the country. But with the continued decline of Nigeria’s financial fortunes, do you think all these are sustainable? In Ondo, the story is different, but let me begin by saying that Nigeria’s problem is mainly our poor orientation and not necessarily the fall in oil prices. In the first instance, how can Nigeria believe that oil is the biggest source of revenue? Let me tell you, Nigeria’s total budget for 2014 was N4.3 trillion based on oil revenue. But do you know that Google alone recorded about N5 trillion as turnover for the same year. Does it mean that Google is richer than Nigeria? In fact, I will suggest Nigeria shuts down its oil so that we can think because for now we are not exploring other avenues. In Ondo alone, we are sitting on the largest bitumen deposit in Africa and in fact, the 4th largest in the world. And below the bitumen is stock fish but we are not really working on its exploration

because the Federal Government seems contented with oil. The political will is a major determinant of the success of any administration. The real thing we are enjoying here now is the political will of our governor. We have the longest coastal areas in Nigeria but why are ships not berthing here. The distance between Igbokoda and Lekki in Lagos is just 30 minutes through water and same to Delta and other places. This is just an open waterways. If you open that pathway, do you know how much development you will bring to the areas? This is what is obtainable in advanced countries and these leaders go there and they see how things are done there. So, in spite of the dwindling revenue in the country we have ensured that our Mother and Child hospital must be running, Abiye must not stop and Agbebiye must not stop. They are very critical, because if a child is infected with polio, he will have permanent disability and that will affect the future of the child and the state as a whole. So, dwindling resources is not an excuse. You cannot go and be building bridges and leave that child to suffer. The next thing is to ensure that the free bus shuttles are up and running and our mega schools are maintained. If the oil is shut, where will you expect Nigeria to concentrate its efforts? If am asked for my opinion on what should form the priorities for President Buhari, I will suggest only about three things, which should all focus on human development indices, that is, health and education. A healthy nation is a wealthy nation and that is the way productivity can be increased. As we speak, Nigeria loses more than $2 billion annually to India through medical tourism. You can imagine what would happen if such huge fund is retained in our economy. So, the president must ground to a halt, medical tourism, and that is our dream in Ondo State which has led us to invest massively in health. Then the president must improve infrastructure so that economy can thrive. When we came on board here, World Bank wanted us to increase our health facilities as a way of addressing the then increasing maternal mortality but we told them that the facilities we had on ground was more than enough and that the problem was because there was disconnect between the facilities and the people. So, we needed a structure to just connect the facilities with the people and that was how the Abiye thing came up and the governor also stood on our point and that if they did not agree they could take their money away. But they accepted and, of course, we have gotten result. When we presented our Abiye programme in Washington DC, they never believed it would work. That time, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili was the Vice-President and she said that was the first time they would be having result for their support. So, before we can develop as a nation, we must have bulk of the people in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). That is why China is developing very rapidly. In a small room, you can have three factories, producing different essential items. We must imbibe that culture but that won’t be possible without restoring power.

Politics | Interview 17

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JUly 9, 2015

Mr. Ezekiel Izuogu is a member, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview, he speaks on the National Assembly crisis, the power struggle in the APC and bribery allegation against the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. JOHNCHUKS ONUANYIM reports

Your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been engulfed in crisis less than two months after its victory at the polls. How do you feel with the development? First of all, I am very happy that I took the right decision to support another candidate than President Goodluck Jonathan. I was part of the formation of the APC. I am happy that I supported Muhammadu Buhari; I sacrificed four months to go round with him, to make sure he wins. I am also happy that I went back to Imo State to campaign, to make sure that we delivered Imo, not only to the incumbent Governor Rochas Okorocha, but to Buhari. I am very happy. Above all, I am happy that Buhari won the election with a very wide margin. What is happening in the APC today is that we are trying to manage our victory. We are weak at managing victory. What this crisis is showing is that we are not managing our victory excellently well. But it is a problem we can overcome. Every person who has won victory knows that sometimes managing victory is difficult, depending on the kind of people you are managing. We have not been in the party for a long time and people are still trying to study one another. There is also the struggle for future power, which is right because we have just won the Presidency. Let us relax and give the president time to manage the affairs of the country. In order words, even though we are victorious, we should be humble victors. We should sit back and allow Mr. President to perform. We should not behave in such a way that will make performance becomes difficult for him because we are trying to entangle him, from one problem to another. That is not good. I do not like it. It pains me. I wish that this problem can be resolved overnight. When the National Assembly election took place, some radio stations approached me for interview and I told them I am very happy that we have won the victory during the presidential, governorship and senatorial elections. We should now manage it like gentlemen. If you are not a gentleman, you will scatter

Izuogu: APC should avoid destruction before 2019

Izuogu

the whole thing, if you are too radical. Some of us are becoming too radical and that is not good. Some people are equating what is happening now with what will happen in 2019 and are already struggling. If you start this struggle this early, it is going to damage a number of things. Our greatest trophy is APC, and the party should not be damaged because of our carelessness. We should not be arrogant. If we have won the victory at the National Assembly, let us humbly perform our duties. There are insinuations that APC crisis is being fuelled by the vaulting ambition of those who feel that because of their contributions to the party’s victory, they should be given free hand to decide who gets what. What is your take on this? The issue is, whatever anybody feels, what does the constitution of Nigeria says? The constitution says that the president will select those who will work with him in the Federal Executive Council. President Buhari is a human being. He is going to listen to guidance and advice. But the final decision is his own, not anybody else. In order words, those who are advising Buhari, they are right to do so. If you have recommended Mr. A

If you start this struggle this early, it is going to damage a number of things

to be the Minister for Education or whatever, it is a recommendation; it is an advice. I know most of those who are into this trouble or the others in the National Executive Committee, the Board of Trustees (BOT) or in the National Caucus. I know them. They are my friends of several years. My humble advice is, if you have won the victory as we have won, please be humble about it. Don’t be arrogant. If you are arrogant, you spoil everything. Arrogance can even mean that what you won before, you can no longer win it. Suppose the party scatters and we go into individual small parties again, we will have nothing to brag about. So, you must preserve the party, the oneness, the unity of the party. The presiding officers of the National Assembly don’t seem to be toeing the line of the party leadership in the choice of principal officers of the chamber as recommended by the party leadership. What is your take on this? My advice to them is that they should remember that they are products of the party. The party is the platform upon which you have gotten what you have now. So, please listen to the basis of your being there. Bukola Saraki is somebody I have known for

a long time. I am very close to the Saraki family. However, I will advise Saraki to take things easy. You cannot be a victor over your party men. It is the party that made you what you are. So, please, remember the party. Whatever decisions you are taking, remember the basis upon which you stand to become Senate President. That basis is the APC, not any other. Some people are accusing the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, of collecting bribe to support the emergence of the National Assembly leadership. How do you feel with the development? Oyegun is a man I know very well. Anybody who is accusing him of taking bribe does not know Oyegun. Oyegun cannot take bribe to do anything. Oyegun is a transparent and honest human being. He will not take bribe for anything. Oyegun should be celebrated for the victories of APC at the general elections. Any human being in APC should celebrate the man who brought such victories. Talking about removing him is unfortunate. Anybody who is talking of removing him is being unfair; being unfair to the conscience of Nigerians. Oyegun midwifed C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 7

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion PDP’s opposition: Not a fair deal Kingsley Ogbeide-Ihama

hese days when I commonly find on the pages of the newspapers, PDP’s boastfulness of taking over federal power by 2019, I am moved to spew the speech of Marullus, in the play ‘Julius Caesar’ by William Shakespeare “…Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, pray to the gods to intermit the plague that needs must light on this ingratitude” Since the ousting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from leading Nigeria at the federal level; akin to the same brashness with which they ruled the country in the past, they have refused to be humble in defeat or to understand that their defeat was by Nigerians who only used the instrumentality of the APC. So far, from their utterances right through to their actions, it is becoming clearer that their hold on federal power was all that mattered to them, and not how to use the power to serve Nigerians. Otherwise, what manner of self-absorption can easily make PDP forget that with the uprightness of the caliber of Prof. Attahiru Jega, the only entrance to political power would henceforth be determined by the wishes of the people? And of course, Nigerians would be counting on evidential value of good governance that the PDP failed to deliver in 16 years; of which the APC is now encouraging Nigerians with a doable roadmap. By now, one ought to expect that PDP would reel in and make a candid appraisal of why they fell out of favour with Nigerians. Secondly, that the PDP should know what it takes to be in opposition and to appreciate that the job of being in opposition is far more difficult than being in power. Opposition amounts to what is required of a team when it is three goals down. It is not just about how much determination the losing team suddenly invokes and puts into the game. The needed comeback would not also be depending on how much offensive tackles which could be counter-productive when it amounts to being red-carded. The needed turnaround for the losing side would depend on their opponent making some unfortunate slips and

the ability of the losing side to identify and make fair use of such slips. Most of the time, this is where the competence of the technical managers comes to play. And it is also about this that if the PDP ever possesses adroit managers, they should be rolled out to commence work. The think tank which understands that theirs is a more arduous work would be required to come up with a blueprint that is not only assuming in potentials but one that convincingly offers Nigerians a better deal wherever the APC is failing. It would also be the job of these managers to make PDP adopt an ethical-armour that is repugnant and sanctioning of members’ immoral conducts; especially the ones leading to public odium. Preceding the last Presidential Elections, I observed a few things acutely wrong in the way the PDP was going about their thing and I expressed my opinion in one of the national dailies with the title “Something lacking in the campaigns” Even as the PDP thought they were chasing APC away from the political turf with acerbic vituperations, they (PDP) were continually losing grip and failing to reckon that APC’s promise was better than having nothing to offer. To start with, the PDP spent time engaging INEC about their doubts in the efficacy of the Card Reader and created the impression that they never wanted the contest conducted fairly. Also in the misadventure of trying to burn their candle from both ends, they ignored or probably forgot to tackle the APC about the impossibility of their ‘Change’ philosophy, or to diffuse the presumptuousness of APC’s promises with empirical evidence backed by lucent figures. Then again, when the existing erratic electricity supply synchronized with the reoccurrence of fuel scarcity, the country assumed perpetual darkness. For me, this was symbolic as I saw Nigeria’s light finally dimming on PDP while they could not muster an urgent action committee to ensure that things were momentarily stabilized, but went about making ‘Sabotage’ the new subject of their campaign. History was in a haste and the PDP tried to slow it down with the postponement of the elections, but alas, it came, and without much fuss Nigerians had long concluded that

they would rather cast their lot for the ones promising than the ‘blame-mongers’ Any reader of this piece may be curious as to why I feel like seeing a rejuvenated PDP. Quite frankly, my concern is more about why the PDP would have endangered Nigeria by irrepressibly denying it good governance and is still progressing to deny it the opportunity of a good opposition. If they keep failing to understand what they ought to be doing, they should however desist from imagining that President Muhammadu Buhari’s mistake or forgetfulness as regards any person’s title is as ominous as the forgetfulness to develop healthcare facilities, build durable roads, or to generally sideline the revamping social infrastructure for 16 years. Were they truly abreast with what should exist between government and opposition, they ought to consider it a privilege offered by Nigerians. However, if the PDP cannot act as the ideal watchdog on what the APC is doing in their closet, they might as well advice Nigerians to hire a bunch consultants who can make the APC be constantly on their guards and not become conceited. The consultants who understand that opposition is not about fault-finding or putting a wedge in the unity of the party in government, but the science that enables societies to conscientiously migrate from the sphere of good to better. In other words the PDP should see itself as the latent stakeholder who understands that ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ but while not disturbing the cook, also does the reasonable things of making the cook to understand that PDP interest stems from being a co-beneficiary of the outcome of the cooking. Thankfully, if the PDP is truly well-meaning, they should hold-on to the States in their grip and make a model of good governance with them. Through their achievements in the States, they might just be able to prove that the PDP is not fated to bad governance, but only suffering from the past misadventure of a few of their opportunistic members which they have now sanctioned to forestall future re-occurrence and are now also poised to deliver good governance. •Ogbeide-Ihama (mustardaffairs@yahoo.com) wrote in from Benin-City.

Amaechi: Life after power (2) Mike Arayuwa Wilkie

n my first piece on this subject matter, I resolved to trace the ascendancy of Rotimi Amaechi to the Governorship position of Rivers State under the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) until his carpetcrossing to the All Progressives’ Congress (APC). I equally mentioned briefly his running battles with the Presidency, at which point, Amaechi threw all decency to the Atlantic Ocean and embarked on a mission of unprintable attacks on Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) ex-President of the Nigerian Sovereign State. The totality of it all pointed to the fact that his actions and inactions led to the defeat of the APC in Rivers State by the PDP in all the elections, from the Presidency to the Governorship including the State House of Assembly. That Amaechi refused to vote in the presidential election, also directing his APC faithful members not to vote was a direct action which tilted towards an undefined failure and a fatal bruising of the ego of the ex-Governor. As a Governor for eight years of four yearstenure each way, Director General of the APC’s Presidential Campaign Council and the Chief Campaigner of Dr. Dakuku Peterside, Amaechi’s anointed APC Governorship candidate, he ought not to have lost the elections to the PDP.

During the Swearing-In-Ceremony of the President-elect and the Governorselect of the 28 States where the gubernatorial elections took place, Amaechi was nowhere to be found in the State. Instead, he relocated to Abuja inorder to ensure that he did not handover to the Governor, Barrister Nyesom Wike. According to the incumbent Governor, the ceremonial vehicle of the Governor which was to be used for the ceremony suddenly disappeared from the State. Rivers State had to proceed to Ondo State to borrow one of such vehicles from the Governor. This was the height of Amaechi’s type of democratic traits and values. Governor Wike alleged that about 70 per cent of the State’s power assets were sold at $302,400,000.00 and that of this huge sum of money, $202 million was paid as part of the total sum. According to Nyesom Wike, the part payment was effected in December 2014 and as at April 2015; the money had vapourised from the State’s Bank Account. The Governor further revealed that the Accountant General and the Transition Committee’s report stated a zero sum of money in the States’ Bank Account where the monthly federation allocations were lodged. In reaction to this zero Account as being canvassed by Governor Wike, Amaechi claimed that seven billion was left for the incoming administration. I expect a follow-up reaction from Amaechi’s group in no distant date. Why then should this amount be left fallow in the State’s Bank

Account while at the same time, workers were yet to be paid their salaries for two months. Amaechi’s ought not to be worried about the position of the PDP led Government in Rivers State, afterall, other new Governors are also claiming that they are confronted with empty bank statements. Some other Governors are not bold enough to proclaim their empty treasures because of the factors of godfatherism and the fact that both the previous and the new Governors belong to the same Political Party. In my candid view virtually all the Federating States are completely broke and the more reason why majority of them cannot pay their workers salaries. As at May 26, 27 and 28, 2015, Governor Wike also alleged that the Amaechi led Government withdrew several millions of naira from the various Rivers States’ Bank Accounts. He cited an instance whereby some persons collected N10 million each from one of the Banks. Another Instance as alleged by the new Governor was the withdrawal of N200 million in cash also from the States’ Bank Account. Nyesom Wike equally said that the Bank did not honour the last cheque of N700 million which was to be withdrawn in cash. These senseless cash withdrawal from the State’s coffers cannot be swept aside without the investigation of the anti-graft security apparatus of State inorder to authenticate these allegations against Amaechi and his Government by the new Governor.

Hence, I am in full support of the Judicial Commission of inquiry already constituted by the Governor to find-out these financial circumstances. It is also necessary due to the fact that Amaechi did not handover to the present Governor coupled with the fact that the estwhile Governor did not even deem it necessary to constitute a Transition Committee which was expected to work with the Wike’s Committee. In the absence of this, it becomes much more difficult to know exactly the assets and liabilities of Rivers State. The only way out is to set-up a commission of inquiry as a fact-finding organ inorder for the Wike’s Government to have a clearer picture of what happened to the monies and properties of the State. In reaction to this, Amaechi has vowed to frustrate the work and functioning of the Commission through the judicial process of obtaining court orders. If the Amaechi were thorough, why then should he be scared of a mere Commission of Inquiry? Afterall, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as a sitting president honoured the invitation extended to him by the Oputa Panel. The ex-Governor should summon enough courage to appear before the commission as it is a unique opportunity for him to throw more light into what transpired during his regime. I see the commission, as being constituted, as a step in the right direction. • Wilkie can be reached at pmikky1950@yahoo.com (08023097251)

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

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President’s promise and renewed insurgency

ne of the arguments that facilitated the election of President Muhammadu Buhari as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was the promise that the long-running insurgency in the north-eastern axis of the country would be nipped in less than no time if he became the president. Buhari specifically claimed that if given the mandate, his government would, in a matter of weeks, reverse the rot that supposedly consolidated the country’s ability to contain the insurgency. But we must admit that since the inauguration of the new dispensation, there has been enough talk and more than enough insurgency resulting in the dislocation of so many citizens which calls to question the capacity of the government to deal with the increasingly formidable menace. Unless there has been a redefinition of insurgency, the fact is transparent that since the inauguration of this administration on May 29, this year, the incidence of insurgency has since transmogrified beyond what former President Goodluck Jonathan was supposedly rejected for. After five blasts in the traditional Boko Haram epicentres of Borno, Kebbi, Adamawa, Gombe and Bauchi without serious retaliation, govern-

ment has flown the kite of possible negotiations with the criminals without, first of all, breaking their resistance or wearing them sufficiently down, enough to precipitate their unconditional surrender which should have signaled a definitive end to the regime of insurgency. We remind President Muhammadu Buhari that one of the vehicles that brought him to power was the promise to end insurgency within the shortest possible time and the restoration of the supremacy of the rule of law in every part of the country. More than a month after his inauguration, insurgency has assumed a dimension far worse than what Nigerians were castigating the former administration for. More than 44 innocent persons were killed in Jos, Plateau State last week after suicide bombers swooped on a mosque, church and other business centres in the once idyllic city. Before then, suicide bombers walked into and successfully snuffed live out of at least six worshippers in a Redeemed Church in Potiskum in Yobe State. And as if this reign of superior terror was not enough to jolt those who promised improved security, a desperate teenage suicide bomber tried, unsuccessfully, to gain access but was frustrated from

her intended venue before she decided to detonate the bomb on herself and other innocent passers-by in in the burstling commercial city of Kano. The ruling, All Progressives Party, APC, and the president must be reminded that the promise of improved security for citizens formed a major plank on which their electoral victory was anchored. If the former administration was hounded out of office for failing to rout the Boko Haram insurgency, there is no excuse why those who masterminded that pillorying should be judged on a different set of standards than that with which they crucified their predecessors. Nigerians have not forgotten that the president thoroughly lampooned a situation where Nigeria relied on foreign mercenaries to settle a domestic problem. The greater irony, however, is that this succeeding administration has not demonstrated any appreciable capacity that it is beyond the same fumbling approach with which the Jonathan administration handled what has obviously become an entrenched security situation. By admitting readiness to dialogue with the insurgents if it becomes necessary, the signal President Buhari is sending is that if the situation demands it, his administration can swallow its own vomit. Since he was inaugurated, the country has created more widows and orphans

from insurgency than during the excoriated last dispensation. In addition to redeeming the required logistics support to member nations of the Multi National Force, other members of the Lake Chad Basin Development Commission should overhaul and fine-tune strategies to counter the insurgents which reportedly have the lavish backing of a wealthy Middle East country which is sworn to impose its religious preference on the continent. Nigerians are not just alarmed at the increased level of insurgency-based violence, they are aghast by the fact that there appears to be more talk and articulation of good intentions by government than concrete effort to force the insurgent criminals to recognise the sovereignty of the Federal Government. Talk, they say, is cheap and enough of hot air has been dissipated on insurgency by the government. The government must realize that Nigerians are exasperated by all these empty talk which have hardly been supported by action. The time to demonstrate the supremacy of constituted authority, citizens agree, is now. Not just hollow pontifications as we have witnessed since the advent of this administration but commensurate action by troops suggestive of the fact that they are actually on top of the gritty security situation.

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20 Politics | Interview

THURSDAY, JUly 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Saraki can’t be a victor over APC – Izuogu CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

everything. I am not saying that Oyegun is a perfect human being. There is no perfect human being. Oyegun should enjoy the victory that he has won. He, with all the members of APC, should enjoy that victory. Anybody who wants to remove Oyegun at this time does not mean well. Such a person does not wish the APC well because if you start removing the National

Chairman after we have won the victory, you don’t want the party to make progress. The party will move from one crisis to another, before we can handle it. Some believe that after the Buhari government is not moving fast one month after inauguration. Do you share this view? I think I understand their feelings especially coming from the point that President Buhari is an action man. He is not a man known to delay

certain things. So, I am actually surprised that ministers have not been appointed, I am sure that President Buhari must have good reasons for not appointing them so soon. A lot of people expected him to appoint ministers that same week he was sworn in as president; Ministers designate awaiting confirmation by the Senate. In fact, that is what many modern chief executives of countries do. Immediately they are elected, you see a line-up

of those who will take over so that they can start liaising with the incumbent of the past administration. So, I sincerely suggest to Mr. President that he should look at it again. Some people are even saying that he would not appoint until September and I think that will be very late. I know that if there are delays, the president must mean well but let him find ways of overcoming those delays so that ministers’ names can be announced and

Senate will start working on confirmation. That is my sincere opinion. Many believe that your name should be one of the names on the ministerial list but you had such offers in the past and you turned them down. Will you still do the same thing now? Yes, to be honest with you, I had three offers to be minister in the past but because of the research I am doing, which is very important, I didn’t want to

accept those appointments, but now I want to say that I am humbly available now. I have done the best I can in this research area. If it is the wish of God that I serve in any capacity in this government, I will be ready to do so. I am not one of them who go to advertise themselves for appointments. No, I wouldn’t do that. I have had sufficient experience in Nigeria politics. You talked earlier about the completion of your latest research. When will you avail Nigerians of what the research is all about? Well, we have kept the secret for many years and that is purposeful because we didn’t want it let out till now. But by the special grace of God, in a short while, it shall be out. Emagnetor dynamics is another way of saving energy. Man needs energy to survive. This is another way of producing energy for your work. It is another way of producing electricity. It can produce electricity for Nigerian use, for 24 hours of the day, seven days in a week, 30 days in a month, 12 months in a year nonstop for the next 60 years and it will cost you nothing because God has given the energy free. From Emagnetor dynamics, God has given man energy free, from magnate. This comes from magnate. ‘Imagnat’ dynamics is a way of arranging the magnates in such a way that they will produce their energy. The energy they produce cannot be finished because it comes from God. And that energy can be used in other areas. It can be used to drive cars, it can be used to fly plane, the train, and so on and so forth. That is what it means. When Nigeria is struggling with only oil revenue, there are other revenues that God has made available but we have not explored them. So, it is a help to the government of Buhari, that under his regime, there is another source of energy. This research is going to reach out to both the rich and the poor because the difference between the rich and the poor is that the rich has more energy. If energy is free, the poor man can get as much of it as the rich man. So, things will begin to ease out. There will be justice, equity and all the things that are good.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, juLY 9, 2015

Interview

News

Magaji: Why we need anti-rape law

N1.5bn fraud: EX-NIMASA DG knows fate October 21

Law Acceptability, independence and uprightness have been identified as some of the qualities which the retired chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega’s successor must possess. FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE, TUNDE OYESINA and AKEEM NAFIU report

lthough they held divergent views about the choice of a retired judge as Professor Attahiru Jega, the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) successor, lawyers yesterday insisted that whoever must occupy the exalted seat must be acceptable, impeccable, independent and a lover of democratic ethos, among other qualities. They said since the Bench was not spared of bad eggs, Jega’s successor must be open to Nigerians who satisfy the criteria laid down by the Electoral Act and the Constitution. Satisfying such criteria, they said would help solve the perennial electoral problems as identified by Jega with a view to ensuring sustainable democratic process. Their views came barely five days after the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) tackled the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over President Muhammadu Buhari’s endorsement of Mrs. Amina Zakari as Acting INEC

FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE JUDICIARY Editor

foluso.ogunmodede@ newtelegraphonline.com

Jega

Kalu

Disquiet over Jega’s successor Chairman. Particularly, PDP called for Zakari’s sack on the grounds that she was ‘unfit’ to be in acting capacity because ‘she has a strong relationship with President Buhari. Besides, the party said Zakari was endorsed because of ‘an alleged moves to use her tenure as head of the commission to tinker with electoral personnel and materials for the two states in favour of the APC. According to PDP, Zakari’s appointment was not that of competence or performance in office but that of ‘nepotism and her closeness to the President and some key APC leaders which calls into question the independence of the electoral body under her’. But lawyers said whoever must succeed Jega must be acceptable, independent, upright and above all, an impeccable lover of democratic ethos. To them, the headship of the electoral agency must transcend partisanship. Unanimously, however, they insisted that a proven professional

Whether the chairman is a political scientist or a judge, what matters is the integrity of the individual and the integrity of the electoral process

integrity in Jega’s shoe should be the yardstick for picking his successor and not an ‘anointed’ candidate. Besides, they canvassed Section 154 of the 1999 Constitution. For instance, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Abia Justice Commissioner and Attorney-General , Awa Kalu said: “If you remember, we had Ovie Whisky as chairman of the then National Electoral Commission and I can’t say that it makes a lot of difference in the culture of elections. “Also, along the way we had one or two other Justices who were chairmen. Election is a process guided by so many factors, not just to chairman, there must be a complete overhaul, not just governance, but as to how those who govern us emerge, the do or die aspect of it must the eliminated completely and then, those who lose and those who win will have to do a re-orientation in their mind. “I am indifferent whether the chairman is a political scientist

or a judge, what matters is the integrity of the individual and the integrity of the electoral process”. Kalu was echoed by another Senior Advocate, Ahmed Raji, who simply said Jega’s successor was not about qualification but the integrity of the he-would-be person. Raji said: “I think what the society should look for is someone with integrity and one who will be able to build on what Professor Jega has done in the last five years. “However, somebody with a judicial background will be better placed, it will be an added advantage, but that should not be sole factor, the integrity is the most important thing. “A legal background will only be an added advantage, no doubt about that”. Dr. Tunji Abayomi said: “There is no peculiarity of a retired judge that is so fundamentally beneficial to the chairman of INEC. Prof. Jega is not a retired judge and he performed creditably well. So, there is nothing special about a retired judge. “What I believe we need is somebody who understand electoral system, dynamic mentally, emotionally and strong enough to think out new ideas to improve the electoral process. I don’t think a retired judge is better CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

22 Law | Interview

THURSDAY, juLY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Magaji: Why we need anti-rape law Generally how has it been since you came on board as NLRC chairman? We have worked on the trademarks Act and the Merchandize Act, now what we did in this law was to try and harmonize the two resolutions because they seem to deal with the same subject, trademarks, trade services and some of those ones that deal with the business community. We have worked on Trustee Investment Act. The Trustee Investment Act deals essentially with trust properties, how trust properties are to be managed. Now by law you discover what the law provides is that when trust properties are being managed by trust managers, there are specific companies that these managers are supposed to invest in. We looked at the entire economy, at those things that will strengthen the economy and also taking into consideration the risk that is involved in investing. We came up with legislation and in that legislation even trustees should also be paid from the trust properties. Now we specify how these things are to be done so that anybody who is managing a trust property should now know that I have paid for it and I have to exercise due diligence in managing. We have also looked at the Companies and Allied Matters Act, (CAMA), the CAMA as it is, is a child of Nigeria Law Reforming Commission. We liaise also with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to find out the challenges they face in operating that, identify the areas, we reformed it and will now send it back to the Federal Government. We have also looked at the Act that deals with detention of persons, there is this legislation we have which says; anybody who is kept in custody for a period longer than the time he is supposed to serve if found guilty that he can be discharged. By law when someone is arrested and not tried and kept in prison, if you are convicted for an offense no court imposes the maximum sentence. For instance, if the maximum sentence for theft is seven years and you are convicted for theft, judges are enjoined not to impose the maximum sentence. They impose the maximum sentence only if the person is a habitual criminal and everything has been done to ensure he is reformed. Those are the very few circumstance judges can impose sentences. What does the law say on sentencing? The law says if you are arrested, not tried and kept in custody for a period longer than the time you are supposed to serve if you are convicted. The Chief Judge in exercise of his discretion as he goes round for prison decongestion can discharge. But we say that law is not good enough and we reformed it and that was on the premise of people languishing in prison for longer than necessary and these are also laws that we thought if they are put in place, will reduce prison congestion. Now we have come up with what we call sentencing guideline. Sentencing guideline is quite new in these country but it is practiced in the developed world and the law on sentencing guideline is simply that,

Kefas Magaji, a former Commissioner 1, now acting chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC), in this interview with Tunde Oyesina, speaks on the Commissions’ activities, judiciary, anti-rape laws and sundry issues. they are some defined parameters that are set out that once a judge convict somebody for committing an offense before they impose sentence, they look at these parameters. For instance, for theft, a magistrate may sentence to two years, another magistrate next door may convict another person for the same offense and sentence to five years imprisonment and yet another magistrate next door will sentence another person for the same offense for six month. Now the thing is that the law allows judges’ discretion after conviction, they are to use their discretion in sentencing. Now what sentencing guideline does is that judges will have to exercise their discretion within the frame work of the guideline. To what extent has these reformed laws implemented? That is our greatest challenge here and that is the area we are working to make sure we improve on. The law setting-up this commission provides that when law reform finishes the work, we submit it to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF). It is the AGF who will now submit it to the Federal Executive Council (FEC). It is the FEC who will now take it to the National Assembly as an executive bill. So, when law reforms is submitted to the AG it automatically goes to parliament, but in our system here the AGF is not a member of parliament so he has to go to FEC before it is passed on to the National Assembly by FEC. So, the chain here is quite long and that affects the smooth transmission of our report to the National Assembly

Magaji

if there is anybody that needs protection it is the nonpublic officers

who finally enacts it. Not too long ago, stakeholders sat on the matter and agreed that as much as we are an arm of the executive we should continue to submit our reports to the AGF who in turn forward it to the FEC. But then because we are been funded by public funds, the public are entitled to having our reports. It was agreed that as we submit our reports to the AGF we should also be submitting our reports to the NASS so that if the AGF cannot present the bill to them they can also look at what we have done, if they are satisfied with what we have done, they can proceed to enact it without necessarily waiting for the AGF to go to FEC before it gets to the National Assembly (NASS). Now that enabled us to come up with the proposal to amend our laws to allow us to be doing that. The NASS seem to have blessed that arrangement and recently the AGF also did a similar thing in the sense that they had a bill - the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) and realize that before that bill will go to the FEC and to the NASS it will take a long time principally because that bill has so many sections. Over 400 sections they thought if it goes to the FEC with 400 sections it will take FEC three to five sittings before they look at the entire bill and he thought the FEC does not have the luxury of time to give to one bill, so the AGF sent it direct to the NASS by way of private members bill. Today, it has been passed and ex-president Jonathan signed it before leaving office. Anti-rape law is generating ripples, what is the Commission doing in this regards? I mean, do we need it when it is already contained in the Penal Code? We need the anti-rape law even though we

have it in the Penal Code, and it has not stopped us from having that legislation as a separate legislation. Now if we look at the anti-corruption legislation we have today like the EFCC Act, those offenses in the EFCC Act are offenses under the Penal Code and the Criminal Code and if we look at the ICPC Act, the offenses in the ICPC Act are offenses in the Penal Code and the Criminal Code. What lawyers do particularly the prosecutors is that if you commit an offense they will charge you both under the Penal Code and the Criminal Code and under the EFCC Act so that the judge will look at the legislations. What does the law say on public officers’ protection when exposing corruption? There is a problem with that legislation. Indeed it is one of our projects for this year. First of all, what the legislation seeks to protect is public officers but when you look at the implementation and the judicial decisions on that law today, public institutions are also protected and what that law says is that a public officer cannot be prosecuted against after three months from the occurrence of the event which is the cause of action. There have been so many cases where people were injured they went to the hospital, they were on treatment for one year on recovering from the hospital he filled an action and the court said they are barred. Now if a non-public officer commits the act in question, the statue provides for six years to maintain an action to seek a redress for that thing but when a public officer commits the same act, the time to sue is limited to three months to protect the public officer. Certainly if there is anybody that needs protection it is the nonpublic officers that need protection rather than a public officer. The public officer exercise that function in trust for the people, so they should be accountable to the people but they now limit the period you can redress against him to just three months but when a non-public officer does the same thing we have six years to file an action to seek redress against him, some of us think that Act is not good enough. Indeed we are working on it we will soon go public so that we can seek the view of the public on it. Any role for the civil society organisations? First of all my appeal is to the civil society organisations, there is a need for them to intervene in terms of creating awareness about some of the activities of this commission. When we reform alone it is not for a particular person or group of persons, it is for the benefit of Nigerians and Nigeria. The process of law making is not a one man’s business; my appeal is that they should also be involved in the advocacy for the passage of some of these legislations. You see, the pride of every law reformer is to be able to see his product united. So, our pride is when we reform an Act or a legislation, that reform legislation should finally be enacted into law once we see that it gives us greater confidence to do much more.

Law

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, juLY 9, 2015

Raji

Abayomi

Ahamba

Lawyers: Jega’s successor must be upright C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 1

than any other person. “The person should be fit and proper in learning and in character. So, I do not share that view that a retired judge should be the chairman, there is nothing special about any retired judge”. Chief Mike Ahamba, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria believes whoever appointed as the next INEC boss should be consistent with the principles of the Electoral Act whether a retired judge or any other senior citizens. “I do not believe that only retired judge that can do it, there are some people who are not judges but have massive integrity for the job”, Ahamba said. Olu Daramola, SAN canvassed the review of the laws to accommodate retired judges. Daramola said: “If the immediate past chairman of INEC has initiated reforms and performed so creditably well while in office despite the fact that he is neither a sitting nor retired judge, hence successor needs not to be a judge. “I have not gone through the laws to see that it is only a judge that must occupy the position of the Chairman of INEC.

Akeem Nafiu

ne year after he was gruesomely murdered in his Lagos home, the police will on July 22 arraign the killer of an activist lawyer and community leader, Mr. Kunle Fadipe, Seun Oladapo. He will be arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of the Ikeja division of the Lagos High Court. Although Oladapo’s arraignment was billed for Monday, the matter was put in abeyance as he had no lawyer to rep-

“As far as I am concern, what Jega’s successor need most is courage, the courage to do the right thing. You see, conducting election ordinarily should not be a difficult thing. But, when the presiding officer does not have the courage, he or she is not honest and is looking up to benefit from those in government, then, the person can be influenced. The position of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is one that requires highest integrity. Jega’s successor must be somebody that is contented with what he has and must be ready to protect his name. “The problem however is that many people are interested in what they can get from the system. Majority of Nigerians believed that in a way, Jega has shown us that you can be in public office without tarnishing your image by the time you are leaving. We are all aware of what the man went through while in office; how he was even provoked while announcing the results of the Presidential Election. They were even saying he was being used by the opposition. When he conducted the 2011 Presidential Elections, the PDP did not say he was being used. But when in 2015 and they saw the handwriting that the election will be lost, they went into all manner of tactics

even to the extent of blackmailing Jega. “The introduction of card readers by Jega was seen by them as a ploy to rig the elections. All these are happening because in Nigeria, we see elections as a do or die. Whereas, somebody must win and somebody must lose. We want democracy in Nigeria but we don’t want to internalise the values. The democracy values is that you cannot win at all cost and people must be allowed to decide who will govern them. “In this part of the world, we emphasise the incumbency factor too much to the extent that we don’t expect somebody in government to lose an election. This, most of the time give the incumbent an impression that he or she cannot lose an election. In a democracy, there is nothing called the incumbency factor. The only incumbent in any election are the people who can change their minds at any time”. Norrison Ibinabo Quakers, SAN said “the law is very clear as to the qualifications of who is to head the commission. It is not limited to a High Court judge, a Professor or any individual. It is actually the prerogative of the President to appoint anyone to fill the position when it is vacant. However, the President in making the appointment must fulfill certain criteria. There is no

hard and fast rule about appointing a retired judge as INEC Chairman. In the past, judges have been appointed. We have also had professors at the helm of affairs at INEC. For instance, the man whose tenure just expired is not a retired judge but a Professor and Vice-Chancellor who has now gone back to school. We had Maurice Iwu, who was also there at some point. Some years ago, we have an Ovie Wisky, a retired judge. So, it’s not cast in stone or automatic that INEC Chairman must be a judge. “The issue is that if an INEC Chairman must be appointed, one of the greatest thing to be considered is the integrity and uprightness of the individual concern. The law is very clear as to who can be appointed as INEC Chairman. The individual to take charge of INEC must be apolitical and of high integrity. He or she must have a minimum qualification to run for the position of a member of the House of Representatives. If we look at Item 14(2) of the 1999 Constitution in the third schedule, it says, the Chairman of the INEC shall be somebody of unquestionable integrity and should not be less than 40 years of age. So, the law is very clear. We need to look at the person who has just left the saddle. Look at the way and manner he conducted himself and handled the office.”

Police to arraign Fadipe’s killer July 22 resent him. At Monday’s proceedings, Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs Idowu Alakija, informed the court of the prosecution’s readiness to go on with the matter. She, however, noted that the defendant was not represented in court by any lawyer. At this point, Justice Ipaye enquired from the accused of the whereabouts of his counsel.

In his response, Oladapo said, “I will call my family as I didn’t know that they will bring me to court today (yesterday).” Justice Ipaye later directed the DPP to send his case file to the Office of Public Defendant (OPD) and notify them of the adjournment date. She also ordered that the accused should make arrangement for a lawyer to represent him. The judge said, “because of the nature of

the charge against you (defendant), court cannot wait till eternity. You should make arrangement for a lawyer but if you cannot afford, you can get one from the Office of Public Defender. “In order to give him sufficient time to get lawyer, take the covering letter to the Office of Public Defender.”, Justice Ipaye also added. Justice Ipaye while adjourning to July 22 for arraignment, ordered the

DPP to officially write the OPD and furnish them with the proof of evidence. Fadipe was stabbed to death on July 3, 2014 by an intruder at his mansion in Harmony Estate in Ifako Ijaiye area of Lagos. It was reported that at about 11:30 p.m. when the estate was plunged into darkness following power outage, the lawyer sent his son to switch on the electricity generat-

ing set. As the boy came out from the house, the assailant who was armed with a knife seized the boy and ordered him to take him to his father. As soon as the man got to Fadipe, he stabbed him in the neck and back before his daughter ran out of their apartment to call for help. One of the security guards in the estate rushed in and as the knifeman was trying to snatch the guard’s gun, another guard came in and shot the man in the leg.

Law | News

Akeem Nafiu

urther hearing in the trial of a former DirectorGeneral of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Raymond Omatseye, has been adjourned to October 21 by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of a Federal High Court in Lagos. O m a t s e ye was dragged before the court on an amended 27-count charge bordering on contract splitting and bid rigging to the tune of N1.5 billion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The matter was however adjourned to October 21following a request by the EFCC’s lawyer,

THURSDAY, juLY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

N1.5bn fraud: EX-NIMASA DG knows fate October 21 Godwin Obla (SAN) for another date to continue with his cross-examination of the accused person. Obla who had earlier been scheduled to crossexamine the accused, was absent at the court during the proceedings. Omatseye had alleged that he was being ‘persecuted’ because he refused to do the will of the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN). Omatseye while opening his defence told Jus-

tice Ajumogobia that he believed his trial stemmed from his refusal to do the bidding of the former AGF. He was led in evidence by his lawyer, E.D. Onyeke. In his evidence-inchief, Omatseye alleged that his trial came shortly after he declined a request by Adoke to discontinue a case between NIMASA and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas. Earlier on, the judge had granted Omatseye’s request to allow him to go into background story.

The accused had insisted that the court could only appreciate his case if he was allowed to do so. Omatseye said: “In December 2010, I was approached by a gentleman, who at that time was the Executive Director of the Cabotage Service of NIMASA, in the name of Ibrahim Zailani. Mr. Zailani told me that he had been in a meeting with the Attorney-General of the Federation, and that the AGF had directed him to tell me to withdraw a case between NIMASA

and NLNG. I told him I was unable to withdraw the case because it was a Board decision. “Exactly on November 14, 2010 between 12 and1p.m, while in my office, I received a call from a gentleman called Tunde Ayeni. He said ‘hello, hold on for your caller’ and then handed the phone over to a man who said he was Mohammed Adoke. “The man said, ‘I sent Zailani to you to withdraw the NLNG case and you have refused.’ He said, ‘Mr. President has

Mr. George Etomi, NPOM, FNIALS who gave the dinner speech and former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, at the NBA Lagos Branch Law Week Dinner & Award Night at City Hall, Lagos where Fashola was the sole recipient of the award.

Ghanaian bags 17 years for illicit drug dealings Akeem Nafiu

ustice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced a Ghanaian, Patrick Mensah, to 17 years imprisonment for importing 27.6kg of Cannabis Sativa (narcotics similar to cocaine) into Nigeria. Mensah, on his arraignment by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), had pleaded guilty to a one count charge of dealing in narcotics. The offence, according to the NDLEA’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, is contrary to Section 11(c) of the NDLEA Acts. In his allocutus before the judge handed down his judgement, the accused person’s lawyer, G.U. Okaka, urged the court to temper justice with mercy. He noted that the accused by admitting to the offence had saved the time of the court. “The accused person has been

in detention for the past one year. He is a first time offender, he has gone through a lot of trauma and has lost touch with his family in Ghana since his incarceration”, he said. Sentencing the accused, Justice Abang declared that for Mensah to import 27.6kg of Cannabis Sativa to Nigeria, was an indication that he never meant well for the nation and her citizens. “Mensah’s action can ruin the lives of Nigeria teeming youths. He has no respect for the corporate existence of Nigeria”, the judge said. Justice Abang thereafter sentenced the accused to 17 years imprisonment. The sentence, according to the judge, shall begin to run from June 29, 2015. Justice Abang also directed that the drug exhibits should be returned to the NDLEA for destruction.

called me twice on this matter to instruct you to withdraw this case.’ I responded to him, ‘My AG sir, either you please send me a memo to that effect or please send a message through my minister to direct me accordingly; I am not in a position to unilaterally withdraw the case.’ He said, ‘I am the chief law officer of the Federal Republic,’ and I replied, ‘Sir, please help me to do as I have requested’. “He asked if I was aware that there was a directive from his office that no government institution could sue another government institution without his permission, and I told him that the NLNG is majority-owned by foreigners and therefore cannot be considered as a government parastatal or agency. “At that point he said to me, ‘I have given an instruction and you have refused to obey, this would be your Waterloo”. Omatseye disclosed that 10 days after the phone conversation with Adoke, three operatives of the EFCC came to pick him up for interrogation. He further narrated how he was taken to the anti-graft agency’s office in Ikoyi in company of the Director of Procurement and the Director of Finance at NIMASA. He added that while he was on his way to the EFCC office, he called the Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, to inform him of what was going on. “The question he (Suleiman) asked me first was ‘do you have any issue with the AGF’?” Omatseye told the court.

PDP tackles APC at tribunal over Lagos-West senatorial election Fireworks

PDP and APC on each other’s jugular at tribunal over LagosWest Senatorial election Akeem Nafiu

he election petition tribunal sitting in Lagos has commenced hearing a petition initiated by a Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate in the April 28 LagosWest Senatorial election, Segun Adewale challenging the election of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) candidate, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola. The tribunal com-

menced hearing at the weekend when it heard the testimonies of the PDP’s candidate. Led in evidence by his lawyer, Dr. Yemi Oke, Adewale insisted that he won the election, urging the court to declare him the winner. His testimony was however cut short as counsel to Adeola, APC and INEC objected to his lawyer’s attempt to tender additional statement before the tribunal. Opposing the admissibility of the statement, APC’s lawyer, Muiz Banire insisted that the witness statement was a clever attempt by the petitioner to amend the petition. He argued that the additional witness statement was inconsistent with Sec-

tion 117 of the Evidence Act as it failed to disclose the trade or profession, residence and nationality of the deponent. Banire urged the court to expunge the witness statement from the records saying it should have been filed along with the petition as stipulated by the Evidence Act. Counsel to Adeola and INEC also aligned themselves with Banire’s submissions. However, in his response to the objection, Adewale’s lawyer, Dr Oke, argued that the Section of the Evidence Act cited in opposition to the admission of his client’s additional statement was inapplicable as he did not intend to amend his petition.

Law | File

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, juLY 9, 2015

Femi Aborisade

nder the law, can civil servants (or more appropriately, public sector employees and staff, simply covered by the concept of (‘public officers’) expose corruption in public office without fearing victimization or persecution? The simple and direct answer to this question is “YES”. Any public officer can expose corruption in any public office, including institutions, schools, colleges, ministries, establishments, enterprises, departments, agencies, and so on, owned or financed by any arm of government, without the fear of being victimized. Even if an anti-corruption public officer had been made to suffer any form of punitive measure, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) could, if approached, not only set aside any punishment the anti-corruption public officer might have suffered, the whistle blower could also be entitled to monetary damages for the deprivation, harassment and/or humiliations/he might have been made to go through. This is the essence of the unprecedented, striking landmark anti-corruption decision by the National Industrial Court (NIC) in a Judgment delivered on 1 July 2015 by Hon. Justice B. B. Kanyip, PhD, of the Lagos Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court. The Judgment was delivered in the suit between Olu Ibirogba and The Council, ‘The Federal Polytechnic Yaba’ otherwise known as ‘Yaba College of Technology, Yaba Lagos (Suit No. NICN/LA/582/2013). From the text of the Judgment, the facts of the case, in brief, were as follows. The claimant was Olu Ibirogba, the Bursar of the Yaba College of Technology. He had cause to question certain transactions of the College which bordered on mismanagement of funds by the Rector. Sometime in 2013, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invited Ibirogba to make statements with respect to petitions, which the EFCC received from some member of the public on allegations of corruption and abuse of office by the Rector of the College. The Federal Ministry of Education set up a panel which actually indicted the Rector. The College equally set up a “Committee on Investigation on Alleged Corruption at Yaba College of Technology” to investigate the alleged corruption at the College. Ibirogba, was invited for questioning by the Committee. The Committee concluded, on the basis of some alleged telephone call logs, that Ibirogba was the person who made information about corrupt practices in the college known to the owner of the telephone number who was said to be the author of the petition to the EFCC. The College authorities queried Ibirogba, accusing him of gross misconduct, despite the denial by Ibirogba of not having contacts with the author of the petition to the EFCC. The College initially suspended Ibirogba for 3 months and placed him on half salary for the duration of the suspension. He was later suspended indefinitely. Ibirogba instituted the suit to challenge his suspension, on the grounds that he was not responsible for leaking information to those who sent petitions to the

Civil servant’s protection sine qua nor for anti-corruption war EFCC and that, alternatively, assuming without conceding that he gave information to those who petitioned the EFCC against the Rector, he was protected against any liability or punishment under the Constitution, the EFCC Act and the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, among other judicial authorities. For example, section 15 sub (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, provides that “the State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.” Specifically, section 27 sub (2) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, prescribes that: “27(2) Nothing contained in the Criminal Code or Official Secret Act shall prejudicially affect any public officer who, without authorization, discloses to any person, an information which he reasonably believes t to show – A violation of any law, rule or regulations; Mis-management, gross waste of funds, fraud, and abuse of authority…” Against the claims of Ibirogba, Yaba College of Technology (the Defendant), among other judicial authorities cited, contended that under the Federal Polytechnics Act, it has statutory powers to suspend any of its staff who is being investigated to pave way for unimpeded investigation of the affected officer, as part of its power and right to discipline its staff. The National Industrial Court, per the said Judgment, held that while the employer has the right to suspend, the power of suspension must be exercised reasonably, from the point of view of public interest. Based on an erudite review of authorities, domestic and foreign, the NIC held that the suspension of Ibirogba was unreasonable, from the standpoint of public interest. Among other holdings, the National Industrial Court, held that: “Resolving the issue involves a balancing act on the part of the Court of the competing values of the right of an employer to suspend and the societal value of not discouraging the fight against corruption….” In the fight against corruption, law must not be seen to be an impediment. If a staff is queried and suspended for being a whistleblower, it will be retrogressive for any technical provision of the law to be used to go against such a whistleblower as the defendant has done in this case.” The Court then declared that: “… by virtue of the provisions of section 15(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), section 38(2)(b) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 and section 27(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, it is contrary to public policy for the defendant or any of its agents to punish the claimant by way of suspension from duty or otherwise subject him to any disciplinary measure for making known to third parties information about corrupt practices and mismanagement of the funds of the Federal Polytechnic, Yaba oth-

Aborisade

In the fight against corruption, law must not be seen to be an impediment

erwise known as Yaba College of technology.” The suspension of Ibirogba from the office of Bursar was thus declared unlawful, null and void. The Court reinstated Ibirogba and declared that he is “entitled to return to his work as if he was never suspended with his right to salary, allowances and perquisites of office intact”. The College was subsequently ordered to pay, within 30 days of the Judgment, backlog of the full salary and allowances of Ibirogba from October 2013, the cost of the action estimated at N50, 000 (fifty thousand Naira) as well as N250, 000 (two hundred and fifty thousand Naira) general damages - for unfair labour practice, suspension being mala fide, vindictive, a clear case of victimization and unlawful. In the expected fight against corruption, which perhaps was the principal reason for the overwhelming electoral victory of President Buhari, the NIC, by the Hon. Justice Kanyip’s Judgment in Ibirogba v. Yaba College of

Technology, has declared it would be a reliable ally, at least from the point of view of encouraging and protecting the rights of whistle blowers. However, there is a need for legislative reform such that, among other things, the damages which a public institution has to pay to whistle blowers like Ibirogba should be borne personally, collectively and/or individually, by those who constitute the Management and/or Governing Council and who knowingly participated, aided, condoned or allowed the looting, dissipation, mismanagement and/or waste of public funds, rather than the monetary penalties being taken from public treasury. The burning question is: would the ‘change’ governments of the APC under the leadership of the anti-corruption President Buhari (at the Federal Government level) establish the necessary conditions, including initiating required legislative reforms to partner with the courts, particularly the NIC, in the fight against corruption in public office?

26 Law | News

THURSDAY, juLY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ondo begins anti-HIV stigma law implementation, seeks protection for patients Okeowo Babatope

O Mimiko

ndo state Government has reiterated its commitment to the implementation of its HIV Anti-stigma law which prescribed a 10 year jail term, fine of N500, 000 or both for any person who by whatever means transmits HIV to another person.

Giving details of the law which was signed last year, the Secretary to the State Government who doubles as chairman Ondo State Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr. Aderotimi Adelola, stated that the stigmatization and discrimination discouraged individuals infected with and affected by HIV from accessing health and social

services. The law, he said stipulates that anybody who discriminates against people living with HIV commits an offence and is liable to fine of N100,000.00 or imprisonment of six months or both. Speaking in Akure while delivering a keynote address at a sensitization programme to facilitate

and ensure the enforcement of a law for the prevention of the spread of HIV and AIDS, elimination of discrimination and stigmatization of people living with HIV and â&#x20AC;&#x153;other matters incidental thereto or connected therewithâ&#x20AC;?, Adelola said most times the rights of people living with HIV were being violated, causing them to suffer both the burden of the disease and the consequential loss of other rights. Adelola stated that stigmatization and discrimination of people living with the virus may obstruct their access to treatment and may affect their employment, housing and other rights which he said adversely affect the vulnerability of others to be infected. Also speaking on the law, the state Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade said Ondo remains the first state in the federation to have a law addressing many aspects of HIV response to law and will help promote public awareness about causes, modes of transmission, consequences, means of prevention and control of HIV transmission, through a comprehensive education and information campaign. According to him, the law was also expected to extend to every person infected with HIV, protection of his human rights and civil liberties, positively address and seek to eradicate conditions that aggravate the spread of HIV infection, including but not limited to poverty, marginalization, prostitution, marginalization, drug abuse and ignorance; while it will promote utmost safety and universal precautions in practice and procedures that carry the risk of HIV transmission. However, a call had been made to health professionals, employers and other custodian of medical records to strictly observe the confidentiality in the handling of all medical information, particularly the identity and status of people living with HIV even as infected persons had been urged to declare their status to their spouses or sexual partners , children and parents. Also, it was registered that it had become an offence in Ondo Sate to have any form of discrimination against a person infected with the virus in the case of employment, medical treatment, hiring, assignment, promotion, demotion, transfer, retirement, among others, maintaining that no educational institution in the state shall refuse admission, expel, discipline, segregate, deny any pupil or prospective student right to any of his rights following perceived HIV status.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

27 Healthy Living

Intravenous drug use, risk factor to the lungs

Health

Health Interview

‘Our gains in Ebola war fading away’

Nature Power

Aloe Vera: The wonder plant

hen key operators of industry alert the nation that local pharmaceutical manufacturing is at risk in Nigerian, it portends danger for both the sector and the populace. This is what happened last week when pharmaceutical industry giants blew the whistle to prevent crash of drug productions especially the extinction of locally produced essential medicines. To prevent this industry from collapse, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) has called on the Federal Government to urgently review the adopted Common External Tariff (CET), a policy which it says will have far-reaching implications on the industry and the country as a whole. Chairman of the PMG-MAN, Mr. Okey Akpa said implementing the Common External Tarrif “will deny Nigerians access to essential medicines.” Also, the group has called for a review of the New National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG), saying if the NDDG is implemented in its current form, the government will have automatically handed over the pharmaceutical industry to cartels and syndicates as it will increase the cost of essential medicines in the country by inefficient extension of the distribution chain. Going by present plan, the NDDG which was initiated by the Federal Government in 2012 to reform and regulate drug distribution in the country was commended by the stakeholders to sanitise the system. It involves the distribution of medicines through planned Mega Drug Distribution Centres (MDDC) and was expected to take off finally on July 1, after the implementation date had been shifted several times. Even presently the July 1 has suffered the same fate. To address the problems of the CET, the PMG-MAN therefore, recommended that an Import Adjustment Tax of 20 per cent on imported finished pharmaceutical products should be imposed immediately as applied to other

Appolonia Adeyemi Health Editor

appolonia.adeyemi@newtelegraphonline.com

Essential medicines

PHOTO: stopstockouts.org

‘Local drug production at risk’ Without the review of two key policies, Common External Tariff and the New National Drug Distribution Guidelines (NDDG), pharmaceutical manufacturers worry that both will have farreaching implications on their industry and the country, writes APPOLONIA ADEYEMI

Akpa

sectors where Nigeria has capacity as allowed by CET. “In addition, under the National List within the CET, input into pharmaceutical manufacturing (raw materials, excipients and packaging) should be allowed to be imported at zero per cent by bonafide pharmaceutical manufacturers. “We need to keep Nigerian factories running and not the factories running overseas. Failure to review this policy holds dire consequences for the pharmaceutical industry and the nation at large”, Akpa stated. The CET was adopted as a policy in the West African region at the Heads of StateS Summit in October 2013, in Dakar, Senegal. This policy places zero tariff on finished imported medicine while essential raw and packaging materials required by the industry for local medicine production at-

Ayebae

Implementing the Common External Tariff will deny Nigerians access to essential medicines

tracts five percent to 20 per cent. According to Akpa, implementing this policy reverses the gains made towards the nation’s selfsufficiency in essential medicine and opens all doors for total importation of finished medicine. “It is regrettable that the damaging consequences of the policy on the local pharmaceutical manufacturing sector were not considered despite our desperate attempts to draw attention to this. “This policy undoubtedly, spells doom for the local industry as imported medicines will become far cheaper than locally produced ones. This situation is inimical to the survival of the local pharmaceutical manufacturing sector and there is a need for urgent review.” Giving background to the current situation, Akpa said the laudable achievement of having four World Health Organisation(WHO)

Akintayo

certified manufacturing facilities was earned through the initiative of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and investment efforts of individual companies including May&Baker, Evans Medical, CHI Pharmaceutical and Swipha. “Presently, 10 other pharmaceutical companies are getting set for the same WHO pre-qualification and they have invested heavily towards this. The industry has invested an estimated N100 billion in various facility upgrades over the last five years. The investment has not brought about the desired benefits largely due to neglect by successive governments and lack of patronage.” He said if implemented as it is, the CET will have far-reaching implications on the industry and CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

Health News

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Healthy Living

Growing concern about Aspartame

Ihuoma Uko-Ndukwe ada.ndukwe@yahoo.com

Intravenous drug use, risk factor to the lungs

P Artificial sweetener

Ndubuisi Ugah

esearch findings overtime have shown that there is a major concern about the use of artificial sweeteners in foods and drinks, which are produced in commercial quantities for human consumption. This concern, which had raised concern among beverage and ‘soft drink’ producers, had revealed that manufacturers of such products take delight in using a particular substance called Aspartame. Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners are primarily promoted to diabetics and those concerned about their weight. Research findings have also shown that Aspartame is an artificial sweetener frequently used in carbonated drinks that is used mostly for ‘soft’ and alcoholic drinks. Although it is allowed to be used in more than 100 countries worldwide, it was also found in hundreds of products ranging from chewing gum to toothpaste, table-top sweeteners, diet sodas, candies, salad dressings, and thousands of other products. Notwitstanding all this, artificial sweeteners have been believed to have crept into a wide variety of products not directly targeting diabetics and dieters. Artificial sweeteners are added to about 6,000 different beverages, snacks and food products, making label-reading a necessity. A lot of these foods and drinks are available in Nigeria for all to consume, but with what effect one may ask. The Nigerian consumers, incidentally, are not exempted from the consumption of some of these drinks. Suffice to note that some of the manufacturers lay claim to the use of these artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame as a means for reducing the intake of sugar. While the intent may be applauded, could consumers of these products be getting sweetened with a possible bitter pill in Aspartame? Recently, renowned manufacturers such as Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola had been under close watch over the use of some of these artificial sweeteners. In Nigeria, however, the food and beverage producers have also had their own fair share on claims and concerns over the use of these artificial sweeteners. In fact, a recently launched bitters drink claimed to have used this substance in its production. In actual sense, Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that is made up of two naturally occurring amino acids, which yield four calories per gramme, which means that technically it is a caloric sweetener. But because it is nearly 200 times sweeter than sugar, a mere 190 milligrams (190 milligrams to one calorie) of aspartame has the same sweetening power as almost 40 grams (160 calories) of sugar.

PHOTO: www.foodinsight.org

Perhaps, research also shows that aspartame worsens insulin sensitivity to a greater degree than sugar, while it has also been discovered that it promotes weight gain, in more ways than one. Present in some soft and alcoholic drinks available in Nigeria bars, the use of artificial sweetener-Aspartame- has long been contemplated and studied by various researchers; with concerns being raised perceived negative effects when consumed by humans. Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly studied food ingredients in the world. Composed of phenylalanine (50 per cent), aspartic acid (40 per cent) and methanol (10 per cent), Aspartame is one of the most common artificial sweeteners in use today. Sold under various brand names, Aspartame is used in many foods and beverages. Researchers and Regulatory Perspectives have also shown that about 200 times sweeter than sugar, researchers have claimed Aspartame is responsible for headache, memory loss, mood changes, insomnia and depression. Over 75 percent of adverse reactions to food additives reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States of America (USA) concern Aspartame. Researchers from the University of North Dakota tested the safe limits of aspartame over a short period of time and found that at just one half of the FDA’s safe acceptable daily intake, aspartame caused serious neurobehavioral changes including cognitive impairment, irritable moods, and depression. According to the report, “Participants were given three meals and two snacks for eight days. The food contained either high amounts of aspartame (25 mg/kg body weight/day) or lower amounts of aspartame (10 mg/kg body weight/day). The researchers found that spatial orientation skills were significantly worse for participants after their high-aspartame diet than after their low aspartame period. Two participants also actually had clinically significant spatial orientation impairment after consuming high-aspartame diets. “In the North Dakota study, no students showed signs of depression after eating the low-aspartame diet. But the students became significantly more depressed after they consumed the highaspartame diet. And after consuming the high-aspartame diet, three participants showed signs of mild to moderate clinical depression.” The Journal of Biology and Medicine in 2010 reported a study that delved into the neurobiology of sugar cravings and summarises the epidemiological and experimental evidence concerning the effect of artificial sweeteners on weight.

ulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of the lung’s main artery or one of its branches by a substance that has traveled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream. The cause is usually a blood clot in the leg that breaks loose and travels through the bloodstream to the lung. PE is a serious condition that can cause permanent damage to the affected lung, result in low oxygen levels in the blood, and could damage to other organs throughinadequate oxygen supply in the blood. If clot is large or many, it can lead to death. Half of the people that have PE have no symptoms, and the ones that do, have symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath and coughing up. Some early symptoms can be warmth, swelling pain and redness on the leg. PE can also be defined as the obstruction or closure of one of the arteries of the lung caused by an infarct or death of that blood vessel. PE resulting to death increases with age. In most cases, it is misdiagnosed. Clots can form in any blood vessel of the body but has been found mostly in the bilateral lower legs. One of three causes of blood clots in the legs include hypercoagulability--when things like pregnancy, medication and fluctuation in the thickness of the blood causes the blood to thicken or form balls/clots. Sometimes, when it very small it is less fatal if it stays positioned in the lower legs but if and when it dislodges, it is usually carried upstream by the blood to either the lungs or heart but in most cases, the lungs, blocking the flow of blood to those areas. Similarly, PE causes death/ damage of the lung. Another form of clots arises from the use of intravenous drug use, like cocaine and heroin that are pushed through the vein, puncturing the blood vessel. Risk factors: Apart from increased age, prolonged immobility (like sitting in a car for long), car travels for more than eight hours, sitting in long flights (over three hours flight), taking bed rest for more than three days, undergoing surgery (especially hip replacement, knee and spinal cord injury), trauma---long leg fracture, cancer, pregnancy

Clot in the blood vessel

PHOTO: www.alnoum.com

and taking some medications like estrogen pills. Other risk factors include use of oral contraceptive pills, congestive heart failure, suffering cancer, being a sickle cell carrier, obesity, and having varicose veins. Another major cause is plaster cast immobilisation. Symptoms: Chest pain, severe cough and coughing up blood, shortness of breath, anxiety, feeling of impending doom, sweating, and feeling like fainting, when assessed having signs like low oxygen level, fast breathing, fast heat rate, fever, swollen lower legs and painful varicose veins. Treatment can be difficult if not properly diagnosed. The best treatment is admission to the hospital where medications that make the blood thinner is initiated and those that help to stop further movement of the clots, to avoid further damage. When stable, an affected person will need to be on blood thinners for between three to six times at the first occurrence and if it happens again, the fellow has to be on blood thinners for life. Cat scan of the chest is one of the ways of having a definite diagnoses, and ventilation. Perfusion scan a type of nuclear medicine procedure, used to assist in the examination of the tissue under study, is also used to rule out, immediate administration of oxygen therapy.

If clot is large or many, it can lead to death

Health Interview 29

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

‘Our gains in Ebola war fading away’ Dr. Sampson Parker was the immediate past Commissioner of Health in Rivers State. He was pivotal to the control and spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease in the state when cases were recorded. In this interview with YEKEEN NURUDEEN, he laments that necessary structures that should be on ground to forestall a re-occurrence of the virus are not in place How would you review the state of health care in Nigeria? We thank God for our country, Nigeria, after all the panic of late 2014 and 2015. Don’t forget the panic of Ebola, It was probably more than the panic of political violence thereafter. If you put the two of them together, I wonder which one was an epidemic, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) or the political violence. The state of health care in Nigeria appeared to be wonderful at the beginning of my eight years service as Commissioner of Health, but we can’t say that much at the end because “health is like food. If you don’t give your wife money to go to the market, there will be no food on the table.” With the dwindling economic resources in the country, health care dwindles as well. We should be thinking about how we can prevent such recurrence if we bounce back from this economic doldrums and revive healthcare the way it should be. How do we prevent it? How do we get sustainable health care in Nigeria? That should be what we all, including the media should be thinking about. Talking about primary health care (PHC), in Rivers State, you would remember that we went head on; we didn’t just wake up to say we wanted to do PHC because we wanted to go to every local government area to build PHC. No. We wanted to deliver first-level health care to our people. That is why if you go to communities in the state, the PHCs stand out as the most beautiful edifices you see. Today, in summary, what do we get? We tried to reduce infant and maternal mortality. We tried to reduce mortality from malaria. And, the one that was most popular, with the help of the services and the PHC system that was on ground, we were able to quickly contain Ebola.

the disease pattern in the country. I expect him to appoint a person that will understand sustainability of health care. How health care can be sustained. Health centres in the past years before I left were crippled because of strikes, the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) strike and health workers strike. If we put the whole thing together as I have said, patronage should be guaranteed. They should not be waiting for federal allocation before they pay salary and do other government work.

Would you say all that was successful as planned? Suddenly, somehow, I will accept that we were not able to sustain it. Towards the end, we were all running helter-skelter. It was difficult. Why? It is because health care is for the people; health care is not for the government. People should manage their health care by themselves. That means that the people should form their health care services by themselves. That is the lesson we learnt from there. What do you mean by that? In Rivers state, we learnt to bring up what we called the Rivers State Health Protection Programme. Some people call it Health Maintenance Programme which starts from health education, health care delivery, providing resources, human and material resources. Again, the sustenance and affordability of the health financing, which is what we call the health insurance scheme is equally inclusive. My own lesson from there is that in this country, we must find a way of making health insurance mandatory, if we want to stop complaining and take control of our health care delivery. We tried to pool resources in Rivers State. Nobody told us that in 2013 and 2014 our internally generated revenue and allocation from government would drop by almost 50 percent. How would you appraise secondary and tertiary health systems in Nigeria? If you look at them critically, that is what we call the five percent disease burden. Those are the people that may have to travel abroad for care. The amount of money that those five percent are taking from our resources is more than what we apply to our 95

Would you say Nigeria is sustaining the gains from Ebola virus disease? All the gains of Ebola are dying away.

Parker

We must find a way of making health insurance mandatory

percent of healthcare in the country. We’ve heard the talk over and over that over N1 billion is flown abroad for health care for one reason or the other. Government doesn’t have any business dabbling into such a thing. Allow the private sector to handle that. And, the private sector will only come in and handle that when they have patronage guaranteed. Patronage guaranteed can come in from health insurance; because there will be pool of money from which all of them will be scrambling. Then, we will stop all the brain drain and capital flight. Instead, we will have brain gain. Those are some of the things we learnt from our eight years in government. What kind of personality would you want President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint to head the nation’s health sector, given its present diverse problems? I expect that he would get somebody that will understand primary health care; that will understand

How sir? Yes, we called people together; they went to Liberia and helped to stop Ebola there. We are now relaxing a bit in the West-Africa sub-region. Like in Rivers State now, what are the structures there?. We should be thinking of establishing a molecular biology centre. We should be thinking about building an institution that will be testing and doing surveillance on Ebola. Do we know that this virus could come back in a different form. It is a virus; it can mutate and come back. Our structures are not well-funded. When there another health issue comes up today, they will rush. When Ebola came, Lassa fever was there. Until Ebola came before we started putting things together including training our people. Before then, nobody was trained. That was why the panic was palpable. Where are the structures in other states? Today, each time we talk about Lagos and Rivers States. W hat if Ebola is imported into Kano State? What do they have there? What do they have in Anambra State? What do they have in Oyo and Ekiti States as part of preparedness?

PMG-MAN alerts essential medicines may go extinct CO NTINUED FRO M PAG E 27

the country such as unemployment, idle capacity and loss of investment, increase in fake and sub-standard products and skills stagnation. Others are considerable depletion of scarce foreign exchange due to continued dependence on imports and no contribution to GDP growth. He said that the industry currently employs directly and indirectly over one million persons. “A significant number of these stand the risk of losing their jobs if the local manufacturing sector is unable to sustain this current physical situation following the adoption of the CET. The lack of demand for locally manufactured medicines as a result of cheap imports will lead to idle capacities and negatively impact previous investment in the sector worth over N300 billion naira. A

weak local manufacturing sector will inevitably lead to an influx of cheap imported medicines of doubtful quality.” Contributing, former President and Chief Executive Officer, Niemeth Pharmaceuticals Plc and former Chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, warned that implementation of CET as it is now will work against government’s present policy of industrialisation. He said it does not make sense to say people should be not pay tariff on finished imported products and ask local producers to pay tariff on raw materials. Explaining the position of the group on NDDG, Akpa said PMG MAN is actually in support that drug distribution in Nigeria should sanitised and restructured but “we are saying in doing this, certain things must inform our decision: ac-

cess to medicines, affordability of medicines, elimination of fake and counterfeit medicines and sustainability of whatever we can put in place. “We are saying if we put these four parameters in place, we should look at the guidelines the way it is presently being planned and there should be a review. That review should address all the problems that could lead to high cost of drugs and non-availability of certain drugs. “If we have a player who decides which product you want to buy or which product you should not buy, Nigerians are not going to have options. For instance if there is an NDDC which refuses to stock my products because the operator thinks he is not going to get enough money from it, Nigerian are going to be denied the opportunity to getting what

I alone may be the only one providing, which they prefer. These are some of the dangers we see.” In implementing the MDDCs, the chairman of PMG-MAN called for the investment of a pilot system which will be allowed to evolve. “You don’t just wake up and jettison a system that is 100 years old without having anything to replace it.” If we allow a system to evolve the superior system will overrun the inferior system, he reasoned. Akpa urged the Federal Government to support the creation and building of drug distribution centres where NAFDAC, the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and others will be involved in regulation. “This will solve the problem of drug distribution,

he said, adding, “Give us those regulated centres and allow us access to sell our products. We are open to dialogue.” On his part, Ohubunwa who said that the coming in of the Mega Drug Distribution Centres should not hinder wholesalers from having access to PMGMAN members and retailers. On his part, Chairman and Managing Director, Fidson Health care Plc, Dr. Fidelis Ayebae, advised that Nigeria should follow the current global trend of diversification and inclusiveness rather than reversing to monopoly which will give rise to cartels and syndicates. He therefore condemned a situation where the MDDC will hijack the entire distribution network. When contacted, the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Olumide Akintayo said his group is reaching out to other stakeholders to fashion out an appropriate response.

Health News

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Nigeria slides into worse open defecation trend – Report

UNICEF, Airtel partner on community empowerment

Esther Albert

he Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of the World Health Organisation (WHO)/ UNICEEF has shown that Federal Government has not met the national target it set to ensure that 75 percent of its population has access to safe water by 2015. This is contained in a statement WaterAid issued last week at the launch of the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) which revealed that the country is facing worsening sanitaiton and open defecation trends. The country has generally done better in the area of water provision and has met the MDG target for water,the report stated. Although a lot has changed in the 25 years since the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme began to document the world’s access to drinking water and sanitation, the picture for Nigeria however has for the most part remained quite grim with the report showing worsening trends, with decreasing access to sanitation and increasing open defecation in the country. The regular update is the last report on progress and access to drinking water and sanitation ahead of the expiration of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) later this year.

L-R: Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya and UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Jean Gough signing the memorandum of understanding MoU on community empowerment

FG set to curb drug trafficking Obinna Odoh Abuja

he Federal government has launched the National Drug Control Master Plan to combat drug trafficking, abuse and other drug related issues. This Master plan will run for four years which started from January 2015 and will elapse by 2019. Presenting the documents last weekend during the commemoration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which is marked every June 26, the Director General, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mrs. Roli Bode-George said that the document has four

pillars namely, Law Enforcement Response to Illicit Drugs, Access and Control of Illicit Drugs, Drug Demand Reduction and Coordination Mechanisms. Mrs Bode-George revealed that the implementation of the master plan started since January this year. The document is set to deal with all the complicated issues bothering on drug abuse and trafficking, she added. She further affirmed that the document is all inclusive as it covers all issues bothering in the states, local government areas (LGAs) and also the wards. In a related development, the Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration

Control (NAFDAC) Dr. Paul Orhii acknowledged the efforts of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drug Control of which NAFDAC is a member for a painstaking efforts during town hall meetings in the six geopolitical zones which made the Drug Control Master Plan a reality. Dr. Orhii who was represented by Mrs. Yatunde Oni, the director, Administration, NAFDAC, affirmed the commitment of the Agency to implement the major pillars of the NDCMP-” Access and Control of Licit Drugs” and pleaded for the cooperation of the partner agencies toward the proactive implementation of the other pillars of the master plan.

NICEF and Airtel, a leading telecommunications services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, have entered a partnership agreement to expand their collaboration across all 36 states and FCT in Nigeria. The partnership will increase access to social change related information and provide opportunities for participation whilst pushing forward UReport, an innovative project supported by UNICEF. The agreement allows UNICEF to tap into Airtel’s mobile services to make health, education, child protection and community-focused content available to Air-

tel customers across the country. Through improved connectivity, more Nigerians will have free access to mobile applications and services developed by UNICEF, such as U-Report. U-Report, an innovative SMS-based platform, empowers Nigerians to participate and engage in policy-making and governance and to access real time information on key social issues. The platform, which was launched officially in Nigeria on April 29, 2015, has over 400,000 registered users, making Nigeria the leading U-Report platform globally, among 16 other countries that are running the same application.

75,000 schoolkids benefit from Nestle’s active lifestyle programme

ver 75,000 schoolage children in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Senegal have benefitted from a workshop to promote healthy eating and active lifestyles. This is contained in a statement from Nestle that was made available to the NT HEALTH. Nestlé Central and West Africa (CWAR) held the workshop with the partners of its Healthy Kids programme on July 3, to help children achieve

and maintain a healthy body weight into adulthood as well as discuss how to strengthen and scale up the initiative in the region. “At Nestlé, we are convinced that for a company to be able to operate over the long term, it needs to create value for the communities where it operates”, said Kais Marzouki, Market Head of Nestlé CWAR in his Welcome Address. “This is particularly true in our region where Nestlé cannot thrive without a healthy population.

Aloe Vera: The wonder plant A

loe is the name given to a variety of perennials of the Liliaceae/Aloeaceae family. There are over 325 species in this genus. Aloe ferox,Aloe perryi, Aloe barteri, called West African Aloe, and Aloe Barbadensis, also called Aloe Vera, are the better known species. Aloe Vera has been in much use from time immemorial. Wall paintings of Ancient Egypt showed that Aloe Vera was used by the Egyptians to treat catarrh. Among the Jewish people, Aloe Vera was used as an ingredient for embalment. The body of Jesus was wrapped with linen soaked in myrrh and Aloes: Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. (Jn. 19: 39-40). Aloe Vera, a native of south-

Nature Power Anselm Adodo

naturepower@paxherbals.net; twitter: @anselmadodo ern and northern Africa, came to Greece in the 4th Century BC, to China in the 10th Century AD and finally to Europe in the 11th Century AD. Even though there are many species, they all have similar constituents, namely: Antraquinone, Glycosides, Aloin, Resin, etc. Aloe Vera is the most common species of Aloes found in Nigeria today. This species grows well in flowerpots. It needs a balanced measure of sunshine and water to survive. It does not grow very tall, (one to four feet), is light green in colour with white spot. It is good to remember that there are many species of Aloes. One should therefore not be surprised to see Aloes of different

shapes, colour or texture. The West African Aloe (Aloe barteri) has very broad, succulent leaves and bright red flowers, which can grow as high as seven feet. Since Aloe Vera grows so quickly, it should be planted in every compound. I have seen this plant growing in flowerpots in many compounds as an ornament. In some compounds, the plant is abandoned and starved of water. Surely, Aloe Vera deserves more honour and loving care. Below are some of the medicinal values of Aloe Vera, the miracle plant. CANCER A lot of research has been and is being done on the effectiveness of Aloe Vera for curing cancer,

Aloe Vera plant

Since Aloe Vera grows so quickly, it should be planted in every compound

PHOTO: homeremediesforlife.com

especially cancer of the breast. I challenge our scientists to do more analysis of this wonder plant. Rather than spending useful energies in condemning and suppressing new ideas about health, let our medical health practitioners focus their attention on more intense research of medicinal plants, which can save the life of our people. CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Industry

ICT

BoI disburses N75.8m to solar system providers

Telecoms: Maintaining growth momentum amid challenges

Business What's news

Vessels jostle for space to discharge N14.404bn petroleum products No fewer than 19 vessels are jostling for berthing space at the Lagos port jetties with 129,915 metric tons of petroleum products valued at N14.404 billion ($62,359,200).

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Social Housing bill to receive Presidential assent Sponsors of Social Housing Bill are billed to present the document to President Muhammadu Buhari to enable him assent to it and send as an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, New Telegraph has learnt.

L-R: Head, Consumer Electronics, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Parikshit Chandna; Managing Director, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Brovo Kim; Director, Consumer Electronics, Mr. Sunil Kumar and Business Development Manager, Visual Display, Mr. Bojoong Kim, at the launch of the Sensational Samsung SUHD TV in Lagos.

IRONY The CDMA and fixed line operators continue to face dwindling fortune

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Kunle Azeez

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

igeria’s largest telecoms company, MTN, alongside three other major operators in the country, Glo, Airtel and Etisalat, has further pushed telephone penetration in the country to 104.69 per cent, New Telegraph has gathered. The penetration also known as teledensity stood at 100.59 per cent in January this year and has moved gradually to reach 102.8 per cent at the end of the first quarter in March and 102.91 per cent in April. This is contained in the latest subscriber data obtained from the country’s telecoms industry

regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The NCC data also showed that the number of active telephone lines on all mobile networks in the country increased from 145.4 million in April to 146.5 million at the end of May. Though, the 146.5 million represents the national aggregate active subscriber base on all the GSM networks, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and fixed wired/wireless networks, the ‘Big Four’ of MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etsalat, were solely responsible for the latest thrust in teledensity. According to the statistics, Nigeria telecoms market achieved 139.1 million active

INFLATION RATE May 2015.................................9% April 2015................................8.7% March 2015.............................8.5%

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

MTN, others push teledensity to 104% telephone subscriptions by the end of December, 2014, with a teledensity of 99.39 per cent. The growth in mobile subscription in Africa’s largest telecoms market has further increased to 140.8 million in January this year, 142.5 million in February and 143.9 million and 145.4 million active mobile subscriptions, according to the NCC report. According to the report, teledensity jumped from 99.39

145 million Being the number of active phone lines in Nigeria

per cent in December last year to 100.56 per cent in January this year. By February, March and end of April, the figure increased to 101.85 per cent; 102.81 per cent and 103.91 per cent respectively. In terms of market share by technologies, analysis of the data showed that of the 145.4 million mobile, GSM operators, including MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat hold 143 million, the CDMA, a market segment led by Visafone, controls 2.2 million lines while fixed line operators recorded 184,790 active lines. The NCC data also provided CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

Rates Dashboard EXCHANGE RATE (BDC as at July 3)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N231 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N350 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N246

l Foreign Reserves – $29.157bn as at 2/07/2015

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Interbank as at July 3)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N200.00 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N307.65 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N223.50

Business | News

IMPORTS Merchant tanker to flood Lagos jetties with petroleum products Bayo Akomolafe

o fewer than 19 vessels are jostling for berthing space at the Lagos port jetties with 129,915 metric tons of petroleum products valued at N14.404 billion ($62,359,200). A metric ton is equivalent of 7.5 barrels with a global price of $480. Some of the products would be discharged this week at the Atlas Cove Jetty, New Oil Jetty Petroleum Wharf Apapa, Nido Gas Bouy, Single Bouy Mooring, Standard Flour Mill, Bulk Oil Plant, Fishery Wharf, Apapa Turning Basin and Marina Bouy. Six of the ships are laden with 99,369 metric tons of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) worth N11.02 million ($47,697,120). Jostling for space to off load the PMS are MT Two Million Way with 5,200 metric tons; MT Njord Thyra, 27,169 metric tons; MT Sea Horizon, 3,500 metric tons; MT Mare Caribean, 3,500 metric tons; MT Formosa Falcon, 30,000 metric tons and MT Sti Wembly, 30,000 metric tons. Also, two vessels, MT Puli and MT Eship Dugon have arrived the

Vessels jostle for space to discharge N14.404bn petroleum products New Oil Jetty of the Nigerian Ports Authority with 9,650 metric tons and 5,200 metric tons of base oil respectively while 9,402 buthane gas ferried by two vessels- MT Kilburn (6,003 metric tons) and MT Winosor (3,489 metric tons) are

the latest total connected telephone lines in the country, aside the active lines. According to the data, the number of connected telephone lines in the country is now put at 196.9 million at the end of April, of which 145.4 million are active lines. The total industryconnected telephone lines rose from 192.1 million in January this year, but fell by close to 1.5 million to 190.5 million in February and by end of first quarter ending March, the figure rose again to 194.5 million. In April, it stood at 196.9 million. Nigeria’s telecoms subscriber base has grown significantly since 2001, when the country liberalised the telecoms market, paving the way for different players to come into the sector. From around 500,000 connected mobile phones 14 years ago, the sector has grown in leaps and

awaiting berth at the Lister jetty. Other vessels are MT Samira with 5,000 metric tons diesel, MT Sea Voyager, 5,000 metric tons of Dual Purpose Kerosine (DPK) and MT Elux Lucis , 16,494.378 metric tons of Jet A1.

In April, this year, the jetties in Lagos took delivery of 282, 900 metric tons of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) valued at N44,559,579,000, ($209,784,495). At the Single Bouy Mooring (SBM), MT Eagle berthed with 30,000

metric tons while MT Pretty Jewelry berthed with 39,700 metric tons; MT Crystal Bay berthed with 38, 500metric tons; MT LIstra, 37, 700 metric tons; MT Sea Horizon, 35,000 metric tons and MT Anja Kirk, 38, 500 metric tons

Also, at Atlas Cove Jetty (ACJ) is MT Atlantic Leo, laden with 30,000 metric tons. MT Lion arrived with 16, 300 metric tons at New Oil Jetty (NOJ) while MT Leon Poseidon, was moored to discharge 16,000 metric tons of Jet A1 at NOJ.

L-R: Group Managing Director, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi; Chairman, Dr. Dele Makanjuola and Group Executive Director, Corporate Services, Mr. Olatunji Anjorin, at the Chairman’s merit award in Lagos

MTN, others push teledensity to 104% CO NTINUED FROM PAG E 3 1

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

bounds, reaching over 145 million active lines, according to the NCC data. Meanwhile, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, has promised to ensure that the Commission continuously keeps telecoms networks on their toes towards providing improved quality of services to their growing subscribers. “We shall do this by ensuring close monitoring and compliance of telecoms operators to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on Quality of Service (QoS) set for them by the regulator. To meet the KPIs, however, President of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, has called on the NCC to work with stakeholders at all levels of government to ensure that operating challenges being faced by the networks are removed.

Social Housing Bill to receive Presidential assent OPTIMISM Hope rises for poor urban dwellers

Dayo Ayeyemi

ponsors of Social Housing Bill are billed to present the document to President Muhammadu Buhari to enable him assent to it and send as an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, New Telegraph has learnt. The bill, which was expected to be part of the last minutes bills passed into law by the 7th National Assembly, was left out due to reasons known only to the senators. Speaking exclusively to our corresppndent, Chairman, Ministerial Committee on the Presidential 10,000 Homes Initiative, Mr. Ezekiel Nya Etok, an architect, said that the Social Housing Bill 2014 had passed the first

and second readings before the expiration of the last government, but that the legislators refused to passed it along the 46 bills passed into law under 10 minutes in the last dispensation. He said the bill would now be represented to the National Assembly by President Buhari as an Executive Bill to be part of his achievements in his 500 days in office. He said that the issues of funding and implementing agency were major obstacles to the passage of the bill before now, adding that these matters had been resolved. He said: “We have decided to make the bill available to Mr. President for it to go as an Executive Bill as part of his achievement in 500 days.” The Social Housing Bill is an act to establish the Social Housing Scheme to fund the construction, maintenance and distribution of houses built mainly with locally sourced materials, by the Federal Housing

Authority. The scheme is expected to provide for funds, which will be warehoused by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria for the construction of various housing units nationwide in a decent and suitable environment to Nigerians. The bill will also allow the Federal Ministry of Housing to construct houses with locally sourced materials. Nya Etok said the funding issue had been resolved, noting that beneficiaries would have to put down the money they can afford, while grants are also expected from agencies, nongovernmental organisation to produce social housing. He also stated that tax up to 20 percent on luxury goods would be channeled on social houses provision. He explained that provision of housing to every Nigerian is entrenched in the constitution, adding that the government has the responsibility to ensure that every citizen is housed.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Benue inaugurates Seraph oil mill p.34 BOOST United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) contributes $1.6 billion Stories by Dele Alao

he Bank of Industry (BoI) has disbursed the sum of N75.8 million to GVE Projects Limited and Arnergy Solar Limited, to provide solar home systems to off-grid communities in six states. The states for the pilot phase

Industry

BoI disburses N75.8m to solar system providers for the take-off are Anambra, Delta, Niger, Osun, Kaduna and Gombe. Managing Director, BoI, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, while presenting cheques to the recipients in Lagos recently, said that the project was being implemented by the bank in collaboration with the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP). Olaoluwa said that UNDP, which has 50 per cent stake in the project, had contributed $1.6 billion. He said that the project was divided into the stand alone, which costs N31.6 million, and the micro-grid, which costs N44.2 million, making a total of N75.8 million. “There are two major sys-

tems, the stand alone, which is for singular homes attached to their roofs, while the microgrid would be used as a cluster for different homes in the community. The choice whether to use the micro-grid or stand alone would depend on the type of settlement in the chosen communities, which has not less than 200 houses.The

Ajaokuta Steel mill

Chinese group to invest $54m in Kwara

fforts by Kwara State Government to attract international investments to the state have continue to yield positive result as a group of Chinese Investors expressed their commitment towards investing about $54 million in its industrial sector in the next couple of years. The leader of the team, Mr. Shi Zengchao, said that about $15 million would be invested in the next one year in order to ensure commencement of operations as early as possible. Zengcha who noted that the group found Kwara State investment friendly due to the prevalence of peace, as well as the investment drive of the state government, added that when the efforts of the group finally take off, more Chi-

nese investors will set up factories and other investments in all the sectors of the state’s economy. Responding, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said that the policies of his administration were premised on human capital development and industrial growth in a peaceful environment across the State. Ahmed said that the state’s International Vocational Centre in AjasseIpo, in Irepodun Local Government Area of the state, was designed to train machinists who would fit perfectly into the developing industrial sector of the state. The governor said: “We have a large army of employable youths, school leavers that require very little training and they will fit into the industry you are investing in. Your

proposed investment is very attractive. There are a lot of idle hands that can be employed. Indeed, if you want 50,000 people, we can get you 50,000 people to work.” Governor Ahmed highlighted some of the factors that make Kwara State investment friendly. They include the all year round good weather, the railway lines that transverse the state linking the northern and southern parts of the state as well as the International Airport and Cargo terminal in Ilorin, the state capital. “This is a very important environment for you to truly invest, but most importantly, it is a peaceful environment and our people are very receptive as they welcome visitors,” he assured the Chinese investors.

solar system, when installed, can power four LED lamps, television, radio and other appliances, with an average daily cost of N50,” he said. The BoI boss added that the project would involve the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure and Local Meter Manufacturers. He stated that the project would be operated on a Pay As You Go basis without any threat to existing electricity distribution companies. “After the pilot phase has been proven successful, we have a long term goal to provide 100,000 homes with the solar power systems within the next five years,” he said. He added that the project would provide a long-term solution to the problem of power generation, which is currently less than 4,000 megawatts. Olaoluwa said that the programme was a more viable solution to rural-urban migration and poverty alleviation. A recipient of the loan, Mr. Ifeanyi Orajaka of GVE Project, assured stakeholders that the quality of the project would be of international standard. Orajaka said that a model of such project had been done by his company in a community in Rivers State in 2013.

Group lauds FG for removing embargo on textile products

he Ndigbo Cultural Society of Nigeria has commended the Federal Government for lifting the ban on the importation of textile and furniture products into the country. Led by its President, Chief Udoka Udeogaranya, the group said in Lagos that the decision to unban the importation of the products was sound and underscored the fact that Nigeria could no longer play local politics with issues bordering on the economy. The Federal Government, through the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko, announced at the official launch of the implementation of Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Common External Tariff (CET) recently that Nigerians could now import textile materials into the country if right duties are paid. Udeogaranya said: “Unionists crying foul over this sound policy should try to accept reality and put the nation first before their narrow interest by understanding that for a thriving manufacturing sector to

exist, Nigeria will have to provide the necessary infrastructures like constant electricity supply, good transportation networks, solid financing and near perfect security system. “It is not in doubt that the informal sector of the country, raising from Okirika or Bend down trader at Yaba railway line to a 50-container importer in Onitsha Main Market, are responsible for well over 98 per cent of internal economic activities of Nigeria and import taxes, aside from our oil export, meaning that our manufacturing sector is dead.” He tasked the Federal Government to continue to make policies that would enhance the living, for the dead needs resurrection or burial. It would be recalled that the National Union of Textiles, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) rejected the lifting of import ban on textile products by government.

Business | Industry

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Benue inaugurates Seraph oil mill INVESTMENT Factory positioned to add value to the state’s industrialisation drive Stories by Dele Alao

overnor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has inaugurated Seraph Oil Mill, Makurdi and called on farmers in the state to intensify soya beans cultivation to feed the mill and others.

Ortom urged investors to take a cue from the initiative in order to boost the economy of the state. He expressed joy that the factory had been positioned to play a major role in the realisation of his administration’s dream, saying that through processing, the factory could add value to the primary products and boost economic fortunes of farmers and generate massive employment, wealth and opportunities in the state. The governor called on farmers in the state to step up the production of soya beans in large

quantity to continually supply it to the mill and similar ones. According to him, the company was one of those that had so far demonstrated faith and willingness that Benue State remainsd the food basket of the nation, promising that his administration would create the enabling environment for the private sector to drive the economy of the state. He noted that through the development, internally generated revenue would be improved so as to enable the state government to constantly pay salaries and meet other obli-

gations. Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Mr. Roberts Orya, expressed the hope that the inauguration of the factory would inspire additional investments in value-added agro processing to take advantage of the abundant raw materials. He said that this would address the problem of post harvest losses and enhance employment opportunities in line with the vision of the present government. Orya commended the management and promoters of SERAPH Nigeria Limited for

their commitment to industrialisation and assured of NEXIM Bank’s readiness to support initiatives that could facilitate non-oil export diversification towards economic growth of the state. Earlier, Managing Director of SERAPH Nigeria Limited, Air Commodore Titus Agbecha (rtd), stated that the factory is into manufacturing of animal feeds and vegetable oil. He said that the factory would need more raw materials, fertilizer and access roads to the factory to enable it perform optimally.

NIPC to review IPPA he Nigerian Investment of the Federal Ministry T Promotion Commission of Industry, Trade and In(NIPC), has inaugurated vestment and officials from an Inter-Ministerial Committee to review Nigeria’s Model draft Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) and the NIPC Act No 16 of 1995. This, according to the Executive Secretary, NIPC, Mrs. Uju Hassan Baba, was the Commission’s determined effort to make Nigeria compete favourably with other nations of the world. The NIPC boss also noted that the review, which was an initiative of the NIPC, was intended to update the legal framework of the Commission and enable both documents effectively address the sustainable development dimensions of the country’s quest for foreign direct investment. The Inter-Ministerial Committee comprises officers of the International and Comparative Law Department as well as the Legal Drafting Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice, an officer from the Investment Department

the Commission. While inaugurating the Committee, Baba stated that one of the key strategies being adopted to face the challenges in investment promotion is the sharpening of specific promotional tool such as the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements, which deals primarily with the admission, treatment and protection of foreign investment. “They usually cover investments by enterprises or individuals of one country in the territory of its treaty partner and ultimately boost the confidence of potential investors,” the NIPC boss stated. She stressed the need for a review of the country’s IPPA and Investment law through the development of a model standard draft in line with current global investment and economic trends that will enable direct and aggressive strategies for investment projects.

Envoy sees Nigeria, Indonesia play greater roles in global economy

he Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Harry Purwanto, has said that Nigeria and Indonesia can be among the leaders of world economy if their human and natural resources were harnessed. The ambassador expressed the view on a visit to the management of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Purwanto said that judging by the climatic and demographic wealth of the two countries, they had the potential to improve on their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to play greater roles in the global economy. “My mission is to promote communication between Nigeria and Indonesia to boost trade and investment in the countries and to push for peopleto-people relationship.

“There are about 16 million Indonesians who are the middle class and the same thing can happen in Nigeria. “We can harness our natural and human resources to boost our economies,’’ he said. Responding, the Managing Director, NAN, Ima Niboro, called for further strengthening of bilateral ties between the two countries. Niboro, who was represented by the Acting Managing Director of the agency, Isaac Ighure, said that Indonesia had recorded successes through its democratic space, independence and plural media. “To the best of my knowledge, Nigeria and Indonesia have not had any misunderstanding in our bilateral or diplomatic relationship.”

L-R: Chairman/CEO, James Cubbit Group, Alan Davies; former Managing Director/CEO, Guinnness Nigeria Plc, Seni Adetu and Director, UK Trade & Investment, Chris MaskelI, at the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce in Lagos.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Chamber to FG: Promote non-oil exports T he International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Nigeria, has called on the Federal Government to create policies and incentives that will promote non-oil exports by Nigerian firms. Chairman, ICC Nigeria, Mr. Babatunde Savage, made the call at the 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the ICCN held at the Metropolitan Club in Lagos. Savage noted that although the current structure of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP) showed that the country had achieved significant diversification in terms of local production and consumption, there was need for Nigeria to be competitive in the area of non-oil export of goods and services by the private sector. Savage cited the case of South Africa, whose export revenue is driven largely by private sector firms such as MTN, DSTV and South African Breweries, among others. He noted that the challenge for the Nigerian economy is for government to create policies and incentives that would

allow our private sector to become exporters. If our export revenue was earned by thousands of Nigerian companies exporting their services, we would not collapse anytime the price of oil falls. “We urge the Federal Government and other relevant institutions to continue to take a closer look at implementing more laudable programmes to revive the economy. We also need to start refining our oil domestically and exporting it. We should be one of the biggest exporters of refined petroleum products in the world. “There are significant opportunities in Nigeria. If you look at the structure of Nigeria’s GDP, you will see that huge opportunities abound in Nigeria. “In terms of the structure of domestic production, we have done a good job of diversification, but the problem is that in terms of the structure of export and government revenue, we have not done enough,” Savage said. Savage, who noted that the emergence of global economy riding on digital age has

made the world smaller and inter-connected within seconds, said: “As globalisation continues, businesses will be presented with opportunities and challenges and the need to transform and change with the trends becomes vital for survival. Suffice it to say that a singular action in one part of the world could display multiple and ripple effects on others.” “As an International Chamber, we want to enjoy the benefits of being the largest economy on the continent and the 26th largest in the world. We are interested in how our economic environment will not only be more conducive, but also guarantee a sustainable business growth for the benefit of all stakeholders. If, indeed, we want to lead the way in Africa by applying international standards and, where necessary, pioneer standards relevant to our environment and the entire continent, charity, as they say, must begin from home. This explains our major concern on the operating business environment,” he added.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

ICT

Chams tasks FG on data centralisation p.36

2015 HALF YEAR REVIEW

Telecoms: Maintaining growth momentum amid challenges Despite the various challenges bedeviling the telecoms sector, the industry continued to maintain an impressive growth momentum in the first six months of the year, reports KUNLE AZEEZ

(InfraCos) proposed to be licensed by the Commission is one of the major steps being taken to bridge broadband infrastructure gap in the country. With MainOne and IHS already licensed to handle infrastructure deployment in the South-West and North East respectively and adequate incentives so as to encourage increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs) into the country, the Commission is expected to license the remaining five InfraCos in the course of the year.

igeria’s telecoms sector is unequivocally one of the fastest growing in the world with 30 per cent year-on-year growth. The successes recorded by the sector up until December 2014 continued this year. From broadband penetration, enactment of cyber protection law, growth in subscriber base and teledensity, the sector has continued its growth momentum amidst challenges ranging from the perennial right of way (RoW) issue, multiple taxations and vandalism of telecom infrastructures being faced by the operators. Subscriber base/teledensity As at the end of December, 2014, active telecom subscribers stood at 139.1 million with teledensity standing at 99.3 per cent at the same period. It is, therefore, impressive to note that this has further increased significantly in the first six months of this year. According to the latest industry statistics by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), from 139.1 million in December, active mobile subscriptions and teledensity have increased to 146.5 million and 104.69 per cent respectively. Though, the increase has been contributed only by the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) companies such as MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat, while the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and fixed line operators’ fortune continue to wane. Cybercrime Act One of the milestones witnessed in the telecoms sector in the first half of the year was the message Nigeria sent to the international community that it has provided a strong legal protection for the users of the country’s cyber space. Described as a parting gift to Nigeria by the immediate past

Juwah

administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian Cybercrime Bill, which had been pending in the National Assembly for some years, was passed into law and, accordingly, signed by the president. The bill, which went through the rigorous process at the National Assembly before it was passed into an law, lists offences and penalties that are punishable under the Act. According to experts, with the enactment of this law, any crime or injury on critical national information infrastructure, especially telecoms facilities, sales of pre-registered Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, unlawful access to computer systems and cyber-terrorism are, henceforth, punishable under the Act. Other such punishable offences include unlawful operation of cybercafes, system interference, intercepting electronic messages, emails, e-money transfer and other computer-related forgeries. Theft of electronic devices, electronic signature, child pornography and related offences, racism and xenophobic offences are punishable under the Act. Consequently, it is believed that enforcement of the Act would serve as a deterrent to cyber criminals and stem the tide of criminal activities committed online, which had resulted in

Ajayi

loss of lives and properties.

The operators had some hitches on their networks in the first quarter

Broadband As at last year, broadband penetration in the country stood at around eight per cent, but this year, the figure has further moved up to 10 per cent. Having achieved the 10 per cent mark in the first two quarters, the country has thus begun a journey towards achieving the remaining 20 per cent broadband penetration points. The National Broadband Plan 2013-2018, which was approved in 2013, has the auspicious target of achieving ubiquitous broadband penetration of 30 per cent by 2018. In 2013, the penetration stood at six per cent. Meanwhile, KPMG, the consultants to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has asserted that Nigeria will require about $10 billion over a period of five years to build a robust next-generation broadband network in the country. Meanwhile, speaking at this year’s Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisations (CTO), the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, also used the avenue to woo investors to the country’s nascent broadband development. InfraCos The licensing of two of the seven infrastructure companies

Spectrum licensing delay Spectrum such as the 2.6 gigahertz spectrum bands and the 5.4 gigahertz, which the industry players have been waiting for to leverage for deploying services, continue to elude the industry as the NCC has not been able to license the spectrum partly as a result of some administrative constraints. According to industry experts, the delay in the auctioning of the spectrum is capable of drawing back the country’s ability to accelerate its broadband penetration, even as they hoped that the second half of the year would see the spectrum and the remaining InfraCos licences being issued to the operators. Quality of service While the regulator has put in place some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on Quality of Service (QoS) for the operators to comply with and they have been sanctioned for non-compliance several times from 2013 through 2014, the first half of the year did not see the operators being sanctioned despite the seeming intermittent quality of service being provided on their networks. “The operators had some hitches on their networks in the first quarter and we hope that in the second half of the year, the regulator would keep the operators firmly on their toes so that they can provide services that make subscribers get value for their hard-earned money,” said a consumer rights activist, Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo. Conclusion According to the President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi, much of the activities required are still within the realm of regulatory activities while operators also need to do their bit to ensure that the industry performs much better than what was recorded in the first half of the year.

Business | ICT

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Chams tasks FG on data centralisation SETBACK

FG needs to implement policy that encourages unification of all disparate biometrics data Stories by Kunle Azeez

he Federal Government has been urged to facilitate measures towards centralising the country’s disparate and disjointed data residing with

various private and public institutions in the country. Managing Director, Chams Plc, Mr. Olufemi Williams, made the call during the Lagos launch of ConfirmMe, a unified platform that aggregates data from certified institutional sources from which accredited public and private institutions and businesses can verify data. Williams lamented that Africa’s largest economy has been a victim of decentralised data platform, which, he said, continue to expose the country to dangers capable of stalling advanced economy and better

TD seals distribution deal with Yezz Mobile D Mobile, West Africa’s sector. With Nigeria being one T Information and Commu- of the most significant marnication Technology (ICT) de- kets in Africa as well as globvices distributor, has sealed a partnership deal with Yezz Mobile to sell the latter’s cutting-edge mobile devices in Nigeria. Yezz Mobile, a United Statesbased company born five years ago said that it has experienced tremendous success in the Latin American markets over the last few years. According to the Managing Director for Yezz Mobile for Europe, Middle-East and Africa, Mr. Robert Schiano, said that the success recorded by the company has led it to expand its distribution footprint into Europe and also Africa, a key growth focus region for the company. “The African market offers considerable growth prospects,” Schiano said, stressing that studies have shown that the number of smartphones sold by 2017 will double to 350 million units. “With Yezz brand, we have the ambition, portfolio and capabilities to be a major player in Africa in the mobile phone

ally, we are highly motivated to showcase the Yezz brand offering to the discerning Nigerian consumer,” he said. He said in a bid to make remarkable impact in bridging digital divide in Nigeria, Yezz selected TD Mobile as the preferred and exclusive distributor of Yezz in the Nigerian market. TD Mobile, a subsidiary of Technology Distributions, has been an exemplary track record in terms of software, hardware, accessories and peripherals and enjoys prime status as one of the biggest distributors of mobile devices across the West African region. “We believe that the partnership between TD Mobile and Yezz is well placed for success. TD Mobile will make the product range available for sale exclusively online via Konga.com for the launch period, as well as through key partnership with Yudala and Key Opcos into selected open channel retail outlets throughout Nigeria,” he said.

Phillips equips Lagos healthcare centre s part of its sixth ‘Cape per week. A Town to Cairo’ roadshow, The healthcare centre rePhillips, an Information Tech- cords an average of 20 births nology and healthcare solutions provider, has collaborated with the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State to transform the local council’s Orilyanrin Primary Healthcare centre. In particular, Phillips engaged in the extensive overhaul and refurbishment of the mother and child care facilities at the health centre. Phillips has upgraded the facilities in the labour, paediatric and new born baby wards, designing them to support the well-being and recovery of expectant mothers and their new born babies. The healthcare centre has a very high patient in-flow with an average of 300-4000 outpatients per month, as well as 30-40 follow-up appointments

per month. The labour, peadiatric and new-born units of the healthcare centre, prior to the refurbishment, were in need of an upgrade. In addition, all the light fittings have been retrofitted with the latest Philips LED lighting solutions while in a bid to further improve the health and child care facilities, Phillips has also provided the healthcare centre with a range of its innovative solutions, many of which have been developed specifically with African conditions in mind. Noticing the lack of basic ultrasound in the labour ward, Phillips has also equipped the healthcare centre with its innovative ultra-mobile ultrasound system, VISIQ.

social lifestyles duly deserved by the country in the current dispensation of digital age. He said that the existence of decentralised data systems in Nigeria without any unified approach of merging them to be able to communicate together has negative effects on daily economic and social activities in the country. From the Nigerian Customs Service to the Nigerian Police and other government paratstatals as well as the banks and other companies in Nigeria now have avalanche of data that are not communicating with each other, thereby reducing their significant economic contribution. Meanwhile, Williams has described ConfirmMe software, developed by Nigeria’s leading identity management firm, as the first of its kind in the country. According to him, the solution is a secure and robust platform for accurate online real-time verification of identity, credit status, academic qualifications and credentials that saves time and money.

“The back-end operation of ConfirmMe is powered by robust and reliable data sources because data quality is the single most important factor for the success of a compliant and risk mitigating identity verification solution that will meet market needs. “Institutional supporters of the new service include Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), public and private universities and the CreditRegistry, Nigeria’s leading credit bureau institution.” Williams added that ConfirmMe application is targeted at educational institutions, government embassies, employers of labour such as banks and hotels, among others. Speaking on the benefits of ConfirmMe to users, Williams said that it offers essential benefits such as reduction in cost of verification by institutions and increased revenue for institutions. Also, Managing Director, CreditRegistry Services and Chams partners, Mrs. Ja-

meelah Ayedun, described the software as a welcome development, saying through it, Nigerians can access their credit reports and credit scores in a safe and secure manner via Chams’s online platform Ayedun said: “This initiative is in line with our vision of enabling fast, easy access to credit by consumers, entrepreneurs and businesses in Nigeria. It further demonstrates our commitment to promoting credit awareness, improving data quality and securing the credit identity of subjects on the bureau. “We are delighted to partner with Chams to provide another trusted platform through which more people can access their credit reports and credit scores from Credit Registry Services.” On his part, Deputy Managing Director, Chams Plc, Mr. Luqman Balogun, said, “ConfirmMe was deployed to allow institutions verify individual and corporate identity and data from their web browser using a simple and easy to use online portal that is unified.”

L-R: Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Samuel Ogungbesan and Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Dr. Chris Oyenmenam, during a courtesy visit of FIRS team to NIMC headquarters in Lagos on Tuesday.

Phone users get data back-up services

yberSynchs, a universal data synchronisation company, is set to offer data back-up services to the over 140 million telephone users in the country. The firm, which recently entered the Nigerian telecommunications space, said that the solution will provide much needed storage and protection of user data in case of loss, stolen or malfunction of a mobile phone. Speaking on the initiative, the Chief Executive Officer of CyberSynchs, Mr. Amos Winbush, said that the service, which works with any phone and 98 per cent of operating systems, allows users to synch their most common types of data such as contacts, photos, videos, calender entries, text

messages, GPS location and more to the web over the air. Winbush, who spoke through Skype from his base in the United States, said that storage plans were available in increments of 3GB, 5GB and 10GB and can be billed monthly, bimonthly, biannually or yearly. He said that the technology firm will roll out a national ‘Are You Synched’ marketing campaign to support the product launch with visibility across both social and traditional media. Winbush said that backingup ones data would ensure the needed storage and protection for such data, in case of loss, stolen or malfunction of the mobile devices. He also explained that

the solution offers innovative applications that enable data synchronisation, sharing and transfer through the hybrid cloud between mobile devices, personal computers (PCs), television sets, digital cameras, camcoders, gamers and wireless headphones. According to him, mobile phones and other technological devices had become part of people’s life, hence, the need to store and protect information in them. Winbush said the company due to expansion is in Nigeria and is offering Nigeria consumers its back-up synching service. “Our partnership with the consumers across Nigeria is a groundbreaking one for CyberSynchs.”

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSday, JULY 9, 2015

Photo | News

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Senate President, Bukola Saraki (left), receiving a communiqué from the Chairman, Northern Reawakening Forum (NRF), Hon. Mohammed Kumalia, during a courtesy visit to the Senate President in Abuja.

PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

L-R: Executive Director, HR and Admin, Sifax Group, Mr. Taiwo Afolabi; Chairman, Planning Committee, Nigeria Maritime Expo 2015, Prince Ayorinde Adedoyin; Manager, Oil and Gas, Sifax Group, Stella Damasus; Director, Major Henry Ajetunmobi and General Manager, Sifax Offdock Services Limited, Mr. Oliver Omajuwa, at the Sifax Group CEO’s presentation at the Nigeria Maritime Expo held in Lagos.

L-R: Managing Director, Impact Media Limited, Henry Alade; Director of Programmes, Beat FM, Olisa Adibua; Artiste, Sean Tizzle and Managing Director/CEO, PRM Africa/Executive Producer, All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, Mike Dada, at the Industry’s Nite with AFRIMA held in Lagos.

L-R: Principal, Asore Grammar School, Akute, Ogun State, Mrs. Abdulquadri Olaide; Assistant Provincial Pastor in charge of CSR, RCCG, Lagos Province 50, Pastor John Olaniyan; Provincial Pastor, Reuben Ayoade; Chairman, Management Committee of the school, Pastor Samuel Adejumo and Secretary, Management Committee of the school, Pastor Samuel Ariyo, at the presentation of exercise books to students of the school by RCCG, Lagos Province 50.

L-R: Publisher, Sundiata Post Media Limited, Mr. Maxwell Amuchie; representative of the Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Obiora Chukwumba and Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, at the official unveiling of Sundiata Post online newspaper in Abuja. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Hon. Luka Apogu Musa; Chairman, Haske Foundation, Hon. Milinda Satumari and Hon. Hammed Terab, at the launch of Haske Foundation in Abuja. PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) waiting to receive relief materials from the National Emergency Management Authority in Birnin Kudu, Jigawa State. PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Vice-President, Trevari Nh3 Limited, Stephanie Lessard; Chief Executive Officer, Trevari Group Limited, Mr. Innocent Obande; President, International Development, Trevari Nh3 Limited, Mr. Robert Leth and Chief Technical Officer, Trevari Nh3 Limited, Mr. Bruce Tilley, after a meeting between Trevari Nh3 Limited and Trevari Group Limited in Abuja.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Mom&Parenting An underage girl faggedout while selling fish kontrimanjournal.blogspot.com

A child earning a living at a quarry

photo: www.newstimeafrica.com

A child hawking fish

Childhood tears

Omolola Giwa

hild labour in Africa especially Nigeria remains a major source of concern, in spite of several government and nongovernmental, NGO, measures. Child labour, according to UNICEF, is defined as work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children and deprives them of opportunities for schooling and development. According to the International Labour Organization, ILO, the number of working children under the age of 14 in Nigeria is estimated at 15 million. The high level of diverse and tedious jobs that children execute in dangerous circumstances remains heart-rending. These jobs include being street vendors, beggars, car washers or watchers and shoe shiners. Others work as apprentice mechanics, hairdressers and bus conductors while a large number work as domestic servants and farm hands. Thus, orphans in Nigeria have really become neglected and the rate of child slavery has no bound anymore. Even when young teenagers stay or

Mom&Parenting

Oluwatosin Omoniyi City Editor

live with relatives, they tend to be overburdened with domestic chores, thereby making the children feel sad or the absence of their parents. Bukunmi Oluwaseyi, lost her parents at the age of seven to fire incident. Hence, she opted to stay with her uncle whose wife would not spare her a breathing moment. Oluwaseyi said she was overburdened with domestic chores. At 10, she would wake up by 4.30am to prepare her uncle’s children for school, after that, she would fetch three drums of water, wash clothes, go to the market, come back to cook it anyhow she best knew. By mid-day, she would settle for breakfast, which she had to gush down the throat, otherwise she could miss the meal as her aunt would call her for the next house chores, “that time, I barely settled to eat when she would call me to give me another chore. As such, I couldn’t feed well, I was constantly on the move, either going on errands, or busy with house chores. Again, I didn’t sleep earlier than 1am to wake up by 4.30am daily,” she said. According to her, she was denied the privilege of going back to school. She said she became the house help and nanny. She didn’t get new clothes like she used to when her mother was alive. She started to see herself as a maid thereby hating herself and the status ‘maid’ by which she was acknowledged. “For nine years, I was a maid in my uncle’s house. Those years, I was subjected to psychological trauma. I suffered hunger and neglect. When I got to the age of menstruation, nobody gave me proper direction on expectation and how to go about it,” she said. Luckily for her, respite came her way when her father’s friend who was based in America came to Nigeria. He

The number of working children under the age of 14 in Nigeria is estimated at 15 million

asked after her and sent her to school in America. “My father’s friend and his wife wanted to sue my uncle but I refused because God finally shone His Face on me, otherwise, my destiny would have been truncated,” she said. Damilola Ibirogba is also a victim of the deprivation of education due to the loss of her Mother. Her Mother died when she was 13 and she was asked to move in with her elder sister who was married. She said her ordeal began the very first day she entered her sister’s house. “It was as if they had been waiting for a house help. And they spared me no mercy. My elder sister’s husband asked me to fetch 25 buckets of water from the neighbour’s compound, something I never did before that time,” she said. According to her, the pain became very unbearable as she was still going through emotional pain of the loss of her mom. Added to that , she said was the physical pain of lifting the bucket on her head. Ibirogba said, from that moment, she became the maid of her sister’s house. From washing dishes, to fetching water, to cooking, to taking care of the kids, to serving her husband, to scrubbing the floor, to resuming duty as the sales girl in her Sister’s shop. She was frequently beaten for receiving phone calls from her Father. She was also beaten for failing or forgetting to do a chore. She became lost in the house girl duty that she forgot about going to school. When she was 17, her Father told her it was time to go to the University but her Sister said she was too young. Her father sent some money to her Sister for her Jamb examination but

Photo: Information parlour.com

the Sister refused to get the form for her. Somehow, Damilola met a young man at the petrol station who took special interest and sponsor her from secondary school through to University level. “He not only became my husband, he also became my best friend on earth and mentor in life. Through him, God made me a success,” she said. Ayomide Olorunyomi was sold into slavery at age nine by her aunt. According to her, both of her parents died in a car crash on their way from a vacation. She was therefore taken in by her father’s younger sister. But a month after, her aunt relocated to Benin Republic where she was sold into slavery. At the place, she said she worked tirelessly as a house help. “The family whom I worked for had no mercy, they maltreated me, fed me two times a day, and the husband molested me at will,” she narrated. Eventually, she was saved by a childless couple who adopted her and brought her back to Nigeria, Osun state where she now works. Because she has no basic education, she continued to work as a house help (a job she deemed fit for her level) in a place where she claimed she was subjected to constant sexual harassment and bruised. “I had even been jailed twice on false allegations,” she said. Olorunyomi, however would like to join a non-governmental organisation, NGO, against child slavery where she could have a voice to advocate against it. The above mentioned cases are just a few out of many Nigerian children subjected to child labour and slavery on daily basis. However, UNICEF, said children who work suffer from fatigue, irregular attendance at school, lack of comprehension and motivation, improper socialisation, exposure to risk of sexual abuse, high likelihood of being involved in crime.

40 Mom&Parenting

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Kids who lie have better memory

hy it’s a good thing that your kid is a Liar Perhaps you shouldn’t be so hard on your kid for fibbing. It turns out that children who are good liars have another, more positive skill: they have good memories, too. A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, involved more than 100, between 6- and 7-year-olds who were given an opportunity to cheat in a trivia game and then lie about their actions while hidden cameras recorded them. Researchers surmised that those kids who lied are the ones who peeked at an answer to a question even though they were told not to performed better in tests of verbal memory, which involved remembering a large quantity of words. The reason they excelled with

this type of memory (as opposed to visuospatial memory) is because they had to juggle lots of verbal information to tell their lie. They didn’t need to worry as much about recalling pictures. “While parents are usually not too proud when their kids lie, they can at least be pleased to discover that when their children are lying well, it means their children are becoming better at thinking and have good memory skills,” psychologist Dr. Elena Hoicka told the BBC. Another interesting finding from the study, only 25 per cent of the participating children attempted to cheat. That’s good news for those wanting to raise honest kids but a low blow for those of us now hoping our kids will become smarter by simply telling a few little white lies! culled from www.circle of moms

USAID: Improving lives of orphans

Participants at the event

Esther Albert

he United States Agency for International Development, USAID, has received commendation from the Lagos State Government for improving the lives of Orphans and Vulnerable Children, OVCs, in the State. The Lagos Director, Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Alaba Fadairo, said the initiative of USAID was highly commendable because it was aimed at enhancing accelerated and sustainable access of OVCs to basic services like education, health, nutrition, psychosocial, legal and social protection. Fadairo added she was happy Lagos emerged one of the three states benefiting from the USAID programme which is a boost also to the families of the children. “Their families benefit from economic empowerment interventions to enable them to effectively perform their roles as the first line providers for their children. Those involved in the programme were well-trained to deliver the services and make the OVCs happy and also mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDs on children and their families,” she said. New Telegraph learnt that USAID provided a grant to the Association For Reproductive and Family Health to implement a five year project tagged ‘Local Partners for Orphans and Vulnerable Children’ (LOPIN) for three states in Nigeria including Lagos. Five Local Government Areas,LGAs, of Lagos State is said to benefit from the programme. They are; Agege, Badagry, Ajeromi, Kosofe and Ojo. “We have many people involved in the project, working hard to actualise the vision of USAID and so far everything is going on well on the project,” Fadairo added. The targeted beneficiaries of the project for the period of five years, according to

Fadairo,are about 151,271 OVCs and 30,254 households that will be enrolled in the state. She said USAID provided computers and other modern gadgets to the officials involved in the implementation of the project to enhance accurate reporting of the services to be provided to the OVCs.

MOM’S ALERT with

Grace Essen

grace.essen@gmail.com

Screen time vs. family time

here’s no doubt technology is taking over family life. And that has increased drastically as the internet and social media have joined distractions from Television, (TV) cell phone and the computer. Even when we leave our homes and offices, we are greeted with huge screens on our roads, talking about advert billboards some are mobile others are stationary. Even the church these days is not spared, walk into any “happening” church today and you get to choose which screen you wish to view the preacher and if possible interpreter. Even before the preacher comes up, you would have seen a thousand and one adverts or announcements flashed on the screens, denying us the time to connect with family and friends. Once upon a time, the family’s biggest technological nuisance was the phone ringing during dinner or late at night. Twentyfour hour TV programming, the Internet and cell phones didn’t permeate the privacy of our homes. School stayed at school, work stayed at work, and those boundaries were never crossed except in emergency which were very few and far apart. Today, between responding to e-mails during kids’ activities, texting at meals, and constant phone time while driving, we use technology almost as much as our teens who according to 2011 Nielsen statistics, send and receive around 3,700 texts a month - that’s about 125 a day! Family dynamics have totally changed, today’s lingo is LMAO, TTYL, HBD LLNP, BRB, BFF, OMG, and L8R; and young people aren’t the only ones using them. Add Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Twitter to the vocabulary, and the nuclear family is virtually unrecognizable. This dynamic creates slight feelings of jealousy and distress in children since they now have to compete for both their parents’ time and attention. The dining table or the centre table (for those who didn’t have one) used to be a haven from the outside world and a chance to reconnect. Remember how wives would not eat until their husbands come home? Dinner today is often a frenzied event where family members tend to be distracted during meal by the computer, cell phone or TV. Or they can’t wait to finish and get back to these devices. Today, work doesn’t end just because we leave the office; in fact, organizations equip their employees with laptops and smart phones so employees are accessible 24/7, they go a step further to take subscriber plans that allow for unlimited calls at affordable rates or even free. It used to be doctors getting emer-

gency calls, these days we have all kinds of emergencies, technology emergencies, sales emergencies, accounting emergencies, and the list goes on and on. Even schools send out messages – announcements about homework and events, so kids are not left out from getting “business” as well as social messages when they are home. A group of children, between 4-6 years, were asked whether they would want to watch TV or hang out with their dad. Dear old dad lost out! According to an A.C. Nielsen report, 54 percent of kids preferred to spend time with the TV. It’s a sad when Ben 10 or Barney, however educational or fun, wins out over quality time with a parent. So what can we do? Make quality time for family; take dinning and other times spent together more seriously. One mother insists that all family members put their electronic devices in a basket when they come through the door and retrieve them only after dinner is over. Not a bad idea. One benefit of family is that children learn the give and take of society - how to interact with other people, and how to communicate. However, with technology becoming more deeply integrated into all facets of life, we run the risk of raising a generation who can’t relate to other people. So, if your children tend to spend most of their time on social media, texting, watching TV or playing video games, encourage them to go talk to or spend time with friends, or at least with you and other family members. It goes back to setting limits; your children’s social life won’t fall apart if they don’t reply 100 texts or watch their favourite cartoon for that day. If you limit screen time for your children, do the same for yourself too. You don’t want to lose your job of course, but you may want to reconsider how much work you do at home because you “have to” as against what you do because you can, and your computer is right there. Parents can manage family time much like screen time. Just like we use any given opportunity to look up our emails , reply a chat, or ‘like’ a friend’s hot photo on Facebook, we can also use every opportunity we get to close up any ‘gap’ screen time could have created in our family time. Parenting is tougher today than ever before, with unlimited gaming, computer and TV time; but we must not allow interpersonal face-to-face interaction that binds the family together disintegrate. Grace Essen is the author of ‘Successful Working Mom’, president and founder of Mum To Mum Support Initiative.

Business | Money Line 41

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

CBN may review items on forex restriction list

RIDICULOUS

$920 million was used to fund the importation of wheat and fish in January and May this year

Policy Department at the CBN, Mr. Moses Tule, dropped this hint at the private sector dialogue on the apex bank’s foreign exchange policy organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in Lagos yesterday. He spoke against the backdrop of complaints that the failure of the CBN to define the Harmonised System (HS) Code for the items would prevent some

Tony Chukwunyem

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may take another look at the list of the 41 products that it recently categorised as no longer eligible for foreign exchange in the interbank market or the Bureaux De Change (BDCs). The Director, Monetary

importers from accessing foreign exchange, thus leading to the closure of several businesses and the attendant loss of thousands of jobs. Tule pointed out that the major objective of the CBN in stopping the sale of forex to affected importers was to ensure the survival of the Nigerian economy. He stated that the regulator had little choice but

to take the step, arguing that the rising demand for foreign exchange would have resulted in the depletion of the external reserves and the collapse of the economy. Tule lamented the import dependent nature of the country’s economy, pointing out that many of the items that are imported into the country can be produced locally. The CBN Director

Cash crunch: States eye bonds Tony Chukwunyem

financial obligations. In addition, the Debt Management Office (DMO) will restructure more than N660 billion ($3.3 billion) in commercial loans taken by the state governments. Although no state has yet applied to the SEC to sell bonds this year, some state governors have discussed the possibility with the commission, Gwarzo said, without naming any. “They’re very excited about it,” Gwarzo said. “If they restructure the commercial loans it will give them breathing

them, because some of them have lots of loans from commercial banks.” Some of the 36 states are unable to pay employee wages after their share of the nation’s oil income, which accounts for bulk of their budgets declined. Crude oil prices have slumped by more than 50 per cent since June last year. The Federal, state and local governments agreed to share a $2.1 billion dividend paid into the Treasury by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNGL) to pay wages and meet their

with agency report

ome state governments are considering bond sales to replace dwindling income from crude, the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mounir Gwarzo, has revealed. Bloomberg quoted him as saying, “I know one or two states have started talking to investment banks in view of coming to the capital market. Given their financial situation, the capital market is the best avenue for

space and temporary liquidity to pay salaries and allowances.” The SEC plans to start separate meetings with the states this year, which will be a forum to educate the leadership “about the importance of capital market,” Gwarzo said. “Once the instruments are good and investors are comfortable, we believe they will invest,” he said referring to state bonds. The commission requires a debt-to-revenue ratio of 50 percent or less for states tapping the market, Gwarzo said.

As at N19,142,526.05m N18,579,219.49m 9 13 10.77 US$57.84 US$29,548,987,037

Mar, 2015 Mar, 2015 May, 2015 4/6/2015 Mar 2015 7/7/2015 6/7/2015

Source:CBN

Description 13.05 16-AUG-2016 15.10 27-APR-2017 16.00 29-JUN-2019 15.54 13-FEB-2020 16.39 27-JAN-2022 14.20 14-MAR-2024 10.00 23-JUL-2030

TTM

FGN Bonds

Price 1.11 1.80 3.98 4.60 6.56 8.68 15.04

Bid Yield

98.63 100.41 102.83 101.68 105.52 96.15 68.00

NIBOR

Tenor (Days) Call 30 90 180

Rate (%) 3.7917 13.0302 15.0648 15.6948

14.39 14.79 15.03 15.01 15.03 14.99 15.56 Change (%) -1.10 ▼ -0.35 ▼ -0.34 ▼ -0.30 ▼

Change (%) -0.05▼ 0.03▲ 0.03▲ 0.03▲ 0.06▲ 0.06▲ 0.00 ↔

Price 98.78 100.56 103.13 101.98 105.82 96.45 68.30

Tenor (Months)

Offer Yield 14.24 14.69 14.92 14.92 14.96 14.93 15.49

NITTY

1 2 3 6 9 12

Treasury Bills

Rate (%) 7.3853 11.2921 13.4232 13.7252 14.8774 14.9227

Spot($/N)

Offer 197.40

Change (%) -0.12 ▼

NIFEX

Spot($/N)

Bid 198.9500

CBN Clearing Rates of July 8, 2015 Spot($/N)

195.95

Change (%) -0.05▼ 0.03 ▲ 0.03 ▲ 0.03 ▲ 0.06 ▲ 0.06 ▲ 0.00 ↔ Change (%) 0.18▲ -0.10 ▼ -0.04 ▼ 0.13 ▲ 0.04 ▲ 0.08 ▲

Money Market

Maturity Date Discount Bid Yield Change (%) Discount Offer Yield Change (%) Rate (%) 12.50 12.87 0.01 ▲ Open-Buy-Back (OBB) 3.00 01-Oct-15 12.75 13.14 0.01 ▲ 12.33 13.14 0.09 ▲ Overnight (O/N) 3.42 07-Jan-16 12.58 13.42 0.09▲ 12.46 14.04 0.07 ▲ 02-Jun-16 12.71 14.36 0.07▲ Bid 197.30

196.95

World Bank lauds NDIC’s Target Fund Ratio Tony Chukwunyem

Economic Indicators M2* CPS* INF MPR 91-day NTB Bonny Light Ext Res**

noted that the regulator was concerned about rising unemployment in the country, stressing that the importation of items such as rice, cement, tooth pick and so on, boosts employment in their countries of origin while worsening the problem back home. He said: “The level of unemployment is worrisome. No economy is born by foreign exchange. The level of economic activity creates foreign exchange and the economic activity must be such that economic agents must create foreign exchange agents and bring it back to the economy. If you keep taking water out of a bucket without putting some back, it would eventually become empty. An economy must first exist before you can have a CBN.” He reiterated that the banking watchdog did not have the power to ban the importation of any item. As he put it, “We have not banned anything; we

0.00 ↔

Offer 199.0500

Change (%) -1.00▼ -1.17 ▼

Change (%) -0.01 ▼

don’t have the power. All we are saying is that we don’t have enough foreign exchange to satisfy everybody.” Rejecting recent criticism of the policy by The Economist magazine, Tule contended that the CBN was in a better position than the publication to appreciate the gravity of the situation that the country was contending with because it had all the relevant data. He revealed that between January and May this year, a total of $550million and $370million of the country’s external reserves was used to fund the importation of wheat and fish respectively. The CBN top official also rejected criticism that the list contained not only finished products but also vital inputs, which many manufacturers needed to keep their factories running. He said: “If we begin to define what is input or finished goods, we will not stop anything. What is one person’s input might be another’s finished product. But I will take the issue of the definition of HS Codes back to Abuja.”

he World Bank has commended Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) for what it describes as the “Corporation’s robust Target Fund Ratio Framework,” which enables the Corporation to meet its obligation to depositors. The Target Fund Ratio is the ratio of fund that determines the optimal fund level that enables a deposit insurer to effectively meet its obligation to depositors. Under the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) Core Principle 11 for Effective Deposit Insurance System, “the Fund Reserve Ratio should be based on clear, consistent and well developed criteria”. In a statement, the NDIC disclosed that the World Bank technical team, headed by Mr. Julian Casal, gave the commendation at the end of its 4-day working visit to the Corporation for a formal presentation of the Target Fund Ratio Framework and capacity building to NDIC staff. According to the statement, Casal said that the NDIC’s Target Fund Ratio Framework was suitable in determining the adequacy of the Corporation’s Deposit Insurance

Fund (DIF). It added that the framework was a ‘model’, which the Bank would adopt as a benchmark for other African deposit insurance Corporations. Responding, the NDIC’s Managing Director and Chief Executive, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, expressed appreciation to the World Bank for its continuous support towards the Corporation’s capacity building initiative and effective discharge of its mandate. The development of the Target Fund Ratio by the Corporation was premised on the recommendation at the end of an IADI international workshop on the methodology for assessing compliance with the IADI core principles for effective deposit insurance system, which was hosted by the Corporation in 2011. The NDIC was advised to comply with some core principles, among which was Core Principle 11 on funding. Consequently, the Corporation approached the World Bank for technical assistance towards the development of the Target Fund Ratio and the request was granted in 2014 under the World Bank Financial Sector Reform and Strengthening (FIRST) Initiative.

Business | Financial Market News

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

8-Jul-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

581.39 480.13 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 233.73 605.31 599.99 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 324.50

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,846.82

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,410.88

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

1.11 1.80 2.05 2.15 2.89 3.98 4.29 4.60 6.56 8.68 13.39 13.87 14.37 15.04 19.03

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

14.39 14.79 14.88 14.89 14.97 15.03 15.08 15.01 15.03 14.99 16.00 16.13 16.28 15.56 15.03

14.24 14.69 14.79 14.80 14.90 14.92 14.97 14.92 14.96 14.93 15.94 16.07 16.19 15.49 14.97

98.63 100.41 91.36 90.09 90.23 102.83 75.09 101.68 105.52 96.15 94.49 79.99 57.23 68.00 82.06

98.78 100.56 91.51 90.24 90.38 103.13 75.39 101.98 105.82 96.45 94.79 80.29 57.53 68.30 82.36

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Modelled Price

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

17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

2.10 112.22 116.70 66.49

03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.99 1.42 1.78 2.00

2.94 1.00 2.66 2.96

17.09 15.59 17.45 17.83

100.13 100.47 102.13 97.93

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

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

297.52

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

299.15

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.15

4.44

14.70

99.60

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

2.16

30-Sep-15

0.23

3.23

16.00

99.27

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

2.60

30-Jun-16

0.73

4.46

18.23

97.24

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

3.96

30-Jun-16

0.74

3.48

17.26

98.82

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

1.78

1.00

15.79

91.26

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

21.24

30-Jun-17

1.27

1.00

15.44

98.14

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.48

1.79

16.71

94.66

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

1.86

1.80

16.62

96.03

Bb-/Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

1.88

1.00

15.82

97.15

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

12.40

09-Dec-18

2.06

1.00

15.88

97.69

Bb-/Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

9.21

12-Dec-18

2.06

4.78

19.66

91.06

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.05

1.00

15.88

99.34

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 24.74

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

2.48 4.38 2.55

2.02 1.00 1.00

16.94 16.08 15.93

97.19 95.12 97.66

BBB-/Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

10.78

10-Oct-20

2.99

1.82

16.80

95.51

Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

13.50

87.50

27-Nov-20

5.39

1.00

16.07

90.92

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

5.00

31-Dec-20

5.48

1.00

16.07

96.18

‡ /Agusto A-/GCR

*EKITI *NASARAWA

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

31-Dec-13

14.50

4.30

31-Dec-20

3.32

1.00

16.02

96.35

06-Jan-14

15.00

4.31

06-Jan-21

3.35

1.00

16.02

97.53

99.96

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

440.60 417.15

Corporate Bonds BBB+/Agusto BBB-/Agusto

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

2.50

17-Aug-15

0.11

1.00

10.14

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

9.38

09-Dec-15

0.42

1.00

14.41

99.02

BB/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.22

06-Jan-16

0.50

2.63

16.05

98.99

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.23

1.00

15.40

97.35

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.30

1.34

15.81

98.17

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.23

1.00

15.90

94.67

BBB-/GCR

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.56

30-Nov-17

1.46

1.88

16.51

102.55

Nil

*C & I LEASING *DANA#{r}

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

5.40

09-Apr-18

1.50

1.00

15.67

100.36

A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.54

09-Sep-18

1.67

1.00

15.74

103.01

AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.70

09-Sep-18

1.67

1.00

15.74

100.29

A+/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

30-Sep-18

3.23

3.00

18.01

90.42

BBB+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.10

18-Oct-18

1.78

2.29

17.07

98.01

BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

17-Feb-12

18.00

0.36

17-Feb-19

1.86

6.11

20.93

95.91

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

2.48

2.16

17.08

97.84

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.35

2.76

17.83

91.26

BBB/GCR

FCMB

14.25 FCMB I 20-NOV-2021

20-Nov-14

14.25

26.00

20-Nov-21

6.37

1.80

16.88

89.92

A/GCR

UBA

16.45 UBA I 30-DEC-2021

30-Dec-14

16.45

30.50

30-Dec-21

6.48

1.00

16.08

101.44

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

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

30-Sep-14

16.29

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.23

1.00

16.10

100.80

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.23

1.00

16.10

86.46

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

177.87

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

168.37

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

2.60

1.00

15.94

88.16

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

3.82

1.00

16.08

86.83

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

24.95 21.82

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

6.37

6.14

101.74

102.84

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

5.45

5.14

99.10

99.97

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

6.61

6.42

98.57

99.73

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

1,497.04

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

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

5.96

101.25

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

7.52

99.50

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

11.63

9.95

88.81

92.58

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

7.85

7.01

94.66

97.03

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

7.31

96.55

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

10.20

9.66

95.45

97.10

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

FIRST BANK PLC ACCESS BANK PLC II FIRST BANK LTD

8.25 AUG 07, 2020 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

07-Aug-13 24-Jun-14 23-Jul-14

8.25 9.25 8.00

300.00 400.00 450.00

07-Aug-20 24-Jun-21 23-Jul-21

9.26 10.36 9.51

9.26 10.14 9.51

95.25 95.26 92.33

95.25 96.20 92.33

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

10.57

9.92

91.13

93.88

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

3,650.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

3,483.25

**Treasury Bills^ DTM 8 15 22 29 36 50 57 64

FIXINGS Maturity 16-Jul-15 23-Jul-15 30-Jul-15 6-Aug-15 13-Aug-15 27-Aug-15 3-Sep-15 10-Sep-15

Bid Discount (%) 6.78 7.43 6.97 7.95 8.69 8.34 10.59 11.39

Offer Discount (%) 6.53 7.18 6.72 7.70 8.44 8.09 10.34 11.14

Bid Yield (%) 6.79 7.45 7.00 8.00 8.77 8.44 10.76 11.62

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 3.7917 13.0302 15.0648 15.6948

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

3.00

O/N Tenor Call 1M

3.42

REPO

Rate (%) 2.50 2.75

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M

197.30 199.12 199.44 200.24 201.61 204.62

197.40 199.47 199.82 200.70 202.56 206.03

Rating/Agency

Description

Issuer

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Modelled Price

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

17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

2.10 112.22 116.70 66.49

03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.99 1.42 1.78 2.00

2.94 1.00 2.66 2.96

17.09 15.59 17.45 17.83

100.13 100.47 102.13 97.93

Agency Bonds 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

FMBN ***LCRM

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

297.52

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

299.15

Business | Financial Market News

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 Sub-National Bonds

A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.15

4.44

14.70

99.60

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

2.16

30-Sep-15

0.23

3.23

16.00

99.27

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

2.60

30-Jun-16

0.73

4.46

18.23

97.24

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

3.96

30-Jun-16

0.74

3.48

17.26

98.82

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

SELL-OFFS

‡ /Agusto Investors pulled out*BAYELSA ‡ /Agusto EDO ‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR *DELTA of equities to shortBb-/Agusto; A-/GCR NIGER ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR† dated Treasury bills*EKITI Bb-/Agusto *NIGER ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCRof yield *ONDO in search

Stocks market falls to three-month low as naira weakness persists 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

1.78

1.00

15.79

91.26

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

21.24

30-Jun-17

1.27

1.00

15.44

98.14

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.48

1.79

16.71

94.66

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

1.86

1.80

16.62

96.03

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

1.88

1.00

15.82

97.15

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

12.40

09-Dec-18

2.06

1.00

15.88

97.69

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

9.21

12-Dec-18

2.06

4.78

19.66

91.06

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.05

1.00

15.88

99.34

02-Oct-12 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 dropped for the sixth con- offs by foreign portfolio 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 22-Nov-12 of secutive day14.75 as OSUN investors 12-Dec-12 BBB-/Agusto; BBB+/GCR *OSUN 12-DEC-2019 investors,” said head 10-Oct-13 BBB-/Agusto igerian stocks *OSUN OSUN II 10-OCT-2020 pulled out of14.75 equities to research at Afrinvest, 27-Nov-13 Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR LAGOS 13.50 LAGOS 27-NOV-2020 fell to a threeshort-dated Treasury bills Ayodeji Ebo. 31-Dec-13 A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro KOGI 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 31-Dec-13 month low and in search of yield. “The persistent pres‡ /Agusto *EKITI 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 A-/GCR *NASARAWA 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021 the naira hit a Investors had hoped sure and increased06-Jan-14 (dolTOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE new record low on the for a sustained rally af- lar) demand suggest a TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION parallel market yester- ter smooth elections in devaluation of the naira Corporate Bonds day, as investors who March. But markets have is imminent,” he added. 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 17-Aug-10 BBB+/Agusto *UPDC were worried about a taken a hit from worries The Central Bank of 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 BBB-/Agusto 09-Dec-10 *FLOURMILLS shortage of dollars on Nigeria (CBN), worried over the continued slide 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 BB/GCR 06-Jan-11 *CHELLARAMS NAHCO the currency in the naira13.00 and the29-SEP-2016 im- about rising inflation, A+/Agusto; A-/GCR market sold 29-Sep-11 NAHCO 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 A-/Agusto 25-Oct-13 FSDH shares. pact of persistently low has said it is in no mood to 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 A/GCR 30-Sep-10 UBA According to Reuters oil prices on government devalue the naira again, 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 BBB-/GCR 30-Nov-12 *C & I LEASING News, Nigeria’s stock finances. MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018after it tightened access 09-Apr-11 Nil *DANA MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 09-Sep-11 A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR market, which has *TOWER the “We believe the unto hard currency for the MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 09-Sep-11 AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR *TOWER second-biggest weighting certainties within the import of a wide range of 14.00 UBA II 30-SEP-2018 A+/Agusto; A/GCR 30-Sep-11 UBA after Kuwait on the MSCI forex market may have goods. 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 BBB+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR 18-Oct-13 *LA CASERA MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR *CHELLARAMS triggered further sell- II 17-FEB-2019 frontier market index, Since the CBN 17-Feb-12 meaBBB+/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

15.50 15.09 sures, the naira has 80.00 weak14.50 ened steadily on the 24.74 paral14.75 14.75 lel market, hitting a10.78 new 13.50 87.50 record15.00 low of N233.50 5.00 to 14.50 yesterday.4.30 the dollar 4.31 On 15.00 the interbank market, it traded440.60 near 417.15 the apex bank’s pegged rate of N196.95. Investors 10.00 2.50 questioned how long the 12.00 9.38 bank’s14.00 rate could 0.22 hold there, 13.00 when the currency 15.00 14.25 was trading further5.53and 13.00 20.00 further18.00 away on the paral0.56 lel market. 16.00 5.40 18.00 were buying 2.54 People 0.70 dollars16.00 to protect them14.00 35.00 selves15.75 against further 2.10 18.00 naira weakness, said0.36 pres-

*GOMBE LAGOS

#{r}

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

BBB/GCR

FCMB

14.25 FCMB I 20-NOV-2021

20-Nov-14

14.25

26.00

16.45 UBA I 30-DEC-2021

30-Dec-14

16.45

30.50

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

30-Sep-14

16.29

0.10

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

Abdulwahab Isa A/GCR A/GCR

UBA STANBIC IBTC

A/GCR Abuja

STANBIC IBTC

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

W’ Africa capital market regulatory bodies form WASRA

n a bid to achieve close colseamless 10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 AAA/S&P IFC interface in the interest of derstanding (MoU), SEC DG , 11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021 Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P AfDB capital market development in Gwarzo said: “We had a very TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE West Africa, chieftains of capi- lengthy meeting today. For quite TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION tal market regulatory bodies in a while we have been thinking of West Africa region have floated how the regulatorsDescription can come toRating/Agency Issuer the West Africa Securities Regu- gether to form an association so FGN Eurobonds lators Association (WASRA). that we can support the integraJAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&Pyesterday in Abuja Formed tion of the capital6.75 market within after a brief meeting presided the West African Region. BB-/Fitch; FGN 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 byBB-/S&P Director-General of Securi“You are aware of the exisBB-/Fitch; 6.38 JUL 12, 2023 aims ties and Exchange Commission tence of WAMIC whose BB-/S&P (SEC) Manir Gwarzo, the Secreand objectives are to see a means TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE tary General, Regional of bringing the capital markets TOTAL MARKET Counsel CAPITALISATION De L’Epargne Publique Et Des within the West African region Corporate Eurobonds Marchès Financiers Mr. Mory together. 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I Soumahoro, was elected WAS“What we have not had is a 7.25 JUL 25, 2017 B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC RA Chairman. close collaboration and close in6.88 MAY 09, 2018 B/Fitch; B/S&P FIDELITY BANK PLC Soumahoro supervises terface within the 6.00Commissions NOV 08, 2018 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK capiPLC 6.25 APR 22, 2019 B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P ZENITH BANK PLC tal market of eight francophone so that they can also support the 8.75 May 21, 2019 B/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC countries. good work that WAMIC is doing. 8.25 AUG 07, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P BANK PLC Speaking shortly FIRST after the Even in International Organisa9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC II tion of Securities Commissions signing of Memorandum of Un8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK LTD Supranational Bondand laboration

B-/S&P

14-Aug-14

8.75

16.94 97.19 lower profits as a result. 16.08 95.12 The 15.93 all-share 97.66 index 1.82shed 1.19 16.80 per cent 95.51 on 1.00 16.07 90.92 1.00Wednesday 16.07 , 10.4 per 96.18cent 1.00lower than 16.02 its 2015 96.35 peak, 1.00 97.53 which it16.02 hit on April 2 after Muhammadu Buhari won a closely fought presidential election.

17-Aug-15

0.11

1.00

10.14

09-Dec-15

0.42

1.00

14.41

99.02

06-Jan-16

0.50

2.63

16.05

98.99

99.96

29-Sep-16

1.23

1.00

15.40

97.35

25-Oct-16

1.30

1.34

15.81

98.17

30-Sep-17

2.23

1.00

15.90

94.67

30-Nov-17

1.46

1.88

16.51

102.55

09-Apr-18

1.50

1.00

15.67

100.36

1.67

1.00

10.57

9.92

91.13

93.88

Chris Ugwu 09-Sep-18

103.01 change 15.74 become effective. 09-Sep-18 1.67 1.00 15.74 100.29 A copy of this notice was 30-Sep-18 3.23 3.00 18.01 90.42 he Nigerian our website, 18-Oct-18 1.78 Stock 2.29placed on 17.07 98.01 the 17-Feb-19 20.93said. 95.91 Exchange1.86 (NSE) 6.11Exchange 01-Apr-19 2.48 17.08 97.84 has drawn atten- 2.16 “We wish to remind all 14-Nov-20 5.35 2.76 17.83 91.26 tion of the investing market 16.88 participants that 20-Nov-21 6.37 1.80 89.92 public to a number of 1.00after SEC 30-Dec-21 6.48 16.08 has approved 101.44 30-Sep-24 9.23 1.00the Rules, 16.10The Exchange 100.80 publications regarding 9.23 16.10 86.46 the30-Sep-24 effective date of the 1.00determines internally amendments to the rules when the Rules should beand regulations govern- come effective, that is, the ing dealing members date from which the Ex11-Feb-18 2.60 (Part VII) – Par Value 1.00change 15.94 will start 88.16 admin01-Feb-21 3.82 1.00 16.08 86.83 Rule. istering or implementing A notice on the NSE’s or enforcing the proviwebsite, informed market sions of the SEC approved operators the(%)‘Par rules. Thus, effective Maturity Date that Bid Yield Offer Yield (%) Bid Price the Offer Price Value Rule’ is not yet ef- date is the date on which & Yields fective and is not in force. Prices market participants must 28-Jan-21 6.37 said it 6.14start complying 101.74 102.84 or The Exchange with received the Securities observing provisions of 12-Jul-18 5.45 5.14 99.10 99.97 and Exchange Commis- the rules, and be guided 12-Jul-23 6.61 98.57 99.73 sion’s (SEC) approval of 6.42by them.” Consequently, the local the Rule on 2 June 2015, and notified the Market bourse reminded market of the approval on 4 June that they ought to receive 2015. the Exchange’s Notifica19-May-16 101.25 “Further, on5.965 June 5.96tion of 101.25 the effective date 25-Jul-17 7.52 7.52 99.50 99.50 2015, The Exchange, via of the rules before advis02-May-18 11.63 9.95 88.81 92.58 a notice market 7.01ing their clients that 08-Nov-18 to the 7.85 94.66 97.03 the 22-Apr-19 7.31 96.55 titled, ‘The Effective Date 7.31rules are effective96.55 or are 10.20 of 21-May-19 SEC Approved Rules’, 9.66in force,95.45 and before97.10 imple07-Aug-20 9.26 9.26 95.25 provided clarification on 10.14 menting95.25 the provisions of 24-Jun-21 10.36 95.26 96.20 when the Rules of the Exsuch rules. 23-Jul-21 9.51 9.51 92.33 92.33

177.87 168.37

250.00

14-Aug-21

3,650.00

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

2.02 1.00 1.00

Par value rule not yet effective, says NSE

11-Feb-13 (IOSCO), one of the 10.20 objectives 12.00 10-Jul-14 11.25 12.95 they have set out is integration 24.95 within the member countries. 21.82 Already the East African counOutstanding Value tries have one, the Coupon Middle Issue Date (%) East ($mm) have their own associations and are doing quite well”. 07-Oct-11 that part 6.75 He noted of IOSCO 500.00 principle, “is to see that one way 500.00 12-Jul-13 5.13 that we can achieve a lot whether 12-Jul-13 6.38 globally or regionally and Infor- 500.00 mation is very important in this 1,500.00 market.” 1,497.04 Gwarzo said the association looked at corporate that are 19-May-11 7.50 listed in more than one jurisdic- 500.00 25-Jul-12 7.25 350.00 tion so09-May-13 that it can have6.88 interface 300.00 either in terms of financial liter08-Nov-13 6.00 400.00 6.25 500.00 acy, or22-Apr-14 in terms of enforcement. 21-May-14 The idea is to see that8.75 countries 200.00 07-Aug-13 8.25 come together and share infor- 300.00 24-Jun-14 9.25 400.00 mation,23-Jul-14 he explained.8.00 450.00

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

02-Oct-19 2.48 ident of Nigeria’s Bureau 22-Nov-19 4.38 de 12-Dec-19 Change association, 2.55 10-Oct-20 2.99 Aminu Gwadabe. 27-Nov-20 5.39 Analysts say 31-Dec-20 5.48 naira 31-Dec-20 3.32 weakness would hurt 06-Jan-21 3.35 consumer good firms who rely on imports of raw materials. Ebo said investors had priced in

8-Jul-15

3,483.25

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 (Spot & 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 mayRate not be accurateForeign or up toExchange date. We do not guarantee Maturity Bid Discount (%) Discount (%) Yield (%) (%) NIBOR the accuracy, 8timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for6.78 a particular purpose of6.53 any of the Information, 16-Jul-15 6.79neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information. 15 22 29 FGN Bonds 36 50 57 Rating/Agency 64 78 85 99 113 127 141 148 155 162 169 NA 183 190 197 204 211 218 225 232 239 253 TOTAL OUTSTANDING 260

VALUE

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION 274

23-Jul-15 30-Jul-15 6-Aug-15 13-Aug-15 27-Aug-15 3-Sep-15 Issuer 10-Sep-15 24-Sep-15 1-Oct-15 15-Oct-15 29-Oct-15 12-Nov-15 26-Nov-15 3-Dec-15 10-Dec-15 17-Dec-15 24-Dec-15 NA 7-Jan-16 14-Jan-16 21-Jan-16 28-Jan-16 4-Feb-16 11-Feb-16 18-Feb-16 25-Feb-16 3-Mar-16 17-Mar-16 24-Mar-16

7.43 6.97 7.95 8.69 8.34 10.59 Description 11.39 11.34 ^13.05 16-AUG-2016 12.75 13.23 ^15.10 27-APR-2017 13.51 9.85 27-JUL-2017 12.93 9.35 31-AUG-2017 13.60 10.70 30-MAY-2018 12.42 ^16.00 29-JUN-2019 13.49 7.00 23-OCT-2019 12.48 13.56 ^15.54 13-FEB-2020 12.58 ^16.39 27-JAN-2022 13.60 ^14.20 14-MAR-2024 13.30 15.00 28-NOV-2028 13.75 12.49 22-MAY-2029 13.59 13.67 8.50 20-NOV-2029 13.65 ^10.00 23-JUL-2030 13.63 ^12.1493 18-JUL-2034 13.54 13.68 13.42

7.18 6.72 7.70 8.44 8.09 10.34 Issue Date 11.14 11.09 16-Aug-13 12.50 12.98 27-Apr-12 13.26 27-Jul-07 12.68 31-Aug-07 13.35 30-May-08 12.17 29-Jun-12 13.24 23-Oct-09 12.23 13.31 13-Feb-15 12.33 27-Jan-12 13.35 14-Mar-14 13.05 28-Nov-08 13.50 22-May-09 13.34 13.42 20-Nov-09 13.40 23-Jul-10 13.38 18-Jul-14 13.29 13.43 13.17

7.45 7.00 8.00 8.77 8.44 10.76 Coupon (%) 11.62 11.62 13.05 13.14 13.72 15.10 14.10 9.85 13.53 9.35 14.35 10.70 13.08 16.00 14.30 7.00 13.22 14.47 15.54 13.42 16.39 14.64 14.20 14.33 15.00 14.89 12.49 14.75 14.89 8.50 14.90 10.00 14.92 12.1493 14.86 15.11 14.84

Bonds

7-Apr-16

13.35

13.10

14.84

288

21-Apr-16

13.38

13.13

14.96

302

5-May-16

12.95

330 Rating/Agency

2-Jun-16 Issuer

12.71

Description

Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 3.7917 13.0302 15.0648 15.6948

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

3.00

O/N

3.42

REPO

Maturity Date

NITTY

581.39

Tenor 480.13 1M 20.00 2M 100.00 3M 300.00 6M 351.30 9M 233.90 12M

OBB

16-Aug-16

Rate (%) 27-Apr-17 7.3853 27-Jul-17 11.2921 31-Aug-17 13.4232 30-May-18 13.7252 29-Jun-19 14.8774 23-Oct-19 14.9227

233.73 13-Feb-20 605.31 27-Jan-22 NIFEX 599.99 14-Mar-24 75.00 28-Nov-28 Current Price ($/N) 22-May-29 BID($/N) 150.00 198.9500 OFFER ($/N) 199.0500 200.00 20-Nov-29 591.57 23-Jul-30 324.50 18-Jul-34

Tenor Call TTM (Yrs) 1M 3M 1.11 6M

Bid 2.75 Yield (%)

Rate (%) 2.50 3.00

Tenor

Spot 7D 14D 1M Offer 2MYield 3M (%) 6M 14.24 1Y

14.39 3.25 1.80 14.79 14.69 2.05 14.88 14.79 NOTE: 2.15 14.89 14.80 :Benchmarks 2.89 14.97 14.90 * :Amortising Bond 3.98 Bond 15.03 14.92 µ :Convertible AMCON: Asset of Nigeria 4.29 Management Corporation 15.08 14.97 FGN: Federal Nigeria 4.60Government of 15.01 14.92 FMBN: Federal of Nigeria 6.56 Mortgage Bank 15.03 14.96 IFC: International Finance Corporation 8.68 14.99 14.93 LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables Management 13.39 Aviation Handling 16.00 Company 15.94 NAHCO: Nigerian 13.87 16.13 16.07 O/N: Overnight UPDC: UAC Property Development 14.37 16.28 Company 16.19 WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company 15.04 15.56 15.49 19.03 15.03 14.97

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

197.30 197.40 199.12 199.47 Price 199.82 199.44 200.24 200.70 201.61 202.56 Bid Price Offer Price 204.62 206.03 210.57 212.68 98.63 98.78 222.61 227.27

100.41 100.56 91.36 91.51 90.09 90.24 NA :Not Applicable 90.23 90.38 ^ : Market Prices 102.83 # : Floating Rate Bond 103.13 75.09 coupon bonds 75.39 ***: Deferred 101.68 101.98 ‡ : Bond rating under review 105.52 105.82 †: Bond rating expired 96.15 96.45 N/A :Not Available 94.49 {r} :Issuer in receivership94.79 79.99 80.29 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 57.23 57.53 UBA: United Bank for Africa 68.00 68.30 82.06 82.36

4,846.82 4,410.88

12.70

14.50

12.46

14.36 Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Modelled Price

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

17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

2.10 112.22 116.70 66.49

03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.99 1.42 1.78 2.00

2.94 1.00 2.66 2.96

17.09 15.59 17.45 17.83

100.13 100.47 102.13 97.93

Agency Bonds bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration *for the Amortising 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 FMBN Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 #

***LCRM

0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

297.52 FMDQ FGN BOND INDEX 299.15

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Sub-National Bonds

Modified Duration Buckets

Porfolio Market Value(Bn)

A/Agusto

KADUNA

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

Bb-/Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR† Bb-/Agusto ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

<3 3<5 >5

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 839.98 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 1,447.67 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 668.55 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 2,956.20 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

Total Outstanding Volume(Bn)

828.10 1,433.72

31-Aug-10 26.06 30-Sep-10 45.12 30-Jun-11 28.83 30-Jun-09 100.00 19-Apr-10

Weighting by Mkt Value

12.50 13.00 14.00

28.41 48.97

Bucket Weighting

8.50 2.16 2.60

0.26 0.45

Implied Yield

31-Aug-15 13.48 30-Sep-15 44.49 30-Jun-16 42.03 30-Jun-16 100.00 19-Apr-17

0.15 14.93 0.23 15.01 0.73 15.34 0.74 15.14 1.78

Implied Portfolio Price

4.44 128.1570 3.23 124.6359 4.46 90.9718 3.48 115.8493 1.00

INDEX

YTD Return (%)

14.70 1,165.93 16.00 1,080.52 18.23 1,096.76 17.26 1,103.19 15.79

99.60 5.2428 99.27 6.7103 97.24 8.9118 98.82 4.5493 91.26

57.00

30-Jun-10

13.75

21.24

30-Jun-17

1.27

1.00

15.44

98.14

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.48

1.79

16.71

94.66

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

1.86

1.80

16.62

96.03

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

1.88

1.00

15.82

97.15

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

12.40

09-Dec-18

2.06

1.00

15.88

97.69

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

9.21

12-Dec-18

2.06

4.78

19.66

91.06

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.05

1.00

15.88

99.34

3,177.88

3.96

0.29

% Exposure_ Mod_Duration

22.62 15.50 100.00 10.00

Market

916.07

Weighting by Outstanding Vol

1.00

Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015

Business | Capital Market

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009

Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015 Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009

Daily Summary (Bonds)

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at July 8, 2015

No Debt Trading Activity

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

HEALTHCARE HEALTHCARE Totals Symbol FTNCOCOA OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 1 29 21 51

Current Price 0.50 28.50 34.00

Quantity Traded 2,100 533,977 155,633 691,710

Value Traded 1,050.00 15,240,284.58 5,339,652.21 20,580,986.79

ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Computer Based Systems Totals

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 39 39

Current Price 2.07

Quantity Traded 773,247 773,247

Value Traded 1,616,703.20 1,616,703.20

1,464,957

22,197,689.99

Quantity Traded 260 4,537,579 197,657 4,735,496

Value Traded 977.60 12,011,188.21 7,989,781.62 20,001,947.43

4,735,496

20,001,947.43

AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Daily Summary as of Industries 08/07/2015 Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009 PLC. CHELLARAMS TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

90 Symbol CHELLARAM TRANSCORP UACN

No. of Deals 2 89 33 124

Daily Summary (Equities)

CONGLOMERATES Totals Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE

Current Price 3.95 2.67 41.00

124

Quantity TradedPage 437,757 437,757

13 1 of Value Traded 345,945.47 345,945.47

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

Symbol JBERGER

No. of Deals 5 5

Current Price 48.50

Quantity Traded 9,317 9,317

Value Traded 438,920.36 438,920.36

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

Symbol UAC-PROP

No. of Deals 18 18

Current Price 10.40

Quantity Traded 306,665 306,665

Value Traded 3,192,765.40 3,192,765.40

753,739

3,977,631.23

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015 INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009 NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals

37 Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW NB

No. of Deals 2 51 5 149 207

Current Price 5.90 146.24 19.50 139.00

Quantity Traded 690 81,409 5,102 3,110,795 3,197,996

Value Traded 3,968.60 11,901,281.09 98,181.96 433,444,527.07 445,447,958.72

Symbol 7UP

No. of Deals 23 23

Current Price 191.60

Quantity Traded 100,586 100,586

Value Traded 19,277,101.17 19,277,101.17

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR MANDRID MULTITREX NASCON NNFM UNIONDICON

No. of Deals 41 46 43 20 1 2 19 1 1 174

Current Price 3.29 6.35 34.00 3.47 5.35 0.50 7.61 18.05 11.84

Quantity Traded 300,834 1,092,819 163,715 195,558 100 200,100 206,692 1,000 100 2,160,918

Value Traded 1,005,902.23 7,016,125.93 5,493,869.37 651,269.78 509.00 100,050.00 1,561,054.36 18,950.00 1,125.00 15,848,855.67

Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals 19 42 61

Current Price 35.05 850.01

Quantity Traded 24,380 23,889 48,269

Value Traded 815,472.76 19,833,357.14 20,648,829.90

Household Durables

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 32 11 43

Current Price 5.88 1.36

Quantity Traded 4,306,287 499,650 4,805,937

Value Traded 23,936,548.67 672,918.28 24,609,466.95

No. of Deals 43 (Equities) 24

Current Price 30.05 42.00

Quantity Traded 387,967 84,398

Value Traded 11,601,190.94 3,491,041.30

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSUMER GOODS Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC P S MANDRIDES & CO PLC. MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. UNION DICON SALT PLC. Food Products Totals

VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015

VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009

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

Symbol PZ UNILEVER Daily Summary

Page

CONSUMER GOODS Personal/Household Products Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol

CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015 SKYE BANK PLC Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009 STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC

Page

No. of Deals Current Price 67 575

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AFRICAN ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC

CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015PLC WAPIC INSURANCE Printed 08/07/2015 Insurance14:32:09.009 Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICES Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals 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

IT Services COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC IT Services Totals

Symbol CWG

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 3.98

Quantity Traded 308 308

Value Traded 1,167.32 1,167.32

Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

Symbol CHAMS

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 111,960 111,960

Value Traded 55,980.00 55,980.00

1,112,318

557,172.32

Quantity Traded 264,629 100 100 310,886 880,861 65,058 1,521,634

Value Traded 5,782,819.37 1,015.00 3,895.00 3,495,366.75 148,085,700.05 6,535,686.63 163,904,482.80

BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals EQTY Activity Summary on Board

7 Symbol No. of Deals ASHAKACEM 29 BERGER 1 CAP 1 CCNN 25 DailyDANGCEM Summary (Equities) 24 WAPCO 27 107

Symbol BETAGLAS

NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. Chemicals Totals Metals ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. Metals Totals

Value Traded 119,397,506.22 8,781,470.76 48,799,894.95 9,690,125.03 188,541,758.14 2,109,056.34 12,899,875.47 51,558,069.37 98,941.07 5,153,689.00

No. of Deals 1 35 32 1 3 1 10 9 6 29 2 12 18 159

Current Price 0.50 0.95 1.02 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.51 2.84 0.50 0.70 0.50 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded 100 3,976,293 Page 3,654,394 1,800 200,000 3,000 2,200,137 209,082 27,000 2,816,853 60,000 3,500 263,427 13,415,586

Symbol No. of Deals FORTISMFB 1 Daily Summary (Equities) NPFMCRFBK 2 3

Current Price 5.42 1.05

Quantity Traded 500 1,000 1,500 Page

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 4.86

Quantity Traded 29,900 29,900

Value Traded 144,417.00 144,417.00

Symbol ALEX

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 10.43

Quantity Traded 100 100

Value Traded 991.00 991.00

30,000

145,408.00

Value Traded 250,050.00 250,050.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 193 193

Current Price 14.31

Quantity Traded 3,522,448 3,522,448

Value Traded 50,757,227.48 50,757,227.48

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

Symbol BECOPETRO CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 1 33 18 79 14 7 9 161

Current Price 0.50 40.85 2.34 194.98 148.00 50.54 151.00

Quantity Traded 9,870,650 55,828 238,192 2,672,744 17,730 2,136 6,120 12,863,400

Value Traded 4,935,325.00 2,166,685.68 535,138.08 507,569,046.63 2,646,550.75 102,570.72 959,382.40 518,914,699.26

Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 17 17

Current Price 335.00

Quantity Traded 54,764 54,764

Value Traded 18,341,042.61 18,341,042.61

16,940,712

588,263,019.35

OANDO Daily Summary (Equities)

Value Traded 50.00

387 No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.77

Quantity Traded 5,000 5,000

Value Traded 3,700.00 3,700.00

Symbol

No. of Deals 7 5 12

Current Price 4.75 1.39

Quantity Traded 19,032 69,690 88,722

Value Traded 89,947.00 92,687.70 182,634.70

DailyREDSTAREX Summary (Equities) TRANSEXPR

Value Traded 238.00 135.00 373.00

No. of Deals 32 32 262 60 4 24 42 456

Current Price 2.71 4.09 7.98 3.00 0.50 24.75 1.34

Quantity Traded 1,146,632 1,157,453 4,391,077 17,129,773 12,578 602,071 1,175,754 25,615,338

Value Traded 3,135,463.33 4,727,742.48 34,901,524.61 50,905,781.10 6,289.00 14,859,184.40 1,594,432.96 110,130,417.88

149,960,497

1,490,255,656.65

Quantity Traded 625,556 31,576 257,446 739,668 148,800 1,803,046

Value Traded 569,255.96 104,707.16 11,000,191.00 1,149,229.50 208,320.00 13,031,703.62

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 17 17

Current Price 3.83

Quantity Traded 1,201,073 1,201,073

Value Traded 4,547,762.77 4,547,762.77

Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC Media/Entertainment Totals

Symbol DAARCOMM

No. of Deals 4 4

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 80,000 80,000

Value Traded 40,000.00 40,000.00

Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Printing/Publishing Totals

Symbol ACADEMY LEARNAFRCA UPL

No. of Deals 9 3 4 16

Current Price 0.95 1.25 6.03

Quantity Traded 45,944 3,000 35,833 84,777

Value Traded 42,574.70 3,710.00 205,324.54 251,609.24

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 7 7

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 613,959 613,959

Value Traded 312,222.09 312,222.09

No. of Deals 5 30 Daily Summary (Equities) 35

Current Price 2.08 5.02

Quantity Traded 18,649 456,070 474,719

Value Traded 37,298.00 2,364,165.90 2,401,463.90

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

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

Page Symbol CAVERTON

No. of Deals 1 1

Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 3.25

159,374.00 159,374.00

Quantity Traded 150 150

Value Traded 463.50 463.50

2,854,850

7,899,230.20

3,325

193,965,203

2,919,623,746.71

Quantity Traded 958 958

Value Traded 1,469.90 1,469.90

958

1,469.90

Activity Summary on Board ASeM

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

Page

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals

EQTY Board Totals

Quantity Traded 200 100 300

Current Price 0.91 3.48 43.50 1.55 1.40

10 of 13 Value Traded

SERVICES Totals

Current Price 1.25 1.42

No. of Deals 11 7 15 16 7 56

Quantity TradedPage 306,450 306,450

SERVICES Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals

No. of Deals 2 1 3

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH

Symbol RTBRISCOE

Value Traded 2,710.00 1,008.00 3,718.00

Current Price 0.52

Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009

3,763,609.48 900.00 100,000.00 1,500.00 1,101,774.67 587,292.88 13,500.00 1,952,230.33 30,000.00 1,750.00 131,713.50 11,461,537.36

Page

No. of Deals 4 4

Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Daily Summary Transportation as of 08/07/2015Totals

Symbol ABBEYBDS INFINITY

1,839

Symbol CILEASING

C & I LEASING PLC. Employment Solutions Totals

4 3,777,216.50 of 13

232,369,843.27

Quantity Traded 500,100 500,100

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Value Traded 1,229,766.28 920,399,457.78 1,368,659,610.41

3,523,517

Current Price 0.50

SERVICES Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015 Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009 R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

Quantity Traded 22,205,807 2,121,423 2,275,067 5,880,201 7,082,409 921,297 6,002,884 12,642,362 11,193 2,163,100

Symbol AFRINSURE AIICO CONTINSURE EQUITYASUR GNI LASACO LINKASSURE MANSARD MBENEFIT NEM NIGERINS REGALINS WAPIC

Symbol BOCGAS

OIL AND GAS Totals

540,924,444.65

Quantity Traded 1,230,979 48,391,051 110,927,773

Value Traded 68,465,360.47 68,465,360.47

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

10,786,071

Current Price 1.00 19.02

Page

No. of Deals 16 16

Value Traded 15,092,232.24

No. of Deals 21 212 1,218

Quantity Traded 2,001,883 2,001,883

Symbol JAPAULOIL

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

Quantity Traded 472,365

Symbol WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

Current Price 34.20

111

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals OIL AND GAS Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015 Energy Equipment and Services Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009 JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals

Current Price 22.15 10.68 41.00 11.18 168.00 103.00

No. of Deals 4 4

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Symbol No. of Deals Current Price ACCESS 124 5.45 DIAMONDBNK 35 4.10 ETI 42 21.50 FIDELITYBK 77 1.65 GUARANTY 253 26.40 SKYEBANK 41 2.27 STERLNBANK 47 2.12 UBA 316 4.10 UBN 11 8.91 Daily Summary (Equities) UNITYBNK 39 2.37

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Pharmaceuticals Totals

Value Traded 500,025.00 500,025.00

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals

Quantity Traded 1,000,050 1,000,050

Current Price 0.50

INDUSTRIAL GOODS

Current Price 0.80

13,031,703.62

No. of Deals 2 2

ICT Totals

No. of Deals 14 14

COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

1,803,046

Symbol COURTVILLE

Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015 Building Materials Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009 ASHAKA CEM PLC

Symbol COSTAIN

CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC Food Products Totals

Symbol MCNICHOLS

No. of Deals 3 3

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

ASeM Board Totals

958

1,469.90

Equity Activity Totals

3,328

193,966,161

2,919,625,216.61

Daily Summary as of 08/07/2015 Printed 08/07/2015 14:32:09.009

Exchange Traded Fund

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

Current Price 1.50

Daily Summary (ETP) Symbol LOTUSHAL15 NEWGOLD VETGRIF30

Page

No. of Deals 1 1 1 3

Current Price 10.41 2,221.00 14.66

Quantity Traded 10 51 25 86

Value Traded 104.10 113,271.00 366.50 113,741.60

ETF Board Totals

113,741.60

ETP Activity Totals

113,741.60

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Features

Still far from peace Despite the sacking of principal officers of the Osun State University, the report of the Visitation Panel on the crisis in the institution raises many unanswered questions, write KAYODE OLANREWAJU and ADEOLU ADEYEMO

he last may not have been heard about the crisis rocking the Osun State University (UNIOSUN) following the sacking of four principal officers of the institution by Governor Rauf Aregbesola. The sacking by the governor, who is the Visitor to the institution, was based on the report of the Visitation Panel raised by the government. Those sacked were the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bashir Okesina, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Siyan Oyeweso, the Registrar, Dr. Faniran Olusakin and the Bursar, Alhaji Lasisi Adebayo. The governor also banned Prof. Wasiu Gbolagade of the Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, College of Science Engineering and Technology and some other professors from holding appointments in the university. The Governing Council led by Prof. Gabriel Olawoyin (SAN) and the university management, led by Okesina, had been at loggerheads over allegation of professional and administrative misconducts, staggering loyalty to the council, defrauding the university and nepotism. Others included neglect of university infrastructure, hastiness in starting distance learning programme, misuse of official car, incitement of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) against the council, borehole issue, inflation of contracts and sundry issues relating to or tagged as abuse of power levelled against the vice-chancellor, registrar and the bursar by the council chair. Based on the allegation, the vicechancellor was suspended, while the registrar and bursar were sacked by the council. The governor, therefore, raised a Visitation Panel on the UNIOSUN crisis, headed by Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, which in its report recommended the

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

Aregbesola

sack of the four principal officers, a recommendation which the government accepted for immediate implementation. But Oyeweso, in a letter to the governor entitled: “Government White Paper on the Report of the Visitation Panel into the Crisis in the Osun State University – Request for a Review,” described his sack as a subtle attempt at targeting him for persecution, harassment and intimidation. He, however, wondered how the government could have accepted the recommendations of the panel on the crisis to sack him based on frivolous allegations, and called for urgent review of the white paper on UNIOSUN crisis gazetted vide Gazette No 2, Vol. 25 of June 11, 2015. Oyeweso pointed out that the activities of the panel and council were designed to humiliate him despite what he had done to promote and add value to the university academically and administratively. According to the professor of History and pioneer Provost of the College of Humanities and Culture, Ikire Campus of the university, the government’s action contravened his right to fair hearing and the rule of natural justice. Specifically, the panel’s report accused Oyeweso, who served the university in various capacities as former chairman of the Committee of Provosts, member of the Governing Council, the chairman, Business Committee of Senate, and director of Development and Centre for Human Resource Development, of playing “negative roles in the crisis, and for attending two rebellious meetings against the council held in the vicechancellor’s house with other principal officers and officials of the university, where they took a decision not to attend the 12th January, 2015 meeting of council”. Other reasons are his alleged influence on the vice-chancellor which contributed immensely to the vicechancellor’s irredeemable mistakes in the administration of the university, and for not letting his professional and

Gbolagade

Oyeweso

institutional experience have positive impact on the university as well as his insistence that the council had been dissolved without enjoining the management to seek official clarification on the matter. While, insisting that the recommendation was laced with anomalies, inaccuracies, misrepresentation and injustice, he pointed out that his sack was premeditated and should be seen as a calculated ambush and a breach of his fundamental human rights. His letter reads in part: “I did not play any negative role in the UNIOSUN crisis. I have always canvassed mediation, negotiation, discussions, mutual respect and round-table dialogue as useful tools for conflict resolution. “I am deeply convinced that termination of my statutory appointment or relieving of appointment of principal officers, and banning some professors from holding university appointments, without sound rational justification, will not provide an enduring solution to the UNIOSUN crisis. “It is an ill-wind and a seed for future troubles. The recommendation of the Visitation Panel that my appointment be terminated - a position accepted by the government of the State of Osun, needs a critical review and reflection given my antecedents in Osun State University in particular and Nigerian university system in general.” Also in their joint letter to Aregbesola, Olusakin (the registrar) and Adebayo (the bursar) described their sack as a miscarriage of justice. They said: “It is unjust, unfair, premeditated and an attempt to cause confusion. “It is our firm belief that you (governor) will be fair, just, transparent, equitable and courageous enough to do what is right in view of the various insinuations and attempts to hide the facts of the matter which are capable of embarrassing the government and the wisdom God has given you as the rare opportunity to lead the state. “Mr. Governor Sir, we know you as a man of peace, justice and equity, but why is the resolution of the minor dis-

agreement between the council of the university and management difficult to resolve?” Olusakin and Adebayo, who noted that they had put in substantial number of years of service, said they had only two years left. They added: “It would not augur well for our career to be destroyed when we had only two years to leave the service just because of disagreement between council and management. “Our plea is for you to reconsider the position of government in the termination of our appointments.” Meanwhile, Gbolagade has described all allegations against him as ruse and far from the truth. He said: “We have held several meetings outside the university environment to resolve issues and crisis in the system.” Like others, Gbolagade’s sin, according to the report, was that he attended the two meetings against the Governing Council held in the vice-chancellor’s house with other principal officers of the university. He was also accused of shunning the January 12 and 22 meetings of council to which he was invited as a representative of the Senate and having the effrontery to forward the circulars on the purported dissolution of the council to the chairman of council with ulterior motives, and circulating the circulars among some staff rather than advising the management to seek proper clarification. Echoing Oyeweso’s position, Gbolagade cited a case where stakeholders in the university gathered on December 3, 2014 outside the institution because of the crisis between the NonAcademic Staff Union (NASU) and the management. As part of their punishment, Gbolagade and other officers, including Adebayo and Prof Kizito Folorunsho, were ordered by the government to refund into the coffers of the university various sums of money allegedly misappropriated.

46 News

Ambode orders enforcement of law against street trading lTask force arrests 46 hoodlums

Muritala Ayinla

orried by the new wave of crimes occasioned by street trading and other environmental misconducts in the state, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday directed the Task Force on Environmental Sanitation and other special offences

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

SOUTH-WEST

to enforce the law banning street trading in the metropolis. This was even as the task force officials clamped down on streets traders in Oshodi and arrested no fewer than 46 hoodlums suspected to have been terrorizing people in the area. New Telegraph learnt that the security reports on the state had revealed that there were persons who pose as beggars, especially in traffic, with sole

aim of perpetrating evil. Hence, the state government has vowed to prevent security breaches by taking preemptive measures to forestall this development. Governor Ambode, in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, expressed concern about the resurgence of street trading and begging, saying that such activities also pose security threat to citi-

zens especially in major areas of the state. Ambode said that streets traders and buyers would henceforth be arrested as a directive had been given to the law enforcement agents to strictly enforce the laws. The governor urged those interested in doing business to seek for space in the various modern markets redeveloped by the state government to enhance business activities, adding that there are laws that prohibit street trading.

Ondo: Tribunal dismisses six petitions Babatope Okeowo Akure

he election petition tribunal sitting in Akure, the Ondo State, yesterday dismissed six petitions filed against the outcome of the April 2015 House of Assembly elections held in the state. The petitions dismissed by the Justice Anthony Ogar led tribunal included two petitions filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and four filed by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In the election, the PDP won 21 seats while the APC won five. The dismissed petitions included that of APC’s Festus Aregbesola from Akure South constituency 1 against his PDP’s counterpart, Kemisola Adesanya. It also included the PDP’s Adeniyi Adetokunbo, against Dr. Kazeem Suleiman of

the APC from Akoko South West constituency. Others included Abayomi Ode of the PDP against his APC’s counterpart, Mukaila Ayinde from Owo constituency 11 and Gbenga Edema of APC against his PDP’s counterpart, Coker malachi from Ilaje 2. Also dismissed are PDP’s Kunle Adejuyigbe from Akure South 1 against Sunday Olajide of the APC and Adeyinka Banso of PDP from Akoko North West 1 against his APC counterpart. Justice Ogar struck out the all the six cases on technical grounds and non-complaince with the electoral act. The Tribunal noted that the petitioners’ lawyers failed to apply for and file the pre-trial form within seven days after the close of pleadings by the respondent making the petitions substantially incompetent .

Buhari on track to stabilise economy –Oyintiloye Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

L-R: Engr. Yemisi Shylon; Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo; Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun ; author of the book, Hakeem Adenekan; his wife, Adeyinka and Senator Daisy Danjuma, during the launch of a book in Abeokuta.

Again, tribunal dismisses INEC application against PDP’s petition Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

arely 24 hours after its applications were dismissed, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also lost another application to stop the petition of the Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Prince Gboyega Isiaka, challenging the victory of Governor Ibikunle Amo-

sun in the April 11 election. The Ogun State election petitions tribunal sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta struck out the electoral body’s application in a ruling yesterday. The tribunal, headed by Justice Henry Olusiyi, stated that commission had failed to make a good case for itself. But while it dismissed the INEC’s prayer to strike out the whole petition, the tribunal granted the electoral body’s prayer

to strike out the names of fourth to 128th respondents in the petition. Counsel to the INEC, Olusina Sofola (SAN), had on Tuesday moved a motion of preliminary objection, praying the tribunal to strike out the petition brought before the panel by Isiaka. He also prayed the election tribunal to strike out the names of the 4th to 128th respondents/applicants in the substantive suit.

Arguing his case yesterday, Sofola, told the court that the PDP candidate’s petition was brought before a tribunal unknown to the 1999 constitution (as amended) and thereby rendered the petition incompetent. He noted that the heading on the petition read “Governorship and Legislative Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal” instead of “Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.”

Ondo to partner stakeholders on health development Babatope Okeowo Akure

ndo State Government yesterday reiterated its commitment to routine immunization exercise for mothers and children in order to eradicate killer diseases in the state. The state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Lasisi Ol-

uboyo, who disclosed this yesterday, said the government would continue to partner with health organizations and other relevant stakeholders towards eradicating polio in the state and the country in general. Oluboyo, who represented the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, dur-

ing a meeting with members of the state task force on polio eradication at the governor’s office in Akure, the state capital, said the government has invested heavily in the health sector because of its peculiarity According to him, the present administration in the state would not relent in its efforts in the health

sector. He added that the government would continue to work towards eradicating communicable and non-communicable diseases in the state. He commended the state Ministry of Health, all health workers and their partners for their efforts at ensuring that polio is kicked out in the state.

n Osun State House of Assembly member representing Obokun Constituency, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has described the approval of the comprehensive relief package of N713.7billion by President Muhammadu Buhari to end the lingering crisis of unpaid workers’ salaries across the country as an inexplicable act that would never be obliterated in the minds of all. Oyintiloye, who gave kudos to President Bu-

hari on the gesture, in a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo, charged him to maintain the tempo. He remarked that “with the approval, states of the federation will secure a degree of succour and work out strategies to wriggle themselves out of the financial stress brought about with the economic let-down”. The lawmaker reasoned that, the action of the President implies that he has done a “stop gap analysis” of the situation which led him to approve the financial quick fix in line with the international standard, agitation and yearnings of Nigerians.

APC, PDP bicker over FG’s $2.1bn, Fayose Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

he All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday engaged in bickering over the disbursement of the $2.1 billion to all tiers of government by the Federal Government and the development strides in the state. The state Publicity Secretaries of the two parties, Jackson Adebayo and Taiwo Olatubosun, in separate statements in AdoEkiti, differed on the fund disbursement and the administration of Governor Ayodele Fayose. Speaking for the PDP, Adebayo, lauded the Fayose administration for its development strides in the state since he came on board despite the political

‘war’ waged against it by the APC. He said it can only take a courageous man to still make some impact in the last seven months despite needless political war against him, especially from the former 19 APC members of the House of Assembly. The party described the actions of the opposition party in the state as capable of truncating democracy and throw the governor and his administration off balance. He gave kudos to the people of the state for standing by the governor and lauded Fayose, for the construction of Aduni Olayinka Centre, Irewumi Road through Olorunsogo, to the Trade Fair Complex, the Car Wash and the Afao Road among others.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

Seven arraigned for conspiracy, forgery by Anambra Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

even members of the Onitsha-Odekpe Plastic Dealers Association, have been arraigned before the Atani Magistrate Court presided over by Magistrate G.C Nwabachili, for conspiracy and forgery against the Anambra State Government. The defendants were arraigned, following a three count charge of an alleged conspiracy and forgery of the signatories of the late chairman and Chief Executive of Niger Paper Mills Ltd Onitsha, located at the Niger Bridge Head Onitsha Evangelist Collinus Ilodi and the companies secretary to obtain Certificate of Ownership (C-of O) of a parcel of land belonging

to the company. When the matter came up yesterday before the magistrate, the defense council, Mr. R.E Nduka, made an oral application for an adjournment following the absence of one of the principal witness in the matter, Mr. Sam Ugwu, who he said is at the Theological Collage Umuahia. According to him, he did not know that the matter was coming up for hearing and all efforts to get him informed that the case was slated for hearing yesterday proved abortive. He said, all the accused in the matter have been attending the court proceeding but noted that Ugwu was unavoidably absent due to unforeseen circumstance beyond his control.

News 47

SOUTH-EAST

Nine killed, seven abducted in Anambra, Kogi boundary feud Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

t least nine people were allegedly killed and seven others abducted in a renewed communal clash between the Odeke community in Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi and the people of Enugu-Otu in Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State. The incident also led to the destruction of prop-

erty worth over N1billion belonging to the Anambra Orient Petroleum Limited. New Telegraph gathered that irate youths armed with various dangerous weapons attacked the Orient Petroleum facilities located 10 kilometers away from the abode of the people of EnuguOtu Aguleri, destroying property of the company in the process. According to the President General of the community Chief Edwin Chukwuemeka, the at-

tackers got information on the exact location of the petroleum through their agents in the area which he described as faceless, adding that soldiers and the mobile police deployed to guard the oil company facility and the workers suddenly disappeared few minutes before. He described the act of the security as sinister, claiming that it was a clear case of connivance between the security agents and the attackers from Kogi.

Recounting the gory incident, Chukwuemeka, said, “they set ablaze many buildings, burnt the major electricity generators, vehicles including tractors, blew up oil pipe lines and destroyed many other costly oil facilities.” He revealed that invasion of the neighbouring attackers drew the ire of the Otu-Aguleri community who quickly mobilized to repel the attackers who fled, leaving behind huge destruction from the property they set ablaze.

Three parties withdraw petitions against Okorocha Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

hree political parties and their governorship candidates have withdrawn their petitions challenging the election of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State in the last governorship election in the state at the election petition tribunal. The petitions before the Honourable Justice David Wyon-led election petition tribunal sitting in Owerri, the Imo State capital have subsequently been struck out following the withdrawal. The political parties and their respective candidates that opted out of the governorship election petitions tribunal proceedings include; the National Conscience Party, (NCP), Hon. Chigozie Ewunonu;

African Peoples Alliance (APA), Charles Nnadi and Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP), Pastor Anselem Igbokwe. Commending the parties and their governorship candidates, the state government, in a press statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, said: “They had withdrawn their petitions in the interest of the state and the people and they had chosen not to be part of any distraction to the government in the state or disturbance to the governor”. The statement also advised the remaining candidate at the tribunal to pursue his petition at the tribunal with a high sense of decorum instead of taking actions and making utterances that could heat up the polity.

Ebonyi uncovers ghost workers, stops e-payment system Uchenna Inya ABAKALIKI

bonyi State government yesterday said it has uncovered ghost workers in the state local government system and the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) which constitute twenty five per cent of the workers. To this end, the Governor, Dave Umahi, has ordered the newly appointed Auditor-General of the local government areas Mr. George Ndukwe, to fishout the ghost workers to sanitize the system which he said has been bedeviled by

corruption. Umahi spoke at the Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre, Abakaliki, while swearing-in Ndukwe and newly appointed members of Christian and Muslims Pilgrims Welfare board. He noted that there were many non-existent schools in most parts of the state with non-existent teachers used in siphoning public funds which he said will no longer be tolerated and accused Treasurers and Heads of Personnel Management(HPMs) who were recently sacked of conniving with politicians and defrauded the state.

L-R: Hon. Anicho Okoro; Hon. Ogundipe Makanjuola; PDP National Vice-Chairman (South East), Mr. Abdulkadir Kure; members of the PDP election review committee (South East), Sen. Ahmed Makarfi and Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, during the committee’s meeting with the zone’s party stakeholders, at the Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu...yesterday

Agip abandons Imo communities, as spill ravage villages Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

he people of EkpeObokofia and Abacheke communities in Ohaji Egbema council area of Imo State, have raised the alarm on the degeneration of their environment, health and means of livelihood occasioned by the activities of Nigerian Agip Oil Company. The communities have also appealed to the state and Federal Government

to ameliorate their plight and forestall the destruction of their natural habitat and put a firm check on the life-threatening activities of oil companies. Investigations indicate that the pollution of the community’s natural habitat was occasioned by a gas explosion that occurred in one of the Agip facilities located at Ebocha community, Ogba-Egbema a border community between Rivers and Imo states. Locals narrated that on the day of the twin gas

explosion, indigenes of Obokofia and Abacheka communities woke up to pandemonium as thick black smoke spiralled up into the sky, momentarily blocking off sunlight as the carbonated smoke enveloped the whole villages. Oil floated on the rivers, ponds while roofs and windows were all covered by black sooth and patches of oil. Consequently, most inhabitants of the community have been rendered homeless, jobless and desolate as the people are

predominantly farmers and fishermen. The Imo State Government had sent a fact finding team to the communities to ascertain the level of damage done by the gas explosion in the area. Indigenes of the communities in a town hall meeting with government delegation have also lamented the ‘absolute neglect and insensitivity’ exhibited by Agip Oil Company and other oil companies operating in their area.

Ugwuanyi leads Enugu West to honour Chime he Governor of Enugu Chime at Udi town, his thanked them for demon- ecute his administration’s State, Chief Ifeanyi Ug- country home. T strating in concrete terms agenda to develop the state, wuanyi, has assured the The governor told the people of the state that he will run an all inclusive government by consulting stakeholders in major decisions that affect the people. Ugwuanyi gave the assurance while speaking when traditional rulers, leaders of thought, PDP stakeholders, top government officials and sons and daughters from Enugu West Senatorial District, paid a thank you visit to the immediate past Governor of the state, Mr. Sullivan

people of the zone that no section of the state will be discriminated against in the distribution of amenities, adding that the 9th Mile Corner Ngwo and Oji River will be developed into major urban centres while the San Carlos Pineapple farm, Awgu, will receive government’s attention. He described as historic, the thank you visit to Chime, by the people from the three geopolitical zones of the state and

their appreciation of his achievements in the state in the past eight years of administration. Ugwuanyi used the occasion to renew his appeal to the people for their continued prayers and support to enable him ex-

especially the rural areas. In his speech, Chime expressed gratitude to the people of Enugu State for appreciating what he wasable to achieve during his eight years in office and attributed it to their prayers, co-operation and support.

PUBLIC NOTICE This is to inform the general public that efforts made to serve Executors of the Estate of Late Otu Ekpeyong Ita Iyang LAND REGISTRY NOTICE in respect of consent registration of 66 Modupe Johnson Crescent covered by MO 6608 has proved abortive. Anyone having objection to the registration should do so within 21days to the Registrar of Titles Lagos State Ministry of Land Alausa.

News

SOUTH-SOUTH

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Oyegun to Wike: Don’t undermine APC govt Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

he National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, yesterday read the riot act to Rivers State governor, Nysom Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) warning them not to undermine the government of the APC. Oyegun, who spoke when the 23 local government chairmen from Rivers State visited him at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja, said the change the people of Nigeria voted for on March 28, has come to stay.

According to him, “the change has come to stay and those in governance and Nigerians should accept it or pay dearly for undermining it.” Addressing the local government chairmen, who had come to the secretariat for assistance on how Governor Wike had been treating them, the national chairman said: “I want to give you the assurance that yes things have changed in this nation, those who are still testing our resolve will discover sooner than later that they are absolutely on the wrong track. “The fact that we are a party of law, the fact that we are a party of order, the fact that we are a party of due

process, does not mean we will allow impunity to continue; that we will allow the blood of innocent citizens to be shed on the platform of politics or for political reasons. “If the PDP in Rivers State does not recognise that change has in fact come to this nation, then they will be doing so at their own peril, because there certainly will be consequences. We cannot allow our members, innocent citizens, to be witch-hunted, to be slain, to be abused the way they are used to and the way it has been happening. “It is clear that anything that has life kicks very hard when they are dying, because it is clear they are on

their last legs. I cannot say more because a lot of these cases are in court and I have a feeling that is why the party, the government and our people do not want to use the attributes that they have, so nobody will say we are trying to undermine the cases that are in court or any such thing. “Like we have said as a party, if due process is followed, your ailments, your deprivations like everything, will much sooner than later come to an end.” Reacting to complaints on funds deprivation, Oyegun said: “You have specifically mentioned the issue of funding, that we will take up, our legal adviser was here yesterday, I hope he’s

still in town. I will see what the situation is whether a state government can totally sit on the funds of the local government and we will do whatever is appropriate to get that money. “The issue of security is serious, but the point you made is also very serious. I want to give you an undertaken that as we leave this place, we will act on it. If you have any copy of the petition that you have written naming names, we are very familiar with the situation in Rivers State, but if names have been named by what today is the governing party of this nation, we will call attention back to those names and ensure that justice is done, Oyegun said.

27 suspects arrested for cultism in Delta Dominic Adewole and Adewole Martins

combined team of policemen and Orhuwhorum vigilante at Ovwian Aladja Division in Delta state yesterday nabbed a group of young men suspected to be cult members, who had gathered to unleash mayhem on the community. The suspects, numbering about 40, were intercepted in their Toyota Hiace bus with registration number UBJ 449 AA and with a large quantity of dried weeds suspected to be Indian hemp and white candles while they were on voyage to their initiation ground. The Police Public Relations Officer, Celestina Kalu, at the command headquarters in Asaba, said the policemen and the vigilante group were on routine patrol when they sighted the suspects. “The team swung into action and arrested 27 of them while the rest escaped. Efforts are on to apprehend their fleeing colleagues and to checkmate the activities of cultists in the area”, Kalu said. She hinted of how police operatives in the same division alongside Ovwian vigilante group foiled a robbery incident along Isoko Street in the locality. “Consequently, the team immediately raced to the scene where one of the suspects named Jeffery Isoko, an 18-year-old man, was apprehended after he was demobilised with a gunshot on his right leg in order to forestall his escape.”

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Bassey Dan-Abia; Chairman, Senator Bassey EwaHenshaw and Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, during a visit to the governor in Benin-City.

Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

do State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday called for stiffer penalties against rapists, pedophiles and anyone involved in child abuse to serve as deterrence to others.

Uyo

olicy Alert, a nongovernmental organisation based in Uyo, has asked the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly to oppose the Federal Government proposal of building a nuclear power plant in Itu Local Government Area of the state. In a letter addressed to the Speaker and made available to journalists, the group called on the House to “issue a strong

he Rivers State government yesterday, said it would use the N30 billion loan approved by the state House of Assembly to rehabilitate and reconstruct roads in the state. The position was made clear by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Kenneth Kobani. Kobani said the loan would also fund government’s “Zero Pothole” campaign and offset salary arrears of civil servants and pensioners. He said the state government was pursuing a robust road rehabilitation and reconstruction drive to ease the sufferings of road users. “Rivers State government sent a request to the state House of Assembly to fund key infrastructure that needed urgent attention in the state. “The first N10 billion is currently being used by Julius Berger and the CCECC construction company for the state government’s ‘Zero Pothole’ campaign in Port Harcourt. “Other funds will be used to complete strategic projects that were left by the previous administration, which include the Woji/Akpajo Road and bridge projects, among others,” he said. Kobani, reacting to critics of the loan, said the government was forced to borrow because the roads were in poor conditions.

Oshiomhole seeks stiffer penalties for rape, child abuse He also urged people of the state to desist from giving alms to child beggars along major streets to discourage the rising trend of child beggars in parts of the state. Oshiomhole spoke when the Chairman and members of the Interna-

tional Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in the state, led by Mrs. Stella Ojemen, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Benin City. He expressed appreciation at the role being played by FIDA at addressing some of the challenges

that government ought to have addressed like ensuring that we all mount campaigns against rape and defilement as well as ensure that when people have carried out these heinous crimes, they are properly arrested and diligently prosecuted with a

A’Ibom Assembly urged to stall Police charge ex-Delta council nuclear plant project boss with murder Tony Anichebe

How we’ll spend N30bn loan, by Rivers

resolution opposing the decision of the Federal Government to site a nuclear plant in the state.” The letter, which was signed by Tijah BoltonAkpan, the organisation’s Acting Executive Director and Head of Programmes, added that; “the proposed project will endanger the land, air and water sources of several communities within a 30-kilometre radius of the plant while putting the lives of millions of citizens at risk in the event of plant failures.”

Dominic Adewole ASABA

he former Transition Chairman of Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, Innocent Ezenwezia, was yesterday charged to court over his involvement in the killings that trailed the April 11, 2015 Governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state. The charge sheet, signed by DSP Bob College, numbered M/B/48C/, accused the suspect of hitting his

victim dangerously with walking stick, cutlasses, knives as confirmed by the medical report from the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba. The state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Usman Baba, in a fivecount charge, accused the suspect of conspiracy to commit felony and murder, punishable under Section 324/319/335 of the Criminal Code (2006) respectively. Men of the command at the weekend swooped

view to sending them to prison. The governor said the state government was of the view that such laws should be reviewed towards ensuring that rapists are penalised according to the gravity of their offences. on the former council boss, who was said to have masterminded the gruesome murder of one Emeka Oniawa, a political aide to the House of Assembly candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Tony Azuya, during the election. His arrest had thrown the entire council area into pandemonium some days ago, forcing those linked to the matter to flee the community. The victim, who was rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), thereafter died while two other victims of the attack survived.

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015

News 49

NORTH

Kaduna blasts: NUT confirms death of 37 teachers Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

resident of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Michael Olukoya, yesterday confirmed the death of 37 teachers in Tuesday’s bomb blast in SabonGari, Zaria, Kaduna State. He also said several other teachers who were victims of the latest bomb blast, are in

critical condition in various hospitals across the state. Olukoya also confirmed that 272 teachers have lost their lives to the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State alone, adding that over 19,000 teachers have been displaced in the North-East since the crisis broke out in the country. It will be recalled that a blast occurred on Tuesday at Sabon-Gari Local

Government Secretariat, while civil servants in the state presented themselves for verification as earlier directed by the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. The NUT President gave these statistics in Abuja yesterday at a programme commemorating NUT Founders Day. Olukoya reminded President Muhammadu Buhari that the war against insurgency was far from being over; add-

ing that daily attacks by the sect was indicative of the grim reality that the callous attacks by the insurgents is still daunting. The NUT President, who said government should tilt its development programmes on the critical sectors of the economy, especially education, however, said there was need for a review of the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 by the present ad-

over time. “It is for this and other similar reason that the retirement age of lecturers and professors in the tertiary institutions was extended to 65 and 70 years respectively, while that of judges was also increased to 70 years. “We therefore wish to restate our demand that the retirement age of primary and secondary school teachers in the country be raised from 60 to 65 years,” he stated.

No English, Mathematics teachers in Katsina schools, says Masari

Sacked council chairmen sue Lalong

Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

atsina State governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, yesterday lamented the poor state of education in the state saying; “the state lacks qualified teachers in English Language and Mathematics. The governor, who painted a grim situation in the education sector in his state, said this in Abuja yesterday when he visited the headquarters of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund). While making specific appeals to the management of TETfund to focus its interventions on Polytechnics and Colleges of Education

Musa Pam Jos

he dissolved seventeen local government council chairmen in Plateau State have said that their recent dissolution by Governor Simon Lalong is unconstitutional and have taken the governor to court. The former chairmen obtained an interim order restraining both the state House of Assembly and the state government through the Office of the Attorney General of the state from dissolving the council chairmen. Chairman of the Association of Local government Nigerian (ALGON) Plateau State chapter, Hon. Emmanuel Loman, stated this yesterday while addressing journalists in Jos. It will be recalled that Governor Lalong recently approved the dissolution of the elected local government councils in the state with immediate effect. According to Loman, “The recent sack of the elected local government chairmen is condemnable as the people of the state will also recall that Govenor Lalong gave public assurances on several occasions that he was not going to dissolve local government councils as it is the practice whenever new governors are sworn in. “It is on record that our beloved governor used this assurance as a campaign tool before the elections and even in his inauguration speech, he reiterated this commitment.” New Telegraph gathered that Lalong had stated emphatically that being a lawyer and former legislator, his word was his bond, but Mr. Governor broke his promise less than two months after inauguration.

ministration. He argued that retirement age of university lecturers and judges was recently shored up from 65 to 70 because of the assumption that they tend to perform better having garnered enough experience in the course of service. “The older the teacher, the more caring and tolerant he is to the students with improved dexterity in the pedagogy of teaching acquired

in the state, Governor Masari pleaded with the Executive Secretary of the fund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, to intervene in the training of quality teachers in the state. “In Katsina, we don’t have English Language and Mathematics teachers. These are the challenges we are facing in Katsina and we want TETfund to focus more on Colleges of Education to produce quality teachers. You cannot restore value without education; this is the pathetic situation in Katsina. We want to restore the lost glory of the state in the education sector. If we can give our children the right education, then we can go to sleep,” he said.

Emir condemns attacks on mosque, church Hassan Jirgi Damaturu

NEMA Zonal Coordinator, Abuja Zonal Office, Mr Ishaya Chonoko, presenting relief materials to a little boy at the Internally Displaced Persons (IPDs) Camp, Durumi in Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO-NAN

Court sacks Benue PDP lawmaker Cephas Iorhemen MAKURDI

Federal High Court presided over by Justice Binta Nyako yesterday sacked a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member of the Benue State House of Assembly representing Oju 2 Constituency, Hon. Mathew Ire. Ire had contested the PDP House of Assembly primaries in November 29, 2014 alongside Agi Micheal Adikwu and Jairus Erube, who was the incumbent. New Telegraph gathered that during the PDP primaries, the defendant (Ire), who was declared winner, scored 10 votes while Adikwu (plaintiff)

polled 11 votes and Erube got 5 votes respectively. It was gathered that despite the fact that the PDP candidate lost out in the election, his party, the PDP went ahead, substituted the name of the winner and declared him winner and issued him with

the certificate of return. Worried about the outcome of the election, Adikwu, who polled the highest number of votes in the primaries, challenged the emergence of Ire in court on the grounds of illegal process and substitution of names.

he Deputy Chairman, Yobe State Council of Chiefs and the Emir of Bade, Alhaji Abubakar Suleiman, has condemned the recent attacks on mosques and churches in the country, describing such attacks as barbaric, inhuman, wicked and unacceptable in the two religions. Sparking in his palace, the Emir called on Muslims to use the Ramadan period to pray for peace in the troubled states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe

and in Nigeria in general. According to him, a new dimension has been added by the insurgents as exemplified by the increasing spate of mass murder in different parts of the north, recent day most especially in the northeast region. The Emir called on the people and the leaders of the two religions to support the government and the Nigerian security apparatuses to fight the menace. He also called on Muslims to follow the teachings of the holy month and use the period to reach out to the less privileged.

Bindow calls for proactive measures against insurgency Ibrahim Abdul Yola

rked by the spate of bombings in the country recently, Adamawa State governor, Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow, yesterday called for proactive measures to stop the menace as according to him, northern states governors will

meet with a view to ending the scourge. The governor spoke after an enlarged state security meeting in Yola, where he urged Nigerians to hold on to prayers to end the insurgency plaguing the country. Governor Bindow sympathised with the direct victims of the blasts in Potiskum, Jos, Kano, Zaria

and Borno and prayed God to grant the souls of the deceased peaceful repose. He condemned the attack, describing it as an inhuman act of terror and urged the people to be vigilant, even as they preserve the peace. The governor said residents should promptly report all suspicious persons and activities to the security

agencies and community leaders. The governor prevailed on Nigerians not to despair as government was very much concerned and was working to tackle the situation. “Our President is someone with security background; with the necessary experience to tackle the challenges.”

WORLD | News

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Disney World removes Bill Cosby’s statue

statue of Bill Cosby has been removed from a Disney theme park in the wake of revelations the comedian admitted in court he gave a woman drugs before sex. The bust had been part of a Hall of Fame exhibit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida. Documents unsealed this week revealed Cosby testified in 2005 he had obtained Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to women he wanted to sleep with. Mr. Cosby is facing a se-

ries of sexual assault claims dating back decades. The 77-yearold has denied the accusations and has never been criminally charged. Calls are mounting for other public tributes to the Cosby Show star to be removed, among them a mural at a Washington DC restaurant he has been known to frequent. However, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, also in Washington, issued a statement on Tuesday saying it would continue to display artworks lent to the institution by Cosby and his wife Camille. The museum said

it was aware of the recent revelations about Cosby and that it “in no way condones this behaviour”, but said the exhibition was about the artworks and not their owners. Some figures in the entertainment industry have also commented on the revelations in recent days, either to offer tacit support for the comedian or to publicly distance themselves from him. Speaking on her TV show The View Tuesday, Whoopi Goldberg reserved judgement by saying “you are still innocent until proven guilty” and that Cosby

had “not been proven a rapist”. Former supermodel Janice Dickinson, who has accused Cosby of drugging and raping her in the early eighties, responded by calling Goldberg a “stupid woman” who “needs to be fired” from her talk show spot. Dickinson also called the release of the sealed court documents a vindication. “It shows that he and all his people knew all along that we were telling the truth,” she told People Magazine, while opening up about the impact of going public. “It’s been extremely difficult for my two children and my

Cosby

fiance and my friends and it has been extremely hard for me.It’s so painful,” said the 60 year old.

Kenyan bomb victims seek US compensation

ozens of Kenyans demonstrated in the capital yesterday to demand direct US compensation for victims of the 1998 embassy bombing in Nairobi. The protest was held just over two weeks before US President Barack Obama is due in Kenya, his father’s birthplace. “A good number of us have passed on since then because of the heavy medical expenses they could not be able to incur,” said Eliud Mulama, chairman of the Kenyan Victims of Terrorism Organisation. He called on the United

States “to make an announcement about compensation” before or during Obama’s visit. A letter delivered to the US embassy in Nairobi said compensation “will help bring closure and healing to so many who have suffered for so long because they stood with America.” The US missions in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were hit by near simultaneous car bombings on August 7, 1998. The twin bombings killed a total of 224 people and injured some 5,000 -- almost all of them Kenyans and Tanzanians.

Londoners brace for largest tube strike in over a decade

ommuters in the English capital may be well advised to stay home while the London Underground halts all 11 of its lines for a 24-hour strike starting late yesterday afternoon. Four transit unions planned the strike after failed negotiations with the London Underground over health, safety, and compensation issues connected to the city’s new Night Tube service, slated to begin in September. The strike will continue all day Thursday, with trains scheduled to begin running again Friday. One of the disgruntled unions, the Transport Salaried Staff’s Association (TSSA), took to its website to announce the strike and share its reasoning

for freezing London’s widely used underground transit system. “All we ask for is a sensible solution to the safety implications of the Night Tube, honest negotiations and a reasonable settlement on pay and hours,” the TSSA wrote on its website. The union says it’s been attempting to negotiate with London Underground management for 18 months, claiming they have been “lackluster in their engagement.” Yet the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, isn’t convinced of their stated motives. He claims “pig-headed” pro-Labor Party union leaders are retaliating against the Conservative Party’s victory in the general elections in May, the Telegraph reported.

Iraq celebrates return of antiquities, appeals for world help

raq celebrated yesterday the return of hundreds of historical artefacts, from an ancient Assyrian statue to a 20th century presidential tea set, which were looted, lost or loaned abroad over recent decades. The recovery of the 800 items from museums, universities and auction houses in the United States, Italy and Jordan marks a small victory for Iraqi authorities struggling

to protect their heritage from theft and destruction by Islamic State fighters. The hardline Islamist militants have taken over some of the world’s richest archaeological sites in northern Iraq, home to Assyrian cities dating back 2,700 years and the GraecoRoman era desert complex of Hatra. Videos released by Islamic State show several sites bulldozed, blown up or battered with sledgehammers.

Coffins of some of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre at the Srebrenica memorial centre, northeast of Sarajevo.

Thousands march to remember Srebrenica victims

urvivors of the Srebrenica massacre set out with thousands of others yesterday on a solemn 105-kilometre march ahead of the 20th anniversary of the killing of nearly 8,000 Muslims near the UN-protected enclave. Their route across Bosnia retraces the one taken by the men and boys fleeing Bosnian Serb forces who later overran Srebrenica, setting the stage for what many describe as genocide. At the United Nations yesterday, Russia vetoed a draft resolution recognising the massacre as genocide. Within days of the July 11, 1995 assault by the Serb troops nearly 8,000 of

those men and boys were massacred in what was Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II. In total some 10,000 to 15,000 Muslim men and boys tried to escape on foot through the forests to Muslim-controlled territory in the hours before the Serbs arrived. The lucky ones reached Muslim territory within five days, although some took over a month to reach safety. Some survivors have joined in the three-day memorial march along the 105-kilometre (65-mile) route, heading from the eastern town of Nezuk to Srebrenica. The marchers were walking in the opposite direction

taken by the fleeing Muslims, who arrived in Nezuk after escaping Srebrenica. “It took me seven days to reach Nezuk. It was horrible,dead people, blood everywhere. I saw my neighbours, friends, relatives, but they couldn’t be helped,” one participant, Nedzad Mujic, 46, told AFP. “We were all fighting for our own lives. Some people even left their own children behind,” said Mujic, struggling not to cry. The marchers are due to arrive at a Srebrenica memorial centre in Potocari on the eve of a commemoration of the massacre’s 20th anniversary on Saturday.

South Sudan rebel warns president of more fighting

outh Sudan’s rebel leader warned yesterday of renewed fighting, saying President Salva Kiir’s new three year mandate was illegal and the people had the right to “rise up and overthrow his regime” if he stayed on. Riek Machar made his statement in the capital of neighbouring Kenya as South Sudan’s parliament speaker formally extended Kiir’s term for three more years, as approved by lawmakers in a March vote. Rebels say parliament did not have the right to take such ac-

tion, in a nation that has been mired in conflict since December 2013. “Should President Kiir remain adamant and refuse to hand over power to the people, then the citizens have every right to rise up and overthrow his regime,” Machar said, adding Kiir’s term ended from midnight on July 8. “This is not an elected president. This is a coup leader,” he said. Fighting between forces loyal to Kiir and rebels allied with Machar plunged South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, into a civil war in De-

cember 2013. South Sudan will mark four years of independence from Sudan on Thursday. At an event in the capital Juba on yesterday, Kiir said the continued fighting was destroying the country’s economy. “You cannot see any country developing while fighting internal insurgence or fighting an external enemy, because whatever you have in your economy you have to give it to the fighting forces,” he said. “It is not me alone who will stop the war but it is all of us in South Sudan that should work to stop the war.”

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY JULY 9, 2015

News

International Sport

Track & Field

Wimbledon

I don’t know Oliseh as a coach – Peters

Pacquiao eyes 2016 return

Okagbare targets long jump medal

Federer sets up Murray semifinal

Sport Emmanuel Tobi

he Nigeria Football Federation has concluded plans to employ a foreign assistant coach to work alongside ex-international, Sunday Oliseh, who is being considered to head the consortium of coaches to manage the Super Eagles following the sacking of former coach, Stephen Keshi. Oliseh, 40, won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations with the Super Eagles as well as an Olympic gold medal in 1996. A former captain of the Eagles, Oliseh played at two World Cups, in 1994 and 1998, and played at various clubs in Europe, including RSC Liege, Regianna, Cologne, Ajax, Juventus, and Borussia Dortmund. New Telegraph can report that NFF president, Amaju Pinnick, met with Oliseh in London on Wednesday to discuss the modalities of working with a foreign technical assistant and other Nigerian coaches, including the technical director of the NFF, Shaibu Amodu. The official site of the NFF also confirmed that the body was in talks with Oliseh with chairman of the NFF Technical and Development Committee, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, stating that an offer has been tabled before the former midfielder. “An offer has been made, and there is understanding, but we have to work out the final details of the agreement in a few days,” said the Enyimba boss. “Of course, the Executive

The Sport Team Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Emmanuel Tobi

Did you know? That Ghana’s Michael Essien featured for Man United youth team at 17 but was denied a work permit to start a pro career at Old Trafford

Oliseh to work with foreign coach • As NFF plans consortium of coaches

Board has to give approval for his appointment based on the final terms to be agreed.” The website also stated that Oliseh’s foreign assistant will have the task of developing programmes, and will work with youth teams and certified academies across the country with the aim of developing the game from the grassroots. The identity of the foreign assistant however remains unknown but it won’t be the first time Super Eagles coaches will be arriving in the company of foreign assistants as Keshi and his predecessor, Samson Siasia, did with Valere Houandinou and Simon Kalika respectively. On the choice of Oliseh, Pinnick said: “Sunday Oliseh has vast experience and immense knowledge of the game, and will certainly add value to what we are doing. He has bought into our vision and objectives towards the development of Nigeria football. He will command the respect of the players and we trust he has the temperament to work harmoniously with the Technical and Development Committee, the Technical Directorate and

the Technical Study Group. “On our part at the NFF, we will give him all the support to succeed as we have been giving to all our coaches. Subject to the approval of the NFF Executive Committee, we will conclude negotiations by weekend and he will be unveiled next week.” Oliseh retired from the national team at the age of 27, after being dropped from the squad to the 2002 World Cup for disciplinary issues; with many in the Nigerian FA back then vowing never to work with him again, as he is said to be difficult. However, he has not had any top flight job in coaching, except handling Belgian third division side Vervietois between 2008 and 2009. Capped 63 times, Oliseh is one of three former players from his generation in the national team to hold the acclaimed UEFA Pro License. The others are Mutiu Adepoju and Emmanuel Amuneke. He has been working as a TV pundit and was a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group for the 2013 U-17 World Cup as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Oliseh and Pinnick in London...on Wednesday

‘Oliseh not ready for Eagles’ Ajibade Olusesan

Assistant Sport Editor

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sport Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sport Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sport Correspondent

Dudu-Orumen

former committee member of the Nigeria Football Association, Dudu Orumen, has urged the soccer body to jettison the idea of appointing erstwhile captain of the Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh, as replacement for sacked Stephen Keshi. Oliseh has been heavily linked with the vacant post of Eagles Head Coach and the NFF President Amaju Pinnick, has reportedly met with the former Juventus

midfielder in London for discussion. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Oliseh should be named the Eagles substantive coach in the coming days. But Orumen said that the 1994 Africa Nations Cup winner is not ripe yet to be the handler of the senior national team. He said Oliseh was still untested and saddling him with the responsibility of revamping the Eagles’ fortune may be counterproductive. “Beyond being an ex-inter-

national, good punditry skills, a strong personality too and untested coaching skills, Oliseh isn’t ready yet for such a massive assignment.,” Orumen started. “The responsibility of revamping a waning brand like the Super Eagles requires a proven coach with the capacity for unsentimental selection of players, ability to choose the right match tactics for the day, capacity to adequately manage human and material resources to produce a winning team for good results.”

Sport

THURSDAY JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Returning to the National Sports Commission (2)

he conflict over the legality of the National Sports Commission stems from the fact that Decree 13 of 1971 as amended in 1973 still subsists in the nation’s law books as various civilian administrations as far back as the regime of President Shehu Shagari in 1979. As journalism students and passionate about the coverage of sports, some of us at the Nigeria Institute of Journalism then at Adeyemo Alakija, Victoria Island, Lagos complex got the approval of legal icon and lecturer, Dr Olu Onagoruwa, to draft a “bill” and present to then United Party of Nigeria’s Senate Leader, Jonathan Odebiyi, for the repeal of the Decree and subsequently replace it with an Act of the National Assembly. The Senator welcomed us to his office and later called Chairman of the NIJ Board of Governors, Chief Elsie Femi Pearce, congratulating him for breeding future journalists. However, the military putsch that brought in Mohammadu Buhari then as Head of State truncated the move and since then that bill had laid somewhere within the National Assembly complex at Lagos Race Course adjoining the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club

Muyiwa Daniel on Thursday

md_muyiwa@yahoo.com 08023525087 (sms only) complex where as fledging reporters, we were close to Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas and the Court One team of Senate Leader, Olusola Saraki , Lord Rumens-Chief Ajisomo Alabi, Yemisi Allan, Herbert Omokhaye, “Fireman” Demola Alli amongst others. These sports philanthropists and administrators had traversed the world and knew enough about how sports should run. Repealing the Decree on the NSC would have paved the way for a Constitutional provision that could have affected the Edicts that run sports at state levels and give a meaning beyond just that terse Section 167 of the 1979 Constitution as reviewed in 1999 by military juntas who then went on to impose same document on Nigerians as if we were the ones that fashioned and approved same instead of a motley crowd who then placed sports on the concurrent list just like arts and culture. Okoya-Thomas believed in our dreams because

he was Chairman of the Lagos State Sports Council who not only displayed passion but singularly sponsored the longest running table –tennis competition on the continent – The Asoju-Oba championship- which clocks 46 years this December. Okoya-Thomas also encouraged us to challenge the Lagos State government of Alhaji Lateef Jakande and pillar of journalism including the founding of the NIJ from the courts of Nigerian Tribune on Broad Street, Lagos, in instituting the constitutional role of sports where the local governments can legislate just like the states and the Federal Government. If our proposed bill had been legislated upon by the N/Assembly of Senate President Joseph Wayas and House Speaker, Edwin Ume Ezeoke, our country by now would be producing athletes in large numbers just like the Brazilian sports revolution. It will also be challenging

Egypt in all spheres after the experience of the 1973 All-Africa games held at the Lagos National Stadium and our football, would not be stuttering from pillar to post in choosing its “slaughter slab” from any venue other than the Lagos stadium and not having the vision-less NFF that has taken the begging bowl to a greater height shuttling from Abuja, to Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Uyo for pitches to host our Eagles(in whatever form or disjointed age-grade male and female) while foot-dragging until the exit of President Goodluck Jonathan for Amaju Pinnick and his co-travelers to wish coach Stephen Keshi “goodbye”-a decision the former international and captain who I had reported since his schooldays at Saint Finbarrs’ College of Reverend Father Dennis Slattery, should have taken after the Brazil 2014 World Cup. The thing about coaches worldwide is that they exit to be hired and fired. That is the lesson and Argentine coach is learning the hard way as Chile took the COPA America courtesy of Arsenal’s Sanchez last kick in the shoot-out while Japan has led her country’s coach to take a deep breath after the pound-of-flesh had been exacted by the United States in

the women World Cup finals in Vancouver. In a fashion, Nigeria could have put its swimming basket in the riverine areas of Lagos, Rivers, Cross River Bayelsa and Ondo States while Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta States produce boxers and Adamawa, Bauchi, Katsina, Borno, Yobe produce the middle and long distant runners that could face the Kenyans and Ethiopians including Mo Farah. At the macro level, Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode should be hailed for returning the J-League that will keep youths active at all local government levels while Ajegunle and Mushin produce the boxers, wrestlers and weightlifters as Lagos Island draw athletes, Ajeromi-Ifelodun for swimming like Badagry, Ikorodu and Epe with Surulere and Shomolu for table tennis, basketball and volleyball. This is what I had wished for Presidential Spokesman Femi Adesina to pursue with his sports passion at the national level for the return of the NSC and we move on. Not the distractions of replying PDP’s Olisa Metuh and being drawn into a fray that struck Reuben Abati, Femi Fani-Kayode and Doyin Okupe. Let’s go, brother.! cont inu e d from last we e k

I don’t know Oliseh as a coach – Peters

Peters

Adeolu Johnson Abuja

ormer Super Eagles Coach, James Peters, has said he did not know Sunday Oliseh to be a coach

just as he sympathises with Stephen Keshi over the termination of his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation. Although he stressed he would respect the wish of the NFF if it gives Oliseh the mandate to manage the senior national team but does not see the former Juventus star as a coach yet. “I only know Oliseh as a fantastic player and not a coach; we all know his antecedents as a player. And if the people and authorities say yes it is Oliseh who am I to complain,” he explained. The former NFF Technical Director said he would not join the bandwagon of those calling for a foreign coach because they (foreign coaches) usually come in to meet players who have already been dis-

covered by the local coaches. Peters added that Clemens Westerhof only came to Nigeria to inherit the likes of Finidi Geroge, Oliseh, Daniel Amokachi and the rest who were discovered and groomed by local coaches. On Keshi, he said the coach should have been given another chance to correct his mistakes. Peters however said Keshi failed due to his insubordination and arrogance towards some of his senior colleagues in the country. “In Brazil during the World Cup, I was a member of the Technical Committee asked to work with him but he turned deaf ears to our suggestions. He said he does not want any committee to work with him,” Peter said.

Edo journalists host Ogba July 20

he umbrella body of Edo indigenes in the sports media industry has unveiled plans to host the President of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, Chief Solomon Ogba, to a grand reception on July 20, in Lagos. Ogba, was recently awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Port Harcourt for his immense contribution to sports development and growth in the country and members of the Edo sports media body feel he deserves to be celebrated

more than he has been, especially as they regard him as not only an astute sports administrator but one of the Niger Delta extraction. Chairman of the body, Osaretin Emuzie, and Secretary, Smarts Ebodaghe, said in a release that the event would take place in Lagos at a high brow hotel and plans have been concluded to invite major stakeholders in sports to the ceremony. In another development, the body has congratulated Mr Mike Itemuagbor for the

successful hosting of the third edition of the 10 kilometre Okpekpe Road Race some weeks ago in Etsako East LGA of Edo State. The leadership of the body said it was excited that apart from the fact that the race has now been listed on the international calendar of athletics by the IAAF, Itemuagbor and the people of Edo State have demonstrated that they are ready to rediscover sports in the state with the hard working Comrade Governor, Adam Oshiomhole.

Tsouka (right) in action

U-23 Eagles: Congo name 11 foreign professionals Tosin Obisesan

ongo coach Claude Leroy has announced a formidable 23-man squad dominated by 11 overseas professionals for a final round of CAF U-23 Championship qualifier against Nigeria. The first leg of the match will be played on July 19, in Port Harcourt. Congo shocked out highlyfancied Ghana to set up a clash with Nigeria team led by coach Samson Siasia. The Congo pros include midfielders Philzgérarld Mbaka (Getafe/ Espagne), Juvrel Loumingou (La Berrichonne de Châteauroux/ France), Ravy Tsouka (Crotone/ Italy) as well as strikers Mavis Tchibota Dufounou

(Maccabbi Tel Aviv/ Israel), Kevin Xavier Brandon Koubemba (Lille/ France) and Ulrich Poutou (Chambly/France). Leroy would have listed more pros but their foreign clubs refused to release them for the match. The Congo U-23 will resume a training camp in Pointe-Noire on July 12, a week to the epic clash in Nigeria. The ‘Diables Rouges’ will welcome Nigeria to Pointe-Noire on August 2 for the return leg with the overall winners advancing to the final tournament in Senegal in November. The top three teams in Senegal will automatically qualify for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

International Sport 53

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY JULY 9, 2015

Veteran Rivaldo back in action

F Manny Pacquiao (right) landing a punch on Floyd Mayweather

ormer Brazilian World Cup winner Rivaldo has returned to action with Mogi Mirim at the age of 43. Rivaldo, who is the club president of Mogi Mirim, believes that he can help kickstart their campaign after retiring from playing with the Brazilian side two years ago. The 43-year-old came out of retirement last month to help the struggling second division team, who are currently bottom of the table. The former Barcelona playmaker started his first game

Pacquiao eyes 2016 return

anny Pacquiao will fight again next year. The multi-weight world champion says the torn rotator cuff he suffered prior to his defeat by Floyd Mayweather in May is on the mend and he expects to be

back in the ring in 2016. Pacquiao arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday and made it clear he would not be retiring following the ‘Fight of the Century’ and is already looking at coming back. Pacquiao - who is in Indonesia visiting Filipina

woman Mary Jane Veloso, who is facing execution after being convicted of drug trafficking - also hit back at Mayweather’s latest video. The American insists it was a joke but Pacquiao was critical of the way the pound-for-pound king has behaved since

against Nautico on Tuesday, but it was only after he was substituted that his team were able to claim their first win of the season. Despite several attempts at goal, Rivaldo failed to score on his first game back. Rivaldo was then substituted in the 68th minute with his side trailing 1-0, and two minutes later Mogi Mirim were level. Serginho grabbed the equaliser and then went on to score the winner two minutes before time, giving Mogi Mirim their first win in 11 outings.

winning by unanimous decision on May 2. “A real champion is gracious in both his words and conduct, someone who is a champion, not just in his chosen field of endeavour but in his own home and in his private life,” he told PhilBox.com.

Arteta extends deal at Arsenal

M Arteta

ikel Arteta has signed a one-year contract extension at Arsenal, manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed. “He will stay with us for one more year because he has extended his contract,” Wenger told the club’s official

website on Wednesday. “He’s one of the leaders in the club because he’s the captain of the team. I expect him to contribute much more than last season but he also faces a battle. “With the number of games we have ahead, we

Podolski explains Galatasaray move

ukas Podolski has revealed that he left Arsenal for Galatasaray to boost his chances of playing at Euro 2016 with Germany. The forward, who was part of Germany’s World Cup-winning squad last summer, has moved to Gala after finding first-team opportunities limited at the Emirates Stadium. Podolski has said that Germany coach Joachim Low warned him he must be playing

regularly to be in contention for next summer’s tournament in France. “I would ask for the same if I was in his position.” Podolski told ESPN. “Every player that wants to play at Euro 2016 needs to play. We would surely not be world champions if we had started the tournament with 20 players that don’t get to play regularly at their club.” Podolski has scored 48 goals in 125 caps for Germany.

could use his experience, his desire and his quality as it will be vital for next season.” Arteta joined Arsenal from Everton in August 2011 for £10million and has gone on to make 136 appearances for them, scoring 16 goals.

Rivaldo (right) in action

I’m at Spurs to play, says Alli

ele Alli has expressed his determination to force his way into the Tottenham Hotspur starting line-up next season. The 19-year-old, who agreed a move to the North Londoners from MK Dons back in January, has been tipped to leave the club on loan over the coming weeks. However, Alli has insisted that his intention is to remain at White Hart Lane. “I’m not going to lie, it’s go-

Alli

ing to be hard [to break into the first team] and it’s going to be a challenge, but it’s one I believe I’m ready to take,” he told FourFourTwo. “As far as I’m concerned I’m at Tottenham to play and I’m going to work hard to make sure that happens. We’ve got a great team here with some great players who I’m really looking forward to working with. “I’m just going to train as hard as I can, work as hard as I can and wherever I’m needed that’s where I’ll play.”

Hamann backs Benteke to score 20 goals for Liverpool

Podolski

ormer Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann has suggested that Christian Benteke would be an ideal signing for the Reds. The Belgian striker has been heavily linked with a switch to Anfield from Aston Villa this summer, and it has been reported that Liverpool will trigger a £32.5m clause in his contract. “Christian Benteke is tailormade for Liverpool,” Hamann told talkSPORT. “He will score 20-plus goals a season in the Premier League for Liverpool with the service he’ll get from Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firminho.” Benteke has scored 42 goals in 89 Premier League appearances since joining Villa from Genk in 2012.

Trapp

PSG sign Frankfurt keeper, Trapp

P Benteke

aris Saint-Germain have completed the signing of goalkeeper Kevin Trapp from Eintracht Frankfurt for around £6.5m. The German shotstopper, 25, has penned a five-year contract with the French champions. Trapp leaves Frankfurt after a threeyear spell with the Bundesliga club. Trapp is expected to be officially unveiled as a PSG player next Monday.

54 News

THURSDAY JULY 9, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Okagbare targets long jump medal

TRACK & FIELD

A My best yet to come – Erayokan WITH CHARLES OGUNDIYA

igeria quartermiller, Orukpe Erayokan, has said his best is yet to come as he looks forward to improving on his timing after recording another Personal Best in just two weeks from the first one. Erayokan won the first and second edition of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria Golden League in Anambra and Abuja last month and has vowed to win the final leg this weekend with another PB. In an exclusive interview with New Telegraph, the reigning National Sports Festival 400m champion said he was ready to do a sub-46 this season. The quartermiler has been the most consistent runner in his event this year and is yet to lose a race on the domestic front. He won the 1st AllComers Meeting held in Abuja in March where he clocked 46.38s and lowered the time to record 46.23s win at the 1st leg of the Golden League in Anambra State last month. “I will continue bringing the time down,” he said. “Maybe in the next Golden League, I’m going to bring the time down again because I have belief in my ability.” Speaking further, he said

he would be ready for the foreign-based athletes arrival for the 2015 AFN/CRS All Nigeria Athletics Championships which serve as trials for the World Championships and All Africa Games later in the year. Erayokan said: “I am preparing for them and will be battle ready for the trial. They have two legs and I have two legs. I believe I can do better than them.” He is one of the athletes invited by the AFN to camp in Port Harcourt in preparation for the All Africa Games.

frica’s queen of the tracks, Blessing Okagbare, is targeting the Lausanne leg of the IAAF Diamond League long jump today (Thursday) in Switzerland. The Nigerian, who has focused on the 100m and 200m events, has not participated in the long jump since the 2013 World Championships in Monaco where she jumped 7.00m. Okagabare is coming off a silver medal in the 100m in Paris. Her 10.80sec time was enough for second place behind Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica. She will face stiff competition from America’s Tianna Bartoletta, who has a season best of 7.12m, while her teammate Deloach Janay has jumped 6.95m in the past. Meanwhile, Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay will come face to face in what is sure to be an explosive 100m contest. Usain Bolt has pulled out of a

Okagbare

the 200m event in the Swiss city with a pelvis problem, although he insists he will compete in next month’s world champion-

ships in Beijing. In his absence, a stellar field of the world’s fastest men will meet, with Asafa Powell also featuring.

Athletes intensify training for Cali 2015

N Erayokan

igerian athletes preparing for the IAAF World Youth Championships tagged Cali 2015 have said they are in top shape for the championship. Some of the athletes, who spoke with New Telegraph from their Port Harcourt base, said they have been getting the best of training and encouragement from the Athletic federation of

Nigeria in camp. “We are getting ready for the championship as we have been intensifying our training,” Abolaji Omotayo, a 100m athlete said. “I was part of the team that went to the USA last year for the World Junior Championship, I am sure the experience will stand me in good position

in Columbia. “The training has been hard and tough because of the magnitude of the championship where the best from around the world will be converging; so we have to be at our best.” Adewale Sikiru, a quartermiler, also said he was ready to shine at the championship and make the country proud.

Wimbledon 2015 Nadal’s grunts louder than mine – Azarenka

ictoria Azarenka has defended her on-court grunting and insists former men’s champion Rafael Nadal’s grunts are lounder than hers. The Belarusian was defeated in three sets by Serena Williams in Tuesday’s Wimbledon quarterfinal and faced post-match questions over her noise levels.

“I’m tired of these questions,” she said. “It’s annoying as guys grunt. “I was practising next to Nadal and he grunts louder than me and nobody noticed it. Look at the good stuff.” Azarenka lost 3-6 6-2 6-3 in a high-quality match in front of 15,000 spectators on Centre Court and claimed the focus should have been on the standard of play

rather than the noise levels. She added: “Maybe it is time to put it aside and not talk about it all the time because this is not what is important when there are two players playing on Centre Court. “Stop bringing up this ridiculous stuff. Let’s put aside the noise, how she looks and look at the game. The game proved itself today (Tuesday).”

Azarenka

Federer sets up Murray semifinal Djokovic apologises

Federer

even-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer swept aside France’s Gilles Simon to set up a mouth-watering semi-final meeting with Andy Murray, who reached his sixth Wimbledon semi-final in seven years with victory over Canadian Vasek Pospisil. Federer was broken for the first time in 68 service games at SW19 this year near the end of the second set, but that was virtually the only blip for the 33-year-old as he won 6-3 7-5 6-2 in one hour and 34 minutes. Federer’s last Wimbledon title came in 2012 when he beat Murray in the final and he will face him again in the last four on Friday after the British number one beat Vasek Pospisil 6-4 7-5 6-4. “We both like to look back on

that summer of 2012,” Federer said. “If we knew beforehand that I would win Wimbledon and him the Olympics, I think we both would have taken it. It was a great summer for us. “I am happy for him, he is doing so well after his back surgery. People forget how hard it is to get back from injury and get back into contention to win tournaments. “Friday will be a tough one for me but I am obviously looking forward to it.” Murray, 28, had to cope with two rain delays, the second of which saw the roof brought across in the second set. “It was difficult, we were stopped a couple of times,” said Murray. “I hope I can get to another final but it’s going to be difficult.”

for ball girl rant

orld number one Novak Djokovic says he will apologise to a ball girl after appearing to shout at her during his fourthround match with Kevin Anderson. Djokovic vented his anger in the girl’s direction before going on to secure a 6-7 (6-8) 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-4 7-5 win. “I’m sorry. There was nothing towards her. Maybe she was just afraid of my screaming there,” Djokovic said. “I was pretty close to her. I’m definitely going to try to apologise to her if I did something wrong.” Defending champion Djokovic had to play the final set against South African Anderson on Tuesday after bad light halted the contest at two sets apiece the previous evening.

Features 55

NEW TELEGRAPH THURSDAY JULY 9, 2015

Emenike’s exit paves the way for Van Persie Ifeanyi Ibeh

he impending loan move of Nigerian international Emmanuel Emenike from Fenerbahce to Qatari side Al Ain is set to pave the way for Manchester United star Robin van Persie to join the Turkish club. Van Persie, 31, has been strongly linked with a move away from the Red Devils, following an injury-hit season at Old Trafford. And according to reports

a move to Fenerbahce is almost a done deal following Emenike’s impending loan move with former Fenerbahce board member Ugur Dundar posting on Twitter on Wednesday that he expects the Dutch striker to arrive in Istanbul by Friday. The 28-year-old Emenike struggled last season, scoring just five goals over the course of the league campaign and fell out with fans of the 19-time champions of the Turkish top division.

The deal taking Emenike to Al Ain will include a future buy-out clause option and will see the Nigerian replace Ghana international Asamoah Gyan. Emenike will become the seventh player to leave Fenerbahce following the departures of veterans Emre Belozoglu, Selcuk Sahin and Pierre Webo. Fenerbahce have already signed Van Persie’s former Manchester United teamEmenike (right) in action mate Nani.

U-23 Eagles at par with Beijing team, says Siasia

Olashore family gives golf massive boost

he Olashore family, owners of the hugely acclaimed Olashore International School, in Osun State, in conjunction with the Royal Park Hotel, have finalised plans to have in place a world class golf course in the south western Nigerian state. Situated at Illoko-Ijesha, the 18-hole golf course will cover a 35 hectare area, and is expected to increase local interest in golf and make Nigeria a potential golf destination. This was the opinion posited by the Chairman, Board

Adeolu Johnson Abuja

ational U-23 team Chief Coach, Samson Siasia, has declared that his current team is as good as the team he led to win silver at the Beijing Olympics. Speaking to our correspondent, Siasia noted that the current players in the Dream Team VI have demonstrated the hunger, discipline and desire to play the game just like he had before. He said the team was still a work in progress and that the players were fighting for shirts and have shown the determination to want to learn very fast and hunger to want to win games. ‘I know we are still working on this team but I can tell you that

Siasia

they are very good and discipline players. And this is what a coach is looking out for in players. ‘I can assure you that they are as good as the first team I led to the Olympic,”

Fanz Championship winner gets $10,000

muwo Odofin FC has emerged new champion of Fanz Championship Africa season 2 tagged the “BetterMe” series which kicked off in of March 2015. Amuwo Odofin FC defeated Olumo United FC to win the grand prize of $10,000 after slugging it out on the pitch with speed and general knowledge of the game in the most-watched fans quiz game show on television. Over 130 football fans also won

N10,000 cash each aside other branded gifts from the Home Play. From the millions of votes of viewers and confirmation by the panel of judges, Kenneth Okocha of Amuwo Odofin FC won the Most Valuable Player, while the Best Celebrated Goal was credited to Aso Rockers FC. The organisers, Abelinis Limited and their frontline sponsor, MTN expressed delight that the game show has created a platform for football fans.

Semifinalists emerge at YSM U-19 tourney

emifinalists have emerged in the maiden edition of the Youth Sports Management U-19 ‘Catch them Young’ Football Championship, currently taking place in Lagos. In Wednesday’s quarterfinals, at the National Stadium’s Legacy Pitch, Divine Praise FC defeated YSM-A 5-4 on penalties after scores at the end of regulation time stood at two-goals apiece. The encounter between Obi’s FC and

YSM-B also ended 2-2 at the end of regulation time and required a penalty shootout to separate both sides with Obi’s running out 4-2 winners at the end of the day. Obi’s will next take on Ovation FC in one of Thursday’s semifinals after the latter defeated Liberty FC by a lone goal in another quarterfinal tie decided on Wednesday, while Divine Praise will have to put up a much better performance than they did

in their win over YSM-A when they take on Bethel FC, who defeated Nicky Joint FC 4-2 in a thrilling quarterfinal encounter. The winners at the end of Thursday’s semifinals will progress to Friday’s final which will take place at the oldest stadium in the country, the 85-yearold Onikan Stadium. The 16-team tournament, which is in conjunction with US-based kit manufacturers, NIKE, will see trophies and NIKE products.

of Governors, Olashore International School and the Royal Park Hotel, Prince Abimbola Olashore at the formal advance presentation of the course last weekend. He said: “Our goal is to make Illoko-Ijesha, Osun State, a golf tourism destination. From Illoko here, within one hour drive, are various tourist attractions. We have the Osun group, Kogosi wolf space, Ijesha waterfall, a UNESCO heritage sites, and so on. Illoko- the home of Olashore International School is strategically in the middle.”

Olashore

NSA reveals criteria for media category

head of the 2015 edition of the Nigerian Sports Award, the organisers in collaboration with the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria has outlined criteria for the media category of the 2015 edition of the award in response to the yearnings and popular demand by sports jour nalists in Nigeria. The four categories are Sports Journalist of the Year (Print), Photo

Journalist of the Year, Radio Sports Journalist of the Year and Television Sports Journalist of the Year. “The criteria for the award as set by the award panel and SWAN stipulates that for any Journalist to win in any of the categories, he or she must first be nominated for a category,”chairman of the award panel, Ikeddy Isiguzo, said. “The top 5 nominees

with the highest number of votes in each category will be shortlisted and will be invited to submit their works as entries for the award to be screened by a select body of Sports Editors. “The identity of the body of editors that will serve as judges would be made public during the Gala Night of the 2015 edition, which is billed to hold in Lagos in November,” he added.

Federation Cup: Enyimba, Pillars crash out Charles Ogundiya

igeria National League side, Remo Stars has dumped out Federation RESULTS NIGERIA PREMIER LEAGUE Shooting 2-1 Warri Wolves FEDERATION CUP Enyimba 1-1 Remo Stars (1-3) Heartland 1-0 Sharks Kano Pillars 1-1 Plateau Utd (3-4) Gateway 0-0 El-Kanemi (3-4) KwaraUtd 2-2 ABU Zaria (3-2) Kukuruku 0-3 Enugu Rangers Akwa United 3-1 Peacemakers J.Atete 1-1 Prime (2-3)

Cup defending champions, Enyimba in the round of 32 of the 2015 edition of Nigeria’s oldest competition. Also out of the competition is the Nigeria Professional Football League champions, Kano Pillars, after losing on penalties to another NNL side, Plateau United. Enyimba won the trophy last year for the second year running after defeating Dolphins but failed to make it a treble, despite coming back from a goal down, Enyimba failed to convert their penalties los-

ing 3-1 to Remo. The game between Kano Pillars and Plateau United ended 1-1, Plateau United however triumphs 4-3 on penalties.

Kadiri Ikhana, Enyimba coach

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Bobbi McCaughey gave birth to the first living septuplets in the U.S. in 1997. Her seven babies ranged in size from two and a half to over three pounds. The McCaughey septuplets were born at 31 weeks, so they also were not the size of a fully developed newborn at their births.

State creation: No Dangiwa, no

t is not always nice to find yourself totally in a different page with somebody you admire. Indeed, whatever would make one disagree with someone he venerates must be very serious. Former military Governor of Kaduna state, retired Col. Abubakar Umar Dangiwa is one Nigerian I have always been in awe of. As a fledging journalist in the Triumph Newspapers, Kano in late 1980s, I watched Dangiwa then the governor of the state; shed tears after watching some Islamic fundamentalists butcher some Christians. He told his Muslim brothers that what they were doing had no place in Islam and that what he was seeing was far removed from what his father thought him as a Muslim. It required only the gut and courage of a patriot like Col. Umar to say such things given the emotive state of affairs at the time. Again, at the peak of June 12 struggle when the military were playing their hanky-panky with late Chief Moshood Abiola, Col Umar was reported to have resigned in protest after a failed attempt to convince then military President Ibrahim Babangida to allow Abiola ascend the presidency after the 1983 elections. Since then, Dangiwa has lived a quiet life, making patriotic statements and refusing to be dragged into ethnic, religious or geo-political interests. When most Northern elites kept a reasonable distance from the “clueless” former President Goodluck Jonathan, Col. Umar refused to join the bandwagon as he continued to argue that the problem of the North was not from Jonathan. To demonstrate his love for the ex-President, Dangiwa said of Jonathan after his defeat in the 2015 elections at the time the rest of his friends were already abandoning him; “I assure him that there are still genuine friends who will be by him through life’s challenges out of power. Mr. President should count on me, Col Abubakar Dangiwa Umar as a steadfast friend. “I will continue to maintain an abiding and an unalloyed loyalty as a friend and brother. I also wish to advise him to ignore the treacherous actions of those opportunists who are decamping from his party, the PDP to APC at this late hour. These are people who will not hesitate to renounce God in their pursuit of ephemeral worldly power. They are worthless and a great embarrassment to decent people and bad role models to future generations. “Let me use this opportunity to dispel the wicked rumour that my closeness to Jonathan has always been on account of some material favours he extended to me. Nothing can be further from the truth. I swear and affirm that I have never, directly or indirectly, been awarded an oil or non–oil contract by Jonathan or his government, as evidence will prove later. What I received and cherish above all is tremendous respect from the president. I intend to expatiate on this in due course”. When such a person therefore makes a statement on an issue, it would amount to going against the tide to stand against him. But Col Umar made some statements recently that I feel he was one

Political Musings IKE ABONYI

igwebuike2001@yahoo.com 08024024029 (sms only) directional before arriving at his conclusion. Among the Igbo in the South East part of our country, one of the biggest masquerades is called “ijele”. Its glamour, size and elegance usually stand it out. The story of the beauty of Ijele, whenever it appears at the Village square, takes days to end in homes. Adults always advice children going to watch an ijele masquerade, to ensure they do not stay at a point but try to go round it to be able to fully capture its beauty and magnificent. The clear message there is that unless you go round the ijele you can never fully see its full beauty. The story of those who watched ijele going round it is usually different from those who watched it standing at a location, they usually miss the exceptionality of each angle. My esteemed friend Col. Umar in his recent comment on the issue of creation of states in Nigeria appeared to have watched the ijele from one angle and failed in giving a holistic description of its beauty. Col Umar was widely reported recently as saying that owing to the current financial crisis in most of the ‘unviable’ states, it would be a case of insanity for anyone to still be talking of creation of more states in Nigeria.  According to him “it is evident that most of the states and local governments are unviable and should not have been created in the first place. One of the greatest disservices to the nation by some military regimes was the creation of these unviable, revenue guzzling administrative (maladministrative) structures. They have continued to serve as a drag to our national development. But for its impracticability, one would recommend a constitutional abrogation of some of them. Goes to show that any plot to create more states and local governments is plain insanity.”  Dangiwa went ahead to caution President Muhammadu Buhari not to allow himself to be bamboozled by the confused state governors in their cur-

Col. Umar muffed the point when he argued the benefits of state creation in Nigeria from only the economic viability

Umar

rent desperate financial Insolvency situation. “I am sure President Buhari will not allow himself to be hoodwinked. He must maintain the separation of powers between the tiers of government and enforce budgetary discipline. In fact, he should discourage governors from making frivolous demands from the federal government. This will serve to discourage their frequent visits to Aso Rock.”  Col. Umar muffed the point when he argued the benefits of state creation in Nigeria from only the economic viability. He failed to look back at the circumstance that started state creations in Nigeria. If he did, he would have known that economic viability was not the driving variables. When Northern Protectorate was amalgamated with the South in 1914, the economic sense then was for the colonial masters, to instead of bringing money from London to service the then economically dry north, it should be fused with the South so that resources should come from the South instead of from Europe. When the three regions were established, it was not economic induced, ditto MidWest, 12 states and so on. Viability was never the point used. There was always some socio political agenda the creation of some states set out to achieve examples like small states of Bayelsa and Taraba. The senseless and extravagant posture of state governors is intolerable and I said that much last week in this space when I discussed “handover notes and matters arising” it is left for the Nigerian people to rise up and find a way of holding their leaders accountable. It is unfortunate that it is apparently in anger of the madness of state governors that Col Umar almost did not see the other benefits inherent in state creation. There have been visible infrastructural developments that would not have been possible if states were not created. Cities like Gusau (Zamfara), Abakaliki (Eb-

onyi), Umuahia (Abia), Lafia (Nassarawa), Duste (Jigawa), Gombe (Gombe) and Awka (Anambra) among others which are enjoying some infrastructure today would have remained a glorified local government headquarters today. This is in addition to the socio political solution it brought to the system. If the last National Conference, after exhaustive deliberations thought it wise for more states to be created in the country, they looked at the far- reaching benefits. If they recommended that one more state be created in the South East to bring it even with other zones, they were looking at the injustice created by the imbalance moreso when the Civil War that brought the imbalance is being put into the trash of history. Our dear Martin Luther King never failed to remind us that injustice anywhere is injustice to all. So for the Igbo of South East, they are not insane asking for more states to correct the geopolitical imbalance. For the people of Nsukka in Enugu state for instance, who are agitating for Adada State, they would not agree that they are insane because Nsukka is the only old province that is not yet state a capital in Nigeria. Indeed, no society built on injustice is bound to withstand the stress that follows it. If a sense of belonging must be seen to be given to all sections of this country, one more state should be created in the South East. Col. Umar whose anger and subjective position is informed by the recklessness of our governors should not throw the baby away with bath water. What to do for which I expect him to spearhead is for the reduction of cost of governance and for the people to be mobilized to hold their leaders accountable. In doing this, Col Dangiwa must discourage injustice because it kills nations. Noah Webster reminds us of what killed the famous Roman Empire. According to him, “the causes which destroyed the ancient republics were numerous; but in Rome, one principal cause was the vast inequality of fortunes”.

HIGH CHIEF I ENJOYED LAGOS, SAYS OUT-GOING U.S CONSUL-GENERAL -News

-Yes, especially the Ewedu and Amala!

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