Tue 02 Apr 2013 The Guardian Nigeria by The Guardian Newspaper

The Guardian, PERFORM partner, launch e-Player in Nigerian market OR sports fans in Nigeria, Fabreast an opportunity to keep • Partnership brings top sports video content online to fans of developments in their sector is now available as The Guardian and digital sports media group, PERFORM, begin a partnership today. The partnership leads to the launch of PERFORM’s sports Video on Demand (VoD) platform in the Nigerian market. e-Player, the world’s largest sports VoD broadcaster, has

• Provides brand marketers with innovative strategies, others been integrated into the sports pages of The Guardian’s website and will provide Nigerian sports fans with sports video content, including news from the English Premier League, La Liga and the Champions League, as well as highlights and news content from a range of

other sports, including basketball, via the NBA TV channel, athletics, tennis and motor sports. e-Player broadcasts official sports highlights and news and is live in 21 territories, sitting across over 1,100 leading websites and reaching in excess of 115 million unique

viewers every month globally. The partnership marks an exciting move for PERFORM in Nigeria, following on from the launch of the Nigerian edition of Goal.com, the world’s largest football website. Toke Alex-Ibru, Executive Di-

rector, The Guardian, commented: “This partnership marks an exciting step in the evolution of The Guardian. As more and more sports fans turn to their PCs and mobiles to follow sport, our partnership with PERFORM ensures that we are positioned to cater for these

content-hungry fans.” Peter Burroughs, Managing Director, PERFORM Africa, added: “We are delighted to have partnered one of the biggest publishers in Nigeria to launch e-Player. The Nigerian market is an extremely exciting one for us and we look forward to providing fans with the content that they want but also provide a premium video platform for brands to reach and engage with these sports fans.”

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Vol. 29, No. 12,514

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Lagos Black Heritage train at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan in Lagos… yesterday.

N150

www.ngrguardiannews.com

PHOTO: CHARLES OKOLO

Mediocrity overtakes graft, wrecks Nigeria ‘I used to think corruption was Nigeria’s biggest problem, but I’m starting to doubt that. Every time I probe into one of the many issues this country is encountering, at the core I find the same phenomenon: the widespread celebration of mediocrity. Unrebuked under-achievement seems to be the rule in all facets of society. A governor building a single road during his entire tenure is revered like the next Messiah; an averagely talented author who writes a colourless book gets sponsored to represent Nigerian literature overseas; and a young woman with no secretarial skills to speak of gets promoted to the oga’s office faster than any of her properly trained colleagues.’ CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Village head, varsity teacher, 20 others feared killed in Borno, Kaduna - Page 5 Harsh weather raises fears of meningitis, measles, malaria epidemics - Page 7

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, APRIL 2, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

4 NEWS

Mediocrity overtakes corruption to wreck Nigeria EEDLESS to say the politi‘N cian is probably hailed by those awaiting part of the loot he is stealing; the writer might have got his sponsorship from buddies he has been sucking up to in hagiographies paid for by the subjects; and the young woman’s promotion is likely to be an exchange for sex or the expectancy of it. So, some form of corruption plays a role in all of these examples. But corruption per se does not necessarily stand in the way of development. Otherwise, a country like Indonesia — number 118 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, not that far removed from Nigeria’s 139 — would never have made it to the G-20 group of major economies. An even more serious obstacle to development is the lack of repercussions for under-achievement. Who in Nigeria is ever held accountable for substandard performance? Since I came here, I have been on a futile search for a stable Internet connection that does what it promises. I started with an MTN FastLink modem (I consider the name a cruel

joke), and then I moved on to an Etisalat MiFi connection (I regularly had to keep myself from throwing the bloody thing against the wall), and now I am trying out Cobranet’s U-Go. I shouldn’t have bothered: equally crap. And everyone knows this. They groan and mutter and tweet about it. But still, to my surprise, no one calls for a class-action suit against those deceitful providers. A one-day conference I attended last year left me equally puzzled. Organisation, attendance and outcome left a lot to be desired, if you ask me. But over cocktails, after the closing ceremony, everyone congratulated each other over the wonderful conference—that started two hours late, of which the most animated part was undeniably lunch, and in which not a single tangible decision had been made. This left me wondering whether we had attended the same event. I thought these issues to be unrelated at first, but gradually I came to see the connection. Nigeria is the opposite of a meritocracy: you do not earn by achieving. You get to

Zeiji be who and where you are by knowing the right people. Whether you work in an office, for an enterprise or an NGO, at a construction site or in government, your abilities hardly ever are the reason you got there. Performing well, let alone with excellence, is not a requirement, in fact, it is dis-

couraged. It would be too threatening: showing you’re more intelligent, capable or competent than the ‘oga at the top’ (who, as a rule, is not an over-achiever either) is career suicide. It is an attitude that trickles down from the very top, its symptoms eventually show-

ing up in all of society, from bad governance to bad service to bad craftsmanship. Where excellence meets no gratification, what remains to be celebrated is underachievement. That is why it is not uncommon to find Nigerians congratulating each other with sub-standard results. It is safer to cuddle up comfortably in shared mediocrity than to question it, since the latter might also expose your own less than exceptional performance. Add to this the taboo of criticising anyone senior or higher up and it explains why so many join in the admiration of the emperor’s new clothes. I have been writing this column for the last year, and after 10 months, I realised my angles were getting more predictable and my pieces less edgy. I figured newcomers do not remain newcomers forever and therefore decided to round up the ‘Femke Becomes Funke’ series this month, a year after it started. Ever since I announced the ending, tweeps have been asking me to change my mind and in comments on the columns and through my website, I get

songs of praise that make me feel my analyses of Nigerian society are indispensable. If I had no sense of self-criticism, I might be tempted to reconsider my decision to discontinue the series and start producing second-rate articles. Who would point this out to me if I did? The hardest thing to do in Nigeria is to continue to realise there is honour in achievement and pride in perfection. I imagine the frustration of the many Nigerians who do care for their work, who take pride in their outcomes and who feel the award is in a job well done. When you know beforehand that excellence will not be rewarded, you are bound to do the economically sane thing and limit your investments to accomplishing the bare minimum. This makes Nigeria a pretty cumbersome place for anyone striving for perfection. This piece by Femke van Zeijl, a Dutch journalist/writer who lives and works in Lagos, was culled from www.fvz-journaliste.nl/english.php. Van Zeijl is the author of the Gin-tonic and Cholera, a book on city life in Africa.

In the beginning was ‘celebration of mediocrity’ By Martins Oloja, Editor HE fact that a Dutch journalT ist and writer, Femke Van Zeijl, has had to write so authoritatively about the way we are and indeed the new trouble with Nigeria confirms Shakespearean quote that, “the eye sees not itself, but by reflection, by some other things.” Certainly, Femke’s thesis that “widespread celebration of mediocrity” is the new trouble with Nigeria at all levels of the society is worth discussing as we are still celebrating the life and times of one of Nigeria’s few icons, Prof. Chinua Achebe

who in 1983 noted that “the trouble with Nigeria” is leadership, that was beginning to breed corruption then. For quite some time now, most citizens have been concerned about how corruption has suddenly become a bad ulcer that thrives on the medications applied to it. Interestingly, this Dutch journalist has added a new dimension to our unending conversation on corruption as she notes that the new common enemy that “we the people” have to contend with is “widespread celebration of mediocrity”. But what our new researcher on Nigeria did not know is that this is not new at

all. Femke did not know that the military government that midwifed the Second Republic transferred a culture of mediocrity to the new ‘democrats’ through the then ruling party, National Party of Nigeria (NPN 1979-1983). According to the records of primaries in 1978, there were six strong presidential candidates in the ‘truly national’ party then, including Joseph Tarka, Prof. Iya Abubakar, Dr. Olusola Saraki, Alhaji Maitama Sule, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and one other candidate. But at the Casino Cinema, Yaba, Lagos, convention venue of the party then, there was a tie between Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Alhaji Maitama Sule. It was said then that the ‘progressives’ in the party preferred Maitama because of his sophistication, experience and erudition but the ‘moderates’ that did not mind Shagari’s limitations then preferred him (Shagari) and that was how they mounted pressure on Maitama to concede to Shagari. Those who knew what happened then recalled that the then powerful Sokoto and other principalities were behind the pressure. And as we often say here, whatever happened to the Second Republic under the then President Shehu Shagari is history but well known. On April 26, 2012, a famous scholar and cleric, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah who spoke at the second NLI Guest Speaker Forum in Abuja reflected on the political way we have been. Specifically, in the lecture entitled “Power without authority: Leadership crisis in Nigeria”, Bishop Kukah spoke extensively on a history of how widespread mediocrity has become “a fundamental objective and directive principle of state policy” of some sort in Nigeria. His words on a thread in the conversation: “… I have spoken severally of the fact that Nigeria has consistently produced office holders but not leaders.The climate has not been favourable for the erection of a structure/platform (political parties) and the development of a process and culture for leadership recruitment and discipleship. There has been no continuity in party formation or membership.

“There have been no ideologies to draw from and so the political space has been thrown open to all kinds of species of humanity. We have watched spineless politicians migrate from one party to the other in search of bread and butter even while the game is on. We have watched new parties formed each time the whistle was blown at the end of the military era “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may pride itself as being the largest political party in Africa. However, that is not to say it can pride itself as being the most disciplined or cultured party within West Africa. The PDP is not the ANC with over one hundred years of history, tradition and discipline. This is why we find Nigerian political parties often breaking the plates, glasses and tables after their political orgies. “This is why party chairmen often have a very short lifespan. Indeed, if you calculate the number of chairmen of the party, including those in acting capacity, the lifespan of a party chairman in the PDP since we returned to democracy in 1999 will be less than two years! This is why the party lacked the moral authority to resolve its zoning arrangement and foisted an albatross around the neck of our nation. “Coups and counter-coups, propelled by greed threw up different characters with very little preparation and questionable competence for managing a country of such complexity as Nigeria. We have had some really fine gentlemen and professionals but they were men who were trained for other things and not for political leadership. “Thus, we have produced through different processes, men and women who have come to power and office largely unprepared. Most were clearly caught unawares by the offer to lead Nigeria and others were often shanghaied to power. Let me give a lighthearted, one liner popular narrative of our former office holders. “The Sardauna who should have become the Prime Minister did not want to go all the way to Lagos as he was more

interested in being the Sultan of Sokoto. He decided to send Tafawa to Lagos to be the Prime Minister. Neither Generals Gowon, Ironsi, Murtala nor Obasanjo had ambitions of taking up power in Nigeria as none of them was directly involved in the coups that brought them to power. “They were what we might call circumstantial beneficiaries of power. Alhaji Shagari’s preference had been for the Senate. Both Buhari and Babangida, who directly plotted their ascent, were more engaged in settling personal scores and other forms of scheming than running Nigeria. Chief Ernest Shonekan, a very decent gentleman, was conscripted by Gen. Babangida to do Maigadi as a Head of Interim Government (HIG) while he, Gen. Babangida stepped aside hoping to come back to take his thing back. Abacha anchored his coming to power by the belief that it was his turn having saved Babangida’s skin in the Orkar coup and the belief that it was his turn to eat. “Gen. Abdulsalam had been pencilled for retirement before Abacha’s death as we heard and Obasanjo’s jail term had not run its course before Abacha died and his prison trap was sprung. Babangida and his people were not ready and so they wanted Obasanjo to serve as a stop-gap, but they did not know that ‘Uncle Sege’ had branched to Damascus in the course of his trip from Jos to Yola Prison. He returned from prison, fully baptised and confirmed as Matthew. Yar’Adua, a decent man, had submitted his papers to teach Chemistry in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, at the end of his two terms as Governor. “Goodluck was a beneficiary of the face-off between such powerful interests like Dangote, Otedola, El-Rufai who used Ribadu’s EFCC to blackmail Odili out of the race for the Vice Presidency (ask Segun Adeniyi for details). So, we have been a nation of leaders with good luck as individuals, but not much to be said for the leadership of the country. “I have gone to all this length because we owe ourselves an explanation, we owe ourselves a proper reading of our histo-

ry, we owe ourselves a narrative that can help the young men and women who, through the Nigerian Leadership Initiative (NLI) of which I am a proud founding-father, could and should aspire to lead Nigeria to begin to check out the facts about our country. In that way, we can avoid the mistakes of the past. Perhaps, it is due to the fly-by-night, conspiratorial scheming that have brought many people to power that has made it impossible for our former leaders to give us a narrative of their involvement in the affairs of our country. “None of these great men came to office with any degree of mental preparation or experience in governance. The soldiers might have employed subterfuge and treachery to ascend to power, but as we now know, many of them came to power first to settle personal, ethnic or regional scores than to rebuild our nation. They had the best of intentions for the country but a nation as complex as ours, with huge resources but severely undeveloped, required more than just good men and good intentions. This is why the sight of oil and free money threw the military into wild ecstasy and the riches of the nation became a distraction rather than an opportunity for our office holders to deliver on the basics of good governance….” Between “Mediocre” & “Mediocrity” in Nigerian English Curiously, the word “mediocrity” appears to be one of the most abused, or wrongly used words by even scholars in Nigeria. All English dictionaries list the word as an “adjective”, a qualifier. But in Nigeria, most users have turned it to a “Proper Noun” and so whoever puts up a mediocre performance as a “mediocre”. There is no such word in any English dictionary. The correct word is “mediocrity”. Anybody that showcases a mediocre performance is called a “mediocrity”. Please check this up in your dictionary. That is the beginning of the war against mediocrity in Nigeria. Note Please: It is not correct to call anyone a “mediocre”. The correct word is “mediocrity”. The word mediocrity is used both as a “Common and Proper Noun”.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

News TCN is broke, says Manitoba chief From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja

Begins reforms

HE near hopeless financial situation of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has been brought to the fore as its new Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) Don Priestman revealed that the firm was insolvent. He also revealed fresh strate-

gies, his firm Manitoba, has outlined to reform the TCN, how the skills gap in the firm would be bridged, and assurances to leave a viable entity at the end of the three year management contract with Manitoba. Priestman, in a chat with The

Guardian since his firm, Manitoba Hydro International of Canada was issued the management contract for TCN, said in very plain language that the TCN had been insolvent over the years. In fact, Priestman, known for his openness to discuss issues concerning TCN, noted how the firm has been insolvent, barely paying salaries and

having little or nothing to run its very technical and sensitive operations. He pleaded with the Federal government to put action to its commitments to fund the TCN for greater output. He said: “Well, there are a lot of challenges facing TCN. The fact of the matter is that for too many years, TCN did not receive enough attention.

Friends and children of Saint Mary Home for the destitute and orphans celebrating Easter in Gwagwalada, Abuja …yesterday

There was not enough money made available to help it maintain the system, expand the system, to make the system more efficient, to train staff in systems and procedures. So, for many years, TCN has been living a sort of hand to mouth situation, if you like, with minimal operating cost, with only enough money to pay the salaries, but not enough money to pay for the costs. In effect, now TCN, by strict definition of the word, is insolvent. What that means is that it is not getting enough revenue to cover all of its costs. So that issue is going to be our most fundamental challenge. In order of magnitude, we need more operating revenues. We need capital strength. If we get that, and if we get it on time, then there is a lot that we could do. And we have good ideas as to what we want to do. On what Manitoba’s experience has been so far in Nigeria, he stressed: “Well, we have been here since August. The original idea was in September, we would have taken over responsibility for running TCN. Well, that didn’t happen for a variety of reasons. There are people that were happy with the status quo. They didn’t want change. And there was a lot of misinformation too about exactly what Manitoba Hydro was here to do. A lot of people did not understand what a management contract was. Some of them thought that the government was actually selling the transmission sector. That is not true. “Yes, they are privatising the

generation upstream and they are privatising distribution sector down stream, but the key link in between them is transmission, TCN and that quite frankly will remain within government ownership. We are here to manage with a management contract. We are not here to buy TCN. We don’t own TCN. We will be here for three years. We will bring in as many improvements as we can, provided the resources are available. Then, at the end of our contract, we will hand back to our Nigerian counterpart, hopefully, a better company that they would carry on with.” On how government has resolved the issue of two chief executive officers and two market operators, as was the case shortly after the schedule of delegated authority was signed, he said the issue ha He added: “All the former management staff of TCN, including the CEO, he stressed, are now deputies to those brought in from Manitoba Hydro International. There is no conflict there. It is a necessary arrangement if there is going to be internal corporate existence. “There is no managing director of TCN right now. There is CEO of TCN. The former CEO of TCN is my counterpart and is now deputy CEO. You cannot have two CEOs. The former market operator is now the deputy ED (Market Operations). We have taken over the titles occupied by our Nigerian counterparts. All of our counterparts that were previously in charge are now deputies.”

Village head, don, 20 others feared killed in Borno, Kaduna From Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna) and Njadvara Musa (Maiduguri) T was a black Easter in Borno and Kaduna states as 22 persons, including a village head and a university teacher were feared killed in the two states. In a related development, former Military Head of State and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011 polls Gen. Muhammadu Buhari yesterday blamed the Federal Government for the rising insecurity in the country, saying the ugly trend was not peculiar to the North but had engulfed the entire nation. In Borno State, gunmen at the weekend invaded the palace of Pulka District Head, Ali Pulka in Gwoza council and killed him. Pulka is a border town with Cameroun about 119 kilometres southeast of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Also in Maiduguri metropolis, suspected bandits on Sunday night stormed 202 Housing Estate and a Church at Dalori areas of the city, killing Prof. Murtala Mohammed of the Mass Communication Department of the University of

Buhari blames insecurity on govt Maiduguri (UNIMAID) and a security guard of the unidentified church. An anonymous top police officer attached to the Gwoza Divisional Police Station, said yesterday in Maiduguri, that the gunmen came in with two Golf Volkswagen vehicles and motorcycle and proceeded straight to the village head’s palace and shot him dead, before soldiers rushed to the scene. Speaking on the incident, the Division Police Officer (DPO), Audu Boka in a telephone chat said that the gunmen were suspected Boko Haram sect members, who allegedly attacked and torched a police station, bank and a prison, setting 170 inmates free on March 4, 2013. Prof. Mohammed, according to an eyewitness yesterday, was shot on the head and chest before men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) rushed to the scene and arrested some residents for questioning. The State Police Command spokesman, Gideon Jibrin also yesterday confirmed the incidents, adding that no arrests had been made yet.

In Kaduna State, gunmen on Sunday night invaded Ataka community in Kaura Local Government Area where they went on a shooting spree, killing 19 people while several others were injured. An eyewitness, who spoke with journalists under anonymity said: “If not for the assistance that came from neighbouring villages, the whole community would have been wiped out by the invaders who came with guns from places we don’t know.” The eyewitness added: “About 19 people died after the attack and many people were injured and have been taken for treatment in different places”. Confirming the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mallam Aminu Lawan (DSP) said: “There was an attack. Well people were actually killed but we are still contacting the area commander who, right now with other security agencies are there, most especially the military, to get the exact figures of those who lost their lives”. Lawan continued: “The inci-

dent, according to what we gathered occurred in the early hours of yesterday (Sunday) and because of the rugged terrain, it was very difficult for the security operatives to get to the place early, but we are still hoping to get to the root of the incident. Our men are already there and they have already taken control of the place.” Buhari, who spoke in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London yesterday said, “the problem of terrorism is not confined to the North alone”, adding that “insecurity generally should be blamed on the President Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government”. Buhari spoke on how best to tackle the problem of Boko Haram in the BBC Hausa service, stressing that those called Boko Haram and their partners in the South south who kidnap people are two sides of the same coin. He added: “The world is very much concerned about two things, the issue of security and economic wellbeing of a nation. Security is number one. A nation can only be economically viable if there is security. But how did all these crisis start? How did the crisis

begin and assume this dimension? They are those who possess weapons and had been abducting people and collecting money. “Up till now, every day they abduct people and receive ransom. How was the problem reduced, how did it start and what method was employed to convince them to mellow down? Now what we should look at, how did

Buhari

the Boko Haram start and what was done to the group? We know all these. Security is the responsibility of the government”. On granting amnesty to Boko Haram members, Buhari said that for any such move to be meaningful, there was the need to first identify who the leaders of the dreaded group were and their mission.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

6 NEWS

Lack of prosecution may thwart oil theft campaign in Niger Delta From Willie Etim, Yenagoa EDERAL Government’s apFingparent weakness in employdue diligence in the prosecution of arrested suspects will significantly hamper the campaign against the rising spate of pipeline vandalisation and crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba, has warned. The Naval chief said that secu-

Kinsmen want better recognition for Fajuyi From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado-Ekiti HE Federal and Ekiti State T governments have been called upon to give better recognition to the late Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, former military governor of the defunct Western Region, who was killed in a military coup in July 1966. Fajuyi’s kinsmen at the weekend said the recognition became imperative because he laid down his life for the unity of Nigeria. Speaking at a forum to announce the plan to host the maiden edition of the Adekunle Fajuyi Festival in Ado-Ekiti, the people, including the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, opined that Fajuyi exemplified courage, peace, patriotism and loyalty to one’s fatherland. Oba Adejugbe, in a message to the gathering, said Fajuyi, who hailed from Ado-Ekiti, was synonymous with the unity of Nigeria, adding that some of the virtues shown by the late military officer were lacking in most Nigerians today, hence the parlous state of things in the country. The monarch said despite having the opportunity of saving his own life when coup plotters were only interested in killing the then Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi, who was a visitor of Fajuyi, the former military governor, refused to throw Ironsi out to be killed like an unwanted dog. The Chairman of Ado Local Council Area, Mr. Tope Olanipekun, said the council would always support any effort at making the place of Fajuyi to be remembered for life in the history of Nigeria. He said there was an urgent need to accord Fajuyi better recognition and imbibe his great virtues. The festival director, Mr. Femi Alufa, said the event had become necessary so that the legacies of the departed military officer would not be forgotten. “The yearly festival will be the ultimate honour to celebrate the universal value of peace, patriotism, selfless leadership and courage, which Fajuyi symbolised and to teach these lessons in service to humanity,” he said. He said the event, which will come up in July this year, would feature international peace conference, culture and art exhibition, peace concerts, rallies, among others. In his remarks, Fajuyi’s son, Donald, prayed that the sacrifice his father made in keeping Nigeria one would not be in vain. He appealed to governments and corporate bodies to support the initiative, saying Nigeria’s heroes should not be confined to a corner in the history of the country.

rity operatives, including the Navy, are living up to their responsibility by arresting suspected oil thieves, but lamented that prosecution agencies have failed to diligently discharge their duties. According to Ezeoba, who spoke in Brass, Bayelsa State, after a tour of the creeks and military formations within the Central Naval Command, said the breach of pipelines and theft of petroleum products would be reduced if agencies vested with the power of prosecution arraigned suspects and jailed them. He insisted that the efforts of the Navy and the Joint Task Force (JTF), code-named Operation Pulo Shield, in fighting the scourge would amount to nothing without prosecution of offenders by such agencies

as the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Police. The law enforcement agencies that have responsibility for prosecution should ensure that those culprits who have been caught and charged to court are prosecuted and jailed. That will serve as a strong measure of deterrent for would-be perpetrators,” he said. “What we find is that there is more of the surveillance and response but that of enforcement is negligible. It frustrates the efforts of the officers and men, who put their lives on the line to fight this scourge.” Ezeoba, who maintained his position during a courtesy visit to the Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, further

lamented the lack of commitment by oil companies in fighting the menace. He tasked oil companies to provide sustainable state-of-the-art security apparatus to aid proactive response to oil theft by security agencies. The Naval chief observed that instead of being proactive in the war against vandalism, security agencies were reacting to the situation. He stated: “What we do, as it is today, is reactionary because of lack of some form of commitment by the oil majors to provide state-of-the-art 21st Century security apparatus to make our actions proactive and preventive.” Such proactive strategy, according to him, is germane to deter would-be intruders and avert a situation where the

pipeline is already breached before security operatives are called in. “That is the mandate of the oil majors. They have to provide frontline security that will ensure the integrity of the pipelines,” he said, adding, however, that the Navy had achieved 80 per cent surveillance of pipelines in the region since the deployment of its maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and patrol boats. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the available naval capacity was not enough, as some pipelines were laid in inaccessible areas in the sea. He insisted: “We need more enduring proactive structures that will give us stand-off capabilities that will deter these intruders from breaching the pipelines.”

Cleric advocates salary cut for public office holders From Chuks Collins, Awka O stem the rising cost of T governance and living, immoral opulence in the life-style of public office holders in the country in the face of unbearable hardship among the electorate, the Catholic Bishop of Nnewi, Most Rev. Hillary Odilichukwu Okeke, has advocated a cut in the salaries, allowances and perquisites of their offices. The cleric described as unfortunate the vicious cycle of corruption, self-aggrandisement and ego-tripping the foisting of these leaders on the electorate through hook and crook, with little or no plans to use their offices to improve the lot of the electorate. Bishop Okeke acknowledged that the sing-song on the lips of all has been transformation, but such has not been seen in the attitude of the public officers. Meanwhile, he noted that the new pontiff, Pope Francis I, has taken off on strong signal of simplicity, humility and service, and urged those in authority around the world, including Nigeria, to learn from that. In the light of this, he called for a reasonable cut in the emoluments of public officers in the country and strict prioritisation of common good over personal interest, and the enthronement of service over exploitation and embezzlement of public resources.

Rep tasks Nigerians on forgiveness From Terhemba Daka, Abuja MEMBER of the House of A Representatives, Olusegun Dokun Odebunmi, has

Fun-seekers during the celebration of Easter Monday at the Bar Beach, Victoria Island, Lagos … yesterday.

PHOTO: OSENI YUSUF

Bayelsa women threaten Agip over death of kids From Willie Etim, Yenagoa OLLOWING the death of three kids allegedly from polluted water and Agip Oil Company’s (Agip) refusal to respond to the demands of the community, the women of Letugbene Community of Ekeremor Local Council of Bayelsa State have threatened to go on protest march against the company. The aggrieved women, led by Mrs. Esther Preowei, said that Agip, by its operations in the past five years, has only brought to the Letugbene community untold sufferings through water pollution, deaths from cholera and skin-

related diseases. While interacting with the National Co-ordinator of the Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative (IPDI) in Ekeremor yesterday, the aggrieved women said they were handing the oil company a sevenday ultimatum to respond to the demands of the parents of the dead kids or face the consequences. “We the women of Letugbene community and parents of those who lost three kids after drinking polluted water from an oil rig operated by Agip oil firm in the state have decided to disrupt the activities of the company with a protest to ex-

press our anger over the injustice we suffer from the company,” Preowei said. “We have given seven days, and when it expires, we will shut down Agip’s operations. We share the pains and agonies of the mothers, who lost their kids as a result of the oilrig operation, and have vowed to embark on mass protest to paralyse the company’s activities if it fails to dialogue with this community before the deadline. “We want the world to know that the quality of water has been affected since October 6, 2011 when the oil company started drilling a rig that pol-

luted the entire river.” She added: “The company has also refused to employ our youths while giving supply contracts to foreigners instead of host communities as laid down by the local content laws.” The community had, in a statement by Chief Noel Babazouwei and Wilfred Ikere, accused the company of complicity in the death of the three kids following their alleged intake of water polluted by oil waste. The diseased children were identified as Osumayin Eniy (seven years), Kpegbolo Oyadonbenfa (five years) and Boroyeghha (10 years).

called on Nigerians, irrespective of religious affiliation, to cultivate and exhibit the spirit of forgiveness in their daily activities and live in peace with one another. In his Easter message yesterday, Odebunmi, who represents Surulere/Ogo-Oluwa Federal Constituency of Oyo State, explained that the current security and other challenges facing the country could only be curtailed if Nigerians imbibed the virtue of forgiveness in all their dealings with one another. “The resurrection of Jesus Christ remains the ultimate demonstration of victory over adversity. As a teacher, Jesus Christ of Nazareth travelled from place to place, preaching about God and how people can learn to forgive and live together in peace and harmony,” he said.

Jonathan ties growth to credible elections From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday hinged the development and transformation of the country on free and credible electoral process, stressing that there cannot be good governance in Nigeria when the electoral process was being manipulated against the wishes of the people. And promising to use his opportunity as President to “make a difference in the lives of Nigerians,” Jonathan restated his resolve to enthrone an electoral process that reflects the aspiration of the people by ensuring that their votes count.

President Jonathan spoke at Mpu in Aninri Local Council of Enugu State during the dedication and handing over of All Saints Anglican Covenant Church built by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. Jonathan, who recalled how “humiliated” he had felt each time he travelled out of the country as Vice President at the kind of comments people made concerning Nigeria’s electoral process, said that so much was being done to make the process better, adding that the era of manipulation would soon be over. “You cannot talk about good governance where the elec-

tions of people are manipulated; you cannot steal a mandate and turn round to say that you can govern well,” he said. “Lawyers will say you can’t build anything on nothing; if your coming to power from councillorship to Presidency is based on manipulation, there will be no good thing you can do there. First and foremost, people must vote for you and you cannot talk about doing something good without their support. “It is actually during the military that they used big guns to overthrow those with small guns and take over. In the political dispensation, you must

be properly elected and for this, we must make sure that electoral processes are sanitised and the votes of Nigerians count. “I know the kind of statement people make each time we leave here to other places, sometimes I feel so humiliated, and now the story has changed.” Likening the desire to change the phase of electoral process to the philosophy of the Singaporian leader, who said that a leader cannot achieve everything but should rather pick few things to work on, he said his administration was putting more efforts into getting it right to ensure the develop-

ment of the country. Meanwhile, in his homily, the Primate of Anglican Communion, Rt. Revd Nicholas Okoh, said the country’s problems were intractable because of human manipulation, adding that citizens have not used religion to build an enterprise that could impact on development. At the event were the Senate President, David Mark; governors of Abia, Theodore Orji; and Anambra, Peter Obi; Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, senators and ministers, while Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, was represented by his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

NEWS

Harsh weather raises fears of meningitis, measles, malaria epidemics By Chukwuma Muanya HERE is palpable fear that the prevalent hot and humid conditions in most cities of the country might lead to epidemic of diseases such as meningitis, measles, malaria, cholera, skin rashes, among others. Several studies have linked diseases spread to rising temperatures and humidity with attendant water shortage. But the Deputy General Manager, National Weather Office, Abuja, Cyprian Okoloye, told The Guardian yesterday that the hot weather in Lagos and some cities in Nigeria is not abnormal. Okoloye said: “The fact that it is hot is because we are already in rainy season. You find out that in most cities in the South, it has been raining now and then. So, there is nothing in terms of abnor-

Yan-Dawa Cultural Group performing at the 2013 Vih-Mah-Yah Unity and Development Cultural Festival in Boi, Bogoro Local Council Area of Bauchi State…on Sunday

Ship owners decry non-disbursement of N40b Cabotage Fund By Moses Ebosele EMBERS of the Indigenous Ship Owners’ Association of Nigeria (ISAN) yesterday decried the non-disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) 10 years after it was instituted. According to the group, proceeds from the CVFF, which were instituted by the Federal Government as part of measures to meet the provisions of the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003, popularly called Cabotage Act, are in the vault of some banks, “generating interest for some people”. The fund, which is currently more than N40 billion, is derived from the two per cent deduction from all contracts awarded under the Cabotage regime and is expected to help position indigenous ship owners to compete with foreignowned vessels in Nigeria’s coastal water. General Secretary of ISAN, Niyi Labinjo, explained yesterday that nine members of the association who applied for the fund over the years are yet to hear from either the banks identified as Primary Lending

Institutions (PLI) or the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the supervising agency. Under the arrangement, according to Labinjo, any ship owner who applies to access the fund is expected to contribute 15 per cent of the sum required while NIMASA and the specific bank contribute 50 per cent and 35 per cent respectively. Explaining further, Labinjo said: “What is delaying the disbursement of the fund? The law is clear on how the fund should be disbursed. The fund has been generated. The fund is available. The question is what is delaying the disbursement? Nine of our members applied to access the fund. Up till now

(yesterday), nobody has contacted us”. He alleged that some individuals are mapping out strategies on how to make the disbursement a ‘political affair’. The association also used the opportunity to appeal to relevant agencies of government to ensure the fund is disbursed without delays and in line with constitutional provisions. Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer, Ships & Ports, Bolaji Akinola, has alleged that some unnamed politicians and ‘entrenched interests’ of attempting to foist “an unqualified firm on NIMASA as Consultant to the Cabotage Fund”. Akinola explained that since four banks have been

appointed as Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs) for the CVFF and since NIMASA has a whole department devoted to overseeing the implementation of Cabotage, “there is no need for appointing any consultant to the Fund, especially when the so-called potential consultant is being deliberately positioned to do the bidding of politicians and entrenched interests”. He advised NIMASA to scrutinise applications for the CVFF carefully to avoid a recurrence of past experience, especially with regards to the Ships Acquisition and Ship Building Fund (SASBF). “In the 80s and 90s, the

PDP accuses ACN states of wasting subsidy fund From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja EOPLES Democratic Party P (PDP) yesterday accused the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)-controlled states of misusing their share of the fuel subsidy fund. It also declared that the ACN was trying to politicise the Subsidy Re-Investment Programme (SURE-P) initia-

tive of the PDP-led Federal Government. PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, while reacting to claims by the ACN that the SURE-P fund was being shared to PDP members, noted that the claim was part of a grand plot by the opposition to unnecessarily stir up animosity among the people and

ensure that they do not benefit from government programmes. Metuh’s statement read in part: “The attention of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to malicious and baseless media reports by the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that the

El-Rufai insists Atiku approved Pentascope contract By Adeyemi Adepetun GAINST claims by the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, that he had no hand in Pentascope’s takeover of the moribund Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) during his tenure as Vice President to President Olusegun Obasanjo, former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has insisted that Atiku gave the approval for the deal. Reacting to a newspaper interview (not The Guardian) granted by Atiku on Sunday, where he claimed not to have had any hand, connection or knowledge of how Pentascope was brought into the country, el-Rufai in a statement said the former VP was being economi-

National Maritime Authority, now known as NIMASA, administered the Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund (SASBF) through which it gave loans that were intended to encourage ownership of ships by Nigerians. “While a few number of genuine Nigerian ship owners benefited from the SASBF and bought ships, though old and rusty, several politicians, ‘briefcase ship owners’ and cronies of the then military junta, also dipped their hands in the till and diverted the money to other uses. “The fund was suspended in the late 90s but much of the money was never recovered and no one was prosecuted”, Akinola added.

cal with the truth. It will be recalled that Pentascope, a Dutch company, was brought in by the Federal Government to manage NITEL in 2002, after several failed attempts at privatising the telecommunications firms. At that time, Pentascope was discovered not to have a requisite office and experience in the matter. In the statement, which was signed by el-Rufai’s Media Advisor, Muyiwa Adeleke, he insisted that the former VP gave his approval in writing on February 21, 2003, when he was the chairman of Nigeria Council on Privatisation (NCP). “On Pentascope, we see the same pattern of muddying the waters with falsehood. As chairman of the National

Council on Privatisation (NCP), Atiku gave his approval in writing on February 21, 2003, for the management contract with Pentascope to be signed. “The memo on which Atiku minuted his approval, BPE/I&N/NT/MC/DG/280, is dated February 20, 2003, and was initiated by the director of BPE that was covering the DG’s duties at the time. By virtue of the high office he then held, Atiku knows that Pentascope was not foisted on NITEL but emerged from a properly advertised and competitive selection process. “After the failure of the first attempt to sell NITEL, it had been decided that there was need for a management contractor to keep the momen-

tum of preparing the company to operate like a private entity and to preserve its assets. Pentascope resumed in NITEL on April 28, 2003, shortly before el-Rufai left the BPE to become a minister. “The Pentascope contract terms included obligations by the BPE to monitor the contract, and for the NITEL board to set up an executive committee to supervise the day to day operations in NITEL. Between the new BPE leadership that neglected its responsibilities, the NCP, which Atiku chaired and which failed to supervise the BPE and the bureaucrats and politicians around the Ministry of Communications, the management contract was frustrated and terminated in 2005”, el-Rufai stated.

Subsidy Re-Investment Programme (SURE-P) fund is being shared to PDP members. “To say the least, we found it nauseating that the opposition would want to play politics with everything including a programme meant for the benefit of all Nigerians. We are aware that this is part of a grand plot by the ACN to stir up animosity among peace-loving Nigerians and prevent them from benefiting from the programme.”

mality in Lagos weather.” The meteorologist said the hot weather was not unusual as the Earth transits between dry and rainy seasons, with the dusty atmosphere trapping moisture. A consultant physician at Optimal Specialist Hospital, Surulere, Lagos, Dr. Ugochukwu Chukwunenye, said the hot weather and associated high humidity could cause deadly diseases’ spread and high mortality rate in the poultry sub-sector. He said although anyone could suffer from heat-related illness at any time, some individuals were at greater risk than others. Chukwunenye recommended that special attention should be paid to infants, children, the aged, the mentallychallenged and the physically ill, especially those suffering from heart disease or high blood pressure. Indeed, with temperatures currently hovering between 36 and 42 degrees Celsius across the country, meteorologists and epidemiologists have warned of possible outbreak of some diseases that thrive in hot weather like meningitis, tuberculosis, malaria, dengue fever, measles, chicken pox, boils, skin rashes, and even heart attack. Researchers have found that there is a close link between local climate and the occurrence or severity of some diseases and other threats to human health. It is estimated that climate change contributes to 150,000 deaths and five million illnesses each year, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that a quarter of the world’s disease burden is due to the contamination of air, water, soil and food. In the last quarter of the 20th Century, the average atmospheric temperature rose by about one degree Fahrenheit. By 2000, that increase was responsible for the annual loss of about 160,000 lives and the loss of 5.5 million years of healthy life, according to estimates by the WHO. The toll is expected to double to about 300,000 lives and 11 million years of healthy life by 2020. The biggest tolls were in Africa, on the Indian subcontinent, and in South-East Asia. Most of the increased burdens of deaths and diseases were from malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria, heat waves and floods.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

8 News

Why presidency is not yet Igbo’s turn, by PDP leader From Chuks Collins, Awka NATIONAL grand patron of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, Prince Arthur Eze, yesterday threw his weight behind the new peace initiative in the party in the state. He expressed confidence in the nine-man harmonisation committee set up recently to bring together all factions and aggrieved members under one umbrella in the state. Eze urged PDP members from the South East jostling for the presidency now to shelve same and support President Goodluck Jonathan to complete his tenure. He spoke yesterday in his Ukpo, Dunukofia Local Government Area Ward, when he received the state PDP executives, the harmonisation committee members and the ward executives. They had called on him over issuance of the new party card, revalidation of membership and as part of the harmonisation process to bring back to the party all aggrieved members. The new membership card was issued to him by the state chairman of PDP, Prince Kenneth Emeakayi, on behalf of the national chairman, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur. The ward officials, after taking his details, issued the new card, but had to hand it over to Emeakayi who then handed it over to Eze. In his remarks shortly after collecting the card, Eze pointed out that the South West zone had its complete eight-year tenure under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, adding that after Jonathan’s second term to complete his own eight-year tenure on behalf of the South-South zone, power would shift to the North for their own eight years before it eventually return to the SouthEast. This, according to the oil magnate, would bring peace, cohesion and stabil-

ity in Nigeria, otherwise, things will not work in the country. He therefore urged anyone from the South east currently nursing presidential ambition to shelve same for now. He said: “I do not feel happy seeing my state always in the news because of PDP crisis. And I found out that those causing the confusion are the power drunk individuals. “We must be very careful on whatever we do, we should support President Jonathan in his mission because for now, he is the only person who can tackle the problem of Ndigbo, our people are very difficult to lead. “The people of Anambra, and indeed Nigeria, need peace, there is need to love one another, we should live in peace instead of all these troubles everywhere. God loves this country, our people are just fighting for selfish interests.” He commended the Emeakayi-led executive of the party for their untiring effort to return peace and progress in the Anambra PDP. Emeakayi pleaded with Eze to relay the support of Ndigbo to Jonathan and urged him to declare his interest for 2015, and the zone and state would back the aspiration. He assured that the votes from the state would be total that it would outstrip the President’s Bayelsa home state, when the time comes. He said the harmonisation committee was set up in fulfillment of the directives of the national leadership and the verdict of the Federal High Court in Awka. The party had, at a wellattended rally in Awka earlier on Saturday, set up the harmonisation panel led by former Chief Judge, Justice Paul Obidigwe, and former Idemili North council chairman, Chief Okey Muo-Aroh, as chairman and secretary respectively. Also on the team is Mrs. Beatrice Ekwueme, wife of Dr. Alex Ekwueme.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu (left); Senate President, David Mark and the Primate of Nigeria Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh welcoming President Goodluck Jonathan to the dedication/handover of All Saints’ Anglican Church Mpu, Enugu State …yesterday

The All Saints Anglican Church building Mpu, Enugu State dedicated by the Primate of All Nigeria, Anglican Church, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh …yesterday

Lamido debunks rumour of planned defection to APC From John Akubo, Dutse OVERNOR Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has said the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governors cannot be enticed to join the yet to registered All Progressives Congress (APC). Lamido who spoke with newsmen in Dutse, dis-

missed the insinuation that some PDP governors, including himself, were on the verge of joining the APC. He said nothing can entice him to leave PDP, because throughout his political history, he never gallivanted. “I don’t know the sources this is coming from. Is it the

Edo SIEC denies paying INEC for review of voters’ register • Community threatens polls’ boycott From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City DO State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) yesterday denied reports that it has paid N4 million to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for review of voters’ register to be used for the April 20 local government election. Reaction to publication in some national dailies (not in The Guardian) on the alleged payment to INEC, Chairman of EDSIEC, Solomon Ogor, described the publication as fictitious as, according to him, INEC has not demanded for any cash “As at date, we have not paid for the revision of the voters’

register and we have not been brought in to assist in the revision of the register. Even if there is anything of that nature, we will operate at official level, but what was printed in media last week is purely a reaction of the politicians, not EDSIEC, against INEC. “EDSIEC and INEC are brothers and we are still operating as brothers and even as we are now, they are going to train our staff for the election. Certain things, which they have and we don’t have, they are going to give to us to conduct our election. So, our cordial relations still firmly exist. What transpires between EDSIEC and INEC should not be given any political

colouration because these are bodies that will continue to operate together.” He insisted that the constitutional responsibility of producing the voters’ register is that of INEC. Meanwhile, inhabitants of Utoka Community in Ovia North East Local Government yesterday threatened to boycott the April 20 elections over alleged neglect by the political class representing the constituency. The people specifically alleged that the Senator representing the area, Ehigie Uzamere, was not doing enough. Speaking to journalists in Benin City yesterday, representative of Utoka Community, Chief Patrick Eholor, shortly after presenting motor bikes to lucky win-

ners from the community, warned politicians to stay away from the community or be ready to face the wrath of the people. But in a reaction, Uzamere, carpeted Eholor, describing the allegations as baseless and an attempt to misinform the people about development in the senatorial district. Eholor said; “We are gathered here to express our displeasure once again over the plight of our people from Ovia North East. As a matter of fact, since the inception of democracy, our people have been neglected. We have no roads or electricity and every time our people come to vote, they are only to be denied the dividend of their votes. We have vast oil but our people are hungry, our women and children are pauperised.”

so-called APC, ACN, or ANPP or from where did they said I’m going to join them? But you know ACN, ANPP and CPC have always accused us of being armed robbers, terrorists, murderers, and all other sorts of unprintable names. Why would they now turn around to entice robbers, murderers to join them? This is very funny, members of those political parties calling PDP all kinds of names want them to be in their fold?” He described the opposition parties as “inventions of the last two years, they are the invention of pain, agony and anger”, adding that “they thought PDP is like them, we have political party history from 1998 when they were not in existence. Those who were talking in ANPP, ACN and CPC were formally PDP members that were flushed out in the field by the party (PDP).” He described the insinuation as a local propaganda by local people with small minds. “No matter what, you know I can’t renounce something I sat down in company of other people of like minds to give birth to. There is no way a father can renounce his own house, if he decides to leave the house who would look after the children?”

Zamfara health workers down tools • Warning strike begins in Osun From Tunji Omofoye (Osogbo) and Isah Ibrahim (Gusau) EMBERS of the Medical and Health workers Union (MHWUN), and the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Zamfara State councils would today begin an indefinite strike across the state following expiration of the ultimatum given to the state government to implement the new salary structure (CONHESS) for their members. This was contained in a statement jointly signed by the state chairmen of the two unions, Isyaku Sabo Tsafe of MHWUN and Bashar Moh’d Talata Mafara of NANNM respectively and made available to reporters in Gusau. The unions have directed all their members to stop going to their respective duty stations in all health facilities and government offices at both state and local council levels in the state from today. Meanwhile, organised labour in Osun State has said the four-day warning strike notice given to the government would commence today, urging all workers to comply with the directive.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

NEWS

Adamawa PDP crisis deepens, factions sell separate election forms From Emmanuel Ande, Yola

HE crisis rocking the Adamawa State chapter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken another dimension as two rival chairmen have commenced sales of separate nomination forms for the Mayo-Belwa House of Assembly by-election slated for May 11, 2013. The Joe Madaki-led executive supported by the National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, commenced sales of the forms early last month, while the Alhaji Mijinyawa Kugama-led executive supported by Governor Murtala Nyako, commenced sales of its own nomination forms last week. Madaki, while announcing the commencement of the sales of the forms last month, cautioned aspirants against buying from people he described as black marketers, alleging that some people had acquired the forms from illegal sources and that they were using them to defraud aspirants wishing to participate in the by-election. “Any aspirant that buys a form not signed by the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, is wasting his or her money and time. Such forms obtained by some political black marketers cannot be recognised by the primary election committee of PDP”, he stated. He cautioned those wishing to participate in the by-

Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Sampson Parker (middle) and others while receiving an award won by Rivers as the best state to eliminate malaria in the country

Rivers wins anti-malaria award IVERS State has won anothR er national award after being adjudged the best in the federation in the area of malaria elimination and control. This was made known at the 11th meeting of states’ malaria control programme managers held in Abakaliki, Ebonyi

State. It was organised by the National Malaria Control Programme in collaboration with the Roll-Back-Malaria Partners to deliberate on the successes and challenges of controlling the disease in Nigeria. Speaking during the presentation of the award to Rivers

State Health Commissioner, Dr. Sampson Parker in his office in Port Harcourt, the World Bank Specialist in charge of Malaria, Dr. Moriam Jagun, commended the state for doing so much in the fight to control and eradicate malaria. According to her, Rivers State

Ministry of Health came first, while Niger, Enugu and Sokoto states were second, third and fourth respectively. Parker reiterated that the Governor Chibuike Amaechiled administration has the political will and commitment to fight malaria, stating that the target is to completely eliminate it.

Expert seeks laws to regulate fertility treatment in Nigeria From Emeka Anuforo and John Okeke (Abuja) HE Federal Government has been urged to formulate laws that would regulate the practice of fertility treatment in Nigeria to ensure that only qualified persons and organisations engage in it. Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist, Dr. Abayomi Bolaji Ajayi, who made the call in an interview with The Guardian in Abuja, stressed the need for establishment of very strict standards for the practice in Nigeria. Ajayi, who is the managing director of Nordica Fertility Centre, said: “We have bodies and even professional bodies that decide how we do things, but they don’t have the power to police, that’s where government is important. The professionals come together to say these are the minimum standards we want. But no matter how we set the minimum standards, if government is not giving us the backing, there is no way we can police effectively. “I can’t say I want to come to your house and to search. I am only a doctor. I can’t come and search your premises to see what you are doing there. I don’t have the right. So those are the things that we really need to get right. And I think the time is now.” According to Ajayi, “The Federal Capital Territory is trying on its own to do some things to make sure that they register the right kind of people to practise the fertility treatment. I think that is just the beginning, because the consumer needs to be pro-

tected as well. I know that it is a foreign thing in Nigeria. We don’t want to get to the scenario like we have in the telecommunications sector where we pay and we don’t get services.” On the widely held notion that people who are born through fertility treatment are not normal, Ajayi described it as untrue. He said: “As we speak, over five million babies have been born all over the world from IVF and if you know, that’s like a population of a country in Europe. Enough studies have been done about these babies and one thing we know is that the babies go through the normal quality control system in the body and, therefore, we can beat our chests that they are normal babies, especially when one understands the process that is involved in IVF. “Essentially, all we do is just bring the sperm and eggs together. The other things are just ancillary. Essentially, we know that in any infertility, the final problem is that the sperm and the eggs are not coming together. So that’s all we do. Some of our women have had either surgery done on their uterus and there are scars. No matter how good your embryos are, if there are scars in the uterus, the likelihood of success is low. “ On cost, Ajayi said: “You must agree with me that technology has a price tag. There is a difference between when you are using a laptop and a desktop. I am sure their prices are different. Definitely, technology carries a price tag and someone must be paying for that technology. If you look at

the cost in Nigeria, I don’t know about other places, but I know about my clinic, I will tell you that the cost is very reasonable. Let’s look at the scenario, here we have four centres; in between the four centres, we have about 13 power-generating sets. We have three transformers, personal transformers.

“That is not part of the service of IVF. Those are some of the things we need to provide in order to be sure we have reliable service in all the centres. Those are some of the things you need to provide in order for your service to be good. This also comes as the cost. We bring all the consumables that we use from Europe and America.”

election on the platform of PDP to contact the state secretary, Tahir Shehu, for their forms. While announcing the sales of the nomination forms last week, Kugama said the national secretariat of the party has authorised him to sell the forms to any member of the party who indicates interest to participate in the election. Kugama said expression of interest form costs N100,000 and nomination form N500,000 while administration fee attracts N50,000. He said that based on PDP gender equality in politics, female aspirants would only pay for expression of interest and administration fees. He said that his party had fixed April 11 and 12 for screening of aspirants and April 13 for the party primaries. According to Kugama, who assured aspirants of free and fair primaries, the date for the primaries is, however, subject to approval by the national secretariat of the party, which would send down monitors for the exercise. “We are going to conduct free, fair and credible primaries to be monitored by officials from the national headquarters of our party”, he said. Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed April 19 as dateline for submission of names of candidates by political parties and May 11 for the conduct of the byeelection.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

WorldReport Mandela visited by family members at hospital LOBAL icon and first Black G president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, reportedly spent part of yesterday with his family at his hospital bedside, a statement by his country’s presidential office indicated. The government also added that there was no “significant change in his condition”. “He spent part of Family Day today with some members of his family,” the presidency said in a statement in its first update since Sunday night. The country’s presidential office said Mandela’s condition continues to improve. Mandela, 94, was readmitted last week to an unidentified hospital due to a recurring lung infection. The Nobel Peace Prize winner received treatment for pneumonia over the weekend, a government spokesman said Saturday. Mac Maharaj, a spokesman for President Jacob Zuma, revealed that doctors withdrew excess fluid that had accumulated in the space surrounding Mandela’s lungs as a result of an infection. It’s the second time recently that Mandela has been hospitalised. More than two weeks ago, he was taken to a hospital for what officials described as a routine checkup.

Malian forces hunt for rebels after clash in Timbuktu ALIAN troops searched M house-to-house in Timbuktu yesterday morning following hours of fighting with Islamist rebels who had infiltrated the northern desert town. Residents said calm had returned by late Sunday after heavy clashes and airstrikes by French fighter jets backing the Malian troops forced them to shelter indoors. The fighting reflected the difficulty of securing Mali after a French intervention in January that pushed the rebels out of their northern strongholds. “Things are quiet this morning. The markets are open, traffic is on the streets, and people are out of their houses,” Timbuktu resident Garba Maiga said by telephone. Malian military sources said soldiers were sweeping parts of the town to ensure there were no remaining rebel fighters. At least one Malian soldier was killed in the clashes, along with more than 20 insurgents, according to a government statement on Sunday night. Residents said at least five civilians were killed in the crossfire. An army spokesman said that groups of rebels had entered the town after setting off a suicide car bomb at a checkpoint, diverting the military’s attention. Paris is keen to reduce its current 4,000-strong troop presence to 1,000 by the end of the year as it hands over its mission to a regional African force.

S’Korea vows strong response to North as U.S. deploys stealth jets Pyongyang expands nuclear weapons’ programme S tensions ratcheted higher A on the Korean peninsula amid shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang and the United States (U.S.) deployment of radar-evading fighter planes, President Park Geun-hye of South Korea raise the stake yesterday, vowing to strike back quickly if the North stages any attack. Park’s reaction, according to Reuters, came after North Korea said the region is on the brink of a nuclear war in the wake of United Nations (UN) sanctions imposed following its February nuclear test and a series of joint U.S. and South Korean military drills that have included a rare U.S. show of aerial power. Moreso, North Korea’s parliament has endorsed plans to give nuclear weapons greater prominence in the country’s defences. The move also came a day after the ruling Workers’ Party called for nuclear forces to be “expanded and beefed up qualitatively and quantitatively”. But despite the rhythm of war, the North, which economy is declining than it was 20 years ago, appeared to move yesterday to addressing its pressing need for investment by appointing a reformer to the country’s ceremonial prime minister’s job, although the move mostly cemented a power grab by the ruling Kim clan. Pyongyang had said on

Obama

Park Saturday it was entering a “state of war” with South Korea in response to what it termed the “hostile” military drills being staged in the South. However, a South Korean defence ministry official said last week. there have been no signs of unusual activity in the North’s military to suggest an imminent aggression, Measuring up to North Korea’s threat, Park told the defence minister and senior officials at a meeting yesterday that “if there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations.” Moreso, the South has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul. Stung by criticism that its response to the shelling of a

South Korean island in 2010 was tardy and weak, Seoul has also threatened to target North Korean leader Kim Jongun and to destroy statues of the ruling Kim dynasty in the event of any new attack, a plan that has outraged Pyongyang. Seoul and its ally – the U.S. – played down Saturday’s statement from the official KCNA news agency as the latest in a stream of tough talk from Pyongyang. North Korea stepped up its rhetoric in early March, when U.S. and South Korean forces began yearly military drills that involved the flights of U.S. B-2 stealth bombers in a practice run, prompting the North to puts its missile units on standby to fire at U.S. military bases in the South and in the Pacific. The U.S. also deployed F-22 stealth fighter jets on Sunday to take part in the drills. The F22s were deployed in South Korea before in 2010.

DR Congo’s rebels say UN peace brigade is ‘war’ EBEL authorities in the R Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday described the move by the United Nations (UN) to deploy a peacekeeping brigade to the country’s restive east as choosing to “make war”. The political leader and spokesman of the M23 rebel movement, Bertrand Bisimwa said: “This is the war option that the United Nations is exercising.” According to Bisimwa, the UN has chosen “to make war against one of its partners for

peace,” instead of “encouraging a political solution” through talks in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, between the rebels and DR Congo’s government. On Thursday, the UN Security Council unanimously approved the creation of a brigade of more than 2,500 troops to curb violent unrest in the resource-rich eastern provinces of North and South Kivu. However, diplomats said the resolution’s mandate for the

brigade to conduct “targetted offensive operations” has never been given to a peacekeeping mission before. The force is to put an end to unrest in the region, which has been gripped by conflict between armed groups for more than two decades, according to Agence France Presse (AFP). A statement from Kinshasha in response to M23’s comments yesterday said the rebels should quit, as they “go from one failure to the next”.

Kim On its part, North Korea has cancelled an armistice agreement with the United States that ended the Korean War and cut all hotlines with U.S. forces, the United Nations and South Korea. Park’s intervention came on the heels of a meeting of the North’s ruling Workers Party Central Committee where leader Kim Jong-un rejected the notion that Pyongyang was going to use its nuclear arms development as a bargaining chip. “The nuclear weapons of Songun Korea are not goods for getting U.S. dollars and

they are ... (not) to be put on the table of negotiations aimed at forcing the (North) to disarm itself,” KCNA news agency quoted him as saying. At the meeting, Kim appointed a handful of personal confidants to the party’s politburo, further consolidating his grip on power in the second full year of his reign. The most surprising appointment came yesterday as former prime minister, Pak Pongju, was re-appointed as premier, although the move likely signaled another power struggle in Pyongang staged by the country’s leader Kim Jong-un.

Obama hosts White House Egg Roll despite budget cuts ESPITE budget cuts facing But the event, backed by a D United States (U.S.) in an lottery for 35,000 tickets era of austerity, a venerable went ahead, partly financed Washington tradition was held yesterday as President Barack Obama welcomed tens of thousands of people to the White House Easter Egg Roll. Obama and his family, appearing with the Easter Bunny and their dog Bo, officiated at egg rolling contests, storytelling and basketball and tennis demonstrations, at the yearly event dating back to 1878. There had been fears that the popular springtime event would be cancelled because of harsh budget cuts known as the “sequester,” which have halted visitor tours of the White House and hit government contractors and federal spending.

by sales of commemorative eggs signed by the president and First Lady Michelle Obama. “The East egg roll is the biggest event that we have here on the South Lawn of the White House each year,” Michelle Obama said. “Today, we’re gonna have more than 30,000 people who will pass through this yard in celebration of nutrition and health and activity.” Since the Obamas moved into the White House, the East Egg roll has been linked to the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign, designed to promote healthy eating and exercise for kids.

Opposition leaders laud Al-Bashir’s move to free political prisoners in Sudan HE opposition figures in T Sudan have lauded President Omar al-Bashir’s disclosure that he would release all political detainees as tensions ease with South Sudan. “Today, we announce a decision to free all the political prisoners and renew our commitment to all political powers about dialogue,” Bashir said in a half-hour speech opening a new session of parliament. “We confirm we will continue our communication with

all political and social powers without excluding anyone, including those who are armed, for a national dialogue which will bring a solution to all the issues,” the president said. Following the revelation, a report by Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted Farouk Abu Issa, who heads the opposition alliance of more than 20 parties, as saying Bashir’s announcement was “a step toward genuine dialogue”. He said the rebel Sudan

Today, we announce a decision to free all the political prisoners and renew our commitment to all political powers about dialogue. People’s Liberation MovementNorth (SPLM-N), which has been fighting government forces for almost two years in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, had been demanding a prisoner release. “Very good news,” said Farouk Mohammed Ibrahim, of the Sudanese Organisation for

Defence of Rights and Freedoms, a group of activists. He said there are “a large number” of detainees in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. These include 118 SPLM-N prisoners whose cases are being handled by his organisation in southern Blue Nile alone. “It’s a step forward,” Ibrahim

said. But SPLM-N chairman Malik Agar declined comment on Bashir’s announcement, saying he was “not sure which political prisoners he is referring to”. A diplomatic source called Bashir’s statements positive but said it is too early to know where they are leading. “We should wait until we see clear results,” said the source, asking for anonymity. “Action is what counts here in Sudan.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Politics Worry over Akpabio’s remarks on zoning in Akwa Ibom From Anietie Akpan, Calabar NE state that will certainly be a flash point come 2015 governorship election is Akwa Ibom. Current build-ups to the impending primaries are enough indices to suggest that. Normally, Akwa Ibom is a one-way party state once the political elite and the elders agree. But the boiling issue now in the state is zoning. Intrigues within and without the government circles are beginning to unfold either for or against the traditional and brotherly zoning structure that has been on ground since 1999. Without mincing words, this arrangement is believed to have paved the way for each senatorial district in the state to have a taste of the Hill Top Mansion in Uyo. Today, a very dangerous signal is popping out, indicating that the third senatorial district may not be favoured by the powers that be, to produce the next governor of the state. There are plans to jettison the zoning arrangement of power shift in the state. Facts on ground: Uyo senatorial district ruled between 1999 and 2007. Then between 2007 and 2015, Ikot Ekpene senatorial district is on the saddle. So, the big question is will the political powers allow this arrangement to flow for the oilrich senatorial district of Eket take their turn? There’s a long list of aspirants already in the race, with the majority coming from the Eket senatorial district. Interestingly, no one has so far indicated interest in the race from the Ikot Ekpene senatorial district. But the Eket people are not happy over the state governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio’s declaration that he was not a product of zoning; indicating that there was no zoning arrangement in the state. Against this backdrop, a prominent Eket son, and former chairman of Eket Local Council and the Atta of Eket, Obong Samuel Atang, has opened up with what he called, “the bare truth.” Atang, who was one of the architects of the gentleman’s zoning arrangement, said that, “the argument against zoning making rounds in the state is a case of eat and break the pot.” He responded to questions on the issue thus: Is there any zoning arrangement in the state (PDP) and how did it start? We had a gentleman’s agreement that we should not fight over things. I want to say here clearly that in 1999, the strength of Benjamin Okoko was stronger than that of Obong Victor Attah and the argument was that Obong Akpan Isemin had done the Uyo turn; so, it was the turn of another senatorial district. But there was a superior argument that Isemin did not complete his tenure (as governor) because he did only 20 months, which could not be attributed to Uyo’s turn. So, that influenced the political elite of Akwa Ibom State to see that Uyo took the turn. It is on record that Benjamin Okoko stepped down for Attah; he did not lose in the nomination for Attah, as the spirit and the thinking of the elite was in line with Uyo producing the governor. So, whosoever that came out became inconsequential and Victor Attah emerged as the governor. After his second tenure, Victor Attah did not only align with the political elite, he also pronounced, as the political father of the state and governor, clearly that it would be the turn of Ikot Ekpene senatorial district. Eket senatorial district was in contention at that time and not Uyo. Uyo had accepted that they had finished their turn, to the extent that when people like Group Captain Ewang, who wanted power, had to leave the party (PDP) to run in another party. Having settled one senatorial district, it was the contest of two senatorial districts. But because the sitting governor (Attah) had mentioned Ikot Ekpene, Eket became the weak point. Hence, the political conglomeration became the settling of Ikot Ekpene and that was why Ikot Ekpene alone produced over 50 governorship aspirants. Some families had up to three people contesting the governorship and Ikot Ekpene won. If current political arithmetic by some people is anything to rely on, Ikot Ekpene ought to have failed in the primaries because it came with 50 governorship candidates against Eket senatorial

Akpabio district’s two or three and Uyo’s one candidate. From simple political arithmetic, who would have won? Is it not Uyo that had one or Eket that had three candidates? But the governor emerged from the area that had 50 aspirants, and several people contesting from the same family. Why was this possible? It was possible because the state had already agreed. The political power, the political thinking and the political direction focused on Ikot Ekpene so that even if Ikot Ekpene had come up with 1,000 candidates, one of them would have still been selected. Note that the Eket senatorial district did not even vote for their candidates because they were in tandem with the spirit of the zoning; and the political power of the state, which was vested in the governor, also gave a direction that having completed their (Uyo) turn, it should go to another zone. So, having taken two now, it’s automatic that the only one left (Eket) takes the last slut. But the governor has said he is not a product of zoning… I don’t think the governor is sincere about that — the issue of zoning. To put the record straight, the governor was voted first as somebody from Ikot Ekpene senatorial district. The person who came second in the nomination is from Ikot Ekpene. If you look at the result of the contest, about eight of the first 10 were from Ikot Ekpene district. How many votes does Ikot Ekpene have to have voted for 50 people; then Eket with 12 local councils could not vote for their own and Uyo, with all their population, could not vote for one of their own? If it were something that was open for all, the result would have been different. But because it was agreed that it should be Ikot Ekpene, someone from Ikot Ekpene won. I want to also state that if you have three children and you have only one thing, you call the

other brothers and let them know that there is need to accommodate others. I remember when we used to go to school; they would say, ‘you have to stay back for the other sibling to go because the money available in the family is for one person. When that one completes, he will come and help the next one.’ With this arrangement, sometimes everyone in the family becomes a graduate. It is totally against the spirit of give and take for anyone to say otherwise against zoning, from which they are beneficiaries today. If this thing did not move round, it would have been a case of one group or district dominating the rest. What the governor or any other person said against zoning is immaterial because if it is Eket, there will be many things to address. What political danger does it portend for the state if the PDP zoning arrangement crumbles? If this initiative done by the political fathers of this state is scuttled, it means that we have set a knife in Akwa Ibom politics; we will fight each other and we will live to disagree on anything put forward as agreement. They would have planted a seed of disagreement in the state to the extent that if someone wants to be governor for life, people will support him not necessarily because that person is good but because the people want to tell somebody that when we set the line for things to move in the right direction, you scuttled it. It is not good for somebody to have an opportunity and when you have that opportunity, and thereafter, remove the ladder so other other people will not climb. Are we competing at the same level? No because the governorship has been in Uyo and so many people in Uyo are very rich; the governorship has been in Ikot Ekpene and so many people in Ikot Ekpene are very rich. Eket is the only senatorial district that does not have a dual carriage road in Akwa Ibom State. Is it not clear that the Eket has been totally cheated?

Facts on ground: Uyo senatorial district ruled between 1999 and 2007. Then between 2007 and 2015, Ikot Ekpene senatorial district is on the saddle. So, the big question is will the political powers allow this arrangement to flow for the oilrich senatorial district of Eket take their turn?

From Ikot Abasi to Oron, we don’t have one dual carriage road, and no higher institution sponsored by our state government, except a state university that’s being established. Having been quoted as supporting, and now against zoning, what do should the governor do on this matter? The governor should do what is right by following the footsteps of the political fathers who set the role. Eket senatorial district will serve its own eight years and after that, it will go to Uyo and then Ikot Ekpene. Unless the governor wants to be the only Ikot Ekpene man who has been governor, so that no Ikot Ekpene or Anang man will ever be governor. What he is doing now means that no Anang man will ever be governor in future. It is interesting to note that the agitation for Itai State in the nineties was very high and this was a direct perception of marginalisation. Immediately the governorship was given to the Anang, the agitation for Itai State fizzled out because they were contented. Today, they see themselves as equals with others. The unity of the state cannot be achieved without equity and justice. For Eket to see themselves as equals, the governorship must come to them in 2015. Anything short of this will be the beginning of serious disintegration and agitation for a separate state. What advise would you have for the governor and others given this scenario? The governor should take a cue from his predecessor, Obong Victor Attah and Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State. Imoke has made clearly his pronouncement that it is the turn of Ogoja because Calabar, which is the South, has completed its turn; the Central will finish through Imoke and it will be the turn of Ogoja; that is the northern district. That is why you don’t have any acrimony on where it (governorship) is zoned. In Rivers State, the governor has called his people (Ikwerre), who are the majority in Rivers and told them that, “we cannot keep the governorship because it has to go to an area that has not produced before.” That is what we expect our governor to do. Take into consideration the fact that this (Eket) senatorial district produces over 95 percent of the wealth that Akwa Ibom is using in doing what we call “uncommon transformation.” The uncommon transformation in Uyo and Ikot Ekpene senatorial districts has not affected any area of Eket senatorial district and the only thing (governorship) we would have gotten, to give us a sense of belonging in Akwa Ibom State, people are now standing up to deprive us. It is totally unfair. For the unity of this state, they should allow the trend of changes and the zoning arrangement that have been accepted in our consciousness to stay. Even those saying there is no zoning, something is telling them, ‘look, there is zoning.’ They know that without zoning, they would not have been where they are. Any message for the PDP — the architect of zoning? It is the principle of the PDP, and some other parties, which says that the governorship should rotate among the senatorial districts. That is why in Eket senatorial district, people are not interested where the governor comes from as long as it comes from the district. It can come from Oron, Eket or Ikot Abasi. So, when it leaves here, it goes to Uyo and in Uyo, it can go to anywhere so long as it is Uyo senatorial district; then Ikot Ekpene and so on. So, that is the principle we are talking about. It is not written anywhere that after Ikot Abasi, it should be Eket then Oron. But the spirit of give and take is what prevails because it makes you to realise that another person elsewhere exists. The governor talked about competent people. Yes, and the governor had done greatly well. In 2007, who would have written that Chief Godswill Akpabio would perform the way he has done? Nobody! Governor Akpabio is a testimony that there is a hidden talent all over the state. So, Eket senatorial district should be allowed to bring out its own hidden talent.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

TheMetroSection Peace, merriment, fun mark Lagos carnival

Briefs NB Golden Pen Award holds in Lagos April 5 EN journalists and seven T photo-journalists have been shortlisted for the 2012 Nigerian Breweries (NB ) Golden Pen Award, which will hold in Lagos on Friday, April 5. The award seeks to recognize and reward objective reportage of Nigerian Breweries’ stories and activities. This is the fifth edition of the award. The Journalist of the Year would get a cash prize of N500,000, a 64GB Apple ipad and a plaque. The first and second runner-ups in this category would go home with N250,000, Apple ipad and plaque as well as N200,000 respectively. Photojournalist of the year would get a cash prize of N250, 000, a 64 GB Apple ipad and a plaque while the first and second runner up in this category would be rewarded with N200,000, Apple ipad and plaque as well as N150,000,Apple ipad and plaque respectively. The award jury is led by Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi. Others are Prof Ralph Akinfeleye, Mrs. Nkechi Ali Balogun and Gbenga Adefaye.

Anglican Communion begins Synod ISHOP of the Diocese of B Lagos West, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Rt. Rev. Peter Adebiyi will preside over the second session of the fifth Synod of the Diocese holding from tomorrow to Sunday at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Cathedral Church, Oba Akinjobi Way, GRA Ikeja, even as preparations are ongoing for his retirement from the church. Dignitaries expected include Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), and his Deputy, Mrs. Joke OrelopeAdefulire.

Nnamdi Obi dies at 76 HE death has occurred of T Prince Nnamdi Patrick Obi of the Obi Royal Family of Ezedibia

PHOTOS: GODFREY OKPUGIE

Scenes from the carnival....yesterday

By Godfrey Okpugie Deputy Lagos City Editor HIS year’s edition of the Lagos State Carnival took place yesterday on Lagos Island with grand display of beautiful people, fabulous costumes and musical jamboree, which have become the hallmark of the carnival. The dancing parade by secondary school children from virtually all the state government schools and some privately owned ones in the Lagos Metropolis took off from the front of Tafawa Balewa Square through the streets of Ajasa, Boyle and Igbosere Roads down to the City Hall and back to Tafawa Balewa Square, where each school danced and put up the best of their displays inside the TBS before a panel of judges who took keen interest in watching the displays to select the best for the State Governor’s Award. A statement from the State government said that the Carnival is the high point of weeklong activities of the Lagos Heritage Week and the theme for this year’s celebration is “Bring Back Brazil.” This year’s edition, according the

statement, featured over 12,000 adults and young people beautifully costumed parading the streets of Ikoyi and Lagos Island with a grand parade at the TBS. Lagos Carnival had its origin during the 1850’s when there was a large influx into Lagos of educated Africans, who had earlier been sold as slaves, from Sierra Leone, Brazil and Cuba. The Sierra Leoneans were known as Akus or Saros, the Brazilians and Cubans as Agudas. In the 1880s, there were four distinct groups in Lagos – the Europeans, the educated Africans (Saros), the Brazilians and the indigenes. The town was physically divided into four quarters corresponding to these groups. The Europeans lived on the Marina, the Saros mainly west of the Europeans in an area called Olowogbowo, the Brazilians behind the Europeans – their quarter was known as Portuguese Town or Popo Aguda or Popo Maro – and the indigenes on the rest of the island – behind all three. By 1888, there were 3,221 Brazilians in Lagos. A prominent member of the Brazilian group was Placido Adeyemo

Assumpçao, who later changed his name to Adeyemo Alakija. Fanti Carnival (also known as Caretta) was brought to Lagos Island by these Brazilians who settled around Campos area in Lagos State and on Lagos Island to be specific. It was introduced by the Da Souza and Kanaku families. The masked rider and the horse are aspects of Brazillian ranch life. Some of the men dress like cowboys and they are known as fasutini and they ride bicycles while their leader rides a horse. It is important to stress that, in the early days, women did not partake in the dressing up in masks and different clothing, but they were allowed to go around with the different actors. The carnival comes up three times in a year, Boxing Day, Easter Monday (the first celebration after Lent and Easter Sunday) and on New Year Day. As time went on, the people living in Lafiaji area, also on Lagos Island, started participating in the carnival. Later still, other areas of Lagos, like Obalende, Surulere, Yaba, etc caught the carnival bug. . Until recently, Lagos was the only

part of Nigeria that hosted the carnival. The carnival was a time of fun, laughter and merriment. However, from the 1970s to the early 2000s, the great Lagos festivals of Carnival, Eyo and Egungun were marred by violence between youths from different sections of Lagos or groups of masquerades. These festivals became synonymous with injury, destruction and death. The Lagos State Government, headed by Babatunde Fashola, decided to get involved in organising the Carnival and Eyo Festival in order to ensure that activities are conducted in a safe and secure environment and that it serves as a means to attract tourists to the state. Government involvement has returned the carnival and Eyo Festival to what they were known for- laughter, music, dancing and merriment. Government agencies such as LASTMA, LASAMBUS, RRS, Operation Mesa, Neighbourhood Watch, etc are fully mobilised to ensure that the event is hitch free. Corporate bodies are involved in sponsoring segments of the carnival, with some providing free food, drinks and souvenirs for celebrants.

Emekuku, Owerri North Local Council of Imo State. He died on Saturday, March 9, 2013, at the age of 76. Burial ceremonies begin today with a Vigil Mass at St. Agnes Catholic Church , Maryland, Lagos at 4.00p.m. and another Vigil Mass on Thursday, April 4, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Emekuku . Funeral Mass holds on Friday, April 5, 213 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Emekuku followed by interment at the Obi Royal Family Compound, Ezedibia Emekuku. He is survived by a sister, Mrs. Anthonia Nnenna Obi Ezeani, children, Uzoma, Kelechi, Vivian, Chinwe and Uche , grandchildren and a host of other relations including Dame Comfort Obi (OON), Mrs. Felicity Akunna Inyama, Mrs. Agatha Egbujor, Nze Remy Obi, Nze Jude Obi and Sir Ejeshi Obi.

Obi

METRO 13

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Court awards N7 million damages against Police over rights violation

Photonews

By Joseph Onyekwere

LAGOS High Court in IgA bosere has awarded a N7 million damages against

Children dancing during the Easter party at St. Mary’s Orphanage, Gwagwalada, Abuja...yesterday

PHOTO: NAN

the Nigeria Police for breaching the fundamental human rights of a young artisan, Stephen David, who was wrongly incarcerated for over 10 years. David was arrested in place of his younger brother, now deceased, sometime in May 2002. His brother was at that time wanted in connection with an offence of rape and robbery. One Sergeant Ogun of the Nigeria Police Force effected the arrest. David was subsequently, arraigned along with two others on August 9, 2002 for the offences of conspiracy, rape and armed robbery. The two persons with whom he was charged were later released from custody.

The applicant’s counsel, Obukohwo Odogun had on his behalf, sued the Attorney General of Lagos State, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State and Deputy Comptroller of Prisons, Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Lagos for abuse of his fundamental human rights of personal liberty, freedom, fair-hearing and dignity. He then prayed the court for a N10 million general damages against the respondents, jointly and severally, in favour of the applicant. But in his judgment, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo held the second respondent (the Police) liable of breach of the fundamental rights of the applicant and awarded N7 million against it and ordered it to apologise to the applicant. The court described the

wrong incarceration as inhuman, noting that no amount of monetary compensation could atone for what had been taken away from the young man. The judge said: “I find and declare that the second respondent is liable in damages for the breach of the fundamental right of the applicant. He has been incarcerated since August 9, 2002 till date. That is a period of 10 years and five months. It is inhuman. No monetary award can reflect a compensation of what has been taken from him. I, hereby, make an award of N7 million in favour of the applicant as against the second respondent. The second respondent is hereby ordered to make an apology in writing to the applicant for the abuse of his rights to personal liberty, freedom and dignity.”

Chevron begins road -user campaign in Akure From Niyi Bello, Akure S part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to protect vulnerable sectors of the Nigerian population, American oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, has begun a Child Safety Campaign programme to prevent deaths of minors through automobile accidents. The campaign, which was inaugurated last Friday in Akure, Ondo State capital, “is aimed at instilling good road user behaviour early enough in the lives of pupils and students of the various primary and secondary schools across the country. An initiative under the platform of the Agbami Partners, operators of the Agbami oil field of which Chevron is a major arm, the campaign is also aimed at creating safety awareness among kids of school ages. The campaign was also packaged to produce champions who would become Road

Executive Director, Leoplast Foundation, Mrs Sanjana Daswani,; , Representative of Education Administration District 6, Oshodi, Mrs. Bisi Oyelade and Dr. Ije Jidenma of Leading Edge Consulting presenting a laptop to first prize winner in the Leoplast Essay Competition, Miss Chidinma Okonkwo of Ijeshatedo Grammar School, Lagos...

Safety Ambassadors and assist to educate other children in and outside their schools, as well as their parents and siblings, on safety measures on roads. Inaugurating the programme in Akure, General Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs of Chevron, Deji Haastrup, explained that three states - Ondo, Delta and Bayelsa, would benefit from the first phase this year. He lamented the current situation where very little activities are undertaken by government and private concerns to impart information that could actually help to safe the lives of young children. According to him: “The anguish, pains, destruction and depression that trail road accidents is better imagined than described.” “Increasingly, school children are becoming vulnerable to road accidents in Nigeria. In May last year, for instance,

Experts charge expatriates on safety Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi(left); President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwahed Omar; Oluyin of Iyin-Ekiti, Oba Ademola Ajakaiye; and his wife, Olori Yemisi, shortly after the conferment of Otunba Atayeshe on the NLC President by the Oluyin, in Iyin-Ekiti… on Saturday.

Risky: An overloaded car on Ilututu Okitipupa Expressway, Ondo State...on Sun-

PHOTO: AYODELE ADENIRAN

Emulate Jesus' love for mankind, Christians urged S Christians all over the A world mark Easter, Nigerians have been urged to emulate the life of Jesus Christ who laid down his life for mankind. Making the plea on Thursday in Lagos was the Special Adviser to the Lagos State government on Religious Affairs, Dr. (Mrs.) Yewande AkitoyeBraimoh while speaking to newsmen on the significance

of Easter to Christians. She said: “Without Easter, there would no Christianity. "Easter gives us the confidence and faith that we are worshiping a living God. After resurrection, Jesus was taken to heaven, this means He will come back again. He resurrected so that we may have hope of salvation and it was after His ascension that the disciples began evan-

gelism," she said. Akitoye-Braimoh who is the Public Relations Officer of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), advised Nigerians to show love to their fellow men. She further advised new generation churches to believe in the Palm Sunday, which she said was the beginning of the crown Glory of Jesus Christ.

By Seye Olumide GROUP of experts have charged expatriates seeking work permit in the country to adhere to all safety rules and regulations. The experts urged more emphases on safety because of the state of insecurity and kidnapping among other vices currently ravaging the nation. Speaking during a Safety Summit for expatriates organized by Movexpat Limited in Lagos recently, Mr. Kunle Obebe, a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators said: “It is imperative for expatriates seeking permission to stay in Nigeria to take into cognizance all the rules and regulations guiding their stay.” He particularly stressed the need for such expatriates to follow all the security guidelines and regulations regarding their stay and to try as much as possible stay away from volatile areas. He also emphasized the need for the organisations facilitating the relocation of such expatriates into the country to ensure all necessary immigration papers are complete through the necessary Human Resources establishments. Obebe, who is also a partner at Bloomfield, said the reason why it is necessary to ensure the immigration processes are completed before bringing in such expatriates is “to avoid

unnecessary immigration embarrassments. On several occasions, we have witnessed situations where immigration officers, while asking them for their documents, unnecessarily subject such expatriates to embarrassments.” Another speaker, a Partner in the Tax Advisory and Regulatory Services Division of Akintola Williams Deloitte, Oluseye Arowolo, said one very important aspect of safety for expatriates in the country at present, particularly when we are having a serious case of security challenges is education, information and understanding of the regulations and the situation surrounding them. While he noted that Nigeria operates one of the simplest expatriate laws, it is imperative for us to educate the foreigners and enlighten them on the issue of safety. Arowolo said the major role players in this regard are the companies, the immigration, the expatriate and foreign immigration “while it is the responsibilities of the companies applying for services of an expatriate to follow necessary regulations, the expatriates involved must be willing to abide by rules and operate within regulations.” Other speakers include the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Labour Law Review Bimbo Atilola and Chief Executive Officer Managing Director, Halogen Security Company Ltd., Wale Olaoye.

pupils of a private school in the Ajah area of Lagos State were involved in a multiple accident on the Lekki-Epe Expressway leading to the death of three school children.” Haastrup noted that the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) in its recent report, claimed that an average of 11 people were killed daily in road accidents across Nigeria in 2012 and that a total of 4, 260 people were killed in accidents across the country in the same year.

Briefs Funeral of Olomoro monarch begins Thursday URIAL obsequies for His B Royal Majesty, Ogbodu Whiskey Agbayeh 1, the Odiologbo of Olomoro Kingdom in Isoko South, Delta State have been outlined. A statement by Olomoro Traditional Council and the Families of Ivobae Agbayeh of Ekrewolowo, Uruabe Quarters of the town said the funeral rites start at the late monarch's compound on Thursday April 4, 2013 at 6.00 p.m. The statement by Prince Goddey Ogbodu and Chief Moses Otomi added that the burial ceremonies hold the following day at Olomoro Primary School Field at 10 a.m. The late traditional ruler was a father, grandfather, great

Aniedi King, 57, for burial HE death has occurred of T Aniedi Ikpong King, the member that represented Etinan Federal Constituency 11 of Akwa Ibom State at the Federal House of Representatives between 2007 and 2011. He was 57, and will be buried in his hometown, Ekpene Ukpa, Etinan Local Council of Akwa Ibom State on Saturday, April 6 He is survived by his wife, Juliet and two children: Inemesit and Odudu as well as other relations including Ekpedeme King, the Public Relations Officer to the Nigeria Immigration Service.

King

TheGuardian

14 THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Conscience Nurtured by Truth

FOUNDER: ALEX U. IBRU (1945 – 2011)

Conscience is an open wound; only truth can heal it. Uthman dan Fodio 1754-1816

Editorial A Pope for the people

LETTERS

ROM his choice of a name, Pope Francis has left no one in doubt as to the Franciscan principle and direction of his papacy – humility, championing the cause of the poor and dispossessed, challenging the powerful to live up to their trust and protecting the much abused environment, which he describes as ‘God’s gift’. In words and in deeds, the new man on St. Peter’s throne has demonstrated that he is a protector of the poor and the needy. And, in his first homily, he spoke up unequivocally for this constituency. From this mission, no doubt, the world stands to gain a lot. Symbolic acts do send powerful messages and it is instructive that, beyond words, the Holy Father has endeared himself to the world and proven himself a true man of the people. He first asked that the flock pray for him upon his emergence as Pope instead of the other way round and broke tradition by cutting down on time and details of the ceremonies. By shunning some of the ostentatious appurtenances of papal authority, by mingling with the crowd and demonstrating a certain common touch, he has significantly taught a huge lesson in servant-leadership. On Good Friday, the Pope showed the universality of his mission by washing the feet of some inmates in a detention facility, including a non-Christian and a female inmate. By doing simple things and doing things simply, Pope Francis is refocusing popular perception from a regal papacy toward a papacy of the people, for the people. A transformation agenda does not come more convincing. With deep distrust of leaders by the led everywhere, the Pope must be commended for sending out the right signals that can earn the trust of the faithful and disabuse the minds of the doubtful. For the second time in a short time, the church has taught the world two important leadership lessons: sacrificial leadership by Pope Benedict XVI’s courage to let go, and now Pope Francis’ stand on the side of the weak and the have-nots. People in leadership positions at whatever level should imbibe these values, which are of especial relevance to leaders in Nigeria and such countries where power is seen as an end in itself, acquired purely for self-aggrandisement; while the overriding responsibility to protect the people is abdicated without remorse. In a sharply divided world between the tiny minority of the haves and the huge majority of the have-nots, there is no better time for a papal voice in favour of a more equitable distribution of God-given resources among His children. To this position, Pope Francis seems determined to commit his moral stature, his immense power, and his political position as a head of state. To confront the resource imbalance between people and between nations is a gargantuan task, but it is one that must be addressed. That the Pope has chosen this path, to be a voice for the voiceless, is understandable: this Pope comes from a humble background and he lived and worked in South America, a part of the world where extreme wealth and extreme poverty hatefully stare at each other, portending disaster for everyone. This applies also to other parts of the globe and Pope Francis may yet serve to pull the world from the danger of class conflict. To all persons in positions of power and authority, he says in characteristic humility: “Please I would like to ask (you) who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life … (to) be protectors of one another and of the environment”. The danger posed by poverty and environmental degradation is a stark reality and it dominates global agenda today. Needless to say, if the persons concerned heed this appeal, the world will be saved a looming disaster. The symbolic indicators of a change in leadership style have understandably been favourably received around the world. Christians and non-Christians now expect that it be consistently substantiated in policy and execution. There is hope that action will match words because a life of simplicity and concern for the underprivileged has been a core value of Pope Francis long before now. The Catholic Church faces many challenges today from the forces of secularism and liberalism. On the one hand, traditional personal and social values on matters of integrity, sexuality, marriage, gender, among others are under assault; in some cases they are in retreat in the face of powerful, well-funded and well-orchestrated personal and group interests. On the other hand, the flaws that arise from human weaknesses – moral, financial – within the church system have played into the hands of anti-ecclesiastical forces. Pope Francis, as head of the largest denomination in Christendom, should provide renewed spiritual, moral and political leadership to secure the church on course based on the unassailable precepts of Jesus the Christ. No one can deny the enormity of the task at hand. But no one can but wish that this Pope of the people succeeds in his mission, for the sake of the church and the world.

The Holy Week is a time offer no barrier to salvation as Christians fast with long as we do not hold an inorSjoy,IR:when submitting to spiritual dinate desire for them. Usually

Regarding Holy Week and Easter struggles in preparation for the sorrowful passion and joyful Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said that, “unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies it produces much fruit. The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to eternal life” (John 12:24). Similarly, unless we do penance and die to our earthly ways we cannot enter into heaven. We often hear from the pulpit today that material things

this is said in a way so as not to offend or disturb the wealthy. But Jesus tells us in all clarity: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matt 19:24). What is demanded of all Christians at this time is fasting, abstinence, restriction of personal desires and pleasures, intense prayer, confession, and similar ascetic elements. Holy Week is a sacred time of divine grace, which seeks to detach us from things material, lowly and corrupt in order

to attract us toward things superior, wholesome and spiritual. It is a unique opportunity to remove from the soul every inordinate passion so as to make room for the immense rejoicing and gladness of Easter. Limiting oneself to what is absolutely essential and necessary in an attitude of dignified, deliberate simplicity is a formula for patience and tolerance; it is an opportunity to acknowledge and emphasize our need for God’s assistance and mercy, placing complete trust in His affectionate providence; it is a prescription for salvation. • Paul Kokoski, Ontario, Canada.

Achebe’s immortal words On The Trouble With Nigeria S“TheIR: trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example, which are hallmarks of true leadership” “No one can do much about the weather: we must accept it and live with or under it. But national bad habits are different matter; we resign ourselves to them at our peril”. “Does it ever worry us that history, which neither personal wealth nor power can pre-empt

will pass terrible judgment on us. Pronounce anathema on our names when we have accomplished our betrayal and passed on? We have lost the twentieth century; are we bent on seeing that our children also lose the twenty-first? God forbid! On Cult of Mediocrity “Nigeria on the other hand is a country where it would be difficult to point to one important job held by the most competent person we have. I stand to be corrected” On Corruption “Keeping an average Nigerian from being corrupt is like keeping a goat from eating yam”. On Use of Siren “In all civilized countries, the siren is used in grave emergencies by fire engines, ambu-

lances and the police in actual pursuit of crime. Nigeria, with its remarkable genius for travesty, has formed a way to turn yet another useful invention by serious-minded people elsewhere into a childish and cacophonous instrument for the celebration of status”. On Igbo Question “Nigerians of all other ethnic groups will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo”. On False Images of Ourselves “I know enough history to realize that civilization does not fall down from the sky; it has always been the result of people’s toil and sweat, the fruit of their long search for order and justice under brave and enlightened leaders”. • Joe Igbokwe, Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Business Appointments P27 Coping with the challenges of retirement

‘How to end oil theft in Niger Delta’ By Roseline Okere NTIL the country adopts U good governance, deploys modern technology to monitor oil pipelines and ensures proper funding of security agencies, it will continue to face the challenges of crude oil theft and related vices ravaging the Niger Delta region. This submission was contained in a communiqué issued by stakeholders at the

end of oil and gas summit organised by CLEEN Foundation, in collaboration with the BRACED Commission, the summit held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, recently. Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani AllisonMadueke had early in the year urged all stakeholders to brainstorm on the best strategies to stem the tide of oil

theft. Already, the country was said to be losing yearly revenue of over $6 billion to this menace. However, stakeholders at the summit believed that the problem was not intractable. They urged the Federal Government to offer the type of governance that would guarantee the welfare of the citizens in the oil producing communities, as well as

deploy multi-phase meters at the oil wells, flow stations and export terminal to determine quantity produced and stolen. According to them, with such technology, there shall be no more secrecy and opaqueness in the volume of crude oil produced. The communiqué stressed the need for the Federal Government to demonstrate the political will to enforce

Andrew Yakubu, Group Managing Director, NNPC

Allison-Madueke

Bank customers groan over non-dispensing ATMs By Chijioke Nelson ANK customers have B decried the unpredictable nature of the nation’s electronic payment system, especially the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), which created hardships for them during the easter period, as they encountered difficulties in accessing cash. The customers, who said their festive season was marred by challenge posed by the ATMs, lamented that at holiday period like this, the machines and network supposed to be upgraded ahead of time, knowing that they will not open for daily business, while customers would need cash. An investigation by The Guardian showed that ATMs performed below expectations over the weekend in various parts of the country. Precisely, investigation in Festac Town, showed that there were queues in banks for ATM transactions, with one machine being functional out of four, in most cases. With 11 banks different banks and some having two branches in the area, it was difficult to see two functional machines at each bank at a time, as some had problems ranging from of interconnectivity with other banks, inability to dispense cash to outright network failure.

Others had no cash. At some banks, it was the security that offered clues to the ATM challenges. According to a respondent from Osogbo, “the issue in Lagos is the same in Osogbo. There were long queues, with some customers complaining of inability to access cash through the ATMs.” At Shop Direct, a private shopping plaza in Festac, customers could not easily vend on the Point of Sale (PoS) due to network challenges. A customer at one of the ATMs told The Guardian: “This is the fourth bank I am visiting this morning. The other three had four ATMs, but only one is working, with slow pace. Here again, two are working, but cannot connect to my bank’s network. “It looks like it is an arrangement by banks, since the charges on interconnectivity have been discontinued officially, though some banks are still deducting the charges.” Ayolu Bakare, an IT expert, at one ATM point, said: “We are yet to get there. What I don’t like about Nigeria is the issue of overstating ourselves. They have raised people’s hopes and now they cannot fulfil their promises. The ATMs are not fully equipped for the hype they have already created.

“But on a note of caution, I think it’s partly a connivance game playing out. Some banks are not really investing much on these ATMs, while others do and those who not will reap off those who do, especially with the removal of ATM charges. “Otherwise, I don’t see a reason why all the banks’ network will fail at once or all the ATMs will malfunction at the same time. Remember too that people are still skeptical about the PoS.” Tiwa Adepoju, a self employed and management consultant, said: “At such a time like this, why would the ATMs run out of cash in a properly managed system? Are the bank workers not human beings? Somebody is usually charged with the responsibility of monitoring cash levels on these machines, at least once a day. “The issue of ATMs responding with the slogans: ‘Issuer or switch inoperative’, temporarily unable to dispense cash’ and sometimes, outright blackout, that is, without network, make nonsense of the whole campaign for ATMs, cards and cash-less initiatives.” Also, Ugo Nwosuagwu, a civil servant, said: “Situation like this, is more of an announcement of another

round of disappointment, regrets and cause for lamentations. But I still wonder why these issues had to be associated with festive seasons. “I know this will surely happen. So I withdrew large sum before Friday, even though I don’t do so ordinarily. I am only here now to see whether I can get anything to get myself ready for work tomorrow.” Recently, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, acknowledged that there were still challenges facing the full implementation of payment system policies in the country, which ranges from infrastructure, adequate knowledge and right product innovation, adding that these are important in the drive to reach the desired goal.

existing laws, promote capacity building, logistics and technological support to its agencies particularly the security and law enforcement agencies. It also recommended the resuscitation of the Gulf of Guinea Commission, which was set up as a diplomatic channel to address some of the nation’s maritime security challenges. The over-dependence on oil money, the summit noted, has created a major crisis of unemployment with its attendant criminality. This, according to the summit, can be stemmed when government deliberately diversifies the economy, thereby creating more jobs for the teeming idle youths. The communiqué stated: “Oil producing states should synergize their actions and resources to address the challenges posed by oil theft; they should ensure the effective implementation of Global Memorandum of

Understanding; and they should facilitate, through the Ministries of Information and the National Orientation Agency, awareness and sensitization campaigns for the communities on the negative impact of oil theft”. It also urged civil society organisations to monitor and document compliance of oil companies to the implementation of voluntary principles on security and human rights, as well as advocate for the rights of security and law enforcement officials that die in the line of duty. The partnership between CLEEN Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation and the BRACED Commission, which serves as the secretariat and coordinating office of the SouthSouth states of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Delta also got endorsement from Ford Foundation, West Africa.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

16 BUSINESS

OTC market records moderate volatility By Bukky Olajide AST week, the over-thecounter (OTC) market recorded moderate intraday volatility in reaction to the current factors driving activities in the domestic financial markets. However, analysts noted that demand signals [which are weak] were seen in the later part of the week, which resulted in minimal drop in yields across maturities. During the review week, N31.84 billion worth of 91day treasury bills were offered and sold at the rate of 11 percent against 10.45 per cent at the previous auction, whilst N59.08 billion worth of 182day was offered and sold at the rates of 11.15 percent against 10.65 percent during the last auction. Total subscription during the auction was N205.33billion against N136.55billion

at the last auction. In addition, a total of N57.16billion worth of treasury bills across maturities was allotted on a noncompetitive basis against N35.02billion during the last auction. However, the reason for this allotment was not disclosed by the CBN. Meanwhile, Dunnlorenmerrifield analysts noted the increase in the stop rates at the auction – 53bps; and believe that this is a result of the “special OMO bills” sold at 12.75 percent (fixed rate) at the end of the previous week. In line with the prevailing monetary policy stance, consistent liquidity tightening was maintained during the review week. Cumulatively, N760 billion worth of OMO bills with days to maturity (DTM) ranging from 37days

–183days were offered during the week whilst c.N217.40billion was sold at marginal rates ranging between 11.10 percent to 12.50 percent across maturities. However, the effects of the sale of special OMO bills influenced the direction of the market as bid rates were generally higher than anticipated indicating banks’ search for optimal returns over the short run. Consequently, no bills were allotted on Monday and Friday in view of the higher rates submitted – the range of bid rates on Friday was 11.90 percent 12.74 percent. In the week ahead, there will be OMO bills maturity worth about N252.84billion. Analysts expect liquidity levels to remain elevated due to the effects of the maturing securities and the unsuccessful sale of

Aruma Oteh, SEC Director-General

OMO bills in the previous week. However, the CBN is expected to continue with its liquidity tightening measures.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

BUSINESS

Nigeria loses $6b yearly to crude oil theft HE Petroleum and Natural T Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) says the country loses six billion dollars annually to crude oil theft. PENGASSAN’s President, Babatunde Ogun, made this known at a joint forum with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in Lagos, over the weekend. He said that Nigeria also lost N105 billion to theft of refined products. ``This is a threat to our national security and our democracy. If this kind of huge amount of money gets into the wrong hands, it can destabilise our democracy and national security,’’ Ogun said. He blamed the incessant loss of billions of money on vandalism of crude oil and petroleum products’ pipeline. He express regrets that security forces had been unable to arrest the unwholesome practise which led to fire disaster in Arepo and Ogun and the subsequent shut down of Nembe Creek Trunk line by Shell.

``An estimated 60,000 barrels per day of crude oil is stolen at Nembe Creek. Agip also suspended production in Bayelsa because 60 per cent of its production of about 90 barrels is stolen per day.’’ He said it was sad that no one had ever been caught or prosecuted even when the miscellaneous offence Act provides for life imprisonment for anyone who stole crude oil, petroleum product or vandalised pipelines. He advised government to beef-up security and warned

that the oil and gas sector would suspend production of crude oil and supply of petroleum products if nothing was done. Ogun called on government to deal with the insecurity problem in view of the resurgence of kidnapping and continuous bombings. The president urged governors and Local Government chairmen to channel their security votes to step-up intelligence gathering and surveillance to nip crime in the bud at the planning stage.

Easter celebrations: FRSC arrests 246 traffic offenders in five states By Taiwo Hassan HE Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) has arrested 246 motorists in Kwara, Edo, Osun, Jigawa and Ekiti States for violating various traffic offences in the commission’s ongoing nationwide special patrol for the Easter festivities. A statement issued by the commission’s Public

Education Officer and made available to The Guardian, on Sunday, Jonas Agwu, said that 232 of the offenders had been convicted and fined by mobile courts, while 14 were cautioned and discharged. The statement said that speed limit violation, dangerous driving, over-loading and nonuse of seat belt were the prevalent offences.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

BUSINESS

Task force on Antipipeline vandalism arrests five suspects HE operatives of the T Inspector-General of Police’s Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism Unit, have arrested five suspected vandals in Lagos, that News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Task Force, Friday Ibadin, told NAN on yesterday in Lagos that the suspects were arrested on Sunday at 7th Avenue, FESTAC town Lagos, with 270 bags of 120 liters of petrol. “We got an intelligence reports at about 12.30 am, that vandals were at Ijedodo, Ijegun in Iba Local Government Council Development area of Lagos, and were sailing across the

river along FESTAC with petroleum products stolen from NNPC pipeline in Oke Agemo, Ijedodo. “A police team led by Sector Commander of the task force, Lagos, Onaghise Osayande, cordoned off the area. They suspects were arrested and several bags of stolen PMS were recovered. “I wish to use this medium to beg Nigerians to stay away from all NNPC pipeline as police is determined to reduce to its barest minimum the rate of pipeline vandalism,’’ he stated. The ACP said the leader of the gang, 52 years old, who claimed to be a palm wine tapper, said he has been in the business in the last two years. (L-R) Managing Director, Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Dr. Robert Orya; National President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr. Herbert Ajayi; 1st Deputy National President, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar and Honourary Life Vice President, Mrs. Nike Akande at a One-Day Sensitization/Pre-Investors’ Forum on Regional Sealink Project across West and Central Africa

Enterprise Bank boss reiterates support to SMEs By Chijioke Nelson HE Managing T Director/Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Bank Limited, Mallam Ahmed Kuru has reiterated the bank’s commitment towards the support of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country, describing that sector of the economy as ‘critical’ to the development of Nigeria. Kuru, who spoke in Lagos while receiving the leadership of the Nigerian

Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), led by Dr. (Mrs.) Lizzy Okereke, the association’s Deputy President, Finance and Administration, said that Enterprise Bank realised the strategic importance of SMEs in fast tracking the growth of the Nigerian economy and has since thrown its support to SMEs as well as organisations like NASME that champion the course of SMEs in Nigeria. To show how important the sector is to the financial sector as partners in progress, the Enterprise Bank boss said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has worked out a blue print that supports SME growth in the country and encouraged all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in

Nigeria to support the sector. He however regretted the fact that entrepreneurs were not taking the full advantage of the support that banks were willing to give. “There is need for knowledge sharing and capacity building among those that are interested in benefiting from the support that the banks are giving to the sector. At Enterprise Bank and indeed other banks today, there are many products that have been carefully developed for the benefit of the SMEs. But we have a situation where those that the products are designed for are not even aware and are not making any effort to know how they can be involved in the scheme,” Kuru said. He added, “If this is the situ-

ation, it means there is a lot of work to be done by NASME to educate their members on the availability of these products. But as Enterprise Bank, we have since identified the need to support SME growth in Nigeria. We want the country to see Enterprise Bank as a strong partner of the SMEs as well as associations like NASME because of your resolve to protect and project the interest of SMEs.” Earlier, Dr. Okereke, who stated that NASME is the oldest and the most widely spread SME-related association in the country that advocates for the sector said they were at the bank to seek the bank’s support to help their members secure financial assistance that will help grow their businesses.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

BUSINESS

Govt earmarks N800m for abandoned Asaba-Ebu-Uromi project in 2013 budget MEMBER of the National A Assembly, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, said N800 million was earmarked for the completion of the N2.9 billion Utor Bridge at Ebu, on the Asaba-Ebu-Uromi Road. Okowa, representing Delta North senatorial district, said the project was captured in the 2013 Federal Government budget. He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba that they would ensure that the fund was released for the job and push the contractor to complete it without further delay. NAN recalls that the contract was awarded in November 2006 but abandoned in 2009 following request by the Federal Ministry of Works to transfer the project to Delta Government. The transfer of the project to the State Government was contained in a letter dated Feb. 27, 2009, signed by the then Minister of Works, Dr. Hassan Lawal. Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan rejected the transfer “offer” on the ground that there was an existing Federal policy forbidding state governments in the country from handling federal projects in their states.

Local farmers commence clearing of farms in Kano OCAL farmers in most parts Lclearing of Kano State have started their farms in readiness for this year’s planting season, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. A NAN investigation in Rimin Gado, Gwarzo and Kabo local government areas of the state, revealed that most of the farmers in the areas had commenced the clearing exercise about two weeks ago. The investigation further showed that some of the farmers who had completed the clearing of their farms had since been bringing local manure to their farms. The investigation also showed that farmers who travelled to some parts of the country in search of greener pastures during the dry season (popularly known as Ci Rani) had also started returning home. One of the returnees, Malam Ibrahim Shuaibu, told NAN in Gwarzo that he returned from Lagos last week in order to clear his farm in preparation for the rainy season. ‘’Most farmers in the village who went to Lagos and other parts of the country in search of greener pastures have started returning home to prepare for the forthcoming rainy season,’’ he said. Meanwhile, some farmers in the areas have called on the state government to ensure early distribution of fertiliser in order to enable farmers get the commodity in time. They said there was need for the government to provide the commodity in time to enable farmers, particularly in rural areas, to purchase the commodity. ‘’Government should ensure early distribution and sale of the commodity so that farmers in remote areas can access the commodity in good time,’’ a farmer in Rimin Gado, Malam Abubakar Mohammed said.

President Goodluck Jonathan

Mike Onolemenem, Minister of Works

Besides, Uduaghan said that Delta had enough developmental issues needing its funds and would have nothing to do with federal projects. The “confusion” generated by the situation, forced the contractor, Inter Bau Construction Company, to abandon the job. According to the Chairman of the company, Chief Nath Okechukwu, the company is in dilemma as to who to deal with over the contract. However, representations by

Okowa and his colleague, representing Edo South senatorial district, to the Minister of Works, in June, 2012, changed the situation. ``The contractor has returned to site and all necessary things for the completion of the job, including funds, have been put in place. “The National Assembly approved the allocation of N800 million to the project in the 2013 budget and the money will cover the remaining cost of the job,” he said.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

20 BUSINESS

Oil spill: Fishermen demand N4.32b compensation from SNEPCO HE Artisan Fishermen of T Nigeria (ARFAN), Niger Delta Region, has demanded N4.32 billion compensation from Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. (SNEPCo) for five states impacted by oil spill in the Region. The Association’s Secretary and Niger Delta Coordinator,

Elder Inyang Ekong, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket, Akwa Ibom.. He said that the claims and compensation were necessary due to the extent and impact of the spill on the people of the region. NAN recalls that SNEPCo on the Bonga oil spill located off-

We have been so weak and sorrowful because our members are frustrated by the oil spill that cut across the whole Niger Delta Region shore Nigeria, estimates that about 40,000 barrels of crude oil escaped into the Atlantic Ocean on Dec 20, 2011.

Ekong said that the oil spill had caused untold hardship to the fishing communities and to the association members in the region.

“We have written and nothing has been done for us, we are still waiting and we went on consultation and still nothing is happening. “Up till today, we have not received any positive response from the regulators nor from the Federal Government. “We have been so weak and sorrowful because our members are frustrated by the oil spill that cut across the whole Niger Delta Region,” Ekong said. According to him, the effect of the oil spill has thrown the fishermen in all the states of the Region into ``a very big confusion’’. Ekong said that sea weeds had been noticed on the ocean floor from Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo and Rivers, adding that the development has resulted in the scarcity of fish in the area. According to him, the massive depletion of sea weeds has lead to scarcity of fish and sardine in the market. “The effect of the oil spill was such that sea weeds were removed from the ocean bed up to the surface of the water. “When the fishermen go out for fishing, they catch sea weeds instead of fish and their nets are affected by the

spill equally. “About 200 Akwa Ibom fishermen died as a result of starvation and hunger caused by the oil spill in the region in the last two years”. Ekong said that the Association had send delegates to meet with the NOSDRA, at the headquarters, Abuja on effect of Bonga oil spill to members but to no avail. He said that Akwa Ibom was the worst hit during the oil spill in the region, saying that fishermen in the state had to go beyond the boundaries with other countries in search of fish to sustain their livelihood. He appealed to the Federal Government, Stakeholders, Regulators and good spirited individuals to come to their aid, lamenting that fishermen had been deprived of their occupation. “We spent N800,000 to bail five fishermen from the hands of Cameroonians who seized our members’ boats and engine in February this year. “We are appealing to Federal Government, Shell Company and NOSDRA to look into the hardship caused by the oil spill on our members in the region.’’

Employ more youths to promote security, says firm boss N oil pipeline security A outfit says surveillance on pipelines on Niger Delta Head, Programmes, Vchannels and Odua TV, Awal Abdulfatal (left); Public Relations Manager; Startimes, Rete Anetor and Brand Content Manager, Startimes, Bose Adewara, at the media briefing announcing the “Startimes Family rewards” for the Easter celebration, in Lagos, on Friday.

region will not be achieved when majority of the youths remain unemployed.

The Chief Executive Officer, Yaful Integrated Services, Luke Eneriene, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt. Eneriene said that militancy and oil bunkering were crimes that should be handled in the same way. “The same way amnesty was granted to stop the activities of militants, so will jobs be created for youths to stop bunkering in the region. “Our duty as a company is to ensure total elimination of oil pipeline vandalism and bunkering, especially in some parts of the Niger Delta Coast stipulated in our terms of contract. “As much as we strive to achieve calm on our coast, I will solicit for government’s support toward job creation for youths in the area. “I’m of the opinion that if the youths are gainfully employed, it will go a long way to check crude oil theft on our coast,’’ Eneriene said. He described the rate of pipeline vandalism as ``disheartening’’, saying: “the vandals die in their prime and in numbers too, yet a lot of them are not ready to quit the act,” he added. Eneriene, therefore, called on government to establish some mechanised fish farms across the coastal regions. Eneriene explained that due to the peculiarity of the Niger Delta terrain, government should ensure that researches were conducted to ascertain the species of fish that would be suit the area. According to him, if such fish farms can give employment to about 10,000 youths in the Niger Delta region, the struggle toward eradication of pipeline vandalism will be achieved. He, however, decried the non-availability of properly equipped security force in order to combat vandals around the coastal regions.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

BUSINESS 21

IPMA commends improvement in movement of petroleum products IPELINES and Product P Marketing Company (PPMC) has reactivated 22 ailing depots, making movement of petroleum products hitch-free in the last three years. The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), which commended PPMC for the progress said, yesterday that the reactivated depots were under system 2B. In a commendation letter sent to PPMC, IPMAN also noted with delight, the renewal of facilities at Mosimi depot. The statement signed by the chairman of depots and the zonal officers was made available to the News Agency of

NURTW wants govt to scrap illegal motor parks in A/Ibom HE Akwa Ibom branch of the T National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has called on the State government to scrap all illegal motor parks in the state. The Assistant Secretary of the Union, Timothy Udoh, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Uyo. He also called on the members of the State House of Assembly to make laws that would back the scrapping of all illegal part in the state. Udoh said that because of the free hand in running Motor Parks, Itam Motor Park built by the administration of Gov Victor Attah, has been made redundant and ineffective. He said that only a law could make the transporters go back to the government parks and make them functional, adding that Itam park was built to accommodate all the parks relocating from Uyo town to the axis. “Based on this conditions and the fact that government needed to make the capital city wider, they had to build the Itam park so as to relocate all the parks to that axis.’’ “But if you apply law, then it will be binding on transporters to move into the government owned park at Itam in Itu Local Government Area of the state. “Itam motor parks I would say, was a decision of the government to offer a befitting transport activity and this was done during the administration of Obong Victor Attah.’’

Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja. “In a short while all depots that are not functional would soon be brought to life,’’ IPMAN said. “We have also been informed of the extensive and expansion of the atlas cove jetty’’ and wish to congratulate PPMC for the effort to make products available nationwide with hitch. “We have also noticed the determination of PPMC and NNPC to tackle the ugly problem of pipeline vandalism and the efforts to tackle vandals at black spots in Arepo and other areas is beginning to yield positive results.’’ The Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Olumide Ogunmade, and Secretary, A. Idowu, were among the signatories. NAN check shows that aside the reactivation of the depots, PPMC had embarked on the

activation of the pipelines connecting all the depots and the connectivity had reached 80 per cent. Recently, PPMC released a catalogue of achievements, including 43.6 per cent reduction in demurrage and 80 per cent reduction of in depot losses through strict internal control. PPMC said it was a major achievement, the ``reactivation of Northern axis of pipeline and pumping of petroleum products to Kano, Suleja, Jos, Minna and Gusau after about 15 years of stock out’’. The company had also effectively managed products distribution and elimination of queues in filling stations since 2011. It however, identified incessant pipeline vandalism, obsolete equipment and lean budgets as some of its challenges.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, APRIL 2, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

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NRC laments accidents at railway crossings Wants state/local govts support on erection of barriers By Taiwo Hassan HE Nigeria Railway T Corporation (NRC) has lamented the increasing rate of accidents along railway crossings in the country, saying that the act was a growing concern to the corporation’s management. The NRC Director of Administration, Dr. Aminu Gusau, said this while on a courtesy visit to Governor Mukhtar Yero in Kaduna, over the weekend, said that the accidents were caused largely due to absence of barriers at railway crossings. Gusau noted that several lives and properties were being lost daily, and solicited the support of states and local governments to erect barriers along the crossings. “If a train is coming and a vehicle or pedestrian is also coming, we usually have somebody who would control the traffic and notify incoming cars of the danger ahead. This will help save lives.’’ He also attributed the spate of accidents to the erection of structures close to rail lines and non-compliance to traffic rules. Gusau called on the Kaduna

Yero State Government to ratify the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreed between it and the corporation for the supply of diesel to run the state’s mass train transport in the northern district. The director also appealed to the state government to assist in protecting NRC property against encroachment and vandalism. He said work on the 250km per hour railway system between Abuja and Kaduna had begun, adding that the Lagos-Ajakouta project and that of Lagos-Kano had been completed. Responding on behalf of

Yero, Deputy Gov. Amb. Nuhu Bajoga, assured the corporation of the state government’s support. He described the railway transport system as the cheapest and fastest means of transportation, adding that the state government would continue to partner with the NRC to sustain it. “Railway has touched our lives in the past, when railway died, Kafanchan died. “We are happy that the government is coming back now with the policy of revamping the railway transport because it has being the mainstream of the transport system in the developed world.’’

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, APRIL 2, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Bank of Cyprus

Cohen buys Picasso’s ‘Le Reve’ from Wynn for $155m Cohen, owner of ShasTEVEN SAC Capital Advisors LP, bought Pablo Picasso’s “Le Reve” for $155 million from casino owner Steve Wynn, a person familiar with the transaction said. The price is the highest paid by a U.S. collector for an artwork, art dealers told Bloomberg. Wynn had previously agreed to sell the painting to Cohen for $139 million in 2006. The purchase was canceled after Wynn, whose vision has deteriorated owing to retinitis pigmentosa, accidentally put his elbow through the canvas. Cohen remained interested in the work for years as it was repaired. “The restoration seems to be factored into the price,” said Beverly Schreiber Jacoby, valuation specialist and president of New Yorkbased BSJ Fine Art. “If you didn’t know that it has been damaged, you would not see it. It’s superbly restored.” The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed $616 million insider-trading settlement with SAC Capital Advisors will be the subject of a hearing on March 28 in Manhattan federal court. SAC manages $15 billion, 60 per cent of which is Cohen’s and his employees’ money. Cohen is one of the world’s biggest art collectors, with works by Van Gogh, Manet, de Kooning, Picasso, Cezanne, Warhol, Johns and

Richter. Cohen, 56, started collecting art in about 2001. His taste has shifted from Impressionist to contemporary works. An early Cohen purchase was Edouard Manet’s 1878 “Self Portrait with a Palette” from the collection of Las Vegas casino developer Wynn. Cohen later sold the work. Cohen’s purchases have helped boost prices of artists such as Damien Hirst, whose shark-informaldehyde he bought for $8 million. “Le Reve” shows MarieTherese Walter, described in biographies as the married artist’s mistress, model and muse. For years he gave her and their daughter financial support. The market for pictures of her surged when the 1932 “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” sold for $106.5 million — a record for any work of art at auction — at Christie’s International in New York in May 2010. Sotheby’s in London also sold the 1932 “La Lecture” for 25.2 million pounds ($40.5 million) in February 2011. “Femme assise pres d’une fenetre” sold for 28.6 million pounds at Sotheby’s in London in February this year. Married and 45, Picasso spotted Walter in 1927 on a Paris street when she was 17. She would be the artist’s greatest love for the next decade, inspiring numerous paintings and sculp-

tures, according to John Richardson, Picasso’s biographer. “She was young, blond, sexy, round, accommodating,” said Michael Findlay, director of New York’s Acquavella Galleries, which organised “Picasso’s MarieTherese” exhibition in 2008, said in 2011. Most of the top MarieTherese paintings at auction have been dated 1932, the year of Picasso’s big retrospective at Galeries Georges Petit in Paris. The Marie-Therese period hasn’t always been considered Picasso’s finest hour, said Findlay. This changed after “Le Reve” hit the auction block as part of the collection of Victor and Sally Ganz in 1997. It sold for $48 million. “Everyone wanted to buy the ‘The Dream,’” said Findlay. “It was a standout among the new generation of collectors,” including Francois Pinault, Bernard Arnault, Cohen and Wynn. The new “Le Reve” sale was earlier reported by the New York Post, citing a source it didn’t identify. The price isn’t the most paid for a work of art. In 2011, Cezanne’s “Card Players” was bought by the royal family of Qatar for more than $250 million, Vanity Fair reported. Muse highlights include Mark Beech on music, Martin Gayford on art, Stephanie Green’s Scene Last Night and Jeremy Gerard on U.S. theater.

Apple denies iPad Mini US trademark HE iPad and iPad Mini are a series of patent disputes mark merely describes a feature or characteristic of T two of Apple’s bestselling with rival firms. It won a landmark case applicant’s goods”. products. Apple has been denied a trademark for the popular iPad Mini by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The trademark application for the tablet was turned down because the name was “merely descriptive” and did not create a unique meaning, it said. But Apple still has until July to persuade the Patent Office that the smaller tablet differs sufficiently from its iconic sibling. Apple has been involved in

against Korea’s Samsung last year but this month, a judge in the US ordered the $1bn (£660m) in damages awarded to Apple be cut by 40 per cent and set a new trial to assess the level of damages. The award was the biggest in a series of global legal fights between the two companies over patents. The Patent Office issued the letter in January, although it has only just emerged. In it, it said the “applied-for

The terms “mini” and “pad” and the prefix “i-” were all descriptive, it decided. Neither as individual terms nor as a composite result iPad Mini - did they “create a unique, incongruous, or non-descriptive meaning in relation to the goods being small handheld mobile devices comprising tablet computers capable of providing internet access”. In its last quarter to January, Apple said that it sold a record 22.9 million

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Appointments Coping with challenges of retirement By Yetunde Ebosele

How do you plan adequately for retirement without good wages? How do you save money for retirement when what you earn is not enough to cater for your immediate needs? You have to survive first before you can think and plan for the future ETIREMENT from active service is inevitable. R It comes and assumes various dimensions. Retirement can either be voluntary or compulsorily implemented by organisations including government establishments. In several organisations, terms and conditions for retirement are spelt out in details at the point of employment. However, while some organisations specify in details road map for retirement, others especially among, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are usually silent on the issue, prompting individual employees to fathom out convenient approaches based on prevailing circumstances. Indeed, in Nigeria and some parts of Africa, employees do not give serious considerations to retirement plans principally because of poor For example, the 2004 Pension Reform Act was wages. promulgated to establish a contributory According to experts, to attain successful retire- scheme for the payment of retirement benefits ment plan, employees must factor in several fac- of employees in the public and private sectors. tors including adequate arrangement for long Under the scheme, employees are mandated to term savings, inflation that may reduce pur- open and maintain an individual Retirement chasing power, political environment and rele- Savings Account in his or her name with any vance of individual workers’ skill to the larger Pension Fund Administrator of his or her choice economy. and notify the employer accordingly. But, financial plans are only an aspect of retire- According to the law, the funds and pension ment as retirees are expected to plan adequate- assets must be kept with Pension Fund ly on how to convert available man-hour to pro- Custodians, who are guaranteed by banks while ductive use. the employer must always deduct 7.5 per cent of For example, experts recommend disengaging the employee’s remuneration and add another from active service on a gradual process cou- 7.5 per cent to it for such an employee making it pled with taking advantage of part time 15 per cent. employment among others. Apart from the above efforts, which are geared Observers are also of the opinion that most towards making life after retirement comfortworkers don’t plan for retirement until the 11th able, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has hour when it is usually very difficult to attain repeatedly called on all tiers of government to result oriented initiatives. improve on approved wages and conditions of A retiree, who spoke with The Guardian at the workers while in service. weekend, blamed poor wages paid by employ- For instance, some workers argue that lack of ers of labour as one of the factors responsible for employment opportunities in Nigeria has to a challenges, which usually make it difficult for large extent make retirement unattractive and workers to adequately plan for retirement. difficult. “How do you plan adequately for retirement Reviewing the state of Nigeria’s economy in without good wages? How do you save money 2012 and outlining the way forward in 2013, the for retirement when what you earn is not headquarters of the NLC, recently urged enough to cater for your immediate needs? You President Goodluck Jonathan administration to have to survive first before you can think and tackle economic issues, ranging from creation plan for the future”, said the retiree who pre- of jobs to eradicating corruption. ferred to remain anonymous. Specifically, it urged government to put in place He, however, appealed to all those who a concrete industrialisation policy aimed at are gainfully employed to “save and plan for the reviving industries in the country. future”, adding that “It is in their interest and According to the congress, an industrialised that of their children and dependants”. country would have enough jobs for its youth He also used the opportunity to appeal to and workforce thus improving the economic Labour leaders to sustain its ongoing clamour status of such a country. for good wages and better working conditions, They also urged government to put in place adepointing out that “this is the only way to ensure quate measures to eradicate corruption in all decent retirement plans. Without good wages facets of Nigerian lives. and decent working environment, opting for “We are scandalised that while government retirement may be difficult and unattractive”. beats its chest that the growth of the economy at Other respondents who spoke with The seven per cent is good, we are however worried Guardian explained that government policies about the state of unemployment and joblessgo a long way in determining the state of the ness in the country. Nigeria as at today has no working class and those in retirement. industrialisation policy that can create or save Besides, experts argue that ageing jobs. population and retirement will continue to be a “There is need for government to take serious source of problem in Nigeria if corporations stance on the issue of unemployment in the including government agencies don’t key into country. Companies are folding up day in day established pension schemes for their employ- out and jobs are being lost on a daily basis. What ees and pay attractive wages in line with the we are witnessing in Nigeria today is de-industristate of the economy. aliastion, government should put on its thinkAdequate financial plans, according to ing cap on how to re-industrialise Nigeria. experts, ensure that people sustain comfortable “The issue of corruption is lifestyle after retirement. Retirement benefit unprecedented today in Nigeria that we wonder scheme is usually established or maintained by whether there are proper regulations in place to an employer or an employee of an organisation. tackle the menace. It has become a way of life A defined benefit plan promises a certain and has eaten deep into the core of our existence monthly benefit upon retirement. Some of the as a country. identified benefits are protected by govern- “A point in question is the scam in the petrolement legislations. um industry. It’s quite scandalous that govern-

ment agencies and captains of industries were involved in the scam. “The only way to put an end to this problem is if all those found culpable on corrupt practices are tried and brought to book through sentences. “Government should also in 2013 look into grassroots development by mandating state

government to develop manpower at the grassroots level, this we believe would contribute to creation of more jobs in the country. “Besides, government most equally as a matter of importance check the excesses of employers of labour in the country, most of who engage in anti-labour practices”, NLC said.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

28 Appointments

World Bank wades into Nigeria’s unemployment, education with $450m projects By Chinedum Uwaegbulam HE World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved $450 million for two projects in Nigeria to boost employment opportunities for young people in 20 states, and to improve education quality for millions of school children in the country. Financed by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), these credits will support Nigeria’s socio-economic development in line with the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda. IDA helps the world’s poorest countries by providing loans (called “credits”) and grants for projects and programme that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. The $300 million Nigeria Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) focuses on poor youth and the poorest 10 per cent of households in participating states. It provides youth aged 18 to 35 with opportunities for work and skills training, and improved access to social services for the vulnerable. Importantly, the project supports the government in strengthening Nigeria’s social safety net system. Qualifying households will receive regular cash transfers to improve family health and schooling. The $150 million Nigeria State Education Program

Investment Project (SEPIP) will serve millions of children in the three Nigerian states of Anambra, Bauchi and Ekiti by improving the quality of their schooling. The project links financing to results achieved through better teacher deployment and school management. It aims to improve measurement of student learning in government primary and secondary schools in these states. “Investing in people is an essential part of Nigeria’s strategy to reduce poverty and achieve steady economic growth,” said the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly. “I am delighted that we are supporting better schooling and earning prospects for millions of children and young people, while also cushioning some of the poorest families through a stronger social safety net system.” “Youth make up over half of Nigeria’s population, yet 38 per cent of them are either underemployed or unemployed and their education and skills levels are low,” said Foluso Okunmadewa, World Bank Task Team Leader for the YESSO project. “The YESSO project will help young people earn wages by planting trees or cleaning public spaces, get help with livelihood skills and job placement, and live in less vulnerable households. The project will also help the government create systems

that can be used to protect poor households and individuals both now and in future.” Deputy Director, Vocational Skills, at the National Directorate of Employment in Nigeria, Roslyn Olawunmi, believes that the project will benefit poor people. “We know the YESSO project will help young people to acquire skills and the opportunity to earn a decent living -some will work for wages while others will start

their own businesses and hire others”, she said. “At the end of the day, this will reduce poverty greatly among the poorest households.” The three states covered by the second project (SEPIP) aim to raise the quality of education by improving teacher availability in rural areas and for core subjects; introducing standardised state-level testing in English and Mathematics; making technical and vocational

education more relevant to the needs of employers and entrepreneurs; and strengthening school-level management and accountability. “Rather than financing the educational system to keep it running, this education project shifts the focus to what the system is actually doing for children, by linking financing to the achievement of agreed results,” said Irajen Appasamy, World Bank Task Team Leader for

the SEPIP project. “The project is designed to make a real difference in the lives of children and youth, particularly girls and those from poor families, so that their education and skills help them join the jobs market as skilled adult workers.” The innovative and catalytic nature of the two projects help to establish results and practices, which could be scaled up and implemented by the state and federal authorities

Peju Ibekwe, of Communications Department, Sterling Bank Plc; Assistant General Manager Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Micheal Olanrewaju Savage; Branch Manager, Iyana Ipaja Branch, Sterling Bank, Jolly Enabulele; Scholastica Indyer of Sterling Bank and Temitope Bello of Communications Department Sterling Bank, during the bank’s cleaning exercise at Ikeja roundabout as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

Appointments 29

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Organised labour in Nigeria has not sold out, says Esele The Trade Union Congress (TUC) recently held its National Executive Committee meeting in Benin City, the Edo State Capital. In this interview with Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, President of the TUC, Peter Esele, disclaimed insinuation in some quarters that organised labour has always sold out when it matters most for Nigerians, he also spoke about the mobilisation of opposition political parties to create an alternative to PDP and other issues. Excerpt. What is your reaction to Nigerians who accused organised Labour of compromising? OU see that is where we murdered English in Nigeria. What is the meaning of compromise? The meaning of compromise in Nigeria means that you sold out but that is not the meaning of compromise in the dictionary. What is the meaning of the word negotiate? What is the meaning of collective bargaining? These the tools Labour work with. Things have gone so bad in Nigeria that we don’t trust ourselves again. People don’t even trust their father or their children any more. Let me tell you the labour movement has been there and will continue to be there because we have a value system that cannot be kicked away. When people say all these about taking money, I laugh but let me tell you, the last subsidy strike in January is the most successful strike the labour movement has ever had in the history of this country. We don’t even need to be on the street but we insisted that there would be no movement. For the first time in conducting strike in this country we shut the air space, I was clearing the aircraft to land. I will get a call from the base; do we allow international flight to come in? We will say yes, let international flight come in. It has never happened. That was the first time we did that. We got the civil society movement and they joined us. In the labour movement I can come and tell my management that my money is N10 and I want to earn N100. Then we start talking, the fact that I now come to N50, does that mean I have sold out? We just finished the PHCN negotiation nobody reported how labour negotiated it, how we burnt the candle to make sure that the workers get what they want, then we can go ahead and privatise. We got everything to the benefit of the workers but nobody accused us that we also sold out. We

were looking for a whopping close to N600 billion government said they have N200 billion, we came to the middle of the road and we told ourselves the truth at the end we got almost N500 billion. That was the primary reason I was elected, to defend and protect the bread and butter of those paying union dues. As I am talking to you now people are paying my hotel bills and air ticket. But do you think our President feels this same way especially since Nigerians pay his bills through taxation? The difference is because in the trade union system we are democratic. In our NEC I go there to give them reports and there are milestones they judge me by. And we review everything that we have done and chart away forward. But if they don’t also like what I did, they will abused the hell out of me and tell me what they want. And if I also don’t comply, they will tell you to your face if you don’t do it, you get out. As President of the TUC, I don’t have executive power, I don’t have security votes, I can’t fly business class, the union can never pay for you to fly business class. You know what is expected of you. We still transfer this into our governance but the leaders don’t want to do that. There is no connection between the leaders and the people and that is our biggest problem. The governor in Edo and that of Lagos can walk in the streets because there is a connection between them and the people they are leading. If there is a connection between the people and the leaders things will be better. Like some people came that I have done well that I should amend the constitution like that of the NLC that says stay for four years, that we should now amend and do four years. I said okay amend but it will start from the person after me and they said no we don’t know who will come after you if the person will be that good, so let us stick to our three years if you are not ready to take it. I said I cannot take it I have spent a second term of three years and once it is over I am gone. And for your information, on the average I do three flights a week, 12 flights a month, 120 flights a year. So in the last six years I have done over 600 flights all around the world. So you are telling me that with all these stress I will now elongate to stay another one year, that’s just not possible. But there is also the perception that the organised labour doesn’t practice what they preach? I have stopped looking at Nigeria objectively because if I do that I will die young. But when you look at it subjectively you will know that a country gets the kind of leader that it deserves. But at the end of the day you will know that everything that has a beginning must have an end. Have you ever seen a protest in the UK that is carried out only by

Esele the labour movement? No. Nigerians have become so lethargic. When you look at TUC, irrespective of how you look at it, it is an amalgam. If everyone of us believes in ourselves and say we are not going to take this rubbish any more, you don’t need the labour union to join you to protest. It is just because things have gone so bad that everything in Nigeria you want it to be done by the Labour Union. Even if your wife is not pregnant you can accuse the labour union that it is the fault of the labour union. Let me tell you, the N2.1 billion loan that we took is being serviced; we are paying interest as at when due. We took that loan to purchased buses in Abuja for the ordinary man. Our intervention is first to make life easy for the ordinary man in Abuja, empower the people who run that sector. Like now those who are running the buses we said run it, pay for these buses and you go with it after four years. Why won’t they run the business very well? We have some buses in Lagos, some are going to Abuja, and we have some in Ogun State. So, the Labour Union has different and various means of intervention, so it is not everything that we do that we come out and shout about it. Before we come and shout you will know that things have fallen apart. What people expect of the Labour Union here is that we should solve all Nigerians’ problems; no it is not supposed to be like that. What is your take on the formation of APC by opposition political parties? If you like, have two political parties, what we should be praying and wishing for is that we have a political party that has ideology. Now whether we have five or six political parties the question we

should ask is what these political parties stand for. What is the economic policy of the PDP, what is the economic policy of the ACN, what is the economic policy of the CPC? Now, we went on strike in January last year over subsidy, now the opposition parties what is their position over the subsidy matter? None of these political parties have a blueprint for the oil and gas sector. None of them have a blueprint for agriculture, none of them have a blueprint for the economy, and none of them have a blueprint for transportation network across the country. So what you have is that they just want to grab power for the sake of power. I don’t want to have a party that says we want to take over power because we want to dislodge the party in power, no. We already know what the PDP stands for what do you stand for, give us an alternative, make it different. Nigerians are looking for a better choice. Go to our universities you can’t see anything good there. How can you go to the universities and find seven persons in a room and take your bath outside. And which of these parties that have come and say this is what we want to do with our universities. Irrespective of what you are seeing in Edo State and everybody said Adams is doing very well, it is Adams as a person that is doing that. You talk about Fashola it is what is in Fashola that he is doing. When I was much younger if you see an NPN governor and a UPN governor you don’t need anybody to ask you. Once you see them you will know them they don’t need to ask you because of their ideologies. The NPN governors then when you see them you will know that they are big boys they don’t hide it. But when you see UPN governors you will know that they are low-key governors and they are progressives. Even if you see the NPP governors too with their high grammars you will know they are NPP. Political parties are supposed to have an identity. What is your take on this problem between the National Assembly and the Security and Exchange Commission? I think everybody should sacrifice for the greater good of the whole. First, the TUC position was that we felt that the National Assembly was using a sledgehammer to kill an ant. We felt that was too much but if the SEC DG was in Europe or America she would have resigned by now. You spent so much in TRANSCORP to feed yourself and you are still there. If your character has been impugning you don’t remain there you quit.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

30 Appointments

NIPSS to train political parties on responsible political culture From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja ATIONAL Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in collaboration with development agencies has established an institute to train political leaders on good governance and responsible political values. Speaking recently at the curriculum validation meeting with funding agencies and representatives of various political parties in the country, Director of Research, NIPSS, Prof. Olu Obafemi, stated that political rancour and inter-party frictions experi-

enced in the country are indications of the country’s inability to get its political system right. According to him, the Centre, which will begin operation in June, will assist to develop policies that aim at inculcating positive democratic culture in Nigerian politicians. “The essence is to institutionalise the training of political parties at the leadership and bureaucratic level and to develop policy that will help us develop a democratic culture for the country. “We continue to rise and fall

and rise and fall mainly because we have not got our political system right. And we believe that the leadership of political parties in this country need to know those essential ingredients and elements of a nurtured democracy so that in their practice of partisan politics, they can develop those ingredients of democratic system and good governance that will encourage political participation, politics for development and growth of a tolerant political culture in their various political activities”, he said.

Obafemi, who represented the Director General, NIPSS, Prof. Tijjani MohammadBande, blamed current incoherence in political culture on absence of essential elements of politics and maintained that the Centre, which is domiciled in NIPSS, will help feel the gap through experts’ tutelage. “I believe that there are essential elements of politics that political parties are not putting to practice which has led to incoherence of our political culture. So, NIPSS, in collaboration with Democratic

President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Training and Development (NITAD) Dr. Kayode Ogungbuyi (second left) and some of the new council members after their election.

The essence is to institutionalise the training of political parties at the leadership and bureaucratic level and to develop policy that will help us develop a democratic culture for the country. Governance for Development Project and a number of other agencies are setting up this centre of excellence in NIPSS naturally because it is the apex think tank for strategy and policy in this country. It is politically neutral and so, it is a ground that every political party will feel free and secured and would be able to learn under the tutelage of experts from across the country on politics, political practice and legal framework of politics.” Obafemi added that the problem of absence of sense of responsibility and accountability in the practice of politics, over monetisation of politics and absence of internal democracy in most of the parties has persisted since the country returned to democracy in 1999. “If there is no internal democracy within parties, there cannot be full blown democracy in the country because the aggregate of a political culture in a country is an aggregate of the way which politics is practiced by various political parties. There are no viral cultures of opposition in which parties can feel able even when in opposition to offer critical opinions that will help government grow. Most of the time, ruling parties feel it’s right to continue to rule and ignore views of opposition. Chief Olu Falae as a representative of political party leadership, said the programme is

crucial in producing party managers, who will bring professionalism into politics and who will help to institutionalise party politics. “Parties these days are more or less, party time phenomena. After elections, many parties tend to fade away partly because of funds and partly because there are no people who are trained to run parties in between elections. The training in Jos will fill that gap. It will create commonality of view and values among politicians.” Falae however hoped that politicians will avail themselves the opportunity of the programme since the democracy cannot be deepened without people who are trained in party management and help minimise inter-party frictions. “I am here because I believe we should. Part of the problems is that many of us have developed the mentality that politics is for rallies. Such people have intellectual disdain for this kind of training that is being envisaged but we hope that gradually, people will come to accept that there is no way we can carry on without having a cadre of people who are trained in party management and that will also minimise the frictions. If people like bureaucrats run the party, they will be more objective than the partisan politicians and that will help in reducing internal wrangling”, he said.

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

ITF graduates 1,000 trainees in skill acquisition, to create 3.5 million jobs From Itunu Ajayi, Abuja HE Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in Abuja recently graduated its first phase of 1,000 trainees that had successfully undergone its National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP). Speaking at the occasion, the director general of the fund, Prof. Longmas Wapmuk, said the NISDP is a capacity building programme conceived by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment in collaboration with ITF, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) aimed at rapidly industrialising the country and stimulate what he described as ‘inclusive economic growth’ by empowering the youths to be gainfully employed through training in technical vocation trade areas, business development services and business finance. Wapmuk said it s hoped that the programme, which is a component of National Enterprises Development Programme (NEDEP) would be able to create about 3.5 million jobs between the current year and 2015. He regretted that despite the over seven per cent GDP growth rate in the country’s economy in recent year, the population of the unemployed still stands at a

whopping 23 per cent, a development he said poses serious security danger to the country. In his analysis of the unemployed youths in the country, the DG noted that 60 per cent of the unemployed falls within the youth’s circle constitutes 32 per cent of the population, this figure he said represents the workforce. He added that a large number of the unemployed include university and polytechnic graduates, primary and secondary school leavers as well as a multitudes of drop-outs. He said more worrisome is the fact that 38 per cent of those less than age 15 and those between the age 15 and 20 have neither formal education nor skills. This figure, Wapmuk, said ITF is determined to arrest before it escalates to a staggering 64 per cent as predicted by the World Bank in 2012. His words: “The National Skills Development Programme is designed to tackle unemployment, particularly among the youths. The programme is primarily a technical and vocational skills acquisition programme but designed to attract resource empowerment for its trainees upon graduation.” He went further, “the programme is executed through a combination of complementary strategies

comprising of formal and informal skills acquisition processes. The thrust of the programme is to shore up skills shortages by building the capacity of youths so that they can be employed by others or be selfemployed.” He added that the first phase of the training drew 10,000 trainees from across 10 states of the federation including the FCT, adding that subsequent phases of the programme will be conducted until all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT are covered. With this, he said the fund has projected that at least 37,000 employable youths would be empowered at the end of 2013. In his good will message, the Minister of the FCT, Bala Mohammed, said training of youths in skills acquisition is a sure way of Nigeria joining the league of 20 industrialised nations of the world in the next few years. While urging the Bank of Industry and other financial institutions to grant special concessions to the NISDP graduates in accessing loan facilities to enable then start-up and grow their businesses, he said the FCT administration is willing to partner with ITF towards the quest for the attainment of technological advancement and economic self-reliance.

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WIMBIZ appoints new executive members

Ken Nnamani Leadership Centre appoints new executive director By Joseph Onyekwere, Lagos and Gordi Udeajah Umuahia HE Ken Nnamani Centre for Leadership and Development (KNCLD), Abuja, has appointed Prof Ebere Onwudiwe, a professor of Political Science and Economics at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio as its Executive Director. The appointment was made recently by the Technical Advisory Committee of the Centre made up of eminent Nigerians such as Prof. Osita Ogbu, former Economic Adviser to the President (chairman); currently visiting professor of economics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Adigun Agbaje, former Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan; currently, Director General, Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy, and Mr. Ray Ekpu, former Chief Executive of Newswatch Communications Limited; currently, CEO of May Five Media Limited. Other members of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Centre are Prof. Charles Okigbo, Prof. of Mass Communications, Southern Dakota State University; Prof. Ode Ojowu, former Economic Adviser to the President and currently Chairman of the Governing Council of Benue State University; Prof. Olu Ajakaiye, former Director General of NISER and currently

Ayeni Governmental Non (NGO), Organisation Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), has announced the appointment of two new Executive Council members to board. its The organisation in a statement described the appointment as a welcomed development. “WIMBIZ are excited to welcome new members on board to ensure continued impact and growth. The organisation is working hard to extend its reach to other parts of Nigeria by engaging new leaders, who can ensure the economic advancement of women in management, business and public service through its programs”, said Chairperson, Azeez. Adeola WIMBIZ, The new members are: Mrs. Yemisi Ayeni and Mrs Aisha Ahmad. Yemisi Ayeni is at present the Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrator limited, a position she has held since 2005. Prior to this, she has held a wide variety of roles in various Shell companies over the years and in November 2004, was appointed Finance Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Company limited

Ahmad (SNEPCo), earning her the distinction of being the first Nigerian woman ever to be appointed to the Board of a Shell Company in Nigeria. Mrs. Ayeni is a Council Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and seats on the board of LEAP Africa amongst others. She holds an honours degree in Accounting and Business Finance from the prestigious University of Manchester, United Kingdom (UK). Aishah Ahmad is Head of the high net worth clients business at Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of Standard Bank Group. She is responsible for delivering comprehensive wealth management solutions and integrated onshore and offshore value proposition to some of the group’s most important clients. A seasoned private wealth adviser, she has worked for global financial services institutions such as Zenith Bank Plc and the Bank of New York Mellon in the United Kingdom. She holds MSc. in Finance and Management from Cranfield School of Management, UK, and is a member of CAIA Association, the global mark of distinction in alternative investments.

Executive Chairman, African Centre for Shared Development Capacity Building (ACSDCB) and Dr. Kole Shettima, Director (Africa), The McArthur Foundation. The Board of Trustees of the centre mandated the Technical Advisory Committee, to make the appointment. Onwudiwe, the new Executive Director of KNCLD is an international scholar who distinguished himself as a senior member of the faculty in the department of behavioural sciences at the Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, where he was the director of the

Centre for African Studies and later, Executive Director of the Centre for International Studies. He has also taught at the Ohio State University, Antioch College and the United Nations University in Costa Rica. In addition, he has served as a governance consultant with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and as a consultant to the African Peer Review Mechanism. He was a co-writer of the 2007 African Governance Report recently published by the Oxford University Press. He has served in national committees

of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Government of the Federal Capital Territory, and was a consultant to the Federal Government-constituted Technical Committee on the Niger Delta. Onwudiwe who was recently a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja is expected to use his vast experience in the academia and high level contacts with national and foreign governments as well as international agencies to actualise the vision and strategic objectives of the Centre.

Abuja varsity appoints new bursar, director physical development From Mohammed Abubakar Abuja HE Governing Council of the University at its 25th ExtraOrdinary meeting recently approved the appointments of Arc. Sadiq Otu Shuaib, as the Director of Physical Development (DPP), and Mr. Ahmed El-Yakub, as the new Bursar for the institution. The developments followed the recommendations of the Appointment and Promotions Committee to Council after both officers emerged successful from an interview by the Search Committee of the institution

A statement by the Deputy Registrar (Information) of the university, Malam Waziri Garba in Abuja at the weekend said Shuaib succeeded Arc. H.A. Akiode who has retired from service, while El-Yakub succeeded Malam Adebisi Suleiman, who died in office over a year ago. Until his appointment, Shuaib, 50, from Okene in Kogi State, was the Director, Procurement Unit, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Lagos. He attended Government Secondary School Ilorin (19741979), Kwara State Polytechnic,

Ilorin (1980-1985) and the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria (1990-1995). He had also attended University of Lagos. The new Director, Physical Development holds a Higher National Diploma in Architecture, B. Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc in Architecture and a Masters degree in Project Management, among others. He had also won laurels as the best HND graduate of the Kwara State College of Technology Ilorin (1985) and the best B.Sc graduate of Architecture, ABU in 1993.

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Read Always

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Minister re-launches NAUTH Nnewi SERVICOM unit, inaugurates committee From Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka HE Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, has relaunched the SERVICOM unit of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital ( NAUTH) Nnewi, Anambra State, as part of efforts to improve the quality of services rendered to the public in the hospital. Chukwu also used the occasion held recently at the NAUTH complex Nnewi to inaugurate a 27-member committee of the hospital, saying it would equally serve the purposes of giving Nigerian citizens opportunity to enjoy quality service. The minister who was represented by the National Nodal Officer, SERVICOM, Federal Minister of Health, Ahmed Madu, restated that the aim of establishing the SERVICOM unit in the Federal Ministry of Health was to ensure compliance with international best practices in healthcare delivery and for the performance evaluation of its institutions, their management and workers. He stressed that the policy was in line with the service delivery initiative of President Goodluck Jonathans’ transformation agenda to improve the health sector. “The broad objective of relaunching the NAUTH, Nnewi, SERVICOM unit/inauguration of this committee is to ensure that healthcare services in the hospital and its annexes improve substantially within the shortest possible time”, adding that such services are to be discharged effectively and efficiently in a timely

fashion to patients. He added: “It is my expectation that the patients waiting time in the hospital will be drastically reduced; clinical governance will be improved and our staff will have job satisfaction among others”, just as he charged all staff to key into the initiative for quick results and for sustainability. The minister who commended management of the hospital for their various achievements, especially where some measures are being taken to address numerous challenges that have hitherto thwarted the effective and efficient delivery of top-class health care services to people in Anambra state and environs. Prof. Chukwu who reminded the 27- member SERVICOM committee of the hospital that they have been entrusted with great responsibility, also charged every worker to ensure quality service delivery to the public. “You should adopt the SERVICOM book, the code ethics for health professional, the public service rules and other relevant circulars as your guide documents in the discharge of your responsibilities,” the minister said. In his address, the Chief Medical Director, NAUTH, Dr Anthony Igwegbe, assured that workers would work collectively to improve services to patients, arguing that without clients there would be no hospitals. He said that the SERVICOM unit has been redesigned with operational mode that will satisfy clients and make

Suswam lauds CSDA on rural infrastructure

execution of a total of 159 micro projects was no mean achievement that has transThe minister who was represented by the National Nodal formed the rural wellbeing Officer, SERVICOM, Federal Minister of Health, Ahmed of the state. Madu, restated that the aim of establishing the SERVI“We as a government and people of the state are very COM unit in the Federal Ministry of Health was to ensure pleased with the CSDA elocompliance with international best practices in healthquent show of achievement. care delivery and for the performance evaluation of its We will ensure that it coninstitutions, their management and workers. tinues to function without interference from governactivities of both workers and of SERVICOM planning comment and wish all stakepatients easier. mittee, Dr. Ifeoma Modebe, holders to continue with “The leadership of NAUTH is described SERVICOM as an their support for their projcommitted to rendering ade- index for measuring the qualects,” said the Governor. quate services to the ity of service as delivered by public. The public have the the hospital through its variHe charged the benefitting right to receive services and ous departments and units. communities in the state to “Service in this noble instituwalk home happily and timeapply the funds prudently; ly”, Dr. Igwegbe said, stressing tion should no longer be the just as he urged the managethat time is very essential in Nigerian way of doing things, ment CSDA to remain focus medical services to avoid SERVICOM compliance is so that many more commuabout customer satisfaction complications. nities in the state will attain In a remark, the Chairman as this is the over riding condevelopmental needs. Service Delivery/re-launching sideration of service delivery”. Earlier, while presenting the CSDA scorecard under the period, the General Manager of the agency, Mrs. Rebbeca Afaityo, lauded the cooperation, zeal and commitment the agency got from rural communities of the state in the execution of peoples’ oriented project in their areas. Afaityo who intimated that the execution of projects has enhanced access to health services, economic and social lives, environmental hygiene, economic and social wellbeing, water and sanitation, explained that about 11 local councils in the state have already apply to the agency to co-sponsor people-oriented projects in their local council areas with specific reference to Guma and Managing Director UNILEVER Nig Plc, Thabo Mabe(right). Gender Focal Cordinator Oxfam in Nigeria, Boyowa Roberts. and Buruku local councils which she said have taken a lead in UNILEVER global Foundation ambassador, Jade Aladewolu. At the presentation of cheque to Oxfam, a non governmental that regards. organization, by UNILEVER as part of its corporate social responsibility. PHOTO; SUNDAY AKINLOLU From Joseph Wantu, Makurdi OVERNOR Gabriel Suswam of Benue State has commended the performance of Community and Social Development Agency, CSDA in transforming the rural economy of the state. He also pledged the commitment of the state government to pay all its counterpart funds to the agency to better the social economic lives of the people. Suswam, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Steven Lawani, made the commendation recently in Makurdi during the presentation of CSDA scorecard and presentation of cheques to deserving communities of the state; noted that the

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Neimeth appoints key officers, gets ISO certification EIMETH International N Pharmaceuticals Plc has appointed three key officers in line with its ongoing corporate restructuring and strategic capacity building efforts. Appointed were Olufemi Ojakoya as Head, Strategic Planning and International Markets (STRAPIMS); Adekunle Adebowale as Acting Plant Business Manager while Biu Imuetiyan Yvonne Alero was appointed as Head Quality Operations. Besides, the indigenous pharmaceutical company has been awarded International Standard Organisation (ISO) certification in Quality Systems Management (QMS) and Environmental Quality Management (EMS). With this development, Neimeth becomes the first pharmaceutical company in the country to be awarded both certifications at the same time. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Emmanuel Ekunno, said in a statement that the new appointments coupled with the restructuring were part of efforts at attaining the Quantum Leap performance initiative. He noted that STRAPIMS,

which Ojakoya now heads, is a new, strategic and challenging position that places tremendous responsibility on the incumbent for Business development, creative planning, reversed Business thinking, innovation and international market penetration (Export and Import) as well as expansion of our ECOWAS business. “To prepare for this goal, Neimeth has created two new international/global business ambitions. We aim at making the first export of our two unique products – NCP and Ciklavit to the United States (U.S.) and Europe before June 1, 2013 in addition to ECOWAS.” Ojakoya is expected to develop e-marketing strategy, framework and protocol that will become operative effective today to serve both the Pharmaceutical Group and the Veterinary Business. Prior to this new appointment, he was Acting Head of Plant Operations. He is a 1985 Pharmacy graduate of the University of Ibadan and also holds M.Sc. degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Lagos and a member of the Institute of

Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN). He joined Neimeth in 1992 as New Product/GMP Coordinator. He has served in several Managerial and Senior Management positions at both the Manufacturing Plant and the Corporate Head Office. Adebowale as the new Acting Plant Business Manager, has full responsibility of coordinating and overseeing the entire Plant Operations. He obtained B.Sc. degree in Chemistry from the University of Lagos in 1989 and joined Neimeth as Chemical Analyst in 1991. Alero, as the new Head Quality Operations would also retain her current position as Quality Assurance and Research Manager and do more now with this expanded responsibility of overall coordination of Quality Operations functions. She obtained a B. Pharm. Degree from the University of Benin in 2005 and M.Sc. in Pharmaceutics from Kings College – London in 2009, joined Neimeth in 2010 as GMP Coordinator and has moved steadily through the ranks prior to this new appointment.

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46 Appointments

Famuyibo emerges 16th President of CIPM Nigeria By Dele Fanimo ICTOR Oluropo Famuyibo has emerged the 16th President/Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), in a keenly contested election, which held at the 44th yearly general meeting of the institute that took place in Lagos. He took over from Abiola Popoola, the 15th President of the Institute whose threeyear tenure ended at the AGM. CIPM is the nation’s apex Institute chartered with the responsibility of regulating the practice of human resource management in Nigeria. Prior to his election, Famuyibo who has over three decades HR experience, is currently, the HR Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc, was the Chairman, Strategic Planning Implementation Committee (SPIC) and has contributed immensely to the growth of the institute through involvement in different Committees of Council. In his acceptance speech after his election, the 1979 graduate of University of Ibadan said he intends to continue to build on the transformation drive of his predecessor and make the institute more globally aligned through collaboration with other global HR bodies. He also disclosed the readiness of his administration to encourage the youths to take to HR in order to build a ready resource that would replace the older generation of HR Practitioners.

Chairman of the electoral Commission, Dr. Oladimeji Alo, a past President of the Institute announced Mr. Famuyibo the validly elected 16th President of the Institute outscoring his two other opponents for the Institute Presidency. Earlier in his welcome address at the AGM, the outgoing President, Mr. Popoola, gave an overview of the institute’s performance in the preceding year, he spoke about the national economy; operating environment; organisational development; membership drive; corporate governance; corporate impact and branding. Popoola also spoke about the regulatory role of the institute; the Millennium Building project and the financial sustainability of the institute, adding: “I am pleased to note that the year under review has been positively eventful for us in spite of the challenging operating national environment. “Of particular importance to us in the leadership committee is an increased level of interest and participation in the institute’s activities by a wide spectrum of our membership”, he noted Famuyibo emerged the new President of the institute in the keenly contested election at the hugely attended 44th AGM; where financial members of the institute residents outside Lagos and the venue of the meeting also had the opportunity of participating in the election of the new President; Vice-President and elected Council members through a fool-proof electronic voting.

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

African project, programme managers move to enshrine professionalism From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja N a renewed attempt to address the dearth of competent and certified project managers, over 300 project and programme managers are to converge in Accra, Ghana’s capital for this year’s African Project and Program Management Conference (APPMC). According to Project Director of the programme, Dr. Donald Agumenu, the gathering will afford government officials/workers, NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs), private sector and related stakeholders the opportunity with thousands of professionals in the indus-

try learning the multicultural skills in projects and programmes. “Participants have the opportunity to attend APPMC and get certified as Certified International Project Manager CIPM Certified by the American Academy of Project Management (AAPM), recognised in over 150+ countries via 800 training providers, universities, colleges and business schools.” The APPMC will be a professional meeting of project and programme managers who are driven by a common course of expanding the number of competent proj-

ect managers handling projects on the continent. This is essential in order to check the volume of failed projects and poor implementation in Africa. The event is jointly organised by Direct Leadership Institute (DLI), and the American Academy of Project Management (AAPM)- an Academy recognised in over 150+ countries via 800 training providers, universities, colleges and business schools. According to a statement signed by Agumenu: “Available researches have shown that 80 per cent of higher-performing projects

New appointments at Learn Africa Plc

Aina HE board of Learn Africa Plc, recently confirmed the appointment of Jacob Olusegun Oladipo as the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the company. Until this appointment, Oladipo, a Business Administration graduate, was the Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive, with an additional responsibility of supervising the Sales and Marketing Departments, where he was once the Head of Sales (Northern Region), and later the Sales and Marketing Director. A press statement explained that the board also announced the appointment of Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh and Yetunde Aina as non-executive direc-

Oladipo tors. Adadevoh is a Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist, and a staunch member of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and the BritishNigerian Association. She holds an MBBS from the University of Lagos Nigeria, as well as a Diploma in Endocrinology from the prestigious University of London. She is a Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College (FMCP). A widely travelled physician, She is currently the lead consultant at First Consultants Medical Centre, Lagos. Aina holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a

Adadavoh degree in Law from Kings College, Cambridge University, London. She is currently the CEO of Jadeas Trust, an educational and cultural foundation with a Pan African focus.

In putting together the conference, we are driven by a course that until competent project managers handle capital projects, failed projects and poor implementation will remain a talking point for a very long time in Africa. use competent project managers, and 50 per cent of project failures are traced to poor or no project management. This includes bad estimates/deadlines, scope changes and poor resource planning. “In putting together the conference, we are driven by a course that until competent project managers handle capital projects, failed projects and poor implementation will remain a talking point for a very long time in Africa.” He went on: “Project and Programme Management is growing exponentially. Indeed, it is now used in virtually all industries, such as government, health care, telecom, IT, oil and gas, education and banking. Effective management is how these organisations streamline to improve productivity and efficiency. As businesses are restructured, project managers take over many responsibilities. Expertise in project management is a source of security, prosperity and power to many companies. “Africa cannot be left out in this revolution. This Pan

African event has been designed to include technical presentations, practical exercises and highly interactive group sessions. The CIPM certification will be received at

the closing ceremony of the event. With the theme ‘Championing the African Industrial and Market Driven Economic Evolution’, APPMC brings on board the most thought-provoking experiences, cases and best practices in the industry.” He noted that the event, scheduled for June 5 to 7, 2013, is already generating huge interest from relevant stakeholders within Africa and beyond.

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Stockman warns of crash of Fed-fueled bubble economy HE U.S. economy is in a T bubble inflated by “phony money” from the Federal Reserve and will burst within a few years, warned David Stockman, who was budget director for President Ronald Reagan. In an essay published yesterday in the New York Times (NYT), Stockman wrote that the Fed’s quantitative easing policies in the aftermath of the credit crisis have flooded stock markets with cash even while the “Main Street economy” remains weak. The combination, he wrote, is “unsustainable.” “When it bursts, there will be no new round of bailouts like the ones the banks got in 2008,” wrote Stockman, a former senior managing director at Blackstone Group LP (BX) and a former Republican congressman from Michigan. “Instead, America will descend into an era of zero-sum austerity and virulent political conflict, extinguishing even today’s feeble remnants of economic growth.” Stockman, 66, is the author of “The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America,” which will be published tomorrow. In a previous book published after he resigned as budget director in 1985, Stockman criticized his former Reagan administration colleagues for failing to cut spending along with the supply-side tax cuts they enacted. “We’re borrowing money and burying the future generations in debt,” he said in an interview today on Bloomberg Television. The Fed, led by Ben S. Bernanke, is purchasing $85 billion in assets every month. The Fed is leaving its key interest rate near zero while it tries to reduce unemployment below 6.5 percent and hold inflation below 2.5 percent. Those policies, Stockman said today, benefit speculators and bond traders and have created the “greatest bond bubble in history.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) rose to a record high last week, closing at 1,569.19 on March 28. That

surpassed the previous record of 1,565.15 set in October 2007. Today, the S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to 1,570.05 as of 9:40 a.m. in New York. Among the other culprits Stockman blamed for what he termed a “state-wreck” are President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for weakening the gold standard in 1933, President Richard Nixon for removing the convertibility of dollars to gold and “lapsed hero” Alan Greenspan, the former Fed chairman, for keeping interest rates too low for too long. Investors will sell, Stockman wrote, at any hint that the Fed is starting to remove assets from its balance sheet. “Notwithstanding Bernanke’s assurances about eventually, gradually making a smooth exit, the Fed is domiciled in a monetary prison of its own making,” he wrote, warning of unsustainable fiscal policies as well. “These policies have brought America to an end-stage metastasis. The way out would be so radical it can’t happen.” In 2010, Stockman agreed to pay $7.2 million to settle a lawsuit with the Securities & Exchange Commission that claimed he had misled investors as chief executive officer of Collins & Aikman Corp., a maker of auto parts. He neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing. Paul Krugman, the Princeton University economist and New York Times columnist, responded on his blog yesterday, saying that he was “disappointed” in Stockman’s “gee-whiz, context- and model-free numbers embedded in a rant — and not even an interesting rant.” Krugman called Stockman’s piece “cranky old man stuff,” and summarized it this way: “We’ve been doomed, yes doomed, ever since FDR took us off the gold standard and introduced unemployment insurance. What about those 80 years of non-doom? Just a series of lucky accidents. Now we’re really doomed. I mean it!”

China manufacturing activity at 11-month high in March HINA’S manufacturing activity after the holidays as C sector has traditionally factories try to catch up after been one of the main drivers being closed. Analysts said of growth. Chinese manufacturing has increased at its fastest pace in 11 months during March, indicating that an economic recovery was continuing. The Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) was at 50.9 in March, up from 50.1 in February, official data showed. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. China’s economy is coming out of its worst downturn in 13 years. Analysts said that demand and output was being helped by a pick up in domestic demand. March is considered a key month to assess manufacturing activity as data in January and February is skewed by the Lunar New Year Holiday when many factories are shut. There is usually an increase in

improving global economic conditions also contributed to the increase. “The improvement in the index, which changes the downward trend of the first two months of the year, indicates that the economic outlook in general is stabilising,” said Zhang Liqun, from the Development Research Center, a state think-tank. A separate survey by HSBC showed PMI climbing to 51.6 in March up from February’s 50.4. But even as conditions improve, the recovery has been uneven, as demand from key markets such as Europe and the US has faltered in recent months. Analysts said they were expecting a slightly bigger jump in activity and am official PMI reading of 51.

China factory

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Federal account building

Fed account secures $3 investment investors IlastNTERNATIONAL bought more Treasuries quarter than any other start to a year since 2009, with holdings approaching $3 trillion, as a new crisis in Europe weighs on the euro and Japan debases the yen. The Federal Reserve’s holdings of U.S. government debt on behalf of foreign central banks rose $63.5 billion, or 2.4 percent, to $2.95 trillion as of March 27, according to the central bank. China, the largest foreign lender to the U.S., has been buying Treasuries at the fastest pace since 2011. Rather than slowing purchases as U.S. lawmakers struggled to avoid $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax increases, international investors are again seeking Treasuries, underscoring their role as a store of value. The demand is helping Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke keep yields low, increasing investor appetite for dollars even after the central bank poured more than $2.5 trillion into the financial system since 2008. “The U.S. is standing out as a place of relative growth, strength and stability,” Wan-Chong Kung, a bond fund manager in Minneapolis at Nuveen Asset Management, which manages more than $100 billion, said in a March 28 telephone interview. “The big, bad outcomes have been avoided.” Overseas demand isn’t just coming from central banks. Total foreign holdings rose 0.8 percent in January to a record $5.62 trillion after rising a combined 0.9 percent in November and December, according to the latest. Foreign demand is a welcome development for President Barack Obama and the Treasury Department as they seek to finance budget deficits of about $1 trillion with bond sales just as the Fed signals it may slow the pace of its purchases as the economy improves. The central bank, which holds about $1.78 trillion of the securities, is adding $85 billion a month in Treasuries and mortgage bonds.

Gross domestic product will likely be growing at a 2.6 percent annual rate by the end of the year, compared with an average of 1.97 percent for Group of 10 nations, according to separate surveys of economists by Bloomberg. “People are starting to view the U.S. as the growth engine of the world,” George Goncalves, the head of interest-rate strategy at Nomura Holdings Inc., one of the 21 primary dealers that trade directly with the Fed, said in a March 26 telephone interview. “We’re finally getting our act together, and you can’t write off the U.S. These foreign central banks are not going to move away. They feel comfort in the American story.” Treasuries have rallied in recent weeks as the bail out of Cyprus prompted investors to seek the safest assets. Ten-year yields fell eight basis points last week, or 0.08 percentage point, to 1.85 percent, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader data. That’s down from this year’s high of 2.08 percent on March 8. The price of the benchmark 2 percent note due in February 2023 rose 22/32, or $6.88 per $1,000 face amount, to 101 11/32. The market was shut on March 29 for Good Friday. The yield was 1.86 percent today as of 12:20 p.m. in Tokyo. Foreign investors are pouring in as Treasuries registered a loss of 0.3 percent in the first quarter, after a 0.1 percent loss in the last three months of 2012, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. Treasury Master Index. An added benefit is that Treasuries due in 10 years or more are relatively cheap, yielding about 0.54 percentage point more than non-U.S. sovereign debt, the most since 2011, Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes show. As recently as September, Treasuries yielded less than the rest of the world on average. Those yields will look extra appealing as the $85 billion in mandated budget known as sequestration curb growth, according to Allen Lei, a Taipei-based

Treasuries trader at Hontai Life Insurance Co., which has $6 billion in fixedincome assets. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 59.7 for March from a three-month high of 68 in February. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected the measure would fall to 67.5. “We will see the economy pull back soon,” Lei said in a March 26 telephone interview. “The effects of the budget cuts will happen in the next few months.” China is returning as a buyer after reducing holdings for more than a year. The world’s second-largest economy added $110.9 billion of Treasuries from October through January to bring its holdings to $1.26 trillion. That was the most bought by China over a four month period since July 2011. It sold $161 billion from August 2011 through September 2012. China’s purchases may be due to concern that the value of the dollar’s two biggest competitors — the euro and the yen — is being diminished as reserve currencies, said Michael Cheah, who manages $2 billion in bonds at SunAmerica Asset Management in Jersey City, New Jersey. Cyprus has become the fifth member of the euro zone to ask for a bailout, while the yen has tumbled about 18 percent since midSeptember as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe encourages the Bank of Japan (8301) to print as much money as it takes to end deflation. The euro has depreciated about 21 percent since the start of 2009, Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes show. “It make doesn’t sense for China to bring the allocation of dollar assets lower,” said Cheah, who worked at the Singapore Monetary Authority in the 1980s and 1990s. He teaches finance at New York University and at Chinese universities. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which Intercontinental Exchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

WTO headquarters

WTO braces for leadership race HE World Trade T Organization is bracing for the start of the race to lead the body that polices the rules of global commerce, a unique contest in the often-opaque sphere of international diplomacy. From Tuesday, the 158 WTO member states will start cutting a field of nine candidates for the post of director general, whose main task is to revive long-stalled talks on boosting international trade. After two four-year terms for Frenchman Pascal Lamy—a former European Union trade chief—emerging nations aim to stake their claim on the top job which is

vacant on September 1. Roberto Azevedo, currently Brazil’s ambassador to the WTO, is seen as a favorite in diplomatic circles. But another strong challenger is Indonesia’s former trade minister Mari Pangestu, whose country is due to host the WTO’s next summit at the end of this year—and who is one of three women in the race, a first for the organization. The others are: Mexico’s Herminio Blanco Mendoza, Anabel Gonzalez of Costa Rica, South Korean Taeho Bark, Tim Groser of New Zealand, Jordan’s Ahmad Hindawi, Alan Kyerematen of Ghana and Kenya’s Amina

Mohamed. Unlike similar organizations such as the various arms of the United Nations, whose chiefs are nominated, the WTO elects its leader based on a consensus system, meaning any member can block the process. In January the candidates set out their stall at the WTO’s general council, which groups the member states, making 10-minute presentations before being quizzed by delegations. Since then, they have been on the global campaign trail. The current chairman of the general council, Pakistan’s ambassador Shahid Bashir,

will Tuesday begin a week of meetings with representatives of all the member states to gauge their capitals’ views. He will work in a trio with his Canadian counterpart Jonathan Fried, who heads the WTO’s disputes settlement body, and Sweden’s Joakim Reiter, in charge of its trade policy review division. The goal is to establish which candidates have the widest support, in an attempt to reduce the field from nine, a record number for a WTO leadership race. The four least-popular candidates will be expected to withdraw by April 9, after

Exxon’s spill in Canada pushes up oil prices EST Texas Intermediate W oil’s discount to London’s Brent widened from the narrowest in almost nine months after Exxon Mobil Corp. shut a pipeline carrying crude from Illinois to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Exxon shut its 96,000 barrel-a-day Pegasus pipeline system on March 29 after a leak spilled heavy Canadian crude near the town of Mayflower, Arkansas. The company has collected about 12,000 barrels of oil and water, according to a statement Sunday from the Mayflower Incident Unified Command Joint Information Center. The city recommended the evacuation of 22 homes in the area. Exxon will need to excavate the line to determine the cause of the breach, Brasington said Sunday. The rupture has been located and the company is waiting for regulatory approval from the Department of Transportation to begin excavation work and repairs, according to Jeffers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is categorizing the incident as a “major spill” as it is larger than 250 barrels. according to the Unified Command statement. West Texas Intermediate crude slid from the highest close in six weeks, snapping its longest rally this year. Futures dropped as much as 0.8% after five days of gains through March 28 took last quarter’s advance to 5.9%. The stoppage will mean less crude can be transported from the U.S. Midwest, potentially exacerbating a glut of oil coming from Canada to the Midwest and depressing U.S. prices relative to European contracts. U.S. stockpiles rose 0.9% in the week ended March 22 to the highest since June and stood 12% above the fiveyear average. Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures, increased 0.9% and were 54% higher than the average. “U.S. crude inventories are at a fairly high level right

now and the Pegasus pipeline shutdown will further increase pressure,” Shi Yan, an analyst at UOBKay Hian Ltd. in Shanghai, said in a phone interview. The spread increased as much as 23 cents to $13.02 a barrel Monday and was at $12.91 at 5:06 p.m. Singapore time. It closed at $12.79 on March 28, the least since July 4. It averaged $17.47 last year. Brent and WTI didn’t trade on March 29 because of the Good Friday holiday. Allen Dodson, Faulkner County judge who is the top executive for the county where the spill occurred, told Reuters in an interview on Sunday that the smell of crude was less potent on Sunday as cleanup efforts continued, saying it was weaker than the smell of fresh asphalt laid on a road. “The freestanding oil on the street has been removed. It’s still damp with oil, it’s tacky, like it is before we do an asphalt overlay,” he said. Fifteen vacuum trucks remained on the scene for cleanup, and 33 storage tanks were deployed to tem-

porarily store the oil. The Arkansas spill drew fast reaction from opponents of the 800,000 bpd Keystone XL pipeline, which also would carry heavy crude from Canada’s tar sands to the Gulf Coast refining hub. Environmentalists have expressed concerns about the impact of developing the oil sands and say the crude is more corrosive to pipelines than conventional oil. On Wednesday, a train carrying Canadian crude derailed in Minnesota, spilling 15,000 gallons of oil. “Whether it’s the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, or … (the) mess in Arkansas, Americans are realizing that transporting large amounts of this corrosive and polluting fuel is a bad deal for American taxpayers and for our environment,” said Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat. Exxon said that by 3 a.m. Saturday there was no additional oil spilling from the pipeline and that trucks had been brought in to assist with the cleanup. Images

which Bashir’s team is set to meet again to assess who is in and out of favour, paving the way for three more to pull out. That will lead to a head-tohead contest, which Bashir says he expects to be complete by May 31. Created in 1995, the WTO aims to advance global trade negotiations in a drive to spur growth by opening markets and removing trade barriers, including subsidies, excessive taxes and regulations. Its so-called Doha Round of talks was launched in 2001, with the stated goal of harnessing global commerce to

from local media showed crude oil snaking along a suburban street and spewed across lawns. Twenty-two homes in the affected subdivision remained evacuated on Sunday, though Mayflower police were providing escorts for residents to temporarily return to retrieve personal items. Jeffers said a couple of homes “appear to have small amounts of oil on their foundations,” but he had no information on damage estimates or claims. Exxon had established a claims hotline for affected residents and said about 50 claims had been made so far. Dodson said oil that made it to the street went into storm drains that eventually lead to a cove connected to nearby Lake Conway, known as a fishing lake stocked with bass, catfish, bream and crappie. He said local responders that included firemen, city employees, county road crews, police quickly built dikes of dirt and rock to

development in poorer nations, but has faltered in the face of obstacles set in particular by China, the EU, India and the United States. The momentum has moved to regional and bilateral deals, such as a planned trans-Atlantic trade pact between the US and EU, or the Trans-Pacific Partnership being negotiated by players including the US, Canada, Chile, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. Supporters of a WTO-wide deal warn that regional and bilateral accords create a “spaghetti bowl” of sometimes conflicting trade rules and thereby fail to serve global commerce.

block culverts along that path that stopped crude from fouling the lake. “We were just in the nick of time,” he said. Exxon later deployed 3,600 feet of boom near the lake as a precaution. Dodson said crude also got into several homeowners’ yards, which will take longer to clean up. “We’ve just gotten used to having pipelines go through cities and counties, and you hope something like this doesn’t happen. My heart goes out to all of the people personally impacted,” Dodson said. Pegasus is a 20-inch line that runs from Patoka, Illinois, to Nederland, Texas. The system was carrying Wabasca Heavy Crude from western Canada at the time of the incident, Kimberly Brasington, an Exxon spokeswoman, said Sunday The system serves refineries near the Beaumont, Texas, area close to the Louisiana border, Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for the company, said separately.

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Group of emerging nations to form development bank GROUP of five emerging A world economic powers met in Africa for the first time Tuesday, gathering in South Africa for a summit meeting at which they plan to announce the creation of a new development bank, a direct challenge to the dominance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, all members of the socalled BRICS Group of developing nations, have agreed to create the bank to focus on infrastructure and development in emerging markets. The countries are also planning to discuss pooling their foreign reserves as a bulwark against currency crises, part of a growing effort by emerging economic powers to build institutions and forums that are alternatives to Western-dominated ones. “Up until now, it has been a loose arrangement of five countries meeting once a year,” said Abdullah Verachia, director of the Frontier Advisory Group, which focuses on emerging markets. “It is going to be the first real institution we have seen.” But the alliance faces serious questions about whether the member countries have enough in common and enough shared goals to function effectively as a counterweight to the West. “Despite the political rhetoric around partnerships, there is a huge amount of competition between the countries,” Mr. Verachia said. For all the talk of solidarity among emerging giants, the group’s concrete achievements have been few since its first full meeting, in Russia in 2009. This is partly because its members are deeply divided on some basic issues and are in many ways rivals, not allies, in the global economy. They have widely divergent economies, disparate foreign policy aims and different forms of government. India,

Brazil and South Africa have strong democratic traditions, while Russia and China are autocratic. The bloc even struggles to agree on overhauling international institutions. India, Brazil and South Africa want permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council, for example, but China, which already has one, has shown little interest in shaking up the status quo. The developing countries in the bloc hardly invest in one another, preferring their neighbors and the developed world’s major economies, according to a report released Monday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Just 2.5 percent of foreign investment by BRICS countries goes to other countries in the group, the report said, while more than 40 percent of their foreign investment goes to the developed world’s largest economies, the European Union, the United States and Japan. Africa, home to several of the world’s fastest-growing economies, drew less than 5 percent of total investment from BRICS nations, the report said. France and the United States still have the highest rate of foreign investment in Africa. Despite China’s reputation for heavy investment in Africa, Malaysia has actually invested $2 billion more in Africa than China has. Still, 15 African heads of state were invited to the summit meeting in South Africa as observers, a sign of the continent’s increasing importance as an investment destination for all of the BRICS countries. China is in many ways a major competitor of its fellow BRICS member, South Africa. South African manufacturers, retail chains, cellphone service providers, mining operations and tourism companies have bet heavily on African economic growth and in some ways go head-to-head against Chinese companies on the continent.

South Africa is playing host for the first time since becoming the newest member of what had been known previously as BRIC. Many analysts have questioned South Africa’s inclusion in the group because its economy is tiny compared with the other members, ranking 28th in the world, and its growth rates in recent years have been anemic. In an interview last year with a South African newspaper, Jim O’Neill, the Goldman Sachs executive who coined the term BRIC, said South Africa did not belong in the group. “South Africa has too small an economy,” Mr. O’Neill told the newspaper, The Mail & Guardian. “There are not many similarities with the other four countries in terms of the numbers. In fact, South Africa’s inclusion has somewhat weakened the group’s power.” But South Africa’s sluggish growth has become the rule, not the exception, among the onetime powerhouse nations. India’s hopes of reaching double-digit growth have ebbed. Brazil’s surging economy, credited with pulling millions out of poverty, has cooled drastically. Even China’s growth has slowed. And once welcome, Chinese investment in Africa is viewed with increasing suspicion. On a visit to Beijing last year, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa warned that Chinese trade ties in Africa were following a troubling pattern. “Africa’s commitment to China’s development has been demonstrated by supply of raw materials, other products and technology transfer,” Mr. Zuma said. “This trade pattern is unsustainable in the long term. Africa’s past economic experience with Europe dictates a need to be cautious when entering into partnerships with other economies.” Zuma appeared to have a

Putin change of heart before the summit meeting, saying Monday that China does not approach Africa with a colonial attitude. But other African leaders are not so sure. Lamido Sanusi, governor of Nigeria’s central

Zuma bank, wrote in an opinion article published in The Financial Times this month that China’s approach to Africa is in many ways as exploitative as the West’s has been. “China is no longer a fellow

ISM survey shows manufacturing sector expansion sliding ACTORY activity slowed in Fened, March as new orders weakbut a rebound in construction spending in February was another sign of faster economic growth in the first quarter. The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday its index of national factory activity fell to 51.3 last month from 54.2 in February. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the manufacturing sector. The report was at odds with other data showing growth in the nation’s factories picked up in March on strong orders, closing out the best quarter for the sector in two years. Financial data firm Markit

said its U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose to 54.6 last month from 54.3 in February. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. While the two surveys use the same sub-indexes, they give different weights to the components. “Hopefully this is an anomaly. This gives a pause in the recent bullish data we have been seeing,” Craig Dismuke, chief economic strategist at Vining Sparks in Memphis, Tennessee. U.S. stock prices slightly extended losses after the data. U.S. Treasuries prices slipped in morning trade, while the yen rose against the dollar.

United Kingdom financial regulation overhauled HE UK’s banking regulaT tor, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has been abolished and replaced with two successor organisations. The changes mark the end of the system set up by the previous Labour government. From 1 April, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will ensure the stability of financial services firms and be part of the Bank of England. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is now the City’s behavioural watchdog. The Bank of England has also gained direct supervision for the whole of the banking system through its powerful Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which can instruct the two new regulators.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the changes back in 2010, aiming to make it clear who is in charge over supervising the financial services sector and avoid a recurrence of failing banks and enormous statebacked bailouts. The regulator changes see the Bank of England - which gains a new governor, Mark Carney, in July - gain much more control over the functioning of the financial system and are the biggest changes to the central bank since it was given its independence in 1997. The PRA is headed by the central bank’s deputy governor Andrew Bailey, and will regulate around 1,700 financial firms. The FCA is headed by Martin Wheatley, who worked at the FSA and was responsible for the review into the Libor rate-rigging

scandal at banks. The FSA was set up 1997 as part of the so-called tripartite structure whereby banks, insurers, building societies and other such firms were regulated by the FSA, the Treasury and the Bank of England. Gordon Brown, the thenchancellor, created the FSA following criticism that the Bank of England had failed to sufficiently regulate the UK’s financial system. But the FSA was roundly criticised for failing to spot the lending boom and subsequent bust and for not curbing the risky trading of banks, which ended up seeing banks like Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds all spectacularly collapse and be bailed out by the taxpayer following the global financial crisis in 2008.

underdeveloped economy — it is the world’s secondbiggest, capable of the same forms of exploitation as the West,” he wrote. “It is a significant contributor to Africa’s deindustrialization and underdevelopment.”

The new structure was first planned in 2010 As a result, the FPC of the Its existence was forUK central bank was created malised in the Financial on an interim basis and has Services Bill, the parliamenbeen active since 2011 to tary bill passed earlier this identify systemic issues that year which overhauled the threaten the whole finan- financial regulatory framecial system. work.

Despite tighter fiscal policy, data on employment, consumer spending and factory activity have been relatively strong, leaving economists scrambling to raise their forecast. That run of strong so-called real data, which has left firstquarter GDP growth estimates ranging as high as a 3.5 percent annual rate, continued on Monday. The Commerce Department reported construction spending advanced 1.2 percent to an annual rate of $885.1 billion in February. Spending had declined 2.1 percent in January. The construction report added to a series of other data that have suggested economic growth accelerated in the first quarter from the fourth quarter’s anemic 0.4 percent annual pace. Construction spending in February was boosted by a 1.3 percent rise in private construction projects. Spending on private residential projects increased 2.2 percent to the highest level since November 2008. Part of the increase reflected renovations. The housing market is no longer a drag on the economy and residential construction contributed to growth last year for the first time since 2005. It is expected to do so again this year. Spending on private nonresidential structures rose 0.4 percent after declining 5.9 percent. Public sector construction spending increased 0.9 percent, rising for a second straight month. Outlays on federal government projects fell 1.1 percent. However, state and local spending, which is far larger than federal projects, rose 1.1 percent. It was the second straight month of gain in state and local government outlays.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

56 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

American airlines

U.S. airlines, shunned by Warren Buffett for almost 25 years, now rewards investors FTER more than $58 A billion in losses from 2001 to 2009 amid two recessions and rising fuel bills, carriers are heading for a fourth straight annual profit as they match seat supply to demand and fly planes fuller than any time since 1945. That’s drawing new investors such as Snow Capital Management LP and Leuthold Group while hedge funds are adding to their holdings. “The same factors that made airlines uninvestable for years — too much capacity, too much debt — are the opposite now and make them attractive,” said Simon Rosenberg, a co- portfolio manager at Snow Capital, which has $3 billion in assets. “I’m not going to shy away from an industry just because it has a bad history.” Founded in 2001, Snow Capital didn’t make its first airline investment until last year, when the Sewickley, Pennsylvania- based firm began buying a Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) stake totaling 192,570 shares as of Dec. 31, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Airlines cemented their reputation of being a “terrible business,” as Buffett dubbed them in March, with equityerasing bankruptcies at four major carriers during the last decade. The Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) chairman has sworn them off

since a 1989 US Airways investment he called a “mistake.” “The cyclicality was stomach-churning at best,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which manages $55 billion and holds Delta and Southwest. “With what’s taken place in the industry over the last couple years, that gives us a reason to take another look.” Planes flew with a record 83 per cent of seats filled on average in 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A decade earlier, the figure was 72 percent. By shedding their old habits of piling on flights and then having to discount ticket prices, airlines have been able to bolster fares and post profits even with jet fuel, carriers’ largest expense, soaring almost threefold since a 2009 low. The $460.50 average U.S. domestic fare in February was an 18 percent jump over the same month three years earlier, based on data compiled by Bloomberg from Airline Reporting Corp. Consolidation has accelerated the culling of moneylosing routes. The merger announced Feb. 14 between US Airways and bankrupt American Airlines will shrink the number of full-

service carriers with international networks to three, down from seven in 2000. That deal was the fourth major tie-up since Delta acquired Northwest Airlines Corp. in 2008. UAL Corp. and Continental Airlines Inc. combined to form United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) in 2010, and Southwest bought AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI) in 2011. Hedge funds were among those betting on US Airways’ takeover bid for American, as their collective stake peaked at more than 30 percent in October, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on publicly reported holdings. The funds increased their stakes in US Airways in the past year by about 12 percentage points, the most among all ownership classes, to 24.7 percent, the data show. They boosted their Delta stake by 9.3 percentage points to 22.4 percent. All but two of 15 analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying US Airways (LCC), and project on average that the stock will rise 23 percent in the next 12 months. For Delta (DAL), 15 analysts say buy, two rate the stock as a hold and one says sell. The average forecast is for a 16 percent rally. Delta rose 1.4 percent to $16.74 at 9:39 a.m. in New York, the biggest gain among carriers in the Bloomberg

index, which increased 0.3 percent. US Airways was unchanged. The industry’s revival began after 2008, when jet-fuel prices climbed to a record $4.36 a gallon in July, then tumbled to $1.51 by year end. The worst U.S. economic slump since the Great Depression sapped travel demand and dragged the industry to a $23.8 billion net loss, its second biggest, according to data compiled by the Airlines for America trade group. “That event fundamentally altered the way management teams look at their jobs,” said Rob Pickels, senior equity analyst at Fairport, New York-based Manning & Napier Inc. (MN), which managed $1.1 billion in U.S. airline investments at the end of 2012. In 2009, the industry made it deepest cuts in available seating since World War II, and has curbed growth since then. Second-quarter capacity in the U.S. industry is 1 percent less than two years ago, Dan McKenzie, a New York-based analyst for Buckingham Research Group, said in a March 26 note. Leuthold put five percent of its Select Industries portfolio into airlines in November, and has since raised the allocation to 8 percent because the shares performed so well, said Kristen

Hendrickson, an analyst at the Minneapolis-based firm, which has $1.8 billion under management. The holding included United, Delta and US Airways. “Airlines have been attractive for a year now, but we waited a bit” to be sure the rally continued, Hendrickson said. Industry skeptics say there’s still plenty of truth in the old joke that the best way to make a small fortune in the airline business is to start with a large fortune. Stockholders lost out last decade when United, Delta, US Airways and Northwest all restructured in court and shares became worthless. American parent AMR Corp. (AAMRQ) sought Chapter 11 protection in November 2011. Buffett told CNBC last month that he still views U.S. airlines as a poor investment, even with the mergers, and that they might tempt him only if consolidation thinned their ranks to just one or two carriers. He has said he looks to buy stock in companies with lasting competitive advantages. He didn’t respond to a request for comment sent to an assistant last week. “I’m quite comfortable sitting on the sidelines,” said Matt McCormick, who helps oversee $7.5 billion as a money manager at Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel Inc. in Cincinnati. “I have a deep dislike of them. That

bias has been so rewarded over the years it’s going to take a lot to change my mind.” So far this year, investors who are still bearish on airlines would have been better off buying their stocks. Berkshire’s industrial holdings, for example, lagged behind industrial companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index by 10 percentage points through March 28. If Buffett had allocated 5 percent of his portfolio to Delta, United and US Airways by the end of 2012, his industrial holdings would have outperformed by 13 percentage points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. US Airways executives sense a change in attitudes, as prospective first-time shareholders request meetings at conferences and at the airline’s headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, President Scott Kirby said in an interview. “Many of them say, ‘I work for a long-term, value-oriented firm and we’ve never even looked at airlines before. Now we’re starting to look,’” Kirby said. “It feels like there is a larger pool of investors today than there has been historically.” Airlines cite balance-sheetscrubbing steps such as debt reduction, including $5 billion at Atlanta-based Delta and $2.7 billion at United during the past three years.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, APRIL 2, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

OECD predicts stronger global growth USTERITY measures in A Europe are continuing to hamper growth The world’s major economies will see stronger growth this year, but Europe’s recovery will continue to be slow, an international organisation has said. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted stronger growth in the US, Japan and Germany. But it said concerns remained over the recovery of the wider eurozone. It said governments would need to keep special measures in place to boost eco-

nomic growth. Overall, the OECD forecast an average annualised growth of 2.4% among the seven biggest economies in the first quarter of this year. That suggests a marked recovery from the last three months of 2012, when leading economies shrank at an annualised rate of 0.5%. “The bottom line is that we are moderately more optimistic,” the OECD’s chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan told the Reuters news agency. But the organisation paints a picture of contrasting fortunes in Europe, where

German growth is expected to be relatively strong, while France and Italy are expected to stay in recession until at least the second quarter of the year. Italy is expected to perform the worst among the seven economies covered, which do not include China. The OECD said it was still too soon for governments to consider ending economic stimulus measures that are aimed at encouraging growth. It welcomed recent policy changes by Japanese authorities aimed at tackling deflation and boosting growth.

Ethiopian Airlines launches new flights to two African cities HE Ethiopian Airlines on T Sunday commenced flights to new routes to Ndola in Zambia and Blantyre, Malawi. The launch of the new routes has raised the number of Ethiopian’ s destinations to 46 on the African continent. Ndola, Zambia’s third largest city, has become the second destination of the Ethiopian Airlines in Zambia next to Lusaka, and so is Blantyre of Malawi next to Lilongwe. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Commercial Officer of the Ethiopian Airlines, Esayas Woldemariam, said, the addition of the new routes and increasing African destinations by Ethiopian Airlines shows the Ethiopian’s commitment to linking the

African continent to the rest of the world. Esayas particularly told Xinhua that the Ethiopian Airlines is ever expanding its networks across the world. Reiterating that the Ethiopian has the largest network in Africa, the chief said its network expansion on the continent helps Africa better trade with itself and with outside the continent. “We are launching a couple of destinations today in Africa which are Blantyre in Malawi as well as Ndola in Zambia although we have already Lusaka and Lilongwe in those countries. So, these are additions and it will make the total destination on African continent 46,” said Esayas. “This is the testament of the

Ethiopian commitment to the whole continent to discharge and fulfill our civic duties linking Africa to the rest of the world,” he noted. Esayas also stated that with its large inter-Africa network the Ethiopian Airlines is trying to help Africa trade each other as well as foster relations and cooperation among African countries on cultures, economics, and activities of import and export. Attending the launching ceremony of the flights to the two African cities, Mbuya Isaac Munlo, Malawian Ambassador to Ethiopia, hailed the commencement of Ethiopian’s flights to Blantyre very important as Addis Ababa is a main transit for Malawian and other travelers.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, APRIL 2, 2013

62 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Japan’s business pessimism shows challenges for Kuroda: Economy ONFIDENCE among big C Japanese manufacturers improved by less than economists estimated, bolstering the case for Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to expand stimulus at his first policy meeting this week. The quarterly Tankan (JNTSMFG) for large manufacturers was at minus 8 in March, rising from minus 12 in December, the central bank said in Tokyo today, as companies said they’ll cut investment by the most since the global recession. Stocks fell, with the Topix Index (TPX) dropping the most in two years. Lingering pessimism may make it harder for Kuroda to achieve a 2 percent inflation target as he needs companies

to boost spending and wages to help revive growth. The Tankan reading adds to skepticism he can end 15 years of deflation through expanded stimulus alone, after former BOJ Deputy Governor Kazumasa Iwata said last week that Kuroda’s two-year deadline for achieving his price target wasn’t possible. “Keeping expectations high will be extremely difficult for Kuroda,” said Nobuyasu Atago, principal economist at the Japan Center for Economic Research in Tokyo and a former BOJ official. “The new central bank leadership will probably use the Tankan result as a reason to add monetary stimulus, as they’ll argue that the BOJ shouldn’t be throwing cold water on business confidence.”

Fed account secures $3 investment CONTINUED FROM PAGE 51 currencies of six U.S. trading partners, has rallied 4 percent this year to 82.976, about the highest since August. The index has risen about 17 percent from its lows in 2008. Currency Protection Currency valuations drive bond demand from China, which controls the appreciation of the yuan, and Japan, according to Ali Jalai, a trader of Treasuries in Singapore at Scotiabank, a unit of Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), a primary dealer. Asian central banks and governments are among Scotiabank’s customers. “China buys Treasuries to protect its exchange rate,” Jalai said in a telephone interview March 28. “The weakening of the yen also

increases demand for Treasuries from institutions in Japan.” The lack of inflation in the U.S., which is reinforced by the dollar’s strength, enhances the appeal of Treasuries and will prompt the Fed to keep buying, according to Hideo Shimomura, the chief fund investor at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., a unit of Japan’s largest publicly-traded bank. “There’s disinflationary pressure in the U.S.,” Shimomura, who helps oversee the equivalent of $63.2 billion from Tokyo, said in a March 25 telephone interview. “It’s not a self-expanding economy. They Fed will keep doing quantitative easing. Money will be coming into Treasuries.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April, 2, 2013

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY 63

Venezuelans desperate for dollars defrauded on Internet HE retired Venezuelan T teacher says he was so desperate for dollars that he wired his life savings to a front company posing as a Margarita Island inn. Almost four months later, all he has to show for it is a menacing e-mail. The faceless operators of the website that the math teacher, who requested anonymity, and thousands of others relied on to buy dollars in the country’s increasingly perilous black market are nowhere to be found. “This isn’t a game, and both you and us can be seriously harmed,” read the message he received, a final plea for silence from Lechuga Verde, or Green Lettuce, before its website, Twitter and Facebook pages vanished overnight on March 8. After a decade of currency controls, normally law-abiding Venezuelans and businesses are taking unconventional steps to find the greenbacks needed to protect against growing instability following Hugo Chavez’s death from cancer last month. That’s allowed fraud to proliferate, piling more risk into an illegal market for hard currency that’s being driven further underground as authorities hoard scarce dollars. None of four Lechuga Verde clients interviewed by phone by Bloomberg said they know who was behind Venezuela’s main price reference for dollar-changing and why it disappeared without a trace. Each provided copies of emails and deposit slips that depict a similar pattern. Like the Caracas math teacher, they spoke on condition of anonymity because they say they fear for their safety and face up to seven years in jail under laws that prohibit even mentioning the black market rate. Dozens more tales have been posted on websites to denounce Lechuga Verde. Acting President Nicolas Maduro unveiled an auction system last month to rein in “parasitic bourgeois” speculators he blames for worsening inflation running at 23 percent and pushing down the value of the nation’s currency to more than 20 bolivars per dollar in the black market. Known as Sicad, the auction mechanism seeks to boost the supply of dollars after February’s 32 percent devaluation to 6.3 bolivars per dollar. Like previous attempts to allocate dollars in South America’s largest oil producer, the system is unlikely to stamp out fraud as traders seek to arbitrage the differences among multiple exchange rates, said Asdrubal Oliveros, director of research group Ecoanalitica. “As long as currency restrictions remain in place, the parallel market, in all of its opacity, will continue to be an escape valve,” said Oliveros in a phone interview from Caracas. The U.S. Treasury said in an e-mail that it remains concerned about the potential for considerable abuse and corruption in Venezuela’s black market and is monitoring the issue closely. 2010 Crackdown Venezuela’s financial system froze up in May 2010 after Chavez jailed several traders, shuttered more

than 50 investment houses and closed a loophole allowing individuals and foreign companies to buy dollars at unofficial rates. The socialist leader blamed brokers who swapped bolivar-denominated bonds for liquid dollar debt abroad for a record 5.2 percent price jump the month before. The swap market, which moved $100 million a day at its peak in 2009, was replaced by a state-run system that exacerbated a drought of dollars and was dismantled in February when the government devalued for the fifth time in nine years. Daily dollar sales that averaged $175 million in 2012 plunged to $121 million in the first two months of this year as the government seeks to narrow a deficit that tripled last year amid Chavez’s pre-election spending spree. As demand for dollars migrated to the black market, sites going by names like Fresh Avocado or Your Benjamin — a reference to Benjamin Franklin, who appears on the $100 bill — cropped up on the Internet to circumvent a gag on local media reporting the parallel rate. The most popular was Lechuga Verde, which amassed more than 100,000 followers on Twitter and 26,000 fans on Facebook. Like other sites, it quoted the bolivar’s underground value using prices obtained from exchange houses in the Colombian border town of Cucuta, whose economy thrives on demand from Venezuelan shoppers. “Everybody used them,” said Russell Dallen, a Miamibased bond trader at Caracas Capital Markets. “In the Wild West that is Venezuela’s currency market, they were a trusted voice.” Eventually Lechuga Verde’s owners got in on the action themselves, listing on their website an e-mail address, , where users could inquire about buying dollars. Those who wrote were sent an almost identical pitch, according to the e-mails reviewed by Bloomberg. In exchange for bolivars deposited in Venezuelan accounts, a scanned copy of their passports and personal information like a telephone number and address, they could have any amount from a minimum $10,000 wired to any bank account in the world within three weeks. The quoted price for buying dollars was always around 40 percent fewer bolivars than the reference rate on the website, the e-mails show, an attempt to ease jitters about handing over large amounts of cash to a firm with no listed address or phone number. Lechuga Verde said it was able to offer the attractive rate because it obtained dollars from companies with access to the government’s exchange window. The math teacher on Dec. 6 made two transfers of 120,300 bolivars each into a checking account at Banesco Banco Universal CA, Venezuela’s No. 2 lender, belonging to Posada Casas de Guarame, receipts of the transfers show. He said he was told he would receive $10,000 for each deposit, to be wired to accounts in the U.S. and Costa Rica.

An Internet fraudster The name on the account matches that of a bed-andbreakfast in the hamlet of Guarame on Margarita Island, off the Caribbean coast. Attempts to contact Casas de Guarame were unsuccessful. The teacher said he needed to shuttle out of the country the proceeds from the sale of an apartment in Caracas so he and his wife could start anew in Costa Rica, where their children had been studying. After the family paid down debt, the money was the only capital they possessed, he said. While skeptical from the start, he said he took the risk after a friend carried out a successful transaction two months earlier. When the greenbacks failed to arrive, he said he sent a barrage of emails seeking to have his bolivars returned, even citing his limited mobility and battle with depression as a result of a stroke to soften up his faceless correspondent. Another victim, a 23-yearold from Valencia now living in the U.S., said he was drawn to Lechuga Verde after reading a number of favorable customer reviews on social networking sites. In his case, he needed the cash to pay for an MBA at Miami’s Millenia Atlantic University. While Venezuelans can obtain dollars to pay tuition at overseas universities, the government only authorizes purchases for degrees it considers of interest to its 21st century socialist revolution. Finance isn’t one. He too said he handed over the bulk of his savings, 115,900 bolivars, to an account in the name of Casas de Guarame, this one at state-run Banco del Tesoro CA Banco Universal, e-mails show. As instructed by Lechuga Verde, he described the transaction as a “resort purchase,” the wire In the final e-mail the MBA student says he received Feb. 3, Lechuga Verde apologized and said it was forced to go silent for several days amid a drought of dollars and after two of its three accounts held abroad at units of Banesco, HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were blocked. Still, Lechuga said it was remedying the situation and vowed to resume honoring its com-

mitments by March 1, the email shows. “We understand that as time passes you lose certain credibility, but nevertheless we beg for one last vote of confidence,” read the e-mail, which was also received in early February by the other customers contacted by Bloomberg. Banesco didn’t respond to a phone call seeking comment. JPMorgan and HSBC declined to comment. Lechuga Verde in the same e-mail added that one of its owners and that person’s family members had received extortion threats, directly and over the Internet, from unnamed enemies who might also target its customers. “Their aim isn’t only to denounce one of us but everyone who has a relationship with this person,” according to the e- mail. “That means you.” On March 8, when Venezuela returned to work after a weeklong period of national mourning for Chavez’s death, Lechuga Verde’s websites went dark. That’s when the victims said they knew they’d been scammed and began airing their stories on the Internet. Attempts to reach Lechuga Verde were unsuccessful. Several e-mails sent to the address once listed on their website received no reply and repeated calls to Venezuelan cell phones provided by its alleged victims went unanswered. While none of the victims knew anything about the person who signed e-mails with the initials “LV,” an anonymous person claiming to be Lechuga Verde’s owner provided details about his start in a May 2012 e-mail interview with Bloomberg. In the exchange, he described himself as a young Caracas lawyer, engineer and computer geek unaffiliated with any investment house. He claims to have sold the idea for a similar site currently operating in A r g e n t i n a , www.dolarblue.net, to track daily variations in the increasingly utilized black market rate there. The site does not offer currency trading. The government has taken notice of what some victim

websites have taken to calling a Ponzi scheme. Maduro, who is running as Chavez’s heir in an April 14 snap election, said March 25 that authorities are looking into “Lechuga.com” so that those behind acts of “economic sabotage” are jailed. The government on the same day said it is investigating 2,411 companies posing as importers for $8 billion in currency fraud. The Information Ministry didn’t reply to e-mail and phone calls seeking comment about whether government policies are fueling criminal activity. Until the currency controls are unwound, and the black market dismantled, no amount of government oversight is likely to end the abuse, said Steve Hanke, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University

who has advised countries including Argentina and Bulgaria on setting up currency regimes. “It goes with the territory that you’re going to attract some thugs,” said Hanke, who tracks the underground bolivar as well as black market rates in Iran, Argentina and Syria to calculate implied inflation in countries that, like Venezuela, face dollar shortages. For the dozens of swindled victims, there’s little room for recourse since the government considers them criminals in the same category as their alleged defrauders. “If you’re cheated, there’s no one to protect you,” said Oliveros. “Dark activities like this will continue to take place as long as Venezuela’s disastrous, schizophrenic

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at Friday PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS TRADED FOR 27/3/2013

CAPITAL MARKET 65

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 27/3/2013

PRICE GAINERS

LOSERS

SEC seeks alternative securities market By Helen Oji O ensure efficient Alternative Securities Market (ASM) in the Nigerian Capital Market(NCM), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has concluded plans to nominate either consulting firm, investment banks or accounting firm for the scheme. The arrangement, according to the Director-General, SEC, Arumna Oteh is in line with international best practice. She explained that these advisers would form all the

listing processes, as well as access the delisting firms in the initiative. She added that the process would enable companies meet all the post –listing requirements. “We are looking at what we have in United Kingdom and South Africa which is to nominate adviser, ether accounting firm, investment bank or consulting firm who can help to form the listing process and also help to access delisting firms so that they can meet the post-listing requirement”.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had last month unveiled plans to revamp its second-tier market to (ASM), to enable Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are emerging and showing good growth potentials to participate and access finance from the Nigerian Capital Market. The Head, ASM, NSE, Franklin Nwaubani explained that the Exchange has put structures in place to ensure that these companies sustain growth and would eventually list on the stock market.. He said the platform would

help these companies to formalise business operations, increase visibility and integrity as well as become vibrant enough to create wealth, redistribute wealth and re-allocate wealth. “We are revamping what we used to know as Second-tier market . We are re-christening it the alternative securities market and we are using the avenue to bring in SMEs that are emerging and showing good growth potentials to access finance from the capital market . “We have put structures in

place to ensure that these hope comes to operation that these companies would eventually grow and become big companies that can list on the Exchange with other bluechip companies.” Besides, Oteh explained that the commission is reviewing and adfdressing all issues and complaints made by the telecomm and oil and gas companies to make the market more attractive. “For the big companies that said iam a very large company, do you thinkther will be enough liquidity in my com-

pany if I list here, we are addressing that and that is why we brought NICON and others so that they can ensure that investible assets in Nigeria are able to take the high quality companies and infact, we have foreign investors putting I money in the country because we believe in strong investment”. For the market making, She added that the Commission has directed the Market Makers to make returns without the Exchange in order to strengthen the programme.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

GlobalStocks U.S. stocks fall as American manufacturing Index slips

An “Opening Day” sticker is seen on the windshield of a motorcycle outside Yankee Stadium before the New York Yankees opening day MLB American League baseball game against the Boston Red Sox in New York NITED States (U.S.) stocks U fell, pulling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) lower after a record high, as a report showed American manufacturing expanded less than forecast in March as factories slowed production and orders waned. Joy Global Inc., U.S. Steel Corp. and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. tumbled more than 2.3 percent as industrial and raw-material shares had the biggest declines among 10 S&P 500 groups. Hess Corp. (HS) gained 2.7 percent after MFP Investors LLC’s Michael Price said the company could be a takeover target. Tesla Motors Inc. surged 21 percent after announcing it turned its first quarterly profit. The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent to 1,560.78 as of 12:22 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 26.70 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,551.84. Trading among S&P 500 shares was 20 percent below the 30-day average at this time of day. U.S. markets were closed March 29 for Good Friday. Markets in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and most of Europe are closed today. “The market is fairly sensitive at this level and that means we need continuing improvement in the economy to keep-

ing moving stocks forward,” Randall Warren, who oversees about $80 million including options as chief investment officer of Warren Financial Service in Exton, Pennsylvania, said yesterday in a phone interview. “We need good economic reports and we’re going to need good earnings reports later this month.” The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent on March 28 to reach its highest closing level. It remains below the all-time intraday high of 1,576.09. The gauge rallied 10 percent in the first quarter, extending a recovery that has added more than $10 trillion of value to the world’s largest stock market. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 51.3 in March from 54.2 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona- based group said today. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 54. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between growth and contraction. A separate report showed construction spending in the U.S. rose in February, paced by the highest level of home building in more than four years. Data on March 29 showed consumer spending climbed in February by the most in five months and confi-

dence unexpectedly improved in March, showing job-market gains are helping Americans overcome tax increases and concern about federal budget cuts. Among global economic reports today, the Bank of Japan’s Tankan index showed pessimism among large manufacturers and data on South Korean exports and China factory output trailed forecasts. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against claims, jumped 8.3 percent to 13.75 today. The gauge, known as the VIX, dropped 6.4 percent last week, and is down 24 percent for the year. Industrial and raw-material shares dropped at least 0.9 percent for the biggest losses among 10 S&P 500 groups. Investors sold shares of companies most tied to economic growth, sending the Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index (CYC) down 1 percent and the Dow Jones Transportation Index lower by 1.4 percent. Joy Global lost 3 percent to $57.72. Freeport-McMoRan retreated 2.3 percent to $32.33, and U.S. Steel slipped 3.3 percent to $18.85. Hess, the New York-based energy company, jumped 2.7 percent to $73.53 after MFP

Investors’ Price said in a “Bloomberg Surveillance” television interview with Tom Keene and Sara Eisen today that the firm could be acquired at $80 to $90 a share. “Hess is sitting there with trophy assets, huge position in the Bakkens,” Price said. “Somebody could surface and just pop an $80 to $90 bid.” The company announced today an agreement to sell its holding in Russian subsidiary Samara-Nafta for $2.05 billion to OAO Lukoil. J.C. Penney Co. slipped 1.3 percent to $14.92. Price, who made his reputation as a value investor in the 1980s by buying shares of beatendown lenders, said that his investment in the department-store company has been “a big mistake.” Shares of the departmentstore company plunged 65 percent since its February 2012 high as sales tumbled in the first year of a transformation plan under Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson. ‘Full Profitability’ Tesla climbed 21 percent to $45.49. The electric-car maker headed by billionaire Elon Musk reached “full profitability” as sales of its Model S sedan were more than 250 units higher than the 4,500 projected in mid-February,

according to a company statement yesterday that didn’t specify the profit figure. General Mills Inc., with food brands from Yoplait yogurt to Pillsbury cookie dough, slipped 1.5 percent to $48.57 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to equal weight from overweight. EBay Inc., operator of the largest online marketplace, gained 3.8 percent to $56.26 after Canaccord Genuity Corp. equity analyst Michael Graham upgraded the shares to buy from hold. The 12month target price is $67. Ruby Tuesday Inc. climbed 4.6 percent to $7.71 after Barron’s reported the casual dining chain may rise to $13 a share. Barron’s cited estimates by Cove Street Capital analysts, noting the restaurant chain has cut costs and focused on its core brand with “affordable” menus that could boost same-store sales. The four-year bull market has sent the S&P 500 up more than 131 percent since it reached a 12-year low of 676.53 in March 2009. The rally is extending beyond the average length of bull markets, according to Birinyi Associates Inc. data that show cycles since 1962 have an average duration of four years. Of nine advances, four have lasted longer than the mean and

the market rose for about six years during those periods. The S&P 500 is trading closer to analyst price estimates than any time in at least seven years. Shares in the index are five percent away from analysts’ mean forecasts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg starting in 2006. That’s the smallest difference ever for the median stock and compares with the historical average of 14 percent. Bulls say the narrowing spread shows securities firms were caught off guard by the rally and that equities will climb as they boost predictions. Bears say the slowness of analysts to respond means stocks have gotten so far ahead of themselves that even market optimists are uncomfortable with the increase, which has added more than $10 trillion to values since 2009. “The market has moved so fast, it hasn’t given the analysts time to re-evaluate things,” Malcolm Polley, who manages $1.1 billion as chief investment officer at Stewart Capital Advisors LLC in Indiana, Pennsylvania, said in a March 26 phone interview. “As we just finished earnings season and we’re winding down the first quarter, analysts will begin the process of reassessing.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Opinion One man can save Nigeria By Luke Onyekakeyah HE central lesson of Easter is the historical T fact that a man named Jesus of Nazareth (72 BC to 30-36 AD) took it upon himself to save humanity from eternal damnation brought by the fall of Adam and Eve. The account of the birth of Jesus is well documented in the Scriptures. He was born of the Virgin Mary and fostered by Joseph the carpenter. He grew up like any other normal lad in his community. His divine conception may have made him different from natural man conceived through the coming together of a man and a woman; otherwise, every other thing about his birth followed the normal process. He was carried for nine months by his mother, Mary. Mary’s pregnancy was not hidden. It was clear like that of every other woman. She bore the burden and felt the pains that go with pregnancy. Like every other pregnant woman at that time in antiquity, she must have been treated like other pregnant women. The birth of Jesus apparently came unexpectedly. Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor (23 BC – 14 AD), had decreed that all the inhabited earth be registered. That required that people should travel to their own city to get registered. Joseph, who was residing in Galilee, a city of Nazareth, had to travel to David’s city, Bethlehem in Judea to register. Mary delivered her baby on the way to Bethlehem where Joseph was heading to register his family in the census as ordered by the Emperor. They managed a manger where animals were kept by the way. That Mary delivered unexpectedly on the way shows that they were unprepared for the birth at that time. That experience is not uncommon. Some women are known to have delivered in the bus or even aircraft while travelling. The other day, a woman delivered her baby in “Keke Marwa” in Lagos, to which the former governor of Lagos, Buba Marwa, who introduced this means of transport, responded with cash gifts to the woman for delivering in his “special means of transport”. What I am trying to show is that the birth of

Jesus in the manger was nothing unusual. It was just an unintended coincidence. If Joseph had known that his heavily pregnant wife Mary would deliver on the way before reaching Bethlehem their destination, perhaps, he may have postponed the journey for another day. The coincidental birth simply showed that the couple was acting like any other human being. It is true that the birth of Jesus in the manger has been interpreted as divinely appointed to show his humility. Even at that, it still shows that the circumstances of birth may have little or no effect on the mission of a man to save his people. Having been born like any other person at a time the world was deep in sin and condemnation, Jesus set out to accomplish his mission. His entire ministry as recorded in the synoptic narratives shows that of a man who went about doing good. The poverty, disease, sicknesses, afflictions and deaths that are rampant in our midst today were also rampant in Jesus’ days among his people. His ministry centred on taking away pain, suffering, hunger, disease and death from his people. He healed the sick, raised dead people, made blind people see, made the lame walk and cured afflictions caused by leprosy, among other things. His saving grace was manifested in all ramifications. He had compassion on people. There was never an instance when he refused or ignored people who were suffering or in pain. No one ever came to him and went back the same. His mission was to save mankind from physical and spiritual affliction of all sorts. His teachings centred on repentance from sin and turning back to God. That shows that the source of all the troubles plaguing humanity is sin. Our sufferings are manmade through sin. The sins manifest in different ways. In Jesus’ time, the sins manifested in adultery, fornication, idolatry, homosexuality, lesbianism, stealing, covetousness, drunkenness, extortions, among others. (See 1 Cor. 6: 9-10). The teachings of Jesus and the mighty miracles he performed didn’t go down well with

the religious leaders, who conspired and got him arrested and handed him over to the political leaders who then tortured him before killing him by crucifixion. But unknown to his killers, that turned out to be the climax of his mission through which he saved humanity. It was a voluntary sacrifice by a selfless and compassionate leader. Jesus has been described as the greatest man that ever lived. His birth marked a turning point in human history. There was transition in calendar from BC to AD following his birth. This year, 2013, meaning two thousands and thirteen years since Jesus was born, reminds us about how long it has taken since this very important historic figure lived amongst humanity. Did he succeed in his mission? The answer is a resounding YES. That is why humanity is no longer condemned following the sin of Adam and Eve. Every living soul has access to the salvation made possible by Jesus Christ. Coming back to our country Nigeria, there is despair in the land due to the abject state of affairs. The country appears condemned to fail, as the horizon looks bleak. All the negative attributes that point to failure are palpable. Dreams are shattered in this clime. The fear of the unknown torment people’s mind. The catalogue of woes plaguing Nigeria is unending. Unfortunately, the people in leadership appear overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems facing Nigeria. It is not uncommon that some that seem to have a saving mentality are soon carried away along the line. That is why you see some leaders who start off well but fall apart along the line. The problems overwhelm them and they succumb. They leave without achieving anything. How to get out of this predicament is tormenting the ordinary citizens. In his book, The Trouble with Nigeria, the iconic Chinua Achebe had stated that “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigeria

land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example, which are the hallmarks of true leadership”. The foregoing, in clear terms, pinpoints the fundamental problem facing Nigeria, which is leadership. Nigeria is abundantly endowed with human and natural resources. The Nigerian character that is ridiculed worldwide was originally amiable before it became tainted. Prior to independence in 1960, Nigerians were welcomed all over the world because of their sturdy character that was given to hard work. The untainted Nigerian character could be reinvented given the right environment. Achebe pointed out that there is nothing wrong with the Nigeria land or climate or water or air or anything. The only thing wrong with Nigeria is leadership. This assessment is totally correct. I have personally observed that since I became conscious of myself during the civil war, Nigeria has always transited from one bad government to another. Since the war ended in January 1970, Nigerians have always welcomed every new government with high expectations but at the end it turned out to be worse than the previous one. The day the cycle of bad leadership is broken will mark a new beginning for Nigeria. The question is when will that be? Nobody knows when this will happen. Historically, those that bring about social transformation are not marked. Their parents are not known. There is nothing special about their birth. They are born and bred like normal people until the time to accomplish their mission beckons and they respond in appropriate manner. That is how the man that will redeem Nigeria will emerge. He may not have been born. But how I wish that he is already born and is somewhere watching the ills of this society and its negative impacts. That way, it would just be a matter of time before the saving power begins to manifest. Yes, that man alone will save this country. It is not a group that will save Nigeria. It is one man. Like Jesus, the man that will save Nigeria will recruit a handful of followers that will help him accomplish his mission.

Impetus behind new uniform By Jacob Alabi E are all capitalist assets. And, no matter the epochal W achievements in each progressive existence, successive vanguards need not shy from the records of human transition from a primitive economy, lacking in science, and/or of no statistical value to the current, bourgeois-propelled, hydraheaded capitalism with its normatively imperfect, self-balancing mechanism – a gain to some, a curse on others. Really, when a 2012 claim by the six-term late President of the Socialist Republic of Venezuela, Chavez Hugo, that western capitalism caused the “Arab Spring” which took off in Tunisia in 2011, is juxtaposed against the testimony by Mayor of the Mississippi area of the U.S, Mary Njoku, at the International Conference of Black Mayors in Osogbo, February 25 to March 3, 2011 a conclusion can be reached that much, in the words of Theodore Dobanzky, in his Social Communication Triad, depends on the fate that governs, the policy that animates, the programme that enthuses. But certain uncommon isolates have combined with the various endogenous factors to constitute Mary Njoku’s expressed international testimony. After Mary had spent about 30 years teaching college students in New York, she appallingly encountered the stone age existence of fellow Americans living with her mother in the Mississippi area of the U.S. where in year 2000 when she won the Mayoralty election, there was no water, no electricity and/or any other infrastructural facility, which Americans elsewhere had taken for granted. After each election, Sister Mary worked with about 60 councillors with whom she successively held great tenure. Just like any other Mayor in the entire American continent, she was unentitled to federal allocations but could access state grants for specific public projects. Mrs. Njoku knocked on doors of governors, foundations, individuals and corporate aid donors for financial and non-financial execution of the contents of her circulated manifesto.

Within 10 years, she had provided water, electricity and other infrastructures to hundreds if not thousands, of Mississippi towns and villages. Asked her trunk card in this regard, Mayor Mary Njoku replied that once a leader serves his people faithfully, his people would in turn learn to trust him. America parades a large number of such impactive leaders who write the script behind her almost irrefutable success stories. But how has America come across her stories. The American bond of common fate was established by a group of people branded irredentists or failures, banished to barren land, where they were expected to sap up and die, but who instead upturned protocol references, domesticated the inclement weather, and within a Group Think concept, rose up in army uniform against any challenger, in series of war of independence, which finally ended in 1776, from when America had progressively chased the rots in capitalism to other non-discerning nations. Today, between college and university, every American child has the right to free, intensive, oneyear military training, where he wears uniform. Loyalty to the American cause is midwived at infancy through freedom for self-expression, freedom of worship or through transposed or actual legionnaire accommodation. When in 1953, Chief Obafemi Awolowo introduced free primary education in the western region, he built schools of equal standard and structure in the villages as well as in the cities. The pupils wore the khaki uniform. Opening and closing periods were streamlined, instructional materials were supplied free while examination and school syllabuses were similar. Awo was Spartan. He led by his own personal example. As Premier, his children trekked to public schools in the same khaki uniform with children from other homes. And although a Christian, Awolowo did not discriminate against any other religion. According to islamic cleric and founder of Shafaudeen Movement of Wakajaye, Ibadan and of Orioke Olorunsogo, Ofatedo, in Osun State, Alhaji Professor Sabitu Ariyo Olagoke

during his OSBC Ramadan lecture of Wednesday, August 8, 2012, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo as Premier inaugurated the first Muslim Welfare Board in Nigeria, to oversee the yearly Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Chief Awolowo constructed the road, which passed from Lagos, through Edo to Asaba and from Lagos across to Kwara. Public morality was high as the generality protected federal and state property; in the civil service, the teaching and public companies, productivity skyrocketed amongst the workers who were loyal, honest and friendly towards a government that emphasized the job more than the status. For the five or so years when he was allowed to serve, Awo’s government suffered no credibility deficit, as the philosophy of merit in common school uniform translated to other areas of human endeavour. In line with Awolowo’s sanguinary philosophies, Osun State Government recently introduced a multi-media gentrified uniform for primary, junior and senior secondary schools and appropriate hijab for the Muslim female students, which dovetails. Made of cotton, the uniform is dust-sucking and haptically heat-resisting. Where are the groundnut, the cotton and the benin-seed pyramids of yester years? Where are the numerous cocoa and palm produce grading points? The Federal Government seems to have failed this nation in various ways – in the creation of states and local government areas, the rush to Abuja with the concomitant impoverishment of the citizenry, length and breadth of the country and the utilization of a lopsided constitution. The allocation of 83 per cent oil blocs to a few northerners seems to be another highly disturbing discovery. In fact, part of the reasons for the current irreversible regional integration drives in the south-west is to mitigate the effects of Federal Government failures in many areas. • Alabi is Director, Field and Publicity, Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, Osogbo.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Opinion Value addition and job creation in Nigeria By Tayo Agunbiade NDOUBTEDLY, one of the major chalU lenges facing Nigeria today is the high rate of unemployment. Youths in Nigeria constitute more than 50 per cent of the country’s population and over 70 per cent of them remain unemployed. Last September, the Director-General of National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mallam Abubakar Mohammed, stated that “ 67 million youths were unemployed as of 2011. This is out of a population of about 167 million persons.” Figures released from a publication called Economic Watch, reveal that “the rate of unemployment within the age group of 20 years and 24 years in Nigeria is 40 per cent, while that of the age group of 15 years to 19 years is 31 per cent.” It is equally true that the current socio-economic tensions going on in the country are directly linked to this challenge in the labour market. However does part of the solution lie in the agriculture sector? A school of thought posits that the Nigerian government must begin to encourage youth involvement in the value addition sector. It is a known fact that agriculture and industrialisation are complementary to each other. Countries which

sell their raw agricultural products deprive themselves of becoming industrialised, and ultimately entrench poverty and deprivation amongst their populace. On the other hand, those that turn their raw crops into ready-tosell industrial products, grow and expand their economy and provide assured jobs for their youth and create wealth in the society. Nigeria must opt for the latter option. This is the only way she can become a fully industrialised country. In recent times, calls have been emanating from the value addition sector for the government to actively seek avenues to create meaningful jobs for the teeming army of unemployed. For instance, keen followers of the cocoa processing industry would recall that its umbrella body, the Cocoa Processors Association of Nigeria (COPAN), has in recent months urged a halt in export of raw cocoa beans as it damages job creation. COPAN’s Chairman, Mr. Dimeji Owofemi, notes that, “raw cocoa beans export is increasing because it is highly rewarded by government. But our government must also note that European countries place zero import tax on cocoa beans and this policy helps to keep their factories working at optimum capacity and to sustain

employment.” The negative impact of this is that, value addition to raw cocoa is decreasing in Nigeria because it is vulnerable to the massive export of raw cocoa beans; while processed cocoa products are heavily taxed by the same European countries that are charging no tax on raw cocoa beans. In other words, “European countries obviously want to discourage Nigeria from developing her value addition sector.” Speaking in a similar vein, a cocoa processor based in Ondo State, Mr. Akin Olusuyi noted that, “for every ton of cocoa beans exported from Nigeria, two jobs are exported. This is akin to the case in the sugar-cubing sector where over 4,000 jobs are exported to France as a result of the Nigerian cubing plants that are not functioning because Nigeria depends largely on the import of St. Louis sugar from France”. In response to the argument that other cocoa-producing countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroun, Malaysia and Indonesia export their cocoa, COPAN says that these countries impose a tax on cocoa exportation and as a result foreign investors prefer to establish cocoa-processing plants in those countries, to escape the tax. However, if the Nigerian government is se-

rious about becoming a world economic power by Year 2020, it must be prepared to implement few tough polices. For instance why can’t the same tax policies that apply to rice and cement, apply to cocoa? It is time for government to impose substantial export tax on all raw commodities export particularly raw cocoa beans as is done in other cocoa-producing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon. This will generate additional revenue for government instead of rewarding the raw cocoa beans exporters at the expense of additional employment that could be created in Nigeria, through adding value to the raw commodities before export. Nigeria would benefit from a situation of double gain, instead of the current double loss or double jeopardy. In a nutshell, Nigeria must review its policies and stop shipping jobs overseas. Adding value to raw materials, especially cash crops such as cocoa beans, cashew nuts, rubber, cotton and groundnuts spurs an environment to generate employment, create jobs and wealth in the communities. It spells the beginning of a vibrant industrial and economically progressive country. • Ms Agunbiade, a former staffer of The African Guardian is a journalist and a consultant.

On Christ’s mission of mercy By Okechukwu Emeh Jr. T is well-recorded in the Scriptures that man lost the unique Ience opportunity of endless life on earth because of the disobediof Adam and Eve who defied God’s injunction by eating the forbidden fruit in the blissful Garden of Eden. By that singular act of impudence and transgression by these our fore-parents, members of the human race were, alas, condemned to life of suffering and death. But in an enduring covenant of mercy, God went beyond the animal sacrifices and burnt offerings of Abraham and other faithful and used His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, who He sent to earth to atone for the curse of the Adamic sin by shedding his precious blood on the cross of Calvary for all humanity. In fact, the significance of Christ’s mission of mercy cannot be underscored. For one, it symbolised the nailing of the debilitating effects of the Adamic or original sin in us with him on the cross, because the value of his spilled blood provides remission of sin. For another, the rising of Jesus Christ from death was an assurance of life of immortality for true believers after their earthly sojourn. For without his resurrection, the faith of Christians would have been in vain, as it would cast doubt on the authenticity of his dramatic triumph over death, his dying for our sins as the Messiah and the fundamental teachings of the Bible concerning God’s sovereignty over Heaven and earth and blessings of His kingdom. As Christians all over the world commemorate Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection more than 2,000 years ago, we should use this felicitous event of Easter to reflect on God’s extravagant love and compassion for mankind. As noted in John 3:16: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only son, so that everyone who believed in him will not perish but have eternal life”. As a matter of fact, Christ’s ransom death should actuate us to lead an unfettered life of selfless service to God and humanity. This is because without it, our existence as mere mortals would be meaningless and unfulfilled. But for Jesus Christ, he lived for God and was martyred for our sins. As the promised seed of Abraham, he was faithful to the end and his yoke, unlike that of humans, was kindly and his load was light, as demonstrated by his bearing of the cross for the sake of humankind. For us to be free of bloodguilt of Jesus’ crucifixion, we should worship God in spirit, truth and faith and live according to His divine purpose. We should abhor religiosity, because not all using the name of our Lord will enter His kingdom but the doers of His words. Thus, we should strive towards spirituality by cultivating deep personal relationship with God, not undue public display of religious fervour by some people, which, in most cases, is driven by hypocrisy. We should divest ourselves of immoral activities, which, along with crime, violence and the impunity of bloodshed, have claimed a latitude as wide they had enjoyed before in our clime with a motley addition of Satanic acts like occultism, incest, homosexualism, child sex abuse, rape, gang rape, indecent dressing, ritual murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, killing spree of suicide bombings and indiscriminate shootings, illicit drug abuse and suicide. We should rise above the confine of arrogance, jealousy, dishonesty, duplicity, selfishness, greed and avarice. We should detest fornication, adultery, gluttony, idolatry and atheism. We

should uphold human dignity through respect of sanctity of life and exuding of regenerative spirit of compassion, benevolence and altruism. We should be resentful of wickedness, deprivation, exploitation, oppression and miscarriage of justice, which those perpetrating such inhumane acts are like crucifying Jesus Christ on the cross for the second time. What a pity! Jesus’ sacrificial death should also impel us to address our incessant political, ethnic and religious crises, which are threatening to engulf our national community in turmoil and bloodshed. This is owing to the fact that his crucifixion reconciled man with God over the curse of the Adamic sin. Accordingly, epoch-making and sober religious events like Easter should always provide us with a springboard for mutual dialogue, concession, forgiveness and reconciliation in our divided society. The philosophy of non-violence, as observed in the teachings of Jesus Christ and propagated by personages like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King (Jr.), should now be our creed in the quest to redress acts of social injustice. As adherents of religious offshoots of Abrahamaic origin (including followers of Judaism), Christians and Muslims in our plural and secular society are implored to eschew mutual bitterness, hatred, recrimination and violence. In essence, this is to foster the atmosphere of tolerance, moderation, restraint, forbearance and peaceful co-existence needed for untrammelled worship of the only true God we affirm to be the creator of all humanity and the whole universe. Thus, in professing our faith, we should shun all forms of resentment and bigotry and recourse to interfaith dialogue, because no one is morally obligated to hate, coerce, kill or maim in the name of religion or fight for God, the all-powerful being. For those in our various leadership positions today, Jesus Christ’s enviable qualities should galvanise them to transform politics from a career into a far-reaching commitment to social responsibilities. For Christ was a quintessential good shepherd, who took proper care of his flock (followers) by meeting their needs, to the extreme extent of laying down his dear life for the sinful humanity. Those in our corridors of power should take a cue from this shinning example by governing in righteousness, especially at these painful times when life has been shaped by violence, poverty and injustice in Nigeria. They should be humane and responsive to the hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian masses who are longing for a better life, which, without question, will be in the overall interest of peace, stability, security and progress in our time. Our political office holders should also understand that true leadership is by setting good example and this is the only viable means of engendering a responsible citizenry, because where there is vision the people follow the right path by being law and order compliant and peace-loving. For some of us who are Christians, the critical demands of Christ’s sacrificial death should not be lost on us. First and foremost, it underlines the deliverance power of sacrifice, which atones for sins, terminates curses and dissolves life battles. Second, since God gave His only beloved son as a sacrifice to appease the sins of all the world, we should avoid willful practice of sin so that His grace will not abound for us. Doing otherwise is an affront to our Creator, given that, apart from making us to come short of His glorious standard, it carries unhappiness, suffering and death as its wages, especially sin against the Holy

Spirit, which is unforgivable. Third, Christ’s ransom death is a spiritual incentive for us to worship the Good Lord with all our heart and without attachment to any material gain. Saint Augustine aptly captured this in his prayer when he said “Lord if I worship thee because of Paradise, deny me Paradise; if I worship thee because of fear of Hell, do thou burn me in Hell. But if I worship thee for thy own sake, do not withhold thy beauty from me”. In other words, devout Christians should always have the burning desire to worship God for His divinity as the all-knowing, all-present and all-doing Lord. With this, gaining eternal life or reaping divine favour will follow suit. And fourth, Christ’s crucifixion is a clarion call on us for cross-bearing, in the sense of selfless service to God and fellow humanity. The race for the blessings of God’s kingdom should now be pursued with missionary zeal and dedication, not lethargy and complacency. It should be done without allowing any distraction of fanciful things of this world like material possessions, hedonism, power, influence and fame, which are nothing but vanity and vanity upon vanity, all is vanity, according to the wise King Solomon. That is why those who are preoccupied with such things are experiencing a kind of vacuous existence because of their spiritual and moral emptiness, resulting from their pitiable lack of contentment and the associated inner peace. What matters now is supplanting the inordinate quest for mundane things with the race for the kingdom of God, so that at the end of our earthly existence the Heavenly Father will reward us accordingly for fighting the good fighting and keeping the faith. This race is an individual one in which everybody, irrespective of religious status or donations (including tithes, offerings and church buildings), will give personal account of his or her life after passing to the great beyond. What is of crucial importance now is spiritual reawakening (and fortification) and moral rearmament, especially at these uncertain times, marked by angst and ennui, when the signs of the endtime or last days like false prophets, immorality, soaring crime rate, family breakups, armed conflicts, insecurity, economic depression, political misrule, oppression, injustice, human atrocities, hunger, famine, unparallel environmental damage and natural disasters are crackling and spreading like a prairie fire around the world. For God-fearing people, having been warned about the end of the present wicked system of things in the Bible, what these critical times call for is increased spiritual and moral vigilance, which is the ultimate price to pay for personal salvation during the apocalypse. Finally, as we mark this historic event of Easter, may all the glory be to God in the highest for making us to be part of the beneficiaries of Christ’s sacrificial death. What a mighty and faithful God we serve, who has showered us with His loving kindness by giving us the second chance of regaining life of eternity through the mission of mercy of His beloved son. Thank you Jesus, our saviour king in Heaven, for delivering us from the incubus of the Adamic sin and for strengthening our Christian faith through your resurrection and may your holy name be always exalted above any other name on earth. It is the fervent prayer of this writer that the Almighty Father, in His infinite grace, should use the priceless blood of His risen son to heal our deeply troubled land. To fellow Nigerians, happy Easter! • Emeh sent this piece from Wuse, Abuja.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Law

Quote of the week “Don’t mistake activity with achievement.” John Wooden judicialeditor@yahoo.co.uk/ 08033151041 Desk Head: Ibe Uwaleke

‘Why we need to check frivolous applications’ Interview By Bertram Nwannekanma

The recent conviction and subsequent sentencing of the leader of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah by a South African Court within a record time, has again brought to the fore, the need for speedy dispensation of justice in Nigeria. In this encounter, a Lagos- based human rights lawyer and Chairman of the Ikeja branch Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani spoke on why many criminal cases linger in our courts. He also spoke on the recent opinion expressed by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) that police should restrict themselves only to crime investigation and not prosecution to ensure quicker dispensation of justice in Nigeria. EACTING to the recent directive by the R Attorney- General that police should concentrate on investigation and leave prosecution to lawyers, especially at the magistracy level, Ubani said: “It is a good policy that is capable of enhancing the administration of justice, especially at the magistrate level. A lot of cases have been messed up by the police prosecutors as a result of non-diligence, lack of legal finesse and technicalities. Those who are supposed to be in jail are walking free because of the shoddy manner in which prosecutions were done. So, the opinion expressed by the Attorney- General is welcomed by lawyers and it would go a long way towards ensuring that the people who commit crimes do not go scot-free in Nigeria. But the Attorney - General must go a step ahead to ensure that Investigative Police Officers (IPOs) are there to give evidence. There must be a provision in law that will compel police officers that investigate matters to attend court proceedings. At times, the IPOs are transferred outside jurisdiction and the complainants are always compelled to pay for their court attendance. “We have seen situations where the IPOs come two or three times and when the matters are not heard, they get discouraged. The complainants are often compelled to pay so much to bring the IPOs to court, which is not supposed to be. When a matter has been charged to court, it becomes the state’s responsibility. The state must ensure that particular prosecution goes to an end not mid way. So in addition to the issue of prosecution being handled by lawyers, which I believe is a major reform in the sector, we must also ensure that witnesses are there to prosecute the accused person so that we can have an end to trials and prosecutions in Magistrate’s Courts, especially in the execution of criminal matters. That is why 90 percent of prosecution that has to do with criminal cases do not end up in finality. They either end up being struck out or dismissed for want of diligent prosecution, which is not healthy. So as much as I agree with that reform, the reform must be holistic.” Asked to identify other areas he would like to see reforms, Ubani pointed at the Evidence Act and some of our statutory laws. He said: “ Our law gives so much leeway to accused persons and that is why they are playing on the intelligence of Nigerians, especially with high-profile criminal and corruption

cases. You know what the governors and the fuel subsidy scammers are now doing with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). You charge them to courts, they apply for bail, get out on bail and probably get back their seized passports on the guise of going for medical treatment abroad. They will then come up with preliminary objections that are very frivolous and the case lingers. When the court gives rulings against them, they go on appeal, from Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. Before the Supreme Court will make pronouncement on the issue of preliminary issues, almost five years have gone and then, they come back and start scrambling on the main issues. We must think of amending our law so as not to allow such frivolities. If you have any appeal on preliminary issues, you have to wait until the substantive issue is trashed before you can now appeal altogether, not on a particular issue or part. If you are found guilty and you want to appeal, you can have a holistic appeal, not a partial appeal.” When reminded that courts no longer stayed proceeding on criminal matters, he said there had been no substantive amendment as regards to criminal law in that regard. “If such laws were in existence, it would not have been possible to go on appeal over a preliminary matter that has nothing to do with the substantive matter. We should allow the substantive matter to run to conclusion, then appeal if there is any issue. Of course, one can bring a motion for extension of time on those preliminary matters, since there is time limit within which you appeal on preliminary matters, so you can ask for extension of time and appeal them altogether. So, I think the law has not been amended and something has to be done on this in order to ensure steady trial of cases. People are beginning to lose confidence on the judiciary. I tell you, especially on this issue of fight against corruption. Nigerians are not happy with what is happening with cases lasting seven years. The cases that started in 2008, 2007, when those governors left power, are still being tried up to this time, whereas you watched when James Ibori’s matter started in April 2011 and in April 2012, it was concluded under one year, he was in jail. They kept him in detention and within one year, it was over and a pronouncement was made as to his guilt. So why can’t we try such a system here? And we imported our legal system from Britain. Why is it that they are getting it right and we are not getting it right as a borrower of their system?” On whether the opinion of the Attorney General is backed up by law, considering the fact that there has been complaints that some cases have been discontinued by his office, he said: “People have accused the Attorney- General of interference with the EFCC matters and that is why people are also arguing that the EFCC is not independent. If you set up such an agency to fight corruption and you know that corruption is the bane of this country, Nigeria is not making progress today because of corruption, many politicians are corrupt, the treasury is being looted and to the knowledge of everyone and you now set up an agency to fight that particular scourge, then you must give that particular agency independence. That independence comes from the manner of appointment and manner of removal of whosoever that are members of that board or the head of that board. It also has to do with who should be prosecuted. There should not be any interference. If the Attorney-General begins to give directives and interferes in EFCC oper-

Ubani

ations, then, there is no independence and that is not healthy for us. I think if the Attorney-General means well, especially with this issue of the directive that the police should hands off in prosecuting criminal cases at the Magistrate’s Courts, there should be a substantive law backing it up. I don’t think that could be done by an ordinary directive because a law empowers the police to be doing this at the Magistrate’s Courts. There is a substantive law that made the police to be prosecuting and if you now want to remove the police from prosecution at the magistrate’s level, then you must also enact a substantive law that will give lawyers the exclusivity of prosecuting cases at that level.” Asked if the same allegations of interference will not come up considering the fact that such allegations are being witnessed even in EFCC matters, Ubani said Nigeria needed to build strong institutions. He said: “What I mean by that is building institutions that are set up by laws. The Attorney-general is not a law unto himself. He is an institution created by law. There are agencies that are supposed to monitor what is happening in that agency and that is the National Assembly. It has what we call an oversight functions. Now, if the AttorneyGeneral interferes in a case that is known to everyone, that is contrary to public morality

and that is not in consonant with the dictates of due process, people should cry out, people should raise an uproar on what basis he should discontinue with such, even though the constitution allows him. Anything that the Attorney-General does, especially with the issue that does not satisfy what we call public interest, will be contrary to law and for which he could be removed. There must be institutions that monitor his activities. That is the way countries are run. The National Assembly must also watch the Presidency. But the ultimate watcher of every institution is the people. The power lies with the people. The people must also be up and doing in watching what goes on in the nation’s institutions. The people must know and that is what goes on in the Arab nations now. That is what is happening in Europe. Police are set up by law, people are supposed to monitor the police and so on. You don’t allow any institution to be absolute because power corrupts and when that particular power becomes absolute, it corrupts absolutely so, you don’t allow any institution to be absolute, so the attorney general also must be watched so that he does not in any way abuse the law.

We must think of amending our law to prevent such frivolities. If you have any appeal on preliminary issues, you have to wait until the substantive issue is trashed before you can now appeal altogether, not on a particular issue.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

70 LAW

LawPeople Profile By Bertram Nwannekanma ORMER Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) prosecutor, Dele Oye, falls into the category of Nigerian lawyers who could be described as a consummate lawyer. This is because of his deep involvement in all aspects of the legal practice not minding the tedious nature of the practice in Nigeria. Unlike many lawyers, who focus more on personal practice development, Oye believes that the NBA activities are an integral part of the wig and gown profession and therefore, should not be relegated to the background. Today, he does not only represent the rare specie of lawyers that has traversed all aspects of the legal practice, which include: litigation, advocacy and corporate law, he has also not been found wanting in Bar activities. Little wonder, he remains one of the few privileged lawyers to become the NBA prosecutor at the Body of Benchers Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), a preserve of cerebral lawyers. Before his appointment as a prosecutor and coordinator of the NBA legal team at the Legal practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benders, Oye had served in several committees of the NBA, both at branch and national levels. For his intellectual ability, the respected lawyer had a continuously and uninterrupted tenure at the committee for 11 years, where he exhibited an uncommon courage, leaving behind credible legacy in the LPDC. It is on record that during Oye’s membership at the committee, the NBA made a profit of over N20 million for the first time. Incidentally, Oye’s forage to legal profession was not rosy at the beginning as he faced serious threats from his people but through courage, determination and the secret encouragement from his mother, he forged ahead to become a notable figure in the wig and gown profession. He said of that moment: “When I chose to read Law, some of my family members were scared that lawyers always ended up as cultists and occultists. But in the midst of these oppositions, my mother secretly encouraged me, while pretending to be against me in public. Another factor that played a major role in my choice of law was the difficulties I had with Mathematics and the high respect accorded to lawyers during my time”. Oye started his secondary education at Eghosa Grammar School and later Edo College in Benin City. Upon the completion of his secondary education, he gained admission to read Law at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, where he graduated and was called to the Bar in 1989. His first court experience took place at a legal clinic in Abuja during his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). He had appeared before a Magistrate’s Court in Nasarawa State to secure bail for some prison inmates but was terrified when he saw the Magistrate coming into the courtroom fully robbed. After that initial fright in court, Oye gained courage and was able to free over 43 persons wrongly detained in

Keffi and Suleja Prisons. Oye received the Federal Capital Territory Minister’s Award for his unusual contributions to societal development during his NYSC. On completion of his NYSC, Oye’s legal and advocacy skill was honed at both Messrs F. O. Akinrele & Co Prime Chambers and Onafowokan & Co law firms. The two law firms tutored him on the rudiments of the practice, which later launched him into a profitable voyage in the legal profession. Apart from his experiences at the two chambers, Oye’s membership at the NBA’s committee exposed him further to the basic tenets and norms of the legal profession. According to Oye, his appointment into the NBA’s Disciplinary Committee by the then NBA’s president, T. J. Oninmo Okpoko (SAN) came after he was investigated and cleared by the committee on a matter involving a meager sum. He captured the moment thus: “When they were setting up the Disciplinary Committee, Okpoko said: “ Look, Dele Oye should serve there.” While serving in that Committee, I saw the kind of mistakes that lawyers usually make, sometimes such mistakes are made out of ignorance of the rules of the profession.” Today, Oye’s composure and soft mien have endeared him to the corporate world and among lawyers in Nigeria. One particular incident that easily comes to mind is the way and manner he handled the matter involving the defunct Oceanic Bank Plc. during the recent banking reforms. He was subjected to severe and several investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because of the volume of the transactions involved but at the end, he came out unscathed. He said: “I was getting calls and threats from all over the place because I was not in Nigeria at that time. People thought I had a lot of money, so I had to come back, honoured invitations from law enforcement agencies that were looking for me and explained my role in the transactions. Thereafter, I was cleared of all the allegations. “I thank the committee because without what I learnt in that committee, it would have been very difficult for me to have survived such a heavy allegations that were mounted against me by members of the public, the EFCC and indeed, my own professional colleagues because of the role we played for our clients. As nominees, we were required basically to stand as witnesses for the state against our clients. And I don’t think that it is the duty of lawyers to bring down their clients. Whereas it is our duty to disclose any fraudulent conduct when we were aware. I was not aware prior to the indictment of my client of any illegal infractions. “The allegations against her (his client) were essentially that she took loans from within the bank without following due process, but we are not bankers. We were not in a position to know the nature and extent of these loans, or whether they had board approvals or whether they were appropriated or misappropriated. Indeed, like the EFCC report on us showed, there

Today, he does not only represent the rare specie of lawyers that has traversed all aspects of the legal practice, which include, litigation, advocacy and corporate law, he has also not been found wanting in Bar activities.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi

Oye: A consummate legal practitioner

Oye

was not a single kobo in our client’s accounts. That is why it was easy for us to clear ourselves. Because it is not a crime to be a nominee in a company. It is allowed by law to be a nominee, but it is a crime if you participate in a crime or infraction of the law”, he stated. Although Oye handled a lot of cases during his tenure as prosecutor at LPDC, the one he found most challenging was the issue of the jurisdiction of the committee as it related to appellate matters. He said: “That matter came up in Okike’s case against Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC). That was the first appeal from the committee to the Supreme Court, because under the rules, appeal goes directly from the committee to the Supreme Court. But this is the only exception to that rule. When the matter got to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court declined to hear it, stating that it did not come from the Court of Appeal and that it could not take it. “I had to request that it should raise a legal issue and that I needed a full panel to address the Supreme Court. After an hour argument, it obliged us and at the Supreme Court, it invited other Amicus briefs. After three hours or rigorous argument, a full panel of the Supreme Court agreed with me and said, indeed, the legal profession is a special profession and there is need to create a different section based on the laws. So I was part of that effort and indeed, I

argued most of the cases that had gone from that committee to the Supreme Court. About five or six cases altogether, and I argued about four of them in the Supreme Court. My pioneering effort in this area is well-established and I am proud of it”, he declared. For better effect in the LPDC, Oye believes that there is need to amend the law when the chairman completes the quorum. It is difficult for the committee to attend to the volume of disciplinary matters in Nigeria. He was a former Vice Chairman of NBA Abuja branch, and the Alternate chairman, NBA Conference Planning Committee NBA 2004 Annual Conference. Oye’s leadership role also manifested when he became the president of the University of Ife Alumni Association between 2000 and 2004. He was a member of the University Governing Council, where he led the council to construct one of the largest halls of residence for the students of the university. Oye also had the privilege of serv-

ing as the Chairman of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (ABUCCIMA) for three years, where he made noticeable impacts. For instance, he had led several trade delegation to several countries of the world both in Europe, America, India, China and Singapore. “In appreciation for my contributions to the activities of the Chamber, the Chamber of Commerce dedicated the 1000 capacity building started during my tenure to me by naming it Dele Oye Hall”, he stated. Very humane, Oye is committed to grassroots development and is involved in humanitarian activities. One of such humanitarian gestures was the adoption of Ketti; a village, which is about one hour, drive from Apo in Abuja as his community since 1998. According to him, he knew the village when he accompanied a priest in the Catholic Church, Father Francis Kale, to the village.

Do you know… Hurt

Bodily pain, disease or infirmity : Ahmed v State (2001) 18 NWLR ( Pt. 746) 622, [S.C.].

LAW 71

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

LawReport Where findings of facts are not perverse, Appellate Court cannot interfere (1) In the Court of Appeal, Nigeria, Akure Judicial Division, Holden at Akure, On Monday, December 3, 2012, Before their Lordships: Kudirat M. O. Kekere-Ekun, Justice, Court of Appeal; Chima Centus Nweze, Justice, Court of Appeal; Chinwe Eugenia Iyizoba, Justice, Court of Appeal; CA/B/10/2007 Between Enterprise Bank Limited (Formerly, Spring Bank Plc/Owena/Omega Bank Nig Plc). Mr. Gabriel Gold Igbalaiye (appellants), and Emma Bayo Aregbesola Nig. Company Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Boyade Aregbesola (respondents). OW we have to remind ourselves that issues relatN ing to ascription of weight to the testimonies of witnesses are the exclusive prerogatives of the trial court: prerogative which no Appeal Court can interfere with. This is so for the trial court has the power to ascribe creditability to the evidence of witnesses who testified before it. Thus, where findings of facts are not perverse, an appellate court cannot interfere with them. So held the Court of Appeal, Holden at Akure in a

Justice Bulkachuwa (Acting PCA) unanimous leading judgment delivered by his lordship, Chima Centus Nweze (JCA), his learned brothers, Kudirat M. O. Kekere-Ekun and Chinwe Eugenia Iyizoba (JJCA), concurring while dismissing the appellants’ appeal. The appellants were represented by Fatai Ajiboye while the respondents were represented by Tokunbo Aderinboye The facts are as contained in the body of the judgment. At the High Court of Ondo State, Holden at Akure, the respondents herein (as plaintiffs) took out an action against the appellants (as defendants). They claimed a mouthful of declaratory and other reliefs. The first appellant (as first defendant) counter claimed against the plaintiffs (respondents herein) for certain sums and interest rates. In accordance with the applicable Rules of Court, the parties exchanged their pleadings. Thereafter, the matter went to trial. At the conclusion of the case, the court (hereinafter referred to as the lower

court) granted the reliefs, which the plaintiffs claimed. The first defendant (first appellant in this appeal) was not that lucky as the lower court dismissed his counter claim. Aggrieved by the outcome of the case, the appellants approached this court with their complaint against the said judgment dated April 19, 2005, in the form of their notice and grounds of appeal. By order of court, they, subsequently, amended their notice and grounds of appeal. They formulated three issues from those grounds for the determination of this appeal. They formulated as follows: • Whether the trial judge was right in setting aside the sale of the mortgaged property?; • Whether there was basis for the award of N500,000 general and aggravated damages against the 1st and 2nd appellants?; and • Whether the 1st appellant’s counter-claim ought to have been dismissed. The respondents endorsed these issues. Hence, this appeal will be determined on the above issues. Before then, however, a sketch of the background facts will not be out of place. It operated an account with the first appellant/bank at Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State. The first plaintiff/respondent/company, in October 1997, took a loan from first defendant/appellant/bank. There was a Deed of Legal Mortgage on the transaction. The second plaintiff/respondent stood surety for the loan. The loan became due for payment on March 30, 1998. The second respondent mortgaged his two properties at No 1. Bayode Street, Igbede Quarters, Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State as security for the N1.5 million overdraft facility granted to the first respondent in 1997. It was agreed in the deed of mortgage that the two properties mortgaged could be sold by a private treaty by the first appellant in case of failure to repay the overdraft facility, within the stipulated time. In March, 1999, one of the buildings mortgaged with the chattels therein known as Ebanco Hotel

was sold by private treaty to the second defendant/appellant. On July 9, 1999, the first appellant wrote the second respondent to inform him that in view of the failure of the first respondent to pay the credit facilities granted to, it that one of the mortgaged properties i.e. Ebanco Hotel, had been sold by a private treaty to the second appellant. When the first and second respondents were notified of the sale, they instituted an action to set aside the sale among other reliefs at the trial court. Whether the trial judge was right in setting aside the sale of the mortgaged property? When this appeal came up for hearing, Fatai Ajiboye of counsel for the appellants, adopted and relied on the brief of argument filed on May 19, 2011. He submitted that the lower court erred when it set aside the sale of the mortgaged property on the ground that there was collusion between the first and second appellants in the sale of the property and or that the property was sold at an undervalue. He took the view that sale at undervalue alone is not even enough in law to vitiate the exercise of a mortgagee’s power of sale. Fraudulent or gross undervalue must be shown and proved. In the circumstances of the case, he submitted that the mortgagee, the first appellant, acted in good faith, ACB Ltd and Ors v Ihekwoaba and Ors (2003) 16 NWLR (pt 846) 249, 269 paragraphs E-H. Learned counsel for the respondent adopted the respondent’s amended brief filed on May 25, 2011. He placed reliance on the arguments canvassed therein. In the said brief, it was explained that on June 27, 1994, Dele Afolabi and Co, a firm, of Estate Valuers, gave an open market value of the first respondent’s property, Ebanco Hotel at No 1. Bayode Street, Igbede Quarters, Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State at N2,140,605.00 (two million, one hundred and forty thousand, six hundred and five naira). Their valuation report was admitted and in evidence as exhibit D9.

SAN: LPPC and Aribisala’s Suspension Matter Arising By Bertram Nwannekanma N Nigeria, the title of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the equivalent of Queen’s Counsel (QC) in the United Kingdom, certainly comes with a lot of privileges. Apart from the fat and lucrative briefs that come with the title, the holders of the title, no matter how young at the Bar, usually have their cases heard first before other lawyers of lesser standing. They sit in the front row in courtrooms and are accorded the privilege of parking their cars in court premises. For those who would want to arrogate extreme pride to the title, no matter how spacious the seating may be to accommodate other lawyers that are not bearers of the title, it is at their discretion to give them seat or not. Thus, the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), remains the most coveted title every Nigeria lawyer dreams of getting. Last year, there was a move by an octogenarian, Pa Tunji Gomez and some lawyers under the aegis of the Movement for the Abolition of the Rank of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria to stop the use of the rank on the ground that it gave undue privileges to some lawyers. That move was, however, thwarted by Justice Mohammed Idris, who struck out the suit on technicalities. But last month’s suspension of Chief Ajibola Anthony Aribisala, by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) suspended Aribisala from the use of the coveted title accorded to distinguished lawyers in the country has opened another vista to the title.

LPPC has in a terse statement issued by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court and Secretary of the LPPC, Mr. Sunday Olorundahunsi, suspended Aribisala for a gross misconduct anchored on a petition by Fidelity Bank Plc. It stated: “The LPPC at its meeting held on February 26, 2013, considered the petition by Fidelity Bank against the person of Chief Ajibola A. Aribisala, SAN, together with his response to same and after due consideration of the said response, has decided in its wisdom to suspend him (i.e. Chief Ajibola A. Aribisala) from the use of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria and all other privileges attached to that rank, pending the outcome of the court case and impeding investigation by the subcommittee set up by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee,”. Fidelity Bank, which is one of Aribisala’s client has in a petition to the LPPC complaining that Aribisala had breached ethical standards in their solicitorclient relationship. The bank’s management was miffed by what it perceived as the over-reaching attitude of the lawyer and decided to take their grievances to the doorsteps of the LPPC. Aribisala had also a similar matter with Access Bank Plc., last year after helping the bank recover loans to the tune of billions of naira. He dragged the bank before a federal High court, Lagos seeking for the payment of a N2 billion, which he felt was due to him. Aribisala lost the case and was ordered to pay N300,000 as cost to Access Bank. For the period that he has been denied of the privileges, Aribisala has been the most troubled man. To him, everything he had laboured for has come crashing down. Aribisala, has therefore ,seen the battle

to reverse the suspension as a battle of his life and he is keen to fight it with his last strength. Rather than assembling the high and mighty in the corridors of power to prevail on the who’s who in the judiciary to rescind the decision, the embattled lawyer, has decided to deal with the matter with equanimity, preferring to take his case to court to prove his innocence. N Apart from the fact that he currently has a petition at the Lagos High Court, seeking to overturn the decision of the LPPC, last week, Aribisala petitioned the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, alleging that instead of the LPPC, it was the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee that was supposed to sit and take the decision against him. Speaking on a recent interview on the matter, Aribisala said there were some elements in the LPPC that contributed to his travails. He said: “The truth of the matter is that there are some elements in the LPPC who just don’t want me in the Inner Bar. The reason is very simple: I have dealt with some of the lawyers in that committee. You see, ironically, it is not the justices in the LPPC who are against me, but the lawyers. “ The reason is that I have floored many of them in the court of law and I have recovered huge sums of money running into billions from their clients. “Now they want to assert revenge and they are only using this little issue with my client to get their pound of flesh and they will not succeed. There is nothing in the petition whatsoever” To further prove this point, Aribisala in a nine-page petition addressed to

the Justice Mukhtar, argued that the LPPC does not have the powers to suspend him but named a senior advocate as the mastermind of the plot to strip him of the title of SAN. In the petition to the CJN, he alleged that a member of LPPC, was not supposed to sit on the panel that recommended his suspension because there was no way he would get justice, having had several altercations with him in the open court and outside in the course of prosecuting loan recovery matters for the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) as well against loan defaulters. He listed some of the cases to include: ID/178/2010 Bank PHB Vs. Zenon Oil & Gas Ltd. & Ors before Justice Alogba; LD/2449/10 Access Bank Plc Vs Zenon Oil & Gas & Ors before Justice Lawal-Akapo; LD/2315/11 Nigdel United Oil Company Ltd Vs. Zenith Bank Plc before Justice LawalAkapo; and FHC/L/CS/299/11 Chief A. A. Aribisala, SAN Vs.Olufemi Otedola before Justice Okeke. Other cases he listed include: FHC/L/CS/310/11 Zenon Petroleum & Gas Ltd Vs. Access Bank & Ors before Justice Okeke; LD/858/2011Rasheed Sarumi & Anr Vs. Femi Otedola & Ors before Justice Olateru-Olagbegi; FHC/L/CS/1404/11 Chief A. A. Aribisala, SAN Vs.Olivier Meyer & Ors before Justice Abang, and later Justice Buba; FHC/L/CS/22/2012 Silvand Ltd & Ors Vs. Zenith Bank Plc before Justice Olatoregun-Ishola and later Justice Saidu. J; and LD/768/2012 Zenith Bank Plc Vs Joseph Penawou& Ors before Hon. Justice Jose. According to him, “At least 95 per cent of the cases in my chambers relate to recovery of high profile bad debts on behalf of Nigerian Banks whereas the lawyer is also known as a

lawyer that specialises in defending customers who owe banks and who are most unwilling to discharge their obligations. Even at that, Aribisala feels that the LPPC did not have the powers to sit on his case. Instead he feels the petition of the bank should have been referred to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), a body set up by the bar to regulate the profession. “Let’s get the issues clear. I am a lawyer and therefore subject to the rules and laws guarding the legal profession in Nigeria. Someone is said to have written a petition against me for professional misconduct. If the allegations are worth anything, there is the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to which such petitions should be addressed. What has the privileges committee to do with such? “All lawyers are subject to the disciplinary authority of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee as set up by the bar to regulate the profession. There is no law anywhere that says a senior advocate is subject to a different disciplinary body. “There is only one body established under the Legal Practitioners Act to deal with any infraction by a lawyer and that is the responsibility of the bar. I know the former AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice was also suspended from the Inner Bar, but my own case is different. “In my own case, a client of mine wrote a petition and erroneously addressed it to the LPPC instead of the LPDC. I was asked to respond and I responded. I explained what happened and in my response, I raised the poser as to how a mere issue of a legal practitioner’s retainership with his client could amount to a breach of contract or fraud.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

72 LAW

FamilyLaw

“If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” Florynce. R. Kennedy

Examining legislation against abortion in Nigeria By Bertram Nwannekanma

BORTION legislation in Nigeria and A court decisions are often left examined, even though abortion is illegal and carries a stiff jail sentence, up to 14 years, unless done to save the life of the pregnant woman. Abortion is governed by the Criminal Code in the southern states, and the Penal Code in the northern states. In “R v. Idiong and Umo,” the two defendants had been convicted of murder on the grounds that the 1st accused had obtained the services of the 2nd accused, a native doctor, to give native medicine to bring about an abortion. The abortion resulted in the woman’s death. Therefore, the 1st accused was party to the crime. The West African Court of Appeal found that the 2nd accused had acted innocently believing that the medicine would relieve pain that the dead woman suffered from a retained placenta. He gave an abortifacient for expulsion of the placenta. He was found “not guilty” of murder and manslaughter. The 1st accused was found criminally responsible for causing the abortion, but was found not guilty of murder. He was

guilty of manslaughter, however. In 1981, the Nigerian Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics sponsored a Termination of Pregnancy Bill in the House of Representatives. However, pressure groups lobbied against it, and the bill did not pass. In 1984, a survey was done to assess incidence of abortion. Representative samples were taken from the North and the South. The capital cities of eight different states were covered. In five sample hospitals within the Lagos Metropolis in Lagos State, 125 abortions or treatments of incomplete abortions were recorded within a month. In four representative hospitals from Oyo State, 81 abortions or corrections of incomplete abortions were recorded within one month. In the northern state of Kaduna, information was very difficult to obtain. In one of the University Teaching Hospitals in Zaria, records showed there were 103 treatments of incomplete abortions during the preceding year. The usual approach to revising abortion laws has been to expand or extend the grounds for legal abortion. In some jurisdictions, courts have

widened the ground by adopting the decision that life includes mental and physical health. Abortion may be possible for eugenic reasons. In February 1988, the Nigerian government announced its adoption of a population policy; a new abortion policy should take this into consideration. The legal space for abortion in Nigeria clearly restrictive and limited; hence abortion … unsafe abortion has remained one of the major factors for the rising maternal death toll in the country. While not advocating a freefor-all, abortion u p o n d e m a n d regime, there remains a yawning gap between what the obsolete laws regulat-

ing abortion prescribes and the stark realities of the modern times.

YOU AND THE LAW —-With Dupe Ajayi Fundamental Human Right 2: Fair hearing (audi alteram partem) NE of the fundamental objecO tives of the law in the society is the attainment of peace through justice. Accordingly, the right to be heard is not afforded just by any form of hearing; rather, it is afforded by a form of hearing that is truly fair. Last week, we discussed the first leg of the principle of natural justice, which is couched in the Latin maxim, nemo judex in causa sua, meaning that no man should be a judge in his own cause. This week, as promised last week, we will look at the second leg of the principle, audi altarem partem, which means that the other side must be heard. This principle also transcends mere hearing, rather, it presupposes a hearing that is conducted or carried out in a manner that the person being heard will be afforded an open and transparent medium to present his case. One can glean from decided cases that for a hearing to be adjudged fair, the following principle of rules must be observed: First, the person being heard must be made to know his accuser and the nature of the accusation against him. It is not enough to invite the person as a witness. The person must know that it is of a specific wrong-doing. In Akintemi & 2 ors v Onwumechili (1981) OYSHC 45, the applicants were accused of participating in examination malpractice at the then University of Ife. The panel that was set up merely invited the applicants to come and state whatever they knew about the leakage, they were not told specifically that they were being tried for the offence. Based on the report of the panel, the applicants were rusticated for the session. The applicants successfully challenged their rustication on the grounds that the proceedings of the panel breached natural justice principles. The court held inter alia, that failure to communicate the alleged misbehavior of each applicant to her and

direct each of them to exculpate themselves was in breach of section 32(i) of the 1979 Constitution on fair hearing. Second, the person being heard must be given an opportunity to correct or contradict evidence against the person and all evidence against him must be discussed. See Wilson v A-G Bendel (1985) 1 NWLR (pt 4) 572. See also Ayetan v NIFOR (1987) 2NWLR (pg 59) 48. In Denloye v Medical & Dental Disciplinary Tribunal, (1968) 1 ALL NLR, pg 306, where Denloye, a medical doctor was sacked for neglecting some patients he was supposed attend to. The panel that was set up to look into the allegations went in his absence, to Ogun State, to take evidence. Denloye’s lawyer asked for a copy of the evidence the panel found against the doctor but was turned down on the claim that the evidence was confidential and was for the exclusive use of the panel. Denloye was invariably dismissed on the basis of the evidence. Challenging the decision of the panel in Court, the Court held that he was denied of fair hearing. His dismissal was thus nullified. Third, the person must be heard in respect of each allegation against him. The decision taken at the end of the proceeding must be based on evidence. In Council of Federal Polytechnic Mubi v TLM Yusuf (1998) 1 NWLR 343 Sc, the respondents were accused of circulating anonymous letters which was an attack on the management of the Polytechnic. A committee that was set up to investigate the allegation made a report to the Polytechnic. The Polytechnic Council, on the basis of the report, dismissed the respondents for being guilty of contemptuous attitude to constituted authority as manifested in his letter to the authority of the Polytechnic and his manner of

utterances when he appeared before the committee that investigated the report against him. The Supreme Court held that in all trials, the person against whom a complaint is laid must be heard in compliance with the principle of audi alterm partem and for every accusation, there must be a right to be heard. The Supreme Court further found

that the appellant did not find the respondent guilty of the complaints against him, rather the committee found him guilty of a new allegation of foul language and rudeness of which he was not availed the opportunity of being heard by the committee. It must, however, be noted that a judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings such as a court or a panel of

inquiry is different from proceedings of purely domestic or administrative inquiry. In the former, the person against whom a complaint is laid must be present all through and must be given the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses who testify against him. While in the case of the latter, the person of whom a complaint is made need not be present. It is sufficient if the allegations and the evidence against him or her are communicated in writing to him and he is also allowed to make representation in writing. See R v Director of Audit (Western Region) Ex parte Oputa (1961) All NLR 659. In that case, the Director of Audit of Western Region wrote to the appellants and certain other Councilors, calling upon them to show cause why they should not be surcharged in accordance with the provision of section 198 of the Western Regional law. The Director gave the appellants two months to respond. Many of the Councilors did not respond while some of those who responded did not satisfy the Director on why they should not be surcharged. Consequently, the director surcharged them and gave them notice of the surcharge. The appellants contested the approach of the Director and logged an appeal with the Ministry of Local Government. The Ministry looked at the record and upheld the decision of the Director. The appellants complained that the decision of the Ministry to uphold the verdict of the Director without hearing them and their lawyer was in breach of fair hearing and natural justice principle. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the applicants on the grounds that since the applicants had the opportunity to make representation in writing, that written representation was sufficient for the occasion.

LAW 73

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Sanctions and remedies under Nigeria’s merger control law (1) By Dr. Nnamdi Dimgba Introduction IGERIAN law provides for a mandatory pre-notification to and the prior approval of every qualifying merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction in Nigeria by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which in the absence of a competition authority, is vested with merger control powers in Nigeria. The requirement for a mandatory pre-notification is provided for without any shade of ambivalence in the Investment and Securities Act 2007 (ISA), and cuts across all transactions notwithstanding the legal character of the corporations involved, public or private, and even when such transactions received the official blessing of any relevant government agencies. This last will be the case where all or any of the concerned enterprises operate in regulated sectors such as telecoms, aviation, insurance and banking. An interesting question, however, that has engaged the minds of practitioners and academics, is that of what consequences would arise in situations where parties choose to ignore, as often happens in practice, the requirement for pre-notification to the SEC, and proceed to implement M&A transactions. This is an area that is fraught with some confusion. As the need for legal certainty in transactions cannot be overstated, the confusion which businesses and their advisers face is quite deplorable. Three reasons aid the sustenance of this state of confusion. First, is the somewhat lack of clarity in the law itself as to what precise sanctions parties who implement M&A transactions without compliance with the mandatory law would be exposed to. Second is the fact that although the ISA does prescribe a mandatory pre-notification obligation on parties, it does not contain any explicit or implicit language automatically nullifying M&A transactions pursued in defiance or disregard of the law. In the absence of an automatic legal proscription, at the very least those non-compliant transactions may be argued to be valid until the SEC discovers them and imposes sanctions and remedial measures - still a vexed issue. And the third reason for the confusion is anecdotal. For the uninformed, there is some disconnect between the concept of sanctions on one hand and the phenomena of mergers and acquisitions on the other. While the beneficial character of mergers is apparent and not to be probed, the fact that mergers can also have very pernicious effects is not so clear. Therefore, the fact that such apparently harmless transactions can be the subject of regulatory sanctions is not that which is easily accepted, except by those schooled in competition law. This paper is concerned with the broad question of the legal effect and consequences when M&A transaction parties choose to ignore the stipulation for pre-notification and approval, and proceed with their transaction. In the process, the paper also shares thoughts on other ancillary issues related to sanctions and remedies within Nigerian merger control law. Mergers and competition law It is better to start with a probe of the third reason identified above the apparent disconnect between mergers and sanctions. Mergers produce a number of positive outcomes favourable to an economy. These include the fact that they give the owner of a business the opportunity to sell it. Entrepreneurs might be reluctant to start a business where the window to exit is closed. A merger may also provide an escape route for a company facing an otherwise inevitable liquidation. In such a situation, the possibility of selling the business to another may mean that productive assets are kept in production and that creditors, owners, employees and other stakeholders are protect-

Competition laws the world over do not make mergers unlawful per se, as they do price-fixing and other violations of antitrust laws such as restrictive or exclusionary commercial behaviour by a dominant entity.

Justice Aloma ed from the adverse consequences of the enterprise’s failure. Other efficiencies provided by mergers include economies of scale in production, very crucial in a market in which the cost of production of a product is high in relation to the size, or anticipated size, of the market or where there is minimum efficient scale of production. Operating efficiencies injected by mergers into an economy include greater capacity for research and development leading to innovation. Efficiency in management is also promoted since mergers often bring new and superior management to the business. All the above efficiencies would be difficult to attain through internal growth. Precisely for the above reasons, competition laws the world over do not make mergers unlawful per se, as they do price-fixing and other violations of antitrust laws such as restrictive or exclusionary commercial behaviour by a dominant entity. However, for all their positive contributions, mergers also create potential problems for competition by increasing the level of concentration of a given industry. Depending on whether the merger is horizontal, vertical or conglomerate, it could raise a number of competition concerns. A horizontal merger could eliminate a present competitive force from the market. Generally, a market in which there are two competitors from a competitive perspective is worse than one in which there are three competitors. To the extent that a merger creates that effect because it leads to a reduction in number of competitors, it is suspect. Vertical mergers may result in a predatory foreclosure effect or profit squeeze, which ultimately may lead to the elimination of a competitor, and in the process may lead to the extension of market power from one level of the market to another. Conglomerate mergers though generally very benign may hurt competition, where for example, the introduction of a big company into a market in which it did not operate, through another company, which it has acquired operating in that market, may adversely affect the competitive conditions in the market. This could be by raising the psychological barriers to entry in the market, subsidisation of predation in the new market with profits from other markets in which the conglomerate is dominant, and creation of potential reciprocity situations where in imperfect markets, the merged entity’s buying power can be used to induce others to buy its products or services in other markets, when ordinarily they would not, thus foreclosing the market from competitors. It is precisely for the above reasons that in recognising that mergers could be beneficial and at the same time potentially harmful, competi-

tion laws provide, as the ISA 2007 has done, for a mandatory pre-notification of all M&A transactions to the competition bodies, the role which the SEC plays in Nigeria in the absence of a competition authority. Can there be sanctions for non-notified M&A transactions and if so, what? In relation to this question, it is important to recognise at the outset that the ISA 2007 has under section 13(p) invested the SEC with the foundational power “to review, regulate and approve mergers, acquisitions, takeovers and all forms of business combinations and affected transactions of all companies in Nigeria.” This foundational power is reinforced by the specific provisions in Part XII, ss. 118 - 128 of the ISA, the most fundamental, as mentioned above, being the obligation for a mandatory pre-notification of qualifying M&A transactions under section 118(1) of the ISA. As mentioned earlier, a noticeable feature of the regime under Part XII is what appears to be a lacuna or gap in the law, in the sense that while the law clearly prescribes an obligation to pre-notify mergers for approval, it does not prescribe the penalty or consequence should parties choose not to heed this obligation. This lacuna, therefore, creates some confusion as to whether noncompliance is punishable or whether what we have is really a legal exhortation rather than an obligation. The author is of the view, for reasons proffered hereunder, that the absence of a specific penalty clause

backing up the merger notification obligation does not support the conclusion that failure to notify is not punishable or attracts no consequence. First, one must recognise that Nigerian merger control regime, unlike the regime in other jurisdictions, does not exist within an autonomous competition law system, but exists as part of our wider securities regulation system in which the SEC is the apex or superregulator. In the context of effective regulation, the ISA has invested the SEC with a swathe of sanction powers, from the criminal to the civil and administrative, coupled with the power to impose other remedies such as behavioural and reputational sanctions (see e.g. section 305(3(c) ISA 2007). It is to be stated, therefore, as a first proposition that where a violation occurs in the context of a merger transaction, there is no reason of principle or law why the SEC cannot impose or activate any of the sanction powers and provisions that exist within the ISA which the SEC enforces. Further, although Part XII of the ISA is silent on the consequence of nonnotification of M&A transactions, for the reason stated above, to wit, the fact that Nigerian merger control regime at the moment is part of its wider securities regulation system, it appears that the gap in failing to provide for sanction for not notifying qualifying M&A transactions is filled by a provision such as section 303 of the ISA, which provides a default sanction power for violation of any provision of the ISA or any rule or regulation made thereunder. Section 303(1) of the ISA provides: “Except as otherwise specifically provided under the provisions of this Act, any person who violates or contributes in the violation of the provisions of this Act or of any rule and regulations made thereunder is liable to a penalty of not less than N100,000 (about $600) and a further sum of N5000 ($30) per day for every day that the violation continues.” It is our view that parties who have not notified their merger transactions as the ISA stipulates under section 118 of the ISA are potentially liable to the general penalty regime under section 303 of the ISA. Interesting questions thereby raised, are: whether the section 303 default sanction provisions are sufficient and effective to induce compliance with the mandatory obligation to

pre-notify as prescribed under section 118? In practice, are merging parties motivated to do a cost-benefit analysis and assess if the gains from non-compliance, such as the fact that transactions can proceed speedily and not suffer a delay from awaiting a decision by the SEC, outweigh the possible pains of noncompliance. Given the paltry sum provided for under Section 303 of the ISA, the attraction not to comply is real and parties may conceive that it makes commercial sense to proceed with the transaction and damn the financial sanctions. It appears that the default financial sanction provisions under Section 303 of the ISA may not have had the potential pernicious consequences created by bad mergers in mind, but as said, applies only because it is just a default provision. One can contrast this with provisions such as Article 14 of Council Regulation 139/2004 of 20th of January 2004 (the European Merger Regulation) that imposes fines on M&A parties of up to 10 per cent of the annual turnover of the enterprises for failure to notify and get pre-approved their M&A transactions to the European Commission, and fines of up to one per cent of the annual turnover for supply of incorrect information or generally for failure of merger parties to cooperate with the European Commission in investigating a merger. A similar financial penalty provision exists in almost all merger control regimes in the world, including of recent the supra-national merger control regime of the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which came into force on 14 January 2013. The COMESA supra-national merger control regime provides for a fine up to 10 per cent of the combined annual turnover in the COMESA Common Market of parties who failed to notify their merger transactions. The problem with the Nigerian system remains the fact that merger control is not really viewed, as it should, from the prism of antitrust or competition protection, but more from the prism of securities regulation. SEC is not an antitrust body but a securities regulator. This then raises the ideological dilemma of antitrust enforcement, as we have it in Nigeria under the ISA, subsumed within securities regulation.

Legal Briefs

PUNUKA yearly lecture holds April 16 HE 2013 edition of the PUNUKA T yearly lecture would hold on April 16, 2013, at the Panoramic View Hall of the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, Victoria Island, Lagos, at 10.00 a.m. The PUNUKA Lecture, a yearly event organised by PUNUKA Attorneys & Solicitors, is aimed at bringing together key industry players and stakeholders on topical issues bordering on law, the economy, financial matters, good governance, nation-building, among others. Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice S. M. A. Belgore (GCON), is expected to chair the event, while Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, will be the special guest of honour. The first Vice President of Mirabaud Private Bank, Geneva and Director in-Charge of Africa, Mr. John Cross, will lead other discussants on the topic: “Wealth Management and Succession Planning: Best Practices, Anti-Corruption Compliances and Red Flags”. Speaking on the appropriateness of

the lecture theme, a senior partner in PUNUKA Attorneys & Solicitors, Mrs. Elizabeth Idigbe, emphasised the need for proper planning in order to anticipate and accommodate the inevitability of change. She said: “The reality is that we live in a society where succession planning and wealth management are relegated to the background. Indeed, the uncertainties of our time have made it more imperative to take a second look at this topic”. For Chairman of the Lecture Committee and Partner in charge of Insolvency and Restructuring Practice

Group in the firm, Dr. Tochi Nwogu, embedded in a good wealth management and succession planning policies are the need for compliances with transnational legislations in this area. “It is against this backdrop that the discourse presented from an independent party would seek to address, among other issues, the need for wealth management and exit planning and the international best practices, which guarantee that the process complies with all the national and international laws,” he added.

Capital market solicitors hold AGM, elections HE Capital Market Solicitors All financial members of the assoT Association (CMSA), will be hosting ciation are invited the event and its annual general meeting at 11 am to nominate members on or on April 20, 2013 at the Protea Hotel, Westwood, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. On that day the current executive committee led by Dr. Babatunde Ajibade (SAN), will be making way for a new Exco to be elected at the event.

before April 2, 2013. For further information on the AGM member should get in touch with the secretary of the association, Mrs. Yinka Edu at Udoma and Bello Osagie.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Sports NPL loses property over N10m debt LMC may sack NPL staff From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja ITING the Nigeria Premier C League’s (NPL) inability to pay its annual rent, amounting to N10 million, the agent in charge of NPL’s guest house located at the Wuse zone II area of the Abuja, has directed the occupants of the three apartments to vacate the property, latest yesterday to avoid being ejected forcefully from the building. The guesthouse, which is made up of six units of three bedroom flats, which has already been put up for rent at the rate of N12 million (N2 million each flat) by the owners, was one of the legacies the Oyuki Obaseki-led league board bequeathed to the league. But the inability of the past board to settle the rent has led to its occupants, mainly staff of the NPL, to be forced out of the building, which the agent has already placed for rent. The Guardian’s visit to the building yesterday revealed that the eviction order, which was issued six months ago by a property manager, Atabor Cosmos & Associates, expired on Easter Monday. “Actually, we were not the one, who rented the guesthouse to NPL, but we issued the quit order to them. We issued them the quit notice since six months ago and by our calculations, the eviction deadline elapses today. As I speak with you, they still owe the landlord one year rent arrears of N10 million. “The property is six units of three bed-roomed flats and it is going for a new rate of N12 million, that is N2 million per flat. We insisted that NPL must vacate because if they could not pay the N10 million arrears, it would be difficult for them to pay for the new rent. “The truth is that we want corporate bodies that will use the property as office blocks or guesthouses,” a staff of Atabor Cosmos & Associates, who displayed notice at the gate of the guesthouse, said

yesterday. Meanwhile the League Management Committee (LMC) says it was under no obligation to absorb the staff of the Nigeria Premier League, who worked under the Victor Rumson Baribote board. If the League Management Company, the regulatory body of the Nigerian league implements its threat, staff of the NPL Secretariat in Abuja would soon return to the labour market. LMC chairman, Nduka Irabor, said recently in Abuja that there has been series of issues concerning the new management, which has not given the new committee time to audit the staff of NPL. While warning the staff were not employed by the interim committee, Irabor revealed that new management would soon advertise he position of a chief executive officer for the LMC, stressing that the NPL staff should begin to sort themselves out with their employer. The LMC chairman, who lamented that while only a paltry sum of N7 million was left in the coffers of the former league administrative body, the LMC company discovered that the NPL is indebted to the tune of N40 million. “Let me make a shocking revelation to you people. We came in and after scrutinising the account of the NPL found out that only N7 million was left in the coffers. But let me tell you that they are currently indebted to the tune of N40 million. As I speak to you the secretariat is under serious threat from the debtors. “As for the staff of the NPL, they should simply go and sort themselves out with their employer. We do not owe them any obligation because we are not their employers. However, I want to add that the LMC has human face and may reconsider some of them found to be very good in running the league. They have the experience over the years and we might consider them,” he said.

Lobi Stars battling against Heartland in the 2012 Federation Cup final at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos. The Makurdi-based Lobi will play its first round, second leg Confederation Cup tie against Liga Muculmuna De Maputo on Friday.

Lobi Stars jets off to Mozambique for CAF Confederation Cup duel NE of Nigeria’s representaO tives in the 2013 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup, Lobi Stars of Makurdi, left Abuja for Mozambique, where it is expected to clash with Liga Muculmuna De Maputo in the first round of games in the competition. Lobi Stars say they chose to depart for Maputo early to acclimatize to the conditions of the Southern Africa country. The team left Nigeria via the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with a 35-man contingent comprising 20 players and 15

Friday.” Lobi hold a slight edge having beaten LDMM 3-1 during the first leg played two weeks ago but the away club would fancy their chances having made the victory difficult for the Nigerian side in Bauchi. The Makurdi-based side is not new to competition at this level having played in the Champions League and the Confederation Cup in the past. In 2004, the team, with such stars as Mike Eneramo and Taye Taiwo got to the third round of the Confederation Cup, but it could not scale the hurdle set by Green Buffaloes of Zambia.

The Zambians beat Lobi Stars 4-2 in Lusaka after losing 1-2 in Makurdi to advance on 5-4 aggregate. But officials of the club say the club is better equipped to deal with the Southern Africa challenge this time. “We beat them 3-1 in Bauchi, but going by the flow of the game it should have been higher. Now, we are ready to beat them again in their home to show that we are a better team. “The players are highly motivated to give their best and I can assure Nigerians that we will come back victorious,” an official of the club, who pleaded anonymity, said.

Murray sets sight on number one spot NDY Murray has set his A sights on toppling Novak Djokovic at the top of the rank-

Andy Murray wants to be the world’s number one tennis star.

officials for the second leg clash against the Mozambicans. According to a statement made available to Goal.com by the club’s Vice Chairman, Dominic Ntem Iorfa, the Makurdi-based club also chose to travel on Monday to avoid travel congestion cum cancellation. Iorfa gives reason for their early travel schedule, “we chose to jet out with the first flight option through Ethiopian Airline to Maputo. The next alternative would be flying out on Wednesday. Risking a flight cancellation for a match scheduled for

ings after rising to world number two. The 25-year-old Scot climbed above Roger Federer on the ATP ladder thanks to a gruelling 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7/1) victory over David Ferrer in the final of the Sony Open in Miami on Sunday. Murray (8,750 points) still trails some way behind sixtime major winner Djokovic (12,370), but is optimistic he is on the right path to one day hit the summit. When asked about his return to the world’s top two, Murray told the official ATP website, “for me, it doesn’t change a

huge amount, but the fact that I’m moving up the rankings is a good sign. “I have been winning a lot of matches. My consistency has been better over the last few months. The rankings obviously reflect that, so I will try and keep working hard during the clay and hopefully I can go higher.” Murray was far from his best for long periods on Sunday, losing the first set and seeing his own serve frequently broken by his Spanish opponent. But the Briton clung on for over two hours and 45 minutes, staving off a match point late in the third set, to claim the Miami title for the second time in his career.

“It’s taking a little while to sink in because it’s tough to think really at the end of the match,” he said. “It was so tough physically and mentally that you were just trying to play each point. I wasn’t thinking too much only because I was so tired and (did) not (have) too many nerves at the end of the match, either. “I think it was an exciting match. I don’t think either of us played our best tennis. There were a lot of breaks and ups and downs, and quite a lot of mistakes from both of us. “But what I did do was fight hard, showed good mental strength to get through that match, because it easily could have slipped away from me.”

He continued on Sky Sports: “That sort of match a couple of years ago I probably would have lost... I was up a break three or four times in the third set and kept letting him back in through some loose shots. “I tried to keep fighting, chased down every ball, made it as hard for him as possible. There was a lot riding on the match and I was glad to get through in the end.” It is not an achievement he will have time to reflect on for long, though. Instead he will soon be back in training on clay ahead of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, which begins on April 14. • Culled from sportinglife.com

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

SPORTS 75

Oribamise strikes gold at ITTF Open championship in Tunisia Team Nigeria gets three bronze medals By Olalekan Okusan IGERIA’S Esther Tosin Oribamise ensured that Nigeria national anthem was rendered on the final day of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)sanctioned Junior and Cadet Open Championships held in Tunisia, after the Ekiti-born player won the only gold medal for the country in the girls’ U-12 singles event. However, she was unlucky in the U-15 event as she won a bronze medal after losing to an Egyptian player. In the U-12 event, Oribamise, who is one of Nigeria’s revelation at national championships, was ruthless in all her matches to win the gold. Having topped her group to make the last eight, she was then confronted with players from North Africa, but she was not intimidated by the home fans and the technical superiority of the home team. Oribamise with her raw talents was able to fight her way to the podium. In the quarterfinal encounter against Egypt’s

Rinad Fathy, she was excellent winning 11-8, 11-3, 12-10, while her semifinal tie against home girl, Tunisia’s Fadwa Garci was also an easy ride, an encounter that ended 11-8, 11-9, 11-8 in her favour. As usual, the final encounter against Egypt’s Basma Bahaaeldin has all the attributes of a final with both players thrilling the fans with their superb display. The first game stretched beyond the normal score but it was Oribamise that won 1412. However, the second and third games became a smooth ride for the Nigerian as she rounded up the match at 11-5, 11-6 to claim the only gold for Nigeria. Like a saviour of Nigeria in Tunisia, it was Oribamise singular efforts that also fetched the team a bronze in the girls’ U-15 team event. The third bronze medal that was won by Nigeria at the competition came through Babatunde Babafemi, whose run in the tournament was halted by an

Egyptian in the semifinal match. However, Babafemi took solace in the bronze medal in the boys’ U-15 event. An excited Oribamise told The Guardian from Tunisia yesterday that she was happy doing the nation proud at the competition. “I am happy with this victory but I want to admit that it was tough for me to win here because most of my opponents are also good players as well. Also I look forward to a good outing at the AJC,” she admitted. Meanwhile, as the 2013 ITTF African Junior Championship (AJC) kicked off yesterday, Team Nigeria was on the losing side with the Ojo Onaolapo-led U-21 boys’ team losing 3-1 to Egypt, while the U-15 Boys team also conceded defeat to Congo Brazzaville 32. But the girls’ U-18 team inspired by Oribamise recorded an emphatic 3-0 win over Angola. The final group matches of the team event in the U-21, U18 and U-15 will be played today with the top two teams in each group progressing to the semifinal stage.

Ogunbote takes charge, pledges to revive Sharks HARKS of Port Harcourt’s SGbenga new Technical Adviser, Ogunbote, says he is set to take club back to the summit of Nigerian football. Ogunbote was officially unveiled to the press and fans of Sharks before Sunday’s league game against city neighbour, Dolphins. The coach, who is no stranger to Port Harcourt, having worked in an assistant capacity in Dolphins in the 2003/2004 season, admits that he has a whole lot of work ahead of him. “Our job is always challenging. I have been here before and if I had not done well nobody would have given me the opportunity to come back to Port Harcourt. “I have a lot of work ahead of me and I was aware of this before coming down here,”

Ogunbote said. Ogunbote was quick to add after watching that goalless draw in the week five local derby that the team was not yet perfect. “From the little I have seen, I can say we don’t have a perfect team yet even though the season is still young. But be rest assured that we will turn things around,” he said. The Sunshine Stars’ former technical adviser assured the fans that he would not run away from the task before him and expressed hope of a respectable position at the end of the season. “The important thing is taking up the challenge and I am not going to run away from this challenge because nobody forced me to accept it in the first place. “And I know I am going to end the season in a

NSC approves beach volleyball for National Sports Festival • Ondo, Delta win Third Samsung Championship From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja HE National Sports Commission (NSC) has approved beach volleyball as one of the medal awarding sports at the next edition of he National Sports Festival, billed for Cross Rivers State in 2015. Speaking at the finals of the third edition of the Samsung Beach Volleyball Championship, which ended on Easter day in Abuja, NSC Director General, Patrick Ekeji, said the performance of both players and organisers of the beach volleyball championship has given the sport a sense of belonging, stressing that it has to be encouraged to develop into a medal winning sport for the country in international championships. Ekeji, who was represented by Assistant Director at the NSC, Emmanuel Igbinosa said the Commission would also help the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF) to ensure the players and officials got entry visas for

international championships. At the Samsung Championship, which attracted teams from across the country, Ondo and Delta states emerged winners of the male and female events, which ended at the Jabi Dam Beach Volleyball pitch in Abuja. The Ondo State team of Ambrose Ohwodo and Godwin Samson outplayed their Delta State counterparts, Isaac Igirgba and Tswevini Yohanna 21-13 and 21-11 in two straight sets to win the male prize, while Delta State’s Priscilla Gera and Isabella Eyesonatan defeated Dorothy Egbin and Mariam Garuba of the Nigeria Immigration Services in three sets 22-20, 1121 and 15-3 to emerge as women champions. The champions were rewarded with the sum of N150,000 prize money, as well as, other Samsung products, while the runners up received cash prizes and gifts from the sponsors.

respectable position by the grace of God,” he said. Meanwhile, General Manager of the club, Okey Kpalukwu has assured Coach Ogunbote that he would get his contract papers not later than today, as plans have reached an advanced stage “to prepare a document that will not contain too much legal terms so that both parties would have clear understanding of the content before putting pen to paper.”

Ojo Onaolapo is one of the players in action at the ongoing ITTF African Junior holding in Tunisia.

Zenith Bank WBL

First Deepwater holds the ace in defence, as second phase begins IGERIA women league N champion, First Deepwater Basketball Club remains the best defensive side at the close of the first phase of the Zenith Bank women league in Abuja leading with a +310 goal difference having scored 517 points and conceded 207 in seven Group-A games. With an average of 73.85 points per game, the team cannot be said to have done badly in the first phase of the league. The Coach Lateef Erinfolami tutored side though trail arch rival First Bank Basketball Club, who led the fifteen other clubs in scoring with a total of 533 points to

join the champion as the other team that did not lose a game in the phase to lead group-B going into the second phase billed to start in Asaba today. But the former champion conceded a whopping 275 points to finish behind the reigning champion on the cumulative table. Coach Erinfolami, who was one time captain of Nigeria senior men national team, said that the team would continue to strive to maintain it hold on the Nigerian league with a view to beating First Bank’s record of 10 titles. “Our fans should not lose sleep about the margin we recorded in some of our games during the first phase,

but should look forward to a better performance in the second phase coming up in Asaba and the play-off in Lagos. “We want to assure them (fans) and our management that we are up to the task of delivering the league title once again, which is part of our goal. Most importantly, we look forward to doing well at the Africa Champions Cup not just qualifying for the final round from FIBA Africa Zone-III but we want to be counted among the very best in the continent, the coach stated. Club Chairman Babatunde Babalola said that the club would continue to receive

Gombe and Yobe teams in action at the last 18th National Sports Festival tagged Eko 2012. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

the necessary support from it parent company, First Deepwater Group and also reach out to other partners in the corporate sector. “At First Deepwater Group of Companies the welfare of the players and technical crew of First Deepwater Basketball Club comes first in our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) order or priority and our ultimate goal is to partners other corporate organisation, who believe in what we are doing so as to further raise the standard of the game of basketball in Nigeria and other places where we have interest. “If we have our ways we would like to host the final round of the Africa Champions Cup every year but we will map out plans on how to achieve these lofty dream because bringing the final rounds to Nigeria will further raise the games level here. First Deepwater have done well since coming on board the Nigeria Basketball Federation organised women league in 2008/2009 setting a standard that is yet to be equaled by any women team in Nigeria. The club finished second in its first outing in the 2008/2009 season and annexed the title in the 2009/2010 season to date including a commanding performance at the Africa Champions Club qualifiers in 2009 (winner) and 2012 (runner-up).

76 SPORTS

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

‘Ricky’ Sharma at last, goes to Botswana In Uthe Ogbimi, we have a young trainer, who played the game at the highest level. The coach knows what it means to play at this level and the players are ready to work with him for success. The most important thing is that we are one big family, with everybody fighting for the collective success of the team. We all know what it means for Nigeria to qualify for Division Six and all of us see it as a privilege to play for Nigeria. By God’s grace and with the support of Nigerians, we shall succeed.”

Nigeria celebrating a win during a past edition of the WCL Division Seven play-off in Guernsey. The 2013 edition of the competition begins in Botswana next week.

By Christian Okpara ASHPAL ‘Ricky’ Sharma is one of the happiest men in Nigeria right now. Reason, his wife just gave birth to their first baby, and now he is about to realise one of his age-long dreams, which is playing for the national team. Sharma is among the 14 players selected by the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) to represent the country at the Botswana 2013 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League (WCL) Division Seven play-off, which begins next week. The team is expected to leave for the competition this week with the aim of finishing in the first two positions in the contest to gain promotion to Division Six of the league. To that effect, Sharma, who is having his second spell in the Nigerian national team in his 13-year sojourn in the country, is eager to show the team selectors that they did the right thing in picking him for the championship. Sharma, who spoke to The Guardian shortly after the national team’s training session on Saturday, describes his second coming to the national team as the best

thing to happen to him since the birth of his son. “Cricket means a lot to me and it has always been my ambition to play the game at the highest level even when I was a kid in India,” the Lagos Asians’ wicket keeper begins. Sharma came to Nigeria in search of the Golden Fleece after his education in India, and as is usual with those in love with a sport, it did not take him much time to locate a club in the country. “It has been a long road to my present position in the national team. “When I arrived in Lagos 13 years ago, I first played with Foundation Cricket Club (FCC) for a year before I moved to Suleija, where I joined the Cricket Club of Abuja (CCA). “That was my first real taste of competitive cricket. I played for the CCA for four years before I moved back to Lagos to team up with Lagos Asians in the Club Cricket Committee league. That was in 2007 and since then I have never looked back.” Sharma believes his participation in the CCC League has prepared him for the challenges of international cricket, adding that the competition among the teams toughen the players

such that the national team selectors always have a pool of stars at their disposal. “Initially, it was difficult getting into the national team because of the caliber of players and the competition among the stars. But I have always believed in my ability. “Even when I could not get into the team, I held on to my dream and continued to work hard because I knew it would happen one day. “Nigeria is my home country now even though I was born in India. Playing for Nigeria is an honour, which every player desires, but only a few get. So, I am extremely happy to be here.” This is not Sharma’s first stint in the national team. He was in the squad to the African Division One T20 Championship in Uganda in 2011, but he was dropped

immediately after the competition, and since then he did not have another look in the side. “I was delighted when I was selected in 2011 to represent Nigeria in Uganda. It was a big breakthrough because I am somebody, who has always dreamt of playing at the big stage. “Unfortunately, after the competition, I was dropped from the team. It was difficult for me then, but I continued to work hard because I knew with hard work I would be back. I also believed that my statistics would speak for me if anybody had doubts about my ability. “So I was thrilled when I was recalled for the WCL in Botswana, which is about the biggest stage for the game’s developing countries,” said. Part of the efforts to attract

the selectors to his game was a trip he took to the MCC, Lords in England, where he was trained by some of the best coaches in the world, including Rodney Marsh. “At the MCC, where I went to train on my wicket keeping, I met some of the upcoming stars and also worked with some experience trainers. “It has helped me in improving on the strength of my game, which is not giving away my wicket for as long as possible. “As a player you may think you know your strong points, but a more experienced head can, after assessing you, tell you where your strength lies and help you to actualize your potential. That was what happened to me at the MCC. “My batting is my strength, hence I sponsored myself to the Lords to improve on that aspect of my game.” Sharma believes that unlike the African Division One play-off in Uganda recently, where Nigeria fared badly, the country would excel at the WCL in Botswana. This is because “Nigeria has a rich pool of talent, who have been together for some time to play as a team. We have a very good blend of batting, bowling and fielding talents and the coaches have worked hard to correct the errors of the past. “In Uthe Ogbimi, we have a young trainer, who played the game at the highest level. “The coach knows what it means to play at this level and the players are ready to

work with him for success. “The most important thing is that we are one big family, with everybody fighting for the collective success of the team. We all know what it means for Nigeria to qualify for Division Six and all of us see it as a privilege to play for Nigeria. By God’s grace and with the support of Nigerians, we shall succeed.” On the team’s relationship with the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), Sharma said it would not have been better. According to the wicket keeper, who sees the NCF as a model for other federations to emulate, “I cannot remember any time we have not had the right kits or any other equipment. And I will say without fear of contradiction that there have never been any issues about the health of the players because these things are just there. “Some of these little things make the hard tasks so simple, and I want to assure the federation that we will do our best to represent the nation honourably. I will give the last drop of my blood to ensure we succeed.” Sharma dedicates his involvement with the national team to his uncle, the late Satish Law, who died last year, and his son, Yashaan, who was born last year. He also thanks his wife for always being there for him, even in the difficult times. “I am a Hindu, but I respect all cultures. In whatever I do I give thanks to God because He helps us when we are suffering, so it is important to thank Him when things go

As a player you may think you know your strong points, but a more experienced head can, after assessing you, tell you where your strength lies and help you to actualize your potential. That was what happened to me at the MCC. My batting is my strength, hence I sponsored myself to the Lords to improve on that aspect of my game. Ricky Sharma during a recent training trip to the MCC, England.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

SPORTS 77

Messi, the genius, world at his feet By Adeyinka Adedipe F anyone is still in doubt about the abilities of Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi, his latest achievement, which makes him the first player in Spanish football history to score against every other team in the La Liga consecutively, should answer his questions. In the process of creating the new record, Messi scored 19 goals and it may take long for the achievement to be surpassed. The Barcelona forward is not just scoring goals but he is doing so in style. He could take on an entire defence line before slotting past the opposing goalkeeper with a touch of class. His trademark chip has left many goalkeepers helpless while he has become defenders nightmare with his dribbling skills. He sticks the ball to his legs as if his life depends on it. He is thoroughbred professional and does not get himself involved in the high profile lifestyle of many modern day footballers, who engage in frivolities instead of facing the task of uplifting their teams. The mercurial Argentine could improve on the record if he scores in the next game and has replied his critics not in the media, but by churning out good performance every week. Some believe he is only prolific if he has Xavi Hernandez and Andre Iniesta in the mix but in the last game against Celta Vigo, he almost single-handedly won the game for his team, save for the late equaliser by Celta. Just like he did on Saturday, Messi has kept the team afloat in some crucial games and his touch of magic is the reason why Barcelona leads the rest of the pack with 13 points. To show how vital he was against Celta, readers of Catalan Newspaper sports scored 10 Barca players below five (on the scale of 1 to 10) and the team averaged 4.8. The most disappointing were those who were supposed to be Messi’s closest partner in Barca’s attack: Fabregas (3.2), a sad shadow of himself, Thiago (3.5), a player who most time play for himself and Alexis (3.5), while the introduction of Iniesta, Villa and Busquets did nothing to improve the game. In fact, Barca conceded the equaliser when the trio was introduced into the game. He has scored 30 goals in the 19 games and has 43 goals in 29 La Liga matches this season. If he keeps up the pace, he is bound to surpass his own league record of 50 goals in one season set last year. Messi has scored almost half of Barcelona’s league goals (90) this campaign. He has more goals than 16 of the teams in the Spanish league. After breaking a 40-year-old record for most goals in a calendar year in 2012, and in which he became a father, Barcelona reached an agreement with the Argentine striker, signing him until 2018 and raising his base salary to €16 million net ($21.2 million), which will made him the highest on-the-pitch earner in soccer. Barca also moved to secure their number one star’s presence in their squad, as evidenced by his prohibitive €250 million ($331.2 million) buyout clause and tax payments on his salary that reportedly totalled more than €20 million ($26.5 million). The moves seems a wise one because since Messi became a professional, FC Barcelona has Barcelona’s Argentine forward, Lionel Messi (left); vies with Celta’s Argentine defender, Gustavo Cabral, during the Spanish league match at the Balaidos Stadium in Vigo at the won 19 titles including three Champions weekend. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. PHOTO: AFP Leagues and 5 domestic Ligas. He has been compared to many great footMessi eventually grew to 5 feet and 7 inches, ballers like Pele, his former coach and Argentine of Messi. He’s the best player in the world right then disappear, there were plenty.” Born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, and with his short stature, speed and relenttalisman, Diego Maradona and his fiercest rival, now and one of the best that I’ve seen play,” he Messi moved to Spain at the age of 13, after the less attacking style tormented defenders wherCristiano Ronaldo but Messi remains in a class told El Mundo Deportivo. “It’s also true that to get to the level that he’s FC Barcelona club agreed to pay for hormone- ever he played. Messi steered Barcelona to a of his own. Ronaldo is a fantastic player but wealth of success, most notably in 2009, when got to, he’s had high-quality team-mates by his deficiency treatments. Messi plays a game of his own. His achievement As a young boy, he tagged along when his two the left-footer’s team captured the Champions speaks volume for him and that is why he has side. They have a very solid defence and players, League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup titles. won four consecutive Ballon d’or from 2009 to who can make things tough for you in the mid- older brothers played soccer with their friends, That same year, after two consecutive runnerdle of the pitch like Xavi, Iniesta and the indeunintimidated by the bigger boys. At the age of 2012. up finishes, he took home his first FIFA “World After achieving his latest feat on Saturday, the fatigable Dani Alves. They are all great players, 8, he was recruited to join the youth system of Player of the Year” honor/Ballon d’Or award. Barcelona have a team full of great players.” Newell’s Old Boys, a Rosario-based club. modest Argentine said, “the streak doesn’t matEven the great Maradona gushed about his “He’s a player, who makes the difference and is Recognisably smaller than most of the kids in ter. What we really wanted was to win this game. fellow countryman. “I see him as very similar I have been fortunate enough to score in these our leading scorer and star of our team. He’s his age group, doctors eventually diagnosed to me,” the retired player told the BBC. “He’s a games and help the team keep on winning. The well respected and with his ability and experi- him as suffering from a hormone deficiency leader and is offering lessons in beautiful footthat restricted his growth. victory got away from us at the end, but we have ence he will help us a lot,” said Lucas. Former Barcelona player, Ludovic Giuly has Messi’s parents, Jorge and Ceclia decided on ball. He has something different to any other to turn the page. We can’t let it distract us. Now player in the world.” we have to rest up to arrive in good shape (to insisted “it was almost an honor” to be booted a regimen of nightly growth-hormone injecAmazingly, the diminutive soccer wizard conParis) and get a good result, knowing that it will out of the team’s starting XI to make way for tions for their son, though it soon proved tinued to improve, discovering new ways to Lionel Messi in 2006. impossible to pay several hundred dollars per be an evenly matched Champions League conelude defenders while leading Barcelona to La The former France international appeared month for the medication. test.” Liga and Spanish Super Cup championships in over 100 times for the Blaugrana between 2004 So, at the age of 13, when Messi was offered Barcelona’s stand-in coach, Jordi Roura said of 2010 and 2011, as well as, the ‘11 Champions his player: “What Leo is doing an unheard off in and 2007 before his coach at the time, Frank the chance to train at soccer powerhouse FC League title. Barcelona’s youth academy, La Masia, and have the league’s history and it shows the impor- Rijkaard, replaced him with the Liga star. Messi embarked on an all-out assault on the “In January 2006, Coach Frank Rijkaard told his medical bills covered by the team, Messi’s tance he has and his greatness as a player. With record books in 2012. He became the first playme, ‘Ludo, I want to see Messi more on the pitch family picked up and moved across the time, we will give him even more credit for what er to score five goals in a Champions League from now on, he will play more,’” the 36-year-old Atlantic to make a new home in Spain. he’s doing.” Although he was often homesick in his new match in early March, and a few weeks later he Paris St Germain forward, Lucas Moura has told Le Parisien. “I understood he was the future. surpassed Cesar Rodriguez’s club-record 232 described Lionel Messi as a “genius” - but knows It was almost an honor for me to make way for country, Messi moved quickly through the jun- goals to become Barcelona’s all-time leading him.” ior system ranks, and by the age of 16, he had the Argentina ace is not the only Barcelona playGiuly also stressed that key aspects were made his first appearance for Barcelona. Messi scorer. er his side, need to be concerned about when By the end of 2012, Messi had accumulated an already present in Messi’s game when he arrived put himself in the record books on May 1, 2005, the two teams clash in the Champions League in Spain as a teenager. as the youngest player to ever score a goal for astounding 91 goals in club and international quarter-finals. “He’s a phenomenon. He already had his the franchise. That same year, he led Argentina play, eclipsing the 85 netted in a single calenLucas is a big admirer of his fellow South famous hooks, his liveliness and his inimitable to the title in the under-20 World Cup, scoring dar year by Gerd Muller in 1972. Fittingly, he American but is keen to point out Barca are no style when arrived at Barcelona,” he stated. “I on a pair of penalty kicks to propel the team broke one more record when he was named one-man team. thought it had to be judged over time. Many over Nigeria. He was also in the squad that beat the FIFA Ballon d’Or winner for the fourth time “Messi is a genius, that says it all. I’m a big fan in January 2013. promising young people around 16 years old Nigeria 1-0 at the 2008 Olympics.

THE GUaRDIaN, Tuesday, april 2, 2013

78 SPORTS

UEFA Champions League

Sneijder will celebrate scoring against Madrid Facing Ronaldo excites Burak aLaTaSaRaY star Wesley for Real Madrid, but you just G Sneijder has insisted that can’t imagine how we are he has nothing but good feeling here. For this club it is memories of his time at Real Madrid ahead of the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie tomorrow. The Netherlands international wore the Madrid jersey from 2007 until 2009, before leaving the Santiago Bernabeu side for Inter. “I have a lot of good memories of my time at Madrid. I still have a lot of friends there, and I have terrific memories of the team and the people at the club,” Sneijder told Marca. “There is no reason why I would have any bad memories of that stage of my life. “I had a very good season, and we won the league, and I enjoyed my football a lot. and then I had another bad season because of my personal problems.” Nevertheless, the Dutchman made it clear that his past at the Blancos will not stop him from celebrating if he finds the net against Madrid. “It would be a great thrill to score, and I’m not saying I won’t celebrate a goal, because I think I will. I don’t know how I would react at a moment like that, but clearly it would be a very special goal. “The Champions League is a very important competition

not such a common occurrence, and the excitement is at an all-time high here. “We shall go to the Santiago Bernabeu with the belief that we can do well. We know that it will be a very difficult and complicated game, but we have a good side here. I believe in my team and as long as we don’t lose confidence, we will make something of this tie.” Meanwhile, teammate Burak Yilmaz has spoken about his admiration for Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the first-leg quarter-final tie between the sides. Burak and Ronaldo both top the top-scorer list of the tournament with eight goals, and the Turkey star is delighted at the prospect of facing the Liga legend on tomorrow. “I admire him and am very proud to be competing against him, if only a little,” the 27-year-old striker told AS. “Playing against him is an incomparable sensation. I am sure that if we eliminate Madrid, who are an extremely difficult opponent, then we can win the Champions League. Our potential will soon live up to these expectations,” he added.

Barcelona are not perfect, insists Moura Paris Saint-Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (left); with other players attend a training session at the Camp des Loges in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, west of Paris, on the eve of a Champions League quarter-final football match against Barcelona. PHOTO: AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

aRIS Saint-Germain star, P Lucas Moura is optimistic about his side’s chances of

Mourinho aims to equal Ferguson’s seven Champion’s League semi-finals

reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Barcelona, insisting the Blaugrana are by no means a perfect team. The Primera Division giants are one of the favourites to win European club football’s elite competition this season, but the Brazil international believes there are weaknesses, which can be exploited when the sides meet tonight. “Barcelona have a number of great players and play some of the best football in the world,” Lucas Moura was quoted as saying by El Mundo Deportivo.

Mourinho will draw JonOSE level with Sir alex Ferguson seven semi-final appearances in the Champions League if his Real Madrid side get past Galatasaray in their forthcoming last-eight tie. Mourinho led Madrid to the last four of Europe’s premier club competition in each of his first two seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu, and his team will be big favourites to advance for a third time in a row. Real host Galatasaray tomorrow before travelling to Istanbul for the return leg next Tuesday. Madrid are still aiming for their 10th trophy- La Decima in the history of the European Cup and the Champions League, while Mourinho has

admitted he hopes to become the first coach to win the coveted crown with three different clubs. The Portuguese made his Champions League debut in 2001-02, when he took over midway through the season at Porto, but won the competition in his first full tilt at the title, in 2003-04 (having won the UEFa Cup in 2002-03). That turned out to be his only Champions League semifinal appearance at Porto as he moved on to Chelsea that summer. and he took the Blues to the cusp of European glory, losing out at the semifinal stage in both 2005 and 2007. On each occasion it was Liverpool, who got the better of his side, with the Reds bene-

fiting from Luis Garcia’s “phantom” goal on the way to the trophy in 2005 and then advancing on a penalty shootout two years later. Mourinho left Chelsea shortly into the following season and did not return until the next campaign, when he agreed to coach Inter. His first season in Milan ended with a Serie a title, but disappoint-

Effenberg says Bayern are lacking in leadership, backs Juventus win Bayern Munich final because Jupp Heynckes’ FhasORMER Captain, Stefan Effenberg side lack a leader when go wrong. tipped Juventus over his things former team in the Champions League quarter-

Heineken offers five final tickets to Nigerian fans S some of the best football a teams in the world battle it out in the quarterfinals of the UEFa Champions League, Heineken has unveiled the latest element of its ‘Road to the Final’ campaign. The campaign demonstrates how, with imagination and resourcefulness, one man is able to witness club football’s most prestigious event – the final itself. Premiering today in more than 170 countries, the ad is the latest element of the brand’s global integrated ‘Road to The Final’ campaign, as it celebrates its seventh consecutive year sponsoring the UEFa Champions League. The ad features one lucky fan, who receives a ticket to the UEFa Champions League Final. The only problem is that he is on the other side of the

world and faces a race against the clock to get to the match. Through a combination of resourcefulness, imagination and inventiveness, he manages to overcome every obstacle put in his way – to be rewarded with the ultimate football experience – a pitch side seat at Wembley, arriving just before kick-off. Throughout the ‘Road to the Final’ campaign, Heineken is encouraging fans to engage with the brand through a series of unique activities from on shelf in modern stores to in-bar and social media, offering incredible once-in-a-lifetime prizes. The brand’s Facebook fans can play a pinball game featuring elements of the advert. Players can compete against each other – and Heineken ambassadors including Clarence Seedorf – to earn bragging rights and UEFa

ment in Europe as the Nerazzurri exited to Manchester United in the last 16. However, the Portuguese led the Italians to treble glory in 2009-10, as they claimed the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League Inter’s first success in Europe’s premier club competition since 1965.

Champions League prizes. For the semifinals, eager fans will have the chance to engage with Seedorf through Twitter – with the most resourceful receiving prizes for their imaginative responses to Heineken’s task. as the ‘Road to The Final’ campaign reaches its climax, Heineken will be rewarding fans for displaying inspiring and imaginative behaviour by offering tickets to the UEFa Champions League Final in Wembley. In Lagos, Nigeria Heineken invites consumers and UCL fans to take part in a race to win five tickets to UEFa Champions League final in Wembley on an all-expense paid trip. 350 consumers will be invited for this once in a lifetime race from the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos on april 13, 2013.

The ex-German international spent two spells with die Roten where he won three Bundesliga titles and one Champions League. However, the former skipper believes an “improved” La Vecchia Signora have the edge over his former employers. “I don’t think they (Bayern) are favourites,” the 44-yearold told Ita Sport Press. That is because this Juventus side is different from the one that started the competition. “They’ve improved so much since then, especially in terms of their self-belief,” added the former Fiorentina, Borussia Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg midfielder. The German club will be confident of their chances having thumped Hamburg 92 at the weekend to maintain their 20-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund, but Effenberg believes this will count for nothing against the Bianconeri.

Effenberg

“However, each team has its shortcomings. There is no such thing as the perfect team. I have no doubt that (Carlo) ancelotti will give us all the information needed to take advantage.” The 20-year-old then went on to voice his admiration for former PSG and Barcelona forward Ronaldinho, whom he hopes to emulate during his career in Europe. “Ronaldinho is a great player, who has made history and continues to do just that,” he went on. “He’s an example to follow. He made his mark at PSG first, and then became the best player in the world at Barcelona.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

SPORT 79

European Round-off

Cech’s save was key moment, Ferguson admits FTER watching his side A losing the quarterfinal rematch to Chelsea yesterday, Manchester United Manager, Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Petr Cech saved the day for Chelsea. The United boss said, “Cech’s save from Chicharito was unbelievable. He made a similar save in the first (game) from one of his own defenders. I think if we had got that goal then we would have been okay. It may have gone to extra time, of course, but it would have brought us back into the game and we didn’t need to go chasing it.

Robin had a chance from a header, a couple of headers actually. One he really should have scored but he put it over the bar.” He added, “it was disappointing because we are better than that. We didn’t play, as well as, we should have done in the second half.” Ferguson, who was without Wayne Rooney due to a groin injury sustained on England duty, was unimpressed with the performance of his side. “Over the 90 minutes only Antonio Valencia reached the standard we expect of

them,” Ferguson said. “Phil Jones (did) for a good part of the game, of course, and David de Gea did well, but in terms of the 90minute performance Antonio Valencia was the only one.” United’s sole focus is now on wrapping up the Premier League title. They hold a 15-point lead over Manchester City, their

next opponents in the competition next Monday, when Rooney could return. Chelsea, meanwhile, can ill afford injuries as Benitez aims to nurture his side through the crucial conclusion to the season. The Blues next play on Thursday in the Europa League against Rubin Kazan of Russia, with left-back Ashley Cole absent with a

hamstring problem. It is doubtful whether the England defender will be fit for Wembley, while Gary Cahill (knee) is also out for a further two to three weeks, weakening Chelsea’s options. Benitez, who was pilloried for his selection against Southampton, said, “when you rotate players sometimes it can go well, some-

times not so well.” Chelsea are now within 90 minutes of a May 11 FA Cup final, with City standing in their way. Benitez said, “it couldn’t be more difficult. This year everything is so difficult. If you want to win, you have to beat the best teams. “United is one of the best, City is another one. It’s another challenge.”

Benitez eyes strong finish with Chelsea AFAEL Benitez’ weak conR fident was strengthen yesterday, as the Spaniard hopes to make a “great” season for Chelsea even better after the holders advanced to the FA Cup semi-finals at the expense of Manchester United. Demba Ba’s spectacular 49th-minute volley and a stunning Petr Cech save earned Chelsea a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge to set up a Wembley semi-final with Manchester City on April 14. Chelsea’s attentions now turn to Thursday’s Europa League fixture with Rubin Kazan - their third of six games in 16 days - before Sunday’s match with Sunderland in the Barclays Premier League. The Jekyll and Hyde Blues are chasing a top-four finish and Champions League qualification next term, but that particular challenge was derailed by Southampton on Saturday before Monday’s recovery against United. Benitez said, “we had a turning point two weeks ago. One game (at Southampton), it seemed that everything changed. “The race for the top four will be until the end of the season. We’re in the top four with one game in hand so

we’re in a very good position. We’re in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, quarter-finals of the Europa League. It’s a great season, at the moment. It could be even better.” The turning point to which Benitez - unpopular at Stamford Bridge due to his prior association with Liverpool - refers was at Old Trafford in the original tie, when United raced to a 2-0 lead only for Chelsea to respond to force the replay. In a match of few chances, Chelsea took the lead when Ba escaped the attentions of Rio Ferdinand to meet Juan Mata’s lofted pass and find the top corner. Ferdinand endured a torrid afternoon and was subject to abuse throughout. John Terry, another former England captain, was an unused substitute but also faced vitriol from the stands. United had plenty of time to find an equaliser. Javier Hernandez had an opportunity to level when he met a Danny Welbeck cross, but Cech was somehow able to divert the ball over. Had Hernandez met the ball with his head, rather than his shoulder, the result might have been different. Benitez added, “it was a great save, with a great goal.”

PSG eager to extend Beckham deal ARIS St Germain President, P Nasser Al-Khelaifi is set to open talks with David Beckham about extending his stay in the French capital. The former England captain joined Carlo Ancelotti’s side on a five-month deal in January, and his brief contribution has helped the capital club book a Champions League quarter-final with Barcelona, as well as, consolidate their position at the top of Ligue 1. Beckham spoke of his happiness in Paris over the weekend and it now looks as though he will be given the opportunity to remain at the Parc des Princes next season. Al-Khelaifi said in an interview with L’Equipe: “Recruiting David was one of my best decisions. As a man, player, ambassador, he is exceptional. It creates something in this group. Everyone loves it. We will talk with him. Whatever his decision, we support David. “He is very happy in Paris. Frankly, we want to keep him with us next season.” Beckham has started once and made four substitute appearances for PSG since signing and confirmed on Saturday he is open to

extending his stay. He told Le Parisien: “We’ll see. Who wouldn’t want to stay at a place like this? “It’s very special but I’m not getting any younger so we’ll see how I feel at the end of the season. It’s always nice to be wanted.”

Manchester United’s English defender, Chris Smalling (right); vies with Chelsea’s Senegalese striker, Demba Ba, during their English FA Cup quarterfinal replay match at Stamford Bridge in London, England yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Mourinho could stay, says Sneijder ESLEY Sneijder believes W Jose Mourinho is doing a “perfect” job at Real Madrid and is not convinced by talk his old Inter Milan boss will definitely be leaving the Bernabeu at the end of the season. Mourinho has a contract with Madrid until 2016 but there was been widespread speculation in the media that the Portuguese will call time on his three-year stint with the Spanish giants this summer. However, Galatasaray playmaker Sneijder, who was at

Inter when Mourinho decided in the wake of their Champions League final victory in 2010 to swap the Italian outfit for Madrid, has not been swayed by reports that the 50-year-old seems certain to leave. He told Marca, “listen, there are things about Mourinho in the press every day which don’t necessarily need to be true. I don’t know if he’s going to leave to be honest. In my personal opinion, it would seem very strange to me that he would leave already, so quickly. “The work that Mourinho’s doing at Real Madrid is per-

fect. “He won the league last season, they’ve always gone far in the Champions League, this season they are still fighting to win it. I think his job is there, isn’t it?” Sneijder was speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg between Galatasaray and Madrid in Spain. That match will see Sneijder return to the Bernabeu, where he had a mixed time as a player during two seasons with Madrid between 2007 and 2009 before helping Inter lift the

Rijkaard made us see Messi was the future, Giuly insists X-BARCELONA player, E Ludovic Giuly has insisted “it was almost an honour” to

Beckham

be booted out of the team’s starting XI to make way for Lionel Messi in 2006. The former France international appeared over 100 times for the Blaugrana between 2004 and 2007 before his coach at the time, Frank Rijkaard, replaced him with the Liga star. “In January 2006, Coach Frank Rijkaard told me, Ludo, I want to see Messi more on the pitch from now on, he will play more,” the 36year-old told Le Parisien. “I understood he was the future. It was almost an honor for me to make way

for him.” Giuly also stressed that key aspects were already present in Messi’s game when he arrived in Spain as a teenager. “He’s a phenomenon. He already had his famous hooks, his liveliness and his inimitable style (when arrived at Barcelona),” he explained. “I thought it had to be judged over time. Many promising young people around 16 years old then disappear, there were plenty.” Giuly is chasing the Europa League places in Ligue 1 with his current club Lorient, as the club sits eighth, six points off fourth place.

Champions League there under Mourinho. The Holland international said of this week’s match: “It’s very special, for many reasons. “On a personal level, it’s a very emotional game and, as a professional, it’s a lovely game. I still have several friends there and I’ve got incredible memories with the team and the fans. “My first season in Madrid was very good, we had a great team and personally I enjoyed playing a lot. The other season was bad for personal problems. The second year wasn’t easy for me, but this doesn’t take away the fact I have a good memory of Real Madrid.” Sneijder, who described Mourinho as like a second father to him, is now hoping to help dump his former club out of Europe, although he concedes it will not be easy.

Mourinho

TheGuardian

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Gbenga-Isaac Oni ELCOME to the world of ever changing chalW lenges. For over five decades since after Nigeria got her independence, we have been witnessing an identification problem, what someone has called a ‘stop go’ life cycle. The early 60s witnessed a hope of a great future but along the line things went wrong. Our problem does not lie now with the out-going generation; it is with us the in-coming younger generation. How? You might ask. Issues of change have become an issue of cooperate importance. Over the decades, the word change and failure to manage it has been the undoing of most unsuccessful people on earth. What is change? The Longman advanced study dictionary defines it as “to become different or make someone or something becoming different.’’ A thought from a leadership school sees change as any move from the usual or any unexpected event which may or may not have been as a result of our fears but which affects our life and lifestyle. As young people we need to know that things or events are not static, they change and sometimes not in our favour. Most of us don’t accept changes and will end up looking for whom to blame or in whom to find fault. However, people that must make it in life are those that create what they want out of non-existing pleasant circumstances, regardless of family background. Examples of where change is called for can be seen everywhere around us: In schools, the home, churches, mosques or shrines and the global community. When changes come the question we need to ask ourselves is: Is it from good to bad, vice versa or just to remain floating in life? You must learn the right skills and attitude needed to deal with change. For you to manage change then you must learn from what Abraham Lincoln said: Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing. The following three WHATs’ are a tool that would be handy in managing changes: What I can do myself; what I can influence but cannot do; and what I can’t influence and cannot do. A lot of us have the wrong attitude to change like: being afraid of change which destroys initiative; not prepared for change; procrastination; expecting things to be the same and thinking ‘I am a failure’ (that’s personalising failure) etc. There is need to have the right attitude to change. I called it FITS (flexibility, integrity, taking action and stepping on toes). Before, I proceed to answer the question why we the younger generation are to be blame for our present woes as a nation; I should quickly list 10 reasons why I think people fail to succeed. If our answer to any of the questions is yes then we must re-examine our actions. Someone said: “Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in another.” But can it, really? True effectiveness requires balance and I totally agree with that. The questions are: Do you have poor relationship skills; Negative attitude to life; lack of focus; unwillingness to change (from bad manners/characters); relying on your talents alone; short-cut mindset; lack of commitment; bad fit; poor response to information; and lack of personal goal. Heaven on earth is a choice we must make not a place we must find, they say. Now to the big question that must be answered, I mean answered in a hurry by the outgoing generation, and we the younger generation: What essential value should a good Nigerian society be built on and how do we go about it? For me the answer is simply honesty, patriotism, integrity, cultural/religious appreciation and hard work. I call it my five star values that will get us to the Promised Land. The next question is how do we achieve that? Let’s take a look at our National pledge; little do I know if millions of us reciting that pledge really know the meaning and havoc we cause each time we fail to abide by the pledge. Sincerely, if we all have been keeping to the pledge our nation would not have been faced with its many woes. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines pledge as a promise, a serious promise. As we know promises are meant to be kept— unbroken. The second line of the National pledge reads as follows: To be faithful, loyal and honest. How many of us are faithful even to ourselves, talk more of loyalty—before we start thinking of honesty. Is it public in the funds we misappropriate and call it national cake? Is it certificate, result or document forgery that makes us honest? Public office holders who are custodians of our resources after taking oath still steal from the resources. Our teachers/lecturers are paid for services they are supposed to render, yet they fail to put in their best or at best deliver below average. A contractor gets paid for work he is so sure he would not do. When corrupt men and women are caught, we all, led by interested parties, shout it is politics. The suspects themselves keep singing and disturbing the peace of faithful Nigerians “I was used and dumped”. We know that it is nigh impossible to catch all thieves in one day. So, the corrupt says, “why me?’’ Our retort in palpable

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Behavioural change: A challenge for the next generation

agreement with him is, ‘’it is all politics; it is political victimisation.’’ Where is the loyalty if we think thus instead of allowing the long arms of the law to sort out the issue? We have all agreed that corruption is a cancan worm killing us, but we still allow the trend of “If you cannot beat them, you join them” No! The order ought to be if you cannot beat them you stand out! What many Nigerian youths, including our leaders don’t know is that you can get rich honestly and even in transparency. All we need do is to be honest in our definition of riches. The Nigeria society sincerely must have a re-think. Acquisition of mansions, cars and numbers of wives and concubines should not be a measure for true greatness in a community. Pressure by way of demands from public office holders by the community should be minimised. We all sing, “Rome was not built in a day”. Recognition should then follow that wealth must not be accumulated in a day. Honesty should be celebrated, just as we do to a Nigerian team winning the world cup. Taking the next line of the National pledge, ‘To serve Nigeria with all my strength’, little do we know that we are serving Nigeria with no strength. Instead we expend our strength in stealing public funds, fighting and destroying

goods and property. For Nigeria to get to her longed-for destination we must appreciate our diversity, as we march forward into a new Nigeria where honest men would walk the street proud of themselves. Working hard to achieve our dream Nigeria, we must not allow depraved politicians, who are corrupt and confused, and who entrapped in their depravity can only see quality leadership as a threat to business as usual. It is such people who are inwardly rotten who instigate religious/ethnic riots all over the place sometimes wearing religious mask. It is time when true worshipper of God, must interpret their religion with culture, and should not allow culture of certain individuals to becloud the interpretation of their religion. We should not allow weak religious men get entrapped by depraved politicians whose mission is to manipulate them for evil. It makes me cry when I am opportune to travel across the length and breadth of the country from North to South, and to have cause to exchange views with supposedly young people who should ideally represent the great hope for this country and they seem to see no hope in the project called Nigeria. Most have lost hope in hard work. A young man once lamented

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before me about five years ago that his father was poor because he chose to be honest. As I was to later find out here was a father who could train him in engineering in a prestigious University and who had other children in good schools in Ibadan. Another young man once said he needed only six months in leadership position to get rich through misappropriation of resources. Is that the kind of leadership we want? Where is our integrity? Where is hard work? Almost every Nigerian is looking for a short cut. But the truth of the matter is that, there is no short cut to success but to ruin sooner or later. It is imperative to remind Nigerians who believe that their lot can be improved only in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of promoting our talents and products of the words of Broker Washington in 1895 during the post era of black’s freedom in the Unites States. He had said: “Cast down your bucket where you are...” We should believe in the Nigeria project and stop looking for bread abroad. “...Cause you are surrounded with bread factories here at home...it is at the bottom of life, we must begin and not at the top nor should we permit our grievance to overshadow our opportunities.” The government on its part should create a state of which all citizens would be proud so that while the state gets the benefit of the workforce, the workforce themselves would be made to see not only utility in labour but beauty and dignity in it. Integrity, as explained by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, is more than clear-cut universally associated standards of behaviour like lying, cheating and offering or receiving bribes. One other thing is that Nigerians in general lack the word ‘sorry’ in their vocabulary. We don’t agree that we can make mistakes, as leaders and apologise. We feel too important to say no to any offer that will seriously affect the hitherto honest pictures we paint of ourselves. If the government has failed us, we must not fail ourselves. I always tell as many as would listen that the people we call government are not more than 20 per cent. The understanding therefore should be that if the rest of us that makes up the 80 per cent change for the better we would have reformed our government itself. A bad government will not thrive where the majority of the citizens are good. Access to information as a tool of economic development is not only vital but are linked and it should be the most sought for to build a strong Nigeria. There is need for accurate information and genuine commitment in passing such information on. The only hope of an end to a crisis or to bring about change is taking access to information into consideration; Nigeria must learn to know more about their immediate environment and the country at large. We should know things happening or going on, what the government is doing, the community leaders that may include politicians, and religious leaders. The last lines of the National pledge go thus: “To defend her unity. And uphold her honour and glory so help me God.’’ How do we defend her unity, when we kill one another from Kaduna to Kano, from Borno to Yobe, from Yobe to Benue, and from Nassarawa to Taraba? Plateau that was once home of peace and tourism has not known peace for over a decade now. Amnesty has saved the day to a large extent in the Niger-Delta. Hiding under ethnic and religious shell we have made Nigeria a country the minority and the less privileged no longer feel at home. Which honour are we upholding when we steal from foreigners, dismissing it without qualms under the cloak that after all it is the money belonging to our forefathers? Where is the glory to parade, when we cannot give a helping hand to our neighbours when it is blood bath here, mayhem, there; kidnap today and assassination tomorrow, horror that sweeps through all the nook and crannies of the country? When other countries are advancing in technology, tourism, and astonishing medical/scientific breakthrough, we have failed on our own part to keep the promise of our National pledge despite the enormous resources at our disposal. However, all hope is not lost; we must not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the unsettling statistics of our failures. We must not continue in our wishful thinking. The cost of rising to the top again would be less than when we fold our arms in resignation. I slept and had a dream: I have a dream of a new Nigeria where honest men shall walk the street proud of themselves. A state where hard work and transparency shall be the watchwords. A new Nigeria where peace, tranquillity, equity, justice and integrity shall be celebrated as a prototype for the rest of Africa. I saw it! A state where sacrifice shall be seen as a way of life. I have a dream of a corrupt free Nigeria. Therefore, challenge yourself to change and change others. Welcome to a new heart of Africa where we all take our future in our hands. To achieve things that have never been achieved we have to be prepared to do things that have never been done, as the saying goes. We must make up our minds to be different today and dare tomorrow. • Gbenga-Isaac Oni is a researcher/public policy analyst