Feb 24, 2014

Newspaper of the Year

Akinrinade to President: our unity negotiable

NEWS

Page 8

News

How to fight Boko Haram, by governors

P6

Sports

Chelsea sweats over Mikel’s fitness P24 Business Oil mining licence transferable, says AGF P5

•Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

VOL. 9, NO. 2769 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

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Ige’s son: ministerial nominee Adesiyan has questions to answer on ex-minister’s death

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HEN he appeared before the Senate to be screened for a ministerial job, Abduljelili Oyewole Adesiyan was all tears.

He said he had no hand in the murder of former Attorney-General and Justice

From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

Minister Bola Ige – as he had been widely accused.

Alhaji Adesiyan swore that he had no reason to kill Chief Ige who he said loved him so much.

But the speculation about

his role in the December 23, 2001 murder – Ige was assassinated in his Ibadan, Oyo State capital home – has refused to go away.

The late Ige’s son, Muyiwa, has some questions for Adesiyan •why did he flee his home

with his family the night Ige was killed?

•what was his role in the December 15, 2003 assault on the late Ige, eight days before he was assassinated.

According to the young Continued on page 57

•NIGERIA WINS 2013 BEST EURO BOND AWARD P6 •AJIMOBI ALLEGES VIOLENCE PLAN P7

Jonathan’s main problem, by axed CBN boss Sanusi

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USPENDED Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi yesterday described President Goodluck Jonathan as a simple man trying to do well but undermined by” incompetent and fraudulent aides”.

Sanusi, widely respected by economists in Nigeria and abroad, was suspended by the President last Thursday over alleged financial misconduct. He denied any wrongdoing.

Sanusi accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of failing to account for $20 billion, an allegation that is being probed by the government.

The NNPC denied that any cash is missing.

In an interview with the French news agency (AFP) in Lagos, Sanusi said many of the people advising Jonathan are sycophants who do not speak frankly about the extent of corruption in the government.

“When you sit with President Jonathan himself, he appears a nice, simple person who is trying to do his best,” Sanusi said, adding: “His greatest failing obviously is that he is surrounded by people who are extremely incompetent, who are extremely fraudulent and whom he trusts.”

When Sanusi was removed, just four months before his tenure was set to expire, analysts voiced concern that Jonathan was seeking to sideline an increasingly vocal critic of his administration’s record on corruption.

Sanusi learnt of his suspension while in Niger Republic for a regional meeting. He immediately to •SEE ALSO returned Lagos, where inPAGES 2&3 t e l l i g e n c e

•Sanusi during the interview with the AFP ... yesterday.

Tambuwal, Amaechi, APC, ACF condemn suspension agents from the Directorate of State Services (DSS) seized his passport.

On Friday, he secured a temporary order from the Federal High Court in Lagos barring the DSS agents or police from arresting him.

“I thought taking away my passport was the beginning of infringement on my fundamental human rights,” Sanusi told AFP, explaining why he had already sought court protection.

Regarding the allegations against him, Sanusi said he earlier this year heard of a report condemning his performance and wrote to Jonathan in “June or July” asking if an explanation was needed, but received no reply.

The first time he was formally notified about the allegations was the day he was suspended, he said.

He argued that it would be too simple to describe his removal as Continued on page 57

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PHOTOS: AFP

SOME QUESTIONS •Where is $20b oil money?

•Was NNPC right to have spent a fortune on kerosene subsidy after a presidential directive against it?

•Was Sanusi right to have spent money on Social Responsibility?

•Can the President suspend the CBN Governor?

•If the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) report was ready by March, last year, why is the government just acting on it?

•Was Sanusi called to defend the allegations? If so, what did he say?

•SPORTS P24 •CEO P28 •INSURANCE P29 •MOTORING P37 •POLITICS P52

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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NEWS

•Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi (second left); Commander, NNS Beecroft, Commodore Chris Ezekobe (left); Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Samuel Alade and Secretary to Ekiti State Government, Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi, when the Naval chiefs visited the governor in Ado-Ekiti...at the weekend.

Agenda for The exit of Central Bank (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to analysts, means more work for the incoming CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

They say he should consolidate on his predecessor’s policies, writes COLLINS NWEZE

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•International Director, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, Alan Edwards (second right) being welcomed by Chairman, House of Representativess Committee on Public Accounts, Solomon Olamilekan(second left)when he visited the committee at the National Assembly, Abuja... yesterday. With them are members of the committee, Bayo Adams (right ), Samuel Adejare and Mohammed Bago(left ).

PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE

IX days before his suspension as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi inaugurated the $50 million Biometric Solution project. It is aimed at providing a central database for the country’s bank customers.

The innovation means Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (PoS) machines will be biometricbased. This means the project will help fix identity challenges facing the banking system. The project will be driven by satellite technology being worked on by the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NICOMSAT) and MainOne .

The CBN governor-designate, Godwin Emefiele, who is also Chairman, Bankers’ Committee Sub-Committee on Biometrics, believes the project is ambitious and will revolutionalise banking.

Analysts say it is good Sanusi and Emefiele, who is the Group Managing Director, Zenith Bank, are on the same page as far as this project is concerned. They also believe their thinking should be the same on other reforms carried out by Sanusi.

A Currencies Analyst at the Ecobank Nigeria, Olakunle Ezun, said the incoming governor must consolidate on the successes recorded by his predecessor in both the payment system and banking reforms.

He said: “ The foreign investors will look out for some qualities in the new Governor, especially independence of the CBN.”

Mortgage Refinance Company

•From left: Communications Director, Lagos Atlantic, Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church, Elder Gideon UbaniEbere, President, Pastor Jacob Umoru, President, Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria (western Nigeria Union Conference, Pastor Oyeleke Owolabi , Treasurer , Mrs. Folasade Ogungbesan and Executive Secretary, Lagos Atlantic Conference Pastor Yusuf Imam at a news conference on the Centenary Celebration in Nigeria in Lagos... yesterday.

•Chairman of BiCourtney Group Dr. Olawale Babalakin (right), Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mazi Nnamdi Udoh and Managing Director of Med-View Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole at a dinner organised by BiCourtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) for airline executives at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos...at the weekend.

Emefiele is also expected to sustain Sanusi’s drive for cheap and affordable housing for the population. He had during his tenure, instituted the operating guidelines for the MRC. About N25 trillion is needed to fix Nigeria’s housing deficit in the country. A report on the mortgage industry titled: ‘Retrogressive view on the Mortgage Refinance Company (MRC)’ said Nigeria has an estimated 18 million housing deficits, which grows by two million units annually.

Already, some banks are promoting serious investment in the mortgage industry. An expert in the property market described the real estate market as investors’ haven as the industry holds great potentials for operators.

Speaking on “Growing a diversified group of businesses” at an SME Forum, organised by Fidelity Bank, Chairman/CEO, Genesis Group of Companies, Ichie Nnaeto Orazulike said investors could make quick returns on their investments in the property business.

Agric credit/NIRSAL The Federal Government’s plans to double agriculture’s share of banks’ credit to 10 per cent in two years also means that the new CBN boss will need to consolidate on the successes recorded by his predecessor.

Sanusi moved loans to agriculture as a share of total credit rose N320 billion, or five per cent, at the end of last year

•Emefiele

from less than one per cent in 2011.

Agriculture Minister Akinwunmi Adesina said the Federal Government has made a fundamental shift that agriculture is not a developmental activity, but a business. “The CBN has shifted the mind-set of the banks. It’s a new agriculture sector in which they can actually invest money and make money,” Adesina said. He said the Agriculture Ministry is partnering with the Nigeria Incentive-Based RiskSharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), a unit of the CBN, to provide credit guarantees to enable banks lend to farmers.

CRR: Hard times ahead Equities Analyst at Renaissance Capital (RenCap) Adesoji Solanke said the bigger banks, also called tier-one banks, will this year face some daunting challenges, chief of which are the impacts of higher Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and cuts in commission-onturnover (CoT). The tier-one banks include FirstBank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa and Access Bank.

The analyst, in a report titled: “Nigerian banks: Tier one - growth precariously balanced”, said with an average CRR of 20 per cent, the banking environment does not allow for significant earnings growth, a trend that would be felt by the banks.

Solanke advised that the lenders must be disciplined on the cost line and properly manage their impairment charges before they could deliver earnings growth.

“We think there is a precarious balance between these headwinds and a number of tailwinds, and think it re-

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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NEWS

next CBN chief Emefiele •Dr Jonathan

mains challenging for banks to deliver attractive earnings growth; the risk of another year of flat-to-negative earnings growth cannot be ruled out,” he said.

He said strong loan growth is expected from the banks this year, as well as further upward adjustments to lending rates, as banks try to offset the lost income from the higher CRR.

Naira Vs Reserves The Bankers Committee rose at its 315th meeting in Lagos and agreed that a robust defence of the naira and the foreign reserves should top the economic policy. Both the naira and reserves have been battered in recent months and it is expected that Emefiele focuses on getting them back on track.

The naira exchanges at N155.75 to the dollar . Foreign reserves stand at $41.17 billion.

The Group CEO of First Bank, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, who spoke to reporters after the meeting, said rising capital outflow and dwindling oil revenue are taking a toll on the naira and the reserves. This trend, he said, must be reversed.

He said Quantitative Easing taking place in most advanced economies have raised incentives of investing in those countries, stalling capital inflows into emerging markets like Nigeria.

He said this is adversely affecting the naira and the reserves.

Among the measures being taken, according to Onasanya, is the raise in CRR. He said the target of the CRR hike was to address the exchange rate problem and to defend the naira. The Committee also agreed that the CBN needed to take proactive measures that would lead to improved deposit into

the foreign exchange reserves. ‘Given the dwindling revenues from oil and the impact on foreign reserves, it became apparent that the options open to the CBN and the MPC were reduced and that was why they further agreed to increase CRR to75 per cent. These were measures taken in order to ensure that we continue to address the exchange rate problem in Nigeria,’ he said.

Continuing, he said: ‘There is no country that will just allow its exchange rate to be left and not managed.

The mere fact that those actions have been taken also indicates the fact that the central bank is willing to do everything within its power to ensure that the currency is not devalued. We have seen statistics from the CBN in terms of the continual reduction in the balance of foreign exchange reserves and when you are confronted with that, the only option is to continue to tighten until you see the reverse”.

Onasanya added: ‘The CBN has also made it very clear that there is a limit to which it can continue to defend the naira. But when you have depletion in external reserves and external factors, it simply means you can’t control the outflow from the country. So it is not unlikely that you will see some portfolio investors moving their funds out of Nigeria into where they consider being more attractive,” he said.

With the above picture in mind, analysts see likelihood of further CRR tightening.

A sub-Saharan Africa economist at RenCap, Yvonne Mhango said the Acting Governor Alade will remain committed to price stability. “Given that she is in essence a caretaker governor until June, we do not expect her to make any major policy moves at the next monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on 24 to 25 March. We think the MPC will hike the policy rate by at least one percentage point and the public sector cash reserve requirement (CRR) to 100 per cent, which the banks expect,” she said in an emailed report titled: ‘Sanusi exits, Emefiele is nominated’ obtained by The Nation.

She said such step would help stabilise the market, assuming the exchange rate target band adjustment met the market’s expectation and estimated that leadership change at the CBN will take the foreign exchange reserves down to $35 billion by yearend.

Naira Devaluation Mhango said should Alade fail to devalue the naira before June, Emefiele may be compelled to devalue the midpoint of the exchange rate band to N170 to dollar at his first MPC meeting in July.

“We estimate this will lead to inflation of around 11 to 12 per cent at yearend, which implies rate hikes to help preserve real rates of at least five per cent that make the carry trade attractive. Higher inflation is likely to be negative for consumers, but we expect the effect of this on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to be mitigated by the positive impact of higher liquidity on the back of an increase in elec-

tion-related government spending,” she said.

The analyst insisted that devaluation is negative for the consumer stocks as it implies higher inflation, which companies will find hard to pass on to consumers.

She described Emefiele as a very conservative banker.” Under his stewardship, Zenith Bank has established itself as a leading, well-capitalised and stable bank with a high portion of assets sitting in T-bills and bonds. We believe he is likely to maintain a firm policy environment and would be inclined to tighten policy in the current environment of naira weakness,” she said.

Cash-less policy That the Sanusi era witnessed the most outstanding improvement in the transaformation of the payment system is not in doubt. The CBN under his watch had on January 2012, started the cash-less Lagos Initiative.

The policy is aimed at reducing the dominance of cash in the system. It specifies penal charges for individuals and corporate organisations that want to withdraw or lodge cash above prescribed limits. Under the policy, the CBN pegged the daily cumulative cash withdrawal or deposit limit for individual accounts at N500, 000 per day and N3 million per day for corporate accounts.

At the initial stage of the policy, there were less than 10,000 Points of Sale (PoS) in Lagos, but there are over 150,000 PoS machines in the state alone. CBN Head Shared Services, Chidi Umeano said the policy, which currently running six states plus Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja will be implemented nationwide come July 1, this year.

He said: “A decision was reached today that the cashless initiative would now be deployed nationwide. As you are all aware, the pilot phase was done in Lagos about two years ago and last year we implemented in six other states namely Abia, Anambra, Ogun, Kano, Rivers and Federal Capital Territory,”.

Continuing, he said from the success recorded in those states, the CBN decided to move to other states in the country.

“By July 1, we are going live in all the states of the federation. As you well know, this is a critical part of the payment system modernisation and the success registered so far has been very impressive,” he said.

Finance Houses reforms Operators believe Emefiele should speed up the ongoing reforms in the Finance Houses subsector. Finance Houses operators earlier rejected N200 million minimum capital base being proposed by the CBN for the subsector.

An insider in the Finance Houses Association of Nigeria (FHAN) who spoke anonymously said the operators are bent on getting the minimum capital base raised to N100 million instead of the N200 million. The source said the subsector expects the incoming CBN boss to conclude the ongoing reforms to allow investors pump money into the sector to revatilise it. The source said both local and foreign investors are willing to recapitalise and invest in some of the ailing finance houses but have to await the CBN to specify the guideline. The reform is expected to look at regulatory framework that will govern finance lease practice; institutionalise a funding pool to stimulate lending activities; structured programme to address the reputation and poor visibility challenges of the sub-sector among other issues.

Bank Directors’ voice Some of these policies have been out rightly opposed by banks and stake-

holders. The Bank Directors of Nigeria (BDAN) strongly feels Emefiele should not continue with the CRR tightening policy. It expressed concern at the decision of the CBN to raise the CRR on public sector deposit from 50 to 75 per cent. The CRR is a portion of banks’ deposits kept with the CBN. BDAN President, O’lorogun Sunny Kuku said the group observed that raising the ratio by 25 per cent within six months after it was jerked from 12 to 50 per cent would adversely affect the banking sub-sector and the economy. He said the increase would weaken the ability of banks to lend to economic agents and slow down the improved growth rate the country has enjoyed in the past few years.

The BDAN boss noted that as the economy slows down, the poverty rate and incidents of social upheavals, which have constituted serious hindrance to national development, worsen.

“Since banks do not have much liquidity to lend, they will increase interest rates. Two consequences could naturally evolve from this. The first possibility is that many people will shun bank loans because they cannot afford it, while those who bear the excessive cost of funds will pass it to consumers of their products and services.

These will reduce the productive capacity of the economy in favour of short term high margin trading, which is not in the interest of the country,” it he said.

The BDAN also lamented that the policy will reduce returns on capital investment in banks adding that the weak lending would translate to lower incomes, noting that some banks could consider staff downsizing to mitigate the impacts.

“Unfortunately, the squeezing comes when the economy is crying for interventionist programmes that could make funds available for the real sector. With the mop up, the already credit-dried economy faces harsher funding environment,” he said.

But former Executive Director, Key-

stone Bank Richard Obire said the new CBN boss needed to take steps that ensure that lenders are not exposed to cheap public sector funds. He said there is no need allowing banks to source cheap funds from government, only to turn round and lend same funds to government at exorbitant rates. “I am in support of the CBN policy on CRR. I want the new CBN boss to continue in that direction,” he said in an interview at the weekend.

Assurances from govt The Acting CBN Governor, Dr. Sarah Alade, assured stakeholders that the recent changes in the bank’s leadership will not affect monetary policies. Alade assured that the bank would continue to intervene in the interbank foreign exchange market to ensure stability of exchange rate of naira and preserve the value of the domestic currency.

“I wish to use this opportunity to reassure all our stakeholders, including the international community, that the recent changes at the CBN will not in any way affect the country’s monetary policy direction. It will not also affect the pursuit of the bank’s primary mandate of maintaining price and financial system stability,’’ she told reporters in Abuja, at the weekend.

Alade said the Nigerian economy had remained strong, sound and resilient over time, adding that available statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics indicated that inflation rate was eight per cent in January.

Also, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, assured that the Federal Government would remain resolute in the management of the nation’s economy in spite of Sanusi’s suspension.

She said the pursuit of macro-economic stability, which has become the hallmark of the Goodluck Jonathan administration would continue. She expressed optimism that the tight monetary policy at the CBN would be sustained.

African American History Month

C

Carol Moseley-Braun

AROL Moseley-Braun was elected to Senate in 1992. Her win made her the first AfricanAmerican woman elected to the United States Senate, the first AfricanAmerican senator to be elected as a Democrat, and the first woman elected to the Senate from Illinois.

Born in 1947, Moseley-Braun grew up on Chicago’s Southside in a perilous neighborhood called “Bucket of Blood.” She lived with her grandmother after her parents divorced, and at age 16, conducted a one-person sit-in at a restaurant that would not serve her. In the next decade, she marched with Martin Luther King in an all-white neighborhood to protest segregation. These events, along with the Mississippi lynching of Chicago teenager Emmitt Till, shaped her activism.

A hard working student, she graduated from the University of Illinois in 1969 and earned a law degree from the University of Chicago in 1972. After brief private practice, she joined the Chicago offices of the Justice Department, where she won the Attorney General’s Special Achievement Award in 1975. Three years later, after being recruited by neighbors, she was elected to the Illinois House. A Democrat, she focused on public education, welfare reform, and gun control. She rose to become Assistant Majority Leader, and when she retired in 1987, her peers named her “Conscience of the House.”

Moseley-Braun went on to win election as Recorder of Deeds — a posi-

tion that seems merely clerical, but holds power in Illinois governance.

She served there until her run for the U.S. Senate.

In 1991, Illinois’ Democratic Senator Alan Dixon voted to confirm Clarence Thomas (who was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill) as a justice of the US Supreme Court.

Angered by his vote, Moseley-Braun challenged Dixon in the primary, and other Democrats helped her defeat him. Illinois often votes Republican, however, and the general election also was a challenge. Women all over America sent donations to help her defeat the Republican nominee, and she won 53% of the vote. The “Year of the Women” had mixed results elsewhere, but Carol Moseley-Braun was its best exemplar. She was the only African American in the U.S. Senate. She was the first woman to serve on the Senate Finance Committee and the equally powerful Judiciary Committee. Her legislative initiatives included an innovative Education Infrastructure Act, the Women’s Pension Equity Act, and historic preservation for the Civil War’s “Underground Railroad” sites. She lost her 1998 re-election bid to a Republican man by about the same margin that she had won in 1992.President Bill Clinton soon named her ambassador to New Zealand, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Antarctica. http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/carol-moseley-braun/

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

NEWS

Sanusi’s suspension diversionary, says APC PDP backs backs action

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•Mohammed

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OLITICAL parties have joined the controversy sparked by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s suspension.

The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) described Sanusi’s suspension as illegal, accusing the Presidency of seeking to use it to divert attention from the allegation of missing $20 billion in oil funds.

But the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned what it called attempts to politicise the suspension.

In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the way the Presidency has been campaigning to malign Sanusi, using the report of the “obscure” Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, shows that it is working hard to sweep the issue of the missing funds under the carpet and punish Sanusi for daring to expose the fraud.

HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned what it calls attempts by certain individuals and groups to politicise Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s suspension.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement yesterday, said the issues leading to Sanusi’s suspension strictly bordered on the management of the nation’s economy and urged Nigerians to disregard those attempting to politicise or introduce sentiments into the matter.

Supporting the suspension, the party said it has “implicit confidence in President Goodluck Jonathan and his efforts to ensure the stability and growth of the economy”, adding that the decision was in the best interest of the nation.

The party also dismissed insinuations that the The party said if the government had used half the energy it has been deploying to discredit Sanusi toward the investigation of the missing oil funds, the “monumental corruption” case would have been solved by now.

“Irrespective of the tepid and unconvincing denial by the Presidency, it is clear that the main reason the Presidency moved against Sanusi is because he blew the lid on the $20 billion funds which the NNPC allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account.

“Fortunately, discerning Nigerians are not hoodwinked by the Presidency’s choreographed mudslinging against a whistle blower and the sponsored campaign that amounts to shooting the messenger just because his message is not palatable.

“While the Presidency has chosen to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians over the missing oil funds, we call on the National Assembly to get to the bottom of Sanusi’s allegation

suspension was aimed at silencing a whistle blower and promoting corruption. It said after thorough analysis of the issues surrounding the suspension, “it was clear that the decision was in tandem with the commitment of the Federal Government to safeguard the CBN and the entire financial sector from abuses”.

The PDP said the findings of the Financial Reporting Council revealed series of administrative recklessness in the CBN, which are “very weighty and cannot be swept under the carpet of politics and sentiments”.

Debunking suggestions that the suspension will negatively affect the economy, the PDP observed that instead, it has restored confidence in the financial sector and in the government’s ability to check abuses harmful to the system.

and save Nigerians from a rapacious and a rampaging cabal that is hell bent on bringing Nigeria to its knees through runaway corruption,” the APC said.

The party said the questions that are begging for answers include: What happened to the missing $20 billion? If indeed a part of the funds has been used for kerosene subsidy, who authorised the spending of money that was not appropriated, in violation of the nation’s constitution? Who reinstated the subsidy that had been removed by a presidential directive? If $8.76 billion of the missing money was used for kerosene subsidy, who and who are the beneficiaries, since it is clear that Nigerians are not enjoying any subsidy on kerosene for which they are shelling out at least N150 per litre?

It re-stated its earlier stand that Sanusi’s suspension is unlawful and that it is another dangerous turn in the Jonathan administration’s journey of impunity, lawlessness and double

standard.

APC said the drop in the value of the Naira and the fact that the banking sector and other stocks spiralled into the negative, in the aftermath of the “ego-driven and illegal” suspension of Sanusi, have shown the dangers inherent in politicising an office that should be insulated from political pressure.

“There are just short-term repercussions. The long-term fallout may be the scaring off of foreign investors by the perception of instability in the financial sector and the erosion of the CBN’s autonomy. If and when that happens, a President who has so far failed to uplift his nation’s economy would have succeeded in sabotaging it,” the party said.

On the allegations against Sanusi, it said the government should charge him to court, if indeed it is convinced of the veracity of the allegations, instead of convicting him on the pages of newspapers and mob-lynching him through paid hatchet men.

Sanusi’s suspension bad omen to investors, says Tambuwal

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OUSE of Representatives Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal spoke yesterday on Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s suspension, saying it would send “wrong signal to investors”.

Tambuwal spoke yesterday at former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s mansion at Olusegun Osoba Hill - Top, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. He arrived at the mansion at 10: 35am in a convoy of four vehicles.

With the Speaker were: Deputy Minority Leader Kawu Sumaila(Kano) and House members Ajibola Muraina (Osun) and Aminu Shagari (Sokoto) About 37 minutes earlier, the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Ado

A

•Speaker, Kwankwaso visit Obasanjo From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

Ibrahim, Kogi State, had also arrived the former President’s home by 9:58am in a convoy of three Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs). He left before Tambuwal’s convoy entered.

Also yesterday, Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso visited the former president.

Kwankwaso was on his way from Lagos to Ibadan for today’s Progressives Governors’ Forum event, stopped over in Abeokuta where he held a short meeting with Obasanjo. Details were not released.

When the Speaker emerged at 11:45am after an hour - long meeting, he fielded questions

from reporters waiting for him within Obasanjo’s expansive compound.

Tambuwal said the suspension

by President Goodluck Jonathan portends grave danger to the economy as it could erode investors’ “confidence” in the financial sector.

Tambuwal said: “Well, whether (Sanusi’s suspension) it’s lawful, legal or illegal, the personality involved has told everybody that he is going to court and I believe that he is already in court on that suspension.

“On the implications on the economy, I’m not an economist, but I personally feel that will definitely send wrong signals to investors because, you need to have confidence in financial institution,

ACF, Amaechi fault suspension

REWA Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday faulted the suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor.

It accused President Goodluck Jonathan of ignoring due process in taking the action.

Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi also said Dr. jonathan acted with impunity by his action.

Amaechi, who spoke yesterday at Christ Church, Port Harcourt, during a service organised for the induction of the Resident Minister and reception of the Assistant Resident Ministers, said: “You can imagine how President Jonathan announced the sudden removal (suspension) of the CBN Governor. He does not have such powers. He

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt, Tony Akowe, Kaduna

knows that nothing will happen. That was why he took that action.

“While we are talking about the problem and the ways to end religious wars in the country, others are busy stealing our money. Maybe they are using it to divert our attention. The issue of the missing $49.8 billion from the federation account is still there.

If you convert that money to naira, you will get N80 trillion and that money can solve the problem of this country for the next few years.

“The federal government said they used the money for this and that, but the constitution says nobody can tamper with that money. The money must first be paid into

the federation account. So that Rivers State or Imo State can have its share, but the Federal Government has gone upfront to collect this money, without actually following the due process as stipulated by law.”

“So, the preachers should begin to preach what we call the Liberation Theology. You (church leaders) are supposed to have more responsibilities to hold government accountable.”

The NGF chairman also admonished members of the Christ Church, Port Harcourt to accord more trust, confidence and encouragement to the newly-inducted resident minister, Rev. Kaleb Kay Uche, and the assistant resident ministers, Rev. Canon Continued on page 57

particularly the independence of the financial institution of a country, before investors will consider such a country worthy of their investments. So, I have my concern about that.”

The Speaker also dispelled the speculation that he was scheming to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for another party, particularly the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying he is still in PDP. He said: “I am just visiting our national leader of PDP. Myself and Baba are in PDP. Baba Obasanjo is a leader, not only in Nigeria, but in Africa and it is only appropriate for us in positions of authority and leadership to occasionally come and consult Baba on matters of national interest and that is what we are here for today.

“There are lots of issues in Nigeria today. Of course, there is the issue on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that we are considering in the House; we are doing constitution amendment in the House and a host of other very key and important legislations before the parliament.

“So, we needed to consult our leaders on such very important and vital legislations before we conclude what we are doing on them and Electoral Act is likely to be amended. So, from his wealth of experience, we needed some input from Baba.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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NEWS ‘Military option can’t stop Boko Haram insurgency’

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• Balci (left); Regional Manager, Africa, Ebru Television, Africa, Cemal Yigit; News Editor, The Guardian Newspaper, Nnamdi Inyama & Principal, Nigeria Turkish International School, Iseri-Olofin, Ogun State, Fatih Keskim at the conference...at the weekend.

PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID

AGF: Oil mining licence transferable

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HE Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) can transfer its interest in Oil Mining Leases to its subsidiary.

He also said a holder of an Oil Mining Lease (OML) or Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) can assign its interest, provided the consent of the Minister of Petroleum Resources is obtained.

He said when Total, Agip and Shell decided to sell off their entire 45 per cent participating interests in some OMLs in the Shell/NNPC JV arrangement (with Shell as the operator of the OMLs) to some indigenous oil companies, NNPC exercised its right to become an operator in the OMLs. Adoke has written the Minister of Petroleum Resources to determine whether due process was followed

by NNPC/ NPDC in engaging the Strategic Partners Adoke made the clarifications in a letter to the Senate Committee on Finance probing the alleged unremitted $49.8billion oil revenue and status of $6billion paid to NPDC by NNPC instead of the Federation Account.

The minister’s report is against the backdrop of issues surrounding the engagement of some indigenous oil firms (as Strategic Partners) in OMLs 30, 34, 26, and 42.

The strategic partners were engaged following the disposal of 45 per cent participating interests in the affected OMLs by Total, Agip and Shell The letter reads: “I am of the considered view that the NNPC can legitimately transfer its participating interest in the Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) to its wholly owned subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) as no law,

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From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

to the best of my knowledge and information, precludes such a transfer.

“It is instructive to note that by virtue of paragraphs 14-16 of the First Schedule to the Petroleum Act, CAP. P.10 LFN 2004(NNPC Act) and Regulation 4 of the Petroleum (Drilling and Productions) Regulations 1969 as amended, a holder of an Oil Mining Lease(OML) or Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) can assign its interest, provided the consent of the Minister of Petroleum Resources is obtained.

“Furthermore, Section 6(1) (c) of the NNPC Act empowers the NNPC to establish and maintain subsidiaries for the discharge of its functions. The NPDC was thus incorporated as a limited liability upstream subsidiary company of NNPC to carry out its upstream operations as envisaged by the law.

It is pertinent to note that the transfer of the participating interests in the OMLS in question, relates to a joint venture arrangement between NNPC on the one hand and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited(Agip) and Total E& P(Nigeria) Limited(formerly Elf Petroleum (Nigeria) Limited), Total on the other.

“This relationship is governed by a Joint Operating Agreement (Shell/NNPC JOA) and Article 19.2 of the Shell/ NNPC JOA empowers any party to the agreement to transfer all or part of the participating to its affiliate at any time, upon notice to other parties and subject to any necessary government consent. I have been made to understand that all the requisite consents were obtained.

“It is apposite to note that in all the JV agreements, the

NNPC has been a non-operator. However, Article 2.6.1 of the JOA provides that in the event that the operator resigns, a successor operator shall be appointed among the non-operators except they agree to appoint a third party as the operator.

“It further provides that in the event that one of the non-operators is to become the successor operator, it shall be entitled to nominate one of its affiliates as the operator.

“I have been made to understand that at different times between 2010 and 2011, when Total, Agip and Shell decided to sell off their entire 45 per cent participating interests in some OMLs in the Shell/NNPC JV arrangement (with Shell as the operator of the OMLs) to some indigenous oil companies, NNPC exercised its right to become an operator in the OMLs. “Since NNPC was the only remaining non-operator and pursuant to the provision of Article 2.6.1 of the JOA, it transferred the operatorship of the OMLs to NPDC, its upstream petroleum subsidiary company. It follows therefore that the transfer was within NNPC’s authority.

On whether due process was followed by NPDC in engaging Strategic Partners, the AGF said: “This issue relates to the factual circumstances and internal workings of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), NNPC and NPDC. “To enable me respond to the issue in question, I have written to the Hon. Minister of Petroleum Resources to request for relevant information. I am yet to be availed the relevant information and therefore plead with the committee to suspend consideration of this issue pending when the information is received.”

Why we shelved strike, by IPMAN

HE Ogun State chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said it shelved its planned strike because the Federal Government acted on its request.

The union threatened to go on strike over the dilapidated Sagamu-Mosinmi-Ikorodu Road.

Speaking with reporters at Mosinmi deport, the state chairman of the union, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, said the Federal Government reacted to the demands of the union immediately it heard about the condition

From Jeremiah Oke, Abeokuta

of the road.

He assured the Federal Government that the union would ensure quality service delivery.

Tajudeen said: “In January 15, we protested our displeasure on the deplorable condition of Sagamu-Mosinmi road which had claimed many lives and billions of naira from our members. Our demand yielded a lot of results because the federal government has begun work on the road and not only that, the quality of job going on here is superb.”

ILITARY approach cannot curb Boko Haram attacks, the Editor-in-Chief of Turkish Review, Mr Kerim Balci, has said.

He urged the Federal Government to stop the use of violence to curtail the escalating violence, adding that the military option would only breed more terrorists.

Balci spoke at an interactive session with reporters in Lagos. In his presentation titled , “Current Developments in Turkey and Middle East: Implication for Sub-Saharan Africa,” at the weekend, he explained how Turkish government reduced terrorism to a bearable minimum, adding that the military option has never helped to reduce terrorism but rather helpedto fuel insurgence.

“I don’t know what can be done to stop Boko Haram, but I know what must not be done.

Military forces cannot win insurgencies. I will advise the government of Nigeria not to go to Boko Haram with violence. Violence has never solved any insurgency or terrorism. The military option will not end terrorism in Nigeria. You kill one terrorist; there will be two others more.

Fighting terrorism needs holistic approach. No study has clearly linked poverty with terrorism or unemployment with terrorism,” Balci said.

Drawing from his deep understanding of peace and security issues in the Middle East and what all this portends for Sub-Saharan Africa, the editorin-chief, who works with one of the most successful print

By Adekunle Yusuf and Adedeji Ademigbuji

media in Turkey, revealed that if the violence approach continues, sponsors and leadership of terrorist organisations would continue to provide leaning to new recruits on the basis of selective teaching of the Quran.

He said while the killings and executions of terrorists continue, terrorists would continue to portray the world and countries as nations of infidels who do not deserve to live and anyone who kills them will have a good reward from God. Balci said: “In the Nigerian case, they can say because you are not ruling with laws of Islam, so kill anyone who has subjected himself to the laws.

They promote this ignorance about Quran to the uneducated, the unemployed and the poor people. The reading of the Holy Quran is selective among them. They only read two verses. One, kill the infidels where you find them, even if it’s in Khaba. Secondly, they say whoever rules with laws other than the laws of God are infidels.

“So, for the fact that Nigerian government is not ruling with their laws, the country is believed to be country of the infidels, hence, the continued resurgence.”

Balci advised the government to invest in education in insurgency-prone areas in order to their recruits who do not have education, and who are not employed.

“I’m not saying education will totally solve the whole problem but it will prevent the

terrorists from getting more people to recruit from the streets,” he affirmed. The erudite journalist noted further that though he understands that the Federal Government is investing in education in the North but he condemned the part-time education schedule being adopted.

According to him, when people are on part-time education, especially the Islamic school mode, they would have more free time on streets where terrorists can easily recruit them.

“The part-time schooling option cannot help. In a situation where people go to school in the morning and close early, they will have more time roaming the streets where terrorists can recruit them. However, in addition to having part-time, government can also include vocational training after school to keep people busy, to make them see life from another dimension. These are things that helped Turkey reduce terrorism” he said.

Balci also advised the government to engage civil society groups to speak up on terrorism issues in the Middle East and join the global debate at international summits, form relationship with countries where terrorists get sponsors and forget the propositions that Nigeria’s heterogeneous culture is the reason why there is terrorism. According to him, the country’s multi-ethnic diversity should be the country’s source of strength, urging the government to change a violence tactic approach to fight Boko Haram.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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NEWS

Boko Haram: North’s governors seek Presidential media chat holds today P implementation of suggestions

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O end Boko Haram insurgency and ethnic killings, North’s governors yesterday advised the Federal Government to implement their recommendations.

The governors, under the aegis of Northern Governors Forum, were livid over the continuous killings in Plateau State.

On Saturday, 29 people were killed in Barkin Ladi local government area of the state by suspected herdsmen.

A major shake up of troops is expected in the military this week in a new approach to the Boko Haram battle.

North’s Governors’ Forum Chairman Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu said: “We (Northern Governors) agreed in our last meeting in Kaduna to deal decisively with the fast growing security challenges being posed by the activities of cattle rearers, we call on the Federal Government to consider a national policy to settle nomads and provide adequate grazing reserves and cattle routes.”

Muazu, who is also Niger State Governor added: boost the morale of the military to enable them effectively fight the insurgents and other threats to security in the region, “adequate funds should be provided to Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states afflicted with the problem of insurgency in order to address attendant issues.”

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima was yesterday in Bama where the in-

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From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation and Jide Orintunsin, Minna

surgents killed people last Monday to commiserate wit the bereaved families.

The Governor announced a donation of N250,000 to each of the families that lost loved ones.

There were strong indications yesterday that the Service Chiefs have decided to reorganise military commands and redeploy a few troops in Borno State.

The shake-up may involve the swapping of General Officers Commanding (GOCs), officers and reposting of senior officers to the state.

Also, the military high command has opted to freeze movement in all borders between Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon.

It was gathered that it was learnt that some members of Boko Haram, who were involved in Bama invasion last week, had been arrested and undergoing interrogation.

It was gathered that the overhauling of the military structures in Borno State was one of the conclusions arrived at by Service Chiefs after on-the-spot assessment of the situation on Wednesday and Thursday.

It was gathered that the preliminary investigation by the Service Chiefs confirmed the need to “invigorate the military mission in Borno.”

A source said: “You should expect a shake-up of the military mission in Borno State; we are going to bring in

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The shake-up may involve the swapping of General Officers Commanding (GOCs), officers and reposting of senior officers to the state

,

fresh hands to realize our operation total war against the insurgents.

“By the assessment of the Service Chiefs, there are some people who can do better in Borno; they will be redeployed to the place. It was obvious to the Service Chiefs to invigorate the mission in Borno State.

“The reorganisation will involve swapping of positions by GOCs and top military officers. The commanders might be mostly affected with a few adjustments of troops too.

“The shake-up will be announced early in the week because the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, has insisted on measurable results.”

Another source said: “Yes, some suicide bombers were involved in Bama raid but they died. Some of them tried to blow up military tanks but they failed.

“They succeeded in incapacitating some tanks but they have been fixed and the tanks have resumed normal

operations.”

The source added: “We were able to arrest some operatives of Boko Haram but not anyone that can be placed as very, very prominent.

“But many vehicles in the convoy of the insurgents were destroyed during air raid. It is difficult to ascertain casualty figures on the part of the insurgents because they were always do everything to evacuate their bodies.

“As I am talking to you, the patrols are on in Bama; we are still cordoning the environment.”

A military source said: “We have chosen to restrain movement. I can actually say that we have frozen movement in all the borders between the two countries because the insurgents used to take advantage of such to enter Nigeria.

“There is no clear cut border demarcation per se but we have enlarged the scope of patrols and we have frozen movement in spite of the fact that it will affect commerce and trade.

“The latest joint patrols also involve officers and men of the Nigerian Customs Service and Nigerian Immigration Service.”

Contacted, the spokesman for the Defence Headquarters, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, confirmed tight security along NigeriaCameroon border.

He said: “The security action in the area will be progressive to fortify the protection of our territory and forbid any threat to our territorial integrity.”

Court dismisses N7b suit against Mobil

FEDERAL High Court in Rivers State has struck out a N7billion suit filed against Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) by Alabo Tolofari and others.

The claimants sued the

By Precious Igbonwelundu

firm, seeking compensation for pipeline leakages and spills from Mobil’s oil pipelines, which allegedly polluted and devastated the plaintiffs’ land.

But in a preliminary objection by Mobil’s counsel, Dr. Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), the firm prayed the court to strike out the suit for incompetence.

Ajogwu argued that the plaintiffs’ action was not in compliance with the provi-

sions of the Rules of Court and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

Justice Lambo Akanbi agreed with Mobil’s arguments and struck out the suit for incompetence and lack of jurisdiction.

•Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi (right) welcoming his Kano State counterpart Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso to the 1435AH/2014 Mawlid An Nabiyy celebration at the Remembrance Arcade, Government House, Agodi, Ibadan...yesterday.

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will today respond to questions by Nigerians.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the new edition of the Presidential Media Chat would be broadcast live on the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Voice of Nigeria (VON) at

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

7pm.

The statement reads: “During the programme, President Jonathan will, as usual, respond to questions from a panel of journalists and media executives on current national issues and developments.

“Other radio and television stations are urged to hook up to NTA and FRCN to relay the programme to their listeners and viewers.”

Falana seeks review of LASU fees

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AGOS lawyer Femi Falana yesterday asked Governor Babatunde Fashola to review the tuition fees of the Lagos State University, saying majority of the students are from poor homes.

In a statement, Falana said: “On January 23, 2014, the generality of the students of the Lagos State University embarked on public rallies to protest the skyrocketing tuition fees and the inability to access the registration portal for the second semester examination. Owing to the violence that accompanied the protests the university was shut down sine die.

“However, the LASU management and the Lagos State government have directed that the university be reopened on Monday, February 24, 2014 for the resumption of normal academic activities.

Unlike the past when students were compelled to pay reparation for damaged property, the Visitor to the University, Governor Babatunde Fashola SAN has approved the sum of N51 million for the repairs of the public property and facilities damaged during the crisis.

“While the Governor’s gesture is commendable, the Lagos State government ought to review the hike in tuition fees paid by the undergraduates having regard to the fact that the majority of them are

from poor homes whose parents and guardians have been economically disabled by the kalokalo economic system operated by the ruling class in Nigeria.

“A situation whereby civil servants in the employment of the Lagos State government cannot sponsor their children and wards from their hard earned salaries calls for a downward review of the tuition fees charged by the LASU. More so, that the fees expected to be paid by the students are insufficient for the running of the university which is substantially funded by the government. Apart from feeding themselves the students are made to pay exorbitant rents by landlords since the university has no accommodation for them.

“In view of Article 17 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act (CAP A10) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 which provides that “every individual shall have the right to education” we call on the Lagos State government to ensure that the education of the students of LASU is not truncated on account of indigency.

“Therefore, the demand for the review of the tuition fees cannot be faulted in the light of the phenomenal increase in the internally generated revenue by the Lagos state Government”.

Nigeria wins 2013 best euro bond award

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IGERIA has won the 2013 Emerging Market Europe and Africa best sovereign bond award, by City Bank group, for the success recorded with the $1 billion Eurobond last July.

The Euro-billion bond was oversubscribed four times by investors. It was obtained at very favourable coupon rates compared to what other countries got, making good savings for the country.

Speaking at the award presentation in Abuja at the weekend, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, described the award as the handiwork and due diligence of the workers of the Debt Management Office (DMO), whom she said packaged the bond.

Said she: “This comes at a unique time. Just yesterday we were trying to calm market stability in view of the changes, which happened at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This is coming at a unique moment. We often do not celebrate our success. We didn’t plan this. They just called last week and said they wanted to come today with a surprise. The surprise is that we are given the sovereign bond award, the best sovereign bond in 2013 for Africa”.

The Director-General of DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwank-

By Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor)

wo, said the award reinforced the interest of the international community in the Nigerian economy.

He said: “This has shown the international investing community -local and foreign that Nigeria is moving in the right direction and in the process, we have won a prize. The country won the prize for doing it most effectively and efficiently. The award shows that everything we have done at DMO has been powered by Nigerians, led by President Goodluck Jonathan and his team, whose transformation agenda is inspiring us to contribute as much as we can.”

Nwankwo said the Federal Government made a debut entry into the international capital market in January 2011 through the issuance of a $500 million 10-year Eurobond.

He said the success of the initial effort as demonstrated in the number of Nigerian firms, who accessed the market, confirmed the appropriateness of the country’s debt management strategy.

The Chief Executive Officer, (Europe, Middle East and Africa) of City Bank group, Jim Cowles, presented the award to Dr. Okonjo-Iweala.

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

NEWS

We’ll uproot PDP in 2015, say APC leaders

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LL Progressives Congress (APC) leaders have said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be shocked by its “mass rejection by Nigerians” in the 2015 elections.

Speaking in Lagos at the weekend, the party leaders said the PDP’s “imminent defeat” in the Ekiti and Osun governorship polls in June and August would be a foretaste of what awaits the PDP in the 2015 elections.

The APC leaders spoke at a reception rally organised by The Mandate Movement (TMM) in honour of Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who got the Daily Independent’s Man of the Year, 2013 Award, at the weekend.

TMM was founded by the APC’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and is led by the APC’s National Legal Adviser, Dr. Muiz Banire.

Aregbesola said: “With the abysmal performance of PDP governments and the result of our party’s membership registration, it is certain that we will shock and uproot the PDP from all tiers of government in 2015.”

The governor, who is a

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Ekiti: ‘Statistics prove our popularity’

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has described the opposition’s boast that it will unseat the APC in the June 21 governorship election as “a fairy tale.”

In a statement by its Publicity Director, Segun Dipe, APC said: “There are only two political groups in Ekiti State today.

The first is the APC and the other is the Association of Confused Politicians.

“The boast by the opposition to dislodge the Dr. Kayode Fayemi administration in the coming election is a fairy tale. It is grossly unsupported by available statistics. Such high hopes by opposition parties to win the election, despite their noticeable shortcoming, is comparable with that of a patently lazy student, who never reads but is always announcing that he would make distinctions in his papers. This is what is referred to as dead on arrival.

“When the campaigns begin, those in the opposition will be boasting of what they will do, while the APC will be pointing at what Fayemi has done. He has built roads and empowered people. The social welfare package is there and he has developed tourism. He has created several opportunities for men and women. Women are particularly more enhanced. The aged are happy; the youths are happy; the working class is happy and everybody is praising Fayemi for his good work.

Christian and Muslim clerics have made his performance the subject of their sermons.

“Those in the opposition are disorganised and disoriented.

They are busy searching for the right candidate among the many jostlers, while we have the most marketable candidate in the incumbent governor.

“They are seeking power and support from strange gods in Abuja and elsewhere, while we look up to God and the people to re-enact our winning ways. They trust in horses and chariots while we trust in God and the people. They are beating the drums of war while we are beating that of peace.”

On its membership registration, the party said: “Within the first few days of the exercise, about 300,000 people registered and we are still counting. These are people with faces and home addresses. This figure is exclusive of the apolitical and the statute-barred, such as civil servants. It is dominated by the aged and artisans, who value the good work of Dr. Fayemi.

Pitting this figure against the total voting population, one could see that APC members are in the overwhelming majority and they will make their votes count for the party.

“Outsiders should keep their distance from the Ekiti election and allow the people to elect the person they love. Anything contrary may return the people to the dark days of seven years, seven governors.

“Ekiti people are conscious of their past in the hands of ignoble politicians and will not want to return to their Egypt, having experienced life in the Promised Land. They have showed their love for the party of their choice by registering as members. They have felt the weight of water and that of oil and they now know which is heavier.”

founding leader of TMM, thanked members from the 57 local councils of Lagos State, who were gathered at the Skypower Playground in Ikeja GRA, for supporting

gerians, including serving and past governors, as well as members of the National Assembly have been trooping to the APC because the PDP had failed the nation.

the APC through its transformational stages since 1999.

He said: “I thank you for standing by us all the way.

You have seen that more Ni-

Lagos gets 181 rape cases in six months

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O fewer than 181 people were raped in Lagos in the last six month, the Managing Partner for Partnership for Justice, Mrs. Itoro Eze-Anaba, has said.

This, she said, was contrary to the report released by the police that only 114 people were raped last year.

Mrs. Eze-Anaba spoke while receiving donations from members of the Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metropolitan and Rotary Club of Accra East, Ghana, at the Mirabel Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

She said: “The centre’s main goal is to provide holistic and qualitative services and support to survivors of sexual assault in a caring manner, where each individual’s specific needs and rights to make choices on how to address those needs are respected and met.”

Mrs. Eze-Anaba said rape was never a victim’s fault, adding: “A child can never give consent.”

Rape, she said, is a serious crime in Nigeria, stressing that the absence of injuries to a victim does not imply that there was no rape.

Mrs. Eze-Anaba said: “85 per cent of victims were raped in their homes. There is no excuse for rape. It can never be justified.”

She said rape affects a person’s physical health, as well as psychological and emotional well-being.

Victim, she said, were at risk of death, Sexu-

From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

ally Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and other infections, unwanted pregnancy and injury.

Mrs. Eze-Anaba said: “Victims range from babies under one year to women of 70 years. They often experience guilt, shame, anger, self-blame, sadness, fear, eating disorders, insomnia and difficulty in settling back to life, among others.”

The Mirabel Centre offers medical examination and treatment for illnesses and injuries caused by assault. It also counsels victims.

Mrs. Eze-Anaba said: “The centre also reports the incident to the police. Information on the legal system is provided and referral to other agencies for help not provided by the centre.”

President, Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metropolitan, Mr. Kevin Ofili said it was part of the club’s objective to help those in distress, especially the less-privileged.

The centre, he said, helps sexual abuse victims to regain their confidence and put the past behind them.

The Rotary Club of Ikoyi Metropolitan and the Rotary Club of Accra East, Ghana, donated items worth N350,000 to the centre.

Representative of the Rotary Club of Accra East, Ghana, Bright Attah said the clubs support health care and sanitation programme.

Ajimobi alleges violence plan

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YO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has alleged plans by the opposition to cause violence in the state from next month.

The governor spoke yesterday at the 2014 Eid-ElMaulud celebration, organised by the state government at the Remembrance Arcade, Government House, Ibadan.

He said his administration would frustrate efforts to disrupt the peace, adding: “Violence, brigandage and the destruction of life and property have been nipped in the bud.

“Whatever it will take, we will not allow anybody, no matter his status in the society, to take Oyo State back to the era of violence. The era is gone for good. What we

are doing in Oyo State now is playing the politics of development.

“Whoever thinks the only strategy he can use to get to power is to cause crises and disaffection should have a rethink, as such a person will be dealt with in accordance with the law.”

Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso, who was at the event, said Ajimobi has improved the state.

He said: “On my arrival in Ibadan, we missed our way to the Government House. This made us to go round the city before arriving at this programme. I saw a new flyover, clean environment and the positive effects of your urban renewal programme. I saw

projects springing up everywhere around Ibadan and I have decided to replicate some of these projects when I get back. I see your determination to make Oyo State better and I urge you not relent in your efforts.”

In his lecture, a renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Muideen Bello, said the people need to be united to ensure the state’s growth.

He urged affluent individuals to assist the lessprivileged.

The Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Babatunde Salako, said the support being enjoyed by the governor, particularly from the elite, was “an attestation to the touch of excellence he has brought to governance.”

What this tells us is to put in more effort to flush out the party that has brought so much pain to our people.

Coming elections in Ekiti and Osun will surely give the

PDP a bitter taste of the people’s resentment for it.”

Aregbesola thanked the organisers of the reception for remaining faithful to the ideals of TMM’s founder.

Banire and another TMM leader Cardinal James Odunmbaku, who is Lagos APC’s deputy chairman, said the turnout at the rally was a warning to the PDP. Banire said: “This was supposed to be a small reception in honour of Ogbeni Aregbesola, but the crowd gathered here is not only intimidating and overwhelming, but encouraging. We assure you that our party is forming the next government at the federal level and we will never fail you as the PDP has done.”

Also at the reception were APC National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed; former Lagos State Commissioner for Health Dr. Leke Pitan; Osun State Deputy Governor Mrs. Grace Laoye-Tomori; Aregbesola’s wife, Serifat; National Assembly members from Lagos and Lagos House of Assembly members, among others.

N50m interest-free loan for Oyo traders

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HE Oyo State government will give traders at the Araromi Spare Parts Market at Agodi Gate, Ibadan, N50 million interest-free loan.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi announced this during a visit to the market.

He urged leaders of the market to set up a committee to work with the government on the disbursement of the loan.

Ajimobi said the government plans to upgrade facilities at the market and rehabilitate the bridge linking the market with Onipasan.

He said the government would build a wellequipped clinic in the market.

Reiterating his administration’s commitment to the people’s welfare, the governor urged them to continue to support his administration.

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THE NATION MONDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Akinrinade to Jonathan: Nigeria’s unity negotiable

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ORMER Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Alani Akinrinade said yesterday that Nigeria’s unity “is negotiable and must be negotiated” at the proposed national conference.

Gen. Akinrinade, a former chief of Army staff and minister of Agriculture, Industries and Transport, said Nigeria’s problems could be resolved only if discussions at the conference lead to true federalism.

President Goodluck Jonathan listed Nigeria’s unity as “a no-go area” at the proposed conference, but the former military leader said Nigerians must be given the freedom to renegotiate the country’s unity with the aim of restructuring the existing political structure.

Gen. Akinrinade spoke at the Bayelsa State Cultural Centre in Yenagoa at a lecture marking the 2014 Ijaw Day, organised by the Ijaw National Congress (INC).

The lecture was titled: “Ijaw quest for true federalism in Nigeria: A bridge building approach through ethnic nationalities.”

The lecture was attended by representatives of other ethnic nationalities, including the former SecretaryGeneral of the Afenifere, Mr. Ayo Opadokun, and a Benin ethnic leader, Chief Solomon Edebiri.

Governor Seriake Dickson and members of the State Executive Council (SEC) shunned the gathering, fuelling speculations that all was not well between the governor and the INC leadership.

Gen. Akinrinade said the conference would achieve results, only if its outcome leads to true fiscal federalism.

He urged Jonathan to remember fallen Ijaw heroes, who died in their struggle for true federalism, and honour them by pioneering true federalism.

Akinrinade advised the

From Mike Odiegwu Yenagoa

Ijaw against making Jonathan’s re-election their agenda at the conference, saying: “To go to the conference to lobby or campaign for any presidential candidate is to forfeit a good opportunity. If Jonathan, an Ijaw man, has been in government for about six years and has not changed the revenue mobilisation and distribution system or implemented the United Nations (UN) report on cleaning up the environmental mess in Ogoni land, which cost one billion dollars, it is clear that the issue is not who is in government but the structure of the Federal Government.

“It is the structure that needs to be redesigned and about which the Ijaws should build bridges across other nationalities. Although it seems that, initially, Jonathan did not see anything wrong with the status quo, but fate has miraculously intervened again.

“By agreeing to convoke a national conference, Jonathan has been persuaded that something is structurally amiss with the nation’s political and structural configuration.

“Having seen the light, Jonathan must rise above politics and see himself as an instrument of divine will to forge this traumatised nation anew. This is the only honour and respect he can pay to Ijaw heroes and heroines, who have fallen in the struggle to redeem the nation.”

Edebiri urged ethnic nationalities to send formidable delegates to the proposed conference to withstand the pressure of parties and their agents.

He said: “The Benin nation is yet to come together to present a position, but as individuals, the restructuring is needed and it is negoti-

‘If Jonathan, an Ijaw man, has been in government for about six years and has not changed the revenue mobilisation and distribution system or implemented the United Nations (UN) report on cleaning up the environmental mess in Ogoni land, which cost one billion dollars, it is clear that the issue is not who is in government but the structure of the federal government.’ able.”

On the negotiation of Nigeria’s unity, he said: “Negotiation is a strong word.

How we live can be negotiated, but I do not subscribe to segregation.

“How do we live? Are we to live as a federating unit?

Are we to give more power to the centre? How do we live? We cannot negotiate the unity of Nigeria but how we practise that unity can be negotiated.”

Acting INC President Ebieridei Charles said the Ijaw are ready for the proposed national conference.

He said: “The restructuring for true federalism and economic management should be on the basis of resource control, thus paying prescribed taxes in revenue sharing that is wholly enshrined in a constitution truly enacted by the sovereign people of Nigeria.”

Fayemi, Bamidele disagree on posters

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GOVERNORSHIP aspirant of the Labour Party (LP) in Ekiti State, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central in the House of Representatives, has accused Governor Kayode Fayemi of violating the directives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the pasting of campaign posters for the June 21 poll.

But the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said Fayemi is a law-abiding citizen, who would not go against INEC’s directive.

INEC Chairman Prof.

Attahiru Jega announced that it was illegal for aspirants to paste posters and erect billboards before the time stipulated for electioneering by the Electoral Act. Bamidele spoke at the weekend at LP’s secretariat in Ado-Ekiti, during the election of the party’s executive members. He said it was “inappropriate for

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

INEC to treat the governor and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as sacred cows”.

Bamidele said: “I assure you that the governorship election is going to be a peaceful one. I know INEC is going to do its best and the LP is law-abiding. We have obeyed INEC’s directive to stop erecting billboards and pasting posters.

“We have removed ours from the streets but we are surprised that the governor’s posters and billboards are all over the place and nobody is talking about it.”

Oyebode said the governor and the APC never ordered the erection of billboards or the pasting of posters, adding: “If Bamidele did his homework well, he would have gathered that moves are being made to remove them.”

On an earlier allegation that the governor was spon-

soring division in the LP, Oyebode said: “It is shameful that the LP is openly admitting that its house is so disorderly that an outsider could be causing division and disaffection in it.

“How can a party whose house has never been in order and which does not know who will represent it at an election coming in four months hope to be successful in such an election?”

Mr. Akin Omole is the LP’s new chairman. He has six deputy chairmen.

Other members of the executive are: Mr. Abiola Olowokere, secretary; Mr. Banji Gbenga, treasurer; Mr. Olu Olofin, financial secretary; Mr. Olugbenga Daramola, organising secretary; Mrs. Bola OlakunleBruce; Mr. Olalekan Olatawura, legal adviser; Mr. Bisi Omotoso, auditor and Mrs. Modupe Otun, women’s leader.

The executive has three assistant secretaries and three assistant women leaders.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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NEWS

Presidency flaunts Jonathan’s achievements

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HE Presidency at the weekend flaunted the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan.

It was at the presentation of the second volume of Sure & Steady Transformation: Progress Report of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, which details Jonathan’s achievements in various ministries in Lagos.

The Special Adviser to the President on Research, Documentation and Strategy, Oronto Douglas, urged a shift from politics to performance as the basis of assessment of the administration.

Douglas said politicking in the country has blinded the people to the progress being made by the President and his team, adding that a lot of transformation is on-going.

Emenike loses father-in-law

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CHIEFAIN of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State and publisher, Chief Ikechi Emenike, has lost his father-in-law, Sir Martin Ohadiugha.

He died on February 18, 2014. According to Chief Emenike, the late Martin Ohadiugha “was to me, many people, many things rolled in one: father-in-law; father; brother; counsellor; confidant and morale booster”.

A Knight of the Catholic Church, the late Sir Ohadiugha was General Manager of the Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL). His tour of duty took him to several parts of the country including Kano, Yola, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Enugu.

He was made the Vice Chairman of the Ohuhu Council of Elders after he retired because of his steadfastness .

He is survived by his wife of over 50 years, Lady Felicia Ohadiugha and children, Mr Emeka Ohadiugha, Assistant Director, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Dr (Mrs) Chinyere Uwaga; Dr (Mrs) Uzoma Emenike; and Mrs Dorothy Otaru.

The late Ohadiugha will be buried on March 3 at his hometown, Umule in Ohuhu, Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State. According to Christian rites, Vigil Mass will be held for the late Octogenarian on March 2 and the outing service on March 4, all at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Umule.

•The late Ohadiugha

By Olukorede Yishau

He said: “When it is time for politics, we should play politics. But there is no need to play politics with development. It is wrong for anybody to say this administration has done nothing. In this publication, you will see evidence that this administration has performed more than any other in record time. Pictures can’t lie and pictures tell stories better than a thousand words.

“I challenge us to go and verify the facts in this publication and then report back to the public. What this administration has done is unprecedented. We must give credit when due and not allow politics to cover facts about development.”

He added that Jonathan

would not play politics with the Transformation Agenda.

“This administration is serious about development and will not play politics with development,” he said.

The Volume I of the publication was presented in 2012. It covered achievements in all ministries.

The Volume II, however, focuses on the major strides in agriculture, aviation, health, petroleum resources and works. Other ministries, Douglas said, will be featured in subsequent volumes.

In agriculture, the administration listed its achievements to include: ending four decades of corruption in fertiliser and seed distribution, there by saving

government N25 billion in 2012 alone; raising combined production of dry season and main season paddy rice to 1.76 million metric tonnes; reducing food import bill from N1.1 trillion in 2011 to N648 billion in 2012; increasing silo capacity by over 300 per cent; and kick-starting dry season production through irrigation in 10 Northern states, among others.

Some of the 23 achievements of the Ministry of Works are: reconstruction of Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Benin-Ore Shagamu Highway and Enugu Port Harcourt dual carriage way; ongoing reconstruction and expansion of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; construction or rehablitation of a total of

200 kilometres of road as the end of 2013; and increasing length of safe and motorable Federal roads from 17.72km to 28,320km.

The publication listed 25 key projects done by the Ministry of Aviation. They include: installation of cutting-edge navigation aids and Instruments Landing Systems (ILS); remodeling of all 22 federally-owned aiports; replacement and upgrading of obsolete power infrastructure in major airports; and simultaneous construction of five modern international passenger terminals, among others.

In health, 19 key achievements were highlighted and 18 were highlighted for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

•Jonathan

THE NATION MONDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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CITYBEATS Fuel smugglers jump into sea to evade arrest I N a desperate bid to evade arrest by security men, five suspected smugglers of petroleum products have jumped into the sea in Badagry, Lagos State, it was learnt yesterday.

The Lagos State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr Clement Adesuyi, briefed reporters in Lagos yesterday on the activities of suspected pipeline vandals and smugglers operating in the Badagry area. He said the suspects were carrying 15,300 litres of the products when they encountered his men, adding that they were in a Yahama boat.

Adesuyi said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were attempting

CITYBEATS LINE: 08078425391

New Igbo chief in Badagry

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‘We will make Badagry a hot and prohibited area for criminals destroying our economy’

By Jude Isiguzo and Uyoatta Eshiet

to smuggle the products to neighbouring countries, adding that they were apparently coming from Escravos, Apapa. The suspects, he said, abandoned their boat and illegal products and swam to safety.

He said the products were intercepted on the high sea in

•The products ... yesterday

Badagry by his men after an intelligence report. “We recovered 45 drums of 300 litres and 72 jerry cans of 25 litres each, and one Yamaha boat engine. Five suspects who were in the boat jumped

Lions Club tackles road accident

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ORRIED by the spate of accidents on Nigerian roads, the Lagos Paddles Lions Club, Ogba, has organised eye screening for commercial bus drivers.

No fewer than 60 drivers, including other beneficiaries, underwent the medical check by a team of medical practitioners hired by the club.

The club’s President, Lion Taiwo Salami, explained the gesture: “One of the cardinal programmes of the Lions Club borders on good eyesight for our drivers. Part of the causes of accidents on our roads is that most drivers have problems with their eyesight.

“Many of the drivers think everything is alright because they can see. But they usually know better

when they are subjected to screening. So, we decided that they must be educated on the importance of good eyesight. We also encourage them to undergo tests to know their blood pressure and sugar level. After the screening, those that need correctional glasses will be provided.”

Salami, said the money used for the programme came from donations from members and well-wishers of the club.

He added that the club would also provide books and teaching materials to the schools within the community in the coming months.

“We are also planning to provide musical equipment as well as Braille to the students of Pacelli School for the Blind soon,” he added.

into the sea to escape arrest.

They were coming from Escravos in Apapa.

“Our men are still hunting for the fleeing suspects. Also, we have spread our dragnet across the border line to ensure that our petroleum products are not smuggled out illegally through the sea,” he explained.

Adesuyi who said his men would have arrested the smugglers if not because the command was lacking some basic tools, added: “One of main challenges in arresting of suspects from the sea is lack of speed-boat engines. We currently have about 30 good

swimmers in Badagry alone, but we need bigger engine boats.”

He said that Nigeria was losing a lot of money daily through the activities of vandals. “We will make Badagry a hot and prohibited area for criminals destroying our economy,” he vowed.

The products, according to the NSCDC chief, had been evacuated at the command’s Alausa, Ikeja headquarters, adding that they would be handed over to officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) after investigations.

Lagos’ environmental policy excites senator

By Wale Ajetunmobi

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ESIDENTS have been urged to support the effort of the Lagos State government to make the state free of dirt and diseases that may arise from unclean environment. The lawmaker representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, gave the advice when he joined residents in the district to participate in the monthly sanitation on Saturday.

Ashafa, who inspected the exercise in several areas with his constituency office staff, praised Governor Babatunde Fashola for his environmental policies, which he said, made it possible for the state to easily combat diseases. He said that Lagos remained the cleanest state because of the importance the government attached to the monthly sanitation.

Urging the residents not to always wait for the end of the month before cleaning their environment, the lawmaker said keeping homes and surroundings clean should be a continuous exercise to prevent outbreak of diseases and illnesses.

He said: “The good people of Lagos East have been in support of the government’s efforts to continue to make Lagos a clean state. I was surprised that before the exercise began at 7am, some resident had started sweeping and removing dirts from the drainage. This tells us that residents did not wait for anyone to tell them what to do. Even in some areas, where residents did not come out, we talked to them and they joined us in the exercise.

•Ashafa

“This is the success of our frequent sensitisation programme on environmental sanitation. We did not sit in our house to tell people what to do, but we have also come out to participate in the exercise and show people that cleanliness is the best way to achieve godliness.”

The senator, who was clad in white polo shirt, joined residents of Kazeem Street in the Kosofe area to remove dirt from the drains. Ashafa also moved into houses on adjoining streets to call out occupants for the exercise.

Residents, who were elated by the presence of the lawmaker, trooped out to participate in the exercise. Ashafa told Biodun Adefehinti, who was playing football on the street, to be an environment ambassador in the neighbourhood. The senator said sanitation day was not meant for any other activity aside cleaning.

Some of the areas visited during the three-hour exercise include Olowora in Isheri, Omole Phase II, Agbedina Avenue and Olabode Street in Oworonsoki, and popular Mile 12 market in Ketu.

The senator donated sanitation materials such as rakes, brooms, waste bins, polythene waste bags and parkers to the residents and traders in the area.

NEW Igbo leader, Stephen S.E. Etolue, the Eze Chimelu of Badagry, Lagos, has been installed.

It was at a ceremony, which was held at the Trade Fair Complex, attracted dignitaries from all walks of life.

He said: “This throne was contested for through balloting by twelve of us. I picked the winning ballot which read “leader” and that was how I emerged. So, I believe that kings are made by God. If God chooses you, there would be no limit”.

Etolue, who is a freight forwarder, transporter and entrepreneur, added: “Fighting for the cause of the Igbo is our priority and all hands are on deck. I actually emerged as the leader in October 2013.

For about 21 years, we were without a leader because the former leader left unannounced. After waiting for years, we decided. We want to set up a lot of things like the cooperative society. We are also planning to build a civic center as well as a school for learning the Igbo language.”

He added: “I have been to different parts of the world like the United States of America and Canada and they do not play with their culture. Last year, we had the Igbo cultural day in Badagry with masquerades and dancers. We intend to do this every year and promote our culture in a unique way.”

Everest Ozonweke, the Onowu Ndi Igbo in Badagry said: “We are here to serve as the bridge between the Igbos in Badagry and the leader. In most cases, I liaise with the people who want to see the leader. The Igbo leader helps to preserve the culture, values and inculcate the core values and create an enabling environment.”

Community leader Orebiyi clocks 70

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VETERAN community leader and retired banker, Most Senior Apostle Elijah Kunle Orebiyi has celebrated his 70th birthday at the Cherubim and Seraphim Church (Ayo Ni o), Valley of Blessing, Abesan Estate, Ipaja, a Lagos State suburb.

Born on February 5, 1944 to late Albert Adebowale Orebiyi of Iboro Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Orebiyi attended St. Peter’s Primary School, Ake, Abeokuta and the Anglican Secondary Modern School, Ipaja and later had his secondary education.

Orebiyi worked in places including the old Agege Local Government, the defunct Post and Telegraph Department, Osogbo, Osun State, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He retired at the defunct Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, Lagos.

The late Orebiyi held several positions in the AyoboIpaja Community Development Committee (CDC) of the Ayobo Ipaja Local Council Development Area of the state.

Currently, he is the treasurer of the body; chairman of the Olorunda Community Development Association (CDA) and also a member of the Ipaja Community Welfare Association (ICWA).

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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NEWS (SHOWBIZ)

Skales to join Timaya’s Dem Mama Records

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APPER cum singer Raoul John NjengNjen, popularly known as Skales, may soon swell the number of artistes on Dem Mama Records.

It was learnt the entertainer has moved in with popular singer, Timaya, who owns the record label.

Skales left his record label, Empire Mates Entertainment (EME), following the expiration of his con-

By Ovwe Medeme

tract.

Unlike other widely reported cases in the music industry, his exit from the label was not characterised by any drama.

Sources said Skales’ contract was not renewed because the label had allegedly not recoup the investments on him.

Upon his exit from EME, the rapper was said to be in

Saeon opens up on affair with Uti

the process of establishing his own record label, called M.et.al Skales is a 20-year-old rapper, songwriter and performer. His journey into music began in 2000, when he started writing his songs and honing his rap skill in Kaduna, where he grew up.

Between 2007 and 2008, he travelled to Jos, so he could work with two of Nigeria’s finest producers, Jeremiah Gyang and Jesse

Orjiekwe denies marriage rumour

By Dupe AyinlaOlasunkanmi

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AST-rising singer Seun Oni a.k.a Saeon has finally confirmed that she is truly in love with BBA Allstar winner Uti Nwachukwu.

In an interview, she was quoted as saying that “I don’t like to put my personal business out there. I have known Uti for a while. He was in my only video. I met him prior to shooting the video because he helped me to bring some of the things I used in the video from England. We started talking, hanging out and then this!

“We are in love. He is a honest and genuine person.

People will always say things about him, which obviously are not true. But this will not stop him from being him. He is God-fearing, funny and, of course, good-looking. This affair is no publicity stunt,

Jagz.

In 2008, he won the Zain Tru Search competition for the Northcentral region.

Thereafter, he came to Lagos.

His first single, Must Shine, enjoyed good airplay in early 2009 and made it to the Rhythm FM’s Top 7 Jamz in Lagos, for some weeks.

It was also the ‘Hit Song of the Week’ on Rhythm FM in Jos and Abuja.

• Uti-Nwachukwu and Saeon

By Dupe AyinlaOlasunkanmi

even though I know Uti is a big brand and I am only an emerging brand.”

It will be recalled that a few days ago, Uti, also a presenter and model, reportedly flaunted Saeon as his lover.

Following the public show of love, rumour mongers went to town disputing the claim on the grounds that Nwachukwu was gay and that it was all a publicity stunt.

However, some of his loyal fans have continuously maintained that the fast-rising actor is not gay.

HEN ‘wedding’ pictures of Nollywood actress Mimi Orjiekwe and her fiance, actor Charles Billion went viral on the social network, fans were wondering when the wedding took place.

But the sultry actress has denied that she and her fiance engaged in a secret weddin.

She said: “The picture is from a movie we just shot; we are not yet married. But we are planning our wedding seriously.”

Since the release of the picture, her friends in and outside the movie industry have been sending congratulatory messages to her and wishing her a happy married life.

In the past years, they have always played complementing roles in several home movies.

•Skales andTimaya

Funke Akindele strikes gold again

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OP Nollywood actress Funke Akindele a.k.a. Jenifa has reportedly signed a multimillion naira deal with a sport-betting outfit, called 1960.

The actress will be working as the company’s brand ambassador, while also doing promotional activities for it.

It was gathered that the commercials, which will run on some national and international television stations, was shot a few days ago around Jebba in Ebute Metta in Lagos State.

Akindele, a graduate of Law from the University of Lagos, Akoka, became famous after she featured in I Need to Know, a familyoriented TV programme.

In 2009, she won the Afri-

By Dupe AyinlaOlasunkanmi

can Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

• funke

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

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NEWS Post-election violence: ECOWAS court dismisses N84 b suit against Fed Govt

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N N84 billion suit filed against the Federal Government (FG) at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court in Lome, Togo, has been struck out.

A group known as the registered trustees of the SocioEconomic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP), had through activist lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), sued the government before the court for alleged breach of the fundamental rights of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who died in the post-2011 election violence that erupted in some parts of the country.

The claimant urged the court to hold the Federal Government liable for the death of the corps members

PPPRA releases first quarter fuel import allocation

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HE Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has released this year’s first quarter fuel import allocation to oil marketers.

The Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore told The Nation that import permit was released at the weekend.

He urged motorists to desist from panic buying as normalcy has returned. “Quarter one is out now. Motorists should calm down and do not embark on panic buying,” Olawore said.

By Precious Igbonwelundu

and to also mandate the government to respect the fundamental rights of corps members across the country.

It prayed the court to compel the government to pay $500million (N84billion) to the families of the deceased NYSC members.

However, counsel to the government, Dr. Fabian Ajogwu (SAN), in a counter argument, urged the court to dismiss the claimant’s action on grounds that the claimant lacks the locus standi to institute the action.

Ajogwu claimed that the plaintiff had failed to disclose any cause of action against the government and as such, adding that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit.

In its judgment, the panel of Justices upheld the arguments of the government and subsequently struck out the suit.

Ngige’s petition strong, says campaign organisation

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ENATOR Chris Ngige Campaign Organisation has said the petition filed by its candidate at the Anambra State Governorship and Elections tribunal is strong.

It reacted yesterday in Awka, following the ‘falsehoods’ peddled about the ruling at the Justice Ishaq Bello-led panel last week.

In a statement in Awka by Mr. Okelo Madukaife, the organisation’s deputy director of Media & Publicity, it said some had gone to the extent of falsifying the action of the tribunal to the effect that the documents presented to the tribunal by Senator Ngige’s counsel and those of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were forged.

According to the statement, “the reality on the rul-

•Tribunal resumes sitting today From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

ing is that APC, jointly with Senator Ngige and severally with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Tony Nwoye applied to the tribunal severally to hear the preliminary objections in the body of the trial and consider them side-by side with the substantive matter in the final judgment, as provided for by Paragraph 12, SubParagraph 5 of the First Schedule to the 2010 Electoral Act, as amended.

“The framers of the Electoral Act, by an amendment effected four years after the original enactment abridged the timing expended on interlocutory applications/appeals by providing in Paragraph 12 sub-paragraph 5 of

the First Schedule that parties should raise and document their objection, state the section or subsection under which they are raised and the ruling will be taken along with the trial and judgment delivered together on all issues.

“In the instant ruling, the tribunal agreed with the arguments of APC, Ngige, PDP and Nwoye, and allowed all preliminary objections to be considered in the final address along with the final judgment.

“The tribunal, however, in its wisdom, made an exception of the preliminary objections seeking to strike out some paragraphs of the respective petitions.

“The legal teams of Ngige and APC are focused on the

•Senator Ngige

expected motions fixed for February 25, filed by Chief Willie Obiano and seeking to strike out some paragraphs of their petition, as this application enjoys the benefit of that exception by the tribunal.”

Proceedings will resume today at the tribunal, following adjournment by Justice Bello last Wednesday.

The motions, filed by the plaintiffs and defendants, would be ruled upon today, while Ngige and APC would reply the motions filed by INEC, Obiano and APGA.

Tambuwal, Fashola, Lamido, Sultan advocate proper understanding of Quran

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AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola has said the Holy Quran preaches message of peace and development.

Fashola spoke at the weekend while chairing the closing of the 28th National Quranic Recitation Competition in Jigawa State.

The programme was organised by the Centre for Islamic Studies, Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto and hosted by the Jigawa State government at the Aminu Kano Tri-

angle, Dutse.

Fashola said the Quran contains many revelations and guidelines about life, cleanliness, gender, how women should be treated, protected and cared for, among others He said the essence of the competition was to develop young people by exposing them to the independent knowledge and understanding of what the Quran contains.

Fashola said though some people have misunderstood or misrepresented the Quran’s

message, it was clear to him and all those who have read it that it is a message of peace, which teaches how children should be treated, nurtured and developed.

He said the Quran also teaches leaders to govern with the fear of God and put the interest of their subjects at the forefront in decision making.

Praising Governor Sule Lamido for hosting the competition and demonstrating that any state with the right leadership will survive with or with-

out oil, Fashola expressed his delight at being invited to chair the event, in which Lagos State was a participant.

House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal said youths must be taught the correct recitation of the Holy Quran, so that they can understand its true message and interpret them correctly.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, who was the royal father of the day, thanked Jigawa State for hosting the programme for the

second time in four years, adding that this year’s edition was better than the 2011 edition.

He praised the governor’s efforts to promote Islam and improve the people’s welfare.

The winner of the competition, Mr. Sulaiman Salis Idris from Kaduna State, was turbaned.

Governors Muazu Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Mukthar Ramalan Yero (Kaduna State) were also at the event.

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COMMENTARY EDITORIALS

FROM OTHER LANDS

Plundering woes

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•The Jonathan administration must account for trillions of Naira splurged under the cover of service wide votes

N eerie air of financial anarchy never witnessed in the annals of the country’s history looms large on the nation. The rate at which financial impunity is being foisted on the land by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration could earthquake the very foundation of the nation but for the docility of Nigerians towards the imperial rape of their collective resources.

With the latest roguery to which the Service Wide Vote (SWV) is being subjected, we cannot but condemn the routine affront to the federation account. The SWV is designed to make provision for financial emergencies of government but it has now become a criminal conduit pipe for the depletion of the public till. We are left with the option of asking: Who is in charge of the nation’s finances?

The SWV has been turned into an inveterate cesspit of corruption by this administration.

This reign of financial anarchy is a shame in a country that prides herself as running a constitutional democracy where laws are meant to guide the dos and don’ts of the society. Thanks to the House Committee, headed by S o l o m o n Olamilekan Adeola that is investigating how N4.7trillion was spent as against the N2.1 trillion approved by the Presidency through the Budget Office from the SWV between 2004 and 2012. The startling revelations could lead to cosmic consequences. To start •Okonjo-Iweala with: The oversight scrutiny of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts came up with what ordinarily would have remained hidden from the public regarding the National Teachers’ Institute’s (NTI), Kaduna account that was credited with N791 million on December 31, 2012 by the Budget Office from the SWV account without formal request.

Mallam Abdulkarim Affo, NTI bursar, was jolted to disclose the following before the committee when he noted that the incident happened at a time that the Institute did not request for any financial assistance from the Federal Government: “On December 31st, 2012, we just received an alert; a sum of N791 million was credited into the Institute’s bank account from the Budget Office without any prior request for financial assistance from the Federal Government…We tried to make enquiries and we wrote to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to find out what was the purpose of the whopping amount but all efforts yielded no result. At the end of the day, what the institute did was to pay back the money to the treasury at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as required by the law of the federation. We have the evidence of payment. We never made request for any money,” he declared. What a scandal to a government that claims to be fighting corruption?

Again, the financial sleaze continues.

Some National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) officials that earlier appeared before the committee reportedly disclosed that the Budget Office claimed to have released the sum of N5 billion to the agency from the SWV but the regulatory agency was emphatic in its claim before the committee that it received only N365million. Furthermore, the National Boundary Commission, during a separate appearance before the committee, denied ever receiving N2 billion that the Budget Office claimed to have released to it under the SWV. This criminality is awful in a country where the government usually complains of scarce funds as an impediment in developing infrastructure.

This outright stealing/diversion of public funds by a yet unravelled irreverent sys-

temic syndicate, has exposed disquieting thefts. The National Assembly lawfully approved about N2.1 trillion for the SWV account in the period under review only for its committee to discover during investigation so far, that over N4.7 trillion had been expended by the Executive.

What plundering of public till could be meaner than just these two examples, among numerous others We are aware that the SWV as an emergency fund is not under compulsion to be captured in the annual budget of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) but the funds, as a matter of fact, must follow due process before the MDAs could have access. Two layers of authorities that must reportedly give approvals were willfully ignored - the National Assembly through appropriation and the Minister of Finance. Of necessity, they must approve, upon genuine re-

quests. The questions? Why did the Budget Office pay NTI without a formal request or approval? Why the hyperclaims in remittances to NAFDAC? Has any government official been punished for these horrendous scenarios? We demand to know.

The siege on the federation account by the presidency does not look stoppable amidst widespread speculation that that arm of government is so desperate to get re-elected. In the 2014 budget, the sum of N296,138,705,839 was voted for the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF ChargesService Wide Votes) and N924,173,571,397 for the Federation Service Wide Vote, bringing the total to over N1 trillion. If the presidency does not account for and punish the felons who perpetrated these acts, we doubt whether the N1 trillion will be deployed for their right purpose by entrenched gluttons of government believed to be working in cahoots with the presidency.

We recollect that Lamido Sanusi, the embattled suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had sometime ago assuredly accused the imperial Nigerian National Petrol e u m Corporation(NNPC) of collecting petroleum money without remitting such into the federation account that is domiciled with the CBN. Lamido accused the NNPC in a September 25, 2013 letter to President Goodluck Jonathan that caused public altercation between the presidency and the CBN over non-repatriation into the Federation Account of $49.8 billion representing 76% of the value of crude oil lifted in 2012 and 2013. Also, the same NNPC was accused of illegally allocating un-appropriated money indiscriminately for pipeline repairs. A controversial middle point of $20 was agreed to be missing after doubtful explanations from Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. The same NNPC is at the moment sadly ingrained in messy kerosene subsidy scam that is taking away from the Federation Account the sum of $100m per month despite presidential directive against kerosene subsidy. Again, we ask: Who is NNPC responsible to? Is the corporation above the law? Definitely not!

We can only affirm that the wanton looting of the nation’s patrimony under the current administration is a manifestation of gluttony and lack of proper coordination of the economy.

‘The oversight scrutiny of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts came up with what ordinarily would have remained hidden from the public regarding the National Teachers’ Institute’s (NTI), Kaduna account that was credited with N791 million on December 31, 2012 by the Budget Office from the SWV account without formal request.

Muzzling speech in India

T

HE decision last week by Penguin India to withdraw from publication and pulp copies of “The Hindus: An Alternative History” is only the latest assault on free speech in India. The publisher’s move is likely to encourage more demands for censorship.

India’s 1949 Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression. But colonialera laws restricting that freedom are eagerly being exploited by self-appointed guardians of religious orthodoxy. Penguin India said it pulled the book by Wendy Doniger off the market because it faced criminal and civil suits under a 1927 amendment to British India’s 1860 penal code, which makes it a crime to outrage “the religious feeling” of Indians.

Both Hindus and Muslims have invoked this law to ban books they deem offensive.

In addition, powerful companies and individuals have used libel charges to get books banned, and India’s government has used a 1951 amendment to the Constitution granting it the power to impose restrictions on free speech to ban books as well.

In December, India’s Supreme Court granted a stay of publication against a book about an Indian conglomerate, the Sahara Group, after it filed suit against the author.

In 2011, Siddhartha Deb’s “The Beautiful and the Damned” was published in India minus a chapter after the person who was the subject of that chapter filed suit in an obscure provincial court. Outdated laws are only part of India’s free-speech crisis. Hindu nationalists, in particular, have lashed out against speech they do not like with threats of violence. Penguin, for example, cited “a moral responsibility to protect our employees against threats and harassment” in withdrawing Ms. Doniger’s book.

Meanwhile, simply reporting the news in India has become a potentially dangerous undertaking. In a report published last week, Reporters Without Borders ranked India 140th for free speech out of 180 countries surveyed. Journalists regularly face pressure, including direct threats, to tread lightly when reporting or commenting on Hindu-nationalist views or candidates.

The wanton abuse of laws restricting speech is creating a climate of fear. Enemies of free speech have pledged to get even more books banned. But there is also a growing backlash against these forces. In reaction to the Penguin decision, authors and journalists have written fierce condemnations, and two Penguin authors have even asked the publisher to pulp their books as well. Citizen petitions are now calling for India’s Parliament to repeal the damaging provisions in the penal code — a necessary step toward stopping attacks on free expression.

– The New York Times

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20

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

CARTOON & LETTERS

S

IR: May I use this medium to express my concern over the worrisome attitude of Nigerian rulers to issues about the peace of the nation. In 1999, the then leaders thought about Nigeria’s peace and proposed rotational presidency, consequent upon which all the major political parties chose their presidential candidates from the Southwest. When former President General Olusegun Obasanjo ended his second tenure in 2007, the pendulum shifted to the Northwest from where all the major political parties chose their candidates. That gave the impression that orderliness and peace had come.

When President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) and OBJ denied the rotational agreement, that it was Jonathan’s turn. Some Nigerians argued that the agreement was unconstitutional or undemocratic.

I argued that the constitution was made for Nigeria and not vice versa.

To those who said rotational presidency was undemocratic, I replied that democracy is about political order, and it becomes democratic if we endorse it.

Curiously, there was a rumour in 2007 that OBJ chose Yar’Adua as his

S

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Nigeria’s leaders mustn’t toy with her peace successor, knowing that he might soon die from kidney ailment, thus making GEJ his automatic successor and thereby helping the Southsouth people to taste the presidency.

I dismissed the rumour in favour of my belief that OBJ chose Yar’Adua selfishly to compensate Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. But, every-

thing happened as rumoured.

Yar’Adua died, and OBJ declared operation total support for GEJ. Then I started begging Nigerians not to truncate rotational presidency for it would ensure order, equity, peace and progress if made to rotate among the six geopolitical zones.

GEJ used his power of incumbency to set machinery in motion; depleted Nigeria’s foreign reserves and plunged the nation into bankruptcy. The debilitating campaigns necessitated fuel price increase from N65 to N97, soon after GEJ’s election in 2011, dressed as “fuel subsidy removal”. The same scenario

• Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph.D, University of Ilorin.

Reflecting on the Mararaba-Nyanya-Abuja road traffic

S

SIR: Daily, Nigerians who use the above stated road suffer a lot of inconveniences from or to Abuja. Most times, the traffic hold -up could keep people on the road for over two hours. It is really frustrating and uncharitable in a young city considered the world’s fastest growing city and the political capital of Africa’s most populous country.

This situation worsens by the day as more vehicles and persons come into or leave Abuja via this road.

By 2007 when I moved into Abuja and residing then in Karu Site Extension, it took a maximum of about thirty minutes to reach Aya junction in Asokoro; but that may surely not be the case today. The number of man-hours lost and the distress it causes in a hot environ-

ment like Abuja should only be imagined than experienced. To make the matter worse, private green buses (Araba) and motorcycles (Okada) have been banned from Abuja; thus crowding everyone in at Nyanya.

To arrest the situation, the FRSC is now stationed at the Karu junction along the road so as to ensure organized vehicular movement at

Town to equal level of development with other towns in and outside the state in the interest of the people.

Governor Amosun should as a matter of fact, not wait any longer to bring basic amenities to Simawa Town and its environs; we need good roads for free flow and transportation of our goods to other states; our children need recreational facilities and the entire town is thirsty for pipe-borne water among other good things of life.

The giant strides of Amosun’s ad-

ministration in road infrastructural development are awesome. We want him to do more for the people. However, as a person, the governor cannot do it alone with his lieutenants.

This is why we believe that everyone, notably all traditional rulers, elders, spiritual leaders and other stakeholders should join hands with his government to genuinely move Ogun State forward to the desired destination.

When the history of the Amosunled administration will be written,

we want it on record that Simawa is among the lucky towns that enjoyed the magic wand of the hardworking and people-loving governor. This is why we want him, his commissioners and the state legislators to consider us in the scheme of things as we are ready to continue to perform our civic duties as law-abiding citizens.

• Prophet Francis Taiwo Olaseinde, Praise and Apostolic Church (Oke Agbara), Simawa.

Gov Amosun, let’s enjoy your good works

IR:, we the entire indigenes and residents of Simawa Town in the Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State appreciate the good services being rendered by the Ogun State Government under the leadership of Governor Ibikunle Amosun. We want his government to extend such to our communities by providing us with basic amenities including recreational facilities, schools, pipe-borne water, electricity and motorable roads. All these among others will bring Simawa

is now playing out as GEJ is going from traditional rulers to religious leaders.

Therefore, I appeal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to make amends where necessary for past mistakes. I beg Nigerians to resist GEJ’s bribery and corruption for the new Nigeria of our dream.

Visiting leading Kings, Emirs, etc with brown envelopes will not sway people who are tired of political disorder, corruption and abject poverty. GEJ will only enrich the bribed and aggravate ordinary people’s penury.

all times. Yet, no solution. One key solution would be to further expand this expandable road into a six-lane express road on either side up to Keffi in Nasarawa State. Another thing to do is to quickly construct a link road of near the same lane-size from Mararaba to Mpape and yet another one from Karshi to Apo. A final one can also be constructed to link Aya and either Orozo or Kurudu. With the construction of these link roads and further expansion of the main express, the traffic would flow better and it will give Abuja a further infrastructural facelift just like the Aya to Kubwa road.

The key purpose of governance is to reduce the sufferings of the people through having more common/public goods. I am pretty sure that these vital link roads if constructed would further beautify the FCT and free the flow of traffic from and to Abuja and reduce the sufferings of Nigerians who ply this road daily.

• Okachikwu Dibia Abuja.

21

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

COMMENTS

L

ET me begin by recounting a near-homosexual experience I had in the 1970s. I was in my early teens and a student at the Methodist Boys’ High School in Broad Street, Lagos. Opposite the school was the First Baptist Church, where I was member of the choir; and Sheila Cinema, where I sneakily saw Chinese films, which were popular at the time. Somehow, I became friends with a bouncer at the film house, a muscular man who was far older and who I regarded as an elder brother in a cultural sense. He seemed to like me, and would occasionally demonstrate generosity towards me.

Then, one day, he asked me to come around on a Saturday morning. When I got to the cinema, he took me to an inner room and appeared to be tense. He was incoherent, and I couldn’t really make out why he wanted to see me. While I was still trying to understand his puzzling behaviour, I noticed he had a big bulge in the crotch. He was clearly in a state of sexual arousal. Instinctively, I sensed what he was up to and felt a deep awkwardness. He offered money, which I refused, saying that I would come back later as I was being expected at home. I was a bit fearful, but he didn’t try to force me, perhaps conscious of the fact that such a move could result in a loud resistance, which would attract the attention of the people around.

He let me go, and that was how I escaped being sexually abused by a male. Of course, I consequently broke my connection with him. I couldn’t fathom why he found me sexually attractive, despite the fact that I was the same sex as him. What if he had forced me into the act? Whatever he desired, would it have involved penetration, or invasion, of my anal orifice? Would I have been physically hurt? Or psychologically tortured? Would I have been consequentially converted to homosexuality? How would such an experience have influenced my sexuality, which was decidedly heterosexual?

This background is significant in the context of my reflections on the current emotionally charged gay debate, par-

‘It is apt to ask: Can the anti-gay law succeed in preventing people of homosexual orientation from expressing their sexuality, if they cannot behave otherwise? Welcome to the world of closet gays! The difficulty of the heterosexual imagination is that it cannot accommodate other possibilities of sexual manifestation, which itself is cause for wonder’

T

HAT Kano State is changing is no longer news. It's a trite. That Gov. Kwankwaso is working is not only a statement of fact but an understatement. Gov. Kwankwaso is the present day mythical King Midas, who turns around waste to wealth, transforms rubbles to bubbles, theft to thrift, and dysfunctional to functional.

Determination, patriotism and prudence are the linchpins that underpin Kwankwaso's success, and then draw him accolades from far and near. Predictably, the awards come, day in day out, in torrents, rings of garlands file everyday his neck and a deluge of trophies dotted every space of his office.

The selection of Gov. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State as the co-winner of the Man of the Year award by the Sun newspapers did not come to most of us as surprise. In view of his unprecedented achievements in the urban and rural renewal, education, healthcare delivery and sports development, one cannot but agree with the editors of the Sun that the award is being given to whom honor is due. In fact if there is a rating agency or a magazine that measures achievements of governors across the globe, I won't be surprised to see Gov. Kwankwaso winning.

Gov. Kwankwaso started his second tenure with stopping theft of public funds by canceling the infamous security vote, purging bogus overheads and wedging frivolous expenditures by MDAs. When compared with the monthly recurrent expenditures of the immediate past administration, Kwankwaso saves up to N500 million every month. It was in recognition to his "sound achievements in public financial management, transparency, accountability and respect for the rule of law" that he received an award from MIS Training Institute of Nigeria in May last year.

Kwankwaso then initiated measures that jerked up the Internally Generated Revenue of the state from N400 million to about N2 Billion monthly. In ensuring fiscal discipline, Gov. Kwankwaso was able to make capital expenditure higher than recurrent votes (2012: 63% capital, 37% recurrent; 2013 75% capital, 25% recurrent) and achieved up to 85% budget implementation in 2012 and 2013. He is the first governor to achieve 2:1 ratio in favour of capital vote. This and many other indicators therefore prompted the Transparency In Nigeria to select him as Best Governor of the Year in terms of budget discipline.

Education being the focal area of his administration, Kwankwaso ensured that all primary and post-primary schools are rejuvenated, fenced and equipped. He constructed more than 1,600 classrooms and 800 offices. As a measure to hop up the enrollment level and motivate the pupils, Kwankwaso reintroduced the free feeding and distribution of free sets of uniform for all primary school pupils. The workaholic governor also introduced the establishment of boarding primary schools in each of the the Senatorial Zones of the state, converted some abandoned public buildings into standard secondary schools (Governor’s College, GGSS Janbaki and First Lady's College). No wonder, the National

Homosexual desire ticularly hostile Western reaction to the country’s anti-gay law and the local defenders of the legislation. The country’s criminalisation of homosexuality, which means that anyone in a same-sex marriage or union would face up to 14 years in prison, also makes it illegal for anyone to operate or participate in gay clubs, societies and organisations, or to officiate, witness, abet or aid the solemnisation of same-sex marriage, which attract a 10-year jail term. In addition, such partnerships concretised overseas are considered void in Nigeria. Fundamentally, the law states that “Only a marriage contract between a man and a woman shall be recognised in Nigeria.”

I wonder whether there are aspects of the new law that cover happenings such as my encounter with the bouncer. In that particular instance, a scheming adult attempted to take advantage of a vulnerable minor, which was definitely reprehensible. However, supposing the situation involves two consenting male adults fully conscious of the import of their relationship? Should such a couple be blocked?

Interestingly, mirroring the storm is the fact that notable Western nations, the United States of America (USA) and Canada, as well as the European Union (EU), have separately criticised the new law, with a common thread alleging a violation of “fundamental human rights.” It was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay who wrapped up the opposition, saying that rarely has there been legislation “that in so few paragraphs directly violates so many basic, universal human rights.”

The government’s defence, which forms the kernel of local protest against perceived meddlesomeness of the foreign voices, was supplied by presidential spokesman Reuben Abati who said, “We have received enquiries from some foreign embassies on why the bill was signed into law and told them our cultural values do not tolerate same-sex marriage.” He added: “More than 90 per cent of Nigerians are opposed to same-sex marriage. So the law is in line with our

culture and religious beliefs as a people. And I think that this law is made for a people and what the government has done is consistent with the preference of its environment.”

Actually, this appeal to religion and culture is not as conclusive as it is perhaps intended to be. For instance, Pope Francis, head of the world’s largest Christian church with an estimated 1.2 billion Catholics, at least 19 million of them Nigerians, reportedly said that he couldn’t “judge” homosexuals. More specifically, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, representing the Church of England, in a joint letter addressed to Jonathan, made it clear that “The victimisation or diminishment of human beings, whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex, is anathema to us.” They emphasised that homosexual people “are children of God, loved and valued by Him and deserving the best we can give – pastoral care and friendship.”

Ironically, in a striking demonstration of reverse evangelism, the West is now on the receiving end as beneficiaries of its proselytism seek to re-educate it. Are Nigerians, therefore, better Christians than those who introduced the faith to them? Defenders of the anti-gay law have also projected an Islamic point of view, which they insist is intolerant of homosexuality. Intriguingly, however, devotees of indigenous religions have not been as expressive of distaste for same-sex relationships. It is noteworthy that local stories abound of people who allegedly indulge in sodomy, particularly for occult purposes, including acquisition of supernatural power and riches.

From the cultural perspective, it would appear that the official view of culture is rather inelastic. There is no doubt that human culture is always work in progress; it is even more so given the reality of increasing globalisation, which is not to endorse domineering moves by the West. When all is said and done, the world is far from an agreement on homosexuality, and no one should assume the authority of forcing it down the throats of people who have different values.

Be that as it may, central to the controversy is the nature of homosexual desire in human beings. Is it biologically driven or socially acquired? Fascinatingly, there is evidence of homosexual behaviour in certain animals, including mammals, birds and fish. Is its condemnation a question of human morality, then? According to modern research, homosexuality relates to all sexual behaviour between animals of the same sex, that is to say, “copulation, genital stimulation, mating games and sexual display behaviour.” It is curious that more attention is apparently being given to males than females in this matter, for lesbians have relationships too.

It is apt to ask: Can the anti-gay law succeed in preventing people of homosexual orientation from expressing their sexuality, if they cannot behave otherwise? Welcome to the world of closet gays! The difficulty of the heterosexual imagination is that it cannot accommodate other possibilities of sexual manifestation, which itself is cause for wonder.

Kwankwaso: A gale of garlands

By Jaafar Jaafar Union of Teachers crowned him Governor of the Year at its 82nd Founders Day in July 2013.

On tertiary education, he established the first and second state owned universities; that is the Kano University of Technology, Wudil (in his first tenure) and the North West University in his second tenure. On foreign scholarship, he has so far sponsored over 2000 students to universities across the world to study Medicine, Nursing, Piloting, Aeronautical Engineering, Pharmacy, and Marine Engineering, etc. Additionally, Gov. Kwankwaso established 23 new training institutes for vocational training and professional development.

They include Film Academy, Sports Institute, Institute of Horticulture, Corporate Security Training Institute, Driving Institute, Farm Mechanization Institute, Horticulture Institute, Fisheries Institute, Irrigation Institute, Journalism Institute, Entrepreneurship Institute, Reformatory Institutes Institute, among others. The foregoing achievements obviously captured the attention of Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria to give him a Merit Award in August 2013 in recognition to his sterling achievements and support to education.

On infrastructural development, three new cities of Kwankwasiyya, Amana and Bandirawo were established with the aim of decongesting the metropolis and providing planned layouts to meet the housing need of the people. The government is also constructing five kilometre dualised roads with drainages and street lights in each of the 44 Local Government Areas of the state. Kano's superimposing flyover built

by Kwankwaso at the city centre is captivating sight. The flyover, which is at about 85 percent completion stage, is the first of a kind in Northern Nigeria. The second flyover, covering more than one kilometer, is already taking shape as construction work takes place day and night.

As obtained in developed climes, pedestrians in Kano walk smoothly by the road as neatly laid interlocking tiles adorn the sidewalk of the roads. Street lights were installed and rehabilitated, ditto the traffic lights on all the major roads to reduce accidents and enhance security of lives and property.

Perhaps the foregoing effectuation prompted the Project LightUp Nigeria to award him as "Governor with Highest Number of Streetlight" in its Annual Light-Up Awards in 2012.

The Jakara-Kwarin Gogau river, which hitherto served as breeding grounds for vectors and haven for criminals, will no longer bear its features as standard gauge road with accompanying infrastructure is being constructed atop.

Kwankwaso also initiated a 35 Megawatts Independent Power project at Challawa and Tiga Dams and initiated the construc-

tion of a metro-line (light train) across the city. Both projects will commence in earnest. These and many more perhaps captured the attention of the National Conference of American Black Mayors to award him at its 39th sitting in Atlanta, Georgia, US. Under the present administration, over 620,000 indigenes of Kano were either trained and empowered or sourced employment for. This will positively impact on the lives of estimated three million people. As part of his effort to create jobs and boost economic prosperity, Kwankwaso established 44 Garment Industries, one in each of the 44 LGA of the State.

They are currently being constructed alongside 44 Micro Finance Banks in the 44 LGAs of the state to support small and medium scale industries with loans. Gov. Kwankwaso also provided a N1 billion commercial Agriculture facility to support commercial farmers and also provide N2 billion loan facility in collaboration with Bank of Industry to support Small Scale Enterprises with soft loans. Therefore the Award of Excellence in Recognition of his contribution to poverty alleviation and youth empowerment initiative by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2012 was as deserving as the "Most Outstanding Life Time Achievement Award" for contributions to agriculture, youth & women empowerment, education and socio-economic development by the Nigerian Youth Consultative Forum in June 2013.

Both lists of the wards and projects are seemingly infinite.

Kwankwaso achieves his goals with finesse and governs with passion, stamina and discipline. I believe if the art of good governance would be co-opted into Ballon d'Or or Grammy Awards, Christiano Ronaldo or Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Bruno Mars and the like may hardly realize their dreams.

• Jaafar is the Special Assistant to Kano State Governor on Media & Public Relations

‘Therefore the Award of Excellence in Recognition of his contribution to poverty alleviation and youth empowerment initiative by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2012 was as deserving as the "Most Outstanding Life Time Achievement Award" for contributions to agriculture, youth & women empowerment, education and socio-economic development by the Nigerian Youth Consultative Forum in June 2013’

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

22

COMMENTS

T

HERE appears to be a renewed focus on the role of neighboring African countries in the festering Boko Haram insurgency that has kept this nation on its knees for some years now. It is not that the foreign dimension to terrorism is new. It is not. The experience of countries grappling with it has always shown the cross boarder angle to the debilitating scourge.

It has not been different in the Nigerian situation despite attempts by some apologists to play down this angle to the festering problem. The military had always drawn attention to the difficulty in taming the menace because of the relative ease with which suspects flee to neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Because of the affinity in culture, language and ethnicity between these countries and zone that hosts the insurgents it has been pretty difficult to differentiate between Nigerian members of the insurgent group and foreign mercenaries.

The government has also been hesitant to accuse the leadership of some of these countries of complicity in this guerrilla warfare.

But increasingly, it is dawning on us all that unless we get a good handle to this dimension of Boko Haram insurgency, the battle to stamp it out of our shores may turn out an exercise in wishful thinking.

Already, there have been attempts to chide the military for lacking the sophisticated hardware and capacity to successfully conclude the battle and save the lives of innocent citizens that are regularly slaughtered in these senseless onslaughts.

It was apparently on account of such frustrations that the Borno state governor Kashim

‘These countries cannot possibly feign ignorance of the movement and storage of the sophisticated military hardware at the disposal of the insurgents.

It is also instructive from all these that the terror group means business and is very well funded’

E

Emeka OMEIHE 08112662675 email: EmekaOmeihe@yahoo.com

Foreign neighbors and Boko Haram Shettima recently took swipes on the military. His grouse borders on the relative ease with which the sect has been operating and killing innocent people in his state in the last few days. And the renewed killings have been very frequent and deadly.

But even as the debate on the capacity of the military to rise to the challenge is yet to abate, reports of the seeming complicity of Cameroon has featured very prominently. In the last couple of weeks, the media have been awash with reports linking that country either directly or indirectly with complicity in the Boko Haram debacle. In the face of this, the Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, David Paradang came up with the shocking story that our borders are perpetually open and lack effective control.

The first report had it that a leader of the sect Ibn Mohammed Abubakar wrote to President Paul Biya of Cameroon complaining against incessant attacks on its members by their forces. He was further said to have threatened to levy war on that country if its forces continue to lend support to the federal government’s military campaign. The sect leader according to a Cameroonian daily was piqued by a joint operation which the Nigerian troops and those from Cameroon conducted in a boarder town of Limani.

A few days later, there was another report that the same country was not cooperating with Nigerian troops in this battle and that has made it difficult for our troops to pursue fleeing insurgents into Cameroonian villages.

What is certain from these reports is the fact that our neighboring African countries have a key role to play if we must win this war.

This fact is not in doubt. From accounts of

VERY year, the world faces the scourge of human trafficking which traumatizes the existence of man and threatens global development. A 2004 US State Department’s data reveals that more than 800,000 women and children are trafficked yearly across the world. Similarly, United Nations (UN) statistics indicates that 4million human beings are trafficked globally and domestically on a yearly basis.

Women and children account for 80% of cases of human trafficking. It has reached such a widespread level that the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime was adopted by the UN General Assembly resolution 55/25 of 15th November, 2000, as the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime. Nigeria and other nations are signatories to this UN Conventions and other Protocols such as Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). These Conventions guarantee right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose one`s residence, right to a decent work, right to freedom from slavery, right against torture and /or submission to other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The UN depicts human trafficking as the conscription, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercive methods, of abduction, of fraud of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. This universal boom of forced labour, human trafficking and violation of women and children’s rights is quite disturbing. It is a contemporary form of slavery, which regrettably, is being aided by technology, communication and transportation as well as high global demand for cheap labour and commercial sex workers. Consequently, tackling such a growing illicit industry demands better strategies because of its well organized structure.

In-spite of available domestic and global legal instruments, human trafficking has remained a profitable venture which conventionally rakes in huge earnings of about $10 billion annually. Like it is with drug trafficking, our nation is highly ranked in the business of human trafficking, serving as origination, transition and destination points. At the moment, many Nigerian women and girls are being ferried abroad under various pretexts only to end up as prostitutes, domestic servants, slaves and destitute. Not only is Nigeria a major base for human trafficking to Europe, America and Asia, it is also an intermediary point for some West Africa countries such as Benin Republic, Togo, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Mali among others. Within the country, the bulk of household servants are under aged children recruited from such States

most of the attacks that have been recorded, these onslaughts are planned and executed from outside the shores of this country.

We hear of their sophistication in weaponry. We hear of insurgents armed with such deadly weapons as armored personnel carriers, anti aircraft batteries and rocket propelled grenades. There is also the surprise dimension and the quick disappearance into the thin air immediately after these attacks.

Even with the aid of fighter jets, it is still very difficult to trace the sources of these attacks.

But very regularly, the military speak of their escapades and constraints while pursuing insurgents into neighboring countries.

Even as it has become obvious that our foreign neighbors provide safe heavens to these terrorists, not much has been heard from the government on efforts to partner with them to stamp out this senseless war.

The impression fast gaining ground is that the federal government is tepid in its handling of this dimension to the Boko Haram menace. This impression must not be allowed to take root. It is also very instructive that of the north-eastern states entangled in these attacks and killings, all share boarders with these African countries. Does this not instruct that concrete steps must be taken to engage them on ways out of the debacle?

Is the relative ease with which insurgents attack and flee without being caught not sufficient signal that this battle cannot be won without the cooperation of Chad, Niger and Cameroon? And if we cannot secure the confidence of these countries, is it not high time we secured our boarders firmly such that cannot permit of the kind of cross

boarder movements that have aided and abetted this crisis?

These are some of the issues that have been brought to the fore by the conflicting reports on the roles of these countries in the nation’s fight against terrorism.

Take the case of Cameroon which the sect purportedly threatened to levy war against if it obstructs it or cooperates with the Nigerian troops in fighting it. If this report is true, one or two inferences can be made. It is either that government had all this while shut its eyes to the atrocities of the sect for some inexplicable reasons or it had no information on their activities. It could also be a subterfuge for Cameroon to refuse doing the needful in ensuring that its grounds are not used to carry out attacks in this country. They may have even simulated that report to give the false impression that the threat has imposed restrictions on the kind of support that country could give the Nigeria government. This is more so with the current focus on the role of neighboring countries in sustaining the scourge of terrorism.

Whatever it is, the crucial role which Cameroon and other neighbors can play to decisively tame this monster is no longer in doubt. It is now certain that we must get a clear handle to this dimension for these senseless killings to be contained. That is the real issue now.

These countries cannot possibly feign ignorance of the movement and storage of the sophisticated military hardware at the disposal of the insurgents. It is also instructive from all these that the terror group means business and is very well funded. This contrasts sharply with some of the patronizing perspectives usually adduced on these shores on the root cause of the Bobo Haram insurgency.

The poor cannot afford the sophistication in armament and training which the sect has been ascribed. The poor cannot afford armored personnel carriers and the enormous logistic support that have been put into this useless battle. So Boko Haram has very strong backing both within our shores and outside of it. Those from within can be handled but not the ones outside our shores without parternering with the host countries. That is the direction to go if we must win the war against terrorism.

But our boarders must be highly secured such that it will be easy to differentiate between citizens of those counties and Nigerians in those areas. At the moment, such a difference does not exist.

Tackling menace of human trafficking

By Lateef Ibirogba as of Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Ebonyi, Kano and Kaduna.

Concerned by the rising drift of human trafficking in the country, the Federal Government established the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related Matters (NAPTIP) in 2003. The Agency, a creation of Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act, 2003, is the Federal Government’s official response to tackling the blight of human trafficking. It also fulfils the country’s international obligation under the trafficking in persons protocol supplementing the Transnational Organized Crime Convention (TOC) of which Nigeria is a signatory. In 2010, NAPTIP recorded 5000 victims, provided care for 1,109 human trafficking victims and prosecuted over a hundred cases. Sadly, this act really undervalues the scale of human trafficking issue in Nigeria.

To truly deal with the scourge in Nigeria, Federal Government needs to put up a data base that provides universal details and methodical examination of human trafficking cases in the country. It is only in doing this that we can really evolve a structure for the precise breakdown that is required in limiting the current trend of human trafficking in the country. Likewise, government ought to wield sufficient political will to execute human trafficking laws in such a way that discourages the usual custom of sacred cows in the country.

Equally, there is a serious need for the law to be strengthened in order to avoid being unduly exploited by the high and the mighty.

Governments across the country need to execute policies that will ensure that the vulnerable in the society are not in any way manipulated by the powerful people. This is why it is vital that all levels of government in the country evolve programmes that would economically empower different categories of Nigerians, especially those that are more likely to be victims of human trafficking.

Aside this, every agency involved in policing the nation’s international and local borders need to be re-oriented and efficiently empowered to perform this onerous and sacred duty. It has been claimed, in some quarters, that the porous nature of our borders is partly responsible for the current state of insecurity in the country. This must be addressed.

Considering its nature as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, and indeed West Africa, Lagos, without doubt, has its own experience of this inhuman business. However, in its characteristic systematic approach to issues, the State Government has evolved an holistic strategy to tackle this menace headlong. For one, it has put in place several empower-

ment schemes for different categories of Lagosians in order to forestall the idle hands syndrome. There are several skill acquisition centres across the state where women and children could acquire useful skills that would make them become economically independent and therefore, less susceptible to exploitation.

Additionally, the State has on ground a structure for the rehabilitation of casualties of human trafficking, rape, child abuse, domestic violence and other related evils. This, it has done with the establishment of the Home for Victims of Domestic violence and Human Trafficking in Ayobo, Ipaja area of the state. At the home, victims of several inhuman treatments are provided with conducive environment that serves as ‘home away from home. The home offers them free medical services, food, clothing and, perhaps, more significantly, an opportunity to surmount their ordeal. To stem the tide of human trafficking and other such dastardly acts, the State is currently implementing a well planned public education drive across the state, making use of various media.

To say human trafficking is criminal is begging the issue because it is dehumanizing, it is evil. It is man’s inhumanity against man and thus, requires a louder voice against it and a more concerted effort to stop it. It is utterly confounding and shows an absolute lack of conscience that anyone could consider trading in fellow human beings as a means of livelihood. We must, therefore, not subject our world to a second form of slavery as a famous American actor, D’Andre Lampkin once said, because to look away and pretend that it is a small problem, is to encourage the perpetrators to be more vicious in this heinous act. God bless Nigeria.

• Ibirogba is the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy.

‘Governments across the country need to execute policies that will ensure that the vulnerable in the society are not in any way manipulated by the powerful people. This is why it is vital that all levels of government in the country evolve programmes that would economically empower different categories of Nigerians, especially those that are more likely to be victims of human trafficking’

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

23

25

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

We want a SONCAP programme that would serve its purpose; a programme that would be dynamic, where all the identified loopholes would be effectively plugged thereby making it difficult for the plaque of substandard products to continue to dominate the Nigerian business space.

-Dr Joseph Odumodu, DG, SON

ISSUES

THE CEO

Is allocation of 445,000bpd to NNPC justified? - P. 35

‘Nigeria is a force in advertising’ - P. 28

News Briefing Airfares fall to competition COMPETITION is forcing domestic carriers to lower air fares on triangular routes, investigation has revealed.

–Page 26

Oil workers criticise new payroll OIL workers have warned the Federal Government to halt the planned implementation of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in the oil and gas sector, describing it as not conformable.

–Page 26

‘Why buildings insurance is failing’ DESPITE efforts by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to implement the insurance on public buildings under the Insurance Act of 2003, not much has been achieved in the implementation or enforcement of this provision, Managing Director, Niger Insurance Plc, Mr Kola Adedeji has said.

–Page 29

Share prices crash as investors dump equities

E

QUITIES slumped to their lowest prices at the weekend in a twoday losing streak that highlighted investors’ fears about the possible negative spillovers from the Thursday’s suspension of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Market considerations of most equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) crashed to their low on Friday. The two-day loss that started on Thursday wiped off earlier sustained gains between Monday and Wednesday and left the market with a negative week-on-week loss of 1.22 per cent, about N126 billion.

The decline at the weekend brought equities to a threemonth low, traced back to November 20, 2013.

From the banking to manufacturing to downstream oil sectors, most leading equities slipped to their lowest prices this year at the

By Taofik Salako

weekend. Most banking stocks fell to their lowest market considerations. In spite of the announcement of its group managing director, Mr Godwin Emefiele, as the new CBN governor designate, Zenith Bank’s share price slipped to a low of N19.90 per share. Guaranty Trust Bank, the most capitalised banking stock, also declined to a low of N23.67 per share. FBN Holdings closed at a low of N11.99 while UBA slumped to N6.70.

Share prices of multinationals, which usually feature largely in portfolios of foreign investors, highlighted the panic among foreign portfolio investors. Guinness Nigeria, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Nestle Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria and Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria hit the bottom at N168.90, N82.50, N1,100, N48 and N105.1 respectively.

Other stocks that stooped to year-to-date low included

Okomu Oil Palm, N38.40; UAC of Nigeria, N67.01; Dangote Sugar Refinery, N10.74; Honeywell Flour Mills, N3.50; Vitafoam Nigeria, N4.10; Access Bank, N7.91; Diamond Bank, N6.10; Wema Bank, 95 kobo; Mansard Insurance, N2.19; FCMB Group, N3.30; Evans Medical, N2.57; Ashaka Cement, N17.96 and MRS Oil and Gas, which closed at a year-to-date low of N54.44 per share.

Besides, several stocks closed at the day’s lowest price, underlining the fears that the downtrend may persist in the days ahead. These included Dangote Cement, Julius Berger Nigeria, PZ Cussons Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, Skye Bank, Forte Oil, Conoil, Mobil Oil Nigeria, Total Nigeria, University Press and Nigeria Aviation Handling Company (Nahco).

Some stocks however indicated possible rebound. Nigerian Breweries bounced back from the day’s low of N142.60 to close at N145 while Ecobank Transnational

Incorporated (ETI) also recovered from the day’s low of N13.11 to close at N13.80.

Between Thursday and Friday, investors lost N354 billion as sell pressures overwhelmed market’s demand capacity. Investors lost N167 billion at the weekend, in addition to N187 billion loss that greeted the news of the suspension on Thursday.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities dropped to a low of N12.301 trillion at the weekend as against its week’s opening value of N12.427 trillion. The benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)-the All Share Index (ASI), indicated a daily average decline of 1.34 per cent at the weekend, bringing the decline since Thursday to 2.81 per cent.

The ASI, which tracks the values of all quoted companies on the NSE and as such serves as country index for Nigeria, had declined by 1.47 per cent on Thursday. The ASI closed weekend at a low index point of 38,295.74

COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$117.4/barrel Cocoa -$2,686.35/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,396.9/troy Sugar -$163/lb MARKET CAPITALISATIONS -N11.4 trillion

JSE

-Z5.112trillion

NYSE

-$10.84 trillion

LSE

-£61.67 trillion RATES

Inflation

-8%

Treasury Bills -10.58%(91d) Maximum lending -30% Prime lending

-15.87%

Savings rate

-1%

91-day NTB

-15%

Time Deposit

-5.49%

MPR

-12%

Foreign Reserve

$45b

FOREX CFA

-0.2958

EUR

-206.9

£

-242.1

$

-156

¥

-1.9179

SDR

-238

RIYAL

-40.472

Oil workers criticise new payroll

By Akinola Ajibade & Toba Agboola

O

DATA STREAM

NSE

points as against its week’s opening index of 38,397.09 points.

Prior to the suspension on Thursday, equities had built up strong bullish rally. Aggregate market value of all equities at the NSE had witnessed sustained rally between Monday and Wednesday. It opened the week at N12.427 trillion and built up successively to N12.528 trillion, N12.530 trillion and N12.655 trillion on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. The ASI had also sustained steady rally prior to the reversal on Thursday.

ASI opened at 38,767.29 points and built up to 38,964.75 points, 38,972.56 points and 39,397.09 points within the first three trading days.

•Kwara State Governor Alhaji Abdu-Fatah Ahmed flanked by Mr Charles Igbinidu (left), MD TPT International; Mr. Andrew Enahoro, Head, Legal/PR; Chief Keith Richards, MD/CEO Promasidor Nigeria; Mr Femi Oyewusi, Director, Shonga Farms and Mr Irvine Reid, MD of Rosedale Farms during a visit to the governor by the management of Promasidor Nigeria and Rosedale Farms in Ilorin.

NEXIM disburses N30.9b to boost non-oil exports

N

IGERIAN Export-Im port Bank (NEXIM) said it disbursed N30.93 billion and credit guarantees worth $27.30 million to indigenous exporters to boost non-oil exports between August and December last year.

Its Managing Director, Robert Orya said this year alone, N9.38 billion has been disbursed to targeted sectors of the economy including manufacturing, agro-allied, solid minerals, and services sectors.

He said over 20,000 direct jobs and several other indirect employments had also

• Creates over 21,000 jobs

By Toba Agboola

been generated and sustained through the bank’s operational interventions between 2009 till date.

He said N1.82 billion had beeen recovered from its nonperforming loan (NPL) portfolio, adding that the bank is constrained by low level of interbank funding operations and unpaid share capital subscription .

Orya said to develop the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) market, NEXIM Bank launched the

ECOWAS Trade Support Facility (ETSF) to reduce the level of informal trade and encourage the small scale exporters to use the banking system to leverage their operations.

He said the bank was crafting new strategic objectives to enable it have a market focus and become a major contributor to non-oil exports.

He expressed confidence in the country’s ability to meet its development goals.

Recently, NEXIM Bank formed a synergy with Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

During the meeting, Orya said NEXIM is facilitating the Sealink Project, which will culminate in the establishment of a shipping company to own and operate oceangoing vessels to boost trade within the West and Central Africa.

He invited the NEPC to cooperate with NEXIM in making this project a success, adding that an Investment Memorandum to raise the take-off grant of $60million has been prepared in English and French and the private placement is expected to open before the end of January.

IL workers have warned the Federal Government to halt the planned implementation of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in the oil and gas sector, describing it as not conformable.

Speaking against the backdrop of a deadline by the Office of the AccountantGeneral of the Federation to some agencies in the industry, the workers said if the government insists on imposing the IPPIS, they would shut it down.

Speaking in Lagos at the weekend, the President of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), Babatunde Ogun and the National Public Relations Officer, Comrade Seyi Gambo, said the government agencies were operating an International Financial Reporting System (IFRS) and there was no need to introduce a new one.

Ogun noted that the current system is easy and makes auditing of personnel possible.

He said: “We, PENGASSAN, have written to the Ministers of Petroleum Resources, and Labour and Productivity, as well as the Accountant-General of the Federation on our reservations about the planned implementation of the IPPIS policy in our industry. We are against our industry being used a guinea pig to try all forms of policies that is not working in other industry,” he said.

Gambo explained that the new system has some defects.

“The IPPIS does not include allowances that are pre-determined because of their technical nature.”

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

26

BUSINESS NEWS Flight Schedule

‘Cement price may rise’

MONDAY - FRIDAY LAGOS – ABUJA Departure Arrival 1. Aero 06.50 08.10 2. Associated 07.00 09.30 3. Air Nigeria 07.00 08.20 4. IRS 07.00 08.20 5. Dana 07.02 08.22 6. Arik 07.15 08.15 7. Chanchangi 07.15 8. Air Nigeria 08.15 09.35 9. Dana 08.10 09.20 10. Aero 08.45 10.05 11. Arik 09.15 10.15 12. Chanchangi 10.00 11.00 13. IRS 11.15 12.35 14. Dana 12.06 12.26 15. Aero 12.20 13.30 16. Air Nigeria 13.25 14.45 17. Chanchangi 13.30 14.30 18. Arik 13.45 14.45 19. IRS 14.00 15.20 20. Aero 14.10 15.30 21. Air Nigeria 14.50 16.10 22. Dana 15.30 16.50 23. Chanchangi 15.30 16.30 24. Arik 15.50 16.50 25. Aero 16.00 17.20 26. IRS 16.30 17.50 27. Arik 16.50 17.50 28. Dana 17.10 18.30 29. Chanchangi 17.30 18.30 30. Air Nigeria 17.35 18.55 31. Air Nigeria (T/TH) 18.30 19.50 32. Arik 18.45 19.45 33. Aero 19.20 20.40 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

LAGOS – BENIN Arik 07.30 Associated 08.30 Aero 10.50 Arik 11.45 Associated 13.00 Aero 14.25 Arik 15.30 Associated 16.00

1.

2.

3.

4.

Arik Aero Arik Aero

1. Arik 2. Aero 1.

2.

3.

4.

LAGOS – CALABAR 07.30 11.20 12.50 16.00 LAGOS – JOS 10.55 11.15

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

08.30 09.10 11.50 12.45 13.40 15.20 16.30 16.40 08.50 12.40 14.10 17.20

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

08.40 08.40 14.55 15.10 17.40

1.

2.

3.

4.

Arik Aero Arik Aero

LAGOS – WARRI 08.15 11.50 11.55 14.55

09.1 12.50 12.55 15.55

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

LAGOS – KANO Air Nigeria 07.10 IRS 08.00 Dana 08.10 Arik 12.20 IRS 14.00 IRS 18.15

08.50 09.45 09.40 14.00 15.45 19.55

LAGOS – OWERRI 07.20 14.00 16.30

08.30 15.10 17.40

LAGOS – UYO 10.35

11.35

LAGOS – MAIDUGURI 1. IRS 11.15 13.15 2. Arik 15.50 18.00 LAGOS – ILORIN 1. Overland 07.15 2. Arik (M/T/TH/F) 17.30

A

• From left: Managing Director, GTI Securities, Mr. Tunde Oyekunle; President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Ariyo Olushekun; Group Managing Director, GTI Capital, Mr. Abubakar Lawal and 1st Vice President, CIS, Mr. Emmanuel Ohanwusi during the visit of the council of CIS to Nigeria’s first private trading floor built by GTI Securities in Lagos.

Airfares fall to competition

C

OMPETITION is forcing do mestic carriers to lower air fares on triangular routes, investigation has revealed.

The triangular routes include Lagos-Abuja, Lagos-Port Harcourt and Lagos-Calabar.

Investigations by The Nation reveal that there is significant reduction in fares charged by some operators on the Lagos-Abuja route, which has dropped from about N28,000 and

08.00 18.00

LAGOS – ABUJA SAT/SUN Arik 7.15; 10.20; 2.20; 5.20pm – 7.30; 9.15; 10.20; 2.20; 4.50; 6.45 Aero 07.30; 09.35; 13.10; 14.50; 20.20 – 07.30; 09.35; 13.10; 14.50; 20.20 Air Nigeria 08.15; 14.30; 17.15; 18.30 – 08.15; 13.30; 14.30; 17.15; 18.30

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

N30,000, depending on the time of booking and paying for the flight to about N14,600 and N17,000.

Some carriers on the same route are offering fares as low as N12,600 on the same route if the ticket is purchased online.

Airlines involved in this competition include are Aero Airlines, Dana Air , Medview Airlines as well

as Arik Air. On the Lagos-Port Harcourt route, air fares have also dropped from N24,000 to about N18,000 and less, depending on the time of the day the ticket is purchased.

But fares on some routes classified as secondary airports have not experienced significant reduction These routes are Lagos-Yola, Kaduna, Jos, Gombe, Benin , Ilorin and Uyo.

COALITION of civil society and professional bodies, said some stakeholders were hoarding the product to cause scarcity and ultimately, push up its price.

The coalition spokesperson, Mr. Tunde Ojo, said at the weekend, that the step was aimed at blackmailing the Federal Government and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), into slowing down on their resolve to standardise the product.

He said: “It is very unfortunate that this is happening in this part of the world. The activities of these unpatriotic groups have resulted in the hike of price of the product in various parts of the country and if not quickly cautioned or checked, this will lead to an abnormal price increase for cement.”

Ojo said the Federal Government had to move fast and checkmate those elements that do not care about the ordinary Nigerians but their profits.

“The fact that a large chunk of their profits are siphoned abroad is a serious act of economic sabotage,” he added.

The price disruptive action of these undesirable elements is even creating more problems because the timing of their activities, is coinciding with the peak of the construction season, considering the fact that the rains will come in full force in two months from now,” he said.

Commodity exchange vital to economic growth, says Sambo

By Chikodi Okereocha

09.10 11.00 11.10 16.20

LAGOS – OWERRI Aero 07.30 Arik 07.30 Air Nigeria 13.40 Arik 14.00 Arik 16.30

1. Dana

Asst. Editor

12.15 12.45

LAGOS – PORT HARCOURT (CIVIL) 1. Aero 07.15 08.35 2. Arik 07.15 08.35 3. Arik 09.00 10.20 4. Dana 09.27 10.40 5. Aero 10.50 12.30 6. Arik 11.40 13.00 7. Air Nigeria 12.00 13.10 8. IRS 13.30 15.00 9. Arik 14.00 15.20 10. Dana 15.03 16.20 11. Air Nigeria 16.00 17.10 12. Arik 16.10 17.30 13. Aero 16.15 17.30 14. Arik 17.10 18.30

1. Arik 2. Arik 3. Arik

By Chikodi Okereocha,

• Sambo

T

HE commodity exchange market is critical to the eco nomic growth and development of any nation, as it serves as the ultimate platform for trading and marketing various agricultural produce and commodities, the Vice President, Nnamadi Sanbo, has said.

Sambo, who spoke at the Bureau of Public Enterprises’ (BPEs’), Stakeholders’ Workshop for the Privatisation of Nigeria Commodity Exchange in Lagos, said the event was necessary for the successful delivery of the Exchange’s privatisation.

The workshop, organised in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and other relevant government agencies, was declared open by a member of the technical committee of the NCP and representative of the Vice President, Emmanuel Ijewere.

It has as theme, ‘Towards Achieving Best Standards and Practices in the Nigerian Commodity Exchange Market,’.

Ijewere said it was aimed at providing a platform for key stakeholders to discuss critical success factors that would drive robust commodity exchange operations in Nigeria, adding that the workshop seeks to entrench best standards and practices in Nigeria’s commodity

exchange operations.

He said: “Apart from strengthening local production with these inputs, it is the earnest aspiration of this administration to place Nigeria on the global economic score card as a nation that has internationalised its revamp mechanism and regional economic prowess through non-oil exports,” adding that it was in a bid to achieve this goal that the NCP approved the recommendation by the Steering Committee on the revitalisation of the Exchange to commence its privatisation.

“This economic reform strategy is not just aimed at attracting private sector investment, innovations and management, it is also to enhance competition in the post-privatisation era and usher in a framework under which infrastructure, like silos and warehousing facilities, a modern trading platform and state-of-the-art information technology; regulatory and compliance framework; commodity grades and standards can be attained.”

Sambo noted that revitalising the Nigeria Commodity Exchange would “enhance employment creation that will engage the country’s teeming youth population, boost economic growth through non-oil exports, and improve tax collection as a veritable source of revenue. It would also contribute meaningfully towards strengthening the nation’s foreign exchange reserves and the naira, and improve cross-border risk rating in foreign direct investments in the sector”.

He said the government expects a gathering of key stakeholders to, among others, address how liquidity could be made available to farmers with the operationality of the Warehouse Receipt Syatem (WRS) and other bankable arrangements for which an Executive Bill is pending in the National Assembly; how market and price information could be accessed by produce buyers, farmers and dealers as a catalyst for competitive pricing and checking unethical market practices.

Sambo said the gathering is expected to address the issue of how grades and standards in the nation’s commodity

exchange market could receive facelifts for the economy to conform to international standards organisation (ISO) rating as far as commodity exchange operations are concerned; how operation of warehouses and silos could be liberalised and standardised to attract private investments and introduce international best practices into their management.

BPE’s Director-General, Benjamin Dikki, pointed out that in a nation like Nigeria where there is huge agricultural potentials, the need for a virile commodity exchange is critical.

“The giant strides that are being recorded in the agricultural sector needs to be complemented by a functional commodity exchange. This would undoubtedly add value to the economic value chain as it would pave way for competitiveness and stability in pricing of agricultural produce and commodities, as information would be available to market participants on sustained basis through modern information technology infrastructure; storage facilities like warehouses and silos would be available thus serving as storage facilities for the produce and commodities until they are sold through mutually beneficial contract.”

Dikki also said that vast liquidity potentials would be available to farmers as warehouse receipts become tradable and negotiable; the commodity exchange sector would be guided by with the enactment into law of the Warehouse Receipt Bill and market rules to be introduced by an independent regulatory body to be set up, among others.

“These key reform deliverables will usher in a revitalisation of the exchange, which has remained inactive since inception, reposition and enhance its market value both in the period preceding its privatisation as approved by government and afterwards, thus making it attractive to the private sector,” the BPE boss stated, describing the workshop as “one of the landmark activities under the reform agenda of the Federal Government.”

Since its establishment in 1998 as part of efforts at developing the Nigerian Capital Market and with an initial primary objective of dealing in securities trading,

ASCE (now Nigeria Commodity Exchange) has been bogged by operational challenges.

Dr. Vincent Akpotaire, Acting Director, National Facilities & Agricultural Resources, BPE, listed some of the challenges hampering the ability of the exchange to deliver on its mandate to include poor funding and stakeholders’ buy-in, lack of enabling legal and regulatory framework, erosion of shareholders’ funds, poor sensitisation mechanism, and absence of trading platform/infrastructure, absence of WRS, and electronic warehouse receipt system (e-WRS).

Akpotaire was, however, pointed out that in spite of the numerous challenges, “the exchange could indeed, be the ‘beautiful bride’ through value addition to the agricultural value chain, enhancement of export of produce and commodities.”

He said as part of government’s commitment to strengthen the operations of the exchange, a Steering Committee was constituted to recommend the best options for revitalising its operation.

Also, the BPE, as part of its normal reform and stakeholders engagement framework, has embarked on active liaison with various stakeholders on ways of revamping the operations of the exchange. Some of the entities, he said, include the World Bank, African Development Bank, indigenous banks, Strategic Grains Reserves Department, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and ASCE management.

The National Assembly is waiting to give the privatisation of the exchange the enabling legal and regulatory backing. The Executive Bill is in its second reading, with Senator Olugbenga Obadara, Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, assuring that the Senate would expedite action on its passage once it goes through the necessary legislative process.

A communiqué is expected at the end of the workshop.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

27

THE CEO With its 160 million population, Nigeria is a fertile ground for advertising. The country, Mr Steve Babaeko, Chief Creativity Officer, X3M Ideas says has what it takes to hold its own against others in the trade. Many foreign advertising agencies, he tells ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI, in this interview, are looking down on their Nigerian counterparts in ignorance.

‘Nigeria is a force in advertising’ A

T the local and global levels, advertising business continues to dip. Yet agencies are multiplying. What are the issues shaping the industry?

We will find that out in the next five years when mergers and acquisitions must have happened. Having hundreds of agencies when there are few accounts is like covering ourselves in borrowed robes. There must be business and accounts to work on for the industry to survive, that is why we must come together and reason. Let’s start with the recession. If you look at the multinationals and if you take your mind back to about 10 years ago, the multinationals were the big spenders, those were the people that were breaking the big campaigns. The recession was global and of course, affected them at the local level as well, even though it didn’t quite shake Nigeria as much as it hit Europe and America. This is because we are not a credit based economy. So, what you have seen is that the landscape has changed a bit, and it is true that the business has changed because budget has reduced, clients have become wiser.

Therefore, clients are now asking agencies to do a rethink and it’s not about being able to spend big budget now, but with the little budget you have what can you do for us. I think agencies are a little bit finding it difficult to cope with this new trend.

Now, agencies that used to do pretty good in the past because they had big budgets to manage, now find it difficult, because the client is demanding so much with little budget. You have to be more strategic and think outside the box. In fact, these days there are no boxes anywhere. Agencies that cannot adapt to the new reality of the day will definitely feel the negative impact of the new reality.

X3M has earned credit for its works, what is your creative mindset?

Again, I will give credit to 141 because that’s my alma mater. I was the pioneer Creative Director for seven years and I love that agency with all my heart. I also love Noah’s Ark ad agency too. Honestly, if there is any head of agency that has called today to congratulate us during our anniversary last year, it was Mr. Lanre Adisa of Noah’s Ark. I think advertising is going back to its roots because at some point in the history/evolution of this industry, this misconception came up that it is only the client service people that could run advertising business.

They formed this stereotype that creative people are not good business managers and everybody bought the lies. So, they took control of running the business but if you look back in the history of advertising, David Ogilvy was a copy writer; the Ogilvy global advertising network is still thriving after the man’s transition. The Bill Bernbachs, Ogilvys of this world were creative people and they founded and ran successful agencies like DDB et al. The agencies have stood the test of time.

I think something happened when all of a sudden, you want to do great work but the people running the business don’t quite understand the importance of creativity.

I worked in different agencies for 18 years and nobody sent me to Cannes, there is no way you can develop yourself and keep yourself up-to-date in advertising if you don’t go to Cannes. Cannes is like a world cup for

• Babaeko

Profile Institutions attended

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Qualification

BA, Drama Arts.

Previous position

Creative/Business Director, 141-Worldwide; Copy Manager, Prima Garnet Ogilvy.

Present position

Chief Executive Officer/Chief Creativity Officer, X3M Ideas.

Experience

Over 19 years.

advertising. That is where all the big players of the advertising world gather every year. If you intend to be a big player, or you hope to make any impact in this business you have to be in Cannes. So, I worked for

18 years and never went to Cannes, nobody thought it right to send me to Cannes.

The first Cannes I attended was in 2012 and I paid for myself. We started this business and in less than a year, our head of

‘The agencies that went into affiliations 10 to 15 years ago, it was like the main thing for them. It was easy money because the people you have affiliated with will bring the business and dump it on your laps and it was good while it lasted. The bubble got burst’

creativity just came back from Cannes. On his return, he told me “Steve, I now know what you have been telling us all this while.

We have not started in this business”. You see if you benchmark yourself against the local agencies, you are going to fail because this is not where the competition is, if you know what is happening in Brazil; the revolution that is happening in Brazil today you will be amazed; what India has done in the past decade is mind-blowing. Those are the places we are looking at and we are saying how do we benefit/ help ourselves to up the game and up the ante in this market. It was that dream that propelled us to start this business in the first place, not for the fame or the money or the title. Most of the time I don’t even remember I am the CEO of this company to be honest with you because there is just so much work to do. In 2013 alone we have shot close to 20 commercials, I doubt if there is any agency in this country that has done anything close to that number. The clients know that there is a different kind of thinking that we will bring to the table and that is what they are buying into.

Do you have any intention to have any global affiliation?

We have been approached by close to three international agencies wanting some kind of affiliation. I have nothing against affiliation. However, you look back at the his•Continued on page 28

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

28

THE CEO •Continued from page 27

tory, the agencies that went into affiliations 10-15 years ago, it was like the main thing for them. It was easy money because the people you have affiliated with will bring the business and dump it on your laps and it was good while it lasted. The bubble got burst and now it is accusations and counter-accusations by the parties to the affiliations – the local agencies are being accused of stabbing the global agency in the back while the global networks are being accused of wanting to swallow the local agency buy it out and chase it out of the business. Now everybody is running away from affiliations. I keep saying, personally I have nothing against it; the same thing I have told the three people who approached us is, “show me, put it on the table what are you going to do to make a difference to this company that we are not already doing, that will add value to my business, my stakeholders, my board members, my management team and staff. Show us and if you can’t show us anything different then leave us alone.

Affiliation to me must bring good value and not just adding another name as was the fashion. It’s like you are married to a woman now who just had another name and carries this double barrel name, that is not what we want, we want value, it’s about value, what value are you bringing and don’t tell me you will train my people because we can do so. Our head of human resources (HR) just came back from Johannesburg on HR training. Who in advertising even send any HR person anywhere in this country? Few if any! We train our people and it’s all about training and retraining. Our position is that you are as good as your people. If we fail to train we will not be able to compete in the business and that is why we invest heavily, the margin is not much but out of the little we have, we invest a lot, we train our people. While we have nothing against affiliation, we will not go into affiliation for affiliation’s sake.

Part of the things that drove us to start this business is that, we can be the one giving out the affiliation? Why must we even travel to Europe, America and South Africa to say we want to affiliate you? Why can’t I build X3M Ideas into an organization that agencies from Benin republic, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo would want to be affiliated with? Why must I be the one going out there looking for affiliation? Those are the part of nationalistic instincts that are driving us to believe we can build a solid local agency that knows the terrain of this market; that knows this business and can prove a point to the world that we can do it as well.

What is your opinion on Nigerian agencies?

All can see that the relationship between the international agencies that want to come in here and the local agencies is not really sincere at the moment. Some key players who have the affiliations are dumping them and some other people who are not just as good are taking them up. So, at that level, to be honest with you, this is my own opinion, I don’t even care for any of those big networks who look for affiliations in Nigeria but do not care about Nigeria, I stand to be corrected.

I don’t think they care much about us; they are still looking more towards the Asia because there is that ignorance about Africa, they don’t think that any good can come out of Nazareth because they still think we are not there. I mean for a population of 160 million? Nobody can ignore this country; we have our challenges as a country but this country is still a giant on this continent and they ignore us out of ignorance because a company like X3M will continue to do what we set out to do and by God’s grace we will continue to grow in strength and then by the time they finally open their eyes they will see that the landscape has changed and a new crop of advertising entrepreneur has emerged.

Talking about the level of creativity, why are we yet to make impact in international awards like Cannes?

I think there is politics everywhere. It is not impossible that the politics of awards also exists in Cannes, but beyond that I don’t think the problem is with our creative output. I believe the problem is the packaging of that creative output for that award. There is a format for it; as I speak with you for this company (X3M), we are understudying agencies that have won and how they packaged their entries is a different thing. Packaging the entry is as big an issue as the ad itself you are entering; it is like if there is a wedding there is a dress

‘Nigeria is a force in advertising’

• Babaeko

code and if you refused to adhere to that dress code they probably won’t let you in, so you have already disqualified yourself because apart from having good material how you package will go a long way to help. We can’t keep screaming foul when India is winning, Brazil is winning, there has to be something we are doing wrong until we are able to crack that, I think we are still going to be disadvantaged a little bit. So, to that extent we are working hard to see that in the nearest future, in fact, before the next three years a Nigerian agency will win and I am so optimistic about that.

What is the cost of entry?

To be honest, if you are serious about this business it can be bearable. Again, it is still the mentality of the suit and creative people. If you go to Noah’s Ark, they won’t tell you that there is any expenses too much to enter an award because that agency is headed by a creative person. The same thing here. We will participate, but it’s just that for the whole generations that is ahead advertising entrepreneurs because the reason for setting up the business is slightly different - subsistence business for me and my family let’s just eat and be happy. It takes a different dimension, we want to take

this business seriously by participating in these awards, we see it as a major part of development. Our absence on the awards scene probably explains why the people we affiliate to don’t even take us seriously because we are not showing on the radar when it comes to the global mapping of people who have won awards and until we begin to win award we will not count much to them as an industry.

How do you rate the AAAN LAIF advertising awards?

They say half loaf is better than none. First and foremost, I think that engenders healthy competition where an agency will know that to be relevant in this local environment I have to enter my ad for LAIF and then be judged by an independent jury and they give us some kind of awards. You can begin to say which agencies in Nigeria are creative and which ones are not. It’s a good start but we need something better than that, we need to develop it to become even more competitive because I mean in the past few years it becomes a little too generous, we need to inject life into the award especially the organisation itself. The organisation needs to be pepped up. If you go to Cannes, you will understand what I am saying. So, there has to be improvements. Big

‘I don’t even care for any of those big networks who look for affiliations in Nigeria because but do not care about Nigeria, I stand to be corrected. I don’t think they care much about us; they are still looking more towards the Asia because there is that ignorance about Africa, they don’t think that any good can come out of Nazareth because they still think we are not there’

shout outs to AAAN for starting LAIF in the first place but I think after about five or six years, we need to take it to that next level.

What is X3M set out to do?

From day one, if you go to our website, it’s clear because we are set out to redefine advertising in Nigeria and it’s not going to be business as usual. We set up this place when we had no money. We used the little money we had and some of the loans we were able to secure to set up this place. As small as this place is, you can envisage the direction we are going, it’s not going to be the usual, we are very future forward. Our aim is to redefine the whole business of marketing communications and the way the whole business structure works in Nigeria. That is our agenda, and to be able to establish the fact that we are creative people, we have ideas, we are entrepreneurs and we can move the gospel of this new message, this new way of thinking, and this new way of doing this business combining both traditional and new digital media platforms. Combine them effectively to build value for the brands that are in our custody. We want to send that same message, that new way of thinking across West Africa in the nearest future and that is our dream.

You claim to be a digital agency, tell us some of the digital campaigns and their level of success in the last one year?

Example of digital stuffs we have done for our clients, the two big ones I can really talk about would be Etisalat and Diamond Bank. We contribute a lot to the content that you see on Etisalat and Diamond Bank. If you look at the banking landscape before and how Diamond Bank was playing, you will see that it is a totally different ball game in the past three to five months. If you look at their Facebook fan page it’s bolder at least in our estimation with about 30-40 per cent and if you look at their views on YouTube.

Before we started working with them there was none of their ads that has up to 100,000 views but today we are talking about 136,000 views the last time I checked and I haven’t even checked recently. So, that is how we have been able to run digital campaign. It’s strong because the media is fragmented. There are so many spaces fetching for attention, now the young people who don’t have time watching TV, they are either playing X-Box, playing games or they are on twitter or YouTube. Definitely they will have access to such contents. So, we have been able to meet them there and we have something that is called the “consumer footmark” which is our proprietary tool developed to help build our works - wherever the consumer goes we have to meet them and expose them to the messages of the clients. Those are the two clear examples I can give.

Your projections, are there any spin-off shops?

Right now, there are three businesses under this small building, we have X3M music, Zero degrees and we have X3M Ideas.

X3M music caters to the music arm that we have always worked on as part of our youth development programme. There are so many young people in this country who are extremely talented but nobody to help them and we are going to pick one or two that we think we can help and don’t forget you will always need music in advertising and because of our in road into the music industry they respect us and if we come out, we can always get talents because they already know we have a pedigree. Zero degrees is into production, I have always said this you can legislate by fiat and say nobody should use commercials out of this country that is by fiat but what are we doing internally to make sure that the production element is up to scratch and I am thinking about the level of production. A client cannot give you money to shoot a TV commercial and you turn in a substandard stuff. That will be totally unacceptable to us. To be able to do the right thing, we set up Zero degrees. We are going to be bringing in best practices into this country, bringing the best directors, bringing the best technical hands to develop our people and we start shooting commercials locally. The third one is we are going to go into experiential marketing in the second quarter of next year by the grace of God. Maybe we will be calling you to say, look this is our experiential arm. We want to be a one stop shop when it comes to marketing communication solutions giving strategy and giving creativity solutions for the brands and clients that we serve and so it is a journey that has started and we intend to take it a lot further.

29

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

THE NATION

BUSINESS INSURANCE

‘Why public buildings insurance policy is failing’

D

ESPITE efforts by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to implement the insurance on public buildings under the Insurance Act of 2003, not much has been achieved in the implementation or enforcement of this provision, Managing Director, Niger Insurance Plc, Mr Kola Adedeji has said.

Adedeji made this known while delivering a paper at the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) Members Evening hosted by Niger Insurance in Lagos.

He stated that the launching of the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI), which covers insurance of public building, did not yield the desired result.

To this end, the Niger chief said a multi-dimensional approach would be necessary to tackle the challenges.

He said that the regulator’s strategy was not working, confirmed

• NCRIB warns underwriters against unethical practices Stories by Omobola Tolu-Kusimo

the opinion of experts on compulsory insurance that it should be restricted to areas it is needed.

He stressed that problems associated with the insurance of public buildings cannot be divorced from that of the industry.

He recalled that NAICOM in one of its documents listed poor compliance culture, inadequate legislative and legal framework, poor public perception of NAICOM as a regulator and public resistance to insurance as threats to the industry.

He said: “The Insurance Act of 2003 made provisions for a number of compulsory insurances among which is the insurance of public buildings.

“Section 65 of the said Act states every public building shall be insured with a registered insurer against the hazards of collapse,

fire, earthquake, storm and flood.

The Act defines public buildings as tenement house, hostel and building occupied by a tenant, lodger or licensee. It also includes eateries, restaurants, internet cafes, shopping malls etc”.

He added that sanction for noncompliance with this provision is stated as a fine of N100, 000 and/ or imprisonment of one year.

He said insurance of public buildings is meant to provide an avenue for compensation to third parties and users of damaged properties, adding that all compulsory insurances, it provides a socio-economic function in the society.

He further said: “Rather than have new compulsory insurances, such as for buildings under construction, occupier’s liability, and

insurances of public buildings lumped under the Insurance Act, it would have been more pragmatic to have a separate Act of parliament for each and every one of them.

“Each of these Acts would then provide relevant enforcement agencies though the benefits on the long run accrue to the insurance industry in form of increasing patronage and growth. In the case of the insurance of public buildings, all states physical planning authorities should be empowered to enforce the provisions of the Act.” Meanwhile, the President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) Ayodapo Shoderu, has criticised underwriters for unethical practices.

He said the sub-sector is endangered by the activities of some un-

derwriters who subvert brokers on their accounts.

He noted that what such unethical underwriters do is to go back to woo clients brought in contact with them by brokers, even when the account being covered by the company was still running.

Shoderu said this practice is not only unwholesome, but capable of snuffing life out of brokers, with its grave implications on the national economy.

He said the council has taken the issue up with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA).

Shoderu called on brokers to disassociate themselves from those who have been soliciting membership for a parallel broking body, stressing that the NCRIB is the only body saddled with the registration of insurance brokers.

Guinea Insurance restrategises •Makes N50m profit

G

UINEA Insurance Plc is restrategising to tap from from the enormous opportunities in the energy sector, its Chairman, Sir Emeka Offor has said.

He spoke at the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos.

He announced that the firm’s gross premium income hit N1.2 billion in its 2012 financial year, from N889 million the previous year.

The underwriting firm, however, posted a profit after tax of N50 million while its net operating income grew by 191 per cent from a loss of N192 million to N176 million profit.

Claims settlement increased by 53 per cent while impairment of outstanding premiums decreased by 81 per cent.

He said: “Guinea is refocusing itself to ensure that it fully taps into the opportunities that are prevalent in the power and energy sector that will present itself in 2014 in line with the forecasts.’’

He said the year was tough given the persistent global

meltdown and its attendant consequences on purchasing power and businesses, especially given that insurance income is directly correlated to the level of economic activity.

He added that the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by the industry brought new challenges in the reporting format of financials.

He said: “The new reporting format necessitated the use of actuaries for a fair valuation of the company’s assets and liabilities.

There was a great challenge in engaging the services of actuary’s good refute as they are not many in this field of technical expertise. All these compliance changes, resulted in the long delay in the preparation, review and submission of the final financial report to seek the national Insurance Commission (NAICOM) approval before holding the AGM. “Also, while I expect the country’s operating environment to remain tough, opportunities abound with the relative peace in the Niger-Delta region. This will attract Foreign Direct Investment into the economy thus boosting insurance premiums.’’

Insurance lawyers hold forum Wednesday

T

HE firm of Adegboyega Adepegba&Co and the Nigeria Insurance Law Association (NILA) will hold a forum from February 26 to 27, at Ijebu Ode in Ogun State.

Former Director-General of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Mr. Adegboyega Adepegba said eminent insurance veteran and lawyer Prof Joe Irukwu, will declare the forum open while the theme paper will be delivered by Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN).

Other speakers expected at the forum are Prof Chioma Agomo of the Faculty of Law,University of Lagos (UNILAG), Mr Olusina Sofola (SAN), Managing Partner of Idowu Sofola&Co, O.O. and Ladipo Ajayi, among others.

Adepegba said the forum will address issues that are of major concern to the regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

He added that the event, which is first of its kind, would help hone the skills of insurance lawyers .

•From left: Managing Director, AIICO Capital Ltd, Mr Dipo Oguntuga; MD/CEO Magnartis Finance & Investment Limited, Mr Bukola Oluwadiya; Executive Director, AIICO Insurance Plc, Dr. Adenike Fajemirokun; Chairman, Chief Oladele Fajemirokun; MD/CEO Vetiva Capital Management Limited, Mr. Chuka Eseka and MD/CEO, AIICO Insurance Plc. Mr Edwin Igbiti during signing of AIICO Captial initial public offer in Lagos.

Staco posts N310m profit

S

TACO Insurance Plc posted a profit before tax of N310.8 million in the 2012 annual account from a loss of N462.97 million in 2011.

Its Chairman, Mr. Dere Otubu made this known at the company’s 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos.

According to him, the company was able to grow the gross premium written to N6.8 billion from N6.5 billion in 2011.

He stated that net premium written grew to N6.28 billion from N5.99 billion while underwriting result was N3.12 billion in 2012 from N3.06 billion in 2011.

He, however, said the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) intensified its enforcement of regulations and guidelines during the year under review to maintain global best business practices and improve the confidence of the insuring public as well as investors in the insurance industry.

He said: “Income from the market development and restructuring initiatives (MDRI) was expected to hit the N1 trillion marks after its introduction in 2008. This target was, how-

ever, not met. Also, the challenge of high premium debtors cum paucity of funds was addressed by NAICOM effective January 1, 2013 with the enforcement of the No Premium No cover provision of section 50 of the insurance Act 2003. The enforcement of the anti-money, laundering act was also intensified during the year.’’

He added: “In the same vein, the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) in the preparation of our financial statements necessitated adjustments that impacted on the capital base of our company. This has given rise to the need for adequate capitalisation to position our company in a good stead to compete favorably in the in-

surance sector. ‘’Our company has also acquired the two properties adjoining its present head office location for the construction of an ultra-modern head office complex to position itself strategically for the upcoming keen competition in the years to come.”

Otubu noted that the daunting challenges facing the company have given rise to the need for relentless investment and ploughing back of profits into the company to promote growth.

This, he said, would position the company strategically for the ever-increasing competition in the financial services sector.

Awards

A

FIRM, Inspenoline Media, will hold its Nigerian Insur ance and Pension Awards on Wednesday at 11 am at MUSON Centre, Lagos.

It has as its theme: Unlocking microinsurance business.

According to its Editor-in-Chief/ Chief Executive Officer, Udo Okonta,

the event will be chaired by President, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) Sir Sunny Nwosu.

The speaker is Yemi Soladoye, managing director Riskguard Africa Nig Ltd while Laide Osijo managing director Plum Insurance Brokers Ltd is the special guest of honour.

30

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

Private trading floor will boost stockbroking practice, says CIS

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 21-2-14

T

HE Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has described the emergence of the first private trading floor as a milestone that will deepen the practice of stockbroking and usher in a new era of private stockbroking profession.

CIS, a self regulatory organisation chartered by Act 105 of 1992, is the regulatory body for the practice of stockbroking in Nigeria. The council of the CIS last week visited the 150-seat multi-purpose private trading floor built by GTI Securities in Marina, Lagos.

President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr. Ariyo Olushekun led other council members including the 1st vice president, Mr. Emmanuel Ohanwusi; 2nd vice president, Mr. Oluwaseyi Abe and acting registrar and chief executive, Mr. Adedeji Ajadi and other officials of the institute on the facility visit.

Olushekun said the coming of the first private trading floor will deepen the practice of stockbroking as it will allow stockbrokers to engage in private practice as qualified professionals in their own right as lawyers, medical doctors, accountants and other professionals as against the

• -Lauds GTI's pioneering floor Stories by Taofik Salako, Capital Market Editor

current situation where stockbrokers can only work under a stockbroking firm.

According to him, the possibility of brokers and dealers being able to trade directly through private trading floor such as GTI's will enhance the attractiveness of the institute certificate and create more opportunities for brokers and investors and the economy generally.

He advised the management of GTI Securities to expand the trading horizon of the floor by adding other platforms such as the commodities exchange and the debt securities and bonds exchange.

"What you have here is a mini stock exchange, some stock exchanges in West Africa and other parts of the world don't have a floor as robust as this. This is very impressive; I will like to commend your effort. I urge other colleagues to find time to visit this floor and see what you have done and see how they also want to contribute to stockbroking and market development," Olushekun, who is also the managing director of Capital Assets

Limited, said.

In his remarks, Ohanwusi described GTI as the biblical Moses that will lead stockbrokers to the promised land noting that such opportunity for private trading and practice is what the stockbroking community has been yearning for.

He said GTI has bridged the timeline between aspiration and reality with the state-of-theart trading floor pointing out that while private stockbroking was thought of as a future concept, it has now come closer as a possibility.

Abe said GTI has made landmark contribution to bridging infrastructural deficiencies plaguing the country and particularly the stockbroking profession.

According to him, the private trading floor is a great initiative that will bring the market closer to the investors.

Managing director, GTI Securities Limited, Mr. Tunde Oyekunle, reiterated that the driving motives for the firm have always been the development of the Nigerian market and the ethics and ideals of stockbroking.

Group managing director, GTI Capital, Mr. Abubakar Lawal, said GTI is committed to the realization of the capital market to its pride of place as the catalyst for the nation and one that should determine the socio-political, economic and financial direction of the nation.

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 21-2-14

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

31

MONEY LINK Enterprise Bank donates to orphanage

Ecobank eyes $5b yearly power E E sector financing COBANK Nigeria has projected power sector funding of at least $5 billion annually over the next five years.

In a statement made available to The Nation, the lender said the investment is in line with its policy to support the development of the power sector in Nigeria. It said the fund is part of its contribution to the sector’s transformation, initiated by the Federal Government through its privatisation programme.

The lender said it has played a major role on the buy-side of the power sector privatisation exercise by providing financial advisory services, lead arranger role, acquisitioning financing and guarantees to distribution companies (DISCOs) , generating companies (GENCOS) and National Integrated Power Plants

Stories by Collins Nweze

(NIPPs).

Ecobank Country Head, Power & Energy, Olufunke Jones said the bank’s objective is focused on playing actively at all levels of the sector’s privatisation, which includes generation, transmission and distribution.

She said:”Nigeria has one of the largest gaps between demand and supply for electricity. To bridge this gap the country requires a combination of favorable government policies, private sector participation and foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as transparency and persistent

monitoring that will guarantee an improved business environment.”

According to her, the current power reforms have created opportunities for capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX) funding, which is a consequence of the handover to the new owners.

She said:“There is the urgent need to rehabilitate the distribution networks in order to make them robust and flexible enough to accommodate the nation’s demand for power.”

Also commenting, Local Account Manager, Corporate Banking Group, Mrs.

Funmilola Ogunmekan said unlike the telecoms industry where new investors were able to take advantage of new technologies to redefine industry norms, the power sector is faced with the challenges of upgrading mostly obsolete equipment and processing under a traditional technology framework.

This, amongst others, are the immediate challenges that should be addressed before the potentials of the industry are fully manifested.

Ogunmekan reiterated that this year, the lender will leverage its position as a bank with the third largest branch

U

and ePayment Africa Awards.

UBA is known to have through its Cardholder Loyalty Scheme, launched several initiatives aimed at rewarding loyalty whilst encouraging card usage.

Packages offered cover travel, lodging, lifestyle and entertainment. The UBA’s card loyalty strategy cuts across the various card schemes under the bank’s e-banking portfolio.

There are ongoing deals for MasterCard, Verve and VISA Cardholders.

“No other financial institution comes close to providing the many benefits we provide our cardholders’’ stated Dr. Yinka Adedeji, UBA’s Divisional Head, e-Banking.

“We have brought together, some of the biggest retail outlets and offered discounts at

these outlets to our cardholders. We understand the importance of customer loyalty to our business and will continue to launch initiatives to make our customers know that they are special to us,” he added.

Ayo Akinola, Co-Founder and Head Business Development of Parolz.com stated “We have more than 200 Outlets registered with us, through which our over 10, 000 members can enjoy exclusive discounts with our discount card called the Parolz City Card. This relationship with UBA affords us the opportunity to reach out to a wider audience and we are convinced that UBA customers will find this extremely beneficial.

We have also waived the registration fee for UBA cardholders.”

S

TERLING Bank Plc has commended Audax Solutions, pioneers of the Audax Code School, for its selection alongside 41 other organisations spread across 19 countries, as recipients of the 2014 Google RISE Awards.

Audax Code School is an initiative to teach Nigerian children programming skills for the web.

In a statement, the bank said Google RISE awards is an annual global award to recognise excellence in computer science education particularly for children between the ages of seven and 18.

Audax Solutions and Sterling Bank recently organised the Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) Hour of

FGN BONDS Tenor

Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

MANAGED FUNDS Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

NIDF NESF

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

network to provide effective utility collections and cash management services while providing the required additional CAPEX/OPEX funding for at least five of the distribution companies across the country.

Sterling Bank lauds firm on Google award

UBA partners firm on payment card NITED Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has entered into partnership with Parolz.com, an online platform, which offers exclusive discounts and benefits from top outlets in Nigeria. The offers range from dinning to lifestyle, hospitality, transportation and gift items.

In a statement by the bank, Parolz.com extended its offerings to include Jumia and metro taxi. This implies that UBA cardholders get exclusive discounts from Jumia, metro taxi and the over 200 merchants listed on Parolz.com.

It said the development comes on the heels of UBA’s nomination as the financial institution with the most benefits to cardholders under the Card Benefit Category in the Card

•Ecobank Nigeria CEO Jibril Aku

Code and a free Boot Camp for kids and adults to spread awareness of the need for computer science education among the youth.

Speaking on the award, Mr Emeka Onyenwe, the Business Manager of Audax Solutions stated that part of the cash grant from the award will be used to further expand the company’s weekend and holiday activities which involves children from under-served neighborhoods and public schools in Lagos State, a priority goal of the organisation. “We also plan to offer at least 30 full scholarships for our Easter and Summer Code School in 2014, including training on basic computer skills and the Internet”, he added.

NTERPRISE Bank Limited has donated to two less privileged homes in Lagos.

In a statement, the bank said it donated consumable items to Holy Family Home for the elderly, managed by Regina Mundi Catholic Church in Mushin area of Lagos State and The Arrows of God Orphanage, Ajah also in Lagos.

Delivering bags of rice to the homes and a goodwill message from the bank's Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Ahmed Kuru, the Head of Corporate Communication, Mrs. Olusola Longe Okenimkpe said the essence of the visit and donation was to make the elderly ones among us to feel accepted and loved irrespective of the fact that they are not in their homes.

According to her, this is also relevant as a reward for their contributions and services to their families and the country at large.

She also called on other corporate organisations and wealthy individuals in the country to lend their support to the less privileged homes, especially the ones that cater for old people since old age has a lot of challenges that require patience and huge resources.

Delighted by the visit from the bank, Mercy Honvo, who received the donation on behalf of the elderly home, thanked Enterprise Bank for the kind gesture.

She said: "Thank you for your visit, gifts and thoughtfulness.

May God bless you and your organisation for remembering us and contributing to the upkeep of these elderly citizens that we have in this home. We will continue to ensure that they receive the best attention they desire."

DATA BANK WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12 Currency

Year Start Offer

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD

147.6000

149.7100

150.7100

-2.11

NGN GBP

239.4810

244.0123

245.6422

-2.57

NGN EUR

212.4997

207.9023

209.2910

-1.51

Amount Amount Offered ($) Demanded ($) 400m 400m 400m 400m 400m 400m

Amount Sold ($) 399.9m 399.9m 399.9m

Exchange Rate (N) 155.75 155.8 155.7

Date 2-5-14 2-3-14 1-29-14

CAPITAL MARKET INDEX NIGERIA INTER

OBB Rate Call Rate

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10% 10-11%

BANK (S/N)

Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

Bureau de Change 152.0000

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

(S/N)

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

149.7450

Date 28-04-2012 “ 14-04-2012

Parallel Market

153.0000

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

DISCOUNT WINDOWx

RTBRISCOE IPWA OANDO AFRIPRUD NEIMETH OASISINTS ETERNA LIVESTOCK UAC-PROP STERLINBANK

O/PRICE 1.24 0.56 18.96 3.58 1.84 0.63 3.69 3.85 19.51 2.15

C/PRICE 1.30 0.58 19.83 3.70 1.90 0.65 3.80 3.95 20.00 2.20

CHANGE 0.06 0.02 0.67 0.12 0.06 0.02 0.11 0.10 0.49 0.05

Feb. ’14

July ’11

Feb ’14

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

12%

Standing Lending Rate

8.50%

8.50%

9.50%

,,

Deposit Rate

,,

Liquidity Ratio

4.50%

4.50%

5.50%

30.00%

30.00%

30.00%

Cash Return Rate

1.00%

2.00%

2.00%

Inflation Rate

7.8%

7.9%

8%

LOSERS AS AT 6-02-14

SYMBOL WEMABANK NAHCO ACCESS GNI ROYALEX EVANSMED MANSARD AIICO UBA INTENEGINS

O/PRICE 1.03 5.87 8.32 0.61 0.61 2.70 2.30 0.84 7.03 0.65

C/PRICE 0.95 5.58 7.91 0.58 0.58 2.57 2.19 0.80 6.70 0.62

CHANGE -0.08 -0.9 -0.41 -0.03 -0.03 -0.13 -0.11 0.04 -0.33 -03.03

6-2-14 N13.07tr 40,766.16

28-10-11 N6.617tr 20,903.16

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS

(S/N)

GAINERS AS AT 6-02-14

SYMBOL

NSE CAP Index

NIBOR Tenor

Rate (Previous) 4 Mar, 2012

7 Days

9.0417

Rate (Currency) Movement 6, Mar, 2012

Name

Offer Price

Bid Price

AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND 159.00 ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH 9.17 BGL NUBIAN FUND 1.06 BGL SAPPHIRE FUND 1.17 CANARY GROWTH FUND 0.69 CANARY GROWTH FUND 0.69 CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST 1.39 CORAL INCOME FUND 1,620.45 FBN FIXED INCOME FUND 1,000.00 FBN HERITAGE FUND 115.83 FBN MONEY MARKET FUND 100.00 FIDELITY NIGFUND 1.67 INTERCONTINENTAL INTEGRITY FUND 1.05 KAKAWA GUARANTEED INCOME FUND 143.11 LEGACY FUND 0.78 NIGERIA INTER DEBIT FUND 1,882.83

158.62 9.08 1.05 1.17 0.69 0.69 1.33 1,618.47 1,000.00 115.13 100.

1.62 1.03 142.62 0.76 1,880.08

• ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED • STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUNDARM AGGRESSIVE OPEN BUY BACK

10.17%

30 Days

9.6667

11.46%

60 Days

11.2917

11.96%

150 Days

12.1250

12.54%

Bank P/Court

Previous 04 July, 2012

Current 07, Aug, 2012

8.5000 8.0833

8.5000 8.0833

Movement

32

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

33

34

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24 , 2014

EQUITIES WATCH

Email: taofad2000@yahoo.co.uk

What intrinsic values in First Bank’s expansion?

Nigeria’s flagship bank, First Bank of Nigeria, is taking on the regional West African market with consummation of strategic acquisition that adds four countries to its footprints.

F

BN Holdings Plc, the holding company for First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank), accounts for some 12 per cent of the entire financial services sector. There are 56 financial services companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) including 12 commercial deposit money banks, 29 insurance companies, two microfinance banks, four mortgage bankers and nine other financial services firms.

The overall technical importance of First Bank is better appreciated within the context of the general market situation. At opening value today, FBN Holdings is bigger than each other sector and sub-sector on the NSE with the exception of its financial services sector, oil and gas sector, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors. Technically, FBN Holdings, on its own, holds significant influence on the overall market situation than several other individual sectors such as agriculture, construction, information and communication technology and healthcare among others. With capitalisation more than three times the size of entire populous insurance subsector, FirstBank’s pricing trend will exert more influence on overall market situation than the collective trend in several subsectors.

Fundamentally, FirstBank is Nigeria’s largest bank. Interim report and accounts of FBN Holdings for the period ended September 30, 2013, which was based on the audited reports of major companies within the group, showed that gross earnings grew by 11.4 per cent to N290.8 billion in 2013 as against N261 billion recorded in corresponding period of 2012. Profit before tax stood at N70.1 billion compared with N75.7 billion in 2012. Profit after tax stood at N59.1 billion as against N64.3 billion.

Key balance sheet items underlined the continuing expansion and penetration of the group with total assets of N3.7 trillion by September 2013, 14.6 per cent above N3.2 trillion recorded by December 2012. Total customer deposits rose by 16.6 per cent from N2.4 trillion in December 2012 to N2.8 trillion in September 2013. Also, total customer loans and advances stood at N1.6 trillion, an increase of 4.5 per cent on N1.5 trillion recorded by December 2012. With total assets of N3.7 trillion and customer deposits of N2.8 trillion, FirstBank ranks among the largest corporate and retail financial institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Diversified business base Beyond the technical and fundamental figures, the structures

•GMD, First Bank of Nigeria, Mr Bisi Onasanya

and operations of FBN Holdings and FirstBank lend credence to its leading position. The most diversified financial services group in Nigeria, FBN Holdings operates products and services across commercial banking, investment banking, insurance and microfinance business in seven countries including its primary market and head office- Lagos, London, Paris, Johannesburg, Beijing, Abu Dhabi, and Democratic Republic of Congo. While the group rests primarily on FirstBank, other subsidiaries include FBN Capital, a leading investment banking and asset management company; FBN Life Assurance, a life insurance business; and FBN Microfinance Bank, which offers microfinance services. With some 1.3 million shareholders, FBN Holdings has the largest shareholders’ base.

The recent announcement of FirstBank’s expansion into West Africa through the acquisition of some of the operations of International Commercial Bank (ICB) marked a milestone in the expansion of Nigerian financial services companies within the sub-region and Africa generally. While African expansion has been at the forefront of Nigerian bankers’ strategies since mid 2000’s, FirstBank had cautiously concentrated on organic growth and consolidation of its domestic base. The strategy had worked out perfectly. While several Nigerian banks that had opened or acquired foreign operations in many African countries were either acquired or liquidated in the following financial and economic meltdown, FirstBank had further consolidated its leadership.

Expanding from a position of strength So why has the bank now de-

•MD, FBN Holdings, Mallam Bello Maccido

cided to spread its wings beyond the shores of Nigeria? According to the management of the bank, the acquisition of ICB operations in West Africa is the next stage of growth and provides a strong geographic and commercial base from which FirstBank can continue to grow progressively in Africa. With operations in Guinea, Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone, ICB provides FirstBank with a strong geographic platform for growth and an established customer base across the mid-corporate, small and medium enterprises (SME) and retail segments that complement the bank’s existing strategy in Nigeria. ICB has over 600 employees and 120,000 customer accounts spread across these four markets. ICB also operates in markets with major investments in key growth sectors on the continent, most notably the major mining industries that are prevalent in Guinea and Ghana and emerging in Sierra Leone as well as positioned for the commercial operations in the emerging oil and gas opportunities in Ghana and Guinea. It should be noted that FirstBank had in 2011 acquired BIC in the Democratic Republic of Congo, starting its progressive and case by case approach to inorganic growth opportunities. Since acquiring BIC, the bank has successfully managed an integration process that has incorporated BIC into FirstBank’s operations while delivering short term improvements in financial performance as well.

This is the strategy that it will further deploy to harness and integrate the synergies and opportunities presented by the latest ICB acquisition.

While many Nigerian banks are now actively expanding across the African continent and are implementing diverse business

models as they seek to maximise growth, FirstBank’s approach customarily reflects its progressive approach. Its approach is rooted in the multi-local business model which ensures that the best of local culture and experience is mixed with the banking expertise the bank has built up over more than a century of operations. A multi-local business model is designed to ensure the markets where FirstBank is expanding retain the local culture and approach that make them an integral part of the local economy. By ensuring each FirstBank business across the continent adopts a locally led approach, while leveraging the international reach and experience of the parent company, the bank believes it can engender a long term sustainable approach to doing business in new markets, Africa in particular. “We are committed to developing a multi-local business model that broadens our geographic revenue base while providing enhanced service delivery to our new customers,” Group Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr. Bisi Onasanya reiterated on the confirmation of the acquisition of the ICB assets. According to him, the acquisition of ICBGFH assets in Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Sierra Leone fulfilled the first stage of the bank’s ambitions to steadily build broader and more diverse footprints across Africa.

The new acquisition would also strengthen FirstBank against increasingly tough domestic operating environment and secure new markets for stronger growth momentum. In its latest ‘Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA)’ on Nigeria, Standards & Poor’s Ratings Services had

‘By ensuring each FirstBank business across the continent adopts a locally led approach, while leveraging the international reach and experience of the parent company, the bank believes it can engender a long term sustainable approach to doing business in new markets, Africa in particular’

outlined operating challenges confronting Nigerian banking industry amidst the lop-sided economic system and deficient infrastructure. “The Nigerian banking sector has undergone two major consolidation periods in the past 10 years. In our opinion, the second phase is close to an end, although the future of the three quasinationalized banks remains unclear. As the new industry landscape clears, we expect competition to increase and the sector to continue to organize itself into three distinct tiers. Most rated banks are in the upper and middle tiers. Positively, with 21 banks operating in the sector, we don’t believe there is any significant overcapacity because of inherently low leverage and retail penetration, as well as strong long-term economic growth fundamentals. We anticipate stiff competition, however, on at least two fronts: attracting low-cost retail deposits in a country with low banking penetration, and banking large corporates together with their staff, third-party suppliers, and distributors. We believe foreign banks will continue to attempt to enter the sector in 20132014, but barriers to entry remain high for banks without significant capital or scale,” the report outlined the industry stability outlook. Both the challenges and opportunities represent better prospects for FirstBank with its large domestic scale and built-up retail base as well as the new openings presented by the ICB acquisition.

Onasanya said the ongoing domestic initiatives aimed at optimizing benefits of recent investments and countering pressures induced by regulatory changes would complement the bank’s expansionary drive to deliver greater earnings diversification and increase shareholders’ value through higher returns on equity among other benefits.

Looking forward In the recent operational review, chief executive officer, FBN Holdings, Mallam Bello Maccido said the group has remained resilient in spite of the adverse impact of recent changes in regulatory policy on the banking industry, especially the increase in the minimum savings deposit rates as well as the removal of the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawal fee.

According to him, in spite of the significant regulatory headwinds, the performance of the group has remained resilient as it continues to build its portfolio of businesses; expanding existing revenue streams and creating new lines of business such as mobile insurance and Bancassurance.

He noted that the group further expanded into new geographies, particularly within the commercial banking business, where it sees significant opportunities.

“In the coming year, we will expand the insurance business to include general insurance, evolving our insurance business into a composite one. In the medium term, we aim to increase the contribution of our non-bank businesses; working on fostering increased collaboration to exploit the strong natural synergies and cross-selling opportunities that exist between banking and the other financial services sectors we are active in with the aim of improving overall returns to shareholders,” Maccido said.

35

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

ISSUES Mixed reactions have continued to trail the allocation of 445, 000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). According to the Federal Government, about 25 per cent of this is supposed to be refined at home while the balance is swapped offshore. Assistant Editor EMEKA UGWUANYI examines the issue.

Stakeholders seek review of 445,000bpd to NNPC W

HEN the Federal Government allocated 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) some years back, it probably never envisaged that the refineries for which the allotment was made would be run down The four state-run refineries built between 1965 and 1988 - two in Port Harcourt and one each in Kaduna and Warri, have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 bpd.

There is also a network of pipelines and depots strategically located throughout Nigeria, which are linked to these refineries to move products to depots.

Due to negligence and perhaps lack of maintenance of these refineries over the years, the refineries got dilapidated and their capacities utilisation dropped abysmally. Efforts to ensure sustainable turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the refineries despite the huge sums sunk into them proved unsuccessful.

Because the four refineries have been down and their output insufficient to meet domestic fuel requirements, the introduction of product importation became imperative, which was later followed by NNPC’s offshore processing/swap arrangements (OPA/Swap arrangement) to ensure adequate products supply.

However, the allocation has not gone down well with stakeholders in the oil and gas industry and the economy generally.

Some stakeholders wonder why government continues to allocate the same quantity of crude to NNPC, when the existing four refineries currently operate at less than 25 per cent capacity utilisation, thereby forcing NNPC to adopt the OPA/Swap arrangement models. With the arrangement, some quantities of the allocation are swapped for petroleum products, while the balance is taken to offshore refineries for refining.

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has been strident in its criticism of the arrangement. For instance, in its report on domestic crude oil utilisation by NNPC between 2009 and 2011, NEITI said the corporation in 2009, got 161,914,000 barrels while only 19,363,000 barrels were refined locally and 142,551,000 exported. In 2010 alone, the Corporation, according to NEITI, got 166,523,000 barrels, refined 34,703,000 barrels, exported 97,792,000 barrels, while 27,336,000 barrels went for offshore processing; 950,000 barrels for crude exchange and 5,742,000 barrels for product exchange.

Similarly, in 2011, the NNPC got 164,455,000 barrels allocation, refined 45,394,000 barrels, exported 39,341,000 barrels, processed 23,688,000 barrels offshore, while 56,032,000 barrels were exchanged for product, the agency added.

The NEITI report said that from its computation, only about 20.2 per cent of the domestic crude oil allocation was delivered to local refineries, the balance was either exported by NNPC and proceeds paid into its accounts or utilised for offshore processing, crude oil exchange and product exchange. The report therefore, showed that the country depends mainly on imported

• Oil production platform

refined products for local consumption resulting in avoidable high payment of fuel subsidies. This also reduces the revenue accruable to the federation from crude oil sales on pricing, volume utilisation and exchange rate differentials.

Reports such as NEITI’s must have given rise to arguments by stakeholders and experts in the oil and gas industry that there is no justification for the continued allocation of 445,000 bpd to NNPC when more than 75 per cent of that quantity is not refined incountry. Their argument is that such allocation is another window for corruption as such allocations cannot be properly accounted for.

The thinking, therefore, is that government should at any time give the NNPC only the quantity of crude local refineries would be able to refine, and sell the remaining alongside the normal export.

The NEITI report summarised it: “The Federal Government should consider a review of the daily allocation of 445,000bpd to the level of available local refining capacity to obviate the gaps in the process. Besides, the derived average conversion rate by NNPC

‘

differs from the annual average Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate and therefore results to apparent losses of N98.3billion during the years under review (that is 2009 and 2011). “Domestic crude oil sales proceeds should be paid into CBN in the currency of sales, where it should be converted at the appropriate rate by CBN and paid to the Federation Account. This will forestall the exchange rate shortfalls,” the agency said.

The agency also noted that the review of the domestic crude oil utilisation by NNPC, as contained in the lifting profile shows that NNPC utilised below the quota for the year 2009 by 1,000bpd and above the daily quota in the years 2010 and 2011 by 11,000bpd and 6,000bpd, respectively. This implies that NNPC does not effectively monitor domestic crude lifting in accordance with expected guidelines. NEITI also frowned at NNPC’s drawing of subsidy from the proceeds of domestic crude oil sales before the net proceeds are put into the federation account.

It said: “The Federal Government makes payment on subsidy to oil marketing companies based on the volume of imported

Because the four refineries have been down and their output insufficient to meet domestic fuel requirements, the introduction of product importation became imperative, which was later followed by NNPC’s offshore processing/swap arrangements (OPA/ Swap arrangement) to ensure adequate products supply

’

products sold in Nigeria in order to guarantee the availability of petroleum products. Subsidies are normally claimed from the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) by all qualifying oil marketing companies. In contrast NNPC draws subsidy payments directly from domestic crude sales proceeds prior to remitting to the Federation Account.

The Chairman of NEITI, Mr. Ledum Mitee told The Nation that if the government and all the stakeholders involved in the extractive industry had given NEITI its required recognition, all the controversies surrounding the non-remittances by oil firms including the NNPC into the Federation Account, utilisation of the 445,000 bpd allocation to NNPC, could not have arisen. He said that NEITI’s core responsibility is to find out receipts, payments and ensure proper reconciliation independently.

“I hope that one useful outcome of the current controversy over allegations of unremitted funds would be the realisation of the need by all relevant agencies and institutions to give NEITI and its audit recommendations the deserved seriousness and support. A properly resourced NEITI, whose audit recommendations are promptly addressed remains vital not only to our economic well-being, but also to enabling citizens derive needed benefits from our extractive resources,” he said.

Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) also canvassed a similar position. The Executive Secretary of MOMAN, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, opined that NNPC should be allocated only the quantity that can be refined in-country.

This, he argued, would make room for both accountability and transparency. He said that government should give NNPC • Continued on page 36

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

36

ISSUES

Stakeholders seek review of 445,000bpd to NNPC • Continued from page 35

what the refineries can take at any given time and export the remaining quantity alongside other production.

He said: “Although, I do not operate in the upstream sector but as a stakeholder in the oil and gas industry, I would say that NNPC or any other organisation should not be given more than it can refine in Nigeria.”

What is the sense behind giving NNPC more than the refineries can take?” he asked, insisting that it does not make business sense to allocate crude to the corporation only for it (NNPC) to export it to other countries for refining or swap it for petroleum products brought to Nigeria by foreign or local companies.”

But the NNPC holds a different position.

Its Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production, Abiye Membere, told The Nation that the security situation, which led to vandalism of the pipeline that supplies crude to the refineries as well as the inability of the refineries to produce enough products for national consumption even if they operate at installed capacities, is the major reason for crude swap and offshore processing. He disclosed that the NNP pays for the 445,000 barrels daily allocation at international market price.

He explained: “There are security issues, which prevent the supply of crude to the refineries. For instance, Port Harcourt refinery currently gets less than what it can refine. The refineries produce less than national demand. Therefore, we exploit all possible avenues to ensure that Nigerians get fuel while avoiding recurrence of what happened in 2011 where marketers took undue advantage of fuel import. We take the quantity that couldn’t be processed incountry for lack of capacity to offshore refineries for processing and swap. But of course, we pay for the crude at international price.”

Similarly, Spokesman of NNPC, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, absolved the corporation of blames in the crude swap saga. He noted that the corporation pays for the crude it receives at international price, NNPC started off OPA/Swap arrangements by appointing international commodity traders such as Vitol, Trafigura and Addax, among others, to lift Nigeria’s crude oil and import petroleum products. Later, some Nigerian companies such as Sahara Energy, Aiteo Oil and Gas, and Ontario Oil and Gas were added to lift crude for NNPC especially the allocation meant for Duke Oil, UK-based subsidiary of NNPC and in turn bring back products.

However, the swap deals, according to stakeholders, have become increasingly opaque and have been blamed for the revenue shortfalls experienced by the Federation Account. Stakeholders say that the country is short-changed through the swaps as commodity traders appointed by NNPC to lift the crude under the swap programme allegedly found avenues to make billions of naira through dishonest means.

Responding to the allegations of lack of transparency in the OPA/Swap arrangements, NNPC said that over the years, the operations of the domestic refineries have been very epileptic due to un-planned equipment failures as well as consistent acts of vandalism on the crude oil supply pipeline to the refineries.

It said that even when the refineries are fully operational, they cannot meet up with the petroleum products requirements of the domestic market, especially premium motor spirit (PMS), whose domestic daily requirement is now put at 40 million litres. The domestic refineries at full capacity can only produce about 19 million litres of PMS while the balance of 21 million litres is sourced through import.

“Therefore, in order to guard against products shortages and guarantee steady availability of petroleum products for domestic consumption all year round, NNPC engages in the importation of petroleum products to augment local refineries production.

“The importation of petroleum products

by NNPC, which started in the 90s, was carried out under the open account system, through open tender process from

•Group Managing Director, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu

• Mitee

reputable oil trading companies with proven track record of good performance and strong capital base.

“However, along the line, NNPC started witnessing default in deliveries where most of the supply companies failed to perform, especially around the winter period. The trading companies’ perennially gave the reasons of high cost of products and high cost of vessels freight, for their non-performance hence the demand for increased premium. Rather than deliver cargoes based on their allocations from NNPC, they would insist on spot cargo offers. This resulted in severe scarcity of petroleum products witnessed especially around years 2009 and 2010 with the attendant negative consequences to the Nigerian populace and economy.

“The open account import exposed NNPC to certain variable market conditions, especially the demand for high premium by the suppliers. This demand in most cases was predicated on NNPC’s inability to fulfil its payment obligations as at when due. The delay in making payments for the cargoes delivered deteriorated to over 1,000 days in default. The debt owed by NNPC at the same point in time was about $3.2 billion.

“In view of the long delay in making payments, and the huge outstanding debt, most International financial institutions became reluctant to cover NNPC imports.

Even where the banks were willing to finance NNPC imports, the finance risk cover became very expensive there by making deliveries by trading companies almost impossible.

“Therefore, the cost of finance risk cover on NNPC imports in addition to the high interest on delayed payment for cargoes delivered by the suppliers increased the exposure of NNPC as additional costs that are not covered under the subsidy template.”

The corporation said that the open account import provided for it to pay interest to suppliers in default of payment after forty five (45) days of cargo arrival as a contractual provision, regardless of any operational exigency that may arise or prevent payment. Sustainability of products supplies almost became impossible occasioned by periodic interruption in supplies with the attendant scarcity around the country due to the vagaries of the open account

regime, it added.

To mitigate the open account import challenges of price vulnerability, supply disruptions and also guarantee steady supply of petroleum products to the market, NNPC explored the option of offshore processing of the refineries’ unutilised crude oil, as well as the exchange of same crude oil for petroleum products.

NNPC said it was in view of the aforementioned challenges that it sought and obtained the approval of late President Umaru Yar’adua to enter into this arrangement pending when the refineries would be turned around for optimal performance.

The Offshore Processing and Crude Oil/ Products Exchanges provided NNPC the opportunity and flexibility to control the supply and availability of petroleum products into the market; it said adding that the arrangements also liberated the corporation from the necessity of making monetary payments to the suppliers as required in the open account import regime and interest on delayed payments.

The economics also provided more volume of products delivered in comparison with the open account regime, it said.

It was learnt that under the Offshore Processing Agreement, NNPC delivers crude Oil to a refinery for processing at a contractually agreed yield pattern and processing fee. In return, NNPC evacuates the refined products that are needed most. The OPA provides NNPC the opportunity and flexibility to exchange products grades based on domestic need and immediate requirements. As a result, NNPC can request the refinery to make available for evacuation more of premium motor spirit (PMS) and Kerosene that are required most in exchange for automotive gas oil (AGO) out of the products yield.

The corporation explained that in the OPA/Swap arrangements all other products such as propane, butane, vacuum gas oil (VGO) and fuel oil that are not necessarily needed for consumption in Nigeria are sold by the refinery on behalf of NNPC at the prevailing market price and proceeds remitted to NNPC. The process, The Nation learnt, allows NNPC to request for pre-delivery of petroleum products in the event of tight supply situation in the market or due to

‘

Under Swap/Crude exchange arrangement, NNPC allocates crude oil to reputable oil trading companies in exchange for the delivery of PMS, dual purpose kerosene (DPK) or any other petroleum product as may be required

by PPMC. The contract is based on the international market value of the petroleum products against the prevailing international market value of the crude oil

’

the inability to lift crude oil as result of operational constraints at the crude oil terminals or in the event of declarationof force majeure. Such pre-deliveries help NNPC bridge the gap in supply situation and forestall products scarcity in the country. In return, an equivalent value of crude oil will be allocated at a later date for the products pre-delivered.

“Under Swap/Crude exchange arrangement, NNPC allocates crude oil to reputable oil trading companies in exchange for the delivery of PMS, dual purpose kerosene (DPK) or any other petroleum product as may be required by PPMC. The contract is based on the international market value of the petroleum products against the prevailing international market value of the crude oil. This is value for value arrangement; crude oil lifted versus products supplied. The value for value philosophy enshrined in the Swap contracts is validated and tested on a regular basis when reconciliation meetings are held between NNPC and the trading companies.

“In the Crude Oil/Products Exchanges, PPMC can also request for pre-delivery of petroleum products where tightness in the supply is anticipated in order to forestall scarcity or as a result of any operational constraint that may hinder the loading of the crude oil at the terminals. The equivalent crude oil will be made available to the supplier at a later date to cover the products delivered.

“The OPA/Swap arrangements enjoy presidential approval and their operations are governed by contractual agreement. Furthermore, the entire activities under OPA/Swap were recently subjected to scrutiny by the House of Representatives Committee on Downstream with a verdict of clean bill of health returned.

“OPA/ Swap has availed NNPC the opportunity to sustain the market, guarantee the security of supplies and keep the entire country wet with petroleum products even when other marketers were reluctant to perform due to the non-payment and or delayed payment of subsidy by the government.

“The process also reduces the cost of NNPC’s importation by way of reducing and stabilizing the premium paid under the open account regime. Also, the situation whereby traders will gang up and decide on the premium to be paid by NNPC for the deliveries has been eliminated,” the corporation said.

A document obtained by The Nation from a top official of NNPC, showed that the average premium paid per metric tonne (MT) on PMS under the swap/crude exchange arrangement has remained stable at $81.28 through 2010 to 2013 while under the open account regime PMS average premium paid per metric tonne has continued to increase. Under the open account regime, PMS average premium paid per metric tonne in 2007 was $70.02, which rose to $85.14 in 2008 and in 2009 to $87.50 and further to $116.50 in 2010.

The data showed that in 2010, $141,266,580.77 was saved from products import through swap/crude exchange arrangement. Under the open account regime, the premium was systematically growing every year due mainly to the variable market conditions that NNPC was exposed to. It showed that within the last four years, the OPA/Swap arrangement has saved the government over $565,066,320.

It is also noteworthy that the most common means of pricing petroleum products internationally is by Platts European Marketscan Oil Publication. NNPC procures petroleum products cargoes mainly on free on board (FOB) basis; as a result, the supplier provides all necessary logistics for loading and delivery of the product on behalf of NNPC. Also the basic components that are taken into consideration in deciding the premium are as follows: freight, insurance, financing (letter of credit L/C administration charges), port dues, interest, demurrage, trader’s margin.

37

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

BUSINESS MOTORING

The new Nissan Teana, unlike its predecessor, is unique. Its features are: bold and sophisticated appearance, bumper, projector type headlights and a duck tail spoiler at the back, writes TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO

Nissan Teana: exceptional, exquisite F

RESH from a total makeover last year, the Nissan Altima, known as Teana, has opted out of the mid-sized sedan segment to provide customers with premium experiences and high technolog i e s f o r this year’s model.

Nissan says it is enhancing the Teana’s package with better value proposition to keep it fresh against increasing competent rivals.

Teana’s innovations are designed to reposition the car ahead of competitions from Toyota Camry that underwent full model change recently, just as the Honda Accord, Mazda 6 and the imperious Volkswagen Passat did.

The Teana, according to Nissan, in spite of the new twist, is affordably priced than its rival and ultimately a game changer in the increasingly competitive entry D-segment.

“We are simply re-emphasising leadership in the D-segment not only by enhancing class-above premium and thought-provoking technologies, but by introducing classleading driving pleasures,” the company said.

Some of Teana’s distinctive features are to be found in the customised 3D meter, HMI voice communication and full mobile connectivity, the complete set of around video monitor and intelligent transport system.

The 2014 Teana, unlike its predecessor, comes equipped with a darkened grille slats at the front end, which gives the car a bold and sophisticated appearance with seamless bumper and projector type headlights, and a duck tail spoiler at the back.

This is in addition to a longer sloping rear roofline and raised trunk that creates a more fluidic silhouette supported by a sloped A-pillar angle, and a raised waistline that gives a lower coefficient aerodynamic drag.

And down the flanks, there are additional details such as sculpted side, sill covers running beneath the doors and blind spot warning (BSW) radar system that warns drivers, using LED lights mounted inside the base of the side mirror.

Nissan also stressed Teana maximum efficiency for its conventional version that constitutes the lightest in this group.

According to the automaker, the classexclusive use of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) is to achieve an impressive 76km per gallon on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) highway driving cycle for the 4-cylinder model.

Auto lovers obsessed with performance are to opt for a potent V6; a rare feature in the family sedan category.

Although previous incarnations of the Teana 2.5L featured beige interior with wood trim that gave it two-tone elegance and luxurious ambience. The version is a lot more improvement with cabin–black leather seats and dashboard that give a premium feel.

A change of colour does not, however, take away the fact that the cabin is spacious with copious amounts of head and legroom even though the Teana still comes

driving with the support of newly structured Rear Multi–Link active understeering control and refinement in body rigidity and braking system, its highpoint is the car’s creamy– smooth e n -

with a wheelbase of 2,775mm.

Amit Sharma, Head - Sales and Marketing, Stallion NMN, Nissan national sales distributors, said the Teana is undoubtedly exceptional and comfortable for long drives. And when stuck in traffic through the usually crawling pace, he said, it definitely offers a less fatiguing experience.

Sharma described Teana as Nissan’s solution to the market customers needs, adding that the car shows top-level fuel economy and acceleration supported by the CVT with wide gear ratio and less friction and a thicker torque engine.

The Teana, though achieves dynamic

six in-line cylinders fitted with 24 valves and a DOHC (dual overhead camshaft) with the ability to displace close to 2,496cc with a pounding toque yield of 244Nm, 180ft-ib at 4000rpm with an incredible 135.7kw and 182bhp @ 6000rpm, a remarkable design for Nigerian roads and traffic conditions.

In addition, Teana’s VQ35 (3.5SL) engine, which is currently the only engine in the world that has been awarded world’s 10 Best Engines for 17 consecutive years since 1995, churns out 135.7kw, 340.31Nm and 270bhp at 6400rpm.

Sharma said beyond Teana’s remarkable engine configuration, “its suspension absorbs the shocks from bumps and potholes smoothly just as its dual climate control air conditioni n g keeps oc-

•Teana

g i n e options of 2.5SV, 2.5Sl or 3.5SL that lets out a pleasantly distinctive rumble when revved.

The 2.5-litre EFI (electronic fuel injection) QR25 petrol engine, for instance, has

•Interior of the car

cupants pleasurable on the cozy leather seats.”

The car is nevertheless, reassuring on safety especially when viewed against the overall crash testing and side crash test, which recently earned the car a plush credit in safety.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

38

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Home sales slump to 18-month low

H

OME resales fell to an 18 month-low in Janu ary as the combination of cold weather and a lack of housing stock sidelined potential buyers.

The National Association of Realtors said on Friday home sales dropped 5.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.62 million units, the lowest level since July 2012. December’s sales pace was unrevised at 4.87 million.

“Disruptive and prolonged winter weather patterns across the country are impacting a wide range of economic activity, and housing is no exception,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Some housing activity will be delayed until spring.”

Economists polled by Reuters had expected sales to fall to a 4.68-million pace last month.

Existing home sales are counted at the closing of contracts. January’s sales mostly reflected contracts signed in

December.

With temperatures remaining chilly in January, February sales will probably be weak.

Sales tumbled in the Northeast, South and Midwest, which were hit by snow storms and ice last month.

They were down 7.3 per cent in the West, an indication that other factors apart from the weather weighed down on sales.

Fundamentals in the sector have weakened somewhat.

Mortgage rates have risen and the increase in house prices has far outpaced income growth, making home buying less affordable.

In addition, there has been less housing stock on the market and household formation fell sharply last year. Home resales have declined in five of the last six months, having peaked in July.

Home sales were down 5.1 per cent in January from a year ago.

Atlas Copco opens new South African customer office

A

TLAS Copco (STO:ATCOA) (STO:ATCOB), a leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions, has inaugurated a new distribution and service centre in South Africa that will benefit customers in the country and region.

The brand-new facilities east of Johannesburg will be the hub for distribution of equipment from all four of Atlas Copco’s business areas, such as compressors, rock drills, construction equipment and power tools. This will provide one-stop shopping opportunities for customers that may need a wide range of equipment. Service will also be carried out at the premises. Atlas Copco invested about MZAR 200 (MSEK 120) in the construction of the top-modern facilities.

“South Africa is an important market to us. This investment in the new center will benefit customers by giving them easier access to our products and improved service,” said Ronnie Leten, President and CEO of the Atlas

Copco Group, who is attending the inauguration.

Some 450 employees work at the premises, which are located on 20 acres of land and also host an administration building. The premises were built with high environmental standards in mind, including recycling of excess material excavated from the site, and installation of solar water heating and low-energy lighting.

Atlas Copco is a worldleading provider of sustainable productivity solutions.

The Group serves customers with innovative compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction and mining equipment, power tools and assembly systems. Atlas Copco develops products and service focused on productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergonomics. The company was founded in 1873, is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and has a global reach spanning more than 180 countries. In 2013, Atlas Copco had revenues of BSEK 84 (BEUR 9.7) and more than 40 000 employees.

Colorado stash: $184m in marijuana taxes

C

OLORADO expects to take in about $184 mil lion in tax revenue from marijuana in the first 18 months after legislation — and much of that money will be funneled into teaching kids to stay away from pot.

The state’s Joint Budget Committee released the report. Marijuana became legal for recreational use in Colorado on New Year’s Day. The committee projects revenue of about $610 million from retail and medical

marijuana from Jan. 1 of this year to June 30, 2015, the end of the next fiscal year.

The state has an aggressive taxation policy, taxing marijuana three times during the process — when it is produced, sold and bought.

As it turns out, the legalisation of marijuana is even more popular among consumers than state officials had originally expected. The lines were so long at dispensaries on New Year’s Day that some of them ran out of

product, while others rationed their supply.

The committee released a request to allocate $103.5 million towards the following causes: $45.5 million for the prevention of youth marijuana use; $40.4 million for treatment of substance use; $12.4 million for public health; $1.8 million for regulatory oversight; $3.2 million for law enforcement and public safety; and $200,000 for something called

“statewide coordination.”

The committee said this allocation of funds “represents a strong yet cautious first step toward ensuring a safe and responsible regulatory environment.”

Last week, the federal government gave banks a green light to provide financial services to legal marijuana businesses. Before that, it was an all-cash business. Despite that, marijuana remains illegal in the eyes of the federal government.

Coca-Cola moves toward bottling deals in Chicago, Central Florida C OCA-COLA Co on Friday announced deals to sell bottling operations in Greater Chicago and Central Florida, as it slowly undoes its 2010 purchase of its North American bottler.

The world’s biggest soda maker said it had signed two letters of intent with independent bottlers but did not

disclose the financial terms.

For the deals to take effect, the parties must reach definitive agreements this year.

Coke was expected to announce refranchising news ahead of Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent’s presen-

tation on Friday at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton, Florida.

Several years ago, Coke and arch rival PepsiCo bought their North American bottlers to streamline decision-making and cut

costs.

While the two companies have traditionally moved together on major changes, they are currently out of step.

Coke has been open about its plan to ultimately franchise its North American bottler, while PepsiCo has not.

In April, Coca-Cola said it had signed letters of intent with five other U.S. bottlers.

Dish profit rises 38% on higher revenue per user

D

ISH Network Corp (DISH.O), the second largest United States satellite TV company after DirectTV (DTV.O), reported a 38 percent rise in fourthquarter profit as it generated more revenue per user.

Dish said its stable of U.S. customers reached about 14.1 million as it added 8,000 pay-TV subscribers on a net basis in the fourth quarter.

The average revenue gener-

ated per subscriber rose 5 per cent to $81.24.

Investors are waiting to learn more about Dish’s strategy regarding the wireless spectrum the company has spent billions amassing.

Chairman Charlie Ergen has said he is keeping all options open, including acquiring T-Mobile US (TMUS.N), building a wireless network and selling Dish’s spectrum.

The company made no

mention of Ergen’s plans in its earnings statement on Friday.

DirecTV reported fourthquarter results that topped Wall Street estimates with better-than-expected U.S. growth and announced a $3.5 billion share buyback.

Dish’s net income attributable to the company for the quarter ended December 31 was $288 million, or 63 cents per share, com-

pared with $209 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose about 7 percent to $3.54 billion.

Analysts on average were looking for revenue of $3.59 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Dish shares, which have gained about 16 per cent in the last three months, closed at $57.07 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.

Ukraine faces default as Russia stalls

U

KRAINE’S plans to tap Russia for $2 billion in emergency funding have fallen apart, leaving the country sliding towards economic disaster.

Russia said earlier this week it was ready to buy Ukrainian government bonds — part of a $15 billion financial aid package agreed in December — but appears to have got cold feet as anti-government protests escalated. The Ukrainian finance ministry canceled the planned bond sale late Thursday.

At least 78 people died in clashes between protestors and security forces over the past two days.

“It was Russia that refused to buy the bonds because Moscow said [the president] did not have control in his country,” said Anders Aslund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Ukraine desperately needs the cash because it has to repay as much as $13 billion in debt

this year.

Three months of political turmoil have left the country dangerously short of the foreign currency reserves it needs to service its debts and pay for imports, including natural gas.

It now faces a real risk of default, which would plunge the ailing economy even deeper into the mire.

The protests were sparked by President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision in late November to strengthen economic ties with Russia and spurn a far-reaching trade deal with the European Union.

Moscow stumped up $3 billion in December but further payments have been put on hold due to the political uncertainty.

Yanukovych and opposition leaders said Friday they had reached a political deal, including early presidential elections and constitutional reforms, but it remains unclear whether this will end the crisis and unlock financial support.

• Fannie Mae Headquarters in US.

Fannie Mae profits push taxpayers into black on housing bailout F

ANNIE Mae said on Fri day it would soon send the United States Treasury a dividend of $7.2 billion that will make taxpayers whole for the 2008 bailout of the mortgage-financing giant and its sibling company Freddie Mac. Unlike other companies rescued during the financial crisis, however, the firms will remain under government control until Congress or the courts decide their fate.

“It’s good news for taxpayers that Fannie Mae is profitable and sending dividends to the Treasury,” Fannie Mae President and Chief Executive Officer Timothy Mayopoulos said on a call with reporters.

“But I don’t think that our profitability should be inter-

preted as a reason for delaying housing finance reform.”

In announcing the payment, Fannie Mae said it posted net income of $6.5 billion for the three-month period that ended December 31, its eighth straight quarterly profit. It said it expects to remain profitable for the foreseeable future.

Last year, its net income was a record $84.0 billion.

That compares to its previous record profit of $17.2 billion a year earlier.

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac benefited last year from a recovering housing market that lifted home prices and kept a lid on loan defaults. Their return to prof-

itability allowed them to reverse write-downs of certain tax-related assets, which led to large one-time windfalls.

The duo, which own or guarantee 60 per cent of all U.S. home loans, were seized by the government at the height of the financial crisis as mortgage losses threatened their solvency.

Officials felt they could not let the companies collapse because their role in the housing system was too important: providing liquidity to the mortgage market by buying loans from lenders and repackaging them as securities for investors.

They also feared a failure to honor the guarantees the companies made on loans would

lead to an even deeper crisis.

The bailout terms for the companies force them to turn over their profits to the Treasury in the form of dividends on the controlling stake the government took when it bailed them out. They cannot repurchase the government’s share.

Before returning to the black last year, Fannie Mae had suffered five years of losses totaling $164 billion, and it had drawn $116.1 billion in taxpayer aid.

Freddie Mac, which lost $94 billion between 2007 and 2011, was supported by $71.3 billion in bailout funds. The company has yet to report fourth quarter results, but has already paid $9 million more in dividends than it received in aid.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

39

EMPOWERMENT CLINIC with

GOKE ILESANMI

I

F you want to succeed in life, you must have a plan. Without a good plan, nothing tangible can be achieved. If you aspire to succeed in business for instance, you need to have a wellcomposed business plan that articulates the direction of your business in a bid to accomplish the most important goal, that is, profitability. But before we can talk about planning for the accomplishment of a resolution, the first thing that must happen is to first have that resolution.

Importance The word “Resolution” has different meanings or elasticity of interpretations. It means “Decision”, “Solution”, “Promise”, “Determination”, “Clear Picture”, etc. But our major conceptual focus here is the meaning about “Promise”. The resolution that we are concerned about means “a promise to yourself to do something”.

Do we actually need New Year’s resolution?

Resolution is so critical that we have turned it to a temporal or annual ritual tagged “New Year’s Resolution”, basically made on 1st January.

At the beginning of every year, most people will make a resolution that borders on achievement of set goals or even change of unwanted habits. However, having a resolution without being committed to it or knowing how to set it in motion does not guarantee results. It is noteworthy that many people approach the New Year’s resolution in a wrong way, while others do not even bother themselves about it at all. Approaching your annual resolution in the right way is a gateway to living the life of abundance and satisfaction.

Defects of over-reliance Apart from lack of commitment that tends to make the New Year’s resolution meaningless at times, one of the major disadvantages of this annual ritual is that it makes people easily sleep off as they merely look forward to the end of the year or beginning of another year before they think about taking steps to achieve success or change a bad habit. Even though the end of the year is a period for taking stocks, it is not only at this period that you can resolve to let your life witness dramatic turnaround through a resolution. The implication of this assertion is that there is need for you to start your resolution and its implementation now.

Unnecessary delay Effective time management constitutes an important factor in the quest for success or results. As you begin each new day of your life, one thing that you have in common with every other living person is the same amount of time. If you want to achieve success in life, you need to understand that time is money.

Therefore, waiting till the end of the year or beginning of another year before you decide to transform your life for the better can be compared to the archaic corporate strategy of waiting till the end of the year before giving employees assessment forms so that their managers/supervisors can start measuring their performance for the year under review. The better approach is to assess employees whether weekly or monthly so as to quickly draw their attention to their productivity or otherwise.

This weekly or monthly assessment approach will make such employees immediately adjust appropriately. The effect is that the overall organisational productivity and, by implication, profitability will be enhanced.

Analogy and example Imagine a situation where a football coach waits till the end of a match before telling his or her players about mistakes made and/or correcting them!

Such players will find it difficult to win matches. That is why football coaches normally draw the attention of their players to mistakes and make necessary adjustment during the half-time

break. We need weekly or monthly resolution to achieve success and/or drop our bad habit fast. We do not need to wait till the end of the year to start. If we adopt the weekly/ monthly resolution strategy, we will achieve better results than our annual ritual of often-ineffective New Year’s resolution.

Three years ago, I advised a heavy smoker in the month of May to stop smoking. To my amazement, he finally agreed with a condition. He said he would write the decision to stop smoking as part of his resolution for the following year. That is, he would still wait for a period of seven months before implementing that change of habit! And it is still possible for somebody to change his or her mind and continue with the bad habit in the course of unnecessary delay occasioned by the belief that the resolution is better slated for year-end or beginning of another year.

Belief and commitment To be able to easily achieve your resolution, you need belief and commitment. When we believe in something, we definitely will see possibility. Therefore, impossibility is lack of a positive belief. The stronger our belief about our resolution, the closer we get to achieving it. We can weaken or even kill a belief by introducing doubt. Your beliefs are your destiny, once you are committed, success will surely come your way.

As Peter Hirsch, author of “Success by Design” puts it, “Until one is committed there is al-

ways hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.” Commitment is the secret ingredient in every recipe for success, and once one is committed to something, it happens, no matter how long it takes, no matter what else happens, no matter what.

Self-motivation Self-motivation, which consists of thought and action, is also need to achieve your resolution.

This is because the willingness to act on your ideas is at least as important as the ideas themselves. Anybody that wants to be successful in life needs to be a self-starter; give his or her success aspiration all he or she has; and dare him- or herself to act now. The world is full of opportunities beckoning at you every second, minute and day. But the key to making the most of those opportunities is action. This implies that one needs to dream his or her dreams, but motivate himor herself to put plans into motion.

Final note It is better for you to decide today to achieve whatever you have resolved to achieve this year. Disappoint procrastination, stop wishing and start willing; stop proposing and start purposing.

PS: For those making inquiries about our Public Speaking, Business Presentation and Professional Writing Skills programme, please visit the website indicated on this page for details.

Till we meet on Wednesday.

WORKPLACE MATTERS

Manipulation can dampen employees' morale

M

ANIPULATION is defined as the act of making someone think and behave exactly the way you want him to, by skilfully deceiving or influencing him. Though the person manipulating the other person or people may have his way for some time, the strategy of manipulation is not the one that is enduring - it does not last!

When employees feel betrayed or manipulated, management's attempts at motivation cannot achieve any positive result. By way of illustration, according to research, a giant supermarket chain in Florida was well known for its warm relationship with its fifty thousand odd employees.

Publication The company published a biweekly bulletin that listed all the births, deaths, marriages and serious illnesses of employees and their families. For more than twenty years, the company president had sent personalised cards to the families of everyone listed in the bulletin. But when a new president was appointed in 1984, he decided to discontinue sending cards for births, marriages and illnesses. It is far better not to do something than to commit yourself to something you may not be able to deliver.

Another development In another development, research has confirmed that when the brown aircraft of People Express took to the skies in 1980, its founders initiated a social experiment on the grandest of scales. It

By Goke Ilesanmi

was probably the most elaborate attempt at corporate democracy ever. According to Donald Calvin Burr, president of People Express, "The single predominant reason why I cared about starting a new company was to try and develop a better way for people to work together."

So many people flocked to join the company because of this message, that only one out of a hundred applicants could be accepted. "You're not a commodity," Burr would stress to new recruits at the end of intensive fiveweek-long, six-day-a-week (without pay) training programmes. "You're not a beatendown worker. You're a manager.

You're an owner." And apparently, he meant it.

Expert's view Azriel Winnett, a business management expert says there were no supervisors, secretaries or vice-presidents at People Express. All employees were given the title of manager. They were rotated among jobs frequently in the air as flight attendants, at the airports as ticket agents, or behind the scenes in the accounting or scheduling departments.

One third of the corporate profit was distributed to employees.

They all owned a minimum of a hundred shares of the airline's stock. "When you fly People's Express, an owner is never more than a few steps away," boasted one its newspaper adverts.

Elated employee Fired with an infectious excitement, the "owner-managers" would work ten to twelve hours per day. Since per capita productivity was high, People Express operated with about fifty staff per airplane, about half the industry average. Burr was determined that the company should become "a role model for other airlines and businesses", and it did. Not only had it become the nation's fifth largest airline within five years, but it had become famous for its human management philosophy. "Anyone who isn't studying People Express and the way they're managing people is out of their minds," proclaimed a Harvard professor of repute. Two years later, People Express was no more. Drained by an excessively rapid expansion, Burr was forced to sell the entire airline before it was too late.

Reasons for collapse The reasons for the company's failure will probably be debated in business schools for many years to come, as business reporter Robert Levering points out in his fascinating book, A Great Place to Work. But parallel to the financial crash, a failure of a different kind became evident in the course of time. For all his ingenuity as a motivational expert, Donald Burr's grand scheme for ultimate corporate democracy had long turned sour in the eyes of many of his employees. Levering masterfully analyses the reasons for

this in his book. During the final week of the airline's existence as an independent entity, he talked at length with numerous People Express employees. They talked of feeling being "manipulated".

They stressed that this feeling had manifested on a large scale long before the airline flew into financial turbulence.

Abuse There is a special excitement about being involved in launching a company, and part of the People Express experience has occurred in countless other companies, too. Everyone feels needed and useful. The "partners" at People Express felt like winners, despite the long, uncompensated hours of work. But in this kind of situation, it is easy for the people at the top to purposefully prolong the startup phase, and to take advantage of their workers' love of excitement and novelty. The very responsibility given to the employees can become deceptive.

Their very loyalty can become an object of manipulation.

And although an elaborate communication system was in place at People Express, it worked well only when the going was good. But there were no viable mechanisms for handling employee complaints and concerns. The system made no provision for conflicts, because it assumed a kind of everlasting harmony between the employeemanagers and the top executives.

Realisation At People Express, many employees discovered that broken promises led to broken dreams.

Perhaps the big-wigs were thinking to themselves: "Tell people whatever will make them feel good. Then they'll work harder, and we'll make more money."

And as any politician knows, you can win votes by making promises, but voters eventually expect you to deliver.

Last words In an atmosphere of trust, communication can flourish. But trust is not something that can be turned on at will, like a tap.

Therefore, every corporate organisation that wants to succeed in business should desist from manipulating its employees or making empty promises to them because deploying this deceitful strategy can be counter-productive in the long run.

Till we meet on Wednesday.

•GOKE ILESANMI, Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is an International Platinum Columnist, Certified 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, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

40

Taxation

The Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

T

HE Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is a unique number allocated and issued to identify a person (individual or Company) as a duly registered taxpayer in Nigeria. It is to be used by that taxpayer alone. Registration for tax purposes is a legal obligation of every person who is required to pay tax in Nigeria.

The following necessary details for obtaining and updating TIN should be presented to the tax office nearest to the address of the taxpayer.

Obtaining TIN For a company, enterprise or business registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC): 1. Duly completed application form for TIN. 2. Either Certificate of Incorporation (for a company) or Business Name Registration Certificate (for an enterprise) showing clearly the registration number in each case.

3. Documents containing the following information: • Address of company, enterprise or business • Principal location of business • Date of commencement of business For an Individual who (or whose business) is not registered with the CAC: 1. Duly completed application form for TIN. 2. Any of the following valid identification documents: • International passport • National Identity Card • Staff identity card • National Driver's Licence The following rules are important: • All information marked * on the application form must be provided • (Ii) The characters of the name i.e. letters and other symbols constituting the name must not exceed two hundred (200) • The characters of the address also must not exceed two hundred (200) • Email address must be unique and active • Mobile telephone number must be eleven (11) digits e.g.

(08763201210).

Updating TIN Updating TIN under the 'National Single Window' System is a

requirement for taxpayers with incomplete records at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

TIN may be updated at the tax office where it was initially generated by providing the following additional information: a) Email address b) Phone number After updating, the system indicates that “The TIN has been successfully updated”.

The Joint Tax Board TIN (JTB TIN) It is important for a person to note the following information about the JTB TIN: 1) The JTB TIN is designed to subsequently replace the current TIN and is already in use within FIRS and several other states of Nigeria.

2) The JTB TIN has ten (10) digits, it is uniform and general across Nigeria. It is unique for every registered taxpayer in Nigeria and not limited to FIRS taxpayers alone.

3) The JTB TIN is presently being issued at the point of registration and also updated by FIRS and the states which have so far adopted it; 4) Every taxpayer in Nigeria will ultimately be required to possess and use only the JTB TIN. Validating TIN TIN validation is the process of confirming that the updated TIN meets the necessary conditions for transacting business with other organisations such as Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Central Bank of Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, etc.

A taxpayer can validate his/her TIN directly on the FIRS Trade Portal i.e. www.trade.gov.ng/firs by following the simple procedure below: i. Enter the TIN and the same email address that was provided to the tax office when updating. ii. Next, enter the security word (captcha) and click on “Validate”. iii. If the validation is successful, the following confirmation notice shall be displayed: “Register with NCS - Done”. iv. Then an automatic email notification from “Nigeria Single Window” with a log-in password and instruction on how to com-

• Acting Executive Chairman, FIRS, Alhaji Kabir Mohammed

Mashi plete the registration process would be sent to the taxpayer's email address. v. Upon completing the validation exercise, an email will automatically be sent to the email address provided confirming successful validation. A taxpayer should therefore check the email.

Authenticating TIN This is for the taxpayer to re-confirm his/her updated and validated TIN. A taxpayer experiencing difficulty in validating TIN (receiving error messages) should seek professional assistance from the tax office or send an email to: tinupdate@firs.gov.ng

Tax implication of mergers and acquisition

M

ERGER is defined as ‘‘any amalgamation of the undertakings or any part of the undertakings or interest of two or more companies or the undertakings or part of the undertakings of one or more companies and one or more bodies corporate’’. Simply put, a merger is a combination or integration of existing companies to form a single company.

Acquisition on the other hand, is known as take-over. It is the take-over of by one company of sufficient share in another company to give the acquiring company control over that other company.

A merger may result in any of the following situations: • Formation of a new company.

• Continuation of the consolidated business by one of the merging parties, in its name or under a new name.

• Cessation of business by the other merging parties.

In acquisition, there is only an acquiring company and the company being acquired.

Statutory Requirement under Companies Income Tax Act (CITA) The CITA in Section 29(12) Cap (21, LFN, 2004) provides that ‘‘no merger, take-over, transfer or restructuring of the trade or business carried on by a company shall take place without having obtained the Board’s direction under subsection 9 of this section and clearance with respect to any tax that may be due and payable under the Capital Gains Tax Act’’. The implication of this provision is that the approval of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is a necessary condition for the completion of the process in a merger or acquisition bid. Therefore, no merger or acquisition bids would be fully consummated without the companies involved having obtained the consent of the FIRS. Procedure for obtaining the Board’s Approval From the start, the merging companies are required to submit to the Board, copies of the scheme of merger and scheme of arrangement on the consolidation request for its study and proper evaluation in order to ensure that taxes which may result from the companies’ transactions are correctly assessed and collected. Herein lies the relevance of the Board’s powers under Section 29(9)(i) to require either of the companies directly affected by any direction which is under the consideration of the Board to guarantee or give security to its satisfaction for payment in full of all tax due or to become due by the company which is selling or transferring such asset or business.

Emergence of a new company 1. Rendition of Annual Returns Where a new company emerges from a merger process, then the new company is expected to file its returns in line with the provisions of Section 55(3)(b) of CITA. The section provides that “every new company shall file with the Board, its audited accounts and returns within eighteen (18) months from the date of its incorporation or not late than six (6) months after the end of its first accounting period as defined in section 29(3) of this Act, whichever is earlier”.

It should however be understood that a mere change of name does not make an existing business entity a new company.

Such companies will continue to be treated as old businesses

on an on-going concern basis.

2. Basis of Assessment Commencement rule as provided under Section 29(3) will apply to the new company, except where any of the underlisted circumstances arise: a) Where the merging parties are connected parties, the Board may direct that commencement rule be set aside, in which case, the new company will file its returns as an on-going concern and its assessment will be determined on preceding year basis. b) Where the new business is a reconstituted company, taking over the trade or business formerly run by its foreign parent company.

3. Claim of Allowances CITA did not categorically address the value at which assets may be transferred for the purpose of capital allowances claim.

However, International Accounting Standard 22 prescribes that in merger accounting, the assets, liabilities and reserves must be recorded at their carrying balances, implying that merger process does not permit the recording of assets at their fair value in the event of consolidation. The new company will therefore not be entitled to any investment allowance claim or initial allowance on the transferred assets; it will only be entitled to claim annual allowance on the Tax Written Down Values (TWDV) of the transferred assets.

4. Unabsorbed losses and un-Utilised Capital Allowances brought forward The new company may also not be permitted to inherit the unabsorbed losses and capital allowances of the absorbed companies, except under the following circumstance: Where a reconstituted company is carrying on the same business previously carried on by this company and it is proved that the losses have not been allowed against any assessable profits or income of that company for any such year; in that case the amount of unabsorbed losses shall be deemed to be a loss incurred by the re-constituted company in its trade or business during the year of assessment in which the business commenced.

5. Taxes and deductibility of related expenses • Stamp Duties Duty payment will arise on the share capital of the new company, subject to the provisions of Section 104 of the Stamp Duties Act, in relation to capital and duty relief.

• Consolidated Expenses Fees paid to statutory bodies such as SEC, NSE, CBN, Land Authorities etc, including professionals like accountants, stockbrokers, issuing houses, and solicitors are regarded as capital in nature and will therefore not be allowed as deductible expenses by virtue of Section 27(a) of CITS. • Taxation of Consolidation Fees: Fees paid to professionals for services rendered in connection with consolidation will be subject to VAT and WHT at the rates of five per cent and 10 per cent.

6. Tax Indemnification Section 29(9)(i) of CITA provides that the Board may require the new company to guarantee or give security for payment in full, for any tax due or that may become due by any of the ceased companies.

7. Approval for Pension Scheme The new company will need to obtain a Joint Tax Board

(JTB) approval for its staff pension scheme.

Status of a surviving company in relation to taxation It is a possibility that one of the merging companies survives with its old name or a new name to inherit the assets, liabilities, reserves and entire operations of the merging parties. Where this happens, the following points must be noted: • the surviving company must file its returns in line with the provisions of Section 55(3)(a) of CITA. • Commencement rules under Section 29(3) of CITA will not apply to the surviving company, as it will be regarded as an existing company.

• The surviving company will not be allowed to claim investment allowance on the assets which were transferred to it and will also not claim initial allowance on such assets.

• The surviving company may however claim annual allowance only on the TWDV of the assets transferred to it.

• The surviving company may not inherit the unabsorbed losses and capital allowances of the merging companies, except it is proved that the new business is a reconstituted company.

• All fees payable on merger bids or consolidation will be liable to VAT and WHT just like it is applicable on the emergence of a new company. Stamp Duties will be paid on the increase in share capital and the company will have to obtain its own staff pension scheme approval from the JTB. Ceased businesses The merger or consolidation exercise may also result in cessation of business for any of the merging parties. In this case, cessation rule as applicable under Section 29(4) of CITA will apply to any of the merging companies which have now ceased business permanently, except if any of the following circumstances occur: a) Where the merging companies are connected. Here, the Board may direct, in line with its discretionary powers, under Section 29(9) of CITA that the cessation rule may not apply. b) Where a reconstituted company is formed to take over the trade or business formerly run by its foreign parent company. (see Section 29(10) of CITA).

Capital gains tax shares or cash received Section 32A of Capital Gains Tax Act (CGTA) Cap 121LFN 2004 provides that a person shall not be chargeable to tax under the Act, in respect of any gains arising from the acquisition of the shares of a company, either merged with, or taken over or absorbed by another company, as a result of which the acquired company has lost its identity. However, where shareholders are either wholly or partly paid in cash for surrendering their shares in the ceased business, the gains arising from the cash payment will be subject to CGT. Effect of taxation on consolidation of acquiring/acquired companies The tax implications of consolidation on acquiring or acquired companies are similar to those of mergers. Acquisition expenses are non-deductible while fees paid to professional bodies are equally subject to WHT and VAT.

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POLITICS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014

THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

PLATEAU COUNCIL POLLS

PDP, APC battle for Plateau Voters in Plateau State are already armed with their voters card, heading to the polls to elect chairmen for 17 local governments. YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU writes on the contending political parties.

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FTER many years of suspence, local government elections are expected to hold in 17 local governments in Plateau State tomorrow. The poll was shifted thrice last year by the state electoral commission.

But the indigenes are doubting the seriousness of the commission to conduct the election. When the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor Jonah Jang embarked on a campaign tour of the state, the move rekindled the hope for the grassroots poll among indigenes. Opposition parties were geared up for the battle.

PDP leaders campaigned vigorously across the three zones. At every zonal rally, the party’s candidates were introduced to voters and handed the party flags. The party primaries was rancorous and the dust raised in the process is yet to settle. Thus, the rally was also organised to forge reconciliation.

The campaign message of the ruling party is clear. Jang said: “The party will not accept anything less than total victory at the end of the election”. This was made clear to supporters during rallies.

All political appointees of have been instructed to deliver their local government or would be rendered incapable of serving in the administration. A government source said: “Government is taking this election very serious. It has made available huge sums of money with which to woo voters a night before the election.

Series of meetings are being held in the wake of the election to mobilise political appointees, who have vowed to win their respective local government for the party.

The penalty for any commissioner and special advisers who fails to deliver his or her locality is sack. As a result, everyone have gone back home to work for the success of the party,” the source added.

Thus, all political appointees have been on leave to “go home and deliver.” The governor was said to have ordered the appointees to remain in their villages, if they fail to deliver.

While the PDP was embarking on last minute campaign to woo supporters, its closest rival, the All Progressive Congress (APC) was using its membership registration to strike a deal with the people. The APC is preaching “change” in all the local governments. The party said: “We are out to chase PDP out of the state and it has to start from this

council election. Let’s use this very election to tell the PDP that their time is up, and that they should pack their baggages to leave the scene by 2015.”

According to APC leaders, the local government election provides a golden opportunity for the opposition to reverse the dominant posture of the PDP. The APC Interim chairman of the party, Gen. John Shagaya (rtd), spoke on the party’s agenda while receiving a member of the House of Representatives from Jos North/Bassa Constituency, Hon Suleiman Yahaya Kwande, who recently defected to the party. At the event were the APC Interim Secretary and former Minister of State for Information and Communication, Alhaji Salisu Ibrahim Nakande, the Interim National Auditor, Sir Olisaemeka, and some legislators from the Plateau State House of Assembly.

The defection of the federal lawmaker a week to the council election was strategic to the success of the APC. The law maker said he has the capacity to deliver the two local governments in his constituency for the party Kwande presented two vehicles to the APC chapters in the two local governments, through the state chairman Gen. Shagaya. He said the vehicles would ease the movement of officials during the membership registration and the election. The rally to receive Kwambe formally into the APC took place at the party secretariat, Kalwa House, Zaramaganda, Jos. Speaking on the chance of the APC, Shagaya said: “APC is fully prepared for the election and we are not leaving any stone unturned in taking our chances.”

He added: “The ongoing membership registration in the state has given us confidence that the APC is the much awaited alternative political party in the state. The registration has been concluded in two senatorial zones, but it is expected to be concluded in the third senatorial district in two days time. So far, the strong showing of the APC during the membership reg-

•Map of Plateau Stae

istration in the two senatorial zones suggest that the party can win in 14 out of the 17 local governments in the state. With the party’s strong showing, it is sure to win in those local governments, all things being equal. We may not be in power and may not have cash to spend, but the people have chosen the party as their own and are ready to give us victory in the election”.

Shagaya urged the electoral commission to live up to expectation. He said: “I am not doubting the ability of the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) to conduct this election. Indeed, I have strong hope of their ability to conduct the election. But we are making three strong requests to the state government, security agencies and party supporters. That is, to allow a level playing field for all parties participating in the election; they should also allow the voters a free hand to vote for the candidate of their choice.

‘While the PDP was embarking on last minute campaign to woo supporters, its closest rival, the All Progressive Congress, APC, was using its membership registration to strike a deal with indigenes of the state’

•Jang

“Government should not influence or intimidate voters through the use of force.

My second demand is the security agencies should be professional in their duties during the election; they should resist being used by any party or government.

“My third request is for all APC supporters in the state to be law-abiding; they should conduct themselves orderly before, during and after the election. I don’t want to hear of any APC member being involved in any form of malpractice during the election.”

However, Jang predicted victory for the PDP at the poll. He said the party will continue to maintain its dominance.

The ruling party is not sleeping on guard. Jang and other party leaders are putting finishing touches to its campagn.

The PDP Chairman, Dr Haruna Dabin, said thet he would be disappointed, if the PDP loses one local government to the opposition in the election.

He stressed: “PDP made some mistakes in the last council election by losing four local governments to the opposition. But, this time around, we will use this election to correct the mistakes of the past so that the PDP can sweep the polls. We are not prepared to lose a single local government in this election.”

Keen watchers of Plateau politics have predicted a tough race for the two contending parties; the APC and the PDP. They described the election as a clash of the titans.

Opadokun: Yoruba in Kwara, Kogi should be in Southwest

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•Opadokun

ORMER Afenifere National Secretary Mr. Ayo Opadokun has reiterated his call for the integration of Yoruba in Kwara and Kogi states with their kith and kin in the Southwest.

He said the governments and people of the six Yoruba states are not averse to the proposal, stressing that it can be achieved through sheer boundary adjustment.

Opadokun said the description of Ebolos, Okuns, Igbominas and Ekitis in the two Northcentral states as ‘Yoruba Northerners as an insult, lamenting that they are marginalised by majority ethnic groups.

The human rights crusader said that Yoruba outside the Southwest have been excluded from certain privileges, owing to historical accident. He recalled that when the late Aro of Mopa, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, showed interest in the national chairmanship of the Peoples

By Enitan Seriki

Democratic Party (PDP), former President Olusegun Obasanjo objected to the move because the two were Yoruba.

Opadokun also said that when he was being considered for positions in the Southwest, certain people raised objections because he hails from the Northcentral zone.

The Afenifere chieftain recalled that the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had called for the implementation of the Willinkson Report, which focused on the plight of minority tribes in Nigeria.

Opadokun said lamented that state creation by the military has lumped together diverse tribes, instead of making linguistic compatibility and contiguity the criteria for the exercise.

Noting that state creation may not be fea-

sible, in the light of the non-viability of existing states, he said the Yoruba in Kwara and Kogi can be re-integrated with the Southwest through boundary adjustment.

Opadokun said the boundary adjustment can be easily accomplished because the Ebolos, Igbominas and Ekitis in those two states enjoy cultural affinity with the Southwest.

He said the Yoruba in Kogi and Kwara will send delegates to the proposed national conference to demand their return to the Southwest.

Opadokun added: “The distance between Isan-Ekiti, Governor Fayemi’s town, and Ekiti towns in Kwara is about four kilometres. They speak the same language. The headquarter of Ebolo is Offa, but it is in Kwara. Ebolo starts from Iwo. As the minority in the two states, they are marginalised. What is needed is a boundary adjustment so that they can return to the Southwest”.

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NEWS

11 ‘oil thieves’ arrested in Rivers

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AVAL officers and men on Bonny Island in Rivers State have arrested 11 men for their alleged involvement in illegal oil activities.

Their vessel, MT Divine Favour, which belongs to Ibiberebupakab Nigeria Limited, was impounded.

The suspects and the vessel were handed over to operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Com-

•Vessel impounded

mission (EFCC).

The Commanding Officer, Forward Operating Base (FOB), Bonny, Capt.

Daupreye Matthew, said the vessel was intercepted 11 nautical miles from the Fairway Buoy, Bonny, on February 10.

Matthew said the vessel had no valid documents to operate on Nigerian waters and was carrying about 500

metric tonnes of products suspected to be Automated Gasoline Oil (AGO).

The commanding officer, handing over the suspects to the EFCC, said the exercise was in line with the vision and mission of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jubrin.

Matthew also said the navy was determined to fight oil theft, especially in the Niger Delta.

Edo, doctors reach agreement

•Oshiomhole

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DO State government and the Nigeria Medical Association have reached an agreement on matters affecting doctors’ conditions of service and improving infrastructure in the

health sector.

The doctors went on strike last year, to demand for employment in the health board, improvement in infrastructure and implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

Speaking after a meeting with the doctors, Governor Adams Oshiomhole said: “We have carried out a survey to establish where we have health centres, hospitals, and how many doctors, nurses, we need. Now the challenge is finding the money to employ all those we need.”

The NMA Chairman, Dr

Emmanuel Ighodaro, said: “I want to say today has been a happy day in the health sector in Edo State, because there was a landmark achievement.

“We agree quite honestly that the issues concerning health cannot be solved in one day, but what we clamoured for was that the right step should be taken. Today, the right step has been taken and other ancillary issues were also addressed.

“As we speak, government has said even now, we must do something and we are grateful to them. We are saying the people should keep faith with us and keep faith with the government.”

• Lagos State Attorney General’swife Mrs Olaitan Ipaye, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, Mr Akeem Ogunbambi and Chairman of Mushin Local Government Olatunde Adepitan at the monthly environmental sanitation...at the weekend

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4,000 declare for APC in Kwara

HE ranks of the All Progressives Congress (APC) swelled at the weekend, as over 4,000 youths from Ilorin East and South local governments joined the party.

The leader of the group, Abdulfatai Seriki, said the leadership qualities of Senator Bukola Saraki attracted them to APC. Seriki, who contested the House of Assembly election in 2011 under the Democratic Peoples' Party (DPP), added that his supporters are spread across the 12 wards in Ilorin East and 11 wards in Ilorin South local

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

government areas.

He said all of them have decided to move together to ensure better development in the state.

Seriki noted that as a man, who has expertise in solid mineral business with interest in human empowerment, he shares the same style with the leader.

The ex-DPP man added that the leadership style of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and Saraki endeared the youths to the party.

Seriki said such develop-

ment was unprecedented in the state’s political history.

He said they want to contribute their quota to the development of the state.

The group’s leader urged Kwara youths to support Dr Bukola Saraki for better development and prosperity.

“We are here today to declare for the APC in Kwara. Our governor and his predecessor have good political pedigree, which we want to emulate.

“I implore all Kwarans to join these great men totake our state to the next level.”

Commissioner’s mum for burial

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LL roads lead to Ipekho Ehielu, Igueben Local Government, Edo State on Friday, as the late community leader, Mrs. Akharia Inegbedion, is laid to rest.

The deceased, mother of the Commissioner of Finance, Mr. John Inegbedion, died last month after a brief illness.

According to a statement by the family, the service of

songs will take place on Thursday at the family compound at Idumogo, Igueben.

This will be followed by burial/service at the Assembly of God Church, Afuda, Igueben.

Guests will be entertained on Saturday at Idumogo Primary School, Igueben.

Aged 64, the late Mrs Inegbedion is survived by husband, mother, children and grandchildren.

•The late Mrs. Inegbedion

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NEWS Yuguda blasts ACF, Afenifere, Ohanaeze

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AUCHI State Governor Isa Yuguda has taken a swipe at the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other ethnic nationality groups for what he described as their “divisive tendencies.”

Yuguda accused the regional socio-cultural cum political interest groups of fanning disunity with their inflammatory statements on the polity and the nation’s leaders.

The governor was miffed by the apparently combative posture of the groups on the National Conference and their parochial views on the Presidency.

Speaking with reporters in Bauchi at the weekend, the governor cautioned the groups against setting the stage for violence which could arise from their unguarded utterances.

“Some of these elders appear to have lost focus. They are busy abusing one another and abusing leaders from different sections of the country.

“Most of them were privi-

Arewa youth faults planned protest against NNPC’s GMD

•Alleges divisive comments by groups From Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja

leged individuals during their prime, but they have now turned around sowing divisions among various groups in the country. It is high time they stopped instigating the people against one another.”

Yuguda called on youths to shun the divisive tendencies of the groups and challenged them to work towards bridging the developmental gap.

Youths, he said, must strive hard to harness the nation’s abundant human and material resources and forge unity among diverse groups.

The governor blamed what he termed the mercantile approach to power by members of the political class, saying their actions were responsible for some of the woes in the country.

According to him, “these politicians are busy competing for power just for the oil money. They see politics as an

enterprise, with the sole purpose of making profit.

“Instead of focusing on how best to serve their people and develop the economy, they see political power as a means of making money for their children, grandchildren and generation unborn.

“It is high time they changed their perception, if we want our country to grow.”

The governor urged political leaders to begin to shift focus from oil, to the vast potential in agriculture, education and tourism, which he said, could generate greater revenue.

He cited the case of Israel, which grew into an economic giant mainly from agriculture, education and tourism.

The governor deplored insecurity in the Northeast, typified by the mindless killings

by Boko Haram insurgents.

He advised governors to be more proactive in security matters.

Yuguda said the state has

A •Yuguda

accommodated and rehabilitated 194 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Bungudu Village in Zamfara State, whose communities were attacked by armed invaders.

The governor said it is the duty of the nation’s leaders, the security agencies and the public to fight the menace.

“We never envisaged this terrible situation in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa five years ago. These criminals are killing their fellow human beings and shouting Allahu Akubar (God is great). It is a madness that must be cured,” Yuguda stated.

Oyinlola seeks AGF’s probe over alleged discrepancies in DPP’s status

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ORMER Osun State G o v e r n o r , Olagunsoye Oyinlola has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to order the investigation of the Minister for Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) over the discrepancies in the actual personality of the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation.

Oyinlola, in a letter to the President, accused Adoke of alleged “unacceptable conduct” in the manner he had handled the issue.

Oyinlola accused the minister of “parading Simon Egede, who is his Special Assistant, variously as Acting Director of

From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

Public Prosecutions and Director of Public Prosecution in flagrant breach of Public Service Rules and general convention.

“In other words, Simon Egede and Mohammed Adoke have unlawfully teamed up to perpetrate the criminal act of impersonation in their bid to obstruct justice.”

Oyinlola said Egede, who had appeared in court as the DPP, had committed an offence of impersonating a public servant,contrary to Section 132 of the Penal Code which provides thus: “Whoever pretends to hold any particular office as a public servant knowing

that he does not hold such office or falsely personages any other person holding such office, and in such assumed character does or attempts to do any act under colour of such office, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years...”

Oyinlola said the AGF had also committed an offence of making wrong conferment of responsibility contrary to Section 132(a) of the Penal Code.

He also presented a letter written by Egede where he signed as Director, Public Prosecutions on behalf of the AGF to the President .The former governor also attached another letter

from the AGF, where the AGF admitted that Egede’s purported appointment as DPP was null and void The AGF, in the letter, said: “On October 24 last year, the Federal Civil Service Commission. informed the Ministry of Justice that his (Egede) purported engagement into the Federal Civil Service was null and void.

“Consequently, he was directed to cease to work in the Department.”

Documents attached to the letter showed that Egede was never appointed as DPP but it was A.A Akintewe who was appointed DPP. The AGF and Egede could not be reached for comments.

REWA Youth Forum (AYF) at the weekend faulted a threat to protest against Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Andrew Yakubu over alleged unremitted oil fund.

AYF’s National Director, Pubic Affairs Bello Abdulhamid described those behind the threat to protest at the National Assembly as trying to score cheap political gains.

Abdulhamid, who spoke in Abuja, said the National Assembly had intervened and ordered a forensic audit to establish the truth about the alleged missing cash.

He said the forum stands against injustice and misgovernance, particularly in the North, hence it decided to focus on allegations in the oil sector.

The “threat of demonstration by a faceless group”, he said, “is unwarranted and a calculated attempt to preempt the independent forensic audit report, which the National Assembly have directed to be carried out.

“AYF, as a major stakeholder in the Nigerian

project, views this as unfair and unreasonable..”

He said: “As patriotic Nigerians, we would like to see a transparent and proper resolution of the allegation of unremitted oil funds.

“It is a welcome development w h e n t h e S e n a t e Committee on Finance asked the Ministry of Finance to conduct a forensic audit on the missing funds and to report back within one month.”

He said Nigerians, including those issuing threats of demonstration, should await the result of the forensic audit instead of plotting to pre-empt the outcome.

Abdulhamid condemned what he described as “the misguided and mischievous approach of faceless youths to serious national issues.”

The suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, alleged that the NNPC failed to remit $20 billion to the federation account.

Sanusi’s allegation prompted the Senate to empanel its Committee on Finance to establish the veracity of the allegation.

Scholarship beneficiary absconds

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ANO State Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso yesterday said a beneficiary of the state’s postgraduate scholarship programme has absconded.

The governor announced this at the graduation of 240 youths trained in Screen Printing and Lettering/Painting.

He said luckily, the escapee returned to Nigeria and was apprehended.

Kwankwaso said the government would not tolerate a situation whereby tax payers’ money would be diverted for selfish ends, He warned beneficiaries of the government’s schol-

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

arships and training programmes to make good use of the opportunity.

The governor said 200,000 youths have been empowered through skill acquisition programmes, explaining that the programmes were introduced to mitigate unemployment.

He urged beneficiaries of the Screen Printing and Lettering/Painting programme, who were supplied with free start-up capital of N50,000, to reciprocate the gesture by training and employing other unemployed persons.

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FOREIGN NEWS

Ukraine: Speaker Turchynov named interim president

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ARLIAMENT in Ukraine has named its speaker as interim president.

Oleksandr Turchynov takes charge following the dismissal of President Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday. Mr Turchynov told MPs they had until Tuesday to form a new unity government.

Parliament also voted to seize Mr Yanukovych’s luxury estate near Kiev, which protesters entered on Saturday.

Meanwhile, freed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said she has no interest in being prime minister again.

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GYPTIAN prosecutors have accused ousted President Mohammed Morsi of leaking state secrets to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The claim came during the second hearing of his trial on espionage charges.

Prosecutors allege that he and 35 others were involved in a plot to destabilise Egypt. The trial was later adjourned to 27 February.

The deposed Islamist leader is facing four separate trials.

Mr Morsi’s supporters say he and other senior Muslim Broth-

erhood leaders are the victims of politically motivated prosecutions.

The espionage trail opened on 16 February and on Sunday prosecutors detailed the charges against Mr Morsi and his codefendants.

They were specifically accused of “delivering to a foreign country... national defence secrets and providing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards with security reports in order to destabilise the security and stability of the country”, AFP news agency reported.

The statement read in court did not identify the “foreign country”.

Mr Morsi is also accused of collaborating with the Palestinian movement Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty.

During Sunday’s hearing, Mr Morsi was held separately in a soundproof glass cage to prevent him shouting and disrupting proceedings.

Mr Morsi was ousted by the military last July following mass street protests against his gov-

Mexico's most wanted drug lord Guzman captured

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EXICO’s most wanted drug kingpin, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, has been captured, President Enrique Pena Nieto announced on Saturday. The arrest comes as a major victory for the government in its bloody war with drug cartels.

Mugabe celebrates 90th birthday

Egypt’s Morsi ‘leaked secrets to Iran Revolutionary Guards’

Guzman is the head of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel and is known as one of the world’s most powerful organized crime bosses.

The country’s most wanted man was arrested on Saturday following a month-long operation with help from US agen-

cies, the government said. President Pena Nieto confirmed the capture via Twitter and congratulated security forces on their success.

A Mexican security source told Reuters that Guzman was detained in Mazatlan, a seaside resort in his northwestern home

state of Sinaloa.

The Sinaloa Cartel has smuggled billions of dollars worth of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine into the United States, and fought brutal wars with other Mexican gangs over turf and drug trafficking routes, Reuters reports.

T •Morsi

ernment.

There has since been a severe crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group, as well as on other activists seen as hostile to the military-backed government.

The Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organisation and authorities have punished any public show of support for it.

HOUSANDS of Zimbabweans have attended an official 90th birthday celebration for President Robert Mugabe.

The veteran leader, who has been in power since 1980, released 90 balloons into the air at a stadium east of the capital Harare.

He turned 90 on Friday but was in Singapore for eye surgery at the time. Many schoolchildren were among the crowd, waving flags and chanting Mr Mugabe’s clan name.

PUBLIC NOTICE

OKORO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okoro Favour Ekpe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Asukwo Favour Ekpe. All for documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

Taliban attack, kill Afghan soldiers in Kunar

T •Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera aka "el Chapo Guzman" (middle), is escorted by marines as he is presented to the press in Mexico City at the weekend.

AFP PHOTO

ALIBAN fighters have killed 21 Afghan soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint in Kunar province close to Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.

At least one of the attackers was also killed and the Taliban told the BBC they had captured seven soldiers.

NEWS

‘Jonathan’s main problem’

We’ll overcome our challenges, Jonathan insists

D

ESPITE increasing onslaught by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram in the north, President Good luck Jonathan yesterday maintained that Nigeria will overcome its challenges.

He gave this assurance at the third service of Dunamis International Gospel Church, Area one, Abuja.

Jonathan thanked Christians for their prayers for the country, stressing that Nigeria’s situation could have been worse without their prayers and those of other religions.

According to him, almost every part of the world are going through trouble time and Nigeria too is having its own share of the negative events.

He said: “If you watch television, both local and foreign,

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

we always have negative news as breaking news. The whole world is almost in trouble and as a nation, we are bound to have our own fair share. With your prayers, surely we will overcome our challenges.”

While urging the congragation to continue to pray for the nation, he thanked the officiating Pastor, Dr Paul Enenche and his team for their consistent support and prayers for the country.

“It is only spiritual healing that is total. We thank you for what you have been doing.”

He added He said that he will continue to worship outside the State House on every last

Sunday if the month till he leaves the Presidential Villa.

On Pastor Enenche’s message, titled ‘Fraudulent Practices’, President Jonathan said he was touched.

Jonathan said: “The happiest people in this world are not the big names.”

Delivering the message, Pastor Enenche took the congregation through Proverbs 22:7, Genesis 14:22 to 23, Job 1:1 to 3, Proverb 14:11 said that no man needs to live fraudulently to succeed.

The Pastor gave three counsel to the congregation in order to avoid fraudulent practices.

They are: “Looking away from what is not your, Labour honestly and diligently, and Looking up to the

Continued from page 1

•Jonathan

Ministerial nominee has questions to answer

rewarder of diligent labour.”

“Whatever God has not given to you and you take, it does not add anything to you, but take away something from you. Crookedness today equals affliction tomorrow,” he stated.

He prayed to God to grant the President the courage needed in taking decisive steps that will transform the country and to uphold the rule of law.

building is a distance away to Chief Bola Ige’s Bodija Ibadan residence. He was our neighbour. What informed his sudden disappearance from his house the night Chief Bola Ige was killed? He fled his home with members of his family the moment the act was done.

“Let him explain why he ran away.

Again, the assault on Ige on December 15, 2001 eight days before his assassination; he should explain his role in the assault on Chief Bola Ige at IleIfe, whether overtly or covertly.

For him to say that Chief Bola Ige gave him money and sponsored his education is nothing.

“On the day Chief Bola Ige was assassinated, why did he suddenly move his family and fled; he should tell Nige-

Inuma T. Davies and Rev. Victor Ben. He noted that by the training in the Catholic Church, the priests would not lack anything, with church members buying them cars, clothing and food, among others, making them to be buried in the church’s premises, when they die, stressing that Catholic priests could never be disrespected.

Amaechi promised to commence the building of a model primary school in the church premises.

The Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria to Christ Church, Port Harcourt,

Continued from page 1

Ige, these are fundamental issues Adesiyan should resolve before telling Nigerians that he did not kill Ige. Adesiyan, a ministerial nominee from Osun State, was before senators on February 13, 2014 for screening.

He (Adesiyan) was asked to say what he felt the Senate should know about him that was not stated in his CV. Adesiyan suddenly burst into tears, saying he did not kill Ige. Muyiwa, who spoke with The Nation in Ibadan at the weekend, described the statement by Adesiyan’s denial - that he did not kill Ige - as “deceitful” and a “deliberate cover-up”.

“He lived four houses away from my father’s house. His

rians. Though he was arrested and tried, unfortunately they botched the trial.

“Those crocodile tears on the floor of the Senate were staged managed.

It is obvious that the spirit of Bola Ige continues to hunt them, “he said.

The young Ige said all those who plotted and executed his father’s murder would not know peace, as the spirit of Ige would continue to torment them.

Besides, Muyiwa Ige, who is the Commissioner for Lands and Physical Planning in Osun State, also flayed the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) choice of Adesiyan for ministerial post, adding that the choice fittingly confirmed that the party is “a nest of killers”.

payback for his attacks on the NNPC. “Since 2009, I have been annoying the government...

You’ve got people who think I have the wrong friends, people who think maybe I have not distanced myself enough from people who are seen to be opposition figures,” he added.

The list of Sanusi’s enemies may have been built up over years, but the NNPC affair appeared to be the final straw.

The NNPC has become notorious as one of the most opaque oil companies in the world, but Sanusi said the extent of the graft may have reached an historic high.

“I think everybody has known that NNPC is rotten. I don’t think it has ever been as bad as this,” he said.

He has levelled various accu-

sations against the NNPC, but an alleged kerosene subsidy payment scam has received increased attention.

Even though the NNPC pays subsidies to kerosene vendors, Nigerian consumers still pay full market price for the product.

According to Sanusi, the socalled kerosene subsidy money, in fact, pays for “private jets...yachts... and expensive property in Beverly Hills and Switzerland”.

Sanusi has ruled out running for elected office, but said he may still have a future in public service.

In the short term, he voiced readiness to face any attacks that may be coming from those committed to preserving the status quo in the country.

“If I am sacrificed in whatever way, my freedom or my life... if it does lead to better accountability it will be well worth it,” Sanusi said.

ACF, Amaechi fault suspension Continued from page 4

His Eminence, Rev. Emele Mba Uka, highlighted the significance of the induction of the resident ministers and their services to the church and humanity.

A statement by ACF National Publicity Secretary, Mohammad Ibrahim Biu, after an emergency meeting, said due process was not followed in suspending Sanusi.

They asked the government to immediately recall him to enable him testify before the Senate on allegation of missing public funds.

The statement said: “ACF wishes to remind the government that only the Senate has the power to dismiss or remove the Central Bank Governor with a two-thirds majority vote follow-

ing due process.

“This action of government has negative implication on transparency and good governance. It negates the principle of separation of powers, it also shows that the government has already decided to sack him.

“The ACF wishes to advise the government and all concerned to avoid doing anything that will tarnish Nigeria’s image and refrain from exposing Nigeria to ridicule at the international level.

“ACF wishes to express concern about the personal security and safety of Mallam Sanusi as it has been reported that his passport has been seized and the security detail attached to him withdrawn”.

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL 9 NO 2,769

WHO SAID WHAT ‘Instead of focusing on how best to serve their people and develop the economy, they see political power as a means of making money for their children, their grandchildren and their generation unborn.

It is high time they changed their perception, if we want our country to grow.’

GOVERNOR ISA YUGUDA

C OMMENT & D EB ATE EBA

I

F the society today allows wrongs to go unchallenged, the impression is created that those wrongs have the approval of the majority – Barbara Jordan.

President Goodluck Jonathan has always been a façade, and he basks in it. That façade is innocence. In his gait and simper, he affects the persona of childhood, and whenever he wants Nigerians to perceive him, he wants us to think of him first as an innocent.

A man, in his grey years of the fifties, in his full Niger Delta outfit complete with the hat, still conveys the diaper sentiment.

It is not for nothing that his only memorable quote is that he grew up without shoes.

Or, to others, that he does not want to be called a pharaoh, etc, which also conveys the personality of the dove.

A few days ago, he failed in trying to do that, although he tried. He asked Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and vicar of our financial soul, to proceed on suspension. This followed an earlier conversation with Sanusi in which he asked the imperious heir to the Kano throne to resign. The man said he would not and the President needed the Senate to effect his designs.

The President bided his time, consulted his lawyers, and they told him he could suspend him. Since he had a few months left in the saddle, Sanusi could not return before June when his term expired. Practically, the suspension was a sack.

That would be sack through the back door, a serpentine ambush. That is innocence, Jonathan style. “All things truly wicked start from innocence,” crooned American novelist of precision, Ernest Hemmingway.

How to effect this? He would organise an investigation that neither the National Assembly nor the Nigerian public would be aware of. The result would be quickly documented, and the charges would become indictment. So they charged him with financial recklessness and misconduct. They said he was reckless for contributing hefty money to education, as if it was not part of the corporate responsibility to the society for a CBN that made an income of about N600 billion for the Federation Account under him. The CBN endowed chairs and contributed to some universities. The innocent man did not like that even though in his full term as president, no one university has advanced in any area and he has no significant track record.

Yet, Sanusi erred for continuing a tradition that even his predecessor Charles Soludo participated in.

They charged him with spending more money, about N38 billion on Nigerian mint, than the budget for Nigerian mint company.

They did not look at the figures well because it is not Nigerian Mint Company alone that prints our money but other countries around the world also do it for us. They forget that the man cut down the cost of printing in his tenure from close to N50 billion for the same purpose. They accuse him of spending money

RIPPLES NATIONAL CONFERENCE WILL BE VOLATILE, says Uranta

No. No. No. We are only going to discuss how to AGREE to DISAGREE

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

intouchnation@gmail.com 08054501081(sms only) Twitter: @samomatseye

Jonathan’s innocence

•Dr Jonathan

•Sanusi

on Boko Haram victims, as though to indict him for spending institutional money on his kinsmen in the North. But check the record.

Most of the beneficiaries were Christians from the South. The CBN contributed about half a billion to flood victims and he helped mobilise banks to give one billion for that purpose.

They said he spent money on Emirates Airlines to ship money within the country, and Emirates is an international company. But they were a little too excited or else they should have distinguished between Emirates Airlines and Emirate Touch, a local concern.

For a president who delights in making pilgrimages from church to church and attracting the image of a lamb to himself, he should have done a little homework, or asked his men to be a little thorough with his work.

He carried the game against Sanusi to a serpentine venom. It is in his style to act as though he did not act. He was only responding to the charges and so he sent the man on suspension, so the matter could be investi-

gated.

Really? The former aviation minister’s case was being investigated while she clucked in office. She even travelled with him on a Christian pilgrimage to the land of our Lord. No one pressured him to rid the CBN of Sanusi, but he let him go. Pressures mounted relentlessly over Oduah. He merely said the report was on his table. Up till the time of writing, he has not acted on it. She is still innocent and the President knows a lot about that. She was removed from office not on the ground of her malfeasance but because, like other ministers, they had to pursue some other personal goals.

If you suspend after charges are levelled, why are the other two angels of Jonathan still in office? The one, is the minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and the finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Sanusi charged that $20 billion cannot be accounted for. Three important officers are involved. The finance minister, oil minister and Andrew Yakubu, the group managing director of the NNPC. None of them has been asked to go on suspension. The money at stake is close to N5 trillion, and that is the budget for a whole year.

If N5 trillion is spent prudently in a year, most of our major roads will be in perfect shape, all our hospitals will not lack basic equipment, the schools up to the universities will be well funded and equipped and industries in full throttle and the jobs will be available for more than half of our restive youths today.

Yet, Sanusi’s only wrong seems to be that he wanted us to look into this money and he is being punished for it?

Sanusi’s style is the contrast to the presi-

HARDBALL

G

dent. He is direct, frank and has been accused of reckless volubility. That is true. He has been more than a little flamboyant for his sober position, and some of his utterances make him more of a gladiator than an accountant. He was hasty about the charge of $48.9 billion, which was cut down to $10.8 billion, amounting to N2 trillion. Yet, he was right to unveil the matter as he saw it. If he were quiet, we would not know of that hefty sum. He has said he did not leak the letter he wrote sounding the alarm of the missing money. Who knows? But the letter had reached the President about three months before it was leaked. Why the presidential tardiness or inaction?

Some have also said that after raising the alarm, he should have resigned. It is a matter of style. The argument is that he could not be in government and fight from within. They miss the point. The CBN governor is no staff of the President. The President enjoys the privilege to nominate him, and there is a reason why the same law denies him the right to fire him. After all, the CBN governor does not report to the President but the National Assembly.

The prerogative to appoint derives from the inability to confer that right on the lawmakers because of its rowdy potential, or the judiciary being the judge. You cannot be a judge in your own cause. Being the head of the executive branch the President can nominate him. But that is where it ends.

The CBN also plays a role to check and report the financials of the executive and that is why the President cannot show power over him once the Senate hires him. In fact, it is the Senate that hires the CBN governor. The President merely suggests subject to the wisdom of the Senate. If the office of the auditor general of the federation had not been crippled, it should be checkmating an executive on a financial frolic.

Therefore, the suspension was an act of serpentine impunity, a firing from the back door.

He took liberties with his presidential powers and licensed himself to violate an institution over which he has no powers.

He knew he fired him, hence he promptly appointed a successor at the same time he appointed the acting governor.

Obviously the move was to divert attention from the $20 billion, so we can start saying “why is a corrupt Sanusi accusing Jonathan of corruption? Is it not a case of the pot calling the kettle black?” But if he was sure of his charges against Sanusi, why did he not bring it to the floor of the National Assembly so the nation can dig and know the truth about any footloose financing?

As lawyers say, the President went to equity but where are the clean hands!

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Now that Buhari is ireful of Boko Haram

EE! What a fresh and penetrating denouncement! It carries such refreshing authenticity that it might have the impact of a thousand IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). And it may well have more effect on the rampaging Boko Haram gang than all the security agencies in Nigeria put together. We speak about Mohammadu Buhari’s recent umbrage towards the Boko Haram sect. Since last week, the sect has embarked on an orgy of blood-letting and arson in Borno and other neighbouring states of the Northeast of Nigeria. The death toll from the killings at Izge alone reached 121.

More deadly strikes followed in Gwoza and Bama.

Obviously exasperated by the wantonness of the mayhem, the ex-general and former military head of state posted on his Facebook page last Sunday, what must be his most charged statement since the Boko Haram crisis started. He pronounced the Boko Haram ideology as devilish saying, “There is no justification for this wanton disregard for the sanctity and dignity of human life. Any ideology that trafficks in terror and violence is a devilish ideology that has no place in a civilised society.

“This is the time for our security agencies and those responsible for the security and well-being of our citizens to intensify vigilance in order to mitigate future occurrences.” Though one would have loved for this manner of high-cadenced and damning condemnation to have come much earlier in the budding days of the sect, we say better late than never. Now, it is not that Gen. Buhari had not been condemning the terrorists hitherto but never in this high-pitched and telling manner.

Further, while we agree that the military and security agencies of government must live up to their responsibilities as Buhari has charged, we think he and his fellow leaders of the North must stand up to be counted in resolving this sectarian matter. We refer to the large bloc of military elite of the North both retired and serving; the influential religio-traditional Brahmins, the governors and some of the money elites. We ask that for their own interest and in the interest of their region and for the sake of Nigeria, they must meet urgently.

They must move now for apart from the fact that these boys are so emboldened that

they are poking their dirty fingers into everyone’s eyes there is a more clanging reason to move. And that reason is that many people are still not quite convinced that there are not some renegades somewhere up there thinking for these boys and shoveling cash to them. Their longevity and tenacity also suggest that someone in some strategic position is looking out for them, buffering them and leaking vital information. For instance, they normally find shelter in communities, they move en masse or in a convoy through communities to hit their targets and back; how can they afford such fleet of trucks, such arsenal of arms and ammunition and such cash to recruit such large number of fighters? These are the questions Gen. Buhari and his northern think-tank on Boko Haram may want to find answers to.

To paraphrase a certain bygone former general of the Nigerian Army, dis tori don get k-leg and mere abuse and hot air won’t harm the Haramists. And as our serially lazy governments are quick to say, government alone cannot do it. Ironically, this is a matter that kills leaders and it is also a matter that gives fillip to great leadership. What would it be for our dear general?

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