August 24, 2015

Newspaper of the Year

Kwara justifies N5b bailout bid NEWS – Page 11

•Plan for local govt workers

News Hawkers dislodged in Oshodi P51 Sports Bolt erases Carl Lewis’ record P62 Business China, U.S to invest $14b in NIPP P25

•Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

VOL. 10, NO. 3316 MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

•www.thenationonlineng.net

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

N167b loan for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

UN to back Nigeria •Ban Ki-Moon meets Buhari today From Vincent Ikuomola,

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor,

Abuja

Northern Operation, Abuja

IGERIA got yesterday a promise from the United Nations (UN) – it will back her efforts to develop.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon spoke of the global body’s stand on Nigeria in Abuja

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B

ARELY two years after the opening of the reconstruction of the LagosIbadan Expressway, the contract is stuck – no thanks to the inability of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to fund the project.

Besides, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has faulted the re-concession of the road to Julius Berger

•Ban Ki-Moon acknowledging cheers on his arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja ... yesterday.

Continued on page 4

PHOTO: NAN

Continued on page 4

•INSIDE: ONDO MONARCH’S IN-LAW ABDUCTED P7 YORUBA IN CUBA MOURN OONI P7

•President Buhari (second right), at the ceremony ... yesterday. With him are (from left): President, Supreme Court of Kenya, Justice Willy Mutunga; Justice Mohammed; Prof. Osinbajo and Alegeh.

PHOTO: NAN

Buhari to lawyers: join fight against crooks

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WILL THE CHIBOK GIRLS EVER RETURN?

President pledges judicial reform as NBA conference begins From Eric Ikhilae and Augustine Ehikioya Abuja

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RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday urged lawyers to back his admistration’s fight against corruption and impunity.

The President, who acknowledged the lawyers’ professional responsibil-

Nigeria needs ethical lawyers who ... will ‘never sacrifice the integrity of the legal system to cover the misdeeds of their clients, no matter how lucrative the brief may be ’

ity of defending their clients, urged them to do so without compromising their professional ethics and the in-

tegrity of the legal system – no matter how lucrative the brief may be.

President Buhari spoke in Abuja

last night at the opening of the 55th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

The cream of the legal profession, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) and Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed, were at the ceremony.

Continued on page 4

•SPORTS P15 •JOBS P35 •CEO P37 •MOTORING P39 •POLITICS P40 •FOREIGN P55

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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NEWS

Private sector grumbles as CBN defends its policies •From left: Mr. Abimbola Williams, scholar Prof Adebayo Williams, his wife, Bolanle; Chief Bisi Akande; Gen Alani Akinrinade and Chief Femi Akinrinade (behind Gen Akinrinade) at the final outing/thanksgiving service for the late Chief Johnson Bolarinwa Williams and Mama Maria Oyedunmade Williams at Gbogan in Osun State...at the weekend.

PHOTO: SOLOMON ADEOLA

Of all the policies churned out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently, none has affected the manufacturing sector as the FOREX policy, which has banned the importation of some 41 items. There was also the directive to commercial banks to publish their debtors’ lists in at least three national newspapers. The Organised Private Sector (OPS) has been unrelenting in its criticism of the apex banks’ policies, which its members argue, are antithetical to the growth of the economy. But the CBN insists its policies are meant to stregthen the economy, writes OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE.

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•From left: Senior Investment Portfolio Manager, Islamic Development Bank, Hamady Ba; President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Andrew Alli; Executive Director/General Counsel, AFC, Dr. Adesegun Akin-Olugbade and Senior Legal Counsel, Islamic Development Bank, Mouhamadou Madana Kane.

UMBLING oil prices and the biting effects on the local economy have forced a chain of reactions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The apex bank argues that crashing crude oil prices at the global market has made it imperative for it to continuously adjust its fiscal and monetary policies.

One of such policies is the publication of the names of delinquent debtors by Deposit Money Banks (DMB) in at least three national newspapers.

Before the publication began on August 1, the apex bank had given the ‘bad debtors’ a three-month grace to repay their loans.

The public embarrassment caused by the publication of the companies’ names and the disclosure of their directors will not be a one-off thing, according to the CBN directive. It will henceforth be quarterly.

Besides, the erring companies and their owners are to be barred from participating in the Foreign Exchange (FOREX) market.

According to the CBN, the adverse consequences of non-performing loans for the stability of the financial system, the risk to depositors’ funds and the sustainability of the banks, informed the drastic actions.

Toxic loans stand at N400 billion.

But, the CBN intervention has elicited mixed reactions from members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and manufacturers, who have expressed concern on the possible fallout of the plethora of the policies, if implemented to the letter.

The OPS fear •From left:Chairman, Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko; Chairman, Caverton Helicopters, Chief Remi Makanjuola; outgoing President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Donald Kaberuka; Group Managing Director (GMD), First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings Plc, Alhaji Bello Maccido and GMD, FBN Plc., Mr. Bisi Onasanya, at a business dinner at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos...yesterday.

PHOTO; SOLOMON ADEOLA

•From Left: Director, Cargo, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Dr. Ofulue Uchenna; Miss Sa'ada Dunoma; Managing Director, FAAN, Saleh Dunoma; Mrs. Maru Dunoma; Director, Human Resources, FAAN, Hajia Salamatu Umar-Eluma; Director, Maintenance & Engineering, Olufemi Ogunode and General Manager, Planning, Miss Nse Ikkideh at the National Produtivity Order of Merit Award at Nicon Hotel in Abuja

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) urged the CBN to avoid sweeping generalisation without putting the loan defaulters into perspectives. The chamber said several factors must be considered before appropriating sanctions against defaulters.

LCCI Director-General Muda Yusuf said: “The LCCI recognises two broad categories of debtors. There are defaults that have arisen as a result of genuine business failure, some of which are irreversible and this has affected the capacity to repay. There are also defaults that have arisen as a consequence of deliberate intent not to repay.

“The latter bothers on the character and quality of the debtors. The Know Your Customer (KYC) policy of the DMB is meant to address this. It is important to distinguish between these two categories of debtors in order to guide the choice of debt recovery strategy to be applied.”

According to the LCCI chief, the shocks and dislocations triggered by the depreciation of the naira against the dollar have not helped matters for local businesses.

“Those who import raw materials are the worst hit because of their exposure to high exchange rate”, he said.

He also noted that investors in the upstream oil and gas sector have been victims of the collapse of oil prices.

Yusuf said investors in the power sector had been grappling with gas availability, energy theft, billing issues, quality of assets and legacy debts.

He said the indiscriminate import duty waivers granted by government also put many local businesses at competitive disadvantage, thus making it difficult for those who borrowed money to meet their repayment schedules.

Yusuf described as a miscarriage of justice the listing of those whose products have been affected by smuggling, counterfeiting and importation of fake and substandard goods as delinquent debtors.

According to him, the agency saddled with the responsibilities of preventing illegal importation into the local market should be appropriately sanctioned.

The LCCI chief also cited fiscal policy “somersaults”, especially in the area of import tariffs, import prohibitions, import duty waivers, policy reversals on incentives as some of the reasons the OPS kicked against the sweeping generalisation.

Yusuf, who put the indebtedness of the three tiers of government to contractors at aover N1 trillion, argued that the huge debt portfolio of companies may have been caused failure of government to pay contractors, thereby limiting their capacity to repay borrowed funds.

He listed prohibitive interest rates and charges by banks; security issues in some parts of the country that forced many businesses and investments to close shops and the collapse of the stock market, leading to huge loss by investors in the capital market as some of the causes that made it difficult for borrowers to service their loans.

Banks also culpable However, Yusuf admitted that some of the debtors were deliberate in the plan to default.

His words: “This class of debtors took loans and from the very beginning, had no intention to repay. This, of course, is the disturbing scenario as it bothers on criminality and impunity.

“In some of these instances, it may be difficult to exonerate the banks as the credit appraisal processes may have been compromised. The degree of banks’ culpability should be ascertained and this should attract appropriate sanctions.

“There are bad borrowers and there are bad lenders! The CBN should deal with both sides of the divide and be seen to have truly done justice. Corporate governance issues in the finan-

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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The items (finished products) have not been banned. Any importers wishing to continuously import any of the items on the list could continue to do so but using their own funds without any recourse to the FOREEX market.

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•Emefiele

Manufacturers are experiencing difficulties in importing raw materials. Factories using any of the banned imported items as raw material face closure, a development that will further populate the unemployment market.

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•Jacobs

The loans we have taken within that period had to be restructured to cater for devaluation and changing interest rates. With this forex restriction, it seems the CBN is asking local firms like ours to shut down

Entrepreneurship is about risk taking. Sometimes, profits are made and at other times, losses are incurred. It will be unfair to portray business failure as an act of criminality, which is what the publication of names connotes.

‘

• Yusuf

cial system should be entrenched.

There is need for a better use of credit bureau to reduce the incidence of serial debtors.”

Couselling the CBN to apply global best practices in debt recovery, Yusuf noted that the publication of debtor companies’ list and their directors in national newspapers was unorthodox and unprofessional.

He said: “Entrepreneurship is about risk taking. Sometimes, profits are made and at other times, losses are incurred. It will be unfair to portray business failure as an act of criminality, which is what the publication of names connotes.

“The damage to the reputation of such businesses is also very high. In any event, loans are supposed to be backed with collateral and a foreclosure invoked in the event that such loans are not redeemed. This is the best practice approach to debt recovery.”

The Director-General, Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industry and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Cobham Emmanuel, said whoever borrowed money for whatever reason should pay for it.

He said that despite operating under strenuous conditions including high production cost and dearth of infrastructure, the loans taken from banks and other financial institutions should be repaid.

The OPS kicked against the CBN’s FOREX policy which has shut out some of its members from particiapting the exchange market. It asked for an immediate reversal.

On June 23, the apex bank said that it was imperative to exclude importers of some goods from accessing FOREX, arguing that the directive was aimed at encouraging local production of the items.

But, the LCCI slammed the CBN for what it called the bank‘s “limited understanding of the manufacturing process of many of the sectors affected by the policy.”

The LCCI said the policy would not only serve as a disincentive to the indigenous manufacturing sector but to the economy.

It said: “The policy means that manufacturers who require any of the 41 restricted items as inputs and raw materials for their plats may have to simply wind up their businesses once they run out of stock.

‘

• Onafowokan

The position of the Central Bank of Nigeria

C

ENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele disagreed with the OPS members’ belief that the apex bank took a position without a proper appraisal of the domestic capacity for the production of some of the items on the list.

Emefiele said: “My personal as well as the bank’s institutional analyses of the situation compelled us to believe that we needed to aggressively begin the process of feeding ourselves by ourselves and producing much of what we need in this country.

“The huge amounts of money the country spends on importing things we can produce locally have become a significant drag on our FOREX Reserves. Most of you are aware of the often-quoted number of N1.3 trillion, which is what we spend on the average, importing rice, fish, sugar and wheat every year.”

Explaining his personal frustration over the development, the bank chief queried why the country should be importing rice when the substantial part of paddy rice with competitive quality - produced locally are being wasted and ignored.

To him, the importers has the option of going into locally production of rice by taking the advantage of the vast expanse of arable land, instead of taking the easy route of importing rice.

The CBN further alleged non-remittance of FOREX earnings by importers, who he accused of retaining such in foreign bank accounts, thereby putting pressure on FOREX demands.

Emefiele argued that the exclusion of the 41 items was necessary to sustain the stability of the FOREX market, “The LCCI understands the CBN’s constraints and circumstances as it drew up this policy but it appears as if the formulation of the policy has suffered from the CBN’s limited understanding of the manufacturing process in affected sectors.”

To the LCCI, the policy was ambiguous as the restricted items were not well-defined and specific, noting that the ambiguity had plunged both manufacturers and banks into confusion regarding the intent of the CBN. It, therefore, urged the apex bank to amend the policy with full definition and specification of the restricted items, including their HS Codes.

Besides, the chamber asked the CBN to de-list every non-substitutable industrial raw material from the prohibited items.

Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) President Frank Udemba Jacobs backed the CBN policy on the publication of chronic debtors’ list.

Dr. Jacobs said businesses should be done with integrity and in good faith.

ensure the efficient utilisation of foreign exchange and the derivation of optimum benefit from imported goods and services.

He added that the implementation of the policy will help to conserve foreign reserves as well as facilitate the resuscitation of domestic industries and improve employment generation.

Besides, the apex bank chief said the items have not banned, stressing that any importers wishing to continuously import any of the items on the list could continue to do so but using their own funds without any recourse to the FOREEX market.

CBN’s Director of Monetary Policy Department Moses Tule said the nation’s FOREX reserves cannot be depleted without replacement and still remain what it used to be, hence the drastic measures to curtail unhealthy demand.

Dismissing suggestions that the CBN ought to have dialogued with stakeholders before embarking on policy changes, Tule said no central bank in the world can do that as it will stoke incontrollable pressure and speculations.

Speaking on the exigency of the policy, he said that it was not just in response to the pressure on the naira, but as an opportunity to change the economy’s structure, resuscitate local manufacturing and expand job creation opportunities.

According to him, the items captured on the list were arrived at after thorough and exhaustive discussions at the highest policy making body of the bank, with the strategic national interest and backed by verifiable data.

Some of the policies •Publication of bank debtors’ list •Import ban on 41 ‘finished’ products •Blocking access to official FOREX •Exclusion from Securities’ trading Promising his association’s preparedness to protect its members, Jacobs insisted that MAN will not support borrowing from banks and other financial institutions without honouring the commitment to repay.

He, however faulted the prohibition of some items. He told The Nation that manufacturers were experiencing difficulties in importing raw materials. Jacobs warned that factories using any of the banned imported items as raw materials face closure, a development that will further populate the unemployment market as being reflected in the performance of key macroeconomic indicators of the Bureau of Statistics, CBN and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Commending the CBN for the inclusion of some materials on the banned items’ list, he said: “MAN has analysed the items into 680 items based on their sectoral and subsectoral groups and submitted a comprehensive list of 105 raw materials which are products of rigorous consultations with all sub-sectors of the manufacturing sector with their respective HS Codes.

“The association further listed 93 finished products that are produced locally with sufficient capacity which should be added to the 41 items.”

He described as illogical the refusal of CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to remove what the association identified as essential raw materials that cannot be sourced locally from the list after agreeing to include the 93 items classified as finish products.

According to him, Emefiele cited declining foreign reserves, continuous fall in oil prices and banks’ inability to meetthe FOREX demands of manufacturers who import raw materials as

justification for the apex bank’s FOREX policy.

Both the OPS and MAN asked for a policy statement that will assure them of policy consistency. They said such policy must be backed with appropriate gazette and phased implementation to safeguard the huge capital involved in manufacturing.

Manufacturers’ response In their reactions, some members of the OPS said the CBN’s action has only succeeded in making investors and manufacturers to pay for government’s inefficiency in the management of resources.

The Managing Director of Coleman Wires and Cables, George Onafowokan, called for a review in the policy, noting that some of the products on the prohibited list have not been given a second thought.

He lamented that the improper dcategorisation was already affecting production capacity of many industrial concerns.

With a loss of $800 million due to what he described as technical devaluation by the CBN, Onafowokan noted that his company, having staked about N11 billion on expansion within the last two years, was already facing a huge challenge that may affect its productivity and workforce profile.

He said: “The CBN’s policy should have excluded raw materials through proper definition and identification of HS codes of some restricted items. We have staked at least N11 billion on expansion in the last two years.

“The loans we have taken within that period had to be restructured to cater for devaluation and changing interest rates. With this forex restriction, it seems the CBN is asking local firms like ours to shut down.

“Exporting is a very difficult task due to a lot of factors and circumstantial policies. The manufacturing sector needs an intervention from the CBN to address the gaps created by the policy.

“Ambiguous definition of macroeconomic policies is prone to disaster. You are trying to create jobs but you are losing jobs,” Onafawokan said at a dialogue organised by the LCCI on the CBN policy in Lagos.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Nosak Group, Goddie Isibor, alleged that the CBN policy was seeking the closure of the industries using the banned items as raw materials.

“The CBN should go back and remove raw materials so that we don’t kill industries with the hope that we are encouraging local production”, he said.

The Chief Executive of Financial Derivatives Limited, Bismarck Rewane observed that the CBN decision has confirmed the cash flow problem, adding that the trend could affect capital inflow and outflow.

President, Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (RIMIDAN), Tunji Owoeye, noted that the decision would have an impact on government’s backward integration policy in the rice sector.

According to him, many investors have shored up their stakes in local rice production, following the incentives being dangled by the government.

He said: “We urge government to modify the policy by giving preference to stakeholders involved in rice backward integration the essence of which is to encourage investors to invest in the rice value-chain. There is a gap in the production and consumption of the commodity in the country.

“It is the people in the value-chain that are filling that gap through some guided measures to manage the imports.

“If a government initiates a move and consequently backs out, it is taking carrot form one side and giving it out at another end. I believe government means well in addressing dumping but I believe that the move should be guided, while identified companies that have invested in backward integration should be given an opportunity to access government’s FOREX window.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

NEWS Jonathan’s village Otuoke laments water scarcity

T •Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode (left) with Chief Harry Akande and his wife, Tolulope, during the wedding ceremony of Oyo State Governor's Daughter in Ibadan at the weekend.

66,000 Nigerian pilgrims fly out to Saudi Arabia

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O fewer than 300 would-be pilgrims were yesterday flown out to Saudi Arabia. They are part of the 66,000 Nigerians scheduled to make this year’s hajj.

The inaugural flight from the Kaduna International Airport conveyed pilgrims from Jemaá and Kajuru local government areas. Another flight was expected to take off last night from there. Many others were also flown out through the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

National Hajj Commission

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

of Nigeria (NAHCON) Chairman Abdullahi Muktar Muhammad said six airlines will convey the 66,000 pilgrims to the Holy Land, using 13 aircraft. He said the airlift of pilgrims will be completed before the closure of Jedda Airport in Saudi Arabia on September 17.

Alhaji Muhammad said NAHCON had closed its Jedda office. All the officials have moved to Makka and Madina to facilitate a smooth operation. He said there

would be no VIP tents. All NAHCON officials will stay with the pilgrims.

The chairman said the airlift of pilgrims back to Nigeria will be on the basis of ‘’first in, first out’’. It is expected to end on October 27 President Muhammadu Buhari was represented at the inaugural flight by Kaduna State Governor Nasir ElRufai.

The President said although the Federal Government will not fund pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, it has set up a Coordinating Commit-

tee to supervise this year’s pilgrimage.

He charged the pilgrims to pray for Nigeria’s peace and progress.

The President said the coordinating committee will be funded by the service charge which pilgrims paid to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

According to him, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, will head the committee. The Emir of Shonga, Dr Haliru Yahaya, as well as Dr Ibrahim Datti Ahmed are Continued on page 59

UN pledges support for Nigeria Continued from page 1

during a meeting with governors.

Ki-Moon arrived the country yesterday aboard an Air France flight at 4.15pm and was received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport by the Permanent Secretary in charge of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Amb. Bulus Lolo.

Also in the reception party were the UN Resident Coordinator, Daouda Toure, UNFPA Executive Director

Prof.

Babatunde Oshotimehin and Special Representative of UN Secretary-General to Nigeria and West Africa Mr. Ibn Chambas.

The Secretary-General was driven to Transcorp Hilton, where he met with the governors under the aegis of Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).

The dialogue with the governors was held under the theme: “Pathways to a New

Nigeria - the Role of Sub-national Governments.”

At the opening session before the meeting went into a closed door, Ki-Moon expressed confidence in Nigeria’s ability to overcome the “crucial moment”, given the vigour at which the country is confronting the challenges.

Ki-Moon noted the important role of the governors, especially as they make policies and implement programmes for the people.

He said: “This is a crucial moment for Nigeria. And you have to take crucial steps to move the country forward.

The United Nations is ready to help you. We have to work together to move the country forward.

“You (the governors) understand the peoples’ challenges and you have the power to help the people on education, power, development, institution building, Continued on page 59

HE Otuoke community in Bayelsa State – former President Goodluck Jonathan’s hometown – is lamenting the scarcity of portable water.

Chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC), Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area, Mr. Elijah Ateki, at the weekend bemoaned the scarcity of water in the area.

Ateki told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Otuoke that lack of drinking water is the major problem in the community. According to him, the situation is due to the pollution of rivers in the area by oil spilage.

He said the community had suffered inadequate potable water over the years, and urged the State and Federal Governments to provide the people with potable water.

“Otuoke community depends on rivers and now that all the rivers are polluted by oil, it is difficult for us to get potable water here,” Ateki said.

Emmanuel Agede, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in the area, expressed dissatisfaction with the situation and called for government’s intervention.

“You will not believe it that here in Otuoke, we use water from an unused soak-away pit dug near our lodge, for washing clothes and bathing.

“For cooking and drinking, we buy sachet water; life is very difficult here; we spend the bulk of our monthly allowances on water for survival.”

N167b loan for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Continued from page 1

Plc and Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), despite a pending legal dispute.

There was no public bidding for the project, ICRC said.

The Jonathan administration pledged to release N50billion for the project in 2013 and 2014.

Instead, the government provided only a guarantee to Infrastructure Bank to facilitate the release of N117billion to Berger and RCC. But the two construction giants have been unable to get up to N10billion.

The bank, it was learnt, has been trying to limit its risk exposure because of the legal tussle on the project.

A source said: “We have fresh challenges confronting the project, including alleged politicisation of the reconstruction of the 127.6kilometres expressway.

I think those in Jonathan government were desperately looking for a way to win Southwest votes in the last general elections and used the project as a bait.”

The Infrastructure Bank Plc Managing Director Adekunle

Oyinloye said the Federal Government had directed the bank to raise N167 billion for the reconstruction of the dual carriage way.

Oyinloye said: “The project is now to be completed in a record time of 24 to 30 months as against the 48 months initially proposed by the contractors.”

The ICRC’s objection is that the government ought to have concluded the termination of the contract with BiCourtney Consortium before awarding the contract.

“And any re-concession must go through public bidding. In this instance, it was unilaterally awarded by the government.

“Since the project is still in dispute between the Federal Government and BiCourtney, any action taken will be subjudice. Any pronouncement by a court or an arbitration court can create more hurdles for all the parties involved.

“This is the mess inherited

by President Muhammadu Buhari. His administration has to find a solution to the Continued on page 59

Buhari to lawyers: join fight against crooks Continued from page 1

He urged lawyers to see corruption as a gross violation of people’s rights, because pervasive corruption in the country has continued to deny the people access to basic needs.

“For the masses of our people, the millions still wallowing in want and diseases, corruption is a major reason why they cannot go to school; why they cannot be gainfully employed; and why there are few doctors, nurses and drugs in their hospitals and health centers.

“It is the reason why pensioners are not paid and potable water is scarce. In effect, corruption diverts public resources meant for millions of people into the private pockets of a greedy few, thereby causing a lot of suffering, deprivation and death. In my view, there can be no greater violation of human rights.

“Viewed in this way, I think we can all fully appreciate the gravity of this oppressive and destructive evil. This should

rouse us to fight it with the same zeal and doggedness as we deploy in the defense of fundamental rights.

“I am convinced that law, law-makers, lawyers, law courts and the law enforcement agencies all have pivotal responsibilities to discharge, if the change we seek is ever to materialise.

“As you all know by now, this administration has taken on the challenge of improving security, fighting corruption and revamping the economy, among many others.

“The fight against corruption is in reality a struggle for the restoration of law and order. Corruption and impunity become widespread when disrespect for law is allowed to thrive in the society. Disrespect for law also thrives when people get away with all sorts of shady deals and the court system is somehow unable to check them.

“Ability to manipulate and frustrate the legal system is the crowning glory of the cor-

rupt and, as may be expected, this has left many legal practitioners and law courts tainted in an ugly way.

“In a gathering such as this, I do not need to elaborate on the way that corruption and impunity have damaged our economy. But I would like to say more on what, I believe, should be your role as legal practitioners, in helping us back to the path of rectitude.

“First, we need to make our courts functional and effective again. This means that we must have lawyers who take the ethics of the profession very seriously; lawyers who will not frustrate the course of justice, even though they defend their clients with all legitimate means and resources.

“Nigeria needs ethical lawyers who always keep the end of justice in mind and will never sacrifice the integrity of the legal system to cover the misdeeds of their clients, no matter how lucrative the brief may be,” the President said.

President Buhari, who

noted that a functional court system will aid the nation’s quest for foreign investment, said the current regime, where simple civil cases take ages to be resolved in court discourages investments.

He assured of his administration’s willingness to support needed legal reforms to enhance the effectiveness of the court system.

“Increased engagement with the outside world is called for as we seek public private partnerships in our quest for enhanced capital and expertise.

“There is no doubt that all these depend on enforceable agreements and a reliable legal system. Contracts are only good to the extent that they are enforceable without undue delay.

“If by the default of lawyers or the law courts, it is found that cases take ages to conclude or that the judicial system is somehow corruptible, we obviously cannot attract the kind of partnerships which we need or which our large vibrant economy would

ordinarily have attracted.

“The world today has been correctly described as a global village. Capital and expertise are readily mobile.

Comparisons will inevitably be drawn between our country and others when the choice of where to do business is being made.

“Our current position in this respect is not good enough. Our process for obtaining licenses and permits are too slow. It takes too long a time to enforce contracts in our law courts and our regulatory and administrative processes are not noticeably predictable or efficient.

“In all these lawyers have a key role to play, whether in the reform of our laws and regulation or in the integrity of our judicial systems.

“It is my fervent hope that this conference and other fora of lawyers and non-lawyers will closely and quickly work out ways of making our legal system much improved in terms of integrity, the human touch, efficiency and rigorous dedication to the cause of jus-

tice,” the President said.

Chief Justice Mohammed, who assured the President of the support of the Judiciary, blamed the delay in court proceedings mainly on lawyers.

The CJN, who assured that the on-going reforms in the Judiciary will be sustained, sought an enhanced collaboration between the Bench and the Bar for the court to effectively play its role of justice dispensation.

“This is a very good sign of the cooperation that has developed between the Judiciary and Legal Profession on the one hand and the Executive branch on the other.

“Rest assured we shall strengthen our own efforts by giving full support to our President in laying a solid foundation for good governance in accordance with the Continued on page 59

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

NEWS Aregbesola: attacks on Osun govt, fallout of Jonathan’s defeat •Celebrates presidential spokesman Adesina

O

SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has attributed the negative focus on the state over unpaid salary to the role he and the state played in defeating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government in the general election.

Aregbesola spoke in Ipetumodu at a reception in honour of the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina.

The governor said even though it was not only Osun that was caught in the salary crisis, some disgruntled opposition elements orchestrated unnecessary media campaigns against the state due to the role its government played in contributing to their electoral failure in the states and national levels.

Aregbesola said: “Every objective-minded Nigerian should pause to ask the pertinent question: Is Osun the only state which owed workers’ salary?

“The apparent answer is no. More than 22 states found themselves in this crisis.

“The reason Osun is aways in the news is not far to seek. I make bold to say that some individuals in the state are

deliberately sponsoring hate campaigns against the state because of my government’s role in the ‘Project Change’ that led to the downfall of their party during the general election.

“It is not news again that our state contributed to the defeat of their leader (Goodluck Jonathan).

“What they did is to latch on to the general financial crisis to wage a was of attrition on Osun government in the media.

“All the bad portrayals of Osun have their root in our opposition to Jonathan.”

According to the governor, Osun was lucky to reap so early one of the outcomes that change brought to the country with the appointment of Adesina as the spokesperson of Buhari.

Aregbesola described Adesina as a prolific writer, a thoroughbred professional, and a consummate journalist.

He affirmed that Adesina got the plum job based on merit because of his hard work, competence and dedication.

He continued: “Femi Adesina became the spokesperson of President Buhari on merit and through dint of handwork and dedication to his

•Aregbesola (second right); Adesina, (second left), his wife Adenike (left) and Oba Akunraledoye during the reception for the presidential spokesman... on Saturday.

chosen career.

“The All Progressives Congress (APC) is an honest government: that is why appointments so far made by President Buhari are based on merit.

“Adesina has an illustrious career spanning 28 years and he is still counting. With all these years, he has demonstrated that he is cut out to be one of the best in his professional field.

“He is a thoroughbred professional, a journalists’ journalist and editors’ editor.”

Adesina thanked Buhari for counting him worthy of speaking for the Presidency.

He saluted the courage of the governor for standing firm in his commitment to moving the state forward even in the face of daunting criticisms and attacks by opposi-

tion parties.

He thanked the people of his hometown for the honour and recognition accorded him and his family.

“I thank all who are gathered here today for the recognition and honour given to me and my family.

“I am very grateful to the governor for honouring me with his physical presence here.

“I promise you all that I will be a good ambassador of the town and the state,” Adesina said.

In attendance at the reception were the wife and family of Adesina, including Professor Tayo Adesina of the Department of History, University of Ibadan.

Traditional rulers and politicians at the event include the host monarch, Oba James

We’ve reduced Boko Haram to wanderers, bandits, says Army General

T

HE former Commander, Army Corps of Engineers, Major General Sarduarna Davies has said the Army has reduced the terrorist group, Boko Haram to wanderers and bandits.

Davies spoke at the corps headquarters in Bonny Camp, Lagos, while handing over to his successor, Major General Edmund Obi at the weekend.

The outgone corps Commander reminded his person-

By Precious Igbonwelundu

nel that the ongoing war against the terrorists was an engineering and logistics war, urging them to ensure that only trained personnel were deployed to the area.

He said: “I am very certain that we are winning the war in the northeast. I am just in from there and I can tell you that they are just bunch of marauders who are just acting like bandits now.

“They don’t act as a formidable force, we can’t say this is where they are, they are just roving around and I know that the Chief of Army staff is putting troops in place to comb the whole of northeast and push them to a place where they can be annihilated.

“I’ve been in and out of that place as many times as I can so I exactly know what I am talking about.”

Although Sarduarna con-

firmed that the Army was suffering from dearth of equipments, he the army headquarters was on top of the situation and would soon deliver the necessary tools to conclude the war.

Also speaking, the commander assured that the army was doing everything to uncover and destroy terrorists’ sources of IEDs.

Buhari to draft Nigerians in Diaspora into anti-graft war

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HE Federal Government at the weekend said that President Muhammadu Buhari plans to exploit the expertise of Nigerian professionals living abroad in its fight against corruption.

The President spoke at the 2015 Diaspora Day in Abuja.

The Permanent Secretary in the office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mrs. Ibukun Odusote.

She said the aims for the conference were clearly defined in a way that would support and enhance the change agenda of the President.

On how Buhari intended to engage the Diaspora in the corruption war, she said, “The idea is to leverage on their expertise and experience out there, which means that, as we have in this conference, some of them are experts being called all over the world to give their lead presentations on corruption.

“They have successfully helped some other economies to get themselves out of corruption, and they are Nigeri-

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja and Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

ans. So, we have an expert in that field that will be coming to Nigeria to speak in that area at the conference. We want to leverage on their expertise”.

“You can find a lot of them, specialists and experts, in their various fields, making name for themselves and for Nigeria. We want to get an advantage of their experience out there in their global assignment.

“Number two is that we want to lure them into coming back to Nigeria and contribute to national development. Thirdly, we want them to contribute to the economic development of Nigeria even while they are out there.

“We want them to invest in Nigeria; we want them to attract investment in Nigeria that can bring expansion in the change agenda of Mr. President”. She added Another idea of the Diaspora conference, Mrs Odu-

sote said, was to ensure proper documentation of the many Nigerians out there that are not yet documented anywhere.

She said, “We are talking about those that should be documented legally in their positions and they are making waves. They are doings things that are unique in all their endeavours and exploits. They have cue that are unparalleled even by the nationals of the country where they are.

“So, the overall objective is that we have a direct relationship with them. We know who they are, we know where they are, we know how they are faring and then we take care of their welfare to be sure that they are not maltreated where they are.

“We would want to also impress on them that they too will obey the rules of the countries where they are. Essentially that is what this conference is all about”. She added Odusote noted that a roundtable discussion programme which would focus

on investment opportunities in Nigeria is also scheduled to hold on Monday ahead of the diaspora conference billed for tomorrow.

Also, Buhari has said the Federal Government would not fund pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

He spoke at the Kaduna International Airport yesterday while launching the inaugural hajj flight to Saudi Arabia.

Reprsented by Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, the President said the coordinating committee for the hajj would be funded by the service charge which pilgrims paid to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II will head the committee while the Emir of Shonga, Dr Haliru Yahaya as well as Dr Ibrahim Datti Ahmed will serve as members.

Buhari also reiterated the position of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs that Hajj would add value to the nation’s economy if it is properly organised.

Adegoke (Apetu of Ipetumodu); Oba Adedokun Abolarin (Orangu of Oke-Ila) and Oba Abdul-Maruf Magbagbeola (Olufon Of Ifon); Oba Elijah Oyelade (Salu of EdunAbon).

Also present were Senator Babajide Omoworare (Osun

East; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola; Special Adviser on Youth, Sports and Special Needs, Comrade Biyi Odunlade and the Director of Bureau of Communications and Strategy (Office of the Governor), Mr. Semiu Okanlawon.

Nigeria to benefit from $47m UNESCO water study From Seun Akioye, Stockholm

N

IGERIA is among 16 countries to benefit from a ground breaking research on Emerging Pollutants in Wastewater Reuse. The project is a collaboration between the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

The project titled: “Characterisation of pharmaceutical pollution in the aquatic environment of Nigeria and their potential ecotoxicological effects”, is being implemented by Lagos State University and involves a scientific study into pollution of the Lagos Lagoon. The project began in July 2015 and it is expected to end in the first quarter of 2016.

According to Claire Lynga, a research advisor at SIDA, the project is estimated to cost about $47 million over four years.

She said the issue of wastewater reuse is becoming a popular phenomenon globally and thus important that major research be carried out on the problems of pollution.

Programme Specialist , International Hydrological Programme at UNESCO, Sarantuyaa Zandaryaa said the ground breaking project aims to support UNESCO member states to strengthen their scientific research and technical capacities to manage human health and environmental risks caused by new and emerging pollutants in developing countries.

Zandaryaa, who spoke on the sidelines of the World Water Week in Stockholm said new and emerging water pollutants include broad range of substances, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, domestic and industrial chemicals.

She said the Lagos Lagoon was identified as a major source of livelihood for thousands of fishermen and pollution of the lagoon would have a negative impact on thousands of people who depended on it.

Zandaryaa said at the conclusion of the project, UNESCO would pressure policy makers to address the problems that have been identified. “ What we intend to do is that as soon as we have scientific evidence about the pollution in the Lagos Lagoon, we will put pressure on police makers on what is needed to be done to reverse the trend,” she said.

Lawyer seeks to jail FRSC chief

By Joseph Jibueze

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CTIVIST-lawyer Mr Tope Alabi has initiated contempt proceedings against the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Chief Executive Boboye Oyeyemi for allegedly disobeying a court order barring the corps’ to impose fines on motorists.

The Federal High Court in Lagos, last September 26, nullified FRSC’s powers to fine motorists for violating traffic rules.

Justice John Tsoho held that only a court could an pronounce a motorist or driver guilty of violating traffic rules and order them to pay a fine.

The judge, who delivered the verdict in a suit by Alabi, said FRSC is not empowered to impose fines under sections 10 (4) and 28 (2) of the FRSC (Establishment) Act 2007 because it is not a court.

According to the judge, FRSC could arrest motorists for traffic offences, but it must take them to mobile or other courts with powers punish traffic offenders.

However, Alabi is contending that FRSC officials had not complied with the judgment which he said is yet to be set aside by the Court of Appeal.

Besides, he said FRSC did not apply for or obtain any way execution of the judgment.

Therefore, he filed a Notice of Consequences of Disobedience to Order of Court, dated August 20.

The notice warns the Corps Marshal Oyeyemi of being held liable for contempt if his men continue to violate the order by arresting and imposing fines on erring motorists without taking them to court.

It reads: “Take notice that unless you obey the directions contained in this order, you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison.”

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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NEWS

Fuel subsidy is unsustainable, says Peterside

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LL Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State Dr. Dakuku Peterside has supported calls for the deregulation of the petroleum industry.

Peterside, in a statement by his media aide, Sylvester Asoya, added that subsidising fuel consumption was not sustainable.

Peterside, who was former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), said he was happy that Nigeria is gradually coming to terms with some realities in its oil and gas sector.

He said: “We cannot afford to be impractical with issues in our oil sector because they are too important. Before now, we had spoken on the need to face head-on, all the recurring problems in this critical sector, given the fact that we still run a mono-economy. But for many years, nothing changed. Today, it is gratifying to note that the conversation is gradually changing; this is good for our country.

•APC chieftain decries era of slavery From Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcout

‘There is no argument about the benefits of deregulation but we must also deal with the issue of corruption. I had said severally that there is need for comprehensive reforms, not piecemeal approach if we hope to record the much-needed leap in this sector.

“Deregulation obviously will boost domestic participation; eliminate the unwholesome activities of some business men and encourage direct foreign investments.

“We all agree also that deregulation will open new opportunities and frontiers for Nigerians and Nigerian businesses because there will be fair competition and level-playing field. I had insisted over the years, that subsidy in its current form, is unsustainable. My position has not changed. So it is good that the issue is being revisited now.

“But for us to obtain opti-

mum benefits under deregulation, it is important to state that as we provide a conducive environment for people to invest, we must also put the necessary quality control checks in place.

Let me in addition, emphasize that products must be readily available, which also means that our refineries must redouble their efforts so that we can fully consolidate and profit from the gains of deregulation.”

The APC chieftain, in another statement on the International Day for the Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition, urged victims of slave trade, particularly Africans and other people of colour all over the world, to forgive the heinous crimes against their forebears by traders and slave owners of that ignoble era. But he also stated that a day like this reinforces the need for deep sober reflection, not just for victims alone but for the entire world.

Peterside said though the world had long moved on, Af-

ricans and other casualties of slave trade must not forget that dishonourable past that threatened their humanity and existence.

He said: “Today, we remember African slaves and other people who, some centuries ago, and under very humiliating conditions, were forced on a journey of no return to the New World as labourers.

“No experience would have been more shattering especially when one considers the fact that these slaves were uprooted from their homes and taken into captivity, essentially for profit. Hundreds of years have passed but the scars of slave trade are all too evident and still fresh because of developments across the world today. For instance, issues of human trafficking and modern-day slavery are still widespread. This is the reason world leaders and others in authority owe our common world, the duty of working for the freedom of all.

“Therefore it is imperative as we mark this day, to condemn unequivocally, modernday slavery and racially motivated crimes wherever they are found in the world. In recent times, many people of colour have lost their lives to police brutality and organised crime.

Acts, such as these, diminish humanity and we must join hands to ensure that our world becomes safer and better.

“In conclusion, we must not fail to remember those who worked tirelessly to end slave trade. Worthy of note here were great African abolitionists like Olaudah Equiano, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Ignatius Sancho for inspiring hope and founding the group: ‘The Sons of Africa’ that campaigned for abolition. We also remember today as always, John Wesley and his Methodist Movement, and other non African abolitionists who supported the fight against slave trade. Their efforts and contributions changed the history of the world and they will forever be remembered for taking a stand”.

Police acquire helicopter to battle sea pirates, kidnappers

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HE police at the weekend took delivery of a surveillance helicopter to battle militancy, kidnapping and sea pirates in the Southsouth.

Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 6 , Tunde Ogunsakin, said the police had scored a big point in the region with the acquisition.

The helicopter is fitted with modern communication gadgets to aid effective surveillance in the creeks.

The surveillance helicopter arrives on the heels of a pact by the command and sister security agencies within the zone to form a joint task force to checkmate security threat in the area.

While describing the heli-

S

From Kolade Adeyemi, Abuja

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GGRIEVED members of the Academic Staff of the Federal College of Education, Kano are likely to begin today a one-week industrial action to protest the Federal Government’s decision to revert Federal Colleges of Education to its former status.

Members of the staff union accused the provost of sabotaging the upgrading of the institution, over what they described as his selfish interest.

Speaking to reporters over the new directive, the Provost of the College, Dr Rabi Jubirila hinted that a directive from the Federal Government mandated the reversal of the College of Education to its former status.

Rabi said: ”The letter received yesterday from the Federal Government specifically cited two major issues, directing that by the copy of this letter, you are directed to reverse the school to its original status.

“Also, the letter stated that consequently, you are directed to continue to administer the College as Federal College of Education and as the Provost of the College with all right and privilege.”

Dr Rabi, who denied allegations that provosts of the colleges were behind the withdrawal of the university status, insisted that “four Provosts cannot be too powerful to influence the Federal Government’s decision”.

Rising from its emergency

‘Corrupt, rich Nigerians behind Arepo pipeline vandalisation’ From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

R •Ogunsakin alighting from the surveillance helicopter

copter’s arrival as a welcome development, AIG Ogunsakin applauded Inspector General of Police Solomon Erase for his commitment to peace and security in the zone.

Ogunsakin, who was elated at the development, promised to chase kidnappers out of the zone. While emphasizing the importance of a joint security operation, Ogun-

sakin assured that the security forces would deploy technologically-driven and action able intelligence in actualising their common goal in policing the zone.

The five-seater capacity surveillance helicopter, according to him, would help to reinforce the command’s war arsenal.

Excitement as CJN, others defeat lawyers in friendly match OME senior members of the Bench and Bar cast aside the hectic practice of law at the weekend to trade their football skills in a friendly match between judges and lawyers in Abuja It was a rare sight to see senior justices, judges and lawyers, some of who are over 60 years, chased the roundleather, with some tripping occasionally, to the admiration of the crowd made up of justices, judges, lawyers, court officials, security personnel, among others.

At the end of the about 30minute match, the Bench team led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who scored the second goal of the match, won with four goals to the Bar team’s one.

The Bench team paraded “players” like Justices John Okoro (Supreme Court), Ibrahim Auta (Chief Judge of the Federal High Court), Babatude Adejumo (President, National Industrial Court) and Ishaq Bello (Chief Judge of the

Union begins strike

From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

High Court of the Federal Capital Tarritory) and the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Ahmed Saleh.

The Bar team, led by former Predident of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Wole Olanipekun (SAN), included “players” Joe Gadzama (SAN), Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) and Dele Adesina (SAN).

The friendly match was part of the opening activities of this year’s NBA’s annual conference. To ensure that nothing went wrong, the event’s organisers provided about three ambulances, equipped with materials and men, which were stationed close to the field of play.

At the end of the match, the CJN, who exited the field of play after scoring his only goal about 15 minutes of play, expressed delight at the objective behind the event and commended the organisers.

He suggested that the event be organised annually to fur-

•Justice Muhammad (second left) and others after the match

ther bolster the needed cordial relationship between the Bench and the Bar. “That is how it should be the Bar and the Bench should complement each other in the administration of justice and legal practice which has been demonstrated today. I have

gained a lot by keeping fit.

“There is a need for unity in the profession so that Nigeria will be a better country.

I enjoyed it , most of us should participate in sports, I also participated during the opening ceremony of the Hamadu Bello Stadium in 1962,” the

CJN said Justice Adejumo, Olanipekun, Akintola and Adesina hailed those behind the initiative and suggested that the tradition be sustained.

Justice Adejumo described the game as “fun, an exercise and a way of strengthening our togetherness, that is, between the Bar and Bench.”

Adesina said the evet reflected the cordial relationship between the Bar and the Bench.

“This is an exceptional period when we have the opportunity of interacting informally, because this is a regulated profession.

“We look up to them in the court as ‘My Lords’, while we present our cases, but outside the court we have been able to show again that the Bar and the Bench are one.

In the audience were Justices John Fabiyi, Ibrahim Muhammad, Mary Odili (of the Supreme Court), Justice Bilikisu Aliyu (of the Federal High Court), among others.

ESEARCHERS at the Criminology unit, Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan have found that rich Nigerians are sponsoring oil pipeline vandalisation at Arepo community, Ogun State.

In a research report titled “Social organisation of Oil pipeline Vandalism in Arepo Community, Ogun State” by Dr Oludayo Tade and Ayodele Austin, the researchers urged the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to probe the complicity of its men posted to work at Arepo for allegedly working with money bags, corrupt government officials to aid pipeline vandalisation.

The researchers advocated the deployment of technology surveillance, such as motion and flow detectors, to check corrupt practices and vandalism as well as equip security agencies with state-ofart weapons, bullet proof, vehicles and gun boats.

According to the duo, pipeline vandalism in Arepo involved active collaboration of security agencies in general and in particular the police, senior staff at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), who have corruptly enriched themselves at the expense of the nation.

“There is also politics in the anti-vandalism campaign.

How do you expect security agents to face well equipped vandal when our security agents do not have bullet proof jackets, helmet, let alone vehicle and other incentives?

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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NEWS

Dead, retired workers on Ondo govt’s payroll

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NDO State government has discovered discrepancies in its verification of status of workers, its Commissioner for Information Kayode Akinmade, said at the weekend.

He noted that the state’s huge wage bill compelled the government to embark on another round of verification just about a year after a similar exercise to weed out ghost workers and pensioners.

Akinmade, who spoke at a parley in Lagos, lamented that almost the total amount accruing to the state from the Federation Account is spent on wages, leaving little or nothing for development.

Some workers, the commissioner said, had been discovered to be receiving salaries meant for grade levels higher than their levels.

“In other instances, those who have died, resigned from service or retired were still earning salaries and emoluments from government,” Akinmade said.

He added that at a primary school in Ikaramu-Akoko, someone, who died about a year ago, was discovered to be receiving salary.

“Faceless people, using the names of the retirees and the dead are being paid,” the commissioner added.

But he was optimistic that the

government would save a lot of money after the verification.

Akinmade said it might translate to saving the state from salary payment inconveniences.

“About a year ago, a verification exercise was carried out in the MDAs after which we digitalised our payroll system.

Despite the high number of retirees in the last one year, which should have naturally translated into reduction in wage, the reverse has been the case.

“So, we have embarked on a fresh verification and all members of the state executive council are involved in this round of verification, which has been

quite revealing.

“Many who have died in various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are also discovered to still be collecting salaries. Another major discovery was workers who are on Level Two, but are receiving Level 12 salaries. Some people on Level Four, who are receiving Level 14 salaries. We also have people who have even left the country, still receiving salaries,” the commissioner alleged.

Akinmade, who revealed that some workers were arrested for impersonation, said those on the payroll were made to come forward with their last promotion letters to make the

exercise painless.

He added that in the course of this, somebody on Level Nine was discovered to be receiving salary of a level 14 officer. ”So many discoveries were made. Now we are talking about bailout; if it comes, should we be using this to pay ghost workers? It’s a big challenge but we will get through it,” he said.

On the government’s effort to create a databank to enable government implement its programmes, Akinmade noted that the registration for Kaadi Igbeayo was targeted at getting the data of residents for proper planning and decision-making.

•From left: Bishop Akinola Ajayi, Bishop O. P. Odejayi, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Oba of Ikorodu Oba Kabiru Adewale Shotobi, his wife, Olori Kudirat, Sup Evangelist Emmanuel Adegoke, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Ikorodu Bishop Dawodu and Bishop S. O. Ayodele at a thanksgiving service for the new Ayangburen of ikorodu at the Oba's palace in Ikorodu...at the weekend.

PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID

Olugbemi: Fayemi’s worst better than Fayose’s best

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ORMER factional Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly Dele Olugbemi has warned Governor Ayo Fayose to “stop adopting use and dump tactics” as one of his styles as a politician.

Olugbemi, who rejected his appointment by Fayose as a member of the House of Assembly Service Commission (HASC) last week, lamented that Fayose did not appreciate the sacrifices he made to keep him in office as governor.

He said having worked with both former Governor Kayode Fayemi and Fayose, “the two of them are incomparable”.

“The worst of Fayemi is better than the best of Fayose,” he said.

He said his rejection of the appointment was based on principle and to send a message that “the era of sole administratorship has become outlandish and democratic ethos must be imbibed in the running of government”.

Olugbemi spoke with reporters at the weekend on the heels of the heat generated by his rejection of the appointment and shunning of the screening and confirmation of HASC nominees by the state lawmakers last week.

The ex-factional Speaker vowed to challenge what he called “any undemocratic ten-

Governor denies dumping ex-Speaker

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KITI State Governor Ayo Fayose has denied dumping former Assembly factional Speaker Dele Olugbemi after he allegedly “used him for his selfish ends”.

Fayose, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, maintained that the allegation that he had dumped Olugbemi was not true.

He added that the former factional Speaker’s appointment as House of Assembly Commission member was an appreciation of his service to the state.

He said: “It is not true that Governor Fayose dumped him. The governor appointed him a commissioner member of Ekiti State House of Assembly Commission. He earns same salary and entitlements as other comFrom Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

dency of Fayose through strong and constructive engagement”.

He listed some politicians allegedly betrayed by Fayose after benefiting from them to include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Osun PDP governorship candidate Senator Iyiola Omisore, former Ekiti Assembly Speaker Femi Bamisile, former Ekiti PDP Secretary Tope Aluko and House of Assembly candidate Odunayo Ta-

missioners. What else does he want?

“Tunji Odeyemi, who is the commission’s chairman, was the Speaker during the time of Segun Oni and once acting governor of the state. Is Olugbemi asking that he should be placed above Odeyemi?

“I don’t know of any other way the governor can treat him. Mind you, if you have assisted anybody in life, it is God who used you, much as God can decide to use somebody else if you declined. In everything, we should give glory to God.” Adelusi urged the people to continue to support the government, saying the governor was determined to leave the state better than he met it.

labi.

Frowning at the way the appointment was done, Olugbemi stressed that, if in the space of announcing a few appointments, more than seven persons had rejected the appointment, “it tells that the appointment lacked credibility”.

On the what preceded recent appointments made by the governor, Olugbemi said Fayose raised an appointment committee to draw the template on how appointments would be distributed among members of the party.

The committee was chaired

by Senator Clement Awoyelu

with former Attorney General, Obafemi Adewale, as secretary.

Olugbemi added that he and other eminent key party chiefs were members.

He claimed that the appointments were solely done by Fayose without recourse to the committee and the party and without following equity, zoning and local government areas of origin.

The ex-factional Speaker said he was surprised by the announcement of his name as HASC member.

He added that before the announcement, Fayose who, ac-

cording to him, had stopped picking his calls allegedly sent him a text message that a former House of Representatives member had been lobbying for the position he (Olugbemi) rejected.

Olugbemi said it was this alleged action of Fayose that prompted his decision to reject the appointment to prove that “Nigeria still has men of principles in its political space.”

The former Speaker was one of the six All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the Fourth Assembly, who defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during Fayose’s swearing-in on October 16.

With the backing of the state government, the seven PDP lawmakers on November 20 stormed the Assembly complex and “impeached” former Speaker Adewale Omirin.

They later “elected” Olugbemi as “Speaker”.

The ex-factional Speaker presided over the “screening” and “ratification” of three commissioners and passage of the 2015 Appropriation Bill by the seven PDP legislators.

Olugbemi also played a pivotal role in preventing the 19 APC lawmakers from gaining access to the Assembly complex.

Gunmen abduct Akinruntan ’s mother-in-law From Damisi Ojo, Akure

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HE mother-in-law of a paramount traditional ruler in Ondo State, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan, the Olugbo of Ugboland in Ilaje Local Government Area, has been abducted.

Mrs. Omogbene Adeborile, a septuagenarian, was said to have been kidnapped in her home at Igbotako in Okitipupa Local Government Area.

Sources said the gunwielding hoodlums stormed the ancient town in a Toyota car and shot sporadically into the air to scare away residents before abducting her.

Mrs. Aderibole is the wife of the Ward 2 Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Igbotako.

A member representing Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency, Mike Omogbehin, said the hoodlums were unchallenged because they were armed.

He called on security agents to help secure her release and redouble security in the area as the people now live in fear, coupled with the perennial outage.

Police Commissioner Isaac Eke, who confirmed the report, said though details of information before him were sketchy, his men were on the trail of the kidnappers.

He urged the residents, with information, to assist the police to facilitate her release from the kidnappers.

Yoruba in Cuba mourn Ooni From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

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COALITION of Yoruba people in Cuba, Asociación Yoruba de Cuba, has commiserated with the Yoruba race and Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola “on the transition of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade”.

The association, in a condolence letter sent to the governor, joined other Yoruba “to mourn the transition of a worthy ambassador and a pride of the Yoruba race with deep sorrow”.

The letter by its president, Sir José Manuel Pérez Andino, noted that the organisation and its members shared in the pain and sorrow of other Yoruba people.

He prayed that God would console the family on the loss of the late monarch.

Members of the Cubanbased association include: Council of Elder Priests of Ifa of the Republic of Cuba, Council of Elder Priests Oba - Oriaye of Cuba and Council of Elder Iyalochas Priestesses of the Republic of Cuba.

Others are: Council of Elder Babalochas Priests of Cuba, Council of Elder Arará Priests of Cuba and Council of Priests Chiefs of Cabildos of the Republic of Cuba.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

8

NEWS Oyo APC to opposition parties: why we stopped WAEC fees, Hajj sponsorship

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HE Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) has defended why Governor Abiola Ajimobi suspended payment of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) fees for the final year students in public secondary schools and sponsorship of people on holy pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The party was reacting to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Accord over their joint condemnation of the state government’s decision.

It noted that the APC-led administration had been footing the bills of WAEC fees for students of public secondary schools and sponsoring selected individuals on Muslim and Christian holy pilgrimages.

The party, in a statement by its spokesman, Olawale Sadare, yesterday, said the measures were parts of the plans being introduced to help the state cope with its financial squeeze.

It reads in part: “The governor had stated that the measures were temporary as the palliatives would not only be restored soon, but many more are to be added to better the lots of the people.

“The two painful decisions were taken as the last resort in view of the desire to take the state out of the current economic imbroglio as quickly as possible.

“In all honesty, Governor Ajimobi deserves accolades for resisting the temptation to agree with some concerned individuals and groups who had come up with pieces of advice considered inevitable for the state to jerk up its internally generated revenue at all cost.

“But the governor, out of his love for the masses, declined to accept most of the suggestions made as he was of the opinion that such would aggravate the suffering of the com-

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

mon man.

“We recall that the state government had earlier taken major measures in that direction and these include; reduction of cost of governance, which brought about the pruning of ministries from 23 to 13, stoppage of daily feeding of fasting residents at Government House and distribution of food items to the needy during Ramadan fast, postponement of all political appointments, turning down of sponsorship requests from many partners and non-governmental organisations.

“Interestingly, all of these had little or no direct negative effect on the common man and it was when further measures were needed to be introduced that the governor considered the options of WAEC fees and pilgrimage stuff.”

The party added: “In view of the foregoing, it amounts to sheer hypocrisy and a height of irresponsibility on the part of the opposition elements if they chose to take the advantage of the current situation to display their hatred for the people.

“The question on the lips of the people is that; what difference did the PDP make in the life of the state in its eight years combined rule? Between 2003 and 2011 that the PDP was in the saddle; values were not only eroded and peace did not only vacate the land, resources of the state were plundered while its economic base was badly depleted.

“That was an era when shares of government in blue chip companies were sold and proceeds siphoned even as government lands and properties were taken over by private individuals. The consequences of all these and many more left the state stranded as it began to survive only on hand-outs from the Federal Government.”

CLO backs Ondo for NDDC’s MD

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HE chances of Ondo State to produce the next Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) received further boost at the weekend when the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) lent its voice in support of the state.

The Executive Director of the CLO, Ibuchukwu Ezike, who spoke in a statement in Lagos, said anything on the contrary would amount to extension of the old practice.

Ezike explained that justice, equity and respect for existing rules and regulations were some of the pillars of good governance that must be observed when decisions are to be taken.

He continued: “If Section 12 of the NDDC Act 2000 says the executive positions in the commission should rotate among the nine member states, starting with the state with highest quantum of oil production, and states like Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and AkwaIbom have produced the managing director of the commission, one after the other, naturally, Ondo State that is the fifth in the order of production, should be allowed to produce the MD without contention.

“This will arguably restore justice and sanity, promotes harmonious working relationship among the top management members of the commission, and gives other states with lesser quantum of oil production the needed hope that their own turn would soon come.”

Applauding Edo State stakeholders for joining their Ondo State counterparts in decrying lack of justice and equity in the appointments of the executive positions in the commission so far, the CLO boss averred that “unless those under marginalistion of whatever colourations muster the necessary courage to protest and cry out, such injustice is soon perceived as acceptable norm”.

The four states of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa-Ibom have held on to the three executive positions in the commission since the inception of the NDDC. Section 12 of the NDDC Act says: “There shall be for the commission a Managing Director, and two Executive Directors, who shall be indigenes of oil producing areas, starting with the member states of the commission with the highest production quantum of oil, and shall rotate amongst member states in the order of production.”

Ilaje Constituency1 (Ugbo) is the only oil producing area in Ondo State.

The people of Ondo State, including the traditional rulers of the oil producing areas, had earlier appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to consider the state for the position of the managing director of the commission.

• Intending Muslim pilgrims waiting for screening at the Hajj Camp, Muritala Muhammed International Airport, before their PHOTO: NAN departure, in Lagos...yesterday.

APC, PDP bicker over probe of Fayemi’s govt

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HE Idowu Faleye-led faction of the Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused some unnamed leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of protecting former Governor Kayode Fayemi from investigation by anti-graft agencies.

The faction, which is loyal to Governor Ayo Fayose, in a statement by its spokesman, Jackson Adebayo, yesterday said an interview granted by Fayemi was calculated to mislead the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from probing his administration.

It alleged that the former governor was only trying to pre-empt the anti- graft agency from beaming its searchlight on the allocations received by his administration and what it called ‘bogus’ loans he obtained to carry out many

From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

capital projects.

But the APC spokesman Taiwo Olatunbosun said the investigation only existed in the imagination of the PDP faction and its sponsor, Fayose, whom, he said, still has a pending EFCC case at a Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti.

Olatunbosun maintained that Fayemi is not being investigated by any anti-graft agency in the country, noting the former governor could not be tarred with any brush of corruption “for which the PDP is synonymous.”

He said Fayemi instituted various framework, which has promoted good governance, probity accountability and transparency which include the domestication of Freedom of Information Law, enactment

of Fiscal Responsibility Law, among other policies.

Adebayo stressed that the former governor is being jittery about the ongoing investigation by various security agencies on alleged ‘financial recklessness’ when he was in the saddle of the government of Ekiti State.

He said: “Why is he coming out after almost a year he was disgracefully voted out of government by the Ekiti people, when he know well that some security agencies are after him, if not because he want to mislead and coerce them to believe that he was prudent to a fault, thereby investigations on his administration could be relaxed.

“We still insist that the leaderships of the APC are hell-bent in protecting Dr. Kayode Fayemi from the searchlight of the EFCC and other investiga-

•Fayemi

tions from other security agencies because they know that he ran Ekiti government aground before he was booted out by the popular vote which has been judged to be the most peaceful, freest and fairest in the recent time of our growing democracy.”

The PDP factional spokesman added: “Fayemi could have saved himself from the controversy by keeping silent until the investigations are completed and wait for EFCC response before defending his government”.

Ooni: aspirants begin lobbying of kingmakers, others

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SPIRANTS to the stool of the Ooni of Ife have started lobbying kingmakers and other influential individuals, it was learnt yesterday.

The development followed the conclusion of the mourning period declared for the late Oba Okunade Sijuwade, which ended yesterday.

Sources close to the Ife Traditional Council confided in The Nation that the aspirants from both Giesi and Lafogido ruling houses have started consultations with relevant individuals in the town and beyond preparatory to the selection of a prince for the throne.

One of the forerunners is Prince Adedamola Olasupo Aderemi, a London, United Kingdom (UK)-based lawyer.

He is the grandson of Oba Adesoji Aderemi, who died in 1980.

The prince, who is from Osinkola Ruling House, attended the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Osun State for his law degree between September 1977 to June 1980, and graduated with LL.B (Hons).

From September 1980 to July 1981, Aderemi was at the Nigeria Law School and was called to the Bar as solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court.

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

Between September 1983 to June 1985, he attended the University of Ife for his LL.M and graduated as the “Best Student”.

He was called to the English Bar as a barrister of the Inner Temple (England & Wales) in February 1992.

The prince, who worked in many capacities in reputable law firms and lectured in Nigeria and UK as well as successfully litigated several major cases, was between 2001

and 2002 “exceptionally allowed to practise up to Supreme Court level in the United States (U.S.) in a case involving serious fraud and sovereignty”.

He also appeared in English House of Lords in a case, which overturned more than 500 years of jurisprudence in relation to an aspect of domicile in International Law. Also yesterday, another aspirant from Giesi ruling house, Dr. Abdulraheem Adedoyin, was said to have addressed the Council of Obas during their

meeting at Erefe yesterday.

Members of the council meet regularly to review major issues in the town.

It was learnt that Adedoyin solicited their support for his ambition to succeed Oba Sijuwade.

There are 44 obas in Ife kingdom.

It also has 16 kingmakers belonging to two groups of high chiefs: Obalufe and Lowa.

The Obalufe heads the right inner chiefs (Otun Ife) and Lowa heads the left inner chiefs (Osi Ife).

Akure is next to rule Ondo, says Deji

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HE new Deji of Akure in Ondo State, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, has declared his intention to ensure that the state’s next governor is produced by Akure community.

The monarch, who said his major ambition on the throne, was to ensure that Akure indigene becomes the next governor, added that he would use his influence and connections to ensure that his dream comes to fruition.

Besides, he urged politicians and other eminent personalities, who were indigenes of Akure to rally round him to ensure the realisation of his dream.

The monarch, who spoke in his palace while receiving the Executive Council of the Akure Community Development Forum (ACDF) led by Chief Reuben Fasoranti, said all Akure indigenes should work to ensure that the next governor comes from the town.

Oba Aladelusi lamented that Akure, despite

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

being the state capital, has not produced the governor since Ondo State’s creation about 40 years ago.

The monarch expressed regret about the situation and stressed that he would do everything possible to ensure that Akure indigene becomes the next governor.

He told the forum to put their acts together and prepare for the challenge of presenting a credible Akure man for the governorship election next year.

The monarch regretted that indigenes of Akure have failed in the past to unite and speak with one voice, adding that the sons and daughters of Akure must speak with one voice.

The Assistant Secretary of the forum, Mr. Eniola Olusola, urged the monarch to prevail on the state government to rehabilitate and construct more roads in Akure.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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NEWS

•Front row:General Manager, Ethiopian Airlines, Mr Solomon Begashaw (fourth left); Traffic and Sales Manager, Mr Mulugeta Zewdu (fourth-left Back Row) and Airline agents who received certicatesduring Ethiopian Airlines agency seminar in Abuja...yesterday

‘How ex-minister Moro corrupted immigration’

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HE last may not have been heard of the rot in the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) which led to Comptroller-General David Parradang’s suspension.

Parradang’s loyalists alleged at the weekend that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior and the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPB) misled President Muhammadu Buhari on the recruitment of 1,600 immigration officers.

They said by the Immigration and Prisons Services Act, Cap. I1 LFN, 2004 (as amended), the CGI has the prerogative to recruit immigration officers from levels 01-07.

It was in the exercise of the powers conferred on the CGI by the Act that the Presidential Committee raised by exPresident Goodluck Jonathan engaged 1,600 officers for the service.

They claimed that CDFIPB has the responsibility to employ immigration officers from level 08 above.

The officers gave details of how the Board (CDFIPB) under ex-Minister Abba Moro relegated the CGI to the background and usurped his statutory powers.

They said the rot in the NIS would have been averted if exPresident Goodluck Jonathan had fired a former Minister of Interior, Abba Moro They begged President Buhari to probe the Customs and Immigration Board to get to the roots of the scandal in the service and the connivance of the Ministry of Interior.

The officers’ alarm on the development was contained in a document circulated to the media in Abuja yesterday.

The document said: “You must understand the background to the entire saga. After the regrettable and avoidable Comrade Abba Moro managed recruitment exercise of March 15, 2014 which witnessed the the death of 15 promising young Nigerians across stadia in the country, the then President set up a Presidential Committee headed by the Hon. Chairman of the Civil Service Commission with all the heads of the paramilitary agencies as members, including the CGI. “That Committee was to assist the Civil Defence, Fire Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPB) see to the compensation of the families of the bereaved, who the then President promised automat-

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

ic employment for three family members, one of who must be a female. The Committee was to also identify the injured and offer them appointments.

“They were also to carry out a more credible employment interview without CHARGE as apposed to the fleecing by Abba Morro and his business partners of indigent of #1,0000 each. It took the Committee a full year to conclude its work.

“The then President was presented with authentic next of kin of the deceased who all got a golden handshake of N5million each and the promised automatic employment.

The identified injured were accommodated.

“Now other unemployed youths were now made to face the JAMB computer-based employment interview at centres across the country with a view to creating a level playing ground and equal opportunity for all candidates.

“At the close of the exercise the Committee began issuance of letters of appointments to successful candidates beginning with non-graduate who fell within the authority of the CGI. The document explained how the CGI clashed with the board.

It added: “For the graduates, the list was sent to the CDFIPB to issue their letters.

“Members of the Board refused to issue the letters on the grounds that the Presidential Committee did not only usurp its powers but also failed to carry them along.

“On the inauguration of Mr. President, C-in-C, the entire report on the exercise was forwarded to his office for consideration, due largely to its controversial nature.

“Now how does the Permanent Secretary and the Board expect the CGI to cancel an exercise that was authorised by an out-going president and forward to an in-coming one for consideration due to its contentious nature? Everyone should have waited for Mr. President’s directives on the issue.

“That was what the CGI and members of the Committee felt was appropriate in the circumstances they found themselves.”

The top officers said the recruitment of the 1,600 officers was legal, although the Presidential Committee usurped the powers of the CGI. They alleged that the suspended CGI was a mere floor member of the committee - in

violation of the Act guiding the Immigration Service.

The document said: “Before 1985/86, the Nigeria Immigration Service together with its Customs and Prisons Services counterparts were run as purely civil Service outfits and issues bordering on employment/recruitment, promotions were carried out by the Civil Service Commission. The present Customs Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CIPB) took over the responsibilities of the Civil Service Commission.

“In 1992 the three Services were granted paramilitary status and formally excised from the main stream civil service for the main reasons that they bear arms, wear uniforms and were regimented. The Immigration and Prisons Services Act, Cap. I1 LFN, 2004 (as amended) guided its functions. This Act spelt out membership powers and functions of the Board which suffered greatly under Comrade Abba Morro as Hon. Minister who, because of his political connections, undermined it by either sidelining it or ignoring it altogether.

“It was largely this attitude of his that led to the calamity of 15th March, 2015. His actions were illegal in all their ramifications in as much as they sidelined the Board.

“The Presidential Committee too is a nullity in law because it sought to carry out a function already assigned to a body without first amending the Act, especially Section 4 which expressly vests the power to make appointment into the Services.

“The same Act like its Civil Service counterpart delegated the responsibility of recruitment of levels 01-07 on the CGI. So the 1600 officers which the query of the Permanent Secretary was alluding to, to a great extent, is the prerogative of the CGI. Those of levels 08 and above is the exclusive preserve of the Board and was not in contention here.

“But we must realise that the creation of the Presidential Committee of which the CGI was neither its Chairman nor Secretary was that of former President who due to political pressure failed to fire Abba Morro and to bar him from interfering in future employment exercises created the illegal Committee to assist the Board of which he was chairman.

“The million dollar question is: how can the CGI be held responsible for either the action of the former President or that of committee of which he is a floor member. The demand of the Permanent Secretary on the CGI to

cancel the appointments could not be carried out by him for the fact that it was not a unilateral action and the matter has been placed before Mr. President for further directives.”

The officers gave details of how the Board (CDFIPB), under Moro, relegated the CGI to the background and usurped his statutory powers.

They said the board and the ministry stink of corruption.

They urged President Buhari to probe the board and the Ministry.

The document said: “The Board, especially under Abba Morro, corrupted the entire exercise whereby only the highly connected or highest bidders got promoted.

“The corruption was extended to officers serving as Immigration Attachés in foreign missions abroad.

Board members fall over themselves to travel to these missions to conduct promotions interviews because of estacode and bribes in hard currency.

“The Board concocted a theory that all Immigration Attachés abroad who are on special allowances (while their salaries are still running at home) have the children attending special schools at the government expense and living free offcharge are suffering.

“The Board that is supposed to be impartial on issues bordering on promotion is known to have candidates or favourites for promotion.

“The present CGI refused vehemently to partake in this jambore/bazaar which drew the ire of most members.

“The recent sacrilege that has generated some restiveness in the NIS is the accordance of so-called SPECIAL PROMOTION to over 30 officers without any recommendations from the NIS. “The CGI’s opposition to all these anomalies is the the reason behind the desperation of the Board.”

The Federal Government on Friday suspended Parradang for allegedly recruiting 1,600 officers without following due process.

It directed the most senior Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr. Martin Kure Abeshi, to act as the acting CG of the NIS.

Air Force intercepts Boko Haram logistics trailers •Chief of Air Staff, Army boss remain in war front From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

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HE Nigerian Air Force (NAF) yesterday said its helicopter has intercepted two trailers suspected to be carrying logistics support for members of the Boko Haram Terrorist(BHT) sect.

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai, have remained in the war front to join forces with the troops.

The Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Dele Alonge, spoke last night.

In a statement, Air Commodore Alonge said: “Two trailers suspected to be carrying logistics support for members of the Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) sect have been intercepted and destroyed by the Nigerian Air Force Agusta helicopter on armed reconnaissance mission around the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

“The trailers were covered and parked at different locations in the bush around the border town of Belel.

“The recent air operation against the BHTs was commanded by the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar from NAF reconnaissance aircraft, the King Air 350i.

“The CAS coordinated the various NAF platforms involved in the operation to provide close air support to ground forces, led by the Chief of the Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, as they advance from Dikwa to Gamboru Ngala.

“Meanwhile, NAF 260, a Mi-24V attack helicopter was hit during the operation. One of the main rotor blades was hit and damaged however the pilot was able to successfully fly the helicopter back to base to land.

“The affected aircraft has since been repaired and is back to the theater of operation.”

Youths hail Senate for reviewing electricity billing

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HE National Association of Youths for Good Governance (NAYGG) has lauded the Eighth Senate for its intervention aimed at checkmating the excesses of power distribution companies (Discos) in billing electricity consumers across the country.

The group, in a statement by its National President, Godwin Chukwuemeka and Publicity Secretary, Simon Akaa praised Senate President Bukola Saraki-led upper chamber for coming to the aid of Nigerians who are being unduly exploited by Discos.

The NAYGG noted that the call by the Senate on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to review the fixed charge regime and discontinue bulk metering of communities is a welcome development which showed that the Senate is not only responsive but also responsible to their constituents.

According to the group, the Eighth Senate under the leadership of Dr. Saraki has proved to be a listening and compassionate assembly. They have shown that unlike in the past, now when the people have a problem bothering them they can always resort to the legislative body for succour.

“The Senate since its inauguration on the June 9 has continued to show itself as a pro-masses legislature going by its many interventions directed at alleviating the suffering of the people. We voted for change in the last election and there is no better way to manifest that change than the way the Senate has done. They acted for and on behalf of the Senate.

“The other time, Saraki personally led a delegation of the Senate to Maiduguri to identify with the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) thus making history as the first Senate President to visit the Boko Haram-ravaged territory.

“The Senate had also directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to recover illegal rice importation waivers granted by the immediate past administration.

“The directive the Senate had said was aimed at shoring up our dwindling economy as a result of the sharp fall in the prices of oil at the international market as well as blocking avenues of financial leakages in the system. These are the kind of things we expect from our representatives in the upper chambers of the National Assembly.”

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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NEWS

Why I’m fighting to stop Wike’s probe, by Amaechi

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ORMER Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has explained why he opposed the Judicial Commission of Enquiry set up by his successor, Nyesom Wike, to probe selected government transactions under the former administration.

In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by his Media Office, Amaechi said he was not afraid of a fair and decent probe or investigation or enquiry of his administration.

The former governor promised to cooperate with the probe, if it is done “within the ambits of our laws”.

The statement reads: “However, what Wike has set out to do is anything but a fair probe. The commission will not be fair to Amaechi because it was set up to indict him. Wike had repeatedly held that Amaechi, the person to be investigated, acted illegally in the disbursement of public funds and that he ran a corrupt government.

“Clearly, Wike has prejudged the matter and showed his bias that Amaechi is guilty, even before investigations. This means Wike, with his prejudiced, made-up mind, has taken

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

a position of a guilty verdict, even before the outcome is known or established.

“The same Wike, who had adjudged the yet-to-be-investigated conduct of Amaechi as illegal and Amaechi as corrupt, is the same person that has set up a commission of enquiry and will have the final say on the findings of the commission. What a sham!

“This bias and a predetermined agenda to indict Amaechi is obvious, even in the terms of reference of the commission. In one of the defective terms of reference, Wike said the commission should investigate the circumstances that led to the ‘sale of the state Hotel Olympia’. With a fair and decent probe, the enquiry should have been ‘to examine (or investigate) the transaction concerning Hotel Olympia’. The difference is so clear: in the former, jaundiced Wike’s term of reference, it has been prejudiced and concluded that the hotel was sold; in the latter, the enquiry is open and fair, and may lead to a finding of a sale or a lease or a gift or even a pledge.

“Now, having so concluded that

Hotel Olympia was sold, would Wike be decent and humble enough to reverse himself, if documents showed it was never sold but concessioned or leased? This is one of the dangers of Wike’s commission that harbours a predetermined outcome in the name of an enquiry. Amaechi will not subject himself to Wike’s deceit and phony shenanigans. Hotel Olympia was never sold. It was only concessioned (or leased) on the approval of the State Executive Council (Exco) and not sold.

“Even while inaugurating his yeoman commission of enquiry, Wike could not conceal his vendetta agenda. He was clear to the panel members that their job is to indict Amaechi. To do the job, he got Justice G. O. Omereji (the commission’s chairman), a man who is well known to harbour a long held, extreme anger, hatred and animosity against Amaechi.

“Justice Omereji has never disguised his stance and disposition towards Amaechi. As a matter of fact, Justice Omereji even advised a former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) chairman in Rivers State on measures (to take)

against the then Governor Amaechi. He expressed his hatred for Amaechi several times to the NBA chairman, who was also an Attorney-General of Rivers State. How can we now expect Justice Omereji to be fair to Amaechi, the person he passionately loathes with extreme malice and venom?

“Anyone who has been following events in Rivers State knows this Wike’s probe is just a sham, a deceptive mission to indict Amaechi. Wike’s onepoint agenda is to go after his predecessor. Immediately Wike took over, he made a show and gave a performance of his false accusations that Amaechi stripped the Governor’s Lodge bare, saying that the former governor stole spoons, plates, knives, cups, mattresses, forks and even curtains from the Governor’s Lodge!

“However, in the images Wike portrayed to back his lies, the curtains in the lodge were clearly there, seen and intact.

“Again, Wike claimed he met an empty treasury. That again is another big lie and grand deception. We have said that Amaechi left billions of naira and we even mentioned the banks and

give the names of the accounts the money was lodged in, as at May 29, 2015. We challenge Wike to publish the statements of these accounts and other Rivers State Government Ministries’, Departments’ and Agencies’ (MDAs’) accounts as at May 29, to prove his claim and show the public that Amaechi left an empty treasury for him.

“This Wike’s probe is dead on arrival. It’s ill-conceived and ill-motivated. Wike’s probe is designed to twist and distort, or even completely alter selected legitimate government transactions in his desperation to cook up and fabricate sham cases of corruption against Amaechi. Wike’s probe commission shall not achieve anything beyond political excitements, entertainment and theatrics.

“Finally, Amaechi will continue to use every constitutional and legal means available to protect his name and image from this massive smear campaign, state-sponsored onslaught against him by the Wike-led government, whose sole agenda is a desperate search for Amaechi’s political downfall.”

I won’t fail Rivers residents, Wike pledges

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IVERS State Governor Nyesom Wike has said his administration will not fail the people.

The governor assured that his leadership would sustain ongoing development projects and programmes across the state.

Addressing Christian faithful during the 23rd anniversary of Royal House of Grace in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Wike said his administration was anchored on God and would always work for the people.

According to him, he became governor with the prayers of men of God and his faith in God, despite the challenges he face during campaigns.

He said: “I will not fail the people of Rivers State. This administration will continue to deliver on all fronts.

“If not for God, I would not have emerged as governor. If it had been for money, there was no way I would have become governor.”

Wike noted that despite the financial challenges his administration was facing in paying workers’ salaries and pensioners’ entitlements, his administration had overcome the challenges.

The governor he had cleared the backlog of salaries, pensions and was executing projects.

He said: “You have a responsible government that will continue to listen to the people. We shall continue to improve and we will always take cognisance of constructive criticism.”

Evangelist Uma Ukpai described Wike as God’s answer to the people’s prayers for development.

Bayelsa PDP senator regrets members’ defection From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

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HE senator representing Bayelsa Central in the National Assembly, Emmanuel Paulker, yesterday regretted the defection of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) heavyweights to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Paulker said he was not comfortable that top PDP members were defecting to the APC ahead of the December 5 governorship election.

Addressing reporters in Yenagoa, the state capital, during his thanksgiving, the third-term senator expressed worry about developments in the state’s PDP. He recalled that a similar crisis at the centre was among the reasons the PDP lost the presidential election.

Paulker said the exit of five PDP governors to the APC created confusion that unsettled the then ruling party before the last general elections.

He said: “As a politician, definitely I am not comfortable, especially as regard the people that left my party, the PDP. I am not comfortable. When you have been bitten by a snake, you will jump when you see a lizard cross your path.

“I am saying this because of my knowledge of what happened to us at the centre. It began with the exit of five governors and it took quite some time to pull ourselves together.

Before we got ourselves back, the election was around the corner. You all know what happened; it is history now.”

Paulker said the PDP was making moves to bring back the defectors, adding that he still remained a PDP member.

The senator said he was consulting on his governorship ambition, which he would soon make public.

He said his ambition should not cause trouble to anybody since as a citizen and a party member he has the right to pursue his political aspirations.

Paulker said: “Every qualified person is free to contest. I have had calls from many groups asking me to contest the election. But at the appropriate time, I will make my intentions known.”

The senator denied a rift with Governor Seriake Dickson.

According to him, he has never castigated the governor for any reason.

•From right: Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Acting National Chairman Prince Uche Secondus and Rivers State Local Government Service Commission Chairman Chief Azubuike Mmerukini, during the 23rd anniversary of the Royal House of Grace, in Port Harcourt, the state capital ...yesterday

Akpabio mortgaged Akwa Ibom treasury, says APC KWA IBOM State All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused former Governor (now Senator) Godswill Akpabio of mortgaging the treasury to a popular new generation bank.

In a statement yesterday in Oyu, the state capital, by its Publicity Secretary, Ita Awak, the party said Governor Udom Emmanuel was recruited from the bank and foisted on Akwa

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From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

Ibom because of what it called a “secret” agreement between Akpabio and “his partners” to allegedly enslave the people.

APC noted that since Emmanuel became governor, his administration had not told the people how much debt it inherited.

The party said Emmanuel had not informed the lawmak-

ers what the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government under Akpabio owed commercial banks.

It stressed that despite the anomaly, the state government was seeking approval for the restructuring of outstanding debts owed commercial banks into Federal Government bonds.

APC said: “We know that the Akpabio government received over N3 trillion in eight years. It is,

‘Office of SGF was not only about Anyim’

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PUBLISHER, Ethelbert Okere, has faulted Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe’s claim in a lecture that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), under Anyim Pius Anyim, allegedly spent N1.4 billion on computer software.

Abaribe, who spoke when he delivered a lecture at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), reportedly said the office got and spent more than was necessary for running it between 2013 and this year.

In a statement, Okere, a journalist and author, said the SGF’s office was not only about Anyim because it had 13 permanent secretaries.

By Joseph Jibueze

He said not a few Nigerians would wonder why Abaribe illustrated his lecture with only what transpired in the SGF’s office.

According to him, Abaribe was among those who approved the budgets for the SGF’s office, and it is not on record that the senator raised objections to the budgets.

Okere said the lecture, entitled: Our country, our budgets: A critical analysis of Nigeria’s budgetary system, should not have made only ‘scanty references’ to just one office.

therefore, baffling that Emmanuel should be talking of restructuring our debts into bonds that would be repaid in 15 to 20 years.”

The party faulted the appointment of Mr. Linus Nkan, from Zenith Bank, as the state’s Accountant-General.

It said the hasty manner Nkan was recruited could not be in the interest of Akwa Ibom State residents.

APC said: “We strongly question the rationale why Mr. Nkan was recruited, made a director and appointed A-G, whereas the Akwa Ibom State civil service has a rich pool of highly qualified accountants in the rank of ‘directors’, who would have been made the Accountant-General.”

The party urged Emmanuel to tell Akwa Ibom residents how much the Akpabio administration was owing financial institutions.

The party appealed to the governor to tell the people how much Akpabio left in the treasury as at May 28.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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NEWS I was not invited to witness box, says Mark From Gbade Ogunwale, X-Senate President Abuja David Mark has denied media reports Ikonne, merely announced indicating that he refused to his presence and he enter the witness box at the (Ikonne) proceeded to adelection petition being heard dress the panel. At no point did he or the panel at the tribunal.

The candidate of the All invite Senator Mark to the Progressives Congress witness box.

“Ikonne thereafter ten(APC) in the Benue South senatorial election, Benard dered three documents, Onjeh, is challenging Mark’s which were neither contradicted nor objected to by election at the tribunal.

A statement yesterday by the opponent’s counsel beMark’s media adviser, Mr. fore the tribunal admitted Kola Ologbondiyan, said the same as evidence.

“We urge journalists to report that Mark declined to enter the witness box was abide by the sacred tenets unfounded and mischievous. of journalism, which The statement said: “Our among other things, upattention has been drawn to hold the sanctity of the The Nation report of Wednes- truth at all times, no matday, August 19 in which the ter the level of interest benewspaper mischievously cause it takes good constated that ‘Senator Mark re- science to practise journalism.”

•From left: Emir of Birnin-gwari, Alhaji Zubairu Maigwari; Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Iliyasu Basher and the Sultan of Sokoto, fused to enter the witness Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, at the inauguration of the 2015 airlift of pilgrims to Mecca in Kaduna...at the weekend PHOTO: NAN box’.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Senator Mark was not invited to the witness box by the Benue State Election Petition Tribunal in Makurdi throughout the proceedings WARA State govspeedy approval of Governor of that day. So the issue of ernment has given Abdulfattah Ahmed’s request refusal to enter the witness reasons for its plan to convert the N5billion ar- box never arose.

From Adekunle Jimoh, to access N5billion from the “If Senator Mark apstanding salary and pension rears into a Federal GovernIlorin Central Bank of Nigeria arrears, let alone develop- ment bailout loan and hoped peared at the tribunal, why (CBN), for the Federal Govthat the intervention would would he refuse to enter the A breakdown of the ment projects. ernment bailout loan.

The government ex- make salary and pension ar- witness box if the panel so N5billion liability shows It said the loan was the that as at July 2015, the total pressed confidence that the rears at the councils an issue desires to invite him. cheapest and most efficient salary arrears for local gov- N5billion loan bailout would of the past.

“For the record, when means of paying accumulat- ernment workers was N2, clear outstanding arrears and It said the government’s Senator Mark appeared at the ed arrears of salaries and al- 012, 999, 522.40, while salary provide the councils with af- renewed IGR drive would tribunal, his counsel, Ken •Mark lowances owed primary arrears for primary school fordable repayments so that augment any future shortfalls school teachers and local teachers stood at N2, 143, 414, they would meet future sala- in allocations from the FedKogi 2015: Party chair predicts government workers.

338.55. Total local govern- ry, pension and project obli- eral Government and solicitThe loan also covers ar- ment pension arrears stood gations. ed the support of the indivictory for APC rears of pensions and gratu- at N523, 160, 259.38, arrears The statement reiterated genes and residents to the inities owed retired local gov- for councils’ statutory contri- that the government does not itiative’s success.

From James Azania, Lokoja ernment workers.

The All Progressives ConHE Kogi State Chairman of the All Progressives butions to the Kwara State interfere with local governIn a statement, the Special University (KWASU) was ment funds, as due allocations gress (APC) in the state supCongress (APC), Alhaji Haddy Ametuo, has said the Assistant to Governor Ab- N70, 464, 259.89 and out- are released after statutory ported the government to sevictory of his party in the governorship election is a dulfatah Ahmed on Media standing payments for sun- deductions for teachers’ sala- cure the loan, saying it would forgone conclusion. and Communications, Dr. dry services was put at N267, ries, pensions and gratuities, serve the best interest of the Addressing reporters in Lokoja yesterday, he said it would Muideen Akorede, said the 806, 538.40. people. teaching service allowance, N5b loan, when received, Spokesperson for the be foolhardy for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to desire Providing further clarifi- statutory contributions to would bring relief to coun- cation, the state government KWASU, training and sundry party, Alhaji Sulyman Bu- ruling the state in the next dispensation, having disappointed cils, their workers and reti- said it was clear from the fig- support services. hari, said the party dis- the people.

Ametuo said after four years, the performance of the rees, as federal allocations ures that the N3.6billion It stressed that bank charg- missed the criticism of the Governor Idris Wada administration was not satisfactory. were inadequate to meet sal- combined June and July allo- es and loan repayments were bailout loan by the opposiHe said the inability of the PDP-led government to impact ary, pension and gratuity cation to the 16 local govern- deducted at source by banks. tion Peoples Democratic on the lives of the people would make it easier for the APC to obligations at the state and ments was inadequate to Party (PDP) as a criticism The government hailed win. local government levels. meet the present and out- the House of Assembly for its built on falsehood.

The electorate, the APC chairman said, deserved a better deal.

His words: “The majority of the people cannot wait to vote out the PDP administration on November 21, following its poor performance. I’m confident that the electorate will vote for a positive change.

“Why is the Wada administration pulling down an enduring GOVERNORSHIP as- for the Abuja model when edifice at the Kogi Hotel instead of giving the structure a modern pirant in the All Pro- he becomes the governor. touch? It remains doubtful whether the project will be completed gressives Congress “It is my wish to redefine before the expiration of the present administration.

(APC) in the coming gov- the concept of living in Kogi ernorship election in Kogi State. We will ensure that State, Dr. Onukaba Adinoyi- our people live in well From Jide Orintunsin, Minna Ojo, has said poor and in- planned and serviced comadequate housing in the munities and not the HE Niger State chapter of the International Federation state was giving him a present haphazard, filthy of Female Lawyers (FIDA) yesterday vowed to headache. abodes that we have now in apprehend and prosecute a Kaduna-based spiritualist, Onukaba, a leading as- the state. We will create a who allegedly drugged and defiled a 33-year-old woman pirant in the November 21 conducive environment for under the guise of delivering her from spiritual attacks. election, said in a statement quality residential and busiThe suspect, Mallam Haruna Bello of Jikin Katangan by his campaign office yes- ness estates to spring up. village in Kaduna State, claimed to have a solution to the terday that Kogi State has a “We will be very creaspiritual problems of his victim, Jemila Ibrahim, who lives severe housing deficit. tive and innovative. My adin Minna, the Niger State capital.

Commander, Army Corps of Engineers, Maj.-Gen He said: “Many of our ministration will encourage •Former Sardauna Davies (right), decorating his successor, Maj.-Gen. It was learnt that Jemila approached the spiritualist for people live in shacks and home ownership by creat- Edmund Obi at the handing over in Lagos...at the weekend cleansing from spiritual attacks, but he instead allegedly those who want to build or ing site and service layouts PHOTO: PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU. drugged and defiled her, which resulted in pregnancy. buy decent homes face con- in each of the 21 local govBello was alleged to have mixed some concoctions and straints. The people of Kogi ernments and several ones Group to Okun aspirants: don’t she gave his victim to drink. The woman fell asleep and he cannot continue to live this in Lokoja for people to defiled her. way.” destroy power shift build their houses accordThe Chairperson of FIDA, Fati Suleiman Takuma, who The aspirant said Kogi’s ing to specification,” he addressed reporters in Minna while presenting food items, proximity to the Federal said.

COALITION of Okun Democratic Movement at the clothes and an undisclosed amount to the victim, who was Capital Territory ought to weekend urged aspirants from Okun land in Kogi delivered of a baby last week, promised that the association Onukaba also has plans have encouraged the state f o r i n d u s t r i a l p a r k s t o West, for the Kogi governorship election, not to allow in terms of development, service the already exist- their personal ambition destroy the power shift struggle by would prosecute Bello.

She said all hands should be on deck to ensure the had past administrations ing Ajaokuta Steel Compa- the leaders of the area. elimination of violence against women and children. been mindful of their re- ny and the Nigerian Iron The movement in a statement by its General Secretary, Her words: “We have been taking care of the victim, but sponsibilities to the people O r e M i n i n g C o m p a n y , Chief Kayode Bamidele Ariyo, said there could never be “in this richly-endowed Itakpe as well as the pro- power shift in Kogi State if aspirants from Okun land or any unfortunately the offence occurred in Kaduna State. We have contacted the chairperson of FIDA in the state for action. I state.” posed Greenfield Refinery place in the central and west senatorial districts settled for have sent the details so that she can take up from there to Onukaba said he will opt at Eviya. the deputy governor. ensure that the suspect is apprehended and arraigned.”

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Kwara justifies bid for N5b bailout

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•APC backs govt

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Onukaba to provide decent homes in Kogi

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Female lawyers vow to prosecute ‘rapist’

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

NEWS Court strikes out Ezea’s petition

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HE Court of Appeal in Enugu State has dismissed the appeal by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Okey Ezea, for lack of merit and competence.

Ezea was challenging the victory of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The tribunal struck out some paragraphs of the petition on the grounds that they were imprecise, vague, related to party nomination and contained criminal allegations against people who were not parties to the petition.

Consequently, Ezea filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal, challenging the tribunal’s decision In a unanimous judgment, the court held that the petitioners’ notice of appeal was not properly signed, adding that it flouted the fundamental requirement that a notice of appeal must be signed by an iden-

• Ugwuanyi addressing supporters at the Government House in Enugu after the tribunal upheld his victory

tified petitioner or his lawyer.

“The name and signature of the counsel, who signed the

appeal was not indicated. Six lawyers and addresses were indicated but these did not indi-

cate the person who signed the petition.

“It is incurably bad and a

fundamental error, which makes the notice of appeal incompetent. Even if the appeal

FUTO defends VC’s wife’s promotion

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HE management of the Federal University of Technology (FUTO), Owerri, has insisted that the conferment of Professorship on the wife of the Vice Chancellor, Dr Ihuoma Asiabaka, followed due process, and was in accordance with the extant laws of the university.

Reacting to a newspaper publication in a newspaper that Dr Asiabaka’s promotion was influenced and did not follow due process, the management said Asiabaka’s appointment was subjected to internal processes as well as external assessment.

Addressing reporters at the

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

university’s Senate chambers, the Registrar, Mr. Orje Ishegnor, Director, Academic Planning, Prof. Gibson Okorafor and Director, University Admission, Prof. Israel Chukwuemeka Ndukwe, maintained that Asiabaka’s appointment was neither induced nor influenced as she was promoted with five others.

Ishegnor said: “The university system is the most democratic in the country because you have people that are well read, very knowledgeable, very critical and

independent-minded. The university is a structured society where everything must conform with the laws establishing it.

“Relevant committees sat on Prof. Asiabaka’s case, as well as that of other eligible persons.”

The management noted that Asiabaka, the director, Centre for Women and Gender Development Studies, was a senior lecturer at the Imo State University (IMSU) and was due for Associate Professorship before she joined FUTO in 2011.

“She was assessed and offered that position when she joined us in 2011. Having

served as Reader or Associate Professor for three years, which is our qualified period of assessment to the next rank, her name was put forward to the Central Appraisal Committee for Professorial assessment where we established a pre-ma facie, before her papers were sent for external assessment.

“We challenge whoever wants to scrutinise her dossier to come forward for the verification. We are satisfied with the procedure we used for appointment and promotion in this university and it can stand under the most stringent scrutiny,” the management said.

desecrating Igbo tradition’ Fire‘Stop alarm at NNPC’s Aba depot T HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southeast has called on Igbo leaders to stop desecrating the long-standing Igbo tradition in the name of defending former President Goodluck Jonathan.

A statement by its spokesman, Osita Okechukwu, said the timeless Igbo tradition, which admonishes “us not to steal and not to defend or associate with rogues, or even alleged rogues,” was being breached by prominent Igbo sons.

The statement reads: “We are yet to locate any sentence where any of them denied the mindless and unbridled corruption which governed Jonathan’s tenure; we stand to be corrected.

“The latest in the defence of

From Chris Oji, Enugu

Jonathan’s administration is that of the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Joe Nwaorgu, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to probe past administrations beyond Jonathan’s administration– ‘…if the President is probing, he should go beyond the last administration or else it will be witch-hunting. He should go deeper than that; Chief Obasanjo’s administration should be probed…’

“In making his hate-speech, he failed to consider President Buhari’s profound statement ‘I believe it is time for Nigeria to change course. That is why I sought for election.

As President, I am determined that Nigeria must move away from the course

of endemic corruption that was leading us to perdition.

There can be no question of our wilfully allowing anyone to get away with corruption.

No matter the pressure and entreaties, the anti-corruption war will continue and all accused persons will have their day in court’.

“May we appeal to Chief Joe Nwaorgu and his cohorts, if actually the interest of Ndigbo is what they fight for, to come down from their high horses, drop their ancient stereotypes, stop the hate narratives and embrace the true position that Ndigbo stands to gain more from President Buhari’s administration than we gained from our support to former President Jonathan.

“It is our view that Ndigbo, as all groups in the coun-

try, stand to gain more from a transparent administration, which caters for both the talented and the needy, than a predator administration, which dispensed only patronage to cronies.

“Secondly, the Igbo ethnic merchants and gossip-terrorists, who bandy all manner of conspiracy hate theories against President Buhari, must come to terms that an eight-year tenure of the man of uncommon integrity is the surest route to the actualisation of a President of Igbo extraction, given the zoning convention.

“In the context submitted above, it is time to think out of the box and reason that Ndigbo’s support for President Muhammadu Buhari is a win-win game for all.”

Man rapes widow to death in Ebonyi

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34-YEAR-old widow and mother of four, Mrs. Ogodo Egede, has been raped to death by a 40year-old, Alex Nwabu, in Egwudunagu, Amachi community in Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Nwabu, who had been having carnal knowledge of the widow before now, was said to have threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

Mrs. Egede’s body was covered with bruises.

A family source said when the suspect continued the act,

From Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki

Mrs. Egede’s daughter, a 13year-old, was forced to leave the house for threatening to expose Nwabu.

“The girl ran to her grandparents in the night because Nwabu threatened to kill her.

She came to greet her mother in the morning but met her dead body. She consequently informed her grand-father.”

The youth declared a search party for Nwabu and found him in his father’s compound.

He admitted to committing

the crime.

Nwabu said: “Mrs. Egodo owed me N1, 500 which she refused to pay. I actually asked her for sex and she refused. I later forced her but I didn’t know she will die because I didn’t intend to kill her.

“She struggled with me and I got angry and beat her up. I had sex with her for several hours.”

Egede’s father, Chief Ogbonna Ogayi, said his granddaughter ran to him in the night and reported that Nwabu came to their house to harass their mother with a cutlass.

“I had told my daughter to come to my house so that she can be properly cared for but she refused. She said she wouldn’t want her late husband’s lineage to go into extinction because he had no immediate brother and relations,” Ogayi said.

The body has been deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA) mortuary. Nwabu has been detained at the Central Police Station in Abakaliki.

Police spokesman Chris Anyanwu could not be reached for comments.

was properly signed, the petition still lacks merit and competence,” the court held.

Fashion designer kills colleague in Umuahia From Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

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FASHION designer, John Ifeanyi has killed his colleague, Tony Kalu, with a scissors in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.

Ifeanyi accused Tony of not partaking in the weekly cleanup, an allegation Tony refuted. This led to the exchange of words and near fistcuffs.

According to an eyewitness, Ifeanyi, with a pair of scissors, stabbed Tony in the neck.

Ifeanyi attempted to run after stabbing Tony but shouts by neighbours drew the attention of a passing police patrol team, which arrested him.

Police spokesman Ezekiel Onyeke confirmed the incident.

He said investigation had begun.

Enugu disco laments meter by-pass

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HE Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has lamented the high incidence of meter by-pass and tampering by consumers in the five states of the Southeast.

This is as consumers have lamented estimated bills, absence of meters, delay in repairing faulty transformers, prolonged power outages and fixed charges. They called on the company to improve its services before considering tariff review.

Addressing customers as part of consultations for applying the tariff review, EEDC’s Managing Director, Mr. Robertson Dickerman, said the new meters would check incessant by-pass and tampering.

The consultative meeting, he said, was a requirement of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and had taken the company to all state in the Southeast.

He said EEDC had begun procurement and installation of pre-paid single-phase and three-phase meters.

Dickerman said EEDC was poised to provide effective services to consumers. According to him, the company had earmarked N25 billion for investment in Geographic Information System (GIS) and enumeration of customers and assets, adding that the investment would cover transformers, construction of relief substations and network expansion.

He explained that fixed charges was a necessary component of electricity tariffs as it would support capacity charges for the generation

•Budgets N25b for GIS From Chris Oji, Enugu

companies as well as capital, maintenance and fixed costs of other electricity market participants.

“Since electricity generation companies and Transmission Company of Nigeria do not charge customers directly, the tariffs charged by every distribution company must support the effective operations of the distribution company, the transmission company and generation company”, he said.

He said on the average, 60 per cent of the amount billed to each customer was for generation companies, 15 per cent for the transmission and other service providers, while 25 per cent was for the operation of the distribution company.

“Support the increases in generation and transmission to allow appropriate tariffs and pay the bills in full.

“This will enable EEDC pay the generation and transmission companies to enable them make required investments or raise the capital needed to do so. The absence of cost-reflective tariffs and non-payment of bills by some customers prevents Nigeria from receiving the additional generation and transmission capacity that we all need”, Dickerman said.

The Managing Director explained that the proposed tariff review will be for ten years, between 2015 and 2025, adding that the company would avoid tariff shock by deferring some of its allowable revenue in the early years to later years.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

THE NATION MAONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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NATION SPORT

Goal-scoring debut excites Pedro

Sanchez, Suarez ´at the same level´ - Wenger

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RSENAL manager, Arsene Wenger believes Alexis Sanchez is on the same level as Barcelona star, Luis Suarez.

Sanchez scored 25 goals in all competitions for Arsenal in 2014-15 after making a £35million move from Barcelona ahead of last season.

The signing came a year after Wenger had chased Suarez from Liverpool before the Uruguayan made the switch to Barca in mid-2014.

But Wenger feels Sanchez is just as good as Suarez, who scored 25 goals in 43 appearances for Barca in his first season with the La Liga giants.

"They are at the same level," the Frenchman said.

"Suarez is a central striker and Sanchez is more a wide player who likes to go up and down and is involved in dribbling.

"But they have similarities. In South America they are richer in strikers than Europe.

"You look at [Sergio] Aguero, [Lionel] Messi, Suarez, Sanchez, I could name many of them.

They produce more than us and we have to look at ourselves and •Pedro

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EDRO Rodriguez declared himself "very happy" after scoring one goal and making another on his debut to help Chelsea to a 3-2 win at West Bromwich Albion.

Monaco reject PSG approach for Kurzawa

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ARIS Saint-Germain have had a bid rejected for defender Layvin Kurzawa, Monaco vicepresident Vadim Vasilyev has confirmed.

Kurzawa has been widely linked with a move away from the Stade Louis II, with PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City credited with an interest in the leftback.

Reports in the French media had previously claimed Monaco had turned down an approach from the Ligue 1 champions.

There has also been talk that the club could be forced to sell Kurzawa if they fail to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage. Monaco trail Valencia 3-1 from the first leg of their play-off tie.

Having arrived from Barcelona earlier this week Pedro was thrust straight into action by manager Jose Mourinho on Chelsea's right flank. He opened his account with a deflected shot in the tenth minute following a onetwo with Eden Hazard before teeing up Diego Costa and despite the second-half dismissal of John Terry for a professional foul, the visitors held out for their first win of the Premier League season.

"I enjoyed my debut a lot with this team. I'm very happy for the victory," Pedro told Sky Sports. Asked if it had been important to score, he replied: "It's important for me, for my integration in the team.

I'm very happy."

James Morrison, who had earlier seen a penalty saved

by Thibaut Courtois, brought West Brom back into the game, but Chelsea prevailed thanks to a 42nd-minute goal from Cesar Azpilicueta despite Terry's dismissal and Morrison finding the net again in the second half.

Cesc Fabregas, who plays alongside Pedro for Spain and was a former team-mate of his at Barcelona, said he was not surprised to see the 28-yearold make such a speedy impact.

"I knew straight away he

•Sanchez •Suarez

see how we can correct that."

Wenger, whose men host Liverpool on Monday, lauded Sanchez's directness and explosiveness in the attacking third.

"Sanchez has that desire to

go forward and provoke, he is a guy who provokes chaos in the defences because he has a go at them. He does not go across, he goes straight.

His desire to go forward, to provoke opponents, to run at

people, creates danger," he said.

"And he plays to win in every single game. I have had players like that before, players who want to win so much, but he has the style as well.

Bayern confirm Benatia hamstring injury

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AYERN Munich have confirmed Medhi Benatia is set for a

stint on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury.

The Morocco defender was taken off in the 36th minute of Bayern's 2-1 win at

Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Bayern will now likely have to cope without Benatia for their next Bundesliga clash, which sees Pep Guardiola's men welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Allianz Arena.

Ibe desperate for goals

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IVERPOOL attacker, Jordon Ibe is eager to add goals to his game and match Raheem Sterling's performances for the club.

Ibe, 19, has impressed for Brendan Rodgers' men since returning from his loan stint at Derby County in January.

Without a goal in 19 senior appearances for Liverpool, Ibe said hitting the back of the net was high on his list of areas to

improve – and he has been getting tips from one of the club's greats.

"I know there is stuff I need to work on, goalscoring being one of the main things and I came in for extra sessions over summer to get a bit more coaching and practice," Ibe said.

"The first day I came in it was just [academy director] Alex Inglethorpe and me doing some work on shooting and crossing.

•Benatia

•Ibe

•Kurzawa

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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COMMENTARY EDITORIALS

LETTER

Shocking revelation • NEITI’s report that oil firms owe Nigeria N1.38trn is disturbing

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HE report by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) ,that oil companies owe the Federal Government a whopping sum of N1.38 trillion in unpaid sundry fees and taxes is an indictment of our revenue agencies. It is also an indictment of the past government, both the executive and legislative arms, considering the provisions of the constitution and other extant laws providing for checks and balances in government, primed to prevent such leakages. There is also the likelihood that such humongous amount cannot be withheld by the oil companies without the criminal collusion of some state officials.

According to an official of NEITI, the sum is made up of underpayments, under-assessments arising from subjective interpretations of Memorandum of Understanding, and tax laws. The agency also said that it had in its various reports notified the past government of this gross abuse by many of the oil companies, and that no action was taken. It is strange that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), statutorily empowered to protect the resources of our country, had turned out as grossly inefficient. The tragedy of the recent era is that those making money from our resources are not paying taxes, while those paid to protect them are stealing from the resources.

So, we ask the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately demand the payment of the taxes and the underpayments from the defaulting companies. The government should also ask

the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to determine if any laws had been breached, and if this is the case, to determine those to be held accountable for the infractions. Where the companies dispute the NEITI report, the Office of the Auditor- General should inaugurate an independent audit panel, for a forensic audit of the taxes due and paid by the concerned oil companies, and advise the government accordingly.

Where it is established that any official of the state had colluded with the oil companies to defraud our country, the government should not hesitate to hand over those concerned, whether from our country or the oil companies, to relevant security and prosecutor agencies, for indictment and trial. Reports of sleaze, particularly under the past governments have become so rampant that unless the Buhari government manifestly shows a willingness to bring those responsible to account, Nigerians may lose faith in the country. As we have said here, severally, the present government has no option as to what to do about corruption in recent times.

We also urge the government to bear in mind that the international community is watching us. In the comity of nations, nobody would take the government of a country with such laxity over national assets, seriously. It is also likely that if no action is taken, other companies with similar dodgy tendencies on taxes and corporate responsibilities would find

Nigeria a safe haven for their nefarious actions. Even international donor and multilateral agencies may begin to lose faith; and withhold important grants that could help Nigeria accelerate development.

Indeed, the companies involved in this shameful conduct should be named, and shamed. Even where state officials are willing to engage in duplicity, any company that lays claim to international best practices should, without any further ado, own up and pay what they owe. After all, none of the companies involved in the unwholesome conduct would dare such an action where the laws are efficient. The companies involved also know that their action could put them in serious trouble, particularly if the offer or acceptance of bribe was part of this shameful report.

‘Where it is established that any official of the state had colluded with the oil companies to defraud our country, the government should not hesitate to hand over those concerned, whether from our country or the oil companies, to relevant security and prosecutor agencies for indictment and trial’

Tomato troubles

•Nigeria must develop the enormous potential of its agro-allied industry

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RECENT declaration that Nigeria is losing an estimated US$ 1 billion annually due to the importation of processed tomato products underlines the tragedy of a nation that has consistently refused to wean itself off its unwholesome dependence on crude oil for its foreign exchange earnings.

This utterly unnecessary situation is compounded by allegations that most of the imported tomato products are unfit for human consumption because they are either fake or substandard. Foreign businessmen are said to go to Asia, where cheap tomato products are produced through the addition of starch and colouring, and then smuggled into Nigeria.

Why does Nigeria waste so much of its own agricultural produce, only to import much of it in processed form at great cost in foreign exchange? The answer lies in the inability of the nation to develop a fully integrated agricultural sector encompassing cultivation, transportation,

‘Why does Nigeria waste so much of its own agricultural produce, only to import much of it in processed form at great cost in foreign exchange? The answer lies in the inability of the nation to develop a fully integrated agricultural sector’

storage, processing and export.

In the instance of tomato production, for example, the country is said to waste up to 70 per cent of its annual crop mainly due to post-harvest wastage emanating from inadequate storage and the absence of processing facilities. Such wastage is all the more alarming given the huge potential: Nigeria is ranked the second largest producer of tomatoes in Africa, and 13th in the world. Tomato production is said to take up an estimated one million hectares producing 1.701 million tonnes per annum at an average of between 20 and 30 tonnes per hectare.

Tomatoes are just one of a whole range of agricultural products the country is fully or potentially self-sufficient in, but which are imported in processed form from other nations. They include rice, oranges and other fruits. Even yam and cassava, where Nigeria’s comparative advantage is outstanding, and whose processed products are in demand globally, are vulnerable to this situation.

The consequences for Nigeria are obvious. Although the country’s food import bill dropped from U.S. $7 billion to U.S. $ 4.3 billion in 2014, the reduced amount is still far too large for a nation that was an agricultural superpower at independence in 1960. In addition, national economic development is stunted due to a consistent inability to build up a thriving agro-allied industrial base; thriving economies like Malaysia, South Africa, Israel and Brazil all got their initial economic boost in this way.

If Nigeria is to resolve the related issues of post-harvest waste and the de-

velopment of agro-allied industry, it must first look at the crucial issue of crop storage. No matter how bounteous the nation’s harvest is, such productivity will count for little if the crops cannot be stored. During the Babangida era, there was a renewed emphasis on the construction of a network of storage silos across the nation, but it appears that successive administrations have not displayed a similar zeal. This must change.

Another strategy is to fast-track the construction of food-processing plants as part of the overall agricultural expansion strategy, and to promulgate legislation that would reduce the importation of processed food items. Many companies in the food-processing sub-sector continually complain about the way in which cheap imports have devastated their business. Unless uncontrolled importation and smuggling are fought to a standstill, there can be no sense in setting up indigenous food-processing firms.

It might also be necessary for the country’s politicians to lead by example, by emphasising the use of locally-processed food products at state occasions.

It is the height of hypocrisy to make all the right noises about the agro-allied industry, only to waste scarce resources on food imported from other nations. The sales of processed palm wine are negligible in Nigeria, but the country is one of the world’s top consumers of French champagne.

Ultimately, the drive to develop a robust agro-allied industry and substantially reduce post-harvest waste will require determination, consistency and patriotism.

Buhari’s international relations

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IR: With the victory of President Mohammadu Buhari in the 2015 general elections, Nigeria has become the beautiful

bride in the choppy waters of international politics and diplomatic relations. However, there is a growing perception that the renewed relationship and friendship between the United States and Nigeria is being driven solely by America’s need for trade relations in the face of the growing influence and dominance of China in African affairs.

President Buhari’s ambitious pronouncements represent the keystone of his administration’s foreign policy direction, at least in the short- term, when he pledged to world leaders his uncommon commitment to fighting terrorism, insecurity and corruption. This perhaps underscores his shuttle and summit diplomacy to the G7 summit, and indeed the most recent visit to the global seat of power– the White House.

Certainly, President Buhari’s recent state visit to the White House and his various town hall engagements with the business and Diaspora community is a welcome start, given President Obama’s and America’s interests and desire for sustainable peace and good governance in Nigeria after the elections. It has become necessary to explore one of the strategic pillars of former President Clinton’s foreign policy doctrine towards Africa -AGOA - on export to the United States, which is also being echoed by the Obama administration to our economic advantage.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) enacted in 2000 and the subsequent AGOA Acceleration Act of 2004 under the President Bush administration gives preferential trade access to African nations that open their economies and are willing to build free markets. This window of opportunity must be engaged for the development of small and medium enterprises and its attendant benefits of job creation.

At this moment, another promising way for Nigeria in the new excitement of international relations with the G7 is to engage more meaningfully with the European Union (EU) in more practical ways by rejecting the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) proposals. The EPA is trade agreement between the EU and African countries and indeed Nigeria. The EPA as it currently stands portends negative effects for industrial development. Sadly, the insistence of the EU on the elimination of tariffs for 80% of trade would undermine Nigeria’s ability to industrialise and we would remain a perpetual supplier of raw materials.

Furthermore, the European Union’s unwillingness to abolish agricultural subsidies will continue to sustain the unfair competition against our products and the tight intellectual property rules will make access to knowledge skills and technology more difficult for Nigerians and indeed Africans.

Therefore, the government should maintain diplomatic stance at African regional level of not being a part of the loathsome EPA between EU and African countries in order not to mortgage our collective future in the selective game of international politics and diplomacy in the name of globalisation and free markets.

• Samuel Akpobome Orovwuje Orovwuje@yahoo.com

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: The provision of a good road network, especially in a city like Abeokuta and its environs, is certainly in the interest of its residents. Besides its necessity for easy access and communication across the city, it harbours a lot of economic benefits. As a result, the Ogun State government and Ogun State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure have embarked on massive reconstruction and expansion works in the city and the entire state to ensure smooth traffic and avert traffic bottleneck in the state and easy movement of people in the state.

Contrary to the thinking in some quarters that the road reconstruction and expansion in the state is a total failure and waste of money, I make bold to say that the reconstruction and expansion of roads in the state under the administration of Senator Ibikunle Amosun remains the most successful and uncommon programme ever run by the Ogun State Government since the creation of the state in 1976.

Of recent, I have read several write-ups in the newspapers, where different kinds of unsubstantiated allegations of fund mismanagement, non-payment of compensation to those affected and nonprovision of alternatives for displaced people, were made against the Ogun State government. Some have even gone to court to challenge the state government for demolition of their houses for the expansion and reconstruction.

Well, I do know that many discerning and perceptive Ogun State indigenes and Nigerians generally, would agree with me that such argument and going to court are obviously illogical and therefore cannot hold water, because the gains of the reconstruction and expansion are there for everyone to see. Anybody who says that the funds meant for the road reconstruction in the state have not been judiciously applied may have deliberately blindfolded himself such that he cannot see the progress being made by the

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Ogun: Price of development Amosun-led administration.

Amosun got his mandate in whole or in part on his agenda “Rebuilding Ogun State” in five cardinal areas: Affordable Qualitative Education, Efficient Health Care Delivery, Increased Agricultural Production/ Industrialisation, Affordable Housing/Urban Renewal, Rural and Infrastructural Development/Employment Generation.

In construction terms, to rebuild,

you have to destroy - read demolish some or all of existing structures. It is in this light that one can situate the road dualisation projects at Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ota, Igua, Ijohun, Papalanto, Ilaro and many more roads. There is no way rebuilding these roads will not involve destruction/demolition of existing structures of private citizens in the public interest. Apparently public interest has to override private interest in this mat-

ter of developing the society.

The same is applicable to urban renewal, which it must be noted is visible in Abeokuta, the state capital; and also in Ijebu-Ode, Sagamu, and SangoOta and Yewa axis. Except the Rock City, as Abeokuta is known, wants to maintain its old and rustic look with ancient family houses and compounds, then some structures have to give way for modern structures and facilities to spring up in the state.

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The concept of rebuilding in policy terms assumes that there are structures on ground to be rebuilt. That assumption is fundamental to the concept for, without it, the concept falls flat on its face.

It must be pointed out, however, that in the provision of new infrastructure and amenities, the people have to be carried along to minimise the negative impact of unintended consequences. One is talking about sensitisation and mobilisation. A 6lane road, flyover and foot bridges are certainly novel things for many motorists and pedestrians and enlightenment is needed for the people to appreciate that these facilities require new attitudes and modification of behaviour.

• Ademola Orunbon, Federal Housing Estate, Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State

On economic and financial terrorism IR: If asked the greatest challenge facing the country, many would say Boko Haram Islamist terrorism. Of a truth, in the last couple of years the terrorists have wrecked havoc on lives, properties and economy of northern Nigeria, especially the Northeast. But is it really our worst challenge? How about unbridled corruption, the mindless stealing of public wealth that has gone on for decades?

Kautilya, the third century Indian philosopher, noted that “the arrow shot by the archer may or may not kill a single person. But stratagems devised by a wise man can kill even babes in the womb”. I rephrase: the bomb detonated by a Boko Haram suicide bomber may kill scores or none. But looting of public funds can cause deaths and despair for generations. It is quite understandable why Boko Haram is considered particularly dangerous. This is because the effects of their actions are more easily linked to them and particularly gruesome to the sight.

However, the effects of corruption and mindless stealing of public

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funds are no less devastating; it could be even worse. It ensures that society lacks good hospital and healthcare, schools and education, water, food, roads, power, industries etc. It even ensured that soldiers fighting Boko Haram were improperly equipped. These take terrible toll on the lives and wellbeing of citizens. Hence, I think it is appropriate to term it economic and financial terrorism. Yes, by depriving society of hefty and much needed funds, the looter terrorizes it.

If we accept that economic and financial terrorism is as dangerous if not more dangerous than Boko Haram terrorism, then we must tackle it with as much vigour, if not more. According to some legal minds, it is near impossible to successfully try and convict a determined looter under our present laws and judicial process. This means that our laws and judicial process are in dire need of reform.

The anti-corruption agencies must also be strengthened. But in the short and medium term, something drastic may have to be done.

Critical situations demand critical measures; corruption and stealing of public funds in Nigeria have long reached critical point. Sometimes, freedom may have to be curtailed in order to preserve it. The three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa have been under emergency rule due to Boko Haram terrorism. Now I suggest a state of emergency be also declared on economic and financial terrorism. But we need to first specifically determine what constitutes economic and financial terrorism. I suggest the stealing or misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N100m and above, or engagement in corrupt acts that cost the public up to the same amount.

After declaration of the state of emergency, anyone suspected of having stolen or misappropriated up to the designated amount shall be regarded and referred to as an economic and financial terrorism suspect. He/she shall be treated like a very dangerous citizen, just like an armed robbery or Boko Haram suspect. And if there is sufficient evidence that he/she actually en-

gaged in the crime, then like the armed robbery or Boko Haram suspect, he/she shall have some of his/ her civic liberties/rights suspended. I suggest, for instance, that such suspects not be liable to bail; also that special courts not quite like regular ones be set up to try such.

On conviction, the economic and financial terrorist should also be punished severely like the murderer, armed robber or Boko Haram terrorist.

Of course, I do not claim to have expertise in law, neither have I scrupulously examined all angles of the matter and possible outcomes of the declaration of the emergency. I’m also not unaware that an act enabling the emergency will have to pass through the National Assembly (and there is a problem) or that the President and others that may wield emergency power must be people of sizeable integrity that must do so with utmost responsibility. I hope though that the suggestion at least inspires some thought and possibly discussion.

• Nnoli Chidiebere, Abia State.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

21

COMMENTS

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PECULATORS may be correct about the existence of a wall in between two former governors of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Mr. Babatunde Fashola. But the specifications of the wall may well be beyond the scope of speculation. It is an instructive demonstration of changed and changing circumstances that the one who empowered the other has been linked with the demystification of power, but it is another matter altogether whether the power of demystification is potent enough to achieve its objective.

The August 18 Lagos launch of three books on Fashola’s time in power was like reading a book on power and its consequences. His memorable era as governor of the megacity was captured by his media aide, Hakeem Bello, and Dapo Adeniyi in the titles “The Great Leap”, “In Bold Print” and “The Lagos Blow Down”. But the celebratory ceremony had the appearance of a blow down of Fashola’s wellpublicised pluses in governance, particularly because of the significative shunning by the cream of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Of course, there was a tokenistic representation of the party’s soul, but it was a presence symbolic of a parting.

The stage provided thought-provoking insights into the drama. Tinubu’s representative, Prof. Tunde Samuel, was quoted as saying: “Fashola acquired a lot of apprenticeship in a wired political engineering and this further helped his actions while in office. I am happy that your ruggedness in office has shown Lagosians and Nigerians that Asiwaju took a very good decision when he made you his Chief of Staff and later two-time Governor of Lagos State…We are happy about your success in office and we believe the sky is your limit.” It is unclear how much of what the speaker said was politically influenced, but the implications of his historicization were obvious enough.

On the same stage, Mr. Fola Adeola, a former chairman of Guaranty Trust Bank who chaired the occasion, painted a telling picture of things behind the scenes. He reportedly said: “I believe everybody that came here today considers Fashola as a friend, brother, cousin, so I greet everyone and welcome them.

I will also say some people are here just because they are brave and not afraid. The people who are here are simply telling him that no matter what, they still remain his friend.” Adeola’s words were important more for what he left unsaid than for what he said. Questions: Who are those no longer friends with Fashola and why? Why would anyone be afraid to attend a book launch?

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N seizing power from General Gowon (80), the then military ruler General Murtala Ramat Muhammed (1938-76) told the nation on July 30, 1975: “This Government will not tolerate indiscipline. The Government will not condone abuse of office.” He kept his word.

He retired over ten thousand public servants including top military officers. He set up a committee that reviewed the performances of all public officers. At the end of the exercise, only two Ministers were found not guilty, Alhaji Shehu Shagari (90) and Shettima Alli Mongunnu (89).

At that time, Nigeria had twelve state governors. Only two of the governors, Brigadiers Oluwole Rotimi and Mobolaji Johnson were cleared of corruption. Quite a number of public servants, Ministers and Governors had their assets seized. No one was prosecuted for corruption.

In taking over power from President Shehu Shagari, the then Major General Muhammadu Buhari (72) told the nation on January 1, 1984: ”The change became necessary in order to put an end to the serious economic predicament and the crisis of confidence now afflicting our nation”. He said: “The situation could have been saved if the legislators were alive to their constitutional responsibilities. Instead, the legislators were pre-occupied with determining their salary scales, fringe benefits and unnecessary foreign travels, et cetera, which took no account of the state of the economy and the welfare of the people they represented”.

To mark his 100 days in office on April 7, 1984, the then Major General Muhammadu Buhari further told the nation: “We took over from the defunct civilian administration at the Federal and State levels a financial situation of vast indebtedness. In fact, the depth and seriousness of the financial predicament of the State Governments and, by implication, of the nation has become clearer and clearer, day by day. The Federal Government had to assist State Governments recently with a sum of over N 600 million as loan to enable them pay all arrears of wages and salaries before the end of April 1984”.

At that time he was 42 and still vibrant, resounding and resonant. As a military officer with regimental discipline he turned to decrees to administer the nation. They are: (1.) The Constitution and modification decree 1 of 1984, which he signed into law on February 9 1984 (2.) The state security detention of persons decree of 1984, which he signed into law on February 9 1984, (3.) the Federal Military Government Supremacy and Enforcement of Power of 1984 which is known as Decree 13, which he signed into law on May 13,

‘President Buhari has a big burden on his shoulder to carry, but I am sure he will never walk alone’

08054726574

Fashola: Aftergame or endgame?

There is no doubt that the books and the launch were publicity stunts. The truth is that if gubernatorial grading is informed by fair-minded measurement of results, and devoid of the narrow-mindedness that comes with judging on extra-governmental grounds, Fashola cannot by any stretch of the imagination be qualified as undistinguished.

It was fitting that Adeola was quoted as saying at the event: “I was in Benin and somebody was talking about Lagos State and Fashola. I was surprised and wondered where they knew him from. Also in Kano State during Governor Kwakwanso’s tenure, a young man was saying his governor is trying to replicate what Fashola is doing in Lagos in the state. So in my dictionary, Fashola represents every good thing.” Indeed, so exemplary was Fashola’s administrative competence in a country used to mediocrities in power that ahead of the general elections held a few months ago, there was a serious public debate in his favour concerning his suitability for vice-president in a dream tag team with Muhammadu Buhari.

To the extent that he demonstrably left Lagos State a better place than he met it, even if he allegedly merely actualised the grand vision of his predecessor and sponsor, Fashola does not deserve a place in the hall of infamy. But the ways of politics and politicians are polyvalent, which is the central point about the aftergame that may prove to be an endgame.

While Fashola may have offended party hierarchs based on misapprehensions and miscalculations encouraged by power, it is indisputable that while the romance lasted he was an awesome advertisement for his party and its leadership. Fashola’s sins in the eyes

of those he displeased by his failure to recognise his limits and limitations in the political game and the political space should not be considered too outrageous to be forgiven.

It is revealing that Fashola himself is under no illusion as to the plot to rubbish him and his achievements. In an earlier statement, he referred to “manipulated and unsubstantiated allegations of wrongdoing.” He said: “They range from allegations of extramarital paternity of children, to mundane and phantom conspiracy in the National Assembly, a debt profile for Lagos State and lately a website upgrade contract of N78 million, which is being distorted.”

The tragedy of Fashola’s apparent reduction within his party is that it provides ammunition to the opposition. Given the ugly picture of intra-party dissonance, it won’t be surprising if the opposition launches its own anti-Fashola campaign.

Ultimately, the biggest casualty may be Fashola’s political future. Now that his party is in power at the federal level, Fashola’s fans are realistically hoping he would play an important role in the central government on the basis of his impressive governorship credentials.

It would be an unmerited anti-climax if his political ascent is forced to plateau at this stage, considering the great promise of his governorship years.

However, the APC cannot expect to go through the circumstances unscathed. Its progressive image will be badly dented by any dent inflicted on a rising and shining star in its firmament. As a symbol of the possibilities of developmental governance, Fashola just can’t be ignored. Those who appreciate that development always comes with a price tag acknowledge the great leap and bold print of the Fashola years in Lagos State. Nothing can blow these down.

If what looks like an aftergame develops into an endgame, it would be an unwelcome ending to a political interconnection that has benefited Lagos State and deserves to be replayed to the country’s advantage.

‘To the extent that he demonstrably left Lagos State a better place than he met it, even if he allegedly merely actualised the grand vision of his predecessor and sponsor, Fashola does not deserve a place in the hall of infamy.’

Making a scapegoat

By Eric Teniola 1984,(4) the Exchange Control (anti-sabotage) Decree 1984 otherwise known as Decree 7 which he signed into law on April 5 1984, (5) the counterfeit currency special provision decree 1984 otherwise known as Decree 22 which signed into law on May 17, 1984,(6) the Public officers Protection against false accusations Decree 1984 which he signed on April 17 1984, (7)the robbery and fire arms special provision decree 1984 which set up special tribunal for the trial of armed robbery and special cases, (8) Political Parties (Dissolution and Prohibition) Decree, 1984: this Decree provides for the dissolution and Prohibition of political parties and other similar organisation and forfeiture, disposal and discharge of the assets and liabilities of the dissolved political parties and state creation movements and (9) the Banking (Freezing of Accounts) Decree, 1984: which empowers the Head of the Federal Military Government, where he suspects or believes that any person has been involved in certain offences, including bribery and abuse of office, to issue or cause orders to be issued authorising an investigation into the accounts of such persons and restricting the operation of such accounts on such conditions as may be prescribed in the order. He also set up the recovery of public special Military tribunals amended decree 8 of 1984 which he signed into law on April 5 1984.

In setting up the Decree 8, he created, in addition, tribunals in five zones of the country. The Enugu zone made up of Anambra, Imo, Cross Rivers and Rivers states was headed by Air Commodore M. Muhammed. For the Jos zone which comprised Plateau, Bauchi, Gongola, Benue and Borno states.

Brigadier Peter Ademokhai was named as the Chairman.

For the Kaduna zone made up of Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Sokoto states and the Federal Capital Territory. Navy Captain M.A. Elegbede was named as the Chairman. For the Ibadan zone made up of Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Bendel and Kwara states, Brigadier C.B. Ndiomu was named as the Chairman.

As for the Lagos zone made up of Lagos State, Brigadier P.U. Omu was named chairman.

Major General Buhari at that time was young, vibrant and patriotically adventurous. On August 7 1985, he was toppled at 6.00 a.m. via an announcement by the then Commander of the Armoured Corps of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier Joshua Dongoyaro. On that day, Major General Ibrahim Babangida took over as the head of state.

Major General Buhari was detained for three years thereafter. He was first detained in a Government House at Alagbaka

in Akure, where he became my neighbour before he was eventually transferred to Benin City.

On November 24, 1993, General Babangida signed the forfeiture of assets (release of forfeited assets Decree 24) and returned some of the forfeited properties to former governors under General Gowon including Faruk and his wife, Brigadiers Samuel Ogbemudia, David Bamigboye, Alfred Diete-spiff and Chief Edwin Clarke who served as Gowon’s Minister of Information. The Decree rubbished the anti-corruption crusade of General Murtala Muhammed.

In taking over on May 29, 1999 from General Abdusalam Abubakar, President Olusegun Obasanjo set up three panels to probe the administration of General Abdulsalam. The three panels were headed by Dr. Christopher Kolade, Brigadier (rtd.) Oluwole Rotimi and Alhaji Igudu Inua. No one has so far been prosecuted. But it was understood that the Kolade’s panel recovered some money to the coffers of the central government.

Now President Muhammadu Buhari is back in power, fully experienced and fully cautious. At 72, having passed through many ordeals he is now more scrupulous and punctilious. In the last few weeks, the country has been treated with stories of massive looting by the Goodluck Jonathan government.

It appears it is the misfortune of President Muhammadu Buhari to head a corrective regime instead of a regime of continuity. Things have to be so bad that he has to step in to remedy a worse situation. That is the cross he has to carry. To his credit and in the words of President Barak Obama, “he is a man of integrity”- a befitting testimonial that is very rare among leaders of today’s world.

No more decrees to govern this time. No more Supreme Military Council to guide him. He has to rely on his conscience and his God. The Constitution has bestowed on him the sole authority to shape our lives, about 180 million of us - all blacks. In the immediate, he has to reconstruct his government and recover the loot from the officials of the previous government.

If he recovers the loot without prosecution, he is bound to lose a lot of goodwill. If he prosecutes few, he will be judged selective. Even if he prosecutes at all, he should be prepared to face the consequences for corruption has a way of fighting back. President Buhari has a big burden on his shoulder to carry, but I am sure he will never walk alone.

• Eric Teniola, a former director at the Presidency, lives in Lagos.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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COMMENTS

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PPARENTLY because of the avowal by President Buhari to pursue the war against corruption to its logical end, the nation has been daily awash with all manner of allegations of financial impropriety against the immediate past government. This trend is not entirely new. It featured prominently before the last elections. If the deluge of unsubstantiated accusations could be tolerated during electioneering, the situation is now somewhat different as the government appears set to arraign those fingered in alleged sordid deals.

With this development, one had thought the peddling of unsubstantiated allegations of corruption would have ceased for the relevant agencies to do their job. But that would not be. The situation is now such that whatever gains the nation seeks in the war against fraud may be annulled by what appears to be an attempt to convict that administration in the court of public opinion even when trials are yet to begin.

Given the gullibility of the public, there is an increasing tendency to profile everybody associated with that government as a rogue.

Everybody is now anxious to catch that rogue.

Everybody has, all of a sudden, become a moral crusader. The same people who yesterday were deeply enmeshed in corruption have overnight begun to sing a different song.

There is nothing wrong if this category of people have turned over a new leaf. After all, the scriptures preach repentance and it is wished that we now have born again antifraud crusades in the real sense.

Huge amounts of money have been bandied stolen. The impression has been created that all the problems of this country were as a result of the financial recklessness of the last regime. Soon that impression will fester.

But nobody has yet been convicted even as the law presumes the accused innocent until otherwise proven. So it is inappropriate for all political persons to relish in this culture of unproven allegations when the government is still compiling facts and figures to bring culprits to book. The right thing to do is to turn in such evidence to the authorities for them to prosecute the culprits. It should neither be a media war nor a matter for people intent on settling personal or political scores.

So when all manner of people now come out to make sundry allegations of public funds said to be missing, they must be taken with a pinch of the salt. When all and sundry now pretend to be moral crusaders anxious to catch the thief, we must tread cautiously.

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Emeka OMEIHE 08112662675 email: EmekaOmeihe@yahoo.com

Allegations qua allegations Those who supposedly show interest in the prosecution of the war do so for many reasons. There are the genuine ones committed to probity and accountability in public offices.

In this rank, fit in the common people who have over the years been shortchanged by the marauding elite. Whereas some are moved by patriotic zeal, others are intent at getting even. The latter group is the greatest danger to financial rectitude within our polity.

In this group fall those who will not want the probe to go beyond the immediate past regime even when some of the facts and figures being gathered by the government are likely to implicate such regimes. Nobody is saying Buhari should embark on a voyage of endless probes. But there are linkages he is bound to encounter in the information being made available to him. If he finds such cross cutting linkages, it will be a great disserve not to take them up at the same time.

It is in this regard that the recent statement by former Chief Executive of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Prof Anya O. Anya, that the regime of Obasanjo was worse than that of Jonathan and those leading the criticism against the last regime were leading figures in the Obasanjo government cues in. It is a weighty statement that hits at the contradiction in foreclosing a broader perspective of the war. Anya equally touched the crux of the matter when he advised that we “must be hesitant and insist on evidence on which to base judgment.” He has captured very succinctly the danger in the plethora of unguarded allegations that are being traded by sundry char-

IGERIA, a major oil producer, understandably generates most of its electricity (80%) from hydrocarbon powered turbines but it remains difficult to understand why in the face of the failure of the fuel powered systems to provide the needed electricity, other available energy sources have remained significantly unharnessed.

For Nigeria, a nation of over 170 million citizens located in the heart of the tropics, occupying a vast land area of 923,768 km² of high solar insolation, the inability to generate electricity from renewable sources to augment the current level of less than 5,000MW has sadly remained a major blight in the development of all sectors of its economy.

Today, most developed nations give prime consideration to electricity generation from the renewables as mutual complement to generations from the conventional systems. Each of the following countries enjoys adequate power supplies from the conventional generation methods that may include the combination of Gas turbines; Hydro falls; Coal turbines; Nuclear power plants etc., in addition still embarks on energy generation from renewable sources especially solar where ideally available. The total electricity generation from solar by these countries that are among the 14 largest solar energy generation countries, some situated in lower solar insolation areas than Nigeria, is quite revealing.

Germany: Enjoys much less sun resources than Nigeria but has been the world’s top solar electricity generator for several years ahead of China, Japan, Italy, and USA. As at February 2015 and still increasing, German overall installed sun electricity generation capacity was 38,458 megawatts (MW).

China: Total installed solar electricity capacity at the end of 2013 was over 12,000 megawatts and by September 2014 attained over 18,300 megawatts.

Japan: Between April 1 and October 31, 2013 (less than 8 months) about 4,000 MW (4 GW) of new solar photovoltaic was installed in Japan. As at end of 2014, Japan had attained a level of over 15,000 MW from distributed solar scheme. Japan is the first country in the world to surpass the 1 GW of cumulative PV capacity. It should be noted that Japan’s sun resources are much less than Nigeria’s.

United Kingdom: Solar power use in United Kingdom though relatively unexplored until recently, has increased very rapidly. As at the end of June 2013, of the 2,400 megawatts capacity installed, 1,700 megawatts were small-scale residential and commercial installations that benefited from feed-in tariffs. In 2014, Solar PV accounted for 12% of renewable electricity capacity in the UK. The total UK installed solar capacity generated from homes, buildings and solar farms is now about 4.7 Gigawatts. UK with its relatively poor sun endowment today generates more electricity from sunlight than Nigeria currently generates from all of its conventional power generation systems put together.

The key to the successes of harnessing immense electricity

acters for motives that are less than salutary.

Not all those dancing to the drum beat of anti-corruption are really committed to it.

Many are fair-weather people who gravitate towards the government in power even as they are neither committed to nor believe in anything. They sing the song of anticorruption even when they epitomise corruption. Today, it is convenient because the time frame for the probe seems to have left them out. But in their real dispositions, they are still ready to steal if they are sure their paths will be neatly covered. Those in this tribe are litany.

Otherwise how do we account for the rancour that nearly marred the kick off of the current National Assembly on the sharing of positions? What accounted for the desperation of all those who were angling for key positions if not the undue advantage it will give them to control our national wealth? We may say such things are normal in a democratic process. Yes, but in our clime, the motivations are substantially different.

That is why some were bent on excluding other sections of the country. That is why you hear of “juicy positions”.

After all the heat generated by the sharing of National Assembly principal offices, we now hear of the struggles for juicy committees’ membership positions. What can be juicy about committee membership except the undue advantage such positions could be deployed to steal? Juicy positions either in terms of the principal offices or

committees’ membership position - is a euphemism for corruption. That such references are made in respect of such offices in the face of the much trumpeted anti-graft war, indicate very poignantly that all those parroting anti-corruption are not really on the same page.

The same manifestations are also evident when arguments are raised as to which sections of the nation’s geo-political divide has disproportionately benefited from appointments by the current regime. Buhari has been accused of skewing his key appointments in favour of the North. His aides refute this with the contention that there are many more appointments, including the much-awaited ministerial positions, which are yet to be announced. Nigerians are waiting very anxiously for such appointments to be concluded.

And when the list is eventually released, the immediate concern of the people will be who is appointed where and from which ethnic stock.

It is a fact the Nigerian Constitution made provisions for balance in key appointments.

But a preponderance of our people are not as much concerned with this constitutional angle as the advantage which such positions will give their ethnic groups over and above others. Then you will begin to hear of more juicy ministerial positions and how they have been skewed to favor certain sections. It is for the same reasons that those regularly excluded from the commanding heights of the military have never found it funny.

The scramble for offices is primarily reinforced by the feeling that one of ours has to be there for us to get what is due to us. Such a system is not only unjust but constantly breeds corruption. For the war against corruption to succeed, we must exorcise the ghost of what Richard Joseph aptly identified as prebendalism from our body politic.

‘The scramble for offices is primarily reinforced by the feeling that one of ours has to be there for us to get what is due to us. Such a system is not only unjust but constantly breeds corruption’

Increasing electricity generation

By Max Uanikhehi from sunlight by the afore-enumerated countries, most of which do not enjoy as much sunlight as Nigeria, derives from the implementation of well-articulated citizens driven DISTRIBUTED GENERATION (DG) schemes. Distributed Generation is a scheme that employs small sized units owned by private citizens or bodies to generate electricity for their use with excess generated over needs discharged/sold to the grid at accepted conditions. DG systems employ numerous small plants that can provide power onsite with little reliance on the distribution and transmission grid. All those roof-top PV installation noticeable in most houses in developed countries are silent power generating DG components. DG technologies yield power in capacities that range from a fraction of a kilowatt [kW] to about 100 megawatts [MW]. DG from renewable energy sources provides lower-cost electricity and higher power reliability and security with fewer environmental consequences.

A detailed assessment of the following indices necessary for the successful implementation of solar distributed generation scheme should clearly portray the potential viability of the Solar DG scheme in Nigeria.

NEED/DEMAND: The huge need of electricity in Nigeria as it currently stands is significantly enormous. Experts have variously estimated Nigeria ideal electricity generation in line with needs to be between 25,000 and 40,000 MW. Total current electricity supply stands at much below 5,000MW. There is no question about the very high need of electricity to satisfy the huge demand in Nigeria. IDEAL INSOLATION: Insolation is a measurement of sunlight intensity over a given area for a defined period of time.

Sun intensity is not only high in most areas of Nigeria; sunlight is present all year round in all areas. Nigeria is disposed to naturally endowed benefits of ideal insolation by location, and should therefore harness the gifted options of free electricity generation from the sun through the solar distributed generation scheme. POLICIES: A clear policy must be in place that removes all ambiguities and strengthens the legal framework of all aspects of the DG scheme including creating legal backups for all – Incentive, Finances and all other drivers of the scheme. Such policies must among other vital covers grant conditions for, Easy and assured grid Connection; Purchase and payments for power generated and exported into grid; Set a minimum share of power to be produced from renewable sources; Set a reasonable goal for solar electricity procurement in the various service territories.

WILLING/QUALIFIED PARTICIPANTS: Almost every Nigerian family, including the poorest, has at least one electricity generating set. This proven enthusiasm succinctly represents the fact that there would be overwhelming number of willing partici-

pants to choose from. Albeit, meeting the standard conditions of owning a property that has good roof size and orientation in selected areas for the projects. Even at a minimum average generation of 5kw per generator, the 36 states plus the FCT can each generate an average of up to 500MW within one year-{Japan with less sun resources achieved about 4,000 MW between April 1 and October 31 2013 (less than 8 months). INCENTIVES: In all places the DG scheme has succeeded, the major driver for enthusiastic citizen participation derived from the very attractive incentive the scheme offers to individual generators. Such incentives include: Net-Metering (NEM) which consists of Credit earnings and Debit payments on difference between metered generations exported into the grid and metered consumption taken from grid. Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) which involves -Payment for all generated electricity even if directly consumed; -Rebate on standard electricity bill for using energy produced and Additional benefits for electricity exported into the grid. Tax Breaks particularly for corporate entities for the electricity generation beyond a fixed minimum level. If the incentives are properly drawn up and implemented, Nigerians would fall over each other to get into the scheme.

FINANCE: Electricity generation from any source is very financially intensive. Even with the recent drop in PV prices, solar electricity generation ranks higher than the conventional generation methods in cost. Distributed Generation as defined are owned by the generators and as obtains the world over, each participant bears the costs of the system. To depend solely on each participant to procure the systems may never yield the prompt significant generation desired. Thus, a viable Government guaranteed repayable financing for each qualified participant can be worked out. It has been shown that complete recoup of all investment on the generating system is achievable within 10 years. This is considered as viable for a complete DG generating system (not including batteries) which has a minimum functional life of 20 years with no mechanical parts and requiring no costly servicing.

Solar renewable energy source unarguably remains not only a viable tool towards achieving energy security in Nigeria, but can through the Distributed Generation scheme offer Nigerians as much satisfaction from electricity provision as the GSM technology has provided in telephony. Solar Distributed Generation discounts the enormous need and investment in transmission infrastructures and remains a viable solution to Nigeria’s inadequate electricity supply.

• Uanikhehi is President and Fellow, Solar Thermal Electricity Promoters Association of Nigeria (STELPAN) Email— locitrax@yahoo.com

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

23

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

24

SHOWBIZ

Dance with Peter kicks off in Abuja

T

HERE has been much buzz about the planned Dance with Peter reality show, and as audition is scheduled to begin on August 28, in the Federal Capital Territory, there is no doubt that skilled dancers and fans of Peter Okoye, one-half of the PSquare group in whose name the show is patterned, will storm the venue en masse.

Touted as the Africa’s hottest dance Reality TV show, Dance with Peter is packaged by Peter, and sponsored by telecommunication company, Globacom.

The Abuja audition is scheduled to hold at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Central Business District.

The second leg of the auditions, according to organizers, will take place in Accra, Ghana, at the National Theatre, South Liberia Road, on Tuesday, September 1.

“This will be followed by Benin, Edo State, on Friday, September 4,

Dupe Ayinla-Olasunkanmi

at the Oba Akenzua Cultural Center, Airport Road, Benin City. Lagos is next in line on for the audition on Tuesday, September 8, at Bamako Studios, 1 Bamako Street, Ojodu, Lagos.

“The final audition for “Dance with Peter” will be held in Port Harcourt on Thursday, September 10, where prospective dancers in the show will be auditioned at the Atrium Event Centre, Stadium Road,” Globacom said in a statement.

According to the company, “those who want to participate in the show can register by sending ‘DANCE’ to the short code 55517 in Nigeria and 3030 in Ghana through their Glo lines.”

It adds that “Registration costs N100 for Nigeria and 0.5GHc for Ghana. “Once they send the SMS to

the short code, they will then be requested to send their details such as Name and Location at no extra charge. All successful registrations will get a confirmatory SMS with instructions on what to do next.”

The show promises a mouth-watering prize of brand new Toyota RAV 4 with N3million for the best dancer, including the rare opportunity of featuring in P-Square’s next music video.

Organisers say the first and second runners-up will receive a brand new Honda Civic car, N2million and a brand new Kia Rio car with N1million respectively. They too will have the chance to feature in a top Glo Ambassador’s music videos.

Supporting Peter on the show are dance experts such as Peter, Kaffy and Flex who will feature in the show as judges, while Ehis Okoegule of MTV Base will be the host.

Apple backs Dre’s apology to women

W

• Juliet Ibrahim presenting a dummy cheque to the

ITH Dr Dre’s biopic, Straight Outta Compton, topping the box office last week, garnering a $56.1 million opening, critics have charged that the movie, which was co-produced

by Dre, glosses over N.W.A.’s record of misogyny and ignores Dr. Dre’s history of physically abusing women.

This is coming on the heels of criminal battery charges levelled against the rapper following allegations he violently attacked journalist, Dee Barnes in 1991.

Interestingly, the beat maker, who has previously spoken dismissively or vaguely about the decades-old episodes, confronted them on Friday in a statement to The New York Times.

While he did not address each allegation individually, he said: “Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and

winner

Juliet Ibrahim presents prize to Sholala winner

W

EEKS after she launched Sholala dance competition, Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim has presented a cheque of $1000 to the Nigerian winner. The Crime to Christ actress made the presentation at the Oasis Medspa, Ikoyi, Lagos.

A statement from the actress’ team said that the sultry entertainer took time off her Spa treatment to present the cheque to the first of the Sholala dance competition winner, Olaoluwa Badru.

“The competition which entailed making a creative video tagged with the hashtag #sholala #julietibrahim #julietgiveaways was for Juliet Ibrahim’s latest single, Sholala featuring Amon. This is not the first time the actress cum singer will be doing giveaways,” the statement reads.

The actress also issued a statement

said that he’s not the same person that he was 25 years ago. After working with him for a year and a half, we have every reason to believe that he has changed,” Apple said in a statement.

Other women, including Dre’s former girlfriend Michel’le, have also claimed he was violent towards them.

• Dr Dre

Wande Coal, Sound Sultan, Chidinma, May D, others rock Ibadan ahead of Star Trek

By Ovwe Medeme

on Instagram which reads; “My fan @badothe picked up his cash for winning the #sholalacompetition. Special thanks to all who participated.

Stay glued to my social media pages for more amazing prices to be won guys.”

In May, the actress launched the competition by encouraging fans to download Sholala and make a creative video of themselves dancing to it, and post it to her Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account.

While the winner of the most creative video takes home $1,000, three others stand a chance to feature in Sholala music video with free gifts.

The actress is also expected to present a prize to the Ghanaian winner, as as the competition is planned to have winners from Nigeria and Ghana.

in over my head with no real structure in my life. However, none of this is an excuse for what I did. I’ve been married for 19 years and every day I’m working to be a better man for my family, seeking guidance along the way. I’m doing everything I can so I never resemble that man again.”

He adds: “I apologise to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.”

Meanwhile, American multinational technology company, Apple has backed Dr. Dre following his statement apologising to women.

Apple, which acquired Dr Dre’s headphone and music streaming company Beats Electronics last year for US$3 billion and made Dre an Executive, said the company believed in the rapper’s sincerity.

“Dre has apologised for the mistakes he’s made in the past and he’s

H

OURS before the kick off of Ibadan leg of the ongoing Star Music Trek concert last Saturday, the buzz got a notch higher, with revelers at the Trans Amusement Park in Samonda, Ibadan, having a ‘taste’ of the show.

Top artistes on the lineup, including Chidinma, Sound Sultan, Pasuma, Wande Coal, May D, Young Grey C, DJ Xclusive, Gbenga Adeyinka and DJ Nana had visited the Park earlier, where they fraternised with fun seekers. In no time, the news of the artistes’ arrival went viral on the social media, leading to an unprecedented crowd at the all-night show.

The artistes had made a thrilling cameo appearance, surprising the teeming crowd at the Star beer carnival with an unexpected entrance ahead of the show.

The concert also featured performances from Starboy Wizkid as well as several talented up-comers in Ibadan and environs.

Yaw marks birthday with throwback photo

C •Yaw

ELEBRATED Nigerian OAP, actor and compere, Steve Onu, aka Yaw was a year older yesterday and for him, it was a time for sober reflection.

The Wazobia FM presenter, who arrived London on Saturday, started receiving felicitations from his fans, friends and fellow entertainers from the early hours of Sunday.

However, making ‘his day’ impressionable, the entertainer, in a few words, reflects on his life, especially as it pertains success, conviction and confidence.

He posted a photograph of himself as an infant, placed beside his present adult image, with the caption; “Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace.

“He may bestow upon us conviction and confideconfidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals.

• May D thrilling guests at Star Trek, Ibadan "Happy birthday to me," he said on Instagram.

25

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

THE CEO

JOBS

‘Nigeria needs quality statistics for proper national development’

School pick up, delivery service hold promising option - P. 35 News Brief CBN to review Guide to Bank Charges THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to review its Guide to Bank Charges.

It is, therefore, asking for input from lenders and other financial institutions.

–Page 26

‘455,000 Ikeja Electric customers lack meters’ NO fewer than 455,000 customers, represent-ing 70 per cent of the 650,000 customers inherited by Ikeja Electric (IE) from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), lack meters.

–Page 26

NCC chief inaugurates Task Force IN line with his pledge to tackle poor quality of service (QoS) headlong, the Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, at the weekend inaugurated a ninemember Task Force to proffer solutions to the problem.

–Page 26

- P. 37

SEC, NSE may delist, reclassify 100 operators S ECURITIES and Ex change Commission (SEC) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) may delist and reclassify no fewer than 100 capital market operators in the first week of October.

The action would follow the conclusion of the capital market regulators exit procedures for insufficiently capitalised operators.

The Nation learnt that the market regulators would undertake a final review of the compliance status of all capital market operators on September 30 and effect deregistration and reclassification of the operators on October 2.

The capital market will wake up on October 5 with the list of compliant operators and renewed status of each operator, according to the sources.

SEC, the capital market regulator, will trigger the deregistration and reclassification, prompting the NSE to automatically deregister or reclassify operators in line

By Taofik Salako

with SEC’s master list.

Existing rules at the NSE make it mandatory for it to replicate SEC’s regulatory enforcement actions including suspension, revocation and reclassification.

As lobby intensifies by operators, SEC has insisted that it will not grant further extension of the September 30 deadline for compliance with new minimum capital requirements for capital market operators.

ItsDirector-General, Mounir Gwarzo, said any further extension would damage the integrity of the market.

SEC last week extended the deadline for the notification of any possible changes in the status of any operator as a result of the new minimum capital requirement to August 31.

Operators are expected to

write the Commission on possible reclassification of function, reduction of functions or merger and acquisition while the Commission has also provided template for orderly reclassification of functions.

Already, the NSE has launched its final expulsion process for stockbroking firms deemed to be inactive. The National Council of the NSE, late last month held inquiry for the first batch of stockbroking firms deemed to be inactive and in line for expulsion, unless they present substantial evidence to show otherwise.

The first batch of stockbroking firms included 15 firms, which failed to activate their dealing licences.

The 15 firms included AlPina Investment & Trust Co. Limited, BBL Asset Management Limited, Integrated & Allied Securities Limited, Standard Chartered Securities Limited, Translux Services

Limited, Afro-Arab Investment Limited, Barakat Investment Limited, Bosson Capital Assets Limited, Dealers Assets Management Limited and Enabell Capital & Investment Limited.

Others are First Express Limited, KFF Worldwide Solutions Limited, Kingdom Securities Limited, Silver & Gold Securities Limited and Williamson Capital Management Limited.

A reliable NSE source had said the hearing was part of the expulsion process to ensure that the it complies with extant rules that provide for fair hearing to dealing members. The 15 firms are the first batch of what may be a long-running expulsion process.

The inquiry was sequel to a new rule on the revocation of dealing licences and expulsion of inactive stockbroking firms, which came into effect on June 29 this year.

The new rule and amendments on revocation of dealing licences was earlier approved

by SEC last February, but the NSE had delayed the implementation.

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil Cocoa

$54/barrel $2,686.35/metric ton

Coffee

¢132.70/pound

Cotton

¢95.17pound

Gold

$1,396.9/troy

Sugar

$163/lb • From left: Head, Main Board, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Tony Ibeziako; Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Unity Kapital Assurance Plc, Ms. Halima Wushishi; Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema; Managing Director, Unity Kapital Assurance, Mr. Michael Dogo and Executive Director, Operation, Unity Kapital Assurance Plc, Mr. Babatunde Oshadiya during a visit by the management of the insurance company to the Exchange.

RATES Inflation

8.4%

China, U.S to invest $14b in NIPP

Treasury Bills 10.58%(91d) Maximum lending 30% Prime lending

15.87%

Savings rate

3%

91-day NTB

15%

Time Deposit

5.49%

MPR

13%

Foreign Reserve

$34.5b

F

OREIGN firms from China and the United States (U.S) have pledged to invest over $14 billion in the second phase of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).

The second phase projects include construction of large hydropower plants such as Mambilla, Gurara II and 10 small hydropower plants, transmission and distribution facilities and equipment.

A source said the State Grid of China/CET/Westron, had committed to invest over $8 billion in first tranche and additional $4 billion later (on equity/loan participation) in Transmission Company

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

of Nigeria through Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Limited with a minimum of $600 million contribution by NDPHC which oversees the NIPP projects on behalf of the three tiers of the government.

The source also noted that Africa Group from U.S. committed to invest over $2 billion in power projects in Nigeria using NDPHC as a fulcrum, adding that there are some other interested investors committed to financing small transmission projects in the range of $50 million and $200 million,

citing a firm called Ak-Ay. He said following some challenges confronting the project and the over N64 billion owed the NDPHC by the Federal Government, the foreign investments may be stalled.

He said: “On NIPP phase two programme implementation, the National Economic Council (NEC) approved the construction of some hydroelectric projects and additional strengthening of the transmission network from the proceeds of the sale of 80 per cent shares in NIPP generation projects for implementation as Phase II of

NIPP.‘’ The source said 80 per cent share sales’ transaction supported by Messrs. CPCS Transcom International of Canada resulted in $5.7 billion.

However, the source added that as no payments had been received from the share sales transaction due to gas and market bankability limitations, the NIPP Phase2 implementation could not commence as planned.

Earlier, he explained that because of the challenges confronting the NIPP projects, including litigations, bidders have started to withdraw their bid bonds.

Africa’s non-oil exports to US hit $4.4b

By Cikodi Okereocha

T

HE volume of non-oil export from Africa to the United States (US) under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) stands at $4.4 billion, the US Assistant Trade Representative for African Affairs, Ms Florizelle Liser has said.

Liser while responding to a question sent to her via email during a tele-conference ahead of the ‘2015 AGOA Forum’ scheduled to hold in Libreville, Gabon, from August 24 -27, 2015, said although the trade volume stood at $4.4billion, there is still much work to be done to take full advantage of AGOA following the 10-year extension of the trade policy.

AGOA is a trade preference programme that provides duty-free access to the US market for products from eligible sub-Saharan African countries.

There are 39 eligible countries. The programme was due to expire on September 30, this year, but the US Congress recently extended it for an additional 10 years.

Liser said with the extension of the programme, the US is providing trade capacity building and other technical assistance for eligible African countries, and “We really look forward to engaging with our African partners when we get to Libreville, Gabon to talk about how we move forward implementing AGOA and going beyond AGOA.” She said the 10-year extension – the longest in the programme’s history – will also provide certainty for African producers and US buyers regarding access to the US market under the AGOA programme and create a stable environment that encourages increased investment in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The AGOA Forum will also provide an opportunity for top trade officials from both Africa and the United States to discuss how best to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the extension of the programme, including through developing AGOA utilisation plans that are included as a part of the new AGOA legislation,” she explained.

The US Trade Representative said now that AGOA’s has come to stay, the Forum would provide an opportunity to begin a more strategic conversation about the future of her trade and investment relationship with Africa.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

26

BUSINESS NEWS

CBN to review Guide to Bank Charges

T

HE Central Bank of Ni geria (CBN) is set to review its Guide to Bank Charges. It is, therefore, asking for input from lenders and other financial institutions.

The review is meant to address complaints arising from bank tariffs and other miscellaneous fees charged by banks on their customers’ accounts.

The regulator said the guideline, which was issued to the industry several years ago is being reviewed to protect bank customers’interest.

Its Director, Financial Policy and Regulation, U.A. Obot, said the new guide will cover areas neglected in the

By Collins Nweze

2013 review.

A CBN source said the apex bank is reviewing guidelines on bank charges and fees, as parts of efforts to bring down the cost of banking and financial services on customers.

The CBN guide requires that bank customers will, from 2016, begin to enjoy free Commission on Turnover (COT) on all their transactions.

According to the CBN, there have been complaints arising mainly from high bank tariffs, which it thinks could threaten confidence in the banking system. It said

in reviewing and updating the document on the charges, the CBN will be guided by, among other factors, those including considerations of financial inclusion, with particular emphasis on consumer protection, unit cost of banks, and contemporary developments in Nigeria’s banking industry.

It lamented the practices in some banks, where products and services are deployed at exorbitant costs to the customers, saying the high costs have helped in discouraging many people from assessing financial services.

According to the apex bank, commercial and other

banks need to be key partners in its drive for financial inclusion, even if for reasons of enlightened selfinterest. In this context, there is need to take a different approach to bank charges and fees to customers.

“Banks should bear financial inclusion considerations in mind in developing business models and products. While it is recognised that their unit costs are high, banks should avoid charges that can be perceived as predatory or extortionist and have the effect of excluding low-income customers or eroding the savings of depositors,” it said.

NCC chief inaugurates Task Force on service quality

I

N line with his pledge to tackle poor quality of service (QoS) headlong, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, at the weekend inaugurated a ninemember Task Force to proffer solutions to the problem.

This was the highlight of his maiden top management meeting at the Commission.

The Task Force has just one term of reference, which is “To look at the issue of QoS in all its ramifications and suggest practical measures that will lead to its improvement, and recommend any other measure as appropriate that will project the image of the Commission in a good light.”

In a statement endorsed by its Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, explained that it was agreed at the management meeting that a Task Force be constituted to drive the QoS initiative of the Commission.

He listed the members of the Task Force to include: Mrs. Iyabo Sholanke, Director, Special Duties, as Chairperson.

By Lucas Ajanaku

The others are Mr. Fidelis Onah, Director, Technical Standards; Mr. Efosa Idehen, Head, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement; Mr. Ephraim Nwokenneya, Head Compliance and Monitoring; Mr. Bashir Idris, Deputy Director, Projects, as members.

The list also include Mrs. Yetunde Akinloye, Head, Legal and Regulatory Services; Mr. Reuben Muoka, Head, Public Relations; Mr. Philp Eretan, Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs and, Mr. Edoyemi Ogoh, Assistant Director, Technical Standards, as members.

The Task Force is expected to submit its reports to the monthly management meeting of August 21 until the expiration of its tenure in six months.

In general terms, the Task Force will look at the underlying causes of poor QoS, right of way issues, infrastructural problems and suggest ways out of these.

Relevant stakeholders are expected to be engaged and advise management on how to tackle this long and windy problem of QoS.

‘Treasury Single Account ‘ll block leakages’

T • From left: Chief Executive Officer, Ikeja Electric, Abiodun Ajifowobaje and Head, Communication Strategy, Olanipekun Adeyanju, during the courtesy visit.

PHOTO: RAHMAN SANUSI

‘455,000 Ikeja Electric customers lack meters’

N

O fewer than 455,000 customers, representing 70 per cent of the 650,000 customers inherited

by Ikeja Electric (IE) from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), lack meters.

TheManaging Director, Ikeja Electric, Mr Abiodun Ajifowobaje, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the Lagos office of The Nation, said when IE, a member of Sahara Energy Group bought and took over the assets of PHCN in 2013, the company inherited 650,000 customers, 70 per cent of which had meters.

He said: “We started with 650,000 customers. Forty per cent of the customers were using obsolete meters, while 60 per cent do not have meters. Holistically, about 70 per cent of the customers do not have meters when one uses this parameter to look at the metering issues in the company.”

Ajifowobaje said the power firm has invested $160milion on production of meters, adding that the firm has carried out some activities which include determining the number of meters needed by its customers, knowing areas where there is a metering gap, those who have paid for meters over a period of time among others, adding that efforts are being put in place to give customers with zerorised account meters when meters are ready.

“By zerorised accounts, I mean accounts that are free devoid of debts. That is only customers that show evidence

• IKEDC explains improved power supply

By Emeka Ugwuanyi and Akinola Ajibade

that they are not owing,” he added.

According to him, the need to meet the electricity needs of consumers made the company to come out with a concept called Energy Accountability.

He said through the initiative, a symbiotic relationship between IE and its customers have been created with a view to ensuring that every percentage of the energy produced and distributed to customers is accounted for.

Ajifowobaje said there are differences in prices and rate of consumption of electricity in the country, adding that the company has introduced an initiative known as Embedded Energy’ to meet the energy needs of the people.

He said the company has also identified some areas and its working to get investors who can build plants in those areas for growth.

He said the scheme ensures that consumers in such areas or localities that enjoy more hours of electricity pay more tariffs to the energy providers and investors were invited to produce certain quantum of electricity for growth.

Ajifowobaje said the improvement in power supply in the country is a result of improved gas supply to the power generation companies (GENCOs), adding that there are two levels of gas supplies

to consumers, one of which is sold to international consumers and the other half is sold locally.

He said from the quantity sold to local consumers, a percentage is sold to the sector, under the gas-to-power arrangement.

“What had happened before is that from the quantity that is supposed to serve the local market, there is a percentage that should go to power, usually called gas-to-power. But people have continued to intentionally divert the gas that should come to power to sell to the highest bidder. And when someone tries to expose or query why it should be so, the next you will hear is that the pipelines have been vandalised and that becomes an excuse for gas supply,” Ajifowobaje explained.

Indeed, Ajifowobaje’s explanations may not be faulty given that most of the operators in the gas production and supply chain are private sector players who sell to the highest bidder, in spite of the standing law on the mandatory gas-topower supply quota. The reasons for this action, it was gathered,is due to the desire to make higher profit and prompt payment by the private consumers. For instance, if selling gas to a private firm cost between $5 and $6 per scuff, selling the same commodity to government institutions like Egbin power plant may be reduced to $3 per scuff. Yet, in spite of this differential, payment for such is always de-

layed by government institutions, while the private firms buying same pay immediately.

However, the IKEDC boss said notwithstanding this scenario, patriotism dictates that what is allocated to power should go to the sector. He explained that to serve every of its customers within Ikeja, about 1, 250 megawatts is required, whereas, he said, even with the improved power, it only gets 450-500mw, which he revealed is still an improvement from a previous 250mw it gets in the past.

Today, Ajifowobaje said there are between 15, 000 and 16, 000 Mw, including power generated from the NIPPs, as available generation capacity.

However, what DISCOs can give out is only 9,000 Mw. And even with the gas to power, the maximum received by DISCOs is 5, 000mw.

He expressed disappointment, saying even if the country generates 40, 000mw, the only quantity that can get to the 11 DISCOs is just 4, 500 mw, because the transmissions cannot will more than that on a continuous basis, otherwise there will be a systems collapse.

“The DISCOs inherited obsolete networks. Any power produced in this country, IKEDC is supposed to take 15 per cent of it; time was we got even zero allocation; but now we are taking even more than 15 per cent. So, the more gas we get, the better and more electricity the people will enjoy,” Ajifowabaje added.

HE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Indus try (LCCI) has said the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) scheme by the Federal Government will check leakages, create transparency and improve free flow of revenue to government.

Its Director-General, Mr. Muda Yusuf, also said the regime will check the recklessness of some ministries and departments (MDAs) and make available more revenue for the government to run its operations. He decried a situation where agencies collect revenues and spend same at will without recourse to the budget or government.

He warned that if not managed properly, the policy, as good as it looks, may cripple the operations of the agencies of government and ministries.

“The implementation of the policy has the capacity of crippling ministries and agencies as a result of bureaucracy in assessing needed fund for the smooth running of MDAs when the need arises. To address the challenge therefore, while implementing TSA, cash releases to MDAs should not run into bureaucracy but the free flow of cash should be encouraged to avoid non commitment to the programme,” he said.

Advocates of this policy say it will encourage integrity in the management of public funds by government and her agencies.

The immediate past Accountant-General of the Federation, Jonah Otunla, also backed the implementation of TSA stressing that it would bring about transparency, efficiently and accountability.

“TSA is a unified structure of government bank accounts that gives a consolidated view of government cash,” he said.

He explained that TSA

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie

would encompass all receipts and payments of the government handled by MDAs, partially funded by the Federal Government and all government controlled Trust Funds and Social Security Funds.

According to him, TSA is part of the Public Financial Management reforms which falls under Pillar 3 of the National Strategy for Public Service Reforms towards Vision 20:2020.

He said the public financial management reforms were designed to address impediments to effective and efficient cash management.

According to him, prior to TSA, Nigeria had fragmented banking arrangements for revenue and payment transactions.

“There were more than 10,000 bank accounts in multiple banks, which made it impossible to establish government consolidated cash position at any point in time.

It led to pockets of idle cash balances held in MDAs’ accounts when government was out borrowing money,” he said.

Otunla said fragmented banking also affected the government’s ability to undertake efficient cash planning and management as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. He said the government was also unable to track its expenditure in a timely manner and that the N70 billion lost in failed banks could be blamed on this.

He maintained that the TSA resolution would also allow flexibility, “currently everyone is a slave to the system, and people need to be at their desk to effect transactions”.

Otunla explained further that TSA was online and in real time, meaning that it could be done from anywhere in the world.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

27

ISSUES

• Two aricraft involve in ground collision.

Increasing incidents of aircraft clipping each other’s wings at aprons, taxi-ways and runways nationwide has become a source of concern to experts, most of who have warned that unless the ugly trend is nipped, air safety may be threatened, KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR, reports.

Fears over rising cases of aircraft collision E

XPERTS in the aviation industry are getting increasingly worried over the recurrence of on-the-ground incidents involving aircraft at major airport runways, taxi -ways and aprons.

The aircraft ground collision is putting aircraft owners under pressure on account of the huge sums spent to fix damaged aircraft at either the apron, ramp , taxi way or runway.

The affected airlines may have spent millions of naira on repairs arising from collision not covered by insurance. At the Lagos Airport, Arik Air, Emirates Airlines, Hak Air, First Nation Airways and other domestic carriers aircraft have been involved in ground collision with the affected airlines' personnel and airport authority officials trading blames on the cause of such incidents.

This has brought to the fore critical questions bordering on the implementation of safety management systems by the affected airlines as well as the regulatory authority.

Industry watchers are asking questions on what measures are being put in place by the regulator, airport authority and airlines to deploy adequate technology and training of ground personnel to avoid such incidents.

Some experts, including secretary of the Aviation Roundtable ( ART), Group Captain John Ojikutu ( rtd), attributed the rising incidence of ground collision of aircraft to the

failure of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to implement safety recommendations by the Accident Investigation Bureau ( AIB).

Ojikutu said unless urgent steps are taken to check the rising incidents of ground collision at the apron, taxi - way and runway, the stage is set for an avoidable accident.

He said though airside incidents are bound to happen, but the relevant authorities, including the airlines, must take urgent steps to learn useful lessons to avoid recurrence.

According to Ojikutu, rather than taking urgent steps to address the safety challenge, airlines and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) have been shifting blame.

He said:" The recurring incidents involving aircraft clipping each other's wings at the apron, taxi-way and runway should be re-examined with the regulatory authority held responsible.

If the NCAA were doing its job well, we should not be witnessing such incidents.

The NCAA should be held responsible, that is why we are having incidents of aircraft collision on the apron. If the NCAA were doing its job of proper regulation of the industry, why should airlines be experiencing regular ground collision of their aircraft.

• Continued on page 28

‘

The recurring incidents involving aircraft clipping each other's wings at the apron, taxi-way and runway should be re-examined with the regulatory authority held responsible.

The NCAA were doing its job of proper regulation of the industry, why should airlines be experiencing regular ground collision of their aircraft

’

28

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

ISSUES

Fears over rising cases of aircraft collision •Continued from page 27

A few years ago when an Arik Air aircraft collided with a Nigerian Air Force plane in Jos Airport, the incident ended up as a blame game.

The NCAA claims that it carries out investigations on aircraft collision, what has happened to previous investigative reports?

Where are the accident reports?

After the June, 3, 2012 DANA Air crash, the AIB issued over 150 safety recommendations, but the NCAA did not implement up to 30 per cent of the safety concerns.

Lending his voice to the issue, the President of Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), Kingsley Nwakoma, said if the size of aprons at airports nationwide are not expanded, the industry risks more incidents at the airside.

He said the recurring incidents could be reduced if airsides at airports are illuminated. He accused the airport authority of not doing enough to expand airside infrastructure, which he said is long overdue. He said the facilities put in place many decades ago can no longer contain the size of aircraft on the apron for either passenger or cargo operations.

He said: “I think the authorities are not doing enough to expand apron facilities. This explains the increase in aircraft ground collision. Until urgent steps are taken, the ugly trend may continue.”

AFRAN has, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to begin the expansion of the cargo apron of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. He said the present limited size of the apron is affecting their operations.

Nwokoma said the expansion of the cargo apron was long overdue, after decades of its construction as its current size could not match the scale of their operations.

He said the expansion would generate more revenue for the government, especially at this time, when the price of crude oil is crashing.

Nwokoma said that it was becoming more difficult for wide-bodied planes to land at the airport, as a result of the inability of the government to construct a bigger apron for the airport. He urged the government to address the situation to avoid embarrassment from the international community.

"We have an airline that brings in goods and is directed to park at the international terminal's tarmac, instead of using the cargo terminal. This is because the cargo apron is so small and we have had issues and incidents involving cargo planes in the past.

"That the cargo apron has not been expanded since the airport was built and inaugurated in March 1979 is an eye sore; we have been crying, calling for this expansion because safety is key here," he said.

Nwokoma frowned at the abandonment of the cargo by a contractor awarded the contract for its expansion, noting that the facility would be of benefit to the nation.

"This is one of the projects that the government must look into," he said.

A few weeks ago, a Boeing 777-200LR belonging to Emirates Airline and a domestic airliner a B737-400 owned by HAK Air were involved in ground collision at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Worried over the incident, the AIB deployed a team of investigators to determine the circumstances surrounding it with a view to making safety recommendations. The Emirates Airlines aircraft marked A6-EWD, according to the spokesman of the AIB, Tunji Oketumbi, was taxiing for take-off en-route Dubai when its wing tip cut into the B737400 HAK aircraft parked on the apron of the domestic wing of the airport.

While the Emirates aircraft had little damage on its wing tip, the HAK Air B737 was damaged substantially.

The Emirates flight was aborted as a result of the accident. A few weeks later, two aircraft belonging to First Nation Airways also collided at the Murtala Muhammed Airport.

The incident occurred when one of the planes

• Abali

• Usman

• Tonytyler

• Nwokoma

was reportedly taxiing from the runway to MMA2 to drop off passengers while the other was preparing to take off for Port-Harcourt.

Confirming the mishap, the General Manager, Public Affairs of the NCAA, Fan Ndubuoke, said there was no casualty and the incident had been referred to the AIB for further investigation.

However, First Nation Airways blamed officials of the FAAN for the incident. An official of the airline, Rasheed Yusuf, in a statement, said if FAAN officials were diligent the incident would have been avoided.

The airline said: "We wish to clarify the ground incident that occurred on Friday, July 17, 2015. Our Aircraft Registered No. 5N-FND wing tip touched the wing tip of another sister aircraft already parked at another gate.

This incident was avoidable if the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria marshallers had been diligent to avoid marshalling the aircraft wrongly."

He went on:"We urge FAAN to retrain the marshallers as we understand that the marshallers at MMA2 are deployed by FAAN under an MOU with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, the operator of MMA2, Ikeja.

It is important to emphasise that at no time was the safety of passengers at risk.

"The regulatory authorities will also need to enhance oversight of the marshallers and their authorisation to arrest the growing incidents of aircraft damage on ground in Nigeria which is embarrassing. Besides the huge losses that First Nation and other airlines suffered as a result of avoidable ground incidents.You will recall that a similar incident involving Emirate aircraft occurred only a couple of days."

A few years ago, a Turkish Airline plane wings collided with that of Max Air plane which brought in Pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.

The Turkish Airline plane landed safely but was taxiing to stop at the apron when its wing collided with that of Max Air. "The collision resulted in minor damages to both airplanes," according to the report.

Ndubuoke confirmed the incident. He however, said damages to the aircraft belonging to both airlines were minor and that both planes had been taken away for repairs.

According to aviation experts, the global aircraft industry loses up to US$11 billion annually to accidents and incidents on the ground. Experts say commercial aviation, which is a multi-billion dollar industry employs high level technologies to maintain safety standards.

Such current high level of flight safety, experts say, has been achieved by investment in overlapping safety systems such as surface movement radar, altitude transponders and other technology with the aim of preventing a single source error leading to a reduction in safety margins.

However, the same systems, experts say, cannot be utilised to protect the aircraft from collisions during ground operations.

A Nigerian pilot who pleaded not to be named said: "This remains one area where single source human judgment remains unchecked, namely clearance between the aircraft structure and obstacles during aircraft maneuvers on the airport ramp and taxiways.

"A single ground crew member usually makes decisions on safe clearance during "push- back" or a flight crew member during taxiing to and from the standard positions One of the difficulties in assessing implications of aircraft ground accidents is that the available data is insufficient. " Experts have called on the NCAA to furnish the AIB with sufficient information to investigate the recurring trend of aircraft ground collision.

Worried over the trend, the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association ( NATCA) urged government to take a critical look at the reconstruction of the Lagos Central Taxiway, a second Abuja runway, a backup for the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON ) system as well as rehabilitation

‘

Worried over the trend, the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) urged government to take a critical look at the reconstruction of the Lagos Central Taxiway, a second Abuja runway, a backup for the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) system as well as rehabilitation of airport facilities

’

of airport facilities.

According to its president, Victor Eyaru the taxiway has been out of use for more than six years leading to usage of Eastern taxiway whenever only Runway 18L/36R is available for landing and take-off. He said ground collusions have been recorded whenever wide bodied aircraft make use of the Eastern taxiway He said :"Aircraft accidents on ground have been recorded more than twice whenever wide bodied aircraft make use of the Eastern taxiway. The most recent was at 2045 UTC on the July 6, 2015 when the Emirate's aircraft B777 flight UAE784 ran into parked Hak Airline's aircraft on the apron when FAAN Electrical department switched off lights on the longer Runway 18R/36L for maintenance."

"The un-serviceability of the same Eastern Taxiway has prevented aircraft from accessing the only Compass Swing available in the airport. We call on government to urgently fix this taxiway to prevent avoidable aircraft accidents on ground and to increase the capacity of the airport."

As part of measures to fix the sore situation,the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) last week directed owners of abandoned aircraft at the graveyard of the Lagos International Airport to evacuate them to create more space for functional for aircraft for maneuvering at the airside .

According the spokesman of the authority, Mr Yakubu Dati, the action has become necessary due to recurring operational hitches that have been posing serious safety concerns to aircraft and some infrastructure at the terminal.

The director general of NCAA, Captain Mukhtar Usman, has however absolved the regulatory authority of any laxity in the recurrence of incidents.

He said the authority will continue to insist that safety recommendations arising from such incidents are implemented.

He said relevant aviation agencies are collaborating to ensure air safety is not threatened. Ground collision is not restricted to Nigeria.It is a major concern for air safety in other countries including the U.S. The International Air Transport Association ( IATA) is also worried over the issue.

In a report published in late 2007, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlighted that the lack of complete accident data and standards for ground handling hinders the effort to understand the nature, extent and cost of accidents and to improve safety. Investigative agencies only look into certain classes of accidents, and that their data is incomplete, especially in the area of nonfatal injuries.

In 2002, the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) were requested to investigate methods of improving ramp safety. During their research, FSF discovered that the extent of the cost of ground accidents far exceeded expectations due to the hidden nature of indirect costs.

For example, the cost of repair is included in the cost of maintenance, and gate closures, diversion and re-ticketing costs are recorded elsewhere and usually not correlated to the incident. Because accidents also result in cancelled flights, lost ticket revenue, added costs for passenger lodging, and overtime for repairs, even minor ramp incidents can cost airlines $250,000 or more. The FSF estimates that for every dollar of aircraft damage, the actual cost to airlines is at least five times that amount.

In 2003 the FSF launched the Ground Accident Prevention (GAP) programme. Using data developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Foundation currently estimate that 27,000 ramp accidents and incidents occur worldwide every year, which represents one per 1,000 departures. About 243,000 people are injured each year in these accidents and incidents; the injury rate is nine per 1,000 departures.

The FSF currently estimate that the combined costs to the industry for ground accidents worldwide to be around US$10.8b. This includes commercial aircraft repairs (US$4b), corporate aircraft repairs (US$1b) and litigation charges as a result of injuries or deaths (US$5.8b).

The Operator's Flight Safety Handbook (OFSH) published by the FSF shows that damage and indirect costs from an aircraft to aircraft ground collision are 28 times greater than when a service vehicle collides with a stationary aircraft.

Figures are not given in the report for the cost implications of a moving aircraft colliding with airport facilities but it can be reasonably conjectured that it would be at least half of the cost of an aircraft to aircraft collision.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

29

MONEYLINK

Cybercrime Prohibition Act ’ll check e-fraud, says CBN

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the passage of the Cybercrime Prohibition Act will help curb the activities of electronic fraud perpetrators in the country.

Speaking at the Nigeria Economic Fraud Forum (NeFF) held in Lagos at the weekend, CBN Director, Banking and Payment System Unit, ‘Dipo Fatokun, said the passage of the Act gives the apex bank legal backing for fighting fraudsters including fraudulent bankers.

He said: “I will give an assurance to the industry that we now have legal backing to fight fraud. The Cybercrime Pro-

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

hibition Act signed into law this year, is actually a very strong force that will help us in combating electronic fraud. Those things that were allowed in the past, have become criminal offences. It is a deterrent to those that would want to carry out fraud”.

He said the CBN has instructed banks to forward the names of their staff dismissed for fraud to the CBN, which ensures that such persons do not return to the sector. “We are concentrating on consumer education, encouraging banks to

educate their customers on how not to fall victim to e-fraud,” he said.

He said Nigerian information technology policy clearly states the nation’s commitment to protection of individual privacy as well as data protection. This has led to the passing of the Cybercrime Bill, 2013 which was passed into law in October 2014.

The Act aims at protecting National Information Infrastructure and has laid down penalties for its violation.

Its objectives relate to the provision of an effective and unified legal, regulatory and institutional framework for

More winners emerge in FCMB millionaires’ promo

A

NOTHER set of 646 customers of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited won various cash and gifts prizes at the grand finale of the bank’s millionaire promo held in different states across the country. The promo has been extended till January next year.

At the end of the electronic selection exercise, three lucky customers of the bank were each rewarded with the star prize of N5 million, while three others won N1 million each at the Regional draws held in Lagos, Uyo (Akwa Ibom state) and Abuja.

A total of 640 other account holders went home with LED televisions, generating sets, decoders, tablets, smart phones and other consolation prizes at the Zonal draws held in different parts of the country. The winners emerged at the electronic selection exercise which took place across the three Regions and 25 zones of the bank nationwide.

At the Lagos/South-West Regional draw, Nkem Egwuonwu, won the star prize of N5 million, while Mrs.

Skye Bank, RT Briscoe partner on automobile financing

S

•Fatokun

the prohibition, prevention, detection, prosecution and punishment of cybercrimes in Nigeria.

Heritage Bank, EDC discuss opportunities for SMEs

By Collins Nweze

Philomena Ewohimen, was rewarded with the sum of N1million.

At the Abuja/North draw, Adamu Oseni received N5 million for emerging as the star prize winner, just as Dorcas Terfa received N1 million. The winner of N5 million at the SouthEast/South-South draw was Peters Emmanuel and Oke Owhubetine smiled home with N1 million. In all, a total of 1,932 winners emerged during the FCMB Millionaire Promo through the three draws conducted in April, June and the grand finale in August.

Speaking during the ceremony in Lagos, the Divisional Police Officer of Ogudu, Mrs. Chioma AjunwOpara, praised the bank for introducing the promo. According to her, ‘’the FCMB Millionaire Promo is an opportunity deliberately created by the bank for poverty alleviation’’, adding that, ‘’FCMB has shown enormous magnanimity and goodwill as a financial institution with human feelings and care’’.

H

ERITAGE Bank and the Entre preneurship Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University (PAU) are looking at ways of improving business opportunities available to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

To achieve this, both institutions will next month, hold a conference where top chief executive officers of key institutions will discuss prospects for the SMEs subsector.

Speakers at the ninth EDC annual SME conference Heritage Bank Executive Director, are Mrs. Mary Akpabome; CEO Centre for Leadership at PAU, Prof Pat Utomi; Founder Coscharis Group, Dr Cosmos Maduka; CEO Design Options, Mrs Ifeyinwa Ighodalo.

Heritage Bank Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Ifie Sekibo said partnering with EDC to organise this conference is part of the lender’s efforts to help SMEs get better and bigger, which is one of the strategic objectives in our its of En-

terprise Bank.

“Each of these CEOs have proven track record in various business endervours which are nationally acclaimed. We believe that their testimonials will serve a big boost of inspiration for SME operators that would attend the conference”, he said.

Over the years, Heritage Bank has partnered with EDC and other organisations to help SMEs build competence, access new opportunities and develop necessary leadership skills required for success in the business world.

These include the Heritage Bank SME Clinic, Heritage Governance Model, the Paris Club Credit Scheme and the Enterprise Stories, a radio programme whichfocuses on stories of successful entrepreneurs. The sponsorship of the Annual EDC’ SME Conference is to complement these initiatives, which are aimed at promoting SME development in Nigeria.

KYE Bank Plc has partnered with RT Briscoe by providing finance for the Ford brand of cars for people who may not have the bulk cash needed to purchase such cars.

Under the arrangement, the bank will provide 70 per cent of the cost of the car to its existing and prospective customers during the six-month promo organised by RT Briscoe. The customer contribute 30 per cent of the cost.

The special arrangement is to complement RT Briscoe’s attractive incentives for aspiring car owners in commemoration of its 10th year anniversary as Ford auto dealers in Nigeria.

According to a statement issued by the bank, the financing window is available to as many Nigerians who earn a regular income, including business owners with viable and thriving businesses under its Skye Auto finance scheme. “ All a prospective buyer needs do is make his or her choice from any RT Briscoe outlet and visit any Skye bank branch with the purchase invoice, 30 per cent of the purchase price and evidence of income”, the bank explained.

It further said customers who purchase Ford vehicles during the promo period through the bank will enjoy some exclusive benefits like discounted vehicle prices, two per cent interest rate discount on loans granted for vehicle acquisition, and four-year free labour service on such cars.

Other benefits include free car delivery on purchase, three-year warranty, eligibility to win another Ford vehicle in a raffle draw, among others.

Skye Bank has an auto loan scheme for its customers through which such customers can buy a wide range of vehicles after paying their equity contribution of 30 per cent, leaving the bank to provide the balance of 70 per cent.

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS AFRINVEST W. A. EQUITY FUND ALLAN GRAY A/EQUITY FUND ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH BGL NUBIAN FUND BGL SAPPHIRE FUND CANARY GROWTH FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CORAL INCOME FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND FBN HERITAGE FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND FIDELITY NIG FUND • UBA BALANCED FUND • UBA BOND FUND • UBA EQUITY FUND • UBA MONEY MARKET FUND

121.77 30,289.99 9.17 1.12 1.19 0.68 1.39 1,832.71 1,089.81 106.87 121.16 1.67 1.2457 1.3572 0.7762 1.1739

122.06 30,289.99 9.08 1.12 1.19 0.67 1.33 1,832.81 1,088.57 106.35 120.30 1.62 1.2393 1.3572 0.7637 1.1739

SYMBOL

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

CHANGE

ACCESS NESTLE TRANSCORP PAINTCOM SKYEBANK FIDSON FO VITAFOAM GUINNESS TOTAL

4.27 882.00 2.19 1.05 4.90 3.20 219.00 5.60 116.00 152.20

4.69 965.98 2.36 1.10 1.99 3.35 228.70 5.80 119.00 155.00

0.42 83.98 0.17 0.05 0.09 0.15 9.70 0.20 3.00 2.80

LOSERS AS AT 21-08-15

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

Inflation:April

8.5%

Monetary Policy Rate

13.0%

Foreign Reserves

CHANGE

FOREX RATES (NairaVs Dollar) May 28, 2015 Interbank ($/N)

199.00

$1

Black Market ($/N)

215.00

$1

$28.2b

London Inter-bank Offered Rates (LIBOR) Oil Price (Bonny Light/b)

$67.91

Money Supply (M2)

GAINERS AS AT 21-08-15

SYMBOL

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

N16.42 trillion.

Credit to private Sector (CPS)

N17.2 trillion

Primary Lending Rate (PLR)

Tenor

16.5%

12-02-15 Rate (%) Rate (%) 13-02-15

Overnight (O/N)

14.683

76.583

1M

15.033

15.977

3M

15.809

17.177

6M

16.493

17.908

Tenor 1 Month 2 Months 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months

May 27

May 28

Rate)%

Rate (%)

0.1735 0.2147 0.2615 0.3841 0.6709

0.1715 0.2108 0.2626 0.3857 0.6744

Nigerian Stock Market Indices 27 May Statistics 5 May All Share Index 34,649.3 29,383.93 Mkt Cap (NGN’bn) 11.8 9,804.36 Deals 3,385 3,714 Volume (mn) 564,28 377,75 Value (NGN’mn) 6,087.80 6,568.66 GOVT. SECURITIES YIELD – SECONDARY MARKET

NIG-GERMAN FCMB IKEJAHOTEL COSTAIN ETRANZACT FBNH PORTPAINT MCNICHOLS AIRSERVICE AFRIPRUD

5.71 2.33 3.00 0.60 3.60 6.08 4.14 1.32 1.98 2.65

5.16 2.20 2.85 0.57 3.94 1.26 1.89 2.53 6.64 1.29

-0.55 -0.13 -0.15 -0.03 -0.18 -0.30 -0.20 -0.06 -0.09 -0.12

Tenor

Transaction Dates 03/02/2015 3/12/2014 1/12/2014

Amount Offered in ($) 500m 400m 350m

Amount Sold in ($) 499.93m 399.97m 349.96m

Feb. 13, 2015

Rates

T-bills - 91

12.44

T-bills - 182

13.85

T-bills - 364

13.92

Bond - 3yrs

15.92

Bond - 5yrs

17.22

Bond - 7yrs

16.59

30

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 21-8-15

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 21-8-15

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

31

EQUITIES

Equities lose N283b as banks, insurers slump I T was another major rout for Nigerian equities last week as intense selling pressure dwarfed impressive corporate earnings and bargain-hunting by long-term investors to shave off N283 billion from quoted companies’ market capitalisation.

Both the aggregate market value of quoted equities and the All Share Index (ASI), the value-based benchmark indices that tracks prices of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), indicated a week-on-week decline of 2.69 per cent last week. The market had lost 2.34 per cent in the previous week.

The downtrend last week further depressed the negative average year-to-date return at the Nigerian stock market to -13.79 per cent.

With inflation at 9.2 per cent, inflation-adjusted return opens today at -22.99 per cent.

The recession has been compounded by foreign exchange crisis and high cost of funds, which have kept many for-

Stories by Taofik Salako Capital Market Editor

eign and domestic investors on the sideline.

With 61 losers, 11 gainers and 118 stagnant stocks, aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the NSE nosedived to N10.241 trillion at the weekend as against its week’s opening value of N10.524 trillion. The ASI, which doubles as Nigeria’s sovereign stock market index, closed below its 30,000 psychological point at 29,878.33 points, 827.29 points or 2.69 per cent below its week’s opening index of 30,705.62 points.

Price trend analysis showed that financial services stocks were the worst in the marketwide depreciation, losing nearly twice the average loss for the market. In spite of halfyear earnings and interim dividends by banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank and Access Bank, the NSE Banking Index indicated a week-onweek decline of 4.46 per cent, the highest by any tracked

sectoral group. The NSE Insurance Index trailed with a negative return of -4.41 per cent, an unusually large discount for an industry mostly trading at nominal values.

All other indices showed widespread price depreciation across the sectors. The 40-stock NSE Pension Index, which has significant exposure to financial services stocks, dropped by 4.17 per cent. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks, and the NSE Industrial Domestic Index, which contains Dangote Cement, NSE’s most capitalised stock, mirrored the overall market position with average decline of 2.68 per cent and 2.69 per cent respectively. Losses by Oando and Seplat Petroleum Development Company pressured the NSE Oil and Gas Index to a negative close with average return of -2.73 per cent.

The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 0.39 per cent while the NSE Lotus Index, which tracks Islamic-

compliant stocks, and the NSE ASem Index, which tracks second-tier stocks, declined by 0.20 per cent and 0.21 per cent respectively.

Level of activities was above average, driven largely by acquisition trading in the insurance sub-sector and large-volume transactions in the banking sub-sector. Total turnover rose to 4.30 billion shares worth N20.05 billion in 20,219 deals last week as against a total of 1.36 billion shares valued at N12.48 billion traded in 17,867 deals two weeks ago.

With the acquisition deal on Equity Assurance, the financial services sector accounted for 4.01 billion shares valued at N11.01 billion through 12,655 deals; representing 93.26 per cent and 54.91 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The conglomerates sector staged a distant second with a turnover of 106.98 million shares worth N342.65 million in 1,151 deals. The third place was occupied by

the consumer goods sector with 53.38 million shares worth N4.69 billion in 2,856 deals.

The trio of Equity Assurance Plc; Access Bank Plc, and United Bank for Africa Plc jointly accounted for 3.25 billion shares worth N4.08 billion in 2,830 deals, representing 75.53 per cent and 20.36 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The other non-ordinary shares segments continued to tag along. A total of 2,556 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N981, 146 were traded in 17 deals last week compared with a total of 55,201 units valued at N2.905 million traded in 30 deals in previous week.

At the Federal Government’s bond market, a total of 7,375 units of Federal Government’s bonds valued at N7.766 million were traded in seven deals last week in contrast with a total of 11,000 units valued at N12.346 million exchanged in four deals

two weeks ago.

Analysts at Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) said the market position had been worsened by many unimpressive corporate earnings. “The half-year 2015 earnings season commenced in the month of July and many listed companies released their corporate results for the period.

In line with expectations, most results were unimpressive.

Equity markets starved-off system liquidity as fixed income securities became the preferred investment instruments if investors,” FDC stated.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities said the market trend could remain unchanged in the meantime. “Given the sustained run of losses in the market and the absence of a catalyst to excite investors, performance is expected to be driven by speculations in the short term, thus, we advise investors to maintain medium to long term investment horizons,” Afrinvest Securities said at the weekend.

Investment One acquires new firms

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NVESTMENT One Financial Services Limited has acquired three new investment and finance firms to expand its bouquet of financial and investment products and provide investors with a one-stop investment point that caters to wealth creation and management.

Head, Communications, Investment One Financial Services Limited, Aderayo Bankole, at the weekend said the company has recently completed three acquisitions to complement its organic growth and position the company as the fastest-growing investment company in Nigeria.

The acquisitions included acquisition of Kakawa Asset Management Limited (KAML), a former subsidiary of Kakawa Discount House Limited. KAML is registered by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a corporate investment adviser and fund manager and it is also a dealing member and stockbroking firm at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

According to her, the acquisition of KAML brought its Kakawa Guaranteed Income Fund (KGIF) into the portfolio of bespoke investment products of Investment One and clients and unit holders of the company and fund will now benefit from the expertise and technical know-how of the Investment One stable.

The acquired company and the mutual fund have both been rebranded to reflect the group; Kakawa Aseet Management Limited is now known as Investment One Funds Management Limited and the Kakawa Guaranteed Income Fund has been renamed Investment One Vantage Guaranteed In-

come Fund.

Investment One Stockbrokers International Limited, a subsidiary of the Investment One Financial Services Limited acquired the stockbroking licence of KAML. Investment One stockbrokers had recently launched its “EasyTrade”, an online trading platform which facilitates access to trading on the stock market at the investing public’s fingertips. This new service allows investors place their buy and sell mandates on the go. The subsidiary company also launched its mobile app which is available on android, and blackberry phones.

“With the plan to optimize these recent acquisitions and the full offerings of the financial services group, Investment One is poised to provide excellent service to its current and potential customer base,” Bankole said.

She pointed out that there is an emerging middle class segment with considerable disposable income, which is now the target of the company’s investment education activities which include free seminars for the general public.

“We plan to extend our investment education, which currently covers the FCT, Lagos, Rivers, Kwara, Bayelsa, Imo and Oyo States, to other parts of the country. These investment education activities will inculcate investment consciousness and culture in the mind of the average Nigerian,” Bankole said.

She noted that as a result of its innovative strategy and execution, the assets under management of the company have grown by 1145 per cent over a fiveyear period as the company continues to witness increasing clientele.

•From left: Assistant Director/Head, Research and Technical Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Arinze Nwobu; President, Confidence Consult, University of Nigeria (UNN), Enugu, Mr. Ibrahim Afeeze Asipita; Marketing and Media Liaison Officer, CIS, Mr. Olumide Coker and member, Confidence Consult, UNN, Mr. Michael Opara, during the Investor Education programme of CIS in Enugu.

Cote D’Ivoire firm completes acquisition of Equity Assurance S

UNU Assurances Vie Cote D’Ivorie, a leading Cote D’Ivoire insurance company, has completed the acquisition process for 28.2 per cent equity stake in Equity Assurance Plc, in a deal valued at N1.25 billion.

The transfer of the equities to Sunu Assurances was done last week at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Sunu Assurance acquired a total of 2.497 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each of Equity Assurance Plc, representing 28.2 per cent of the equity stakes held by Skye Financial Services and other shareholders of Equity Assurance.

Equity Assurance, which is quoted on the insurance sector of the NSE, currently has total issued shares of 8.847 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each trading at its nominal value of 50 kobo, representing total market capitalisation of N4.42 billion.

The transactions pushed Equity Assurance up as the most active stock for the week, with

a turnover of 2.53 billion shares valued at N1.26 billion in 110 deals. The council of the NSE had earlier granted its “no-objection” to the acquisition.

Sustained depreciation of share prices of Nigerian quoted companies has made several companies targets of acquisitions. The low valuation is prominent in the insurance sector, where most companies are trading at their nominal value of 50 kobo.

The acquisition gave the Sunu Group a foothold in the Nigerian market. The group already has operations in 10 other African countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, Niger and Togo.

Sunu Life Insurance Côte d’Ivoire is the leading life insurance in Ivory Coast, with a turnover of over 24 billion CFA francs in late 2014. With focus on corporate and enter-

prise segment, Sunu Ivory Coast Life Insurance provides group pension products, group benefits and retirement benefits. It has also positioned as a leader in bancassurance and micro insurance simple with innovative products and operational efficiency.

Members of the Sunu Group included Avie and Kajas. Avie, a member since 2005, is in the top three market life insurance companies with a steady increase in sales. It was the first vendor to develop bancassurance in active partnership with the banking sector in Benin and two thirds of banks operating in the country now have at least one life insurance product managed

by Avie.

Kajas Microfinance is a social purpose private company founded in June 2008 in Senegal. Its goal is to lead a sustainable and profitable business for socio-economic

development of the people by allowing them to participate in income-generating activities and offering them access to decentralized financial services.

The reinsurers to Sunu Group included SCOR in France, Africa Reinsurance in Nigeria and CICA-Re in Togo.

Chairman, Equity Assurance Plc, Mr. Adetutu Buraimo, had hinted about the acquisition at the company’s 28th annual general meeting in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State According to him, the company plans to seek for new equity investments from strategic investors.

Shareholders passed a resolution to increase the company’s authorised share capital from N7 billion to N10 billion.

The acquisition comes on the heels of recent rebound in the performance of Equity Assurance, which recovered from a loss of N365 million in 2013 with a profit of N310 million in 2014.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL

U.S. oil fall longest in 29 years after China data

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.S. oil prices headed for their eighth consecutive week of falls last Friday, the longest losing streak since 1986, after a sharp drop in Chinese manufacturing increased worries over the health of the world’s biggest energy consumer.

Activity in China’s factory sector shrank at its fastest pace in almost 6-1/2 years in August as domestic and export demand dwindled, adding to worries about lower consumption of crude in the second-biggest oil user.

Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower as fears took hold of a Chinaled slowdown in global growth.

U.S. crude for October delivery CLc1 was 50 cents lower at $40.92 a barrel by 1230 GMT. Last Thursday, the September U.S.

crude contract CLU5 saw its lowest intraday trade since March 2009 at $40.21 a barrel before it expired at the market close.

Brent oil LCOc1 was on track for its seventh weekly decline in eight, down 60 cents at $46.02 a barrel, after settling 54 cents lower last Thursday.

Both global oil benchmarks are near 6-1/2-year lows, with U.S. crude heading for its longest weekly losing streak in 29 years.

“The market is stuck in a relentless downtrend,” said Robin Bieber, a director at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.

In late 1985, oil prices slumped to $10 from around $30 over five months as OPEC raised output to regain market share following an increase in non-OPEC production.

“Weighing on prices is the contin-

ued ample supply with crude oil builds in the U.S. and OPEC pumping at record levels,” said Michael Poulsen at Global Risk Management.

“Fear of slowing growth in China is increasing.”

The dollar DXY fell on receding expectations of a U.S. interest rate rise in September, providing some support for oil. But technical price charts for almost all the big oil futures markets looked bearish, PVM’s Bieber said.

U.S. crude inventories continued to rise, as imports rose and shale production fell more slowly than anticipated, despite dropping prices.

“The only silver lining we are seeing coming from the United States is that refining rates remain high and that crude production continues to fall,” Daniel Ang at Singaporebased Philip Futures said.

U.S. agency opens probe into 2008 Honda Accord air bag controller U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation into air bags on Honda Motor Co’s 2008 Accord sedans after 19 complaints of malfunctioning air bags including a front crash that resulted in injuries, federal officials said last Friday.

The issue involves a module that controls deployment of the air bag.

This appears to be a problem separate from that of combustible air bag inflators in Honda vehicles and has caused the recall of millions of them.

Honda officials were not immediately available for comment.

“Malfunction of the air bag control module may prevent air bags from deploying in a crash,” said a filing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. About 384,000 of the 2008 Accord sedans may be recalled if NHTSA finds in the investigation that a recall is warranted.

The federal safety agency said consumers have filed 19 complaints claiming that the air bag controlling module, called an SRS module, failed.

NHTSA said it is investigating to determine the “scope, frequency and consequence of the alleged SRS module failures.”

Hewlett-Packard revenues fall as PC sales slide TECHNOLOGY giant Hewlett-Packard has reported falling profits and revenues as sales of personal computers fall.

For the three months to 31 July, HP said net income fell to $854m (£544m) down from $985m a year earlier.

Total revenue fell 8.1 per cent to $25.35bn, with revenues at HP’s personal computer and printer business down 11.5 per cent. Later this year, HP is due to split into two, separating its computer and printer business from its corporate hardware and services operations.

The split is part of a radical restructuring plan, which has already resulted in tens of thousands of job cuts in recent years.

Revenues at HP’s personal computer business were down 13 per cent, with revenues from sales to consumers down 22 per cent.

HP also gave a full-year profit forecast that was largely below what analysts had expected. For the year to October, it is predicting adjusted profit of $3.59-$3.65 per share, compared with analysts’ estimates of $3.64 per share.

UK public finances record surplus in July

•From left: Chief Risk Officer, Kevin Ugwuoke, Divisional Head, Managed SMEs, Ken Opara, Head, Savings Group, Janet Nnabuko, Fidelity Loyalty Scheme Beneficiary, Ahmed Tijani Mohammed, Executive Directive, Shared Services, Chijioke Ugochukwu, Divisional Head, Retail Bank, Richard Madiebo and Divisional Head, Corporate Banking, Adeyeye Adepegba at the 3rd Prize Presentation ceremony of the Fidelity Loyalty Scheme in Lagos on Friday.

China fears and global growth doubts grip markets M

ARKETS will be watching for China’s next move as signs of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy stack up, raising expectations it will act to stoke growth.

A looming snap election in Greece and a closely watched conference hosted by the Federal Reserve in the United States are also likely to keep investors on their toes this week, in particular as they look for hints on when the U.S. will raise interest rates.

Fears that Chinese growth is weakening, dragging down the global economy with it, are already hammering commodities and world stock markets.

Both tumbled last Friday after a survey showed Chinese manufacturing slowed the most since the global financial crisis in 2009 - adding to other worrying clues about the country’s health, including its falling exports.

China devalued the yuan earlier in August, by pushing its official guidance rate down 2 per cent. The central bank has said there was no reason for the currency to fall fur-

ther, but investors are also bracing for further interest rate cuts.

“It will be all eyes on the Chinese authorities for any further policy support steps, alongside the People’s Bank of China yuan fixings and trading swings,” analysts at Investec Economics said in a note to clients.

China is also widely expected to relax reserve requirements ratios for its banks again in the coming months, a measure intended to spur lending by reducing the cash they need to hold. It is trying to keep its economy on course to grow 7 per cent in 2015 - its slowest pace in a quarter of a century.

“We continue to expect a total of 100 basis points of reserve requirement ratio cuts by end-2015, with the first cut likely to take place within the next two weeks,” economists at Standard Chartered said.

The cash reserves ratio has already been cut three times this year.

By the end of next week attention may shift away to the Rocky Mountains, where policy makers are due

to gather from 27-29 of this month for the Fed’s conference of central bankers, finance ministers, academics and financial market participants in Jackson Hole.

Fed chair Janet Yellen is not expected to attend, raising the prospect that other Fed officials may be more tight-lipped about the likelihood of the first rate increase in almost a decade, some analysts said.

The prospect of an increase as soon as September receded last week as the Fed released minutes of July meeting. They gave no clear signals as to the timing of such a move which would affect markets across the world and could cause more pain for emerging market assets, already being hit by China’s woes.

Fed policy makers are still concerned about the weakness of the global economy, the minutes showed, but they were also more confident about US growth prospects.

Further clues on both matters should be gleaned from data releases last week, including second-quarter gross domestic product figures for the United States, due last Thursday.

CPC begins consumer voice on TV

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HE Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has begun a consumer education television programme to equip consumers with the necessary skills for their market interactions.

The Council, in a statement, disclosed that the new move was designed to raise the bar of consumer education for Nigerian consumers to assume their rightful position in their interactions in the market place.

The public enlightenment, which it said would rent the airwaves begin-

ning from this week, would commence with the television programme on the network of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

According to the Council, the programme, tagged: “Consumer Voice”, which will be broadcast by 8pm every Thursday.

The agency pointed out that the programme would treat topical consumer issues weekly, pointing out consumers’ rights and responsibilities as well as arming them with the necessary skills for an informed consumption.

The new leadership of the Council had on assumption of office about two years ago, identified low consumer education as one of the causes of consumer lethargy and has been introducing a number of initiatives to correct this.

To ensure the sustainability of the new effort, the Council was able to secure some support from an international development partner, the Ford Foundation, to build an ultramodern audio-visual studio within the premises of its headquarters in Abuja

THE UK government spent less last month than it received in taxes and other forms of income, official figures have shown.

Government borrowing was in surplus by £1.3bn in July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

That was the first July surplus since 2012, thanks largely to higher amounts of income tax receipts. The government received £59.1bn in income in July 2015, which is about 4 per cent higher than last year’s figure.

The ONS said July is traditionally a month of higher tax receipts. Public sector net debt, excluding public sector banks, now stands at £1.5 trillion, which is 80.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the ONS said.

“The recovery is well established, tax revenues are up and we have more than halved the deficit,” George Osborne said.

“But with debt over 80 per cent of GDP, the job is not done,” the chancellor added.

Annual borrowing has been falling since hitting a peak in the financial year ending March 2010, according to the ONS.

Etihad appoints manager for Africa ETIHAD Airways, the national airline for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has announced the appointment of Bradley Edwards as its new Regional Business Development Manager for the Sub-Saharan Africa & Indian Ocean region.

Based at Etihad Airways’ new offices in Sandton, Johannesburg, Bradley will oversee key sales strategies across seven countries in Africa with the objective of accelerating the growth of Etihad’s revenues through expanded distribution and segmentation strategies, which increase awareness of the airline and its market share across the region.

Maurice Phohleli, Etihad Airways’ Vice President Africa Sub-Sahara and Indian Ocean Islands, said: “We are delighted to welcome Bradley to our regional team. Our growing commitment in Africa has seen our regional team grow in order to serve our customers and partners even more efficiently.”

An alumnus of Henley Business School, Bradley completed his Master of Business Administration in 2013. He also studied Tourism Management at the University of South Africa and Technikon Witwatersrand.

Co-operative Bank says it will make no profit until 2017

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HE troubled Co-operative Bank has said it would not make a profit for another two years as it reported another loss.

Pre-tax losses for the first six months of the year were £204.2m, compared with losses of £77m a year earlier. The figure was slightly better than expected.

It said it was now in better shape to withstand economic stresses.

The bank almost collapsed in 2013 after a huge black hole was discovered in its accounts. The Co-op Bank was owned by the 150-year old Cooperative Group until it had to be rescued in 2013 following the discovery of a £1.5bn black hole.

In that year, it contributed £2.1bn of losses of £2.3bn - the largest in the Co-operative Group’s 150 year history. The group had to seek outside investors to prop up the bank, which is now 80% owned by hedge funds, with the remainder held by the Co-

op Group.

One option under consideration is to float shares on the stock market in an initial public offering (IPO).

But its chief executive, Niall Booker, said it was unlikely to embark upon a stock market listing until it was closer to making profits.

But he said that was not something that would happen in the near future: “We won’t be profitable in 2015 and we won’t be profitable in 2016 either.”

In the first half of 2015, the bank set aside £49m to cover misconduct and legal charges, lost £38.2m on sales of assets needed to reduce the bank’s overall levels of debt, and spent an extra £33.1m on improving “systems and processes.”

A regulatory report, penultimate week, criticised the bank for misleading investors. The bank escaped a fine, however, because the regulator said it needed all the money it has to strengthen its balance sheet.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

33

BUSINESS AFRICA Propak holds exhibition Sept 1

SAHCOL donates vehicle to cargo agents

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HE leading packaging, food processing, plastics, labelling and print exhibition in West Africa exhibition, Propak West Africa 2015, will hold at the Landmark Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, between September 1 and 3.

In a statement, its organiser's, Afrocet Montgomery, Regional Director, George Pearson, said over 70 exhibitors are being expected from West Africa and internationally. "The show will encompass and showcase the most current, futuristic solutions and highlight leading trends that are rapidly changing the packaging, printing and labelling industries,'' it said.

It added: "Expect to access international, innovative and industry leading solutions, capitalise on extensive networking opportunities with international and local experts, attend dedicated and interactive seminar streams and come for three full days to gain revitalised strategy at the only platform that attracts the most decision makers in West Africa's packaging, print, plastics and labelling markets.

It also said there would be segments such as, FoodPro West Africa, Digital Print West Africa, Pro-Label West Africa, Print West Africa and Pro-Label West Africa, where participants could get information, strategies and knowledge from the array of global and regional brands and industry giants.

Speakers expected include; Winston Jackson Ailemoh, Head, Marketing Director, Pfizer (Nigeria, Ghana & East Africa); Parthesh Dave, Head, Packaging, Africa, PZ Cusson; Josephine Ataboh, R&D Manager, Personal Care, West Africa (Product & Packaging), Unilever Nigeria Plc; Dr. Solomon Makanjuola, Packaging Development Manager, Promasidor Nigeria Ltd; Waheed Bakare, ?Packaging Development Manager for Central Africa, Reckitt Benckiser; Flory Kimvangu, Food & Beverages R&D and Innovation, Flour Mills Nigeria; Lanre Da Silva, Senior Brand Manager, Honeywell Flour Mills; Auscar Ikoro, Brand Communications Director, CWAY Group; Jakob Bejer, Managing Director, Heidelberg Nigeria; Alhaji Bature Umar Masari, Director-General, SMEDAN; Dr. Joseph Odumodu, Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Wahab Aderemi Muhammed Lawal, President/Chairman-In-Council, Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPON).

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

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• Dr. Bisi Bright, The CEO of Livewell Initiative performing medical examination on the Babaloja of Dugbe Market in Oyo State, Chief Rasak Bello, during a free Health Screening programme organised by FCMB Microfinance Bank for traders in the market. With them (from left) is the Team Lead, CSR of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Mrs. Temitayo Ade-Peters; the Group Head, Mass Market Banking, Mr. Adetunji Lamidi and the Head, Corporate Affairs/Media Management, Mr. Louis Ibe in Ibadan, Oyo state...on Friday.

SON arrests importers of fake auto parts D

ETERMINED to deliver on its mandate to rid Nigerian markets of fake and sub-standard products, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has seized sub-standard auto spare-parts worth N20 million from Mundus Auto Limited at the popular Auto Parts and Mechanics Dealers Association (ASPAMDA) market at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex along Mile 12Badagry Expressway. The importer was also arrested.

Also confiscated were cartons of adulterated locally-made tooth brushes, allegedly imported from China.

The raid, according to SON, was part of its on-going ‘Operation Flush’ campaign aimed at eliminating substandard products from circulating in the country.

Briefing reporters after the exercise, leader of the Monitoring and Enforcement team, Assistant Director, Inspectorate and Compliance Department of the agency, Mr. Fred Akingbesote, expressed disgust at the rate importers throw caution to the wind in their bid to maximise profit. He disclosed that a similar raid, which took place earlier in the year, involved the same culprit whose shop was amongst those locked up for the same offence.

“If you recall that this type of exercise was carried out precisely on April 8. The same culprit refused to understand what we are saying. They con-

By Toba Agboola

tinued in their nefarious activities by faking the product. This is an engine component spare part in a heavyduty vehicle originally a product of Poland with a minimum life-span of two years, but this fake one from China can only last for about two months.

“Everything about the rotor looks exactly like the original. It takes an eagle-eye of a technically competent person to identify, but this person continues to bring it in from China, while the original is made in Poland,” he said.

Unperturbed by SON’s action in locking the shops, the importer, who had been on the run since the incident, together with members of his cartel obtained a court injunction against the agency and went ahead with normal business, not minding the fact that a day of reckoning always comes.

The SON top official said: “When these shops were locked in April they went to court and got an injunction which I’m not aware of; that notwithstanding, the pedestal at which SON works now is a different platform entirely because of our amended Act.

Candel to commence agrochemicals export to Ghana N

IGERIA’S leading agricultural inputs development and distribution company, Candel Company Limited, is set to start the export of made in Nigeria Agrochemical products from its integrated manufacturing facility at the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos.

The Chairman, Candel Group, Mr. Charles Anudu disclosed this during a statutory plant inspection and assessment of the Candel FZE Plant by the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana as part of the requirements by the regulatory body to ensure compliance with global environmental and quality standards.

Anudu revealed that the plant, which was inaugurated barely three months ago, has the capacity to export crop protection chemicals and foliar fertilizers to Ghana. The other African markets will follow shortly in line with the vision of the company as an international agro-input company with deep Nigerian roots. ”As a company, we have been operating in Ghana for about 15 years, trading in Agrochemical products made for us in Asia and Europe, but now we want to export our made-inNigeria products, which are made with the context of the West African farmer as the focus. We will supply

our own distribution network as well as private label customers in that market,’’ he said.

Assuring the visiting regulatory agency of the quality of Candel Agrochemical Products, Anudu said quality is of utmost importance to the company. ‘’We ensure that the quality of the chemical content in our bottle is exactly as written on the label. Our approach to quality is a holistic one which includes the quality of the content as well as the packaging,’’ he said.

In his remarks, the Managing Director, Candel Company Limited, Mr. Emmanuel Kattie, said the company’s innovative Research & Development unit is working to improve product formulation to suite local needs. An example is foliar fertilizer for Cocoa, which both feeds the cocoa crop while protecting its pods from the dreaded Black Pod disease.

Kattie said through the company’s R&D effort, The Candel Company Limited has a new Maize herbicide that does not contain Atrazine thereby resolving the underground water problems associated with this active ingredient.

Speaking shortly after the plant

inspection, the Head, Chemical Control & Management Centre of EPA, Ghana, Dr. SamAdu-Kumi, applauded the factory initiative by Candel, which he believed would set a good foundation not only for the nation’s economy, but the whole West African sub region. ‘’Most of the Agrochemical products that come into our country are substandard. In our sub-region, we only have one factory. Candel’s plant and standards are a welcome development that would help boost the economy of Nigeria and trickle down to other West African countries,” he said.

Adu-Kumi commended the management of The Candel Company Limited for carrying out due diligence of environmental impact assessment and investing in innovative product packaging process that will prevent leakages and counterfeiting.

Commenting on the relationship among EPA, Ghana and Nigeria’s regulatory body such as NAFDAC, the Deputy Director, Field Operations, EPA, Ghana, Mr. John Pwamang said plans were at an advanced stage to harmonise the regulatory system for the whole ECOWAS sub-region to facilitate the regional ambition of Candel.

In time past, we needed to obtain court order, but now Section 30; subsection 4 gives us the same right, privilege and authority like any law enforcement agency, especially the Police. Now, we can arrest, prosecute and detain as the case may be. So, running around obtaining court injunctions based on the old Act is just a waste of time.”

The former SON Act empowers the Standards Council to design, establish and approve standards in respect of metrology, materials, commodities, structures, and processes for the certification of products in commerce and industry throughout Nigeria and to carry out any other function imposed on it under the former Act. It also empowers the Director-General to enforce standards, quality control of products, science of measurement, and all matters relating to metrology; investigate quality of products, etc, seize, seal, destroy or prohibit the sale of sub-standard products; power to enter any premises, building etc. where commercial activity is taking place to perform her functions, amongst others.

Following the unprecedented passing of the SON amended Act by the immediate seventh National Assembly, it has now acquired new powers not only to arrest, prosecute and jail purveyors of fake and sub-standard products across the country, but prevent importers of such products into the country from having the usual mentality of ‘business as usual’. With this upgraded status, the war against fake and sub-standard products would gain new impetus and bite.

Akingbesote stressed that the high rate of accidents on our roads is caused by the use of counterfeit imported auto spare parts by motorists, while decrying the unpatriotic attitude of some unscrupulous businessmen, who would stop at nothing to amass wealth at the detriment of others.

“These are fake metals, but look like the original. It has to be subjected to fatigue and mechanical tests to further check for the component and the characteristics of the metal. These are just fake; they look shiny, polished, but there’s actually nothing in them.

Something that is for duration of two years minimum, you use it for a couple of months and it’s all over.”

“This is why we have high rate of damage on trucks on the road and accidents. It’s an engine component and anything can happen,” he said.

He expressed joy at the milestone reached with the ‘operation flush’ campaign and promised that the agency would stop at nothing to ensure that sub-standard products are removed from Nigeria’s markets, while warning dubious importers to desist from proliferating fake products because the long arm of SON would definitely catch up with them.

HE Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) has presented a new Toyota Hilux vehicle to the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) to assist in their effective monitoring and enforcement activities within the Cargo terminal.

The vehicle was handed over to the association at SAHCOL Headquarters at the Cargo Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos by the General Manager, Cargo Services of SAHCOL, Boma Ukwunna, who represented the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Oluropo Owolabi.

While receiving the vehicle, ANLCA Vice Chairman, Murtala Muhammed Airport chapter, Bola Ashiru Balogun, thanked SAHCOL for the gesture, stating that it opened the beginning of a new dawn of excellent working relationship between the association and SAHCOL. Present at the occasion were SAHCOL’s Management staff and ANLCA’s executives Murtala Muhammed International Airport Branch.

ANLCA is the body of Clearing and Forwarding practitioners in Nigeria, established with the aim of improving the quality of services rendered

by Freight Forwarders and promoting vocational training for its members while working closely with Customs, other government agencies, Port Terminal Operators, Cargo Handling agencies, Inspection Agents, Shipping Agencies, Nigeria Customs, NAFDAC, amongst others.

Made of Black more than an ad campaignAshdown

By Adedeji Ademigbuji

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N a bid to move Guinness Made of Black campaign to the next level, the Portfolio Marketing Manager, Guinness, Ms. Liz Ashdown, has said the marketing effort is more than an advertising campaign, but a movement.

Ashdown spoke during a media event to celebrate the Guinness Made of Black ambassadors: Olamide, Phyno and Eva. “It’s about the people making bold choices, those who ask why not... those doing things their way and carving out a path for themselves,” she said.

Explaining the next steps of the campaign, Ashdown said: “This year we turn the camera around and focus on the real made of black heroes in all walks of life across Nigeria, starting with our very own brand ambassadors. We showed Nigeria made of black and now we will make you part of it by taking #madeofblack to the street and to the bars.”

Stating the features that make the brand ambassadors connect with the new campaign theme, Ashdown noted that Olamide, Phyno and Eva have made positive impacts to the #madeofblack movement and the campaign wants to make them more pivotal part of the next phase.

“Hence we are excited to be celebrating them. Phyno is #madeofblack because he dared to be different, standing up to pursue what he believed in; his dream and not wavering till he got it. Phyno went where many could not succeed and made immense impact in the music entertainment industry.

“Eva believes that women can achieve anything they set their minds to and she has demonstrated this by treading a path previously believed to be reserved for men. Eva is driven by her passion to be heard. She dared to challenge the norm, and she is truly #madeofblack.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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Taxation

VAT on services of banks and other financial institutions

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HE Value Added Tax Act Cap V1 LFN 2004 (as amended) imposes a tax known as Value Added Tax (VAT) on taxable goods and services. Part 2 of the First Schedule to the Act only exempts services rendered by Community banks, Peoples bank and Mortgage institutions from VAT. Accordingly, all banks and financial institutions, except those exempted are required to charge VAT on services rendered by them to their customers and account for same to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.This is in line with Section 2 of the Act, which stipulates that “the tax shall be charged and payable on the supply of all goods and services (in this Act referred to as “taxable goods and services”) other than those goods and services listed in the First Schedule to this Act. Definition of Bank and other Financial Institutions These are legal entities incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA)of 1990 and engage in banking and financial activities as defined by the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act(BOFIA), 1991. They are companies within the financialsector of the Nigerian economy and are either publicly quoted or private companies. Banks will ordinarily include commercial banks, merchant banks and development banks while other financial institutions will include; finance houses, insurance companies, re-insurance companies,stock-brokerage firms, investment companies and financial consultants.

VAT Liability Banks in particular, charge commission, fees, or other charges for services rendered to theircustomers. VAT calculations are expected to be based only on the charges made forservices rendered. It should however, be noted that the focus of VAT is on the charges leviedon customers for the consumption of services rendered by Banks.

The provision of loans and advances does not in itself constitute a vatable service but thereare other ancillary services to the provision of bank loan/advances or bank overdrafts, which arevatable. The documentation and perfection of loan/overdraft agreements are examplesof such ancillary services and fees charged,which would attract VAT. The resultant interest chargeable on the loans and overdraft is however not vatable.

Insurance companies’ brokers/agents earn commission, loss adjusters earn fees, surveyors earn fees, brokers earn commission and agents earn commission for various services rendered to the Insurance Companies. The services which generated these income are vatable services, andeven though the premium received on policies is not vatable as it represents cost of risk tothe insured, the commission paid to brokers/agent from premium will attract VAT; with theburden of VAT being borne by the insurance company itself.

Vatable Services Rendered by Financial Institutions In arriving at what constitutes vatable financial services, a distinction should be made betweenactivities that constitute return on investment and consumption of services rendered by financialinstitutions.All charges arising from the services of banks and financial institutions will ordinarily attract VAT and they include among others, the following: • Commissions/fees charged on forex trading or remittance; • Commission on turnover (COT), ledger fees etc; • Legal and other fees chargeable on lease arrangements; • Fees charged for advisory services e.g. mergers and acquisition, financial strategy counseling etc; • Fees chargeable on public/private issues; • Debt conversion fees; • Fees/commission on asset trading; • Fees earned on fund management; • Fees and commissions earned on letters of credit/documentary collection to finance import/ export;

• Acting Executive Chairman, FIRS, Dr William Babatunde Fowler

By Michael Olulenu

• Commissions on sale of Bank drafts/certified cheques; • Fees chargeable on stock-brokerage and trust services; • Commissions paid to brokers, reinsurers, underwriters and other insurance agents by an insurer.

Services of Banks and Other Financial Institutions not Liable to VAT A simple criteria for determining whether a service is vatable or not is the identification of those activities that constitute return on investment as distinct from those that represent consumption of services. The services of Banks and other Financial Institutions that willnot attract VAT include: • Premium on insurance policies; • Interest on loans/advances and overdraft facilities; • Interest on savings accounts; • Interest on bank deposits; • Dividends; • Interbank placements; and • Profit/gain on disposal of government securities.

VAT Registration and Rendition of Returns Banks and other Financial Institutions are taxable persons within the provisions of the VAT Act and all services rendered by them are taxable with the exception of the servicesof Peoples Bank, Community Banks and Mortgage Institutions, which are exempted by theVAT Act. These Banks and Other Financial Institutions are to register for tax with the relevant tax office and obtain TIN. VAT returns are tobe made regularly to the relevant tax office within twenty one (21) days after the month oftransaction.

Accounting Procedure and Records to be kept by Banks The mode of operation in the banks does not permit the issuance of tax invoices to customers. The VAT charges therefore have to bereflectedin the customers’ statements of accounts in order to enhance disclosure and easy verificationby tax officers. Banks and other Financial Institutions are required to adopt the following simple methods of recording their transactions for VAT purposes:

(i) When any service is identified as vatable, internal entries are raised by the Bank for the cost of the service plus 5% VAT. (ii) The Bank is expected to debit the account of the customer accordingly with the cost of the service plus the 5% VAT charged. (iii) Credit the Income account of the Bank or Institution with the income elementof the charge excluding the VAT (iv)Credit the FIRS VAT account in the particular Bank or Institution with the 5% VATdeducted from (ii) to arrive at (iii).

Section 16 subsection (b) provides that where input tax exceeds output tax, the taxpayer will be entitled to refund of the excess tax from the FIRS on production of such documents as theFIRS may, from time to time require. With regards to banks and otherfinancial institutions, thisis not applicable because of the provision of Section 17 of Value Added Tax Act on allowable input tax, which provides that input tax on any overhead, service, and general administration of any business which otherwise can be expended through the income statement (profit and loss accounts) shall not be allowed as a deduction from output tax.

It is a common knowledge that the bank and other Financial Institutions render services; they do not produce goods and therefore regarded as final consumer of those goods purchased or servicesrendered to them. In this connection, all input VAT payable in respect of assets purchasedfor use in the banks and other Financial Institutions should be added to the cost of the assets on which capitalallowances may be claimed. Similarly, all VAT payable in respect of services consumed by the bank should be regarded as part of normal operational expenses chargeable to Statement of Profit or Loss Account.

Under no circumstance should input tax on such items be claimed or deducted from output tax collected. Banks and other Financial Institutions cannot claim or deduct any input tax suffered. The entire amount collected on behalf of the FIRS should be promptly remitted in whole as prescribed by the law.

The Central Bank The position of the Central bank with regards to VAT payment is not different from that of otherbanks in the system. The Central Bank performs nearly all the services listed in paragraph 4 aboveand also acts as banker to other banks. It is therefore expected that VAT would be charged on payments made to it by the banks for vatable services rendered to them. This makes it necessaryfor the Central Bank to register for VAT purposes.

Offences and Penalties Banks and other Financial Institutions have obligations to fulfill under the VAT Act like other taxable or registered persons. Part V of the Act contains the list of offences and penalties to be imposed.

These include among others: • Failure to register within six (6) months of the existence of a bank; • Failure to issue tax invoice (debit note showing amount of VAT collected in the case of banks); failure to charge and remit VAT collected; • Failure to keep proper records and accounts; • Rendition of incorrect or false returns.

For these offences, stringent penalties are imposed to check possible defaults.

Banks and other Financial Institutions are taxable persons within the provisions of the VAT Act and all their services are vatable except those specifically mentioned in the First Schedule. Bank officials are strongly advised to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the VAT Act. Whatever is peculiar to any Bank or Financial Institution in terms of procedures which has not been dealt with in this circular should be referred to the FIRS without delay.

Finally, where computerization has been established and it is likely to skip these procedures, the FIRS should be notified of the system in operation and how it would take care of all procedures without leaving out anything uncaptured.

35

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

THE NATION

BUSINESS JOBS

In these days of frequent job lay-offs, converting ones car to picking up kids around your neighbourhood and taking them to school, or lesson could be a filler in these trying times. Adding delivery service to it, may well be an extra means of income, writes, OLUWAKEMI DAUDA.

School pick up, delivery service hold promising option P

ICK-UP and delivery service is a great concierge service which one easily and inexpensively conduct from the comfort of ones home. As a pick-up and delivery service, you would be paid to perform tasks such as drop-off and collection of laundry, grocery pickup, pick-up and delivery of documents or parcels, for individuals and businesses.

To run a successful pick-up and delivery service, you require great organisational and communicational skills along with punctuality and a reliable mode of communication and

transportation.

Investigation has revealed that there has been an increased demand for pick-up and delivery service providers. The main reason behind this is the busy lifestyle of the present era. In many households, both spouses have full time careers which leave them with little or no time to carry out other tasks. Idealy, such busy individuals are the main target market in this profession. Other than these,

there is another group of people who rely on concierge service providers.

These are the people who require help to perform their tasks because of the inability, or constrain imposed on them, either as a result of the arrival of a new child, disability, illness or old age. In addition, small businesses also rely on pick-ups and delivery services to carry out tasks for them. Accounting firms, law firms and advertis-

ing agencies are some of the companies that would rely on, or engage such service providers.

A well conducted pick-up and delivery service is able to yield profitable returns for you. Usually in this industry, clients are charged by the hour or the type of service that is provided. Some pick-ups and delivery services even provide memberships for their regular clients. In this case the client would pay an annual fee for a certain

number of requests per month.

To many full-time working parents, school pick-up has never been easy for many parents. The nature of their jobs makes it tough or difficult for them to just dash off in the middle of their work engagement to pick up their children majority of whom are kindergartens.

Findings revealed that these category of parents, in a school year, make it to school pick-up exactly twice: Once on the first day of school resumption and •Continued on Page 36

36

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

JOBS

School pick up, delivery service hold promising option •Continued from page 35

another is when the students are vacating on long-term holidays.

“I actually forgot it was my day to pick up my two sons from school.

It was around 6.35pm when I remembered my children. The two of them were crying because I did not show-up to pick them. Although my younger son was very forgiving, but he was very upset.

Ditto the senior one. I still have flashbacks about it on many occasions. We have to look for somebody that would be helping us to bring them home every day, and that is where the school pick-up business is good.

“For those of us working in Lagos and other major cities, that is the area where those who have cars can assist parents and make good money,” said Dr Ayodeji Olufowobi, who works at one of the best hospitals in Lagos.

Also, a banker who craved anonymity, told The Nation, that many parents are interested in getting somebody to do the pick-up business for their children.

“I know I am not the only scouting for after-school pick-up. One colleague, for example, checks in with her caregiver each day to make sure her driver is at school to pic-up the little kids.

“In my family, things are getting better because somebody is now doing the pick-up job for us. My son loves his after-school programme, so he is happy to get picked up for that. And his teacher tells me some parents are habitually late, so he sees that pick-up is imperfect for other kids, too.

“But there are some days where he comes home and says, “all the other parents were there at 3: 35pm but you were not there and I was missing you. Although I am aware

‘With the high rate of kidnappings and rituals going on, the process of getting individuals and companies for the business would vary from place to place.

Furthermore, a pick-up and delivery service may involve a high amount of liability. So it is advisable that you may obtain business insurance for your pickup and delivery service’ • Dr Olufowobi

that it’s not entirely true–some of those “mommies” were actually babysitters. But that doesn’t make it feel any better for me.

“My little baby was waiting to get picked up at school about three weeks ago and was asked by a

classmate why her mother was never there at pick-up. One of his closest friends replied, “that’s easy. it’s because she doesn’t care about her. The remark was not good to me; it was one of those extreme moments where if I could have

quit, I would have. She will get over it I’m sure, but I feel guilty that she has to take comments like that, and her confidence in me has been shaken.

“Regardless, I’ve decided that when the school resumes, I will try

‘In my family, things are getting better because somebody is now doing the pick-up job for us. My son loves his after-school programme, so he is happy to get picked up for that. And his teacher tells me some parents are habitually late, so he sees that pick-up is imperfect for other kids, too’

to make sure I take a half-day every two or three months to make a special afternoon for my children. My husband promised that he will try to do the same once in six months.

Despite the fact that we have somebody doing it for us now, we would be there at pick-up and we’ll do something funny together,” she said.

To run this type of business, you would be required to get a guarantor that you are not going to run away with their kids and goods where applicable, and put them for sale.

With the high rate of kidnappings and rituals going on, the process of getting individuals and companies for the business would vary from place to place.

Furthermore, a pick-up and delivery service may involve a high amount of liability. So it is advisable that you may obtain business insurance for your pickup and delivery service.

To get clients, it is necessary that you promote your business, in the area you wish to operate. Networking is a great way to spread the word. Join community groups and get to know and identify the people who live around your area who would require your services. Hand out your business cards and flyers which would provide your potential clients with more information regarding your venture. Advertising in the local papers, magazines will also assist you. Sending direct SMS and emails to people is another effective way to make your services known.

You should establish a professional outlook for your business by being punctual, dependable and proficient. Satisfied clients are the best marketing tool for your business, since they would happily promote your services to others.

EMPOWERMENT CLINIC

Wriggling out of unemployment with your CV G IVEN the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) regarding the worsening employment situation in the country, we have decided to discuss relevant employment solutions as a guide to the different types of employment challenges contained in the report. We will discuss jobsearch and self-employment solutions.

Many graduates are today roaming the streets in search of jobs without success just because they do not know how to package their curriculum vitae (CV) in the right way and convince prospective employers. The fact that our school curriculum is not reviewed to accommodate topics on job-search strategies and entrepreneurship to reflect the realities of the 21 century globalisation does not help matters.

Proper definition A CV has a persuasive motive.

Indeed, it is an advertisement. A great CV does not just tell a prospective employer what you have done but presents you in the best light. It convinces the prospective employer that you have what it takes to be successful in the new position. Nicholas Lore, an international career management expert says it is a mistake to think of your CV as a history of your past, as a personal statement or as some sort of selfexpression. Surely, most of the

By Goke Ilesanmi

content of any CV is focused on the job history. But, endeavour to write with the intention to create interest, to persuade the prospective employer to call you. If you write with that goal, your final product will be very different from when you are writing to inform or catalogue your job history.

Most people write their CV anyhow. If you realise that a great CV can be your gateway to getting your dream job, you will definitely develop real interest in creating an enviable masterpiece, rather than the despicable ones most people compose.

Research shows that only one interview is granted for every 200 CVs received by a prospective employer, and that each CV is quickly scanned, rather than read. A period of between ten and twenty seconds is all the time you have to persuade a prospective employer to read further. The implication of this is that the decision to interview a candidate is usually based on an overall first impression that his or her CV is able to create.

Extension Therefore, the top half of the first page of your CV will either make or mar your chances. By the time a prospective employer has read the first few lines, you may or may not

arouse his or her interest. This is why it is said that your CV is an advertisement. Ensure that it has the same result as a well-written advert: to get the reader to respond.

To write a CV that is effective, you need to learn the strategy of writing a powerful, but subtle advertising copy. Note that the best-advertised product is often bought more than the best product. If you have a masterpiece of a CV, you will always get a better response from prospective employers than people with better credentials but without a good CV. However, do not make false claims on your CV just for the sake of getting invited for an interview.

Integrity is very important. You should focus on the prospective employers’ needs not yours. Usually, the person who makes the hiring decision is also the person who is responsible for the bottom-line productivity of the project or group you hope to join.

This is a person who cares deeply about how well the job will be done. Therefore, you need to write your CV in such a way that will appeal directly to him or her. Ask yourself questions such as What would make someone the best candidate? What does the employer really want?

If you are in search of a job in a field you have enough knowledge of, think of what would make

someone a superior candidate. If you are not sure, you can ask other people who work for the same company or in the same field. You can even call the prospective employer and ask him or her what he or she wants because if you are not addressing his or her real needs, he or she will not respond to your CV. Putting yourself in the position of the person doing the hiring is the first and most important step in writing a CV that markets you rather than describes your history.

Every step in producing a finished document should be part of your overall intention to convey to the prospective employer that you are a truly-exceptional candidate.

•GOKE ILESANMI

Clarity Therefore, be clear on what the employer is looking for and what you have to offer before you begin your CV. Write your answers to the first question What would make someone the perfect candidate? on a sheet of paper, one answer per page.

Prioritise the sheets of paper, based on which qualities or abilities you think would be most important to the person doing the hiring. Then, starting with the top priority page, fill the rest of that page with everything you have ever done that demonstrates that you fit best and perfectly with what is wanted and needed by the employer. We will continue next week.

PS: For those making inquiries

about our Public Speaking, Business Presentation and Professional Writing Skills programme, please visit the website indicated here for details.

GOKE ILESANMI, Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is an International Platinum Columnist, Professional Public Speaker/MC, Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker and Career Management Coach.

He is also a Book Reviewer, Biographer and Editorial Consultant.

Tel: 08055068773; 08187499425 Email: gokeiles2010@gmail.com Website: www.gokeilesanmi.com

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

37

THE CEO

• Tumala

‘Nigeria needs quality statistics for proper national development’ After several years of relentless efforts to ensure that statistical quality is given appropriate attention in national development agenda, the Nigeria Statistical Association, NSA, has secured the National Assembly’s consent with the passage of the Chartered Institute of Statisticians of Nigeria (CISON) Bill. In this interview with a select team of Business Editors, the National President of the Association, Dr. Mohammed Tumala, speaks on what the country stands to benefit by professionalising statistical practice. SIMEON EBULU was there.

N

IGERIA’S developmental strategies appear not to have placed much emphasis on statistics as a tool for national development until recently. What has the country lost for relegating statistics to the background in the past?

You cannot measure and monitor national development without statistics. You cannot also possibly get the right mix of policies that will work if statistics is not used in planning. For coming to realise at this hour when nations have moved forward far ahead of

Nigeria, that we need statistics, the country has lost an important ingredient in human activity and that is time. Unfortunately, it is not only time that we lost, knowledge and technology has moved far beyond our comprehension, our people are poor, our society is not cohesive. It has really left us at the bottom of the rung of human development.

The World Bank has taken much interest in supporting the country’s statistical development through manpower and institutional capacities building. How have these

impacted on the quality of official statistics in the country?

The National Strategy for the Development of Statistics was implemented with support from development partners. The involvement of the World Bank has affected the fortunes of statistical infrastructure in the country positively. It unified the National Databank and the Federal Office of Statistics; it resulted in the provision of legal backing for a system with clear demarcation of responsibilities for the production of offi-

cial statistics. In particular, the production and dissemination of macroeconomic statistics like output, prices, monetary and international trade data has improved in terms of methodology, frequency and timeliness.

However, more work is required in the areas of social, sanitation and environmental statistics, and some aspect of financial statistics, particularly public and private corporate finance.

•Continued on page 38

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

38

THE CEO

‘Nigeria needs quality statistics for proper development’ •Continued from page 37

What is your assessment of the performance of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and how can this be improved on?

The NBS has transformed the Nigerian statistics environment. As earlier mentioned, national output is now produced on quarterly basis, prices are available on monthly basis, and many more other macroeconomic variables. These are now released electronically to all users impartially. It is complying with international standards in the production of data. However, government seemed to be gradually withdrawing its support for the new agency in terms of financing.

Governance responsibilities were also assigned to persons without technical capacity in data production, while routine surveys necessary for data production remained unfunded. At the helm of affairs and the clearing house of the Nigerian Statistical System is the Governing Board of the NBS, Government needs to appoint technically competent persons on the Board to manage technical responsibilities.

Government needs to understand clearly the processes of the NBS and fund data production as a capital project or as an investment.

The CISON Bill has been passed

by the National Assembly. How would it impact on the practice?

The time has come for statistics to have its way. There is the growing demand for data in the country. The National Assembly has realised that its functions become more effective when statistics is available. Quality statistics can only be produced by professional statisticians who are guided by documented code/ethics of practice and adore their profession. Indeed, many of the members of the National Assembly we interacted with wish to see the statistics profession practiced like the accounting profession in the public service where the Statistician General recruits, trains and posts statisticians to all ministries under a unified condition of service. That will be the next step we shall take as soon as Mr. President assents to the CISON Bill. For now, we have been challenged to produce quality data for Nigeria.

What does this portend for national capacity building for Nigeria’s statistical system?

Presently, those who wish to practice as statisticians can either go through one of our educational institutions or attend the NBS statistics school with campuses in three locations. And, in almost all MDAs, we have people who found them-

‘When the country’s exports are consistently far more than its imports, and its external reserves depleting, that statistics indicate leakage. We know that the easiest way to fight financial corruption is through data mining’

• Tumala

selves posted to PRS departments and are not statisticians by training. CISON will provide training opportunities for non-statisticians and retraining for statisticians for enhanced professional practice.

This will go a long way in complementing government training programmes. CISON will also provide avenues for knowledge sharing and professional interaction that would bring about professional bonding. This has the potential of growing public confidence in the statistics being produced, and hence its use.

Getting the enabling law is one thing and mobilizing members for bodies like yours is another. Do you have strategies in place to make NSA more visible in the public domain?

CISON is ready for take-off from day one. The Bill has provided for transition from NSA to CISON. The NSA over the years has been collecting CISON development levy from members specifically for the smooth take-off of CISON on establishment. In addition, the NSA is an old organisation that I, for instance, have known before graduation. The level of awareness is high, active participation in NSA activities give statisticians advantage in recruitment and promotions. Students of statistics look forward to becoming members on graduation. I may be right to say that we have a very high level of awareness within the statistics and allied professions.

In most professional bodies, examinations are conducted to admit new members while old ones are elevated to Fellows or other positions in recognition of their contributions to the development of their bodies. Is NSA likely to adopt this approach?

Sure; that is the appropriate way to go and we shall adopt it. What makes the statistics profession different is the need for close monitoring of practice. The data we produce and publish are aggregates of numbers collected on individuals, firms, government agencies, etc.

High professional ethics and compliance establishes trust and confidence in those who provide the numbers. If such trust is not there, they give you wrong numbers and you have no way of knowing. If the numbers are wrong, aggregates will be wrong and consequent policies inappropriate. In addition to examinations, CISON will also monitor non-disclosure and sincerity in data collection.

National Planning is at the heart of nations’ development globally.

What is your advice to the present government on national planning for development?

First, the National Planning Commission, NPC, should be the focal point for economic management playing the role of coordination of fiscal and monetary policies, and development plan implementation. As the custodian of the nation’s strategic plans, the NPC should play a leading role in the budget process since the budget is the cost component of the national plan. Secondly, over the years the level of monitoring of plans/budgets implementation has become almost absent. The NPC and state planning offices should be empowered to monitor and evaluate the implementation of strategic plans and annual budgets which are short term components of the plan.

What is your take on the belief that the time for Nigeria to prioritise statistical data development is now, especially when revenue is dropping fast, causing concern for the socio-economic trans-

• Tumala

‘Statistics is possibly the only scientific way of understanding sources and timing of shocks to economic growth. I think the present government has taken the right step, so far, in its consultation with the National Planning Commission and we hope that this is sustained’ formation of the country?

The dimensions of human behaviour are becoming more complex by the day. Populations have become so mobile, economies are becoming service driven and so dependent on IT and global information. No economy can therefore be possibly insulated from vulnerabilities from global markets developments. The way to go is for policy makers to understand all sources, detect early emerging vulnerabilities and take counter cyclical actions. Statistics is possibly the only scientific way of understanding sources and timing of shocks to economic growth. I think the present government has taken the right step so far in its consultation with the national planning commission and we hope that this is sustained.

What roles do you think your association could play in improving fiscal efficiency?

Statistics plays a leading role in public or national finance. Economic theory anticipates leakages in the circular flow of money, either within the domestic economy or between domestic and other jurisdictions. It is statistics that provides an idea on the size and direction of leakages. When government spending is high and human development measures are deteriorating, that statistics indicate leakage. When the country’s exports are consistently far more than its imports, and its external reserves depleting, that statistics indicate leakage. We know that easiest way to fight financial corruption is through data mining. As

a country, we have invested in infrastructure that are currently producing huge volumes of data like; the BVN registers, national ID, driving licenses, international passport, bank transactions, phone calls, social media usage, etc. Organisations like the DSS and EFCC should develop their capacities to use information from these sources and take proactive steps to curb financial corruption. Financial corruption can be reduced to the barest minimum by mining banking data alone. Most countries have gone beyond data mining and have migrated to the so called “big data”, which is data large in quantity and diversity, and high in frequency of availability to understand human behaviour. Analog methods cannot fight crimes anymore.

Do you have plans to take statistics as a course of study to universities and other tertiary institutions where it is not being offered now?

If yes, how and when?

CISON will work with training institutions on curriculum development, assist in improving the skills of teachers and retraining of practicing statisticians in data production. Statistics as a course has become more popular with students than most physical science subjects because of its cross-cutting content. Most universities will therefore on their own establish a course in statistics or mathematics and statistics. CISON will focus on improving the learning environment in existing departments rather than establishing new departments.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

39

THE NATION

BUSINESS INSURANCE

Ambode warns parastatals against non-remittance of pension L

AGOS State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, has warned parastatals against withholding pension remittances of their employees, saying government would not tolerate the practice.

He said such practice will be at variance with the provisions of the state’s pension reform law, adding that the resultant effect of the nonconformity by agencies is that many employees of the state would retire without any provision made for the payment of their terminal entitlements.

Ambode, who spoke while presenting retirement bond certificate of N2.27 billion to 658 retirees, said the retirement bond certificate indicates the accrued pension rights, made up of gratuity and pension entitlement for active service rendered before the commencement of the contributory pension scheme in April 2007.

He said the state is aware of the fact that despite government’s commitment to setting aside funds to meet accrued pension rights obligations,

Stories by Omobola Tolu-Kusimo

there is a backlog of retirees, especially in the local governments and State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), who have retired but have not been able to receive their terminal entitlements.

He said government is looking into why some parastatals have outstanding liabilities ‘’but in the immediate term, we will bring smiles to the faces of the retirees’’.

Giving a breakdown of the pension liabilities paid, he said: “Today, we have a total number of 230 retirees from 12 state government parastatals whose pension rights we have already credited into their retirement savings account.

“A total liability of N761.8 million is now being absorbed by the state government on behalf of these retirees.

“For retirees in the state, local government and SUBEB, have a total of 428 retirees already have accrued rights for a N.5 billion credited into

their RSAs. “In essence, for the 18th batch retirement bond presentation ceremony, on a total 658 retirees, we have expended the sum of N2.27 billion.”

Ambode said the state’s employees are the greatest assets; hence, the state’s commitment to not only ensuring that they enjoy good conditions of service, but to also ensure that their entitlements are paid promptly after their exit from service.

He noted with satisfaction that since the inception of the contributory pension scheme in the country, Lagos has continued to be in the forefront of ensuring efficient and effective pension scheme administration.

“This administration is a people oriented government. We understand that you have spent the better part of your lives in service of this state and you deserve to live in peace and comfort in retirement.

“This is why we took a decision to address outstanding pension matters in the whole of Lagos state public ser-

vice. We are looking into why some parastatals have outstanding liabilities but in the immediate term, we will bring smiles to the faces of the retirees.

“We are very resolute in forging ahead with the contributory pension scheme. With the mechanism for guaranteeing the safety of fund contributed in place by the regulatory agencies, the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) remains one of the finest things democracy has bequeathed on Nigerian workers,”Governor Ambode said, assuring that the scheme is sustainable as it meets the challenges of past pension scheme administration which, being non-contributory, relied totally on budgetary allocations of government.

Ambode revealed that the state has also taken a holistic view of issues that concern all retirees in the its public service and gave assurances that all retirees in the state that are yet to have their entitlements paid will, very soon, live a life of financial empowerment because they have a

•Ambode

right to live in comfort at retirement having utilised the better part of their active lives serving the state government.

Since April, 2007, the Lagos State government has consistently on a monthly basis, funded the retirement bond redemption fund account with an amount equal to five percent of the total monthly personnel cost of the active workers.

CHI posts N4.6b premium income

C

•Car crash

Apathy persists on third party, comprehensive insurance

V

EHICLE owners are still averse to purchasing the genuine third party motor insurance certificate. This is because they believe insurance operators do not pay claims when there is one.

For instance, a man who simply identified himself as Ojora, said he does not believe in insurance operators because they do not respond to claims.

Narrating his experience, Ojora said he bought a brand new car for N4.2 million, and paid five per cent of the value as premium for comprehensive insurance.

He however regrets that he was subjected to a lot of hassles when it was time to get paid for claims after his car’s involvement in an accident. Besides, his insured sum was reduced by 10 per cent for reasons he still claims not to understand.

Similarly, another source, who declined to be mentioned, also

By Fatima Shehu

expressed regrets at the handling of his insurance claims by his insurer.

“I will never have anything to do with insurance companies or their operators because when I had a problem, they refused to pay claim,” he lamented.

For Godwin Ejembi, a staff member of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Lagos, insurance firms and their operators, are not to be trusted. This is because several times, they run foul of the agrements they have entered into with their clients. Although he said a few of them are credible, majority, he insisted, were fraudulent.

“When there is an accident, they ask you to produce all sorts of proofs and documents- things they never ask you for when you are buying the policy from them,” he lamented, adding that

insurance companies take advantage of their clients. He, therefore, urged insurance brokers to ensure more clarity in their transactions with their clients, especially when they go out to prospect for clients.

But it is not all knocks for the operators. Damilare Shoye, a civil servant, explained that there are advantages of insurance which should be a enough reason for Nigerians to imbibe the insurance culture.

“We need to forget about the negative perception they have about the insurance industry in the past.

“They need to know that things are changing now. We voted for change and we are already feeling it in our lives. We need to change from our thoughts about the past and be positive about the future.

The industry also need to enlighten the public about what insurance is all about.”

ONSOLIDATED Hallmark Insurance Plc has posted a premium income of N4.67 billion in its financial year ended 2014 compared to the N4.15 billion recorded during the 2013 Financial Year.

The company recorded an underwriting profit of N863.2 million compared to N1.05 billion recorded in 2013.

Profit Before Tax moved from a loss situation of N 181.1 million in 2013 to N205.6 million in 2014 while profit after tax also grew from a negative position of N200.5 million in 2013 to a profit of N193 million in 2014.

The Company Chairman, Dr Ugo Obi Ralph Ekezie who made this known in Lagos, said the results have placed the company again on the path of profitability, a trend which was only broken briefly during the 2013 financial year when significant provision was made for impairment charges.

He said it is good to know that the temporary setback has now been reversed with these results, adding that the unaudited financial statements of the company for the half year ended June 30, 2015 is indicative of the improved health in its finances.

He said: “Profit before Tax for the period currently stands at N 469 million with retained earnings of N148 million.

“It is hoped that this trend will be sustained for the rest of the year, and on the account of that, the board has decided to pay an interim dividend of N120 million upon approval.

He said that the future economic outlook of the country will be quite challenging, especially against the backdrop of falling crude oil prices and depreciating value of the Naira. Ekezie is however hopeful that the future of the insurance industry remains very bright giving the existing low penetration rate.

He assured the shareholders that the company will take full advantage of technology to drive the retail

segment of the insurance market, and revealed that there are also plans in place to partner with Nigerian banks to drive the Bancassurance model for which the Central Bank of Nigeria recently issued a guideline.

Managing Director, CHI, Eddie Efekoha, said the company’s 2014 financial year results do not appear as robust as they expected since the company, like others in the sector and other players in financial services operated under very challenging economic conditions.

“The power sector reforms that heralded transfer of ownership to the private sector, beginning with the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) came with much hope for a reduction in expenditure on energy in 2014. However, not much progress was recorded as we continued to expend a large chunk of resources to generate our own energy.

“Also, the devaluation of the local currency which moved the official band to N168 to $1 shot up the rates close to the N200 to $1 mark during the year. This impacted heavily on our expenses as practically all partners adjusted their pricing templates to reflect the new realities,” he said.

Efekoha said it is pertinent to mention that in spite of the difficult operating terrain, some positive developments are occurring in the industry.

The regulatory environment in the Nigerian Insurance market helped in no small measure, as envisaged, to minimise the incidence of outstanding premium, he added.

“Enforcement of the “No Premium, No Cover” provision which began in 2013 was intensified during the year, hence there has been a remarkable improvement in cash flow.

“We are happy to report also that conflicts with clients over periodic statement of account positions have been reduced to the barest minimum, and we are confident that reconciliations shall be purely on details and not outstanding premium”, he said.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

40

MOTORING

5,800 Jaguar, Land Rover cars hit in China blasts

C

ARMAKER Tata Motors Ltd said last Friday that ‘many’ of the 5,800 Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles it had at Tianjin port in China were likely to have been damaged in the recent chemical explosion that killed more than a hundred people.

The company said it has yet to

Stories by Tajudeen Adebanjo

determine the exact extent of the damage, joining other global carmakers such as Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp, Daimler DIAGn.DE and BMW AG that are still counting up their losses. The Jaguar Land Rover cars had recently

been shipped to China and were stored at various locations in Tianjin port, Tata Motors said in a statement to the Indian stock exchange.

Tata bought the British luxury carmaker JLR in 2008.

“Whilst we believe many of these vehicles may have been damaged, we are presently un-

able to quantify the numbers of units affected,” a JLR spokesman said in the statement, explaining that access was still restricted to areas near the site of the explosion. The number of cars damaged at China’s largest auto import hub could climb to above 10,000 when accounting for all vehicles in the area. This

will affect deliveries at a time when China’s auto market has been shrinking due to slowing economic growth and the recent stock market slump.

Shares in Tata Motors extended losses to more than four percent after the statement, and ended nearly three percent lower in a weak Mumbai market.

FERMA partners Police on highway security

T

HE Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) toured the Abuja–Lokoja road.

The exercise, FERMA Managing Director Gabriel Amuchi said, was aimed at identifying and combating crimes on the nation’s highways as well as ensuring the roads are motorable all year round.

They identified Osara Village, Iruekpe, Kogi State as one of the black spots, which haboured criminals.

Amuchi said: “What is happening here is a very strong collaboration and because of these hoodlums, we need serious security presence and patrol. At the end of this clearing, we would improve visibility and sight-seeing. So it is going to be a continuous relationship and in other flash points, we would need collaboration to commence work in place for safety. We are collaborating in line with gov-

ernment directive to help Nigerians heave a sigh of relief in area of concern.”

The Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, lamented that the stretch road has become a source of security concern to due to armed robbery and kidnappers.

“The Kogi State Commissioner of Police has been working tirelessly, but because of the nature of the forest, it has given succour to hoodlums who always come out of the forest to kidnap people. So I decided to seek the assistance of FERMA to see how we can open the space here as part of our security prevention to ensure that the place is safe,” Arase said.

Amuchi said the on-going vegetation control of the identified black spot is continuous so as to enhance motorists’ visibility and deter criminals from using the highway for their illicit acts.

Arase reiterated that “security cannot be left to police alone, all other

•Amuchi (middle); Arase (second right) and others at the Abuja–Lokoja–Okene road. stakeholders are very crucial to ensure that we have a secure environment and you can see that what they

Group launches online auto parts

A

NEW online store for auto spare parts, Izzy Parts, has been unveiled.

The store, according to its owners, will offer vehicle owners quality and affordable auto spare parts.

With a domain www.IzzyParts.com, the online auto parts marketplace allows consumers to access high quality products from several original parts manufacturers around the globe.

Speaking during the unveiling at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, Izzy Parts Head of Media and Communications Collins Udeme, said with the launch of the online spare parts platform, it is expected that the challenges previously faced by vehicle owners in procuring genuine spare parts in the country will be eliminated completely.

He said the concept of creating an online auto marketplace is in line with the company’s desire to bridge the gap between manufacturers of genuine automobile spare parts and

the end users.

Udeme, who said Izzy Parts entered the market to improve the after-sales services through sales of genuine auto spare parts sourced from reputable auto firms in United States (US), added that the firm has built a catalogue of over 550,000 auto parts and accessory items from a variety of the industry’s top brands; offering high-quality products at a favourably discounted rate.

“Currently, the Izzy Parts retail platform is developed, tested, operational and available for market introduction. When we start proper, payments will be made online while delivery from our warehouse to the buyer would not take more than two to three weeks. Our delivery is going to be manned by well trained personnel. We are also looking at a partnership with Fedex,” the media head said.

“Overall, it is Izzy Parts’ goal to create a sustainable business model that creates growing profits each and

every year; becoming the leading auto parts platform throughout Nigeria and its surroundings countries,” he added.

To meet this goal, Izzy Parts seeks to build a successful auto parts pipeline by implementing solid logistics between two company warehouses (one located in Houston US, and one located in Nigeria, Africa); which will be built by December 2018.

According to Udeme, Izzy Parts will, during its operations, transact business morally, ethically and professionally; holding each of its representatives to a high standard of operational excellence and treating each customer with courtesy, respect and unmatched customer service.

He reiterated the firm’s commitment to become the leading distributor of auto parts throughout Africa by providing a consistently positive customer experience, guaranteed quality products, sound logistics and quick out-the-door delivery.

are doing is very crucial to ensure that the highways are safe.”

He said: “Once we are able to take

care of this axis, we would face Auchi–Iruekpe and Ehor black spots.”

Stallion wins Nissan Global Award

A

MULTINATIONAL conglomerate, Stallion Group, has won the 2015 Nissan Global National Sales Company Award for its outstanding achievement in Nigeria.

The award recognises Nissan’s growth in the Nigerian market, whilst reinforcing its growing industrial footprint.

Stallion is Nissan’s exclusive manufacturer and distributor in Nigeria which established Nigeria’s first automotive assembly facility in partnership with Nissan in April 2014.

Since the launch of Nigeria assembled Nissan vehicles, four models are being assembled in the country, creating significant employment, with the local human resources undergoing extensive training from global automotive experts from Nissan’s international auto plants. The thriving partnership with Stallion has resulted in Nissan meeting the needs of Nigerian customers through expanding product range and country wide retail network.

The new Victoria Island showroom was the 11th Nissan outlet in the coun-

try – a demonstration of Nissan’s long term commitment to increase brand visibility in Africa’s most populous country.

The chairman of Stallion Group, Sunil Vaswani, said: “Together with Nissan we are seeking to complement Nigeria’s ambitions to become the region’s automotive hub. We are providing a comprehensive range of passenger, commercial, and recreational vehicles, and are currently engaged in a dynamic programme of new model introductions. Stallion is investing into developing an integrated value chain for its brands in the country, thereby acting as a catalyst for Nigeria’s automotive ecosystem.”

Nissan South Africa Managing Director and President Mike Whitfield said: “We have worked side by side with the Stallion Group to achieve increase in our share of the key Nigerian market. Within Nissan, we have a strong desire to make a full and lasting contribution to rebuilding automotive industrialisation in Nigeria and to play an important role in the growth of the manufacturing sector.”

High blood pressure and driving

H

IGH Blood Pressure or Hypertension is a very chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated.

This is a situation where the systolic blood pressure (when the heart beats) is equal to or greater than 140mmHg and/or a diastolic blood pressure (when the heart rests) is equal to or greater than 90mmHg. Essentially, blood pressure is created by the force of blood pushing against the walls of the blood vessels or arteries as it is pumped by the heart. Therefore, the higher the pressure, the harder the heart has to pump to enhance the movement of blood from the heart to the brain and other parts of the body in the vessels.

Globally, high blood pressure is responsible for 9.4million deaths every year with 1.5billion people being afflicted by high blood pressure. It has been rated as the biggest

single risk factor for death worldwide, causing heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes.

According to the World Health Organisation, up to 50 per cent of the adults in many African countries are facing the challenges of high blood pressure or hypertension and the rate is still on the increase particularly with the high rate of poverty in the countries.

Reports have shown that many people have high blood pressure for years without knowing it. Most of the time, there are no symptoms but if it goes untreated for a prolonged period of time, it could damage the arteries and some vital organs in the body. This is one of the reasons why high blood pressure is called a silent killer or a ticking time bomb.

The symptoms of high blood pressure include headache, shortness of breath, dizziness, chestpain,

palpitation of the heart, fainting, nose bleeding and tremor.

A pathetic news about high blood pressure is that it can quietly damage the body of its victim for years before the manifestation of the symptoms thereby causing damage to the arteries, brain, heart, kidneys, eyes, and several organs.

Be that as it may, the good news however is that high blood pressure can be prevented, managed or even cured.

My main focus in this article is on the possible effects of high blood pressure on driving. Driving is a very complex task which involves the simultaneously use of several organs of the body in a continuously changing environment to ensure effective and safe vehicle control.

Normal blood pressure levels (less than or equal to 120/80) are good for the efficient functioning

of the vital organs of the body which includes the heart, kidneys and brain. Normal blood pressure is also good for the overall health and wellbeing of drivers and other people.

If the resting blood pressure of a driver is consistently 180mmHg systolic or more and/or 100mmHg diastolic or more, then he or she should not drive a car, bus or large truck.

The medical standards for driving buses and large trucks are much higher than for those driving cars and motorcycles. This is because bus and trucks are larger and heavier. They are also more often driven on long distance balance, expedient for every organ required for effective and safe driving to be in good working condition for the required co-ordination of the complex task of driving.

Some accident reports revealed

Jide Owatunmise Registrar /Chief Executive, Professional Driving and Safety Academy

situations where drivers lost control of their vehicles after suffering from the fallouts of high blood pressure such as heart attack, stroke and black out or fainting.

•To be continued

41

MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2015

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

BAYELSA POLITICS

•Party supporters at the rally.

Broom revolution in Bayelsa The All Progressives Congress (APC) is enlarging its coast in Bayelsa State. Ahead of the governorship election, prominent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains have defected to the opposition party. Will the APC displace the PDP at the poll? Correspondent MIKE ODIEGWU examines the implications of the gale of defections for the parties.

I

T was the mother of all rallies. The Bayelsa State All Progressive Congress (APC) make a point at the rally in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State. Indeed, it was unprecedented in the history of the state. Not even last year’s campaign visit of President Muhammadu Buhari, who was the presidential candidate of APC, could be compared to the carnivallike event that was held at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, Yenagoa.

The complex and its surroundings were congested with party faithful. People shoved and elbowed one another to catch a glimpse of the event. In fact, there was no space. It was as if residents were bitten by the bug of change. They trekked some kilometers to the venue.

The enthusiasm was, no doubt, high. Broom, the symbol of the APC, was not in short supply.

Without fear of intimidation, the onlookers and party members freely echoed change, the slogan of the party. The crowd said Dickson should go on December 5 when the governorship election takes place.

Musicians kept them busy. The Odi-born artiste, Timaya, led Maleke, Face and other singers to the arena. There was no dull moment. Campaign materials of the APC littered the sports complex. Youths seized the opportunity to drum support for their preferred governorship aspirants. In fact, different political groups were on parade.

It was not just an ordinary rally. It was a mega defection carnival designed to welcome heavyweights from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC. The party held two rallies to receive members of the PDP. First was the event organised to welcome Chief Dikivie Ikiogha, a former Chief of Staff in Dickson’s administration and an associate of former President Goodluck Jonathan. The rally, which took place at Opolo, was the first APC event that rattled the PDP. Ikiogha and his supporters declared for the APC.

Shortly after Ikiogha’s defection, a two-time member of the House of Assembly, Mr. Warman Ogoriba, also radiated the PDP. Ogoriba decimated the PDP, taking along with him some founding members and past political office holders to the APC. But, last Saturday’s rally shook the foundation of the PDP. It was, undoubtedly, a mass exodus from a ruling party to the opposition.

To underscore the importance of the event, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC relocated to Yenagoa to receive the defectors. The National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, led other members of the NWC to the rally. The Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Chief Olusegun Oni, the party’s vicechairmen, South-South, South-East and North-East; the National Deputy Publicity Secretary, Mr. Timi Frank, and the National Organising Secretary, Osita Ozinaso, witnessed the ceremony.

Former Governor Chief Timipre Sylva and members of the State Working Committee (SWC), led by the Chairman, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe, were at the event.

PDP stalwarts, who led other members of their old party to APC are Timi Alaibe, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, former acting governors, Chief Werinipre Sebarugu and Chief Nestor Binabo; Senator John Brambraifa, Maj. Andrew Oputa (retd), Christopher Milky, Alex Ekiotene, Christopher Enai, Dr. Stella Dorgu and Mathew Karimu.

PDP chair defects to APC The most thrilling aspect of the mega rally was the defection of the state Chairman of the PDP to the APC. It was gathered that Inokoba made up his mind to dump a party he chaired for over three years after the leader of the APC, Sylva, led a powerful delegation of APC members to his residence in Yenagoa.

The decision of Inokoba to join the broom party was an indication that the crisis in the PDP has deepened, despite efforts by

its National Working Committee and former President Goodluck Jonathan to resolve it.

The crisis rocking the party worsened when the State Working Committee and politicians loyal to Governor Dickson suspended Inokoba over allegations that he diverted N40million donated for the Presidential campaign of the party.

Despite the explanations by Inokoba, the SWC insisted that Inokoba must go and asked Chief Serena Dokubo to act as the chairman, a move that was rejected by the NWC. The party was further thrown into chaos when the PDP suspended and expelled some leaders of anti-party activities, an action that was described by aggrieved members of the party as illegal.

The PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) mediated in the dispute on August 1 during a meeting held at Jonathan’s courtyard in Otuoke, Ogbia. It lifted the suspension and expulsion of some members and ordered the party to revert to status quo.

But, after the parley, the peace move crumbled, following the insistence of a group loyal to Dickson that Inokoba was not among the persons reinstated by the BoT. The anti-Inokoba forces were said to have mounted pressure on the chairman to resign, a development that further led to the formation of the PDP Unity Group by members loyal to Inokoba.

Inokoba was fed up with the illegality. The former PDP chairman described the rally as a day of decision when defectors decided to take their destiny into their hands. He said they were compelled to take the decision because the governor has completely abandoned the tenets of good governance.

He said they were driven by the spirit of patriotism, adding that the labour of their founding fathers should not be in vain.

Calling for change in the state, he said: “Today, Bayelsa, the glory of all lands, has now become Fuji House of Commotion.

• Continued on page 42

THE NATION MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2015

42

Our action today is premised on the philosophy to sustain the legacy of our ‘founding fathers for the good of our future generations. Our economy is badly weakened due to corruption, irresponsibility of the present leadership

POLITICS

Broom revolution in Bayelsa

The Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appears unperturbed by the defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Prominent PDP chieftains, who describe the defectors as opportunist politicians seeking federal appointments, maintain that the ruling party will retain power in the oil-rich state.

PDP chieftains: APC can’t displace Dickson

• Continued from page 41 The government of restoration has now become a government of retrogression and stagnation.

“Virtually, in all sectors of our economy. It is unacceptable and of course, ridiculous to have dictatorship being practised in a democratic dispensation in Bayelsa. Instead of the dividends of democracy, we now have the fruits of retrogression, deceit, retardation, lies, corruption, selfishness, hatred, wickedness, disrespect for elders, complete disregard to the rule of law.

“Our action today is premised on the philosophy to sustain the legacy of our founding fathers for the good of our future generations.

Our economy is badly weakened due to corruption, irresponsibility of the present leadership. The spread of abandoned projects, in the face of borrowing by the government has plunged our state into huge debt.

“They think they own the government, but today, we are here to take over. Since their vision now is lost, time for sentiment in politics is over. We must move to the mainstream, and we must embrace this change. APC is here to heal the wound of Bayelsa and Bayelsans in general. APC will no doubt present a credible, popular and sensible candidate with high leadership pedigree to take Bayelsa to her Eldorado.

“My people in the 105 Ward in Bayelsa State are crossing over with me to sail afloat. PDP, in Bayelsa today, is bedeviled by intra-party crises, intimidation, mismanagement, manipulation of the party structure by the leader of the state, and lack of internal democracy.”

Inokoba went further to list nine reasons why while their dumping PDP was inevitable. He named them as total failure of PDP to deliver its promises and dividends of democracy; primitive and undemocratic ways of piloting the affairs of the party; insensitivity to the plight of its members and government officials and apparent injustice and impunity in the party.

Others, according to him, are failure of the party leadership to resolve issues in the party promptly and democratically; our desire to associate with fellow nationals and those who have the interest of the nation at heart; our belief in the change commitment, and our desire to change Bayelsa for good; our love for Bayelsa state, to rescue them from their cries and agonies perpetrated by PDP bad governance and our desire to see Bayelsans happy, lift the glory of all lands to her position in the country.

Inokoba, unconsciously, shouted the PDP slogan, but was immediately corrected. He then, shouted the change slogan in what was referred to as an induction ceremony for him.

Commonsense revolution The former Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe, made the event colorful. Alaibe, the pioneer Coordinator Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Matters led hundreds of his supporters to declare for the APC. The event united Sylva and Alaibe, who hitherto were seen as arch political enemies. Alaibe’s popularity as the candidate of Labour Party for the 2011 general elections was partly the reason why Sylva, the former governor of Bayelsa State, made a costly political mistake of seeking tenure elongation along with other four governors. Their temporary victory at the lower court was botched by the Supreme Court judgment, which sacked them and caused Sylva his reelection.

The grand rally for the first time in a long while brought the two “Timis” together. Alaibe fondly referred to Sylva as the stage leader of APC. Adopting the words of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he described the event of the day as a commonsense revolution. He declared that change has come to Bayelsa.

But, he said: “When you say change, it is not because you want to change for the sake of it.

People say change is constant, but, it is not for the sake of it. We are changing from poverty to prosperity. We are hanging from intimidation, deceit, manipulation, ‘wayo’.

“A state as strong as Bayelsa State, an oil-pro-

’

•Inokoba

PDP, militants attack defectors The PDP immediately launched verbal attacks on the defectors. The party described its stalwarts that joined the APC as a huge disappointment. The party said it was embarrassing to the party and the Ijaw nation that persons who benefitted from PDP and rode at its back to amass wealth would engage in a dance of shame in the name of defection.

The party, in a statement signed by its acting Chairman, Mr. Serena Dokubo said, the defectors were driven by greed and personal aggrandizement. Dokubo described the defectors as yesterday’s men and women who no longer have electoral value, adding that the PDP would not miss them.

He said: “Defectors are also those politicians who sponsored candidates against the PDP in the last state house of assembly election and worked with the opposition to betray both Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP at the last presidential election.

“These crop of politicians could not be regarded as dependable nor should they be celebrated by the APC as political assets, stressing that they were never at anytime with us.

“Suffice it to say that no member of the PDP in the state or any of the party’s organ was part of this charade called a mega rally. The PDP in Bayelsa State is intact. All the structures and organs of the party at all levels are fully intact.

Our great party is not perturbed in anyway.

“The so-called defectors were never with us because they are the same people who betrayed PDP at the presidential election and also sponsored candidates against our party in the state

house of assembly election. These are spent forces and we are not moved by APC’s charade.

“The former PDP chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd), who was one of the defectors has since being suspended by our party on acts bothering on corruption and anti-party. Is that the kind of character the APC is celebrating and welcoming into its fold? It’s a sham, indeed”, he said.

The acting chairman berated the defectors saying they were more of liabilities to the APC than assets. He stressed that Bayelsans know their antecedents and won’t be taken seriously now or in the future for any possible effect on the December 5 governorship election.

“It is so unfortunate that the APC in Bayelsa has attracted into its fold a congregation of persons with well known track record of violence and political brigandage.

“As a party, we are worried that, if not well managed, they could truncate the prevailing peaceful and secure atmosphere which the PDP-led government under the able leadership of the Countryman Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, has helped to put in place in the state.

In no time, the real reason for this hoax of a defection will become truly revealing”.

While assuring Bayelsans of the PDP-led government’s continued resolve to guarantee their safety and security, he called on the APC national leadership to take urgent steps to manage the motley crowd of defectors who he said were scampering to be governorship candidates. He stressed that the prevailing peace in the state could be sacrificed on the alter of politics.

“On our part as the ruling party in the state, we await the outcome of their primaries so that we can engage them in a robust electioneering campaign that is issue-based and one that is hinged on the strength of performance and track record of service to our people”, he said.

Also, militants under the auspices of Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa (MBB), described the defectors as traitors of the Ijaw nation. A statement signed

by MBB’s President, Mr. Ebi Aderi, described the defectors as “a bunch of greedy people who only look out for their selfish interests”.

Aderi said it was unbelievable that persons who benefitted from the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson, would publicly pledge loyalty to the APC. Aderi said the defectors lacked respect. He said the governorship aspirants in the APC Col. Sam Inokoba, Timi Alaibe, Timipre Sylva, Weinipre

‘

But, today, we have not got one dividend of democracy from Seriake Dickson. He decided to make himself an emperor. He has refused to listen.

He has refused to be part of us ducing state, cannot tolerate poverty. Poverty is not our portion. But, all around the streets of Yenagoa and Bayelsa is poverty. ‘Abi dem curse us?’ How can we produce oil and not benefit from the proceeds by way of good schools, scholarship? Our children are abroad, scholarships are not made available. ‘Abi I talk lie?’

Children in schools have no desk ad benches.

‘Na so we take give them power before?’

“All that must stop, because change has come to Bayelsa state. I want to make it clear today that, all the leaders gathered here today signify the grassroot politics of Bayelsa state; the politics of Bayelsa state is changing to the APC under leadership of Chief Timipre Sylva, who is the leader of the state.

“We believe that February 28 is a forgotten story. So, Creek Haven is our portion. We will sweep them away. Sweep PDP away”.

December 5 as judgment day Senator Heineken Lokpobiri was known as one of the loudest voices of the Southsouth in the Senate. A grassroot politician, Lokpobiri’s dream to return to the National Assembly as a ranking senator was frustrated by the PDP.

’

He aligned himself with the remarks of Inokoba. But he added that the PDP in the state was dead and its burial date fixed for December 5, 2015. His forceful speech was interrupted by cheers from the crowd.

He said: “I want to say that the immediate chairman of PDP who just defected, his tenure and office just ended two minutes ago when he decamped here from PDP to APC. His speech contained everything anybody could say here.

“But, I want to say that PDP is dead today.

And, the burial date is 5th of December 2015.

Let me make this point very clear: it is individuals that make a party, not a party making individuals. We that are defecting today are those who made the PDP, and today we have killed the PDP, and we have also fixed the burial date which is the 5th of December.

“When somebody dies, he does not wake up; only Christ that died and rose up again.

When somebody dies, he is buried. PDP is dead today; we have bought the coffin; we have fixed the burial date, we will dance ‘Owugiri’ on the 5th, and bury PDP finally, so that Bayelsa can be part of the change that is going on generally”.

Seibatugu, were tested and failed politicians.

“How can a party parade only governorship candidates without followership? If all of us are leaders, then the ship cannot sail into safer shores as two captains like Sylva and Alaibe are bound to clash and sink the APC boat in few weeks to come.

“We, the mangrove boys, must commend Dickson for a hold step taken to accommodate APC at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex Yenagoa which Sylva during his time refused to do for Buhari and his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) when they came to campaign then.

“This goes to show the leadership qualities of Dickson, which has doused possible rivalry among cult groups they used as rented crowd with t-shirts and fez caps.

Dickson has also created enabling ground for peace to thrive in the state compared to the volatile nature Operation Famou Tangbei left it”, he said.

Aderi faulted the claims of Sylva that political assassinations were rife in Dickson’s government saying the present governor had restored peace in the state and made it possible for people to go to bed without molestation.

He said under Sylva, the former security adviser drove all the opposition political parties out of the state and allowed cultism and gangsterism to thrive in the state.

“Bayelsa youths and right-thinking elders need to celebrate Dickson’s second term to further entrench peaceful and virile state of the Ijaw Nation.

“We are asking Dickson not to be deterred by the APC rally as we are calling on him to declare his second term ambition as he will witness the mother of all rally with support and grassroot mobilisation of our teeming youths and parents”, he said.

Without mincing words, everybody is watching to see how APC will consolidate on its gains of the mega rally. Time will tell whether the coming together of heavyweights, most of whom are nursing governorship ambitions will foster unity in the party or lead to the implosion of the APC as predicted by the PDP. Observers conclude that only by sacrificing their personal ambitions for the collective interest of the party similar to what happened at the level after the presidential primaries of APC will the party survive in the state.

Grievances Chief Lionel Jonathan Omo, an industrialist and close associate of Sylva also led his supporters to declare for the APC. He accused the Dickson-led administration of lacking vision.

He said Dickson and his PDP have o idea of how to take the people of the state to Paradise.

“If today, Bayelsa state is in the throes of poverty, economic stagnation and neglect, it is because the leadership is bereft of vision. They don’t know how to carry the people into the Promised Land. That is why poverty is looming large; that is why you are not employed. It is because the man at the head does not have a vision that he will package our contract and give it to Hausa contractors.

“Where are the contractors of Bayelsa origin?

And when you are led by a people without vision, you are bound to perish. But before you perish, you have the capacity to liberate yourself. You can only liberate yourself by voting out this present administration.

“As I was coming, I looked up two words in the dictionary. One is ‘kakistocracy’, which means, ‘a government of the worst’. The other word is ‘kleptocracy’, which means, ‘a government by thieves’. The PDP government is a manifestation of kleptocracy and Kakistocracy.

“In the middle of all these, there is hope. When Sylva began this movement, people thought that it will not work. But the poet said, ‘God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants His footstep on the sea, and • Continued on page 43

THE NATION MONDAY AUGUST 24, 2015

43

Even his own party men described his ‘electoral defeat as the worst in Nigeria ’

POLITICS Criminal justice bill ’ll reduce corruption’

Broom revolution in Bayelsa

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• Continued from page 42 rises upon the storm’.”

No room for emperor in Bayelsa Chief Nestor Binabo is one of the pillars of the PDP. He was the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the acting Governor. As the acting governor, he handed over power to Dickson, who incidentally hails from his local government area in Sagbama.

Binabo recalled how he handed over power to Dickson with the aspiration that Bayelsa would be administered to the benefit of all.

He said: “But, today, we have not got one dividend of democracy from Seriake Dickson. He decided to make himself an emperor. He has refused to listen. He has refused to be part of us. And today, because he has refused to work together with the Bayelsa people, those who handed government to him, have decided to come over to where Bayelsans will have succour.

“Today, on behalf of the Sagbama people, we started the move for the death of PDP. We formed the Bayelsa West Political Front, and from that, it metamorphosed to what you see today.

“We are telling Bayelsans that those of us, the strong politicians who define what happened in Sagbama local government and Ekeremor, mandated me to tell you people that the PDP is no more in Bayelsa West. We will go further to say that PDP is dead today, and wait till when PDP shall be buried in December.”

No going back to PDP Surprisingly, Dorgu was among the PDP heavyweights that joined the APC. Dorgu was at the vanguard of the 2011 campaign for Dickson’s reelection. She formed a house-tohouse campaign project known as Keme-to-keme that sold the candidacy of Dickson to the people.

In recognition of her contributions, the governor supported Dorgu for the House of Representatives to fill the seat he abandoned to become the governor. But, the relationship was said to have gone sour after Dickson frustrated her from getting the PDP ticket to return to the National Assembly.

Addressing the crowd, she said: “I only want you to take this home this little phrase, that is, what we are doing here today represents a paradigm shift in development and growth of Bayelsa state.

“And, I can tell everybody, the world over that, there will be no summersaulting to the PDP. We have made up our minds; we have come to a place where like minds are operating, and so it is APC forever”.

•Sylva

•Alaibe

only in this party, but in the state.

“Bayelsa has seen enough acrimony discord and death, and even blood.

Under this administration, there have been too many political killings. The deputy clerk of the bayelsa state House of Assembly was murdered brutally.

Today we have not heard anything from the investigators.

“The secretary of the Bayelsa State Electoral Commission was brutally murdered; nothing has been done about it: blood on their hands. The creeks of Bayelsa has become impassable, because sea piracy has taken over our creeks. Nobody can move around again in our waterways.

“Bayelsa people love the APC. The prosperity for Bayelsa people has finally come. The time of poverty will go away very soon on December 5.

In Abuja, the PDP government has been decapitated at the top. So, the PDP is already dead without a head.

In December, we will bury that PDP in Bayelsa State, and then, you will see all the good things that will happen to you.

“The Brass LNG that was not brought to us by our son will be brought to us; development that was not brought to us will be brought to us; the east/west road that was not completed by our son will be completed.

“If PDP wants Bayelsa to vote for them, let them, please, point out to me, one road that was constructed in Bayelsa state by the outgone PDP government- the federal government.

If they can’t show me one, let them show me half; if they cannot show me one or half road, then tell me, why you and I will support the PDP. That is why you should support APC” He thanked the PDP chairman, Alaibe, Chief Werinipre Seibarugu, Binabo, Lokpobiri, Dorgu and many other PDP heavyweights who took the decision to join him in the APC. The highpoint of the event was the presentation of brooms, the party’s symbol to some of the PDP stalwarts who led other members of their old party to APC. Inokoba, Alaibe,

Lokpobiri, former acting governors, Chief Sebarugu and Chief Binabo; Senator John Brambraifa, Maj. Andrew Oputa (retd), Christopher Milky, Alex Ekiotene, Christopher Enai, Dr. Stella Dorgu and Mathew Karimu, each received the APC symbol.

HE implementation of the ‘administration of Criminal Justice Bill’ passed signed into law by the last administration will assist President Muhammadu Buhari in his war against corruption, Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly Dr Ali Ahmad has said.

Ahmad, who was the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary in the 7th Assembly, told reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, that the anti-corruption crusade will see the light of the day.

The former University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) law teacher also urged President Buhair to name his Attorney General and Justice minister and put the structures in place to fight corruption.

He said: “If he does not do that, I

Level playing ground Oyegun, who was elated at what he described as an earthquake, paid tribute to Sylva through whom he said the ship of APC berthed not just in the state but also in the country. He told the people that they had made history adding that among all the defection rallies he had attended the event of the state was second to none.

“This is the first time a party is totally decapitated. The chairman of the PDP who represents the head of the party has left and the PDP is now headless. Anybody that is headless cannot survive.

“We now have former deputy governors, former National Assembly members, former commissioners, former this and former that. Who is left in the PDP? Nobody. The People in Bayelsa is making history for the South South zone”, he said.

He said the lost of the Presidency was a blessing in disguise because it opened the eyes of the people to see underdevelopment, hunger, poverty, suffering, bad roads and other vices.

He described the South-South as the powerhouse of the country and said the region could not afford to be left behind in the mainstream politics.

He said after the December 5 governorship election, the APC will produce more progressive governors in the region.

He said with Bayelsa joining mainstream politics, the people will have more roads, more dividends of democracy.

“The PDP members, who have left to join us today, have found a new home. There is no fear of use and dump,” he said adding that the APC is not a party of share the money but a platform to create prosperity for everybody.

•Buhari

am afraid these lawyers are very smart, they will take charge and take advantage of loopholes and mess up the anti-corruption war. In six months those cases can be dispensed of, if we take advantage of the administration of criminal Justice Act, if he appoints an attorney general and implement the law.

“The war on corruption in my view, in a political dispensation will be won this way: one in court as the president has said and two by following due process. In court, the federal government is now armed fully with laws and bills that it can channel towards corruption in a democratic dispensation.

“The last legislature passed the Administration of Criminal Justice bill which was signed at the last moment of President Goodluck Jonathan.

President Buhari should take full advantage in implementing it.

“If President Buhari does not implement this law, I am afraid, his war on corruption will be scuttled in the law court by senior lawyers. You are all aware that when you fill a case, lawyers will first of all challenge the jurisdiction, they will stall the case and it will go to the Supreme Court for seven years. President Buhari does not have that time. He has been assisted by the passage of the law. But that law needs to be implemented.

The Attorney-General needs to be appointed immediately.

Fayose: We are destroying Fayemi’s legacy of betrayal

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KITI State Governor Ayodele Fayose has said that his government was destroying the bad legacies left behind by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of Dr. Kayode Fayemi.”

Fayose, who was reacting to Fayemi’s interview in some newspapers in which he said that “his legacy was being destroyed,” said no responsible government will sustain a legacy of debt that was incurred on projects with no direct bearing on the welfare of the people.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said it was necessary for Fayemi’s negative legacies to be destroyed. He added: “Even in the APC, his legacy of betrayal of Senator Bola Tinubu, the man who made him governor, is being destroyed.”

“If he served Ekiti and its people

‘APC’s prospects’ The former governor is the foundation of the APC in the state. He was perhaps the only prominent voice of the party during the era of former President Goodluck Jonathan when other voices were subdued out of tribal and regional sentiments. He is no doubt an indisputable leader of the APC in he state.

So, when he was invited to the stage to address the crowd, the people roared in excitement and addressed him in his fondest titles of Opuabadi and piggaton. Sylva said his joy was full adding that he was excited to see his brothers and sisters come back to him.

He said: “Today the APC in Bayelsa state is complete. We have had too many divisions in Bayelsa state, engendered by people who are completely parochial. Today, the time for the unity and peace of Bayelsa has come; we should try to make sure that as we come to this party, we foster peace not

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

•Kogi State Governor Idris Wada displaying his Expression of Interest Form at the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abuja.

•Fayose well, why was it that he was roundly defeated in all the 16 local councils in the State in the June 21, 2014 governorship election and his party was also defeated 16 – 0 in the presidential, National Assembly and House of Assembly elections?

“Even, his own party men described his electoral defeat as the worst in Nigeria,” he said.

The governor, who said it was shameful that Fayemi, who left two months’ salary and four months cooperative and unions deductions from workers salary, as well as pensions and gratuities unpaid could be talking about his legacies being destroyed.”

The governor said; “When Fayemi became governor, he chose to close down two universities established by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Segun Oni and abandoned the Oba Adejugbe General Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, claiming that the state could not fund more than one university.

“The same Fayemi, who said Ekiti had no money to fund more than one university preferred to take N25 billion bond to build a new governor’s lodge, civic centre, pavilion and execute other irrelevant projects.

“Furniture alone, in the N3.3bn governor’s lodge that he built for himself and his wife cost N604.9 million and Fayemi wants such legacy of profligacy to be sustained in Ekiti?

We are sorry to tell him that we won’t sustain such legacy of waste.

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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BUSINESS EXTRA Bad weather hurts cotton growers

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•From left: Head of Economic Desk, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Idris Abdulrahman; Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Alhaji Bature Masari; Editor-inchief of NAN, Mr Lawal Ado; Special Assistant to Director-General of SMELDAN, Mr Umar Yari and head of agriculture and environment desk in nan, rev. felix ajide, after a NAN-forum with Director-General of SMELDAN at the Agency’s Headquarters in Abuja.

Barclays threat causes fury among mis-selling victims B ARCLAYS has provoked fury after handing hundreds of customers a take-it-or-leave-it offer that could result in some small businesses being forced to pay the bank hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Hundreds of the bank’s victims of interest rate swap mis-selling have been told by Barclays that if they do not accept its compensation offer they will be hit with the cost of terminating products many say they never wanted, as well as with a bill for missed premium payments.

In a letter seen by The Times, Barclays said businesses that had not yet agreed a redress deal had until October 15 to take up its offer, leading to warnings that the bank could force some of its customers into bankruptcy if they could not afford the costs. One compensation offer seen

by The Times said that the Barclays customer would have to pay £118,000 in missed payments and breakage costs, despite the lender’s own review concluding that the business had been mis-sold an interest

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rate hedging product deemed far too complicated.

MPs have reacted with fury and Guto Bebb, head of the parliamentary campaign for swaps mis-selling victims, has written to Martin Wheatley, the outgoing head of the Financial Conduct Authority, to complain about the City watchdog’s apparent endorsement of the bank’s actions.

“I am most surprised that the FCA, as the regulator answerable to parliament, has chosen to allow the banks to choose to start to close the scheme,” Mr Bebb wrote, adding: “It is my view that the FCA as the regulator and overseer of this scheme could appear to be seen to be colluding with the banks to get as many cases signed off as possible before important legal principles are settled.”

Barclays is the first bank to notify victims of its deadline, but other large

lenders, including HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland are expected to follow within months as the redress scheme is wound down.

The FCA’s predecessor, the Financial Services Authority, announced an agreement with nine banks in June 2012 to compensate SMEs mis-sold interest rate hedging products. The scheme followed complaints that tens of thousands of businesses had been pressured into buying interest rate swaps that were meant to protect them if rates rose, but that ended up costing them tens of thousands and even millions of pounds when the base rate was cut during the financial crisis.

Nearly 31,000 cases were initially reviewed, of which just over 20,000 were deemed to be eligible to take part in the scheme. By the end of June, 12,540 customers had accepted compensation totalling £1.99 billion.

Uniqlo to trial four-day week in stores

AST retailing, the group that owns Japanese store Uniqlo, is set to introduce a plan which will see 10,000 workers operate under a four day week.

Initially, the move will only affect a fifth of the fashion retailers workforce, with the company set to introduce the four day week to its corporate headquarters as well as other countries if the tests go well.

To qualify for the new working pattern, employees must work 10 hour shifts, whilst still working the busiest retailing days of Saturday and Sunday. There has been no indication as to how the move will

affect overtime hours and pay.

The company hopes the move will give them a better chance of keeping hold of staff, reducing high turnover rates and minimising retraining costs.

A four day week will also cater for one of Japan’s growing problems, as the move will allow workers to spend more time with loved ones and look after older parents.

Uniqlo is not the first company to introduce a four day week, however. According to the Society of Human Resource Management, 43 per cent of US companies operate under a four day week.

Although the company has faced criticism for poor pay and poor working conditions in its factories, sales in the company have increased consistently over the past few years.

Talking to CNN, Barbara Wankoff, KPMG’s director of workplace solutions, said: “Workers’ satisfaction goes way up when they have control over their time.”

Uniqlo USA Chief Executive, Larry Meyer agrees, as he told Bloomberg in March “If people are happy, the retention rate is high.”

Kenya’s exports to key markets drop as deficit grows

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ENYA’S exports to its key markets dropped in the first half of the year, widening the current account deficit by a further $125 million, to $3.16 billion.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the country’s exports to Tanzania, the Netherlands, Egypt, Germany, the US and France dropped significantlyficantly compared with the same period last year.

On the other hand, the country’s imports from China have grown by 50 per cent to $1.5 billion, from $1 billion over the same period last year.

Exports to Tanzania have fallen for the third consecutive year, according to Kenya’s Export Promotion Council. Kenya’s exports to

Tanzania include margarine, palm oil and its fractions, flat rolled products of iron, soap, vegetable fats, sugar, confectionery and household items.

Kenya had also hoped that the sharp fall in oil priceswould reduce its current account deficit in 2015, which had been widened by weak tourism receipts, but that has not proved the case.

From the KNBS data, the country has increased its oil imports from Saudi Arabia to $339 million, up from $220.2 million over the first six months of 2014.

Mercyline Gatebi, a financial analyst at Genghis Capital, said Kenya had hoped that low energy prices and the rise in economic diversification would help to narrow

the shortfall over the medium term.

“What we have seen is the country increasing the volumes of its oil imports, and of machinery from China, to service the capital projects that Kenya is engaged in.

This explains the rise in the import bill from China,” Ms Gatebi said.

Of interest, however, is the drop in imports from the United Arab Emirates from $515.1 million in the first half of 2014, to $374.2 million over the same period this year.

Kenya used to source more than 50 per cent of its petroleum products from the UAE, but Saudi Arabia has replaced it as Kenya’s net oil importing partner. Other imports from Saudi Arabia include crude oil, bitumen and petroleum products.

OTTON growers and buyers in the lake zone stand to suffer substantial losses this year due to drought that has adversely impacted on the production of the cash crop.

Although almost all cotton ginners are in business crisis due to acute shortage of seed cotton, cotton buyers who snubbed the contract farming system are the hardest hit.

“There is a cotton scramble here as cotton buyers jostle for the little produce available,” Head of Agriculture Department in Bunda District Council Serapion Rujuguru told the Daily News in Bunda recently, noting that besides the bad weather, the collapse of contract farming has had a negative impact on cotton production in the district.

He said the district’s cotton production peaked in the 2008/09 season with 14,311 metric tonnes thanks to contract farming, but production has since been dropping, with this year’s estimates put at 5,000 tonnes mainly due to unfavourable weather and failing contract farming.

“During the good days of contract farming system, farmers used to get agricultural inputs on credit but now they have to buy on cash,” said Mr Rujuguru, arguing that few of the rural people can afford to maintain an acre of cotton on cash basis.

Even farmers who have been ad-

hering to good farming practices have this season bowed to unfriendly weather.

“This is the worst year I have never seen since I started growing cotton,” said Mr Mugole Lusungura, a cotton grower in Bunda’s Guta Ward.

According to Mr Lusungura, he normally harvests averagely 1,270 kilogrammes of seed cotton per acre but he has managed only 900 kilogrammes from his three acres this season.

“It is very disappointing but that is how rain reliant farming activities are—very risky,” he said with concern.

He however blamed the problem on the collapse of contract farming, saying although drought has had it toll on the production, unreliable access to farming inputs has exacerbated the problem.

“Frankly speaking, there has been no contract farming in Bunda this season,” he charged blaming the collapse of the otherwise beneficial system on politics.

S&C Ginnery’s Kinyambwigabased agent Criford Majura described the crop buying season as terrible, saying he had by last week procured only 34,190 kilogrammes against the 132,000 he had last year.

“The season has almost ended and I do not think if I will get even 50,000 kgs,” said Mr Majura, hinting that in good seasons he buys between 200,000 and 300,000 kilogrammes.

Tigo set to promote Diaspora mobile-based remittances

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IGO’S mobile financial service, Tigopesa is working with WorldRemit, the London-based online money transfer service, to enable Tanzanians living in the diaspora to directly send money to families and friends back home through their smartphones, tablets and computers.

Announcing the launch in Dar es Salaam, Tigo Head of Mobile Financial Services, Mr Ruan Swanepole, said the service comes with a prize of an iPad for the person receiving the highest amount of money in a week.

Tigo will give away a total of two iPads one after every week starting yesterday, Mr Ruan said. Tigo Pesa is now the most common receive method for international remittances to Tanzania for WorldRemit customers, having overtaken cash pick-ups, airtime top up and transfers to bank accounts.

Mr Ruan said: “Working with WorldRemit is part of the company’s strategy to fully integrate Tigo Pesa to the international payment system.

Our vision is to make Tigopesa customers enjoy making unlimited financial transactions both locally and internationally from the

convenience of their phones.

WorldRemit provides not only increased transfer speed but also offers better rates as compared to other available money transfer services.”

There are about 250,000 Tanzanian emigrants living abroad, according to the latest World Bank data, with Britain, United States and Canada having the highest numbers of Tanzanians living outside Africa.

The World Bank also portrays Tanzania as an important receive market for remittances. In 2014 the country received 64 million U S Dollars from Tanzanians living abroad.

The top sender countries responsible to Tanzania include Kenya, United Kingdom, Uganda, Canada, United States, Australia and South Africa.

The VIce President for International Product Development, WorldRemit, Mr Jeff Pietras said: “WorldRemit is revolutionising the tired world of money transfers through our online and mobile only service. People around the globe can send money instantly to Tigopesa wallets with just a few clicks or taps on their smartphone and enjoy fair, transparent pricing.”

Cotton farmers demand timely supply of input

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WANZA-based Quton Tanzania Limited has so far received orders for about 5,000 tonnes of the newly certified cotton seed, UKM08 to be supplied to western growing zone, as farmers demand all inputs to be made available at the right time.

The placed orders constitute over 80 per cent of the country’s national annual demand for 6,000 tonnes of seeds.

Quton Tanzania Limited’s Commercial Manager, Mr Benedict Maselle, told the Daily News in Mwanza recently that the seed company, using its Kasoli based plant with 15,000 tonnes capacity, annually, was determined to meet the country’s demand for cotton seeds.

He challenged cotton growers to place orders timely to avoid cases of late supply of seeds during the planting season.

“This is business...we cannot produce seeds for a mere sake of it, we have to get orders,” Mr Maselle said, dismissing as baseless claims by some peas-

ants that cotton seeds arrived late in the last farming season.

Some interviewed peasants in Bunda, Chato and Bariadi districts complained over delayed farm inputs, especially cotton seeds, as among the challenges they experienced in last year’s farming season.

A cotton grower in Chato, Ms Teresia Magoti, appreciated the new seed variety as superior, but decried its late arrival. “I like (the new) seeds, because they are cost effective and easy to plant but they have to arrive early,” she said.

Cotton Buyers and Ginners Association, UMWAPA, has according to Mr Maselle ordered 2,150 tonnes for its members under the contract farming system in Mwanza, Geita and Shinyanga regions.

Ukiriguru Agricultural Research Institute developed the new superior UKM08 variety, which it describes as highly resistant to drought and pests, to replace the aged UK91, which has been in use for over two decades.

Quton is responsible for multiplication of the seed.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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BUSINESS EXTRA A senior aide to the Abia State Governor and a member of the Abia State Economic Advancement Team, Sam Hart, in this interview with COLLINS NWEZE, says the state government is devising means to improve the state’s internally generated revenue. It is also reviewing its tax administrative processes to promote entrepreneurship.

We’re harmonising Abia’s tax system for efficiency’ HAT is the government’s strategy to increase Internally Generated Revenue?

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We are harmonising our tax system so there no more multiple taxations. We are targeting N1.5 billion monthly within the first one year. Currently, we are on N400 million monthly. And we would realise this by minimal introductory of taxes. Already the bulk of the taxes that are paid go into private pockets. So we want to block all these leakages. If we are able to block these leakages, you would be shocked what we would be able to realise. This we have engaged private consultants again PPP. There is a threshold. We would give them a target before they can take their percentage.

The Abia State Economic Advancement Team is seen as one of the avenues for the government to actualise its development agenda. Are there other roles to be played by this body?

While the governor was still a candidate, what he did was to set up a 20-man team made up of technocrats and people mostly in the private sector to guide on his plans. And because he is not an emperor and is not imposing his will on the system, he said to his team: I am a doctor of applied chemistry, this is the broad picture of what I want to do. Now you are the economics, project managers and private sector people fine tune and build it into a document that can speak to what we want do. The idea behind the economic advancement team is to develop a blue print.

Secondly, advise on implementation and then monitor implementation. Of course, we are mindful of the fact that there are systems and agencies that already have most of these functions but it is said that if you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome, you probably need to check into Yaba left. So for whatever project that is being initiated is being tied to a goal to boost the economic fortune of the state.

How would you describe the the vision of this government for the people?

We actually do have a vision and the vision is to make Abia the premier destination in Nigeria, west and central Africa for investors, shoppers, workers0 and tourists. And our ultimate aim is to uplift the lives of Abians. We want to bring live into a sleeping giant. And there is a lot we can do with Aba and incidentally, the governor is from the larger metropolitan area. We have identified two broad thrusts through which we intend achieve what we plan for Abia state. When I say we, it is because I’m speaking for the governor and these are his ideas. We only helped in producing the document.

We have identified the eco-

would establish and enforce global quality standards. Another bill that is at the House of Assembly is the Abia State Standards Board. We want to make sure people can be proud to buy madein-Aba. When our standards board is established, it means that whatever is coming out bearing the brand made-in-aba meets a minimum acceptable standard according to global best practices.

No more half hazard things.

When we have this quality board, it would entail that things are done properly. For example, why should NYSC import their boots when it can be made in Aba? Education, we want Abia to be an educational hub. For example, Massachusetts has Harvard, MIT and about 20 other institutions of global repute. If you think Massachusetts, the first thing that comes to your mind is education tourism. So why don’t we create our own environment. We have an Abian who just finished investing $30 million in a university in Benue state because they welcomed him with open arms.

nomic facilitators which are generic areas of development to promote economic growth and social well-being. We have also identified our focus economic sectors which are the areas we intend to invest in to drive development. In doing this, we are leveraging the comparative strength of Abia state which are our people. We have a vibrant population of about 3.3 million and are enterprising people. There is a saying that whatever you find anywhere can be made in Aba. You may not get the finesse you have, but it can be made and would serve the function. Also, we have diligent workforce. In terms of access, because we are strategically located, we have access to seven other states and we say that is an advantage instead of just passing, we say why not give them a reason to stop by and do something before they go. On Infrastructure, we have two power plants. The power generation by Geometric and NIPP and significant power generation facilities.

How are you attracting investments to Abia State?

We are building a private sector friendly government. The mere fact that we are doing this means we are attracting and wooing the private sector. We are being accountable by making our processes easier. We are setting up Abia state investment promotion agency fashioned after the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) in Abuja. We have a one-stop investment centre. And we are giving the promise that in seven days of your documents coming in, you get your MOU and your Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) for the land you want to invest in. That is what we are offering on the table. We are shortening the process from going to different ministries by strengthening our policies to attract investors. In terms of security, it has been largely peaceful. We cannot completely say we have resolved security but we are on top of the situation.

What is the major focus of this administration?

We have identified five critical areas that we are going to concentrate our strength and I hasten to add that it doesn’t mean that these are the only areas we are going to work on. Some of these areas have sub areas which may speak to some critical sectors too. We have identified the field that has the highest prospect of yield. We are farmers despite all the modernisation and all the technology. 70 to 80 per cent of Abians are still farmers. So, we

•Hart

cannot joke with agriculture.

We leverage on nature, our soil is very fertile, there is hardly anything you plant in Abia that would not do well except for those fruits that are not suited for our location, e. g apple. And we have identified our major cash and food crops were we have corporative advantage. It would interest you to know that Abia is the fifth largest cocoa producer in Nigeria and we are aiming to come back to the first. We do about 10,000 metric tons of cocoa annually at the moment.

Ondo is the first. We too are looking into some of the things they did and we are implementing them. We do cassava, yam, oil palm, cashew and rubber.

So these are some of the areas where we intend to strengthen our capacity. We do export these things but in little quantities so they do not make any economic impact because it is not properly done. We can grant farmers access to some of these mechanisms that would give them high yield seedling, introduce new technologies. Some of these things we say we are planning to do, most of them we have already done them.

We had said we would establish a marketing board, it has been established. The bill was passed on Monday (last week) and we are happy with that.

What this marketing board

would do, is that instead of these farmers toiling all through the farming season and they harvest their crops and they don’t have the infrastructure to move these crops to the market, or perhaps their yield is more than they can sell. The key mandate of this marketing board is to find markets for our crops. Go buy them off the farmers. They take them off the farmers and sell to the identified markets, build silos, cold storages to preserve these items. This would encourage them to do better the next year.

The next focal point we are working on is commerce. We want to re-establish our heritage as a commercial hub. There was a time most serious businessmen if they wanted to buy things in wholesale, they would think of Aba. But due to collapse of infrastructure and bad roads, no serious business man would want to go through that kind of stress. We have various plans to curb that notion. We want to institutionalise capacity building in our MSMEs in the sense that most of the businesses here are not registered and not benefiting from certain opportunities. We want to enlighten the.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has N220 billion SME fund and our people are not benefiting from this. So we want to help strengthen their capacity building.

Then for our industries, we

‘We are building a private sector friendly government. The mere fact that we are doing this means we are attracting and wooing the private sector. We are being accountable by making our processes easier. We are setting up Abia state investment promotion agency fashioned after the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) in Abuja’

Infrastructure development is key in every progressive environment. What are the immediate plans for infrastructural development in the state?

We are prioritising key roads. We are building 24 roads and we are fixing our drainage so that the roads would last longer. The deputy governor is in charge of a committee that would revamp our railway. We have tracks that are criss-crossing Abia state. We also plan to engage private concessionaire to ensure the commencement of operations in Aba dry port and plan for the development of an Abia airport.

Where are we going to see major achievements of this administration coming from?

We want to be Nigeria’s second strongest economy behind Lagos State. To have a vibrant agricultural and agro-allied processing sector, Aba an industrial centre easily compared to Lagos. To have at least five modern global standard markets serving West and Central Africa and a strong hub for Nigerian content activities for the oil and gas sector. We also want to be the education home to Nigeria’s largest private school hub by having the best managed public education sector in Nigeria. Have the lowest crime rate in Nigeria, be the number one location for doing business in Nigeria and a fully responsive, private sector friendly leadership team.

Are there steps taken by this government to curb leakages in the system?

We have been able to save N160 million from ghost workers and we are targeting N300 million in one year. We have biometric validation of staff of MDAs to eliminate ghost workers. We cannot continue to use 80 per cent of our revenue to service workers which is 5.5 per cent of our population. We want capital expenditure to be more than recurrent. The governor himself has slashed his salary, the aids are all sacrificing to get this system to work.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

47

BUSINESS EXTRA

NDDC denied us 16 months access to audit account, says AGF O FFICE of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) has said that it took the Office 16 months to ensure records and projects of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) were audited.

It said aside from repeated reminders sent to NDDC, the Commission delayed its response to the outcome of the Audited report beyond the usual 30 days limit before it was eventually submitted to the National Assembly (NASS).

NDDC had earlier faulted the report submitted by the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF), Samuel Ukura.

The AGF submitted three special reports to the NASS, indicating that N183.7 billion could not be accounted for between 2008 and 2012 audit years.

However, the NDDC described the report as premature and did not

From

Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

follow the ethical standards of accounting profession.

In a statement issued by OAuGF Head of Media and Public Relations, Olawunmi Ogunmosunle at the weekend in Abuja, the special periodic check reports conducted on NDDC was part of statutory mandate of the Office.

Ogunmosunle, said on 9th December, 2011 a request letter with ref. no. 764/90/CONF/VOL.II/94 was sent to NDDC to conduct the periodic check, stating that a similar letter was resent on 15th March, 2012 without response.

According to the statement, on 19th April, 2013another letter with ref. no. 764/90/CONF/VOL.II/96 was written to NDDC stating that

their refusal of the exercise was a breach of the Office legal responsibilities.

“It was at that point that the team was reluctantly allowed to commence the assignment on May 6th 2013,” she stated.

The statement reads: “From the foregoing, it is clear that it took the Office 16 months to be allowed to commence the said exercise. The conduct of the periodic checks which involved examination of records and physical verification of projects took seven months to be completed.

The delay in the inspection of timely completion of the exercise was caused by the NDDC’s outright restriction of access to vital documents and untimely provision of other documents that were finally

accessed by the Auditors.

“The inspection of projects after the paper work by the Auditors was jointly conducted with NDDC Engineers. Therefore, the outcome of the inspection which was reflected in our report should not be a surprise to NDDC since their engineers were expected to have briefed their management after the audit inspections.”

It read further, “On 24th April, 2014, the inspection report was forwarded to NDDC through our letter ref. no. 764/90/CONF/VOL.II/ 99 in which they were given 30 days within which to respond, otherwise the report, which was acknowledged by them will be duly finalised by the Office.

“72 days from the receipt of the first report, our reminder letter with ref. no. 764/90/CONF/ VOL.II/100 was forwarded and acknowledged by NDDC on July 18th 2014. Paragraph 3 of the letter of reminder states thus: ‘Failure to respond to the report will be taken as acceptance to all the issues raised in it and the Office could proceed

with further actions.”

Meanwhile, another 30 days of grace was allowed for NDDC to respond. In the letter, it was also stated that failure to respond within the grace period, the Office would finalise the report and forward same to the appropriate authorities.

“On 26th January, 2015, a final reminder letter with ref. no. 764/ 90/CONF/VOL.II/101 was forwarded to NDDC, allowing an extra 14 days within which to respond again. From the above, a total number of 13 months during which three reminder letters were forwarded to NDDC were without any response.”

However, the Office noted that the periodic check was not meant to witch-hunt any corporate organisation, adding that any law abiding organisation that conducts its activities in a transparent manner should willingly submit its books for audit.

“The way and manner NDDC has violently reacted to the report has put the-would-be staff of (OAuGF), who are to carry out subsequent periodic checks on the Corporation in fear considering the volatile nature of the Niger Delta region,” it said.

Govt urged to monitor oil, gas industry

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From left: Director, Procurement, Industrial Training Fund, Dickson Onuoha; Director-General, Dr. Juliet ChukkasOnaeko; and Director, Administration and Human Resources, Hassan Umoru, during the 2015 Half-Year Performance Review Meeting of the Fund, in Jos, Plateau State.

Business owners issue one month ultimatum IQUED by the eratic power The petition which was made supply, Business owners in to DISCOs available to Journalists reads: “we the South East have issued are also aware of the remarkable

P

electricity companies one month ultimatum to either improve or face court action.

They argued that the outage was not as a result of shortage in power generation, but due to incompetence on the part of the companies.

Speaking at the weekend, Chief Sam Nwosu, Chairman, SACON Group who spoke on behalf of business owners in the South East, also called on the Federal Government to probe activities of the Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) operating in the country.

The group said they have been left with no other choice, adding that businesses have continued to suffer untold economic hardship as a result of poor power supply despite the improvement in

From

Vincent Ikuomola , Abuja

power generation.

Nwosu in a petition noted that businesses have not been able to enjoy up to one hour power supply in the East compared with other parts of the country.

Calling for the urgent intervention of the Federal Government, he said the power companies in the East have not displayed any level of competence.

Nwosu also said that from close observation, it is obvious that due diligence was not carried out on most of the companies. He therefore called on the government to look into the contract sales of the DISCOs and should any one fail the integrity test, such a contract should be revoked.

improvement in electricity supply across the country.

“But unfortunately, we are not enjoying any of it here in Akwa, Anambra state. Yet at the end of the month your company sends us heavy bills including your “fixed rate” charges for services not rendered.

“We are therefore constrained at this time to speak out and alert the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the federal ministry of power, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Human Rights organisations, the newly appointed senate committee of inquiry on the activities of DISCs on our prolong and seeming intractable and insurmountable hardship.”

HE Managing Director/ CEO, Oilflow Global Energy Limited (OGEL), Noah Yakub has called on the federal government to give a close monitoring to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, saying such is needed for any form of growth to be recorded in the industry.

Yakub, who spoke in Lagos, said there is need for periodic financial audit reports, noting that regular meetings with stakeholders where lapses can be established and consequently ironed out, will also be needful.

He said for any headway to be made in the industry, a lot still has to be done to enhance capacity building, technical and financial growth, especially among Nigerians, having been given the privilege to operate under the Nigerian Local Content Act. “At OGEL, we are already sailing on the present state of the business environment to actualise our mission towards the global industry growth. With an improved environment as promised by the current administration we shall sail smoothly.

“We have our strategies to operate in the industry. The most important strategy that we put up, is an integration of integrity and performance. With our per-

By Olatunde Odebiyi

formance, we also delight our customers with performance icing,” he said.

He pointed out that when technical manpower is supplied, a system is put in place, such that “when they are on vacation, or they are on time off, we develop them by giving them a particular training established as relevant to their field.

“We also have a structured system that recognises and appreciates talents and job performance accuracy. Besides, we also strategise by giving them relationship training in the sense that we train them on how to mix with people that they are not familiar with, how to mix with their bosses, peers and work environment so that they can have a sense of understanding. That is just a few out of the lots of our business strategies,” he said.

Yakub, praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his selection and placement procedure, especially on the recent appointment of Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), describing it as a perfect example of putting a round peg in a round hole

FADAMA III AF enhances farmers in Niger

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HE FADAMA III Additional Financing, a collaborative project of the World Bank, Federal and State Governments has been of immense benefits to farmers in Niger State.

Speaking with newsmen in Minna, the Niger State Coordinator for FADAMA III AF, Engineer Aliyu Usman Kutugi, said the project has “greatly enhanced the capacities of farmers, increased their income, boosted the economy and made life more worthy of living”.

Niger State is presently cultivating 371, 482 hectares of rice, mostly under the production season of rainfed. Under the FADAMA III

AF, 2,635 rice farmers with 7,100 ha land holding has been registered, 100 business plans for ten production clusters were reviewed out of which 49 were approved and currently being implemented.

Also, 10 facilitators and 1000 farmers rice farmers have been trained, while awareness have been created for agro dealers, cultivation of 120 ha nursery beds by five production clusters.

Engineer Kutugi, while informing that 20 tones of improved rice seeds (Faro 44) has been procured and distributed to rice farmers along with 480 litres of herbicides from certified agro dealers, also thanked the Niger State Govern-

ment and the National FADAMA Team led by Mr. Tayo Adewunmi for “their continued support and cooperation, without which the FADAMA III AF would not have been implemented.”

Niger State has implemented six World Bank/FG assisted projects under the agricultural sector namely Bida Agricultural Development Project, Multi-State Agricultural Development Project, National Agricultural Technology Support Project, FADAMA II and III, and presently implementing FADAMA III AF, which have helped to developed farmers-managed irrigation schemes of 400 hectares and formal irrigation schemes of 1,500 hact.

• The Editor-in-chief, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Lawal Ado (left) and Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Alhaji Bature Masari, after a NAN-Forum at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.

48

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

NEWS Lagos lawyer Wahab Shittu admonishes members of the Eighth Assembly to settle down to business of lawmaking/oversight functions instead of fighting for positions.

Legislative agenda: a new beginning M

EMBERS of the Eighth Assembly of the House of Representatives have started well by producing a legislative agenda to guide their activities and operations. The significance of this legislative agenda for the democratic process is the focus of our searchlight this week.

Any serious-minded legislature ought to be preoccupied with three fundamental functions, namely: effective representation, effective law making and effective oversight responsibilities. These are the core functions of any responsible legislature in a democratic setting. It is not the function of the legislature to turn the hallowed chambers to avenues for wrestling and boxing competitions. Nor is it the function of a responsible legislature to share money or carry ‘Ghana must go’ bags containing items of dubious origin.

A serious legislature will also not be preoccupied with jostle for leadership positions because that would border on individual interests as opposed to national interests for which they are elected. In the same vain, a serious legislature should provide adequate checks and balances to other arms of government as well as collaborate with other stakeholders in delivering sustainable development and good governance.

The success or otherwise of any legislature is determined by its commitment to serious debates that would improve the governance process in the land. Consequently, a serious legislature must have a blueprint or a credible plan of action through which it intends to be assessed at all times, even by posterity.

It is on the strength of the above that I find the institution of a legislative agenda by the Eighth Assembly of the House of Representatives a refreshing departure from the era of planlessness and lack of vision that may have characterised the legislature in the past, with only very few exceptions.

The above commentary does not derogate from the quality of certain individuals in the previous legislature who have made substantial contributions to nation building rather than being bench warmers. These distinguished parliamentarians certainly know themselves and may have written their names in letters of gold.

Scope The legislative agenda that is the subject of this discourse covers the following critical areas: “1. Legislative Needs Assessment; 2. Internal Operations/Processes; a.

Committees of the House; 3.E-Parliament, E-Voting, Digitisation, Archiving; 4. National Assembly Communication; a. Internal House Communication; b. Communication with the Senate; c. Communication with the Executive; d. Communication with the Public; e. Establishment of dedicated Radio and TV Station; 5. Review of the National Budgetary Process; 6. National Economy and Development; a. Nonremittance of internally generated revenue and Leakages; b. Infrastructure development; c. Legislative Initiative on New Cities and Regional Hubsof Development; d. Legislative initiative on Northeast and Niger-Delta; e. Legislative initiative on Unemployment; f. Legislative Initiative on Housing, UrbanDevelopment, Mortgages; g. Legislative initiative on Power; h. Legislative initiative on Security; i. Legislative initiative on Economic Diversification; 7. Priority Legislation; Green Legislation, Climate Concerns, Desertification, Erosion, National Concern,Poverty, Agriculture, Health, Gender Issues,Security, Unemployment, Water Access andSanitation; Sectoral Debates; 8. Review of the Laws of the Federation; 9. Anti-Corruption; •Constitution Reform Process; 11.

Harmonisation of National Identity Data Management System; 12.Reduction of Cost of Governance; 13.Execu-

tive-Legislature Relations; 14.Implementation; 15.Conclusion”.

Analysis The significance of the document is captured in the introductory remarks contained in the document. It states: “The Eighth House of Representatives (2015 – 2019) takes offagainst a background of huge expectations from Nigeriansabout the way government business is conducted. To address these expectations, the House of Representatives will implement a Legislative Agenda that will position the House to deliver legislation in aid of development and reforms aimed atimproving conditions of living in Nigeria.

This Agenda outlinessteps and prioritises legislative actions required to achieve setgoals and objectives.This Legislative Agenda takes lessons from the experiences ofthe Seventh Assembly and seeks to consolidate the gains andachievements thereof. The House recognizes that thereremains widespread citizens distrust of public institutions andgovernment generally. It is also recognized that there is a lotof public misconception and misperception about the functionand contributions of the legislature to Nigeria’s overallsocioeconomic and political development. Yet, our contributionsto Nigeria’s democracy remain critical and important.

The Eighth House of Representatives will assert its role in providingleadership in the areas of accountable and transparentgovernment, citizens engagement, as well as constituencyrepresentation.The House of Representatives will collaborate with the differentarms of government and particularly its counterpart in theSenate to legislate for the common good of the Nigerianpeople. Our legislative activities will cover critical spheres of lifein Nigeria. The House will legislate to achieve reforms inNigeria’s national economy and development, tackle poverty,unemployment, confront the scourge of corruption, terrorismand security challenges in the country.

The House will also givepriority to green legislations to address environmentalchallenges such as desertification, erosion and pollution. The Eighth House of Representatives will also work assiduously toimprove the governance process in Nigeria by legislating to cutthe cost of running government, reduce wastages and tackleNational Revenue leakages.The House commits to playing its part in rescuing Nigeria from the clutches of hunger, poverty, disease, social, economic, political and infrastructural quagmire. Our legislative intentionis to build public confidence and trust. We shall be responsiveto citizens’ questions regarding the conduct of legislativebusiness.The House as the peoples’ parliament will take legislativeaction that enhances citizens’ trust in our ability to stand up fortheir good.

The House will work as the institution that defendsthe rights of the people to a proper accountable andtransparent government in Nigeria.The House’s relationship with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) will be that of partnership and collaboration to deliveron citizens’ expectations of the legislature.

The Eighth House ofRepresentatives will be sensitive to public demands fortransparency and accountability not just by the House of Representatives but also by government at all levels”.

Principles The General Principles underlying the document are to: “i. Build a House of Representatives with integrity andcapacity to effectively and efficiently deliver on itsconstitutional and legislative mandate. ii. Operate a House of Representatives that responds tocitizens’ demands for greater transparency andaccountability in the way legislative business is conducted. iii. Develop and implement an effective communication system for the House of Representatives in both itsinternal and external communications.

iv. Establish an e-parliament that emphasises use of ITand digitisation in legislative business. v. Identify priority legislation for the country andensure passage within a defined time frame. vi. Introduce necessary legislative interventions topromote equality and inclusiveness, and entrench therights of women, youths and persons living with disability. vii. Establish necessary legislative interventions thatrespond to national economic challenges, addresspoverty and rebuild infrastructure. viii. Respond to Nigeria’s demand for Constitutional andElectoral Reform including the passage of alreadyagreed alterations to the Constitution and theElectoral Act. ix. Promote regular and collaborative engagement withall arms of government especially the Executive inorder to enhance effective legislation for citizens. x. Give priority to work and collaboration withconstituents, civic groups, professional bodies, international development partners and various stakeholders”.

Highlights On Legislative Needs Assessment, the document states that: “The House shall determine and document the resourcesthe National Assembly needs to run its legislativeactivities”. In the words of the document.

“A proper needs assessment should conduct a comparativestudy of the cost of running legislatures in otherjurisdictions. Furthermore, it should address the followingquestions: What does it cost the House of Representatives to airlive its public hearings? What does it cost the National Assembly to conductproper oversight on the Executive? What does it cost the National Assembly to maintain Constituency Relations? What does it cost to equip the offices of membersboth in their Constituencies and at Abuja?What does it cost to maintain the four Agencies ofthe National Assembly such as National Institute forLegislative Studies, National Assembly ServiceCommission, the National Assembly Bureaucracy, PublicComplaints Commission etc. What does it cost to pay the Legislative Aides ofmembers? What does it cost to hire other technocrats and consultants to assist members, the House and theBureaucracy? What does it cost to transport members from onepoint to the other for official activities, locally andinternationally? What does it cost to continue to build the capacity ofmembers, locally and internationally?What does it cost to service the StandingCommittees, Special Committees and Ad-Hoc Committeesof the National Assembly”?

On Internal Operations/Processes, the document states: “The Eighth House of Representatives will work to improve itsinternal operations and processes with the aim of enhancing legislative business”.

With respect to E-Parliament: E-Voting, Digitisation and Archiving, the document states: “The Eighth House commits to the use of ICT in the dailyconduct of legislative activities of the House. E-parliamentand e-voting platforms will be made a regular feature ofthe House. Evoting will be used regularly during voting to properly reflect voting records and pattern of the House.The House shall collaborate with relevant stakeholders toachieve the goal of an eParliament.

The e-parliament initiative will operate on the platform ofmodern, up to date digital technology. Internet andintranet access supported by computerised legislativeinformation management system will be put in place. Further, we commit to establishing and equipping aParliamentary Information Centre where information anddocuments of the National Assembly will be made available”.

On the essence of National Assembly Communication, the document

provides: “The House of Representatives commits to improving itsinternal and external communications. Identifiedcommunication targets include internal house communications, communication with the Senate,communication with the Executive arm of governmentand communications with the public. Improved communication will change the negative perception of theHouse by the public, a lot of which arises from a poorunderstanding of the workings of the National Assembly”.

On the significance of a Review of the National Budgetary Process, the document states: “The Budgetary process has remained one of the major challenges of our democracy since 1999. Legislativemeasures will be introduced to support and implement aproper budgetary process and creation of a strong androbust National Economy. The budgetary process will emphasize the following: •Prioritisation of budget expenditure that reflects approved budget lines •Implementation of capital projects approved inbudgets.

• Adoption of an effective MediumTerm ExpenditureFramework (MTEF).

The House will promote aninclusive budgetary process and seek cooperationwith the Executive and in this respect pre-budget interface will be pursued.

• Effective monitoring of spending and of outcomesachieved – value for money.

• Compliance with the provisions of the FiscalResponsibility Act (FRA) 2007.

The Appropriation Bill is often submitted very late in thefiscal year, thereby leaving very little time for theNational Assembly to do thorough work.

The House wouldrevisit the Constitution Amendment passed in the 7thAssembly mandating the President to submit his Budgetproposals at least 3 months before the end of a fiscalyear, instead of “at any time” before the end of a fiscalyear currently in the Constitution. This is critical inpassing annual appropriations on time.The House will ensure proper functioning and operation ofthe Fiscal Responsibility Act, including a possible review ofthe Act, to streamline budgetary processes and achievestrict adherence to timelines for budget presentation andpassage.The House commits to giving the National Assemblypowers to limit the time a programme would run except itis reapproved by the National Assembly.

This will enablethe MDAs to be careful and accountable, as they mayhave to come before the National Assembly periodicallyfor renewal of implementation mandate. We shall furthercommit to amending Section 82 of the Constitution toreduce the period of 6 months that the President isallowed to spend without appropriation as this provisionseverely distorts the Appropriation process.

The Report of Committees oversight must be a sine quanon for the passage of their budgets. The Committees aresignificant focal points of legislative oversight and mustassert the “Power of the Purse”.

The Eighth House of Representatives will take legislativemeasures to ensure that the executive does not choosewhich aspects of the Appropriation Act it implements andwill enforce a Needs Based Budgeting System rather than an ‘envelop’ Based Budgeting System. The Eighth House willalso ensure the coming into being of an independenteffective, nonpartisan Budget Office (NABRO) by law toaid in economic and budgetary information and planning” On the drive towards National Economy and Development, the document assures that: “The 8th House of Representatives will put in placelegislative measures to promote rapid economic growthand development”.Towards this end, the parliament would prevent: NonRemittance of Internally Generated Revenue and block LeakagesinSever-

•Shittu

al Departments and Agencies of Government.

It will also ensure ‘efficient Management of External Reserves’ and track the use of donor funds, grants and loans for developmental projects’.

The document also hopes to deploy legislative measures to cover ‘Infrastructure’ ‘Development and Legislative Initiative on New Cities’ and ‘Regional Hubs of Development’ including ‘Legislative Initiative on Employment and Job Creation’ and ‘Legislative Initiative on North-East and Niger-Delta’ respectively. It will also cover ‘Legislative Initiative on Housing’, ‘Urban Development’, ‘Mortgages’, on ‘Legislative Initiative’ on ‘Power’, ‘Legislative Initiative’ on ‘Security’, ‘Legislative Initiative on EconomicDiversification’, ‘Priority Legislation’ and ‘Sectoral Debates’,‘Review of the Laws of the Federation’, ‘Anti-Corruption’, ‘Constitution Reform Process’, ‘Harmonisation of National Identity Data Management System’, ‘Reduction of Cost of Governance’, ‘Executive-Legislative Relationship’ and ‘Implementation’.

The Priority Legislation shall address: ‘ Green Legislation’, ‘Climate Concerns’,‘Desertification’, ‘Erosion’, ‘National Concern’, ‘Poverty’, ‘Agriculture’, ‘Health’, ‘Gender Issues’, ‘Security’, ‘Unemployment’, ‘Water Access and‘Sanitation ‘, Including ‘Sectoral Debates’.

The Parliament shall also embark on ‘Review of the Laws of the Federation’ including tackling ‘Anti-Corruption’, ‘Constitution Reform Process’ and the ‘Harmonisation of National Identity Data Management.’

The Parliament shall also be concerned with ‘Reduction of ’Cost of Governance’ and ‘Executive-Legislature Relations’. The agenda also specifies the mechanism for ‘Implementation’ with significant concluding remarks.

Going forward No doubt the legislative agenda is a laudable initiative providing a blueprint on how the Eighth Assembly particularly the House of Representatives intends to actualize its constitutional mandate of lawmaking, representation and oversight responsibilities. The Senate is advised to also take a clue from the House of Representatives in this direction. However for the document to be implementable, the Parliamentarians must have the right attitude and be prepared to enlist the democratic culture and tradition, meaning that they must be prepared to be democrats guided by the fundamentals of the democratic tradition. This requires a great deal of political education embracing decency, decorum, civility and courteous manners. It also means respect for constitutionalism, respect for the rule of law, respect for due process, respect for the doctrine of the separation of powers, respect for fundamental rights, zero tolerance for corruption, transparency and accountability and above all, respect for good governance.

The legislative agenda represents a significant template for good governance and if successfully implemented and prosecuted, it will definitely position the Eighth Assembly of the House of Representatives in Nigeria as ranking amongst one of the best legislature not only in Africa but in the world in terms of best practices and international standards and models.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

51

CITYBEATS

•Debris of some destroyed shops, after an early morning routing of area boys hideout by men of Lagos state Task Force at Oshodi in Lagos...yesterday

•Some traders at Oshodi market puting back their shops in order, after an early morning clearing of area boys hideout by men of Lagos state Task Force at Oshodi in Lagos...yesterday.

•Men of Lagos State Task force after an early morning clearing area boys hideout at Oshodi in Lagos...yesterday

•Owners of some of the destroyed shops trying to repair their shops, after an early morning clearing of area boys hideout by men of Lagos Task Force at Oshodi in Lagos...yesterday (inset) Omolayo PHOTOS: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

Task Force dislodge roadside traders, hawkers in Oshodi

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HE Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit yesterday raided some black spots at the famous Oshodi in Lagos arrested 223 suspected miscreants, including nine under-aged and five women.

The team which stormed Oshodi in the early hours, also removed illegal structures erected by recalcitrant street hawkers and roadside traders around the market.

Chairman of the Task Force, Olubukola Abe, a Superintendent of Police, said the raid was a follow-up to the sensitisation visit to the market by officials of the taskforce a week ago, as well as the stakeholders meeting organised by the Task Force to warn all street hawkers and traders to desist from

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•arrests 223 miscreants

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro and Esther Unachukwu

carrying out their illegal activities around the market.

He said most of the suspected miscreants were arrested between 2am and 4am on the Oshodi Bridge between Anthony and Charity bus, stations.

Among those arrested were nine under-aged boys, 189 adults and five women.

The Task Force boss expressed concern about the under-aged boys who were out at such ‘ungodly hour,’ urging parents and guardians to monitor their children to prevent them being used as tools by criminals.

On the removal of shanties

and extensions, the chairman said the state government had no choice but to enforce the “zero tolerance” for street-trading rule since the traders had remained recalcitrant and the taskforce would not fold its arms and watch such illegality continue unabated.

He warned that the exercise would be extended to other parts of the state where such act was being perpetuated.

According to him, the Oshodi exercise would be sustained.

A trader Bola Olakunle decried the Task Force action, saying most of them were petty traders.

“They have demolished the

shops we rented at N500. We voted them in yet they are making life unbearable for us. They have been here since 20am, we did not have N8 million to rent a shop. At least, we do pay tax. There are lot of troubles in this Oshodi, the poor cannot afford such huge amount to rent a shop, we are all hustling. They should consider us. They should allow us allow to trade freely, we have children to take care of with the little we are making here,” she said.

Another trader, Aliyat Omolayo told The Nation that their goods had been taken away to Alausa.

She pleaded with the state government to return their goods.

Omolayo said: “They were moving from one place to

Workers’ strike uncalled for, says DG

HE Director-General (DG), Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Prof Innocent Ujah, has condemned the three-day warning strike embarked upon by the institute’s Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).

Ujah, who addressed reporters, berated the action, describing it as “unnecessary and uncalled for”.

The workers, he said, began the action demanding the balance of 2013 salary shortfall.

“They are also asking for the payment of staff accidents insurance premium and 2012 arrears, 2013 promotions. Also on their demand list is prompt imple-

By Faruk Hamzat

mentation of this year promotion,” he said.

Ujah said the reason for the three-day warning strike, which began on Monday, August 17 and ended on Wednesday, was unjustifiable.

He said management had convened various meetings to educate the union on the true position of things regarding their demands.

Besides, the withdrawal of service was pre-determined by officials of NASU, as the first notice of strike came from the national body of the union without verifying the authenticity of their demands, he said.

He said it appeared as if the workers were using NASU to express their frustration because “some of the workers do not want to work hard”.

Ujah said the institute, as other MDAs submitted its request for unpaid arrears for the promotion exercise conducted in 2012 and 2013 to the budget office, Abuja, but “up till now, we have not received any financial allocation to this effect.”

He continued: “As soon as the approval is received from the office of the Head of Service (HOS), 2015 promotion exercise will be conducted. We are yet to receive any money from capital

budget this year. Before 2013, the institute was operating on Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

“In 2013 the National Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission directed that NIMR should be placed on Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure (CONRAISS).”

“The money received from the budget office could only pay for three months and seven days and this was duly paid to the staff of the institute,” he said.

The management, he said, was open to dialogue and seek understanding from workers and stakeholders.

another, goods were seized and taken to Alausa. Most of us don’t have money to buy shops because they are expensive, and the little we have, are being taken away by the government. This is where we make money to feed our children and send them to schools; we shouldn’t be treated like this.”

A distraught Aduke described the task force’s action as unacceptable.

She said: “The thing they did this morning was extraordinary; people were crying because of it; does the government want them to steal? The government should provide affordable shops for us to sell our goods.

The reason why touts are everywhere is due to lack of social amenities and the poor

are not treated well.”

It would be recalled that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode enjoined traders to immediately vacate the right of way to ease free flow of vehicular movement in the area.

The Governor, who walked through the stretch of Brown Street, Oshodi, said the road was germane to the economy of the area.

“Nobody should trade on this road henceforth and stop spreading your market on the road. I have seen what you experience on daily basis, that is why I took it upon myself to walk through Brown Street and I can assure you that work would commence within the next seven days,”, Ambode said.

Woman ‘cuts neighbour with blade’

A

24-year-old woman, Fadipe Funmilayo, has been arraigned before an Ikorodu Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, for cutting her neighbour with a razor blade.

Funmilayo, who resides at Sodimu Kayode Street, Owutu, Ikorodu, Lagos, was arraigned on a one-count charge.

Prosecuting Police Corporal Abosede Adegeshin told the court that the accused committed the offence at her residence.

Adegeshin: “The accused and the complaint, Gbemisola Ayanlade both resides in the same place and had a misunderstanding on August 18, but was settled by the elders

in the neighbourhood.

“Later that evening, the complainant went out to buy some things and was attacked by the accused; she pounced on her with a razor blade and cut her face with it.

“I pray this court to give her a very stringent bail because other neighbours testified that she is cruel and a threat to their community.”

Adegeshin said the offence contravened Section 228 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

The accused pleaded innocence.

Magistrate O.O. Olatunji granted him N50, 000 bail with one surety in like sum.

He adjourned the case till September 10.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

51

CITYBEATS

•Some of the traders...yesterday.

•Debris of some destroyed shops...yesterday

•Owners of some of the destroyed shops trying to repair their shops...yesterday (inset) Omolayo

•Men of the task force...yesterday

PHOTOS: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

Task Force dislodge roadside traders, hawkers in Oshodi

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HE Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit yesterday raided some black spots at the famous Oshodi in Lagos arrested 223 suspected miscreants, including nine under-aged and five women.

The team which stormed Oshodi in the early hours, also removed illegal structures erected by recalcitrant street hawkers and roadside traders around the market.

Chairman of the Task Force, Olubukola Abe, a Superintendent of Police, said the raid was a follow-up to the sensitisation visit to the market by officials of the taskforce a week ago, as well as the stakeholders meeting organised by the Task Force to warn all street hawkers and traders to desist from

•arrests 223 miscreants

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro and Esther Unachukwu

carrying out their illegal activities around the market.

He said most of the suspected miscreants were arrested between 2am and 4am on the Oshodi Bridge between Anthony and Charity bus, stations.

Among those arrested were nine under-aged boys, 189 adults and five women.

The Task Force boss expressed concern about the under-aged boys who were out at such ‘ungodly hour,’ urging parents and guardians to monitor their children to prevent them being used as tools by criminals.

On the removal of shanties

and extensions, the chairman said the state government had no choice but to enforce the “zero tolerance” for street-trading rule since the traders had remained recalcitrant and the taskforce would not fold its arms and watch such illegality continue unabated.

He warned that the exercise would be extended to other parts of the state where such act was being perpetuated.

According to him, the Oshodi exercise would be sustained.

A trader Bola Olakunle decried the Task Force action, saying most of them were petty traders.

“They have demolished the

shops we rented at N500. We voted them in yet they are making life unbearable for us. They have been here since 20am, we did not have N8 million to rent a shop. At least, we do pay tax. There are lot of troubles in this Oshodi, the poor cannot afford such huge amount to rent a shop, we are all hustling. They should consider us. They should allow us allow to trade freely, we have children to take care of with the little we are making here,” she said.

Another trader, Aliyat Omolayo told The Nation that their goods had been taken away to Alausa.

She pleaded with the state government to return their goods.

Omolayo said: “They were moving from one place to

Workers’ strike uncalled for, says research chief

T

HE Director-General (DG), Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Prof Innocent Ujah, has condemned the three-day warning strike embarked upon by the institute’s Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).

Ujah, who addressed reporters, berated the action, describing it as “unnecessary and uncalled for”.

The workers, he said, began the action demanding the balance of 2013 salary shortfall.

“They are also asking for the payment of staff accidents insurance premium and 2012 arrears, 2013 promotions. Also on their demand list is prompt imple-

By Faruk Hamzat

mentation of this year promotion,” he said.

Ujah said the reason for the three-day warning strike, which began on Monday, August 17 and ended on Wednesday, was unjustifiable.

He said management had convened various meetings to educate the union on the true position of things regarding their demands.

Besides, the withdrawal of service was pre-determined by officials of NASU, as the first notice of strike came from the national body of the union without verifying the authenticity of their demands, he said.

He said it appeared as if the workers were using NASU to express their frustration because “some of the workers do not want to work hard”.

Ujah said the institute, as other MDAs submitted its request for unpaid arrears for the promotion exercise conducted in 2012 and 2013 to the budget office, Abuja, but “up till now, we have not received any financial allocation to this effect.”

He continued: “As soon as the approval is received from the office of the Head of Service (HOS), 2015 promotion exercise will be conducted. We are yet to receive any money from capital

budget this year. Before 2013, the institute was operating on Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

“In 2013 the National Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission directed that NIMR should be placed on Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure (CONRAISS).”

“The money received from the budget office could only pay for three months and seven days and this was duly paid to the staff of the institute,” he said.

The management, he said, was open to dialogue and seek understanding from workers and stakeholders.

another, goods were seized and taken to Alausa. Most of us don’t have money to buy shops because they are expensive, and the little we have, are being taken away by the government. This is where we make money to feed our children and send them to schools; we shouldn’t be treated like this.”

A distraught Aduke described the task force’s action as unacceptable.

She said: “The thing they did this morning was extraordinary; people were crying because of it; does the government want them to steal? The government should provide affordable shops for us to sell our goods.

The reason why touts are everywhere is due to lack of social amenities and the poor

are not treated well.”

It would be recalled that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode enjoined traders to immediately vacate the right of way to ease free flow of vehicular movement in the area.

The Governor, who walked through the stretch of Brown Street, Oshodi, said the road was germane to the economy of the area.

“Nobody should trade on this road henceforth and stop spreading your market on the road. I have seen what you experience on daily basis, that is why I took it upon myself to walk through Brown Street and I can assure you that work would commence within the next seven days,”, Ambode said.

Woman ‘cuts neighbour with blade’

A

24-year-old woman, Fadipe Funmilayo, has been arraigned before an Ikorodu Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, for cutting her neighbour with a razor blade.

Funmilayo, who resides at Sodimu Kayode Street, Owutu, Ikorodu, Lagos, was arraigned on a one-count charge.

Prosecuting Police Corporal Abosede Adegeshin told the court that the accused committed the offence at her residence.

Adegeshin: “The accused and the complaint, Gbemisola Ayanlade both resides in the same place and had a misunderstanding on August 18, but was settled by the elders

in the neighbourhood.

“Later that evening, the complainant went out to buy some things and was attacked by the accused; she pounced on her with a razor blade and cut her face with it.

“I pray this court to give her a very stringent bail because other neighbours testified that she is cruel and a threat to their community.”

Adegeshin said the offence contravened Section 228 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

The accused pleaded innocence.

Magistrate O.O. Olatunji granted him N50, 000 bail with one surety in like sum.

He adjourned the case till September 10.

52

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

CITYBEATS

Stakeholders task youths on productivity

Police have turned to beggars, says Mbu

T

HE Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2, Joseph Mbu has again warned the police to shun indiscipline or face his wrath.

He made the call at the weekend after meeting the commissioners under the zone for a review of some of the issues raised at the security summit in Abuja.

He frowned at bribery, extortion, abuse of power and shabby dressing, vowing to deal decisively with any policeman found wanting.

The AIG directed senior police officers to assume the position of leadership and discipline any errant junior they come across, adding that the commissioners could not be everywhere.

Mbu, who hoped for a better police, noted that with the promise of funding made by President Muhammadu Buhari, the force would no longer beg from governors and local gov-

By Precious Igbonwelundu

ernment chairmen.

According to the AIG, the Police had been turned to beggars and nuisance to the point that governors and chairmen no longer take phone calls from commissioners, area commanders and DPOs. Mbu, who also frowned at the activities of land grabbers, accused the police of shielding criminal elements, warning them to desist because their actions were hindering development and scaring investors.

The AIG threatened to prosecute any policeman found conniving with ‘land grabbers’ adding that he would not tolerate anyone who drags the force’ reputation to the mud.

He reminded them of the policy statement of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, demanding that every policeman must respect the human rights of citizens.

Mbu said: “There is a new dawn now in the Nigeria

‘

It is a known fact that Nigeria Police have been turned to beggars

’

Police and there is hope now that the Police will improve but we must work hard.

“It is a known fact that Nigeria Police have been turned to beggars. Its only the Nigeria Police that always goes to beg and because of that, most Governors and Local Government Chairmen have no respect for commissioners of Police, Area Commanders and DPOS in the local government. “Why? Because they are virtually buying everything for the Policemen.

Sometimes, some Gover-

nors would not pick commissioners’ calls for two to three weeks, why? Because they believe we want to beg for money, whereas a commissioner of police by nature of his office should be very close to the governor and share vital information for better security in the state, but because the burden of the command is on the Governor, we have become a nuisance.

“It is the same thing with local government chairmen. They have made themselves aversive and DPOS cannot see them, when they call them, they would not get across to them because they know that the police want to beg money for petrol, to maintain vehicles or because somebody has died and they have no money to take him to the mortuary or to his hometown...”

Mbu also said even private companies that partner the police were tired of the agency because the police was parasitic, not-

ing that with the presidential promises delivered, the inadequacies in funding would be taken care of.

He reminded them of the directive from the IGP on the need for policeman to respect traffic lights and human rights, adding that police escorts with unauthorised civilians be withdrawn.

On bribery on major highways, Mbu urged the citiaens to report any such officer, saying that the IGP had released N2 million for each command for the maintenance of patrol vehicles and welfare of patrol teams.

Ilaje road, Awotutu Street, Kayode Adebiyi, Osasa Avenue to Odo Oba, Kusa Street and Ayinke Street.

“Aside roads rehabilitation, we are also expecting work on Arobadade Canal, reconstruction of Ladi-lak Primary School, Ashogbon and Mafowoku Primary Health Centres (PHC) and Street lightning at Jagunmolu/Tijani Ashogbon/ Finbars Road,” he said.

Alabi appealed to residents to be patient with the government, promised that others areas would soon feel the impact of the council.

By Idayat Bello and Safiyyah Abdur-Razaq

K •Mbu

Council lifts communities with roads rehabilitation

R

ESIDENTS of Bariga Local Council Development Area are heaving a sigh of relief following the rehabilitation of some major roads in the council.

The roads include Shipeolu to Johnson; Temple and Olokodana roads.

The council’s Executive Secretary, Kolade Alabi, said the selected roads would be immense benefits to the residents.

“They are major roads that link to other roads, hence our priority for them,” he said.

He lamented the slow pace of work on Johnson road.

“Johnson road,” Alabi said, “was in three phases; the first phase has been completed and the other two phases are being delayed by the contractors. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode came here last week and enjoined the contractors to ensure speedy completion.

“The road was expected to have been completed since five months ago, but was being delayed by the contractors. The contractors had promise the governor that they would deliver the remaining phases before the end of this year. Bariga residents would be expecting to

C

•One of the completed roads (inset) Alabi

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

use the road for Christmas.”

Alabi, who is the chairman of Conference of Lagos State Executive Secretaries, said once completed, the economic activities in Bariga would improved.

“The delay has really affected our economy activities because it is a major road in Bariga and its bad shape imposes a lot of burden on our inner roads. Motorists

now ply those inner roads and exposes them to unnecessary heavy traffic,” he said.

According to Alabi, some of the roads are collaboration between Lagos State Government and French Development Agency (AFD).

“Already, work is going on Baptist Church Street and drainage is being constructed at Arikewuyo Street in Pedro. Others areas covered by the collaboration include

Activists seek action against child trafficking

HILD rights activists have called for more proactive measures to curb child trafficking. They made the plea at the maiden National Conference of the Association of Orphanage and Homes Operators in Nigeria (ASOHON).

They decried lack of funding for child-based non-governmental organisations NGOs, saying an increase in the government budgetary provisions for the NGos would help the fight against child trafficking and other rated crimes.

Wife of Lagos State Governor Mrs Bolanle Ambode, called for combined efforts

By Evelyn Osagie

between governments and NGOs to curb the menaces of child trafficking, child labour, child abuse and fake orphanage homes across the country.

Mrs Ambode hailed ASOHON members for the awareness.

She said: “You took it upon yourselves within limited available resources to keep and protect these vulnerable ones and reassure them that life is worth living after all.

Your contributions to society can neither be measured nor quantified. It is my prayer that God, who delights in service to the less privileged, richly

rewards you, ‘’ she said.

She observed that NGOs need government assistance in regulating the operations of orphanage homes according to best practices and in conformity with the Child Rights Law. ASOHON National President Mrs Dele George, said the burden orphanage founders and their network of donors bear the burden of nurturing vulnerable children alone.

According to her, although the association was established to assist governments at all levels to add value and excellence to the social welfare system, the task of caring for the children should be a collective not

be left to NGOs alone.

She called on governments and the public to assist orphanage homes.

“Many state governments bluntly refuse to render financial or material support to orphanages with the excuses of low budgets or unavailability of funds, but when we hear of the billions of naira embezzled by corrupt leaders and officials in the nation we see why a sector like ours is at the bottom of the ladder in consideration. But since there has been a change in government, we are optimistic and believe change is inevitable

and with the reforms going on in the country, we will receive support from government.

“ASOHON is out to collaborate and consolidate on the efforts of government to find lasting solution to the challenges confronting our orphanages and vulnerable children in our society. We are ready to partner with the government to make the issue of baby factories a thing of the past by ensuring that all homes register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and are well monitored, ‘’ she said.

EYSTONE Bank Production and Marketing Department Head Mrs Temitayo Olutoye, has urged Nigerian youths to break the trend of incessant importation.

She made the statement at a lecture tagged “NASFAT Women Connect with Children” organised to mark the 16th edition of the Nasrul-lahil-Fatih (NASFAT) annual Women’s Week.

The programme was aimed at enhancing and motivating teens on the importance of savings. She noted that Nigerians should encourage local production and usage to curb the rise in inflation.

“An important reason to manage money is to have financial freedom. It is always good to save money in case of emergency,” she said.

Speaking on Discovering Children’s Innate Abilities, Aisha Adesina, a 500-level Pharmacy student of the College of Medicine University of Lagos (CMUL), urged mothers to spend more time with their children to discover their hidden talents.

She said every child is born with an innate ability which is later influenced by parental and environmental factors.

“Most times, whatever a child does when he or she is bored is the hidden talent the child has. When you discover the talent your child has, encourage them. If your child has writing skills, you can encourage him or her by urging such a child to join a literacy club in school. You can also send the child to a writing school. After encouraging them, help them nurture it and Islamise the talent. If your child has a sonorous voice, you can help the child by sending him or her to an Arabic school where the child would learn how to recite the Qur’an so that he or she can grow to become a scholar that teaches others,” she said.

NASFAT National Women Affairs Secretary, Alhaja Samiat Mumuni, urged parents to create time for their children.

She said: “As parents and mothers, we are the bedrock of the society. We are the first points of contact with the children, so, let’s train them properly, to educate and enlighten them. If we don’t, they would learn elsewhere and may be led astray. Communicate with your kids. Even if they err, nagging can’t solve the problem, it is the way we present our displeasure that matters most.”

Lagos State University (LASU) lecturer Dr Khadijah OlaniyanShobowale, enjoined students to always consult their parents on any decision on their career.

Dr Olaniyan-Shobwale said: “Endeavour to chat with them regularly (even if it is on trivial things), when you need to discuss serious issues, follow the etiquettes, communicate with them in a calm tone; ask them regularly of their daily activities; find something that interest you both and move from there; let them know you treasure spending time with them; appreciate the efforts, time and money spent on you; seek their advice and opinion; give them your complete attention; find religious activities that bind you together; pray for them; show them affection; make extra effort to be helpful around the house; respect their wishes; if you cannot get through to them, consult with a friend or family member that they respect and be their friend.”

53

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

CITYBEATS I didn’t know we produced fake wine, says minor

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16-YEAR-OLD boy was paraded with eight others last Friday in Ikeja by the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for producing adulterated wine.

The Delta State-born orphan said he took to the job because he needed money to fend for himself.

He said: “I started the job two weeks ago through my brother’s friend, Ejike Chibike, who told me he produces wine and asked if I could join him. I accepted and he agreed to pay me N2,500 every weekend.”

When asked his role during production, he said: “My boss mixes the ingredients in a large container, while I fill the bottles, put the foil, label, cock the bottles and pack them. He also distributes and has someone who prints for him.”

“I’ve just completed my secondary school education and since I didn’t pass all my papers, I needed to work so I can save some money for the next General Certificate Examination (GCE). I didn’t know we produced fake wine because some drinks have National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) number on them.

“Since our parent’s death, five of my siblings and I have been living with our step mother. Since the money gotten from our father’s gratuity finished, we have been made to cater for our needs.

As I speak, I haven’t been paid

By Basirat Braimah

for the two weeks and I haven’t seen or heard from my boss.”

NSCDC Commandant, Gabriel Abafi, said the suspects were arrested last Wednesday and Thursday in Ikorodu.

According to him, they seized 112 packs of Princess and Merry Fruits Wine with NAFDAC number - A108521 and A10489L, two electricity generating sets, one water storage tank, one pump machine, cylinder, three sealing machines and some powdery substances.

Abafi said: “The Princess Wine is produced in a room and parlour mini-flat within Lucky Fibre, while Merry Fruits Wine is produced in a four bedroom flat at OkeAgbo both in Ikorodu, Lagos.

We realise the suspects are retailers but we are on track to fish out the kingpins.”

Abafi said the public needs to be sensitised about products and enjoined residents to be extremely careful in the kind of things they consume.

NAFDAC Assistant Director, Intelligence Gathering and Enforcement Division Francis Ononiwu, said the raw materials used in producing the wine may be harmful, saying that the agency never approved the production site or tested the raw materials.

“I commend NSCDC officials for a job well done. This has shown we are partners in progress and there is need for collaboration between gov-

•The suspects with the fake products

•NSCDC parades nine for producing ‘adulterated wine’ ernment agencies. We assure you we will get to the root because many lives are at stake,” he said.

Another suspect, Chukwu Emmanuel, a 24-year-old sales boy, said: “I was in my shop last Wednesday when a Keke Marwa operator offloaded 10 packs of Princess Fruit Wine. When I asked who the owner was, he said the owner was almost with me. Three minutes after, NSCDC officials came and asked if I had Princess Wine and I said someone just brought them that they could count it. That was how I got arrested.

“I used to be in the provi-

sion section before I got transferred to the drinks section.

One Chibike, a marketer, supplied us and this is the third time we are patronising him. The first time he supplied us, I checked the NAFDAC number and expiry date. He even gave us some to taste, saying it was a new product. We bought it N1000 from him and sold for N1100. I don’t know anything about it. I was employed as a sales boy.”

Emmanuel Mba, 19, who sells at Ladega, Ikorodu, said Chilbike used to supply Dewiper Fruits Wine before he switched to Merry Fruits Wine.

“I bought five to 10 packs because after he brought it for taste and it was okay, I stocked my shop with it. A bottle of the wine is N200 while a pack which consists of six bottles is N1100 but I bought it N1000 from him. Some of my customers buy the wine if they can’t go for the expensive ones. If I knew it was fake, I wouldn’t have bought it,” he said.

Kazeem Idowu, 20, a Lagosian said they were forced to order for the wine because of its demand.

He said: “I started working for one Mrs Adebayo a month ago along Ayangbure area. I am not aware. Even my boss isn’t. In fact this is our first time

because he has been supplying co-shop owners in the area.

The demand is high. They are really patronising it.”

A victim, who gave his name as Abodunrin, said he discovered the wine last September during a social gathering he organised.

He said: “When I got to the market, I was told it was a new product. I was shocked at first because of the price. I bought 20 packs because it was my son’s graduation. It had an after taste. I even gave friends and colleagues as souvenirs.

I was embarrassed when I received two to three calls about the wine. This is a situation that has to be looked into with utmost urgency.”

T

HE leader of C&S Salem Evangelical Church of Christ in Lagos, Apostle Babatunde Odele (a.k.a Pawpaw) has urged residents to maintain good drainage system in their environment.

Odele, who is the former Chairman of Mushin Local Government, said the church has been clearing drainage in Obanikoro on Ikorodu road in the last five years.

He said: “This area used to be a no go area whenever there was heavy downpour which caused traffic gridlock and accidents.

“Ikorodu road is always busy whenever it rained, everywhere will be flooded due to the blockage of the drainage. The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials and policemen are always seen clearing accident scenes to ease traffic gridlock.

“Because our members couldn’t stand the sight of ugly things, they suggested the road be repaired and voluntarily contributed fund for its rehabilitation.

As you can see,” he said.

He said the only way Lagosians can prevent traffic gridlock is to clean the drainage regularly.

Odele, who is also a member, Lagos State Drainage and Sanitation Board enjoined other worship cen-

•A walk-way upgraded by the church •Apostle Odele (second left) supervising others to clear the drainage

Cleric urges residents to maintain clean environment

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

tres to always involve in community service.

“Being a worship centre, we are trying our best possible to be of benefit to our

host community and I urge other religious bodies to do same. We don’t have to wait on the government always; we know they are trying their best. So, we should ensure that the money we earn

in our respective worship centres be used to upgrade the environment. The government, should however, ensure that churches and mosques tidy their environment,” he said.

•The church

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

54

CITYBEATS T

LTV gets new General Manager

LAGBUS chief urges commuters to report erring drivers

HE Asset Management Company, operators of the Lagos metropolitan red buses (LAGBUS) has advised commuters to report the company’s drivers engaging in reckless driving.

LAGBUS Managing Director Mr Babatunde Disu, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.

“Recently, we trained the drivers on performance and best practices of transportation to ensure that they are safety conscious. The man-

agement is working to make sure that the comfort of passengers is guaranteed. But for us to reciprocate the gesture, we appeal to you to come forward and advise us on what to do to improve our services and we will not hesitate to do it,” Disu said.

A regular user of the buses, Mr Emmanuel Idowu, described LAGBUS services as okay, saying however, that the company needed to

work on the attitude of driver.

“LAGBUS management has improved greatly now, you can determine when and what time you can get to your destination.

“Their buses can be accessed everywhere in Lagos, the only thing now is that some of the drivers still drive recklessly,” Idowu said.

Another regular user of LAGBUS, John Olukayode,

advised the management to increase the number of supervisors in the buses.

“If the drivers have more officers supervising them, many of them will be more serious,” said Olukayode.

Miss Julie Okorie, a food seller at the Lagos Bar Beach, enjoined the management to extend operations time of the buses into the night.

“There should be some fleet officers running the night shift because they can provide the best service,” said Okorie.

•Balogun

L

AGOS State Government has appointed Mr Adedeji Olusoji Balogun as the Lagos Television (LTV) General Manager.

Balogun, a seasoned journalist, has over 28 years ex-

perience in broadcasting.

He began his professional career in 1981 as a presenter of a youth programme on Radio Lagos and later on as a continuity anounncer/presenter.

He was seconded to Lagos State House of Assembly in July 2001 as Head of Information and Public Relations/Media Adviser to the Speaker Olorunimbe Mamora. He returned to LTV as Head Corporate Affairs unit before being deployed as Head of Sports.

Balogun was until his appointment the Director of programmes in Lagos Television (LTV).

Association calls for closure of HIPPERS’ Association Lagos ports in Lagos State has called

S

•Members of the Youth Chapel of African Church, St. Paul’s Parish, Ilupeju, Lagos, during their Third Anniversary Thanksgiving service at the church…yesterday

T

Police arrest 12 suspected traffic robbers

HE Lagos State Police Command has arrested 12 men, who allegedly rob motorists during gridlock.

They were arrested by the men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) last Friday, following a tip-off from motorists, who ply the Mile 2 and Ijora route.

RRS Commander Olatunji Disu, an Assistant Commis-

By Basirat Braimah

sioner of Police (ACP), said: “The miscreants were fond of snatching mobile phones and dispossessing citizens of their valuables during gridlock along both metropolises. They attack victims by damaging their vehicles’ windscreens which makes them surrender under duress.

“When we got to Task force

office in Alausa, four suspects who gave satisfactory description of themselves were released while the remaining eight were charged to court,” Disu said.

He recalled that the RRS operatives recently arrested a terrorist whose gang attacked motorists in the same route.

“When we arrested him some weeks ago, he con-

fessed that he was not the only one in the act, he said they snatched bags and phones during traffic jam.

This current arrest shows they are his syndicate”, he added.

He appealed to citizens to assist the Police with useful information, promised that informants’ identity won’t be revealed for fear of retaliation.

Adebule to women: be change agents

L

AGOS State Deputy Governor Dr Idiat Adebule has urged Muslim women to be a source of inspiration to others.

Speaking at the closing of the 16th Annual Women’s Week of Nasrul-lahi-l-Fatih Society (NASFAT) yesterday, she urged them to pass whatever knowledge they have onto others.

She said: “Wherever we are, whatever we do, and at whatever level, we should pass the knowledge we have

By Safiyyah Abdur-Razaq

to somebody. There are so many women out there who want to do well but they are looking for somebody to motivate and inspire them.

That is what we should all aspire to be for other women.”

She hailed NASFAT for empowering women with skill acquisition.

“Let me commend NASFAT for focusing on training the women on how best they can be useful to them-

selves. That is very important because it is only when we do that that we can have a good society. We all must try to learn one skill or another so that we can be useful to ourselves. And here (NASFAT), they are not just training the women; they are empowering them to be useful in the society. And of course, it is only when they are economically empowered that they can do better for themselves and their children,” she said.

She urged women who

•Dr Adebule

have acquired skills to teach others.

Nurse, trader arraigned for alleged baby theft

A

NURSE and a market woman, who allegedly conspired to steal a day-old baby, have been arraigned at an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court, Lagos.

The 56-year-old trader, Theresa Ezeala and Augustina Oparaocha, 54, were arraigned on a two- count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

They pleaded not guilty when the prosecutor, Inspector Simeon Imhonwa, read the charges.

Imhonwa told the court that the women on November 1, 2014, conspired to steal a day-old baby of one Lovely Nwakwu, at a hospital located in Idi-Orogbo Ayobo,

Lagos.

According to him, the complainant, Nwakwu, is Ezeala’s niece, while the accused is her guardian from childhood.

Imhonwa told the court that the complainant was impregnated by someone who refused to take responsibility, so her aunty, cared for her during her pregnancy.

“On the day of delivery, a male child was born through caesarean, while Oparaocha was the nurse in charge. The baby was not given to the mother on the excuse that she was not capable of taking care of the baby.

“The duo, however, conspired to steal the child and never returned the baby to the mother, “Imhonwa said.

When the Magistrate Bola Osunsanmi, asked Ezeala the where about of the baby, she replied that she took the baby to Imo. Ezeala told the court that the baby is with their relative in Imo, who will take care of him on her behalf.

According to Ezeala, this is because it is a disgrace to have a fatherless child.

“It is an abomination in my place for a child to be fatherless, so I gave the child to our relative, ‘’Ezeala said.

However, the prosecutor

said prior to her arraignment, the police visited the home of the relative in Imo, but the house was uninhabited.

“The place was locked and it seemed no one lives there anymore,” Imhonwa said.

He said the offences contravened Sections 278 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Magistrate Osunsanmi granted them N2 million bail each, with two sureties each.

She added that the sureties must be landed property owners in Lagos State and their addresses be verified.

She adjourned the case till September 30.

for the temporary closure of Tin-Can and Apapa ports until the bad spots on the roads leading to the ports have been repaired.

President of the association, Mr Jonathan Nicol, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He said the bad state of the access roads leading to the two ports was a clear demonstration of insensitivity to the plight of Nigerian shippers (importers and exporters).

He suggested that the two ports should be shut temporarily until the bad spots on the roads are repaired.

He said shippers had been paying demurrage on trucks and containers as a result of the poor state of the roads.

“The Nigerian Ports Authority needs to respect its

pledge to repair the roads.

This is an SOS (Save Our Soul) call to the concerned authority, ’’ Nicol said.

According to him, truck drivers usually had hectic time because the roads were blocked.

Drivers, he said, stayed overnight in the terminal and managed to exit the port at 4 a.m. on Saturday.

He said the access road leading to Tin-Can Island port was no longer motorable, adding that truck drivers now get to Apapa port through Liverpool road.

Nicol said the association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) had given the Federal Government strike notice.

He said that the impending strike would have adverse effects on operations at the ports.

Court sentences man for stealing

By Esther Unachukwu

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30-YEAR-OLD car dealer, Imoh Edet, has been sentenced to six months imprisonment by an Isolo Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for stealing side mirrors of Toyota Camry cars.

Magistrate Joy Ugbomoiko sentenced Edet following his guilty plea to a two-count charge of stealing and vandalism.

Edet had earlier pleaded with the court to be lenient with him because he has a pregnant wife and a child.

‘He is guilty of the alleged charge, and hereby sentenced to six months imprisonment or to pay N5,000 fine within the next one month after sentence, and failure to do so, he would continue to be in prison till after 6months,” Ugbomoiko said.

Earlier, the prosecuting Sergeant Oje Uagbale, said the accused committed the offence alongside Kelvin Asogba 41, and others at large on August 16, at Sesan Moyegun Street, Ijesha in Lagos.

He said the defendant was caught removing the side mirrors from a Toyota Corolla vehicle parked in front of the house belonging to one Lawrence Akerele.

“A man, who caught Edet in the act alerted the vigilantes in that area, and was asked why he removed the mirrors, he was searched and found the other side mirror with him. He had stolen from different cars and the vehicle owners were contacted,” he said.

Sergeant Uagbale said the offence contravened Sections 409, 285 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.

Man in court for alleged fraud

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41-YEAR-OLD man, John Eze, has been arraigned by the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for obtaining N1.487million from one Usman Zakari, in exchange for fake $6,700.

The prosecutor, Corporal Abosede Adegesin, told an Ikorodu Magistrate’s Court that Eze, of Eluma Street, Ogba, committed the offence on July 31 at Government Reserved Area (GRA), Ikeja.

She said: “ Eze ‘with intent to defraud’ induced Zakari to deliver N1.487m with the pretext of exchanging it for $6,700 but never did, a rep-

By Robert Egbe

resentation he knew to be false. Rather he allegedly presented fake dollars in exchange.”

Eze was also charged with stealing the N1.487m and threatening the complainant’s life.

The offence contravened Sections 312(1) a and b, 312(3) and 285 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

He pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate O. O. Olatunji granted him N1million bail with two sureties in like sum.

Olatunji adjourned till September 9.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

55

FOREIGN NEWS

Migrant flow through Macedonia resumes

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HOUSANDS of migrants have resumed their journey north through Macedonia and into Serbia after Macedonia reopened its border with Greece.

Many migrants had been stuck at the border for days after Macedonia declared a state of emergency and sealed the crossing.

Yesterday, they were able to board trains and buses that took them north to the border with Serbia.

Most are seeking to travel to northern Europe, via Hungary.

Many of the migrants are Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans fleeing from conflicts in their home countries.

Macedonia reopened its border with Greece overnight after a stand-off lasting several days.

Some migrants had managed to force their way through despite the closure, clambering over barbed wire fences, but others were blocked by police using stun grenades.

Many, including pregnant women and small children, camped out in the open as they waited, with little access to food or water.

On Sunday, Macedonian authorities were making no apparent effort to limit the numbers crossing from Greece.

Migrants started crossing freely into Macedonia overnight Many had been stuck for days on the border Corinne Ambler, a Red Cross official at the Macedonian border town of Gevgelija said there were “far too many” people to help.

“We’re just trying to concentrate on the most vulnerable people, the people with injuries, people with young children,” she told the BBC. “There are many, many children and it’s very hot today and there are many people fainting from the heat, and elderly people as well.”

10 killed as insurgents shell prison near Damascus

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YRIA’S Interior Ministry says insurgents have shelled the central prison near the capital Damascus, killing at least 10 and wounding more than 40.

The Interior Ministry statement carried by state TV did not say if the dead and wounded included prisoners from the jail known as Adra Prison, just northeast of Damascus. The statement did not say which specific group was responsible for the attack.

Insurgents have shelled Damascus on several occasions over the past weeks, killing and wounding dozens of people.

Sunday’s shelling of Adra Prison and nearby areas came a day after government airstrikes on a Damascus suburb killed more than 20 people and wounded dozens in the latest wave of government attacks on the crowded rebelheld area.

At the border with Serbia, Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic, who was visiting a reception centre, said more than 5,000 people had crossed overnight.

“A huge number of people have arrived and we expect the same intensity in the next day or two.”

There were huge crowds at the station in Gevgelija, Macedonia Thousands were already crossing into Serbia on Sunday Europe is currently facing what the EU has called the worst refugee crisis since World War Two. Macedonia says that before this weekend, more than 42,000 people had entered the country from Greece since mid-June.

•Migrants confronting security officials while crossing through Macedonia...yesterday

PHOTO: CNN

UK reopens Tehran embassy

•Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (right) shakes hands with his British counterpart Philip Hammond prior to their joint press conference in Tehran on Sunday.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

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HE British embassy in Iran has reopened, nearly four years after it was closed.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond attended a ceremony in Tehran with Iranian diplomats to mark the reopening while Iran has also reopened its embassy in London.

The UK embassy was closed in 2011 after it was stormed by protesters during a demonstration against sanctions.

Mr Hammond is the first

UK foreign secretary to visit Iran since 2003.

The reopening comes weeks after Iran reached a deal with six world powers aimed at curbing its nuclear programme.

At the ceremony Mr Hammond said the attack in 2011 had been “a low point” but since the election of President Hassan Rouhani things had “steadily improved, step by step”.

Mr Hammond said it was a historic moment in UK-Iran relations

He said: “Last month’s historic nuclear agreement was another milestone, and showed the power of diplomacy, conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect, to solve shared challenges.

“Re-opening the embassy is the logical next step. To build confidence and trust between two great nations.

“Iran is, and will remain, an important country in a strategically important but volatile region. Maintaining dialogue around the world, even under difficult conditions, is critical.

“We will not always agree.

But as confidence and trust grows there should be no limit to what over time we can achieve together and no limit to our ability to discuss these issues together.”

As he declared the embassy open, Britain’s foreign secretary Philip Hammond said there were no limits to what Britain and Iran might achieve together over time, though they wouldn’t always agree.

A small group of Iranians who work at the embassy watched as the Union flag was hoisted in the 14 and a half acre embassy compound for the first time since 2011.

Abbas quits PLO leadership

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ALESTINIAN president Mahmud Abbas resigned Saturday as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Executive Committee in a bid to force new elections for the top body, an official said.

Wassel Abu Yussef said that more than half of the 18member committee had also stepped down.

“The resignation of the president of the executive committee Mahmud Abbas and more than half of its members has created a legal vacuum, and therefore the Palestine National Council has been asked to meet in one month to elect a new executive committee,” Yussef told AFP. Yussef added, however, that the resignations will take effect only when the

PNC meets.

The PNC, or Palestinian parliament, has 740 members who live in the Palestinian territories and in the diaspora. It has not met in nearly 20 years.

The executive committee is the PLO’s highest decision-making body and acts on behalf of Palestinians in the occupied territories and the diaspora, namely in the peace process with Israel.

In 1993, Abbas, then executive committee secretary general, signed the Oslo autonomy accords on behalf of the Palestinians.

Yussef said that before the resignations were announced, the executive committee elected chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat as its secretary general.

Behind the high walls there are gracious lawns and dappled pools of shade from mature trees. It’s all a remarkable contrast with the traffic and noise outside, in a scruffy part of inner city Tehran.

But for many Iranians, the compound with the lion and unicorn on the pillars of the gate is also a symbol of Britain’s past meddling in their country. As a precaution, riot police were lined up outside the gate.

Inside the embassy, graffiti left by radicals who invaded it in 2011 is still on doors and panelling. Above a portrait of the queen is the message ‘Death to the English’.

The British embassy in Tehran, seen here in 2003, has been closed since 2011 Initially, the embassy will be headed by a charge d’affaires, Ajay Sharma, but Mr Hammond said an agreement on upgrading to full ambassador status is expected to be reached in the coming months.

A trade delegation has also travelled to Tehran with Mr Hammond and the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Damian Hinds to discuss possible future trade oppor-

tunities.

Mr Hammond said there was “huge appetite” from UK businesses interested in investing in Iran and creating conditions for British banks to be able to finance trade deals with the country.

It was stormed by protestors who smashed windows and burned flags In November 2011 Iran announced it was expelling the UK’s ambassador in retaliation for British support for tougher sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme.

Hundreds of protesters stormed embassy compounds two days later, smashing windows, torching cars and burning Union flags.

The UK responded by closing the Iranian embassy in London later that month.

But following the election of Hassan Rouhani and an agreement on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme, the then Foreign Secretary William Hague proposed the reopening of the embassy in June last year.

Since then, the reopening of the embassy has been held up by technical problems over visa policy and communications equipment, Mr Hammond has said.

El Salvador prison violence kills 14

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•Abbas

That move came after Abbas suspended another key member, Yasser Abed Rabbo, as secretary general.

It was not immediately clear why Abed Rabbo, a veteran PLO figure, had been sidelined.

T least 14 gang members have been killed in a prison in the north of El Salvador, authorities have said.

Officials said the bodies of the men, who were all members of the country’s notorious Barrio 18 gang, were discovered in two separate locations during a routine inspection of the prison in Quezaltepeque.

The deaths are believed to be the result of an internal feud.

The prison authorities and police have launched an investigation.

El Salvador has one of the highest murder rates in the world, largely as a result of bitter fighting between rival gangs.

On Wednesday, police said there were at least 125

murders in just three days in the country.

The Directorate General of Prisons said on Twitter that the latest violence was “presumed to be an act of purification among gang members”.

Last month, Barrio 18 ordered a bus strike and seven bus drivers were killed when they defied the gang.

The group was demanding to be included in a commission examining ways of stemming urban violence which they are largely responsible for.

President Sanchez Ceren has focused on tackling crime since he took office but the country has faced a sharp increase in violence since 2014.

Police guarded bus stops during the strike last month

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

56

NEWS Two Swiss planes collide at airshow

Deadly typhoon hits Philippines

AT least one person has been killed after two small planes collided in mid-air during an airshow in northern Switzerland, police say.

The accident occurred at 11:30 (09:30 GMT) at Dittingen, near Basel.

Swiss media say one of the pilots managed to escape by parachute.

The Swiss accident comes a day after 11 people died and several were injured when a military jet participating in an airshow in the UK crashed onto a busy road in the south of the country.

EN people have been killed as Typhoon Goni dumped torrential rain in the northern Philippines, triggering landslides and floods, officials say.

Several were killed when houses were submerged under rocks and mud. Others are reported missing in flooded areas.

Thousands of people have been evacuated to higher ground and some domestic flights were cancelled.

At one point, Typhoon Goni was packing winds of winds of up to 195km/h (121mph).

However it weakened as it moved northward off Taiwan’s east coast, AFP news agency said.

It is the ninth of an average of 20 that hit the Philippines each year, the country’s weather bureau said.

Typhoon Goni brought heavy rains for three days, without making landfall in the Phillipines In places roads were closed or became impassable Already drenched mountains areas were battered by strong winds, becoming vulnerable to landslips and mudslides Although most of the danger is thought to have passed, evacuation centres are still housing some 4,000 people Taiwan was braced for the storm as it made its way towards southern Japan, where high wave and strong wind warnings have been issued.

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France train shooting: Hollande thanks ‘heroes’ FRENCH President Francois Hollande has thanked three American men hailed as heroes for overpowering a heavily-armed gunman on a train in northern France.

The incident happened on the high-speed Thalys service near Arras on Friday. A 26-year-old Moroccan man was arrested.

One of the Americans said they took an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun from the attacker as they saw him walk down the aisle of the train.

One of the Americans and another passenger were seriously hurt.

In a press conference on Saturday, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the suspect’s identity had yet to be confirmed, but it was believed that he had radical Islamist beliefs.

Two of the American men who overpowered the gunman, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, are members of the Air Force and the National Guard respectively.

They were travelling on the train from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday evening with a childhood friend, Anthony Sadler, who also helped restrain the attacker.

When a French passenger tried to enter a toilet on the train, he encountered the gunman, tried to overpower him and the gun was then fired, Mr Cazeneuve said.

A French-American passenger was injured by the bullet, and the American passengers intervened shortly afterward, he said.

“Spencer got to the guy first and grabbed the guy by the neck,” Mr Skarlatos told Sky News.

“I grabbed the handgun, got that away from the guy and threw it. Then I grabbed the AK-47, which was at his feet, and started muzzlebumping him in the head with it.

When he checked the AK47, Mr Skarlatos said it had jammed and would not have been able to fire. The cartridge for the handgun had also been dropped, he said.

Mr Sadler said: “I came to see my friends on my first trip in Europe, and we stopped a terrorist. Kinda crazy.”

Mr Cazeneuve said Mr Hollande had thanked the men by telephone and will meet them in the coming days.

•Clashes between police and protesters in Beirut took place again yesterday

PHOTO:AP

Lebanese PM promises action against police ‘excesses’ L EBANESE PM Tammam Salam has promised to take action against police who used force to disperse demonstrations against piles of uncollected rubbish.

He has warned that the country faces a political crisis and that there is no money to pay the salaries of a large number of public sector employees.

Demonstrators returned to the streets of central Beirut again on Sunday after dozens were wounded on Saturday.

Lebanon does not have a president and parliament remains in a stalemate.

The protests against uncollected rubbish have been organised by an online group calling itself ‘You Stink!’ and other civil society groups Protesters blame political paralysis and

corruption for the failure to resolve the rubbish crisis The protests have spread to other parts of Lebanon Saturday’s protest was attended by thousands and the biggest to date over uncollected rubbish.

Mr Salam said that those security forces guilty of injuring demonstrators would be held accountable.

He told a news conference on Sunday that the right to demonstrate was protected by the constitution.

On Saturday police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon against thousands of protesters in downtown Beirut. Gunfire echoed through the streets into the night.

Mr Salam has warned that Lebanon’s credit rating was falling down to the ranks of

‘failed states’ At the same time Mr Salam has warned that the lack of a parliament may preclude the government from selling bonds, affecting the country’s credit rating.

“The garbage crisis is what broke the camel’s back, but the story is much bigger than this,” Mr Salam was quoted

by Bloomberg as saying.

“Did you know that because of the failure to take decisions, we may not be able to pay the salaries of a large number of public sector employees?”

He warned that Lebanon’s inability to service the public debt through bond sales could result in the country’s credit rating falling down to the ranks of the “failed states”.

Protesters blame political

paralysis and corruption for the failure to resolve the rubbish crisis.

It started after the closure of Beirut’s main landfill site last month, and has spread to other parts of the country.

In recent weeks - during hot summer weather - piles of rubbish have grown so large that some residents resorted to burning rubbish on the streets, releasing toxic fumes.

Lebanon has been without a president for more than 450 days.

MPs have been unable to decide on a president, a mainly ceremonial role, reserved for a Christian in a sectarian power-sharing system.

They have extended their own terms twice, dismissing calls for elections and legitimate representation.

New mass graves found on Malaysia-Thai border

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EW mass graves with 24 bodies thought to be those of migrants have been found in Malaysia, police say.

The graves were found in the state of Perlis near the Thai border not far from 139 grave sites unearthed in May, Perlis police chief Shafie Ismail said.

Authorities believe they may belong to migrants held for ransom in jungle camps by gangs of human traffickers.

Migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar have left for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia recently.

Most of the more than 100 bodies found in May belonged to Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

Malaysian police said the latest bodies have been sent for post-mortem examinations.

Survivors of the detention camps have told the BBC that they were tortured and raped

‘Most of the more than 100 bodies found in May belonged to Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar’ when they couldn’t pay the traffickers, and said some died from the abuse.

The news is likely to trigger more debate on whether Malaysian officials are doing enough to stop human trafficking.

Recently, the US removed Malaysia from its list of human trafficking’s worst offenders.

But, human rights groups accused American officials of doing this in order to speed up a trade pact with the Asia Pacific region, something the US has denied.

In May, Malaysian officials said a series of camps found in the jungle near Malaysia’s border with Thailand showed how some migrants had apparently been held in “human cages”

made of wood and barbed wire at the camps.

That discovery in Malaysia followed the uncovering of similar graves on the Thai side of the border.

After those graves were found, Thailand began cracking down on the routes used by traffickers to move Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar through its territory.

A small wooden cage found at one of the camps near Malaysia’s border with Thailand The migrants, who want to reach Malaysia, were instead being sent by sea, but thousands were left drifting as no country wanted to take them in.

Following the discovery of the sites in May, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to stop rejecting boats and to provide temporary shelter to the migrants.

Though Thailand said it would stop towing boats away from its territory, it said it would not take in migrants.

Asia’s migrant crisis

•Rohingya Muslims mainly live in Myanmar, where they have faced decades of persecution.

• Rights groups say migrants feel they have “no choice” but to leave, paying people smugglers to help them.

• The UN estimates more than 120,000 Rohingyas have fled in the past three years.

• Traffickers usually take the migrants by sea to Thailand then overland to Malaysia.

• But Thailand recently began cracking down on the migrant routes, meaning traffickers are using sea routes instead often abandoning the boats once at sea.

UAE forces free British hostage in Yemen

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64-YEAR-OLD British oil engineer has been freed by United Arab Emirates forces in Yemen, 18 months after he was kidnapped while working in the country, the UAE’s official news agency said.

Robert Douglas Semple was being held by al Qaeda in the southern Yemen port city of Aden, WAM reported Sunday.

He was freed in a military intelligence operation by UAE forces and flown to the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi, where he was taken to the hospital to be checked over.

Semple was also able to speak with his wife by phone and and will leave for Britain once all the necessary medical checks are done, the news agency said.

The British Foreign Office confirmed that a British hostage had been released from Yemen after being rescued by UAE forces but did not give further details.

“The British national is safe and well, and is receiving support from British government officials,” Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a news release. “We are very grateful for the assistance of the UAE.” Semple was working as a petroleum engineer in Yemen’s eastern Hadramout area when he was kidnapped in February 2014, WAM said.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, called UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday night to share the news of his rescue, the news agency said.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

57

NEWS

France: Police question train shooting suspect F RENCH police are questioning Ayoub El-Kahzzani, a 25year-old Moroccan accused of carrying out Friday’s attempted attack on a highspeed Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris.

The suspect, who was restrained and held on the floor by passengers, is said to have links to the “radical Islamist movement”.

He can be held for four days without being charged.

Security measures aboard Thalys trains have been stepped up.

After a meeting of its national security council on Saturday, Belgium said mixed Franco-Belgian security patrols would be increased on board the Thalys trains, which link major cities in the Netherlands and Belgium to Paris.

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Patrols and security checks will also be boosted at international train stations, and more baggage checks will be carried out.

The suspect boarded the Thalys train in Brussels, and Belgian prosecutors are carrying out an anti-terrorism investigation of their own.

The suspect, who is being questioned near Paris, was flagged up to French authorities by their Spanish counterparts in February 2014.

He is reported to have lived in France, Spain, and Belgium and to have travelled to Syria.

When a French passenger tried to enter a toilet, he encountered the gunman and

tried to overpower him. It is thought this passenger may have since requested anonymity.

A gun was fired and a French-American passenger was injured by the bullet.

The gunman was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle, an automatic pistol with ammunition clips, and a box cutter knife, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Saturday.

Two American servicemen, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, were hailed as heroes for throwing him to the floor of the carriage, removing his guns and restraining him.

A friend of theirs and fellow American, Anthony

Sadler, and Chris Norman, a British man who lives in France, also helped restrain the attacker.

Mr Stone and Mr Skarlatos are members of the US Air Force and the National Guard respectively.

Mr Stone received cuts to his neck and hand but has now been discharged from hospital.

Those who prevented the attack are due to meet President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace on Monday.

In a telephone call on Saturday, Mr Hollande thanked them for their actions which he said had helped prevent an “extremely serious attack”.

The three US citizens and Mr Norman were awarded medals for bravery by authorities in Arras.

Koreas resume talks as North move troop

ENIOR officials from North and South Korea yesterday were in their second day of marathon talks meant to pull the rivals back from the brink, even amid reports of unusual North Korean troop and submarine movement that Seoul said indicated continued battle preparation.

The first round of talks, which started Saturday evening and finished just before dawn Sunday, came to nothing, but the second day of diplomacy has, for the time being, pushed aside the heated warnings of imminent war.These are the

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highest-level talks between the two Koreas in a year.

And just the fact that senior officials from countries that have spent recent days vowing to destroy each other are sitting together at a table in Panmunjom, the border enclave where the 1953 armistice ending fighting in the Korean War, is something of a victory.

The length of the first round of talks - nearly 10 hours - and the lack of immediate progress are not unusual. While the Koreas often have difficulty agreeing to talks, once they do, overlong sessions are often the

T 40, he will go down in his country’s political history as the youngest ever to wear the much coveted, very much demanding but generally prestigious mantle of the prime minister.

After all, going through the lane of historicism, we learnt some lessons that some wise men and probably women of Greko-extractions gave us democracy, not only as a representation for the people but as a polis which succintintly provide a definitive meaning to a collectivity of a people within their geographical confine. Call it a nationstate; a clan, tribe or even a regional nay continental aggregation. It has sustained the notion of democracy since the latter part of 800 Before Christ.

Welcome Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the man who has been battling for the financial health of his country amid all odds.

He has vowed not to wear a tie until a solution could be found for the nation’s almost collapsing economy.

Of course, the Papandreous; both father Georgios and his son, Andrea; ruled the landscape at various times and with not so much palatable outcomes in terms of economic elevation for the nation. Yet the music kept going on and the people kept dancing to optimism fuelled in the major part by a tourism industry from far and wide who enjoyed the Mediterranean enclave as a seasonal pastime.

Enters Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the gentleman who came on board via a leftleaning Syriza Party on January 27, 2015.

He had to confront a country which had notoriously been noted for reneging on its loan obligations to its international creditors thrice at the last count.

As the economic situation was nose-diving and no respite appeared in the horizon from its international creditors, namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Eurozone, he called for a national referendum in the wake of a populist nationalistic fervour and managed to cajole his coun-

rule.

After decades of animosity and bloodshed, however, finding common ground is much harder.Neither side has disclosed details about the first round of talks.

The second session started Sunday afternoon and stretched into the night. The decision to hold talks came hours ahead of a Saturday deadline set by North Korea for the South to dismantle loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda at their border.

North Korea had declared that its front-line troops were in full war readiness and prepared to go to battle

if Seoul did not back down.

South Korea said that even as the North was pursuing dialogue, its troops were preparing for a fight.

An official from Seoul’s Defense Ministry said that about 70 percent of the North’s more than 70 submarines and undersea vehicles had left their bases and were undetectable by the South Korean military as of Saturday.

The official, who refused to be named because of office rules, also said the North had doubled the strength of its front-line artillery forces since the start of the talks Saturday evening.

Iraqi officials say 23 soldiers, Sunni fighters killed AT least 23 Iraqi soldiers and government-allied militiamen were killed Sunday in an attack by Islamic State militants in the turbulent Anbar province west of Baghdad, Iraqi military and police officials said.

The officials said Sunday’s attack, which killed 17 soldiers and six Sunni militia fighters, took place in the rural district of Jaramshah, north of Anbar’s provincial capital, Ramadi.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

They said the IS fighters used suicide bombings and mortar shells and that chief of army operations in Anbar, Maj-Gen. Qassim al-Dulaimi, was lightly wounded.

News of Sunday’s attack came two days after up to 50 soldiers were killed by the IS in two ambushes elsewhere in Anbar province, much of which is under IS control.

UK military plane crash kills 7

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DAY after a relic military jet plunged from the sky and crashed onto a busy UK highway, killing seven people, authorities will search Sunday for more possible victims.

The Cold War-era Hawker Hunter jet crashed during an air show in southeastern England.

All of those killed were on the busy A27 highway, which runs next to the Shoreham airport in Sussex, Police Superintendent Jane Derrick said.

At least 14 other people were injured.

The pilot was pulled from the wreckage and was airlifted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, where he remained critically injured, Derrick said.

“It is possible that there are still bodies at the scene, and it is important that our search is professional and thorough,” Derrick told reporters.

The jet was flying a loop at the Shoreham Airshow when it nose-dived Saturday. The highway will remain closed as the search for possible

Global Focus DAYO FAKUADE, Foreign Editor sms 08134230367

daborgu@gmail.com

Greece: Now Let Tsipras wear his tie trymen into rejecting the bitter pill as conditionalities for another bailout for Greece.

The nation rejoiced at the choice only to face the stark reality of either leaving the Eurozone or a total economic collapse. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned in protest, accusing the prime minister of falling under pressure from the international financial community to the detriment of Greek’s nationalistic pride. As at that time anyway, it was a case of making a choice between a hard rock and a deep blue sea. Neither of the options could be considered doable without dire consequences. The banks were in dire straits as withdrawals had to be curtailed even at the ATM while traditional banking was suspended for weeks while the negotiations kept going.

So, the last resort was for Greece to swallow the bitter bill of bailout conditions and thus qualify, after much bickering and sleepless nights of horse-trading with genuinely wary and hawk-eyed creditors.

Talk about once bitten, twice shy or more appropriately thrice bitten as the case is with Greek’s history of meeting loan pay-

ment deadlines.

Now, the game gets trickier as Varoufakis, the former prime minister’s ideological soul mate and ex-minister of finance has thrown his hat into the political ring vehemently upbraiding his former boss who surprisingly resigned last week to call for new elections next month.

The battle for the pocketbook might have been won in a way by an almost financially crippled nation, but whether or not it has weakened the nationalistic ego of a nation is undoubtedly a different cup of tea. With ultra-leftist rebels now under Varoufakis getting battle-ready for the September election, it promises to be a battle royale between the two gladiators.

In the meantime, the prime minister who has refused to wear a tie until Greece’s bailout is fully accomplished can now be given a breather. Let the man wear his tie while he prepares for the next political battle ahead.

Also, over the week the topic changed for Greece from financial challenges to with migrants now flocking over Europe. The

other victims continues.

The air show featured vintage military aircraft and was put on by the Sea Royal Air Force Association.

Shoreham Airshow organizers said the Sunday session of the show has been canceled following the accident.

Authorities asked anybody with still or video images of the crash to contact them.

“Sussex Police and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch have asked that anyone with photographs or video footage that may help with their investigations should send their contact details to shoreham.aircrash2015 @sussex.pnn.police.uk,” the airshow organizers said. “Do not send files, just contact details and information about the material you have.”

About 2,000 Hawker Hunter single-seat jets were built in the 1950s in the Netherlands and Belgium, according to IHS Jane’s Defense Industry. The plane’s is about 46 to 49 feet long, depending on the model, with a wingspan of 33 feet 8 inches.

issue has now reached a disturbing dimension as hordes of people seeking for greener pastures especially from war-ridden and impoverished nations of North Africa are now looking for escapist routes to perceived prosperity. Even the notion of a shared burden among European nations is as daunting as distressful for countries still trying to survive on their own not to talk of inheriting other people’s burden.

Yet, we have international and regional conventions which expressly demand free and unfettered movements across geographical and national frontiers. With the challenges in the international community, it is definitely critical on how economicallydepraved nations can continue to meet these obligations in the foreseeable future.

Greece is not alone in this as most nations are reeking under the scourge of economic challenges.

•Tsipras

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

NEWS UN pledges support for Nigeria Continued from page 4

security and others “Nigeria occupies a pivotal place in the comity of nations.

This is time of hope when we have a lot of challenges.

“I want to commend you for a successful election. Elections should serve as a rally point for the people. But many often, it serves as a means of destruction. Nigeria has done well.”

He said he hoped that the governors would use the sustainable development goal for the development of their states.

The NGF Chairman, Zamfara State Governor Abdul-Aziz Abubakar Yari urged the UN Secretary General to consider funding the Sustainable Development Programme.

The Sustainable Development Goals is the successor programme of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ends this year.

He said: “As you may be aware, most states now anchor their developments along the lines of the MDGs which have been a game changer in the successful efforts to bring solutions to bear on the main problems that bedevil developing nations.

“As the MDG programme draws to a close this year, let me assure you of the eagerness to again key into the successor programme, the Sustainable Development Goals. We are ready to embrace this programme with the same zeal as soon as it is unveiled,” he said.

He added, “In view of that, we urging the Secretary General to consider funding the programme together with the dissemination of the human development reports.

The NGF chair also reassured the UN scribe of the collective resolve of the governors to eradicate polio from the country.

According to him, governors and other stakeholders are working tirelessly through the instrumentality of campaigns, more thorough vaccinations and deployment of critical resources to ensure that by 2017 Nigeria is certified polio free.

He added that Nigeria had made unprecedented stride in the fight against this sc ourge recording a full year without any report of polio in any part of the country.

Other governors at the meeting are Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Simeon Lalong (Plateau), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Abdulahi Ganduje (Kano), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Mohammed Jubrilla Bindow (Adamawa), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom), Mohammed Abubakar (Jigawa), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe) and Idris Wada (Kogi).

Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi was also in attendance.

The UN Scribe will today meet with President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock Villa.

Ban will also lay a wreath in memory of the 21 persons who died at the UN House, Abuja bombing in 2011, as part of activities to mark the fourth anniversary of the incident.

The UN scribe will also have lunch with members of the business community with the theme: “The Role of Nigeria Business and the Economy in Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and Addressing Climate Change.”

He will meet the Bring Back Our Girls group which demands government action to free 219 abducted schoolgirls held now for nearly 500 days.

The Secretary-General is billed to deliver a keynote address at a “Dialogue on Democracy, Human Rights, Development, Climate Change and Countering Violent Extremism.”

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is expected to chair the dialogue at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ms Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser of the SecretaryGeneral on Post-2015 Development Planning, is among those on Ki-Moon’s entourage.

Airlift of 66,000 Nigerian pilgrims to Hajj begins Continued from page 4

members.

Buhari also reiterated the position of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) that Hajj will add value to the nation’s economy if it is properly organised.

Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar, in his goodwill message, prayed for the unity of the Muslim Ummah, adding that the pilgrims should also pray for Nigeria’s peace and progress.

The emir of Kano advised them to be of good conduct because the mere thought of evil while in Saudi Arabia will be recorded against such a pilgrim.

A statement by presidential spokesman Garba Shehu yesterday said the President “has accepted the voluntary offer by the leadership of the Muslim community under the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Sa’ad Abubakar II, to carry out an oversight over the Ad-hoc committees of government officials established by NAHCON”.

They are to cater for the general welfare of Nigerian pilgrims for the duration of the pilgrimage.

The Sultan is represented by a committee of emirs led by the emir of Kano.

Shehu said the offer did not contradict the directive by the President that the Federal Government’s delegation for the 2015 Hajj be suspended in line with the cost-saving measures of his administration.

While accepting the voluntary offer of service, the President made it clear that there will be no government funds involved in the mission by the respected emir.

He said the government would also not name members into the Emir’s delegation.

Buhari promised that all measures had been taken to ensure that the well-being of Nigerians on the holy pilgrimage is well managed by the various ad-hoc committees on medical, accommodation, transport, logistics, information and publicity, aviation and tour operators as well as security that generally assist the Commission in ensuring hitch-free Hajj operations.

The President praised the Emir for adding this responsibility to his own personal Hajj plans.

•From Left: Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna); Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), welcoming UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to a meeting with the Governors in Abuja .... yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Buhari to lawyers: join fight against crooks Continued from page 4

Constitution and the Rule of Law. “A major criticism of our system of justice delivery in Nigeria is the incessant delays in the administration of justice.

“Lawyers now insist on pursuing cases and interlocutory appeals based on nebulous points of law, regardless of the length of time or the expense involved in doing so to the detriment of their clients.

“Whilst it must be acknowledged that our Judiciary is not perfect, we cannot overlook the role of counsel in facilitating the onset of delay.

“As we all are aware, delay in most instances are either occasioned by the lack of diligent prosecution of a case, antics of counsel such as the use of interlocutory appeals to stall and frustrate a legitimate expectation of justice, or indolence on the part of some Judges.

“My learned colleagues this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue. It is one thing to talk the talk, but I am also determined to walk the talk.

Justice Mohammed, who stressed the need for enhanced deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to enhance court operations, noted that the reforms recently introduced in the judges appointment process was yield-

‘

We must attain mastery of the challenges that face us, develop the knowledge to tackle those challenges and ensure that the more we gain, the more we desire to achieve

ing results and will, in no distance future eliminate indolent and unqualified judges from the Bench.

“It is for this reason that, as part of our determined effort to ensure that our Judicial Officers are alert to their responsibilities, the National Judicial Council has constituted an Inspection and Monitoring Committee for on-the–spot assessment of Judicial Officers on duty.

“As we continue to fish out and discipline indolent and lazy Judges by showing them the way out of the system, we must also acknowledge and praise those judges that are diligent and hardworking. To this end, the NJC’s Judicial Officers Performance Evaluation Committee has also been strengthened to perform its functions,” the CJN said.

He called for enhanced financial allocation to the Judiciary to enable it meets the expectation o the society. He also frowned at the increasing rate at which lawyers write frivolous petitions against judges, when they ought to utilise available avenue of appealing decisions they are not comfortable

’

with.

He said henceforth, only petitions that dwell on abuse of ethical conduct and are supported with sufficient evudence would be treated by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The CJN, who urged lawyers not to rely solely on litigation as a means of resolving disputes, called for more application of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms as a way of decongesting the regular courts. ”We must all work in unison to address the problems militating against our collective drive for quick disposition of cases and speedy administration of justice.

“To our colleagues on the Bench, I wish to appeal for total commitment and due diligence in the performance of our duties. We must eschew indolence and resist the evil temptation of corrupt enrichment, ensuring that we uphold the right of our citizens to fair hearing within a constitutionally prescribed period.

“I believe that where there is a unity of purpose by the Bar and Bench then discor-

dant attitudes will be sifted out. ”That is why we must all speak with a unified voice after this Conference, regardless of what differing opinions we may have had at the start of it. ”There must be greater emphasis on working in tandem to provide speedy dispensation of justice, engender rule of law and endue our citizens with a healthy respect for the institutions of the Judiciary. To put it bluntly, it is time for the Legal Profession to revisit the issue of justice.

“I must re-iterate that the legal system and by extension, the Legal Profession must see to it that Justice is done. Key to this are the twin virtues of excellence and anticipation.

“We must attain mastery of the challenges that face us, develop the knowledge to tackle those challenges and ensure that the more we gain, the more we desire to achieve.

“I therefore believe that by working together, we can take the necessary steps towards ensuring a world class legal system,” the CJN said.

The NBA President Augustine Alegeh (SAN) commended both the President and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for gracing the occasion.

He assured the President of the support of the Bar in the government’s anti-corruption efforts.

N167b loan for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Continued from page 4

problem or else the project will be stalled.

“At a point, the Jonathan government was confused. In one breadth, it said it had reawarded the contract and in another, it said it had opted for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with willing investors, Infrastructure Bank, Julius Berger Plc and Reynolds Construction.”

When a representative of one of the firms was contacted, he said: “I am driving, I will call you back.”

But the source refused to return the call.

The Federal Government in November 2012 terminated the 25-year concession given to Wale Babalakin’s Bi-

Courtney Consortium for the construction and maintenance of the expressway.

The highway was conceded to Bi-Courtney in 2009 at N89.53 billion for 25 years.

The immediate past Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, said the concession agreement was revoked due to failure of BiCourtney to adhere to the terms.

In June 2013, the Federal Government re-awarded the reconstruction of the Expressway to Julius Berger Plc and RCC. In July 2013, former President Jonathan opened off the reconstruction of the expressway at N167billion with a completion timeline of 48

months.

When The Nation did an investigative report that the Jonathan government was cash strapped on the project, Onolememen embarked on a mass rebuttal.

Section 2.1 of the Nigerian Public-Private Partnerships Manual says there must be a competitive bidding for such a project.

It reads: “The project is usually initiated by a Ministry, Department, and/or Agency (MDA) of the government. In select cases, the project could be initiated by the private sector as an Unsolicited Proposal under a transparent, competitive process, which will also be managed by a MDA. “The first step for the MDA

is to develop a project concept to be approved by the National Planning Commission (for projects of the Federal Government) or other relevant State authorities.

“The project concept will usually be based on a PreFeasibility study or Outline Business Case, and if it is approved, will allow the project to be included in the 15-year Master Plan (or National Implementation Plan for the Federal Government) which sets out the Government’s infrastructure investment strategy covering all forms of procurement, including projects that will be financed in whole or in part from the Federal Budget.”

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NEWS Wike: my govt is open to constructive criticisms

APC: Wike’s allegation on Amaechi’s foreign bank accounts lacks substance

T

HE Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the allegation that former Governor Rotimi Amaechi has foreign bank accounts lacks substance.

It dismissed corruption allegations levelled against Amaechi, a former chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by its Chairman, Davies Ikanya, through his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) Media

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

and Public Affairs, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, APC said the stories on the social media about Amaechi were mere fabrications.

The party noted that the allegations were also intended to ridicule the former governor and poison the mind of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is expected to make Amaechi a key member of his cabinet.

The statement said: “For the avoidance of doubt, Amaechi

has no account with a bank in Minnesota, United States (U.S.), as alleged by these devious rumour mongers. It is also not true that CNN’s Christiane Amanpour accused Amaechi of corruption, as being claimed by his detractors.

“At no time did Amaechi write to Bancorp or any bank in Switzerland, stating that he deposited any funds in error.

These are wicked lies concocted by evil-minded persons, desperate to pull down Amaechi, but who are bound to fail.”

The APC expressed shock

that some saboteurs in the party were being used by Wike’s administration to tarnish Amaechi’s reputation for pecuniary benefits.

It said: “We wish to warn the saboteurs to stop playing Judas and return Wike’s money to him or be prepared to face the consequences with their new-found master, whose wrongful occupation of the Rivers State government House in Port Harcourt will soon be ended by the election petitions tribunal.”

The Rivers APC assured

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

R

•Amaechi

Amaechi of its unflinching support.

It assured that Amaechi would be vindicated at the end of the day.

DPR seals ‘erring’ filling stations in Bayelsa

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HE Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) at the weekend sealed some filling stations in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, for allegedly selling petrol above the regulated N87 per litre pump price.

Some of the affected filling stations were also said to have under-dispensed and obstructed DPR officials.

The department named the erring filling stations as: RSK Oil, GA Oil and Gas,

From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

Mobil and Southsouth Oil and Gas. The agency’s State Operations Controller Bassey Nkanga said the operation was part of government’s measures to ensure that consumers were not shortchanged.

He warned against underdispensing products to consumers, stressing that such

act was cheating the public and selling above the pump price through the back door.

Nkanga told the marketers that defaulters would face punitive measures, including fines, shutting down their filling stations for between six and nine months and permanent sealing off.

According to him, dealers who adulterate and divert petroleum products should desist or prepare to face tough sanctions.

He said: “We are ensuring that fuel is sold at the approved pump price of N87 and this is with immediate effect.

“Any defaulter in any form will be adequately sanctioned. Compliance is with immediate effect because penalties would range from fines, shutting down of stations for up to six and nine months.

“If you divert, we will charge you N200 per litre of

the fuel you diverted. If you under-dispense, you will be sanctioned appropriately.”

The state’s Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) spokesman Ere Peters said the members would comply with the order to revert to the controlled price.

Nkanga said a sanctioned filling station, Timicon Petroleum, would be unsealed after paying its penalty.

I’m in politics to serve, says Peterside

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RIVERS State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the April 11 election, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, has said he is in politics to serve the people.

The APC chieftain said he had been guided in his elected and appointed positions over the years by the objective to serve Nigeria well.

Peterside, a former member

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

of the House of Representatives, spoke yesterday as a guest on O&M Sunday Show on Africa Independent Television (AIT).

A statement in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by his Special Assistant (Media), Sylvester Asoya, said the politician, whose petition is before the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja, expressed optimism that he would be victorious at the tribunal.

Peterside said he was not bothered that Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was occupying the Government House in Port Harcourt.

The APC chieftain said the process about the rightful governor of Rivers State had not been concluded and should not be foreclosed.

The former Commissioner for Works said: “I feel normal and good because the process is still ongoing. There is no conclusion yet; until that happens, we cannot draw answers.

“The process of elections does not end just at that first announcement. We are in court. Until the court processes go full cycle, we cannot wind up the course of fighting for our rights.”

On the campaign of calumny against former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the APC governorship candidate noted that those behind it were working

PDP passes vote of confidence in Emmanuel •Peterside

on a script to damage the exgovernor’s reputation.

Peterside assured that the smear campaigners would fail.

He described Amaechi as a politician who would be remembered for his prudence, inclusiveness, transparency and unrivalled development for many years.

Oyo transport firm trains over 100 drivers

O

OYO State government-owned Pacesetter Transport Services (PTS), operators of Ajumose buses, has trained 100 drivers on best performance and practices of transportation.

Its General Manager Akinyele Akinwole announced this during an enlightenment

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

campaign for drivers at Eleyele, Ibadan, the state capital.

The manager said the company was worried by the increase in road accidents, especially those involving Ajumose buses and other motorists, such as motorcycle riders,

IVERS State Governor Nyesom Wike has said his administration is open to constructive criticisms.

The governor spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, at the Royal House of Grace International Church, during the church’s 23rd anniversary thanksgiving.

Wike said: “When the battle was raging during the campaign period, I came to this church for prayers and anointing and made a vow to this church and to the people of this state that my administration will be anchored on God. “My detractors said there was no money in the state to pay salaries and do projects and would like to know how I would solve the problem. To the glory of God, I have paid the salaries the previous administration could not pay. I have paid the six months’ salary arrears of pensioners. Today, you all can see projects everywhere.”

The governor, who thanked God for making him redeem his pledges to the church, said it was the church’s prayers that helped his administration to fulfil its campaign promises to Rivers State residents.

He recalled telling God that if he belonged to any secret society, he should not win the governorship election, adding that his administration should enjoy peace, if he won.

popularly called Okada.

He explained that the enlightenment was meant to increase the drivers’ skills and enhance their operations on the road.

Akinwole said: “In the last six months or thereabout, two fatal accidents in which either the Okada men or their riders died, and a number of nonfatal accidents with other motorists, have been recorded. It is on record that some of the accidents were remotely caused by the motorcyclists and aggravated by the size of the Ajumose.

“The injection of 100 units of Ajumose high-capacity luxury buses by Governor Abiola Ajimobi has increased the business activities in the state as movement from one place to another has been made easier and cheaper.”

The PTS manager said its management would continue to train its drivers and franchise operators to reduce road crashes among its operators.

He warned Okada riders to always obey traffic rules when approaching Ajumose buses.

T

HE Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has passed a vote of confidence in the Udom Emmanuel administration.

The party’s chieftains from the three senatorial districts, led by State Chairman Paul Ekpo, met at the weekend in Uyo, the state capital.

It hailed Emmanuel “for the bold steps he has taken to position the state on the path of continuous growth, prosperity and development”.

The PDP also congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his success in the March 28 election.

The party pledged its support for the success of the Buhari administration, “in spite of our political differences”.

It congratulated former Governor Godswill Akpabio on his election as the Senate Minority Leader.

The PDP urged him to provide quality leadership in the Senate.

The PDP affirmed that Akwa Ibom State “is, and remains a PDP stronghold yesterday, today and tomorrow as evidenced in the pattern of voting in the 16 years of our democratic dispensation”.

The party noted that the “election of Emmanuel represents the collective will of our people and, therefore, remains sacrosanct and inviolable”.

It pledged its loyalty to the Emmanuel administration and to “stand by him to ensure that he achieves each and every part of his vision as encapsulated in his Five-Point Agenda for the state”.

THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

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THE NATION MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015

SPORT EXTRA

2015 - 16 SEASON

Musa complains over fixture schedule A

• Musa

HMED Musa has admitted that the games are coming thick and fast for CSKA Moscow, who had to rely on the Nigeria international to level the scoreline in their league game against Rostov on Saturday afternoon.

Early in the 2015 - 16 season, the Muscovites are competing on two fronts - the UEFA Champions League and Russian Premier League - and were involved in six games across all competitions in a space of three weeks.

“The game was very hard, but most importantly, three points

Pillars’ fans in tears after defeat

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ANY were in tears at the Sani Abacha Stadium yesterday when Kano Pillars lost 1-2 to visiting Nassarwa United football club.

Supporters of Kano Pillars broke down in tears as Nassarwa United humiliated the home team to break their 12 years unbeaten home record.

There was apprehension among the Pillars fans, when in a spate of two minutes, the visitors in the 14th and 16th minutes

Taiwo to make debut

From Kolade Adeyemi Kano Musa Ubale and Bature Yaro got the goals to silence the home fans.

However, Rabi’u Ali got the consolation goal in the 46th , but this could not redeem Pillars from being disgraced at home.

Nassarawa United coach Kabiru Dogo said: "l dedicated this win to my former boss Mohammed Ganaru, whom I respect alot.”

The Pillars coach was speechless over the defeat by the team he coached before joining Pillars after Okey Emordi was sacked.

in our pocket,” said Musa to pfccska.com.

“I think it’s because we have quite a difficult calendar, we play a lot of games almost without pause. This affects.”

If selected by manager Leonid Slutsky, Musa will play his seventh game in the month of August on Wednesday in the Champions League tie against Sporting Lisbon.

Dolphins grab vital Saviour wins over point in Enugu Oostende president

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OLPHINS grabbed a point in Enugu after their encounter against Rangers International ended 11.

Dolphins went ahead in the ninth minute through Godbless Asamoah.Oghogho Oduokpe got a pass from Isiaka Olawale and tried to shake off Okey Odita then shot from distance.

Rangers’ goalkeeper, Akor Itodo parried the ball onto the path of Asamoah who scored at his second time of asking.

On 22 minutes, Evans Iyoro sped past Festus Austin and was pulled down by the Dolphins captain who received a yellow card.

The resultant free kick was headed home by Iyoro for the equaliser.

Seven minutes later, Ebitimi Agogu found space in the Rangers’ six yard box, but shot the ball at Akor who gratefully punched clear. Agogu was yellow carded a minute later for dissent.

Just before the half time break, Asamoah injured himself in a challenge with Okey Odita and was taken off for Israel Abia.

A minute into the second half, Festus Austin pulled down Rasaq Adegbite and was sent off for a second bookable offence and Ebitimi Agogu was sacrificed, with Cyril Oriaku coming in to shore up the defence.

“Psychologically, we were down, the players got panicky because we have gone three games without a win and when Dolphins went one man down, the players just could not hold the ball and resorted to playing the long balls.

“All these things were part of our problems on the day,” Imama Amapakabor said.

“Before the game I was optimistic we will get a point and we did. We have spoken to ourselves as players and all we can say is that we will not be relegated at the end of the season,” Austin said.

E

X-NIGERIA star, Taye Taiwo could make his debut for new club HJK Helsinki today against HIFK after he agreed a short-term deal with the Finnish club.

Taiwo has not played competitive football for the past 16 months after he terminated his contract by mutual consent with Turkish club Bursaspor.

The former AC Milan and Olympique Marseille defender was not successful in a recent trial at Polish club Legia Warsaw.

His new club HJK are top of the league with 43 points from 22 matches, while HIFK languish in ninth place on 25 points.

• Hopes to meet fellow Nigerian Akpala

N

IGERIA U23 star, Godwin Saviour has won the heart of the millionaire president of KV Oostende Marc Coucke, who described him as “a gentleman and sportsman”.

KV Oostende staged a massive transfer coup when they won the race for Saviour’s signature ahead of bigger Belgian clubs Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Gent.

The majority shareholder of KVO Coucke hosted Saviour and his agent, Bertram Ekenwa, to a special lunch at his castle along with his family.

He praised the agent for the professional manner the transfer transactions came through.

On his personal Twitter handle, the club boss welcomed the Nigeria star, describing him as a gentleman and a sportsman.

And the following day, Coucke sat beside Ekenwa to watch Saviour feature in a

friendly game for the KVO second team.

Coincidentally, Saturday was Saviour’s 19th birthday and he played the entire duration of the game, which the KVO second team lost 4-0 to second division Roeselare.

“I am excited to be here and playing with my teammates was great, though we lost the game.

I am very happy to debut, the people around me at the club, the players, coaches and officials are good. They give me hope and confidence," remarked Saviour after the game.

"I promise to give my best to the team to get to the top."

The youth international said he looks forward to meeting up with fellow Nigerian Joseph Akpala.

"I have never met him, I watched him play. He is my big brother from Nigeria and happy to have him as my team mate," he said.

Salami, Pyagbara are match winners again

S

RESULTS Globacom League Rangers 1-1 Dolphins Warri Wolves 1-0 Wikki Akwa United 2-2 Giwa FC A.Warriors 1-0 Heartland Sunshine 5-0 El-Kanemi Bayelsa United 0-1 Sharks Lobi 1-0 FC IfeanyiUbah Pillars 1-2 Nasarawa United Kwara Utd 1-0 Shooting Enyimba vs FC Taraba (PP) England - Premier League West Brom 2 - 3 Chelsea Everton 0 - 2 Man City Watford 0 - 0 So'ampton Italy - Serie A Juventus 0 - 1 Udinese Spain - Liga BBVA Bilbao 0 - 1 Barcelona Gijon 0 - 0 Real Madrid Germany - Bundesliga Ingolstadt 0 - 4 Dortmund Gladbach 1 - 2 Mainz 05 France - Ligue 1 Lille 0 - 0 Bordeaux Lorient 0 - 1 Saint-Etienne Netherlands - Eredivisie Zwolle 2 - 1 FC Twente ADO 1 - 1 FC Utrecht AZ Alkmaar 0 - 0 Willem II NEC 0 - 2 Ajax Feyenoord 2 - 0 Vitesse

• From left: KV Oostende president Marc Coucke, Saviour’s agent Bertram Ekenwa, Godwin Saviour and others during the signing ceremony

• Man City players celebrate just before the hour mark as their perfect start to the Premier League season appeared to continue on Sunday night

EVERTON 0 - 2 MANCHESTER CITY

Pellegrini hails record-breaking City

M

ANCHESTER City equalled a club record of nine top-flight wins in a row at Everton, but Manuel Pellegrini was just happy with three points.

Manuel Pellegrini said the way his imperious Manchester City side performed at Everton gave him more satisfaction than equalling the club record for consecutive top-flight victories.

Second-half goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri stretched City's winning run to nine Premier League matches - matching a record set way back in September 1912.

City made an early statement of intent by beating champions Chelsea 3-0 last Sunday and seven days on were hugely im-

pressive once again at Goodison Park, where they made it three wins out of three at the start of the Premier League season.

Pellegrini stated that seeing his side perform in such a manner to return to the top of the table was more satisfying than entering the record books.

The City boss told Sky Sports: "I think it was a very professional performance, we were playing against a very difficult team.

"Both in the first and second [half] we were very confident and solid and had more chances to score than Everton. Again we scored more goals and got a clean sheet, we are playing very well.

"We have a good squad and it

is important to have all the players involved. It is also important to understand we are just starting the season, we have only played three games.

"Before the game someone told me that we can equal a club record, but more importantly we are top of the table and the most important thing is to see the team play as well as we are doing.

"I repeat it is only three games and the season finishes in May." Kevin De Bruyne is still being strongly linked with a move to City and Pellegrini is not ruling out doing more business in the transfer window.

"The transfer window finishes on August 31, so we will see what happens," said the Chilean.

UPER Eagles striker, Gbolahan Salami was the match winner for Warri Wolves when they beat Wikki Tourists 1-0 in a Week 25 game of the Nigeria league.

Wolves now have 44 points from 25 games, while Wikki have 41 points.

Salami converted a penalty in the 36th minute after Oghenekaro Etebo was brought down inside the box.

Wolves skipper, Azubuike Egwuekwe, failed to score when his header missed by a whisker in the 43rd minute.

Wikki goalkeeper Emeka Nwabulu then denied Abu Azeez a goal with a good save.

In Oghara, Nigeria youth international Christian Pyagbara was Sharks hero as he scored the

• Pyagbara goal that earned them 1-0 win over hosts Bayelsa United.

Sharks now have 25 points from 24 games, while Bayelsa are on 22 points.

Wasteful 3SC lose in Kwara

S

HOOTING Stars fell 10 to Kwara United in Ilorin on Sunday after they threw away several chances in front of goal including a penalty.

Shooting Stars have 32 points from 24 games, while Kwara have 29 points.

Ismaila Gata scored the only goal of the game in the 14th minute when he tapped in after goalkeeper Danladi Isa spilled a shot.

On the half hour, Ajani Ibrahim failed to score in a one-on-one situation with Kwara goalkeeper Kazeem Yekeen, who pulled off a save.

Five minutes later, Yekeen cleared Yinka Adedeji's free kick.

Two minutes later, Yekeen was on hand to stop 3SC Tope Orelope in another one-onone situation.

A minute after that, it was the turn of 3SC goalkeeper Danladi Isa to make a save off Femi Oladapo's header.

In the 68th minute, Segun Alebiosu's effort crashed against the goal post.

In the 42nd minute, Tope Orelope's penalty after Akeem Onigbari fouled Tayo Fabiyi inside the box was saved by the outstanding Yekeen.

TODAY IN THE NATION

MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

‘The scramble for offices is primarily reinforced by the feeling that one of ours has to be there for us to get what is due to us. Such a system is not only unjust but constantly breeds corruption’

VOL 10 NO 3316

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

I

T’s a pity that Bishop Matthew Kukah was the only cleric who stuck out his neck for Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. It’s also a pity that the only one who does not want to be a hypocrite is on the burner of fiery criticism.

It’s also a pity that corruption, the bane of our history and cultural fabric, was played down by Nigeria’s most intellectual man of God. But these were not the most telling of my experiences last week. I debated GEJ with a prominent writer, and he defended the scum of his era. His case: Nigeria created Jonathan and Nigeria had to live with him. Was Jonathan a corrupt man, I asked? He wallowed into meaningless obfuscation. He would not accept that his administration was bad. Neither would he agree that his government misruled this country. He said he was good for Nigeria.

After that conversation and the gaffe from Kukah, I told myself that no ruler in Nigerian history has corrupted fine minds like Jonathan since the IBB era.

The philosopher David Hume once asserted: “The corruption of the best produces the worst.” He reeled out this line in respect of religion.

In the same week when all sorts of foul charges were pelted at the door of Jonathan’s regime, the ex-president was photographed bouncing off a private jet. He wanted to see animals at a Games Reserve in East Africa with his wife and others who followed him on another private jet. The same week when the Immigration boss was suspended for corrupting the process of employment, the NPA was reported to have spent N160 billion of N162 billion it made last year. The NPA story also tells us that most of their dealings were undervalued, a code word for corruption.

Kukah, a constant motif in Nigerian debates, is a master of the rigmarole. You hardly know where he stands on an issue.

He navigates a warren of narratives, entices you with his folky ability to spin a yarn, props up the pros and cons with almost equal poise, and berths in a never-land. A few times he is caught in a position, he is exposed. He did that when he profiled the ethnic groups in the country. And now this.

He probably needs to read Jesus’ admonition that “let your yea be yea and your nay nay.”

Why Kukah’s case is sad is that I expected all those Christian clerics who did not have enough of Jonathan as a son of God to say something. Did Jonathan not visit all of them? Did they not endorse him? Was it not because of them that his numbers went up in the Southwest? Was he not doling out prophet’s offerings in dollars?

RIPPLES

BUHARI TAKING CREDIT FOR JONATHAN’S ACHIEVEMENTS –PDP

I beg, stop making noise. Your PARTY DIED on MARCH 14 and was BURIED on MAY 29

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

intouchnation@gmail.com 08054501081(sms only) Twitter: @samomatseye

•Winner, Informed Commentary (DAME)

It’s sad, said Sa’ad

‘

•Sultan Abubakar

•Bishop Kukah

Are they not aware of all the revelations now? Is curse not in the house of the thief, according to scriptures?

Why did they leave Kukah alone to say what all of them probably thought? Did they not robe Buhari in Boko Haram clothing?

Was Buhari not the devil? Or have they changed their minds, or are they rethinking them? Many of them who claimed to hear from God, did they hear wrong?

“He that hath my word, let him speak it faithfully,” wrote Prophet Jeremiah. “What is the chaff from the wheat?” Did Jesus not say, “I have not sent them, depart from me, ye that work iniquity?”

Was it a mistake? Why not repent openly?

Prophets can err, but they owe it to their flocks to own up. None of them has gone back to their flock to discuss what happened in the Jonathan era? Was it the veil of Satan, or they said what they did not hear?

Why has any of them not asked the CAN leader Ayo Oritsejafor to speak in the spirit of contrition about the waywardness of their prophesies and injunctions.

Why Kukah’s case is sad is that I expected all those Christian clerics who did not have enough of Jonathan as a son of God to say something. Did Jonathan not visit all of them? Did they not endorse him? Was it not because of them that his numbers went up in the Southwest? Was he not doling out prophet’s offerings in dollars?

’

Kukah’s peace committee, as Tatalo Alamu noted, was not intended to shoo Jonathan out of power. It boomeranged with Buhari victory. They erred by asking Buhari to follow the rule of law. He had not flouted it or shown any sign he was going to. When outrage was bursting out ears about the sums of money allegedly stolen, it was out of sync with the Gospels and human dignity to use rule of law as veneer. Then Kukah showed their true colour when he said Jonathan did a spectacular thing, so we should move on.

The good voice of the week came from the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, when he asked that all thieves should go to jail. That is the sort of thing Jesus would

HARDBALL

H

ARDBALL had always thought of him as whimsical and quirky, but sometimes impressions are far removed from reality. But one found some corroboration recently when the subject of this discourse, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, was granted a fine platform to show the stuff he is truly made of and showcase his activities in the last one year. It was the Distinguished Lecture Series of the School of Media Communications of the Pan-Atlantic University. There couldn’t be a better podium for a powerful pitch.

But the man who governs one of the most significant states in the federation, Anambra, aptly referred to as: Light of the Nation, fluffed the opportunity, to put it plainly. In fact, the stage proved too large for him and by the time he was done, he had become diminished. Or perhaps he simply shrunk to his original size.

Let us consider a few of the fluffy points.

First, the organisers of the lecture in their wisdom and rightly so, tagged it: “Sustaining the Legacy of Growth and Development in Anambra State.” It ought to be apparent to even a dummy that this topic is backgrounded and anchored on the activities of Obiano’s immediate predecessor, Mr. Peter

EMEKA OMEIHE

have said.

History is replete with men of God who associated with rulers of decay. Recently, the era of George W. Bush was marked by clerics who paraded the White House. Eventually his ranking among people fell. The man who had mentioned Jesus as his role model left office as a liar and “murderer.” The same clerics fell into moral filth and disgrace.

Kukah did not lose his way, I think. The fog just cleared and our eyes just opened to his vision of Nigeria. Clerics are good on the pulpit, but we should not be pupils of their conduct. The Bible is replete with men of great revelations who erred in conduct from Abraham to Peter the rock.

“If I had served my God as I have done my king, he would not have given me over in my grey hairs.” Those were the words of Cardinal Wolsey who mortgaged his sacerdotal conscience to King Henry VIII of England. Henry VIII was a monarch for life.

GEJ reigned only for about eight years. So the clerics returned to their duties.

Shakespeare’s rendition of the quote hits the bull’s eye. Since most of the clerics have not ruined their callings. Here is Shakespeare’s rendering in his play Henry VIII: “Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age have left me naked to my enemies.”

The bard of Avon anticipated Kukah who is now being roasted by his enemies. Wolsey did not follow the law. Henry the VIII who wanted to break with the Catholic Church to have a divorce and marry a Boleyn sister, met resistance in Thomas More as Robert Bolt’s dramatised in his play, A Man for All Seasons. Thomas Cromwell was More’s counterpoise as shown in Hilary Mantel’s novel, Bring Up the Bodies. Both books shed light on the critical time in English and world history. It pitted men of God against worldly opportunists and their kings. Robert More alone survives today as a man of conscience.

I enlist this column with the Sultan. Probe and jail. The Jonathan era was a corpulent corpse. It stinks and infects. Ebenezer Babatope, no role model, says Jonathan was pure. Technically maybe. But not morally. If you preside over rottenness, you cannot be free of its stench. But if there was a law against foolishness in leadership, GEJ will go to jail. But he will have to explain to us as a people how all of these happened on his watch. Just as the CAN and its members should explain how their ‘eyes of understanding’ did not see what the lay voter saw of the corpulent corpse of the GEJ era.

Lying is corruption. It’s time for all to be true to themselves. As Shakespeare wrote in Henry VIII: “Corruption wins not more than honesty.”

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Whimsical Willie Obi. Legacy in simple terms suggests a bequeathal, an inheritance. But Obiano, the legatee, spoke in total denial of yesterday.

Instead, he took credit for the model his state is today, putting it down to his foresight. Hear him: “We analysed the Nigerian economy and foresaw that oil prices would crash to about $55 per barrel in less than one year. We foresaw that if oil prices crashed, it would bring down our revenue by 50 per cent. Having figured that out, we began to work on improving our IGR by restructuring our revenue sources.”

One would wager that even the organisers of the lecture must have been thoroughly let down as much as Hardball. If not that the Obi era happened recently, if not that it all happened before our eyes and if not that we happened to be privy to Governor Obi’s outstanding legacy, we may have been fooled.

Gov. Obi, for those who may not know, barely a year ago, handed over to Gov. Obiano, about N75 billion in savings, among

other rich-yielding investments. To achieve this, Obi never borrowed a kobo for eight years of his tenure and no salary arrears either. So there was no debt burden for Obiano to worry about. In the last five years of the Obi era, Anambra candidates topped in most national common entrance examinations; a testimony to Obi’s passion for education development.

The Peter Obi impact is too monumental for anyone not to notice or attempt to deny.

In decidedly abstaining from as much as mentioning Obi in a longish lecture, Obiano has thoroughly diminished himself in the eyes of discerning people. He has presented himself as a man not given to grace and magnanimity.

And to think that he has not managed to initiate an original thought so far in the running of the state; again, to think that Obiano’s predecessor virtually forded the River Niger to ensure his ascendance. Let’s grant that Obiano still has about two years to rewire his heart.

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