The Nation July 09, 2012

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TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

VOL. 7, NO. 2181 MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

EDO 2012

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USINESSMAN Femi Otedola told the House of Representatives Ethics and Privileges Committee that the audio tape of his purported telephone conversation with Hon. Farouk Lawan did not emanate from him, a member of the committee said at the weekend.

Mr Ibrahim Bello (CPC

N150.00

•Esan group boosts support for Oshiomhole •Activists oppose deployment of troops •I was not detained, says Edo PDP candidate •Militarising the Edo elections •SEE PAGES 4 & 64

Otedola denied giving out Lawan’s tape, says Rep

From Dele Anofi, Abuja

Kaduna) said: “When we asked him about the audio clip, he told us to even summon the media house and demand how they came about the tape. He categorically denied the tape and said he had

not discussed with anybody.

“He denied the audio clip.

All he said at the meeting was that Farouk Lawan lied four times and that’s all.

What I am saying is on record and we have it.”

The House Committee is

probing the $620,000 bribe for-clearance allegation between Lawan and Otedola.

The Chief Executive of Zenon Oil and Gas has accused Lawan, the chair of the House ad-hoc committee that probed the subsidy

management fund of demanding bribe to get his company’s name off the list of those who got foreign exchange but imported no fuel.

He said he informed security agents following which

he gave marked cash to Lawan.

The lawmaker after an initial denial, said he collected the cash as evidence that Otedola forced him to take a bribe.

Continued on page 11

•The late Dantong

•AGONY GONY:: Relations of the late Senator Dantong at his home in Jos…yesterday

PHOTO: NAN

•The late Fulani

Senator, 103 others die in Plateau bloodbath

Protest in Jos as Jang imposes curfew Jonathan orders Dantong’s killers’ arrest

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T was a terrible, but necessary task – the mass burial of villagers killed by yet unknown gunmen in a weekend of blood and bullets.

Among the dead in the Plateau State community were children

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

and women. But, unknown to the mourners, the attackers were yet to call it a day.

As the bodies were lowered into the graves, it began to rain bullets.

The attackers were back. There

was stampede.

By the time the swirling smoke from the assailants’ guns disappeared, many lay dead. Among them was Senator Gyang Daylop Dantong, who represented Plateau North District.

Also shot dead was the Majority Leader of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Gyang Fulani (Barkin Ladi Constituency).

Barkin Ladi Local Government Chairman Emmanuel Loman and a member of the House of Repre-

sentatives, Hon. Simon Mwadkwon, were lucky. Mwadkwon was injured.

The number of those killed during the attack on mourners at the Continued on page 2

•CITYBEAT 11 •SPORTS P23 •CEO P32 •JOBS P37 •POLITICS P43

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

NEWS PLATEAU BLOODBATH Jonathan to security agents: fish out Dantong’s killers From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday ordered security agencies to fish out killers of Senator Gyang Dantong.

The President, according to his spokesman Dr. Reuben Abati, described the killing as cruel and regrettable.

Abati told reporters that the President had directed security agencies to ensure that a thorough investigation is carried out to ensure that the culprits are apprehended and brought to justice in due course.

The President also commiserated with the government and people of Plateau State and members and the leadership of the Senate on the incident.

“The Federal Government is working hard to ensure that there is a check on impunity.

“That much was demonstrated with the recent changes made in the top echelon of our security architecture, especially with the appointment of the new National Security Adviser.

“We shall continue to re- invigorate our fight against terrorism and impunity and we are already taking concrete steps. The President further assured citizens of their safety wherever they live,” Abati said

Mark, Tambuwal shocked

S

•Sympathisers at the late Dantong’s residence in Jos…yesterday

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HE late Senator Gyang Dalyop Dantong represented Plateau North.

He was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health.

He was also a front line member of the Senate Committee on Aviation.

He was one of the opinion molders in the Senate as his views and contributions were usually highly regarded by his colleagues.

Unassuming and simple, the soft-spoken lawmaker was a stabilising force in the Senate.

Born on March 3, 1957, Dantong obtained MBBS

PHOTO: NAN

The man Dantong

By Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja

from the University of Jos and MPH from the University of Ghana , Legon.

He was a renowned medical practitioner who became Medical Director, Vom Christian Hospital , Jos. Dantong was elected into the House of Representatives in 2003.

His superlative performance as a fearless lawmaker earned him the respect of his constituents.

To reward him, Dantong

was elected Senator in 2007.

He was re-elected in 2011.

Dantong’s legislative interest centered on health, education and poverty alleviation while his target achievement included improvement of the health policy of the country.

Known for saying his mind at all times, Dantong was passionate about the eradication of polio in Nigeria .

He once faulted federal government’s poor funding of polio eradication campaign.

For him, kicking polio out

of the country should be instrumental to eradicating other child-killer diseases.

He was particularly uncomfortable that neighbouring African countries were doing better than Nigeria in their efforts to kick out polio.

Though he seldom spoke on the floor of the Senate, Dantong piloted the affairs of the Senate Health Committee to the admiration of his colleagues.

Senator Pius Ewherido (Delta Central)described Dantong as a gentleman.

Ewherido added: “It is painful to lose him in this barbarous manner. May his soul rest in perfect peace.”

ENATE President David Mark yesterday described the death of Senator Gyang Dantong as shocking.

He said that “the incessant killings of innocent Nigerians must be stopped.”

A statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Kola Ologbondiyan, quoted Mark as saying that government at levels and security operatives must rise up to halt senseless killings.

Mark said: “We must do everything within the ambit of our laws to ensure that this type of murderous acts is stopped.

“As a nation, we must just rise against those who are determined to return us to a state of nature where life had little or no value.”

The Senate President described the death of Dantong

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja

as “a personal loss to me.”

He said the deceased was “a patriotic parliamentarian, quintessential gentleman and committed nationalist who was killed in active service to his fatherland.”

He urged the security agencies to bring the perpetrators of the gruesome murder to justice.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Waziri Tambuwal also condemned the killing of a federal lawmakers and innocent mourners in Plateau State, saying incessant killings must be stopped forthwith.

Tambuwal described Senator Dantong as a man of peace whose death is highly regrettable.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, Continued on page 11

Senator, 103 others die in Plateau bloodbath Protest in Jos as Jang imposes curfew

Continued from page 1

mass burial site was put at 20.

The deceased and hundreds of others were attending the mass burial in Maseh village, Riyom Local Government Area, for 64 victims of the weekend attack on Plateau villages by people believed to be Fulani herdsmen. The dead were either burnt or shot.

Ten villages - nine in Barkin Ladi Local Government and one in Riyom - were attacked on Saturday night. In all, about 104 died.

Hon Mwadkwon, the House of Representatives member representing Riyom/Barkin Ladi Federal Constituency, was taken to the hospital – unconscious. He regained consciousness hours later.

“Senator Gyang Dantong and the Majority Leader of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Gyang Fulani, were attacked and killed by Fulani shepherds,” State government spokesman Pam Ayuba said.

A senior legislative aide to Senator Dantong, Hon Dan Majang, confirmed the death of his boss.

Mr. Ruwang Dantong, the brother of the senator, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the senator died after seeing the dead bodies of his kinsmen killed in an attack on Kakuruk village in Barikin Ladi Local Government Area.

Ruwang also confirmed the death of Assemblyman Gyang

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HERE was a mass protest yesterday by Berom youths, who came out in their hundreds following the killing of Senator Dantong and Assembly member Fulani. They blocked major roads in their areas.

The protesters blocked federal highways in Riyom and Barkin Ladi. Motorists from southern and central zones of Plateau could not get to Jos. Motorists from Abuja were also blocked in Riyom. It was a tough day for security agencies containing the rampaging youths to prevent reprisals while at the same time chasing the gunmen that killed Senator Dantong.

Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang announced a curfew in Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi and Riyom local government areas with immediate effect.

“The curfew will start at 7:30pm to 7am.

The curfew starts 6pm tomorrow (today) to 7am till further notice”.

A statement signed by Yiljap Abraham, Commissioner for Information and Communication, said.

Senator Dantong popularly called DDD (from his initials) is a medical doctor, who assisted his constituents in ofFilani.

Ruwang said both representatives were at the scene of the attack carried out between Friday and Saturday when they started hearing gunshots from another set of attackers.

Shocked by the situation, the duo collapsed and were taken to Barkin Ladi General Hospital where they were pronounced dead, he said..

When NAN visited the Ray-

From Marie-Therese Nanlong, Jos

fering free medical service to poor rural people.

The sign of his presence in town was the stream of people heading to his Rayfield home on weekends. He attended to each and every one of them.One institution that will miss him most is his alumni association. The late senator was an alumnus of the University of Jos, where he graduated as a medical doctor.

Recently at the University of Jos, he was the guest lecturer of the Distinguished Alumni lecture, he promised to develop the medical science department Berom women in the beleaguered Plateau State appealed to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dauski and other well-meaning Nigerians to come to their aid in the face of attacks and killings especially of children and women. They appealed to attackers to ceasefire and allow peace to reign.

The women in tears said they know their attackers are Fulani cattle-rearers saying Col. Dasuki should use his position as the NSA and a Fulani, to appeal to the attackers to stop the killings and

field home of the late senator, relatives and well wishers were in shock. Many were wailing.

An eye witness said: “The Chairman of Barkin Ladi, Hon Loman, escaped the attack because he left in an advance party to the next site of mass burial. It was at the end of the mass burial when people were about to depart that the gunmen struck, opening fire on

give respite to the people.

Their spokesperson, Ngo Monica Gwom, said there is so much hunger in the villages because people do not go to farms any longer due to fear. She said those who went to the market ended up being killed while those who planted crops had them destroyed by cattle-rearers.

Gwom decried the killings of innocent people, especially women, saying: “All good-hearted people and patriotic citizens should rise to condemn these acts and ensure they are ended.”

The Commissioner for the Environment, Mrs. Sarah Yusuf, reiterated the suffering of the people in the two local government areas due to incessant attacks.

Mrs. Yusuf, who was shaken by Saturday’s attacks, said the sight of what took place in the villages should move every person in authority to call the perpetrators of the evil to order.

When our correspondent contacted a villager on the telephone, mourners were heard wailing in the background as relatives gathered to count their losses.

sympathisers.

Gunmen, who divided themselves into five groups, attacked 10 villages, killing mostly women and children on Saturday night.

Some of the villages invaded are Kakuruk, Kuzen, Nqyo, Kogoduk, Ruk, Dogo and Nyar.

Eyewitnesses said the gunmen were dressed in bulletproof vests and military cam-

ouflage.

Plateau State has been a flashpoint of perennial ethnic crises.

The Special task Force (STF) in Jos, “Operation Safe Haven”, said its men killed 21 of the gunmen who launched the Saturday attacks.

The STF, in a statement by its media officer Captain Salisu Mustapha, said it lost two of its men to the attackers during

•Loman

•Mwadkwon

a gun duel that lasted over three hours.

Sources said the death toll from the scene of the attacks was over 100.

Hon Fulani, before he was killed yesterday, said: “The figure we gave you yesterday was underestimated; it was far above that. In fact in Maseh village, we came there this morning (Sunday) to discover over 50 bodies burnt in one building. Besides, bodies littered Maseh village.

Continued on page 58

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

4

NEWS

A cycle of For states such as Borno, Yobe and Gombe, violent attacks are usually carried out by the Boko Haram insurgent group. But, for Plateau, it goes beyond the sect, as neigbours also fight each other over indigene/settler issues, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU •Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola receiving an award from the Executive Director,World Assembly of Muslim Youth, Nigeria,Sheikh Shamy Nushi Shamy during the 1st International Muslim Awards at Abioye Hall,Royal Spring Holiday Inn, Osogbo ... yesterday. With them is the National Co-ordinator,New Era National Islamic Propagation Centre, Nigeria, Dr. Abdur Rauf Adisa Kolawole.

PHOTO: NAN

•Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (middle), Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji (right), Lagos State Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN),Chief Oladele Ajomale (left), during the 8th Executive/Legislative Parley with the theme: Legislative and Administrative Reforms for Social Change in Lagos... on Friday,

I

T was once celebrated as “The home of peace and tourism”.

Now, Plateau is home to neither.

On Saturday, Jos, the state capital, was on fire again. This time, it was not Boko Haram, the dreaded Islamic sect that was in action. It was neigbours who went for each other’s jugular. By yesterday, the death toll was 104.

The early morning raid on villages dominated by Christians left many confused for hours, until a military task force was deployed to quell the heavy fighting.

Muslim herdsmen were blamed for the raids, but their community leaders denied any wrongdoing. The Miyetti Allah cattle group dismissed the accounts as propaganda and said the military had attacked the herdsmen.

Mustapha Salisu of the Special Task Force (STF) said: “Hundreds of assailants launched sophisticated attacks. Some had (police) uniforms and some even had bulletproof vests.”

Revd. Noah Maikano, in an interview with the BBC, said it may be difficult for the city to regain its attraction to all. He said his house has been burnt thrice between 2001 and

now.

Revd. Maikano said: “Soon after we finished the repairs, the same problem came up again. The Muslims said their people were killed. So, they were going to retaliate. We narrowly escaped.”

Revd. Maikano and his family have been forced to a village outside Jos. He said: “There is nothing we can hope for again. They have destroyed what I took 20 years to build. For now, can we can see Muslims and Christians living apart.

Everyone is living in fear of his neighbour in Jos. Right now there is no reconciliation. Look at my house, I know it’s a Muslim that has pulled it down, sent me to the village. It’s not easy to forget, it will take time.”

Students and staff of Al-Bayan Islamic Secondary School have also seen the rough edge of the Jos crises.

A mob of Christians allegedly once burnt most of the buildings in their school and brutally murdered five of the students along with another child who was on the campus at the time. They live in fear of those who burnt down their school two years ago.

A teacher in the school, Jibril Yakubu Ibrahim, told the BBC: “The culprits who burnt the school were arrested, and taken to police headquarters. They only spent some days in detention, and then

How govt spent overWe’ll $1 billion to buy contain peace in Niger Delta •Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, during the third annual graduation and prize-giving ceremony of FAMAKS International School in Abuja... at weekend PHOTO: NAN

Paying and educating the former Niger Delta militants is expensive, costing $405 million in 2012 alone and well over $1 billion since the programme started. While that represents less than three days’ revenue from the increased oil production, it has nonetheless drawn criticism from politicians outside the Niger Delta, who say that the cost of appeasing and pacifying the region is too great, reports FINANCIAL TIMES

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•FCT Minister Senator Bala Mohammed and Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission, FCT Office, Obunike Ohaegbu during a meeting at the Minister's office in Abuja... at weekend PHOTO: NAN

EQUEST Igbikis was used to hiding behind a mask. He knew a little about oil pipelines, too — how to blow them up.

“Vandalising, killing people, kidnapping people,” said Igbikis, 28, describing his life as a former member of the Niger Delta Strike Force, one of the rebel groups whose attacks in the creeks of southern Nigeria crippled the country’s oil industry.

What he was not familiar with was how to build a pipeline, which is why he was standing in a dark warehouse with a protective mask on his head and a welding torch in his hand, sending a fountain of sparks into the air. Before long the two pieces of four-inch pipe in front

of him were neatly joined together.

“I am learning,” he said, unsmiling but proud. “I want to be a somebody.”

This month, Igbikis and 39 fellow former militants will graduate from their nine-month welding course in Port Harcourt, the delta’s biggest city, joining thousands of other ex-rebels who have graduated from education or training projects in Nigeria and abroad. They are all beneficiaries of a $405 million-a-year amnesty program that has become an unlikely success story for Nigeria’s government.

When it was started by the late president Umaru Yar’Adua in June 2009, the rebels’ raids on oil installations and personnel had halved oil production from more than 2 million barrels a day to as low as 800,000 a day in January

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

5

NEWS

reprisal attacks turns Jos into killing field Timeline of some attacks in Jos Nov. 2008 - Clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs triggered by disputed local government election kill at least 700 people in Jos, according to U.S.-based Human Rights Watch.

Jan. 2010 - Hundreds are reported killed after clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs in Jos, most by gunfire. Police estimate death toll at 326, although some community leaders put the figure at more than 400.

March 2010 - Hundreds of people are killed in clashes between Islamic pastoralists and Christian villagers in the mostly Christian villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Ratsat just south of Jos. Plateau State Commissioner for Information, Gregory Yenlong, said more than 300 people had died.

Dec. 2010 - At least 80 people are killed in Dec. 24 bombings as well as in clashes two days later between Muslim and Christian youths in Jos. Jan. 2011 - Human Rights Watch says more than 200 people killed in violence over preceding month, with many hacked to death or burned alive in attacks on villages, and reprisal killings in Plateau state.

August.-September. 2011 - At least 70 people killed in clashes in central Plateau state since beginning of August. Cycle of violence started when Christian youths attacked Muslims as they gathered to celebrate end of Ramadan in Jos. Dec 25, 2011: A Christmas Day Boko Haram bomb attack on Saint Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla town near Abuja kills 42 worshippers. Three secret police (SSS) operatives and a BH bomber are killed in a suicide attack when the bomber rams his bomb-laden car into a military convoy at the gates of SSS headquarters in Damaturu. A policeman is killed in a botched BH bomb attack on a church in the Ray Field area of Jos, capital of Plateau State. were released, and no-one came to say a word to us. Even today they are neighbours of the school and psychologically it’s affecting our students, looking at these people around the area.”

Reports indicate that in the last two years, over 1,000 people, both Muslims and Christians, have been killed. All in the name of reprisal attacks, massacres have been committed on both sides.

At the heart of the crises is the fight for who own the city. The Hausa-Fulani

community is complaining of discrimination, accusing the government of Plateau State of classifying them as “settlers”.

The dual nature of the Jos violence was brought to bear on June 10 when Boko Haram attacked God’s Chosen Church, killing two people: one member of the congregation and the suicide bomber who drove the car.

Several others, including 11-year-old Sharon Shade were left writhing in pain.

•File photograph of ex-militants protesting alleged non-payment of allowances

2009, according to the government’s figures. Few local activists believed the amnesty policy would work.

But within a little more than a year, more than 26,000 “armed agitators” had handed over their weapons in exchange for a $400 monthly payment and a promise of training. The attacks lessened and then stopped. Today oil output is between 2.4 million and 2.6 million barrels a day, the government says.

Although concerns remain about the cost of the amnesty, the long-term stability of the delta and the massive increase in oil theft or “bunkering” that has accompanied the drop in violence, many early critics of the programme admit they were mistaken.

“I thought the amnesty was poorly

planned, but I’ve had to eat humble pie,” said Inemo Samiama, executive director the Stakeholder Democracy Network, a civil society group. “Militant activities have practically ceased and normal life has returned.”

Keeping the rebel leaders happy was crucial to the programme’s success. It helped that President Goodluck Jonathan, who played an important role in negotiations with the militants while he was vice president, was from the delta region. After initially fearing persecution, militant bosses such as Government Ekpumopolo, known as Tompolo, were comfortably housed in the capital, Abuja, and then controversially taking part in lucrative oil-related contracts.

A reprisal attack that followed left several others dead. It took the arrival of the military and police to prevent the retaliatory violence from escalating .

The Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin Kwashi, said: “You only need to study the reprisals in Jos and Kaduna and you’ll see that the young people are getting out of control. The young people are learning that if Boko Haram is getting away with evil, with crime and criminality, then why

•Governor Jonah Jang

shouldn’t they?

“After all what have they got to lose? They are jobless, they are unemployable, they are hungry, they are angry and it may spiral into anything. The way the politicians are approaching these life and death issues gives me no reason to be optimistic.”

The situation in Jos has become so bad that on Fridays ahead of Muslim prayers and on Sundays ahead of church services, roads are blocked off and checkpoints are increased. People

•Kingsley Kuku

For foot soldiers such as Igbikis, who said he was driven to militancy by joblessness and a sense of injustice, the amnesty terms were also generous. The $400-a-month stipend is nearly four times the minimum wage of local government workers. Together with the promise of training, it was enough to encourage most militants — and many nonmilitants, some allege — to renounce violence and join demobilisation camps.

The government says about 11,500 of those granted amnesty have been placed in formal education or given training since 2009.

Nearly half of those took courses abroad, mainly learning skills such as welding, electrical installations, mechanics, marine diving and en-

trepreneurship. An additional 600 nonmilitants were awarded scholarships to overseas universities as part of the programme.

But the programme’s success is generating its own problems. Although it is now closed, thousands of people are still clamouring to join, including former militants who initially refused to sign up, fearing stigmatisation. Growing resentment among unemployed young delta residents who did not take up arms is another problem.

“There was always a risk of the amnesty being seen to celebrate violence,” said Lawrence Pepple, technical adviser on reintegration for the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme.

“But we also have to give these former militants opportunities.”

are now frisked before they enter worship centres.

The commander of the STF, MajGen. Henry Ayoola, said: “We are meeting with all sides of the divide here to ensure the youths are kept in check... to ensure they don’t jump on the bandwagon of any kind of reprisal attacks. We should pretty soon be seeing the end of the whole matter.”

The signs are not as encouraging as he paints.

Paying and educating the former militants is expensive, costing $405 million in 2012 alone and well over $1 billion since the programme started. While that represents less than three days’ revenue from the increased oil production, it has nonetheless drawn criticism from politicians outside the delta, who say that the cost of appeasing and pacifying the region is too great. In addition, there is the suspected involvement of former militants in bunkering, which saw up to 400,000 million barrels a day stolen in March, suggesting that the resulting loss to the treasury and oil companies may exceed $1 billion a month.

Detractors also say the programme has done little to address the underlying issues that caused the militancy. Despite its oil riches, the delta remains poor, underdeveloped and polluted.

Pepple acknowledges the continued challenges but said the amnesty programme was never supposed to be “a panacea for all the problems.?.?.?.?Our mandate was the cessation of hostilities, and it has achieved that.”

Pepple said the end date for payments to militants would depend on the “threat and needs of the region” but that it was unlikely to extend past 2015. That means new jobs and opportunities will have to be created to keep the former militants as well as other jobless youths satisfied.

At present that is not happening, which could have serious consequences. Belema Papamie, an adviser to the president from the Ijaw Youth Council, an influential body representing the delta’s largest ethnic group, said the various militant groups held back some of their weapons when accepting amnesty and may have acquired more.

“You can traumatise a man by training him and then not giving him a chance at a job,” Papamie said.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

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NEWS ENI blames sabotage for oil spillage

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TALIAN oil major ENI said yesterday there has been an oil spill on its NembeObama pipeline in Niger Delta due to sabotage.

“Repair work has started. The wells of Nembe South have been closed with minimal impact on production,” a spokesman for the company said.

In 2009, ENI said its net output in Nigeria - Africa’s biggest oil producer was 128,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Sabotage of foreign oil company’s infrastructure in the Niger Delta has reduced since an amnesty for militants in 2009, but there has been a surge in oil theft in the region this year.

Oil companies and the Federal Government have accused communities of causing spills to claim compensation for the environmental damage caused.

Locals according to Reuters often say oil companies are slow to react to spills and do not clean them up properly.

“It is indeed sad and most unfortunate that in spite of the huge consequences occasioned by the oil spill, Eni has failed to discuss development,” Nengi James, chairman of an oil community committee in the Nembe region, said.

“They (oil firms) allow oil spills to spread to rivers and mangrove forests before coming for inspection and clean-up.”

Ministers to face budget implementation assessment I

N line with the law, the Federal Government will soon embark on the monitoring of 2012 budget to determine how all ministers and agencies have implemented projects therein.

The government has also engaged experts and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)to have an independent assessment of the implementation of the budget.

But the Fiscal Responsibility Commission has cautioned the Budget Office against lumping assessment of First Quarter and Second Quarter together.

A nationwide monitoring of the implementation of the Budget will begin from July 18, it emerged at the weekend.

It was learnt that attention will be paid to specific projects contained in the budget, especially the level of implementation.

• Fed Govt drafts experts, CSOs to field nationwide from July 18 From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

A source in the Presidency , who spoke in confidence, said: “Going by law, the Budget Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the Budget Office is expected to submit a quarterly report on the implementation of projects listed in the budget.

“Due to the delay in the passage of budget, the unit could not monitor anything in the first quarter. Also, do not forget that the lifespan of the 2011 budget was extended to March.

“But with assent to the 2012

budget, no minister or agency has any cause to complain at all. Field officers, experts and CSOs will begin assessment of projects executed by ministers and agencies under their control.

“The assessment will cover January to June, 2012, representing the First and Second quarters. The report will be made available to the Presidency, National Assembly and all the ministers and agencies.

“The implementation records will determine the release of funds for some capital projects. For instance, if a N12billion project is yet to take

off by July, the Minister in charge does not only deserve a query from the Presidency, the Federal Ministry of Finance will be well-guided on what to do.

But it was learnt that the Fiscal Responsibility Commission(FRC) has however kicked against the combination of the evaluation of the execution of projects in the first and second quarters.

Another source added: “The position of the FRC is that the nation’s law allows only quarterly assessment. It has advised the Budget Office to adhere to the law until it is amended by the National Assembly.

“The reality is that if the Budget Office goes by the law, there might be no assessment for the first quarter. I think the Budget Office and the FRC will find a middle approach to it.”

Court nullifies SEC’s audit report against OkerekeOnyiuke

By Joseph Jibueze

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•CLOSED: Oworonshoki end of the road to the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos shut as repair work began... yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Airlines to shut out passengers without I.D cards

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O strengthen security in and around the nation’s airports, airline operators are to adhere strictly to Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) regulation requiring proper identification of all passengers prior to boarding.

The Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, said the approved means of identification are international passports, National Identity Card, National Drivers’ Licence and any other verifiable photo identity card.

Ms Oduah said airlines are reminded that they are under strict obligation to deny boarding to any passenger without a proper photo ID card.

She said: “This reminder which is Security Directive No 16 is in accordance with Part 17, Regulation 83 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations and Section 13.7 of the National Civil Aviation Security Programme (NCASP).

Under the directive, all airlines are to ensure that passengers are positively identified by matching each passenger’s name with the photo identity document produced or presented by the passenger. All passengers are also reminded that “no person may use another person’s ticket or boarding pass to travel in Nigeria”. The name on each passenger’s ticket and boarding pass must therefore match the name on his or her photo identity document.

This directive, which takes effect from July 7was issued

by NCAA’s Director General Dr Harold Demuren and is to remain in force until further notice”, Ms Oduah said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala will today meet with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and civil society groups on 2013 budget.

The session is designed to seek the input of the OPS on next year’s budget.

It was learnt that Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala will consult with OPS members from the Southwest, Southeast and Southsouth.

The minister is expected to hold the same session with stakeholders from Northcentral, Northwest and Northeast tomorrow in Abuja.

A source said: “The government is consulting in line with its new plan to send 2013 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly by September. We hope that by December it would have been passed and assented to by the President”.

Supreme Court revokes sale of ALSCON to Russian firm

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HE Supreme Court has revoked the sale of the Federal Government-owned multibillion naira Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) in Akwa Ibom State to a Russian firm, UC Russal.

It ordered the Russian firm to surrender the ownership because it acquired it illegally.

Justice Afolabi Fabiyi, in the unanimous judgment said: “The lower courts, with due diligence, took a very simplistic view of the whole transaction from the angle of a simple contract without bearing in mind that the sale of ALSCON was by way of an auction sale in which each bid is regarded as an offer which if accepted by the auctioneer by the fall of the hammer, creates a binding and enforceable contract.”

He consequently set aside the judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal and issued an order of specific performance which mandated BPE to execute the mutually agreed share purchase agreement with BFI Group.

An American Investor, BFI Group was declared the rightful owner of ALSCON and was directed to take over the running of the company having emerged the highest bidder.

The apex court ordered the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE)

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

to execute the share purchase agreement for the sale of the company with BFI Group Corporation to enable the company pay the agreed 10 per cent of the accepted bid price of $410 million within 15 working days from the date of the execution of the Share Purchase Agreement.

It issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining BPE from inviting any further bidding for the sale and acquisition of ALSCON and also awarded N50,000.00 cost against BPE. Justice Fabiyi said Russal should have refrained from buying the company when it was aware that BFI Group which was chosen as the preferred bidder before BPE unilaterally frustrated the contract, was already in court challenging BPE’s refusal to consummate the transaction.

‘The Respondent (BPE) must be made to appreciate the purport of the doctrine of lis pendens which is aimed at preserving the subject matter of litigation. Any extraneous body including Russal which buys the subject of litigation does so at its own risks’.

He noted that Russal was the second bidder whose bid of $205 million with conditionality was rejected by BPE.

NCP to Fed Govt: disband Aig-Imoukhuede Committee now

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HE National Conscience Party (NCP) has called on the Federal Government to disband the Aig-Imoukhuede Subsidy Probe Committee. It described the inauguration of different committees as a guise to prevent anti-graft agencies from prosecuting indicted persons.

The party, in a statement by its National Secretary, Mr. Tanko Yunusa, accused the Federal Government of wasting public funds and desperately shielding economic saboteurs. The party asked the government to explain how the N245 billion budgeted for fuel subsidy last year was increased to N2.19 trillion.

The statement said: “Since

By Precious Igbonwelundu

the House of Representatives indicted the cartel of economic saboteurs involved in the fuel importation scam last year, the Federal Government has not hidden its desperate agenda to shield them from prosecution. Upon the submission of the report, the Federal Government treated it with disdain. However, based on public demand, the report was reluctantly forwarded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by the Federal Government.

“As the EFCC was rounding off its investigation, the Ministry of Finance set up a technical committee headed

by Mr. Aigboje Aig- Imoukhuede, to conduct anoth-

er inquiry with a view to discrediting the report of the House.

“While the Committee was collating its report, the Otedola /Lawan video cassettes were released and promoted by the Federal Government to divert the attention of Nigerians from the unprecedented criminality of the fuel importers. As the sponsors of the video cassettes failed to achieve their dubious objectives, the report of the AigImoukhuede Committee was released with funfair,” the party said.

NCP alleged that contrary to the expectations of the Federal Government, the Aig-Imoukhuede Committee was unable to cover up the monumental fuel impor-

tation scandal, adding that a Presidential Committee has now been set up to verify and reconcile the findings of the technical committee set up by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

“However, the 15 members of the Committee include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) which have been indicted by the House for grave economic crimes and the representatives of the banks that funded the fuel importation scam. Or is the Federal Government not aware that Mr. Aig-Imoukhuede funded not less than 33% of the indicted fuel importers?

Federal High Court, Lagos has nullified a forensic audit report by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the affairs of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) under former Director-General, Dr Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke.

Justice Charles Archibong, at the weekend, quashed the report, saying it was void and of no effect.

He said it breached Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.

Sub section I of the Section says: “In the determination of his civil rights and obligations, including any question or determination by or against any government or authority, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such a manner as to secure its independence and impartiality.”

According to the judge, Dr. Okereke-Onyiuke was not allowed to defend herself before the report was made public.

“The audit exercise was short of due process and is hereby set aside,” he said.

The judge held that SEC has no authority or control over the plaintiff who is no longer NSE’s chief executive officer, adding that it is the Exchange that is subject to the regulation of SEC. Besides, the judge said the NSE is an autonomous company, and that its domestic processes were externalised, resulting in the direct intervention of a regulator.

It consequently made the report public without hearing from the former NSE boss, the judge held.

Dr. Okereke-Onyiuke had prayed for a declaration that the defendants have no authority, jurisdiction, power or control over her, within the context and meaning of Section 13 of the Investment and Securities Act to warrant the letter of invitation for investigation dated November 1, 2010 by the defendant to her.

She asked for an order setting aside the purported audit report, as well as an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from acting on the said letter or implementing the audit report of the affairs of the NSE or using it to instigate her arrest, harass, intimidate or blackmail her.

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEWS

EDE

Robbers kill hotelier’s husband in Osun

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GANG of eight armed robbers yesterday killed a 47-year-old man, Rasheed Babatunde Bolarinwa, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital. They also shot a Divisional Police Officer (DPO).

The late Bolarinwa was the husband of a popular hotelier, Yetunde, in the ancient town.

The hoodlums shot him in the head at close range and the DPO at another location in the town as he attempted to obstruct their operations.

A family source, who claimed to have witnessed the attack, said the bandits entered the hotelier’s compound near Akindeko Street in Alekuwodo, Osogbo at 1am.

The source, who spoke in confidence, explained that the family was watching a movie

•Shoot DPO From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

when the robbers stormed the home.

The eyewitness said the hoodlums cut a security wire gauge and broke the main door into the flat inside a semidetached bungalow.

The source said: “Our daddy (the deceased) was woken up from sleep by the hoodlums’ arrival. He quickly came out of the room to await them in the sitting room. Our mummy also had placed the money they came for on the table, ready for them to pick since they have always been coming to collect money from us.

“The robbers spoke in Yoruba. They were shouting

and issuing orders. They asked daddy to sit down on a sofa while they carried out the operation. As one of them was about stepping out of the door, he shot daddy at close range in the head.

“Other robbers blamed him, saying there was no need for killing anybody since we had cooperated. They rushed out of the street, shooting and asking the neighbours not to dare come out or else they would be killed.”

Last Easter, it was learnt, the robbers came to the home of the hotelier and broke her husband’s head with their shoes before they carted away a huge sum of money. The money was said to be the proceeds from the day’s sales at their Yetty Restaurant and

Yetty Guest House at OdiOlowo in Osogbo.

The family source said the deceased was able to identify one of them and reported to the police. But the suspect was said to have been released because the police said there was not enough evidence linking him to the robbery.

Bolarinwa’s body was yesterday deposited at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital morgue in Osogbo.

The injured DPO was also rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Efforts to speak with Police Commissioner, Mrs. Kalafite Adeyemi were unsuccessful.

She neither picked her calls nor replied to a text message sent to her cell phone.

Ondo ACN unites for Akeredolu •Launches MOPOL 18 Aregbesola’s aide urges aspirants to support Akeredolu

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EADERS and aspirants of Ondo State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) have closed ranks to ensure that the party’s candidate, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), wins in the October 20 governorship election.

This was one of the resolutions the party reached in Akure, the state capital, at the end of a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Oranmiyan Sunshine Forum, a group within the ACN. Over 1,000 representatives from all the wards in the state attended the meeting.

Reading the agreements reached by representatives from the 18 local governments in the state, the founder and facilitator of Oranmiyan Sunshine Forum, Bola Ilori, said a Mobile Politicians group (MOPOL 18) was also formed.

He said this would support the party and facilitate the quick delivery, well packaged and strategically coordinated campaign for Akeredolu and the ACN to enable the party claim

POLITICAL group, Oranmiyan Sunshine Forum (OSF), at the weekend urged all governorship aspirants of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo State to support the party’s flag bearer, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), to guarantee victory for the party in the October 20 election.

Besides, the group said it has directed its members to mobilise from all units, wards and local governments for Akeredolu and ACN. Addressing an interactive session in Akure, the state capital, the founder of the group, an ACN chieftain, Bola Ilori, said any politician who wants victory for his party must deliver his or her unit.

The Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Environment and Sanitation said: “Now, our leaders, through a process, have picked Akeredolu. It is now left for us to be united and work for the success of our party. The resolution is that ACN has only one aim, which is to unseat the present administration of Labour Party (LP) led by Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

“I want to clarify one thing: the party chiefBy Emmanuel Oladesu, Deputy Political Editor

the Government House in Akure.

The suggestions and resolution of the meeting showed that MOPOL 18 would be an independent support mechanism for the party’s electioneering campaign coordination for each of the 18 local governments.

Their duties and functions will include ensuring that necessary information is passed to the party’s secretariat on time, while the requisition to aid the success of the party is also

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

tains are not divided and there is no disconnect in the party. What is presently going on in the party is normal in politics. Even Ondo State was still okay. It happened in Lagos when Governor Babatunde Fashola was picked; several people were aggrieved but ACN still won the poll.

“Presently, 80 per cent of the aspirants have agreed to work with the candidate of the party and, already, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, Jaiyeola Ajatta and some others have publicly declared their support for Akeredolu.”

Ilori, a former local government chairman in Lagos State, urged the people to see the candidate as a symbol of the party rather than an individual contender.

He said the symbol of the party would be on the ballot paper on the election day and not the picture of the party’s candidate.

The state Treasurer of the party, Mr Ade Adetimehim said ACN members and most of the aspirants have agreed to work with Akeredolu.

passed to necessary quarters.

The crop of smart and mobile politicians for the job would be aided to carry out SWOT analysis of the party’s chances in each polling booth ahead of the elections.

Ilori said: “You have made wonderful suggestions here today, contrary to the views by our detractors that the party is bereft of ideas or that we don’t have viable structures or that the party is disunited.”

The politicians are also to monitor all proceedings in their areas on the day of election and other duties that will ensure the

party’s success.

“The MOPOL 18 is ‘Big Brother ACN,” he said.

Ilori, who was the Action Congress Senatorial candidate for Ondo Central in the 2007 elections, said he is ready to facilitate the operation of “MOPOL 18”.

He promised to ensure that members of the “MOPOL 18” lack nothing that may hinder their duties.

The ACN chieftain debunked the insinuations in some quarters that there was a crisis in the party over the choice of its candidate.

Why we embarked on massive road construction, by Osun

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HE Osun State Government has explained why it embarked on massive road construction and rehabilitation in all parts of the state.

Addressing reporters at the weekend in Osogbo, the state capital, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Akinrogun Sunday Akere, said: “What the government is doing is to make the best of

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

available time at its disposal.

“What we have left is only about two years. So, what our contractors are doing during the raining season is to prepare ahead of the dry season. They are doing the drainage, artworks now and by dry season construction will start in earnest.”

The commissioner urged residents to endure the complaints of discomfort by motorists, saying the government wants the best for them.

“There is no gain without some pain,” Akere said.

He cautioned those spreading rumours about the alleged scrapping of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) of the Rauf Aregbesola

administration in two years.

The commissioner said there is no such plan.

Akere spoke of plan to create upward career progression for OYES cadets in various sectors of the state’s economy, adding that by the time those presently in the scheme move up, “a new generation of OYES cadets will move in.”

Alaafin condemns attack on Ibadan masqueraders

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HE Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, has condemned last week’s attack on the famous Ibadan, Oyo State, masquerader, Oloolu.

The masquerader and its followers were attacked by some youths last Tuesday and Wednesday during its annual festival. Some of the supporters were detained by the police on the allegation that they caused violence.

The Alaafin addressed reporters at the launch and pre-

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

miere of a Hip Hop musical album, entitled: O N Rugbo Bo

by AK Dollar and Eskino.

He described the attack as the desecration of the sanctity of Yoruba culture and tradition.

The monarch noted that a similar Egungun festival, which was just concluded in his domain, is an annual festival for instilling social order and discipline.

Oba Adeyemi said the Oyo town festival had not been marred by violence since his

ascension to the throne 40 years ago.

According to him, violence is no longer appreciated as part of such programmes in Yorubaland.

The monarch explained that he attended the album launch to encourage the two young musicians.

The monarch urged parents to allow their children to explore their potentials by supporting them.

At the event were eminent Oyo indigenes, including Sena-

•Oba Adeyemi

tor Ayoade Adeseun.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS EDE CHINONYELUM CYNTHIA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ADEJUMO CHINONYELUM CYNTHIA. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and the general public take note.

TAJUDEEN I formerly known and addressed as Woleola Tajudeen now wish to be known and addressed as AratumiWoleola Kolawole Tajudeen. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

AOCOED ALUMNI ELECTIONS The Alumni Association of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education AOCOED Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos State, hereby announces plans ahead of its 2012 forthcoming elections coming up on July 21 2012 at NNEWI HALL No, 16, Alice Tinubu Street, Alafia Bus/Stop, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos.

The announcement signed by the alumni secretary (Electoral Committee), Mr. Hassan Quadri; and Chairman, (Electoral Committee) Mr. Olamilekan Bashir,(Authority) stated that purchase of nomination forms commences on Monday July 9, and end on 17of the same month between (8:00am-4:00pm daily) at the Alumni Office AOCOED. Screening exercise also comes up on July 19 at the Alumni Office, AOCOED (12:000pm-4:00pm) daily.

Fees for the respective offices are as follow: (President) N11.000.00; (Vice) N6000.00; (General Secretary) N8000.000; (Financial Sectary): N8000.00; (Treasurer):N8000.00; (Auditor I): N6000.00; (Auditor II):N6000.00; (Asst. Gen. Secretary):N6000.00; (PRO):N6000; and (Social Secretary): N6000.00 Eligible graduates of the college are to present their original certificates/statement of result (no photocopy) with the sum of N500.00 only as accreditation fee.

Prospective applicants and other interested members are to call

07088735433, 08159424042 respectively for more information.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

8

NEWS THE BATTLE FOR EDO

•A large turnout at the mega rally of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City... at the weekend.

Rights activists kick against deployment of troops in Edo F OR the Human Rights Agenda Network (HRAN), the decision of the Federal Government and the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) to deploy 3000 soldiers in Edo State for Saturday’s governorship poll is condemnable.

In a letter sent yesterday to INEC chairman Prof Atahiru Jega, the group drew the electoral umpire’s attention to the dangers of using the army for civil policing duties.

Chino Obiagwu signed the letter for the network

comprising more than 150 rights groups.

The letter reads: “Soldiers are not trained to handle civil peace-time law and order duties, and the deployment of soldiers to civil police duties have always resulted in excessive use of force and killing of innocent civilians.

“HRAN believes that using the army to manage the forthcoming election in Edo

will cause more problems than it would solve.

“The presence of soldiers on the streets and around polling stations will discourage many people from coming out to vote, thereby creating motivation for low turnout of voters.

“Moreover, the presence of soldiers carrying live weapons will be provocative

and could easily lead to violent clashes.

“We are well aware of the abuse and misuse of security personnel during elections and the involvement of the army could lead to fatal consequences.

“HRAN requests that police and other civil forces be deployed for the elections and that the conduct of these

officials should be supervised and monitored.”

It reminded the electoral body of its constitutional role of organising violent-free polls.

“HRAN reminds INEC of its duty to ensure violentfree, transparent and credible governorship election in Edo state,” it said, urging the commission to strengthen its prosecution machinery to bring those involved in electoral frauds to book as a way of reducing impunity and abuses by politicians.

Esan residents unite for Oshiomhole’s rerun bid

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DO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s quest for another fouryear term has got a big boost.

Swelling the support base for the ‘Comrade’ governor are Esan indigenes worldwide, under the aegis of Esan Committee of Friends.

The committee urged all full-blooded indigenes of the community to cast their ballot for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) standard bearer at the election slated for Saturday.

According to the committee, the reelection of Oshiomhole in sustain the ongoing and transformation of the state.

Committee spokesman Larry Aghedo said the position of the group stemmed from the track record of the governor in the past four years.

Besides, Aghedo said with the physical infrastructure built by Oshiomhole’s

administration, the electorate have come to realise that there could be a governor in their lifetime who is trust worthy.

Aghedo said: “What we are saying is that, our people should not allow themselves to be deceived by anybody in the state on the election day.

“We want Oshiomhole for a second term and we must have it. The youth of the entire Esan have come together both at home and abroad, to demand for Oshiomhole. Let nobody kill our dream.”

According to him, the committee had held series of meetings both at home and abroad before pleading with the political leaderships in the state to give Oshiomhole a second chance for him to complete the transformation of the state.

“Let’s give Ohsiomhole the next four years and let him reposition the state. We have been backward in terms of development. Go to the state capital (Benin City) and tell me which tap was bringing out water before Oshiomhole came into power?” Aghedo said.

Aghedo, who is a former ACN House of Assembly candidate, noted that nightlife for which Edo people were known had been restored after taking a flight between 1999 and 2007 He said: “Visit Benin and go out in the night, you would hardly believe that residents of the state sleep at all. Youths are engaged in small businesses at night. Some have drinking joints, food joints, and transportation businesses among others. These have

helped to curtail crime rate in the state.”

He said if governance was all about carrying the people along, Oshiomhole’s administration has been able to achieve that over the past four years.

His words: “The people of the state now know which government is bad and which one is good. They can separate people-oriented governance, which is democracy from classoriented governance which is aristocracy. So we want Oshiomhole to come back for the next four years.”

Edo PDP candidate denies being detained

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ANDIDATE of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s election in Edo State, Gen Charles Airhiavbere (rtd), yesterday denied being detained for three months over alleged financial misconduct before he retired to join politics.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole and candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the election, had alleged that Airhiavbere was once arrested and detained while in the army.

The governor claimed it was over the mismanagement of funds meant for the rehabilitation of military health centres across the country, including one in Benin City.

Oshiomhole reportedly made the statement during a debate organised by the Nigeria Election Debate Group in collaboration with the African Independent Television (AIT).

But the PDP flag bearer yesterday defended his integrity at a press conference in Benin, the state capital.

Airhiavbere told reporters that he would not have won a distinguished service award if he was actually found wanting as an officer.

Insisting the allegation was untrue; the PDP candidate said he retired with merit after an unblemished career.

Why I dumped ACN, by PDP chief

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FORMER member of the Edo State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Captain Hosa Okubo, yesterday broke his silence on why he dumped the party for the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

According to him, he joined the PDP in the overall interest of his kinsmen in Benin, who he said lack proper representation at the federal level.

Addressing reporters in Benin City, the state capital, the politician noted that he shifted his support from the ACN to the PDP with a view to getting the state back to mainstream politics.

“In Abuja today, we have people from Edo North that are in Abuja politically. We have people from Edo Central that have some political presence in Abuja.

“But the zone where I came from which has more than 50 per cent of the total voting population of the state, has nobody in Abuja today or any political strength.

“We need to go back to the mainstream where the interest of our people cannot only be supported by the state, but also supported by the Federal government.

“I believe the state is bigger than me or anybody, but the interest of my people is bigger than friendship, is bigger than relationship, because that is where I stand.”

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

9

NEWS

Aregbesola to Fed Govt: diversify economy to save Nigeria from doom

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SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged the Federal Government to diversify to avoid the disastrous consequences of a monolithic economy.

He backed the call by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela, that the Nigerian economy be diversified to avoid the jeopardy of an economy that relies mainly on crude oil.

The governor warned that the continued neglect of commerce, trade, cooperatives, mines and agriculture would result in a national calamity, as the nation’s drive for development would be a mirage.

The governor spoke at the weekend in Minna, the Niger State capital, at the Osun Special Day at the ongoing 10th

From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

Niger National Trade Fair.

He was represented by his Special Adviser on Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment, Dr. Daudu Olalekan Yunusa.

Aregbesola said: “Commerce is everything. We need to take commerce, cooperatives and investment very important in this country. It is a national calamity for us not to give attention to trade, cooperatives, investment, mines and agriculture. We will be heading for a disaster, if we do not change our course.”

The governor noted that Nigeria loses a lot of revenue through its underdevelopment of the tourism sector.

He said the country has a lot

of tourist centres that could be developed to generate revenue, adding that if adequate attention is given to the sector, the nation’s economy would be turned around.

Aregbesola said agriculture is the foundation for Nigeria’s industrialisation, adding that proper attention to the sector would boost the nation’s economy.

The Chairman of Osun State House of Assembly Committee on Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment, Kamarudeen Akanbi, warned that continued ignorance of small scale industries is done at the detriment of the nation.

According to him, the development of any state depends on how the small scale industries thrive.

The lawmaker said low investment at the federal level has not been encouraging because industries that were functional a decade ago have become moribund.

He said: “Ten years ago, industries were not functioning the way they should be functioning. This is because the investment climate at the federal level has not been encouraging at all.”

Akanbi hailed the Niger State Government for organising the fair over the years.

He said most states have not had any trade fair for over 10 years, adding that Osun State has not had one in six years.

The lawmaker, however, assured that the state might organise a trade fair this year.

Ajimobi constitutes review panel on sacked workers

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YO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has set up an 11-man committee to review the cases of the sacked civil servants with genuine grievances.

This is the fourth step the government has taken to ensure fairness in the sack of its workers.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, the government said the committee has the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adebayo Mutalubi Ojo, as its Chairman, a representative of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), as well as seven others, as members.

The statement said the action is to give some of the affected workers, who have been claiming they were unjustly sacked, the opportunity to prove their innocence.

This is the second panel the government has set up on the matter, to ensure that justice is done.

The government recently sacked 3,000 workers who were found to have entered the public service with falsified age claims and falsified certificates.

Other civil servants affected were those said to be ghost workers who had no letters of appointment or were retired but were still on government payroll, as well as workers who had disciplinary cases against them.

The statement said the Ajimobi administration inherited the staff rationalisation list from the former government, which hired a consultant, Captain Consulting. The firm was to audit the records of civil servants and their positions.

After the audit, the statement said, the consultancy firm produced a list of workers with deficiencies, including those who violated their rules of engagement.

The consultant presented the report to the former government.

The government said when the Ajimobi administration assumed office, it was persuaded that allowing the indicted workers to stay in the service would affect the morale of other workers with genuine documents and was against the rules of equity and fair play.

Osun Speaker urges politicians to partner for good governance SUN State House of Assembly Speaker Najeem Salaam has urged politicians to generate ideas that could enhance good governance after elections.

The lawmaker spoke at the 50th birthday of the second Speaker of the House, Prof Mojeed Alabi, in Ejigbo, Osun State.

He noted that keeping away good ideas from an incumbent administration, when power changes hands, is retrogressive.

Salaam said: “If some politicians have superior ideas, they would keep them to their chests with the aim of deploying them when they hijack power. But what happens if people continue to reject them at the polls? In the process, some good people with superior ideas have died with their potentials and potentialities.”

The Speaker urged political office holders to learn from Prof.

Mojeed Alabi, saying immediately the celebrator was through with his political assignment as a legislator and Speaker, he forged ahead with his chosen profession and progressed to the peak of his career.

Salaam said the way to play the role of opposition is to engage the government in constructive criticisms that could put it on its toes so that head or tail, the masses would benefit.

He decried destructive criticisms that could compromise the collective values, laws and order of the society.

Salaam said: “Let me urge political actors to learn how to play politics. Let us, the people in government, focus on programmes that will better the lot of the people, while the opposition puts the government on its toe so that people would be the maximum beneficiaries. This is because people would always be at the receiving end, if destructive criticisms are employed by politicians.”

A statement by the Press Secretary to the Speaker, Mr Goke Butika, said former Speaker Adejare Bello hailed Salaam’s consistency in his duties, saying he usually stood by his principle when he ran into bad weather in the Fourth Assembly under his leadership.

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•From left: Evang. Oluwole Odusanya; the Primate of the African Church, Most Rev. Emmanuel Udofia; wife of the Lay President, Mrs Kehinde Okunowo and the Lay President, Evang. Ebenezer Okunowo, at the church’s installation/swearing-in of new executives on Broad Street, Lagos...yesterday.

PHOTO: DAYO ADEWUNMI

‘Don’t politicise Akeredolu’s candidacy’

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LAWYER based in Okitipupa, Ondo State, Mr Segun Lema, at the weekend criticised the statement credited to the Okitipupa branch chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Benson Amuwa.

Lema said Amuwa was threatening him for appraising the emergence of former NBA President, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) flag bearer for the October 20 election in the state.

The lawyer, who is also the Okitipupa branch Vice-Chairman of the NBA, said the threat is baseless and of no consequence because it was politically motivated.

According to him, there was no time he spoke on behalf of the association that NBA in Okitipupa had endorsed Akeredolu as its candidate for the election.

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

He said: “What I said in the report was that Akeredolu’s candidacy is a good omen for NBA and that it would be the joy of the association to have its members in positions of authority, aside from the legal profession.

“I also described the former NBA President as a man of integrity and credibility who introduced a lot of reforms into the association while in office.”

Lema noted that the legacies Akeredolu left behind in NBA are of tremendous advantage to the legal profession and these would justify his aspiration for further positions.

The NBA chief said it was libelous for Amuwa to have accused him of bringing the name of the association into disrepute when he did not say anything that could warrant such a statement.

He said: “What I said is that Akeredolu’s candidacy as ACN governorship candidate is a good omen for NBA, going by his professional antecedent and pedigree. I did not say he has been endorsed by NBA. What I said is what I have repeated.

“I said that some concerned lawyers are working tirelessly to make other members of the association see reasons why they should wave aside party interest and support Akeredolu’s candidacy and hope that the NBA will support him in the election.

“If somebody was put in position of authority and he performed creditably well, I think such a person deserves good recommendation. That is what I have done. I deserve apology from Amuwa over the statement credited to him that he would discipline me for dragging the name of the associa-

tion through the mud.

“I want to believe he did not read the report before he made the statement. If he did, I want to believe he did not digest the story properly. It is my conviction that he was influenced by some politicians in the state to issue that statement.

“I, therefore, challenge him to come out and tell the whole world if Akeredolu did not perform well during his days as NBA President. I said it in the publication and I am saying it again that it will be the joy of NBA to see somebody like Akeredolu or any member of the association to become governors of their states.”

Lema alleged that the NBA chairman deliberately misinterpreted the story and misinformed the public because of his political affiliation with the ruling Labour Party (LP) in the state.

Department celebrates Golden Jubilee

By Ramat Musa

T

HE Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology (CPEB) of the University of Ibadan (UI) will flag off its 50th anniversary celebration today with an exhibition of the department’s heritage.

Addressing reporters on the week-long programme, the Head of Department, Prof A. O. Togun, said an important feature of the celebration is the launch a N500 million Golden Jubilee Fund. Its proceeds would be used to acquire state-of-the-art equipment for cutting-edge research and rehabilitate laboratories, he said.

Other activities include: a carnival procession, an inter-university quiz competition among students of the Department of Crop Protection of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife; the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA); UI; University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) and Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State.

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

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CITYBEATS

08033054340, 08034699757 E-mail:- ynotcitybeats@gmail.com

Police arrest 244 ‘robbers’

L

AGOS State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Umar Manko, yesterday, said that 244 suspected armed robbers were arrested by his command in the first half of the year.

Manko said in Lagos that the arrest of the ring leaders of the various robbery gangs in the state remained one of the biggest achievements of the command during the period under review.

He said that 160 guns and 948 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the suspected armed robbers who had been terrorising the state.

The police chief also said that out of the 54 robbery incidents recorded during the period, 59 suspected armed robbers were shot dead while five policemen lost their lives in various en-

counters with the robbers.

Manko added that 239 vehicles were snatched at gun points, 227 vehicles removed from where they were parked while eight vehicles were driven away by drivers during the period.

According to him, 367 of the stolen vehicles were recovered by the command between January and June this year.

He also said that 133 murder cases were recorded in the state in the first six months of the year.

Manko, however, said the period recorded sharp decline in robbery incidents compared with the same period last year.

He attributed the decline in robbery to the recent ban on commercial motorcycles operations in some parts of the state.

Dantong’s death shocking, say Mark, Tambuwal Continued from page 1

Tambuwal urged the security agencies to rise to the challenge by fishing out the perpetrators of the violence. He urged the agencies to provide adequate protection to the citizens of the country at all times.

While condoling with the government and people of Plateau State, the Speaker said the House of Representatives in particular, and the National Assembly in general, would continue to liaise with other arms of government and security agencies to find lasting solution to the spate of violence bedeviling the nation.

According to the Speaker, criminal groups hide under different guises to cause mayhem in the country, as such, Nigerians should remain resolute in their quest for lasting peace.

He said Nigeria is greater than any group, and expressed optimism that this dark period in our history would soon pass.

•From left: His Excellency, High Commissioner of Canada, Mr Chris Cooter, Managing Director, Western Concrete Limited, Mr Ola Folorunso, an Engineer, and the Owu of Oke Olowu Otunba Babatunde Ogebule, during the 145th edition of the Canada day in Lagos

Woman, 33 held for alleged fraud

A

N Ibadan, Oyo State businessman, is being detained at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) in Lagos for alleged fraud.

Mrs Bunmi Akintoye, 33 is said to have duped various persons of several millions of Naira.

It was gathered that since her arrest last week, more of her victims have been showing up at the anti-fraud office to complain.

The SFU spokesperson, Ngozi Isintume, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), told The Nation

By Jude Isiguzo

that Mrs. Akintoye allegedly collected 96 pieces of Hewlett Packard Laptops in June, last year, from a complainant at N105,000 each, amounting to N10,080,000 million.

“Madam Bunmi Akintoye criminally confused her unsuspecting victim into believing her to be a genuine business woman by depositing N1.5 million and issuing post-dated Skye Bank cheques in the value of N8.5 million which all bounced on presentation,” Isintume

said.

The police spokesperson alleged that in another case, Mrs Akintoye approached a gentleman in Ibadan, pretending that she won a contract from Lead City University and allegedly obtained money from him.

“In yet another case, the suspect allegedly obtained $80,000 from a United States (US) based Nigerian woman on the pretext of carrying out a legitimate transaction. In each of these cases, the suspect would vanish into thin air, so to say,

and would no longer pick calls from her victims,” the spokesperson said.

The Commissioner of Police in-charge of SFU, Tunde Ogunsakin, warned the public to be at alert as other conmen are on the prowl in search of people to dupe.

He said the suspect would soon be charged to court.

Ogunsakin urged those with complaints against Mrs Akinoye to come the SFU. He urged those with business or investment proposals to ascertain the authenticity of such proposals to avoid being defrauded.

Otedola denied giving out Lawan’s tape, says Rep Continued from page 1

Bello, however, said rules are meant to be followed, irrespective of status, which is responsible for the insistence of the Committee to hold its sessions behind closed-doors.

He said: “Nobody can come and bend our rules. We don’t have any business with Otedola. I said it before his lawyer, who told him not to talk with us and answer our questions.

He was only a witness before us and we told him categorically. We have ten lawyers in the ethics and privileges committee.

“But he came with a Senior Advocate who sat beside him and told him not to answer our questions. He didn’t know that Otedola was only a witness before us and we told him categorically.

“But the position of the Nigerian law as at today is that OKOLI I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. JOY NKERIUKA OKOLI now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. IRABOR JOY THOMPSON. All former documents remain valid. Christ Embassy Church and general public please take note.

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he who gives graft and he who receives are both culprits. You are not a member of the parliament and you were alleged to have given one of us something which is illicit, then, you are the best person to come before the Committee and tell us the true position of what transpired before you and him”.

Bello said the importance of the case would not give room for laxity as the integrity of the House as an institution is at stake.

“This particular issue is a unique case. As a committee, our business is the conduct of affairs of our members. But this matter is unique because it involves somebody who gave and somebody who took. The allegation is that somebody who is not a parliamentarian gave to a parliamentarian.

“And we in the parliament want to ascertain the veracity of the claim. Are we going to import a demon to come and find out what transpired between Otedola and Lawan?”

“It’s a matter whereby the onus is on Otedola to come before us and give us justification testifying to the fact that truly he gave Lawan graft because he is an accused person too by virtue of our laws. So, can you see the fallacy in this country? We don’t know who is protecting the accused person here.

“He (Lawan) came and we interrogated him for almost four hours after giving his testimony he left, with the arrangement that whenever we need his presence he will come back. Now he (Otedola)is insisting that we should go into a public hearing”.

The lawmaker also defended the action of the Commit-

tee on its decision to hold its session in secret, saying, “Let me tell you, there is a difference between a public hearing and a committee sitting.

“In a public hearing, each and every Nigerian has the right to come and witness the sitting as long as such a person will maintain the peace.

But in a committee sitting of this nature, it is strictly restricted to members of the House especially as it concerns the conduct of a member of the parliament hence we had to meet in privacy.

“Because we are not a court neither are we a tribunal to give a verdict. He doesn’t know that we cannot give verdict. We are just to analyze by law, our own findings and take back to the House. That is our limit. We can either punish Lawan nor Otedola.

And we do not have any provisions within our standing rules where we can compel Otedola to give any testimony.

But the law of this country provides that he who asserts must prove beyond reasonable doubt. So, what is beyond reasonable doubt here? In as much as Otedola was the nominal complainant in this allegation but he declined in giving statement.

“We are not hiding anything and we are not protecting anybody.

“We have been cautioned.

Any of our member who goes the extra mile to do anything that is abominable is on his own. Every member is assumed to be responsible and reasonable.

“That is why we are going to do our work without fear or favour. We will do our work diligently and report back to the House”.

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

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OSUN STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, ESA-OKE

POST UTME SCREENING This is to inform the general public especially candidates that chose Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke as thier 1st and 2nd choice and those who did not choose the Institution but scored above 160 in the last UTME examination, that a screening test will be conducted on Saturday July, 21st 2012 at the College premises.

Candidates are to purchase the post UTME screening scratch card with 2,000.00 from the following banks:1.

2.

3.

OSCOTECH Microfinance Bank, Esa-Oke OSCOTECH Microfinance Bank, Ilesa Fin bank branch-4, Gbongan/Ibadan road, opp Fakunle Comprehensive high school, Osogbo, Osun State.

4. First Bank, Ilesa 5. Wema Bank, PLC Osogbo 6. Pace setter Microfinance Bank, Ojoo. Ibadan 7. Olubasiri Microfinance Bank, Osogbo 8. Mainstreet Bank, Esa-Oke 9. Fin Bank Akran branch -34, Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.

10. Finbank Onipanu branch – 178, ikorodu road, Onipanu, Lagos 11. Finbank Challenge branch- 10, Moshood Abiola way, Challenge, Ibadan, Oyo State 12. Finbank Agbowo branch- 30, Oyo road, Opp U.I post office, Ibadan, Oyo State.

All interested candidates are to access the admission form online on our website www.oscotech.edu.ng with one passport photograph and should be submitted online.

For more information, visit our website on www.oscotech.edu.ng.

Elder J.O Ogunsuyi Ag. Registrar

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

16

OSUN STATE POLYTECHNIC, IREE P.M.B. 301, IREE ADVERTISEMENT FOR ADMISSION INTO FULL TIME FOUNDATION PROGRAMMES (FORMERLY PRE-NATIONAL DIPLOMA), AND HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES FOR THE 2012 / 2013 ACADEMIC SESSION Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for admission into the underlisted Foundation Programmes in Science & Technology and Management and Higher National Diploma Programmes which will be available in the Institution during the 2012/2013 Academic Session.

lish Language, Physics and any other two from the following : Chemistry, Biology/ Agricultural Science, Further Mathematics, Fine Art/Technical /Building Drawing, Geography and Economics. (b)

FOUNDATION PROGRAMMES (FORMERLY PRE-ND PROGRAMMES) IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT IN THE SCHOOL OF BASIC STUDIES (i) Science Laboratory Technology (ii) Food Technology (iii) Mathematics/Statistics (iv) Computer Science (v) Electrical/Electronics Engineering (vi) Computer Engineering (vii) Civil Engineering (viii) Building Technology (ix) Quantity Surveying (x) Architectural Technology (xi) Estate Management (xii) Urban & Regional Planning (xiii) Mass Communication (xiv) Office Technology & Management (xv) Business Administration (xvi) Marketing (xvii) Purchasing and Supply (xviii) Banking and Finance (xix) Accountancy Entry Requirements for (i ) above Minimum of 5 Passes in GCE & SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings .Passes in Mathematics, English Language and any other three from Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Agricultural Science and Further Mathematics.

Entry Requirements for (ii) above Minimum of 5 Passes in ‘O’ level GCE & SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in Mathematics, English Language and any other three from Biology/Agric Science, Food & Nutrition, Chemistry, Physics and Further Mathematics.

Entry Requirements for (iii) above Minimum of 5 Passes in ‘O’ level GCE & SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in Mathematics, English Language, one of the basic sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) and any other two from Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Agricultural Science, Further Mathematics, Economics, Geography, Government and Commerce.

Entry Requirements for (iv) above Minimum of 5 passes in GCE & SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in Mathematics, Physics, English language and any other two from the following subjects: Chemistry, Biology/Agricultural Science, Economics/Commerce, and Geography Entry Requirements for (v-vii) above Minimum of 5 passes in ‘O’ level GCE & SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, English Language and any other one from the following: Biology/Agric Science, Further Mathematics, Geography, Electronics, Technical/ Building Drawing, Basic Electricity, Wood/Metalwork, Blocklaying, Concreting, Carpentry and Joinery, Electronic and Cable Joining.

Entry Requirements for (viii and ix) above (a) Minimum of 5 passes in ‘O’ level GCE & SSCE of WAEC and SSC of NECO obtained at not more than two sittings Passes in Mathematics, Eng-

National Technical Certificate of NABTEB with 5 passes in Mathematics and other four from Physics, Chemistry, Technical /Building Drawing, General Metalwork, English Language, General Woodwork, Biology and any other trade related subjects such as Introduction to Building Construction, Blocklaying/Bricklaying, Concreting, Carpentry and Joinery, Machine Woodwork, General Woodwork.. Passes in English Language & Physics are compulsory.

Entry Requirements for (x) above Minimum of 5 Passes in GCE, SSCE of WAEC or SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in Mathematics, English Language, Physics and any other two from the following: Chemistry, Biology/Agricultural Science, Geography, Economics, Fine Art/Technical/Building Drawing, General Metalwork, General Woodwork, and any other trade related subjects.

Entry Requirements for (xi) above Minimum of 5 Passes in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in Mathematics, English Language, one basic science(Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and any other two from the following: Economics/ Commerce, Accounts/Bookkeeping, Government, Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Agricultural Science, Geography, Fine Arts/ Technical /Building Drawing and other trade related subjects such as Introduction to Building Construction, Blocklaying/Bricklaying, Concreting, Carpentry and Joinery, Machine Woodwork and General Woodwork.

Entry Requirements for (xii) above Minimum of 5 Passes in GCE, SSCE of WAEC or SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in Mathematics, English Language one basic Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and any other two from the following: Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Agricultural Science, Geography, Economics, Technical/Building Drawing, General Metalwork, General Woodwork, and any other trade related subjects such as Introduction to Building Construction, Blocklaying/Bricklaying, Concreting, Carpentry and Joinery, Machine Woodwork and General Woodwork.

Entry Requirements for (xiii) above Minimum of 5 passes in ‘O’ level GCE & SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NBC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in English Language, Mathematics and any other three from the following subjects: History, Literature in English, French, Yoruba or any other Nigeria Language, Government, Commerce/ Economics, Principle of Accounts and Physics/Chemistry/Biology/Agricultural Science.

Entry Requirements for (xiv) above Minimum of 5 passes in ‘O’ level GCE & SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NBC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Passes in English Language, Mathematics and any other three from the following subjects: Economics/Commerce, Geography, Typewriting, Literature in English, Religious Studies, Yoruba, French Language, Shorthand, History, Principles of Accounts, ICT, Office Practice, Government, Business Methods and Physics/ Chemistry, Biology, Agricultural Science.

Entry Requirements for xv – xvii Minimum of 5 passes in O’level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings passes in English Language and Mathematics and three other subjects from Economics, Business Methods, Principles of Accounts, Literature in English, Commerce, History, Statistics, Geography, Government, Agricultural Science/Biology/ Physics/Chemistry.

Entry Requirements for xviii - xix

2012

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012 Minimum of 5 passes in O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings including English Language and Mathematics and any other three from Economics, Government, Commerce, Geography, Principles of Accounts, Statistics, Biology/Agriculture Science/Chemistry/ Physics, and Literature in English, History HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES GENERAL REQUIREMENTS National Diploma (ND) in the same discipline with a minimum of Lower Credit obtained from an NBTE accredited programme/Institution plus a minimum of one year Post – National Diploma Industrial Attachment/Work Experience in the field of specialization. However, in exceptional cases, candidates with Pass Grade in the National Diploma with a minimum of 2 years Post-National Diploma Industrial Attachment/Work Experience may be considered.

SPECIAL INFORMATION: There will be qualifying examination and Interview for all HND Programmes Applicants.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS (A) HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES IN THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (i) Two year Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication (ii) Two years Higher National Diploma in Office Technology and Management (Formerly Secretarial Studies). (iii) Two years Higher National Diploma in Computer Science

17 (C)

HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES IN THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (i.) Two Years Higher National Diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technology (a) Power and Machine (Option). (b) Electronics and Telecommunication (Option) (ii) Two Years Higher National Diploma in Computer Engineering Technology. (iii) Two Years Higher National Diploma in Civil Engineering Technology.

Entry Requirements for (i – iii) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings . Credits in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry are compulsory plus any other two from the following: English Language Biology/ Agricultural Science, Further Mathematics, ICT, Geography, Economics/ Commerce, Electronics, Technical/Building Drawing, Basic Electricity/Basic Electronics, Wood /Metalwork and other trade related subjects such as Introduction to Building Construction, Blocklaying/Bricklaying, Concreting, Carpentry and Joinery, Machine Woodwork, General Woodwork. A Pass in English Language is compulsory.

(D) (i.) (ii).

HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES IN THE FACULTY OF FINANCIAL STUDIES Two Years Higher National Diploma in Accountancy.

Two Years Higher National Diploma in Banking & Finance

Entry Requirements for (i) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NBC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings Credits in English Language, Mathematics and three subjects from Economics/Commerce, Government, Geography, History, Literature in English, French, Yoruba, or any other Nigeria Language, Principles of Accounts, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Agric. Science.

Entry Requirements for (i-ii) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings in English Language, Mathematics and any other three subjects from Economics, Government, ICT, History, Literature in English, Commerce, Geography, Principle of Accounts, Statistics, Biology/Agricultural Science/ Chemistry/ Physics.

Entry Requirements for (ii) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NBC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings .Credits in English Language and any other four subjects from Mathematics, Business Methods, Typewriting, Shorthand, Literature in English, Government, Financial Accounting, Office Practice, History, Religious Knowledge, Yoruba and any other Nigerian Language, French Language, Commerce, Economics, Accounts, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Agric Science. A minimum of pass in Mathematics is required.

(E)

Entry Requirements for (iii) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Credits in Mathematics, Physics and three of the following subjects: English Language, Chemistry, Biology/ Agricultural Science, Further/Additional Mathematics, Statistics, Economics/Commerce and Geography. A pass in English Language is compulsory.

(B) i. ii iii. iv.

HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES IN THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE Two Year Higher National Diploma in Applied Chemistry Two Year Higher National Diploma in Microbiology Two Year Higher National Diploma in Food Technology Two Year Higher National Diploma in Statistics

Entry Requirement for (i) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Credits in Mathematics and Chemistry are compulsory, plus any other three from the following: English Language, Physics, Biology/Agric Science, Geography, Economics/Commerce and Further Mathematics. A pass in English Language is also required.

Entry Requirements for (ii) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Credits in Mathematics and Biology are compulsory, plus any other three from the following English Language Chemistry, Physics, Geography, Economics/Commerce and Further Mathematics A pass in English Language is compulsory.

Entry Requirement for (iii) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ levels GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Credits in Mathematics, Chemistry Biology/ Agricultural Science and any other two from the following: English language, Physics, Economics/Commerce, Statistics, Food and Nutrition, Geography and Technical Drawing. A pass in English Language is compulsory.

Entry Requirement for (iv) above Minimum of 5 Credits in ‘O’ level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings. Credits in Mathematics, and one of the basic sciences (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) plus any other three from English Language, Further Mathematics, Biology, Agricultural Science, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, Geography, Government/History, Statistics, Typewriting.

A pass in English Language is compulsory.

(i) (ii) (iv)

HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES IN THE FAC ULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES Two Years Higher National Diploma in Business Administration and Management.

Two Years Higher National Diploma in Marketing Two Years Higher National Diploma in Purchasing & Supply

Entry Requirements for (i-iii) above Minimum of 5 credits in ‘O’ Level GCE and SSCE of WAEC, SSC of NECO or NTC of NABTEB obtained at not more than two sittings . in English Language, Mathematics and any other three subjects from Economics, Government, History, Literature in English, Commerce, Geography, Business Methods, Principle of Accounts, ICT, Office Practice, Statistics, Physics/ Chemistry/Biology/ Agricultural Science.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR BOTH FOUNDATION AND HND CANDIDATES 1) Please note that it is compulsory for every applicant into the 2012/2013 Foundation Programme to write and pass the 2013 UTME, in addition applicants are expected to meet the minimum admission requirements for their proposed course of study before elevation to ND 1.

2) Candidates are advised to ensure that they personally and not by proxy fill-in appropriate information especially with regards to the arrangement of names, examination grades, examination number, examination year and the exact Industrial Training (I.T) date (HND only) 3) Only courses duly accredited by the NBTE will be considered for the admission.

40 Candidates are advised to keep safe their scratch card as any loss will necessitate purchase of another scratch card.

5) Change of course after the payment of acceptance fee is not allowed.

6) Applicants are advised to provide correct and functional E- Mail address and Telephone number while completing application form on-line.

7) Date of Qualifying Examination will be announced in due course.

8) The Institution would not be liable for any erroneous information contained in the filling of forms.

METHOD OF APPLICATION Applicants should purchase online APPLICATION SCRATCH CARDS and collect a flyer at N7,500.00 from OSPOLY Microfinance Bank LTD., Iree and proceed to http://www.ospolyiree.com/ to complete their APPLICATION FORMS online Completed application forms should be submitted online not later than Monday 1st August. 2012. Also, completed online application including the confirmation pages should be downloaded and be submitted together with photocopies of claimed credentials to the Admission Office Directorate of Academic Affairs, Osun State Polytechnic, Iree not later than 8thAugust, 2012 For detailed information on our existing programmes and admission requirements, please visit our site: http:// www.ospolyiree.com/. Our help lines are: 08154444027 and 08062762799. Email: admissions@ospolyiree.com J. A. AKANDE REGISTRAR

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19

EDITORIAL/OPINION EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

COMMENT

Still on subsidy-gate •Despite the drama of a harvest of probes, we must insist on punishing the guilty

T

HERE is a slew of committees probing probable scams in the fuel subsidy regime. The quad of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee, the Senate Ad Hoc Committee, the Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede-chaired Technical and Forensic Committee which the Minister of Finance, Ngozi OkonjoIweala, set up; and the probe mandate which petroleum resources minister, Diezani Alison-Maduekwe, handed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been joined by President Goodluck Jonathan’s own Presidential Committee, headed by the same Mr. Aig-Imoukhuede.

Is this probe committee over-drive aimed at getting to the root of the subsidy miasma? Or it is aimed at confusing and confounding, so that a scandal-fatigued nation would cut its loss and “move on”, until it is hit by another sleaze-driven scandal?

Despite all the current grim theatre, Nigerians would do well to fix their gaze on the ball: some felons have cleaned out the public till, through the so-called subsidy payment; and with apparent collusion from official quarters. Who are these devils? And how best can they be dealt with, within the confines of the law, so that no future brood of rascals would try such grand larceny?

More importantly, how do we lawfully wean the Jonathan Presidency from the costly conceit that what a crooked few stole from the treasury could be refunded by taxing the law-abiding majority, under the guise of “complete subsidy removal” – as it tried to do with disastrous consequences last January; and as it is trying to do now with the periodic whining from the finance minister that the subsidy payment had been overshot for

the umpteenth time? These are the issues. Let no one allow the cynical drama going on to becloud their sense of reasoning!

There is absolutely no doubt that the “subsidy” payout bill has veered out of control. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, coordinating minister for the economy, said N1.7 trillion was paid out as at December 2011, aside from another N451 billion arrears for 2011 paid out this year. But even the arrears payment of N451 billion is more than the N240 billion appropriated for the whole year in the 2011 Appropriation Act! But there is also compelling evidence that much of the payout was voodoo payment, that had nothing to do with subsidy. Aside from the Farouk Lawan House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee report, from which a sub-plot of high-profile bribery scandal has broken out, but which nevertheless indicted some top oil players, the AigImoukhuede Committee report has even forensically established sharp practices.

According to that report, some marketers who claimed to have imported fuel and collected subsidy could not produce their letters of credit! This could mean one of two things: that they did the importation solely by their own means (highly improbable, if not absolutely impossible); or they did not import anything, but just collected the subsidy bazaar! For, how could they have imported fuel on such scale without letters of credit?

Though we remain rather sceptical as to the motive of the slew of committees, perhaps it is better to give the Presidential Ad Hoc Committee the benefit of the doubt, since the committee gives the indicted marketers the very last opportunity to re-validate their claims. But even with this, it is only fair to mention that the body language of the Jonathan Presi-

dency would appear a culpable reluctance to prosecute the indicted, which is all a great pity. President Jonathan must prove us wrong by doing the needful after all the labyrinthine probes, if he is not to face the legitimate charge of shielding corruption and sleaze.

As it is now, it is doubtful if there is any subsidy anywhere, except the vote to fund corruption, cynically packaged to longsuffering Nigerians as “subsidy”. What that means is that the pump price of petrol should be far lower than what it currently is. The Presidency had better start thinking along that direction!

Still, the subsidy scam is only the symptom of a malaise. The real problem is a faulty and unworkable energy policy. Instead of purporting to liberalise petroleum downstream by fuel importation, President Jonathan must change tack and deliver local refineries. That is a more sustainable path to downstream deregulation; and with that would disappear fuel importation and all the accompanying scams.

‘Despite all the current grim theatre, Nigerians would do well to fix their gaze on the ball: some felons have cleaned out the public till, through the so-called subsidy payment; and with apparent collusion from official quarters. Who are these devils? And how best can they be dealt with, within the confines of the law, so that no future brood of rascals would try such grand larceny?’

NNPC’s account of controversy •Senate should probe how the account was operated before ordering its closure ITH Friday’s statement from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the controversial JP Morgan Chase Bank account operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the nation would, hopefully, be in a better position to appreciate why the corporation is an unequalled corporate felon.

CBN Deputy Governor Tunde Lemo it was who stirred the hornet’s nest when he told the Senate Joint Committee probing the fuel subsidy management that the NNPC operated the JP Morgan account to receive proceeds from sale of crude, contrary to the constitutional provisions that such monies be remitted into the federation account with the CBN. Since then, it has been a season of denials. First, it was the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Jonah Otunla, who although acknowledged the

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‘We can think of no other national oil corporation with such awesome powers as to unilaterally determine where funds accruing to the federation are kept and what gets paid into the federation account. The time, clearly, is now to cut the corporation to size. It starts with the Senate looking into how the account was operated and then ordering its closure’

existence of the account, he however denied being privy to its operations. He claimed that the account owner, the NNPC, renders the account statement to the CBN, which in turn forwards the statement to his office.

Finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala would rather be evasive and vague on the JP Morgan account. She admitted that the NNPC, being the agent of the Federal Government that collects all revenue from all crude sales does have a foreign account because the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) does not maintain foreign accounts. She claims not to know the details of the account – as the bank “normally submits a statement to the CBN and the CBN will remit that to us”. Yet, a total of $17 billion is said to have passed through the account since it was opened.

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, on his part was emphatic that the CBN, rather than the NNPC, operates the JP Morgan account.

The CBN’s statement certainly helped to put things straight. It explained that the account, a domiciliary one, was actually opened “on 16th May 2002, on the express instruction of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF)”. It also noted that a similar account –CBN/NNPC Gas account was opened on February 3, 2009, on the authority of the OAGF – as if to put lie to the denial by the AGF. It explained that its role in the opening of the account was strictly one of banker and financial adviser to the Federal Government, hence its actions and activities “fall within the principles of banker-cus-

tomer relationship”.

More important is that it named the NNPC as the mandate holder and operator of the account. The bank added “that in operating the said accounts, the NNPC on a monthly basis issues instructions to the CBN on how much should be paid as Joint Venture Cash Call (JVC) and how much should be monetised and transferred to the federation account for distribution to the three tiers of government”.

Who is to be believed?

The AGF, who although authorised the opening of the account in 2002, but denies being privy to its operations? Or the NNPC that continues to lie even when the facts are so obvious?

Even if we grant the NNPC the semantic indulgence in pretending not to know the difference between the custodian of funds and the operator of an account, what of the finance minister/ coordinator of the economy that could not be forthright on the operations of an account which throws dart at the heart of our federalism?

The NNPC may well be the most opaque national oil corporation in the world; it is well on the way to achieving another global record in being the most powerful, unaccountable corporation too. We can think of no other national oil corporation with such awesome powers as to unilaterally determine where funds accruing to the federation are kept and what gets paid into the federation account.

The time, clearly, is now to cut the corporation to size. It starts with the Senate looking into how the account was operated and then ordering its closure.

Bank Scandal Deepens

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HE settlement between government authorities and Barclays over the bank’s attempts to rig benchmark interest rates drew a picture of a bank that was negligent and corrupt at various times and to varying degrees. Unfortunately, as big banks go, that comes as no shock.

It would be a shock if regulators and prosecutors found the resources and willingness to go wherever the raterigging scandal leads, even to the upper echelons of the world’s biggest banks and powerful central banks, including the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve.

On Wednesday, the deposed chief executive of Barclays, Robert Diamond Jr., presented documents and testimony to a British parliamentary committee, saying that it had advised both the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York about lowballed interest rates by banks across Wall Street. The disclosures speak to the overly cozy relationships between authorities and bankers, before, during and since the crisis. To be thorough, further investigations into rate-manipulation will need to answer questions about what the authorities knew about rate-rigging and when they knew it.

We are not minimizing misconduct

by Barclays or perhaps other banks.

More than 10 big banks are being investigated for their role in setting benchmark rates, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and UBS. Authorities suspect big banks reported false rates during the crisis to squeeze out profits and mask their true financial health.

That would be a huge fraud, so it is encouraging that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which started investigating Barclays in 2008, is reportedly building its cases against other banks on a bank-by-bank basis, rather than seeking one global settlement. That approach can avoid the drawback of previous group settlements, which have obscured as much as they have revealed. It is the right approach if other regulators and the Justice Department are serious about the rate-rigging case, including the question of whether central bankers looked the other way.

New York Times

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

20

9EDITORIAL/OPINION

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IR: Although this may look like a rejoinder to the editorial piece in The Nation of June 28, with all due respect to the great team of editorial board of the newspaper it is not; rather this is just a free flow of thoughts on what undoubtedly will be a lengthy and engaging debate on the call for a legislation to strengthen the office of the first ladies at the national and state levels to unlock the full potential of that office for national development.

That the wife of a president or governor wields enormous power and influence by virtue of her relationship is stating the obvious. The power is so enormous that in most climes they are known as the de facto number two and in some cases they are even regarded as the number one where the influence on the chief executive is overwhelming.

History is replete with such stories and we need not deceive our-

selves. At least the original first lady of first ladies, who had enormous influence on our father, was responsible for the tasting of the forbidden fruit that led us here.

So if it is generally agreed that these wives wield so much power and influence on their husbands/ partners and invariably their government, why treat them with so much disdain, levity and contempt?

Is it by virtue of what they do or did not do, pure envy or bad bele as our people will say or can it be simply attributed to the fact that some-

IR: Like the proverbial Tortoise in African folklore, Pastor Tunde Bakare, founder of the Latter Rain Assembly Lagos, is always seeking relevance in the scheme of things. Perhaps it his own way of living up to his moniker as Nigeria’s most controversial man of God; he is always in the news for the wrong reasons.

Since his failed bid to become Nigeria’s Vice President on the platform of the Congress for Political Change (CPC), the pastor seems to have lost his bearing as a man of God and role model to young people in the country. He has turned his church from a house of worship to a house of insults, his pulpit a platform for launching verbal attacks at his political enemies.

Last week in his church, what was supposed to be a normal Sunday service degenerated into a baptism of insults for President Goodluck Jonathan and everyone in the PDP. Without recourse to whoever was listening, the pastor cum politician launched a blistering attack on the office and person of the President.

Hear him: “We have vampires whose assignment is to kill Nigeria and make sure that Nigeria does

not exist thereafter. Suddenly, Nigeria that we cheered now has clueless, shoeless people take over the administration of Nigeria”.

As if that was not enough, Bakare continued. “And the one word I have for Nigerians is, don’t despair.

Jonathan is dancing to the drum beat of destiny. His destiny is to bankrupt Nigeria. All men of goodwill must rise up to stop him and we will do. Don’t make a mistake about what you are hearing from me today, it is clear that Jonathan’s destiny is to bankrupt Nigeria, balkanise Nigeria”, he added.

To add a comical twist to the tale, Bakare raised a song and encouraged his congregation to sing along.

“Lets us carry Jesus up and throw Jonathan away. Up, up Jesus. Down, down Jonathan.”

We all agree that Jonathan may not the kind of president many Nigerians thought him to be when they elected him in 2011, but that does not give the likes of Bakare the temerity demean the presidency. The presidency of any country is a respectable institution.

Even from a biblical perspective, Bakare’s outburst is totally unacceptable. Christians are encouraged

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

We need legislation for the office of first ladies one is underrating the influence and importance of these women and the office?

President Bill Clinton once appointed his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton as head of a task force on health care reform so also was Rosalyn Carter, wife of President Jimmy Carter who actually sat in a number of cabinet meetings and was the head of the commission on mental health.

The wife of the President, governor and indeed all Nigerian women are not only wife, mother and part-

ner to the men, they are also stakeholders in the affairs of the nation and do have every right to be concerned and be allowed to contribute to the development of the country. It will be absurd and chauvinistic to term the sensitive contributions of the first ladies as meddling in state affairs.

We have someone who could easily keep to herself and enjoy all the goodies of her spouse’s office without being molested or abused but rather chose to serve the people by complementing the effort of her

Pastor Bakare and the abuse of platform

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in Psalms 122: 6 to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Nigeria is our own Jerusalem and Bakare with support from other men of God should play frontal roles in praying for its peace and unity.

It is often said that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Being the president of a nation as complex as Nigeria is no cheap task.

Jonathan may have his frailties just like every other human being, but he is certainly not responsible for all the problems bedevilling Nigeria at the moment.

It is easy for Bakare to criticize the President from his pulpit every week. But if he and any of his aco-

lytes in the CPC are faced with the challenge of leading over 150 million people, what assurance do we have that they will do better than Jonathan?

Nation building is a collective responsibility. If Nigeria must rise to become the country Bakare and many other Nigerians dreams of, we must shove aside our differences and play our roles effectively. Those in opposition parties should not see themselves as enemies of the ruling party. Rather they should suggest ways to make things better and see us all to the promise land.

• Vincent Nzemeke, Lagos.

spouse; and for separation, clarity and administrative purposes has an office to that effect and you say that is illegal ? Which law is being broken?

Professor Roberts Watson who did an extensive research on the activities of the office of American first ladies and came up with his great book – The Presidents’ Wives: Reassessing the Office of First Lady.

He listed 11 duties of a first lady.

They are: Wife and mother; public figure and celebrity; the nation’s social hostess; symbol of the American woman; White House manager and preservationist. He also listed other duties as, campaigner; social advocate and champion of social causes; presidential spokesperson and political party booster; diplomat, political and presidential partner.

How can someone be expected to perform even half of these important state assignments without the appropriate legislation to assist her? I think it is time for such legislation just as it is being canvassed in some quarters in the United States.

We should also emphatically be able to draw the line between complementing and duplications.

What the first ladies have been doing is best described as complementing and not duplicating. There are so many developmental issues to tackle with millions of our people in dire need than to continue to bicker over what is obvious.

Office of the first ladies has huge potentials that must be unlocked.

• Adetunji Dolapo Lagos

The discovery of the God Particle

S

IR: Strange that The Nation of July 5 did not report the Discovery of the God Particle the day before, (July 4). The Nation is a global newspaper as such one is curious why this news did not make the front page.

“This discovery can be compared to ground breaking earlier discoveries such as the discovery of gravity, or relativity or

quantum mechanics sitting on giant shoulders like those of Galileo, Newton and Einstein. It’s a historic moment. Trying to understand and come to grips with what we’d seen and how it fits into our understanding of the universe until today”. so revealed Dr Archana Sharma a woman and the only Indian on he rolls of the European Centre for Nuclear

Research (CERN) which was responsibe for the discovery” Well I expect to read your Editorial comment on the God particle and the state of Physics in Nigeria and Africa.

• Augustine Bickersteth, London, England

Togonu-

21

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

EDITORIAL/OPINION

Oshiomhole’s one good turn

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Y interest in Edo State goes beyond partisanship. I am steadfast seeing to the progress of the state just with the same heart that I have for my state of Ekiti and the nation Nigeria, notwithstanding the party in power.

Being my in-law’s state, I consider Edo as my second state.

Like the nation, it is a state that has wasted potentials. Under the Samuel Ogbemudia reign as military governor, national applause was won due to the rapid development of the then Bendel State. The positive impact was visible and celebrated by all. In the Second Republic, the affinity to move the state forward retained the state in the progressive camp. Thereafter, downturn became the story of successive administrations that emerged in power just in name sake. Of course, there was developmental degeneration and the cities kept declining infrastructurally. The gains of democracy became a mirage.

Bad roads, dilapidated schools and hospitals dumped Edo in a sorry state. Then as it were, God brought in a resolute servant for the restoration of the glory of the state. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was voted for but was rigged out. Standing upon righteousness, the stolen mandate was legally reinstated. And because of his pedigree, the Comrade Governor had no choice but to render himself undeniably as a repair tool.

I watched the two gubernatorial debates organized by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG) on television. The second and final one held last week was awry with the incumbent Governor Oshiomhole of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) pushed by his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival Charles Airhiavbere to be engaged in belligerent personal attacks.

Oshiomhole had to prudently fight off the importunate challenges by Airhiavbere to deflate his accomplishments in office.

Ignoring all his publicly-acknowledged good deeds, Airhiavbere over and over sought to depict what he thought as his inadequacies, repetitively citing lack of due process in the award of contracts, high level taxation and increase in school fees. As he was attacking, Oshiomhole’s response sometimes mocked him.

Asked how he would boost the economy of the state, instead of selling his ideas, Airhiavbere took resentment at what he said was Oshiomhole government’s insensitivity in demolition of residential buildings in the process of road construction. But at the end, he simply established he has nothing to offer – just the

I

T is perhaps pertinent to recount how Kudirat Abiola became a political albatross. Not too long ago, there was a jamboree by the women folk in Uyo, Akwa Ibom to reenact a political role for the women especially for those who are privileged to be wives of the President, Vice-President and the governors including those whose husbands are in the first eleven team of the civil administration. It goes by any name but on this occasion it was a retreat championed by the first lady, Patience Jonathan. Lavish with sumptuous meal and entertainment, the eminent ladies left out a major aspect of what they intended to enact, an acceptable political role and recognition for the fairer sex. Mrs. Jonathan was planning to use Nigeria as a platform and a rendezvous for women activism across the globe.

Uyo provided opportunity to remember Kudirat who died in the process of fighting for justice, fairness and political freedom. She fought that her husband be released from jail.

She fought for power shift and she gave a voice for the Muslim women in ‘kule’ which principally was the main cause of her death. All these were lost in the euphoria of a distorted vision and mission charted by the first ladies. The high profile ladies remembered to recount the pre-independence role women played in the political life of the country but deliberately forgot Kudirat whose death was most relevant for democracy in post military Nigeria.

June 12 was a political watershed in the political evolution of Nigeria. It was a part of political process set in motion but aborted by the same military regime.

The annulment of the presidential election by Ibrahim Babangida’s regime and the eventual demolition of all democratic institutions by the Sani Abacha regime which succeeded it did not only throw the country into crisis and confusion but also caused the assassination of Kudirat, wife, of the presumed winner of the presidential election held on June 12, 1993. Chief M.K.O. Abiola was in detention when his wife was murdered in cold blood for demanding for the release of her husband, and for justice and fair play. Abacha’s regime had employed a stern, grisly, murderous and frightful methods to sustain himself in power in order to subvert all democratic values and institutions.

In no time, Nigerians became aware of the wholistic danger Abacha’s regime posed to the society and Nigeria in general.

Some fled into exile, many political activist were driven underground. Resistance became feeble and it became the lot of Kudirat to champion the cause of her husband who was languishing in jail.

The death sentence passed on Major Al-Mustapha, the murderous and hatchet man of the once grisly maximum dictator, Abacha whose lurid rule of blood letting upbraided a feverish national awe of morbidity was better late than never and for many it is a good riddance. It is also a victory for fair play, justice and equity. It is a judicial elevation for the country that has patiently waited for the expected outcome. All murders

same way his party’s colleague did in the debate against Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola ahead of last year’s elections.

What has now become clear is that PDP candidates largely do not know what debate is all about. Repeatedly, Airhiavbere was labouring to portray Edo State under the Oshiomhole government as populated with those he tagged as former wrong members of the PDP, without realizing that it was a denouncement of the political platform upon which he himself has chosen to run.

When asked how local government funds would be handled, Airhiavbere took his turn to attack Oshiomhole without addressing the question. The purpose of his candidacy became apparent that it was just to demystify a man whose performance geared at fulfilling his mandate is being appreciated by his people.

The fact that the PDP candidate did not say anything other than to abuse Oshiomhole is a pointer to the past administrations’ failed patterns and also how he too intends to draw back the state that labels itself the heartbeat of the nation. His admission that his partymen had moved to ACN was astutely handled by the Comrade Governor. “We are happy that you are not proud of your past,” Oshiomhole told him. “PDP keeps referring to itself as new PDP. What is new in the PDP when all the old men are still there? We are proud of our past that is why we remain ACN, not new ACN.” Whether new or old, PDP remains PDP. According to him, “what matters is leadership. If good men work under a robber over time they will become robbers. We have no apologies that people have left the PDP in Edo State that was almost a one party state at a time.”

Those crying for change know what they want. It hardly can be the like of a confused combative Airhiavbere and his party which does not have anything to offer. Oshiomhole had to taunt the ex-military man about his role in the army and in the finance corps, with funds for military hospitals being mismanaged together with pension funds for soldiers. It remains on record that the military laid the rotten foundation that is sinking the nation today.

For a while I had been hearing of on-going transformation of Edo State under Oshiomhole. As I said earlier, although I am not an indigene of Edo State and will not vote there, what I saw when I travelled there, compared to the state of affairs in the past is inspiring. Benin is now a city in deed and in truth. I can see no reason why any voter in his right mind would not support an undisputable performer who is not a fake propagandist decorating without building.

Even if for road infrastructure alone, Oshiomhole deserves a second term when his three years in office is compared with the preceding eight years of PDP governance. What the people

need is a leader who is sincere at providing decent basic infrastructure. Governor Fashola became the celebrated actualizer of the irrefutable solid foundation laid by his predecessor and mentor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and makes Lagos to begin to work Oshiomhole did well as NLC president. He has testimony of service to labour and the country for eight years. His self-definition: “Some of us denied ourselves of comfort; we lived on our pedigree. I have made my name around the world. I am not a saint, but a decent human being.”

If the opposition had been campaigning that he was building a N10 billion mansion in his village, it will not work against him as long as he has not dipped his head and hands in peculiar unrighteousness. His defence is that what he is doing in his village is a four-bedroom house where he intends to live after leaving government. “I have not started building a house because I am a governor.” He claimed he declared all his assets, where they are and how he acquired them. This means it is up to the rumour-spreading accusers to tell us how an uncompleted four-bedroom building, which photograph shows that even the roofing has not been completed - with the scaffolding made up of bamboo, can be priced a N10 billion project.

While any looting of our commonwealth is indefensible, the real looters are ever plotting to divert attention from their own fraudulent disposition. Tell me if there is any of the multiple corruption and bribe cases prevailing in Nigeria today without a PDP man as the main actor or a suspect. Even since the days of the Obasanjo regime with the camouflage of EFCC anti-corruption hollers, we can see all over a bunch of looters and greedy men without a developmental agenda and heart for the people.

Oshiomhole’s admission of his not being a saint is an uncommon mark of integrity. His confidence is based on his genuine performance dedicated to the turn-around of the state. Beyond beautifying the capital city, he penetrated the grassroots to touch the lives of the long-forsaken downtrodden. His hands are today visibly impactful through many schools renovation, roads rehabilitation and construction and new hospitals across the state. Also beyond effective environmental management, he has shown passion for the masses by empowering widows and categories of artisans like welders.

It is his performance that has laid it in the hands of Edo people to decide whether or not they will want to waste their votes and return to darkness. Since they have seen light, wisdom is to choose to remain in the light. The critical challenge for the people now is for them to fix the fixers by defending their choice through ensuring that only legitimate votes count.

Kudirat: A national albatross

By Ambrose Osawe are unreasonable but this particular one was undeserving of a deprived woman whose husband was unfairly incarcerated for making a popular demand for justice, fair play and for rights fundamentally in pursuit of democratic ideals.

The judgment proved that the judiciary is the last hope of the oppressed and that God in his infinite mercy wades off the pestering flies off the cow without a tail.

The satisfaction is that no matter how long and slowly the mill of God grinds, but that it grinds exceedingly well. June 12 has become a national anathema an imprecation that has remained a national and democratic watershed. It continually strikes one as a gold pot of political treasure deliberately spilled to reverse all acceptable democratic ideals.

For all well-meaning Nigerians, even though the journey towards political freedom and democratic destination was tortuous and hazardous, it was nevertheless expected to land us in a particular destination. It was paradise lost.

Babangida’s regime annulled the best and most successful election ever conducted in the electoral history of the nation.

The success of the then newly introduced open ballot system and the consequent elections into the state and national legislatures were a clear demonstration of the peoples determination and desire to embrace democracy and its dividends.

The election was clearly won by M.K.O. Abiola, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate who had as his running mate a northern Muslim in the person of Kingibe who later joined Abacha’s infamous regime and became the Minister of Internal Affairs, a position vital to Abacha’s internal security.

That tortuous political programme by default eventually produced a southern president. The self proclaimed military president was in dilemma on how to explain to the north the emergence of a southern president! What was even more worrying for him was his inability to sustain himself in power in face of mounting political crisis that was gradually attracting international concern.

Abiola’s escape into exile did not only compound the crisis at home but was also earning for him some level of international credibility.

For Abiola, the whole of the period of political gestation that eventually resulted in the inglorious abortion of the presidential election in June 12 1993 was of an elephant giving birth to a rat.

The high expectations of a return to civil rule was a farce and a national fraud.

The constant reminder by IBB, that he did not owe the country any apology or explanation over the annulled June 12 has a lot to do with the perceived political stance of the North.

IBB’s knavery and political frolic in bidding much later for a presidential seat after the pain of deep and open sore inflicted on the nation, was a deceptive cloak of a political beguilement, aimed at shifting attention from the dissimulative political atrocities the nation was meant to suffer as a result of the annulment. He knows in his own heart of hearts that is the north he owes an apology, not the entire nation. And that is the political stance he had maintained since he dribbled himself out of power.

The point here is that if things were properly done, Kudirat would have had no reason to die for a cause she believed in. But there was a political vacuum to be filled.

These events have been recounted because without the knowledge of them it is impossible to appreciate the role Kudirat played to resuscitate the struggle and in the process sacrificed her life.

Kudirat principally posed a threat to Abacha for her incessant campaign against the military. This was relayed in her feminine, fluent Hausa voice. She used to intersperse her oratorio with quotations from the Koran in a way to legitimize political enfranchisement for Muslim women. Majority of whom where in ‘kule’ or harem. This was a novelty that threatened the apparent cultural practice that secluded women from exposure, political or social awareness.

Secondly, she was gradually being recognized through the BBC Hausa programme and Radio Kudirat as champion of women’s cause in Nigeria by international enthusiasts of women liberation across the western world. Kudirat therefore became a big threat both at home and abroad.

The conviction of Al-Mustapha for her murder ought to have been a good opportunity for Nigerian women under the leadership of Mrs. Jonathan to remember her. The Women Retreat in Uyo would have created an awareness that for the first time a Nigerian woman in the struggle against military rule also paid the high price for women’s political liberation in Nigeria. Even when women celebrated their day few days later, she was never mentioned. Also the issue was never raised even when Mrs. Jonathan recently visited the South-west, the home base of Kudirat’s resistance. There is yet another opportunity for Her Excellency to demonstrate that Kudirat is a heroin of democratic rule in Nigeria of which her husband, President Jonathan is a major beneficiary.

IBB killed June 12. We know all those who provided the funeral dress for June 12. Abacha finally buried it. Nevertheless Kudirat left us with a memory of high duty faithfully performed.

• Hon. Osawe is a Journalist and former Member, House of Representatives.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

22

EDITORIAL/OPINION

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FORTNIGHT ago, I wrote on the above title. There have been several reactions to it including phone calls that this week, I am devoting this column for the views of readers on the write-up. Now read on!

Apart from the grammatical exactness and literary richness, the piece is an embodiment of facts and truth the nation needs to know at a time like this. The Boko Haram and its sponsors claimed in the first instance that the government has failed them in diverse ways and would need to draw their attention to those areas through violence; the only language they can speak.

Many attacks were unleashed on public places and innocent citizens. The several bomb attacks in and around Maiduguri, the Sani Abacha Barrack bombing and the notorious bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja are only few examples.

The people affected by these bomb attacks have tribesmen, relatives and sympathizers.

They also have people of the same faith but these people held their breadth and only condemned the attacks.

The police and the soldiers could not stop the killings and the people were literarily left on their own. No solution appeared in sight for this festering rot. As if the blood letting and maiming were not enough, the evil hordes like the uncivilized desert dwellers, changed tactics and chose to fight the church instead of the government they purported to be fighting.

No one should condemn the reprisal attack.

The fact remains that no one can spot a dark goat in darkness unless the person who slew it during the day. Muslim leaders should expose these evil people and their sponsors because they live with them and pray with them in the same mosques. But if they continue to pretend the way they are, we may in the words of Gen Muhammed Buhari, live to see the ‘dogs and the baboons soaked in their blood’.

The Boko Haram sect should stop fighting as cowards, come out boldly and state their grievances. But if such agenda is to attack Christians, they have got it wrong as Nigeria was not erected on any single religious faith.

–Benson Odey Ukaffu, Calabar: More reactions: Many thanks for your article. It is very rational and objective. Let us hope that the sponsors of Boko Haram will rethink and realize that they cannot continue to be killing innocent Christians without reprisals.

Emeka OMEIHE 08121971199 email: EmekaOmeihe@yahoo.com

Re-Church attacks and reprisals Nwabugwu 08057525085.

Nobody sees when the widow is courting trouble. But people will shout the moment she is beaten. So is it Christians that will continue to be killed? 08037827033 Well written piece. I totally agree that it is hypocritical for anyone to focus on the second reprisal attack when Boko Haram claimed the bombings were revenge bombings meaning that they were reprisal bombings. To begin with, reprisals do not have a time frame. They could be immediate or take 20years. So why is one a reprisal and the other not?

What is even more ridiculous is identifying those attacked by Christians as ‘innocent people’ as if those killed in the churches had an unfortunate accident or even provoked the aggression that led to their death in any way. They are also innocent people. In fact, the first aggressors should share a larger part of the blame. Boko Haram is not without an intellectual and intelligence wings and Islamic scholars whom they listen to. Why should Christians be the ones to practice restraint? You rightly observed that although the insurgency appears religious, it is political. I have always believed that in Hausa-Fulani culture, politics, economy and religion are intricately linked. In the aftermath of the last presidential election; an election that was purely political to everyone, turned into a devastating religious riot in that part of the country. 07042325266 A good piece, please keep the faith.

T

HE simmering dispute between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states over oil wells has become even more interesting with a fraudulent map being circulated by the National Boundary Commission (NBC). This map in effect cedes to Cameroon and other nations, part of the estuarine territory of Cross River State. It gives up Nigerian internal waters, thus compromising Nigerian sovereignty, security and economic interest. This territory is being forfeited by agencies of the federal government because it is in Cross River State. In other words Nigeria will rather forfeit this territory than have this territory as part of Nigeria and make Cross River a littoral state.

For the adjustment of internal boundaries, the NBC must work through the Internal Boundary Technical Committees (IBTC). The IBTC Committee, if properly constituted, should have the Surveyors General of the states involved in the dispute and the chairman of the state’s boundary committee as members. The IBTC was never constituted for this particular matter for Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.

Section 8(2) of the 1999 Constitution also requires an act of the National Assembly to legalise any adjustment of boundaries within the federation. The constitution specified an elaborate and strict procedure for the enactment of an Act of the National Assembly relating to boundary adjustment.

None of the constitutional procedures was complied with in the purported adjustment of the boundary lines between Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.

It may be that a non-coastal state, such as Kano or Oyo cannot be a littoral state even if the parties purport to agree that it is one. That would in all probability be due to the fact that no part of its territory lies contiguous or close to the sea.

However, if the tiniest part of a state touches the sea, it is a littoral state. If then there is a dispute between two coastal states as to whether one is littoral or not and the parties by negotiation agree that their boundaries be drawn in such a way as to make both states littoral, such an agreement is valid and binding. In AG Cross River State vs. AG Federation, the Supreme Court had held that “boundaries are fixed either by proved acts of the respective owners as for example by agreement assurance, undisturbed possession and estoppels...”

‘But the control over territorial waters is less firm and UNCLOS allows foreign ships including the military, certain navigation rights without approval formalities from the host country’

08036341601 I seem to agree totally with the last paragraph of your write-up. You do not negotiate with fire, instead you quench it.

Jonathan should be told that. Julia PH 07039371446.

Emeka you are one of the best writers I have seen. Tambuwal is fanatic. He knows the cause of the attack and was more concerned with reprisals. We the northern youths are ready for them. 08137866257 I enjoyed your piece. On whose behalf will the government be negotiating since it is obvious that the real enemy of the Boko Haram sect is now Christians? It is rather unfortunate and I do hope the government will do something fast to halt these evil renegades before they cause a religious war in this country. 08035892033 Your article titled ‘Church attacks and reprisals’ really hit the nail on the head.

The simple truth is that northern Muslims and political leaders are tacitly behind Boko Haram. Never reckon with their hypocrisy and crocodile tears. The fact remains that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leaders have been behaving very cowardly by even misquoting the scriptures (Bible) which is unbroken in terms of aggression and defense strategy. In the Old Testament, worshippers of true God (Israelites) had to defend themselves in order to be alive to worship the true God. They demobilized their avowed mortal foes who worshipped something else. Why the hullabaloos about

a supposed reprisal attack? Watch out! The senseless attacks on churches will soon end.

Polycarp Onwubiko Awka 08052558503 God’s blessings and guidance be upon your sagely head. May you know more to write yet more on your comments and debates.

07038443733.

Last line: From all indications, Boko Haram is a child of politics. Former National Security Adviser, Andrew Azazi said that much when he saw a positive correlation between the escalation of violence in the country and events of the last PDP presidential primaries. President Jonathan equally made copious allusions to it in his last media chat. For him, the attacks were instigated to cause disaffection between Christians and Muslims. Many share this view. The logical inference is that its sponsors are aggrieved because they did not have their way in the direction the last presidential election went. They are aggrieved that they are not in control of the federal might.

For this, the country could as well be destroyed. But there is a huge contradiction in seeking to destroy a country and its citizens you crave to rule just because power eluded you. It also casts serious doubts on the genuineness and sincerity of such prospective leaders. The questions that crop up are: Do this category of people seek power for self or public good? If it is for public good, why annihilate the same poor people on whose behalf power is sought? And if these power hungry people can go that far in levying war on the country, how safe shall we be if and when power gets to them?

‘No one should condemn the reprisal attack. The fact remains that no one can spot a dark goat in darkness unless the person who slew it during the day. Muslim leaders should expose these evil people and their sponsors because they live with them and pray with them in the same mosques’

Boundary commission and Akwa Ibom/CRS oil wells controversy

By Janet Okon The maritime boundary lines were negotiated and fixed by the parties in recognition of the historic ownership of the territory by Cross River State. The parties acknowledged that technical principles of maritime boundary demarcation cannot be applied to displace historic titles.

In the instant case, Akwa Ibom and Cross River State are acknowledged coastal states. Both agreed that their boundary be established by negotiated agreement along the established lines of historic titles. They expressly rejected the technical rules of boundary delimitation. This implied that the parties had agreed on a boundary line that preserved the littoral status of Cross River State.

Surprisingly, the NBC has submitted to the Supreme Court a map which seeks to shift the baseline on the estuary ceding a large part of the internal waters of Cross River State into the territorial sea and ascribing this part to Akwa Ibom State. The legal implications of this inward shift are too grave for the economic and security interest of Nigeria. First the control the nation has over the territorial sea is not as firm as the control over the internal waters. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the internal waters are regarded as part of the land territory of the nation and entry into the internal waters by other countries even for navigation is prohibited without approval formalities from host country. But the control over territorial waters is less firm and UNCLOS allows foreign ships including the military, certain navigation rights without approval formalities from the host country. So if the action of the NBC is sustained, Cameroonian Navy can actually navigate into the nation’s soft under belly without hindrance; the only restraint under UNCLOS being that the navigation should be for non aggression purposes, an injunction that makes no sense in the murky waters of military and security matters.

The movement of the baseline by NBC from the position established by the ICJ means that on the same estuary, the baseline applied by Cameroon will be different from the baseline applied by Nigeria. This is an affront to common sense and a recipe for disaster, beyond it being impracticable.

The exclusive economic zone of the country is calculated from the baseline. An inward shift of the baseline as undertaken

by NBC will automatically mean an inward shift of our convergence point for this region with Equatorial Guinea,

Cameroon and Sao Tome and Principe. Considering that this convergence point is still the subject of negotiations between the countries, this action of NBC amounts to a sabotage of the interest of the nation from an agency that has responsibility for the protection of that interest.

Whereas the ICJ judgement had recognised the entire bay formed by the estuaries of the Akwayafe and Cross River as Nigerian internal waters, the NBC map cede away a sizeable area of the bay and converts it to territorial waters! If the coastline proposed in the map is accepted in the impending July 10 case, Nigeria would by the pronouncement of its highest court have voluntarily converted its internal waters into territorial waters with all the attendant consequences.

Who knows what future international conventions will allow in territorial waters? The Supreme Court is now going to pronounce on not only the rights of Cross River State but on the territorial integrity of the whole country.

It should be noted that it will make no difference whether the territory thus taken from Cross River is given to Akwa Ibom State or to the federation. That decision falsified the coastline to Nigeria’s disadvantage and will bind Nigeria forever should this become the judicial determination by the highest court.

The map as proposed by NBC is a fraudulent map and will cede more of our territorial waters to Cameroon.

Fraudulent because the constitution provides and stipulates methods of delineation/demarcating boundaries and this was never followed through. Why is illegality being perpetuated during President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure against Nigeria? Territorial waters are national territory.

International waters are commerce grounds. This means that even the bodies of the waters which the International Court of Justice called territorial waters are now international waters therefore if our naval ships want to come into the country, they will now need to take permission from Cameroon.

By the position of the NBC, a substantial part of Calabar South, capital of Cross River State will now be in Akwa Ibom State by an illegal boundary commission fiat.

The whole adjustment is illegal in its entirety and it would cause the Federal Government of Nigeria untold hardships and issues in the future.

• Okon, a lawyer, writes from Calabar

25

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

ISSUES

Nigeria spends N991b on rice, wheat NIGERIA spends about N356 billion to import rice and another N635 billion on wheat annually, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, has said.

- Page 26

TBs, forex raise money supply THE planned sale of N24.6 billion in treasury bills with maturities ranging from three months to one year on Wednesday and rising forex demand have strengthened money supply (M2). The M2 has risen by 2.24 per cent month-on-month, and currently stands at N13.6 trillion.

It is used to quantify the amount of money in circulation and explain different economic monetary conditions.

- Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Minister of Finance

THE CEO

Are telecoms masts harmful to health?

- P. 27 News Briefing

As at May 31, 2012 the MDAs had spent N94.1b or 39 per cent of their budgets, meaning that many agencies still have a lot of room for spending within the first quarter.

‘Banks are killing businesses’ - P. 32

Again, Fed Govt, electricity workers’ talks end in deadlock T

ALKS between the Federal Government and the workers of the 18 successor firms from the unbundled Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), which had been on for last two weeks, have collapsed again.

The negotiation between the government and the workers is part of the former’s steps to achieve a conflict-free disengagement of the workers to set the successor companies free for the new owners . The Government had set end of October this year as deadline for the privatisation of the utility company.

The Special Assistant to the Minister of Power on Labour, Nick Agbo, said though the government and

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

the workers agreed on some issues, they couldn’t agree on gratuities.

He said the workers wanted their gratuities to be computed on the Labour Act of 1990 because it provides more cash to them. But the Act has been reviewed and replaced with the Labour Act of 2004. The government wants the computation done based on provisions in 2004 Act, while the workers insisted on the 1990 Act. Following the lack of consensus between the two parties, they will rely on the report of the chief negotiator, Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu, who will compile his re-

port, which would be submitted to the government.

The government after going through the report would take the final decision.

Every action that would be taken, however, has to be done before October as the government has decided not extend the deadline.

Spokesman of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE),Chukwuma Nwokoh, said the agency would stick to the milestone set for the achievement of the government’s privatisation.

A top electricity worker, who spoke to our correspondent in confidence, said the Federal Government is reneging on its ear-

lier agreement with the workers on the severance package, a step he described as unfortunate.

The official said from the standpoint of the government, a top official of the rested PHCN, who had put in about 20 years serving the country, might get only N2 million as benefits, which he said is peanut for a senior manager that had put in such length of time for an organisation, such as PHCN. The official said electricity workers would resist government’s plan.

Last year,BPE DirectorGeneral Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa said the Federal Government earmarked N200 billion to settle

- Page 31

NAICOM pushes bill for growth MEMBERS of the National Assembly have indicated their willingness to support the growth of insurance, the Commissioner for Insurance Fola Daniel, has said.

- Page 39 DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$107/barrel Cocoa -$2,686.35/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,800/troy ounce Rubber -¢159.21pound MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE JSE NYSE LSE

-N6.503 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -10.5% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending-22.42% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -15% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $35.8b FOREX CFA 0.2958 EUR 206.9 £ 242.1 $ 156 ¥ 1.9179 SDR 238 RIYAL 40.472

•From left: Director, JAIZ Bank PLC, Alhaji Abdullateef Adegbite; Company Secretary, Rukayat Salaudeen; Chairman, Alhaji Umaru Muttallab and Managing Director/CEO,Mohammed Mustapha Bintube, during the 9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank in Abuja.

labour-related issues and disengagement benefits, was heralded with joy but from what was gathered from the workers, it is like the government has cut this budget.

When contacted on phone, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Power on Labour and Politics, Nick Agbo, said it was unfair for any staff of the PHCN to say that the government was reneging on the agreement on severance package.

Interbank rates up on cash shortage HE interbank lending rates rose slightly last week to an average of 15.33 per cent, from 15.16 per cent last week, as liquidity fell, on large outflows to foreign exchange purchases, traders said at the weekend.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had sold a total of $601 million at its bi-weekly foreign exchange auction last week, while some oil multinational firms sold large dollar amounts to some banks, thereby draining naira from the system.

Reacting to the shortage, the naira, according to Reuters news, closed up 0.75 per cent against the dollar on the interbank market, dealers said.

Dealers said the market opened on Friday with a deficit of about N12.74 billion ($78.59 million), compared with a cash balance of about N21 billion the previous Friday.

The disbursal of budgetary allocations to government agencies penultimate week had pushed down the cost of borrowing among banks, but large cash outflows to finance Treasury bill purchases lowered liquidity in the market.

T

Cash-less Lagos: Value of cheques hits N1.6tr HE Cash-less Lagos project has raised the value of cheques by 12.16 per cent to N1. 61 trillion in May, the Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited, Bismarck Rewane has said.

Speaking at the Lagos Business School Breakfast Meeting for July, he linked the rise to improving business activities in the state.

Besides, he noted that the Volume of cheques rose to 3.76 million even as forex sales increased by 69.75 per cent to $2.75 billion due to rising demand.

He ,however, said the Point of Sale (PoS) terminals are still affected by telecom downtime even as consumers are yet to fully get used to using the elec-

T

•’CBN to retain interest rate’

By Collins Nweze

tronic payment channels.

Rewane said the naira could depreciate to N157.99 to a dollar in the official market and N165.95 to a dollar at the parallel market in the coming months adding, that the external reserves have started trending downwards.

According to him, after a 21month high stock market dipped by 2.84 per cent in June and is witnessing a bubble in July. Nigeria’s inflation eased marginally to 12.7 per cent in May but core and food index increased contrary to increase in headline inflation.

According to him, the cashless economy reform will re-

sult in an increase in the velocity of circulation, which measures the rate at which money changes hands. He said the velocity is expected to increase as transactions are carried out electronically and therefore have a one-day value date as against three days from the original norm.

He said that new import levy on wheat and rice will add to the price pressure, stressing adding that Nigeria imported an estimate of 3.5 million tonnes of wheat as at May 2012. “ Floor millers are likely to transfer burden of higher costs to consumers. We forecast inflation rate is likely to increase at 12.52 per cent in June by a

maximum of 0.6 per cent,” he said.

Rewane said that the external reserves are gradually declining, which is attributable to CBN’s use of reserves to support the naira. He projected that the CBN will retain the 12 per cent Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) when the Monetary Policy Committee meets this month.

He said that the market declined below the 200 days moving average, losing 212 basis points for the month.

Also, average daily value traded for the month was N1.49 billion.

Rewane said that Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) equity flow declinedby 2.2 percentage points while bonds flow increased by 3.2

percentage points, 20 states have fully complied, nine states work in progress and seven states yet to make a move.

He said that liquidity remains an issue at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with total volume and value traded for the first half of the year at 50.6 billion units and N347 billion respectively, adding that the index has generally performed badly in the second half of the year.

“Average first half return between 1986 and 2011 is 16.9 per cent while average second half return is 7.5 per cent.

Between 2008 and 2011, market gained 1.15 per cent in the first half of the year while second half return was 21.4 per cent,” he said.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

26

BUSINESS NEWS Flight Schedule

FAO warns on commodities speculation

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

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

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

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

08.30 09.10 11.50 12.45 13.40 15.20 16.30 16.40 08.50 12.40 14.10 17.20 12.15 12.45 09.10 11.00 11.10 16.20

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

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

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

08.50 09.45 14.00 15.45 19.55

LAGOS – OWERRI 07.20 14.00 16.30

08.30 15.10 17.40

1. Arik 2. Arik 3. Arik

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

08.00 18.00

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

By Daniel Essiet

T

•From left: CEO/MD Fola Adekumbi Stores, Mrs. Sikirat Folashade Baderinwa; Manager, Merchant Services, Diamond Bank PLC, Lanre Raheem; Technical Assistant to the MD, Citiserve Limited, Jibola Shodunke and MD Eronic Stores, Prince C. O. Eroni, during Citiserve Merchant Congress stakeholders’ forum in Lagos ... at the weekend.

PHOTO: DAVID ADEJO

Nigeria spends N991b yearly to import rice, wheat

N

IGERIA spends about N356 billion to import rice and another N635 billion on wheat annually, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, has said.

Oyeleye told The Nation that the country devotes over N1 billon daily to rice importation and another N2 billion daily to wheat importation,adding that money could be saved if the cultivation of wheat and rice is taken seriously by farmers and the private sector.

“With the production of adequate

By Toba Agboola

cassava and its subsequent use, Nigeria will be saving 40 per cent from importation of wheat,” he said. He also said the government will be going into mass cassava production, which, he said, has a multiplier effect on job creation in the value chain, from planting to processing and marketing.

“There will be job opportunity for all the people that are involved and this will enable us to also export what we produce,” he stated.

He said the recent climate change could force some nations to reduce

what they export, so they could satisfy their local population, adding that for this reason, Nigeria must look inward and ensure food sufficiency for its populace. He, however, faulted the claim in some quarters that cassava flour leads to diabetes, describing claims as unfounded and scientifically unproven.

He praised the efforts of a segment of the private sector that has started combining cassava and wheat flour to bake bread, cake, biscuits and other confectionaries, assuring that the combination has many nutritional and health benefits.

‘Nigeria requires national carrier to avoid exploitation’ HE absence of reciprocity in the bilateral air services agreement between the Federal Government and other countries may force the government to push for the creation of a national carrier, The Nation’s investigation has revealed.

The exploitation of the bilateral air services agreement by many foreign carriers from Europe and the Middle East, without corresponding approvals to designated Nigerian carriers on some of the juicy routes is generating concerns in government circles.

To correct the imbalance, sources hinted, the government should establish a national carrier, to match the competition posed by the mega carriers, which have identified Nigeria as a growing market for air transport.

This is coming on the heels of the multiple entry points granted some foreign carriers into the country, to the detriment of designated Nigerian carriers on some intercontinental routes.

From the Middle Eastern routes,

T

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

three carriers fly into Nigeria. They are Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.

The Director-General, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, last week called on the United Arab Emirates to approve some Nigerian carriers that have indicated interest to operate flights from Nigeria to the United Arab Emirates.

Demuren explained to The Nation that the coming into Nigeria of Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), should serve as a pointer to the need for reciprocity in the bilateral services agreement between both countries.

He said the refusal by the UAE to reciprocate Nigeria’s gesture and grant similar approval and access to Nigerian carriers on the route would amount to the Middle East carriers seeing the Nigerian market as open to exploitation.

Demuren explained that govern-

ment will do everything possible to ensure that Nigerian carriers get their own share of the international traffic as more airlines fly into Nigeria.

Nigerian carriers designated to fly into the UAE include Arik Air and Air Nigeria.

The position of Demuren on how to correct the imbalance on bilateral air services agreement is sequel to a request by the chief commercial officer of Etihad Airways, Peter Baumgartner, that the government considers granting entry right to the airline into the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Aviation experts have argued that granting such requests would amount to further opening up the market for exploitation by foreign carriers.

A pilot who pleaded that his identity be veiled only the establishment of a national carrier will correct this imbalance, as the granting of multiple entry points by government to foreign airlines is one of the greatest disincentive to Nigerian carriers.

Naira gains on dollar inflow

T

HE naira closed up 0.75 per cent against the dollar on the interbank market last Friday, after a surge of dollar inflows from foreign investors positioning to buy treasury bills, dealers said.

The unit closed at N160.90 at 1300 GMT, after opening at N160.69 on Friday, substantially up on Thursday’s close of N162.10.

Dealers say foreign investors were buying the local unit ahead of a Treasury Bill auction this

week. The Federal Government plans to auction N254.61 billion ($1.57 billion) in treasury bills with maturities ranging from three-months to one year on July 12.

It sold a total N60 billion worth in the 364-day bill at 15.6 per cent at last month’s auction.

Local units of Total sold $55 million and Chevron sold $38 million, further boosting dollar supply.

“The market is long on the naira because of flows from oil companies and speculation of returns

from offshore investors to the local debt market” a dealer told Reuters.

Dealers also said new investors in Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, who bought a 60 per cent majority shares in the local lender for $750 million last year, were bringing in hard currency to pay for the stake, thereby providing support for the naira.

The local currency is expected to trade at around N160 levels against the greenback this week, dealers say, if current levels of dollar supply are sustained.

HE world needs to take a hard look at speculation on the financial markets and its potential impact on food price volatility, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said.

Its Director-General José Graziano da Silva, said at a high-level debate on the issue at FAO Headquarters in Rome: “While there has been much analysis of food price volatility, more understanding is still needed, especially concerning the impacts of speculation.

“Let’s make one thing clear: We are not talking about speculation related to price discovery and the normal functioning of the futures markets. We are talking about excessive speculation in derivative markets, which can increase price swings and their speed.”

He said: “Excessive food price volatility, especially at the speed at which they have been occurring since 2007, has negative impacts on poor consumers and poor producers alike all over the world.”

The high-level debate on the theme, Food price volatility and the role of speculation, featured as keynote speaker ,President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández Reyna.

The event drew a panel of international experts on commodities, trade and agriculture.

Fernández said food price swings were having a “tremendous human impact” and cautioned against using food commodities purely as financial instruments.

“Financial speculation is exacerbating market fluctuations and this exacerbation is generating uncertainty - this uncontrolled, unregulated exacerbation is provoking a dramatic impact on countries that are net food importers.

“We are not talking about an abstract concept here. We are talking about something that is having a devastating, dramatic and brutal impact on the lives of people,” and also puts governments at risk of destabilisation.

Firm invests $10m on Calabar Port

By Uyoatta Eshiet

CM Terminals Limited said it has invested over $10 million since it won the concession to operate at the Calabar Port, the General Manager, Kingsley C. Iheanacho, has said.

He said the money was spent on underwriting expenses to acquire equipment, information technology and human capital development, among others.

Iheanacho, who spoke with The Nation in company of the firm’s Commercial Manager, Ukemeabasi Udoh, said despite the huge investment to make the terminal a world class, the firm is facing serious challenges caused mainly by the shallow draught, which he put at 6.4 metres.

He said the terminal comprises 480 metres of quay length, 35,000m2 of open storage area, 21,000m2 of warehouses,3,500m2 mechanical workshop and 150,000m2 of recoverable storage area.

Udoh said one of the major causes of the dismal productivity at the Calabar Port was the appalling state of its equipment until his firm took over.

To overcome this, he said ECM Terminals has ordered and installed new cargo handling equipment, and a KVA 180 KVA) generator, adding that this has resulted in the delivery of efficient services.

Udoh said it is regrettable that the terminal dredging which had commenced, was suspended with its attendant negative effects, assuring that the firm still remained committed to its obligations at the port.

E

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

27

ISSUES

•Living near telecoms masts is reportedly a threat to human health

Are telecoms masts harmful to health?

Without them, service providers cannot connect with their subscribers. Telecommunications masts are to phone users what food is to the body. But there are claims that these masts, which radiate Electromagnetic field (ETF) rays are injurious to health. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disproves the claim, but yet it persists, ADLINE ATILI reports BOUT 11 years ago, most Nigerians did not have mobile phones. Many started using mobile phones in 2001 and now, they cannot imagine life without their phones. After discovering the convenience and sheer coolness of owning a mobile phone, the next thing became achieving better service, better connectivity and coverage.

In no time, a massive telecommunications infrastructure with over 20,000 base stations came into being since quality telecommunications service is hinged on proliferation of telecoms masts.

But these masts, some claim, are the ma-

A

jor cause of cancer in humans. The operators, however, insist that such claims are not true.

Because cellular transmission trend today is towards 4th Generation (4G) technology that promises faster and better cellular services, the rate and density of radiation from this technology go far.

A telecommunications network consists of interconnected elements that guarantee coverage. The elements of the network that are most visible to the public are the mobile phones, and antennas that allow connection to these handsets. The supporting structure, the mast, serves solely to position the anten-

nas at the height that best guarantees coverage. Mobile phones communicate with towers through radiofrequency (RF) waves.

Medical doctors have found that radiofrequency waves or Electromagnetic fields (EMF) can damage human tissues at high intensity. The radiation from them, they said, heats body tissues the same way microwave ovens heat food. The rapid increase in the use of mobile phones has led to a corresponding rise in the number of transmission masts in many places in the country. Some studies and medical cases are said to have shown that these masts are the cause of serious illnesses. The

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and operators disagree with such claims.

NESREA’s position This had recently pitted the commission (NCC) against the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA). The bone of contention was the sealing of telecoms masts that had been certified as meeting the five-metre Continued on page 28

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

28

ISSUES

Are telecoms masts harmful to health?

Continued from page 27

setback and other requirements of the NCC. NESREA cited health risks associated with telecoms masts located ‘too close to residential buildings’ as the reason for its actions. By NESREA’s regulation, telecoms masts must be sited at least 10 metres away from residential buildings.

Some EMF exposure cases Last year, in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, a septuagenarian, Mr Afolabi Oyekanmi, was at the University Teaching Hospital, AdoEkiti, discovered to be suffering from an illness caused by the radiation from the telecoms mast erected a few metres to his house.

The medical report, which he showed to The Nation read: “This elderly man was brought into the Accident and Emergency Unit of our hospital on 16/1/11 at 10:50pm with complaints of loss of consciousness associated with convulsion. He is not a known epileptic, diabetic, hypertensive or asthmatic…It is apparent that locating the telecoms mast too close to his house is detrimental and hazardous to his medical condition if not the cause. Kindly give necessary assistance to address the problem.”

Also in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, a mast was reported to have wreaked havoc on some residents of Unique Estate, off Olorunda Road.

The Ogundipe family, was reported as suffering from one ailment or the other. The matriarch of the family, Mrs Adebusola Ogundipe, was diagnosed of blood cancer; some of her children were suffering from memory loss coupled with nose-bleeding. Mrs Ogundipe said her ailment started from the heavy smoke coming from a generating set.

Her July 8, 2011 medical report from the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan, read in parts: “The most recent alteration in her health was the nose bleeding and the sensation of pain and tingling in the legs. These were also noted in her children. Haematologic study conducted revealed neutropenia, lymphocytosis and platelet count of 147,000 per cmm.

The features appear to be in keeping with leukaemia.”

‘EMF too weak to cause cancer’ However, the mainstream scientific community’s official opinion is that electromagnetic frequencies from masts are too weak to pose threat to life. They said reported symptoms from exposure to telecoms radiation are ‘psychosomatic’ because they are caused by the mind. But results of several studies have failed in reaching a definite conclusion, as many of them state opposing conclusions.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), research has not been able to provide support for a causal relationship between exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and self-reported symptoms, or electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

WHO’s Director, Dr Emilie van Deventer, who was in Lagos last week, said the global health body had spent huge sum of money in the last 15 years on researches on the issue but is yet to get a confirmed and credible evidence of dangers of EMF from mobile phones and base stations.

Van Deventer, who said though the researches were done by independent bodies and later verified by WHO, added: “Today, research does not suggest any concrete evidence of adverse health effect from exposure to radio frequency fields at levels below those that cause tissue heating. Research has not been able also to provide support for a causal relationship between exposure to EMF and self reported symptoms.”

She said the Federal Government must come up with clear roles and responsibilities, as well as adopt and comply with international healthbased standards.

Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, however, admitted that research findings have been mixed. He said some people documented a possible association between living close to high tension cables and cancer of the blood, leukaemia, in children; while others say there is no association because there is limited evidence to support it.

Onyebuchi noted that anxiety is expressed among cell phone users about increased risk of head and neck tumours such as gliomas, meningiomas and parotid gland tumours, prompting the ministry to do literature search for such limits.

•Juwah

•Director-General of NESREA, Dr Ngeri Benebo

Telecoms operators, speaking through the umbrella body, Association of Licenced Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) maintained that EMF signals are neither a definite nor a probable cause of cancer.

Speaking through the president, Mr Gbenga Adebayo, the operators said having reviewed statements and scientific evidence available, “it is safe to conclude that EMF emissions are a non-ionising range of emissions, which are safe for humans. Credible international research has repeatedly demonstrated that EMF emissions are even safer than those emitted by domestic microwave ovens.”

Adebayo, in a statement, added that all mobile infrastructure and equipment including mobile phones and other terminal devices used by telecoms operators are certified safe worldwide, having first been thoroughly tested and type-approved by the NCC.

tions.

He said since electromagnetic fields concerns humans, irrespective of race, colour, creed and continent, there must be continuous research that must be harmonised. He said such rolling research must involve all countries so that such research findings will be globally acceptable.

•Mrs Johnson

“We are aware that cell phones emit radiofrequency energy, which is non-ionising, but this electromagnetic energy is absorbed by tissue close to where the phone device is held.

“However, the amount exposed depends on the varying factors of cell phone type, proximity of phone antenna to the individual and length of use. We are aware that exposure to energy emissions above 0.4 micro Telsa could be harmful to an individual. Studies in this area, however, show no consistent association between cell phone users and head and neck cancers,” he said. He urged telecoms operators to carry out local epidemiological research measuring radiofrequency exposure in the country.

However, the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson said given the large number of mobile phone users, it is important to investigate, understand and communicate any potential public health impact from mobile phones, which work by transmitting radio waves through a network of fixed antennas called base stations.

Mrs Johnson, who pointed out that the Federal Government is deeply concerned about the welfare and health of citizens, advised mobile phone users to use it 30 to 40cm away from their body if they can, by using hands free devices “This way they will have a much lower exposure to radiofrequency fields than someone holding the handset against the ear.”

In his submission, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah, while allaying fears about exposure to EMF, stressed that it was important that operators install more masts across the country to ensure adequate coverage and access to telephony services.

He said: “People are often misled into thinking that electromagnetic emissions from telecommunications facilities are the same as or similar to nuclear and radioactive radiations.

Several reasons for this include unconfirmed scientific studies, leading to a feeling of uncertainty and a perception that there may be unknown or undiscovered hazards.”

Juwah assured that the commission would not relent in ensuring that the technical specifications governing all aspects of telecoms service provisioning, including installation of masts and radio frequency exposure limits are adhered to.

He threatened that any operator who did not stick to the guidelines would be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003; the Nigerian Communications (Enforcement Processes) Regulations Act 2005 and other applicable laws.

Operators’ stance

Need for local research Given the absence of EMF research work focused on Nigeria in particular, Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Temitope Alonge, proposed localising research as a basis for policy formulation.

He said the long and short-term effects of exposure to EMF, perspectives of international bodies as well as convincing evidence of dangers to human health makes it difficult to draw a conclusion as it “is not clear and we are not sure.”

He said though causal association is possible, “but chance, bias, or confounding factors cannot be ruled out with reasonable confidence.”

To him, a research wholly focused on the effects of telecommunications cell sites would help eliminate confounding factors and show clear cut evidence or otherwise of effect of EMF on health.

He said: “No international data on EMF or research paper reflects work done in Nigeria, even though our mobile industry is about 10 years old. The time to address this is now. We need to set up a long range, like 20 years, epidemiological study that is well designed, well funded and Nigerian oriented. This research will help the government and regulators in policy formulation.”

National President, National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), Mr Deolu Ogunbanjo admitted that there is insufficient information on the biological and health effects of EMF exposure on human populations and experimental animals to provide a rigorous basis for establishing safety factors over the whole frequency range and for all frequency modula-

What operators should do Senior Director, Research and Sustainability, GSM Association (GSMA), Dr Jack Rowley, while calling for investments in more base stations to provide more coverage, capacity and higher data rates for subscribers in the country, asserted that, although a substantial amount of research has been conducted in this area, there is no convincing evidence that radiofrequency field exposure below guideline levels causes health effects in adults or children.

He compared exposure to telecoms cell sites as similar to exposure to other wireless services such as TV, radio and baby monitors, adding that radiofrequency emitted by these devices were even higher that cell sites’.

Rowley advised government and other stakeholders to deploy effective information and communication mechanisms to allay public fear “so that new EMF technologies will not be mistrusted and feared.”

The GSMA spokesperson said regulators should emphasise site sharing among operators where technically and commercially feasible and adopt a national policy for deployment of mobile network infrastructure that protects public and support services.

A telecoms Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) risk management professional, Mr Idris Bello-Eneye, noted that deployment of mobile telecoms infrastructure/equipment by operators is faced with several HSE-related challenges.

He decried the dearth of specific standard and regulatory bodies or agencies dedicated to regulation and management of mobile telecoms HSE in Nigeria, advising regulators and other regional bodies to engage in researches in line with WHO guidelines and periodically measure, monitor and verify the public and occupational exposures to EMF to assure compliance with standards of the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) or other relevant standards.

On his part, Dr Raphael Koffi of the ECOWAS Commission, recommended the adoption of limits based on the guidelines of the ICNIRP. He said ECOWAS will develop a good practice recommendation in regard to EMF exposures from mobile networks and wireless devices, in addition to collaborating with the GSMA, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and WHO for harmonised EMF policies in the ECOWAS region.

Legislative support

‘No international data on EMF or research paper reflects work done in Nigeria, even though our mobile industry is about 10 years old. The time to address this is now. We need to set up a long range, like 20 years, epidemiological study that is well designed, well funded and Nigerian oriented. This research will help the government and regulators in policy formulation’

Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and Technology, Hon. Abiodun Akinlade, said the proposed Telecommunications EMF Emission Protection Bill being sponsored by the committee and aimed at creating limits on human exposure to EMF and minimum requirements for the protection of the public and workers from risks to their health, will protect citizens from possible effects of radiations from telecommunications installations.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

29

PERSONAL FINANCE

Making appropriate order to brokers (2)

Investor’s Worth

Grand Patron of the markets TUNBA Michael Olasubomi Balogun is one of the few known major investors whose shareholdings rarely make the public. But everyone knows they are major owners of different institutions. By all standards, Otunba Balogun is the undisputable grand patron and master of the Nigerian financial markets.

A doyen, pioneer and role model of entrepreneurial banking in Nigeria; Otunba Balogun in 1979 single-handedly set up the first wholly Nigerian-owned merchant bank and trained generations of many leading Nigerian bankers. Under his leadership as chairman and chief executive, First City Merchant Bank Limited (FCMB) for two decades experienced steady and uninterrupted growth, a feat hitherto considered beyond the ability of a Nigerian.

As a true mark of his astuteness, Otunba Balogun’s FCMB is the only surviving bank out of the three merchant banks that were in existence at that time as both Icon and NAL have been submerged in the winds of change continuously blowing through the financial markets.

Smarting from another landmark acquisition, FCMB is currently valued at some N63 billion, a consideration most pundits described as conservative valuation of a growth stock with tremendous potential. While he no longer has board or managerial position in FCMB, people in the know continue to see the guiding hands of Otunba in the stability and continuing success of FCMB. Besides, the successful generational shift at FCMB represented a masterstroke from the grandmaster desirous of protecting and

O

preserving his legacy for posterity and continuing benefits to all stakeholders.

Without gainsaying, the contributions of Otunba Balogun to the development of the Nigerian capital market were particularly outstanding. He, as the head of Icon Securities Limited, was the one responsible for bringing to the market, landmark issues such as the first public offers of Daily Times and UAC of Nigeria to the Nigerian public. At that time, Daily Times which was originally owned by a foreign proprietor with a few Nigerian Shareholders dominated the media in Nigeria. UACN was then virtually the second largest employer in the country only next to the Government of the Federation.

Otunba set out to permanently change the face of investment banking in Nigeria with his resignation in December 1977 as executive director of Icon Limited (Merchant Bankers) and subsequent establishment of his own company, City Securities Limited, which became the first institution in Nigeria to combine issuing house and stockbroking businesses under one roof. By the end of the then indigenisation programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Otunba Balogun had put against his name and that of his company, City Securities Limited, on the public sale of shares of about 11 international companies and the private sale of shares of over 20 foreign companies. In less than two years of the establishment of City Securities Limited, he bestrode the Nigerian Capital Market like a colossus. During this period, he was a member of the council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange representing Icon and City Securities Limited from 1973 until early

L •Balogun

1988.

For nine years, between 1966 and 1975, he was the first principal counsel and company secretary to the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB). During this period, he received extensive training at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), otherwise known as the World Bank, and its private sector affiliate, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) both in Washington DC. He also received extensive training from leading stockbrokers, investment banks and merchant banks in London and New York. All these experiences prepared him well for the pioneering role he was to play in the development of indigenous investment banking practice.

In 1973, he was appointed the director in charge of the operations of Icon Securities Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of NIDB and spearheaded, with other colleagues, the conversion of Icon Securities into a merchant bank. He was also instrumental to the establishment of Icon Stockbrokers Limited, a foremost stockbroking firm, which he subsequently headed. Following the establishment of Icon Limited (Merchant Bankers), Otunba Balogun was seconded to the bank as an executive director.

Ask a Broker

What is cost averaging?

C

OST averaging is a technical portfolio management strategy that requires an investor to invest a specified constant amount of money in a specified stock or group of stocks within a stipulated period or specific dates, regardless of the changes in the price of the stock.

This investment management strategy is based on the

idea that share price of a stock ordinarily fluctuates in cycles and purchases around the swings of the cycles will result in an average cost that will still benefit the investor, rather than the slippery often mythological concept of timing the market.

Cost averaging enables the investor to achieve lower average cost per share than the average price per share of the

stock within a period as the constant value of investment buys more shares at lower prices than higher prices.

Even with cost averaging, it’s still important for the investor to undertake fundamental and technical analyses of a stock and be sure it has entered into attractive cycle for cost averaging.

This strategy can also be referred to as Naira-averaging strategy or in specific currency of the market jurisdiction.

Ways and Means

Using collective investment scheme to enhance returns

M

UTUAL fund is a type of collective investment scheme that pools funds from many investors and invests such pool in previously agreed investments.

Each investor thus becomes a coowner, otherwise known as unit holder, of the fund.

Mutual fund usually has a professional fund manager that oversees the value creation functions of the fund and a trustee that ensures that the underlining agreements setting up the mutual fund are adhered to. Other professional parties include the registrar that keeps custody of the register of members of the funds.

First Bank of Nigeria (FBN Plc, through its investment banking and asset management subsidiary- FBN Capital, is currently offering investors opportunities to pool funds into two collective

investment schemes- FBN Money Market Fund and the FBN Fixed income Fund. The funds provide investors with new and varied products and offer opportunities to grow the wealth of every class of investor. The funds offer an opportunity to achieve good returns from a diversified portfolio of fixed income investments.

The FBN Money Market Fund is an open ended mutual fund that will invest in short term money market instruments of 365 days or less. The fund’s investment objective is to achieve a high level of income for investors obtainable from investments in short term securities that is consistent with prudent investment management, the preservation of capital and maintenance of liquidity. The fund can invest in instruments such as Guaranteed

IMIT order: A limit order is directly the opposite of a market order. As the name implies, limit order imposes price limitation on the sell or buy order. It means that the stockbroker cannot buy above the price limit or sell below the price limit a, although as agent of the investor, who must also seek to protect the interest of his principal, he can obtain better price for his client’s transaction. In addition to specifying the benchmark price for transaction, the investor must specify the volume and other details as in the case of market order.

Open order: This is a sell or buy mandate that remains binding until the actualisation of the mandate or further instruction cancelling such order.

Open order is usually used by strategic investors to hunt for and accumulate value stocks, so the broker is on the lookout for such supply.

Day order: This is a buy or sell mandate that is specific to a particular trading day, it takes effect and expires on the same day. For instance, an investor that envisaged that the share of a company would be remarkably underpriced on the day its share price would be marked down for cash or scrip dividend can enter a day order targeting the immediate period after the markdown before the share price regains its intensity.

Opening price order: This is an order instructing the broker to buy or sell specified volume of a stock at the opening price for the trading day. Technically, the opening price for a new trading session is usually the closing price of the previous trading session.

Closing price order: The opposite mandate to opening price order, this mandate targets the closing price for a stock.

Time or future order: Like futures, time or future order is a buy or sell mandate that will become effective at a specified time or period in the future. It may have additional features of other types of order such as

Company Niger Ins Chellarams Seven-Up AG Leventis •GMD, FBN, Bisi Onasanya

Commercial Papers, Bankers’ Acceptances, Treasury Bills, and Certificates of Deposits of rated financial institutions in Nigeria.

The FBN Fixed Income Fund is also an open ended mutual fund that will invest in longer dated fixed income instruments such as FGN, State and corporate bonds.

The Fund’s investment objective to preserve capital and maximize wealth and is suitable for your longer tenured financial plans.

Evans Medical

Dangote Flour Mills Tantalizers MRS Oil

By Taofik Salako

price restriction.

Contingency order: This type of order is used frequently by highly active portfolio managers, who have lists of alternative stocks to fit into a bearish or bullish market condition.

The contingency order instructs a broker to sell a particular stock and buy another stock or conversely to buy a particular stock and sell another one; when the trading prices reached certain levels. For instance, a contingency order for an oil and gas portfolio investor can read thus: sell 100,000 shares of Oando if the price reaches N17 and buy Conoil shares if the price reaches N25. The attainment of the price difference is mandatory to the execution of this order. Because it involves replacing a stock with another, contingency order is also known as switch order.

Full or none order: This is a type of mandate that instructs a broker to buy or sell a stock (or some stocks) in its entirety or otherwise, not to sell at all. This order goes against piecemeal purchase or sale of stock.

Alternative order: Alternative order is a situation whereby an investor directs a broker to act on either of two or more alternatives. Investors with multiple options of stocks or securities but with limited funds or investors with diverse buy and sell needs can give alternative orders to their brokers to ensure that in whatever way the market situation turns in a particular trading day, they achieve part of their portfolio objectives.

For instance, an investor can mandate a broker to buy 10,000 shares of Unilever Nigeria or 9,000 shares of UAC of Nigeria.

Where the alternatives are more than two and there is element of preference, the investor can structure his mandate according to scale of preference. This implies that the absence of option one leads to option two and in that descending order.

But where there is no in-

AGM Date AGM Venue 19-07-12 Golden Gate, Ikoyi, Lagos 27-09-12 NA 20-09-12 Muson, Lagos 05-07-12 Mainland Hotel, Oyingbo Lagos 26-07-12 Factory, Km 32, Lagos-Ibadan Express, Ogun State 05-07-12 To be Advised 28-07-12 10-07-12

NA Federal Palace Hotel, VI, Lagos

dication of any element of preference, the broker will act on any of the alternatives on first attempt basis.

Stop-limit order: This is a buy or sell mandate that comes into effect when the share price of a stock reaches the limit price or within the daily range of the stop price. It’s also known as stop loss order or by its shorter form, stop order. This type of order is commonly used by fund managers, who have clearly spelt out exit and entry prices for stocks and a constant rebalancing strategy to meet changing market situation.

Scale order: One of the more technical limit orders usually used by active fund managers, scale order sets out the total amount of a stock to be bought or sold alongside the price scale detailing what amount to be bought or sold at specified price variations.

Technical investors with adept knowledge of cost averaging strategy usually use scale order to achieve identified benchmark cost for a portfolio, especially in a tight turbulent market situation.

Percentage order: This is a buy or sell mandate that comes into effect when a certain number of shares in that stock have traded. Percentage order can be used as a cautionary order by a strategic core investor to protect his shareholding or ward off potential takeover.

For instance, an investor can give a standing percentage order to his broker to buy a stated amount of a stock when at least two percent of the stock’s outstanding shares have been traded and vice versa.

It should be noted that a particular order may have characteristics of two or more types of order, for instance a scale order with opening or closing price order.

Also, each type of order has its won advantages and disadvantages, an investor needs to be certain the order meets his investment objective and represents the best way forward to the attainment of his portfolio target.

Time

Div (kobo) Closure

NA NA NA

2.5 10 200

6-07-12 NA 13-07012

NA

14

27-04-12

12 p.m.

NA

NA 10

13-07-12 20-06-12

NA

2

25-05-12

11.00a.m. 70

Feedback/Comments: Email: taofad2000@yahoo.co.uk; SMS only: 080-2833-0861

15-06-12

30

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

MONEY LINK

PoS merchants seek one-day settlement, tariff cut

P

OINT of Sale (PoS) merchants have called for one-day transaction settlement cycle and a reduction in tariff.

Speaking at the weekend during the Citiserve Merchant Congress, Managing Director/CEO Eronic Stores, Prince Eroni, said that the delay in crediting merchants’ accounts and high tariff on transactions are major impediments to the use of PoS. The event was organised

by Citiserve, a subsidiary of Vigeo Holdings Limited to sensitise merchants and other stakeholders in the

Stories by Collins Nweze

e=payment on the benefits of using PoS. Eroni said that the banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should work on achieving a one-day settlement cycle and further reduction of the transaction fee below the current 1.2.5 per cent.

Another merchant, Nancy Obika said the transaction fee has to be reduced further to encourage them to use the product. “I think that aside addressing the problem of downtime, the next thing that the regulator needs to do is to further

new applications to address the different needs of merchants based on the type of business they are into.

He advised merchants not to tamper with the PoS to avoid damage, and always refer any problems arising from the use of the product to the company.

He said that the 1.25 per cent or N2, 000 fee charged on each transaction is not high. He added that the CBN is still looking at the possibility of reviewing it downwards. “First thing is education. We are educating our customers to let them know more about the

reduce the transaction fee.

That will encourage many of us to use the terminals more often,” she said. Besides, there is also need to address issues relating to network failure, and transaction timeout, which limit merchants’ confidence in the service.

Head e-Distribution Citiserve, Jubril Salaudeen, said the firm is working towards resolving the complaints and problems encountered by merchants before the full implementation of the cashless banking initiative nationwide.

He disclosed that Citiserve is developing

Stanbic, Star Times partner on mobile money TANBIC IBTC Bank has partnered Star Times, one of the digital terrestrial transmission operators in the country to assist subscribers pay for their subscription fees using mobile money tool provided by the bank.

Speaking yesterday on the partnership, Head, e-Business, Stanbic IBTC, Thabo Makoko said that by partnering with the

S

F

IDELITY Bank Plc yesterday, donated the sum of N850,000 to a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) -Miss Omonike Akinselure, under the commercial bank’s ‘Helping Hands’ scheme. The amount, which was given to her at an event held in Lagos was for her to undergo a

company, the bank is making it easier for subscribers to make their payments electronically.

He said the lender is committed to ensuring that users of the Moble Money get the best in terms of service and security of their transactions.

Vice President, Star Times, Joshua Wang said the mobile money service provided by Stanbic IBTC is an e-payment

solution that allows users pay for goods and services with their mobile phones. He said that subscribers to Star Times service now have more options to consider when making payments for their monthly subscription.

“We therefore consider the efforts of the Nigerian government to promote e-payment as a welcome development in the

financial sector of the economy. The Mobile Money would be safe, fast, easy and convenient way for our subscribers in different cities to make payments for their subscription,” he said.

He said that Mobile Money service will ensure that subscribers stay connected to its services, and assist in prompt payment of subscription fees.

Fidelity supports corps member reconstructive surgery on her jaw.

The General Manager, Operations of the bank, Mr. Sam Obijiaku, who spoke at the presentation of the cheque to Akinselure, said the move was in line with the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of lending support to the needy. Accord-

actually impact on many lives. “I commend the bank’s staff for what they have come up with. It is a reflection of what Fidelity Bank represents. It is not just about business and profit making. It is about lending hands to the needy.

“The passion of the staff toward the lending hand project is commendable,” he added.

ing to Obijiaku, “Fidelity bank strives to impact on the lives of its customers and other people around it, by putting smiles on their faces.”

While commending the bank’s staff for their commitment towards the CSR project, he noted that it would go a long way to

FGN BONDS Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2012 “ 14-04-2012

GAINERS AS AT 6-7-12 SYMBOL

O/PRICE

NESTLE DANGFLOUR CUSTODYINS IKEJAHOTEL CUTIX LIVESTOCK AGLEVENT PRESCO EVANSMED GOLDINSURE

474.33 6.24 1.48 1.12 1.39 1.18 0.71 15.50 0.76 0.54

C/PRICE

698.04 6.55 1.55 1.17 1.45 1.23 0.74 16.15 0.79 0.56

C/PRICE 1.90 5.70 22.30 2.54 28.00 1.16 2.28 0.66 26.50 3.35

awarded the ISO 27001, a global standard for information security management, for efficiency of its security management process, by the British Standard Institute.

In a statement, the bank said the certification is a validation of its industry leadership in e-payment and compliance with best practice.

Greg Jobome, Access Bank’s Chief Risk Officer said : “This is a demonstration of our commitment to setting standards for sustainable business practices; subjecting our processes to a rigorous evaluation by a reputable organisation like the British Standards Institute, demonstrates the length we can go as a Bank to ensure

the security of our customers’ transactions”.

Also, Tunde Coker, Chief Information Officer, Access Bank added: “The experience has improved our information assets and processes with evidence in the safety of our platforms and processes for customer transactions.”

The bank’s certification according to the statement, is a tacit endorsement of its safety of transaction platforms and information assets which guarantees the highest level of security for customers’ details and information. The ISO 27001 certification is awarded to organisations that have conformed to the highest standards of information security.

CHANGE 0.10 0.30 1.47 0.13 0.45 0.06 0.11 0.03 1.19 0.14

Exchange Rate (N) 155.2 155.8 155.7

Date 2-7-12 27-6-12 22-6-12

CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Year Start Offer

NGN USD NGN GBP NGN EUR NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N) (S/N) Bureau de Change (S/N) Parallel Market

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

147.6000 239.4810 212.4997

149.7100 244.0123 207.9023

150.7100 245.6422 209.2910

-2.11 -2.57 -1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

152.0000

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

153.0000

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

Dec ’11

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

12%

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate Inflation Rate

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00% 12.6%

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

NSE CAP Index

27-10-11 N6.5236tr 20,607.37

Rate (Previous) 4 Mar, 2012 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 6, Mar, 2012 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

28-10-11 N6.617tr 20,903.16

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

CHANGE

23.71 0.31 0.07 0.05 0.06 0.05 0.03 0.65 0.03 0.02

Amount Sold ($) 150m 138m 113m

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12

LOSERS AS AT 6-7-12

SYMBOL O/PRICE RTBRISCOE 2.00 BOCGAS 6.00 ARBICO 23.47 ROADS 8.49 OKOMUOIL 29.45 STERNBANK 1.22 DIAMONDBNK 2.39 JAPAULOIL 0.69 PZ 27.69 FCMB 3.49

A

Amount Amount Offered ($) Demanded ($) 350m 150m 350m 138m 350m 113m

Currency OBB Rate Call Rate

Access Bank secures ISO certification CCESS Bank has been

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM

MANAGED FUNDS

NIDF NESF

tee that they have paid.

“If a customer tells you that he has paid because there is a debit alert in his phone, do not part with your goods. You must confirm payment through printed receipt from the PoS,” he said.

He said that the bank is committed to ensuring that any complaints brought before it is resolved within 24 hours, adding that customers should have no fear about the use of PoS because it is safe and secured.

DATA BANK

Tenor

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

PoS and we also need to encourage the card holders to use their cards in making payments,” he said.

Manager, Merchant Services, Diamond Bank Plc, Lanre Raheem, said that merchants need to ensure that the cards are properly inserted, and the right Personal Identification Number (PIN) used.

He advised merchants to always confirm payment through printed receipts, adding that even where customers receive debit alert, such is not a guaran-

Offer Price

Bid Price

ARM AGGRESSIVE 9.17 KAKAWA GUARANTEED 1.00 STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE 124.54 AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND 102.88 LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL 0.74 BGL SAPPHIRE FUND 1.09 BGL NUBIAN FUND 0.95 NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. 1,738.10 PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND 8.95 CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST 1.39 CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST 1.87 STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY 7,485.29 THE DISCOVERY FUND 193.00 FIDELITY NIGFUND 1.67 • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED • STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

9.08 1.00 124.43 101.96 0.72 1.09 0.93 1,728.70 8.51 1.33 1.80 7,289.38 191.08 1.62

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK

Bank P/Court

Previous 04 July, 2011

Current 07, Aug, 2011

8.5000 8.0833

8.5000 8.0833

Movement

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

31

MONEY MARKET REPORT

TBs, forex raise money supply T

HE planned sale of N24.6 billion in treasury bills with maturities ranging from three to months to one year on Wednesday and rising forex demand have strengthened money supply (M2).

The M2 has risen by 2.24 per cent month-on-month, and currently stands at N13.6 trillion. It is used to quantify the amount of money in circulation and explain different economic monetary conditions.

Due to the mop up, dealers said, the market opened last Friday with a cash deficit of about N12.74 billion ($78.59 million), compared with a cash balance of about N21 billion the previous week.

The disbursal of budgetary allocations to government agencies penultimate week had pushed down the cost of borrowing among banks, but large cash outflows to finance treasury bill purchases lowered liquidity in the market. Dealers said the budget flow last week was shortlived because the market was short before the disbursal, while the inflow from matured treasury bills last week was not enough to support it.

At the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS), a total of $601 million has been sold in the last two weeks, while some oil multinational companies also sold large dollar amounts to some banks, draining naira from the system. Also, a total of $2.75 billion was sold in June, 69.75 per cent increase from May figure.

Analysts project that the naira will remain under pressure in the forex market, and may hit N166 to a dollar in the parallel market in the coming months.

Interbank The interbank lending rates rose slightly last week to an average of 15.33 per cent, from 15.16 per cent the previous week, as naira liquidity fell, on large outflows to foreign exchange purchases.

The secured Open Buy Back (OBB) rose to 14.75 per cent, compared with 14.50 per cent last week. This was, 2.75 percentage points above the CBN’s 12 per cent benchmark rate, and 4.75 percentage points above the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate.

Overnight placement closed flat at 15.50 per cent last week, while call money rose to 15.75 per cent, compared with 15.50 per cent penultimate week. “The cost of funds will continue to rise next week because of expected outflows to treasury bills and foreign exchange purchases,” a dealer said.

CBN The CBN examiners have commenced routine checks on banks to ascertain their level of compliance with customers’ transaction agreements. This became exigent following increasing numbers of customers’ complaints brought to the attention of the apex bank.

CBN Director, Consumer and Financial Protection Department (CFPD), Shehu Umar said such complaints mainly arose because of poor customer service, high bank tariffs, frauds and forgeries as well as bank distress could threaten confidence in the banking system.

Banks had in the past two years, refunded a total of N5.03 billion to customers over breaches of transaction agreements. The fund covered 3,571 petitions lodged at CFPD. Speaking at a CBN conference with consumers in Lagos, he disclosed that where any of the cases is proved, the affected bank will be required to make necessary amends. The measures are aimed at encouraging good banking habits and promoting efficiency in the delivery of financial services as well as boosting public confidence in the system.

MfBs The CBN has directed microfinance

By Collins Nweze

banks to put in place an inter-bank mechanism to encourage growth.

CBN, in a statement, said the interbank platform would afford the banks the opportunity to lend to each other and reduce illiquidity.

It called on the banks to enhance linkage programmes, such as RUFIN to all the 36 states to share ideas and partner with one another. RUFIN is an acronym for Rural Finance Institutions Building Programme, an idea introduced by CBN to strengthen the growth of the micro-finance banking sub-sector. It said inter-bank system would enable the banks to access funds for development.

The banking watchdog said there must be incentives for microfinance banking operating in the rural areas, adding that it is the only way by which they can meet the transactional needs of their customers and subsequently facilitate the growth of micro businesses.

•Naira

notes

MasterCard MASTERCARD has announced a new structure for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) business. This development stemmed from continuous economic development, steady population growth, stable outlook and large pool of young consumers entering the workplace each year.

The firm said in a statement that MEA business will comprise three divisions, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Sub Sahara Africa and South Africa, clustering 69 markets stretching from Afghanistan to South Africa and from Morocco to Pakistan.

Citiserve THE Chief Executive Officer, Citiserve, a subsidiary of Vigeo Holdings Limited, Lola Ogunbambi has reiterated her firm’s commitment to ensuring that Point of Sale (PoS) terminals installed at merchant shops work effectively for success of the cash-less initiative.

Speaking last week at Citiserve Merchant Congress organised by the firm to educate PoS merchants on the functionality of the equipment and ways of addressing usage problems, she explained that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and banks have invested heavily to ensure that the cash-less banking initiative succeeds.

She said as the cost of printing, moving and securing cash continued to rise, there is urgent need to reduce them. The Citiserve CEO said that implementers of the initiative will continue to encourage merchants and card users to use alternative banking channels such as PoS, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), web transfer and other e-payment platforms to consummate their transactions.

RenCap SHARES of FirstBank of Nigeria Plc, Access Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank have been placed on the ‘buy’ list by Renaissance Capital (RenCap), an investment and research firm.

The firm said in a statement that it has upgraded its forecasts for all the big five banks, with First and Access banks seeing the most significant increases.

“We see sufficient upside potential to warrant ‘buy’ ratings on all five stocks; hence we upgrade Access and FirstBank to ‘buy’. We retain our buy ratings on GTB, UBA and Zenith,” it said. The firm assessed the banks’ year 2011 and first quarter 2012 re-

•US

Dollar notes

sults. “We focus solely on these Tier 1 Nigerian banks, which we have defined by asset size and market share,” it said.

RenCap said that the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) in the banks’ financial results has impacted their credit impairment line. As a result, FirstBank and UBA have seen significant upward revisions to their 2011 reported earnings under IFRS. Deloitte DELOITTE has released the results of the first EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa), edition of, “Tax Certainty”, a survey about the relationship between companies and the tax authorities in 24 countries in the region.

The survey shows a wide variation in tax certainty across various EMEA countries, including Nigeria. The objective of the survey is to provide a picture of the relationship that companies have with the tax authorities in their own country as well as with foreign tax authorities within EMEA. The survey also sought to identify the factors that influence the relationships between companies and tax authorities. The results of the survey showed that while most countries have a good relationship with their local tax authorities, the overall tax uncertainty is a concern with one out of two respondents feeling that the tax uncertainty in their country impacts or even damages their business

operations.

IMF THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has launched the Institute for Capacity Development to assist its enhanced strategy for capacity-building services for its member countries.

These capacity-development efforts are aimed at helping member countries develop their skills base and build more robust economic and financial institutions.

In a statement, the Fund said the Institute, a new department incorporating the former IMF Institute and Office of Technical Assistance Management, will enable stronger synergies and better coordination between its technical assistance, training, and other elements of capacity development. It will also assist to better adapt to member countries’ priorities and needs, and facilitate fund raising.

Bank to bank report EKITI State Government has started discussions with Wema Bank to revive the farmers co-operative initiative. The partnership is geared towards expanding the scope of the state’s agricultural business and repositioning the food basket of the South West. Under the proposed scheme the bank will provide funding to farmers to help them expand their businesses and meet the target of the administration in the state.

Speaking in Ado Ekiti while receiv-

‘Dealers said the budget flow last week was short-lived because the market was short before the disbursal, while the inflow from matured treasury bills last week was not enough to support it’

ing the Managing Director of Wema Bank, Mr Segun Oloketuyi, the State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said the state is passionate about exploiting the potentials in the sector.

Lafferty Group LAFFERTY Group, the London based research and advisory house has enlisted First City Monument Bank Plc’s (FCMB) Executive Director, Retail Banking Division, Nabeel Malik, among the World’s Top 120 Retail Banking Leaders.

Nabeel Malik’s nomination was contained in the recently published Lafferty Group Management Report – Retail Banking Leaders. Lafferty’s Retail Banking, Leaders identifies the leading executives making critical decisions about retail banking in the world’s largest banks.

ETI ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) to promote and finance trade and investment flows between Africa and India.

A statement from the bank said the pact will see EXIM Bank co-operating with Ecobank to explore joint trade and investment opportunities in the future across the group’s networks in 32 countries in Middle Africa.

India’s trade with Africa has doubled over the past four years to over $50 billion, with the Indian government setting a 2015 bilateral trade target of $90 billion. This has been accompanied by stronger investment ties, with Indian investments in Africa totalling $2.4 billion in 2008.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

32

THE CEO

• Gillis-Harry

Banks have a vital role to play in the economic growth of a country. But in Nigeria, according to president of Forum of Southsouth Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture Prince Billy Gillis-Harry, banks shy away from playing that role. He tells TOBA AGBOOLA, in this interview, that they prefer to “keep money and charge high transaction costs” instead of assisting businesses.

‘Banks are killing businesses’ T

HE Nigerian business environment has faced numerous challenges but the major one now is Boko Haram. What is your take on this?

Well, from the point of view of the organised private sector (OPS), because of the activities of the Boko Haram sect, activities that should kick-start the growth of business are not in place. Our government today is the biggest spender and all the major projects, such as construction of roads, airport and repairs, are handled by them. With insecurity, business cannot thrive. The activities of the sect need to be contained

fast.

What do you think the private sector should do?

Private sector should buckle up and wake up to its responsibilities. I am tired of hearing that the government is not giving this and that, let them set up their infrastructure and live up to expectation. Let us work for the little we have and enjoy to the fullest and show that we are working. The advice I want to give the OPS is that we should use the little we have and excel so as to stop waiting for the government. In an economy such as Nigeria’s, the manufacturing and in-

dustrial sectors have to compete with imported products. Nigeria is import dependent; it depends on products dumped by foreign trade partners, which hinder economic growth. The business environment is nothing to write home about.

The last economic report showed that our economy is growing...

Well, we need to know the indicators. Are they using infrastructural development.

Every economic growth is measured by the level of unemployment. The government needs to reduce the cost of doing business in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, we are more than 150 million people, which is a very big economy. Within Nigeria, we can manufacture and sell. We can do business among ourselves not to talk about the business potential with our neighbouring countries, the Asian market, and the European market. The government has to come up with strategies to develop the agricultural sector and make it contribute significantly to the gross domestic products (GDP). Certainly, the OPS is ready to contribute to the nation’s development in what• Continued on page 33

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

33

THE CEO

‘Banks are killing businesses’ •Continued from page 32

ever way possible. I want a situation, whereby the OPS is able to come up with strategies aimed at developing the economy.

Are banks supportive?

Banks, of course, are still very slow in supporting businesses; Nigerian banks only know how to keep money and charge high transaction costs. This is discouraging. Business concerns and CEOs are groaning under this very harsh and painful economic condition. Funds to expand and situate existing projects are hard to come by. Banks are not forthcoming in spite of high profits declared. We need to investigate where these banks operate in or from.

You mentioned that the private sector should come up with a solution. What is the solution?

First, the private sector knows where the market is; they know the problems, they know where the difficulties lie. Government is far away from the reality on ground. Government is busy putting values that enhance their political will, which does not improve the economy. I have said a number of times that if there is no deliberate attempt to develop the economy; we would never get out of these problems. Even our political and security challenges are determined by economic stability. The major factors such as power, manufacturing and agriculture have to be critically looked into.

We must deliberately develop our economic policies and look for a plan, which will make us know what Nigerians want.

People that can focus on these issues are from the private sector, which relates with the grassroots.

The President recently received a new oil industry draft bill. What do you think of it?

I think this is good news to all Nigerians.

Just three weeks ago, I led my group (FOSSCCIMA) on a visit to the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and he assured us that the bill will be submitted in two weeks. We are happy that this has happened. The Local Content Act provides that every multinational oil company operating in Nigeria must domicile a minimum of 10 per cent of its annual profit in banks, which means banks will have more money to fund investments in the country. Local insurance companies are empowered by the Act to carry out all aspects of insurance in the oil and gas sector except where in the opinion of the Nigerian Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the capacity of insurance companies have been exhausted. Other provisions of the Act include the creation of a special Fund into which one per cent of every contract awarded in the oil and gas sector should be paid for the purpose of building capacity and capability in the sector.

This provision is to fund local capacity building to ensure that a greater percentage of the projects in the industry are done in Nigeria by Nigerians.

Will the Act make meaningful impact on local contents?

We (the OPS) welcome this Act and consider the objectives and provisions of the Act as laudable. As an association of business people, we thank the Federal Government, the National Assembly and especially the Minister of Petroleum Resources for the foresight behind the enactment of this legislation.

However, as commendable as the Nigerian Content Development Act 2009 and its provisions are, I would like to point out that, currently, more than 70 per cent of the jobs in the oil and gas sector are still carried out by foreigners, a development we consider contrary to the intent of the law. The question, therefore, is what is responsible for this state of affairs, despite the lofty aim of the Act? For the Act to achieve its set goals, there is the need for all direct and contingent government agencies, the OPS and civil society organisations to work together towards a common goal of vigorous implementation and enforcement of the law. DPR is the institution to instigate and champion the vigorous implementation and enforcement of the Act as being canvassed. This is

• Gillis-Harry

‘Banks, of course, are still very slow in supporting businesses; Nigerian banks only know how to keep money and charge high transaction costs. This is discouraging. Business concerns and CEOs are groaning under this very harsh and painful economic condition. Funds to expand and situate existing projects are hard to come by. Banks are not forthcoming in spite of high profits declared. We need to investigate where these banks operate in or from’

• Gillis-Harry

because DPR has pre-eminence in the monitoring and enforcement of regulations relating to every aspect of the industry and it is a well-known fact that effective local content implementation and enforcement begins at the point of approval of projects.

Any sector of the economy, such as the downstream of Petroleum Resources whose conditions do not promote private sector participation is not a good economic decision.

I implore the Minister of Petroleum and

those concerned to take proactive steps to ensure that, besides their statutory roles, every other entity involved in the implementation of Nigerian Content under the Nigerian Content Act and the Petroleum Act cap 350 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria should partner with key stakeholders, including the civil society, to monitor the implementation of the Act in the industry. The President and those concerned should ensure the speedy passage of the PIB into law.

What is the way forward on the Niger Delta?

The truth is development. Development that the people feel they’ve been denied.

The people genuinely see that they have been denied. It has to be properly delineated in a way that you can solve each problem on the way. And if you ask me from the South-South chambers, the issue of Niger Delta is not a political problem. It is an economic problem, which must be tackled with expertise. Though political will must be there to deliberately enforce the economic road-map that could generate the result, it is not about giving N100,000 to an individual. It is about de-briefing the youth, it is about educating the youth, it is about showing them a picture that is achievable that can keep them focused on future. The mentality that has been sold to them will not even allow it, and that is why we are calling on all the stakeholders to work with the Southsouth Chambers of Commerce on this issue of Niger Delta. The Niger Delta issue can only be tackled with the effective collaboration of the private sector, which is being represented by the South-South Chambers of Commerce and the city chambers in that village, with other organisation, such as, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) who will look at the problem from an economic point of view. There is no other way we can do it.

We can only make progress by ensuring that an economic value will only guarantee the future of the area.

Everything that affects the the Niger Delta affects Nigeria and everything that affects Nigeria affects West Africa, affects the Gulf of Guinea and the oil and gas industry in the whole world. As small as it is, the Niger Delta issue impacts positively or negatively on the global economy. So, it is time for the government, president, governors, local government chairmen to discuss with the private sector. We want a scenario where this must work.

What is your assessment of the 2012 budget? Is it working?

You can see again that our budget is always having a high figure for recurrent expenditure. Recurrent expenditure as you know has no value to keep or save than just putting food on the table for the employed.

So, we need to deliberately work our budget in a way that that our capital expenditure engenders higher standard in infrastructural development. Today, we must begin to grow that sector so that we can guarantee other businesses. For instance, if we are talking about housing, the government must work out the policy. It must make provision for roads that would be put in place in the next 100 years. I think our budget should be looking more into the future and develop capital investment that will guarantee sound infrastructural vehicle than just focusing on recurrent expenditure that is talking about feeding, fueling. All these are not the things that grow the economy. If roads are constructed, electricity is there, water is there, that is enough. If the environment is conducive, manufacturers will begin to manufacture these things, which the country is presently importing. We can develop if we encourage the Bank of Industry (BoI) to focus on how to develop this country. Bank of Industry should deliberately be working towards developing the capital of local companies.

The level of corruption is so high in the country. What is your view and what is the way forward?

You are right, corruption is everywhere now. There is monumental corruption in Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The place stinks. This has reinforced the notion that for any operator to succeed in the country, he must toe the path of corruption. We have seen this in the Halliburton scandal and several other cases involving both international and local companies operating in Nigeria. In a global operating environment where transparency and best practices are quickly taking root, the Nigerian petroleum industry surely needs to clean its house before it can enjoy the level of confidence and trust required to have the investments it needs to grow the sector. Government owes it a duty to Nigerians to ensure that the several critical points highlighted by the subsidy report are implemented diligently. Issues have to do with the fiscal regime, subsidy management – where people were paid huge sums for products not delivered, should be addressed and redressed so that people who have been found culpable are punished accordingly.

That is the only way to inspire investor confidence in the sector.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

34

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 6-7-12

NSE starts second half with 2.4% gain

T

T

HE Nigerian stock market started the second half with a bullish run as aggregate market capitaliSation of quoted equities rose by N164 billion in the first trading week.

The All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) posted a weekly gain of 2.37 per cent, rising from opening index of 21,599.57 points to close at 22,110.91 points.

Aggregate market worth of all equities rose from N6.895 trillion to N7.059 trillion. All the sectoral indices trended upward. The

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

NSE 30 index rose by 4.98 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index also rose by 4.15 per cent. The NSE Banking-10 Index appreciated by 11.81 per cent.

The NSE Insurance-10 Index appreciated by 7.83 per cent while the NSE Oil and Gas-5 Index appreciated by 1.75 per cent.

Thirty-nine equities made the gainers’ list with Nestle Nigeria Plc leading the advancers with a gain of N51.79. It was followed

by Total Nigeria Plc, which added N5 per share.

On the downside, 30 stocks depreciated.

Guinness Nigeria Plc led on the losers with a drop of N3 per share while Dangote Cement Plc trailed with a loss of N2 per share Total turnover stood at 1.007 billion shares worth N8.507 billion in 18,352 deals with the banking sub-sector accounting for 556.01 million shares worth N4.309 billion through 9,883 deals. The volume in the sub-sector was driven by First Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc. Trading in the shares of the three companies accounted for 239.39 million shares, representing 43.06 per cent, 34.34 per cent and 23.78 per cent of the turnover recorded by the sector, subsector and total equities turnover for the week.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 6-7-12

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9 , 2012

35

EQUITIES WATCH

Email: taofad2000@yahoo.co.uk

Access Bank is leading banking stocks in the rally at the stock market. With four percentage points ahead of the closest banking stock, United Bank for Africa Plc(UBA), Access Bank has started the second half with some 14 percentage points ahead of the market's benchmark return. Access Bank’s Stock had more than doubled the average stock market return for the second quarter. TAOFIK SALAKO reports on the underlining currents driving the stock

First trading week for second half 2012

T

HE Nigerian stock market started the second half with a strong rally posting average return of 2.37 per cent within the first five trading days. The first-week rally nudged average year-todate return to 6.66 per cent. Equities had showed better prospects in the second quarter with a benchmark return of 4.59 per cent compared with a negative return of-0.38 per cent in the first quarter. The modest recovery in the second quarter impacted positively on the overall performance of the equity market for the first half, leaving investors with modest average return of 4.19 per cent.

The early-week rally at the stock market was driven largely by banking stocks with Access Bank leading the advancing banking stocks. The NSE Banking Index closed the week with a return of 11.81 per cent. It was followed by the NSE Insurance Index, which posted 7.83 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index recorded average gain of 4.15 per cent. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks 30 most capitalised companies, returned 4.98 per cent while the NSE Oil and Gas struggled with a modest gain of 1.75 per cent.

In all these, Access Bank exceeded all returns by bullish banking stocks as well as the overall market position. With a weekly return of 15.6 per cent, Access Bank pushed its impressive second quarter return of 10 per cent to 27.12 per cent at the weekend, putting it as one of the handful of stocks with positive inflationadjusted returns.

With average inflation rate of 12.8 per cent, Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) of 12 per cent and prime lending rate of 16.98 per cent, most equities have been trading with negative real return, a general scare that has continued to lure several investors into fixed-income securities with prospects of higher yields. In the entire banking sector, there are only five stocks with positive April-till-date inflation ad-

Will Access Bank sustain the lead? justed return. These included Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Union Bank of Nigeria, Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank.

Fundamental driving bullish rally Analysts said Access Bank has strong earnings potential to sustain the trend of generous reward to shareholders, which may put it ahead of its peers. A review of the Access Bank's 2011 financial performance and operational indices shows that profit after tax grew by 51 per cent from N11.068 billion in 2010 to N16.708 billion 2011.

Gross earnings went up by 52.5 per cent to N138.949 billion in 2011 compared with N91.142 billion in 2010. Access Bank returned a total asset and contingency position of N2.02 trillion, up from N804.8billion in 2010, representing an increase of 151.24 per cent. Total deposit increased by 300 per cent from N379billion N1.2trillion just as branch network quadrupled from 103 branches to 310 branches including offshore branches. Analysis of other key indices revealed that the lenders customer base jumped by 500 per cent from 1.2 million customers to 5.7 million customers with its Automated Teller Machines (ATM) network deployment gaining 870 per cent from 165 ATMs to 1600 ATM locations across the country. Access Bank's latest dividend per share of 50 kobo represented a 67 per cent increase on the 30 kobo per share distributed for the 2010 business year. Access Bank had paid interim divi-

dend per share of 20 kobo for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011 and added 30 kobo by the end of the year, ensuring good cash flow for shareholders during the down period of the stock market.

Recent analyses by several research and investment firms including Vetiva Capital Management indicated that Access Bank has strong potential as a tier 1 bank and one of the top four banks in Nigeria. Analysts at Vetiva Capital Management in a recent report illustrated that Access Bank's pricing was driven by its impressive earnings capacity. The analysis, which focused on the 2011 financial scorecards of leading banks revealed that Access Bank earned N11.2 on every N100 interest earning asset booked on its balance sheet, which represented a distant gap from many other banks.

The report showed that beyond the core income source, Access Bank is renowned for its treasury operations, whilst refocusing its commercial banking business to build a sustainable annuity income base, which is expected to impact its profitability. On the performance of the banks and future prospects, analysts submitted that Access Bank's enlarged balance sheet and increased customer base as a resulted of its acquisition of Intercontinental Bank would further strengthen its treasury business. Similarly, in the cross-sectional review of the banking sector and the two rounds of reforms in 2005 and 2009 ,which resulted in consolidation and mergers & acquisitions, Access Bank has demonstrated agility and resilience to shocks. has not only survived the 2009 cyclone, but has waxed stronger.

•MD, Access Bank, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede

These are further strengthened by the fact that the capital buffer of Access Bank should take it through any downturn in the market.

With risk weighted Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 25 per cent, Access Bank can comfortably grow its risk assets by 20 per cent under a base case scenario over the next couple of years, without seasoned equity.

Growth potential Also, Access Bank is rapidly growing its brand outside Nigeria thus lending credence to the postulations that its brand essence would soon become a major brand in the top echelon of Africa's banking institutions over the next decade. It has been posited also that Access Bank might dwarf regional peers to rank in the top-10 percentile of African Banks as it grows its regional footprints by replicating its success story in Ghana across other impact economies on the continent.

Beyond superior financial performance, Access Bank not only has dedicated management team and innovative employees, it has the unique edge in the deployment of a sustainable business approach and an operational model that situates stakeholders at the heart of its business strategy. Access Bank has understood this early and quickly re-articulated its corporate philosophy to signal the future direction of its operations and intent to lead the pack by becoming 'Africa's Most Respected Bank'.

Going forward With the integration of the acquired Intercontinental Bank into Access Bank, many analysts expect The lender to further unlock many growth opportunities from its recent business combination exercise while sustaining its intrinsic aggressive internal growth strategy.

Analysts are optimistic that second quarter earnings report will reflect early gains of the business combination. It's this positive outlook that is driving the market consideration.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9 , 2012

36

DUE DILIGENCE

Lafarge Cement Wapco: Improved performance

L

AFARGE Cement Wapco Nigeria Plc witnessed significant improvement in its performance in the immediate past year with strong growth in sales and better cost management lifting net earnings by 74 per cent. Audited report and accounts of Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2011 showed considerable improvements in profit and loss performance as well as balance sheet of the cement manufacturing company.

Increase of about 43 per cent in sales trickled down to the bottomline, leaving pre and post tax profits with growths of 21 per cent and 74 per cent. These in turn impacted on cash dividends to shareholders, which jumped by 200 per cent to a recent high.

With improved liquidity and better financing position, the company maintained tight control over cost with overall cost of business almost unchanged, in spite of the significant growth in the top-line.

Financing structure The financing position of the cement company improved considerably during the year. With a zero financial leverage in 2011 compared with debt-to-equity ratio of 2.9 per cent in 2010, current liabilities made up 21 per cent of total balance sheet size in 2011 as against 49 per cent in 2010. Long-term liabilities/total assets ratio increased from 59 per cent in 2010 to 63 per cent in 2011. However, the proportion of equity funds to total assets dropped from 41 per cent to 37 per cent.

Total assets rose by 29 per cent to N152.7 billion in 2011 as against N118.5 billion in 2010. Permanent assets grew by 27 per cent from N100.8 billion to N127.94 billion while current assets increased by 40 per cent to N24.72 billion as against N17.67 billion in the previous year. Total liabilities meanwhile, grew by 38 per cent from N70.2 billion to N96.6 billion. Paid up share capital was unchanged at N1.5 billion but shareholders' funds improved by 16 per cent from N48.3 billion to N56.1 billion.

Efficiency Average number of employees

Fiscal Year Ended December 31 Nmillion Profit and Loss Statement Main Business Segment Total turnover Cost of sales Gross profit Operating expenses Interest and other incomes Finance expenses Pre-tax profit(loss) Post-tax profit (loss) Basic earnings per share(kobo) Gross dividend (Nm) Cash dividend per share (kobo) Net Assets per share (kobo) Balance Sheet Assets: Fixed assets Total long term assets Trade debtors Current assets Total assets Liabilities: Trade creditors Bank loans Current liabilities Long-term liabilities Total liabilities Equity Funds Share capital Total Equity Funds

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

•MD, Lafarge Wapco, Joe Hudson

previous year. Non-core business incomes stood at N360 million in increased from 821 persons in 2010 2011, representing 56 per cent into 1,022 persons in 2011. Staff costs crease on N230 million recorded also increased correspondingly in 2010. With an interest expense from N3.57 billion to N5.13 billion, of about N1.8 billion in 2011, profit indicating average cost per head of before tax was pressured by midN5.02 million in 2011 as against line costs but managed a 21 per N4.35 million in 2010. However, cent growth to close 2011 at N10.22 average contribution of each embillion as against N8.46 billion in ployee to the bottom-line slipped 2010. Profit after tax rode on the from N10.31 million in to N10 milback of significant reduction in tax lion. The company maintained a provisions to N8.51 billion in 2011, tight control on cost efficiency duran increase of 74 per cent on N4.88 ing the period. Total costs of busibillion posted in 2010. Basic net ness, excluding finance charges, earnings per share correspondwas almost unchanged at 81.4 per ingly increased from N1.63 to cent in 2011 compared with 81.2 per N2.83. cent in 2010.

However, underlying profitability indices of the company showed Profitability mixed performance. While gross profit margin improved marginLafarge Wapco showed a generally from 30.4 per cent in 2010 to ally positive profitability outlook, 31.4 per cent in 2011, the more-dewith significant growths in key figcisive pre-tax profit margin ures trickling down to 200 per cent slipped from 19.3 per cent to 16.3 increase in cash payouts to shareper cent. Also, while return on eqholders. Group turnover rose from uity, bolstered by the tax gains, N43.84 billion to N62.50 billion. improved from 10.1 per cent to Cost of sales increased by 40.5 per 15.2 per cent, return on total ascent to N42.9 billion as against sets however, fell from 7.1 per N30.5 billion posted in previous cent to 6.7 per cent. year. Gross profit thus grew by 47 Lafarge Wapco increased gross per cent from N13.31 billion to dividend from N750 million to N19.6 billion.

N2.25 billion, indicating dividend However, operating expenses per share of 75 kobo in 2011 as rose by 57 per cent to N7.96 billion against 25 kobo in 2010. With this, in contrast with N5.07 billion in the earningsdividend coverage reduced 2011 2010 from 6.52 times to 3.77 12 months % change 12 months times. Meanwhile, net as62,502 42.6 43,841 sets per share

By Taofik Salako

62,502 42,898 19,604 7,956 360 1,788 10,219 8,509 283 2,251 75 1,867

42.6 40.5 47.3 56.9 56.5 0.0 20.7 74.3 73.6 200.1 200.0 16.0

43,841 30,535 13,306 5,071 230 0 8,464 4,881 163 750 25 1,609

127,904 127,944 689 24,723 152,667

27.0 26.9 20.9 39.9 28.9

100,751 100,811 570 17,667 118,478

5,330 0 32,593 64,025 96,618

152.2 0.0 -43.9 428.3 37.7

2,113 1,411 58,068 12,119 70,187

1,501 56,050

0.0 16.1

1,501 48,291

improved by 16 per cent from N16.09 to N18.67.

Liquidity The liquidity position of the company improved during the period.

Current ratio, which measures the ability of the company to meet emerging financing obligations by relating available assets to relevant liabilities, improved from 0.30 times to 0.76 times. Although still negative, the proportion of working capital to total sales improved from -92 per cent to -13 per cent.

Debtors/creditors ratio however, dropped from 27 per cent in 2010 to 13 per cent in 2011.

Governance and structures Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria Plc is a subsidiary of the Lafarge Group, which altogether holds 60 per cent equity stake through three of its subsidiaries. Lafarge Group is a global leader in building materials with operations in 78 countries.

Lafarge's operations in Africa run through 20 countries. Besides, Lafarge Wapco, Lafarge's operations in Nigeria also included majority shareholding Ashaka Cement and significant stakes in Atlas Cement, Port Harcourt and Unicem, Calabar.

This spread presents cross-selling and economy of scale advantages that provide Lafarge Wapco with access to competitive advantages in the market.

Chief Olusegun Osunkeye still chairs the board of directors. However, Mr. Samy Abdelkader, erst-

Fiscal Year Ended December 31

while managing director of the company, was assigned to new roles within the Lafarge Group and was replaced by Mr. Joe Hudson, who was formerly the regional vice president, human resources and organisation. Lafarge Wapco broadly complied with code of corporate governance with relevant board committees and structures to oversee the strategic direction of the company. In addition, Lafarge Group operates its internal best practice guidelines that serve as benchmarks for globally acceptable practices.

Analyst's opinion The performance of Lafarge Wapco reassured on the prospects of the cement manufacturing company. With the commencement of operation of the new 2.2 million metric tonnes new cement plant, which has raised the company's total capacity to 4.4 million metric tonnes per annum, Lafarge Wapco is expected to further consolidate its performance in the years ahead. Investments in power generation and utilisation- a major cost element in cement production, are also expected to provide stable platform for the realisation of the growth potential.

The outlook for the Nigerian cement industry remains bright with growing demand providing ready market opportunity for increased capacities by cement manufacturers.

With these, there is reasonable basis to assume that Lafarge Wapco will sustain its upwardly performance in the years ahead.

2011 %

2010 %

Financing structure Equity funds/Total assets Long-term liabilities/Total assets Current liabilities/Total assets Debt/Equity ratio

36.7 63.3 21.3 0.0

40.8 59.2 49.0 2.9

Profitability Gross profit margin Pre-tax profit margin Return on total assets Return on equity Dividend cover (times)

31.4 16.3 6.7 15.2 3.77

30.4 19.3 7.1 10.1 6.52

Efficiency Pre-tax profit per employee (Nm) Staff cost per employee (Nm) Cost of sales, operating exp/Turnover

10.00 5.02 81.4

10.31 4.35 81.2

Liquidity Current ratio Working capital/Turnover Debtors/Creditors

0.76 -12.6 12.9

0.30 -92.2 27.0

JOBS THE NATION

Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.com

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

37

• Former Director-General, International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Peter Hartmann, addressing researchers during a workshop in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Great research, good pay Before a product comes into being, it must have been researched into. There is virtually nothing we do without a prior research. To survive, businesses require the services of researchers. And researchers know too well that they can only survive if they do quality work. It is such good jobs that bring in good pay, AKINOLA AJIBADE writes.

C

OMPANIES worth their salt invest in research and development. The reason for their action is obvious.

It is to enable them bring quality products to the market. Research cuts across every facet of life and business.

Of recent, researchers have been in hot demand, thanks to their ability to turn hypothesis into facts for the development

of mankind. They have the knowledge to explore and investigate areas that are beyond the ken of many.

Findings have shown that companies are looking for people who can conduct quality, accurate and topical research for them.

The goal is to lay a solid foundation for their businesses, and further achieve success. These companies include those in oil

and gas, telecoms, maritime and banking, among others. Also included are the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) and the likes.

These institutions hire researchers who specialise in certain fields, mostly on parttime basis.

The former Head of Research, National

Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Dr Ronke Ogunmakin, said research is a lucrative field for people in academics.

Ogunmakin said research offers opportunities for people to get extra–income once they can prove their worth. According to her, research is all about data gath• Continued on page 38

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

38

JOBS

Great research, good pay • Continued from page 37

ering and analysing. Oil and gas and telecom firms use data for growth. Such companies employ researchers to collect data for them.

She said: “Data collection is important in any research. It is a development that make companies to employ researchers on contract for such responsibilities. Companies need extensive research in the area of customer services, and quality of their products. Only researchers can do these for them.”

She said oil and gas firms conduct research on environmental degradation, and onshore/offshore projects. Such firms, she said, need data on causes and effects of oil spillage, nature/components of oil wells, and force of gravity of the land. She said they need researchers to provide them details on these issues.

Ogunmakin, now the Director of Communications, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), said researchers have limitless opportunities to choose from. She said researchers are needed to investigate issues on standards of production, consumers’ responses to companies’ policies, consumers’ relationship, environmental or community relationship, human resources, equipment, transportation and hazards, among others.

“All human and material variables are subject to data gathering, which can be empirically or historically presented by researchers. Research is broad, and offers a means of earning a livelihood for people,” she said.

To her, an ideal researcher must be sound, logical, versatile, have good presentations, and be on top of his field before he can get juicy jobs.

Managing Director, Degeconek Nigeria Limited Mr Abiodun

Adesanya, said oil and gas business is technology-driven, and needs research from time to time.

Degeconek is a hydrocarbon assets management consultancy firm.

Adesanya said the sector is incomplete without research, adding that this has made operators to recruit researchers to work for them on agreed terms. He said oil and gas business have different phases and each depends on research for success.

“Oil exploration is in different categories. At a time, we had onshore or land exploration. Thereafter, we had shallow offshore and now deep offshore. An extensive research must take place in each category before oil and gas business can succeed. That is why researchers would be needed to carry out a reasonable level of investigations for the operators,” he said.

He noted that there are lots of opportunities for researchers to tap from in oil and gas. He said advancement in technology has resulted in various discoveries in oil and gas, adding that the development has opened up job opportunities for various categories of workers.

“As the world is advancing technologically, opportunities are coming up in the area of oil and gas for people that are ready to tap into them. The researchers are well needed in this regard,” Adesanya said.

He disclosed that there are many activities in the oil and gas sector that are tied to technology and research takes place in each of these activities to engender growth of the sector.

Adesanya observed that finding oil is becoming difficult, stressing that researchers are needed to conduct a study that would lead to dis-

• Dr Alawode

• Prof Oyeweso

covery of new oil sites.

“The more difficult the chances of locating oil, the more technological devices that are needed and the researchers who can work on contract basis for operators in that sector,” he said.

Prof Siyan Oyeweso of the Department of History of the Osun State University (UNIOSU) said a researcher can make money from his works for growth. He said money can come along the line for those who know their onions.

He said a scholar can engage in consultancy jobs that would be of social and environmental benefits to the society. He said local and international organisations welcome researchers whose proposals are good.

The former Dean, Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University (LASU) said institutions such as Ford Foun-

dation and Exxon Mobil, among others, pay for flights, provide accommodation, and bills/grants for people that conduct research for them on certain topical issues.

“The beauty of the research is not for commercial purpose. Research is meant to benefit the society. It is meant to solve societal problems. The essence of research is to banish ignorance, make the world more conducive for living, make people understand the society better, and create room for development. A good researcher must have organic relationship with its society, and must do things that would be of direct benefits to the society. Money will come along the line, but money is not the primary goal of conducting research,” he added.

A lecturer with the Lagos State University School of Communi-

cation Studies (LASUOCS), Dr Yinka Alawode, said research is not conducted haphazardly because it has its own rules. Researchers must look for researchable topics, set objectives, get their hypothesis and data collection instruments, among other variables, that would produce good findings, he said.

According to him, research cuts across every stratum of human endeavour, arguing that research topics vary from one organisation to another. He said a good researcher is known by the quality of his works, adding that people want to identify with good works.

He said research is a broad field, stressing that ability to make money depends on how versatile a researcher is. He said a good researcher would not find it difficult to get clients.

CAREER MANAGEMENT

Y

OU probably have attended some interviews with-out an offer of employment coming out of your efforts and emotional investment in the position. In the past you may have experienced this frustrating and sinking feeling that you did not do well in this or that interview.

You may also have noticed the uncertainty in the faces of your interviewers, their failure to warm - up to you as the interview progresses and their eagerness to shove you out of the interview room, barely disguised by patronising courtesies.

You then ask yourself, what went wrong?

Many things could be wrong for failure of candidates to convert interviews to job offer. This week, we will consider one of the issues you may have pondered about: What do this people want?

All organisations, whether for profit or otherwise, is about combining men, money and materials to achieve the organisational goals and objectives. This assertion holds for commercial companies, non-profit organisations and civil service.

The key to optimisation of performance is the human capital. A wrong decision of a high level member of management can cost the organisation a lot of money. At the lower level, an unproductive employee is some investment – in terms of cost of recruitment as well as in terms of salary and emoluments.

So a recruitment error (an individual recruited but found to be unsuitable) at the end of the day is a drain, and usually a drag on the system.

The foregoing explains why employer goes to great lengths to ensure that they offer employment to a square peg in a square hole.

They are usually very clear on specification of potential employees they want. (It is not unusual for them not to get exactly what they

What employers are looking for?

By Olu Oyeniran

want.)

Today, we will dwell on the kind of employees employers desire and prefer. But before we go on, need to point these out: (i) what we will discuss is more or less general, the attributes desired by most (if not all) employers. But the priority and point of emphasis differ from industry to industry, from company to company, and from position to position.

Also work circumstances and context has their own influence on the desired qualities: is it a new position? Have there been changes in technology and skills needed for the job? (ii) It is obvious that the requirements for executive positions will differ significantly from that of entry/low-level positions. We will elaborate on additional/specific requirement for senior positions. (iii) What we will say today may not apply to very junior positions: labourers artisans, factory workers and shop floor employees.

The following qualities are desired by most employees

Basic competence A candidate must indicate he knows how to do the job for which he is to be employed.

A driver must show competence for his primary duty (get a vehicle moving, maneuvering in the traffic, finding his way to different locations, etc) even if he can do other things as well-ironing, operating lawn –

mower, baking bread etc.

You must show at least a theoretical level of competence, if you don’t have the experience. A candidate applying for an engineering job is expected to show competence in engineering basics, at least. A sense of competence gives you confidence and given the employ the basis for comparison and performance appraisal. Nothing should be taken to mean an engineer cannot be engaged in anything aside engineering or that a biologist should look for work only in establishments that concern itself with biology.

Communication skills Employers desire employees with good communication skills. Success in most jobs requires writing, verbal and non-verbal communications abilities. Can you easily understand instructions, and pass on instructions to others. Will you be able to communication with your supervisor as well as your subordinates? How good are your writing skills?

It must be realised that though communicating well has some element of talent, it can indeed be learnsist.

Inter-personal skills A one- man island organisation is probably not in existent, especially when organisation must at least relate to others outside. Interpersonal skills are required to establish, build and maintain relationships that last. You are expected to do this within your unit, across departments and with your customers and suppliers. This skill is becom-

ing more important as organisations realise that more than ever before that every employer must have the skills to interact with the customer.

Adaptability Change happens daily, and is often resisted, even though it is better than what we have now. Change management is an important skill in this age of information and rapid technological changes. Will you be able to adapt to changes that may be required and vastly different from you previous experience? For example if a technical position requires some salesmanship, the question then is whether the candidate realises the full implication of and accept dealing with customers.

Willingness to learn Rapid changes in technology and an extensive availability of information make obsolescence commonplace occurrences. Skills, process, equipments, knowledge become outdated soon after they are acquired. Thus successful organisation requires employee are ready, willing and able to learn in this environment of constant change and organised chaos. Do you realise that learning on-going and never ending? Is the candidate organised and predisposed to learning?

Olu Oyeniran is the Lead Consultant, EkiniConsult & Associates.

Website: www.jobsearchhow.com E-mail: oluoyeniran@yahoo.com Tel 08083843230 (SMS Only).

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

39

INSURANCE

NAICOM pushes bill for growth M

EMBERS of the National Assembly have indicated their willingness to support the growth of insurance, the Commissioner for Insurance Fola Daniel, has said.

Daniel, who spoke on the Insurance Bill, told The Nation that the relevant committee of the National Assembly was ready to assist the industry.

He said the bill would sail through the parliamentarians scrutiny, adding that stakeholders are interested in transforming the industry to improve performance.

He said: “I can say that the insurance environment is lucky. The relevant committee of the National

Stories by Chuks Udo Okonta

Assembly that has oversight function on insurance is eager to do any thing to support insurance growth and development. And if one of the tools to ensure rapid development is the review of the law, they have assured us that they would do what is needful to ensure that there is no unnecessary delay and I believe them. That is why I said we are lucky. The executive is eager to ensure that insurance occupies its rightful place. The legislators are very willing and waiting to support the growth of insurance in our environment.”

Fola noted that the proposed in-

surance law was designed to meet the transformation agenda of the government, adding that bill has been done in a way to support the government’s quest to create jobs and reduce poverty.

“In the last three to four years, the industry adopted a development strategy, instead of a regulatory one. We believe that unless the industry is developed, there is vibrancy; the regulator over time will become idle as there will be nothing to control or regulate. So, we have focused more on developing the industry and that was why we introduced the MDRI programme.

“The focus has been on develop-

ment and that is where we are going. The law that is in the offing will support our development efforts. It will also create jobs. One of the cardinal policies of the administration is to create jobs, thereby reducing unemployment and restiveness in the society.

Graduates that are not employed may be available for mischief. We believe that any new law that does not support President Goodluck Jonathan’s quest to create employment and reduce poverty is not a good.

“The proposed bill has been done in a way to support the government quest to reduce poverty in the economy.”

•Daniel

IBTC boss seeks tax exemption for pension firms

G

OVERNMENT should grant tax exemptions to encourage employers to embrace the pension scheme, the Chief Executive Officer, IBTC Pension Managers Dr Demola Sogunle has said.

Sogunle, who spoke at a briefing in Lagos, said one way the government can assist to ensure the success of the scheme is to enforce the Pen-

sion Reform Act 2004.

He noted that the government needs to sanction defaulting employers, adding the scheme has encouraged a saving culture among Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).

He said: “Pension funds are capable of inducing financial market development through their substituting and complementary roles

with other financial institutions, especially commercial and investment banks.

“Worldwide, pension funds are noted for competing as intermediaries for household saving and corporate financings, which foster competition and may improve the efficiency of the loans and primary securities markets, resulting in a lower spread between lending rates and

deposit rates, and lower costs to access capital markets. PFAs also complement banks by purchasing long-term debt securities and investing in long-term bank deposit.”

He noted that a challenge to the success of the scheme in the private sector is that many employees are yet to register with a PFA, while some employers fail to remit or are defaulting in remitting the contri-

butions of their employees.

“Defaulting poses a major challenge to the success of the contributions pension scheme, since it influences the adequacy of the benefit payments to participants. A lot of enlightenment is required to ensure that employers and employees understand the benefits of keying into the contributory pension scheme, especially as it is mandatory by law,” he said.

NIA boss, others decry poor insurance penetration

C

•From left: Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrator Ltd, Yemisi Ayeni, Chairman, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PENOP), Dave Uduanu; Managing Partner, Brandzone Consulting LLC, Chizor Malize, at a briefing by PENOP in Lagos.

Guidelines on Takaful out this month

T

HE guidelines on the implementation of Takaful insurance will be out this ,the Commissioner for insurance, Fola Daniel, has said.

Daniel, who spoke at the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Annual Education Conference in Abuja, said the government and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) are committed to galvanising the market to enhance productivity and contribute to the nation’s development.

He said a licence has been issued to a company to underwrite agricultural business in the country, adding that there are opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Takaful originated in the ancient Arab tribes as a pooled liability that obliged those who committed offences against members of a differ-

ent tribe to pay compensation to the victims or their heirs. This principle later extended to many walks of life, including sea trade, in which participants contributed to a fund to cover anyone in a group who suffered mishaps on sea voyages.

Takaful is commonly referred to as Islamic insurance; this is due to the apparent similarity between the contract of kafalah (guarantee) and that of insurance.

However, takaful is founded on the co-operative principle and on the principle of separation between the funds and operations of shareholders, thereby passing the ownership of the Takaful (Insurance) fund and operations to the policyholders. Muslim jurists conclude that insurance in Islam should be based on principles of mutuality and co-operation, encompassing the elements of shared respon-

sibility, joint indemnity, common interest and solidarity.

In takaful, the policyholders are joint investors with the insurance vendor (the takaful operator), who acts as a mudarib – a manager or an entrepreneurial agent for the policyholders. The policyholders share in the investment pool’s profits as well as its losses. A positive return on policies is not legally guaranteed, as any fixed profit guarantee would be akin to receiving interest and offend the prohibition against riba.

For some time, conventional insurance was considered incompatible with the Shari’ah that prohibits excessive uncertainty in dealings and investment in interest-bearing assets; both are inherent factors in conventional insurance business.

Salesman stole $2m, faked own death

A

N Enumclaw life insurance salesman in the United States is facing federal fraud charges following allegations that he stole at least $2 million from his clients while attempting to also fool an insurance agency.

Currently jailed, Aaron Travis Beaird is alleged to have attempted to fake his own death after he was confronted about the year-long

fraud. A suicide note left at Deception Pass apparently didn’t dissuade federal investigators, who arrested Beaird on Tuesday.

Beaird, formerly of Team Financial Partners in Enumclaw, is accused of stealing millions from his clients.

Federal prosecutors in Seattle also claim Beaird, a financial advisor and insurance salesman, fraudulently reported that one of his clients had died

in an attempt to collect on a $2 million policy.

In charges unsealed earlier this week, prosecutors claim Beaird lied about key features of the plans provided by American United Life Insurance Company, then skimmed from his clients’ premium payments while providing falsified documents aimed at hiding the fraud.

HAIRMAN Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Remi Olowude has described poor insurance penetration as a challenge in the industry.

Olowude, who spoke in Lagos, said the problem has to be tackled to make the industry thrive. He called on operators to work hard to ensure that they maximise the enormous insurance potential in the country.

He said: “All around us, we see challenges and opportunities that abound in our industry and the nation economy. These include restrictive laws on insurance practice, multiple taxation, inefficient power supply, Nigeria Content Policy on oil and gas.

“Others are ensuring the workability of the market agreement, ensuring greater insurance awareness and penetration and migration to international financial reporting standard.”

He promised to improve the quality of insurance education and practice, build better platforms of communication between the association and member companies, work with his predecessors, improve relationship between the association and regulators, collaborate with other trade industry to deepen insurance penetration and promote ethical standard among members.

President/Chairman of Council Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Dr Wole Adetimehin said the institute is pushing for the approval of insurance curriculum in

schools and ensure that capable hands teach the course.

He urged operators to embrace vernacular marketing in their operations, adding that it presents an opportunity in breaking barriers in a multi-lingual country.

He urged insurers to embrace social media, adding that there are many benefits in it.

Adetimehin urged the operators to help mitigate the enormous risks in the nation through development of products and awareness campaigns.

He said: “Our country like many other countries is faced with some challenges. Climate change and the increasingly volatile environment are manifesting in our country with alltime-high rains and floods.

“We are also appalled by the spate of terrorism with dimensions not familiar in our country. In addition, the citizens are under pressure as a result of widening deficits in infrastructural facilities, such as roads, electricity supply and basic health requirements.

“These developments engender causes for concern to our industry. The threats to lives and property in a country where insurance awareness is less than optimal, remains a serious cause for worry.”

He noted that the institute has started a campaign geared at entrenching insurance as part of the national consciousness. He noted that there is need for insurance practitioners to ensure the continued sustenance of the profession.

Insurers eye untapped annuity market

T

HE annuity market remains a virgin which operators are making frantic efforts to penetrate, the Managing Director CrystaLife Assurance Plc Mrs Oluseyi Ifaturoti has said.

She told The Nation that operators have been looking for opportunities to meet with prospective clients in that area and that the subsector, which provides succour for retirees, has been a haven since the emergence of the new pension scheme.

She noted that most operators have been building their capacity to enable them maximise the potential in the market.

According to National Pension Commission (PenCom), the activities in the market have picked up, adding that it has received a

total of 74 requests for annuity retirement plan, adding that they have been approved.

“It should be noted that the annuity market is relatively new in Nigeria as the regulation on annuities was completed and released by PenCom in collaboration with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in December 2009, after the consolidation in the insurance industry. This accounted for the late commencement of purchase of annuity by retirees as another method of collecting regular periodic payments of pensions,” PenCom said.

The commission noted that it is working with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), adding that 26 life insurance companies have been endorsed to carry out annuity business in Nigeria.

40

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

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THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

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MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur emerged the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on March 24, overcoming spirited moves to stop the President’s anointed candidate from taking charge of the party.

At issue was the realisation that the new executive would handle activities leading to the 2015 general elections. In this report, Assistant Editor AUGUSTINE AVWODE x-rays Tukur first 100 days in office.

Tukur: 100 days of controversy H

IS emergence owed more to the insistence of President Goodluck Jonathan than being the popular choice of party members. This was eloquently demonstrated by what transpired barely three days to the convention. Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, former governor of old Gongola State and a successful businessman, was roundly rejected at the party’s North East zonal congress in Bauchi. Dr. Musa Babayo emerged the preferred choice of leaders of the zone, including governors and senators.

Babayo secured 14 votes to defeat Tukur, who got two. Symbolic as that decision was, as it did not follow stipulations by the PDP constitution, it told a story. A source described the defeat as “crushing and humiliating”. It jolted both Tukur and Jonathan.

It was a blistering revolt expressed in dramatic fashion by the PDP delegates of the North East, the geo-political zone that had been given the nod to produce the chairman.

In all, 11 candidates emerged from the zone to contest for the position once it was ceded to it by the party.

But Tukur, as the “anointed candidate” by the presidency, overcame all the intrigues to stop him and perhaps the much bigger 2015 project. In the last 48 hours to the convention, series of meetings were held. The most critical being a meeting the President allegedly held with governors from the zone.

It wore on into the wee hours of the convention day.

At the convention ground Alhaji Shettima Mustapha announced the withdrawal of all the other 10 aspirants contesting the party’s chairmanship position, leaving only Tukur in the race. And with the coast clear, it took only a voice vote by the delegates in the Eagles Square to affirm the choice of the presidency for the top job.

Novel, controversial moves Tukur has taken some steps in the last 100 days that are clearly as novel as they are controversial. On assumption of office as chairman, he moved to appoint aides and in the process created some offices attached to the chairman of the party that were hitherto unknown to the party. He named the former pioneer National Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP) Alhaji Habu Fari, as his Chief of Staff while the former Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro was appointed the Special Adviser on Security Matters.

He also appointed Senator Saidu Umar as Special Adviser on Independent National Electoral Commission and Electoral Matters,

while Abduallhi Gumel was named Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters.

But Fari, had his title changed from Chief of Staff to the National Chairman to Principal Secretary when the National Working Committee (NWC) members protested that such an office was unknown to the party’s constitution.

Next was the selection of some chieftains of the party into what Tukur called an advisory committee. The committee, he claimed, would assist him in running the party.

When he inaugurated the committee on Wednesday, May 30, it was obvious that the chairman never had the support of members of the NWC. They stayed away on the ground that it was an illegal body, unknown to the constitution of the party.

A chieftain of the party said on condition on anonymity that: “I am sure they decided to boycott the inauguration then because, if you look at it very well, that committee is not known to our constitution and so they probably felt it was not a good idea to be part of an illegality. They also were not sure if it would last or not and they did not want to be mentioned as those who encouraged this kind of thing in a situation of review at a much higher level. You know there are lots of interests, especially, as it has been rumoured that it was to ensure that the chairman and those who backed him are able to achieve their aim regarding 2015. “ I don’t blame them. And I think they are right. You see the issue of Chief of Staff now. You see that it caused a lot of problems before the man was relieved of his duty. So I think there are still many things that will come into the open, lets wait,” he told The Nation over the weekend.

The committee has as its chairman a former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, while its members include former deputy national chairman of the party Chief Bode George; Second Republic Senate President Dr Joseph Wayas; a former Minister of Justice Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN); a former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu; and Alhaji Dauda Birma.

Two members of the NWC were listed on the committee. They are Deputy National Chairman Sam Jaja and National Secretary Olagunsoye Oyinlola. They also boycotted the inauguration too.

Only two other members of the NWC were at the event. They were the National Treasurer, Mr. Bala Kaoje and the National Woman Leader, Mrs. Kema Chikwe. The National Youth Leader, Mr. Garba Chiza, strolled in when the event was almost ending.

But justifying the setting up of the Advisory Committee, Tukur said

• Tukur

during the inauguration that he decided to set it up in order for it to assist him reposition the party.

He said at a time like this, it is important for all to be involved in finding solutions to the country’s problems.

“At a time like this, when the country is facing a number of challenges, particularly the security situation in the country, all hands are required to be on deck. The party must tap from the fountains of knowledge of its leaders to assist our governments at various levels in finding lasting solutions to our national problems.

“This is why I decided to ask all of you to assist me in not only repositioning our party, but also in proffering solutions to the enormous challenges facing our nation.”

In his response, Ekwueme noted that it was true that the committee was not backed by the party’s constitution. He however said the committee would work with the chairman to move the party forward.

“The committee is not captured in the party’s constitution and it is not in any organ of the party, but we will work with the chairman to suggest ways forward for the party,” he said.

In the party’s constitution, Article 12 lists the organs of the party. They are the National Caucus, Board of Trustees, National Executive Committee, National Convention and the NWC. Theday-to-day running of the party is vested on the NWC, which also has the power to act on behalf of the party’s National Executive Committee, subject to the ratification of the NEC.

A divided house Early in June, it became obvious that all was not well with the party hierarchy. An unimpressed national secretary fired a letter to Tukur declaring the activities and actions of his aides illegal.

That was not all, the NWC actually rejected a memoranda from Tukur on plans to reform the party. It was learnt that it was

the first time in the history of the party that a memo from a national chairman would be rejected by members of the NWC. In the said memo, Tukur, had proposed that some directors be moved to other departments of the party as part of his reform measures. Some of the directors have spent over eight years in office and were perceived as corrupt and part of the problems affecting the party.

That was not all. Another memo from the national chairman to establish more committees that would ensure smooth and effective working of the party was also rejected. It was gathered that the NWC members are not happy over the setting up of the 50-man advisory committee without recourse to them.

Another indication of a divided house was an earlier letter by the national secretary to all states chairmen of the party directing them not to have any correspondence with the office of the national chairman, or to the chairman directly and insisted that all correspondence should be directed to his office.

On June 8, Oyinlola wrote a letter to then Principal Secretary to Tukur, Fari titled ‘Illegal Acts Prejudicial to the Interest of the Peoples Democratic Party’ with reference number PDP NS 03/12 in which he accused him of engaging in acts and actions that are prejudicial to the interest of the party as well as usurping the powers of the national secretary of the party.

He specifically accused Fari of having no regard for the laws and constitution of the party.

He warned that the party was heading for a major crisis if the activities of Tukur’s aides were not curtailed.

“I am constrained to once again react to your continued disregard for the laws and constitutions guiding activities of our great party which you claim to be serving at the national headquarters of the PDP.” Tukur, however, explained that his aides could act on his behalf

with or without the knowledge of the NWC members, including Oyinlola.

The face-off between the two party administrators worsened with Fari challenging Oyinlola’s authority to query him and his actions. In a letter dated June 8, 2012, Fari insisted that he has the authority, mandate and directives of the party chairman in all he had done in the course of his duties.

“In order to educate you substantially, the constitution comes first above the Establishment Manual and any regulations governing the party.

“The Establishment Manual, which we produced in the year 2000, before you joined the party, was with the singular intention to run the national secretariat smoothly”.

But the crisis consumed Fari as he was sacked by Tukur few days later.

Just as the news of the internal crisis at the top echelon of the party was dying down, came the story of the party’s plan to go commercial.

It was part of the recommendations presented to the NWC by the National Financial Secretary, Elder Bolaji Anani. He listed nine major ways through which the party could raise funds. It is another novel move by the Bamanga Tukur led national executive but not without controversy too.

The latest news in town just now is the proposed jumbo pay for the PDP chairman and members of the NWC. Though not yet approved by the NEC of the party, it has already generated outcry as the chairman is set to earn more than President Goodluck Jonathan.

The chieftain who spoke to The Nation earlier, said it would be a bad precedent.

“Well, our party is big, it is large and has money, but if the chairman of the party earns that amount of money in a country where the average Nigerian feeds on less than N150 a day wont be good. I know that the NEC of our party will not approve it. We should consider the people we represent and lead by example not by precepts. Anyway I am waiting for it to become a reality.

“His predecessors did not do this, why does he want to earn more than the president, I don’t know, may be the party is richer than the country”, he submitted.

Nevertheless, Tukur has been praised by others including former vice president Abubakar Atiku . In a statement issued by his media office in Abuja, the former Vice President noted that Alhaji Tukur has cut the image of a unifier, peacemaker and bridgebuilder at a critical point the party requires his strong leadership.

According to Atiku, the PDP Chairman has kept faith with the reconciliation policy, aimed at rebuilding the party, which was once torn apart by division and acrimony.

“The passion and sincerity with which Alhaji Bamanga Tukur is trying to introduce a system in the way the party is run is a reflection of his determination to put his wealth of experience at the disposal of the party,” Atiku said.

Also, Prince Tonye Princewill told The Nation yesterday that the emergence of Tukur must have been a deliberate ploy to instill sanity into the party.

“His election to the office is a •Continued on page 44

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POLITICS

Bwacha: Keeping faith with constituents From Fanen Ihyongo, Jalingo

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N order to keep in touch with the grassroots people, the Senator representing Taraba South district, Emmanuel Bwacha, has made it a point of duty paying routine visits to the five local government areas that make up his constituency - Taraba South. They are Ibi, Wukari, Donga, Takum and Ussa Local Government Areas, plus a special development area called Yangtu.

Bwacha, a lawyer, hails from Donga. He is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

Besides regular visits, Bwacha keeps the people abreast through Town Hall meetings, which he organises quarterly.

At the Town Hall meetings, which bring together the entire constituents, the senator gives account of his contributions in the upper chamber. He also briefs the gathering on the general performance of the National Assembly and the federal government’s efforts in developing the country.

Last weekend was one of such Town Hall meetings. And after several hours the interactive session, the constituents were able to assess their representative’s performance. They listened and asked questions and as well proffered suggestions on how to redefine their political destiny in Taraba south and move the volatile region forward.

Bwacha was accompanied by many of his political associates, including his counterpart, Senator Bindowo Jibrilla, who is representing Adamawa North in the senate.

At the well-attended forum, Bwacha told the people he desires to establish a regime of accountability. “Even though one year is so short a period to be able to assess the productiveness of the seventh Assembly, I desire to lay a foundation of accountability to you by keeping you informed of our successes and challenges at the National Assembly”.

He said the National Assembly, in its first year alone, was able to pass six bills into law while 144 bills were pending. Among the bills passed, he said, include: the 2012 Appropriation Bill, Federal University Wukari Bill 2012, Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Bill 2012 …etc.

He revealed that he leveraged on the cordial machinery of alliance in the National Assembly –utilising the platform of senators from Nasarawa, Plateau and Taraba, to write FERMA to consider rehabilitation of the Yelwa-Ibi Road. “The road, when rehabilitated, would boost trade between the three states through improved transportation of goods and services”, he said.

According to him, the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, which he chairs has been working assiduously to ensure that the budget of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and its affiliated agencies was increased and approved. The committee in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, has embarked on a campaign to encourage farmers access loans.

Bwacha on his own has sponsored significant bills that are at different levels of consideration -to be passed into law. One of them is the Bill for the Establishment of an Institute of Soil Science. He also harmonized the Bill for the Establishment of National Grazing Reserve Commission 2012, sponsored by Senator Kure.

Besides his primary assignment of legislation, Bwacha has taken his time and resources to attend to the social needs of the people of Southern Taraba. In a land stiken by poverty, Bwacha has been applauded by his people for his benevolence. He has provided the conduit through which many under-privileged rural folks have bettered their living conditions.

For instance, Bwacha has supported the families of nine party officials from the zone (Bete ward) who perished in a road accident on their way to attend a political function in Jalingo – the state capital. Each family got N1million.

That is not all. Bwacha has established a yearly N5million scholarship scheme to help Taraba students who come from poor homes. The scheme was established in 2003 when he became a member of the House of Representatives. At least 250 undergraduates benefitted from the scholarship this year.

In his contributions, Senator Bindowo Jibrilla urged the people of Taraba South to give Bwacha their maximum support. “He (Bwacha) is hard working, and he means well for you”, Jibrilla said.

The Speaker, Taraba State House of Assembly, Istifanus Haruna Gbana who is representing Donga constituency in the State Assembly –also from Southern Taraba said Bwacha has –so far, performed without blemish.

Gbana said: “I have been the Speaker of the state for nine years now, so I know when a legislator is performing. Senator Bwacha is our only representative in the senate and he is doing very well”.

Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Emmanuel Bello – who also hails from Taraba South senatorial district, described Bwacha as an achiever. He noted that Bwacha was the first Senator in the zone to hold constituency briefs for the grassroots folks. “Before now, we had more of dramatists in the senate than legislators”, Bello said.

Party officials attested the fact that Bwacha’s predecessors did not help anyone in the constituency, but Bwacha has broken the trend and has been useful to the entire state.

• Sen. Bwacha

The Delta State House of Assembly recently passed the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission Bill that gave the green light to political parties to begin electioneering activities. This has generated heated debate ahead of the local council polls Correspondent OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE points out that the opposition is wary of the ability of DSIEC to deliver credible elections.

Will Delta hold credible council polls?

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LTHOUGH dates for the long awaited local council polls in Delta State are yet to be made public, political parties are already jostling for vantage positions.

Their actions are predicated on the recently passed Delta State Independent Election Commission (DSEIC) bill passed by the State’s House of Assembly now awaiting assent by Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.

The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), wary of the political gains recently made by the opposition Democratic People’s Party (DPP) into its strongholds, has commenced a sensitization and advocacy tour of the state, especially the Delta Central Senatorial District perceived to be an opposition stronghold.

Incidentally, the ruling party suffered an embarrassing defeat to the DPP in the area. So, it is not a coincidence that the party, through the Political Adviser to the Governor, Chief Fred Majemite, toured the Delta Central Senatorial District.

During the tour, Majemite made it clear that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan was determined to leave a legacy of credible local council election.

Is the PDP still the dominant force it once was in the State? Has the party done enough to induce massive support from the populace at the polls? Have the various interest groups been accommodated within the ruling party?

Without doubt, the PDP remains the dominant party in the state, but it is also losing ground as results at the last gubernatorial election suggests that the main opposition party has gained stature and confidence by making inroads into what had earlier been considered PDP strongholds.

Many in the camp of the opposition were former PDP members who decamped and there is apprehension that the party may lose more members except the internal dissension in the party stops.

Delta Commissioner of Information, Chike Ogeah accedes to this sentiment but stressed the party is mobilizing members to embrace reconciliation.

His words, “It is true what you have just said, but look very closely at the opposition, the opposition party members are PDP members. It is the break-up and internal wrangling that caused some of these problems. Do not forget Senator Pius Ehwerido representing Delta Central Senatorial District was a PDP House of Assembly Speaker. PDP as I speak to

• Uduaghan

you now is putting its house in order. During the recent birthday party of the State Chairman every PDP shade of opinion was present showing that reconciliation has truly begun in the party. There is a major movement within the party to remobilize party faithful and go back to the ideals of the founding fathers of the party Despite the best efforts of PDP at reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Committee headed by Dr Cairo Ojuogboh did not make any headway, leaving many to still believe that the party still has a lot of work to do convincing aggrieved members.

But can the opposition profit from cracks within the PDP? Democratic People’s Party Chairman, Chief Tony Ezeagu, is talking tough and believes the PDP are in for a hiding.

He says his party is ready for the elections as advocacy visits have commenced throughout the State in readiness for a clean sweep of the polls.

His words, “We have been holding meetings with stakeholders, today we are having meetings with councillorship aspirants, and the previous day we had meetings with chairmanship aspirants. Also we had meeting with stakeholders in Delta Central including Ethiope West, Ethiope East, Okpe and Sapele. We will continue with Ughelli South, Ughelli North, Uwvie and Burutu .So at the end of the day we just ready for elections.

We are no longer getting ready .Even if they cal for the election tomorrow, we will trounce the PDP”.

But Chief Ezeagu is apprehensive that the ruling PDP will not deliver free, fair and credible polls, warning that the DPP will not accept rig-

ging in the forthcoming polls.

He said, “You see we are only going to call on the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of State Security Service to assist us.

Because what are saying is that we are not going to accept result writing .It is being rumoured everywhere now .Don’t bother yourself PDP is going to write results. So for there to be peace in this State, there must be elections As far as we are concerned there are areas that are our den. We hope that nobody will dare to write results anywhere in Delta State not to talk of our strongholds because we will not accept it”.

But in a swift reaction Mr. Chike Ogeah debunked such insinuation stressing that the days of rigging are long gone.

He said the Nigerian electorate was sophisticated and politically aware; adding that the good works of the Uduaghan administration will win the elections for the PDP. His words, “ If we were going to writing results how come we did not write result during the Delta Central Senatorial District after all Senator Ehwerido contested that seat with a PDP stalwart who was much more politically known and has impacted on the lives of his people.

Nobody is going to write results .Those days are long gone .The electoral are much more aware and sophisticated.Gov Uduaghan is determined to conduct credible elections and I can assure you that PDP will win a fair election”.

The Forum for Justice and Human Rights Defence (FJHD), Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, warned that the bill on DSIEC as passed by the Delta State House of Assembly cannot guarantee free and fair elections, stressing that the electoral body should be scrapped, as the body is an “appendage of the executive arm of government”.

His words, “DSIEC as presently constituted cannot guarantee free and fair elections. We have been agitating for the scrapping of DSIEC. From inception of DSIEC, the PDP have won all local council polls overwhelmingly in the State .At the Uwais electoral review panel the FJHD submitted that INEC should conduct all elections in the country but it was not reflected in the final document .I strongly feel that if we are to have a strong virile democracy, INEC should superintend all elections in the country.”

He, however, called on Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to “immediately set in motion the necessary machinery to conducting a peaceful ,free ,fair election into the 25 local government councils in the State in accordance with section 7 of the 1999 constitution as to do otherwise would be tantamount to indulging in illegality”

Tukur: 100 days of controversy •Continued from page 43

deliberate ploy to bring sanity, stability, discipline and decorum to our party.

“As you know, the party is used to the act of imposition and other and undemocratic practices but since the coming of Tukur, some of these practices are nipped in the bud. It is my hope that it will continue to improve and make the party live the vision of the founding fathers of the party of which Tukur is one.

“He has organised the summit of

the NWC at Cross Rivers in which he outlined his vision and programme for the party aime at strengthening and making the party more democratic than what it is today. He has created room for some of the party members who left for one reason or another to come back and he has brought some distinguished individuals to help reposition the party.”

But as days go into months, Nigerians and members of the party are watching keenly to see where Tukur will take the PDP as the first 100 days have been marked largely by rancour and controversies.

• Left: Hon Lanre Fagbohun discussing with Hon. Muniru Hakeem and Hon. Dr Ajibayo Adeyeye, House Majority Leader, at the 8th Executive/Legislative Parley held at Golden Tulip Hotel, Festac, Lagos.

PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

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OSUN STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, ESA-OKE INVITATION FOR PRE-QUALIFICATION OF CONTRACTORS FOR YEAR 2011 BOT SPECIAL TETFUND INTERVENTION 1 INTRODUCTION: Following the approval of Tertiary Education trust Fund and the permission given by the Government of the State of Osun. Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke wishes to undertake pre-qualification excercise for the underlisted Year 2011 BOT Special Tetfund intervention Projects.

Interested and reputable contractors/suppliers are hereby invited to apply for Prequalification to tender for the following projects:

2. PRE-QULIFICATION/TENDERING REQUIREMENTS The would-be contractors should supply the following: i. Evidence of registration with Corporate Affairs Commision (CAC) ii. Evidence of registration with Bureau of Public Procurement Office, Osogbo/ Evidence of registration of Business premises with the state of osun iii. Evidence of registration as a contractor with Osun state College of Technology, Esa-Oke in the appropriate category iv. Tax clearance certificate for (3) years v. A comprehensive Company’s profile with Curriculum Vitae of Principal/ Technical Officers vi. Verifiable evidence of previous experience in similar jobs vii. Reference letter from a reputable bank that the Contractor/Suppliers financial ability to secure requisite funding for the execution of the project. viii. Evidence of VAT registration and remittances ix. Evidence of payment of Osun State Capital Development Levy x. Evidence of availability of Equipment and Technical Capacity xi. Payment of non-refundable pre-qualification fee of fifty thousand naira (N50,000.00) only to the Bursary Department of Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke. For Lot 1 and twenty five thousand naira(N25,000.00) only each for LOTS 2-8.

3. SUNMISSION All pre-qualification documents (3 copies) must be spiral binded and submitted in a sealed envilope and clearly marked “Pre-qualification for tender for TETFUND year 2011 special Intervention Projects” within 2 weeks from date of this publication to the address below: Office of the Bursar/Secretary, Tenders Committee Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke. Contact Address and GSM No of contractors/supplier should be indicated at the back of the sealed envelope.

NOTE: i. Further submission after the specified time would not be accepted. ii. Please note that only Pre-qualified bidders will be invited to tender for the projects. iii. Not withstanding the submission made by the bidders, the College is NEITHER Commited NOR under any obligation to include any bidder on the Tender list or award. iv. Originals of documents must be produced for sighting during the opening ceremony.

Signed: SECRETARY TENDERS COMMITTEE/AG. BURSAR.

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NEWS

Court okays winding-up of Afribank, Spring Bank

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Federal High Court in Lagos at the weekend ordered the winding up of Afribank and Spring Bank Plc. Justice Charles Archibong held in a ruling that since their licences had been revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the step properly gazetted, there was no need for their existence.

The Governor of the CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had by

By Eric Ikhilae

a notice dated August 8, last year, published as Government Notice No 140 in the official gazette of the Federal Government No.63 Volume 98, revoked the licences of Afribank Nigeria Plc, Bank PHB and Spring Bank Plc. Further to the revocation, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), acting pursuant to the provision of

Section 40 of the NDIC Act 2006, filed winding up petitions dated November 22, 2011 to wind up the three banks.

Section 40 stipulates that: “whenever the licence of an insured institution is revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the corporation shall act as liquidator of such failed insured institution with powers conferred on a liquidator under the Companies and Allied

Matters Act, 1990 and shall be deemed to have been appointed a provisional liquidator by the Federal High Court for the purpose of that Act”.

Subsection (2) of the same section reads: “Immediately following the publication in the gazette of the revocation of the licence of a failed insured institution the corporation shall apply to the Federal High Court for an order to wind up the affairs of the failed insured

institution.”

The petitioner, the NDIC had,on November 23, 2011 obtained an order of court to serve the petitions by substituted means, to wit; advertising in the national daily.

In compliance with the order, the petitions were advertised in a national daily on Friday, December 30, 2011.

The NDIC has filed a fresh petition to wind up Bank PHB. The petition is yet to be heard.

Dangote sugar refinery to resumes production DANGOTE Sugar Refinery Plc will this week resume production. The refinery was partially affected by a fire incident at the weekend.

A statement from the company said: “Fire occurred at the Dangote Sugar Refinery refining plant. The fire, which started at the bagging station about 7pm, was successfully contained within 30 minutes with the combined efforts of the company, Nigerian Ports Authority, Lagos State and Federal Fire Service and others. The incident partially disturbed production.

The company’s Managing Director, Abdullahi Sule, said there were no casualties or any loss of life in the incident. He said investigations have begun to ascertain the cause of the fire and the extent of damage. He added that the company employs good manufacturing and best practices in all its operations and will continue to safeguard its human and material resources.

Sule assured all customers and other stakeholders that this will not affect supplies of products, as there is adequate stock to meet and surpass customers’ needs.

Family of seven, two others die while asleep in Imo From Emma Mgbeahurike, Owerri

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FAMILY of seven and two friends were yesterday found dead in Umuakuru, Emekuku, Owerri North Local Council Area of Imo State.

They all died in their sleep.

Seven of the dead were in one room. The other two were found in the second room.

A source gave the names of the deceased as Paschal Njoku, Mrs. Juliana Njoku, Ebere Njoku, Jackline Njoku, Ifunanya Njoku, Uchechi Njoku and Chy-boy Njoku.

The other two are Mrs. Christiana Uba and an unidentified friend, who accompanied her to the funeral of the late Mrs. Felicia Njoku.

She died at 98.

An in-law to the Njokus, Mr. Ogbonna Awuzie, said the late Paschal and members of his family went on self-exile to Owerri because of what he termed “the persistent threat to their lives by one of their relations”.

He said: “Paschal and members of his family were given sanctuary in Umuodu, Owerri, in the past one year due to serious threat to his life and property. He only went home to bury his mother last Saturday and by Sunday morning we were told that they all died in very mysterious circumstances.”

•Okorocha (third left), Senator Okonkwo (right) and Senator Osita Izunaso at the meeting ...at the weekend

Okorocha, others to raise N100 million for Igbo Boko Haram victims

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PAN-IGBO group, Committee 21 (C21), has announced plans to raise N100 million to assist Southeast indigenes who were victims of Boko Haram violence.

The group, after a meeting in Lagos chaired by a former military administrator of Lagos, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, at the weekend, said it would be unfair to leave the victims and their families to

C

bear the brunt alone.

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, who is the Director of Mobilisation of the group, said it was out to ensure Igbo unity.

Its president, Senator Annie Okonkwo, said the group would step up its dialogue with Igbo sons and daughters to ensure that the race gets its due in Nigeria.

Sultan seeks uniformity in Ramadan fasting

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HE Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has called for uniformity in observing the Ramadan fast.

The Sultan made the call yesterday in Abuja at the on-going National Conference on Moon Sighting in Nigeria.

Abubakar, who is also the President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), stressed the need for Muslims to follow the constituted Islamic authority as regards the sighting of the moon.

He said the NSCIA would continue to work with the moon sighting committee and all relevant Islamic organisations to ensure the objective was realised.

The sighting of the new crescent moon is a mandatory prerequisite before the commencement of the annual Ramadan fasting by Muslims all over the world.

Earlier, Prof. Dawud Noibi, the Executive Secretary, Muslim Ummah of Southwest , in his presentation on moon sighting and Muslim unity in Nigeria, decried the controversy moon sighting had caused in the past.

He called on the leadership of the Nigerian Muslim Ummah to ensure there was mass education of Muslims on the need to adhere strictly to the rules regarding moon sighting for the beginning of Ramadan.

Firm sues Jega for contempt over ballot boxes

ONTEMPT proceedings have been initiated at the Federal High Court, Abuja against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its chair, Prof. Attahiru Jega, over alleged plans to deploy collapsible transparent ballot boxes for the conduct of Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State.

The firm, Messrs Bedding Holdings Limited, whose sole right to the transparent collapsible ballots was affirmed in a June 5 judgment by the court, initiated the proceedings on Friday by filing a “Form 48” to that effect.

The Form 48, which is “a Notice of Consequences of Disobedience of Court order “is intended to warn INEC and its chair about their being liable to be committed to prison should they violate the orders contained in the June 5 judgment

by Justice Justice Adamu Bello, made against INEC, Jega and the Registrar of Patent, Federal Ministry of Commerce and

•Kicks against use of transparent boxes for Edo polls

By Eric Ikhilae

Trade.

The form reads: “Take notice that unless you obey the directives contained in this order, you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison.’’

Justice Bello had, in the judgment on the suit between Bedding Holdings and the Registrar of Patents, Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry and six others, declared illegal the use of the collapsible transparent ballot boxes used for the 2011 general elections by INEC without the consent of the owner of the patent right to the boxes.

The court also barred the electoral body from using the boxes for any subsequent polls including the July 14 Edo governorship election without first seeking the approval of the patent owner.

The orders of the court were sequel to a suit filed by an in-

digenous company Bedding Holdings Limited challenging the use of the boxes for the elections.

Armed with a subsisting exclusive and bona fide patent right to the collapsible transparent boxes used by INEC for the conduct of the 2011 polls, the plaintiff had approached the court contending that it.

Bedding Holdings which specialises in general fabrication and manufacture of steel metal products, said the transparent ballot boxes was among many of its innovations duly registered with exclusive patent right issued to it by the Registrar of Patents in the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The Certificate of Registration of the Patent Right marked: RP 12994 and Registration of Industrial Designs Rights Number RD 5946 on the boxes, was issued by the ministry to the plaintiff on January 12, 1998 for

five year period.

It was renewed and extended on January 12, 2003 and extended on January 12, 2008 respectively. It will expire in 2013.

The firm alleged that INEC violated its rights by its failure to seek its approval and consent before awarding the contract for the procurement of the boxes used for the 2011 general elections.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on November 24, following a memorandum by INEC, had approved contract for the procurement 150,000 units of the ballot boxes at the unit price of N13, 000 with total sum of N1.950 billion to one EMCHAI Ltd. “Our client was palpably shocked to learn from the media on November, 25, that INEC had using fraudulently and falsely contrived documents, successfully sought and obtained the ratification of FEC for

the award of the contract of yet another 150,000 unit of the collapsible transparent ballot boxes without the prior consent, licence and authority of our client being the rightful owner of the patent and copyright design,’’ counsel to the plaintiff, Mr. John Okoriko had told the court.

The lawyer had urged the court to hold that the contract as well as the use of the boxes in utter disregard to the plaintiff’s patent rights was contrary to the clear provisions of Section 6 (1), 19 and 25 of the Patent and Design Act, Cap P2 LFN, 2004.

Justice Bello upheld the claims by the plaintiff and also declared illegal a parallel patent right issued to EMCHAI over Envopak Ballot Boxes purportedly issued by the ministry, sometimes in 2006.

The judge held that the patent right of the plaintiff over the ballot boxes took priority for and over the subsequent registration issued to EMCHAI.

BPE explains valuation of N200b PHCN assets

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•Power company to recover 1,000 megawatts before year ends, says minister

HE Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) yesterday said the over N200 billion to be realised as proceeds from the sales of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is on the 60 per cent equity in its 11 distribution companies.

In a statement by its Head of Public Communications, Mr. Chukwuma Nwokoh, the company said the N200 billion does not include the proceeds to be realised from the sale of the generating companies.

It said the explanation became necessary because of the allegations of gross undervaluation of the company’s

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja and Chris Oji, Enugu

assets by the leadership of two trade unions: the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) and the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).

PHCN said SSAEAC’s President Bede Opara had claimed that if the assets were valued at over N200 billion, the workers should be allowed to buy the successor companies that would emerge from the unbundling of the company.

NUEE General Secretary Joe Ajaero gave listed many assets the company has. These

include buildings, parking lots, power and distribution transformers, associated accessories, such as towers, insulators, poles, armoured cables, conductors - all of of various shapes and sizes - and other accessories.

There are also vehicles that should be included in the valuation of the successor companies.

The statement said it was obvious that the key objectives of PHCN’s have been lost on the labour unions in the company.

The statement said: “For the umpteenth time, we restate it to include improved efficiency by increasing collections,

reducing losses and reducing cost; improve access to electricity; and investment from the private sector to improve infrastructure.”

PHCN listed other objectives as: ensuring fair tariffs to end-users and increasing commercial viability of the power sector.

The statement added: “Historically, the revenue from the sale of government enterprises has not been the main reason for Federal Government’s decision to undertake privatisation, given that most privatisation proceeds are channelled to addressing labour liabilities.

“It is apt to state that the

valuation of the PHCN assets was undertaken by an independent body and the regulator of the electric power industry—the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC.) “ Also yesterday, the Federal Government reassured Nigerians that it would continue to improve the power sector.

The government said about additional 100 megawatts of power would be recovered by the end of the year.

The Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji, spoke in Enugu at the weekend during second biennial lecture series of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology( ESUT).

THE NATION MONDAY, JUYLY 9, 2012

59

NEWS

Six dead in Benue road accident

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IX persons died at the weekend in an accident on the MakurdiGboko Road at Asukunya in Tarka Local Government of Benue State.

An eyewitness, Mr. Justine Anzembe, said the accident

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

occurred about 730 pm last Saturday when a Ford passenger bus ran into a Toyota Carina 2 saloon car.

Four of the passengers, who were said to be return-

ing from a wedding, died on the spot, while the driver of the car and a one-year-old baby died later at a private hospital in Gboko.

Anjembe said the heavy rainfall prevented a smooth rescue operation as most of the victims were trapped in

the vehicles.

He attributed the accident to the downpour which caused poor visibility.

Those who sustained injuries are receiving treatments in various hospitals in Makurdi and Gboko.

Ekweremadu, Abaribe, Ojudu mourn

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EPUTY Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Senate spokesman Enyinnaya Abaribe and Senator Babafemi Ojudu have described as brutal and awful killing of Senator Gyang Dantong and other innocent Nigerians in the renewed killings in Plateau State .

A statement by the Special Adviser (Media) to the Deputy Senate President, Uche Anichukwu, quoted Ekweremadu as saying that yesterday was “one of the saddest moments of my life”.

Ekweremadu said: “I have lost a friend and the nation, especially the Senate has lost a consummate lawmaker in a most shameful circumstance; “I am indeed worried about the growing cheapness of human life in troubled parts of the country and the long-term implications of our descent from a culture of love and high

From: Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

value for human life to that of hate, senseless killing, and wanton destruction”.

The Senate spokesman, in a statement, said Nigeria cannot afford these killings.

He said: “The Senate regrets deeply this type of killings, which suggest most painfully that some people no longer respect the sanctity of human life.

“We cannot continue this way. The death of Senator Dantong and other innocent citizens is a sad reminder of the current orgy of killings ravaging some parts of the country in recent times.

Ojudu said the Senate should not at this time concern itself with superficial issues while there are fundamental ones that may tear the already thin fabric of the country.

He said the Senate should

start exercising its full powers by making sure that whoever is saddled with the responsibility of providing security for Nigerians at the topmost level and has failed to responsibly do so is booted out, adding that this is not a time for political considerations and calculations, but a time to salvage whatever is left of Nigeria’s battered well-being.

Ojudu said the senate has the constitutional power and a duty to Nigerians to do this to prevent the country from going down.

Ojudu said the ethnicity or religion of whoever rules Nigeria does not matter, rather his ability to perform his constitutional duty of ensuring the well-being of Nigerians and Nigeria.

Ojudu said, failing to do so, the Senate can make such a person to step aside for a more competent person to take over, rather than further

T

From Duku Joel, Damaturu

ing the salary, they shot sporadically into the air to scare people.

“Three armed robbers stormed the secretariat of the Gujba council when they were paying the salaries of teachers. They came on a motorcycle, shooting into the air and scaring people.

They stole the salary,” the source said.

He said nobody was killed, adding, “no one was even injured. I learnt that only the accountant was manhandled. Some women were attending Islamya classes in the school but they were not attacked. One of them said the robbers told them to continue their studies as they were only interested in the money.”

The Nation learnt that teachers from two primary schools had been paid be-

•Ojudu

plunging the country into a deeper abyss.

A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh said, “This is a serious setback to the fresh efforts by the federal Government to ensure unity and peaceful co-existence.

The PDP is awfully shocked but we are certain the people of Nigeria shall overcome.”

fore the robbers struck.

Yobe State Police Commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe said he has not received information on the incident.

He said he wondered why the council officials paid teachers on a Sunday “in this era of electronic payment.”

The Education Secretary of Gujba Local Government, Bura Alhaji Konto, could not be reached for comments as his mobile line was inaccessible.

Cultism: One dead, house burnt in Delta

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NE person was confirmed dead and a house burnt in Ovwian community, Udu Local Government of Delta State at the weekend following a clash between two cults.

The deceased, identified as Mr. Aboy, was shot in the head by two suspected cult

From Polycarp Orosevwotu, Warri

members (names withheld) about 5:30pm while in traffic at Orhuwhorun junction.

A source said the deceased was killed to avenge the death of their colleague, Mr. Erite, who was killed recently. He was suspected to

have been killed by Mr. Aboy.

According to the source, after the suspected killers had escaped, other cult members and relations of Aboy went to one of the assailants’ homes near Onos Estate in Ovwian and set the house ablaze.

The source said some of

the neighbours alleged that the mother of the suspected killer was in the house before it was torched, but the Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Police Command, Mr. Charles Muka, while confirming the story, said the house was burnt but nobody died.

Police rescue abducted corps member

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HE Delta State Police Command has rescued a youth corps member, Uchenna Abueme and organised a search for a three-man gang implicated in the abduction of the corps member and a salesboy, Chris Chinonso.

Abueme and Chinonso were kidnapped while driving a Toyota Camry saloon car in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

State Police Command spokesman Charles Muka who confirmed the incident, said the gang abandoned the two victims in the bush after “we closed in on them at Okpanam in Oshimili North Local Government.”

Muka said Abueme has been rescued, while Chinonso is yet to be found.

He said a search for him continues.

From, Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

The House of Assembly recently passed a resolution, urging the Acting InspectorGeneral of Police, M.D. Abubakar, to re-arrest and investigate the circumstances behind the release of the ex-head of Delta State Police Command anti-kidnap unit, Dickson Osanwonyi, who allegedly

colluded with kidnappers in the state.

There appears to be a resurgence in kidnappings of high profile people in the state with the recent abduction of ex-Super Eagles international Christian Obodo who was kidnapped on his way to the church in Uwvie Local Government.

Recently, the son of the Secretary to the Delta State

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

O

SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has decried the perversion of the nation’s electoral system which she said is manipulated by anti-democratic

forces to subvert the people’s will.

The governor spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at the opening of the biennial general meeting of the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG).

Aregbesola, who was represented by one of his aides, Gboyega Olowo, spoke on: Election, Democracy and Legitimacy.

He said the annulment of the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s history on June 12, 1993, which was won by the late Moshood Abiola, was one of the nation’s ugliest experiences.

Aregbesola said: “Just a few years down the line, I and many other progressives had similar experience when the election mandates freely given to us by our people were stolen by the same anti-democratic and anti-development forces that have been lording it over the people since Independence.

‘Fed Govt, NSA putting in place strategies to tackle Boko Haram’

Robbers snatch teachers’ salaries HREE gunmen yesterday stole the salaries of primary school teachers in Gujba Local Government of Yobe State.

The robbery is the third in a row, as robbers had previously attacked people at Fune and Potiskum local governments.

An eyewitness told our reporter on the phone that the gunmen came on a motorcycle. He said after steal-

Aregbesola decries perversion of electoral system

Government, Ovouzorie Macaulay, was kidnapped by a five-man gang.

Also, gunmen abducted the wife of an official of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Mr. Michael Diden.

A man identified as a cousin of the Delta State Governor, Sam Uduaghan, was recently kidnapped in Asaba.

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

T

HE Minister/Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, yesterday said the efforts of the government and the new National Security Adviser (NSA), Dr. Sambo Dasuki, are helping to curb the excesses of the Boko Haram.

He said though the insurgency would be resolved soon, it would take some time.

Speaking in Abuja at the 51st meeting of the Governing Council of the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), the minister said there is the need for government to know the leaders of the Boko Haram to hasten the dialogue process.

He said peace is gradually retuning to Kano with economic activities picking up.

Usman said: “I also learnt that there were some con-

•Dasuki

cerns by some of the members of the IDEP about the security situation in Nigeria. That is understandable. Also, all of you coming from African countries, you know what it is when you see something on the Cable Network News (CNN) and the reality on the ground. I am sure you have seen what you have seen; it is not as bad as you think it is when you watch images on the CNN and other international media.”

I’m watching Amosun’s govt, NE year after leavsays Daniel

O

ing office, former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel yesterday said he has been “monitoring” the administration of his successor, Senator Ibikune Amosun.

He said: “Everything appears to be in utter confusion. I believe it is in the midst of utter confusion solutions normally come. Solution will come to our people. This is the first time of speaking publicly since I left office. I deliberately chose to keep quiet.

“Democracy has made it possible for structure to be put in place. It is important that the new structure is left to perform. I will keep my mouth shut. We are watching and monitoring and Ogun people are monitoring. As I have always said, God is in control.”

The former governor spoke in Ijebu-Ode at the 50th birthday of his former

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

Information and Orientation Commissioner, Mr. Sina Kawonise.

He said his travails and “persecution”, especially in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), may not be unconnected with his daring to “rights the wrongs” in the Gateway State.

He alluded to the pantheon of the Yoruba politics, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and a frontline politician, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, were persecuted, even imprisoned or exile because they summoned the courage to “right the wrongs in the society”.

According to him, despite facing what he called the biggest probe, he is yet to see “where the Ogun State kobo is either missing or stolen”.

Cross River Elders Forum to Fed Govt: revisit ruling on Bakassi

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HE Cross River Elders Forum at the weekend rose from a meeting in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, with a request that the Federal Government should revisit the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that

ceded Bakassi Peninsular to the Republic of Cameroun.

The group, in a communiqué signed Col. Pam Ogar (rtd), Senator Joseph Oqua Ansa, Dr. Ambrose Akpanika, Ukandi Gabriel Ogar, Ntufam Mathew Ojong, Rev.(Mrs.)

Grace Ekanem and Prof.

Roland Ndoma-Egba said it has become imperative to revisit the judgment on account of a new evidence.

The group wants the appropriate Federal Government agency to “immediately ask for an extension of

the 10-year period for the completion of the handing over process of Bakassi beyond October 2012.”

While frowning “at the twists and dislocations in the handling of the Bakassi matter before and after the ICJ ruling,” the elders also de-

manded that “the 76 oil wells ceded to Akwa Ibom State in violation of a wellmeaning, peace-keeping and soothing agreement that served politically to mitigate the agitation for resource control, should be reversed to Cross River State.”

Daniel is being prosecution by the EFCC on a 38

60

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

61

SPECIAL FOCUS: NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES’ DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI OF INTEGRITY COMMITED TO SELFLESS SERVICE TO HUMANITY (PART ONE) DR (MRS) PHILIPA IDOGHO : (Rector, Auchi Polytechnic):

A PRIZED ASSET FROM UNIBEN Two things attracted Dr. (Mrs) Philipa Omamhe Idogho to the University of Benin (UNIBEN): nearness to her place of abode and reputation. Indeed, the University had over time acquired a solid reputation for academic excellence that it became the envy of its contemporaries. So robust was the reputation that the ivory tower took on the sobriquet “Unibest”. It was therefore understandable that any serious-minded seeker of knowledge would want to be part of such an institution. Idogho was. She was admitted to the University for a post-graduate diploma (PGD) Programme in Technical Education.

Infact, she was a pioneer student of that department and she described her experience as “ “challenging and interesting”. How? Idogho, now two-term rector of Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State elucidated in an interview at her office recently: “You can imagine what it is to be in the first set of any programme . You are used more or less as a Guinea Pig to ensure that there is quality. That was my experience in the programme but I really enjoyed it”.

And she enjoyed it so much that soon after her PGD, she was again admitted for a master’s degree programme in education management.

By this time she has fully come to terms with the UNIBEN System and she committed herself totally to her academic work running a tight routine that saw her leave home to the library as early as 7am (even to wait for the library to open ) and from there to lectures.

From lectures she would return to the library to spend more time studying before leading back home. That was her daily routine, which turned out richly rewarding. “I gained a lot from UNIBEN in terms of knowledge” she said with a certain feeling of fulfillment.

There was something else she gained which has significantly helped her as a person, professional and administrator. And that is the culture of seriousness. This, she explained, was made possible by the calibre of lecturers she had, most of whom were professors she described as “conservative, very knowledgeable and serious minded. She expatiates: “our lecturers were professors who were conservative and very knowledgeable.They would make sure you know how to dot your Is and cross yours ts. They were serious minded people who inculcated in all students the culture of seriousness. They made us work really hard”. But it was “hard work” done in a congenial atmosphere with the right facilities according to Dr. Idogho who recalled that the facilities at UNIBEN in her days were “generally ok. The environment was beautiful and conducive for learning” , she said and urged all alumni of institution to keep up the track record of excellence for which UNIBEN is known , adding: “Those of us who passed through UNIBEN should not disappoint this great institution”.

This is an advice Idogho herself has taken to heart. Since she left the school, she has not only continued to be a worthy ambassador of the institution but has also continued to identify with it in a number of ways.

For instance, at Auchi Polytechnic where she hold sway, she has continued to use UNIBEN Professors as external assessors and resource persons for seminars as well as other activities and according to her “they (professors) are doing very fine” adding: “from our assessment, I can tell you they are still the same quality professors that we had in our days. This probably accounts for why the institution has maintained its reputation as a lowering citadel of learning over the years. Only recently Webometric, the world’s rating agency for the tertiary institution ranked UNIBEN as one of the best in Africa, just as Auchi Polytechnic under the astute leadership of Idogho was rated as the best in Nigeria/ West Africa and second best in Africa. The organization also ranked the polytechnic as the 10th leading institution in Nigeria. Nine Universities came ahead of the Polytechnic .

In many ways , Idogho stands out as a truly distinguished alumnus of UNIBEN. She capped her guest for higher academic laurels with a doctorate degree in Education Administration from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma , Edo State .

Having acquired some of the best education available, Idogho’s career was set to soar.

She joined Auchi Polytechnic in 1983 and has ever since been contributing diligently to the development of the polytechnic in teaching, research and general administration culminating in her appointment as rector of the institution in 2008 and re-appointed for a second term of four years recently.

Dr. Idogho therefore steps out not only as the first woman to be appointed rector of Auchi poly but also the first alumnae to occupy that exalted office. It is noteworthy that before her other academic pursuits, Dr. Idogho did a certificate course in stenography at Auchi Poly before enrolling for a National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) in secretariat studies in the same institution.

That was after her elementary education in Damaturu and secondary education at St Agnes Grammar School, Jattu.

Focus, determination and hardwork certainly have their reward. Idogho is ample proof. From her appointment as higher instructor in the polytechnic in 1983, she rose steadly to become a senior instructor in 1985; principal instructor II in 1997; Principal instructor I in 1989 and assistant chief instructor / senior lecturer in 1992. In 1999 she became a principal lecturer and in 2002 she was promoted chief lecturer. She was also at various times served as two – term head of dept of secretariat studies, two-term equipment officer and dean, school of evening studies.

Besides, Dr. Idogho has served with distinction in 29 other committees.

Among others, she was chairman, Committee on the status of Auchi Polytechnic: , Chairman Nigeria Polytechnic Games Ceremonies and Protocol Committee as well as chairman, Review Committee of general studies programmes. She also served in the UNESCO/TVE Revitalization committee, the anti – cult rehabilitation committee and the student’s welfare advisory committee.

In the area of research, Dr. Idogho has also been quite accomplished and exemplary. She has, to her credit today, 34 scholarly publications

• DR (MRS) PHILIPA IDOGHO in reputable national and international journals , six books and two publications now under consideration. A very versatile academic , the Auchi Poly rector has attended over 53 local , national conference, seminars and workshops in pursuit of knowledge and solution to the problems besetting education and humanity in general.

In acknowledgement of her outstanding contribution to educational advancement of the country , Idogho has consistently been invited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to serve on various accreditation panels to polytechnics and technical colleges across the country . In just under one year of her appointment as rector, Idogho’s industry and enterprise were recognized when she was appointed member of the Governing Board of NBTE. Indeed, since her appointment as rector, she has demonstrated an uncommon administrative sarvy, initiative, a great sense of vision , drive and prudence in the management of men and resources. The results of these are the visible infrastructural transformation leading to the development of a second campus in the institution, a rebust staff development, training and retraining policy and upping of ICT compliance of staff from 5% to 80% in less than four years (see box for record of achievements).

She has also earned plaudits for tough stance against forgery of credentials and cheating in exams. This has drawn the attention of the anti examination malpractice campaign organization of Nigeria which in 2009 appointed her a member of its board of Trustees.

Idogho’s service to humanity transcends the polytechnic circuit or the academic community. She’s has also made solid impact in matters of religion and faith as a devoted catholic, where she’s a lady of St Mulumba. In 2005 and 2009 she was conferred with the churche’s achievers award by the Diocesan and National Catholic women organization respectively.

The rector’s contributions to professional organizations are no less remarkable . She’s a member of the National Association of Business Educators ; member of the Nigerian institute of Management ( NIM) member of the association for encouraging quantitative education in Nigeria and member of the institute of Administrative management of Nigeria , to mention but a few.

Besides, she’s in the forefront of the war against HIV/AIDS devoting her time, energy and resources to fight the dreaded scourge. Again, her efforts have not gone unnoticed as the Nigeria Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) recognized her contribution by inviting her to participate in the workshop that drafted the strategic framework for the eradication of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

In addition, she runs a non-governmental organization (NGO) known as the Women Enhancement Organization (WEO) . It is a charitable, non-profit, non-partisan and non religious organisation which works in three major areas: gender works, HIV / AIDS and literacy education for rural women.

And a truly appreciative society is all over this eminently distinguished amazon with garlands for her huge contribution and positive impact in our educational system and redoubtable service to humanity. The honours are rolling in from various organizations, institutions, bodies and agencies. To date she has more 34 awards to show. More decorations might just be on the way.

Happily married to a Medical Doctor husband and blessed with children, Dr, Phillipa Omamhe Idogho would pass any day as a prized asset for humanity.

IDOGHO’S IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE RECORD IN AUCHI

Infrastructural expansion and development at Auchi Polytechnic includes but not limited to : • One storey building housing six large lecture halls built from internally generated revenue in Campus II • One classroom block of three lecture halls built from ETF Intervention fund in campus II • A block of four lecture halls from social responsibility assistance by the United Bank for Africa built in Campus II • Completion of the Centre of Excellence building for Polymer Technology Department • Completion of the library expansion project • Construction of plant services workshop for agricultural engineering technology department • Extensive construction and extension of block wall perimeter fence round at the Polytechnic • Construction of chain link fence in the Administrative Block, School of Information and Communication Technology , School of Art and Design • Completion of the portable water factory which produces 300 sachets and 200 crates of pure water daily • Completion and equipping of a bakery building for the department of food technology • Completion of the kitchenette for the department of hospitality management • Construction of block screen fence for Eboreime Market and a parking lot • Construction of six speed breakers and road signs of the Benin – Abuja highway to reduce vehicular speed and thus save lives of staff and students • Construction of a storey building for offices and workshops for fashion design department • Procurement of two jeeps, four Corolla cars, two buses and six motorcycles • Ongoing construction of a storey block of studies and offices for the department of mineral resources • Procurement of tables and chairs for the offices of principal officers, deans and director • Construction of a 100 seater lecture theater • Construction of a seater ICT Building in Campus II (Construction is already in progress) • Proposed construction of a new administrative block for the polytechnic • Founding of the school of information and communication technology, which is made up of programmes in Mass communication, statistics, computer science and office technology and management?

• Sponsorship of 296 members of staff to various seminars and workshops as at 2010 • Training of 750 staff in various computer application • A collaboration policy that enabled staff purchase 500 laptop computers • Forty-nine member of staff are currently on various post graduate degree programmes of which 20 are pursuing doctoral degree and 29 are prusing master’s degree programmes ICT DEVELOPMENT • A 100 seater e-learning facility donated by the Nigerian Communication Commission • A 100 seater e-learning facility built by the PTDF on campus I • Provision of internet facility for the library, Admin block , school of evening studies and school of information and communication technology.

ELECTRICITY • Provided generators for use in the library complex, the administrative block, the cottage hospital, poly ventures, the student’s hostel, school of information and communication technology and the school of evening studies.

• Introduced Solar powered street lighting in Campus II and East and West end gates TEACHING FACILITIES • Purchased and installed 165 HP Computers for the various academic departments • Procured tools / equipment for the department of Science Laboratory Technology, Mineral Resources Engineering Technology, Photography , Ceramics/ Glass, Civil, Mechanical and Electrical /Electronic Departments, food technology , banking and finance, polymer Technology and office management and technology HEALTH SERVICES • The administration for Dr. (Mrs) P.O Idogho last year provided a modern incubator and a modern operating theatre enabling the hospital to provide ante natal care and post natal management LINKAGES Good tertiary educational institutions are international communities.

Through linkages, institutions share academic properties and exchange staff and ideas. Since the EEC Collaboration ended in 1994, not much has happened in this collaboration until this year when the Polytechnic secured a linkage programme with Commonwealth of Learning (COL).

The COL has designated the polytechnic as a centre for flexible learning for the provision of learning opportunities to segments of the society which lack access to education and staff acquisition programme. The polytechnic is one of eight of its kind to achieve this status in Africa.

The polytechnic is working on an agreement with the Anambra State University, Awka and the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba for the award of degree in technical areas.

FINANCE Outstanding debts running to over N200 million of the institution have been significantly paid while the school now runs without recourse to bank drafts and loans.

WELFARE The polytechnic management takes the welfare of its staff and students seriously. It has done all that is right within approvals of higher authorities to give to staff what is due to them. The polytechnic has met its obligation to staff in respect unheard of in the following areas: • Payment of 53% salary increase with arrears accruing thereto • Payment of 24months areas • Payment of 7% due to members of academic staff • These were achieved without rancor and strikes as would have been under previous administrations OTHERS Backlog of certificate for all graduates of the institution have been cleared and convocation is now held regularly.

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

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SPECIAL FOCUS: NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES’DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI OF INTEGRITY COMMITED TO SELFLESS SERVICE TO HUMANITY (PART ONE)

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igerian universities, whether owned by private individuals/establishments, states or federal government are, by conceptualization established by edict within the framework to produce professionals in various fields of human endeavour , professionals equipped for the challenges of national development. Understandably, it is only highly resourceful and skillful workforce that can creatively and effectively address global challenges by initiating ideas, polices and transformational programmes.

In recent years, it has been identified that the required standard of education has fallen due to sundry factors. No-wonder the conference of proprietors of private universities in Nigeria (CPPPUN) lamented recently the state of our universities having seen the position of our universities both in Africa and global ranking.

Is spite of all of these, it would not be true that our universities have not produced distinguished professionals who have skillfully and prudently utilized the people’s resources to provide the desired safety net, initiate policies and programmes in their respective positions of leadership that have translated and promoted human and infrastructural development.

In this special report the first in a series the Nation has identified some universities alumni who have distinguished themselves through selfless service to humanity.

Some of these include: senator Nimi Barigh-Amange of Rivers State University Of Science and Technology who just celebrated his 60th birthday: , Dr Innocent Chi Ekwem, Chairman/CEO Ebony Hospital limited of university of Lagos andDr. Philipa Idogho , rector Auchi Polytechnic a distinguished Alumnus of the University of Benin. More accomplished Alumni will be featured in subsequent reports.

I FEEL ACCOMPLISHED BECUASE I ATTENDED RSUST – Senator Barigha - Amange Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange, an Ijaw who speaks the Nembe dialect fluently, was born on May 10, 1952 at Alagoa Tereke in Nimbe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. He is from a royal family. His mother, Yibo, was the granddaughter of Ojoko who was the great grandson of King Kulo. While his father, Nimiworio, was the grandson of King Amain, who incidentally was the son of King Kulo. The senator, who is also a traditional chief, spoke about his experience after the Nigeria civil war, why he decided to read Law after working as a petroleum engineer at Elf Oil Company (now called Total Oil Company), among others.

lady and she looked at me up and down and asked me, who gave you this result? I didn’t say anything. And she said, you are really very ambitious. That was how I gained admission to the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. I graduated with a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree in 1992 and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos and was called to the Bar in 1995.

WHY I CHOSE RSUST? I chose RSUST because I was working in Port Harcourt. It was convenient for me to retain my job and still go to school to achieve my goal.

LECTURERS I met wonderful and nice lecturers at RSUST. I don’t know whether we still have those kind of lecturers. One them is Professor Nwanzu. He is now lecturing in Abraka. It was not just coming to lecture. It was beyond lecturing. They would always invite some of us and counsel us on our performance. They took personal interest in us. They would say, you had this score in the last examination, so why is it dropping? They were so close to us that the fear associated with lecturers was demystified. No lecturer ever asked us for money for hand-out. So we felt so comfortable with them. My first company I incorporated was done for me by my lecturer. Moral life was perfect. There was no cultism as it is found in most of our universities today. The environment was conducive to learning.

EDUCATION SECTOR The education sector is in crisis. There is problem in the sector. However, the problem is not peculiar to the educational sector alone, but all the sectors of the economy. It is because of lack of planning. National planning is key to national development. But we did not plan. We were swimming in money in the 70’s. What did we do with the money?

Why did we rush to build a capital? Why must we rush to build Abuja? We had a capital city. Not that we didn’t have one. Yes, it was getting congested. Outside that, we went to borrow money. Again, Abuja had a 10-year developmental plan. Our priorities as a nation were misplaced. There were certain things our leaders would have done. That was when they would have developed the gas sector. Do you know how much we lose everyday? If we had harnessed the gas sector then, the power problem confronting us today would have been a thing of the past. We would have been getting enough money to address the educational sector and other sectors of the economy. The educational sector would not have been in a mess it is today. We knew that the population of the nation was increasing yearly with 3%. This means, infrastructural growth should have been 6%. But we didn’t do that. Population was increasing, while educational infrastructure was deteriorating due to lack of plan. When I was at PTI, I was occupying a room alone. We were given half of a chicken during meals. We didn’t pay school fees.

The equipment in the school were in good condition. But today things are different because we did not plan.

IMPROVEMENT First, we don’t need new universities for now. What we need is to consolidate on the existing ones, build new infrastructure, strengthen the existing ones. A university like the University of Port Harcourt can cover Rivers and Bayelsa states through satellite campuses. You could have the School of Engineering in How it began Rivers State and School of Law in Bayelsa State. We must first address the I finished my secondary education in 1975 at Nembe National fundamentals that can help drive all the sectors at the same time. We cannot Grammar School where I obtained the West African School import power. All these things we need to settle down to work out. It will take Certificate (WASC). I started preparing for Higher School Certificate time, but it is possible through planning. I think these few years I have seen (HSC). So I went into teaching. My first salary was N125. That was some improvements in the education sector, especially with serious governors in September 1975. I did not spend a kobo out of that money. I like Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State. Education depends on the foundation. The didn’t even buy a pair of bathroom slippers. The period I spent in • Senator Barigha - Amange foundation at the primary level must be strong. Also, we must begin to dethe East during the civil war toughened me up. Whatever happens to you in life, take it emphasize certificates. So much emphasis has been placed on certificates without the as a challenge to move you higher. So with the money, I went into trading. I went to necessary skills. We must lay emphasis on technical education as it is done in Europe and Onitsha and started business. I would buy goods and would return home (Nembe) to sell other advanced countries, so that people can be on their own. We should think of how to to those who had stores. Within two years I was able to gather enough money to further industrialise the nation through entrepreneurial training and acquisition of skills. This my education. Even while I was at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Warri, during must be done through adequate funding and diligence in our work. How many people can the holidays, I would not go home. I would go to Onitsha because I had already established the government employ? Even the oil companies, how many people can they employ? a lot of business relationships with my customers. I would ask for credit facilities and They use computer. The job 10 people would have done, computer alone does it. So we they would give me the goods. Then I would head for Nembe and sell the goods. While must plan to industrialsze the nation. returning to school, I would stop at Onitsha and pay my debt. Then I would keep the profit and spend it in school. That was how I was able to finance my education at PTI. ACHIEVEMENTS AT 60 It has been success stories, failure, challenges or whatever you call it. It has not been easy.

PTI But I try to make life easy for myself and not to take disappointment as a failure. It rather I was at the nation’s leading petroleum engineering school, the Petroleum Training inspires me to higher levels. And this has been the secrets of the little success I have Institute, Effurum, from 1979 to 1981 where I obtained the Ordinary and Higher National achieved in life. In my community, there are a lot of problems. And any time there are Diploma in Petroleum Engineering. I majored in Production. I did the compulsory one problems, I will come out and take side. I have never in my community and political life year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at a French company, ELF, now called Total. sat on the fence. No, it is not in my character. I will definitely come out and take a stand.

I was retained after the service year.

And if you are doing that, you will always offend people. However, if I’m taking side, I While there, I did not stop the buying and selling business. After spending two years at will always establish why I’m taking side. So with all that I can say I have community ELF, I was given a car loan of N8,000. Coincidentally, the price of the car I wanted to buy challenges, financial ones and political ones. was N8,000.00. I said to myself, if I use the whole N8,000 to buy a Peugeot 504 saloon car, which money will I use to fuel and service it? So what I did was to divide the money into Fulfillment two. I travelled to Onitsha and used N4,000 to purchase goods and kept the remaining I am fulfilled because I have never regretted taking the challenges that have brought me N4,000 in a bank. At that time, if you were given a car loan, you must present the to where I am. At 35, after graduating from the PTI as a petroleum engineer, completed my documents of the car after six months. So I told myself, if I cannot make a profit of N8,000 youth service, had a good job, I still considered it necessary to sit down with my children’s to buy the Peugeot 504 car, then I will use the N4,000 in the bank to buy a Volkswagen mates to write the G.C.E ‘O’ level. I had the requisite papers and proceeded to read Law in Beetle car. That was my calculation. Eventually after six months I was able to make a Rivers State University of Science and Technology. So the decision I took then is what has profit of N4,000 and my store was full. brought me to the level I am now. Today, I’m a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, a member of the Nigeria Society of Engineers, President of Rotary Club of Ahoda. These MY AMBITION are part of my achievements. My only regret is that I have not been able to establish I found out that while in the secondary school, I was a prefect. In PTI, I was the Secretarysomething in the university. However, I still have the ambition to do something there.

General, then later the Students’ Union President. When I was working at Total Oil, I was also in the union. I found myself holding leadership positions here and there. So I needed SENATE something to project myself as a national leader. And secondly, I read Petroleum I joined the senatorial race in 2007 in my district because of the love I had for my people.

Engineering and from the beginning I did not want to be a labourer. I asked myself, if I And to God be the glory, I was elected because of the love they have for me. And on my leave this company today, can I establish a petroleum company? The equipment are very part, I did not disappoint them because giving is my personal policy and I live by it. With expensive. Operation of a petroleum company requires a lot of capital. And I said no. So that I did so many projects for my people (Nembe people). These include the Remedial those were the two factors that propelled me to go and read Law at the Rivers State Education Scholar’s Aid, Micro Business Assistant Project, establishment of the Amange University of Science and Technology (RSUST). Because with a very small capital, I can Mobile Clinic, widows’ purse, among others. All of this is to give back to my community establish a law firm and be on my own. And the leadership my people are looking unto and to afford others the opportunity I did not have in my early life. I have also completed me to give, I can give it to them. But the choice of reading Law did not come early because a magnificent edifice with a capacity to sit 500 people in my community, Nembe. I did all I was purely a science man. The only arts subject I offered in secondary school was this to prevent my people from passing through the same route I passed while growing Religious Knowledge. The rest were Biology, Physics, Mathematics, Additional up. While in the Senate, I served as the Vice-Chairman, Committee on Home Affairs. I was Mathematics, Chemistry and so on. So when I wanted to read Law in 1986, they refused also a member of other committees. to give me admission. I left because it was normal. In 1987, I re-applied, they again refused to give me admission. But at that time, I questioned the lady, I asked her, what AWARD AND RECOGNITION happened? I have distinction in Petroleum Engineering at the HND level. I have my As a senator, I have received various awards and recognitions. These include: Excellence school cert, so what is the problem? She laughed and said my dear, this is not a course of in Women Empowerment by Female Ministers’ Fellowship (FMF) International, maths, maths, physics. So what is it? And she said, this is an arts course. And so what are Johannesburg, South Africa; Grand Hero of Africa Service Award by Bold News Africa the subjects you want me to do? And she listed them. So that was why you refused me International Magazine in Accra, Ghana, Eminent African Leadership Award by Nigerian admission last year and she said yes. Immediately I left her, I went to register for the Top Leaders Magazine, Best Senator Award by the News Magazine, Abuja, Nigeria, among General Certificate of Education (G.C.E.). I enrolled for arts subjects. In December 1987, others. In March this year, the Bishop of Niger Delta West Diocese gave me the Builder of I wrote the G.C.E. ‘O’ level and passed the required subjects. In 1988, I went back to the Church Award.

2012

THE NATION MONDAY, JULY 9, 2012

63

SPECIAL FOCUS: NIGERIA UNIVERSITIES DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI OF INTEGRITY COMMITED TO SELFLESS SERVICE TO HUMANITY (PART ONE)

‘UNILAG EXPOSED ME TO THE GOOD THINGS OF LIFE – Dr. Innocent Chi Ekwen’ Dr. Innocent Chi Ekwem is the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Ebony Hospital Ltd, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Nowadays, students find it difficult to gain admission into tertiary institutions. But in 1972, Ekwem was offered admission by four renowned universities in Nigeria, namely the University of Ibadan (UI), University of Ife (now called Obafemi Awolowo University-OAU), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and University of Lagos (Unilag) to study Medicine. He spoke about why he chose Unilag and how he rose to the pinnacle of the medical profession EARLY LIFE I am Innocent Chi Ekwem. I am the Chairman of Ebony Hospital Ltd, Port Harcourt. I was born into the noble family of Umuokwaze at Amucha Ebeise in Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State. My father, the late Chief Jerome Ekwem, was a superintendent of works in the then Eastern Region. My mother, the late Mrs. Agnes Ekwem, was a very successful trader and was the daughter of Eze Duruosimiri Duruojinaka of Amucha. I’m the fourth child in a family of 11.

I attended N.A. Primary School, Amucha, Holy Trinity School, Orlu, St. Patrick’s School, Owerri and St. Mary’s School, Umuaka. I passed out with distinction. I then proceeded to Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu and passed out in 1970 with distinction. However, my secondary education was interrupted by the 30 months Nigerian Civil War. During the war, I joined the Boys Company and later went to the School of Infantry where I was commissioned as an Army officer with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. I was a Captain when the war ended in 1970. I considered all that a wasted life. Undaunted, I continued my educational career. I started A’ Level at Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu but did not finish because I was given admission to study Medicine in 1972 by four universities in Nigeria and two in U.S.A. WHY I CHOSE UNILAG I was given admission to study Medicine in the University of Ibadan, University of Ife (now called Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU), University of Nigeria Nsukka and University of Lagos (Unilag). The choice of Unilag was not by accident but by choice.

In those days, admission was by merit. One hundred and thirty five thousand candidates sat for the entrance examination into the medical school to study Medicine. After the exam, 30,000 candidates were shortlisted and eventually only 30 of us were offered admission by Unilag. Lagos has always been a centre of excellence. So I preferred to attend Unilag because I knew I would not acquire knowledge alone but I would be exposed to the good things of life.

LECTURERS I was lucky to be taught by tested lecturers. The best lecturers you can ever think of. People like Professor Boyo, Professor Elebute, Dr. Ransome Kuti and others. They built us. They were committed lecturers.

CHALLENGES There were few challenges that cannot really be said to be challenges because we felt satisfied. Our aspirations were met by the kind of lecturers we had. If you were going wrong, they would tell you. They were not only lecturers but also mentors. You want to be like this, they would tell you what to do. But now, the relationship between a lecturer and a student is not cordial. A student may be a cultist and a lecturer may be afraid to go near him. Our moral life was so good. In spite of their nearness to us, we respected them for who they were.

In our days, students knew where they were coming from and where they were going. We had ethics, we were students of integrity, we had conscience.

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM The educational system in Nigeria has collapsed. Everyday they talk about improving the educational system, but I don’t really see what they are doing. Though the students are working fast due to the technological development, the institutions are deteriorating. Today, no Nigerian university is among the best 100 universities in the world.

• Dr. Innocent Chi Ekwem In Africa, out of the best 100 universities, Nigeria has very few, namely Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Unilag and UI. And we are called the giant of Africa.

CAUSE The standard of education has fallen in the country because the system is corrupt. Our leaders have no conscience. The leadership is dead. If they have conscience, they should know what is good for the general populace of this country and what is bad. They should be able to say, I want food for myself and equally want food for my neighbour, the poor and the needy. Our leaders want everything for themselves. Leaders who want to continuously practise the divide and rule system in order to always be at the corridors of power. Today, nothing is working in the country. The infrastructure are in a deplorable condition.

I established the Ebony Clinic in a rented bungalow in 1982. I was then in a partnership.

But the partnership collapsed in 1984. Later, I re-organised it and re-engineered the new Ebony Clinic and by 1987, the clinic moved to its first owner occupier site.

It was incorporated as Ebony Hospitals and upgraded by the Rivers State Ministry of Health as a 24-bedroom hospital in 1988. Driven by passion for excellence, with an unflinching support of my wife who is equally a medical doctor, a gynecologists by profession, Dr. (Mrs.) Linda Ekwem, I built and moved the hospital to a bigger and better equipped location before we finally constructed and moved it to the new 64-bed ultra modern complex in Port-Harcourt in 2005. But I believe we have not achieved what we really want to do because I’m a professional doctor and I strongly believe in the medical practice.

MEDICAL TOURISM The issue of medical tourism in Nigeria is not really appropriate. There is human capacity in this country. When you go to America and all over Europe and the rest of the world, you see Nigerians of different specialties in different hospitals. So, medical tourism in Nigeria can be transformed. For instance, Indians, some years ago were in Europe, America and other parts of the world. But since, they have concentrated on their medical uplift by providing the enabling environment, better welfare packages and infrastructure.

Individual doctors have taken advantage to provide better and quality services to the people. India medical tourism alone now is about 7 billion dollars. And about 50% of the tourists are Nigerians.

So here in Ebony, we want to create a similar atmosphere where Nigerians would come and enjoy better and quality service and stop going outside the country to seek medical tourism. We have not reached there yet, but we will get there. We want to have the stateof-the-art hospital.

STAFF A lot of doctors have passed through this hospital. Here, we tutor them, we develop them.

We say look, keep your hands clean and your heart pure. Be truthful always. Don’t tell your patients what you cannot do. Be honest and diligent in your services. Don’t deceive them. With this, a lot of them have made success in their private practices and life.

We train our members of staff regularly to enhance service delivery.

ASSOCIATIONS I belong to many national and international professional associations. These include the American Association of Medical Directors, the America Academy of Family Physicians (AAFD), the World Association of Family Physicians (WONCA), Merc Medicus of America, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria.

I have attended several continuing medical education courses nationally and internationally, especially in industrial and tropical medicine. I have also attended many international medical conferences in different parts of the world. As part of my social responsibility and practice, I have been involved with foreign partners in emergency medical evacuation scheme and critical rescue operations.

OTHER ACTIVITIES Apart from being the chairman of Ebony Hospital Ltd., I am the chairman and chief executive officer of De-Ebony International Nigeria Ltd, which addresses the need in medical equipment procurement, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. I am also the chairman of Innolyn Nigeria Ltd, which is involved in real estate and property development. I was a director of Royal Health Maintenance Service Ltd, a health maintenance organisation.

I am the chairman of Sheffard Transport and Logistics Company Ltd, a transport and logistic organisation. I am a director of End 2 End International Solution Ltd. I am a board member of Spiritan Institute of Theology, Enugu.

AWARDS I have won many national and international merit awards. I received the Rotary International Honourary Rotarian Award in 1994; the International Christian Association Distinguished Merit Award for Dedication to Humanity in 1994; Junior Chambers Outstanding Business Executive Award in 1998; UNESCO/WAMAC Millennium Citizen of Excellence Award in 2000; Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Merit Award for Selfless Service in 1999 and Rotary International Philanthropic Partners Award for meritorious contribution to humanity in 1993. Other awards include Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow Award (1999) for service to humanity; Distinguished Medical Practitioner Award (DMP) of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria 2001; National Association of Imo Students Award (1996) for Excellence; Federated Orlu Zonal Students Award for Philanthropy (1997); Industry and Contribution to Education, Development in Nigeria Merit AWARD (DINMA); Nigeria Gold Award by Prime International and Communications –The News Magazine 2006, Leadership in Nigeria Merit Award 2006; African Achievers Award by Africa Gold International Communication 2007; Meritorious Diamond Award for National Development (MEDA 2007) by Corporate and Media Africa Communications Ltd., Lagos; Distinguished Nigerian Corporate Organization’s Award of Excellence by Timenews Magazine –Lagos 2008; African Icon of our Generation Award by Accolade Communications Limited, Lagos 2008; Grand Award for Productivity in Africa by PSR Magazine, Lagos 2008. I have also received several chieftaincy titles, including Ezeugo 1 of Amucha, Ezeugo Ndi Igbo Rivers and Bayelsa States.

MEDICAL CAREER I started my career as a medical practitioner at the Specialist Hospital, Benin City, Edo State in 1978 after graduating with an MBBS from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. I worked briefly at Eku Baptist Hospital, Eku in Delta State before proceeding for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 1979. After the service year, I joined the Army Medical Services through the Ministry of Defence. I worked in various military hospitals including the Creek Hospital, Lagos, Reference Hospital, Kaduna and Military Hospital, Port Harcourt. I resigned in 1986 as the Chief Medical Officer.

MARITAL STATUS I am happily married to my jewel of inestimable value, Dr. (Mrs.) Linda Ekwem, (nee Ihejiahi), a Gynaecologist, who is the Deputy Medical Director of Ebony Hospital Ltd, Port Harcourt. We are blessed with children; two of whom are medical directors. I have travelled to Europe, America, Asia and even within Africa. I am a sportsman, a socialite, a musician and philanthropist. I am a staunch member of the Catholic Mission, a Knight of the Ancient and Noble Order of St. John.

WHY I RESIGNED I resigned because then, the standard of operation of the hospital was falling and I needed to do something better for myself. Inspired by the burning desire to do something quickly,

MOMENT OF JOY I am happy when a patient, almost at the point of death, is brought here and he is treated and healed, and he sees me later and says doctor, thank you. When this happens, I feel satisfied and fulfilled.

www.thenationonlineng.net

MONDAY, JULY 9 , 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

TODAY IN THE NATION ‘No one should condemn the reprisal attack. The fact remains that no one can spot a dark goat in darkness unless the person who slew it during the day. Muslim leaders should expose these evil people and their sponsors because they live with them and pray with them in the same mosques’ EMEKA OMEIHE

VOL 7 NO 2,181

C OMMENT & D EB ATE EBA

T

AKEN in isolation, the finger looks like one of the most fragile members of the human body. The flesh is supple and even the bones are small and delicately held together. Yet it unleashes some of the cruellest moments in human civilisation.

Next to the tongue, the finger is the most dangerous. It is the weapon of finality known to the human body. It is also the most useful. With the finger, we pull the trigger, feel pulses, point out the innocent and guilty, write laws, sign death sentences, confess, make and – with the ring - cement love, cook a delicacy and poison a friend.

We read and write because of the finger.

It is the executor of love and treachery, peace and violence. With a single finger on the nuclear button, you can blow up the world. Although you can control multitudes by a snap of a finger, you can also snap up that finger with little effort. Though vulnerable individually, together they make a fist and pack a punch.

It emphasised the potent grace of Michael Jordan on the basketball court, the putt of Tiger Woods on the greens, the rhythmic genius of Sunny Ade’s and Victor Uwaifo’s guitars, the felicity of Chinua Achebe’s prose, the fertility of farmers. But it was the ominous quality of Hitler’s body language on the podium. We know of finger food, finger roll. Forks fail without fingers.

In Nigerian politics, one of the most understated personalities is the finger. It is the finger that thumbprints in an election. It is also the finger that rigs. So, as the Edo people poise for the polls this weekend, I contemplate the finger and the good and evil that it can do. The finger in an election needs not make noise to destroy. That is why I don’t accept the guarantee of the president when he said in Benin at a campaign stop for his PDP candidate that there will be no violence at the governorship election on Saturday.

The finger writes results that contradict the thumbprints of the people. Such a finger does not draw blood, or carry machetes, nor cause mayhem on the streets. But it has embarked on the greatest violence ever. It has violated the people’s collective will.

An Edo man, Festus Iyayi, wrote a novel several years ago called Violence. That book should be read by all Edo people before the elections. He defines violence through the lives of people who suffer the violations of their dignity by the superior who have more money and the law enforcers behind them. Not by physical violence but by the subtle violence of fingers. So, he defines violence as “not of the physical brutal assault but a slow and gradual debasement of himself, his pride as a man.”

That is what the Edo people are supposed to watch out for this Saturday. All we want

RIPPLES

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We are ready! ... even if it’s 40 days rainfall

people gave him.

That was when the courts had integrity, at least a measure of it. Now that the courts have found a way to manipulate the deadline as technicality to disqualify genuine cases in court, politicians are desperate. They don’t want to be rigged out and hang their fortunes on the shoulders and wayward lips of judges. It is becoming tragically clear that whoever is declared winner by INEC, whether rightly or falsely, will be the incumbent till the end of the term.

This is a vote of no confidence on Attahiru Jega, who has done nothing to overhaul the INEC he inherited from Iwu. His tenure is one of deceptive humility, one of the dangerous arbiters of our democracy. It is becoming clear that he has neither the moral will nor the intellectual competence to tackle the big forces of electoral fraud in the

system.

It now depends on the people not only to vote but also to defend their votes. It is only at that juncture that Jega’s hands can be tied to the truth.

The Edo people have had time over the past four years to assess Adams. He has by general consent delivered. This is no partisan word. You can feel it on the streets.

In the huge infrastructure work in the city, in the rural areas and in the nooks and crannies of the outlying towns, the ordinary folk celebrates the doing of this man. In education, in housing, financial engineering, we see the true fingers of a transformational governor.

The contest on Saturday, as observed from the streets, is not a close contest. It is not neck and neck. It is expected to be a landslide.

As I discussed with a few folks last week, it is not even 60-40.

So, anything other than a resounding victory for Adams will come across as a modern-day version of the Benin Massacre fomented by a trigger-happy white man over a century ago. The Edo election should serve as a test case for the 2015 election. Of course we will have a few others, like the oncoming Ondo State sweepstakes.

Edo State PDP has been desperate, but the President has not reined in its wheel horses.

It has again revealed the stealth of this President who can dispense with anybody.

Adams has been a great supporter of Jonathan, sometimes breaking ranks with his party. We cannot forget how he stuck his neck out for him during the fuel subsidy saga, even courting the displeasure of the constituency that made him: Labour. In spite of that, Jonathan has not reciprocated with goodwill and a statesmanlike fairness and aloofness from the fray.

We should not turn our democracy into the system of military dictatorship in the guise of democracy. We should also warn that Edo is not Bayelsa State. What happened there was not democracy. It was cannibalism as democracy, where the party ate up its own in a feast of blood. It was the dictation of President Jonathan.

If we continue that trend in Edo State, we will be fulfilling the words of the African novelist Yambo Ouologuem who sees the continent as “bound to violence.” Are we bound to violence as a people? Is Edo election going to go the way of the finger violence? One of the tragedies of the finger is that the quiet trigger leads to a huge explosion. Let it not be the case in Edo this weekend.

We should abide by the people’s will. Let not the finger follow Shakespeare’s words in his play, Troilus and Cressida: “Why, this hath not a finger’s dignity.” We want the finger of love, not of deceit.

HARDBALL

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

intouchsam@yahoo.com 08054501081(sms only) •Winner, Informed Commentary 2009& 2010 (D.A.M.E)

The finger of violence ‘We should not turn our democracy into the system of military dictatorship in the guise of democracy. We should also warn that Edo is not Bayelsa State. What happened there was not democracy. It was cannibalism as democracy, where the party ate up its own in a feast of blood. It was the dictation of President Jonathan.’

• Oshiomhole is a free and fair poll, not the manufacture of votes the people did not cast. We want the triumph of the people’s will, not of the itchy fingers of poll riggers.

We do not want the violence of the streets, so also we do not want the violence of the quiet finger. We want the integrity of the finger of fingers: the thumbprint.

The Edo people have historically stuck to their will, and when people came from outside, they fought. They would fight for their will, and they want to do it the civilised way: by casting their votes.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the governor of Edo State, won the elections in 2007 but the poll riggers gave it to somebody else, and he had to fight relentlessly through the courts to win back the mandate the

N another five days the people of Edo State will be going to the polls in a crucial governorship election that will test the mettle of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as reveal the true state of our democracy.

The leading contenders – the governing Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) administration, headed by Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), represented by Major General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) – have through the intensity of their campaigns in the last few weeks, made clear their intent.

For PDP the goal is clear. The party’s leaders in the Southsouth zone and at national level have not hidden their desire to have all six states in the zone in their column – thereby solidifying the political base of President Goodluck Jonathan.

This is the backdrop to the polls which the ruling party wants to prevail in – by all means necessary – even if that means dragging in the military. For those who have followed the political evolution of the PDP this should come as no surprise.

While the governorship struggle between the then Governor Olusegun Oni of

I

Militarising the Edo elections Ekiti State and the present incumbent, Kayode Fayemi, was raging, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, in a moment of exuberance declared at a rally that the party would use soldiers in the elections. His comment which he later tried to pass off as a light-hearted aside provoked a storm of controversy then, just as the increasing militarisation of the Edo contest is already provoking unease.

Last Friday, the Nigerian Army announced the deployment of 3,500 troops in the state. According to the Commander of the 4 Brigade, Brigadier-General Abel Umahi, the deployment was part of the decisions taken by Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, to ensure the election was peaceful.

Given Nigeria’s history, people are always justifiably suspicious whenever soldiers are introduced into elections - ordinarily a civil affair – ostensibly to guaran-

tee peace and safety. That very act automatically passes a vote-of-no-confidence on the Nigeria Police and all other agencies tasked with managing internal security.

The recourse to the use of soldiers is part of our increasing national penchant for resorting to ad-hoc measures to deal with challenges. If the police are not tasked with such high profile assignments, such as the Edo elections they would never grow and develop the confidence that will turn them into the sort of force the nation deserves.

In any case, for Saturday’s elections to be perceived as free and fair, the people must be allowed to exercise their rights in an atmosphere devoid of fear and intimidation. Soldiers, storming through the streets of major towns in the state in a “Show of Force,” is hardly the way to achieve that.

War has not broken out in Edo. This is just an election in one state! The 3,500 troops that have been sent there are a waste of state resources. They would be better deployed across all those states in northern Nigeria which are groaning under the scourge of communal violence and Boko Haram terror.

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