February 02, 2015

NIGERIA DECIDES

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MORE •Fed Govt considers schools closure for polls •AND ON PAGES •How to prevent post-election violence, by JNI 2-7,10&57 •APC to DSS, police: arrest Tompolo, Dokubo, others •Winners’ Chapel explains Jonathan’s visit to church

•Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

VOL. 10, NO. 3114 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

Soludo to Okonjo-Iweala: N30tr missing under you

Buhari: we’ll deliver 20,000mw in four years From Tony Akowe, Abuja

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday unfolded its power agenda should it presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, be elected.

The party plans to generate at least 20,000 megawatts (mw) of electricity in four years to surpass Nigeria’s consumption level of around 15, 000mw.

In a statement, the party’s Presidential Campaign Organisation (APCPCO) expressed dismay that the Federal Government under President Goodluck Jonathan had only added 1.400mw to the national grid in four years.

Continued on page 4

•www.thenationonlineng.net

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•Prof. Soludo

ORMER Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo has accused Finance Minister Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala of bringing misery to Nigerians with her economic policies.

According to him, under Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s watch

By Simeon Ebulu, Group Business Editor

as coordinating minister of the economy, over N30 trillion is missing.

DETAILS ON PAGES 2-4 He said: “Public finance is haemorrhaging to the point that estimated over N30 tril-

lion is missing or stolen or unaccounted for, or simply mismanaged. ” He challenged the minister to a debate on the economy.

Soludo threw the gauntlet in a reaction to the minister’s diatribe followContinued on page 4

•INSIDE: FIRMS TO ACCESS N70B UNCLAIMED DIVIDENDS P25 NIGERIA’S GROWTH DOWN 5.5% P25

Panic in PDP as Amaechi woos Lamido for Buhari Rivers, Jigawa governors hold talks in Dutse From Yusuf Alli, Abuja and Ahmed Rufa’I, Dutse

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HERE was panic yesterday in the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following a secret meeting between Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council DirectorGeneral Rotimi Amaechi.

The meeting was held in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, between Saturday night and yesterday.

Lamido, who is PDP candidate President Goodluck Jonathan’s Northwest campaign coordinator, and the Rivers State governor were on the same side during the disputed Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) election.

It was learnt that Amaechi was in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, on the invitation of his colleague. He arrived at the Jigawa Government House at about 9pm on Saturday.

WILL THE A source said the two govCHIBOK GIRLS ernors held talks late into the KIDNAPPED ON night at the Presidential APRIL 15 EVER

?

RETURN?

Continued on page 4

•A victim of the bombing in Potiskum being evacuated ...yesterday.

Scores killed in Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri STORY ON PAGE 4

Military,JTF repel sect 18 die in Potiskum, Gombe blasts

•Blood stains and abandoned footwear litter the scene of a suicide blast in PHOTOS: AFP Potiskum…yesterday.

•POLITICS P17 •SPORTS P23 •JOBS P35 •CEO P37 •MOTORING P39 •FOREIGN P58

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

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NIGERIA DECIDES

Soludo to O why Obasanjo •Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola (second left), his wife, Sherifat, Kwara State House of Assemblymen, Tope Olayonu (left) and Hassan Oyeleke, when the lawmakers visit governor at the Government House, Osogbo.

• From Left: Deputy Vice Chancellor, Covenant University, Prof Taiwo Abioye, Vice Chancellor of the varsity, Prof Charles Ayo and Guest Lecturer, Prof Kunle Amuwo at the institution’s 39th Public Lecture Series entitled: Bullet versus Ballot: Interrogating Nigeria’s 4th Republic’s Electoral Consultation at Ccovenant University, Ota, Ogun State...at the weekend

•The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Lagos Central Senatorial District, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (right), the Iyalode of Lagos, Alhaja Binutu Tinubu (middle) and Alhaja Arobadade at a special prayer session organised by Muslim clerics for the Senator’s re-election bid Iru- Victoria Central Moquise,Victoria Island, Lagos.

•From left: Partner, KPMG, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo; Managing Director, Custodian Insurance, Mr. Wole Oshin; All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; his running mate, Dr. Oluranti Adebule and Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Ltd, Mr. Bismarck Jemide Rewane at the Lagos Business School (LBS) breakfast meeting with Ambode in Lagos.

‘There seems to be no let-up in the controversy triggered by Prof Charles Soludo’s comment on the state of the economy. Days after he was referred to as the worst-ever Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the professor has replied the Coordinating Minister for the Economy. He says the economics of the former World BankVice President had gone rusty. Below is the first of his planned three-part series.

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READ some of the responses to my article, “Buhari vs Jonathan: Beyond the Election”, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the debate. I am glad that the debate has finally taken off. I have decided, for the record, to re-enter the debate if only to set some records straight and hopefully elevate the debate further. Whom do I respond to? First, let me thank Governor Kayode Fayemi for his very mature and professional response on behalf of the APC (All Progressives Congress). It forms a great basis for deepening the conversation. Pat Utomi, Oby Ezekwesili, Iyabo Obasanjo and thousands of other patriotic Nigerians have raised the content of the debate. Femi Fani-Kayode made me laugh, as usual.

The Governor Jonah Jang faction of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) played the usual politics, although I know what most of them think privately. Who else? Oh, Peter Obi. Well, since he cannot write, he designated Valentine as usual to write for him (who never disputed the NBS (Natioanl Bureau of Statistics) that Obi broke world record in the pauperisation of Anambra people but instead focused on lies and abuses) I would not dignify him with a response here. His third class performance in Anambra will be the subject of a comprehensive article later.

Here, I will focus on Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s response (as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy—CME and hence on behalf of the Federal Government). Since I have known her, out of deep respect, I have never called her by her name: I call her Madam. I must state that I have great pains seeing myself on the opposite side of the table with Madam, in this way. I respect you, Madam, and will always do. If you read my article of September 2010 (before you became Minister), the tone and elucidation were as strong as the current one. It is my honest effort to ensure that our choice of leaders is based on rigorous scrutiny of what is on offer.

Part of my frustration is that five years after, everything I warned about has come to happen and we are conducting our campaigns as if we are not in crisis.

As a concerned Nigerian, I have a duty to speak out again. Regrettably, you have taken it very personal.

I am not bothered about the personal abuses: I actually expected worse. What name has the government not called former President Olusegun Obasanjo or any person who has dared to disagree with it of late? Anyone who disagrees

•Obasanjo

with the government must either be ‘insane’ or have a ‘character’ deficiency or must be ‘looking for a job’ or ‘without honour’, or a ‘charlatan’. Yesterday, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi alleged that $20 billion was missing and he was accused of gross financial mismanagement, recklessness and poor governance to the point of being the first governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to be suspended from office. Today, he is the good one; and for daring to award an “F” grade for our economic performance, Soludo has become the ‘worst’ and ‘without character’ or perhaps ‘looking for position’ (Lol!). Some days ago, a former president was called ‘a motor park tout’ and ‘un-statesmanly’ just for disagreeing.

This “how dare you criticise us” mindset of the government is dangerous for our democracy.

In this Part One of my planned three part series, I will restrict it to the main issues you raised. I will not bother about the malicious attacks on my person. For me, it is nothing personal. In early 2011, I had a similar heated exchange with then Finance Minister Segun Aganga. But when the Nigerian economy was at stake and he invited me to a stakeholders’ meeting in his office (as Minister of Trade and Investment) to discuss Nigeria’s response to the ruinous European Union (EU)-Economic Partnership for Africa (EPA), I flew into Nigeria for that (at my expense)— the first and only time I have been to any government office to discuss policy since I left office. It is about Nigeria. I will, as expected, remind people like you of the salient aspects of my record of public service in response to your charge; challenge your claim to debt relief, and your reason for not saving; highlight your forgery of economic statistics and the lies in your response; but most importantly re-focus our attention to the historic mismanagement of our economy which you carefully avoided. I will show that while you are introducing austerity measures and soon to immiserate the citizens, our public finance is haemorrhaging to the point that estimated over N30 trillion is missing or stolen or unaccounted for, or simply mismanaged— under your watch! We cannot go on like this, and I am convinced that an alternative future is possible. Can we have a public debate on this alternative future? The issues at stake are too grave to be trivialised through name-calling. As I write, the naira exchange rate to the dollar is at N215 (from N158 a few months ago) and unless oil price recovers, this is just the beginning. For the sake of Nigeria, I would not keep quiet anymore!

Let me start with Madam’s rather comical, wild judgment on my tenure of office which I believe to be totally false and baseless. I apologise upfront that in the process of making a ‘personal defence’, it is difficult to avoid a rather uncomfortable emphasis on “I”. I did not want that but since Madam has dragged us this low, I have little choice but to do so in the next few paragraphs—just to keep the record straight!

In my view, there are three criteria for

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

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NIGERIA DECIDES

to Okonjo-Iweala: tell Nigerians njo sacked you as finance minister

• Dr. Okonjo-Iweala

• Soludo

evaluating a public officer’s stewardship: the evaluation by his employer; the satisfaction of the public he served; and the hard facts of performance. As I will show on these three counts, I am convinced that I left a world-record of public service, and a thousand Okonjo-Iwealas cannot re-write that history. I served Nigeria under two Presidents (Obasanjo and Yar’Adua) and as my immediate bosses, below are their written testimonials of my record.

Said President Obasanjo (December 2004): “Charles Soludo is a true Nigerian. He is the sort of Nigerian that we all know we can rely on. Among his numerous virtues is COURAGE. I have found in him a man who can take tough and realistic decisions, stand his ground, educate others on the salience of his decision, and work very hard to ensure that the decision is efficiently and effectively implemented. His dedication to duty is first rate. His leadership qualities are admirable and his willingness to listen and learn is simply infectious. Prof Soludo has within a short time emerged as one of the leading lights of our nation. Not because he has a godfather but by sheer hard work, loyalty, dedication to duty, commitment to the nation, creativity, and undiluted association with the reform agenda….”

President Yar’Adua (May 2009) had the following to say about the CBN under my leadership: “… the CBN has performed creditably well in delivering on its core mandates. This is especially even more so in the last five years.

Most people would agree that without the successful banking consolidation and effective management of our foreign reserves, the current global crisis would have shaken the financial system and our national economy to their foundations with calamitous consequences”.

N the President’s special letter of commendation after the comple tion of my tenure of office, President Yar’Adua (June 2009) had the following to say to me: “As your tenure as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria comes to a glorious end, I write on behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria to place on record our debt of gratitude to you for your dedicated service and uncommon sense of duty over the past five years. I am confident that your worthy antecedents in the CBN and in prior appointments in the service of our nation remain sources of inspiration to an entire generation.

As I wish you even more astounding successes in the years ahead, it is my fervent hope that you will readily avail us of your distinguished service when the need arises in the future”.

To the best of my knowledge, President Obasanjo has not changed those views even after ten years. The views of my two bosses, not the emotional outburst of an angry person desperate to get even, are what count.

How did Nigerians evaluate my public service? Unfortunately, we do not have scientific opinion polls on job approval ratings for individual public officers. But if the public opinions of individuals and organised groups (labour, employers, depositors, borrowers, stake-

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•Obi

holders of the financial institutions, newspaper editorials, investors, etc) as expressed in thousands of newspaper/ magazine clips during and after my tenure are anything to go by, then 82 per cent of the public largely agree with the sentiments expressed by my two bosses. Your views belong to the other 18 per cent which is okay. After all, no one is perfect. Five Nigerian newspapers and magazines simultaneously named us “Man of the Year” in one year— unprecedented in Nigeria’s history. I do not talk about hundreds of awards and recognitions by various segments of our society (during and even after service) for “Excellent Public Service”. I was particularly touched by the historic award by the staff union of the CBN and the tears in the eyes of many as thousands of the staff gave me a standing ovation as I walked the aisle after my brief farewell speech.

Certainly, the international community (investors, bankers, scholars, donors, media, etc) took serious notice of the revolution in Nigeria’s monetary and financial system. I am recipient of five international awards as global and African Central Bank Governor of the Year, not to mention dozens of other recognitions (even after leaving office). The London Financial Times described us as “a great reformer”. Even as the global economic and financial crisis raged in 2008, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly appointed me to serve on the Commission of Experts to reform the international monetary and financial system. You don’t appoint someone who has ‘mismanaged’ his national financial system to reform the global system. For eight years until 2012, I served on the Chief Economist Advisory Council (CEAC) of the World Bank, and together with two Nobel Prize winners in economics and other experts we met periodically and advised two presidents and two chief economists of the World Bank, and in 2011, I served on the External Advisory Group of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Again, these are not positions for ‘mis-managers’. Since I left office, I have been advising countries and central banks; and there is hardly any two months I don’t consult/advise on banking/financial and monetary policy.

I have given these illustrations to make the point that for every one OkonjoIweala’s attempt to rewrite history, there are thousands who disagree.

Now, to some skeletal facts of our stewardship! I will be brief as I have a whole book to tell my story. As chief economic adviser, I had advised that our banking system could not support the private sector-led economy envisioned under NEEDS. When I assumed office

at the CBN, I inherited 89 rickety, mostly family banks (all of which put together were not up to the size of number four bank in South Africa). Many were insolvent, with depositors’ money trapped, and 20 more about to collapse. To get a credit of $300 million probably required all the banks to syndicate it. For me, there was a national emergency. I drafted a 13point reform agenda, discussed and agreed all the specifics with the President, and his deputy; as well as my management team at the CBN, and we swung into action. President Obasanjo promised 100 per cent support and actually delivered 1000 per cent - which was decisive. I apologise to you Madam because I did not brief or inform you about it. We just wanted to keep it confidential given the sensitivity of the announcement. It is on record that you never supported it.

T was both a revolution and a war and most people thought it was “impossible”, but thank God we succeeded. For the first time in Nigeria’s history, a policy of that magnitude was announced and deadline kept with precision. We were courageous to revoke the licenses of 14 banks, including those of my friends, in one day. The FT-Banker concluded that the scale, precision, and cost of the transformation were unprecedented in the world. Before then, Malaysia had the least cost of banking consolidation at five per cent of Malaysian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It did not cost Nigerian taxpayers one penny.

Twenty-five new, stronger banks emerged but the powerful idea behind consolidation ignited something even more powerful—-‘the race to the top’.

Banks raised more capital and even banks like the First Bank, Zenith and GTB, among others that did not merge with others went on capital raising several times. The consequence was higher levels of capitalisation and within two years, 14 Nigerian banks were in the top 1000 banks in the world and two in the top 300 (no Nigerian bank was in the top 1000 before I came). Even after I left office, still nine banks were in the top 1000.

Our vision was to have a Nigerian bank in the top 100 banks within 10 years. As I see the new Access Bank; Zenith, GTB, Fidelity, Diamond, UBA, FBN, FCMB, Skye,Stanbic IBTC, Union and Ecobank, among others, I cannot but feel that we have taken giant steps forward.

Deposits and credit soared (from barely N1.2 trillion to over N7 trillion); new technologies (ATM and e-banking) boomed, and banks had 57,000 new jobs; mega businesses emerged (ask any major operator in the Nigerian economy their experience with banking and cred-

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‘ Introducing austerity measures and soon to immiserate the citizens, our public finance is haemorrhaging to the point that estimated over N30 trillion is missing or stolen or unaccounted for, or simply mismanaged— under your watch! ‘

it before and after Soludo —the Dangotes, Arik, MM2, oil and gas operators and others); capital market boomed and dominated by the banking sector. It was a new dawn for the Nigerian private sector. I have heard Alhaji Aliko Dangote twice say that he would not be near as big as he is today without the banking consolidation. Many other stakeholders still say it today. Foregn Direct Investment (FDI) and portfolio inflows flooded into Nigeria. The world celebrated, and one single transformative idea has changed the face of the private sector and economy forever. Banks became Nigeria’s first transnational corporations with about 37 branches outside of Nigeria.

Nigeria survived the global crisis because of this, and it is the banking sector that has largely been powering the economic growth you claim (compare banks trillions of naira credit for investments in the productive sector with your government’s miserable expenditure on critical infrastructure and investment; much of your borrowing – bonds – is from the banks). Your privatisation of power sector, several Public-PrivatePartnership (PPP) projects on infrastructure are now possible because of the mega banks. Today, Nigerian banks syndicate multi-billion dollar loans— unthinkable before. Madam, if the consolidation was ‘mismanaged’, there would not have been any bank to start with in the aftermath of the global crisis— as President Yar’adua correctly pointed out. Even you, during a recent presentation at the Banquet Hall in Abuja, advertised consolidation as a historic achievement. How can you recognise a ‘mis-managed’ project as an outstanding achievement? As we say in Igbo, you can’t cover the moon with your palms.

Let me be clear: the quantum size of the new banks following consolidation presented challenges of risk management and supervision. We deployed all we had and overworked the CBN staff.

The carry-over of bad loans from the consolidated banks was quickly cleaned up. To the best of my knowledge, we instituted stringent regulatory and supervisory regime (consistent with best practices at the time). We even had resident examiners in the banks and required bank Managing Directors (MDs) to personally sign their reports to CBN. I recall that the former MD of GTB complained of “regulatory intrusiveness”.

To our credit, non-performing loans (NPL) came down from 22 per cent in 2003 and 2004 to six per cent as at 2008.

Anywhere in the world, a central bank that brought NPL from 22 per cent to six per cent over a four-year period does not look like one with a loose supervisory regime. Name other developing countries that performed better, Madam. So, on point of fact, Madam lied.

Yours was a reckless assertion without basis by a Finance Minister.

The banks in Nigeria were supervised by the CBN and NDIC, but other institutions— international firms which audited them, international rating agencies which also examined their books, capital market operators since most were listed companies — all had oversight. I put on record that there was never any information/report of infractions by any bank which was brought to my attention and which we did not act upon decisively during my tenure. I heard the comment that some of the bank MDs were my friends. Well, my response is that perhaps as CME, you should kill all your friends operating in the economy or become their enemies. For the record, my successor audited all the banks and none of my so-called friends was indicted. It speaks volumes. Indeed, it is also a fact that the alleged personal criminal infractions (including lapses in corporate governance Madam alluded to) by some bank CEOs were found out, only after they had been removed from

office. My successor told me that the comprehensive audit of the banks did not reveal such infractions. Of course, you must be God or have a special tip-off from inside to get to such information while the MDs are in office. Unfortunately, all over the world, no financial system has succeeded in routing out all criminal behaviours by the operators. So, Madam, I challenge you to provide one shred of evidence that ‘there was no separation between regulators and regulated’ or be honourable enough to retract your reckless statement.

HAT happened? The unan ticipated and unprecedented crisis of 2008/09 hit the world. More than 40 United States (U.S.) and European banks either collapsed or were shaken badly (remember the Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Wachovia, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, even UBS and others) and hundreds of billions of dollars were spent to bail them out. The contagion effects spread like a wild fire, destroying national stock markets and banks. The nascent (big) banks in Nigeria faced sudden multiple shocks— liquidity, exchange rate, oil price, capital market ant others. As oil prices collapsed, loans to oil and gas became non-performing overnight; loans to the capital market became non-performing overnight; etc. Our first priority was to save the entire banking system and the economy from systemic collapse. I assured Nigerians that no bank would be allowed to fail, and not many people know what it took to achieve it. Once we had navigated through the unexpected /unprecedented turbulence, we laid out a comprehensive plan to clean up the debris which we presented to stakeholders in Lagos (March 2009). I had pleaded with the Senate to pass the AMCON Bill which we sent to them in 2004. But I had a comprehensive plan to finish the cleanup with or without AMCON by the end of 2009, including second round consolidation and a N500 billion fund (my book will detail all these). I left behind an 11volume document of the Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS2020) which has remained the policy roadmap for the CBN/financial sector since I left office.

I have two analogies for our experience. Ours was really like an airplane that was cruising and suddenly meets an unexpected and unprecedented turbulence. After the pilots and the crew succeed in navigating through the potential crash and probably land the airplane, people look in and start blaming the crew for the broken tea cups, chairs, and drinks that fell during the turbulence as evidence that the crew never kept the airplane clean or serviced it. My second analogy is that of a sudden earthquake in a region it was never expected and some houses collapsed. All of a sudden, the housing authority is to blame for not requiring earthquake-proof foundations for the houses. Well, my legal experts call it force majeure, an act of nature!

To be fair, after every crisis, there are lessons (and my book will detail what, with benefit of that experience, we should have done differently). Risk management— which has always been there— now took a new centre stage all over the world following the crisis. But for anyone to suggest that CBN under me, for one minute, took its eyes off the ball is, to say the least, ludicrous. The U.S. financial system literally crippled the world costing America hundreds of billions of dollars but no one has suggested that Alan Greenspan is no longer the great maestro!

AMCON is a big topic (which I will address at a later date) but her claims show either ignorance or mischief. She claims that N5.7 trillion of AMCON funds was used to rescue banks and the ‘bond issued’ as ‘cost to taxpayers’. Re-

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•Continued on page 54

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

NEWS Panic in PDP as Amaechi woos Lamido for Buhari Continued from page 1

•From left: All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate,Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim SuluGambari and Vice Presidential Candidate Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, during a visit to the Emir in Ilorin...on Saturday.

Buhari: we’ll deliver 20,000mw in four years Continued from page 1

The statement by Mallam Garba Shehu, the spokesman of the campaign, quoted Gen. Buhari as saying that while he will not run a witch hunt government, he will not hesitate to deal decisively with cases of impunity and corruption. No probe of any government official, he added.

The statement also quoted Gen. Buhari as saying he is passionately concerned about the sorry conditions of our armed forces today who, despite huge budgetary allocations, have failed to effectively deal with manifest security threats, including the Boko Haram terrorism.

“What he said at every given opportunity is that he is keenly interested in knowing what has gone wrong, if any, with the army that he knew.

When he has access to them as Commander-in-Chief, he will like to hear from his commanders what problems they are dealing with so that they can be solved,” Shehu said.

“In a democracy such as ours, all institutions of government, including the armed forces, are accountable. No country can achieve results in its counter-terrorism efforts when there is no transparency in the management of huge resources for the purpose. He (Gen. Buhari) will reinvigo-

rate the armed forces and restore their rapidly evaporating morale,” he said.

The APC Campaign Organisation accused the PDP of wasting billions of naira on non existent power, managing to add a yearly average of 87 megawatts of electricity, showing a massive failure to substantially raise generation and distribution of electric power despite promises and cash infusion of between $16 billion and $20 billion.

Shehu said “nearly 16 years of PDP administration gave this country a miserly addition of 1,400 Mega Watts against the expenditure of more than $16 billion. That translates to

18.5 MW per annum”.

He noted that “this abysmal power production and distribution, with its attendant socio-economic implications, is the most irresponsible thing a government can do to its people.

It explained that the PDP has shown an “appalling lack of capacity to deal with just any problem confronting this country and the lack of vision and commitment to dealing with electricity supply was just one of the myriads of the others begging for attention.”

“The only conclusion to draw from this is that the PDP is more interested in feathering Continued on page 57

APC slams DSS, Police for silence on threats by ex-militants

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed the Directorate of State Service (DSS) and the police for their “loud silence” on the threats of war by ex-militants.

The failure of the security agencies to act is an indication of their double standard and lack of fairness, the party said in a statement issued yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

To the APC, Chief Government Ekpemukpolo (alias Tompolo), Mujadeen AsariDokubo and others met at the Government House in Bayelsa, threatening to go to war should President Goodluck Jonathan lose the February 14 election.

It is insightful to note that the same security agencies that reacted with hysteria to the harmless comments by Governor Rotimi Amaechi have suddenly lost their voices when the ex-mil-

itants threatened to wage war on the nation. ‘’When Governor Amaechi said soldiers had the right to protest if their welfare was not taken care of, the DSS was at its most efficient level, with its voluble spokesperson threatening fire and brimstone and only stopping short of arresting the governor, despite his immunity. ‘’When the same Governor Amaechi said the APC will form a parallel government if

the Feb. 14th and 28th elections are rigged, the same DSS and the police sought to outdo each other with threats and condemnation of what they called ‘inciting comments’, even when Governor Amaechi’s warning was conditional. ‘’Now, the ex-militants have said President Jonathan must be re-elected or they will unleash violence on the country.

In other words, it is immaterial whether or not he loses in Continued on page 57

Lodge in the Government House, where Ameachi passed the night. They met again at about 10:05am yesterday for more talks, which ended at about 11:30am.

After the meeting, Lamido, who wore a blue dress and a blue cap to match, drove himself in a Peugeot 206 car. He declined reporters’ question as he returned to his official residence.

Ameachi, who drove himself in a black Toyota Landcruiser with few escorts to the Government House, also declined comment on his mission.

When reporters approached him for his comments, he said: “You can see me driving. I’m busy, I can’t talk now. Good bye.”

Lamido is believed to be lukewarm towards the PDP presidential campaign.

He even gave conditions to join the team, saying the President must rein in the ex-militants and Chief Edwin Clark who have been beating drums of war in the name of support for Dr. Jonathan.

The ex-militants remain unrepentant, vowing to go to war should the President lose the February 14 poll.

The fears of the Presidency and PDP border on likely protest votes in Jigawa State against Dr. Jonathan.

But the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the party had a feeling that Amaechi went to Dutse as part of consultations Continued on page 57

Suicide bomber kills eight in Potiskum

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IGHT people were killed in Potiskum after a suicide bomber hit the residence of a PDP House of Representatives candidate, Sabo Garbu. Hundreds of supporters gathered for a meeting before the explosions occurred around 1:20pm.

The house is opposite the Federal Government College, Potiskum.

Garbu is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the Potiskum/Nangere Federal constituency in next week’s elections.

Residents said the bomber was dressed as a mad man and sneaked into the crowd of supporters in front of the politicians’ house and triggered off his explosives-ridden body, killing eight people on the spot.

“We have evacuated eight bodies including the suicide bomber’s to hospital,” said a police officer at the scene, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Seven others were injured, Continued on page 57

Five killed in Gombe twin bomb blast

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IVE people were killed and seven others injured in a twin bomb blast in Gombe, the Gombe state capital, at about 2.40 pm yesterday.

An eyewitness said one of the explosions was at the entrance of the old market at the central roundabouts, killing the conveyors - a male and a female (the passenger)— who were on a motorcycle.

The bomb believed to have

By Vincent Ohonbamu, Gombe

been hidden in the passenger’s food flask went off as they turned to leave the gate of the market. It did not injure anyone.

They were denied entry into the fenced market for refusing to be screened at the gate and were unlucky.

The angry mobs at the scene lynched them alongside their Continued on page 57

‘N30tr missing under you’ Continued from page 1

ing his article on the state of the economy. It is tagged, ‘Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and

the Missing Trillions’ Part 1.

Soludo said calling for the debate with the minister is because Nigeria’s survival and prosperity is at stake.

Scores killed in Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri

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T was a bloody Sunday yesterday in three Northeast states of Borno, Gombe and Yobe where Boko Haram continued violent campaign.

The sect’s fighters staged a ferocious attack on Maiduguri, the beleaguered Borno State capital for the second time in one week.

They did not only fail in the doomed mission launched on three fronts, but lost hundreds of their fighters, according to security and other sources, before beating a retreat.

A combination of troops and Civlian Joint Task Force (JTF) members dealt a huge blow on the sect.

In Yobe, an explosion in the commercial town of Potiskum left eight people dead. Five were killed in twin bombs in Gombe, the Gombe State capital, where the sect has also been operating in recent months.

The coordinated attack on Maiduguri – home to about 1.2 million people - was launched from Dalwa Damboa axis and from the Mafa entry point.

Many displaced residents from the other parts of the state are also taking refuge in the

O

Troops foil another attack, kill 100 insurgents

VER 100 insurgents were said to have been killed by troops in Maiduguri yesterday.

Sixteen civilians were feared dead and about 36 people injured.

Though the military was silent on the casualty figures, it merely said “the terrorists incurred massive casualties.”

Nigerian troops and those of allied neighbours (Chad, Niger, and Cameroon) have also sacked the insurgents from Bama, Ngom, Alou, Delwa and Mafa in Borno State.

Troops were said to have engaged the insurgents for about eight hours to curtail their incursions into Maiduguri.

The Defence Headquarters confirmed the breakthrough in a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade.

city.

Last week’s attack by the sect was initiated from the Damaturu-Jimtilo axis.

Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima praised the military and the civilian JTF boys for standing up promptly to defend the city. The Special Anti-robbery squad of the police also joined in the battle, which raged for hours on the outskirts of the city, resi-

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

“The terrorists attack on Maiduguri in the early hours of Sunday was quickly contained.

“The terrorists incurred massive casualties. The situation is calm as mopping up operation in the affected area is ongoing.

“The ongoing operation is in coordination with activities in the Multinational Joint Task. The terrorists are meant to be engaged in all fronts including their previous safe havens and hide outs in the region.

“It is in line with the arrangement for a comprehensive and coordinated military operation with inputs by military forces in the Lake Chad Basin Commission namely Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.”

A top military source, who spoke in con-

dents said.

“Fighting has been going on since 3 a.m. as Boko Haram battled soldiers and vigilantes,” said resident Mahmud Kyari. “Explosions and gunfire are all we hear,” he added.

The militants launched bomb and gun attacks from three points outside the city, but met stiff resistance from troops and vigilantes, resi-

fidence, said: “We are mopping up the operation in Maiduguri but over 100 insurgents were killed by troops. The figures could be higher at the end of the day. The insurgents suffered worst casualties because “Operation No Mercy” is on now against them.

“We are tackling them headlong to put the insurgency behind this nation. We are optimistic of winning the battle.”

“Most of the encounters took place in the outskirts of Maiduguri. So, some innocent villagers were killed by the insurgents.

About 16 civilians died and 36 others were injured.

The DHQ said Nigerian troops and those of allied neighbours (Chad, Niger, and Cameroon) have sacked the insurgents from Bama, Ngom, Alou, Delwa and Mafa

dents said.

Government officials said fighter jets were pounding the insurgents.

“Boko Haram gunmen have been routed and are on the run,” said Sadiq Balarabe, another resident.

The militants continued their attempt to enter the city from other areas after they were crushed in Mulai.

Fearful residents could not

Continued on page 57

leave their houses to begin their activities for the day.

A resident of Maiduguri, Malam Illya Fanami, said he feared the exchange of Rocket Propelled Gun launchers in the fight, which put many residents at high risk.

Abdullahi Sani from Damboa Road where the fight was fierce said an RPG dropped on his neighbour’s home, killing the head of the family and his

•Shettima

two sons.

A 70-year-old man, his granddaughter and another girl were also killed in Zannari.

A resident said a bomb hit the old man who was seated in front of his home with his animal when the Continued on page 57

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

5

NEWS

ABC of Jonathan’s visit, by Winners’ Chapel

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HE Living Faith Church Worldwide (aka Winners’ Chapel) has described the allegation that its Presiding Bishop David Oyedepo endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for this month’s election as unfounded.

Its Resident Pastor, Pastor Ubong Ntia, in a statement yesterday, said for over a week now, the news and social media had been abuzz with rumours, insinuations and misinformation, concerning the January 25 visit of President Jonathan to the church’s headquarters in Ota, Ogun State.

Pastor Ntia said the information portrayed an open declaration for the President, adding that it was done with the view to dent the image of Bishop Oyedepo and to create confusion in the polity.

He said: “Let it be clearly stated that Bishop is first and foremost a man of God and he remains one; and he can only accommodate all persons of different political backgrounds and inclinations, particularly leaders for whom the Bible has

•Oyedepo ‘never said I will open gates of hell’

By Musa Odoshimokhe

instructed that spiritual intercessions be made.

“The event of Sunday, January 25, 2015, in which President Jonathan visited the church, was obviously not out of place,” he said.

Pastor Ntia explained that the president and his entourage arrived at the church for the third service at about 9.30am and were ushered in to occupy the front seats alongside the resident pastor and other senior pastors.

He said: “Thereafter, in honour of the President, Bishop Oyedepo invited President Jonathan to ‘bring a word of greeting’ to the congregation.

“President Jonathan spent approximately six minutes in his address, clearly stating that he would be careful not to sound political so that his visit and intentions would not be construed as campaign.

“In his brief speech, he adu-

lated the ministry and person of Bishop for the mighty works of faith, prayer for Nigeria and educational milestones the Living Faith Church has engendered for national development.

“He then expressed his belief that the elections of 2015 would go peacefully, while also asking for the people of God to pray more.

“The President neither covertly asked for votes, nor overtly impressed the congregation with any unsolicited advertorial to win their electoral minds,” he said.

Pastor Ntia stressed that Bishop Oyedepo did not call the president to the altar for any special cleansing or deliverance.

Bishop Oyedepo, the pastor added, said at the service: “I like us to be on our feet and lift the President up to God. Whatever you desire to see God bring about in his life, bring about in our nation.

“Release unusual grace in

increasing dimensions, to match the demands of his office. Cause your face to shine upon him.

Lord, grant the desires of his heart. Grant Nigeria peace!

Under him, grant Nigeria greater advancement. Thank you, Father; in Jesus’ Name we pray.”

He maintained that Bishop Oyedepo then closed the prayer thus with the remarks: “This entire church proclaims the President blessed today; blessed with divine wisdom to match the demands of his office; and blessed with peace to see the miraculous in his life.”

Pastor Ntia said Bishop Oyedepo never cursed anybody, who opposed the President.

“Therefore, there was no where nor was there any time the following prayer or words were uttered by the church or Bishop: ‘I will open the gates of hell to anyone who opposes you, or I will open the gates of hell to anyone who

opposes the peace of this nation,’” the cleric said.

He added that it was incomprehensible, therefore, that some people would attribute “I will open the gates of hell to anyone who opposes you” to the church’s presiding bishop during a service that was attended by over 40,000 people and which was in the full glare of the world.

“Those imported words were probably for political profiteering and attention patronage by bloggers. Whatever the intention was, may Almighty God forgive the perpetrators.

“We consider the mischievous imputation and its uncritical acceptance as the handiwork of those who had been seeking a veritable point to strike and injure the integrity of our church, and they found the President’s visit during this season of elections as the right point to make an attempt to drag our hard-earned image in the mud,” Pastor Ntia said.

Feb. 14 poll: Court urged to stop Jonathan from running

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ARELY 12 days to the general elections, a suit has been filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja challenging the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The plaintiffs, who are Prof.

Tunde Samuel, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, Mr. Razak Adeosun and Yahaya Ezemoo, are pleading with the court to restrain Dr. Jonathan from contesting, putting himself forward and or accepting to contest for the office of President, Federal Republic of Nigeria at the 2015 presidential election.

The only defendant in the matter, which is already assigned to Court 7, is the President.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the application, which was filed by a team of crack lawyers mostly Senior Advocates.

The counsel in the matter are Yusuf Ali (SAN), A. B. Mahmoud(SAN), Adebayo Adelodun(SAN), Sirajo Chedi (SAN), Dr. Tunji Abayomi, Prof.

Wahab Egbewole, K.K. Eleja and A.O. Usman.

Six more Senior Advocates will join the team whenever the legal fireworks begin because the plaintiffs have asked for two SANs from each of the six geopolitical zones.

Relying on Sections 135 to 146 of the 1999 Constitution, the plaintiffs averred that Jonathan cannot take the oath of office more than twice as president.

They also said under the constitution, any President of Nigeria cannot be in office beyond eight years of two terms.

They said if Jonathan is allowed to contest and is sworn in as president, he would be spending 10 years in office contrary to the spirit and intendment of the 1999 Constitution.

They urged the court to determine three issues and sought for six reliefs in the originating summons.

The plaintiffs’ prayers are as follows: *whether having regards to the intendment and general scheme of the Constitution, especially the provisions of sections 1 (1) &(2), 135 (1)& (2), 137(1)(b), 140 (1) &(2),142 (1)&(2) and 146(1)(3)(b)(c) thereof, it is constitutional, lawful, legal and permissible for a per-

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

son to occupy the office of the president for a cumulative and or aggregate period of more than eight years; •whether having regards to the intendment and the general scheme of the Constitution, especially the provisions of Sections 1(1) & (2) and 135(1) thereof, the defendant is eligible to seek re-election or contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for another term of four years, which will bring his cumulative and or aggregate period in office as president beyond the eight years maximum period allowable by the Constitution; •whether having regards to the intendment and the general scheme of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) especially section 1(1) & (2), 135 (1)&(2), 137 (1)(b), 140 (1) & (2), 142(1)& (2) and 146(1) (3) (b)& (c) thereof, the period the defendant served as President from May 6, 2010 to May 28, 2011, ought not to be reckoned with and taken into cognisance in computing the total period

From right: Director General/Chief Executive, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Dr. Joseph Odumodu, his wife Gloria and officiating minister Rev. Fr. Augustine Ikuomola, after Odumodu’s thanksgiving service at Catholic Church of the Presentation, Ikeja, Lagos… yesterday.

he has spent and could spend in office as President of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The plaintiffs asked for these reliefs.

•a declaration that having regards to the provisions of the Constitution, it is unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal and not permissible for any person to occupy the office of the President for more than a cumulative and or aggregate period of eight years when the country is not at war and it is practicable to hold election into the office of President; •a declaration that having regards to the Provisions of the Constitution, the defendant, is not eligible to seek re-election into the office of President for another term of four years from 2015, as that would have permitted him to occupy the office of President, for more than the eight years maximum period allowable by the Constitution for anyone to occupy the office of the President; •a declaration that in computing the period already spent in office as President by the defendant, the period from May 6, 2010 to May 28, 2011 should / ought to be reckoned with.

•a declaration that having

spent a period of more than four years in office as President reckoned from May 6, 2010, the defendant is without competence, eligibility, authority or entitlement to contest for the same office for another term of four years; •an order of injunction restraining the defendant from contesting, putting himself forward and or accepting to contest for the office of President at the 2015 presidential election; •and, for such further or other relief(s) to which the plaintiffs may be found entitled by the Honourable Court in consequence of the relief(s) earlier adumbrated on the Originating Summons.

A member of the legal team, who spoke in confidence, explained why the latest suit is different from others before on the eligibility of Jonathan.

The source said: “The suit is challenging the eligibility of Mr. President to spend beyond eight years in office in the light of constitutional provision that forbids any person to stay in office beyond eight years.

“And also there is a court decision in an election petition case on Adamawa State, where it was held that no circumstanc-

Police get 2,564 vehicles From Faith Yahaya, Abuja

T

HE Federal Government has procured over 2,564 vehicles for the police as part of the facilities needed for the general elections.

Vice President Namadi Sambo, who launched the vehicles in Abuja yesterday, said the procurement was part of the implementation of the police reform programme.

He explained that the programme would enable the police to have the infrastructure needed to ensure the safety of the citizens.

Some of the vehicles commissioned include 170 Nissan NP 300 Hard Body Patrol Pick Up Vans; 129 Nissan Frontier Double Cabin Patrol Vehicles; 50 Nissan Patrol 4WD Jeeps; 10 Toyota Double Cabin Armoured Patrol Van; and four Ford 550 Model 4x4 armoured personnel carriers.

‘Count PDP, Jonathan out of ex-militants’ threats’ From Blessing Olaifa, Assistant Editor, Abuja

•Dr Jonathan

es should warrant anyone to hold an elective office beyond eight years.

“In Marwa and 1 other v.

Admiral Murtala Nyako and others (SC 141/2011), the court held that ‘the constitution has no room for a cumulative tenure exceeding eight years.’

“This suit is different from the previous ones challenging Mr. President because he had neither declared his intention nor was he confirmed as a presidential candidate for 2015 polls.

“Thus, the previous suits were speculative. This suit is hinged on the fact that having spent six years in office, the president is seeking another term of four years. Yet the constitution says a President can hold office for two terms of eight years.”

HE Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibril, at the weekend, said the party and President Goodluck Jonathan have no hands in the threat being issued by exmilitants that there will be mayhem should the president failed to win the February 14 presidential election.

Jibril noted that as a supporter of Jonathan, he would not like anybody to spoil his chance, saying the trio of Alhaji Mujahideen Asari-Dokubo, Victor Ben Ebikabowei (Boy Loaf), Government Ekpudomenowei (Tompolo) were speaking for themselves.

He added that what they said did not represent the views of the Southsouth people as well.

Jibril, who spoke with The Nation at the weekend, maintained that the PDP would not support any statement that would lead to the nation’s breakup, no matter who ever made the statement.”

“I don’t think such statements are good enough to assist the President. Therefore, I regard their statements as personal and has nothing to do with PDP, because PDP will never make such statement or encourage that kind of statement.

“I call on the supporters of PDP and those working for the re-election of President Jonathan to mind what they say. They should be very careful with their utterances. We are not at war and nobody should plan to separate Nigeria. We should strive to support Goodluck Jonathan because he is a very careful and simple person.

“He will not encourage break-away and he will not encourage anarchy. He will never encourage abuse of people; he is a gentle man,” the PDP BOT secretary said.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

6

NEWS

Obasanjo to INEC, security agencies: get polls right

F

ORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has reminded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies that the nation is under global watch regarding the February 14 and 28 general elections.

Obasanjo warned that Nigeria must get the elections right, asking INEC and the police to perform their duties professionally and judiciously to ensure credible, peaceful and fair elections.

The former president, who gave the advice at a public enlightenment programme on

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

electoral process at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, said should Nigeria mishandle the elections, it would invite global opprobrium.

The programme with the theme: “Ensuring free, fair and credible elections: A Collective responsibility,” was jointly organised by the Organisation of Tadhamunul Muslimeen (OTM) and The Muslim Congress (TMC), Ogun State chapters.

Obasanjo was represented

by Chief Idowu Akanle.

According to the former Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), all eyes are on INEC and the Nigeria Police to carry out their constitutionally assigned roles effectively and in manners devoid of excuses.

Obasanjo said:”The elections are crucial and the international community is watching us. We should not disappoint them, by ensuring that the elections are free and fair.

This election is for progress and development of this great country and should be devoid

of sentiments, such as religion, ethnicity and nepotism.

“This election should be a unity election for all of us. The message is for all Nigerians to protect the integrity of the country, with their votes, so that we can also be like countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Dubai, where there is order in governance.

“We must not make mistake of allowing the international community to make jest of us. So, we want to beg officials of the electoral commission, who had just told us here on how the process would go, to assure us that it shall be well.

The former President urged the security agents not to allow themselves to be used by individual or group to pervert the electoral process before, during and after the elections while the electorate is advised to vote wisely.

He added that voters’ decisions would go a long way to determine the quality of governance the country would have in the next four years.

“As I said, the international community is looking at us. So, we must be careful and thorough throughout the elections.

We must get it right; this is the message from Baba to you.”

INEC extends deadline for collection of PVCs

•Former Bayelsa State Governor Timpreye Silva (left), National Vice Chairman, All Progressives (APC) Congress (Southsouth) Hilland Etah and former Commissioner, Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission Frank Akpoebi at a news briefing on the defection of some Bayelsa PDP chieftains to APC in Abuja ...yesterday.

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

T

HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for collection of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to Sunday.

The earlier scheduled date was last Saturday, January 31, 2015.

The extension, according to a statement by Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, was to give opportunity to registered voters, who are yet to collect their PVCs. The statement reads: “The INEC has extended the deadline for collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to Sunday, February 8, 2015.

“This supersedes the earlier deadline of Saturday, January 31, 2015, and is intended to give registered voters yet to collect their PVCs the opportunity to do so in readiness for the February 2015 general elections.

“INEC hereby calls on duly registered persons not to delay in going to collect their cards before the expiration of the new deadline.

“The commission reaffirms its determination to make the 2015 elections free, fair, credible and peaceful; and urges all stakeholders, including voters, to spare no effort in working towards the same objective.”

The commission has insisted that only voters with the PVCs would be allowed to vote at the general elections.

PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE

Judiciary workers suspend strike

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AGOS State judiciary workers will resume for work today following the suspension of their 25-day industrial action.

Sources said the union leaders under the umbrella of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) met at the weekend on the strike.

They also met with officials of the state government led by the Attorney General, Mr. Ade Ipaye.

At the end of the meeting, JUSUN’s state chairman Emmanuel Abioye sent a text message to Ipaye informing him of their decision to suspend the strike.

Ipaye, in a text message sent to The Nation yesterday, gave insight into the meeting held by the two parties.

The text message reads: “At a meeting with JUSUN, we made it clear that Lagos State

•JUSUN denies alleged manipulation by AGF From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja and Adebisi Onanuga, Lagos

already had a Judiciary Self Accounting Law since 1995, which is being implemented to date with the judiciary getting its recurrent vote as first line charge on the consolidated revenue fund once a month.

“We explained that capital fund cannot, however, be transferred monthly as it has to be accumulated and used for many projects programmed for simultaneous implementation. Besides, projects are better managed by the Ministry of Works, which was set up to serve all arms of government.

“In the end, our position was that Lagos State was already implementing the provisions on autonomy of the judiciary. JUSUN promised to

go and look into these. Now, they have resolved to suspend the strike”.

Meanwhile, the General Secretary of JUSUN, Isaiah Adetola distanced himself yesterday from a statement alleging threat to his life and manipulation of the union by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN).

The statement, which was widely circulated in the social media last week, claimed that Adetola was opposed to the move by Adoke and the Federal Government to manipulate JUSUN’s leadership and exploit the strike by the union for political gains.

Speaking at the JUSUN’s National Secretariat in Abuja last week, Adetola said he was

embarrassed by the statement, “authored by some enemies of the union with the intention to divide it and distract it from the struggle for the independence of the Judiciary”.

He urged everyone to disregard it.

JUSUN President Marwan Adamu said the union decided to suspend the strike in federal courts alone because the Federal Government gave assurance to always release funds standing to the credit of the judiciary when due.

He said the decision to sustain the strike in state courts was because the states were unwilling to give similar pledge.

Marwan denied the allegation that his union was being manipulated by external forces for political gains.

Odigie-Oyegun: PDP is scared

T

“You must be fully prepared. You must be up-anddoing. No excuses. You know all terrains very well; there should be no delay and late arrival of voting materials. Where you are going to use boat to ferry on the water; you know it. Where it is going to be bicycle; you know it. So, there should be no unnecessary delay.

“A situation where somebody at Eggua will be phoning at 11am that they are still expecting materials will be unacceptable. A situation where the police will be telling us no fuel to move will be unacceptable.”

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said yesterday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was scared of the likely result of the February 14, 2015 elections, stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan and his party’s leaders were, therefore, resorting to blackmail.

Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke at a luncheon he organised for APC leaders in Edo South, said the handwriting was clear that President Jonathan and PDP would lose the presidential election.

He said in 16 years of PDP government, Jonathan’s sixyear rule brought untold hardship and divisions to Nigeri-

From Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

ans.

The APC National Chairman urged Nigerians to take their destiny in their hands by using their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to chase PDP government out of power on February 14.

Odigie-Oyegun said his emergence as the country’s biggest opposition party’s chairman was divine to bring the much-needed change.

His words: “President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP are scared of the February 14 presidential election. It is obvious to them that they will definitely lose this election.

“Jonathan is using all

means through unknown people to scuffle the elections.

But I can assure you that elections will hold and we will defeat them.

“I’m shocked by the kind of crowd I see in our various campaign grounds. For now, we have secured over 20 million votes. In Bayelsa and Kaduna states, we will defeat Jonathan and Sambo.”

Also speaking, a party national leader and former National Chairman of CPC, Chief Tony Momoh, said all that is left of PDP was carcass, saying: “All the good hands in this country are in APC.” He pleaded with the people of Edo State and Nigerians not to waste their votes for President Jonathan and PDP,

Polls: Fed Govt, others meet over schools From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

M

INISTER of Education Malam Ibrahim Shekarau has summoned an emergency meeting with commissioners of Education and stakeholders in education over the general elections.

The development followed insinuations from different quarters that government was planning to close schools during the polls.

The meeting, which is expected to begin this morning in Abuja, will deliberate on whether or not to close schools before the elections.

Shekarau, who said this in Abuja at the weekend during a dinner with reporters and heads of education parastaters, said government would do everything possible to secure students and schools.

His words: “I am summoning commissioners of Education and other stakeholders in the education sector to Abuja for a crucial meeting on Monday morning. And we will be discussing if there is any need to close schools and when will that be.

“People should not carry any rumour about this as government has not taken any decision on this. There should be no tension as government will do everything possible to avoid crisis. The meeting is very important just as we did during the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) saga.”

‘Why it’s difficult to identify sponsors of terrorism’ From Olugbenga Adanikin and Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

A

MEMBER of the Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force, Dr. Sam Chukwuka Onyeka, has explained why it is difficult to identify sponsors of terror-

•Odigie-Oyegun

adding that the President admitted few days ago in Rivers State that he had failed the Niger Delta people for not impacting on the region in the last six years.

ism.

He said those who sponsor and fund terrorism globally do so through an underground system called Hawala.

Onyeka, who spoke with reporters in Abuja at the end of a book launch, advised the government to develop laws with strict punishment for sponsors of terrorism.

The book: Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism in Nigeria was written by him.

He explained that the challenges of money laundering and financing of terrorism were not known to Nigeria alone, but to the rest of the world.

Onyeka said: “You need to understand that those who finance terrorism do not come out in the open to give support. Nowhere in the world; it is not easy to identify them.

“It’s difficult pinpointing or saying this man is supporting terrorism because those who support terrorism do not come out in the open.

“Even in America, it is difficult. The best you can do is to block the possible avenues they use, including the banks. That is why the United Nations Sanction Committees and a number of facilities that we have locally exist.”

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

7

NEWS

Lagos APC condemns attack on candidate’s campaign office

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AGOS State All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday condemned an alleged attack on its senatorial candidate for Lagos West, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (aka Yayi).

The Ikeja campaign office of Adeola, a member of the House of Representatives seeking election into the Senate, was allegedly attacked at the weekend by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hoodlums.

The thugs shot into the air to scare away people. They were also said to have vandalised the rear windshield of a Toyota Land Cruiser Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) belonging to the APC candidate.

The party’s state spokesman, Joe Igbokwe, urged security agencies to stop hoodlums and desperate politicians from throwing the Centre of Excel-

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

lence into a crisis.

In a statement yesterday in Lagos, Igbokwe alleged that the attackers damaged other property within the complex.

The statement reads: “We have witnessed this awful display of impunity and lawlessness when PDP thugs and supporters attacked APC faithful in Agege and shot dead a member of our party.

“The other day at Mosan Okunola Local Council Development Area (LCDA), grassroots supporters of our governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, who were on a door-to-door campaigns, were attacked; over 10 vehicles were damaged and many people were injured.

“The latest attack on our candidate, Yayi and his supporters in his office is yet another as-

sault that needs to be investigated and the culprits brought to justice.”

Igbokwe urged the police to investigate PDP’s senatorial candidate, Segun Adewale’s role in the alleged attack because he had reportedly admitted visiting Adeola’s campaign office to complain about the removal of his campaign materials.

Igbokwe said: “The questions we are asking are: What on earth is driving this frightening impunity being exhibited by the PDP in Lagos? What on earth would make Adewale to muster the temerity and audacity to lead gunmen, including the police, to Yayi’s office without caring a hoot?

Who is beating the drums for the PDP in Lagos? What are the police doing? Is it only the PDP that has a monopoly of violence here in Lagos? What does

PDP want in Lagos?

“APC may be compelled to defend and protect its teeming supporters, if the police and other security agencies cannot guarantee the security of life and property at a time as this.

“The party is asking smart and courageous Lagosians to use their phones and cameras to record such open blatant display of lawlessness and brigandage to track down these horrible offenders.

“We appeal to Lagosians, especially our teeming supporters, to remain calm and courageous in the face of the provocation. Crushing defeat is staring the PDP in the face all over Nigeria and Lagos.

This desperation is understandable. The PDP cannot go down without a fight; they may decide to pull down the house. We must not allow them to do so.”

Osun APC decries PDP’s plot ahead of tribunal’s verdict From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

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HE Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) has decried what it called the plot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to mislead the people ahead of the judgment of the Justice Elizabeth Ikpejimi-led Election Petition Tribunal in a petition filed by PDP’s candidate, Iyiola Omisore challenging the victory of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in last August 9 governorship election.

Addressing reporters yesterday in Osogbo, the state capital, APC’s Publicity and Strategy Director Kunle Oyatomi said it was necessary to clarify issues on the tribunal’s last sitting to properly educate the public.

Oyatomi ssaid: “As we speak, some people still live in the illusion that Senator Omisore has been declared winner of last August 9 governorship election. They claimed that this victory was earned from the so-called judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal.”

According to him, the Election Petition Tribunal has not given judgment on Omisore’s petition.

The APC spokesman explained that at the tribunal’s last sitting, it adjourned indefinitely to give the judgment on the petition.

Oyatomi said: “No time has yet been fixed for the judgment.

The PDP and its agents were only luxuriating in falsehood and making themselves a laughing stock when they led ignorant and ill-informed Osun State residents into the street, jubilating over a phantom victory they claimed on the day the tribunal adjourned.

“The fact of the matter is that the PDP virtually abandoned its case at the tribunal. First, the party boasted that it had over 1,000 witnesses to support its petition. But when proceedings began in court, the witnesses shrank to 500 and by the end of their presentation, it called only 43 witnesses.

Lawmaker accuses PDP of defacing APC campaign posters

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•From left: Oyo State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Abiola Ajimobi; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Senator Teslim Folarin; Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate Seyi Makinde; Action Alliance (AA) governorship candidate Pastor Taiwo Otegbeye; All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate Deacon Olalere Samson and KOWA Party’s Alhaji Olaide Olayiwola at the governorship debate organised by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ibadan Network Centre...yesterday

AGOS State House of Assembly Deputy Speaker Kolawole Taiwo has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of removing All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign posters on the highways.

The APC chieftain said the act was barbaric and unforunate.

He said: “It is unfortunate that the PDP is turning Nigeria into a jungle where anything happens. It is unfortunate that this is happening in Lagos State.

“The Federal Government does not have the power to remove posters on the highways.

They are behaving as if there is no tomorrow. I know they have failed. There is nothing they can do to win the support of

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•Governor leads APC candidates to communities of Representatives).

The governor canvassed votes for House of Assembly candidates - Akinloye Ajibola, for Ola Oluwa; Leke Ogunshola, for Aiyedire and Abdulahi Gbadebo, for Iwo - for effective representation and good governance.

He stressed that APC’s victory in last August 9 governorship election in the state would be boosted when the party wins all the seats in the National Assembly’s poll.

Aregbesola urged the people to vote massively for APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, on February 14.

The governor noted that the change Nigerians were

clamouring for could only be achieved when a progressives’ party is in power.

He said: “I want to use this opportunity to thank you for standing behind us during the last August 9 governorship election.

“We have again come back to solicit your support in ensuring that we maintain a clean slate in the presidential and legislative elections.

“We are confident that with all we have done in the last four years, which to us is just a tip of the iceberg, contrary to insinuations that work has stopped, the state will begin to witness the completion of ongoing projects and the introduction of new ones,

where necessary.

“The state and the party will achieve more, if we have quality representations in our House of Assembly and the Houses of Representatives and the Senate. “...We implore you, who have not collected your Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to do so.”

On the campaign tour with Aregbesola were: Adeleke, Amere; the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; former Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Mofolake Adegboyega and the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon.

Lagosians because the people know their leaders.”

The Deputy Speaker said instead of removing and defacing APC posters on the highways, the PDP should have liaised with the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASSA), which would have guided the opposition on how to handle its posters.

Taiwo said: “I also took permission from the agency before I pasted my posters. The PDP has also been pasting its candidates’ posters on Lagos roads.”

The lawmaker urged politicians to play the game with maturity.

‘Stop pre-election monetary inducement in Ondo’

Aregbesola: APC won’t leave any seat for PDP in Osun SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not concede any seat to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in this month’s State and National Assembly elections, as it did in 2011.

The governor spoke at the weekend in Iwo Federal Constituency at the beginning of his campaigns for APC candidates.

The campaign tour took Aregbesola to Iwo, Ola Oluwa and Ayedire local governments areas.

He told the huge crowds at Iwo Ogbagba, Telemu Ile Ogbo and Oluponna that the Yoruba never had anything in common with anti-progressive parties.

Aregbesola said the Yoruba had always pitched their tents with the progressives since the First Republic.

The governor noted that 16 years under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria had not led to national progress but retrogression.

He urged the electorate in the local government areas and other parts of the state to vote for APC candidates.

Aregbesola also urged the residents of Osun West l Senatorial District to vote for Isiaka Adeleke (Senate) and Abdulgahafar Amere (House

By Oziegbe Okoeki

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

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HE Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to check the alleged pre-election monetary inducement being perpetrated by some politicians.

It was learnt that the “common wealth” was being distributed to some people during Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s meetings with traders, artisans, community leaders and pressure groups.

In a statement by its Media Committee’s Secretary Charles Titiloye, the party recalled that INEC kept quiet when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) raised N21 billion for its campaigns, contrary to the Electoral Act. APC said: “We are now witnessing the effect of these illegal investments by the PDP in campaigns through the open distribution of money in Ondo State.

“Unfortunately, INEC again, has decided to turn away from the pre-election monetary inducement of voters.

“Free and fair elections are not just about voting but a process that includes the conduct of politicians during electioneering campaigns.

“Since the inducement of voters is an offence under the Electoral Act, INEC must immediately monitor the campaigns of political parties in Ondo State to prevent the electorate from being heavily compromised before the day of the election.”

I did well in Senate, says PDP candidate Folarin

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YO State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Senator Teslim Folarin has described his scorecard at the Senate as commendable.

The PDP candidate said he did not believe in making a show of his projects because they were built with the government’s money.

He said the projects were the right of his constituents.

Folarin addressed reporters yesterday in his Ibadan home.

From Jeremiah Oke, Ibadan

The PDP candidate urged Oyo State residents to vote for the party in this month’s general elections to enable them enjoy dividends of democracy.

The former Senate Leader said he facilitated the construction of a comprehensive hospital at Olode and Pade, in Egbeda Local Government Area.

He said the hospitals were well equipped, adding that the state government had not main-

tained it well.

Folarin said besides the hospitals, 7.5 kilometres of road was tarred in Sanusi Ishola to link Oyo and Ogbomoso road through his influence.

The senator said he facilitated the construction of many other roads in that community, including the Awe-Ilora road and the Olubadan-Gbagi-Monatan expressway, which links Iwo Road and Olode in Ibadan area.

Folarin said he built many classrooms in his constituency,

adding that the projects were on ground for the people to verify.

The PDP candidate said over 100 communities enjoyed his boreholes and over 52 communities also benefited from his electrification project.

He said he donated 500KVA transformers to 15 communities and tarred many roads and fitted them with streetlights in Egbeda Local Government Area.

Folarin said he built classrooms in the 11 local government area under his constituen-

cy and gave bursary to some students.

He said: “I did a lot of projects when I was in the Senate. The state government does not have the kinds of hospital we influenced here.

“Olode used to be a remote area without a health centre before we facilitated a comprehensive hospital there. Pade is a village of a former governor. Another hospital was also cited there with full facilities. Go and confirm these.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

NEWS Fashola to Agbaje: pay your debt

By Joseph Jibueze

LAGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, to pay his outstanding debt to the state.

The governor, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Hakeem Bello, said Agbaje owed N1,629,064.62 of Land Use charge.

The debt, the governor said, is on JayKay Pharmacy on 9, Randle Close, Apapa owned by the candidate.

Fashola said Agbaje owes the state from 2009 to 2012, even though he had paid for 2013 and 2014.

The governor said the property is distinct from 1, Bombay Crescent, Apapa GRA over which Agbaje does not owe the state.

The statement reads: “We consider it necessary to make a response to the rebuttal of Mr. Jimi Agbaje in some newspapers to the assertion by His Excellency, Mr.

Members of the Campaign Committee for the re-election of All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator representing Lagos Senatorial District, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. From left: One-time Finance Commissioner, Olawale Edun; Alhaji Babatunde Balogun; Alhaji Mutiu Are, Jide Sanwo-Olu and Alhaji Alade Grillo at a rally in Surulere Local Government Area.

Fayemi didn’t donate money to Buhari’s campaign, says APC

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government for using the media to blackmail former Governor Kayode Fayemi by alleging that he (Fayemi) donated N1.5billion to the Buhari Campaign Organisation.

It said in a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, that the allegation, which was also circulated through text messages and the Internet, was “spurious, malicious and obnoxious.”

The story, which was broadcast by a Yoruba newspaper review programme on Ekiti 91.5 FM, Lati Inu Aka, alleged that Fayemi made the donation through a Barclay’s Bank, Accra, cheque.

The party spokesman said Fayemi did not operate any account with any branch of Barclay’s Bank around the world, hence the issue of donation did not arise.

He said the ex-governor never donated any fund to the Buhari Campaign Organisation, adding that the latest attempt to tarnish his image would fail, just as other plots hatched by the PDP-led Federal Government in the build-up to the elections.

According to him, the allegation, which started as a syndicated SMS by PDP officials, was later broadcast

From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

on the state radio and television under the supervision of state officials.

Olatunbosun added that the allegation was a panicky response by the PDP administration to Buhari’s growing popularity across the nation and the imminent change through the February 14 poll.

He said: “This latest attempt to tarnish the image of Dr. Fayemi through this wicked and senseless allegation has failed just as being hatched by the PDP in the build-up to the elections.

“Dr. Fayemi stands out around the world as impeccable in his dealings. He never donated any money to the campaign, neither did he lobby before he was appointed to organise APC convention.

“He has never been associated with fraud. Fayemi is not integrity-challenged like Fayose, whose entire being is denominated in naira and kobo.

“He is in court over alleged N1.3billion poultry project fraud. He can’t explain the whereabouts of the N22billion refund and N2billion the Federal Government paid into the coffers of Ekiti State government.

“Now he is playing N1.5 billion donation card to divert people’s attention from this wicked, fraudulent behaviour against Ekiti people.

Ekiti ex-Information Commissioner loses wife MRS. Funke Ekundayo, wife of the former Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo, has passed on. She was 57.

According to a statement by the family, the deceased died in Ado-Ekiti last Saturday, after a brief illness.

The late Mrs. Ekundayo was a senior education officer with the Lagos State Government.

She is survived by her husband and children.

PDP leaders oppose Mimiko’s nominee for Jonathan’s campaign A NOTHER crisis is brewing between leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State and Governor Olusegun Mimiko, following the selection of Mr. Tokunbo Modupe as the directorgeneral of the President Goodluck Jonathan/Namadi Sambo Campaign Committee.

Mimiko at the weekend inaugurated the committee, which is expected to begin campaign in the local governments today.

The aggrieved leaders from the old PDP camp, led by the governorship candidate in the 2012 election, Chief Olusola Oke, vowed to shun the campaigns, if the governor

From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

failed to make amends.

During Jonathan’s last week’s campaign, he said there was crisis in the party, urging Mimiko to work with Oke and Jimoh Ibrahim to ensure peace.

Oke, addressing reporters, said he and other leaders were neglected in the selection and inauguration of the committee.

He said: “The governor, despite appeals and entreaties that he should do otherwise, is behaving like a sole administrator and an emperor

who sees all of us as conquered people.

“I have the mandate of a large section of our party and I speak on their behalf to reject the campaign committee as inaugurated, especially the directorgeneral. He is unacceptable. I am not speaking alone but on behalf of members, who are desirous to see us win the election for Mr. President.

“The governor is deliberately undermining the strength of our party and the chances of President Jonathan.

I wonder why anybody, who says he wants victory for the President, would want to

PDP members protest alleged imposition GGRIEVED members G. Uche, urged the of candidate by Fayose lawyer, of the Peoples court to hear the case in view

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Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State are protesting the alleged imposition of a candidate on them by Governor Ayodele Fayose.

They have sued the party.

The members, who are House of Representatives aspirants, are Cyril Fasuyi, Dotun Onipede, Victor Bamidele and Banji Oyinloye.

They said in a suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja that Fayose was working with the party to “impose Chief Thaddeus Aina on us” as the House of Representatives candidate for Ekiti North Federal Constituency.

The plaintiffs are praying the court to declare that no valid primary election known to the party’s constitution, its guidelines for primary

From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

elections and the Electoral Act, took place as scheduled on December 6 last year to select a candidate for Ekiti North Federal Constituency.

They seek an order compelling the PDP to organise and announce a new date for the primary election for the selection of a candidate for the Ekiti North Federal Constituency.

The plaintiffs named the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a defendant.

Onipede, who deposed to the supporting affidavit, said they were cleared for the primaries, having obtained the nomination forms.

He said on December 7 when the primary election was to

hold, everyone was at the venue, only for the organisers to produce election materials in the evening.

Onipede said the election was later postponed when visibility became difficult about 7:30pm.

He said while postponing the primaries, the Youth Leader, Taiwo Olatunji, promised that a new date would be communicated to members.

Onipede said when they did not hear from the party in relation to the new date, they appealed against the nonholding of the primary to the Election Appeal Committee and later the National Working Committee, but got no response.

On Friday, the plaintiffs’

Commercial motorcyclist’s body found

T The late Mrs. Ekundayo

The family said it would announce funeral arrangements later.

cause problems for a party that has been positioned for victory.”

At the inauguration, the governor urged committee members to deliver the one million votes target for the party, saying he had confidence in Modupe.

Mimiko noted that members were selected by the state Chairman of the party, Mr. Clement Faboyede, enjoining them to educate their supporters to collect their permanent voter card (PVC). He described it as their electoral power to re-elect Jonathan.

HE body of a middle-aged commercial motorcyclist (name withheld) has been found under a big tree at the back of a residential building in Ojojo village near Ondo town. The cause of his death was unknown at press time.

The Nation learnt that the deceased was hale and healthy, as he carried a passenger to the agrarian community.

Sources said a few hours later, his body was discovered with scars under a tree.

The news of his death was said to have attracted residents and a woman raised the alarm.

Policemen from Yaba Divisional Police

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

Station in Ondo town reportedly visited the community.

The news of the death of the commercial motorcyclist has generated controversy among his colleagues and kinsmen.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), YabaOndo town, Princess Regina Mogbojuri, confirmed the incident.

She said a report had been forwarded to the Ondo State Police Command, Akure, for further investigation.

The body has been deposited at the morgue of the Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Ondo.

of the fact that time was of the essence.

He said the elections were fast approaching and the issue about primary ought to be concluded.

Uche said the defendants were served on December 23 last year but chose not to file any response.

Justice Evoh Chukwu acceded to the defendants’ request and adjourned till Wednesday for hearing.

Bamidele’s group campaigns for Buhari From Odunayo DUNAYO Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

THE Ekiti Bibire Coalition, a political platform of a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, has begun a house-to-house campaign in support of the presidential ambition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

The campaign, which is to take the group to the 132 communities, is aimed at building a grassroots support base for Gen. Buhari ahead of the February 14 presidential poll.

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

NEWS Support for Ashafa’s re-election

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ENATOR Gbenga Ashafa yesterday got the nod of royal fathers from Kosofe and Epe areas of the state to represent the Lagos East Senatorial District for another term.

They said their support followed the contributions of the lawmaker to their domains.

Their endorsement took place at the palaces of Oloworo of Oworoshoki, Oba Bashiru Saliu and the Alara of Ilara, Oba Hakeem Adesanya at Eredo, Epe. In attendance were all the royal fathers in the Epe Division of the state.

The lawmaker used the fora to sensitise the monarchs on how to vote right and not to invalidate their ballot on the elections’ day.

Ashafa urged the monarchs to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates at the elections slated for February 14 and 28.

He said: “The APC has demonstrated its affinity with the masses. A vote for the APC is a vote for progress. What we should all watch out for on the ballot paper is the broom symbol. After thumb-printing in front of the symbol, the ballot paper should be folded backward in order not to make the vote invalid.”

Oba Saliu hailed the lawmaker for being a good representative of the district.

He said: “Ashafa’s achievements are visible throughout the length and breadth of the Kosofe axis. He deserves to run again to make things better.”

‘Ambode is best man for Lagos job’

By Tokunbo Ogunsami

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HE governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has been described as the best man for the Lagos governorship seat.

Spokesman for Akinwunmi Ambode Kommittee of Friends (AA’KOF), Elder Kayode Olopade, who spoke at the weekend at the presidential rally of the party at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, said Ambode is the best candidate among those vying for the Lagos House, Ikeja, seat.

He said Lagosians needed a competent person to continue the good legacies started by the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and Ambode was the person.

Added he: “I urge Lagosians to vote for continuity. I enjoin them to vote Ambode as the next governor. He is the best man for the Lagos governorship job.”

Ambode said Lagosians should vote for him and other APC candidates for the continuity of the dividends of democracy.

He said they would not regret trusting APC with their mandate, noting that their votes for the party’s candidates would not be a loss.

His words: “We will protect Lagosians’ votes. We will ensure that there is no rigging. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should, however, live up to expectation.”

Jonathan aiding, arming B’Haram militants, U.S. court told A UNITED States (U.S.)based Nigerian counterterrorism expert, Dr. Daniel Udo-Akang, has accused the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration of backing and arming Boko Haram sect.

Dr. Udo-Akang, an international investigator, American Military University, West Virginia, alleged that the Federal Government is “actively buying and supplying arms to militants and terrorists in the country”.

The allegations were contained in a suit instituted by the counterterrorism consultant against the U.S. President in a Southern Florida District Court on Thursday, January 29.

A copy of the document, which receipt was acknowledged

by Sharon D Thomas, was sent

From Shola O’Neil, S’South Regional Editor, Port Harcourt

to The Nation by email on Friday.

He alleged that “the men and women, who were elected to serve the people, turn around to equip militants and radical extremists to kill electorates and kidnap their girls.

“The government of President Jonathan knows the terrorists. The government buys reliable weapons and aircrafts for them. The same government deploys its soldiers and security operatives to dangerous outposts to fight the terrorists with 18th century rifles.”

Udo-Akang, in a telephone

interview with our reporter on Friday morning, said he was compelled to drag the U.S. President to court over its refusal to sanction the Jonathan-led Federal Government despite what he termed “overwhelming evidence in his government’s official complicity in the kidnap of Chibok girls and sponsorship of terrorist groups.”

He said: “I have discussed this issue extremely with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Before now, I warned this country (U.S.) of the danger Nigeria was going to face and how that might impact the U.S. national interest. I believe that the U.S. should be proactive rather

than reactive in pursing international terrorism and their sponsors “Boko Haram is owned and operated by the people within the government of Nigeria. The USA has always resented evil government. How can a government engage in the killings of innocent people who went on the streets to protest the kidnapping of school girls?

“Although it is the collective appeal of all Nigerians to the U.S. to sanction Nigerian government headed by President Jonathan for aiding, abetting, supporting and sponsoring terrorism, President Obama refuses to sanction the government.

Activists declare for Buhari in Lagos

By Leke Salaudeen

C

IVIL Rights activists under the aegis of Activists for Good Governance (AGG) yesterday in Lagos declared support for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Convener of AGG, Comrade Delcan Ihekaire, said at a news briefing that they were prompted to support Buhari because he detests corruption, has integrity, capacity and experience to tackle insecurity.

Ihekaire said: “President Goodluck Jonathan has failed in this direction when he said recently that stealing is not corruption. To us, this is the height of impunity and a cover up for those that have stolen public funds.”

On insecurity, he noted that President Jonathan has done his best, but his best is not yielding result.

According to him, the group and other Nigerians expected that the President that had always maintained that his re-

•Ihekaire addressing the rally ...yesterday

election bid did not worth the blood of any Nigerian, should have thrown in the towel because people were dying on a daily basis following insecurity, especially in the Northeast.

He recalled that late last year the group made it clear that it would support the party whose presidential candidate emerged through a transpar-

ent process.

To him, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Jonathan was imposed on the party.

He said the fact that Buhari emerged through transparent primaries witnessed by Nigerians informed their decision to support the APC standard-

bearer.

“We know Buhari is on a rescue mission to salvage Nigeria. So let us support him and have a change in this country. It is good to make a decision. History will forgive us, if we make a wrong decision, but history will never forgive us if we take no decision at all”, he added.

Unions shut down activities in FCE Akoka

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S the 14-day ultimatum given to the government and management of the Federal College of Education (Technical) FCE(T), Akoka, Lagos expired, the three major unions in the institution have gone on an indefinite strike.

The unions, including the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, COEASU, Non Academic Staff Union, NASU, and Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education in Nigeria, SSUCOEN protested in the school with placards and chanting solidarity songs.

On the placards were inscrip-

By Medinat Kanabe

tions like: “Pay our 16 months 2013 annual increment arrears”; “Pay shift duty allowance to our shift duty members”; “we say no to insensitivity to staff welfare”; “no to recklessness,” ‘non-payment of salary increment since 2013”; “staff of FCE (T) Akoka deserves the best”, “COEASU say no to oppression.”

Speaking during the protest, COEASUthe Chairman, Mr Olayanju Taiwo, renewed the unions’ call on the management and government to pay their arrears and pro-

mote deserving members.

“We haven’t received our promotion arrears since October 2013, incremental arrears too, and our promotion is being delayed since 2013.

“The college is saying that they have not being given the money and they are working on the promotion so we want the government to hear our cry and act on it if it is true because other colleges have received their pay,” he said.

For the Chairman, SSUCOEN, Mr Nicholas ogbusuo, the college management is not being fair to them.

“They have paid the senior

staff some allowances but refuse to pay the junior staff.

“The Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau said he has released the money but our management is saying the money has not been release.

We want the government to come and explain why,” he noted.

The Chairman, Non-Academic Staff Union, Mr Ogunmokun Oladapo, who also spoke at the rally said he agrees with the school management that the money has not been released but wonders why other colleges have been paid.

Suspected gunmen kidnap pastor

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OUR suspected gunmen kidnapped an Aba, Abia State cleric, Pastor Jasper Ohuoba, a day after his wedding.

Ohuoba, it was learnt, was accosted and whisked away when he was about to drive into his compound near World Bank Housing Estate, Abayi, Aba. The cleric, said to be a pastor at the Church of God Seventh Day, was reportedly forced into the back seat of his Toyota Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and taken to an unknown destination.

A source said luck ran out on

•A day after wedding From Sunny Nwankwo, Aba

the suspected kidnappers when the engine of the SUV stopped and refused to start.

The source said the gunmen called their boss, who told them to leave.

He added: “In anger, they beat up the cleric, snatched his ipad, two phones, N40,000 and escaped into a nearby bush.

“When the pastor realised that his abductors had fled, he

beckoned to a passerby, who assisted him to contact his family.”

A member of the church, who preferred anonymity, thanked God for rescuing Ohuoba.

Policemen from the Eastern Ngwa Police Division in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State have rescued a woman kidnapped by three armed men.

The victim, whose name was given as Onyemereze Patricia, was said to have been abducted

by the gunmen in her home at Umuafor village in Obingwa Council.

A source said the victim was taken to an unknown destination.

It was learnt that when the police were conducting stopand-search on cars plying the new Umuahia Road, the gang abandoned the woman and fled.

The police rescued her.

A policeman, who would not want his name to be mentioned, said efforts were on to arrest the abductors.

Fed Govt invests N1.765tn on roads From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

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HE Federal Government is investing N1.765 trillion on roads, the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, has said.

Onolememen spoke during a radio programme monitored in Abuja.

He explained that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has changed the narrative in the road sector.

The minister said: “From the Northeast where we are investing over N320 billion on road infrastructure, to the Northcentral where we are investing about N300 billion, to the Northwest where are investing N200 billion, to the Southeast where we are investing N345 billion, to the Southwest where we are investing close to about N350 billion and to the Southsouth where we are investing about N250 billion, the whole country has virtually been turned into one huge construction site.

“And the benefits are not hidden. Today, Nigerians are able to travel from origin to destination at far reduced time than how we met it in 2011. It is on record.”

He said the Federal Government had completed 62 out of the 133 road projects that it awarded since the beginning of the administration.

“This shows that the government was able to complete 46.6 per cent of the total road projects awarded during its four-year period.

“What is important about all these projects embarked upon by this government is that of the 133 of them awarded by the Jonathan administration, 62 has already been completed and tremendous progress has been made in the rest.”

The works minister stated that the road sector needed about N500 billion yearly for it to adequately serve its purpose, but stressed that budgetary allocations were far less than the yearly requirements.

Veterinarians on bird flu: don’t panic From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

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HE Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) has urged poultry farmers and the public not to panic over the resurgence of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI or bird flu).

It said its members were ready to curtail bird flu’s spread with the method used during its outbreak in 2006.

The new NVMA President, Dr. Edgar Amos Sunday, spoke at the weekend when delivering his acceptance speech at the inauguration of the new executive council of the association, at the University of Ibadan (UI), Ibadan.

He said:” As veterinarians, perhaps the most obvious challenge facing us in the country today is the resurgence of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI or bird flu). As we all know, this portends grim implications for our country’s economy especially in the wake of the slump in oil prices in the international market.”

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

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Firm renovates LUTH facility

‘Our India story, by dog-bite victim’s father T is a tragic story with a happy ending. When four-year-old Omonigho Abraham was almost devoured by two Alsatian dogs last November, many thought the worst had happened.

The dogs chewed off the boy’s scalp and almost left him for dead in his father’s apartment in Igando, a Lagos suburb.

Last December, he was flown to India for further treatment.

Little Omonigho returned home last Thursday hale and hearty.

His highly-elated father Odia Abraham said the treatment the boy had in India could not be compared to what he was getting here before being flown out.

During a thank you visit to a private broadcast station, Television Continental (TVC),

By Everistus Onwuzuike

T

I

•Abraham and his son

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

monitored in Lagos, Abraham said Nigeria has a long way to go to meet modern-day health challenges.

According to him, there seems to be dearth of medical personnel to attend effectively to patients.

Omonigho and his elder brothers were playing in their compound before he was attacked by the dogs. His brothers escaped.

He was admitted at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) before being moved to India.

In India, Abraham said his boy was monitored thrice daily, but in LASUTH, it was twice weekly.

“While one physician was attached to him in Nigeria, six physicians were attached to him in India. We really need to upgrade our health institution,” he said.

Abraham thanked the Lagos and

Delta state governments for their assistance towards the Indian trip.

He also appreciated non-governmental organisations and the media for their support.

Omonigho’s mother, Mrs Helen Abraham could not hide her joy seeing her son back hale and hearty.

The boy, she said, is due back in India in a few weeks for check-up.

She thanked Nigerians for their prayers.

HE Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Construction, Sijibomi Ogundele has renovated the Male Orthopeadic Ward E2 of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Mushin in Lagos, in fulfilment of part of its corporate social responsibility initiative Speaking at the unveiling of the renovated facility, Sijibomi said he was born in the hospital and therefore wondered what he could actually give back to it.

He said he visited the hospital’s Male Orthopedic Ward E2 and decided to upgrade the bad condition of the toilet facilities.

Sijibomi further said that one of the heads of departments told him that about one thousand people make use of the facility every month, which really inspired him to offer the gesture.

The entrepreneur, however, promised that his company would continue in goodwill activities that will have a strategic impact in the life of people.

The Head of Department, Nursing Services, Adetayo Taiwo, lamented that the place is always flooded with water, adding that patients did not enjoy good toilet facility until when Sijibomi came to their aid.

Market leader urges support for APC

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HE Babaloja of Aswani Market in Lagos, Alhaji Taoridi Faronbi-Alado, yesterday said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has all it takes to dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the centre in the general election this month.

He urged Nigerians to support the candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, saying he is the solution to challenges facing Nigeria at the moment.

Alado, on Saturday, said presi-

dent Jonathan is the worse president Nigeria has ever produced.

According to him, the shortcomings of his administration include his inability to provide adequate security for citizens, dwindling economy threatening the future of the nation and the high level of corruption in the system.

Alado, who doubles as the APC’s political godfather in Mushin constituency, added that the party made an apt choice by presenting Buhari as its presidential candidate.

Council chief, party leaders, transporters meet •From right: Oke-Osayintolu assisted by Onimode to present the materials to the representative of the Iwaya fire PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID victims, Chief Deji Oluwo.

Fire victims get relief materials

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HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has donated relief materials to the Iwaya, Yaba, Lagos Mainland fire victims.

General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA) Dr Femi Oke-Osayintolu, who presented the materials to the about 507 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), expressed government’s determination to return them to their homes.

The items included clothes, mattresses, foodstuffs, beverages, among others.

While thanking NEMA’s coordinator, Southwest Zone Dr Bandele Onimode, Oke-Osayintolu promised that the victims would be given vocational training so as to start living a decent life.

He said: “We appreciate the gesture shown by NEMA to complement the efforts of the state government. Of the 653 persons that were affected, 507 are in the camp and we have been taking care of their needs.

We have doctors who are taking care of them.

“We provide transportation to take those who are working among them to their work places in Iwaya and they are brought back in the evening. Before we could harvest them back to the society, we would have trained them on some voca-

By Adejo David

tional training and given them some financial assistance.

“We are collaborating with general hospitals to attend to those who need specialised treatment. The state’s ministry of education will assist us in placing the children to schools that are not far from the camp.”

Some of the IDPs appealed to government to provide transportation for their children, who had stopped attending schools since the incident happened on January 14.

One of them, Mr Israel Olori, said he and his family would have turned destitute but for the timely intervention of the state government.

“We thank Fashola for providing

this place for us. We were moved here on January 17. Some of us might have been sleeping on the streets if not for this gesture.

“Some of our challenges here include prompt medical assistance for our sick children. We also need buses that will be taking them to and from school. This requires a lot of expenses which we cannot afford for now,” he said.

Oluwo Oladiji (54) said the camp accommodated his two wives and five children, adding that its ambience was relatively conducive for them.

“We came here with only dresses we were putting on. All my property was lost to the fire but I thank God this camp takes care of us to some extent,” he said.

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O seek the votes of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and its affiliate union, Motorcycle Riders’ Association (commercial motorcyclists), otherwise called Okada riders, in next month’s general elections, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the Ojokoro Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos State, have met.

The meeting, which held at the premises of the union’s chairman, discussed various issues bordering on the critical roles that members of the union can play in the election and the need for them to vote massively for the ruling party in the state in all the elections.

UNIBEN alumnus Oganufa for burial

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DEPARTED alumnus of the University of Benin, Chief Sunday Azuka Patrick Oganufa, who died January 12, will be buried on Saturday.

In a statement jointly signed by Kehinde Omo Oisemaye (Branch Chairman) and Amerika Ebiotu, Public Relations Officer yesterday, the University of Benin Alumni Association (Warri Branch), said the late Oganufa, popularly called S.A.P,

was a distinguished alumnus and past chairman of Warri Branch of the association between 2001 and 2003.

He was the zonal coordinator of the NNPC Zone of the association at a time; a true leader that believed so much in team spirit, whose wonderful contributions and leadership quality were unparalleled, the statement said.

His remains, it added, will be bur-

•The late Oganufa

ied in his home town, UmuchimeUno I Quarters, Ogume in Delta State on Saturday by 11 am.

Service of Songs will to hold at 35H, Refinery Drive, NNPC Housing Complex, Ekpan-Warri by 4 pm on Thursday.

The Chairman, APC in the area, Mr. Adewale Bello, said his party has high regard for the motorcyclists and urged them to vote for his party.

He said Lagos State Government and APC consider the operators as critical players in the development of the state, adding that their contributions to revenue generation, employment and transportation were remarkable.

Executive Secretaryof the Ojokoro LCDA, Alhaja Fausat HassanOlajoku, praised the union for its support and contributions to the development of the area, assuring its members that she would channel their complaints to the state government for action.

Alhaja Hassan-Olajoku said she would meet with police divisions in her domain with a view to urging them to addressing contentious issues relating to their operations, by talking to their subordinate officers and men to exercise caution when dealing with commercial motorcyclists.

She urged them to exercise their civic duties by registering and collecting their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

Mr. Rasheed Makinde, the Lagos State House of Assembly APC candidate in Ifako Ijaiye Constituency, promised to seek the support of other APC leaders in the area to address some of the challenges facing the Okada riders in the zone, adding however, that the government’s restriction order had drastically reduced accidents’ rates, and their fatalities, including deaths, over the years.

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CITYBEATS ‘‘Bad’ friends lured me into robbery, says suspect A When I met ‘them the next

ROBBERY suspect has blamed those he called “bad friends” for luring him into the underworld.

Suraju Ismaila, 21 said the friends he mingled with when he moved from Ajangbadi to Ajegunle suburbs, led him into the world of crime.

He belonged to a fiveman gang whose members include: Small (23); Pepper (27); Akiri (25), an Ojotabased driver, and Yusuf, a bus assistant (conductor) at Ketu.

Ismaila, who said he started off as a furniture maker whose workshop was at Afro Media in Okokomaiko on Lagos/Badagry Expressway, stated: “I lived in Ajangbadi with my uncle, a proficient carpenter, who is married with a child. I became a bus conductor to a driver called Onyeka. I later got another bus that plied Agbara-Okoko-Mile 2 route with 22 passengers. My story changed when Onyeka told me that he wanted to relocate to Ajegunle and asked if I was interested in following him and I accepted. It was there I saw people engaged in all sorts of businesses to make a living.

To them, stealing was fun.

“There was a day I had no

Residents to council: repair our culvert

By Oziegbe Okoeki

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By Ebele Boniface

money on me and I called Small who asked me to meet him and his friends at a place called Alafia via Orile at about 7pm. When I got there, I was asked to sit down by the roadside pending when they would join me. They later came back with phones and laptops. They gave me N2,000 and asked me to meet them the next day.”

“When I met them the next day,” the suspect continued, “Pepper showed me a gun and asked me to follow them to go and work. I told them that I could not do such work, but they threatened to shoot me dead if I refused to follow them.

They pointed the gun at me and I was forced to follow them.

“We went, operated and came back with five phone sets and N30,000 cash. We used to operate with one motorcycle. I later travelled to Ibadan to see my mother.

I left Ajangbadi Secondary School in 1999. My father died and I had nobody to sponsor my education further. While in Ibadan, my friend, Onyegbuchi called to inform me that the police had arrested Small. I spent extra three months in Ibadan to allow the storm to

day, Pepper showed me a gun and asked me to follow them to go and work

’

subside. I was arrested where I went to relax in Ajegunle and sent to Ajeromi Police Station.”

Ismaila, who said he was later transferred to SARS, added: “I urinated in my trousers when I was asked for the whereabouts of other members of our gang who are still at large. I participated only in three operations. At the Mile 2 operation, we got N50,000 with phone sets. We were three on the motorcycle owned by Pepper with the gun. The second operation was at Orile. We got phone sets and laptops which we sold for N75,000. I was given N15,000 only.

Suspected stowaway teenager arrested at airport T HERE was anxiety yesterday at the Lagos Airport as a suspected stowaway teenager was arrested at a private terminal where he attempted to gain entrance into the tyre compartment of an aircraft.

Officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), confirmed the incident, but pleaded not to be named.

The officials said the teenager gained entrance through the Nigeria Air Force section of the airport.

According to sources, the male teenager allegedly breached security to stowaway into the aircraft parked at a hangar near the international wing of the airport.

Investigations revealed that the teenager was discovered yesterday afternoon when pilots of the aircraft were carrying our routine inspection before starting the

CITYBEATS LINE: 08023247888

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

aircraft engine.

The commanding pilot of the aircraft was said to have detected the boy in the tyre compartment of the aircraft.

Two mobile phone sets without SIM cards were also found at the tyre compartment of the aircraft.

A source hinted that the teenager told the police that he entered the hangar through the facility of Air Defence Corp of Nigerian Headquarters located next to the Presidential/VIP Lounge at the weekend with the connivance of a person he identified as ‘a brother.’

The teenager, the source said, crossed the L18 runway over to ExecuJet facility at the international wing, a distance of about one kilo-

metre, at night when he noticed there was no flight landing or taking off.

The aircraft operated by a charter company was said to have flown a former Minister of Petroleum into Lagos airport on Saturday night and parked at the private hangar, where it was expected to take off before the incident happened.

Military officials could not be reached for confirmation of the incident.

It was learnt that military authorities and the terminal operators are already trading blames over the ugly development over what a source described as security lapses.

Investigations, it was learnt has commenced on the incident.

•Executive Secretary, Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Hafeez Badiru signing a document during the swearing-in of the five-man Caretaker Committee of the council. With him are council officials and chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC)

•The suspect

“I was arrested inside a public toilet at the Mile 2 garage where I went to bath.

I also participated in stopand-search armed robbery operations on major roads and streets in Lagos. Our major receiver is Poopo, who lives in Ajegunle; he is still at large. My role in every operation is to search victims and collect their mon-

ey, phone sets and other valuable things.

“Our leader is Pepper. If I am released, I will seek for scholarship to complete my education. My life ambition is to become a gallant, intelligent and most feared police officer. I will make life horrible for armed robbers and other violent criminals.”

ESIDENTS of Gloryland Community in Isheri-Olofin, Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Alimosho in Lagos have appealed to the newly appointed Executive Secretary of the LCDA, Sanyaolu Olowoopejo, to urgently attend to the abandoned culvert project in the community to reduce their suffering.

The community said the immediate past administration headed by Waheed Bello left the project uncompleted despite several pleas by the residents through their representatives.

The Chairman, Gloryland Community Development Association, Olumide Adewale, made the call while speaking on the major request of the people of the community.

Adewale, who lamented the plight of motorists and residents as a result of the abandoned project, noted that the project was the only thing the community benefited from the Egbe-Idimu LCDA in the last six years under the immediate past administration.

He recalled that Bello embarked on the project a month before his exit from office when much pressure was brought to bear on him.

He said that the residents’ fears came to pass as the project later became abandoned and, therefore, called on the new council boss, to come to their aid.

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NEWS

Jonathan ‘ll struggle to get 25 per cent in Bayelsa, says Sylva

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ORMER Bayelsa State Governor Chief Timpreye Sylva has said President Goodluck Jonathan will struggle to get the mandatory 25 per cent of the votes cast in his home state.

He hoped the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, would defeat Jonathan in the state.

He asked Nigerians not to cry more than the bereaved for the President because of the kind of product Jonathan is.

Sylva gave the update on the presidential election at a news conference at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja where a former Commissioner for Health under President Jonathan as governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Frank Akpoebi dumped the PDP for for the APC. Akpoebi cited poor performance, inconsistency and disrespect for Ijaw leaders as some reasons behind his leaving the PDP and the President, who he described as a “very close friend.”

•President’s friend dumps PDP for APC From Yusuf Alli and Tony Akowe, Abuja

The former governor, who is aspiring for the Senate asked Nigerians to follow the footsteps of Bayelsans, who have resolved not to vote for Jonathan, saying Nigerians should not cry more than the believed.

He said: “I am happy today that APC in Bayelsa State is marching on. Chief Frank Akpoebi is a major addition to our party in Bayelsa State.

We believe that with his presence in our party, we have made a quantum leap and we are closer to victory in Bayelsa State.

“Somebody came to me the other day and was asking me why are we doing this? Why are we going to make the President to be looking for 25 per cent now in his state? That is where we are getting to.

“We are getting to a point where APC presidential candidate will win overwhelmingly in Bayelsa State and

President Jonathan might just be looking for 25 per cent in his home state.

“He is from Bayelsa State and we know that. Of course we also know him more than you, the product that he is, the person that he is. I am only telling Nigerians not to cry more than the bereaved.

“If we, Bayelsans, have resolved not to vote for President Jonathan, then you must look at us and you must do as we are doing.

“In the state, we have seen not much of what he has done. He has always said that he has established so many new uniiversities. Go to those states where those universities are supposed to be and tell me what infrastructure are on ground.

“Are those places designated as sites for those universities what they are very proud about?

“The one in Bayelsa State is supposed to be in Otuoke, his village. The buildings there that are being used were built by me as governor and since

then, nothing has happened even in the university in his village. But he has continued to say that he has established new universities.

“I don’t believe that the problem of Nigeria is new universities. The problem of Nigeria is to make sure that the universities that have been there are functional. We have universities that are glorified secondary schools and instead of making sure that some universities become real universities, you say you are establishing so many new universities and nothing is being done in those sites.

“There are 10,000 reasons I can give you why you should not vote for President Jonathan and I am from Bayelsa.

“Today, Chief Frank Akpoebi, a great son of Bayelsa is joining our party and I want to also inform you that in a lot of senior Bayelsans are going to be defecting to the APC because they are completely dissatisfied with what is happening in the PDP and in the gov-

ernment of President Jonathan.

“This is only the second in the series. We are going to have a lot of senior Bayelsans talking to you and crossing over to the APC before February 14. I want to assure you that the APC is marching on and that nobody can stop anybody whose idea has come. The victory of the APC is assured”.

Speaking on the defection of Akpoebi, the ex-governor said: “I know that Chief Frank Akpoebi is a very close friend of President Jonathan. I know that for a fact. The details of what they have together, I will not know. But I know that they were very good friends. So, he is in a position to know a lot of these things that he has just mentioned.

“I know that in 1999, Chief Akpoebi was instrumental to the formation of the PDP in Bayelsa State and the appoint-

Thugs chase pastors, members from Edo church

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USPECTED thugs at the weekend barred pastors and some church elders of the Assemblies of God Church from holding a district meeting at the Edo State branch headquarters, at Upper Lawani, Benin City.

The entrance to the church headquarters was locked while hired thugs stopped the church leaders, led by District Superintendent, Joel Okoegbele, from entering the church.

The church has been torn between Rev. Paul Emeka and Dr. Chidi Okoroafor.

It was learnt that the Edo headquarters was locked by the District Treasurer, Rev. ThankGod Ekias who supports the leadership of Okoroafor.

Sources at the church said the meeting was to discuss the visit of Rev. Okoroafor to Edo State.

According to a source, Okoroafor’s mission was to remove district leaders opposing his leadership.

The factional church leaders later met at another branch of the church and they adopted resolutions barring Okoroafor

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LL Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers State Dr. Dakuku Peterside has hailed the Igbo in the state for their industry and good neigbourliness.

He spoke when he visited Eze Adiele Maduagwu, Eze Ndigbo Rivers and Bayelsa states at his palace in Port Harcourt.

The APC candidate was accompanied by his running mate, Asita Honourable; chairman of APC, Chief Davies Ibiam Ikanya; members of Greater Together Campaign Organisation and party supporters.

Peterside told the monarch that he was in his palace to brief him on his political journey and to pay respect to the Igbo, their culture and tradition. He praised the Igbo entrepreneurial spirit, describing them as good neighbours and supporters of Rivers State’s economy.

“The Igbo and Rivers people have peacefully co-

From Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcourt

habited from time immemorial. All of us were once part of what used to be called Eastern Nigeria. If the Rivers man has any true brother, it is the Igbo. Even today, some persons want to rewrite history. Beyond that, even before the Civil War, our parents told us that the Igbo have always been the pillar that holds Rivers State’s economy.

Without the Igbo, our economy will not flourish and anybody who wants to turn truth upside down will not succeed.

“After the Nigerian Civil War, when our fathers were trying to rebuild the state and rebuild our economy, the Igbo were also on hand to help rebuild our state and our economy. So they are an important part of our society, nobody can deny that fact. If anybody is trying to deny that fact, then the person is being very uncharitable, unkind and I know God does not like in-

justice, God does not like lies.

“If before, those who helped to build the economy were neglected, we can’t afford to neglect them today because if we do, they will go elsewhere and help other people build their economy and our own will go down. I don’t think that is what we want. And so, we must respect those who live with us, those who contribute to our economy, those who render service, those who pay tax here and those who add value to our society. I am proud to say that the Igbo add value to what we are doing in Rivers State, the Igbo contribute to the building of our economy and the Igbo man has been a good brother and a good neighbour.”

Peterside called on the Igbo to be guided properly by realities as they vote in this month’s elections.

“As we march into these elections, there are many candidates running for the office of the governor but the Igbo know which one will be good

for them and the one that will not be good for them. They don’t need soap to wash their eyes well to know.

“They can see, especially if you look at our antecedents. I was Commissioner for Works in Rivers State, I was special assistant to the governor in Rivers State, I am a member of the National Assembly, I was a local government chairman.

People who know my path can say that I respect elders, I respect traditional institution, I have integrity, I respect laws, I fear God. They know that about me. I wish they can say the same about others who are contesting with me.

“For others, you know them. You know that if you give them opportunity, they will intimidate and harass people, they will promote hatred and violence. Your Highness, I don’t think that is what you want and I don’t think that is what the Igbo want.”

Eze Maduagwu described Peterside as a humble and God-fearing candidate.

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

from visiting the district.

Okoegbele, who addressed reporters after the meeting, said four pastors in Edo District were suspended for promoting factions in the church and hiring thugs.

Those suspended include Rev. Albert Okaka, Rev Chijena I.O, Rev. Godwin Chime and Rev ThankGod Ekias.

Okoegbele said the leaders at the meeting recognised the leadership of Rev. Emeka, adding that they left the church headquarters on the advice of police.

According to him, “having known the plans of Rev. Chidi Okoroafor to come to this district, we have agreed that Prof.

Paul Emeka is the legal General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church Nigeria.

We in this state are in alliance with the court ruling granted on December 11, confirming Prof. Emeka as the authentic head of the church.”

Rev. Ekias could not be reached for comments.

Jonathan belongs to all parties, says Wike

•Peterside addressing leaders and traders of Electrical Dealers Association at Okija, Diobu in Port Harcourt

Igbo are good neighbours, says Peterside

ment of Dr Goodluck Jonathan then as deputy governor and after that, they remained very close friends. I also know that when he became governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Frank Akpoebi was in his cabinet as commissioner for Health. So, I know that they have had a lot in common and he is in a position to say some of the things he has said”.

Speaking earlier, Akpoebi said President Jonathan has failed to deliver on his promises to Nigerians and the people of Bayelsa State.

He also said Jonathan was not offering good governance and listed six areas in which the President had failed the nation.

These are insecurity, corruption, unemployment, poverty, power (electricity) and the economy (Naira devaluation).

He added: “Above all, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has brought the politics of religion, tribe, North/South dichotomy and hate”.

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IVERS State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate Nyesom Wike has said President Goodluck Jonathan belongs to all political parties.

Speaking yesterday during a Special Thanksgiving Service at the Omega Power Ministries (OPM) in Port Harcourt to mark the successful hosting of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign rally at Adokiye Amesimaka Stadium, Wike said by virtue of his office, Jonathan could not be stopped from using public facilities.

He said it was un-Christianly for Governor Rotimi Amaechi to have denied Jonathan the use of the Amesimaka Stadium.

The Rivers State PDP governorship candidate noted that it was imperative that the governor was taught a lesson on decent politicking.

He said: “President Jonathan is a President of all Nigerians.

He is not a President of a political party; therefore, he cannot be stopped from using a sta-

dium built with public funds.

“There is need to deemphasise negative politicking.

We are here to thank God for the successfully hosting of President Jonathan. We express gratitude for the multitude and the fact that we recorded no casualty.”

He urged Rivers people to vote Jonathan and himself.

Wike appealed to them to also vote for PDP candidates during the elections.

Wike declared that he would grant OPM their building permit and certificate of occupancy.

He said his incoming administration would sign the certificate of occupancy of all non indigenes and grant traders business grants.

Wike said he is a full time Christian with no relationship with cultism.

The General Overseer of OPM, Apostle Chibuzor, called on members and their families to pray for Wike to emerge the next governor of Rivers State.

He also asked the church to pray for Jonathan’s re-election.

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MONDAY MONDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2015

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

APC RALLY IN LAGOS All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has promised to fight the infrastructure battle in Lagos, if elected as the president. Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Otunba Oladele Ajomale said at the mega rally in Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, that the state will give Buhari 85 per cent of the votes. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU revisits the carnival-like rally.

‘Lagos ‘ll give 85 per cent of votes to Buhari’ L

AGOS, the former Federal Capital Territory (FCT), is perceived as the stronghold of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The state lived to expectation at the weekend when the campaign train of its presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, rolled into the Centre of Excellence.

The crowd was huge. But, the crowd outside the Teslim Balogun Stadium, the venue of the rally, was more than the crowd inside the main bowl. It was not a rented crowd. The army of supporters were not wooed with foods and drinks. But, they came from the 20 Local Government Areas and the 37 Local Council Development Councils (LCDAs), waving their brooms, singing and dancing. They defiled the early morning downpour as they waited patiently for the man they perceived as the symbol of change, Gen. Buhari. Even, those who left the stadium for the Friday Jumat service, returned to capture a glimpse of the General, who had served as the military Head of State 30 years ago.

Gen. Buhari walked freely among the people, who are eager to vote for him on February 14. He was the tallest in the crowd. When he waved the broom, the symbol of the party, the crowd went into an ecstasy. The master of ceremony, Mrs. Abike Dabiri, aroused the crowd when she said: “Baba, oyoyo.” The people chorused the slogan. Then, the ace musician, Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde, sung the familiar tune: Sai Baba, Sai Buhari. Brooms filled the air as youths decked in customised t-shirts with fez caps to match, were locked in celebrations.

The APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who was impressed by the turn-out, challenged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to a duel. Basking in the euphoria of an imminent victory for the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket, he said: “I have seen people sweat for change. The youths want change. My prayer is that nobody should be foolish enough to ignore this momentum for change.”

The Chairman of the APC in Lagos State, Otunba Dele Ajomale, and the governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, promised to deliver 85 per cent of the votes to Gen. Buhari.

Assuring that the progressive beat will continue in Lagos, Ajomale said: “Lagos will deliver 85 percent of the votes to you (Buhari).

Jonathan will not get 25 per cent of the votes.”

Also, members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), led by Alhaji Agbede, and National Road Transport Employment Association, led by Ahmed Musa, endorsed the flag bearer.

Smiles lit up the face of Buhari, who was accompanied by his wife, Hajia Aishat, and running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and wife, Dolapo. But, other matters also agitated him as he saw the sea of heads, including the jobless youths and artisans, who needed regular power supply for uninterrupted economic life.

Owing to lack of electricity, the organisers had arranged for an alternative source of power.

He took cognizance of the stand-by generator emitting fume, a sign of power outage and failure of infrastructure battle by the inept Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government. As he listened to other leaders as they addressed the rally, he was in a sober reflection.

Not given to frivolities, he addressed the crowd as a father and leader that he is. The people also nodded affirmatively to a leader that has been tested and can be trusted. Buhari promised a new lease of life, promising to resolve pressing national challenges, including corruption, insecurity and unemployment, if elected as the President.

Between 1976 and 1979, the APC flag bearer was the Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Between January 1984 and August 1985, he was also living in

• Crowd at the rally

Lagos as the Commander-In-Chief. Thus, he is conversant with the problems affecting the metropolis. Thus, Buhari promised to fight the infrastructure battle in Lagos State, as part of moves to restore the glory of the former Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The former military leader said the state will be given a special attention as the economic hub and commercial nerve centre. “For Lagos, in particular, they have allowed infrastructure decay to become the lots of Lagos. Infrastructure maintenance ought to be the responsibilities of the government being a former federal capital. I assure you APC will do that, he said.“ In his view, the PDP-led Federal Government has failed the test of leadership. The proofs, he said, are insecurity, economic depression, bribery and corruption and unemployment. He said: “Whatever we are going to do will help restore Nigeria back.”

Buhari offered hope to the jubilating crowd.

He said: “ After all what we have gone through in the past 15 years of the PDP, the APC has identified three fundamental programmes that have to be taken immediately. One of them is to tackle insecurity. Two, returning back the economy on track, and tackling bribery and corruption. But, whatever we are going to do, we must secure Nigeria first. Most importantly, is the Northeast where hundreds of school children are still missing. We are confident that our military can perform, but what they need now is leadership.”

The former Head of State also promised to tackle corruption, which he identified as an obstacle. He said, if bribery and corruption, gave way, all will be well with Nigeria. “We have more than 60 percent of youths in this country, whether they went to school or not, it is the responsibility of government to provide jobs. Whichever way we look at it, corruption still remains the bane of the country.”

Buhari urged Nigerians to “vote out the PDP from the top to the bottom,” adding that it is in the national interest. “Where is the Nigerian Airways? Where is the Nigerian National Shipping Line? Where are they now? Go and find out how much money they had made from 1999 till now. And where is NEPA? he queried.

The APC flag bearer added: “”After spending about $20 billion on power, what we are getting is still very insignificant. This is because of the incompetence of the PDP from top to bottom. Nigerians have suffered enough and must ensure that PDP is voted out.”

It was a special home-coming for Osinbajo, who had served the state as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. He urged Lagosians to vote for change, adding: “It is time for God to rescue Nigeria from corruption, poverty, joblessness and insecurity. Our time of deliverance has come. The train of freedom has arrived. On February 14, with your PVC, you will cause a change, a fundamental change in this country. That change is what we have been waiting for since 1960. It shall arrive February 14 when you vote General Muhammadu Buhari as the President of Nigeria.”

The legal scholar acknowledged that some people are afraid of Buhari, adding that these people are fueling the rumour that he will “islamise” Nigeria. The former university don said it is because they fear that Buhari will end.

Osinbajo added: “If corruption does not end, poverty cannot end. If corruption does not end, job cannot appear from anywhere. If corruption does not end, education cannot survive.

With corruption, you cannot build hospitals when some people are keeping all the money in their pockets. Don’t let them deceive you.

Some people are saying there is an Islamization agenda. Tell them it is not true. General Buhari is an honest man, he is a straight forward man.

Lagos, in particular, they have allowed infrastruc’For ture decay to become the lots of Lagos. Infrastructure maintenance ought to be the responsibilities of the government being a former federal capital

‘

He will fight corruption. He wants this country to be better and, by the grace of the Almighty God, on May 29, he will be the President of Nigeria.”

The APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, described Buhari as the best candidate to salvage the country during the crisis period, noting that when developed countries were in similar situation, they beckoned on their retired Generals for good governance. He said: “In the last 70 years of nationhood, you have seen series of political crises. But, one man has been very consistent, steadfast, brilliant, courageous, resolute, and an advocate of the poor. That is Buhari.”

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, and his Lagos, Osun, Edo and Imo state counterparts; Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Chief Rauf Aregbesola, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and Owelle Rochas Okorocha; and the National Deputy Chairman, Mr. Segun Oni, told the crowd that Buhari is the answer. Other APC chieftains, including the National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Chief Pius Akinyelure, former Ekiti State Governors Niyi Adebayo and Kayode Fayemi, Senator Bukola Saraki, former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, were in the same frame of mind.

Fashola, the host governor, urged Lagosians to collect their voter’s cards, ahead of the poll, stressing that they can only change the government by voting wisely.

Amaechi observed that the PDP is jittery because change is imminent. He warned against rigging, saying that Nigerians will resist fraud.

Oshiomhole said: “The challenge for Nigeria today is about creating jobs. They will not be created through token policies. It is time to bring a trusted and trusted leader. Gen. Buhari has no money, yet, he was governor, minister of petroleum and Head of State. You need a man who will not steal to curb corruption.”

Aregbesola said: “The issue involved in this election is the sustenance of poverty and abolition of poverty. If you are interested in poverty, misery and hardship, vote for the PDP. If you believe there must be an end to poverty, misery and hardship, vote for the APC.” Senator Oluremi Tinubu said: “Today, we are witnessing the beginning of the restoration of Nigeria.”

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THE NATION MONDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2015

forces that tend to unite and the ‘The forces that tend to divide are actually at play at the same time and that is the challenge that we are facing in Nigeria ‘

Card reader ‘ll eliminate fraud, says Ekiti REC

Senator Gyang Shom Pwajok is the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s), governorship candidate in Plateau State. He spoke with reporters in Lagos on zoning, succession battle between ruling and opposition parties and his chances at the polls.

EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

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‘Zoning is propaganda tool in Plateau’

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HERE is the allegation that your emergence as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Plateau State violated zoning. How are you resolving it?

I have reached out to quite a number of those that we stood election with. I have also reached out to even those that lost election that I was not involved in. That is, those who lost House of Assembly elections, those who lost House of Representatives election and those who lost Senate election. I have called quite a number of them and a number of them said that, that was the first time that somebody was reaching out to them, especially for those who had contested in the past and lost. Even the deputy governor, I have had cause to sit down with him in the process. I find it clear that in the course of a contest there are bound to be those who win and those who lose elections or those who don’t win because it is not really losing per se.

The bottom line is that when people begin to throw up issues in the course of a competition, definitely people will look for sentiments and variables that will be conducive to them. For me, zoning was actually a campaign tool by those who contested. The simple answer to the issue was that we had aspirants from all the zones. So, ap-parently, there was no debate about zoning. If there was actually an issue about zoning it would have been very much settled that some would not have even emerged at all.

Apart from that, when I was canvassing for votes, I went to all the zones, all the 17 local governments of Plateau State and I can tell you that I had a complete feeling of what the outcome would look like because I was very much accepted in all the zones. In fact, I was shocked by the response. Instead of going to see 10, 20 or 30 delegates, I was actually in a rally because most of the people who came to see me in other zones did it in a manner that was difficult to believe. So, while some were busy shouting zoning, the voters were prepared to choose who they wanted because they were quite prepared that what they needed was development and not zon-ing for the sake of zoning. At any rate we have not had a history of docu-mented direction in that order.

No doubt, the sentiments for zoning which was quite strong among some candidates, however, did not reflect in the primaries. So, it was just argument for the sake of argument.

My slogan in the course of the campaign was that we can only be greater if we work together.

And of course these zones are re-ally administrative boundaries which further divide people rather than what unite people and were mostly drawn for convenience. Senatorial zone is for senatorial election, governorship is for the entire state in the true sense of it. The House of Representatives has its own constituency.

My constituency as far as my aspiration for governor-ship was to cover

the entire state and the support came from the entire state and is a nail on the coffin of the argu-ment for zoning and the voting itself showed that the people were departing from that argument.

How do you expect to manage the governor, who is your godfather, if you wins the election?

The truth of the matter is that God is our godfather including those who have influenced our lives in one sense or the other. It is all about human rela-tions and I truly believe that because the current governor has not just goodwill, but he has good intentions in terms of governance, he would be a supporter of any genuine efforts to-wards further development of the state. That is his dream and we are keying in into that dream because we believe strongly that he is also a genuine, patriotic statesman that has played his role within the space of time.

But you must also realise that the legacy that has been brought to bear from the past needs to be properly harnessed so that you can move for a better tomorrow. Not necessarily look at things from the negative perspec-tive. We intend to cash in on a very positive note to take stock.

What are your chances in the election?

I always go by the dictum that the future is as bright as the promises of God. The truth of the matter is that I couldn’t have been where I am today but for God taking me through where I am today. From being a lecturer in the polytechnic, to DG research and chief of staff to the governor and then senator within a short span of my life means that I am a living testimony of God’s work in progress. What will take me to victory is God Himself be-cause He has a way of influencing the hearts and minds of people to support an aspiration and I believe that this is also God’s agenda to impact on the challenges that we are facing on the plateau which also have a repercussion on the rest of Nigeria.

What is your position on the security challenges in your state?

We are very realistic we know that security is a global challenge, it is no longer a Nigerian problem per se.

Each time you turn on the television, the first thing you hear is the breakdown of law and order in one place or the other and the increasing trend

‘For me, zoning was actually a campaign tool by those who contested. The simple answer to the issue was that we had aspirants from all the zones. So, apparently, there was no debate about zoning’

•Pwajok

of terror is also very global. The forces that tend to unite and the forces that tend to divide are actually at play at the same time and that is the challenge that we are facing in Nigeria.

For me, security is top on our agenda.

Even for Plateau and most parts of Northern Nigeria it is a challenge.

How is the issue being resolved?

For us on the Plateau, we have actually gotten to the point where some peaceful resolutions and peace building efforts were carried out and we have reached a point where people were resolving to forget their differ-ences and live peacefully.

However, the externalised dimension of the attacks raises a fundamental ques-tion. You know in the past we used to talk about our porous borders. This is a state that is in the hinterland, the middle of Nigeria, yet sometimes you find foreign elements involved in the attacks and we have raised this issue in the past. But nobody seemed to have cared, people thought it was sheer pro-paganda, that we often find Nigeriens, Chadians involved. People at that early stage of the crisis said it was sheer propaganda, but today the dimension we are seeing the crisis in Northern Nigeria shows clearly that there is a serious push in that order.

You are all aware of the climatic challenges that we are having and of the desertification that is going on and the need for greener pastures even for those who are cattle herders and they come from across border situations outside Nigeria and some of them are actually looking for better lands to occupy. Unfortunately, the way and manner the boundaries of this country were carved out, you find that Kanuris can be found in the Borno axis and on the other side.

Fulanis can be found in other parts of West Africa and this tendency allows for easy infiltration by non-Nigerians into areas of conflict. So, there is a serious collaboration that is going on. There are people who are particularly interested in maintaining the peace and there are forces that are interested in moving towards greater harmony and they come from both sides of the divide and gradually real-ising that this challenge may even be external to them and as such there is the need for collaboration.

You would have noticed that there has been some relative peace.

For me there is the need to work further on enriching this understanding among the communities so that they can also be protective of themselves collectively so that rather than assume that each time there is attack, you just assume that it is this my neighbour that is directly responsible. It could be somebody else outside his immediate domain.

HE Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ekiti State, Sam Olumekun, has identified the use of smart card reader as an antidote to malpractices afflicting the nation’s electoral system.

Olumekun spoke on the readiness of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a free, fair and credible general elections next month.

Addressing reporters in AdoEkiti, he also debunked rumour making the rounds that the general elections will be postponed.

He said: “We are not contemplating changing the date of election”.

He explained that, although the 2011 polls were widely acknowledged to be credible, some flaws noticed in the elections made INEC to go back to the drawing board to fashion out a strategy to curtail malpractices in future elec-

From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

tions.

Olumekun said this necessitated the resolve of the commission to use smart card readers for the 2015 general elections.

The INEC chief said the device would electronically confirm prospective voters during accreditation and record them centrally which would prevent over-voting and other malpractices.

Olumekun said: “The era of electoral malpractices are gone for good and those that will be elected will be truly the choice of the electorate and we are going to deliver free, fair and credible elections.

“INEC went back to the drawing board after some flaws were noticed during the 2011 elections and we decided to raise the technological content of the electoral process.

Start preparing handover note, APC advises Yuguda

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HEAD of the governorship election in Bauchi State, Governor Isa Yuguda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been asked to start preparing his handover note.

Yuguda has also been charged to perish his senatorial ambition in the Bauchi South District and go back to his farm as he promised.

APC chieftain Alhaji Adamu Lar gave the advice at a press conference. He said: ”Yuguda cannot win any election in the state again.

Yuguda should get ready to hand over to the APC governorship candidate, Mohammed Abubakar, who is stooped to conquer the PDP governorship candidate, Hon. Auwal Jatau come February 28, 2015”.

Yuguda, a former Managing Director of Merchant Bank, Minister of State for Works and Transport, Aviation Minister is, vying for the Senate against a retired Controller of Customs, Malam Ali aWakili.

Lar,who is also the Bauchi South Vice Chairman of the APC, said: “My advice to Yuguda is based on the truth that he has damaged and ravaged the state economy so very

From Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi.

irresponsibly,and does not deserve any office in the state anymore”.

“Besides, the governor has for the whole of his second tenure refused to democratically conduct local government election and by so doing he has deprived the people of development and due representation at grassroots level”, Lar stated.

•Yuguda

’We ‘ll back presidential candidate with masses-oriented programmes’

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HE Conference of Southwest Political Parties (CSWPP) has said it would support the presidential candidate that put the interest of the masses on the front burner.

At its meeting held in Ibadan,the Oyo State capital,the group expressed its readiness to back the best presidential candidate that would also promote national unity, tackle unemployment and revamp the nation’s economy.

In a communique by its spokesman, Otunba Olu Alonge, the group said it has set up a sevenman committee led by Chief M. O. Ogunbodede to hold consultations with notable leaders in the zone to determine where the group would pitch its tent.

From Ojo Damisi, Akure

The committee has two weeks to conclude its assignment and report back to the group, following which members of the public would be intimated through the media on its choice candidate in the Southwest zone.

CSWPP said the conference would adequately consider the programmes of all the presidential candidates and ratify the best among them, who could uplift the southwest region in all aspects of life.

It urged INEC to conduct an acceptable polls devoid of favouritism, while security operatives should shun partisanship to guarantee smooth conduct of the election.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

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COMMENTARY EDITORIALS

LETTER

Ijaws, GEJ & amnesty

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Again, no to polls shift •Postponement of elections barely two weeks to E-Day is dangerous

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T started as rumour. It was too dangerous a thought to be entertained.

Why would anyone want to shift the dates of elections fixed about one year ago? But, the call has now become too loud to be ignored, even though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to accede to the request.

Proponents of the idea insist that the country is already in a bind and only a shift would protect the credibility of any election conducted as fixed this month.

For this, they rely on the casual manner of production and distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by INEC. In a state like Lagos, only about 35 per cent of those registered in 2014 have been issued the card, which INEC insists is the only valid qualification to participate in the election.

They have also pointed out that the widely touted magic wand for electoral integrity - the card reader - is a technology that remains untested. They argue that the general election, starting with presidential, senatorial and House of Representatives polls are too important to be used for the experiment.

While the argument may sound somehow logical, we are constrained to reject it outright in the country’s interest. A shift of the polls could set the entire country on fire. First, while it is being argued that no date is sacrosanct since it is not enshrined in any law, it must be pointed out that all those involved - the electoral body, political parties, candidates, observers and the electorate had made all preparations towards the dates an- • Prof Jega nounced by INEC last year. A shift would put some strain on the stakeholders who had legitimately assumed that the only body saddled with the conduct and management of the process had done its homework before releasing the timetable.

Calls for shift preposterous Besides, at the moment, INEC is yet to declare its inability to live up to its constitutional responsibility. If the commission should accede to this strange request at this point, it would be an admission of failure by a body that had more than four years to produce and distribute the PVCs. Nigerians had called for the use of the card readers and PVCs for the 2011 election, given the huge amount the country committed to the project. The public only relented on the ground that the commission that came on board in 2010 be allowed adequate time to prepare. It was believed at the time that the process would have been concluded within two years.

We are bothered by the dire consequences of a shift. There are two major political parties in the land and it promises to be a keen contest. It is, in fact, the

closest that the opposition has got to presenting an alternative to the ruling party.

It has been observed in various parts of the world that the keener an election is, the more tensed the atmosphere. Nigerian elections have always been marked or marred by violence. To save the country this recurrent ugly experience, the election must not only be free and fair, it must be so adjudged by all, including the opposition, international observers, domestic observers and the electorate.

In this instance, the shift is being championed by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but opposed by the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). In view of this, the country sits precariously on a keg of gunpowder.

Its fate is too important to be so trifled

shore up its waning image because, as things stand, it is going to the polls from a position of weakness. But why should that be a burden that Nigerians must carry? How does that concern Nigerians?

The ruling party has had more than five years under the Jonathan presidency to prove its mettle, if it has wasted the opportunity, whose fault is that? What is it that it wants to do even if the three months’ extension is granted that it could not have accomplished in five years?

INEC has to understand that Nigeria is more polarised along ethnic, religious and partisan lines now than at any other point. This is the more reason why it should not toy with the idea of postponing the polls. What the situation calls for is for us all to play our parts by avoiding the ugly incidents that led to deep divisions in the past. This is a point at which all hands must be on deck to save the country. We therefore call on the federal and state governments to provide all the support needed by INEC to get all willing voters to obtain their cards within the 11 days left before the first set of elections. Nigeria invested heavily to make this INEC succeed and it would be a tragedy if it fails the test.

Big tragedy

with. We are convinced that this is an example of when a matter may be permitted by law, yet inexpedient. We agree that the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) allows an election to be conducted within the band of 150 to 30 days before the expiration of the incumbents’ tenure, but, having freely come up with the February 14 and 28 days, INEC should keep faith with them. In 2011, it had a false start and had to call off an election it had started, this should not be a repeat of sort.

At any rate, what is the ruling party’s interest in championing the call for postponement of the polls? Some say it is to enable it put a few things in order so as to

It would be tragic for the commission to shift the election and set the nation on edge and ultimately prove right those who had predicted that the 2015 elections could ironically truncate democracy in the land.

The matter, as we noted, is worsened by the fact that it is the ruling party that is behind the calls for postponement of the polls, using all manner of subterfuge, thus preparing our minds to travel the usual roads that we travelled in the past.

INEC must be wary of falling into the temptation, lest it be accused of bias even before the contest starts.

The commission’s chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, must understand that all eyes are on Nigeria and the way he handles the polls, particularly the calls for postponement, would go a long way in testing the commission’s impartiality and independence. As we have always argued, rigging of election does not start on voting day; it starts with little details like the one under consideration.

‘INEC must be wary of falling into the temptation, lest it be accused of bias even before the contest starts. The commission’s chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, must understand that all eyes are on Nigeria and the way he handles the polls, particularly the calls for postponement, would go a long way in testing the commission’s impartiality and independence. As we have always argued, rigging of election does not start on voting day; it starts with little details like the one under consideration’

IR, It would be most ironic that the socioeconomic problems that pushed the Niger Delta youths to the creeks to take up arms against the Federal Government are still largely unaddressed. Jonathan’s predecessor, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, in 2009, declared amnesty for the Niger Delta insurgents. He also created the first ever Federal Ministry for Niger Delta Affairs. Amnesty office was subsequently created, all in a bid to end unrest which had rocked and claimed the soul of the region.

That amnesty programme as it is today has become a mere conduit pipe for siphoning public fund by those directly in charge. The programme after Jonathan’s six years today is the turning of few ambitious Ijaw youths and some Niger Delta militant kingpins into overnight millionaires at the expense of the entire Ijaw ethnic group and the Niger Delta as a whole.

The Ijaw man over the years had articulated his existence on hard work, creative energy and positive agitation for proper recognition in the Nigerian state. But the message of President Jonathan’s amnesty to his Ijaw kinsman is that all he needs do to become a millionaire, is not to study or work hard but to be an appendage or a relative of those directly in charge of execution of the programme of amnesty.

This is the extent to which Jonathan’s amnesty has devalued the values of an Ijaw man. It has deflated his cultural pride of dignity inherent in labour and personal achievement through sheer hard work. The hard-working Ijaw professionals dare not stand where the amnesty boys, ‘repentant militants’, display their emergency wealth, which they flaunt in naked worship of material vanity. This dangerous trend must be reversed by the electorates. They only can and the time is now.

The Niger Delta of today is plagued by more violence and insecurity of life; youths are being shipped abroad in droves, some to expensive Nigerian private universities, to be trained by the amnesty office at prodigal expense as if lack of training or lack of education is the problem with the Niger Delta youths, a region which has produced many good brains in the field of arts, even in the face of the many odds of their time.

The Ijaw man ought to know by now that Jonathan’s government is an ill-will that blows them no good. The Ijaws, who alone do not constitute the Niger Delta region, should be saddened that they really wasted a rare opportunity to showcase a quality leadership precedence in the art of governance for the last six years in the country. Although this will expectedly not go well with those who benefit from nepotistic amnesty booties of the Jonathan presidency, it is years after Jonathan would have left government that the sober ones among the Ijaws who do not partake in this infamy will realize that their kinsman has succeeded in raising dust by dancing around like a masquerade without moving the region forward. This is a historical monumental loss.

Tope Temokun, Lagos.

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye •Editor, Online Lekan Otufodunrin •Managing Editor Northern Operation Yusuf Alli •Managing Editor Waheed Odusile

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR, In a land where most people go along to get along, Nigeria’s writers and performers have always been a feisty lot. For the generation that came of age at independence in 1960, art and politics mixed with a general optimism about the country’s future. And as the last decades of the last century unfolded amid greed, corruption and state-sponsored violence, they took it upon themselves to become the voice of the nation’s conscience.

The work of a new generation of Nigerian writers, by comparison, has grown inward-looking and politically remote, the inversion of the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s much-quoted admonition, “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.” It’s not that the writers of today are afraid to address the problems that plague our country — they do so with eloquence and compassion.

But there is more gloom than hope in their writing. Their work

EDITOR’S MAIL BAG SEND TYPEWRITTEN, DOUBLE SPACED AND SIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS, LETTERS AND REJOINDERS OF NOT MORE THAN 800 WORDS TO THE EDITOR, THE NATION, 27B, FATAI ATERE ROAD, MATORI, LAGOS. E-mail: views@thenationonlineng.net

Time to break out of lethargy is weighed down by a despair that stems from the fact that the people most in need of reading what they have to say are paying little or no attention.

This was not the case during the first decades of independence. Ken Saro-Wiwa’s campaign for the rights of the much-abused Ogoni people in the oil-rich Niger Delta drew worldwide attention. His organization, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, became one of the largest in Nigeria. His artistic and political reputation spread far beyond his homeland, especially after Gen. Sani Abacha’s military government had

Three sins of Jonathan IR, My attention has just been drawn to clips of where President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan pledged to spend only a single term of four years, and the former President, General Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ), was praising him for that “magnanimity”. But after his electoral victory in 2011, Jonathan stopped mentioning the pledge. Instead, he started canvassing for a single term of seven years.

Currently, he is denying that he ever promised to spend only a single term of four years.

No wonder, some well-meaning Nigerians have now reviewed past mass media news, to extract and assemble, systematically, clips, including pieces of news broadcast on the National Television Authority (NTA), where he made the single term pledge. How then can any decent Nigerian expect Nigerians to vote for falsehood and deception?

The foregoing is the second of Jonathan’s three sins. The first is truncation of rotational Presiden-

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cy. Sadly, hardly anybody (neither Peoples Democratic Party nor the All Progressives Congress) is talking about what matters most to Nigeria, namely unity/stability. In 2011, President Jonathan tricked too many Nigerians to discard that solution. How then does Nigeria guarantee stability? How do we stave-off a feeling of marginalisation/alienation?

GEJ’s third sin is bribing the Igbo with whom his South-south people fought during the Biafran war.

He bribed them with crucial positions in Nigeria: Finance Minister, Petroleum Minister, Governor of the Central Bank, Secretary to the Federal Government, etc. The temptation is serious, but the Igbo should consider Nigeria’s peace, and let’s return to rotational presidency.

What will make rotational presidency democratic is our acceptance of it for unity, peace, and stability.

Let’s be politically disciplined!

Pius Oyeniran Abioje, PhD, University of Ilorin.

him tried on trumped-up charges and executed in 1995. Amid the international outrage that followed, human rights activists brought a lawsuit against Shell oil company, and Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth for more than three years.

The reputation of Nigerian writers remains broad, but it is not deep. Wole Soyinka’s poems and plays earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986; novels like Saro-Wiwa’s “Sozaboy” (about a young soldier caught up in the civil war), or Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” (which traces the cultural destruction of a village at the hands of well-meaning missionaries) are honoured the

world over.

No Nigerian artist in any genre has been more scathing about the country’s colossal failure of leadership than Fela Kuti, who died in 1997 at the age of 58 but whose ironic, mournful music plays nonstop in dance halls, bars and cafes across the country.

Despite the outspokenness of these men, they seem to have had little domestic influence on a population that is still largely rural and woefully under-educated. A new generation of writers, singers and stand-up comics may draw urbane audiences, but to the politicians gearing up for elections next month, what the artistic community says about them remains of

little consequence.

Comments like these raise ageold questions of artistic integrity and the writer’s duty to confront tyranny and injustice. Soyinka, Saro-Wiwa and others of their generation did not hesitate to do so. But things are different today.

The climate has changed. Three decades of military dictatorship have given way to a listless democracy, where corruption rules, apathy spreads and a dangerous vacuum is filled with the likes of the murderous Boko Haram insurgency.

No amount of noise making from the chattering classes seems to reach our politicians, and that is exactly what makes our predicament so dangerous. If our leaders refuse to listen when our artists speak of ennui, anger and despair, they set themselves up for the fate that befalls all rulers who remain deaf to simmering discontent. We must break out of this national lethargy before it’s too late.

Ibrahim Muhammed Sani Hadejia, Gusau, Zamfara State

Religion, morality and development IR, Our practice of religions has failed abysmally in effecting moral regeneration among us. A country whose religious leaders cannot hold aloft the moral compass and torch for their compatriots will come adrift. Not surprisingly, and consequently, too, there is an erosion of moral and family values among us. Here, good is deemed bad; and bad, good. Nothing shocks and offends us, anymore.

Moral vices have become normative in Nigeria.

People destitute of positive morality do perpetrate corrupt deeds. And we are not unaware that corruption is the bane of Nigeria. A morally up right person will not divert public money entrusted in his care into his private bank account rules and regulations to achieve his lofty objectives. And a morally upright person is aware of what constitutes good and bad.

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Our dear country teems with people who have moral vacuity and spiritual aridity. They indulge in deeds that destroy our country. Human beings mobilize and galvanize other factors such as natural resources, labour, and capital to effect national development. And if they place their selfish interests above other considerations owing to their moral vacuity, then Nigeria will remain an underdeveloped country.

Our lack of positive morality is the reason why we indulge in corrupt deeds. And while perpetrating evil deeds, we do not have prick of conscience and qualms.

So, it is imperative for our religious leaders to effect moral regeneration among us.

It is sad to note that Nigerians are putting their religions to bad uses. Some Islamic clerics brainwash and indoctrinate young Muslims with teachings that are not contained in the Koran. They

misinterpret and twist them to suit their purposes. That is why the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east has not been eradicated. And many men of the cloth subordinate biblical teachings that border on spirituality, holiness, and love beneath the performance of miracles and propagation of prosperity messages.

There is a connection between our underdevelopment and the erosion of moral values among us. A person with positive morality and active restrictive mechanism will not undermine his country’s progress for selfish reasons. Our adherence to religious injunctions, no doubt, will activate our consciences and imbue us with positive morality. Then, we will start to desist from engaging in acts that can destroy our country.

Chiedu Uche Okoye, Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

COMMENTS

Why Jonathan should not return

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ODAY, Nigeria is a nation dragging in the valley the way it should not be. This season of politics has been that of unworthy sensationalism, desperation and agenda distraction. For a while, democracy has not benefitted the masses in reality. Indeed, light has not been shining upon the nation’s darkness.

Yet, there are ongoing outlandish campaign promises of deceit and inanity, especially by the government that has been in control of power for almost six years – a full constitutional term and a half. As if all Nigerians are insensitive and irrational, they are being told what they need not hear, with plots against their will as if manipulation can resolve the nation’s predicaments.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign started well ahead of the legal time through media fabrications by those who are around him in self-interest without being trustworthy to the settlement of the people’s dilemma. They tell cock-and-bull stories as if truth cannot become known. What they label as good works and transformation are vitally not what are in actuality. They want him to return to office for another four years to enable him reign in futility and vainness for a total 10 years. Yet, they know the reality that his comeback will make Nigeria hang about in dumped failures as he has proved his incapability to implement whatever he promises.

Only last week, the Ohaneze Youth Wing, the youth arm of Ohaneze Ndigbo of the South-east that massively voted in Jonathan as president in 2011 declared that they are now no longer happy with him. According to newspaper report after the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential team had passed through the region on campaign rally, the youth organization declared that Jonathan has failed to fulfill numerous promises made to the Igbo people that gave him 98% of their votes. In its fuming communiqué after an emergency meeting in Enugu, it declared in contrary to the benefitting egotistical few that the President failed to keep his assurance of restoring the coal industry in Enugu and also futile building of the Second Niger Bridge through public/private partnership pact.

Quoted: “Our genuine demands, including the revitalisation of Enugu Colliery/construction of a coal fired power plant, construction of the Azumini seaport, acceleration of the dredging/expansion of the Port Harcourt and Calabar seaports, the exploration of the oil deposits of the Orashi and Anambra Riv-

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OWARDS the end of last year, the All Progressives Congress (APC) raised the alarm and alleged that there were subterranean moves by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the presidency and its cohorts to postpone the general elections scheduled for next month. Not many Nigerians took the APC’s allegation seriously, considering the level of allegations and counter-allegations between it and the PDP since its successful merger. Some assumed that it was part of campaign and politicking that will precede the election. But consistently APC repeatedly alerted Nigerians about plans by the PDP to shift the February elections. When the allegation was made, neither the PDP nor the Presidency refuted or acknowledged it. The duo maintained studied silence, pretending not being in the knowhow of the plan to postpone the election.

True to the APC allegation, the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) recently canvassed for the postponement of the elections to give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) time to distribute over 30 million outstanding Permanent Voter Cards to registered voters.

Dasuki, according to report, said he had told the INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, that a postponement within the three months allowed by the law, would be a good idea.

Before Dasuki spoke at the Chatham House, a London thinktank, supportive of the PDP had also advised that the elections should be shifted.

Dasuki told participants at a talk in London that INEC which had distributed over 30 million cards late last year, had assured him that the outstanding PVCs would be given out before February 14, the first day of the elections. He however stated that he believed it would make more sense to shift the elections since the law provided a 90-day window during which elections could legally take place. “It costs you nothing, it’s still within the law,” Dasuki said, adding however that it was for INEC and not for him, to decide.

There is no doubt that Dasuki’s call is a confirmation that the Presidency and the PDP were tinkering with idea of compelling or pushing INEC to postpone the elections as earlier alleged by APC. For the National Security Adviser in the PDP-led government to openly canvass for the shift of the

‘The commission should know that it is its constitutional right to fix date for elections not PDP or anybody including the Presidency. The commission’s leadership should be aware that all eyes are on them, and should not allow themselves to be use as pawns in the political chessboard of anybody ahead of the polls’

er Basins, etc have been ignored.”

If a leader failed to fulfill his promise to his own people who enthroned him, that means he was worse in performance to other sides of the country that didn’t vote much for him. Or what will the faded Afenifere accept as the benefit of Jonathan administration to the South-west in the last six years other than the confusing allocation of a federal university to Ekiti State, the derelict repairs of Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos and the dragging Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which links metropolitan Lagos to other parts of the country?

In today’s political campaign, the President keeps promising to create not less than two million jobs annually when he has not created one million jobs in six years and remains unable to explain why his government cannot pay the salaries of his civil servants and the pension of retirees as at when due.

His ministers will be pronouncing Nigeria the way they want divergent to the way it is. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s sweet mouth will pronounce Nigeria as the leading African nation in economy when poverty keeps flowing in the life of the masses like never before. Other evidently-corrupt associates of the President too would be assuring national development when all their stolen resources are being planted in already developed countries where the populace is in comfort.

Considerable funds have been wasted in the power sector as they are sold to several bungling businessmen whose priorities are to make much money even when there darkness still remains all round. It is as if nobody is recollecting Jonathan’s earlier pledge to give Nigeria 10,000 megawatts by December last year but could not afford what was barely 4,000 megawatts – which has even now dropped below 3,000 megawatts to a nation of more than 160 million people. Who is not aware that South Africa with 54 million in population boasts of no less than 45,000 megawatts?

Nigeria is being burnt today on the erroneous focus on politics which is ruling over the economy. More than N200 is now equivalent to one dollar in a nation where importation has become more principal than exportation of what is produced.

Yes, some rice might now be less imported, but we still do not have the veracity of the government making agriculture the source of development the same way as the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo made it excel in the Western Region of old.

The crude oil that was bringing in much of the money being stolen by those in power is slumping by the day. Instead of having a leader who would have made refineries workable such that Nigeria could benefit from circulating produced oil across Africa, the lamentation today is because developed nations are no longer making our oil their priorities.

Isn’t it amazing that the President is consenting to threats by militants who are making money from the oil of the nation which they see as their own? For God sake, who is Mujahid Asari-Dokubo living in silliness, threatening to declare war on Nigerians who will not re-elect a lacklustre President? Why

must he and those working for the President as Special Adviser and consultants, Kingsley Kuku and Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) be with a state governor talking tough as if they are men of value? Is that how to encourage people with intelligence to vote for who they only see as their man? And the President in power too has not seen the criminality by responding to the call of esteemed Gen. T.Y. Danjuma (rtd) to get the inane and incongruous militants condemned and arrested?

Please, who is of sincerity and devotion to the peace of Nigeria that will because of fear vote for a man who has proven his incompetency to handle insecurity? Boko Haram keeps wasting lives and threatening the entire country. This is a vandalistic group that has proven neither to be of religion nor of politics. I wonder, why can’t the same Nigeria that fought Biafra demolish the wicked terrorists destroying lives and properties of all manner of citizens?

The day President Jonathan was defending his inability to empower the military was most excruciating. His excuse that he couldn’t get arms for them on time is a depressing justification of the millions of the nation’s dollars still being withheld

by South Africa over intended illegal arms importation (perhaps by militants?). Worse still was The Punch newspaper’s report of what opposition candidate Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) told United States Secretary of State John Kerry when he came to this country recently. “Buhari was said to have told Kerry that the Goodluck Jonathan administration had spent billions of dollars on defence and that a large portion of the money was diverted by those in power.”

Can faithful nationalists find it meaningful to follow a leader not moving actively against insurgency but would only go and campaign where lives of innocent citizens are lost on daily basis? Will the family and relations of the long-abducted hundreds of Chibok girls now vote for Jonathan because of Tompolo and Asari-Dokubo’s continual sham intimidation that Nigeria will break if Jonathan loses the coming election?

Won’t the nation decline further if people are enforced to continue to use a clueless leader under whom the nation has not enhanced in six years? Do militants want their man to remain in power so that they can continue to embezzle the nation’s resources?

After all, even if the failing oil totally fails today, the abandoned enormous natural resources which the Almighty God created in the land, just as oil, can prop up the nation better if under the right and capable leadership that will not allow corruption to stampede development.

What Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan says is not what he is capable and willing to do. He can promise, but he is not competent to transform Nigeria with his promise – in deed and in truth.

So, let the enemies of Nigeria’s progress go to war and God will arise and fight for His people.

PDP’s desperate push for polls shift

party crisis that had trailed the outcome of the party primaries across the country.

From Ebonyi to Delta, Bauchi, Abia to Cross River and other states, there are obvious discontent and division within the party and the party chieftains know that such will hurt them in the elections if conducted as scheduled. It may not be out of place that the push for the poll shift by the PDP is to enable them put their houses in order and to further demonise the APC presidential candidate, Buhari through fabricated documentaries and spurious adverts. It seems they also need more time to spread false propaganda on President Jonathan’s unverifiable achievements in the last six years which Nigerians have called to question.

Whichever way one looks at it, PDP chieftains’ push for poll shift smacks of desperation and lack of confidence in the ability of the party to win the general elections convincingly.

If not, many Nigerians had expected that such call for shift should have emanated from the opposition party APC. Apart from the call for polls shift, PDP’s undue pressure on INEC to disqualify Buhari on the ground of non-possession of requisite qualification is pure pettiness and undue distraction from germane issues at stake. PDP should heed INEC’s advice to approach the court because by law, INEC has no power whatsoever to disqualify candidates submitted by political parties in an elections. Why is the PDP or Presidency afraid of going to court over the issue, but have continued to mount campaign of calumny against the leadership of the INEC? The leadership of PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation has even threatened to pass a vote of no confidence on INEC for not disqualifying Buhari! What a cheap blackmail for a party that is drowning and has continued to chase rat while its house is on fire?

Meanwhile, INEC has stated that it was yet to receive any formal request for the postponement of the elections, it insisted that it would stick to its timetable for the polls. Its quick response is a welcome development. It shows the readiness and firmness of the commission to conduct the polls as scheduled. The commission should work hard to ensure that all registered voters get their PVCs before the elections as promised.

Apart from this, the commission should know that it is its constitutional right to fix date for elections not PDP or anybody including the Presidency. The commission’s leadership should be aware that all eyes are on them, and should not allow themselves to be use as pawns in the political chessboard of anybody ahead of the polls. Nigerians are quite aware that the hiccups being experienced by the commission towards the preparation of the polls is as a result of the federal government’s failure to release all the commission’s 2014 budgetary allocation.

Nigerians at this critical time in the search for true and capable leadership cannot afford to witness a compromised, rigged and crisis-ridden elections.

• Ntama a retired civil servant wrote from Asaba, Delta State

By Jacinta Ntama polls calls for concern. It also raises question on the independence of the electoral commission ahead of the polls. It may not be out of place to suggest that the Presidency, PDP and their cohorts have infiltrated INEC to ensure that they have their way.

Before Dasuki’s call, Adamawa State governor, Bala Ngilari made a similar call for the shift in the polls. The unison with which they chorused the shift is not only suspicious, but conspiratorial. Their reasons are not tenable because INEC had assured that the remaining permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) would be continuously distributed till February 13. It would also be recalled that in most of his campaign speeches, President Jonathan had always said that May 29 handover is sacrosanct, but has never mentioned that February polls are sacrosanct.

Instead of calling and championing for the shift of the polls, the PDP and its allies should call for the use of the temporary voters’ cards for the elections as demanded by members of the House of Representatives during their last session. Hiding under the flimsy excuse that previous elections have been conducted in April to justify their position for the shift is hypocritical and questionable. If that is the case, why not call for the shift earlier than now to save the commission and Nigerians the waste of time and money?

The report that PDP and Presidency are desperately trying to procure jankara court injunction to stop the polls and the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) from contesting it is not only worrisome, but illegal and undemocratic. If the report is true, it means that the country may be heading back to the days of June 12, 1993 political chaos. Nigerians should remind the PDP and its champions of poll shift about JP Clark’s poem titled “The Casualties.” As can be seen across the country, some sponsored groups have staged protests to INEC offices across the country including Abuja asking for the shift of the polls to allow Nigerians collect their PVCs. Actions and body languages of these groups are not quite different from what some PDP chieftains and their allies are asking for. So it is obviously the hand of Esau and voice of Jacob.

The questions that should be troubling the mind of Nigerians are: why should PDP chieftains be asking for the shift of polls now and mounting pressure on INEC to disqualify Buhari on the ground of non-qualification? Presently, PDP is in dire need of peace, unity and cohesion following the intra-

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

22

COMMENTS

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VEN with the accord by political parties to maintain the peace during and after the elections, signals emanating from the landscape do not give comfort of mind. Not only have there been clear breaches of that agreement by party supporters, there is every thing to indicate that all is not well with us.

Not with the recent stoning of the convoy of President Jonathan in both Katsina, Bauchi and Taraba states and the ensuing recrimination between Bauchi State governor, Isa Yuguda and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Bala Mohammed on who sponsored the unruly mob that stoned the president.

If such highly placed personages could accuse each other of masterminding that devious attack, it only shows how desperate things have become. It is too early to take sides on the matter. But the fact that such allegations could be traded by members of the same party from the same state is a pointer to some foreboding signals as the elections inch nearer.

Various insinuations could also be made about the development and one may not be out of the track depending on the prism from which the matter is being viewed. But one thing that seems clear is that there are vested interests bent on fomenting trouble within this critical electioneering period to satisfy interests of sectional lure. Rising attacks on party men and their property; tearing of posters and destruction of billboards across the country are all indicative of the foreboding order.

Matters are not helped by threats of the dire consequences that await the nation should certain sections win or lose the election. Before now, the North through sundry groups and individuals had threatened dire consequences should Jonathan run for another term. Then also some ex-militants in the Niger Delta equally warned they would fight if Jonathan was intimidated out of the race. Such had been the mood.

Even former President Olusegun Obasanjo

‘The choice is ours either to address these nagging national issues or allow the bitter competition that arises out of the desire of sections to corner the apparatus of governance for their own good. That is the real issue which the arrest of thousands of ex-militants cannot resolve’

T

Emeka OMEIHE 08112662675 email: EmekaOmeihe@yahoo.com

Between Danjuma and militants

had in his controversial letter to Jonathan warned of severe consequences should he run for the election in defiance of the agreement he purportedly signed with some groups to serve only a single term. With the emergence of Jonathan and Buhari as the candidates of the PDP and APC, it will not be surprising these sentiments are bound to influence the direction the elections assume in the days ahead.

The north wants the presidency returned to it.

But the South-south would not let go this time around. It wants to complete two terms before power shifts to the north. These facts are not in doubt.

So when Niger Delta ex-militants reportedly threatened to return to their old ways should Jonathan lose the election, they were just reechoing their earlier threats. Dokubo-Asari, leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Victor Ben Ebikabowei, aka Boyloaf; Government Ekpudomenowei, aka Tompolo and others had reportedly vowed to ensure that President Jonathan wins the coming elections.

At a meeting they held at the Government House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the ex-militants threatened to unleash mayhem on the country and take back “Niger Delta oil” should the president lose the election. Hear them: “for every Goliath, God created a David. For every Pharaoh, there is Moses. We are going to war.

Every one of you should go and fortify yourself”.

Boyloaf condemned the attacks on President Jonathan in the north and emphasized that nobody has the monopoly of the means of vio-

HAT the Nigerian nation has depended only on earnings from crude oil export for the past four or five decades to sustain the business of governance is not in doubt. The Nigerian nation has earned over 80% of its revenue from which the Federal Government, the states, the local governments, the ministries departments and agencies (MDAS) obtain their statutory monthly allocations. But since July 2014, these various organisations have all complained of being underpaid in the usual monthly revenue allocation.

We have reached this unfortunate situation because of the dwindling revenues from the crude oil sales upon which the nation has depended over time.

One is baffled why Nigeria up to this time should be dependent on only one commodity which it has handled for over four decades. It is unfortunate that we have missed the opportunity to utilise the cheap earnings from petroleum resources to diversify the nation’s economy and bring up the development of other resources. These various levels of government to whom these earnings were allocated have failed to diversify the nation’s economy by embarking on largescale agricultural development, industrialisation, establishment of refineries to refine crude oil for home consumption and also to embark on export of refined oil to other nations.

We also missed the opportunity to utilise such cheap money to establish adequate generating power plants to assist in the development of the entire economy, as this would have boosted industrialisation, manufacturing and technological development.

We are experiencing the consequencesof overdependence on only one source of revenue, as we have failed to utilise the resources accruing from this to diversify the economy which would have resulted in earning revenues from numerous other sources. There are worries now over Nigeria’s diminishing earnings from crude oil export. The outlook for 2015 in respect of funding the future budgetary needs of governments is not only very gloomy but also poses a great deal of fear and pessimism for a number of reasons. As crude oil for export purposes is fast diminishing, the nation is facing prospects of a bleak future for its economic development.

The crude oil exploitation has been riddled with large-scale pilfering right from source and most of the stolen items also easily find their way into the world market thereby posing as a competitor to the legitimate supply from Nigeria, just as many nations such as Ghana, South Sudan and Mozambique among others, producing crude oil may further reduce the demand from Nigeria. Facts have even emerged that the U.S.A, the major importer of over 80% of the Nigerian crude oil has reduced its demand from Nigeria to zero level. All countries that are dependent on crude oil export as sources of revenue for their development are already disturbed by the falling demand for this mineral resource in the world market.

lence. For him, “keep grudges and sentiments apart. We are ready to match them bumper to bumper”.

From all indications, the main grouse of the militants is with the attacks on the convoy of President Jonathan when his campaign team visited Katsina and Bauchi states. They view the two incidents as a clear attempt to intimidate and frustrate their kinsman in his presidential ambition. Emotions are again high.

The nation has once more, been drawn nearer to the stark realities that await it as the elections approach. More than every other thing else, the threats have exposed the high stakes in the coming elections and issues that are likely to determine their direction and eventual outcome.

Matters are not helped by the fact of the emergence of the candidates of the two major political from the nations’ two dominant geopolitical divide-North and South. Not surprisingly, the threats by the ex-militants (though not entirely new) have drawn the ire of some influential persons in the country. This is more so when the meeting was held at a government house with some state and federal officials in attendance When therefore a former minister of Defense, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma called on the authorities to arrest the ex-militants for their unguarded statements, he was only drawing collective attention to the inherent dangers and potentially explosive nature of the coming elections. Danjuma who described the statements as reckless called on the authorities to arrest

the ex-militants But the ex-militants have fired back questioning Danjuma’s intention since he did not speak out when similar threats came from sections of the north. They are also piqued by the silence of the likes of Danjuma on the Boko Haram insurgency which had been dubbed political grievances masquerading in religious garb.

These views were shared by the secretary-general of the Ohaneze Ndigbo, Joe Nworgu when he urged Danjuma to concern himself more with the destructive activities of the Boko Haram sect rather than mere verbal threats. “They should prevail on all those behind the insurgency in the north to stop. Let them do that and not to call for the arrest of people who are merely issuing verbal threats”, the Ohaneze scribe reasoned.

Implicit in this is the widely held belief that Boko Haram is the north’s similitude of the Niger Delta militants. Its main objective is to ensure that power returns to that section of the country. If this is so, Danjuma is being put to test for not showing sufficient concerns for the actual war that has been going on in the northeast.

He is being put to test for his silence on the source of the sophisticated military hardware, arms and ammunitions freely available to Boko Haram and with which they have been waging war against the nation. He may also have to speak out on the silence of the northern elite on the insurgency and their body language that seems to give covert support to the group. If we are not sufficiently frightened by the raging war in the north-east, why the ruse over mere verbal threats, one may wish to ask?

That is however not to justify the threats by the ex-militants. We do not need to heat up the polity any more. But what all these point to is that ethnicity and religion are the key factors in determining the direction of the coming elections. The north and south-south are laying claims to Presidency as a matter of right. They seem to be saying that only one of their own can sufficiently protect their interest within this unity in diversity. They seem to be implying that sections benefit most when a person from their stock ascends that high office. They may be right. But that in itself is an admission of the pervasive systemic inequities that accentuate bitter competition for power.

The choice is ours either to address these nagging national issues or allow the bitter competition that arises out of the desire of sections to corner the apparatus of governance for their own good. That is the real issue which the arrest of thousands of ex-militants cannot resolve.

Dire consequences of declining oil revenue

By Olorunnimbe Farukanmi Therefore the amount of crude oil in demand from now and the following years would be drastically reduced particularly as alternative sources are being developed.

Just as other countries are discovering the existence of crude oil under their soils, the U.S.A has discovered an alternative source which is through the shale oil and gas revolution. The U.S.A. is working hard on this to reduce or totally eliminate its purchase of crude oil from foreign countries. Even when the shale oil development is still in its formative stages, the U.S.A. has shifted from the import of crude oil supplies from Nigeria in favour of crude oil supplies from other nations.

The loss of this important market has resulted in the decline in the crude oil production from 2.48 million barrels per day to less than 1.3 million barrels a day. The price of crude oil which peaked at $114 per barrel has dropped to about $60 per barrel.

The consequences for Nigeria are serious as the funds accruable to the Federation Account have consequently fallen.

Some members of the House of Representatives are already sensitising the nation on the inability of the Federal Government to release adequate statutory allocations to various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAS) since July 2014.

In the same manner, the Federal Government, the states and the local governments would henceforth face dwindling monthly revenue allocation, with serious consequences for capital projects and recurrent expenditure.

We are in this mess because of our total and over-dependence on the revenue accruing from crude oil sales and failure to diversify to develop other resources which are capable of contributing immensely to the development of our people.

The failure of our rulers to build functional refineries, in addition to the mal-functioning four, is most unfortunate.

Since we harbour the raw materials in the form of crude petroleum in large quantity, there is no reason why we should not build numerous functional refineries to meet our domestic needs and export the surplus to neighbouring countries. But it is unexplainable that while we export crude oil, we import refined oil for domestic use. Now with the dwindling harvest of revenues from crude oil, one wonders where Nigeria will find the financial strength to import and pay the exorbitant fuel subsidies to fuel importers.

Inspite of the huge sums of money paid as fuel subsidies, citizens in other petroleum exporting countries enjoy cheaper petrol prices compared with Nigeria. These countries possess adequate refineries to satisfy domestic needs and pro-

duce extra for export markets.

The loss of external markets for our crude petroleum resources will compound the problems of poverty ravaging this country. The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala has proffered the dependence on excess crude account to solve this problem, this can be a solution for one or two months, it cannot provide the lasting solutions for the serious problems of under-development ravaging this nation.

How do we solve the problem of inadequate resources to cater for the development of this country? We have failed to solve the problems of poverty, insecurity, unemployment, poor health and educational services, neglect of agriculture, poor rural and urban road networks, Boko Haram and other forms of insecurity ravaging this nation. Nigerian people should take note of the missed opportunities of the past by which the economy should have been diversified with the resources from crude oil. There is no doubt that the discovery of crude oil and its exploitation have ensured the relegation of agriculture.

Nigeria used to be the greatest producer of palm oil, but we are now trailing hopelessly behind Malaysia which took its seeds from Nigeria. During the First Republic, the three regional governments of Nigeria viz western, northern and eastern regions depended on adequate production of cocoa, groundnut and palm oil respectively, but today all these have been neglected. Nigeria is accused of profligacy in the use of the proceeds from crude oil, yet we import refined petroleum.

We have also failed to invest in petro-chemical products like fertilizers, grease and so on. Nigeria must buckle up to appraise its development strategy, through agricultural revolution, provision of sufficient electricity to support industrialisation, provide adequate employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed and provide adequate security for its people.

• Senator Farukanmi writews from Iju, Ondo State.

‘We are in this mess because of our total and over-dependence on the revenue accruing from crude oil sales and failure to diversify to develop other resources which are capable of contributing immensely to the development of our people’

NATIONSPORT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

25

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

ISSUES

JOBS

Life of itinerant auto mechanics

Long road to national carrier - P. 29

- P. 35

News Briefing

Electricity consumers bemoan scarcity of pre-paid meters

‘Mining needs N100b intervention fund’ PRESIDENT, Miners Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Shehu at the weekend said Nigeria needs N100 billion intervention fund to immediately start exploitation of mineral resources to rescue the economy from the adverse impacts of dwindling oil prices.

–Page 26

By Akinola Ajibade

E

‘Why NigComSat 1R must be sold’ THE Federal Government has said the sale of Nigeria’s satellite firm, NigComsat 1 R, has become inevitable because it has become a huge drainpipe on the government’s scarce resources.

–Page 26

Cocoa enters bear market THE world’s chocolate addiction is finally showing signs of easing, sending cocoa futures tumbling into a bear market.

–Page 27

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil Cocoa

-$117.4/barrel -$2,686.35/metric ton

Coffee

- ¢132.70/pound

Cotton

- ¢95.17pound

Gold

-$1,396.9/troy

Sugar

-$163/lb RATES

Inflation

-8.2%

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

-15.87%

Savings rate

-3%

91-day NTB

-15%

Time Deposit

-5.49%

MPR

-12%

Foreign Reserve

$39.6b

FOREX CFA

-0.2958

EUR

-206.9

£

-242.1

$

-156

¥

-1.9179

SDR

-238

RIYAL

-40.472

• From left: President, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede; n Acting Director-General, Securities Exchange Commission(SEC), Mounir Gwarzo; DG, NSE, Oscar Onyema; and Executive Commissioner, Legal Enforcement, SEC, Saudatu Bello, during the visit of NSE Council members to SEC in Abuja.

Firms to access N70b unclaimed dividends, says SEC U

NCLAIMED divi dends amounting to N70billion may be available for reinvestment by quoted firms, The Nation has learnt.

This would come into fruition if the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ratifies its new rules and regulations that would allow companies to retrieve unclaimed dividends and reinvest such funds.

This will represent a paradigm shift from its position where companies are not allowed access to unclaimed dividends’ proceeds until after 12 years.

A draft document on new rules and regulations on unclaimed dividends by the SEC obtained by The Nation, indicated that unclaimed dividends which hitherto used to be in the custody of Registrars until after they become statute-barred after 12 years, will now revert back to the paying company after 12 months.

However, the company is under obligation to make the unclaimed dividends available to the Registrars for payment whenever there is a request to that effect by any

• N5m penalty for defaulters

By Taofik Salako

shareholder.

The move confirmed an exclusive report by The Nation two weeks ago that SEC would review certain capital market policies, processes and rules.

Unclaimed dividends have grown steadily in recent years and have been at the centre of intense controversy among market stakeholders.

Initial attempt by SEC to establish a trust fund for the management of unclaimed dividends was vehemently opposed by shareholders, quoted firms and Registrars.

A 2012 third quarter report

by SEC showed that unclaimed dividends totaled N50.7 billion by the end of the quarter. They increased sharply from about N27.8 billion in 2008 to N41.3 billion in 2009, and hit N41.7 billion in 2010. In 2011 it hit N50.2 but slightly increased further to N50.7 billion as at September 2012. By the end

of 2012, SEC put unclaimed dividend at N60 billion.

Going by the new proposal, all unclaimed dividends in the custody of the Registrars shall be returned to the paying company 12 months after the date of approval of dividends at a general meeting, in the case of final dividends, or a board meeting, in the case of interim dividends.

Subsequently, the Registrar is expected to provide evidence of such remittance to SEC within 24 hours.

The rules indicated that “where dividends are returned to the company unclaimed, the company may invest the unclaimed dividend for its own benefit in a guaranteed income investment outside the company and no interest shall accrue on the dividends against the company.”

However, unclaimed dividend shall not be used by the company for its own business except in accordance with

provisions of Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).

Also, a company may retain a minimum of five per cent of the unclaimed dividends in cash or near-cash for the purpose of remittance to the Registrars upon request for payment.

According to the draft, all accrued interests from the failure of Registrars to remit the unclaimed dividends within the time limit prescribed in these Rules and Regulations, shall be remitted along with the unclaimed dividend to the paying company.

In this instance, the accrued interest shall be calculated at a rate not below a premium of five per cent above the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) treasury bills’ rate.

Failure to remit unclaimed dividends to the paying company by the Registrar as indicated shall attract a penalty of N5 million and an additional sum of N100, 000 for every day such contravention persists.

‘Nigeria’s growth down 5.5% as oil plunges’

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CONOMIC growth in Nigeria, Africa’s big gest crude producer, is projected to slow to 5.5 per cent this year after oil prices plunged, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said at the weekend.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is set to decelerate from an estimated 6.2 per cent last year, the NBS said in a report on its website. The economy is forecast to expand

By Simeon Ebulu

5.8 per cent next year and in 2017.

“The decline in crude oil prices is a downside to the economy in both the short and medium term. The crude oil price shocks, the resulting declining government expenditure and its multiplier effects are likely to impact businesses,” NBS said.

Oil prices have plunged more than 50 per cent since June, curb-

ing export revenue in the country, forcing the government to cut back on spending and prompting the central bank to devalue the naira as foreigncurrency reserves slumped.

The weaker currency will probably boost inflation to an average 8.8 per cent this year from 8.1 per cent last year, NBS said. It’s set to reach an average of 8.1 percent in 2016 and 7.5 per cent in 2017.

The naira has slumped 13

per cent against the dollar on the interbank market in the past three months, the most among 24 African countries tracked by Bloomberg.

Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala last month proposed cutting this year’s budget by eight per cent and reduced its benchmark oil price to $65 a barrel from last year’s $77.50 a barrel in the face of tumbling crude prices.

LECTRICITY consum ers have expressed dis appointment over the inability of the distribution companies (DISCOs) to provide them with pre-paid meters.

They lamented that they have been forced to live with pains associated with the arbitrariness that goes with ‘estimated billing’ system of the DISCOs. Some of the consumers complained that they have even paid for the metres but have not been given, wondering why it should be so, especially now that the sector is in the hands of entrepreneurs who, government said, are better managers of business.

A man who identified himself simply as Samuel said he cannot understand why the investors cannot supply metres to their customers.

“These so-called investors seem not to know what to do.

In my view, the first step to profitabilit would have been to provide customers the prepaid metres free of charge.

“Then they should monitor how often they vend because people may want to sabotage the system. It is when people pay for energy consumed that they will make money.“ Another customer in Egbeda, a Lagos suburb expressed frustration. “I am on estimated billing. I am forced to pay between N7,000 and N10,000 monthly.

I do not run a manufacturing outfit,” he said.

This is coming even after the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), had in October 22 last year, ordered DISCOs to provide metres to their customers within 45 days to reduce the problems of consumers.

The Nation check revealed that customers daily besiege offices of the DISCOs for pre-paid metres.

But a staff of IKEDC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the firm might roll out metres before April, adding that efforts are ongoing to give metres to customers soon. ‘’The metres may be free.

Nobody knows. But what it is certain is that the company would roll out metres soon.

The General Manager, Consumer Services, IKEDC, Ms Olubukola Ojurongbe, had in an earlier interview with The Nation, said the company was making efforts to solve all the metering problems facing it.

Ojurongbe said the DISCOs were not responsible for the scarcity of pre-paid metres in the country, promising that IKEDC was not folding its arms on the issue.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

26

BUSINESS NEWS ‘CBN’s new NOP policy hasty’

Why NigComSat 1R must be sold, by Minister

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HE Federal Govern ment has said the sale of Nigeria’s satellite firm, NigComsat 1 R, has become inevitable because it has become a huge drainpipe on government’s scarce resources.

Commmunication Technology Minister, Dr. Omobola Jonhson who spoke during the Fourth Industry ICT Stakeholders Forum by the Commmunication Technology Ministry in Lagos at the weekend, said the satellite firm would be sold to private investors for more efficient management.

According to her, the firm would be sold in a way government would be able to get good value from it. She said the management of the firm

• It’s a drainpipe

By Lucas Ajanaku

is currently working to increase its commercial value.

She said: “NigComSat 1R has increased its commercial value through the generation of revenue for government by leasing of 5KU transponders, C-Band, broadband sale and the leasing of Direct to Home (DTH) platform to private strategic partner.

“Ongoing projects are being designed that will increase revenues from this asset. The lease of KA transponders is also planned for Q1 2015.”

Dr. Johnson said the satellite firm made N3,654,955.04 in 2012 while it generated

N263,753,354.34 and N648, 866,688 in 2013 and 2014 respectively, showing a gradual improvement in performance.

The improved performance, however, does not justify the money it gulps from government’s purse.

She said: “NigComSat 1R takes a huge portion of our budget and I don’t think there is any minister that will not support its privatisation for the country to make more money.”

Responding to questions on continuity, the minister said as pioneer minster of ministry, she had, with other stakeholders, done a lot to improve the fortunes of the ICT sector to ensure its sectoral addition to the nation’s gross domestic

product is worth the while.

She said the sector has contributed above nine per cent, adding that when added to another two per cent it has enabled other sectors of the economy, the score card is good enough.

She added: “As the administration comes to an end, I will answer the question about continuity of the pragrammes for two major reasons. First, if look at what we did, I told you we had two major prioritiesConnect Nigeria and Connect Nigerians, these are priorities we engage with the industry before we started doing. There several other projects so, to me, the priorities that we have are not only for the ICT sector but for the country.”

T

HE Central Bank of Ni geria’s (CBN) policy to allow deposit money banks hold 0.5 per cent of their Net Open Trading Position (NOP) of Shareholders’ Fund, from the former 0.1 per cent level has come under criticism.

A Development Economist and social commentator, Odilim Enwegbara, argued that the policy would worsen Nigeria’s foreign exchange position because in his view, the policy was hastily undertaken to appease the JP Morgan because of the threat to place Nigeria’s foreign earnings position on negative watch.

Enweagbara, believes that JP Morgan handed down the threat to force Nigeria’s monetary authorities to flood the banks with so much dollar liquidity that it would be easy for foreign portfolio investors in Nigeria to go back home with their funds.

This JP Morgan threat becomes more ominous when viewed from the foreign prism that Nigeria might go to war after the February 2015 elections with the obvious consequence of capital flight with foreign reserves almost wiped out.

Enweagbara lamented that Nigeria had forfeited its financial sovereignty by falling for the JPMorgan threat stressing that “had we not allowed ourselves a victim of its financial neo-colonialism by naïvely joining its socalled JPMorgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Market (GBI-EM) watch list in 2012, which rather than

From Nduka Chiejina (Asst. Editor), Abuja

bringing us some tangible economic benefits has turned our economy into the current premature economic financialisation with such unheard-of arbitrage-driven speculations.”

Enweagbara recommended that Nigeria should withdraw form the JP Morgan Bond Index and instead introduce a Quantitative Easing to help address the fiscal challenges Nigeria is going through.

The solution, he said, is for Nigeria “to adopt our own version of Quantitative Easing: While we’ve lost billions of dollars of our scarce dollar reserve account because of the disjointed monetary policy of the CBN, it is not too late for us to pursue liquidity expansionary policy adopting our own version of Quantitative Easing (QE).”

“If not for anything else, QE should be used to pay off our N10.08 trillion domestic debts which are costing us the unheard-of N943billion to service in 2015 alone.

Adopting QE in our case should also mean our exit from the current dollar standard, which has been depriving the economy—particularly the real sector—the liquid needed to grow and diversify the economy without having to preoccupy ourselves with the value of the naira to the dollar, especially if all the protective and high tariff measures accompanied system liquidity increase” he said.

‘Reduced consent fee ‘ll stimulate investment’ • From left: Executive Director, Finance & Strategy, Sterling Bank Plc; Mr. Abubakar Suleiman; Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti and Chief Security Officer, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Igba Austin Iwar at the presentation of police truck and other security equipment by the bank to the state Police Command in Lagos....at the weekend.

‘Mining sector needs N100b intervention fund’

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RESIDENT, Miners As sociation of Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Shehu at the weekend said Nigeria needs N100 billion intervention fund to immediately start exploitation of mineral resources to rescue the economy from the adverse impacts of dwindling oil prices.

The fund, according to him, could be spread within a period of two years for the provision of infrastructure in mine sites to ameliorate the challenges of transportation in the sector.

Shehu explained that the miners are in dire need of means transporting their minerals from site to the industrial areas for processing.

Speaking with our Abuja correspondent on telephone, he said: “For instance, we can send a proposal for N100billion. And that money cannot be given at once, may be for two years.

That money can be set aside for the minerals sector. “First of all, the infrastructural challenges can be addressed.

“The mining site should have a dedicated railway line. Most of the industrial minerals are basically in the north, and the industries that need these minerals are concentrated in the south. And moving these minerals from

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

the mines to the industry is a serious challenge.

“The money can also be used to complete the generation of geological information data that government started over the years.”

The miners boss said it would be a walk over for the local miners to produce the required coal for the generation of 1,000megawatts (Mw) targeted by the Federal Government if the government tackled the transportation challenge.

Shehu said miners can meet the target if the infrastructure is available. He said: “One major challenge of coal-topower is the transportation of coal from the mines to the power plants. There is supposed to be a railway line to link the two. If that is available, we have more than

enough coal to produce the coal that Nigeria needs for power generation.”

He said he was part of the presidential retreat on solid minerals where he presented a proposal to President Goodluck Jonathan to encourage the production of industrial minerals so that the country could use it as raw materials in order to discourage their importation.

He lamented that there are industrial minerals scattered all over the country lamenting that “we are importing minerals like gypsum, barite and coal.”

The Presidency, according to him, admitted that his proposal was in line with its import substitution initiative, which also identified funding and machinery as major challenges in the sector.

On why Nigeria still im-

‘One major challenge of coal-topower is the transportation of coal from the mines to the power plants.

There is supposed to be a railway line to link the two. If that is available, we have more than enough coal to produce the coal that Nigeria needs for power generation’

• Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mohammed Musa Sada

port barite and coal, he said there is politics in the whole issue because the importers that own barite mines overseas would naturally prefer importing from their countries under the pretext that Nigeria’s is of poor quality.

He called on the government to lift the waiver that allows importation of barite into Nigeria, especially now that it needs to boost the economy.

Shehu said: “The truth is this: There is a politics in barite importation. Our barites are okay but those that process barite and supply to end users have their barite mines overseas . So they would rather prefer importing from their mines to buying from Nigeria.”

A

CHARTERED sur veyor and principal partner, Rogba Orimolade and Co, Mr. Rogba Orimolade, has dismissed as untrue, the notion that practitioners of property valuation in the country do not comply with international standard when valuing properties.

Although he agreed that some practitioners sometimes defaulted in this regard, he insists that such is not enough reason to generalise. To this end, and in realisation that the world is now a global village, he said the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), has taken steps to ensure that all the valuations being done in the country now has to follow international valuation standard.

“Most of us do valuations now using the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), model; that is where we get our methodology. So we now have a situation where even in terms of international financial reporting standard and so many other things which require valuation, you cannot just do any valuation report without using that methodology,” said Orimolade, who is also an executive member of the NIESV Lagos State chapter.

He said with a lot of focus on Nigeria, more international players are now investing in the real estate sector of the economy and as such they expect things to be done based on international standards.

This, he further explained, has made the NIESV to put in place

By Muyiwa Lucas

several programmes aimed at training its members to conform with international standards in the real estate business.

Orimolade also lauded the Lagos State government for the reduction of the consent fee payable on property documentation from 15 per cent to three per cent. According to him, the hitherto high charge on consent fee has been a major bottleneck in property titling process that has now been removed. He said that although it is not yet el dorado as other bottlenecks still existed in property documentation process, still, kudos should be given to the Lagos state government.

Going by this reduction, experts and stakeholders in the real estate sector submit that the market will be highly stimulated as more development will be witnessed across the sector. Orimolade agrees also.

He said the reduction in the consent fee will bring in more revenue for the government since there are lots of people that shy away from certain areas to invest in properties owing to the high cost of registration of the titles. “But now, you have a situation where people are encouraged to go into such areas, and government will benefit from it because more people will go and register their papers and properties. So that is more money for the government.

But it is also a plus to the investing public, because the previous rate was suffocating,” he added.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

27

BUSINESS NEWS

T

HE world’s chocolate addiction is finally showing signs of easing, sending cocoa futures tumbling into a bear market.

Slowing global economies mean that consumers are looking for ways to trim disposable spending, and that could leave chocolate off the menu, according to Jack Scoville, a vice president of Price Futures Group. Cocoa-bean processing, a gauge of demand, fell in Asia, Europe and North America in the fourth quarter, industry reports showed this month.

Cocoa futures are down about 21 percent since touching a three-year high in September after an outbreak of Ebola didn’t hamper shipments from West Africa, which

Cocoa enters bear market produces 70 percent of global supply. Three straight years of price gains are also encouraging farmers to increase output.

“Demand is actually slackening, and is not nearly as good as many people had expected,” Scoville said in a telephone interview from Chicago. “The high prices are doing their job and will probably bring better-than-expected production. Next year, we may even have a surplus, and Ebola has not been much of an issue. We have a changed situation.”

Cocoa for March delivery

•As chocolate addiction tempers dropped 1.1 percent to settle at $2,686 a metric ton on Jan. 29 on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.

The price is down 20 percent from its $3,371 settlement on Sept. 24, meeting the common definition of a bear market.

Futures surged 38 percent in the previous three years as Asian consumers led global demand growth, eroding inventories. The gains prompted chocolate makers including Hershey Co. to boost prices in 2014 to cover ingredient costs.

The high prices are starting to take a toll. Processing of the beans in Asia fell 17 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the second straight drop, the Singaporebased Cocoa Association of Asia said Jan. 23. Grinding in Europe fell to the lowest for the period since 2005.

“Macro-economic headwinds that have yet to subside” trimmed Hershey’s international sales last quarter, and will remain a challenge in 2015, Chief Executive Officer John

Bilbrey said on an earnings conference call Thursday.

In the year started Oct. 1, production may outstrip demand by 50,000 metric tons, according to Pully, Switzerland-based commodity trader Ecom Agroindustrial Ltd. “Chocolate demand has started to shrink and you have to blame that entirely on the higher prices,” Jonathan Parkman, co-head of agriculture at Marex Spectron Group in London, said by phone earlier this month. “We’re unlikely to see much of a recovery on demand unless prices come off significantly.”

The agricultural sector has recorded major achievements. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, seized on the outing of farmers to showcase the impact of the sector’s contributions to the economy, reports, ALVIN AFADAMA.

Farmers showcase products at fair

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AST week, about 23,000 farmers from across the country gathered to celebrate four years of the agricultural transformation turnaround in Nigeria.

The event, aptly tagged Agriculture Festival 2015 (AGRIFEST 2015), brought farmers from the North West, Southwest, Northcentral, Southsouth, Northeast, and Southeast. The famers had a confident bearing about them, for in the past three years 14.5 million of them have received 1.3 million MT of fertiliser and 174,000 MT of improved seed, producing in return an additional 21 million MT of food with a net value of N778 billion. Our local agriculture sector was alive again, resulting in food import decline from N1.1 trillion in 2009 to N634 billion in 2013.

Nigeria is also breaking new ground in wheat production. Driven by the release of two tropical wheat varieties, productivity has risen from less than one MT/ha to five-six MT/ha.

Wheat production has risen 300 per cent fold from 80,000MT in 2011 to 240,000MT in 2014. In the 2014/2015 dry season, the wheat growing season, 184MT of improved wheat seeds was given to farmers in 10 states of North West and North East to produce 18,000MT of wheat seed of the new varieties to expand the area under these new varieties to 150,000MT by 2015/2016.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, said the living standard of farmers have changed as they now get

better markets and higher prices from private companies as the products, among them sorghum, are processed into high energy foods, breakfast cereals and malt drinks. He said cotton farmers are equally benefitting, given the fact that they are experiencing a dramatic change in their fortunes as a result of government’s support with improved cotton seeds and the revival of about 22 cotton ginneries, thus reducing imports, and as well creating wealth for rural communities.

With over N900 billion ($5 billion) of new agribusiness investments in all parts of the food value chain, Nigeria will soon become self-sufficient in food production, and eventually becoming a net exporter of food, the Minister, said.

AGRIFEST 2015 revealed that Nigeria is firmly on its way to becoming a global powerhouse in agriculture.

Because of the natural resources that God has so richly endowed the country with, the new Nigerian agriculture sector has endless possibilities.

The Agricultural Transformation Agenda, he said, has demonstrated that a truly great future lies ahead for the country.

The success story that is Nigeria’s agriculture today is corroborated by independent sources. The 2013 wet season survey conducted by the National Agricultural Extension Research Liaison Service (NAERLS), revealed that fertilizer usage in the country is up nearly eight times, 108Kg/hectre in 2013 compared to13Kg/hectre in 2010. The National

•Adesina with a group of confectioners at the agricfest.

Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) at a recent stakeholders meeting also reported that the number of seed companies have risen from 11 in 2010 to 134 in 2014. Usage of improved seeds of rice, maize, sorghum, soybean, and cotton has also grown from a meagre 4,252MT/year in 2010 to 149,484MT/year in 2013. The NAERLS study also demonstrated that crop yields soared – on the wings of increased use of improved seeds and fertilizer. Rice yields doubled from 1.5MT/Ha in 2011 to 3MT/ha average during the wet season and 4MT/Ha during the dry season.

Maize yields also rose from 2MT/Ha to 3MT/Ha, and soybean increased from 0.7MT/Ha to 1.5MT/Ha. At no time has a teeming number of Nigerians been more interested in agriculture, whether at a commer-

cial or subsistence level. The Federal Government has embarked on an aggressive drive to re-direct the Nigerian economy, making agriculture a foreign exchange earner, as it was in the past.

Statistics of the impact of the agricultural-sector-turnaround on each of the individual crop and livestock value chains is evident in many sectors. Between 2012 and 2014, an additional seven million MT of rice paddy – five million MT of milled rice, was produced by six million rice farmers who received improved seeds and fertiliser. Rice paddy production in 2014 was 10.7 million MT of paddy, or seven million MT of milled rice, representing a 100 per cent increase over the production level recorded in 2011.

Nigeria is now at 85 per cent suffi-

ciency in rice production.

Akinwunmi said high quality Nigerian rice now competes favourably with imported ones. A new rice policy has also created incentives for erstwhile importers and new entrepreneurs to invest another $2.6billion in domestic rice production and milling. .

Also, a total of 3.5million jobs have been added to the agricultural sector in the last three years.

The Consumer Price Index report of NBS for the month of November revealed that for three consecutive months, food prices remained relatively flat. Overall inflation decreased from 8.1 per cent to 7.9 per cent in November, last year due to food prices. The bumper harvest from our Agricultural transformation created a buffer to hyper-inflation created by the fall in the value of the naira.

FirstBank driving cashless with ATMs

By Adebusola Adesunloye

• GMD FirstBank, Bisi Onasanya

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IRST Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, presently accounts for 38 per cent of bills payment services in the nation’s banking industry as at December 2014, the Head, Marketing and Corporate Communication, Folake AniMumuny, has said.

She said as at December 2014, the bills paid through the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) stood at about N928.48 million, while the value of airtime purchase

on all its ATMs was over N3.2 billion.

She explained that the bills payment option is one of the features of FirstBank’s ATMs, which also have other unique functional features which include cash transfer, air-time top-up, and cash deposit, among others.

“The bills payment option is the non-cash transaction feature on the ATM that makes it easier for customers to pay for bills, such as Cable TV subscription, post-paid phone bills, and pre- booked airline tickets.

These transactions can be executed through the Quickteller option on any of the bank’s ATMs.” The Transfer feature enables customers to transfer money from their accounts to both intra (within FirstBank) and interbank (other banks) accounts, thereby reducing the queues in the banking hall, save time as well as provide a more convenient option for customers,’ AniMumuny said, adding that in 2014 alone, N251 billion was transferred from one account to another using FirstBank ATM.

She said to reach out to more customers and in line with its strategy to drive ease of service in banking, FirstBank is presently leading in the industry as the bank with the highest number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) numbering over 2500 deployed across the country, making it the nation’s financial institution with the widest retail footprint.

The bank is also currently responsible for over 40 per cent of interbank transactions and 26 per cent of airtime vending. As active mobile network users in Nigeria are over 130 million and the need to recharge is on the increase, the bank’s ATMs also provide the platform for easy top-up, she stated.

To further enhance convenience, FirstBank’s ATMs also operate the Cash Deposit function which allows customers to deposit funds without customarily having to enter a banking hall for this transaction. This is a direct testament to its value proposition of putting customers first.

Folake Ani-Mumuney, said this distinct development was achieved as a result of the bank’s desire to reach

out to more people in the country and as part of living true to putting customers at the heart of our business.

“FirstBank is positioned to meet the needs of its customers and to reach out to the under banked and unbanked. Our mission is to make banking as convenient for our customers as is obtainable globally”, she said, adding that the Bank has, in particular, designed innovative and tailored-made financial services products to ease banking transactions, and as well aid the use of its ATMs nationwide for enhanced protection of customers’ funds.

She described as a major product, the FirstBank Verve Debit card, a Naira denominated domestic payment card accepted for payment throughout Nigeria on all electronic channels, including the ATMs. One of the outstanding and unique features of the product is that it is issued in 15 minutes at FirstBank branches. This distinctive feature stands the product out, as it saves time and is very easy to obtain. Also, the card, which is accepted nationwide, aside withdrawing of

cash, can be used to access value added services including bills payment, airtime recharge, flight and hotel booking among others.

She assured that the card is Chip & PIN secured for greater protection of customers’ funds, provides extra protection for web based transactions with “Safetoken”, is Naira denominated, and personalized, bearing the customer’s name. It is accepted wherever the Interswitch or Verve logo is displayed and can also be used to perform transactions via the Quickteller services menu on FirstBank ATMs. The bank also has a Naira denominated international Debit card issued in partnership with MasterCard Worldwide, a card which enables transactions all over the world wherever the MasterCard logo is displayed. The card is accepted worldwide at over 29.4 million merchant locations and can be used for cash withdrawals at over 1.8 million ATMs, in over 210 countries.

The card is also secured by Chip & PIN technology and is issued in 15 minutes at FirstBank branches, she said

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

28

BUSINESS AFRICA

AU seeks investors for infrastructure repairs

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FRICAN nations plan to target more private investment in key regional projects to help address a lack of infrastructure that is slowing growth and regional integration, a unit of the African Union (AU) said.

Priority projects under the Programme for Infrastructure Development, which began in 2012, need $68 billion by 2020 and an additional $300 billion for those planned to 2040.

The initiative, known as PIDA, has assisted in developing 16 priority trans-national projects so that they are now “bankable,” New Partnership for Africa’s Development Chief Executive Officer Ibrahim Mayaki said in an interview in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

“Fundamentally we need to attract the private sector,” said Mayaki, a former prime minister of Niger. “They were not interested in Africa 10 years ago, but even if the risk is a bit higher the returns can be much higher than what they’re getting.”

The investment drive seeks to address deficiencies that leave 62 percent of Africans without access to electricity, less than 10 percent able to use the Internet and only a quarter of the road network paved. The result is “expensive infrastructure services, constrained industrial productivity, limited participation in global trade and holding back the competitiveness of production,” according to Nepad, a technical body of the AU leading efforts to improve transport, power and communications.

The union will be encouraged to focus on infrastructure and PIDA during Zimbabwe’s one-year chairmanship that began Friday, President Robert Mugabe said in an acceptance speech. “We need to continue and perhaps redouble our current collective efforts in this sector,” he said in Addis Ababa at the AU. “The road and power projects that we’re developing are a positive step in our quest to improve the African infrastructure.”

The African Development Bank will conduct feasibility studies for the 16 projects African leaders agreed in June.

The Abidjan-based lender plans to attract an initial $3 billion in equity capital for the programme using a fund known as Africa50. Well-prepared African infrastructure deals may be attractive to investors including U.S. pension’s funds looking for high returns, Mayaki said.

The top five projects outlined by Nepad are the Ruzizi III hydropower plant between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda; expansion of the port in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; construction of the Serenje to Nakonde road in Zambia; a gas pipeline from Nigeria to Algeria; and an upgrade of the railway from Senegal’s capital, Dakar, to Bamako, the capital of Mali.

During its annual summit at its headquarters in Ethiopia last week, the African Union signed an accord with China for it to support efforts to improve transport links and industry as part of the organisation’s 50-year strategy to transform Africa by 2063.

“This is a very grand and ambitious project but it’s also a feasible project,” Zhang Ming, China’s vice foreign

minister, said at the Jan. 27 signing in Addis Ababa.

The deal to improve rail, roads and aviation will enable China to access the resources it needs from Africa over the next decades, said Christie Viljoen, senior economist at NKC Independent Economists in Paarl, South Africa.

“Any efforts to stimulate regional integration is surely aimed at enabling landlocked countries to export their commodities more easily,” she said in an e-mailed response to questions on Wednesday.

State-funded Chinese rail projects in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti are current examples of the type of work it’s pledged to do with the AU, Zhang said. There are opportunities for all African nations and the continent, and other “international partners” can contribute, he said.

A reliable indicator of China’s future commitment to Africa’s infrastructure development will come at next year’s meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, said Deborah Brautigam, the Director of the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University.

“For quite some time the Chinese banks have been interested in financing cross-regional infrastructure projects, but these are difficult to coordinate,” she said in an e-mailed response to questions last week. “The AU can’t take out loans obviously, but it can provide a venue for discussions of interested stakeholders, who might be able to work out a cross-regional project and apply for funds.”

Close Up launches game

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LOSE Up, a premium brand from the staple of Unilever, has launched a new campaign, Cupid Games with the aim of deepening relationship among the youth demography.

The Cupid Game, which signed on A-list musical stars Yemi Alade and Davido as campaign ambassadors for the game is expected to challenge young people to express themselves to loved ones without feeling timid.

During the launch, Davido and Yemi Alade demonstrated how the game can be played before a participatory observation by The Nation. Participants are made to visit to play the game by visiting cupidgames.closeup.com.ng.

Top 10 creative participants will be rewarded with exciting prizes like Beats by Dre headphones and

get invitation to cupid games grand event where they get to hang out with Davido and Yemi Alade. The grand prize winner will go home with a brand new MV Agusta Brutale 800cc power bike, second and third will get a pair of personalised Apple Mac Books and Ipads respectively.

The Brand Building Director, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mr David Okeme, during the launch stated that Cupid game is an engagement platform created by Closeup for young adult to connect and show their loved ones how much they care, especially at valentine.

Also, the Category Manager Oral Care, Oiza Gyang, added that Closeup Cupids Dare Game is a conversation starter meant to get people closer while demonstrating the extent they would go for love.

Airtel turns 14 students, mechanic, others into millionaires

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IRTEL Nigeria has turned 14 Nigerians into millionaires’ courtesy its Airtel Red Hot promo and the telecom provider, saying more millionaires are going to emerge in the 60 days in the 60 millionaires’ annual promo which has the latest model Range Rover Sport as the grand prize.

The telecom provider said the Red Hot Promo is a loyalty and reward promotions created to appreciate its customers and empower them financially to fulfill their dreams and reach their goals.

The latest set of individual one million naira winners include Umar Mustaph, a student in Minna; Oludare Nifemi, a student based in Lagos; Henry Ezeh, a student in Anambra, Onyinyechi Nwodu, a student based in Asaba; Mutairu Kumolu, a Lagos-based mechanic; Saidu Ibrahim, a Benin-based butcher; Uduak Umoren, a trader who resides in Uyo and Bassey Eyam, a Dry Cleaner based in Lagos.

Roland Kolma, an Engineer in Port Harcourt; Musa Afeikhobe, a politician; Adeola Zakari, an Ilorin-based business woman as well as Tunde Genty, Tokosi Dada, and Ibrahim Fwangyil, all civil servants complete the list of fourteen winners.

So far, the draws have produced 39 millionaires across the country and another batch of 39 Nigerians have also won the iPad Air while 250 persons have won smartphones and a total of 195,000 have been rewarded with airtime.

In a show of appreciation, the winners praised the Telco’s consistent effort at fulfilling its promise to customers and its unfailing dedication towards empowering and rewarding their patronage.

Congratulating the winners, Chief Commercial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Maurice Newa explained the objective behind the promo which is to touchand enrich the lives of customers in appreciation of their constant support for the network.

‘We did not compel govt to impose tariff on imported books’

T

• From left: General Secretary, Onitsha Main Market Traders Association, Chief Nwabueze Egwuatu; Zonal Head, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Enugu, Mr. Chijioke Mbagwu; Chairman, Traders Association, Chief Innocent Agudiegwu; Leader, Women Wing of the association, Mrs. Grace Okonkwo and Zonal Head, Awka of the bank, Mr. Chike Okeke, at the launch of FCMB’s Personal Business Account product at Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State.

Mobofree.com to partner Complete Sports

M

OBOFREE.COM, a social marketplace in Nigeria and Africa, has taken a bold stepto partner Complete Sports Newspaper, a reputable sports newspaper across the nation.

The deal is the first of its kind by any social marketplace across Africa, and entails Mobofree becoming the exclusive classifieds partner for Complete Sports.

“This partnership is part of our strategic process of continuous improvement and value offering on our social marketplace, to our esteemed members and advertisers, who believe in us. Becoming Complete Sports, one of the most reputable, widely read and circulated newspapers in Nigeria, exclusive classifieds partner, continues to strengthen our leadership position and our commitment to keep investing on our Nigerian platform and members. We know that many

Nigerians love sports and specifically Complete Sports readers so we want to make sure they can trade their sports stuff, a category in which we lead the market.”, says Mobofree’s chairman, Cristobal Alonso.

“From today, readers will find sport equipment classifieds on Complete Sports online home page (www.completesports.com ) and also on their physical newspaper.

Mobofree has more than 80,000 items on their hobby, leisure and sports category,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mobofree.com has also integrated Complete Sports content on their home page where members can read the latest sports news coverage, commentary, photo news and other sports-related events and happenings around the globe.

The Group Managing Director of Complete Communications Ltd, Alhaji Mumini Alao, described the

partnership as good trend for the paper which is over 30 years old in the newspaper business in Nigeria.

“As the leading sports newspaper in Nigeria for over 30 years, Complete Sports needs to take cognisance of trends,” he said.

HE Managing Director, Academy Press Plc, Mr Gbenga Ladipo, has said the firm has not compelled the Federal Government to impose tariff on imported books as being erroneously peddled around by some publishing industry.

Speaking at the Customer’s Forum, held at the company’s premises, Ilupeju Lagos, Ladipo said, both the printers and the publishers are discussing with the government on way forwards.

“I want to use this opportunity to assure our publishers that Academy Press as a printer did not compel the government to impose tariff on imported books as being erroneously believed by some sections of the publishing industry. What the publishers have asked for is the elimination of tariffs on imported materials so we can be at par with the zero duty status of imported books to allow for level playing and competitive field for the local printers as enjoyed by their foreign counterparts. The two sectors have come together and we are discussing with the government on this premises,” he said.

He said the major problem facing

By Toba Agboola

the industry is getting the raw materials, adding that the firm is seriously concerned about challenges and difficulties that are facing the industry.

His words: “For us at Academy Press, we are concerned about the challenges and difficulties that are being experienced by partners and print buyers alike in the industry which are creating economic, financial and social instability for us and tend to threaten the survival of the business of members of this country.

“The most problematic of our inputs are raw materials. All the material ingredients that we require to operate has for ever been faced with one challenge or the other. ‘’Key material such as paper completely depends on importation. So is ink, plates, chemicals, spare and so on.

In the era of huge naira devaluation, this has become big challenge on our cost of production and invariably the cost of our customers”.

Ladipo said the problem of equipment and maintenance is also similar to this since it is equally import dependent, adding that skilled labour , especially technical, managerial are also challenging to the industry.

26,000 Katsina civil servants benefit from Glo free lines

O

VER 26,000 civil servants in Katsina State will receive free SIM cards under the Globacom National Free Access Programme designed to improve the way government workers live, play and interact.

Receiving the package on behalf of the workers, Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema represented by the State Head of Service, Alhaji Muhammad Lawal Aliyu, commended Globacom for the gesture and promised that the facilities would be utilised to

improve government business and promote cordiality among government workers.

He praised Globacom for preparing a directory of all government functionaries from the governor and key officers to the least worker at both the state and local government levels, observing that this would engender friendlier business environment in the state.

Earlier, Globacom’s Head of Public Sector, Babatunde Amunikoro, who said the project

would facilitate ease of communications among civil servants in the state, thanked the state government for partnering with Globacom to connect workers through the cost effective scheme.

He said: “The package will enhance security measures across the length and breadth of the state and significantly increase efficiency in the state civil service,” adding that the package is aimed to improve the way civil servants interact.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

29

ISSUES There is growing agitation for the establishment of a national carrier.

Those in the forefront of the agitation believe it will reverse the trend in favour of the nation’s aviation market, as against the present dominance of foreign carriers, KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR, reports.

Long road to national carrier

• An aircraft of liquidated former national carrier : Nigeria Airways Limited.

T

HERE are more questions than answers over Federal Government's desire to float a national carrier. Already, experts in the aviation sector are sharply divided over what modalities to adopt by government to bring the project to fruition. Proponents of the national carrier project argue that it is capable of stimulating the growth of air transportation in Nigeria.

To them, failure to deliver a national carrier is evidence that Nigeria has not taken its position as a regional leader in Africa as far as air transportation is concerned. They argue that a national carrier is important to drive the development of Nigerian airports into regional hubs for West and Central Africa.

But those opposed to the project argue that the long search for a national carrier could be elusive if government is involved in bringing it to fruition.

Such divergent positions are coming on the heels of Federal Government's recent restatement of its determination to establish a national carrier. The Nation learnt that discussions are ongoing with many foreign carriers to assist the country in delivering a national carrier that would have international partnership. Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka said that government will only play a facilitating role in realising the project.

Chidoka said government is poised to deliver the project in the second quarter of this year if all goes as planned.

He said: "Our goals are clear, we want a national carrier for Nigeria that will be private sector driven. We want government to play a facilitating role and it will be professionally run. We can use that airline to express our desires for lower fares as many countries are using theirs to do and improve connectivity across our key markets."

The Minister said the decision to pursue the establishment of a national carrier stemmed from government's desire to reestablish the aviation industry as a source of manpower development. The national carrier project, he stated, would ensure aviation contributes significantly to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and to develop Lagos or Abuja as a regional hub. The Ministry, it was learnt, has carried out studies and has gone through presentations and proposals.

Government, it was learnt, has sent officials of the Ministry to the headquarters of some airlines to understudy their establishment and operations. The airlines include, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways and some Middle East carriers. It was also gathered that government would seek for technical partnership with international carriers. Government is also said to have engaged reputable firms to assist in getting reputable partners to deliver the

•An Arik aircraft

• An Aero aircraft

project.

For the Minister and others pushing for the establishment of a national carrier, the thinking is that without a national carrier, major airports in Nigeria can never develop into regional hubs despite the ever-

increasing number of Nigerian air travelers.

Also, the Ministry, it was learnt, realised that the only way to curtail the inroad being made by foreign airlines in the country through multi-designation of entry points, is to establish a national carrier that can

‘

Our goals are clear, we want a national carrier for Nigeria that will be private sector driven. We want government to play a facilitating role and it will be professionally run. We can use that airline to express our desires for lower fares as many countries are using theirs to do and improve connectivity across our key markets

’

easily code-share with foreign airlines and also negotiate for new commercial agreements between Nigeria and these international carriers. This position has become apparent in view of the fact that Nigeria has decided to adopt slot allocation instead of Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA).

The Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, said it would be fascinating for Nigeria to have a national carrier to develop its economy and assume regional leadership in air transportation in Africa.

He recalled that Nigeria Airways used to be one of the best in Africa, adding that "we are ready to help, we are ready to • Continued on page 30

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

30

ISSUES

Long road to national carrier

‘

‘We have to make sure that Africans get the benefit of the fruit of African development. For that reason, I think we should coorporate and make sure that the jobs remain in Africa.

Whether it is in Ethiopia or Nigeria, we can always find an amicable solution, but it has to remain in the continent’

• Continued from page 29

partner and hopefully, the aviation policy would also be revised to support this kind of African partnership between African brothers and sisters." He said although, Nigerians are getting the service from everywhere, the nation needs a national carrier for strategic reasons.

Gebremariam said because a national carrier is home grown, it serves the interest of the people at all times. He however, said the kind of national carrier Nigeria needs depends on the model she decides to adopt since there different models.

"In terms of corporation and partnership, I would say it has to be with an African carrier because we have similarity of objective, similarity of purpose and similarity of direction. Globalization is coming to Africa in a big way, so whether we like it or not, we have to join forces," he said.

He also said that having a national carrier would create employment opportunities "We should have our own home grown carriers, which will employ Africans," he said.

He said a national carrier will employ thousands of Nigerians in maintenance, catering, cargo, in airport, in academy and so on. "So, we have to make sure that Africans get the benefit of the fruit of African development. For that reason, I think we should coorporate and make sure that the jobs remain in Africa. Whether it is in Ethiopia or Nigeria, we can always find an amicable solution, but it has to remain in the continent," he insisted.

The former Chairman of AON, Dr. Steve Mahonwu, said plans by government to reestablish a national carrier would create jobs. His words: "Whatever method the government wants to formulate to bring about the reestablishment of a national carrier for the country, we should give it the support. We should allow national interest to take overriding position.

Government says it is going to involve private investors.

"It is going to get other shareholders to participate. There are still several airlines that are national carriers today; for instance, South African Airways is a national carrier and it is today one of the best in Africa, but in Nigeria, we don't have a national carrier." He insisted that until the country evolves a national carrier, the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos would not become a hub.

An airline operator, who pleaded anonymity, said government should adopt the privatisation model used in countries like Britain to deliver a national carrier for Nigeria. He said: "Establishing a national carrier will among other things create jobs for qualified Nigerians and enhance technological advancement of the country in the aeronautical industry. Making MMIA a hub will only be possible with a national carrier. The Nigerian market has been widely opened to these foreign airlines and the government can take a cue from national carriers like South African Airways, Air Namibia, Air Royal Maroc Egypt Air, Air Tanzania and Ethiopian Airlines that are solely owned by their respective governments and they are posting profits."

The Managing Director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Dunoma Saleh also pointed out that the Lagos and Abuja airports may not emerge hubs unless the government raises a national carrier. Saleh said having such a hub would be difficult without a strong carrier that will drive traffic as transit gateways for passengers. He said when there a national carrier the agency would improve on its yearly revenue generation.

Saleh said: "Becoming a hub is a tall order, which can only be achieved through a national carrier, which we don't have here.

Development will be very difficult for us without a national carrier."

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Medview Airlines, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, said Nigeria needs a national carrier for

•Chidoka

•Bankole

’

• Meggison

• Gebremariam

reasons other than positioning its airports as hubs. Bankole said: "Nigeria Airways was the national carrier many years ago.

But, for some reasons the government liquidated the airline. Today, Nigeria is losing out in the global aviation arena.

When there was a national carrier, the airline covered not only the country, but also the West African Sub-region. The shame that the nation is having today would not have been there if it had a national carrier.

Imagine a country of 170 million people without a national airline. It is a shame."

On his part, an aviation analyst, Chris Aligbe, described the dominance of foreign airlines and its attendant loss to the economy as "incalculable". He pointed out that what the country is losing to the dominance of foreign routes by international airlines is huge because Nigeria does not have a national carrier.

However, some people are not swayed by such arguments, insisting, for instance, that government has no business in setting up a national carrier. Rather, government should encourage the designated flag carriers to enable them compete with foreign carriers. Although, government made attempts to establish a national carrier in the past, the move ran into problems following alleged attempts to favour a certain domestic carrier. Many industry groups including the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) kicked against the move at the time because, according to the group, the plan by government to designate a certain domestic operator as national carrier was lopsided.

The AON speaking through its executive chairman, Captain Nogie Meggison said: "I have told my members that we need to look at the books and give serious consideration to this issue. Generally, we should be

moving forward and not moving backward.

The concept of national carrier is archaic.

What is being adopted globally is the flag carrier model. The airline industry has gone far ahead of archaic models. The era of national carrier is long over. Even, a country as vast as Brazil now has many flag carriers.

"Even in the United Kingdom (UK), it is the concept of flag carriers that the country is pursuing. The concept many countries are pursuing now is flag carrier. This has happened in Brazil which now has seven flag carriers after the experience of Varig Air. In the UK, they have moved from national carrier to the concept of flag carrier with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways. So, the concept of national carrier is outdated."

Captain Meggison said Nigeria should look in the direction of what other nations have done to designate domestic airlines as flag carriers. According to him, aviation business has gone digital, it is no more analogue, so, there is no need to go back to outdated models.

He however, said airline operators are consolidating and talking to the government on how to achieve what is best for the aviation industry. "We are convinced that government has good plans to set up a national carrier, I am sure the promoters of the carrier would have done their home work so that by the time the whole thing is worked out, the picture will become clear, and it is going to be a win-win situation for everybody," he stated.

International aviation expert and former Secretary General of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Nick Fadugba, said ideally, in 2003 government should have privatised the loss-making national carrier, Nigeria Airways, rather than liquidate it.

‘

When there was a national carrier, the airline covered not only the country, but also the West African Sub-region. The shame that the nation is having today would not have been there if it had a national carrier. Imagine a country of 170 million people without a national airline.

It is a shame

’

He said the Government of Kenya followed this strategy and Kenya Airways is now one of the leading airlines in Africa. "Running a successful airline is a very difficult job," he said.

Indeed, this is one of the hurdles before the plan to establish a national carrier. The major reason why government has so far failed to establish a national carrier is because it failed to take easy way out by building a national or flag carrier with the most promising Nigerian airline, Arik; rather government in its last attempt chose Aero, which neither has the required fleet nor the routes, with only a local experience.

The attempt failed and industry insiders say that another attempt that excludes utilizing the existing major carrier that already has international routes experience may also fail.

Speaking in an interview, Group Chief Executive Officer of Arik Air, Dr. Michael Arumemi -Ikhide said Arik Air is not bothered over plans by government to set up a national carrier. He said: "We are aware of the plan to establish a national carrier.

Arik Air is the only indigenous airline carrying out national service on the long haul market. We connect all airports in Nigeria from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to West and Central Africa." He added that the airline is established for Nigeria for the aspirations of Nigerians in the air transport sector.

Arumemi -Ikhide said that although, there has been some discussions about the national carrier, Arik is not troubled because at the end of the day the company still has a huge market comprising 170 million Nigerians, but the market penetration is limited. He said that as the aviation sector develops, and Nigerians have more opportunities to travel it will help the socio economic and political integration of the nation and also stimulate businesses and foreign direct investment.

"We are all for anything that will improve the lives of our people and we have a role and a part to play in that," he stated.

For the President of Sabre Travel Network, Mr Gbenga Olowo, rather than dissipate energy establishing a national carrier, Nigeria should designate three airlines as national carriers with each airline having 50 aircraft in its fleet. This, he said, is the only way Nigerian carriers could compete with the over 27 foreign airlines that operate in the country. Olowo said if domestic airlines must compete with foreign carriers, they need to forge consolidation by pooling resources to enhance their capacity.

The Director, Zenith Travels, Mr. Olumide Ohunayo, agrees with him. While kicking against the re-establishment of a national carrier, he said the designation of private airlines as flag carriers is the solution to the problem. He expressed support for flag carriers, which he said should develop from regulatory consolidated process. He argued that airlines are the weakest link in the transformation agenda, saying that a national carrier with accompanying exclusivity and protection would not resolve the present malaise in the sector.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

31

MONEYLINK

AfDB strengthens anti-money laundering scheme

A

FRICAN Development Bank (AfDB’s) Vice-President Aly Abou-Sabaa has said addressing issues of governance, fighting corruption and promoting greater transparency and accountability across both public and private sectors is key to unlocking the full African potential of the continent and ensuring the sustainability of its development.

In a statement, the bank chief said Africa’s abundance of natural resources in forestry, agriculture, minerals, oil and gas, offer a major opportunity to close the development gap.

He said a recent research by the bank shows that countries which implemented governance reforms

P

Stories by Collins Nweze

were performing better than nonreforming countries. According to the African Development Effectiveness Review on Governance, published in 2012, reformers benefitted from an additional two percentage points of growth in comparison to non-reformers between the decades 1990-2000 and 2000 to 2008.

However, while some progress has been achieved towards promoting good governance, there remains a lot of work to be done.

“Progress has been uneven and insufficient,” Abou-Sabaa said.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Mauritanian Presi-

AFRINVEST W. A. EQUITY FUND ARM AGGRESSIVE GROWTH BGL NUBIAN FUND BGL SAPPHIRE FUND CANARY GROWTH FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CORAL INCOME FUND FBN FIXED INCOME FUND FBN HERITAGE FUND FBN MONEY MARKET FUND FIDELITY NIG FUND • UBA BALANCED FUND • UBA BOND FUND • UBA EQUITY FUND • UBA MONEY MARKET FUND

course of your professional career; offering and or accepting gratification or bribe,” she said.

Osibogun said the induction remains a symbolic reminder of the core mandate of the Institute which is to admit student members who have passed the prescribed examinations and fulfilled all other con-

O/PRICE 1.41 27.09 6.28 2.90 0.87 0.70 3.61 2.95 2.78 301.51 39.90 37.00 15.35

HE Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) is working on attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country through the key sectors of the economy like agriculture, healthcare, and construction, among others.

The group wants to achieve this by improving bilateral trade and relations between Nigerian business interests and companies based in the United States of America (USA) in these key sectors of the economy.

T

126.59 34,541.45 9.17 1.12 1.19 0.63 1,737.59 1,104.62 112.91 121.16 1.67 1.1912 1.2889 0.7288 1.1220

126.46 34,541.45 9.08 1.12 1.19 1.62 1,737.59 1,103.85 112.30 120.30 1.62 1.1850 1.2889 0.7178 1.1220

C/PRICE 1.55 29.64 6.82 3.00 0.90 0.72 3.70 3.00 2.82 305.23 40.25 37.20 15.35

IKEJAHOTEL 3.20 FTFRNA 2.81 SCOA 4.67 DIAMONDBNK 3.76 AIICO 0.84 TRANSEXPR 1.05 MAYBAKER 1.51 WEMABANK 0.97 NAHCO 5.00 WAPIC 0.53 ABCTRANS 0.53 STERLNBANK 2.40 7UP 161.00

C/PRICE 3.04 2.67 4.44 3.58 0.80 1.00 1.44 0.93 4.80 0.51 2.51 2.35 156.00

As part of activities lined up for the 2015 edition of its biennial US Trade Mission, NACC will also for the first time organise an Award/ Gala Night in Atlanta, USA. Speaking at a press conference announcing the 2015 trade mission, the National President of the NACC, Olabintan Famutimi, said that aside providing members with opportunities of connecting with potential American partners, this year’s trade mission will also target Nigerians resident in the USA, with a view to getting them to in-

number is the highest in the history of the Institute and it comprises of the following; 162 for Associateship, nine for Chartered MBA, four for Treasurers’ Dealership Certificate, 795 for Micro-finance Certification Programme, and, 23 for Certificate in Banking,” she said.

CHANGE 9.93 9.41 8.60 3.45 3.45 2.86 2.49 1.69 1.44 1.23 0.88 0.54 0.26

CHANGE -5.00 -4.98 -4.93 -4.79 -4.76 -4.76 -4.64 -4.12 -4.00 -3.77 -3.77 -3.33 -3.11

vest in Nigeria.

“What we have found out is that there are lots of Nigerians in Diaspora that have thriving businesses in the USA. A lot of them want to set up businesses in Nigeria, but they don’t know how to go about it, probably because of the negative publicity about our country. So anywhere we identify as having a high concentration of Nigerians who are now American nationals, we intend to educate and provide them with the necessary information they need to invest here,” he said.

Transaction Dates 13/01/2015 3/12/2014 1/12/2014 ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Inflation: December

F

IRST Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings PLC and Nigeria’s most valuable bank brand today unveils FBNBank DR Congo, formerly registered as Banque Internationale de Credit (BIC).

In 2011, FirstBank acquired 75 per cent equity interest in BIC and immediately reinforced it as one of the strongest banking institutions in the DRC. Following the recent approval

by Central Bank of Congo (BCC), the Banque Internationale de Credit has now become FBNBank DR Congo, a subsidiary of First Bank of Nigeria Limited.

FBNBank DR Congo is strategically positioned to foster greater collaboration and provide better service for the country’s public and private sector clients, and the general public at large.

The launch further consolidates FirstBank’s position as the largest corporate and retail banking financial institution in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) with presence in Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Senegal as well as presence in the UK and representatives offices in Johannesburg, Paris, Abu Dhabi and Beijing, China. The expansion represents FirstBank’s strategic objective to maintain significant market share, expand its pan-African footprint and diversify earnings while delivering value to shareholders.

With over 35 branches in DRC, FBNBank DR Congo leverages FBN’s international network, business expertise, which is part of the diversified synergies of the FBN Group to offer innovative, convenient and secure banking services to its customers and better seize the emerging opportunities of the market.

Amount Offered in ($) 500m 400m 350m

Amount Sold in ($) 499.93m 399.97m 349.96m

CBN EXCHANGE RATES January 14, 2015

8%

Monetary Policy Rate

LOSERS AS AT 29-01-15

O/PRICE

ditions set by the Governing Council into Associateship (ACIB); admit students into the Associateship of the Institute among others.

She said this year’s induction sees a record high number of 993 student members who have all successfully completed the qualifying examinations of the Institute. “This

NACC targets FDI in key sectors of economy

GAINERS AS AT 29-01-15

SYMBOL

to strengthen its support for African countries in these areas.

The AfDB has recently set up the African Natural Resources Centre.

The aim is to provide dedicated advice, technical assistance and advocacy to African countries to strengthen the institutions managing natural resources, to step up civil society capacity, and increase advocacy efforts in international fora.

According to a study prepared jointly by the bank and Global Financial Integrity in 2013, between 2000 to 2009, the continent lost some $30.4 billion per annum, an amount mirroring what the continent receives in aid and foreign direct investment.

‘Bankers need integrity, best practices’

RESIDENT, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Mrs. ‘Debola Osibogun has advised bankers on the need to embrace integrity and best practices in the course of their duties.

Speaking at the CIBN Graduates Induction and Prize Awards Day held in Lagos, she said bankers would always abide by the CIBN code that condemns gratification and bribery among other unwholesome practices in banking. “I wish to remind you of some of the things contained in the Code of Conduct in the Nigerian Banking Industry recently approved by the Bankers Committee.

You must endeavour to avoid these if only to ensure that you become the heroes and heroines of your chosen profession. You must avoid engaging in any ventures of which there are clear issues of conflict of interest; abusing the trust reposed in you or your office; misusing official information in the

SYMBOL CUTIX PZ DANGSUGAR DANGFLOUR CONTINSURE COSTAIN REDSTAREX MANSARD TRANSCORP SEPLAT CADBURY UACN OANDO

dent Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz called for increased cooperation between African countries as well as a multidimensional approach and joint action between government departments, civil society and the private sector in order to effectively fight mismanagement and lack of transparency.

The lender, he said, is playing a key role in that regard. Its strategy for 2013 to 2022 is articulated around economic transformation, with governance and accountability as a key priority. On top of its Governance Action Plan launched in 2014, the AfDB is currently updating its anti-money laundering and terrorist financing strategy to incorporate illicit financial flows

FirstBank expands to DR Congo

Currency

Buying (N)

Selling (N)

167

168

13.0%

Foreign Reserves

$35b

US Dollar

Oil Price (Bonny Light/b)

$45

Pounds Sterling

261.9395

263.508

Euro

206.2617

207.4968

171.546

172.5732

Yen

1.3838

1.3921

CFA

0.2944

0.3144

242.3484

243.7996

Yuan/Renminbi

27.1505

27.314

Money Supply (M2)

N16.42 trillion.

Credit to private Sector (CPS)

N17.2 trillion

Primary Lending Rate (PLR)

Swiss Franc

16.5%

NIGERIAN INTER-BANK OFFERED RATES (NIBOR)

WAUA Tenor

13-01-15 Rate (%) Rate (%) 14-01-15

Overnight (O/N)

10.54

11.17

Riyal

44.4906

44.757

1M

11.94

12.18

SDR

243.2856

244.7424

3M

13.08

13.33

6M

14.03

14.17

GOVT. SECURITIES YIELD – SECONDARY MARKET

Tenor

FOREX RATES

R-DAS ($/N)

165.29

165.29

Interbank ($/N)

162.75

162.75

Parallel ($/N)

185.50

185.50

0

Jan. 13, 2015

Rates

T-bills - 91

13.65

T-bills - 182

13.88

T-bills - 364

13.65

Bond - 3yrs

13.81

Bond - 5yrs

13.85

Bond - 7yrs

13.83

32

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 30-01-15

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 30-01-15

33

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

EQUITIES

Nigerian equities lose N3.4tr in January I

NVESTORS in Nigerian equities lost about N3.4 trillion in Janu ary, indicating average monthon-month loss of 14.70 per cent.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at the weekend at N9.847 trillion as against its opening value of N11.477 trillion for the month. This represented a loss of N3.38 trillion.

The benchmark index at the stock market, the All Share Index (ASI)-a value-based common index that tracks prices of all shares on the NSE, closed the month at 29,562.07 points, indicating a year-to-date return of -14.70 per cent.

The performance in the first month raised the spectre of the previous year. Nigerian equities ranked among the worst-performing stocks globally in 2014 with average full-year decline of 16.14 per cent. Aggregate market value

By Taofik Salako Capital Market Editor

of all quoted equities closed 2014 at N11.477 trillion as against its opening value of N13.226 trillion for the year, indicating a loss of N1.75 trillion during the year.

Total turnover in January stood at 8.0 billion shares valued at N94.86 billion in 85,133 deals. Last week, total turnover stood at 2.21 billion shares worth N28.96 billion in 19,495 deals.

Analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited however said investors in Nigerian equities may earn an average double-digit return of about 16 per cent this year, in spite of the bearishness that started the year.

Vetiva, in its outlook for 2015, stated that Nigerian equities have been significantly undervalued by the previous bearishness and would witness considerable recovery this

year.

Analysts at Vetiva noted that while the performance of the equities market will correlate with the global oil price trend, a mid-point analysis suggests that Nigerian equities can make potential average return of 16 per cent this year.

Analysts pointed out that while valuations appear relatively cheap, sustained pressure on oil prices will likely continue to constrain investor re-entry into equities. Analysts thus anchored their 2015 return expectation for the All Share Index (ASI) of the NSE on oil price performance in the year.

According to analysts, using 16 year data, a correlation factor of 72 per cent between Brent crude prices and the ASI was established. The assumption of Brent crude recovering to $70/bbl by year end indicates a 22 per cent recovery from 2014 end position; thus, factoring

in 72 per cent correlation suggests that amidst much volatility, the ASI holds a potential 16 per cent return in 2015 to 40,201.56 points.

“Our scenario analysis indicate that at $100/bbl level, ASI would hold a potential 54 per cent return for the year, whilst at $20/bbl price level, the return potential is -47 per cent. Given that the market selloff in the final quarter of 2014 was broad based, we believe a market recovery in 2015 will equally be broad based,” Vetiva stated.

“We expect a moderate recovery in oil prices in 2015, driven largely by a marginal improvement in global economic growth, which should support demand, but will still be overshadowed by supply, stemming any sustained rise in the oil price.

Our sense, however, is that the prospects of a sustained recovery will be based on whether price weakness triggers substantial reduction in non-

OPEC supply and/or a cut in OPEC production either at the June 2015 meeting or earlier. The former could be influenced by the risk of delayed shale projects if prices stay well below projected break-even for too long, and the latter by the risks of running large budget deficits and lower growth prospects resulting from depressed oil revenues. Other risks that could trigger an uptrend in oil prices would be: supply disruptions in the Middle East, an aggressive build-up in China’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR), and a more intense winter in the US These events however need to be significant enough to alter oil market fundamentals by tightening supply in order to sustain the oil price rebound.

In our core scenario, we expect the Brent to gradually rise from the current levels to US$60/bbl by first half of 2015, and up to US$70/bbl levels by year-end 2015,” Vetiva noted.

NASD over the counter market introduces 15% price band

S

ECURITIES trading on the NASD Plc will as from today trade within a price movement band of 15 per cent. The NASD is an over-the-counter (OTC) platform that trades on unlisted securities. It is licensed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The NASD OTC was formally launched on July 1 and opened for trading on July 2, 2013.

The introduction of the price movement band is expected to modulate the pricing pattern of securities on the OTC market. NASD previously has no price movement band. The price range of 15 per cent for OTC-listed stocks is five per cent above the 10 per cent pricing range for quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The price movement band implies that the price of any security can only rise or fall by 15 per cent in a trading session, daily.

A circular obtained by The Nation at the weekend indicated that the price movement band was introduced to ensure smoother price movements and provide better valuation for investors.

However, investors that want to undertake negotiated deals can trade outside the 15 per cent price band using a specially designated trading window and process. Negotiated deal means a transaction where the buyer and seller had agreed on particular details of a transaction, which is just formalized using the market process. Negotiated deals are not subjected to

•From Left: President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) Mr Albert Okumagba, Chairman, Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN) Mr Victor Ogiemwonyi and Chairman, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) Mr Emeka Madubuike at a-day dialogue on the capital market and 2015 budget in Lagos

the normal trading process where the market forces of unknown buyers and sellers determine the transaction details.

Major companies on the NASD included Dufil Prima Foods Plc, the manufacturer of Indomie Noodles; Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria Plc, manufacturer of Peak Milk brand; Industrial & General Insurance Plc, Central Securities Clear-

NIDF to pay final dividends to investors

T

HE Nigerian International Debt Fund (NIDF), a mutual fund listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), has concluded arrangement to distribute about N25.2 million as final coupon or dividend to investors in the mutual fund.

The NIDF, which is managed by Afrinvest Asset Management Limited, plans to pay a minimum of N40 per note holder as final coupon to investors for the year ended December 31, 2014. About N25.2 million will be distributed among noteholders on the register of the fund as at the closure date of February 5, 2015.

Managing Director, Afrinvest Asset Management Limited, Ola Belgore, said the distribution next week marks the 34th coupon in the life of the Fund since its launch in 1997 noting that the final distribution is in line with the structure of the NIDF as the Fund is designed to pay distributions twice a year.

NIDF paid an interim coupon of

N60.71 per note in August 2014 and, with an estimated N40 per note to be paid on February 11, 2015, the total payment for the 2014 financial year will be about N100.71.

Belgore outlined that the Fund closed the year at a price of N1, 978.31 per note achieving a N68.51 capital gain over the opening price for 2014 adding that at the trading price of N1987.26 on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 the coupon yield was 5.1 per cent.

He said NIDF invests in the domestic and international debt instruments of the Federal Government of Nigeria as well as those of the 36 States.

According to him, NIDF offers investors safety, capital preservation, steady returns, diversification and value, and has a consistent dividend history making it quite attractive for both individual and institutional investors such as Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), insurance companies, asset managers and gratuity funds.

ing System Plc, the clearing and depository arm of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Jaiz Bank Plc, the Islamic bank.

Other stocks included Acorn Petroleum Plc, Arm Life Plc, Afriland Properties Plc, BGL Plc, Consolidated Breweries Plc, Food Concepts Plc, Geo-Fluids Plc, Golden Capital Plc, Niger Delta Exploration & Production Plc, Partnership Invest-

ment Company Plc, Resourcery Plc, Riggs Ventures West Africa Plc, Swap Technologies & Telecomms Plc and Trustbond Mortgage Bank Plc. Total market value of companies quoted on the NASD had stood at N653 billion as at December 15, 2014.

Reviewing the outlook for the market recently, managing director,

NASD Plc, Mr. Bola Ajomale, said the NASD plans to introduce new products this year with a view to deepening the turnover and value of trades and securities on the OTC. According to him, the NASD Plc has adequate capacity for investors to trade on shares of the unbundled power generating and distributing companies, mutual funds, private equities and venture capital. It looks forward to increasing and diversifying its product base this year.

“The OTC market can capture all legitimate capital market flows, especially secondary trades. These are either multilateral as through an open market or bilateral. Since we have a Bilateral trading platform, we can handle investment trade flows on all infrastructure projects. Our basic requirement however is that the security be registered with the SEC as a public investment instrument,” Ajomale said.

He added that the platform will also provide liquidity to unquoted mutual funds, especially closeended mutual funds noting that the platform is already talking to some mutual funds for possible listing.

“As an OTC market, we have an interest in all forms of secondary market capital flows so private equity and venture capital is only one of our interests. We believe we can offer more transparency to this end of the market and create the much needed data that will prove that the capital market is much deeper than understood,” Ajomale said.

Pharma-Deko extends N270m rights issue

P

HARMA-Deko Plc has extended its ongoing N270 million rights issue, giving shareholders additional 10 working days to pick up their rights.

Pharma Deko is raising new equity funds from existing shareholders through the issuance of 150 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N1.80 per share on the basis of three new ordinary shares for every two ordinary shares held as at the close of business on September 9, 2013.

The rights issue, which opened on Wednesday, December 17, 2014, was initially scheduled to close at the weekend, Friday, January 30, 2015. The parties to the rights issue have however secured the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to extend the offer period by two weeks. The rights issue will now close on Friday, February 13, 2015.

With the extension of the offer period, trading on the rights at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will also continue until the close of the offer period on February 13,

2015. The NSE provides shareholders who wish to renounce their rights partially or in full opportunity to trade their renounced rights on the secondary market. The rights trading provides opportunity for other investors, who are not previously prequalified for the rights, to buy into the company.

Also, shareholders who wish to acquire additional shares over and above their provisional allotment may purchase renounced rights or apply for additional shares by indicating this in their acceptance forms.

Pharma Deko plans to use the net proceeds of the rights issue, estimated at about N258.8 million, to refinance existing loan and deleverage its balance, undertake a major upgrade and replacement of its production facility and support its working capital.

In a supporting letter to the rights issue, chairman, Pharma-Deko Plc, Mr Folarin Williams, noted that rights issue would further support the company as a formidable brand in the pharmaceutical and bever-

ages industry.

According to him, as part of efforts to explore growth opportunities in the industry, the company intends to leverage on effective use of the proceeds of the offer together with renewed focus of both the board and management of the company to chart a course to profitability.

“The board and management of your company are confident that with your support and an improvement in our working capital, there would be adequate returns on investment in the foreseeable future.

I wish to draw your attention to the fact that the rights issue presents a unique opportunity for you to continue to enjoy the benefits of your investment in Pharma Deko Plc. I therefore invite all existing shareholders to exercise their rights in full,” Williams said.

Audited report and accounts of Pharma-Deko for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed a loss before tax of N228.6 million and a net loss after tax of N121.18 million. Turnover was N1.06 billion.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

34

Taxation

Tax implication of mergers and acquisitions

S

IMPLY put, a merger is a combination or integra tion of existing companies to form a single com pany while acquisition 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.

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 Service’s direction under sub-section 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 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 consent from the FIRS. Procedure for Obtaining the Service’s Approval From the start, the merging companies are required to submit to the FIRS, 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 Service’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 Service 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.

Tax Issues in Mergers and Acquisitions 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 (ies) and the company being acquired.

Emergence of a New Company 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 Service, its audited accounts and returns within eighteen (18) months from the date of its incorporation or not later 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.

Basis of Assessment Commencement rule as provided under Section 29(3) will apply to the new company, except where any of the under-listed circumstances arise: (I) Where the merging parties are connected parties, the Service 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.

(II) Where the new business is a reconstituted company, taking over the trade or business formerly run by its foreign parent company.

Claim of Allowances

Companies Income Tax Act (CITA) did not categorically address the value at which assets may be transferred for the purpose of capital allowances claims. 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.

Unabsorbed Losses and Un-Utilized 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: (i) 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.

Taxes and Deductibility of Related Expenses (i) 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. (ii) 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 CITA. (iii) 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 5% and 10% respectively.

4.3.1 Tax Indemnification Section 29(9)(i) of CITA provides that the Service 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.

4.3.2 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 and 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: (i) The surviving company must file its returns in line with the provisions of section 55(3)(a) of CITA. (ii) Commencement rules under section 29(3) of CITA will not apply to the surviving company, as it will be regarded as an existing company. (iii) 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. (iv) The surviving company may however claim annual allowance only on the tax Written down Values

• Acting Executive Chairman, FIRS, Alhaji Kabir Mohammed Mashi

(TWDV) of the assets transferred to it. (v) 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. (vi) 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: (i) Where the merging companies are connected. Here, the Service may direct, in line with its discretionary powers, under section 29(9) of CITA that the cessation rule may not apply. (ii) 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 Taxations on Consolidation Acquiring/Acquired Companies The tax implications of consolidation on an acquiring company 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.

35

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

THE NATION

BUSINESS JOBS

• Itinerant mechanics at work.

The high cost of getting a workshop in some major cities has turned some trained but cash-strapped auto mechanics into mobile workmen, reports OLUWAKEMI DAUDA.

Life of itinerant auto mechanics T

HE high cost of getting a workshop in Lagos and other major cities has forced some trained but cashstrapped auto mechanics to become itinerant mechanics.

In the past, this was unheard of, but the practice is now growing. These itinerant

mechanics are filling a gap, assisting motorists in distress on the road. According to findings, these mechanics don’t have any overheads; as such, they charge less, yet offer services comparable to their counterparts who own workshops.

Some motorists in Lagos told The Nation

that itinerant mechanics come to their rescue at short notice. They cited instances when they wanted to go out and their cars won’t start or when they are stuck on the road.

All a mechanic needs are his tools and expertise to get to people’s homes, highways, workplaces or wherever the car is stalled and

assist a distressed car owner to get the vehicle back on the road.

In major cities, such as Lagos and Abuja, where the vehicle traffic is huge daily, a auto-mobile mechanic can help a car •Continued on page 36

36

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

JOBS •Continued from page 35

owner not only by assisting him to cure automotive ills on the road, but also by allowing them to remain at home or the office while he carries out his work.

Chief Michael Ajayi of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has suffered a car breakdown and availed himself of the services of itinerant auto mechanics. He said: “The advantages to the itinerant auto-mobile mechanic jobs are: unlike most auto repair enterprise, they don’t need employees, and if you like being an automotive physician, this can be a satisfying, stimulating career. It’s also gratifying – people are appreciative when you get their vehicle back on the road, and doing it on their turf makes you even more of a miracle-worker.

“However, you will need expertise and experience in the automotive repair industry – your customers will need as quick a fix as possible, so you won’t be able to spend hours tinkering under the hood, hoping to hit on the solution. A strong analytical sense is also important; you’ll need to decide who needs you first, second and then on down the line.

The market On the market for the itinerant auto-mobile mechanic jobs, another car owner Mr Rotimi Onakoya said: “Customers for an auto-technician can be anybody with wheels. Target the average driver on the street as well as corporations and institutions that will be delighted to have you arrive on-

Life of itinerant auto mechanics

• Chief Ajayi

site so their employees don’t need to be away from their desks.”

Findings revealed that parks and private campgrounds are also fertile grounds for customers—people with boats or recreational vehicles always need some sort of

• Onakoya

assistance, and people who are living in them have a hard time leaving them at the auto repair shop overnight.

Hotels and motels can also be good customer sources because out-of-town guests with car woes

have no idea where to turn for expert help and are usually pressed for time. Deliver your business cards to owners or managers of all these businesses and explain the advantages of your services will provide you a lucrative job.

A promotional item, such as call card, refrigerator magnet or pen emblazoned with your company name can also help keep you in mind when vehicle troubles arise.

An auto-mobile technician in Lagos, Mr Sesan Adeyemo said he has been in the job for over four years.

He said it was also good if an automobile technician could get his business written in local publications. ‘’If you, as an auto mechanic, live in a tourist-oriented area, introduce yourself to a local visitor who needs assistance and leave your cards. Put your logo with a large, legible phone number and a description like ‘mobile mechanic’ on your vehicle so potential customers can spot you on your rounds,” Adeyemo said.

Onakoya said, as a car owner, auto-mobile mechanic can save your day, but you need to beware of these scams: • Before hiring a mobile mechanic, get the person’s full name and address, and use that information to search the Web for complaints, unfavourable reviews and other red flags.

• Make sure the mechanic has a full assortment of professional-grade tools — not just a few wrenches and screwdrivers. Legitimate mechanics typically carry thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment.

• Find out if the mechanic accepts credit cards. Most reputable mechanics do. When payment is made by credit card, unsatisfactory repairs can be disputed. With cash, you have no need for such recourse.

CAREER MANAGEMENT

Fishing out your dream job: Techniques and strategies

W

E are presenting the last in the series designed to provide job seekers the road map to nitty-gritty of the tough aspects tackling the job market and making it available for you, no matter where it is.

Job fairs Job fairs are being utilised by an increasing number of recruiters.

They offer a cost-effective and convenient way to contact a large number of candidates in a relatively short them. Job fairs also offer similar benefits to candidates — as long as you know how to work them.

Plan in advance and your job fair visit will be very worthwhile. Be sure to investigate all participating companies in advance. When possible, obtain a list of these companies from fair organisers, and begin to research about six to ten companies that may be of particular interest to you. In making your decision, consider the type of candidates sought, company location, company reputation, etc.

Once you’ve drawn up your list, do some research on these companies at your local library, on the worldwide web, or through directly contacting the company. Be sure to uncover basic information such as company product and services, company size, etc.

You may even want to explore what the company’s philosophy or approach is. In particular, what they emphasise in their literature.

Write this information obtained on index cards, a notebook, or in a PC file.

Your next step is to check out your own communication tool for the fair, your resume. Be sure to give it a make-over to make sure that it highlights and showcases your skills in a professional and concise way for the job you are seeking. If it doesn’t, revise it in

By Olu Oyeniran

advance of your visit to the job fair.

Now it’s time to put both items together. For each company that you have researched information on, write down the basic details obtained.

Next to this information, list some skills, qualifications, achievements, or specialised training from your resume that would match the company’s “ideal” candidate. A typical entry in your notebook may look like this:

XXYYZZ Nigeria Plc • Manufacture and sell office products and equipment.

• Lagos-based •Five hundred and fifty employees.

• Family owned and operated with strong commitment to customer service.

• Looking for sales professionals.

• Five years outside sales experience and an associate’s degree in marketing.

• Worked in retail during school, completed an internship, have strong letters of recommendation for friendliness and courtesy to customers.

As the date for the job fair approaches, check out your logistics.

Make sure that you know where the event is being held, where to park, job fair hours, etc.

Depending on the number of companies scheduled to attend, it’s a good idea to allow yourself at least one and a half hours to talk with prospective employers.

Be sure to dress appropriately for the fair, and bring along 10 to 12 copies of your resume.

Plan on arriving about 45 minutes to one hour after

the official start time Look for your targeted companies, did they all show up? How busy are they at the moment? If a recruiter is busy talking to other candidates, look for another targeted company whose table is free.

The trick is to minimise waiting in line, and maximise talking with prospective employers. Be sure to shake hands with the recruiter and introduce yourself Provide them with a copy of your resume to look over, along with your references, or any letters of recommendation you may have.

As they review your resume, describe your background and qualifications. Make this a brief, to the point presentation recapping your skills and abilities.

At this point, the recruiter may have some additional questions about your qualifications and also provide you with information about job vacancies. Keep your talk concise — your total time spent with a recruiter should not be more than eight to ten minutes.

To wrap up, thank the recruiter for their time, express an interest in a more formal interview in the future, and ask for a business card to send a follow-up thank-you letter.

After you’ve talked with the recruiters of your “targeted” companies, talk with other employer representatives if time allows. By doing so, you can often uncover information about certain companies and jobs that you were unaware of prior to the job fair.

Finally, make one last tour of the area before you leave, and stop by the tables of any recruiters who had been especially helpful or interested if your background.

Reintroduce yourself remind them of your earlier meeting, and reiterate your interest in scheduling to meet with them at a later date.

Visit a local job fair and inter-

view with at least five companies and collect at least 10 business cards.

However, I will say that you do not put too much stock into this strategy.

We have discussed the main strategies for job hunting. A major issue for job seekers but the least discussed is the issue of fear.

But anybody who has had to look for job will agree it is a regular company at various points in the job hunting stages.

We will bring the matter to the fore by considering how to manage fear.

You’ve heard of fire-fighting, let’s talk about fear fighting. You may have heard the old saying “Fire and fear – good servants, poor masters”.

Whenever I hear that quote, I always am struck by how much fire and fear have in common.

• It’s easy for both to get out of control and main or damage.

We have a fear of both. (Nothing to fear, but fear itself).

• Both can be hard to capture or contain, much less extinguish.

• Both can be controlled and made to serve us, if created respectfully and knowledgeably.

We are currently in a business climate where fear is an every day companion for most of us.

Our friends, business associates and clients can seem to take an almost ghoulish delight in sharing the latest business horror story.

Even the strongest of us can find ourselves bitten by the Fear Bug, and from there, the fear can start to grow like a dread disease. It starts to permeate every task every phone call, every prospect interaction.

How do we inoculate ourselves from the fear virus? How do we keep it from destroying our peace, sapping our energy and stealing our motivation?

You may have heard what we resist, persists” This is definitely true for fear. We can fear any number of things in these challenging times, many of which are beyond our control. The pivot-point questions are: What can I affect? (What is within my ability to change, control, or manipulate, even minutely?). Am I willing to take the effort to do so? Consider these in managing fear: • Honour the fear: Acknowledge it. Thank it for showing up. Do not deny it, or stuff it away, or anesthetise it with food, alcohol or drugs.

• Be aware that there is no shame in being afraid. Fear is a natural response. It means our systems body, mind, spirit, and emotions are working the way they are supposed to.

• Ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?

Have I been through something like that before? Am I willing to deal with the situation? If not, what am I prepared to do? What am I prepared to change?”

• Understand that fear is not a signal to stop, not a Red Light.

Fear is a Yellow Light, telling us to proceed with caution and awareness.

• Give yourself permission to move forward cautiously, with the fear. Consider fear an informative traveling companion, not on adversary during these challenging times. And certainly, not the thief of our peace of mind and our future security.

• Ask yourself “what will I do if am not afraid?” Then, just do what you would have done if you are not afraid.

•Oyeniran is Lead Consultant, EkiniConsult & Associates.

He can be reached on Jobsearchhow.com.ng Tel 08083843230 (SMS Only).

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

THE CEO Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, Managing Director, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s first pharmaceutical company, is leading major changes in the healthcare industry. In this interview with Capital Market Editor, TAOFIK SALAKO, Okafor speaks on the macroeconomic outlook, the challenges of local manufacturing and ongoing efforts to place Nigeria on the global pharmaceutical map, among others.

‘Unbridled importation killing real sector’ T

HE healthcare and pharmaceutical industry is import-dependent. With naira devaluation and other dynamics, how will these impact on industry performance?

We all know that 2015 is going to be a very challenging year, especially for countries that are oil dependent, which Nigeria is one. We are not surprised about what is happening, but the only thing is the rate at which it is unfolding, much faster than ever imagined. I had my budget approved by the board sometime in November 2014 and we made some assumptions that we thought were very good assumptions because everybody knew 2015 was going to be tough. But it tool just two months for those assumptions to be rubbished. The speed at which things were deteriorating is quite alarming and beyond forecasts. So, it is going to be tough.

The implication of that as an industry that is highly dependent on imports; raw materials and packaging materials, is that the currency depreciation will have a major negative impact. As manufacturers, we expected that the government should hedge the industry from the impact of what is happening but the reverse is actually the case because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) regulations on who should access RDAS and who should not clearly show that there was no consideration for some of us. As an industry we wrote to the Governor of CBN, I also wrote, complaining about the fact that I was not allowed to import my packaging materials through RDAS, I was made to go to the interbank market, which is quite high.

What this means is that costs will go up. Already, we are negotiating with our suppliers; everybody is talking about 10 per cent increase, even though it is often difficult to quantify what the impact of the change will be. We are very careful about our price movement because we deal with medicines, we deal with people’s lives and we don’t want to take advantage of what is happening unlike the way the service sector will pass on the cost; once it goes up, they pass it on; we cannot afford to do that because we also have a social responsibility to ensure people have access to our drugs. We are therefore battling this year to see what we can do to manage the cost.

This is the scenario for us as an industry. But clearly we need to be more creative in the way we do things, we need to look at our processes to ensure that we do away with such processes that are not adding value; trying to keep our costs as low as possible but where we are unable to absorb the costs, we will be compelled to pass them on. Those companies that realise that things have changed and managed their businesses in line with the realities of the time will do better; because I do not see these things getting better in the next one year , we just have to face the realities, manage our businesses better, ensure that we innovate to reduce the costs of doing the normal things that we do, that is just the only way to survive.

What do you think the government should do to assist the manufacturing industry?

It is difficult because government itself is struggling. The challenge we have is not a quick fix, it is something that should have been handled earlier. The things that government should have done over the years that were not done.

They are the things that are now coming back to haunt us. You start with infrastructure. As a country we have made money over the years from oil boom we did not invest this money building our infrastructure. So, when you have

• Okafor

this kind of situation we are having where you have the local industry battling with cost increase as a result of inflation, foreign exchange and interest rate, and then having to provide infrastructure-power, water, roads in some instances; then it is tough. What I would advise really is that government should be able to look at some of these their policies and see how they can differentiate between companies that are wholly importing products and those that are manufacturing and see how best they can give some preferential treatment to manufacturers.

We happened to be in an industry where it is cheaper to import products from countries like

India and China; those that have perhaps economy of scale and benefit of input raw materials, we go to them to buy materials and they also have access to our market because of the nature of the products. Even in some cases, these foreign companies are given preferential treatment in the cases of products that are financed by donor agencies, anti-malaria drugs are one, the drugs for treatment of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis among others. Those are areas we don’t have control over, but they are killing the local industry. You find out that if you had set up plants to produce these kinds of products, you have to pack them up. We set up factory to

‘It is difficult because the government itself is struggling.

The challenge we have is not a quick fix, it is something that should have been handled earlier. The things that government should have done over the years that were not done. They are the things that are now coming back to haunt us. You start with infrastructure. As a country we have made money over the years from oil boom we did not invest this money building our infrastructure’

produce ARVs (anti-retroviral drugs) over seven to eight years ago, we don’t manufacture ARVs anymore, the machines are there, we don’t manufacture unless we get an order from the Federal Government and in the past three years we have gotten only once. So what it means is that those machines that we invested money to buy are lying idle. For the malaria medicines, as simple as they are and as basic as they are; because most drug manufacturers in Nigeria manufacture anti-malaria drugs, there is also an initiative that is subsidising this kind of drugs into Nigeria and what that has done is that it has pushed down the cost of anti-malaria drugs to the level that if you manufacture the right drugs locally you won’t be able sell, you can’t compete. Again, it is an area where investments are lying down waiting for the situation to be right. Government should in essence look at how to protect the industry. There is what we called domestic preference. Of course I know that Nigeria is a member of World Trade Organisation (WTO) and we need to be fair as possible when it comes to trade policies, but I also do not think that any country that is developing could leave its market open hoping that it can compete with the rest of the world. We are not saying government should ban, but it can use tariffs to reduce the influx of these medicines into Nigeria. And the problem is that some of these medicines coming into this country are sub-standards. So, for companies like May & Baker Nigeria that are World Health Organisation (WHO) certified, that manufacture to the highest standards, you find out that what you are selling is not in any way comparable to most of these products coming from outside in terms of quality and yet they have to compete because the public cannot differentiate between the products. And yet, initially in terms of infrastructure you have 40 per cent disadvantage when compared to these foreign companies.

Most of these foreign companies do not have the level of facilities that we have, they are not WHO certified in any way. These are areas government should begin to look into to encourage people who are investing in Nigeria.

We need to have some level of protection while we provide the right infrastructure, provide funding for long-term investments for these industries so that they will begin to scale up their operations, acquire the economy of scale and technical competence and improve the quality of products so that it gets to a point that Nigeria-made products are globally competitive. We have seen this with our cable industry; Nigeria-made cables are well acclaimed to be better than whatever you can buy anywhere else. That didn’t just happened; it took some time of learning, technology and all that.

The truth is that nobody wants to give you technology. I have had some experience trying to get technology for some of our products; they don’t want to give you. So you have to keep trying until you are able to perfect what you are doing and you need some time to do that.

Also, we need to start looking at where the products are coming from and have a policy that states that if you are going to export products to this country you must meet certain standards. Nigeria is not a dumping ground, we shouldn’t accept that any country can just produce and send to Nigeria. That could also be a fair way to hold back because we are ready for competition but it must be fair competition.

The government should also support us as much as they can in infrastructure, it will help.

Every month, I spend N25 million providing power and in one year, that is over N300 million, this is money that could have gone as profit to my shareholders. Whatever the government can do to make the environment more conducive will be appreciated. Already, the currency devaluation will adversely affect corporate growth and plan. Take for instance, we wanted to add another line to our production lines and at the time we did the transaction in November 2014, we were thinking we are going to access dollars at one hundred and sixty something naira, but today my head of finance was telling me: look, it’s going to be difficult, they have started assembling the machine but if we are going to pay through the interbank , it is going to be at N200 to a dollar, so how are we going to pay this money? If the government wants to create jobs, want to improve the purchasing power of Nigerians, they need to look inward and see how we as a country can develop our manufacturing sector. The more we continue to •Continued on page 38

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

THE CEO

‘Unbridled importation killing real sector’ •Continued from page 37

look at the services sector as the parameter to measure the growth of the economy, the more we will continue to be in this situation. Because this is not the first time, we have been going through boom and burst from oil, as soon as it is over, everybody forgets it.

In basic drugs, do we have the local competence and supply to meet national demand?

Yes. For pharmaceutical manufacturing you have research and development that breaks new grounds in drugs and medicines, when you talk about that I will say may be not, we may not have the capacity and competence to research into new molecules today because it is very expensive and it is a high-risk venture. That is why the pharmaceutical industries in the United States and other developed economies are five-star industries because they spent a lot on research and development, a lot of Dollars go down the drain because many of these researches do not produce any major breakthrough, but once you have one, you recover all that you have spent on others. But there is no company in Nigeria today that will have the money or the liver to spend that way, even the shareholders will not allow you to continue pouring money into what you are not sure what results you are going to get. So, it is not an area we have competence yet.

But in the area of the basic drugs such as antimalaria drugs, anti-hypertensive drugs, antidiabetic drugs, among others, these are drugs that an average Nigerian company can do and in most cases too, with better quality than most of those coming from abroad. So, we have what it takes to do these medicines. The only challenge we have is that we do not have predominant access to the Nigerian market because some 50 per cent of drugs in Nigeria are imported.

Those of us who have huge investments here are having them unutilised. You find that average capacity utilisation in Nigeria for pharmaceutical companies is very low, in the 40s. So, we have the capacity for most of these products and we have been saying that to the government. But it is even amazing that even when our government is buying, it will rather buy from companies outside the country than from Nigerian companies. Any yet when they are speaking, they will tell you that they want to encourage local industry.

Now, in the light of all these, what are you doing at May & Baker Nigeria to ensure that the company’s performance remains competitive and shareholders receive adequate returns?

First, let me appreciate our shareholders for their good understanding. For the past six years or thereabout, we have actually been investing because we set to build a world-class facility (The Pharma-Centre at Ota, Ogun State) and we got the support of the shareholders. Now, the facility is in place, what they expect is that they will be getting returns on investments. It is not coming as fast as expected because there are issues of having to borrow loans to complete the facility. You know that as you are paying those loans, you also have to borrow more to be able to grow the businesses and make returns from your investment. So, you have a challenge, the more you borrowed, the more your interest charges and the less the returns to the shareholders. That was the challenge we had. Now that we have finished the factory and we have passed the initial teething problems and the factory is now running well, what we are doing as a management is to focus on how we can optimise the potential of the new factory to generate returns for our shareholders.

Just on its own, we are going to get a lot of returns from that facility going forward because the output is getting better, the efficiency of the processes is improving, and with that we believe the products should be coming out at a lower cost unit as we do more volumes and our margins will also get better. But beyond that, we have taken a look at our products portfolio and we are repositioning the company in a way that we put emphasis on those products that are not what everybody is doing in the market.

Those products surely will give us better returns. The Pharma-Centre is a centre of excellence so we want to begin to do specialised products that will have better margins and we will end up making more profits. Now that we have also gotten WHO certification, we are getting a lot of enquiries from multinational companies abroad which want to manufacture on contract basis from that facility, we are getting more enquiries from some Nigerian companies that want quality products; they are coming to us to do their products for them from the Pharma-Centre. Those enquiries are coming in and we are already taking on some of them, what they will do is to help us improve the

• Okafor

capacity utilisation and that will help us to reduce unit cost of products. The most important thing for us at this stage is to reduce our borrowings. We have not been borrowing since last year, though we still use some level of bank overdrafts. We want to get some equity in so that we can pay off the loans we have now and plough back the huge interests we pay into the bottom-line and then we will be able to have a lot more to share to shareholders. So, this year, apart from trying to ensure that we manage our costs better, that we improve our processes to be more efficient, we are also looking at being able to bring some level of equity so that we can reduce our dependence on loans. That’s basically what we are doing and we believe we are going to have some good returns this year.

We have gone from the situation where we had to battle with the full weight of depreciation of the facility and paying interest on borrowed money and trying to get the facility to work well, all these in a year, that was in 2012 that we also had to cope with the conversion to the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS); now things are getting better because progressively these things are being resolved. Also, with the progress we are making on the WHO front, we are positive that in the next one year, we should be able to export our first product. We believe that before the end of this year, we must have prequalified the first product out of PharmaCentre, export the product and participate in the global tenders for the donor agencies-funded drug supply to Nigeria. So, things are getting better going forward.

Capital raising has been a major recurring issue in the past three years, you have a subsisting approval from shareholders to raise funds and the last time you said you were raising N3.2 billion, and shareholders appear to be saying give us rights issue, what are you doing about the capital raising?

I wish shareholders are saying give us rights issue, but I don’t think they are saying give us rights issue. Before you go to the market, you feel the pulse of the market, we have done that and we feel that we do not have to rush into the market at this time. Because what we don’t want to do is to give room to unnecessary dilution of shareholders’ values of our shareholders who have suffered with us over the couple of the years that we have not been paying dividends. Now

that things are getting better you then open opportunity to come and buy the shares at a giveaway, that’s what we are careful about. There are interests from some venture capitalists who want to put in money because they see opportunities. What we are probably trying to do is to try and see if we can give some time to see if the shareholders would be able to take their rights, because if I do rights issue today and they can’t take their rights, some other people will be waiting in the wing to take their renounced rights, you just have to be careful in such a situation where your shareholders at the end of all these will feel they have been short-changed. We are talking to the major shareholders to feel their pulse and see when they will be ready to take their rights and we are also talking to some foreign investors, especially those that will also bring some technical competence and skill, and I think within this year we should be able to strike a good balance that will ensure that everybody is taking care of in a fair way.

Late last year you were certified by the WHO to have met the cGMP, ‘current Good Manufacturing Practice’, the global standards for pharmaceutical manufacturing, and now your prequalification process, what do these mean for the economy, your sector and shareholders?

Well, when you manufacture drugs, just like other major sectors of the economy, there are globally accepted standards that once you get them, then you have arrived, you are playing with the big boys and you can access any market. You are looking at a situation where drugs that are made in Nigeria are of same standards and quality with the drugs made in the best factories in the United States. The things that go into drug manufacturing are not just the active ingredients, the most important thing is the process of manufacturing that product and that process will include your environment of manufacturing and how you manufacture it-the machines that you use, the quality of air where you manufacture it and the way you move the product from one process to another, those are things that come together to give you a quality product. So what we have accomplished is that we have been able to raise our factory to that level where you can proudly say this factory is as good as any factory in the world in terms of facilities, processes and people. So what the WHO is saying is that we have the right envi-

‘Every month, I spend N25million providing power and in one year, that is over N300 million, this is money that could have gone as profit to my shareholders. Whatever the government can do to make the environment more conducive will be appreciated. Already, the currency devaluation will adversely affect corporate growth and plan’

ronment to manufacture, we have the right people and processes to give you quality products and that’s why it is very significant. As soon as this was putting on the WHO website, we started getting enquiries from a lot of international donor agencies-United Nations and a host of others. So, it is a very good step. It is also an opportunity for Nigerians to get some technical skills because what we do today is not like what we were doing some years ago, even when the factory was in Ikeja. I will tell you the difference is very clear, we are equipping Nigerians technically and with the large complex, we are creating more jobs for Nigerians. We are also opening up opportunity for foreign funding to come into Nigeria through contract manufacturing and by our eventual participation in international tenders by donor agencies and multilateral groups. So, we have built the foundation upon which we can begin to make the money that will come from the investment.

Now, let’s look at the issue of your joint venture with the Federal Government for vaccine production, the BioVaccines Nigeria Limited.

It was one venture that much hope was on, why has it taken so long for the joint venture to be operationally active?

(Laugh) I am laughing because it is one question I would have loved to say I don’t want to answer because I have answered in the past and it didn’t come to past. It is a bit difficult for me, at a point I felt it was as good as in the bag and something just happened and it did not happen. But all I can say is that it is still on track; for a project like that it is important that every stakeholder is on board and you want to make sure you take care of any concern here and there.

I think hopefully we are getting to the end of this process of getting back to run that company and I am positive that it should happen soon. That is all I can say.

By this February, you will be four years in the saddle as the managing director of May & Baker Nigeria, what are those key highlights that you think define your stewardship? And you know if it were to be a political office, you will need another manifesto on what you will do, what are those things that you think you can use another four years to do?

Thank you; that is a good one. When I took over, the first years were good because we were still running the company from our facility in Ikeja. But the first challenge was to ensure that the investment that we had put so much money into (The Pharma-Centre in Ota, Ogun State) did not become a white elephant project because we were putting money in that and it was not getting finished. I rose up to ensure that we finished that project. I am happy that we were able to accomplish that, we were able to give Nigerians the biggest and the best pharmaceutical manufacturing complex in the whole of West Africa and Central Africa. The second accomplishments I will say is that when you have that level of investment we had made, then it is a huge job not to level the business goes under because you now have to battle repayment of loans, interest financing and all that. The fact that we have been able to navigate this business to the point now that it is ready to take off is something that is commendable. It is not just about me, a lot of credits go to my colleagues, everybody in this system in the past three years has gone through a lot of stress. While going all through these, between 2011 and now, we have also been able to grow this company significantly from a turnover of N4.6 billion to current level of N7 billion and we are still growing.The final accomplishment is when you look at the future of this company, the fact that we have repositioned this company for global relevance; to be able to compete with the best in the world. So, we are quite on track, we have gone through the first stage (cGMP) and in the second stage (WHO prequalification), very soon we should be able to also scale that hurdle. So, I am very proud that under my watch we were able to get WHO certification, it was not easy, it was a very tough job that if you did not have the right people, you will never accomplish. It is not about me, mine is just to show direction, people that will make it happen are the staff.

And when you are doing WHO prequalification, what they are looking at is culture, processes; so they are not talking about you as managing director, they are looking at the entire people, so being able to raise a crop of intelligent Nigerians who were able to learn quickly and transited from our normal culture to a culture that I would say was new to us is also an accomplishment on its own. I believe we are going to continue on that trajectory and take this business from where we are now to a business that will be globally acclaimed. We are pacesetter in terms of standards, innovations and product development.

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

THE NATION

BUSINESS INSURANCE

Nigerian Business Confidence Index dips by 7.7%, says LCCI

N

IGERIAN Business Confidence Index (BCI) has dropped by 7.7 per cent, fuelling fears that investments in the economy will continue to shrink, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has said.

The body put the BCI which is a leading economic indicator designed to measure the degree of optimism on the state of the economy for the first quarter of 2015 at 22.3 per cent, as against the 30 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, indicating a 7.7 per cent slump.

A decreasing BCI is often a pointer to slowing economic activities, indicating that business owners are likely to decrease their investment.

The more confident entrepreneurs and managers feel about the business environment, the more likely they are to make new investments, create jobs and impact the economy, the Chamber said.

LCCI Director, Research & Advocacy, Vincent Nwani, who represented the Director-General, LCCI, Muda Yusuf, at a roundtable with the theme: ‘Government policies and impact of falling oil prices on business – Way forward for investors,’ organised in Lagos by Nigerian NewsDirect, told The Nation that according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the benchmark for a good confidence in an economy is 50 per cent, which Ni-

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

geria has not attained in the last five years.

He said: “For the past five years that we have been running this index, the highest we have gone is 35 per cent. It has fluctuated to 22 per cent. It means that investors, owners and managers of these businesses are not sure of what will happen over the next three months.

“In oil and gas, there are lots of uncertainties in that sector. Over the last three years, the investments into the industry didn’t come because of the uncertainties surrounding the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Because of these uncertainties, about $100 billion is still in the waiting following the non-passage and content of the bill. Therefore, the drop in the first quarter 2015 aggregate BCI from 30 per cent in Q4-2014 to 22.3 per cent, showed lack of the confidence level among business operators over the last three months. The drop of the BCI scores at this time, suggests that business leaders are largely pessimistic about expanding their investment over the next few months,” he said.

He stated that Nigeria’s BCI scores over the years continue to trail below the 50 per cent global business confidence threshold. Investors and business leaders remain wary about the state of the economy and the challenging business environment.

‘New pension scheme key to economic development’

T

HE new Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) will soon be pivotal to the social and economic development of Nigeria, Managing Director of Premium Pension Limited, Mr. Wilson Ideva has said.

In a statement signed by its Head, Corporate Communication, Paddy Ezeala and made available to journalists in Lagos, Ideva said the more people identify with scheme and subscribe to it, the more people remain assured of a secure future with more funds amassed under the scheme for national development.

Some of the remarkable infrastructural development witnessed recently he said, have benefitted from pension funds invested through government bonds.

He pointed out that various other sectors would begin in no distant time to benefit from the scheme.

He stressed that the previous unfunded defined benefit scheme remains a far cry from the new contributory pension scheme in terms of the advantages and possibilities unpacked by the latter.

He said: “While the old defined benefit scheme left a deficit of over two trillion naira and contributed to the numerous huddles in the payment of pension benefits, the new scheme is closing in on the sum of five trillion naira as funds under management even with less than 10 per cent market penetration.”

He further noted that while the old scheme was fraught with corruption and inconsistencies, the contributory pension scheme has made life more comfortable for retirees and kept corruption at bay.

“Since 2004 I do not think that people still queue up to access pension benefits. People now go to their pension fund administrators to get their benefits as soon as they retire.

“Against the backdrop of the reviewed Pension Reform Act 2014 which has among other things ex-

tended the scheme to the informal sector, there is the need for increased public awareness to enable the industry to profit from the inherent immense opportunities and also erase the negative impression inherited from the old scheme.

“The unpleasant activities associated with the old scheme are still negatively affecting the attitude of some Nigerians towards the new scheme. We now have what we call transfer of negative impression in the industry.”

He also said that there is every need to dissociate the new scheme from the old unfunded defined benefit scheme and position the industry for growth to the next level.

He noted that the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PeNop) and individual operators have all been carrying out public awareness programmes.

He listed the key factors that mostly depress the confidence level of business leaders at this time to include depressed crude oil price in the international market, rising and uncertain exchange rate, security

challenges across the country, uncertainty surrounding the 2015 general elections and cost/worsening public power supply.

The first quarter 2015 BCI survey covered 180 top business executives

in 162 companies over the period, January 6 -23 2015. Only top decision makers (owners, chief executive officers/managing directors, directors and top managers) participated in the survey, Nwani, said.

STI opens rights issue, clocks 20 years

S

OVEREIGN Trust Insurance Plc (STI) opened its rights issue, on January 14, this year, placing on offer a total of 2,290,585,798 Ordinary Shares of 50 kobo per share for every three ordinary shares of 50 kobo each held as at the close of business on Thursday, June 19, 2014, its Managing Director, Wale Onaolapo has said.

Onaolapo, who made this known to journalists in Lagos, said this was the way the firm plans to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

He urged the firm’s shareholders to take advantage of this unique opportunity once again in consolidating their ownership of a brand that is set to transform the insurance landscape home and abroad, noting that the offer will come to a close on February 20.

He added that the offer on rights issue is to further unlock the inherent enormous potentials in the underwriting firm and to strengthen its capacity in the insurance industry.

He said two decades after, the underwriting company has become a

Stories by Omobola Tolu-Kusimo

force to reckon with in the comity of insurance companies in Nigeria and beyond; recording pacesetting initiatives as it journeys through the years.

He said: “The Company has never looked back since it commenced operation by ensuring that adequate cover is provided in the most professional manner to everyone that has at one point or the other embraced the STI brand.

“The Company commenced business in 1995, following the restructuring and recapitalisation of the then Grand Union Assurances with an authorised and paid-up capital of N30 million and N20 million respectively. It attained the status of a publicly quoted company in 2004, and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on November 29, 2006.

“The authorised share capital of the company stands at N5.2 billion divided into 10.5 billion units of 50kobo per share with a fully paidup capital and shareholders’ funds of over N3.4 billion.”

The STI boss further said on very

consistent basis, the company has over the years maintained its A- rating from the Global Credit Rating, GCR, based in South Africa, on its claims-paying ability, capital adequacy ratio, among others.

“STI has put in place a five year strategic blueprint which became operational in 2013 to take advantage of the opportunities in the industry which will enable the company, among other things, enlarge its business scope, reinforce its position as a reckoning brand in the comity of insurance companies in the country, increase its market share by enhancing and leveraging on strategic alliances to improve customer service, deepen competency and increase product range.

“The company has strategic plans to entrench a balanced proactive and conservative risk management culture that deploys ERM framework as a competitive differentiator. The ERM framework will clearly focus on supporting the combined objective of market share leadership as well as high shareholders’ value,” he said.

• From left: Managing Director, Premium Pension, Wison Ideva; former Director, Paul Usoro (SAN); his wife, Mfon; Chairman, Aliyu Abdulrahman Dikko at a send-forth for Mr. Usoro by the company in Abuja.

NIA moves to boost insurance awareness

T

HE Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) is planning a market storm around the country next month to further sensitise and create insurance awareness among Nigerians.

NIA is the umbrella body of insurance operators in the country.

Its Director-General, Sunday Thomas made this known in an interview with The Nation at the weekend in Lagos.

He said the association was conscious that they had a long way in awareness creation.

According to him, this is one of the reasons why insurers have not been able to fully impact or impress on the public.

He disclosed that the association had encouraged the operators to extend their services all over the country.

He said: “At a meeting with the Commissioner for Insurance of the

National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) Fola Daniel, with insurance chief executives, he said you could count on your fingertips the number of insurance companies in some states. In fact, they don’t exist in one or two states.

“This is not a good development because it is happening in a country where there are over 150 million people to work with. Nigeria is large enough to create a giant in Africa and beyond. In terms of import, we do a lot of importation and so it should reflect in marine insurance. We travel more than most countries in the world hence travel insurance should reel in great income for the industry and the country at large. There are about 17 million vehicles in Lagos and we have only insured about three million. This is still far away from where we should be.

“But we are hopeful that with the market storm which will be carried

out in the six geopolitical zones of the country, we will impact and impress on the country.”

Thomas explained that the association will do a wholesale market fli-

ers and marketing materials that will just create awareness on insurance while the individual companies will further market the products that are peculiar to their companies.

First African insurance, pension, bancassurance summit coming

T

HE first sub-Saharan Africa Insurance, Pension and Bancassurance Summit will hold in Lagos from February 24 to 26.

The theme of the event, is “Shaping the future of insurance, pension, and Bancassurance in sub-Saharan Africa”.

Director, Executive Education & International Programmes, West Africa Business School, Prof. Chijioke Ikokwu said the event would provide information and useful insights on driving financial inclusion and increasing insurance and pension penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa through

bancassurance and microinsurance.

He said the insurance, banking and pension industries have experienced steady growth on the back of economic development, population expansion, improved regulatory environment, and increased product awareness.

He noted that low insurance penetration, retirement needs and need for financial inclusion, despite strong underlying growth drivers, continues to offer ample opportunities to insurers, banks and pension administrators in the region.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

40

MOTORING

New Ford F-150 gets best rating W

ITH the capacity to cover more miles per gallon,positive impact on the environment and other features, 2015 Ford F-150 has taken the lead among other vehichles.

Automotive Science Group (ASG) has taken a comprehensive approach to calculating a vehicle’s impact on the environment as well as the complete cost of ownership and impact on social justice issues.

On all three counts, the 2015 Ford F-150 beat out the competition in the pickup truck class.

ASG took into account the full life of vehicles from sourcing parts during production to projected use and disposal. In regular cab, crew cab, and extended cab, the F-150 XL Supercab with 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine topped other light-duty pickups for “environmental performance.”

Despite its advantage in city and highway economy, Ram’s EcoDiesel (23 combined miles per gallon) was determined by ASG to

Stories by Tajudeen Adebanjo

have a bigger impact on the environment than the aluminium F-150 (22 combined miles per gallon).

Since Ram’s diesel model releases a higher amount of particle emissions per mile than the 2015 F-150, the life-cycle edge goes to Ford’s pickup.

Widening the angle to include “economic performance” and overall “social performance,” Ford’s F150 also was the winner in both cases. In annual fuelling costs, there is no comparison between Ram and Ford: F-150 would save owners $2,750 over the EcoDiesel model over the course of five years. Chevy Silverado (20 combined miles per gallon, $750 more in fuelling costs compared to F-150) is much closer to the Ford model with gasoline currently cheaper than diesel fuel.

When the 1500 EcoDiesel won Green Truck of the Year, Ram Chief Executive Officer Ron Hegbloom reiterated that fuel economy in the top priority of truck buyers, but the

•Ford F-150

shift in gas prices has made the F150 far more affordable while providing nearly the same efficiency.

In terms of particulate emissions, there is an even better case to be made for the Ford EcoBoost model

that comes in at a lower sticker price.

Life-cycle emissions tests are becoming more common when comparing green vehicles against gasoline alternatives, and the conver-

sation should include the source of electricity when electric vehicles are concerned. While it may not carry as much weight in the pickup class, Ford F-150 is leader of the pack.

ŠKODA records 1.04 million sales

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OR the first time in its 119year company history, ŠKODA sold more than 1 million vehicles in a calendar year. It set a new sales record in 2014. ŠKODA’s worldwide delivered an increase of 12.7 per cent (1,037,200) vehicles compared to 2013 - 920,800 deliveries). The global market share improved to 1.4 per cent as against 1.3 per cent in 2013. In December alone, global

ŠKODA sales increased by 16.9 per cent to 81,900 units. This was the best December ever in the company’s history. In 2015, the car maker intends to grow further with new models. “ŠKODA made good ground in a challenging 2014 environment and has successfully continued to grow,” ŠKODA Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Winfried Vahland said.

“By setting a new sales record

and delivering more than 1 million vehicles for the first time, the brand has established itself in the ‘Champions League’ of international high-volume manufacturers. The impact of the biggest model campaign in our company history is getting stronger and stronger. Since 2010, we have redesigned almost the entire model portfolio and expanded into new segments. With our new models, we are increasingly winning over

new customer groups. And we won’t take our foot off the accelerator in the coming years,” Vahland stated.

The comprehensive model campaign which was started four years ago was once again the priority for the Czech manufacturer.

“The acceptance of our models and of the brand is higher than ever before. We were able to increase our market share in almost every region,” says Werner

Eichhorn, ŠKODA Board Member for Sales and Marketing.

Back in March, the pioneering study ‘ŠKODA VisionC’ was the first rocket of last year’s ŠKODA product fireworks. The Octavia GTEC, Octavia Scout, three special Monte Carlo editions for the Citigo as well as Yeti and Rapid Spaceback followed over the course of 2014. The new ŠKODA Fabia provided the year’s grand finale in November.

Jaguar unveils F-PACE

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•Hummer HX Concept

GM may revive Hummer to battle Wrangler

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HE calendar may say 2015, but one of the most popular vehicles on the road remains a trucklet born in World War II. As the Jeep Wrangler sets sales records in the United States and around the world, General Motors could finally field a true off-road truck under the GMC brand — if it can only make up its mind after more than a decade of eating Jeep dust.

According to The Wall Street Journal, executives from the GMC brand were asking dealers at a recent national conference whether adding a small off-roader to the lineup was a good idea. Last year, Jeep sold 234,579 Wranglers worldwide, with sales up 13 percent in the United States.

For car fans, this is deja vu all over again. Back when it was building Hummer into a sizable business at the turn of the century, GM laid plans for a Wrangler-killer that would have been called the Hummer H4.

The car above was a concept version,

dubbed the Hummer HX, unveiled at the 2008 Detroit auto show. Sometimes concept cars are little more than mockups; the HX had a full spec sheet, including a 302-hp V-6, removable roof panels and 24 inches of ground clearance. The H4 would have been built off a modified version of GM’s mid-size truck chassis, but the economic collapse and GM’s bankruptcy sank the H4, the entire Hummer brand and the executives who wanted to kick Jeep in the teeth.

Only now, as gas prices ease and GM has returned to full financial health, does the company have the resources to consider a niche truck like a Wranger fighter. GM showed off a hint of its off-road thinking with the Chevy Colorado ZR2 concept at the Los Angeles auto show last year, yet if it approved a full-bore new GMC product today, GM would need at least three years to build it.

Why such reluctance to give buyers what they want? In carbuilding, momentum means everything, and

being popular only makes it harder for a newcomer. The U.S. sales charts would say every company should build a full-size pickup, but if you’re not Ford or GM or Chrysler, doing so requires spending at least $1 billion for a vehicle that — no matter how smart you are — will take years to win acceptance, can’t be sold elsewhere and will likely never make back the investment. It is not just that Jeep sells a lot of Wranglers; it is that those buyers want a Jeep again and again and again, despite what some magazine might say.

In other words, the next Wrangler will look much more like other SUVs under the skin and less like the WWII throwback its fans demand today. (Building the folding windshield out of a unibody frame is going to be worthy of an SAE paper or two.) When the Wrangler changes that dramatically, it will be the first time in ages that GM or another competitor could steal some momentum — if they can only get in gear.

AGUAR has confirmed it will introduce an all-new model to the Jaguar line-up, to go onsale in 2016, named the Jaguar F-PACE. Jaguar Director of Design, Ian Callum, said an overwhelmingly positive response to the C-X17 concept car last year gingered the company to introduce new model.

“The Jaguar F-PACE, inspired by the F-TYPE, represents a perfectly judged balance of performance, style and practicality. It offers a unique combination of Jaguar sports car inspired exterior design, fused beautifully with a thoroughly practical and spacious luxury interior. The F-PACE is our family sports car,” Callum said.

“The Jaguar F-PACE couples class-leading interior space and exceptional on-road dynamics with five-seat usability to produce a true performance crossover. It will encapsulate everything that Jaguar stands for: beautiful design,

precise handling, a supple ride, luxurious interior finishes and cutting-edge technology,” he added.

Speaking in Detroit, Jaguar Land Rover Global Sales Director, Andy Goss announced that the company will celebrate Jaguar’s 80th year anniversary this year. “We have started it by announcing our first performance crossover which we consider to be the ultimate practical sports car - a car that builds on the marque’s founding ideals of Grace, Pace and Space to become one of the most innovative Jaguars we have ever developed. The F-PACE has now began its engineering and development testing programme ahead of the new model going on sale in 2016,” Goss said.

The F-PACE will be manufactured in Solihull, United Kingdom. Jaguar sub-Sahara Africa can confirm that the all-new F-PACE will go on sale locally.

Vehicles’ owners warned

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HE Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Zone 2, the Commissioner of Police Lagos State Command and the Chairman/Operating Officer of (Tow To Go) Automotive Service Ltd Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2, Ikeja, Lagos have warned owners of abandoned vehicles parked at Zone 2 Command Head-quarter; Ifako Division, Gbagada; Apapa Division; Area B; Tolu division; Shagamu Road Division; Ikorodu; Shasha Division; Trinity Division; Oko-Oba Division and Tow To Go Automotive Services Ltd MM2 Ikeja, Lagos, to come forward with their original documents and remove them or lose them to members of the public through auction sales after 21 days of this publi-

cation.

They are: Tuareg Volkswagen Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) marked: NR 310 KJA; Honda Accord car: FT 506 KRD; Toyota Corolla car: EPE 500 AD; M/Benz car: UX 30 KJA; Mazda car: EE 79 LSR; car marked: DE 412 APP; Honda CRV SUV: CG 299 AAA; V/wagon buses: SM 630 XA: EPE 716 XH and XR 343 KRD; Toyota Camry car: GGE 366 AG; M/Benz car: DM 971 LND; Omega car: EQ 660 AAA; Ford car: EA 915 SMK; Toyota Rav4 SUV: JJJ 440 AC; Ford SUV: RU 195 KJA; Toyota Corolla Saloon car: TB 970 KJA; Toyota Hilux: XR 115 JJJ; Vanagon bus: XL 271 KRD; Toyota Sienna bus, Nissan Quest, V/wagon bus and Iveco Ford truck, all unregistered.

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don’t know when it has become the ‘ Ibusiness of the National Security Adviser to talk about when the INEC should conduct elections. Everybody has been able to see through their game

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Why PDP is jittery, by commissioner Former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly and Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Hon. Wale Ahmed defected to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011. The Commissioner for Special Duties is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Committee. He spoke with EMMANUEL OLADESU on the succession battle in the Centre of Excellence.

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S Lagosians prepare to vote, what are the issues on the front burner?

The first issue is experience. Then, trust. Our candidate has more experience than the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr. Akinwumi Ambode rose through the ranks in the civil service in Lagos State. He has worked as an accountant at the local government level. In the civil service, he rose to the position of the Accountant-General of Lagos State. I am emphasising on experience because Lagos State is so big and the economy of this state is like of that of the five West African states put together. This is not a time for anybody to start learning rudimentary administration. The candidate of the PDP, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, belongs to a noble profession. He is a pharmacist. But, nothing in his profession and practice as a pharmacist over the years qualifies him to be the governor of Lagos State. His training and practice could not have prepared him for that. Trust, belief and love are issues. another thing that will mark our candidate out is that he is the candidate of the party the people of Lagos believe in. Then, he emerged as a candidate in a clean, clear and transparent primary election. Lagosians see him as the candidate of a party, whose leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was governor of the state that took over from the military in 1999. I was fortunate to be part of that government as a member of the House of Assembly. In eight years, Asiwaju worked for Lagosians and that it still his selling point. Nigerians believe that he has the love of his people at heart and he is always ready to serve them. He handed over to Governor Babatunde Fashola, whose record of performance is not debatable in the country. These two people are going around with Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, who also have his own sterling qualities. Lagosians believe these people and they trust the party. To the glory of God, Lagosians believe that the party has served them and its government has delivered dividends of democracy to them.

Some people are calling for the postponement of the elections. Do you see any justification for that?

There cannot be any justification for that. I will describe it as an expression of extreme jitteriness. The PDP is jittery. It is occasioned by a feeling of impending woeful failure on the part of the PDP. They are jittery. They see what is going on. In fact, the election cannot go any other way, but for the APC to win.

The ovation is louder for the APC in all the nooks and crannies of the country. People want change. So, they should not try it. I heard what Sambo Dasuki said. I don’t know when it has become the business of the National Security Adviser to talk about when the INEC should conduct elections. Everybody has been able to see through their game.

All Nigerians are speaking with one voice. They are saying no to the postponement of the elections. Gen. Buhari of the APC is coasting home to victory by moon slide. There are questions: are we better than we were four years ago in all areas of

national life? With a budget of N5 trillion every year, the government should have done better. But, what the government done? They say inflation is going down. They said they have rebased our economy.

They say it is now bigger than that of the South Africa. But, has this impacted positively on our life in terms of security, poverty reduction, employment for youths after leaving school? The fact is that we are not feeling it.

How can violence be averted during the general elections?

Nigerians should troop out to vote. After voting, they should wait behind to police their votes. They should wait until the votes are counted and results announced.

They should refuse to be intimidated by anybody. If violence erupts, it will be easy for the whole world to know who started violence and who fomented trouble.

People should be peaceful. They should go to the polling units with food and water. They should be on the queue and have the patience to vote. After voting, they should wait as the votes are being counted and the results announced. They should be orderly. If they are orderly, there will be no excuse for anybody to attack anybody. Violence will not work in this election. People have made up their mind that they want change. The platform for change is the APC and the person that personifies the change is Gen. Buhari.

Are the campaigns issue-based?

The APC is campaigning based on issues. The PDP is attacking our candidate. Initially, they said that he did not have a certificate. Later, there was a statement of results from his school. The principal of the school is saying that the result is available for verification. When the result was published, they said they noticed some marks and lines there. They said it was forged, it was fake. Gen. Buhari should not have responded. he was commissioned into the Nigerian Army. He held command positions. He fought in the civil war. he was military governor, federal commissioner, GOC, Head of State, PTF Chairman. They said that he top-

should talk ’They about issues.

They are talking about bold ideas.

His bold idea is fishery. What is the bold idea in that? I will refer Mr. Jimi Agbaje to Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture so that he can tell him the giant strides in agriculture

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•Ahmed

pled a democratic government. In the army, that was the practice. He is now a democrat. He is not the only Head of State who came through a coup. Obasanjo, Babangida came to power in a coup. Section 131 of the constitution has listed the requirement for a person to become the President. It is school certificate or its equivalent.

In Section 318 (1), it is any other qualification acceptable to the INEC. The requirement is that the person should be educated up to the school certificate level. He may not even have the school certificate.

That is my belief, until the court says otherwise. The testimonial is enough. The main requirement is the ability to read and write. Any other certificate that is equivalent is the training on the job. There is any other qualification acceptable to the INEC. The INEC has not said that it has problems with Buhari.

What is the hue and cry about? Nigerians want Buhari. he represents the change they want. They are talking about the certificate of a Major General in the Nigerian Army.

The PDP candidate, Jimi Agbaje, has said that Ambode will not be able to perform because he will not be independent of his godfathers. What is your reaction?

I don’t know whether they saw any godfather in Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos when Ambode became the candidate at the clean, clear and transparent primaries. It is Agbaje who has godfathers. After he was declared the winner in a rancorous primary election at Oregun, the second day, there was the picture of Chief Bode George and Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe hugging one another with broad smiles on their faces celebrating Agbaje’s victory. That gave me an impression that they are his godfather. They should talk about issues. They are talking about bold ideas. His bold idea is fishery.

What is the bold idea in that? I will refer Mr. Jimi Agbaje to Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture so that he can tell him the giant strides in agriculture.

Group back Ezea for Enugu governor

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GROUP, the League of Professionals in Enugu State has unfolded plans to mobilise the people to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Chief Okey Ezea, at the general elections.

The group described Ezea, a lawyer, as a dependable and committed politician, who has the love of the state at heart.

In a statement in Enugu, the state capital, the group said that Enugu State is ripe for power shift.

It added: “We have carefully and critically analysed the candidates who have been presented by their parties for the exercise and come to the conclusion that Chief Okey Ezea of the All Progressive Congress (APC) is the most suitable person to govern Enugu State in 2015.

In reality, the battle is between Okey Ezea and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and these are the candidates we invested much of our time investigating.

“The other candidates are political jobbers, who are there to fill the vacuum that may be created by some technicalities.

“On performance, Ifeanyi

•Okey Ezea

Ugwuanyi has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2003. No tangible project has been attracted by him to the communitieshe represents. We could not associate him with any tangible motion or bill throughout the period.

“Okey Ezea, on the other hand, has been in private business. His business has grown into an internatyional conglomerate. It is our firm belief, following our findings, that Okey Ezea will transform Enugu State with the same zeal and precision he built his business.”

APC members defect to PDP in Kebbi

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HE Peoples Democratic FromKhadijat Saidu, Party (PDP) in Kebbi State Birnin Kebbi has enlarged its coast, following the defection of All Progressives Congress (APC) members to the party. The defectors said they moved to the PDP in solidarity with its governorship candidate.

Addressing the defectors at Koko-Besse, the PDP Chairman, Bello Doya, said the party will give them a sense of belonging.

Doya commended party supporters for their mobilisation prowess, urging them to remain steadfast and loyal to the party.

Kebbi Central PDP senatorial flag bearer Alhaji Abubakar Gari Mallam called on the people to vote for the PDP and avoid political violence.

Obanikoro woos Lagosians for Jonathan

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ORMER Minister of State for DeBy Jeremiah Oke fence Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has called on the people of Lagos State to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan at the general elections.

He described the President as a non-tribal leader, who has always avoided discrimination, nepotism or favouritism.

Obanikoro, who spoke at a rally organised by the Goodluck Sambo Independent Campaign Group in Badagry, said those opposed to the President’s re-election’s bid are selfish.

He added: “Jonathan has made Nigeria his constituency and has never discriminated against any tribe. We cannot continue to judge Buhari based on what we think he will do in future. He should be judged by what he did as a former Head of State.”

Community endorses Okowa for governor

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HE people of Igbide, Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State, have endorsed Senator Ifeanyi Okowa for governor. Okowa, a former Secretary to Government, is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate.

Rising from its meeting at Owodokpokpo-Igbide, the Igbide Political Elite Forum (IPEF), described Okowa as the best man for the job.

The group aslo endorsed Senator James Manager for the Senate, Hon. Leo Okuweh for the House of Representatives and Hon. Johnson Obokparo Erijo for the House of Assembly in Isoko South Constiotuency 11.

In a statement representatives of the community; Chief Daniel Erara Egwero, Prince Godspower

•Okowa

Obukeni and Alex Ovie, the people promised to mobilise for Okowa’s victory at the poll.

They described the candidate as an experienced politician, who has served the state as a local government chairman, commissioner, Secretary to Government and senator.

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are some politicians who ‘ there are aware that they have not performed or done anything to warrant the people’s support ‘

‘Uncommon transformation ‘ll continue in Akwa Ibom’

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Hon. Fatai Olukoga, in this interview with DADA ALADELOKUN, explains why the party must continue to steer the ship of the state.

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‘Jonathan doesn’t deserve second term’

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HERE are fears that the general elections will make or mar Nigeria. What is your position?

The election will hold this year. No matter the plans they are having, the people will come out and vote. Nigerians are ready to cast their votes for the right candidates. And of course, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is trying to cause problems; this we could see through the bombardment of the APC’s Data Office in Lagos. They came up with the unfounded allegation that the APC is trying to scuttle the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) register. They used the Department of Security Service (DSS) and other agencies like the police to intimidate the APC and cause trouble so that at the end, the election will not hold.

But on February 14, Nigerians will troop out for the elections.

What do make of the various calls for the postponement of the elections?

To me, Nigerians are ready for the elections. There are some politicians who are aware that they have not performed or done anything to warrant the people’s support; I mean the PDP. They have equally seen that other political parties have come out with credible candidates to vie for posts. They have erred in the areas of tackling insurgency and others areas.

Nigerians have seen that the President is not a man of integrity, who started first by saying he would not contest for second term. Now, he wants to contest for second term, when there are documents to show when he said he would not run for a second term. He has again said he would set up another body that will tackle corruption. So, what happens to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and other antigraft agencies? It all goes to say that they don’t have the capability to fight corruption. What the President ought to have done is to honourably resign.

What makes the APC better than the PDP? In most of the APC states, we can see what they are doing. We can see the level of development in the states.

It happened during Asiwaju Bola Tinubu era in Lagos State; we can see

what Mr. Babatunde Fashola is doing. When Gbenga Daniel ran Ogun State for eight years, the people could see for themselves that there was nothing like good governance. But look at the present governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; you can see that the man has transformed the state. We have flyovers Abeokuta, Sagamu and Ijebu Ode. You can see the development the man has brought to the state. Now, let’s come to education; if you go to states where the APC is ruling, the education policy has enabled the ordinary people to get education. APC has the credibility; it has something to show in states they have governed. What can the PDP put forward in terms of what it has done for the people?

Many people have complained about their inability to have their PVCs. How should the matter be resolved?

I think it is a good thing that government has listened to the cries of Nigerians over the inability to access the PVC. Just recently, President Goodluck Jonathan said the PVC should be provided for the people. I think the decision was taken because they are aware that they have been caught in their game. They are aware that they have made the mistake.

They were hiding the PVC by not allowing them to get to the people. The PVC distribution was not effectively handled; they asked the people to go to councils to collect their PVC which is far away from where they reside.

At the councils, people were queuing endlessly for the PVC. The people have to go to a particular place to get their PVC and where you see overcrowded people for the purpose of collecting PVC is not good enough. You could see what happened during the recruitment at the Nigerian Immigration Services employment. People died because they had to go to one particular place for the exercise. That shows they don’t know what they are doing. If they know how to govern, they would not come up with that type of suggestion. I can assure you that in 2015 when the APC comes into power, the problems of mismanaging the

•Olukoga

economy will be addressed. We have seen from the President’s campaign, his agenda in term of how he will run the country. He has told us what he is going to do in terms of employment, insurgency and other issues.

The APC government in Lagos State has brought development to the five divisions that make up the state. In the coming years, money will be sunk to the Lagos State employment drive which will further generate employment for our youths in the state.

The PDP’s ineptitude is very obvious. For instance, the Lagos State PDP campaign slogan is bold idea.

But, what the bold idea is has not been articulated to the people. I can assure you that the APC candidate will take advantage of what the present administration has done and build more on it. The APC has the template but does the PDP have a template? I want to say they don’t have anything convincing to offer to the people of Lagos State.

With all that is happening, can INEC conduct a credible election?

With the way INEC is conducting itself, I will say boldly that the commission has been bought. When Prof. Attahiru Jega got INEC’s job he said he will be honest in the discharge of his duty but from what we have been seeing that promise is being compromised. So, people can see that he has been bought. Also, the police, State Security Service (SSS), army and other agencies of government have been bought. That is why they said that Lagos had a voting population of six million in 2011, and they now say it is four million and even at that, the four million cannot get their PVC.

HE Akwa Ibom Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has promised to continue with the uncommon transformation agenda of Governor Godswill Akpabio.

Emmanuel, who spoke at Ikot Ekpene Stadium, Ikot-Ekpene, also promised to provide jobs for youths to enable them earn a living.

He promised to empower women and widows, if elected as the governor.

Akpabio, who urged the people to support Emmanuel, said: “As a PDP state, we won’t allow propaganda to come into our state through opposition parties. Marginalisation has been ruled out from Akwa Ibom State. Indeed, the PDP has brought transformation to our state and our country through industrialization.

So, PDP is owned by all of you and not by an individual”.

The governor said he was impressed by the massive turn out at the rally, urging them to sustain the tempo.

He urged the people to supprt President Goodluck Jonathan for second term, assuring that he will protect their interest.

Earlier, Akpabio had paid homage to the paramount ruler of Ikot Ekpene, Edidem Okuku Augustus

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By Jeremiah Oke

ing that I win the primary because they believe I am not a threat to them. Let me tell you, come February 28, we are going to contest and win the election. I am the next governor of the state”, he added.

The Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Chief Olajumoke Akinjide, urged the electorate to support President Jonathan and the PDP candidate in the state.

“Our reporters here should not forget how Buhari jailed many people when he introduced decree number 4 during his tenure as the head of state. If media write anything bad about him, they will go to jail. However, Jonathan came and signed. Freedom of Information Bill.

So, which of them is good? Who is the friend of the masses? Who is the

friend of the youths? Please, vote for him. Also our governor, Folarin is a credible candidate, who has contributed to the development of the nation. He is a young man. He is a true son of the soil and he has promised to collaborate with the federal government to create Ibadan State. Trust him, work for him and pray for him.

He is the only credible candidate to rule Oyo State at this critical time.”

The dignitaries at the event include; the chairman of the party, Alhaji Yinka Taiwo, former senator Lekan Balogun, chief Yekini Adeojo, Senator Ayoola Agbola, former deputy governor Alhaji Azzem Gbolarunmi, and Alhaji. Kehinde Olaosebikan.

Others are: Alhaja Abosede Adedibu, Senator Ayo Adeseun, Proffesor Taoreed Adedoja and Muraina Ajibola.

Assiak at his residence and presented Emmanuel to him as the candidate.

The PDP Chairman, Mr. Paul Ekpo, who presented flags to the parliamentary candidates, assured that Ikot Ekpene would vote for the PDP at the polls.

In their goodwill messages, stakeholders in Ikot Ekpene reaffirmed their support for President Jonathan’s bid for a second term.

They also promised to elect Akpabio as a senator, saying that he has performed as the governor.

Emerhor to provide jobs in Delta

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ELTA State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Otega Emerhor has promised to provide jobs for youths. He also promised to build more hospitals for rural communities. The flag bearer told a huge crowd of supporters in Patani, that access points will be established to facilitate the development of local communities.

He said the APC will collate the data of unemployed graduates for strategic empowerment and job placement in ministries, departments and agencies of government.

The APC candidate said the era of godfatherism in job placement will be over, if elected as the governor.

He promised to build standard hospitals in Patani and other major towns.

Emerhor said more community health centres will be built in villages and qualified medical officers will be employed to restore primary health services in rural areas.

He said the propaganda against the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, will not

I’m threat to Ajimobi, says Folarin HE Oyo State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Teslim Folarin, has described his emergence as the flagbearer of the party as a threat to the opposition.

Folarin said when the opposition parties heard that he was the winner of the primary, they became ‘jittery’.

Folarin, who visited Bodija International market, Ibadan, promised not to let the people down, if voted as the governor.

He urged the electorate to get their permanent voter’s card and vote for President Jonathan and other PDP candidates.

“The opposition parties are now jittery when they heard I won the primary of our party. Meanwhile, these are the people that were pray-

•Emmanuel

•Folarin

work, adding that the former Head of State will defeat President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll.

He described the PDP is a sinking party suffering from decline in popularity, ahead of the polls.

Emerhor said Nigerians will reclaim its lost glory when the PDP is voted out of power.

Emerhor eeds. promised to implement a rural integration programme that will make rural areas attractive to youths.

He also promised to fund the local government to make the third tier more functional and responsive to the needs of rural dwellers.

The flag bearer said he will use his wealth of experience to create industries in the area, thereby guaranteeing job opportunities.

Emerhor said Patani, being a rural community surrounded by water, will benefit from the agro-allied policy of his administration.

Group pledges support for Buhari

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group, the Voters Initiative Network, has thrown its weight behind Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s presidential ticket.

Justifying the need to support their candidacy, the group said, the two men will promite the interest of Nigerians.

The convener, David Henry, said the group’s mission is to assist the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates. “We will embark on door to door campaign for these preferred candidates – Buhari/Oshinbajo, distribute fliers and sensitise people why there must be change in Nigeria.”

The group also hinted of plans to organise a five million youth match to bolster its campaigndrive initiative. “Nigeria is blessed with abundant resources, and youths have been neglected over the years in every facet of governance and support. We need change.”

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NEWS Scholars seek help for journalists in elections, insurgency reporting

By Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

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•Scene of an accident at Ado Village in Nasarawa State...at the weekend.

PHOTO: NAN

GROUP of scholars and journalists is seeking reforms to empower reporters to effectively cover the general elections and insurgency in the Northeast.

The professionals spoke at the weekend at Covenant University’s guest house in Ota, Ogun State.

They urged the government, media owners and the public to improve security, training and welfare for journalists, particularly when they cover sensitive assignments, such as elections and insurgency.

The participants at the consultative meeting were drawn from the Department of Mass Communication of the university, the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), Association of Communication Scholars and Practitioners of Nigeria (ACSPN) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

In a communiqué by its convener, Prof Cecil Blake of the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University and the representatives of the other groups, the forum urged the government and the society to provide security for journalists in the course of their duties.

The communique reads: “The forum recognises that the government is constitutionally responsible for the protection of lives and property, especially towards the 2015 elections and the unfolding insurgency in some parts of the country. We also recognise that journalists in Nigeria are exposed to danger, especially in the coverage of elections and the unfolding insurgency.”

my Certificate of Return, How to prevent violence during Issue APC Senator-elect tells INEC elections, by JNI T T HE apex Islamic body in the North, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), has said free, fair and credible elections will prevent a repeat of the 2011 post-election violence.

It noted that the acceptance of the outcome of the elections by all, especially the major stakeholders, was significant to post-election peace.

Addressing reporters yesterday in Kaduna, JNI’s Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, on behalf of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, said election stakeholders should ensure justice in the conduct of this year’s polls.

It said: “...Bearing the burden of the trust of leadership, being conscious of the imperative of truthfulness in salvaging a rather drifting polity and, most importantly

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

for the sake of posterity, the JNI hereby asserts that the most significant antidotes to violence are: free, fair and credible elections on one hand and faithful acceptance of the outcome of elections by all.

“In any election, there must be winners and losers. We would only get it right when the elections are obviously and manifestly seen to be transparent and credible in conduct and, consequently, the losers accept defeat in good faith.”

JNI urged the major presidential and governorship candidates to respect the Abuja Peace Accord and avoid utterances that may trigger violence.

It said: “It is our firm belief that doing everything possible to forestall violence and save lives and property in the forthcoming elections is our collective obligation that we all have to discharge and we must, therefore, stand up to do it faithfully and devoutly.

“From the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) distribution and other preparations towards the elections, to the political rallies and campaigns at various levels, there have always emerged issues and incidents that generated excitements, concerns and even anxieties.

“Against the backdrop of these happenings, the JNI feels obliged to comment with a view to calling on, not only Muslims but the entire citizens

of our great country, to demonstrate real and genuine sense of patriotism, responsibility, tolerance and commitment to peace and stability in Nigeria before, during and after the elections.

“As an important stakeholder in the elections, in the governance of the country and indeed because of its firm commitment to the country’s unity, stability and progress, the JNI believes that this call on the citizens for peace is essentially and genuinely a religious and civic obligation.

“It has always been the case, not only in Nigeria but in all democratic societies in the world, that seasons of general elections are usually fraught with anxieties, uncertainties and even tensions. It is apparent that the elections in the next two weeks are the most keenly contested in the history of our country...”

Report: Nigeria lost N154b foreign investments in 2014

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OREIGN investors took out over N154 billion in portfolio investments in 2014, it has been learnt.

Concerns over Nigeria’s risk profile made many foreign investors to opt for the sideline, despite the attractive valuations of Nigerian’s equity investments.

The latest Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) report of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that Nigeria recorded a foreign portfolio investment deficit in 2014 as against the surplus recorded in 2013.

The report, obtained at the weekend, indicated that Nigeria recorded a negative net foreign portfolio position of N154.14 billion in 2014 as against a positive net position of a modest N20.48 billion in 2013.

By Taofik Salako

The NSE report is generally regarded as a credible gauge of foreign portfolio investments in Nigeria because it coordinates data from nearly all active investment bankers and stockbrokers.

Nigeria operates a monostock exchange, which makes the NSE the sole gateway to the nation’s stock market and the NSE’s benchmark indices, the country indices for Nigeria.

The NSE report used two key indicators-inflow and outflow, to gauge foreign investors’ mood and participation in the stock market as a barometer for the economy. Foreign portfolio investment outflow includes sales transactions or liquidation of equity portfolio investments through the stock market while

inflow includes purchase transactions on the NSE. The 12-month report showed that foreign portfolio outflow was N846.53 billion as against inflow of N692.39 billion in 2014, representing a net deficit of N154.14 billion. In 2013, total foreign inflow stood at N531.26 trillion compared with outflow of N510.78 trillion, leaving a positive balance of N20.48 billion.

The report showed a notable spike in foreign transactions, although the negative colouration indicated that the propensity was towards divestment rather than investment. Total foreign transactions rose by 52.5 per cent to N1.54 trillion in 2014 as against N1.01 trillion in 2013.

Meanwhile, foreign investors remained the dominant bloc at the Nigerian stock market.

Foreign transactions accounted

for 52.52 per cent of total transactions in 2014 while domestic investors accounted for 42.48 per cent. In 2013, foreign investors had accounted for 50.80 per cent while Nigerian investors accounted for 49.20 per cent.

Domestic investors traded N1.137 trillion in 2014 as against N1.009 trillion in 2013.

Market analysts said investors were anxious about Nigeria’s macroeconomic and monetary outlook in the light of the declining global oil prices and rising economic risks. They also cited the increasing political risk. However, analysts were positive on the outlook for the Nigerian market noting that the attractive valuation, resilience of the market fundamentals and the commitment of the government to pull through the global crude oil price challenge.

Oil price fall: Suswam urges Fed Govt to declare economic emergency

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ENUE State Governor Gabriel Suswam has urged the Federal Government to declare an economic emergency to mitigate the effects of the fall in the price of oil on the international market.

The governor, who addressed reporters at the beginning of his campaign for the Benue Northeast Senatorial seat in Katsina-Ala, said the state was owing salaries because of the dwindling revenue from the Federation Ac-

From Yusuf Alli and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

count.

He said the country would go through hard times, if an economic emergency was not declared.

Suswam said the Federal Government would have problems paying salaries from next June or July, if nothing is not done to stem the tide.

The governor stressed that Nigerians could not afford to play politics with falling oil

price and its consequences.

He said: “Forget about the propaganda. The salary thing is a national and global thing.

But we are still managing and finding ways on how best this can be handled. I believe that down the road, within this year, if this country does not declare an economic emergency, we will have problems. Thst’s because the way the price of oil is going, I don’t know which other way we can continue.

“Even the Federal Government, by June or July, will be-

gin to have problems. I know that when the National Assembly resumes, it will not pass the $65 benchmark per barrel.

“The reality is that the thing has gone down to $48. So, we are going to have problems.

I think we should not play politics with it. Some people are trying to play politics with it. No person, who becomes the President, will perform magic. If you don’t have money, you don’t have money. There is no magic about it.”

HE senator-elect for Niger East, David Umaru of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue his Certificate of Return, in compliance with the judgement of the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal.

Justice Ibrahim Bako, the chairman of the three-man tribunal, on Friday, ordered INEC to issue Umaru the Certificate of Return, having scored the highest lawful votes cast in the August 30, 2014, by-election.

Umaru spoke for the first time yesterday in Minna, the state capital, following his vic-

From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

tory at the election tribunal, which nullified the return of Dr. Shem Zagbayi Nuhu.

He said: “I expect the commission to comply with the order immediately.”

The senator-elect said the judgement was a vindication of the collective decision of the people in the senatorial district and a lesson to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the people would no longer allow the theft of their mandate.

He said the victory would galvanise him and APC to ensure victory for the party’s candidates in this month’s general elections.

Students disown Kwara PDP candidate Ajibola

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HE National Association of Ekiti Kwara Students and the Ekiti Local Government Area’s chapter of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) have disowned the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) governorship candidate, Sen. Simeon Ajibola.

The students’ group told reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, that they took the decision because Ajibola had not affected their lives as students or youths.

They also accused the senator representing Kwara South in the National Assembly of not sponsoring a Bill in his 12 years at the Senate.

Adeniyi Daramola, who spoke for the two groups, said the senator had never attracted any befitting project to the district.

The spokesman said the PDP candidate only patronised the Millennium Development Goals (MDAs) for contracts.

He said the little projects he credited to himself with were poorly executed and carried out by his company, which allegedly served as the project consultant.

Daramola said: “We are embarrassed by imaginary projects adorning posters, billboards, print, electronic and social media ...which Kwara South people cannot see.

“We hereby disown Sen. Simeon Ajibola for denigrating the good people of Ekiti Local Government Area for misrepresentation and going against the collective wish of our people.

“In fact, to show the disdain he has for our people, the wedding ceremony of his son held in Lagos and Ilorin, instead of his hometown. It would have been an opportunity for his friends to know how unpopular he is at home.”

Plateau PDP chief denies dumping party

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CHIEFTAIN of Plateau State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Godfrey Miri, has denied dumping the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Miri, who contested the governorship seat but lost in the primary, reportedly planned to join APC. But a statement yesterday in Jos, the state capital, by his campaign coordinator, Chaplain Gideon Yoila, said the PDP chieftain had not dumped the party.

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

The statement said: “It has been reported in the media that my boss, Mr. Miri, has defected from the PDP and joined the APC. That report is malicious and unfounded.

“I was told that a man, posing to be Miri’s campaign director-general, at the beginning of APC’s governorship campaign in Jos, announced that he had moved to the APC with Miri’s blessings and that Miri would do same on his return from Abuja.”

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

NIGERIA DECIDES

NIGERIA DECIDES

Soludo: N30 trillion gone under OkonjoIweala’s watch as Finance Minister •Continued from page 3

ally? I will deal with the AMCON I envisaged and the AMCON under you later but let me state that even if 100 per cent of the banks’ NPL was offloaded on AMCON, it would not be up to N5.7 trillion. Enough said for now. The fact is that the Federal Government has not put a penny in the AMCON fund: the banking system is financing itself, and together with the sinking fund by banks, AMCON surely can’t default (thanks to consolidation that the banks are now big enough to cough out such funds to solve the system’s problem). Did you intend to deceive the readers by refusing to tell them that much of the AMCON fund is ‘investment’ and not ‘expense’. I am sure you heard the IMF’s alarm about moral hazard? If you want, we can have a focused debate on AMCON. EXT, let me briefly respond to a few outlandish claims. She brags about ‘single-digit’ inflation rate ‘now’ and alleges that when I left office, inflation was above 13 per cent, I just laughed at this one. In Nigeria’s history, no governor of the CBN has delivered 24 consecutive months of single digit inflation as I did until the advent of the unprecedented global crisis in 2008.

It was not for nothing that the world cheered us as monetary policy czar, Madam! Perhaps you are also not aware that we broke a world record by having a depreciated real effective exchange rate during a time of export boom and this was at the heart of our reserve accumulation and the portfolio/FDI inflows. I resisted the IMF advice to deplete reserves for liquidity management, and Nigeria had enough self-insurance to survive the global crisis. The opposite has happened under you Madam, and the Nigerian economy is in trouble. Naira exchange rate appreciated under me from N133 to N117 before the global crisis; and reserves grew to all time high of $62 billion. For the first time since 1986, the official, interbank and parallel market exchange rates converged under me. You can’t match these records!

I hereby challenge your attempt to blame others for not saving for the rainy day. It is not a virtue when you are quick to appropriate all the credit when things are going well, but shift the blame when they go wrong. You blame the state governors— who, according to you, have taken the Federal Government to the Supreme Court—not that a Supreme Court judgment forced your hands. For your information, the governors have never agreed to savings and always threatened court action even under Obasanjo. Why did we save under Obasanjo but not under Jonathan? Two keywords explain it: leadership and integrity. Governor Amaechi said the governors insisted on sharing the funds because they found out that you were illegally fiddling with the savings. So, as Nigerians still wonder, if billions of dollars are now ‘missing’ under your nose, why should governors trust you to keep their money? Do the states that have taken the Federal Government to the Supreme Court and refused to save also include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors—who are in the majority? If so, then it is fatal: even governors of your own party, PDP, do not trust you to keep their money! Furthermore, did the governors also stop the Federal Government from saving part of its share? If you ran a surplus budget at the federal level, you would have had credibility to blame others or to say they did not listen to your advice. The key point is that since you were running huge deficits yourself, it was also in your own interest to share the ECA. You did not show leadership or credibility, full stop!

Next, Madam, I was really embarrassed for you to read that one of the reasons for declining forex reserves is ‘oil theft’. Under you as Minister of Finance and coordinator of the economy, the basket of our national treasury is leaking profusely from all sides. Just a few illustrations! First, you admit that ‘oil theft’ has reduced oil output from the average 2.3 - 2.4 million barrels per day (mpd) to 1.95mpd (meaning that at least 350,000

N

to 450,000 barrels per day are being ‘stolen’. On the average of 400,000 per day and the oil prices over the past four years, it comes to about $60 billion ‘stolen’ in just four years. In today’s exchange rate, that is about N12.6 trillion. This is at a time of cessation of crisis in the Niger Delta and amnesty programme. Can you tell Nigerians how much the amnesty programme costs, and also the annual cost for ‘protecting’ the pipelines and security of oil wells? And the ‘thieves’ are spirits? Come on, Madam!

Second, my earlier article stated that the minimum forex reserves should have been at least $90 billion by now and you did not challenge it. Rather it is about $30 billion, meaning that gross mismanagement has denied the country some $60 billion or another N12.6 trillion.

Now add the ‘missing’ $20 billion from the Nigerian National Petrooleum Corporation (NNPC). You promised a forensic audit report ‘soon’, and more than a year later the Report itself is still ‘missing’. This is over N4 trillion, and we do not know how much more has ‘missed’ since Sanusi cried out. How many trillions of naira were paid for oil subsidy (unappropriated?). How many trillions (in actual fact) have been ‘lost’ through customs duty waivers over the last four years? As coordinator of the economy, can you tell Nigerians why the price of automotive gas oil (AGO), popularly called diesel, has still not come down despite the crash in global crude oil prices, and how much is being appropriated by friends in the process? Be honest: do you really know (as coordinator and minister of finance) how many trillions of Naira, self- financing government agencies earn and spend? I have a long list but let me wait for now. I do not want to talk about other ‘black pots’ that impinge on national security. My estimate, Madam, is that probably more than N30 trillion has either been stolen or lost or unaccounted for or simply mismanaged under your watchful eyes in the past four years. Since you claim to be in charge, Nigerians are right to ask you to account. Think about what this amount could mean for the 112 million poor Nigerians or for our schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure.

Soon, you will start asking the citizens to pay this or that tax, while some faceless “thieves” were pocketing over $40 million per day from oil alone.

You alluded to debt relief in your response and tried to take credit. Well, your CV is honest enough to admit that your two achievements in office as Finance minister under Obasanjo were that “you led the Nigerian team that struck a deal with the Paris Club” and that you “introduced the practice of publishing each state’s monthly financial allocation in the newspapers”. You are right about the two achievements. Let me put on record that Nigeria would have secured debt relief under anyone as Minister of Finance. President Obasanjo secured debt relief for Nigeria.

Much of his first term was used to get Nigeria back into the international community and to campaign for debt relief.

Before you were sworn in as Minister of Finance, President Bush visited Nigeria and both of us accompanied President Obasanjo during the meeting. There, Mr. Bush promised to support Nigeria with debt relief and asked our president to ensure that he met the conditions of the Paris Club. Obasanjo mobilised the global political support and coordinated all of us to ensure that the government met the check-list of ‘conditionalities’ as required. I spent five weeks in the hotel with my team (as coordinator/chairman for drafting the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, NEEDS).

Some of the reform targets in NEEDS became the ‘conditionalities’ Nigeria was required to fulfil to merit debt relief. You and I signed the various MoU with the IMF on behalf of Nigeria (the policy support instrument). We had a great team at work and each member of the economic team had specific aspects of the conditionalities to deliver: Bode Agusto was in-charge of the budget; Oby Ezek-

wesili held sway at Bureau of Public Procurement and later Minister of Solid Mineral, and Education (but specifically tasked with delivering on EITI and procurement reforms); Nuhu Ribadu was at the EFCC fighting corruption; I was at the CBN delivering on monetary policy and banking reforms; Steve Oronsaye worked hard to delist Nigeria from the FATF; Nenadi Usman was in-charge of the parastatals; El-Rufai held forth at FCT and in charge of public sector reforms; privatisation programme went on, etc. Did you know that the IMF wrote President Obasanjo threatening that there would be no debt relief if the CBN did not meet some monetary targets, and do you know the magic we performed to meet them? Can you tell Nigerians which of the ‘conditionalities’ that you personally implemented? With the groundswell of political support and Nigeria meeting all the ‘conditionalities’, debt relief was assured.

Your major role as stated in your CV was to lead the team to negotiate the specific terms of the relief, having fulfilled the conditions. I still believe that Nigeria should have gotten far better terms than you negotiated. Of course, with your eyes on returning to the World Bank after office, I did not expect you to boldly stand up to the donor community in defence of Nigeria. Was there a conflict of interest on your part?

By the way, can you tell Nigerians why you were eased out as Finance Minister and you cried like a baby begging OBJ to still allow you remain in the Economic Management team—— barely few weeks after the debt relief? Why were you eventually also removed from the economic management team if you were so important? Ironically, President Jonathan has recycled you, with a bigger title and greater responsibilities. But the difference is that the team that did the actual work is no longer there, and the world has seen that the king is naked.

OU are brilliant Madam, but you need serious help. Having spent all your life in the World Bank bureaucracy largely in administration/operations, no one will blame you if your economics has become a bit rusty.

There are firebrand Nigerians all over the world to draft to service. It is certainly embarrassing to Nigeria for you to be bothering World Bank economists to help you with most basic economic analysis.

Your response on the poverty issue is deeply troubling. You accuse me of using “2011 statistics on poverty by the NBS to support his argument, while ignoring more recent figures”. At least you did not refute the NBS figure as valid. In the next sentence, Madam went ahead to note that “as stated in the Nigeria Economic Report 2014 by the World Bank, poverty in Nigeria has dropped from 35.2 percent of population in 2010/2011 to 33.1 percent in 2012/2013”. Did you notice that you have quoted two figures for poverty for the same year as being equally correct? So, for 2011, was poverty 71 per cent (according to NBS) or 35 per cent according to the World Bank?

To the best of my knowledge, the last published household survey by NBS was in 2011. The World Bank does not conduct household surveys in member states to determine poverty incidence.

So, when and by whom was the survey that gave the World Bank figures?

What worries me is that this government is the first in our history to attempt to manipulate our national statistics under Dr.Okonjo-Iweala. When NBS published the poverty figures in 2011, she felt indicted and incensed. She called upon the World Bank to come and examine the ‘methodology’ and get NBS to ‘review’ its numbers. Mrs. Ezekwesili (as VP Africa Region rejected the call to try to tamper with a country’s statistics).

Y

•Sanusi

•The late Yar’Adua

Once Oby left, the ‘World Bank’ started talking about ‘new figures’, without conducting any new surveys. I was told about it by a World Bank economist, and I cautioned that it was a dangerous gamble that would damage the credibility of the NBS. If you want to ‘review methodology’, you conduct another survey but you cannot change ‘methodology’ because you do not like the published figures. No government in our history has tried it: even the late Gen. Sani Abacha allowed a poverty survey that put poverty at 67 per cent under his regime. At this rate, who will believe statistics coming from the Nigerian government again? Is it now the World Bank that sits in Washington and allocates poverty numbers to Nigeria? Something smells here!

Madam alleges that the NBS—as a parastatal under the National Planning Commission(under me) departed from the ‘international standard method of poverty measurement’. How and when, Madam? I was in office at National Planning for 11 months from July 2003 to May 2004. A poverty survey was conducted in 2004 and the results computed and published in 2005/2006— more than a year after I had gone to the CBN. Or perhaps, it was a clever way to divert attention from your manipulation of published economic statistics. The NBS published its poverty data in 2006 when you were Minister of Finance, and you did not question the ‘methodology’ because the figures looked good. In 2011, the poverty numbers (using the same methodology as in 2005/2006)indicted the government and suddenly, the ‘methodology’ is wrong. Interesting times!

Now that you decide which economic statistics published by NBS to accept and which ones to ‘change the methodology’ to give favourable figures, you can keep feeding your manipulated figures to your international media circus for the vain glorious awards to sustain an empty hype, while Nigerians groan under hardship. We can actually ask Nigerians whether they are getting better off now contrary to your bogus figures.

Many of Madam’s responses were comical, but this one is classic. According to her, the chief economic adviser and NBS “worked hard to determine how many jobs we need to create in a year”, and went on to ask, “why didn’t Soludo do this when he was CEA?” (Lol!). Madam, any good economist needs less than 10 minutes to compute this figure, not the (months? of) ‘hard work’ by your team. My calculation is that the number of jobs Nigeria needs to create each year to significantly reduce unemployment rate to sustainable levels in the next few years is at least three million, and not the 1.8 million by your team. We are talking about the Nigerian economy, please.

Your magic wand for mass housing is the Mortgage Refinance Corporation with 23,000 mortgage offers—for a country with 17 million housing deficit! Then, there is the pedestrian proposal of a new

‘ What worries me is that this government is the first in our history to attempt to manipulate our national statistics under Dr.Okonjo-Iweala.

When NBS published the poverty figures in 2011, she felt indicted and incensed ‘

development bank— financed with loans from the World Bank, etc? A World Bank loan to set up another ‘development bank’ where we already have Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture, NEXIM, Federal Mortgage Bank, etc? People have totally run out of ideas and cannot see anything for Nigeria without through the prism of the World Bank. I will offer you free consultancy on how to set up a development bank without a World Bank loan but we don’t need another one now. I actually gave the late President Yar’adua a two-page note for a N3 trillion development fund then, and if we plug your leaking pipes, it could actually be a N10 trillion fund. I envisioned and set up the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)—Africa’s premier infrastructure bank!

Frankly, I do not understand why you seem highly troubled that the Soludo you thought had “disappeared from the political space” seems to be still around. Well, let me assure you that I will only ‘disappear’ in God’s own time.

I gave credit to two past presidents who laid the foundation of the market economy we operate today. You did not contest or contradict any of my points. Rather, what you see is that Soludo must be ‘looking for a position’. Pity! If I am looking for a position, I would be running around one of the candidates now just as you are busy dancing Atilogwu dance at TAN (Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria) and PDP rallies, struggling to keep your job. How Yar’adua drafted me to contest for governor in Anambra and APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance) leadership as well and how I was “stopped” on both occasions are in the public domain. But I am not deterred for one minute. Chinua Achebe said that on leadership, Nigeria is a country that goes for a football match with its 10th eleven. I am proud and happy to have offered to serve my people, and for the service of Nigeria, I will do it again and again. How many times did Abraham Lincoln, Obama, Reagan and others contest before they got there? I actually encourage everyone who believes he/she has something to offer to get involved or stop complaining. I am happy seeing the increasing critical mass of professionals (like you) now getting involved. It is good for Nigeria!

HAT is at stake is the surviv al and prosperity of Nigeria.

Next elections are critical, and for me the key is the economy. We must offer Nigerians clarity on the choices before them. Can I propose a threeway debate with you (representing PDP/Federal Government), nominee of APC (Utomi or Fayemi?or any other), and myself (as independent citizen— I do not belong to any of the two). Let us have two bouts of debate between now and February 12, 2015, focusing on: CBN/AMCON and the financial system (if you want); our economy and its outlook, and agenda/alternative paths to sustainable prosperity post elections.

Choose the dates and times, and for the sake of Nigeria, I will fly in. You can invite any of your international media friends as moderators. I feel the pain of the 180 million Nigerians whose tomorrow you have carelessly rendered bleak, and when I think of what the missing trillions could do for them, it becomes extremely urgent that we all must deepen the debate. Eagerly waiting for your response, please!

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

NEWS NIGERIA DECIDES •From left: Former Kogi State Governor Prince Abubakar Audu; Kwara State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, APC vice presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, presidential candidate of APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Kwara Central APC Senatorial candidate, Dr. Bukola Saraki and APC National Deputy Chairman, Senator Lawal Shuaib at the party’s presidential rally in Ilorin...at the weekend.

•From left: Lagos lawmakers representing Epe Constituency I, Biodun Tobun, Segun Olulade, Epe Constituency II, All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman in Lagos, Otunba Henry Ajomale; APC Lagos East Senatorial District candidate, Senator Gbenga Ashafa; House of Representative member, Epe Federal Constituency, Wale Raji, at the APC mega rally at the Recreation Center, Epe.

•Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi addressing auto traders at the Molete Auto Marts when he took his campaign to the Southwest area of Ibadan...at the weekend.

•The Senatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Olubunmi UsimWilson (middle) jubilating at the inauguration of the SDP rally PHOTO: NAN in Abuja...at the weekend.

•President Goodluck Jonathan, acknowledging cheers at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, in Kaduna at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign...at the weekend. PHOTO: NAN

•The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Ikeja Federal Constituency and House of Representatives member , James Abiodun Faleke with the party’s flag bearer to the House of Assembly for Ikeja State Constituency I, Jimi Mohammed at a campaign on Oregun Road, Onigbongbo Local Council Development Authority.

•Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun addressing supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at Ota Ward 3, as part of his ward-to-ward re-election campaign in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area.

•A group of proffessionals in a solidarity walk for the Buhari/ Osinbajo presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress PHOTO : DAYO ADEWUNMI (APC) in Lagos...yesterday.

•The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Rivers Southeast Senatorial candidate, Senator Magnus Abe (second right), House of Assembly candidate, Okechukwu Akara (right), being addressed by the Ononakume VI of Ndoki, Eze Nweke when they visted the royal father as part of their Wrad-to-ward campaign in Oyigbo Local Government Area.

•Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime, flanked on the right by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; his deputy, Rev. Ifeanyi Nwoye; State House of Assembly Speaker, Eugene Odo and Chairman of Ezeagu Local Government Arae, Emeka Ozoagu. Behind them are: the candidate for Enugu West Senatorial Zone, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Ugwuanyi's running mate, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, when the PDP’s campaignh train arrived at Aguobu-Owa, headquarters of the Ezeagu council...yesterday.bv

• The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Lagos Central Senatorial District, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (third right) when Yoruba Nollywood artists staged a street walk for the Senator’s reelection bid in Surulere, Lagos...yesterday.

With her from left: Mrs. Toyin Afolayan (Lola Idije); Mrs Lanre Hassan (Mama Awero) and Dr Islamiyat Animashaun.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

56

SHOWBIZ

Whitney Houston’s daughter in danger

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ESS than two weeks to the death anniversary of American singer, Whitney Houston, her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, was found unconscious in a bathtub in her home, on Saturday, and has remained in critical condition ever since.

It was exactly the same circumstance that led to her mother’s death on February 11, 2012.

It is still unclear why she fell unconscious, but the police was reportedly prompt with life-saving measures, after her husband, Nick Gordon and a friend made a call to 911 from Bobbi’s house.

Bobbi, 21, also daughter of RnB singer, Bobby Brown, was immediately

taken by ambulance to a hospital, where doctors stabilised her breathing, and put her in the ICU. Latest report from sources close to the family said she is in a medically-induced coma for swelling of the brain.

Bobby Brown was said to have arrived the hospital same day, after he put off his trip with Tyler Perry, who was flying from LA to Atlanta for business. Perry had offered to take Bobby with him when the news broke.

Bobbi was said to be found faced down in the tub, with water enough for a bath.

Knowing her mother, Whitney, died with drugs in her system while taking a bath, police searched the home, but no drugs were found.

• Kristina

Ali Nuhu is Kannywood's best actor

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OPULAR Hausa actor, Ali Nihu, has been named Best Actor in the popular category of the 2015 edition of the MTN/ Kannywood awards which held Saturday.

Apparently excited, the cross-over actor took to his Instagram page to show off his trophy, which he clutched in a photograph, with the caption; “Just won the Best Actor award (Popular Category) in the MTN/ KANNYWOODS 2015”.

Born in March, 1974, Nuhu is a Nigerian actor, producer and director generally regarded as one of the most prominent figures in Kano film industry, otherwise called Kannywood. An ambassador of several brands, Nuhu, won the Best Upcoming Actor award at the third edition of the popular Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). He was also nominated as the Best Actor in a

By Ovwe Medeme

supporting role at the 9th AMAA, and also won Best Actor in a film at the 2013 Nigeria Entertainment

Awards.

He holds a degree in Geography from the University of Jos and is married with two kids. The actor has featured in movies like Ina Miji-

na, Zo mu zauna, Rawani, Yanayi, Sitanda, Queen of the jungle and Burning Spear. He is also one of the prominent figures in the advocacy TV series, Wetin Dey.

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CTRESS Henrietta Kosoko who at the weekend, was involved in a car crash, is responding to treatment, her husband and co-actor, Jide Kosoko announced in a statement.

Henrietta was said to have ran her car into an electricity pole on her way to Abeokuta, and she is currently receiving treatment at Lajoro hos-

E • Nuhu (right) at the event

• Ara

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Henrietta Kosoko survives car crash

By Mercy Michael

pital, Abeokuta.

The actress was traveling in her brown colour Toyoto Sienna, when the car veered off the road and hit the electric pole. Residents in the area were said to have been of great help in rescuing the actress.

“God took total control,” said her husband.

D’banj marks 10th anniversary concert

Obasanjo, Soyinka hail female drummer, Ara on birthday

FRICA’s foremost female drummer and one of Nigeria’s greatest entertainment exports, Aralola Olamuyiwa, popularly known as Ara, has been described a pride to the African youth by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Obasanjo said this at Ara’s birthday celebration which held recently at the prestigious Oriental Hotel, Lagos.

“While I wish you a very

• Kosoko

By Joe Agbro

happy birthday, I also want to commend you for all you have been able to achieve at such a young age,” said Obasanjo in his congratulatory message. “You have done very well for yourself; you have succeeded in placing our culture on the map of the world. The talking drum used to be associated with dirty old men but with your smartness, talent and doggedness, you

have added glamour and value to the act of playing the talking drum. I urge our youths to take a cue from you and promote our culture because that is all we have and who we are.”

Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka also commended the ace drummer for her contributions to the arts industry.

“A happy birthday to our very talented and gifted artiste,” the bard said. “I remember you started very young, quite young then when I heard of you. You are a model to be emulated by the young people, absolutely no height to which you cannot reach if you are committed. Congratulations.”

The multi-pronged event, tagged, ‘an evening with Ara’ featured a movie premiere, album preview, a special birthday dinner and intellectual discourse.

“I had a whole lot of accumulated activities that have been pending due to my national and international engagements,” said Ara, “but I have decided to use today, being my birthday, to fraternise, hobnob and cross pollinate ideas with stakeholders of the Ara brand, amidst all the various activities you have witnessed.”

Dr Joe Odumakin, Barrister Mohammed Fawehinmi and other eminent Nigerians were part of the discussants and guest speakers on the topic: ‘The Nigerian Youth; Problem and Solution’ at the discuss section of the event.

Besides a special birthday dinner held in Ara’s honour, the evening was also spiced with an exclusive screening of her much touted movie; ‘Osunfunke’.

“The movie, ‘Osunfunke’ is an extension of my theatrical talent,” Ara said. “(It’s) another medium I have chosen to express myself as an entertainer with a passionate commitment to the promotion of our socio-cultural heritage.”

Guests also got the privilege to listen to some tracks from Ara’s much-anticipated debut album due for release soon. The artiste explained that the opinions of the panel of discussants will add great value to the album.

At the event, Ara signed a new management deal with one of Nigeria’s top artiste management outfit, Akinwale Oluwaleimu’s Event and Entertainment Consult. It was also disclosed that Ara is currently signed on to Aremo Segun Oniru’s ‘D Prince Is Here Entertainment’ record label.

XPECTATIONS were high for the return of D’banj, whose performance in Nigeria has been quite low in recent times, but the entertainer, who staged his 10th anniversary concert as a performing artiste at the weekend, got hisses and grumbling from fans for starting behind schedule.

It was the first leg of a se-

• D’banj

ries of concert for which the former Mo’hits co-honcho brought in American artiste, model and fashion designer, Amber Rose, who was host for the night.

The show which held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, and was advertised for 7pm did not start until after 12 midnight.

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

NEWS Scores die as troops foil attack on Maiduguri

Panic in PDP as Amaechi woos Lamido for Buhari Continued from page 4

to return to the party.

He said all the governors and others who defected from PDP to APC were not feeling at home in the opposition party.

The Presidency and the PDP were “caught unawares” by Amaechi’s visit to Dutse.

It was learnt that the shock was more profound because Lamido did not hint Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo about what a Presidency source described as a “nocturnal visit” - about 12 days to the election.

A highly-placed source said: “ The Presidency and the PDP were jolted because the meeting between Lamido and Amaechi came barely few hours after the flawed rally in Kaduna State.

“In fact, at the Kaduna rally,

Lamido, who is the zonal coordinator of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, was unusually silent and moody.

We were all curious but we attributed his mood to campaign fatigue.

“Everyone is running helterskelter to get in touch with Lamido on what actually transpired between him and Amaechi.

“But going by the fact that the nation is in election mood, we are suspecting that it might be about the presidential poll.”

A source in the party said: “We are suspecting that this are last-minute wooing of Lamido by the APC is for swinging of votes for the opposition during the presidential poll.

“Some of our leaders, who met on the issue, ruled out Lamido joining APC. But there can be protest votes in the state

against the President on February 14.

“You know Lamido is an ardent loyalist of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and you know the apparent disposition of the former President to Jonathan. Some are suspecting that Obasanjo might have a hand in the meeting.”

Vice President Namadi Sambo was last night said to be looking into the “circumstances behind the meeting.”

Attempts to get the reaction of Sambo’s camp were unsuccessful last night. One of his trusted aides sent a text message: “Sorry, I cannot talk right now”.

Metuh underplayed the meeting, saying: “It is possible Amaechi went to discuss with Lamido on how to return to PDP. “We have feedback that all

Continued from page 4

in Borno State.

The forces have also recovered several weapons, arms and ammunition including two armoured tanks, two artillery guns and 17 Hilux vehicles.

The statement added: “The terrorists who in their disarray strayed towards Bama, Ngom, Alou, Delwa and Mafa in the night have now been effectively contained. Mopping up op•Amaechi

our governors and members who defected to APC are uncomfortable in the opposition party. They want to come back to PDP. So, the meeting might be one of such moves. Maybe Amaechi wants to come back to PDP.”

Buhari: we’ll deliver 20,000mw in four years Continued from page 4

the nest of importers of generators than in the wellbeing of Nigerian citizens and their businesses.”

The organisation accused President Jonathan of massive corruption in the country’s agricultural sector, saying “President Jonathan has failed woefully in the agricultural sector, and all the self-praise of the administration on agriculture is simply a ruse”.

It maintained that whereas President Jonathan had promised in 2010 to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice and wheat production by 2015, “the grim reality on the ground today is that Nigeria emerged as the world’s highest importer of rice in 2015, and a whopping $11 billion is spent annually by Nigeria to import rice, wheat, sugar and fish.”

The statement added that according to the former Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Sarah Alade, Nigeria as at 2014 spends $4 billion on rice importation – that is about N600 billion annually on the importation of 2.1 million metric tonnes of milled rice.

“This is after the Federal Government had approached

the China Exim Bank for a loan of $1.2 billion for the financing of 100 large-scale rice processing plants with a total capacity of 2.1 million metric tonnes.

“The troubling truth today is that Nigeria is nothing close to self-sufficiency in rice production and what we have at hand is a close web of corruption where government cronies stumble over each other to get import licences for rice.”

“According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Nigeria’s wheat consumption as at year 2000 was about two million metric tonnes. But, by 2010, wheat importation to the country had risen to four million metric tonnes and Nigeria spends N635 billion annually on wheat importation.

“Five years into the Jonathan administration, Nigeria spends even more than we did in 2010 to import wheat; yet the government continues to brandish false achievements in the agricultural sector – a situation that is completely at variance with what President Jonathan promised Nigerians in 2010, saying that his government would make Nigeria save N635 billion annually on

rice and wheat importation.”

The statement also faulted the government’s claim that local farmers now have unhindered access to fertiliser through the Growth Enhancement Scheme and described as “excessively labourious and technically difficult for the farmers to work through” are two bags of fertilizer throughout the entire farming season, “and government has not come out in one instance to tell Nigerians how much it receives as grants on fertiliser distribution to farmers from donor agencies.

“The government will want to give us the impression that fertiliser is being given to farmers free of charge. But we know that what subsists is a 50 per cent subsidy per bag of fertiliser. Our farmers are being shortchanged under this socalled e-wallet arrangement because of lack of transparency.

“We may be looking at another subsidy scam over fertilizer unless the Jonathan administration comes out clean to tell us how much it has received as grants over fertiliser and how it comes about the 50 per cent subsidy per bag of fertilizer.”

While dismissing President Jonathan’s claims of achievement in the agricultural sector, the organisation said that “throughout the periods preceding the Jonathan’s administration, the contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at 7 per cent, while under the socalled transformation agenda of President Jonathan, agriculture’s contribution to the GDP has been consistent at 5 per cent – an all time low.

“In any case, food commodities are items Nigerians buy on a daily basis. If the Jonathan administration was sincere with the statistics it reels out on agriculture, why would the government buy pages of newspaper advertorials and TV commercials to force bitter falsehood of its achievements down the throats of Nigerians?

The Jonathan administration has failed woefully in its agricultural policies and the facts are self-evident out there at those food stalls in our markets.

“In 2015, Nigerians know they spend far more to buy food than they did in 2010.

That reality, in itself, is President Jonathan’s scorecard in agriculture.”

Scores killed in Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri Continued from page 4

missile struck the tree they sat under killing him, his threeyear-old grand daughter and her friend. His ram also died.

A resident of the area who identified himself as Idris Abubakar Molai said soldiers advised us to “leave the area for them and the terrorists and immediately, we started hearing heavy exchange of fire and loud explosions. It was a fierce battle. I think the soldiers took good positions and took advantage of the terrorists.”

He said many insurgents were killed.

He said: “Many were killed, including insurgents and some civilians. Two artillery, vehicles, motorcycles and others were recovered. Many people have also fled the area except a few of us who are assisting security operatives.”

A member of Civilian JTF, Shettima Kakuwa, who took part in the operation, told our correspondent on telephone.

“As I am talking to you, we have just come back from Dalia village in pursuit of the fleeing terrorists. We killed a lot of them, while two artillery vehicles, motorcycles and

many arms and ammunition were recovered”.

“One of the insurgents who hid on the fence of Molai General Hospital was aiming at soldiers. Residents of the area took him by surprise, came behind the fence and brought him down. Our boys quickly went there and killed him.”

Another member of the Civilian JTF recounted how the insurgents were repelled at Mailai village on the Maiduguri-Damboa road as they were moving towards Dala Abuja Zannari.

He said: “It was a hectic operation.

The military engaged the terrorists in a gun battle. The insurgents started shooting Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs). The soldiers asked us to be crawling. Before we knew it, four of our members had been killed.”

Mallam Isa Gusau, Shettima’s media aide quoted the governor as saying: “I received with gratitude, information on how youths from different parts of Borno State, comprising those under the Borno Youths Empowerment Scheme, otherwise called ‘Civilian JTF’, vigilantes and oth-

er residents of Maiduguri, came out of their homes, abandon their families and, with very uncommon courage, they sacrificed their lives and moved to front lines to support our gallant armed forces in a patriotic battle to defend the soul of Borno State and its people from being seized by determined insurgents … early hours of Sunday.

“Our armed forces and youth volunteers have proved their worthiness and selflessness. We will, as government, continue to afford them all the they need within the limits of resources at our disposal. Reclaiming captured territories and safeguarding others that are free as well as safeguarding lives and property constitute our fundamental priorities as government.”

“Residents should cooperate with armed forces and always regard them as partners that put their lives on the line so we all can be alive. I am confident that the Borno’s sun will shine again and very soon. We have many years of resilient history. We will overcome this problems insha Allah.”

Bishop of Maiduguri Diocese

Most Rev. Dr.Oliver Doeme Dashe, described the attack as unfortunate.

A statement signed by Fr. Gideon Obasogie, the Director of Catholic Communication Maiduguri, described the fight as a “A culture of savagery and blood bath” ”Christians in the capital city are really paying the prize for their faith. This is the second Sunday when we have been forced either to attend Mass/ Sunday service lately or never to attend at all. We cannot even have a sound gathering on a Sunday to thank God for his love thus far and most particularly to pray for peaceful elections. The threats and distractions have become totally unbearable.

“The ferocious attempt by the unrepentant radical Islamist militants, Boko haram to overrun the capital city of Maiduguri has been very frightening. I wonder and sometimes, I think aloud when all these will stop. When will this culture of savagery and bloodletting end. Is it that as a nation we lack the inner capacity to abate it?” the statement queried.

eration is ongoing.

“Several weapons, arms and ammunition including two armoured vehicles and two artillery guns as well as 17 Hilux vehicles have been captured from them. Several terrorists also died.

“The affected locations have been secured and soldiers wounded are being treated.

“Patrols and pursuit of fleeing terrorists is continuing in coordination with allied forces.”

APC slams DSS, Police for silence on threats by ex-militants Continued from page 4

a free and fair elections. There is no clearer indication of impunity than the action of the ex-militants, who issued their threats in the Bayelsa government house, with the governor of the state in attendance. ‘’More than a week later, the DSS has been missing in action while the police, in what can pass as a most shocking reaction, said they are still studying the ex-militants’ comments. Even after former Defence Minister Gen.Theophilus Danjuma called for the arrest of the ex-militants for their treasonable threats, and the exmilitants had the audacity to repeat the threats, the police still continued to ‘study’ the threats. This is simply unbelievable,’’ it said.

APC said the implication of the conspiracy of inaction by the DSS and the police is that, under the administration of President Jonathan, there are different rules for different Nigerians, wondering how the security agencies can be trusted to provide a level playing ground for all political parties before, during and after the forthcom-

ing general elections. ‘’For supporters of President Jonathan, there is no law, there is no police, there is no DSS. Their support for the President is a licence for lawlessness and irresponsibility, and if at all there is any law, they remain far above such law. That is why they could dare the entire nation by issuing such treasonable comments and get away with their action,’’ the party said.

It called on Nigerians to take note of the glaring double standard of the security agencies, while urging local and international observers to closely monitor the activities of the security agents before, during and after the polls. ‘’On our part, the fact that the DSS and the police, both of which have issued their last warnings against those making inciting comments, have failed to move against the warmongering ex-militants is a confirmation of what we have always believed: that national institutions have been deployed in the pursuit of partisan, rather than national interests under the Administration of President Jonathan,’’ APC said.

Five killed in Gombe twin bomb blast Continued from page 4

motorcycle.

The other explosion occurred at Kasuwa Katako (timber market) a few minutes after that at the roundabout about two kilometers away, killing three people. Seven others were injured.

“Nobody can explain how it happened because everyone was unsuspecting and concentrated on their various activities when all of a sudden we heard a loud explosion,” said an eyewitness.

The explosion occurred at a recharge cards and a food vendor’s stand at the corner of the market.

The scene is about 100 metres from a joint security force check point. It is not far from the 301 Artillery Regiment Quarter Guard, scene of the first ever suicide bombing in Gombe.

A Gombe Specialist Hospital source said one of the injured victims was buying a recharge card at the time of the explosion. He is believed to be a military personnel.

Police spokesman Fwaje Atajiri who confirmed the explosions, advised residents to exercise caution.

He also confirmed that the Police had imposed a ban on the use of motorcycles beginning from yesterday.

He said the action was part of the caution recently employed by the Police to thwart criminal activities mostly traced to motorcyclists.

He urged members of the public to conduct themselves properly especially when presidential candidates visit the state this week.

President Goodluck Jonathan (PDP) will visit Gombe today while Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (APC) is expected on Wednesday.

He warned that the Police would not hesitate to deal decisively with any individual found fomenting trouble.

“They are respected leaders in this country, one is the sitting President and the other a former military Head of State.

So the people should accord them that respect and conduct themselves properly,” he said.

Eight killed in Potiskum explosion Continued from page 4

he added.

Witness Nura Umar, who gave the same death toll, said the bomber emerged from a bus that pulled up in front of the home of Sabo Garbu, who is running for a seat in the lower house on the ruling Peoples Democracy Party ticket.

Hospital sources at the General Hospital Potiskum said six

bodies were brought in dead.

Many others were injured.

Potiskum, in recent times, have been at the receiving end of such attacks in recent months.

A witness, simple identified as Ali, said the explosive killed six persons on the spot with several others sustaining injuries. Police were yet to confirm the incident as at Press time last night.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

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FOREIGN NEWS

THE NATION FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014

Second Japanese hostage beheaded

Egypt: Al-Jazeera journalist freed

•Jordan ready for swap

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AILED al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has been deported from Egypt, state media say, and is reportedly on a flight to Cyprus.

The Australian ex-BBC correspondent was arrested in December 2013 and imprisoned last June on charges that included spreading false news.

He was jailed with two other al-Jazeera men - Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.

Presidential sources said Mr Fahmy would be deported to Canada after his dual Egyptian nationality was dropped.

All the defendants denied the charges against them and said their trial was a sham.

They were accused of collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in 2013. The three men said they were simply reporting the news.

Al-Jazeera tweeted that it welcomed Peter Greste’s release and demanded Mr Fahmy and Mr Baher be freed.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi had said in November he was considering the possibility of granting pardons to the two foreign al-Jazeera journalists. He had earlier signed a decree on repatriating foreign prisoners.

Then in January, Egypt’s top court ordered a retrial of all three men.

A statement by the Egyptian Interior Ministry said it had been “decided to extradite Australian journalist Peter Greste... to his country today, 1 February (2015)... after the cabinet’s approval, in enforcement of the Presidential Decree no. 140 for the year 2014 regarding the rulings on extraditing defendants and deporting the convicts”.

Peter Greste’s parents have spearheaded the campaign for his release An official told Associated Press the release had been coordinated with the Australian embassy in Cairo.

Cairo airport officials reported that Mr Greste had left on a plane for Cyprus.

•Goto

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NEWLY distributed ISIS release appears to show the decapitated body of captive Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, after an English-language lecture is given by masked ISIS member “Jihadi John” to the people of Japan.

The video, 67 seconds long, was released Saturday as others before it,

by ISIS media wing Al Furqan Media, and cannot be immediately authenticated.

“We are deeply saddened by this despicable and horrendous act of terrorism and we denounce it in the strongest terms,” Japanese Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe said in Tokyo, according to broadcaster NHK. “To the terrorists, we will never, never forgive them for this act.”

He said that Japan will continue to provide humanitarian aid to countries affected by the bloody fight against ISIS. The knife-wielding masked man with a London accent, nicknamed “Jihadi John,” has issued threats and overseen the beheadings of other captives. He has appeared in at least six videos with hostages.

The fate of a Jordanian pilot captured by ISIS in Syria, Muath alKaseasbeh, was unclear. He is not mentioned in the video.

ISIS had been demanding that Jordan exchange a convicted terrorist, Sajida al-Rishawi, for the pilot. If there was no swap, ISIS said it would kill al-Kaseasbeh first, then Goto.

Goto would be the second Japanese hostage to be killed by ISIS recently.

A video file posted online a week ago by a known ISIS supporter shows an image of Goto holding a photo of what appeared to be the corpse of his fellow captive, Haruna Yukawa.

U.S. President Barack Obama called

the act a “heinous murder.”

“We stand today in solidarity with Prime Minister Abe and the Japanese people in denouncing this barbaric act,” the President said in a written statement. “We applaud Japan’s steadfast commitment to advancing peace and prosperity in the Middle East and globally, including its generous assistance for innocent people affected by the conflicts in the region.”

The 47-year-old Goto left Japan last fall, when his youngest daughter was 3 weeks old. His wife, Rinko, first heard from his captors December 2.

Jordanian officials have said they are willing to swap al-Rishawi — a female jihadist imprisoned in Jordan for her role in a 2005 suicide bombing at a wedding reception that killed dozens — for the pilot. But Jordan’s key condition is proof that alKaseasbeh is still alive.

Al-Kaseasbeh was captured after he ejected from his F-16 jet last month near Raqqa, the extremist group’s de facto capital in Syria.

Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momeni told the official Petra news agency the administration was doing “everything it

can to save the life and secure the release of its pilot”.

He said: “All state organisations have been mobilised to secure the proof of life that we require so that he can be freed and returned to his home.”

Very little has been heard of Lt Kasasbeh since he fell into the hands of the militants - his family continue to hope and pray for his safety and want their government to do more and to share more of whatever information it may have with them.

They cling to the hope that the killing of Kenji Goto doesn’t necessarily have direct immediate implications for the safety of the young pilot.

Mr Momeni also said that Jordan had “spared no effort, in coordination with the Japanese government” to save the life of Mr Goto.

Relatives of Lt Kasasbeh urged the government to do more for him and provide more information.

Lt Kasasbeh’s F-16 crashed in ISheld territory in Syria in December.

The US-led coalition has been targeting IS with air strikes since September.

The first IS demand, last week, had been for $200m (£130m) in return for two Japanese hostages - Mr Goto and Haruna Yukawa.

•Thousands of pro-democracy activists take part in a democracy march to Central, demanding for universal suffrage in Hong Kong yesterday. The march is the first large-scale demonstration since the Occupy Central protest ended last year as the government started a second round of public consultation on democratic reform.

PHOTO:AP

NIIA maintains good ranking in Global Think Tank Index

By Dayo Fakuade, Foreign Editor

•Akinterinwa

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HE 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index (GGTTI) has been released with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs keeping its head high among research institutes rated all over the world especially in the African Sub- Saharan region, in spite of generally faulted and value-laden categorization and rating , a review has noted.

This review was noted at the Institute’s 18th Brainstorming Session

on Civil Society Organisations and National Security at Victoria Island recently marking the 7th meeting of such since it started in 2006.

It was jointly organised by The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, USA and deemed the most comprehensive ranking of the world’s top think tanks.

Beginning with the theme: Civil Society Organisations and National Security, the four-session event, focussed on: The Report; Research Institutes and National Development; Civil Society And national Security and finally The Plenary discussion, which included The Challenge of Boko Haramism in Nigeria and the way Forward.

Welcoming participants, NIIA Director General Professor Bola Akinterinwa noted that 6681 research and think tanks were identified for rating by the Pennsylvania- based body for 2014 divided sub regionally thus; 1106 from Asia, 674 Central and South America; 1822 from Europe; 1989 from North America; 521 from the Middle East and North

Africa; 467 from Sub-Saharan Africa and 39 from the Oceania.

The DG faulted the inclusion of Middle East with North Africa, separating them from Sub-Saharan Africa while in other inclement classifications they are always lumped.

In his key note address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Danjuma N. Sheni, agreed to the “ centrality of civil society in enhancing and consolidating democracy. Because of its crucial role....they have come to be seen as the vital link in the transition to and sustainability of democracy and the promotion of national security interests” he added.

While acknowledging the important roles the CSO can play in promoting Nigeria’s security interests, the Permanent Secretary also noted the impediment which foreign funding by NGOs can play in compromising national interest stating that there should be accountability about where their funding comes from; especially in light of challenges posed by global terrorism.

Professor Alaba Ogunsanwo former High Commissioner to

Botswana and now of Lead City University Ibadan Department of Political Science spoke on the Roles of National Institutes and National Development, while Ambassador Shola Enikanloye chaired the plenary.

It was generally agreed that the institute should be more proactively involved in future ratings and evaluation of its research efforts which are noted to be superb as it has recently diversified its efforts from not only research but pragmatic issues of national development The DG called the NIIA, the Institute of Institutes tracing its origin to the visionary efforts and collaboration of both late Sir Louis Mbanefo and Chief Simeon Adebo at the dawn of Nigeria’s independence in convincing the late Prime Minister Alhaji Tafawa Balewa and the urging of African leaders for a need for what he called “ a world’s institute in Africa, an African institute in Nigeria and a Nigerian institute in Lagos” Participants raised issues of lack of two-way and direct information and the civil societies as part of impediments hindering the smooth

and more vital contribution from civil societies to good governance, noting mutual suspicion and secrecy by government officials.

Also lack of synergy, inadequate collaboration and utilisation of research efforts came to the fore as most research outputs suffer undue implementation delays from government bureaucracy.

On a general note, it was agreed progress has been made in this regard in the past five years and indeed the “Institute of Institutes”, according to the DG, can now beat its chest in its effort at inputting into and shaping Nigeria’s foreign policy.

The gathering drew participants from the diplomatic circles, the academia, civil societies organisations and the government as well as the media; including Professor Rafiu Akindele, Commodore Folorunso Onimole (Rtd)- Director General Department of State Services, Professor Osita Agbu, Mrs Ayo Obe, Emeritus Professor Bayo Adekanye of the University of Ibadan and Dr. Femi Aribisala among other eminent personalities.

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

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FOREIGN NEWS

THE NATION FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2014

Greek PM offers olive branch on debt

Death toll mounts in Ukraine fighting

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REEK Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said he is confident that agreement can be reached with creditors over repayment of Greece’s debts.

Mr Tsipras said in a statement issued to Bloomberg news agency that he had never intended to act unilaterally.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out debt cancellation, saying creditors had already made concessions.

Mr Tsipras’ Syriza party won last weekend’s election with a pledge to have half the debt written off.

Its new Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has refused to work with the “troika” of global institutions overseeing Greek debt, which had agreed a •240bn (£179bn; $270bn) bailout with the previous Greek government.

The troika is made up of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Greece still has a debt of •315bn - about 175% of gross domestic product - despite some creditors writing down debts in a renegotiation in 2012.

Mr Tsipras said Greece would repay its debts to the ECB and IMF, and reach a deal with the eurozone nations that funded most of the bailout package.

“The deliberation with our European partners has just be-

•Tsipras

gun,” he said.

“Despite the fact that there are differences in perspective, I am absolutely confident that we will soon manage to reach a mutually beneficial agreement, both for Greece and for Europe as a whole.”

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, chairman of the eurozone finance ministers’ group, said he welcomed Mr Tsipras’ comments.

“It is now up to the Greek government to determine its position on how to move forward,” he said.

“Further decisions will be taken jointly in the Eurogroup in the coming weeks.”

In interviews in the German media published on Saturday, Mrs Merkel said she still wanted Greece to stay in the eurozone but did not “envisage fresh debt cancellation”.

“There has already been voluntary debt forgiveness by private creditors, banks have already slashed billions from Greece’s debt,” she told Hamburger Abendblatt.

HIRTEEN government soldiers and at least as many civilians have been killed in the past 24 hours in eastern Ukraine’s separatist conflict after the collapse of peace talks, Kiev authorities said.

Hopes of easing the situation evaporated on Saturday with Ukraine’s representative and separatist envoys accusing the other of sabotaging negotiations.

“Fighting continues across all sections of the frontline,” Kiev military spokesman Volodymyr Polyovy said in a briefing.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which took part in the talks in Minsk, Belarus, along with envoys from Ukraine and Russia, said rebel del-

egates had not been ready to discuss key points of a peace plan.

“In fact, they were not even prepared to discuss implementation of a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons,” the OSCE said in a statement.

It said rebels had instead pushed for a revision of a ceasefire plan agreed in Minsk last September.

The terms of that 12-point protocol have been repeatedly violated but Kiev and foreign governments see it as the only viable roadmap to end the nine-month-long conflict in which more than 5,000 people have been killed.

In eastern Ukraine, the Kiev military reported no letup in rebel attacks on government positions.

Fighter and child

Spain: 400 migrants repelled after storming border fence

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PAIN says 400 African migrants tried to storm border fences separating its North African enclave Melilla from Morocco and has warned of a build-up in numbers across the frontier.

The Interior Ministry said the migrants charged past Moroccan border forces yesterday by throwing rocks, but were repelled by Spanish guards.

A statement said groups of around 1,000 migrants have approached the border fences almost every day throughout January.

At least eight people died Friday when a boat carrying migrants sank near Melilla. Two Cameroonian migrants were arrested Jan. 15 for allegedly killing 10 others by pushing them overboard into stormy waters in a fight off Morocco.

Thousands of African migrants living illegally in Morocco try to enter the Spanish enclaves each year, hoping to reach a better life in Europe.

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Clashes are intense around the town of Debaltseve, Polyyovy said, referring to a Kiev-held transport hub connecting the two main rebel strongholds that separatists aim to cut off.

The rebel advance has succeeded in seizing part of nearby Vuhlehirsk from Kiev troops, Polyovy said. On Sunday the town was being pounded by near-constant shelling, a Reuters witness reported.

The Interior Ministry said yesterday seven civilians had been killed in shelling on Sunday of Debaltseve, while the Luhansk regional administration said three civilians had been killed in shelling across the region overnight.

Residents are being encouraged to abandon the ar-

eas of fiercest fighting, where many have been living in makeshift bomb shelters, waiting for breaks in the bombardment to make quick trips for food and water.

In Kiev-controlled Slaviansk, refugees arrived in buses from Debaltseve and other frontline towns.

Pensioner Vyacheslav Gurov said half of his town of Avdiivka had been completely destroyed.

In the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, the regional administration reported the deaths of at least three civilians in shelling on Sunday, describing the situation as “extremely tense.”

Following the collapse of Saturday’s talks, there was no word on when renewed negotiations might take place.

Obama, Dalai Lama set to meet

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RESIDENT Barack Obama will appear at a public event next week that the Dalai Lama is also attending, a move that is likely to anger Chinese officials.

Obama will address attendees about the importance of religious freedom on Feb. 5 at the annual National Prayer Breakfast.

The Dalai Lama, arguably the most visible symbol of Tibet’s struggle for independence, has also been invited.

The White House declined to say whether the two leaders will meet at the event, though National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan pointed out that the two leaders have met three times before, most recently last February.

“The President is a strong supporter of the Dalai Lama’s teachings and preserving Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic traditions,” Meehan said. “ As he has done in the past, the President will see many religious leaders at the event, but we don’t have any specific meeting with the Dalai Lama to announce.”

The Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his advocacy for Tibet in the country and around the world.

Tibetans have continued to advocate for more autonomy and independence from the Chinese government, which continues to rule the region.

Chile proposes end to total abortion ban

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A Kurdish fighter walks with his child in the center of the Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab.

PHOTO:AFP

HILEAN President Michelle Bachelet has announced plans to end a total ban on abortions in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Ms Bachelet has tabled a bill in Congress to legalise abortion in cases of rape or when there is a threat to the mother’s or the baby’s life.

Abortion is punishable in Chile by up to five years in jail.

The absolute ban of abortion puts the lives of thousands of Chilean women at risk every year, said Ms Bachelet.

She went on national television to announce the plans.

“Facts have shown that the absolute criminalization of abortion has not stopped the practice,” she said.

“This is a difficult situation and we must face it as a mature country.”

Should South Sudan really hold an election this year?

OUTH SUDAN’S government has announced that it will hold elections in June, but a hasty vote could cause more instability in this fragile nation already mired in a yearold civil war.

The young country’s conflict began in December 2013 after a massacre of civilians in the capital, Juba, by government troops. The killings were precipitated by a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, the current rebel leader. Revenge killings subsequently spread across the country, often along ethnic lines, plunging the country into a war that shows no signs of stopping.

Tens of thousands have died, and 2 million have been displaced, according to the United Nations.

Fighting continues in the oil-rich northeast, and violence is flaring in the central and northwest regions, as well as near Juba.

Though atrocities against civilians from both sides have been the hallmark of this unpopular war, Mr. Kiir and Mr. Machar have appealed to ideals of democracy as power plays to curry domestic and international support.

At the heart of their war of words is the rebels’ claim that Kiir is a dictator whose troops’ deadly record renders him illegitimate. But Kiir refuses to step down, pointing to his constitutional mandate to serve until this summer. He further notes that the rebels have committed plenty of massacres themselves, accusing Machar of aiming to take power by force.

As that deadline approaches, Kiir insists that there must be an election to keep with a constitution he is accused of selectively following.

But many say that peace should be properly established before any elections are held to en-

Jason Patinkin

sure results are accepted by all parties.The question now is whether a deal can be reached to avert a constitutional crisis and further chaos.

Kiir’s presidential term expires on July 9, 2015, four years after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan. After that, he will no longer be the legitimate president unless he is democratically re-elected.

The word “legitimate” has become somewhat of an obsession for Kiir’s administration as a way to differentiate themselves from the rebels. Banners periodically hang in Juba declaring Kiir as the only legitimate president of South Sudan.

But Machar controls large parts of the nation’s northeast, lawlessness is spreading, and many are frustrated with lack of development by the current government.

If Kiir holds on to power unconstitutionally, there may be further rebellion, analysts say.

“The government cannot stay and allow its legitimacy to run out in July,” presidential spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny told the Monitor. “We have to have an election that is constitutionally required, and we have to maintain legitimacy.”

But the election call is not popular. Opposition parties, activists, and Machar’s rebels are all against a vote.

The US, in rare public criticism against Kiir’s government, said earlier this month that it will also not support the proposed vote.

The main concern is that credible elections cannot take place during a civil war.

“Over one-third of the population won’t be in a position to participate in these elections due to insecurity and widespread displacement,” writes South Sudanese analyst Augustino Ting Mayai in

a recent report recommending postponing voting for at least three years.

The election may not be constitutional, either.

There has been no voter census, political parties aren’t registered, and prescribed deadlines have passed.

Mr. Ateny, the president’s spokesman, said the Constitution doesn’t require peace and they’ll use a seven-year-old census with adjustments to account for those who have been killed in the war.

All parties can hold national conventions and register before July, he added.

But there are financial hurdles too. The government says an election would cost $517 million at a time when civil servants are going unpaid due to the war and a drop in global oil prices.

Oil profits account for more than 90 percent of government revenue, but production has also been cut by a third due to damaged pumping facilities from the fighting.

Last year the international community spent over a billion dollars to avert a famine caused by fighting, while the government spent the bulk of its budget on war. More than $30 million alone was spent on weapons last year.

“A big, big number is suffering from food shortages,” opposition leader Lam Akol told the Monitor in Juba. “I think it is cynical for us to spend almost $520 million for an election.”

Ironically, elections may end up undermining rather than bolstering Kiir’s claim to the presidency.

No one has declared candidacy against Kiir.

Since Machar is boycotting it, the election would take place only in government-held areas dominated by Kiir’s party.

“The political meaning of the 2015 elections

would be illegitimacy,” writes Mr. Mayai, the analyst.

Edmund Yakani, a prominent activist, says that an unrecognized election could lead to more defections and fighting.

But this may not bother Kiir if he can present himself with the semblance of legitimacy. “The elections will continue,” Ateny says in an interview. “The government will live up to its constitutional obligations.”

Already, 18 opposition parties have sued to cancel the vote. If the supreme court follows suit, Kiir could back down and save face. But that doesn’t answer the question of who will be in charge come July 9.

The parliament could amend the Constitution to extend Kiir’s tenure. This won’t be easy. A large caucus from the Equatorian region in the south has been at odds with the president and may not agree.

Most observers told the Monitor the real solution is for Kiir and Machar to make peace and form a unity government.

“Peace first, and then you have election,” said Mr. Akol, the opposition leader.

But even with five months until the proposed polls, few are optimistic.

Kiir and Machar have agreed to stop fighting many times in the last year but each time broke their promise within hours. They signed an agreement in Tanzania last week to unify their political parties, but fighting continued as usual and the two men have since increased their vitriol.

Now they are both shuttling between separate negotiations in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, apparently stalling.

Culled from Christian Science Monitor

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

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SPORT EXTRA Chinese club eyes Igboun

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CCORDING to leaks gathered by allnigeriasoccer.com’s edi-

• Igboun

torial staff, an unnamed Chinese Super League team are in advanced talks with FC Midtjylland over the transfer of Sylvester Igboun.

There are only minor details to be clarified before an agreement is reached, and it is thought that the FC Ebedei product will be heading to China for his unveiling before the end of this week.

Igboun has spent the last eight years in Midtjylland, rising through the ranks of their youth team before breaking into the senior squad.

In recent years, the pacy and physical forward has been courted by Besiktas, Real Valladolid as well as clubs in Belgium and Germany.

GOAL CELEBRATION

Emenike apologises to Karabukspor E

MMANUEL Emenike has spoken of his delight at ending a goal drought stretching back to November 2014, as Fenerbahce defeated Karabukspor 2-1 in the Super Lig on Saturday.

With 58 minutes gone in the game held at Dr. Necmettin Seyhoglu Stadium, the Nigeria international scored his third goal of the season to make it 2-0 to the Turkish champions.

The Super Eagles’ star thanked his teammates and Fenerbahce staff for the affection shown to him during his bad spell in front of goal. ''For us, it a really nice game. I want to thank our President, coach and my teammates,'' Emmanuel Emenike said at a press conference. ''They did not lose their trust in me, they always encouraged me. I want to thank them individually.''

After scoring against his former team, he has stressed that he had to celebrate the goal because a long time had passed since he found the back of the

• Emenike

Kano Pillars pip Enyimba 1-0

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IGERIA'S elite league defending Champion Kano Pillars is ready to take on the other clubs in Africa in the CAF's Champions League, the Club's Technical Adviser Okeh Emordi has assured.

The veteran Coach who led Entimba FC to win the African best Club's Trophy for Nigeria in 2004 showered praises on the Nigeria Football Federation for organising the

• Set for continental challenge From Segun Ogunjimi, Abuja Super Six for the teams representing Nigeria in the continental competitions.

"I would say a big thank you to the NFF for organizing this competition for us that are campaigning in the African competitions. The Super Four has helped me a lot to get the

new players and old ones to blend well together.

"I have in my tean young but talented players that are ready to learn and I have seen a remarkable improvement from my boys. The Enyimba boys played so well in today's match and either side could have won. But I am happy that my team won", Emordi disclosed.

Ibile Games 2015 enters week two

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HE Lagos State Secondary Schools Sports Festival, tagged Ibile Games 2015, which started on 26 January, has entered its second week.

While some sports had already been decided, finals of some events will be held this week, athletes will however start hostilities in some other sports today.

Table Tennis events are expected to start today at the Molade Okoya Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, while taekwondo will hold at Knock up Hall of the National Stadium. Chess and Scrabble are other events scheduled for this week.

Meanwhile, quarter finalists have emerged in Basketball for boys and girls. In the boys event, Birrel High School will face Whitesand Schools. Bishop Howell will take Topfield Schools, Muslim College will Ilupeju Senior Secondary School, while International School Lagos will slug it out with Ifako Grammar School in today's matches.

In the girls' category, Lagoon Schools will play C.M.S Girls, Logos Private Schools will battle

Queens College.

Wesley Girls School will slug it out with Aunty Ayo Memorial Grammar School, while International School Lagos will take on Phidel Private School.

In Judo event already decided at the weekend, Herbert Macaulay Secondary School was adjudged the first best school in the junior boys event, while Lagos City College won the best school in the senior boys category.

The best school in the junior girls was Wesley Junior Girls High School, while Wesley Senior Girls High School was adjudged the best school in the senior girls category.

In some of the judo results released by the technical subcommittee of the Main Organising Committee at the weekend, Goodluck Odogbo and Yomi Enikumehin, both of Ken Ade Secondary School won gold and silver medal respectively in the 66kg junior boys event, while Adebode Adewale of Mobolaji Bank Anthony Secondary School and Adeyanju Isiaka of Media College were joint bronze medal winners.

Akinlabi Ahmed of Moblaji Bank Anthony Secondary School won gold medal in -34kg junior boys event, while Salau Iyanu of Herbert Macaulay Secondary School won silver medal.

Iwuji Azubuike of Lagos City College and Ahmed

Abdukamin of Blessing Impeccable College won gold and silver medal respectively in -38kg event. In -28kg junior girls category, Aosha Asedegiri of Wesley Girls Junior High School won gold medal, while Rebecca Afolabi of Media College won silver medal.

Fausat Ajisegiri of Wesley Girls Junior High School picked the gold medal of -48kg event, while Baraka Salawu won silver medal.

In the senior boys' -60kg event, Iwuji Uche and Peter Jeremiah both of Lagos City College won gold and silver medals respectively. Also Lagos City College's Apaba Ifabukunmi and Emmanuel Daniel won gold and silver medals of -46kg event. Ellion Peter of Lagos City College was the winner of gold medal in 55kg, while Damilola Henshaw of Wahab Folawiyo Secondary School won silver medal.

In the senior girls -52kg, Bolanle Akeem of Herbert Macaulay Secondary School won gold medal, while Chidinma Azikpe of Wesley Girls Senior Secondary School won silver medal.

In +63kg, Victorial Okorie of Herbert Macaulay Secondary School won gold medal, while Bukola Odunbola of Eletu Odibo Secondary School won silver medal.

net. ''I celebrated at the same time and I want to talk about the goal I scored against my former team. ''On their behalf, on behalf of the fans, I'm sorry. I did not score for a long time so I celebrated it. ''Actually, I never changed, I am still the same Emenike. I think it is something inherent in football. Sometimes things do not go as you want,'' the Fenerbahce number 29 added.

Emenike spent two seasons at Karabukspor, and netted 30 goals in 50 matches before joining Spartak Moscow.

Nsofor close to agreeing Konyaspor move

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UT of favour Super Eagles’ forward, Victor Obinna Nsofor, is close to ending his stay at Lokomotive Moscow as he is set to join Turkish side Konyaspor.

The former Inter Milan man is already in Turkey and the move is expected to go through before the close of the European transfer window.

Nsofor was deemed surplus to requirements by Lokomotive Moscow and they omitted him from their team for this season, despite still having a year left on his contract.

Since the start of the 2014/2015 season he is yet to kick a ball in anger for any team, as Lokomotive also frustrated his efforts to move away from the team in the summer by demanding outrageous fee from interested teams.

His move to the Turkish side is expected to be a full transfer and they will hope his wealth of experience of playing in major European leagues and top teams can aid their quest to avoid relegation.

Already he has played in Italy, Spain, England and Russia making Turkey the fourth country he will be moving to since his move to Europe in 2005.

Nsofor has somehow become a journeyman since failing to make the grade Inter-Milan after his transfer from Chievo in the summer of 2008/2009 season.

He had loan spell at La-Liga side Malaga and Premiership side West Ham, before securing a permanent transfer to Lokomotive Moscow in Russia where in two and a half years he only scored three goals from 45 games.

His poor goals return led to him being loaned out to Serie A side Chievo during the second part of last season, his two goals in 10 games played a role in helping Flying Donkeys beat the drop to Serie B.

• Nsofor

61

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

NATION SPORT

TRANSFERS... TRANSFERS...TRANSFERS... TRANSFERS... TRANSFERS...

Barca excited to extend Neymar’s Contract B

ARCELONA are said to be in a "rush" to secure the services of Brazil superstar Neymar, with a contract extension in the pipeline.

Santi Gimenez of AS reported the Blaugrana will "safeguard" the Camp Nou squad in light of the club's transfer ban which will continue until January 2016.

Gimenez wrote that senior figures at Barca are desperate to meet with the player's agent and thrash out terms: "The current board are in a rush to enforce [a new deal] and they will fix a date with his [Neymar] representatives to discuss the matter."

Xavi Canals of Catalan publication Sport went one step further and declared Neymar is set to tie himself to his team until 2020, earning a staggering •12 million a year, doubling his current salary.

This pay rise is seen as a reward for the player who

Talks break down over Fletcher´s Hammers switch

•Neymar

W Drogba: I’ll be at Chelsea next season

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HELSEA striker Didier Drogba says he will remain at the club next season, despite his current deal expiring in the summer.

The 36-year-old returned to Stamford Bridge in July after stints with Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray, signing a one-year contract with the Blues.

Drogba has made 27 appearances, many as a substitue, in all competitions for Jose Mourinho’s men this season

has grown in stature in his short time in La Liga, and he has matured into one of the best in the world.

Canals says Barca feel "indebted" to Neymar, who was originally offered a much larger wage deal to join Real Madrid but turned his back on Los Blancos, shunning the chance to be a Galactico.

ESPN's Catalan writer Francesc Tomas says Neymar deserves the recognition for his work at Barcelona and called him the best new talent in world football: And current Barca boss Luis Enrique joined in on praising the player, saying he has the ability to match the achievements of Lionel Messi and go on to be a great for his club, per Marca: “Neymar is at the right club to define an era. He's a special, unique player and all of us "Cules" would love for him to do that. Can he be better than Messi? We'll see in the future, but the bar has been set very high.”

and says he is happy to continue in west London.

"My project for next year will be on a pitch with Chelsea," he told Telefoot.

Drogba was left out of Chelsea’s starting line-up for the clash with Manchester City on Saturday, despite Diego Costa’s suspension, featuring only as a late substitute as the Blues drew with Manuel Pellegrini's men.

Loic Remy was preferred to the Ivorian and scored the opening goal of the game, but Drogba says he has no problems with the decision to start him on the bench.

"He played a great game against City. That shows that he is resourceful," he added.

"We’ve showed that we can present a strong offensive force despite the absentees.

"It's obvious that I would like to play, but I’m not miserable."

EST Ham manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed a breakdown in discussions over the signing of Manchester United's Darren Fletcher.

Negotiations between West Ham and Manchester United over a move for Darren Fletcher have broken down, according to Sam Allardyce.

The West Ham boss confirmed last week that the club were among a number of suitors interested in signing the Scot, with West Brom and Valencia also reportedly interested.

However, Allardyce revealed on Saturday that discussions had fallen through, telling reporters after Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool: "[It] broke down on negotiations apparently this morning."

When asked whether the deal could be revived, Allardyce added: "I really don't know at this moment in time. There's so much going on at the club, thank God the window is shutting [on Monday].

"It's a disaster that window, as we all know, it creates lots of problems for managers.

"Whether we get Darren Fletcher it's neither here nor there, it's about the window being a really huge distraction for us all.

"Listening to [United manager] Louis van Gaal yesterday, he says you don't trust him when he keeps telling you they're bringing nobody in so I hope he hasn't brought anybody in."

to be over after Genoa chief Enrico Preziosi announced Roma's Marco Borriello was set to replace the Juve-bound Matri imminently.

"Matri will go to Juventus," he told Sky Sport. "We'll announce Borriello on Sunday and Matri will go to Juve."

The 30-year-old, who has six caps for Italy, is currently out of action but has played under Allegri on two occasions before - at Cagliari for two years and then for six months with Milan before the coach's sacking at the start of

2014.

Allegri is faring much better in 2014-15, having taken over from Antonio Conte's title-winning team, as Juve can go nine points clear of second-placed Roma with a victory over Udinese on Sunday.

Matri's enjoying a decent campaign too, having scored seven goals in 16 appearances for Genoa - his best tally since his final year with Juve in 2012-13 when he scored eight times in their triumphant Serie A efforts.

A

•Drogba

ABRIEL Paulista will have no problems with the physical nature of the Premier League, according to Arsenal teammate Theo Walcott.

Theo Walcott needed only one training session with new Arsenal signing Gabriel Paulista to be convinced he will have no problem adapting to the Premier League.

The Brazilian centre-back moved to the Emirates Stadium from Villarreal on Wednesday and is expected to make his debut against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Walcott has been impressed with the 24-year-old in training and has no doubt he will be able to handle the physical nature of the English game.

"I've only trained with him once and he likes to put his foot in, that's for sure," the England international told the club's official website.

"He's not afraid to do that which is good, especially in

G

•Fletcher

the Premier League where you need to get stuck into your tackles.

"He's very tall - I didn't realise how tall he was. He'll only be tested when he plays in the Premier League.

•Walcott

Mancini seeks Richards reunion NTER Milan have started talks with Fiorentina about a potential deal for

I

Micah Richards.

The 26-year-old is on loan

•Richards

Matri ‘ll return to Juventus - Genoa LESSANDRO Matri is set to return to Juventus and reunite with former coach Massimiliano Allegri, according to Genoa's president.

The striker spent two years on the Bianconeri's books until 2013, when he left Turin for AC Milan, although he subsequently bounced on loan to Fiorentina then Genoa.

However, his temporary stay under Gian Piero Gasperini's tutelage looks set

Walcott confident Gabriel can handle physicality

from Manchester City and played for the Premier League champions in the Community Shield against Arsenal.

The Italians have been checking to see if this will count as a competitive match, so it potentially could scupper the deal under FIFA's three club rule.

Richards was a 76th minute substitute in that game, replacing Antonio Kolarov.

Inter are languishing in tenth in Serie A under manager Roberto Mancini, who returned for his second tenure as manager in November.

And Mancini knows all about Richards' capabilities having managed him at Manchester City.

The defender has impressed during his 11 appearances for La Viola.

Schurrle´s Wolfsburg deal not done yet

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NDRE Schurrle has been hotly tipped to join Wolfsburg, but the Bundesliga club say a deal to sign the Chelsea forward is not done yet.

Wolfsburg have yet to agree a deal for Chelsea forward Andre Schurrle, with the club's sporting director stating that time is running out to complete the transfer.

Premier League leaders Chelsea are expected to confirm the signing of Fiorentina's Juan Cuadrado with Schurrle having been tipped to depart Stamford Bridge throughout the transfer window.

Bundesliga side Wolfsburg are reportedly in pole position for the Germany international's signature, but the club's sporting director Klaus Allofs has warned there is still plenty of work to do.

"There is no agreement at the moment," he told Wolfsburger Nachrichten.

"The clock is running out.

Our options are getting less hour by hour. It depends on money. We still would like to sign him."

Schurrle moved to Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen ahead of the 2013-14 season.

However, he has been restricted to just five Premier League starts this term after falling down manager Jose Mourinho's pecking order.

•Schurrle

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THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

SPORT EXTRA

I miss coaching Nigeria – Bonfrére Jo

Dream Team VI holds Flying Eagles in 3-3 thriller F • Awoniyi wins MVP, N200,000 • Siasia, Garba praise teams

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HE Samson Siasia-led Dream Team VI fought hard to hold fans' favourites and Super Six Champion Flying Eagles 3-3 in all explosive and thrilling last match decided at the main bowl of the Abuja National Stadium yesterday.

Siasia who paraded most of the players that took part in the Tunisia friendly came out smoking in the first half but the Manu Garba led Flying Eagles woke up in the second half and proved why they are Abuja fans' favourites.

Little wonder Taiwo Awoniyi of Flying Eagles who was invited to the CHAN Eagles by Stephen Keshi before being dropped, won the Most Valuable Player Award and also smiled home with a cash award of N200,000.

Prince Aggrey of the Flying Eagles drew the first blood in the 28trh minute, while Dream Team VI replied with a goal through Peter Onyekachi in the 32nd minute.

Dream team went ahead scoring their second goal via a spot kick in the 45th minute through Oghenekaro Etebo and scored the third goal while Flying Eagles' Benard Bulwa and Chidera Eze scored in the 54th and 74th minute to end it 3-3 goals apiece.

Assistant Coach of the Flying Eagles Nduka Ugbade said that playing against a new team brought in by Samson Siasia jolted the Flying Eagles.

"We could have won the match against the Dream Team VI today but anxiety on the part

From Segun Ogunjimi, Abuja of my players got the best out of them. They were anxious playing a new team paraded by Samson Siasia, but we are happy we emerged the winner of this competition", Ugbade confessed.

Siasia praised his boys for emerging runner up despite moulding a new team less than a month. My boys have done well if you looked at where we are coming from. This team was put together under two months now. So I am happy with what I have seen of them so far", Siasia disclosed.

The Flying Eagles emerged winner of the Super Six having won 13 points winning three and drew one while the Dream Team came second winning two and drew three.

AFCON: Atsu steers Ghana into semis

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HRISTIAN Atsu scored twice as Ghana beat Guinea 3-0 in Malabo on Sunday to ease into their fifth successive Africa Cup of Nations semi-final.

Atsu set the Black Stars on their way to a comfortable quarter-final victory when he opened the scoring in the fourth minute in Equatorial Guinea's capital, before Kwesi Appiah increased their advantage a minute before the interval.

And Atsu, the winger on loan at Everton from their English Premier League rivals Chelsea, then saw his cross-cum-shot find the net on 61 minutes to take

Ofoedu strikes twice in Samsunspor’s win

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IGERIAN striker Chikeluba Ofoedu scored a brace for Samsunspor in a 4-0 thrashing of hosts in a Turkish second division match on Sunday.

Samsunspor are now seventh on the league table with 26 points in 18 games.

Giresunspor paraded ex-Nigeria youth international Solomon Abwo.

Former Enugu Rangers’ striker Ofoedu, 22, scored his team's second goal from a spot kick in the 82nd minute and he completed his brace in the 89th minute.

He was a direct replacement

• Awoniyi

for fellow compatriot Umar Aminu, who dumped Samsunspor over unpaid salaries. He debuted last weekend against Denizlispor where they won 2-1. He has now scored five goals in the league this season, having scored three in Karsiyaka's colours.

• Guinea's goalkeeper gets red card Ghana through to a last-four showdown with the hosts on Thursday. While Avram Grant's side keep alive their hopes of a first continental crown since 1982, Guinea's Cup of Nations adventure ended without winning a game at the finals.

They also ended the match with 10 men after goalkeeper Naby Yattara was sent off just before the final whistle.

The Syli Nationale only made it into the knockout stage at Mali's expense via a drawing of lots after drawing all three of their group games, and Michel Dussuyer's side never looked like causing an upset here.

Ghana took the lead from their first attack, working the ball into the area from the left before Andre Ayew's backheel allowed Atsu to apply an easy finish.

The onus was now on Guinea to try and find a way back into the match, but they created next to nothing, with stand-in captain Ibrahima Traore unable to influence proceedings from the right flank as he had in the group

stage.

With half-time approaching, Yattara in the Guinea goal saved from Asamoah Gyan, but Ghana made it 2-0 shortly after with the help of some dreadful defending. Appiah, who was preferred to Jordan Ayew in attack, pounced on a poor clearance by Baissama Sankoh and slotted home under Yattara.

There was a clear gulf in class between the teams and Ghana put any doubts as to the final outcome to bed when Atsu struck again just after the hour mark.

Collecting possession wide on the right, he shuffled the ball onto his left foot before whipping what looked to be a cross towards the far post only to see it drop under the bar and into the net.

Guinea's misery was compounded right at the death when goalkeeper Yattara was shown a straight red card for bringing down Gyan on the edge of the penalty box as the Ghana skipper hurtled towards goal.

Monk hails tactically astute Swansea

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• Christian Atsu celebrates with his team mates after scoring on Sunday night

Imoh Ezekiel completes return to Standard Liege

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ATAR Al-Arabi forward, Imoh Ezekiel, will spend the remaining six months of the 2014/2015 season on loan at Standard Liege.

Leaks gathered by SL10.ng revealed the 21-year-old signed the loan agreement on Saturday at the club's secretariat, after studying the proposal.

He is now expected to be in Belgium on Monday morning

for his presentation to the media after passing his medical a week ago as reported by SL10.ng.

Viewed by Standard Liege president Roland Duchastel as the missing link in their attack, his loan transfer ends the club business this winter after also strengthening the team with the acquisition of Jiloan Hamad from Hoffenheim.

In his previous stint with Liege, the former 36 lion forward scored 29 times in two and a half season before his 8 million Euros move to Al Arabi of Qatar.

Despite scoring 6 times in 14 games and earning more than twice his pay in Qatar, he was said to be unhappy, hence his loan move back to the country where he was granted citizenship last year.

Bonfrere who led Nigeria to Africa’s first Olympic football gold in 1996 with Kanu Nwankwo as captain, said that Nigeria has talented players and therefore should be among the best four football nations in the world if there is proper programme for the development of the round leather game in the country.

“Nigeria is abundantly blessed with top players and when managed well they will take the country places,” he explained.?

And looking at the standard of the ongoing 2015 AFCON in Equatorial Guinea, he noted that the competition has been good ,while noting that the tournament clearly misses the Super Eagles.

“The standard of the competition is quite high; some teams have not played well.

Cameroun for instance were poor and I am not surprised they crashed out early.

“It’s a pity Nigeria did not qualify and I think the AFCON misses the Super Eagles,” he added.

• Bonfrere Jo

• Monk

RESULTS AFCON Ghana 3 - 0 Guinea England - Premier League Arsenal 5 - 0 Aston Villa Southampton 0 - 1 Swansea Italy - Serie A Sassuolo 3 - 1Inter Atalanta 2 - 1 Cagliari Cesena 2 - 1 Lazio ChievoVerona 1 - 2 Napoli Palermo 2 - 1 Hellas Verona Torino 5 - 1 Sampdoria Udinese 0 - 0 Juventus Spain - Liga BBVA Levante 0 - 2 Bilbao Almeria 1 - 0 Getafe Sevilla 3 - 2 Espanyol France - Ligue 1 Caen 1 - 0 Saint Etienne Bordeaux 1 - 1 Guingamp Netherlands - Eredivisie Feyenoord 2 - 1 ADO FC Utrecht 0 - 2 Zwolle Vitesse 1 - 0 Ajax AZ Alkmaar 3 - 1 Heracles

ORMER Super Eagles’ coach, JohannesBonfrére, popularly known as Jo Bonfrére in Nigeria, has openly admitted that he still misses coaching the senior national team of Nigeria.

Speaking exclusively on www.footballlive.ng, the Dutch coach confessed that he still misses the Super Eagles and would love to tinker the team again.

Bonfere who assisted fellow Dutch, Clemens Westerhof to win Nigeria’s second Nations Cup title in Tunisia ’94, hinted that he desires to come back to coach the Eagles once again, based on abundant talent in the country.

“I miss coaching Nigeria, miss working with the talented players in the land. I will not mind coaching the Super Eagles again. ?

“If I get the chance, I will definitely bring in my wealth of experience, my discipline and organisation and get the best of the country’s players both at home and abroad,” Bonfrere stressed.

ARRY Monk was delighted with Swansea City's perfectly executed gameplan in their 1-0 Premier League win at Southampton on Sunday.

Swansea City got their tactics "spot on" in a 1-0 win at Southampton on Sunday, according to manager Garry Monk.

The Welsh outfit came into the clash at St Mary's Stadium without a victory in four Premier League outings, but ended that sequence as Jonjo Shelvey's stunning late goal saw them take all three points, while the hosts saw Ryan Bertrand sent off late on for a dangerous challenge on Modou Barrow.

Southampton dominated possession for much of the encounter, and went close through James Ward-Prowse and Sadio Mane.

However, a fine save from Lukasz Fabianski denied the former and Ashley Williams pulled off a double goal-line clearance to keep out Mane as Swansea sealed an impressive

triumph.

"Tactically, I think we got it spot on," said Monk.

"We frustrated them in the first half, then we went for the three points in the second. And what a goal by Jonjo Shelvey - that's a goal worthy of winning any game.

"I'm happy with the three points in what has been a difficult month for us. We spoke about getting back to basics in the week, and we executed the plan very well.

"We've been in a difficult moment, especially in the last two games.

"We didn't show the commitment we've shown all season.

But today was a very committed performance.

"There are periods in a season when you have to adapt. We've played some fantastic football this season, but you have to adapt sometimes, and we did that very well today."

• Shelvey

THE NATION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015

63

TODAY IN THE NATION

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL 10 NO 3114

‘The choice is ours either to address these nagging national issues or allow the bitter competition that arises out of the desire of sections to corner the apparatus of governance for their own good. That is the real issue which the arrest of thousands of ex-militants cannot resolve’ EMEKA OMEIHE

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

For the first time since this column’s debut in 2006, I will not install a new article. Rather I am re-printing the column I wrote on April 18, 2011, a few days after Goodluck Jonathan won the presidential election. I confessed my worries about the man’s victory and its implications for Nigeria.

The column’s prophetic insights do not make me gloat, but are a cautionary tale to fellow Nigerians to look before they leap as we enter another election cycle. While apparently making me a seer, the prophecies do not make me a special prophet. In his novel Blindness, Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago says it is not blindness but refusal to see that ails our civilisation. I saw the wreck of the Jonathan presidency coming because I decided to see. The following article, titled: “No excuse,” is re-published whole. Read on and reflect.

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

intouchnation@gmail.com 08054501081(sms only) Twitter: @samomatseye

•Winner, Informed Commentary (DAME)

Prophecy ’

No Excuse

T

HE system worked, and we can say that Attahiru Jega has so far overthrown the fears of sceptics and ululations of cynics.

After his initial bumbling, he is gradually becoming Nigeria’s model of an electoral mastermind, acquitting himself with aplomb, grace and calculation. He still has a few acts to pull off, and I have to wait to deliver the final and definitive verdict at the end of the election cycle.

So, as the tallies came in yesterday, it was clear Goodluck Jonathan would emerge the winner in the election for Nigeria’s top post.

Even though I voted differently, I must hand him my congratulations. But the congratulations come not from my belief in the wisdom of the majority but in the majesty of the democratic process. Democracy is the voice of the people, and although the people have not always voted wisely or understood the import of their votes, no superior system topples it as the pulse of the people.

Let us not make any mistake about this, Nigerians did not vote for Jonathan because he has any plans to redeem the nation from its protracted woes. Jonathan has never staked himself out as a transformational leader. Few of those who voted for him think of him as a man of vision, as a man of competence, or as a president of executive gallantry. They think of him only in sentimental terms.

So when in the next few years, things don’t get better, no one has a right to blame Jonathan. Most of us did not vote for him to tackle the epileptic malaise of the power sector. We did not vote for him to tackle the dangerous slide in education. Our universities are some of the worst in the world from competing with some of the best. Many of our young do not know the rudiments of math and basics of syntax. If they remain so, and even get worse, we don’t have to blame the man at the top. He was not voted in to sow the seeds for the wise men and women of the future.

If our cousins or sons or fathers cannot find healing in our hospitals, we should not pour woe on the poor and ineffectual health care

RIPPLES AGBAJE, A TAX DEFAULTER, Says Fashola

Over to you Sir… ‘JK WE DON’T KNOW’

So when in the next few years, things don’t get better, no one has a right to blame Jonathan. Most of us did not vote for him to tackle the epileptic malaise of the power sector

‘

•Dr. Jonathan

system. We let it be so with our own hands. If we read of huge sums of money in the centre going into waste pipe projects and dud dreams and a lack of accountability for billions of our money and patrimony, we should rather shout hallelujah.

Today we spend about 90 percent of our money on recurrent expenditure, which means only about ten percent will go to the construction of roads, the establishment of first-class hospitals and schools for the minds of the future. This has implications for the value of the naira against major world currencies. So if in a few years the naira slides to N250 to a dollar, and the cost of akara rises from N10 to about N100, we don’t have to blame the president. He earned our votes for a different reason.

There are four reasons I point out for

Jonathan’s victory. One, the profusion of cash.

Two, a class issue. Three, retreat to the rampart of tribe and primordial loyalties. Four, faith.

No one can doubt the sheer amount of cash that went into the Jonathan campaign. Billions of naira followed billions. Across the country, it was not a matter of whether you believed in Jonathan. It was whether you were a good contractor who could deliver. Whether it was politicians, cultural icons or business moguls, you were in on it if you could make a case for Jonathan. In the media, you could not miss out on the barrage of adverts, on radio, television, newspapers and magazines. It was sheer volcano, ripping apart the budgets and presences of the opposition. It was clearly an unequal contest. One needs to know where the money came from.

Was it NNPC, was it the money we could

HARDBALL

G

OD loved Biblical King David, to be sure. But the amorous excesses of the man who the Bible said knew how to celebrate God – and the Psalms are concrete proof – mainly on account of the Beersheba covetousness, received a God-ly rebuke: swords shalt never depart from thine house!

Of course, you know God also loves Baba – Baba being former President Olusegun Obasanjo – at least from his own personal testimonies. Didn’t all of you hear Baba declare that if he had wanted a third term – and he had earnestly asked his God – God would have done it for him?

Well, the old man is back at university, trying out a PhD in theology. Who knows? Maybe when all is settled, his swansong would be a book entitled Obasanjo’s Jehovah Praise, which in the sheer celebration of the Almighty, would put the David Psalms to shame? That, to be sure, is a mouth-watering proposition!

In sweet expectation of that however, Baba seems to have caught the David syndrome, in terms of a civil war in his political house – his children are boys and girls at war!

Ah, on the score, Baba lives by example! He fired the first shot by training his verbal AK47 on Goodluck Jonathan, president of the Federal Republic, but a godson out of favour.

Since godfather and godson fell out, the nation

have spent on schools or hospitals or roads that got diverted? What of all the money reeled out by the Jonathan administration recently for some capital projects? Where are those billions? This is not a Jonathan problem alone?

It is malaise of our politics. It is an undue advantage of incumbency in our politics, and it is not restricted to presidents.

Yet, as spending goes, I don’t think we have ever witnessed this extravagance in our history or anywhere else. The campaign did not deny the charge of spending N100 million per campaign stop across the country. And for the election proper, N3 billion was deployed per state. By some estimates, the Jonathan campaign may have spent at least N250 billion.

How many roads can that construct, or how many people can that take out of poverty? How many schools would become world class?

The other issue is class. The imperative to get the Jonathan appeal across the country compelled the campaign to work with socalled leaders of thought, traditional leaders and business persons. They have one thing in common: the yen for power, privilege and pots of cash. So we had people who came to the Jonathan camp not because they loved him but because he flattered them with money to become part of the “new power circle”. It helped because Buhari and Ribadu were perceived as opposing the concept of governance as racket.

The other issue was ethnic and primordial ties. Those in the South voted him because he is one of them. Those in the North also voted for Buhari. In all the country, Osun State seems the exception voting for Ribadu. Majorities elsewhere voted their ethnic position. In a radio programme on Saturday, somebody called in to say he voted for change. What change, asked the anchor? The person said the first time he would vote in a person who is not a northerner.

The fourth reason is faith. Many said Jonathan is a Christian and that was enough for many.

Bakare is also. But he is a maverick, a deviant manifestation of belief in Jesus. Bakare was not better or worse than his Pentecostal cotravellers who, by winks and nods and coded sermons, asked their flock to vote for a man of their faith.

So there. None of these had to do with whether Jonathan wanted to make Nigeria a 21st century nation. It was about his humility, his willingness to tout his shoeless origins, kneel before a pastor, flesh out the smile of the meek.

We just voted in a “nice” man, and that is good for Nigeria. If things don’t get better, they should not complain. The people can vote for their elevation and diminution. Jonathan can help their cause by transforming Nigeria.

But can he? Can he free himself from all the hawks who made him president and who have entrapped him this past year?

He can prove his critics wrong. Will he? Does he have the fire in his belly? But we just have to wait.

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Ouch, Baba’s children at war! has been catching a cold!

Godfather says godson is incompetent and useless – and mind you, Obasanjo doesn’t hate Jonathan; he only loves Nigeria. Godson counters godfather is no statesman to harshly put down his own president just like that – remember the Fela number “Just like that, just like that..”? He says godfather, at least from the irreverent lampoon of his own president, is nothing but a motor park tout.

True, quid pro quo, after Baba had shown up at Jonathan’s daughter’s wedding, Jonathan too showed up in Baba’s sanctuary – to beg: remember Fela’s “E don beg me” episode with Justice Okoro Idogu? But Baba? “No agreement today, no agreement tomorrow…”, ah another Fela’s famous number! The war continues!

But as this war rages, the political children too appear to have caught the bug.

When former CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi accused Jonathan of hugging sleaze on account of NNPC’s alleged non-remittance of US $20 billion into the Federation Account, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (NOI) was talking of some forensic audit, Oby Ezekwesili (OE),

gave the coordinating minister for the economy a short shrift. What was needed, she roared, was a full international enquiry, not some closely-guided forensics. Both NOI and OE were golden girls of Obasanjo’s presidential economic think tank.

Then comes the latest theatre of war: NOI vs Chukwuma (his first name is no longer Charles) Soludo (CS). CS, in a truly seminal intervention, rippling with contemporary Nigerian political history, political economy and economics qua economics, scored Jonathan F9 in his (mis) management of the economy.

Not only that: he buffeted the president for “outsourcing” the economy, a chore he should have done himself!

But NOI, the CEO of the “firm” benefiting from the “outsourcing” came out, eyes flashing, gun blazing: Soludo is Nigeria’s worst CBN governor ever! Well, ask Nasir ElRufai: there is no love lost between the two, even during the halcyon days of Obasanjo’s economic management team!

Which of Baba’s children would tango next?

Watch out, Baba’s children are at war!

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