Tuesday 26 Feb 2013 The Guardian Nigeria by The Guardian Newspaper

Govt releases N75b for local debt settlement From Mathias Okwe, Abuja S part of measures to force down the high A cost of funds and also check the crowding out effect of the private sector in the country from the debt market, the Co-ordinating

• Kicks off sinking fund with N25b Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday released N100 billion for strategic debt management.

It was learnt yesterday that N75 billion of the amount is to assist the Debt Management Office (DMO) settle some debt instruments bonds and treasury bills - that have fallen due

while the balance of N25 billion is to kick off the Debt Sinking Fund plan as proposed in the 2013 budget plan. The fund is meant to address from time to time domestic debt instruments that fall due instead of going back to the market to raise funds through refi-

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TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Vol. 29, No. 12,479

www.ngrguardiannews.com

N150

PDP governors forum to tackle APC, says Akpabio

From Madu Onuorah, John-Abba Ogbodo and Karls Tsokar, Abuja

ENEATH the façade put out to the public that the Peoples Democratic Party’s Governors Forum (PDP-GF) was formed to checkmate Rivers State’s helmsman Rotimi Amaechi is the determi-

• Amaechi remains NGF chair till May election • Party’s BoT set to elect Anenih as chairman nation of the ruling political grouping to nip in the bud the growing influence of the yet-to-be registered opposi-

tion All Progressive Congress (APC). Various sources had hinted that the formation of the PDP-

GF, and election of its chairman, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State was to send word to the opposi-

Some of the arrested traders at Ladipo Spare Parts Market, Matori after the closure in Lagos … yesterday. More on pages 4, 12 & 13 PHOTO: CHARLES OKOLO

tion that President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling political grouping could fight back.

“The election would also force PDP governors platform to come out of their closet and decide whether they stand with the party under which they were elected or side with the opposition alliance, the All Progressive Congress (APC),” the sources

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A displaced and homeless nursing mother at Badia community in Ijora… yesterday. PHOTO: GODFREY OKPUGIE

Why PDP needs no merger, says Buhari From Anietie Akpan (Calabar), John-Abba Ogbodo and Ezeocha Nzeh (Abuja) NLIKE opposition parU ties, which have entered into a merger, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) needs no alliance, according to a former presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC),

• Alleges its alliance with INEC, judiciary, NNPC, pensions fund • Governors pick logo, slogan for APC Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). However, he insisted that only the merger of opposition

parties could sack the PDP at the 2015 general elections. Buhari said the ruling party had no need for any form of

merger since it had already entered into an alliance with government’s agencies like the Independent National

Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), pensions fund and the judiciary. Besides, some political stakeholders under the aegis of G37 have denied insinuations that their group was being

President okays compulsory retirement of Justice Archibong - Page 5

floated to pursue the single term agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan. According to a statement by the chairman of the group’s publicity committee, Senator Emmanuel Onwe, in Abuja yesterday, G-37 is a non-partisan association that cuts across all strata of the society.

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

2 NEWS

Buhari alleges PDP alliance with INEC, others CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Onwe said all the states of the federation were represented in G-37 and the group was insisting on good governance in the country. Buhari noted that Nigeria had continued to be in the grip of bad government, which believed in holding on to power either by hook or by crook. Addressing party supporters at a CPC interactive session with its elected representatives in state legislatures and the National Assembly, Buhari noted that the political history of Nigeria had proved that to hold power at the centre, there must be the need for a broad coalition or merger. He, therefore, urged the CPC leadership and its representatives at the various assemblies to see the merger as a call to duty, stressing that they should regard themselves as arrow-heads of the movement. He added: “For our National Assembly members, you are the real products of our democracy. You won your elections without using the police to intimidate voters, you did not use INEC staff to inflate voters, and you won, in spite of all attempts by the government to rig you out. How many in PDP can say that? You can therefore hold yourselves high and regard yourselves as genuine representatives of your people. You should therefore act with speed and purpose to reach our goal. Without your leadership and efforts, our fight for democracy will not succeed. Each one of us here should regard himself as part of the great movement to come together and unseat the PDP… “PDP does not need merger or alliance; they are already merged and are in alliance with INEC, police and with the Judiciary, with the NNPC and pensions fund.” The opposition governors that earlier met to endorse the proposed merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), CPC, All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance

(APGA) had disclosed that they had met twice to deliberate on the preferred logo, slogan and constitution of the new party, the APC. Nasarawa State Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, who spoke at the CPC interactive session in Abuja, disclosed that he and his colleagues had resolved to organise themselves into an alliance in their efforts to sack the ruling party. Al-Makura also disclosed that the alliance governors had divided themselves into groups, designed to work in partnership with the larger merger committee of the various parties. He stated that after their second meeting, the governors decided on the steps to be taken on the formation of a logo, slogan and constitution of the APC, stressing that they would ratify the issues during their next meeting on Thursday before passing them to the larger merger committee. His words: “We decided to form the alliance of opposi-

tion governors’ forum and we have met two times. Our third meeting will come on Sunday. We have taken so many decisions, which are aimed at facilitating the merger. Among the decisions which we intend to suggest to the main merger committee include moves to synergize with the larger merger group in a way that will give them all the necessary support from our forum. In our second meeting, we decided that we needed to confine ourselves to the ambit of the larger merger committee. We only can give advice to whatever we think can quicken the merger and actualize its aims. We therefore decided to make suggestions as regards party logo, slogans, constitution, as well as other issues that will have to do with the INEC compliance with the merger. We also considered other fundamental issues that would be trashed out by the larger group. We do not, however, want to be seen as a parallel group from the larger merger group, be-

cause we believe that we are going to come out strong from the merger. We are helping in guiding the larger merger committee to come out stronger.” Meanwhile, former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa has told journalists that the coming together of the opposition parties was a welcome development to the democracy. According to Ita-Giwa who is a staunch PDP member, with the APC, there would be a stiff competition and any party that wins election would know that the votes are truly from the people. On his part, the senator representing Cross River Southern Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Bassey Edet Otu, said PDP was not afraid of any opposition group. Otu said the people that formed the opposition party were strange bedfellows coming together without any political ideology.

Govt kicks off sinking fund with N25b CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 nancing or issue fresh debt notes. The Senior Special Assistant on Media to Okonjo-Iweala, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, confirmed the development to The Guardian yesterday. He explained that it was in line with the Federal Government’s resolve to check the domestic debt stock from getting out of control. He said: “In line with the strong new strategy for managing domestic debt, the Federal Government has concluded plans to immediately pay off N75 billion of bonds which have come due. “Also, N25 billion has been put in the sinking fund, a special mechanism for accumulating funds for paying off domestic debt. The objective is to get domestic debt within sustainable limits within the shortest possible time. “The strategy announced last year by Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy

and Minister of Finance, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, was included in the Fiscal Strategy paper for Budget 2013. It has two dimensions. “The first part of this strategy is to reduce domestic borrowing to sustainable levels. This is already being done. The 2013 budget draft submitted to the National Assembly puts domestic borrowing at N727 billion. Last year, the borrowing was N744 billion, down from N852 billion in 2011. The projection is that by 2015, borrowing will be down to N500 billion which is sustainable. “The second part is the creation of a sinking fund of N25 billion yearly to accumulate money for paying off bonds, a step which has been taken,” Nwabuikwu further stated. Meanwhile, the DirectorGeneral of the DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, yesterday welcomed the development, saying it would positively affect the country in a number

of ways. His words: “This is a positive development. The implication is that both for the present and the future, any local debt instrument would be settled instead of going to the market to raise fresh funds. The ultimate aim is that the Federal Government is reducing her domestic debt stock and maintaining it at sustainable level because we don’t want our domestic debt to go out of hand. “Secondly, this strategy will create more space for the private sector, because as government withdraws from the domestic debt market, it would create more space for the private sector to borrow from the available funds in the market. “Thirdly, the development is going to force interest rate to come down because there will now be less demand for funds and as a consequence, interest rates are bound to come down.”

PDP’s BoT set to elect Anenih as chairman CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 said at the weekend. However, Akpabio, while denying any plot to unseat Amaechi as chair of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), gave a hint yesterday in Abuja. He said the PDP-GF was to strategize against the APC. Briefing reporters after a meeting of the PDP-GF at the Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, he said the forum was created to enable the ruling political grouping to restrategize and heal its wounds in the face of the threat posed by the emergence of the opposition party merger. The inaugural meeting was held ahead of the election of the NGF, which, however, was postponed until next May when Amaechi’s tenure would have ended. Akpabio said some committees set up to reposition the party would have to wake up to their responsibilities. According to him: “We are of the opinion that we should take steps to set up structures to meet the emerging chal-

lenge of APC. “And part of the resolution is that we should have continued interaction of the party, the National Working Committee (NWC), the leadership of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and then build a synergy with the NGF.” He disclosed that a committee, led by Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema, was set up to look into the crisis rocking the party in the Southwest, adding that the committee has two weeks to submit its report. He said the PDP-GF resolved to allow the Kugama Mijinjwaled executive in Adamawa State to continue, pending the outcome of the Governor Sule Lamido committee on the crisis in the party. “We also looked into the issue of Adamawa State PDP and came to the conclusion that we should allow Governor Sule Lamido’s committee to do its work to report immediately to the party, NWC and the Presidency,” he said. “But in the mean time, we plead that the status quo

should be allowed to remain. By the status quo we mean the Mijinjwa Committee, the executive in place prior to the dissolution of the state executive.” Some of the governors at the inaugural meeting included those of Delta, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Benue, Kano, Jigawa, Rivers and Kogi States. Some deputy governors were also present. Meanwhile, barring lastminute changes, the BoT of the party is set to elect former Works Minister, Chief Tony Anenih, as its chairman. He is at present the chairman of the board of Nigerian Ports Authority. The Guardian learnt that following the inability of the BoT to elect a successor to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who resigned as chairman of the board since April 2012, President Jonathan and the PDP leadership convinced its members to agree on Anenih. Some members of the Board, including former Senate President Ken Nnamani,

Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu Chief Don Etete and former chairman of the party, Ahmadu Ali, had shown interest in the job. It was gathered that the leadership of the party decided that the election be postponed to allow room for further consultation and review of the membership of the BoT. The constitution of the party provides for review of the membership after five years. The review committee is set up and placed under the chairmanship of former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana. Sources hinted that some members of the BoT, who are suspected to oppose Anenih’s emergence as a consensus candidate, have been delisted, a development, which is likely going to throw up another controversy within the PDP. As at the time of this report, the meeting was yet to commence. • Details Of Akpabio Emergence as Chair Of PDP Governors Forum on Politics Page 10

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

4 NEWS

Jigawa refutes reported neglect of flood victims

Court grants 15 Russian arms importers bail By Joseph Onyekwere USTICE Okechukwu Okeke JLagos, of the Federal High Court, on Monday released

From John Akubo, Dutse ONTRARY to claims by C some flood victims in Ringim Local Council of Jigawa State that they were not adequately compensated, which prompted them to relocate to Kano State, the state government said it had expended N153 million on the resettlement of families displaced by the flood disaster in Ringim. Over 200 households affected in the 2012 flood in Ringim have relocated to neighbouring Kano for new settlement. Residents of Yakasawa Village, which was submerged by the flood, were earlier resettled on an upland area that was not susceptible to flood by the Jigawa government, but they have accused the government of “serious neglect,” which led them to acquire plots of land in their new settlement, hence their migration to Biyamusu in Ajingi Local Council of Kano. However, the Chairman of the state’s Flood Disaster Management Committee, Alhaji Jinjiri Dutse, said the committee had expended N153 million on resettling displaced families in Ringim. He told newsmen in Dutse that the amount was spent over the last two years on the exercise. “The displaced persons at Yakasaw are not sincere and fair because we spent more than N153 million to resettle and support them,” he said. “The state government has provided them new settlement, food and other assistance. It is disheartening on our part that most of them are cashing in on the disaster to exploit state.” Also, the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Nasiru Sani of the Ministry Lands, Housing, Urban Development and Regional Planning, said the ministry had allocated 211 plots of land to enable the displaced persons build decent houses.

on bail 15 Russian sailors accused of unlawful importation of arms into Nigeria to the Russian Ambassador in Nigeria. The court also granted bail to the vessel MV Myre Seadiver in a bond of US$500,000 to be obtained from First Bank Plc. The accused are Zhelyazkov Andrey, Savchenko Sergel, Chichkanov Vasily, Varlygin Igor, Komilov Alexander, Lopatin Alexey and Baranovskly Nikolay. Others are Mishin Pavel, Llia Shubov, Dimitry Bannyrh, Alexander Tsarikov, Kononov Sergel, Korotchenko Andrey, Vorobev Mikhail and Stepan Oleksiuk. They were charged together with their vessel on a fourcount charge bordering on alleged unlawful importation and possession of firearms, as well non-declaration of the content of the vessel. They had however pleaded not guilty to the charge.

UNIBEN sues Edo over eviction threat From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City President Goodluck Jonathan (right) and United Nations (UN) Special Representative to Guinea-Bissau, Jose Ramos-Horta, during the latter’s courtesy visit to Nigeria in Abuja… yesterday.

EFCC re-arrests Akingbola, to arraign Audu’s son a fresh charge FandofOLLOWING stealing, the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday rearrested the former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc (now

Access Bank Plc), Erastus Akingbola. EFCC’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said that Akingbola was held at the Commission’s facility in Ikoyi, Lagos, waiting for arraignment today. He will be docked before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court. “The re-arraignment is sequel to the elevation of the former trail judge, Justice Habeeb Abiru of the Lagos High Court of Appeal.” Also, the Commission has arrested the son of former Kogi State Governor Abubakar Audu, Mustapha Audu and his wife, Zahrah Audu, over a property scam to the tune of N18 million. The duo through their company, Constructors Guild Limited, obtained the sum from one Nike Kolawole under the guise of helping her secure choice property in Katampe Extension, and Caemly Estate, Idu-Sabo, Federal Capital Territory (FCT),

Abuja. They will be arraigned at Federal High Court 12, Maitama, Abuja. The EFCC had in May 2011 filed a 28-count charge against Akingbola and some of his associates over alleged N47 billion scam bordering on money laundering and other sundry offences. The commission relied on Section 390 (7) of Criminal Code Cap of Lagos Laws of 2003 to file the case in a Lagos High Court in the Ikeja Division. The first count read thus: ‘That you Akingbola sometime in March 2009 stole the sum of eight million, five hundred and forty thousand, one hundred and thirty eight pounds and forty eight pence (£8,540,138.48), property of Intercontinental Bank Plc, fraudulently converting it to your personal use. The second count also read: “That you Akingbola sometime in June 2009 stole

N2000 million property of Intercontinental Bank Plc, converting it to the property of Tropics Property, a company which you are a director while the third count read that he “Akingbola as CEO of Intercontinental Bank Plc sometime in March 2009 stole the sum of N2 billion, N108 million, property of Intercontinental Bank Plc fraudulently, converting it to your personal use.” The National Judicial Council (NJC) last Friday suspended Justice Charles Archibong, who initially handled the case against him for misconduct. Yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan endorsed the recommendation and compulsorily retired him. The NJC said Archibong dismissed a grievous charge against Akingbola without taking his plea and refused to release the Certified True Copy of his ruling to lawyers.

HE University of Benin has T dragged the Edo State Government to the state High Court over the eviction of the institution’s members of staff occupying 18 landed property located at the Government Reservation Area (GRA) in Benin City. A statement yesterday by UNIBEN spokesman, Harrison Osarenren, said the school wants the court to stop the Edo government from evicting its members of staff from the quarters pending the determination of the substantive suit, which hearing has been fixed for March 5, 2013, at the Edo State High Court. The statement traced the legal tussle to the inception of the university in 1970 as the Mid-West Institute of Technology, stating that the implication “is that the institution started as the property of the defunct MidWestern State Government, which has metamorphosed from Bendel to Edo and Delta states. “Like every new project, the defunct Mid-Western State Government committed its resources to ensuring the successful take-off of the institution. Such resources included some landed property in the GRA that have remained up till date residential apartments for members of staff of the university.”

Lagos explains closure of Ladipo Market HE Lagos State GovernT ment yesterday explained the closure of Ladipo Spare Parts Market at Matori, stating that the closure came after it had held several meetings with the market leadership and traders, as well as issued warnings against abuse of the environment. A statement by Fola Adeyemi of the state’s Ministry of Environment after the closure of the market yesterday, stated that the Commissioner for Environment ordered its closure on Sunday after several meetings with the market leadership and traders and warnings over the deteriorat-

ing state of the market. According to the statement, “the environment is seriously polluted and degraded with oil; surrounding canals are dumped with full and half engine spare parts and human waste, while illegal structures were built along drainage path and all the canal setbacks have been turned to shops and trading points. “A visit to the place also shows that street traders have taken over the entire major inlet and outlet to the market, while residents have severally petitioned the Ministry of Environment about the lack of access to their homes and

property.” Accusing the traders of degrading all the major access roads to the market, which now need remediation and rehabilitation, the ministry said the market could only be reopened on “complete removal of all illegal and attached structures built along canal paths,” while “traders must be confined to the main markets and under no condition trade or solicit for customers on the main road.” It added: “They must remove all shop attachments built round the market/canals and all derelict and abandoned vehicles packed within the mar-

ket, as far as the expressway, remediate all forms of degradation on the roads and market area, sort out waste management issues with LAWMA, as they cannot continue to dump into the canals, and ensure total cleaning of the entire market and adjoining streets, which they have degraded, among others.” The statement held that officials of the ministry had visited the place repeatedly as well as warned the traders, but without any noticeable improvement in hygiene at the market, and as such, the state government was left with no option than to seal the place.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

News Only good governance can end insecurity, says Abubakar

OIC condemns killing of polio vaccinators From Oghogho Obayuwana, Abuja HE balloon of religious T extremism, which hides under Islamic Puritanism to commit heinous crimes, was further deflated yesterday when the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) vehemently condemned the recent killing of anti-polio workers in parts of northern Nigeria. In a statement by the Secretary-General of the Islamic organisation, Ekmeledin Ihsanoglu, made available to the Nigerian media late yesterday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, OIC held that “preserving the well being and physical health of children is a duty of every parent and society as prescribed by Islam.”

NBA seeks probe of floating bodies in Ezu River By Bertram Nwannekanma HE National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to institute a high-powered judicial commission of inquiry to unravel the mystery behind the floating bodies discovered on Ezu River between Anambra and Enugu states. Essentially, the NEC, which viewed with serious concern the discovery of floating bodies, wants the panel to investigate the cause of death, source and identity of the floating bodies with a view to bringing any person(s) behind their death to book. On January 19, about 40 bodies were found floating in a river. The dead bodies have remained a mystery, because nobody has come to claim any of them. There was no report of communal clashes or any boat mishap in or around the communities. Also, there has been no report of any missing person from any of the communities around the place.

Ajimobi grants amnesty to 13 prisoners From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan OVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has granted amnesty to 13 prisoners of the Agodi Prisons, in commemoration of this year’s Eid-elMaulud celebrations. In a statement by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adebayo Ojo, the government stated that eight of the prisoners, who had been on death row, had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment while the remaining five, who had been serving jail terms, were granted total freedom by the governor. According to Ojo, the granting of the amnesty was in the exercise of the power conferred on the governor by the 1999 Constitution and subject to the advice of the Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.

From Saxone Akhaine, Northern Bureau Chief ORMER Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar yesterday lamented the security situation in the country and declared that the only panacea to the current insecurity engendered by the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, is for the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to provide good governance in the country. Abubakar spoke yesterday at a seminar organised by the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) at the ongoing Kaduna International Trade Fair. Abubakar pointed out that until there is honesty, transparent and good leadership, the country would not make any meaningful progress that would promote development and growth of the economy. The seminar was entitled, “Combating Security Challenges and the Way Forward for Nigerian Economic Transformation.” Abubakar traced the history of the Islamist sect back to 2009 when security men were deployed to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital to clamp down on the Boko Haram, noting that “it has become the biggest security challenge facing us today.” The former military leader, however, cautioned the security agencies against use of force as a way of solving the insurgency, saying that no country ever achieved positive result using force for force. “There is need to rely on good governance and accountability rather than using force to tackle this security challenge. No country can be stable when its citizens are not secured and protected, government should make education free at both primary and secondary levels. “Unless the country can sleep and wake up safely, it can never make any progress, there should be good leadership, and there should be honesty, transparency and accountability in our polity,” Abubakar said.

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (middle) in a group photograph with the President-General and Leader of the Igbo Council in Lagos State, Prof. Anya O. Anya (6th right) and members of the Igbo Council shortly after a meeting to present the new council members to the governor at the Lagos House, Ikeja… yesterday

Reps investigate alleged $1.56b loan by NNPC From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja HE House of Representatives has begun investigation into the alleged $1.56 billion loan to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday amidst disagreement between the lawmakers and Petroleum Ministry officials regarding the loan. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Finance has advocated close monitoring of all revenue-generating agencies of the Federal Government to ensure prompt remittances. And to this effect, it declared that a sub-committee might be set up to audit and conduct a forensic analysis of the expenditure of all revenuegenerating agencies. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal and the Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke, set the tone of the disagreement in their opening speeches. While opening the investigation, Tambuwal, who was represented by House Chief Whip, Isiaka Bawa, said: “The issue before us today for consideration, the proposed $1.56 billion loan by the

• It’s Forward Sales Arrangement, says corporation NNPC, is a very important one; its importance is predicated on the fact that the proposed loan was neither captured in the 2013-2015 Medium Term Framework, nor in the 2013 budget. As a parliament, we believe that if we continue on the path of truth, history shall vindicate us”. But Allison-Madueke, in a brief remarks before leaving the venue of the investigation, said there was no loan at all. According to her, what existed was a “forward sales agreement between the NNPC and its trading partners.” The disclosure generated heated controversies at the investigation ground as many of the lawmakers expressed disgust and said that the minister’s position was unacceptable. But in a presentation made to the committee by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, the NNPC said it embraced the forward sales agreement “to enable NNPC honour its obligations while addressing the risk of sovereign default and poten-

tial banking crisis that could ensue.” Yakubu listed the following as the financial challenges which made it to embrace the forward sales agreement: • Unfunded Federal Government’s expenditures over the decades, including but not limited to crude oil and product losses, pipeline security, demurrage on products strategic reserve stock which have resulted in periodic cash flows challenges to NNPC; • NNPC has accumulated various legacy liabilities which were being settled periodically from internal resources. The cash flow challenges have severe opportunity cost and complicated contradictions in corporate operations; • The NNPC import invoices are contractually obligated to be paid 45 days after laycan, but they extended to over 360 days after laycan in recent time due to obvious cash flow challenges; • The non-reimbursement by the Federal Government of the Petroleum Products Price Differential to NNPC has

gradually led to accumulated and unpaid petroleum products invoices of about $3.5 billion; and that • On account of this pipeline security issues and other severe operational losses, NNPC has been unable to settle its obligations to the suppliers of petroleum products importers in a timely manner according to contracted terms.” Speaking at the resumed hearing into the finances of the 60 revenue generating agencies at the National Assembly yesterday, Chairman of the House Committee Abdulmumin Jibrin lamented that almost all the agencies invited to the hearing regarding remittances of their operating surplus, advanced technical reasons why they could not pay the stipulated 25 per cent of their gross earnings into the federation account. The lawmakers said the audit sub-committee would hold a candle to the claims of most agencies that they were operating at a loss and therefore could not remit funds to the Federation Accounts as stipulated by law.

Jonathan okays compulsory retirement of Justice Archibong From Madu Onuorah, Abuja RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has approved the immediate compulsory retirement of Justice Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court, Lagos, over alleged unethical conduct in the discharge of his duties. The National Judicial Council (NJC) had, at a meeting last Thursday, recommended his compulsory retirement to Jonathan. The meeting, held at the Supreme Court Complex, Abuja and presided over by Chief Justice Maryam Aloma-Mukhtar, recommended that Archibong should go on compulsory

retirement pursuant to the NJC’s findings on the following complaints levelled against him: • That the judge dismissed grievous charges against an accused without taking his plea; • that he refused to release the certified true copy of his ruling to lawyers; • that the judge issued a bench warrant on some officials of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for contempt even when the counsel who was directed by the court to serve them filed an affidavit that he had not been able to serve the contempt application; • that he made unfounded and caustic remarks on the

professional competence of some Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs); • that there were glaring procedural irregularities which showed that he did not have a full grasp of the law and procedure of the court; and • that he granted the leave sought for in the originating summons that had no written address of the parties and without hearing both parties in the originating summons after he had earlier over-ruled the preliminary objection. The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, who confirmed the approval of the retirement to journalists after a meeting with

Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the President believed that if the Judiciary was cleansed of corruption, the fight against the menace in the country would be strengthened. According to Adoke, “this is to inform you that President Goodluck Jonathan is in receipt of a recommendation from the NJC recommending the compulsory retirement of Justice Charles Archibong and Mr. President has approved that it should take immediate effect. It is Mr. President’s belief that once we are able to cleanse the Judiciary of corruption, then our fight against corruption in its entirety will take a firm root and will be

on its way to success.” The fate of Justice Thomas Naron of High Court of Justice, Plateau State, who was also recommended for compulsory retirement by the NJC rests with Governor David Jonah Jang. The NJC said that its findings showed that there were constant and regular voice calls and exchange of multimedia messages and text messages between him and one of the lead counsel for one of the parties to the suit in the Osun State governorship election tribunal, contrary to the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Section 292(1((b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

6 NEWS

Soldiers allegedly kill three protesting students in Nasarawa From Charles Akpeji, Lafia; Adamu Abuh, Abuja and Njadvara Musa, Maiduguri; Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri

HERE was pandemonium T when three students of the Nasarawa State

University, Keffi, were allegedly shot dead by soldiers during a demonstration against poor living conditions on the campus. Aside the killings, several students were also said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries following the sporadic shootings by law enforcement agents who ought to have shielded the students. Piqued over the development, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned the alleged killing of the students, which it said clearly amounts to grave crimes against humanity, which must not go unpunished. The protest was said to have been ignited as a result of water shortage in the campus, which forced the students to embark on a peaceful demonstration. Some of the students, who spoke to The Guardian on telephone, accused the military of deliberately shooting “at us in spite of our harmless nature.” Wondering why the military should go as far as using “their guns on us,” one of the students, who also spoke to our reporter, said “our aim of carrying out the peaceful protest was just to draw the attention of the school authority to our predicaments.” Citing the absence of infrastructural facilities in the

Media group flays suspension of Wazobia FM licence

his where about. We believe By Gbenga Salau HURIWA calls for probe, don abducted his kidnappers may not have fled from the M metropolis yet.” Two policemen feared dead as gunmen kidnap bizman Maiduguri In Imo State, gunmen university, which according to him “made learning cumbersome for us, we felt that the demonstration would challenge the authority to put in place for us the necessary infrastructure.” Most of the students, who spoke to The Guardian, pleaded for anonymity for fear of reprisals from the military or intimidation and harassment from the school authority. When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the university, which is located in Keffi, Jamilu Zakari declined comment, promising to reach back to The Guardian after taking the permission from the deputy V.C. A senior lecturer, who also offered to speak to The Guardian, blamed the school authority for deliberately refusing to make available enabling learning environment for the students in spite of the huge fees regularly being paid by the students. “I must confess to you that the students have been pushed to the wall. Even at that their demonstration

was a peaceful one only for the military to come from nowhere and interrupt them with their guns.” Confirming the report, the Police Public Relations Officer, Michael Ada, denied knowledge of the casualties but admitted that some students sustained gun injuries and are now receiving medical attention “at the federal medical centre, Keffi.” He said, “So far, we have not recorded any death but some students sustained injuries and they have been rushed to the federal medical centre, Keffi where they are being attended to by medical personnel.” HURIWA, therefore, called on the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria (NHRC) to immediately commence independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the deployment of well-armed soldiers by government to unleash a regime of violence on peaceful protesting students of the Nasarawa State University. A statement signed by the

National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Director, Miss. Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA asked the Chief of Army Staff to explain to Nigerians the rationale behind the deployment of armed soldiers to quell a peaceful demonstration by unarmed students of Nasarawa State University. Meanwhile, a University of Maiduguri (Unimaid) don, Dr. Abba Kagu was forcefully abducted at gunpoint at his Federal Low Cost Housing estates residence on Saturday evening. Speaking on the incident, yesterday (Sunday); a top security officer in the Department of Security Services of UNIMAID; confirmed that; “one of our professors was kidnapped on Friday night when the gunmen attempted to burn the divisional police office on Baga road in Bolori ward of Maiduguri. A police officer also said: “Dr Kagu’s abduction was reported to us shortly after it occurred yesterday (Saturday) evening. We are seriously working to locate

numbering about six, about 9 p.m. on Sunday abducted a businessman in Oguta. The mogul said to own a popular plaza, Niger Plaza, Oguta, is Emeka Aseme. Two policemen who resisted the hoodlums were feared killed during the gun battle. Sources told The Guardian that before his abductors came into town in military uniform apparently to confuse the people of the area, through the entry point of Egbuoma, outskirts of the city, shooting freely and scaring away people while waking those sleeping, before their victim was shot on the leg and taken away to an unknown destination. A witness who confided in The Guardian said the kidnappers also made their exit from the same entry point after they had thrown the entire Oguta into panic. Though the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mr. Vitalis Onugu, a Superintendent of Police (DSP) would not pick calls from The Guardian, police sources confirmed the incident, stating that the gunmen overwhelmed police.

Court orders Babalakin, others to harmonise motion to quash charge By Bertram Nwannekanma and Yetunde Abayomi- Ojo USTICE Adeniyi Onigbanjo of an Ikeja High Court, yesterday ordered the

Managing Director of Bi Courtney Ltd, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN) and his codefendants to harmonise two applications in which they sought to quash the charges against them. The order was sequel to the existence of two separate applications filed by the defendants seeking the quashing of the charges preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Babalakin, Alex Okoh, Stabilini Visioni Ltd, BiCourtney Ltd and Renix Nigeria Ltd are being prosecuted by the EFCC over an alleged N4.7 billion fraud. But at the resumed hearing

of the matter yesterday, Babalakin’s counsel, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) informed the court that his client had filed two separate applications seeking to quash the charge. The learned silk told the court that although the grounds for seeking the reliefs in the two applications are different, the two applications seek to basically quash the charges on ground of incompetence. But the prosecution led by Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) in his objection said the filing of two applications for same purpose amounts to an abuse of court process and an attempt to delay speedy

t r i a l . He, therefore, urged the court to strike out one of the a p p l i c a t i o n s . Justice Onigbanjo, however, in a short ruling ordered the defendants to consolidate their applications to quash the charge and adjourned further hearing on the matter till March 27, 2 0 1 3 . Earlier in the proceeding, Babalakin’s counsel, Lateef Fagbemi had urged the court to grant his client to leave the dock and seat near the bar. Fagbemi made reference to Section 210 of the administration of criminal justice law, which allows a defendant to seat adjacent the dock to support his application. He also pointed to the fact that the wooden chair in the dock was too hard for his client to sit on. But in his address on the issues raised by the learned silk, Justice Onigbanjo said the section of the administration of criminal justice law referred to by the lawyer applies only to a defendant who is on summon by the court and insisted that Babalakin should continue to seat on the dock as that was the only available chair in the court. Wale Babalakin (SAN), Alex Okoh, Stabilini Visioni Ltd, Bi-Courtney Ltd and Renix Nigeria Ltd are standing trial on allegation of fraudulently assisting former governor of Delta State, James Ibori to transfer various sums of money through third party to some foreign accounts under the guise of purchasing a Challenger Jet A i r c r a f t . The EFCC also alleged that Babalakin and his codefendants between May and September 2012 fraudulently assisted James to transfer various sums through various parties to Erin Aviation account in Mauritius for the

EDIA Rights Agenda (MRA) has condemned the indefinite suspension of the operating licence of Globe Broadcasting and Communications Limited, owners of Wazobia FM in Kano, by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). In a release in Lagos yesterday, the organisation said the action was arbitrary and violated the tenets and principles of justice. A statement issued in Abuja on February 22, 2013 by the Commission’s Head of Public Affairs, Mallam Awwalu Salihu, explained that the suspension was in continuation of the steps taken by the Commission following the broadcast of an episode of the programme ‘Sandar Girma’. The programme was blamed for inciting violence, which led to the assassination of nine polio vaccinators, by unknown gunmen on February 8, 2013.

Mimiko dissolves cabinet From Niyi Bello, Akure ARELY 24 hours after he took oath of his second term of office, Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko has dissolved the state executive council to pave way for the composition of a new one. Also dissolved, according to a release from his office, are the membership of all non-statutory boards of parastatals and agencies of government as well as Special Advisers, Special Assistants and other political office holders. Mimiko, who thanked the outgoing cabinet members and political office holders for selfless service and dedication to the state, assured them of his deep appreciation of their efforts in the past four years. “I have always said that the good work we have been able to achieve has been as a result of the synergy and team effort put in by all of us at the cabinet as well as in other positions of responsibilities we have found ourselves since we came on board,” he said.

Yobe spends N2.4b yearly on security From Njadvara Musa, Damaturu HE Yobe State government T expends a monthly expenditures of N200 million on the “severance allowances and logistic requirements” of men of Joint Task Force (JTF) and other security agents, since the Boko Haram insurgency in the state to protect people’s lives and property. Speaking at the Northern Governors Forum (NGF) on Reconciliation, Healing and Security with Stakeholders at the Government House, Damaturu, Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Babagana Machina said in as much as the annual expenditures were inevitable to protect life and property, they could have been earmarked to finance development projects in the health, water and electricity supplies and education sectors. He said in each year a total sum of N2.4 billion was being earmarked for the JTF severance allowances and other logistics, adding that since the Boko Haram insurgency in July 2009, government has expended no less N5 billion in the last two years.

NEWS

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Cleric wants laws on graft, small arms reviewed By Bukola Ojeyemi ODERATOR of the Gideon 1 Baptist Association of Lagos Baptist East Conference, Rev. Olu Kristilere, has urged the review of the laws on corruption in the country to make them effective and guarantee national development. Speaking at the association’s quarterly programme held at the New Light Baptist Church, Magodo, on Sunday, Kristilere said: “The recent judgment given against someone who stole billions of naira from the Police Pensions Scheme is very depressing to the general public and inimical to the acclaimed war against corruption.” He noted that corruption was a major factor responsible for poverty in our nation and that our justice system and laws against corruption were not helping matters. Kristilere also spoke on the proliferation of small arms in the country, adding that the dastardly acts that had occurred in our country in recent times were made possible because of the availability of firearms in the hands of evil men. He advised that the country’s land and sea borders be secured from importation of weapons that could be used to destroy human lives.

Family sues firm, others over property By Joseph Onyekwere TRADITIONAL ruler, the Oloto of Oto in Lagos State, Oba Ganiyu Odesanya, on behalf of himself and of the Oloto Royal Family, has dragged a property development and real estate company, Stardust Estate Limited, before a Lagos High Court over an alleged illegal trespass on their family land. Also joined as co-defendants in the ensuing legal battle are Skye Bank Plc, the Registrar of Titles in the Lagos State Ministry of Lands, the governor, state Attorney-General, Lai Oyediran and Akinniyi Akinmokun, who are the directors of Stardust Estate Ltd. In a statement of claim filed before the court, the plaintiff averred that sometime in 2000, the Oloto family instituted lawsuits at the High Court against the Lagos State government, claiming ownership and possession of the large parcel of the land situated at Oko Alo, Gbagada, in Kosofe Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, which was acquired by the government for overriding public interest and development of the Millennium Mixed Housing Scheme at Gbagada. Based on a series of meeting, the case was settled out-of-

Ilorin varsity doctors operate on deformed hyena From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin. OCTORS from the University of Ilorin’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine have carried out a successful surgical operation on a striped hyena that suffered perineal trauma. The exhibition of the procedure leading to the surgical feat is expected to be one of the highlights of a clinical seminar being planned by the Faculty for Thursday, February 28, 2013. The surgical operation for the correction of the perineal trauma on the hyena was performed at the University Zoo on January 17, 2013 by a combined team of veterinary doctors from the Faculty, comprising Dr. M. Adams, Dr. Francis Olowoleni and Dr. (Mrs.) M. O. Azeez assisted by other staff.

Nigerian Navy, others to tackle piracy, oil theft From Odita Sunday, Douala, Cameroun

AVIES worldwide at the weekend resolved to tackle piracy and other illegal activities on the sea, especially in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea. About 15 countries’ navies, including Nigeria, took the decision yesterday at the opening of World Naval Sea Exercise tagged: Exercise Obangame Express in Douala, Cameroun. They said that illegal activities, including drug trafficking, piracy and oil theft on the high sea, would no longer be tolerated. The exercise, which would include a ‘show of military might’, aimed at making sea criminals steer clear of the waterways, was opened by the Camerounian Minister for Defence, Mebe Ngo’o Edgar d’ Alain, at the Camerounian Military Base in Douala. President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented at the event by the Nigerian Ambassador to Cameroun, Mrs. Hadiza Mustapha, said that stamping out criminality at sea could not be achieved without a collaborative effort. She added: “Countries are now co-operating to maintain international security. Nigeria is here for the exer-

cise because the country and President Jonathan are firm believers in international security, especially in the maritime domain. As the High Commissioner of Nigeria to Cameroun, I am very proud that we have a large contingent, which is participating in this year’s exercise. I am very proud that it is happening in our

brother country, Cameroun.” “Safety of our maritime environment needs a collaborative effort. I, therefore, enjoin countries participating in this exercise to take it seriously for our common economic good,” said Edgar d’ Alain who spoke in French. American Naval Chief, David Rollo, who serves as the

ened by piracy, illegal fishing, trafficking in drugs, persons and other goods. It affects development, it affects economy; it is a regional and global problem. That is why we are here. We have been planning this exercise for a long time; it is now time to execute it. All the countries are ready, we are ready and we are expect-

Court summons NEPC boss, AGF over 115 sacked workers From Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja OLLOWING an action brought by the distressed 115 members of staff of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, yesterday summoned the agency’s Executive Director, Mr. David Adulugba, to appear before it on April 18, 2013 to explain why the employees were sacked in 2005. The judge, Justice Gladys Olotu, also ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), to appear in court over the matter. Justice Olotu issued the summons after the workers alleged that the NEPC boss refused to reinstate them in disobedience to two circulars allegedly issued

to that effect by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation since 2009. Consequently, their prayers include, among others: • “An order compelling the defendants to reinstate the plaintiffs to their positions in the service as contained in circular Ref. No. HCSF/PSC/PARA/437/3402/1/96, dated January 20, 2009, from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation on reabsorption of severed members of staff by parastatals and MDAs, and circular No. FC. 3418/S.56/ Vol. 1/ C.1/40 dated June 10, 2009; • an order compelling the defendants to pay the plaintiffs the sum of N175,757,556 million, being their total entitlements calculated to include accrued gratuity, pension fund benefit, repatriation allowance

Govs, stakeholders, in London, woo investors From Tunde Oyedoyin, London IGERIA’S vast investment potential came to the fore at the weekend as governors and stakeholders wooed participants at the two-day second Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) business investment forum and exhibition in London. The Kwara, Zamfara and Niger governments, along with privately-owned businesses, made presentations on the “Rich Investment Potential” of their states. Speaking on behalf of Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, his Special Assistant on Investment, Policy and Strategy, Yomi Ogunsola, asked investors to be part of the state’s Infrastructure Development Fund, which according to him, was a longterm investment that would be used to develop roads, power and other infrastructural needs of the state. He told the prospective investors that Kwara was open for business and that the state would readily welcome anyone who could add value to what the government was doing. Governors Abdul’aziz Yari (Zamfara) and his Niger State counterpart, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, also asked investors to come over to their states to be part of their developmental efforts. Describing Zamfara State as a “mining haven,” Yari, who was represented by an aide, told would-be-investors that the state had abundant solid minerals, which were in commercial quantities. He added: “You should come and explore the work of nature and consider Zamfara State as your next tourism destination”. Earlier on Friday, Vice Chairman of the Business Council for Africa, Clive Carpenter, gave a glowing reference to Nigeria during a paper presentation on “Nigeria Business Ventures: Challenges and Prospects.” Carpenter, who has over 10

Exercise Director for the United States Defence, stressed that time had come for navies to take drastic measures to end all sorts of illegalities on the sea. According to Rollo: “The goal of Exercise Obangame Express is to uphold maritime security and safeguard the sea for the benefit of all nations. We are all threat-

years’ working experience as a top banker in Nigeria, told prospective investors to “do their homework” before jumping over to do business in Nigeria. Advising investors not to be frightened or let the insecurity in some parts of the North put them off, Carpenter said: “Do your homework and if one state is challenging, it doesn’t mean the whole country is a no-go area.” Also, the NTA’s Acting

Director, Musa Mayaki, asked prospective investors to take advantage of the “current drive” by the Federal Government to come over to Nigeria. “Doing business in Nigeria is safe due to the enabling environment provided by the government, so invest your capital in the various sectors of the economy and you will be glad you did” just like the South African Telecom giant, MTN is”, he said.

and terminal benefits in November 2005 as a result of the organisational restructuring services no longer required, carried out by the Federal Government’s Economic Reform Policies in the year 2005; and • payment of the sum of N20 million being general damages for failure of the defendants to either reinstate the plaintiffs or pay them their severance benefits from November 30, 2005 to date, as well as, interest on the judgment sum at court’s rate from date of judgment until final liquidation of the entire judgment sum, including the cost of the suit.” In their statement of claim dated July 19, 2012, the plaintiffs told the court that they were employed into the service of the 1st defendant based on different qualifications, ages, posts and grade levels from different states of the federation, and have put in various years of service with the NEPC. They averred that shortly after the Federal Government introduced the Economic Reform Policy aimed at serving the economy and the needs of Nigerians better, they were on November 28, 2005, disen-

gaged from service vide a letter with Ref No. AMD/CONF/SM/20/VOL.9. The letter added: • “That upon receipt of the letters of disengagement, we waited for the defendant to pay our entitlements, which include accrued gratuity, pension fund benefit, repatriation allowance and terminal benefits as contained in the letters of disengagement; • that while waiting for our entitlements to be paid, some of us wrote appeal letters to the 1st defendant to consider re-engaging us, and that on or about April 28, 2008, the Director of Administration, on behalf of the Minister of Trade and Industry, vide a letter with Ref. No. T/FAL/820/T/63, addressed to the 1st defendant, drew his attention to an earlier letter dated April 17, 2008 on the report of the establishment committee of the NEPC governing board on the 2005 retrenchment exercise; and • that on June 10, 2009, the Federal Civil Service Commission directed the absorption of severed members of staff reinstated into the service by the steering committee on Public Service Reform.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

8 News

Govt to contract road maintenance, may scrap FERMA

Fayemi inaugurates new cabinet, warns against graft

From Nkechi Onyedika, Benin

From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti OVERNOR Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, yesterday sworn–in new commissioners and special advisers, warning them against corruption. He also urged the new commissioners to be diligent and eschew any act that could hamper good governance. He told the appointees that he would not hesitate to replace them with the available pool of substitutes to ensure better services if they failed to perform. According to the governor: “The import of the foregoing therefore is that your appointment or re-appointment, as the case may be, is a call to service and not mere honour of expanding ones’ curriculum vitae. “For the returning appointees, you have to prove that you are not spent forces by scoring more goals.”

MAJOR change in the governance structure of roads in the country is underway as the federal government has concluded plans to adopt output based contracting for the maintenance of critical federal roads across the country. Under the arrangement, all the ongoing major roads and dual carriageways in the country once completed would be given out to contractors for 24-hour- all year round maintenance while the Federal Roads Authority to be created would be in charge of responsible for the professional management of roads in the country including design, construction, rehabilitation and even maintenance which used to be under the jurisdiction of FERMA. Minister of Works, Mike Onolumeme who disclosed this when the National Good Governance Tour team visited the RCC section of the LokojaBenin road dualisation, said that in this new regime which was supported by the World Bank, government would not have to wait for the roads to deteriorate before awarding contracts for their mainten a n c e . He explained that the ongoing road sector when completed would bring about a lot of institutional rearrangement, stressing that in 1994 when the issue of reforming the road sector was topical, Nigeria hosted the conference and a lot of countries adopted the recommendations which was the creation of a Road Authority but Nigeria only created the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) because of some interest. When asked the role of

FERMA after the implementation of the Output Based Contracting for road maintenance, the minister said: “At the end of this reform, when we create a road authority, it will now be responsible for the professional management of roads in the country including design, construction, rehabilitation and maintenance, maintenance would be a department, with that, the duplication of function between the parent ministry and FERMA will no

longer exist.” He said that already the model had been kick-started on the Ogoja-Ekom and the Abakaliki-Ekom Roads constructed under the Road Sector Development Team of the Federal Ministry of Works in collaboration with the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The minister said that the model would soon be transferred to all major alignments when the ongoing construction of roads across

the country was completed. Onolumeme explained that in a bid to ensure speedy completion of the project, the road awarded in October 2012 by the Federal Executive Council was divided into four sections while in the procurement of the road, any contractor that did not have a turnover of N25 billion was not allowed to take part. He observed that the LokojaBenin Road as part of the president’s promise to link the six geo political zones in the

country with dual carriage way, adding that the contract for Benin-Lokoja segment was part of arterial road A2 from Kaduna-Warri. According to him: “The Section 1 starts from Obajana junction to Okene was awarded to CGC, the second section from Okene - Auchi was awarded to Mother CAT Nig Ltd, the third section from Auchi-Ehor awarded to Dantata and Sawoe, while the last section from Ehor-Benin was awarded to RCC.

My Pikin teething mixture killed baby, witness tells court By Joseph Onyekwere

NATIONAL Agency for A Food Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC) prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of the producers of the My Pikin teething mixture, Mrs. Titilope Ogunrohunmu yesterday told a Federal High Court, Lagos how a baby died after taking the controversial product. She told the court that one Mr. Chidi Njoku reported to NAFDAC that his 14 months old son died after taking “My Pikin” teething mixture. Ogunrohumun, an employee of NAFDAC was giving evi-

dence in a suit filed by the agency, against Barewa Pharmaceutical Company Ltd and two others, for the production of an alleged killer teething mixture, My Pikin. The company is charged alongside two of its employees, Ebele Eromosele and Adeyemo Abiodun, on a sixcount charge bordering on the alleged offence. They had however pleaded not guilty to the charge. The witness, led in cross examination by defence counsel, Mr. Osaro Eghobamien, told the court that in November 2008, the said Njoku had brought to

NAFDAC as evidence, the remainder of the teething substance which he purchased and allegedly led to his child’s death. She told the court that based on the report received from the complainant, an inspection was then conducted in the Barewa Company’s factory, where about three batches of drug samples were collected and taken to NAFDAC laboratory for test. When asked for the evaluation of the results gotten from the lab test, Ogunrohumun said that her duty did not extend to obtaining such results, but

stopped at inspection. She said that after the samples were collected, they were simply sent to the NAFDAC lab for test, and whatever result discovered, was communicated to her supervisor. According to her, it was not within her jurisdiction to pursue lab results. After listening to the evidence of the witness, the judge asked the prosecutor, Mr. Aminu Alilu, whether the witness needed a re-examination, but Alilu declined. The judge thereafter adjourned the case to February 26 for continuation of trial.

Maina’s supporters protest at N’ Assembly From Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja EHICULAR movement was yesterday partially paralysed for hours in Abuja, as hundreds of supporters of the embattled Chairman of the Pension Reform Task

Team, (PRTT), Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina protested at the entrance of the National Assembly in Abuja. Maina is currently on the run as he had been declared wanted by the police high command following a war-

rant of arrest placed on him by the Senate over allegations of fraud at Pension Reform agency, where he is heading. But the protesters, mainly, youths under the aegis of Pensioners’ Children, said that they were at the National

Assembly to protest the alleged witch-hunting of Maina by the Senate, claiming that the lawmakers overreached themselves when they went outside their constitutional powers of investigation as contained in Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution. Spokesperson of the group, Etuk Bassey Williams, said that the call by the Senate on President Goodluck Jonathan to sack Maina was unconstitutional and appealed to the president to disregard the resolution. According to Williams, it was untrue that Maina misappropriated N159billion of pensioners’ fund when in fact “he recovered N251billion from suspected fraudsters, and the recovered amount was lodged with the Central Bank of Nigeria.” He added that the “claim of the mismanagement of N469billion of pension fund Maina-led pension task team is not true considering the fact the pension task team’s running cost is financed by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.” Williams alleged that the action of the Senate in calling for Maina’s sack and dissolution of the pension task team was a return to an era of pension looting by officials of the Head of Service Office and added that already, most pensioners’ had not been able to access their pensions since December 2012. The protesting youths observed: “Maina needs to be commended for sanitising the pension system in the Office of the Head of Service rather than being hounded after all, he is responsible for the prosecution of John Yakubu Yusuf and other pension thieves.” Williams stated that they would continue to protest weekly until the National Assembly redressed the Maina matter according to constitutional norms.

Lawmaker urges council polls in Plateau From Isa Abdulsalami, Jos ORRIED by the delay in W conducting local government elections in Plateau State, State House of Assembly Chairman on the State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC), Dayyabu Dauda, has called on the electoral body to expedite action on the exercise. Dauda stated this when officials of the state electoral body led by its chairman, Mr. Peter Dalyop, appeared before the relevant committee for budget defence. He explained that it was not proper that a year after the House okayed some funds for the council polls, the electoral body was yet to roll out the timetable for the exercise. According to Dauda, Plateau people want to know what the PLASIEC was doing because the committee last year approved more than N1billion for the electoral body to conduct the elections at the local government level. He added: “But up till now, we did not hear anything.”

Group seeks more commissioners for Edo council From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City GROUP, Akoko Edo Renaissance in Akoko –Edo Council of Edo State yesterday called on the state government to allocate more than one commissioner slot to the council. In a letter addressed to Governor Adams Oshiomhole and signed by the National Coordinator of the group, Jude Obasanmi, National Secretary, Peter Ogunubi and Publicity Secretary, Damisa Ojegbai, they reminded the governor that he was yet to fulfill his earlier promise that he would create development centres from the council for easy administration and for even development. The council is the oldest in the state since it has not be split since 1956 when it was created. They added: “We use this opportunity to make a special appeal for you to use your good office and discretion in favour of Akoko Edo by appointing two commissioners from the local government. We have suffered marginalisation for decades. Akoko Edo is too vast a local government area to be represented by a single commissioner.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

WorldReport Fidel Castro backs move for younger leadership in Cuba UBANS may soon witness C an era of younger generation of leaders taking over power in the single-party state as Fidel Castro and the nation’s communist party have reportedly given the green light for reforms paving the way for the new order, according to the state media. However, as expected, Cuba’s National Assembly reelected Castro’s 82-year-old brother Raul during its Sunday’s session to serve a second and final five-year presidential term. But the assembly also promoted Miguel Diaz-Canel, 52,

already a member of the Council of State, to a senior vice presidency of body, making him the number two figure in the regime. The official newspaper, Granma, said yesterday that the changes were approved on Sunday at a meeting of the Communist Party central committee, whose members had not been told in advance of the changes. Castro, 86, attended Sunday’s meeting, in which the National Assembly that was elected on February 3 with no opposition candidates convened.

Centre-left takes lead in Italy’s polls TALY’s centre-left was Iyesterday reportedly in strong lead in the country’s Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) presenting copies of Lagos Indicator Magazine to the new British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Peter Leslie Carter (left), during Carter’s courtesy call on Fashola at the Lagos House, Ikeja…yesterday.

ECOWAS seeks $950m to prosecute war in Mali ‘Coalition troops risk increased guerrilla attacks’ Analysts said risks are mounting for French and HE Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) now requires financial aid worth $950 million (€715 million) to sustain and reinforce the ongoing military campaign to flush out Islamists in Mali, according to Cote d’Ivoire’s Foreign Minister Charles Koffi Diby. This development came yesterday as Xinhua claimed that the spate of sudden raids and suicide attacks launched by the rebels recently have highlighted the risk of Malian army and its allies becoming mired in a guerrilla war. Analysts said risks are mounting for French and African forces to become entangled in a messy and sticky guerrilla war as they try to help Mali’s weak army counter suicide bombings, surprise attacks and land mines. However, Agence France Presse (AFP) stated that the $950 million is twice that of funds pledged by donor countries to the 15-nation ECOWAS to help bring a multinational African military force of up to 8,000 troops being deployed in the

strife-torn country. Diby announced at the start of a meeting of foreign ministers in ECOWAS, which is currently chaired by Cote d’Ivoire, that the sum he had in mind took into account “the demands of an asymetrical war or a drawn-out conflict that the narco-terrorists (...) could bring about,” allowing for West African troop rotations. This brings “the overall financial estimation to $950 million,” Diby said, without going into any further details. At the end of January, the international community promised during a conference in Addis Ababa to provide an overall sum of more than $455 million dollars (€338 million) for the Africanled International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) that ECOWAS is putting together, for the Malian army and for humanitarian aid. At present, 6,000 soldiers are due to be deployed as part of AFISMA, as well as 2,000 Chadian troops pledged by N’Djamena, who would not be part of the Nigerian-led force but would coordinate

African forces to become entangled in a messy and sticky guerrilla war as they try to help Mali’s weak army counter suicide bombings, surprise attacks and land mines. with it. “It is vital” that AFISMA, which should eventually “enable the progressive replacement” of French troops who intervened against the armed extremists on January 11, “should dispose of all the necessary resources,” Diby said. He added that it was also a priority to “protect the Tuareg population against all kinds of abuses”. The light-skinned Tuareg and Arab communities, sometimes considered to be favourable to the Islamists who imposed strict Sharia law with harsh punishments on northern Mali, have in recent weeks been prey to serious human rights abuses. Witnesses and international non-governmental organisations blame many of these abuses on the Malian army. The ministerial meeting in Abidjan precedes an ordinary summit of ECOWAS coun-

tries, due to be held in Cote d’Ivoire’s political capital, Yamoussoukro, tomorrow and Thursday. Meanwhile, French warplanes attacked an Islamist base in north Mali at the weekend, wounding four members of the Arab Movement of the Azawad (MAA), after the extremists clashed with Tuareg rebels, MAA and security sources said yesterday. France sent in troops on January 11 to help the weak Malian army to fight the rebel groups which captured the north of the country in April last year after a military coup and continued to push southward to threaten the Bamakobased transition government which is recognised by the international community. Since then, thousands of soldiers from African countries have also been deployed to Mali to aid the government troops.

Scores killed, others injured in Darfur’s tribal clashes O fewer than 53 people N were killed and 83 others injured at the weekend in fresh tribal clashes at Al- Siraif locality in Sudan’s North Darfur state, Xinhua reported yesterday. Moreso, another report by Agence France Presse (AFP) claimed that than 500 members of an Arab tribe in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region have been killed and almost 900 wounded in seven weeks of clashes, quoting a lawmaker representing the district as saying yesterday. The toll is far higher than figures previously given for the fighting between the Rezeigat tribe and rival Arabs from the Beni Hussein group in the Jebel Amir gold mining

Forces belonging to what is known as Abbala attacked Al-Siraif locality on Saturday from three directions with heavy weapons, riding in some 30 vehicles and on over 3,000 horses and camels. area of North Darfur. But a witness, Al-Fatih AlSayer, told Xinhua by phone that “forces belonging to what is known as Abbala attacked Al-Siraif locality on Saturday from three directions with heavy weapons, riding in some 30 vehicles and on over 3,000 horses and camels.” “Preliminary statistics indicate that 53 people were killed, including five children and seven women, and 83 people injured,” he said, adding that the attackers looted more than 4,000 goats and 2,000

cattle. Similar tribal clashes took place in early January between Bani Hussein and Abbala tribes at Jabel Amer of Al-Siraif locality due to disputes over gold mines in the area, where some 100 people got killed. Also, aid workers said the fighting has caused the region’s largest uprooting of the population in years. On the 500 members of Arab tribe killed, Adam Sheikha, a Beni Hussein member, told reporters.: “The number of martyrs from January 6 until

February 23 is 510, including women and children. Another 865 were wounded.” He said all of the casualties belonged to his tribe. Sheikha is the federal parliamentary representative for El Sireaf district where the violence has been concentrated. It is unclear how many Rezeigat were killed. The MP added that since the start of the violence 68 villages had been burned to the ground, with 120 partly burned, and that 15 women were raped. In the latest attack, on Saturday, residents in El Sireaf town said a Rezeigat militia fired heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, burned houses and killed more than 50 people.

election, raising the chances of a stable pro-reform government in the euro zone’s third largest economy, according to Reuters citing two telephone polls published after voting ended. Reports by Sky and Rai television after voting ended at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT/9 a.m. ET) showed the centre left of Pier Luigi Bersani 5-6 points ahead of the centre right of former premier Silvio Berlusconi, with the antiestablishment movement of

Genoese comedian Beppe Grillo taking third place. The early polls cheered markets worried that the election could produce a weak, unstable government. Italian shares extended an earlier rally and bonds gained. The poll for Sky television showed the centre left ahead by 5.5 points in the lower house and by six points in the Senate although the result there will depend on key battleground regions. In the most important, Lombardy, Sky said the centre left was tied with Berlusconi.

British cardinal quits after alleged sexual advances claims ARDINAL Keith C Britain’s most Roman Catholic

O’Brien, senior cleric, resigned as head of the Catholic Church in Scotland with immediate effect yesterday in the wake of claims that he made sexual advances towards priests. O’Brien, who steps down as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, denies the allegations, which date back to the 1980s, but he apologised to anyone offended by “failures” during his ministry, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported. The 74-year-old had been due to be the only British cardinal to vote on a replacement for Pope Benedict XVI following the pontiff’s shock resignation on February 11. But the cleric confirmed in his resignation statement that

he will not take part in the election conclave, which has been overshadowed by controversies surrounding O’Brien and other cardinals caught up in sex scandals. “I will not join them for this conclave in person,” O’Brien said. “I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me – but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor,” he said. He added: “Looking back over my years of ministry: for any good I have been able to do, I thank God. “For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended.” O’Brien had been due to resign on his 75th birthday next month but said the pope had “now decided that my resignation will take effect today”.

African-American History: February 26, 1926

Carter G. Woodson declares Negro History Week, becomes Black History Month ARTER Godwin Woodson C was born on 1875 in New Canton, Virginia, to Anna Eliza and James Woodson. The first son of nine children, the young Woodson worked as a sharecropper and a miner to help his family. He began high school in his late teens and proved to be an excellent student, completing a four-year course of study in less than two years. After attending Berea College in Kentucky, Woodson worked for the U.S. government as an education superintendent in the Philippines and travelled extensively before returning to the U.S. Woodson then earned his bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Chicago and went on to receive a doctorate from Harvard University in 1912— becoming the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from

the prestigious institution, after W.E.B. Du Bois. After finishing his education, Woodson dedicated himself to the field of AfricanAmerican history, working to make sure that the subject was taught in schools and studied by scholars. For his efforts, Woodson is often known as the “Father of Black History.”

Woodson

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Politics At last, Jonathan bares his fangs on Amaechi From Madu Onuorah (Abuja) RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has begun public moves to curtail the alleged antics and the over-bearing influence of the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, on the Governors Forum, the umbrella group of the 36 States governors of the Federation. It’s no secret that the governor has been in a cold war with President Jonathan, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godsday Orubebe and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark. According to feelers, the Presidency has been worried that the governor, though elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had been conducting himself as a member of an opposition political party. So, the meeting summoned by President Jonathan for Sunday night at House 7 of the Presidential Villa, Abuja was aimed at showing that he (Jonathan) could also play the hard ball. Billed as a parley between the president and the governors of the PDP, journalists, who had gathered at the venue as early as 7pm, were to learn that chieftains of the ruling party at the centre and some ministers were also billed to attend. But as the guests were to arrive, word came to the journalists that their presence at the venue was no more welcomed. Politely, they were asked to move out of the House 7 Guest House area to the normal parking spaces opposite the outer entrance gate of the Admin-

istration Block. The journalists drove out their cars to the designated zone. However, as they were leaving, two ministers — Diezani Alison- Madueke (Petroleum Resources) and Stella Adah Oduah (Aviation) — walked into the Guest House main road from the president’s residence, with their convoy slowly following behind. In no time, the governors, presidential aides, party bigwigs and President Jonathan arrived for the meeting. At about 11 pm, a convoy left the venue and drove out of the Villa. Sources said it was that of Governor Amaechi, who might have sensed the way the pendulum was swinging, and excused himself from the meeting. About midnight, the journalists were requested to come back to the venue. As the meeting ended, the national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, presented Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio to State House correspondents as the brand new Chairman of PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF). Fielding questions from the correspondent, Akpabio denied any plot to unseat Governor Amaechi as chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, promising to carry other PDP governors along in his new task. “The new forum will not lead to a crack in the larger forum. We will work together to promote our interests,” he said

Jonathan Amaechi Sources said that the election of a chairman elected on the platform of the party “to come of the PDP Governors Forum was to send word out of their closet on whether they stand to the opposition that President Jonathan and with the party under which they were elected the PDP could fight back, when the need arose. or side with the opposition merger party, the The election would also force the governors All Progressive Congress (APC).”

The influential Governors’ Forum: Crack widens From Karls Tsokar, Abuja

IKE the dawning of a new day, the uncertainty that surrounded the source of the crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) has finally cleared. And in what appeared to be a perfect prelude to an imperial climax, the arrowhead of the anti-Amaechi splinter group in the Forum, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, was crowned Chairman of governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). For one, the “selection” of Akpabio by his “colleagues and the party” to lead the PDP Governors Forum (PDP-GF) has not only given credence to the words of Eckhart Tolle that, “Humans have learned to split the atom. Instead of killing ten or twenty people with a wooden club, one person can now kill a million just by pushing a button.” It has also widened the chasm in the umbrella NGF, and reinforces the suspicion that the Presidency is not comfortable with the NGF leadership and desires to have a firm control of the body. While Nigerians grapple with so many questions like why the PDP governors would have their forum while still enjoying the leadership of the umbrella NGF, Akpabio said the formation of the PDP-GF is in line with the emerging political realities in the country and the need for the party to consolidate its hold as the front runner on the Nigerian political landscape. He told Journalists at the State House in Abuja, immediately after his selection, that it was “a revaluation and the need for us to restrategise and make the party stronger. We will not work in conflict with the Nigeria Governors Forum… it is not a competition; it is only in the interest of the party. It is a step in the right direction.” The creation of this splinter

Akpabio group, according to political pundits, has succeeded in tearing the NGF apart, as it has become clear that the president wants to have a hold on the Governors Forum using the party machinery. “The party is supreme and every member of the party is answerable to her guidance. He insisted that the interest of the PDP Governors would be extensively protected. Suffice it that the PDP governors meet after every meeting of the NGF and, of course, Amaechi presides. Therefore, the Chairman of the NGF, who is a member of the party, would have to respect the position of the PDP-GF Chairman, who is his leader, as far as the almighty party is his platform. Chairman of the NGF and Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, reportedly stormed out of the four-hour meeting on Sunday night, called at the instance of President Goodluck Jonathan, when it became clear that he (Amaechi) was out of favour, and a parallel Governors Forum to en-

Tukur

sure this was in the offing. In recent weeks, he has faced series of attacks from some notable good ‘boys’ of the president, both in the South-South region and within the NGF. Prelude to the general meeting of the NGF scheduled to hold at the Rivers Governors Lodge (perhaps, for the last time during Amaechi’s tenure as governor), there are indications that he would be removed as the chairman of the Forum. Sources at the Pro-Amaechi Camp have finalised arrangements to ask him to step aside and not contest again but to sponsor another candidate outside the president’s faithful. The most likely candidate, if their strategy succeeds, would be Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, who is also known for his radical stance on issues. Among the pro-Change Camp, who has indicated interest in bearing the mantle are Gabriel Suswam of Benue, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi

and, of course, the already “selected Chairman,” Godswill Akpabio. Inside sources told The Guardian that, “the other three governors would step down for one if it appears that the pro-Amaechi camp has a strong backing.” At his inaugural interaction with the press at the Presidential Villa, after his selection, Akpabio said the NGF is supposed to have another body with the semblance of a Board of Trustees, which would check, from time to time, perceived excesses of a sitting-in chairman. This is a strategy by the Pro-Leadership Change group. The plan is to ensure that their men are strategically placed to represent their interest, at that level and in the Executive body of the forum where Akpabio said there are vacancies like the “vice chairman and others.” But as at last night, Governor Suswam was reportedly lobbying the governors of other political parties, who, he believes, “have the key to the success or failure of any candidate.” These governors have vowed to ensure that they take most of the key positions, including the vice chairmanship, for which Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State is the preferred candidate. According to Benjamin Wada, an aide to former Governor Abubakar Audu of Kogi State, “the crack in the House of PDP Governors now has exposed the desperation in our leaders. They are ready to descend down the road of shame naked without looking back to see if their enemies are watching.” “It is a good opportunity for the opposition parties to look carefully and pick the loopholes in the PDP house and make up for 2015, now that it is obvious Jonathan is interested,” he said. As Wada queried: “If the Chairman of the (Governors) Forum,

Amaechi, is arrogant and dictatorial (as alleged), are they just knowing it at the twilight of his tenure? The fact is that the president wants him out and they are all just acting a script. We are not fooled, but it is certainly not in the interest of the PDP.” It is interesting to note that Akpabio had denied that there was a move to remove Amaechi at last Thursday’s meeting. According to him: “What you heard was rumour; that was not what we discussed at the Forum. We discussed the need for us to fill all the positions in the Forum: the position of vice chairman and others, and also form a BoT. We will fill up the positions at the Monday (yesterday’s) meeting.” Meanwhile, the communiqué at the end of the meeting, said: “Forum exhaustively discussed the administration of the Forum and resolved that all the organs of the Forum be made functional at the next meeting.” What has become clear from the foregoing scenario is that, the desire of the pro-Leadership Change group may be fulfilled and Rotimi Amaechi would cease to Chair the Governors Forum even before his tenure expires in May. Indeed, according to sources, all PDP governors were advised to toe the decision of the party, which is the ouster of Amaechi. But would their yarning to be in total control, as it has become obvious, come to pass? Certainly, the pro-Amaechi Camp also has the numbers, as at the last count and a ‘Plan B’, to ensure that the PDP-anointed do not have their way. When there is a crack in the wooden bed, the bed bug finds a place to habitat. And as watchers of the polity wait expectantly, the crack in the house continues to widen, and the bed bugs maybe having a field day in the days to come.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

POLITICS 11

The essence of a patriot and federalist, by Fashola (1) Being excerpts of a lecture delivered by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) at the commemorative public lecture to mark the 80th birthday anniversary of Alhaji Lateef Olufemi Okunnu (SAN), CON, on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos. OR the purpose of my lecture, I think the Fin most important roles that I will examine making my case are first, Alhaji Lateef Olufemi Okunnu’s role as Federal Commissioner for Works during the Yakubu Gowon era; this is the equivalent of a minister in today’s government. Secondly, his role as a legal practitioner, and thirdly, as a constitutional reformer, mentor and finally, his role as an author on Land Law matters and the history of Lagos and Nigeria. The Federal Commissioner In discussing his role as a Federal Commissioner, it is instructive to remind ourselves that Alhaji (Femi) Okunnu served in a military administration, which was essentially programmed to operate by a unified command structure. The state equivalent of today’s governors at the time were not elected but appointed, initially as Military Governors and later as Military Administrators. But it is to Alhaji Okunnu’s eternal credit that he enjoyed a wholesome relationship with the governor of his state, Brig. Gen. Mobolaji Johnson, such that they have related on a first name basis to this day. Alhaji Okunnu co-operated with his governor. He did not seek to dominate him because he was a federal commissioner. They got things done together in a way that Lagos benefitted; this is unlike some of the things we sadly hear about today in some states where ministers levy war against the governor of the state they represent or against the state itself. These early perspectives are important in order to set things aright, that there can be only one elected head of a state and that is the governor. No minister has a higher authority over the affairs of a state in a democratic structure such as ours based on a federal arrangement, because the governor is not subordinate to the president, who is the appointor of a minister. We have heard complaints about the powers that governors of Nigerian states now wield and this seems to worry some people. I understand some of these complaints seem to emanate from quarters whose experience was in the time that governors or military administrators were appointed. The current reality is that things have changed and we must accept it or if we do not like it, then it is open to us to change it, so that governors can be appointed instead of being elected. But this is the consequence of ‘democracy’ and secondly our choice of ‘federalism’. While I do not think it is open to us to say that we do not wish to be democratic because that would be retrogression, I believe that we have a choice in deciding that we want to be a federation. But again, if we should think of re-considering the issue, I will vote for us to remain a federation. The choice of a federal arrangement, in my view, is meritorious. It is the most convenient platform for welding together the many diverse nationalities that make up our country. To the extent that we are neither homogenous by language, religion or culture, it would be hard to imagine what unified structure will assist in welding together such diversity. So, for me, the purpose of the federal structure is that the states, the federating units, come together to create a federation. In that way, they agree to cede some of their powers and responsibilities to a central government, in this case, the Federal Government, to act in areas of common convenience. Such powers are usually contained in a list called the Exclusive List. Often, there is a second list called the Concurrent List, where the federating units share power with the central government.

Fashola

Okunnu

All remaining powers, often described as Residual, and which are not capable of being quantified, remain in the states. The Federal Government has no residual powers. It cannot act beyond what is listed in the Constitution, but the states can. The reason is not far-fetched. It is the states that have indigenes. Their collective indigenes together form the citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not citizens of the Federal Government of Nigeria. If the states chose not to federate, each one of them will be a nation with sovereign rights and there would be no need for the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the Federal Government of Nigeria. Put differently, without a federation, there is no lawful or factual reason for a Federal Government. It is in this sense that the powers of State Governor’s must be understood and in this sense that we must come to terms with what we have chosen and its consequences. The exertion of the residual powers of a state by the governor is not an affront to the office or person of the president. It is the essence of a federation. This is where I pay another tribute to our celebrant. In a military regime where the governor was appointed, he respected the Residual powers of the states. He did not seek to seize state land, as we have seen in recent past; he did not seek to create a Federal Land Registry to register land held by the Federal Government in the territory of states. He was and remains a true federalist. He practised what he believed and preached even in the most awkward of times, and I can tell you that practicing federalism in a military set-up can be awkward. For those who think that a state government or its governor is subordinate to the Federal Government or the president, in a Federal Republic, I want to believe that they are not pseudo federalists, but rather that they are not informed. I could not explain the matter better than how the Supreme Court put it in Attorney General of Lagos State v Attorney General of the Federation (2003) 12 NWLR (Pt.833): “It is a noncontroversial political philosophy of federalism that the federal government does not exercise supervisory authority over the state governments.” This must be the final word on this matter because the Supreme Court itself says so. The Advocate

WE must pay greater tribute to Alhaji Okunnu today that his federalist principles did not leave him when he ceased to hold public office. On the contrary, they became heightened out of office and in his capacity as a legal practitioner. He it was, who led the challenge, as a private legal practitioner, against the famous Decree No. 52 of 1993. The decree, as a piece of federal legislation, sought to appropriate for the Federal Government, all lands within 100 metres of the coast of any state in the Federal Republic, as land belonging to the Federal Government. Although the initial and immediate impact was felt in Lagos, the true and wider ramifications were that the following coastal states were also affected by the Decree: Ondo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Ogun States. But for Alhaji Okunnu’s advocacy before the Federal High Court, in the fullness of time, all those states would have lost all land within 100 metres of their coastline to the Federal Government. The decree was a defective piece of legislation for many reasons. First, it was backdated to a date in the past, when the Head of State had not assumed office and therefore could not have validly made the law. Secondly (and this is the federalist content of the argument of Alhaji L. O. Okunnu (SAN)), land is a Residual matter and it has always been. It is not one of those areas of common convenience that the federating states have ceded responsibility to the Federal Government either under the Exclusive List or the Concurrent List. Therefore, it is unconstitutional to make a law or decree over a matter, which the Federal Government has no responsibility. On behalf of the coastal states, I say thank you to you (Okunnu) today for preserving our lands from a rampaging, encroaching and over-bearing Federal Government. Unfortunately, however, it seems that no lessons have been learnt. The Federal Government is still threatening to levy a Consumption Tax through an unconstitutional legislation called FERMA ACT, by which it expresses intention to tax purchase of petrol at the pumps. I have news for them; Lagos will resist it. Enough is enough. The reasons are simple. This is a consumption tax that is collectible by the territory in which the fuel is consumed. Lagos has 592 state roads, 8,402 local gov-

But again, if we should think of re-considering the issue, I will vote for us to remain a federation. The choice of a federal arrangement, in my view, is meritorious. It is the most convenient platform for welding together the many diverse nationalities that make up our country

ernment roads and 25 federal roads. The roads bear the burden of heavy tonnage of vehicles. When we are ready, we will collect those fuel taxes and use them to fix state and local government roads. The Federal Government is already collecting royalties on extraction of crude oil, taxing the profits of oil companies at about 30 per cent; taking 52.68 per cent of the national revenues and leaving 36 States and 774 Local Government to 26.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent, respectively. We will not lie at ease and watch a further encroachment. Currently, we are in court to have the issue of centralisation of Value Added Tax, another consumption tax, decentralised and left to each state according to the appropriate principles of federalism and derivation. The same applies to the attempts to encroach the power of states to raise revenues in their territories from lotteries, hotel licensing and other areas of residual authority of the state. The question to ask is what service the Federal Government provides for hotels either by water supply, waste management, healthcare of their staff or the provision of land for hotel business that gives it the impression that it can tax them. Beyond the registration of the business of the hotel as a company from which the Federal Government already has collected revenues through the Corporate Affairs Commission, what more service does it render to the hotels in the various states of the Federation? The principle, as I know it, is taxation by representation. So, there can be no taxation without representation. Still on that matter, let me say that while any effort by the Federal Government to manage highways within our state, which are under its maintenance jurisdiction, is a welcome acceptance and discharge of its responsibility, the recent announcement by one of its agencies to replace manholes on Ikorodu Road is respectfully misplaced. If the Agency checks its records, it will realise that the Ikorodu Road is no longer under its jurisdiction. This is why we were able to use the road for the BRT Scheme; this is why we re-surfaced the road from Jibowu to Ketu in 2010 and we will do so again because the wearing course has eroded due to heavy traffic. This is why we have replaced 172 manhole covers and 60 gully gratings in 2012 and why we started the street lighting project from Jibowu to Ketu, which is almost completed and will be switched on soon. Before I leave the matter of the relationship between the States and the Federal Government, let me share with you what I know about how the Federal Military Government dealt with some of these matters as a guide to the present Federal Civilian Government. Let me quote extracts from the conclusion of a meeting of the Supreme Military Council held on Friday, the 24th January 1968: “Supreme Military Council Transfer Of Functions To The Lagos State: Administrative And Financial Arrangements Note by the Secretary to the Federal Military Government Government Notice No. 992 of 1967, setting out the assignment of responsibilities to Commissioners states that administrative arrangements would be made for the Lagos State Government to take over the following groups of matters to be transferred to it: (1) Animal Health (2) Authorisation and Control of Lotteries, Sweepstakes and similar matters (3) Control of Moneylenders (4) Cooperative Societies including Registration and Development (5) Control of Places of Public Entertainment including Licensing of Hotels and Control of Horse Racing (6) Education (7) Education of handicapped children (8) Fisheries Development (9) Housing (10) Land Tenure (11) Lagos Executive Development Board (12) Lagos Municipal Affairs (13) Licenses for Pool Betting Business (14) Liquor (15) Medical and Health Services. If a Military Government that was unitary in operation willfully surrendered lotteries, hotels, and pools betting to a state that was created by a Military Decree, can we expect any less from a Civilian Government that professes the operation of a federal arrangement?

TO BE CONTINUED

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

TheMetroSection ‘Help us ... we are sleeping outside’ • As bulldozers roll in, Badia community cries to Alausa • Govt plans palliative measures for the displaced persons

Displaced mother at Ijora Badia community...yesterday

Some of the displaced residents...

A baby sleeping under the scorching sun...

PHOTOS: GODFREY OKPUGIE

Badia residents protesting the demolition of their homes

The young, old and babies during the protest Some of the protesters

By Godfrey Okpugie (Deputy Lagos City Editor) Tunde Alao, Tosin Fodeke and Adeniyi Adunola

UNDREDS of residents, including H women, men, youths and children from Badia East community, Ijora, Lagos, wailed to the government house Ikeja, Alausa, Lagos State yesterday to protest the demolition of their houses by the state government.

The protesters were chanting songs and carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Demolition is not Democracy”, “Remember voting is not a taboo”, “No where to go,” “We are poor, give us our right,” amongst others. Chief Omoba Lawal Thomas Ikuomolola, a high chief in the community, said no notice was given to them till they (government demolition team) came last Saturday, February 23, and started pulling down their

houses and shops. He said they were not allowed to take anything from their homes because they were chased away by the police and officials from Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Agency (LASPPDA). Ikuomolola said they were compelled to come and see the Governor and plead with him to “help us for we are now sleeping outside.” He said they would be happy if the governor could prevail on the demolition squad

PHOTO: AYODELE ADENIRAN

to leave them alone in Ijora or relocate them to a better place. When The Guardian visited the place, representatives of the community said they have authority of the Federal Government to occupy the land. “When the National Theatre was to be built on our original land and our houses there were earmarked for demolition, the Federal Government evacuated us to this place in 1976. When we resisted the evacuation, the government gave us a document to assure

METRO 13

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Palliatives coming for the displaced Residents, caught unawares in the early morning hours, scrambled to remove zinc roofs and valuable possessions under the menacing watch of dozens of heavily armed us that nobody would come forth in the future to claim ownership of the place. We still have the government authorisation document in our possession,” Mr. Tunde Ayelesin, the secretary of the Residents Association of Ajeromi Badia East Community, Ijora, disclosed to The Guardian. . He said the recent demolition of hundreds of houses in the area is a fallout of the lingering underground moves by some people to claim the land from those of them that got the Federal Government’s endorsement to occupy the place since the early 1970s. He said the portion that had been demolished is a fraction of the entire community and that they have been reliably informed that more of such demolition exercises were being planned. He said that few years back, a family in the area emerged from nowhere to claim ownership of the land and was going round to get the settlers to come and settle them. According to him, when nobody listened to them, they dragged the community to the court. But the lawyer representing the community told the family that instead of suing the settlers to court they should rather sue the federal government, that issued official document to the settlers to occupy the place. He said for several years now the case has been in court and that it was due for hearing again today (February 25, 2013). Ayelesin said that they were surprised to see a demolition squad early on Saturday morning with bulldozers destroying all the structures including houses in the community without even allowing the occupants of the houses time to remove their belongings. He lamented that occupants of some of the houses, who traveled during the demolition were worst hit by the unfortunate incident, as they were not at home to remove even a pin from their apartments. Pastor Olu Ayenuro, the pastor of Mountain of Fire and Miracle Church in the area, said the demolition, which was carried out against the court order, because the dispute between the settlers and the family claiming ownership of the land is still in court, was carried out by those who want to use their influence in politics to achieve their selfish aim at all cost. Asked if there was any notice to the community before the demolition took place, Mr. Sunday Ashogbon, the youth leader in the community responded that: “Between God and man, no notice was served to the residents but that it was rumoured that a notice was served to a community leader in Iganmu Alowo, Chief Medoye, on Wednesday, February 20, three days to the Saturday that the bulldozers came. . He said when the notice was served to the Chief, he didn’t show it to anybody but that he only sent it to the Oba of Ojora Land, who is the overall traditional ruler in the area. When the Oba got it, he too, did not announce the content to the residents to enable them get prepared. . “We just woke up on that fateful Saturday to sight a team of armed security agents marching behind bulldozers, which descended on the structures and houses in our community. There was nothing we could do and before we recovered from the shock to embark on removing valuable belongings from our homes, the bulldozers have wrecked havocs on our houses,” he said . Alhaja Titi Adekpitan, a resident, said her 24room house, which she built two years ago was destroyed in the exercise. She said she lost all her belongings in the house among which were six television sets, two big freezers, and assorted cartons of lager beer. In all, she said she lost property worth about N1.8 million. . Residents’ complaints to The Guardian were legion. A nursing mother, who said she and her new baby do not have a place to sleep again as a result of the unexpected destruction of their house, said she lost almost all her belongings.

According to her, even attempts to raise money to feed through the sale of a TV set, freezer, standing fan and other items that were salvaged from the debris of their demolished home was being frustrated by the Mallam, who was offering to buy all the items at a mere N4,000. . Corroborating the claim by the residents that they were not given notice before the demolition, a press release by the Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) a copy of which was made available to The Guardian at the Governor’s office during the protest, stated that the Lagos State Government forcefully evicted residents of the community, using bulldozers, armed uniformed men and officials from the Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Agency and the Lagos State Environmental and Sanitation Task Force.. SERAC stated that the community was first threatened with demolition on Wednesday, February 20, 2013, with a team of Lagos State Government Officials among whom were the Commissioner of Agriculture, senior officers from the Ministry of Housing and others, who came to the place with armed police escort. Magen S. Chapman, the Staff Attorney of SERAC, said they are going to do everything within their power to fight for the right of the affected people. However, at a gathering yesterday, officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Housing represented by the Permanent Secretary Mr. Olusoga Odunlami and community leaders from Ijora area met to clarify misconceptions about the demolition. Odunlami explained that the 10-acre parcel of land belonged to the Federal government, which had partnered with the Lagos State government on the development of the property. He said the federal and state governments had for long been working at developing the parcel of land and that the Lagos state government was now ready to develop 1008 housing units at the place under its Lagos HOMS project. He further stated that the housing units will be low cost and will offer mortgage facility to prospective homeowners who will also be given the option of paying in installments. “The government has plans for palliatives to take care of displaced people, but I appeal to residents to stop the building without the right consent of the building authorities.” At the meeting, Baale of the Ijora community, Mr. Lukas Meduoye Owode who consented to knowing about the government’s decision to clear the land for construction purpose, appealed to the Lagos state government to help relocate the residents who have been living there for decades. He added that several demolition activities had taken place on the said parcel of land and the place needed a proper face-lift. “We had received prior notices about the intention of the government and we appeal to people to cooperate with the government. We are growing everyday, and so we want our city to grow as well. What the government wants to build there is good,” Owode said. It would be recalled that last week Saturday, a demolition team from the Lagos State Government began forceful eviction of thousands of residents along Moshood Abiola way at Ijora Badia, Pako Bus stop area in Lagos. According to eyewitness reports, two bulldozers, dozens of uniformed Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Agency (LASPPDA) agents and Lagos State Environmental and Sanitation Task Force removed homes, along with businesses, churches and community facilities. Residents, caught unawares in the early morning hours, scrambled to remove zinc roofs and valuable possessions under the menacing watch of dozens of heavily armed members of the Nigerian Police Force. Badia East is an upwardly mobile informal settlement in the heart of Lagos, despite a long history shaped by forced evictions. The Federal Government of Nigeria acquired the land in 1929 to build a railway. In the early 1970s, residents displaced by the nearby National Theatre construction were relocated to Badia East. Aside from periodic demolitions – the community has since 2005 been engaged with the Federal Government in planning for possible in situ urban renewal. .

Lagos Ladipo Market comes under lock • Govt cites poor sanitation, lack of toilets, others

Empty; Ladipo Market ...yesterday

Filthy canal at the market

PHOTOS: AYODELE ADENIRAN

Suspected hoodlums arrested at the market ...yesterday

.By Abdulwaheed Usamah EMINISCENT of what happened during the tenure of former Lagos State Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the sprawling auto spare parts market, Ladipo Market in Mushin Local Council, also came down under lock and key yesterday as men of the Lagos State Taskforce Lagos on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit stormed the market in the early hours of the day to enforce closure because of the unhealthy filth. Eyewitness accounts have it that, as early as 4.00a.m., hundreds of fully-armed taskforce officials led by its Chairman, Bayo Sulaiman, a

Chief Superintendent of Police besieged the market, shutting it down and preventing thousands of traders who arrived the market to conduct their regular businesses from entering the market. They were dispersed by taskforce officials with several canisters of teargas. An Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was stationed at the Toyota end of the Apapa-Oshodi expressway while the area was barricaded and other entrances to the market were also cordoned off. The traders said they were caught unaware as they never expected the market to be shut. Sulaiman said the state

PHOTO: CHARLES OKOLO

government had lots of issues with the market, ranging from lack of toilet facilities, degradation of the environment with fuel and diesel, hooliganism as well as traders in the market turning themselves into another government. Only last week, the Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello had warned the traders of imminent closure if the traders did not take proper steps to clean the market and make the environment habitable. Meanwhile, the Chairman, Mushin Local Council, Olatunde Adepitan has described the closure of the market as a welcome development and long overdue.

TheGuardian

14 THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 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 Poor varsity education, unemployable youth corps members S has become fashionable, the lamentation of the Nigerian condition has been A more vociferous from the tribe of those saddled with the task of ameliorating it. The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier Nnamdi Okorie-Affia joined the bandwagon recently when he made some not-sostartling statements about the NYSC scheme. Some universities, according to him, have been sending “graduates” to the scheme who can hardly speak English. The quality of these graduates is so appalling that employers who can’t find any use for them are left with no choice but to send them back to the NYSC. The NYSC has also discovered that some universities send “graduates” of courses not accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) for the NYSC scheme. Okorie-Affia didn’t state if the graduates of unaccredited courses are the same as the ones employers don’t find useful. Worst still, he said some universities collect bribe from Nigerians interested in the NYSC scheme and send them in large numbers for national service, straining the NYSC budget and making planning impossible. Again, it is not known if these presumably young Nigerians who bribe their way into the NYSC have undergone any university training, even on non-accredited courses. The NYSC Director-General has opened up another debate on the troubles that plague another national institution. His charges against “some” universities raise so many questions any comment on them has to be provisional. First, it is regrettable that the concerned universities have not been named. Are these problems limited to a few universities, which thus can fairly easily be addressed or is the malaise near systemic? It is not clear the extent to which the DG’s comments can be taken as a general feedback on the quality of our higher institutions, which is undoubtedly at a low ebb. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that it is indeed within the powers of the NYSC Director-General to take concrete actions on the skeletons he has exhumed. The easiest of these is to report universities sending unsuitable “graduates” to the National Universities Commission (NUC), and to the police, in cases where it is discovered that these universities have taken bribe to mobilize the concerned students for the National Youth Service Corps Scheme. Similarly, the NYSC should let the NUC know that certain universities produce graduates who cannot speak English and are not educated enough to teach in even primary schools. The Governing Councils of such universities should also be informed of the poor quality of students that are coming out as graduates from their schools. Indeed, the NYSC would be rendering a great service to the university system and to employers and parents if it publishes an annual ranking of the employability of graduates from different universities based on the feedback from employers. There are anecdotal accounts of the high quality of graduates of certain private universities, which the NYSC ranking system may confirm or disprove. The proposed NYSC ranking may even include a table of employer satisfaction with the graduates of particular disciplines in different universities. Such a ranking will also be useful as additional feedback for the National Universities Commission on the quality of training in Nigerian universities. It is high time the Nigerian public had some kind of external evaluation of the work of academics, as the government cannot be solely held responsible for the poor quality of Nigerian university graduates. What have University Governing Councils done about the poor quality of graduates that employers and parents have complained about for so long? Nevertheless, the NYSC Director-General’s comments is a challenge to the government and the university community to take a hard look at Nigerian higher education system and initiate measures to improve the quality of its output. It is no secret that Nigerian universities rank poorly even within Africa and that academics have forsaken publishing works in competitive international journals for the low-hanging fruits of domestic journals of doubtful quality whose credibility do not extend beyond the shores of Nigeria or beyond the boundaries of particular universities, in many cases. Universities have developed their own version of zoning and quota systems, which works against merit in hiring and promotion. There is an urgent need to boost the quality and performance of academics, a question which, no doubt, is tied to good remuneration, among other things. Many Nigerians sadly have resigned to the reality that universities are unable to retain their best products as lecturers, a far cry from the 1960s and 1970s when Nigeria attracted international faculty members, and lecturers routinely published their research in the best academic journals in the world. There are no easy solutions to transforming the quality of Nigerian universities. But solutions must entail abandoning orthodoxies and taking hard decisions. Certainly, the country needs to increase opportunity for technical and vocational training. More of the young people should be trained to acquire skills for which they can find ready use in the economy, especially as innovators or small business creators. Nigeria also needs to spend more on teacher training and salaries at the primary and secondary school levels so that we can have secondary school leavers who are easily trainable for jobs or who can gain far more from university education. There is currently a crisis in the education sector, which has a negative economic impact that is comparable to the damage the nation’s inadequate power supply does to productivity. What is surprising is the absolute lack of appropriate response from the government. In the end, the revelation by the NYSC Director General about the woeful quality of some graduates must be taken as a call to action.

LETTERS

Rotational presidency is desirable IR: Why is it that Nigerians Spresidency cannot relate rotational among the six geopolitical zones to the Federal Character policy that seeks to ensure that no ethnic group is marginalized in governmental businesses and appointments? The argument that zoning may prevent the best candidate for the presidential position suggests that some zones have no presidential materials. How can a highly mixed and pluralistic society succeed without a constitutional succession order? If entrenched in the constitution, rotational presidency would have outlawed the arbitrariness that engendered the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. When will Nigerians stop approaching issues from emotional and prejudicial perspectives; sometimes fanatical about scriptural issues that they partially understand? It may be true that the northerners have ruled Nigeria for many more

years than southerners, but they have always done so with the connivance of some southern imperialists. That time there was no law; then an unwritten law came with rotational presidency (of a party though). Why upset it; why the reluctance to legalize it? Rotational presidency among the six geopolitical zones should complement the Federal Character policy that is recognised in the statutes. Those who are opposing it should tell us their proposal for a better political order. If the legislators mean well, they should work for the entrenchment of rotational presidency or its better alternative in the constitution before the end of 2013. Nigeria cannot survive as an amorphous society; every ethnic group naturally bothers about the ethnic nationality of “the President”. Rotational presidency was calculated to establish order and stability.

Religious fanaticism and crime thrive better in a disorderly society such as Nigeria. President Jonathan should stop creating confusion about Boko Haram. He and his supporters should tell the international community what they did with Nigeria’s political order, as represented in rotational presidency. Moreover, they should explain what is happening with Nigeria’s wealth and mass poverty. Why do some people at the helm of affairs get enough “personal money” to donate boreholes and offer scholarships, while the overwhelming majority gets less than they deserve from the same system? Yes, Nigerian rulers are shouting Boko Haram as a way of distraction from their politico-economic crimes. Unless the country is orderly with political rotation and economic equity, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains the obayeje (world spoiler). • Pius Abioje, University of Ilorin.

Redefining marriage, the British way While justifying the SingIR: passage of the bill legalissame-sex marriage recently, the British Parliament was quoted as arguing that “marriage is between two people” and NOT necessarily between a man and a woman. What an abomination coming from a country that claims to be a beacon of all that is good, edi-

fying, noble and magnificent. The scriptures, in Genesis 2 records why and how the woman was created by God for the purpose of becoming a “helper fit for man”. Also Lev. 20:13 says: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them”. Those societies,

which because of their prosperity, are playing God and defying His injunctions, and by so doing corrupting other societies, will be wiped out of the surface of the earth. Their destruction will be hundred folds that of Sodom and Gomorrah of old. Mark my words! • Oluwole Akinjayeju, Lagos.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Business Appointments P27 Casualisation and the saturated labour market

Oil producing states get N135.33b derivation fund in three months By Roseline Okere IL producing states shared N135.33 billion as 13 per cent derivation fund during the third quarter of 2012, according to the latest report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). According to the CBN in its

third quarter 2012 report, of the gross federally-collected revenue during the quarter under review, the sum of N1. 3 trillion was transferred to the federal account for distribution among the three tiers of government. It disclosed that the Federal

Government received N620.75 billion, while the states and local governments received N314.85 billion and N242.74 billion, respectively. “The balance of N135.33 billion went to the 13 per cent Derivation Fund for distribution by the oil-pro-

ducing states”, it added. It stated: “Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, was estimated at two million barrels per day (mbd) or 184.00 million barrels for the quarter, compared with 2.26 mbd in the

preceding quarter. This represents a decrease in production level of 0.26 mbd. Consequently, crude oil export stood at 1.55 mbd or 142.60 million barrels for the quarter compared with 1.81 mbd in the preceding quarter. This also represent

Minister for Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga (left); President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Chief Kola Jamodu; Managing Director, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oscar Onyema; Group Chairman, Omatek Ventures Plc, Chief Timothy Farinre; and Group Managing Director, Mrs. Florence Seriki, during a facility tour of Omatek’s plant in Lagos, yesterday.

New policy to enforce patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods underway By Femi Adekoya and Helen Oji

Govt to complete BoI’s recapitalisation process

NDIGENOUS manufacturing companies may soon heave a sigh of relief soon on local capacity utilisation if the strategy by the Federal Government to enforce madein-Nigeria products becomes operational. The enforcement would be actualised through the development of a comprehensive policy to enhance monitoring, reporting and compliance with use of locally manufactured products in all government establishments. Besides, the Federal Government has unfolded plans to complete the recapitalisation of the Bank of Industry (BoI) and other development banks, to enhance their capacity to finance operations of the real sector, in addition to an arrangement that would ensure that the country’s nine industrial cities enjoy at least 15-hour daily power supply soon.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, stated these during his official visit to Omatek Computers Limited factory, in Lagos, yesterday. According to him, it is not enough to do a campaign to encourage consumption of locally manufactured goods, but by also backing such campaign with a policy that would further drive its implementation. “We have since discovered that monitoring and enforcing the use of made-in-Nigeria products is a key challenge

and this would be addressed through a policy that would be ready in a few weeks. There is no country that has managed to transform itself without adequate industrial growth or wholesome dependence on imported goods. “Local industries need to be empowered and that is why developing a policy to enhance local consumption of made-in-Nigeria products is key to the economy. We are looking at replicating the success story in the cement industry to some other key sectors

We have since discovered that monitoring and enforcing the use of made-in-Nigeria products is a key challenge and this would be addressed through a policy that would be ready in a few weeks. There is no country that has managed to transform itself without adequate industrial growth or wholesome dependence on imported goods

through local capacity utilization that would further spur exportation”. He explained that with a collaboration with the Ministry of Power, key industrial areas may soon begin to enjoy at least 15 hours of uninterrupted power supply to aid their production, noting that the ministry’s decision to partner with indigenous firms was in line with the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan and the local patronage initiative of the ministry. He added that the Federal Government is set to work with Omatek, to make available made-in-Nigeria computers to educational institutions across the country. While acknowledging the giant strides so far made by the company, especially in pioneering local production of computers, the minister assured local manufacturers CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

a decline of 14.4 per cent. The decrease was attributed to natural disaster, oil theft and sabotage to oil infrastructure during the period under review. Deliveries to the refineries for domestic consumption remained at 0.45 mbd or 41.40 million barrels. At 147.12 (1990=100), the index of mining production increased marginally by 0.1and 1.6 per cent above the levels attained in the preceding quarter and the corresponding period of 2011, respectively. The increase in mining production during the quarter was accounted for by the rise in quarrying and other mining activities. At 3,598.5 MW/h, estimated average electricity generation rose by 7.2 per cent, over the level attained in the preceding quarter. The development was attributed to the increase in gas supply to the thermal stations and increase in water levels at the hydro stations. At 2,978.5MW/h, estimated average electricity consumption in Nigeria increased by 1.5 per cent over the level in the proceeding quarter. The development was attributed to the increase in power supply due to the improved electricity generation.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

16 BUSINESS

LCCI seeks review of Lagos traffic law for courier firms By Femi Adekoya HE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has called on the Lagos State House of Assembly to review some aspects of the traffic law in the interest of the economy. Specifically, the chamber called for a re-think on the

prescription of only motorcycles of 200cc capacity and above, for the restricted routes. The chamber cited the fundamental concerns of cost, availability and suitability of 200cc capacity and above motorcycles for mail delivery as grounds of appeal to

the legislative arm to review the aspect of the state’s traffic law. In a press statement made available to The Guardian by the Director-General of the chamber, Muda Yusuf, the body urged the assembly to review the policy of minimum of 200cc capacity motorcycles for use by courier companies and dispatch riders of corporate bodies, and proposed the adoption of 125 cc capacity motorbikes as as an alternative. The statement read in part: “We appreciate, and indeed share the concern of government on the security implications of a liberal motorcycle policy: numerous casualties caused by the use of motorbikes and the nuisance of commercial motorcyclists on Lagos roads.

Evidently, there is a need for firm regulation and control. But there should be a clear distinction between the commercial motorcyclists and corporate organizations providing services for the smooth running of the economy of the state. “200 cc capacity motorcycles are generally not available in the country as they are in the range of power bikes, not commonly used for mail delivery and other commercial purposes. This scarcity has created room for all manner of malpractices including falsification and relabeling of lower capacity motorbikes as 200cc and above. The cost of a motorcycle of 200cc capacity and above, where available, is in the region of N500,000 to N1 million, depending on the brand.

“This implies that for a firm that needs to replace 10 of the motorcycles, a minimum of N5 million to N10million will be required. Many courier companies have an upwards of 50 motorcycles. For most of the small players in that sector, this may be the end of the road for their enterprises. Commitment of such resources to the purchase of 200cc motorcycles is a big drain on the resources of courier companies which is itself a low margin business.” The statement added: “The grueling bureaucracy of certification and registration of the 200cc motorbikes have created avenues for all manners of malpractices including touting. Service delivery quality of courier

companies has dropped drastically since the enactment of the policy and this is taking its toll on other sectors in the state. Using 200cc capacity motorbikes comes with new set of challenges: retraining for the bike riders; higher risk of accidents; higher fuel consumption; quality and durability concerns; availability of spare parts and other maintenance issues. Yusuf however noted that to enhance compliance to the reviewed traffic law, strict regulation should be maintained to monitor the operations of the courier companies and dispatch riders, while the registration, certification and documentation processes for motorcycles should be reviewed to reduce the tedious bureaucracy.

Govt to complete BoI’s recapitalisation process CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 of the government’s support and commitment towards providing an enabling environment for their businesses to flourish. He noted that BoI’s involvement in enhancing industrial growth cannot be ignored, explaining that with the conclusion of the bank’s recapitalization process, it would be easy to increase the pace of industrialization through effective access to finance at a low interest and longer tenor period. “Let me re-iterate here that the Federal Government’s transformation agenda is a project which recognizes the

need to consciously nurture Nigerian industries in the quest for a sound economy developed on the back of industrial growth. We are therefore assuring Omatek of the necessary support all the way.” Aganga noted that government would continue to strengthen its partnership with the private sector in order to realise the objective of the NIRP. He said, “We have done a lot to remove the bottlenecks in the business environment and the positive results are already manifesting in terms of a friendlier business environment and an enhanced industrial capacity utilization.

Recent figures from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) reveal that the capacity utilization in the textile sector, for instance, has increased significantly from 29.14 per cent in 2010 to 49.7 percent as at 2011. “We are not yet where we want to be, but we shall get there. What Government needs is the right collaboration with sound private sector operators who are always on the drawing box, thinking outside the box, in their bid to give back to the society. Omatek surely falls within this productive group.” President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Kola Jamodu, commended

the company’s leadership for the efforts at enhancing job creation and local capacity utilization. He however urged the government to work on improving industries’ access to finance, export promotion while encouraging indigenous firms by providing them with incentives and creating an enabling environment for their businesses. The Group Managing Director of the company, Mrs Florence Seriki commended the government and the Bank of Industry for enhancing industrial growth in the sector, while urging the Minister to increase incentives provided to local manufacturers in order to aid production.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

BUSINESS 19

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Implementation of ETLS, ISRT to facilitate trade among ECOWAS countries, says NEXIM By Roseline Okere FFECTIvE free movement of goods and services within Economic Communities of West Africa States (ECOWAS) has been identified as leeway to improving the investment climate in the sub-region. To achieve the desired objective, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Roberts Orya, stressed the need for the ECOWAS community to enhance their commitments to improving the operations and processes of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) and ECOWAS Road Transit Scheme (ISRT) and as a matter of urgency invigorate implementation of the macroeconomic policy convergence and policy harmonization in the subregion. Orya, who gave this submission at the yearly conference of the Borderless Alliance conference tagged: “Connecting Markets”, which took place in Accra, Ghana at the weekend, reaffirmed NEXIM’s commitment to work towards removing trade barriers and promote seamless commercial exchanges among ECOWAS member states In a statement issued by

He stated that notwithstanding the good intendment of the IPF and other frameworks targeted at free trade within the sub-region, facilitating free movement of goods, persons and capital as well as macroeconomic policy convergence, have not worked as satisfactorily the Bank’s Head of C o r p o r a t e Communication, Chinedu Moghalu, the Borderless Alliance fosters change by bringing to light trade inefficiencies throughout the region. Through the work if its partners, it undertakes research to find what are the most paralyzing obstacles to producers, traders, buyers and investors with the findings and data published as a way to pressure decision makers to change policy to help develop their economies. Speaking on “Improving Investment Climate Through Effective Movement of Goods and Persons in West Africa”, Orya lauded the initiative of the ECOWAS Commission targeted at creating an enabling environment to attract investment within the Region. According to him, such frameworks espouses common investment market initiatives such as the

NIA presents mobile devices to track fake motor certificates By Joshua Nse ETERMINED to enforce the D Motor Third Party vehicle insurance policy as well as check the issuance of fake insurance certificates across the country, the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has begun the formal presentation of mobile devices to the vehicle Inspection Officers (vIO) in Ogun State. The mobile devices, a product of the “Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID)” is specifically meant for identification of genuine insurance documents by law enforcement agencies throughout the country. The product, an initiative of the association, was officially launched in June 2012, is an information technologybased system that will facilitate easy collation and dissemination of statistical and other information relating to insurance, while at the same time helping to check activities of fake insurance documents. A council member of NIA, Sakiru Oyefeso, and director general, Sunday Thomas, presenting the devices to the office of the vIO in Ogun State at the weekend, said the nation’s insurance industry was worried about the inability of Nigerians to enjoy the social and economic benefits of genuine insurance security as a result of the activities of fake operators. According to him, the situation is worrisome since holders of fake insurance papers cannot get any compensation to victims or their dependants to enable them recuperate from their losses, adding

this to a very large extent, has brought bad image to the insurance industry in Nigeria. He said “What we have done with this data base is to ensure that all genuine insurance covers are documented and verifiable at any given time, and this we have done with motor insurance” “A key aspect of the project is the verification of genuine insurance policies via mobile handsets. A standard mobile device bundled with mobile application is available for the law enforcement agents for on-the-road verification of genuine insurance documents. The application is available 24/7 and works with all networks in Nigeria” It is the believe of the NIA, he said, that the officials of vIO in Ogun State will utilize the opportunity presented by this initiative and entrench genuine insurance culture in Ogun State motor administration process for social and economic benefits of the state, he said. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Kayode Ademolake, in his remark applauded the initiative of the NIA in coming up with a technology of this nature that would enhance services of vIO officers to the public. He said this will not only help the insurance industry, it will help the Ogun State government keep track of registered vehicles plying its roads, enhance data collection and revenue generation. He assured the association of the support and cooperation of the State to make the initiative work.

ECOWAS Investment Policy Framework (IPF) are designed to nurture and facilitate the creation of a healthy business environment that would foster the pursuance of effective key investment policy. He stated that notwithstanding the good intendment of the IPF and other frameworks targeted at free trade within the sub-region, facilitating free movement of goods, persons and capital as well as macroeconomic policy convergence, have not worked as satisfactorily. Identifying the major problem as one of transport infrastructure, Orya disclosed that NEXIM Bank, was committed to facilitating the removal of trade barriers to commercial exchanges among Member States even beyond the subregion. He stated that high transportation costs and excessive transit time has regrettably made intra-regional trade non-competitive with West African transport and logistics costs being one of the highest in the World.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

BUSINESS 25

‘Local content initiative generates N158bn SMEs investment in oil, gas By Roseline Okere NVESTMENT by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Nigeria oil and gas sector has hit $1 billion (N158 billion), according to the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Content Development and Monitory Board (NCDMB), Ernest Nwapa. Speaking at the just concluded Nigeria oil and gas conference, which took place in Abuja, Nwapa disclosed that the investment was geared towards the manufacturing and assemblage of various equipment in the oil and gas sector. Presenting the development at the conference, Nwapa said

Subsidy re-investment and empowerment programme to give 20m jobs to youths From Charles Coffie Gyamfi, Abeokuta BOUT 3,000 beneficiaries of A the Federal government’s “Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) were at the weekend deployed to various communities in Ogun State. The Federal government designed the SURE-P as a means of creating immediate short term employment for women and youths through labour intensive public workforce. The beneficiaries who were deployed in Ogun State after an intensive training by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) are to serve in the local governments as well as government agencies and parastatals in their communities. The State Chairman of SURE, Mr. Kayode Ajibola who briefed newsmen about the programme disclosed that the overall aim of the Federal government is to create permanent jobs for about 20 million Nigerian youths through the programme. For now beneficiaries, he said would be paid N10, 000 monthly as stipends. The programme, Ajibola said was meant for all Nigerian youths, stressing “The only qualification one needs to be a beneficiary is that he or she must be a Nigerian”. Answering a question on the criteria used to select the 3,000 out of the 4,000 applicants, Ajibola disclosed that they were selected through the assistance of Community Development Associations (CDA) and traditional rulers. He advised the beneficiaries to be diligent in their duties, insisting that truancy in whatever guise would not be tolerated. The programme, Ajibola disclosed would be delivered through two main components, the Community Service Scheme (CSS) and the Graduate Internship Scheme which also seeks to provide graduates with temporary work experience, assuring that the SURE-P project would go a long way in reducing the rate of unemployment in the country. “People will see what government is doing with the sacrifice they claim to make from the removal of subsidy. We’ll get some of the youths employed. Let’s come to terms with something, all of us cannot be employed by government or organizations. Some Nigerians are not even educated. Many of them are not skilled. Those who are skilled don’t even have the money to eat not to talk of buying the small hand tools they would use for their work.

the small industries invested in drill bits, pumps, wellheads and Christmas trees, cables, and valves manufacturing among others. According to him, before the intervention of the board, the country has no shipyard, but now has one. “On ship building, one major shipyard is established which has already commenced shipbuilding and this is to ensure that Nigerian content counts in crude lifting tenders.” He said the board is currently collaborating with the Naval dockyard and other facilities on enhanced shipbuilding capabilities. On the pipeline projects, Nwapa disclosed Shell is collaborating with WSP to establish a 200,000 tonnes of seamless pipe mill in Port Harcourt. “Addax is collaborating with Yulong to establish 250,000 tons of integrated line pipe mill in Bayelsa state. Kaztec has commenced plans to establish 200,000 tons of LSAW pipe mill in Lagos and Vigeo is in collabo-

ration with Mittal to establish a line pipe mill in Sagamu.” Nwapa explained that the Nigerian Content implementation model is focused on growing and utilising in-country capacity, while operators are made to consider long term value addition. He said the industry must focus more on manufacturing, bringing back the bulk of fabrication jobs that are done in foreign countries and ensuring that pipes, valves, fittings and related equipment are procured from the country. He stated that appreciable progress had been recorded in fabrication and engineering, noting that similar growth must be achieved in the manufacturing sector as most of the valves, pumps, oil and gas equipment are still being imported. Nwapa explained: “We have started creating the platform to ensure that components of these equipments can be done here, even if we cannot manufacture the whole equipment

here. “With the support of the minister, we have also issued guidelines that require any

new project to create some legacy facilities. We have been able to get commitments from international operating com-

panies on FPSO integration facilities, dockyards, umbilical manufacturing and fabrication yards,” he noted.

Customer Director, Unilever Plc, Kwaku Boateng (left); key Distributor to Unilever, Ikechukwu Igwediebube and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Unilever Nigeria, Thabo Mabe, at the company’s customers forum and award night, in Lagos, at the weekend.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

BUSINESS 29

Nigeria seeks Afreximbank’s support for agric business, export boost By Bola Olajuwon HE Minister of Agriculture T and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has tasked the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to raise its lending profile to support agricultural business in Nigeria, to boost exports and make African products more competitive in the global market. Adesina, who made the

• Affirms revenue potential in cassava chips appeal in Cairo, Egypt at the weekend while speaking at a meeting at the Afreximbank Headquarters to discuss opportunities in the Nigerian agricultural sector, disclosed that Nigeria was interested in an ongoing partnership with the bank toward a government-enabled private sector-

led development of agricultural business in Nigeria and was seeking financing for the country’s cassava chips exporters. According to the minister, a network of 15 to 20 Nigerian cassava chip firms intend to export their produce to China in 2013 and will require up to

Diamond Bank stakes N30b in Aba power plant From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia IAMOND Bank Plc said it has invested more than N30 billion in Geometric Power Plant project, in Aba, which is expected to generate sustainable power supply for the industrial city in Abia State. The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Dr. Alex Otti, disclosed this in his remark, as Chairman of the First- Made- in Abia Products Exhibition, in Umuahia, the state’s capital. Otti, who noted that there were many artisans in the state whose efforts have been hindered by the power situation in the state, assured of stable power supply soon. The exhibition was tagged “Promoting made in Abia products for accelerated economic development.” According to him, the plant would ensure that entrepreneurs in Aba and environs produce goods at full capacity and at a reduced cost, saying that it will be commissioned at the end of the year. “I’m aware that there are well over 60,000 shoe makers in Aba but they have challenges of producing at full capacity because of irregular supply of electricity.

“As soon as the new plant is commissioned, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) would switch off in the area,

because the new plant will be able to generate sustainable electricity for 365 days yearly,” he said.

$40 million in financing. Nigeria was implementing an agricultural transformation agenda and wanted Afreximbank to come in and participate across the value chain, he said. He identified some of the areas where opportunities existed to include the cassava export sector, the cocoa sector and the rice sector, among others. The government was establishing staple crop processing zones across the country to drive concentrated investments from the private sector, he said. An initial 14 sites for

anchor zones had already been identified along with five value chains, including rice, cassava, fisheries, horticulture and sorghum. Earlier, Afreximbank President Jean-Louis Ekra said that the by carrying out more local processing of their agricultural products before export, African countries added more value and created jobs at home. Ekra disclosed that Afreximbank already had a programme in place under which it was supporting increased processing of cocoa beans in Africa prior to their export to factories abroad, he said.

He said through that programme, known as the African Cocoa Initiative, the bank was enabling Africans benefit more from the 80 per cent of world cocoa, which they produced. He, however, pledged that the bank would cooperate with Nigeria in order to move forward on some of the projects being implemented by the government to change the face of agriculture in Nigeria. The bank, he added, would also look at the broader areas of the agricultural business, such as infrastructure, cold chain, product processing, among others.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Appointments Casualisation and the saturated labour market

Esele

By Yetunde Ebosele ECHNICALLY, casualisation T refers to illegal or abnormal work status. It comes in various forms and assumes different dimensions. From Nigeria to other parts of the African continent and indeed the world, the clamour for decent work environment has over the years taken the centre stage. But, the advocacy roles played by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), labour unions, civil society groups among others have not successfully produced the desired result aimed at curtailing the trend identified in some quarters as slavery. Several organisations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking, construction, mining, oil and gas among others adopt casualisation as part of strategy to reduce production cost and maximise profit. In the country, the growing influence of casualisation according to representatives of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) who spoke with The Guardian at the weekend has assumed a more disturbing dimension despite sustained efforts to bring it under control. According to the unions, the Federal Government seems to be helpless as agencies and multinational firms including financial institutions decimate the work environment through the policy of casualisation. Indeed, available information indicates that some multinational companies on a regular basis import ‘expatriates’ into the country to take full time employment, leaving qualified Nigerians as ‘casuals or contract’ workers with no legal status or employment benefit. President General of TUC, Peter Esele, in a chat with The Guardian at the weekend explained that the issue of casualisation of workers in the country is growing to a worrisome stage as employers of labour are taking what he identified as undue advantage of the saturated labour market to cheat employees through unfair labour prac-

Wogu

tices. He described the situation as tensed, adding that even the casual workers in some instances are also scared of being part of union activities because of fear of losing their jobs. Esele said: “For instance, we are presently having problems with unionising at Onne free trade zone. There are more than 200 companies in the zone but only about five per cent are unionised. In our quest to fight this unfair practice, we’ve had to stage a protest march to the Rivers State’s House of Assembly all to no avail”. Esele, described as unacceptable the sustained abuse of labour laws by employers in the country especially in the area of expatriate quota, adding that contract or casual workers are denied the right to several benefits including collective bargaining as entrenched in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other international labour conventions. Going down memory lane, Assistant General Secretary (information) of NLC, Yaqub Denja explained in a chat with The Guardian that the practice of casual or contract labour in Nigeria has not been in conformity with the provisions of the country’s Labour Act, adding that, no one can defend the legality of what is clearly at variance with the provisions of the law. According to him, another form of casual labour in Nigeria is contract employment. “In fact, when trade unionists tell some employers that they engage casual workers against the provision of the law, they simply reply out of ignorance that they do not have casual workers, but contract workers. “But on investigation unionists found out that those they referred to as contract workers are workers recruited for them by some employment “agencies” whose operations contradicts Section 23 - 27, part 2, CAP 198 of the Labour Act. “Section 23 specifically required a recruiting agent not only to obtain a formal letter from the company commissioning him/her to recruit for them, but also a written permit/license by a serving Minister of Labour; and anyone

convicted of any offence under Nigeria’s laws cannot be issued such permit/license. “As of today, no agency, company or individual have been granted such license or permit by any serving or former Nigerian Minister of Labour. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) may have registered such agencies, but the law required them to obtain permit from a serving Minister of Labour in Nigeria. There are specified conditions they must meet before such permit can be issued. “Section 24, subsections 1-2 require an intending recruiter to formally apply to the Minister in writing (subsection 1) stating the particulars as specified in subsection two. The provisions include the number of workers required; the place where the work is to be performed; the nature of the work; the wages to be paid; the duration of the proposed contract and whether or not it is desirable to obtain the workers through a recruiter. Subsection 6 of section 24 went a step further to compel the recruiters to ensure that the environment where those recruited work meet ethical standards. According to NLC, section 26, subsection 2a-c prohibits any recruiter from operating without a permit from the Minister, “and even when a permit is granted, a recruiter must not engage more than the number of persons stated in his application, or engage them in places not specified in the permit. “Many of those called contract staff by employers in Nigeria today are legally not contract staff basically because the method of their recruitment as well as status, contravenes Nigeria’s labour laws “Many of these so called contract staff have no records with the company or the recruiter or the Minister as required by law in section 27 subsection 6 where a recruiter is required to document the particulars of the worker containing the following information: *The identity of the worker; *The prospective conditions

Omar

of employment; and *Any advance of wages made to the worker, as well as any other information the Minster may require. “Employers in Nigeria resorts to the use of contract/casual labour not just to cut cost and maximize profit at the expense of the workers, and the national economy, but also to deny their workers the right to belong to trade unions since they would be compelled to implement collective agreements, subject their condition of service to the process of collective bargaining, which employers are not comfortable with for egoistic reasons or more importantly, assist employers in their search for

escapist route away from workplace democracy, which globalisation have so far demonstrated to hate”. Also, human right activist, Joe Okei-Odumakin, recently, described the casualisation of workforce as slave trade, adding that Nigerian workers have become third-class citizens in their father’s land. Odumakin explained that the issue of casualisation has become a very disturbing phenomenon, adding that, all hands must be on deck to stop it. She said; “Part of the pains casual workers have to go through are that they never benefit from special packages like others, most of the time

they are treated like lepers. They never have the full entitlements on the job allowances, transportation, leave allowances medicals, among others. According to experts, the way forward is for the Federal Government to develop the political will required to enforce compliance to decent and acceptable work environment by firms. Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, recently expressed government’s commitment and determination to ensure that operators in the industry adequately protect the rights of Nigerian workers.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Peoples’Digest

Published in association with

A state of emergency on unemployment, Part 2 By Aruosa Osemwegie GPHR, SPHR

“…the most serious problem frustrating economic progress in Nigeria is poor perception or understanding of the problems confronting us” –Prof. F. E. Ogbimi Introduction write not as a prophet of doom but as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness…”The level of idleness or unproductivity among young adults in Nigeria has risen to proportions that demand the enactment of a state of emergency on unemployment”.That was the statement that started the first part of this multi-part treatise on the need to find solutions to mass unemployment in Nigeria. In this part we seek a deep dive into the probable causes of mass unemployment. Isn’t there a cliché that a problem understood is half solved? We thus need to invest time and resources into understanding the root causes as a foundation to slowing down the damage and eventually solving this malaise. In his seminal book, Solutions to Mass Unemployment in Nigeria, Professor F. E. Ogbimi of Obafemi Awolowo University offers a number of provocative ideas on the discourse. Why there is Mass Unemployment in Nigeria The second chapter of the book is titled, “Why there is Mass Unemployment in Nigeria” and from that chapter Professor Ogbimi shares with us six reasons why there is mass unemployment. Hear him: “There are many reasons why Nigeria and other African nations are experiencing mass unemployment and the attendant low productivity problems. We may group these causes into the following categories: Factors related to the backward state of the economy; Poor perception of the relationship between national productivity and level of self-employment/entrepreneurship; Faulty planningpremises (theory) and framework (approach); Inappropriate perception of the nature of unemployment and its relevance to development; Inappropriate economic philosophy; Inappropriate development strategies and activities”. 1.Backward State of Economy The Nigerian economy is a primitive one. It is an artisan economy in which the fundamental production tools remain hoe, axe, cutlass etc., and production depends on the energy stored in muscles. Total employment in an artisan economy is usually very small and its ability to absorb highly educated people has traditionally been low. But as an artisan economy is transformed into an industrialized one, the production base expands and the manpower absorptive power increases as well as the total employment. In general, pre-industrial societies experience mass unemployment and low productivity, but industrialization solves these problems. Britain experienced mass unemployment and low productivity for centuries, but these problems apparently vanished as from late eighteen century when she achieved the first modern Industrial Revolution (Trevelyan, 1948). This means that it is a rapid industrialization that must be stimulated to solve the problem of mass unemployment and low productivity problems confronting Nigeria and other African nations. Any strategy that is not geared towards promoting industrialization cannot be a fundamental effort toward solving unem-

“I

ployment problem. 2. Poor Perception of the Relationship between National Productivity/Poverty and Self-Employment /Entrepreneurship The International Labor Organization (ILO) global economic report (2006), said that global unemployment hit a record high of 192million in year 2005, with young people making up yearly 50 percent of the jobless.Yet, not the ILO or any other International organization relates to poverty in Africa to the mass unemployment and low productivity in the continent. To the ILO- a labor organization, the parlous state of the global economy in 2005 was the result of unimplemented budget coupled with extra-budgetary expenses and general lack of fiscal discipline. In Africa, where leaders see the unemployed as politically dangerous, it is better to blame the educational sector for it. If the educational institutions produce graduate youths (1525years old) who can immediately employ themselves and others, then the politically dangerous people will not be there. In Nigeria mass unemployment has been coexisting with the worsening poverty situation for decades. Government’s solution to the coexistent problems of mass unemployment and poverty is self-employment; government agencies have been providing entrepreneurial training for youths so that they can employ themselves. This explains why the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was established in 1986. It is obvious that NDE entrepreneurial activities Unemployment has reached emergency proportions have not produced the needed results. ment must be reduced through the encourageThe Obasanjo administration which began ment of association and group work to improve in May 1999 had to make it clear that it has national productivity. What is the explanation adopted self-employment as a policy. Dr. for the observed trend? It is simple. Self-employHassan Lawal, the Labor and Productivity ment and entrepreneurship-based enterprises Minister, declared that self-employment is the are atomized or individualistic work settings. best option for youths. He made the declara- When individuals produce on their own, total tion while opening an Entrepreneurship production is lower than when the people of a Development Programme organized by the nation work in large groups. Large groups enjoy NDE for 2004 Batch B members of the National linkage effects or economies scale, using the Youth Service Corps (NYSC), in Abuja in economists’ ‘terminology. September 2004. He said, “I wish to remind Individualistic/atomized production like selfyou that from now onwards, your future lies employment and entrepreneurship lead to low in your hands”. total production because they do not enjoy linkTo the Minister, there is no need to find out age effect or economies of scale. any relationship between unemployment Nature’s lesson in relation to individual and and poverty. It is not part of the demands for group work is quite instructive. The single silkmanaging the economy to understand why thread which the spider spins is a relatively mass unemployment and prevalent poverty weak structural material which fails under any are co-existing. How can such government stress regime. However, the web which the spisucceed in solving the problems it does not der makes by combining many of the weak silkcare to understand. threads is a potent tool which catches many In line with government thinking that self- small creature in which the spider feed. employment and entrepreneurship are the (Ogbimi, 1999). solution to mass unemployment and poverAgain, the single (individual) spider’s thread ty, government through the agency supervis- is weak while the web or group thread is ing universities, the National University strong.Adam Smith (1776), also demonstrated Commission (NUC), has directed that all uni- that group effort improve productivity signifiversities should teach entrepreneurial skills cantly. He observed that making the straight to all university students so that they can flat-head, sharp-end pin involves 18 steps. When employ themselves on graduating. an individual carried out all the operations, the The duty of a good academic, however, is to person produced 20 pins per-day. However, provide the information to guide national when 10 people were employed to share the development. This he does, if only he is able operations, they produce 48,000 (forty eight to carry out objective and scientific analysis of thousand)pins per person per-day. Working in the problems of the society with a view to find- groups and specialization improved productiving out the true relationships among con- ity 240times. cepts, things, issues and problems. Those who have been sustaining the claim that …the claim that self-employment and entre- self-employment and entrepreneurship are the preneurship are the solution to mass unem- solutions to mass unemployment and poverty ployment and poverty is one important exam- problems in Nigeria either do not know that ple of the series of fallacious claims that inter- they are not solutions, or they have been trying national organizations and governments in to deceive ignorant people and frustrate develAfrica have sustained to deceive Africans for opment in the developing world especially in decades. Africa. The International Labor Organization, ILO Those who have been sustaining the fallacious (1991), conducted a study on the relationship claim failed to realize that the pre-industrialbetween national productivity and the level ized and the poor nations have too high levels of self-employment (LOSE).The study revealed of self-employment and entrepreneurship. In that in the highly productive nations like the the artisan/craftsmen agricultural and poverUnited State and Britain, LOSE was about 9 per- ty-stricken Africa economies, most of the peocent. ple are either self-employed or they are entreIn the newly Industrializing Countries like preneurs. Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia, Most of the people are self-employed farmers. LOSE was about 25 percent. However, LOSE was Smaller proportions are traders or about 50 percent in low-productivity and poor artisan/seamstress, motor mechanics, vulcannations in Africa, Latin America and Asia. The izers, welders, electricians, radio/television results of the study show that national pro- repairers etc. These are self-employed entrepreductivity is inversely related to LOSE. The neurs. Why should anyone not be able to see observed trend suggests that LOSE must be that self-employment and entrepreneurship reduced in the developing nations to improve are the cardinal features of the poverty-stricknational productivity. en nations and regions of the world? Why That is, entrepreneurship and self-employ- should anyone not realize that these cardinal

Source: www.sott.net poverty-related features must be replaced with wealth creating features to improve the quality of life in Africa? Self-employment and entrepreneurship are no solutions to unemployment and poverty problems, because selfemployment decreases national productivity and increase poverty. 3. Faulty Planning Theory and Framework Okigbo (1989) analyzed the Nigerian planning process 1900-1992 and noted that the theory that guided the Nigerian First National Plan 1962-68, was the Harrod (1939) – Domar(1946) Model –the HDM, and the model remains Nigeria’s planning theory. This model in its simplest form states that the growth in income achievable by a nation depends on the rate of savings and the capital invested. In other words, the more the capital invested, the higher would be the growth of income in a society. The HDM assumes that labor is not needed in the production process or that there is only one input in the production process and that is capital (Glabe 1977). The classical growth theory of economist as represented by the Cobb-Douglas (1928) aggregates production function, assumes that labour and capital are the principal factors of production and labour and capital can be substituted for one another in the production process. The HDM is a degenerated form of the classical aggregate production function; it (the HDM) assumes that labour is surplus, hence the limiting factor to improving productivity is capital or that productivity cannot be improved by increasing labour without increasing capital input. The HDM also assumes that the capital and labour are perfectly complementary factors and are combined in fixed proportions. How can a nation planning on the premise that capital is the limiting factor to improving productivity solve unemployment problem? Impossible! Most economists claim that once capital investment is made, growth follows and employment is created. This is not all true. As we shall show later, capital, capital investment per se, cannot stimulate sustainable economic growth. Thus, mere growth of capital does not lead to sustainable economic growth. The UNDP (1997) report showed that Nigeria and some other nations grew without creating new job opportunities in the period covered by the report. The report supports our position that mere increase in capital investments does automatically lead to sustainable economic growth. Having attempted with this little space to highlight some of the reasons for persistent mass unemployment through Prof. Ogbimi’s work, the next step would be to shed light on some of the possible solutions as listed in the first part of this series.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

PEOPLES DIGEST 33

Youth unemployment and poverty in Nigeria: A call for action, not rhetoric By Victor E. Dike Introduction N December 2009, the then Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, at the convocation ceremony of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, assured Nigerians that technical education would enjoy government support in 2010 because of the role of technology in national development (BusinessDay, December 8, 2009). Those who are familiar with Nigeria’s convoluted politics know that such pronouncements are not new. Previous administrations painted glowing pictures of development plans defining the linkage between technological capability and national development and promising youth empowerment as government’s top priority. Even though UNDP has adopted human development as a major goal for its development efforts (UNDP 1990), the leaders have refused to properly fund education that is responsible for human capital development or revive the weak economy and create employment for the millions of graduates yearly churned out by the educational institutions. This article calls on Nigerian leaders to move from rhetoric to action by tackling the issues facing education, particularly science and technology development. Without addressing the debilitating shortage of advanced technical manpower, Nigeria will remain underdeveloped with soaring unemployment, poverty and social crisis. Issues in Discourse The quality of education and technological capability of a nation determine its ‘rates and patterns of development and industrialization.’ Technological capability in the form of “production engineering, manufacture of capital goods, and research and development” of a nation are pointers to the effectiveness, efficiency and productivity of its industrial sector (Enos, 1977; Fransman, 1984; & Islam, 2001). Enos developed three fundamental components of technological capability: 1) individuals embodying skills, training, and experience and inclination; 2) institutions within which individuals are assembled; 3) and a “common purpose,” which was ‘defined in terms of objectives and motivations.’ According to Fransman (1984), technological capabilities in developing countries hinge on factors such as “adequate number and quality of human resources with practical experience, skills, and aptitude; useful technological information on sources and conditions of technology transfer; institutions for education and training, research and development, and engineering design and consultancy; favorable natural environment, factor endowments, attitudes and customs, etc.” Given the place of technology in national development, serious nations give undivided attention to technological capability building (Islam, 2001). Technology capability could come through indigenous technological innovation or technological transfer; but Nigeria has been unable to acquire advance technological capability through either means. History shows that no nation has become an industrialized society without technological capability, and Nigeria cannot be an exception. Poverty will be reduced when employment is available for those willing and able to work. Problem Areas: Connecting the Dots The enthusiasm and energy in Nigeria is sapped by its ‘politics of unreason.’ The inability of the leaders to make wise and educated decisions and strengthen technical education is robbing the nation of the contributions of the graduates to national development. But making a good decision is not a chance act; it requires a skill. Dike (July-September 2006) has observed that the under-development status of Nigeria could be linked to the odious neglect of the educational institutions responsible for human capital development. The nation’s natural gas is being wasted by flaring, which causes unspeakable environmental degradation in the oil-producing areas. However, science and technology has been a

part of Nigeria’s National Policy on Primary Education (NPE) since 1981 (Moja, 2000), but like every other policy, its implementation has been poorly handled. Dearth of competent technicians is the bane of Nigeria. The society lacks competent bricklayers, carpenters, painters and auto mechanics; laboratory and pharmacy technicians, electrical/ electronic technicians and skilled vocational nurses. Yet our leaders have continued to define the linkages between technological development and economic prosperity without providing the resources and effective infrastructure and institutions for national development. Nigeria’s inability to acquire the relevant technological know-how largely accounts for the low level of development and pervading poverty in the society today. Health sector Because health sector personnel lack relevant training and skills, the hospitals are no longer where people go to get their ailments treated, but where they go and die. Tales abound of how people die of minor ailments, not to mention major health problems. The refusal of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and other high ranking public officials to use local hospitals for their health problems (BusinessDay,November 27, 2009) gives credence to the general opinion that our health institutions lack modern medical infrastructure to handle both minor and major ailments. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the State of the World’s Children (2009) report noted Nigeria’s poor ranking in maternal, neonatal and infant mortality. Nigeria and India account for one third of maternal deaths worldwide, says the report. In 2008, Save the Children, a US-based humanitarian organization, claimed that about one million under-5 children die in Nigeria annually. Another study shows that only about 37 percent of Nigerians have access to good drinking water, and only 30 percent use modern sanitation facilities. Motor vehicle and road sector Because of poor training and regulations, the roadside mechanics cause more harm to motor vehicles when contracted to service them. Although road accident is a global problem, a combination of poor driving training and attitudes toward traffic signs and regulations and poorly maintained vehicles and roads lead to rampant accidents that have sent many people to their early death, according to the 2008 report by the Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). Bad roads have subjected the people to untold hardship; the Lagos-Benin road abandoned by the previous administration remains in a distasteful state. Most of the so-called “expatriate engineers” who are being paid millions of dollars to build Nigeria’s roads and bridges are graduates of technical colleges. Yet Nigeria does not take this sub-sector of her education seriously. Building and construction sector The shabby performance of Nigeria’s builders (mason/bricklayers) and poor building maintenance often lead to unbridled collapse of buildings (ThisDay, January 25, 2006). Today, individuals who can afford it employ competent technicians from neighboring countries to handle their important projects (Dike, March 27, 2009 & March 30, 2009). Agricultural sector Spotty electricity supply is the greatest bottleneck to the growth of the economy and national development. The agricultural sector is also a victim of the shortage of advanced technical manpower. Peasant farmers are toiling all day in the field with knives, hoes and shovels to feed the nation’s 140 million people. Nigeria’s arable lands are not cultivated all year round because of lack of advanced technology for irrigation to increase food production. These deficiencies make the nation unable to effectively and efficiently process, preserve, and store the excess of her seasonal food stuffs, contributing to food scarcity and high prices for basic food items with attendant rising hunger and starvation. The nation was recently ranked the 13th poorest nation in the world. Finance sector In the financial sector, there are no competent

The situation worst among youths technicians to establish databases and credit bureaus to ascertain people’s credit worthiness and true identity. Because of this, banks often give out huge loans to individuals who otherwise would not qualify. The sector also lacks technical expertise to regulate and supervise the banks and develop financial software to properly tackle the rising fraud in the banking sector, contributing to the huge non-performing loan crises that rocked some banks in recent times (Daily Independent, Nov 17, 2009). Corruption The nation’s theory-oriented teaching and education does not seem to take the needs of the society into consideration. Because of poor education, training and motivation, the police extort money as low as N20 from the public and violate the human and civil rights of the citizens who question their authority. They also lack skilled forensic laboratory and fingerprint technicians to conduct criminal investigations. There was a shameful episode recently in the society where the police paraded a goat as a thief; the police noted that the criminal they were chasing transformed into an animal (BBC News, January 23, 2009). There is also widespread public concern about environmental pollution and fake drugs in the society. The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) - responsible for controlling the authenticity of foods and drugs, lacks competent technicians to properly monitor the manufacturing, importation and distribution of fake/expired drugs in the society (Leadership, September 27, 2009). The poor and less educated in the society lack the skills and knowledge to manage their health problems such as AIDS, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and other serious health issues. The main problem with Nigeria is bad leadership or ‘Leadership without a moral purpose’ (Dike, October 14, 2009), which has subjected the citizens to immeasurable economic hardship and misery. Conclusion: A Call for Action, not Rhetoric Nigerians are tired of the rhetoric on youth empowerment, employment, poverty, illiteracy, quality education, national development, good governance, electoral reforms, and war on corruption. The people need real action to tackle the nation’s myriad of economic and socio-political problems. The society is brimming with untapped talents. Nigerians could be so much more effective and fulfilled with a leader who would provide a good environment for them to unleash their ingenuity. Nigeria will accomplish the lofty feat of industrialization with proper investment in human capital development, which is the engine for rapid economic growth and development. More importantly, the leaders need to develop the right attitude and polit-

Source: www.carelpress.co.uk ical will towards the critical sectors of the economy such as the intractable problem of epileptic power supply and bad roads. No nation can fight a war without an army. In the same token, Nigeria’s quest for development and industrialization will remain a dream without technological capability. Let’s pray and hope that the New Year will bring the nation a new and better sense of direction. Victor E. Dike is adjunct professor, School Of Engineering & Technology, National University (Sacramento Center) and CEO/Founder, Center for Social Justice & Human Development (CSJHD), http://www.csjhd.org

FEEDBACK COLUMN We believe these articles contain great information that policy makers, business leaders, human resources practitioners and the general public can use for quality decisions. Your own reaction, positive or critical, can shed more light, in practical ways, on the body of knowledge that we are sharing. As such, your feedback is important to us. Please mail us at peoplesdigest@peopleprime.net to respond or expand the body of knowledge on any of our treated topics, including past publications. We appreciate your feedback. Please include the topic, date of publication along with your observations, questions or comments plus your contact information in the email.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Osun trains 300 painters on skill acquisition By Yetunde Ebosele

S part of government’s capacity building programme to make artisans in the state compete favourably with their peers anywhere in the world, the Osun Schools Infrastructure Development (O’School) has embarked on massive training of artisans in the state. The first set of 300 artisans mainly painters, received certificates of competence recently after a state-organised training programme. The training of these artisans became necessary, as the Chairman of the O’School Infrastructure Development Committee Chairman, Otunba Lai Oyeduntan said, so as to bridge the knowledge gaps between artisans in the state and their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Oyeduntan said government considered it important to empower artisans in the state to reverse the trend of looking outside the state for people with better skills to execute jobs which otherwise would have added to the economic buoyancy of the state. In his remark, Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, promised an improved and strong eco-

nomic base for the state through harnessing local contents in developmental projects. He noted that for this reason, government decided to give the job of painting the new school buildings under construction to local artisans in the state. According to him, government did this so as to improve their capacity so that they would be able to give government what it wants, hence the training for the painters by the government. He, however, said there was more to this skill enhancement training as the improved capacity the painters have acquired through this training would stay with them for life, saying it is a gift to them from their state that will continue to serve them beyond the O’SCHOOLS projects, which is timebound. Besides, he noted that the painters’ relevance and patronage would extend beyond the state once people know they are professionals, while also promising that the training would extend to artisans of other professions. “To give an idea of the enormity of what is involved; construction is going on in 24 sites in different parts of

the state, with construction contracts for 30 new sites to be awarded within the next two weeks. “This training is not a oneoff exercise; it is one in a series that will embrace other artisans in the state. Capacity building and improvement is also a part of our government’s policies to help improve the life of our people by giving them the opportunity to earn decent living for themselves. “As a result, a similar training workshop for metal fabricators will follow this one in a matter of short time. Our objective with capacity enhancement is to make our local artisans more effective and efficient in their trade. “It would also give them exposure to modern technology and improve their professionalism, with a view to adding value to their services, ”Aregbesola said. One of the participants, Mr. Kayode Bello, said the training has given them further leverage among their colleagues anywhere in the world. He stated that at the completion of the training, they have now become professionals in painting, saying they now have wild scope of their jobs.

This training is not a one-off exercise; it is one in a series that will embrace other artisans in the state. Capacity building and improvement is also a part of our government’s policies to help improve the life of our people by giving them the opportunity to earn decent living for themselves.

Bello also asked that government extend such train-

ing to artisans of other professions so that Osun can

reap the economic benefit in not too distant future.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Nigeria moves to ratify ILO’s maritime convention present Administration. From Collins Olayinka, Abuja HE intention of the Federal The second committee is on the Government to ratify the review of Industrial Relations International Labour Practice in Nigeria, headed by Organization’s Maritime Ayuba Wabba. Its terms of referLabour Convention (MLC) ence include identifying exist2006 is aimed at boosting the ing weakness and impedisafety of Nigerian seafarers as ments inimical to productive well as increasing domestic industrial relations practice investment in the sector, the and make recommendations Minister of Labour and for their improvements; to Productivity, Chukwuemeka identify existing committees of Wogu has said. Federal Government dealing Speaking in Abuja while inau- with labour issues and recomgurating three committees mend their domiciliation in drawn from the membership the Federal Ministry of Labour of the National Labour and Productivity among othAdvisory Council (NLAC), the ers. committees, which are expect- The third committee is on the ed to turn in their reports in Review of the Constitution of two months, will kick-start the the National Labour Advisory ratification of the convention Council, which is headed by the of Productivity by Nigeria. Director He argued that the setting up Measurement department in of the committees marks the Ministry of Labour and another milestone in govern- Productivity, Mrs. Theresa ment’s efforts at generating Braimah. It is charged with the and sustaining industrial responsibilities of reviewing peace and harmony that is the present constitution of the necessary for the attainment NLAC in line with current develof its transformation agenda. opments in labour administraThe first committee is the one tion and to make recommendaon the development of pro- tion that will transform the grammes and strategies for NLAC into NEDLAC model of mainstreaming the National South Africa among others. Labour Advisory Council Speaking on the sideline of the (NLAC) into the national event, Mrs. Braimah said the development agenda, headed ratification of the convention by the representative of the will ensure the safety of National Employers Nigerian waters as well as Consultative Association ensuring Nigerian vessels and (NECA), Mr. Mahmud ships get international certification that will guarantee them Othman. The terms of reference are to free access to many parts of the unhindered. recommend programmes world She said: “This Convention is and strategies for mainstreaming and recognizing very important for the territorithe position, relevance and al integrity of Nigeria. It will roles of the National Labour ensure that ships owned by Advisory Council into the Nigerians adhere to internatransformation agenda of the tional standard, which will

allow them move everywhere they want in the world without any fear of seizure or harassment. This will encourage more Nigerians to invest in shipping industry. Nigerian seafarers will also be safe and our waters will also be conducive for passage. It is a win-win situation for Nigeria indeed. Even though the convention will come into effect in August this year, we have moved on time to ensure Nigeria is not caught napping when it comes into operations.” In his remarks the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Tunji Olaopa represented by a newly appointed Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service Dr. Clement Illoh, expressed optimism on the ability of NLAC to deliberate and offer useful guidance to the Minister of Labour and Productivity on the ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006 in records time. He added: “NLAC is veritable machinery which has been deployed successfully in the past in the ratification of ILO Convention by Nigeria. It is therefore my fervent belief that with the galaxy of skilled and experienced personalities representing the social partners in this meeting, the memorandum submitted by the Honourable Minister of will be adequately Transport deliberated upon with a view to recommending to government the ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006.”

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THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Ogun seeks support for cooperative societies By Yetunde Ebosele HE Ogun State commissioner for Community Development and Cooperatives, Samuel Duro Aiyedogbon, has described cooperative societies in the country as agents of positive societal and national change that should be given necessary support by the three tiers of government. Aiyedogbon stated this while declaring open a one day seminar organised by his ministry for cooperative societies and unions in the state with the theme “Cooperatives in Ogun State, Rebuilding Agenda, held at the cultural center, Abeokuta. According to the commissioner in a statement issued by the Head of media in the ministry, Ayokunle Ewuoso, government should accord greater respect and priorities for regular and qualitative cooperative education of members in line with the established global cooperative principles and practices. He said realising the importance of the societies, the present administration in the history of the state released a credit facility to the tune of N25million to cooperatives

societies at single digit interest rate, while a collaborative effort of the government with the Bank Of Industry had made accessible to members and entrepreneurs within the state N1billion credit for industrial developments

He said: “In addition, government in its wisdom created 12 additional cooperatives zonal offices in all the 20 Local Government Areas of the state with a view to ensuring adequate administration and effective supervision of coop-

erative societies at the grassroots for optimal performance and success”. Speaking at the occasion, President, Ogun state Cooperative Federation Limited, Adetokunbo Osisanya, called on govern-

ment to review the existing cooperative laws to meet the economic operations, adding that areas such as punishments, rewards amongst others should be clearly stated. He said concerted efforts should be geared towards

total eradication of frauds, misappropriation and embezzlement in cooperative societies/ unions adding that cooperative movement staff should be updated on the modern management techniques.

Kwara, Hygeia sign pact on state-wide health insurance scheme By Wole Oyebade GIANT stride in community health insurance scheme was recently made as the Kwara State government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on statewide Kwara Community Health Insurance Programme (KCHIP). The tripartite pact, signed with Hygeia Community Health Care (HCHC) and Dutch Health Insurance Fund, will ensure universal coverage of all 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state. It targets no fewer than 600,000 low-income enrollees (earning less than N300 a day) by 2017. State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed signed the agreement on February 13, 2013 in Abuja, following the success of the pilot phase in three LGAs of his state.

It is the first statewide community insurance scheme and clear demonstration of what could be achieved in healthcare sector through Public Private Partnership (PPP). Speaking with reporters in Lagos, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hygeia, Las Stork noted that since 2007, public and private funds had been mobilised from the participating communities in addition to donations and subsidies towards the implementation of the various schemes. Through these funds, over 400,000 hospital visits were recorded including 6,500 safe deliveries and 2,000 surgical procedures at public and private healthcare facilities without out-of-pocket payments by the enrollees. “Significant investments have also been made on infra-

structural upgrades, purchase of equipments, improvement of quality of service, and provision of access to care,” Stork said. KCIP is a Public Private Partnership facilitated by HCHC and PharmAccess Foundation with a premium subsidy funding agreement between the state government and the Dutch Health Insurance Fund. HCHC currently operates in Kwara and Lagos. Under this arrangement the Kwara State government has been increasingly taking up the health insurance premium subsidy financing while the contributions of the Dutch Health Insurance Fund has been diminishing. Stork added: “It is anticipated that this will serve as an impetus for replication or adoption by other Nigerian

State governments in achieving universal healthcare coverage, improvement of healthcare indices, especially the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and socioeconomic profile of the country.” Signing of the tripartite agreement was also preceded by the passage of the KCHIP Legislation in 2012, which the Special Adviser to the State Governor, Dr Abdulraheem Sulyman described as clear indication of government’s commitment to the success of the programme by giving it a legal backing. HCHC Manager, Peju Adenusi observed that while HMOs and the National health insurance Scheme (NHIS) programmes focus on formal sector and the Corporate Institutions of the Nigerian population (most of whom fall within the middle class

category), HCHC was targeted at the “bottom of pyramid” of the Nigerian population, a segment that predominantly falls within the informal sector. The premium rates are currently N4, 500 in Kwara State. Of this sum the enrollees only contribute N300 per person per annum. On the other hand, enrollees in Lagos pay contribute the sum of N2, 500 out of a total premium of N12, 500 per person per annum. The benefit package includes: Comprehensive Basic healthcare, child and maternal care including Caesarean Sections, family planning services and treatment of Non Communicable Diseases. Secondary care services and treatment of HIV/ AIDS including Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission are also included.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Student nurses protest non-inclusion in internship programme From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja ESPITE approval by the D National Universities Commission (NUC) for nursing students to embark on clinical internship programmes, the endorsement seems to have hit a brick wall. Uncomfortable with the situation, students of nursing across the country, recently, stormed the Federal Ministry of Health Abuja, where they barricaded the entrances to the offices, refusing to be pacified until the issue, was addressed by the Minister of Health.

Danjuma Foundation kicks off training scheme From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu and Michael Egbejule, Benin City S part of measures A towards addressing the high rate of unemployment in the country, the TY Danjuma Foundation, in conjunction with the After School Graduate Development Centre, (AGDC) has commenced an interactive training workshop for university final year graduate at the University of Benin. The training programme is aimed at developing business entrepreneurial skills for young school leavers to “ encourage local activation of businesses”. Internship Coordinator of the programme, Otubure Godless explained that available manpower in the state was critical in driving the business environment. “This symposium is geared towards solving the problem of youth’s unemployment in terms of employability and activating enterprise. The youth’s unemployment is just not about people unable to get job, it is also about people been able to create jobs to encourage local activation of business and the creation of goods and services which will in turn lead to enterprise thereby filling the void of those who ordinarily would have been out of jobs. That is why we are focusing on Edo State looking at final year graduates and see how we can activate the local economy. “We have found out that Edo State is one of the critical state that drive Nigeria development. We can activate the economy to get the people to be employable. Otubure further disclosed that, “In 2011 over 140 people benefited from the TY Danjuma initiatives, adding that as a beneficiary “the entrepreneurial spirit which the foundation is putting the money to activate is working”. He said part of the reason for bring the training to University campuses is to also stimulate academic discuss toward job creation for young graduates. “We are focusing on campuses because we have knowledge driven labour, we believe that they are the ones coming into the labour market, so using the University is to get the academia and the private sector to start thinking, it is actually a round table to get our academia to do something about our curriculum, we need to think of something different”, he added.

Under the aegis of West African University Nursing Students Association and the Nigerian Universities Nursing Students Association, they were drawn from at least 24 universities across the country. President of the West African University Nursing Students Association, Ogbolu Collins Nduubuisi, said that the nursing internship was approved by the NUC in 2010 but was yet to be implemented, adding that the students felt unfilled because of the delay. Numbering over 200, the students were unhappy over the non-implementation of their internship programme, which they said would place them at par with their colleagues in the medical profession. Chanting different protest slogans, the students sought

the intervention of relevant government bodies into the issue. National president of Nigerian Universities Nursing Students Association (NUNSA), Mr. Ozu Frederick Junior said all they want is for the ministry to do the needful. He spoke of how ‘half baked’ they feel because of the absence of the programme. He described the nursing profession as important as other fields of medicine, but lamented that their other counterparts were given opportunities to do either their houseman-ship or clinical duties, adding that the nursing profession has been neglected and relegated to the back ground. The students were later invited for a meeting with some ministry officials where they were assured that the matter would be looked into.

Director, Consumer Banking Group, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Owoeye Ilesanmi (left); Chief Medical Director, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Professor Micheal Ibadin; and Regional Bank Head, Midwest, UBA, Mrs. Joan Abolo, during the commissioning of a Kindergarten Playroom Centre donated by the bank and Moneygram International to the Children’s ward of UBTH, in Benin...recently

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

tHE GUArDiAN, tuesday, February 26, 2013

iGrLt gets new helmsmen HE institute for t Government research Leadership & technology (iGrLt) has announced the appointment of Professor ogwo Jay Umeh as the Deputy chairman of the Advisory Board and Dr. John Ndanusa Akanya as the Deputy chairman-incouncil. Professor Umeh is the Director, institute for Government research & training, East Bay, california, United States of America. He teaches research methods, quantitative analysis, programme evaluation, comparative policy development, information management, organization theory and public policy at the california State University, USA. His current research interests are comparative and development management, democratic governance, information technology management and organization management. He has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the texas tech University, United States of America and is a member of the American Society for Public Administration. He is the faculty coordinator, US Department of State, Bureau of Educational & cultural Affairs and Professor in the Department of Public Affairs and Administration, california State University, East Bay, california, United States of America. Besides, Professor Umeh according to a statement from the institute also coordinates the training programmes of the institute for

Akanya Government research & Leadership technology in the United States of America. Professor John Ndanusa Akanya ooN was the immediate past Director-General of

Professor Ogwo Umeh the Standards organisation of Nigeria (SoN) and member of the Advisory Board of the institute. He developed, constructed and installed the engineering food test labora-

tories and the metrology, quality assurance systems, certification and training scheme for iSo 900/14000 series of Standards in Nigeria. While at SoN, he introduced

offshore and local conformity assessment programmes known as SoNcAP and MANcAP to arrest influx of substandards products from other countries and inaugurated the National committee on international Electro technical commission and mirror committee, international organisation of Standardisation. He has Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria and holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom and a Fellow of the institute for Government research & Leadership technology. He was an Associate Professor of chemistry at the Federal University of technology, Minna, Nigeria. Professor Akanya also coordinates quality control and standardization and lectures total quality management courses in the institute for Government research & Leadership technology.

owolabi bags fellow, distinguished merit award By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi HE Managing Director, t Skyway Aviation Handling company Limited (SAHcoL), oluropo owolabi has been honoured with “Fellow”, and “Distinguished Merit Award in transport” by the institute of transport Administration, Nigeria (iotA). the award was given at the Airport Hotels, ikeja, Lagos, recently by iotA, in recognition of his immense contribution to the growth and development of the transport

industry in Nigeria over the years. the institute was established in July 1981 as an autonomous transport professional body, dedicated to broadening and improving the knowledge, skills and experiences of its members in the practice of efficient transport management on an intermodal basis, covering air, road, sea, rail and pipeline/petroleum. the SAHcoL boss, in his chosen field has acquired knowledge and experience that span through states, nations

and continents. He has excelled in his chosen field of endeavor and has contributed immensely to the growth and development of the Aviation Sector. owolabi, who seats at the helm of affairs of the Skyway Aviation Handling company Limited, has in the past received honours and awards for his sheer resilience, astute business acumen, innovative skills, corporate excellence and innovative approach to corporate turnaround. He has also brought his expe-

rience to bear in the day to day performance of the duties of SAHcoL, which includes Passenger Handling, ramp Handling, cargo Handling/Warehousing, Aviation Security, Baggage reconciliation, crew Bus and Executive Lounge Services, and other related Ground Handling Services; ensuring that Ground Handling Services to all clientele is executed in an efficient, speedy and safe manner, while also ensuring that the right tools are deployed.

Manifold Group appoints igwe as general manager

Igwe ictor igwe has joined V Manifold as the General Manager – Business Development to oversee all activities of Sales and Marketing. Victor joins the Manifold team from Hewlett Packard (HP) where he was the Enterprise Account Manager image and Printing Group. During his period in HP he led the HP iPG business in the West African region to achieve Sales and Marketing targets with high customer satisfaction. igwe, a graduate of Government and Public Administration from the Abia State University, also a master’s degree in information technology from the University of Lagos. He would be responsible for the sales team leadership, driving the revenue, expanding the Manifold brand and gaining higher visibility as an it Services and Solutions company of choice across verticals.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

ILO seeks social policies to aid global economic recovery From Collins Olayinka, Abuja HE International Labour Organization (ILO) has called for the adoption of social policies to aid the current efforts at rescuing the receding global economy. The Director-General of the international Labour watch body, Guy Ryder, said the world needs what he termed “smart social policies” to tackle the global economic recovery which, he claimed, hangs in the balance. “Tipping that balance towards sustainable growth and development means tackling social injustice,” he said, in a statement to mark World Day for Social Justice. According to Ryder, “the world of work is now at the centre of discontent and must be an integral part in shaping a different, more just, global order for the future.” Ryder underlined his argument by referring to the dismal global situation the world of work is facing 200 million unemployed, a further 870 million working poor, some 74 million unemployed youth, persisting child and forced labour and more than half of the world population having no social security at all. “With full employment, the interdependent world economy would perform much better. Yet, as things stand, there is a serious danger of resorting to “beggar-thy-neighbour” policies such as trade protection and competitive currency devaluation, as well as wage cuts and retrenchment,” he submit-

ted. These trends “could leave everybody worse off, with economies weakening, deficits widening and social inequalities deepening,” the ILO boss stressed. The ILO Director-General did, however, highlight some encouraging signs. “Some of the world’s most unequal societies are stepping up to the challenge of implementing smart social policies

that are also an investment in a people-centred recovery,” he added. He mentioned developing countries in Asia and Latin America investing in stronger social protection floors and minimum wage systems. Such policies would help to narrow social gaps and stop the world economy from slipping into a double-dip recession.

NULGE canvasses autonomy, faults alleged influence of NGF From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan government workers Lof OCAL in Oyo state under the aegis the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), recently, marched round the metropolis on a peaceful demonstration to demand for full autonomy for local councils in the country. Led by its National President, Ibrahim Abdulkadri, the rally, which took off at the secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) gate passed through Total Garden and berthed at the secretariat complex amidst many solidarity and anti-government songs. AbdulKadir who spoke with reporters on their plight lamented alleged overbearing influence of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) on council administration in the country, pointing out that “what we have on the ground now is a carricature system of

council administration.” He accused the governors of blocking local governments autonomy for their selfish reasons against the letters of the 1999 constitution. The NULGE boss stated that it is illegal to have caretaker committees in the councils describing the action as an infringement on the rights of the councils. He said, “the governors’ platfrom; the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) is an unlawful and illegal group, an abberation which has been condoned for a long time. It is a group of selfish and self-centered group of politicians who have been priding itself as a pressure group. It is abnormal. It is a misuse of words. When they call themselves pressure groups; whom are they pressurising. They are managers of men and resources and yet they claimed to be pressure groups”.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Labour Unions blame slow development on low funding of research Institutions From Collins Olayinka, Abuja EVELOPMENT will continuD ally be on the slow pace until the Federal Government stop paying lip service to research efforts, the Joint Research and Allied Institutions Sector Union (JORAISU), has said. The Joint negotiation union, which is populated by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) and Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI), said in Abuja at the weekend that Nigerians should hold government accountable for the ongoing strike action in the research institutions in the country. The spokesperson of the group, Peters Adeyemi, berat-

TUC screens council autonomy, PIB others at NEC meeting From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City HE National Executive T Council (NEC) of Trade Union Congress (TUC), at its just concluded meeting in Benin City, Edo State capital insisted that ensuring local government autonomy in the country’s constitution was not negotiable just as it urged the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill with critical look on how sections of the bill would be beneficial to the country’s sociopolitical and economic life. Besides, It frowned at the suspension of debate of the review of the 1999 constitution by the National Assembly. On the PIB, the trade frowned at the “excessive powers accorded the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the President” in the bill and demanded the “reduction and/or removal of the discretionary and excessive powers in the overall interest of the country and the petroleum industry.” A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the TUC President and Secretary general, Peter Esele and Musa Lawal also condemned the federal government’s plans to build a N4 billion Naira proposed First Lady Mission Home saying it was a “mind boggling fiscal misapplication of pubic fund by government.” On the National Health Bill, the TUC urged the National Assembly “to ensure that professional associations and registered trade unions in the health sector are included in the relevant organs and technical committees of the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure robust policy formulation and ensure industrial harmony in the sector.”

ed government for lack of regard and respect for workers in the research institution as shown in its selective implementation of new salary scales in educational institutions. Adeyemi who is also the General Secretary of NASU, explained that the Federal Government, against the known spirit of collective bargaining, decided to foist the commencement of the

Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure (CONRAISS) from 1st July 2010 as against the 1st July 2009 effective date for workers in Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. His words: “Contrary to the norms of and the spirit of negotiation, the Federal Government foisted on the unions an effective date of 1st July, 2010 for the new salary

scale known as CONRAISS as against 1st July 2009 which was the effective approved for our counterparts in the Universities and even Colleges of Agriculture under the Research institutions.” Going down memory lane on how the refusal of government to implement agreement reached with unions in education sector had led to shutdown of institutions for

many months running, Adeyemi noted that the latest strike action may snowball into the similar terrain. “It is a known fact that the Federal Government has disdain for education sector and this is evident in the way successive governments have treated education and all it stands for. Else, how one explain this dichotomy in the implementation date for

salaries by workers in the same sector?” he asked rhetorically. Adeyemi stressed that not even a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Pius Anyim Pius, issuing a 14-day ultimatum its intention to go on full-scale strike action was strong enough to spur any action towards the resolution of the pay disagreement.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26 2013

BUSINESS 63

Bernanke’s stimulus spurring U.S. employment in housing EDERAL Reserve Chairman Fthing Ben S. Bernanke has someto tout before Congress in hearings this week: job growth in the auto and housing industries. Consumers rely on loans to buy cars and homes, so these segments of the economy are among the most responsive to Bernanke’s strategy of holding interest rates low and pressing on with bond purchases of $85 billion a month. “The rate-sensitive sectors, most notably housing and autos, are kicking into a higher gear,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “This reflects the Fed’s aggressive monetary policy and resulting rock-bottom interest rates,” along with “working off the excesses of the boom and bubble.” Bernanke and his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee have pledged to continue buying bonds until the labor market improves “substantially.” Climbing employment in construction and vehicle manufacturing bolsters the case that asset purchases can help spur the improvement. Zandi predicts total job growth this year of “close to two million,” about the same as last year. “But I expect closer to three million more jobs in 2014 and the same in 2015.” Much of the increase will come from “more housing construction, consumer spending driven in part by rising house prices and more auto production.” Southeast Mortgage of Georgia Inc., headquartered in Lawrenceville, Georgia, plans to add as many as 50 full-time employees this year to its existing work force of 125 people to handle a growing volume of business, said Cal Haupt, president and chief executive officer. Haupt, 49, sees loans originated or refinanced by his company climbing 30 percent this year from $425 million last year. “I don’t fight the Fed,” Haupt

said. “I will sit in their wake and enjoy the rise.” The average fixed rate on a 30year mortgage loan was 3.56 per cent as of Feb. 21, after falling as low as 3.31 per cent Nov. 22, according to data from McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac. Bernanke has kept the target for the federal funds rate near zero since December 2008. The FOMC said two months ago, and repeated in January, that an “exceptionally low range” will be appropriate as long as inflation isn’t forecast to rise above 2.5 per cent and unemployment remains above 6.5 per cent. Unemployment was 7.9 per cent in January, and the Fed’s preferred price measure, issued by the Commerce Department and tied to consumer spending, rose 1.3 per cent for the 12 months through December. Shares of Ford Motor Co. (F) and auto retailer Penske Automotive Group Inc. (PAG) will benefit from the Fed’s stimulus, along with housingrelated stocks Lowe’s Cos Inc. (LOW), Masco Corp. (MAS) and NVR Inc. (NVR) said Charles Lieberman, chief investment officer at Advisors Capital Management LLC in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. Ford has risen 21 per cent since the Fed announced its newest round of bond purchases on Sept. 13. Lowe’s is up 30 percent and Masco has increased 23 per cent. “We are totally convinced that housing is still in the early stage of a recovery that will carry starts to the 1.7- to-1.9 million-unit range at some point a couple of years out, with very strong effects on earnings for these companies,” said Lieberman, former head of monetary analysis at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “More recovery is coming” in autos too, he added. Other beneficiaries of low mortgage rates are “chemical companies that manufacture stuff for the housing market”

including Axiall Corp. (AXLL) and Huntsman Corp. (HUN), Lieberman said. Bernanke’s two-day testimony, known as HumphreyHawkins for the legislation that established the semiannual appearances, begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Senate and continues Feb. 27 in the House. While lawmakers criticized Bernanke during past outings — questioning the effectiveness of his strategy and saying it risked stoking inflation — the 59-year-old Fed chairman’s FOMC colleagues see his policies gaining traction. “Most participants” at the central bank’s Jan. 29-30 meeting said the asset purchases have helped “stimulate economic activity, and many pointed, in particular, to the support that low longer-term interest rates had provided to housing or consumer-durable purchases,” according to the minutes. Automakers sold vehicles at annual pace of 15.23 million in

January, up 9.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to data from Ward’s Automotive Group. Sales per dealership probably will climb to a record 839 this year from last year’s record 812, as car makers contain the number of their outlets and boost deliveries for a fourth straight year, according to an estimate last week by Urban Science, a Detroit-based consulting company. Housing also is showing solid gains, with prices rising 5.52 per cent in the 12 months ended November after hitting a nine-year low in January 2012, according to the Case Shiller 20- city index. Work began in January on an annualized 613,000 singlefamily houses, and permits for future single and multifamily projects climbed to a 925,000 annual rate, based on Commerce Department data. Both were the highest since 2008. Auto-employment gains

already are evident in data from the Department of Labor, which show the number of people in motor- vehicle and parts manufacturing rising to 789,000 in January from 749,000 a year earlier. Employment at auto dealers increased to 1.11 million from 1.08 million. Housing Jobs More new jobs in housing probably will follow, said Millan Mulraine, director of U.S. research and strategy at TD Securities in New York. He estimates payrolls in construction will climb by about 20,000 a month in 2013, more than double the pace of last year. “We see it being one of the biggest drivers,” said Mulraine, who predicts total payroll growth will average 150,000 in the first half of the year and 200,000 in the second half. “You’ll also see appliance purchases taking place as people start decorating their new homes.” Employers added an average 181,000 employees a

Bernanke month in 2012. Home Depot Inc. (HD) said Feb. 6 it plans to hire more than 80,000 temporary workers ahead of its busiest season, about 14 per cent more than a year ago, as the housing rebound spurs spending on

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February26, 2013

Japan trade deficit hits record as yen weakens APAN’S monthly trade JJanuary deficit hit a record in after its recent aggressive monetary policy stance weakened its currency sharply. Exports rose in January, the first jump in eight months, as its goods became more affordable to foreign buyers. However, a weak currency also pushed up its import bill resulting in a monthly trade deficit of 1.6 trillion yen ($17.1 billion; £11.1 billion), a 10 per cent jump from a year ago. Japan’s deficit has also been impacted by an increase in fuel imports. The world’s third-largest economy has seen a rise in fuel imports, as most of Japan’s nuclear reactors continue to remain closed. Japan’s imports rose 7.3 per cent in January, from a year earlier. One of the biggest jumps was in the import of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which surged more than 28 per cent. Meanwhile, exports rose 6.4 per cent, driven up mainly by shipments of manufactured goods, the customs and tariff bureau said. Japan’s exports, one of the key drivers of its economic growth, have been hurt by a variety of factors. Demand from the eurozone, one of Japan’s biggest markets, has been hurt by the region’s ongoing debt crisis. A territorial dispute with China has hit sales of Japanese goods to the country, Japan’s biggest trading partner, over the past few months. However, the latest data indicated that things may be starting to change.

International Economy 67

68 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

BP, Gulf states set for trial over oil spill P is set to begin a civil trial B over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill that became the US’s worst environmental disaster.

The UK oil giant will be pitted against the US states that were affected by the spill and the Department of Justice. It could face a fine of up to

$17.6bn - the biggest civil fine in history. It comes after BP agreed in November to pay $4.5bn (£2.9bn) to settle criminal charges relating to the spill.

The trial is to be held in New Orleans. The trial will determine the causes of the spill, and assign responsibility to the parties involved, including BP, contractor Halliburton, rig operator Transocean, and Cameron, which manufactured the blowout preventer meant to stop oil leaks. Later, it will determine how much oil was actually leaked, which will lead to the calculation of how much BP owes in civil fines. BP faces civil fines of between $4.5bn and $17.6bn. The non-jury trial will unfold in two phases. The first, beginning on Monday, will focus on the cause of the 20 April 2010 explosion that claimed the lives of 11 men and released an estimated 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf over 84 days. “BP can hire all the smiling faces they can find for their commercials, but in court it’s a game-changer,” Garret Graves, the chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of the state of Louisiana, told the BBC. “First of all, they will have to start telling the truth,” he said. “Second, let’s just say that’s not going to go over so well for BP. Even BP’s money can’t buy revisionist history.”

Federal District Court Judge Carl Barbier will then determine whether BP’s actions on the oil rig were simply negligent or grossly negligent, which would impose significantly bigger fines on the company. BP chief executive Bob Dudley has said he firmly believes the company was not grossly negligent. But the risks are so great for BP that it may try to reach an eleventh-hour settlement before the trial begins, analysts said. “If they are found grossly negligent it will set the tone on the level of fines BP will have to pay, and the financial consequences will be huge,” said Nick McGregor, an oil analyst at Redmayne Bentley stockbrokers. “So while BP’s posturing in public is robust, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are aggressively trying to reach for a settlement behind the scenes,” he added. Robert Percival, an environmental law professor at the University of Maryland, said: “The risk for both sides is so great - for BP it’s their name, reputation and future contracts with the US government. For the US government it’s all the resources they’re spending on the trial - particularly if BP is not found

grossly negligent.” The second part of the trial, set to begin in early autumn, will attempt to determine how much oil was leaked, which would then determine the size of the federal fine. Under the Clean Water Act, the fines are calculated as $1,100 for every barrel of oil spilt through ordinary negligence to as much as $4,300 a barrel through gross negligence. The Department of Justice intends to demonstrate BP was grossly negligent, which puts the maximum penalty at about $17.6bn. Last Wednesday, BP won a ruling that 810,000 barrels of oil captured would not be counted in Monday’s civil case, which reduced the potential fine under the Clean Water Act by $3.4bn. The minimum fine is now about $4.5bn - if BP is charged of simple negligence. However, on top of that, the Gulf states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida are demanding an additional $34bn in damages under the Oil Pollution Act, citing uncertainty over the long-term effects of the spill on their coastline as well as economic losses and property damage.

Sinopec to buy Chesapeake Energy assets for $1.02 bn HINA Petrochemical Corp., C the nation’s second-largest energy company, will pay $1.02 billion cash to buy 50 percent of Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK)’s Mississippi Lime assets, seeking to benefit from surging U.S. crude output. The assets in Oklahoma produced 46,000 barrels of oil a

day at the end of 2012, according to an e-mailed statement released today by Beijingbased unit Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corp. About 93 percent of the payment will be due on closing expected next quarter, Chesapeake, based in Oklahoma City, said today in a

separate statement. Chinese companies may pursue more U.S. energy acquisitions after Cnooc (883) Ltd., a unit of China’s largest offshore oil producer, this month won approval from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment to buy Nexen Inc. (NXY) for $15.1 billion. Chinese companies are seeking energy assets globally to lock in supplies for the world’s fastest growing major economy and learn how to access technology to retrieve fuel trapped in rocks that has driven U.S. oil production to the highest in almost 21 years. “While Chesapeake has many quality assets, Chinese oil companies care more about their drilling and shalefracking technology,” Laban Yu, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Jefferies Group Inc., said in a telephone interview. “The reason Chinese oil companies have gone after Chesapeake in the past year was also because they wanted to apply the technology to tap the world’s No.1 shale gas reserves in China.” Cnooc has bought $1.65 billion of assets from Chesapeake since 2010. Rising Production Chesapeake reported Feb. 21 that Mississippian production had tripled in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. Net proved reserves were about 140 million barrels of oil equivalent as of Dec. 31, the company said today. Sinopec’s purchase reflects 425,000 net acres, according to Chesapeake. “Sinopec is paying a reasonable rate for oil and gas production, $65,000 a flowing barrel for oil and $5,000 a flowing thousand cubic feet for gas,” Scott Hanold, a Minneapolis-based analyst for RBC Capital Markets LLC, said today in an interview.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY 69

European companies stockpile $475 billion UROPEAN companies are E hoarding more than three times the cash they held a decade ago as the region heads for a second year of recession, putting them at risk of losing out to U.S. rivals boosting acquisitions and investment. Cash holdings at the 265 European companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, excluding banks and insurers, to have reported 2012 results totalled $475 billion at the end of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with $136 billion in 2002 and is 14 percent more than in 2011. Siemens AG (SIE), Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) and Total SA (FP) are among nine companies that each held more than $10 billion. “Many European companies are taking a conservative view with respect to their capital structure and keeping meaningful cash positions,” said Francois-Xavier de Mallmann, head of European investment

Japan markets boosted by Central Bank governor’s nominee APANESE shares have risen Jreports and the yen weakened on that Haruhiko Kuroda is likely to be nominated as the next Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor. Kuroda, currently the President of the Asian Development Bank, is seen as a supporter of monetary policy easing as means to spur growth. The Nikkei 225 index rose 2.4 per cent, while the yen fell to a 33-month low. Analysts said Kuroda’s nomination is likely to see the BOJ support the government’s aggressive policy stance. Japan’s new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called upon the central bank to ease its policies and boost stimulus measures to help revive a sluggish Japanese economy. “If the report is right, it means Abe has won,” said Kyoya Okazawa, head of global equities and commodity derivatives at BNP Paribas in Tokyo. “There will no longer be any resistance or opposition to Abenomics,” Mr Okazawa added. Among the various measures that have been proposed by Abe, has been the call for Japan’s central bank to take measures to stoke inflation in the country. Japan has been fighting deflation, or falling prices, for best part of the last decade. The issue has been a big hurdle in its attempts to boost domestic demand as consumers tend to put off purchases in hope of getting a better and cheaper deal later on. Under pressure from the government, the Japanese central bank doubled its inflation target to two per cent last month. During his election campaign Abe had also hinted that the central bank should print “unlimited yen” to help fight deflation. The idea being that with more money sloshing about the system, everyone should more have cash in their pockets and be happier to spend. These aggressive stands have had a big impact on the Japanese markets. The yen has weakened nearly 15 per cent against the US dollar since November last year.

banking services at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in London. “They find it challenging to predict the combined impact of higher unemployment, higher taxes and lower public spending on consumer demand and on their top line.” The euro area will shrink for two straight years for the first time since the common currency was introduced, the European Commission predicted on Feb. 22, scrapping an earlier growth forecast. Western European companies have announced $50 billion of acquisitions so far this year, almost half the total of the year-ago period, while purchases by U.S. companies almost doubled to $184 billion, Bloomberg data show. Daimler AG (DAI), whose cash and cash equivalents rose by 15 percent last year to 11 billion euros ($15 billion) at the end of December, encapsulated the mood in European boardrooms.

While the company will roll out 13 new models with no predecessor in the next eight years, the maker of Mercedes-Benz vehicles doesn’t plan any “major” acquisitions, according to Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber. “The liquidity is a sedative,” Uebber said Feb. 7. “We want to be prepared for uncertain times.” To preserve cash, European companies are also limiting payouts to shareholders. The dividend yield of companies in the Stoxx Europe 600, excluding financials, will probably stagnate at 3.45 percent this year, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) on Feb. 19 said it plans to suspend its dividend for the first time since 2010 to save cash as the German airline rejuvenates the fleet and pushes ahead with its most ambitious cost-savings program to date. Nokia Oyj last month said it will omit a divi-

dend for the first time in at least 143 years. Other firms that cancelled or reduced dividends in recent months include phone companies Telecom Italia SpA, Royal KPN NV and Telefonica SA (TEF) as well as car companies PSA Peugeot Citroen and Faurecia. “Companies are wary,” said Nils Ernst, a Frankfurt-based fund manager at DWS Investments, which oversees $335 billion in assets. “If you raise the dividend you have to be certain that in the next five to 10 years you don’t have to cut it.” Switzerland’s Nestle SA (NESN), the world’s largest food company, plans to maintain capital expenditure in 2013 at the same level as in 2012, Chief Financial Officer Wan Ling Martello said this month. The operating cash flow of the maker of Moevenpick ice cream, which last year agreed to buy Pfizer Inc.’s infant- nutrition business for $11.9 billion to

expand in markets such as China, surged 55 per cent in 2012 to 15.8 billion Swiss francs ($17 billion). With many of Europe’s biggest companies reluctant to spend their cash on deals this year, U.S. companies may choose to pounce instead. John Malone’s Liberty Global Inc. (LBTYA), based in Englewood, Colorado, took advantage of low financing costs and this month agreed to buy U.K. cable-TV provider Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) for $16 billion. “There are a lot of acquisition targets out there,” said Matthias Born, a Frankfurtbased fund manager at Allianz Global Investors in Frankfurt, which manages about 300 billion euros. “Consumer, chemicals and parts of industrials are areas where there should be attractive targets in Europe.” Deutsche Bank AG analysts Fadi Chamsy and Sascha Levitt in a Feb. 14 note identified Dutch cable company Ziggo NV

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel (ZIGGO), British airport-security scanner company Smiths Group Plc, German fragrance maker Symrise AG, French carparts manufacturer Faurecia, Belgian retailer Delhaize Group SA, Switzerland’s Nobel Biocare Holding AG (NOBN) and U.K. fashion brand Burberry Group Plc (BRBY) as potential acquisition targets.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

70 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

UK argues downgrade shows need for austerity HE British government T attempted yesterday to cast as good a light as possible on the loss of the country’s cherished triple-A credit rating, arguing it showed the need to press ahead with austerity measures to lower debt. Treasury chief George Osborne had long boasted that the triple AAA rating validated his policies of spending cuts and tax hikes, but began backing off that argument as a downgrade became increasingly likely. On Friday, Moody’s pulled the trigger, cutting Britain’s rating to AA1. It said sluggish economic growth would hinder the government’s ability to control rising debt levels and deal with new financial shocks. Osborne said the downgrade could not be blamed on his government’s policies and underscored the need to stay the course. “Ultimately that is the choice

for Britain: we can either abandon our efforts to deal with our debt problems and make a difficult situation very much worse, or we can redouble our efforts to overcome our debts,” he told lawmakers in the House of Commons. pound dropped to $1.5069 against the dollar — its lowest level since July 2010 — in early trading before recovering to $1.5125. Against the euro, it hovered around 18-month lows, with one euro worth 0.8711 pound. Because it was the first such downgrade for Britain, which unlike the U.S. or France had managed to hold onto its top rating during the global financial crisis, the knee-jerk market reaction was negative. But experts said the rating cut was somewhat expected. “It is hardly a bolt from the blue,” said Jonathan Loynes, the chief European economics at Capital Economics.

“Moody’s had the U.K. on negative watch since February 2012.” Two other ratings agencies— Fitch and Standard & Poor’s — have Britain on so-called negative outlook, signaling they could also downgrade it. Government finances have struggled to recover as the economy has flat-lined in recent years. Public sector borrowing in December, for example, was higher than expected as government spending rose faster than income. The economy is close to falling into recession for a third time since the global financial crisis erupted. Osborne, who abandoned his debt reduction target in a budget report in the fall, faced harsh comments in the House of Commons on Monday, with members of the opposition Labour party shouting “resign!” He said the Moody’s message was that the U.K.’s rating could be downgraded fur-

ther if there was a reduced commitment to fiscal consolidation. “We will go on delivering on the economic plan that has brought the deficit down by a quarter,” he told lawmakers at a special session. A downgrade theoretically means there is a greater risk that Britain may default on its debt. That could increase the cost for Britain to sell bonds and finance its debt, worsening its budget problems. But there are times it doesn’t turn out that way. When S&P downgraded the United States, it expressed concern that the America’s political system would fail to deliver on plans to reduce the federal government’s debt. But despite the warnings, investors still bought U.S. bonds, because economic turmoil in Europe and elsewhere made America’s debt appear safer. British government bonds were in fact stable on

Monday, with the 10-year interest rate edging down 0.03 of a percentage point to 2.08 percent. That suggests investors remain confident the country will be able to manage its debt in the

longer-term. Britain’s total public sector net debt was 1.1 trillion pounds in December, or about 70 percent of annual GDP.

Royalty Pharma offers to acquire Elan for $6.5 bn P Management LLC, an R investor in royalty streams from pharmaceuticals, offered to buy Elan Corp. (ELN) for about $6.5 billion, threatening the Irish drugmaker’s plan to embark on its own acquisitions. A sale of Elan would allow shareholders to avoid the substantial risks of the company’s plan to make purchases with the $3.25 billion it will receive from selling its stake in the Tysabri multiple-sclerosis drug to Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB), the New York-based firm, known as Royalty Pharma, said in a statement today. The informal offer of $11 per American depositary receipt is 3.8 percent above the closing price Feb. 22, and represents “the full value of Elan today,” RP said. Kelly Martin, chief executive officer of Elan Corp., said in an interview this month that the first investment could happen soon after the Biogen deal closes. A technician monitors capsules pouring into a blister packaging machine at the Elan Corp. plant in Athlone, Westmeath.

There are “substantial” risks to Elan’s plan to make acquisitions with the $3.25 billion it will receive from selling its stake in the Tysabri multiple-sclerosis medicine to Biogen Idec Inc., RP said in a statement today. There are “substantial” risks to Elan’s plan to make acquisitions with the $3.25 billion it will receive from selling its stake in the Tysabri multiple-sclerosis medicine to Biogen Idec Inc., RP said in a statement today. Source: Biogen Inc. via Bloomberg. The offer is a challenge to Dublin-based Elan’s strategy of reinvesting the proceeds from the Tysabri divestiture, which will leave the company with virtually no operations. Chief Executive Officer Kelly Martin’s plan to buy drugs that are on the market. late-stage experimental products or some earlystage clinical research projects drew skepticism from investors when announced Feb. 6. The company said Feb. 22 it also would buy back $1 billion of stock.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY 79

Sterling under pressure after Moody’s cuts UK’s AAA rating HE pound came under T pressure on Monday as currency traders reacted to the UK’s loss of its top AAA credit rating. Having fallen to a two-and-ahalf year low against the dollar and a 16-month low against the euro, sterling ended the day little changed. Longer-term, analysts expect the fall in value of the pound to continue. It has lost about seven per cent of its value against the dollar and euro this year. On Friday, ratings agency Moody’s cut the UK’s credit rating. The value of sterling has been edging down for several weeks following concerns about the worsening outlook for the UK economy and suggestions that policymakers would be comfortable with a weaker pound. During early trading on Monday, sterling dropped as low as $1.5069 against the dollar, before recovering to $1.514. Against the euro, the pound hovered around 16month lows with the pound worth 1.148 euros. Data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission shows that speculators continue to short sell in the hope they can make money from further falls in the currency’s value. Moody’s downgrade from AAA to AA1 included a warning that growth would “remain sluggish” over the next few years. The agency said the government’s debt reduction programme faced significant “challenges”. The two other main rating’s agencies, S&P and Fitch, warned last year that their own AAA rating might be downgraded if the UK’s economy did not improve. Speaking in response to an urgent question in the House of Commons, Chancellor George Osborne said the government had to continue with its austerity plans or risk further downgrades. “Ultimately that is the choice for Britain: we can either abandon our efforts to deal with our debt problems and make a difficult situation very much worse, or we can redouble our efforts to overcome our debts

United Kingdom PM, David Cameroon

In reply, shadow chancellor Ed Balls said it was time for a new economic approach. “The chancellor needs to get out of his denial and get a new plan on growth, the jobs and the deficit that would actually work,” he said. “Or else the prime minister would need to get a new chancellor.” Ed Balls: “Downgraded chancellor has failed his own economic tests” Jim Rogers, a long-time investment partner with George Soros, told the BBC that he expected sterling “to continue to go down further in real terms”. He said he was “not optimistic” about the UK economy, but added that several economies, including Japan and the US, were also in “serious trouble”. On Sunday, Business Secretary Vince Cable dismissed the downgrade as “largely symbolic”. Mr Cable likened credit ratings agencies to “tipsters” and part of the “background noise we have to take into account”, suggesting they had a “pretty bad record” on economic and corporate forecasting. He said the US and France had both survived similar cuts to their ratings in the past. “In terms of the real economy, there is no reason why the downgrade should have any impact... these things do not necessarily affect the real economy but they do reflect the fact that we are going through a very difficult time,” he said. A weaker pound, while making exports cheaper, is also likely to push up the cost of imports and put upward pressure on inflation. Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Reeves, said if the downgrading affected the value of the pound people could really start to suffer. She told the BBC on Monday: “I think the prospect of the pound being weaker is actually very bad news for the economic recovery, and very bad news for families who are already struggling with rising gas and electricity prices, rising petrol prices, rising trans-

port prices, and for pensioners as well who’ve seen those essentials go up it’s really, really tough for them right now.” The downgrade by Moody’s also sparked comment on whether financial markets

should give credence to ratings agencies. Dr Tim Morgan, global head of research, at Tullett Prebon, said in a blog: “Tempting though it is, one should not attach too much importance to the decision by Moody’s to strip the UK of

its AAA credit rating. For a start, credit rating agencies’ own credibility hasn’t recovered - perhaps it never will from their role in the subprime fiasco. “More to the point, this [downgrade] doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already

know - Britain is a debtjunkie, seemingly incapable of living within its means.” Moody’s move failed to dent the FTSE 100’s upward trend this year, with the index ending the day higher, up 0.3% at 6355.37 points.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

NigeriaCapitalMarket NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at Monday PRICE LIST OF SYMBOLS TRADED FOR 25/2/2012

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

CAPITAL MARKET

NSE Daily Summary (Equities) as at 25/2/2012

PRICE GAINERS

LOSERS

NSE’s market capitalisation slides marginally by N27bn By Helen Oji RANSACTIONS on the Nigerian Stock Exchange reopened on a downturn yesterday, following price losses suffered by major highly capitalised companies, as market capitalization slide marginally by N27 billion. Yesterday, the NSE All-Share Index recorded a marginal decline of 84 points or 0.2per cent at the end of today’s trading session to close at 33,811.07 points, compared with the appreciation of 1.1per cent recorded last Friday, while market capitalization dropped by N27 billion from N10,846 trillion to N10,819 trillion. Nigerian Breweries led others on the losers chart with 480 kobo to close at N161.20 per share, followed by Presco with 173 kobo to close at N21.85 per share. Cadbury shed 155kobo to close at N35.50 per share. Okomuoil lost 136 kobo to close at N51.00 per share. Other losers of yesterday’s transactions include; West African Portland Company, Ashakacement, Cement

Company of Northern Nigeria shedding 110kobo, 80kobo and 55 kobo to close at N65.00,N22.00 and N10.57 per share. Berger Paints dropped 51 kobo to close at N9.71 per share while Oando lost 39 kobo to close at N13.61 per share. Guaranty Trust Bank also shed 27 kobo to close at N24.74 per share

Guinness topped the gainers table with an appreciation of 1390kobo to close at N290.00 per share. It was closely followed by Nestle with a gain of 1000kobo to close at N900.00. Other top gainers for the day include; Zenith Bank, CAP, Nigeria Aviation Handling Company, adding 57 kobo, 25kobo and 22 kobo to close at N21.08,N36.30 and N8.00 per share.

Vitafoam gained 15 kobo to close at N3.66 per share. Honeywell flourmills added 14 kobo to close at N2.95 per share. May&Baker gained 11 kobo to close at N2.39 per share. Portland Paints and Cutix also added 10 kobo and nine kobo to close at N5.35 and N1.90 per share. The volume of shares traded dropped to 361.92m valued at

N4.029bn in 5,674 deals compared to 467.36m shares, worth N5.381bn exchanged in 5,447 deals last Friday. The volume and value in percentage terms dropped by 22.56per cent and 25.13per cent respectively. The banking sub-sector maintained its dominance in volume terms 141 million shares worth N1.3 billion followed by the insurance sub-

sector with 48 million units worth N33 million. The conglomerates ranked third with 20 million shares worth N46 million in 203 deals. The banking sub-sector was boosted by activities on the shares Access bank and United Bank for Africa which traded 41 million shares and 33 million units worth N486 million and N270 million.

Exchange urges listed firms to explore primary market potential By Helen Oji HE Nigerian Stock T Exchange has urged listed companies to leverage on the progress made so far in the primary market segment to raise bond from the market to finance long term projects. The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Oscar Onyema, during a facility tour to Omatek Ventures Plc explained that instead of companies borrowing at a double digit interest rate, firms should approach the market for bond issue in

…Lauds Omatek on completion of new factory order to enhance profit and pay better returns to shareholders. Onyema, while commending Omatek for the successful completion of its factory added that approaching the market is less cumbersome and expensive. “I congratulate the board and management Omatek for completing the factory inspite of the financial challenges faced during the execution of the project. It takes

high level of resilence and vision for one to succeed and being one of our proud stocks on the NSE, we are happy to be part of it. “We are very encouraged because we have a lot of companies that has noting doing in their factory. We encourage corporates to do bonds, in addition to equities for long term capital so that they are not raising capital at double digit so that it would be less expensive.”

The President, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Sir Sunny Nwosu urged government to give full support to manufacturing industries to enable them create wealth and job opportunities. Besides, Nwosu who bemoaned Nigeria’s low patronage for locally made goods also advised government to initiate policies that would support local contents to enhance industrial growth. “The policies of the Federal government are always som-

ersaulting. It cannot help the country. How do you want to tackle the problem of unemployment? We should give full support to manufacturers. If government can change the attitude of importing computers, we would be better. Omatek have not being able to receive full support for embarking on this project and this would affect the bottomlinde and shareholders return. We need a level playing ground for indigenous goods without any further competition” he said.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

GlobalStocks

Italy dominates ECB government bond holdings

ease the debt crisis by reducing government borrowing costs. The ECB replaced it with a nearly half of its holdings similar, yet bolder, scheme under a bond-buying plan. last September. Italian bonds with a book value of 99bn euros (£86bn; Spanish bonds, with a face value of 43.7bn euros, make $131bn) account for the up the second biggest holdbiggest holding under the now ended Securities Market ing, said a statement. The central bank also holds Programme. The plan, which lasted from Greek bonds with a book value of 30.8bn euros, 2010-2012, was intended to HE European Central Bank T has revealed that Italian government bonds make up

Portuguese bonds worth 21.6bn euros, and Irish bonds 13.6bn euros. This is the first time the ECB has released previously confidential figures as part of efforts to increase transparency.

The ECB stopped the bondbuying scheme last year, replacing it with another similar programme - the Outright Monetary Transaction (OMT) - as part of a pledge by ECB President Mario Draghi to do “whatever

it takes” to prevent the break-up of the 17-member euro area. The OMT, unlike its predecessor, has no size limit and will only buy debt of shortterm maturity, three years or less.

It is to be carried out in conjunction with the European Financial Stability Facility or European Stability Mechanism programmes and countries need to request a bailout before they are triggered.

Lafite leads $1.5m auction on Bordeaux demand $1.5 million wine auction in pound against the euro A London this week found encourages people to buy at buyers for 97 percent of its lots, London auctions.” signaling strengthening demand for investment-grade Bordeaux. Older vintages of Bordeaux dominated at Christie’s International on Feb. 21. A top price of 34,500 pounds ($52,622) was paid by a French wine trader for a 12-bottle case of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 1982. The price, slightly in excess of the upper estimate of 30,000 pounds, was marginally more than the 32,200 pounds paid for a case of Lafite ’82 at Sotheby’s (BID) in London last January. The market for trophy clarets has rallied after buying from China declined in early-to-mid 2012. The Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 Index, which tracks trading in the 10 most recent vintages of Bordeaux’s five first-growths, climbed to 316.32 on Feb. 22 after slumping to a two-and-ahalf-year low of 296.77 in November. “Demand is returning from China and there’s a shortage of stock among merchants,” Miles Davis, partner at Wine Asset Managers LLP, said in an interview. “The weakness of the

Christie’s sale of 408 lots raised 960,569 pounds with fees, beating an upper estimate of 904,110 pounds, based on hammer prices. A Hong Kong private buyer paid 25,300 pounds for a case of Chateau Petrus 1989, and another case of Lafite ’82 — with variable bottle levels — raised 23,000 pounds, also to Hong Kong. Both prices were slightly more than their high estimates. Chateau Lafite remains Asia’s favorite Bordeaux label, and five magnums of the highly rated 1947 vintage soared to 20,700 pounds against a price guide of 3,000 pounds to 4,000 pounds. The one high-value disappointment was a presentation case of six bottles of Moet & Chandon’s historic 1911 champagne, featured on the catalog front cover. Ambitiously estimated at 30,000 pounds to 40,000 pounds, these failed to sell. Christie’s total was 10.1 percent higher than the equivalent auction last year, when 293 lots were offered.

U.K. loses top Aaa rating from moody’s as growth weakens RITAIN lost its top credit the clearest possible warning B rating by Moody’s Investors to anyone who thinks we can Service, which cited the conrun away from dealing with tinuing weakness in the nation’s growth outlook and the challenges that presents to the government’s fiscal consolidation program. The rating on the U.K. was lowered one level to Aa1 from Aaa and the outlook on the nation’s debt changed to stable, Moody’s said in a statement today. With the U.K.’s high and rising debt burden, a deterioration in the government’s balance sheet is unlikely to be reversed before 2016, Moody’s said in the statement. The cut will increase political pressure on Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, with the opposition Labour Party calling on him to scale back his fiscal squeeze as the economic recovery struggles to gain traction. Still, investors often ignore such actions, evidenced by the drop in French 10-year bond yields following a downgrade last year and a rally in Treasuries after the U.S. lost its top rating at Standard & Poor’s in 2011. “Tonight we have a stark reminder of the debt problems facing our country — and

those problems,” Osborne said in a statement in London. “Far from weakening our resolve to deliver our economic recovery plan, this decision redoubles it.” The pound slumped after the downgrade in the last half hour of trading in New York, dropping 0.6 percent to $1.5163. Sterling has depreciated 5.6 percent this year, the second-worst performer after the yen among 10 developedmarket currencies tracked by Bloomberg CorrelationWeighted Indexes. “They have drawn a line in the sand that if we don’t put forth a formidable plan we don’t deserve a triple-A rating,” said Joseph Balestrino, senior fixed-income strategist for Pittsburgh-based Federated Investors Inc., which oversees $51.4 billion of assets. Britain’s debt as a percentage of gross domestic product will climb to 98 percent next year from 90 percent last year and 95.4 percent in 2013, the European Commission said in its winter forecast

European Central Bank

Apple loss to Einhorn raises pressure for investor payout AVID Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Inc. D winning a court order blocking an upcoming Apple Inc. (AAPL) shareholder vote increases pressure on the iPhone maker to return some of its growing cash hoard to investors. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan yesterday granted Greenlight’s request to stop a Feb. 27 vote that would require shareholder approval before the company could issue a new class of preferred shares. Following the ruling, Apple said it would pull the proposal from its shareholder meeting. Einhorn has used the lawsuit to drum up support among fellow investors to get Apple to return some of its $137.1 billion in cash and investments back to shareholders. The push comes as Apple’s stock has declined 36 percent from a record in September on concern that growth is slowing. “It’s a shame that you have to go through the legal system, but we’re happy that there is a real message being sent to management that they should consider an alternative strategy” for the cash, said Keith Goddard, president of Capital Advisors Inc., an Apple investor who supported Einhorn’s lawsuit. Apple has been grappling with investor criticism about its cash for years. Near bankruptcy before co-founder Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997, the cash balance swelled from successful products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad. While the company tried to address the matter last year by announcing a dividend, investors such as Einhorn have been seeking more. Greenlight, which says it holds more than 1.3 million Apple shares, claimed that grouping the provisions violates U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. The New York-based hedge fund and its founder have urged Apple to issue

high- yielding preferred stock to carve out more cash for investors. The proposal would eliminate the power of Apple’s board power to issue preferred stock, Greenlight alleged in its complaint. Apple argued the change would only prevent the company from offering the stock without consent of investors. The court ruled Apple improperly bundled the vote, called Proposal No. 2, with other unrelated issues. “We are disappointed with the court’s ruling,” Apple said yesterday in a statement. “Proposal No. 2 is part of our efforts to further enhance corporate governance and serve our shareholders’ best interests. Unfortunately, due to today’s decision, shareholders will not be able to vote on Proposal No. 2 at our annual meeting.” Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has said the company would ask for shareholder approval if it decided to issue preferred shares even if its proposal didn’t get approved at the shareholder meeting. He said Feb. 12 that Apple has more cash than it needs to operate the business, calling the legal tussle with Einhorn a “silly sideshow” and “distraction.” Greenlight commended the court for its ruling. “This is a significant win for all Apple shareholders and for good corporate governance,” Jonathan Doorley, a spokesman for Greenlight, said in an e-mailed statement. Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, said the ruling is “a small win that keeps Einhorn in the game and his preferred stock proposal on the table.” “The Apple board won’t be able to hide behind a supposed stockholder prohibition against issuing the preferred,” he said in an e-mail. “The board will have to face its responsibility to consider the proposal and approve or decline it.”

It’s a shame that you have to go through the legal system, but we’re happy that there is a real message being sent to management that they should consider an alternative strategy Apple has met with Einhorn to discuss his proposal and concerns. In one meeting with Apple executives, Einhorn said that requiring investor approval for issuing preferred stock could create a “roadblock that was not needed” to his plan for sharing the value of the company’s cash with shareholders, according to a declaration filed by Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer. Einhorn said he wanted to “take the risk away,” according to the filing. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said it continues to support the company’s effort to implement majority shareholder approval for issuing preferred stock. “We encourage Apple to reintroduce these measures as soon as is practical so that all investors can be heard,” Anne Simpson, senior portfolio manager and director of global governance for the pension fund, said in an emailed statement. “We applaud the company’s commitment to strengthening shareholder rights.” Along with the preferred-share proposal, Apple included measures that would facilitate majority voting in director elections and establish a par value for the company’s common stock. Greenlight’s lawyer, Mitchell Hurley, told Sullivan during a hearing that the hedge fund supports the other two items.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Opinion A case for persons living with disabilities By Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman ITH Nigeria’s vast landmass, natural reW sources and population comes huge responsibilities to the citizens, able and disabled where an estimated 19 million people are experiencing a form of disability, same goes for more than one billion people worldwide. It is necessary therefore to examine disability laws obtainable in Nigeria, and compare them with existent models in developed/developing nations around the world. Two main case studies will be the United Kingdom and South Africa, due to their comprehensive disability legislation and policy implementation for disability. In South Africa, a 2005 study evaluated the country’s legislation and policy implementation from two key angles: (1) How effective has this legislative and policy environment been in making real changes to the lives of disabled people? (2) Are policies being implemented and acted on, or do they ‘evaporate’ the closer one gets to the grassroots? South Africa possesses one of the most comprehensive disability rights legislation and policy regimes in the world, and disabled people are involved at all levels of government. This research was commissioned to investigate the extent to which policies and legislation have been implemented by the South African government. Some of the achievements linked to the development of new legislation and policy in South Africa are: (i) The development and the adoption of the White Paper on Disability on an Integrated National Disability Strategy, known as INDS; (ii) The South African government can currently determine employment-equity quotas that apply to the private and public sector regarding the employment of disabled people through the Employment Equity Act (EEA) of 1998; (iii) Increasing the basic disability grant and the extension of its provisions to a wider sector of people through the Social Assistance Act; (iv) Introduction of policy on inclusive education through the White Paper on Special Needs Education; (v) Actively participating in continental and international initiatives on improving the lives of disabled peo-

ple, such as the Africa Decade of People with Disabilities, and participating in the development of the United Nations Convention on the rights of disabled people; (vi) Providing free primary health care to disabled people affected by poverty; (vii) Establishing the Equity Court; (viii) Establishing the Office on the Status of Disabled People in the Presidency, and at provincial levels; (ix) Establishing Disability Desks and Units in many departments within all spheres of government. In the South African example, one reason that can be credited for the vast success of the disability campaign, is political support. Political willpower is present from both ministers and senior civil servants in charge of departments. The other reason of course is the outstanding sustained commitment and ongoing advocacy by the disability sector, led by Disabled People South Africa (DPSA). The current legislation, in the form of the Employment Equity Act; Social Assistance Act; Skills Development Act; Skills Development Levy Act…etc, have all helped to create a new sense of awareness of the needs of disabled people. In the case of the UK, people with disability are protected by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (as amended) (DDA) for England, Scotland and Wales, and the Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (as amended). The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines a disabled person as “someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. People who have had a disability in the past that meet this definition are also covered by the scope of the Act. There are additional provisions relating to people with progressive conditions. The DDA 2005 amended the definition of disability. It ensured that people with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis are deemed to be covered by the DDA effectively from the point of diagnosis, rather than from the point when the condition has some adverse effects on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The achievement of the DDA 2005 includes the new duty it places

on public bodies – from local authorities, to healthcare, to education providers to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people, similar to the ‘duty to promote’ under the Race Relations Act. This duty, which came into force in December 2006, meant that public authorities will need to have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate discrimination against, and harassment of, disabled people; promote equality of opportunity for disabled people; promote positive attitudes towards disabled people; and encourage disabled people to take part in public life. In the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), it encourages academic staff to review their learning, teaching and assessment methods to become more inclusive for disabled students. What then obtains in Nigeria? Unfortunately, the country does not have any legislation currently safeguarding the rights of people with disability. It would be unfair to say Nigeria does not care for the disabled and it is important to note that she is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and its accompanying Optional Protocol. However, it is important to note that Article 4 of the UN Convention identifies general and specific obligations on States (including Nigeria) and parties in relation to the rights of persons with disabilities. One of the fundamental obligations contained in the Convention is that national law should guarantee the enjoyment of the rights enumerated in the Convention. Part of those mandatory rights are enacting and passing a bill, which must include the establishment of a monitoring commission. Again, it would be unfair to say that the government is not sensitive to the plight of people living with disability. Currently in the seventh Senate of the National Assembly, a Bill titled an Act to Ensure Full Integration of Persons with Disabilities and to establish a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and Vest it with the Responsibilities for Their Education, Health Care and the Protection of their Social Economic and Civil Rights is before the Senate.

This bill is an improved version of a similar bill sent to the sixth Senate. It brings together attainable standards from other countries including the two cases examined. This bill seeks to secure the rights of Nigerians living with disability. Protect them, and reaffirm their faith in themselves but most especially in their country, Nigeria. The Disability Bill has faced challenges. The commitment of donor agencies dependent on an initial commitment from the Nigerian government is commendable and appreciated. This bill will address the issues of poverty; unemployment; education of children and young people with disabilities; access to security and assistive devices; access to housing, public health services and transport. Nigeria can gain immensely from countries that have effective legislation and policy implementation regarding disability, not using them merely as case studies or examples but as standards to be emulated. We should also learn from how other countries have been able to overcome some of the challenges in policy implementation. We recognize that even after the adoption of the new legislation; we will face implementation challenges probably similar to the case in South African, where robust legislative framework has been challenged by: limited conceptual understanding; poor championing awareness; inadequate or inappropriate institutional arrangements; a general lack of capacity; and Lack of allocated fiscal resources and commitment by government, and agencies responsible for such implementation. Nonetheless, we can seek to resolve some of these impediments via sensitization and training of agencies responsible for implementation; strengthening of Advocacy by disabled population; greater public sensitization about disabled rights; better oversight by National Assembly of agencies charged with implementing policy, etc. The physically challenged are just as valued and just as valuable as the non-disabled population. They are owed a duty of care and protection as citizens of Nigeria. • Senator Abatemi-Usman (PDP, Kogi Central) delivered the paper at a programme organised by women

How not to bungle foundation education (2) By Agbo Areo Continued from yesterday HE NERDC eventually embarked on jamboree in some states late last year, claiming it was educating teachers on the new syllabus. A subtle self-admission of failure. If a teacher cannot, as it is the usual practice, lay hand on a syllabus and draw up his scheme of work for the year, that syllabus cannot be described as indeed helpful and useful. And now, the NERDC has embarked on some other rounds of jamboree round the country, ‘educating’ teachers with an additional publication of what it calls Teachers Guidelines – whatever that means! Maybe the next thing is preparing and publishing Notes of Lesson for teachers. The agency indeed has too much money to waste. Every school teacher is supposed to plan his ‘scheme of work’ from a systematic and lucid syllabus, and a textbook writer and his publisher publish the relevant Teacher’s Guide. Of course, published syllabuses already have a ‘Teachers Activities’ column, which lists out teachers’ activities for each teaching/learning topic/item. Functions that are supposed to be undertaken by the Local Government, the State Government and the average classroom teacher in a ‘federal’ country are now assumed by the NERDC from Abuja, obviously because they play about with superfluous fund. The Junior Secondary curriculum is not less stable and is not less unwieldy and difficult than that of the primary school level. Now to the Senior Secondary curriculum, the NERDC announced, as reported in The Punch newspaper (page 40) of Friday, January 11 this year (2013), through Salau, Director/Head of South-West Zonal Office in Lagos, representing the NERDC Secretary ‘…that the restructuring of the SSS Curriculum resulted in the development of 42 subjects and 34 Vocational Trades/Entrepreneurship curricula…’ The report goes further (quoting Dr. Moses Salau): ‘That the graduates would have also acquired skills, with the capacity to set up their own businesses as a result of the skills they acquired from the 34 trade subjects. This functional education will make them job creators instead of job seekers…’ That is the tall hope of the NERDC officials for a senior secondary school leaver as ‘job creators’ at the age of 17 or 18. Apparently pre-empting a probable question as to the NERDC duplicating the main function of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the agency in charge of technical schools and polytechnics curricula, Dr. Salau added ‘…though the emphasis of the curriculum was on vocational education, schools would not be transformed into comprehensive schools… post-basic schools in forms of senior secondary schools, technical schools, commercial schools and comprehensive schools where all fields of studies are offered and will continue to operate.’ If that is not a theoretical curriculum, which bears no relation to reality on ground, how else might one describe it? Does the NERDC reckon with availability of competent teachers to teach the curriculum? Are they sure of available funds for relevant, appropriately equipped workshops, steady electric power, etc.? Did the NERDC adequately consult with the NBTE, WAEC, NECO on the respective final ex-

aminations contents syllabuses? How about textbooks – are they now available, or when will they be available? Questions and questions, requiring answers from the NERDC! How then can the nation sort herself out of this curriculum instability, overload, duplications, very difficult pitch of many subject syllabuses and the wide gap between theory and reality on ground – in schools? That the NERDC is bungling the foundation of children’s education for the past seven, eight years is apparent. One, each state should seriously appraise the so-called National Curriculum, sieve it comprehensively, jettison the overload, etc. and come out with a realistic curriculum strictly relevant to the needs of the state, and considering the prevailing socio-economic situation of the state. There is absolutely nothing sacrosanct about a national curriculum, especially in a federal system of government which Nigeria practises, as Nigeria’s constitution classifies education under the ‘concurrent’ legislative lists of both the federal and state governments. That was the practice before, at, and after independence, up to the end of General Yakubu Gowon’s administration. The former Western, Eastern, Northern and later Mid-Western Regions each had their different curriculums and different educational systems – the Western Region having eight reduced to six years of primary, three years of secondary modern and initially six years, later reduced to five years of full secondary school education. The West also had the experimental Ayetoro Comprehensive High School, of course, also Technical and Teacher Training Colleges. The North was different. There was the Koranic school and the sevenyear primary school system. The Northern Region also established the School of Basic Studies. The system in Eastern Region was fairly similar to the system in the West, but without the secondary modern school. The United States, after which Nigeria ‘pretends’ to pattern its federal system, comprises 50 states, and each of the states is known to have its own school curriculum, fashioned out of national curriculum guidelines in accordance with peculiar needs of the state. Even the United Kingdom with unitary system of government has its office of Standards in Education where National Curriculum documents are available. Yet there are separate curricula for each of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland drawn out of the national curriculum to suit their respective ethnic and regional peculiarities – within the Union of Great Britain and Ireland. The U.K. also has various certificate examinations bodies for the secondary school level. The state Ministry of Education in Nigeria has its Curriculum, Quality Control and Evaluation Department or Division. They should enlist the co-operation of curriculum experts and appropriate educational practitioners in their areas and draw up realistic curriculums for their respective States. That was the practice in the good old days of Nigeria’s education system. Imposition of a uniform national curriculum on a nation having diverse ethnic groups, religions; diverse cultures, vegetation and climatic zones, as well as distinctly diverse physical zones of swampy coastlands, forestland, grassland and vast arid semi-desert lands is un-

realistic, indeed artificial. A national curriculum embodying a nation’s educational policy, admittedly, is necessary. But the component parts of the nation should be free to adapt the national curriculum to suit its local, that is, state’s needs, considering all relevant factors, and be adequately equipped to execute, supervise and periodically appraise and update the adapted state curriculum. Finally, on the National Policy on Education, the NERDC discloses that it had ‘reviewed’ the National Policy on Education, which was reworked in 2004 and 2007 (The Guardian, January 3, 2013, page 37). That implies three ‘reviews’ between 2004 and 2012! Some pertinent questions: One, since a national policy on education applies to a whole nation, were the states consulted and involved before the final draft? How about university faculties and institutes of education, or are they irrelevant in drafting a national education policy? The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), did they have any input, or are they irrelevant in the act of drawing up a national policy on education? The contents of a national policy on education should be more than merely listing numbers of subjects a pupil is supposed to offer at various school levels – based on some cumbersome and unstable curricula. The roles of the various levels of government involved in funding, teacher training and professionalism, textbooks provision, private schools and their regulation and compliance with the national policy, etc are equally imperative in the formulation of a national policy on education. The National Policy on Education, for example, has a major stipulation that the minimum teaching qualification at the primary school level is the National Certificate of Education (NCE). I am aware that all the south-west states have complied with this aspect since well over ten years. But throughout the country, the NCE curriculum still runs a curriculum designed for students to subsequently teach in secondary schools; their teaching practice takes place in secondary schools, and their practical teaching test also in secondary schools. Another gap between theory and practice of policy! To the best of our knowledge, only the Lagos State Government has since established a college of education for primary school teaching to comply with the policy. For as long as the states of the federation submit to uniform, unstable and cumbersome national curricula and a national policy on education formulated and compiled by the NERDC officials and a few friends in Abuja, will the educational agency continue to bungle and endanger the foundation education of Nigerian children. No wonder, the country now has numerous private secondary schools, which apparently jettison the amorphous, unstable school curricula but prepare their students for British, Canadian and U.S. syllabuses and their respective certificate examinations. The states spend a lot funding education; they should not inadvertently allow their efforts to be destroyed by proxy. • Concluded. • Areo is an educational books publishing consultant based in Ibadan.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Opinion Who is afraid of local council autonomy? By Adewale Kupoluyi HERE have been concerned and sustained T arguments that the 774 local government areas are contributing too little to national development. According to the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, responsibilities of local governments include the construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings, markets, toilets, drains, parks and gardens, among others. All over the world, the modern trend in the attainment of good governance and delivery of the dividends of democracy is to decentralise. Decentralisation and autonomy bring about sound, efficiency and effective public administration. The International Journal of Advanced Legal Studies and Governance has observed that “autonomy is preferred in most nation-states in order to promote rapid development of the country; this manifests itself in the establishment of local governments. Most nation-states avoid centralisation because it inhibits the active political participation of the citizens in the running of their own affairs, and could by implementation result in a situation whereby despotism is extolled”. Sadly, the Nigerian local government system has changed from being an organ of bringing government and dividends of democracy closer to the people to an organ for compensating political acolytes of the ruling parties in the states. Overtime, many of our local councils seem not to bother about these statutory responsibilities, contrary to what obtains in many advanced countries, where they build and maintain roads, create jobs and bring government closer to the people. Apart from failing to conduct council elections as and when due, even in the few instances where the elections were conducted, the parties of the incumbent governors more often than not sweep the polls. Latching on to the provision of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the various state governors, acting through their Houses of Assembly had enacted laws fixing the tenure of council officials to suit their conveniences and giving them the leeway to appoint and fire the officials at will. Local governments, which constitute the third tier of government, by virtue of the constitution have largely been operated as appendages of state governments, as some of them are governed by the caretaker commit-

tees appointed by the governors. In most cases, duly elected council executives are sacked by the states’ chief executives without observing the rules while some are placed on suspension for reasons that more-often-than-not border on sheer politics. To access LG allocations, the governors simply stage a coup by dissolving the democratically-elected councils and install cronies as caretakers or transition councillors. Governor Rotimi Amaechi, chairman of the NGF and the Rivers State governor, while receiving members of the House of Representatives Committee on Youths and Sports in Port Harcourt argued that in every federation across the world, there are usually two federating units – the states and the Federal Government. What that literarily means is that it does not make sense for anyone to be talking about Nigeria operating three-tier federalism and so, local governments should be scrapped! Amaechi’s NGF has postulated that the devolution of more powers to states will enable them take up some of the many responsibilities currently being shouldered by the Federal Government. Similarly, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) believes that granting the councils autonomy will lead to non-payment of salaries of primary school teachers nationwide because autonomy would encourage the non-remittance of 7.5 per cent of counterpart funding from LGAs into the teachers’ pension funds. The union maintained that if the nation still insisted on granting the councils autonomy, then teachers’ salaries should be paid from first line charge from the Federation Account, through the Universal Basic Education Commission. A study by the World Bank’s Development Research Group noted that not only had state governments failed to provide stipulated allocations to the LGs, the practice of ‘deductions at source’ had resulted in ‘zero allocations’ to the LGs, adding, “and what LGs do receive as transfers is, therefore, treated as personal fief of local politician”. Proponents of council autonomy maintain that this jinx should be broken, and when this happens, it would accelerate grassroots development by eliminating the negative influence and interference of the powerful governors. Within the context of stimulating development through participatory governance at the grassroots, autonomy therefore becomes very crucial to transparency, accountability and necessary oversights in managing scarce resources. Autonomy would also translate into political engagement

for the people to have semblance of democratic culture, rather than the present ‘roguish emasculation of the electoral process as manifested by the meddlesome political overlords at the state level’. Other merits include guaranteeing the right of the council heads to creatively govern and manage their natural resources using appropriate planning standards, provide opportunity to design appropriate policies, programmes and projects that suit peculiar areas as well as the preservation of the cultural heritage of local communities. Some bills sponsored by National Assembly legislators – aimed at correcting the ambiguity in certain sections of the Constitution are welcome and timely. The most contentious of all the proposed amendment is the planned alteration of Section 162 (6) of the Constitution to expunge the existing provisions that, “Each state shall maintain a special account to be called state and local government councils’ joint account”. Before the fortunes of local councils nosedived in the last couple of years, available records show that between 1955 and 1965, local governments had generated about 12 per cent of public revenues, before the advent of the country’s oil economy. What that means is that if accorded its right place, local councils, being the closest government at the grassroots, are capable of driving the much-sought national development. To bring back the lost glory, a number of efforts were made. For instance, the 1976 Local Government Reforms, based on the Dasuki report, had noted that whittling down the powers of LGs over the years by state governments encroaching on their turf, had led to “a divorce between the people and the government at the most basic levels”. The Aboyade Commission, which brought about direct allocations from the Federation Account saw LGs’ share rising from 10 per cent to 20 per cent and 25 per cent by 1989. Despite these and other efforts and interventions, nothing much has been achieved by councils in improving the lives of the people and hence, the call for its outright scrapping. That is why this important tier of governance deserves total overhauling and restructuring. Therefore, every cog in the wheels in the ongoing amendment process should be terminated. Perhaps, of most importance is the potential hurdle at the state houses of assembly. According to the 1999 Constitution, after passing the bill at the National Assembly, two-thirds of state

assemblies must give approval for it to stand. Knowing the disposition of the governors, it is envisaged that the governors, using their strong political weight, will influence the assemblies against endorsing the much-desired autonomy. Aside the amendments, we should take care of other fundamental recommendations that would make the councils to be more independent. One, elections into the councils should be held before state governorship elections while those of state houses of assembly and the councils could be held simultaneously. This will help reduce the dominance and manoeuvring by governors. Secondly, the tenure of the local government chairmen and councillors should be made to terminate at the same time with other political office holders in the state and federal levels. This would check the unhealthy quest for creation of unviable councils by state governments. Again, statutory allocations to local governments should be freed and independently determined by certain percentage that is based on internally-generated revenue in the area. The allocations could as well be tied to programmes and projects to be executed by the local governments to prevent diversion of funds. While economic and political autonomy is desired for local governments, such ideals must be supported with the necessary mechanism for transparency, accountability, capability and visionary leadership. However, autonomy should not be misconstrued as making the local government a sovereign entity or the chairman a ‘local governor’ by comparing himself/herself with the state governor. Indeed, local communities can only be meaningfully autonomous when popular structures, organisations and supportive values have been created to sustain, propagate and perpetuate fair representation, service delivery, consistent dialogue, openness of policy making, public accountability and collective self-defence. They should equally increase their internal revenue base rather than relying on federal allocations, reorder their priorities and block all avenues of wastage, leakages and corruption that have been the trademarks of many local councils, The present parlous and unhealthy state of local governments should be addressed without delay. There is still hope. When these mechanisms are put in place, local governments will be better situated to effectively play their desirable role as a catalyst for sustainable rural development. This is possible.

Pope’s lesson in courage By Olumuyiwa Jimoh fter having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, “A are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.” WITH those words, the Roman Pontiff, formerly Ratzinger but known as Pope Benedict XVI announced his impending exit from the ministry of bishop of Rome, successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to him by the cardinals on April 19, 2005, from the exalted office of the Papacy, which controls millions of Catholic faithful all over the world and still growing with the overarching influence both political, economic and religious and its attendant perquisites and perks. The Catholic Church, with headquarters in the Vatican, which is a State on its own with full diplomatic accoutrements, is spread all over the world. It became the very first global religious group and claims its roots from the ministry of the great apostle, Peter. That is why they call it the Petrine ministry. It has outlived civilizations and is far older than many nations of the world thus its global influence and reach is extensive. One of the basic implications of this is that it has therefore become a bastion of world history, its intrigues and politics, origins and morality. There are actually few nations of the world that command the kind of influence and power it commands and there are hardly many with an economy as buoyant as the tiny country. The occupier of the exalted and holy seat of the Pope rules with theocratic authority and is not accountable to anyone. He does not have parliaments or Judiciary to legislate and adjudicate in the affairs of the Holy See. His powers are absolute and he is deemed to be infallible amongst the faithful. His powers almost approximate that which can only be exercised by God himself being seen as God’s representative on earth in the Catholic faith. There is no President or leader anywhere in the world that enjoys that kind of power and at the same time commands such obedient followership. This piece has taken the pain to paint this picture of the grandeur, myth and pageantry that surrounds the Papal throne so that the enormity of what Pope Benedict XVI is turning his back on is assimilated. We must remember that he is also human, subject

to like desires, feelings and expectations including fears and other emotions, yet he decided to voluntarily leave or abdicate. It is important that we stress the reason he gave for not continuing as the Pope which is that after subjecting his conscience to serious scrutiny before God, he has found out that his strength as a result of age would no longer allow him to perform his duties adequately. What readily comes to mind here on looking at this excerpt from his resignation speech are: • That he has conscience that is alive and fears God. • That he is conscious of the failings of old age. • That he is also aware of the need for diverse strengths in leadership. • That he is deeply aware of the superiority of the State to his personal needs. • That he cares about the perfection of the State. • That he does not see himself as the only one that is capable of running the State. These basic features are not only noble but also divine and contain lessons not only for Nigerian politicians and others in positions of leadership at various levels of the society and institutions. His resignation has therefore challenged every Nigerian politician or leader to understand the place of conscience that is driven by the fear of God in our behaviours, attitudes and utterances in our effort to lead the nation. Although Chief Obafemi Awolowo too had demonstrated this too when he resigned as Vice President and Federal Commissioner for Finance under former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon from Lur, a small village in present Kanke Local Government in Plateau State. If we truly allow God’s will to prevail in the affairs of the nation and especially in our conduct as leaders then, we would be able to receive divine guidance and give creative and positive leadership to the nation. It also challenges our people, especially those leaders who have become spent forces in terms of contributing meaningfully to the development of sub Sahara Africa. There are still deep feelings associated with it. This can only happen when old men who now hold the nation’s politics by its jugular decide to willingly handover to the progressives so that fresh ideas and greater impetus will be given to the nation’s governance. That is why the formation of this progressive merger of All Progressive Alliance is necessary.

To lead a people effectively and efficiently, we must have all our faculties intact and functioning. We need them all to stay focused and deliver to the nation. If any of this therefore fails us, we should not be afraid or ashamed of speaking up and taking the needed steps to ensure that the State does not suffer. This has become imperative, given what the nation had to go through when the late former President Musa Yar’Ádua unfortunately took ill and died in office. We had thought that we had all learnt from that experience but recent events have also served as pointers to the contrary. Governors of some states who are sick in hospitals do not see the wisdom in proper handover of their positions so that deputies can continue with the affairs of the state. Can they appropriate the lessons contained in the Pope’s example and do the needful. The nation is greater than the personalities. It is far greater than individuals, thus there is urgency for Nigerians to de-emphasis personalities in the affairs of the nation. The needs of the nation and its imperatives must be pursued by all leaders above their personal interests and desires. What this also means is that the building of institutions must be above other considerations to ensure that the nation marches forward without any hangover. If we learn to place Nigeria above other primordial considerations, burying the self in all of us, our nation will rise from its present morass to become the envy of all nations of the globe. Our actions must be guided by the sanguine desire to make the nation stronger and not by mundane considerations. If the Pope who wields far more immense and unquestionable authority could turn his back on all the splendour of by power focusing on the future of the Vatican, we do not therefore see why the attractions of office should be an excuse for any Nigerian leader to seek to destroy the nation by insisting on hanging on to power. No one or group or individual is born to lead, neither are there some condemned to servitude. We must listen to ourselves. We, therefore, commend Pope Benedict the XVI on his very wise and selfless decision to abdicate the position for the good of the Catholic Church and to serve humanity. Hopefully, the leadership in Nigeria, especially at whatever level would appropriate the lessons in Pope’s noble action. • Jimoh is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly from Apapa constituency.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Law Interview By Bertram Nwannekanma

Last week, the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended compulsory retirement of two judges, Thomas Naron and Charles Archibong on ethical grounds. This has reinforced the call for a review of the wages for judges and judicial workers. In this encounter, a renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Emeka Ngige took a swipe at judicial officers’ squalid conditions of service in Nigeria, both during and after service, describing it as most embarrassing. He called on the government at the centre and at the state levels, to ensure that Nigerian judges are paid very attractive salaries and allowances, commensurate with their duties and responsibilities, because of the dangerous trend their low wages portend in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

Quote of the week “Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages.” Terry Pratchett judicialeditor@yahoo.co.uk/ 08033151041 Desk Head: Ibe Uwaleke

Poor remuneration for judges, an invitation to judicial corruption, says Ngige

N the assertion that the low wages of O judges in Nigeria, especially justices of the Supreme Court, have negative effects on the fight against corruption, Ngige said it is unimaginable that a justice of the Supreme Court earns less than N1 million a month. He said: “The condition of service of our judges, particularly our Lord Justices at the apex court, is not the best and requires an urgent review. It is unimaginable that a justice of the Supreme Court earns less than N1 million a month. It is an invitation to judicial corruption. It is unacceptable. “The Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the agency constitutionally empowered to fix the salaries and emoluments of public office holders in Nigeria, should ensure that whatever that are being paid to senators as salaries and allowances should equally be payable to our Lord Justices. In the same vein, whatever salaries and allowances that are payable to members of House of Representatives should also be paid to justices of Court of Appeal. The same for what the state legislators earn. When asked what he thought was responsible for the low wages of judicial officers, the revered lawyer said: “I think it is as result of lack of appreciation by the policy-makers in RMAFC, National Judicial Council (NJC) and the National Assembly on what an average Nigerian judge goes through to dispense justice. An average Nigerian judge reads continuously, day and night, at home and in his chambers, sometimes with bush lanterns and candles; and has no research assistants, at times under threat of physical harm by parties who had lost court cases and lives a reclusive or sequestered lifestyle. On what possible solution is, he advocates that major stakeholder should check corruption in the Bench, especially with the recent events in the Bench,. Ngige has this to say: “The solution is for the government at the centre and at the states to ensure that Nigerian judges are paid very attractive salaries and allowances commensurate with their duties and responsibilities. “With a reasonable pay package, any judge engaging in corrupt practices would have no justification to indulge in corruption. In addition, lawyers who are fairly successful in practice should be accorded priority in the process of appointment of judicial officers. I will prefer to appoint a lawyer who, in the course of his private practice, had acquired landed property than a lawyer who is a tenant, except for a state counsel. “In the same vein, the anti graft agencies

Ngige (SAN)

should start dealing ruthlessly with corrupt judges in Nigeria. I would want to see a situation where corrupt judges are prosecuted and jailed. This scenario has not happened in Nigeria in recent times. I also would want to see a situation where lawyers and their clients, who bribe judges are prosecuted and jailed. Without these measures, the public outcry over corruption in the judiciary would continue unabated. On whether it is right to track and isolate the Judiciary in regard to low pay, Ngige said it is not morally right. According to him, it is one of the problems the judiciary faces in Third World countries such as Nigeria. “ But I must state that some state governments such as Lagos State have good welfare packages for their judges. They have excellent accommodation, which they obtain after retirement and also enjoy relatively attractive salaries and allowances. When asked if it is right to compare the wages in Nigerian judiciary with the American judiciary, the former General secretary of NBA answered in affirmative. He said: “I believe it is right to draw comparison with American judiciary since we are running a presidential system of government that is copied from America. But America does not run a unitary style of

administering their courts as we have in Nigeria. The state courts in America are not under the financial or administrative control of a Federal agency such as the NJC. “But I hasten to say that our own arrangement is good because if not for a body such as the NJC, the recurring problem of non-payment of salaries and allowances of judges would still have been with us. Furthermore, I must state that would not solve our problems. We ought to fashion our own peculiar indigenous system of administering our courts because of our own peculiar environment. On whether he would support a proposition for the least ranked judicial officer in Nigeria to take home not less than N1 million as basic salary, while Supreme Court Justices should take home not less than N5 million basic monthly salary, with justices of the Court of

The condition of service of our judges, particularly our Lord Justices at the apex court, is not the best and requires an urgent review. It is unimaginable that a justice of the Supreme Court earns less than N1 million a month. It is an invitation to judicial corruption. It is unacceptable.

Appeal and judges of the High Court and other courts in that grade taking home not less than N4 million basic monthly salaries, Ngige said he wholeheartedly agree with the proposition. “The various amounts you mentioned are actually what members of States’ Houses of Assembly, Senators and members of House of Representatives respectively earn as salaries. So what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. I fully support the proposals,” he added. Ngige also called on the National Assembly to enact the equivalent of the Australian Judicial Remuneration Act of 2007, to guarantee judicial independence instead of lumping, as has been done in Nigeria, under the Salaries and Allowances of Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders Act, 2008, of the welfare packages of members of the Judiciary with other public and political office holders. He said: “ I support the call but I must confess that our problem really is not lack of relevant laws but lack of the will-power by the operators of the law to ensure faithful implementation of the letters and spirit of the legislations. Even if we copy wholesale the legislations in Australia without the will to implement it, we would be wasting our time. On whether Nigeria should create an independent body to fix the salaries and emoluments of judicial officers, an equivalent of the Australian Judicial Remuneration Tribunal, which was established in 1973, Ngige said such Tribunal is not necessary in our environment. “ RMAFC is vested with the power to fix salaries of not only judges but other politicaloffice holders. “I would not speculate what informed the setting up of the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal in Australia but in our environment, I don’t think it is necessary. I will still research on the subject. “But I believe that if NJC members and the legislators were alive to their responsibilities, there will be no need for such a Tribunal”. He, however, cautioned on the call for new laws, saying that Nigerians should resist the temptation of copying wholesale the legislations in other jurisdictions, where the working environment, attitudes, ethics and political systems, are totally different from ours. “Like I stated earlier, if the policy-makers do the right thing at the right time, there would be no need to start copying legislations in other jurisdictions. We should be able to fashion out a system for remunerating our judicial officers,” he said.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

86 LAW

LawPeople

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” Lao Tzu

Balogun: Golden moment of a legal icon Profile By Abiodun Fanoro and Joseph Onyekwere TTAINING the golden age in life A is by no means an easy feat. The feeling is always the same, whether it occurs in career, age, marriage, profession or royalty. Little wonder people usually roll out the drums with pomp each time such opportunities occur. But that is not for Mrs. Hairat Aderinsola Balogun, who has just clocked 50 at the Nigerian Bar. Instead of rolling out the drums in display of great splendor and magnificence, the 72- yearold legal icon chose to keep a Spartan silence and rather give thanks to God in private for giving her the opportunity to accomplish such feat. However, most lawyers and admirers would have loved to gather in honour of this legal icon, in what could be described as the golden jubilee celebration of the century, not just because of the age she attained, but the commitment she inspires to the younger generation, especially female lawyers. She holds the record of being among the very few female lawyers who had remained consistent in private practice and litigation all their lives. The decline in female litigation lawyers of her generation is simply abysmal. Some studied law, practised for a while, others don’t at all; get married and either face their families or transit to other ventures, making the job all-men affair. But Balogun stuck to her gun, refused to be discouraged and finally made a success of her career through industry, determination and focus. Interestingly, she never planned to study law at the beginning. In fact, all her family members had nudged her into accepting teaching as a career. But by Providence, a certain incident occurred and redirected her course in life. “I actually got admission into the University of Birmingham to do special training for nursery school teaching. Then I had been abroad for about six years. I had never been back to Nigeria. So I came after six years for a holiday. To all intent and purpose, I was still going back to do my teachers’ training. So I met two of my friends from primary school and they felt so quiet. So I asked them what they were doing. One of them said she was in teachers’ training college. I asked the other person and she said she was in college preparing to be a teacher. I looked at them and I wondered ‘is it the teaching that made them so quiet and made them to look more matured than I? “I don’t think I want to be a teacher again. I want to do something more energetic. So I kept it to myself. One day, a family friend came to visit and was just dressed up to go to court with a white beep. He is Oludayo Shonuga. He is about 90 years old now. He lives in England now. I asked my mother if I could follow him to court in Yaba and she agreed”, Balogun recalled. From what she saw, her interest in law was kindled and the thought of teaching thawed.

There are others who influenced her stay in Law since she was called to the Bar. They are Chief Chris Ogunbanjo whom she worked with in her first five years of career, the late Akintola, Justice Odesanya, Bayo Osipitan, late Mr. Molanjo (SAN), Aduke Alakija and Gloria Jackmon. According to her, she enjoys private legal practice because it is a call to service to humanity. She derives joy in what she is doing - serving humanity through law. “I was only three months in the Nigerian Law School. We were the second set of 1963. I was the youngest in the class. I was 21 then. Some of my mates then were Prince Bola Ajibola, Yinka Rhodes, Earnest Sonekan, Kenneth Longe and Chief Akindelano, who is now in Ibadan”, she recalled. It wasn’t difficult for her appearing court in the early days of her call to Bar. According to her, she wrote down all her submissions and just read from the papers. Her difficulty was usually her accent, which was British in nature, having schooled there. Judges were uncomfortable with her accent, thinking she was just showing off. One of her major legal victories was her insistence that the Lagos campus of the Nigerian Law School must not be closed down due to the transfer of the campus to Abuja and the premises stripped by the Federal Government. She also believes that candidates for the award of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) should not be made to apply for it. Balogun is an African to the core. She believes that Nigeria is a home any day, any time. For her, residing in any other country does not exist though she can only go out and come back. “I can never relocate to any country outside Nigeria. I can only visit. I am grateful to God that I am able to visit anywhere in the world whenever the chance occurs. But for me to live in another country, no; that will be denying my birthright. I was born here and by the grace of God, I will die here.” She is also a cultural advocate. She believes that even though English is the official language in Nigeria, every child should be able to speak at least one of the three major languages in the country. “English is the official language. But we also have three main languages that are recognised in Nigeria. Every child must at least be able to speak one of the three languages. But what we see is that children speak English all the time. In a Yoruba territory, it is a shame on us the adults!” she exclaimed. Born on October 10, 1941, to the late Alhaji Jinadu Alatise (a businessman) and late Alhaja Atinuke Alatise both from Ijebu-Ode, young Hairat Balogun started her primary education at the Saint Saviour’s Primary School, Ijebu-Ode. She later attended Christ Church Porogun Primary School, Ijebu-Ode, before proceeding to the United Kingdom. There, she enrolled at the Mount School, London, between 1955 and 1960. She was called to the English Bar on February 5, 1963, at Lincoln’s Inn, London. She later returned for the Nigerian Law School. She was in the school from April to July 1963. A member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb) and former

One of her major legal victories was her insistence that the Lagos campus of the Nigerian Law School must not be closed down due to the transfer of the campus to Abuja and the premises stripped by the Federal Government

Balogun Attorney General of Lagos State, Balogun enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria on July 13, 1963. She was subsequently sworn in as Notary Public in September 1965. Immediately after she left the Law School, she honed her legal practice skills with the Law Firm of Chris Ogunbanjo & Co., from July 1963 to September 1967. In November 1967, she left her principal and established her own chambers - Libra Law Office, Lagos, where she has been till date. Her chamber is known in areas of practice such as Commercial Law, Arbitration and Family Law. She also engages in private practice as a solicitor and advocate with major emphasis on the areas of Civil, Commercial and Company Law. She lectures occasionally on a parttime basis. An arbitrator, Balogun had served as an assistant director, Legal Aid Council from 1971 to 1972; secretary, sixth Commonwealth Law Conference, November 1978 to August 1980; general secretary, Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) from August 1980 to August 1983; council member, International Bar Association 1981-1983; 1992 -1994 and 1994-1996 and Commissioner for Justice. She served as the Attorney General, Lagos State, from January 1984 to September 1986 where she initiated great and enduring reforms. She is a member of various professional organisations. In 1983, she became a member, Body of Benchers. Besides, she is a life Bencher, Body of Benchers since 1989; member, Transition to Civil Rule Tribunal, 1987 to 1989; national executive member, Nigerian Bar Association since 1981; assessor, ICAN Disciplinary Tribunal and

Investigating Panel 1993 till date; chairman, Body of Benchers, from 1998 to 1999 and the United Nations (UN) Observer at Lockerbie Trial between 2000 and 2001, among others. In addition, Balogun was a member, Council of Legal Education from 1978 to 1979; 1981-1986; member, Research and Evaluation Committee of the National Committee for the UN International Year of the Child, between 1978 and 1979; member, Legal Aid Council between 1981 and 1983, as well as the chairman, Constitution Review Committee of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) from 1977 to 1979. Apart from those, she also belongs to other social organisations such as the International Bar Association, Soroptimist Club International, Commonwealth Trust Foundation and Rotary Club of Lagos (Paul Harris Fellow). For her doggedness, hard work, focus, determination and uprightness to the service of humanity through law, she was conferred with life membership of the following organisations: Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Society of International Law, FIDA, International Women’s Society, Nigerian Society for Handicapped Children and the Nigerian Britain Association. Widely travelled, Balogun has attended numerous international and local

conferences and has visited many countries of the world either for vacation or the call to duty. She also has some publications to her credit. Among them are Women in the Law, 2009 and To Serve in Truth and Justice, 2010. This is what she said of her family; “My father had 9 wives. My mum was number-four and there were six of us. We are now remaining three. My mum died at 47 while my dad died at 94. That is why everyday, I am rejoicing because I have beaten the record.” She is also a philanthropist, who devotes some of her time visiting and attending to the elderly. “I do a lot of charity, even as an office. I also help the less-privileged. I am a member of Rotary as well. What I call my personal charity is looking after old people. I don’t have a foundation but I work for quite a few”, she declared. Married to a lawyer, who is now a businessman, they both have two surviving children - a lawyer and businessman. Balogun, who attributed her good health to the Grace of God, wants to be remembered as a woman who touched people’s lives positively through the law and at all times and was discovered to have done her very best. She enjoys music, swimming and the dramatic arts.

Do you know… Several More than two. It does not mean “many’: Muhammed Buhari and Anor. v. Chief Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo [2005] 1 NWLR (pt. 941) 1 at 2944, [S.C.]

LAW 87

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

LawReport In criminal trial, court must consider any defence raised by accused, however improbable In the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, Akure Judicial Division, Holden at Akure, On Wednesday, December 19, 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/63C/2009 Between Idris Gona (appellant) and The State (respondent). HE court has, for long been settled, in crimiT nal matters that is the duty of a trial court to consider a defence available to the accused person, no matter how improbable or stupid it might be. In His Lordship’s judgment, a trial judge’s failure to consider and examine any such defence does not only raise reasonable doubts in the case of the prosecution but also amounts to a failure to perform a vital duty imposed on such a trial judge. So held the Court of Appeal, Holden at Akure in a 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 entering judgment in favour of the appellant. The appellant was represented by A. Olusegun and O. I. Oladejumo (Mrs.) was for the respondent. The facts are as contained in the body of the judgment. At the High Court of Justice, Owo, Ondo State, the appellant was charged with the offence of murder under Section 319 of the Criminal Cod Law, Cap 30, Vol 11, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria. He was alleged to have killed one Agogo Jene. He was arraigned on January 23, 2007. He pleaded not guilty. At the hearing, the prosecution marshaled two witnesses in proof of his case. The appellant testified in his defence. He did not call any other witness. At the end of the case, the court (Coram Adebusoye J) (hereinafter referred to as the lower court), in its judgment of November 27, 2007, found him guilty as charged. It accordingly convicted and sentenced him to death by hanging. Being dissatisfied, he appealed to this court and formulated five issues for the determination of his appeal. They were framed thus: • Whether on the evidence before the court, the lower court was right in convicting the appellant for the offence of murder?; • Whether the lower court was right in relying on Exhibit ‘B’, the statement of the appellant, convicted the appellant in view of the evidence that the evidence was involuntarily made?; • Whether the lower court considered all the defence opened (sic) to the appellant before convicting him?; • Whether the prosecution established the body of the alleged deceased to be that of Agogo Jene to ground conviction?; and • Whether the court was right in convincing the appellant for murder based on exhibit ‘B’ alone when it was glaring that the contents of the document were mainly hearsay? On their part, the respondent set out three issues for the resolution of the appellant’s grouse against the judgment of the lower court. When this appeal came up for hearing on November 6, 2012, A. Olusegun of counsel for the appellant, adopted and relied on the arguments in the appellant’s brief filed on March 15, 2010. He explained that in its attempt to prove its case, the prosecution called only two witnesses. PW1 was the medical doctor who carried out the medical examinations on a body, which he claimed, was identified to him by

one Alhaji Lawal, as the deceased. PW2, the investigating police officer, (IPO) testified as to how he was phoned to come to the scene of the crime and what he did. He noted that the IPO’s testimony of the result of his investigation with regard to what happened, who killed the deceased or who the deceased, he met, was, was based on the story one Ibrahim Jene narrated to him. With regard to issues two, that is, the propriety of the court’s reliance on exhibit ‘B’, a statement, allegedly made involuntarily in convicting the appellant, he submitted that the said exhibit ‘B’ was irrelevant. He explained that sequel to the objection taken against the admissibility of exhibit ‘B’, a trial was conducted. The accused person led evidence to show that he was severely beaten by the IPO in a bid to obtain his signature to the said exhibit. Counsel explained that the only evidence, which the lower court relied upon in convicting the appellant, was the hearsay evidence of PW1 and PW2. The prosecution’s failure to call the interpreter was fatal to the case. The said interpreter would have been able to tell the court the nature of the questions interpreted to the accused and the answers the accused gave and which were interpreted to the PW2. This was lacking. He urged the court to resolve this issue in favour of the appellant, citing Kalgo JSC in Ahmed v State (1999) LCRN Vol. 69, 1403, 1482 paragraphs E-H and A-B. Counsel submitted that the lower court failed to consider the defence of provocation, clearly evident on the face of exhibit ‘B’, the appellant’s statement. Rabiu v State (1981) 2 NCLR 293; Ekang v State (2001) FWLR (pt 68) 1123, 1152 paragraphs E-G. He maintained that a court had a duty to consider all defence open to an accused person on liberal grounds, especially where the punishment was a capital one as in this case. O. I. Oladejumo (Mrs.), Director of Legal Drafting and Law Review, Ministry of Justice, Ondo State (counsel for the respondent) adopted and relied on the respondent’s brief dated March 4, 2010. In the said brief, she submitted that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. In her view, it was not the number of witnesses that matter but the cogency of the testimony of the witness(es) called. Thus, for the prosecution to prove its case, it was unnecessary to call a host of witnesses, Oteki v State (2005) 4 ACLR 401, 426. On the question of reliance on hearsay for the conviction of the appellant, she conceded that the IPO (PW2), testified that a phone call drew his attention to the scene of crime and that one Ibrahim Jene told him about what happened and, subsequently, led him to the hideout of the appellant. The appellant was, eventually, arrested. In her submission, the law does not preclude anybody from giving evidence of what he heard from a third party if it was only to prove that he heard it. The law only forbids using such evidence to establish the truth of what was heard. She maintained that the prosecution satisfied the requirement in Nwachukwu v State (supra). She explained that there was evidence that the deceased died. There was also evidence of the act of the appellant that gave rise to the deceased person’s death, that is, act of macheting the deceased. The fact that the act of the appellant, which caused the death of the deceased was intentional, was deduced from the nature of the injury inflicted and the instrument used. On this issue, counsel conceded that the lower court did not consider the defences open to the appellant at the trial. This was wrong. She equally concede Uwaekeghinya v State (2005) 4 ACLR 1, 17 paragraph 30. She observed that from a perusal of the record, the defence of provocation was available to the appellant. However, the lower court failed to consider it. From our view of the above cases and the case of Nwanga Nwazoke v State (1988) 2 SC NJ (pt. 11) 344, 346; (1988) 1 NWLR (pt 72) 529; R. V. Kwobena

Justice Bulkachuwa (Acting PCA) Bio (1945) 11 W.A.C.A. 46 at 48, we are satisfied that it has become paramount principle of our law that when a defence, however weak, however foolish, however unfounded, however conflicting, is raised by a person charged with a crime, it should be, fairly and impartially, considered by the judge. According to Mohammed JSC in Fatai Olayinka v State (2007) 9 NWLR (pt 1040) 561, the law has for long been settled in criminal matters, that it is the duty of a trial court to consider a defence available to the accused person, no matter how improbable or stupid it might be. In His Lordship’s judgment, a trial judge’s failure to consider and examine any such defence does not only raise reasonable doubts in the case of the prosecution but also amounts to a failure to perform a vital duty imposed on such a trial judge. While Olusegun insisted that the conviction and sentence of the appellant should be set aside, Mrs. Oladejumo praying in said Section 15 of the Court of Appeal 2004, urged the court to convict the appellant for the lesser offence of manslaughter, paragraph 4.02 page 7 of the brief. We entirely agree with learned counsel for the parties that the lower court had the duty to consider the defence of provocation, clearly, given on the face of the exhibit, Uwaekweghinya v State (supra); Williams v IGP (1965) NMLR 470. However, we are under obligation to defenestrate Olusegun’s submission that this court should discharge and acquit the appellant on that ground. That submission not only rests on a fallacious and faulty jurisprudential premise, it is, actually misleading. His reliance on Fatai Olayinka v State (supra) was inappropriate having regard to the defence in question. In our accusatorial jurisprudence, there is a world of difference between exculpatory and attenuating defence. Such defence like self defence, Uwaekweghinya v State (supra); accident, Bakare v State (supra); alibi, Ebere v State (2001) 12 NWLR (pt 7290 617, 636 etc are exculpa-

On the contrary, the defence of provocation is a mitigating defence where available, it merely attenuates; disrates or demotes the offence from murder to manslaughter. In effect, the defence of provocation does not exonerate the accused person. It only earns him a mitigation of the punishment due for the offence of murder to a sentence for manslaughter.

tory defence. Where they are established, they exonerate the accused person. On the contrary, the defence of provocation is a mitigating defence where available, it merely, attenuates; disrates or demotes the offence from murder to manslaughter. In effect, the defence of provocation does not exonerate the accused person. It only earns him a mitigation of the punishment due for the offence of murder to a sentence for manslaughter. Sequel to the above, we postulate that where a lower court fails to consider any of the exculpatory defence available to an accused person, whether he specifically raised it or not, Williams v IGP (supra), there would be a miscarriage of justice, which would lead to his conviction and sentence being set aside on appeal. In this case, both counsel agreed and we equally found that the lower court did not consider the defence of provocation raised in the appellant’s statement, exhibit ‘B’. Right now, it would be difficult to determine what posture that court would have taken had it, properly considered the said exhibit ‘B’. In our view, therefore, this has created reasonable doubt whether that court arrived at its decision based on sound legal principles. We accordingly resolve that doubt in his favour. We find ample support for this view from the decision of the apex court in Lado v State (1999) LPELR-SC. 150/1996; (1999) 9 NWLR (pt 6190 368; (1999) 6 SC (pt 110 137. The appellant did not raise the defence in his evidence except what was manifest on exhibit ‘B’. On its part, the lower court did not consider the possibility of the availability of the defence at all from the said exhibit. In consequence, we have no materials before us capable of being considered as adequate proof of such a defence. We find that in the circumstance, we are bound to resolve the lingering doubt in the prosecution’s case in his favour. We hereby enter an order quashing the lower court’s conviction of and sentence on the appellant in its judgment of November 27, 2007. In lieu thereof, we convict him for the offence of manslaughter. We sentence him to a term of 12 years’ imprisonment effective from the date he was taken into custody, that is, June 4, 2005. Bassey v The Queen (1963) 2 SCNLR 183; (1963) All NLR 285, approvingly, cited in Lado v State (supra). The judgment of the lower court is hereby set aside.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

88 LAW

FamilyLaw

“One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.” Michael J. Fox

Wife battery in Nigeria and the Law (1) By Bertram Nwannekanma ATTERY can be described as an act of using intimidation to establish power and control over another person, and such intimidation is often expressed through beatings, while wife battering is referred to as repeated violent act, which could be psychological, or physical assault by a man against his wife, made with the intention of controlling her by inflicting fear or pain on her. This act is common among men who still believe that they have the right to rule and control women. Even though men have authority over their wives and the women must at all time obey rules from her husband, some men have misinterpreted this as beating their wives as often as possible in order to prove this and make her feel inferior to him. Wife battering is common in developing countries than the developed ones for various reasons, such as low level of literacy and high level of poverty. Low level of illiteracy has made a lot of men believe that women are liabilities as well as irresponsible minors in the society, whose opinions are not important in any issue, therefore, should be treated as second-class citizens. In a situation where the woman is solely dependent on her husband, there is bound to be severe cases of

battery because the man sees her as not contributing her quota to sustaining the family appropriately, therefore, a liability. Also, a large number of battery cases occur in developing societies where many cultures perceive women as playing second fiddle. In recent times, this gender-based domestic violence has assumed an alarming dimension.

According to findings, two-thirds of the women in Nigeria are believed to have experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence in the family. It also states that three in every 10 women suffer domestic violence from family members ranging from the husband to his mother or his extended relations. It is sad that battered women don’t complain

about this horrible act meted out on them, rather, they tend to cover up for their husbands by making excuses on why they deserved it or lie by framing domestic accidents. In most cases, injuries occur, which may require medical attention. There had been cases of broken bones, miscarriage, permanent paralysis and even death as a result of battery just because a man is trying to establish his rightful place as the head of the family. On the contrary, wife battery is sanctioned culturally. It is seen in most cases as a form of discipline with a restraint not to inflict grievous harm. There is no specific law to protect women against domestic violence or wife battery unless a woman brings an action under the general provisions against assault where domestic violence against the woman is downplayed. The provision of the Penal Code (PC) criminal law applicable in the Northern part of Nigeria, specifically on domestic violence encourages violence against women. It allows for the beating of a wife for the purpose of correction. Section 55 (1) (d) of the Penal Code stipulates, “Nothing is an offence, which does not amount to the infliction of grievous harm upon any person and which is done by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife. Such husband and wife being subject to any natural law or custom in which such correction is recognised as lawful”.

YOU AND THE LAW —-With Dupe Ajayi

Elements of a contract (1) Scenario T is becoming more important that Itransactions, one must be more careful in land retorted the Supervisor of one land speculating Outfit to his Clerk. We have always been cautious but why did you say that? asked the Clerk. Our neighbour, Mr Rich, paid Mr Omoonile the sum of N300,000 through his son but Omoonile has denied getting any money from him for the sale of any land, said the Supervisor. Do you know if he truly paid him any money? asked the Clerk again. Well, Mr Rich claimed that he heard that Mr Omoonile, the father of his friend, had a piece of land adjacent to his house to sell for N300,000. Having visited the house of Omoonile many times and being familiar with land near the house of Omoonile, Mr Rich expressed interest to his friend who claimed to have informed his father. So, did Mr Rich pay for the land? asked the Clerk. Mr. Rich also that said he sent amounts of money in bits to Mr Omoonile through his son, his own friend, to the tune of N300,000 which was said to be the cost of the land, but Mr Omoonile, though admitted that he got the money, said he did not know that it was for the land and that he did not agree to sell the land to Mr Rich, saying that there was never an agreement between them for a sale of land, concluded the Supervisor. The Legal Opinion Agreements are part and parcel of human existence and the entire human relations and interactions are products of agreements. It often happens, either by accident or by design that a party to an agreement can act in a manner inconsistent with the agreement between him and another party. The natural consequence is that that other party will feel aggrieved, either simply because the action is contrary to his legitimate expectation or it may have occasioned some economic loss, hence, he may want to seek redress. The avenue for seeking a redress is to approach the court. The question

whether the aggrieved party will get a redress from the court depends on whether in the eye of the law, the agreement in question qualifies as a contract. This is because, all agreements are not contracts but all contracts are agreements. What then is a contract? A contract is an agreement that once made, gives rise to legal rights and obligations between the parties thereto. In other words, a contract is an agreement that the law will recognize and enforce. Before an agreement can attain the status of a contract however, certain elements are required to be present. The most basic of those elements are offer, acceptance and consideration. An offer has been defined as a definite undertaking or promise made by one party with intention that it shall become biding on the party making it as soon as it is accepted by the party to whom it is addressed. One key feature of an offer as stated by the court of Appeal in Orient Bank PLC v Bilantel International (1997) 8 NWLR (Pt 515) p 37 @ 76, is that an offer must be precise, its terms must be certain, it should not be ambiguous. It must be unequivocal. This is important because the party to whom the offer is made (offree) should have a clear idea of what he is accepting or rejecting, as the case may be. There must be a consensus ad idem (a meeting of the minds) between the party making the offer (offeror) and the party accepting in case the offree decides to accept the offer. The two parties should have a clear picture of the deal they seek to strike. The most important effect of an offer is that once accepted, a contact is made and it becomes biding on the two parties. Neither of them is at liberty to do otherwise or act in any manner different from the terms agreed upon in relation to the subject matter of the contract. For instance, if A, in a telephone discussion offers his jeep with particulars stated for sale to B at the price of 1.2M and B accepts the offer and the parties agree to meet later in the day for the exchange of money for the

car. If immediately after the discussion, C offers A the sum of 1.5M in cash for the same car, it is not open to A to accept the offer by C because A is bound by the agreement between him and B, notwithstanding that A is yet to collect the money from B. if A goes ahead to sell the car to C, A is clearly in breach of the contract between him and B. However, there are some situations analogous to offers but in reality, they are not offers. These categories of situations are referred to as invitation to treat. For example, if A, in the scene above, simply puts up a public notice that he has a car with the stated particulars for sale and he includes in the publication, his telephone numbers for interested or prospective buyers to call and B responds indicating interest in the car and his readiness to buy the car at whatever price, A is not bound by B’s proposal simply because A’s public notice is no more than an invitation to treat. It is the proposal by B that can properly be termed as an offer, which in law, is open to A to accept or reject.

offer is the reciprocal act or an action of the offree to the offer in which he indicates his agreement to the terms of an offer as conveyed to him by the offeror. Putting it in another language, an acceptance is the act of compliance on the part of an offeree with the terms of the offer as conveyed to him by the offeror. See Orient Bank PLC v Bilantel International, (supra). Consideration is the third element of a valid contract. A party to a contract must furnish some consideration for the promise of some other party. In the scenario between A and B above, the consideration furnished by A will be his car while the consideration furnished by B will be the N1.2M he is to pay for the case. “A valuable consideration in the eye of the law may consist of either in some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to one party or some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility, given, suffered or undertaken by the other”. See Curie v Misa (1875) LR 10 Exch.

Note that we have decided to limit our definitions of acceptance and consideration to the definition of both terms for now because the issues involved in the The second element of a contract is facts under consideration in our views acceptance. An acceptance of an stem from offer as an element of con-

tract. In subsequent editions, we will be looking at the two elements in details. Now, coming to the facts under consideration, what went wrong in the agreement of the parties is that there was no clear cut terms in the proposed offer by Mr Omoonile to Mr Rich in the legal sense, there was no clear offer that was capable of acceptance. Therefore, the purported offer by Mr Omoonile and the subsequent N300,000 sent by Mr Rich as consideration are not prefaced by an offer and can therefore not give rise to a contract enforceable at the instance of Mr Rich.. In Etingin v Adio (1993) 7 NWLR (pt 305) 310, A and B jointly owned a piece of land. B sold the land and gave A half of the purchase price without telling him anything more. B later contented that he has given A his own share of the land and that A no longer has any interest in the land. In an action by A, the court held that notwithstanding the acceptance of the money by A, A still retains his interest in the property and that the purported sale was invalid because A did not offer to sell his interest nor was any offer made to him. Also in Olopa v OAU (1992) 7 NWLR (p 512), 204, the defendant/respondent invited the plaintiff/respondent to a meeting at which the development of a piece of land owned by the defendant was discussed. The minutes of the meeting, the feasibility report of the commercial value of the development of the property and the survey plan were sent to the appellant. But there was no instruction that the appellant should draw any specific sketch or design. The appellant, on his own, went to develop a sketch and design and sent same along with a bill for his consultancy fee to the respondent but the respondent refused to pay for the work. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal held that the respondent was not liable to pay for the work as there was no offer capable of being construed into an agreement by an acceptance. All that transpired between the parties was a discussion preparatory to the formation of a consideration.

LAW 89

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

NBA and anti-money laundering/terrorism control: Matters arising HE National Executive Committee T (NEC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has mandated the NBA to drag the Federal Government, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Federal Ministry of Trade and Commerce to Court over the recent directive of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), that lawyers must register with the Unit before February 1, 2013 in order to ensure compliance with the Money Laundering Act 2011 (MLA) as part of the country’s Anti- Money Laundering and combating of the Financing of Terrorism (AML/ CFT) regime The association took this position after serious discussions on the issue, the NBA president, Okey Wali (SAN) had briefed the association on his interactions with officers of the Unit who visited him at the NBA secretariat in Abuja to seek collaboration with the NBA on how to implement this law with respect to Nigerian Lawyers. He promptly invited the officers of the Unit to come and explain their position to Nigerian lawyers at their NEC meeting in Makurdi, Benue State. At NEC, officers of the agencies involved made efforts to explain their position on the matter and concluded that the law as it were, was not properly drafted, because the Unit never expected lawyers to report every transaction above 1,000 Dollars to the unite as presently contained in the law, rather the law expects the lawyer to report suspicious transactions of that amount to the Unit. Thereafter, a memorandum by the Lagos branch of the NBA to the NEC on the same issue was circulated , read and the matter seriously discussed. Thereafter, NEC decided to go to Court to challenge the validity of the law. NEC considered as unacceptable and a violation of the law on confidentiality, the direction of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that Legal Practitioners in Nigeria should report to it lodgments in the bank of money above one thousand US Dollars on behalf of their clients and authorized the leadership of the Association to institute legal action in court challenging the law if the need arises. The Lagos NBA memo reads in part: “The Lagos branch has noted with concern the recent directive of the special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) that lawyers must register with the unit before 1st February, 2013 in order to ensure compliance with the Money Laundering Act 2011(MLA) as part of the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. According to Section 5(6) of the legislation, there is a daily fine of

N250,000.00 for failure of any DNFIs (Designated Non-Financial Institution) to comply with the law’s customer identification requirements and failure to submit transaction returns every 7 days. “The Money Laundry Act, 2011 defines DNFIs as “dealers in jewellery, cars and luxury goods, chartered accounts(sic), audit firms, tax consultants, clearing and settlement companies, legal practitioners, hotels, casinos, supermarkets, or such other businesses as the Federal Ministry of Commerce may from time to time designate”. Legal practitioners are listed in the law as DNFIs. “The dangers posed by the current AML/CFT regime on Legal Practitioners have been highlighted by the American Bar Association (ABA) in a statement which we quote below: “Lawyers should be extremely concerned because (US) Congress is considering legislation that would impose burdensome and intrusive gatekeeper regulations on lawyers, including measures that could subject the legal profession to key AML compliances of the BSA. Of enacted, this legislation would undermine the traditional role of state courts in regulating lawyers, erode the attorney-client privilege and interfere with the role confidential attorneyclient relationship, impose excessive new federal regulations on lawyers engaged in the practice of law, and impinge on the delivery of legal services in general.” “The requirement for lawyers registration and the rendering of periodic reports on his client’s financial activities are clearly in conflict with the express provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners in Nigeria (RPV) 2007, the Evidence Act 2011 and the common law rule against self incrimination. The rule which requires a report on every transaction of N150,000.00 and above(less than $1,000) without linking it to suspicion criminal activity impact upon and destroys the Attorney-Client confidentiality rule. While the NBA must support the Federal Government in its efforts to take reasonable steps to combat money laundry and terrorist financing, these actions should be conducted in a manner that is consistent with the ethical rules and standards that regulate our profession. Accordingly, NBA Lagos Branch wishes to draw the attention of the National Executive Committee to the status of SCUML. The legality of SCUML “The special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) was established as a specialised unit of the Federal Ministry of Commerce

Okay Wali NBA President and Industry by the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria (Decision N0. EC (2005) 2861) in September 2005. SCUML was given the responsibility of carrying out the statutory role of the then Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry (FMC & I) as spelt out in the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, ML(P)A 2004. “SCUML is NOT one of the agencies set out in either the MLPA 2011 or the MLPA 2004 to regulate DFNIs. Accordingly, the legality of SCUML is doubtful, more so as the Minister is not specifically empowered under the MPLA to set up any such unit and there is no saving provision in MLPA 2011. “Under section 5(4) of the Act, the Minister in the Federal Ministry of Commerce charged with responsibility for matters pertaining to commerce is empowered to make regulations guiding the operations of DBFIs. Section 5(5) enables the EFCC to “demand and receive reports directly from” DNFIs. Under section 5(6), DFNIs that failt to “comply with the requirements of customer identification and the submission of returns” are liable to a daily fine of N250,000 for the period of default. However, it should be noted that by section 5(1), the Minister’s power to make regulations is limited to DFNIs “whose business involves the use of cash transaction”. “It is therefore doubtful whether the Minister can make regulations relating to other aspects of the MLPA which also concerns DFNIs/Legal Practitioners as there is no omnibus clause empowering the Minister to make regulations for the enforcement of other sections of the Act. In addition the extent the SCUML’s mandate is limited by Section 51) to

“occasional cash transactions” by DFNIs. “Furthermore, and as a policy matter (especially in the light of the CBN circular), the FATF have, since 2008, recognised that the 2003 recommendations – on which the MLPA 2011 is clearly based-required review. The current guidelines for the legal profession suggest that AML CFT regulations adopt a risk based approach, as opposed to the “one size fits all” approach manifest in the MLPA 2004 and 2011. The way forward The NBA Lagos Branch humbly submits that: “The requirement for registration should be opposed as being unnecessary and unduly burdensome. The obligation to report should be on the bank where the financial transactions are consummated and they have records of the account owners. Additional Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement should not be predicated on registration with SCUML. Any KYC requirement, which imposes a duty to register with SCML should be opposed as indirect regulation of the legal profession. Banks can carry out their customer checks as much as they can in order to ascertain their customer’s identify and business. It remains the duty of banks to do a KYC of their customers. Other persons not regulated by CBN should not be compelled to be subject to its regulation or that of any other Government agency. “Litigation against the government and its agencies to challenge the validity of the blanket provision requiring registration with SCUML and supervision of legal practitioners by MDAs outside the legal profession is the most viable option The legality of SCUML should be contested, given that there is seemingly no express provision establishing the unit under MLPA 2011, nor is the Minister expressly empowered in that regard. Further, there is no saving provision that may have preserved such a unit under the new regime. Any action would need to be accompanied by an application to restrain the Ministry of Trade and Investment, the EFCC and any other federal agency charged with the enforcement of the legislation from seeking to enforce it during the pendency of the litigation. “Litigation should be instituted that forcing lawyers to submit to AML/CFT laws aimed at tracking money laundering and the flow of cash to terrorists would override solicitor-client privilege and thus violate extant laws/regulations and the Constitution. The 10-year legal

battle between Canadian legal practitioners and the government in the celebrated case of RE: Federation of Law Societies of Canada v. Canada (Attorney General), 2011 BCSC 1270 (CanLII) is a veritable guide as the points of law to be canvassed. The matter was recently decided in favour of the legal practitioners. A full text of the judgment is available a t http://www.canlii.ca/en/bc/bcsc/2011 /2011bcscl270/2011bcscl270.pdf “While litigation is ongoing, the NBA should engage with the government through SCUML, the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Central Bank of Nigeria (as well as EFCC, SEC, NDLEA etc) to enable the legal profession to be self-regulating in accordance with the most recent FATF guidance. The following areas of engagement are relevant: Persuade the Minister to delegate the AML/CFT responsibility for regulating the legal profession to the NBA or to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee. “The NBA should investigate the composition of the National Advisory Council of Designated Non-Financial Institutions which is charge with the financial institution against money laundering and countering financial of terrorism in Nigeria. The committee is/was chaired by the representative of ICAN while the Secretariat is located in SCUML. The NBA is supposedly presented on this council. Conclusion “To be seen as a viable self regulatory organ, the NBA needs to prepare and adopt strong AML provisions for the provisions for the profession. In 2008 the FATF issued AML guidance to the legal profession, which proposed a risk based approach, and these documents are all a ready source upon which any Nigerian provisions may be based. “The NBA should liaise with the appropriate Agencies and Ministries, and state clearly in the AML Regulations (yet to be drawn) how the Association intends to take punitive measures against practitioners who aid Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (assuming there are any) through their firms and expertise. “In the interest of the profession, more emphasis should be laid on the need to ensure that control of the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing with the aid/assistance of Legal Practitioners be addressed by a committee to be inaugurated by the Nigerian Bar Association for that purpose.”

Crucial legal issues in aircraft lease negotiation By Prince Aderemi OW that there has been a tremendous increase in wet leasing in the aviation industry, the discussion of the legal aspect of aircraft leasing has assumed a significant dimension. For many airlines in Africa and majority in Nigeria, the only way of meeting their aircraft needs is through leasing. The solicitor to a party in an aircraft lease negotiation has certain general and specific duties to perform. It is important to state as a preliminary matter that the solicitor to a party in an aircraft lease negotiation has a general duty of protecting his client’s interest throughout the negotiation preliminaries, documentation and finalization processes. In this connection, he must familiarize himself thoroughly with all aspects of the facts of the transaction and sight all documents and correspondents impacting on or related thereto. He must interview his client thoroughly to find out his commercial desire in entering into the negotiation and, against the background of his legal knowledge, evaluate the reasonable foresee-ability of the fulfillment of such aspiration on the (legal) framework proposed by the other

mortgage, second mortgage, party. He must as a matter sublease or sub-sub-lease. It of utmost importance is also desirable that the attend every “all parties” or Solicitor should give general other meetings called and legal advice both oral and assist his client with his written on identified or conlegal knowledge in all templated knotty problems deliberations. that may be encountered in This is to say that the solicdocumentation and proceitor should be able to produral matters such as vide sound legal advice that Licensing, registration, dewill assist his client to registration and notification understand the whole of specific interest in transaction and remove Aircrafts to the appropriate unreasonable obligations regulatory bodies. and duties on the part of his Before beginning negotiaclient. tions of an aircraft lease I sugSimilarly, he must be in gest that certain preparatory touch with all the Solicitors Mohammed Adoke, AGF connected with the negotiation and attend the work be undertaken. We have discussed below meetings of all Solicitors especially where the 12 important issues to consider. These may all lease or negotiation is of tripartite or multi-par- seem very basic to experienced attorneys but tite nature. For instance, in a situation where a sometimes a review is helpful. bank is giving an indemnity or guaranteeing Compliance statutory requirements the compliance of the Lessee to the terms of the As negotiation proceeds, the Solicitor involved lease or even in the somewhat complicated will be generally responsible for ensuring that cases of aircraft mortgage, Lease combined with statutory requirements are complied with. He

may have to determine from the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company whether the transaction is intra-vires or ultravires. He may be requested to issue a “letter of comfort” to the other party. These he may have to do after due enquiries and verification have been made. It is trite to say that negligent misstatement and willful or fraudulent misrepresentation are actionable against legal practitioners. Transaction to be structured as a teamwork. It is important that the Solicitor makes it clear to his client that the transaction should be a team work. The old adage about too many cooks is certainly applicable to aircraft lease negotiations, particularly, high visibility transactions. It is certain that numerous experts would crop up during and at such negotiations or any other major business transaction. Having a project team makes communication between the parties easier, provides for a division of responsibility and utilizes the appropriate expertise. One suggestion in this regard is to make the team a multi-disciplinary one consisting of lawyers, aircraft engineers, operations, finance and management.

TO BE CONTINUED

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Sports

TENNIS CLASSICS BI-WEEKLY An innovative magazine, takes a look at how Tennis can create an intriguing interactive experience... Debuts in The Guardian from Friday, March 1, 2013... Bi-weekly

Interest groups forge alliances ahead Federations’ election By Adeyinka Adedipe ITH the April 2013 elections into the boards of the sports federations around the corner, many of the candidates for the positions have started forging alliances to position themselves for the polls, which according to the Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, would be different from previous ones. The boards of the federations are expected to be dissolved either, next month or early April to ensure a level playing field for all the aspirants to the boards. After the country’s disastrous outing at the London 2012 Olympic Games distraught Nigerians, and indeed, sports lovers were united in the call for the reform of the federations if Nigeria desired to meet the modern challenges of sports development. In fact, there was a call for the federations to be dissolved after the Olympics, but the National Sports Commission (NSC) sensing there could be a problem, opted to allow the incumbent members complete their tenure in April. The Guardian’s investigations revealed that already some members of the outgoing boards have started making moves to get re-elected while new ones are also vying to come on board. Although, most of the members claim ignorant of the new procedures the Sports Ministry would bring out for the elections, some of them have started zonal campaigns to ensure they are good stead when the guidelines are released. Calling on the Sports Ministry to ensure that politicians do not hijack the elections as they did the previous ones, a candidate, who pleaded anonymity, said Abdullahi would be writing his name in gold if he succeeded in conducting a free and fair elections. The candidate, who is aspiring to get on the board of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), told The Guardian that he was willing to serve but wanted

to be sure that those he would be on the board with have the desire to develop the sports. “For me, serving on the board is about contributing meaningfully to the sports. It is about going in and making a difference because that is what service is all about. “Though, I am yet to scale the hurdle in the zones, I will have to be sure of myself before coming on board,” he added. Already, the HFN is embroiled in controversy, as a press release stated that the president, Yusuf Dauda, had agreed not to contest in April, which the HFN boss has already refuted. Expectedly, changes in some federations are imminent as the presidents may be eased out to allow in candidates with fresh ideas. The minister has already promised that there would no longer be government candidates, meaning that all the candidates would go to the polls on equal footing. Another candidate, who said he was in a meeting in Ibadan two weeks ago, said the National Sports Commission (NSC) would have to release the criteria it would use in measuring those that did well in the outgoing boards, so that “we don’t see a situation where some people would be disqualified just to pave way for some interest. “I am not saying that the minister would try to favour any party, but I have been in this business for long and I have seen strange things happen during elections.” The Sports Ministry recently said it has started reforms that would ensure that the federations become efficient, one of the outcomes being the recall of all secretaries to the NSC. This means that the federations would now appoint their secretaries. The NSC also said it had developed eligibility guidelines that will guide elections and appointments into the boards of the federations.

South Africa 2013 Fall-Out

Keshi was right in benching Yobo, says Peters From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja ORMER Assistant General FNigeria Secretary (Technical) of the Football Federation

Peters says Super Eagles Captain, Joseph Yobo, should be eased out of the team

Team Nigeria set for U.S training tour ahead U-12 Baseball World Cup O ensure that Nigeria’s U-12 T baseball team performs well at the forthcoming World Cup in Taipei, China, the board of Nigeria Baseball and Softball Federation has concluded plans to take the young lads on a training tour of the United States of America. Confirming this at the Rosebud College training camp of the national team, the Secretary General of NBSF Kehinde Olaniyan said the choice of United States was due to the professional level of the game in that country, adding, ‘since we need the

best, we have to go for the best.’ He said the U.S training tour, which is expected to come up in early July in Washington DC, will also attract other nations that want to make impact in the championship proper. He described the training tour as the second phase of the camping, which will sharpen the skills of the lads from Nigeria to effectively confront any team from any part of the world. “We are sincerely doing our best here in making sure that Nigeria is well represented in the global stage and I must tell

you too that these boys have impressed the technical official so much that they are now being tipped as one of the favourites of the championship. “I strongly believe that those of them that will finally make it to Taipei can beat their chest and said that it’s a deserved one,” he said. In his reaction, the Technical Adviser of the team, Gerard Hall said Nigeria needed all the necessary exposure in order to confront world bests like United States, Taiwan, China, Venezuela and Cuba.

Arsenal can finish second in Premiership, says Wenger RSENE Wenger says finishA ing second in the Premier Gunners declare half-yearly profits League is not out of Arsenal’s reach. Wenger has recently seen his side beaten by Blackburn in the FA Cup and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. But he believes it can secure the runners-up spot in the league, despite being nine points second-placed behind Manchester City with 11 games left. “Man City is not out of reach. It could be a tight fight until the end,” said the Arsenal boss. Despite enduring a torrid time last week in cup competitions, Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday was its third straight league success, following victories against

Sunderland and Stoke. Yet it remains fifth in the table, behind City, Chelsea and Tottenham ahead of the north London derby at White Hart Lane on March 3. Tottenham started Sunday’s game at West Ham in fourth, one point ahead of Arsenal but knowing victory at Upton Park will lift it two points above third-placed Chelsea. Manchester United, who Arsenal still have to play at Emirates Stadium on April 28, are 21 points clear of the Gunners at the top of the table. Chelsea interim manager, Rafael Benitez, suggested before his team’s 2-0 defeat at

Manchester City on Sunday that a top-two finish could be out of reach if the Blues lost at Etihad Stadium. “We have to go there with confidence and if we are close we can fight for being in the top two,” said Benitez before the weekend. “And if not we have to fight for being in the top four.” Yet Wenger believes his team can not only overtake Tottenham and Chelsea but also overhaul City and qualify automatically for a place in next season’s Champions League group stage. “I’m not sure it will only be a fight with Tottenham,” he

added when asked about the battle for fourth. “I’m not sure the other places are not reachable. “Chelsea is just ahead and even Manchester City is not out of reach. It could be a tight fight until the end.” Arsenal has not finished outside the Premier League’s top four since Wenger took charge in September 1996. The last time it ended the season in the top two was in 200405 when it was runners-up to Chelsea. Meanwhile, the Gunners have announced a profit of £17.8 million in the club’s latest half-yearly results - figures that will increase pressure to provide more money for Arsene Wenger to spend on transfers.

Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger.

(NFF), James Peters, has praised Coach Stephen Keshi for his courage in benching Super Eagles’ Captain, Joseph Yobo, immediately after the team’s first 2013 African Nations Cup group match against Burkina Faso in Nelspruit, South Africa. Peters, who has continually criticised Yobo’s role in the Super Eagles defence line, said it was that decision by the technical crew to keep the Turkey-based defender on the bench that guaranteed Nigeria’s victory at the competition, saying that youthful Kenneth Omeruo, who took over Yobo’s position proved a better option for the team captain. James, who praised Yobo for his role as a Super Eagles player and captain over the years, said the time has come for him to call it quit with the national team, especially at this time that his efforts has been rewarded with the Nations Cup trophy. He advised Keshi and his technical crew to pick more talented defenders from both the Nigerian League and outside the country to complement the roles of Efe Ambrose, Elderson Echiejile, Kenneth Omeruo, and Godfrey Oboabona, among others. “I am not surprised because right from day one, I said the moment they leave the bad pitch they played the group matches, their game would improve. That pitch was like the bar beach. We saw the team change dramatically on good pitches. “I also said that we should put Yobo on the bench even though I did not issue the directive to the technical crew. I felt that if I were the coach in charge, I would put Yobo on the bench. In response to my feeling, we saw Yobo on the bench and coming out few minutes to the end of the games just to show that he was the captain of the team. It was just to give him a feel of the AFCON.

SPORT 91

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Swimming federation scores self high over stewardship By Eno-Abasi Sunday HE Nigeria Swimming Federation (NSF) has rated its performance high since coming on board in June 2009. The federation, now under the management of a group consisting of three partners, the Nigerian Navy, O’jez Entertainment and Authentic Friends of Swimming, was granted the right to administer the sport two years ago, by the National Sports Commission (NSC) as part of the government’s Public Private Partnership (PPP). Among other things, the federation headed by Babatunde Fatayi-Williams has within the period under review, organised several developmental programmes for youths, training programmes for officials, as well as, fielded athletes in international competitions both within and outside the continent. Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, FatayiWilliams said, “I believe that since we came on board in the second quarter of 2009, we have done pretty well and enough to show our determination and commitment to the development of the sport of swimming in the country. “Even though we are not yet where we ought to be,” he stated, “we still need to do more to assist and support states to develop swimming in their domain because most states do not have what it takes to develop the sport. In this direction, we need more sponsorship to run not only competitions, but also training programmes so as to keep budding swimmers in great shape.” Enumerating some of the competitions the federation has been able to stage in the last three and a half years, the federation president said, “we successfully staged the Chief of Naval Staff Open Championship in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in Kaduna, Ilorin and Calabar, we organised the NDDC-sponsored swimming competition for secondary schools in the nine states covered by the Commission, two classics in Ibadan and Lagos in 2011, as well as, organised participated in hosted the 9th African Junior Championships in Port Harcourt, River State. On the international scene, we participated in the 8th African Junior Championships in Mauritius. We also participated in the Senior African Swimming Championships in Morocco in 2010, as well as, another in Kenya in 2012.” Insisting that “it has been a pretty active four years in terms of competitions and getting Nigerians into positions, where they can articulate the country’s interest and officiate in both FINA and CANA-organised events, Fatayi-Williams said, “four Nigerian-Rev. Pat Egbele, Martins Ade-Ojo, Kareem Ojakhire and Dr. Kunle Odewumi made it into the FINA Referees/judges list. “Two Nigerians, the Technical Director NSF, Captain Gbenga Lawal (rtd) and Egbele also retained their seats as Chairman of the Technical Committee and member, Water Polo Committee on the CANA Bureau respectively, while Rev.

Even though we are not yet where we ought to be,” he stated, “we still need to do more to assist and support states to develop swimming in their domain because most states do not have what it takes to develop the sport. In this direction, we need more sponsorship to run not only competitions, but also training programmes so as to keep budding swimmers in great shape Joshua Jesimiel bagged membership of CANA’s Water Polo Committee and Odewunmi, member of Masters Technical Committee. Reacting to comments by the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC) that for any member of the outgoing sports federation to retain his seat, there must be concrete evidence of positive contributions to the development of the spot, Fatayi-Williams said he was in tune with the idea because “federations are the basis for sports development so active members of the federations should be retained and inactive ones replaced because the president of any federation cannot function alone.”

Jump for it…swimmers diving into the pool during the women100 metres breaststroke final at the last National Sports Festival, tagged Eko 2012. PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU.

Handball chief denies withdrawing from Federations’ elections By Adeyinka Adedipe RESIDENT of the Handball P Federation of Nigerian (HFN), Yusuf Dauda has refuted reports that he has decided not to run for the office in the next federations’ elections scheduled for April. Dauda said he was alarmed to hear from his friends that he was quoted as saying at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Lagos that he had decided not

to contest the elections when his tenure expires in April. He explained, “we never had any stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos, but a meeting between me and former president, Mark Jacob. After the discussion, he told me that he was going to meet with his group before taking any decision and I also told him that I had people who I will consult with. “I am surprised to hear that I accepted the decision of the

stakeholders not to go for a second term. I must say that this is false because I never told him that. Also, the press release did not emanate from my office as stated in it. “Some weeks back, I was told that there was a stakeholders meeting in Abuja after a veterans’ game between the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) team and Niger State. I decided to attend and I used the opportunity to clear the air on so many

Premier Lotto Lagos School Athletics championship

District qualifiers take centre stage at Agege Stadium By Olalekan Okusan ITH the commencement W of the maiden Premier Lotto Lagos School Athletics championships, action moves to Agege Stadium today for the district qualifiers of the competition. With over 300 schools from the six education districts in Lagos State jostling for places in the March 9 grand finale, fleet-footed students will besiege Agege Stadium for the district qualifiers for schools from Agege, Ifako Ijaiye and Alimosho. It was the turn of district two at the weekend at Teslim Balogun Stadium, with schools drawn from Ikorodu, Somolu and Kosofe kick starting the tournament with the aim of berthing in the grand finale. Already, the top three athletes in 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500metres, long and high jumps, as well as, shot put have merged from the zone. According to one of the technical officials, Funmi Nutayi, the tournament would indeed help Lagos to unearth new talents, while it would afford the students the opportunity to

showcase themselves. “I think this is one of the missing links in Nigerian sports and we are happy that Lagos State is taking the lead with the staging of this championship. Staging this will surely help to attract more sponsors and while it will help assist the state to discover young athletes that will be groomed to stardom. I am so excited and I look forward to watch the athletes setting records, as well as, to identify new talents for the country,” Nutayi said. According to the organisers, students from secondary students in public and private schools in the state will compete in the tournament and Premier Lotto is bankrolling it in collaboration with the Lagos State Athletics Association and Lagos State Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development, as well as, the Ministry of Education. According to the organisers, the tournament is aimed at promoting athletics in schools, as well as, to discover new talents. The competition will be in two categories starting with the district finals made up of the six education districts in the state.

issues and that was when those who have been critical of my administration had a change of heart. “They also agreed that Jacob and I should meet to trash out our differences and we met in Lagos where we did not reach any agreement. I am surprised that a release was purportedly issued from my office to announce my decision not to contest in the April polls.” He described the publication as cheap blackmail intended to embarrass him. He also express disappointment over the publication noting that he didn’t expect that from anyone aspiring to be on the board of a federation.

ISIS Gaming N2m online promo rewards Super Eagles’ fans By Bankole Shakirudeen Adeshina S part of the celebration A of the Super Eagles’ golden outing at the just con-

Athletes compete in the girls’ 800metre of district two qualifiers at the maiden Premier Lotto Lagos School Athletics championship held at Teslim Balogun Stadium… yesterday. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

cluded African Nation’s Cup in South Africa, ISIS Gaming has commenced a two-week predict and win online promo to reward fans for their support of the national team during the competition. Tagged: ‘For the Wins,’ according to the Public Relations Officer of the company, Okharedia Otibho, the promo will run on Twitter and participants are expected to follow ‘ISIS Gaming’ to answer certain questions correctly and stand the chance to win scratch cards worth N2000 and above. Otibho said the questions would be based on football activities at the just concluded AFCON and on ISIS Gaming, adding that the campaign will be Nigeria twitters finest @olorisuoergal via @isis gaming twitter handle.

92 SPORT

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Mba, Agbim belong to Warri Wolves, says NFF By Gowon Akpodonor HE controversy surroundT ing the ownership of two Super Eagles players, striker, Sunday Mba and goalkeeper, Chigozie Agbim have been finally laid to rest, following a declaration by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Premier League Management Committee that the duo are bonafide players of Warri Wolves. Since last year, the management of Warri Wolves and that of Rangers of Enugu have been trading words over the ownership of the two players. Mba and Agbim were said to have signed a two-year contract with Wolves last season. The duo left their Warri-based camp last year to sign for the Flying Antelops (Rangers), who allegedly used the CAF Champions League as yardstick to lure them away. The move did not go down well with the management of Warri Wolves, who claimed that Rangers did not enter into any form of negotiation

Agbakoba, Probitas maintain lead, as BOA Lawyers League enters Week Two ESPITE their not so impresD sive results in the second week of the 2013 Bankole

with them regarding Mba and Agbim. In a letter titled, Re: Petition on Rangers Int’l FC unsportman behaviour’ signed by the Secretary of NFF Premier League Management Committee, Tunji Babalola and made available to The Guardian stated that the duo of Mba and Agbim are bonafide players of Warri Wolves. It reads: “We are in receipt of your correspondence on the above subject: From our records it is established that Chigozie Agbim and Sunday Mba are bonafide players of Warri Wolves FC. “Consequently, the ownership of the players is not subject to controversy and any club that requires their services should contact the management of Warri Wolves FC for negotiation.” At the end of last season, Mba was said to have traveled to the coal city (Enugu) on holiday and was approached by officials of Rangers FC.

Njideaka preaches sports development at Santa Maria Telematch 2013 XECUTIVE Director of Santa E Maria Montessori School in Lagos, Ayopeju Njideaka, at the weekend urged sports authorities in Lagos State and the National Sports Commission (NSC) to embrace full-fledged sports development, especially at the grassroots level. She noted that identifying talents at tender ages would grow sports to an enviable height in the country. Speaking at the 2013 edition of the Santa Maria Montessori School Telematch, held at the school premises in Alaka, Surulere, Njideka said, “many years ago, we recognised the importance of sports development of growing children and decided to model a fun sports event after the famous German Telematch Games of the 70’s. “The objective was to give the children an opportunity to acquire sports skills, develop resilience and muscular strength, as well as, compete with each other without annihilating the joy and innocence of childhood. And for many years, Santa Maria Montessori School has successfully achieved this.” In the competition proper that had a total of 19 events, including Cup Race, Walking Tall, Tricycle Ride, Number Games, 50metres race among others, Diamond House retained the overall champion’s title of the Santa Maria Telematch. It amassed 18 gold, 17 silver and eight bronze medals to top the table, with Gold House placing overall second with 15 gold, 16 silver and 14 bronze medals, while 2011 champions, Ruby House, finished in third place with 12 gold, 13 silver and 18 bronze medals. The captain of Gold House, Damilare Odelola was voted the Best Athlete of the Year. Also speaking at the event, the Chief Learning Officer of the institution, Kevin

Njideaka described this year’s edition of the Telematch as a success as all the kids had fun. “For next year, we are going to introduce more events that will be age-related. I would say for this year, we scored 90 per cent.”

Super Eagles’ star, Sunday Mba (left) left tries to beat Mali’s Seydou Keita during the 2013 Orange African Cup of Nations Semifinal match at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa… recently.

Nigeria National League

Count yourself lucky, MFM coach tells COD UT for mother luck, which B smiled on City of David (COD) Football Club, the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries Football Club would have beaten it with more than the two goals it recorded on Saturday. That was the assertion of MFM Coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu, who said the Olukoya Boys were superior to the COD in all areas of the game played at the Agege Stadium on Match Day 10 of the Nigeria National League (NNL). According to Ilechukwu, “before the game, my boys

said to themselves that they must show the world that they are superior to COD United and now they have proved just that. They were lucky not to have conceded more than two goals because my boys were in too much of a hurry to score more goals so anxiety set in. “In a game like this the better and much determined side usually comes out victorious. Our superiority will not end here at the Agege Stadium, we will take this good form to our home ground at Onikan stadium when we play the return leg.”

A first half goal from striker, Sikiru Olatunbosun and a well taken penalty by captain, Femi Oladejo, a midfielder, who was unarguably the man of the match, were all MFM FC needed to beat COD United FC and earn the three maximum points. The Lagos derby indeed lived to its billing as both teams gave their all on the pitch, entertained their fans with top notch performance, showing class and quality. MFM FC did not only dominate the game, it had much of the possession, more shots on target, and scored two goals

Top national players like Ojo Onaolapo is one of the stars expected to participate in the Adeboye U-20 championship today.

within 27 minutes of play. With this victory, MFM now 12 points from 10 matches to occupy the 10th on the NNL Division B table. Its next game is an away match against Abia Comet this weekend.

Olumide Aluko tournament, also known as Lawyers League, Olisa Agbakoba and Associates, and Probitas/B.Ayorinde retained the leadership of the tournament’s Group A and B with four points and three respectively. Group A leader, Olisa Agbokba and Associates, was held to a goalless draw by Falana and Falana, while Probitas/B. Ayorinde lost to early goals (Ola 3rd minute, Adamson 9th) by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, but still retained its position courtesy of the three points it got in the opening week of the competition. In another match played over the weekend, Ricky Tarfa and Co. defeated Babalakin and Co. through a lone goal scored by Oladele in the 9th minute, while the tie game between Aelex Partners and Aluko& Oyebode was postponed. In second place on the Group A log is Aelex Partners, which has the same one point with third and fourth placed SPA Ajibade and Co., and Falana and Falana, while Aluko and Oyebode has no point and is placed fifth. In Group B, behind Probitas Partners/B. Ayorinde & Co are Lagos State Ministry of Justice and Ricky Tarfa & Co., both are on the same three points but occupy the second and third positions respectively because the leaders have scored more goals. Babalakin & Co., and Banwo & Ighodalo occupy the fourth and fifth positions having scored no point in the competition. The BOA League was started in 2002 by the law firm of Aluko & Oyebode in memory of its late co-founding partner, Bankole Olumide Aluko (SAN), an esteemed football lover and a brilliant legal mind. In its 11th edition, the games hold at the Astroturf 2000, and according to the organisers, it is geared towards bringing together lawyers/firms in Nigeria in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Table Tennis

25 states begin hostilities at Adeboye U-20 national championship By Olalekan Okusan WENTY-FIVE states across the T country will today begin hostilities for the two titles at stake at the maiden Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye National U-20 Table Tennis Championship. According to the Special Assistant to the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (Administration and Personnel, Johnson F. Odesola, the tournament is jointly organised by the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) and the Directorate of Sports, RCCG, as part of the activities to celebrate the 71st birthday of Pastor Adeboye. With 3000 players already featured in the state preliminaries with four boys and four girls expected to represent each state at the championship holding at the Redemption Camp, Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. Action will commence today with the grand finale holding

on Saturday March 2, while the finales will be preceded by a seminar titled: Maximising The Potentials Of Nigerian Youth In Table Tennis Towards The 2016 Olympic Games: Roles Of The Private Sector. Also, former international, Toyin Okenla-Ojeaga has been named as the competition’s ambassador by the organisers. With plans to expand the events, Odesola, who was represented by Head of Sports in RCCG, Paul Bankole, over N6 million will be won by the top eight players at the competition with the winners getting N1.5 million each. “We view this epoch-making programme as part of RCCG’s contribution to sports development in Nigeria via the strategies that would leverage the rejuvenation of table tennis in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), the Sports for Development and Peace Programmes of the United Nations General Assembly.

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

SPORTS 93

European Round-Off

Beckham enjoys ‘perfect’ debut

Chelsea defended ‘way too much’ against City, Cahill admits

AVID Beckham reflected D back on a “perfect day” after making his Paris St

ARY Cahill lamented the G amount of pressure that Chelsea’s defense was forced

Germain debut in a 2-0 victory over their arch rivals Marseille. The former England captain, who joined PSG on a fivemonth deal last month, came off the bench in the 76th minute last night to become the 400th player to represent the club. PSG were leading 1-0 at the time thanks to Lucas Moura’s deflected early opener at the Parc des Princes, and Beckham helped his new side seal victo-

ry with a second goal through Zlatan Ibrahimovic in injurytime. Beckham chipped a pass into the left-hand channel of the area for Jeremy Menez, whose cross was tucked in by Ibrahimovic for his 22nd goal of the season. The win restored PSG’s threepoint lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings over Lyon, who beat Lorient earlier in the day, while third-placed Marseille are now eight points adrift of the leaders, who are chasing their first title in almost two decades.

A delighted Beckham said on his club’s website, www.psg.fr, “I’m very happy tonight, mainly because of the victory. “We have played better but it was very important to win. Today was the perfect day. Not only because I’m the 400th player in the history of the club but also because I’m part of a very special team. “The welcome from the supporters was unbelievable, and I want to say thank you to them.” PSG boss Carlo Ancelotti had waited to give Beckham his

debut as the former Manchester United and Real Madrid built up his fitness having not played a competitive match since he helped the Los Angeles Galaxy to the MLS Cup title - his final game for the club after a five-year stay last December. Beckham could now make two appearances in four days for his new club after former Chelsea boss Ancelotti suggested the 37-year-old could face Marseille again in midweek. The Italian said, “Beckham played because he was in the right physical condition and certain players needed a breather. It could be that David Beckham will play on Wednesday in the Coupe de France.”

to face in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Manchester City. Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez eventually broke through a stubborn Blues back line to leave the west London side just two points above fifthplaced Arsenal in the Premier League table. “I thought they were on top for most of the game, they kept coming at us, coming at us,” the England international told Chelsea TV. “I know I get paid to defend, but we were under the cosh for a lot of the game, way too much really. “I don’t know why or what was wrong. I thought we didn’t create that many chances and we had to defend as a

Barca should talk about football, not referees, says Mourinho EAL Madrid Coach, Jose R Mourinho believes Barcelona should focus on

Beckham

football rather than talking about the referees ahead of the second-leg Copa del Rey clash at the Camp Nou. Barcelona interim Coach, Jordi Roura voiced his reservations over the appointment of Alberto Undiano Mallecano as the referee for the Clasico, and the Blancos trainer feels they should concentrate on the game itself. “I prefer to stay with the lessons we have received in the past from Barcelona. Lessons in sportsmanship, how to be in football. Not talking about

the referees, not surrounding them, trying to get opponents booked,” he sarcastically told reporters. “And, of course, giving lessons on how to play football, they do that very well. They would be well advised if they humbly followed that line.” The former Chelsea boss is looking forward to the encounter as his side look to rescue their season with a Copa triumph. “These are the games we like to play and I like going into with the players. We prefer games this dimension and this difficulty.”

I don’t know why or what was wrong. I thought we didn’t create that many chances and we had to defend as a team a lot. I’d like to not be doing as much defending. Normally you probably get asked to do three or four important things in a game, against Man City I probably had 20-25 team a lot. I’d like to not be doing as much defending. Normally you probably get asked to do three or four important things in a game, against Man City I probably had 20-25.” Cahill also blamed a packed fixture list for the sluggish performance, with Chelsea facing Europa League performances, as well as, having games piled up due to the Club World Cup campaign earlier in the season. “I think they had a clear week and we have had a ridiculous amount of games,” he continued. “Unfortunately it does take its toll. We were trying to recover from the game the other night and it told. They were a lot sharper and fresher than us. “We haven’t had a clear week for what, 29 weeks, and you’re expected to go into games 100 per cent fresh trying to push on for every competition. You don’t want to make excuses, but it’s a fact.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

94 SPORTS

European Round-Oﬀ

Fabregas calls for Barca focus ESC Fabregas has warned C his Barcelona teammates against complacency when they face Real Madrid in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final today. The first leg finished 1-1 in Madrid and Barca’s dominance of all things domestic this season makes them favourite to advance on home soil. But Fabregas reckons his side have already missed one chance to deliver a killer blow to Jose Mourinho’s side and they cannot afford to do so again. “We had our chances to make it 2-0 in Madrid,” he told Barcelona’s website. “In the return leg we will need to be as effective as possible, because they are very effective. We have to be on target in front of goal if we want to get to the final.

“It’s vital to score, we cannot go into the match and wait to see what happens. In last year’s Cup Clasico return leg - we had a good result from the away leg and we were nearly eliminated from the competition. “Madrid are very dangerous and in order to go through we’ll have to play the best football we’re capable of.” Barcelona are chasing a treble with the Primera Division title all but sewn up, although their Champions League hopes are dangling by a thread after a surprise 2-0 loss away to AC Milan in the first leg of their tie. For Madrid, the cups have even more currency as their only hopes of silverware in a season where they have fallen drastically short of

expected standards in the league. Mourinho’s side trail Barca by 16 points in the league but can salvage some pride with cup success. Defender Pepe, who will be looking to cap his 30th birthday on a positive note, is upbeat about their chances. “If we play as a team we have a good chance of winning the play-off,” he told the club’s website. “We have to remain true to our style of play and do what coach Mourinho asks and we’ll have a good chance of winning the play-off.” With all the attention a Clasico fixture attracts, it would be easy to forget it is one of two semi-final second legs this week with Atletico Madrid and Sevilla ready to settle their tie, in which Atletico will head south with a 2-1 lead.

We’ll keep pushing United, says Toure ANCHESTER City talisM man, Yaya Toure has vowed not to give up in the title race. The champions’ hopes of retaining their Barclays Premier League crown look slim despite cutting Manchester United’s lead at the top to 12 points with an impressive 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday. Toure opened the scoring with a neat finish just after the hour, following a rare missed penalty from Chelsea’s Frank Lampard,

and Carlos Tevez made sure of victory late on with a long-range strike. It was a spirited response after a run of three league games without a win and Toure is determined to maintain that attitude. The influential former Barcelona midfielder told City TV, “we are very pleased with the win because that is the most important thing for me. We have to keep on going and try and win all our games because we know United are in the top

spot. “We needed 12 wins and we have to keep on going because we don’t know the future and you can’t say it is finished. For the football club and the fans, you can’t give up now. We have 11 games remaining and in sport you never know what can happen in the future. “We know we have a big calendar, more difficult than them, but we have to keep on going and try and win matches and not let any points (slip) away.”

THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, February 26, 2013

TheGuardian

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Obi Ebuka Onochie “What is the main difference between a political party and a political machine? A party is organised for a purpose larger than its own survival. A political machine exists for its own sake, its primary, in a sense its only purpose is survival.” – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, 1973. AM inclined to suppose that majority of Nigerians believe that we have democratic government and almost same majority believe that our democratic government is embedded in illusory democratic principles which ultimately makes ours a bogus democracy. Recently, the long speculative reports of the fallout between the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and his predecessor Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, are incipiently making its public emergence. The president’s comment on the failure of Odi military mission against militants and former President Obasanjo’s assemblage of his political protégés for mosque endowment fund at his presidential library underscore the rancor building up between the two. The issue of past leaders interfering and meddling in the governmental activities of their successors is becoming a norm in Nigeria, in fact a hobby of some sort to them. This arrogant posture of interfering in the activities of successive government has permeated down to state governments and would have spilled down to the local governments if not for the strangulating power of the state over them. This trend has turned our government to an arena for power struggle, consolidation of the grab and cagy activities all in the bid to fend off the officious activities of predecessors. This leaves the hoi polloi at the basement of the battleground and perpetually kept in privation. The United States of America that has become some sort of iconic democracy has a row of living past leaders while their present successor governments run without unsolicited “help” from the past leaders. All their past presidents from Jimmy James Earl Carter, the 38th President of the United States to Bill Clinton and to the immediate past President George Walker Bush are all alive except for Ronald Wilson Reagan who passed away in 2004. Obama is not only free from all the stress of grappling with the influence of his predecessors, he is enjoying a true political party and not political machine riddled with selfish cells pursing different selfish political agendas that may be unrelated to the interest of the state. The British on the other hand have their past leaders from Margaret Thatcher down to John Major, Tony Blair and to Gordon Brown alive yet the government of David Cameron is running smoothly. We all remember how powerful and popular Margaret Thatcher was when she was in power, yet she was able to take that to retirement with absolute calmness. The same goes for George Bush and Bill Clinton who only come out when their nationalistic experience are sought after for the greater America. The same

The issue of past leaders interfering and meddling in the governmental activities of their successors is becoming a norm in Nigeria, in fact a hobby of some sort to them. This arrogant posture of interfering in the activities of successive government has permeated down to state governments and would have spilled down to the local governments if not for the strangulating power of the state over them.

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Fingers from the past

We are approaching 2015 general election and the gathering of the opposition within and beyond PDP is distracting the attention of the government from the real issues of governance. Our egoistic former rulers that perceive President Jonathan not loyal enough have all opened their political arsenal geared towards 2015 elections.

Obasanjo and Jonathan

goes for Mandela who does not comment openly on the performance or lack of it of his successors. It is very disturbing that their likes here in Nigeria are the ones creating chaos, sowing seeds of discord. They are loud and too visible, particularly Obasanjo and Bola Tinubu. They are overbearing. They do not have anything to do other than making unguarded comments. Former leaders in Nigeria are present at nearly all occasions other than national events. They decide who rules and who does not without recourse to political process of voting. They do not allow incumbent president or governors to assemble their own teams and take responsibility for the choices they make. We quote great leaders from around the globe who are worthy examples of leadership, but we can’t proudly quote any of ours if not this, “the person that will succeed me I do not know but people that will never succeed me I certainly know”. This statement is attributed to at least two past rulers of the Nigerian ‘empire’ and this accentuates strong rulers as opposed to strong institutions of government. We prefer a strong man to strong institutions that any political leader who isn’t demonstrating manipulation and ruthlessness is considered a weakling and clueless leader. People

tend to deaden themselves to repetitive abuse of their lives and with the passage of time they begin to view it as normal activities of fated lives. It can be likened to a lie told repeatedly that is accepted as truth. Recently in South Africa, their former selfless leader Nelson Mandela was rushed to the hospital for medical attention and the whole country wished him well and fervently prayed for his speedy recovery. His party members were not left out. They put aside their differences to attend to Madiba as he is fondly called. I was moved with emotions during his last birthday celebration when even the commonest of people were shedding tears of joy as they wished him happy birthday and many more years ahead. What came to mind was, who in Nigeria can be so loved by the masses the way the South Africans love Madiba. I stand to be corrected; I do not think there is. This is why the activities of past and present government officials are shrouded in secrecy especially where health issues are concerned not sure how the news of their death will be received. We are approaching 2015 general election and the gathering of the opposition within and beyond PDP is distracting the attention of the government from the real issues of governance. Our egoistic former rulers that perceive

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Editor: MARTINS

OLOJA

ABC (ISSN NO 0189-5125)

President Jonathan not loyal enough have all opened their political arsenal geared towards 2015 elections. It is true that no soul feels at peace with evil deeds and given another opportunity. Many of our past leaders are fidgeting, trying to make amends to their past mistakes. With the state of their souls, they can only compound the woes of the country if they were to have their way. The coming and going of generations should not only be determined by death. People retire to give a new generation the opportunity to take up from where they stopped and move the entire society to a new level. It happens frequently in football where you see a very active club side player announce his retirement from international football to give opportunity to young starlets to patriotically serve their fatherland. I do not think that political service should be any different from what is obtainable on the pitch of football. That explains why our elections are not done in a proper way and why election results are not accepted with the spirit of sportsmanship. Manipulation, deceits and unguarded utterances meant to heat up the polity are the manifestation of our frustrated past “rulers”. Sometime in the past, The Nation newspaper published a letter purportedly written by former President Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan urging him to sack some certain government appointees. Former presidents Babangida and Obasanjo on the pages of newspapers traded blame on their stewardship. That clearly showed that they know the humiliating state of the country they have refused to allow the younger generation to build. We saw how hard Governor Akpabio fought his predecessor to back off his neck to be able to get Akwa Ibom State to its present level. President Goodluck is obviously battling the forces of his predecessors but the direction he himself is taking us to is still largely unclear. • Onochie, a political analyst, wrote from Port Harcourt.