8th September 2015 by Nigerian Tribune

NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER NO 16,322 TUESDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER, 2015

Asset declaration: Stop harassing me —Buhari •Vows to recover oil —P 2 money soon

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11 MASSOB members arrested with UN documents

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Immigration withdraws diplomatic passport from ex-govs —P2

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STOCK MARKET: TOP 5 GAINERS

TOP 5 LOSERS

Looters' trial: ICPC storms 36 states —P4

•Buhari releases fund for anti-corruption agencies

FULL REPORT ON PAGE 12

—P2

TSA: Buhari gives MDAs Sept 15 deadline

•Liquidity pressure heightens in banks —P3,10

30 prostitutes sentenced to 6 weeks jail in Lagos —P8

President John Mahama of Ghana (right), welcoming President Muhammadu Buhari on his arrival at the Kokotar International Airport, Accra, for a one-day official visit to Ghana, on Monday. PHOTO: NAN.

FirstBank gets MD-designate —P11

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Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Looters’ trial: ICPC storms 36 states for incriminating documents Buhari releases funds to anti-corruption agencies Lanre Adewole -Lagos

PERATIVES of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have gone to almost all the states of the federation, gathering indicting documents on suspected looters of the treasury, Nigerian Tribune learnt on Monday. The leadership reportedly raised teams for underground intelligence and document gathering, to establish prima facie case against serving and former public officers who had been accused of sundry crimes in the numerous petitions before the commission. It was also learnt that the commission was investigating all the petitions before it, including the ones involving those who served in administrations before that of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Nigerian Tribune was informed by security sources that those whose petitions had been pending and might be thinking that they were off the hook would be shocked by what would soon befall them. In gathering the documents and information needed to kick-start the much-hyped trial, aides and subordinates of those under investigation were reportedly the targets of the investigating teams. Former governors and former ministers were said to form the bulk of those being investigated, cutting across political party lines in all the states of the federation. Nigerian Tribune was told that cooperating aides and subordinates could also turn prosecution witnesses if their former principals were eventually put up for trial. According to a top source “they (teams to all the states) are right now on fact-finding. They are specifically after those who served with these people (those under probe).” The teams are expected back in weeks, when their findings would be used in establishing the veracity of the allegations against the suspects. “What is being done is in line with global best practice. When those information and documents are taken in, then the cases against them would be con-

sidered side-by-side with the available evidence. “It is at this point that it would be considered who goes on trial and who

doesn’t have a case to answer. It is wrong to first charge suspects to court before looking for evidence to prosecute the case,” the

source said. The commission is also likely to profit from the legion of crisis between some incumbent governors and

their predecessors-in-office, as the former would be expected to cooperate well with the fact-finding teams in their states. Some incumbents had already begun the probe of their predecessors-in-office, especially where they did not belong to the same political parties. Nigerian Tribune also gathered among anti-corruption sources that President Muhammadu Buhari had released funds to the agencies fighting corruption in the country as a morale booster. Knowledgeable sources confirmed the release but refused to disclose the amount received. The money is to help them step up their activities, with focus on retriev-

ing the alleged huge stolen funds from government coffers. There was also a reported presidential directive to stop at nothing in getting result. EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau were said to have benefitted from the presidential largesse. Meanwhile, the presidential advisory committee on anti-corruption, headed by Professor Itse Sagay, will commence the planned interface with the anti-corruption bodies today. A security source within the anti-corruption bodies said final preparation had been concluded to welcome the team. Modalities for the planned trial of the sus-

Immigration withdraws diplomatic passports of ex-govs, others Chris Agbambu – Abuja

Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki (left), congratulating Adam Muhammed Ndakud from Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State for graduating with First Class from the University of Ilorin, on Monday.

IN line with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has, on withdrawn diplomatic and official passports in possession of former government officials.

Assets declaration: Stop harassing me, Buhari tells journalists Says he has declared assets 4 times since 1975 Clement Idoko -Abuja PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerian journalists to stop harassing him over his recent assets declaration and that of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. He, however, challenged the media to conduct independent investigation to verify details of his assets that had been made public, saying he had done assets declaration four times since 1975. President Buhari gave the challenge in Accra, Ghana, during a joint press conference with his host, President John Mahama, after bilateral talks at the Presidential Lodge in Aburi, on Monday. On the declaration of assets, the president affirmed that it was a constitutional requirement that all public office holders in Nigeria should declare their assets before and after their term in office. “I recall that in 1975 when the late Murtala Mohammed became the head of state, we were lined up

- governors, ministers, members of the Supreme Military Council. Officials of Ministry of Justice were brought and every individual was made to declare his assets. “All heads of states and government, governors, ministers, permanent secretaries have to declare their assets because it is a constitutional requirement. “I have declared my assets four times. When I was governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of Petroleum and as a member of Supreme Military Council, I declared. When I was head of state and now as a president, I have also declared,” he said. This was as he reassured that he will appoint his ministers and fully form his cabinet before the end of this month, in line with his earlier declaration. He reassured Nigerians and the international community that he would name his cabinet before the end of the month. “After I was sworn in, I said I will have my cabinet

in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so,” President Buhari said, while responding to a question on the appointment of ministers. President Buhari also told reporters that the Nigerian military, in close collaboration with the Multi-National Joint Task Force, had recorded remarkable progress in the fight against Boko Haram since he assumed office as president. “The first thing I did after I came into office was to reorganise the military and clear orders were given to them in terms of retraining, re-equipping and redeployment of troops. “In the North-East, the military is gaining ground and Boko Haram has been limited to the Sambisa forest. “Internally displaced persons are gradually moving back home and they are being reintegrated into their respective communities,” President Buhari said. Earlier, President Ma-

hama had said both leaders had fruitful discussions on how to enhance bilateral relations and improve regional security. President Mahama said Nigeria and Ghana would soon begin the process of reviving their joint commission for cooperation. The Ghanaian president added that both leaders also agreed to encourage closer cooperation between the intelligence and anti-graft agencies of both countries. He thanked President Buhari for his visit and assured him of Ghana’s support and cooperation with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism. Meanwhile, President Buhari has disclosed that he is set to join the rest of the world to recover stolen money, especially from crude oil stolen on the sea. The president, while featuring on a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa programme anchored by Mansur Liman, said his administration would recover all stolen crude oil money.

This was as it directed all affected persons to comply with the directive, as it would not hesitate to do the needful in that regard. In a statement signed by the Comptroller General of the Immigration Service, Mr Martin Abeshi, the affected persons are former state governors, former senators, former members of state houses of assembly, former ministers, former commissioners and former special advisers. Others include former chairmen and former deputy chairmen of local government areas, all retired heads of parastatals and retired public servants. “These categories of persons are hereby informed that these passports, which were previously held by them, have been revoked and should return them to the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters, Sauka, Abuja, with immediate effect. “Failure to comply with this directive will amount to an offence under the Immigration Act 2015. Such unauthorised possession will be impounded at our control posts on arrival or departure,” the statement read. It will be recalled that the Federal government directed the NIS to retrieve all valid diplomatic and official passports from all unauthorised persons. The measure was intended to protect and promote Nigeria’s integrity and also ensure law and order.

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Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

TSA: Buhari gives MDAs Sept 15 deadline Says his govt will enforce rule of law C lement Idoko - Abuja

RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has threatened to sanction any Ministry, Department and Agency of the Federal Government, which fails to comply with the directive that all revenues due to the Federal Government or any of its agencies must be paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise expressly approved. A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Monday, in Abuja, said the Federal Government had accordingly set a deadline of Tuesday, September 15, for full compliance with the president’s directive. A circular issued to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Danladi Kifasi, urged the MDAs to ensure strict compliance with the deadline to avoid sanctions. The circular, HCSF/428/S.1/125 of September 4, noted that a number of MDAs were yet to comply with Circular Ref. No. HCSF/428/S.1/120 of August 7, which conveyed President Buhari’s original directive on the payment of all Federal Government revenues into a TSA. “In this regard, Mr President has directed that all MDAs are to comply with the instructions on the TSA unfailingly on Tuesday, September 15. “Heads of MDAs and other arms of government are enjoined to give this circular the widest circulation and ensure strict compliance to avoid sanctions,” Mr Kifasi wrote. An earlier circular issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation on August 7, announced the introduction of the TSA with the directive that all receipts due to the Federal Government or any of her agencies were to be paid into the Federal Sub-Treasury account maintained in the CBN. The implementation of the TSA, according to the circular, was expected to aid transparency and facilitate compliance with Sections 80 and 162 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic

of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). Meanwhile, President Buhari has said the vision of his administration is to build an egalitarian society, where rule of law must be observed at all levels of governance in the country. He, however, decried the sad reputation of the public service in the country that had been characterised by inefficiency, low productivity, corruption and insensitivity to the needs of the

Nigerian public. Buhari, who was represented by his Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, spoke on Monday, in Abuja, during official launch of capacity building programmes for public servants organised by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation. He said his administration would build a nation with the citizens as its reason for being, adding that citizens, regardless of life’s

situation must be respected by the governing authorities and treated with dignity. “Flowing from this, it is imperative that our society must be governed by rule of law, administered by trustworthy, fair, impartial and efficient judiciary,” the president said. He emphasised that transparency and accountability must be established in the conduct of public business, while ensuring zero-toler-

ance to corruption at all levels in the country. He said his administration had evolved a bottomup economic model, which recognises that in planning and budgetting, the reality that majority of Nigerians are extremely poor and must be fully supported by business-friendly bureaucracy and policies. He noted that the government’s anti-corruption or zero-tolerance stance on corruption was not merely

From left, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Linus Awute; Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed; Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Danladi Kifasi and the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, during the launch of capacity building programme for public servants, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday. PHOTO: NAN

a moral or ethical stance, but a developmental concept that recognised that corruption, if not apprehended, would destroy all institutions, the economy and eventually the entire society, stressing that how corruption was handled would make or mar Nigeria’s destiny as a nation. President Buhari, however, expressed sadness over what he described as decline in the service delivery by the civil service in the country that used to be the pride of the nation in the past. He said the capacity building became imperative, in order to strengthen the leadership at all levels in the service and build a new performance management system, in line with the vision of the current administration. Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Danladi Kifasi, in his welcome speech, explained that the capcity building programmes for the public servants consisted of two components, the Structured Mandatory Assessment-Based Training Programme (SMAT-P) and the Leadership Enhancement and Development Programme (LEAD-P), all designed at ensuring the service delivers on national development goals.

Olu of Warri: Palace chiefs still in closed-door meeting Ebenezer Adurokiya - Warri THERE is still palpable stalemate in Warri over the unconfirmed report of the death of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, last Friday. It was gathered that palace chiefs were still consulting on how the true position of things would be dispatched to the anxious sons and daughters of Itsekiri and the entire world. A press briefing was called at the palace of the reverred monarch on Monday, but did not hold, as they were requested to return and wait for further invitation. Journalists, who were already gathered in front of the palace as early as 8.00 a.m, were denied access into the palace by security personnel. But at 10.00 a.m, secretary of the palace eventually allowed journalists entry into the palace. The palace wore a sober mood and was quiet.

Thereafter, an unidentified person addressed the journalists, informing them

that the chiefs of the Itsekiri kingdom were still having consultations among them-

selves. The journalists were told that they would be invited

back to the palace after the conclusion of the consultation.

Terrorism: DSS releases cleric after 14 months in detention Olayinka Olukoya - Abeokuta THE Department of State Security (DSS), on Monday, released an Islamic cleric, Abdul-Ganiy Ibrahim, over an alleged offence said to be terrorism-inclined. Ibrahim was arrested last year July, at his residence in Ijoko-Ota in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state. The suspect was arrested alongside his pregnant wife, Muinat Abdul-Ganiy Ibrahim and kept in the DSS custody until after 64 days, when the woman was about to put to bed. A federal high court judge, Justice Folake Ogunbanjo, had on June 18, described the incarceration of the cleric as illegal and unconstitutional. Ogunbanjo said the DSS

had infringed on the Fundamental Rights to Dignity of Person, Personal Liberty and Freedom of Movement, as guaranteed by Section 34,35 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution. She, thereafter, ordered the security agency to payN1 million damages and tender public apology to the cleric.

Family members, followers and well wishers, on Monday thronged the premises of the Federal High Court as their own was released to his lawyer, Ahmed Adetola-Kaseem and wife. Adetola-Kaseem faulted what he described as selective compliance to the court orders.

He said: “We started the battle, got the judgment, but it was also not obeyed. At the appointed time, however, he was released. We are grateful. On the damages, we will discuss and know where to go now that the cleric is out, they are yet to comply and also with the public apology.”

22,000 candidates for YABATECH post-UTME AUTHORITIES of the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), on Monday, said that no fewer than 22,000 candidates would write the 2015/2016 Computer Based Test of the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). YABATECH’s Director, Public Relations Unit, Mr Charles Oni, told the News Agency of Nigeria

(NAN) in Lagos, that over 4,000 candidates would write the examination daily. NAN gathered that the exercise would hold from September 7 till 11. “The examination would hold in five sessions in some centres and six in others, starting from 9.00 a.m. till evening. “There are five centres— The Petroleum Trust De-

velopment Fund (PTDF) Building, Central Laboratory, Digital Laboratory, Electronic Library and The New Food Technology Building,” Oni said. The spokesperson said that no hitch had been recorded in the conduct of the examination so far, as all hands were on deck to ensure the success of the exercise.

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Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

11 MASSOB members arrested with UN documents Alphonsus Agborh - Asaba

LEVEN members of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) are undergoing interrogation at the Delta State police command in Asaba, over an illegal meeting at the week-

end. Nigerian Tribune gathered that 150 members of the outlawed group had gathered at Oneh Primary School cable point, on Sunday, for a meeting, before a police patrol team, headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, swooped on them at 2.45 p.m. On conducting a screen-

ing exercise on the suspects, 11 of the ring leaders were bundled away for interrogation and would possibly to be prosecuted after investigation, while the others, including women and children, were released. Items recovered from them, according to the state Police Public Relations Of-

ficer (PPRO), DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the story on Monday, included Biafra freedom song CD plates, group photograph of the members, United Nation’s declaration on the right of indegenous people, documents containing Biafra National Anthem and the world latest votes on Biafra, among others.

Governor Nyesom Wike during an inspection of one of the roads, on Monday.

Osun PDP accuses Aregbesola of fixing N35bn bailout fund PDP’s accusation mere fabrication of lies —Aide Oluwole Ige - Osogbo OSUN State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday, accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of allegedly fixing in the bank for another two months, the N35 billion bailout fund released to the state by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) two weeks ago. The target, according to the party, was to make huge gain from the interest rate that the money would yield during the two months period the money would be lodged into the bank account. In a statement endorsed by the PDP’s Director of Media and Strategy, Prince Diran Odeyemi, the party said “we have been authoritatively informed that the package that is generally referred to as bailout, meant to pay backlog of workers’ salaries, was given to Osun State two weeks ago. The statement read in part: “Only paper work was completed last week, but since the arrival of the

APC playing bad politics with my achievements —Wike Dapo Falade - Port Harcourt GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has scored his administration high, accusing the main opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) of downplaying his achievements within the last 100 days. The governor made this known in a broadcast to the people of the state to mark his first 100 days in office, just as he did a tour of some 11 projects embarked upon by his administration in various parts of the state, on Monday. The projects he inspected included Creek Road/ Churchill/Borokiri Road; Industry Road; Nkpogu Road and Bridge; Peter Odili/Woji Road and Bridges and East-West/Eleme/ Onne Expressway. Others were the Elioparanwo Road; Whimpey/ Rumuolumeni Road; Evo/ GRA II Road; Eagle Island/ Iloabuchi Road and Bridge; Silverbird Cinema/Abali Park and the Faculty of Law Complex of the Rivers State University of Science and

Technology (RSUST). Accusing the APC leadership of seeking to downplay the achievements his administration had recorded so far within the period, he said the opposition party was deliberately shutting its eyes to the problems it created while in power in the state. “While we acknowledge the rights of opposition ele-

ments to focus only on the negatives, downplaying the progress we have made in the last 100 days in the face of glaring positive evidences smacks of bad politics, as they are deliberately shutting their eyes to the ocean of problems they created by their misrule, profligacy and prodigality. “Although, we welcome negative ratings and even

criticisms because of their inspirational value, we care more about the feedback from ordinary Rivers people, whose well-being remains the most rational basis for the public office we are privileged and honoured to occupy,” he said. The governor acknowledged that it was the responsibility of elected leaders to fix social-economic prob-

lems within their respective areas, just as he said there were signs of gradual improvement and that Rivers State was already on the path of renewal. He expressed his appreciation to the people of the state for their support and acceptance of his various programmes and appealed to them to put the projects into good use.

Mimiko gives mega school for new Ondo Fed Poly’s take-off IN his determination to ensure the commencement of academic activities at the newly established Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji, the Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, on Monday, handed over St. James Mega Primary School Ile-Oluji to the management of the polytechnic as its temporary site. At the ceremony held at the premises of the mega school, where the infrastructure was handed over to the Polytechnic Rector, Professor Adedayo Fasakin, Governor Mimiko noted that the possession

of the school and its infrastructure would subsist until the polytechnic was ready to surrender it. He added that the decision to convert the mega school to the polytechnic’s temporary site was taken by the state government, in order to meet the accreditation criteria and take-off of academic activities in the institution this year. Mimiko assured that government would build another mega school for the pupils, so that they do not deprived of access to quality education in a conducive environment,

noting that the relocation was just for a season. According to him, the concept of mega school was to create a new educational infrastructure from the primary school level, which was the foundation and breed new set of students that would be globally competitive and outstanding. In his speech, Rector of the Polytechnic, Professor Fasakin, who thanked Governor Mimiko for his commitment to the swift take-off of activities in the institution, assured him of mutual cooperation and relationship between the

institution and the host community. He noted that the provision of the temporary site by the Ondo State government signified the commencement of academic and other activities in the school. Earlier in his welcome speech, the state Commissioner for Education, Mr Jide Adejuyigbe, explained that the implementation committee set up by the state government, in collaboration with the community’s representatives had enjoyed tremendous support of the people.

money, exactly 14 days ago, Mr Aregbesola, in his usual ‘I don’t care nature’, instead of commencing payment of workers’ dues, lodged the N35 billion given to the state into an account. However, the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy to Aregbesola, Mr Semiu Okanlawon, in a statement, described the PDP’s claim as mere fabrication of lies to whip up sentiments against the governor, saying that “to those who are used to PDP’s notorious capacity for falsehood, this should not be surprising, as this is what defines the party head to toe.” According to the statement, “it is very apparent that the only motive behind this ill-conceived statement is to again ignite hatred against the government, capitalising on the ongoing staff verification exercise. “PDP has, however, failed to scrutinise its own conspiratorial statement further, otherwise, it would have reasoned that rightthinking individuals would demand for proofs of any lodgement that shows any ulterior motive as being alleged. “Besides, the verification exercise which the party claims is the subterfuge for this alleged lodgement in a fixed deposit account for personal gains is being handled with active involvement of civil servants. “Does the PDP expect the workers themselves to delay the verification for its imagined interests on the funds to materialise?” But the PDP hinted that the bank that agreed to give Mr Aregbesola the biggest interest, running into several millions of naira was given the money to fix, stressing that “the governor is buying time, for over two weeks now, he had been hiding behind staff screening to fish out ghost workers and the exercise is designed to last for another eight weeks. “We are only concerned that the already pauperised Osun workers are being further subjected to harrowing experience by the governor and we only hope that Mr Aregbesola will allow reason to prevail,” the party added.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

businessnews Don’t protect banks against customers, stakeholders tell CBN 11

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

•As they kick against time limit on complaints’ resolution

takeholders have criticised attempts by the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) to put a time frame within which bank customers can bring in complaints that banks have over charged them and then get refunds. Responding to newspaper publications that the apex bank had fixed time limits within which to resolve complaints by customers relating to certain charges considered excessive, the stakeholders, who asked not to be identified, said such a directive, in addition to its being illegal, would amount to the regulator aiding banks to fleece customers. They argued that when any bank unlawfully debits the customer’s account and takes away money thereby depriving the customer the use of it, “it amounts to stealing,” stressing that the action amounted to an economic crime that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), should investigate. They pointed out that when “these unlawful actions are perpetrated by banks with the connivance of government officials at a particular time, for any pecuniary benefit of such government officials, it will amount to aiding and abetting a crime.” The stakeholders added that“therefore, setting a time limit like CBN has done is really dangerous and it will shelter, encourage and protect the perpetrators of these crimes – bankers and government officials - because we all know that some elected officials have two terms of four years each, that is eight years. “An elected official may connive with bank officials to fleece the government confers with excessive charges on facilities (shared with the bank) in the first two-years of his tenure, knowing that his immunity will cover him during his tenure and when he has left office and his immunity has expired, CBN’s time limit will continue his protection.” They said the cases over which the CBN was interfering, or sought to be legislating, such as excess interest charges; excess management fees charges; excess Team Loan Repayment charges; fees charged above Bankers tariffs; excess charges on restructured team loans; excess penal

interest charges and excess COT charges, among others, amount to civil wrongs, criminal offences and constitutional breaches of the rights of their customers, which are already covered and addressed in the Constitution. “It is a civil wrong and amounts to breach of contract if these charges are not in accordance with the terms

of the facilities granted the customer. It is criminal in many ways as it amounts to an offence of stealing under the Criminal Code Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria,” they said, pointing out that a person who fraudulently takes anything capable of being stolen, or fraudulently converts to his own use or to the use of any other person anything capa-

ble of being stolen, is said to steal that thing. Saying that theagreements between the banks and their customers were contracts under seal, the stakeholders argued that the CBN lacked the competence to amend existing Acts of the Federal Government or Laws of the State Government by a subsidiary legislation under its enabling Act.

They, therefore, urged the CBN to remain within the confines of its onerous duties of regulating banks and managing exchange rates and leave the National / State Assemblies to legislate on the rights and duties of Nigerians and the judiciary to determinate the civil rights and obligations of Nigerians under section 36 of the Constitution.

From left: Corporate Services Manager, Fidson Healthcare Plc; Oladimeji Oduyebo; Sales Supervisor, Global Young Pharmacy, Peace Olujide; General Manager Sales, Fidson Healthcare Plc; Abayomi Alli-Balogun and Field Sales Manager, Taiwo Aremu, during Fidson Healthcare Plc’s, retail reward programme in Ibadan, recently.

Adedutan replaces Onasanya as First Bank GMD FBN Holdings Plc, on Monday, announced major changes to its leadership team with Dr. Adesola Adedutan emerging as the Managing Director-designate of First Bank Nig. Ltd. His appointment takes effect on January 1, 2016. This is sequel to the intention of the incumbent, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, to proceed on retirement at the end of the year. The company also announced the appointment of Mr. Gbenga Shobo, the current Executive Director, Lagos & West, as the Deputy Managing Director-designate. Other changes announced by the FBN Holdings, parent company of First Bank, include that of Mr. Bello Maccido, pioneer Group CEO, FBN Holdings, who is leaving his position to become pioneer Chairman of the newly-licenced FBN Merchant Bank Ltd, while Mr. UK Eke (MFR), currently

Executive Director, South, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd replaces him as Group Managing Director-designate, FBN Holdings Plc. The current chairman of First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, Prince Ajibola Afonja, will retire at the end of the year while Mrs. Ibukun Awosika will take over from him. According to a statement signed by Folake Ani-Mumuney, Global Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, “the decisions had been ratified by the board of directors, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals and all take effect from January 1, 2016.” As pioneer Group CEO of the FBN Holdings Group in very critical times, Maccido birthed the process to establish the multi-faceted group to comply with diverse regulatory requirements, navigating through uncharted territory. He will undoubtedly bring his wealth of experience,

spanning over 30 years post call to bar experience as an accomplished retail, corporate and investment banker, to bear in his new role chairing the Board of the emergent FBN Merchant Bank Ltd. Adeduntan, the Managing Director-designate, who is the current Executive Director/CFO, has garnered diverse expertise in treasury & financial management, risk management, accounting, corporate governance and strategy development, advisory and compliance. The new DMD-designate, Shobo, has a banking career spanning over 25 years with experience in corporate banking, institutional banking, commercial banking, retail banking and treasury. In announcing the appointments, Dr. Oba Otudeko, (CFR), Group Chairman, FBN Holdings, explained: “Following an exhaustive and competitive process, we are proud to announce these appointments.

In reaching these decisions we are mindful of the imperatives for a more efficient group structure that will benefit the Group’s need to deploy systems which deepen efficiency while expanding revenue and returns on investment. We are confident that we have made the right choices in these appointees. In selecting our MD and DMD we were particularly mindful to identify outstanding and topnotch professionals with complementary and mutually reinforcing skill set.” “These appointments are a testament to the strength of our succession planning mechanisms and the caliber of candidates it produces. It also re-articulates our commitment to put our customers first with the confidence in the value that this new leadership team brings to bear on behalf of the Group, customers and employees, even as we strive to return greater value to shareholders,” he said.

Nigerian Tribune

‘Nigeria, third most difficult country for crossborder trade’ Tola Adenubi with agency report The World Bank has rated Nigeria among 16 worst nations in the world in the area of doing business and the third most difficult country for cross-border trade in the Economic Community of West African States region. A report by the bank specifically placed the nation in 170th position out of 185 world economies polled. The ranking was obtained from the website by the ‘Ease of Doing Business and Distance to the Frontier’. The report, however, showed that Nigeria moved up by five points in the latest rating as against 175th position out of 189 countries polled last year. It gave some of the parameters used for the ranking as starting a business; dealing with construction permits; getting electricity; getting credit; protecting minority investors; paying taxes; trading across borders; enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Although there were different ratings for all the categories, Nigeria ranked last in the world in terms of the ease of registering property. The report listed the parameters used for the regional rating as the time and cost (excluding tariff) associated with exporting and importing standardised cargo or goods by sea transport; document preparation; Customs clearance and inspections; inland transport and handling; as well as port and terminal handling. In the ECOWAS region, Burkina Faso was ranked the most difficult country for trade across borders at 174. Mali came second at 163 while Nigeria ranked third at 159. Gambia was ranked the easiest country for trade across borders in the ECOWAS region at 77; Senegal came second at 79 while Cape Verde came third at 101. While it takes an average of 19 days to export goods at $1,040 per container and with six documents in the Gambia, it takes an average of 22.9 days to export goods in Nigeria at $1,564 per container and with nine documents, according to the report. It stated that a trader in Gambia would require an average of 19 days to import cargo at $745 per container with six documents. But in Nigeria, it would take an average of 33 days to import cargo at $1,959.5 per container with13 documents.

businessnews

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

Liquidity pressure heightens in banks over TSA deadline Chima Nwokoji-Lagos

here are strong indications that the September 15th deadline given on Monday by president Muhammadu Buhari for full implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) has increased tension and scramble for funds by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) that rely on government deposits. Some bankers said the deadline had reduced the period expected to be utilised in adjusting to the new regime, as well as seek alternative sources of funding. TSA of the federal government, reported to have led to a further sterilisation of N500 billion banking sector float at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is said to have the potential of further constraining banks’ earnings as there is limited cash to trade with, even as global headwinds have already hit their bottom lines. The Presidency yesterday set a deadline of Tuesday, September 15, 2015 for full compliance with a directive that all revenue due to the Federal Government or any of its agencies must be paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), except otherwise expressly approved. While President Buhari said the development was meant to aid transparency and facilitate compliance with Sections 80 and 162 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, said DMBs were heading into financial and operational storms in view of what he called the increasingly diffi-

cult conditions under which they are operating. According to Rewane, the performance of banking stocks is expected to worsen “as the operating environment remains volatile and economic slowdown persists.” In an earlier interview, the Head of Research at Sterling Capital Limited, Mr. Sewa Wusu, explained that the

policy would affect the flow of liquidity in the banking system. He, however, supported the decision by the federal government to fully implement the TSA, saying it would bring about transparency and effective revenue management. “The liquidity in the banking system will definitely be affected. This is because once the banks collect government’s funds, it will be

Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited, a wealth advisory firm, is set to unveil the 2015 edition of its annual ‘Nigerian Banking Sector Report’. This year’s event coincides with the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the firm. In a statement released by the company, Managing Director, Ike Chioke, said, “We are pleased to announce that the 2015 Nigerian Banking Sector Report is set for launch on October 6, at the prestigious Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The report is titled “Looking Ahead: Nigerian Banking in the Next Decade.” Chioke noted, “For us at Afrinvest, this year’s launch issignificant in more ways

ited, said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, had earlier begun withdrawing its funds from banks for retirement into CBN. “This had an impact on liquidity level in the banking system, resulting in a surge in money market rates during the period as banks scrambled for funds to cover their liquidity positions.

“With the TSA implementation now extended to all federal MDAs, the Nigerian banking industry, on an aggregate basis, would be affected in terms of deposits and funding cost structure.”

NIMASA congratulates Guild of Editors Tola Adenubi - Lagos

From left, Principal Partner, Public Health Partner Limited, Dr. Ubiame Omas; Chief Route Commander/Unit Head of Operation, Mainland, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mrs. Uche Ugbebor; Executive Director, Corporate Bank and Treasury, Keystone Bank, Mr. Hafiz Bakare and Eye Care Project Manager, Eye Foundation Hospital, Lagos, Mr. Nwagala Paul, during the free health and eye screening exercise organized by Keystone Bank Limited for inter-state/luxury bus drivers, on Thursday, in Lagos.

UBA share price up 27.3% after release of audited half year result Investors and financial analysts have responded positively to the audited half year results of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc released last week. The bank’s shares consecutively led the price gainers’ chart, gaining 27.3 per cent within three trading sessions to close at N4.20 on Monday. The appreciation of the bank’s share price is

well above the 4.25 per cent appreciation in the All Share Index (ASI) in the same period. This is an indication of the strong demand for UBA shares, after the positive results announcement. UBA shares also ranked among the top three most traded stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) within the period, thus re-

Nigerian Banking sector 2015 report ready for launch —Afrinvest Chima Nwokoji - Lagos

sent directly to the TSA. The free funds some banks used to enjoy will no longer be there,” Wusu added. In the implementation of the TSA there will be no Federation Account Allocation Committee (FACC) inflow to correct or compensate for the outflows. Similarly, Lagos-based financial investment house, Afrinvest West Africa Lim-

than one. Not only are we unveiling the 10th edition of the annual Banking Sector Report, we are also celebrating 20 years of the firm’s corporate existence.” Afrinvest was founded in September 1995 as Securities Transactions & Trust Company Limited (“SecTrust”). SecTrust commenced trading as a research-focused brokerage and asset management firm and went on to pioneer the transformation of equities brokerage and investment advisory in Nigeria from an opaque, informal business into an industry that today employs hundreds of skilled professionals. In 2005, SecTrust entered into a business combination with the Nigerian affiliate of Afrinvest (UK) Limited and renamed itself as Afrinvest

(West Africa) Limited. Since then Afrinvest has become a household name in the Nigerian financial services and capital markets industry.

inforcing the liquidity of the stock. More importantly, most analysts believe that UBA is trading at significant undervaluation to its intrinsic value, as both foreign and local analysts believe the stock should trade between N6.59 and N8.50 over the next 12 months. According to Bloomberg, Analysts like Rencap value the stock at N8.00, whilst their colleagues at CSL Stockbrokers value UBA at N7.20/share. One notable consensus is that all analysts believe that the stock is grossly undervalued and investors may soon realize the true intrinsic value of

the stock, as the bank consistently delivers superior return to shareholders. UBA on September 3 released its audited half year results showing earnings grow strongly by 21 per cent to N166.9 billion during the period, compared to N138.2 billion in the same period of June 2014. The bank’s profit before tax (PBT) also rose 35.1 per cent to N39.0 billion, while profit after tax (PAT) was up a significant 40 per cent to N32 billion within the same period. As a reward to shareholders, the bank announced the payment of an interim dividend of 20 kobo per share.

together a health and eyscreening project for drivers. In her remarks, Chief Route Commander of the FRSC, Uche Ugbebor, said coinciding with the ‘ember’ months, the Keystone Bank’s health and eye screening is timely because it would contribute to the larger effort to reduce accidents on the road during the months heralding Christmas period. It has been shown that human factor is responsible for 90 percent of road traf-

fic accidents; hence the best approach was for drivers to ensure that they are in good health while driving. Managing Director/CEO of Keystone Bank, Philip Ikeazor, who made the call in Lagos on Tuesday, said when the drivers were in good health, it would reduce the incidence of highway accidents. Ikeazor, who was represented by Hafiz Bakare, Executive Director, Corporate Bank and Treasury, spoke at the screening exercise.

Keystone Bank, FRSC collaborate on safety Chima Nwokoji - Lagos On the conviction that 90 percent of road traffic accidents are caused by human factor Nigeria’s commercial lender,Keystone Bank has charged professional drivers to pay attention to their health, as a strategy to prevent road traffic accidents. To this end, the bank, in partnership with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Public Health Partners (PHP) and the Eye Foundation Hospital, put

The recent emergence of a new leadership in the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has received the support of the Management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as conveyed in a congratulatory message to the Guild. At the recent All Nigerian Editors Conference, MallamGarbaDeen Muhammad, the former Deputy President, became the President, while Steve Ayorinde, who was Vice President (West) was elected Deputy President and FunkeEgbemode, the former Social and Publicity Secretary is now Vice President (West). In the letter to the NGE President, the Acting Director General NIMASA, Haruna Baba Jauro, described the election as a mark of the confidence Nigerian editors reposed in the trio as a result of their outstanding performance in previous responsibilities. The NIMASA helmsman also said that the development was in line with the commitment of the Guild to ensure that journalists at all levels continue to discharge their noble roles as required of the Fourth Estate of the Realm. Recalling the nationalistic roles of leading lights in journalism, among whom were Ernest Ikoli, Herbert Macaulay, NnamdiAzikiwe and ObafemiAwolowo, Jauro urged the NGE to be in the forefront of the reawakening movement and the deepening of Nigeria’s unity in diversity. “Our dear country is at a time when all citizens, particularly professional groups like the NGE ought to rally behind the ongoing drive towards probity in every aspect of our national life in order to set Nigeria on the path of progress. Given the pedigree of the NGE leadership, I have no doubt that you all are well equipped and prepared for the onerous tasks ahead,” the DG admonished. The agency has over the years provided support for the guild and other media associations as part of its commitment to the development and growth of its various stakeholder groups.

business

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

daily summary (equities) for monday, 7 SEPTEMBER, 2015

news

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

P/Harcourt stands still for Wizkid, Flavour at Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce-Original

igeria’s fully integrated telecoms service provider, Globacom, on Saturday night treated residents of oil-rich city of Port Harcourt to an evening of undiluted music and fun as its flagship music concert, Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce, held at the Aztech Arcum Event Centre, in the Garden City. The expectations of the fun-seekers, who started arriving the venue from noon for the show slated for 6:00p.m. were not deflated as all the artistes who performed at the concert gave an impressive account of themselves. Recently signed on Glo brand ambassador, Wizkid, dished out his popular hits including ‘Ojuelegba’ which drove his fans ecstatic as they danced and sang with him lyric by lyric. Flavour Nabania also proved his mettle with renditions of his popular beats while he engaged in the trademark rhythmic wriggling of his waist to the delight of his fans. Both Wizkid and Flavour attended the show with their full musical ensembles and live bands, a gesture which added to the excitement of the audience. Soul singer and talented guitarist, Bez, did his popular ‘That stupid song’ and other songs while Burna Boy also tickled the excited audience with ‘Checks and Balances’, and ‘Run my race’. DJ Xgee complemented the night of lyrical ecstasy by dishing out numerous popular tunes from his turntable during interludes to heighten the already musically-charged atmosphere. Nollywood actor who doubles as a humour merchant, Okey Bakassi, interlaced the musical sessions with his brand of rib-cracking comedy as he compered the show. The audience was also thrilled at the sight of the duo of Chiwetalu Agu and Patience Ozokwor popularly known as Mama G who made special guest appearances in their capacities as Glo ambassadors. Both Glo ambassadors interacted with their fans, some of whom asked them probing questions about the characters they had portrayed in their acting roles. Asked why she plays the roles of wicked wife or mother-in-law in her movies, Ozokwor said she merely interpreted all roles given to her with passion towards making them

sound real. “That does not make me a wicked woman, I am merely committed to entertaining and teaching my viewers that wickedness is not socially-acceptable,” she said. On his part, Agu disclosed that he is simply exhibiting his God-given talent anytime he uses long-winding local puns and anecdotes in order to inject subtle comedy into his roles. Holding an elephant tusk aloft, Agu created a punch-line from

how he perceived the relationship between men and women, which drew an exhilarating response from the audience. They both described Globacom as a world-class brand which has demonstrated commitment to the empowerment of Nigerians with its products and services. The trio of Nemibo Alababa, Kelvin Orere and Joyce Akinrinmade emerged winners of the dance competi-

tions and carted home several Glo branded prizes. Mrs Irene Kejeh, a resident of Rumuola in the garden city who attended the show with her teenage children, said she was impressed that the show was a bridge between the old and the young, as it satisfied the expectations of all those who attended irrespective of their ages and social status. Kejeh said she would remember the show for a long

time to come as it gave her the opportunity to meet and greet Patience Ozokwor a.k.a Mama G whom she described as her favourite Nollywood actress. Another guest, Omoregie Godsday, said it was his first time of watching his favourite idols live. He eulogised the management of Globacom for organising the show and bringing fun and laughter to its teeming subscribers in Port Harcourt and its environs.

From left, guest speaker, Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa; representative of the Vice Chancellor, Universty of Ibadan, Professor Babatunde Salako and the chairman of the occasion, Professor Lanre Olutayo, at a lecture, entitled: “The state of Nigerian Diaspora and gender relations in the 21st century,” held in Ibadan, on Monday. PHOTO: NAN.

Traditional stools not meant for regents —Fayose Sam Nwaoko - Ado Ekiti Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, has said that traditional stools are not meant for regents and efforts must be made to fill vacant stools as soon as possible. He has therefore given the commitment that during his tenure, any vacant stool will be filled within six to 12 months that a monarch departs and sought the cooperation of kingmakers and interested parties to make the promise possible. He spoke in IluomobaEkiti on Monday while presenting the Staff of Office to the Ajagun of IluomobaEkiti, Oba Jimoh Oluwagbenga Adetiba. The stool became vacant on July 30, 2009. “I don’t support regents manning stools in towns for long. The stools are not for regents and I have made the commitment that within six months to one year that an Oba departs, we will strive to fill such stool. We are calling on all stakeholders to support us in that regard. “Kingmakers should not collect money from contestants as they will openly cast their votes for their preferred candidates. During my campaign, I came

to the palace of Iluomoba and saw the situation there. I made the promise that as soon as we are inaugurated, we would try and resolve the issues hindering the selection of a new Ajagun. “My advice for the new Ajagun is that ‘don’t see those who contested with you as opponents, they are princes like you from the

same town.’ “Nobody becomes an Oba without God knowing about it. God is not happy with whoever is not straightforward,” he said. Fayose also solicited the support of the people for his administration. In his speech, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr

Kolapo Kolade, said five persons sought to become the Ajagun and were screened by the kingmakers. Four out of the six kingmakers in the town voted for Adetiba. He added that the state government would always ensure that the traditional institution is accorded its deserved respect.

Police arrest 12 suspected robbers, pipeline vandals in Oyo By Oluwatoyin Malik A three-man gang of suspected armed robbers which had been terrorising road users along Igbeti-Kishi Road at Oke Ogun area of Oyo State by dispossessing them of their valuables has been arrested by the Oyo State Police Command. They were among 12 suspects that were recently arrested in the state, according to the state Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade. The Oke Ogun robbery suspects were one Abdullahi Mohammed, Abubakar Sheu and Babuga Majo. Recovered from them were one locally-made single barrel gun, cutlasses and

assorted phones which were said to belong to the suspects’ victims. Disclosing this during a press briefing on Monday at the Police Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, the commissioner said that the suspects were arrested after they carried out their last robbery operation on August 25, at about 4:00p.m. at Oku Village via Igbeti town. He further stated that the suspects stopped and attacked one Chief Rafiu Ojo and one Fatumbi who were travelling from Ilorin to Kishi in their red vehicle, after which they robbed the victims of their valuables. Oyebade also spoke on the three suspected vandals, Ayotunde Adedayo (29),

Taofeek Hamzat (45) and Nurudeen Adegbite (40), whom he said went to Bare village, off Ajanla Farms, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where they vandalised petroleum pipelines. He added that two Bedford buses with registration numbers LSR 822 XF and AKD 709 XE, loaded with 13,200-litre drums which contained premium motor spirit (PMS) were recovered from them. Also, one Tosin Olamide George (32) a.k.a. Olorunwa, whom the police commissioner described as a notorious inter-state armed robbery suspect, has been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ibadan.

JAMB inspects facilities for accreditation as UTME centres THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has inspected over 600 facilities nationwide for accreditation as centres for the conduct of the 2016 Computer Based Test (CBT), an official has said. The Public Relations Officer of JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, on Monday. He said the board would inspect over 1,000 facilities for accreditation and that only those that met the requirements would be accredited as centres for the UTME. “Some of the things we are looking out for have a lot to do with the technical aspect. “For these centres to meet our requirements, they must have not less than 250 computers with reliable power source. “The computer centres must be integrated with the local area network and there must equally be a high and accessible security in and around such centres,’’ Benjamin said.

Ibadan NSE gets new exco By Nurudeen Alimi THE Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Ibadan branch, has elected new executive members that will steer the ship of the society for the next one year. The election was held recently in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The new elected members are: Chairman, Olowe Bolarinwa; Vice-Chairman, Kumolu Rufus; General Secretary, Ajagbe Wasiu; Technical Secretary, Olaoye Adekunle; Treasurer, Adedamola FaladeFatila; Publicity Secretary, Ojedele Ayokunnu and Financial Secretary, Badmus Folaranmi. . Others are Assistant General Secretary, Abdulrasaq Jimoh; Assistant Technical Secretary, Ogunranto Victor; ExOfficio, Adekanmi Adewole and Immediate Past Chairman, Salawu Raufu. The former chairman, Salawu Raufu, urged members of the new executive council to be more focused and dedicated to the cause of the profession. He told them to see their positions as an opportunity to serve the society judiciously.

news

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

P/Harcourt stands still for Wizkid, Flavour at Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce-Original

IGERIA’S fully integrated telecoms service provider, Globacom, on Saturday night treated residents of oil-rich city of Port Harcourt to an evening of undiluted music and fun as its flagship music concert, Glo Slide ‘n’ Bounce, held at the Aztech Arcum Event Centre, in the Garden City. The expectations of the fun-seekers, who started arriving the venue from noon for the show slated for 6:00p.m. were not deflated as all the artistes who performed at the concert gave an impressive account of themselves. Recently signed on Glo brand ambassador, Wizkid, dished out his popular hits including ‘Ojuelegba’ which drove his fans ecstatic as they danced and sang with him lyric by lyric. Flavour Nabania also proved his mettle with renditions of his popular beats while he engaged in the trademark rhythmic wriggling of his waist to the delight of his fans. Both Wizkid and Flavour attended the show with their full musical ensembles and live bands, a gesture which added to the excitement of the audience. Soul singer and talented guitarist, Bez, did his popular ‘That stupid song’ and other songs while Burna Boy also tickled the excited audience with ‘Checks and Balances’, and ‘Run my race’. DJ Xgee complemented the night of lyrical ecstasy by dishing out numerous popular tunes from his turntable during interludes to heighten the already musically-charged atmosphere. Nollywood actor who doubles as a humour merchant, Okey Bakassi, interlaced the musical sessions with his brand of rib-cracking comedy as he compered the show. The audience was also thrilled at the sight of the duo of Chiwetalu Agu and Patience Ozokwor popularly known as Mama G who made special guest appearances in their capacities as Glo ambassadors. Both Glo ambassadors interacted with their fans, some of whom asked them probing questions about the characters they had portrayed in their acting roles. Asked why she plays the roles of wicked wife or mother-in-law in her movies, Ozokwor said she merely interpreted all roles given to her with passion towards making them

Traditional stools not meant for regents —Fayose Sam Nwaoko - Ado Ekiti EKITI State governor, Mr Ayo Fayose, has said that traditional stools are not meant for regents and efforts must be made to fill vacant stools as soon as possible. He has therefore given the commitment that during his tenure, any vacant stool will be filled within six to 12 months that a monarch departs and sought the cooperation of kingmakers and interested parties to make the promise possible. He spoke in IluomobaEkiti on Monday while presenting the Staff of Office to the Ajagun of IluomobaEkiti, Oba Jimoh Oluwagbenga Adetiba. The stool became vacant on July 30, 2009. “I don’t support regents manning stools in towns for long. The stools are not for regents and I have made the commitment that within six months to one year that an Oba departs, we will strive to fill such stool. We are calling on all stakeholders to support us in that regard. “Kingmakers should not collect money from contestants as they will openly cast their votes for their preferred candidates. During my campaign, I came

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

GLOBACOM’S SLIDE ‘N’ BOUNCE CONCERT IN PORT HARCOURT

1. Ace comedian and compere of Globacom’s Slide ‘n’ Bounce music concert, Okey Bakassi (second right), with, from left, Kelvin Okere, Joyce Akinwande and Nemibo Alababa, winners of a dance competition, which was one of the features of the concert held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday. 2. Soul singer, Beziwa Idakula, a.k.a. Bez, flanked by the Rivers State Manager, Globacom, Mr Ganiyu Musa and a fan, at the music concert. 3. Nigerian music star, Ayo Balogun a.k.a. Wizkid, flanked by Bayelsa State Manager, Globacom, Mr Ikenna Aguwuom (left) and a female fan, Blessing Alale.

4. Wizkid performing on stage to the admiration of his teeming fans. 5. Nabania star, Flavour, with fans, after his performance at the Port Harcourt edition of Globacom Slide ‘n’Bounce concert. 6. Nollywood star and Globacom ambassador, Patience Ozokwor, a.k.a. Mama G with Globacom Business Associate in Rivers State and Managing Director, Assotel Telecoms, Port Harcourt, Miss Ojinka Ezeogu. 7. Burna Boy on stage. 8. Nollywood star and Globacom ambassador, Chief Chinwetalu Agu with the Master of Ceremony, Okey Bakassi and a female fan, Ada Okorie.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

Femi Ibirogba adefemi2007@yahoo.com 0811 695 4646

breeder seeds and the second is to develop the capacity of a selected consortium of seed companies. These companies will be responsible for producing foundation and certified seeds for the farmers and if anything goes wrong, the concerned seed company will be out of the consortium, AfricaRice Coordinator, Dr Nwilene, said. “Basically, we have selected a consortium of 10 seed companies out of 15. The second aspect of this project will be capacity development for these seed companies to produce foundation and certified seeds,” he said.

Representative of USAID, Mr Suleiman Sambo (right); Coordinator of African Rice Centre, Nigeria, Dr Francis Nwilene (second right) and other rice breeders, during the USAID-sponsored rice seed purification at IITA, Ibadan, recently.

Food security: USAID, AfricaRice, others in search of rice seed purification By Femi Ibirogba

HE peculiar challenge discovered in Nigeria in the rice value chain is the loss of purity of foundation seeds and certified rice seeds. Most of the rice seeds emanating from seed companies have lost their purity due to fraudulent practice of mixture of varieties, leading to different maturity times, mixture of long and sort grain rice, rejection of paddies by off-takers, and poor yields per hectare as a result of paddies being sold as certified seeds to farmers, and massive economic losses. Food security potential of rice and aggressive investments in the grain by African countries have hence necessitated the efforts being made by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and AfricaRice, among other partners, to identify, promote and preserve the purity of high-yielding rice varieties made available on the continent by the AfricaRice, Regional Coordinator of AfricaRice, Dr Francis Nwilene, and Northern Regional Officer/Programme Manager, USAID MARKET II, Mr Suleiman Sambo, have disclosed. This was made known during a field visit to Africa Rice Centre in Ibadan on Thursday by USAID, the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI) and the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) to evaluate the performance of each selected breeder rice resources from AfricaRice Genetic Resources Unit (AGRU), AfricaRice Breeding Unit and NCRI, Badeggi, Niger State.|

The project The project has two phases: rejuvenation of foundation seed and capacity development for the seed companies in term of foundation seed production training for seed companies. Regional Coordinator of AfricaRice, Dr Nwikene, disclosed during the visit that “the project is funded by USAID for four countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Liberia. Basically, it is a kind of technical assistance to add value to the much needed breeder and foundation rice seeds that are lacking in Nigeria. Farmers’ experience in the growth enhancement scheme showed that most of the so-called seeds supplied by seed companies were grains and if you asked the seed companies where they got their foundation seeds from, you wouldn’t get concrete answers.” “The greatest challenges, he added, “are, therefore, foundation and breeder seeds, because if you don’t get the breeder seed, you won’t get the foundation seeds needed to provide the certified seeds for the farmers. Those are the peculiarities. What we are doing in this project is to get nucleus seeds from different sources, including AfricaRice, the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the likes.” Seed identification and selection To start afresh and select original popular rice varieties for production of breeder, foundation and certified seeds, a nucleus of popular seed varieties were selected from gene banks of AfricaRice, NCRI and IRRI, which are FARO 44, 52, 57, 59, 60, and 61 and the upland NERICA. A breeder seed

is a variety crossbred by rice scientists to ensure high yields, decease resistance and long grains. The breeder seed is usually in small quantity and it is used in the production of foundation seeds. Foundation seed is a second generation of the seed, given by releasing institutions to seed companies. Seed companies then use the foundation seeds to produce certified seeds, carrying along agencies of the government responsible for certifying the seeds that go to the farmers. Such regulatory agencies include the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), National Maize/Rice Centre, NCRI and National Agencies for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB). FARO 52, one of the varieties being rejuvenated, was collected AfricaRice Genetic Resource Unit, AfricaRice Breeding Unit, and NCRI, with the one collected from AfricaRice Genetic Resource Unit selected based on moderate height, uniformity and lodging resistance, with the stakeholders agreeing that it was true to type. It was agreed that one plant should be selected from Faro 52 and replanted to get the breeder seeds which will be used to produce the foundation seeds for the consortium of seed companies participating in the project. FARO 44 variety got from AfricaRice Genetic Resource Unit was also selected as true to type for maintaining uniformity, lodging proof and high yield, while FARO 61 variety was chosen as true-to-type and for rejuvenation from AfricaRice Breeding Unit, among other selected varieties. Consortium of seed companies So, the project is divided into two major aspects. One is to rejuvenate the pure

Participants’ expectations and comments USAID representative, Suleimman Sambo, said that “when we look at the value chain, we want the Nigerian rice to compete favourably with rice from other countries and that will not happen if we don’t have the right material and the right project. So, what the project is doing is to come out with the right seed that will translate into producing right quality certified seeds, which will now be used by farmers to produce rice that will be able to compete with rice from any part of the world. “This is a right project in the right direction. With what I have seen, AfricaRice has impressed me because the entire stakeholders have been invited to see how the breeder and foundation seeds are purified. The project will come out with a few solutions to the challenge of quality seeds in the rice value chain.” A rice breeder with NCRI, Badeggi, Dr Maji Alhassan Tswako, said: “The effort is good and based on what I have seen, those that have the authority to maintain the genetic purity are doing so. I think the problem we have is down the line. When these seeds go out from these sources, the maintenance is not sustained. Efforts should go more on educating or training the seed companies to play their roles properly. This project can assist to do that.” Regional Consultant, Coalition for AfricaRice Development (CARD), Kenya, Mr Michael Nasamu, said: “If all the stakeholders work with the same purpose, the project of rice seed purification will be a success. From what AfricRice is doing to rejuvenate the quality seed, with the second phase being the capacity building for seed companies, it is going to work. In essence, if the seed companies are carried along, I think the project has a future in the quality rice seed maintenance.” Abraham Suaeeb, a rice breeder and doctoral research fellow with AfricaRice, said: “The project is timely. Over the years, breeders have tried to develop good rice seeds but they have lost their purity while moving from seed companies to farmers and to other farmers. They have mixed up the original seeds. You plant a variety and they mature at different date and having different sizes, some, long grains while some have short grains.” This project is going to involve project monitoring and evaluation mechanism. We are going to track every seed company participating in the project, train them and ensure that all stakeholders work together because AfricaRice alone cannot produce the quantity of seed the country needs.

agriculture C: AVA II field day: ‘How to become rich growing cassava’

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

By Femi Ibirogba

ESPITE increasing number of industrial processing companies and widespread consumption of the root crop and its derivatives in Nigeria, farmers keep experiencing decreasing accruable income due to forces of demand and supply, discouraging investors and youths from actively participating in the cultivation of the crop. However, Dr Richardson Okechukwu, a cassava breeder at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), said if right spacing, good varieties, effective weed control and other good agronomical practices are embraced, and if market is secured before production, farmers can make a lot of profit by increasing their productivity using the same number of hectare, time and other resources by 100 per cent. He said this during a farmers’ field day at the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, on Wednesday, sponsored by Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C: AVA), an initiative sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, revealing farmers could have their production increased to around 40 tonnes per hectare or at least 25 tonnes where the soil very poor. “It is agronomic practice you put into it that gives you the yield. So, getting different variety and not getting the right plant population, you are not doing business. Even if your soil is not rich and you are able to take the right plant population, getting 20 to 25 tonnes per hectare is very easy and this is the message we need to take home. “A commercial farmer or a cassava farmer who wants to make money should consider not doing inter-cropping. The money you make is a function of yield and the cost of input you used in growing the farm. The root you want to sell is subject to some prices and some other forces that you cannot control. The processor who wants to buy fresh roots will want to price you down because there are so many people producing. So, you don’t have that power to push up price as a root producer, thus, you can only gain by decreasing your expenditure and by increasing your yield. That is where the money is.” He emphasized that farmers too should move beyond selling raw cassava roots, saying, “If you must sell roots, in C: AVA, we tell you to add value because you can do more than just sell roots.” He emphasized that the old spacing of 1m by 1m had been discovered to be ineffective in two ways. It reduces the number of plant per hectare and it gives rooms for weed infestation. “How you handle your planting materials matters on your yields. When you are cutting your stems and you don’t cut it through or sharp to leave the surface smooth, you limit the number of roots that will be produced from that stick. If the edge of your cutting is rough, it only remains hardwood that will not germinate well. So, the root production will not be entire,” He said mechanization of cassava farms would go a long way in reducing the cost of producing the root. “The business is to get the right planting population at the time of maturity. We should also know that one way to lower cost is mechanisation. Farm labour is very expensive. Not only that, it is also scarce and so mechanisation is one of those few things that can bring the youth back to the farm. It can also lower your cost of production and your our aim is to lower cost and get higher yields.” Provost of Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Dr Samson Adeola Odedina, also buttressed the inevitability of mechanization and good handling of the planting materials. “The way forward for the farmer is changing the way you cut cassava stem to plant you have already increased your yield by 25 per cent. That is not mechanization and it is not technology. If you change the way you prepare your planting material, without spending extra money, you can get 15 extra per hectare. There are about 100 common errors in cassava production that is non-cash, non-mecnanisation and so our farmers need to know it and change the way of doing agriculture,” Odedina said while taking participants from Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi and Uganda round the demonstration hectare of cassava. “So farmers need to link with people who are already doing good business in service provision for commercial agriculture and it services a wide range of farmers, including smallholder farmers,” he added, “here we run every year a course we call sustainable cassava production practice, it is a weekend program for farmers and entrepreneurs and

Provost of the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Dr Samson Adeola Odedina (middle); former Vice Chancellor of Wesley University of Science and Technology (WUSTO), Professor Tola Badejo (second right); C:AVA II Project Coordinator, Professor Kolawole Adebayo, and other guests during the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation- sponsored C:AVA II field day in Akure, recently.

To get maximum gains from the cassava value chain, ...good soil fertility/land preparation, good agronomical practices, market development and right policies one necessary conditions.

we have facilities for tourism. Project Director of C: AVA II, Professor Kolawole Adebayo, said light on the activities of C: AVA, saying, “The focus of C: AVA I then was to develop the quality of cassava flour that was used for confectioneries. The reason for doing that was to link farmers to companies that have the technology to convert cassava root to high quality cassava flour. But as we then continued with

the second phase of the project, C: AVA II, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who were funding the project gave us two primary conditions. “The first is that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Agriculture Development group said they wanted African leadership. Cassava is grown in Africa, the people who are going to benefit are in Africa. Natural Resources Institute in the United Kingdom shouldn’t be the one leading. So, through a very consultative process, we selected the Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta to be the leader, and I was selected to be the project director. “The second thing that changed was given the lessons that were learnt in C: AVA I, you can’t focus on product which is depending on government policy to run. So that is why in C: AVA II, we opened up the range of products into every value added products that cassava can go into. So, now in C: AVA II, we work with high quality cassava flour, starch, ethanol, and cassava for livestock feed and aquaculture feed so that we can work with companies who use cassava as raw materials to achieve all of these products.” To get maximum gains from the cassava value chain, speakers identified improved varieties, good soil fertility/ land preparation, good agronomical practices, market development and right policies as necessary conditions.

18 LETTERS TO THE

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

editor

Letters to the editor should be sent to letterstribune@yahoo.com or by sms to 08055001747 or 08054005323. It MUST be accompanied by the full name and address of the writer.

M-East refugee crisis and Western world’s policies

HEN the Arab uprising started in Tunisia in 2011, many Western countries saw it as an opportunity to get rid of dictators. Like a wild fire, the movement spread to Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Jordan. With the movement in full gear, many in the Western world felt it was an opportunity to cement Western-style democracy across the Arab world. Tunisia ousted its own president, while it claimed the life of Ghaddafi, and threw the once stable country into turmoil. Today, Libya is a shadow of itself, with the Islamic State (ISIS) gaining a strong footing there. When the uprising began in Syria, everyone thought it was a joke. Shouldn’t we ask ourselves how the riot-

ers turned to well-armed rebels? From mere street protests, Syria is already in a state of war. Unfortunately, the IS capitalised on this problem, as well as the problem in neighbouring Iraq to take over large swathes of land. Now, the ISIS problem, as well as the civil war has been driving out hundreds of thousands of Syrians to embark on dangerous trips to Europe. We must also not forget that Libya also has no central government. The rebels who ousted Ghaddafi are still fighting for superiority, thereby making ISIS gain in the country. Many Libyans are also trying to run to safety by crossing the Medittereanean sea into Europe. It has been said that the migrants crisis Europe is experiencing is the biggest

since the end of the Second World War. I, therefore, want to lay the blame for this human tragedy at the feet of the Western world. They discreetly supported the Arab uprising, instead of working towards promoting good governance, irrespective of who is leading a country. At the time of the Libya uprising, Ghaddafi was already leaning West. He had abandoned the country’s nuclear programme, and was collaborating with Western governments on several fronts. However, the West was not comfortable with Ghaddafi as leader of his country. Now, the whole Arab world is in crisis, and it is the responsibility of the Western world to assist those who have been displaced. However, it pains me

watching the suffering of these refugees in Europe. Some countries lock them out, while some treat them like animals. Posterity will judge Europe the way it is treating refugees from the Arab world.

I, therefore, want to call the United Nations to urge European Union leaders to open their doors for refugees to come in. Other Western nations like the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand should also take in

huge number of refugees. What we are seeing today is a human tragedy, and the world must act now. •Dr Tajudeen Alalade, Ilorin, Kwara State.

States should pay pensioners’ gratuities with bailout fund I was so happy when President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bail out some states that are having problems paying their workers and pensioners. This is the hallmark of a good leader; this is a leader who cares about the plight of his people. I am happy that the CBN has started disbursing the money to some states, but I want the apex bank to publish in national dailies the

money disbursed to each state. Why I am saying this is that some state governors cannot be trusted with money. As soon as they get the money, they might divert it to other things. Nigerian workers and pensioners are suffering. I can say that some pensioners have not been paid their gratuities for over ten years. When do we want these people to enjoy the fruit of their labour over the years? Some of them have health conditions, while some still have children who are in institutions of higher learning. Some have graduates who are unemployed. We shouldn’t continue

to punish our pensioners, and it is as a result of this that I am calling on the CBN to monitor how the funds are being disbursed to the workers and pensioners. As far as I am concerned, Osun State has been given its share of the money, and its workers and pensioners should not keep quiet if they have not started receiving bank alerts on their phones. This is the time for workers and pensioners to be given what the governments are owing them. We should allow them enjoy their lives, particularly the pensioners, most of who are over the age of 60. •Fakayode Leke, Osogbo, Osun State.

Appeal to Buhari on Lagos/ Ibadan Express way IN the last couple of weeks, several fatal accidents have occurred on the Lagos/ Ibadan Express way. We should not forget that former President Goodluck Jonathan has already awarded the reconstruction of the busy road to Julius Berger and RCC, but since a new administration came on board, work has stopped. This express way is just so important to this country, as it is the gateway to Nigeria’s economic capital, Lagos. We don’t want to be losing lives on this express way on a daily basis; I just want to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to instruct the two contractors to return to site. We will not even mind if this administration reviews the terms of the contract; what they people want is for

the road to be completed as soon as possible. Before the Ibadan-Oyo express way was completed, many people had lost their lives on the old road. However, since the Jonathan administration completed the new road, accidents have reduced drastically. The second phase of the project is the Oyo-Ilorin road, but the immediate past administration could not complete it before the expiration of its tenure. I, therefore, want the administration of President Buhari to take up these projects. I am happy that the president has no choice because of the overwhelming support he got from the South West. •Alaga Ayinde, Lagos.

editorial

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

The dismissed Ogun civil servants

N August 12 this year, the Ogun State government reportedly ordered the sack of six officials of the state Ministry of Education, Science and Technology over a Senior Secondary School English language summary passage question used for a unified examination in public secondary schools in the state, extracted from a publication entitled Issues on Education Today, written by one Joel Adegbenro. The officials included the writer, Adegbenro; an acting Permanent Secretary, Folashade Oresegun; three directors including Rotimi Odunsi and one Mr Majekodunmi Oluwole. Some of the officials however had their dismissal converted to compulsory retirement The summary passage, which focused on the rot in the education sector in an unnamed state, was perceived to have been critical of the state government. The passage read in part: “Many schools run by the government which were formerly known for academic excellence have suddenly lost their prestige and are living on past glory. No wonder many parents and guardians are threateningly left with only one option, to withdraw their wards from these schools to other ones that are better managed.” Speaking on the development, the state Head of Service, Modupe Adekunle, as if indifferent to the outrage generated by the dismissal of the affected officials, said: “I am aware that not all of them were dismissed. Some were terminated, some compulsorily retired. When the issue came up, the state government put in the necessary process, a panel was set up to investigate and based on their recommendations, the Civil Service Commission has to decide. The report was forwarded to the Civil Service Commission for the civil servants and the Teaching Service Commission for the teachers. The decision was in line with the civil service rules; due process was followed to the letter.” Expectedly, the outrage that greeted the development pitted the state government against members of the general public and human rights organisations, including the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) and the SocioEconomic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which had petitioned UN Rapporteurs on the Right to Education on the development. In our view, the disturbing development in Ogun State is yet another indication of the erosion of civil service values in the country. That the civil service has become politically tainted over the years is not in doubt, and the Ogun case is a classic example of the hand of Esau, voice of Jacob. The civil service, as a driver of government business, is not supposed to be beholden to the political leadership, let alone take the initiative in meting out punishment to perceived opponents of a sitting government. The position of the Ogun Head of Service in the face of the glaring discrepancies in terminating the appointment of the said officials is only true to type. What is the process of discipline and who raised the initial objection? Assuming but not conceding that due process was observed, what precisely could have been the offence of the said officials?

Where and how did the officials offend the state government by the criticism contained in the examination passage? In any case, is punishment the appropriate response to criticism? In the first place, even if the passage in question mentioned the Ogun State government, which it did not, it would still have remained an examination question. The passage tested summary writing skills, not the question whether or not the Ogun State government, or any government for that matter, had lived up to its responsibility in the field of education. At a secondary degree of delicacy or higher level of appreciation, the proper and logical thing to do in the face of a critical narrative would have been to construct a counter narrative, even if in the form of a future examination question, because nothing drives literature faster than censorship. Without meaning to do so, the Ogun State Civil Service and the state government have made easy heroes of the dismissed officials who have committed no offence known to law. Quite sadly, thousands of people who would not otherwise have been interested in the case have now read the passage and ascribed the failures it mentioned to the Ogun State government. By sacking the writer of the passage, the Ogun establishment has conveyed the impression that the issues raised in the passage are authentic, and that it had in fact failed in its duty, an imputation that would have been entirely unnecessary if the state Civil Service Commission had confined itself to its constitutional roles. The Ogun State government’s portrayal of the case as a mere civil service matter is questionable. The civil service could not have sacked the affected officials if it had raised an objection as the approving authority. In evidence here is a vendetta which does not suggest a leadership with a sound temperament, one equipped with the capacity to take criticism, not as mischief, but as a motivation for the delivery of greater democratic dividends, and to ensure quality service delivery at such a glaring height that naysayers and political opportunists would have been seen as mere irritants. Turning a blind eye to a clear case of injustice certainly negates the oath of office. Quite tragically, the structures that permit the current embarrassment in Ogun State are intact across the country. At the federal level, some civil servants are said to be regaling officials of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration with salacious details of how some former government functionaries looted the treasury without stating their own roles as accounting officers and without whose connivance such infractions would not have taken place in the first place. We call on the Ogun State government to prevail on both the state Civil Service Commission and its Teaching Service Commission to reinstate the affected workers without delay. However, in the final analysis, the nation’s civil service needs to be weaned from the influence of politics and politicians, so that it can stay within its boundary as an engine of growth and development.

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opinion

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Declared assets: Bread crumbs for a ravenous nation

HERE came a coruscate of light at the end of the dark meandering tunnel of GEJ’s adminsitration, as a knight, clad in impeccable white, rode into Aso Villa on the winged stallion of change. It was shouted on the streets that Muhammadu Buhari, the incorruptible seed with zero tolerance for looting, would, as laxative, clean the bowels, flush out the rot in the stomach of the nation and simultaneously subdue the diffusion of national stench when the stool comes loose. Ironically, the efficacy of the clean-up power of the ex-General and his fix-it ability may have begun walking the dreaded plank like a pirate facing destruction. The lethargy that epitomises his administration has thrust the nation into a state of inertia, but that doesn’t seem to be the only thing besmirching his white garment at the moment. Just last week, there were several volcanic eruptions in the four cardinals of the country as the public’s outrage about the appointments made by the presidency escalated. The appointments were described as highly lopsided, lacking regional and most importantly, gender balance. But while the molten magma from those eruptions had yet solidified, the national atmospheric was again fogged by the dust being raised by the public declaration of assets made by the president and the vice-president. To understand this latter outrage, a quick historical lesson will be of the essence as it will catalyse our collective demystification of the bone of contention. Former military ruler, Buhari rode to an unprecedented election win over incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan on March 28, on his pledge to stamp out rampant corruption. He gave Nigerians a clear cut picture of a no-nonsense, anti-corruption fighter and brandished a frugal lifestyle of an austere leader who had no exotic or luxurious homes in the country or outside her shores. Ahead of the 2015 election, Nigerians were made to believe that Buhari had taken a bank loan to pay for his party’s nomination forms, which sold for N27 million. That alone struck the emotional cords of unassuming romantics and several citizens fell head over heels in love with him.They were mesmerised by the measly nature of the lifestyle a former head of state who also served as petroleum minister and head of the petroleum development fund. This made him perfect for the mammoth task of rebranding the nation by first, eradicating corruption. However, for the cynics who understand the treachery of political minds and the perfidy of people in government, Buhari’s administration would have to do some self-assertion and the first step in the series of these litmus tests was a pub-

lic declaration of assets. So, after 100 days of snail speed progression as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari and vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday, 3 September, made a public declaration of assets. While the list of President Buhari’s asset to the CCB showed that the president had about N30 million in his account as of May 29 when he was sworn in as president, as of the same date, his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), had N94 million, $900,000 as well £19,000 in his accounts. The documents, as submitted to the CCB, also showed President Buhari has only one bank account with Union Bank, but Osinbajo, had more than one. According to the document, President Buhari also has shares in Berger Paints, Union Bank and Skye Bank. He has “total of five homes, and two mud houses in Daura. He has two homes in Kaduna, one each in Kano, Daura and Abuja. President Buhari also has two undeveloped plots of land, one in Kano and the other in Port Harcourt. In addition to the homes in Daura, he has farms, an orchard and a ranch. The total number of his holdings in the farm includes 270 herds of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses, a variety of birds and a number of economic trees as well as several cars.” Highlights of Osinbajo’s asset declaration include “his four-bedroom residence at Victoria Garden City, Lagos and a three-bedroom flat at 2 Mosley Road, Ikoyi. The vice-president also has a two-bedroom flat at the popular Redemption Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and a two-bedroom mortgaged property in Bedford, England. Apart from his law firm, known as SimmonsCooper, the vice-president also declared shareholding in six private companies based in Lagos, including Octogenerium Ltd., Windsor Grant Ltd., Tarapol-

veracity with Vera Onana

veraonana@gmail.com 08054680688 sa, Vistorion Ltd., Aviva Ltd., and MTN Nigeria.” His personal vehicles included “one Infinity 4-Wheel Drive SUV, one Mercedes Benz and a Prado Jeep.” So far, mixed reactions have trailed this public declaration of assets and I am not astonished. In fact, it would be more appropriately described as a public summation of property for this is no declaration! How can a father give crumbs to his famished child or ask him to devour snake as fish? How much are the shares worth? What are the precise values of the houses owned by the president? What is the numeric equivalent of ‘several’ cars and how much are these cars worth? Since when did plots of lands stop having financial value? The VP’s houses sit in choice areas of Lagos metropolis, why is there no figure? How much of MTN shares does he hold aside from the other five private companies? What is the value of his property in England? All these and more are questions that have been thrown into the national atmospheric. Is it just that the people, who voted for change, have to contend with brain swallowing migraines while trying to figure out all these discrepancies? It is sad and harrowingly so, that Nigerians have been laden with the burden of such magnanimously insane vagueness after falling in love with change. When late ex- president Yar’Adua, on June 28, 2007, made public photocopies of his completed assets declaration form as submitted to the CCB, Nigerians weren’t confronted with a take home assignment as is the case today. It was detailed and specific, devoid of any loopholes or ambiguities. He even disclosed that his wife, Turai, had a total asset of N19m, made up of houses and he stated the value of each one of the houses. President Buhari has just declared that he has N30million, several cars, houses and cattle, how does any of that translate into austere, measly or Spartan? Meanwhile, we must recall that in December 2014, Buhari, in a Facebook post, insinuated that he had about N1m in his account, about 150 herds of cattle and houses in Kaduna, Kano and Daura. There was no mention of any property in Abuja. These were his words: “I have at least one million naira in my bank, having paid N5.5m to pick my form from my party. I have around 150 (herds of) cattle. I have a house each in Kaduna, Kano, and Daura, which I borrowed money to build.” Fellow Nigerians, I would posit, therefore, that at this point, if we do not force the wool from off our faces, we shall wallow in a sea of hypocrisy till we are consumed. We must unanimously ask the tough questions and stand firmly till we have received succinct answers. We requested for bread, a detailed and precise submission. If we settle for these crumbs, we have sold our birthrights and those of posterity.

Unemployment and the Nigerian youth By Bolaji Aregbesola

WHEN there was oil boom and a somewhat stable economy, the issue of unemployment was a very big problem. Now that Nigeria is experiencing economic crisis, one wonders what the hope of the teeming unemployed Nigerian youth would be. Nigeria’s economy has been hurting on account of the drop in oil prices at the international oil market. All oil producing countries around the globe are feeling the impact of the historic fall in the price of crude oil. Nigeria is not insulated from this problem. The consequences of the oil bust are already being felt by the people and all sectors of the country’s economy. Past leaders of government are to blame, they failed to repair our refineries, diversify the economy and revive the manufacturing sector—all because of their personal gains thereby putting the country and the Nigerian people at the mercy of an import dependent economy that blows nobody any good. The immediate past administration painted a good picture about the economy when in actual fact the economy was undergoing recession and the country’s reserve was bleeding billions. It only took the emergence of the present administration to discover the truth about the state of the Nigerian economy but some people still fail to admit that Nigeria’s economy is currently in distress. Presently, most states of the federation owe a backlog of salary, the reason President Buhari announced a bailout package for the states and is converting their loans into bonds. This is expected to help cushion the effect of the drop in federal allocation to the states as a result of the slump in oil prices. This should be a great source of concern to every Nigerian leader, business owners, investors and the Nigerian people. Private sector companies are also finding it difficult to pay their workers’ salaries

as at when due because of the current state of the economy but unfortunately most private sector companies are not raising the alarm. They are all giving the impression that all is well with them and their businesses. In the face of this financial and economic crisis is a problem that the present administration and most state governors have to urgently address—and that is the problem of unemployment of the teeming population of Nigerian youth. The rate of unemployment has continued to increase over the years. This is a time bomb waiting to explode if nothing drastic is done about the 65 percent youth population in Nigeria most of whom are unemployed. Some of them who are employed are earning wages that cannot help them live a decent life. With this growing number of unemployed youths, Nigeria becomes more vulnerable, as an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Some of these youths would take to crime and criminality; oth-

ers will become a menace to the society enlisting with terrorist organisations and also getting involved in shady deals and businesses just to make ends meet. The problem of unemployed youths of Nigeria must be immediately addressed by the Buhari administration before things get out of control. Nigeria has not taken advantage of this vibrant, young and productive group in order to grow the economy. Most of these youths have diverse skills and varying talents but there is limited opportunity and avenue for them to put into good use their energy for the benefit of the Nigerian society. Studies have shown that unemployment has a negative impact on the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Nigerian economy, besides it results in waste of manpower. There is no denying the fact that past government’s inability to holistically and strategically address the issue of youth unemployment in Nigeria have continued to hamper our economic growth, besides long-term unemployment has a negative effect on the unemployed, their ability to be employed, their physical and mental wellbeing—and this ultimately contributes towards an increase in the level of poverty. Therefore, the Buhari administration has to act and move swiftly towards solving the problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria. The onus now lies on President Buhari to ensure that his administration’s policies are formulated bearing in mind the necessity of job creation for the unemployed youth. Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo recently stressed the need for policies that are rooted in people’s needs. Nigerians cannot wait to see the president’s actions and plans towards creating jobs translate into a fast drop in the number of unemployed youths in Nigeria. •Aregbesola is a public commentator.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015 Femi Olukunle Coordinating Editor 08065167178

When corps members moved to save ghetto dwellers

Corps members at Jabi village to rid the environment of dirts and slums.

ADETOLA BADEMOSI writes on day corps members got down to clean slums in Abuja.

ERHAPS, the attention which slums in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are attracting in recent times has increased as corps members recently stormed Jabi main village in Abuja with brooms, rakes, shovels and other cleaning equipment to clear the filth in the area. It was a day of relief and joy to residents of the village when the corps members suddenly showed up. The village is situated at the airport junction, on Life Camp road and houses more than 20,000 low-income earners living and working in the FCT. Despite the huge population of the settlement and its closeness to the city centre, it lacks major social amenities. And a number of reasons are responsible for this chief of which is the fact that most of the structures there were erected illegally. Abuja Xtra, which witnessed the clean-up exercise at the entrance to the village, was surprised to see an overflowing waste-bin container with heaps of refuse. What was really more disturbing was the fact that regardless of the unhygienic condition of the environment, especially the entrance to the village, shops, bars and cafeteria owners chose same spot for

A refuse dump container at the entrance to the community and a cross section of corps members who were present to do the cleaning of dirts in the container. their businesses. Of course, the stench from the bin was not the only ugly incident the residents battled with. As a result of lack of adequate plan for the community, the residents also battled with floods as well as other environmental pollution. However, succour came their way as the corps members, in great numbers, stormed the village to fix it up. They were accom-

panied by officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA.) They arrived the village under the aegis of Emergency Management Vangards, which is a group of youths that volunteered to assist the agency in disaster management. Speaking with Abuja Xtra, president of the NEMA CDS group, Ayoola Diekola, explained

Abuja Centenary City project: Youths back Buhari —pg22

that the exercise was borne out of the need to avert flooding and ensure that residents of the community lived in hygienic conditions. He further stated that such would also be extended to other communities. In his words: “We are NEMA Emergency Management Vanguard, that is, we are youth volunteers for emergency. So what we do is that we help NEMA to man-

Hawkers overwhelm authorities, remain on streets —pg22

age emergency situations. One of such situations is flooding which is a fundamental problem we have in Nigeria now. “We searched around and looked for places we could go and we found out that Jabi is much more prone to flooding. Jabi’s major problem is that there is no good drainage system. “As you can see, the residents are all cooperating; we are doing it together. We will help them clean the environment. That is cleaning of the dirt and drainage and the stagnant water and all other stuffs. We will find a lasting solution either by channeling the water or knowing the reason the place is like this,” he said. A NEMA official, who spoke for the head of operations, Abuja operations office, Labaran Ahman, explained that the people, who were often at the receiving end of disaster impacts, were the less privileged. He stated that the agency had always taken advantage of seasonal predictions of rainfall by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) to sensitise people on how to avoid the impact of flooding. The exercise, he added, was done in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and would also be replicated in all the 36 states of the federation. He said: “Most of the houses are not well planned like they are in other districts in Abuja, so you have people building their houses on water ways, you have drainages being blocked. The less privileged in the society are more prone to disaster impacts than those living in well-planned areas.

CREW

1. Christian Okeke chidiabujatribune@yahoo.com 08030947856 2. Clement Idoko idokoajiga@yahoo.co.uk 08034412281 3. Kolawole Daniel kolawoledaniels@yahoo.co.uk 08030763782 4. Collins Nnabuife chideraacollins@yahoo.com 08039521408 5. Adetola Bademosi gloriaadetola@gmail.com 08182214290 Abuja Xtra email & GSM: abujaxtra@gmail.com 0805450140

abujaextra

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Abuja Centenary City Project: Youths

back Buhari Collins Nnabuife - Abuja

OUTHS, under the auspices of Nigerian Unemployed Youths Vanguard, have thrown their weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari on the continuation of the Abuja Centenary City project. The youths noted that the centenary city project was capable of generating over 500,000 direct jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the country. Addressing journalists in Abuja, the chairman of the group, Okpokwu Ogenyi, frowned at the recent call for the project to be scrapped. He regretted the continued attack on the centenary city project, saying, “We completely align ourselves with the submission of our amiable President Muhammadu Buhari that the centenary city project promises to provide over 500,000 direct jobs from the streets.” According to him, “we, therefore, find it very malicious, criminally-intended and ridiculous the recent outburst of a party chieftain who did cast aspersions on all wellmeaning Nigerians that have supported the project and described it as highly unbecoming and a threat to national development “We, as united coalition of all unemployed persons in the country, declare our total support for Mr President and his team. “It will, therefore, amount to flogging a dead horse for some people to continue to think that they will be able to arm twist the

Christian Okeke - Abuja

President Buhari Nigerian Unemployed Youth Vanguard or even for any other dissident groups to misinform Nigerians any further on the centenary city project.

“It is unfortunate that we were misinformed at the first instance but at the end of our investigations, we have been put in clear perspective of Mr President’s decision.”

Group seeks inclusion of the girl-child in environmental campaign Christian Okeke - Abuja A non-governmental organisation, Mary Elika Foundation, has come up with an initiative targeted at building resilience in the girl-child to withstand effects of climate change and desertification. The programme equally seeks to educate them on health and productive lifestyle in the face of the challenges. Speaking on the planned Green House Reality TV programme to be championed by the association, Mary Manzo, who is the chief executive officer of the organization, disclosed that the programme was aimed at grooming the girl-child into becoming an environmentally-conscious citizen while also bringing environmental management awareness to the general public, with special focus on youths. She noted that the initiative would equally promote participatory interests of young people in the concerns for the local and global environments through channelling their various prospective interests to likely actionable leadership functions. Manzo hinted that it was the foundation’s plan to use the programme to secure the prospects of environmental advocacy, especially as youths who became environmentally responsible went on to become environmentally-responsible leaders. She said: “In our little effort to contribute to raising public consciousness and awareness in environmental sustainability, the Green House Reality TV programme seeks to sensitise and empower the girl child as well as women in Nigeria and Africa in general to face the defining challenges of our time which relate to the

As schools resume, standards, infrastructure, security come to front burner

environment “By so doing, it further seeks to assist young people to respond positively and proactively to the environmental challenges confronting the nation and the entire world, with a view to nurturing a healthy, productive and safe environment for all. “This TV programme has the intention of bringing all interested participants around Nigeria under one roof for 30 days duration as they are expected to respond in practical terms to some of the environmental challenges of our time. “Amidst the heat generated by climate change debates across the globe, especial-

ly in the run-up to Copenhagen Climate Summit, there has been a growing realisation of the importance of including the girl-child and women in our society in the environmental campaign “If the environment is not safeguarded today, it will tremendously affect the future of every country across the globe, especially developing countries such as Nigeria which often walks on the tight rope of environmental challenges “Hence, it is important to enlighten the general public on the environmental challenges confronting us today as manifested in the threats of climate change, among others.”

ISSUES of quality of schools in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as well as infrastructure and security, have, again, come to the front burner as schools in Abuja re-open for yet another session. Following the resumption of the schools, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Secondary Education Board has intensified its on-the-spot assessment of the schools to ensure compliance to directives for heads of the schools to ensure that educational standards are not compromised in the territory. The joint monitoring exercise is being carried out by the management of the Board and those of the Monitoring and Evaluation Division. Prior to the resumption, Hajia Rakiat Daniya, who is acting director of the board informed principals of the 56 senior secondary schools at a meeting in Abuja that the FCT Administration, through the Board, had put in place various strategies aimed at improving the teacher’s readiness to teaching, student’s academic performance, provision of facilities in the schools as well as adequate security measures ahead of the schools’ resumption. She tasked the principals on the need to give priority to sustainable efforts that would enhance teaching and learning in their respective schools. Daniya directed the principals to ensure that teachers were on ground to discharge their duties as expected while also urging them to adhere strictly to professional ethics. Public relations officer of the board, Odugbo Sarah, confirmed this and noted that the board was set to continue to deliver qualitative, efficient and sustainable education in the FCT. According to her, the acting director stated that the FCT Administration had taken into consideration the influx of people into Abuja and was not relenting in its efforts to make education accessible and affordable to accommodate the situation. “The new acting director, therefore, solicited their support in ensuring that the Board reciprocates the FCT Administration’s vision in placing education in the front burner,” she said. With the resumption, the team of monitors was already moving round the territory to have first-hand information on the situation and possible challenges that the various schools may be facing.

Hawkers overwhelm authorities, remain on streets Christian Okeke - Abuja HAWKERS in Abuja appear to have overwhelmed authorities in putting an end to their illegal activities in the territory. Hawking in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) constitutes environmental offence and defaulters risk fine or jail terms. Previously, FCT administration had taken steps to tackle the challenge and part of the efforts was the setting up of a joint security task force coordinated by the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB.) Although some level of success was achieved in ridding the territory of hawkers, the glaring scenario currently is that the hawkers have remained on the street; in fact, their number appears to be growing by the day.

A drive through the city centre shows that hawking is in full swing. Although the board officially denies laxity, an insider told Abuja Xtra that stopping the activities of hawkers in the territory faces certain challenges. The source disclosed that the board lacked sufficient funds to sustain both the personnel and logistics involved in the battle against hawkers. “Riding the territory of hawkers involves huge money. Don’t forget that patrol is involved while the taskforce personnel have to be serviced. The task is as challenging as clearing beggars from the roads and I challenge you to find out from Social Development Secretariat what it can cost to do this,” the source, which pleaded anonymity, stated. Another factor has to do with the increas-

ing influx of people into Abuja. According to the AEPB source, many of the persons rushing into the city especially from north east axis do not want to know whether there is any law that regulates their activity in Abuja or not. The source said: “The only thing that matters to them is what to do to raise money for survival. As a result, if you tell them that the law does not permit them to hawk and erect shanties, they will think that you are being wicked.” It went further to say, “In fact, some of them believe that even Mr President, just by saying that they voted for him, can allow them to carry on with their illegal activities. “True, things are bad regarding these hawkers here, but the challenge, honestly, appears to be beyond the authorities except something drastic happens.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

& management leadership

Nigerian Tribune

with Sulaimon Olanrewaju m:08055001708 e:lanresulaimon@yahoo.com t:@lanresulaimon

The leader and his grit By Sulaimon Olanrewaju

S an entrepreneur, Mrs Florence Seriki, Group Managing Director of Omatek Ventures Plc, started on a fast lane at a relatively young age. Her words: “When I was in school as a Chemical Engineering student at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), I did a project that cut across the University of Ife and University of Lagos. Due to the sensitive nature of the project, one of my lecturers at Ife bought a computer; it was the first XT computer that came to the university. So, I had to learn programming and Lotus.” She continued: “My knowledge of computer operations became useful when I was posted to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) during my National Youth Service Corps programme. At NNPC, I found out that many executives just decorated their tables with computers, which they were not using. Once the secretary was not around, the boss could not work on the computer. So I told my boss, ‘Sir, I used a personal computer to do my project, can I teach you how to use the computer?’ So, I taught my boss. He told another director, who told another director. Continues on pg24

Yinka Fasuyi, Chief Consultant, Supreme Management Consultants

Book Review “AS he was ambitious, I slew him,” Shakespeare’s Brutus said of Caesar. And so ambition has acquired a bad reputation, associated too closely with tyrants, demagogues and grasping amoral boot-

The 60-second business coach lickers. Nonsense, declare James Champy, a consultant with Perot Systems, and Nitin Nohria, a professor of organizational behaviour at Harvard Business School. Continues on pg25

Qualities of skillful leadership

IF you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts,

skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. What’s important in leadership is refining your skills.

All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here’s how: Continues on pg25

Your beliefs don’t make you a better person, your behaviour does —Sukhraj S. Dhillon

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

leadership&management

Continues from pg23

Some of them then told their friends in other organisations that there was a corps member that could train them on the use of computer. That was how I started training executives. Later, I also began to train staff of banks and oil companies.” Seriki added that so successful was her at the training programme that before the completion of her youth service, she was able to open an office on Victoria Island where she employed staff she trained to train others. From that point, there was no stopping her. She grew her business and to enhance the visibility and accessibility of her products, established subsidiaries such as; Omatek Computers Limited (Nigeria), Omatek Computers Limited (Ghana); Omatek Ventures Distribution Limited (Nigeria); Omatek Ventures Distribution Limited (Ghana) and Omatek Engineering Services Limited. Mrs Seriki was on top of the world. But then came a downturn. According to her, it started in 2009 following the banking sector reforms by the CBN. She explained that before the reform, her company’s major banker was Afribank (it later became Mainstreet Bank before being acquired by Skye Bank)), which was affected by the reform. She recalled that apart from using her company’s accounts with the bank for many of her operations, Omatek also got a mortgage facility from the bank. Seriki said that with the change of management of the bank, “All our facilities were collapsed, the 10-year mortgage collapsed after less than a year in the mortgage, the offshore guarantee that served as the collateral for our only facility and working capital was not renewed. The consumer schemes for over eight major agencies and states were cancelled. This is a scheme in which Afribank was the beneficiary of the proceeds as global undertakings were already done for them and all payments domiciled to them. “It was a setback that crippled our operations. There was nothing we could do. We could not even access our working capital.” From the acme, where she had taken her business, she plummeted to the nadir. She was down but she refused to be out. She was determined to rebuild her business. She became gritty about resuscitating the business. Nothing else mattered; not the naysayers, not the liquidity challenge, not the antagonism from unexpected quarters. She never gave up on bringing her business back. Then, as always for the determined, something gave. The Central Bank of Nigeria intervened and that was the turning point for the business. Now, the business is back and doing quite well. But beyond being a computer company, it has diversified into solar hybrid alternative power solutions with the deployment of LED bulbs for domestic and industrial use. Grit: A critical success factor Lasting success is impossible without grit. In business as well as other endeavours, uncertainties are as certain as death. There will be turns and twists; there will be disappointments and disillusionments; there will be unexpected occurrences; there will be slowdowns and setbacks. But the person that is certain to overcome all these and achieve his set objective is the one that is gritty. For a leader who wants to make a mark, grit is sine qua non. What is grit? Grit is an unrepentant resolve to succeed against all odds. It is a mindset that settles for nothing but what it set out to achieve. It is an unwavering commitment to goals. It is a belief that nothing is unachievable. It is a conviction in personal and organizational objectives. It is tenacity of purpose. Grit is being fastened to your goal through thick and thin. It is working to achieve your goals day after day, week after week, month after month. It is staying on course for as long as it takes to arrive at the finishing line. Hence, Angela Duckworth says grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit is what sustains the leader when everything else fails. It is what keeps the leader going when situation turns awry. It kept Abraham Lincoln going despite his many losses; it kept Nelson Mandela going in the prison for 27 years; it kept Mrs Florence Seriki going when her business world suddenly came crashing. Grit is superior to talent Talent is good; it gives a head start to those who have it but it does not guarantee success. Unless talent is matched with grit it will amount to nothing because talent has the tendency of quaking and breaking in the face of challenges. Hence the statement by Calvin Coolidge that, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not;

Grit: Critical success factor

Folusho Olaniyan, CEO Contact Consulting

The qualities of skillful leadership Continues from pg23

1. Learn to be strong but not impolite. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It’s not even a good substitute. 2. Learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake weakness for kindness. Kindness isn’t weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell someone the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion. 3. Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you’ve got to walk in front of your group. You’ve got to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, discover the first sign of trouble. Like the farmer, if you want any rewards at harvest time, you have got to be bold and face the weeds and the rain and the bugs straight on. You’ve got to seize the moment.

Jite Okoloko, MD, Notore

4. Learn to be humble but not timid. You can’t get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease. It’s an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem. Humility is almost a God-

Thomas Edison was regarded as unintelligent. His teacher referred to him as ‘addled’ but this same Edison had 1,093 patents and had inventions which include the electric bulb, the phonograph and the motion picture camera. Intelligence failed Edison but grit made him. Ladi Balogun, CEO FCMB

The 60-second business coach

Florence Seriki, GMD, Omatek Ventures

Grit is greater than hard work Hard work is a virtue and it plays a major role in success but without grit added to it, the desired end may be elusive. This is because many hardworking people expect immediate benefits. But the truth is that sometimes benefit of hard work is delayed. If that happens, the hardworking person, who is unwilling to delay gratification, loses out because he is unable to persevere while gratification is slow in showing up. Grit is better than intelligence Intelligent people are in a world of their own. They are regarded as special and are accorded great respect by all who cross their path. But there are many intelligent people who failed to make a mark while there are many averagely intelligent and those regarded as unintelligent who have changed the world because of their grit. Thomas Edison was regarded as unintelligent. His teacher, the Reverend Engle, referred to him as ‘addled’, a person who lacks the capacity to think clearly. But this same Edison had 1,093 United States patents and had inventions which include the electric bulb, the phonograph and the motion picture camera. Intelligence failed Edison but grit made him. He was said to have carried out 10,000 experiments on the electric bulb before getting it right. So, the secret of his success was not his intelligence, it was his ability to

stay fastened to his goal of inventing the electric bulb. It was his ability to stay committed to what he knew to be the right thing. Little wonder Edison defined genius as one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration. Perspiration is spelt g-r-i-t. How to develop grit Aristotle’s postulation is that every child comes to the world with a blank mind, adding that beliefs and character traits are formed as a consequence of interactions with the environment. Going by that, nobody is born with grit but everybody can develop it. Set a goal Goal setting is determining the end from the beginning. A goal is a guide into the future. It is a compass that shows you where you are headed. It streamlines activities and helps to concentrate energy and resources on what really matters. It also helps in measuring accomplishments on the journey to the defined end. While success may happen without setting goals, lasting success cannot happen without goal setting. Something about goals A goal should not be perfunctory. Goals should not be set in a vacuum. Goals ought to be a product of rigorous contemplation and introspection. The one setting the goal must start by convincing himself on the importance of the set goal before launching out to accomplish it. He

first must answer the question of how long he is willing to wait if the realization of his goals is delayed. Failure to answer this question is why many goals are abandoned before they are realized.

5. Learn to be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to build your ambitions. It takes pride in your community. It takes pride in a cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is to be proud without being arrogant. Do you know the worst kind of arrogance? Arrogance from ignorance. It’s intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that’s just too much to take. 6. Learn to develop humor without folly. In leadership, we learn that it’s okay to be witty but not silly; fun but not foolish. 7. Learn to deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony of delusion. Just accept life as it is—the whole drama of life. It’s fascinating. Life is unique. Leadership is unique. The skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. However, the fundamental skills of leadership can be adopted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community and at home.

Book review Continues from pg23

the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

like word—a sense of awe, a sense of wonder, an awareness of the human soul and spirit, an understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we’re part of the stars.

In “The Arc of Ambition”, they argue that ambition deserves to be associated not with Caesars-in-training but with more Insistence respectable world leaders such as Insistence is maintaining fidelity with the original intention. On the Nelson Mandela and Mahatma journey to achieving a goal, various options will show up. The leader Gandhi. must be able to insist on what the original intention is. Many leaders The best way, as Mr Champy fail because of their inability to faithfully pursue what they set out with and Mr Nohria seem to see it, is originally. They change as many times as they encounter challenges. to lead by example. Thus they Not only does this drain them of resources, it also makes them arrive at pepper the book with well-known the wrong destination. instances of ambition, for both good and ill (Napoleon appears Persistence frequently). They come up with Persistence speaks of being able to continue with a project or idea in a variety of case studies: a single spite of difficulties. Persistence is the ability to stay focused at all times. chapter might examine the Wright It is vital to achieve a goal. Without persistence, almost every goal will brothers, Indian entrepreneur get aborted. Dhirubhai Ambani, Pablo Picasso and Michael Dell, with room for a Consistence few other success stories along the Consistence is about not sparing any needed effort to achieve the way. The drawback is that none of stated end. Edison was consistent all through. He did not scale down his these cases gets any but the most cursory treatment. Fortunately, enthusiasm or his investment on the electric bulb project. He kept at it the authors have thoughtfully proconvinced that there would be light at the end of the tunnel. vided a bibliography about each And there was.

person mentioned—which makes for entertaining reading in itself; rarely do you see “Huizenga, H. Wayne” in between “Hitler, Adolf” and “Hussein, Saddam”. The authors describe an ideal “arc” of ambition that begins when the protagonist is full of fiery youth and continues to a sober, wiser old age. In their view, the desire to accomplish social good is best balanced with a healthy respect for the bottom line. Their approach is broad enough to include small-business owners and world leaders alike. The glances at the most famous success stories, it should be said, could prompt some argument: the authors laud Walt Disney’s “amazing imagination”, for example, but fail to mention his rather caustic attitude towards employees. No one would argue with presenting Mr Mandela as an example of ambition for the greater good; not every corporate story passes that test so unambiguously.

leadership&management

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

TOPE POPOOLA is a Human Capital developement Consultant and Pastor. Please feel free to send questions, feedback comments on this column to

topheritage@yahoo.com or visit http//turbochargedforsuccess.blogspot.com

Reverse branding: Connecting problems with solutions - 2 HAVING done a proper SWOT analysis as explained last week, focus on the strengths and the opportunities. In this case, at least five loaves and two fishes were available. Great brand managers never focus on what the brand cannot do. If at all they do, it would be for the attention of the appropriate internal generation (read R&D) and production processes in the organization and not the market. Rather, they take time to identify what they have going for the brand. Then they simply mine the core and focus attention on it. More on mining the core next week. This is where resourcefulness comes to play in getting a brand to fulfill its purpose and generate desired outcomes. Resourcefulness never bemoans what is lacking. It simply leverages what is available by applying diligent management to produce what is required. Resources are what we have to work with. Resourcefulness is what we do with what we have in order to arrive at a predetermined outcome. Resources do not produce resourcefulness. However, resourcefulness will not only produce but multiply resources! We can safely say that resourcefulness is first about who the leader is! Resources without resourcefulness will only amount to waste. Resourcefulness on the other hand can practically squeeze water out of a rock. Those who wait until they have all that they require before they start a project will hardly achieve anything. What kind of attitude is required before you can solve a problem? A positive attitude that exudes gratitude. When confronted with a problem, you can either whine and wail about it or choose to do something to solve it. Jesus saw a problem and expressed gratitude to God for the possibility, no matter how slim, of solving it. He was determined to create a unique experience even from the dire circumstances. Once you have what looks like the solution, do not despise it. Make it the platform of an effort. Better to try and fail than not trying and never experiencing the thrill of probable success. Resourcefulness engages a management skill that makes reACROSS the planet earth, leaders come in every size, shape, and disposition—short, tall, neat, sloppy, young, old, male, and female. Nevertheless, they all seem to share some, if not all, of the following components. I appeal to you to apply the value and values contained in this piece of writing to your life and leadership, and I am very clear in my mind that Nigeria will turn out to be better for it. The first fundamental component of leadership is a guiding apparition. The leader has a clear idea of what he wants to do— professionally and personally—and the potency and strength to persist in the face of setbacks, even failures. Unless you know where you are going, and why, you cannot possibly get there. Furthermore, many people do know where they are going, but how to get there is always the problem. And it can be so frustrating knowing where one is going without knowing how to get there. Once again, what guides leaders is vision. Without a vision that is clear as water, there is no leadership. The second basic element of leadership is passion—the underlying and core passion for the promises of life, combined with a very particular passion for a vocation, a profession, a course of action. The leader loves what he does and loves doing it. The leader who communicates passion gives hope and inspiration to other people. This ingredient tends to come up with different spins on it—sometimes it appears as enthusiasm. For the umpteenth time, a leader does not only love what he or she does, he or she loves doing it. The next indispensable ingredient of leadership is integrity. Now in Nigeria, men and women of integrity are in short supply. Nigeria is not in a dire need of men and women of integrity, not men and women of prosperity without integrity. In the same vein, I am of the opinion that there are three essential parts of integrity: Self-knowledge, candor, and maturity: First, “know thyself (yourself)” was the inscription over the Oracle at Delphi. And it is still the most difficult task any of us faces. But until you truly know yourself, strengths and weaknesses, know what you want to do and why you want to do it, you cannot succeed in any but the most superficial sense of the word. The leader never lies to himself, especially about himself, knows his flaws as well as his assets, and deals with them directly. You are your own raw material. When you know what you consist of and what you want to make of it, then you can

source application meaningful and effective. Before distributing the bread and fish, Jesus asked that the people be made to sit in groups of fifty, Then he broke the bread and fish and gave to His disciples to effect direct distribution to the people. It was important for Him to know exactly the number of people to be served before rolling out the solution through an effective distribution process. This is to ensure that energies are not dissipated and scarce resources are not wasted but appropriately channeled to the cause. Any brand that will significantly succeed must know how to appropriately serve its target market. This is the essence of market segmentation in strategic planning. It is not just enough to roll out a brand. Do you know the demographics of its target population? When resources are lean, you learn to cut to the chase and not diffuse what is available! In the face of limited resources, you cannot afford not to keep track of how they are applied. faced with that kind of challenge, you can cut off the razzmatazz and the huge billboards and keep the main thing the main thing. How do you connect the brand to those who need it? Every product is, in the mind of its manufacturer, expected to capture the market, no matter how lean the resources backing it are. So what is required to attain a level of market saturation that captures a significant chunk of market equity? You achieve this by creating pockets of experience where the brand is directly connected to the market using the pyro-marketing principle. It’s the principle of starting fires. If you want to start a conflagration, don’t start with highly inflammable material like petrol. The fire may start with a huge display of pyrotechnics but without fuel to sustain it, it soon fizzles out. To have a real fire, you first gather the fuel that is capable of sustaining the combustion once the fire is lit. Then you look for tinder. Place it in the body of fuel. Make sure the surface is dry. Thereafter you strike a match and light the tinder. In time, you have a conflagration on your hands. In feeding the multitude, Jesus did not serve the people directly. He broke the bread (read lighting the

leaders’

forum

match) and first gave His disciples (read tinder) who merely reproduced the experience with each group of fifty until everyone who needed to be fed was served! It is important to note that in multiplying and applying resources to any outcome, the people factor is very vital. It takes people to multiply efforts in any meaningful way. No matter how good a product or solution may appear or be, its value cannot be experienced by the people it is meant for without the necessary connection. Without the involvement of His disciples, it would have been difficult if not impossible for Jesus to reach the crowd effectively. By the time it was over, about ten thousand people been fed. Problem solved. And the process had produced a surplus. They had twelve baskets left over! Talk about market saturation! But the story did not end there. In John 6 from verse 22 to 26, the experience the crowd had had left them with a desire for more. It is best understood by a direct quote of the passage in the New International Version: “The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, ... because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” When you connect people with an unforgettable experience, you do not need noise to get them to return looking for an encore! We will explore further dimensions of this in the coming weeks. Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!

with Ademola Adeoye 07067869718

leaders_forum@yahoo.com

Understanding the nuts and bolts of leadership invent yourself. Second, candor is the key to self-knowledge. Candor is based on honesty of thought and action, an unswerving devotion to principle, and a deep-seated soundness and wholeness. An architect who designs a Bauhaus glass box with a Victorian cupola lacks professional integrity, as does any person who trims his principles—or even his ideas—to please others. Third, maturity is imperative and essential to a leader because leading is not simply showing the way or issuing orders. Every leader needs to have experienced and grown through following— learning to be dedicated, observant, capable of working with and learning from others, and always truthful. Having located these qualities in yourself, you can now go ahead to encourage them in others. Now, let us move to the third component of leadership. Integrity is the basis, foundation and root of trust, which is not as much an ingredient of leadership as it is a product. It is the one quality that cannot be required, but must be earned. It is given by co-workers and followers, and without it, the leader cannot function. Nigeria is where she is today because integrity is almost nonexistent in the corridors of power. Most of those in the corridors of power are not men and women of integrity. Additionally, there are two more basic ingredients of leadership: Curiosity and daring. The leader wonders about everything, wants to learn as much as he can, is willing to take risks, experiment, try new things. He does not worry about failure, but embraces errors, knowing he will learn from them. I am talking about basic ingredients here, though, I am not talking about traits that you are born with and cannot change. As

countless deposed kings and hapless and luckless heirs to great fortunes can attest, true leaders are not born, but made, and usually self-made. Leaders invent themselves. They are not, by the way, made in a single weekend seminar, as many of the leadership-theory spokesmen claim. I have come to think of that one as the microwave theory. And no micro wave theory can birth seasoned leaders. Across the planet earth, a lot of money is being spent annually by and on would be leaders. Many major corporations offer leadership development courses. But the truth is this; more leaders have been made by accident, circumstance, sheer grit, or will— than have been made by all the leadership courses put together. Leadership courses can only teach skills. They cannot teach character or vision—and indeed they do not even try. Developing character and vision is the way leaders invent themselves. The Great Depression was the crucible in which Franklin D. Roosevelt of this world was transformed from politician to leader. Harry Truman of this world became president when FDR died, but it was sheer grit that made him a leader. Dwight Eisenhower of this world, America’s only five-star general, was underestimated by Republican Party bosses who saw only his winning smile. He turned out to be his own man and leader. Pols like Chicago’s mayor Richard Daley gave John Kennedy a boost into the White House, but he shone there on his own. Like them or not, FDR, Truman, Ike, and JFK were all true leaders. You too will have to invent yourself as a leader. Remember, great leaders do emerge during time of crisis, not during time of peace.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

brands& marketing

Nigerian Tribune

anchor Akin Adewakun

m:08054683584 e:akadewakun@yahoo.co.uk

We need data-base of professionals in advertising industry —Chief Executive, Headstart In this interview, Principal Consultant, Headstart, Mr Fanen Acho, explains reasons behind the setting up of the Free Spirit initiative, which, he insists, is designed to provide a data base of practitioners to enable the nation’s marketing communications industry track movements within its space. Excerpts...

NE of the innovations your firm has brought to the nation’s marketing communications industry is the ‘free-spirit’ initiative, a platform set up for recruitment in the industry. How exactly did you arrive at this? The free-spirit is a leading recruitment platform in the media, marketing communication field. Interestingly, our decision to set up this platform was informed by the gap we discovered in the industry. For instance, we discovered that there is a lot of movement in the industry and even among the corporate Nigeria. Unfortunately, there was no dedicated recruitment platform that offers that service. So we felt we should create a platform that allows us to do a database of professionals in our industry that could be recruited by large corporates and agencies. That is the simple idea behind this platform that is to provide a data base of practitioners, within the nation’s marketing communications industry that could be recruited. We started last February and by July this year we had had over 180 people. The plan right now is to do a nationwide fair. But the ultimate goal is to make it a talent recruitment platform. This service is just one of the services from Headstart. But how relevant is this to the needs of the industry and do you think the free-spirit has been meeting those needs? It is very relevant considering the fact that most schools are not producing market-ready graduates, and as a result, many employers are not interested in fresh graduates. What most of these employers look for today are people who are experienced and ready to work. Generally, the

work. When you are done with the work, you leave the client, but sometimes there is nobody in-house to implement what you have developed, which means you have to recruit, because you discover that at the end of the day, whatever you must have come up with will come to nought if there are no persons within the system to interprete such things.

Fanen Acho quality of today’s graduate is very poor. Besides, most of the young graduates we have today do not believe in time. They do not want to have anything to do with process. They want to get a job today and begin to earn what a person who has been in the industry for 20 years earn. So, what we do most times is to look at the level of passion and interest of the person in this profession. If you get that, you can train them; since it is always very difficult to get people who want to learn and grow. But would we still be correct to describe Headstart a marketing communications firm, going by the fact that it is the free spirit-platform that seems to be your major focus for now? Headstart is not a recruitment company, it is a strategy and in-

novation company. Our core work is on brand development and innovation. We veered into recruitment in order to fill a need in the industry. Recruitment is a small part of what we do to solve a need in the industry. I will give you an example, in 2009 when we started, our first big client was Skye Bank. The first task was to review their brand management department and see how they could become more effective. When we did that work, which included the restructuring of the department, the next thing was that we discovered that the people in that department did not have the requisite skills to do the job. So, we felt we could help them recruit for that department. So, recruitment was a service we added on to enhance the work that we do. We do not do core advertising work, campaigns and all that, but core brand strategy

So recruitment can be described as a complementary service to the company? The fact remains that we like to see ourselves as a strategy company and work in five core areas, enterprise innovation, brand development, creative services, organisation transformation market intelligence. Our approach to work is integrated and interdisciplinary. When a client brings a brief to us, we do not just want to assume that it is a branding problem. For example, a client came to us that his sales were dropping. A typical advertising company would say let us do a new campaign to create awareness and all that. But when we analysed the problem, it was not a campaign that they needed, the problem was distribution. So, we knew the whole thing should be about solving a distribution problem. We do not assume that every problem is advertising problem. Most times, even marketing problems have roots that are deeper than marketing; it could be a people problem, a process or culture problem. So, we do not see ourselves as a typical advertising company but a strategy and innovation one. How ready is the market to pay and appreciate all of these, going by the fact some of these things may still be alien to it? The problem is not about paying for these things. It is really about understanding what we

do. I give you an example, a client came to us that it needed a new logo, but when we did the analysis, we discovered that though the logo needed to be changed quite alright, but there were other issues that also needed attention. It wasn’t just logo. Right now, we are helping a business man who wants to create an e-commerce platform. So, we analyse the whole process and right now we are working on developing a financial mode for the business. He was surprised that we have moved from designing a logo to now showing a two page excel sheet on financial model. So, the first thing is to get them to understand and appreciate what we do. When they ask if we are an advertising agency, we say no, but we do some advertising. Are you a design firm, we do design but we are not a design firm. So, the issue is getting them to understand what we do. But in the past six years, we think we have made some progress in getting clients to understand what we do. For most clients, the relationship grows and it is really not about what we can do and not do but about approach But where do you see Headstart in the next few years? Our goals are very ambitious. First of all, we want to be a resource to the industry through the free-spirit platform. Two, we would like to be at the fore front, an emerging leader in strategy and innovation discipline. Thirdly, we want to focus more on creating proprietary products and assets that clients can explore as against doing speeches. For example, right now, we have three main products besides our consultancy services. We have a product called dexterial, an online research platform that analyse public relations activities. We have freespirit, a recruitment platform and a brand acculturation platform. So, instead of chasing clients through pitches, the clients come to us for our proprietary products.

BAK extends award frontiers OGRANISERS of Brand As King Award, the Billboard World Magazine, has announced plans to introduce a new category, Excellence Award in Environmental Policy, in this year’s edition of the award to further celebrate those who have enhanced and protected the immediate environment from the dreaded global warming and its harmful effects.

Speaking with the Brands & Marketing in Lagos, the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief/Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Maureen Umanah, stated that the award which holds in October this year, will also host and honour advertising professionals, outstanding achievers, corporate brands, product brands and brand ambassadors from Nigeria and beyond that have per-

formed excellently in their various endeavours and fields. According to her, the organisers had adopted a most appropriate theme, ‘OutOf-Home (OOH) Media as a Veritable Tool in Aesthetics and Environmental Sustainability,’ to further protect the immediate environment and improve on the previous editions.

Umanah believed it had become imperative for the organisers to reward individuals or companies that had in one way or the other contributed to the aesthetics of the outdoor environment. She equally highlighted that the event would parade some of the top-notch industry players, distinguished political leaders and super brands at the event.

brands&marketing 80% ad executives still struggle in the digital marketing space 28

HE Street Toolz Digital Centre (SDC) and Digital Marketing Institute, Ireland, have announced plans to organise a Free Digital Marketing Masterclass all over Nigeria to help marketing firms, advertising agencies and brands reinvent themselves in today’s fast driven digital marketing economy. According to the Centre’s Chief Marketing Officer, Jerry Oche, one of the priorities of the centre was to reinvent marketers and change the face of marketing/ advertising in Nigeria with the considerable digital talents and strategic insights of Street Toolz and the global teaching modules standard of Digital Marketing Institute. According to him, about 65 per cent of marketing and advertising job roles are expected to change in the next five years and yet approximately 80 per cent of advertising and media executives were struggling to reinvent themselves in the digital marketing space. He argued that as part of the centre’s commitment to a digital Nigeria and contribution to the Integrated Marketing Communications industry, the centre in partnership with the world‘s leading digital training

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

organisation, Digital Marketing Institute (DMI) will be offering free tailored Digital Marketing Masterclass to PR, Media, Advertising and Marketing Executives to understand the digital marketing landscape, digital PR, digital strategy, digital trends, search marketing, mobile marketing, social media marketing, digital budgeting, content marketing, agency deliverables and brand

expectation, among others. The centre’s Director of Training, Babajide Alaka, disclosed that all participants would also have the opportunity to take a practical digital diagnostic test to benchmark their current skills with global industry standards and determine their individual digital skills level. He further explained that already, agen-

Nigerian Tribune

cies and brands such as Dana Airlines, KIA Motors, Golden Lite, Property Mart, Renault Motors, Fuel Communications, Verdant Zeal, Eslia Communications, TBWA, Creative Xone, Mediacraft Associates, and Brand Journalist Association of Nigeria (BJAN) amongst others had all benefited from the centre’s Digital Marketing Agency Masterclass.

47 corporate organisations beat The SERAs entry deadline TruContact CSR Nigeria, organisers of the annual Nigeria Corporate Social Responsibility Awards, otherwise known as The SERAs have announced that 47 companies in Nigeria have signified their intention to compete for honours in this year’s Awards, scheduled for the fourth quarter of the year. Entries were received from ExxonMobil, Nigerian Breweries, Lafarge, Total, Cornerstone Insurance, Etisalat, BATN, Airtel, DHL, Nigerian Stock Exchange, FCMB, Promasidor, First Bank amongst others The award, which enters its ninth edition this year, was designed to integrate principles and framework of the Global compact, global reporting Initiative and ISO 26000. According to the Chief Executive Officer of TruContact, the theme of this year’s awards, ‘Building partnerships for a sustainable future; business leadership as a catalyst for development,’ seeks to highlight the lessons learned from Nigeria’s inability to completely attain the millennium development goals targets and building on the lessons of the MDG’s to begin a move towards attaining the sustainability development goals (SDG’s), and also promoting the vital roles that cooperation and partnerships will play in efforts to achieve the SDG’s. He stated that the panel of judges had already commenced verification and facility visits to projects and locations entered by the organisations, adding that the award would also involve the production of an annual Nigeria Social Enterprise Report that documents the CSR and sustainability interventions of corporate organisations countrywide. Meanwhile, the organisers have released a call for entry for the Tunmise Adekunle Awards for CSR reporting, a category introduce in 2009 to promote media excellence in reporting CSR and sustainability in Nigeria. Entries for this category close on September 21st, 2015.

From left, Assistant Brand Manager, Robb, Gboyega Otolorin; Managing Director, Family Care, Alex Goma; Brand Manager, Premier, Deedi Modey; Brand Manager, Olympic, Bamise Oyegbemi, all of PZ Cussons and Funsho Jacob, Marketing Services Manager, Nutricima, at the unveiling of PZ Cussons and Manchester City FC partnership in Lagos, recently.

New online travel platform, Ajala.ng, debuts QUANTUM Travels Limited has unveiled a new online travel platform, AJALA.ng, designed to cater for the exponential growth and demands of their individual customers who desire personal, quick and unique travel management services. Speaking at the launch in Lagos, recently, the Head, Brand Marketing and Projects, Ms Omolua Oyakhire, described AJALA.ng as a one-stop online travel management platform that delivers unique offerings which allow customers take control of their travel plan and optimize different opportunities at the lowest cost possible. “At AJALA.ng, our number one aim is to provide travel paths and plans that won’t break the bank, whilst meeting our

customers’ need. We provide a holistic approach to our travel service offerings thereby granting control to the traveler to create a travel experience that exceeds their expectations,” she said. Ms Omolua Oyakhire explained further that the new online platform would help improve the ease of acquiring travel information and support customers who desire to travel but do not have adequate resources by providing them with the option of spreading payment over a specific period of time and still meeting their travelling desires with a relatively low cost. Also commenting on the launch of AJALA.ng, the Head, Customer Relationship Management, Mrs Bukola Isaac-Oluwasanmi, remarked that the

new travel platform remained one of the most convenient, fast and user-friendly website in comparison to what was currently obtainable in the industry, providing unique browsing experience for the customers. “It also provides a date search matrix to help see prices across a week at a glance, maps to help pinpoint one’s destination as well as other innovative tools at the customers’ disposal,” she stated. Commenting on the unique service offerings of AJALA.ng, Mrs Isaac-Oluwasanmi enjoined both current and prospective customers to take full advantage of the unique services available at AJALA.ng for a stress free travelling experience both local and international.

MTN subscribers to enjoy free incoming calls across 15 countries TELECOMMUNICATION service provider, MTN, has announced plans to ensure subscribers on the network now enjoy free incoming calls and SMS while roaming in 15 countries across the world. The selected countries for the free incoming calls are United Kingdom, United States of America, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Netherlands and Belgium. Others are Malaysia, South Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kenya and Ghana. The service, the company explained, requires no registration as the customers’ MTN SIM automatically connects when

they switch on their phones at any of the selected destinations, once they have phones and gadgets that have roaming facilities. While the new package will afford all subscribers on the MTN network an opportunity to enjoy free incoming calls and SMS in fifteen selected countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, subscribers will also be able to make calls at reasonable costs whenever they are in these selected countries. Announcing the offer, General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Richard Iweanoge, described the offer as an af-

firmation of the company’s thought leadership in innovative provisions that aptly satisfy the needs of its subscribers anywhere across the globe. “This new offer which allows for free incoming calls, is a solution introduced to address issues of high cost of receiving calls whenever our esteemed subscribers travel out of the country. Driven by world class technology, this package will afford our subscribers an opportunity to constantly communicate with friends, families and business associates whenever they are on international trips,” he said.

Nigerian Tribune

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

infotech

anchor Bode Adewumi

m:08055001765 e:bodekafi@yahoo.com

Organisers confirm more speakers for eNigeria 2015

From left: Marketing and PR Manager, West Africa, Adim Isiakpona; Regional Director, South and Sub-Saharan Africa, Sven Beckmann; Country Manager, Nigeria, Olubunmi Ekundare and Director of Innovation, Sub-Saharan Africa, Hitendra Naik, all of Intel Corporation, at the Intel Developer Day Nigeria 2015 event in Lagos.

Experts faults Nigerian Cybercrime law Stories By Bode Adewumi

EGAL luminaries and other key stakeholders in the nation’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry have criticised some provisions of the Nigerian Cybercrimes Act 2015, saying the law contains fundamental flaws. This was the position of the experts, who spoke at the Technology Times Outlook organised by Technology Times, an online ICT-focused news website, to review the Nigerian Cybercrimes Act 2015 in Lagos recently. The Act was one of the many bills passed into law by the National Assembly and signed by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan at the twilight of his administration. Managing Partner, Technology Advisor, Basil Udotai, who reviewed the Act, said Nigeria ranks third in the list of countries with high cybercrimes rates globally, saying this requires that “we put in place a robust laws that helps to checkmate the growing rate of cyber crimes in the country.” According to him, though the law is comprehensive enough, it is beset with some challenging components. He said: “It was interesting that, at last, Nigeria has been able to put in place a law, however, the Act does not recognise a single enforcement institution, which is an aberration and a development that may lead to confused legal strategy. “Also, the law is too heavy on the financial sector, thereby making it overtly transactional.” While noting that the rod to having the law passed was long and tortuous, Udotai explained that “ICT is the only sector that is doing well in Niger and we cannot afford to be lax in coming with law on cybercrimes.” The event convener and Founder, Tech-

nology Times, Mr Shina Badaru, said there was an urgent need to ensure that “our cybercrimes laws is robust enough to take care of the various sector of the economy which is currently being reshaped by ICT and in a way that it continues to build investors’ confidence in the nation’s economy.” According to him, “Nigeria’s ICT sector has attracted over $32 billion investment in the past 14 years of the sector’s liberali-

sation and we cannot afford not to protect this investment and by extension, protect our digital domains and the be prepare for the emerging cyber welfare.” Ex-Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos Branch, Alex Muoka, described the Cybercrimes Act as “the most unclear piece of legislation that I have ever seen because there are a lot of lacunas, lacking provision with regards to the enforcement institutions.

AS preparations for the 2015 eNigeria conference continue to gather momentum, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the event which is a flagship programme of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is leaving no stone unturned towards ensuring the success of the event. Speaking in Abuja with the press, NITDA’s Director of Corporate Strategy and Research, Vincent Olatunji, said: “given the high profile of speakers eNigeria has attracted over the years, the 2015 event cannot afford to have anything less, hence the committee was doing its most to have very resourceful speakers”. He added that with Professor Pat Utomi, delivering the keynote in 2013 and Jelani Aliyu doing same in 2014, NITDA would ensure it confirms a speaker that will further help advance the impact of Information Communication Technology in national development. Olatunji, who is the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, said this year’s event will strategically set the tone of conversations on the role of local content in the adoption of IT in Nigeria’s electoral process.” Revealing a list of some of the speakers already confirmed, NITDA stated that Dr Umar Bindir, the Secretary to the Adamawa State Government and immediate past Director General of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion, (NOTAP) will grace the occasion. Others are Dr Kabiru Mato, who will speak on the Effects and Benefits of e-electoral Process for Developing Countries, while Professor Junaid Saladu will speak on Data Security and the Internet of Things in e-Electoral Process.

Osinbajo supports PPP summit on critical infrastructure THE Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has given his support to the forthcoming 2015 Nigeria Infrastructure Public Private Partnership Summit billed for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in the last quarter of this year. The Vice President made this known recently when the Summit Planning Team paid him a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa. The team was led by A.B Mahmoud (SAN), Managing Partner Dikko & Mahmoud, a full service law firm. Also in attendance was Gori Olusina Daniel from Adams & Moore, a United Kingdom-based global professional advisory firm and Ibrahim Adamu

Abdullahi from Dikko& Mahmoud. The Vice President, while acknowledging the key role the organised private sector must play in addressing Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit,welcomed the initiative and pledged his support and participation. The Summit Planning Team was subsequently tasked with creating sector-specific reviews and road maps in the four key areas of focus – Power, Transport, Health and Education in collaboration with key eco-system players leading up to the summit. It will be recalled that in his opening address at the just concluded Nigerian Bar Association 55th Annual General Conference

in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari decried the huge infrastructural deficit the country is grappling with and highlighted the need for strategic “public private partnerships” in the “quest for enhanced capital and expertise”. His words: “We also have a huge infrastructure deficit for which we require foreign capital and expertise to supplement whatever resources we can marshal at home. In essence, increased engagement with the outside world is called for as we seek public private partnerships in our quest for enhanced capital and expertise. This is the way of the new world for all countries in the 21st Century.”

Etisalat increases benefits on EasyStarter package IN keeping with its commitment to provide top-class telecommunications experience, Etisalat Nigeria has announced new benefits on its leading family product, EasyStarter. On the EasyStarter package, customers can now register five ‘You & Me’ numbers and stay connected to more members of their community of family and friends. Customers on the ‘You & Me’ platform get free N300 airtime to call any of the

five ‘You & Me’ numbers for every N200 they recharge weekly. In addition, Etisalat is offering free 10MB of data weekly on recharges of ?100 and above on the EasyStarter package. The new EasyStarter package also offers unlimited connection to 2go, Whatsapp, WeChat, Facebook and BlackBerry for only N150 weekly. Speaking on the improved offer, the Director, Consumer Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Wole Rawa, explained that EasyStarter

is repackaged to give more value to customers, with which they can connect more with their families and friends. “As a network that prides itself with meeting the communication needs of its esteemed customers, we have improved our family-oriented EasyStarter package to help our customers keep aglow the bond of unity among their family members and community of friends and colleagues,” he said.

infotech

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

SIM deactivation: When subscribers become the proverbial grass A directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to the telecommunications providers in the country viz MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat to perfect their registration of subscribers on their networks has just gone awry again. It has left many subscribers fuming all over the country as the attempt to reregister their lines comes with agony and lamentations. BODE ADEWUMI in this piece, examines the scenario leading to this sorry pass, wondering why it is always difficult for Nigerians to get things right when it matters most.

HE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2010 directed all the operators in the sector to register all subscribers in the country; it was one exercise many thought would be easy. The reasons it adduced were germane and it ranged from the need to have a data base for subscribers and the need to capture vital information for security purposes. This was strange to many Nigerians, but this was a normal practice all over the world and it was supposed to have started with the evolution of the Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM) in 2001. This was not to be and it became an albatross of sort as the battle to have a seamless registration continues to elude Nigeria. At that initial stage, it was thought that the exercise would be completed inside six months until when it was discovered that an extension was needed to achieve success. It also got the NCC to be involved in the exercise when it sought the approval for funds to commence its own registration apart from the operators’ exercise. It got about seven consultants to handle the registration and set a September 30, 2011 deadline for the exercise. The commission and the operators were unable to complete the task within that time frame. Many discerning Nigerians suspected that the exercise was doomed for failure from the outset as various complaints dogged it. The operators lamented the huge cost of the exercise to their finances and were not too willing to expend all. Also, the consultants that were contracted by the NCC proved that they were not capable or were not committed to the cause. For instance, most of the agents that were recruited for the registration complained very bitterly over poor remunerations and non provision of materials among many others. The September 30, 2011 date, which NCC gave as the deadline for the completion of the exercise was no longer feasible, as the commission’s consultants could not conclude the exercise at the stipulated date, a situation that compelled NCC to extend the exercise indefinitely. Few days to the September 30, 2011 deadline anyway, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators (ALTON) called for a six-month extension of the exercise, while the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), was calling for a 12-month extension. The reason they gave was that half of the total number of subscribers as at then were yet to be registered, and warned that the purpose of the

Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta exercise would not be achieved, should NCC close registration by September 30th 2011. Sensing the danger of closing SIM registration with half of the population of subscribers, NCC came up with a position that it has extended the exercise, but did not give the timeframe for the extension. In April 2013, NCC came up with a fresh date to end SIM registration by June 30, 2013, and warned that all unregistered SIM cards would be disconnected after the June 30 date. It was during this period that some Nigerians engaged in the unwholesome sale of preregistered SIM cards. Even though the NCC frowned on this development and in fact made some arrests, it nevertheless continued to fester in the country. This was the situation until the NCC moved to end all these anomalies and in September 2014, it directed the operators to deactivate all preregistered and SIMs not properly registered on their networks. The operators though, alerted some subscribers to this development, but many subscribers took

the information with a pinch of salt. The operators also were not too willing to enforce the directive since they were not ready to lose subscribers. This went on until August this year that the NCC wielded the big stick by tightening the noose around the necks of the operators, who in turn blocked the lines of subscribers who fell into these

I don’t understand why I need to register my line again since I’ve done it before. They said my face was not captured. Was that my fault?

categories. It was after this move by the NCC that it came into the open that millions of subscribers fell into these categories as subscribers began the rush to reregister their lines. This has come with hardships for many who have to cope with the rigours of having to queue endlessly to re-register their lines that many thought had been done once. And many Nigerians have been lamenting their woes and wondering why they have to be subjected to unnecessary hardships due to no fault of theirs. For instance at the Ibadan office of MTN last week, it was an uphill task as many subscribers who thronged the place lamented their fate, with some describing the manner with which they were being treated as inhuman. A subscriber, Bisi Olojede said he was at the MTN office based on the message sent to him to complete his registration. He said he had visited the MTN office four times and had not been able to register his line. He said that he ran away the last time he came to the MTN office because he met mobile policemen there and felt there was no reason to endanger his life. Also in Lagos, many subscribers have expressed frustrations over having to spend many hours in the premises of operators in a bid to validate their lines. A reporter who visited the offices of MTN and Airtel in the Ojodu area of Lagos on Friday observed that subscribers were made to sit and stand in the sun in order to validate their lines. Some of the subscribers, who had had their telephone lines barred from accessing the operators’ services, lamented that the new NCC directive was having a toll on them. Olanrewaju Adams, an MTN subscriber whose line got barred last week, said he had been visiting the office for days, but had been unable to register his SIM card due to the large crowd. He said, “I don’t understand why I need to register my line again since I’ve done it before. They said my face was not captured. Was that my fault? Why didn’t they do what they were supposed to do initially? I left my business yesterday and today (Friday) again. For how long will I continue to do this?” An Airtel subscriber, Chinedu Udoh, said if he were to be in an advanced country, he would have sued the telecoms operator for the stress it had caused him. He said: “It is just that anything goes in Nigeria. We don’t have proper planning. Why should we be always subjected to suffering

like this every time?” These are some of the pains being experienced by subscribers all over the country. The operators, particularly MTN, said it had increased the number of staff doing the SIM registration/validation across all its channels and had mandated all its registration outlets to remain open till 8:00pm every day until further notice. But the NCC had earlier in August said the telecommunications operators are to be blamed for the current woes subscribers are facing in the country. The Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, had in a television programme aired in Lagos said the operators were the ones that made things difficult for the affected subscribers. According to him, the current challenges would have been minimised if the operators had swung into action as far back as September 2014 when the commission alerted them of some discrepancies found during the hamonisation of data sent to them by the service providers. Ojobo said the commission had returned 18.6 million SIM cards data to MTN; 7.4 million to Airtel; 2.2 million to Globacom and 10.4 million to Etisalat for corrections, stressing that the returned SIM cards had one challenge or the other including some that were pre-registered; others without the required biometric information. “I think the bulk of the blames would stop on the table of the operators. They failed to do what they were supposed to have done earlier. The commission sent the list of improperly registered subscribers to the operators in September 2014. “In October 2014, the commission wrote to the service providers indicating that they have still not responded to the communication in terms of those data that were not duly captured and requested that they should do that immediately and get back to the commission. This continued until the meeting of August 4, 2015. The operators were expected to have long before now send SMS to affected subscribers requesting them to go and get their data corrected or risk deactivation. But nothing was done until now,” Ojobo said during the programme. Ironically, the operators despite these frenzied activities still got fined by the NCC last week for what it described as their failure to comply with its directive. This thus summarised the anguish of Nigerians who were caught in between this crossfire and in the process have become the proverbial grass in this new registration conundrum.

property

anchor Gbemi Solaja

m:07065220616 e:gbemisolaja@gmail.com

Without policy, housing’ll continue to be out of reach —Adejana

Gbadebo Adejana is a seasoned real estate entrepreneur and Chief Executive Officer, Realty Point Limited, a real estate company. In this interview with GBEMI SOLAJA, he speaks on the ailing housing sector and points out possible solutions. Excerpts:

Mr Adejana

HAT do you think of the government’s efforts towards housing development in Nigeria? It is too early in the day to talk about this government effort, that is the current administration, but if we take government as a continuum and take the event from what has happened in the previous dispensation, I can say that it still needs a lot of improvement. What I observed, in terms of housing development, is that a number of state governments look abroad to solve our housing issues than locally. They partner with some huge construction company in China, India, Dubai, South Africa, America and so on and give them large acres of land to develop housing unit for the people of Nigeria. While a few of them have succeeded in churning out large housing units, for some, it has been a colossal failure and it will continue to be for one major reason of corruption. What the government should do is to sort out the 17 million deficit that we have. Yes, we may need foreign input one way or the other, may be by investment, but I think the private sector should be left to fall into that place and the government should just provide the enabling environment. If the issue of access to land is tackled, coupled with the issue of infrastructure; if finance is tackled, there is no way developers will not be able to come up with the necessary product that will cater for all the strata of the economy as to their housing needs. So, I will say that the government needs to look more internally and sort out this issues. For example, if you take the issue of finance, the mortgage sector tried with the NMRC, but I hope that they will go on to do what they intend to do with the pension fund. With over 17 million deficit and

Nigerian Tribune

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

increasing population, aren’t we heading for a housing disaster in the nearest future? I will say that to tackle 17 million housing deficit is not a tea party. So, it is not going to be easy at all. It will take consistent effort and considerable length of time to be able to take care of the deficit and continue to meet our housing demand on year on year. So, I must say that we are actually reaching an epidemic in terms of housing shortfall. Rent is gradually going beyond the reach of the poor and the government does not have any sustainable provision for the low income earners. Housing is supposed to be a great contributor to our GDP as a country. It is also a reflection of how well an economy is doing. Right now, that sector is not contributing as much as it should despite its potential. Acquiring the C of O, land titling

Housing is supposed to be a great contributor to our GDP as a country. It is also a reflection of how well an economy is doing. Right now, that sector is not contributing as much as it should despite its potential.

and other building processes is been a recurring problem. How do you think this beaureaucratic processes could be eradicated? It is another challenge, but I think the number one issue is corruption. If we can tackle corruption in this country it will help because the systems are there and they are clear. As at the last study we did in the organisation, we realised that Nigeria was the second to the last that has the longest tenure in getting title documentation and also cost wise, Cross River was the highest in the country, followed by Lagos and Ghana was cheaper. The time it takes to get those things are very problematic and they don’t allow for smooth transaction when it comes to real estate. If we remove corruption, the civil servants doing their job and really seeing themselves as servants of the populace, they are being paid by tax payers money to make life better for everybody and to make the country a desirable place for people to

live and invest in and we address our issues without looking for gratification, I think life will be a lot better so we can meet transacting title in good time, until that is done it will continue to be a headache if we want to do planning approval, it is a problem. The real estate landscape in Nigeria has changed dramatically in recent years. Would you say more developers are focusing on luxury properties instead of homes reachable to the common man? As a developer,you are in business to make profit so that you can sustain the business. If you have people who invested in your business, you need to make good returns to them otherwise business will not be profitable. So, it is not a Father Christmas venture. What this means is that the forces of the market will dictate what you do. How has Realty Point been contributing to providing housing for low income earners? The best of what we are doing right now is to provide people with landed properties. They can pay instamentally and once they finish paying they can also start building in installment on the landed property. That is the best we can do at the moment until we are able to identify a means by which better things can be provided for that segment. Let me say that part of what we have also done is to pay and support cooperatives group of people that are housing-focused and be able to come up with structures by which people can buy land and also probably borrow from the cooperatives and repay in a micro housing finance way. We have achieved a few successes in that line and we also think there is a direction to go. In our organisation, we are coming up with a product that has a percentage amount of the proceed going into our social housing, corporate responsibility programme meaning that we are trying to provide housing for the no-income and very low income earners. And not just housing, we are also trying to give them some training so that they can transit to a better condition.

List and prices of building materials S/N MATERIAL 1 Cement Elephant Classic Elephant Supaset Dangote cement

QTY

PRICE

Per bag Per bag Per bag

#1,750 #1,770 # 1,800

Block 9” Vibrated 6” Vibrated

One “ “

#140 #130

Sand Plastering Filling Sharp sand Gutter sand Granite Gravel Stone dust

5 tonne “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “

#8,500 #8,500 #8,500 #12,000 #25,000 #12,000 #16,000

Tonne= 20 “ “ “ = 20 “ “ “ = 20

Compiled by Mustapha Adeitan

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015 Group Politics Editor Taiwo Adisa - 08072000046 tai_adis@yahoo.com

Skewed appointments unhealthy for Nigeria —Gbonigi Emmanuel Bolanle Gbonigi (retd), former Bishop of the Akure Anglican Diocese, in this interview with HAKEEM GBADAMOSI, speaks on President Muhammadu Buhari’s first 100 days in office, war on corruption, among other issues. Excerpts:

OW will you analyse the prevailing socio-economic and political situation in the nation? Talking about the state of our nation, Nigeria is a very big question. Briefly, I will say that we have a lot to thank God for making the country as we are currently, because there had been a lot that we did which we ought not to have done, and a lot which we left undone, for which if God were to judge us, He would have destroyed us. According to the Bible, the world was so bad sometime ago (according to Genesis Chapter 6) and God repented Himself that He ever created human beings. And so, he wiped out a creation as at that time, only sparing eight souls. We have been so bad. Again, in the Bible, we have the incident of two cities: Sodom and Gomorrah; they were so sinful that God decided to wipe them out. The messenger He sent to do it, to go and see whether Sodom and Gomorrah was so bad as He was hearing, stayed with Abraham and his wife, Sarah. Abraham was given the opportunity to plead and he started from 50, and he said God, ‘You are a righteous God and as a righteous God, You will not destroy the righteous with the wicked.’ He asked if God would still destroy the city if he could find 50 righteous people in the two cities, and God said No! And God allowed him and pleaded again that suppose we can only find 10 and God said, ‘If I can only find 10, I will spare them.’ We thank God that definitely and undoubtedly there are more than 10 righteous people in Nigeria today. But, when some of us Christians look at it, we feel that there’s not even one of us that can be called righteous. So, we thank God that He has not been looking at us as if we are alone but looking at us as if we have Jesus and having mercy on us. God has many attributes and He is God of love, that’s the number one attribute and He’s God of mercy; God of righteousness; God of Justice and God of Peace. He has been so loving and merciful to us in this country and gracious and compassionate in so many ways. He relates with us, and that is why we are still a country today. You remember that some people predicted that by 2015, Nigeria will no longer exist as a political entity. The Americans made the prediction, and when I heard it, I chuckled and said, ‘Yes, we are very bad, but we

Gbonigi are a creation of God because He created us in His image and likeness, and therefore He loves us but hates our sins. Because of what Christ has done, He will have mercy but He will discipline us.’ God requires obedience from all the peoples in the world, and when we are obedient to Him, He allows us to repent and just as it happens in Nineveh, when God sent Jonah and they repented and He forgave them. So, Nigeria is still Nigeria, especially politically, we are still a political entity and we are still together as we were amalgamated in 1914 by the foreign powers and we thank God for this. Look at the election we had this year, many Nigerians thought that we won’t be able to have it because of the way the politicians are behaving and talking. But those of us, who are relating to God in Christ, praying and fasting, we were confident that God, in His mercies, should allow us to hold the election. And, we held it successfully, especially the presidential election, we prayed that He should give us the President of His own choice to lead us in a new way. So, we kept up praying and fasting and holding night vigils in our homes. Muslims were not left out, doing the same thing and God allowed us to hold the election and we held it successfully and something happened. The political party that has led us for 16 years lost

to a new political party. The leader of that party accepted defeat and conceded success to his opponent. He called and congratulated him and said ‘even though they have not announced the result of the election officially, I can see that you have won.’ That was wonderful; we don’t know what God did for us for former President Goodluck Jonathan to accept defeat. Jonathan did a wonderful thing and God will continue to bless him for that action because his singular action saved us from a lot of trouble and only God knows what would have happened if he decided not to accept the result of that election. Some people, who were ready and set to be an instrument in the hands of Satan to destroy the country, would have gone out and begin to kill, maim and destroy properties. What Jonathan did saved us from that of kind of situation predicted before the election, and for us still being together as an entity today, God is wonderful and awesome. But, a few politicians said what the former President did was not unusual, given the outcome of the election? How many politicians have done that in our political history? I would have loved the people to tell me. I want them to mention their names. Since we became a nation and had elections from 1960, the year we became independent, to date, no politician

ever accepted defeat. I want them to tell me who has done that before Jonathan. In other countries, it’s not unusual; that’s what they do. Before Jonathan did it in Nigeria, maybe it happened in one or two local government elections, but in a presidential election, no one as far as I can remember, did. We thank God for that and we thank God for the man, who was declared the winner, President Muhammadu Buhari. He, as far as I can see, has started very well. He is leading us very well, especially because he is leading with courage. He is also leading by example, and leadership by example is very important. So, the President is doing what is right, and that is a great lesson for Nigerians. You remember that the President decided that the salary and allowances for the office of the President are too much, especially in this period of financial crunch in the country. He slashed his salary to half, and we thank God that his vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, followed the example of the President. Leading by example is very important. So, whatever he says or do now, people will say the man is not just talking, we have seen in him what I will call active concern. You may have concern for someone who is suffering but doing nothing practical to help out of the situation. He has shown total concern to the welfare of Nigeria as a country and Nigerians. He has demonstrated it practically, visiting neighbouring countries: Niger, Chad and Cameroon and Guinea to ask for their cooperation in putting an end to insurgency in the country and in those countries as well. He went to them and appealed to them to work together in order to put an end to violence, destruction of lives and properties. The presidents of those nations listened to him because he’s leading by example and not expressing concerns verbally but practically. But despite all you have said that what the president has done is encouraging, the belief in a number of quarters is that his government is slow. Slow and steady win the race. He is steady. And talking about slowness, I don’t see President Buhari as being slow. He is only taking care and watching his steps and not rushing. If he had rushed to take actions and made mistakes, we would be criticising him that he did not try to settle down and study the situation before he begins to act. People will wonder why he’s such in a hurry and they will condemn and criticise him. Let’s appreciate him for not being in hurry and not making mistakes and adding to our problems. He consults with people; I’ve just given you the example of how he consulted with leaders of some neighbouring countries on how to put an end to terrorism in order to save Nigeria. He consulted and didn’t just rush out. It was after he had consulted continues pg33

politics&policy continued from pg32

that he came back and called the security chiefs and gave them the assignment to go and stop the Boko Haram people. Another issue that has generated much controversy in the country is the perceived lopsided key appointments made by the President, which many say undermine the principle of Federal Character? How do you see the development? I am one of those who feel that it looks as if the appointments are lopsided. When members of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) had a joint meeting of the Leaders’ Council and Management committee in Akure recently, I mentioned it in my address that the appointments are lopsided because up to that time; that all the appointments he had made were from the North. We condemned the appointments and, most especially our people from the South-East are saying not one appointment has come from them. As if he heard me, not quite three days after the meeting, in the next appointments he made, five people were from the North and one from the South. I think we should not say ‘let’s wait and see.’ We should begin to cry out and shout, so that he will know that we are watching him. I believe that because we are crying out and shouting over the lopsidedness in the appointments, we are very sure that he will be careful in his next appointments. Because people are already crying and shouting bitterly over the appointments he has made so far, he needs to be careful and spread them, as well as maintain what is in the constitution about federal character. He must recognise the principle of federal character and make appointments based on what is in the constitution. I think this will help him. But, we should not predict that one zone will be more favoured than the other, or think that this is how the appointments will continue to be. We are only saying it appears that’s what is happening, and to ‘call him to order,’ because as a human being, he’s prone to mistakes, and could be a little forgetful in that area. So, the fact that we are crying out will help him to avoid making the mistake of making all his appointments from one section of the country and neglecting other parts. The SNPA and other pressure groups have consistently kicked against the appointment of Amina Zakari as the Acting chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC), because she is said to be related to Mr President, and that they come from the same area. According to them, her likely neutrality in any electoral contest involving the parties is suspect.. What’s your take on this? I am always very careful before I talk, and I have always tried to base my comment on facts and not on suspicion, I don’t know the woman but I have tried to find out as much as I could. I have also tried to find out what the constitution says as regards when a substantive chairman of INEC has completed his term and left office. What does the constitution say the president should do? People say the constitution says he should appoint a new chairman and send his / her name to the Senate and that President Buhari has not done so. Instead of doing that, he appointed her as acting chairman, whereas the constitution does not allow this. So, I supported that position that he should not do anything that the constitution does not approve. I was praising him for follow-

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

‘Why Buhari should not limit probe to Jonathan’ people said the President never at anytime promised to do some things within his first 100 days in office. If that is true, then it is wrong to accuse him of not performing to expectation within his first 100 days. I’ve mentioned how he went to neighbouring countries and the United States, as well as some European countries too, seeking their understandings on how to help the country. He also met with Nigerians in the Diaspora, talking with them on national issues, all within his 100 days in office. He has also made a number of appointments. He has been working and meeting with people and consulting, asking for help in order to be able to do things and do them well and rightly. He is not rushing to make mistakes and add to our problems. I think he has done well.

Gbonigi ing the constitution earlier on some issues, but if it is true that the constitution doesn’t allow it (his action on INEC chairman) and he has done what is contrary to the constitution, then the President is wrong. Some people criticising also the president’s action said it is because the woman is from Katsina State, as our president is from the state. In fact, somebody said the woman is from the President’s hometown or that they are relations, If that is true, it’s wrong and he should reverse it. We should be fair and just. Justice requires giving every citizen of this country his or her right. We should not deny any individual or group of their rights. Without justice, there can’t be peace. Justice is the prerequisite for peace and if there is no justice, there will be no peace. There is no way you will deny me of my rights and ask for my friendship. It is under the atmosphere of peace that we can pray together, discuss together, plan together, work and decide together. Then, how will you relate the issue of justice to the war against corruption by the present government, as the president said his administration is limiting its probe to the tenure of Jonathan? I agree that it should be holistic and not

be limited to the immediate administration. I have about two or three examples to buttress my position. For instance, there was a case of a member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan and Mr Femi Otedola over oil subsidy. The lawmaker was somebody I thought was fantastic then, I was disappointed when it was published and confirmed that he and Otedola were mentioned in the oil subsidy controversy. That was why Lawan left the House, but he has not been tried. It appears they are trying to sweep the matter under the carpet. So, I know that the matter did not happen during the Jonathan era; it happened when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was our president. President Buhari should make the probe holistic and encourage Nigerians to report cases of alleged corruption of past administrations, governors, commissioners or local government chairmen. If people are afraid that they might be attacked, encourage them to send anonymous memoranda to the bodies set up to investigate and look into the allegations of corruption. What is your assessment of the administration of the President in the last three months? He has tried. I heard over the radio on Tuesday (September 1, 2015) that some

Because people are already crying and shouting bitterly over the appointments he has made so far, he will realise the need to be careful and spread them, as well as maintain what is in the constitution about federal character.

Considering the multifaceted challenges confronting the nation, if you were with Mr President now, what kind of advice would you give him; especially on what should be his priority? I will thank the President for what he has done so far. I will say I feel he is trying but he should take a look into the plight of young people seriously. I have been saying, over the years, that we have millions of ablebodied educated and learned graduates of our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education; millions of young men and women who have two or three degrees. It is a formidable army, which the government should pay serious attention to and take care of quickly because if it bursts, it may trigger a major crisis. These youths have reasons to be angry because millions of them, with all their qualifications,- academic and professional qualification with no work to even earn a kobo, hear and read that we have other Nigerians, politicians, members of the House and the Senate taking home more than N20 million, and they have not denied it. That alone is enough to make young people angry. That alone is enough to provoke them. Those, who studied psychology, explain that when you are worried and the worry is not taken care of, it leads to depression. And if you fail to address and take care of the depression, it leads to another serious thing and gradually, it reaches a point of anger. When it reaches the point of anger, the next thing is violence. This is the way we have been governing the country from the past, not only from 2011 when Jonathan became our president but before his administration. During his administration, Jonathan really tried, there’s no doubt about that, though he’s not an angel and not perfect. So, I will tell President Buhari, to please take the matter and situation of these young people seriously. Secondly, I will advise him to see the need to make agriculture the mainstay of our economy, so that we can move away from depending on oil. One day, oil will dry up. Let us make agriculture the main stay of our economy and then establish industries, because these two are the bedrock of our economy. When we set up industries, there will be places for people to work and it will help to build and turn around our economy. I will also advise him to remember to keep justice in the front-burner of his administration; that he should just in all areas and to make sure that no area or individual is marginalised. He should make everybody and every area feel at home in the political entity called Nigeria.

34 politicscommentary

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Osunbor and Edo guber question By Michael Uyiosa

S the Governor Adams Oshiomhole-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in Edo State gradually draws to a close, attention is beginning to shift towards discussions on his probable successor. Specifically, by 12 November, 2016, the curtain will have been drawn on Oshiomhole’s constitutionally permitted eight-year tenure of two terms, which commenced with his inauguration on 12 November, 2008. This was after the former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) secured a verdict at the Court of Appeal, Benin division, which upturned the election, in April 2007, of Professor Oserheimen Osunbor, as the governor of the state. Incidentally, there is now a groundswell of opinion across political, ethnic, religious and social divides that the same Osunbor is the man best suited to takeover the mantle of leadership from Oshiomhole. Granted, formal opening of the political space for electioneering campaigns is yet to be legally activated, it is, however, not preposterous to observe that conversations are already ongoing as to the necessity for a worthy successor. Without prejudice to the credentials of some contenders, even pretenders to the highest political office in the state, Osunbor, an acclaimed first class intellectual and erudite professor of law, fits into a noble description of a worthy successor. His enviable track record in academic and politics stands him out as a man fully equipped by any global standard of leadership, to take Edo to unassailable height from the very high standard Governor Oshiomhole has already established. Even if conjecturally, among those who have indicated or likely to show interest in the governorship, Professor Osunbor is the only one with first-hand experience, having governed the state for 18 months before his brilliant and performance-filled tenure was unfortunately truncated by the aforementioned Court of Appeal decision. Indeed, Osunbor’s 18 months of light and hope in the dark and forlorn years of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state was unforgettable. It was a period of vision and transformation which the savvy Osunbor is sure to re-enact in a more inspired and sterling form for the greater good of Edo people, if given another opportunity as governor of the state this time on the platform of the APC. The return of Osunbor to Government House, Dennis Osadebe Avenue, GRA, Benin City, the state capital, will mean a return to, and by extension, a continuation of good governance in the state. The enduring legacies of the Oshiomhole administration can best be protected, preserved and improved upon with Osunbor at the helm in the immediate post-Oshiomhole years. While acknowledging the place of ethnicity in the polity, it is imperative to point out that Osunbor’s personality transcends primordial frontiers. The urbane professor of law is a man in whose make-up the gown and the town are in proper mix. An academic of immense fecundity and a politician that is sure-footed on the political stage having served as a two-term Senator from 1999 to 2007 with outstanding record. Besides, the people of Edo do not need to entertain worry of any kind over their resources, particularly funds accruing to the

Osunbor state in these austere times, as Professor Osunbor has long set an example in prudent management. As chairman of one of the Senate Committees during his brilliant sojourn at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, he was widely acclaimed to have returned about N5 billion unspent fund appropriated to the National Judicial Council (NJC), to government treasury, a practice which is now embraced nationally as a norm. Almost seven years since the

end of his 18-month stint as governor of Edo, Osunbor’s record of running the state has remained unblemished. Clearly, Osunbor is not one of those to be bogged down in the encumbrances of the recent past, chief among which is the phenomenon of ‘godfather’ of any ilk. Of course, like Oshiomhole, while recognising and appreciating the contributions of all well-meaning political actors to the growth and development of the state, Osunbor

The people of Edo do not need to entertain worry of any kind over their resources, particularly funds accruing to the state, in these austere times, as Professor Osunbor has long set an example in prudent management.

has demonstrated before now that he cannot be tied to anyone’s apron strings. Osunbor’s anti-godfather and anti-imposition battles against some political hawks during his period in the PDP in the state are all too well known. They were battles that could even be regarded as a precursor to subsequent campaigns against the hegemony of godfathers, at least, in the state. It is imperative to point out that Osunbor’s long time pledge to the people of Edo and which he has the honour to keep is his determination to forge ahead in his drive to positively impact on their lives through the provision of quality social services, adherence to rule of law and the tenets of democracy, transparency and accountability, as well as the provision and the uplift of the general infrastructure of the state. It is therefore not surprising that so many people from all walks of life and with whom he is already consulting are clamouring for him to come back with the same vigour and determination with which he had earlier governed the state. And it does not seem to be in Osunbor’s character to ignore or turn down such noble request, particularly the passionate appeal for him to join the governorship race which is coming from across the broad spectrum of the people of the state. This much is exemplified in Osunbor’s own words in a recent interview with a national newspaper when he remarked, “And I said yes, that I’m now ready and available to come back and serve the people. So if your people show you so much respect and honour and they are calling on you that that please, come back and govern us, I don’t think it is proper to say no to them. There is no greater feeling than for your people to come and say please, come and provide leadership for us. And I told you that – that is one of the reasons that made me to answer the clarion call by joining the APC.” Interestingly, Professor Osunbor has also shown that he is not one of those persons who are quick to rubbish the works of others. He presents his views on certain crucial issues and personalities without necessarily being judgemental even when prodded into doing so. This does not mean that Osunbor begs the question as can be evidently gleaned from his response to a newspaper interviewer’s question regarding Governor Oshiomhole’s performance. “I won’t judge my governor. If you want to know, Adams Oshiomole has done and is still doing very well. I supported him in 2012 because I saw what he was able to do with the meagre resources coming to the state. I saw that he was better, far better than the people in PDP. And he showed more commitment toward the common man in Edo State.” Professor Osunbor, however, proved that he is today’s man for tomorrow’s Edo when he added, “But what I can say is that, if given another opportunity by my party and the people of the state to serve again, I will work to consolidate on the legacy of Adams Oshiomole, because he has set a clear standard that subsequent administrations should live by. Nobody can undo that nor afford to do below what he has done. And you need creativity and courage to do what he has done, both of which our people must have seen in my short stay in the Government House, which is why they asked me to come and serve again.” •Michael Uyiosa, a concerned citizen of Edo State, writes from Benin City.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

tribunelaw

For enquiries, Lanre Adewole - 0811 695 4647 olanreade@yahoo.com

Copyright law is fair but ... —Entertainment counsel Justin Ige, entertainment lawyer, takes AYOMIDE OWONIBIODEKANYIN through the legality of showbiz.

and dos of an endorsement contract. For example, a music artist might be, asked not to perform for a competitor brand or maybe an event or show which a competitor is endorsing. An artist intending to sign a contract should look out for all those limitations and other things that might also affect the freedom. A potential company that wants an endorsement can demand for anything. For anyone going into a deal should not only look at the money he is making but also at the money he maybe losing as a result of the limitations which such and endorsement might impose on him.

NTERTAINMENT lawyers are not that common in Nigeria. What has your experience been? It has been an interesting experience as there are not too many lawyers in the industry. The experience is mixed. There has been a bit of disappointment. I have had cases of clients who chickened out. I have had clients who battled to the end just to get what they truly deserve. I find entertainment law really entertaining and challenging as well. Challenging in the sense that there are not many lawyers who are willing to dabble into this aspect of law, but having made the choice, it is rewarding to see an artist satisfied in the sense that he gets what he deserves and also has an advocate that really understands the industry. The reason I ventured into entertainment law is because it is not that common. The reason why so many lawyers are not interested in that field is because they believe that it is not that lucrative. Many legal practitioners are not interested in the field but you find out that that people who are interested in entertainment law are people who are creative. Though, you might not make enough money as you would make in oil and gas or maritime, but if you are a creative person it would make it more interesting. As an entertainment lawyer, what is your take on COSON? Seriously, I think if COSON were to be scrapped, that would be the most unfortunate thing to happen to the music industry. COSON is the umbrella body that speaks for Nigerian artists when it comes to their rights. I know that it is organisation distributes money. I have not heard of rumors of embezzlement in COSON, talk less of verifying if the true or not. The bottom line remains that COSON has always stood up for the rights of artists in Nigeria. There so many cases in court between artists and their management. What do you think is the reason for the incessant fall out? The truth is that there are several reasons that could be responsible. One reason could be when people do not properly iron out expectations. Two years down the line into the signing of the contract, they begin to have issues because a party wants more than what he/she signed up for. Sometimes, if the label is not meeting up to that expectation, the artist wants to pull out but he forgets that he is bound by a

Looking at the copyright law, what stringent actions should be taken against offenders? Looking at it wholistically, any artist that feels that his right is being trampled upon should get a lawyer. We have unlicensed radio stations who are playing music illegally. COSON is trying a lot to enforce taking people to court. The truth is that you cannot take everybody to court. There are some limitations even in that process. But COSON is making good effort in terms of enforcing the rights of artists. But, looking at it, I would be like a situation where the government would approve copyright inspectors to actually go around and enforce participation. I wish to see a review of the legal framework that backs sealing off erring stations. Do you think Nigeria copyright law is fair to artists? I know that there are efforts in place to amend the copyright law as it were. That notwithstanding, I do think that the Copyright Act which we have right now, is very fair to Nigerian artists.

Ige contract. Also, greed plays a huge factor. Greed in what way? He is in label A and he discovers that label B offers more than what he is getting, he decides to flip sides. In truth, if your contract says four years that you should go ahead and do what is stipulated there, in order to avoid issues of litigation. It is really nothing if artists and labels decide they want to go their separate ways. Ultimately, they need to come to a concrete agreement. It doesn’t have to be a messy experience. It doesn’t have to leave a sour taste. You can leave a label with same decency with which you came in. Separation is not really a bad issue. With endorsement deals being signed on a daily basis by artists, do you think that they are aware of the kind of contracts they sign? I think that some of the artists would be aware, especially, if they have management that are knowledgeable. On the

other side, so many artists are unaware of what they get themselves into. Some are really more interested in the figures and go ahead to sign without being concerned about the legal implication. I, however, think that every artist should be aware, get a good legal team who will make those efforts to actually guide the artist properly. If an artist is getting into an endorsement, one of the things he should ultimately look out for is the don’t

“An artist intending to sign a contract should look out for all those limitations and other things that might also affect the freedom.”

Which areas do you think should be reviewed? Fair as it seems, I think the area of stringent punishment for piracy should be reviewed. It should be more severe. Like I said earlier, I would like to see copyright inspectors being given power to seal off infringing stations. What is your take on NBC’s ban on some certain music. The truth is that the implication of the ban is limited. They can ban the music on terrestrial stations but they cannot ban them on cable. This puts their competency in question. I believe that what they are doing is simply medicine after death. If they were to have their ban on music more effective, then it must come much earlier not after the songs or the videos are so popular. NBC should wake up to their responsibility. Like I also mentioned earlier, we need inspectors in this field so that the agency does not look stupid in their actions.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015 With Tommy Adegbite 0811 695 4631 tommyabijo@yahoo.com

1. From left, former national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande; Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayo Fayose and a former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Alani Akinrinade, at the wedding of the daughter of former Osun State governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, held at Our Saviour Church, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, last weekend. 2. Kwara State chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Issa Ore; national president, NURTW, Alhaji Najeem Yasin and the Kwara State governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, during a courtesy visit of the NURTW president to the Government House, Ilorin, recently. 3. Kwara State governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed (right), presenting second class staff of office to the new Oloota of Odo-Owa, Oba Joshua Oluwatoba Adeyemi, while the chairperson of Oke-Ero Local Government Area of the state, Hajia Aminat Yusuf, watches, in Odo-Owa, recently. 4. From left, Chief of Staff to the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Kabir Mohammed; Chairman, Airports Council International (ACI) World; Mr Fredrick Piccolo; President, ACI World; Mrs Angela Gittens; Managing Director, FAAN Mr Saleh Dunoma; President, ACI, Africa-Region, Mr Pascal Komla

6. 7.

and the General Manager, Planning, FAAN, Mrs Nse Ikiddeh, during the opening of 2015 ACI Latin AmericaCaribbean/World annual general assembly in Panama, recently. From left, Specialist, Dealer Sales, Etisalat Nigeria, Yusuf Yusuf; CliqFest laptop winner, Agboola Ridwan; Specialist Youth Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Michael Nwoseh; CliqFest laptop winner, Maryam Umar and the Etisalat Experience Centre Manager, Sokoto, Mohammed Tanko, during the Etisalat CliqFest prize presentation ceremony, at the Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto. From left, bride’s mother, Mrs Foluke Alalade; the couple, Mr and Mrs Abraham Oluyemi and the bride’s father, Mr Olusola Alalade, during their wedding at the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke Ife, Agbowo UI, Ibadan. From left, Mr I. B. Idowu, Principal, Oronna High School (Junior); Principal, Oronna High School (Senior) and host, Miss Toyin Babarinsa; Principal, Yewa (Egbado) College (Senior) and chairman of the day, Mr Olufemi Adeniji and the PTA executive, Mr Kayode Obafunsho, during the valedictory service of Oronna Hisgh School, Ilaro, Ogun State. From left, Mrs Bukola Ayeni, the couple, Mr and Mrs Taofeek Sobowale and Mrs Kemi Aina,iduring the traditional marriage held at Ogun Osun River Basin, Ring Road, Ibadan, on Saturday. PHOTO: ALOLADE GANIYU.

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Tuesday, 8 September, 2015 Editor: Bayo ALADE featuresdesk@yahoo.com 08055001747

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Governor Fayose ( seond left; middle row), Oba Rufus Adejugbe and others during the Udiroko festival.

Udiroko: Ado-Ekiti’s festival of

colours and culture The 2015 Udiroko Festival, perhaps the most important and popular festival of the Ado Ekiti people of Ekiti State did not fail to deliver in the usual display of rich culture, fanfare and widespread camaraderie. The 2015 event went a notch higher, reports SAM NWAOKO

OR the entire week preceding the Saturday grand finale of 2015 Udiroko Festival of the Ado Ekiti people, the Ekiti State capital was in festivity mood. After a prayer session which formally heralded the week-long festivities, there were also a health talk at the St. John Paul II Pastoral Centre; a youth carnival around Ado Ekiti, princes and princesses night and a special Jumat service. In addition, the Ewi Cup football tournament for the youth and Ayo Olopon competition were rounded off. The state governor, Mr. Ayò Fayose, in a build up to the grand finale, had also made a broadcast in which he called on the people of the state to support the festival and troop out to rejoice with Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, Aladesanmi III and the Ado Ekiti people. Apart from the intermittent broadcast by the governor, the state government had also mounted billboards in parts of the state capital to further raise awareness for the celebration of the Ado Ekiti traditional New Year. For several hours on the grand finale of the 2015 Udiroko Day, Ado Ekiti bubbled with excitement. Prominent son of Ado Ekiti and a foremost legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) was the Father of the Day while a distinguished daughter of the town and Senator representing Ekiti Central in the National Assembly, Mrs. Fatimat Raji Rasaki, was the guest of honour. They were joined by many other dignitaries from far and near as well as thousands of people of the community, who had filled the Ewi palace grounds, in the hyper

excitement that marked the day. From humble begginings, the Udiroko festival has gained global prominence. The celebration, according to the people, has its roots in ‘Ajase Ewi’, said to be “the Ewi’s supernatural power of conquest” just as it is the people’s new year. Back then during the new year festivities, Ado Ekiti indigenes would assemble at the base of an Iroko tree to welcome each returning war chief and rejoice with the Ewi. The returning war chief would report his military achievement to the Ewi and the arrival of the war chiefs was heralded with the song “Erukulele, omo Ado de o.” It was said that “at some point, the Ewi in his wisdom decided to be meeting all his war chiefs once a year on a specific day for such post-war reports and he picked ‘Olorunborun day’ for the purpose.” Thus, “the assemblage of people under iroko tree in Ewi’s palace on Olorunborun day for the ceremony later became ‘Odun Udi Uroko’ from which Udiroko was abbreviated.” Indigenes of Ado Ekiti, various ethnic nationalities, interest groups, quarter chiefs, traditional chiefs, queens, indigenous war chiefs, age groups, market men and women, politicians from all walks of life pay homage to the monarch of the town. On the day, enthusiastic indigenes and other residents had been making their way to the palace to witness the festival. Juju music legend, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi, was on the band stand and added colour to the festival with his evergreen songs while other local musicians dotted the palace grounds, dishing out their unique entertainment styles to their audiences. Oba Adejugbe Aladesanmi III, who wore a special crown for the occasion was in good spirit as he received homages from various relevant segments of the population. The Ewi who was joined on the dais by his wife, the Eyesorun, Olori Bosede Adejugbe, Governor Fayose and other dignitaries, waved the royal horsetail (irukere) in appreciation of the obeisance paid to him by his subjects. Groups who took their turns to pay

homage to the Ewi included the Oloris (palace queens), the Omo Owas (princes and princesses), Iyalojas and Iyalajes (market chiefs), the Elegbes (traditional war chiefs), the Efas (traditional police) and the Bafon (traditional generalissimo) who was followed by the traditional troops. The president of the Ado Ekiti Progressive Union (APU), Chief Obafemi Ojo, hailed the various projects initiated by the Fayose administration in the town. He also urged the governor to give more Ado sons and daughters political appointments to enable them contribute to the development of the state. The caretaker Chairman of Ado Ekiti Local Government, Alhaji Dauda Ajise, explained that Fayose’s contribution to the development of the town would remain indelible and called on the people to continue in their support for his administration. According to him, the govenor within the short time of his second stint in power has beautified the town and executed projects like roads, drainages, among others. Founder and President of the Afe Babalola University, (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, who was represented by the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Michael Ajisafe, donated N10 million towards the completion of the projects going on in the palace. Senator Raji Rasaki, who thanked Givernor Fayose and her fellow sons and daughters of Ado Ekiti for her electroal success, promised to always protect their interests and indeed those of her entire constituents in Ado, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ekiti West, Ijero and Efon local governments. While highlighting the fact that “Udiroko is rich in arts, music, dance, culture, indigenous costume and historical enactments,” she urged the government to fashion a way to earn more income from the celebration. She said the Nigerian government could take a leaf from other countries to use tourism to earn more foreign exchange. She gave the instance of the Rio de Janeiro festival in Brazil that “attracts no fewer than 2 million

people yearly and generates approximately $3billion for the government.” Fayose, who defied protocol by prostrating before Ewi said he decided to contribute immensely to the success of this year’s Udiroko because of the huge electoral support he received from the people of Ado Ekiti in the June 21, 2014 governorship election. He said he could not ignore or neglect a community that gave him over 50,000 votes which played a key role in his electoral victory over Dr. Kayode Fayemi, saying “no governor can afford to joke with the people of Ado Ekiti.” The governor also used the opportunity to explain some of the projects being carried out in the community and promised “to build and complete a new Erekesan Market before next year’s Udiroko.” Extolling the virtues of the Ewi, Fayose promised to continue to accord the royal father the respect he deserves and work closely with him to develop the kingdom and give it what is due as the capital of the state. He said: “Kabiyesi, we are proud of you and I am proud to be called the Governor of Ekiti State under your monarchy as the Ewi of Ado Ekiti. When it is good, there are forces behind it and you are the force behind Ado Ekiti. Your reign has witnessed unprecedented development and under my government, we are about to start. Last year, I was here as governor-elect but today as the governor of Ekiti State. The difference is clear, whatever a man sows, that he shall reap. No governor can come to Ekiti State again without paying homage, respect, honour and blessing to this monarchy. “Your people gave me close to 50,000 votes over and above other aspirants in Ekiti State. I will not joke with your people, I will help them, I will give them positions of authority. I am not a contractor, I am not a scientist, I am a professor of politics. I know where to get the votes. Kabiyesi, you are one of them and anything anybody will use to create a wedge between both of us, I will engage the person.” He promised that “next year’s Udiroko will be greater than ths year’s, they used to bring small musicians here before but this year, I brought Ebenezer Obey here but next year, I will bring both Obey and Sunny Ade here.” The Ewi described this year’s Udiroko as “the best arrangement in the past 25 years despite the fact that it used to be celebrated with just kola nuts and walnuts in the past.” He expressed satisfaction that Udiroko now competes favourably with prominent traditional festivals like the Argungu Fishing Festival in Kebbi State and the Osun Osogbo Festival in Osogbo, Osun State. The traditional ruler also paid tributes to ABUAD Chancellor, Aare Babalola who holds the title of Fiwagboye of Ado Ekiti and Senator Raji Rasaki for their contributions to the success of the festival. The Ewi expressed concern over the activities of hoodlums popularly known as Area Boys and land grabbers known in local parlance as the Omo Oniles urging the government and security agencies to clamp down on them to allow law abiding residents go about their normal businesses without molestation. Oba Adejugbe said further: “Governor Fayose, you are doing well and I want you to continue doing your good works. If dividends of democracy get to the people, they don’t care who is in power. “I urge all sons and daughters of Ado Ekiti to support the government of the day and I appeal to the governor to do more for citizens of Ado Ekiti and Ekiti State.”

features

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

When Abia/Ebonyi moved to resolve three decades of boundary disputes Celestine Ihejirika- Abuja

IGERIA for decades counted losses in various ways as a result of disputes arising from boundary demarcation and adjustments. The latest was that of Abia and Ebonyi States who have been at each other’s throats since 1987 despite the separation of the two sister states in 1991. The development had kept many wondering, if state creation was a blessing or a curse to the people of both states. Successive administrations of both states failed to achieve settlement until Thursday, August 6, 2015 when the key players of both states converged at Aguiyi Ironsi Conference Centre, Umuahia to finally settle the decades-long issues. The day was remarkable as reconciliation for peace was reached in the presence of both states’ deputy governors who signed a pact to end three decades of boundary dispute under the watchful eyes of the DirectorGeneral, National Boundary Commission, Dr. M.B. Ahmad. At the meeting, the Abia State deputy governor and chairman, Abia State Boundary Committee, Ude Oko Chukwu, noted that the volatile nature of the states’ boundary dispute was induced by the presence of mineral resources in the boundary area. He hinted that steps are being taken to resolve the disputes at various peace meetings while he appealing for peace among the warring parties. “Let me state here, that Abia State is ready and willing to ensure that our boundary with Ebonyi is completely demarcated. We want our people to live in peace and harmony with our neighbours in Ebonyi State,” he stated. On his part, Ebonyi state deputy governor/

Abia deputy governor, Sir Udo Oko Chukwu addressing the delegation from the National Boundary Commission and Ebonyi State officials at the meeting. chairman, Ebonyi State Boundary Committee, Mr Eric Kelechi Igwe also noted there was relative peace at the moment while entreating security agents to maintain the tempo. He emphasised the need for both states. to build on the communiqué prepared and signed earlier during the previous meetings maintaining further that status quo on the peace meeting be upheld pending final demarcation of the two states’ boundary. The deputy governor assured that measures will be put in place to carry out sensitisation in the state’s border communities with Abia, Enugu, Cross River and Benue States to ensure peaceful and amicable demarcation of boundaries within their neighbouring sister states to stop further bloodshed. To ensure the issue is put to rest for good, Dr. M.B. Ahmad regretted, however, that the progress on each of the interstate

boundaries was not commensurate with efforts put in place. He blamed the slow pace of the progress mainly on the states because of their decision not to accord boundary issues the required priority attention. He recalled during his visit to Abia in 2014, when the boundary issues were discussed to identify the challenges but delayed implementation of the outcome later aggravated tension at the affected border communities. The director-general who gave the status of the interstate boundaries of the state as follows, Abia /Akwa Ibom, Abia/Anambra, Abia/Cross River, Abia/Ebonyi as well as Abia /Enugu, Abia/Imo and Abia /Rivers stated that demarcated boundaries were not only essential for peaceful co-existence and cross border co-operation, but to show the limit of constituted authorities for ease of

developmental plans. It was against this background that the director general appealed to both state boundary committee chairmen to ensure adequate participation in all joint boundary activities and prayed that the seven interstate boundaries involving Abia State be defined and demarcated as quickly as possible. He charged the committees to interface with the commission and strategise on practicable work plans on how to address the outstanding works on some other boundaries. Meanwhile a brief on Abia/Ebonyi interstate boundary situation was also presented at the joint meeting of the surveyor-general of the federation, Abia and Ebonyi States’ surveyors-general respectively, as a communiqué marking the end of meeting/resolution was also drafted among committee members.

Doctors not happy going on strike —NMA scribe The Secretary-General of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Adewunmi Alayaki, in this interview with Assistant Editor, OLAYINKA OLUKOYA, bares his mind on issues as they affect the quality of healthcare delivery system. Excerpts LACK of political will, improper investment, lack of workable policies and inability to see the link between health and development has been identified as the bane of health growth in Nigeria. How true is this assertion? I believe what you have just said is true. If we have the political will on the part of successive governments, we will not be where we are today. Looking at the health of the Nigerian citizens, this is not where we are supposed to be. This is because the political will to improve on the infrastructure, to train and re-train medical personnel, the political will to provide enabling environment to health workers is really the bane because those that ought to have provided all these have not really doing enough. Most of these government officials travel abroad for medical treatment and they see what they have over there. If they can provide those things too for us here, then it means that rather than people travelling out to access medical treatment, they will stay here in the country to do so. There is no political will to do it and we are

Alayaki not investing, that is why we are having all these problems. I will call on this current administration in the country, to prioritise the task of improving the health sector looking at the aspect of infrastructure, manpower, retraining of medical personnel. I believe that by the time government provides all these, Nigerians will stop travelling out for medical attention. Talking about the National Health Act, it has been said that it has been watered down by the powers that be. What is the NMA doing to ensure that the Act is not kept in the cooler against the need of Nigerians? NMA has fully been in support of the Act

and we believe that we can operate it to the latter, it will help the common man in the society. If some people can access facilities around the world, why can’t the common man too access all these health facilities? When you look at the National Health Act, there are some parts of it that you will believe with me that if we go ahead. For example, 5(1a) of the Act says “that we have responsibility for the protection, promotion, improvement and maintenance of the health of the citizens of Nigeria and the formulation of policies and prescription of measures necessary for the achieving the policies” specified under this paragraph. When you look at it, NMA will want to support that because, it will protect, promote, improve and maintain the health of the Nigerian citizens, so we are in full support that it should be done. If you look at the funding in the Act it says that, “there is hereby created a fund to be known as Basic Healthcare Provision Fund. That the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund shall be financed from the Federal Government annual grant of not less than one per cent of its consolidated revenue fund. So, when you look at that, it is a very big money and if it is used judiciously, then we can get our drugs, vaccines, personnel, infrastructure development and all those things are going to be in place. The National Health Act has really addressed most of the things. There are some shortcomings here and there, which we can still improve upon. Let us start the implementation first and Nigeria

citizens are getting what they are supposed to get. Any other flaws can be corrected.. Medical doctors now go on strike to press home their demands from government against the promised to save the lives of Nigerians. Many have lost their lives due to strike. In your candid opinion, do you think doctors should go on strike? At any point, no doctor is happy going on strike in this country; at times when we take such decision it is very painful. Those decisions are not just taken overnight. You will see that we have been agitating; series of letters would have been written calling for a round table discussion and government will not respond on time. You will give ultimatum and nothing will be done until you take a decision of going on strike which is the last option. In other climes, it is not like that; but in Nigeria the story is different. When you raise some issues germane to the development of medical profession, government would call your bluff and those issues will linger on for years without anybody talking about them. There is no way you can match government when it comes to propaganda or media war. I want people to know that no doctor in this country will love going on strike. I want to advise government to attend to issues raised on health issues and should not let such issues generate to the level of declaring strike. We don’t like going on strike.

39 news

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

EFCC quizzes cleaner, one other over $271,135 money laundering •As FG sets up anti-graft network at airports Shola Adekola - Lagos

HE Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command of Nigeria Customs Service, on Monday, handed over the cleaner caught with $271,135 at the airport last week to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The culprit, Owolabi Tijani, who was caught during pat down at the ‘D Finger’ of the international airport has, however, named one more person as an accomplice in the illegal act. According to the public relations officer of the Airport Customs Command, Thelma Williams, apart from the main culprit, Mr Owolabi Tijani, a staff of Patovillki, a cleaning firm at the airport, the other accomplice is one Mr Uwan Livinus. Thelma said the duo and the money have been handed over to the anti-graft agency for safe keeping and further investigation The anti-corruption agency is expected to carry out thorough investigation on the circumstances leading to the money laundering. In an incident report, the Customs spokesperson said: “At about 11.00hrs on September 3, 2015; one Owolabi Tijani a staff of Patovilki “Cleaning Firm” was apprehended by FAAN officials who attempted to smuggle Two Hundred and Seventyone Thousand one Hundred and thirty- five US dollars (US$271,135) through “D” wing departure screening point. “The said Owolabi after interrogation confirmed to FAAN Officials names of people involved in the crime, including Mrs Omo Seun (Iya Urobo) and Uwan Livinus. “Statements were there-

fore taken from the suspects and officers who witnessed the process. The said sum of money is kept in the safe, hence this incident report. The EFCC will give further details of the incident.” The cleaner was arrested by the aviation security officials of the Federal Air-

ports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) while attempting to perpetrate the illegal act. Meanwhile, the Federal Government has secretly set up an anti corruption network specifically to arrest those behind money trafficking at the country’s airports. According to information

gathered by the Nigerian Tribune, the anti corruption network comprised the State Security Service (SSS), the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and Customs. They have been mandated to spread their tentacles around airports in search of

FORMER Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, on Monday, said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has not frozen any of his bank accounts. Kuku, who stated this in Akure, Ondo State capital, while speaking through his media aide, Yemi Akintomide, described the report as false, untrue and politi-

Kola Oyelere - Kano THE Kano State government, in its determination to provide good road network across the state, has said that contractors have resumed work in some of the uncompleted 5km roads across the 44 local government areas of the state. The state Commissioner for Information, Youth and Culture, Mallam Muhammed Garba, made this known, on Monday, while speaking on the 100 days in office of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. He then reiterated the governor’s commitment to complete all the abandoned projects across the state. According to him, apart from the road projects, the state government was also committed to its power project at Tiga and Challawa Dams, aimed at increasing the megawatt of electricity supplied to the state.

From right, Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola; Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salam and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, when the Alaafin visited Aregbesola to condole with him on the demise of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, at the Government House, Osogbo, on Monday.

...Establishes agency to fight corruption

Abacha loot: Probe role of W/Bank, SERAP tells Buhari

Kola Oyelere - Kano

Ayomide Owonibi Odekanyin - Lagos A Lagos based human rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), on Monday, tasked President Muhammadu Buhari, to carry out an investigation into the role and involvement of the World Bank in the repatriation, management and spending of Abacha stolen funds and other similar funds. SERAP, through its Exec-

utive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, equally called on the World Bank to publicly disclose the level of involvement of the bank in the repatriation of Abacha’s stolen funds and other similar funds to Nigeria, and its role in the management and spending of such funds. “The World Bank should publicly disclose its involvement in any other ongoing repatriation initiatives to Nigeria, and the mechanisms it is putting in place to ensure transparency and ac-

countability of such mechanisms and the judicious use of repatriated funds.” Mumuni further called on President Buhari to revisit and possibly challenge in court, unfair settlements in bribery cases by previous administrations and repatriation agreement between the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan and the family of the late General Sani Abacha, dated July 14, 2014 and other similar dodgy and unfair agreements with a view to

My account not frozen —Kingsley Kuku Hakeem Gbadamosi - Akure

travellers willing to traffic money through the airports. It was also gathered that the network has started working underground to crack down on airport workers, ground handling personnel and aviation security that could be infiltrated to carry out currency trafficking.

Kano directs contractors to resume work on 5km roads

cally motivated to tarnish his image and smear his hard-earned reputation. Kuku explained in the statement that the account which was referred to in the report belonged to the charity organisation named after his mother, Mrs Keketobou Kuku, which was formed to meet the immediate needs of widows, orphans and downtrodden in his Ijaw speaking communities of Ese-Odo local government of Ondo State. He said the foundation was established as part of his gestures and determination to give back to the

society and his final place of return in life. The statement read, “The foundation has only N720, 484 as balance as at today which is the proceeds of Honourable Kingsley Kuku, published and launched book titled “Remaking The Niger Delta: Challenges and Opportunities” and it was donated for charity purposes as a public officer. “What on earth links my face to the alleged story about NIMASA? It is still all part of the anti-Jonathan onslaught. I am open to investigation as a public officer but ongoing activities

of the ‘goebellic’ distortion by the anti-graft agencies and some section of media creates in the heart of it all suspicion of witch-hunt and bad politics. “I hope no desperate elements would deposit illicit funds into the foundation’s account to implicate me because the full details of the account from opening to date are with us. “Again, what links this foundation to their so-called alleged seized billions and phantom security claims? I sincerely smell a rat as the account in question is not mine but a foundation’s account.

getting better deals, receiving damages/compensations from companies such as Halliburton, and achieving justice for the Nigerian people. Mumuni also disclosed that over $3 billion recovered Abacha loot; $87 million stolen funds by the former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun and over $20 million stolen funds by former governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha among others may have disappeared or may have been mismanaged by successive governments. He also called on the Federal Government to thoroughly investigate the management and spending of the stolen funds. “President Buhari should make sure that never again will the prerogative of mercy be used to save corrupt officials and grant impunity for corruption as it was done by the former President Goodluck Jonathan with respect to corruption cases against Diepreye Alameiseigha. “The constitution imposes some ethical conditions on the president to ensure that the exercise of the discretionary power of prerogative of mercy is not such that it will encourage corruption or provide an escape route for perpetrators.”

THE Kano State government has said, in its effort to fight war against corruption, it would establish a Due Process Agency as part of renewed effort to ensure transparency, accountability and good governance in the state. He disclosed that the decision to establish the agency was borne out of the present administration’s commitment to check corrupt practices in governance. The state governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said this at a Town Hall meeting, organised on Monday, by the state government as part of continuation of activities to mark his administration’s 100 days in office. He noted that a bill for the proposed agency will soon be presented to the state House of Assembly for necessary action. Ganduje, who vowed to fight corruption in all ramifications, said the government would not spare anyone found guilty of the crime. Speaking at the occasion, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, called on leaders at all levels to discharge their duties with the utmost fear of God.

news October deadline for transfer of Kogi, Bayelsa voters stands —INEC 40

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Jacob Segun Olatunji - Abuja

OLLOWING the directive of the Independent National Electoral Commis-

Guber race: PDP will retain Bayelsa —Paulker

sion (INEC) that all transfers of voters should be concluded forty five (45) days ahead of the Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections scheduled for Saturday 21st November and Saturday 5th December this year, the transfer of voters in Kogi State would end on October 6 while that of Bayelsa State would end on October 20 this year.

The Commission said in a statement in Abuja yesterday that the 45 days deadline was to enable it effect the integration of the transferred names into the Register of Voters which would be certified and published not later than 30 days to each of the two elections. According to the statement, “people who had relocated to another place

outside the polling unit in which they were registered cannot vote in such new location unless there is a transfer in registration.” It added that “a voter who intends to transfer his/her registration should write an application to INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kogi or Bayelsa state through the Electoral Officer (E.O.) of the Local

Government Area where he/ she is currently residing.” “Such an application should contain the current address of the applicant (as this will assist in allocating the Polling Unit (PU) nearest to him/her) and the applicant should attach a photocopy of his/ her Permanent Voter Card (PVC) to the application,” it further explained.

Jacob Segun Olatunji - Abuja AS preparations for the Bayelsa State governorship election hots up, one of the aspirants and a serving Senator of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Paulker Emmanuel on Monday assured that the party would still retain the state at the poll despite all odds and the seeming dwindling of the party’s fortunes. Fielding questions from news men in Abuja on Monday, after he submitted his expression of interest and nomination forms at the Party’s National Secretariat, Senator Paulker declared that Bayelsa state “is traditionally a PDP state.” He however cautioned that “the ability of our Party to triumph shall be predicated upon how deep we uphold the tenets of internal democracy to allow the people an unmitigated access to choose their candidate.” Senator Paulker who was the first Commissioner of Lands and Housing in the state therefore called on the leadership of the party to ensure that processes leading to primaries are not skewed in favour of any of the aspirants. According to him, “every effort should be made to showcase our genuine commitment to the party’s rebirth, to enthrone openness, fairness, equity and justice.” He said that he joined the governorship race in response to the hues and cries of the good people of the state, who after 19 years of creation, are still patronising water hawkers for drinking water and walking dangerously on foot-bridges to access their houses. According to him, “it is on this note that I have decided to offer myself to provide a leadership that shall be dedicated to the rescue of the state from further slide to the precipice, a leadership that shall be committed to harnessing all human and material resources for equable development, transparent, accountable and value-based governance of the state to the glory of Ijaw Nation.”

From Left, Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, Senator Emmanuel Paulker; organising Director, Chief Adewde Fatwas and the National Organising Secretary of PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapher, during the submission of governorship nomination form by the aspirant, at the PDP Secretariat, Abuja, on Monday. Photo: Bayoor Ewuoso

Wada expresses commitment to youth empowerment Yinka Oladoyinbo - Lokoja KOGI State Governor, Idris Wada, has expressed the commitment of his administration to the empowerment of the youths of the state, saying he was not ready to lose focus in his drive to making the youth self-sufficient.

The governor, who stated this on Monday at the inauguration of the Youth Empowerment and Social Service Operation (YESSO) office equipment and utility vehicles, said his government had faithfully implemented youth development programmes across the state. He added that youth of

the state would occupy a special space in his administration, adding that the youths would continue to be the centre focus of his administration if re-elected. He said, “Our focus on youths is in fulfillment of our electioneering promises hinged on three cardinal points of job creation,

Group lauds security agencies, stakeholders over Kogi ward congress Jacob Segun Olatunji - Abuja THE Coalition for Democratic Advancement in Nigeria on Monday commended the Security Agencies and other stakeholders on the peaceful conduct of the just concluded Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ward Congress in Kogi State ahead of the November governorship election in the State. This was contained in a statement made available to news men in Abuja yesterday by the Executive Director of the coalition, Dr Chris Omelukpeme .

It stated that as an independent observer group that monitored the congress that elected three ad-hoc delegates for the state gubernatorial primary election scheduled for September 10, it found it worthwhile to commend the stakeholders. According to the Group, “In line with our objectives, we mobilized 35 members of our organization to the various wards in Kogi State to observe and monitor the process.” “The mobilisation was done with a view to ensuring that the provisions of the law and constitutions

of the party are strictly adhered to,” it added. In the course of the monitoring, it observed that the Congress Committee led by Mr Leo Ogor arrived Lokoja on September 2, and held briefing with stakeholders in the state. “The congress committee thereafter dispatched materials to each Local Government Areas of the state through the various returning officers on September 3 at about 10:00am as prescribed by the constitution and guidelines of the party,” it said.

wealth creation, and human capital development. We will not stop until we see the youth gainfully empowered to create wealth.” The coordinator of YESSO, Noah Alilu lauded the governor for his passion to uplift the status of youths and women in the state. According to him, the governor’s drive for the youths had brought an overall development of human capital in the state. Haliru said the governor deserved to be appreciated for the political will put in place that makes Kogi one of the six states that benefited from the World Bank YESSO program. “Getting World Bank Effectiveness for implementation was an easy journey. We were able to beat criteria such as office accommodation, designated staff, creation of YESSO budget line, and lots of other conditions because of your dogged support and political will. We are proud to be part of the team that will positively affect the life of the vulnerable youth and women in the society.

Agric professionals want hazard allowance Sam Nwaoko - Ado Ekiti AGRICULTURE and Allied Employees’ Union of Nigeria (AAEUN), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to extend hazard allowance to professionals in the agriculture sector. It said the measure would encourage experts in the sector to perform optimally to revamp the sector and make it a viable alternative to oil. In a statement in Ado Ekiti, on Monday, the General Secretary, Southwest Zone, Mr Ayodeji Oladele, lamented that the exclusion of agriculture experts in various ministries and parastatals from the benefit, had constituted a clog in the wheel of the development of the sector in Nigeria. Oladele expressed confidence in the ability of Buhari to address the imbalance and ensure that experts in the agriculture sector are given benefits that can boost their morale and transform the sector.

Ogun Amir-Ul-Hajj charges pilgrims on good character By Gbenga Olumide A call has gone to the Muslim pilgrims currently in Saudi Arabia from Ogun State to be steadfast, patient and live together in peace and harmony, so as to uplift the tenets of good character that the state is known for. Ogun State Amir-ulHajj for the 2105 Holy Pilgrimage, Navy Captain Rasheed Raji, gave the admonition, when he joined the second batch A and B of another 540 pilgrims. According to the Amirul-Hajj, the tour was pertinent in completion of hajj rite and also in accordance with Islamic rites, as stipulated by Hadith and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). In company of Captain Raji were the board members and Isalmic clerics. Raji further said that all various stakeholders should ensure that necessary support is given to the present administration in order to achieve its aims and objectives in terms of development.

41 news Navy inaugurates strategic directive 2015 – 1

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Chris Agbambu - Abuja

he Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral I.E. Ibas, on Monday, inaugurated the strategic directive 2015 – 1, which is to guide the attainment of Navy’s goals in areas considered critical to effectiveness of its operational, logistics and administrative process and procedures. The strategy is aimed at the key priorities to be achieved by the Navy in the short, medium and long -terms, which includes, ensuring credible presence at sea, to create a secure maritime environment for natural prosperity Admiral Ibas said that it will also ensure that Naval operations conform to standard operating procedures and global best practices. It will equally ensure the promotion of Naval manpower development to achieve optional professional capability of personnel He noted that the programme was aimed at, after due consultation with the principal staff officers, flag officers, commanding, commanders of autonomous units and the various strata of Naval commands According to him: “the inputs from these interactions and the various briefs I received, formed the foundation upon which the strategic directive 2015 -1 is based”. The strategy is to reinvigorate Planned Maintenance System (PMS), for enhanced operational readiness, availability of the Navy fleet and ensuring adequate motivation as well as support of personnel It also involves demanding the right attitude, high standard of discipline and selflessness from all personnel at all times and exploring partnership with relevant stakeholders and institutions locally as well as internationally under the principle of burden sharing.

The CNS, added that in order to fully realise the strategic end state of the outlined objectives, the Naval will deepen collaboration with maritime stakeholders, other agencies and international partners even as they con-

solidate effective presence while maintaining a credible and different posture towards a more secured maritime environment He warned commanders to ensure judicious and efficient application of allocated resources in line with

ESSO Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL) a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Upstream Companies in Nigeria, at the weekend, launched the University Assistance Programme (UAP), at the Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, University of Ibadan. The three-day lecture series, tagged “UAP-VGP (Visiting Geoscientist Programme) lecture series

good morale He said that all concerned in making the strategy work should note the need for flexibility, adaptability and prioritisation in dealing with the challenges of evolving security environment.

From left, Faculty Officer, Faculty of Science, Mrs Francisca Ayodele; Geo-Science Coordinator, Exxon Mobil, Mr Gilbert Odior; Dean, Faculty of Science, Professor Abiodun Onilude; Senior Technical Adviser (Stratgraphy Exxon Mobil), Mr George Unoma and the President, Nigeria Mining and Geo-Science, Professor Gbenga Okunlola, at the launch of Exxon Mobil university lecture series, at Faculty of Science, University of Ibadan, on Monday. PHOTO: TOMMY ADEGBITE

1 killed as rival cult groups clash in Ondo Hakeem Gbadamosi - Akure One person suspected to be member of rival cult groups, was on Sunday, killed in Ondo town, headquarters of Ondo West Local Government Area, Ondo State, during the celebration of Ogun festival. According to a source at the scene of the incident, the young man, who was stabbed to death with broken bottles, was known to be a member of ‘Eiye confraternity’, was killed after some group of boys trailed him to where he was killed. He explained that the victim was coming from Okegbala area of the town before he was attacked and killed at Fiwasaye Street by another rival group but said one of the suspects was apprehended after the incident. He said further that policemen from Enuowa divisional police station, who visited the scene of

the incident few minutes after the incident, came to remove the body of the unidentified victim. “ The boy was caught unaware and was over powered by the rival group who have been laying siege for him. They descended on him and stabbed him several times before leaving him . They left the scene of incident after confirming that the boy could not survive the stabbing but I

— understanding the upstream oil and gas business, covering Geoscience and non-technical topics, is aimed at enhancing communication between students, lecturers and oil industry professionals, creating the needed rapport for further development of the students, according to the General Manager, EEPNL, Andrew Ejayeriese, who was represented by Geoscience co-ordinator, ExxonMobil, Gilbert Odior.

understand that one of the boys was arrested by the policemen, who invaded the area immediately after the incident.” Confirming the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Wole Ogodo, said his men had commenced investigation into the killing, while he stated that the case had been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Akure.

Ogodo said one of the suspect, Seto Akinbobola, had been arrested by his men, saying that the young man has been helping the police on how to arrest some other members of the group. The PPRO, however, reiterated the command commitment towards war against cultism in the state, saying the Special Anti Cultism Squad (SACS), put in place by the command, will not rest until war against cultists is won.

We’ll adopt community policing to fight crime in Rivers —CP Uduakabasi Patrick- Port Harcourt Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Hyelasinda Musa Kimo, has said he would adopt community policing as one of his measures to confront criminality in the state. Kimo disclosed this at a maiden briefing with jour-

ExxonMobil launches UAP lecture series at UI By Tunde Ogunesan

extant regulations Also the CNS, said that the attainment of the strategic directive key priorities would require high professional standards, discipline, exemplary leadership, integrity, selflessness and maintenance of

He said ExxonMobil plans to reach 16 universities in the first phase of these lecture series by December within a total of 24 lectures, saying the company hopes to reach every public university in Nigeria with the series. Odior further added that so far, “17 universities across all the geopolitical zones of the country, have benefited from the three UAP programmes, including UI, with over N2billion committed by ExxonMobil.”

nalists at the state police command, Port Harcourt, on Monday. The police boss, who said his assumption of duty in the state could be described as the second missionary journey, also stated that “ the command will synergise and cooperate with the public to form a formidable frontier against crime and criminality in the state”. “If countries like the United States, United Kingdom and the West in general, can drive their security through community policing, despite their high investment in security gadgets, how much more and indispensable should we in Nigeria solely embrace community policing.” According to him ,the command had established a two-way route of intelligence gathering, which he classified as internal and external.

The police chief, who pledged to operate an open door - policy, said he would collaborate with the chief security officer of the state and other security agencies to ensure safety and security in the state. He also stressed the police would be present in the nooks and crannies of the state. “I am not unaware that this could be used as an opportunity for the few and unrepentant bad eggs in the police to extort, I have empowered the Command X-Squad, to monitor the policemen and road users, who may be moved in corrupt practices”. Speaking on appearance at a crime scene, he maintained that “deployment to scene of crime will be total, the era of sending few police personnel to riotous scene is over, ours will be excruciatingly intimidating.”

Buhari is sincere, focused —Lawmaker Osun State House of Assembly member representing Obokun constituency, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has said that the activities of President Muhammadu Buhari-led government within 100 days in office, has demonstrated that he is sincere and well focused to return the nation to the path of greatness. Oyintiloye said his activities so far, had shown that he is not only meticulous, mature but full of insight, saying he has set the right momentum in the journey of change that the people desperately sought. Speaking at a meeting with some political leaders in Ibokun, at the weekend, Oyintiloye said the input that had been made in the fight against insecurity, corruption as well as economic development were quantifiable and appreciative enough for liberal mind to see. The lawmaker said the president’s mien and steps had revealed that insecurity can be subdued, corruption tamed, bad economy addressed and hope restored.

Centenary city project’ll employ 500,000 youths —Group Adetola Bademosi - Abuja The Centenary project, when completed, will employ about 500,000 youths, the chairman of the governing board of the Unemployed Youths Vanguard, Okpokwu Ogenyi, said this on Monday . This is as he condemned calls for the termination of the project. In a statement issued in Abuja, he said the alleged threat of litigation against the construction of the centenary city by a group claiming to be representing the unemployed youths have since hit the brick walls as the project had received the support of the board. Dissociating self from the condemnation and the threat to institute a legal action against the city, Okpokwu said the group led by one Samuel Adodo, lacked the legitimacy to sue or even speak on behalf of the Unemployed Youths Vanguard. According to him, the group does not belong to the registered group.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Denmark places anti-migrant adverts in Lebanon newspapers

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08116954632 foreignnewseditor@gmail.com

Britain to open doors to 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020 — Cameron

ritain is to take 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years, David Cameron announced on Monday. In a statement to MPs, the Prime Minister said the whole country had been deeply moved by ‘heartbreaking’ images of refugees fleeing for their lives. The decision to open the doors to 20,000 people is double the 10,000 figure demanded by political opponents last week. The PM insisted that the UK stands ready to help those fleeing for their lives from the Assad regime and barbaric ISIS militants. But he rejected calls from Brussels for Britain to accept a share of the tens of thousands of people already on European soil, warning any offer of help should not act as a ‘magnet’ for more to make the perilous sea crossing to reach safety. Mr Cameron told MPs:

“The whole country has been deeply moved by the heartbreaking images we’ve seen over the past few days. “It’s absolutely right that Britain must fulfil its moral responsibility. “We will accept thousands more under these existing schemes “Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of the Syrian people, we are proposing that Britain should accept 20,000 refugees over the course of this Parliament.

“Britain will play its part alongside our European partners. Britain is able to decide its own approach “We will continue with our approach of taking refugees from the camps this provides refugees with a more direct and safe route to Europe rather than risking their lives.” Britain is already the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to the Syria crisis in the EU, second only to the United States globally.

Migrant crisis: Austria, Germany near tipping point The massive flood of refugees in Europe is pushing Germany and Austria to a tipping point. Thousands of refugees

have poured into the two countries in just the past two days, trying to escape the bombings, terrorists and dire conditions ravaging their homelands, CNN reported. More than 16,000 have streamed into Austria since Saturday, Burgenland state police spokesman Wolfgang Bachkoenig said on Monday. “We must now, step by step, go from Refugees and migrants prepare to cross the borders of Greece emergency meawith Macedonia on Sunday. sures to a normality

‘Humanitarian organisations are financially broke’ A United Nations commissioner has said its humanitarian agencies are ‘financially broke’ as the organisation attempts to provide aid for tens of thousands of people fleeing war. UN high commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres said basic needs are not being fulfilled as he called for EU member states to fund

David Cameron. PHOTO: REUTERS.

aid in the same way they fund UN peacekeeping operations. He warned agencies like UNHCR and Unicef could become bankrupt as they are struggling to keep up with the basic needs of millions of people who have fled Syria and are travelling towards Europe, MailOnline reported.

Mr Guterres said the number of people displaced by conflict each day has risen by 31,000 in a four-year period, placing a greater strain on resources to provide refugees with the things they need. He told the Guardian: ‘If you look at those displaced by conflict per day, in 2010 it was 11,000; last year there were 42,000.

that is humane and complies with the law,” Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said. Virtually all the refugees who entered Austria continued on to Germany, Bachkoenig said. But even Germany, a country with a long history of helping refugees, said it

can’t keep taking in asylum seekers at the current pace. More than 17,500 migrants arrived in just the city of Munich over the weekend, police said. “The great helpfulness that Germany has shown in these last weeks and months should not be worn thin,” the Interior Ministry said.

The Danish government has placed advertisements in Lebanese newspapers aimed at deterring potential migrants. “Denmark has decided to tighten the regulations concerning refugees in a number of areas,” the advert begins. It warns that Denmark has recently passed legislation cutting benefits by up to 50 per cent for newly arrived refugees. The governing Venstre (Liberal) party won power in June after running on an anti-immigration platform. Migrants have been arriving in southern Denmark from Germany in the past two days, but most have said they intend to travel on to Sweden. Dozens of people were seen walking on the main road from the south coast towards Copenhagen, Danish media reported on Monday.

Syria war: France to prepare for IS air strikes President Francois Hol- more than nine million dis- attacks had been planned from Syria against several lande has ordered prepara- placed in the war in Syria. tions to begin for air strikes Speaking at his bi-annual countries, including France. “My responsibility is to enon Islamic State militants in news conference in Paris, Syria. Mr Hollande said terror sure that we are informed as much as possible on He said France would start the threats to our reconnaissance flights country,” he said. on Tuesday with a view “So I have asked to launching attacks, but the defence minruled out sending troops ister that from on the ground. tomorrow reconRussia has responded to naissance flights growing concern that it is begin over Syria increasing its military supthat will enable port for President Bashar us to consider air al-Assad. More than 220,000 peo- President Francois Hollande said that finding a political transition strikes against Isthat sidelined Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was essential. lamic State.” ple have been killed and

otherNEWS Brazil bus crash kills 15 near colonial era town of Paraty

At least 15 people were killed when a bus crashed on a steep winding road near the Brazilian colonial era town of Paraty. Another 30 people were injured. Some of the survivors were airlifted to local hospi-

tals. The bus was travelling to a nearby beach popular with tourists when it overturned. The stretch of road where the accident happened is notoriously dangerous. It is

ISIS: Boy, 14, reveals how he was taught to kill A Yazidi teenager has told how he was forced to feature in an Islamic State propaganda video at a training camp where innocent boys as young as five were trained to become killers. Raghab Ahmed, 14, also revealed how ISIS fanatics made him pray in front of an AK47 and taught him how to behead ‘infidels’, telling him: ‘Grab the head, pull it back and cut from the neck.’ The video, filmed in ISIS’s defacto capital of Raqqa in Syria,

showed Raghab and other ‘Cubs of the Caliphate’ performing military exercises with loaded assault rifles. Raghab Ahmed was forced to appear in a propaganda film and was taught how to kill.

known locally as “God Help Me Hill”. Police are still investigating the cause of the accident. Roads in the area would have been particularly busy this weekend as Monday is

a national holiday - Brazil Independence Day. Paraty lies between Brazil’s biggest cities, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and is a major tourist destination.

Whisky fired into space returned with improved flavour —Researchers Whisky blasted into space as part of an experiment has returned with flavour literally out of this world, says its creator. The vial of unmatured malt, which was sent to the International Space Station in October 2011 and returned to Earth last year, now tastes noticeably different to samples kept on terra firma. Dr Bill Lumsden, of Ardbeg Distillery which sent the spirit, said: “They reveal a different set of smoky flavours which I have not encountered here on earth before.”

He believes it could have ‘significant implications for the whisky industry.’ The space whisky’s adventures were all part of an experiment designed by space reseach firm NanoRocks, MailOnline said. It aimed to find out how micro-gravity would affect the behaviour of a compound called terpenes, which is found in many food and spirits. “Our findings may also one day have significant implications for the whisky industry as a whole.”

foreig naffairs

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Cameroon battles terror threats as school year begins

ameroon said terrorism threats loom as millions of children return to school on Monday after a three-month holiday. According to VOA, the coun-

try has taken measures to make school campuses safe, especially on its northern border with Nigeria, but many people prefer to leave the border zones with their children.

Sixteen-year-old Ahmidou Moussa is one of the millions of Cameroon students to go back to school on Monday after the three-month holiday. But he says he cannot return to classes in the

6 members of Asian child sex abuse gang jailed for a total of 82 years Six members of an Asian child sex gang were today jailed for a total of 82 years for grooming and raping white girls during a six-year campaign of ‘grotesque’ abuse. The men targeted vulnerable children in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire for sex secured with ‘the price of a McDonald’s, a milkshake and a cinema ticket’, the Old Bailey heard. On Monday, Vikram Singh, Asif Hussain, Arshad Jani, Mohammed Imran, Akbari Khan and Taimoor Khan were jailed for between three years and 19-and-ahalf years. The men, of Indian and Pakistani descent, may have targeted white girls because ‘if they pursued Asian girls they would have paid a heavy price in their community,’ judge John Bevan said. The abuse between from 2006 and 2012 included multiple rapes of a child under 13, child prostitution and administering a substance to ‘stupefy’ a girl in order to engage in sexual activity, MailOnline reported. Most of the offences related to child A, who was present in court to see the men who robbed her of her teenage years jailed. In a statement, she told of her feelings of ‘worthlessness’ as she battled depression and alcohol addiction, adding: ‘I feel my teenage years were taken away from me.’ Sentencing, judge John Bevan

QC paid tribute to her bravery in laying bare her life ‘warts and all’ and said the way some of the defendants took advantage of her vulnerability was ‘grotesque.’ He said: “She sought friendship

amongst Asian males in their 20s and for the price of a McDonald’s, a milkshake and cinema ticket, she became ‘liked’ by stall holders in Aylesbury market, taxi and bus drivers.

otherNEWS

7 Libyan soldiers killed fighting off Islamists near Benghazi

Cameroonian town of Mora, on the border with Nigeria, because of suicide bombings. Ahmidou says he was not really disturbed during the holiday period because his parents took him far away from the conflict-prone border zone to Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, which is safer. Valentine Tameh, president of the Teachers Association of Cameroon says many teachers are also refusing to teach in localities along Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria. “We are appealing to those who have been posted there that that is Cameroon,” Tameh says. “You have to go there and do your work. But we are also and more loudly telling government that they have a moral duty to take care of (protect) those teachers there.” Ndzi Amos Tarla, of the communication unit of Cameroon’s police, said he has been assuring students, teachers and parents that security has been increased on school campuses in border localities. Tarla says if the population cooperates with authorities, the terrorists will find it difficult to operate. “The very, very little ones must be accompanied to school especially those who are going to school for the first time,” says Tarla, adding the children are being told not to take items or assistance from people they do not know. “That is a moment, too, that kidnappers or people with intentions will take children ... like that and at the end they will be somewhere else. They must be taught to avoid bad company, they must be taught to make new friends with a lot of caution. Most of all if they notice anything, they should report immediately to the security officials they see,” he adds. Last year, Cameroon closed 70 schools on its northern border with Nigeria’s Borno state.

At least seven Libyan soldiers were killed repelling an attack on their post by Islamist militants eight km (five miles) southwest of the eastern city of Benghazi on Monday, a military source told Reuters. The troops belonged to the Libyan National Army (LNA), which supports the internationally recognised government, and were trying to prevent fighters loyal to Islamic State capturing tanks in the town of Annawaghia. Benghazi is one front in Libya’s complex conflict involving two rival governments, their allied armed factions, and Islamist militants who have gained a foothold in the chaos that prevails four years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. “The forces of the Libyan National Army confronted the militants early this morning and forced them to withdraw,” the source said.

Yemen crisis:

Qatar deploys 1,000 troops Qatar has reportedly deployed troops to Yemen for the first time, according to the Doha-based alJazeera news. One-thousand ground troops, supported by armoured vehicles and helicopters, are reportedly headed for the province of Marib. Last week, 60 soldiers from the Saudi-led coalition were killed at a base in Marib. The missile strike by Houthi rebels killed 45 UAE, 10 Saudi and five Bahraini soldiers. The troops died after an ammunition depot was hit in the town of Safir. Following the attack, Emirati warplanes launched airstrikes on targets across Yemen. The Houthi rebels described the attack as revenge for “crimes” committed by the Saudi-led coalition, which has carried out months of air strikes in Yemen.

Missing Medevac plane may have collided with Boeing in Senegal A Senegal-bound medical evacuation plane with seven people aboard appears to have collided with a much larger Boeing plane shortly before vanishing from radar screens, Senegal’s aviation authority said.

The private Senegalair plane was carrying a French patient as well as a doctor, two nurses and three crew members from Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou to Senegal’s Dakar on Saturday night. But it overshot the coastal capi-

ICC asks South Africa to explain failure to arrest Bashir Judges at the International Criminal Court have asked South African authorities to explain why they failed to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan alBashir in June when he attended a conference. Bashir, accused of masterminding genocide in Darfur, was able to leave an African Union summit in South Africa and fly home, in defiance of a ruling by a South African court ordering his detention under a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

South Africa, a member of the ICC, is obliged to enforce warrants from the Hague-based tribunal. Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir speaks to the crowd after a swearing-in ceremony at green square in Khartoum, June 2, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS.

tal by more than 100 km (60 miles) and then vanished above the Atlantic Ocean. Search and rescue efforts continued on Monday. “According to initial information, there was a collision between two air-

crafts and we are seeking to either confirm or to rule this out with the technical investigation,” said the director general of Senegalese civil aviation authority ANACIM, Magueye Marame Ndao, in a statement.

Lightening in Indian states kills 32 AT least 32 people have been killed following lightning strikes in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, reports say. Twenty-three people died in seven districts of Andhra Pradesh. Nine people were killed in the eastern state of Orissa. Most of the people who died were working on farms during torrential rains on Sunday, reports said. Lightning strikes are common in India during heavy monsoon rains. In Andhra Pradesh, the deaths occurred in Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, East Godavari, Anantapur and Srikakulam

districts. At least six women were among those who died. Reports said two teams of women cricketers had a narrow escape when lightning struck a palm tree near the ground where they were playing a match in Guntur district. The game was called off. “It was a miraculous escape for our players as well as the staff,” a senior cricket official told The Times of India newspaper. In Orissa, nine people were killed and at least eight injured in separate incidents of lightning strikes.

communitynews

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Rural women farmers lament Fulani attack in Kwara biola azeez-ilorin

ural women farmers in agrarian communities in different local government areas of Kwara State have cried out over incessant attacks on them and their farmlands by Fulani-Bororo cattle rearers. The women farmers, under the aegis of Smallholder Women Farmers Association of Nigeria (SHOWFAN) from Ilorin East, Asa, Kaiama, Patigi, Ifelodun and Baruten Local Government areas of the state, said the cattle rearers often invade their farmlands with their grazing cows both night and day and in the process, destroy their farm produce and physically assault and rape them. The women farmers spoke at a meeting organised by a non-governmental organisation, Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE), a partner of Actionaid Nigeria, in Ilorin, last Wednesday. Speaking with Community News, Hajia Hajara Abdulmumin from Nuku community in Kaiama Lo-

cal Government Area of the state, who displayed her amputated fingers, said she had her fingers cut off after being hit on the head by her assailant, who invaded her farm with a herd of cattle and destroyed her groundnut farm. While noting that such cases were often reported to the traditional ruler and the police, Hajia Abdulmumin lamented that the cattle rearers were usually released by law enforcement agents. She further noted that the women farmers, who fed on the produce from their farms now resort to buying food items. She called on concerned authorities and stakeholders to investigate the persistent attack by the Fulani cattle rearers, adding that the development had affected food security and increased the level of poverty in the state. Another farmer, Iyabo Babatunde, from Ipetu-Abidi Ore in Asa Local Government Area of the state, said the cattle rearers had contaminated their source of drinking water, which she said was dug by the community due to lack of potable water in the area, adding that the Fulani bathed in the water and take

Youth forum embarks on community policing in Kwara Omu-Aran Youth Forum in Omu-Aran, Kwara State, has reiterated its commitment to stem the rate of armed robbery and other related crimes in the area through community policing. The president of the forum, Pastor Doyin Lawal, gave the pledge in Omu-Aran, while speaking with newsmen. Lawal said that that miscreants and armed robbers, who operated in the community had overwhelmed the security operatives in the area. He said the forum had constituted a security committee, headed by the immediate past president of the forum, Mr Yemi Aransiola, with the support of community leaders. Lawal said the committee was now assisting law enforcement agencies, especially the police, by keeping the night watch within the community. He said the effort of the committee was already yielding positive results as it had foiled a number of housebreaking at-

tempts. “Without mincing words, the residents of this community, especially youths, are tired of the incessant burglaries, kidnappings, and related crimes in the town.

their cattle there to drink. While speaking on the simplified version of the UN voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of land, fisheries and forests,

the Senior Programme Officer of CCEPE, Mr. Abdulrahman Ayuba, said farmers should demand full compensation where their rights have been lawfully

obligation to ensure that women are not discriminated against on issues that relate to the use of land, fisheries and forests.

Director, Primary Health Care and Disease Control, Osun State Ministry of Health, Dr Kayode Ogunniyi, receiving donated drugs from Alhaji Bamidele Ibrahim, the Acting Branch Controller Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Osun State office, on behalf of Osun State government, while other staff of the ministry and CBN watch, at the Ministry of Health Complex, Abeere,Osogbo, recently.

Igogo festival begins in Owo hakeem gbadamosi-akure

The annual Igogo festival in Owo, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State kicks off today in the ancient town with Upeli procession by Iloro Chiefs led by the Akowa of Iloro, Chief James Okunrinsola. The annual festival, which will last 17 days, will also feature the blessing of the new yam, dancing around the town by the traditional ruler, Oba Vic-

tor Olateru Olagbegi and his chiefs, among others. The monarch, during the period, will be dressed in a coral beaded gown, withhis hair plaited like that of a woman. Speaking on the festival, an indigene of the town, Olorunleke Akeredolu, explained that the festival was designed to showcase the cultures and traditions of Owo people. He said the festival, which means different

Monarch charges farmers, herdsmen on peaceful coexistence The traditional ruler of Agwada, Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, has urged farmers and herdsmen in the community to ensure peaceful coexistence and not to disrupt the farming season. He said peaceful coexistence between farmers in the area and Fulani herdsmen would go a long way to boost food production in the state. Sadiq, who is the Osu Agada, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Agwada, Kokona Local Government Area of the state that the people were mainly farmers and herdsmen. He said their continued peaceful coexistence would result in a boost in their

or unlawfully violated. Mr. Ayuba said the UN guidelines also stated that communities, including farmers, traditional and religious leaders, have the

farming activities to the benefit of the state. According to him, the appeal is necessary considering the importance of agriculture to the people. “As a traditional ruler, I will continue to preach peace and urge my subjects and other Nigerians to live in peace considering its importance to our socio-economic well-being. “No nation or society can develop in an atmosphere of rancour and confusion. “The security challenges facing our state and some parts of the country have negatively affected our lives and the socio-economic development of the country. “I want to use this op-

portunity to appeal to farmers and Fulani herdsmen in this area to live in peace with one another. “This will not only ensure our security, but also boost food production in the state and the country at large,” he said. “Apart from the provision of food, agriculture also generates income, boosting the revenue base of government as well as fighting poverty, unemployment and other social vices in the society,” he said. The traditional ruler called on the people of the area to be security conscious and to report any suspicious movement of person or groups to appropriate authorities for necessary action.

things to different people, is referred to as “festival of love” by some people “queen’s festival” by others, while a few others call it “estival of unity”. Akeredolu said, “during the festival, Owo is usually agog as the old and young, male and female set aside their political differences to dance round the town and exchange gifts and pleasantries. According to him, the festival started over 500 years ago during the reign of Oba Rengenjen, who unknowingly married a beautiful woman, Oronsen, who possessed supernatural powers. He said: “According to history, the monarch fell in love with Oronsen, the strange woman and married her. But the other queens became jealous of the king’s attachment to her. “The strange woman was said to have made the monarch wealthy through her supernatural power and brought prosperity and popularity to the town, but she left the palace when her taboo was violated.” During the festival, the beating of drums, the firing of guns and wearing of caps and donning of headgears are prohibited. Sticks and metal gongs are used in place of drums. The grand finale comes up in September 23, 2015.

NURTW boss warns drivers against violation of traffic laws by gbenga olumide

Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos State council, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, has warned commercial drivers in the state to desist from violating traffic rules or be ready to face the full wrath of the law. Alhaji Agbede said this while reacting to the order of the new state police commissioner that men of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) should stop impounding commercial vehicles. It will be recalled that the state government had, last week, ordered LASTMA to stop impounding vehicles while directing that all impounded vehicles should be released to their owners. LASTMA was also ordered to, henceforth, impose fines on offenders and trace offenders through information in government database. Speaking on the development, the NURTW boss said the directive was a welcome development, as it would make the drivers to be more responsible while doing their job. He said the task force of state council had been mandated to go out to ensure sanity on the road and free flow of traffic in all routes.

communitynews

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Ekiti: Ijan youths protest power outage, gives BEDC ultimatum sam nwaoko-ado-ekiti

OUTHS in IjanEkiti in Gbonyin Local Government Area of Ekiti State have staged a protest to press for the restoration of electricity by the Benin Elec-

tricity Distribution Company to the town. The youths had during the protest, blocked the AdoIjan-Ikare highway and disrupted free flow of vehicles for several hours. The angry youths, who carried placards of various

inscriptions, were said to be protesting nine months power outage in the community, which had increased the activities of evildoers and crippled business activities in the town. After enforcing the no movement order, the youths

were said to have visited the palace of Onijan, Oba Samuel Fadahunsi and instructed him to contact the BEDC on the need to reconnect the town to the national grid. An eyewitness revealed to journalists that the grouse

From right, the Alara of Aramoko-Ekiti, Oba Olu Adeyemi; the Owa Ajero of Ijero-Ekiti, Oba Joseph Adewole; the Onigogo of Igogo-Ekiti, Oba Sunday Adewumi and other monarchs at the Ekiti Pre-education Summit held at Ola Oluwa Muslim Grammar School, Ado-Ekiti, recently. Photo: Sam Nwaoko.

Ijagbo people advised on regular medical check-up biola azeez-ilorin

PEOPLE of Ijagbo in Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State have been advised to always go for regular medical examination to detect cancer in its early stage. Speaking at the commissioning of a private medical centre, Calvary Cancer and Child Care Centre, in Ijagbo at the weekend, a traditional chief in the area and Ojomu of Offa, High Chief Bayo Akinola, said cancer is not death sentence. Chief Akinola, who commended the efforts of the founder of the cancer centre, Honourable (Mrs) Comfort Adeyemo, for her vision, said the facility would assist cancer patients far and near. He also urged government at all levels, wealthy individuals and groups to complement the efforts in terms of funding and donation of equipment. In his speech at the event, Dr Olufemi Abidoye of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Osogbo, said cancer could be detected easily, adding that only

negligence could lead to death. Also speaking, Reverend M.A. Adeyemo, husband of the founder, said the establishment of the centre was borne out of his wife’s experience during her battle with cancer,

adding that the humanitarian effort was aimed at saving lives. In her speech, the founder of the cancer centre said the centre would provide for early detection of the disease through public enlightenment, seminar,

radio presentations, meetings with people in religious setting and periodic screening exercise. She added that the centre would organise series of activities in October to commemorate the cancer month.

Lawmaker empowers youths in Osan community THE Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, has redeemed one of his campaign promises by facilitating the training of not less than 20 youths from Osan-Ekiti community in Moba Local Government Area of the state in various entrepreneurial fields. According to a statement issued by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Speaker, Stephen Gbadamosi, the Speaker will also facilitate obtaining of start off grants from a microfinance bank on completion of the youths’ training. The bold step was taken at a brief ceremony held at Osan ward, where forms obtained from a consultancy firm for the purpose of the training were distributed to beneficiaries. According to Pastor Olu-

waole, the training was being organised in conjunction with the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES), Ado-Ekiti. “I am doing this in line with my promises to the people of my constituency; you are the ones that sent me to go and represent you. I must tell you that entrepreneurial knowledge is very crucial in education. “The situation in Nigeria today is such that even if you are educated up to Masters level, your vocational training cannot be useless. As a matter of fact, if you are not lucky to get a white collar job, you can rely on your vocation. “So, don’t miss this opportunity. I have arranged for the tutors to bring their services down to Osan-Ekiti here, instead of you going to their office in Ado-Ekiti for the training. I have paid for your

enrolment. And the training will start in first week of September. “There is also an arrangement with a microcredit bank to provide soft loans for you to take off after training. I will personally monitor your progress. You are the pilot scheme and I will ensure you make success of this. “I have sent more forms to the local government headquarters so that more youths will benefit from the training. It is an opportunity I want to spread across the entire local government,” he said. Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osan Ward, Awoyemi Tunde, who spoke on behalf of the youths, lauded the Speaker for living up to his words, adding that the youth would continue to support the Ayo Fayose-led government in the state.

of the youths had been that not all the customers were indebted to the company and that it would be tantamount to fraud for all electricity users to have been disconnected under this guise. They gave the company a seven-day ultimatum to restore light or face legal action. The youths also called on Governor Ayodele Fayose to compel the company to backdown on total clampdown on towns and villages in Ekiti over debt incurred by some of its customers. Similar protests had been staged in Ikere, Aramoko, Ifaki and a few other towns in the state. Oba Fadahunsi had, while receiving the youths, pleaded for civility in carrying out the protest, describing power outage in the community as very embarrassing. He said he had made efforts to compel the BEDC to see reason on why electricity should be restored, without success, saying the present position taken by the youths would be conveyed to the state government and the company. In apparent reaction to the protest, the Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, has charged BEDC to ensure that communities in the state enjoy electricity that they pay for. The Speaker spoke in

Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on Monday, against the backdrop of demonstrations by youths across various towns in the state in recent time . Speaking through his Special Assistant (Media), Stephen Gbadamosi, in a statement, Oluwawole said it was becoming a daily occurrence for youths to protest lack of electricity, due to the lackadaisical attitude of the company. He said; “One can recall that not quite two months ago, the BEDC caused the people of Aramoko-Ekiti, including their monarch, to troop to the streets to protest absence of electricity in the town for months. “It is a different thing, if people are not willing to pay for services rendered. But when they have fulfilled their obligations, BEDC should reciprocate with provision of the services paid for. Electricity is germane to the development of any community. We, as a House of Assembly, will not close our eyes to any act aimed at shortchanging our people.” Oluwawole, however, appealed to the youths in the state to always be peaceful whenever they were protesting to get back denied rights, praising the Ijan-Ekiti youths for being peaceful during the protest.

NEMA warns Ekiti communities against flooding sam nwaoko-ado-ekiti

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has warned communities in Ekiti State as well as residents to desist from dumping refuse in drainage channels in their areas to avoid flooding. The Head of Ekiti Operations Office of the agency, Mr. Saheed Akiode, gave the warning in Ado Ekiti after a sensitisation/ awareness campaign in the state capital. The agency also said Ekiti residents must prepare for risk of flooding from the impending release of water from Lagdo dam in Cameroon. Akiode said the agency organised the campaign in collaboration with critical stakeholders to prevent or reduce the negative impact.

The event with the theme: “The Management of Solid and Liquid Waste in the Context of Flood Mitigation” saw participants walking from Fajuyi Park to OjaOba (main market). Akiode said: “The road show is aimed at preventing or reducing the negative impact of flood in Ekiti State and its environs in the event of flooding in 2015. “We advise residents to stop dumping refuse in drainage channels, enforce environmental laws, ensure appropriate management of waste, among others, to prevent flood,” he said. NEMA recently said about N2.6 trillion worth of property, agricultural produce and other materials were lost to the 2012 flood disaster across some states in Nigeria.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Editor: Ganiyu Salman tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08053789060

Oliseh has started well—Agali FORMER Nigeria international, Victor Agali has said he is satisfied with Sunday Oliseh’s debut as handler of the country’s senior national team. The Super Eagles played out a 0-0 draw with hosts Taifa Stars of Tanzania in Saturday’s group G Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier in Dares Salaam-a result which puts the former African champions in second place behind leaders Egypt. “It was a good start for Sunday Oliseh. Let’s forget the fact that we played a draw, there were a lot of positives from that game,” Agali told Goal. “You would discover that we assembled a relatively young Ikeme, was in goal last weekend against Tanzania.

AFCON 2017: Onigbinde upbeat about Eagles chances

ENOWNED football technocrat, Adegboye Onigbinde has said the Super Eagles are very much in the race for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. The Eagles coached by Sunday Oliseh picked a point in Dar es Salaam against Tanzania at the weekend to sit on the second spot in group G on four points, two points behind leaders, the Pharaohs of Egypt who won 5-1 in N’Djamena against Chad. Onigbinde, who coached the Super Eagles to the 1984 Nations Cup and the 2002 World Cup said the remaining four matches will determine who gets the ticket to Gabon 2017. “The goalless draw in Dar es Salaam still leaves us in the race for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. “We have four matches on the qualification calendar, two against Egypt, one each against Chad and Tanzania. “The outcome of the four matches will be decisive and overwhelming, too whether we will qualify or not. “What happens in those four matches will be the sole responsibility of the handlers of the team.

“I think we are still in the competition just like any other member of the group, everything depends on how we handle the four remaining matches.

“Football is not mathematics that’s why not until the qualification race is concluded no one can claim ownership of the group’s ticket,” the CAF and FIFA

instructor told Supersport.com. The Eagles will host the group leaders, the Pharaohs of Egypt in the next qualification clash in March 2016.

Falcons impress Odeh FORMER Super Falcons coach, Rolandson Odeh has commended the side’s five-star performance against hosts and newcomers Congo at the ongoing All Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo. The African champions dumped the Congolese opposite, the Red sheDevils, 5-1 in the group match day 1 clash on Sunday at Stade Alphonse-

AAG: Nigerian lifters are well prepared—NWF scribe As Oyedeji arrives in Games village THE secretary of the Weightlifting Federation of Nigeria, Bola Adedeji has assured on the readiness of Team Nigeria to excel at

Oyedeji

the ongoing 11th All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville. The weightlifting events of the games which were earlier scheduled to begin on

Monday had to be shifted till today due to unavailability of the needed equipment. Adedeji told Tribunesport that Nigerian lifters are battle-ready to deliver at the quadrennial Games. “We are fully prepared and ready even though I will not state categorically the number of medals we are going to win, but I am optimistic our athletes will make the country proud,” he said. Meanwhile, captain of Nigeria’s national basketball team, D’Tigers, Olumide Oyedeji has joined up with his team-mates in Brazzaville. Oyedeji who was part of the victorious D’Tigers who won Nigeria’s first FIBA AfroBasket Championship held in Tunisia, landed on Monday at the Nigeria

team, faces and if you see the way they played and worked together as a group, it is glaring that the future of the Super Eagles is very bright. He believes Nigeria will qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon but insists it would not come on a platter of gold. “There is no cause for alarm,” he continued. “We can get a point in Egypt and hope we beat them when they visit us here in Nigeria. “We should be sincere with ourselves qualifying for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations will not be an easy one for the Eagles, but I can assure you we will qualify. All we need to do is ensure our team improves.”

building inside the Games Village at 4:15pm. In a chat with Tribunesport at the athletes games village, Oyedeji assured that D’Tigers are ready to defend the African title they won in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2011. “I have to give thanks to Almighty God for granting me safe journey here. Right now after our triumph at the AfroBasket, our aim is to defend the All Africa Games title. The players are already preparing hard for this tournament and I’m here to be part of another history making team,” said the basketball star.

Massamba-Debat in Brazzaville. Striker Desire Oparanozie scored a hattrick plus one, while Chinasa Uchendu was also on song. Odeh said the Falcons have put themselves on solid footing to emerge top of the group with the high performance against the Central Africans. “That’s a good start against Congo. They just have to keep it up in the next matches against Tanzania and Ivory Coast. “The result has put them on solid footing to come out tops of the group as well as potential gold medalists. “The clash against Tanzania should be a walkover but that does not call for complacency. “Oparanozie has confirmed her rating as superstar, I see her emerging top on the scorers’ chart at the end of the Games,” the Bayelsa Queens’ coach told supersport.com. Falcons will confront the East African side, Tanzania, tomorrow before rounding off the group’s campaign on Saturday against West African rivals Ivory Coast.

11th ALL AFRICA GAMES SEPT. 4 - 19, 2015

Niyi Alebiosu

reporting

47 tribunesport

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

11th All Africa Games Congo Brazzaville 2015:

Falcons won’t underrate any team —Danjuma

HE Super Falcons head coach, Chris Danjuma says his wards will not underrate any opponents in their bid to claim the gold at the ongoing 11th All Africa Games. According to the former coach of Nasarawa Amazous, the technical crew has resolved to take each match as it comes and not assume any game will be an easy ride. Danjuma while speaking with Tribunesport after the Falcons mauled the hosts, Congo Brazzaville 5-1 said women’s football has improved greatly. “If you watch our match against Congo, you will realise that it was not an easy game. The early goal we scored demoralised our opponents and we expected that they will come out smoking in the second half which they did and they scored, but for the experience we had over them, they could have pulled a surprise. “So with this, it is obvious

that a lot needs to be done by us to achieve the desired result,” Danjuma said. The former Plateau United coach stated that, “I will not allow the goal margin get into the heads of our players so that they can remain focused. Our target here is the gold medal and we shall continue working till success is achieved.” Striker Desire Oparanozie

—Quadri

s c o r e d four of goals Chi-

t h e while nasa Uchend u w a s also on song f o r the reigni n g African champions who missed the last edition of the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique.

Oparanozie, scored four times against Congo.

... As NFF hails team THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has hailed the Super Falcons over its resounding victory over the Republic of the Congo at Stade de Masanba on Sunday . Super Falcons mauled the hosts 5-1 to lead group A with three points while,

Ghana and Senegal had a point each having played goalless in the first game in the group. In a chat with Tribunesport after the match, the Secretary-General of the NFF, Dr Muhammed Sanusi described the victory as the best thing to have

11th ALL AFRICA GAMES SEPT. 4 - 19, 2015

Niyi Alebiosu

reporting

Nigeria volleyball team loses again NIGERIA’S female volleyball national team on Sunday fell to the youthful Algerian side 1-3 in the first game played at the Sport Complex of the Stade de Masanba. The Nigerian side won the first set 25-21, but lost the second set 12-25, as the Algerians capitalised on the weakness of their opponentS. The third and the fourth sets were won by Algeria 25-13 and 25-15 respectively to lead the pool B. With this result, Team Nigeria needs to win its remaining two matches to move to the next stage of the games. “I think this is the time to tell ourselves the

We are going for revenge

home truth, look at our girls, they are old though experience counts. Look at the Algerian team with young girls, they are fit, agile and always at the right place. We need to bring in young ones, volleyball has gone beyond

this,” said a worried top official of Team Nigeria. Nigeria faces Kenya in the second game. It would be recalled that the male volleyball team had lost by the same margin to Congo at the same venue.

happened to the Falcons given the huge support the hosts received from the home crowd. He further assured that NFF would everything manly posto motiFalcons t h e a t ed that team, the Team will appoint as they high spirits.

t h e d o h u sible vate the to clinch gold medal stake. Sanusi also hintthe U-23 Dream not disare in

NIGERIA’S medal hopeful in the men’s table tennis event of the 11th All Africa Games, Haruna Quadri says the team is on a revenge mission in Congo Brazzaville. Quadri while speaking with Tribunesport in Brazzaville said that the team is not only ready for Egypt, but other countries participating in the event, as the host nation will be parading Chinese players at the Games. “Given our level of preparedness for the Games, we are ready to conquer the continent again and take over as the best in Africa. We are fully prepared for our opponents and we do not see anything stopping us from winning the top position. Don’t forget we have the team that can do it with the likes of Segun Toriola, Funke Oshonaike and others,” said the Oyo State-born ping pong star. Meanwhile, five-time Olympian, Funke Oshonaike has expressed delight at her nomination as the flag bearer for Team Nigeria during the opening ceremonies of the Games held at Stade de Lunite in Kintele, Brazzaville. Oshonaike who won four gold medals at the eighth All Africa Games, Abuja 2003 including the women’s singles title, said she was always proud to represent her country.

...As Opuakpo, Gagbe crash out of 50m, 100m swimming THE hope of Nigeria to win medals in the 50m backstroke male and 100m freestyle in the swimming event of the

Nigerian athletes during lunch time at the Games village in Brazzaville.

ongoing All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville has been dashed. This came on the heels of the exit of Samson Opuakpo from the men’s 50m backstroke while, Ifiezibe Gagbe too lost in the women’s 100m freestyle in the heats decided at the Sports complex of the Stade De Lamite on Sunday . Opuakpo returned in a time of 28.9 seconds to place third, while Gagbe finished in a time of 1.01 seconds, but the time could not earn her a place in the final eight. Speaking with Tribune-

sport shortly after the event, the president of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation, Mr Babatunde Fatayi-Williams though not happy with the results, but believes there is still hope that the Nigerian swimmers could still win medals in subsequent events. According to Fatayi-Williams who is also a member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for swimming at Brazzaville 2015, “the events are just starting and we have other events which the athletes will participate in, so one cannot rule them out of the medal zone for now.”

SIDELINES

NO 16,322

TUESDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER, 2015

N150

One Mohammed Ahmed in Osun State allegedly confessed to the security personnel that he raped his 14-year-old daughter only six times, just as he blamed unseen forces behind his shameful act. If one may ask, was Mohammed trying to teach his daughter sex education or let people know that he is not the biological father of the girl?

Venus

Serena

US Open:

Serena, Venus clash again today One of us must move to semi-final —Serena Ganiyu Salman With Agency Report

O R L D number one, Serena Williams will have to face elder sister, Venus today in the quarterfinal of the US Open. The duo last clashed in July this year in the Wimbledon Open. Serena is on the verge of achieving the fourth women’s calendar-year Grand Slam as today’s tie makes the eighth time the Williams sisters will clash. Serena on Sunday outclassed fellow American Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3 in just 68 minutes, to book a 27th professional career showdown with Venus, who dismissed Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-1 less than an hour. Interestingly, Serena has won six of the last seven matches against Venus and she expects a fight from her elder sister today. “She’s playing great,” the 21-grand slam winner said of Venus. “I have to really be ready for that. “At least one of us, a Williams, will be in the semis.” Venus who beat Serena in last year’s semi-finals in Montreal, said she must prevent an ace from her younger sister this time. “Well, obviously, that she’s so good. What else can you do except try to win the point and hope she doesn’t hit an ace. “I’m playing, for me, the best player in

the tournament, and that’s never easy,” she said. “She’s beaten me so many times ... more than anybody. “She’s a player that knows how to win, knows how to beat me, and knows my weaknesses better than anyone. “So it’s not an easy match at all. Hopefully things will go right,” said the seventime grand slam winner who is seeking her third US Open title. Serena, the winner of the 2015 Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon championships, currently holds all four grand slam titles, a ‘Serena Slam’ she has now accomplished twice. Her victory this time at Flushing Meadows will give her the rare calendar-year Grand Slam that will match Maureen Connolly (1953), Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988).

11th ALL AFRICA GAMES SEPT. 4 - 19, 2015

Niyi Alebiosu

reporting Oliseh seeks first win against Niger NIGERIA head coach, Sunday Oliseh will be looking forward to his first victory in charge of the Super Eagles when they face the Menas of Niger today in an international friendly billed for the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt. Having been held to a goalless draw by Tanzania’s Taifa Stars in Saturday’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier in Dar es Salaam, Oliseh expects a better result today from his relatively young

AAG: 4 Nigerian karatekas crash out FOUR Team Nigeria karatekas were eliminated from individual kata event of the ongoing 11th All Africa Games on Monday at Stade Lumite in Kintele. Ikeh Juliet lost to Algerian Attia Yassmin in the women’s 55kg while Amadi Nwabueze lost to Ngcofe Balungile of South Africa in the men’s -60kg. Kingsley Onuelu and Afen Sunmen crashed out in the male and female cat-

egories. The technical director, Karate Federation of Nigeria, Aina James in a chat with Tribunesport after the morning session expressed sadness over the development, but hoped that the team would make an impact in subsequent events from today. He stated that the athletes tried their best despite their inability to advance in their various events.

team. The match provides the former Nigeria captain an opportunity to try some new players against the Menas and this an official of the Eagles, Tijjani Babangida acknowledges. “We need to play more friendly matches like the one against Niger as this will help the players fully understand the new system the coach is bringing to the Super Eagles,” said Babangida. Home-based Chima Akas, Usman Mohammed and Prince Aggreh are all expected to have run-out against a Niger side, who are still smarting from a 0-2 loss in an AFCON qualifier in Burundi last weekend. Foreign-based Godfrey Oboabona and Rabiu Ibrahim will also get a chance to prove themselves after they were benched against Tanzania. Nigeria plan another friendly against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon next month ahead of the CHAN qualifier against Burkina Faso also in October.

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. E mail: editornigeriantribune@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com MANAGING DIRECTOR / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON. Ag. EDITOR: TINU AYANNIYI. All Correspondence to P.O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712. ABC Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 8/9/2015.

news

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Civil servants killing businesses in Nigeria —Ex-Odu’a boss B y Joseph Ajayi

ORMER Executive Director, Finance and Investment, Odu’a Investment Company and Proprietor, Titmus Car Clinic, Alhaji Niyi Badmus, has accused some civil servants in the country of making things difficult for would-be enterpreneurs, who are recipients of their rendered services, especially when having to import materials. Alhaji Badmus, who stated this on Monday, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while commissioning Titmus Car Clinic, said the bottlenecks created by some civil servants made the cost of doing business in Nigeria high. “I need to mention that the cost of doing business, clean business in Nigeria is high; no thanks to the bottlenecks created by some civil servants. These civil servants make things difficult for you to get some services rendered, particularly if you are importing. You will pay through your nose. For example, to get SONCAP certificate, without which you cannot get a Form M approval, some people are feeding fat on it. “Another example that I personally experienced is the case of a Customs officer, who was supposed to issue a release certificate,

but decided to extend his two-day public holiday by one week so that any importer would have to pay the implied avoidable cost for his indiscipline and he got away with impunity,” he lamented. Alhaji Badmus said Titmus Car Clinic was a division of Titmus Investment

Limited and was into auto wheel alignment, auto wheel balancing, auto diagnosis of vehicles, servicing of vehicles, steam car wash and car baking. While commissioning the clinic, President, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Chief Samuel Olufemi Deru,

said small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) represented the engine of growth and prosperity for this country. “Today, the price of oil, the nation’s greatest revenue earner, is on the decline posing very serious fiscal and budgetary challenges to the government and since

government is the biggest sector and main driver of the economy, its ability to create job opportunities is challenged resulting in very high youth unemployment rate. Thus, except we take the bull by the horn, the situation may not change radically for the better. “Given the current decay

Brief Chief (Mrs) Idowu is dead

Mrs Idowu

Former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan (second right); Bayelsa State governor, Honourable Seriake Dickson (second left) and a former speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Honourable Boyelayefa Debekeme, acknowledging cheers shortly after the former president officially endorsed the governor for a second term, at Otuoke, on Monday.

Jonathan endorses Dickson for second term as Bayelsa gov FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has endorsed Governor Seriake Dickson for a second term. Dr Jonathan hinged his support for Governor Dickson’s re-election bid as one of the most performing governors in the country, based on his excellent track record of regular payment of workers’ salaries, reduction of the state’s huge debt profile and the unprecedented infrastructural development. Dickson, last week, submitted his nomination and expression of intent form at the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, to contest for a second term in office, ahead December 5 governorship poll in the Bayelsa State. Speaking while receiving Governor Dickson at his country home, Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Dr Jonathan said his decision was based on the developmental strides of the governor in the last three and a half years in the state.

in the educational system, tertiary institutions now produce a large number of unemployable graduates, that is, graduates without technical skills. “Accordingly, our youths need to be trained and retrained to acquire technical skills in various human endeavours that will assist them to be self-employed as entrepreneurs,” the ICAN boss stated.

According to Dr Jonathan, “If Bayelsa is compared to other states in the country in terms of the level of physical infrastructure, coupled with the degree of indebtedness in terms of bank loans and capital market, Governor Dickson deserved to be praised.” His words: “I am not expecting the governor to score 100 per cent. There are three key parameters I will like to score Governor Dickson, which are payment of salaries, physical infrastructure and low indebtedness of the state in terms of bank loans and in the capital markets. If you compare what has happened in other parts of the country, you will praise the governor. People should think more of about the way the state is being run and prepared for our future generation. “Bayelsa is not a cursed state. On the notion that governors in Bayelsa cannot do eight years; it slows down the rate of development and except there is continuation in govern-

ment, development will be truncated. Performance is not about satisfying individual needs and so, we need to encourage Governor Dickson to go for second term.” Describing Governor Dickson as his political first son, the former president noted that if Governor Dickson was given the opportunity of a second term, he would strive to consolidate on the achievements already recorded. Earlier in his remarks, Governor Dickson had solicited the support and encouragement of Dr Jonathan to run for a second term, stressing that he and his entourage needed to seek his support, as he is the leader of PDP, both at the state and national levels. Governor Dickson, who had been canvassing support from stakeholders of the party, as well as royal fathers of the state preceding his formal declaration to run for the governorship, had earlier paid homage to the chairman of the state Traditional Rulers

Council, King Alfred Diete Spiff. Governor Dickson, who equated Dr Jonathan’s support to him to the Rock of Gibraltar, said his encouragement dated back to 2005, when he served in the former president’s cabinet as Attorney- General and Commissioner for

Justice. Highpoints of both events was Governor Dickson receiving royal blessings for the task ahead.

CHIEF (Mrs) Emily Omolola Idowu, the Iya Ijo, St David Anglican Church, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, is dead, aged 95 years. Mrs Idowu, a retired teacher was survived by children, grand-chidren and great-grand children . Among them are, Mrs kikelomo Ayandipo and Professor Ayorinde Idowu. Dr Kola Balogun, the director-general of Alao Akala campaign organisation, an inlaw of the deceased, described her as a great woman, who served God and humanity during her life time.

Nigerian Tribune

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Lagosmetro Lagos sweepers protest non-payment of salaries ...Midwives owed 12 months

Chukwuma Okparaocha

cores of highway sweepers under the Lagos State Waste Management Au-

30 prostitutes sentenced to 6 weeks imprisonment Ayomide Owonibi Odekanyin 30 women who were arrested in Obalende area of Lagos State for soliciting for sex have collectively blamed the devil for their actions. They were consequently sentenced to six weeks imprisonment. Those sentenced are Funmi Olayemi, Damilola Ibrahim, Blessing Emmanuel, Grace Nwaokoro, Anu Titus, Princess Osu, Cynthia Ozumba, Chindima Eke. Others include Blessing Winwah, Rebecca James, Gift James, Bukola Taiwo, Patience Amos, Oyinda Adesewa, Funmilayo Ajayi, Modinat Bello, Damilola Abiodun, Saki Godwin. Others are Glory Edet, Blessing Okafor, Tope Obatula, Shade Afolabi, Foluke Kolawole, Tosin Ajayi, Bisi Onanuga, Princess Isaac, Esther Akpan, Cynthia Osas, Joy Osas and Patricia whose surname is unknown, among others. The accused were tried by an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court for prostitution and breach of peace. The Magistrate, Mrs O. Odusanya sentenced the accused to six weeks each with an option of N10, 000. “You are hereby sentenced to six weeks imprisonment with an option of N10, 000 fine each,” she said. The accused, during their arraignment on Monday pleaded guilty to the offence.

thority (LAWMA) and midwives in the state on Monday stormed Lagos State House of Assembly over non-payment of salaries arrears by the state government. The protesters who came in separate groups to protest non-payment of their salaries lamented that life had been unbearable. While the midwives said they were being owed more than a year’s salary, the sweepers said they were owed between three to five months salary worth an average of N12,000 per month. A member of the highway sweepers, Yemisi Oresanwo lamented that since they had been transferred from the Ministry of the Environment to the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) life had been difficult for her and her family. It was learnt that there are seven zones handling sweeping of highways in the state with each zone owing various salary arrears. It was also gathered that the sweepers monthly take home pay was N12,000 while their supervisors collect N20,000. They added that they had lodged complaints with the Permanent Secretary Ministry of the Environment who promised to look into their demands.

Oresanwo, who is a supervisor from Ikeja zone, said it had been difficult for them to survive, adding that they had complained to their boss, but nothing was forthcoming. “For me as a supervisor, I’m being owed five month’s salary. Others are being owed three or four months. So we want the government to come to our aid. “Since the time we were transferred from MOE to LAWMA, the latter has been responsible for payment of our salaries until recently when they refused to pay us,” she said. “LAWMA has been paying its workers but has neglected us. LAWMA management said the Ministry of Environment owes them that is the reason they would not continue to pay,” she added. Also speaking, another sweeper, Abidemi Najeem, said they had endured a lot of suffering over the non-payment, but that the situation had worsened in recent days especially now that schools would soon resume. Najeem, who is representing Jibowu-Fadeyi zone, said they were transferred to LAWMA in 2013, adding that they wanted the government to state categorically whether they were under LAWMA or MOE.

Drainage at Ijora Oloye close to Oba Palace needs urgent attention. PHOTO: ALABA IGBARAOLA

Teenagers killed in fire, well accidents Olalekan Olabulo A 16-year-old boy was killed while his father and two other members of his family were injured in a fire incident that occurred at Agungi community in Lekki area of Lagos State. A 10-year-old girl also fell into a domestic well around Mafoluku area of the state and was recovered dead by men of the Lagos State Fire Service.

Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe decried the high rate of fire incidents in the state and urged parents to always ensure that all appliances are switched off before they go to bed. The accident happened around 2 am on Monday when members of the family, involved in the fire accident were deeply asleep.

The incident occurred at a four-bedroom duplex situated at 35C, Ajiran Road in Agungi community around Lekki area. Lagos Metro gathered that the fire started from the room, where the deceased 16-year-old boy was sleeping and he quickly ran into the bathroom. Other members of the family also scampered out of the burning house

as residents of the Lagos community made attempts to put out the fire. The body of the deceased was later recovered after the fire had been completely put out. His father and two other members of the family narrowly escaped death as they were injured and were immediately rushed to the hospital. Fadipe confirmed the incident to Lagos Metro

and urged residents of the state to always contact the state emergency number in any case of any fire or other incidents. In the other incident, the 10-year-old, identified as Eniola Sodipo, fell into a well while playing with some of her mates at 11 Atanda Street in Mafoluku area of Oshodi. The body of the girl was later recovered by fire fighters.

Tuesday, 8 September, 2015

Nigerian Tribune

Edited By Lanre Adewole 0811 695 4647

33 escape death in boat collision, 6 year-old dies Olalekan Olabulo A six-year old boy died in Lagos on Monday afternoon in a boat accident that occurred at Odo Isitu area of Egan in Lagos State. The deceased boy, identified as Isaiah Bamidele, was among the 17 passengers of two boats that collided in the Lagos community.

The body of the deceased boy was recovered by local divers who also rescued other occupants of the boat. The image-maker in charge of the south west zone of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim

Farinloye confirmed the accident to Lagos Metro. Farinloye said that “A 6-year-old boy, Isaiah Bamidele was recovered dead by local divers when two boats collided with each other at Odo-isitu in Egan area of

Lagos State.” He added that “the boat that was coming from Totowu in Ogun State lost control and collided with another that took off from Egan, Lagos State. “Isaiah Bamidele that lost

his life has since been buried by the family” the NEMA spokesperson added. Farinloye also stated that “two boats were carrying 17 passengers each. The incident happened around 1:20 p.m on Sunday.”

Pastor in car fraud, dud cheque scandal Bidemi Olowofela A 50-year-old man, Pastor David Daley Oladele has been arraigned before a Lagos Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in EbuteMetta for allegedly issuing a dud cheque. Pastor Oladele who resides at 4 Majekodunmi Street, Ipaja is facing a nine count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing and issuance of dud cheque. It was alleged that the accused obtained one Toyota Highlander 2001 model value at N1,650,000 and one Toyota pick-up van valued at N1,000,000 from one Olaniyi Omosola under false pretence that he was a registered car dealer and that he would remit the proceeds to Omosola after sales which he did not. He was also accused of obtaining one Honda Odyssey 2006 model valued at N1,300,000 from one Peter Egbah ‘m’ under false pretence. In addition, Pastor Oladele was accused of obtaining one Nissan Murano 2006 valued at N1,700,000 and one Acura 3.2 TL 2003 model valued at N1,200.000 from one Agoye olusola sold it and did not remit the money. The pastor pleaded not guilty. Upon the plea of the defendant, the presiding magistrate, Mr. N A Layeni admitted him to bail in the sum of N1,000.000 with two reliable sureties in the like sum while adjourned the case till October 27, 2015 for mention.

This damaged bridge that links Mende and Arowojobe Estate in Kosofe Local Government Area has been in this state for long with no response from the relevant government agencies.

Police probe Lagos Assembly matron’s death Bola Badmus and Olalekan Olabulo The last may not have been heard on the Lagos State House of Assembly matron, Mrs Caroline Oriola, who died recently in an office within the Assembly premises as the police have since commenced investigations into the matter to ascertain the cause of her death. The late Oriola had gone to the office on Saturday, August 22, but her corpse was discovered three days after on Monday, August 24 by a cleaner who had gone to clean the clinic. According to report, the deceased was said to have come to the clinic to pick some drugs, locked herself up, and switched on the air conditioning units before the incident. The Lagos State House of Assembly is yet to make

any official announcement on the occurrence, even though it was said to have promised to do so shortly after the incident occured. Findings by Lagos Metro showed that the police has since waded in and is said to be investigating what could have led to the death of the matron, who was said to have driven into the Assembly premises by herself that day. According to one of the

sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, “The police has taken over the case, that is what I can tell you right now.” The source spoke while responding to inquiry on why the Lagos Assembly has not yet issued any statement or pasted any notice on the late matron as is common practice with deceased staff members. It was gathered that the security men on duty were

oblivious of the incident on that day, even though her husband was said to have come to look for when she did not return home on time. Her car was said to have been parked at a different section used by lawmakers. Efforts to get the reaction of the image maker in charge of the state police command, Patricia Amadin, failed as her number was not reachable.

Truck drivers defy Ambode’s daytime ban Olalekan Olabulo The daytime ban placed on the movement of articulated vehicles in Lagos by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is not yet being complied with, Lagos Metro has observed. On Monday, in parts of Dopemu, Agege and Iyana Ipaja, truck drivers moved around without any inhibitions with law enforcement agencies looking the other way. Trucks, laden with containers and others containing cows and cement were seen, driving along the roads in daytime when they ought to be under restriction. There were also no visible attempts by law enforcement agents to stop the truck drivers in most of the places visited. A driver, who simply identified himself as Adamu, while speaking with Lagos Metro also claimed not to be aware of any ban on the movement of trucks in the state. He also added that there was no effort to stop him by any law enforcement agent, since he arrived Lagos from the north. “Ban? I am not aware of anything. I just came back to Lagos this morning from the north and nobody stopped me on the way,” Adamu stated. The truck driver also added that “the governor should consider those of us who come from far places like the north and the east.”

Fake currency lands 20-year-old in court Ayomide Owonibi Odekanyin An unemployed man, Chikezie Chukwu, has been accused of allegedly being in possession of fake naira notes and stealing N70,000. It was gathered that Chukwu, 20, purchased goods valued at N70,000 from one Esther Ojetokun

and paid her with fake naira notes. The accused allegedly could not give satisfactory reasons about the fake notes in his possession after his arrest. The accused was subsequently arraigned in an Ebute Metta Chief Magistrate’s Court on a four-count

charge of obtaining under false pretence, stealing and being in possession of fake notes. The investigating police officer, Adewunmi Oderinmade, told the court that the offence was committed on August 22, at 2nd junction Road, Ikotun. The offence, he said, con-

travened Sections 285, 312, 370 and 409 of the Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011. Chukwu pleaded not guilty. The presiding magistrate, M.O Olajuwon, granted the accused N50,000 bail with one surety in the like sum. He adjourned the case till September 28.