Wed 19 March 2014 by The Guardian Newspaper

TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Vol. 30, No. 12,865

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National confab adjourns over logistics challenges From Terhemba Daka, Lemmy Ughegbe and Karls Tsokar, Abuja ARELY 24 hours after inauB guration, the national conference yesterday adjourned sitting to enable the delegates complete their documentation as well as other administrative details and logistics necessary for the smooth commencement of the talks.

• To resume next Monday • Court joins Kutigi, others in suit to stop dialogue Meanwhile, the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, yesterday joined Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi (rtd), Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi and Dr. (Mrs.) Val Azinge, chairman, vice chairman and secretary of the national conference

respectively as fifth to seventh defendants in suit filed by a lawyer, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, seeking to stop the conference. This came as some of the delegates engaged in a game of wits as the organisers of the

conference said it is poised to fashion out a frame-work that would aid the National Assembly on its work on the issue of a referendum when the need arises. Specifically, the adjournment, according to the man-

agement, is to enable the administrative members of staff firm up sundry issues pertaining to the delegates’ accommodation, transportation, sitting arrangements, working tools, among others, as well as the allowances for each of the members which it was disclosed have been monetised. Meanwhile, the conference is expected to resume plena-

ry session next Monday and run through Thursday beginning at 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. daily, with the first two weeks devoted to brainstorming on the content of the speech delivered by President Goodluck Jonathan during the inauguration. Responding to the barrage of questions from delegates, the Conference Secretary, VaCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Jonathan canvasses review of outdated education policy - Page 3

Court nullifies NJC’s choice for Rivers’ CJ - Page 4

Delta Assembly gets new speaker, Onwusanya - Page 4

Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Uche Chukwumerije (left); Supervisory Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike; Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Foluso Philips; Vice President Namadi Sambo; Director-General, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Frank Nweke (Jnr.); Supervisory Minister of National Planning, Bashir Yuguda; Executive Director, CNBC Africa, Bronwyn Nielsen; Vice President, Human Development, World Bank, Dr. Elizabeth King and Board Chairman, West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Prof. Pai Obanya, during the 20th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja… yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

‘Nigeria has highest number of diabetics in Africa’ – Page 7

NSA unveils non-military strategy to fight terrorism From Madu Onuorah, Adamu Abuh, Abosede Musari (Abuja) and Joseph Wantu (Makurdi) O check the cruel disreT gard for human life and property in the northern part of the country, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, has launched what he labelled a “soft approach to countering terrorism” that will utilise existing structures within and outside the government. But as Dasuki unveiled the initiative yesterday, gunmen

were busy setting ablaze a pregnant woman, killing her son and two other farmers in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. The callousness was perpetrated less than 24 hours after suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Tulen and Agasha communities in Guma Local Council of Benue State, leaving scores of people dead. Notwithstanding, the House of Representatives made a move yesterday to stem the tide of impunity and callousness when it ordered its Committee on Na-

• Gunmen kill four in Benue • Reps probe killings in southern Kaduna • Army denies rights violation in N’East tional Security and Public Safety to investigate the recent killings of over 100 people in a southern Kaduna village. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has denied allegations of human rights violation in its fight against terrorism in the North-East, dismissing the allegations as concoctions of the West to present

Nigeria as a nation that cannot handle its own affairs or that can never get it right. The anti-terrorism initiative by the NSA will include implementation of an economic turnaround policy at the end of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. This, Dasuki said, will be implemented through families, communities, civil

society groups and faithbased organisations towards building resilience to violent extremism. The result, he said, will be the development of a Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programme “that is both vertical, involving the three tiers of government (federal, state and local), and horizontal, involving civil society, academics, traditional, religious and community leaders. It consists of three streams with different layers of partners: ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), including

the civil society.” The soft approach to counter-terrorism initiative, the NSA stated, will be based on the principles that terrorism is un-Islamic, counter-terrorism is not against Muslims, encouragement and empowerment of Muslims to speak out against terror, ensuring that Muslim-Christian relations is used to stop terrorists’ desperate goal to ignite a religious war and that counter-terrorism is apolitical as the government will build CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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Reps probe killings in southern Kaduna CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 inter-party collaboration for counter-terrorism operations. According to the NSA, “based on our understanding of the economic root causes of terrorism and global best practices in addressing them, we are working with the governors of the six north eastern states to design an economic revitalisation programme targeted toward the states most impacted by terrorism. Working with various stakeholders, we are currently designing a regional economic revitalisation plan. In December 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan tasked leaders of the North-East region and the NSA to develop a joint regional redevelopment plan which will serve as the foundation for a federal-state partnership to revitalise the region’s economy.” Dasuki further stated that “an inter-ministerial committee, consisting of the Ministries of Agriculture, Power, Finance, Works, Water Resources, Health, Education, Transport, Communication, Culture and Tourism, Industry-Trade and Investments, Solid Minerals Development, Science and Technology, Youth Development, as well as Lands and Housing, along

with SMEDAN, the Budget Office, National Planning Commission, development partners and my office, is currently working with the region under the aegis of the Presidential Initiative for the North-East (PINE). I thank our development partners for their role in developing this initiative. “There exists a window of opportunity because communities are already indicating preference for peace and stability, having realised the danger that violent extremism presents both socially, psychologically and economically. More communities are providing prompt and actionable intelligence to security forces that have led to the capture of violent extremists or weapons caches. We realise that every Nigerian has a role to play in countering violent extremism. The soft approach provides us with a frame-work that identifies the roles and responsibilities of every segment of our society: the governors, local council chairmen, national and state assembly members, political parties, trade unions, the private sector, traditional institutions, ministers and other government officials, academics, in fact, a ‘wholeof-society’ approach that in-

volves everyone vertically and horizontally to confront violent extremism.” Dasuki saluted the immense sacrifices that the military and law enforcement officers have made. “We must also remember the souls we have lost and those they left behind, whole communities that have been sacked and the increasing number of orphans and victims, a large number of whom are children. When we reflect this horrendous damage and feel the pain and loss, we should remember that the only thing left for us to do is to stand up against this violence.” The Guardian gathered that the burnt pregnant woman and her son had gone to farm at Iwenge village, near Welfare quarters located along Makurdi-Otukpo Road where the gunmen attacked and killed them by 10.00 a.m. yesterday. Irked by the killings, the irate youths in Kanshio village, the affected area, were said to have conveyed the bodies of the deceased farmers to the palace of the Ter Makurdi, Chief Sule Abenga and demanded that the royal father should address them on the killings. The youths barricaded the highway leading from Makurdi to Otukpo, resulting to traffic congestion which lasted for several hours. But sources at the Ter Makurdi’s residence who pleaded anonymity told The Guardian that at the point the gunmen invaded the farm and started struggling with the woman and her son, some passersby quickly rushed to the scene to assist but were over-powered by the attackers.

Abenga, while fielding questions from journalists yesterday said the attack on the woman and her son was mischievous, lamenting that the youths moved the bodies to his house because of the false allegations that traditional rulers have hands in the crisis. The Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ezeala, confirmed the incident at Kanshio village, saying: “There was an attack in that area, somebody was butchered to death and a burnt body was also picked from the farm where the attack happened. The dead bodies were moved to the mortuary and investigation into the matter is ongoing.” The House of Representatives presided over by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, directed the committee to probe the Kaduna killings within two weeks and report back. The lawmakers also urged security agencies to intensify efforts to apprehend those behind the killings so as to bring them to justice. Unknown gunmen invaded Bondon village of Moroa kingdom in Kaura Local Council of Kaduna State in the early hours of Saturday, killing scores, while many houses and other property were destroyed. Adopting a motion on the matter moved by Gideon Gwani (PDP, Kaduna), the lawmakers lamented the incessant killings of innocent citizens in the southern part of Kaduna. Army Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, denied the allegation of rights violation in Abuja yesterday while speaking at

a two-day forum on Advancing Freedom of Information Implementation on the African Continent. Speaking on “Protecting Sensitive National Security Information in the Age of Freedom of Information”, Olukolade stated that some reports on human rights violation by soldiers, especially those showing soldiers shooting directly at civilians may have been doctored. He noted that suspected Boko Haram members who have been caught remain in detention because the Army respects human rights. “If we were to be emotional, nobody will be in detention, going by the amount of atrocities that Boko Haram has committed. But some of them are in detention and are being fed with public food. Some of them are better fed than innocent people. This is because we respect human rights. Reports by the West of human rights violation are to present us as people that cannot get anything right. Our personnel are trained not to violate human rights,” he said. Talking about media reports on the Boko Haram issue and the access to information, Olukolade said that the Nigerian Army has been lenient with the media and has given it enough access. According to him, the anti-terrorism law makes it a crime for anyone to have contact with terrorists, yet media reports have indicated that the press is in contact with the terrorists. “But up till today, we have not prosecuted anyone.” He, however, expressed displeasure with media use of

the information provided starting with inaccurate and conflicting casualty figures that are reported all the time as well as the sensational manner of reporting them. While not mentioning any medium in particular, the Army chief cited examples of screaming headlines which he said are sometimes laced with speculations. Though he wasn’t confrontational, Olukolade seemed not to be too comfortable with the Senate debate on defence budget on television because of the sensitive nature of defence structure and processes. He noted that any information revealed may be used by an enemy to overturn defence strategies. In his welcome address, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, the organisers of the conference, Edetaen Ojo, stated that the objective of the conference was to bring together key stakeholders from the West African subregion and other parts of Africa to share experiences in implementing their Freedom of Information laws; collectively identify the challenges confronting the effective implementation of Freedom of Information laws in their countries and find ways of addressing or mitigating them. It would be recalled that the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, Navi Pillay, had alleged during her recent visit to Nigeria that issues of human rights violation by Nigerian forces occurred in the North-East. While calling for transparent investigations into such allegations, she noted that it is important that government forces do not exacerbate the problem by taking actions

National confab adjourns over logistics challenges CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 lerie Azinge, also told the participants that the rules of engagement for the conference will be unveiled on Thursday ahead of the commencement of the session. The document, she said, will also contain a copy of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. According to her, the three months for the conference will be dedicated to the issues of policies and law and come up with the recommendations on the way forward for the country. “The first weeks of sitting, we will start with the issues highlighted in the President’s speech and move on to other issues that agitate Nigerians”, she said. On referendum, she explained that the conference was not working at cross purposes with the National Assembly which, she said, was already addressing the matter but stated that the delegates will only fashion out a frame-work based on the issues that will emerge during the debates. It was a full hall during the first sitting which began at about 10.48 a.m. yesterday. After running through an introduction of the management team, Valerie Azinge gave an overview of the activities and the shape and coloration the conference will take. But the session was almost marred when the chairman,

Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, opened the floor for the delegates to ask questions and for several minutes, delegates were engaged in a game of wits on who to speak first. Two delegates from Edo and Rivers states, Charles Edonsowan and Prof. Amakievi Gabriel, were booed when they, in their separate submissions, objected to an earlier argument made by the conference secretary that the seats will be tagged with the names of delegates. Leader of former governors to the conference, Segun Osoba, advocated that seats should be arranged in alphabetical order with special preferences given to the elderly and physically challenged persons amongst them. Further on the activities that will shape the conference, the secretary said: “Arrangements are being made to enable Muslims have their prayers everyday. No praying ground is made available for the Christians. The secretary of the conference said a place will be provided later. “We will try and be as democratic as possible. We will give people the right to challenge anything. If the delegates decide at the end of the day that they want a new constitution, those things will be accommodated. When the sitting starts properly, we will have three months to come up with resolutions on the way forward for our country.” Constitutional lawyer, Mike

Ozekhome, however challenged the proposal to provide a praying ground for the Muslim delegates and the exclusion of their Christian counterparts. He advocated same treatment in the interest of fair-play. “Some of us are in our Lent period. Since you have provided a place for the Muslims to pray, are you going to do the same for Christians?” he asked. Meanwhile, Nigerians have been advised to log on to www.nigerianationalconference2014.org to get more information about the conference. The presiding Judge, Justice Abdul Kafarati, reached that decision following an application by Abayomi praying the court to join the trio as co-defendants on the ground that the trio are the ones to pilot the affairs of the conference and therefore the suit will be incomplete without them. Counsel to the defendants, Femi Falana (SAN), did not oppose the application. Instead, he urged the plaintiff to withdraw the interlocutory application so as to pave way for the hearing of the substantive suit, a request which Abayomi acceded to. Consequently, the court adjourned till March 31, 2014 for definite hearing of the suit which Abayomi filed on March 4, 2014, praying it to stop the national conference on the ground that President Goodluck Jonathan lacks power to convene it.

Named as first to fourth defendants are the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Attorney-General of the Federation, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively. The plaintiff asked the court to determine whether a national conference can be convened by the President or government of Nigeria without a law made by the National Assembly enabling them to do so. He wants the court to declare that a national conference with stated authority, programme, means and end, howsoever, cannot at all be convoked or convened by the President or Government of Nigeria without a law made by the National Assembly enabling them to do so. He also wants the court to restrain the President and the Federal Government perpetually from holding any national conference, however, without a law made by the National Assembly enabling them to do so. In a nine-paragraph affidavit in support of the suit deposed to by one Patrick Bisong, a litigation clerk in the office of the plaintiff, the plaintiff averred that the Federal Government has planned to spend billions of public money to fund the conference despite the absence of any law enabling the President to convoke the conference and notwithstanding the limited power invested in the President to use money to execute law or law-authorised national idea, among others.

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News Witness confirms several deposits in Fani-Kayode’s account By Bertram Nwannekanma PROSECUTION witness and a legal officer with the First City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB). Mr. Elonna Ezelo yesterday told a Federal High Court Lagos, that several forms of deposits running into millions of naira were made by Femi Fani-Kayode, while he was the Minister of Aviation. The witness, however, said there was no formal report made to any authority concerning the financial transactions by the former minister. Fani-Kayode, is standing trial on an amended 40count charge bordering on money laundering. At the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, the wit-

ness who was led in evidence by the prosecutor, Mr. Festus Keyamo, told the court that the accused first had an account with First Atlantic Bank Plc, which later transformed from First Inland Bank Plc, to Finbank Plc, and now FCMB. He said as a legal officer of the bank, he collated all statement of account of the accused which revealed several transactions involving cash, cheques, draft and transfers. According to the witness, there were four deposit transactions captured in the accused statement of account between July 2006 and January 2007. He gave the details as follows: N660,000, N6 million, N10. 9 million

and N3.3 million. But under cross examination by Defence Counsel, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), the witness told the court that no formal report was made by the bank to any authority, in relation to the statement of account of the accused. He also told the court that the transactions in the statement of account of the accused, however, took place before he assumed office as legal officer of the bank. He told the court that all his evidence in court was based on the information he retrieved from the computer in which the statement of account of the accused was stored. Justice Rita Ofili-

Ajumogobia has adjourned till today for continuation of trial. Fani-Kayode was first arraigned sometime in December 2008 before Justice Ramat Mohammed on a 47-count charge. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge and Justice Mohammed had granted him bail in the sum of N200 million with two sureties in like sum. He was again re-arraigned before Justice Binta MurtalaNyako, following the transfer of Mohammed from the Lagos Division. Fani-Kayode was again re-arraigned before Justice Ajumogobia on February 11, 2013 after the transfer of Murtala-Nyako. Ajumogobia is now the third

judge to preside over the case in the last five years, and the charge now bears 40 counts, after the EFCC dropped seven counts out of the original 47. In the charge, the accused was alleged to have transacted with funds exceeding the threshold allowed by the money laundering, without going through a financial institution. He was alleged to have accepted cash payments in the tune of about N100 million, while he held sway as Minister of Aviation and Minister of Culture and Tourism. The offence is said to contravene the provisions of Sections 15(1) (a) (b) (c) (d) and 15 (2) (a) (b) of the Money Laundering (prohibition)

Oyo gets three new ministries From Iyabo Lawal, Ibadan YO State House of O Assembly has passed a bill creating three ministries in the state, in addition to the 20 existing ones. They are the Ministry of Integration and InterGovernmental Affairs, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Natural Resources. Consequently, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, has assigned portfolios to commissioners to man the three ministries, as well as eight others. The state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Gbade Lana, who disclosed this while addressing reporters at the end of the state executive council meeting, said the Ministry of Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs would be manned by Mr. Tayo Koleoso while the Ministry of Transport would be headed by Prof. Nureni Tanimowo. The commissioner said that the Ministry of Natural Resources would be headed by Chief Fatai Abimbola. The commissioner disclosed that Mrs. Atinuke Osunkoya retained her portfolio as Commissioner for Women Affairs just as Mr. Abimbola Kolade has been assigned to man the state Ministry of Works.

Police warn parties against violence in Osun poll Members of Movement for Democratic Change and Peoples’ Rights (MDCPR) during a protest rally to the Lagos State Governor’s office, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, demanding the suspension of the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro and the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, David Paradang over the poor planning and execution of the last Saturday’s NIS recruitment exercise... Yesterday.

From Tunji Omofoye, Osogbo

Jonathan canvasses review of outdated education policy

allayed fears of violence in the August 9, 2014 governorship election, warning politicians who might want to plunge the state into crisis to have a rethink. Speaking with reporters yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, against the backdrop of violent activities during the just concluded voters’ registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Maishanu said the police were conscious and alert to their responsibilities to secure lives and property. The police boss maintained that election succeeds when all stakeholders play their part successfully, adding that policing is not an easy job, but assuring that the command under him would do everything within the law to contribute to the success of the August 9 governorship election in the state. His words: “Policing is not the sole responsibility of the police during an election. Other stakeholders like the politicians, INEC, the police and other security agencies should also be involved and play their part accordingly.”

By Matthias Okwe, Abuja RESIDENT Goodluck Ebele Jonathan yesterday, urged education administrators who gathered at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja for the 20th edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group to begin a review of the nation’s antiquated Education Policy, now over 40 years old. Such a review, he said, has become imperative if Nigeria must meet her aspiration of Vision 2020 :20 and become globally competitive. The president’s call came amid positions taken by stakeholders, including the Vice President, Namadi Sambo for the transfer of primary schools currently under the jurisdiction of local councils to the Federal Government for proper funding aimed at achieving good quality education at the basic level. Jonathan, who declared the Summit opened yesterday, explained that the obsolete policy was responsible for the education situation in Nigeria which one expert at

the Summit as “being in disarray.” Represented by Sambo, who also led discussions on the Presidential Dialogue session of the Summit, the theme of which is : Transforming Education through Partnership for Global Competitiveness, Jonathan said that after more than 40 years, the Nigerian education policy foundation was ripe for review, to determine its relevance and fine tune its adaptability to national objectives, in the 21st Century. Jonathan said: “It is my hope that this Summit will take up this challenge; by applying itself rigorously to the design of an ideal education system that will satisfy our national needs and aspirations.” “This administration holds education in high premium because education is key to accelerating national transformation and development. Education has changed the destiny of nations, big and small and we are determined to change our story for the very best.” Accordingly, he said the government had identified

access, quality and equity as the main strategic goals of Nigerian education, stressing that government had introduced several initiatives to achieve these goals, such as girl and boy-child education, the Almajiri System, teacher training and retraining, increased funding and other far reaching policy reforms at all levels of the education system. Jonathan called for more partnership between the three tiers of government, the private sector and international development partners in designing credible sectoral accountability frameworks that will impact positively on the sector. “There is an urgent need to develop human capital, by investing and improving the skills of our people to facilitate the actualisation of our national objectives,” he stated. The President urged stakeholders in the education sector to come up with practical solutions to surmount challenges of acquiring accurate statistics, especially at the basic and secondary levels particularly on school enrol-

ment and other education indices. He said: “It is necessary that we get the numbers right to aid successful planning and decision-making.” In his remarks, the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike stated that the Transformation Agenda of the Jonathan administration places high premium on education as an instrument for human capital development and socio-economic emancipation, adding that to this end the Federal Ministry of Education had developed a Road Map aimed at repositioning the sector. Meanwhile, the need to provide quality education at the basic level of Primary Education has spurred calls by experts and policy makers at the Summit for the transfer of Primary Education from local governments to the Federal to ensure proper funding and adequate staffing. This was the submission of most of the discussants at the Presidential Policy Dialogue at which the Vice President explained that the

Government’s desire was to produce enlightened citizens that will participate in Nigeria’s development. He noted that “Primary Education level is the foundation and once you miss it at that level, you are in for it. “I remember as governor of Kaduna State, we had some local government which after paying staff salaries won’t have anything left to run the schools with. This is so because of the large number of public primary schools. I think there is a very serious funding challenges at that level of government. I think the new national policy if well implemented can solve the basic primary Education and teacher problem in Nigeria. In the same vein, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Alex Oti stressed the need for the transfer of basic education to the Federal level for proper funding and staffing to get good quality education. He revealed that it was appalling that even some university degree holders cannot defend the certifi-

SUN State O Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Maishanu, has

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Court nullifies NJC’s choice for Rivers’ CJ From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt USTICE Lambo Akanbi of the JHarcourt Federal High Court in Port has nullified the recommendation of Justice Daisy Okocha as the Chief Justice of Rivers State by the National Judicial Council (NJC). The court held that the NJC was wrong to have preferred Justice Okocha to the most senior judge in the state, Justice Peter Agumagu, who was sworn in by Governor Chibuike Amaechi on August 20, 2013, as acting Chief Judge amid criticism in some quarters. Agumagu was then the President, Rivers Customary Court of Appeal. Meanwhile, the Rivers House of Assembly yesterday screened and confirmed Agumagu as the new CJ, and there were indications that Amaechi, who returned to the state yesterday evening, would immediately swear him in as the substantive CJ. Delivering judgment in a suit filed by Amaechi, the state Attorney-General and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC),

Justice Akanbi, noted that the governor could not be compelled to accept whoever the NJC sent to him. “The letter of the National Judicial Commission of July 2, 2013, received on July 30 by Governor Chibuike Amaechi, that only the most senior judge must be appointed, contrary to the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission, is wrongful and null and void,” he said. “The letter recommending Justice Daisy Okocha in preference to Agumagu, saying that Agumagu is not the most senior judge of the High Court, is wrongful and null and void.” Akanbi explained that the NJC criteria for disqualifying Agumagu were wrong, thus, null and void. Paying respect to the NJC, which he acknowledged as his employer, the judge said he could not allow the argument of the NJC counsel that the governor must accept the recommendation of the NJC. “The body that is most suitable to make recommenda-

tion of a nominee of a chief judge of the state is the state Judicial Service Commission, because they have local knowledge of the most suitable candidate than the National Judicial Commission,” he said. He noted that in Osun State, for instance, a president of the Customary Court of Appeal, who was deemed to be the most senior judge, was sworn in as substantive chief justice. He then wondered why the case of Rivers State would be different. “What the constitution recommends is 10 years of legal practice and we are in a dynamic world. And so, the issue of most senior judge can no longer be the only criteria of appointing someone to such an important and exalted position,” he said. Justice Akanbi had, on February 19, 2014, nullified the appointment of Justice Agumagu as acting Chief Judge following a suit by the Kengena Unity Forum, led by Boma Goodhead and Ajenyanate Samuel, challenging his appointment by

Amaechi. However, his appointment was approved by 17 lawmakers shortly after the Federal High Court judgment. After yesterday’s sitting, the Speaker, Otelemaba Amaechree, charged the clerk to convey the resolution to Amaechi for Agumagu to be sworn in.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, explained that the state government had maintained that it was erroneous for the NJC to usurp the governor’s constitutional provision, because the constitution provides that the governor ap-

points the chief judge, not the NJC. “I am aware that the retired Chief Judge submitted only the name of Justice P.M.C. Agumagu to the NJC. So, on what basis did the NJC choose to exclude the Honourable Justice P.M.C Agumagu?” she

Obiano appoints SSG, chief of staff, others From Uzoma Nzeagwu, Awka HE newly inaugurated govT ernor of Anambra State, Dr. Willie Obiano yesterday appointed three key members of staff of his administration as part of efforts to strengthen the gains of the previous administration. Governor Obiano, who announced the re-appointment of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Oseloka Henry Obaze, reminded the new officials that there is much work ahead and that his government is not in the mood of delaying or wasting

time to deliver democracy dividends to the masses. The governor also appointed Prof. Joseph Azike as the new Chief of Staff, while the principal secretary to the governor is Mr. Willie Nwokoye. The three newly appointed officers were sworn-in inside the main office of Government House. The State Solicitor General, Mrs. Tina Emekekwu administered the oath of office on the officials. Addressing the officers later, Governor Obiano charged them to take their job seriously in the march to transform Anambra to the next

level, as he was optimistic that they would use their knowledge and wealth of experience to serve the collective interest of the state. He reminded that they were the first set of appointments made by his administration, stressing that the exercise is continuous and more appointments would be announced. Responding on behalf of others, the SSG, Mr. Obaze, thanked the governor and expressed their total commitment in assisting him to tackle the challenges of administration by bringing added value to service.

Ikuforiji, aide didn’t divert N600m to illegal deals, says witness By Bertram Nwannekanma PROSECUTION witness, A Adebayo Adeniyi, in the ongoing trial of Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly and his Personal Assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi, over alleged N600 million money laundering, yesterday told the court that the accused persons never channelled the received funds to illegal activities. Ikuforiji and Atoyebi are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos. Adeniyi, who is the first prosecution witness in the matter, admitted under cross-examination that the investigation by the Commission never revealed that the various cash payments, which Ikuforiji received through Atoyebi from

the accounts department of the House, were used for any criminal activity such as terrorism, kidnapping, insider trading or market manipulation, tax evasion, drug trafficking, hostage-taking, robbery, smuggling, sexual exploitation, organisation of criminal group or racketeering. Earlier, Adeniyi, who is a Principal Detective Superintendent (PDS) with the EFCC, had testified how various cash payments were made to Ikuforiji through Atoyebi at the accounts department of the Assembly. He said the funds were withdrawn from the accounts of Lagos State House of Assembly with Wema Bank and Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), which the Director of Finance of the House and the Permanent Secretary were signatories to, but that the eventual

disbursement of the cash to Atoyebi was not done through a financial institution. Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Chief Godwin Obla (SAN), the witness, who read from the Assembly cash registry, said about N5.4 million was paid to the Speaker for a trip to San Diego, California, which was collected and signed by Atoyebi on July 14, 2011. On the same day, the witness also said another N1.22 million and N1.26 million were paid to Atoyebi and the orderly to the Speaker respectively. The witness further read out various payments made during the time to include: N4.44 million paid to Ikuforiji, N1.193 million to his aide, and N1.19 million to his orderly; all the money were collected and signed by Atoyebi on Au-

gust 1, 2011. The Speaker was also alleged to have collected N10 million on August 3, 2011, for Ramadan celebration, while his wife, Mayowa and her orderly, were paid N6.4 million and N1.3 million respectively for a trip to Australia. However, when asked by Ikuforiji’s counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), whether the received funds were for official use of members of the Assembly, the EFCC witness admitted, adding: “We did ask some of the lawmakers and they admitted collecting the

cash.” Speaking further, Adeniyi said: “My Lord, from our investigation, we discovered that the permanent secretary normally withdraws the cash from the bank on behalf of the Assembly in his name. We were also interested in seeing how these funds were expended and how investigation revealed the funds were paid to members of the Assembly and their officials, but these cash payments were above the threshold in which the permanent secretary could transact on.”

However, when Olanipekun attempted to ask the witness questions on the document made by the permanent secretary and the Clerk of the House identified as A.T. Olatunji, the witness said he could not remember seeing the document, though it was part of the documents frontloaded by the EFCC as proof of evidence. At this stage, EFCC’s lawyer, Obla, objected that the document was not made by the witness and that it was yet to be admitted as exhibit in the matter.

Delta Assembly gets new Speaker, Onwusanya From Hendrix Oliomogbe, Asaba ETER Onwusanya (Oshimili P South) was yesterday elected as the new Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly in Asaba following the resignation of Chief Victor Ochei. Faced with a fait accompli as about 27 out of the 29 members of the House had reportedly signed the impeachment notice, Ochei, had no choice but to throw in the towel to prevent what would have been a disgraceful end. Citing his personal resolve to pave way for a new leadership in the House, Ochei in a letter dated March 18, 2014 and addressed to Deputy Speaker Basil Ganagana which he read out on the floor hoped that the new leadership would take the state and the House to a higher level. The former Speaker wrote: “I wish to thank all those, numerous and many, who made my tour of duty a pleasant affair further. To you my esteemed colleagues, I remained grateful for your love and camaraderie we shared while it lasted.” Ochei (Aniocha North) was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 29-member House on June 7, 2011 while Ganagana (Patani), a fourth term member who was first elected in 1999 was selected as the Deputy Speaker fifth ses-

sion. In the terse letter, he prayed God to avail his successor and indeed the House of all human sagacity in the task of accentuating the core ideals of the legislature as a partner in governance, for a better society. Not resting on his oars, the embattled former Speaker who was initially scheduled to resign on Monday was said to have made a last minute contact with the powers that be in a determined bid to save his job but at yesterday’s sitting, it was obvious going by the mood of his fellow lawmakers that the engineer cum politician had reached the end of the road. Even though Ochei was with Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan last Monday in Asaba, his last public outing as Speaker, during the governor’s signing of the 2014 budget, it was quite obvious that his time was up as he and his aides had reportedly packed out of their offices at the Assembly complex. Among other allegations, the legislators had accused Ochei of high-handedness and not being transparent in the handling of the affairs of House, especially in the use of funds and execution of capital projects. The plot may also not be unconnected with his governorship ambition in the 2015 election as the removal may

have been aimed at whittling his influence ahead of the election. In place of Ochei who was absent at the plenary session which lasted about 45 minutes, Ganagana who took charge before the emergence of Onwusanya promptly declared the exalted position vacant while the Deputy Majority Leader, Mr. Johnson Erijo (Isoko South II) proceeded to nominate Onwusanya as Speaker and was seconded by former Speaker Sam Obi (Ika North East). The new speaker who was elected overwhelmingly by his colleagues was immediately sworn-in by the Clerk of the House, Mrs. Lyna Ocholor. In place of Onwusanya, the erstwhile Deputy Chief Whip, Mr. Friday Osanebi (Ndokwa East) was elected to fill in the vacant position following his recommendation by the leadership of the PDP in the stat As events unraveled in the chambers, there was a heavy presence of security operatives outside the sprawling complex on Okpanam Road apparently to pre-empt any security breach as a result of wide speculation that the faithful followers of the former Speaker might cause trouble. There was strict restriction of movement in and out of the premises while visitors including journalists were thoroughly frisked before being admitted into the chambers

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‘Oduah not responsible for sack of aviation chiefs’ By Ibe Uwaleke O-COORDINATING General C Manager, Information and Communications for aviation parastatals, Mr. Yakubu Dati has dismissed claims by some critics that the former minister of aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, had a hand in the removal of the former heads of aviation agencies. Dati said in a statement that the Federal Government had in its wisdom, decided to effect changes in the top management of the aviation agencies recently, undoubtedly in the public interest. He said the erstwhile managing directors of FAAN, Mr. George Uriesi, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mr. Nnamdi Udoh; rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Capt. Chinyere Kalu and the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Fola Akinkuotu all worked with the former minister throughout her tenure without any issues.

Kwara PDP denies opposing Gbemi Saraki’s nomination as minister From Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin EADERS and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara South Senatorial District have said that they are in support of “any responsible member of the party from the state” that is nominated for ministerial appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan. The party also declared its full support to Senator Gbemisola Saraki as one of the ministerial nominees, describing her as a responsible party member. A statement signed yesterday by leaders of the party in the area, namely Chief Abiodun Suleiman of Igbomina axis, Otunba Taiye Ajagun of Ekiti axis and Alhaji Fatai Oseni of Ibolo axis, and made available to reporters in Ilorin said that at no time did the party go against her nomination. The party, which said that the ministerial nomination of Senator Saraki had never been an issue of discord between party members, added that the leadership of Kwara South PDP was only set to fight and extinguish domineering tendencies of one senatorial district over the other.

Zamfara gov pledges to complete on-going projects From Isah Ibrahim, Gusau AMFARA State Governor, Abdul-Azeez Yari Abubakar, has expressed the determination of his administration to complete all ongoing road projects before the end of this year. The governor, who made the declaration yesterday during inspection of a 71-kilometre road project linking three local councils of the state, which was awarded to Mothercat Nigeria Construction Company, asked the contractor handling the project to maintain the quality of the work. According to the governor, the road is among selected roads expected to be completed and commissioned during the third anniversary of his administration. He, however, expressed satisfaction with the urgency at which the work is being carried out.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 NEWS

Reps summon Moro, Paradang over recruitment deaths, Senate begins hearing From Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Adamu Abuh, Lemmy Ughegbe, Emeka Anuforo (Abuja); Chukwuma Muanya, Tunde Akinola (Lagos); Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi (Jos) and Joseph Wantu (Makurdi) ITH the country still reelW ing from the death of about 21 persons during the recruitment exercise conducted by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) across the country, the House of Representatives yesterday directed the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro and the Comptroller-General of NIS, Mr. David Paradang to appear before them and explain the circumstances that led to the tragic deaths. It asked four of its committees; Interior, Justice, Public Service Matters and Labour and Productivity to investigate the matter and report to the House within four weeks. The lawmakers also directed Immigration authorities to offer the families of the victims automatic employment provided they have a qualified applicant that can fill any of the vacant positions. The decision followed a motion brought to the floor of the House by Rep Sunday Karimi, PDP, Kogi State under matters of national importance. In the motion entitled: “Tragedy at 2014 immigration exercise in which one million Nigerian youths scrambled for 4,500 job placements,” Karimi claimed that the exercise was haphazardly conducted.

• APC, NMA seek thorough investigation, rights body begins probe • Rep member opposes sack of minister, Immigration boss Karimi had in his motion prayed the House to: • Condemn unequivocally the handling of the recruitment exercise of the Nigerian Immigration Service of March 15, 2014 and commiserate with the families of applicants who lost their lives and also empathize with those who suffered injuries as a result of the exercise. • That the Comptroller General of the Immigration Service and the Minister of Interior must appear before this House to explain the unwieldy recruitment exercise of March 15th 2014. • That the Federal Government of Nigeria should work in conjunction with the State and Local Governments and Public spirited individuals and organisations, including religious organisations, to evolve a job creation scheme that will best address the unemployment situation in Nigeria. • That a microcredit scheme to be known as the Nigerian Youth Empowerment Programme should be set up to assist Nigerian youths who are keenly interested in handcraft and small businesses. This will at least immortalise those that lost their lives. • That forthwith, all mass recruitment exercises into Federal Government agencies must be done via the Internet and in more conducive environment than that of last Saturday.

Senate screens Emefiele as CBN gov tomorrow From Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja

• To amend CBN Act

HE Senate will tomorrow (Thursday) begin the formal screening of President Goodluck Jonathan’s nominee, Godwin Emefiele to replace Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The information to this effect was contained in yesterday’s Senate Notice Paper against Thursday where the Senate leader, Victor NdomaEgba was scheduled to formally move the motion for the screening and confirmation of the nominee. Also, the CBN Act is being amended to among others remove a sitting CBN governor from being chairman of the CBN governing board. The amendment bill has also made the CBN governor answerable to the CBN’s board chairman. The amendment, which was formally introduced in the Senate yesterday, empowers the President to appoint any person of high integrity as chairman of the board subject to the confirmation of the Senate. Ndoma-Egba’s motion would also pave way for the screening and confirmation of Adelabu Adebayo Adekola as deputy governor of the CBN as nominated by the President. Tagged, “Confirmation of nomination”, the motion to be moved by the Senate

leader as contained in the Senate Notice Paper against Thursday reads: “That the Senate do consider the request of Mr. President for the confirmation of the following nominees for appointments as Governor of the CBN and Deputy Governor of the CBN respectively, in accordance with section 8(1) and (2) of the CBN Act of 2007.” According to the Senate standing rule, the nominees would be screened by the Senate Committee on Banking and a report presented to the Senate in plenary for adoption or otherwise. However, it was learnt that some senators are seeking a waiver to the Senate rule to allow the nominees to be screened by the whole Senate in chamber. Nominating Emefiele to the Senate for confirmation last February, Jonathan had said: “In view of the fact that the tenure of the current governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Nigeria (CBN) will end on June 1, 2014, and pursuant to the provisions section 8(1) and (2) of the CBN Act, 2007, I hereby forward the name of Mr. Godwin I. Emefiele for kind consideration and confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for appointment as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

In a similar vein, the Senate Committee on Interior is to probe last Saturday’s incident. Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and 10 others, in a motion of urgent national interest, described the engagement of consultants who charged N1,000 per applicant as a new development in employment into the Service. The lead sponsor of the motion titled Nigerian Immigration Service Nationwide Aptitude Test and Physical Examination of March 15, 2014, Bagudu, noted that prior to the exercise, employment into the Service was done in two ways. Bagudu recalled that following Federal Government’s approval, an attempt was made to conduct recruitment exercise by the former Comptroller General, Rosemary Uzoma, but was cancelled due to controversies surrounding the process. He said: “The Senate had in January 2013 debated a motion on employment irregularities in agencies including the Nigeria Immigration Service. “Observes that with the cancellation of the exercise in 2013, the Ministry of Interior engaged consultants to provide an online platform for interested persons to apply while charging N1,000 per application.” The lawmaker representing Kebbi Central also declined

newspaper reports that members of the committee were allotted employment slots. As the chairman, he denied receiving any slot, stressing that it was the committee’s insistence on a transparent process that prompted government to seek alternative means of conducting the test. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has set up a committee to conduct a full-scale investigation into the allegations of human rights violations at the events. NHRC’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Ben Angwe, expressed concern about the “avoidable death”, saying, “mainstreaming human rights in the work of every organisation is what is needed to avoid such incident in future.” Prof. Angwe, who expressed this view when he received in audience members of Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights who came to lodge their complaint against NIS relevant authorities with regard to the exercise, said he has ordered the Human Rights Monitoring Department of the Commission in the FCT, Niger, Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Benin offices where stampede resulting in the death of the victims occurred to submit interim reports containing information on what happened, including identities of dead and injured persons.

Also, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Interim National Executive Committee in a communiqué signed by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at its ninth meeting yesterday in Abuja called for investigations to unravel the circumstances that led to the deaths. The party stressed the need to find out who authorised the “fleecing” of job seekers by a government agency, what happened to the money realised from the “heist” and why the relevant officials did not ensure a better arrangement that could have saved precious lives. Similarly, the President of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Osahon Enabulele, yesterday called for a transparent and public probe of what it described as “despicable show of shame and monumental tragedy. The NMA urged the Federal Government to ensure the return of the N1,000 paid by all the applicants with adequate compensation to all the victims of the National Immigration Service tragedy. However, member representing Pankshin, Kanke and Kanam constituency of Plateau State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Emmanuel Lokji Go’ar, has condemned those calling for the removal of the Interior Minister, Mr. Abba Moro and the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr. David Shikfu Paradang, describing them as selfish people pursuing an agenda.

NEWS Wednesday, March 19, 2014

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Lagos seeks collaboration on climate summit By Kamal Tayo Oropo and Tunde Alao OTING that past summits on climate change have been successful as different speakers succeeded in bringing new ideas, the Lagos State government has asked stakeholders to collaborate with it to sustain such efforts. Speaking at the sixth edition of the summit at the Eko Hotel & Suites yesterday, Governor Babatunde Fashola said the two major projects - Atlantic City and Lagos Great Wall - have been adjudged worthy mitigation efforts. Fashola, who spoke on the theme, “Exploring Business Opportunities in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: Lagos State in Focus,” noted that the buildup of Green House Gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere was growing faster than originally predicted, while world businesses thrive at the cost of the planet’s depleting natural resources. “Regrettably, anthropogenic impact is majorly responsible for global warming and we can no

Police in Gombe decorate officers, men From Charles Akpeji, Gombe O fewer than 158 officers and men of the Nigeria Police in Gombe State were decorated with their new ranks yesterday following their recent promotion for hard work. At the ceremony yesterday, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, represented by the state’s Police Commissioner, Kudu Nma, urged the beneficiaries and others to rededicate themselves to their duties. He further charged them to strictly abide by the ethics of their profession as they continue in their work of maintaining law and order in the society. Abubakar maintained that those promoted deserved the honour, having worked so hard in their areas of responsibility. Stressing that the promotion exercise would be continuous, he urged those who benefited from it to be of exemplary behavior, adding: “We will continue to do what is expected of us maintenance of law and order, protection of lives and property, among others, as enshrined in the constitution.” Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Chief Superintendent Saleh Mohammed thanked President Goodluck Jonathan and the IGP for the promotion, assuring that they would continue to do better to guarantee peace wherever they find themselves. However, some of the beneficiaries told The Guardian on condition of anonymity that the promotion was long overdue, having hung their former ranks for about eight to 10 years.

longer continue in that direction,” he observed. “Climate change and global warming, however, are not all about disasters, there are opportunities and challenges in managing climate change, specifically through mitigation and adaptation strategies.” He noted that green economy is one of the options with minimal output of GHGs into the biosphere, adding that the world needed to urgently take the opportunities that abound in climate change in form of green economies and green collar jobs. To that end, Fashola noted that this year’s theme was intended to show how green economic thinking could unleash business opportunities that would power green economy and ensure sustainable development for all.

Christ Embassy (Believers Loveworld Ministries) Oregun on fire yesterday.

Ekiti commissioner denies assaulting corps member From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti KITI State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Kayode Olaosebikan, yesterday denied that he assaulted a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Thompson Enobong, during the voter registration exercise at Otun Ekiti in Moba Local Council Area at the weekend. The commissioner, however, warned the NYSC in the state against allowing its members to be dragged into the murky water of politics preparatory to the June 21 governorship election. Debunking the allegation before newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, Olaosebikan said the matter, which he described as a minor issue, was unduly politicised by opposition parties. He said: “It was true that the corps member was shouting that a lady - the younger sister to my police orderly should not register that

day at the centre. “The noise was so embarrassing that I had to go near and ask him not to be hostile to the people. As we were talking, the boy, who never knew I was a commissioner, just pushed me and my people wanted to mob him, but I was able to persuade them. “I was even the one that took him into a waiting car that drove him to where he was supposed to work. It

was during the fracas that I knew he was not supposed to work at that ward; he was not the presiding officer in that ward. “But later, the issue went viral on social media that I beat him and that he had been hospitalised when nothing of such happened.” Olaosebikan said he owed it a duty to ensure the safety of every corps member in the state as chair-

man of the NYSC Board and as the Commissioner for Youth and Sports. The commissioner was quizzed last week by his Police counterpart, Mr. Felix Uyanna, over the matter. The Public Relations Officer, Mr. Victor Babayemi, who confirmed that Olaosebikan was invited, said it was in connection with the alleged assault on a corps member at the registration centre.

NUC urges Gregory University to position for global competition From Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia XECUTIVE Secretary of E the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, has urged Gregory University, Uturu (GUU), Abia State, to position for global competitiveness, stating that some of the best universities in the world are privately owned. Okojie, who spoke through the agency’s Deputy Director, Research, Administration and Plan-

ning, Mrs. Florence Asamadan, at GUU’s second matriculation ceremony at the weekend, tasked the institution to do this by running programmes that are in line with global trends. Its founder and Chancellor, Dr. Gregory Ibe, while stressing that education should be emphasised and paid due attention in the country, added that apart from the institution collaborating with foreign universities in talent de-

velopment, research and staff exchange, it was setting the pace in academic standard. He also called for grants to educational institutions in the country. On her part, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Juliet Elu, charged the 117 new students to abide by their matriculation oath and behave responsibly,” adding that more necessary facilities were being put in place to make learning environment more conducive.

Stakeholders task journalists on objective reportage of confab By Tunde Akinola S Nigerians gather to A shape their future at the ongoing national conference, stakeholders in the country’s media industry have tasked journalists on the imperative of objective and balanced reporting of the dialogue, stressing that the media has a big role to play. Addressing participants in Lagos yesterday during the fourth convocation lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), titled, “The Media and the National Conference: Observer or Participant,” Chairman of Channels Television, Mr. John Momoh,

urged the media to choose their words carefully and make use of their power wisely. He tasked the media to remember that their responsibility is not to exploit the technology but to be of service to the community. Represented by Adeola Olameyan, Momoh noted that “this national conference carries the hope of several Nigerians for truly lasting solution to the myriads of problems that have plagued Nigeria’s democracy. To that end, he said: “It is my stance and unshaken determination to uphold the ideals of balanced re-

porting, to remain objective and fair in our coverage of this epoch event, while guaranteeing every side the platform to air its views. “I strongly urge that as you leave the four walls of this great institution and take up the pen (whether in print, radio or TV), or even digitally (through blogs, Twitter and Facebook, among others), remember that your words today will shape the decisions of tomorrow. “When tomorrow fades into yesterday and becomes history, would you have been part of Nigeria’s glorious history or a regret-filled past?”

Publisher of The Vanguard, Mr. Sam Pemu Amuka, noted that part of the media’s job is agenda setting, and alongside the government, has a responsibility of making Nigeria work. For the NIJ Provost, Dr. Elizabeth Ikem, the media has a role to play as an agent of change in Nigeria. According to her, the lecture is the fourth in the series since the re-opening of the institution 10 years ago, after its licensing and accreditation to train and retrain journalists, Mass Communication students and media practitioners in Nigeria.

Centre for Democracy holds lecture May 7 By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola OWARDS enlightening citiT zens on expectations in a democracy, the non-profit Centre for Democratic Governance in Africa (CDGA) will focus on “Achieving, Sustaining Democratic Dividends of the Grassroots: A Function of Purpose-Driven Leadership”, at its fourth annual public lecture and award presentation. Renowned Economist and former Minister of Finance, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, will chair the event, which holds at the Grand Ball, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, on May 7. Special guests of honour include former Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan; Senator Hope Uzodinma and Olorogun Oscar Ibru, among others. The CDGA Director General, Dr. Dafe Akpocha, told newsmen yesterday that the lecture is programmed to enlighten people that democracy and good governance lay the foundation for people to realise sustainable development.

Women hold prayer conference Saturday By Victoria Ojugbana HE Woman Cry Out T Prayer Conference, a gathering of ladies on a Pentecostal platform primarily to pray for the restoration of lost lives, families and the Nigerian society, will hold from 9a.m to 3p.m on Saturday at the Standard Alliance Event Hall, Plot 1, Providence Street, off 2nd Roundabout (by Standard Chartered Bank), Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. Women would be expected to share the word of God, worship and pray at the event, which is the eighth since inception in 2010, convened by Pastor Bemigho Omayuku and sponsored by Raziela Foundation and RCCG

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014 NEWS | 7

Poverty fueling patronage of fake, substandard products’ From Anthony Otaru, Abuja GNORANCE and high level of poverty are responsible for the patronage of fake and substandard products in the Nigerian market, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Ambassador, Mrs. Christabel Julie Okoye, has said. Okoye noted that both factors have put Nigerian consumers in danger, as they prefer cheap products at the expense of their lives. She told newsmen in Abuja yesterday that the agency would continue its sensitisation and awareness campaign on the danger of patronising fake and substandard products until the local market is rid of them. The SON ambassador also called on well meaning and patriotic citizens and humanitarian organisations to join the fight against the problem by reporting traders and dealers of substandard products to SON. More so, Okoye urged consumers to always check for the SON logo and registration number on products before buying them. However, she lamented the inadequate funding of the agency, which she saw as a major challenge to success of the campaign.

Guest of Honour and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina (left); Senator Olabiyi Durojaye, Chairman of the occasion, Chief Arthur Mbanefo; Guest Lecturer, Prof. Peter Okebukola and Executive Director of the foundation, Dr. Omolaraeni Awokoya-Adadevoh during the 19th annual lecture, award of honours and postgraduate scholarship by Stephen Oluwole Awokoya Foundation for Science Education in Lagos.

‘Nigeria has highest number of diabetics in Africa’ By Chukwuma Muanya ITH approximately W 3,921,000 sufferers, Nigeria has the highest number of diabetics in Africa, while Reunion Island has the highest prevalence level of 15.4 per cent, followed by Seychelles with 12.1 per cent, Gabon with 10.7 per cent and Zimbabwe 9.7 per cent. According to available statistics from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) at the just concluded Second Africa Diabetes Congress in Yaounde, Cameroun, in the IDF African region, which basically covers sub-Saharan Africa, there are approximately 19.8 million people with diabetes, representing a prevalence of 4.9 per cent for the region. Estimates foresee these figures doubling to 41.5 million by 2035, an increase of 109 per cent. The report, made available to The Guardian by Sanofi, a French multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, read: “According to the IDF, the Africa region has the highest proportion of undiagnosed diabetes, that is at least 63 per cent. “It is estimated that there are people living with undiagnosed diabetes in 60 per cent of the cases in Cameroun, 70 per cent in Ghana and over 80 per cent in Tanzania.” Head of Communications,

Sanofi North East Africa, Chidilim Menakaya, told The Guardian yesterday: “In Cameroun, Sanofi is working with the MTN under the auspices of the local health authorities to conduct an informational campaign entitled, ‘Health Alert: Diabetes, Hypertension.’ “This campaign includes text messages, display advertisements, television advertisements and a toll-free number to refer people to screening centres. “For this purpose, 29 diabetes and hypertension clinics have been opened in health establishments in Cameroun and in seven other sub-Saharan African countries. In 2012, nearly 11,800 patients were monitored and educated by healthcare professionals in those clinics.” Meanwhile, in 2013, the IDF estimated that nearly 8.6 per cent of total mortality in the African region was probably caused by diabetes. In Europe that same year, nearly 28 per cent of all deaths were diabetes-related in adults under 60 (this rate was 76.4 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa). In 2013, the IDF estimated that approximately 382 million people had diabetes, and that by 2035, this number would increase to a global 592 million sufferers. According to the IDF, type 2 diabetes is rising across the globe at an alarming rate.

“This increase is due in part to longer life expectancies, sedentary lifestyles and changes in eating habits accompanied by increasing obesity. The sharp rise in type 2 diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents is especially disturbing,” the federation said. “For over 10 years now, Africa has been experiencing economic growth that has led to the emergence of a middle class as well as rapid urbanization and lifestyle changes. Africans are becoming more sedentary and are changing their eating habits, leading to increasing obesity, which is still sometimes considered a sign of good health in sub-Saharan Africa. “The African population is one of the drivers for the continent’s development. Today, with over one billion inhabitants, demographic estimates project a doubling of the African population by 2050, at which time it will represent 50 per cent of the world’s population. “The lifestyle changes are evidenced by a significant epidemiological transition. Though communicable diseases, which are still the leading cause of mortality in Africa, seem to be under control in certain countries, noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer are advancing at a shocking rate.”

O check the incessant attacks on Benue farmers by Fulani herdsmen and maintain mutual peace, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has begun an arterial surveillance of Makurdi and its environs. The Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Tactical Air Command (TAC), AVM Umar Omeiza, while briefing newsmen in Makurdi yesterday, intimated that the aerial surveillance was to afford security operatives a comprehensive view of the environment in order to mobilize and effectively secure the lives and property of the

people. Omeiza explained that the exercise was not for any primordial interest but a directive from the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, to seek solution to the lingering crisis between herders and farmers. “We don’t want to wait until the problem becomes very massive like what we have today in the North-Eastern part of the country before we act,” he said. “That is why we have brought the Augusta 109 helicopter for the arterial surveillance of Makurdi and its environs.” The TAC chief disclosed that

By Kenechukwu Ezeonyejiaku LAGOS-BASED Igbo socioA political group, Ndigboamaka, has called on the national conferees to address the issue of federalism and look into the structure and weight of the constituting parts. It also called on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare his intention for the 2015 presidential election, assuring him of the support of Igbo and other well-meaning Nigerians. In a communique on Monday in Lagos on the state of the nation, the group, which comprises all the 58 major market associations and other professionals in Lagos, commended President Jonathan for his display of “uncommon wisdom, courage and unprecedented statesmanship by convoking the national conference of all ethnic nationalities in Nigeria to discuss modalities for a peaceful coexistence.” According to the communiqué read by its President, Mr. Leonard Ogbonna, “one of the key issues that must be addressed by the national

While assuring the people of Benue that NAF was ready to assist, not scare them, he maintained that the Augusta 109 helicopter would keep surveying the whole of Makurdi and its environs and urged them to go about their lawful businesses without fear. the surveillance team would concentrate on the riverine areas where there have always been clashes between the cattle herders and the farmers, adding that NAF has brought in experts to study the situation, with a view to finding lasting solution to the problem.

On the success of the campaign so far, she said: “Yes, the agency is winning the war. We started our sensitisation with the villages. The DG sent us to some villages in Abuja, I even visited the Gwari people there and was able to send the message because of the passion I had going to similar villages and

towns in the country. “Any time we visit the markets with my team, we make them see why fake products are not good for us in Nigeria. Many of them now demand from their manufacturers NAFDAC numbers, address of the manufactures as well as their phone numbers.”

Methodist Church holds synod tomorrow LL is now set for the A Eighth Annual Synod of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Diocese of Lagos West. Ministerial and lay sessions will herald the four-day event at Methodist Church Nigeria, Odi-Olowo, Mushin, tomorrow, while Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State is expected to declare the synod open on Friday. The programme will be rounded off with a thanksgiving service on Sunday at the same venue with the 10 a.m. service. Chief Host and Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Revd. Oluyemisi

Ogunlere, said the theme of this year’s synod, “Let my people move forward,” has been prayerfully selected to reassure the citizenry on a great turnaround that God would do concerning Nigeria. According to him, “the promise of God to us as a nation and the whole world in general, to bring a total stoppage to all the calamities in our land - all natural disasters and self-destructions around us - and ultimately turn all our challenges to opportunities with the new things that God will do in our lives as his beloved children. ”

Igbo group endorses true federalism, Jonathan

NAF begins surveillance of Makurdi, others From Joseph Wantu, Makurdi

Any time we visit the markets with my team, we make them see why fake products are not good for us in Nigeria.

confab is the structure of Nigeria and the weight of its constituting parts. While we mouth that we are a federation, we are actually operating a unitary system of government, a crime the late Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi was accused of. “Ndigboamaka holds the position that Abuja should retain just 20 per cent of the nation’s revenue while the federating units retain 80 per cent. Let every federating unit go to its own place and de-

velop at its own pace and this will eliminate cries of marginalisation and the inadvertent nourishment of corruption.” The group also called on Jonathan to declare his intention for the 2015 presidential election, assuring him of the overwhelming support of the entire Igbo people as they did in the last general election, citing the developmental projects he did in the region and appointment of their sons into offices as the basis for the support.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

PHOTONEWS

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu (left); CEO, Institute for Government Research and Leadership Technology, Ambassador Moses Essien and Director General, National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri, during the Free and Fair Election public lecture in Abuja.

Director of Communication and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State, Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda (left); Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah and Director/Secretary, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), Abdullahi Maikano, at the just-ended GSM congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Provincial Superior, Our Lady of Apostles Convent, Reverend Sister Assumpta Mordi (left); Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan; celebrant, Reverend Sister Carmelita Emuze; Archbishop of Lagos, His Grace Right Reverend Dr. Alfred Adewale Martins and Emeritus Archbishop of Ibadan Archdiocese, His Grace Right Reverend Dr. Felix Alaba Job during the 50th years golden jubilee of religious profession of Reverend Sister Emuze as a nun at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland in Lagos.

Representative of the 49th President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN)/member, governing council of ICAN, Oye Akinsulire during the mentoring programme “Catch PHOTO: CHARLES them young” at the Education District 2, Maryland in Lagos.

President, Ekiti Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Kola Akosile (left); President, Oodua Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ODU’ACCIMA), Iyalode Alaba Lawson and First Deputy President, ODU’ACCIMA, Remi Okunrinboye, during the media briefing on “Alternative Source of Energy,” in Lagos.

Business Manager, Nutrition, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Dr. Mazhar Qureshi (left); Professor of Paediatric, Niger Delta University, Bayelsa, Prof. Felix Akinbami; Scientific Expert Advisor, Lausanne, Switzerland, Dr. Kimmo Mkiwen and Consultant Paediatric, University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Dr. Adepoju Akinlolu at the symposium titled “Infantile Colic: Causes and Consequences” organised by Nestle Nutrition in Ibadan. PHOTO:

Director, Administration and Supplies, Ministry of Community Development and Cooperatives, Tunji Kalejaiye (left); Ogun State Commissioner for Community Development and Cooperatives, Samuel Aiyedogbon and SSA to the Governor on Community Development, Goke Dipe, during an inspection to Social Development Institute, Iperu Remo in preparation to starting renovation work on the institute.

Vice Principal, Aunty Ayo Girls Grammar School, Loto Christopher (second left, back row); Principal, Jane Olubunmi and Chief Executive Officer, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), Nigeria, Michael Larbie, with students of the school at the bank’s financial literacy day to celebrate global money week in Lagos.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

WorldReport Libya seeks answers on captured oil tanker HE predawn capture of a T mysterious tanker loaded with smuggled Libyan oil

People watch the Russian President make a speech on a huge screen set in the center of the city of Sevastopol, in Crimea, yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Defiant Putin blasts West for ignoring ‘free will’ of Crimeans ESPITE warnings from D President Barack Obama they would incur further United States sanctions, a defiant Russian President, Vladimir Putin told lawmakers yesterday that he has no intention to back down from plans to annex Crimea. Putin outlined the long historic ties between Crimea and Russia. He said that Russia had been “robbed in broad daylight” when Crimea remained part of Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union and that Crimea had been given away “like a sack of potatoes.” At the start of his remarks, Putin welcomed officials from the “Republic of Crimea,” as Russia recognizes the breakaway region. The comment drew a sustained standing ovation from the

crowd. After the speech, Putin signed a treaty with Crimean officials paving the way for the region’s annexation by Russia. Russian lawmakers are expected to ratify the treaty later this week. In a decree earlier in the day, Putin notified his country’s legislature about Crimea’s proposal to join the Russian Federation and he strongly urged lawmakers to approve it quickly. In his speech, President Putin railed against what he saw as Western “double standards” with regard to recognizing Crimea. He singled out the United States for its policies of foreign intervention since the end of the Cold War. “Our Western partners, especially the USA, believe that they can decide for the world,

that they can decide other people’s fate,” he said. “ Look at Belgrade. At the end of the twentieth century. Then Afghanistan, Libya. Those nations were tired, but the U.S. cynically used that.” He referred to the American principle of “freedom” and asked rhetorically, referring to Sunday’s independence referendum, “But what about the free will of Crimeans? Isn’t that of the same value?” Putin also blasted NATO’s expansion onto what he called “our native lands.” He slammed NATO’s plans for a missile defense shield, which Russia fears is aimed at its nuclear arsenal, and criticized the West for operating around the United Nations whenever it was convenient. Putin suggested he would not move into eastern Ukraine,

Egypt jails policeman over Islamist deaths S one of the most contro- Muslim Brotherhood mem- down on the Brotherhood A versial incidents since an bers and their supporters, had since the army toppled army takeover last July, a died during an attempted Islamist president Mohamed Cairo court sentenced a police officer to 10 years in prison with labour yesterday in connection with the deaths of 37 Islamists last year, judicial sources said. Three other policemen were given one-year suspended sentences, they said. The Interior Ministry said at the time that the Islamists,

prison break after being suffocated by tear gas in the incident last August. However, a legal source said the men had died from asphyxiation in the back of a crammed police van while they were being moved to a jail on the outskirts of Cairo. The government has launched a widespread crack-

Mursi last July after mass protests against his rule. The Islamist movement has accused the authorities of large-scale human rights abuses. The government has denied the allegations and declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group which poses a grave security threat to the most populous Arab nation.

which is home to mostly proRussian population. “Russia does not want to split Ukraine. Ukraine must retain its territorial integrity,” he said.

Russia, U.S. set aside Ukraine crisis for Iran nuclear talks USSIA, the United States R and other world powers tried to put their sharp differences over Ukraine to one side yesterday as they kicked off the latest nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna. The gathering is the second in a series of meetings aiming to transform by July a November interim deal into a lasting accord that resolves for good the decade-old standoff and removes the threat of war. So far, despite disagreements over the Syria conflict and other issues, the six powers have shown a united front over Iran, but events in Ukraine in recent weeks have precipitated the worst crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War. Following Sunday’s secession referendum in Crimea — slammed as a sham by the White House and the European Union — Brussels and Washington on Monday issued sanctions against a handful of Russian officials. Despite the tensions, a spokesman for Catherine

Plane search spans Asia, as investigation shows little progress N international land and A sea search for a missing Malaysian jetliner is covering an area the size of Australia, authorities said yesterday, but police and intelligence agencies have yet to establish a clear motive to explain its disappearance. Investigators are convinced that someone with deep knowledge of the Boeing 777200ER and commercial navigation diverted Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, carrying 12 crew and 227 mainly Chinese passengers, perhaps thousands of miles off its

scheduled course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. But intensive background checks of everyone aboard have so far failed to find anyone with a known political or criminal motive to hijack or deliberately crash the plane, Western security sources and Chinese authorities said. Malaysian Acting Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference the “unique, unprecedented” search covered a total area of 2.24 million nautical miles (7.68 million sq km), from central Asia to the south-

ern Indian Ocean. Flight MH370 vanished from civilian air traffic control screens off Malaysia’s east coast less than an hour after take-off early on March 8. Investigators piecing together patchy data from military radar and satellites believe that someone turned off the aircraft’s identifying transponder and ACARS system, which transmits maintenance data, and turned west, re-crossing the Malay Peninsula and following a commercial aviation route towards India. Malaysian officials have back-

sealed the fate of the vessel, but has so far failed to answer questions about the ship’s provenance. United States commandos took control of the Morning Glory off the coast of Cyprus nearly a week after the ship was smuggled out of the eastern Libyan oil terminal of Es Sider loaded with a quarter of a million barrels of crude. A Pentagon press release said that no one was hurt when Navy Seals, with helicopter support from the destroyer USS Roosevelt, boarded the Morning Glory at the request of the Libyan and Cypriot governments in a mission approved by President Barack Obama. Oil prices were not moved by the seizure. Brent crude, the international benchmark, yesterday fell 0.5 per cent to $107.69 a barrel. Libyan oil production fell 140,000 barrels a day to 360,000 b/d in February, according to the International Energy Agency, because of disruptions to supplies. Rebel militias con-

trol the major ports of Es Sider, Ras Lanuf and Zueitina, while in the west the 350,000-b/d el-Sharara field was closed on Friday due to protests by guards over unpaid wages. The oil aboard the Morning Glory will be returned to Libyan authorities, but the ownership and origin of the ship have confounded maritime and energy experts. Indeed, the political and commercial dealings surrounding the tanker have all the elements of a spy thriller. Separatist rebels in eastern Libya, led by the warlord, Ibrahim Jadran, last week loaded the ship with about 250,000 barrels of crude oil and spirited it into international waters in a move that precipitated the downfall of the fragile transitional government of prime minister Ali Zeidan. An international search for the vessel, originally a North Koreanflagged ship, was launched after it evaded an attempted blockade by Libyan fishing boats equipped with makeshift guns.

tracked on the exact sequence of events - they are now unsure whether the ACARS system was shut down before or after the last radio message was heard from the cockpit - but said that did not make a material difference. “This does not change our belief, as stated, that up until the point at which it left military primary radar coverage, the aircraft’s movements were consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane,” said Hishammuddin. “That remains the position of the investigating team.”

Ashton, the powers’ chief negotiator and EU foreign policy chief, said he had seen “no negative effect” at all on the Iran talks, with the six “still united”. A senior US administration official involved in the talks said last week that diplomats “hoped that the incred-

ibly difficult situation in Ukraine will not create issues for this negotiation”.

THE GUARDIAN www.ngrguardiannews.com

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Politics I’m still a staunch loyalist of Jonathan, says Daniel Since he quits office former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel has refrained from granting interview to the press especially on political issues. The former Governor however broke his silence recently when he had an interactive session with journalists at Sagamu where he now resides. During the session, he spoke on his future plan, the PDP crisis in the, the challenges he faced as a Governor and his present relationship with the All Progressives Congress national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. CHARLES GYAMFI was there. OUR of your loyalists, Messers Sina Kawonise FAbiodun Gbenga Nasir Isiaka, Sarafa Tunji Ishola and Akinlade have indicated their intention to contest for the 2015 Governorship Election on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), wont this generate bad blood after primary? Yes many people that have shown interest in contesting the election on the platform of the Labour Party. When a party has many candidates, it means the party is getting increasingly popular so it is a positive development. Not only that, all of them without exception are evidently qualified to govern the State. No decision has been taken on how the process of emergency would be and so I am not in a position to unilaterally say anything about that. Let me assure you in the next few weeks we will be getting a lot more about the activities of the Labour Party. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) you laboured so much to build with others seems to have been in total disarray, are you sad about this. I won’t put it that way but it indeed shows that all the political parties in Nigeria are facing major challenges. PDP has a lot of challenges but equally make no mistake about it APC also have a lot of challenges, probably most of their own challenges are not being reported on the pages of newspapers but if you do a little bit of investigations, you will discover that they also have lots of challenges. Let’s put it this way, once upon a time a Military President tried to introduce a two party system into the country and may be what you are looking at now is a slow but gradual migration towards that direction. Now that many of the parties are coming together, may be we are going to have two or three strong parties in the future which I think is good for our country. Don’t forget that the whole society cannot be static so what is going on here therefore should be seen from the perspective of democracy and the process of democracy so while a number of people are concerned and worried, few of us just think it is democracy at work.

Daniel

thought it was in the national interest that we should play national politics, so I left to join the PDP, probably it was the aftermath of that political game that played out that people saw and now concluded that we were foes. I can tell you that beyond that we have always been very good friends, our friendship dates back You confused Nigerians when you said publicly to decades and so if we both wake up one day that you are still a PDP member but have asked and say enough of all these fights, are you not all your supporters to join the LP. Which party happy about it? do you actually belong to? That is what has happened, there was no I still repeat that I stand solidly behind meeting in London as being speculated, that President Goodluck Jonathan and I remain con- is just but it is indeed obvious that we are not sistent about that position so if you ask me two getting younger and so we felt that the time times, 100 times, you will probably still get the had come for us to stop you journalists from same answer, You can interpret that whichever coming in between us. This is precisely what way you like. happened. Is it true that you have settled your quarrel Do you still have the ambition to become a with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu? Senator? We (himself and Tinubu) had a good relationI don’t know why everybody is so much intership in the past and I think there was never a ested in that, I think the important thing for time when the relationship went haywire. us is to build the party (LP). Let us build the I think what happened was in the realm of party without any colour, without any ambipolitics, we were operating under the same tion and once the party is well built, I can banner and I now found it auspicious, and also assure you that anybody that is fielded for any

after the elections in April, 2011, I declared that the elections had been fought, won and lost and the people of Ogun State should therefore support the new Administration. For me that is how it should be. I am yet evaluate the Administration, we are still taking down notes, at the point they would have spent three years which is probably in two months time, we would all be able to bring out the figures in black and white and the evaluation would be properly done. What is your comment on charges of corruption against you? As you are aware when a case is in court it becomes subjudice for anybody to make any comment on it. What I can say however is that it is nearly three years that I left office up to date, nobody has said to me that he had found a dime of government funds in any of my accounts, directly or indirectly. How would you react to allegations of political killings during your tenure? There were no killings in Ogun State and if anybody says that there were killings, I will now say they should give me the names of the people who were killed. In all of my eight years, I am not aware of any single political killing in the State, if you are aware of any killing say mention the name now so that I can recall my memory. To the best of my knowledge in all my eight years as the Governor of Ogun State, there was not even incident of political killing. You were the power behind the formation of the PPN in the State. How did happen? Let me seize this opportunity to explain how the Peoples’ Party of Nigeria (PPN) came about in the State. All of us (PPN), without exception were members of the PDP, we joined the PDP in 2001, at a point the party had no capacity to win elections, we had a party that was not a grassroots party and we worked hard to bring the party to the consciousness of the people. Don’t forget that even while I was in the PDP there was not a time that I denied my membership of Afenifere, instead we made it clear that we were the Afenifere in PDP. We took the PDP to all the nooks and crannies of Ogun State at that time and we sold the party everywhere. During the time we were taking the party round the State we visited about 1,000 palaces, Obas and Baales. We ran a government within the resources that were available to us. Contrary to what the propagandists have made all of us to believe, in Ogun State, we ran a very good government, a very healthy government. A number of you have forgotten that 2008 was a year of the world economic meltdown, in the cause of that meltdown, a lot of members of my cabinet had to forfeit about 25 percent of their salaries just for us to assist he State, that is the type of the economy that we ran. In the midst of that economic crisis, we had a good party but post, the people will definitely vote for that because of some of the things that we had done, party and I think for now what is very imporsome people thought there were so much tant is for us to build the party. In the same way, money out there which led to the battle for the the people who are showing interest, if you soul of the party. look at all of them well, you will see that Why was the PDP enmeshed in crisis when you nobody has actually come out the way they will were governor? come out when it is time for them to come out, The issue was not that I had done anything let me put it that way. They’ve indicated interest wrong, but it was that I had become too strong but more than anything else, we’ve all agreed so the plot to cut me down began let us cut him that the first thing we will do is to build the down, the usual thing that happens in Nigeria. party, have a strong party with a strong ideoloThe issue was that I had spent eight years so the gy and strong manifestoes. next thing was that the party’s structure should What is important which we also want the be taken away from me. public to take note of is the fact that they are People can see where the conspiracy came friends. I think we all agree that whatever it is, from. Some people claimed they have spent N3 everybody should keep his ambition in his billion. Why would anybody spend #3 billion to pocket, let us first and foremost rescue the peotake the party’s structure? It showed that some ple of Ogun State. I think that is the first chalpeople used the party structure for what we lenge that we have. don’t know. They spent so much money to take What is your assessment of Governor Ibikunle the party’s structure. Amosun, your successor? So what happened in 2011 in Ogun State was a Generally let me say that we are not here to battle of principle. The rest is history, it has hapevaluate the administration of Governor pened and you can now see how the mighty are Ibikunle Amosun. If you remember accurately, now falling.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 11

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National Conference 2014

Have confidence in confab, Nigerians urged By Abiodun Fanoro and Seye Olumide IGERIANS have been advised not N to nurse any apprehension about the ability of the National Conference which finally took off on Monday to deliver far reaching decisions required to change the destiny and fortunes of the country for good. A cross section of lawyers and statesmen who spoke with The Guardianyesterday noted that those appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan to drive the affairs and operation of the Confab were Nigerians with track record of performance who would not fail the country. Among those who expressed confidence in the ability of the team to deliver were two Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Roland Otaru and Tayo Oyetibo who further stated that the choice of Justice Idris Kutigi as the Confab Chairman, Professor Bolaji Aikinyemi as Deputy Chairman and Dr Valerie Azinge as the Secretary, perfectly satisfied all conceivable criteria needed for such a very unique and sensitive national assignment. In similar vein, Former Minister of Transportation and a member Board of Trustees (BoT), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, reposed confidence in the composition of the leadership of the conference, but warned that the delegates need to see themselves as Nigerians, and not to allow ethnic or regional sentiments to determine their discussions. Otaru who said it was noteworthy that President Jonathan had gone for what he called the choice of the ‘three wise men’, noted that that was an evidence that he meant well for the future of the country.

Kutigi According to Otaru the choice of Kutigi a man he described as being apolitical who had built for himself an indestructible reputation, had helped to erase the usual fear of mistrust among Nigerians when people are being appointed to lead such a sensitive panel like the Confab. He said Professor Akinyemi’s experience, as a member of the defunct Presidential panel on Boko Haram would be an invaluable asset to the Confab. His words, “ Justice Kutigi is reliable and apolitical, he has granite integrity that is unquestionable and could not be rubbished. His views and decisions could not be swayed, just as he does not play to the gallery. His choice I am of the honest view would have addressed the usual fear of mistrust most Nigerians often nursed when people are appointed to lead a sensi-

Azinge tive panel like the Confab. If anything the choice of the thee eminent Nigerians by President Goodluck Jonathan to direct the affairs of the Confab would confer priceless confidence on the Confab, its operations and the final document” In his view, Oyetibo said that now that Jonathan had appointed the Confab leadership was indication that he had got to a point of no return and it showed that he was truly committed to the project. According to him if the President was not committed to the Confab he could have aborted it before getting to this level, adding that with the level the Confab had attained now it had gone beyond the President. The senior lawyer was further of the view that it was because the President was desirous for the success of the Confab that he brought out what he

called the integrity team to lead its operations He however advised the Confab to carry the National Assembly along, stressing that the cooperation of the National Assembly was very crucial to its success. According to Babatope, “Justice Kutigi has always been a man of honour with God fearing, who has demonstrated love and commitment to the wellbeing of Nigeria. I want to assure Nigerians that President Jonathan was careful and well guided in the choice of the legal luminary to conduct the affairs of the national conference.” He also commended Akiyemi’s nomination as deputy chairman as well as other officials of the conference “as the best the country could have had at this challenging period to discuss our problems. I believe in their ability and

intelligence. It will lead us out of the woods.” Babatope however described the efforts of those who have gone to file suit challenging the legality of the national conference with the aim to stopping it from holding “as mere nullity, waste of time and fruitless efforts.” According to him, “the conference is something we must handle with caution, absolute caution because we are looking for solution to our challenges. While I continue to appeal to those who have gone to challenge the legality of the conference in the court, I will urge them to do whatever is in their powers to support the conference to making a success.” To those who believed that the conference would fail at implementation of the outcome, the PDP BoT member said, “Until the report is out, we cannot yet determine how the outcome would be handled. I will not subscribe to pessimism over the confab for now. There is no cause for anybody to doubt the sincerity of President Jonathan at the stage because he (Mr. President) has demonstrated his determination to convene and actualize the conference.” He added that whether the outcome of the national conference would eventually be referred to the National Assembly or be subjected to a referendum is too early to determine. Said he, “I think we should allow time to determine that. I want to use this opportunity to urge our legislators in the National Assembly to allow whatever they are going to do in regards to the ongoing national conference, either now or in the nearest future be determined by the supreme interest of Nigerians, and not that of their political parties, individual or whatever.”

TheGuardian

12 | Wednesday, March 19, 2014

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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 APC and the road with a map NVEILING the other day, what it described as its roadmap, the All U Progressives Congress (APC) introduced a new dimension into party politics and strategizing for followership in Nigeria. By that gleeful celebration of its roadmap, the party, support it or not, certainly raised the stakes of politicking in Nigeria and has prepared the ground for a new dawn in electioneering in the country. Most likely, the struggle for political power may begin to take a new shape radically different from the pedestrian and antiquated tactics it has been notorious for, which till now has earned the third world appellation given to the country and its like. A certain depth of content or intent and elegance of presentation marked the quintessential beauty of the programme, a reason it deserves commendation from all well-meaning Nigerians who have yearned for finesse in the way politics is played in the land. The programme projected APC as one which dared to be different in character and in its effort to mobilise support for itself and its programme. In a way, even though the ruling Peoples Democratic Party claims to have a similar road-map, APC can beat its chest as a trail-blazer of some sort. There is a lot to inspire confidence and hope in the way the programme was conducted. In the first instance, all the confusions common with political parties were absent. It was well organised and devoid of vanity noticed at political gatherings. Second, the party made a bold attempt to identify all the core problems bedevilling the country. As speaker after speaker spoke, it was glaring that issues of major concern to the people were well articulated in a manner that was unique and reminiscent of the pre-and post-independence as well as the nationalist days. All the governors who spoke had new things to say without repeating what the others had said. Issues of governance, party ethics, democracy, corruption, etc came up for discussion. Through the road map and its presentation, the APC gave the signal of what its preoccupation would be as a political party should it find itself in government. The jury is out on the way it intends to address the problems articulated by it, however. Just as the party itself observed, there has never been a coalition of political parties in the history of Nigeria that crystallised into one single political party as has happened in its case. This may not be as important as what follows after its emergence as a single party. Nigerians will like to see how the party would manage the internal contradictions associated with this development. Truly, the party may have treated Nigerians to its road map, but no one knows as yet, for sure what it has in stock for the electorate until it unfolds its manifesto which it says is already on the drawing board, in which case, what Nigerians have seen so far was just an appetizer. Be that as it may, if there are doubts as to what the party stands for, there should certainly be no doubt that it does not want to be like any other party in Nigeria. This is a strong point that will go a long way in assuaging popular clamour and agitation for a competitive party system in Nigeria. One of the advantages of a competitive party system is that whichever party or group of parties happens to be exercising political power at a particular time is aware of the determination of a rival party or group of parties to dislodge it from power. For this reason, the party in power tries hard to be as efficient and effective as possible so that those out of power will find it difficult to defeat it whenever elections are held. A second advantage of competitive party system is that the political education of citizens is enhanced by the efforts of rival parties. The third and perhaps the most significant advantage of a competitive party system is that it allows citizens to choose between different persons and in most cases, between different policies. This is what is in the offing for the country; this is what the roadmap portends for the country – opportunity of a viable choice. In which case, whatever happens, the people always win. APC, PDP or whatever party wins is not as important as that Nigerians win at all times. As Nigerians eagerly await APC’s manifesto, it would be interesting to see the party come up with an alternative detailed plan that will put the government of the day on its toes. For whether it ends up in government or not, any party must have a clear agenda and a clear focus. That is the only way it can make the political firmament competitive and a way to signal the beginning of a new dawn in Nigeria.

LETTER

A theatre of propaganda IR: A political campaign in Nigeria is like a gathering of Swarlords. All sorts of cheap tricks are employed by candidates to promote their grandiose agenda. The use of propaganda is entertained in politics, like in war, to impress one’s opponent that one is better prepared to win. This is usually accomplished by embellishing one’s attributes. Regrettably, the enemy is the innocent Nigerians who are exploited through false publicity by politicians. Propaganda in Nigerian politics is like an adaptation of a bad carnival. The beautiful Ijele masquerade in the parade is upturned and the mystery of its majesty is ridiculed. The outrageous use of television and newspaper media for political propaganda in Nigeria will make one scream at the images before one’s eyes. Uncompleted and shabbily executed projects are colourfully flashed on the screen and pages as accomplishments by politicians. They shamelessly portray photographs of prototypes in the mass media perhaps with the conviction that the electorate do not have the facilities to validate the information. Here the issue becomes twofold. The media that are supposed to investigate the material they are feeding to the general public implicitly become agents of bad politics. One is looking at familiar pictures and astonishingly standing by one’s corner shouting this is not true; there is no good road

here, the bridge is uncompleted, the costly project is abandoned; frustration rains like sweat as one is constrained to publicise the truth. Devastatingly, the government is a major actor in this drama of deceit. Ministries fill newspapers and the national television with fantastic layouts of projects purporting their achievements. It is bewildering to find out that these advertisements are a sham. Government wastes huge sums of money on propaganda. Lives are jeopardized and services are compromised due to lack of integrity by government. Propaganda as a political tool, however, can be meaningful when backed with credible achievements. One travelling

recently on major highways from Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Benin, Port Harcourt and many others does not need to be convinced that the experience is smoother and faster. A hustling trader that used to spend an unquantifiable amount of time in the traffic on the treacherous Onitsha to Aba road can now commute freely to buy her goods and be back to comfortably make dinner for her family. Politics of careless abandonment of truth is a child’s play. Nigerians are wise and with time they will tell who the true players are. The gleam of progress in the landscape of the society shows it is not all gloom and doom. The sun may eventually shine on the nation. • Pius Okaneme, Umuoji, Anambra State.

Re: Looking beyond Sanusi IR: The letter written by Nwabueze Akabogu pubSlished on Monday, March 3, 2014 carries a special kind of ineptitude and lazy mindedness on the part of the writer. I am not holding brief for Sanusi but the introduction of Islamic banking during his tenure is to me one of his finest achievements. It is incongruous for Nwabueze to categorise it as ‘unpopular establishment of the Islamic Bank’. Perhaps I should give an excuse for this man for lack of foresight and introspection. Islamic banking has grown tremendously around the world in the last couple of years and it is projected that by 2017 it

will have the worth of 2.6 trillion dollars as predicted by Oliver Wyman Consultancy Firm, a leading global management consulting firm with presence in over 25 countries. So, Nwabueze has to know the perspective where he should write from and not from this shallowness and emptiness. I am quite certain that the Nigerian economy will be blossomed by its introduction and it is never restricted to Muslims alone as evident in what the Deputy London Mayor Sir Edward Lister remarked as follows ‘…London is vying to be the capital of Islamic finance outside of the Muslim world’. So why should Nigeria not be the same? • Yusuf Afunku, Lagos.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

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Opinion Law and justice re-visited By Alade Rotimi-John HE ultimate or ordained goal of the administraT tion of justice is the impartial application of established rules to the settlement of disputes. Justice, in the sense in which it will be used in this piece, is the means of ensuring that settled rules are applied correctly and impartially. Law, on the other hand, represents the system of rules to be applied to the settlement of disputes between individuals and governments, or between individuals and individuals. While it is the business of representative government, executive and legislative, to fashion or formulate new rules or expand or maintain old ones, it is the duty of the courts to see that they are applied properly to existing disputes when they arise. The entire network involves an independent judiciary, a fair procedure and a reasonable access to the courts on matters which are clearly justiciable. An important landmark was reached in the history of Western-style judicial system when Parliament in England insisted that judges could only be dismissed for misconduct, and did not hold their office during the pleasure of the sovereign. The Nigerian justice system is a proud heir or inheritor of this elegant or well-heeled tradition. The independence of the judiciary from the government is every bit as fundamental to the maintenance of a free society enjoying liberty under the law as is representative government or a multiplicity of political parties. More than ever, this independence is necessary today as the area of political control is constantly being extended. Each extension involves or conduces to an increased risk of abuse of power by those who wield it. When it was feared that the danger to the independence of judges lay in the frightening possibility of their arbitrary dismissal by a monarch (or in our own case, by the Executive) it was creative to imagine that restricting the possibility of their dismissal only to resolutions taken on the floor of parliament would provide an adequate safeguard of their independence. In practice, however, this is a forlorn hope or assumption. Rabid or vitriolic open attacks on the judiciary, almost unknown 40 years ago, are now constantly being made, not merely by the opposition but in some cases by officials of state. Indirect snide or uncomplimentary remarks about the judiciary or its members are promoted on radio and television and in the print media. Whenever judicial decisions prove unpopular or are thought too lenient or too severe, manifestations of hysteria are provoked or sponsored even on the streets and in open fields as were shamefacedly witnessed recently. Expectedly, judges are not equally endowed with wisdom, learning, nimbleness of mind, or sound judgment. Some judges make remarks which, al-

though may be reasonable enough in the context of a particular case, are, when reported out of context, manifestly unsustainable or jejune. The widely reported faux pas of Justice George Sowemimo in the celebrated treasonable felony trial in which Chief Obafemi Awolowo and 27 others were accused persons, is a case in point. Sowemimo had unreflectingly declared obiter or off the cuff “My hands are tied...” He paid an undying penance for his morbid indiscretion even as the general public sentenced him to eternal perdition. Judicial courage, required all the time of a judge, is more particularly required when he is inadequately protected by the government, assailed by the opposition and criticised by name or by reference in the press or in the media. Any wonder that in these circumstances, buoyed by reputedly respectable instances, unsuccessful litigants are showing alarmingly decreasing respect for orders or decrees of courts. Many now smugly ignore the hallowed pronouncements of courts when they do not show open or brazen discourtesy or contemptuous disregard, therefore. The possibility of judges’ actual dismissal and even the prospects of their delayed or retarded promotion or of their possible promotion into irrelevance (a far more real peril or spectacle) stares us grimly in the face. The more important necessity, however, is that justiciable issues should be left to the courts and not dealt with by the Executive or the Legislature. Whatever is left to the courts, no matter how politically sensitive, should be genuinely or truly justiciable, that is, dependent for their resolution on the genuine ascertainment of facts, or upon the strict application of a clearly formulated rule of law. The thinking is gaining ground, albeit insidiously, that in arriving at their decisions, judges are influenced by their political affiliation or prejudice. Of course, judges are products of their upbringing, their predilections, primordial attachments and social relations. They too are ordinary human beings. It is idle to expect far-reaching clairvoyance or supernatural prophecies or predictions on the part of ordinary men and women (judges not excepted). Even the views or opinions of far-sighted purveyors of the law or of any art for that matter may not be acceptable to their contemporaries. So the pronouncement of a court may appear coloured by the social circumstance, prejudice or worldview of the presiding judge. What should not be in doubt however is the strict application by him of the clear and unambiguously formulated rule of law to the fact in issue or the case. He is inexorably bound to apply the full rigour of the law to the circumstances of the matter before him no matter his own predilection, prejudice or personal bias. Regrettably, the compass of the possible range of options open to our judges in any given case is exceedingly narrow or fitfully circumscribed. A

judge sitting in Nigeria is hedged about by a suffocating restrictive view of precedent even as most decisions consist in the interpretation and application of statutes. The rules for construing statutes to be followed by the court are in themselves rigid and limiting. Further, our draftsmanship is obtuse and unnecessarily prolix - too detailed as to fetter judicial independence or creativity. Even in matters that we truly desire to leave a question to a judge’s discretion, his employment of it is subject to the prying (sometimes, malevolent) scrutiny by the pyramidal system of appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court which sit on panels of three and five respectively and are necessarily composed to counteract any individual idiosyncrasies in the lower tribunals or even among their own members in their panels. And yet, these idiosyncrasies are much welcome and desirable. They propel in the direction of the desired de-mystification of the process even as they surely lead to or excite originality and profundity, two essential ingredients for the effective or creative dispensation of justice. The fear often expressed especially by politicians and others that judges are often called to decide matters which their training does not suit them to adjudicate over is unrealistic. The real point to canvass is that the questions they decide should in principle be justiciable in the sense in which we have tried to describe here; it is immaterial that the consequences deriving from their decisions are politically sensitive. The fear that judges may be drawn into party politics is only well-founded when they are asked to intervene in matters which do not depend on ascertainable facts or on legal rules which are not mainly objective in character. The intrusive decisions of the state as represented by ministers, ministries and local and private authorities of different kinds have driven litigants inexorably and on an increasing scale to seek from the courts decisions which necessarily have sensitive political consequences. The courts cannot avoid or shirk this role, since even if they decline jurisdiction or refuse to give the remedy sought they are invariably taking a decision as controversial, if not more so in its full amplitude, as if they allowed the remedy or assumed jurisdiction. So the rule should be that once a matter is justiciable no matter its political colouration it is proper for the court to pronounce on it. Once the resolution of an impasse rests on the genuine ascertainment of facts or upon the strict application of a clear and unequivocal rule of law, it is eminently proper for the court to adjudicate thereon. And it does seem to me that judges could exercise their discretion only in favour of valid reasons in equity and justice. The insidiously-spreading attitude that political or technical issues are outside of the matters for which lawyers (or judges) have received training

and so are unsuited to sit over them straddles the general adjudicatory atmosphere even as judges pronounce themselves incompetent by off-handedly denying jurisdiction and as litigants throw up their arms in despondency, despair and seething rage. We respectfully posit that the true test of what matters judges should concern themselves with is justiciability, simpliciter. The many literatures including the reasoned elliptical outpourings of concern for and against the matter thrown up by the Justice Salami saga have been remiss in one particular or vital area. The central issue has been sorely missed. I do not think that the literatures that poured forth have been of any assistance to the main proposition – the proposition that Salami may or may not be suspended from office in the absence of certain facts or happenings. The real issue in the Salami brouhaha is not about the propriety or otherwise of his suspension from office or of his presumed infamy. The matter revolves around a very narrow compass. Could an aggrieved serving judge have taken out a suit against a fellow judge and still retain his position which position is potentially the appellate recourse of the interested or concerned party or parties? If the matter is decided one way or the other at the trial court, the party that is dissatisfied is entitled as of right to appeal to the next in the line of our pyramidal court structure. If Justice Salami was allowed to continue in office as the President of the Court of Appeal, would a case of invidiousness or one of being a judge in his own cause not be sustained against him? The courts are composed in such a manner as to ensure a guarantee of their impartiality and fairness. Any likelihood or fear of bias no matter how tenuous or thinly veiled is considered as potentially negativing the high-minded principles and well-founded precepts of justice administration or dispensation envisioned by the intensely cerebral framers of the statutes or operational handbooks of the courts. The ultimate result or finding that may arise from dispassionate or dis-interested discussion on the propriety or otherwise of the suspension from office of Justice Salami is sure to reveal the real motive behind the much-talked-about coup de grace. Is it the case that Government has perfected and is now ready to put into practice its over-rehearsed “salami tactics” – understood among management experts as a policy of cutting away one by one undesirable elements e.g. particular people or unwholesome tendencies from an organisation or enterprise? Or is it one of a vengeful vendetta as consequence for a perceived breaking of ranks or of a presumed compromise of camaraderie? Our judicial system requires an urgent rehabilitative surgery to restore or revive its ordained thrust, poise and mission. • Rotimi-John is a lawyer and commentator on public affairs.

Neutralising Nigeria’s killing fields By Emmanuel Ojeifo “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” – Thomas Paine LOWLY and steadily – almost like watching a horror movie – the Swasteland North East flank of our country, Nigeria is becoming a vast of blood. In Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, the Boko Haram merchants of death have perfected the art of systematically liquidating hundreds of innocent and precious human lives without restraint. At no other time in the history of this great nation do we find a vast section of the populace burning with anger and fury at the utter helplessness of government and the security forces in bringing a halt to this mad scourge. We need no soothsayer to prophesy that the security forces have been bogged down by inefficiency and low morale. What we are suffering from is not just the geometric escalation of violent bloodshed, but also the exhaustion of the prevailing model of military intelligence. Our nation’s security forces now find themselves in the same situation that the Continental Army found itself on December 22, 1776, three days before the Battle of Trenton, when Thomas Paine read out those famous lines etched across the magnificent pages of his pamphlet titled, The American Crisis. This is where the problem starts. Since after the collapse of the First Republic, we have given birth to successive new republics dominated by a serial bunch of intellectually lazy politicians who suffer from seminal myopia in cutting edge scholarship, especially in public policy formulation and articulation. In advanced nations where high premium is placed on intellectual endowments and acquisitions, governments are known to commission intensive study of big national problems using a critical pool of their best experts and institutions. But not in Nigeria. We have be-

come so suffocated by moneybag politics so much so that our politicians think that to solve every national problem all we need do is simply to sink in billions. If not, how can we explain government’s failure at critically addressing the Boko Haram menace in spite of the huge expenditure in procuring sophisticated military hardware? For us to provide a sustainable national solution to the Boko Haram scourge, we need to go back to the drawing board and take a new approach, that of clinical intellectual diagnosis. In his fascinating book, Tipping Point (2002), one of America’s most gifted public intellectuals, Malcolm Gladwell, treats his readers to a cocktail of solid intellectual stuff on how violence perfectly fits into the mould of social epidemics. He argues that the best way to understand the emergence of violence or the flow of crime waves is to think of them as epidemics. According to Gladwell, all epidemics, even if they don’t have very much in common, share a basic underlying pattern. First of all, they are clear examples of contagious behaviour. Second, in epidemics little changes produce big effects. Third, the changes happen in a hurry. These three characteristics – one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes can have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment – are the same three principles that underscore the new and stimulating insights into understanding violence trends in many parts of the world. This new thinking has been confirmed by the American physician, Gary Slutkin, in his TED Talk of 2013 titled, “Let’s treat violence like a contagious disease.” Slutkin, who spent decades fighting tuberculosis, cholera and AIDS epidemics in Africa, returned to the United States to face the phenomenon of gun violence. Looking carefully at the patterns of gun violence, Slutkin discovered that its spread followed the patterns of infectious disease. Buoyed with optimism at the ingenuity of modern medicine in reversing the spread of many contagious deadly diseases, Slutkin approached gunfire in neighbourhoods and streets as a contagious disease, and

through his initiative, Cure Violence, has worked towards reversing the trend of violence. To reverse epidemics, Slutkin outlines three steps: interrupt transmission, prevent further spread of the epidemic and shift group norms, which has to do with a whole bunch of community activism – remodelling, public education and group immunity. When Slutkin’s Cure Violence group put this knowledge into experimentation in curbing gun violence recently, their efforts resulted in a “67% drop in shootings and killings in the West Garfield neighbourhood of Chicago.” We direly need the superior insights offered by this new social psychology of epidemics to approach the Boko Haram menace. We need to know why the children of our nation are planning their funerals instead of preparing for their future. We need to come to a renewed intellectual understanding of why we are producing more “martyrs-in-waiting” and less “dreamers-in-action.” In this light, I strongly suggest that rather than continue to invest billions of Naira in procuring of expensive military hardware, government must begin to invest in drilling into the minds of our best experts and institutions. Three years ago, Matthew Hassan Kukah argued at a Media and Security Conference organised by the Catholic Major Seminary in Ibadan that, “It is impossible for a government to design a workable security response to terrorism if the government bureaucratizes intelligence and does not open itself up to the use of intellectuals drawn from different fields such as Anthropology, Archaeology, the Sciences, Psychology, History, Theology, and so on. Every government requires a range of experts whose knowledge should be tapped to feed the aggregate ideas required to design a security template that can respond to any given situation.” Providentially, as you read this, the World Bank has already designated 10 Nigerian higher institutions as centres of excellence for research programmes, with each designated centre earmarked for a grant of $8 million to run approved research projects. Why can’t we take advantage of this? • Ojeifo is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Abuja.

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14 Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Opinion Going for a South African visa By Okechukwu Nwafor T seems Nigerian Visa applicants have become Istantly adept at dancing to tunes of disgrace conhanded over to them by officials of the VFS (South African Visa Applicant Centre) in Abuja. Officials here craft unsavoury song of humiliation determined to compel Nigerian applicants to dance to the tunes even at the risk of slumping from exhaustion. On Monday morning of February 10, 2014, I arrived at the South Africa Visa application centre in Abuja, Nigeria, at 9 a.m. to submit my Visa application and a security man at the gate pushed me back with a wave of hand saying “we have closed for the day.” Astonished, I pointed at the notice board and asked the security man to read the notice which says: “For submission: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., MondayFriday.” But he instead commanded me, and few others hanging around the doorway, to move further away from the vicinity as strangers like us are not allowed to loiter around the building premises. His menacing gesticulation quickly sent us afar to a place that looks like a car park where I saw many touts lurking to defraud unwary clients. I felt pity for myself for being an object of embarrassment by this security man but also for accepting an apparent script of humiliation, ostensibly intended for just Nigerians. One imagines the South African High Commission posting on her notice board in, say, Washington D.C. that Visa application submission is Monday to Friday from 8am to 3pm and then goes ahead to turn back prospective American applicants who have arrived on Monday at 9am to submit Visa application. Reason: they have closed for the day. Obviously litigation would

have woken them from a reverie, that is, only if they are daydreaming. In Nigeria, the embassy is not under any reverie as this misleading notice has been there in Abuja for months. What is annoying is the impudence of foreign nationals on Nigerian citizens; the taken-for-grantedness of citizens; and this temerity by foreign nationals to consign Nigerian citizens to the waste bin of third-class creatures in their own nation, or elsewhere, seems a tacit acceptance that Nigerian Visa applicants are ignorant. Or is the action a vengeful recourse to punish the desperate, young Nigerian hustlers seeking to escape to South Africa? I decided to hang around the embassy until it is 3 p.m. Other applicants came and the security man told them, “we have closed for the day”. Perplexed at the naked effrontery with which the security man flouted the notice of 3 p.m. closing time, these applicants accepted their fate, believing that perhaps the Nigerian factor will play out and an inducement would magically open the door, just in the manner a remote-control would open a door. But it was not so. We all waited until 3 p.m. It then means that laws are only meant to be flouted with rudeness and disrespect in Nigeria, that is, if we assume that the embassy is situated on a Nigerian land and manned by Nigerian staff, as directed by South African authorities. If a foreign embassy in Nigeria could not exercise common civility to keep a law it instituted and brazenly displays on its notice boards, one must worry that other laws written on papers and hidden beneath the grasp of ‘non-literate’ locals would receive more cruel violation. One worries

what happens when locals even flout such laws. While some Nigerians may wish to travel to South Africa to commit crimes or break the laws of the land, many are travelling to South Africa to share with colleagues in professional knowledge, to engage colleagues in symbiotic professional collaboration and sometimes to impart superior knowledge to less endowed South Africans in certain sectors Nigerians may be adept. This is same for South Africans travelling to Nigeria. Life is a constant adventure in possibilities and no single race, individual, ethnicity, nationality is exempt from the dire stakes life has to offer. But when a certain nation exhibits unequal and insensate show of power and superiority with their Visa, it becomes unfortunate. To prove this unequal show of power relations, and to prove that a superior power has the right to flout a law, and even defecate on top of your head, while the embassy happily flouts their own laws on the notice board, a certain Nigerian young man who answered call inside the embassy was harshly dealt with. He was rudely handed over to a security agent who sent him out of ‘Heaven’s gate,’ for the embassy gate ranks as ‘Heaven’s gate’. This young man was asked by the security man whether he did not see the notice that read: “Please switch off your phones”. This is akin to the manner in which I asked the security man at the gate: “Can’t you see the notice of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday?” and still he kept telling me that they have closed for the day, at 9 a.m.! It is possible to argue that going for South African Visa in Nigeria is similar to a cow passing through the eye of a needle. Indeed, the

processes are rigorous, breathtaking, humiliating, embarrassing and a seemingly impossible mission. As one young Igbo hustler whom I met at the embassy put it: “It seems more difficult than the processes of going to Heaven.” It sounds hilarious but after passing through the humiliating and embarrassing process, I tend to believe this young man that going for the South African Visa in Nigeria seems like an impossible mission. By the time I finished submitting my Visa application documents in Abuja on February 11, 2014, I felt exhausted, drained of any last energy. My eyes sunk deep and a vein shot through my forehead. Obviously, the Visa stress has added an awful wrinkle of age to my physical looks. I felt older in this embarrassing world of Visa application. I also felt like one who has been relieved of some strange overload. I quickly dashed into a cool cuisine along the street and treated myself to a can of refreshing Ribenna and meat pie. Shortly, afterwards, I felt resuscitated. It then means that South African Visa process is suffocating. For me, I will go to South Africa again, but before then, the High Commissioner must have offered me a Permanent Residency Permit so I can avert another menacing brush with their security men who are trained to relish in the embarrassing statement :“We have closed for the day,” at 9a.m. even when the notice read 3 p.m. as closing time. •Dr. Nwafor is an AHP Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, South Africa and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

Agenda for South-East governors’ chairman By Godwin Adindu POPULAR saying has it that uneasy lies the head that wears A the crown. This is relevant to the challenges and responsibilities that come with every office; and is applicable to the new chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum, Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State. It amounts to added responsibility for Governor Orji, as, beyond Umuahia and Aba, he would now be looking at the entire South East hemisphere as his territory. This development translates to the fact that the forum is now a good pressure instrument and a credible platform for agitation; a strong force for regional representation at the centre. The headship of the governors’ forum is both an honour and a vindication of diligent work. Governor Orji is standing on a pedestal to see the entire region as his constituency and as one territory and then seek to replicate pragmatic work in the entire zone or at least lead the action that will culminate into a complete change for the zone. Like an African polygamous patriarch, he must learn the magic of controlling a household of many wives and children. His household now stretches from the fringes of the Niger to the boundary rainforest of Akwa Ibom, the oil swamps of Uguta and Ukwa East to the hills that separate Enugu and Anambra from Benue. Governor Orji is now the voice of the speechless people of the region. As the peoples’ leader, Orji must be willing to make sacrifices. The first test would be his willingness to release his much guarded “industrial” secret or “state” secret, the tactical actions and strategy with which he tackled the issue of security in Abia and restored law and order in the once beleaguered state. Rather than wait until he is consulted by the neigbouring states, he should freely release this technical know-how and help the governors of the zone in restoring law and order in their various states. Governor Orji must assume the position of Kwame Nkrumah, the legendary Ghanaian leader, by saying: “The liberation of Abia is meaningless unless it is linked up to the total liberation of the entire South East geopolitical zone.” Some states in this region are still being harassed by power tin-gods and old dynasties. The new chairman, as a call of duty, must assist in the total liberation of the zone, and ensure that the entire zone fellowships under one banner with a direct channel to the national political grid. He must begin to emphasise the invaluable wisdom and benefit for the zone in maintaining a cordial and healthy relationship with the centre. The zone needs to forge a common formidable front under Orji’s command. Again, this is the time when Orji must re-echo his old message about regional integration and harnessing the abundance that was the glories of the zone in times past. Two of these abun-

dances, for the South East zone, were in the area of agriculture with Dr. Michael Okpara inspired rubber plantations and the palm oil farms, and the industrial development with the industrial layouts of Port Harcourt, Aba and Enugu. Recently, a writer, Femi Aribisala, observed that while today, the centrepoint of Nigeria’s manufacturing is situated in the Lagos/Ogun axis, the real locomotive of Nigeria’s indigenous industrialization lies farther afield in Aba and in the mushrooming cottage industries of Igbo heartland. “In one of the paradoxes of Nigerian history, the terrible civil war provoked homespun industrialization in the South-East,” he added. Notably, Orji has already developed a blueprint for harnessing the creative ingenuity that grows in Aba with the construction of the $1 billion, 300-hectre, Abia International Industrial City (ABIIC) at Osisioma area of Aba. The industrial park, with the construction of about 34,346 units of workshops, is projected to consist of a total number of 68,692 units of industrial workshops and warehouses sited on 200 hectares, while 1,000 units of residential estate would occupy the remaining 100 hectares when completed. Given the place of Aba and the popular Abamade-goods, this industrial park could be a springboard for the industrial revolution of the zone. In this light, he must galvanise his brother governors to replicate this vision in their states, to establish the foundation for the development of competitive domestic products for export thus launching the zone into the rich field of global emerging markets and vibrant economies within a short time. The new chairman must also draw attention to the Nnewi indigenous cottage industries. At the forum, discussions must be directed towards how these centres could be encouraged to grow and key into modern innovation. Again, with Ochendo’s launch of the liberation farms which are obviously a revival of the time-honoured agro-economy of the zone is instructive. Agriculture was the pride of the Eastern region under Michael Okpara. And it is on record that the government of Malaysia had to come to Eastern Nigeria to learn how to grow palm produce and even went home with the seedlings. Today, Malaysia is the foremost world producer of palm oil and the associated industrial products from palm produce. A regional synergy in the direction of development of mechanized agriculture would be most strategic for the zone. Ochendo has the mandate to raise the consciousness among his brother governors. Orji must remember to make the clarion call for a homeward investment by the Igbo in Diaspora. The investment of the Igbo outside of the eastern heartland runs into trillions and trillions of naira. The Igbo remains the only group that set forth to other places, integrate with the host communities and make impact. There is almost no village in Nigeria without an Igbo presence. This attribute has its advantages and hazards. The hazards we

witnessed during the 30-month Biafran genocide. Yet, the ingenuity of the Igbo has remained an indelible part of the actualization of the growth of the economies of many states in the federation. Yet, regrettably, this has happened to the neglect of their homeland. Today, with the smouldering violence in the land, every Igbo leader must begin to emphasise a return to the roots. The people of the zone developed the big Lagos commercial centres like Aspanda, Trade Fair, Alaba, Idumota, Computer Village, Orile and many more. In Abuja, 90 per cent of the big hotels and 70 per cent of property are owned by the people of the zone. Why can’t such feat be replicated in the Igboland? This will accelerate development, bring revenue to the zone and spur sustainable development. For success, there is need for a methodological and sustained campaign. The governor must use every opportunity and every platform to preach the gospel of regional synergy. There must also be a planned action of enlightenment and sensitisation to raise the momentum towards home-bound investment and political barter. The ethics of power game revolves around interest. Orji should tactically negotiate the stake of the zone in the Jonathan presidency. He must be able to weigh the options critically in the unfolding politics of 2015 and proceed to the negotiating table with a well-articulated demand. More than ever before, Orji must apply strategy as tool in his permutations for the development of the region. The issues are: what are the expectations of the South East in the current Nigerian project? What are the critical issues of development that will bring about a spiral chain of improvement in peoples’ lives? The movement towards a block support for Jonathan’s candidacy by the South East clearly amounts to a temporary suspension of the time-honoured demand for the Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. Given the present circumstances, the governors should be able to trade that ambition for a handsome and befitting reward. The negotiation must go beyond a return of their mandate to an altruistic demand for the greatest good for the greatest number of Ndigbo. There is still the need to balance the post-war, orchestrated marginalization of the South East in the distribution and allocation of national resources and in political appointments. Today, that lacuna in the people’s political existence has been filled. There is a testimonial for Orji’s new political mandate. The evidence is the new society of peace, law and order which he has achieved in Abia and which are the necessary condition for all other socio-economic activities. The Abia governor has a unique opportunity to show that he is the most credible personality to hold the South East mantle. • Adindu is the President-General of the Abia Renaissance Movement (ARM)

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BUSINESS Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Business Oil prices sustain rising profile HE West Texas T Intermediate and Brent Crude sustained rising profile for the third time in four days after data showed that the United States homebuilding industry was stabilizing. WTI for April delivery gained 24 cents to $98.32 a barrel at 9:32 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was near the 100-day average for this time of day. Brent for May settlement slid 15 cents to $106.09 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 22 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude settled at $106.24 a barrel yesterday, the lowest close since Feb. 4. Brent was at a premium of $8.31 to WTI for the same month. The spread closed at $8.62 yesterday. Oil prices increased as much as 0.6 percent in New York. Building permits filed for future projects increased last month to the most since October and housing starts in the U.S. were little changed. Crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, fell last week and total U.S. supplies gained for a ninth week, a Bloomberg survey showed before an Energy I n f o r m a t i o n Administration report tomorrow. “The market is a little optimistic about the U.S. economy and the demand outlook,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago. “Building permits are increasing and housing starts are not bad. The market is waiting for tomorrow’s inventory report.” Building permits increased 7.7 percent to a 1.02 million annual pace in February, reflecting a surge in applications for apartment-building construction, the Commerce Department reported. Housing starts slid 0.2 percent to 907,000 homes at an annualized rate from a revised 909,000 pace in January.

Vice President, Namadi Sambo (left) Director-General, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Frank Nweke Jnr; Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Issa Aremu, and Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Sola David-Borha; during the opening ceremony of the 20th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja yesterday.

Govt harps on deregulation for growth From Collins Olayinka and Sulaiman Salau, Abuja EGULATION of downR stream sector is fiscally unsustainable, it is resource demanding, discourages investments and principally, benefits the rich, not the masses in the society that we intend to reach in the first place.” These were the words of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, yesterday in Abuja at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) 2014, while justifying the urgent need for Nigerians to put sentiments apart and set the Nigeria’s oil and gas on the path of sustainable growth through aggressive deregulation of

the sector. Delivering the Ministerial address entitled “State of the industry: Achievements and Steps to the next level”, Alison-Madueke argued that full deregulation of the sector remains the only way in which capital investment can be encouraged and new employment opportunities created for both foreign and local openings. But she was quick to observe that government was not unaware of the fact that Nigeria, being a democratic society, has to create a balance among different policies and processes of government in tandem with the needs and desires of the Nigerian people at all times. While reeling out the

achievements of the present government, which has sustained an uninterrupted fuel supply to the country until recently, the Minister named the combination of supply glitches created by some false perception, panic buying, hoarding and diversions and also rumours of increases in prices of petroleum products as factors influencing the scarcity. The Minister insisted that government has no plan to increase the price of petroleum products. She also said government would plan the sustained economic development of the country in the next few decades on gas, owing to the availability of the com-

Nigeria gets 44 more mineral deposits From Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu, Benin City RESIDENT Goodluck P Jonathan, yesterday in Benin City, Edo State said about 44 new mineral deposits have been uncovered in 800 locations across the country. Besides, he said the country is still blessed with over 50 billion barrels of oil reserves, adding that efforts were being made for generation of power from coal in line with its transformation agenda. The president stated this at a 50th Annual International Conference

and Exhibitions of Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) in Benin City, where he said the implementation of road map for the development of solid mineral sector in 2012 has led to increased sustained flow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in exploration and extraction or minerals- which included coal, gold, iron and ore. Represented by the Minister of Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Mohammed Sada, Jonathan explained: “We

are full of optimism that not only will more mineral types and new locations be discovered, the exploration and exploitation of these valuable endowment will lead to employment generation and increased contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “It’s on record that the contribution of the extractive sector to the Nigerian economy surpasses the contribution of any other sector in view of the fact that the Petroleum sub-section alone contributes over 90 percent of the nation’s

export earnings –raging from job creation, infrastructural development to mention a few”. Meanwhile, NMGS, in a communiqué to commemorate the golden jubilee celebration flayed the delay in the passage of Petroleum Industry Bill, describing it as a major setback to the realisation of the vision for vibrant oil and gas industry. The group therefore urged for the control of attended environmental issues arising thereon in line with the relevant mining laws.

Regulation of downstream sector is fiscally unsustainable, it is resource demanding, discourages investments and principally, benefits the rich, not the masses in the society that we intend to reach in the first place. modity in the country. Her words: “The growing importance of gas in the energy mix both globally and locally requires a new focus on creating robustness in the fiscal and contractual agreements for gas to support Mr. President’s agenda for gas particularly in relation to the power sector.” The Minister also submitted that the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is packaged to be a one-stop legislation that will replace the existing different 16 legislations that currently govern the industry. “PIB is meant to give a holistic legislation that as you know replaces 16 existing laws in the Nigerian oil and gas industry and should when promulgated into law, proffer the much needed clarity, transparency, and optimum revenue potentials for the Nigerian state and I do believe a lot more protection in terms of protection on existing investments and investors. “The Petroleum Act 1969 as amended and the Petroleum Profit Tax 1959 are the two main laws for the oil and gas sector both of which are mainly for oil and gas export and explo-

ration. The reform agenda of government requires a complete overhaul of these laws to reflect 21st century realities,” she stated. She added that in 2013 alone, vandalization of critical assets was unabated with Trans-Forcados line, the Obangwere, TemidabaBrass line, the Nembe creek line and the Trans-Niger pipeline all affected. Alison-Madueke hinted that the incidents created significant losses that include but not restricted to the direct and indirect cost for provision of security, crude oil and petroleum product losses, the loss of production, environmental pollution and degradation and the associate remediation costs to that and the resulting escalation of project implementation cost cycle. The Minister also revealed that despite of setback, the country has managed to maintain an average crude production of approximately 2.3mbpd in 2013, with an estimated 300,000 barrels of deferred production. As the country moves towards opening up the industry, Alison-Madueke,

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Global mobile network firms to share infrastructure By Adeyemi Adepetun MAJOR move targeted at A mitigating the impact of poor telecommunications services, boost Internet infrastructure, among others, has been sealed by eight major service providers across Africa and the Middle East. Specifically, this agreement is focused on increasing the level of infrastructure sharing among them. The operators, which include Bharti Airtel, Etisalat, MTN, Ooredo, Orange, STC, Vodafone and Zain, currently serve over 550 million customers across Africa and the Middle East. According to the GSMA, the body, which represents the interest of mobile operators’ worldwide, spanning more than 220 countries with a broader mobile ecosystem, recognized that there is a profound impact of mobile broadband and Internet services on the citizens of both regions. GSMA, in a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, disclosed that the the participating operators have made this commitment in order to provide Internet and mobile broadband access to unserved rural communities and drive down the cost of mobile services for all sections of the population. Though, details of the plan is still sketchy, GSMA Director General, Ann Bouverot said: “We are greatly encouraged by the shared vision of mobile operators and the common urgency to find solutions that will drive down the cost of mobile and Internet services and help connect the unconnected. “Unique mobile subscriber penetration is only 40 per cent in Africa and the Middle East, lower than the global average of 47 per cent, so we need to work together to expand the reach of mobile.” According to GSMA, the ini-

tial group of senior leaders from mobile operator groups who supportted this initiative includes: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Africa, Bharti Airtel, Christian de Faria; Group CEO, Etisalat, Ahmad Julfar; CEO and President, MTN Group, Sifiso Dabengwa; Group CEO, Ooredo, Dr. Nasser Marafih; Senior Executive Vice President,

The operators, which include Bharti Airtel, Etisalat, MTN, Ooredo, Orange, STC, Vodafone and Zain, currently serve over 550 million customers across Africa and the Middle East. Africa, Middle East and Asia, Orange, Marc Rennard; CEO, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific Region, Vodafone Group, Serpil

Timuray and CEO, Zain Group, Scott Gegenheimer. Commenting on the initiative, Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises and Chair of the Public Policy

Committee of the GSMA board, Manoj Kohli, who said the cooperation demonstrates that the industry is committed to innovating in order to serve the billions living in the rural areas, stressed that, “we call on governments to support and encourage the commercial infrastructure sharing arrangements that we aim to propose.”

Going forward, the GSMA said is position is that telecommunications regulatory frameworks should encourage flexible commercial sharing arrangements and facilitate access to government-owned assets at preferential rates to help speed up the roll-out of new networks and support the business case to extend mobile networks into rural areas.

New Commissioner, Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau, Felix A. Abali (left) and his predecessor Capt. Muhktar Usman, during the hand over ceremony held at the weekend, in Lagos. PHOTO: SOLA OJEDOKUN

Union Bank unveils five-year strategic plan NION Bank Nigeria Plc disclosed this in Lagos on ent; quality of banking plat- considered our strength as a U has unveiled a five-year Monday. form; quality of professional bank, our challenges and Specifically, Emuwa said strategic plan that will see standards and quality of also the landscape within the financial institution becoming a highly respected provider of quality banking services. Group Managing Director of the Bank, Emeka Emuwa

the bank’s strategic ambition would focus on six areas, which he listed to include quality of customer experience; quality of client base; quality of tal-

earnings. He recalled: “Last year, we had two important tasks ahead of us. First, to immediately improve the bank’s operations by dealing with existing operational and services and second to develop a roadmap to firmly establish Union bank as significant player within the Nigerian banking industry. “However, after months of hard work during, which we

which we operate, we have emerged with a strategy that will guide the bank for the next three to five years. This strategy has been approved by the board of Union Bank.” Emuwa said the lender remains focused on building on the progress it made in 2013. “One of such was the launch of bank of the future branch in Lagos as well as rolling out over 300 Automated Teller

Machines (ATMs), adding that “the bank may not open new branches but roll out future branch model of the bank that would offer convenient banking activities while additionally 300 ATMs will be installed this year in 338 branches of the bank nationwide.” He disclosed the bank has sufficient capital to fund its restructuring and expansion and will not be seeking further capital in the near to medium future.

Deregulation imperative for oil sector CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 stated that new regulations along with guidelines and strong regulator are obviously needed, adding that, “capacity enhancement in areas such as open access routes, network codes, tariff methodology, especially for oil terminals and jetties are urgently required if we are to better manage the interface between technical and commercial regulation which is currently rather poorly understood.” Apart from security challenges, the Minister said the industry has also suffered from limited institutional capacity, poor funding of investments, high technical costs, obsolete laws, outdated fiscal regimes and infrastructural constraints with particular respect to gas

commercialisation. In the downstream, AlisonMadueke there is the need to establish a critical oil infrastructure protection squad with the responsibility for dealing with crude and product thefts, vandalism, outright sabotage and general criminality in our sector. On infrastructural deficit, the Minister stated that the 5000kilometer product pipeline network that was built in the 1970s are now virtually unusable in certain areas and this has affected product distribution in the country. On his part, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, said the need to protect Nigeria pipelines necessitated the call for the creation of a Midstream Regulator in the

PIB that will be responsible for cost recovery mechanisms for pipeline operators which will boost investment in the midstream infrastructure nationwide. The NNPC boss also painted a robust future for the country’s deep offshore, saying, “the deep offshore will be over seven billion barrels of commercial liquid reserves have bee discovered in Nigeria’s deep water. Majority of future incremental oil an gas production in Nigeria will likely come from the deep water. Discoveries so far have been highly prolific with potential growth. The sector is estimated to account for about half of the country’ production by end of the decade. This is envisaged to be Nigeria’s next oil frontier.”

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Focus Tragedy sparks off fraud allegations against Interior Ministry Last Saturday’s tragedy, which left at least 18 job seekers dead during the botched Nigeria Immigration Service’s (NIS) recruitment, has opened a can of worms on the dirty deals going on at the Interior Ministry, SUNDAY ODITA reports

Moro

Parradang OR the umpteenth time, the Ministry of FService Interior and the Nigerian Immigration (NIS) have incurred the citizens’ wrath for ‘dehumanizing’ hapless, job-seeking graduates. Sources told The Guardian that the ugly events of last Saturday, which led to the death of at least 18 persons at the various recruitment centres across the country would have been averted, if the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro had allowed the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to handle the exercise. Officials of the four para-military services under the Ministry of Interior are now taking advantage of the recruitment imbroglio to highlight some of the Minister’s alleged excesses, which they listed as tribalism and highhandedness. For instance, for the first time in history, the NIS recruitment process was contracted to an external firm, Drexel Nigeria Limited. A top government official confided in The Guardian, that because the NIS was not directly involved in the exercise, it was difficult for it to liaise with relevant government agencies such as the Police, Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), that would have helped to control the massive crowd and provide medical services in the event of an emergency last Saturday. This is coming on the heels arguments by some stakeholders that there was no wisdom in inviting such a huge number of applicants for an interview on the same day. Another private security operator, who pleaded anonymity, also absolved the NIS of any culpability, insisting that the NIS had little or no role to play in the entire process, as the private company hired to do the job had collected money from the applicants. However, Moro, who has come under heavy criticisms over the incident, has announced plans to set up a panel of inquiry to probe the stampede, which also left about 700 people injured. Announcing the plan to constitute a probe panel few days ago, when he visited the injured victims at the National Hospital, Abuja, Moro said membership of the proposed panel would be drawn from various stakeholders. He said: “The committee would be set up to examine the necessary things to be done in this circumstance and it would consists of all stakeholders, including the Civil Society, because what happened was a national tragedy and all Nigerians and Nigeria’s observers are interested in knowing what happened.” He explained that the preliminary information he received showed that some people, who did not apply for the NIS vacancies had tried to cash in on the openness of the exercise to gain

Cross section of applicants for the Nigeria Immigration Service interview, held at the Abuja stadium last Saturday. entry into the stadium, “because the idea was that, people should show preferences for the centres they want to write the examination, which we have displayed appropriately.” Moro had also noted that his intention was not put an arrangement that would lead to deaths in place, but to conduct a transparent recruitment exercise, through a level playing field for all applicants. But in a swift reaction, President Goodluck Jonathan has also issued queries to both Moro and the NIS Comptroller General, Mr. David Paradand over the incident. They would have a hard time convincing the President on why they should not be sanctioned. Also reacting to the tragedy, Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal urged the federal government to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the incident and advised that a strategy be mapped out to prevent a future recurrence. Tambuwal had, through his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, said the death of the applicants was “sorrowful and regrettable” just as he urged governments at all levels to work closely with the organized private sector to tackle unemployment in the country. The All Peoples Congress (APC), in its reaction, demanded Moro’s resignation, insisting that he should accept responsibility for the avoidable deaths. The party also alleged that tragedy was a “direct consequence of the 15year misrule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led federal government.” The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), nonetheless, said the federal government’s inability to curb corruption and generate employment culminated in the avoidable deaths. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, in a statement, said: “It is our candid view that the tragedy of unemployment is the outcome of the Federal

Government of Nigeria’s nebulous and inchoate economic policy; which regrettably posits that government has no business in business and the monumental corruption, which governs the reproachable economic policy.” Vice-President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Issa Aremu, while reacting to the tragedy, said Moro must get to the bottom of tragedy, failing which “he must resign from administering a ministry increasingly notorious for employment scandals and employment tragedies.” It would be recalled that a similar exercise by the NIS ended in the death of scores of applicants in 2008. Besides, observers are of the view that no other ministry in the country has received so much criticism like the Interior Ministry. It would be recalled that accusations and counter-accusations of corruption between Moro and the former Comptroller General of Immigration Mrs. Rose Uzoma had led to Uzoma’s ouster from her cherished job in 2012. She was unceremoniously retired following a controversial recruitment exercise that rocked the agency that year. The statement announcing her sack, signed by a Director in the Ministry of Interior, Dr. R. K. Attahiru, had stated: “I am directed to convey approval of His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele, GCFR President, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for you (Mrs. Rose Chinyere Uzoma) to proceed on your pre-retirement accumulated leaves. “I am to further convey that you are to hand over the duties and responsibilities of your office on Wednesday, 16th January, 2013 to the most senior Deputy Comptroller General of Immigration in the person of Rilwan Bala Musa, who will act as Comptroller General of Immigration pending the appointment of a substantive CG of Immigration.” Uzoma, who was appointed on July 30, 2010,

However, in November 2012, job seekers had besieged the Minister’s office in Abuja, accusing some Interior Ministry officials of operating a syndicate that ripped them off. Some of the protesters claimed at that time, to have paid between N350, 000 and N500, 000 to the syndicate, depending on the agency of their choice, but ended up not getting the promised jobs. Scores of contractors had also, in the same year, flooded the Ministry, alleging extortions by its officials to the tune of millions, over promised contracts at the NPS that never materialized. The disenchanted contractors had stormed the Minister’s office demanding for either a refund of their money or the award of the promised contracts

was officially due to retire on March 6, 2013, but the controversial recruitment exercise, which she insisted not knowing anything about, led to her premature departure. But before she proceeded on retirement about a year ago, the second female Comptroller General of the NIS had blown the whistle, accusing Moro and his cronies of allegedly masterminding all the recruitment scandals bedeviling the NIS and other para-military agencies under the Ministry of Interior. Officers of the various agencies, The Guardian gathered, are unhappy with the Minister’s “over-bearing tendencies and tribalistic sentiments,” which they insisted had been preventing the smooth and efficient running of the Para-military organizations, made up of The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), Nigeria Fire Service (NFS) and NIS. Moro has so far denied any wrongdoing. All the officers who spoke with The Guardian also accused Moro of pursuing an ethnic agenda. They accused the Minister of allegedly imposing Idoma officers on the leadership cadre of the NIS. A source alleged: “Sometimes, his choice of Idoma officers for critical assignments and postings is outrageous, as even those of them who are not qualified at all, get the attention of the Minister, who would always stick to them as the final and irreplaceable choice.” Sources at the NSCDC also accused Moro of using his position to foster only the interest of his Idoma people. A source alleged: “Comrade Moro ensured that Benue State took majority of the positions recently filled during the replacement exercise in the Civil Defence Corps, with the Idoma tribe taking more than 90 per cent of the slots.” However, The Guardian could not independently verify the allegations on ethnicity and all efforts to reach Moro for comments were unsuccessful. However, in November 2012, job seekers had besieged the Minister’s office in Abuja, accusing some Interior Ministry officials of operating a syndicate that ripped them off. Some of the protesters claimed at that time, to have paid between N350, 000 and N500, 000 to the syndicate, depending on the agency of their choice, but ended up not getting the promised jobs. Scores of contractors had also, in the same year, flooded the Ministry, alleging extortions by its officials to the tune of millions, over promised contracts at the NPS that never materialized. The disenchanted contractors had stormed the Minister’s office demanding for either a refund of their money or the award of the promised contracts.

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TheMetroSection ‘Height of wickedness...’ • Suspect almost killed his 10-year-old niece for bedwetting By Odita Sunday

She urinated on my bed the first time and I warned her to stop bed wetting because she is too big to do such. Her father who is my uncle left her under my care, so I needed to correct her TWENTY-SEVEN-YEAR-OLD woman has A been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for beating her 10-year -old niece to a state of coma. The suspect, Joy Amodu, who is currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Lagos was arrested by a Non-Governmental –Organization (NG0) named Hands that Care at FESTAC Town and handed over to the Police. The suspect who was paraded yesterday at the State Police Command headquarters by the Spokesperson of the Command, Ngozi Braide, said that it was the devil that tempted her to commit the dastardly act. “I am very sorry for my action. I must say the truth; the devil masterminded the whole thing. I did not envisage what happened.” “She urinated on my bed the first time and I warned her to stop bed wetting because she is too big to do such. Her father who is my uncle left her under my care, so I needed to correct her. She urinated on my bed again, I needed to teach her a lesson, and so I used a big stick and started hitting her. She lost consciousness after I hit her, it was at that point that my eyes opened and I quickly rushed her to a hospital in Ajah, Lagos.” “I was shivering because she was rejected at the Hospital so I rushed her to Military Clinic at Bonny Camp and she was also re-

The suspect, Joy Amodu jected. It was then I took her to the Military Hospital at Onikan where she was received and revived. I am happy that she is getting better now because she was released to me by her father when I told him about the strange sickness that befell me and that I was lonely and needed a companion.” “Why I am crying is that when I was rushed to our village, Idah in Kogi State, it was her father who catered for me because I am an

The abused girl, Foziya orphan and a single lady. I am very sorry and I know that God would forgive me for paying my uncle with ingratitude. I am also begging the little girl, Foziya Danjuma and the Police to forgive me. If I am allowed to go, I will take good care of her,” she pleaded. The Police Spokesperson, Braide said the suspect was arrested immediately the NGO hinted the Police. Braide who described the act as “the

...in hospital bed height of wickedness” said the Police has concluded their investigation into the matter and would soon charge the matter to Court. She said the girl, who is a minor, would be under the care of the NGO till the case is over. The Coordinator of Hands That Care, Jacinta Nworie said her group would take care of the victim and her hospital bill and would follow up the case in court.

Ekiti community protests two months power outage From Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ado Ekiti CONOMIC and social activities E were yesterday paralysed in Ikere-Ekiti, as youths protested two months power outage in the town. The protesters blocked the road that linked Ado Ekiti to Akure, Ondo State capital, preventing travelers and other road users from getting to their destinations. Benin Electricity Distribution Company, in charge of the community, had accused the community

of owing the company over N30m and efforts by the company to make them pay had been resisted by Ikere youths alleged to be assaulting the officials of the distribution company. A source said the community leaders had held series of meeting with BEDC staff and they reached agreement that 10 per cent of the debt must be paid before the community could be connected to the national grid. It was also gathered that a prominent legal luminary

from the community volunteered to pay the N30 million but after payment the electricity was not installed. An eyewitness said the youths started the protest to express the mind of the people of Ikere - Ekiti, saying “since January this year, there have been power outage in the town and people are suffering.” “The PHCN officials just throw the entire town into total darkness and nobody knows when the power outage will stop. And this is what

provoked the youths, which consequently led them into taking that action, “ she said. It was gathered that some policemen from Ikere Division, who are also experiencing the outage, addressed the protesting youths to avoid violence while carrying out their protest. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO ) ASP Victor Babayemi, in response to the protest, said: “We heard about the protest and we quickly deployed our men there to

ensure it does not get out of hand.” “The youths are protesting continuous power outage in the town. We are managing the situation. We have not made any arrest, because we believe the youths have the constitutional right to protest as long as they are not violent in the cause of carrying out their right.” “But we are making sure that the situation doesn’t get out of hand. So our men are fully in control of the situation,” the PPRO added.

Rotary Club donates borehole to Gwarinpa School From Emeka Anuforo, Abuja UCCOUR came the way of S1, Gwarinpa, Junior Secondary School Abuja, which at the weekend got running water, for the first time since it was established. The gesture was courtesy of members of the Rotary Club of Abuja, Gwarinpa with support from the Nigeria Export and Import Bank (NEXIM). The club drilled a borehole to supply water to meet the needs of the school, and also installed two large tanks to serve as reservoir for the collection of water. Similarly, the club donated several wheel chairs and mobility devices to the General Hospital, Kubwa, as

part of its Community Service project. The Principal of the school, Mrs Uwen Philip Uwen, management and students of the school were full of joy as water gushed from the taps during the formal commissioning ceremony. She said the school was still with a number of challenges that require special intervention. She listed such needs as functional library, toilet, classrooms, sporting facilities and equipment, calling on other non-governmental organizations to intervene. Her words: “The intervention of Rotary Club of Abuja Gwarinpa is highly appreciated and commendable. The school has many proj-

ects begging for attention and intervention. It is a known fact that water is one of the basic necessities of life. The lack of clean potable water is the major source of diseases plaguing our rural community.” “As I address you today, I cast my mind back to few months ago when I received the team of Rotarians for the first time in my office. As I conducted the team round the school premises, they quickly identified the provision of water, as a priority to the school community for intervention. True to their words, we are here today to witness the official commissioning of this important project that will improve the hygiene and

sanitation of the school.” Describing the action of the club as commendable, she was optimistic that it would open the door for other interventions in the school. Her words: “ We hope this would open the floodgates for other similar bodies, NGOs, corporate organizations, among others, to identify areas of need and partner with the school to upgrade our infrastructural challenges.” “Words cannot express our profound gratitude and heartfelt appreciation but to say thank you. I continue to thank you endlessly for putting smiles on our faces. May the true God bless your

efforts and humanitarian initiative.” President of the Club, Barrister James Ugbeda said the club took up the project of providing potable water to the school for the good and benefit of the children particularly. His words: “This project is in line with the six areas of focus of Rotary International, particularly water and sanitation and also in the area of economic and community development. It is our desire that with this borehole project, our children will be able to drink clean water and will no longer use the toilet without water; and that they will be able to wash their hands clean and also be able to

grow flowers that will beautify the school vicinity and lots more.” He stressed how the club got support from the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM) bank to make the project a reality. His words: “We appreciate the sponsoring and partnership we got from our donors, especially Mr. Robert Orya the Managing Director/CEO Nexim Bank. We urge the school authority with the support of the students to sustain this borehole project by taking care of it adequately.” He said the club would be willing to engage in other areas of intervention for the school, but that would be in the future.

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20 Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Dabiri-Erewa empowers over 500 constituents By Tunde Akinola O alleviate poverty in her T constituency, the lawmaker representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has empowered no fewer than 500 of her constituents. At the empowerment programme, which took place at the Ikorodu Town Hall, various items, ranging from tricycles, Keke Marwa (17), sewing machines (10), freezers (20), generating sets (9), grinding machines (10), block-moulding machines, fishing nets, wheel chairs, financial assistance for people interested in small scale businesses, among others. Dignitaries in attendance included: the former Deputy Governor, Lagos State, Rafiu Abiodun Ogunleye, former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Olorunfunmi Bashorun; the Ranodu of Imota, Oba Ajibade Agoro, Olori Olayinka Muibat Oyefusi, Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly’s Committee on Judiciary, Sanai Agunbiade, Chief Monsur Olowosago, Ahmed Olalekan, Alhaji Ajayi Bembe, Chief (Mrs.) Folake Bembe, Sabitu Elesho and others. Dabiri-Erewa, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora Affairs and a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said: “the empowerment scheme

is ongoing.” “It is not the first and it will not be the last. We asked people to fill forms and express their realistic desires. “Through my party, the APC, we want to help the people of Ikorodu and Lagos at large. We want to empower the women in particular, no matter how small, it is because we have realised if we give some of them two bags or rice, they can sell and make profit from which they can take care of some immediate needs. This not an issue of money or how much I have spent, what matters to me is impacting lives of people positively. These are rural dwellers and a few thousands of naira can make tremendous impact in their lives. “I implore the people of Ikorodu to make sure they vote for APC in the coming election, as it seems to be the only party that can cater for their needs. If you are happy with the way things are in this country you can maintain the staus quo but if you are not then you should know APC is the party that will bring desired change to the people of this country,” Dabiri-Erewa said. Earlier, the former deputy governor of the state, Ogunleye, who was chairman of the occasion, praised DabiriErewa for deeming it fit to empower the people, describing her effort as laud-

able. Meanwhile, leaders and the people of Ikorodu urged Dabiri-Erewa to contest the 2015 governorship election in the state, declaring that they have been extremely satisfied with the manner

she has performed since she got elected into parliament in 2003. Also speaking, Bashorun, leader of APC in the state, lauded Dabiri-Erewa for her sustained efforts at empowering Ikorodu people.

He urged her to indicate her interest in the forthcoming governorship race. Bashorun said he was convinced that the 2015 governorship race had been zoned to Lagos West comprising Ikorodu.

On his part, the Ranodu of Imota, Oba Agoro was full of praises for Dabiri-Erewa and prayed God to continue to enrich her so that she would be able to grow in the service of the state and the nation in general.

Leaders, Success Movement Saidi Waidi (left), his counterpart, Adewale Jaiyeola, Dabiri- Erewa and Olori Muibat Olayinka Oyefusi at the event

PHOTO: OSENI YUSUF

Immigration recruitment tragedy also claimed one life in Jigawa road accident From John Akubo, Dutse HE ill-fated immigration recruitment test, which claimed about 19 lives across the country, also took its toll on Jigawa State with nine of the applicants involved in a ghastly motor accident close to the Federal Secretariat in Dutse. The accident, which occurred as early as 7:00am on the fateful Saturday, claimed the live of one of the applicants. The Guardian gathered that the 27-year-old applicant, Ismaila Adamu from Hadejia, died of internal bleeding

caused by head injury at 12: noon the same day. The accident involved two vehicles, a green Volkswagen Golf car and a green Peugeot 806 bus with their number plates detached. One of the injured applicants who survived the accident said he was asleep when he heard the bang from the head-on collision of their car with the Peugeot 806. Another injured applicant in the Peugeot 806 Usman Umar blamed the accident on the Golf car driver who abandoned his lane and decided to drive in the opposite direction to their vehicle with high

speed leading to the collision. When The Guardian visited the Rasheed Shekoni Specialist Hospital where the victims

were rushed to for medical attention, some of the injured victims had fractures on their legs and arms with the two

drivers also on hospital beds. Dr. Emribe Ikhenna who was seen attending to the victims said they would take X-

The accident scene

ray and CT scans because one of them had head injury and other fractures but that was before Adamu passed on. The Guardian gathered that the Golf was conveying five applicants from Garki Local Council while the Peugeot 806 was conveying four applicants from Hadejia Local Council. Not less than 3, 971 applicants from Jigawa State sat for the aptitude test for enlistment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) over the weekend. The victims of the accident never had the opportunity to sit for the examination.

Briefs AES to inaugurate Abuja chapter

WAMCO donates milk to two million pupils

HE Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies, Nigeria (AES) and the AES Excellence Club will be inaugurated tomorrow in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. According to a statement by the President of both bodies, Dr. Ausbeth Ajagu, the development is aimed at widening the scope and reach of both organizations, in responsiveness to the yearnings of the teeming members and stakeholders. The Vice President, Namadi Sambo, Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Transport, Idris Umar and the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen among other personalities expected at the event.

FIRM, FrieslandCampina A WAMCO Nigeria Plc., makers of Peak, Three

Community lauds Jonathan on Centenary celebrations HE Okori community in Eleme, Rivers State has joined T other well-meaning Nigerians to congratulate President Goodluck Jonathan for organising the just concluded Centenary celebration. Speaking on behalf of the Okori community recently in Eleme, the Egbere Emere Okori of Eleme, HRH Appolus Chu commended President Jonathan for what he described as an auspicious event. Chu, who was particularly impressed by the Centenary Awards given to Nigerians said, “We congratulate you for organising the Centenary Award in which all the past and present leaders of Nigeria came together, especially at this moment of political unfaithfulness, distrust and differences.” The Egbere Emere Okori, who said the occasion was worthy of emulation, called on Nigerians to appreciate the good gesture demonstrated by the President. According to him, “As you bestow numerous inter-vivo and post-humus award and recognition of personalities past and present, who had at various times contributed their selfless quota to the development of our dear country. The award is a testament to your love and care for the people of Nigeria and geared towards the upliftment of spirits of the beloved departed and members of their families alive”.

Crowns and Friso, has given out free school milk to over two million pupils in public primary schools in four states of the federation. Wamco’s latest product, Peak School Smart, has been presented to government officials in Osun, Plateau, Ekiti and Lagos states with a roll-out-plan for other states in the federation, according to a statement issued in Lagos by Ore Famurewa, the company’s Public and Regulatory Affairs Manager. Peak School Smart, when consumed as part of a healthy diet and a physically active life, can support learning ability and alertness in Children. It is known that malnutrition has been a persistent problem in young children in sub-Saharan Africa. To address the adverse effect of malnutrition, scientific studies suggest that adequate nutrition is imperative forhealthy development and for the brain to develop and function well during childhood.

A child’s learning ability and alertness depends on key factors including activity, learning possibilities, overall health & hygiene. Adequate nutrition is an im-

portant factor influencing a child’s potential to learn. The CSR programme is designed to give school- children access to excellent nutrition; a proposition that milk, being a complete

food, can give to youngsters. FrieslandCampina WAMCO, an affiliate of the Royal FrieslandCampina in The Netherlands, has been in Nigeia since 1954.

Corporate Affairs Officer, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Mr. Ajulo Ojeawe, with school children, during the presentation of Peak School Smart to officials of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014 21

tives and game changes to imbibe sustainability; • establishment of Governance structures to institutionalize the principles, in addition to making the principles integral to its policies, strategies and operations. CBN established a governance structure and mechanism for monitoring implementation to ensure internalization and compliance by the industry. An Inter-Departmental sustainability committee comprising of sustainability champions was established to strategically coordinate the implementation of the complex and cross-cutting sustainability issues. In addition, sustainability division and team were set up in Governor’s and Banking Supervision Departments, respectively, to demonstrate commitment to sustainability; • development of an action plan with set targets to assist the implementation of the NSBP and achievement of its strategic objectives; • developed a draft sustainability policy in consonance with international standards and best practices using other global instruments and initiatives such as UNEP-FI statement, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, UN Convention on Human Rights, ILO Care Labor Standards and other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs); • in order to ensure that CBN conducts its activities and implement strategic and operational decisions in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, the Governors signed a statement of commitment to sustainability to reaffirm CBN’s commitment; • sustainability being an emerging issue requires building internal competencies through capacity building and training of our employees to promote sustainability practices in the workplace as well as develop the necessary skills and mindsets for integration of sustainability objectives into their roles and responsibilities. CBN is collaborating with IFC to train and re-train staff of Environmental and Social issues. Similarly, the Board of Directors and top management were also trained to set the tone at the top; • outreach materials on sustainability developed and distributed to staff to encourage reduction of carbon footprint in the workplace; • a sustainability portal created on the CBN website to increase visibility; • commenced the integration of sustainability issues into relevant CBN policies such as Enterprise Risk Management Framework, Financial Literacy Strategy, Competency Framework, and Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy; and • since the launching of the principles and accompanying guidelines, CBN has developed, exposed and approved a reporting template to enable measure performance on sustainability issues by the industry in order to show commitment and be transparent.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

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HE U.S. government has declared T it wants to stop being in charge of U.S. set to give up net oversight powers how the Internet is run. The U.S. Commerce Department has announced its “intent” to hand control over to the wider net community. It has asked net overseer, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), to work out how to shift control from the U.S. government to an alternative body.

It said it wants the successor controlling body to be made up of both private companies and government representatives. The way the Internet came about meant the U.S. retained ultimate control over how the network was operated. The process of stepping back from that began in 1998 with the creation of ICANN.

Under contract from the U.S. government, ICANN oversees the net’s addressing system that underlies everything people do online. Now it wants to go further and let ICANN run that addressing system without any U.S. interference. In a statement setting out its plan, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Lawrence Strickling said the handover

must “support and enhance the multi-stakeholder model” for the governing of the net, as well as maintain its openness. Chairman of ICANN’s board, Dr. Stephen Crocker said the day the net would be free of US oversight had been “long envisioned.” “We have all long known the

destination,” he said in a statement. “Now it is up to our global stakeholder community to determine the

Prospects brighten for mobile money At the 2014 edition of the yearly Mobile Money Expo, diverse views were expressed on the growth option for mobile money. Among these was interoperability, which according to experts hold greater potential for the scheme. ADEYEMI ADEPETUN writes S part of efforts to promote electronic payA ment, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in 2009 introduced the mobile payment framework. The framework is to guide the business of mobile money, which is the use of mobile phones for payment and to access financial services. In 2011, about 16 firms and consortia were licensed by the apex bank to jump start the potential embedded in mobile money scheme in Nigeria. Though, analysts were divided on its success in the country, due to some identifiable challenges, including lack of infrastructure; poor awareness, insecurity, among others, today, the situation is changing, as the scheme is gradually gaining traction across the country with the hope that new policies and cooperation among stakeholders in the industry will unleash its potential. Indeed, at the 2014 Mobile Money Expo in Lagos, some of the developments noticed around the initiative were put forward and possible suggestions for expansion were also itemised. While canvassing for a more seamless interoperability to boost the scheme in Nigeria, the Director and Head, Global Business Development, mFino, Chalapathi Rao said close to 80 mobile money schemes have been deployed in Africa, adding that mobile money has contributed 4.5 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP or $32 billion. According to him, though 80 per cent of world’s mobile money transactions happen in East Africa, which has been propelled by the success of mPesa in Kenya, he was quick to say that the high mobile phone adoption rate would do the magic in other part of the continent, especially in Nigeria. He pointed out that with about one billion people estimated to be on the continent, there are over 700 million

connections. The mFino boss said the industry can so far accounts for about 350 million jobs created. Indeed, Nigeria currently has 127 million active mobile subscriptions and over 150 million connected lines. Rao noted that in 2012, Nigerians transacted about N228 million via mobile money with an expectation

that it will hit N151 billion by end of 2015. He said though the country currently has 3000 agents, but it is expected that with improved policies, awareness, the number will grow to 50, 000 by 2015. While noting that there only about 26 million Nigerians banked, out of the estimated 167 million populations, “it is hoped that mobile money will connect more people.” Canvassing for interoperability of the scheme, Rao described it as the ability of diverse systems and organisations, to work with each other, in the present or the future, without any restricted access. He pointed out that while policy makers are struggling to understand regulatory approach towards interoperability, customers are limited and yet to understand the true value of

mobile money. He stressed that business owners want to recoup investments made fast and apprehensive of government’s intervention. According to him, interoperability is required in the success of mobile money because subscribers are restricted to on network transactions, agents are exclusive to one mobile money s e r v i c e providers, subsribers are limited to accessing their money account only from one SIM. Has interoperability been achieved in mobile industry? Rao said, “yes, cross network SMS is an example of interoperability success, but more approach are still required.” He said interoperability brings in synergy where interconnections with external parties can create greater value to customers and service providers than a single mobile money service provider can create alone. Rao noted that interoperability enables product innovation, guarantees payments to and from the unbanked, replace cash with emoney for day-to-day transactions. Achieving interoperability, he said the options would include multi bilateral agree-

ment, concession hub; common communication protocol and common service. He listed the benefits to include services providers expanding the pool of customers, increased revenue through transactional volumes, would serve as a pay lever by which to reduce redundant costs and expand access. Like Rao, Sabine Mensah from Digital Impact, Ghana, said lack of information and trust and safety were major limitations to mobile money adoption in Nigeria and other part of West Africa. Mensah said in 2012, there were 7.8 million registered mobile money customers in West Africa, with 720, 000 of them active, about 9.2 per cent, “in contrast, 74 per cent of adults in Kenya used mobile money in 2013, over 23 million customers.” He called for concerted effort to unlocking its potential in West Africa. According to Teasy Mobile Money International, the challenges to deepening mobile money scheme lies in regulation and collaboration, funding, brand awereness and distribution, stressing that if these challenges can be adequately tackled, huge prospects lie with the scheme in Nigeria and other parts of the continent. Already, findings from EFInA and InterMedia research indicated that the barriers to the uptake of mobile money in Nigeria included low customer awareness, lack of trust in mobile money, and unreliable GSM networks. It, however, said respondents in both studies shared positive impressions of mobile money, adding that they perceived mobile money to be fast, convenient, and safer than carrying cash. The Chief Executive Officer of EFInA, Ms. Modupe Ladipo, said, “the financial services industry can drive uptake of mobile money by educating customers, providing reasonably priced products that meet customer needs, and creating the right incentives for both customers and mobile money agents.” Vice President at InterMedia, Peter Goldstein said that Nigeria had a higher percentage of bank account holders, but a lower percentage of mobile money users compared with other countries studied, including Uganda and Kenya.

Govt moves to bridge gender divide in ICT From Nkechi Onyedika, Abuja HE Federal Government has expressed its commitment to bridge the gender divide on the Internet by getting more girls to adopt Information and Communications Technology (ICT) so that they are not left behind in the digital revolution changing communities and nations across the globe. Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, who stated at the launch of the Digital Girls ICT Club at the Federal Government Girls College, Bwari, Abuja, observed that ICTs are powerful transformative tools that foster development and advancement of economies-whether developing or advanced adding that it is a useful tool for bridging the digital divide in most economies. The minister noted that various global reports and statistics reveal that women and girls are grossly underrepresented in the field of ICTs.

• Launches digital girls club She pointed out that the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) report reveals that in developing countries, 16 per cent fewer women than men use the Internet, compared with only two per cent fewer women than men in the developed world (ITU, 2013). The minister stated that the ITU report also estimated that, by 2015, 90 per cent of formal employment across all sectors will require ICT skills and that women account for fewer than 20 per cent of ICT specialists in developing economies. She said, “the Broadband Commission Working Group on Broadband and Gender in a new report entitled “Doubling Digital Opportunities: Enhancing the inclusion of women and girls in the information society,’’ lamented the

pervasive gap in access to ICTs globally. The report added that, of the world’s 2.8 billion Internet users, only 1.3 billion are women. According to the report, there are currently 200 million fewer women online than men and this yawning gap could grow to 350 million in three years.” Johnson said the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in a bid to empower women and girls in Nigeria created a gender empowerment scheme titled Girls and Women in Nigeria (G-WIN) with the sole aim of positively impacting and improving the lot of women and girls in Nigeria. According to her, to enable this empowerment process, five Ministries- Ministry of Communication Technology, Agriculture, Works, Health

and Water Resources signed MOUs with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Finance to empower women and girls through specific interventions and services geared at improving the lives of women and girls in Nigeria. She said, “it also plays a crucial role in the socio-economic empowerment and development of communities and nations across the globe. It is the bedrock of development and the leveraging of this critical tool not only helps us create wealth and jobs, but it also enables development at all levelshealth, agriculture, education among others. She explained that 1200 girls from the 12 pilot federal government schools will be impacted upon in the first instance and the clubs will be set up across all the Federal Government colleges in all the states of the

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26 i-Tech & Telecoms Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Operators to turn mobile phones into website usernames system By Bankole Orimisan HE GSM Association has introduced a collaborative initiative supported by leading mobile operators to develop a new service that will allow consumers to securely access digital services using their mobile phone account for authentication. The aim of the Mobile Connect service is to develop a single mobile phone number-based authentication solution that fully respects users online p r i v a c y . This digital life brings great benefits to consumers, but also introduces new concerns over the security of online identities. Mobile operators are ideally placed to provide the necessary authentication capabilities to enable consumers, businesses and governments alike to interact and access services in a private, trusted and secure environment,” said Anne Bouverot, director general, GSMA. For consumers, digital identity solutions such as Mobile Connect offer privacy protection, reduce the risk of identity theft and simplify the login experience for a range of s e r v i c e s . Mobile Connect will aim to provide a streamlined experience for users; they will no longer need to create and manage multiple user names and passwords

Official of Center for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), India Office, Biswajit Saha (left); World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Spain Office Manager, Martin Alvarez Espinar; W3C Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Jeff Jaffe; President, Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN), Mrs. Martha Alade, and Head of W3C Training, Dr. Marie-Claire Forgue, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Expert proffers ICT as panacea for electoral fraud By Tolulope Okunlola

ITH 2015 general elections barely a W year away and preparations by the Independent National Electoral Commission in full steam, an expert in research has listed ways to achieve free and fair election in Nigeria The Registrar, Institute of Government Research and Leadership Technology, Moses Essien, at the opening of a three-day international conference on `Promoting Credible Election in Nigeria: Opportunities and Challenges in Information and Communications Technology held in Abuja recently said “for an election to be free and fair, there must be freedom of speech, freedom of association and assembly, freedom to organise and mobilise supporters, freedom to foster political openings and increase political participation, freedom

to have internal democracy within the political parties. At the conference, which was organised by the UNDP’s Democratic Governance for Development in collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission, Essein said; “We should have the freedom to monitor the deployment of public funds and resources to influence the votes; we must have the freedom to throw-up political debate and public dialogue. we must have the right to vote and be voted for. “ According to him, the Internet is a good campaign tool and platform to facilitate the engagement of mostly younger people in our political process. “Young people are likely to experiment with new technologies. we can use the internet to disseminate information against the selling of voters

cards and resistance of financial inducement. He said that electoral security was necessary to ensure credible process, adding that we must secure our international borders to forestall and ammunitions into Nigeria. “Our security agencies must ensure free and fair election and also secure voting materials and centres. The provision of mobile devices to communicate easily with security personnel and Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) in case of any irregularity will enable us to have free and fair election. According to him, there was the need to enhance competency in the utilisation of ICT tools, which includes “The use of biometric direct data capture equipment will enhance the monitoring and prevention of multiple registration and voting.”

as the authentication and identification solution being developed will use the subscriber’s mobile phone number or mobile user name and information contained in the secure SIM card. The standard-based Mobile Connect service will utilise the OpenID Connect protocol, offering broad interoperability across mobile operators and service providers, further ensuring a seamless experience for consumers. A pilot project involving the GSMA, Orange, Morpho and the Catalonian healthcare service has also agreed to test the authentication mechanisms in a live environment. Orange intends to provide Mobile Connectbased solutions across its footprint in Europe and Africa and the Middle East by 2015. Ooredoo is also aiming to provide similar services in South East Asia around the same time f r a m e . The GSMA said that it expects to see additional operator launches of Mobile Connect in 2015. “We call on mobile operators, SIM card manufacturers, service providers and other key mobile industry participants to work with the GSMA to drive scale for this exciting initiative,” said GSMA Director General, Anne Bouverot.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014 i-Tech & Telecoms 27

Airtel restates commitment to national broadband plan By Bankole Orimisan FEW months after the Federal Government approved the National Broadband Plan for year 2013 to 2018 and following the recent award of 2.3 GHZ spectrum licence to Bitflux consortium by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Airtel Networks limited, has pledged its commitment to address the penetration and utilisation of broadband. The company’s Director of Regulatory Affairs and Special Project, Osondu Nwokoro gave this assurance at the weekend in Lagos, in his presentation at a conference on E-Business in the country. Speaking on the topic, Policy and Regulatory Imperatives for Broadband Ubiquity, Nwokoro noted that NBP is a step in the right direction and affirms government’s commitment to meeting the country’s broadband needs. “Airtel welcomes the issuance of the National Broadband Plan (NBP), 2013-2018 by the Federal Government, it is consistent with developments in other jurisdictions. It is a step in the right direction and shows government’s commitment to pursue a broadband agenda for the country. Airtel is deeply committed to partnering with the government to implement the NBP and facilitate broadband realisation in Nigeria,” he said. Nigeria’s national broadband penetration currently stands at six per cent with a potential of rising to 42 per cent by 2018 and 76 per cent by 2020. This follows a projected

80 per cent increase in coverage by 2018 and 95 per cent by 2020. While commenting on the socio-economic gains accruable from the national broadband targets, Nwokoro said the scheme when implemented would contribute about NGN 190 billion naira to the national GDP by 2015 with a direct revenue impact projected at NGN 599 billion (0.7 per cent) from spend on usage

and devices during same period. Speaking further, Nwokoro disclosed that the operator is in partnership with five state governments to implement a number of E-Social Service initiatives vis-à-vis E-Education, EGovernment and E-Health and assured on the company’s readiness to partner other states for the full realisation of the all-inclusive benefits of an inter-driven economy.

Samsung kicks off pre-order for Galaxy S5 AMSUNG Electronics West sumers, where individuals who SforAfrica has announced a date buy the Galaxy S5 stand a the formal West African un- chance of winning a free Galaxy veiling of the fifth generation of its flagship Galaxy S series, the Samsung Galaxy S5, alongside the latest in its industryleading wearable device line, the Gear Fit and Gear 2, in Nigeria. According to the company’s Managing Director, Brovo Kim, the devices will be introduced to the West African market at a Galaxy S5 Premier event scheduled to hold in Lagos on April 16. Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, Kim revealed that Samsung is already accepting orders for the 5.1inch, full HD display flagship Galaxy S5 and the Gear Fit on its pre order and partner sites, ahead of their April release date. “Customers, who take advantage of the pre-order campaign for the smartphone, are entitled to a free Galaxy S5 S-View cover. We will also be having a promotion on the first day of sale of the device for our con-

Gear Fit,” he said. Powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core processor and boasting a 5.1-inch super AMOLED display, the new Samsung Galaxy S5 features an upgraded 16-megapixel camera, new fitness tracking features, a heart rate scanner and is dust and water (IP67) resistant. The highlight of the smartphone is a new fingerprint scanner, which is integrated with the device’s home button and provides consumers with a safe, biometric screen-locking feature. Samsung also launched a series of products from its successful Galaxy range at the event. Key among these was the Galaxy Note 3 Neo, a more affordable yet premium, dual-SIM variant of the wave-making Galaxy Note 3 device. Like other devices in the Galaxy Note series, this latest offering comes with an S Pen and offers features like Air Command, Easy Clip, Multi Window and S Note.

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28 i-Tech & Telecoms Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Verve gets new role in EMV technologies By Bankole Orimisan O make payment solutions proactive in the country, Verve International, has joined EMVCo as a Business and Technical Associate. As part of the EMV CO Associates Programme, Verve will provide input into the enhancement of existing and creation of future EMV Specifications for payment technologies and also advises on strategic business and implementation issues relating to the use of the EMV specifications globally. EMVCo exists to facilitate worldwide interoperability and acceptance of secure payment transactions. However, this was accomplished by managing and evolving the EMV specifications and related testing processes. The Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Charles Ifedi, said

Product Marketing Manager, Home Entertainment Division, LG Electronics West Africa operations, Mr. Paul Mba (left), Merchandiser, Convergence Audio Video Division, LG Electronics West Africa Operations, Ms. Caroline Edoh and Merchandiser, Convergence Audio Video Division, LG Electronics West Africa Operations, Adeniyi Adewumi at the launch of LG X-BOOM Pro Hi-Fi systems in Lagos.

Cisco expands virtualisation offerings for service providers ETWORKING giant, Cisco N has announced the expansion of its virtualisation offerings for service providers with the introduction of the Cisco Evolved Services Platform (ESP), a key element of the company’s Cisco Open Network Environment (ONE) strategy, which works in conjunction with the infrastructure layer of the architecture. Also introduced are two Cisco virtual service modules – in the areas of video and mobility – along with four new and simplified ways for service providers to acquire and deploy them. According to the firm, leading service providers around the globe were transforming their networks with various aspects of the Cisco ESP to optimise network value, increase business agility and enable greater operational efficiencies. Cisco noted that with a rapidly increasing number of people, devices, machines and sensors coming online across the Internet of Everything (IoE), service providers require new capabilities to lead in the delivery of valueadded, cloud-based services and applications. Besides, the open, elastic and extensible nature, the Cisco ESP is result of several years of engineering development oriented around the three main tenets of the Cisco service provider virtualisation strategy.

The firm noted that network was increasingly becoming virtualised and virtualisation was increasingly becoming networked, adding that virtualisation needed to work as an integrated extension of the physical infrastructure, and virtualisation shouldn’t be limited to a function but rather placed throughout the whole architecture.

The Cisco ESP works with the Cisco Evolved Programmable Network (EPN) and is designed to enable service providers to accelerate the delivery of innovative new services, increase revenues by offering consistent and differentiated experiences, and decrease operational expenses by optimizing existing network infrastructures.

According to the General Manager Cisco, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and SierraLeone, Dare Ogunlade, “service providers success is dependent on providing a consistent experience, agility to roll out new services and the ease at which these services can be ordered, automated, managed and delivered.

Firm to showcase latest digital two-way radio solution By Helen Oji yTERA, a professional mobile communications solution provider, has concluded plans to showcases its latest digital two-way radio portfolio at Securex West Africa 2014 exhibition. Hytera solution has been globally and locally in Nigeria, adopted by government & public security, utility, transport, and enterprises, which receive benefits of higher operational efficiency and security due to the advanced voice and data features. According to the company, Hytera, which is the first provider of DMR Tier III trunking radios (Digital Mobile Radio) in 2010, also offers the most complete DMR portfolio, including portable two-way radio, mobile radio, repeater, infrastructure and applications, adding that it would showcases some of the key products at the exhibition,

slated for today at Eko Convention Centre. The Marketing Director of the company, Dylan Liu said: “Hytera X1p, the world’s smallest full power DMR radio, has been highly accredited by professionals due to its versatile functionalities, and its innovative industrial design which has helped it make the way to Hollywood blockbusters. Hytera RD965, a one of the kind backpack repeater, along with Hytera smart dispatch system, enables the task force on the move to have real time group communication and dispatching functionalities. Hytera PD795EX is the world’s most completely certified intrinsically safe DMR radio, and it greatly improves communication efficiency while ensuring safety of professionals in dangerous scenarios like oil & gas plants. “Besides DMR radios, Hytera also brings TETRA (Terrestrial

Trunked Radio) to the event. Both DMR and TETRA are open digital radio standards for professional mobile radio users specified by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Hytera, one of the few that masters both protocols, also boasts full series of TETRA radios, including portable, mobile, infrastructure and applications. Hytera PT580H and MT680, a portable radio and a mobile one, are showcased. He added: “Nigeria is a strategic market for Hytera. Our clients here adopt both digital technologies DMR and TETRA well, since they want the best technologies and solutions out there. We are very proud to support professionals from Public Security & Safety, transportation, for example, Arik Airline and other industries. Hytera is committed to deliver more.”

MainOne seeks A4AI partnership for affordable Internet EST Africa’s telecommu- forts of A4AI at driving down nesses; put together by young growing markets in Africa but W nications services com- high retail Internet prices. individuals with the sole aim overcoming the challenges to pany, MainOne has partnered This she said, “will help to conof creating jobs, driving value, increased access will not be with the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) on possible ways to bring down Internet cost in Nigeria. Speaking in Abuja, at the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Web, the Chief Executive Officer, MainOne, Ms. Funke Opeke, represented by the company’s Regulatory Affairs Manager, Kemi Adeyanju, commended the ef-

nect a higher percentage of Nigerians, especially the youth, who are presently not connected to the Internet and make universal access a reality.” She projected that the advent of broadband in Nigeria will further open up the Nigerian e-commerce market, paving way for new burgeoning list of e-commerce sites and busi-

productivity and adding more to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Commenting on the activities of A4AI, its Executive Director, Sonia Jorge said that A4AI was working to unlock the power of the Internet in Africa and place it in the hands of those for whom it remains out of reach. “Nigeria is one of the fastest

solved by a single solution or player,” she added. By advocating for open, competitive and innovative broadband markets, MainOne and other members of A4AI aim to cut Internet access price to below five per cent of monthly income worldwide, a target set by the UN Broadband Commission.

that that included, but was not limited to, card and terminal evaluation, security evaluation, and management of interoperability issues. According to him, EMV, which included both contact and contactless chip cards, was the latest in payment technology, and also increased security by reducing the risk of counterfeiting. For example, if a card’s data is stolen a counterfeit card cannot be used without its unique EMV elements. Ifedi said: “The adoption of new EMV technology will make electronic payments more convenient and more secure. Verve International is proud to be doing its bit to develop new EMV technologies as part of our commitment to ever improving levels of security and convenience for our customers.

Glo gives subscribers airtime on credit S part of its continuous efA forts to deliver more value to its subscribers, national telecom operator, Globacom, has introduced Borrow Me Credit, a unique product that enables prepaid subscribers to receive airtime on an advance basis when they run out of airtime during emergency periods or when Airtime vendors are not easily accessible. The new product allows prepaid subscribers on the Glo network to send a request to a specified USSD code under emergency situations and receive airtime of different denominations, depending on their profile on the network. The initial denominations available are N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1000. According to Globacom’s Marketing Co-ordinator, Adeniyi Olukoya, Borrow Me Credit is the first of its kind in the country. It is a testimony to the trust that Glo has placed in its loyal subscribers as well as an evidence of Glo’s commitment to ensuring that its customers are totally

unlimited as they pursue their dreams. “Within minutes of requesting for the service, subscribers will receive the airtime requested and get confirmation through a text message. The credited money is taken back from the Glo prepaid subscriber when he recharges his account next time,” he said. Olukoya explained that the credit could be used like a normal recharge for making outgoing calls, sending SMS as well as uploading and downloading data on the Internet. “Globacom recognises that, sometimes, there are situations when customers run out of account balance, either late at night or while travelling and they have to look for where to buy recharge cards to top up their accounts. This product will save them from unnecessary stress and make it easy to get airtime for such emergencies,” he said. “To receive airtime credit, subscribers only need to dial *321# and follow the instructions, ” he added.

NetApp partners Westcon on new solutions By Isaac Taiwo ESTCON Africa, a global Information Technology represented in 47 countries in Africa, with its Head office in Nairobi, Kenya, has forged a partnership with NetApp, a storage company that focuses on banking storage and currently having products within the cloudy infrastructure. The two partners jointly organised a summit for their clients at Lagos Oriental Hotel, Lagos which was attended by the Chief Executive Officer, Westcon Africa, William Oduol, Westcon Business Manager, Albert Abayomi, Wescon Nigeria’s Country Manager, Rilwan Gbadamosi, NetApp Channels and Alliances Manager, Andre Swanepoel, NetApp West Africa System Engineer, Funmi Alamu and the Westcon Nigeria Country Manager, Rilwan A. Gbadamosi. Describing the summit as very successful, Oduol, who addressed the summit on “Get and Stay successful with

your Value Added Distributor” disclosed that firstly, the summit was aimed at creating awareness that Westcon and NetApp are authorised distributors and that precisely, Westcon has been appointed the only NetApp authorised distributor to carry their solutions across African geography, thereby voiding the claim of any other distributor in this regard. Secondly, it was to showcase Westcon’s success across the continent as well as enlighten their partners on the various Information Technology (IT) with a view to embracing the new trends gradually gaining ground across the globe and especially across Africa. “Westcon Africa has been appointed as NetApp’s value added distributor in Africa. NetApp brings together the world’s most creative and dedicated people to help customers affordably store, manage, protect and retain one of their most precious assets, which are data.

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‘Access to power critical to long-term improvement in service quality’ Inder Bajaj is the Chief Executive Officer of Helios Towers Nigeria and Director of Helios Towers Africa. He has over 25 years of professional experience with leading corporate in the telecoms services and office automation sector. His experience in the telecoms sector includes over seven years with Reliance Communication and over five years with Airtel. In this interview with ADEYEMI ADEPETUN, he spoke on the challenges confronting IT, telecommunications growth in Nigeria, most especially power. Excerpts: AN you give us an insight into the operations C of the telecommunications market and tower/infrastructure industry in Nigeria? Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s largest market with over 125 million mobile subscribers. In revenue terms also, it has now overtaken South Africa with $11 billion dollars revenue (as per the Meryl Lynch Global matrix 2Q 2013). With mobile penetration of over 75 per cent, it continues to grow in high single digits resulting in a growth of 1-1.5 million subscribers’ monthly, as well as, increased usage by subscribers of both voice and data. Nigeria, being the largest market and yet growing, makes it the most attractive market in Africa currently. I would categorise the growth in the last 10-12 years as a telecoms revolution. The impact on the consumer market, business sector and the Nigerian economy has been remarkable but at the same time the journey ahead needs to be planned to realise its full potential. As far as the tower Infrastructure Industry is concerned, Nigeria has over 25000 Towers of which 1300 are owned by Helios Towers. New towers are being deployed at a rate of 2,000 to 3, 000 per year. The 2G & 3G Base stations are growing at 4,000 to 5, 000 per year about half are 2G equipment. Operators are investing heavily in their voice networks and data networks (3G) benefiting high levels of investment in the range of $3 billion per year in the industry. From a tower perspective, the growth in tower numbers is for the

coverage expansion and also the need for density to deal with the capacity demands of the large customer base, increased content and usage. Telecoms operators are increasingly relying on infrastructure sharing to reduce costs and drive efficiency. Colocation is clearly the preferred option, particularly with a tower infrastructure company available. Operators have also commenced sharing amongst themselves. Nigeria possesses significant growth potential in subscribers and capacity consumed per each subscriber. Spectrum being a finite commodity, this will lead to growth in towers in urban areas as capacity fully utilised and additional towers will be required for extending coverage. How can describe Helios Towers Nigeria’s experience, footprint and tenancy ratios? Helios Towers Nigeria (HTN) started as a Greenfield operator in 2005 and is the largest independent tower company in Nigeria with over 1300 towers adding over 500 new towers in 2012-13 alone. Helios services over 10 per cent of base stations deployed in Nigeria with a collocation ratio of 2.9, one of the highest colocation ratio in the world. With a well-balanced portfolio of over 1300 towers in urban & suburban areas and presence in 34 states including Abuja, HTN certainly has sufficient capacity to further handle the growing demand in the Nigerian market. What are the challenges faced by the telecoms

companies including Infrastructure companies? While Nigeria represents a large and fast growing market, there are many challenges faced by the industry, which needs to be addressed by all stakeholders going forward to ensure she realises her full potential. The first and foremost challenge is the high operational costs in the Nigerian environment due to poor availability of power. In the 25,000 towers in the country only 25-35 per cent are connected to the national power grid and where this connection exists power supply is only for an average of four to five hours per day. In other words 65 per cent to 75 per cent of tower sites run only on diesel powered generators. Across all towers an average of only two hours of power is available from the national grid per day. Poor grid availability makes investments in transformers and grid connection non economical. The cost of generating power from generators is five to six times more expensive than cost of grid power. This results in telecommunications costs in Nigeria being three times the costs of other markets in Africa. Power cost therefore has an adverse impact on telecom cots in Nigeria. In comparism with India, which has similar GDP per capita, average cost per minute for a Nigerian consumer to make/receive a call is seven cents per minute compared to one cent a minute in India. An average Nigerian subscriber speaks for a fourth of the usage of an average Indian subscriber because of this high cost, which is largely driven by the power costs. The other adverse impact it has is on the quality of service, with the many challenges faced in sourcing good quality diesel and to deliver diesel to sites in a timely manner. To provide a high level of uptime of 99.97 per cent, HTN has adopted a strategy of two generators at each site along with large capacity diesel tanks. This is not cost efficient but would need to be done in the interim till grid power availability substantially improves. The other key challenges include multiple

Bajaj regulations on the same infrastructure, multiple taxation fees and levies, prohibitive charges to procure right of way, vandalisation and security challenges. The multiple taxation has taken a more pernicious turn over the past few years. The Ministry of Communications Technology, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), industrial bodies like ALTON has been taking many positive steps to address these challenges and find solutions to them. Subscribers still suffer poor service quality. Why is it so? The sector has made tremendous progress in the last 10-12 years. Customers rightly expect high quality. Some basic things need to be addressed and addressing them is a joint responsibility of the industry players and the government. First of all, the access to power which currently causes high costs and thereby indirectly reducing the funds available for more infrastructures. The lack of access to Power in general, results in higher investments in alternate source of power like, generator sets, Hybrid solution, Solar and also the Eco system costs go up resulting in higher capital spends and again less money available for more infrastructure. For ex-

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‘Why stable power supply is critical to telecoms sector’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 ample the cost of deploying a tower which is approx. $150, 000 in Nigeria is two times that of deploying in India. Also, relying on diesel as a source of power has its own challenges and hence impacts adversely on the quality of service. Secondly, the transmission Networks deployment, which is critical to QoS needs to be speeded. Whereas the industry players are rolling out Microwave and Fiber, it would require support from the federal and state government for the obstacles of multiple regulations, permit procurement and prohibitive costs to be removed. The capacity requirement is very dynamic in telecoms as this is the basis for growth in users and usage. Therefore, for specific areas, operators would need to enhance the Radio Network, Passive (Tower) Infrastructure and Transmission equipment on an ongoing basis. How can we overcome these limitations? While the sector has grown fast, the Industry would require a supportive structure in the next phase.

With regard to Power, the investment and privatisation-taking place in power generation, transmission and distribution of grid power, is a step in the right direction and should be speeded as much as possible. Substantial improvement would however take time. The Industry players including telecom operators and us are investing a lot funds in deploying alternate energy sources like Hybrid Batteries, LPG Generators and Solar to mitigate the high cost of Power using Diesel generators till Grid Power availability improves. On transmission network, which is critical, sharing of Fiber network amongst industry players is a good initiative. Addressing the obstacles of multiple regulation and Prohibitive costs would help. The NCC has also outlined a number of programs under the broadband infrastructure framework and is working on licensing of infrastructure providers for an Open Access Model. The capacity enhancement would need to be addressed by the operators. Spectrum availability is inversely proportional to infrastructure requirement. The availability and allocation of adequate spectrum to support mobile data growth in 700 MHz and

Resourcery, VCE move to expand cloud technology EST AFRICA’S Information W Technology solutions provider, Resourcery in partnership with VCE, a leader in converged cloud infrastructure solutions and Cisco, a player in networking are prepared to showcase the innovative I.T solutions that would not only take organisations to the cloud, but also help bridge the challenge. This was disclosed at a joint pre-event media parley in Lagos, at the weekend. Titled: “Accelerate Your Datacenter,” and organised by the three organisations, this business session centres around the efficiency and effectiveness of the “Vblock” systems. The “Vblock” systems provide an optimised information technology platform, which accelerates the adoption of infrastructure and cloud based computing models. Overall, it reduces the I.T cost of organi-

sations, as well as, improves delivery time to market applications. Speaking on the importance of the business session and the company’s partnership with VCE, Business Solution Manager, (Computing and Storage) for Resourcery Plc, Amechi Okonkwo noted that the session would provide an open platform for CIOs and I.T managers in the financial services industry (FSI) to tap into the growing benefits of deploying the VCE Vblock Systems - the world’s most advanced converged infrastructure. He said customers all over

the world rely on the VCE Vblock Systems for the fastest deployment of infrastructure and applications, the highest application performance and availability, and the lowest TCO. “And we trust that our customers in the financial sector, who are very innovative and always looking for ways to better serve their customers would take this opportunity to learn how to effectively deliver faster I.T services to their end-users with increased agility and scalability. The decision makers would also see how scarce resources can be better utilised

with improved security and control”, Okonkwo added. On his part, General Manager VCE EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Dave Rickson noted that while the “cloud” seems to be the buzzword in the information technology business today, the partnership between VCE, Cisco, EMC, VMware and Intel with Resourcery here in West Africa provides an opportunity for businesses across the region to experience a world of simplified progression toward private cloud computing by offering best-of-breed technologies, products, and serv-

2.5 GHz band would be have a direct positive impact. Lastly, we must acknowledge the huge progress made by the ICT sector and the positive impact it has had on the economy and well being of the citizenry. The ICT sector is the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy contributing over eight per cent to the country’s GDP. Also studies show that increase in Internet, broadband or mobile penetration by 10 per cent increased GDP per capita by one to two per cent. The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has appropriately recommended the designation of telecommunications networks infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, which has been done in several countries, which lends legal, and institutional protection and brought in some form of standardization and uniformity in the sector. How does co-location reduce costs or impact quality of services for operators? The co-location of tenants eliminates the duplication of capital-intensive infrastructure ( $150,000 per site) by offering an “asset lite” model. Not only does this reduce the number of telecoms towers clustering up the skyline, but it also allows operators to invest their money in other areas, like new technologies. Our business model also shares the ongoing fixed costs (which include costs for security, engine services, spares and maintenance, as well as regulatory and government levies) amongst all our tenant customers, thereby reducing their costs on an individual basis. Importantly, the operating cost advantage also extends to power, as customers can share generators. This reduces the use of fuel and emissions. All in all, HTN can achieve a 50 per cent saving in capital and maintenance costs compared to the operators putting up a tower site for just for themselves. We are therefore able to pass on these benefits to our customers in our pricing, which in turn they can pass on to everyone as reduced tariffs to their customers. The model of Colocation and Independent Tower Companies removes proliferation of masts dotting across skylines, and would also improve service quality, as infrastructure maintenance would be better managed by companies like ours, which have expertise and focus on that activity. Network congestion in urban areas will reduce because it is cheaper for mobile operators to rollout more services on already built and installed base stations, than building their own, which might not be cost-ef-

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OPEC to cut exports on sliding from refineries

harps on standards, Govt to conduct survey on Addax collaboration for service gas, petroleum products providers ENERGY/36

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014

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A section of the West African Gas Pipeline

Ghana bemoans shortage of gas from Nigeria By Roseline Okere with agency report

• Holds talk with FG over power crisis

HE inability of the Federal T Government to meet its obligation of regular supply of gas

with Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin partnering with Chevron to create a viable energy solution so that Nigeria’s gas production can meet its neighbours’ growing energy demands. The 678km West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) links up with the existing Escravos-Lagos pipeline at the Nigeria Gas Company’s Itoki natural gas export terminal in Nigeria and proceeds to a beachhead in Lagos. From there it moves offshore to Takoradi in Ghana, with gas delivery laterals from the main line extending to Cotonou (Benin), Lome (Togo) and Tema (Ghana). The Escravos-Lagos pipeline system has a capacity of 800 MMscfd, and the WAGP system will initially carry a volume of 170MM-

through the West Africa Gas Pipeline, has thrown Ghana into darkness as the country may be considering other options of gas supply. There has been widespread load shedding of electricity supply to parts of the country, following the disruption of gas supply to Ghana from the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAGPCo). Currently, there is a shortage in the supply of gas from Nigeria to power thermal plants in Takoradi to generate power to complement what is produced from the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam. WAGPCo is a joint venture consisting of national interests,

scfd and peak over time at a capacity of 460MMscfd. But Nigeria has not been able to keep to the terms of the contract due to regular vandalisation of gas pipeline across the country. According to Ghanaian media, President John Mahama has instructed Energy and Petroleum Minister, Emmanuel ArmahKofi Buah to go to Nigeria, and hold talks with his counterpart in a bid to ending Ghana’s power crisis. President Mahama had said that the Energy minister would leave the country on Monday to Nigeria to discuss with authorities of the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) on improving supply of natural gas to power Ghana’s thermal generators.

To find lasting solution to Ghana’s power crisis, former Chief Executive for the Volta River Authority (VRA), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, was quoted by the Ghanaian press to have urged Ghana to cancel the contract it entered into with Nigeria Gas Company for its failure to respect the terms of the agreement. “There are serious obligations

on government to ensure that there is consistency in the power sector,” the Energy expert stated on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM, Monday. The Chief Policy Analyst at the Ghana Institute of Policy Options (GIPPO), said that the instability in the country’s power sector did not emanate from lack of planning but the lack of will to execute the plans. Speaking on the Super Morning Show on Monday, WerekoBrobby, who signed the

contract on behalf of the country with the N-Gas in 2002 when he was chief executive of the VRA said, Ghana must insist on “Nigeria meeting the terms of the contract which they have not done so far. “To solve today’s problems, VRA and the government of Ghana should use whatever muscle it can muster to ensure that N-Gas delivered that which it had signed on to 120 million standard cubic feet and delivers it consistently”.

Nation becomes Taiwan’s new oil supplier By Sulaimon Salau EMAND for Nigerian crude was recently extended to Taiwan, as the country seems to have listed Nigeria among its crude suppliers. Facts showed that the nation bought about 947,000 barrels from Nigeria in January this year, indicating an extension of Taiwan’s crude import market to Africa. The Taiwan Bureau of Energy, said that its crude-oil imports rose sharply in January, as the country added Nigeria as a new supplier. Taiwan was said to have imported 30.33 million barrels of crude oil in January, up 19 per cent from December last year. “Saudi Arabia remained Taiwan’s biggest source of crude oil in January, shipping 9.06 million barrels to the island. Taiwan almost doubled imports from United Arab Emirates to 4.45 million barrels, as

well as buying 947,000 barrels from Nigeria. There were no imports from Iran for the month, after Taiwan purchased 3.6 million barrels from the country in November and December,” it stated. Taiwan’s two major refiners, government-owned CPC Corporation and privately run

Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (6505.TW), processed a combined 4.2 million kiloliters of crude oil in January, down 7.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to the bureau. It however added that refinery utilisation fell to 67.97 per cent in January from 70.86 per cent in December.a

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High energy price volatility poses global uncertainty By Roseline Okere IGH energy price volatility has replaced global climate framework as the number one critical uncertainty driving the world energy agenda, according to the 2014 World Energy Issues Monitor, released by the World Energy Council (WEC). Global climate framework uncertainty, is now perceived by energy leaders to have less impact than in the previous three years of the study. Meanwhile, Carbon Capture, Utilisation (CCU) and storage continued to be viewed as a technology with only a limited impact on the energy sector, continuing the clear trend over the past three years. WEC Secretary General, Christoph Frei, stated that the fact that both climate framework and CCUS are perceived to be issues of less impact is bad news not only in terms of emissions mitigation, but also for the development of robust and resilient energy infrastructure. “Our energy systems are in a state of massive expansion and transition, and the signals we see today provide clear evidence of the urgent need for more robust, coherent, longterm frameworks within which to plan and implement future investment. “Energy price volatility goes beyond merely oil and gas prices and their regional differentials. It is also being influenced by the coal-to-gas substitution in the U.S.; the increasing use of coal in Europe, which has driven up emissions; the collapse of solar module prices and Australia re-directing its interest from North America to Asia while North American infrastructure companies are signing more deals with Asian customers.” The WEC study further finds that energy leaders are increasingly concerned about the sector’s ability to access the capital markets for funds towards energy infrastructure, when set against a continued recessionary backdrop. Meanwhile, renewable energy and energy efficiency continue to keep energy leaders busy, with growth shifting from Europe and North Amer-

ica to the Middle East where demand is rapidly rising. Large hydropower is back on the agenda with significant unrealised potential in central Africa, Latin America, Russia, and Canada. The 2014 World Energy Issues Monitor is the culmination of a six-month study capturing the views of over 800 energy leaders including ministers, chief executives and the heads of the WEC’s national members committees covering 84 countries. The report, which highlights strong regional variations, looks at the global energy agenda and analyses the trends and outlook in six world regions plus 24 countries. In Africa, the top critical uncertainties are climate framework, high energy prices, and commodity prices. As a change from last year, national governments and regional institutions are taking actions in energy efficiency and regional interconnection, while investment cooperation with China and India is viewed with increasing importance. WEC African survey finds that, in contrast with the global findings, climate framework has become an even more critical issue. Africa is dramatically vulnerable to climate change, and Africans are becoming more aware that climate change is an urgent and real issue rather than something that only countries with large emissions should worry about. Electricity supply remains a critical concern in Africa, with growing demand, lack of required investment, and increasing power shortages across the continent. Renewable energy remains a highpriority issue. The WEC analysis shows that the energy sector is reacting to short-term price signals while long-term signals are still absent. It believed that as the gap between energy access, energy security and energy sustainability widens, the financial investments and technical efforts required to deliver simultaneously secure, affordable and environmentally sustainable energy will increase significantly.

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, speaking with petroleum marketers at on the spot assessment of fuel retail outlets in Lagos.

Govt to conduct survey on gas, petroleum products By Roseline Okere HE Federal Government has unveiled plans to embark on the conduct of the survey on gas and petroleum products demand, supply and utilisation in the country. The survey is expected to commence during the first quarter of this year. This survey would be conducted by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, under the auspices of the Consultative Committee on Petroleum Statistics in collaboration with National Bureau of Statistic (NBS). According to the ministry of petroleume resources, the importance of statistics to nation building and over all

DDAx Petroleum has mandated its vendors to strictly comply with the outlined standards for service delivery through strong collaborative strategies that would meet the company’s targets. The international oil firm was among the major operators in the nation’s oil sector. Addax Petroleum’s producing assets in the country include 11 field complexes with about 60 production wells in concession Oil Mining Lease (OML123), two fields with 20 producing wells in concession OML 124 and two fields with 14 production wells in concession OML126. The Deputy Managing Director, Corporate Services, Addax, Tunji Mayaki, at the

2014 Supply Chain Vendors’ forum in Lagos recently, enjoined the vendors to uphold the ethics of the job and ensure that quality remains their watchword. Mayaki, who appreciated the contribution of the service providers in the previous years, emphasized the company desire to work with them in an open and frank manner. The General Manager, Supply Chain Management and Nigerian Content, Valentine Agwu, highlighted areas of the current contracting process where better collaboration would drive required improved service delivery. He however reassured of the company’s commitment to local content development, disclosing that several supporting packages are in stock

“Experiences gathered from the pilot exercise would be use in planning for the main survey. It is important that all stakeholders support the conduct of this survey in order to provide the nation with comprehensive, timely and reliable statistics.” Speaking on the aims and objective of the survey, Assistant Director, Statistics, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Erharhe Augustine, said that the survey would assist the country to generate relevant statistical data necessary to formulate planning options for the sustainable development of the oil and gas sector. He added that it would also help to determine the do-

mestic volume of gas and petroleum products demand, supply and utilised as well as exportation and importation within the study period. He stated: “The objective of the survey is to promote the use of gas domestically as well as export; forecast the gas and petroleum products demand, supply and utilisation trend in Nigeria for the next few years, determine the gap between the demand and supply of gas and petroleum products in Nigeria, compare gas and petroleum product consumption by the different sectors of the economy and study the gas and petroleum product supply systems and storage facilities across the country.”

NERC, TCN, others reaffirm commitment to Nigeria’s power sector By Roseline Okere HE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Chief Executives Officers of Generation and Distribution Companies, Market Operator, System Operator, the Bulk Trader and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have pledged to task themselves on bringing about significant changes in the power industry.

Addax harps on standards, collaboration for service providers By Sulaimon Salau

development of oil and gas sector in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. It explained that the survey when conducted, would provide the country with relevant data necessary to formulate planning options for the sustainable development of the sector. It said: “This is the first time a full blown survey is being conducted specifically on gas and petroleum products in Nigeria. It may interest you to note that while we are at the planning and preparation stage for the main survey, arrangement is already in top gear for the pilot survey that will commence in Lagos in the second quarter of 2014.

for the service providers. Agwu confirmed the significant improvement of the indigenous service providers in the oil and gas industry, which he boasted could now compete favourably with their foreign counterparts. He therefore applauded the Local Content agenda of the federal government, assured that Addax would continue to give opportunities for them to participate effective in project executions. The participants highlighted the core issues of service delivery such as driving positive safety and Environment (HSE) culture, understanding contract and performance expectations, developing contract measurement metrics and achieving Nigerian content compliance among others.

The operators were of the consensus that electricity consumers were only concerned about electricity availability, hence the need to trash all inhibiting issues stifling the attainment of consumers’ expectations. Briefing energy correspondents in Abuja, Chairman/Chief Executive of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said that the monthly meeting was for the new owners/operators to identify issues on power and the challenges being faced by the new owners, stressing that as the regulator, it has to keep abreast with the activities of the new power company owners.

He said that the Commission in collaboration with the Chief Executive Officers agreed to engage the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) in a bid to find a lasting solution to the problem of gas availability for power plants. He said: “We continue to encourage them to have better negotiation with the gas suppliers so that they can be provided with gas to run their plants.” Amadi stated that the commission was very much aware that the CEOs were faced with several challenges, having inherited several problems but assured that the stakeholders in the

Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) are committed to improvements, not only in the short run but for a sustainable long term. He also conveyed a presidential directive on metering of all residential areas, government offices and buildings in a bid to resolve the backlog of outstanding payment. He said that the government had approved the deduction at source of all payments due to distribution companies. The deduction will be made from the budgetary allocation of defaulting government ministries, parastatals and agencies.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 ENERGY 37

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OPEC to cut exports on sliding from refineries HE Organisation of PetroT leum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will cut crude exports this month to the lowest level since November as refinery demand slows in Europe and North America, according to tanker-tracker Oil Movements. OPEC, responsible for 40 per cent of global oil supplies, will decrease shipments by 1.1 million barrels a day, or 4.6 per cent, to 23.6 million a day in the four weeks to March 29, Oil Movements said in an e-mailed note. The figures exclude two of OPEC’s 12 members, Angola and Ecuador. Sailings were last this low in the four weeks to Nov. 16, when an extended maintenance period caused a fall in refinery demand, according to the consultant. “There is a spring low point for refinery demand sometime in April” in Europe and

North America, Oil Movements founder Roy Mason, said by phone from Halifax, England. “Demand is going down and sailings respond to that.” Global oil consumption typically ebbs at the end of the first quarter as demand for

heating fuel tapers off and refiners start to perform routine overhauls. Brent crude slipped 1.2 per cent this month, trading at $107.70 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange as of 3:50 p.m. London time. Middle Eastern exports will

average 17.23 million barrels a day in the four weeks to March 29, compared with 18.23 million a day in the period to March 1, Oil Movements said. These figures include non-OPEC nations Oman and Yemen. Crude on board tankers will

drop by 2.8 per cent to 482.21 million barrels in the four weeks to March 29, from 496.34 million in the previous period, data from Oil Movements show. The researcher calculates volumes by tallying tanker bookings and excludes crude held on

vessels for storage. OPEC’s members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. The group will next meet on June 11 at its headquarters in Vienna

Fenog lays pipes across 3.49-kilometre river By Adeniyi Idowu Adunola N indigenous company in A Delta State, has laid 20 inch pipes across 3.49-kilometre river in the ongoing Amukpe/Escravos pipeline project. The company achieved the pioneering feat within six weeks. The company had laid the pipes across the 1.7-kilometre Escravos River in Warri South West Local Government Area

of Delta State and across 2.82kilometre/ObOb Kwale River in Delta State for Agip Nigeria Oil Company (NAOC). The Executive Director of the company, Mathew Tonlagha, described the achievement as “an unprecedented feat in the history of underground pipelaying worldwide. “The one that is very close to what we have achieved as available record shows was the laying of 3.9 kilometres

but that involved the laying of just 12” pipes and it was achieved in one year. But in our own case, we laid 20” pipes across 3.49kilometres river in just six weeks in the Amukpe/Escravos pipeline project. “You can see that this is a major achievement that we have recorded worldwide. “This is an improvement over what we did in the Chevron project when we

laid 24”across 1.7-kilometre Escravos River in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State and 24” pipes across 2.82-kilometre/ObOb Kwale River in Delta State for Agip Nigeria Oil Company (NAOC).” Tolangha commended the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deziani AlisonMaduekwe, for creating a level playing ground for the indigenous oil and gas service companies to operate unfettered in the oil industry adding that Fenog would continue to serve as a pacesetter and leading light for other indigenous operators in the nation’s oil industry. Fenog’s General Manager, Chukwudi Uwakwe, attributed the success recorded by his company to the deploy-

ment of Continuous Horizontal Directional Drilling (CHDD) of which the company was the pioneer use in the world. “All our jobs are being done by Nigerian nationals in line with the local content Act with the aid of our CHDD rigs, including our new versatile HDD 350 rig, which has the ability to push, pull, tunnel, drill, and truss boring abilities. We have used it to release a stocked pipe in one of our drilling sites of which nobody has been able to do in the whole world. “We are only pleading with the IOCs to encourage us by giving us first consideration in bidding and by giving us jobs to build our capacity and show our strength,” Nwakwe added.

C&I Leasing acquires vessels for SNEPCO’s operation According to the company, &I Leasing Plc has taken C the first two vessels, Sur dedelivery of Magen Defender and Masud Defender, fender and Sakak defender

Air Vice Marshal Mike Chidi Ileonyosi, Abiodun Ajifowobaje (left); Managing Director/Chief Executive Oﬃcer Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC), Air Commodore N.A. Sanusi, General Manager Admin & Services IKEDC, Ibiene Okeleke, during a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Airforce base, Ikeja by the management of the company in Lagos.

‘Lekki Tank Farm will end fuel scarcity saga’ From Chuka Odittah, Abuja ANAGING Director of M Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, Peter Mba, has said that the completion of the proposed two million metric tonnes tank farm in the Lekki Free Zone of Lagos State, will decisively end the era of fuel scarcity across the country. Mba, who stated this in Abuja while briefing journalists on the importance of the waiver granted Pinnacle Oil and Gas by President Goodluck Jonathan, noted that the construction of Single Point Mooring (SPM) projects in the Lekki area, with an accompanying 11 kilometre sub-sea and onshore pipeline will allow for easy and timely storage of up to two million metric tonnes of fuel, either locally refined or imported, thereby ensuring product availability. While commending the president for granting the company a waiver to commence the capital intensive

project in the high brow Lekki area, Mba hinted that arrangements had been finalised to engage the services of foreign technical partners, including China, to ensure availability of funds and technical know-how in the construction an SPM. He assured the minister that part of the benefits of the facility is to eliminate trans-shipment operations which are a common practice in the down stream petroleum sector, in addition to finally laying the issue of fuel shortage to rest nationwide. He noted that when completed, the tank farms would take delivery of fuel or gas under 48 hours, as opposed to weeks of waiting for ships to discharge their content at the port. Mba highlighted other benefits of the facility to include easy access to cost efficient supply of fuel from the farm by importers, eliminating the environmental challenges of congestion in

Apapa ports and environ by fuel tankers, reduce ship-toship operations which will translate to reduced logistics cost on imported fuel. He explained that no fewer than 5, 000 jobs would be created by the construction of the SPM. In his remark, the Minister of Transport, Umar urged the company management to liaise with the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) for proper guidelines on specifications and other technical details. He described the project as a demonstration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s determination to end fuel scarcity nationwide. He added that the project, which when completed will offer employment for over 5, 000 jobs to Nigerians, is evidence that the government of the day was responding to the needs of the people. The SPM project is estimated to cost a total of $250million and is expected to kick off immediately.

two crew boats, out of four, that were recently commissioned by the Company. The N20m Monohull crew boats will be used to support Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO’s) operation in Bonga and EA fields. With the arrival of the new vessels, C&I Leasing now has a total of eight vessels that have been deployed to support Shell’s operations. The new vessels are 25 passenger seater boats, with features that include a 53m2 cargo deck, surfer style bow load, and fire-fighting monitor.

were in fulfillment of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas contract. The General Manager, C&I Petrotech Marine Limited, Wisdom Nwagwu, who is responsible for the marine operations of the company, stated: “With a high emphasis on strict safety regulations, the company has been able to achieve a near 98 per cent utilisation on all its assets in its marine operations without any record of job related accidents on the Shell contract. With the arrival of the new vessels, C&I Leasing marine has increased the total number of vessels in its fleet to 12.

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Shipping

NIGERIAN CHAMBER OF SHIPPING

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! An overview of the Cabotage and Local Content Act. Where are we today? FTER the discovery of oil in oloribi in 1956, A Oil and Gas became a major product in Nigeria. More so, you cannot be fully involved in oil and gas without the maritime industry for they are both intertwined; oil and gas has a lot to do with water and maritime involve ships which is the mode of transportation on water. The Nigerian maritime sector is a green area whose resources are yet to be tapped and utilized by both its citizens and government as it is an area pre-dominated by foreigners. Hence, the need to ensure that Nigerians participate in these sectors and become key players lead to the enactment of The Coastal and Inland Waters Act (The Cabotage Act) in 2003 for maritime activities and the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (The Local Content Act) in 2010 for the oil and gas activities, all aimed at creating a rippled effect in the nation’s economy. According to Phillip Egeolu in his article on Cabotage and local contents, “The Nigerian Cabotage Act emanated as a result of the need to improve indigenous participation in maritime activities, and increase local capacity building. The Oil and Gas sector plays a predominant role in Nigeria’s sea trade, as it contributes about 95 per cent to coastal and inland shipping and allied maritime activities. The low level of participation by Nigerians in the coastal trade had a negative impact on both human and infrastructures capacities of the country to effectively take advantage of her domestic maritime trade to advance our economic development. The Nigerian Local Content Act of 2010 was enacted to protect and indigenize the nation’s

fledging oil and gas sector, as majority of oil and gas exploration companies operating in Nigeria are foreign. This Act is specifically tailored to improve the lots of Nigerians in the oil and gas sector. It also advocates that more Nigerians should get more involved in the oil and gas. With the Act in place, there will be job creation, transfer of technology and expertise, engineering and fabrication technology development, engagement of indigenous-owned vessels and equipment, local capacity building and improved income per capital. The Nigerian Local Content Act provides that any investment in the oil and gas sector must comply in the areas of employment generation, expatriate quota, as well as provision of facilities. These investments are the exploration, exploitation and drilling activities. Other investments include provision of mobile drilling rigs, production platforms and facilities supply vessels, and various barges for pipelaying, launching structures and other works. Others include jack-up rig and drill ships for drilling operations, anchor handling tugs, floating petroleum storage and offloading systems. Nigerians also are to participate in the lifting of the nation’s crude oil and gas, and the carriage inward and coastal trading of refined petroleum products. They would also be engaged in the various segments of marine transportation in the oil and gas sectors”. These Enactments brought about a tremendous turn around to the backwardness of the sector and has being considered as one of the best policies implemented by the government long after our colonial emancipation.

However after a decade of the Enactment of the Act, it can be said that the government did not envisage the issue of enforcement of its laws. Gradually the bodies set up to enforce the Act are being viewed as toothless bulldogs as they never pull through with their sanctions. This has resulted in a major setback as the industry is suffering a colossal loss of income as foreign ships still operate in our coastal and inland waters without license or waivers as required under the Act. Consequently, a large percentage of the income earned by these foreigners is being repatriated to their home country. This level of impunity can only be traced back to the total disregard and the lack of enforcement of the laws put in place to checkmate such anomalies. The Indigenous ship owners are not left out as they are grossly affected and their business is being crippled out and this should not be the case, as the indigenous ship-owners are by law entitled to operate in the coastal and inland waters to the exclusion of the foreign ships except those that fall under the exemptions provided in the Act. Most of the Indigenous Ship Owners are involved in sub-contract jobs as a means of survival as most international companies operating in Nigeria and even the NNPC often refuse to do business with them. In a bid to provide an equal playing field; owing to the fact that the foreign ships possess the resources, skills and manpower therefore posing a huge threat to the indigenous shipowners who are at a disadvantage; The Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund was created by virtue of Section viii, paragraph 42 of The Cabotage Act. The purpose of the fund is to promote the

development of indigenous ship acquisition by providing financial assistance to Nigerian operators in domestic coastal shipping, ensuring that indigenes are active players in the maritime/oil; and gas sector. However, the Nigerian maritime business is yet to feel the full effects of this fund as the numerous requirements lay down and government bureaucracy has one way or the other slowed down the entire process of obtaining the fund. The maritime business as we have come to know is capital intensive and requires adequate funding. The government has acknowledged and fostered this by introducing the CVFF. However, other stakeholders need to understand that the sector is a viable place to invest, and for the shipping trade to thrive, the tripartite formula namely; Ship-owners / Managers, Charterers (employers of vessels) and financial institutions (investment banks, bank market, insurance etc) must be put in place. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has in time past called on indigenous ship owners to apply for this fund and the beneficiaries are in turn require to use them judiciously so that the objects of the Cabotage Acts would be achieved. All these being said, it is high time practical actions are being taken to rectify the lopsidedness of the Maritime Business, and the unsatisfactory implementation / enforcement of the Cabotage and Local content Laws. At this juncture, it’s imperative for the powers that be to ensure Vessels operating on our coastal and inland waters without license or waivers are arrested. Contracts are cancelled and revisited by forming partnership between Nigerian and Foreign companies. (We are aware of the fact that most of the indigenous shipping companies lack the capacity to compete head on with its foreign counterparts). A mutually beneficial partnership as opposed to the subcontracting arrangement currently in existence. Eventual transfer of knowledge and technology. And many more.

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From the Desk of the

DIRECTOR GENERAL Dear Readers , Welcome to another edition of our bi-weekly journal on Maritime issues. Today, financing the acquisition of vessels has remained a major challenge faced in the maritime sector and we shall be looking at some measures that can be adapted to combating this problem in Nigeria. Investment in shipping as we have come to know is very expensive and therefore calls for proper assessment of the investment needs. It therefore goes without saying that without adequate financing, it will be impossible to practice shipping profitably in Nigeria. Stakeholders in the maritime industry have stressed the need for a successful implementation of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund to fast-track activities in the industry and bring about fulfillment of the Cabotage and Local content Act. It is our expectation that with all hands on deck, the policies concerning the growth of local capacity within the Maritime Sector will all come into active manifestations. Hopefully, the ideas proffered in this column would be implemented. We have sharpened our arsenal and are prepared to indulge you in our top of the shelf training programs this year. The ABC of Shipping and the Understanding Cabotage & Local Content in the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry course will hold as usual on a quarterly basis, we encourage you to partake or send in your staff and wards for the training courses. Also, our novel PGD and Certificate programmes in Maritime, Oil & Gas will kick off this quarter at the Niger Delta University (NDU), Amasoma, Bayelsa State. Oil companies, Maritime Organizations and Government/Public sector organizations are enjoined to grab the opportunity with both hands. Please join our boat. Welcome!! Happy Reading. God Bless.

IFY ANAZONWU-AKERELE Director General Nigerian Chamber of Shipping Info@nigerianshipping.org

FG endorses Shippers’ Council as port regulator ...NSC To Determine Tariff, Monitor Operations T last, last week, the Nigerian A Shippers’ Council (NSC) has been officially appointed the eco-

during which the Council was given with enthusiasm over the develop- Government Approved Freight details of its new role. Those at the ment because of its economic bene- Forwarders (NAGAFF); Chief Eugene meeting include, Nigeria Customs Nweke enthused that the freight forfit to shippers and the economy. nomic regulator of the port indus- Service (NCS), Nigerian Ports Authority Some have reasoned that it would warding industry would ever be try by the Federal Government. (NPA), NSC, Minister of Transport, Mr. save cost for shippers and aid prop- grateful to President Goodluck This is a confirmation of earlier Leke Oyewole, Special Assistant to the Jonathan for this laudable decision. er planning for shipping in the report by MMS Plus Weekly, which President on Maritime Affairs, Prof. He said it is better and cost-effective country. In his reaction, the says that the Council will be Sylvester Monye, Special Assistant to to endorse NSC to play the role of a Chairman, Ports Consultative empowered to regulate the port the President on Monitoring and regulator in the industry than trying Council (PCC), Otunba Kunle this month of February as conCompliance. Folarin, observed that it is a positive to establish a new outfit. He said the firmed by the Minister of It was gathered also that the removal of development for the maritime Council can upgrade to any standard Transport, Senator Idris Umar. Chief Ernest Shonekan as the serving industry, adding that it will create required according to the need of Details of the new status was con- Chairman of room for the Council to set a bench- the services. Nweke advised NSC to veyed to NSC in a meeting with the Already, Shippers’ Council had written mark for operations and competi- have an enforcement arm and Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo to all service providers seeking a bench- tiveness as well as ensure that upgrade the commercial shipping in Abuja last week. mark fee in anticipation of the new ethics are complied with. He there- department to be able to face the Consequently, NSC is to regulate mandate, meaning that soon, the fore, called on NSC to immediately challenges of the new mandate the port industry, with the respon- Council will publish a list of fees of provide a guideline of operations in which will ensure that money colsibilities to fix tariff, set service services for different categories of port the ports in all aspects of ports lected from shippers are commensustandards, monitor operations of operations, as stipulated in its manrate with the services rendered and operations. the operators, ensure compliance date. in line with the consumer price Reacting to this, the National and enforcement, among others. The port industry is palpably aglow President of National Association of index (CPI) This implies that the tariff of all services provided by all service providers within the import and export supply chain are to be determined by the Council. This involves all the modes of transport. The Transport Minister and the Executive Secretary of the Council, who are billed to brief the press this week on this, are expected to provide details of the mandate. According to Umar in an exclusive chat with MMS Plus Weekly two weeks ago, there was a compelling need to have an economic regulator and NSC would be the regulator in the interim pending when the National Assembly passes the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill into law. In his words, “Shippers’ Council will be empowered officially to be the regulator even though NPA has been playing the role.” The endorsement last week after years of struggle by successive administrations in the Council was consequent upon series of deliberations of its implication by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) which finally gave its nod last week. Following this, the Vice President called for a meeting of all The Nimarex 2014 Cake designed after NNS Andoni, A Naval Warship built in Nigeria by the Naval Dockyard Plc. the relevant agencies in the port

ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT, SEN. IDRIS A. UMAR ON THE OCCASION OF 4TH EDITION OF THE NIGERIA MARITIME EXPO (NIMAREX) 2014 HOLDING AT NEW EXPO CENTRE, EKO HOTEL AND SUITES, VICTORIA ISLAND LAGOS FROM 10TH – 12TH MARCH 2014 FEEL greatly honoured to be part of resolve in transforming the Maritime Ioccasion this all important epoch making Sector a phased implementation of the of the gathering of core Stakeholders in the Maritime Industry. This year’s Expo with the theme “100 Years of Maritime Development in Nigeria” is apt and conforms with the Centenary Celebration of the Nigerian Nationhood. It further gives impetus to consolidate the gains of the 2013 NIMAREX with the theme “Nigerian Maritime: Invest Now “. I therefore congratulate the organizers of the fourth in the series of the Nigeria Maritime Expo (NIMAREX 2014) holding again in Lagos. This year’s event would no doubt complement the efforts and desire of the Government in projecting the Maritime Sector and a further support to the Transformation Agenda of this Administration. 2. Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, as you are aware, the Maritime Sector remains a key sector of the economy, whose enormous potential deserves continuous harnessing in order to meet the expectation of the Government. To demonstrate Government’s

recommendations of the Outcome of the Presidential Retreat on the Maritime Sector with the theme “Harnessing the Potential of the Maritime Sector for Sustainable Economic Development” has commenced with the reintroduction of Bunkering Services. Other recommendations of the Blue Print will be considered and approved for implementation on a case-by-case basis as considered expedient by Government. 3. You would recall that, a number of measures have been put in place over the last two years by Government aimed at enhancing the operational efficiency in the various ports. For instance 24 hours operation has been achieved in the Lagos Ports where more than 60% of our port activities take place. These efforts are continuous and involve all Stakeholders which require constant monitoring and evaluation. For the long term, the Federal Government is making concerted efforts towards ensuring the development of Deep Sea Ports in the Country. This is the ultimate solution to the current port congestion as the cargo handling are presently beyond their designed capacities.

4. Let me use this opportunity to inform this distinguished audience that the Federal Executive Council has approved the Development of the Lekki Deep Sea Port which is expected to handle bigger vessels, and also create employment under Public Private Partnership (PPP) Initiative. Very soon, the GroundBreaking for the Construction of the Port will be performed. On the Ibaka Deep Sea Port in Akwa Ibom State, the Steering and Project Delivery Committee that was constituted last year has submitted its Draft Report and the Transaction Adviser has produced initial Due Diligence Report as well as the Outline Business Case (OBC). 5. Furthermore, I also wish to state that discussions are in progress between the Federal Ministry of Transport, Nigerian Ports Authority on one side, the Lagos State Government and some Investors to develop the Badagary Deep Sea Port. Efforts are also being made to initiate similar arrangements with the Ogun and Ondo State Governments and some Investors to develop the Olokola Deep Sea Port. In addition,

the Contract for the Consultancy Services for the Establishment of a Port at Ogidigbe, near Escravos, as part of the Gas Industrial Park with Free Zone status, which is expected to be the Hub for Gas Revolution initiative of the Federal Government is awaiting Federal Executive Council consideration and approval. It is worthy to mention that a preliminary joint inspection has been carried out by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Bayelsa State Government for the Development of Agge Deep Sea Port in the State. Already, the State Government has commissioned a reputable Consultant, who has carried out extensive studies for the Development of the Port. 6. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to use this opportunity to reiterate the Federal Government’s commitment to the resuscitation of the Calabar Access Channel. As you are aware, Government had earlier approved the establishment of a Calabar Channel Management Company, a joint venture between Nigerian Ports

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40 Wenesday, March 19, 2014

ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 Authority and Messrs. Niger Global Limited in order to guarantee sustainability of the Calabar Channel. This Joint Venture arrangement is similar to the on-going Lagos and Bonny Channel Management Companies which are being used for the management of the channels. 7. With regards to the Inland Waterways Development and in order to sustain the dredged Lower River Niger channel, I am happy to indicate that the Contract for the Dredging of River Benue is currently being processed to the Federal Executive Council for consideration and approval. This will further guarantee the sustainability of the Lower River Niger channel and expand our Inland Waterways. In the same vein, a number of River Ports are being developed with the Port at Onitsha completed and commissioned. The processes for the concessionning of the Port is in progress with a Transaction Adviser appointed to midwife the process that will lead to inviting Expression of Interest from Investors. Towards this end, the Federal Ministry of Transport and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) held a Stakeholders Conference with the theme “putting Onitsha River Port into Economic Use before Concessionning” in order to produce a robust road map on how to maximize the use of the Port for the entire region. 8. Arising from the Conference, the Ministry is constituting a Project Delivery and an Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee to ensure early and optimal utilization of the Port. I am happy to say that the development of River Port at Baro, Oguta and Lokoja have respectively attained 90%, 73% and 50% completion while the procurement process for the Construction of a River Port at Makurdi is at the final stage. Upon completion, all the River Ports will be concessioned to the private sector. 9. In the area of maritime safety and security, the partnership between NIMASA and t he private sector is yielding positive results. In the same token, the Federal Government have granted approval to NIMASA for the removal of wrecks and derelicts on a ‘no-cure-no-pay’ basis in order to provide for safe navigation within our waterways. 10. On Cabotage Implementation, efforts are underway to ensure the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) to assist in building indigenous capacity after concluding all required Due Diligence and approval processes, you would recall that last month, a Stakeholders Forum was held to consider the Draft Policy Guidelines for Granting of Ministerial Waivers on Cabotage. The Forum robustly examined holistically, the draft policy guidelines with a view to producing an acceptable document that will facilitate more effective implementation of the Cabotage regime in Nigeria so as to effectively discourage the granting of the Ministerial waivers. 11. In the area of capacity building, the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) anchored by NIMASA is making steady progress as over 1,520 cadets have been sent for various trainings all over the world. To further enhance manpower development for the industry, plans have reached advanced stages for the establishment of Maritime University at Okerenkoko in Delta State. In this regard, a ministerial Committee for the realisation of the university was recently constituted. In additional, Maritime Institutes have been established in four Universities namely University of Lagos, Ibrahim Babangida University Lapai, Niger State, University of Nigeria Nsukka and Niger Delta University.

12. At this juncture, let me use this opportunity to inform you that Government have granted approval for the Nigerian Shippers Council to act as Economic Regulatory at the ports, with the effective administrative backing of the Federal Ministry of Transport pending the passage into law of the National Transport Commission Bill which seeks to establish a National Transport Commission which shall among other functions serve as the economic regulator in the Transport Sector. It is also pertinent to highlight that three (3) more Transport Sector reform Bills namely: The Railway Bill The Ports & Harbour Bill, and The Inland Waterways Bill will soon be considered by the Federal Executive Council before transmittal to the National Assembly. 13. It will be of interest to note that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is currently focusing attention on the development of Truck Transit Parks (TTPs) in collaboration with the private sector to ease road transport haulage business. The TTPs when constructed will consist of gas/petrol stations, hotels, mechanic garages, shopping malls, restaurants, police posts, fire stations hospitals etc. It is of interest to note that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has signed an MoU with a private firm for the Development of a Truck Transit Park (TTP) at the International Trade Fair Complex, which will help eliminate the parking of trailers at the accesses to the Lagos Ports. Another TTP is also to be established in Lokoja, Kogi State, where the State Government is processing the land to be usedfor this purpose. 14. In the effort to sanitize the ports, the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has produced the Maiden Register of individual and corporate Freight Forwarders as well as the accredited Associations of Freight Forwarders. It has also accredited courses of study in Freight Forwarding at Regular Certificate and Executive Diploma levels and established the Freight Forwarding Investigation Panel and Disciplinary Tribunal as well as Enforcement Unit to benchmark Freight Forwarding to International Standards and impose sanctions where applicable. In 2014, we intend to build more capacity and ensure compliance with International Best Practices. 15. Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Nigeria has continued to partner with the International Community to enhance regional and global collaboration to address security and other challenges in the maritime sector. In this regard, Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) and Abuja MOU have forged regional cooperation and understanding in the area of promotion of standard shipping and capacity building in the maritime sector. I am happy to announce that Nigeria will host the third D-8 Expert Working Group on Shipping where Bilateral and Multilateral agreements among Member Countries on shipping for the overall development of the maritime sector of Member countries will be discussed. 16. In conclusion, may I once again assure the organizers of this EXPO of Government’s unflinching support to your efforts at deepening and developing the Maritime Sector. I have no doubt in my mind that NIMAREX Expo will continue to flourish and provide the veritable platform for stakeholders and players in the maritime business to brainstorm and generate ideas that would engender and fast track growth in the industry. 17. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish you all a fruitful deliberation and exhibition. 18. Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honour and pleasure to declare the NIMAREX 2014 open, and I so do.

Niger Delta University (NDU) to commence professional Marine, Oil & Gas technology HE Niger Delta University, NDU is T set to commence its novel Professional PostGraduate Diploma and Certificate programmes in Transport, Oil & Gas Technology in March this year. This was the highpoint of a recent meeting between the University Management led by

the Vice Chancellor, Prof Humphrey Ogoni and its collaborating partners for the Programme, the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping whose Management team was led by the Director General, Mrs Ify AnazonwuAkerele. The programme is geared towards

providing technical capacity support to the Oil & Gas and Transport (maritime) industry. The Application Forms are currently on sale until 2nd week in March, 2014, as admission letters would soon be issued to successful prospective applicants.

DG, NCS Mrs Ify Anazonwu-Akerele and VC, NDU, Prof Humphrey Ogoni showing off the MOU in respect of the collaborative PGD programme on Transport , Oil & Gas Technology, in Amasoma, Bayelsa State.

DG, NCS handing over a cheque for NCS counterpart funding for the Programme to the VC, NDU

PRE-TAKE-OFF MEETING: VC, NDU Prof Humphrey Ogoni (3rd from left); DG, NCS Mrs Ify Anazonwu-Akerele (4th from left); GM, NCS, Mr. Nnamdi Eronini (3rd from right); Bursar, NDU,Mr. Lyndon M. Etale (2nd right); NDU Programme Coordinator, Engr Dr Ezenwa A. Ogbonnaya (r); Prof Akpoebi C. Egumu (l) and Prof Princewill Owuala (2nd left)

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Maritime Facilitating growth in maritime sector through collaboration

Umar

By Moses Ebosele OR stakeholders in the maritime sector and indeed, Nigerians, the annual Nigeria FMaritime Expo (NIMAREX) has assumed the status of a rallying point. Speaking at the just concluded 2014 edition of the event, now in its fourth year, stakeholders took time to explain in details gains recorded in the last one year and plans for the future. For example, it was an opportunity for the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), National Inland Waterways (NIWA), Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC), Nigeria Navy, representatives of shipping firms, among others, to interact directly with members of the public on sundry issues. President Goodluck Jonathan who was represented at the opening ceremony by the Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, highlighted government resolve to reposition the maritime sector on a sustainable basis. According to the president, the federal government has commenced phased implementation of the recommendations of the presidential retreat on the maritime sector. The retreat was held in 2012 as part of measures to find lasting solutions to challenges in the sector. The president explained that other recommendations of the retreat tagged “Harnessing the potential of the maritime sector for sustainable economic development” would be considered and approved for implementation on a “case-bycase ” basis. The just concluded ceremony was also an opportunity for the Director General of NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi, to brief Nigerians on the benefits of capacity building and what the agency is doing to sustain growth in this regard. In the area of maritime safety and security, President Jonathan informed the gathering that the partnership between NIMASA and the private sector is yielding positive results. Explaining further, Jonathan said: “In the same token, the federal government has granted approval to NIMASA for the removal of wrecks and derelicts on a ‘no-cure-no-pay’ basis in order to provide for safe navigation within our waterways.” He added: “On Cabotage implementation, efforts are underway to ensure the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) to assist in building indigenous capacity after concluding all required due diligence and approval processes, you would recall that a stakeholders forum was held to consider the draft policy guidelines for granting of Ministerial waivers on Cabotage. “The forum examined holistically, the draft policy guidelines with a view to producing an acceptable document that will facilitate more effective implementation of the Cabotage

Akpobolokemi regime in Nigeria so as to effectively discourage the granting of the ministerial waivers. “In the area of capacity building, the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) anchored by NIMASA is making steady progress as over 1, 520 cadets have been sent for various trainings all over the world. “To further enhance manpower development for the industry, plans have reached advanced stages for the establishment of Maritime University at Okerenkoko in Delta State. In this regard, a ministerial committee for the realisation of the university was recently constituted. “In additional, maritime institutes have been established in four universities; namely, University of Lagos, Ibrahim Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Niger Delta University,” the president added. Meanwhile, members of Nigeria Ship owners Association (NISA), informed the president that the removal of the waiver clause from the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act, otherwise known as the Cabotage Act of 2003, will go a long way in addressing the plight of Nigerian ship owners “whose businesses have been so badly damage and who now owe banks close to half a trillion naira.” President of the group, Isaac Jolapamo in his remarks said NIMAREX had become a veritable platform to showcase the maritime industry, discuss salient issues and make inputs into the decision-making process. Earlier in her welcome address, the Chairman of NIMAREX planning committee, Mrs. Margaret Onyema-Orakwusi described Nigeria as an endowed nation with marine resources and mineral wealth “which can be the envy of many nations.” In his presentation, the Managing Director of NPA, Habib Abdullahi said that the recent reform at the ports had brought tremendous improvement to the way business was done in the maritime sector. According to Abdullahi, the volume of cargo passing through the ports has increased, adding that the authority had also earned more revenue which had made it possible for the agency to embark on infrastructural development projects across the ports. He said: “It should be highlighted that NIMAREX has within a very short period of its existence become a rallying point for maritime development and for experts and practitioners seeking ways of harnessing the rich potentials of the sector for the overall development of the country.” He noted further that NPA, as a gateway to the Nigerian economy would continue to associate with and support the NIMAREX project, particularly on the theme, which was “100 years of maritime development in Nigeria”.

Abdullahi The Chairman of the occasion was former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida who was represented by former Military Administrator of Lagos, Brigadier- General Raji Rasaki (rtd). Jonathan said that the implementation of the 2012 retreat report has commenced with the reintroduction of bunkering services. Jonathan said: “You would recall that, a number of measures have been put in place over the last two years by government aimed at enhancing the operational efficiency in the various ports.” The president added: “For instance, 24 hours operation has been achieved in the Lagos ports where more than 60 per cent of our port activities take place. “These efforts are continuous and involve all Stakeholders which require constant monitoring and evaluation. “For the long term, the federal government is making concerted efforts towards ensuring the development of Deep Sea Ports in the country. This is the ultimate solution to the current port congestion as the cargo handling are presently beyond their designed capacities.” He said that this year’s expo with theme “100 years of maritime development in Nigeria” is apt and conforms to the centenary celebration of the Nigerian nationhood. Jonathan told the gathering that the maritime sector remains a key sector of the economy, whose enormous potential deserves continuous harnessing in order to meet the expectation of the government. Explaining further, the president said: “Let me use this opportunity to inform this distinguished audience that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the development of the Lekki Deep Sea Port which is expected to handle bigger vessels, and also create employment under Public Private Partnership (PPP) Initiative. “Very soon, the ground-breaking for the construction of the port will be performed. On the Ibaka Deep Sea Port in Akwa Ibom State, the steering and project delivery committee that was constituted last year has submitted its draft report and the transaction adviser has produced initial Due Diligence Report as well as the Outline Business Case (OBC). “Furthermore, I also wish to state that discussions are in progress between the Federal Ministry of Transport (FMT), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on one side, the Lagos State Government and some investors to develop the Badagary Deep Sea Port. “Efforts are also being made to initiate similar arrangements with the Ogun and Ondo state governments and some investors to develop the Olokola Deep Sea Port. “In addition, the contract for the consultancy services for the establishment of a port at

Ogidigbe, near Escravos, as part of the Gas Industrial Park with Free Zone status, which is expected to be the hub for gas revolution initiative of the Federal Government is awaiting Federal Executive Council consideration and approval. “It is worthy to mention that a preliminary joint inspection has been carried out by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Bayelsa State Government for the Development of Agge Deep Sea Port in the State. “Already, the state government has commissioned a reputable consultant, who has carried out extensive studies for the development of the port. “I wish to use this opportunity to reiterate the federal government’s commitment to the resuscitation of the Calabar Access Channel. As you are aware, government had earlier approved the establishment of a Calabar Channel Management Company, a joint venture between Nigerian Ports Authority and Messrs. Niger Global Limited in order to guarantee sustainability of the Calabar Channel. “This joint venture arrangement is similar to the on-going Lagos and Bonny Channel Management Companies which are being used for the management of the channels. “With regards to the Inland Waterways Development and in order to sustain the dredged lower River Niger channel, I am happy to indicate that the contract for the dredging of River Benue is currently being processed to the Federal Executive Council for consideration and approval. “This will further guarantee the sustainability of the lower River Niger channel and expand our Inland Waterways. In the same vein, a number of river ports are being developed with the Port at Onitsha completed and commissioned. “The processes for the concessionning of the port is in progress with a transaction adviser appointed to midwife the process that will lead to inviting expression of interest from Investors. “Towards this end, the Federal Ministry of Transport and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) held a stakeholders conference with the theme “putting Onitsha River Port into economic use before Concessionning” in order to produce a robust road map on how to maximise the use of the port for the entire region. “Arising from the conference, the ministry is constituting a project delivery and an inter-ministerial steering committee to ensure early and optimal utilisation of the port. “I am happy to say that the development of river port at Baro, Oguta and Lokoja have respectively attained 90 per cent, 73 per cent and 50 per cent completion while the procurement process for the construction of a river port at Makurdi is at the final stage. Upon completion, all the river ports will be concessioned to the private sector,”

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‘Ship building industry facing global recession’ From Chuka Odittah, Abuja ECRETARY General of the Developing Eight Countries Organisation for Economic Cooperation (D-8 countries), Dr. Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi, has said that the shipping industry was facing a global melt down despite huge economic potential from associated maritime sub sector. The D-Eight Group comprises of shipping countries seeking to strengthen sector development and trade cooperation among members. The D-8 member countries are Nigeria, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia and Iran. Mousavi who stated this at the 3rd D-8 expert working group meeting on shipping in Abuja, explained that the emerging glut in the shipping building industry could be traced to excess capacity or over investment in that sector. Other factors highlighted include the high turn over of China’s steel industry on the global dry bulk-shipping sector, likely consolidation in the global shipping industry, among others. He noted that African countries involved in shipping and other maritime activi-

ties can only effectively penetrate the complex shipping world through inter country cooperation among D-8 member states. Mousavi listed the objectives of the workshop to include: Encouraging public private partnership in promotion and development of shipping, to encourage exchange of experiences and best practices in promotion and development of maritime sector. Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) DirectorGeneral, Patrick Akpobolokemi urged participants at the workshop to diversify and create new opportunities in shipping trade relations among member states, adding that this would go a long way to improve the living standards of citizens of member countries of D-8. Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, in his remark, urged member countries to strengthen cooperation on shipping activities to boost trade. He advised member states of the D-8 to pursue strong partnership as well as concrete platforms for beneficial cooperation to speed up investments in the maritime sector and to increase the share of trade between 10 percent and 25 percent before the end of the year.

Maersk Container ship

Customs hands over N2.8m seized antiquities to NCMM By Moses Ebosele HE Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Command has handed over 18 seized antiquities valued at N2.8 million to the National Council for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). According to Seme Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Willy Egbudin, Customs Officers at Owode Station intercepted the prohibited items from suspected smugglers on their way to Benin Republic. Egbudin, who spoke at the handing over ceremony said: “It is our collective responsibility to protect our cultural heritage and prevent criminals from depleting our historical art.” The items, according to a statement issued by the command’s Public Relation Officer, Ernest Olottah, were handed over to the representative of Director General of NCMM, Yusuf Abdala Usman and Mrs. Edith Ekunke. Receiving the antiquities, Ekunke expressed gratitude to Customs for curbing the illegal trade. Meanwhile, Egbudin has also enjoined members of the Seme Border business community particularly importers and licensed customs agents on the need to embrace change. Addressing them at a one-day sensitisation programme on Pre Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), Egbudin urged the stakeholders to abide by the various guidelines. The statement explained that stakeholders received lectures on the rudiment of PAAR and how importers and their licensed customs agents can conduct seamless transaction through the e-Customs process. Egbudin who expressed his desire to have all the stake-

holders on board the eCustoms, said, “we can only get to a cruising altitude of Customs transaction if only we imbibe the knowledge on PAAR and make honest declarations.” In addition to the importers, participants at the enlightenment programme were drawn from Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs

Agents (ANLCA) National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) among others. The Seme Command had recently appealled to traditional rulers for assistance especially in the area of information gathering. Addressing chiefs and leaders from Seme border axis during the first Customs

Community Relations Forum for 2014, NCS emphasized the need to tackle activities of smugglers through improved community relation. According to Egbudin, the role of traditional rulers in the fight against smuggling cannot be overemphasized. Egbudin explained that smugglers would find it difficult to carry out their nefari-

ous activities if community leaders and the entire neighbourhood join the sensitisation move being championed by the customs. Commending the traditional rulers for the support the command has been receiving from the community leaders since his assumption of office as CAC, Seme, Egbudin also urged them to back the cus-

toms with intelligence and report suspicious movements of smugglers in their various communities to the service as part of their contributions to the anti smuggling war. Egbudin said: “We must be security conscious and alert to forestall security challenges”, adding that the meeting will be held on a regular basis.

NPA seeks more economic cooperation between Nigeria, Belgium By Moses Ebosele HE Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) has urged the government and investors in Belgium to take advantage of various investment opportunities in Nigeria. Managing Director of NPA, Habib Abdullahi, who spoke recently when the Belgium Ambassador to Nigeria, Diru Verheyen, paid him a courtesy visit in Lagos, also called on Belgium to explore more areas of cooperation especially in the shipping sector in Nigeria. According to Abdullahi, the port reforms programme embarked upon by the federal government some years ago had opened many investment opportunities for investors. He informed the ambassador that deep-sea ports were being developed in Lekki and Badagry (Lagos State), Ibaka in Akwa Ibom State and Olokola along Ogun/Ondo states maritime boundary, adding that all ports in Nigeria are under the control of NPA. A statement issued by NPA quoted Abdullahi as saying the authority would continue to seek the support of the Port of Antwerp in the area of capacity building and manpower development. While appreciating the existing mutual relationship

between NPA and the Port of Antwerp, the managing director said that he was very happy that the Belgium Commercial Mission would soon visit Nigeria, stressing that their coming would further boost the economic relations between Nigeria and Belgium. Earlier, the ambassador informed Abdullahi that the Belgium Commercial Mission’s proposed visit to Nigeria would open a new chapter in the training and investment needs of both countries. Meanwhile, NPA has pledged to sustain activities of its fourpilotage districts as part of measures to ensure ultimate performance. Abdullahi explained that the organisation would also provide all the operational requirements of the pilotage districts within budgetary provisions. Abdullahi, who spoke in his office during a meeting with the leadership of the four pilotage districts, also commended the contributions of the members, consisting mainly of master mariners, for their contributions to ensure enhanced performance of the various pilotage districts. He noted the concern of the members on navigational safety of the nation’s channels, and

reassured them that NPA will continue to place priority on the training and re-training of its pilots. NPA’s Principal Manager (Public Affairs), I.A. Suwaid explained in a statement that while emphasising the importance of the roles of pilots and Harbour Masters in the operations of the Authority, Abdullahi appealed to members of the pilotage boards to always make positive suggestions on the marine functions of the organisation. He said that the NPA management with a view to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the system would gladly consider such suggestions. Abdullahi pointed out that the ports authority would find it difficult to record appreciable progress without strong pilotage boards. Earlier, the leader of the group, Captain Abiodun Omoteso, told the NPA boss that the members were concerned about the safety of the pilotage districts of the nation’s territorial waters. He appealed to NPA management to strive to implement the communiqué of a recent retreat held by members of the pilotage districts at Uyo, Akwa Ibom, in view of the major issues discussed at the forum. In a related development,

Abdullahi has said that the authority was fully committed to the improvement of the health care of its entire workforce. Abdullahi spoke while flagging-off an awareness programme on cervical cancer, targeted at screening vaccination and treatment for female

Okonjo-Iweala

employees of the organisation. Represented by the General Manager, Administration, Michael Ajayi, the managing director commended the Medical Department for its commitment to awareness campaigns on various health issues aimed at enhancing health potentials of workers.

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Industry Raising the bar in quality surveillance, assurance in cement production Often times, due to poor labeling, users consider cement uniformity in the product’s purchase decisions. With the rise in economical mix design, a move that has been attributed to be responsible for the rise in building collapse in Nigeria, it has become pertinent to raise the bar in the application of the product, its quality, packaging and consumer enlightenment. With a complex interdependence of cement and concrete properties as well as the introduction of a higher grade of cement by Dangote, it is important to evaluate variations in cement properties and its effect on quality of concrete before choosing a supplier for a particular work. FEMI ADEKOYA writes. N the last few months, there has been confiIespecially dence crisis in the Nigerian cement industry, in the face of the rising frequency of building collapse across the nation. In the wake of the crisis, a coalition of civil society groups and professional bodies in a document circulated in the media attributed the increasing menace to the poor quality cement in circulation, even though there is no compelling Odumodu Dangote evidence to such end. He however debunked the idea that the com- and conformity criteria for common cement concrete required for High-rise buildings. The coalition therefore called on the relevant Finally, the BS 52.5 grade cement may be pany would stop producing 42.5 grade of alternatively known as the NIS 444-1:2003. authorities to make 42.5 grade of cement the By that action, the reviewed standards would standard product in Nigeria instead of the lower utilised by builders of heavy infrastructure cement, noting that the grade remains relevant such as bridges, fly over, large span structures depending on the application and proposed place additional responsibility on manufacturgrade 32.5, mostly patronised by builders. use by the consumer. ers in respect to product labeling and enlightOn the contrary, the Standards Organisation of and high rise structures. “There have been arguments on the best grade enment of users on the proper application of Nigeria (SON) held that there was no sub-stan- Expanding consumer’s choice with a new of cement but it should be noted that the appli- the commodity in the course of erection of vardard product in the market, rather a misapplica- strength class In the wake of the development, Dangote cation and purpose for the use of the product ious infrastructures. tion of the product by end users. Also, key issues on the decisions to either The agency’s Director-General, Dr. Joseph Cement Plc unveiled plans to launch its certi- determines the appropriateness and grade to be used. The key strategy for Dangote at this reduce the cement strength classes or mainOdumodu underlined the need to sensitise fied 52.5 grade of cement in the market. According to the cement manufacturer, the moment is to deploy quality products in the tain the status quo as well as end user enlightblock makers to operate in conformity with the production of a higher grade of cement market. Capacity building initiatives for users enment would be determined at the end of the national standards. became necessary considering the lingering take a longer time. However, once there are review process. Explaining cement standards and strengths Odumodu pointed out that “there is no subUsing the European cement standard EN 197-1 on quality issues rocking the industry as well as quality products in the market, the consumers which Nigeria hinged its cement standard; com- the need to produce products that are in line can be enlightened on the proper use”, he standard cement brand being produced in the country”, saying that like other manufactured position, specifications and conformity criteria with international standard and quality added. On his part, President, Cement Manufacturers products, cement has its shelf life. for common cements defines 27 distinct com- benchmark. Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Association of Nigeria (CMAN), Joseph Makoju According to him, unethical practices on the mon cement products and their constituents. The standard includes requirements for con- Officer, Dangote Cement Plc, Devakumar added that with the introduction of the new part of builders could compromise the integristituents and performance requirements in Edwin explained that the introduction of a grade of cement, there would not be a need for ty of a structure and this has been the trend in terms of mechanical, physical and chemical higher grade of cement into the market was to the importation of cement into the country, as the industry considering the low level of literaaddress lingering quality issues raised by civil the 52.5 grade remains the highest grade of cy among practitioners in the building sector. parameters for all 27 products. Expert recommendation on review action Three standard strength classes are defined at societies and also cater for the needs of con- cement available in the Nigeria and Africa. A new regulatory regime to the rescue Head, Strategic Initiatives and Patent 28 days (32.5, 42.5 and 52.5). In addition, three sumers. According to him, the company had been With a need to address quality issues among the Management, Holcim Technology Limited, Dr. early strength classes are included for each standard strength class: low early strength, ordinary selling its 42.5 grade of cement at the same players, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Markus Tschudim corroborated the views of price that some of its competitors were selling (SON) on Monday, commenced a process to the SON boss on the misapplication of the early strength and high early strength. review the standards of locally produced product, explaining that the ability of users to Cement is generally of two types, the ordinary the 32.5 grade. He said: “Dangote Cement as a responsible cement. maintain good construction practices and Portland cement, which is available in BS 32.5, BS With the aid of a technical committee compris- water-cement ratio are key in global markets. 42.5, BS 52.5 and BS 62.5 grades. The other variety market leader has continued to produce 42.5 He expressed caution in the review process is known as Blended cement, which is available grade in its three plants in strict adherence to ing of manufacturers, civil society organisathe stipulations of the SON. We have incurred tions, academia, regulatory agencies and other noting that the outcome of the process has as Portland Pozzolana cement or slag cement. The grade carried by the Portland version is a great manufacturing costs by producing a stakeholders, the SON hopes to develop consequences. number that indicates the minimum compres- high grade of cement when some continue to reviewed standards regulating the composition sive strength gained by the cement-sand mortar make available 32.5 grade in the market. We mix in 28 days time. The cement type commonly stopped producing the 32.5 grade a long time used in Nigeria is the Portland cement, to which ago. “With this product, Nigeria has come to stay BS 32.5 and BS 42.5 are the two main grades in cirNigeria deserves to sleep of the upper respiratory tract OUKA Limited has empha- every culation, until the recent introduction of the 52.5 as a world producer of cement and exporter well. ” sized the benefits of She harped that “being well which reduces the quality of that has been able to meet quality requireby Dangote Cement. healthy sleep at an event to rested can make one more alert, sleep, diminishes the amount ments.” These higher grades of cements were specificalmark the 2014 World Sleep Day while lack of sleep can leave you of oxygen in blood and puts a Displaying the firm’s Mandatory Conformity ly introduced to cater to the needs of industries heavy burden on heart.” engaged in the construction of long span Assessment Programme (MANCAP) certificate, in Lagos, Nigeria. feeling lethargic and too tired Prof Okubadejo pointed out bridges, high rise structures and other struc- Edwin noted that the firm had since In a statement made available to function properly. Studies that a restful sleep, leads to a to The Guardian, the Managing November 2013 met SON’s minimum requiretures of gigantic magnitude requiring high have shown that lack of sleep ments for the production of 52.5 grade Director, Mouka Limited, Peju for just a few days disrupts hor- healthy life saying, “For every grades of concretes. one hour of sleep you lose, you Adebajo, said “we are not just All Portland cement grades are of the same cement, adding that the firm had since tested mone and metabolism levels, need one day to recover, so ingredient base; however differ in terms of com- the product and would be formally introduc- part of this year’s celebration, it resulting in increased appetite thinking you can pick up sleep has become our culture. We are and calorie intake.” position, which gives each grade its uniqueness ing it to the market on March 23. later in the week may leave you in characteristics. The BS 32.5 cement is He further stated that there are plans to intro- most delighted to educate Enlightening the public on the more deprived than you designed to meet the structural requirements of duce another new superior product in the Nigerians on the best way to benefits of sleep on live radio think” lead lives and make the best of interviews which was streamed ordinary and small-scale consumers (by its cost), market before midyear of 2014. Adebajo however announced On product differentiation, he noted that the it. We chose therefore to on social media, an associate the launch of Mouka’s seeking to build small to medium sized strucenlighten the public during tures, pavements, rendering (plastering) and company presently remains the only manuprofessor at the College of SleepWell Nigeria Campaign, a facturer of 52.5 grade cement in Nigeria and our various live radio inter- Medicine, the University of social enlightenment series culverts. The BS 42.5 cement is however designed to cater Africa and its products have been properly views on taking good sleep to Lagos, Njideka Okubadejo, said aimed to provide life-saving enhance chances of long life. to a more specialised group of builders, looking labeled in accordance to regulatory frame- She also stressed the fact that “people should focus on sleep and useful information on apnea, an obstructive condition sleep to Nigerians. to create precast concrete and all other forms of works and for differentiation.

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Boosting local capacity utilisation to aid rice self-sufficiency target As part of its efforts to revive the nation’s rice production capabilities, the Federal Government introduced a programme for the country’s self -sufficiency in a manner expected to grow the agricultural sector and creates jobs. Though troubled by the drop in revenue arising from the 10 per cent import duty and a special levy imposed on imported parboiled rice from 40 per cent to 100 per cent, the government has restated its commitment to the 2015 self-sufficiency target. To avoid a policy somersault as often witnessed, stakeholders clamour for an increase in local capacity utilization to attain this feat. FEMI ADEKOYA writes.

Olam’s rice mill and field in Doma, Nasarawa. IGERIA’S road to rice self-sufficiency has N been described in many forums as laudable though tortuous considering the political nature of the product. The need to move from being the world’s second-largest importer of rice, to a self-sufficient nation by 2015 is most likely to affect India, Thailand and Brazil, as well as neighbouring countries from which the product is being smuggled. To drive the agenda, bank lending to agriculture had risen to about $200 million in 2013 from just $22 million in 2012, while duties on agricultural equipment have been scrapped and tax breaks given to companies willing to invest in farming and industrial processes. For those already in the process, there is a need for government to increase incentives in the sector as well as encourage the growth of value addition drivers to aid the realisation of the 2015 target. Making inroad through green field project For Olam Nigeria Limited, an integrated agricultural company operating in Doma local council area of Nasarawa State, is investment in rice cultivation is expected to close the gap in rice importation and increase the nation’s chances in rice self sufficiency. General Manager, Olam rice farm, Reji George, explained that the farm’s green field project is a commercial rice project, with a broad plan to cultivate 6000 hectares of land, cultivating low land rice through irrigation twice in a year. According to him, the cultivation is done mechanically, adding that, of the 6000hct of land 4000hct has being leveled, out of which 3000hct of land was used to cultivate rice last December with expectation of harvest due next month. He said: “We have been cultivating these areas. This would be the third farm cycle and by July we would cultivate 4,600hct. We intend to have full land development by 2015 in which we would have 6000hct of rice farmland fully cultivated through water irrigation, On the Ban of rice importation, he noted that the move may not be right at this time as it should be a gradual process, saying “before you ban rice or any agricultural commodity you must have to develop the local strength of rice production. “The Federal Government is doing a lot in transforming the sector, especially through the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme. Other developed countries have achieved feat in rice production, and I believe if Nigeria continues like this, we should be self sufficient in rice production in no time”.

He added that before going for the complete ban of rice importation, government should also put into consideration the amount of investment private investors are willing to put into local agriculture, while prominence should be given to such in order to attract more private investors into the sector. “If you plan the ban of importation of rice, you need to put into consideration the amount of investment at stake. Companies like Olam are into commercial production of rice with 6000hct in two cycles and that would definitely help bridge the demand and supply gap. With support from other companies, in addition to the role government is playing, in few years time we would be able to bridge the demand and supply gap and we would be able to be self sufficient in rice production. He disclosed that $70million has been expended on the project, and the investment may rise significantly than the initial amount when the mill is fully functional, disclosing that the mill would be fully operational by June 1. He said the mill would be able to produce rice that can favourably compete with imported rice, adding that Nigeria has a huge market potential for rice, so getting market for the milled rice would not be a problem. An avenue for employment generation

George also hinted that more than 1000 people are employed on the farm on daily basis and more than 90 per cent of them are indigenes of the community. He added that when the project is completed, there is a plan to mill 75,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice. Already, 3000 outgrowers within and outside Nassarawa state have been commissioned to produce 200,000 of paddy rice by May 15. “By June 1, we will start milling with 105,000 metric tonnes of paddy, and the mill has the capacity to mill 200,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice and this is one of the largest mills in Africa. By 2015 we would be cultivating 6000 hectares of paddy twice every year. “The tractors were operated by Malawian at first but now we have trained the indigenes to operate the machines, and we can fully say now that most of our manpower is sourced within the local community. He commended the Federal Government’s GES program adding that the farm is benefiting from the programmee through the provision of quality seedlings and fertilizers. The Community leader of Ijiwo, a settlement area in Doma, Alhaji Kushunta Adi, commended the company for creating employment opportunities in the community, especially for the youth. “Before the coming of Olam to our community, most people in this area were idle, which is not

good, but today, the story is different. In fact, at that initial time, most of excavators on the project were foreigners, but today, the company has employed many of our youths and this is helping many families here. What Olam is doing in our community is worthy of emulation by both the government and other companies that have operations in Nigeria”. Also, another native of the community, Sunday Uloko noted that many natives have come to understand farming better due to the activities of the company. “At the outset, most of the people had thought that the company had come to worsen their economic woes by taking over the activity from them, but their experiences overtime proved otherwise. Instead, Olam, convinced that the agriculture sector and in particular rice farming needed better technique, took it upon itself to train the local farmers.” To drive the initiative, natives have emphasized the need for government to incentivise activities of firms contributing to the growth of the society. Stakeholders in the real sector however believe the reforms are needed to reduce reliance on a struggling oil sector and cut a $11 billion food import bill, by ensuring that policies are sustainable and implemented ate every level of government.

Vitafoam restates commitment to innovation, customer satisfaction By Femi Adekoya Vitafoam Nigeria Plc has reaffirmed its commitment to meet the ever-changing needs of its esteemed and loyal customers in the country through innovative products. The Managing Director, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Joel Ajiga said the company will continue to work tirelessly to provide range of exotic, affordable, innovative and quality products to satisfy the needs and surpassing its customers’ expectation. Ajiga during a press briefing to mark Vitafoam Nigeria Plc’s 2014 World Sleep Day said satisfying the needs and wants of customers is key to its operation stressing that without the customers, the company would not be in business. Speaking on the theme for this year’s World Sleep day tagged, “Restful sleep, easy breathing and healthy body aimed at promoting a culture of good sleep”, Ajiga pointed out that using the best and right mattresses for the

body weight greatly improves the chances of enjoying good and restful sleep maintaining that the company with this understanding has continued to innovate on its product offerings in the market. “We have products range that caters for different weights. That is why we have created a chart that helps customers find their perfect match at our different experience centres all over the country. Several factors need to be considered in making a choice of mattress such as comfort, load bearing, durability, fatigue and health challenge,” he said. He identified the company’s role in addressing health challenges associated with sleep disorder. “As a corporate citizen, the company has an obligation to leverage its technical know-how to produce products that would prevent burden of sleep, sleep disorder and alleviate pain for different health challenges,” he said He explained that sleep deprivation is such a chronic condition that people might not even realize they are suffering from it adding that the

lack of sleep can contribute to failing health and even increased pain. He said people with lumbar disc problem would benefit from a firm mattress like its spring firm and galaxy mattress and said a sufferer of spinal strenosis need slightly softer mattress. He also stated that the rationale for the introduction of new products is part of the company’s strategic plan to expand its operations and boost shareholders wealth. “Vitafoam “spring to life” campaign is fundamentally to promote the culture of good sleep. A combination of our spring mattress on a divan bed base with memory topper and vita cool pillow will ensure a restful sleep, easy breathing and healthy body,” he said. “Also, on memory pillow, it supports and relieves you of pain at the neck, very soft, provides exquisite comfort, promotes restful rest through enhanced blood circulation and a good thermal body regulation around the neck and the head,” he said.

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GlobalStocks U.S. stocks rise on housing data, Crimea issues .S. stocks rose yesterday, U following the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s best day in two weeks, after housing data bolstered confidence in the economy and as Vladimir Putin said Russia isn’t seeking to split Ukraine. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) rallied to the highest since 2000 as the company plans to debut a version of Office for Apple Inc.’s iPad. HewlettPackard Co. (HPQ) added 3.7

percent after Barclays Plc lifted its rating on the computer maker. Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. fell 3.5 on a report that New York’s attorney general has started an investigation into whether stock exchanges provide high-frequency traders with improper advantages. GameStop Corp. dropped 4.2 percent after WalMart Stores Inc. said it will start selling pre-owned video games later this year.

The S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to 1,869.75 at 1:21 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 81.65 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,328.87. Trading in S&P 500 (SPX) stocks was 23 percent below the 30-day average at this time of day. “We’ve got a more congenial Russian message this morning and we got better economic reports here in the States,” John Augustine, chief

market strategist at Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees $28.2 billion. “The building permits report was very bullish for the spring and summer housing season. Today, we move back to better economic reports and focusing on the Fed.” The S&P 500 rallied 1 percent yesterday for its biggest increase in almost two weeks

as a measure of industrial production grew more than forecast. The gauge dropped 2 percent last week, the most since January, amid mounting tension in Ukraine and signs of an economic slowdown in China. A Commerce Department report showed housing starts were little changed in February after declining less than previously estimated a month earlier, indicating the

A trader at the New York Stock Exchange looks on.

New York official seeks curbs on high-frequency traders EW York's attorney generN al urged U.S. stock exchanges and other venues on Tuesday to limit services that he said provided unfair advantages to high-frequency traders and undermined confidence in the markets. The stock exchanges allow traders to locate their computer servers within trading venues, armed with extra network bandwidth and highspeed switches that give them access to pricing, volume and order information ahead of others, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. "Rather than curbing the worst threats posed by highfrequency traders, our mar-

kets, as structured today, are increasingly too focused on catering to them," he said in prepared remarks at a symposium hosted by New York Law School. Schneiderman has begun meetings with the exchanges and alternative trading venues to discuss reforms, according to a person familiar with the situation. A spokeswoman for the New York Stock Exchange declined comment. A Nasdaq spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment. Among the practices Schneiderman called into question were "co-location," which allows firms who pay a

fee - typically thousands of dollars a month - to locate their computer servers within the exchanges' data centers. Co-location reduces by milliseconds the time it takes to transmit, long enough for "predatory" high-speed traders to benefit and for the markets to suffer. For instance, he said, the traders look for arbitrage opportunities between and among venues to capture momentary differences in stock prices. The firms also artificially inflate prices, he said, by detecting a big trade from an institutional investor and positioning themselves on the other side. Institutional investors have

been forced to develop strategies to hide their orders from these traders, such as by routing the orders into alternative venues known as "dark pools," which are less regulated, Schneiderman said. He suggested reforms for stock exchanges, such as a proposal by University of Chicago economists that they process orders in batches rather than continuously, to ensure that price trumps technology in deciding who obtains a trade. Schneiderman has been conducting a sweeping investigation of early access to data. Last month, Berkshire Hathaway's Business Wire said it would no longer sell

potentially market-moving press releases directly to high frequency-trading companies after months of discussion with his office. In January, BlackRock Inc, the world's largest asset manager, agreed to end its analyst survey program worldwide, and 18 brokerages, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, later agreed to end their participation in such programs. Last July, Thomson Reuters Corp said it would suspend its early release of the widely watched Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment data to a small group of clients in response to the probe.

home-building industry is stabilizing after bad winter weather curbed construction. Permits filed for future projects increased 7.7 percent to a 1.02 million pace in February, the most since October. Separate data indicated the cost of living was little changed in February, showing inflation remains well below the Federal Reserve’s goal. Low inflation makes it likely that Fed policy makers meeting today and tomorrow will maintain a pledge to keep interest rates low, even as unemployment declines. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce a $10 billion cut to monthly bond purchases tomorrow, according to the median of responses in a Bloomberg survey. The central bank will continue to slow the program at that pace at every meeting before ending it at the Oct. 2829 gathering, the survey showed. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last month the U.S. economy was strong enough to withstand measured reductions to the central bank’s monthly bond purchases. Three rounds of Fed stimulus have helped push the S&P 500 up 176 percent from a 12-year low, as U.S. equities enter the sixth year of a bull market that started March 9, 2009. Economic data “was sort of little-changed to us, but at least it wasn’t a lot worse,” Cam Albright, director of asset allocation at Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, said in a phone interview. His firm oversees about $82 billion. “People have been looking at a lot of negatively influenced numbers and thinking we may starting to get a little past that.” Equity futures jumped after Putin said Russia won’t attempt to further split up Ukraine. He blamed Western encroachment for forcing him to take control of the Black Sea region, defying U.S. and European Union sanctions. Crimea voted on March 16 to leave Ukraine and become a part of Russia. The regional parliament called the plebiscite after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country following protests against his rule. “We don’t want to split up Ukraine, we don’t need that,” the Russian president said in a speech to parliament. “Don’t believe those who scare you with Russia, who yell that Crimea will be followed by

Barclays cuts share awards to top executives by 20 per cent ARCLAYS (BARC.L) has B given its top dozen executives nearly 32 million pounds in share awards, 20 percent lower than a year ago, partly due to a drop in its stock price. The British bank has faced a wave of shareholder criticism over its decision to raise bonuses last year

despite a fall in profits and is under pressure to cut costs at its investment bank, which is the subject of a third strategic review in as many years. Skip McGee, head of Barclays Americas, was awarded nearly 9 million pounds worth of shares under bonus plans from

prior years, the bank said on Tuesday, the highest payout among Barclay's top managers but far less than the 17 million pounds awarded to Rich Ricci, Barclay's former investment bank chief, last year. Ricci left the bank a month after cashing in his stock award. He had been a light-

ning rod for criticism over "fat cat" bankers and his departure was part of chief executive Antony Jenkins' bid to overhaul the culture of the bank. Eric Bommensath and Tom King, who were appointed as co-chief executives of corporate and investment banking when Ricci departed, shared

an award of over 12 million pounds with the bulk, or 8.6 billion pounds, going to Bommensath. The fall in the amounts awarded largely reflects the 25 percent drop in Barclays' share price. Bommensath and King would have shared an award close to 17 million pounds had the share price

not fallen by a quarter. Jenkins, who has waived his bonus as chief executive for two years running, received an award valued at 3.8 million pounds under previous, deferred compensation plans. He received 1.64 million shares, down from last year when he received 1.8 million shares.

50 Wednesday, March 19, 2014 MARKET REPORT

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MarketReport EQUITY MARKET SUMMARY

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MARKET INDICATORS

AS AT 18-03-2014

PRIMERA AFRICA

NSE’s market capitalisation down by N198b • PZ Cussons shareholders approve firm’s 130 kobo dividend Stories by Helen Oji OLLOWING price losses suffered by most blue chip companies, equity transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange continued on a downward note, causing market capitalisation to slide further by N198 billion. Specifically, at the close of transactions yesterday, market capitalization dropped by N198 billion, to close lower at N11.972 trillion from N12.170 trillion recorded the previous day. Investors yesterday bought 286.793 million shares worth N4.541 billion in 4798 deals. This is against 219.704 million shares valued at N2.411 billion exchanged by investors the previous day in 4091 deals. Also the NSE All Share Index (ASI) went down by 614.43 basis points to 37274.04 points from 37888.47 points traded on Monday. The result showed that Seven UP Bottling Company led the gainers table, appreciating by N1.24 kobo to close at N88.01 kobo, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) followed with a gain of N1.12 kobo to close at N23.79 kobo while Guinness Nigeria Plc, Total Nigeria Plc and Union Dicon enhanced by N1.00, N0.97 kobo and N0.63 kobo respectively to close at N14.14 kobo. On the contrary, Nestle Nigeria Plc topped losers chart, dropping by N51.27 kobo to close at N975.08 kobo, Dangote Cement Plc trailed with a loss of N5.20 kobo to close at N228.40 kobo while Forte Oil declined by N4.94

kobo to close at N93.86 kobo. Other stocks that depreciated in price were Mobil Nigeria and Flour Mills Nigeria Plc which loss N3.90 kobo and N3.45 kobp respectively to close at N117.00 and N74.50 kobo. United Bank for Africa (UBA) recorded the highest volume of shares for the day, exchanging 32.537 million shares valued at N224.511 million, GTBank followed with 28.932 million shares worth N669.883 million while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Transcorp sold 23.210 million shares cost N86.654 million. SkyeBank exchanged 18.738 million shares valued at N63.509 million and Zenith International Bank traded 17.040 shares worth N353.686 million. Meanwhile, shareholders of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc have approved the special dividend of 130 kobo per share recommended by the directors of the company. Shortly before paying an interim dividend, directors of PZ Cussons last month announced the declaration of a special dividend to be paid from the general reserve of the company. Approving the special dividend at an Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Lagos recently, the shareholders commended the payment of the dividend, adding that the decision of the board to pay the special dividend, indicated that the directors have the interest of the shareholders at heart.

SEC seeks more participation of women on listed firms’ boards ECURITIES and Exchange Sstressed Commission (SEC) has the need for

What Happened? The NSE All-Share index declined by 162bps (1.62%) and closed at 37,274.04. This represents a year-to-date performance of - 9.81%. Market Capitalisation also declined 162% to close at N11.972trillion. Total value traded increased 88.32% to N4.542 billion and total volume traded increased 30.54% to 286.79 million units.

Where? At the close of trading, the banking sector represented 30.79% of the total market value traded, while the breweries sector represented 23.82% The Top 5 stocks as a % of total market value traded were: NB (17.31%), GUARANTY (14.75%), FLOURMILL (9.23%), ZENITHBANK (7.79%) and GUINNESS (6.42%). On a volume basis, the Top 5 most traded stocks for the day were: UBA (32.54m), GUARANTY (28.93m), TRANSCORP (23.21m), SKYEBANK (18.74m) and ZENITHBANK (17.04m).

Companies &Allied Matters Act (CAMA) to be reviewed in such a way that it encourages greater participation of women on the board of listed companies. The commission also revealed that it would support and influence the move as custodian of the SEC code of corporate governance. The Director-General of the SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, explained that companies that have at least 19 per cent of their board members as women achieve better in their respective Returns On Investment (ROI) in terms of profitability. She said: “It is important to have more women on boards. We have about 190 listed companies today, 73 of them have no woman on their boards, 10 percent have 20 percent women on their boards and I think there are only 15 female CEOs of the 190 listed companies. What we have found recently is that there is now some link between the performance of companies and the number of women they have on their board. And that linkage is very positive that the more women we have on the board, the more likely their performance would rice. “There is a catalysts organizational study that companies which had more women on their board, at least 19 per cent of their board members being women did better in terms of ROI, in terms of other profitability indicators. My suspi-

cion is that the reason for that is that first if you have got women on the board,. It opens up the market to the broader range so when you are crafting your policies, when you are reviewing how you are doing as a board the questions would point you to something that may not have come out if you had just one gender, if you had a board that is solely men. “The other thing is that diversity inspires innovation; there is a linkage between diversity and innovation because people come from different directions. So we think that something should be done. The Companies and Allied Matters Act was last reviewed in 1990. There was a recent amendment, which was very specific. We think that one of the things, which should be looked into, is certainly having a clause that encourages greater participation of women. “We are the custodian of the SEC code of corporate governance, so through that we can also somewhat influence that issue. But I think that the best ways is that the companies themselves look at that issue as something that is most beneficial to them because it opens up their space for them and their market. So we will probably report in a more granular fashion on this issue of having more women on boards. We are the custodian of the SEC code of corporate governance, so through that we can also somewhat influence that issue,” she added.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Midweek Arts Journalists from America... in love with Nigeria’s cultural heritage By Kabir Alabi Garba

The desire to explore rich cultural and artistic heritage of Nigeria led two journalists from America —Michael Clapp and David Orvalle — to the expansive Ile-Ona Museum of Arts in Iragbiji, Osun state, home of the multi-talented artist and Eesa of Iragbiji, Chief Muraina Oyelami as he let out certain intrinstic values about his personality as an artist as well as traditional chieftancy title holder in addition to how his home country came about the name, Iragbiji. HE two American journalists were the last T batch of the Exchange Program for Media Professionals from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and the United States to visit Nigeria. Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the programme, coordinated by Washingstonbased International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ), had taken five journalists each from the four participating African countries to the United States in the spring and summer of last year. This reporter was a beneficiary, so, he, alongside ICFJ partners in Nigeria — International Press Centre (IPC)— automatically became host of the visiting fellows. The same role was played when the trio of Lisa Shu, Connor Sheets, and Nathaniel Minor came visiting in August 2013 as the first batch of the exchange programme. Prior to their arrival in Nigeria, Dave (as David is fondly called) had indicated interest in exploring artistic and cultural heritage of Nigeria. “But one place I definitely want to visit, if possible, is Osogbo. Here in Miami, the Lukumi (or Santeria) religion is very vibrant as are other Afro-Caribbean and traditional Yoruba faiths. And for many practitioners here, Nigeria and Osogbo is seen as the hub for their spiritual roots and I would like to explore the topic for our readers. “I have been in touch with one Yoruba priest, Araba Ifayemi Elebuibon, who says he would welcome me for a visit, just to let him know the dates. I am particularly interested in practitioners who have or currently host people from Florida and the United States seeking to learn more about the Yoruba faiths. I hope a visit to Osogbo will be possible.” He wrote in one of his mails. And Director of IPC, Lanre Arogundade replied, “Apart from Elebuibon, there are other artistes of note who will be able to offer you greater insight into the role of Osogbo in the development and promotion of Nigerian arts in all its ramifications - river goddess worship (popularly called Osun Osogbo festival); theatre and drama; music and folklores etc.” So, on February 2, as soon as they landed in Lagos from Abuja, off they went to Osogbo to warmth reception of Ifa priest, Elebuibon and the interaction was fantastic as Dave would later note. From there, the next port of call was Iragbiji and Chief Muraina graciously welcomed the august visitors to his hilly Ile-Ona Museum of Arts, an expansive courtyard that comprises three buildings — Guest House; living apartment where and his family reside, and Obatala Centre for Creative Arts. After the exchange of pleasantaries, the encounter dovetailed into question-and-answer session, and it was Dave firing the shots, while this reporter also intervened occasionally. How do you come about this dual artistic personality? My scope is a bit wide; I am not so narrow, I am

Chief Muraina with Dave (left) and Mike… during the visit a universal person and that is my outlook, without loosing my root I appreciate everyone where ever they come from. I use drum, but I am not the best drummer in town. In fact, I am not from a family of drummers traditionally, maybe, it is in the blood because my mother hailed from the family of drummers and my grandfather who was a very well known hunter during their festival for Ogun (the god of iron and war implements) used to play drums. Maybe, I inherited it from that but I don’t limit myself to Dundun or Afirin only, I went on to learn how to play the clarinet, acoustic guitar any musical instrument I could lay my hands upon. I love foreign classical music, I am a favourite artiste in Mozart. I am saying this to prove that my scope is not narrow because I look at art as universal; you are trying to express something. I started off with performing arts, and then I participated in various workshops which started from Oshogbo in the early 60s and I participated in other workshops in print making, carving, graphics and lithography, so if I am not painting, I am drumming, and that is what I have been doing since the past 49 years and I am still very active. Since 1993 when you were installed as Eesa of Iragbiji, how has it been combinning it with your artistic enterprise? It has been a perfect combination. Being a community leader, the Eesa of Iragbiji, it is a chieftaincy title which means the head of all the kingmakers and chiefs in the town and he is only second to the King – the traditional ruler, but then if an Oba (King) passes on, the Eesa becomes the regent and that transitional period is a time when the royal families will bring someone who will have to be approved by the kingmakers to be installed as the new Oba. During this period, I will be the Oba, I have my own palace, I control to an extent all the chiefs and we deliberate on issues bordering on the community before we proceed to the King‘s palace for our meetings and so my position is very strong; the king can also send me out to represent him at

Display of drums and other accessories inside Obatala Centre for Creative Arts in Iragbiji occasions. Going back to drumming, in 1992, I composed and directed the music for Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King‘s Horseman in Manchester which ran for about six weeks, I have also written and adapted plays from other playwrights for example, Wale Ogunyemi’s The Mind, a story of two of our divinities fighting over a goddess, I turned it into a dance drama and I like the dance drama because it is more like what we call the Yoruba traditional theatre of mask – Egungun Oje, they are satirists, they mimic characters and I am highly inspired by this show, when I produce dance drama, I try to make it my own. In 1973/74, I had a travel grant by the educational cultural bureau of the state department in Washington DC which took me to almost 36 states and that afforded me the opportunity to conduct workshops either in music or in print making and it was quite a challenge because it was different from what is obtainable here, and I didn’t know I could have done that. Right now, I am working on an interactive DVD on Bata because I have written a lot of books on

Bata and I have developed a tonation for the readings, so I am trying to put that on a DVD to be published alongside the book so that no matter where you come from, you can listen, understand and start practicing, it is near completion. “In an ensemble, you need about three to four people to play with you, but most times I go alone and as at that time, I would use my instrument as a medium of story telling; Yoruba is a tonal language, you can manipulate the instrument to try and mimic the words of the people, which is language. Then I can talk about my religion because the drummers have a very important role to play during funeral ceremonies, for Orisa worshippers because of the versatility of the drum, it has almost taken over from Bata, and you cannot manipulate Bata like you can do to Gangan, although Bata is much stronger and older. So, I use my drums to tell stories of my race, the Yoruba people, the language, the religion, the social aspect of our land among others. It‘s not just drumming for the audience, because in

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014 ARTS 53

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Art File

BlackRealvolution movement excites 2Face ULTIPLE award winning M artiste, 2Face Idibia, popularly known for his exploits in

music has pitched his tent with the #Blackrealvolution movement. The talented artiste, who is regarded as one of Nigeria’s veritable musical exports, said the concept represents peace, love and unity, values which he has strongly promoted through his award winning songs. He said: “The #Blackrealvolution is about stirring up the spirit of consciousness and good tidings in Nigerians. The movement represents positivity, being our brother’s keeper and forming a united front against negative forces. I preach the message of

love, peace and unity through many of my songs. And I have also written songs advocating for better leadership.” The widely travelled music maestro said he’s a firm believer that Nigeria can compete with countries considered as being far developed if Nigeria’s vast potentials can be properly harnessed. The chart-topping artiste said: “I believe in perfection, I believe in excellence. #Blackrealvolution is about being innovative and distinctive in one’s endeavours. It is about being real.” He stated that the movement would be formally launched on Friday, March 28; asking that interested Nigerians should join the movement.

“I can assure Nigerians that the experience would be one which they won’t forget in a hurry. The memories of the #Blackrealvolution movement would linger in the memories of Nigerians for a long time to come.”

2 Face

Another spotlight on Fagunwa’s literary legacy Colloquium ARELY seven months after B the golden anniversary of the passage of the pioneer African writer, Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa in Akure, Ondo State, scholars, artists and family meembers will, on Tuesday, March 25, 2014, assembly in Ile-Ife, Osun State to engage literary accomplishments of the maverick novelist. Tagged special colloquium with the theme: The Achievement and Legacy of D. O. Fagunwa, the programme is being organized by the Institute of Cultural Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. Starting from 10:00 a.m at the Pit Theatre, African Studies Building, the one-day programme is conceived within the matrix of the Institute’s mandate to forge a synergy between “the town” and “the gown”. It will feature paper presentations by scholars drawn from various disciplines such as Education, Law, Religion, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Theatre, Language and Literature. As part of the colloquium, the Institute is collaborating with

Fagunwa the Department of Fine and Applied Arts to mount an Art Exhibition with especial focus on the African forests; the recurring setting in Fagunwa’s literary oeuvre. The title of the exhibition is Inside African Forests. Also, there will be performances and reading of excerpts from Adventures in the Forest of the Almighty, a play by Femi Osofisan, based on Fagunwa’s Igbo Olodumare. Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa (1903-1963), a Nigerian novelist who wrote in Yoruba language, pioneered a literary tradition. An educationist and a culture icon, Fagunwa authored five popular novels most of which had been translated into English, French and other languages. They

include: Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale, Igbo Olodumare, Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje, Ireke Onibudo and Adiitu Olodumare. These works, noted the director of the Institute of Cultural Studies, Prof. Gbemisola Adeoti, “are remarkable for their contributions to African literary development. They are also important for their didactic, religious, cultural and political ends. Today, over five decades after Fagunwa’s death, these works still resonate with freshness in the minds of readers and we can probe the modern society through the paradigms erected in the forests, mountains and rivers of his imagination.” The colloquium/art exhibition, he added, would examine from multi-disciplinary perspective, the life achievement and cultural legacy of the pioneer African writer. Papers presented during the colloquium will be published in a Special edition of IFE: Journal of the Institute of Cultural Studies. Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, a playwright/art collector will declare the exhibition open.

WTD 2014: NANTAP Lagos honours Mabogunje her contribution to the development of FterOR live theatre in Nigeria, the Lagos State chapof the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP) will honour poet, live theatre enthusiast and art patron, Mrs. Toki Mabogunje as the distinguished personality WTD 2014. It is part of a two-day programme of activities to mark the World Theatre Day. Other activities include advocacy walk, nurturing and tagging ceremony of the 1st Entertainment Trees; and series of performances, as well as launching of endowment funds for NANTAP community theatre project. Initiated by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) in Paris, France under UNESCO for the celebration of Theatre Arts and its relevance in positive global development, WTD as declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is celebrated on March 27 of every year. It is a period of celebrating the convergence of thespians across the globe. Announcing this in a statement, the Chairman of NANTAP, Lagos State chapter, Ms. Eki Faith Eboigbe said NANTAP over the years has been at the fore-front of the yearly celebration of WTD in collaboration with ITI and UNESCO. “Since 1990, NANTAP has joined the rest of the world in celebrating the World Theatre Day (WTD) which holds on March 27, every year. The celebration includes performances of all genres of theatre arts, recognition and awards to distinguished arts and culture ambassadors and a platform to project policy direction for the Nigerian art and culture sector. “In 2005, the association introduced the celebration of the event around personalities who

have distinguished themselves in the advancement of the Nigerian Project. Some of these personalities include the late Chief Segun Olusola; HRH Oba Abiodun Idowu Oniru, Oniru of Iruland; HRH Oba Sanya Dosunmu, Olowu of Owu; Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi; DG of Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Prof. Tunde Babawale.” According to her, in continuing with this tradition, the Lagos State chapter of NANTAP will be celebrating Mrs. Toki Mabogunje, adding that the theme for WTD 2014 is The Past, The Present, Our Future: The Renaissance of Nigerian Theatre in the 21st Century The celebration begins on Wednesday, March 26, with Advocacy walks from NTA Compound to the National Theatre in collaboration with sister associations. This will be followed the same day with nurturing and tagging ceremony of the 1st ‘Entertainment Trees’ planted by NANTAP Lagos, at the Mini garden of Queen Amina, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, at 11: 00am. The investiture of Mrs. Toki Mabogunje as the distinguished personality WTD 2014 is Thursday, March 27. Other highlights include award presentation ceremony to patrons of the Art, culture ambassadors and certified thespians; launch of endowment funds for NANTAP community theatre project, as well as lectures on the topics: Nigeria @ 100, How Theatre can help foster unity and a reorientation. Mrs Mabogunje is guest speaker, while the immediate past president of NANTAP, Mr. Greg Odutayo will give talk on NANTAP @ 25 – The Landmarks, Achievements and A New Direction. All events take place at Banquet Hall, National Theatre, Iganmu.

Yoruba shrine drums for rituals inside Obatala Centre

... For Muraina Oyelami, drumming flows in the vein CONTINUED FROM PAGE 52

the normal circumstance you don’t play for the audience to clap after each presentation, you are supposed to play and people have to dance, in some settings, I use the drum to demonstrate what I have to say and I have done that in Europe, Asia and the US.“ On the richness of Nigeria with diverse ethnic nationalities and their distinct cultural, musical and artistic heritage, Oyelami underscored the need to harness this resource for national development. ‘‘The wonderful thing about Nigeria, is that each of these groups has their peculiarities and in most cases certain similarities either in the rhythm or in the making of their drums or singing and that can be brought to one through dialogue. It is not just in Nigeria alone, if you know what is called fusion music; I have done some fusion music with some Karnataka – South Indian music instrumentalists before, and it worked perfectly, we never rehearsed it‘s just through dialogue even without knowing each other’s verbal language because of so many similarities in the rhythm and I am sure it is applicable to other cultures too.“ How did Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) come about this tallest drum in the world that was unveiled with a very big ceremony recently in

Osogbo? Prof. Wole Soyinka who is the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Centre organized the drum to be brought to Osogbo. It was really something that we love, because I have never seen a drum as tall as that. I think it came from Egun area in Lagos and that is going to serve like our symbol for the centre. Can you play it? Yes, but I have to climb a ladder; of course I can make good sound and rhythm on it. How did Iragbiji come about? Like in many Yoruba towns, there was an influx of different people from different towns during the inter tribal wars; the wars of the Jihadist, the Fulani wars- you will know this if you know the names of different compounds in the town like Ile Olofa which means those that migrated from the compound of Olofa. In Osogbo, we have different people from different towns but now all of us are Iragbiji people living together in harmony and peace. But the legend had it that the first settlers had their habitation under an IRA tree. The founder who was a great hunter during his hunting exploits climbed Ori-Oke (Hill) and sighted an animal, it ran into a big deep hole on the top of the hill. The hunter entered the big hole with the animal in order to kill it. He pursued the animal inside the hole until both of them came out

through another big opening in the front of the present Iragbiji Town Hall before the animal was eventually killed. This big hole, an historical monument, has been closed up with stone and cement at present. The hunter, who eventually settled under a shady tree called IRA and other settlers joined him. The legendary IRA tree under which he settled later metamorphosed into what is today known as IRAGBIJI, a settlement under a shady tree. IRA tree and which ‘IJI‘ (shade) had allowed many people to settle underneath. That is from IRA-GBA-IJI to IRAGBIJI. The highpoint of the visit was the tour of the Obatala Centre for Creative Arts adjacent to the living storey building apartment and the two guests attempted beating a particular drum, the emanating sound was quite danceable. They displayed excitment and the impression of the visit would certainly remain refreshing in their memory. HIEF Muraina Oyelami, Eesa of Iragbiji, is known as master of two distinct genres of artistic expression: Visual and Performing. He began his career in arts in 1964 as one of the original members and the first generation of the famous Osogbo Art School initiated by the late Professor Ulli Beier and his wife, Mrs Georgina Beier. He was also a founding member of the late Duro Ladipo Theatre Company

as an actor and musician. He toured with the group to Berlin Festival of Art (Berliner Festwochen) in 1964 and the first Commonwealth Arts Festival in Britain in 1965. He is Artist in Residence and Fellow of The national black Centre in harlem, new York in 1973. At the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Oyelami took a Technical Theatre course with specialisation in Theatre-Design where he also taught traditional music between 1975 and 1987. While on study leave from Ife, Oyelami was a guest Professor in African Studies at the University of Bayreuth’s IWALEWA-HAUS, Germany during the winter of 1981/82. Series of exhibitions have been held by Oyelami in different parts of the world. Among these are his 1967 solo exhibition at the School of African Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; 1974 solo exhibition at the Kreseg Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing; group exhibition at the 2005 Contemporaty Art in Nigeria and Ghana; 1975 group exhibition at the Cleveland Ohio African-American Cultural Centre, Cleveland State University; 1991 New Currents, Ancient Rivers: Contemporary African Artists in a Generation of Change; and the 2000 A Concrete Vision: Osogbo Art in the 1960 held at the National Musuem of African Art, Washington DC.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Community File

Members, Orile Iganmu Progressive Association

Kinabuti Fashion Initiative (KFI), Thea Kuta empower Orile youths with vocational skills INABUTI FASHION INITIATIVE (KFI) in partnership with Thea Kuta recently organised a four-week course in which 14 youths â&#x20AC;&#x201D; male and female â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from Orile Igamu community in Lagos were trained on various skills, including silkscreen production and design. The training programme, which was sponsored by Pulse, Lebanese Lady Society, Oando, Aero Contractors and Egyptair served as a platform for the fashion house, which before now had focused on empowering young girls and women only, to expand its scope and reach out to the male folks. As part of the four-week course, a training workshop was also held in collaboration with the Orile Iganmu Progressive Association. Aimed at activating various talents, the training focused on silkscreen production using simple,

affordable, locally sourced materials. It is a practical example of how art and passion can be used to inspire and empower people to contribute positively to their communities. The workshop, which culminated with a graduation ceremony held on March 15 had in attendance the European Union Trade Counsellor, Mr Massimo De Luca and Managing Director, Kaymu, Mr. Massimiliano Sparazzi, who offered to train the graduates on online distribution and marketing to give them access to larger market and more profit. Thea Kuta is a brand of contemporary and experimental art that applies to interior designs and printing techniques. It has over time collaborated with different designers internationally, the last being Missoni Home

Graduating students, Thea Kuta and Orile Iganmu Progessive Association team

A student at work

Massimo De Luca is the Trade Counsellor of the European Union (EU) delegation to Nigeria presenting certificates

Participants at the workshop

Thea Kuta with Kinabuti Team

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 NEWSXTRA

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Fresh Democratic Party to sue INEC over violation of court order By Wole Oyebade OR alleged disobedience of Fregistration, court order against its deFresh Democratic Party yesterday threatened fresh litigation against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The threat is in protest of persistent refusal of INEC to reregister and recognise Fresh Democratic Party in election materials being prepared for the coming elections. The aggrieved party told reporters in Lagos yesterday that the action was a disrespect to the Federal High Court, “defiance to the rule of law and constitutionalism.” Following INEC’s de-registration of some parties in December 2012, Fresh Party had challenged the legality of the action, which got a favourable ruling from Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in July 2013. National Legal Adviser to the party, Kola Dopamu, noted that though INEC filed an

appeal against the ruling after five months, the judgment, however, stands, restoring hope in democratic system in the country. He said: “One would have expected that INEC being a democratic institution would give effect to the judgment and allow Fresh Democratic Party to participate. Alas! This was not to be. “INEC has refused to give recognition to our party in sharp contrast to the judgment of a competent court and the constitution that they all profess to uphold,” he said. Continuing, he said: “We think what should be targeted is a concept of organic and not just mechanic democracy that preserves the rule of law, separation of powers that is participatory and pluralistic. The reprehensible and egregious disobedience of a lawful order of a honourable court is an affront to the rule of law.” He further said that members of the party were disappointed by their non-recognition in the recent Anambra

State election, but would not be laid-back to watch continuous contempt of court proceeding, as Ekiti and Osun states elections draws near. A Lagos lawyer who represented the party in court, Fred Agbaje, said Fresh Democratic Party would be returning to court to get injunction against Ekiti, Osun and the 2015 general election, until Fresh Party is recognised. Agbaje said what was challenged in court was the “innocuous provision” in Section 78 of Electoral Act 2010/11 that purportedly gave INEC the power to de-register any party. He said, following the ruling, which upturned the provision, all related parties accepted the judgment except INEC. According to him, “Experience has taught me that when you expect Federal Government parastatals to behave reasonably, they often don’t. We could have challenged this during the Anambra election, but for our policy of pacifism.”

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Sports Danagogo heads Lagos National Stadium concession committee From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja INISTER of M Sports/Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Tamuno Danagogo, yesterday implored members of the concession committee of the National Stadium in Lagos and the Athletes Hostel in Abuja to ensure that they meet the Presidency’s objectives in the concession of the two sports facilities by ensuring that only credible firms are allowed to manage the two facilities. The concession committee is divided into two groups, with the minister heading the Project Steering Committee (PSC), while the Director General of the NSC, Gbenga Elegbeleye, will head the Project Delivery Committee. The committee also has, as members representatives of the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Lagos State Land Bureau and the Lagos State government, among others. Earlier, Elegbeleye had revealed that the concession of the National Stadium, Lagos and the Athletes Hostel in Abuja was predicated on the difficulty, which aroused from maintaining the facilities after the introduction of Envelop Budgeting, which pegged the capital expenditure of the commission to an average of N1 billion a year for all the six stadia and other sports facilities.

Elegbeleye noted that previous efforts by the NSC to either privatise or concession the facilities could not yield any dividend until January this year when President Goodluck Jonathan finally gave the nod to the NSC to concession the stadium. The Lagos National Stadium was constructed in 1972 for the hosting of the Second All Africa Games in 1973. The stadium has since hosted major world, continental and national events, including the FIFA Junior World Championship in 1999. In the case of the Athletes Hostel, Elegbeleye said that approval had earlier been secured to convert the facility from hostel to a four star hotel, but work was however put on hold on the facility due to paucity of funds. “The construction work of the hostel project commenced in 2005 with a 200room accommodation capacity, currently, work at the hostel has reached a 65 per cent completion level. “As for the National Stadium in Lagos, all of you will believe that the way it is, is not how a national stadium should be. We have to do something about that because the stadium situation must change, and that is why we are doing this inauguration today. The NSC obtained the President’s approval to concession the athletes hostel which was nearing completion in July 2013,” Elegbeleye noted.

Diaby eyes Brazil 2014 World Cup NJURY-PLAGUED Abou Ihope Diaby has not given up of playing for France at this summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil. And this despite the Arsenal midfielder having not played a match for more than a year, since he suffered knee ligament damage in March 2013. The 27-year-old has experienced a succession of setbacks during his career, most notably a serious broken ankle in a tackle with Sunderland’s Dan Smith in

May 2006. Yet Diaby still feels he can force his way into the France squad this year, saying: “I will take stock with Arsenal medical staff early in April but I hope to resume collective training sessions very soon. “My priority is playing again before the end of the season. “I don’t think I will be scared to play. I trust my body. Nowadays I feel strong but I know coming back to London I will also have some changes.

RCCG Region 13 sports fiesta organisers unveil programme RGANISERS of the maiden O Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Region

Dele Alampasu (rights) catches the ball despite Noah Sonko of Sweden’s challenge during the teams’ semifinal game at the UAE 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Alampasu is among the 20 Golden Eaglets invited for the Flying Eagles’ preparation for the AYC qualifiers.

Ahead 2015 African Youth Championship qualifiers

Garba invites Alampasu, 19 other UAE stars to Flying Eagles camp Eagles Coach, Manu F20LYING Garba, yesterday invited former Golden Eaglets players to camp ahead of the 2015 African Youth Championship qualifiers in Senegal. Thirty-five players, who were selected after an intensive two-week open screening at the FIFA Technical Centre in Abuja, are already in camp. The team’s Media Officer, Samm Audu, said in a statement that the 20 players would join the 35.

Alampasu and Abdulazeez Abubakar (goalkeepers), Wilfred Ndidi, Izu Omego, and Dennis Nya (defenders), Clement Ogbobe, Akinjide Idowu, Aliyu Abubakar, Abdullahi Alfa, Ifeanyi Matthew, Zaraddeen Bello, Emmanuel Asadu, Prince Bonkat, Mustapha Abdullahi and Chigozie Obasi (midfielders). The statement listed the strikers as Saviour Godwin, Nafiu Kabuga, Ahmed Umar, Bernard Bulbwa, and Chinedu Enedemu.

Seek redress the right way, LMC tells Giwa, Nembe City From Ezeocha Nzeh, Abuja HE League Management T Company (LMC) yesterday urged the management of

Abou Diaby

The statement said the players were expected to resume camp today for the second phase of the training camp, which opened on Monday. “The Flying Eagles have been training for a third week ahead of 2015 African Youth Championship qualifier against Kenya or Tanzania in May. “Kenya and Tanzania will do battle next month for the right to face six-time African Youth Champions Nigeria in May,” it said. The invited players are Dele

13 Mini-Regional Sports Fiesta say preparations for the event has reached an advanced stage. The fiesta, the first of its kind regional sports fiesta in the RCCG family nationwide and beyond, will hold from April 26 through April 30, 2014 across four centres in Edo and Delta states. It is tagged “Overflowing Sports for Life 2014” and will feature seven events namely chess, boxing, football, scrabble, table tennis, track and field, as well as wrestling. The Regional Sports coordinator, Pastor Felix Afe Johnson, told journalists in Benin City that the level of preparation done so far by the various committees has reached 80 per cent completion in ensuring the success of the competition. Pastor Johnson, who also is the Assistant Pastor in charge of Province 2 Administration (PICP), Edo State, hinted that all the 15 provinces in the Region comprising Edo and Delta states will partake in the five-day event at all the four venues. He added: “Since the aim of the sports fiesta in the ministry is evangelism, we want to draw everybody, especially the youths to Christ. “Also, to bring in the spirit of unity among all the 15 provinces under the region, the venues acquired for hosting this fiesta are situated in Benin City and Warri respectively. “In Benin, we are using Paragon Group of Schools, Etete G.R.A, and Police Training School Sports Ground, Ogida, while the Delta axis will hold at DSC Primary School, DSC Township, Orhiuwhrun, and College of Education, Edjeba Warri.” According to Pastor Johnson, “the chess, scrabble and table tennis will hold at the indoor hall of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, while the boxing event is slated for the National Sports Commission (NSC) gymnasium, Etete.

aggrieved Nembe City and Giwa FC of Yenegoa and Jos respectively to seek redress from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) if they feel dissatisfied by their expulsion from the ongoing 2013/2014 edition of the Glo Premier League. The LMC said both clubs have been duly communicated on the areas they failed to meet up on the registration requirements, adding that it was unfortunate they could not comply with the requirements after being part of the

• ‘No court order stopping league’ larger LMC and Club Owners meeting in Abuja where all the 20 clubs accepted the FIFA/CAF regulations. LMC Chief Executive Officer, Salihu Abubakar, told journalists at the NFF secretariat yesterday in Abuja that the league body has not completely expelled the two clubs from the league, stressing that what it did was only to stop them from being in the on-going league because they could not meet certain registration formalities as demanded by the league organizers. On the Jos High court order stopping the league, which

was allegedly pasted through a bailiff at the Maitama office of the LMC yesterday, Abubakar, who insisted that he was not aware of any court order, noted however that the LMC will obey such order if it eventually comes because they are law abiding citizens. “Personally I am not aware of any court injunction stopping the league; I have not been there today, the situation can change but for now I am not aware of anything like that. If the court stops the league, we may abide by it, but it will depend on the circumstances… what are the prayers granted by the court?

“I can only talk about Nembe City for now… for Giwa, the matter is in the court and we are warned not to talk on it. For Nembe, they know what to do to return to the league, the licensing regulations allows them to come to the NFF and seek redress if they feel they are not satisfied with decision of the LMC. “We cannot open the specific areas they failed to satisfy because they are not meant for the public since they are legal matters… so they know that they have a second court where they can go. I do not know if they had explored that opportunity. I am just coming from the NFF right now, and I know they have not.”

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Cricketweekly Indian Premier League Pietersen to lead Daredevils, Karthik named deputy EVIN Pietersen will capK tain Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League this season, while Dinesh Karthik has been named vice-captain. The pair were the most expensive purchases for Daredevils at the IPL auction last month. Pietersen was bought for Rs 9 crores ($1.5 million) in the auction in February, after the franchise used its Right to Match card. Karthik was purchased by Daredevils for Rs 12.5 crores ($2.08 million). The season will be Pietersen’s second stint as captain of an IPL franchise the England batsman had captained Royal Challengers Bangalore for a brief period in 2009. Pietersen, who transferred to Delhi Daredevils from the defunct Deccan Chargers in 2012, has scored 305 runs in eight matches for the franchise. Overall, Pietersen has 634 runs in 21 IPL games at 42.26. He missed the last season due to injury, but was seen promoting the franchise during the tournament. Pietersen was one of the marquee players at the auction, after Daredevils decided not to retain any players, and was expected to attract interest in spite of the abrupt end to his international career earlier in February. In 92 matches across six seasons, Karthik - who was part of the Daredevils’ squad for the first three seasons of the IPL before moving to Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians - has scored 1741 runs and was one of the leading run-getters for Mumbai in their title win last year. Gary Kirsten, who was appointed the Daredevils coach in September last year, said the two players would have a positive impact on the team. He said: “I am looking forward to working with Kevin Pietersen as the captain of the Delhi Daredevils,” Kirsten said. “It will be great to have him with us for the full duration of IPL and I have no doubt that he will have a positive and significant impact.

Tendai Chatara’s gave away only 20 runs from his four overs against Ireland, and he will be crucial to Zimbabwe’s hopes of booking a place in the main draw.

World Twenty20

Plucky Zimbabwe goes for broke against Netherlands player unhappy over nonselection, a public war of A words, an investigation, a team’s management scrambling to save face, a clearance, and a group of men responding on the field with a thumping victory to show none of the behind-the-scenes issues are affecting them too much. Sounds a lot like Zimbabwe, doesn’t it? But it’s not. This was how Netherlands began their World T20 outing. By comparison, Zimbabwe’s first few days at the event have been calm. Brendan Taylor’s men shook off months of inactivity by featuring in the match of the qualifiers so far. Their opener against Ireland went down to the last ball but they ended up on the wrong end of the

result. It’s last-gasp time for Brendan Taylor and Co. Having recognised the importance of qualifying for the main draw and slipping up early, they have to win their next two matches and hope someone else (Ireland) stumbles along the way. Their fate may already be out of their hands, but Zimbabwe have a reputation to protect and, after the hurt of Monday, can be expected to be fierce in their attempts to do so. Netherlands have already showed the fight of a wounded group. After losing their ODI status earlier this year and with the backroom drama, they turned in a clinical performance against the UAE to demonstrate the threat they

could pose at this event. Victory over Zimbabwe will set up a showdown with Ireland, if they beat the UAE. Netherlands will want nothing less than to take it down to the final match of the group and to give themselves every chance of playing in the main draw. Form guide In Tendai Chatara, a player, who does not have Tinashe Panyangara’s obvious neversay-die attitude or his toecrunching yorker but has determination of his own, which serves Zimbabwe just as well. Chatara is miserly and gave away only 20 runs in the four overs he bowled against Ireland. He has also perfected

the slower ball and can change his pace to suit conditions and fox batsmen. Stephan Myburgh will feel right at home playing against Zimbabwe, because they used to be his neighbours. Myburgh was born in Pretoria and played some of his cricket for Northerns before moving

to Netherlands. Myburgh has already made his presence felt in the tournament, with the only half century for his team so far, and will want to make an even bigger impact against the team South Africans think of as their little brothers. •Stories culled from espncricinfo.com

Afghanistan v Hong Kong, World T20, Group A, Chittagong

‘Dropped catches cost us,’ Burke confesses ONG Kong coach, Charlie Burke, summed up Afghanistan’s outlook perfectly: “They remained calm. They showed how good a side they are.” So composed was the 154run chase that even the frivolity of Mohammad Shahzad was well controlled as Afghanistan finally registered their first World T20 win in their third appearance in the competition.

The soft-spoken Afghanistan captain, Mohammad Nabi, praised Shahzad, having been disappointed by the chaotic opener for falling off the first ball in the Bangladesh game. “The main role of Shahzad is to play for the first 6-8 overs,” Nabi said. “He’s that kind of batsman, a strokeplayer and he got a score on the board.” The seven-wicket win came

mostly on the back of Shahzad’s bat, as he made his fifth Twenty20 international fifty and emerged from a rut of low scores. Although Shahzad has tried to go after the bowlers from very early, here he had to save his aggressive streak for later in the innings. He did hit five boundaries within the Powerplay overs, and although they were the

usual forcing shots down the ground and through the covers, he was batting on a respectably steady 24 off 19 balls. He slowed down further and was on 29 off 30 balls in the tenth over. Afghanistan too looked a little off the pace at that stage. Shahzad immediately blasted Nizakhat Khan for two sixes in the tenth over itself, and just after reaching his fifty treated the half-filled Chittagong crowd to a helicopter shot over midwicket.

Aizaz Khan dropped this sitter when Mohammad Shahzad was on 25. He went on to score a match-winning 68 for Afghanistan. PHOTOS: ICC.

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SPORT Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Zenith Bank splashes N90m on women basketball league By Adeyinka Adedipe EN years into the sponsorT ship of the Women League, Zenith Bank has increased its

First Deepwater’s Nkechi Akashili is one of the stars expected to shine during the 2013/2014 Zenith Bank Women Basketball League.

sponsorship fee for the competition to N90 million over the next three seasons. The 2013/2014 season begins on March 21 at the sports hall of the National Stadium, Abuja. The sponsors have made N25 million available for this season, while 2014/2015 season would gulp N30 million, just as the 2015/2016 edition would gulp N35 million. Speaking during a press briefing to unveil the new season, representative of Zenith Bank, Marcel Okeke, who is the AGM, Head, Research and Economic Intelligence, said the sponsorship of the league was in line with the bank’s desire to help develop the youth in the country. Okeke said it was the bank’s policy to support programmes that impacted on the youth, who would become future leaders. He noted that the Zenith Bank League would help discover players who would represent the country at future interna-

Tunisians arrive in Warri for CAF Confederations Cup ticket By Gowon Akpodonor LAYERS and officials of P Warri Wolves have promised to disarm the visiting Athletique Bizertin FC of Tunisia in this weekend’s CAF Confederation Cup encounter at the Warri City Stadium. A large contingent of 42 persons from Tunisia is expected to arrive Lagos tomorrow morning and will be airlifted to Warri immediately through an Arik Airline

•We are battle ready, says Warri Wolves flight. The delegation is made up of 20 players, three medical officials, five technical crew members, nine executive officials and five journalists from the Tunisia national television station. Mr. Naffeti Zied will lead the delegation. It is the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup between Wolves and Athletique Bizertin FC. It will hold on

Toyin Okenla-Ojeaga Table Tennis championship begins Monday By Adeyinka Adedipe N fulfillment of her promise, Toyin Okenla-Ojeaga will bankroll this year’s edition of the Toyin OkenlaOjeaga Under I7 Table tennis Championship, which has also become a national event. The competition, which begins on Monday, will see four players (two male and female) from each state participating in the team and singles events and they would get free accommodation and feeding. Okenla-Ojeaga stated that sponsoring the championship was her way of giving back to the society, while making the championship a national event would give kids from other states the opportunity to vie for honours at the event. “I am delighted to sponsor this event nationally because it is a way of ensuring even development of the sport at the grassroots. I am a passionate advocate of youth empowerment through education and sports. I believe that education and sports

are fundamental to development. These duo fortify people and help in achieving desired goals in life. “Grassroots sports development is essential for our youths in order to have a bright and rewarding future. This is why we have come up with this initiative. Having a good education will complement the inherent skills and talents in our youths. This in turn will elevate the economic and social status of these players in their respective communities and will further contribute to the growth of sports in the country,” she added President of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Enitan Oshodi commended the sponsor for bankrolling the event and called on others who have the wherewithal to support the sport. Oshodi, who is also the Lagos State Commissioner for Sports, noted that the importance of making the competition a national event is to encourage other kids and states.

Sunday. Coach of Warri Wolves, Paul Aigbogun, told The Guardian yesterday that his team would ensure the Tunisians fell heavily on Sunday so that the return leg in Tunisia would be a mere formality. “We have to double our efforts to see that we get a favourable result in this is first leg, so we need to score goals,” Aigbogun said. “The Tunisian side is very good and they are currently doing well in their league, but we are going to do our best to ensure they are well beaten here on Sunday,” he said. Coach Aigbogun is having his second stint with Warri Wolves. According to Wolves Media Officer, Moses Etu, the Tunisian team is expected to arrive Warri by 8.15am on Thursday. In the squad of 20 players is Bejaoui Hassen,

born in February 1974, as the oldest, while Kchok Slimane, born in July 1994, is the youngest. Other players that will make the trip to Warri include Bargaoui Chaker, Ben Hadj Mabrouk, Ben Mustapha Farouk, Brik Marouen, Melliti Khaled, Jaziri Fakherddine, Rjaibi Edem, Salhi Yassine, Youssoupha Mbengue, Zaeim Kamel and Khadheri Mohahamed Arbi. Also in the squad are Hmdani Khaled, Mossaab Sassi, Darragi Zoubaier, Mathlouthi Hamza, Harbaoui Hassen, Machani Ali and Hadhria Nour. Warri Wolves scaled through the first hurdle in the CAF Confederations Cup competition by scoring a 4-3 goals aggregate victory over Union Douala of Cameroun. The Nigerians won the first leg away and was forced to a 1-1 draw at home two weeks ago.

tional events, adding: “The increase in sponsorship fee over the next three seasons shows our commitment towards the development of the players and our belief in the leadership of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).” Responding, President of the NBBF, Tijani Umar commended Zenith Bank for keeping faith with the federation and promised that everything would be done to ensure the development of the league. He said that the NBBF would ensure that the increased sponsorship fee would benefit the teams who are the major players in the game. He also expressed delight that all

the teams would be available for the league and charged them to give their best throughout the season. “I must also commend Zenith Bank for increasing the sponsorship fee, which shows that they believe in what we are doing at the NBBF. We will repay the confidence they have in us by organising a hitch-free event,” Umar stated. The NBBF president said that the plan is to introduce a home and away format for the women league, while calling on the teams to source for additional funding to compliment what they get from the federation.

Glo Premier League LMC assures on maximum security in northern stadia By Alex Monye HE League T Management Company (LMC) has re-iterated its commitment to the security of players, officials and fans at Glo Premier League stadia in the northern part of the country despite the security challenges in that region. A member of the LMC, Mike Idoko, told The Guardian yesterday that adequate security in league venues was a vital ingredient needed to bring out the best in players during league matches and also foster the development of the Nigeria league. As part of measures to give clubs the assurance that security of players and officials is important, Idoko said that the LMC has selected the venues that do not pose security challenges for teams, saying that all hands are on deck to eradicate any form of violence in league venues.

‘’As a member of the LMC and club owner, I don’t think I have much to say on security in league venues. But from my own standpoint, I think the LMC is on course in providing security for players and officials in the Nigeria Premier League. “The game between El Kanemi and Abia Warriors that was meant to take place in Maiduguri was taken to Kano because of the security challenges in that region. “My team played an away game in Kano and I must confess that the security was very excellent. Although there is nowhere in the country that is 100 per cent secured, God is the highest being we can look up to in terms of security. “By rescheduling the El Kanemi and Abia Warriors league tie to Kano, LMC has proved that the body is ready to protect the lives of players and officials in the NPL,’’ he said.

Excited Heineken ‘Match Your Half Ticket’ winners recount Allianz Arena experience was indeed a dream come IofTtrue for all the five winners the Heineken ‘Match Your Half Ticket’ promotion as they were counted among the 69, 901 fans at the Allanz Arena, Munich, Germany for the Bayern Munich and FC Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League second round match

Ejike Emmanuel, Onwumere Chimezie, Oguama Nonso, Ajadi Olawale, David Onimisi and the Brand Manager, Heineken, Murtala Yusuf, inside the Allianz Arena, Munich, during the Bayern Munich versus Arsenal UEFA Champions League match… last week.

played last week. All the five lucky consumers had enjoyed full expense paid trip to watch the match, courtesy of the International premium lager beer, Heineken. They all chorused last week on their return to the country that the memorable trip will for a long time linger in their minds. “I am delighted to be part of this historic visit to one of the best football stadiums in the world, but more importantly, I watched Arsenal FC, my darling team, live at a major football tournament courtesy of Heineken. “Moments after the match got underway, my initial thoughts were that I was watching moving statues of Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla , Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, coach Arsene Wenger and many more notable star players that were on the team list for the night,” Ejike Emmanuel recalled. Olawale Ajadi, a staunch FC Barcelona fan, said he was overwhelmed by the activities of the partisan supporters of the teams and thinks Nigerian football fans should emulate whenever they are in the stadium to support their teams.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014 63

TheGuardian

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Conscience, Nurtured by Truth

By Chiemezie Okeke-Ojiudu OREIGN policy is vital to any nation’s growth and economic progress. Alliances and bonds are built, economies are strengthened, trade is unhindered, investments are protected, movement is unrestricted and security is guaranteed. It is a policy, if executed properly, ensures that the citizens of any nation are accorded due respect wherever they go, be it within the continent or across the Atlantic. The most powerful and influential nations take strong steps in safeguarding their national interests and pride. This is achieved via international commercial agreements with foreign nations to protect businesses abroad, import/export controls, commodity purchase & sale agreements, protection of citizens abroad, expatriation, military intervention, and the list goes on. Nigeria is commonly referred to as the “Giant of Africa”, the ever present big brother who watches over the African continent providing aid, resources and support to various African nations, inter-governmental organisations and economic institutions whenever and wherever the need arises. Ever since its independence in 1960, Nigeria has played its part as a true brother’s keeper, supporting the oppressed and defending the rights of African citizens throughout the continent. Surely acts of this nature should warrant accolades of praise and admiration, not to mention respect and influence within the continent. So why does Nigeria still lack the recognition it deserves from its neighbours and alleged friends? The answer to this question lies in the nation’s foreign policy objectives. Nigeria’s foreign policy over the years has been quite epileptic to say the least. This is largely due to the myriad of military coups and constant shifts in power and leadership, coupled with the ever present and seemingly unquenchable issue of corruption. Over the years, Nigeria’s support for various African nations, the A.U. (African Union), and the fight against apartheid, has largely gone un-noticed by the international community, despite how much we as a nation have contributed both financially and militarily to the African cause. Issues such as the deportation of lawful Nigerian citizen’s, lack of support in various intergovernmental organisations, and a total disregard on the international scene are but a few of the issues we face as a nation. For Nigeria to forge ahead, it must be willing to take a hard stance in protecting its interests and those of its citizens abroad. The foreign policy of Good Samaritan must be replaced with that of reciprocity. We must give, but at the same time be resolute in making sure all nations that receive our support and friendship behave themselves and do the same for Nigeria when the need arises. Secondly, we need to clean up our image as a nation both at home and abroad. Nigeria has for years battled with a serious image setback and is in dire need of a makeover. In order for Nigeria to succeed, various vices must be tackled from the bottom up and corruption stands at the very top of the ladder. Corruption must be pushed out once and for all if ever we are to be viewed in a better light by those we seek to lead. In the words of John C. Maxwell - A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. We must lead by example, while showing virtues worth emulating as a nation. Also, Nigerian citizens need to be made aware of the various consequences and penalties involved with committing crimes abroad. A large part of Nigeria’s bad rep is caused by its citizens in Diaspora. When Nigerian citizens commit crimes

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Foreign policy and its effect on Nigeria

Foreign Affairs Minister, Aminu Wali abroad, it not only reflects badly on them, but on the country as a whole. Nigeria needs to be persistent in the repatriation of known criminals’ for prosecution at home. The citizens must know their coun-

try is with them, but at the same time they must also know that their country will come after them if they break the law both at home and abroad. In Africa, Nigeria’s position as the conti-

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Nigeria cannot be an active participant in the continent let alone the international community if it still has issues to be addressed and settled internally. Thus its foreign policy must be backed by a strong and vibrant economy. With the growing unemployment rate, unrepentant corruption level, terrorism, dilapidated infrastructures, illiteracy and healthcare deficiency, Nigeria is in no position to dictate to the rest of Africa let alone West Africa what should and should not be. It is only after we cure ourselves of the various maladies plaguing our nation will we be in a better position to lead the African continent nents economic leader is rivaled only by that of South Africa, who for years has been the dominant force as well as the largest economy on the continent. Economically, however, this is about to change. Nigeria has recently decided to recalibrate is highly underestimated economic data and should conclude the process sometime this year. The rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP will expand the size of the economy thus displacing South Africa as Africa’s largest economy. The purpose of rebasing is to change the base year for calculating output from 1990 to 2008 to reflect sectors of the economy that have grown considerably in importance over the years e.g. IT and telecommunications. However, an enlarged GDP will not have much of an impact or improve life for millions of Nigerian citizens who still live on less than a dollar a day. Although Nigeria’s soon to be position as Africa’s largest economy might look good on paper, the reality however, paints a very different picture. Rebasing the GDP only enhances Nigeria’s investment appeal and status, but does nothing to change the lives of the millions who are unemployed or below the poverty line, and although displaced, South Africa will still have a much higher GDP per capita than Nigeria, at about $8,000 to Nigeria’s $2,000. The main solution to Nigeria’s foreign policy debacle, however, lies with its economic plan. No nation can ever achieve global recognition and prominence without first sorting out its economic and security issues at home. Nigeria cannot be an active participant in the continent let alone the international community if it still has issues to be addressed and settled internally. Thus its foreign policy must be backed by a strong and vibrant economy. With the growing unemployment rate, unrepentant corruption level, terrorism, dilapidated infrastructures, illiteracy and healthcare deficiency, Nigeria is in no position to dictate to the rest of Africa let alone West Africa what should and should not be. It is only after we cure ourselves of the various maladies plaguing our nation will we be in a better position to lead the African continent. In other words, Nigeria’s domestic policy must take priority over its foreign policy. The strengthening of economic and moral standards is crucial for every nation desirous of leading, and Nigeria is definitely not an exception. • Okeke-Ojiudu wrote from VI, Lagos.