Wed 11 June 2014

Mr. President, go to Chibok HY is it that whenever history furnishes W our President the opportunity to roar, he whimpers? Why does President Jonathan tip-

To redeem himself and garner some credibility for his administration in this trying time, he must find his way to Chibok, however he plans to toe when an unmistakable stomping around do it. President Jonathan does not need a retinue would do? of bomb squad to accompany him and he does

not need an advance party or bureaux of the Presidency to herald his coming. He should go incognito.

As the Commander-in-Chief, President Jonathan owes the hurting people of Chibok a moral duty

to see them. Above all, he should go to the theatre of war, to send the strongest signal yet to all Nigerians that he not only cares as their President, he is taking full command of the war on terror.

SEE EDITORIAL ON PAGE 12

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Vol. 30, No. 12,948

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Abuja markets shut over bomb scare - Page 16 Boko Haram led pogroms, ethnic cleansing and medieval bestiality in Nigeria’s Northeast - Page 7

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...DAY 58

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OURGIRLS Presidents Goodluck Jonathan (right), Mamnoon Hassain of Pakistan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo in Abuja … yesterday. Story on page 3

Navy raises fight against crude oil theft, others

By Madu Onuorah, Abuja Bureau Chief SIDE from being part of the A anti-terrorism war, the Nigerian Navy has focused on other security challenges confronting the country.

It has directed its attention at the elimination of crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism, piracy and other illegalities in the nation’s maritime domain.

For two days, top officials of the Navy and other stakeholders in the maritime sector last week gathered in Tinapa, Calabar, Cross River State to reappraise the procedures and work out new processes to ensure that Nigeria wins the war against maritime crimes.

Agencies involved in the reappraisal meeting include the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Customs Service,

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), National Oil Spill Detection Agency (NOSDA), Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

They gathered because of the debilitating economic implications of the continuing theft of Nigeria’s crude oil, ranging from being a potential disincentive to Nigeria’s foreign direct investment, dwindling revenue accruing to the nation and its effects on the environment. To tackle this, apart from the directives by President Goodluck Jonathan to the Navy to spearhead the fight, there have been recent attempts by the Federal Government to improve on inter-

sectoral linkages at different levels in the fight against crude oil theft by constituting several ad-hoc bodies.

They include the InterAgency Maritime Operations Coordination Committee, the Joint Task Force Operation Pulo Shield and the Ad-Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft Prevention and Control of the National Economic Council.

Under the latter Committee, a Legal Task Force on the prosecution of oil theft cases was also established. These were aimed at getting the various actors or regulators in the maritime industry to synergize efforts. But these efforts have not given the desired results.

So, the Navy led the other stakeholders, under the theme: Combating Crude Oil Theft in Nigeria’s Maritime Domain: An Imperative for Im-

proved National Revenue Earnings, to x-ray the task of ensuring security in Nigeria’s coastline. Indeed, Nigeria’s coastline stretches 420 nautical miles from the east to the west including the territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone, which is about 84,000 square miles. As the world’s 13th largest oil exporting nation, a substantial proportion of Nigeria’s crude and gas is found offshore and have to be channelled through pipelines across land and maritime zones including internal waters.

The meeting listed three main types of crude oil theft peculiar to Nigeria. They include small-scale pilfering and illegal local refining, large scale illegal bunkering in the field and theft at the loading terminals.

The process of crude oil theft

include bursting of oil pipelines, tapping into flow lines, tapping from abandoned well heads and theft at export terminals. The aim of the oil thieves is to exert maximum destruction of pipelines well heads and other installations from which crude is extracted illegally and transported through tankers, vessels of jerry cans to locations where it is either refined into diesel or Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or exported.

The nature and scope of these activities makes it difficult to secure crude oil from the production centres to the terminals because Nigeria has a total pipeline grid of 5,001 kilometres, consisting of 4,315 kilometres of multiproduct pipelines and 666 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Edo factional lawmakers ‘impeach’ Speaker, others - Page 3 Police promote Olakpe, Okudo, other officers, dismiss four - Page 4 CAN wants govt to probe govs over Boko Haram, Fulani mercenaries Page - 6

Ebola death toll hits 208 in Guinea, 12 in S’Leone Page - 73

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2 | NEWS Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin

Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Navy raises fight against crude oil theft, others CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 kilometres of crude oil pipelines. The pipelines, which transverse the country, form a network that interconnects the 22 petroleum storage depots, the four refineries at Port Harcourt (I and II), Kaduna and Warri, the off-shore terminals at Bonny and, Escravos and the jetties at Atlas Cove, Calabar, Okirika and Warri.

The most difficult axis to secure is the major 98 kilometre oil trunk pipeline between Trans Forcados and Nembe Creek. Last year, this trunk pipelines was vandalised at over 100 illegal bunkering points. Between Calabar and Lagos, there were eight identified choke points. Over the years, vandals and criminal cartels had subjected the pipeline infrastructure to incessant attacks. What is very worrisome is that there are actually no agreement on the total number of loses in these criminal acts. This is because, as the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr .Mohammed Adoke said in Calabar last week, even in the petroleum industry, “reliable statistics are painfully scarce.

Actual loss may be more, as these figures make no distinction between stolen or spilled oil. Also, sometimes when an operator talks of loss, one is not often certain that this is in terms of potential production loss in consequence of a shut down.

“These losses are primarily attributable to theft, vandalism, bunkering and piracy.

The volume and intensity of these activities coupled with the sophistication of their equipment and arsenal lead to the inescapable conclusion that the perpetrators are not only well organized but aided by insiders in the oil industry.

The recent political history of the Niger Delta region, opaque reporting standards, insincerity on the part of some operators and an obviously out-dated regulatory framework has no doubt worsened the vicious cycle of criminality.”

In 2013, crude oil losses caused by theft were estimated at about 55, 210 barrels per day or monthly average of 1,656,281 barrels. The losses imply inability to meet planned oil production forecasts. For example, last year, the budgeted projected oil production target was 2.53 million barrels per day (mbpd). But actual output was less than 2.3 mbpd. This has ensured deficit budgeting which has been prevalent in Nigeria as the country has depended mainly on oil revenues to finance its expenditure. For example, in 1970, oil contributed only 26.28 per

cent to total revenue while non-oil proceeds was 73.72 per cent. By 2013, the share of oil in total revenue was 75.33 per cent while non-oil was 24.67 per cent.

Oil theft has also had impact on the nation’s fiscal buffers as the Excess Crude Account (ECA)) balances dropped from US$9.6 billion in 2012 to US$3.2 billion at end 2013. Its impact on Nigeria’s external buffers (Foreign reserves balances) has been negative. It has moved up from foreign reserve balance of US$43.83bn in 2012 to US$44.45bn at end 2013. As at last month, it has dropped by 15.7 per cent to US$37.45 billion.

Director General, Budget Office, Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr. Bright Okogu said that “if we assume a loss of 300,000 bpd, over a year, net revenue loss to the federation amounts to about N1.4 trillion.

This is the budget of at least three key sectors including the entire security, education and works sectors. If shared as statutorily approved, it would have meant a surplus budget for the Federal Government of Nigeria and many states. It would have meant zero government borrowing.”

Apart from the issue of dwindling revenues, illegal oil bunkering (oil thievery) has had adverse effects on marine life as frequent resultant leaks from crude oil contaminate the inter-tidal zone, the beaches, the feathers of seabirds and the furs of seals. It has also destroyed aquatic life and set back local industries like tourism and fishing. The pollution of farmlands from crude oil theft poses threat to food security as it decreases fisheries’ resources and damages wild life such as sea birds and marine mammals Okogu stated that in addition to the above threats, crude oil theft results in food poisoning, air pollution as “with the total amount of crude oil stolen; only about 20 per cent is channelled to local illegal refineries. Only about 30 per cent is successfully refined to kerosene and AGO. The balance is discharged into the environment as sludge. Crude oil theft also increases insecurity and violence as it aids kidnappings, strengthens social miscreants financially, arms miscreants against society and State. Illegal activities of oil thieves have potential to pose threat to security of the State because it could leave both money and arms in the hands of criminals, who could then feel they are above the law. It also causes social displacements as the violent conflicts with the criminal activities force communities to migrate.”

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin added

that “it is particularly significant to note the downward trajectory so far this year which is as a result of the reinvigorated effort and strategy by the current administration in the Nigerian Navy. The reduction in sea robbery and piracy in Nigerian waters is attributed to improved patrols by the Nigerian Navy, especially with the acquisition of new platforms and the redeployment of other assets to identified flash and maritime choke points. The relative safety of Nigeria’s maritime space could be better appreciated by the fact that between January and April, 2014, about 602 tankers legally loaded 61,584,599 metric tonnes of crude oil safely left Nigeria’s maritime domain without any untoward incident.

“Since my assumption of office, our goal has been for the three operational commands to have at least one ship at sea at all times while our boat squadrons patrol roadsteads and channels. We hope to sustain and improve upon this level of security in our maritime domain through vigorous pursuit of the fleet renewal strategy through acquisition of new platforms, refit of older vessels to extend their service life and developing indigenous shipbuilding capability.

Towards enhancing the anticrude theft and other illegalities operation, Admiral Jibrin states that the Navy intends to “continue to partner with relevant agencies and wellmeaning stakeholders in the maritime sector, particularly in the areas of capacity building, information/intelligence sharing and logistics support to enhance maritime security and promote the well-being of the nation’s economic base.

Furthermore, the Nigerian Navy is committed to expanding bi-lateral and multi-lateral regional maritime security arrangements, while also deepening opportunities for inter-regional maritime security cooperation.”

Chairperson of the Senate Committee on the Navy, Chris Anyanwu noted that “it is well known that crude oil theft is a premeditated crime committed by elements who operate in gangs. Some inhabitants of coastal communities are reported to be part of the criminal minds. Also, the fact that the maritime space is open for use by all maritime stake-

holders makes it possible for some stakeholders to have forehand information about the activities of the oil thieves.

However, if the Nigerian Navy, like other security agencies, is not availed of useful intelligence in time, it is doubtful if the Nigerian Navy can succeed in its combat against oil theft in the maritime environment. Closely related to intelligence sharing is the need to explore the possibility of using available technology to ensure timely detection, location and passage of information about crude oil theft.”

Adoke admitted that legal challenges encountered in fighting oil theft and vandalism is not really that of inadequate laws but rather poor enforcement of the myriad of laws and regulations on the subject. Apart from the general Criminal and Penal Codes, the main laws and Regulations include Associated Gas Re-Injection Act 1979 and Regulations made there under, Oil In Navigable Waters Act, Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, LFN 2004, Oil Pipelines Act 1956, Petroleum Production And Distribution (Anti- Sabotage) Act 1975, Mineral Oils (Safety) Regulations 1997, Marginal Fields Operations (Fiscal Regime) Regulations 2005, Petroleum Act 1969 and Regulations made there under especially the Petroleum Refining Regulations 1974 and the Crude Oil (Transportation And Shipment) Regulations 1984.

Chief of Training and Operations, Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Austing Oyagha said that in addition to immediate measures, the federal government must identify markets where stolen oil is being sold, collaborate with international community to regularly check supplies’ origin, identify and prosecute culprits and recommend similar treatment as with “blood diamonds.”

In the long term, Admiral Oyagha advocated a maritime security reform, regulate oil trade through supply-chain due diligence initiatives, instituting litigation against buyers and sellers of stolen oil, pursuing oil thieves money through instituting money-laundering cases and asset forfeitures and supporting transparency initiatives, among others.

Our error In our story titled, “Varsity don accuses PDP of causing conflicts in Ebonyi APC,” on page 11 of Friday, May 9 edition, an impression was given that our reporter spoke with Dr. Steve Egbo of the Department of International Relations, Abia State University.

We have since discovered that the impression is incorrect, as our reporter did not speak with Dr. Egbo. The error is regretted.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | 3

News Committee urges Fulani herdsmen to control movement of cattle From: Joseph Wantu Makurdi HE Peace and Security Committee on Fulani crises for Benue South Senatorial District has directed the herdsmen in the area to restrict the movement of their cattle in the area pending state government action on the committee report.

Chairman of the committee, General Lawrence Onoja, retired, gave the directive yesterday at Edikpa, Ohimini Local Government headquarters of Benue state while holding a consultative meeting with leaders of the Fulani herdsmen living in the district.

Onoja said the directive became imperative following the intelligence report received by the committee that there was serious anger in the minds of those affected by the crises.

Other members of the committee that spoke at the meeting including retired Major Generals Johnson Ochoga and Harrison Adoga, who both urged the herdsmen against leaving their cattle into the hands of underage children cannot control them.

In their remarks, the Fulani leaders in the area pledged co-operation with host communities for an enduring peace.

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Edo factional lawmakers ‘impeach’ Speaker, others From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu Benin City HE crisis in the Edo State T House of Assembly deepened yesterday as four suspended legislators led by the Deputy Speaker, Festus Ebea and five others held a session that lasted for about five minutes and announced the suspension of the Speaker, Uyi Igbe, Majority Leader, Philip Shaibu and four others.

However, there was no mace, symbol of authority during the sitting. They were said to have being led to the chamber by a mobile policeman, who alleged forced open the door into the chambers.

Their decision followed a motion moved by Kingsley Ehigiamusoe (Igueben) calling for the suspension of the Speaker, Majority Leader and four others over allegations of “abandonment of duty and bringing the legislature into disrepute, bringing thugs to

the hallowed chambers” to harass lawmakers. The motion was seconded by Patrick Iluobe (Esan Northeast I).

They thereafter, adjourned sine die.

No sooner had the PDP lawmakers concluded sitting than 15 lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by the Speaker, Uyi Igbe arrived the council chambers to hold their plenary. A free for all however, occurred when the APC lawmakers attempted to chase away the PDP legislators.

The APC lawmakers passed a resolution asking the President and the Inspector-General of Police to provide them and families with security.

The resolution followed a motion moved by Kabiru Adjoto (Akoko-Edo II) and seconded by Victor Edoror (Esan Central).

Majority Leader Shaibu raised the alarm that some lawmakers have been receiv-

ing death threats since the suspension last Monday of Ebea and three others for taking the assembly to court.

Showing reporters bullet holes on the main gate leading to the legislators’ quarters on Ihama road, GRA, Benin City, which he said came from shots fired by unidentified persons, he said himself, colleagues and others have been receiving threatening phone calls and SMS. Speaking on the parallel sitting of the assembly, Shaibu said it is not possible for the minority to upturn the decision of the majority APC lawmakers of the assembly.

In his narrative, Adjoto said the unfolding drama in Edo State calls for concern, adding, “As a responsible assembly, we have resolved to play our role as legislators.

Nobody has monopoly of violence. Edo is not like Rivers where Abuja can pump

money to destabilize.”

The house subsequently adjourned sitting till today (Wednesday.)

There were also indications yesterday that legislators from either side of the political divide have evacuated their families and aides to unknown destinations turning the once vibrant legislators’ quarters into a ghost town with armed policemen patrolling.

Edo State Police Commissioner Mr. Foluso Adebanjo, who was at the assembly complex briefly said nine persons were in custody for their roles in the fracas that took place at the state assembly.

Shaibu later briefed journalists that “We came to sitting this morning and we sat normally; the police escorted the suspended members and the PDP members to the chambers. On our arrival at 10am, we saw them hurriedly rushing out of the chambers.

The police assisted them to forcefully open the place. When they saw us they rushed out. Adjoto raised a matter of urgent public importance over an alleged meeting that took place where the Speaker, Adjoto and myself were marked for assassination. The motion went through. The order of the day continued but we had to suspend because someone fired tear gas into the chamber. We therefore, hurried took the order of the day and we adjourned sitting till tomorrow. So, the issue of suspending us I don’t know how it took place, the paraphernalia of office is in the hands of the Speaker. We were surprised that the police will shoot tear gas at us when we were sitting and the police will aid them to forcefully join us, which we resisted. We have sent a petition to the IG over this action of his men.”

Bresson, Aggreko partner over power project Bresson AS Nigerian Limited, one of Nigerian pioneer independent power producers has concluded plans with emergency power conglomerate, Aggreko to boost the Nigeria electricity market with 250mw of electricity within the next nine months.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Paris, France by the chairman of Bresson, Mr. Gbenga Olawepo and the Regional Director of Aggreko, Mr. Christopher Jacquin, who signed respectively on behalf of their two companies. The project will be sited in industrial clusters.

According to sources close to the Nigeria Independent Power Production Company, Bresson, the company has plans to add a total of 500mw within the next twelve months to its daily generation capacity through emergency power generation, particularly in strategic centres in order to arrest acute power shortages.

Bresson, the owner of the Magboro 90mw power project situated in Magboro, Ogun State also hopes to commission its Magboro Plant configured on 2GE LM 6000 in 2015.

The Magboro Plant is designed for supply of power to the National grid while an additional 20mw project; a joint project between Bresson and Aggreko is designed to serve the immediate neighbourhood of Magboro as an embedded generation option.

Representative of the Senate President, Zainab Kure (left); former Head of Interim Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan; Akwa Ibom Stat e Governor, Godswill Akpabio, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar, and Chairman, Board of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Salihu Ibrahim during the launch of the Book: ‘’12 Maritime Seminar for judges” by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council under the auspices of Federal Ministry of Transport in collaboration with National Judicial Institute at the 13th Maritime Seminar for Judges in Abuja … yesterday.

PHOTO: LADIDI LUCY-ELUKPO

Jonathan, Pakistani president, Hussain hold talks on trade, security, others From Mohammed Abubakar Abuja IGERIA and Pakistan yesterday held bilateral talks at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, with trade and security top on the agenda, when President Goodluck Jonathan hosted his Pakistani counterpart, Mahmoon Hussain, who is on a three-day state visit to Nigeria.

The two leaders signed a number of mutual agreements to boost bilateral trade, which President Goodluck Jonathan expects to grow from less than $100 million it is currently to about $1 billion within the next few years. They also discussed security, health trade and investment as well as human capacity development.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Jonathan noted

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that despite the good relations between Nigeria and Pakistan, the volume of trade had remained low at less than $100 million.

He expressed conviction that with faithful implementation of the bilateral agreements reached now, trade volume would increase in the next few years to no less than $1 billion.

Jonathan accepted Hussain’s offer to visit Pakistan at a later date, and urged the foreign ministries, military delegations and other relevant agencies of both countries to exchange similar visits to deepen cooperation in all areas.

The president expressed appreciation to Pakistan for supporting Nigeria’s position at several international

organisations and forums like during her quest for United Nations Non-Permanent Security Council seat; and pledged that Nigeria would reciprocate such gestures, especially as Pakistan also maintains good relations with other African countries.

The President described Hussain’s visit as important given the fact that both countries are both suffering the scourge of terror attacks, and with Nigerian government battling to rescue young schoolgirls recently abducted by terrorists in Chibok, Borno state.

His words, “But you will agree with me that this is quite significant, because just like Nigeria is suffering from terror attack, Pakistan is also ex-

periencing terror attack.

Only yesterday (Monday) we had a nasty incident and even today, (yesterday) there are still some issues, just like we are still battling to deal with how to get our young daughters out of the hands of terrorists.

“Presently the trade relationship between Pakistan and Nigeria is extremely low, which we are committed to doubling it in the next two years, and in the next five years or so, our target is that from under $100 million to at least $1 billion, and we are now encouraging a more robust visits at the highest level, the President is here with us, I will soon go to Pakistan for exchange visit, we will also encourage our trade and investment ministers and our foreign affairs ministers, our

defence ministers to exchange I’m sure that they will discuss how to get over the security issues.”

In his remarks, the Pakistani President underscored the need to institutionalise existing economic partnership, air services agreement and exchange of prisoners, in addition to the agreements on oil and gas, education, dairy/agricultural and industrial development.

Hussain disclosed that he would open a Pakistan commercial station in Lagos on Wednesday (today) to give fillip to the cooperation efforts, which would extend to enhancing counter-terrorism measures of both countries.

He welcomed Jonathan’s acceptance of his offer to visit Pakistan at a date to be decided on through diplomatic channels.

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THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

NEWS Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Police promote officers, dismiss four others From Karls Tsokar, Abuja WO Commissioners of Police (CPs) are among 231 officers who have been promoted by the Police Commission.

But four senior police officers have been dismissed for alleged unethical behaviour.

This is coming as President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday commissioned the 1,000 units of Sunday Adewusi Housing Estate.

While commissioning the 1,000 units mixed housing estate for officers and men of the police, Vice President Namadi Sambo, who represented Jonathan said that the project was to motivate the police and appreciate their service to their fatherland.

Before commissioning the fully furnished three-bedroom, two-bedroom and one-bedroom apartments located at Dakwa, the president said that although the police had built 2,000 houses for their personnel in the last two years, “ many more are required”.

He said the commissioning of the many houses for the men of the police was worthy of emulation, especially as the houses were on owneroccupier basis.

“The present leadership of the police force has been focused on the balanced devel-

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• Lift Olakpe, Okudo to AIGs • President commissions 1,000 housing units for personnel opment of all aspects of policing. It is encouraging that the Nigerian police force has built 2,000 houses just in the last two years, that goes to show that many more are required.

“While congratulating the Nigerian police, I call on other security agencies as well as ministries, department and agencies to emulate the Nigerian police in motivating and supporting their staff,” Sambo said.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the Police Service Commission through its spokesman Ferdinard Ekpe, said that of the 32 disciplinary cases involving Senior Police Officers (SPOs)considered, all the recommended disciplinary actions were approved.

“Two Superintendents of Police, Nyong Enefiok, Offu Ukereke, Deputy Superintendent Eteng Bassey and Assistant Superintendent Mohammed Usman Kashim were dismissed for indiscipline, “ the statement said. Six others were demoted and others severely reprimanded.

The statement also emphasised that approval had been given for the promotion of 233 deserving senior police officers to the next rank, having satisfied the stipulated crite-

ria for promotion.

“Two (2) Commissioners of Police (CPs) Chris Olakpe and Grace Chita Okudo were elevated to the rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs), both promotions are with effect from 04/06/2014

and 09/06/2014 respectively.

“Seven (7) Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) were promoted to the substantive rank of CPs. They are Victor Ojo, Elias Wayemeru, Paul Okafor, Henry Fadairo, Stella Udosen, Felicia Noelle and

Ovie Oyokomino,” the statement noted.

The commission also elevated 12 assistant commissioners of police to DCPs, while 21 chief superintendents of police were promoted to assistant commissioners of police.

Twenty-seven superintendents were promoted to chief superintendents of police. In

continuation of the elevation of deserving officers, 15 deputy superintendents were promoted to superintendents, 129 assistant superintendents of police were elevated to the rank of deputy superintendents while 20 who were omitted during the last inspectors promotion were promoted to assistant superintendents of police.

Chidoka speaks on road safety in S’Africa ORPS Marshal and Chief C Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Osita Chidoka is among resource persons slated to make presentations at this year’s edition of Saphilla 2014, in South Africa.

According to an FRSC statement, “the global event is a biennial conference for system application and products (SAP) in data processing users to connect, create and collaborate, through sharing knowledge about innovations, implementations and

service delivery.”

During the three-day conference, the Corps Marshal will make a presentation on ‘SAP Business Intelligence in Road Management- Real Time Incident Reporting and Dashboards,’ which seeks, among others, to undertake a holistic overview of the inherent benefits and coloration of business intelligence techniques in system application and products as part of measures for improved service delivery in the public and private sec-

Commissioner, Safety and Standard Division Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mary Awolokun (left); Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Sam Amadi; President, Nigerian Labour Congress, Abdulwaheed Omar; Deputy President, NLC, Joe Ajaero and Vice Chairman, Mohammed Lawal Bello after an in-depth discussion of the new electricity tariff in Abuja … yesterday.

PHOTO: LADIDI LUCY-ELUKPO

Tribunal resumes trial of Suntai’s doctor, others over alleged misconduct From Anthony Otaru, Abuja.

HE tribunal set up by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN)

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yesterday resumed sitting in the trial of the former Chief Medical Director, Taraba State Specialist Hospital, Dr Zakari Aliyu and four others over alleged professional misconduct.

Aliyu was Taraba State Governor, Danbaba Suntai’s doctor and he is facing one count charge of divulging information regarding the governor’s health which was published by some newspapers.

Other doctors standing trials are; Temitope Gabriel Onile, Nzurumike Charles Nnanna, Danmusa Ademu Ochala, and Omotayo Oluwadamilola Akinro.

According to the charge sheet, Aliyu conducted himself “infamously in a respect contrary to rule 44 of the code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria 2008 edition and punishable under section 16(1)(a) and (2) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act, Cap. M8 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.”

The tribunal has the status of a High Court as its judgement can be appealed only before the Court of Appeal.

Aliyu, who was also absent at yesterday’s just as he did not come at the tribunal’s first sitting, requested in writing that his matter be shifted to a latter date.

Aliyu, who has relocated to

Aliyu conducted himself “infamously in a respect contrary to rule 44 of the code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria 2008 edition and punishable under section 16(1)(a) and (2) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act, Cap. M8 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. the United States (U.S.) in his letter, explained that the nature of his work would make it difficult for him to appear before the tribunal during these periods and therefore urged the panel to choose a new date for him to appear.

He further explained that he was in the country at the last proposed date but that the tribunal did not sit as a result of the public holiday declared for the World Economic Forum (WEF).

His absence, he said, was due to the fact that he could not get a fresh permit within a short period.

Shortly after reading his letter which was accepted by the tribunal, Aliyu’s legal team announced their withdrawal from the case.

Aliyu’s counsel led by Bulus Solomon said they would prefer that subsequently he (Aliyu) be served directly.

Though, it was not known if he (Aliyu) has appointed a new counsel, the tribunal, however, turned down the application saying since they

have access to him, they will still remain the only source through which the notice paper will be served.

Onile, Nnanna and Ochala are facing one count charge of negligence of duty. Onile and Nnanna are consultants Obsterician and Gynaecologists at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja while Ochala is the Head of Department, Consultant and Senior medical Officer in the Centre.

They were alleged to have failed to pick their calls to attend and manage a patient, Mrs. Eleojo Justina Colins (deceased) who was admitted under their care and required urgent surgical intervention until the patient died on Saturday January 28, 2012.

They are charged under rule 29 and 43 of the code of medical ethics in Nigeria 2008 edition and punishable under section 16(1)a and (2) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act, Cap.M8 Laws of the Federation. Of Nigeria 2004.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 NEWS 5

Confab delegates disagree over debate procedure From Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna), Terhemba Daka Karls Tsokar (Abuja) and Bertram Nwannekanma (Lagos) HE delegates at the NaT tional Conference yesterday disagreed to adopt a new procedure introduced by the leadership for members to debate the various reports submitted by the 20 committees, stalling proceedings for over two hours.

Apparently pressed for time, Conference Chairman, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, had on Monday lamented the debate pattern, which he said, was proceeding at a snail speed. He had expressed the need for members to adopt a new procedure in order to fasttrack the sessions so as to meet up with the scheduled deadline for the conclusion of the parley. The conference is expected to round up and submit its final report to the President next month.

At the resumed session yesterday, a heated argument on the issue prevailed on

the floor, forcing Justice Kutigi to suspend debates and called for 10 minutes adjournment to enable the leadership confer and reconcile the various views expressed on the methodology to adopt.

When the ‘House’ returned, the chairman announced a reversal of the new procedure. While reverting to the old rule whereby every delegate willing to speak on a report would be called to do so, he, however, decried the attitude of members who, he lamented, would always insist on speaking on every subject introduced on the floor.

“Even if it is only four reports we are able to conclude, we will submit the rest to the government. It is my ruling that we go back to the old procedure,” he said.

This decision did not go down well with some members who also expressed displeasure at the turn of events, which according to them, would affect the

• Activists task conferees on true democracy timely submission of the conference report.

Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, said: “If time is short and outcome was rushed, the conference would not have done a good job for the country.

Just voting on recommendations may not be the true reflection of the delegates.”

Bashir Dalhatu insisted that the earlier decision that votes should henceforth be taken without debates should stand.

He said: “There must be an end to discussion and it’s through voting. Reopening concluded issues would put the conference leadership in a negative situation if, as the conference progresses, a delegate that wants to reopen an already issue should be disallowed.”

Bode George advised the leadership to give all those willing to speak a chance but should be firm in stopping those fond of repetition. He said debate and

decisions must be allied to be robust.

Meanwhile, prominent sons of Egbema ALINSO clan have decried the balkanisation of Egbema.

Recounting their ordeals as a result of the balkanisation in a statement yesterday, a member, Memorandum Drafting Committee of Egbema ALINSO clan and spokesperson of the community, Prof.

Victor Nwaugo, explained that they are ever faced with the humiliating question of “which Egbema” during conversations with fellow Nigerians.

He, therefore, called on the on-going national conference to look into the issue with a view to ending the apprehension caused by “splitting two brothers” into two different states.

This apprehension, he said, could be halted by merging into one-state of their choice through the process of a boundary adjustment

based on a transparent plebiscite.

However, in commemoration of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, widely acclaimed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, pro-democracy activists and other prominent political leaders may use the occasion to set agenda for the on-going National Conference on how to consolidate on true democracy for the nation.

A statement by one of the leaders of Pro-National Conference (PRONACO) and Mega Summit, Chief Olawale Okunniyi, who also spoke on behalf of the National Organising Committee of June 12 celebration, said: “Prominent political leaders in the country, longtime associates of the late MKO Abiola and democracy activists across the country, would be hosted to a tribute session and breakfast colloquium on state of the na-

tion tomorrow at Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola’s residence in Ikeja, Lagos.”

According to him, the event, organised by the June 12 Movement, the umbrella body for June 12 democracy activism in Nigeria, “is billed to start by 8:00 a.m. and end by noon to allow other affiliates of the movement subsequently attend various programmes lined up for the celebration, which is the 21st in a series of commemorations by the June 12 Movement.”

One of the sons of the late Abiola, Alhaji Abdul Mumuni Abiola, also stated that in commemoration of the 21st anniversary of the June 12 democratic struggle in Nigeria, the June 12 Movement, in collaboration with Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) and Nigeria Youth Movement Foundation, has concluded plans to host invited dignitaries to the yearly agendasetting breakfast of national democracy collo-

Chairman, Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC), Johnson Ogunyemi (left); Governor Olusegun Mimiko; Commissioner for Works, Gboye Adegbenro; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Kola Ademujimi; former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye and Commissioner for Employment and Productivity, Iroju Ogundeji, at the inauguration of Igbotu-Oboro-Inikorogha road, in Ese-Odo local council … yesterday.

DSS seeks media cooperation over bomb threat on schools, others in Bayelsa From Wilie Etim (Yenagoa)

HE Department of State Security Service (DSS) yesterday invited the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Bayelsa State, soliciting their co-operation over an alleged plot by some unknown persons to launch bomb attack on schools

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and markets in the state.

Director of the SSS in the state, Mr. Everest Dawa, said the meeting between the NUJ members and the service was an interactive one aimed at creating new partnership towards overcoming rising security challenges in the state. He added that the SSS has commenced security sur-

vey of schools to prevent the planned attacks.

Dawa told the media practitioners led by the NUJ Chairman, Tare Akono and the Chairman of the Federated Correspondent Chapel, Samuel Ese of BusinessDay that journalists in the state should assist in sharing information and fact presentation.

Deputy Director of DSS, Security, Mr. Brown Ekwoaba, said the meeting was convened to create awareness over the disturbing trend in the state, adding, “The security report is unsettling. The trend is becoming injurious to people and business activities. Some have rumoured that Boko Haram

or some aggrieved militants are planning to bomb market on market days to embarrass the President.”

“As we are talking with you, we have entered discussion with schools and market women to raise consciousness. If we don’t create the awareness, these rumours will create

untold hatred among ethnic groups in the state. We have embarked on security survey in schools to assist the State Government in the area of security.

The state NUJ chairman, Comrade Tare Akono, pledged media’s co-operation and advised that security situation be reviewed

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THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

NEWS Wednesday, June 11, 2014

CAN wants government to probe governors over Boko Haram, Fulani mercenaries From Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos HE Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) yesterday urged the Federal Government to investigate some sitting governors over the activities of Boko Haram insurgents and Fulani mercenaries in the country.

CAN, in a communiqué issued in Jos yesterday after a meeting of the North Central Zone of the association, which comprises seven states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said: “The Federal Government should thor-

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oughly investigate some sitting governors who speak in favour of the insurgents as they may be sponsors of the Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen.”

The Christian association, while decrying the loss of innocent lives and property as a result of the sect’s activities, said the wickedness should not be allowed to continue under any guise.

Expressing regrets that the issue of compensation for affected victims and churches

of post-election violence, bomb blasts and ethnic crisis has not been handled with probity, the Christian body urged government to investigate allocations and disbursement, as well as look into the cases of those who have not been compensated at all .

CAN Chairman, Northern Zone, Rev. Yakubu Pam, who read the communiqué on their behalf, said: “The Boko Haram who claim responsibilities for bomb blasts in the

zone, the Fulani herdsmen who employ the service of mercenaries to kill mindlessly, burn and destroy property in the zone, are one and the same group. The Federal Government should thoroughly investigate some sitting governors who speak in favour of the insurgents, as they may be sponsors of the Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen”.

He added: “The leadership of the CAN in the zone rejects in totality the proposed zoning

of grazing reserves. In its place, ranches should be established in their state of origins”.

“The issue of compensation for affected victims and churches of post-election violence, bomb blasts and ethnic crisis has not been handled with probity. Therefore, the government should investigate allocations and disbursement and look into the cases of those who have not been compensated at all,” Pam said.

WEF appoints Nweke (Jnr) member of Global Agenda Council HE World Economic Forum T (WEF), a network of Global Agenda Councils, has appointed former Minister of Information, Mr. Frank Nweke (Jnr) as a member of the Global Agenda Council on Africa for 2014-2016.

The appointment is contained in a letter dated June 3rd by the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Forum, Klaus Schwab, in which he described Nweke as one of the world’s most relevant and knowledgeable thought leaders in the field.

Schwab said he believes Nweke’s expertise would be instrumental in helping the Council collaboratively develop pertinent insights and solutions to address the global challenge.

As a member, Nweke will meet with other Council Members throughout the Council term, as well as be at the Summit on the Global Agenda, the world’s largest brainstorm exclusively reserved for Global Agenda Council Members.

Nweke is expected to submit his views on what world leaders should watch out for and think about for 2015. His contribution will form the basis of the Global Agenda Outlook, one of the World Economic Forum’s flagship publications.

The focus of the Global Agenda Council on Africa in 2014-2016 when Nweke will be a council member will be to provide thought leadership on creating public-private cooperation framework for fasttracking economic transformation and inclusive growth in Africa.

PPARENTLY expressing dissatisfaction over the continued crisis pitting the traditional ruler of Oko, Prof.

Laz Ekwueme, against the Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Prof. Godwin Onu and the youth wing, Oko Peoples’ Union, the youth yesterday cried out to prominent citizens of the community to intervene and settle the matter.

At a press briefing in Awka, Anambra State capital, the President, Oko Youth Wing, Tochukwu Ezeokafor, accompanied by the Secretary, Mr. Ebube E. Okoli and the Assistant Secretary, Oko Peoples’ Congress, Sopulu

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From Hendrix Oliomogbe, Asaba

HE Warri Diocese of the T Catholic Church is to host the Catholic Bishops’ Conference slated between September 11 and 18, the Bishop of the diocese, Most Rev. John Atareha, has said.

Atareha, who disclosed this in Asaba yesterday at a mass/fund raising ceremony, explained that about N800 million was needed by the Diocese to complete the construction of a multi-purpose conference centre to enable it successfully host the forthcoming bishops’ conference.

The cleric lamented that after 50 years of existence, the Diocese had nothing tangible to show, noting that the role of the church in developing the mind and body of the people may not be achieved if it lacks what it takes to perform the duty.

While describing self-help as an ingredient of community development, the cleric said that was why they decided to organise the fund raising to get people to support in building God’s edifice.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who was represented by his Deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN), congratulated the Diocese for celebrating 50 years of existence.

Uduaghan said that if people could build such edifice in the time past, he see no reason why it cannot be done now.

Ex-electoral commission boss, Walson-Jack, for Rivers guber race His Lordship, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Martins (middle), and others at the funeral mass for the first Nigerian Catholic Chaplain of the Nigerian Army, Monsignor (Col.) Pedro Martins, in Lagos…yesterday PHOTO: NAN

Tributes as Pedro Martins is buried

By Ijeoma Opara S the remains of the late Monsignor Pedro Ayodele Martins, who died at the age of 103, were yesterday laid to rest at the Vaults and Gardens Cemetery, Ikoyi, Lagos, following a solemn procession, eminent Nigerians have continued to pay tributes.

Among those who praised the late cleric at a funeral mass held before interment at the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos Island, was the Archbishop of Ibadan, Felix Alaba Job. Job, in his homily, described the late cleric as a patriarch of Catholic

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priesthood in Nigeria.

“Our Baba, Pedro Martins, the fearless Soldier and Scout, the great man in size and might in body and mind has come to his time of silence. The man of God, who risked his life like his Master Jesus, to save humanity in the Civil War in Congo and other expeditions, is now rendered harmless by death”, he said.

Also, the Arch Bishop Emeritus of the Arch Diocese of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, described the late Monsignor Martins as a patriarch, whose sojourn on earth was a significant land-

mark.

He noted that “his life was rooted on selfless service, sincerity, hard work, charity and sense of love for others in spreading goodness. He was uniquely well-accomplished, yet so humble and unassuming.”

In a tribute, the Arch Bishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins, noted that the late cleric, who was fondly called Baba, even in death, remained a model priest, exemplary soldier, a vanguard of truth, a harbinger of justice, repository of wisdom, an outstanding patriot and a

Youths urge Ekwueme, others to intervene in Oko crisis From Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka

Catholic Bishops’ confab holds in Warri

Ezeonwuku, appealed to those he called “the pillars of Oko”, including clergymen, Chiefs Chido Nwankwo and Andel Okoli, to rise up to the challenge of returning peace to the already divided Oko community over whether the rector must stay or leave.

Ezeokafor said: “We, therefore, call on the traditional ruler, OPU national president and their supporters to give peace a chance and desist from activities that may stunt the rapid growth of the institution. We will not accept that.

“We also call on Igwe Laz Ekwueme and his cohorts to desist from the continuous media wars, which have neg-

atively portrayed Oko people as hostile to the polytechnic community and has adversely affected the future of the younger generation”.

While dissociating members of OPU youth wing from the on-going campaign of ‘Calumny and the ProvostMust-Go’, Ezeokafor cautioned the monarch and his group not to involve the youth in their local politics.

“This is not fair…the real problem in Oko community has nothing to do with the polytechnic or the rector.

Rather, it is their local politics…, where the president of the town union, Mr. Cyprian Nwammuo, Igwe Oko, who also doubles as the chair-

man, Governing Board, NBTE and others, wanted to remove Prof. Godwin Onu,” he said.

The OPU youth wing expressed dismay that all efforts initiated to settle the crisis in Oko by Chief Raymond Obieri, the Oko Peoples’ Union, Lagos branch, among others, have failed due to the uncooperative attitude of their monarch and his henchmen.

The youth restated their resolve and confidence in Prof.

Onu’s administration, especially his dream to uplift Oko Poly to the status of university, transformation of lives and creating job opportunities for the youth.

quintessential man of high intellect.

Dignitaries present at the funeral include the Commissioner for Tourism and Inter-governmental Relations, Disun Holloway, who represented the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola; wife of former Vice President of Nigeria, Helen Ekwueme; erstwhile military governor of Imo State, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu; Bishops and Arch-bishops from most states in the country.

Earlier at a farewell mass in honour of the late cleric held at St. Michael’s Catholic Chaplaincy, Tamandu Barracks, Apapa, Rev. Father C.S. Emeka Ekwe said: “I believe that death is not evil, it is a transit not a disaster. Life on earth is like a market where you buy and afterwards you must go home. Monsignor Martins has accepted the final coming of Christ and so will each one of us, whether we like it or not.”

Grand Patron of the Armed Forces Church, Major Leo Segun Ajiborisha, described the late priest as a Major in the Army who was highly respected.

“He put his footprint in the Army, he was an exemplary priest and Army officer. He was very accountable and transparent. We have to live very good lives as he impacted on the lives of many who came across him. We must serve God like Baba did and taught us to do”, Ajiborisha noted.

By Abiodun Fanoro

FORMER member of the A Rivers State Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Mr. Nimi Walson-Jack, has expressed confidence in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ensure transparency, fairness and justice in the emergence of the party’s candidate for next year’s governorship election in the state.

Mr. Walson-Jack stated this in an interview with The Guardian after a press conference in Lagos where he announced his intention to contest for the state’s governorship election next February on the platform of the PDP. Walson-Jack, a former general secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), recalled that since the current democratic dispensation in 1999, only upland Rivers had produced all the governors as against riverine Rivers, which had not produced even one.

According to him, in order to promote a sense of belonging, equality and justice, it would be logical for the PDP as a propagator of the aforementioned principles to hearken to the strident clamour by people in that part of the state to produce the next governor.

His words: “The arrangement of our fore-fathers to distribute political power via upland and riverine arrangement was for the purpose of promoting equity and peace among Rivers people.”

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 ISSUE | 7

Boko Haram-led pogroms, ethnic cleansing and medieval bestiality in Nigeria’s North East A statement by some concerned leaders of ethnic nationalities of Borno South Senatorial District GAINST the background A of denials by high-ranking functionaries of the Muslim establishment in Nigeria that the Boko Haram insurgency is not a Muslim agenda, we owe it to ourselves and the world to set the record straight. In 2012, in a widely publicized video recording that is easily accessible on the internet, Abubakar Shekau, the late erstwhile leader of Boko Haram announced the mission statement of his sect.

Among other things, he said “this war is not political. It is religious. It is between Muslims and unbelievers (arna).

It will stop when Islamic religion is the determinant in governance in Nigeria or, in the alternative, when all fighters are annihilated and no one is left to continue the fight. I warn all Muslims at this juncture that any Muslim who assists an unbeliever in this war should consider himself dead.”

This mission statement explains why Muslim communities have been viciously attacked for having within them persons who served as informants to the authorities. While we appreciate the concern of well-meaning persons in Nigeria and worldwide over the fate of more than three hundred female students abducted from Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, by the Boko Haram sect we want to draw the attention of the world to the fact that the abduction saga has become a distraction that has left our communities to free-pillaging and rampaging by Boko Haram.

These are the facts that happened in the past four weeks: In Ataggara, Southern Senatorial Zone of Borno State, Boko Haram attacked and were repelled by the community. Community leaders went to Pulka, where a military formation exists, to report the attack and were assured that a unit would be drafted to the town to protect the people. The following day some people appeared in Nigeria Army issue in nine armoured personnel carriers bearing the colours and insignia of the Nigerian Army.

They announced to the villagers that they had come to assess the security situation.

When the people gathered to hear them, the men that came in armoured personnel carriers, and in Army uniform, opened fire and killed over two hundred and fifty men, women and children.

Those who were able to take to their heels were pursued by the marauders into the bush and when they were caught up with, were either butchered with knives or shot to death. The survivors have taken refuge in Cameroun, or in friendly communities; In Bokko Wizhe, four people died when Boko Haram terrorists opened fire indiscriminately in the predominantly

Inspector General of Police Mohammed Christian community. About two thousand survivors have fled to Cameroun and neighbouring states; In Bokko Timta, about 1,500 Christians had to flee to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria after Boko Haram attacked their community; In Kugyly, about 2,500 fled the village to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria after they were visited by Boko Haram; In Ngoshe, 46 persons were killed by Boko Haram and more than 3,000 had to flee to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria. None of the houses and churches in the community escaped being torched; In Gava, 26 persons were killed by Boko Haram. About 2,000 people fled to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria. All the houses and churches were burnt down; In Amuda, 17 persons were murdered by Boko Haram and more than four thousand people fled to other places. The Village Head is, at present taking refuge in Nasarawa State; In Halaghwa after an undetermined number of persons were killed by Boko Haram, about 500 persons from the community fled to Cameroun and another 2,000 fled to other states in Nigeria; In Agapalawa, 15 persons were killed by Boko Haram and more than 4,000 had to flee to Cameroun; In Ganjara, 46 persons were killed by Boko Haram and more than 2,500 fled to Cameroun; In Jibrili, an undetermined number of people were killed

by Boko Haram and Christian houses and churches burnt to the ground. The remnant of the people have fled to Cameroun; In Zamgba, Boko Haram attacked and killed 13 people, and about 1,700 were forced to flee to Cameroun; In Ashigashita, Boko Haram attacked and killed 10 people.

Boko Haram leader Shekau The remnant of the community fled to Cameroun; In Vale, Christians were completely chased out. Their belongings were looted by Boko Haram and their sympathizers; In Kwadale, an undetermined number of persons were killed by Boko Haram and about 2,000 fled to Cameroun; In Pulka, 30 persons were killed by Boko Haram, including the Village Head Mallam Ali Pulka. Many members of the community have fled to Cameroun leaving about 4,500; In Kirawa, all the Christians fled to Cameroun after the village was taken over by Boko Haram; In Chinene, Boko Haram killed 14 persons, more than 500 fled to Cameroun, about 1,000 fled to other states in Nigeria, while about 1,000 are still in the mountains as all motorable roads have been blocked by the sect; In Arboko, more than 10 persons were killed by Boko Haram, all houses and churches razed to the ground, and about 2,000 have fled to Cameroun; In Chikide, 2 persons were killed by Boko Haram, and about 1,500 have fled to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria; In Barawa, more than 20 persons were killed by Boko Haram, and the community’s houses and churches burnt down. Survivors have fled to Cameroun, other states and the hills; In Pege, Boko Haram killed five persons by Boko Haram, and about 1,000 members of the community have fled to Cameroun and other states in Nigeria; In Kaghum, Boko Haram killed more than 20 persons

by Boko Haram, and more than 3,000 members of the community have been forced to flee to Cameroun, other states in Nigeria and

Shettima Borno State Governor the hills; In Angurva, an undetermined number of persons were killed by Boko Haram, and some 4,000 persons have fled to Cameroun; In Baladigavuraza, Boko Haram killed 3 persons, about 2,000 persons fled to Cameroun and another 500 fled to other states in Nigeria; In Kunde, some 7 persons were killed and the community’s houses and churches burnt. About 2,500 fled to Cameroun and the hills; In the past fourteen days the following communities in Damboa Local Government area have been over-run by Boko Haram: Kwapchi; Shawa; Daku; Kwamjilari; Blakat 1; Blakat 2; Blakat 3; Mulgwe 1; Mulgwe 2; Mulgwe 3; Katsalabulari; Kulali 1; Kulali 2; Kuburuvhu; Kautivha; Izghe 1; Izghe 2; Izghe 3; Kaya 1; Kaya 2; Konchi; Mbulakuduga (Alagamo) in Askira Uba Local Government Area was over-run within the same time frame; Takulashi of Chibok Local Government Area was also over-run in the past few days.

In all the communities it has over-run, Boko Haram has removed the Nigerian national flag and hoisted its own flag, the flag of jihad.

We want to place on record that all the communities mentioned above are predominantly Christian. Why are we being attacked now?

The answer lies in the result of the 2011 Presidential Election. It is on record that the Middle Belt, which the Southern Borno State Senatorial Zone is a bona fide part of, voted massively for President Goodluck Jonathan; a fact that enabled the sitting President to succeed at the polls in 2011. Going towards 2015, Boko Haram, on behalf of the oligarchic North, wants to decimate and displace our communities so that we would be less of a factor. Why is President Jonathan not in-

structing the military ro protect our communities? We are aware that the the Nigerian military is a deeply divided fighting force.

As the Ataggara case above illustrates, when some Muslim commanding officers and others receive reports from our communities, they pass such reports to Boko Haram who come in Nigerian Army issue uniforms to perpetrate pogroms in our communities.

Boko Haram has many atrociously wealthy sponsors on account of the fact that successive governments in Nigeria have always patronized Muslims to our exclusion. It is primitive capital that those Muslims have accumulated from the Nigerian state that they are deploying to decimate our populations. Our most profound prayer to President Jonathan, which we want other Nigerians and the international community to pressurize him to accede to, is that he should arm our communities. if we have access to arms and ammunition like Boko Haram, we would have a sporting chance of defending our lives, dependants and property. We would not run away from Boko Haram. Our President should please do this in good time before it is too late. We have a right to live in peace in our communities and to vote our choice without any fear, however we choose to do so in electoral contests in our country. That is an irreducible minimum for every citizen.

As communities in the defunct Northern Region we are not unaware of the inspiration of Boko Haram and their sponsors. It is no news that the average Northern Muslim thinks that Nigeria is his to dominate, and its riches his to dispense. In October 1960, the late Premier of the defunct Northern Region and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, had declared:

“The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great-grandfather, Uthman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities of the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us, and never allow them to have control over their future.” (Parrot Newspaper, 12th Oct. 1960; republished on November 13, 2002, by the Tribune Newspaper, Ibadan.); Before the late Sardauna made this very revealing statement, the Conference of Northern Chiefs, in response to a letter from the UK-based West African Students’ Union (WASU) to the Northern emirs asking them to support the constitutional evolution of Nigeria into an independent nation, had declared “holding this country together is not possible except by means of the religion of the Prophet. If they want political unity let them follow our religion.” (Obafemi Awolowo, Path to Nigerian Freedom, London: Faber and Faber, 1947, p.51.); We recall that the Fulani Jihad failed woefully to Islamize our people in the 19th Century. We also recall that the Kanuri, who had been practising Islam for more than eight centuries before the Fulani Jihad, could not Islamize our people. Boko Haram seeks to succeed where their more illustrious ancestors failed.

If the Federal Government of Nigeria would not arm our communities to defend ourselves, the least it can do is not to stand in the way of other Nigerians and members of the international community who are so inclined to help arm our communities. Boko Haram, as its mission statement as espoused by the late Abubakar Shekau states, the only time it would be mollified is “….when Islamic religion is the determinant in governance in Nigeria or, in the alternative, when all fighters are annihilated and no one is left to continue the fight.”

Our people refuse to be forcibly Islamized. We, also, insist on making our own free choices. It is our belief that it is only on the basis of mutual respect that nations can be built. We would like to contribute our quota to building the Nigerian Federation into a nation and call on others to follow our peaceful path. But if the forces of evil insist on pursuing their present murderous course, our people will be forced to respond in kind and to meet force with force. The present path of violence by Boko Haram can only lead to destruction, Boko Haram’s destruction as well as others.

We thank you for giving us an ear.

Dr. Pogu Bitrus (of Chibok), Rev. Ibrahim Dauwa (of Gwoza) and Rev. James Yaga, JP (of Gwoza)

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

8 | Wednesday, June 11, 2014

When Warriors, Amazons And Stars Gathered Against Cancer In Lagos, last Sunday

Convener, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) Nigeria, Mrs Adetutu Adeleke (left); Pastor Ebun Omotosho, Sir Remi Omotosho, and Chief Michael Omolayole Chief Michael Omolayole (left); Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru, Mrs Adetutu Adeleke, Evita Moussalli, and Tuface Idibia

Lade Bonuola (left); Ose Ibru, Mrs Kemi Davies, Lady Maiden-Ibru, and Prof. Wale Omole Halima Oke (left); Judith Alakija, Dr. Alero Robert, and Erejuwa Gbadebo

Tuface Idibia, on stage with pupils of Supreme Education Foundation Muson Choir conducted by Sir Emeka Nwokedi

Chief Operating Officer, The Guardian, Dr, Alexander Thomopulos (right); Editor, Martins Oloja, Deputy Editor -In-Chief, Debo Adesina, Consultant (Editorial), Lade Bonuola, Chairman, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru, Chairman, Editorial Board, Prof. Wale Omole, General Chris Ali (Rtd), Managing Director, Emeka Izeze, Yaya Awosanya, and Editor On Sunday, Abraham Ogbodo

General Chris Ali (Rtd) (left); Dr, Alexander Thomopulos, and Irina

PHOTOS: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | 9

WorldReport EU presses Sudan to free woman over apostasy HE heads of the European T Union (EU’s) major institutions urged Sudanese authorities yesterday to free a Christian woman sentenced to hang for apostasy, joining a wave of international condemnation.

Jose Manuel Barroso, Herman Van Rompuy and Martin Schulz “express their deepest dismay and concern” over the fate of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, who has been sentenced to a hundred lashes and sentenced to death by hanging on charges of apostasy and adultery.

The EU heads said Sudan had an “international obligation to protect the freedom of religion and belief” and called upon “the responsible Sudanese authorities and appeal courts to revoke this inhumane verdict”.

Ishag, who was born to a Muslim father, was sentenced to death on May 15 under Islamic sharia law that has been in place since 1983 and which outlaws conversions under pain of death.

The 27-year-old was raised an Orthodox Christian, her mother’s religion, married a Christian man originally from South Sudan and already had a 20-month-old son before she gave birth on May 27.

The case has embarrassed the Sudanese authorities, which gave contradictory statements last week about her release, raising the ire of

Western governments and human rights groups.

Ishag’s lawyer said Monday a three-judge panel in Sudan will examine an appeal against the sentence but gave no date for a ruling.

Meanwhile, a three-judge panel in Sudan will examine the appeal to hang Ishag for apostasy, in a case that has drawn international condemnation, her lawyer said.

“The judiciary appointed three judges last week to examine the appeal filed in the case of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag,” lawyer Mohanad Mustafa told AFP, without specifying when they will deliver a ruling.

The lawyer said he had visited her on Monday at the women’s prison in Omdurman, the twin city of the capital Khartoum, adding that her son and her newborn baby were with her and “healthy”.

The case has embarrassed the Sudanese authorities, who gave contradictory statements last week about her release, raising the ire of Western governments and human rights groups.

The United States, Britain and France have called for her to be released, but the authorities are also under pressure from radical Islamist movements in Sudan that are demanding her execution.

Her husband Daniel Wani, who has US nationality, told

British Prime Minister, David Cameron (left); German Chancellor, Angela Merkel; Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt and Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte near the summer residence of the Swedish Prime Minister in Harpsund 120km west of Stockholm…yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Egypt’s Sisi faces challenge over ‘sexual terrorism’ VIDEO of a woman being A sexually assaulted at inaugural celebrations for Egypt’s new president has spotlighted a national epidemic, but activists believe that stopping such attacks will be difficult.

Graphic footage, apparently filmed on Sunday using a mobile phone, shows a mob of men surrounding the young woman, who was stripped of her clothes and badly bruised in the assault in Cairo’s iconic

Six die as heavy storms hit Germany IX people have been killed Sbattered in violent storms, which cities in western Germany overnight.

In the worst incident, three died when a tree fell on a garden shed in Duesseldorf where they had sought shelter, emergency services said.

Cyclists were also killed by falling trees in Cologne and Krefeld and a sixth person died while clearing a street in Essen.

The storms ended a heatwave that lasted throughout the Whitsun weekend holiday.

Public transport was badly hit in much of North RhineWestphalia yesterday, and authorities urged people to avoid Duesseldorf, where trains, roads and the airport were all affected.

During the night, emergency

services removed the bodies of three people from a garden shed in the city. Three other people who had taken refuge in the shed were injured, two of them seriously. Several others were hurt elsewhere in the city.

Streets in Duesseldorf were blocked by fallen trees and there was damage to overhead power lines. The tram system was reportedly suspended.

There were traffic jams on 270km (165 miles) of the region’s roads during the morning rush hour, local broadcasters reported.

Winds of up to 150km/h (93mph) were recorded at Duesseldorf airport and the storm was continuing to move north-east, towards areas north and west of Berlin, forecasters said.

“We must reckon that the total damage will run into double-digit millions,” North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Ralf Jaeger told German media. “That was one of the worst storms to hit (the region) in the past 20 years.”

Lower Saxony to the north has also suffered heavy damage.

Tahrir Square.

The video, shared widely on websites including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, triggered outrage, with activists calling for protests on Saturday.

“Execute them!” said yesterday’s front-page headline in pro-government Al-Watan newspaper.

“Sexual assaults and rapes by mobs are now part of reality.

How far will things go? This is sexual terrorism,” said Zeinab Sabet, a prominent activist with “Dignity Without Borders”, a group battling sexual violence.

“This has been happening since 2012...The fact that it happened again (on Sunday) shows that the authorities aren’t even bothered about us,” she told AFP. Activists say at least nine cases of sexual assault were reported last week as revellers celebrated Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s presidential election.

One woman was burned by hot water after being stripped

safe passage for civilians in eastern regions rocked by a pro-Russian insurgency, as he began to form his government team by tapping a media mogul as chief of staff.

Petro Poroshenko ordered security agencies to organize transport and relocation to help civilians leave areas affected by fighting between rebels

and Ukraine’s military, his office said in a brief statement published online. It gave no details on where the civilians could be relocated, or what accommodation was available.

Poroshenko also announced the appointments of media executive and business ally, Boris Lozhkin as chief of staff, and Svyatoslav Tsegolka, a journalist at the TV station owned

by Poroshenko, as press secretary.

EORGIA has sent troops to G the Central African Republic (CAR) to help a European Union military force curb sectarian violence in the strife-torn country, the tiny Caucasus nation’s president told AFP. “Georgia is providing troops to the EU’s mission in the Central African Republic as part of its responsibility to contribute to global security,” President Giorgi Margvelashvili said by telephone.

Some 140 Georgian soldiers have joined the EU force tasked with pacifying the capital Bangui, Georgia’s defence ministry said in a statement.

Western-backed Georgia is poised to sign a key association pact with the EU this month and aspires to one day join the 28-nation bloc.

Brussels invited Georgia in November to participate in the EU’s crisis management operations.

Moderate Muslim cleric killed in Kenya

Israel gets new president

UNMEN shot and killed a G moderate Muslim leader yesterday, an official said, the

EUVEN Rivlin, a far-right R member of Israel’s ruling Likud, was yesterday elected

fourth prominent Muslim to be shot dead in the coastal city of Mombasa in two years.

Sheik Mohamed Idris, the chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, was shot as he left a mosque early in the morning.

A Mombasa police commander, Henry Ondiek, said neither the motive nor the identities of the killers are known.

Human rights activists allege that the government is behind a long string of killings of Muslim leaders. Sheik Aboud Rogo Mohammed was killed in August 2012. Sheik Ibrahim

Ukraine president orders civilian corridor in east KRAINE’S new president U yesterday ordered security officials to create a corridor for

in Tahrir Square by three men who later also assaulted her daughter, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that the men had been detained.

Officials on Monday said police have also arrested seven men suspected of sexually assaulting women during Sisi celebrations.

Egypt, which until this month had no specific law on sexual harassment, last week approved penalties for such offences to include jail terms, fines or both.

But these amendments “were not enough... (as) the state was incapable of addressing such crimes in the absence of a comprehensive strategy,” said a group of 25 Egyptian rights organisations.

Yesterday, the presidency said Sisi had told interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim to “implement the law firmly” to prevent sexual harassment.

A 2013 study by the United Nations said that more than 99 percent of Egyptian women had been subject to some form

Georgia sends troops to CAR

Lozhkin, who sold his major news holding last year, has never been publicly involved in politics and hails from the country’s eastern city of Kharkiv.

The new president did not announce any shakeup in the defense or foreign ministries, where changes could be pivotal for Ukraine’s ongoing offensive in the east. Ukrainian officials say at least 200 people, including 59 servicemen, have been killed in clashes in the east.

It is unclear how many civilians in the east have fled the fighting. The United Nations’ refugee agency in May said Ukraine’s tensions had resulted in about 10,000 displaced people, both from Russia’s annexation of Crimea and from the violence in the east.

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov said some 30,000 Ukrainian refugees are now in Russia’s Rostov region, which borders Ukraine.

Ismael was killed in October 2013.

In April gunmen shot and killed Abubakar Shariff Ahmed, known as Makaburi, near a mosque.

All those murders remain unsolved.

But while the three previous slayings of Muslim leaders were against men seen as radical and tied to extremists, Idris was known for opposing radicalism in the Muslim community, a fact that opens up the possibility he may have been targeted by a religious extremist and not a government agent.

Also unlike the previous killings, Idris’ death attracted immediate statements of condolence from top political leaders.

President Uhuru Kenyatta described Idris as a committed religious leader “who stood for what was good for the country.”

Kenyatta extended condolences to Kenya’s Muslim community and said the government would do all it can to find the killer.

by parliament to be the nation’s 10th president when Shimon Peres steps down in July, the speaker said.

Announcing the results of a run-off vote, parliamentary speaker Yuli Edelstein said Rivlin had defeated his centrist challenger Meir Sheetrit by 63 votes to 53 in a secret ballot of the Knesset’s 120 MPs. Known for his affable character and quirky sense of humour, Rivlin, who served twice as parliamentary speaker, is firmly against the establishment of a Palestinian state and is a strong backer of Israel’s sprawling settlement enterprise.

A lawyer by profession, the 74-year-old is also known for his determined defence of democracy and civil rights which earned him the respect of the left and even members of Israel’s Arab minority.

10

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday June 11, 2014

Politics The National Conference Debate

After National Conference, • Progressives may not have far-reaching changes they hoped for Being a lecture address by Dr. Femi Okurounmu, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the National Conference, at the Annual Luncheon of the Lagos Brunch of the Government College, lbadan Old Boys Association (GCIOBA), on Sunday, June 8, 2014.

Introduction T is always a great privilege for me to address an assembly of GCI old boys, a group that is certain to contain some of the most cerebral citizens that Nigeria has produced.

Here in this gathering are people who embody the cherished old values — the values of honesty, hard work, integrity and humility — all of which were drilled into us in our sojourn through the great GCI. Each time I am in this company to deliver an address, and that has been quite a few times, I feel a special honour and elation. In commencing my talk, therefore, this afternoon, I will like to start by doffing my hat to the great college and its distinguished old boys.

The subjects of my various lectures at the gatherings of old boys have invariably always been political even though, by training, I am an engineer and applied physicist.

My adventure into politics probably arose from a belief in the late Kwame Nkrumah’s dictum “to seek ye first the political kingdom, and all else shall be added unto you.”

If Nigeria had been blessed with leaders having the qualities so thoroughly ingrained into many of you here today, we would not be in the mess we are in currently.

In my lecture before the annual luncheon of this same Lagos branch of the GCIOBA on May 14, 2005, I identified the major problems retarding the development of our nation as corruption, greed, the struggle for ethnic dominance and the exclusive pursuit of selfinterest.

Today, nine years further down, these still remain our major problems, only now compounded by the aggravated level of national insecurity, occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency.

In fact, it is the persistence of these problems over the past several decades that precipitated the agitations for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), which became intensified after the annulment of the presidential election of June 12, 1993.

But before delving into issues pertaining to the National Conference, it will be instructive to digress into a little bit of Nigerian history.

realisation of Abiola’s election victory.

I

A historical excursion IGERIA has been described as an amalgam of ancient kingdoms, caliphates, empires and city-states with a long history of organised societies.

It is this agglomeration of the differing tribes and tongues, in the words of our first National Anthem, that adventurous British traders and empire builders brought imperiously together, starting from the proclamation of the Crown Colony of Lagos in 1861, the Niger Coast Protectorate in 1893, the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria in 1899 and the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria in 1906.

The amalgamation of the two Protectorates in 1914 by Lord Lugard gave rise to the geographical contraption called Nigeria.

It was clear from the onset that the newly crafted country was a forced cohabitation of strange bedfellows, a feature that characterises our nation to this day.

While the North has over 70 per cent of the total land area of the country, its peoples were feudal, reluctant to embrace Western education and values, less agitative and less confrontational to the colonialists. The South, on the other hand, quickly embraced the opportunities provided by the religious missions for Western education, and was more

N

Okurounmu assertive and more politically aggressive.

The South was bedrock of anti-colonial demonstrations and agitation for self-rule while the North seemed more placid and more tolerant of colonial over-lordship.

For example, when in 1953, Chief Anthony Enahoro moved the motion for self-government for Nigeria by 1956, Northern representatives not only opposed, but also staged a walkout. The British thus saw the peoples of the North as more accommodating for the sustenance of their imperialistic interests.

The above probably explains why the British, while preparing to hand over power to Nigerians, showed a clear preference to hand over to leaders from the North.

In a heart-rending confession published in the TELL Magazine issues of March 7 and March 21, 2005, Mr. Harold Smith, a colonial labour officer in Nigeria between 1955 and 1960, who was then in his eighties, had this to say: “When we assessed Nigeria, this was what we found in Southern region: strength, intelligence, determination to succeed, well-established history, complex but focused life style, great hope and aspirations... the East is good in administration and commerce, law and medicine, but it was a pity we planned our agenda to give power at all cost to the Northerners. They seemed to be submissive and silly of a kind... The West led in the fight for the independence and was punished for asking for freedom.”

My Harold Smith went on to admit that the census results (of 1952) were announced before they were counted. In his words:

“Despite seeing vast land with no human but cattle in the North, we still gave the North 55 million instead of 32 million. This was to be used to maintain their majority votes and future power bid.”

He further stated that the West, without Lagos, was the most populous in Nigeria at that time, but the colonial rulers ignored that.

He continued... that the North was seriously encouraged to go into the military in the belief that even though the South may attain Western education, the future leaders would always come from the military background.

And he lamented: “I am sorry for the above evil done to Nigeria. I can’t say sorry enough.”

From the above, we see the beginning of the politicisation of census figures, and why it has been imperative for the North, once power had been manipulatively handed to it in 1960, to sustain the myth of higher population in the North in subsequent censuses, to hold on to power.

In their wisdom, they have also heeded the advice of the British as to the importance of the military path to leadership. Thus, between 1960 and 1993, the year of Chief M.K.O Abiola’s annulled election, a period of 33 years, the North held on to power at the centre, either as civilian or military rulers, for 30 years, that is, about 90 per cent of the time.

Still, Abiola’s election was annulled, largely because he came from outside the area supposedly anointed to produce the nation’s leadership. This annulment gave rise to the fiercest political agitation ever in postIndependence Nigeria — the agitation for the

Agitation for a National Conference EVEN before 1993, Anthony Enahoro had, in 1992, started his Movement for National Reformation, canvassing for a Sovereign National Conference, one of whose objectives would be the restructuring of Nigeria into zones or regions of ethnically affined, contiguous, ethnic nationalities.

The idea gained currency during the pro-June agitation and soon became a cause-celebre in the nation’s progressive circles, spawning such groups as the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), the Movement for a New Nigeria (MNN), etc.

Central to all the movements was a demand for the restructuring of Nigeria into a few relatively autonomous regions of ethnically affined communities to whom substantial power would be devolved from the centre, reducing the attraction of the centre and the inter-ethnic acrimony often generated by the competition for its control.

It was realised that the large number of states that the military rulers had created had made the states too weak and ineffectual, thereby making the centre too powerful and the man who controls it, a virtual emperor.

The commitment to convene an SNC, if it won the presidency, was a major campaign plank of my political party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) — the party, on which platform I won election to the Senate in the elections of 1998/99.

Even though my party did not win the presidency, I felt honour bound to pursue the crusade for the SNC in the Senate, and I did. On three different occasions, I sought to push through a motion in the Senate for the convening of a National Conference. But each time, the motion was defeated.

This was not surprising, given that the AD was the smallest party in the Senate, having only 19 out of the 109 members, and that most of the other Senators were people who had participated actively in the aborted Babangida and Abacha transitions and whose parties at the time did not favour the conference.

In the three motions above, I had to climb down from an earlier demand for an SNC to simply a National Conference because the term “sovereign” was being mischievously and erroneously interpreted to mean that all extant structures of government had to abdicate for the conference to hold, whereas an SNC simply means that the outcomes of the conference would be sovereign, that is, have finality and not be subject to any amendments by the extant authorities.

In spite of the compromise, however, the motions still failed to sail through the Senate.

If the failure in the Senate was disappointing, the greater disappointment came from the president at the time, President Obasanjo.

During the transition that brought him to power, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar had promised NADECO (the mother of the AD), as a condition for getting it to participate in the transition elections, that the first order of business of the new government that succeeds him would be the convocation of a National Conference.

Yet, Obasanjo, upon assuming power, turned deaf ears to all demands for the conference. In spite of these disappointments, the agitation continued under various platforms, most especially PRONACO and MNN. And then came October 1, 2013.

The prelude to the conference and the 2014

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 POLITICS 11

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

The National Conference Debate

whither the nation?

National Conference ITH President Jonathan’s announcement on October 1, 2013 of his decision to convene a National Conference and his immediate constitution of a Presidential Advisory Committee under my chairmanship, almost all progressives in the country were overjoyed, all that is, except a small group of politicians, portraying themselves as progressives, but who had become clasped in a political embrace with the traditional opponents of the conference and whose short-term political ambitions were threatened by the prospects of a successful conference.

The North, of course, had always been opposed to it and was shocked by the new development.

After a very successful, six-week, whistle-stop tour of the country by my committee to mobilise and sensitise the citizenry, the overwhelming embrace of the conference initiative by the masses soon reduced all opposition to a whimper and everybody began to look forward to the conference, including all those initially opposed.

Expectations from the conference were quite high. Many hoped that it would mark an upward turning point for our nation, but no sooner did it begin than it became obvious that not all delegates shared that hope.

Very early in the conference, three categories of delegates emerged. People in the first category, consisting of delegates from the Southwest and to a lesser extent, the Southeast, were eagerly anticipating fundamental changes in the status quo, such as a return to regionalism and to the parliamentary form of democratic practice, and a substantial devolution of powers to the regions or zones.

The Southwest may be said to be the only zone that came with concrete proposals for changes that were conceived to be in the best interest of the entire nation, and not for the benefit of the zone alone.

People in the second category of delegates, mostly from the minority zones of the country, while quite supportive of the conference, were mainly concerned with issues touching upon their marginalisation.

Thus, the Middle Belt opposed a return to regionalism, fearing they may once again come under the domination of the ethnic nationalities in their zones, from which state creation had freed them. They, in fact, wanted more states created for ethnic minorities still entrapped in core Northern states with HausaFulani dominant ethnic majorities.

In addition, they wanted urgent attention paid to the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Industry.

The South-South on its part was fixated on the issue of resource control and resource ownership.

The third category consisted of delegates from the core North. They came with a very straightforward agenda, which is to block any change and ensure the sustenance of the status quo.

So, the conference has mostly been a clash of the Southwest against the core North. While the Southwest pushed forcefully for the realisation of all the elements of their agenda, they found themselves almost in every case pitted against the core North, enjoying only lukewarm support from the Southeast and a near total indifference from the rest of the country.

The resistance to change from the core North was understandable and, indeed, expected.

The status quo clearly places the North in a vantage position relative to all other sections of the country.

The military rulers, who had fashioned out the 1999 Constitution, were all from the region, and had erected the structures of state to favour their peoples, especially in the distribution of states and local governments.

W

My adventure into politics probably arose from a belief in the late Kwame Nkrumah’s dictum ‘to seek ye first the political kingdom, and all else shall be added unto you.’ If Nigeria had been blessed with leaders having the qualities so thoroughly ingrained in many of you here today, we would not be in the mess we are in currently. In my lecture before the annual luncheon of this same Lagos branch of the GCIOBA on May 14, 2005, I identified the major problems retarding the development of our nation as corruption, greed, the struggle for ethnic dominance and the exclusive pursuit of self-interest.

Today, nine years further down, these still remain our major problems, only now compounded by the aggravated level of national insecurity, occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency. In fact, it is the persistence of these problems over the past several decades that precipitated the agitations for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), which became intensified after the annulment of the presidential election of June 12, 1993.

Furthermore, they had assumed that the North would always control power at the centre, a consideration that gave rise to making the centre so strong and the federating units, so weak.

They had also guaranteed, by that Constitution, that the North would have a comfortable majority in the National Assembly, making it near impossible to make any constitutional changes that will reduce their advantage.

The totality of the North’s position is that while they may accept some inconsequential amendments to the I999 Constitution, they are doggedly opposed to the writing of a new one. Not even with the President’s green light, as expressed in his conference inauguration address that a new Constitution could be recommended if the conference found it desirable!

They were always quick to point out, at every opportunity, that the conference was not elected, that it lacked the powers to write a new Constitution and that all the outcomes of its deliberations must be forwarded to the National Assembly.

If the attitude of the core-North delegates could be translated into an agenda, that agenda will have the following components, namely: frustrate regionalism, frustrate the reduction of presidential powers, resist the call for a referendum, frustrate the emergence of a new Constitution, ensure minimal, if any departures from the 1999 Constitution and ensure that all the outcomes of the conference go to the National Assembly where the North, of course, has the numbers to frustrate those it considers antagonistic to its interests.

Glimpses from the Conference outcomes IVEN the above scenario, how is the conference likely to turn out? So far, all indications are that the progressives may not have the kind of far-reaching changes that they had hoped for, although there is still some hope that we may have enough departures from the status quo to justify the sub-

G

Prognosis for Nigeria OON, the conference will be over. What is Sdevelopment the prognosis for the future course of of our nation?

Okurounmu mission of the conference outcomes to a referendum preparatory to writing a new Constitution.

The quests for a return to the regional structure and to the full parliamentary system have suffered setbacks at the committee stage but the battle is sure to drag on at the plenary.

Also, the relevant committee, i.e., the Committee on Restructuring and Forms of Government, has recommended the retention of the states as the federating units although allowing for the possibility of contiguous states setting up a Joint Zonal Commission to pursue their common economic development, welfare and security, as well as to merge, if they wish, provided they meet certain stipulated conditions.

Furthermore, the committee has also recommended a modified presidential system of government, with a unicameral legislature and with most government ministers, including the vice president, expected to come from among the elected legislators.

Other committees have also recommended the total removal of the immunity clause, the devolution of certain powers from the Exclusive to the Concurrent Legislative List and a reduction of the Federal Government’s share of the Federation Account.

Significantly, it has been recommended that local governments, their creation, number, funding and other arrangements for their management and sustenance democratically, shall be the responsibility of the states solely, and that sharing of the Federation Account shall be only between the federal and state governments and, most significantly, that local governments shall no longer be listed in the Constitution.

On religion, even though the conference has recommended the stoppage of government sponsorship of religious pilgrimages, it has shied away from affirming the secularity of the Nigerian nation, preferring instead to maintain reference to it as a multi-religious nation. This decision may yet come back to haunt us.

The above are just a peep into the ongoing developments at the conference but since the plenary is yet to conclude, anything is still possible.

Have developments at the conference suggested it might signal a significant upturn in our developmental trajectory? That was the hope of many but it seems we shall need a lot of prayers for that hope to be realised.

With the passionate and unyielding posture of the core North in opposing even the slightest departures from the status quo, and the equally passionate resolve of the South, particularly the Southwest, to effect radical changes, most of which have been frustrated by the core North, it would seem that the apparent consensus of the conference on most issues is merely superficial.

With the failure of the conference to affirm the secularity of the nation, it is obvious that the road to ethno-religious harmony in the country is still paved with thorns.

It is clear that some danger signals are already clearly discernible from documents originating from the core North and circulating contemporaneously with the conference, though not specifically directed at the conference.

These documents portray that the core North has a fixation with the immediate return of power to the region, and they are determined that that power must return undiluted.

There is nothing wrong in any section of the country wishing to have the presidency, but when a section is so desperate for it, in the belief that it is its ordained entitlement and that it is the only section ordained by Allah to lead the nation, then, we are once again moving towards crisis.

That the presidency is the North’s birthright, to have in perpetuity except when it graciously concedes it to others, seems to be the mindset of its leaders currently.

This mindset is manifested in a full page advertorial appearing on page 70 of The Nation on Sunday of June 1, 2014, captioned: “2015: Why Power Must Return To North.”

In the advertorial, the authors, writing on the platform of the Movement for the Political Survival of Northern Nigeria, under the signatures of Dr. Yusuf Jubril and Mallam Sani Mohammed, affirmed the determination of the North to reclaim its traditional position of providing leadership for the Nigerian polity, rehashing the now wellknown mantra that, “The North is only asking for what it does best in Nigeria, leadership… that all regions of the country excel in some area or the other, the West in education, Eastern Region, business…” and reminding readers that “the North has since Independence provided leadership and administration, which has kept the country stable and secure.”

They continued by emphasising that, “this is no accident; it is the Almighty Allah that has destined it so.”

The advertorial went on to describe the current president, Goodluck Jonathan, as an interloper and to characterise the Obasanjo presidency as “the mistake of 1999,” which they would not allow to happen again.

The authors, nevertheless, had some fraternal words for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who they say, “has since seen the light and realised the strategic wisdom in working with the North,” declaring that “with the Southwest under Bola Tinubu with five states combined with our population in the North, we will show our superiority on Election Day, come 2015.”

The authors of the advertorial are probably not prominent in the Northern political leadership, but it sounds like a case of lesser known leaders saying what is the common dogma but which it may not be appropriate for the better known leaders to say.

May God bless Nigeria!

TheGuardian

12 | Wednesday, June 11, 2014

www.ngrguardiannews.com

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 Mr. President, go to Chibok HAT President Goodluck Jonathan T is yet to visit Chibok two months after the abduction of 276 girls from the Government Day Secondary School in that town, in Borno State, reflects the moral burden his administration is now saddled with. This apathy was fittingly demonstrated by the President himself, the other day, when, in an embarrassing turnaround, he cancelled a widely publicised planned trip to the town, where he was supposed to sympathise with the parents and families of the abducted girls. Had he made the trip, he would have, in concrete terms, given the best gesture of re-assurance to Nigerians and the rest of the world that he is in charge of all of Nigeria and cares about all of her people.

Despite reports from the Presidency to the contrary, there were indications that the President had plans to visit Chibok, and thereafter, fly to Paris, France to attend a security meeting on Boko Haram, hosted by the French President. A presidential advance team was said to have been sighted in Maiduguri, even as heavily armed soldiers and policemen were reported to have unusually manned the airport road leading to the Nigerian Air Force Base and the Government House, thereby lending credence to the claim that the parents of the abducted girls and people of Chibok were preparing to receive the President.

So, the questions are: why did the President cancel the trip? And why has he not been to Chibok till now?

Was it as a result of a leakage of the information about his intended trip, and who could have leaked the information that the President was going to Chibok? Why was there even an advance party for an exercise that ought to be as discreet as possible? In other climes, as U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Afghanistan demonstrated, such sensitive missions of profound security concern require tact, clinical efficiency and maximum concealment from public knowledge until accomplished.

However, this sharply contrasts with the unwarranted noise associated with President Jonathan’s planned visit, about which one helmsman of an information agency spills the beans and another denies; a minister attempts a clarification and another aide in the Presidency re-interprets wrongly. There is a barrage of information coming from the same source but clashing as counter-currents, with the end-result of misinforming and disinforming the public.

Besides the apparent absence of consensus about the Chibok event, the slapdash handling of information suggests a struggle for primacy

among the various helmsmen in the information machinery of the administration. The existence of four competing sectors of the same function jeopardises the public relations potential of the Jonathan administration.

At such crucial moments of national history as this, collective anguish demands synergy to avert the dissipation of time and resources towards conflicting results.

But the irony of it all is that this is one administration that simply refuses to learn, even from its own missteps. This same manner of management of information has repeatedly resurfaced so often that Nigerians are left to wonder how the highest quarters of the military and the Jonathan administration can be so imprudent?

More importantly, however, the hubris oozing out of the President’s spin-doctors, notwithstanding, the buck stops on the President’s desk. His servants, which advisers and aides, however high up, are, cannot act as substitute for the passion, will and intellect of the President. The President’s act of being and the autonomy of decision to carry on as such, rest on the person of the President himself. He is the only one who can hold the gavel to stem the current of pestilential perfidy.

Certainly, there is everything wrong with that botched trip and failure to be in Chibok till now. First, it portrays a reluctant President, who with his team, is either unable or unwilling to respond timeously to the mood of the nation. Second, that the President would, after deciding on the trip, call it off abruptly for whatever reason, is an obvious display of impudence.

Besides, it also portrays the President as one who vacillates in the treacherous ping-pong of the denizens at the corridors of power.

Why is it that whenever history furnishes our President the opportunity to roar, he whimpers? Why does President Jonathan tiptoe when an unmistakable stomping around would do?

To redeem himself and garner some credibility for his administration in this trying time, he must find his way to Chibok, however he plans to do it.

President Jonathan does not need a retinue of bomb squad to accompany him and he does not need an advance party or bureaux of the Presidency to herald his coming. He should go incognito.

As the Commander-in-Chief, President Jonathan owes the hurting people of Chibok a moral duty to see them. Above all, he should go to the theatre of war, to send the strongest signal yet to all Nigerians that he not only cares as their President, he is taking full command of the war on terror.

LETTER

INEC on card-reader machines IR: The Independent SCommission National Electoral (INEC) has matter-of-factly ruled out the use of card reader machines for the coming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states. This is rather disappointing.

INEC started well in its determination to conduct credible elections by making machine readable voters’ cards available. These are electronic cards, just like the ATM cards with detailed information of the holder – photograph, thumbprint and biodata. This is to forestall possible theft, transfer and illegal duplication of the voters’ card by desperate politicians hell bent on winning elections at all cost.

When this card is inserted into the machine during accreditation, it will reveal clearly if it belongs to the holder and any case of impersonation will be very evident.

INEC is not sure of its capabilities and has developed cold feet after initially announcing with glee that the machines would be used in Ekiti and Osun, but is rather cautious now and would not want to deploy both cards and machine readers at this same time.

This is self-defeating. It would amount to going to great length to install scanner machines at the airport and refuse to use them.

The sophistication of the

The sophistication of the card is useless without the use of the machines. This is because there have been reports that a political party has been secretly buying the cards from the poor, tempting them with offers ranging from N5000 to N50,000.

One of the party’s big-wig in Ikirun was caught and handed over to the police with thousands of voters’ cards in his car. In some instances, they have been promising people jobs and collecting their cards in return. In other instances, they have been giving out questionnaire to job seekers and asking for their card numbers. It is very clear they want to clone the cards. card is useless without the use of the machines.

This is because there have been reports that a political party has been secretly buying the cards from the poor, tempting them with offers ranging from N5000 to N50,000. One of the party’s big-wig in Ikirun was caught and handed over to the police with thousands of voters’ cards in his car. In some instances, they have been promising people jobs and collecting their cards in return. In other instances, they have been giving out questionnaire to job seekers and asking for their card numbers. It is very clear they want to clone the cards.

In these instances, only the card readers can stop these fraudulent practices. Criminally obtained cards are transferable. All they need to do is to import ‘voters’ from near or far states for the election and give them the

cards. Where the cards are cloned, their aim is to create confusion where two voters brandish the same. Dispute over card would lead to violence and disruption of voting. Where there is voting disruption, the rule says, result would be cancelled. If this is done successfully in precincts where your opponent is strong, then of course, you can strategically rig the election by knocking off the results where your opponents are strong.

It is instructive that only APC has been making all the calls for free and fair election.

Is this not an indication of the predisposition of the two major parties?

The politicians are desperate and INEC should be one step ahead of them. I am asking therefore that the decision not to use the card readers should be revisited. We need the card readers for a free and fair election.

• Wale Adeyemi, Osogbo, Osun State

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 13

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Opinion Countering the crisis of credibility

By Jeff Hawkins

question was “illegitimate,” and to threaten and/or employ violence as a result. The electoral HE United States has worked with Nigeria to system’s shortcomings have thus helped to prostrengthen democratic institutions for vide cover for rhetoric and actions by some politidecades, and will continue to do so. As the citi- cians that only further subvert the interests of zens of Ekiti and Osun prepare to go to the polls Nigerians as a whole. Beyond broad systemic in the next few months to elect their governors, changes – stamping out corruption, improving Nigerians and Nigeria’s friends in the interna- transparency, enhanced internal democracy in tional community will be watching carefully for Nigeria’s political parties – fighting this trend is peaceful elections and results that uphold the also a key element in ameliorating Nigerian will of the electorate. democracy.

It is undoubtedly important and interesting to It is time that Nigerians began to hold elections see who the winners and losers in Ekiti and Osun that ALL believe produce the “correct” result. will be, and how the outcomes will affect the naI am constantly struck by the degree to which tional political picture in advance of next Febru- Nigerians, on all sides of the political spectrum, ary’s elections. Beyond that, however, the Ekiti assail elections which they believe were not credand Osun elections are crucial because of what ible, that didn’t produce the result that reprethey will tell us about Nigeria’s preparations for sented the will of the voters. It seems to happen February 2015 – specifically, whether those elec- after virtually every election, regardless of tions will be, and be seen by Nigerians as, credi- whether a particular election was generally perble. ceived to have been credible or not. While the I have been in Nigeria for nearly two years now, United States strongly supports the notion that and visited each of the 17 states in southern Nige- challenges to election results should be resolved ria, almost all of them on multiple occasions. I through legal mechanisms, has there been an have spoken with hundreds, perhaps thousands, election in the last decade in Nigeria that did not of Nigerians about democracy, elections, and the result in a legal challenge by one or more of the history of your country as it relates to both. Some losers? I’m sure there has been, but my point is of the lessons I’ve learned from these conversa- this: Nigerian elections are almost never considtions are particularly relevant as we approach ered legitimate by all the participants.

Election Day in Ekiti and Osun, and head into the I’d argue that there are lots of similarities benational elections next year. tween politicians in the U.S. and Nigeria in their These conversations make clear that elections conduct leading up to Election Day: the desire to in this country suffer from a crisis of credibility. champion one’s own accomplishments and/or There have been a few contests, particularly policy proposals; an equivalent desire to diminM.K.O. Abiola’s aborted election in 1993, that have ish those of an opponent; and the projection of been widely viewed by Nigerians to represent confidence that “the voters are with me” that is the will of the people. The international com- often accompanied by bold predictions of vicmunity, and in particular the United States, have tory. gone on record as saying Nigeria’s 2011 elections But it seems to me that the day after the election, represented a significant improvement over the similarities between U.S. and Nigerian politisome earlier contests. But Nigerians have been cians diverge. With very few exceptions, by the disappointed – at the LGA, state, and national lev- day after the election, a losing candidate in the els – by many of the electoral cycles in the coun- U.S. has called his/her opponent to congratulate try’s past. There are many reasons for such them; has publicly conceded defeat (at least for disappointment, some historical and some those elections that garner media attention), and highly relevant to this day. Much work remains has begun to close up their campaign offices and to be done – by INEC, by the nation’s security serv- operations. In most cases where this hasn’t hapices, and above all by Nigeria’s political class – to pened by the day after the election, it’s because build more trust in the electoral process. the vote is too close to determine the winner Besides undermining voter faith and interest, without a careful recount. Otherwise, the day afthis crisis of credibility has an additional, perni- ter the election, for losing candidates it’s about cious side-effect: it allows some politicians to re- “going back to normal life.” In Nigeria, by confuse to accept an electoral result that was not in trast, for defeated candidates, the day after the their favour by affirming that the election in election almost seems like the beginning of the

T

real contest – that of the legal challenge to the election’s announced result.

I would like to raise two questions: when will Nigeria reach a point where the system has enough credibility that losing candidates no longer regularly challenge their losses? And more importantly, what can each Nigerian do to move Nigeria closer to that moment? The latter question is especially salient. Nigerian elections are not going to be perfect this year or next year, but they have to continue to improve, and every Nigerian has to do his/her part.

For those who are stakeholders in the election process, I have three points to make as Nigeria works towards that end: First, the sponsorship of violence and intimidation, and the rhetorical threat thereof, are utterly unacceptable in a democratic society, and need to be expunged once and for all from the Nigerian polity and discourse. The U.S. has been deeply troubled by some of the rhetoric that has been thrown around in recent weeks and months as these elections have drawn closer. It is perfectly acceptable, and even praiseworthy, to seek to defend your vote and that of your fellow citizens who share your support for a particular candidate. It is not, however, productive or reasonable to threaten violence, even when you perceive others have been guilty of misconduct.

We were deeply troubled by the threat of “rig and roast” issued multiple times by a major political figure in recent weeks. Who benefits from that type of violent rhetoric, we wondered? And why would any ordinary Nigerian accept such provocative language, especially considering the history of post-election violence in Nigeria, and the truly horrific carnage that this country has been suffering at the hands of Boko Haram? If a candidate believes an election is threatened, then that candidate should be doing everything possible to see that the rules of the game are enforced properly – by having party agents in the numerous locations where they are permitted, for example, to bear witness to what happens – or doesn’t happen. That is part of the painstaking work of participating in, and building, a democracy. Drawing on or threatening violence is an attempt to short-circuit that process for the benefit of a few, but to the detriment of many.

Second, Nigeria’s politicians must accept that they undermine the democratic process when they systematically deny even the possibility of defeat in a free and fair process. These politicians should repeat to themselves the following sentence, either now or sometime before Election

Day: “It is possible that I can lose this election if it is conducted credibly.” I could reel off countless examples of elections in the United States in which one candidate or party had an evident advantage or advantages, and should have easily won. Sometimes even the toughest of candidates – a well-known, popular incumbent, for example – can lose, and lose badly. Going into her re-election battle in 1994, Texas Governor Ann Richards had a national political profile and enjoyed a 60% approval rating among Texans. But she lost, by a relatively wide margin, to the Republican candidate, George W. Bush. Neither she nor anyone around her suggested that there had been cheating in the election – she was just defeated, it was that simple. Voters liked her, but they chose to go a different direction. It is a fact that even in the fairest and most credible elections there must be a candidate who loses – and if there are more than two parties, as is the case in Nigeria, you will have multiple candidates who lose. Nigerian political parties and candidates need to start accepting that their defeats are not wholly, or perhaps even partly, a result of the malfeasance of their opponent or opponents’ supporters. Nigerian democracy will grow stronger the sooner that starts to happen.

Third, and finally, Nigeria has a well-established set of rules for elections – produced by INEC, in concert with the Electoral Act, and guided by the Nigerian Constitution. Abide by them. There is no process, democratic or otherwise, that can survive when its basic foundation is undermined by those seeking to use it. The Nigerian electoral process is only as good as Nigerians make it. That doesn’t mean only worrying about what the other parties are doing – it means worrying about what you and your allies are doing. The fundamental question is this: does what you’re doing help build and sustain an electoral process that you want your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to take part in?

Nigerians have fought long and hard to earn the democratic rights they now possess, and Nigerians want – and deserve – peaceful, credible elections in Ekiti on June 21, in Osun on August 9, and across this great country in February 2015. That’s why these elections are a critical juncture. Every Nigerian – from the party leaders and candidates to average citizens – should do everything in his/her power to help meet those expectations, and thereby counter this crisis of credibility.

• Hawkins is Consul General, U.S. Consulate General, Lagos.

Letter to Governor Babatunde Fashola

By Tunde Fatunde AM writing you this letter to share my thoughts and deep conItinycern with you on the future of Lagos State University (LASU). Deshas brought you and myself into close contacts. I shall make references to these contacts.

The first contact was at the University of Benin, Benin City where you obtained your degree in Law under the close supervision of Professor Itse Sagay who was and still a committed member of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). I was then the Secretary of ASUU, UNIBEN , under the Chairmanship of late Professor Festus Iyayi. May his Soul rest in peace!

From the records at UNIBEN, you came into the university in 1983 and graduated in 1987 at that time, tuition was free. Accommodation was 90 naira per session and the meal ticket was N1.50 kobo for the three meals – breakfast, lunch and diner.

I want to remind your Excellency that university education was then highly subsidized which allowed me to sponsor my younger brother, Adewumi Fatunde, in the same Faculty of Law, UNIBEN. He graduated in 1986.

I paid for his university education because my mother was a petty trader and my father was a low paid worker with Nigeria Railway Corporation.

I obtained my Ph.D in a French University and was employed at UNIBEN as lecturer in 1980, at the age of 29. Thanks to the highly subsidized university education.

What is the relevance of this history to my open letter? One of the immediate problems we confronted was the attempt by the Shehu Shagari Administration to introduce tuitions’ fees into the university. ASUU rose as one body to reject the introduction of tuition fees. We felt that this policy would close, for ever, the doors of learning, to young boys and girls who wanted to obtain university education.

It was Ibrahim Babangida’s Regime under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), that introduced tuition fees. The students, including your Excellency, paid “affordable” tuition fees. It was the joint struggle of ASUU and NANS which prevented the exorbitant fees to be introduced. I know Your Excellency is from humble, modest and honest background like myself. If the tu-

ition fees were exorbitant, you would have terminated, midway, your university carrier. You would not have graduated as a lawyer from UNIBEN. To the second and third contacts. Those of us who knew you were a product of UNIBEN, were happy when you became a democratically elected Governor of Lagos State, the richest state not only in Nigeria, but in West Africa. Lagos has the highest Growth National Product (GDP) in West Africa. According to Barrister Femi Falana, the current Internally Generated Revenue of Lagos is about 20 billion naira per month. Your government has not denied this fact.

Destiny has made you my Governor. As Governor, you are the Visitor of LASU where I have spent about 14 years. I have no regrets working in LASU because it is the sweat and labour of the good people of Lagos that is responsible for my welfare, security and happiness. I thank, once more, the people of Lagos as I have done elsewhere.

However, your recent policies in LASU, as the Visitor, has turned my joy into temporary sadness. This man-made sadness can only be temporary if you are magnanimous enough to pull back the university from avoidable precipice as a result of your policies which are being implemented by Professor John Obafunwa, the Vice Chancellor who was a student, of the same generation with you, in another university, when I started my university carrier about 34 years ago.

It pains me to inform you that ASUU of which I remain a member fought and repelled these policies to create an opportunity for you and Professor John Obafunwa to gain access to university education. Obafunwa’s background is similar to yours and mine. From poor homes!

It was Obafemi Awolowo’s philosophy of highly subsidised education that gave the three of us opportunity to escape from grinding poverty, illiteracy and obtain self-actualisation.

In my own life time, you and Professor Obafunwa are pursuing policies in LASU that would shut out, forever, children from poor homes in Lagos State and elsewhere from gaining access to university education. Lagos State Government has abundant money to drastically reduce tuitions in LASU. This 21st Century, is known as a century driven by knowledge Economy. It simply means that it is only those who acquire knowledge and training that can live meaningful life and deliberately

create social goods and wealth in the society. With the current school fees regime in LASU, which is the highest in all public universities, Lagos will continue to be classified as an educationally disadvantaged State in Nigeria. It is not useful to Lagosians to witness the rise of the city as a Mega City when Lagosians, without skill, via education, cannot be employed to drive these mega projects!

There are two major factors responsible for the current crisis in LASU. The refusal of your administration to implement the 70-year retirement age for professors. Your administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ASUU-LASU in December 2010 to the effect that your Administration will implement, immediately, and to the letter, all the aspects of the MOU including the retirement age clause for professors. Three years after your administration signed this agreement, you now want to renege on the same agreement by invoking un-necessary obstacles! Your Excellency, you are not only a very brilliant lawyer, you are also a well respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Your integrity is at stake here. Kindly implement without delay this aspect of the agreement; no more equivocation please! This is your teacher advising you accordingly.

Instead of His Excellency inviting the striking workers to meaningful discussions with a view to finding solutions to the lingering crisis, the Excellency has resorted to high handedness tactics similar to the ones we suffered in the 80s in our struggle against attempts to commercialise education. The Governor has instructed the Vice Chancellor to stop my salary, stop check off dues, and instructed me to sign a register to go back to work; if not I will eventually be sacked.

As I was preparing my response to these anti-democratic orders, I walked pass the monument of late Professor Ayodele Awojobi in Yaba; monument erected by Governor Fashola in honour of a university teacher who sacrificed his life for the truth. Looking at Awojobi’s statue, I became convinced and emboldened to devote myself to this struggle. I am also convinced that your Excellency will quickly do the needful for normalcy to return to LASU. Your Excellency, I shall obey to the last letter all the decisions taken by ASUU-LASU Congress because it is the highest decision making body of ASUU-LASU. No more, no Less!

• Fatunde is Professor of French Studies, LASU.

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14 Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Opinion The Africanness in Maya Angelou’s life

By Kabir Garba RULY, Maya Angelou enriched the world T with astounding array of talents and accomplishments. So, the torrent of tributes and eulogies trailing her transition from all corners of the world can be described as a deserved payback. Indeed, the vastness of her accomplishments which manifested in her towering profile as a singer, dancer, composer, producer, actress, teacher, motivation speaker, writer, and civil rights activist had universal followership, but, perhaps, with a deep connection with her ‘soul-mates’ in Africa – continental and in the Diaspora.

This deep ‘Africanness’ in Angelou’s physical composure and engagements with life coloured the ‘elegy’ by the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who says, “Maya’s ‘AFRICA’ was more than a mere literary metaphor and reference point – it went beyond race identification.” To obtain a glimmering of what the continent meant to her, Soyinka insists, “one would have to think in terms of a mystic nostalgia. That could be because she was so markedly black-regal both in bearing and pronouncements, she made one feel that, in some distant time past, she had been a queen – a philosopher queen – over some part of the black continent. If indeed she was, Maya was the downto-earth kind who felt her subjects keenly, a philosopher queen without the aloofness.”

Soyinka’s first physical encounter with Maya is nostalgic: “It took just one lunch

meeting with her, and Queen Angelou tightened her sash like a market mamma, mobilized emergency forces, and personally led the charge to beat down the doors of a lethargic - and/or ambiguous – U.S. administration during the Sani Abacha murderous dictatorship. She kept her finger on the nation’s pulse throughout a people’s travails.”

Long before this meet, Soyinka has had “a cherished personal memory” and he reminisces: “I learnt the following at an American university where I had gone to lecture, and Maya confirmed the details to me after we had finally met. Publishers of a prestigious literary journal, the college was also sponsor of a bi-annual international literary prize. She had nominated me for that prize but, finally, it was a German writer who carried it off - I think it was Gunther Grass, but am no longer sure. Well, at the formal event of the announcement, Maya Angelou was so disappointed, she burst into tears. Our sole contact till then was through our writing.

“During reception afterwards, when she was being teased/consoled or whatever, she said something like: No, it’s all right, I know he’ll win a bigger one. A year later, I was accorded the Nobel Prize.”

Tribute of another literary giant, Niyi Osundare, Professor of English at the University of New Orleans, is both poetic and provocative. “To Maya Angelou, drawbacks and adversities are, most times, the building blocks of the house of glory; for life without its vicissitudes is like Christianity without the Cross. She has so much to say because

her own life is a compendium of tellable stories. This is why she is most widely known for her autobiographies, the two famous of which are I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) which became an instant bestseller and literally launched her career as a writer and global voice; and All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes (1984), an engaging account of her travel to Ghana, and the many ways her Africa journey helped her self-definition as an African American by deepening her understanding of the African condition beyond the silences, halftruths, and blatant lies in the history books.”

Osundare isolates series of ironies and contradictions that define Angelou’s earthly sojourn as unique. “She was born Black and female in American South at a time when both designations were nothing short of double jeopardy. Life for Black people in Jim Crow South was hard, brutish, almost forbidding, but the proverbial reality of America as a land of dreams and possibilities enabled her to make lemonade with the lemon sold to her by a society still trying to grapple with the searing contradictions between the lofty democratic ideals enshrined in its constitution and the grave inequities meted out to its racial and gender underclass.”

Putting it mildly, the poet says, “Maya Angelou was a victim of the American nightmare and shining example of its dream. Her entire life provided a lesson in the act of

snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat.”

Now that she’s gone, the solace, in the words of Osundare, is “her lyrical verse and soulful music, her imperishable stories, her electric stage presence, her sweet (and sour) voice, the epigrammatic force in her moral injunction: When you learn, teach; When you get, give.”

Referencing a line: ‘I have a certain way of being in this world’ from Angelou’s ‘Our Grandmothers’, Osundare says, “Angelou’s 86 years on earth are a telling testimony to that declaration. The world has lost a truly phenomenal woman. How so grateful we are that she came our way and touched us with the music of her soul and the gravitas of her grace.”

Angelou’s colleague at Wake Forest University, Yomi Durotoye, a political scientist says, with her passage, “Nigeria, and indeed, Africa has lost one of its dependable supporters of democracy.” Durotoye recalls how she mobilised African-American elite to support Nigeria’s struggle against misrule by the military in the 90s.

Similar feeling resonates in the expressions of scholars such as Tunde Babawale who heads the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), cementing the nexus between continental and Diaspora Africa; John Ayotunde Bewaji, Professor of Philosophy at the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica and others. Simply, the deluge of tributes is flowing endlessly.

• Garba is Arts Editor of The Guardian.

Environmental challenges: The Abia example

By Romanus Uwa ENERALLY, it is the civic responsibility of all and sundry to G keep the environment clean all the time. But that has not been the case in our society today, thereby making filthy environments part and parcel of our everyday lives. That was and still the true situation in most states across the country with both successive governments and the incumbents feeling less concerned. Upon its creation in 1991, Abia State has two major urban cities of Umuahia, the state capital and the commercial city of Aba. The environmental management cum maintenance of these cities over the years has posed serious challenges to successive governments in the state.

Apart from obvious neglect of the situation by the past governments in the state, there was no environmental sanitation culture among the residents of the cities. Proper orientation was lacking and strengthening the enabling environmental law was never governments’ topmost priority. Thus environmental management especially in the commercial city of Aba was nothing to write home about for years. Residents were in the perpetual habit of dumping refuse right inside the drainage channels, especially during the raining season with hope that they would be washed away by the flood, whenever it rains. But whenever it rained then, the refuse would block the drainage channels, and flood would take over the roads in the city. On the other hand, most landlords and indigenes of the city were in the habit of conniving with some fraudulent government officials to sell lands and build shops on the drainage channels and flooding routes. It was business as usual.

At the nooks and crannies of Umuahia and Aba were refuse dumps that constituted serious health hazard to both residents and visitors of the cities; but who cared. Umuahia being home to mostly civil servants was a bit better than Aba that is a commercial city with beehives of business and industrial activities on daily basis. The state wore the toga of a dirty state and Aba could be best described as headquarters of refuse in the southeast zone. The situation was a source of embarrassment, not just to the successive governments in the state, but to residents of the cities, visitors, investors and tourism loving individuals. It was a pathetic and daunting situation calling for urgent attention then. But who would bell the cat?

On assumption of office in 2007 as governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Orji made environmental sanitation especially in the city of Aba his government’s topmost priority. Without paying lip service, the government in effort to rid Aba of heaps of refuse quickly entered into partnership with an American Refuse Management firm Phoenix Environmental Resources based in California whose mandate includes the evacuation of

all waste materials in the state into their factory at Obingwa, from which they are turned into organic manure to be used by farmers in the state.

After two years, it became obvious to all that the company did not have the technical knowhow and capacity to deliver, despite enormous support by the government. The environmental situation in the city was moving from bad to worse.

Residents complained bitterly over the company’s failure to live up to expectation.

Based on this obvious failure and lapses on the part of the company coupled with complaints by the residents, the government terminated the contract and subsequently returned their responsibilities to Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) which past governments owed their workers backlog of salaries. To ensure close supervision and effective performance, the Governor made the agency a parastatal under his office.

A new team led by Dr. Cosmos Ndukwe as General Manager was appointed to oversee the management of ASEPA with a new mandate. The government paid the backlog of salaries and arrears owed workers of the agency for years by successive governments in the state. Special allowances were equally introduced to motivate workers. One of such incentives was the monthly donation of a brand new motorcycle for the best waste worker in Aba. All the dilapidated waste containers, receptacles, broken down equipment, and trucks were repaired by the government and put in use, while they procured some modern waste management equipment such as trucks, tippers, waste bins, bulldozers, graders, light weight waste containers, domestic waste bag, motor vehicle waste baskets, bio-degradable waste bag and others to complement the existing ones.

To ensure effective waste management and forestall the outbreak of epidemics associated with dirty environment, the state government quickly closed down Ubakala-Umuahia and Ariaria- Aba dump sites due to wrong sitting and poor management and relocated them to a safer and convenient location.

The agency leadership constituted Environmental Management Strategic Committee made up of experts and consultants in waste management who brainstormed on how better to effectively tackle the waste upsurge in the cities.

To make the work easier, the cities of Aba and Umuahia were divided into six environmental sub-zones each and new strategy for monitoring and control were channelled. Later additional 36 sub-zones were created and more hands were deployed. Industrial capacity receptacles and light buckets were placed at neighbourhood proximities, while lightweight waste buckets were placed at every 50 metres interval in

Umuahia and Aba. The approach, according to the agency, was aimed at discouraging illegal dumping of waste and to serve as an anti-trash device in the state.

To complement this, bio-degradable waste bags known as environmental black bags and waste buckets were introduced at homes and offices, to stimulate waste bagging consciousness for easy disposal of refuse.

The agency also introduced a unique waste sorting device known as “Medical Waste Management Devise”, a very special environment management approach designed for sorting out medical related waste for effective disposal.

Today, waste workers in the state are working day and night as the agency introduced a monitoring scheme aimed at policing all the various dumpsite and waste collection points to ensure proper and regular disposal of waste. The strategy has aroused the consciousness of the residents of the cities as they complied with government directives to avoid being penalised.

The government reconstituted the Environmental Sanitation Mobile Courts and equipped them for optimal performance.

The Courts are made of magistrates, lawyers and the security agents. They enforce compliance to environmental laws and standards and monitor all aspects of sanitations and pollution activities including wrongful disposal of wastes, all forms of pollution regulations, blockage of drainage systems, nonpayment of sanitation fees and others.

Since then, the agency has been regularly engaging in the periodic fumigation of the dump sites to optimise the control mechanism for environmental friendliness. In addition to the activities of the agency, the state government had engaged hundreds of the indigenes as street sweepers in Aba and Umuahia.

The agency in collaboration with Govt Task force has also demolished illegal structures and shanties in the cities of Aba and Umuahia, and aggressively cleared blocked drainage channels. This has brought about the free flow of flood whenever it rains and has discouraged the breeding of mosquitoes, water borne diseases, and fungi that thrive on stagnant water.

Last year, the state government procured additional 36 brand new disposal trucks that were handed over to the agency for speedy refuse disposal. Nearing completion at the Ogurube Layout Umuahia is a gigantic office to serve as the agency’s permanent office. This many believe will make it more effective and focused in its operations and mandates. Today, the cities of Aba and Umuahia are wearing new looks befitting of a state capital and a commercial city. The government and the agency should not relent in sustaining the tempo, but rather improve on them for a cleaner Abia State.

• Dr. Uwa, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Aba, Abia State.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | 15

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Focus Summit underscores dangers of mercury African health experts and other stakeholders met recently in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory to brainstorm on how to reduce the use of toxic elements in dentistry, LILLIAN CHUKWU reports HE just concluded West African Summit on T Phasing Out Amalgam in Africa, held in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has underscored the urgent need for the adoption of mercury-free dentistry and reducing toxic impacts on the environment in Africa.

According to experts, dental amalgam is one of the most commonly used tooth filling materials in restorative dentistry. However, one of its major components, with approximately 50 per cent elemental mercury, attracts particular concern because of its potential adverse effects on humans and the environment.

The forum, which aligns with the Strategic Approach to Integrated Chemical Management’s (SAICM’s) key objectives, attracted diverse stakeholders comprising environmentalists, dentists and non-governmental organisations from Benin Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal and Tanzania.

It aims to put together, a plan of action to phase out the use of dental amalgam in response to the “world’s call for action,” under the Minamata Convention on Mecury, adopted in Minamata, Japan, in October, 2013.

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, who was represented by the Head, Dentistry Division and Chief Dental Officer at the Federal Ministry of Health, Adebimpe Adebiyi agreed that mercury is a toxic substance of universal concern that causes significant harm to human health, wildlife and ecosystems.

The Minister explained that once in the body, mercury acts as a neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and nervous system. He averred that exposure to mercury could be particularly hazardous for pregnant women, especially lactating mothers who, by extension, expose their children to mercury during breastfeeding.

According to a recent German report, between 20, 000 and 30, 000 tons of mercury are discharged globally into the environment each year as a result of human activities, while approximately 46 per cent of the freshly triturated amalgam is inserted as new amalgam restorations.

The study showed that the use of disinfectants containing oxidizing substances in dental aspirator kits might also contribute to remobilization of mercury and its subsequent release into the environment.

The report stated that the environmental impact of dental mercury “is mainly due to the poor management of dental amalgam waste.”

Proper collection of mercury-contaminated solid waste prevents the release of mercury vapour during combustion. In addition, the report revealed, the use of amalgam separating devices reduces the amount of amalgamcontaminated water released from dental clinics.

Executive director, Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental development (SRADev), Leslie Adogame said that since Nigeria was a signatory to the Mercury Treaty (Minamata Convention), it was imperative for the government to take a serious policy initiative towards phasing it out.

Adogame said: “there is very limited awareness on mercury in medicines and generally in the healthcare sector in Nigeria. Yet, the dangerous poison is causing a lot of health problems unknown to the public. Today in Nigeria, dental amalgam is still highly in use in both government and private dental clinics, despite the existence of alternatives, such as composites, glass ionomers and copolymers (modified composites). These, she noted, are effective alternatives that have been tested and found to be more attractive than the traditional amalgam.

She added: “In our lumex research presently being carried out in Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja, mercury vapour levels as high as 302 to 9,600 metric tons have been noticed in both private and government dental clinics, where restorative work is being carried out. These levels are obviously higher by far, compared with the 300 tons of mercury recommended levels. This translates to worrisome exposure of occupa-

Executive Director, Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental development (SRADev), Leslie Adogame (second left); Head, Dentistry Division and Chief Dental Officer, Federal Ministry of Health, Adebimpe Adebiyi; President, World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, Mr. Charles Brown at the West African Summit on Phasing Out Amalgam in Africa, held in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory recently. tional workers in dentistry practice in Nigeria.

“Like every developing country, there are challenges ranging from lack of knowledge and capacity; lack of funding to purchase equipment of conventional restorative care; lack of electricity and piped water in most private and government hospitals; absence of an efficient national healthcare waste management system for the management of amalgam waste and the issue of cost of treatment.

“Despite these challenges, Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART), a restorative as well as preventive procedure can be used in underprivileged communities because it requires minimal technological inputs. This remains the best hope for our country.”

Adogame said that SRADev’s campaign effort in Nigeria had focused generally on intentional mercury in products’ sources, ranging from mercury in medical devices (hospitals and health care settings), cosmetics (creams, lotions, soaps), flourescent lamps, mercurycontaining switches (e-wastes), mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

He noted that the organization “has participated with our government delegates in most of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCs); from INC1 in Sweden in June 2010, INC2 in Chiba- Japan in January 2011, to INC4 in Uruguay in July 2012 and the eventual signing of the mercury convention in Japan in October 2013.

“Our campaign on dental amalgam specifically began in 2012 in Lagos State institutions with the support of the “Alliance” and since then, it has gained tremendous impact at the national level, culminating in the national stakeholder’s workshop.”

President of World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, Charles Brown said while the mercury treaty had been signed, it was yet to be ratified. He explained: “We are following up now.

It’s been signed but not ratified. There is a part of the many aspects of this treaty on all major uses of mercury in dentistry. There is a requirement to reduce its use as efforts are intensified in phasing it out. It’s now world consensus that we must control mercury. It’s horrible in an environment and can cause permanent brain damage to children, feotus injuries.”

The forum zeroed in on an Action Plan to phase out the use of dental amalgam, identify key roles for each stakeholder and change the dental school curriculum. The work plan revealed that throughout the Minamata Convention negotiations, the Africa Region worked very hard to ensure that a reduction in the use of dental amalgam was included in the treaty, while forcefully arguing for the phasing

A dentist in action. out of amalgam generally and for an end to amalgam in milk teeth specifically.

Other aspects of the call to action include, educating consumers and parents about the harmful nature of amalgam and creating awareness that they have other choices.

Campaign would also be mounted on the need to phase out the use of amalgam in hospitals of Nigeria and the need to protect dental workers from mercury vapour exposure.

Other strategies include: the promotion of the benefits of non-mercury dental restorative materials; encouraging government programmes and insurance policies that favour non-mercury dental restorative materials; training dental professionals to use non-mercury dental restorative materials and techniques, discouraging amalgam use in milk teeth (primary teeth); protecting dental workers from mercury vapours in the workplace; developing a national plan that sets goals for minimizing and eliminating amalgam use, updating dental schools training to emphasize mercury-free dentistry and moving hospitals to mercury-free health care services.

According to a former Director, Chemical and Climate Change at the Federal Ministry of Health, Chris Ojembe, “it is imperative for African countries to impress it upon the exporting nations and funding organisations to stop the toxic trade in dental mercury in Africa, and cease sending to Africa, interest groups whose agenda is to encourage amalgam use in Africa.”

He added: “Mercury is a recognised global pollutant which is not receiving sufficient local attention in our region. It is a toxic substance of global concern that causes significant harm to human health, wildlife and ecosystems. Once in the body, mercury acts as a neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and nervous system.”

Assistant Director for Chemical Evaluation and Research Directorate at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Folashade Ayoade agreed that prenatal and infant mercury exposure could cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness and that even in low doses, mercury might affect a child’s development, delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span and causing learning disabilities.

She said that in adults, mercury poisoning could adversely affect fertility and blood pressure regulation and “can cause memory loss, tremors, vision loss and numbness of the fingers and toes.”

A growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to mercury may also lead to heart disease and that the “nervous system is very sensitive to all forms of mercury and exposure to high levels of mercury (metallic, inorganic or organic) can permanently damage the brain, kidney and can affect a developing foetus and harmful effects also include mental retardation, blindness, seizures and inability to speak.”

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TheMetroSection Abuja markets reopen after shutdown by police over bomb scare HERE was pandemonium at the popular T Wuse Market in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja yesterday morning as a result of bomb scare. It was gathered that shop owners hurriedly closed their shops when an alarm was raised about an object suspected to be improvised explosive device sighted in the market.

Consequently, the FCT authorities sealed off three major markets in the capital city – Wuse Market, Utako Modern Market and Garki Modern Market. Also, policemen, including the FCT anti-bomb squad, were drafted to secure the markets.

The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Altine Daniel, confirmed to The Guardian that the three markets have been sealed off for anti-bomb squad to search the nooks and crannies for possible improvised explosives device.

Daniel, however, assured those trading there and buyers that the markets would be reopened as soon as the police are sure that the lives of the people would not be endangered.

The closure led to the congestion of roads leading to the markets and policemen cordoned off adjoining roads around Wuse, Utako and Garki, for a thorough search to be conducted on the markets.

Barely five hours after, the FCT authorities reopened Wuse, Utako and Garki markets that were sealed off in the wake of a bomb scare. Though there was still heavy presence of policemen in the area, normal business activities resumed yesterday evening as people were seen moving in and out.

Some of the affected traders during the closure of the market definitely affect business activities over However, most of the shops remained the next few weeks in the three markets. locked while the ever-busy markets were a “Honestly, I am not happy because this shadow of itself. will affect us. As you can see, the market is John Timothy, a shop owner was not not busy and only God knows for how long happy, saying that the bomb scare would this will continue,” he said

Nine cheat death in Lagos road crash

By Wole Oyebade

COMMERCIAL bus driver’s attempt to beat traffic light A yesterday led to a severe road crash at the Alausa end of Lagos State.

But thanks to Divine providence, nine passengers, the driver and his aide-the-camp escaped with various degrees of injuries.

The accident occurred some minutes before noon yesterday afternoon, at the Lagos-Ibadan/ Alausa interchange, beside MKO Abiola Garden.

According to a survivor of the accident, the 18-seater bus, with registration number XJ933EPE, had picked passengers from Berger en-route Ikeja, when its brake system

failed at the intersection.

The survivor noticed that the driver had applied more speed on approaching the intersection “when he saw the green-light was about to turn on amber and red, for ‘stop’.

But on crossing the intersection at full speed, the break system went flat.”

To avoid crashing into other road users, the driver swerved off the road, skipped an elevated walkway and rammed into the fence of MKO Abiola Garden.

The bus, which had “For Sale” poster on it, was shattered beyond repairs. As at the time of writing this repoert, the vehicle was littered with broken glasses, spare parts, pairs of shoes, loose documents, blood stains and so on.

Shortly after the crash occurred, LAGBUS drivers, in the

FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel, did not, however, disclose if any improvised explosives device that might have been planted were found after the police search.

course of training on the route, rushed to the scene to rescue trapped passengers using their BRT bus (with registration number: XQ868AGL) to convey all on-board to a nearby Lagos State Accident and Emergency Centre for treatment.

Another survivor, who is a Muslim cleric, likened the unfolding of event to that of a movie scene. He sustained cuts and bruises on his legs.

In his words: “It happened so suddenly I could barely imagine it. I first saw total darkness and then all came clear again. We are all lucky to be alive,” he said.

A resident of MKO Abiola Garden, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the intersection has usually been a flash-point for fatal accidents, both for plying vehicles and pedestrians.

‘Do not abandon this project’

• Residents appeal for completion of pedestrian bridge at Cement Bus Stop, Lagos

By Isaac Taiwo

OGENT reasons, no C doubt, always inform the siting of pedestrian bridges in those locations marked out for them.

One of those suitable areas is Cement Bus Stop, along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, an area always busy with vehicles coming from Oshodi and those from Sango, Kola, Abule-Egba moving at top speed on the expressway, apparently making it a great risk for pedestrians to cross the two lanes most of the time.

Therefore, government’s decision to construct a pedestrian bridge at the location was really applauded by residents and pedestrians who cross the busy highway everyday.

However, just like what is gradually becoming the

norm, that works long started before the rainy season are for one reason or the other delayed to catch up with the rain for the reasons best known to the contractors, standing pillars suggesting a pedestrian bridge was under construction are conspicuously located at Cement Bus Stop, also conveying the message that the work had been put on hold.

The present state of the construction affects the movement of vehicles when they get to the area with the correct notion that traffic can only flow as usual after the completion of the pedestrian bridge.

One of the users of the road, a civil servant who craved anonymity said: “ A pedestrian bridge is necessary at this Cement bus stop because of the high number of people crossing the express

road all the time, especially in the early part of the morning by those going to work.”

“There is no doubt that by the time the pedestrian bridge is completed, people in this area would be very happy for overcoming the trauma they have been experiencing at crossing the Express road, especially at very busy periods.”

“But for some time now, we have noticed that the work had not been moving or perhaps stopped for reasons best known to the construction company.”

“Apart from dashing the hopes of the users who have been salivating for the joy of overcoming their trauma of crossing the ever-busy road, the reason for siting the bridge there to obliterate the incidence of casualties along the road would be defeated.”

The bridge “We want to implore the contractors responsible to rise up to their duty and do away with the culture of starting a project only to do it half-way and abandon it.”

A civil servant who works in Isolo, Mr. Ade Adigun, also observed that work had ceased on the construction.

According to him, before a contractor embarks on any programme, he would have

PHOTO: ISAAC TAIWO

discussed the details of the contract with whoever awarded him the contract and iron out those nutty areas that are capable of slowing down the work.

This is in the interest of the construction company handling the job and the beneficiaries whose hopes must have been raised.”

“Contractors should be

proactive enough to ward off any impediment that may tend to slow down the construction like the incidence of rain.

Any work dragged into the rainy period will definitely suffer some setbacks and that is why contractors should look ahead to discourage this.”

“A lot of accidents have taken place on this highway and constructing a pedestrian bridge will go a long way to stopping this.”

“I also want to say that another pedestrian bridge is needed at Mangoro Bus Stop because a lot of people also cross the express road,” he pleaded.

“A Church leader was lamenting the other time of the danger the crossing of the express poses to the members on Sundays.

“The best bet is to also site a pedestrian bridge at the bus stop to save lives since prevention is always better than the cure and a stitch in time saves nine” he said.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

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Ogba Rotary donates educational materials to schools

By Kenechukwu Ezeonyejiaku T was all smiles for the students of Agidingbi Senior Grammar School, Ikeja and Oke-Ira Junior Grammar School, Agudatitun, Ogba, all in Lagos State, as members of Rotary Club, Ogba recently remembered them.

The club, in collaboration with Flour Mills Plc, donated a desktop computer to OkeIra Junior Grammar School and five exercise books and five biros worth over N800, 000 to each and every student of both schools.

Speaking to The Guardian at the presentation, the President of the club, Rotarian.

(Barr.) Sampson Olanrewaju Omadara, said that the essence of the donation was to assist students in public schools within their area in their quest for knowledge.

He said that the club, whose objective is geared towards impacting on the society, deemed it necessary to make the donations because they felt that students in government schools need more assistance and support.

The Past President of the club, Mr. Omolara Okubule, while addressing the students, told them that the club is a service club that tries as much as they can within the limits of their resources in lending helping hands to humanity. He

I

urged them to cultivate and imbibe the ideals of Rotary which is the spirit of service to humanity as they grow older and become men and women of substance so that they can as well give back to the society out of the little that God has blessed them with adding that government cannot be left alone to provide everything for the people.

Vice Principal (Academics), Agidingbi Grammar School, Mr. Adeleye who was full of gratitude for the donations, said that the club is really living up to its billing of service to humanity. He revealed that the club has shown that they have the interest and well being of students at heart noting that they have always come to assist them and also give them different things in the past.

He however urged them not to relent in their good works while also urging them to always assist the school adding, “like Oliver Twist, we will always want some more.”

Meanwhile, both the Rotary President and the school Vice Principal joined their voices in the call for the release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

According to Omodara: “I believe that what these people are doing is anti-Islam

Vice Principal, Agidingbi Senior Grammar School, Ikeja, Mr. Adeleye (second left); President, Rotary Club, Ogba, Samson Omadara ( right); Past President, Rotary Club Ikeja, Omolara Okubule; Adegbite Adeshna; Sola Awosheye and other members, teachers and students of Agidingbi Senior Grammar School at the event even though I am a Chriscorporate bodies in the socithat you should search for now say that education is tian but I have a little knowlety to come in and bridge knowledge anywhere. The evil to the religion? I beg edge of Islamic the gap between governirony of the whole thing is them to release those chiljurisprudence. Islamic reliment and the governed saythat their destructive instrudren in the Name of God.” gion enjoins knowledge. It is ing that “it is in doing so ments are products of westHe finally called on other enjoined by Muhammad that we can have a better soern education. Why will they well-to-do individuals and ciety.”

Lagos Assembly condemns military assaults against media • Eulogises former NAFDAC boss, Prof. Akunyili

By Wole Oyebade HE Lagos State House of T Assembly has condemned assaults and clampdown on some media houses, describing the action as undemocratic.

The House frowned at reports on seizure and confiscation of some newspapers, allegedly by the Nigerian Army, as it urged the Federal Government to “stop chasing shadows.”

Speaker of the House, Adeyemi Ikuforiji at Monday’s Plenary said the House condemned in totality all forms of harassments, intimidation and oppression by the security agencies in the state in the interest of good democratic practice.

Their condemnation was on the heels of unlawful interception and seizure of newspaper dispatch of Leadership and The Nation newspapers meant for all other five zones of the country from Lagos dispatch office.

Ikuforiji said whatever plan the Federal Government may have, “past efforts to gag the media, even in military era have not suc-

ceeded,” adding that “if they are serious about exchanges of bad information, then let them go and Bring Back Our Girls,” he said.

Besides, lawmakers eulogised the worthy life lived by the late Dora Akunyili, describing her as an amazon and outstanding daughter of Nigeria. A minute silence was observed in her honour.

The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Publicity, Security & Strategy, Segun Olulade also expressed displeasure, noting that the development came barely 48 hours after “President Goodluck Jonathan slammed the Nigerian media for giving the insurgents undue publicity in their reportage.”

Olulade said: “This development is one of the most unfortunate in the history of Democracy in the country. It is a path to dictatorship and quiet reminder of the fierce military era in Nigeria.”

“This is democracy. The reason given by the Nigerian Army was a speculative one, and once they could

Brief SAITEX holds in South Africa June 22-24 HE Southern African International Trade Exhibition (SAIT TEX), which takes place yearly in Johannesburg, will hold From June 22-June 24, 2014.

It is rated as the continent’s leading business opportunities event and the mission is to allow entrepreneurs, agents, distributors, importers, wholesalers and retails to start, grow a business by introducing them to foreign companies looking to get a foothold in African markets Last year, a massive 980 companies from 42 countries displayed their products and services to take advantage of the opportunities available. 16,800 Visitors from 52 countries attended the three-day event at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, and found over 3,000 product categories on offer.

To pre-register as a visitor, which qualifies you for free magazine subscriptions as well as enrolment into the Business Matchmaking initiative, go to www.exhibitionsafrica.com – visitor registration For more info, contact Anina Hough on Email: saitex@exhibitionsafrica.com; Tel: +27(0)83 260 8131 or +27(0)11 783 7250.

not confirm anything harmful or implicating in the dispatch, they are not supposed to destroy the newspapers.”

Continuing, he said: “This is an outright abuse of the freedom of people to be informed. This development

is unhealthy for our democracy as I believe that the army was acting on political directives. If the present PDP government will continue to accuse opposition but will never play by the rule of the game and constantly coercing peoples’

rights, it is unfortunate and act of sycophancy,” Olulade said.

The action credited to the Army, has continued to attract condemnation by Nigerians and international media over the brutal act.

Olulade said further that

an attack on media was one of the critical signs that the government under whose gaze such barbaric act is being perpetrated has thrown in the towel but fighting back at the people.

Dufil flags off search for heroic kids

Public Relations &Event Manager Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Tope Ashiwaju (left), Head Marketing, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Manpreet Singh and Brand Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Miss Dishna Agarwal at the press conference on the Indomie Independence Day Awards in Lagos …recently

By Eno Bassey nent for a nation that, inheroic children, was made deed, wants to make conby the Head of Marketing, UFIL Prima Foods Plc, scious efforts to provide a Dufil Prima Foods, Manmakers of Nigeria’s better future for them as preet Singh, at the national most preferred noodles the nation’s destiny lies in press conference in Lagos. brand, has begun the search their hands.

Singh said: “It is with great for three new heroic chil“Our motivation rests delight that we all are gathdren, ages 15 and below, in firmly on the fact that a lot ered here once again to offithe seventh edition of its of kids are out there doing cially announce the laudable Corporate Social the extraordinary day by commencement of the Responsibility initiative, the day, yet, are unsung heroes search for our inestimable Indomie Independence Day who have never been celeheroes for this year.

There Award for Heroes of Nigeria brated, that is why Dufil has is no gainsaying that the fu(IIDA). resolved that every year, we ture of every nation and by The announcement for the would not relent in our extension, the world is commencement of the search all around Nigeria largely dependent on the search and call for entries for children who have peryouth, many of whom are for the prestigious award formed unique acts of bravchildren.

Hence, it is pertifor deserving Nigerian ery/ heroism, worthy of

D

celebration”.

The Public Relations and Events Manager, Dufil Prima Foods, Mr. Tope Ashiwaju said the last six editions of the award were quite successful, and attracted strong commendations from various quarters across the nation.

“Spurred by these remarkable successes and the lives we have touched, who have continued to be role models to other kids, Dufil, is now more than motivated, to make this seventh edition, which is a unique number, an even more memorable one for all”.

According to Ashiwaju, “In reinforcing our brands commitment to corporate social responsibilities, Dufil feels that it is very important to help ensure that kids are set in the right direction very early in their lives; if they are positively influenced with good traditional values at the beginning, then they are bound to become champions or brand ambassadors to the entire world, which would ultimately see us at Dufil Prima Foods, more than fulfilled.

“Indomie Independence Day Award for heroic children of Nigeria has so far recorded huge success in the last six editions producing a total of 18 winners in all who have been rewarded with scholarship prizes of N1,000,000 , N750,000 and 500,000 for the first, second and third winners respectively.”

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Business AMCON forecloses further purchase of toxic assets

By Chijioke Nelson He Asset Management t Company of Nigeria may have foreclosed further purchase of non-performing loans from the nation’s deposit money banks as their current ratio to risk assets is well below five per cent. the Chief executive Officer of AMCON, Mustafa ChikeObi, who disclosed this at an interactive session with the media, in Lagos yesterday, however said that the system has been strengthened to mitigate the crisis it is currently battling with.

According to him, it is almost impossible now for banks to avoid examiners’ searchlight in dictating the unethical practices and poor corporate governance

issues that reigned before now.

He pointed out that any record of increase in risk assets by a particular bank now, will as well be adjusted by the bank within the quarter of its operations, assuring that risk management in financial institutions has been firmed up.

“Besides, from the regulator to other stakeholder, including AMCON’s board and management, have agreed that there will not be further purchase of non-performing loans. I am sure that it will not happen when I am still the Chief executive of the institution,” he said.

Chike-Obi pointed out that the misconception over the sinking fund and attributing of its assets as public fund have also attracted the

attention of the organization.

He stated that the sinking fund is deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria and managed by same, in the settlement of banks’ liabilities, adding that AMCON has no link with the fund, not even the total pool so far.

He also noted that AMCON’s assets are factored into the total cost of nonperforming loans, which the banks, together with the funds to be recovered will offset, saying that public funds can only arise from the excess that might result, when the bonds are totally redeemed.

Chike-Obi reiterated that the intervention was ultimately in the interest of the banks and the economy, challenging any of the

nation’s lenders to prove his claims wrong by showing evidence that they were better off before the bailout.

He pointed out that the intervention not only benefited banks, but also companies and private sector initiatives that would have collapsed and throwing more thousands into the labour market.

Chike-Obi, said the $31 million aircraft, currently being priced $28 million, would be represent a $3 million loss, adding that the loss was not deliberately incured.

It would be recalled that AMCON put down $27 million to complete the transaction on the aircraft, initiated by an undisclosed debtor of a bank, a move that was aimed at getting a hold on the initial deposit of

$4 million made to the seller by the debtor. the decision was made when it was obvious that the manufacturer would not release the $4 million already deposited and there was no other asset to lay hold on from the debtor. the AMCON chief, who admitted that the decision was a costly mistake, explained that the agency did not envisage the unfolding difficulties that now hamper the smooth sale of the Jet, after the injection of the huge sum.

H e also debunked allegations of serious infractions at Mainstreet Bank- one of the bridged banks, saying that if there is any, he is not aware and that the CBN’s Banking Supervision Department would have

also raised alarm.

“We must take every allegation with a sense of responsibility. For me, I am not aware of any serious infractions and do not think there is Speaking on the continuous operations of the bank’s subsidiaries, he said the regulator decided to let it remain operational until the new investor is unveiled to decide what to do with them.

‘How Nigeria can benefit from AGOA scheme’

By Femi Adekoya with agency reports eSpIte the number of duty-free and quota-free D access exportable products

Vice-Minister of Commerce, Pakistan, Fazal Abbas Mekan;President, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Pakistan, Saddiqu Sheikh; National President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar;and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga at the signing a Memorandum of Understanding on trade, investment collaboration.Watching from the background were the President of Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain; and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, during the Nigeria-Pakistan Business Forum, in Abuja,yesterday.

Govt, investors to seal pact on Ajaokuta steel firm’s revival OMpLeteD facilities at . Minister unfolds ceramic tiles’ export plan C the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State will soon commence operations, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Sada has said. the minister, who made the disclosure on Monday in Lokoja, said the Federal Government would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with some private investors.

He also disclosed plans by the government to commence exportation of ceramic tiles, from various production facilities across the country.

Sada said at the beginning of a three-day working tour of the company with his counterpart in the Ministry of trade, Industry and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, that the investors were trade partners and not core investors.

He said the investors would be engaged on a short-term basis to operate

the completed facilities, adding that the approach was to avoid past mistakes.

Sada said that the move would save machines at the company from further deterioration, adding that the steel company workers were among the best trained. the minister also said that the steel sector was very crucial to the attainment of industrial revolution, hence, the attention being paid to it.

He said the team would also visit the mining sites in Koton Large and other communities, saying that government planned to use the sector as an alternative to oil in terms of revenue and job creation.

Besides, Sada said the case between the Federal Government and Global Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd, an Indian company, which

bought Ajaokuta Steel company had been settled out of court.

He explained that the Federal Government terminated its contract with Global Infrastructure on the ground that the company lacked the requisite competence in management. ``We have about six memoranda of understanding on the various rolling mills and the training school. We have 40 experts from Ukraine working on rehabilitating the place and running it,’’ Speaking also, the Minister of trade, Industry and Investment, described the state as a confluence of opportunities.

He said the state was rich in solid mineral deposits and arable land for agriculture which had remained undeveloped for years.

Aganga advised the state to

key into the Federal Government’s industrial revolution plan for its potential and posterity of the citizens.

He recalled the state’s contribution to the country’s achievement of sufficiency in cement production, saying the Federal Government was banking on it to achieve the same feat in ceramic products production. the minister, who highlighted the country’s achievement in automobile assembly plants, said also that local manufacturing of some vital motor parts would commence soon.

Gov. Idris Wada of Kogi in his remarks expressed delight over the decision to reopen the completed parts of the steel company.

He also applauded the gradual approach to the completion of the project and commended president Goodluck Jonathan for fulfilling his 2011 electioneering campaign promise on

the project. the minister, in an interview with MAN, said the country had the largest tile factories in West Africa, adding that it would begin the exportation of ceramic tiles just like it did with cement.

“We are hoping that very soon, we will make a declaration on production of ceramic tiles because all our efforts are aimed at industrial production and how to create jobs,’’ he said.

Sada said Nigeria had five privately owned ceramic tile factories, three of which were located in Lagos State, while one each was located in Cross River and Kogi respectively.

“We have the background information on clay deposits and other minerals we have to give these factories and potential investors to enhance the development of the minerals,” he said.

from Nigeria to the United States market rising to 7000 under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the DirectorGeneral, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr John Osemede, has said Nigeria was yet to maximise opportunities under the scheme.

Indeed, with plans by the United States to extend the AGOA initiative after the current programme expires by 2015, stakeholders have sought government’s intervention in making non-oil export competitive especially in the areas of standardization and value-addition.

Already, stakeholders in the real sector, especially the Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) had attributed the inability businesses in the country to exploit opportunities under the scheme to their lack of adherence to standards and product packaging methods.

Corroborating this view, Osemede in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recently in Lagos, added that Nigeria had not benefitted from existing trade agreements with other countries due to its infrastructural deficit and lack of protection for local industries.

According to him, majority of Nigerian non-oil exports have been rejected because they have failed to meet required standards. the bank, during a recent BoI-AGOA training programme in Lagos, identified some of the hindrances to the export capacities of most Nigerian SMes to include high costs of production, lack of contractual terms adherence and ignorance of local and U.S. customs regulations.

Indeed, the real sector

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Nebo lists benefits of distributed electricity generation

By Roseline Okere and Obidimma Chikezie

. Says 80m homes not connected to national grid

HE Federal Government T has identified distributed electricity generation

more customers seeking to install distributed power technologies that can help ensure that homes and businesses have more reliable supplies of electricity.

Bolsinger added that GE’s Distributed Power is committed to helping customers throughout Africa use more of their own

as one of the avenues to resolve the crisis of electricity supply in the country.

The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, who made this disclosure at the General Electric (GE) Distributed Power Launch in Lagos yesterday, noted that about 80 million Nigeria homes are not connected to the national grid.

According to him, distributed power has the ability to cater for specific needs where its needed most.

“People always wrongly assess the power situation of the country. It’s common to hear people say about 50 per cent of our population still don’t have access to electricity of the national grid. In actual fact, it’s more than that. About 60 per cent of our population, that’s about 80 million Nigerian homes, are not connected to the national grid.

“The question now is, how do we quickly reach these communities, these homes, schools, hospitals, markets, farms etc? There’s not faster way to bring electricity to these communities, scattered al over the country, by extension African continent, other than through Distributed Power, through distributed electricity generation.

“How can we reach our hospitals, primary schools, secondary schools, even tertiary institutions, public and privately owned and clustered all over the country? The answer as I said, is only through distributed power generation. So, you can safely say that I am an apostle of distributed power generation”, he added.

Nebo commended GE for power initiative, saying that GE chose Nigeria as the springboard for its distributed power generation to power Africa communities.

Speaking at the event, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE’s Distributed Power, Lorraine Bolsinger. said that the company is seeking to install distributed power technologies in areas of Africa where traditional grid service is poor or does not exist.

He added: “We are seeing

domestic energy resources, which in turn enhances the economic security of the region for future generations.”

He hinted that the company is currently in test with its 2.6-MW 616 diesel engine, the first high-speed diesel engine model for power generation that GE

will introduce as part of a larger initiative to further expand the company’s footprint in distributed power applications that use reciprocating engine technology.

He stated: “The 616, which GE plans to ship later this year, has been designed for higher efficiency, more reli-

ability and technology excellence and is a derivative of Distributed Power’s Jenbacher J616 gas engine design and the P616 locomotive diesel engine from GE Transportation.

“The 616 diesel brings together medium-speed engine fuel economy with high-speed engine CAPEX, aiming to improve customer total life cycle cost.

GE is constantly evaluating

opportunities to develop and introduce new reciprocating engine platforms and expand the company’s existing platforms into new applications as the global energy sector shifts to faster, more affordable and efficient on-site power.

GE has more than 100 years of cross-business experience in advanced gas and diesel reciprocating engine technologies.

Chief Executive Officer, GE Nigeria, Dr. Lazarus Angbazo (left); Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo; President/Chief Executive Officer GE Distributed Power, Lorraine Bolsinger; and Leader Distributed Power for Sub-Saharan Africa, George Njenga, at the launching of the company’s distributed power launch yesterday in Lagos.

‘How Nigeria can benefit from AGOA scheme post 2015’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 stakeholders had stressed the need for government to improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector while urging exporters to intensify efforts in adding value to local raw materials instead of just exporting them, stressing that more value added products meant more opportunities to develop the packaging sector of the Nigerian economy and boost her export potential. ``What is the agreement on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement? What is the agree-

ment on ECOWAS? Why are countries using VAT - 5 per cent, 10 per cent, 20 per cent - to protect their infant industries? Who is protecting the infant industries?

That was when the problem started. ``So people can now take our produce, they determine what to take, the quantity to take, the price to pay, but in the first republic it was not like that because we had laboratories. ``Cocoa laboratory was in Lagos, cocoa laboratory was in Akure, but today those things are not there, even the labs and all that we have here are only certified for

import; that is why we are now working for other people”, Osemede explained.

Osemede then urged the Federal Government to establish laboratories that would ensure that exportable goods met the required international standards.

He also called for the establishment of a functional commodity board and commodity exchanges, to moderate the demand and supply of commodities. ``One, is to have a sampling laboratory that if there is any issue, even if you have to go to the International Court of

Justice or anywhere, that laboratory will be the first point of call. ``Two, we need a commodity board, which will now regulate supply and demand, price, quantity and quality; there’s what we call compliance; there’s what we call standardisation. ``Then we have commodity exchanges, so that the demand and supply, and we now know where to maintain the equilibrium.

Failure to do that, whether AGOA is extended for 20 years, we will continue to work for other people. ``We are the number one

producer of cassava in the world, why are we importing starch? We were producing 27 per cent of the world’s total palm oil requirement in the first republic, today we produce 1 per cent of the world requirement.`` Osemede said that Nigeria would benefit more from AGOA if the programme was expanded to include more agricultural products for which Nigeria had comparative advantage.

In 2013 under AGOA, US imports from Nigeria were valued at $11.7 billion (N1.93 trillion), while crude oil imports stood at $11.6 billion (N1.91 trillion).

LCCI unveils prospectus for 2014 trade fair

By Femi Adekoya REPARATORY to the 2014 edition of the Lagos P International Trade Fair, the organisers of the fair, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed readiness to promote the nation’s economy by attracting investors to the real sector through the fair.

Speaking at the presentation of this year’s Lagos International Trade Fair prospectus in Lagos, yesterday, the President of the

chamber, Alhaji Remi Bello, said this year’s fair, themed ‘Promoting the Nigerian economy as the preferred investment destination’ is expected to drive the volume of trade in the real sector by increasing bilateral ties and enhancing profitable investments in the country.

Bello explained that the chamber will be partnering other stakeholders in the public and private sectors of the economy in a bid to explore avenues that will give exposition to the nation’s investment and eco-

nomic potential.

“The African continent has become an attractive investment destination for many organisations from America, Asia and Europe. These investors are in search of locations where the return on investment is highest.

Evidently, the Nigerian economy offers one of the best returns on investment globally. However, we must do all within our powers to crystallise the potential and attract these investments to our country.

“The trade fair will contin-

ue to provide a platform to unleash and showcase the potential in the Nigerian economy, promote partnerships in business and unveil new benchmarks for competitiveness. It is a unique marketing opportunity with an uncommon impact and it offers exposures that could generate tremendous patronage which participants cannot afford to miss”, he added.

Chairman, Trade Promotion Board, of the chamber, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole expressed the

chamber’s readiness to host the fair, noting that the fair will consolidate on the gains of the past years to sustain improvement and quality of the exhibition exercise.

In his presentation on the planned programme of activities for the fair, the Director, Membership and Trade Promotion, Dele Alimi stated that the chamber has prepared logistics to aid effective value delivery at this year’s edition of the fair.

According to him, key challenges experienced last year has been addressed in the

course of preparation for this year’s edition of the fair.

“This year, challenges of inadequate indoor halls and power supply has been addressed while the fair has been planned in a way that there is no dead end in the venue for those wary of space allocation. We would be leveraging the success of last year’s fair while gaps would be addressed. Also, an anti-noise pollution form would be filled by participants in order to ensure a peace coexistence among exhibitors”, he added.

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Govt to establish shops for solid minerals’ exportation HE Minister of Mines and T Steel Development, Musa Sada, the said the Federal Government would soon establish solid minerals shops in the country with a view to promoting the exportation of minerals.

Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, Sada said

the shops would be established in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. ``We will not buy the minerals as a government. The miners will work as cooperative societies; they will bring the minerals and somebody in NEPC will now take responsibility for the

minerals’ marketing abroad. ``All you need is to get certification as to the type of minerals you have and the quantity you brought.

When they sell the minerals, they will now come and give you your money. They are experts in this kind of trade. ``Anybody mining will be

licenced either as a company, individual or cooperative society, and this licence specifically states the kind of minerals you are involved in,’’ he said.

Sada said that his ministry and the Ministry of Trade and Investment had planned to attach the mineral buying centres to the

commodity exchange, adding that it would also issue minerals buying rights to some people.

He said that under this arrangement, there would be a section for agricultural products, solid minerals products, other products at the commodity exchange.

He pledged that the arrange-

RMAFC urges stakeholders’ collaboration to promote investment Earlier, the NIPC nies, representing 10.42 Umar explained that the ed scarce private capital, HE Revenue Executive Secretary, Mrs per cent and 40 Oil & Gas PSI was a fiscal concession, technology and manageriM o b i l i s a t i o n T Saratu Umar, said that companies, representing designed by government al skills to help achieve Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on Monday in Abuja urged collaboration among all stakeholders in promoting investment in all critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.

The Chairman of the Commission, Elias Mbam, made the call at an interactive session with a delegation from the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC).

According to him, when all relevant agencies work together, it will fast track the attainment of national development objectives such as Vision 202020 and the Transformation Agenda. ``Nigeria remains an investor’s haven with numerous opportunities in Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, A g r i c u l t u r e , Telecommunications, C h e m i c a l s , Transportation and power sectors waiting to be tapped. ``In order to harness these resources, it is necessary for concerted efforts to be made by all relevant stakeholders so as to attract foreign direct investment through the provision of critical infrastructure, legal and regulatory frameworks and tax incentives,” he said.

Mbam said that RMAFC through its economic diversification programme had been forging synergy by bringing all stakeholders together in the quest to create the atmosphere for sustainable investment. ``This will in the long run, turn around Nigeria’s economy, boost its revenue base, create employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths and generally improve the socioeconomic living conditions of the populace. ``We have also met with the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service, NNPC and its subsidiaries and the Central Bank of Nigeria to strategise on how to reduce revenue loss through indiscriminate granting of waivers and tax holidays,” he said.

Mbam appealed to the NIPC to exercise caution and observe due diligence in the granting of Pioneer Status Initiative (PSI) with a view to minimising abuse and reducing consequent revenue loss.

NIPC had since inception granted Pioneer Status Incentive (PSI) to 410 companies. ``This comprises of 175 manufacturing companies, representing 42.68 per cent; 42 Agriculture and Agro-Allied compa-

9.76 per cent. ``Also, 35 ICT companies were granted PSI, representing 8.53 per cent, 8 Chemical companies, representing 1.92 per cent and 4 Transportation Companies, representing 0.98 per cent,” she said.

and backed by law to encourage and promote industries identified by government as ``Priority Areas’’ and ``Growth drivers’’ of the economy.

She said that over the past two decades, most governments had actively attract-

their developmental goals.

Umar said that for Nigeria to compete favourably with other countries, it must continue to evolve strategies and develop incentives to attract the much needed private capital for infrastructure devel-

ment would be carried out in line with global best practices.

Besides, the minister said that the ministry had always participated in the trade fairs organised in Kaduna, Lagos, Enugu and Abuja to educate investors and the public on how to invest in the mining sector.

He said the ministry also encouraged its state offices to participate in all the trade fairs in the 36 states because mining was all about information.

Sada said the centre had also given information to Nigerians who wanted to invest in the mining sector.

He said the proliferation of quarries around the country had indicated that local people could produce enough gravel for contractors to buy, adding that they had made a lot of contribution to the system.

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World Bank to invest $50m in Anambra HE World Bank has T unfolded plans to invest $50 million dollars for the revamping of technical and vocational colleges in Anambra.

A Senior Education Specialist with the bank, Dr Tunde Adekola, made the disclosure when he visited, Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra at the Government House, Awka, on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the visit by the bank delegation followed an inspection of facilities at Government Technical College, Ontisha, by the team.

Adekola, who noted that the role of the bank was to support and accelerate governments’ development efforts, said Ekiti and Bauchi would also benefit from similar grants.

He said the fund would help to improve the State Education Programme Investment Project (SEPIP) of benefiting states by improving on quality of technical and vocational studies.

He expressed delight with the innovations made by the students despite the constraints they were facing in the school. ``With more support for these children from relevant donor agencies and government, we are sure that their future is better,” he said.

Adekola also stressed the

need to involve the private sector, especially in the de and for technical and vocational skills.

According to him, professional associations in technical and vocational skills must be involved for the programme to succeed. ``The essence is to link Nigeria with international best practises standard,” Adekola said.

Responding, Obiano said that three standard vocational and technical schools would soon be established in the state.

According to him, government is working assiduously to jump-start water transportation to reach difficult areas were education is lacking behind.

Obiano said that his administration was working out a structure to assist teachers in the state with car loans.

He also said the state government was working to improve the industrial, agriculture and oil and gas sectors to complement the efforts made in the education sector.

The governor assured the bank delegation of proper utilisation of all World Bank-assisted grants.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kate Omenugha, said the assistance was geared toward creating self-employment opportunities for technical and vocational students.

Omenugha said the sup-

Informal sector, key to promotion of social economic development IRECTOR-General of the D Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Segun Osinowo, on Monday said the informal sector was key to the promotion of social economic development of Nigeria.

Osinowo said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the sideline of the ongoing 103rd International Labour Organisation Conference (ILO) in Geneva.

He said that 90 per cent of the workforce in Nigeria operated in the informal sector.

According to him, if the country desires to reduce poverty, it is important for it to address the basic policy option available to tackle the problem. ``As you well know, over 90 per cent of Nigeria operates in the informal sector. If we are to reduce poverty in Nigeria, it is extremely important that we address the basic policy option by encouraging transition of enterprises and workers from the informal to formal sector,’’ he said.

He said women, migrants and other vulnerable groups of workers who were excluded from opportunities, resigned to take informal low quality jobs.

Osinowo said that NECA would step up its promotion and support of entrepreneurship, particularly those being operated by women in need of support. ``We are not talking of financial support, but areas where they could embrace

the basic process of principle and system that would enable their businesses to be competitive. ``Before the end of the year, we hope that they will be able to introduce their own micro finance bank which will address their basic financial challenges. I must say that micro and small enterprise businesses will be able to attract our quest into promoting women entrepreneurship,’’ Osinowo said.

The D-G decried the challenge of building up institution and evolving policies that would promote the formalisation of the informal sector in the country.

He said that many factors militated against the promotion and transition from informal to the formal sector.

He listed some of the factors to include promotion, meeting standards, transparency of the government.

NAN reports that the ILO, in its 2014 report on informal economy, said that the sector comprised half to three-quarters of all nonagricultural employment in developing countries.

It gave the characteristics of informal employment as lack of protection in the event of non-payment of wages and compulsory overtime or extra shifts.

Others are sack without notice or compensation, unsafe working conditions and the absence of social benefits such as pensions, sick pay and health insurance.

port would also be channeled into teacher deployment as well as retention of teachers in rural areas.

She said the Obiano-administration had approved the payment of 20 per cent of basic salary as allowance to

teachers deployed to rural areas.

According to her, teachers who teach science, mathe-

matics and English subjects are to receive three thousand naira extra as incentives.

New Group Managing Director, Odua’a Investments Limited, Adewale Raji (left); Managing Director, Nigerite Limited, Frank Le Bris; Immediate Past Group Managing of Odua’a, Dr. Adebayo Jimoh; and Technical Director, Nigeria, Bart Verlin, during a visit of Odua’s officials to Nigerite, on Monday.

IFC signs advisory services agreement with First Bank on mobile money NTERNATIONAL Financial IMonday Corporation (IFC) on in Lagos signed an advisory services agreement with First Bank on mobile money worth 550,000 dollars (N90.75 million).

In a statement, the IFC said that the agreement with First Bank Plc for Firstmonie, a subsidiary of bank, was to advance mobile financial services and agent banking.

It said that the agreement, funded by Bill & Melinda & Gates Foundation, was to strengthen the supply of affordable financial services to low-income earners and small-scale entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

The NAN reports that Firstmonie Mobile Money Service is an innovative product that enables customers to access financial and other value added services through mobile phones.

According to IFC, the agreement will also allow it to provide Firstmonie technical assistance in financial modeling, agent management and customer activation.

Managing Director of Pridar Systems, owned by FirstBank and the owners of Firstmonie, Mike Ogbalu, said the agreement would boost financial inclusion and mobile banking across the nation.

Ogbalu said, “At Firstmonie, we are committed to expanding mobile financial services to the under banked and low income communities.

“With the advisory support from IFC, we hope to achieve our goal of boosting financial inclusion through our product offerings and decrease the population of the unbanked and underbanked in Nigeria “Nigeria has a low rate of financial inclusion with only 43 per cent of the adult population having access to formal financial services.”

The corporation said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued licences for

mobile money operators in 2010, but adoption and usage had been slow.

IFC attributed the slow pace to high costs, poor agent network management and low awareness amongst the population.

Manager, IFC Access to Finance, Sub-Saharan Africa, David Crush, said, “Firstmonie and IFC aim to develop a best practice mobile money operation.

“It will demonstrate the sustainable business case for affordable financial services in one of Africa’s most important economies. This is a step towards reaching full financial inclusion in Nigeria.”

NITDA to establish more information technology centres in 2014 HE National Information T Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said on Monday that it would establish more Rural Information Technology Centres (RITC) across the country to increase the number of Internet users.

Dr Ashiru Daura, the Director-General of the agency, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that over 228 RITC had been established in the last

six years to boost internet connectivity in the country ``We want to ensure that we establish such centres in all the local government headquarters of the country before the end of 2014.’’

He said majority of the centres were located in the rural areas of the country in a bid to reach both the un-served and under-served areas, in line with the government’s transformation agenda.

Daura said the deployment

of rural information technology centres across the country was part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Telecommunication Union (ITU) directive.

He said that one of the objectives of NITDA was to provide Internet access to undeserved communities.

The director-general also told NAN that the agency would contribute to boost-

ing Internet usage, to make Nigeria one of the fastest growing Internet users in West Africa. ``In the area of technology incubation centres, NITDA has established two ICT incubation centres to facilitate software development in the country. ``The centres are in Lagos and Cross River; we hope that we will create more 25 successful ICT businesses by 2015,’’ he said.

NNPC tasks NIPR on public relations integrity, professionalism From Lillian Chukwu, Abuja HE Nigerian National T Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has tasked the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to promote integrity and professionalism in public relations practice in the country.

This was made known yesterday in Abuja by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Ohi Alegbe when the leadership of the Institute’s

Capital Chapter at the NNPC Towers paid him a courtesy visit.

He said, “The NNPC and NIPR are partners in progress. I want to assure you of our unflinching support in the area of capacity building for your members (a number of which are our staff) so that together, we can continue to develop professional public relations practice in Nigeria”.

Alegbe said that the NIPR capital chapters’ forthcoming silver jubilee will be a key

area of collaboration and developing competence between the two organisations.

He commended the Chapter for the visit and observed that the NIPR was the first professional body to pay him a visit since his appointment as NNPC Spokesman a few months ago.

He described public relations as a very serious business of reputation management which provides the practitioner with core skills

and competences and as such, “it should not be left in the hands of quacks.”

The Chairman of the NIPR Capital Chapter, Osondu Ohaeri described the NNPC as an organisation which plays a pivotal role in driving the nation’s economy by guaranteeing national growth and development.

He lauded the Corporation for its achievements over the years especially its untiring effort at sustaining the nation’s fuel supply and distribution network.

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Govt will complete remodelling of airports, says minister HE Supervising Minister T of Aviation, Dr Samuel Ortom, on Monday assured Nigerians of the completion of all projects initiated in the remodelling programme of the four international airports.

Ortom told newsmen after inspecting the ongoing Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, that the airports under the programme were Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos and Kano.

He said that the ministry would do everything possible to ensure that the three phases of the remodelling

projects were completed.

The supervising minister said that the remodelling of airports were in three phases across the country.

“We are committed to ensuring that we complete all projects that are initiated by the aviation master plan; no going back on it.

“We are working hard; we are going to improve on our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to ensure we complete these projects.

“We are not distracted at all by people who are out to blackmail us; they think that we are distracted, we are not. We are committed

in ensuring that we deliver on the transformation programme of Mr President,” Ortom said.

Ortom said that the time line for the completion of the ongoing project at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja was two years.

According to him, the

remodelling started in March 1, adding that due to progress of work and commitment “it’s like they will deliver before that two years’’.

Ortom said that funding of the project of Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Lagos International airports was guarantee because of the

Chinese loan.

“We are executing these projects through the 500 million dollars Chinese loan that was approved by the Federal Government.

“So it will be completed at recorded time because no challenge for that funding; the other projects too which are ongoing, we are

going to complete them,” he added.

Ortom said that the project at Abuja airport had provided 600 jobs for Nigerians which reduced unemployment rate.

He said that by the time the projects were completed, they would add value to the aviation industry.

UBA unveils Next-Gen accounts to boost entrepreneurship, youth empowerment NITED Bank of Africa U (UBA) Plc has launched a new product, Next-Gen accounts aimed at driving entrepreneurship development and creating opportunities for youths in the country in their quest to be selfemployed.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Phillips Oduoza stressed the need for youths to understand the dynamics of financial management at a young age noting that, this move by UBA will teach youths how to run their financial matters on their own till they become adults.

Speaking during the launch of the product, the Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking, UBA Plc, Femi Olaloku, who represented the bank’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Phillips Oduoza said the product is about capturing and engaging educated and enlightened teenager and young adult from ages of 13 to 34 and also comes with features that fit into the unique needs of customers based on their age.

“The idea is to capture them young, groom them and make them become upcoming entrepreneurs.

We also have a lot of activities lined up for this product that will give our youths to interact with UBA staff, get internship forums and a whole lot of activities to educate young people on how to save and manage their money to become young leaders,” he said.

He said Next-Gen is basically a suit of personal current accounts designed to offer special privileges and

opportunities to account holders maintaining that, it also avails current account holders the opportunity of automatically being enrolled for savings accounts as well.

“This is a product that grows with the customer from his or her teenage years to when he or she becomes a young adult.

Next Gen is unique in the banking industry because it is not really a product. It is a partnership where the bank is taking on a mentorship role to guide customers into a future life of prosperity.” he explained.

In his words, “It takes care of the unique needs of teenage customers when they are in secondary school through university to when they get their first job, start a family and even consider building their first house. At each of these critical stages in their lives, the Next Gen account provides financial options and opportunities to make life more comfortable for them and their family.”

Breaking down the unique features of the Next Gen account, Ms. Olumide Osunyomi, Head Retail Banking explained that teenagers who open a Next Gen account will become part of the UBA Teen Fan Club, which offers great opportunities and great networking.

She noted that as teenagers with a Next Gen account grow and gain admission into tertiary institutions, they will enjoy great mentorship, internships and career advisory reserved only for account holders.

Skye Bank launches Sky Plus Account O add value to its fleets of T customer-friendly services, Skye Bank Plc. recently launched a new known as the Skye Plus Account in Lagos.

The Head of Information Technology of the bank, Mr. Richard Amanfoye, explained while unveiling the product, that customers would experience “the superior benefit of being in control of their accounts as they’ll be able to check their balances and manage their account, set up standing order instructions and direct debts, transfer money and pay bills instantly, stop lost or stolen cheque books and hotlist debit cards among other benefits at the touch of a computer or

mobile phone button”.

He further explained that Skye Plus allows for privacy and protects account holders from fraudsters and Internet hackers. What’s more? It is convenient, safe and fast.

In his remark, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo stated that “the bank is working assiduously to meet the needs of her teeming customers.”

“We exist to make life easy for our customers. We will not relent in breaking whatever boundaries to create and deliver quality products that position our customers to excel in their various endeavours,” he said.

Vice President, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Olateju Somorin; (left); President , Mark Anthony Dike; and , Past President, Titus Aiyewumi, at the 22nd yearly general meeting of the Institute in Lagos.

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Midweek Arts Finally, a film village berths in Nigeria

By Yemi Olakitan

A

T last, Nigeria now has a film village for movie production. It’s the handiwork of a renowned radio, television, music and movie producer, Mr. Obafemi Lasode. The former President of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) has established a film village along Lekki/Epe Expressway, Abijo, Lagos. With this initiative, Lasode has followed the steps of the late doyen of Nigerian theatre, Herbert Ogunde, who established his own village in Ososa, Ogun State. Lasode’s film village is established at Majekodunmi Farms along Lekki-Epe Expressway, Abijo.

The film village is located on one acre of land, and is being supported by a renowned environmentalist and other private investor, Desmond Majekodunmi. Tagged ‘African En Vogue Film Village’, Lasode said the place is open to the public.

He said his experience during the shooting of the epic movie Sango led him to believe that a film village is an inescapable infrastructure for the industry. While shooting Sango, Lasode said he built sets all over the country, saying, ‘‘We spent more than N2 million to build sets alone which were later abandoned since they could not be moved from place to place. We wanted to capture the past periods and locations of the story as much as possible. So, we travelled to Ilorin, Badagry, Ikorodu and other places to build our sets, all of which were abandoned after the movie was completed. ‘‘Had we have a film village then, other producers could have made use of the same sets to shoot their movies”.

Based on this experience, Lasode felt that there was a need for a film village where Nigerian filmmakers could do their work without stress or tension, where sets could be set up, dismantled and reused. According to him, the greatest need of the Nigerian movie industry is infrastructure.

On the issue of noise pollution or interference during shoot at the film village, Lasode said that the generators are installed far away from the film location, and that sound studios are also being built to curb the problem of noise pollution during movie production. Speaking further, Lasode said his company has just completed another epic movie, titled Stolen Treasure at the newly built film village.

Lasode said the movie explores the need to preserve African cultural heritage and artifacts, which are often stolen or destroyed under the erroneous concept of modernism. The movie, which was shot at the film village, he noted, parades some of the best hands in the industry, such as Clarion Chukwura, Gbenga Richard, Larry Williams, Funmi Tijani, Jide Kosoko, Wale Adebayo, Eddie Ugbomah and European actor, Philip Dupriez. It was filmed on HDDV format, and would be blown to 35mm celluloid.

The story is about the rush by certain groups of rogues, including a white man who were on a mission to steal precious treasures of an ancient African community. They try all in their power but fail in their effort to steal and deprive the Africans of their treasures. The movie is full of intrigues, suspense and moral lessons. Lasode said the movie has been completed and would soon hit the cinemas.

Speaking further he said work is ongoing in the film village but that more money was needed to take it to the highest standard required.

He added that the project would cost about N20 million to be fully completed.

He noted, ‘’in other parts of the world, a film village is an entertainment and tourism centre. It is a place where movies are made. It is also a place where people can visit and be entertained. Part of the plan is to make it an historical place, a kind of Nigerian movie centre. There is also going to be a movie screen where people can watch some of the movies that are made there. However, the emphasis is to create a village where filmmakers can obtain the entire infrastructure that they need to make a great film such as sound, sets, studios, etc’’.

On the location of the village, Lasode said the film village needed to be in Lagos because Lagos is where the film companies are. He was convinced that a film village outside Lagos would not attract as much patronage as one that is located in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, pointing out that accessibity is also important. ‘‘People do not have to travel great distances to make good movies anymore. They can just come here. We have great hotels around the village that can provide adequate accommodation’’.

In a chat with a stakeholder in the project, Desmond Majekodunmi, he said it was important for Nigeria to showcase her talents to the world, saying, “At the moment people look at so many issues in Nigeria and call us fools. The situation in Nigeria is like someone in the midst of water and yet remains thirsty. Nigeria is in the midst of oil and gas and does not have electricity. The Film Village is a way of empowering our film producers so that they can bring out the best in them so that the world will not continue to look at us as fools. It is a contribution to Nigeria and coming from Femi Lasode is encouraging because of his background in the industry’’.

In the last 25 years, Lasode has been in the vanguard of promoting Nigerian arts and culture through music and movies. He studied Business Administration in Washington, U.S., and obtained his Masters in Radio, Television and Film Production at Brooklyn College of City University, New York. Lasode was a promoter of African music in the United States; he was a broadcaster at WNYE Radio, New York.

Africa en vogue film village

A scene from Golden Treasure Through his radio show Africa’ N’Vogue, Lasode promoted Nigerian musicians in the U.S. such as King Sunny Ade, Oliver De Coque and Sonny Okosuns to perform at the Apollo Theatre.

He founded Even Ezra Studios, which he used to provide support to numerous Nigerian artistes, including audio-visual assistance to broadcasters, film and music professionals as well as using his training and experience to support young Nigerian artistes. A former PMAN president, he was a recipient of the HipPop Lifetime Achievement Awards for his contributions to the music industry in 2010.

In a chat with film producer, Mathew Nwankwo, the producer of Dangerous Girls, Delicate Matters and other films, on the significance of a film village to the industry, he said the film village would help filmmakers to produce quality movies, noting, ‘‘Developed countries have film villages. In a film village,

Comedians thrill guests at DPO Live

By Ijeoma Opara was a fun-filled evening IonTasstage comedians took turns to treat guests to a dose of laughter by giving them rib-cracking jokes. The event was the maiden edition of DPO Live (Director of People’s Occasions). The gospel comedy event, which was held at the Harvest Place, Maryland, Lagos, witnessed top comedians gracing the stage, including Owen G, Koffi, Lepacious Bose, Emeka Smith, Baba De Baba, Headmaster and Funny Bone.

The nation’s crisis featured prominently at the show as the comedians tried to render jokes about it. But it was clear they also desired the nation found ways to get over the crisis for young people to find fulfillment in

what they do.

Host comedian, DPO, said the purpose of the event was to make entertainment a platform where he could reach out to the youths and the government positively, adding, “We understand the problems we face as a nation and I want to use this medium as my way of taking Nigeria to a greater height”.

Owen G, however, noted that DPO is a patient boy, one who is willing to learn at anytime, saying, “DPO is one who has matured in the last two years that I have known him, willing to learn and whom I have been able to share creative ideas with”.

While commenting on the development of the comedy industry, Owen G said, “It is obvious the comedy industry

is going big; we are a group of guys who just hold the microphone and talk to earn a living. There is no studio work, music or backup singer and we make people happy.

“As comedians, we find positivity in negativity. I often define humour as a true way to finding happiness in the mist of sadness. The best comedians are those who can turn sad moments to happy ones and that is what we creative comedians do”.

While describing the host, Koffi said DPO is a very distinguished comedian that is yet to be discovered, adding, “He takes his humor from places that you least expect; he is a young act who is very humble, not in a hurry and he takes his time and knows that everything about life is

about time. Other young people will copy jokes to become recognized which they can’t maintain, but he maintains his original content. I am impressed that at this very young stage, he has been able to pull this crowd”.

On his style of rendering jokes, Koffi maintained, “It’s my style to give advice; I can’t just sit back and watch things go wrong despite the fact that we are social commentators.

Right now we are the classroom, entertainment is teaching the kids what to see and say and each one of us is a subject and if we only just do the humorous banters, we are not doing our job. A vocation is respected when it adds value to society, and so we are supposed to make comments that will change the thought process of people”.

DPO

there will be steady supply of electricity and other infrastructure. The producer does not need to move his cast and crew from place to place; he can do everything in the village. He can organise his rehearsals there. If he needs to set anything on fire he can do that. He is free to create whatever he wants because of the convenience and provisions of a film village.

“He can be more relaxed and creative without fear of intruders. We need such private innovations to move Nollywood forward”.

In the same vein, producer of Yankee Boys, Yankee Girls and CEO Mega Movies, Arinze Egezimba, said, ‘‘A film village will bring succour to movie producers. Femi Lasode deserves all our support. This is something that the government should do but since they are not doing it, It is a welcome development coming from the private sector’’.

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ARTS Wednesday, June 11,

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Producing the Common: Dak’Art 2014 and Dr. Ugochukwu-Smooth

By Toyin Falola T is time to commend our friend and colIhim league, Smooth, co-curator, and rejoice with over the overwhelming success of Dak’Art 2014. Smooth and Dak’Art require no introduction, but as I am sending this to thousands of people some of whom do not follow this big event, I plead to art lovers and artists to forgive me for telling them what they already know.

First, the bigger picture, Dak’Art: Dak’Art was established in 1989 to promote the latest examples of contemporary art in Africa. In the last 24 years, the biennial has served as a significant node between the African and international art worlds. Dak’Art has exhibited a much greater number of African artists and a wider range of contemporary art forms than any other biennial or exhibition in Africa. It is also the most visible symbol of Senegal’s international cultural diplomacy in recent times. It follows in a trajectory of grandiose cultural events initiated and executed by the government of Senegal to promote the image of the country as a bastion of modern culture and democracy.

Dak’Art has pursued its unique cultural politics which Smooth himself has called “panAfrican internationalism,” a phrase that should not be contested, I think, but useful as a tool of analysis. To me, this phrase allows Dak’Art to focus on art and artists of Africa and the diaspora. It is a strategy of creating geopolitical integration in the realm of arts and culture based on socio-cultural solidarities.

“Producing the Common,” the theme of Dak’Art 2014, is a utopian concept that can best be imagined in our contemporary world that

By Gbenga Salau HE book, Internal Control in T Practice (The CIBN Press Ltd, Lagos; 2013), with its subtitle, ‘Armour Against Frauds, Business and Financial Failure’, by Ubani U. Ubani.

Each chapter of the book flows into the other. This is why each chapter is like a perquisite to the next chapter as it provides some basic information needed to understand the next chapter.

The author’s many years of practice in the financial sector in Nigeria is felt in the book as he brings it to bear in his writing.

The first chapter, ‘Understanding Internal Audit’, is a good introduction to the text, as it provides not just an explanation of what internal audit is but activities associated with internal audit. The author explains its subjects in very simple language, which no doubt makes it easy to understand by all, whether students, bankers, financial practitioners or academics. Two of the sub-topics considered are why internal audit and what is internal audit.

In chapter two, t h e author explains what risk and fraud are. He not o n l y defines these two key words, he explains them providing types of each. The following chapter is on case studies on cash-related frauds and common mistakes of cash handlers. After giving another insight into what fraud is and talking extensively about cash relat-

is controlled by the levers of capitalism.

In thinking of the common, it was important for the curators to underscore Senegal’s political commitments. As an initiative of the state and the local art community, Dak’Art presents a compelling argument on the role of politics in driving the common in the arena of cultural production and artistic exchange.

Smooth and his cocurators conceived of Dak’Art 2014 as a performative site for enacting the common, drawing upon the twentieth century history of black activism for cultural presence on the global stage.

Dak’Art is Sengal’s gift to the black world. That in itself is a statement of the common.

It was important for Smooth and his fellow curators, Elise Atangana and Abdelkader Damani, to address the significance and role of

ed mistakes of cash handlers, Ubani states that because of the danger inherent in frauds to the bank and its customer, it is important for bankers to agree and declare banks fraud free by committing self to applying what he refers to as the three chief amour against fraud.

He lists them to include having and maintaining high level of personal integrity and remaining transparently honest in all dealings with clients and colleagues; knowing the customers very well with regards to their needs, mandates, nature of business and pattern of accounts’ operations and then scrupulous compliance with internal control guidelines and procedures.

In the fourth chapter, the author discusses fraud prevention and security management in cash and treasury services. In this chapter, the author takes another look at understanding internal control, providing more additional information on the subject.

Chapter six is on the characteristics cum elements of effective internal control system.

In this chapter, Ubani discusses how characteristics and elements of effective internal control system could be turned i n t o busin e s s t o o l f o r smooth and orderly organizational governance.

The following chapter talks about internal control manual and working papers, where

the author examines internal control manual, its content, uses and protection. He also discusses the contents, uses of working papers.

The eighth chapter evaluates effective strategies for fraud prevention, detection and control, with the author noting that bankers should be more diligent and observant in the discharge of their duties so as to make the environment an unsafe ground for fraudsters.

He also states that there is a need to be alert to the changing global nature of banking which in turn creates more avenues for frauds observing that fraudsters are always looking for new ways of committing fraud but inspectors/auditors must take the initiative of thinking ahead on ways of beating them to their tricks.

The last chapter discusses internal control and frauds’ management in microfinance banks. The author states that internal control serves the same purpose whether in microfinance banks or deposit money banks, though microfinance banks should adapt the controls to meet the specific needs of their entity to protect and safeguard the assets of the bank while ensuring its sustainability. Sub-topics in this chapter include: peculiar microfinance banks’ operating environment and challenges; understanding risk and risk management; key risks faced by microfinance banks in Nigeria; operational risks and key issues in focus; financial management risks and external risks.

The book though not voluminous, its content is very rich because the author succinctly communicates its message, which makes for easy reading by all. The style also ensures that non-professional bankers could be carried along. This is why bank customers who read the book will find it useful. It is a book that could serve as introduction note for the nonprofessional bank and a refresher note for bankers and financial sector practitioners.

Dak’Art in reflecting on the idea of a global Africa common as the basis of the eleventh iteration of the biennial. They assembled a crop of established and emerging artists who actively and constructively engaged notions around the common as it relates to existential conditions and our contemporary reality.

These artists sought the connections between politics and aesthetics in instantiating the common.

Now to Dr. Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, whom I have known since his gradate days at Emory. He is an artist, art historian, and curator of African art at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. He holds a B.A. in Fine and Applied Arts from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria, a postgraduate diploma in Museum and Heritage Studies from the University of Western Cape, South Africa, and a PhD in Art History from Emory University, Atlanta, USA. He has curated exhibitions in Nigeria, South Africa, United States, and Senegal, including, Afrika Heritage Biennial in Nigeria (2002, 2004, and 2007), Transitions: Contemporary South African Works on Paper at the High Museum Atlanta, USA in 2009 and Windows Part 1: New Works by Ndary Lo as part of the fringe exhibitions of the Dak’Art Biennial in 2012.

Nzewi is a recipient of several academic fellowships, scholarship, and artists’ awards,

among which are, the Smithsonian Institution’s Curatorial Fellowship (2012) and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation Fellowship (2011). He has published book chapters and catalog essays, as well as articles and exhibition reviews in reputable art journals and magazines. His recent essays include “The Individual and Community: Aesthetics of Blackness in the works of three Black British Artists,” Critical Interventions, No. 12 (Fall 2013), “The Contemporary Present and Modernist Past in Postcolonial African Art,” World Art, Issue 3, No. 2 (autumn/fall 2013),” and “Curating Africa, Curating the Contemporary: The Pan-African Model of Dak’Art Biennial,” SAVVY: Journal of contemporary African Art, [special edition on Curating: Expectations and Challenges] No. 4 (November 2012). He is a contributor to Grove Art Online summer 2014 update on African Art and Architecture, Oxford University Press, and co-editor of New Spaces for Negotiating Art (and) Histories (forthcoming), a book on independent art initiatives in Africa. Nzewi is the curator of Dak’Art Biennial in 2014 with Elise Atangana and Abdelkader Damani.

We rejoice with Senegal over a successful event, and we owe a debt of gratitude to Smooth, Elise, and Abdelkadar for an excellent job.

Onward, 2016!

Dance, drama contest for kids on Children’s Day NILEVER Nigeria Plc. in conjunction U with Children of Africa, gave Nigerian Children a day to remember during the 16th annual Children of Africa Children’s Day event with Blue Band margarine. The theme for the funfair was ‘Every Child Has Got Potential’ and held in four cities Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Lagos and Enugu.

At the different locations, which had thousands of school children in attendance participating in a lot of fun-filled activities and competition in dance, drama choreography, quiz and spelling bees. The winners of the Blue Band Essay Competition were also announced and rewarded with prizes such as outdoor plastic play slide, mobile air conditioners; 24” flat screen television, water dispenser as well as lots of Blue Band products and branded T-shirts, Bags and Pens.

Winners from the various locations nationwide include; Zitife Otegbulu from St Martins Catholic School Surulere, Lagos, who came first in the quiz competition, Oyeniyi Roseline from Sunmise School, Surulere, Lagos came first in the Essay competition, and Omoniyi School Bariga, Lagos, came first in the dance

Choreography Competition. In Port Harcourt, Teeyor Bariyima from St Patrick’s Model School came first in the Essay competition and Onwuagana Ifunanya from Julia Gee Cornerstone School emerged the winner of the Essay competition in Enugu.

The Children’s day fair also served as an educative forum as Mr. Praise Fowowe, the principal consultant for the Center for Sex Education and Family Life, was on ground to teach the kids how; to identify any form of sexual abuse, to say “No” and to report any incidence to their parents and teachers.

Speaking at the event, Miss Vivian Ihaza, the Category Manager, Tea and Spreads, stated that Unilever has successfully partnered with Children of Africa over the years on many initiatives including the annual children’s day celebration.

She emphasised the fact that Unilever as a company believes strongly in doing well by doing good, hence Blue Band Margarine, which is the tasty and nutritious addition to bread and other meals, is designed to complement the efforts of mothers in the continued quest to provide nutritious meals for their families.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

28 Wednesday, June 11, 2014 ARTS

Maya Angelou… Flavour and Encounters (1928 - 2014)

By Reginald Chiedu Ofodile N the past week, the world has been riveted Idecades, by the death of Maya Angelou. For several she commanded global fascination with her writings, screen appearances and stage performances. Few contemporary celebrity lives were as well-known as hers.

Few lives have reflected, so acutely, nearly a century of America’s social, political and economic history. Sent to her paternal grandmother in rural Southern United States (Stamps, Arkansas) at the age of three, Angelou returned to her mother in the North only to be raped at 7 or 8 by her mother’s boyfriend, Mr Freeman. Mr Freeman was convicted, jailed and freed the following day.

Then he was found kicked to death, almost certainly by Angelou’s maternal uncles.

Devastated that her voice (telling of her violation, which led to Mr Freeman’s prosecution) had caused death, Angelou became a voluntary mute for about six years. She was back living in Arkansas with her paternal grandmother. She eventually emerged from her muteness, encouraged by a cultured townswoman, Mrs Bertha Flowers, whom Angelou called ‘the aristocrat of black Stamps.’

In the next decade, Angelou worked as a tram-car conductor in San Francisco, finished high school, had her son at 17 (the fruit of a lone sexual encounter she had arranged to clarify her sexuality), worked as a fry-cook, dabbled in drugs, brothel-keeping and prostitution, studied dance and drama at California’s labour school and married her first husband, the protective but reclusive Tosh Angelos. A Greek sailor, she bore his surname until death, changing the final letter ‘s’ to ‘u’ for show-business purposes.

Her achievements were staggering. She had both a Tony and a Pullitzer nominations, over fifty honorary degrees, a life Professorship at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton in 2000, and in 2011 the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian award, from President Obama.

Her success, considering the racial realities into which she had been born and nurtured, was incredible. It requires considerable reading, discussion and reflection for people in Africa to understand the extreme racial sensitivity, the seeming paranoia, of African Americans. Indeed, it was remarked of Angelou that she was proof that it was all right to be racist in America, if you were the right colour. To the obviously white speaker, Angelou had sung the black race song too long and too loud. Angelou was raised in a community where the Ku Klux Klan, on their racist rampage in black communities to maim, murder and rape, did not even wear their notorious face covers. Angelou saw her revered grandmother ridiculed by white girls of her age group. When in childhood Angelou was stricken with toothache, a white doctor told her grandmother that he would rather stick his hand in the mouth of a dog than treat a black child. As an adult in relatively liberal California, she could not rent an apartment on account of her colour, and asked a white friend to rent it on her behalf. For people in her world, America seemed ceaselessly to tell them that their skin colour disqualified them for advancement or dignity. In the fourth volume of her autobiography, The Heart of a Woman, Angelou described a certain astonishing spectacle in Nigeria in the 1960s. She was travelling from Egypt to Ghana, and changed planes in Kano. She saw three black men, walking tall in pilot’s uniform, and was startled. In the America that she knew, black workers in airports invariably wore cleaning uniform.

Her stay in Ghana was for her and her fellow African Americans in Accra, a poignant experience. They felt the thrill of coming home, mixed with the realization that America, and not Ghana, was their home. Those expatriates in fact were deemed suspect by indigenous Ghanaians when there was an attempted attack on the deified President, the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Angelou found a sister-friend in the dramatist, Efua Sutherland. She gave Angelou succour when Angelou’s only child, Guy, lay critically ill after a motor accident, and was instrumental in her being employed at Legon University.

In one of her social engagements In Ghana, Angelou had the satisfaction of being mistaken on one occasion as a member of Liberia’s Bambara tribe, on another occasion as a native of a coastal Ghanaian community. Angelou of course continued her racial struggle, haranguing some foreigner at the university who made racist remarks about hospitable, rural Ghanaians.

The educated Ghanaian present had preferred to maintain a genial silence in the face of racist slurs.

Interestingly, Maya Angelou’s two marriages were to white men. She parted from Tosh Angelos after a few years. In the 1970s, she married Paul de Feu, an English model, writer and builder who had been married to the famous feminist, Germaine Greer.

Previous to that, Angelou had lived in New York and Egypt with the black South African freedom fighter and lawyer, Vusumzi Make.

Much of Angelou’s resilience and determination sprang from her paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, and her mother, Vivian Baxter. The grandmother was pious, the mother worldly, yet both were strongwilled, independent souls. Angelou attributed many remarks to her mother: Life will only give you what you put into it. In life, you may not get what you pay for, but you do pay for what you get. Every tub must sit on its own bottom. If you decide to be a whore... go with class.

Angelou’s own wit and hard-won wisdom were expressed in numerous aphorisms.

Her message, she declared, was two-fold.

‘Human beings are more alike than we are unalike... The second is, you may encounter many defeats, but you must never be defeated. That in fact it may be necessary to encounter defeat, so you can know who you are, what can you overcome, what makes us stumble and fall and somehow miraculously rise.’ On the dedication and determination that excellence demands, she drew an analogy with the most priced gem, the diamond.

The diamond, she said, was the result of tremendous pressure. Less effort, less pressure, it would only ‘be coal, or fossilized leaves, or just dirt.’

It would not be gushing to characterize Maya Angelou as a diamond, with glittering facets as teacher, singer, writer, motivational speaker, dancer. As is usual with appraisal of all artists, her writings haven’t all drawn acclaim. Every piece of writing is flawed or defective in the estimation of some critics.

Reactions are determined by individual literary tastes. A writer who is not despised, as ‘too pedestrian’ might be called ‘too pretentious!’ I can understand why some discriminating critics feel that Angelou’s fame as a poet far exceeded her poetic repertoire. Her autobiographical volumes, however, have not drawn such reservations.

PHOTO: WINSTON SALEM (NC) JOURNAL I was privileged to encounter Maya Angelou on a number of occasions. The first was in 1991 in the High Street of Exeter, a historic University city in England’s South West. It was springtime. I was clad in Nigerian print attire. Maya Angelou, aged 63, tall, upright, strode along trailed by a few women. Hers might have been a royal progress, a Queen followed by her ladies in waiting. It took me a while to recognize the face that I had seen on television. I approached, enquired ‘Angelou?’ She confirmed she was, and ultimately bestowed a royal handshake. Her fusion of poise and pleasantness reminded me of a statement of hers. She wrote that she had tried to make her associates know that, although born of slaves, she was descended from kings. Few who encountered her could doubt her royal pedigree!

Angelou was in Exeter as Distinguished Visiting Professor to the University. Hers was a short tenure, about a week or two. Shortly after the encounter in the High Street, I had a treat. It was the Angelou audience experience at her main address to the University. It was part lecture, part entertainment, part empowerment. When she stepped onto the stage in the thronged auditorium of Amory Building, applause erupted. It roared on as virtually everyone in the hall stood up.

Angelou joined in the clapping! The ovation appeared interminable. When at last it subsided, rather than speak, she burst into song, an AfricanAmerican spiritual. It alluded, like most spirituals, to a river or a body of water. In the course of her approximately one hour address, Angelou spoke of the symbolism of the river in African American history, and the philosophy of those songs which are essentially groans and moans, expressing an anguish too acute for words.

She spoke about the African American experience, describing it as so bizarre that not even Alex Haley’s monumental book, Roots, nor its television miniseries in which she played ‘Kunta Kinte’s’ grandm o t h e r , c o u l d express it.

I was priv-

ileged to savour the insights and sparkle of Maya Angelou on subsequent occasions - at Exeter University’s Queen’s Building, the University bookshop at her book signing session, and at St George’s Hall, Exeter, all during her brief Professorial tenure in Exeter - then the following year at the Shaw Theatre, Euston London. On that occasion her performance memorialized the writer CLR James. On that occasion, too, she performed her thrilling poem, And Still I Rise. Rise she certainly did, from dejected muteness into America’s most called upon public speaker and the first woman and first African American to write and recite an inaugural poem; from never attending university or matriculating as an undergraduate to becoming a Professor for life and recipient of over fifty honorary degrees; from a hut in a segregated, deprived Southern village to an esteemed guest at the White House and associate of American Presidents.

Maya Angelou’s rich and arresting contralto voice delighted in song as well as speech. She warbled, warred and wooed. She spoke of the responsibility to sing. I grasped that statement not as a call to people to trill or lilt, but to keep joy and hope alive. She stressed the primacy of courage, declaring that it might be the most important of all the virtues because without it, one could not practice any other virtue consistently.

She declared that the sort of person she adored was one who survived all odds with ‘passion and compassion.’ Watching her live and on television, reading her volumes of autobiography, essays, poetry and of course cookery, was enlightening, entertaining, enthralling.

She inspired and inspirited millions, and assailed bastions of prejudice a n d

Wenesday, June 11, 2014

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

29

In partnership with

Shipping

SHIPS & PORTS

By Bolaji Akinola

Consolidation Plan Divides Freigh Forwarding Association IXED reactions are trailing plans by the M Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to introduce minimum share for companies involved in freight forwarding business in the country.

SHIPS & PORTS had reported exclusively that NSC is putting finishing touches to plans to introduce a minimum capital base for companies engaged in freight forwarding activities.

Executive Secretary/CEO of NSC, Barr. Hassan Bello, gave indication to this effect last weekend during an interactive session with senior media practitioners in Lagos.

Bello, who decried the lack of professionalism and absence of sanity in the freight forwarding industry, said that the minimum capital base to be introduced by NSC will stimulate consolidation and weed out touts.

“There must be minimum standards. What we have at present is that someone will come to Lagos by night bus from Birnin Kebbi, arrives the following morning and he becomes a freight forwarder. This cannot be allowed to continue,” the NSC boss had stated.

Bello also said that effective cargo clearance at the port is hampered by human elements that daily throng the ports.

He said: “It is only in Nigeria that you see the number of people you see in our ports. It is only in our ports that you see campaign posters (of freight forwarders) inside the yards.

Our clearing system is near primitive hence the high cost of doing business at the port.

“We must sanitise the port. Unfortunately we are coming in after the game has started. As commercial regulator, we are now the referee of the game and our aim is to sanitise the industry. We will be democratic in fulfilling this mandate but there are times when we have to apply force to fulfill this mandate.”

But in a swift reaction to the development, the oldest freight forwarding association in the country, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) said “there is need to dialogue with relevant stakeholders over the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

NIGERIAN CHAMBER OF SHIPPING

Challenges Of Maritime Capacity Development

By Greg Ogbeifun Y passion for Human Capacity M Development in the Maritime industry is such that I do not hesitate to speak as much as I can whenever given the opportunity because of its importance in our industry.

The focus on Maritime Capacity Development at this event gives us the ample opportunity to explore its importance, the huge potentials locked up in the Maritime industry, the Challenges in the industry in Nigeria and the gaps these issues create in our sector.

If we take the NNSL (Nigerian National Shipping Lines), a national carrier that had over 30 vessels and produced so many skilled mariners to the highest international standards and overtime created employment and training berths for seafarers; we now see that since the liquidation of this Shipping Line many years ago; the disappearance of the fleet of vessels that provided sea time training opportunities and cadets’ training in Nigeria, has led to a huge gap in the Maritime Human Capacity Development in our country.

What needs pointing out here is that, prior to the demise of the NNSL; the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, (MAN) Oron provided presea school opportunities for the cadets engaged by NNSL. Cadets from the Academy were automatically exposed to a 12-month mandatory sea time onboard the various vessels operated by the NNSL and this gave birth to well- seasoned professionals, who have intensely, been manning sensitive positions in the Maritime Industry.

The gap the demise of the NNSL vessels caused needs to be filled by substitute fleet of vessels.

Again, there is no articulated programme to ensure the effective liaison between the training institutions and the existing fleet of vessels in our Maritime domain. Nigeria has one internationally recognised maritime institution which is the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, (MAN) Oron, but the institution is debilitated by poor funding and other challenges; and is only able to admit about 200 cadets and train them up to Ordinary National Diploma (OND).

TRAINING PHASES Ordinarily, training of seafarers to man and

operate vessels is divided into: The Academic Sessions- which take place in the Academy and consists of competency based course work, practical exercises, SIWES and so on Mandatory Sea Service- prescribed by the STWC Convention requires 12 months sea service on a ship of appropriate tonnage or engine capacity engaged in normal commercial and trading activities at the first instance.

The sea phase placement of the Human Capacity Development in the Local Maritime Industry has been left primarily to the cadets and a few indigenous ship owners who are committed to ensuring the industry does not die. For instance, so many cadets and Marine/Electrical Engineering students come to Starzs Group seeking places for their SIWES programme. The Starzs Group has continued to oblige as much as it can accommodate at any given time.

The demise of the NNSL meant total disappearance of the fleet of vessels that provided the sea time training opportunities for the seafarers.

Cadets from Maritime institutions who served on-board NNSL Ships were also under its sponsorship. The national fleet was the hub of economic and human capacity development; its absence has slowed down the pace of shipping and human capacity development.

Our maritime boundaries have become exposed to a massive influx of foreign ships and foreign seafarers from different parts of the world with different nationalities thereby jeopardizing national security.

The non-existence of a viable indigenous fleet has left shipping solely in the hands of foreign players with very few, indigenous players able to participate, resulting in the huge loss of revenue to government and elaborate capital flight that could be used to develop local shipping capacity.

On another note, I am a professional Marine Engineer trained by Shell Tankers in the United Kingdom. I am one of those who think that the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme, (NSDP), as presently structured is a failure and will remain a failure until we do the right thing.

In this country, we have over 500 vessels of dif-

ferent sizes and specifications plying our waters. That is a large fleet that can be harnessed to provide the required sea time for these cadets. At the commissioning of the celebrated MV Osayame, one of the smallest you can find in the offshore industry, I came out with a company policy that at all times; we must train 4 cadets on that ship. Through this process, we have developed 4 officers and are training 8 more over time. We have a second bigger vessel where we have 8 cadets being trained. That means out of the 500 vessels on our waters, you take just 100 vessels conservatively. Let’s assume 4 cadets on each of the hundred vessels, that’s 400 cadets undergoing training already. You can get to the maritime academy and say, ‘okay, I have training opportunities onboard for 400 cadets. Let me have the timetable of your cadets - when they are coming out- so we can place them.’

I say this because in every other part of the world, seafarers’ training including cadet ship training is primarily the responsibility of ship owners and shipping companies.

This is precisely because after the training, the seafarer gets to work for the ship owner and the shipping companies for their commercial benefit. Secondly, the cadets and seafarers become identified with the company training them. In the case of the NSDP, the cadets are sent out of the country to different institutions all over the world and after that their placements on ships for their sea time become a challenge. These cadets have no identity with any company.

What we have is that these children are picked up from different parts of the country and sent all over the world. They have no identity with any company. When they finish their school work, these countries send them back to Nigeria to get their sea time experience. Some of them have come to us.

The people who got the contract of sending them out (because it is business) will now come to us to provide shipboard opportunities for these children to get their sea time.

For my view to be proved wrong, may I request NIMASA to come up with statistics of

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

From the Desk of the

30 Wednesday, June 11, 2014

DIRECTOR GENERAL Dear Reader, HE offshore industry in Nigeria is T rapidly growing with more exploration and exploitation of deep-water concessions. Nigeria has been engaging in exploration and exploitation of crude oil & gas from their onshore and coastal shallow waters shelf reserves in the Niger Delta for over 50 years, these reserves have provided huge quantities of light sweet crude, of which these wells are still in production.

The challenge however is that these onshore/coastal waters reserves are rapidly declining and this can be proven by the fact that exploitation has gone beyond primary and secondary recovery of the reservoir, and thus a more advanced tertiary recovery method of exploitation is used in the exploitation of this crude oil from the reservoir rock.

Consequently, the decline is increasing the cost of production and reducing the profit margin generated from Nigeria’s oil revenue due to the fact that the reservoir rocks and oil traps are becoming more difficult to reach, requiring the use of new high tech production method which is not cost effective.

Despite these challenges in the oil exploration and production, there is still a high demand for oil and gas which has motivated major IOC consortiums and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to focus on searching for crude Oil in the Deepwaters of 400m-3000m within the Exclusive Economic zone of 200nm. This is justified with the presence of two Floating Production and Storage Offloading Unit (FPSO) for the development of the Bonga and Erha deepwater fields.

I shall be making a keynote presentation at the 2nd annual offshore Support vessel Africa and Subsea Vessel Africa Conferences tagged “GOING DEEPER” in Accra, Ghana ,Key players and leaders from across the region would come together from across the region and access updated information on the market outlook, new opportunities, meeting local content and Cabotage requirements.

The Nigerian Chamber of Shipping is delighted to offer her full support and patronage to this event and excellent business opportunity.

We have as usual prepared to bring you, The ABC of Shipping and The Understanding Cabotage & Local Content in the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry training workshops: We intend to give a bias to Financial Institutions who are getting more involved with Local participation.

Our novel PGD and Certificate programmes in Maritime/ Oil & Gas will kick off this quarter at the Niger Delta University (NDU), Amasoma, Bayelsa State. Financial Institutions, Oil companies, Maritime Organisations and Government/Public sector organizations are enjoined to grab the opportunity with both hands.

We are just poised to positively affect our Shipping and Logistics sphere of business in the quest to strongly support the development of our National Economy. We welcome and encourage you to send in your relevant topical articles.

Please join our boat. Welcome!!

IFY ANAzONWU-AKERELE Director General Nigerian Chamber of Shipping Info@nigerian-shipping.org

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

SHIPS & PORTS laborate with the freight forwarders regulatory body – the Council for the festering problems”.

Regulation of Freight Forwarding in The Association of Registered Freight Nigeria (CRFFN) for the policy to Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFF) and a work. faction of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Countries that value Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) were their maritime not as diplomatic in their response.

AREFF President, Dr. Frank Ukor, was potentials shall be great REECE understands the economic emphatic in his opposition to NSC’s and military power derivable consolidation plan. The plan, according to him, will further worsen the from shipping. Little wonder Greek unemployment situation in the vessels are all over our waters and all country and create hardship for the we can do is complain and whine. common man. They are also everywhere else.

He said, “They want to worsen a bad Greece organises the world’s biggest situation and the situation is that and most glamorous maritime exhithere is much unemployment in the bition and conference called country. Nigeria is already saturated Posidonia. Posidonia 2014 has particiwith unemployment and Shippers’ pants from 93 countries with close to Council wants to discourage people 2,000 exhibitors; and unlike our own who want to get self employed by President Goodluck Jonathan who going into the freight forwarding has consistently shunned invitations practice with the little they can. You for four years running to declare want everybody who wants to be in open Nigeria’s version of Posidonia – Nigeria Maritime Expo the business to have N25 million. the How many people in the industry (NIMAREX) – the political leaders of now can afford five million naira not Greece fully participate in Posidonia. to talk of N25 million? In a stirring Posidonia 2014 opening “Besides, people in the profession, speech, Greek Prime Minister especially the Ibos are not very good Antonis Samaris paid tribute to the at group enterprising. People thrive sea and seafaring as defining “the when they are on their own but if it essence of Greece, its history and civilization.” comes to coming as a group those unique companies never succeed.” He said throughout history, it was He appealed to NSC to step down the this maritime tradition that had plan, noting that Nigeria is not yet allowed the country to “gain hope ripe for it. and power, overcome difficulties, reAlso speaking with SHIPS & PORTS, fac- establish prosperity and start over tional President of NCMDLCA, Chief again.”

Festus Ejiofor, said Nigerian So it was again now, he said, with Shippers’ Council will meet with a shipping proving one of the counbrick wall in his association over the try’s two “champion sectors” – alongside tourism – pulling the country matter.

“We the freight forwarders have out of its recent financial difficulties. been battered from all angles. CRFFN “The economic potential of the Greek will say they want to consolidate and commercial fleet and the strategic reform, Customs will say they want positioning of Greece in future world to increase the money for licensing commerce are gaining power by the and now Shippers’ Council. We are day,” the Prime Minister stated. sick and tired of all these things.” The Greek-operated fleet represents Ejiofor stated. some 15% of world commerce, and in The position of the National the past 10 years Greek owners have Association of Government built more than 2,500 oceangoing Approved Freight Forwarders ships, mainly in Asian shipyards.

“As we speak, a new vessel of Greek (NAGAFF) is however different as its National President, Chief Eugene ownership is being built every two Nweke, told SHIPS & PORTS that he days worldwide. Even more imporsees nothing wrong in the consolida- tantly, Greece is now becoming “the tion plan. The plan, he said, “is a most stable country in an unstable reform process targeted towards a region, and a perfect gateway for seamless freight forwarding opera- commerce from Asian ports extending from the Middle East to the Far tion.”

He however said that there is need East and Japan, through the Suez for the port regulatory body to col- Canal to the continental European

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

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markets,” the Greek PM stated.

After the official opening, Samaris spent nearly three hours touring the exhibition, learning yet more about Greece’s world shipping leadership role at the world’s leading maritime event.

Back home, the entity called Nigeria would not have been created by the colonial masters but for the shipping sector. The colonial masters came in through the sea. It will therefore not be out of place to attribute our existence as a nation today to shipping.

The major actors in the shipping sector in Nigeria and indeed West Africa in the pre-independence era were Elder Dempster, John Holt and United Africa Company (UAC) and its shipping arm, Palm Line. These companies laid the foundation of shipping operation in the West African sub-region and Nigeria was a key market for them. Elder Dempster during the era of Sir Alfred Jones dominated the carriage of commodities and passengers into and out of West Africa.

Since the 19th century to the present time, Lagos port has been the most important trading port for the lines.

By 1906, the inward and outward cargo freight of Lagos port amounted to 20,000 tons which was ten times greater than any other West African port.

The story of the company which came to be known as Elder Dempster Line Limited dates back to September 1852 with the sailing of a ship known as Forerunner, which was the first ship owned by the African Steam Ship Company (ASSC) which obtained a royal charter in 1852 to establish and maintain postal and other communication by means of steam navigation between Great Britain and Ireland and the West Coast of Africa.

Elder Dempster was formed by Alexander Elder and John Dempster who both worked at African Steam Ship Company and later at the rival British and African Steam Navigation Company. They were both experts in the London-West Africa trade and they utilized their knowledge to define the trade relationship between Britain and its West African colonies.

Elder Dempster had come here, set up the British Bank which is now First Bank; they ran the first airways we had, they ran the railways, in fact they had control of the lands from

Ijora-Olopa to Marina Customs Wharf because that used to be the Customs Wharf up to Apapa.

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) grew out of Elder Dempster. Elder Dempster was in the forefront of shipping in Nigeria.

The company was training pilots and engineers in NPA as cadets.

Later came Palm Line but Palm Line and John Holt were different because they were traders.

The commodities marketing boards and so on, of old, came out of the infrastructure and the framework set up by these conglomerates. They had warehouses everywhere manned by Nigerians. They had their structures everywhere.

Our colonial masters set up a framework, they built schools and till today, some of the mission schools are about the best in the country because of their discipline and the well structured academic and personal development programmes.

What is known today as First Bank of Nigeria was formed on 30th March 1894 as Bank of British West Africa Limited by Sir Alfred Jones who was Chairman of Elder Dempster.

Elder Dempster it was that also brought in a sizable portion of the steel used in constructing railway lines and the cement used in construction works in the country. The company also established the first commercial airline in Nigeria when Elder’s Colonial Airways formally commenced operation in on 26th January 1936 with its proving flight from London to Kano. The plane went through Sudan to Maiduguri before arriving Kano.

I captured the details of the value Nigeria’s colonial masters attached to the shipping sector in my book titled ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT which can be ordered online from any of the world’s major book retailers. You may wish to read the details there.

Unfortunately, our post-colonial leaders have been blinded by oil.

They don’t even understand the value of the shipping sector. Our leaders have not paid the required attention to this important sector.

One hundred years after, we are still struggling with getting it right especially in the indigenous ownership of vessels.

One of the fasted ways of addressing the problems bedeviling our nation today is to retrace our steps, forget about oil and accord priority attention to shipping.

Challenges Of Maritime Capacity Development CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 cadets who have gone through the institution since inception, the officers that have been produced, and their current placements in ships in Nigeria or outside Nigeria.

I was in the Presidential Committee on Maritime with the Honourable Minister (of Transport) as Chairman. I suggested that what needs to be done is for NIMASA to set up a committee similar to the Merchant Navy Training Board in the UK. It will be a committee of seasoned retired seafarers with some relevant officers of NIMASA to midwife what I have said above. The committee can monitor the ships in our waters, engage ship owners to make available training beds, get the database and approach Maritime Training Institutions for their cadets needing sea-time and match these two. I also said that it is not government responsibility to train cadets and mariners. It doesn’t happen anywhere in the world. It is the responsibility of the ship- owners to train cadets that will become officers and work on their ships. Why should the government use its resources to train people I will employ and use for my commercial benefit? It doesn’t make sense. I must contribute towards training my workers. That’s why Starzs has this policy. In the process of the ship- owner taking up cadets and training them, they begin to identify those who they can keep to run their ships. Among the best seafarers we have are those that came through our cadetship scheme. They understand the company policy and are familiar with the ships. We understand them and they are looking forward to a future with the company. This is what government needs to encourage as solution to the problem.

Government needs to sit down and professionally look at this. We’ll keep shouting about it. While doing that,

we are doing the right thing to benefit ourselves. No matter how big my fleet is going to be, this strategy that produced me, I will use it to produce other people like me.

Deducing from the above, the challenges that presently affect capacity development in Nigeria can be summarized as the below: The lack of harmonisation between the needs of the maritime industry and training curriculum in the training institutions The low participation by operating companies in the training of manpower required for the maritime industry.

The deficiency of well experienced and qualified instructors working at the training institutions.

The absence of an Indigenous Shipping fleet to provide training for seafarers and cadets.

The foreign companies being the main players in the maritime industry do not have serious commitment towards Capacity Development.

The massive influx of seafarers from different parts of the world with different nationalities thus jeopardizing our national security.

The complete lack of funding for indigenous maritime activities. Indigenous companies operating in the oil and gas industry make a compulsory contribution of 2% of their daily earnings to the Cabotage vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) and yet none of them have benefitted from this fund; of which could support the acquiring of more vessels by these com-

panies to provide more training for seafarers.

From the foregoing, it is a matter for regret that our country, blessed with training institutions, end-user organizations and a large population still suffers from the inadequate capacity development in the Maritime industry.

My recommendations therefore would be: The regulatory agencies in the Maritime industry should harness the existing fleet of both local and foreign players to create more databases of vessels to provide training berths for cadets.

A sensitization programme should be mapped out for young students on how to build successful careers in the maritime industry.

More professionals should be involved in the maritime institutions to ensure that relevant courses are being run in line with prevailing needs of the industry and international standards.

Long term government should look at reestablishment of a Nigerian Maritime fleet run on a Private-Public Partnership model to create a sustainable platform for sea-time opportunities for seafarers training.

Vessel/Ship owners to be mobilised to mandatorily provide and implement training scheme for seafarers from cadetship level to senior deck and engine officers.

Once again, thank you for this opportunity and I hope you’ve benefitted from this • Greg Ogbeifun ( Chairman/Ceo) Starz Investments Company Limited

GUARDIANENERGY BPE clears air on $530m Aba power project

Gas dealers sue NUPENG others pg 33

pg 33

OIL

GAS

UN joins others to launch $1b ‘Beyond the Grid’ power initiative pg32

POWER

WEDNESDAY, June 11, 2014

www.ngrguardiannews.com; www.theguardianmobile.com

Govt distributes N157.15b as Derivation Fund to oil producing states

NLNG cargo

By Roseline Okere HE Federal Government T has expended N157.15 billion out of the N1.4 trillion gross federally-collected revenue during the first quarter of 2014 as 13 per cent Derivation Fund for distribution to the oil producing states in the country.

This disclosure was made by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its first quarter 2014 report released last week.

According to the apex bank, the sum of N106.65 billion was also distributed as the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) among the three tiers of government and the 13 per cent Derivation Fund.

It added that the Federal Government collected

N48.88 billion; State Governments, N24.80 billion; Local Governments, N19.11 billion; and 13 per cent Derivation Fund of N13.86 billion.

The CBN noted that the sum of N22.85 billion from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refund was shared by the sub-national governments.

“The refund was shared as follows: State Governments, N11.23 billion; Local Governments, N8.65 billion; and 13 per cent Derivation Fund, N2.97 billion. Thus, the total allocation to the three tiers of government in the first quarter of 2014 amounted to N1,827.73 billion, compared with N2,008.12 billion in the preceding quarter.

The apex bank said that crude oil and natural gas

production increased by 0.03 per cent during the first quarter of this year. Crude oil export recorded an increase in first quarter of 2014.

It added that total estimated expenditure for the first quarter of 2014 stood at N1,462.26 billion, indicating an increase of 1.0 and 0.5 per cent above the quarterly budget estimate and the level in the preceding quarter, respectively. The development was attributed to the rise in the recurrent component during the period.

A breakdown of the total expenditure showed that the recurrent component accounted for 85.2 per cent, while capital and statutory transfers components ac-

counted for 9.8 and 5.0 per cent, respectively.

A further breakdown of the recurrent expenditure showed that the non-debt component accounted for 81.5 per cent, while debt service payments accounted for the balance of 18.5 per cent.

The apex bank stated: “At an estimated average of $109.47 per barrel, the price of Nigeria’s reference crude, the Bonny Light (37o API), fell by

3.2 per cent below the level in the fourth quarter of 2013.

“The average prices of other competing crudes, namely the U.K Brent, the West Texas Intermediate and the Forcados also fell to $107.35, US$92.86 and $110.33 per barrel from $110.81, $97.73 and $112.74 per barrel, respectively, in the preceding quarter.

“At $105.98 per barrel, the average price of OPEC’s bas-

ket of eleven crude streams fell by 1.6 and 0.8 per cent, below the $107.67 and $106.79 per barrel recorded in the fourth and the corresponding quarters of 2013, respectively. The fall in prices was attributed to the continued geopolitical tension in Ukraine, China’s slow economic growth and the ongoing production outage in Libya”.

NLNG to take delivery of six new vessels by 2015

By Sulaimon Salau

...Plans to build shipyard in Nigeria

HE Nigerian Liquefied T Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), is at the verge of in-

long term aggreement, making a total of 23 operated by the company.

The 23 operational ships load at NLNG terminal in Bonny for delivery to Europe, South America, Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, United States, Middle East and Asia.

Omotowa said the ship building arrangement made with the South Korean firms includes Nigerianisation of the project, to ensure that certain aspects of the projects (such as cables, paints, furniture among others) that could be provided in Nigeria are actually bought from Nigeria to be installed on the ships.

Besides, he said the agreement also stipulated that 580 Nigerians wouls be trained in different aspect of shipbuilding and construction in fulfilment of the Nigerian content devel-

creasing its fleets from 13 ships to about 19 fleets, as it expected to take delivery of additional six new from South Korea by next year.

The Managing Director of the Company, Babs Omotowa, told The Guardian that the project, which was awarded to Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries was estimated to gulp about $1.6 billion (about N256 billion).

However, he said the company is also working to float a ship building yard in Nigeria, to enhance the national economy through ship building and saving capital flight.

The LNG vessels are operated by its subsidiary Bonny Gas Transport (BGT), which manages the 13 vessels with another 10 chartered on

opment for the “BGT plus project”.

Implementing this deal, he said about 60 technicians have departed Nigeria for South Korea on a threemonth ship building programme, 28 of whom would stay back and join in the construction of the two new carrers.

“Another 20 technicians are currently being trained at International Energy Services Limited (IESL) in Lagos on a ship design programme.

Seven of these will also participate in the construction of the new carriers. Ship building training with Hyundai has started in NLNG’s City and Guild approved Bonny Vocational Centre in Bonny.” he said.

Omotowa, however disclossed that the plan to establish a ship building yard CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

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THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

ENERGY Wednesday, June 11, 2014

NEITI signs contract for new oil, gas audit

By Sulaimon Salau HE Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has signed the contract for the audit of the oil and gas industry for the year 2012.

The report was recently signed between NEITI Management and representatives of the Consortium of Taju Audu Effectivo who won the contract.

Taju Audu Effectivo Consortium is made up of four firms: Two Nigerian firms; Taju Audu &Co. and Effectivo Capital Limited, and two international firms of Baker Tilly International and Resource Consulting Services Limited.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Executive Secretary of NEITI Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, that the Audit is critical for NEITI to maintain its high ranking at the global EITI and to meet the requirements of the NEITI Act and the expectations of Nigerians.

She urged the Consultants to put in their best to ensure that the assignment is completed by November, 2014.

Ahmed noted that 85 per cent of the data required for the audit has been collated by NEITI and that the consortium is expected to ensure speedy reconciliation, verification and validation of the data.

The Executive Secretary enjoined the auditors to be diligent and to display high level of professionalism, integrity and objectivity in the discharge of this important assignment.

Taju Audu who spoke on behalf of the Consortium thanked the NEITI management for the confidence reposed on them, noting that

T

they fully understood the import of the assignment and will give it their best to ensure they meet the November 30th, 2014 deadline for the conclusion of the audit.

The 2012 oil and gas industry audit is the fifth in NEITI’s cycle of audits in the oil and gas sector since the agency commenced operations in 2004 as a member of the global EITI. The previ-

ous audits covered the periods 1999-2004, 2005, 20062008 and 2009-2011.

However, NEITI has always expressed concern over the non implementation of findings and recommenda-

HE Federal Government T has reaffirmed its commitment to sustainable energy development, insisting that the country is working with the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL), in ensuring the full realization of it.

Addressing the high level Ministerial dialogue at the first SE4ALL forum in New York, last week, the Minister of State Power, Mohammed Wakil, declared that the country has since embraced the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative, with the formal launching of the SE4ALL initiative by President Goodluck Jonathan, just few months after it was launched by Ban Ki Moon.

The Minister said that the objectives of the SE4ALL initiative is in tandem with the goals of President Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda, which gave high priority to providing access to safe, reliable, and affordable energy to our citizens in both urban and rural areas.

“President Goodluck Jonathan is no doubt committed to developing our Renewable Energy resources and his government will always promote Energy Efficiency measures, which are

cently said the issue of poor implementation of audit finding was capable of undermining the chances of Nigerians reaping the benefits of the global initiative.

Head, Human Resources, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC), Mrs. Ibiene Okeleke, (left); Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Abiodun Ajifowobaje; Community Development Chairman, Chief Gbadamosi Olugbemiga, and Head, Commercial, (Ms) Bukky Ojurongbe, at the IKEDC customer forum held in Lagos.

Ikeja Disco designs fresh roadmap for power supply

By Sulaimon Salau LANS are in the pipeline by the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC), to lunch a fresh roadmap to improving electricity delivery to consumers in its network.

The roadmap, which is presently with the Board of the company may be ratified in the next few weeks, to pave way for a new global meter-

P

...To introduce new global meters mechanism soon ing mechanism and other strategic moves of enhancing service delivery.

The Managing Director, IKEDC, Abiodun Ajifowobaje, who made this known during the customers’ consultative council meeting in Lagos recently, said the company is working vigorously to meet

the demand of customers by the next two years, earlier than the five years deadline set by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Ajifowobaje, however appealed to the consumers in its network to endure and support the company in its

Govt reaffirms commitment to sustainable energy initiative

By Roseline Okere

tions contained in its independent audit report of activities in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

Chairman of the National Stakeholders’ Working Group (NSWG) of NEITI re-

the hallmark of the SE4ALL initiative”, Wakil said.

He told the audience that Nigeria is also playing key role at regional and continental levels through collaboration with sub-regional body- ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE)”.

The agency, according to the Minister said is working with ECOWAS member states to develop and coordinate the National and Regional Action Plans for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, as well as SE4ALL National Action Agenda in the ECOWAS region” Flaunting Nigeria’s records in the field of sustainable

energy development, the Minister said: “Nigeria’s recent accomplishment in this regard includes the development of National Policy on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (NREEEP); National Rural Electrification Strategy and Implementation Plan (NRESIP) and Operation Light-Up Rural Nigeria (OLRN) Initiative launched by President Jonathan in January this year, it is aimed at increasing electricity access to rural areas which are far-flung from the national grid”.

He also used the opportunity to inform the world audience that Nigeria while reforming its power sector has successfully privatized the sector thereby creating

NLNG to build shipyard in Nigeria CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31

in Nigeria has reached advanced stage.

He stated that the company has carried out the feasibility study on the project, and it was working with the its parners to ensure that the project comes into fruition.

On the chartered vessels, he said BW Gas owned eight (all membrane carri-

ers) while Nippon Yusen Kaisha owned two (all membrane carriers), explaining that NLNG which owned the other 13 vessels (four membrane and nine moss carriers), has also chartered one vesel named Stena Clear Sky, under a medium-term charter. The vessel was chartered for a term of three years from 2012, and would be redelivered to her owner by 2015.

huge opportunities for investors.

He therefore called on would be investors take advantage of the attractive climate and invest in Nigeria.

Wakil added that the population of Nigeria, which is put at 170 million offers vibrant market coupled with the wide demandgap for electricity.

The sustainable development event, which drew participants from all over the world ends this weekend, in the United States of America (USA).

moves to a revolutionised power supply era.

According to him, the company has made tremendous impact since it took over the company in November last year, and it is expected that the new roadmap would further buoy the company’s operations.

“Since we took over, we have been working with the KEPCO, our technical partner, which has conducted the feasibility report for us. You have not seen drastic change in supply because the report was only submitted two weeks ago, and we are working on it. We are strategising on the best mechanism to implementing it. Once this is done, you will definitely see a drastic change,” he said.

He noted that the roadmap would also proffer solutions to the metering challenges, assuring that every customer would benefit from the new global metering system.

The managing director berated the spate of tampering with the prepaid meters, urging consumers to desist from

such act, in other to benefit from the new scheme.

He noted that the first prepaid meter was not circulated due to certain challenges. “Out of about 6000 customers that we have, only 2000 have meters, so we have about 4,000 shortage. This shows that we are billing about 4,000 customers on estimated billing, in line with the NERC’s rationale,” he said.

He also lamented shortage of energy supply from the national grid, whereby the network that requires about 1,250Mega Watts (MW) only receive about 360MW. “But, we don’t see this as a challenge, we see it as an opportunity. So, we are working on alternative sources apart from national grid. Since the owners of IKEDC are also the owners of Egbin, we are working on getting exclusive power from Egbin directly to our network. We are also working on embedded power system. We believe we can improve from about nine hours daily to 14 hours in the first phase of the strategic plan,” he said.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 ENERGY 33

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Global energy investments to hit $48tr by 2035

By Roseline Okere EETING the world’s M growing need for energy will require more than $48 trillion in investment over the period to 2035, according to a special report on investment released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as part of the World Energy Outlook series.

The agency said that the current yearly investment in energy supply of $1.6 trillion needs to rise steadily over the coming decades towards $2 trillion.

It added that spending on energy efficiency, measured against a 2012 baseline, needs to rise from $130 billion today to more than $550 billion by 2035.

IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said: “The reliability and sustainability of our future energy system depends on investment. But this won’t materialise unless there are credible policy frameworks in place as well as stable access to long-term sources of finance. Neither of these conditions should be taken for granted. There is a

real risk of shortfalls, with knock-on effects on regional or global energy security, as well as the risk that investments are misdirected because environmental impacts are not properly reflected in prices.”

Newly compiled data show how annual investment in new fuel and electricity supply has more than doubled in real terms since 2000, with investment in renewable source of energy quadrupling over the same period, thanks to supportive government policies. Investment in

renewables in the European Union has been higher than investment in natural gas production in the United States. Renewables, together with biofuels and nuclear power, now account for around 15 per cent of annual investment flows, with a similar share also going to the power transmission and distribution network. But a large majority of today’s investment spending, well over $1 trillion, is related to fossil fuels, whether extracting them, transporting them to consumers, refining crude oil

into oil products, or building coal and gas-fired power plants.

Investment decisions are increasingly being shaped by government policy measures and incentives. While many governments have retained direct influence over energy sector investment, some stepped away from this role when opening energy markets to competition: many of these have now stepped back in, typically to promote the deployment of low-carbon sources of electricity. In the electricity sector, administrative signals or regulated rates of return have become, by far, the most important drivers for investment: the share of investment in competitive parts of electricity markets has fallen from about one-third of the global total ten years ago to around 10 per cent today.

IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol stated: “Policy makers face increasingly complex choices as they try to achieve progress towards energy security, competitiveness and environmental goals. These

goals won’t be achieved without mobilising private investors and capital, but if governments change the rules of the game in unpredictable ways, it becomes very difficult for investors to play.”

Of the cumulative global investment bill to 2035 of $48 trillion in the report’s main scenario, around $40 trillion is in energy supply and the remainder in energy efficiency. Of the investment in energy supply, $23 trillion is in fossil fuel extraction, transport and oil refining; almost $10 trillion is in power generation, of which low-carbon technologies – renewables ($6 trillion) and nuclear ($1 trillion) – make up the lion’s share; and a further $7 trillion in transmission and distribution. More than half of the energy-supply investment is needed just to keep production at today’s levels, that is, to compensate for declining oil and gas fields and to replace power plants and other equipment that reach the end of their

UN joins others to launch $1b ‘Beyond the Grid’ power initiative

By Roseline Okere HE United Nations Foundation, along with 26 other founding partners, has launched ‘Beyond the Grid’ initiative, an innovative program for decentralized energy under President Barack Obama’s Power Africa, in Addis Ababa by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

Over five years, the UN Foundation’s Energy Access Practitioner Network along with other founding partners will help ‘Beyond the Grid’ leverage partnerships and direct investments of at least $1 billion into off-grid and small scale solutions in sub-Saharan Africa, helping to take innovative business models to scale and bringing electricity to an anticipated 20 million households and businesses.

Speaking at the occasion in Addis Ababa, Executive Director for Energy Access at the UN Foundation, Richenda Van Leeuwen, said: “As a founding partner of ‘Beyond the Grid’

T

BPE clears air on $530m Aba power project

By Roseline Okere HE Bureau of Public EnT terprises (BPE) has refuted media reports accusing the agency of corruption in respect of the Aba power project.

The report stated that, “the story of how Geometric Power has been prevented from lighting up Aba contains the usual suspects of vested interests, crony capitalists, an inept bureaucracy putting up barriers to doing business, graft, incompetence and murky dealings that can be traced to the very top of Nigeria’s political class.

“The successful plot to stop Geometric has been enabled by a hapless president, a vice president captured by vested interests, a defanged Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), a National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) where conflicting interests have led to deceit, and a private sector entity – Interstate Electrics, owners

of Enugu Disco – whose intent is essentially to kill Geometric”.

But the BPE in response to the publication noted that Aba Power Limited (APL) and Geometric Power Aba Limite had in April 2013 instituted court action (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/106/2013) against BPE and Interstate Electrics in respect of the Aba ring-fenced assets.

According to the agency, the matter is currently at the Federal High Court, Abuja. “Secondly, it is our belief that some of the words used in the reports in question, were used advisedly with the clear objectives to deceive the public and put NCP/BPE to disrepute”.

The agency explained that there was a Lease Agreement dated 28th April 2005 signed between the Federal Government of Nigeria, National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and Aba Power Limited.

It added: “This agreement

is for the generation, transmission and distribution of power to residential and commercial consumers in Aba, and Ariaria Districts that fall under Enugu Zone of NEPA in Abia State. The said agreement which relates to the ring-fenced area in Aba and Ariaria Districts was amended by another Supplemental Agreement dated 31st August, 2006. The agreement was pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding dated the 11th May, 2004. Clause 3.1 of the agreement had created a lease of 15 years commencing from

the date of the signing of the agreement to expire on the 15th anniversary of the signing, but the Supplemental Agreement extended the period to 20 years.

“In compliance with the EPSRA 2005, NEPA was unbundled into eighteen successor companies. Enugu Zone became Enugu Distribution Company. Since Aba and Ariaria Districts fall under the Enugu Disco, the contracts between NEPA and APL were inherited by Enugu Disco in consonance with the principles of succession of title and Section 8 of the EPSRA

we strongly endorse the mission to expand access to modern energy services in sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging and building on our existing work through the Energy Access Practitioner Network to use micro-grid and decentralized solutions to bring reliable power to customers and communities alike.”

The UN Foundation’s 1,600 member strong Energy Access Practitioner Network will help Power Africa and ‘Beyond the Grid’ advance the policy and regulatory frameworks necessary to overcome recurring constraints and create an enabling environment for greater access to financial and technical assistance historically not available to small energy businesses.

The Power Africa initiative is a multi-stakeholder partnership among the United States government, governments in Africa, the World Bank, the African Development Bank

Gas dealers sue NUPENG, others over alleged violation of rights

By Bertram Nwannekanma and Yetunde Ayobami Ojo AGOS gas dealers under Ltered the auspices of the registrustees of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers Association of Nigeria (LPGARAN) have dragged the National Union of Petroleum

and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the administrator, Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI), Onipede Ofi and the Lagos State Attorney General before a Federal High Court, Lagos over alleged violation of their fundamental human rights.

Also named as defendants in the suit are Deputy Commissioner of Police, in charge of investigation, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Close, Ikoyi, Investigating Police Officer, FCID, one, Edosa, Monday Nwatu, Chijioke Ogbuka and investigating police officer, Edosa.

The plaintiffs in the fundamental rights suit are seeking an order of court for a declaration that illegal seizure of gas cylinders of members by the 1st -4th respondents in their quest to force the members of 1st applicant to join their association against their wishes is unconstitutional.

Aside LPGARAN, other applicants are the president of the association, Michael Chika Umadu, Emeka Okechukwu, Sunday Umeh and Abayomi Morooph.

They are also praying the court for an order “A declaration the arrest and detention of the 2nd -4th applicants by the 6th and 7th respondents on the pretext of investigating a spurious and trumped up allegation of threat to life of the 2nd respondent by the 2nd -4th applicants is unconstitutional, illegal, wrongful, null and void as same constitutes a gross and violent violation of the applicants’ fundamental right to liberty enshrine in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal; Republic of Nigeria. “ A perpetual injunction restraining the respondents, their agents, privies and any other person or persons whatsoever from further infringement and violation of the fundamental rights of

the applicant or the members of the 1st applicants as enshrined in Section 36 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The plaintiff also praying for an order of court awarding to the applicants the sum of N5 million being compensation for the gross violation of their rights. Adding that court to direct the 2nd -4th respondents to return the cylinders illegally seized belonging to 3rd -4th applicants and as well publish a public apology in two national dailies.

In the suit accompanied by a 89-parageph affidavit deposed to by Michael Chika Umudu, the plaintiffs averred that in 2013, members of a sister organization, Nigeria Domestic Gas Retailers and Material (NDGRM) started conniving with KAI officials to extort, intimidate and force their members and other gas retailers to join their group.

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Money Emefiele’s agenda: Time to hit ground running The new agenda for the nation’s monetary system, already described as “ambitious and promising”, seems to have “landed safely.” But CHIJIOKE NELSON writes that the only caveat left can be resolved by clear strategy, implementation and time.

E have history of broken promises. It is a long one as well. So, making promises “W is not the challenge of development for the country. It is about fulfilling them.”

The statement above sums the basis of the entrenched “wait and see” disposition of the majority of the citizenry, who also now find it difficult to distinguish between a political statement and policy initiative of a career professional. It has become so widespread that every word is subjected to series scrutiny, yet without trust on it. The new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, is currently sitting on already made confidence crisis.

But from the new Governor, came words of hope and ambitious agenda for a revamped monetary system, capable of enthroning macro-economic stability beyond imagined.

According to him, his leadership would gradually reduce interest rates and make credit cheaper; discourage the perverse incentive that encourages commercial banks to buy virtually risk-free government bonds and earn double digit interest rates rather than lend to the real sector, was a welcome development.

This may be the first move to counter opinions that he cannot work against the system he benefitted from, pending the real implementation of the agenda.

Specifically, the agenda holds out plans to maintain exchange rate stability and shore up foreign exchange reserves; strengthen riskbased supervision of banks to ensure the overall health and banking system stability and build sector specific expertise for banking supervision. It also seeks to abolish fees associated with limits on deposits; reconsider extant practice in which all fees associated with limits on withdrawals are pocketed by banks alone; and introduce interventions to boost production and services in agriculture, manufacturing, power sector, oil and gas and in health, among others.

Indeed, it is obvious that many of the developmental challenges of the country were started and/or aggravated by misplaced policy directions on the one hand and expectedly, the same process would reverse the retrogressive movements and/or accelerate positive multipliers on the other hand.

Emefiele’s agenda has touched on some important issues like employment generation as an integral part of monetary policy; expansion of intervention initiatives; removal of charges on deposits under cash-less policy; enhancing the capacity of credit bureaus; focus on reduction of non-performing loans; and re-sharpening of the supervisory capacity of the CBN. But can he do it? At times, it takes only dedication and the will to make the difference, which smacks of a professional. Can Nigerians take him for his words?

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Credit Administration, Dr. Chris Onalo, who earlier acknowledged the nation’s record of broken promises, said he is optimistic of a new dawn in Emefiele and called for time and support from everybody.

According to him, his agenda on effecting a non-collateral system for certain class of businesses, particularly the Small and Medium Enterprises sector, is a sure way to lay claim on the intervention scheme, which would generate new set of start-ups to boost the Gross Domestic Products.

“The much I know him as a person convinces me that he is confident of his strategies. Of course, he has first proved himself at Zenith Bank and does not believe in too many word, even as he had declared non-partisan, but a low profile, while focusing on his core mandate.

“I am also interested in his plan to enthrone low interest rate, which he said would be without the devaluation of the Naira. The development will no doubt, present an opportunity for expanded credit system, revive financially drained and ailing businesses and create more jobs.

“He should also make good his promise to ensure that non-performing loans are

reduced to barest minimum, while bringing to book those who are bent on borrowing without paying. It does not work that way in any economy. Those who must borrow from the system must be made to pay. It is a good plan and he must implement it.”

Also, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Eczellon Capital, an investment banking firm, Diekola Onaolapo, said the prospect of reduced rates on debt instruments will have a positive effect on the real sector, as it will encourage banks to lend to the real sector rather than lending to the government.

“The previous CBN regime had maintained relatively high rates, understandably coming in the wake of the financial crisis at the time and the need to restore confidence to the banking system. There was the trade-off between real sector development and attracting the interest of foreign investors, although compensations for the real sector came through various sector-focused funds like the aviation, power and agriculture intervention funds,” he said.

According to Onaolapo, now that those initial concerns have been attended to, there was need for a renewed support for real sector development, broadly established in the 10point agenda of the new CBN governor.

“Having sector-based banking supervision will indeed, facilitate channeling of credit to key sectors, while the establishment of the Secured Transaction and Collateral Registry will assist banks in reducing lending risks and in the right direction.

“The scrapping of charges on cash deposit and the plans for sharing charges realized on use of cashless-supporting interfaces between the banks and the CBN, the strengthening of credit bureau management, among others, would only go a long way to tightening loose holes and further add credence to gains on real sector development.

“Overall, the incorporation of unemployment rate as one of the basis for making monetary policy decision makes for a broader support of economic development. Maintaining the stance on risk-based supervision, exchange rate stability, while shoring up the Foreign Reserves are welcome developments to the market, although the implementation of the same seems a challenging task given other factors in the overall economy,” he added.

The Lead Director of Centre for Social Justice, Eze Onyekpere, said the media statement by the new Governor of CBN, detailing the perimeters of the new policy stance of the CBN under his administration is very welcome development. It reviews the macroeconomic context under which Nigeria operates, the Nigerian financial system, extant key policy stance of the CBN and finally unveiled his vision to create a people centred CBN. To him, the acknowledgement that price and financial system stability are not ends in themselves, but the means to creating the environment in which Nigerians will live longer, better and more fulfilled lives is reassuring and the promise that CBN would begin to consider the unemployment rate as one of the key variables in shaping monetary policy indicates a deeper understanding of the inextricable links between economic and social development.

“This is a good beginning, because there is the need for new policies and fundamental reconsideration of existing ones, as we believe that Nigeria can be great beyond persistently being an unrealised potential. We need to think out of the box.

“The entire Agenda appears laudable and a good roadmap for the CBN in the new dispensation. However, the strategies for the implementation of the specific interventions and to ensure the realisation of the promises are not detailed. It is the hope that in the coming days, more specificity will be added to the general policy thrusts. But detailing a few observed deficiencies is imperative.

“On the interest rates, as at today, the savings rate is low. The promise to reduce both the deposit and lending rate is a bit contentious.

While welcoming the reduction of the lending

Emefiele rate, what is required is to link the deposits, especially savings products and lending rate by a corridor, which should not exceed 500 basis points. Deposit rates should encourage savings and should also be tied to the inflation rate. A situation where the deposit rate is lower than the inflation rate discourages savings. It makes depositors to lose money and there is no incentive to leave money with bankers beyond a guarantee of safekeeping,” he said.

According to Onyekpere, taking a cue from the first promise of the new Governor to build a people focused CBN, there is the need to build a Nigerian banking and payment system focused on the promotion of the welfare of Nigerians in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

“There is a missing link, which if addressed, will strengthen the Nigerian financial system to respond to the demands of economic growth and development. It will be recalled that under the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, proposals were made that after the consolidation of banks and the emergent stronger and cleaner balance sheets, that parts of our foreign reserves will be domiciled in qualifying Nigerian banks.

“Considering that Nigerian banks are stronger and more resilient today, with only 3.8 percent Non Performing Loans and CBN’s risk-based supervision, why do we need to continue keeping billions in reserves with foreign banks that yield very little interest rates?

Still, we go back to the same countries to look for credit. In essence, we deposit our money and go there to borrow same money at higher interest rates. This makes no economic or developmental sense. It is a good proposition that as a starting point, not less than 33 per cent of our reserves should be domiciled in qualifying Nigeria banks. Thereafter, the percentage domiciled in Nigeria will be increased as new prudential guidelines are released by CBN and met by the banks,” he said.

Speaking on the recurring excess liquidity issues, CSJ chief said it appeared that from the general policy thrusts the challenge of excess liquidity will continue unabated, as there

seemed to be no departure from the position of the previous CBN regime.

“In an earlier paper setting an agenda for the new CBN governor, the author had stated that available evidence indicates that the ability of the CBN to sustain the naira from possible depreciation in 2014 and the medium term may be dependent on a monetary policy stance vis-a vis global crude oil supply and capital flows in 2014. The poser is the reason for the depreciation of the naira despite our formerly buoyant external reserves, which can provide cover for over seven months imports and our better growth rates compared to industrialised economies over the years. Although CBN has adopted an exchange rate band for some years now, it may be imperative to try some new ideas recommended by experts and Vision 20:2020.

“To boost the value of the naira against major international currencies may require the avoidance of the creation of new money. This would imply the direct allocation of foreign exchange (using dollar certificates) earned from oil to the three tiers of government rather than monetising it. This is the recommendation of Vision 20:2020, which has since been ignored by monetary and fiscal policy. Former CBN governor, Charles Soludo attempted to implement the idea, but was stopped by the authorities.

“Experts noted that this would bring inflation to as low as three per cent, rein in excess liquidity and guarantee single digit prime lending rate. Essentially, it will guarantee monetary and price stability, swell external reserves, and improve access to credit by the real sector. This will lead to increased economic growth, job creation and development. It is therefore imperative that the new dig deep in this direction as stance the source(s) of the problem.

Emefiele, while unfolding his agenda, had disclosed that Financial System Stability will be sustained to mitigate potential threats and systemic crisis.

“The core of my vision is to effectively manage potential threats to financial stability, and create a strong governance regime that is conducive for financial intermediation, innovative

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Money

Time to hit ground running CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34 finance and inclusiveness. In this regard, we hope to anchor on two main pillars: managing factors that create liquidity shocks and zero tolerance on practices that undermine the health of financial institutions.

Reeling out the strategies, he said there would be collaboration with the relevant stakeholders (fiscal and political authorities, as well as other stakeholders) to aggressively shore up reserves; enhance the bank’s supervisory purview over the banking system, as well as strengthen macro-prudential regulation by improving supervisory diligence, ethical standards as well as highest level of professionalism in carrying out on and off-site supervision activities; and strengthen riskbased supervision mechanism of Nigerian banks to ensure overall health and banking system stability.

“In the light of the size of the economy following the rebased GDP, the trigger thresholds from a macro-prudential perspective are no longer adequate. In due course, the CBN would consider and announce measures to effectively address this anomaly; pursue a zero-tolerance policy on fraudulent borrowers. We will collaborate with commercial banks to significantly improve the credit culture in the Nigerian banking system. The CBN’s focus would be directed at serial debtors who access loans from different banks and default on all of them even when they have the means to pay. Going forward, the CBN

will work towards reducing the effect of information asymmetry in the credit market.

“We shall enhance the operation of Credit Reference Bureaus; establish Secured Transaction and National Collateral Registry; strengthen the sanction system to include: blacklisting of companies/individuals that have been found to be serial loan defaulters. Indeed, these names would be circulated in the banking system to guide banks in identifying bad borrowers and denying them access to credits in the banking system; implement stringent loan provisions and penalties for banks that lends to blacklisted persons and companies; o Intensify our collaboration with relevant agencies, and in particular, the Justice Ministry, to strengthen bank’s ability to enforce contracts and recover matured debts; renew vigorous advocacy for the creation of commercial courts for

quick adjudications on loan and related offences; and establish a National Credit Scoring System that will improve access to information on borrowers and assist to make good credit decisions.

He noted that the new banking supervision would be to work towards a better riskbased supervision framework, through training sector-specific bank examiners.

For example, while the banking industry has excessive concentration in oil and gas loans, the CBN does not have the expertise to analyze and monitor the risks inherent in these credits. In other words, every examiner is a generalist.

“The Payments System would be better aligned with the Cash-less Policy. This policy was introduced in 2012 with pilots now completed in Lagos, Kano, Anambra, Abia, Rivers, and the FCT. The policy is now expected to go nationwide on July 1, 2014. Over the course of the pilot, we have become aware of complaints

by customers, particularly regarding the charges being imposed for cash deposits.

This has resulted in customers devising various means to avoid the charges through opening of multiplicity of accounts and other disingenuous behaviours, all aimed at undermining the objective of this policy. Given these outcomes and to better reflect our goal of having more cash under our control, all charges on deposits are hereby stopped with immediate effect. Charges on withdrawals, in view of their eventual elimination, remain sustained at the current three per cent for individual transactions exceeding N500,000 and five per cent for corporate transactions exceeding N3 million. Currently, these fees go entirely to the commercial banks. However, going forward, the Central Bank shall determine what percentage of these fees on excess drawings will be redeemed by the bank, while the rest shall be remitted to the CBN.”

Wema kiddies’ product rewards 13 HE Royal Kiddies Account, a product from T Wema Bank Plc, designed for children below 13 years, has rewarded 13 kids through its educational award.

The winners, who emerged from the bank’s in-house programme made up of 500 children, came tops through their account balances.

The maiden edition of the bank’s educational award

for kids, emerged a star prize winner of N250, 000, with the second runner-up winning N150, 000, while the third person won N100, 000.

However, others were given a consolation prize of N50, 000 each.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the bank’s Head of Retail Products, Dotun Ifebogun, said the strategy was to arouse banking consciousness in the lowest segment of the

society.

According to him, it will serve as a stepping-stone on which the child will build as she grows to adulthood and maintain the account with the bank.

Explaining the features of the product, Ifebogun said that the product is the first in the country for kids, as it offers life assurance to the multiple of 10 of the account balance in the event of the loss of parent/guardian.

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AIICO launches multiple payment channels IICO Plc has launched A multiple payment channels for payment and renewal of insurance policies for its customers The development, which attests the insurer’s quest to deliver variety of products, also considered the convenience and ease of access by customers.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Edwin Igbiti, said this is expected to automatically ensure customer preferences and meet expectations.

“As insurance becomes an

increasingly important aspect of our lives, customers are more conscious about flexible and convenient payment options as they transact,” he said.

The channels include Point of Sale terminals, GTBank branches, Web electronicportal, Quickteller, Third party Scratch card, direct debit, Bank Order and cashier points.

Igbiti, encouraged customers to embrace these channels for a promise of a memorable user, as well as phenomenal customer service experience.

FXTM launches social media contest NTERNATIONAL foreign ITime exchange broker- Forex (FXTM), has launched a competition on social media to celebrate the company’s expansion to new markets and client base.

As part of the competition, entrants are encouraged to submit a photo of themselves holding up a sign with the words “It’s Time” in front of a local landmark, building, sign or place of interest that represents their location and culture.

Forex Time has been engaged in an ambitious international growth strategy that has seen the company go from strength to strength in nearly two years now.

The fresh and dynamic approach applied by Forex Time has helped the broker challenge the market leading brokers across the world, while the competition will reflect the diversity

of its clients and represent the global reach which has been achieved in such a short period of time.

The Chief Executive Officer, FXTM, Olga Rybalkina, said: “It has been our strategy since the very beginning to expand rapidly to different international markets, as I truly believe global expansion is the key to being competitive in business.

To participate in the Forex Time competition, entrants must first “like” the Forex Time Facebook page and then submit a photo via the special competition app.

For anyone without a Facebook profile, they can also submit their photographic entry by email at social@forextime.com. The competition will run until 29 August 2014,and the winner of the competition will be chosen based on the photo that has the most “likes”.

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Nigeria ranks seventh in world’s mobile phone penetration statistics • Minister, Angaye seek measures to block loopholes in the country’s Internet space

By Adeyemi Adepetun He mobile telephone revolution, which T started in Nigeria about 13 years ago, and has subsequently gained huge momentum, may have placed the country seventh among the first 20 in the global list of countries with huge mobile phone penetration.

This information was contained in a paper delivered in Lagos, on Monday, by the immediate past director- General of the National Information and Technology development Agency (NITdA), Prof. Cleopas Angaye.

Indeed, Nigeria, which according to the World Bank has about 170 million populations, currently has 168.5 million connected lines, from about 400, 000 Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITeL) lines about 13 years ago. However, out of the 168.5 million lines, about 127 million are active, which spread across three different technology platforms of GSM, Code division Multiple Access (CdMA) and fixed wired/wireless technologies.

Interestingly, Nigeria’s teledensity, number of telephone users per an inhabitat, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is firm at 90 per cent. The world’s population is currently put at 6.8 billion.

Angaye, who spoke on “Untapped benefits of the Internet by the Nigerian youth” at the 2014 Nigeria Internet Governance Forum” organised by the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NiRA) with the theme: “Harnessing Multistakeholders Framework for Internet Governance and economic Growth”, noted that youths can develop applications and programmes for the mobile ecosystem, which he said is booming and yet to reach the a saturation level.

The former NITdA dG, apparently relying on data from 2014 social networking statistics, listed China, which has 1,227, 360, 000 as the number one country; followed by India with 904, 510,000 and in third position is the United States of America with 327, 577, 529 mobile phones use.

2014 World Cup host, Brazil is fourth with 273, 583,000. Russia and Indonesia ranked fifth and

sixth with 256, 116, 000 and 236, 800, 000 respectively.

Nigeria is ranked seventh with 167, 371, 945 mobile phone usage. Pakistan follows Nigeria with 138, 000, 000 while Japan is ninth with 121, 246,700 phone usage.

Furthermore, the statistics put Bangladesh in the tenth position with 114, 808, 000 while United Kingdom ranked 16th globally with 75, 750, 000 mobile phone.

The Other African country on the list, egypt ranked 19 with 92, 640,000, while Thailand in the 20th position has 69, 000, 000 mobile phones.

Still from the document, egypt has 13, 010, 580 Facebook users, followed by South Africa, which has 5, 534, 160 and Nigeria is third with 5,375, 500. Morocco is fourth with 5,250, 340 Facebook users and Algeria is fifth with 4, 322, 120 users.

While calling for safer Internet ecosystem in Nigeria, Angaye urged the Nigerian youths to focus on developing applications that will aid development. According to him, applications are needed for games, social networking, utilities, weather, GPS tracking solutions, device manufacturer, mobile WeB, M2M technologies, mobile retailers among others.

Like the minister of Communications, dr. (Mrs) Omobola Johnson, who said the Federal government will ensure enhanced security of the cyberspace for Internet users, Angaye said for ubiquitous Internet penetration, there is need for adequate and inteoperable national or re-

gional legal frameworks; secure software and ICT-based applications; appropriate national and global organizational structures todeal with cyber incidents; more information security professionals and skills within governments; lack of basic awareness among users and more international cooperation between industry experts, law enforcements, regulators, academia and international organisations among others to address a global challenge.

Meanwhile, the minister, at Nigeria digitalSense Africa forum, organized by digital Sense Africa with the theme: ‘Internet Governance for development on enhanced Internet security’ said recent statistics showed that the number of Internet users in the country was fast rising, and noted that there had been more calls to protect these Internet users.

According to Johnson, represented by the Assistant director, e-Governance department at the ministry, Olufeko Olufemi,“more than 55 million people currently hook up to the Internet daily and if we do not step up the game to protect them from being victims of fraud and other challenges, the situation could get worse when the number of Internet users rises further.”

She further said there were various ongoing initiatives both by the private and the public sectors, “all of which are geared towards enhancing security of the country’s cyber space.” “efforts are currently being made in collaboration with the lawmakers towards ensuring an Internet ecosystem that makes people legally responsible for any acts committed on the web.”

Google plans $3b satellite network for rural Internet coverage LANS to smother the entire planet with InP ternet connectivity through a low earth satellite network are reportedly being planned

by Google.

The $3 billion venture would see the company launch its own satellites and use them to provide Internet access in rural areas that are currently not served by terrestrial services.

Being a low-earth orbit network, the satellites should be close enough to the ground to reduce the latency on the connection, which has often been the main problem with such services in the past.

Google has previously backed the independent organisation O3b Networks, which aims to offer the same service, but has now hired staff from that company to work on its own network.

The network would initially cost around $1 billion, but that could rise to $3 billion if the entire network of 180 mini-satellites was to be launched.

Google has previously dabbled in rural coverage boosting ideas such as floating balloons, but seems to be falling back on the tried and tested option of satellites instead.

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i-Tech & Telecoms Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Ericsson lists drivers of ICT growth in Nigeria, others

By Adeyemi Adepetun OUR cardinal areas of development would be key to NigeFforria and other sub-Saharan African countries in their quest improved technology ecosystem, said Ericsson.

These areas, according to Ericsson, a global leader in telecommunications infrastructure provisioning, include having Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in key sectors of the economy; high performing networks; devices and local content development and having a nationtional broadband plan.

According to the Managing Director of Ericsson Nigeria, Kamar Abass, while reviewing the firm’s mobility report on sub-Saharan Africa, in Lagos on Monday, said central to these key areas would be reliable power generation, saying that power generated from the grid would to a greater extent enhances productivity.

Abass said improvement on power will among others allow the ICT sector to ensure tariff reductions in some telecommunications services; improve services and ensure more contents are uploaded.

Abass, who listed sub-Saharan African countries to include Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Cote’d’Voire, Ghana and Angola, among others, said two primary sectors of Energy and Agric are sectors that are in dire need of technology inputs.

He stressed that more explosion would come in mobile banking, software development and content applications.

On devices and local content development, the Ericsson Nigeria’s MD said prices of smartphone will see major shift downward, which will allow more access for the people. He called for more indigenous content development that

• Projects 9.2 billion mobile subscription in five years

would propel the needed change in the local content ecosystem.

According to him, creating a seamless user experience through improved network performance will become paramount in operator differentiation strategies or business models and to consumer retention.

He said a collaborative mind-set from regulators, mobile network providers, over-the-top players, infrastructure sup-

Etisalat receives quality management system certificate

By Kenechukwu Ezeonyejiaku TISALAT Nigeria has been issued with NIS-ISO 9001:2008 E certificates for quality service, in the provision of Global System for Telecommunication (GSM) by Nigeria Standard Organisation, (SON). This act makes them the only second telecommunications network in the country to have been issued with the certificate.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony held in Lagos recently, the representative of the Director-General, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Sampson Adegun said that with the issuance of the certificate is a demonstration of conformity by the company to internationally acceptable standard requirements making them to join the league of exotic class of quality management system certified organizations.

He revealed that the organization came to the decision of issuing the internationally acclaimed certificate through the evaluation of the performances put into practice by the company as reflected in their records against the qualities and procedures that they have established by an independent assessor and found out that the qualities and procedures were all put in place were in accordance with the NIS-ISO 9001-2008 standard.

Adegun however advised them that their journey to excellence which they have embarked is a continuous process challenging them to keep up with their good work while warning them that the certificate will be withdrawn from them if the organization notices any relapse in their quality.

pliers and other stakeholders will be the key in growing the region through ICT. For this kind of cooperation to become a reality, Abass said more investments need to be made in most countries in the region to further improve the consumer network experience.

While appreciating effort so far made by the Federal Government though the Ministry of Communications Technology under the supervision of the minister, Dr. (Mrs) Omobola Johnson, Abass said government is in the right direction with the NBP, saying that the ICT sector has witnessed huge growth.

However, he said more work still need to be done by government, including priotising grid power to the Base Transceiver Stations (BTS); ensuring fibre connection among cities and encourage infrastructure shareing among operators.

According to him, to NBP should on the long run address, among other things, spectrum allocation, tax incentives/redductions on devices and technologies that enable connectivity to schools, healthcare and government services among others.

Speaking on the mobility report, Abass said the telecommunications infrastructure in sub-Sahan Africa will continues to evolve and develop across key sectors. He said consumers, businesses, government and society at large are rapidly embracing information ICT mobile innovations, resulting in an increase in accompanying technologies, and creating potential for further growth.

As such, the report noted that by the end of 2014, there should be over 635 million subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa. This is predicted to rise to around 930 million by the end of 2019. The report said the number of mobile cellular subscription will exceed the world’s population in five years, saying that there will be 9.2 billion as against world population estimated to be 6.8 billion.

Furthermore, the mobility report said the rapidly changing social and technological dynamic in ICT, complemented by new devices, has given the increase in subscription numbers in the region.

The 2014 Sub-Saharan Africa Ericsson Mobility Report showed that in 2014 phone users accessed 76,000 TB (terabyte) of data per month, double the 2013 figure of 37,500 TB per month. In 2015 the figures are expected to double again with mobile phone users accessing 147,000 TB per month, adding that 75 per cent of mobile subscriptions win sub-Saharan Arica will be 3G/4G by the end of 2019.

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Chief Technical Officer, Broadbased Communications, John Mercado (left); Executive Director, Chris Erewele and Chief Marketing Officer, Chidi Ibisi at the demonstration of fibre optic capacity by the firm to banks and financial institutions in Lagos.

Experts push for ethical hacking to thwart cybercrime

By Bankole Orimisan NFORMATION technology Iforth security experts have put a number of recommendations including the employment of so-called ethical hackers to thwart cybercriminals, who hide under the anonymity of the internet to wreak havoc to individuals and organizations.

An ethical hacker is a computer and network expert who attacks a security system on behalf of its owners, seeking vulnerabilities that a malicious hacker could exploit .

According to the experts at this year’s conference on IT security tagged “Hackcess Technology Security” in Lagos, to test a security system, ethical hackers use the same methods as their less principled counterparts, but report problems instead of taking advantage of them.

Oluseyi Akindeinde, chief technical officer, Digital Encode, said that ethical hacking is all about helping to make the Internet safer.

This prevents identity theft and the leaking of vital information. When a company learns where security in their system is lacking, it allows them to implement stronger security measures.

Akindeinde said that “Hacker doesn’t break into networks one day, while they are attempting there are signs if you don’t understand how they work you won’t see those signs. Good people

need to learn these skills to be able to use it to protect their organizations.

Apart from companies, ethical hacking is also beneficial to help government entities to protect major computer systems from being compromised in a way that national security would be an issue.

Tobechi Ndubuaku, chief operating officer, Tobeit Consulting, the organizers of the conference, however said that information security and identity management has been a challenge on the African IT community over the years.

“Globally today, we have continually been evaluating innovative protects on

information security. There is no stop to this, as we go even further by deploying sophisticated ciphers and technology to check hackers’ intent to infiltrate our domain but the frequency and severity of these threats continue to be on the rise,” he said.

He stated that for IT security to be alive security managers need to be aware of the talents of hackers.

Adeola Kukoyi, Enterprise System Engineer- Security, Cisco corroborated Ndubuaku but added that organizations have acknowledged that its security policies are difficult to enforce because of changing business models.

Church, IT firm partner on worship app PARISH of the Redeemed A Christian Church of God has launched a live worship mobile application to expand its worship module.

An IT firm, E-knowvate Solution, will manage the mobile application for the parish — Tabernacle of David – located in Ajah, Lagos State.

The mobile development, called TOD mobile app, will foster a live broadcast of the parish worship, including other features such as access to the ministry’s special services like prayer request, counseling, live parish member chat and group task participation, among others.

The parish said the application would serve both homebased and overseas members.

A pastor in the evangelical department of the parish, Philips Otomori, said TOD is a mega church and because of its membership spread, the ministers in the church thought it needful to make gospel of the parish worship and other services available globally.

Otomori said that with the advent of mobile phone, which is now rampant, “it is important to allow the entire church activities such as sermons, run on both audio and video platforms.”

Microsoft announces 35 teams to ‘Imagine’ World Cup finals ICROSOFT announced M the 35 Finalists teams who will travel to Seattle, Washington, USA to compete at the Imagine Cup World Finals, July 29 through August 2.

These students will compete in three categories, Innovation, Games, and World Citizenship for a chance to win $50,000 plus a boot campstyle experience designed to really move their projects forward. Innovation, Games, and World Citizenship winning teams will receive hands-on mentorship and

project development support from Microsoft and industry experts within Microsoft Ventures, Microsoft YouthSpark and PAX. This marks the 12th year of Imagine Cup, the world’s premier student technology program and competition!

Now under a global spotlight, students participating in the World Finals have proven they are the best of the best, beating out at least 150 teams from around the globe. While proving their project has what it takes to be the ultimate winner, stu-

dents will have the opportunity to network with their peers and the judges, and learn valuable technical and business skills to help prepare them for their future careers, all while getting the chance to win cash and prizes totaling more than $1 million.

At the World Finals Championship Ceremony on August 1, finalists will face judges including, Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, Code.org Co-Founder, Hadi Partovi, and Reddit General Manager, Erik Martin.

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014 COMPULIFE 47

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CPN seeks more role for IT in national development NFORMATION technology professionals unIRegistration der the aegis of the Computer Professional Council of Nigeria, CPN, are set to discuss better ways to harness IT in engendering national development in the country.

The discussion will form the crux of the 8th edition of the Council’s yearly IT Professionals’ Assembly holding between June 18 and 19, this month in Abuja.

With the theme: ‘Harnessing the Potential of IT Professionals for National Development’ the conference is an exclusive networking event for senior and up-coming IT decision makers, consultants, entrepreneurs, practitioners among others.

Speaking on the rationale for the conference at a pre-event media interaction in Lagos, the President and Chairman, Board of Council, CPN, Alhaja Sekinah Yusuf, said the development of any nation is usually measured by the degree and extent of the socio-cultural, economic and political improvements that are brought to bear through the enterprises of IT. She noted that there is no gainsaying that the present world order is one strictly ruled by the power of information technology.

“There is a direct link between a nation’s ma-

terial posterity and that of its informationwealth. There is no doubt, therefore, that IT is vital resource, which provides impetus for a national technological advancement.

“According to her, the impact of Information Technology has continued to manifest in the homes, education and training, health, defence and security, finance and commerce, the industry and in the office, the impact of information technology is inescapably manifest.

It is for this reason that this year’s IT Professionals’ Assembly would be examining the roles of IT professionals in national development, the impediments in the way, as well as how the potentials of IT professionals could be harnessed maximally for national envelopment.”

She explained that the 2014 IT Assembly was unique in many ways, as it is issue-based and topic-focused as she noted that CPN was doing so many things different this year.

She said: “There will be no parallel sessions this year. This is to enable all attendees participate fully in all the plenary sessions. During the various plenary sessions, we have decided to take on frontally some of our recurring national challenges with a view to preferring solution to them using IT.

Resourcery, Schneider Electric host data centre management forum

By Bankole Orimisan ESOURCERY, an indigenous Information R Technology Company in West Africa and Schneider Electric (APC) have collaborated to enlighten senior Information Technology business executives across the business space in Nigeria on how to “transform their Data Centres for today’s business world.”

The forum, which holds today, in Lagos is going to be a half-day business session designed to help businesses across West Africa enhance their business, reduce cost and conserve energy is titled; “Data Centre Infrastructure Management.”

This session, Resourcery said provides an opportunity for CIO’s, Data Centre Infrastructure Managers and other senior I.T managers to see the business benefit of tapping into the combined business expertise of Resourcery and Schneider Electric (APC) in the area of data centre management and improvement.

Senior Business Manager for Resourcery, Bisike Uba noted that as the global information technology trend is moving into the third platform and the Cloud playing a huge rule in this transition, it’s very important that business organizations in the country and across West Africa in general tap into the better ways of not only build-

ing but also effectively running their data centres without necessarily creating a hole in the company’s purse.

“At the end of this business session, we would have successfully taken our invited guest through the three important phases of planning, building and operating a very viable and efficient data centre. This would commence from the early preparation and design to the acquisition and implementation phase. This would then be capped by the maintenance and optimization stage.

We call this process; thought-to-finish process.”

Data centre

Firm offers banks, others fiber optic network capacity

By Adeyemi Adepetun

On connectivity for banks, he said though, some banks have been doing their business ROADBASED Communications Ltd, the with one megabyte (1Mbps) connection to leading Open Access Metropolitan Fiber each branch; that can no longer help them to Network Operator, has demonstrated its ca- meet the demands of today’s modern bankpacity to help banks and other financial In- ing. “Yes, 1Mbps has done the job, but in this stitutions deliver excellent services to their era of modern banking, 1Mbps cannot do it. customers.

You need a larger pipe of a minimum of Through its open access metro fiber network 5Mbps,” Ibisi said, adding that the company well spread across Lagos, the company is pro- was glad to provide 10Mbps and more. We viding a high capacity data network, a voice can provide any capacity to your branch to network as well as a security network for enable you provide the kind of services that banks and e-Payment switching and process- your customers expect,” he said. ing firms.

He added that now that everything is movIn a presentation to the Chief Information ing towards e-banking, Broadbased provides Officers (CIOs) and Heads of IT Networks of the banks with a link on which they can have Banks and e-Payment Switching and Process- a single integrated data, and voice network ing Companies in Lagos, the Chief Marketing covering all their branches and also linking Officer of Broadbased Communications them up to others within the ecosystem: to Ltd, Chidi Ibisi noted that modern technol- other banks or to other financial institutions. ogy is shaping the way things are “On that link, you also have your security netbeing done in every sector including the fi- work, so that important images will be transnancial services sector. mitted from the Branches and ATM Sites to According to him, with this scenario, no your Headquarters for review by your exbank can succeed without embracing mod- perts. Also, you can use that link for your TV ern technology. distribution, dissemination of information, To this end however, he said the company is video conferencing etc. We are glad to work offering the financial services sector the best with you and we will be very glad to get some connectivity solutions that can enhance their of your specific requirements and work out services. a deal for you,” Ibisi said.

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014 i-Tech &Telecoms

Vodacom Business nigeria exposes students to data centre facility nFOrCIng its commitment to knowledge development E in the education sector through Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Vodacom Business nigeria

President of Pinnacle Consult LLC, Akande Ojo (right); National Information Technology Development Agency’s (NITDA), Head of Corporate Communications Department, Mrs. Hadiza Umar; Nigeria’s Ambassador to the UAE, Ibrahim Auwalu, Director of Finance at NITDA, Abdulsalam Raheem Olalere; NITDA’s Acting Head of Corporate Strategies, Dr. Olatunji Vincent and Chief Executive Officer of Knowhow Media International, Segun Oruame, at the Nigerian embassy in Dubai, UAE.

Diamond Bank, Wakanow boost travel with new prepaid, corporate cards WO giants in banking and traveling industries, DiaT mond Bank and Wakanow have inked a deal to launch prepaid and corporate cards in order to enhance travelling experience as well as reward customers.

The partnership introduced Wakanow cards, a collection of masterCard-branded pre and post-paid cards that will enable travelers to enjoy special discount and pocket friendly travelling arrangements. addressing journalists at the conference, Deputy managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc uzoma Dozie,said the introduction which was necessitated on efficient service delivery would give nigerian travellers the best deals possible when making their travel arrangements. . “as a key player in the country’s financial industry, we are always looking out for innovative ways to impact the lives of nigerians. That was what informed our decision to work with Wakanow. What we are doing essentially is to give financial ease to the teeming nigerians who wish to travel whether outside or within the shores of this country for whatever reasons.”

He added that the bank’s decision to work with Wakanow stems from the company’s immense contribution to the travel/tourism industry, he

said.

“The decision to work with Wakanow was not a hard one for Diamond Bank to make.

Wakanow is a prominent player in the travel and tourism industry and just like Diamond Bank, Wakanow is renowned for putting the customers first in all they do. This partnership coming at a crucial time when nigerians are preparing to travel to Brazil for the World Cup to support the national team, the Super Eagles,” explained Dozie.

Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Wakanow, Obinna Ekezie, said the ‘partnership would benefit nigerians who ordinarily could not afford to travel out of the country.

“Wakanow has always been at the forefront of making travelling affordable for nigerians. This is just one of the ways we intend to fulfil that mandate. With Diamond Bank coming on-board to support us, we have raised the bar a notch higher,” he said.

speaking on the benefits of the cards, Head, Corporate Communications Division, Diamond Bank, ayona Trimnell stated that users will enjoy generous discounts on flight tickets and hotels, and earn loyalty points on every purchase which can be exchanged for free services on Wakanow reward programme.

“Cardholders will also enjoy the freedom to use the cards at more than 36.9 million locations in more than 210 countries where masterCard

Lg enhances quality of life through innovation HE managing Director of Fouani nigeria Limited, T mohammed Fouani, has commended Lg for introducing into the nigerian market, a new range of products specifically made for communities with unstable power supply and hot climates.

Fouani stated this recently in Lagos, at the launch of Lg Evercool refrigerator.

Commending Lg’s efforts to enhance quality of life through innovative products especially the Power Cut Evercool refrigerators offers specially designed ice trays that make ice 20 per cent faster, he underscored the fact that the refrigerator would benefits both the

consumer and the environment.

“This refrigerator also possesses unique gIDC technology that fights bacteria, bad odour and decay while maintaining even temperature inside the refrigerator thus ensuring your food remains healthy and nutritious and delivering on its promise of the good Life”, he stated. a recent study by Lg found that, in most households, the refrigerators are opened approximately 80 times per day – often by family members looking for the same few items. Lg’s Door-in-Door feature, which makes it possible to find needed items

without having to open the refrigerator’s main door helps reduce cold air loss as much as 41 per cent.

By ensuring the refrigerators compressor is kept at maximum efficiency, the product also helps to cut down on user’s supermarket spending by keeping food fresher for a longer period of time.

Lg also believes that realtime health measurement is a hotbed of debate and innovation among technologists right now. The brand has introduced new connected devices with great potential that empowers consumers to measure, monitor and improve their health.

Creditswitch launches airtime gifting services

By Gbenga Akinfenwa rEDITSWITCH Limited, an international top-up company has launched a airtime gifting website to simplify the sale and distribution of airtime globally from the comfort of laptops or mobile devices.

Built on an idea that enables users to share or sell airtime across any network across different countries, it would enable over 17 million nigerians in diaspora to purchase and send airtime conveniently on all major telecommunication networks, mTn, glo, airtel, Etisalat and Visafone to their loved ones back home. according to the CEO of Creditswitch, Tayo adigun, the beauty of this initiative is that payments for airtime can be made using debit and credit cards like masterCards and VisaCard, both local and international, making it a very convenient way to credit recipients’ lines instantly, devoid of complicated processes.

The service also allow pre-fund of account and schedule air-

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time for sending on a specific date and time, a plus for the busy professionals who needs to ensure that airtime gifts get to their loved ones at the right time.

He revealed that it is also good for corporate environments, where staff need to be given airtime on specific dates and time monthly. Scheduled airtimes are automatically credited to recipients’ lines on the due date and time without without any further action on sender’s part.

The service also creates job opportunity for young graduates, to start a business selling airtime. according to the company, it is one of the easiest ways to start a business and earn income from selling airtime.

Said he, “with a little investment, you can purchase credit at volume discount and sell. Even if you are already employed or running a business but desire an alternative stream of income, all you need is a CreditSwitch account and your smartphone, and you can start sellingairtime and earning more income.”

has hosted some students.

With the target on the development of ICT beyond the classroom, Vodacom took some Senior Secondary students of Children’s International School, Lekki on a day field trip to its facility in Lagos, exposing them to its data centre.

The students were exposed to the technology behind cloud computing, online gaming and other applications like Facebook and Instagram used on a daily basis while encouraging the students to develop skills required in ICT innovation.

The managing Director of Vodacom Business nigeria, guy Clarke said “given early access to information and communications technologies, the youths tend to become early adopters of new technologies, developing skills, spurring innovation required for economic growth. Our goal is that bringing these students to our environment will afford them the access to required exposure and entrepreneurial skills to help them excel in an ICT driven environment”.

Head ICT academics, Children’s International School, Chidi nwankwo said “We believe in practical learning for our students and this field trips is an opportunity for our students to be cognitively engaged and challenged, as they explore areas of personal interest and curiosity and engage in bidirectional communication with each other and the adult facilitators.

Vodacom Business’ core infrastructure connects over 580 million people across more than 40 african countries and includes over 50 satellite transponders, 24 dedicated teleports and access to multiple sub-sea cable landing ports.

mallforafrica app ranks top on apple ALLFORAFRICA.com, a new lifestyle mobile application, has M debuted as the third highest-ranking lifestyle app on the apple app Store. By this rating, the MallforAfrica app has emerged as the highest rated app ever targeted at an african audience.

The MallforAfrica app, is an online mall with over 80 of the top united States of america brands in the world, including amazon, Carters, Payless, macy’s and Walmart. major uK brands that are popular among africans, such as marks and Spencer, next, Zara, Selfridges and T.m Lewin, are also available in the online mall. a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Chris Folayan along with his brother Tope Folayan founded MallforAfrica to address the issues africans face with buying products from outside the continent.

He said, “We strategically launched the app on the android and Windows platforms first, because these platforms, particularly the android platform, have the higher number of users within the continent and especially in nigeria, which is the first market we are targeting.

“However, as apple devices become more popular, we have had to expedite the launch of the app on apple app platform and are quite pleased with the reception from users.”

Folayan explained that MallforAfrica continues to be one of the leading e-commerce sites on the african continent and was growing both in terms of its customer base and in terms of physical footprint in nigeria.

“What makes us different from other e-commerce sites is the fact that we also have physical locations close to our customers where they can pick up their products that they order from the major brands that are in our mall,” said Tope Folayan, who oversees the company’s african operation.

Samsung, glo partner to drive galaxy S5 experience amSung Electronics is partnering with nigeria’s telecomSactivity munications fiirm, globacom, to offer in-store experiential on galaxy S5 to globacom’s customers in its flagship chain store, gloworld.

The galaxy S5 experiential drive is taking place in several gloworld stores simultaneously, including the gloworld shops in Palms mall, Lekki and Ikeja mall. One of the highlights of the galaxy S5 Smartphone is the unique ultra-power saving mode that shuts down all of the device’s key functions to allow users make the most of their last bit of battery power. according to Samsung, the galaxy S5 can run for up to 24 hours on a 10 percent battery charge when this mode is activated. During this in-store activation, premium Samsung accessories will be given to consumers that buy the galaxy S5 from gloworld.

In addition, Samsung Professional Consultants will be present at the stores to educate customers on the phone’s features and put them through the rudiments in the use of galaxy S5. according to Head of glo World, Brenda akhigbe, “the one-day in-store activation which was held on June 9, is designed to avail gloworld visitors with a first-hand experience of the Samsung device which is bundled with High Speed Internet service from globacom.” “globacom has bundled a free 1gB data plan, valid for six months, with the Samsung galaxy S5, giving customers a unique opportunity to enjoy instant Internet connection from their Samsung Smartphones,” akhigbe said.

Samsung S5 users will also be able to enjoy globacom’s valueadded services such as glo Total Entertainment, which offers interesting videos, movies and TV Serials; and the Family and Friends Finder with which subscribers can accurately identify the location of friends or family members on a google map.

The galaxy S5 also has a new fingerprint scanner, which is integrated with the device’s home button and provides consumers with a safe, biometric screen-locking feature. In addition to this standard phone-locking function, the finger scanner also lets users authorize payments with their unique fingerprint. For fitness enthusiasts, the galaxy S5 comes with a heart rate sensor that helps monitor heart rate during exercise and fitness routines, using the S-Health service.

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NiRA seeks policy focus on .ng adoption • Juwah, others commend Internet governance forum

By Adeyemi Adepetun HE Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) is seeking a policy focus on Nigeria’s domain name, .ng registration, which will strengthen its adoption in the country.

The President of NiRA, Mrs. Mary Uduma, in a presentation, titled: ‘Leveraging Multistakeholder Ecosystem for .ng Growth’, delivered at the sixth Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum in Lagos, said there is need for a shift in the outlook of government and private sector policies in relation to .ng domain name registration.

Uduma who was represented by an official of NiRA, Akinbo Cornerstone, however, noted that the prerequisites for scaling up .ng are indeed multi- faceted, requiring collaboration of various sectors including government.

Aside from requiring a paradigm shift in government and private sector policies and practices, she said the strategy to achieve this has to be flexible and dynamic, which will require capitalising on proper utilisation of existing and emerging opportunities.

Uduma said that the process needs depth in scope for different actors to lead at different times and at various levels of partnership formed on the basis of transparency, accountability and mutual sharing of responsibilities, risks, and benefits.

In addition to government’s efforts, the NiRA boss said, “The ministry of Communication Technology is taking a giant leap with the creation of cross-platform that allows for an online registration portal that can be used for registration of companies with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

“The eGovernment has gone a step further to agree and set a

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deadline for migration of all Government Websites to switch to .gov.ng before August 27, and under the leadership of Omobola Johnson, ministry of communications technology and NITDA has contributed immensely to .ng growth.”

Uduma informed that the private sector partnership formed on supporting local content growth has increased the uptake of the .com.ng by the likes of Google. “The .ng Registry can boast of zero downtime due to the like of MainOne Cable highly impressive support for managing bandwidth. Many more MoU are in the kitty to be signed for promoting enduser orientation and awareness by service providers such as MTN, Airtel, to mention a few”. Uduma, however, admitted that more has to be done for greater results on the registration.

Meanwhile, both Johnson and the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have commended the management of DigitalSENSE Africa Media Limited for its consistency in hosting the Internet Governance for Development.

Johnson urged other reputed organisations to emulate DigitalSENSE Africa and encouraged industry stakeholders’ support for such a forum.

Juwah shared the minister’s views, saying that the programmes had gone a long way in enlightening Nigerians on issues in Information Technology.

Executive Director, Operations, DigitialSENSE Africa Media, Nkemdilim Nweke said the Forum was specifically created as a think-tank platform where Nigerian internet stakeholders converge to address germane issues concerning the ICT sector, particularly, computing, internet governance-related issues.

Winlot lottery launches online apps INLOT lottery has launched an online lottery mobile app W as part of the activities designed to generate more revenue to the government.

The Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Lottery Board, Lanre Gbajabiadi at the launch of Winlot Lottery mobile app in Lagos, said revenues which are generated from the lottery commission are used to finance other sectors of the state; health, education, infrastructure and environment sector.

“Remitted revenues from the operation of lottery are used by the Lagos State government, which are beneficial to the citizens of the state.”

He confirmed the online lottery mobile app to be the easiest and the most convenient way of playing a lottery game in the comfort of their homes.

He said this platform was first of its kind in Lagos and a new distribution channel targeted to reach out to people. Accessing the standard living of Nigerians, opportunities are created

by the lottery board to improve the standard of living.

He commended the efforts of Winlot in making this mobile app launch a success and urged other operators to imitate this bold step in sharing Nigeria good vision of providing more revenue.

He advised that lottery should be played through licensed operators endorsed by the regulator, stressing that Premier Lotto, Golden chance lotto, Superior lotto and Winlot lotto are the registered bodies licensed by the regulatory board to operate the lottery games.

It was however, disclosed that upon launch, players will be able to play the lottery on iPhone, Android and later extended to Blackberry device and IOS mobile devices with option to download the app with either MTN or Glo telecommunication anytime anywhere with their mobile devices. By login for the first 5000 players’ N200 airtime bonus will be awarded for playing. Players can check the result and their prizes with ease.

Check Point introduces new software security architecture LEADER in Internet secuA rity, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd has introduced Software-defined Protection (SDP), a security architecture that can protect organizations in today’s fast-evolving IT and threat landscape.

CheckPoint said SoftwareDefined Protection (SDP) offers modern security today that can effectively protect against tomorrow’s threats, through a design that is modular, agile and most importantly, secure.

According to it, SDP is a three-layer security architecture comprised of enforcement, control and management layers.

It explained that this framework decouples the control layer from the enforcement layer, enabling robust and highly-reliable enforcement points that obtain real-time protection updates from a software-based control layer. SDP converts threat intelligence into immediate protections and is managed by a modular and open management structure.

President at Check Point Software Technologies, Amnon Bar-Lev said “The threat landscape has become far more sophisticated while at the same time, enterprise IT environments have grown in complexity. Enterprises are looking for advice on how they can become more secure, but in a way that is manageable and simple to

use. SDP is today’s security architecture for tomorrow’s threats; it is simple, flexible and can robustly convert threat intelligence into real-time protections.”

To the Vice President of Technology at Carmel Partners, Dan Meyer, Check Point’s new SDP is a sound blueprint to architecting security that just makes a lot of practical sense.

“Security attacks have changed radically over the years, and SDP represents a very smart shift forward in protecting organizations of all sizes in a pragmatic, modular and secure approach”, he stated.

“By offering a security architecture driven by function, threat and need, Check Point’s Software-defined Protection architectural blueprint can help IT better redesign their enterprise security network to accommodate both today’s IT borderless environment and the dynamic threat landscape,” said Charles Kolodgy, research vice president with IDC Security Products team.

Bar-Lev submitted that there are a multitude of point security products that are reactive and tactical in nature rather than architecturally oriented.

According to the firm developed the SDP in response to this gap and to give organizations an agile and secure security infrastructure.

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Maritime Redefining seafarers’ activities through MLC 2006

By Moses Ebosele OME June 18, 2014, the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 will become operational in Nigeria. .

The convention, which entered into force on August 20, 2013 worldwide, entails implementing acceptable living standard for all seafarers.

Nigeria had in 2013 presented its instrument for ratification to the DirectorGeneral of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Guy Ryder. .

The convention, fondly referred to as “seafarers’ bill of rights,” or “MLC 2006”, covers almost every aspect of seafarers work and life on board ships including minimum age, seafarers’ employment agreements, hours of work or rest, payment of wages, paid annual leave and repatriation at the end of contract. .

Other basis highlights include onboard medical care, the use of licensed private recruitment and placement services, accommodation, food and catering, health and safety protection and accident prevention and seafarers’ complaint handling, among others.

Already, the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has commenced industrywide consultations and enlightenment campaign aimed at ensuring successful implementations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a training programme in Lagos, the Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolekemi, said the MLC 2006 was a product of the fusing of over 65 instruments into one instrument.

He explained that the development imposes the challenge of understanding the complexity of the funda-

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Umar

Akpobolokemi

Jonathan mental and social rights as they apply to seafarers in a globalised shipping sector.

Represented by NIMASA’s

Executive Director in charge of Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Callistus Obi, Akpobolokemi explained that though some of the provisions of the MLC 2006 already exist in the NIMASA Act and the Merchant Shipping Act, 2007, the innovations and the rights enshrined in the MLC 2006 according to him make adequate training of officers who are to implement the provisions of the convention in Nigeria . imperative.

Explaining further, he said: “The maritime labour inspectors training is one of the key activities approved by the agency’s management in August, 2013 for implementation in compliance with ILO requirements for ratifying member states.

It is also necessary so as to achieve the objectives of a uniform implementation of flag state Inspection and to ensure ongoing compliance at port state levels,” Akpobolokemi added: “The course is further aimed at adequately preparing officers who will eventually carry out onboard port and flag state inspections and to submit reports to MLS (Maritime Labour Services) Department for certification and mandatory ILO report submissions. It also involves the training of staff of the relevant departments who need the basic knowledge and understanding of the convention to successfully carry out their duties.”

NIMASA’s Executive Director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development, Capt Ezekiel Bala Agaba, who also spoke at the event said the officers were being trained to be able to perform their work efficiently

and professionally in line with international stan. dards.

Trainees for the programme were drawn from the Maritime Labour Services Department and the Maritime Safety D e p a r t m e n t .

In a related development, NIMASA has also reiterated its resolve to partner the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN).

Akpobolokemi explained at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the maritime workers union, recently, that the process culminating in the implementation of the Convention has been with the active participation of the representatives of the maritime workers union.

The NIMASA boss, explained that a number of sensitizations, tripartite stakeholders meetings have been held to enlighten relevant stakeholders, adding that the collaboration is in line with the spirit of fairness. .

He also sought the continued support of the union to enable the agency deliver on its mandate as required by all the ratifying countries. .

In his remarks, President General of MWUN, Anthony Nted commended the Federal Government for ratifying the MLC stating that the implementation will go a long way in addressing security issues and wellbeing of Seafarers in the industry. .

Specifically, he said the union is patiently awaiting the implementation of the Convention pledging to support NIMASA to ensure that the objectives of the Convention are achieved.

On security of the nation’s seaports, Nted said: “After the September 11 bomb explosion in the United States of America (USA),

there was a convention that talked about the health and safety in the ports and under the health and safety, we also have the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code that every country that falls within the maritime territorial boundary or do maritime operation must definitely be inclined as far as international maritime security is concerned.

He said: “So, Nigeria is also a member and we as members of the maritime workers union take security of the port and lives of our members very seriously”.

Explaining further, Nted said: “After the September 11 bomb explosion in the United States of America (USA), there was a Convention that talked about the health and safety in the ports and under the health and safety, we also have the ISPS code that every country that falls within the maritime territorial boundary or do maritime operation must definitely be inclined as far as international maritime security is concerned.

“So, Nigeria is also a member and we as members of the maritime workers union take security of the port and lives of our members very seriously”. A Subcommittee of the Joint Maritime Commission (JMC) of ILO recently approved a resolution raising the minimum monthly basic wage figure for able seafarers from $585 to $592 with effect from January 1, 2015 and $614 the following year ( January 1, 2016). .

ILO explained that the mechanism for setting the minimum monthly wage for able seafarers is the only one for setting the basic wage for any industry.

The minimum monthly basic wage figure for able

seafarers was also recently included in the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). .

According to ILO, the convention has the full support of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which represents seafarers, and the International Ship owners Federation (ISF), both of which played a key role during the five years of its development and in the adoption of the Convention at a special ILO International Labour Conference in 2006.

According to ILO, the convention comprises three different but related parts identified as the Articles, the Regulations and the Code. .

ILO said: “The articles and regulations set out the core rights and principles and the basic obligations of members ratifying the convention. The articles and regulations can only be changed by the conference in the framework of article 19 of the Constitution of the International Labour O r g a n i s a t i o n .

“The Code contains the details for the implementation of the Regulations. It comprises Part A (mandatory Standards) and Part B (non-mandatory Guidelines). The Code can be amended through the simplified procedure set out in Article XV of the Convention. Since the Code relates to detailed implementation, amendments to it must remain within the general scope of the Articles and Regulations.

“The Regulations and the Code are organized into general areas under five Titles: Title 1: Minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship Title 2: Conditions of employment Title 3: Accommodation,

recreational facilities, food and cateringTitle 4: Health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protections, among others.

All seafarers working on board ships that fly the flag of countries that have ratified the MLC, 2006 are covered, once it enters into force for the country concerned, (12 months after its ratification is registered by the ILO).

The MLC, 2006 defines seafarers as “all persons who are employed or are engaged or work in any capacity on board a ship to which the Convention a p p l i e s . ” According to the global body, this includes not just the crew involved in navigating or operating the ship but also, for example, persons working in hotel positions that provide a range of services for passengers on cruise ships or yachts. .

The ILO said it has developed a number of resources such as guidelines for flag state inspections and model national legal provisions, as well as workshops to help train inspectors and to assist national legal counsel and officials involved with ratification and national legal implementat i o n .

The coming into force of the MLC, 2006 is a historic event in the history of international labour standards but our work is not done.

Effective implementation by governments and shipowners is critical to ensuring that legal implementation and ratification translate into practice. The ILO is working with governments and with seafarers, shipowners and other key actors in the maritime industry to help ensure that the goals of the MLC, 2006 are achieved.

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Govt reiterates commitment to develop more seaports

CMA CGM Ship

By Moses Ebosele HE Minister of Transport, T Idris Umar, has urged foreign investors to take advantage of Federal Government’s incentives especially in the on- going expansion and development of seaports across the country.

Umar, who spoke recently when a Belgian trade delegation under the leadership of the president of the port of Antwerp, Marc Van Peel paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja said more ports in the Eastern part of the country have been dredged. .

The Minister assured the business community in the country of the Federal Government‘s readiness to partner with foreign investors to develop the transport sector through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. .

He explained that PPP arrangement is a global practice which Nigeria is desirous of embracing to develop seaports and river ports, adding that potentials in the maritime Industry are enormous but yet to be fully exploited.

The minister said: ‘’Nigeria is open to development Partners throughout the world who are willing to participate in the developmental programmes of the Federal G o v e r n m e n t . ’ ’ The Nigerian Railway which according to the minister was moribund for twenty years before the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office has been revived “for the benefit of common Nigerians”, adding that rehabilitation of existing rail line and modernization of new double gauge rail line are part of efforts of the Federal Government to reposition road transportation in the country.

According to him, the 25 years strategic rail vision covering the rehabilitation of existing narrow gauge lines and the construction of new standard gauge lines are part

of government’s effort to modernize the railways in the country.

A press statement issued by Deputy Director (Press) Yetunde Sonaike, quotted the minister as saying that the outcome of the feasibility studies for new standard gauge rail lines are available to potential investors for consideration, noting that “there is a challenge to finance seven corridors which would necessitate the need to advertise them to core investors”.

Earlier, Marc Van Peel explained that the team is in the country to exploit business opportunities which abound in the country, pointing out that Nigeria has greater potentials to become the hub of business activities in the continent.

He added that the delega-

tion consisted of different people representing different Belgian companies whose interests covered Maritime services, port administration, land transportation and inland waterways among others. .

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Port of Antwerp, Belgium have pledged to strengthen their age-long collaboration, especially in the areas of manpower training and development of the global transport chain. .

Speaking at the end of a meeting held with the delegation in Lagos, Managing Director of NPA, Habib Abdullahi recalled the role played by the Port of Antwerp at the beginning of Nigeria’s ports reform when the Landlord model was adopted for the nation’s seaports. .

Abdullahi said NPA will explore its existing relationship with Port of Antwerp to its own advantage, especially in the areas of manpower training. .

Addressing a forum in Lagos recently, Umar said President Goodluck Jonathan understands, appreciates and support the important role the maritime sector plays in the national e c o n o m y .

Umar added:”This is why he has instituted several reforms in the sector, especially pertaining to the ports, with a view to tapping the huge potentials of the industry for the socio economic development of our nation.

“As part of the port reforms, the Federal Government has adopted and remains committed to the 48 hours clearance target with the objec-

tive of decongesting our ports, bringing down costs, attracting greater patronage and ultimately accelerating the facilitation of the nation’s international trade.

“Since the institutionalization of this laudable policy, however, there have been complaints from port users about the inability of port operatives, specifically government regulatory agencies to actualize the policy. “This has led to the assumption that this target has become a mirage for the Nigerian economy. We however strongly believe that the 48 hour cargo clearance target is achievable in Nigerian ports.

“In order to demonstrate the resolve of Government to bring sanity into the operations in our ports, the President has appointed the Nigerian Shippers’ Council

(NSC) as an interim economic regulator of the nation’s ports. Let me state categorically here that the Council has the mandate and full support of Mr. President to do whatever is necessary to ensure that Nigerian ports become competitive, cost effective and attractive to port users. “This assignment will undoubtedly require the cooperation of all actors in the industry since we all have a stake in the successful execution of this onerous task by the Council.

“The choice of the Council as economic regulator of our ports is informed by its role as a trade facilitating agency with a mission to ensure seamless, efficient and cost effective shipment of goods to and from Nigeria in consonance with acceptable international standards”.

Firm predicts 5.7 % increase in global container trade NITED Kingdom U based shipping consultant Drewry Maritime has predicted that the global container trade will increase by 5.7 per cent in 2014, reaching 684 million Twenty foot equivalent Units (TEU) by the end of this year (2014).

According to Drewry’s latest forecasts, port capacity is expected to reach 994 million TEU by 2014, increasing at Compound Annual Growth

Rate (CAGR) of 3.9 per cent since 2011, while average utilisation will rise to about 69 per cent in 2014, from 67 per cent in 2011.

The company’s forecast predicts that there will be significant regional variation, which will lead to very different utilisation levels in different areas.

In 2014, Drewry anticipates that ports in emerging regions such as the Far East and South-East Asia are

expected to see higher average usage rates of about 75 per cent, while there will be an average utilisation of 57 per cent in Western Europe due to flagging demand.

During the period, regional economic differences led to diverging share prices, with DP World and ICTSI up by 34 per cent and 22 per cent respectively, while Dalian Port and Hamburg Hafen and Logistik (HHLA) have seen

Port & Cargo receives ‘Mare Atlanticum’ vessel HE management of Ports T & Cargo Handling services limited, a subsidiary of Sifax Group in collaborations with Mediterranean Shipping Company Nigeria limited, recently, received ‘MARE ATLANTICUM’, the “largest container vessel to ever call Lagos Pilotage District”. .

A statement issued by the company explained that the 260-metre long vessel, with a capacity of 4,038 TEUs,

(Twenty foot Equivalent Units) berthed at P&CHS terminal in Lagos and was received by top management and operations staff of PCHS, led by the General Manager, Operations, Mustafa Mohammed and the Managing Director of MSC Nigeria limited (agents for MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A), Jeff Gosciniak. .

According to the statement, the entire team “who were

all on ground and ready for vessel operations had been waiting in anticipation since MSC announced the start of its dedicated service between Asia and West Africa, which they call the ‘Africa Express’.

The statement explained that the service was introduced in order to improve the transit time of the already existing service from the initial 44 days to 28 days. .

decreases of eight percent and six percent respectively.

According to the research, companies such as Cosco Pacific and HHLA will experience an improved performa n c e .

Cosco Pacific is expected to take advantage of its stable revenues from container leasing, its operation in the Bohai Rim and the recovery of global trade.

HHLA is expected to benefit from its presence in hinterland traffic, growth in transhipment in the Baltic Sea, as well as the Eibe River dredging project.

The consultant also covers International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) and South American container handling firm Santos Brasil, which expects to commence operations at new terminals including BTP and Embraport in 2013.

Meanwhile, UK-based maritime trainer, Warsash Maritime Academy (WMA), will unveil a new scaled container ship model to extend

its training capability for seafaring pilots, masters and ships officers.

Following its launch on 16 May 2013 at Southampton Solent University’s Ship Handling Centre, the new model vessel will be the first container ship to join WMA’s existing fleet.

WMA director Andrew Hair explained that because the models handle the same way as a real ship does, they give experienced seafarers the opportunity to train around slow speed control, practising complex and potentially hazardous m a n o e u v r e s .

“The training builds understanding of the behaviour of ships, which is essential to develop skills in their everyday work situation,” Hair s a i d .

“With 95 per cent of the world’s trade moved by sea, ships are getting larger and waterways and ports more crowded, so scale model training is more important . than ever.”

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Industry Manufacturing outlook positive despite power, credit challenges, says MAN Stories by Femi Adekoya HOUGH the Nigerian manufacturing sector showed signs of recovery in the second half of 2013, stakeholders have emphasized the need for government to address key issues of access to credit and power challenges.

According to the economic review of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) for the second half of 2013, indicators in the real sector were positive under the period under review but could be better if key challenges were addressed.

Specifically, the manufacturers urged the government to consider the reduction of cost of funds to a single digit, with special window for manufacturers along with injection of more funds into the Bank of Industry, significant improvement in electricity generation transmission and distribution, granting and sustenance of sector/broadbased incentives to Bonafide manufacturers and sustainability of macroeconomic policies.

MAN report showed that manufacturing output for the period increased by about 36.9 per cent compared with the mid-year figure of 19 per cent and about 121 per cent increase for the same end of year period in 2012.

Indeed, major contributors to the increased output are members in the non-metallic products such as cement, ceramic among others.

The report showed that the cement sector had singularly raised the bar in the nonmetallic sector with high percentage as a result of the multi-purpose utilization of

T

the commodity, especially in the areas of road construction, housing development among others.

With local capacity utilization estimated at an average of 52.7 per cent in the period under review as against 46.3 per cent recorded in the mid year, MAN noted that its members were exploring options of adapting to the use of local raw material where available.

Indeed, increased capacity utilisation also aided the reduction in aggregate inventory as at the end of period under review as inventory on finished goods dropped by 25 per cent, representing a reduction from N21.75 billion recorded in the mid year of 2013 to N17.344 billion.

In terms of access to credit, the MAN report showed that members’ access to credit particularly for expansion remain priced at high rates ranging from an average of 17 per cent to 21 per cent.

According to MAN, at the end of 2013, electricity supply in Nigeria remained a major challenge to manufacturing as power supply dipped by 450MW from the peak generation of 4517MW. “MAN is of the opinion that the challenges that are still limiting the potential of manufacturing are surmountable. We believe there is hope that things would pick up in 2014; provided there are no distortions in macroeconomic stability as well as security threats or environmental disasters. It is also hoped that the international oil market will remain stable and the Federal Government will continue to extend fiscal and other incentives and support to the manufacturing sector.

“Added to these are envisaged favourable policies of government that could be

directed at provoking public sector spending in the areas of contracts for projects and

Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment

purchases that will sufficiently give priority and greater percentage to locally

produced products where such are adequately available”, the report empha-

Kola Jamodu, MAN President

‘Ease of doing business affecting Nigeria’s retail market’ ESPITE the potential that toughest markets to master organized open-air markets. tions how lucrative the D the nation’s large popu- for outsiders.

Formal retail—such as malls, country is for retailers. The cited by “Regulations, land avail- shopping centers, and other reasons lation and extensive opportunities offers to investors, Nigeria’s retail market remains a difficult terrain to operate in, says a recently released African Retail Development Index (ARDI) by research company A.T. Kearney.

According to the index, with Africa’s largest population, the biggest economy and increasing urbanisation, Nigeria clearly holds significant retail potential; however, the country is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s

ability, distributor and supplier capabilities, and ease of imports are all roadblocks that will require time and effort to overcome,” notes the report.

The reprot showed that traditional, “informal” retail options still dominate the landscape, even among the growing middle class.

“About 90 percent of commerce in Africa occurs at these informal retailers, including small independent stores, kiosks, and non-

defined retail spaces— remains in the nascent stages in most Sub-Saharan Africa countries, limited primarily to a handful of urban areas”, it added.

The report explained that the fact that South African clothing retailer Woolworths last November announced it would be pulling out of its three stores in Nigeria, a mere year and a half after it first entered the market, ques-

Woolworths were high rental costs, duties and supply chain challenges in the country.

In its analysis, ARDI considered the current state of each country’s retail environment, as well as its future potential.

The ARDI is based on four elements: market size, market saturation, country risk and time pressure, and ranks the potential and urgency of moving into each country accordingly.

Industrialists laud CBN’s agenda on SMEs’ financing initiatives OING by the new frameG work mulled for the financing of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stakeholders in the real sector have commended the bank for the initiative, while tasking it on the unveiling of guidelines for implementation.

Under the new framework, the apex bank hopes to drive a synergy with the private sector to leverage project selection and credit analysis processes of private sector investors who will place more of their resources at risk in funding the SMEs. According to the apex bank boss, initiating a business approach to funding SMEs, which requires the strong involvement of the private sector is key considering the mixed results recorded in

…seek guidelines for implementation development of the sector when the process is solely made a government responsibility.

The new framework being proposed is expected to combine the profit motives of the private sector and the development objectives of the government.

The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf in his reaction to the development noted that the new framework is long due considering the challenges being encountered by many small businesses in the course of sourcing for capital.

He said: “The move is a good idea and innovative measure designed to boost credit

facilities for small businesses. The challenge is that we are yet to get it right with the SME sector considering the impact of the sector in job and wealth creation. Venture capitalists and cooperatives have played key roles in the real sector but there is still a lot to be done”.

In a chat with The Guardian, the Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Odumodu noted that the agency would work with the bank in improving the competitiveness of products by small businesses.

According to him, a lot of small businesses are in the food production, processing and management business and to attract the right kind of investment, their stan-

dards must be enhanced for competitiveness.

“SMEs remain the focus of our intervention. Most times, there are no defined processes in their production activity. We are getting involved in the sustainability of their processes and we would be certifying their processes with the ISO 9001 Quality Management Standards for SMEs to boost their competitiveness and attraction to investors”, he added.

On his part, Chairman, AL Grain Foods Limited, Anthony Obidulu harped on the need for sustainable policies that would enhance the growth of small businesses, particularly the cost at which SMEs access funds.

“We therefore urge the government to encourage manufacturers and industrialists in the country by stabilising

economic policies because the fluctuation in these policies poses a big problem to the Nigerian economy and it also discourages foreign investors,” Obidulu said further.

To drive the implementation of the framework, the Yusuf urged the apex bank to unveil the guidelines for the implementation of the framework for proper assessment, especially in the area of sustainability.

The CBN Governor, Goodwin Emefiele had noted that the bank has a number of initiatives including the N220 billion to finance Small- and Medium-Scale Enterprises with specific focus on women entrepreneurs and to be administered through Microfinance Banks owned either by state governments and/or private

organizations.

According to him, while the private sector invests more of their risk capital in the selected companies, CBN funds will focus on resolving challenges such as access to collateral, enterprise development support, development of a nationwide credit scoring system among others.

He had added that, “Aside from this new collaboration with the private sector, the CBN will also design a programme for our fellow citizens who need as low as N50,000 without collaterals through registered and accredited local cooperatives. We shall encourage venture capital companies and business angels to fund SMEs and invite the Bankers’ Committee to play more active role in supporting SMEs.

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LCCI tasks CBN, BoI on policies for industrial growth Stories by Femi Adekoya HE Lagos Chamber of T Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has tasked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the need to unveil its implemen-

tation guidelines on new policy direction to allow for a more robust conversation and engagement among stakeholders as well as stimulate industrial growth.

Indeed, the chamber while congratulating the new apex bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on his appointment and assumption of office, tasked him on the

imperativeness of addressing monetary policies affecting industrial growth in the country.

Besides, the LCCI in a communiqué issued at the end of its council meeting in Lagos,

Stakeholders move to revive trade centres through monthly exhibitions O drive the revival of trade T centres in the country, as well as increase growth of small and medium enterprises, stakeholders within the real sector have concluded plans to embark on a monthly exhibition exercise with a view to achieving desired objectives.

To this end, the stakeholders have commenced profitable partnership and alliances with some local and international establishment versed in facility management, trade and investment promotion to this end.

According to them, such efforts is expected to drive Federal Government’s efforts of developing and supporting sustainable programmes that will promote genuine economic activities within the real sector.

The Chairman Aulic Group, Prof. Nick Ezeh, while speaking at the opening ceremony of the group’s third specialized trade exhibition in Lagos, explained the need for such exhibitions to bring into contact, the nation's SMEs with international and local businesses needed to drive growth in the SME sector.

He added that Small and Medium Enterprises in the country are expected to receive a major boost courtesy of the trade exhibition tagged "Boosting Nigeria's Development through Creative and Innovative Industrialization scheduled to end on 15th June 2014.

Ezeh said the fair was designed to showcase local and international businesses with a view to getting SMEs and local businesses acquainted with the global trends of promoting creativity and industrial innovation to generate the most needed employment and job opportunity for the nation's teeming unemployed youths.

"There would be signing of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs), representations and synergies between different countries in the world that would bring about technology transfers, giving Nigeria to build more industries to increase

employment opportunities.

He however stated that in line with its corporate objectives, Aulic has made enormous commitment towards the rehabilitation and repositioning of the Lagos International trade fair complex to transform the onceneglected national edifice into an international convention and exhibition centre of repute.

"It is our utmost desire to put these facilities into effective use. In this regard, activities have been designed to hold in this venue every month. It is no longer going to be once-in-a-year exhibition. I am working with management team to ensure that our dreams and plans for this

place is actualized in s pite of our constraints and challenges," he said.

He said going forward; Aulic has formed fruitful partnership alliances with some local and international establishment versed in facility management, trade and investment promotion.

He also stressed that Aulic is committed to the transformation agenda of the federal government by developing and supporting sustainable programmes that will promote genuine economic activities within its area of operation.

He also called on the federal government to quickly resolve the pending issues on the concession of the complex to enforce the performance of

final handover of the fair to Aulic saying that this will boost economic and investment drive into the country.

Also speaking at the event, the chairman, African Business Round Table, Dr, Bamanga Tukur said the fair was timely and significant when Nigeria is in dire need of practical and creative industrialization to overcome the increasing burden of unemployment and underemployment.

He pointed out that the country needs creative industrialization more than ever before to position it as one of the fastest growing economies in Sub- Sahara Africa.

Tukur who was represented

recently, also congratulated the new Managing director of the Bank of Industry (BoI), Rasheed Olaoluwa even as it called for closer collaboration between the BoI and stakeholders to fine tune some of its credit rules and conditions for enhanced value delivery to investors and the acceleration of the industrialization process.

Identifying key issues to be addressed by the apex bank boss, the LCCI placed emphasis on the need for the bank to reduce interest rates in order to stimulate growth and catalyze job creation.

According to the chamber, high interest rates charged by financial institutions in the country had continued to negatively impact private sector performance, especially through persistent credit squeeze.

The communiqué read in part: “The council seeks the adoption of employment numbers as a key parameter in the determination of the direction of monetary policy, deepening the role of the CBN in development finance to promote the development

of agriculture, industry, SMEs, and the power sector, improvement in payment system and sustenance of financial system stability”.

Furthermore the council expressed concern over the slow pace of impact of the power sector reform and stressed the need to manage expectations.

“The progress so far in the power sector reform was acknowledged, but the weak links in the power delivery chain should be identified and the fixed. Where necessary, council urged the Federal Government to support the power sector investors to tackling the current challenges. This has become necessary because of the strategic nature of the power sector in the economy”, the council added.

On the growing insecurity in the country, the chamber cited a link between security situation in the country and its consequences for the economy and job creation, stressing the need for increased efforts in putting an end to the menace of terrorism in the country.

A car assembling plant in Nigeria

SON advocates stringent penalties on sub-standard products O effectively tackle the T influx of sub-standard goods in the country, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has emphasized the need for more stringent intervention in discouraging such trades.

The agency noted that stakeholders have a lot to do in developing and implementing frameworks that would penalize trade actions that put the nation at a risk, especially through income loss and environmental endangerment.

With only 10 per cent of products in the country

still captured under the agency’s e-product registration scheme, the SON has canvassed for the upscaling of initiatives to boost its database.

In a chat with The Guardian on Monday, the Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Odumodu added that the agency has concluded plans to also partner the private sector in the establishment of laboratories in order to boost its certification process as well as drive the National Quality Policy.

According to him, the agency cannot build all the laboratories needed in the country but would like the private sector to key into the project in order to enhance the conformity assessment system.

He said: “We would build more laboratories as we are doing now because conformity assessment is about looking at the standards, taking a product and ensuring that the product meets the specifications of the standards, and that is only possible with laboratories that are credited with modern

equipment. We also need to have mobile laboratories.

“We are looking at the possibility of introducing what we call micro hazard, it is a system where you attach something to a product and that in itself gives you a possibility of using a scan in order to establish that the product meets quality or not. This will be installed at the level of the factory where this product is manufactured.

“There is a clear challenge in the area of product registration under the e-product registration scheme.

When we started promoting it, I found out that there were a lot of resistances on the part of stakeholders. People don’t want to register their products.

Why, because they are afraid of what they are selling to Nigerians. So what we have done now is that we are pushing through a policy at the high level of government to make sure that every product is registered and we are almost there. For now, like I said, the deadline had expired and when we pick a product that is not registered, we would treat it as a substandard product”.

Odumodu

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014 POLITICS EXTRA

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‘Amosun has changed the face of Ogun’ Mr. Soyombo Opeyemi, Special Assistant on Media to Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosu, fielded questions from reporters in Abeokuta on the administration’s strides in the past three years, reports Charles Coffie Gyamfi in Abeokuta. modern Lalubu road in eight years (not replicated anywhere outside Abeokuta) while the current government has constructed close to 100km roads of international standard across the state (Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ilisha/Ago Iwoye, Ilara/Ijoun, Aiyetoro, Ota, Ibafo/Magboro) in just three years? And work is still ongoing in many kilometres of such modern roads.

HAT would you say is the W greatest achievement of the Amosun administration in the last three years?

That’s quite interesting. If you ask the opposition, they will tell you it is road construction and bridges. Yes, they acknowledge that much: that Amosun is the first governor since the creation of Ogun in 1976 to build overhead bridges all over our major cities; construct the first international standard sixlane roads across the state, and the first also to construct a 107km modern road cutting across four local councils, many villages and towns.

They (opposition), of course, add a mischief to this acknowledgment. They claim our roads cost more than the previous government’s expenditure on same. That, we all know, is not only politics, but self-indicting, as well.

How can you compare an orange with apple? They (past government) built a few roads, which collapsed within two years. Their best is the 1km semi-modern road in Abeokuta, while Amosun’s roads are of 21st Century standard — wide and complete with modern features like clearly-defined pedestrian walkways, storm drains, greens, well-defined medians, speed breakers, etc.

But if you ask some of our people in the rural areas, they will tell you that they are happy with the new roads but they are much more grateful to the governor for the free education (of his government) because they no longer pay school fees or buy textbooks, which are expensive these days anyway.

They consider the free education policy as the greatest achievement.

Besides, the extremely poor women, who receive free antenatal care, get transport money and, after birth, receive ‘mama kit’ with more material gifts for mother and baby, may argue it is health care, even though their children also enjoy free education.

Or the farmers, who are beneficiaries of the N1 billion credit scheme and now use modern land-clearing equipment instead of cutlasses and hoes with the attendant toll on their health and productivity, will they not consider agriculture as the greatest achievement?

What will be the opinion of the parents of our youths who remained at home, idle for several years after completing

ECENTLY, Ogun State’s R Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) exceeded its

Amosun their education, but have now got gainful employment through Amosun’s employment generation scheme and thousands of others employed by the 34 new industries that began operation under the current administration?

But I believe without security of life and property, no development is possible. You all know the grim level of insecurity that this government inherited. But today, residents sleep with their two eyes closed and banks had never closed business again in the state. This comes at a huge cost to the purse of the current administration because such money should have gone into other areas.

So, for me, the greatest achievement is the fulfilment

by Amosun of Section 14 subsection 2(b) of the 1999 Constitution, which states that, “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

When you invest in education, health, road, employment, etc,. in such a massive scale, as Amosun has done, it means you have a government that is passionate about the welfare of its people.

OU said your government was the first to construct bridges, but the immediate past governor, Otunba Gbenga

Y

From a meagre sum of N730 million per month inherited from the last government, the Amosun administration has raised the IGR to a record figure of N4 billion monthly. As a matter of fact, we attained a milestone of N4.6 billion in March this year. That exceeded our due from the Federation Account. It is a feat our government should celebrate because it means our fate is no longer tied to the monthly allocation from the Federation Account. How did we achieve that? Simply by blocking all the loopholes inherent in the old system. You all remember that the state lost close to N30 billion in revenue due to a racket at the Bureau of Lands alone during the last administration. The situation has dramatically changed today. Manual systems have been automated and the culture of e-payment is becoming entrenched.

Our people are complying with the PAYE law and with the cooperation of Lagos State, the Residency Rule is gradually being observed. That is, you pay your income tax to where you live, not where you work.

Daniel, said at a recent rally in Abeokuta that his government built bridges…

It may be necessary to ask for the locations of the bridges. You probably did not understand what he said or he was misquoted because I don’t think anyone will lie about physical structures like bridges.

The fact remains that the immediate past government did not build a single bridge, not one. I think the lesson we should all take away from this is that once you have the opportunity to serve your people, do it with all your might.

But much more than that, there is need for vision. A leader should also have consuming passion for the welfare of his people.

These are the things that set Amosun apart from the previous government. You have the opportunity, you misuse it, you don’t have another chance!

Daniel also said he constructed a six-lane road, didn’t he?

I must give him the benefit of the doubt. He probably never meant what you said. If you check, the 1km Lalubu road, the best constructed by the last government, is effectively a 4-lane road because the last two are service lanes. You cannot compare it with our 2.4km IbaraTotoro road, which is a standard six-lane highway, with two additional service lanes.

Besides, unlike the IbaraTotoro road, the Lalubu road has no greens, well-defined pedestrian walkways, modern bus-stops and speed breakers.

The median of the Lalubu road is narrow, just as its drains.

The streetlights used for the road, which is actually not up to 1km, were obsolete as at the time it was constructed.

The Amosun road has 200mm or 8 inches thick stone base whereas the Lalubu road does not have. Lalubu is a singlelayer asphalt road, whereas Ibara-Totoro is a double-layer asphalt road.

Please, go and check the two roads and see the difference we are talking about. The era of ‘newspaper development’ or ‘development by billboards and propaganda’ is over in Ogun State.

But why should the last government take pride in constructing less than 1km semi-

income from the Federation Account; how was your government able to achieve that?

That’s a very pertinent question. You know the general belief in Nigeria is that everybody waits till the end of the month to share the oil money.

That is no more the situation in Ogun State.

From a meagre sum of N730 million per month inherited from the last government, the Amosun administration has raised the IGR to a record figure of N4 billion monthly. As a matter of fact, we attained a milestone of N4.6 billion in March this year. That exceeded our due from the Federation Account.

It is a feat our government should celebrate because it means our fate is no longer tied to the monthly allocation from the Federation Account.

How did we achieve that?

Simply by blocking all the loopholes inherent in the old system. You all remember that the state lost close to N30 billion in revenue due to racket at the Bureau of Lands alone during the last administration.

The situation has dramatically changed today. Manual systems have been automated and the culture of e-payment is becoming entrenched.

When you have such 21st Century monumental structures reshaping the landscape of the state and such landmark strides are still ongoing, then you have a state witnessing its golden moments. The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Chris Cooter, visited Ogun in April last year. What he said is very instructive: ‘The governor (Amosun) has been emphasising that his administration is very particular about hard work.

Here we are on a Sunday, I look at the construction going on, definitely, I am impressed. Whether it is canal, the road network, health or education, clearly, I can see a demonstration of the ‘can do attitude.’ I have not been to a state where people are working quite as hard as this one, and I have been in most of them now...’ That is it.

Through visionary leadership, hard work, prudent financial management, continence and consuming passion for the welfare of the citizens, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has launched Ogun State into its golden era.

Our people are complying with the PAYE law and with the cooperation of Lagos State, the Residency Rule is gradually being observed.

That is, you pay your income tax to where you live, not where you work.

Above all, Amosun is an expert in prudent husbandry of resources. Our people are happy with this, and are giving their maximum cooperation.

What do you mean by Ogun State witnessing its golden years under the Amosun administration?

Never in the modern history of Ogun have we witnessed such gargantuan investments in social services within such a short space of time.

When you have such 21st Century monumental structures reshaping the landscape of the state and such landmark strides are still ongoing, then you have a

state witnessing its golden moments.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Chris Cooter, visited Ogun in April last year. What he said is very instructive: “The governor (Amosun) has been emphasising that his administration is very particular about hard work. Here we are on a Sunday, I look at the construction going on, definitely, I am impressed.

“Whether it is canal, the road network, health or education, clearly, I can see a demonstration of the ‘can do attitude.’ I have not been to a state where people are working quite as hard as this one, and I have been in most of them now...”

That is it. Through visionary leadership, hard work, prudent financial management, continence and consuming passion for the welfare of the citizens, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has launched Ogun State into its golden era.

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MarketReport EQUITY MARKET SUMMARY

AS AT 06-10-2014

PRIMERA AFRICA www.primera-africa.com

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 MARKET REPORT 61

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MARKET INDICATORS

AS AT 06-10-2014

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Index dips by 0.21 per cent on the Exchange

By Bukky Olajide HE equities market closed T yesterday on a negative note, as NSE ASI depreciated by 0.21 per cent to close at 41,521.42 basis points, compared with the appreciation of 0.19 per cent recorded previously. Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at 0.47 per cent.

But market breadth closed positive as Honeyflour leads 32 gainers against 30 losers topped by Caverton at the end of today’s session- an improved performance when compared with previous outlook.

Market turnover was also positive as volume traded appreciated by 370.16 per cent against 57.40 per cent upbeat recorded in previous session. Transcorp , Access and Wapic were the most active to boost market turnover. Transcorp and Access topped market value list.

For sectoral indices, Food records 1.06 per cent to emerge the most supportive sectoral performance among others while NSE Industrial is the most hit with 1.09 per cent loss recorded today.

Transcorp led the list of active stocks that record impressive volume spike at the end of yesterday’s session.

Meanwhile, Helios Investment Partners, a private-equity firm that focuses on Africa, has bought a minority stake in Nigeria’s ARM Pension Managers PFA Ltd. to tap into the nation’s fast-growing pension market, according to co-founder Tope Lawani.

Helios invested about $50 million, according to a person familiar with the situation. Nigeria’s pension market has grown by 30 per cent a year since 2006, when a pension law requiring mandatory contributions was implemented, according to Helios. ARM manages about $2.1 billion.

Lawani, added that aggregate defined contribution pension assets in Nigeria will exceed $150 billion within the next 10 years, representing a sevenfold increase.

Helios’s previous investments include Nigerian payment processing company Interswitch, and Kenya’s Flamingo Holdings, which grows cut flowers and fresh vegetables.

SFS Capital urges investors to strategise for portfolio diversification

By Helen Oji FS Capital Nigeria Limited, a member of the Skye Financial Services Group has urged investors to leverage the newly launched Fixed Income Fund instruments which offers opportunity to achieve good returns from a diversified portfolio of Fixed Income investments while minimizing risks.

The Managing Director of the company, Patrick Ilodianya explained that the Fixed Income Fund product is a Unit Trust fund formed by pooling funds of several individual and corporate investors which gives the fund greater “bargaining power” to obtain higher levels of interest rates when investing.

In addition, the fund, according to him, utilizes an innovative means of seamlessly establishing a standing instruction (monthly & quarterly) with any account with a Nigerian Bank using a one step process.

He added that SFS Capital is a Fund / Portfolio Management firm regulated by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Nigeria (“SEC”) and is the fund manager to the first publicly listed REIT in Nigeria - Skye Shelter Fund.

“The SFS Fixed Income Fund is a Double A rated and carefully designed Savings/Financial Planning product. SFS Fixed Income Fund has a target interest rate of return of about 12 per cent pain addition to the principal invested irrespective of the time of entry and exit.

“The minimum investment tenor is one month. Exit from the investment takes maximum of five days after a

S

request is made. The SFS Fixed Income Fund is authorized and regulated by SEC. A lot more information can be obtained from the prospectus.”

Speaking on the competitiveness, Ilodianya explained that by combining long and short dated fixed income instruments, yields offered by the fund is expected to be more competitive than the rates paid on similar investments.

“We target a minimum yield of about 12per cent p.a. based on projections as published in its prospectus. We are optimistic that the yield would turn out higher.

Ilodianya said the fund is very liquid, adding that payment would be effected within five working days of the fund manager’s receipt of the redemption form and electronic certificate.

“International investors can take advantage of high naira interest rates. The fund managers at the prevailing exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria would seamlessly coordinate entry and exit. Detailed transfer instruction for various currencies can be obtained from our website. Retail investors may save in a convenient manner towards any financial target with the expectation that invested funds will keep appreciating. “Investments can be targeted at payment for a house, wedding, rental, school fees etc. In addition, the investment can be used as collateral to acquire urgent loans. Retail investors would also be constantly given financial planning tools and recommendations. It is possible to invest for minors, investment clubs and Groups,” he said.

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GlobalStocks Global shares slip, as euro gains ahead ECB meeting

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. .S. stocks fell modestly on yesterday as U investors found few reasons to keep buying with the Dow and S&P 500 coming off a string of record highs.

The day's losses were slight but broad, with eight of the ten primary S&P 500 sectors down on the day. The biggest declining group, industrials, was down a slight 0.4 percent, and some sectors were down 0.1 percent.

"Momentum" stocks, marked by hyper levels of growth and concerns over valuation, were among the day's biggest outperformers, with a number of Internet names also higher on the day. Facebook Inc rose 3.5 percent to $65.05 while Netflix Inc was up 2.7 percent to $434.51.

Tuesday's decline comes after a string of gains for Wall Street. The S&P 500 has ended at a record for the past four sessions, and ended higher 11 times in the past 13 sessions.

"Most valuation metrics suggest that equities are no longer cheap, though they're not exactly overpriced where they are now. People are looking for reasons to really buy, but we're optimistic that equities can continue to push higher," said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York.

Investors continue to watch trading volume, which has been below average of late, potentially making the market more susceptible to big swings. The CBOE Volatility index rose 0.7 percent in its second straight daily move, though it remains at very low levels from a historical perspective.

PHOTO: REUTERS The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.02 points, or 0.08 percent, to 16,930.08, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.48 points, or 0.13 percent, to 1,948.79 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.98 points, or 0.09 percent, to 4,332.26.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc was the Nasdaq's most active name, surging 57 percent to $6.66 in brisk trading, building on a

jump of almost 48 percent on Monday. The company early Tuesday commented on an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial for a hepatitis C drug, and was upgraded to "market outperform" from "market perform" by JMP Securities.

Also boosting biotech names was Receptos Inc, which jumped 34 percent to $39.40 after its experimental multiple sclerosis drug met its

main goal in a mid-stage trial.

RadioShack Corp slumped 9.7 percent to $1.39 after the U.S. electronics retailer reported a much wider-than-expected quarterly loss.

Chico's FAS Inc rose 9.7 percent to $16.86 in heavy trading after the Financial Times reported that the company was exploring a sale to private equity.

China’s IPO market resumes after four-month recess HE reopening of mainland China's IPO marT ket with seven new listings announced yesterday is good news for investors, although analysts said brokerages could be forced to slash their earnings forecasts after a fourmonth hiatus in activity.

The new offerings come after the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said late on Monday it had given final approval to 10 firms seeking to list on the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges, giving an official green light to the IPO market which had been dormant since February.

While the new activity will be a relief for investors eager to put their money to work, it underlines concerns that mainland initial public offerings will fail to live up to expectations this year and brokers could be left to rue upbeat revenue forecasts.

The seven companies, which include Guangdong Ellington Electronics Technology,

Shanghai Beite Technology and Shanghai Lianming Machinery, aim to raise a total of about 16 billion yuan (ÂŁ1.53 billion), according to their prospectuses published on Tuesday. Three will list in Shanghai and four on the smaller Shenzhen exchange.

The CSRC last month said it was planning about 100 new listings this year, which would take the expected 2014 tally to 150 or only half the number forecast by consultants including PwC. "Lower-than-expected IPO volumes definitely will drag down revenue and earnings for brokers this year, versus previous forecasts," Jian Li, an analyst with Macquarie Capital Securities in Hong Kong, said.

He said the revised IPO forecasts could wipe out 3 percent to 6 percent of brokerages' predicted earnings this year.

Brokerages that focus on mainland China deals include CITIC Securities, Haitong

Securities and Guosen Securities.

The CSRC let around 50 companies list in January and February, marking the end of a suspension of IPO approvals that began in late 2012 but was never officially confirmed.

However, there had been no listings since then and the CSRC had not clarified the situation until it announced the 10 approvals late on Monday.

Prior to the resumption, the CSRC had said it was aiming to transform the IPO market to a registration-based system similar to that deployed in the United States, where market reception dictates how offerings are priced, when companies list and how their shares perform.

The biggest challenge for regulators will be to manage investors' expectations and pent-up demand. In a country like China, where nearly three-quarters of trading comes from retail investors, secondary market performance is also a concern.

Treasury yields up, euro slides as U.S. projects rising rates worldwide measure of stocks dipped yesA terday but was within reach of its record high, while U.S. Treasury yields touched one month highs and the euro slipped as a whiff of higher U.S. interest rates takes hold in markets.

Stocks on Wall Street opened slightly lower a day after the S&P 500 closed at a record for a fourth straight session and world shares drifted near their record set in November 2007.

"Most valuation metrics suggest that equities are no longer cheap, though they're not exactly overpriced where they are now. People are looking for reasons to really buy, but we're optimistic that equities can continue to push higher," said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 18.37

points or 0.11 percent, to 16,924.73, the S&P 500 lost 2.38 points or 0.12 percent, to 1,948.89 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 4.41 points or 0.1 percent, to 4,331.83.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index edged up 0.1 percent to extend its high going back to January 2008.

Chinese, Indonesian and Korean shares all rose more than 1 percent, helped by Chinese inflation data that remained well within the government's comfort zone, giving room for the government to launch fresh stimulus measures if needed to support the economy.

Last week's ECB cut in interest rates, and its move to start charging banks for keeping their spare cash, ensured the impact continued elsewhere. Fresh bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve could begin to raise rates earlier than

expected were also supportive of the greenback.

"If broader measures are suggesting that the U.S. economy is on a stronger footing, the market has to bring forward the expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike," said Aroop Chatterjee, currency strategist at Barclays in New York.

The euro fell back near last week's fourmonth low against the U.S. dollar at $1.3532.

The dollar index, which measures its strength against a basket of key currencies, climbed 0.2 percent, though the dollar was slightly lower against the yen at 102.38.

The greenback continued to benefit from rising U.S. Treasury yields as the benchmark 10year rate topped 2.65 percent for the first time since May 13.

"The Fed's bias could likely shift to a more hawkish stance. They're a little worried about financial exuberance and a little bit of complacency in the market," said Aaron Kohli, interest rate strategist, at BNP Paribas in New York.

Next week's two-day meeting of Fed officials will be followed by a press conference in which Fed Chair Janet Yellen will likely be pressed on the timing of interest rate hikes.

In commodities, safe-haven gold edged up 0.7 percent as equities slipped, while Brent oil LCOc1 dipped 0.3 percent and U.S. crude prices CLc1 gained 0.1 percent.

A breakdown in strike talks in South Africa pushed platinum XPD= to a 3-year high while fears about an investigation into metal financing in China sent copper to a new one-month low.

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66 | NEWSEXTRA Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Eastern Union urges Jonathan to declare for 2015

By Anthony Chidubem Nwachukwu NTIL now, no Nigerian president had bothered about the future of the poor and down-trodden in the northern region beyond empty political statements and alliances, therefore the products of President Goodluck Jonathan’s almajiri schools will honour him in time to come, a socio-cultural group, the Eastern Union (EU), has said.

The group, which is worried that President Jonathan had contended with unhealthy distractions and strong opposition since he came to power, asked him to declare his intention for the 2015 presidential election, arguing that the delay to do so only heightens tension in the polity.

EU President, Charles Chibuzor Charles, told newsmen in Lagos on Monday that irrespective of the security

U

• Says future generation of northerners would honour him challenges arising from the insurgency by the Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, which worsened recently with the kidnap of over 200 Chibok schoolgirls, the wheel of state must not be surrendered to enemies of the nation.

The socio-cultural group, which aligns with the umbrella Ohaneze Ndigbo and draws membership from all the South-East and SouthSouth geo-political zones, itself an affiliate of the Goodluck Support Group, maintained that the unhealthy developments in the polity are schemes to undermine Jonathan’s administration, therefore he should not shelve the declaration of intent any longer.

According to the group, a leader must have courage to

face challenges and remain focused on set agenda. Noting that Boko Haram did not start with the present administration, which has done a lot within a short time, it warned that a lot of things wait on Jonathan’s declaration for reelection, therefore, he should not be cowed to drop his bid.

Listing the upgrade of such infrastructures as airports, roads within and across states nationwide, railways and, particularly, electricity, which is beginning to show promise after decades of abandonment, Charles said that Jonathan deserves encouragement, not malignity.

Meanwhile, it assured that the abducted girls would be rescued but warned that the process of rescuing them should not be hurried or careless because they are being

held hostage by die-hard international terrorists.

Reacting to calls for amnesty for Boko Haram and kidnappers, the leader of the group, Charles, warned that doing so would be a “political suicide” and nurture for lawlessness, as any aberrant group with any kind of agitation, whether reasonable or otherwise, would resort to violence and bloodletting.

He further allayed the speculation that the 2nd Niger Bridge was only a political move that would be abandoned when Jonathan wins re-election, stating that no other region supported him in 2011 like the Igbo and that no Nigerian president had done for the race anything close to what Jonathan has done for it already.

Sri Lanka wants ties with Nigeria against terrorism, others From Madu Onuorah, Abuja HE Government of Sri-Lanka T said yesterday that it is seriously concerned about the problem of terrorism in Nigeria and therefore seeks to strengthen bilateral relations with the country in the areas of counter-terrorism and maritime sector development.

Sri Lankan Acting Minister of External Affairs, Neomal Perera, who led a delegation to the Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, said they were in the country to discuss with the Nigerian military on the elimination of terrorism and maritime cooperation, especially on sea piracy. He expressed condolences to the Federal Government and people of Nigeria over the loss of lives.

According to Perera, because of the deep concern the President of Sri-Lanka has for Nigeria in its war against terrorism, he immediately convened a high level meeting of top defence and military officers to share the country’s experience with Nigeria.

On cooperation towards eradicating sea piracy and terrorism, he said: “Due to the proliferation of sea piracy in many parts of the world, the United Nations (UN) has urged all countries to tackle sea piracy.

“In Sri-Lanka’s obligation to honour international interest and responsibilities as stipulated by the UN, we took proactive steps to support counterpiracy in the Indian Ocean or Arabian seas. The counter-piracy and support activities have been a tremendous success in the Indian Ocean. It has become most significant factor in reducing incidents of piracy in the area.”

He explained that with the proliferation of sea piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, Sri-Lanka also wants to share its immense experience from the Indian Ocean with Nigeria, adding that towards this, “the government of Sri-Lanka submitted a proposal to Nigeria on the need for maritime cooperation.

“After several meetings between the governments of both countries, there was a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the modalities of maritime cooperation. We are here to finalise the arrangement stipulated in the MoU and also to continue our quest to honour international obligation in repressing sea piracy.”

Wednesday, June 11, 2014 INTERVIEW | 67

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INTERVIEW

‘Why we’re urging FG to move NPDC to Warri’

Gbemre

Zik Gbemre, an activist, is the national coordinator of Niger Delta Peace Coalition. He told CHIDO OKAFOR why his group is pressurising government to move the head office of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) to Warri from its present location in Benin City. NPDC inherited Shell Petroleum Development Company’s assets in Delta State, after the oil giant pulled out of the state a few years ago. Excerpts: HAT is the agitation for the NPDC to relocate office W from Benin to Warri all about?

It is no longer news that Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) had sold off or divested all its onshore oil, gas and condensate assets/interests in Delta State, some of which include OML 34, OML 30, OML 38, OML 41, OML 26, 42, etc. And the Federal Government through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had directed NNPC subsidiary - the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) to take over these divested interests as operating partners, which they have done and had started full operations since January 2013.

While we are in full support of NPDC’s takeover of these divested oil, gas and condensate assets in Delta State, which they have proven to have what it takes to adequately manage and supervise these operations, however, we consider it inappropriate and completely out of place that NPDC is currently still operating the said divested oil, gas and condensate assets in Delta State, from their Benin Head Office (Edo State). What is even more disturbing is the fact that the Federal Government is presently building another gigantic edifice in Benin for NPDC to use as their main Head Office. Let us reiterate the fact that since the said Shell (SPDC) divest-

ment, all the oil companies and oil service providers in and around Warri and environs are migrating to Benin; thereby making Warri and environs ghost towns with less and less business activities.

The situation has adversely affected the economic life in Warri and its environs, as oil companies like Pan-Ocean Ltd have relocated out of Warri. Imagine a situation where a Delta State man who has crude oil and gas in his backyard,

NPDC cannot continue to operate from Benin, Edo State whereas all its inherited oil and gas assets/operations are in Delta State. As a result of this anomaly, everything concerning the oil and gas operations of Shell (SPDC) divested assets/interests is carried out by NPDC in Benin, Edo State. This includes employment opportunities and contracts; thereby making all the various tax revenues surrounding these operations to go to Edo State instead of Delta State that bears the pains of the extractive industry.

is now forced to travel all the way to NPDC Head Office in Benin for every job opportunity/contract.

Despite the fact that Shell (SPDC) had left in the custody of NPDC, over 1000 (One thousand) Office Complexes and Residential Buildings in Warri, which Shell (SPDC) had vacated, plus Jetties, Warehouses, Helipads/Heliports and over six Gas-powered Power Turbine Stations, NPDC still does not consider it expedient to relocate from their Benin Office to Warri, Delta State. There is also a Training School in Warri called SITP1 (Special Intensive Training Programme 1), which is the best training school on oil, gas and condensate in Africa. And Shell (SPDC) was operating and running these assets (including the training school) in Warri before its exit from Delta State. Consequent upon the divestments, NPDC inherited all the Buildings both offices and residences from Shell (SPDC) in Warri. But today all these office complexes and residential buildings are empty, and are being overgrown with weeds, as NPDC has not come to take over what they have inherited from Shell (SPDC) from the divestment.

This means they will have to spend serious money to maintain the structure and premises of these Office Complexes and Residential areas when it is time to use them. At the moment, NPDC has begun to Lease most of the said Office Com-

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68 | INTERVIEW Wednesday, June 11, 2014

INTERVIEW

‘Why we’re urging FG to move NPDC to Warri’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 67

The “Oil City”, which you and I grew up to know as Warri, is no longer the Oil City. Rather, Benin is now the New Oil City, as oil companies have relocated in droves from Warri to Benin. It is disturbing to note that 99.5% of NPDC current operations are in Delta State, yet their Head Office is still left to remain and operate from Benin. Even the crude oil extracted by NPDC and its partners are exported through the Forcados Terminal located in Delta State. Not to mention the Warri Refinery that is also in Delta State. In other words, everything about and around NPDC operations are in Delta State. Even all the revenue, including income tax, withholding tax that are tied to the operations of NPDC in the oil and gas sector of Delta State are going to the Edo State Government.

Whereas, Warri, that bears the grunt of the extractive industry is practically left to dry to death. plexes and Residential Buildings they inherited from Shell (SPDC). This to us is an abnormality of the highest order and a shame that needs to be reversed.

Could you give us an idea of the nature of the assets in Delta State which NPDC inherited from Shell?

Among the oil and gas fields sold/divested by Shell (SPDC) and now operated by SEPLAT but under the supervision of NPDC, include: OML 38 which covers Amukpe, Ovhor and Okporhuru Fields and additional underdeveloped Fields and unappraised Fields all in Delta State. Others are OML 41 which covers Sapele and two discoveries; OML 40 covers Opuama in Delta State. While OML 42 covers Batan, Egwa, Odidi, Jones Creek Fields in Delta State; OML 26 covers Ogini, Isoko Fields in Delta State; OML 34 covers Utorogu, Ughelli West, Ughelli East Fields of Delta State. OML 34, specifically Utorogu, is the area where we have the ongoing Utorogu NAG-2 (aka New Utorogu Gas Plant) Project and the old Utorogu Gas Plant (Utorogu NAG-1). For OML 30, it covers some parts of Eruemukohwarien and Effurun-Otor, Evwreni, Kokori, Eriemu, Afieseri, Osioka, Ughelli Pump Station (UPS) and Olomoro/Oleh in Delta State. Though OML 38 and OML 41 in Delta State are operated by SEPLAT, they are still being regulated and supervised by NPDC as the senior government operators.

You recently claimed that Warri was losing its status as an oil city. What are the things you observed that led to this conclusion?

The “Oil City”, which you and I grew up to know as Warri, is no longer the Oil City. Rather, Benin is now the New Oil City, as oil companies have relocated in droves from Warri to Benin. It is disturbing to note that 99.5% of NPDC current operations are in Delta State, yet their Head Office is still left to remain and operate from Benin. Even the crude oil extracted

by NPDC and its partners are exported through the Forcados Terminal located in Delta State. Not to mention the Warri Refinery that is also in Delta State. In other words, everything about and around NPDC operations are in Delta State. Even all the revenue, including income tax, withholding tax that are tied to the operations of NPDC in the oil and gas sector of Delta State are going to the Edo State Government. Whereas, Warri, that bears the grunt of the extractive industry is practically left to dry to death.

The Delta State Government should not sit back and fold its hands and allow our resources to be used to develop another State. Let us reiterate the fact that Shell (SPDC) originally built the Osubi Airstrip because they wanted to make Warri the Oil hub of the region. That is why every of their facilities and assets left behind in Warri are of high international standard. But all that is today lying waste and being overgrown with weeds/grass just because NPDC has not been made to take possession of what was left behind for them.

Is it practically and technically possible to relocate NPDC head office in Benin to Warri?

Yes it is very possible. All that is required to make NPDC relocate its Head Office from Benin to Warri is a ‘directive’ from the Presidency through the Minister of Petroleum Resources. This was how former President Olusegun Obasanjo directed for the immediate relocation of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Head office from Abuja to Lagos, when he argued that the NPA has no business in Abuja but Lagos; where Ports business activities are located.

The fact is that 99.5% of NPDC operations (of Oil, gas and condensate assets) are in Delta State. If NPDC should be allowed to continue operating and running these Shell (SPDC) divested oil, gas and condensate assets in Delta State from Benin in Edo State, it is encouraging broad day light robbery. It is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is inappropriate to use the resources of one to feed another and still refuse to occupy the space provided by the owners of the same resources. Benin is not Delta State but Edo State. One is not ex-

pected to cook food in Delta State and take the prepared food to feed people in Edo State; whereas Deltans are hungry and salivating. Deltans are also the ones that suffer the environmental hazards caused by the oil and gas exploration activities in their lands.

Delta State’s quietness and kind gesture should not be taken for granted by the relevant authorities in the industry and government circles. It is this sort of injustice that created the Niger Delta crises in the first place. The ‘marginalization’ that is often talked about today is exactly like this. When sensitive issues like this are not given the needed attention, they have the propensity to snowball into unanticipated crises for all stakeholders. We fear that if the current situation is left to remain and not reversed, Deltans will one day rise up strongly in protest of the anomaly; by then, it might be too late to make amends. When people are being ‘oppressed’ over what is rightfully their own, one day they will unite and rise against such oppression and injustice. Hence, it is better to nip the situation in the bud before it is too late. Like the former USA President, Abraham Lincoln once said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

Everything that will make NPDC operate effectively and efficiently as an oil company are in Warri, Delta State. Aside the over One Thousand (1000) Houses/Office Complexes and Residential Buildings left behind by Shell (SPDC) for NPDC to takeover, other assets also left behind as stated above include: Warehouses, Helipads, over Six (6) Gas-Powered Turbine Stations, Jetties, a Hospital, a Fire-fighting Station, Recreational Centers like a Golf Course, a Nursery/Primary School, etc. Even the crude oil extracted by NPDC and its partners are exported through the Forcados Terminal located in Delta State. Let us also remember that there is the Warri Petroleum Refinery. The qualities of these facilities are equally of international standard and they took decades to have been built in Warri Delta State by Shell (SPDC). With all of this in place for NPDC to takeover, what then is the company still doing in Benin?

But, do you think Edo State will lie low and allow the NPDC head office to be relocated to Warri?

This current arrangement, where NPDC has been made to remain in Benin and not Warri, was influenced and orchestrated by highly influential personalities of Edo State extraction that are within the oil and gas industry, including traditional rulers/powerful monarchs from Edo State. These top and influential personalities within and outside the industry are bent on allocating to Edo State, what rightfully belongs to Delta State and its people. But the point is, if they want NPDC Head Office to remain in Edo State, then NPDC should be made to only focus on operating or managing the oil and gas assets solely in Edo State, while they leave the oil and gas assets in Delta State alone.They should stop tapping the oil and gas/condensate in Delta State. We will not accept that!

NPDC officials say they run an office in Warri. Is it true?

That is not true. It is imperative for NPDC to have the office of the Managing Director (MD), all the asset managers of OML 30, OML 34, OML 26, OML 40, OML 42, OML 38, etc and all the Executive Directors, in Warri, Delta State. In other words, these top NPDC Managers and Executive Directors and the Managing Director should be relocated to Warri, Delta State, as NPDC’s Head Office in Delta State, while NPDC should only have a ‘Branch’ of its office in Benin, Edo State.

NPDC cannot continue to operate from Benin, Edo State whereas all its inherited oil and gas assets/operations are in Delta State. As a result of this anomaly, everything concerning the oil and gas operations of Shell (SPDC) divested assets/interests is carried out by NPDC in Benin, Edo State. This includes employment opportunities and contracts; thereby making all the various tax revenues surrounding these operations to go to Edo State instead of Delta State that bears the pains of the extractive industry.

It is in the same light that we ask that NPDC, whose 99.5% operations are in Delta State, should be made to promptly relocate their Head Office and top Management Staff from Benin Edo State to Warri, Delta State. There are already existing empty Office Buildings and Residential estates in Warri, Delta State that were vacated by Shell (SPDC) and inherited by NPDC. Let us also reiterate the fact that there is an Airport – The Osubi Airport in Warri, Delta State.

It is in this light that we therefore urge the Presidency and, the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, to effect the directive that will compel NPDC to relocate NPDC’s Head office to Delta State that has 99.5% of its oil, gas and condensate assets/facilities. It is the only lifeline and the best line of action that will turn around the dying businesses in the oil city of Warri for the good of all and sundry. Let us emphasize the fact that though, Edo State is part of the Niger Delta region, however, Edo State is not a ‘core oil-bearing Niger Delta State’. The core oil-bearing Niger Delta States are Delta (Warri), Rivers (Port Harcourt), Bayelsa (Yenagoa) and Akwa Ibom (Eket).

Let us also reiterate the fact that we are in full support of NPDC operations in Delta State, and we have confidence in their competence to deliver. This is hinged on the fact that there are competent and well-experienced Nigerian Engineers as NPDC Asset Team Manager(s) in OML 34 and others, that can adequately manage, supervise and operate NPDC’s newly acquired assets/interests in Delta State. However,

Gbemre what we are saying and insisting is that NPDC’s Managing Director, all their Asset Managers, Executive Directors including their Finance Department and its Executive Director, should all be made to relocate from Benin, Edo State to Warri, Delta State. NPDC should relocate and come and occupy all the facilities and infrastructure left behind by Shell (SPDC) for them in Warri, Delta State. All that we ask and pray for is that NPDC should relocate their Head office from Benin, Edo State to Warri, Delta State. This is the crux of the matter.

What is your group doing to galvanize Deltans to support your cause?

The Niger Delta Peace Coalition which I coordinate has written severally to the Presidency, the Delta State Government, the National Assembly and personally to some of our leaders in government like Senator Emmanuel Agwariavwado, James Manager, Major Gen. David Ejoor (rtd) on this issue, we are yet to get any positive response in addressing the subject matter.

All that we got from Senator Agwariavwado was that he has his own ways of doing things, which is still very unclear to us till today. We have even talked to some influential Northern Leaders to persuade Mr. President and we also published recently, a paid advert in The Guardian Newspaper of Thursday May 22, 2014, Page V, calling on the Presidency and relevant stakeholders on Why NPDC Should Be Relocated From Benin, Edo State to Warri, Delta State.

Why do you say that Delta State is the gas hub in West Africa?

The largest natural gas reserve and condensate reserve in West Africa is in Utorogu, Delta State. In fact, Utorogu Gas Plant is described by Shell (SPDC) as the “gas hub of West Africa”. Utorogu is the life wire of Nigerian Power Stations and domestic industries. Utorogu is also where gas is supplied to neighboring West African countries through the West Africa Gas Pipeline Project (WAGPP) and others.

Out of these oil and gas assets sold by Shell (SPDC), it is only Oben Field, known as OML 4 (and the ‘smallest’ Field), that is in Edo State and operated by SEPLAT but it is also being regulated by NPDC. That means 99.5% of NPDC current operations are all in Delta State. With this fact in mind, it is therefore considered as unfair and injustice, that NPDC Head Office should remain in Benin, Edo State instead of Warri, Delta State.

All these important Utorogu oil and gas/condensate assets are operated by NPDC from Benin in Edo State. We are not against NPDC operating the said assets/facilities but what we are saying is that NPDC Head Office should be relocated from Benin, Edo State to Warri, Delta State. The said relocation is taking too long and this needs to be addressed promptly.

What can Delta State government do in this situation?

The Delta Government State seriously needs to do something urgent to address the anomaly regarding the need for NPDC Head Office to be relocated from Benin, Edo State to Warri, Delta State. Shell’s exist from Delta State and NPDC’s continuous stay in Benin, rather than come to take over and occupy the assets/infrastructure left behind by Shell (SPDC), has made Warri a ghost town of economic business activities. It is also sad that despite the fact that we have written severally to the Delta State Government on this issue, the

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | 69

PHOTONEWS

Former Vice President and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) Atiku Abubakar; his son, Abubakar Atiku Abubakar, and his daughter in-law, Mariana, at their wedding reception in Jada, Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State over the weekend.

Mrs Fuminlayo Garrick (left); Chibok Community Leader, Ibrahim Audu, Dame Marie Fatai Williams, Hajia Wonu Folami, Ms Yemisi Ransome Kuti, Mrs Aisha Oyebode, at the rally “Speak Out Saturday for Bring Back Our Girls” by Women for Peace& Justice at the Lagoon Front, Sea Side, Marina, Lagos. PHOTO: CHARLES

Lead Partner, Detail Commercial Solicitors, Ayuli Jemide (left); Technical Adviser, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Chiedu Ndubisi, Assistant Director, Infrastructure Finance Office, Central Bank of Nigeria, Sani Faraga Mohammed, Managing Director, UBA Capital Plc, Wale Shonibare, Partner, Detail Commercial Solicitors, Dolapo Kukoyi, after a session on Infrastructure Financing: Challenges and Opportunities by International Project Finance Association, hosted by Detail Commercial Solicitors in Lagos.

Mr. Babatunde Akinola (left); the wife of Baale of Iloro Agege, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Adebari and Baale of Iloro, Prince Tajudeen Akanbi Adebari, at Adebari installation, as 2nd Traditional Baale of Iloro, Agege, Lagos.

PHOTO: SOLA OJEDOKUN

Former SDP Presidential Candidate, Pere Ajuwa (left); former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (second left), Leader, Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Asari Dokubo (second right), and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Kingsley Kuku, during the showcasing of granduands of Aviation Training under the Federal Government Amnesty Programme in Lagos at the weekend

South West Commissioners of Tourism, Chief Ronke Okusanya (Ekiti) (right); Disun Holloway (Lagos), Mrs. Yewande Amusan (Ogun), and Princess Adetutu Adeyemi (Oyo), during a working visit to Lekki Conservation Centre on Development Agenda for Western Nigeria.

Ghallywood actor, Mr. Adjetey Anang (left); Ghallywood actress, Ms Leonara Okine, Sales and Market Development Director, Kasapreko Company Nigeria Limited, Richard Nwaobie, Nollywood/Ghallywood actor, Mr. John Dumelo, Model, Ms Fola Ade, and Nollywood actor, Mr. Seun Akindele, during the unveiling of Alomo Bitters TV Commercial and Brand ambassadors, in Lagos PHOTO: SUNDAY AKINLOLU

Femi Obong-Daniels, presenter, Femi & The Gang; Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Star Football ambassador, and Obabiyi Fagade, Brand manager, Star, Nigerian Breweries Plc., when the ex-footballer paid a visit to Naija Info FM, on Saturday

70 Wednesday, June 11, 2014

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014 NEWSEXTRA | 71

LP hopeful of victory as APC, PDP members join party

Akinbade From Tunji Omofoye, Osogbo HE chances of Labour Party (LP) in Osun State winning the August 9 governorship election brightened yesterday as many All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in Irepodun and Irewole local councils of the state joined the party.

Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, the LP governorship candidate in the race while welcoming the new members

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Iyiola Omisore of PDP

Aregbesola to the party said in a statement by his Director of Media, Mr. Kayode Oladeji, that the influx of other party members to the LP was a sign that the party would win the polls.

While Salau Nureni, popularly known as Agbada and Ameen Yunusa led over 250 APC members in Irepodun local council, the PDP youth leader, Mustapha Wasiu (Oponeh) from Ward 6 of the council led 300 members from the

PDP to join the LP. Similarly in Irewole Local Council, notable members of APC and PDP, including Alhaji Sule Aresa, Chief Akinrole, Ademola Akinola, Kazeem Akinola and Wale Akindele led over a thousand members to the Labour Party.

The members who were received separately in Ilobu and Ikire, the headquarters of Irepodun and Irewole councils respectively, said they dumped

their former parties due to alleged insincerity of their leaders.

Oladeji said the LP was able to attract members from other parties due to the popularity of the party’s candidate who is also noted to be a grassroots mobilizer.

The new members said Akinbade’s conduct while in public office and his humility were part of the factors which endeared them to joining the party.

“We can say with a measure of certainty that none of the contenders can withstand the candidature of Alhaji Fatai Akinbade in terms of everything that has to do with good governance. He has the pedigree and that is why we have decided to join forces with him to rescue the state and its people from its present shackles,” they said.

Welcoming them, the former secretary to the state government assured that

he would not betray the trust the people reposed in him, urging them to be steadfast in ensuring the victory of the party at the polls.

Akinbade also appealed to them to be law-abiding, adding that, “we shall win the August 9, 2014, election by the grace of God. Nothing will stop us because we have God and enjoy the support of the masses in our dear state.”

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EKITI 2014

Jonathan meets PDP candidates in Ekiti, Osun polls From Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja RESIDEnT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday held separate meetings behind closed-doors with the governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti and Osun states, Ayodele fayose and Senator Iyiola Omisore respectively.

The meeting, which was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, was said to centre on their preparations for the forthcoming governorship elections in their states. fayose’s meeting with Jonathan is coming on the heels of the political crisis in the state on Sunday in which one person was reportedly killed.

The two candidates who arrived separately left at the same time after meeting the President for about an hour.

Omisore was the first to arrive at the villa. fayose came in later, but the duo left at the same time. fayose later told State House correspondents that the incident on Sunday in Ado Ekiti was discussed during the meeting. He said that trouble started when some supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

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• Fayose blames APC supporters for crisis accosted some of his supporters who were returning from his campaign office and killed one of them.

He further claimed that the initial plan of the APC supporters was to remove his branded T-shirt on the deceased and replace it with APC uniform to give an impression that they were attacked.

He said, “What happened on Sunday was that APC supporters went about sweeping the feet of the President who on Saturday led PDP bigwigs to a mega rally in Ado Ekiti. I don’t even have any objection to that because that is part of politics.

“There are some of my supporters who always sleep over in my campaign office.

These people wearing my branded green T-shirts were returning home and the

KWA Ibom State Governor A and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has described the presentation of the party’s flag to Mr. Ayo

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ernment for the federal roads it constructed or rehabilitated.

“Ekiti teachers are one of the best catered for in the country with regular training, improved environment for learning, rural allowance, core subject allowance and the recently approved teachers pecuniary allowance. Obviously, Vice President Sambo was not properly briefed.

“The same lies that their rejected candidate has been bandying about are the same that were transferred to Alhaji Sambo. Ekiti is known for integrity and honesty and not lying as if it is going out of fashion.

“Sambo’s reference to fayose as ‘newly improved fayose’ confirmed that he was actually a bad product. Ekiti people reject any bad product that may have been packaged in any form by marketers who are themselves worse.

“It is glaring that the PDP and its candidate have no plans for Ekiti State hence they don’t have any agenda.

There was no substance in all the speeches made by the PDP leaders, including that of its candidate.

Fayemi

fayose as the candidate in the June 21 governorship polls in Ekiti State as a political movement, which was a sign that the party would win the election.

Akpabio also appealed to the people to vote massively for the PDP in the election, assuring that their votes would count.

He spoke in Ado Ekiti on Saturday during the presentation of the party’s flag to fayose, saying “what we have seen here today is not a rally, it is a political movement which has declared clearly that come June 21, our candidate, Ayo fayose, would be declared winner in a landslide victory. We want to assure you that your vote will count.

“We will deploy some of the best Senior Advocates of nigeria to go with you to court to defend your vote, because we can see them going to the court after election. We want to assure you again that your vote will be defended and your governor in person of Ayo fayose presented to you.”

According to him, “We the PDP family have decided to come down to Ekiti to assure you that your preferred candidate, who is fayose will win the governorship election.

Jonathan

We know we are not contesting with anyone because we haven’t seen any opposition.

Even if there were to be opposition, with what we have seen today such a candidate will not even secure up to 10 votes.”

President Goodluck Jonathan in his address assured provision of adequate security for the election to prevent rigging and violence, admitting that he had not visited the state for a long time because there were no projects to inaugurate, adding that he was impressed by the mammoth crowd at the venue of the rally.

Jonathan noted, “We are going to provide adequate security that would enhance one man, one vote. I am not in Ekiti today to convert you because by this crowd, you have shown that you are for the PDP. You have really shown clearly that you want change in Ekiti. You have shown that you want leadership that will improve on your well-being on the level of education in Ekiti because education is key in this state. We will bring back the lost glory in the education sector.

“I only came to Ekiti during Segun Oni’s PDP-led govern-

ment to commission projects. When you vote fayose and the PDP returns to Ekiti again, I will join hands with him to develop this state. So, don’t be afraid of thuggery during the election. We shall provide adequate security to ensure one man, one vote, one woman, one vote and one youth, one vote. Anyone who brings thugs does that at his own peril,” the President warned.

The Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, who dismissed the All Progressives Congress as a true contender for power, said the party was no match for the ruling party in nigeria.

“We are not competing with APC because they have nothing to offer. We have come to offer you hard work, to offer you freedom, to offer you commitment and success,” he said.

Vice President namadi Sambo, who appreciated the people of the state for coming out to receive the President and the PDP leaders, also commended them for supporting fayose.

He promised that a PDP government will fix the problems facing the people in transportation and the civil service.

Monarchs seek removal of police boss over violence at rally From Muyiwa Adeyemi (Head South West Bureau, Ado Ekiti) OR his alleged complicity in the killing of Taiwo Akinola at the weekend, the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers yesterday called on the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to order the immediate removal of the Commander of Mobile Police force in the state, Mr. Gabriel Serenkele.

A statement signed by its Chairman and the Onitaji of Itaji, Oba Adamo Babalola, expressed displeasure over the killing of Akinola, a native of Odo Owa Ekiti in Ijero Local Council on Sunday during a clash between the police and

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From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti CHIEfTAIn of the Peoples A Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Mr. Lati Ajijola, has

Ekiti rally was a movement, not political gathering, says Akpabio

APC deplores Sambo’s comments on Ekiti workers’ welfare From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has criticised Vice President namadi Sambo for alleging that Governor Kayode fayemi had difficulty in paying salaries and improving the welfare of workers in the state.

Sambo had during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rally in Ado Ekiti on Saturday said the problem facing the state in paying salaries will be over if former governor Ayodele fayose was elected in the June 21 governorship election.

But the spokesperson of Kayode fayemi Campaign Organisation, Dimeji Daniels, said Sambo was wrong as the state never owed or had problems in paying its workers.

According to him, the Vice President again goofed on Saturday at Ado Ekiti as his outburst showed that he has no information about the giant strides of the fayemi administration in Ekiti State.

“Vice President namadi Sambo said Ekiti has problem of non-payment of salary, transportation and the welfare of teachers. This is total fallacy! Ekiti workers’ salaries have always been paid as at when due since the advent of the fayemi administration.

There is no problem of transportation in Ekiti State. The fayemi administration has distributed cars and buses to commercial vehicle operators, which has eased transportation tremendously.

“This is apart from the fact that about 958 kilometers of state, federal and local government roads have been constructed. It is also a fact that the federal Government, in spite of several pleas, is yet to reimburse the state gov-

APC people accosted them.

“They macheted some of my supporters and even killed one of them. They were at the point of removing the deceased’s branded T-shirt and replacing it with APC shirt when the OC MOPOL arrived the scene.

“As he was trying to stop them, fayemi drove in to block him. It was when they wanted to mob the police officer that he shot teargas into the air.” fayose boasted that despite attacks, his supporters would not be deterred and are still fully mobilised to vote for him in the election.

Governor Kayode fayemi had on Monday briefed the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, and the national Security Adviser (nSA), Sambo Dasuki on the fracas.

PDP chief defends police action

members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The monarchs expressed fears that if the police authority did not effect the necessary changes, the state may turn into a theatre of war before the June 21 governorship election.

They said the incident, which happened barely 24 hours when the President Goodluck Jonathan visited the state, is totally unacceptable to the people.

According to the statement, “In all civilized nations, police are meant to maintain peace and protect the citizens. The barbaric act exhibited on Sunday by a member of the nigeria Police force shooting an

innocent citizen is totally unwarranted and unacceptable to the Council of Obas in Ekiti State. We want such a policeman to be removed from Ekiti and incarcerated. He is not fit to participate in the coming election. Ekiti people will react if such ugly occurrence happens again.

“The commissioner of police should desist from giving life ammunition to some classes of police officers while checking peaceful demonstrations.

He should not allow the security of the state to get out of hands.

“We don’t want Ekiti to be turned into a theatre of war as being preached in Abuja,” appealing to all politicians to embrace peace.

disagreed with those calling for the removal of Police Commissioner, felix Uyanna, over alleged assault on the state governor, Dr. Kayode fayemi and the killing of Taiwo Akinola.

He described the call for Uyanna and Commander of Police Mobile force in Ado Ekiti, Gabriel Selenkere’s removal as self-serving and hypocritical, accusing the governor of being behind wanton political killings in the state.

Ajijola, who said fayemi should be held responsible for Akinola’s death, said that, “Calling for the removal of the police chiefs for a crime committed by All Progressives Congress (APC) thugs is a deceit carried too far by fayemi and his party.”

In a release issued yesterday, Ajijola said all lovers of peace in the country must beg fayemi and APC members to allow peace to reign in Ekiti before, during and after the governorship election.

He urged the commissioner of police in the state to remain focused on making the election peaceful and credible.

Ajijola, who described the death of Akinola as unfortunate, said it was deceitful for fayemi and APC members to claim that the deceased was a member of the party.

He alleged that, “the fact of the matter is that APC members killed Taiwo. They tried to cover their crime by covering his corpse with fayemi’s APC vest. But their deceit failed because someone had already taken the picture of Taiwo’s corpse before they covered him with APC vest and the Okada man that carried Taiwo is alive and helping the police in their investigation.

Accord Party pledges more industries From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti HE Accord Party governorT ship candidate, Mr. Kole Ajayi, has pledged to industrialise the state if elected on June 21.

Ajayi made the promise during a rally at Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Council of the state.

While paying homage to the Elesure of Esure, Eleyio of Eyio and Oniropora of Iropora Ekiti in their respective domains, the legal luminary stated that he was ready to establish an industry in each of the 16 local councils.

He said, “we will ensure that we establish an industry in each local council within four years and these industries will get their raw materials from local contents, especially from our abundant agricultural products.”

Ajayi assured the teeming youths of sustainable employment, saying that the industries will provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs for them.

In his response, Elesure of Esure, Oba Ajibola Adebanji, commended the Accord Party candidate for his courage in taking his ambition to this level, adding that Ekiti people have been watching his every move and discovered that it is not only genuine but also timely.

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Benin palace, NCMM differ on return of artefacts From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City STRONG disagreement between the Benin Palace and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) on the appropriate place where two stolen Benin artefacts would be received on arrival from Britain is taking the shine off their much expected return.

The bronze carvings, which are being voluntarily returned to the country by Mark Walker, a great grandson of one of the soldiers that participated in the British invasion of Benin Kingdom in 1897, Captain Philip Walker, after over 117 years in private custody in Britain.

However, a snag is clogging the historical event, as the Benin Palace is not on the same page with the NCMM over where they should be re-

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ceived. While the NCMM Director General, Yusuf Abdallah, wants them received either in Lagos or Abuja by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, the Benin Palace wants the objects received at their original abode, from where they were taken.

According to the Enogie of Obazuwa and Chairman, Great Benin Centenary Committee, Prince Edun Akenzua, who addressed newsmen in Benin yesterday, “the DG started unnecessary controversy and that created a doubt in the mind of the British High Commissioner.

“He has withdrawn the offer

to give the three persons coming (from Britain) tickets because of that. I have to send them tickets few days ago.

The white men bringing the items said they preferred to return them to Benin. The battle was fought in Benin and the items were taken from Benin.”

The younger brother to Oba Erediauwa of Benin continued: “It is poetic justice - a great grandson of the soldiers - and they are going to hand it over to the great grandson of the Oba, who was on the throne then. He is bringing them and not going to sell them to us. When they

took them away, they were kept in a family home.

“Those that were taken by the British Government are in museums. If the government succeeds to convince the British Prime Minister to return them, there is nothing against that, but this is a private visit and of course for now there is no museum in the palace. The Oba will hand over those things, like in the past, to the government.”

However, in a letter to Akenzua, Abdallah said that government’s intention was not to disrespect the palace, as is being assumed, but that it wanted to follow due process.

The letter read: “We believe that Benin objects have assumed the status of national heirlooms and thus ought to be welcomed to the country enroute their root, in part, by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We do not believe that this will in anyway undermine your efforts; it will only further enhance fuller national and international interest in the epochal contributions of Benin to the world and accentuate your personal struggle to bring back the works of your forebears.”

Zamfara supports rainstorm victims with N40m From Isah Ibrahim, Gusau HE Zamfara State Government has released the sum of N40 million as assistance to the victims of the recent rainstorm in the state, which claimed four children at Anguwar Danbaba area of the state capital, Gusau.

Addressing the victims yesterday, secretary of the state’s emergency relief agency, Atiku Sani Maradun, said that 500 victims were identified in the area by the team set up by the state to ascertain the level of damage and number of houses affected.

On completing its assignment, the government released an initial N15 million for the victims, he said, noting that the amount was just an assistance, not compensation, as nobody can compensate for the level of loss experienced by the victims, including children.

He further disclosed that the agency also carried out similar assessment at Tsunami area of Gusau local council and two villages in Talata Mafara local council, who are also part of the aid.

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‘How to ensure transparency in public finance’ From John Okeke, Abuja O ensure transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s public finance, the budget process, payment system, government accounting and financial reporting should be addressed, the Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), Otive Igbuzor, has said.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja during a stakeholders’ meeting on revenue and public finance in Nigeria, organized

by ActionAid Nigeria, Igbuzor stressed that unprecedented growth is only attainable with better and transparent management of public finance across the country.

According to him, the principle of transparency requires openness from government to provide citizens with a right to know what is going on in governance, and to “scrutinize how the money is collected and spent while at the same time allowing everyone to know what is expected”

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National Coordinator, Health and Longevity (FOPPEV), Pastor Emmanuel Ibekwe (left); Pastor, Trinity House Church, Ituah Ighodalo and Chairman, Damba Foundation, Fillis Osubor, at a press conference in preparation for the World Sickle Cell Day 2014 held at the SIAO Office in Lagos…yesterday PHOTO: CHARLES OKOLO

Ebola death toll hits 208 in Guinea, 12 in S’Leone

By Chukwuma Muanya, with agency reports O fewer than 12 have died from Ebola in Sierra Leone in a week, local health authorities said on Monday, as the spread of the disease that has killed over 200 people in Guinea and Liberia deepened.

According to the report published yesterday in Reuters.com, the mounting deaths in Sierra Leone, which had been spared cases for months after Ebola was confirmed in the region in March, underscore the challenges that weak health systems face in tackling one of the deadliest diseases on the planet.

Also, world health officials said last week that some 208 people have now died from the virus in Guinea after a deadly spike in recent days.

The BBC reported that no fewer that 21 people died and 37 new suspected cases found between May 29 and June 1, bringing the number of cases in the West African country to 328. Of these, 193 have been confirmed by laboratory tests. There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola.

Meanwhile, a study published yesterday in Cancer suggests that exercise could aid recovery after breast cancer but many women are not active enough. Being active is known to be beneficial but United States (U.S.) researchers wrote in the journal that they found many women doing too little. Only a third met recommended activity levels.

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• Exercise boosts survival chances in breast cancer • Fresh concerns over mobile phone threat to sperm counts The American study looked at the pre and post-diagnosis exercise levels of 1,735 women aged 20 to 74, who had breast cancer between 2008 and 2011 in North Carolina. In the U.S. and the United Kingdom (UK), adults are recommended to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity each week.

However, this study found that only 35 percent of women who had experienced breast cancer met the physical activity guidelines.

Meanwhile, a new study published yesterday in the journal, Environment International, has suggested that sperm number and movement are affected when mobile phones are kept in pockets.

A review of the evidence by the University of Exeter suggested that electromagnetic radiation was to blame. It analysed 10 separate studies on sperm quality involving 1,492 men, which included laboratory tests on sperm exposed to mobile phone radiation and questionnaires of men at fertility clinics.

Lead researcher, Dr Fiona Mathews, told the BBC that all but one of the studies showed a link between mobile phone exposure and poorer sperm quality. According to her, “the studies are coming out with a consistent message that

sperm motility declines with exposure to mobile telephones and similarly, proportion which are alive, it’s about an eight percentage point fall.

In another development, UK scientists have found that taking a tomato pill a day could help keep heart disease at bay. The trial, which tested the tomato pill versus a dummy drug in 72 adults, found that it improved the functioning of blood vessels.

Nevertheless, experts say that more studies are needed to prove that it really works.

The pill contains lycopene, a natural antioxidant that also gives tomatoes their colour.

Experts have suspected for some time that lycopene might be good for avoiding illnesses, including certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

Working independently of CamNutra, and instead funded by the Wellcome Trust, the British Heart Foundation and the National Institute of Health Research, a team at Cambridge University set out to see if this pill would have the desired effect.

It recruited 36 volunteers known to have heart disease and 36 “healthy” controls, who were all given a daily tablet to take, which was either the tomato pill or a placebo. To ensure a fairer trial, neither the volunteers nor the researchers were told

what the tablets actually contained until after the twomonth study had ended and the results were in.

For comparison, the researchers measured something called forearm blood flow, which is predictive of future cardiovascular risk because narrowed blood vessels can lead to heart attack and stroke.

In the heart disease patients, the tomato pill improved forearm blood flow significantly, while the placebo did not. The supplement had no effect on blood pressure, arterial stiffness or levels of fats in the blood, however.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone’s Director of Disease Prevention and Control, Amara Jambai, said that all the confirmed deaths in the country were in the east, mainly in the Kailahun district on the border with Guinea. Jambai added that there were now 42 confirmed cases of Ebola from 113 people tested and new cases had been recorded in the northern district of Kambia.

International medical experts have been dispatched to Sierra Leone but face a combination of poor existing health systems and tensions among locals, fueled by the lack of understanding over the disease. Two weeks ago, relatives removed an Ebola patient from a treatment centre in Koindu as they doubted that the disease existed.

Nigerian economy ‘significant,’ says Utomi From Anietie Akpan, Calabar ORMER presidential aspirant and Director of Lagos Business School, Prof. Pat Utomi, is optimistic about the Nigeria’s economy despite the odds, stating: “There is no question about the fact that ours is a significant economy, it does not mean that everything is well with it, but it has a great prospect.”

Utomi, who spoke on Monday in Calabar after chairing an economic summit organized by the University of Calabar Students’ Union, emphasized the need for managers of the nation’s economy to have a clear national approach towards this growth phase, as doing otherwise might foreclose an opportunity to grow it further.

He noted: “We are in a growth phase, it is important to be able to have a clear national strategy to approach this growth phase, otherwise we would find that the windows of opportunity might close before us.”

Utomi advised undergraduates to always think outside the box, noting that education is not all about certification but rather an opportunity to broaden the human mind. To that end, he charged students to be “creative, passionate and committed while doing the right things at all times.”

Meanwhile, in his keynote address at the summit tagged, “Cross River Beyond Oil: New Economic Realities and Youth Inclusion,” a governorship aspirant in the state, Mr. Emmanuel Ibeshi, advocated job creation policy in the state.

This, he said, would not only check the growing rate of unemployment among graduates but as well encourage skills acquisition. The former member of the House of Representatives, who tied the alarming rate of unemployment among graduates to non-professional courses, also called for a policy focusing on professional retraining.

He implored graduates to take advantage of several opportunities that abound in agriculture and tourism, among others, and canvassed scholarship programmes that would help develop graduates in other profitable fields of specialization.

The summit, according to the SUG President, Comrade Bassey Eka, advocates a shift of paradigm from oil as the nation’s most critical economic resource to setting agenda for creative alternatives.

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Group holds workshop on water treatment national workshop on the A need to eradicate water and wastewater borne diseases, particularly cholera, is coming up from June 16 to 18 at the Hotel De Bentley, Abuja.

The organiser, Nigeria Water & Sanitation Association (NIWASA), said it is being packaged to support the Federal Government’s efforts at making portable water available to all Nigerians as well as to develop a sustainable and efficient treatment system.

With the theme as, “Creating an Effective and Efficient Water Treatment System for Improved Water Supply and Sanitation in Nigeria,” NIWASA said the workshop, among others, seeks to sensitize Nigerians on how to treat drinking water, highlight the need to comply with water quality regulations, and develop local water treatment techniques.

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My roadmap for Ekiti’s Continued from yesterday iii.WATER RESOURCES HE provision of clean and portable water should be a priority with any Government.

Provision of adequate water is also an integral part in the infrastructural development of the new Ekiti of our dream. The provision of clean water in every town and village will improve hygiene and reduce health-related challenges and water-borne diseases. The people of Ekiti State deserve basic and essential things to enhance quality living by way of public institution investment in the lives of the people through quality water provision and by extension maintenance by host communities to achieve a healthy Ekiti for all .

Our natural resources shouldn’t be an end but a means to achieving quality and proper standard of living, by harnessing the potentials of the available dams, incessant lack of water supply will be a thing of the past. In the new Ekiti, proper planning, understanding of the need and requirement of each community through interaction with citizens as well as the usage of required expertise, we can achieve water sustainability. As part of achieving the Millennium Development Goal, quality water provision is a priority, and as such working with all necessary institutions be it Federal, State, Local or international organizations will be key to realizing our dream for Ekiti. It is also important to understudy States or nations with similar challenges that have surmounted them in our quest to realize our dreams. Against this background, we are committed to the construction of water treatment plants in the urban and rural enclaves around the State in partnership with the private sector.

POTABLE WATER FOR ALL The production and distribution of portable water in the State is grossly insufficient and ineffective in spite of the abundant natural water resources in the State. The state has several water dams with adequate raw water. Unfortunately there is no regular supply anywhere in the State.

The fact of the matter is that none of the water schemes operate at designed capacity.

Reasons for non-functioning of water schemes: (i) Old age of both the plants and equipments; (ii) Unstable or Epileptic power supply and lack of fund for the purchase of diesel; (iii) Under funding of the corporation and this hinder repair works, maintenance and purchase of spare parts; (iv) Unstable Government policies; (v) Unaccounted water due to wastage and leakages; (vi) Untimely and insufficient inputs of resources such as chemicals and diesel; and (vii) Frequent vandalization of schemes and booster stations by vandals.

In view of the above, access to portable water in the State is below 25%.

General Solution (I) Rehabilitation of all water schemes to their original designed capacity; (ii) Keying most of these problems into the 3rd urban water sector reform of which Ekiti State water corporation had been selected among the first beneficiaries; (iii) Distribution network expansion or repairs and replacement of key valves; (iv) Improvement of the existing pipeline; (v) Adequate and timely supply of all inp uts; (vi) Capacity building by training and retraining of staff; (vii) Implementation and improvement of water policy; (viii)Automation of billing process; (ix) Sensitization and mobilization of all stakeholders in water sector to be responsive to payment and leakage control. E-Payment to be introduced; and (x) Reduction of the un-accounted water produced.

lation of the area. Other recurring problems of the scheme include epileptic power supply, inadequate supply of diesel and inadequate /untimely supply of chemicals.

Solutions: I. The treatment plant needs to be expanded i.e. an additional one needs to be built alongside the existing one; II.The Trunk mains from Itapaji to Odo-oro Booster station needs to be replaced with steel pipes; III. Araromi Booster station should be rehabilitated; IV. Adequate supply of diesel for running the generators; and V.Adequate/timely supply of chemicals for the treatment of raw water.

T

WATER SCHEMES AND THEIR CATCHMENT AREAS ERO DAM Designed Capacity: 104,500 Cubic meters per day This Dam was originally designed to supply portable water to: (i) All towns and villages in Moba, Ido/Osi, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ijero, Ilejemeje local government areas and Oye local government area except Ire township; (ii) Ekiti West Local Government area except Erijiyan, Ikogosi and Ipole Iloro towns; (iii) Basiri, Okesha, Opopogboro , Secretariat, Egbewa , part of GRA all in Ado-Ekiti Local Government Area; and iv.Ilawe in Ekiti South West Local Government.

Situation of Water Supply To ERO Catchment Areas: (i) Potable water to the towns and villages in these Local Government Areas is deplorable de-

Opeyemi spite the abundant raw water at Ero Dam. Some far areas to this dam have not enjoyed potable water for so many years. The percentage of water supply to these areas is below 25% of designed capacity of about 105,500 cubic meters (about 23 million gallons) per day due to old age of plants and equipment; unstable power supply; under funding of the corporation; untimely and insufficient input. (ii) The pipeline interlinks between Iyin and Ado Ekiti; and between Ifaki and Iworoko were already destroyed by road construction contractors. For this reason, water is not getting to Ifelodun area of Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area. Similarly too, water is not getting to Opopogboro, and Okesha in Ado-Ekiti. (iii) The pipeline between Iyin and Ado-Ekiti which is destroyed by another contractor was responsible for Basiri, Secretariat, and Fajuyi area of Ado-Ekiti not getting supply of portable water from Ero Dam. (iv) The plants and equipment of the ancillary Booster stations under Ero water supply scheme are also bad, dilapidated and in a deplorable state. (v) All the pipeline valves are leaking seriously hence wastages are the order of the day.

Solution: (i) Rehabilitation and restoration of Ero Dam to its original designed capacity. (ii) Constant supply of diesel for running the stand-by generators; (iii) Water Corporation should be adequately funded to cater for repair works, purchase of spare parts for the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) and other overheads; (iv) Timely purchase of sufficient inputs such as Alum, HTH and Lime; (v) The pipeline between Ifaki and Iworoko; Iworoko and Ado-Ekiti; and between Iyin and Ado-Ekiti should be reconstructed to enhance water supply to Iworoko, Ado-Ekiti , Are, Afao, Igbemo and Ado-Ekiti; (vi) All the service pipeline valves need replacement or repair or servicing.

EGBE DAM (LITTLE OSE WATER SUPPLY SCHEME) Designed Capacity: 66,000 cubic meters (14.5 million gallons) per day.

The headwork which is at Egbe town in Gbonyin Local Government Area was designed to supply portable water to Ekiti East (Omuo), Gbonyin, Ise/Orun, and Emure local Government areas of Ekiti State. It was also meant to serve Akoko North, Akoko, Akoko North East, Akoko South and part of Ose Local Government area of Ondo State. Recently, portable water from this scheme was extended to Ado-Ekiti the State capital via a booster station at Ijan-Ekiti.

Situation of the Scheme:

ADO-EKITI WATER SUPPLY SCHEME The designed capacity of the scheme is 4,930cubic meters (about 1.08 million gallons) per day.

Problems: The current capacity is grossly inadequate to meet. The water need of the present population of Ado Ekiti. More than 70% of the current numbers of houses in Ado do not have access to portable water. No extension of pipe lines to their areas.

Solution: Government should: (I) Further expand works on the treatment plants to increase production to meet increasing demand of portable water; (ii) Extend pipelines to new areas; and v. Rehabilitate Iyin-Ado and Iworoko-Ado pipelines to enable water supply from Ero dam to get to Ado Ekiti.

IKERE (BOREHOLE) WATER SUPPLY SCHEME Designed capacity is 225cubic meters (50,000gallons) per day.

Problems: The capacity of the Borehole scheme is grossly inadequate to meet the water demand of the town because: I) The discharge of the Borehole could not cope with the population of the town; ii) About 40% of the 225 cubic meters of water is Egbe Dam which is expected to provide from the steel tanks and the portable water for about 17% of the population lost to leakages of the state is only able to perform at 15% capac- pipelines; iii Irregular supply of electricity; ity due to: (i) Ageing plants and equipment. Out of six (6) iv) Irregular supply of chemicals and diesel pumps, only two are working. These two work- iv) The discharge of the borehole is always too ing ones are old and not performing to expec- low during the dry season Solutions: tation; (I) Follow up for the completion of the EU Bore(ii) Extremely poor electricity supply and unIkere; timely supply of diesel and lubricant to hole Project at Afao; to serve all of (ii) The existing Artisan Borehole should have its run the generators; and (iii) The pipeline to Imesi from Egbe town was steel reservoir replaced with a well-constructed completely uprooted by the road Con- reservoir to prevent leakages and rusts; (iii) Epileptic Power Supply is a perennial probtractors that handled the construction of the lem affecting industries in Nigeria. Water proroad between the two towns in 2010; and duction is not left out of this problem; therefore, (iv) The newly constructed pipelines from there will be constant supply of Diesel; and Egbe to Isinbode is not functioning very well due to the type of pipe used (plastic which can- vi.Supply of chemicals for treatment on a regular/adequate basis will be looked into. not withstand back pressure).

EFON ALAYE WATER SUPPLY SCHEME Solution: The designed capacity is 675cubic meters (about (i) Replacement of the pumps, panels, and 150,000gallons) per day treatment plants with modern ones; Problem: (I) Constant and regular supply of chemical The scheme which is located on Oni River serves and diesel; only Efon Alaaye.The scheme if properly ex(iii) Connection of the33kv line via Ado to the panded and maintained will serve the existing 132kv sub-station at Ado-Ekiti; population of Efon Alaaye. The scheme has just (iv) Bush clearing of the trunk pipelines for witnessed a major turnaround. The problems easy detection of pipe leakages /bursts to enfacing the scheme are; poor location-situated on hance repairs; a hilly land, epileptic power supply, inadequate (v) Reconstruction of the pipeline between supply of diesel and chemicals.

Imesi and Egbe town; (vi) Replacement of the pipeline between Egbe Solutions: junction and Isinbode; also between Isinbode The Government will: (i) De-silt the wear and Ode reservoir with steel pipes; and (ii) Supply Diesel and chemicals regularly (vii) Replacement of the pumps at the reservoir at Isinbode with new ones of higher IGBARA-ODO/OGOTUN WATER SUPPLY SCHEME pump height and higher discharge.

The designed capacity of the Scheme is 600cubic meters (130,000gallons) per day.

ITAPAJI HEADWORKS Situation Report: DESIGNED CAPACITY: 1.14 million gallons This mini scheme is located at IgbaraOdo along or5.175 cubic meters per day.

Ikogosi, it serves only Igbara-Odo and Ogotun The scheme was designed to supply portable water to all the towns and villages under Ikole communities. This scheme has just witnessed turnaround repairs.

Local Government Area. The scheme is also Action Plan: supplying portable water to Osin, Itapa and Government will supply Diesel and chemicals Ire, Ijelu and Omu in Oye Local Government regularly for production.

Area. The area covered by this scheme represents 11% of the population of the State accord- OKEMESI WATER SUPPLY SCHEME The designed capacity is 225cubic meters ing to year 2006 census.

(50,000gallons) per day.

Present Situation: Problem: Water production is about 20%. This production is not getting to towns and villages due to The mini scheme which was designed to serve only Okemesi Township has just been rehabilileakages or bursts on the old pipelines. Retated but the Scheme even if fully utilised is incently, the major booster station to the adequate to meet the demand of Okemesi scheme, Araromi Booster station otherwise people. Okemesi is however linked to the Ero known as Odo-Oro Booster Station was serischeme through the Ijero-Ikoro-Ajindo-Okemesi ously vandalized by hoodlum thereby stoppipeline. ping production from the scheme.

Major problems of the scheme include inade- Action Plan: Government will: quate water treatment from the treatment (I) Supply Diesel regularly as power supply from plant. The treatment is too small to produce enough water that will serve the present popu- the National grid is poor;

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development, by Opeyemi (ii) Make sure there is regular supply of chemicals; and (iii) Ensure Ero dam operates at the designed capacity to be able to serve Okemesi township.

IDO AJINARE WATER SUPPLY SCHEME Designed Capacity is 200cubic meters (42,000gallons) per day and it serves only IdoAjinare people. The scheme has just witnessed a major turnaround repairs.

Action Plan: The requirement here is regular supply of Diesel and Chemicals.

ABANDONED WATER SUPPLY SCHEME: The following water supply schemes were abandoned long before the creation of Ekiti State.

Ayede Water Supply Scheme: The headwork consists of a dam, treatment plant and pumping station.

Ido-Ekiti Water Supply Scheme: This scheme is otherwise called Alapo Waterworks. It is a mini scheme which was designed to serve only Ido Township. Its source is a Spring near the General Hospital, Ido-Ekiti.

Action Plan: Both schemes will be rehabilitated to compliment Water supply from Ero Dam; (I) Ayede scheme will augment supply to Ayede, Ishan and environ, fishing activities can also be carried out in the impounded water behind the Dam; and (ii) Ido (Mapo) Scheme will augment water to the Federal Medical Centre and the Township too.

COMMUNITIES WITHOUT PIPE-BORNE WATER A number of communities are still without pipeborne water in the State despite numerous water supply schemes. Such communities include Ikogosi, Erijiyan and Ipole-Iloro as well as small isolated communities and farm settlements. The ultimate target will be the provision of treated water to every nook and crannies of the State.

ACTION PLAN: (I) Ipole-Iloro water fall will be annexed for the supply of portable water for Ipole-Iloro and part of Efon-Alaaye; (ii) The on-going work on the new scheme at Erijiyan will be completed in time to cater for Erijiyan and Ikogosi; and (iii) Isolated communities and farmlands in the State will be served with Boreholes.

EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT DISTRIBUTION OF WATER TO HOUSES AND COMMUNITIES The present rot in the water supply situation has been due largely to inadequate funding for maintenance. Previous governments did not pay proper attention to water production.

Water charges and rates are not been paid due to non-supply of water while water is not been supplied due to lack of funds. The cycle of ‘’no fund – no supply-no funds’’ continues. In view of the social nature of water supply, it may not be feasible to charge for the total cost of production of water. It is however imperative to recoup part of this cost.

In view of the above, the following be done by our administration: (i) The State Water Corporation will be re-organised and re-positioned for effective delivery of services; (ii) Water meters may be introduced to industries, houses and other concerns with appropriate tariff.

SUMMARY Ekiti State is blessed with abundant water bodies, hence there are many Dams. The people of the State should therefore not suffer for lack of portable water. From the fore-going, if the various existing schemes function efficiently as designed, there will be 90% access to portable water. This is achievable within the first 3 years of the in-coming administration.

Upon the completion of the rehabilitation works on the schemes, distribution to the various communities will be enhanced through replacement of damaged pipes and extension of pipes to areas not previously covered. iv. NTEGRATED TRANSPORTATION (Road, Air and Rail) The Ekiti State of our dream will not only be about making life conducive for our people but creating new frontiers and igniting new inspirations and aspirations to develop every nook and cranny of our home State. In creating a new Ekiti, infrastructure development through sustainable Public-Private Partnership will be key to ensuring that our State is not burdened massively with debt but basic services are provided, thus maintaining a viable, durable and sustainable transportation for the good of all. Transportation will not only be seen as providing structure but will involve the way the structure will be utilized, maintained and the purpose it serves, thereby putting needed infrastructure in the right cities and towns and ensuring communal ownership as the basis for its sustenance.

Ekiti Charter of Prosperity will be implemented in a manner that will encourage integrated

transportation system, which implies that our administration will commit huge State resources into road, light rail and air infrastructure. In order to minimize risk of accidents on the road, we are poised to improve the conditions of our roads, improve the delivery capacity of the traffic control personnel and engender increased State-wide sensitization on road usage and compliance with traffic rules and regulations; Government-assisted inter-city buses will be provided for Ekiti residents in partnership with the organized private sector.

A) AIRPORT AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT will be given priority.

Today about 2000 hectares of land have been set aside by the Government of Engr. Oni towards this project to develop both the Airport and Ancillaries. The Federal Government has already given approval for the airport development in Ekiti State. The estimated cost stood at Five Billion Naira (N5,000,000,000) or $31,250,000, with the Federal Government contributing 50% equity participation and Ekiti State/ reputable partner contributing the balance of 50% based on Public-Private Participation (PPP). The project will be pursued to logical conclusion. a B) RAIL LINK TO NEIGHBOURING STATES Rail system is a successful transport mode because of the speed, capacity, regularity, reliability, accessibility, comfort, safety, adaptability, moderate cost, and contribution to a positive image of a town. Our Government will work towards the introduction of this mode of transportation so that the populace can take onerous advantages of the system.

Ekiti will seek to partner with Ondo State for the introduction of a light railway between Ado-Ekiti and Akure so as to ease transportation of both materials and men between the two cities. This can be further extended to other states as part of our collective effort toward regional integration. Although the project will be capital intensive, in the long run the dividend will be worth while and less costly. Example could be seen in the UK where there are the DLR and the TRAM system of transportation.

CHAPTER 8 HOUSING, RURAL AND NEW TOWN DEVELOPMENT Shelter is synonymous with good, accessible, affordable and comfortable housing. However, housing, in all its ramifications, is more than mere shelter since it embraces all the social services and utilities that essentially make a community a liveable environment. The problems of housing in Nigeria are enormous and complex, exhibiting apparent and marked regional differences. In most urban centres, the problem is not only limited to quantity but also to the quality of available housing units and environment. The result is manifest in increased overcrowding in homes, neighbourhoods and communities; and increasing pressure on infrastructural facilities as well as the rapidly deteriorating environment. The scenario is only slightly different in the rural areas where the problem is primarily not just that of poor quality of housing but also that of inadequate infrastructural facilities such as portable water system, good toilet system, viable drainage system, good roads and regular power supply. have spoken at different fora in a most eloquent and passionate manner about the devastating statistics of the poor housing situation in Ekiti but the present administration had continued to distort facts and figures, claiming that Ekiti has moved a long distance from the picture

painted by the 2006 Census report about Ekiti State. However, all available research documents are still pointing to the fact that the Ekiti livelihood system is still far from the way it is currently being portrayed in the media.

Undoubtedly, lack of affordable and decent shelter can lead to depression and social discontent.

If available statistics can be relied on, the challenge of housing delivery requires sincerity of purpose.

Part of the problems besetting housing delivery is the extremely high cost of funding for government housing projects, inconsistent implementation of housing policies by successive administrations, total withdrawal of some tiers of government in direct construction of houses, and the weak purchasing power among the poor and low-income earners. On assuming office, our administration will immediately take some short-term measures to abate the lingering problem of housing deficit in Ekiti State.

Our action plan in the housing and urban development sectors are: - the implementation of a private-sector driven construction of housing units every budget year till the end of our administration which will be spread over the three senatorial districts and in suitable locations across the state; - complete all on-going and abandoned government housing projects undertaken by previous administrations in the State; - effective and efficient mortgage funding system for Civil servants at reasonable and affordable interest rate by using a Public Sector Participatory Pension Scheme; - encourage the use of traditional/conventional building methods as against the industrial system of housing construction as a means of marrying the need for mass housing with poverty reduction

among our people, therefore appropriate, tested and economic building systems will be utilized which shall be driven towards providing shelter to the low and medium income-earners in Ekiti State; - encourage the establishment of co-operatives or housing associations to enable the rural dwellers have access to funds.

- ensuring that funds accruing from these schemes are managed with transparency, probity, accountability and financial discipline in order that the set objectives of these initiatives are not jeopardized; Our Government shall embark on the development of new town areas and appropriate urban development programmes in blighted areas of the State; - establish a Centralized Land Registry to promote the modernization, computerization and more effective documentation of land ownership in Ekiti State to provide adequate statistical data bank for effective process of housing delivery, urbanization and agricultural development in Ekiti State; - re-design a new master plan for Ekiti Urban, New Towns and Rural Areas Development which will be consistent with the National Housing and Urbanization Policies and which will reflect our lofty dream of opening up Ekiti State for greater economic and commercial activities. This is of course a tall deviation from its present status as mainly an agrarian, civil service and tourist environment; In addition to the above-mentioned program plans, our Government will not hesitate to engender international, bilateral and multilateral assistance for promoting housing and urban development as may become necessary to maximize the available potentials and opportunities to bring about a healthy, decent, viable and sustainable livelihood among our people in Ekiti State.

In addition to these: 1. Adequate fund will be provided to the State Housing Corporation to be used to construct low cost houses for people in urban cities all over the state and make it affordable; 2. Government will provide enabling environment for private developers to intervene in the provision of affordable houses for the people; 3. Government will liberalize approval of Certificate of Occupancy; and 4. Ekiti State Housing Corporation would be mandated to acquire land, provide site and services and also develop owner occupier Housing schemes in all the Local Government Headquarters of Ekiti State.

TO BE CONTINUED

76 Wednesday, June 11, 2014

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | 77

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Sports Warri agog for AFN Golden League, CAA Grand Prix

By Gowon Akpodonor He city of Warri, Delta State T will witness double athletics event this week, as the final leg

Yobo calls for total support uper eagles captain, SNigerian Joseph Yobo has urged fans not to waver in their support for the national team, as he is confident the team will do well at the World Cup having learnt from their mistakes in the build-up games.

The 33-year-old revealed that the mood in camp was very high, as the players are all confident in spite of recent setbacks.

He stated that the build-up games were experimental and have served their purpose, but assured that the team would be in good shape before their first game against Iran.

“We believe in ourselves. We have played some friendly games. We didn’t get the results we expected, but we have learnt a lot from them.

The games were a little bit experimental as well, but now were ready to go against Iran in the first game. We’ll make sure we do very well and get the three points,” Yobo told KickOffNigeria.com.

Yobo noted that the loss the

united States might have affected the morale of most fan, but revealed that the players themselves were disappointed that they didn’t win the game.

He also stated that the team has taken the positives from the game, adding that their minds are already geared towards the bigger target of impressing at the World Cup. He therefore called on the fans to continue to support the national team, assuring that the team would not disappoint.

“Yes, they’re right, but as I said these games sometimes are experimental, to try different things. The World Cup is the ultimate. We are also disappointed that we didn’t win because we want to win and get the confidence.

“But the game is over now.

You take the positives from it and look forward to the bigger targets. We want them to still believe in this team, we need their support because without their support we can’t go anywhere,” Yobo said.

Slimani: Algeria wants to make history rISING name in european managed to do that, there was A club football, Algeria’s no stopping him.

Islam Slimani could be a After being used mainly as a stand-out figure up front for his national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the Sporting Lisbon star says that he and his teammates are looking to leave a mark in Brazil.

“Algeria has never got past the first round, so that’s our goal,” he told FIFA.com. “We are flying to Brazil with ambitions. It will be our fourth appearance at the finals.

“We all know about the victory against West Germany in 1982 with the likes of rabah Madjer, Salah Assad or Lakhdar Belloumi. We all want to leave a trace in the history of Algerian football and follow in their footsteps.”

Slimani, who will turn 26 during the finals, can look back at his first season in european football with some pride.

Having signed for Sporting Lisbon in August last year from Algerian club Cr Belouizdad, Slimani took a few weeks to break into the Sporting line-up, but once he

substitute and scoring a number of goals from the bench, Slimani made the most of an opportunity that presented itself earlier this year as he was given a starting role in the team.

He scored in four consecutive games in March, including a winner against porto that helped Lisbon finish above the reigning champions.

Slimani ended the season tied for the second most goals on the team, finding the net eight times in 26 appearances - 16 of which were from the bench.

Sporting ended the season in second place behind Benfica, and the club’s success has meant that many eyes have been focused on the talented attacking player. “This season, I discovered european football. I am happy with my first season during which I scored decisive goals. Sporting is a great team, and we managed to qualify for the next (ueFA) Champions League.”

Uzoenyi

Ronaldo asserts Messi is a legend without World Cup trophy He former Brazil icon T insists the Argentina star does not need to win the tournament to become one of the game’s greats Brazil legend ronaldo has dismissed the notion that Argentina captain Lionel Messi needs to win the World Cup to be considered a football legend.

The four-time Ballon d’Or winner has won every honour with his club side Barcelona in Spain and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time at the age of 26.

But despite his phenomenal success with the La Liga giants, some critics claim that until Messi replicates his club

success on the international stage with Argentina, he cannot claim his place among the real greats of the game.

However, ronaldo has dismissed that suggestion, instead insisting that Messi has already done enough to be labelled a football god.

“He can win that (the World Cup). He has not retired yet, has he? And he is only 26,” the three-time World player of the Year told The Times of India.

“Moreover, in the history of football, there are players who did not win the World Cup but are considered as great as any other footballer.

“If you win the World Cup, it gives your status a boost.

However, if you cannot, you

can still be among the alltime best.

“I saw him (Messi) in Barcelona in his early years there and spoke about him with ronaldinho. ronaldinho was full of praise for the boy and when we saw him, we knew why ronaldinho was so appreciative.” ronaldo added: “Messi is really a different class. To win four consecutive Ballon d’Ors is a great achievement.”

The Brazil icon also spoke about his namesake, real Madrid winger Cristiano ronaldo, and backed the 29year-old star to fire portugal to World Cup success this summer.

Uzoenyi leaves for Brazil JIke uzoenyi departed for e Brazil yesterday night to join his teammates after he was selected as replacement for injured elderson echiejile in Nigeria’s 23-man squad for the World Cup. uzoenyi had returned to enugu were he had resumed training with his Glo premier League club side, rangers of enugu.

The Media Officer of the

Flying Antelopes, Foster Chime, told KickOffNigeria.com that uzoenyi left enugu yesterday afternoon and will leave Nigeria tonight (yesterday), for the South American nation.

“He trained with us Monday evening and Tuesday morning,” Chime stated.

“He informed us during yesterday morning training

exercise that he has already booked a mid-morning flight to Lagos, from where he will connect with a 10:00pm flight to Brazil.”

The winger took part in Tuesday morning’s training session with his team-mates at rangers, to keep him in good shape before arriving at the team’s camp at the Vitoria Hotel Concept in Campinas.

of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Golden League and the Warri relay/CAA Super Grand prix hold.

While the final of the AFN Golden League jackpot climax on Friday morning, the money spinning Warri relay/CAA Super Grand prix takes center stage later same day.

For the N2million Golden League jackpot, contenders are set to consolidate on their status as the best in their events, while other athletes would no doubt use the meet to continue their preparation for the AFN/CrS All-Nigeria Athletics Championships, which will be staged in Calabar next week.

The presence of other homebased athletes who recently returned to the country from the uS training camp will also add flavour to the event, which culminates in Warri, following competitions in Abuja, Ilorin and Akure.

The challengers for the star prize include Chime Nkechi Leticia who competes for Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the women’s Shot put, Martins Ogieriakhi in the 110 hurdles, the Nigeria police men’s 4x100m relay team and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) men’s 4×400 team.

The likes of Divine Oduduru, Obinna Metu, Ogho-Oghene egwero, Odele Tega, Onyeaku Chukwuma and others are qualifiers for the final of 100m/200m, while Justina Sule, Deborah Odeyemi, peace ukoh, Goodness Thomas and Bukunmi Oloye are expected to slug it out in the women’s category.

Brazil 2014: TAN launches predict and win promo uper eagles fans are in for a SAmbassadors treat as the Transformation of Nigeria (TAN) institutes a ‘predict and win promo’ for the 2014 World Cup. According to the coordinator of TAN, Orji Okoronkwo, there are about 5000 Super eagles jersies and caps to give out to fans, who predict the scores of the team correctly.

Also, loyal fans would be rewarded for staying to the team throughout the competition. “What we want to do with the promo is to encourage fans to go out and give the eagles their total support.

“Like we have done since the build up to the competition started, we have called on the fans to rally round the team despite their not-too-impressive performance in the friendly game,” he added.

He said that the 12 fans who won a trip in TAN’s ‘Fly me to Brazil’ promo would leave Lagos for rio on Saturday and would be hosted at a send forth dinner on Friday at the eko Hotel and Suites.

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78 | SPortS Wednesday, June 11, 2014

European Round up

Cole completes Villa move

Ston Villa have a announced the free transfer signing of Joe Cole on a two-year deal.

Villa released a picture, via twitter, of Cole wearing a club tracksuit top at the club’s Bodymoor Heart training complex. the accompanying text confirmed Cole had “completed a medical this (yesterday) morning”.

Cole, who has also played for Chelsea and Liverpool in his career, won 56 caps for england.

He moves to Villa Park having spent the past season and a half back at first club West Ham, where he came through the youth ranks.

He was regarded as one of the most gifted players of his generation and was

snapped up by Chelsea for £6.6million in 2003.

He won three Premier League titles and became an england regular during a successful seven-year spell at Stamford Bridge, but injuries eventually led to him falling down the pecking order. a move to Liverpool in 2010 failed to reignite his career but he enjoyed a successful loan spell with Lille before taking up the opportunity to return to Upton Park.

He rejoined the Hammers on an 18-month deal, but played only a bit-part role in the season just concluded.

He last started a Barclays Premier League last December, when he scored for West Ham in a 3-3 draw against West Brom.

‘Sunderland fans will hate me after Newcastle move’ iDFieLDer Jack Colback M admits most Sunderland fans will hate him for leaving to join newcastle United.

Colback, 24, was out of contract this summer and ended a 16-year association with the Black Cats to complete a switch to their fiercest rivals. “the majority of Sunderland fans will hate me for the rest of my life,” Colback told BBC newcastle. “i thank them for their support when i was there, and Sunderland for the chance to play in the Premier League.”

Sunderland were keen to retain Colback and were “extremely disappointed” to lose his services when he chose to join the team he grew up supporting.

Colback is the second signing of the summer by Magpies boss, alan Pardew, joining Spanish striker ayoze Perez at St James’ Park.

Sherwood

“to be able to come to my hometown team is a special move, it feels different to any other move,” Colback said. “i’m going to be immensely proud to pull on the black and white shirt. it’s a massive club with huge potential.” the england Under-20 international was born in Killingworth, north tyneside, and was a newcastle supporter despite making his professional breakthrough at Sunderland.

He became a regular on Wearside, scoring five goals in 136 appearances, in addition to a loan spell at ipswich under former boss roy Keane.

Hazard

Cole

Hazard stays with Chelsea Den Hazard has stated that he is fully committed to Chelsea and has no intention of leaving for Paris Saint Germain this summer. the 23-year-old Belgian star has also revealed that he has opened talks about a new contract at Stamford Bridge,

e

emphasising that he has no plans to leave the West London giants. recent weeks have seen intense speculation over Hazard’s future, with PSG strongly linked with a bigmoney offer for Hazard amid claims that he is unsettled.

Sherwood on six-man shortlist for West Brom’s job orMer tottenham managFinterviewed er, tim Sherwood has been for the head coach’s job at West Brom and is on a shortlist of six for the position. an appointment is expected by the end of the week, with all candidates due to have been interviewed before then.

Sherwood, 45, parted company with Spurs on May 13, just five months after he replaced andre Villas-Boas as manager.

West Brom finished 17th in the Premier League in 2013-14, and Pepe Mel left his role as head coach on May 12. the Spaniard was the Baggies’

second head coach of the season, with Steve Clarke having departed in December after four successive defeats.

Sherwood, meanwhile, took charge at tottenham on an interim basis on December 16 and was given the job full-time a week later. the former Spurs midfielder led the club to a sixth-place finish and europa League qualification, but left despite a topflight win percentage of 59 per cent, the best of any tottenham boss in the Premier League.

His record impressed West Brom, as did his work with

young players, while working as technical co-ordinator at White Hart Lane.

BBC Sport’s Pat Murphy said: “the job specification at the Hawthorns has not changed the successful applicant will be head coach, not manager, working alongside terry Burton and richard Garlick in the sporting and technical department.

“Whoever gets the job will be able to bring in his own coaching staff.”

Former Southampton boss, Mauricio Pochettino replaced Sherwood as tottenham manager.

But now, on the eve of the World Cup finals, Hazard has moved to quash any further speculation about his future, with the Young Player of the Year insisting that he is staying with Chelsea.

Speaking to Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure, he revealed: “i won’t go to PSG, i am staying at Chelsea 100 per cent.

“We are talking with Chelsea about a contract extension, but there’s no hurry on that. of course in football you never know but i am under contract with Chelsea and i want to stay there. “it is only the beginning of the talks right now so we have time, but the fact that Chelsea have offered me a new deal means they have a lot of confidence in me that i can do a good job and that they can count on me. PSG never made any suggestions to me personally.”

Hazard is currently with the Belgium World Cup squad, who are due to arrive in Brazil on tuesday.

Fiorentina signs Tatarusanu iorentina have signed romania international, FCiprian tatarusanu on a fiveyear deal. the 28-year-old goalkeeper, who spent the past six seasons with Steaua Bucharest and had a season on loan at Gloria Bistrita in 2008, left the romanian side at the end of the season on a Bosman ruling after rejecting a new contract offer.

During his time at Steaua, tatarusanu helped them win two romanian championships, one romanian Cup and two romanian Super Cups before signing for the Serie a club on Monday after passing a medical. tatarusanu, capped 24 times by his county, told violachannel.tv: “i can’t wait to get stuck into this new professional experience. “i’ve wanted to come to Fiorentina from the start because this club has ambitious plans. “the team plays entertaining football, the fans are passionate and they’re at one with the team and the city.

Qatar 2022: Corruption claims are racist, says Blatter iFa president, Sepp Blatter Frounding claims allegations surthe Qatar 2022

Blatter

World Cup bid are motivated by racism.

Qatar was chosen as host in December 2010 but corruption claims have prompted Fifa to begin an inquiry. “there is a sort of storm against FiFa relating to the Qatar World Cup,” Blatter said. “Sadly there’s a great deal of discrimination and racism.”

FiFa will rule on the validity of the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in September or october. at that point, the 78-year-old president of football’s world

governing body said the “matter will be closed”.

Blatter confirmed the latest allegations would be discussed at the FiFa Congress on tuesday (yesterday) and Wednesday.

He said FiFa needed to combat “anything that smacks of discrimination and racism”, adding the repeated attacks make him “sad”.

Qatar overcame competition from australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States to be named as 2022 hosts. But the bidding process has been hit by a series of corruption claims.

Lawyer Michael Garcia is leading an independent investiga-

tion into the bidding process and is due to deliver his report to Fifa in mid-July.

Blatter told delegates from the asian Football Conference that Garcia would also speak at FiFa’s congress to update delegates on his inquiry.

Garcia is investigating everyone connected with the bidding process for both the 2018 World Cup, to be staged in russia, and the 2022 event.

Qatar’s World Cup organising committee continues to reject claims of wrongdoing and says it is confident the vote was won fairly.

Meanwhile, africa’s football chiefs have attacked the media - “notably British” - for

what they called “repeated, deliberately hateful, defamatory and degrading attacks” on the integrity of the Confederation of african Football (CaF) “and the entire african continent”. in a resolution posted on its website, CaF hit out at reports placing the region’s football administrators at the centre of allegations of bribery to secure the 2022 World Cup for Qatar.

CaF added it would urge the executive committee “to file a law suit, if necessary, so that the authors of this smearing and defamatory campaign against african football leaders are brought to book”.

SPORTS Wednesday, June 11, 2014 79

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

World Cup Hodgson: Gerrard has no injury issues HE England midfielder T left training early on Monday but the manager insists he has no fitness problems, while Alex OxladeChamberlain is stepping up his recovery from injury England manager Roy Hodgson insists Steven Gerrard has no injury issues despite the midfielder leaving midway through an open training session on Monday.

Gerrard pulled out of the session shortly after completing a couple of light jogs away from the squad, throwing his participation in England’s opening game with Italy into doubt.

But Hodgson says “there is nothing wrong” with the Liverpool midfielder ahead of Saturday’s clash.

“There is nothing wrong with Steven Gerrard,” he told reporters.

“I don’t really understand (claims Gerrard is unfit).

“My understanding is yesterday he did some extra work. There is absolutely nothing wrong with him.”

Meanwhile, Hodgson is hopeful Alex OxladeChamberlain will be fit to face Uruguay in England’s second match in Group D, with the Arsenal midfielder stepping up his recovery after suffering a knee injury in a pre-World Cup friendly against Ecuador.

“Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did well yesterday and we will be stepping up his training programme during the course of the week,” he added.

“The medics are hopeful he will be fit by the second game (against Uruguay).”

England manager Roy Hodgson insists Steven Gerrard has no injury issues despite the midfielder leaving midway through an open training session on Monday.

Gerrard left the session shortly after completing a couple of light jogs away from the squad, throwing his participation in England’s opening game with Italy into doubt.

But Hodgson says “there is nothing wrong” with the Liverpool midfielder ahead of Saturday’s clash.

“There is nothing wrong with Steven Gerrard,” he told reporters.

“I don’t really understand (claims Gerrard is unfit).

“My understanding is yesterday he did some extra work.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with him.”

Meanwhile, Hodgson is hopeful Alex OxladeChamberlain will be fit to face Uruguay in England’s second match in Group D, with the Arsenal midfielder stepping up his recovery after suffering a knee injury in a pre-World Cup friendly against Ecuador.

Argentina players celebrating

Cruyff tips Argentina as favourites ORMER Netherlands interFbelieves national Johan Cruyff Argentina is the team to beat at the World Cup. Brazil remains favourite to emerge victorious on home soil following their Confederations Cup triumph in 2013, but Argentina - led by captain Lionel Messi - have been tipped by the likes of former forward Diego Maradona to challenge for glory this month.

And 67-year-old Cruyff believes Alejandro Sabella’s men could capitalise should

Brazil succumb to the pressure of winning a home World Cup, while he has also tipped Spain, Italy and Germany to pose a threat.

“The pressure on the squad is huge,” Cruyff wrote in his De Telegraaf column. “They have to watch out for Argentina. I think Spain will also be a good contender and we know that Germany and Italy can grow into the tournament. “ Cruyff has also rued the loss of key players at the World Cup who have been forced to miss the tourna-

ment because of injury.

Radamel Falcao, Marco Reus and Franck Ribery are the standout absentees, while Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Neymar and Steven Gerrard have all been struggling for full fitness prior to their respective opening games.

“A World Cup is longer than a month and costs a lot of energy. I’m not happy to see that players have already been dropped from squads because of injury,” Cruyff said.

“We have to wait and see if players like Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal will be ready in time. A team can be okay today and be in trouble tomorrow.”

Netherlands have been drawn in Group B alongside current world and European champions Spain, Chile and Australia.

Their first game will be against Spain in Salvador on June 13, before they face Australia in Porto Alegre on June 18 and Chile in Sao Paulo on June 23.

Gotze possesses ‘extraordinary talent,’ Maradona confesses HE Argentina legend T believes Germany head into this summer’s World

Gerrard

Prandelli wants Azzurri to work harder ESARE Prandelli admits C that his Italy side are ‘not sharp enough yet’ as they prepare to face England on Saturday.

Warm-up matches have failed to provide the kind of preparation the Azzurri were hoping for, with an inability to generate positive results piling pressure on a squad that reached the final of Euro 2012.

Prandelli concedes that there is plenty of room for improvement within his ranks ahead of a World Cup opener in Manaus.

He is, however, convinced that Italy will be ready and that everyone is prepared to give their all for the good of the collective cause.

Prandelli said: “We are not sharp enough yet. We have

done the physical work, trained hard and are in good shape.

“But we know we must improve before we start the tournament against England. We can improve and we will improve.

“Character-wise, the team will not disappoint and we will fight for the shirt and for every ball.”

Prandelli has been warned by one of his predecessors, Giovanni Trapattoni, that ‘the coach of the Italian national team is like a condemned man who doesn’t know the date of his own execution’.

He continues to ignore the critics, though, with each passing tournament seeing Italy written off before they have kicked a ball in ager.

Cup as the best prepared team and is tipping the Bayern Munich playmaker to shine in Brazil.

Diego Maradona is backing Germany to win this summer’s World Cup in Brazil and believes that in Mario Gotze they possess a player with “extraordinary talent”.

Joachim Low’s men have been drawn in a difficult Group G alongside Portugal, Ghana and USA, and will begin their campaign against Cristiano Ronaldo and co. in Salvador on June 16.

Expectation weighs heavily on Germany’s talented squad after semi-final failures against Spain and Italy in the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 respectively, and the loss of Marco Reus to injury has dealt their chances a significant blow.

No European team has ever won a World Cup on South American soil but Maradona believes Low’s men are well equipped - particularly with Gotze within their ranks.

“Germany is the most well prepared team,” he wrote in his column for the Times of India.

“Though it is difficult for a European team to win in

South America, yet the Germans have the talent.

“I shall never forget how they won their last World Cup in Italia 1990. And how can I forget how they had punched us in 2010! Joachim Low has a fantastic side, with the right blend of experience and youth.

“They can go the distance.

By the way, watch out for Mario Goetze. The boy has extraordinary talent.”

Maradona also once again hit out at Fifa, this time calling football’s world governing body an “ugly power”.

The Argentina and Napoli icon recently accused the organisation of being corrupt amid allegations that officials received bribes to vote for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. With Fifa confirming that the 2014 World Cup winning team will receive €26 million, Maradona has criticised the organisation for the amount of money they are set to make from the tournament in Brazil.

“It (Fifa) is an ugly power. If they win €3 billion with the World Cup and the champions take €26 (million), there is a difference that you cannot believe,” Maradona told Latin American TV station TeleSUR. “Fifa is eating the ball. They are taking €3 billion without doing anything.”

Maradona captained Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986 and while the preparations for the tournament in Brazil have been marred by public protests, the 53-year-old believes the nation will put on a spectacle for the fans.

Gotze

When asked about his vision for the World Cup, Maradona said: “From a distance, there are many strikes and things should have been done differently.

“That worries me although Brazil will host a great World Cup. But beware, do not for-

TheGuardian

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Thompson Taiwo F the continents that form the world, Africa O is the luckiest and most richly blessed in the area of bounteous natural resources. These got her into trouble with the white colonialists: The Portuguese, the French Huguenots, the Dutch, the British, among others, who came down with brute force and technological wizardry to exploit away these resources for economic development of their home countries. In the face of aggressive raid on African potential wealth spinners for many years, the resources prove too abundant to be totally exploited. Decades after the horrors of colonialism, Africa still boasts of a large quantity of mineral deposits, such as oil, gas, copper, diamonds, gold, uranium ore, without which the world economy will melt down.

Notwithstanding, these essential gifts of nature buried in the ground and in the ocean, Africa direly stinks with pervasive poverty like a decomposing mammal.

Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Equatorial Guinea as well as many other black countries contribute significantly to the collective pool of world’s natural resources. Nigeria, a country in West Africa, sits comfortably as Africa’s largest producer of oil and eighth largest oil producing nation in the world with myriads of untapped raw materials in virtually all the six geopolitical zones that make up the country.

According to the country’s oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria has a maximum crude oil production capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day.

Oil accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s major revenue and about 100 per cent of its export earnings, going by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data of 2013.

The rainbow nation, South Africa, is a cauldron of mineral resources. Until 2006 when Russia, Peru, China, Australia, United States overtook over its production power, it enjoyed the standing as the world’s largest gold producer with gold ore reserves, estimated at about 40,000t, constituting 40 per cent of global reserves. A report on the U.S. Geological

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Africa: A rich continent of poor people (1)

African Union Chairman, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Survey website confirms the country as the sixth largest gold producer in 2013 with gold production of 145 metric tonnes. According to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, South Africa is the world’s largest producer of chrome, manganese, platinum, vanadium

and vermiculite. It is the second largest producer of limonite, palladium, rutile and zirconium. It is also the world’s third largest coal exporter.

Recently, the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, at an international conference in the country’s capital, Malabo, insisted that the country’s oil and gas wealth was a blessing and not a curse. The Central African country is today the largest producer of oil on the continent after Nigeria and Angola. In the February 2014 edition of New African, Kwamina Panford in his story captioned “What new African oil producers can learn”, reported the claim of Teodoro Obiang’s government which was to the effect that Equatorial Guinea provides 17 per cent of the natural gas used to heat U.S. homes and for cooking in these homes.

In the Southern African country of Angola, a nation located on the Atlantic coast, the situation is not any different. The economy of the country rests principally on earnings from oil.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that net oil export revenues in Angola were $68 billion in 2012. With a population of about 18 million, Angola stands as the second largest producer of oil in Africa, behind Nigeria with about 1.8 million barrels per day of petroleum and other liquids, of which more than 1.7 million is crude oil.

Taking the abundant natural riches of the aforementioned countries into consideration, the continent of Africa and its people have no

grounds to be poor. But the scary reality is a people ravaged by staggering poverty, unemployment statistics, maternal and infant mortality, corroded infrastructure, high illiteracy level, poor health services, insecurity, the list is never-ending.

In Nigeria, poverty sleeps and wakes up with vast majority of people. The stupendous wealth that accrues from oil sales and other lucrative resources has not positively imparted on the lives of the ordinary citizens due to mismanagement of such earnings and gains by government. Successive Nigerian governments have been in and out of allegations and counter allegations of missing oil money. The first civilian government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari was accused of sudden disappearance of N2.8 billion oil money and this led to the setting up of the Judicial Commission of Enquiry headed by Mr. Justice Ayo Irikefe of the Supreme Court to inquire into the alleged missing oil money. The commission, however, acquitted the government of the charge. And just recently, the Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government of Nigeria was accused of missing $20 billion oil money through the NNPC. As expected, the government has come out to defend itself against such charge, describing it as lacking in credibility and also expressed its seriousness to inaugurate an independent panel to audit the NNPC accounts.

It is also sad to note while the government of Nigeria brandishes figures of economic prosperity through rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), thereby declaring itself the largest economy on the continent, majority of its citizens celebrate years of rationing and privation. Every leader entrusted with the treasury of the country since independence has failed to lift the people out of the yaws of want and thorny blows of poverty. A walk to the rural areas of the country will explain the excruciating consequences of criminally inept and heavily corrupt leadership.

To be continued.

Taiwo is a social commentator based in Lagos. thompsontaiwo54@yahoo.com

Moral legitimacy and national conference (2)

By Daniel Obimba Continued from yesterday (Tuesday,10/6/2014) N his work, Class struggle in Africa, Kwame Nkrumah traces tribal schisms of post-colonial Africa to the ascendancy of an exploitative bourgeoisie minority class (collaborating with imperialists and neo-colonialists) in what he called a promotion of “their joint class interests”. These insights and others in the same category have reinforced a pattern espoused by certain contemporary intellectuals that ethnic frictions do not run deeper and beyond the elaborate exploitations and schemes of the ruling elite, exiguous in their numbers but paramount in their influence.

But the truth is that our divisions have taken a heavy toll, if not on our collective psyche then our disparate psyches in ways too pertinent to ignore from the 1953 riot in the North to the Jos killings of early 2000’s and many more. There have been many political killings (military coups inclusive) too numerous to recall here.

Now we have the dreaded Boko Haram insurgency looking like a watershed to an already convoluted situation. That the sabre rattling of influential elite has exacerbated the situation is not lost to any keen observer but the bloody conflicts experienced so far could never have gained traction without an extensive collaboration of a deeply prejudiced populace often riled by the losses suffered from crises in the past and present. The Civil war, the genocide and the pogrom of the 60’s continue to elicit resentment from the Igbo speaking peoples of Nigeria. Reminiscences of MKO’s travails and eventual suspicious death still peeve the Yoruba of the South-West. It is also not to be

I

expected that the Birom, Tiv, Jukuns and Fulanis will treat the losses from their clashes in times of future respite with respectable cheer.

Our wounds are grave, sometimes more grave than we care to admit and sadly too they are curiously inherited. For instance, the story about the conspired liquidation of Adaka Boro in the late 60s by the Nigerian establishment of the day is now no longer just a loss to his peers and generation but one of the many focal grievances for the new generation of Ijaw insurgents found in groups like MEND (some of who are young enough to be Boro’s grandchildren) who have internalised the injury as theirs. This young generation, thus imbued is equally fired up with the hate as first nursed by that older generation, living or ancestral, as they continue to confront what they view as

the Nigerian bogey.

A polity restructuring national conference may look suitable in trying to manage our divisions but we are already seared with wounds to which a solution rooted in truth and reconciliation shall be condign. To convene a national summit without genuine national healing amounts to assembling potential “aggressors” in a “scramble conference”.

We can borrow from President Rousseff of Brazil’s 2012 Truth Commission, Rwanda’s Gacaca system (avoiding its pitfalls), South Africa’s 1994 truth and reconciliation success.

The Gacaca, for instance, emphasises acknowledgements and apologies from perpetrators as confessions are made only acceptable if they come with an apology. We can have a forum that boldly revisits “the sins” against MKO culminating in a national apology to his family

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with major actors like IBB in full participation.

It won’t be far-fetched to bring the Nzeogwu’s of Okpanam and the Ahmadu Bello family and descendants in symbolic union, emotive apologies freely offered signaling a new bonding fundamental in effect. A compelling rapprochement must be conducted for the Ogoni, the Odi, parts of Middle Belt etc. on similar terms. Also no reconciliation of any significant magnitude can be achieved without revisiting the pogrom and the genocidal sufferings of the Igbos of the East before and during the civil war. The major actors and their survivors (Gowon, Awolowo et al) should be involved offering apologies accordingly. Behind the strategy of truth, healing and reconciliation lies penetrating vision. A restructured Nigeria cannot survive mutual hatred. Healing deferred or denied breeds potential saboteurs even to good governance. Mandela’s 1994 truth and reconciliation commission singularly put South Africa on the path of integration and stability. Unlike (we’ve lacked leadership emblematic of national integration) the Mandela’s of history who provided fine African examples of triumph over discord, the Nigerian experience continues to bolster fancied stereotypes that the African is less capable of such quintessence as civilised reconciliation, that their primordial predilections stir them more towards sustained truculence and prejudice.

So for those who gloat that moral legitimacy justifies this conference, it must be said that an unequivocal healing and integration motivated entente shall be for now the best triumph of that type of moral legitimacy.

Concluded.