The Nation March 20, 2012

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

News Son rejects suicide theory as Apagun Olumide is buried P7 Sport We didn’t sack ex-Chelsea manager AVB, says Mikel P24 Business Cashless: CBN postpones roll-out date to next Jan. P11 www.thenationonlineng.net

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

VOL. 7, NO. 2070 TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

N150.00

•From left: Managing Director, Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd, Mr Timasaniyu Ahmed-Rufai; Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Communication, Sen. Abu Ibrahim; Chairman, House Committee on ICT, Rep. Ibrahim Gusau; Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Ewa, the representative of the President, Prof Turner Isoun; Chinese Ambassador Mr Deng Boqing, and others during the in-orbit delivery of NIGCOMSAT-1r/Commencement of Commercial Services in Abuja ... yesterday PHOTO: NAN

N44m bribe claim: Panel chair steps down today EFCC probes SEC boss Oteh’s allegation

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ID the chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Other Institutions, Herman Hembe, demand N44 million bribe from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) DirectorGeneral Ms Arunma Oteh?

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to unravel this puzzle.

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

Ms Oteh made the allegation when she appeared, last Thursday, before the panel, which is probing SEC’s activities.

Hembe, it was learnt, may be asked to step down today pending the conclusion of the EFCC probe.

The House may also ask its Ethics and Privileges Com-

THE ISSUES •Did Ms Oteh spend N30m on hotel accommodation in eight months?

•Did Ms Oteh blow N850,000 or N85,000 on feeding in one day?

•Is it right for Ms Oteh to have two Access Bank officials working with her?

•Did Hon Hembe demand N44m bribe from Ms Oteh?

•Did Hon Hembe collect a first class ticket to attend a seminar in the Dominican Republic, but never did? mittee to probe the allegation against Hembe.

Raising the probe team in Abuja yesterday, EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Lamorde

outlined its mandate, which includes interaction with Hembe and Ms Oteh.

It was gathered that the EFCC probe may not last

more than two weeks.

Besides taking from Hembe, Ms others, the EFCC

or three evidence Oteh and team will

also demand documents to back all allegations.

A source at the commission said: “The EFCC Chairman raised and briefed the investigation team today. It is a matter of public concern and the Commission feels obliged to get to the root of the matter.

“The team will interact with all parties involved in the case and consider all relevant documents and text messages as may be applicable.

Continued on page 2

South Africa to deport 56 Nigerians S

•Foreign Minister Ashiru

OUTH Africa is set to deport 56 Nigerians, The Nation learnt yesterday.

The Federal Government has been notified of the planned deportation, which is coming barely two weeks after a row between the two countries.

The deportees, who have overstayed their visas, applied for asylum

By Our Reporter

because of alleged political “crisis” in Nigeria. They appeared before an Asylum Panel in South Africa and their applications were rejected, it was learnt.

The South African Government checked and discovered that Nigeria is not experiencing any political

problem to have warranted asylum for any of its citizens.

A source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who pleaded not to be named because he is not permitted to speak on the matter, said: “South Africa has informed us of a fresh deportation of 56 Nigerians. The affected persons will be brought to Nigeria either on Wednesday or

Thursday.

“Our senior officers in the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria were made to be part of the process to ascertain that none of the deportees is a victim of any form of injustice.

“The South African Government said it is granting asylum to those Continued on page 2

•CITYBEATS P8 •ENERGY P13 •POLITICS P17•SPORTS P23 •PROPERTY P25

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THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

NEWS

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•Minister of Mines and Steel Musa Muhammed Sada (left) and a Director in the Dangote Group, Alhaji Isa Tata (right) listening to the Director of Project, Dr. VP Sakari, during the Minister’s visit to the Dangote Cement Plant in Ibese, Ogun State

N44m bribe claim: Panel chair steps down today Continued from page 1

“Hembe, Ms Oteh, members of the committee and officials of SEC will surely be invited by the team for interaction.”

Contacted, the Head of Media and Publicity of the commission, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said: “We have already started work on it.”

Hembe may be asked to step aside today when the committee resumes sitting to allow a full-scale investigation of the allegations against him and others.

A principal officer of the House, who pleaded not to be named because he is not allowed to speak to the media, said: “The Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, and some officers have met with Hembe. During the session, he denied demanding N44million bribe from the SEC DG. “On the sponsored trip to Dominican Republic by SEC, Hembe admitted that he made the trip up to Texas in the United States but could not reach the Republic.

“He said he got to the US at about the time the conference was rounding off and he placed a call to a top official of SEC who advised him against coming to the Dominican Republic again because it would be fruitless.

He said he has air tickets to back his claim.

“But the House leadership agreed that since the allegations are weighty, it is in the public interest for Hembe to step aside while investigation is on. He cannot be a judge in his own case.

“This decision will be communicated to Hembe today. I think a member of the committee may preside over the conduct of the hearing.”

A source in the House said: “We have decided to ask the Ethics and Privileges Committee to investigate the matter – in line with our rules.

“You know, she also levelled some allegations against the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha. This has made the setting up of the Ethics Committee probe important.”

Ms Oteh blew open the bribery allegation during her appearance before the committee last Thursday.

She took exception to Hembe’s allegations that she is not qualified to be SEC DG; seconded two Access Bank workers to SEC; and spent N850, 000 on hotel accommodation in a day and another N85,000 on a meal.

She said: “This has been a Kangaroo court. Not even in Idi Amin’s Uganda did we have this type of public hear-

ing. You had implied that as a regulator, that by having people on secondment from the private sector, it could undermine the capacity of the regulatory functions of the commission.

“In asking the SEC to contribute N39million to this public hearing, don’t you think that you are undermining your capacity to carry out your duties?

“You think that if Hon Ihedioha, the Deputy Speaker of this House, being the nephew to Prof. Ndi-Okereke Onyuike and having his wife work in the Abuja office of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, don’t you think it will be compromising his capacity to carry out his duties?

“I do not think that it is appropriate for you to have gathered information from the SEC and without even asking us to verify that information, to respond to that issue; you already made the judgment that you made yesterday; we are trying to build a democracy”.

Hembe asked EFCC officials present at the hearing to take note of the allegations, which he described as “weighty”.

He said: “The allegations are about Ndi OkerekeOnyiuke who you had issues with. So the House cannot be

said to be unfair. Those will be taken into consideration, to check whether in doing what we are doing today we have been affected by such bias.

“The public is also watching. If what I am doing is because of the fact that I have collected money from SEC to go on overseas trip to study and I didn’t go, which is why I am doing what I am doing, the public will take note.

“But if it is the wish of members of the committee that I respond to the issues, I will go ahead and respond to the issues. I will respond to the issues as much as I can.

“The issue of corruption or no corruption, we should put it aside. They (EFCC and ICPC officials) are here and they will write their report. I think we should concentrate on the major issue here. Let’s see how we can forge ahead with the hearing and achieve something before the end of the day.

“I want to say something as the Chairman of this Committee. I will Chair this committee to the end of this public hearing. I want to say firmly, in support of what you have said, that it’s on the issues of bias or corruption that the Committee invited the EFCC and the ICPC.”

O fewer than 15 persons were feared killed in a clash between Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers in Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State last weekend.

The clash followed the eating of some crops in a farm by some cows.

The cows were said to have been led to graze on the farmland by their shepherds despite reported warnings.

In annoyance, the farmers attacked the cattle rearers.

Sources said the attack led to the missing of some cows and a shepherd.

The herdsmen, a source said, launched a retaliatory attack, Sunday, on eight Tiv villages, including Agbaaye, Ayu, Dooshima, GbokoKpaake and Mbakiriki. Fifteen persons were reportedly killed in the clash.

It was gathered that many huts were torched when Gboko-Kpaake settlement was invaded at 3:00am on Sunday.

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•Govt to review 57 years old Act From Yusuf Alli and Yomi Odunuga, Abuja Kano) is about 85 per cent completed.

“The Eastern axis from Port Harcourt to Enugu-Makurdi will be completed by next year. Hopefully by December next year, the entirety of the narrow gauge project would have been rehabilitated.”

On the modernisation of the railway system, the Minister said the Federal Government might award the contract for the feasibility studies for Lagos to Ibadan modern gauge this year.

“We hope we will carry out the feasibility studies this year. The project will cost about $1.5billion, so it is necessary that the private sector must be involved.

“The Abuja-Kaduna modern railway is under con-

struction and by the end of 2014, it would have been completed.”

Asked if the private sector could invest in railway, Umar said the 57-year old Railway Act is being reviewed to allow such.

He added: “Presently, we are working on a bill in collaboration with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) seeking to repeal the Railway Act of 1955. The Act has given exclusive rights of ownership of railway to the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

“We believe we should amend the Act to enable states and private sector invest in railway development.

We have already finished working on the bill but it is with the Attorney-General of the Federation for vetting.

“I am sure that in the next couple of weeks, the Federal

Executive Council will consider the bill before it is forwarded to the National Assembly.”

On the award of contract for the surveillance of the nation’s waters to Messrs Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, the Minister said it is within the mandate of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

Umar added: “The mandate of that company is to provide platform, equipment and expertise to maintain the safety of our waters. The personnel of the company will not bear arms; it is only to ensure the surveillance of our waters.

“People should not make the mistake of assuming that the Federal Government has concessioned the security of our waters to the private sector.

“The Nigerian Navy is still

From Fanen Ihyongo, Jalingo

“We were informed that a large group of Fulani militants were launching an attack on Gboko-Kpaake. On getting to the scene, the settlement was already set ablaze (by the invading Fulanis),” Police spokesman Ibiang Mbasike told The Nation yesterday.

The PPRO said the police were investigating the matter.

Mbasike said: “Seven people were (officially) reported killed following the crisis on Sunday.

But the casualty figures rose yesterday, as more bodies were discovered”.

The Special Adviser (SA) to Governor Danbaba Suntai on Security Matters, Group Captain Sule Gani (rtd), has asked for time to reconcile the warring groups.

Oil spill: Court orders Shell to pay Imo communities N4b

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USTICE Gladys Olotu of a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday ordered the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to pay N4 billion as general damages to some communities in Imo State, for crude oil spillage.

The spill occurred on April 29, 1997.

Before filing the suit, a N900 million ex-gratia was made by Shell to the communities, for which they signed an undertaking that the full and final settlement for the oil spill had been made.

The affected communities are Umudike, Alimiri Umudike, Ekpe Agah, Ukpazizi Ekpe Mbede and Etekuru.

Shell’s pipeline ruptured along the Egbema-Assa delivery line, destroying the areas’ streams, swamps and forest, causing pollution and environmental degradation.

The communities, led by Sylvester Onyema Esiegwu and 11 others, through their counsel, Lucius Nwosu (SAN),filed the suit, demand-

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

ing N5,408,000.000 as special damages, as assessed by their chartered valuation surveyors.

Justice Olotu said the course of justice would not be served, if she had to agree with Shell, based on the document corroborating the earlier agreement.

She reiterated that ex-gratia means favour and not right, stressing that the agreement with the communities could not stop their rights to claim adequate compensation.

The judge noted that the N4 billion would be for the indirect economic losses and negative environmental impact the communities had suffered, including loss of objects of reverence, totems, historical landmarks, air quality and associated fear and forced refugee status.

Experts’ report showed that the spillage was as a result of external corrosion on the pipeline, buried seven metres deep, but in the course of the trial, Shell alleged that the spill was caused by sabotage.

S/Africa to deport 56 Nigerians

Lagos-Ibadan railway to cost $1.5b HE Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, yesterday said about $1.5billion is required for the modernisation of the Lagos-Ibadan Railway Line.

He also said the Federal Government will review the Railway Act of 1955, which is about 57 years old.

Umar, who spoke at the 19th session of the Leadership Forum organised by the Nigerian Pilot in Abuja, said the glorious era of rail transport will soon be restored by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Minister said: “The ongoing rehabilitation of Lagos to Kano narrow gauge (Western Axis) has already reached an advanced stage.

By the second quarter of the year, it will be completed. As a matter of fact, the Lagos to Jebba lot has been completed and the second lot (Jebba-

15 dead in Fulani, Tiv clash

Continued from page 1

•Umar

in charge of the security on our waters. If there are security issues, the company will draw the attention of Navy to it.

“The company was engaged on the basis of ‘no cure, no pay basis.’ This means the company will only be entitled to its fees when it is able to meet revenue benchmark set for it.”

from war-torn countries and Nigeria is not on the list.

“In line with our new rapprochement, we cannot force these Nigerians on South Africa. So, we are expecting the deportees soon.

“Deportation is a normal thing when immigrants are found to have either entered a country illegally or overstayed their visas. Some are usually sent back each time they violate immigration laws or indulge in fraud.

That is why you see Nigeria deporting illegal aliens like Nigeriens and Chadians.”

South Africa had a fortnight ago deported 125 Nigerians from the Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg over alleged fake yellow fever vaccination cards.

CORRECTION The Ogun State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry is Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, not Debo Ashiru, as published in a photograph caption on page 26 yesterday.

ADVERT HOTLINES: 01-280668, 08070591302, 08052592524 NEWSROOM: LAGOS – 01-8962807, ABUJA – 07028105302 COMPLAINTS: 01-8930678

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

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THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

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NEWS

From Berlin to For 10 years, the European Union (EU) has been negotiating the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with African Countries. The pact, according to its planners, will throw open the doors of trading and improve the economies of the participants. But former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Charles Soludo says it's modern slavery

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•L-R: Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain Otunba Jide Oni; an aide of former Lagos State, Tayo Ayinde, his principal, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; his son, Seyi, during the latter’s graduation at Buckingham University, United Kingom.

•Managing Partner, Future Project Adebola Williams (left); Minister for Youth Development Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi; Governor Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Governor Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) at the Nigerian Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders in Lagos... yesterday PHOTO: BOLA OMILABU.

•L-R:Founder, Punuka Foundation Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN); former Head of State Gen Yakubu Gowon (rtd); First Catholic Nigerian Military Chaplain and oldest Catholic priest in Nigeria Rt. Rev. Monsignor Pedro Ayodele Martins and Rev. Monsignor Francis Ogunmodede when Gowon visited Pedro in Victoria Island, Lagos.

•Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria Ryuichi. Shoji; Minister of State for Education Mr Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and Director, Basic and Secondary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs Mabel Ozumba during the flag off of the 4th In-Service Education and Training (INSET) management workshop in Abuja ... yesterday

FRICA is in trouble. Its future is once again on the table, and it is Europe that holds the ace.

Unlike the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885 which balkanized Africa among 13 European powers as guaranteed sources of raw materials and market, the current contraption under the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) spearheaded from Brussels is the modern day equivalent of the Berlin Conference. At issue in both Berlin and Brussels is whether or not Africa can be allowed latitude to conduct trade, industrial and development policies for her own development or for the development of Europe. A major difference is that the ‘agreement’ will now be signed by free people, under supposedly democratic regimes, and in contexts where the African people again have neither voice nor choice. Only about 10 out of 47 Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA) have either signed or initialled the EPAs. Trade ministers of the affected regions—the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries as well as African trade ministers and the African Union—have largely rejected the EPAs. Despite all these, and the reported public protests in 20 countries against the raw deal, it seems all but certain to be rammed through. In private whisperings, not many Africans or policymakers are happy with the deal but there is a certain sense of helplessness.

Since 2002, the EU has been negotiating the EPAs with the ACP countries as a fully reciprocal trade arrangement to replace the previous non-reciprocal, preferential trade access of ACP countries to EU markets under the various Lome Conventions and the Cotonou Agreement. The argument, according to the EU, is that such preferential access violated Article XXIV of GATT, and that the WTO waiver that allowed such preferences expired in December 2007. Consequently, the ACP countries are divided into seven regions (with five in Africa) for the purposes of the negotiations. As advertised, EPAs are “set out to help ACP countries integrate into the world economy and share in the opportunities offered by globalization”. The EU points to the ‘failures’ of the previous preferential arrangements to ‘boost local economies and stimulate growth in ACP countries’. Thus, the new reciprocal arrangement is expected to remedy the failures of the past and usher the Eldorado to Africa.

Specifically, EPAs are expected to be “tailor-made” to suit specific regional circumstances; go beyond conventional free-trade agreements, focusing on ACP development, taking account of their socio-economic circumstances and include co-operation and assistance to help ACPs implement the Agreements; open up EU markets fully and immediately (unilaterally by the EU since 1st January 2008), but allowed ACPs 15 (and up to 25) years to open up to EU imports while providing protection for the sensitive 20% of imports; provide scope for wide-ranging trade co-operation on areas such as services and standards; and are also designed to be drivers of change that will kickstart reform and help strengthen rule of law in the economic field, thereby attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), so helping to create a “virtuous circle” of growth. The above sounds quite familiar, and anyone familiar with the Structural Adjustment

Programme (SAP) documents will recognize the language. Consequently, countries were rushed to initial interim EPAs before the end of 2007, and some countries went on to sign them later. These have mainly been single countries. Most of the sub-regions, as groups of countries, are still negotiating the regional EPAs (e.g. West Africa, Central Africa, SADC etc).

Put simply, in order to continue to have access to European markets (on the terms that it had enjoyed for more than three decades) Africa is now required to eliminate tariffs on at least 80% of imports from the EU; in some cases, abolish all export duties and taxes, in others, countries can retain existing export taxes but not increase them or introduce new taxes; eliminate all quantitative restrictions ; and meet all kinds of other intrusive and destructive conditionalities that literally tie the hands of African governments to deploy the same kinds of instruments that all countries that have industrialized applied to build competitive national economies. Under the WTO, least developed countries (LDCs) are not required to further reduce their tariffs (at least they have the choice to decide whether and when to do so) but EPAs require at least 80% of them eliminated. Indeed, Africa is being asked to comply with more stringent conditions than Brazil, India and China are required to meet under the WTO. Almost all the flexibilities in policy choice that Africa and other developing countries won under the WTO are lost under the EPAs. Hitherto, the EU had also (in addition to the Cotonou Agreement) granted a special concession to all African LDCs – the ‘Everything But Arms’ (EBA) allowing them to export duty-free to the EU. This was the EU’s equivalent of the US Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) and African LDCs were not expected to reciprocate. With EPA, it means that EBA is effectively dead.

LDCs would have to provide reciprocal market access opening. In addition, what the EU has failed to get under the WTO or issues that developing countries have rejected under the WTO are being foisted on Africa under the EPA. For example, the socalled trade-related issues (the Singapore issues) such as investment, competition and transparency in government procurement, which are dead under WTO are being smuggled into EPA. There are all kinds of studies on the possible effects of the EPAs on African economies. While it is fair to acknowledge that some of the presumed impacts (positive and negative) may be exaggerated, there is abundant evidence that the EPAs would be damaging. Africa’s nascent industrial sector and agriculture (which is the mainstay of the poor) would be damaged by the new import armada and dumping thereby exacerbating unemployment and poverty. In some countries, imports of sugar, dairy, poultry, rice, vegetable oil, etc have already increased four-fold. Tariff revenues will shrink; premature and permanent opening up of service sectors including financial services leaves them open to the full hazards of the perennial global financial bubbles; and it will badly hurt intra-African economic integration. Africa would almost be consigned to be specialists in the export of raw materials. African countries cannot use government procurement

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

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NEWS

Brussels: Will Europe underdevelop Africa again?

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EPA, as currently designed, is a poison chalice. Fragmenting Africa and ramming through deadly trade arrangements in a manner that undermines internal African integration, ties the hands of policymakers and circumscribes the policy space, and literally enslaves the African economy may be smart for Europe in the shortrun but not wise in the long term

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• Prof. Soludo

and contracts to prop up and promote domestic companies as European companies would be required to be given equal treatment in competition for government contracts. The list of the damages is long and cannot be detailed here. Some independent studies by EU admit these damages, and one such study predicts that EPA could accelerate the collapse of manufacturing in West Africa. Perhaps, that is why the EU is promising ‘aid for trade’ – to sooth and compensate for some of the damages. hat is worrying is that it is difficult to point to any significant net benefit of EPAs to Africa. Already 33 out of the 47 countries are LDCs and therefore qualify to export ‘everything but arms’ to the EU with 100% duty-free and quota-free. So, what is the additional benefit to these countries? For the remaining 14 non-LDC countries, it is curious why the EU cannot accede to the request by the African Union to treat Africa as the world’s archetyphal LDC region and grant the same EBA to all of the countries. Or, alternatively there are several proposals about benchmarking and sequencing the conditionalities/liberalization to synchronize with economic advancement of these remaining 14 countries. So far, these proposals have not been accepted by the European Commission even for discussion.

In any case, the EU’s peculiar interpretation of Article XXIV of GATT is a convenient one. The EU relies on this Article to argue that the WTO outlaws non-reciprocal, preferential trade to Africa under the Cotonou Agreement.

But the same Article refers to trade in goods, and so why has EU brought up all kinds of issues – services, investment, procurement into the EPA? Second, it must be noted that this article crafted in 1947 is itself still a subject of the Doha trade negotiations. Third and to be honest about it, the WTO does allow for non-reciprocal preferential trade arrangements if the motivation for EU’s action is to assist Africa. Currently there are more than seven active waivers in the WTO provided to the US, EU and Canada for preferential trade schemes for developing countries and transition economies.

For example, the US has a waiver for its AGOA for sub-Saharan Africa.

Recently, the EU has obtained two waivers to grant non-reciprocal trade preferences to poorer European countries namely, Moldova, and another one to the Western Balkan transition economies (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo). It is remarkable to note the EU’s argument for applying for waiver to the

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WTO in respect of Moldova. According to the EU, “Moldova is the poorest country on the European continent… and does not have the competitive strength to take reciprocal obligations of a free-trade agreement with the European Communities” (WTO document of 29 February, 2008).

But Moldova (the poorest European country with per capita income of about $2,300; life expectancy of 71 years and adult literacy rate of 99%) is far better than most sub-Saharan African countries, and not to talk of much richer ones like Croatia with about $10,000 per capita income. Compare this to much of Africa and even the 14 countries dubbed ‘non-LDC’ (Nigeria has a per capita income of about $1,200; Ghana $1,475; Kenya $1,125; etc and in all of these countries poverty incidence is at least 50%). Something is not adding up here. According to the EU, granting non-reciprocal preferential trade concessions to fellow European countries that are richer than most African countries does not violate WTO rules, but doing so for Africa does. Africa remains the world’s poorest region and perhaps the last development challenge. The EU needs to come up with a credible explanation. I can almost hear some people screaming… Double standards, or isn’t it?

EU needs to come clean. It does not have to apologize about it because after all, it can argue that it is the way the world works. From the time of slavery to the Berlin conference, Africa has either been a source of free labour and profit or source of raw materials and market. Only the dynamics change but the substance has remained. After all, nation states hardly act out of love but in pursuit of self-interests.

We appreciate that the global economy today is rumbling, with

new tensions and challenges. As the old economic powers are largely broke, the emerging economies with cash are roaring. The BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are seen as the ‘new threats’. The global economic landscape is unravelling and recoupling in such a manner that would likely alter the economic, military, and geopolitical power in the medium term. With this has emerged new pressures and demand for exhaustible natural resources and markets to sustain national security and prosperity. Since the major powers are no longer able to make use of the WTO as they wish to impose new rules on developing countries, they are now resorting to bilateral and regional policies and agreements to try and get their way. There is a subtle war for ‘territories’ and Neo-mercantilism is the name of the game. he US is locking-in its neighbours in Latin America into one form of free trade agreement (FTA) or another. Africa has once again attracted attention as a theatre of the new struggle. China is accused by the West of either ‘invading’ or ‘exploiting’ Africa with its peculiar brand of ‘aid’. In this circumstance, it could only be expected that EU would move quickly to secure its possession—Africa. In the European Commission’s 2008 document entitled: “The Raw Materials Initiative— Meeting our Critical Needs for Growth and Jobs in Europe” and presented to the European Parliament and the Council, one can get a clearer glimpse of the real impetus for EPA. Trust the sophistication of the negotiators, it is being branded as an initiative to ‘help’ or ‘develop’ Africa. History repeats itself in a funny way. Recall that the advertised ‘benefit’ to Africa of the Berlin conference that cemented colonization was to ‘help in

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suppressing slavery’. The rest is history!

In terms of the technique deployed to coerce compliance by Africa, it is the old classic: divide and rule, and carrot and stick. EU negotiates as a bloc, but ACP countries are divided into seven regions, sometimes not exactly matching the regional integration arrangements. Even within the negotiating regions, each country is literally on its own: that way, it is easy to pick them off one by one. If Africa negotiates as a bloc, it may be difficult for EU to get its way easily. The principle of the early bird is applied to create what economists call the prisoner’s dilemma and thus making collective action difficult. Countries that have ‘signed’ are allowed to continue to enjoy their preferential access to European market while those that have not signed are under all kinds of threats.

Those already in the privileged club do not want to lose their privileges and see themselves as ‘special’ while those excluded struggle to sign on the dotted lines. Different EPAs signed by different countries contain significant differences in terms of tariff lines, sequencing and speed of liberalization, depending on the negotiating capacity of the country/region. We understand that in some cases, the advisers to some countries’ negotiators are Europeans. Most countries still resist and now export under the EU Generalized System of Preferences (GSP); EBA for the LDCs; and the standard GSP for Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Gabon and some Pacific countries. South Africa continues with its old free trade arrangement with EU. Even the GSP for some countries is now under threat. Power is the issue here. Given the weaknesses of the states and structural vulnerabilities of most African countries, including dependence on aid and trade with Europe for many, it is evident that what is going on is not negotiation but dictation.

The apparent sweetener to the bitter pill is the EU’s ‘promise’ of ‘EU Aid for Trade’ by which EU is to provide financial assistance to EPA countries to enable them build capacity, including infrastructure, and facilitate their implementation of the new agreement. This new ‘promise’ for aid is indeed funny, and raises important questions. Is this going to be an ‘additional aid’ or a re-branding of existing but unmet commitments? Under the auspices of the United Nations, the rich industrial countries in 1970 committed to devote 0.7% of their Gross National Income to aid. Some 42 years now, it remains a promise not kept.

Only five countries- Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, and Luxemburg have met the 0.7% of GNI in aid.

We have lost count of the numerous conferences and summits for mobilizing resources for development and the numerous ‘promises’ of increased aid. None of the previous ‘promises’ of funding for Africa’s development has been met. Neither the Lagos Plan of Action nor the Africa’s Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programme (which was approved by UN-General Assembly) received any support. The UN New Agenda for the Development of Af-

We hope if EPAs are to be domesticated, it will not be the kind of charade of ‘rent a crowd’ consultations that were designed to rubber stamp the poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs). We now know better and must therefore do better. Africa and Europe need a “Development Summit”: we need to talk to each other frankly and directly. If the issue is ‘development’ of Africa, there are certainly superior alternative proposals for a more beneficial relationship between Europe and Africa. The African Union, various sub-regional groupings, and even the ACP ministers of trade have canvassed alternatives to EPA.

‘

rica in the 1990s did not receive the promised financial assistance. By 2001, the African Union in Zambia launched its New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), and at the 2002 G-8 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, NEPAD was adopted by G-8 leaders as “a bold and clear-sighted vision” for Africa and pledged financial assistance to ensure that NEPAD did not go the way of previous efforts. At the UN Conference on ‘Financing for Development (Monterrey, Mexico), more pledges were made. The result of all of these ‘pledges’ is that aid to Africa has fallen since the mid-1990s in nominal and real terms. recent one was the EU’s ‘promise’ to increase aid to 0.56% of GNI by 2010 (aid to all countries not just Africa). Our question is whether the ‘aid for trade’ will be additional to the yet to be met 0.7% or is a new benchmark being ‘promised’? Without doubt Africa needs huge resources to develop intra and inter regional transportation networks to integrate the national markets as well as to address the myriad of critical supply bottlenecks that were decisive in preventing Africa from fully taking advantages of previous preferential trade arrangements. However, anyone following the developments in the EU as well as its history of delivering on previous ‘promises’ can make some judgements as to the credibility of a new ‘promise’.

Beside the quantum of aid, the quality of its delivery is critical. The kind of ‘aid for trade’ that Africa needs should be in the quantum and delivery mechanism that should build the infrastructure to integrate the fragmented African markets into a common market. Currently, it is more expensive for many African countries to trade with fellow African countries than with Europe. But aid to Africa is largely country-specific and neither the EU nor the World Bank has a robust framework for regional aid or lending. Country based ‘aid for trade’ even when it is of any significant quantity and quality merely reinforces existing fragmentation, creating a hub and spoke framework whereby Europe is the hub and individual African countries constitute the spokes.

On a related subject, is EPA going to happen in the context of the continued existence of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with its harmful subsidy regime? In 2006, a leading UK newspaper, The Independent, succinctly captured the travesty. According to the newspaper, the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) “lavishes subsidies on the UK’s wealthiest farmers and biggest landowners at the expense of millions of poorest farmers in the developing world. The UK Government must lobby hard within the EU to agree an overhaul of the CAP by 2008 to put an end to the vicious cycle of overproduction and dumping. The £30bna-year EU agricultural subsidy regime is one of the biggest iniquities facing farmers in Africa and other developing countries.

They cannot export their products because they compete with the lower prices made possible by payments. In addition, European countries dump thousands of tons of subsidised exports in Africa every year so that local producers cannot even compete on a level playing field in their own land.

Meanwhile, governments of developing countries come under intense pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to scrap their own tariffs and subsidies as part of free trade rules”.

How apt! As at 2011, the subsidy totalled about £48 billion per year (about US$75 billion) and it is expected to stay at this level until at least 2020. Yet African countries are expected to liberalize NOW. Some analysts have opined that the huge subsidy in Europe is an implicit tariff of hundreds of per cent on agricultural imports. Alternatively, some believe such subsidy amounts to banning imports of agricultural goods and promoting dumping in other countries—especially Africa.

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Continued on page 62

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

6

NEWS Fed Govt, states, councils share N620b From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor), Abuja

THE Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting which dragged on into the night ended with the three tiers of government sharing N620.738 billion as allocation for February.

The gross revenue of N766.772 billion was higher than the N666.324 billion shared in the previous month.

The increase was due to increase in Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)collections for December, last year and January, as well as upward review of PPT estimates by oil companies.

The distributable statutory revenue for February was N402.192 billion, which showed an increase of N34.006 billion or 9.24 per cent when compared to that of January.

Besides, N152.745 billion was proposed as augmentation as a result of the short fall in distributable revenue budgeted.

Also shared was N7.617 billion refunded by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), while N58.184 billion was shared as proceeds from Value Added Tax (VAT).

There was an exchange gain of N11.323 billion being the difference between the average prevailing exchange rate and the budgeted rate.

As a result of this development, the Federal Government received N260.187 billion, the states N131.970 billion and local governments N101.744 billion as statutory allocations.

The oil producing states shared N60.249 billion as 13 per cent oil and gas mineral revenue derivation.

EU’s N20b to battle corruption

Lagos set to ‘allocate’ land to 549 landlords

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AGOS State government yesterday said it would meet with members of the Shangisha Landlords Association on how to enforce the Supreme Court judgment which ordered it to allocate 549 plots of land to the plaintiffs.

Addressing reporters , Lagos Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN) said the judgment was not specific on exact plots to be allocated.

He added that there would be no monetary compensation, as the judgment did not say so, but that if there is no longer enough land in the area to be allocated, the landlords may be offered alternative land elsewhere after due audit.

The Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, delivered on September 25, 2005. The Appeal Court had endorsed the judgment of the state High

LUTH workers on warning strike THE health workers union of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) yesterday began a three-day warning strike over non-payment of their February salary.

Mr Isiaka Busari, Chairman, Joint House Unions and Associations made this known at a congress organised by the union to channel their demands.

The associations include the Forum of Federal Health Institutions Nurses and Midwives, Senior Staff Association of University Teaching Hospital, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria and Non-Academic Staff Union.

By Joseph Jibueze

Court against the government.

According to the High Court, the landlords whose lands and buildings at Shangisha village were demolished by the military government between June 1984 and May 1985 “are entitled to the first choice preferential treatment by the Lagos State government before any other person(s) in the allocation or re-allocation of the plots in Shangisha village.”

The court also made a mandatory order that 549 plots should be allocated the plaintiffs, which the Supreme Court agreed with.

Pedro said: “As it is now, the Supreme Court has spoken. Whether we are happy with it or not, we are bound by that decision and we will find a way to comply with that

decision.

“The state government is already working to make sure that the plaintiffs are taken care of, and that government allottees in Shangisha and Magodo are also protected so that everybody is happy. We’ll soon meet with the landlords.

“It is our responsibility as a responsible government to ensure that the judgment is complied with. But how do you want to enforce it, how?

The land does not have a survey. Is it south or is it east? It’s a bit difficult, but we appreciate the point that the oracle has spoken, and we must comply.

“It is a declaration of right which the Supreme Court has just affirmed, that these claimants are entitled to be allocated land. So that’s a right; there’s no dispute about that. The only problem is the consequential order to allocate. That is why

the parties must now sit down and work together to see to the enforcement of the judgment.

“The allocation, mind you, the way I understand it – I may be wrong – is not for free. It’s like every other individual who has applied for land, but that is a right.”

On financial compensation, Pedro said: “The issue of monetary compensation has not arisen. It’s not part of the judgment. Land officers will be able to tell us what is available in Magodo/Shangha. There are so many vacant plots there.

Maybe there are some that have even been revoked.

“Lagos is fast developing in every sector. If we don’t have land in a scheme, we may offer an alternative scheme that may be comparable in value to that. By the grace of God between three to six months, the matter should be behind us.”

He said the fact the case has

taken so long was no fault of the government. “It is not that any particular officer is at fault or deliberately wanted to frustrate the claimants from having land there.

“I recall that about 150 plots were reserved for them then, which the claimants refused to accept. If they had accepted it then, maybe we won’t get to where we are. Another military regime came and asked why land is being kept for those who don’t want it. They allocated it.

And who is the officer to say no under a military regime?

“We just didn’t appeal for appealing sake or to delay, but we felt very sure that the judgment of the High Court should be set aside by the appellate courts, but we were proved wrong.”

He said the High Court did not give the state government an opportunity to be heard during trial, and it made a consequential order that was not prayed for.

•Members of Catholic Knights of Saint Mulumba who converged on the Devine Mercy Secondary School for their second and third degree promotion examination in Abuja...yesterday

Excessive heat to continue until, says meteorologist

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

THE European Union yesterday spoke of its readiness to support Nigeria with N20 billion (98 million Euros) in its battle to fight corruption, drugs and crime.

It was at a high level project briefing session hosted by the National Planning Commission (NPC). Heads of several agencies attended the session.

At the meeting, the European Union Delegation to Nigeria stated its commitment to finance the three sectors.

•Perm Sec: Supreme Court has spoken

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HE excessive heat being experienced in Lagos State is to continue, at least for now, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) said yesterday.

It attributed the development to the presence of moistures in the atmosphere.

Chief Meteorologist Central Forecast Office (NIMET) Oshodi, Lagos Mr Abayomi Oyegoke, told the News

Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the moisture was due to the transition from dry to rainy season.

He described moistures as nuclear agents that converted heat into rain, adding that their presence resulted in high atmospheric temperature.

Oyegoke said the excessive heat would be experienced until the onset of the rainy season.

He said: “The presence of the mois-

ture is responsible for the heat and sweating being experienced here, unlike in the North where there is no presence of moisture but dryness. “ We are not yet in the rainy season; the atmosphere is preparing to change into another season.’’

The NIMET chief said the excessive heat could result in the outbreak of meningitis in humans and chickens, as well as rashes on human skin.

“Poultry owners will be more concerned now because of the heat that will affect their chickens,’’ he said.

Oyegoke advised parents to apply some cooling aids on children to avoid such diseases.

Lagosians have been crying out against the excessive heat, especially at night, regretting that poor power supply prevented them from using air conditioners and fans to reduce the heat.

Why exploitation of oil in North is delayed, by Sambo

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HE Director General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Prof Abubakar Sambo, yesterday stated that exploitation of oil in the North is yet to begin because of politics.

According to him, Nigeria has refused to do enough investigation on the oil in the North because there is oil in the Niger Delta.

He added that politics has stalled the exploitation of the petroleum reserve in Bauchi and Gombe states even when it is evident that they have oil.

The Direction General also noted that it is even more costly to develop oil in underwater than on the surface.

Driving home his point, Sambo, who spoke with reporters at the second Summit on Energy and Sustainable Economic Growth in Abuja, stressed that except Nigeria, all other countries situated

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

on the Lake Chad basin have begun oil exploitation.

He recalled that while he was a Vice Chancellor in Bauchi, he raised the point but people said he was playing politics.

He said: “Are you aware that Niger has started exploiting oil? Are you aware that Cameroon and Chad are also taking their own. Which country is left in the Lake Chad that is not exploiting its own? It is Nigeria and what is stopping it? Before Niger started, it was Chad and Cameroon alone.

“Now, Niger is actually taking from Damagaram .

There is refinery in Niger from Damagaram. So what are we waiting for? Instead of transporting oil from the Niger Delta, we have it there.

Now Niger last year started, the only country left is Ni-

geria.

“Earlier on, some Nigerians thought it is politics, how can there be oil in the North.

There cannot be oil in the North, so they refused to do the full investigation. But Niger started taking last year. Chad, Cameroon have taken, so why not Nigeria?

Are we stupid? Why ?

During his presentation titled: Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development, the Director General alleged that it is criminal for Nigeria to import fuel despite the numbers of refineries in the country.

Sambo said the current reliance on one source of energy is dangerous, therefore Nigeria must attain energy mix to ensure energy security.

Said he: “For example, the issue of energy import, It is what government has started to be doing that you will

make sure that the refineries in the country are virtually in full capacity so that we minimise the import of energy into the country. Also, another indicator is the expansion of energy mix to ensure expanded energy security level. And here, we are saying instead of the situation in the country that we are relying on gas and hydro for electricity we should expand to include solar energy, to include wind, cleaner coal in addition to nuclear power.”

The Director General highlighted that the current pattern of energy supply and consumption are unsustainable because energy supplied is grossly inefficiently utilised.

The International Technical Adviser of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dr. Jason Hong said the organization is currently carrying out stud-

•Sambo

ies on the energy consumption in Nigeria in order to ascertain the energy that can be produced .

Besides, he said the UNDP is also working on a project targeted at ensuring the adoption of renewable energy in Nigeria, stressing that the idea is to reduce energy use and demand in the country.

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

7

NEWS

Son rejects suicide theory eory as Apagun Olumide is buried

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HE remains of the Apagunpote of Egbaland, Chief Oluwole Stephen Olumide, was buried yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The late Olumide's body was found last Saturday in an artificial lake at his cosy Golf Resort in Abeokuta.

The funeral, scheduled for 12 noon, did not begin until his body arrived at 2:58pm.

Six pallbearers removed the grey casket with a silver lining containing his remains from a Mercedes Benz car and took it into the deceased's Toria home in Ita-Eko, Abeokuta.

Olumide's remains was interred in the compound at 3:45pm yesterday.

His children, family and friends said he contributed immensely to the growth of the Egba people.

They said the late Olumide had no reason to commit suicide.

One of his sons, Seyi, who was calm throughout the funeral, described his father as "a loving person and a disciplinarian, who could not have taken his life".

He said: "My father was not troubled, so he had no reason to commit suicide. He was a disciplinarian and a loving father."

A businessman, Otunba Gbenga Ogungbe, said the late Olumide devoted his time and profession to the service of hu-

Truck crushes 72-year-old man to death in Ibadan From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

A

TRUCK loaded with cement yesterday crushed a 72-year-old man to death in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The incident occurred at Apata-Ganga.

The deceased, popularly called “The Boy” was employed to help pupils of IMG Primary School and Queens’ School, Apata, cross the everbusy BCGA part of the IbadanAbeokuta Road.

Sources said the victim, who retired from the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI), had completed his morning duty and was waiting for the afternoon duty to commence.

It was learnt that about 10am, the driver of a DAF truck marked Osun XB 963 WWD lost control of the vehicle and headed towards a pupil, who was roaming around the road during school hours.

Sources said the old man left where he was sitting and hurriedly dragged the pupil off the road, but he was not so lucky.

He died immediately, but thepupil was unhurt.

His remains were deposited at the mortuary by policemen from Apata Divisional Police Headquarters and the truck was impounded.

•Clerics and the children of the late Olumide...yesterday From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

manity and the Methodist Church, designing architectural works for many free of charge.

Former Managing Director of Daily Times Tola Adeniyi and former Minister of Steel Tunji Sarafa debunked the story that the deceased committed suicide.

They said he had no reason to take his life and prayed to

God to reveal the truth about Olumide's death.

Also present were former Governor Gbenga Daniel; the Methodist community; former Judge of the International Court of Justice Prince Bola Ajibola; Rear Admiral Oladeinde Joseph (rtd); Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Tunji Alapini; and former Commissioner for Sports Bukola Olopade.

At the morgue of the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital,

Aro, Abeokuta, where Olumide's body was kept, an argument ensued between the family and the state government over the propriety or otherwise of conducting an autopsy.

It was gathered that while the government insisted on an autopsy, the family objected to it, but the deceased's first son, Femi, later allowed the autopsy.

The report is not yet known.

In his sermon, Rev. Benjamin Obaselu of the Methodist Church, Imo, Abeokuta, where the deceased worshipped, said death was inevitable and urged people to live a purposeful life.

Former Secretary of the Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF) Patrick Nwagbale said: “Olumide will be missed by the golf community. I am still shocked by his death. I hope the police will unravel the real

Why ACN has many governorship aspirants in Ondo

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GOVERNORSHIP aspirant of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo State, Mr. Sola Iji, yesterday said the emergence of many governorship aspirants and the influx of people into the party is a good development.

He said it demonstrates the popularity of the ACN and the determination of the citizenry to embrace its people-oriented programmes.

Iji, a former state chairman of the party, said: “The people are fed up with the administration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, which has made no impact on the life of the citizenry.

“ACN is now the platform

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

of choice for anyone desirous of contesting the governorship seat to bring about positive changes in the state. This is the result of the confidence people are building in the party, as well as the belief that ACN represents good governance.”

He said he has led his campaign group, Sunshine Mandate, twice on a tour of the 203 wards in the state to seek the support of party leaders in his aspiration.

The aspirant said he has coordinators in all the wards to strengthen his campaign.

He said: “We do not want to work at cross-purposes with the party structure. The Sunshine Mandate group has co-

ordinators in the 203 wards, 18 local governments and three senatorial districts to mobilise the electorate on a daily basis for ACN.” Iji debunked the rumour that the party has zoned the governorship ticket to Ondo North. He said there is no such agreement and the contest is open to aspirants from any part of the state.

On the increasing number of aspirants, the lawyer said: “It is one thing to aspire and another to be the choice candidate. We know only one candidate will emerge and when that happens, others will surrender to the wish of the party.”

He was confident that the

selection process would be fair and a credible aspirant will emerge as the party’s flag bearer.

On his plan for the state if he becomes governor, Iji said ACN has cardinal programmes, particularly on industrialisation, which would be promoted.

Decrying the state government’s “over dependence” on the monthly allocation from the Federation Account, he said he would establish new industries and revamp the old ones.

Iji said he would promote agriculture and create jobs.

He urged the people to support ACN in order to attain the desired development in the state.

Oyo approves contracts for repair of roads, schools, bridges

T

HE Oyo State Government yesterday approved contracts for the rehabilitation of nine roads, 35 public schools and seven bridges destroyed by floods last year.

Commissioner for Works Yunus Akintunde and his Education counterpart, Mrs. Adetokunbo Fayokun, announced this while speaking with reporters after the State Executive Council meeting yesterday.

Akintunde said the bridges, which will cost N1,561,988,344.60, are those in Ogbere Babanla, Apete,

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

Olomi, Secretariat Road, Ayeye, Osoro River (all in Ibadan) and Alaadorin/ Sakutu in Oyo town.

He said the road contracts were awarded at the cost of N1,233,252,785.

The roads are Monatan, Ibadan; Sanyo-Oke-OdeAgbamu; Eleyele-IdoEruwa; Iseyin-Ogun River; Ajaawa-Mowolowo; Igboho Deeper-Oloko; Ogun River Bridge-Moniya and Ajana Junction-Laha Community Primary School, Kishi roads.

Akintunde said the

dualisation of the Old Ife Road and many others have been included in the 2012 budget.

The contracts for the repair of 41 roads had earlier been awarded.

The nine new contracts bring the number of roads under repair to 50.

Mrs. Fayokun said the contracts for the rehabilitation of schools, which is the first phase, would cost N279,367,977.07.

She said the rehabilitation of schools would be continuous, because effective learning can only take

place in a conducive environment.

Mrs. Fayokun said the distribution of laboratory equipment to schools has started today and 7,000 pairs of furniture have been approved for some schools.

She said 935,956 exercise books would be distributed to senior secondary across the state, adding that primary and junior secondary school pupils have already benefitted from the gesture.

The commissioner said education is a priority of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration.

circumstances of his death.

“He was one of the country’s best architects. His professional savvy is reflected in the Abeokuta Golf Course, which he carved out of a wooded forest at the Imasan Hills in the early 1990s.”

NGF Secretary Bola Adedeji said: “Although I never met him, I heard a lot about him. It is painful to lose such an important dignitary in the golf family.”

Workers warned against hooliganism From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

THE Oyo State Government has warned civil servants against acts of hooliganism.

It was reacting to reports that some civil servants disrupted academic activities in public schools in Ibadan, the state capital, yesterday over the new wage table released by the government.

In a statement, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Akin Olajide, said: “The attention of the government has been drawn to the activities of some hoodlums who disrupted school activities in two local government areas in Ibadan.

“The government will not condone such acts of illegality by hoodlums sponsored by the opposition and has alerted security agencies to apprehend these hoodlums and bring them to book.

“The government assures parents, students and all the good people of Oyo that it will not allow the peace that has reigned in the state since the inception of this administration to be truncated by the antics of opposition politicians.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

8

CITYBEATS

E-mail:- ynotcitybeats@gmail.com

Assaulted man gets N400,000 from agency

Starcomms identifies with customers NIGERIA’S leading Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator Starcomms Plc, has spiced up this year’s Mother’s Day celebration with the sweet mother song ringtone.

It said customers can download the song, a classic, by Prince Nico Mbarga and set as their ring back tones.

Mother’s Day is a celebration honouring mothers and celebrating motherhood. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world. In Nigeria, the celebration took place last Saturday.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Logan Pather said Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate womanhood.

Institute takes off A SCHOOL which offers the best education for those intending to venture into dry cleaning industry has opened in Lagos.

The Chief Executive Officer of Clean Ace School of Drycleaning, Mr Enibukun Adebayo said training would begin tomorrow.

He explained that it is targeted towards ensuring the acquisition of skills and improving the standard of professional dry cleaners.

Two killed in Lagos clash

•Shittu

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MIDDLE aged man, Mr.Tayo Shittu, who was brutalised by men of the Ojota unit of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has secured a N400,000 compensation at a Federal High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

Shittu was brutalised by the

their belts and other objects at their disposal.

He was injured, Battered Shittu thereafter reported the matter to the nearest police station and filed a report for legal assistance at the Iyun Street, Surulere Office of the Office of Public Defender (OPD).

The matter was taken to a Federal High Court, at Ikeja by the OPD. After failing to appear in court on two occasions; the Corps came up with in out of court settlement option, which was not objected to by the OPD, but with condition that a letter of apology must accompany the settlement.

The court awarded Shittu N400,000 as compensation for the assault. The officials also presented him an apology letter for the treatment meted to him.

350 retirees get N1.7b from govt

By Jude Isiguzo

TWO persons were killed yesterday in an early morning communal clash which engulfed Mile 12 and its environs.

Sources told CityBeats the clash and destruction of properties began when some Hausa men allegedly killed a Yoruba man on the allegation that he attempted to steal a motorcycle.

It was learnt that after the killing, the Hausa men carried the corpse of the deceased from the location where he was murdered and were about to dump him in a canal somewhere around Mile 12 when some people saw them.

According to sources, they were spotted around Ajegunle/Erawon canal with the corpse with matchete cuts by some street urchins who demanded an explanation.

By Yinka Aderibigbe

corps officials when he went to renew his driver’s license at the Ojota command.

According to Shittu, he had gone to the office to renew his expired driver’s licence when he met two officers, who gave

him an application form and collected his two passport photographs as well as his expired driver’s licence. One of the officers, a women, also showed him samples of original and fake licences and stated further that while the original would cost him N6,000 the fake would cost only N4,000.

Shittu said he opted for the original, but he told the woman he would pay only N5,500 instead of the N6,000. The officer rejected the offer, and when he requested for a return of his money and documents, the woman refused to return them.

He was ordered not to complain to any superior officer around as at that time.

When Shittu attempted to defy their order and report the case, the officers descended on him in annoyance, beating him with

L

AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola has disbursed retirement bond certificates worth N1.7 billion to 350 retired workers.

Fashola presented the certificates to the beneficiaries at the NECA Building, Alausa, Ikeja. He restated his administration’s commitment to the payment of benefits to retirees as and when due.

The governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said funds had been disbursed into the retirement savings account of the beneficiaries.

He said the government was resolutely committed to the implementation of a pension policy that would secure the future of workers. “While there will always be room for improvement of the pro-

By Miriam Ndikanwu

cess, I am proud to assert that issues of malpractice are fading in our state’s pension administration. We have demonstrated the greatest commitment to the success of the scheme,” he said.

The governor disclosed that, as at January, the government has paid N29.38 billion into the Contributory Pension Scheme since its inception.

He said: “Also, redemption of Retirement Bond Certificates which commenced in the state in October 2010, with the payment of N412.8 million to the first batch of 103 retirees, grew to N5.8 billion with the payment of the fourth batch of 471 retirees last October.

“With the payment of N1.7 bil-

lion, the total of redeemed retirement bond certificates to 1,471 retirees stood at N7.5 billion. This is a clear demonstration of the unwavering commitment of the Lagos State Government to the wellbeing of those that have so diligently served the state.”

Fashola said Section 4 of the Pension Reform Law, provides two alternative exit options for retirees, which he said were Programmed Withdrawal by the Pension Fund Administrators, (PFAs) and Annuity for Life by Insurance Companies. “It has, however, come to light that majority of those who have retired so far under the scheme have embraced the programmed withdrawal, while just a few opted for the annuity for life,” he stated.

He added the government,

through the Lagos State Pension Commission LASPEC will continue to organise pre-retirement seminars for all intending retirees.

The Director-General, LASPEC, Mr. Rotimi Hussain, said the commission would continue to ensure the retirees enjoy a life of financial independence, saying that seminars have been lined up for all those who are slated to retire between January and July this year.

He said: “The main objective of these seminars is to help workers come to terms with life in retirement and prepare them for their physical, emotional and financial well-being in retirement.”

He advised retirees to invest their money in lucrative ventures and avoid spending on frivolities.

Group donates to Somalia

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HE Human Concern Foundation International (HCFI) has donated N1.015 million to Somalian nationals.

The cheque presentation was held last weekend at Victoria Island, Lagos. The fund raising was coordinated by the World Assembly of Muslim Youths (WAMY).

The presentation is the first fund realised from the appeal for the non-governmental organisation to the general public for donation in aid of the Somalia.

HCFI Executive Director Dr Ibraheem Oreagba, said the body is an international relief and development-oriented organisation committed to alleviating poverty and providing relief to people encountering disaster and difficulty all over the world.

Oreagba said the body also specialises in the areas of health and nutrition, education and training, water and sanitation, and income generation for those in dire need.

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

He said: “Today, I humbly bring to your attention the pitiable situation of the weak, helpless, vulnerable and defenseless people of Somalis.

“They live like scavengers on account of unending civil war and the catastrophic effects of famine.

Somalia that was once the pride of Africa is now desolate. Majority of the people lack even the basic minimum of food, shelter and clothing.

“Disease, starvation and death have become recurring decimals with women and children becoming the worst affected.

“I therefore call on individuals and organisations to donate generously to the devastated and traumatised citizens of Somalia,” he said.

Receiving the donation on behalf of the Somalis, WAMY Director, ElShamy Anushi Shamy, thanked

•Dr Oreagba (left) presenting the cheque to Shamy

HCFI for its intervention.

Shamy assured the money will get to the intended beneficiaries

in just the same way that WAMY sent $25,000 to the people last year.

He urged other organisations

LAGOS EMERGENCY LINES STATE AGENCIES 4. KAI Brigade Phone Nos: 080-23036632; 0805-5284914 Head office Phone Nos: 3. LASTMA Emergency Numbers: 01-4703325; 01-7743026 080-75005411; 080-60152462 5. Rapid Response Squad (RRS) 080-23111742; 080-29728371 Phone Nos: 070-55350249; 080-23909364; 080-77551000 070-35068242 01-7904983 080-79279349; 080-63299264

1. Fire and Safety Services Control Room Phone Nos: 01-7944929; 080-33235892; 080-33235890; 080-23321770; 080-56374036.

2. Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Lagos Zonal Command Phone No:080-33706639; 01-7742771 Sector Commander Phone No: 080-34346168; 01-2881304

070-55462708; 080-65154338 767 or email: rapidresponsesquad@yahoo.com 6. Health Services – LASAMBUS Ambulance Services Phone Nos: 01-4979844; 01-4979866; 01-4979899; 01-4979888; 01-2637853-4; 080-33057916; 080-33051918-9; 080-29000003-5.

PHOTO: TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO

and individuals to emulate the HCFI. Somalia, he said, has been without a central government in the last two decades, leading to the breakdown of law and order, services and essential amenities.

“This has also been worsened by civil war and famine that have plagued the country for several years. The resulting deaths of women and children, the sick and the maimed, prompted WAMY to champion the cause of the Somalia people through the setting up of the Somalia Relief Fund,” he said.

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

9

CITYBEATS

E-mail:- ynotcitybeats@gmail.com

American official plants tree

AMAA 2012: South Africa leads the pack

A

CTORS from South Africa led the pack as Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), was unveiled last weekend in The Gambia.

Held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel, the nomination night was attended by The Gambia Minister of Works, Construction and Infrastructures, Mr. Francis Mboge, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Mr Touray Noah, and array of Gambian movie stars and their counterparts from Nigeria and Ghana, including, Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme, alias Aki and Pawpaw, Jackie Apiah and Majid Michel.

It was a night South Africa comes out at a heavy contender for most of the 24 categories, while Nigeria and Ghana follows in that order.

Among the films with the most nominations are State of Violence and How to Steal Two Million, both South African films and Ties that bind, a Ghanaian flick. However, Nigeria’s Adesuwa, Directed by Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, pooled

By Mercy Michael

ten nominations from various groupings.

The special category dedicated to Nigerian movies, featured; Unwanted Guest, Family On Fire, Alero’s Symphony, Adesuwa, Phone Swap. Of the seven contenders for the category of Best Actor In A Lead Role, three of them, Wale Ojo, Hakeem Kae-Kazim as well as Chet Anekwe are Nigerians.

The Best Actress in a Lead Role category has Nigeria’s Nse Ikpe Etim, Rita Dominic and Uche Jombo coming head to head with Ghana’s Yvonne Okoro, Ama K. Abebrese as well as Millicent Makheido and Kudzai SevenzoNyara.

Looking like a tough battle, the most coveted category, the AMAA 2011 Prize for Best Film sees State Of Violence (South Africa), Adesuwa (Nigeria), Otelo Burning (South Africa), Rugged Priest (Kenya), How to Steal Two Million (South Africa), Ties That Bind (Ghana) and Man on Ground (South Africa / Nigeria) vying to go home with the prize.

•Ikedieze with Apiah at the event

Man 23, bagged 9 months for stealing GSM phones

Kennis Music woos Kelly Hansome

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K

ENNIS Music is said to be in secret talks with Kelly Hansome.

The outfit is said to be considering reabsorbing the artiste with whom it severed recording relationship three years ago.

Sources said the talks which is receiving the artiste’s consideration started some months’ ago.

“Kennis Music is trying to sweet talk him into a return to the label as they seem to have forgiven him for all that transpired in the past.” The source who pleaded anonymity said.

On his part, Kelly Hansome is said to be willing to pitch tents again with Kennis Music, only if his demands are met.

“Kelly loves Kennis Music and he no longer has any hard feelings towards the label. He says he is ready to work with every member of the Kennis Music All Stars.

“Kelly says he already has a

THE representative of United States of America’s ConsularGeneral Mr Emmanuel Epongo has planted a memorial tree at Amowo-Odofin Local Government Area secretariat.

Epongo of the Political/Economic section of the consulate represented his boss Mr Mr. Joseph Stadford.

Welcoming Stadford, the council chief Comrade Ayodele Adewale said his administration remains committed to promoting fruitful economic ties with America.

He thereafter conducted the visitor round the local government secretariat, to inspect some ongoing projects including the newly created and equipped Climate Change Unit, solar–powered security lights within the secretariat, newly installed recycling bin, newly constructed and well furnished security post, the just completed council chapel project and ongoing council Mosque.

Other projects include, the new office complex, staff canteen, Primary Health Centre, among others.

•Kelly Hansome

By Ahmed Boulor

song for his come back in place so he has Kennis Music in his heart,” the source added.

On the other hand, should Kelly not accept Kennis Music’s latest approach then he would be asked to pay the sum of N6.5million to buy off his contract with the label.

LAGOS State Magistrate court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a 23-year old man, Kola Adele, to nine months imprisonment, with hard labour for stealing two GSM phones and money.

The prosecutor, Inspector Uthman Williams, told the court presided over by Magistrate Olagbegi Adelabu, at the weekend that Adele stole one Techno phone valued N2,500, another Visaphone valued N1,200 and N4,000 cash which amounted to N7,700; property of one Jude Okonkwo.

The offence, Inspector Williams said was committed along Berger Road, Abule-Egba, Lagos on November 3, 2011.

He said that the offence was punishable under section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Cap 17, Vol. II, Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.

The accused person pleaded guilty to the one count charge of

By ‘Tumininu Owolabi

stealing and Magistrate Olagbegi Adelabu sentenced him to nine months in prison.

In another development, the court presided over by Magistrate Adelabu also sentenced 33- year old Auwalu Mohammed, to six months imprisonment, with hard labour, for assault.

Auwalu Mohammed according to the prosecutor, was alleged to have assaulted one Sanusi Oseni, by stabbing him with broken bottle. The offence was committed on March 7, at the Olusosun refuse dump at Ojota.

The offence was said to be punishable under section 171 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011.

Mohammed pleaded guilty to the one count charge of assault and was sentenced to six months imprisonment by the Magistrate of the court, Mr. Olagbegi Adelabu.

Council chief promises overseas trip for teachers

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NY teacher, pupil or student of public schools in Ifako-Ijaiye Local government Area, with outstanding academic performance would be rewarded with an overseas trip.

The council chief Oloruntoba Oke announced the award against what he called misleading media report of falling standard of education at the council, following the poor performance of its pupils at the preliminary stage of this year’s Spelling Bee competition.

Oke who urged the teachers to brace up for the challenge of improving academic performance, assured of his administration’s commitment to upgrade infrastructure and provide modern instructional materials in schools.

The chairman admonished pupils to utilise their God given potentials and talents productively.

By Yinka Aderibigbe

Earlier the council’s Chairperson Mrs Modupe Oke, praised the Spelling Bee initiator, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, saying her contribution to educational development in the state was second to none. She added that the project’s products are “making waves in various universities at home and abroad.”

She said the unique reward of “One Day Governor” attached to the contest, has enhanced the quality public education in the state.

The competition which had 15 primary and eight secondary schools participating, produced Miss Christiana Daniel, of Iju Primary School, as the winner in the Primary School category.

Master Olubamise Daniel of Sanmori Senior Secondary School I, also emerged winner in the secondary school category.

•Wife of Ifako-Ijaiye council chairman, Mrs Oke, presenting the winner’s prize to Master Daniel, overall winner for senior school category...last week

Council threatens to sue traders’ leader

By Joseph Jibueze

CHAIRMAN of Mushin Local Government Area, Olatunde Adepitan, yesterday said the council may consider legal action to resolve its dispute over the management of the Aguiyi Ironsi International automobile spare parts market, Ladipo.

Addressing reporters in his office, Adepitan said the market leader, Mr Jonathan Okoli, has allegedly frustrated all effort to make peace.

“We are proposing legal action,” he said. Meanwhile, he said he has written Governor Babatunde Fashola on the move and on his effort to return normalcy to the market.

Adepitan said Okoli by his actions in the market, constitutes a security threat.

He said he has also written the Commissioner of Police, the Department of State Services, the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) on the development.

Adepitan denied the allegation that he went with thugs to the market, during which some traders were attacked and injured, saying the claim was untrue.

“I went to the market knowing that it is insecure. I went there with over 30 policemen in about eight patrol vans, a Blackmaria, and two patrol vans of military police. If I have done that, how will I bring thugs along with the police? Won’t the police tell the world that I took thugs there?

“Okoli was the one who called his Bakassi boys. The media were invited and I am very sure that they will have their records. Let him prove with his video recording that thugs were coming down from the Blackmaria to attack them.

Up till, no security agency has called me to ask why I took alleged thugs to the market with a Blackmaria that belongs to the police. We’re here because of the security of our people and we will work for it.

He said Okoli has made it impossible for the council to effectively manage the market through its partnership with Paramo Investments Limited.

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

10

NEWS ‘Why SMEs are not growing ’

By Ajose Sehindemi

THE Edo State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Osikhena-Boih Donald, has said low managerial ability and lack of access to capital hinder the growth and development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.

He said this in Benin at the opening of the graduate entrepreneurship training programme organised by the ministry in conjunction with BCD Ventures & Associates.

Donald said for MSMEs to occupy their rightful place in the economy, there is need for operators to be properly trained to acquire business management skills.

“Graduate entrepreneurship training will make small scale business owners to be better managers and cause MSMEs to grow and possess a high rate of development, there is need for unlimited access to capital.”

•Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan with pupils of Abuator Primary School, Asaba, when he visited the school...yesterday

Bayelsa by-election tomorrow From Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa

HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared seven candidates for tomorrow’s by-election to replace Governor Seriake Dickson at the Ekeremo/Sagbama Federal Constituency at the National Assembly.

Six candidates are to face the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) consensus candidate, Ms. Stella Dorgu.

The candidates are Jonathan Hamo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); Tolu Toboke of the Alliance Political System(APS), Adokeme Clement of the African Renaissance Party(ARP); Asima Ebariotu of the NMDP; Akpoebi Bufumoh of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC); and Mrs. Joy Prince Oniekpe of the Social Democratic Mega Party(SDMP).

T

Imoke appoints 28 special advisers From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

C

ROSS RIVER State Governor Liyel Imoke has approved the appointment of 28 special advisers.

Of this number, 14 are former political appointees.

The appointees retained include Edem Ekong; Ndem Ndiyo Ayara; Odo Effiong; Iyam Ugot; Nzan Ogbe; Gerald Adah; Tom Ogar and Peter Oti. Others are Edward Ogon; Roy Ndoma-Egba; Eja Dons Eseghe; Sam Oju and Edet Okon Asim.

A statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Mike Aniah, said Greg Ngaji was appointed deputy chief of staff and Christian Ita Chief Press Secretary/Special Adviser (Media).

Panic in Rivers as beggar ‘steals’ four men’s genitals T

HERE was pandemonium in the Rumuola, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, at the weekend, when a disabled beggar allegedly caused the disappearance of the reproductive organs of four men.

Eyewitnesses said trouble started at about 11am last Friday at the Rumuola Junction when a male passerby raised the alarm that his reproductive organ disappeared after he gave alms to a popular disabled beggar.

The loud complaints from the victim immediately attracted sympathisers, who confronted the beggar on his wheelchair.

Three others, one of them a trader, simply identified as Chigozie, also raised the alarm that their organs “vanished” immediately they joined the fray.

The development provoked angry youths of the community, who attacked disabled beggars on the road and anyone who looked like a member of the ethnic group from which the beggar came.

The suspect’s wheelchair was burnt.

The unrest was quelled by

From Wilson Yafigborhi, Port-Harcourt

men of the Joint Task Force and police patrol teams, who dispersed the mob and rescued the suspect.

He was taken to the Kala

Police Division with the four victims.

Policemen prevented relatives and spectators from entering the station, a development that further heightened the tension.

•The burnt wheelchair

The angry youths later stormed the neighbourhoods, searching for anyone thought to be from the beggar’s ethnic group, beating them up.

The suspect and victims were later moved to the Military Hospital on Aba Road for medical examination.

Eze Egba, a relative of Chigozie’s, confirmed the incident.

He said he consulted a military doctor who facilitated the release of the victims and the suspect.

It was gathered that the medical examinations revealed that the victims’ claims were baseless, as their genitals were found to be intact.

Not convinced of the medical confirmation at the military base, the victims were taken to a brothel for further confirmation.

There it was “confirmed” that their genitals were indeed intact and functional.

Contacted on the fate of the beggar, police spokesman Ben Ugwuegbulam said he was driving and could not give any information.

Court strikes out Rivers Contributory Law suit

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HE suit challenging the existence of the Rivers State Social Services Contributory Levy Law(2010) was yesterday struck out by a Port Harcourt High Court.

Barely one month after Governor Rotimi Amaechi signed the bill into law, a human rights group, the Institute of Human Rights and Hu-

From Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt

manitarian Law (IHRHL) went to court to challenge it.

The law permits the government to collect special taxes and levies for the maintenance of public infrastructure.

The IHRHL, in its October

2010 suit, asked the court to determine whether the government had the right to collect extra taxes and levies that are not part of the approved list of taxes and levies for collection.

Joined as defendants were the Attorney-General, the House of Assembly, as well as the Board of Internal Rev-

enue.

Justice Obiye Daniel-Kalio said the suit lacked locus standi, hence his decision to strike it out.

Daniel-Kalio also frowned at the absence of the claimant, who is the Executive Director of IHRHL, Anyakwe Nsirimovu, as well as counsel to the claimants.

Cross River LP to challenge election

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HE Labour Party (LP) in Cross River State has said it would join other parties to challenge the February 25 date of the last governorship election.

Its governorship candidate, Mrs Imah NsaAdegoke, in a forum with reporters in Calabar yesterday, said the opposition was working towards a consensus candidate, hence it was

From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

destabilised by the abruptness of the election.

She said she doesn’t have any problem with any party or candidate, but against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which she said flouted the law by abridging the time from April 14 to February 25.

Mrs Nsa-Adegoke claimed the apathy that marked the election was a sign of protest by the electorate.

She said in the interim, she would continue to pursue the programmes of her non governmental organisation, whose purpose is to touch the lives of the rural people and the physicallychallenged.

•Mrs Nsa-Adegoke

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

Going by the stories recordedby some countries which had undertaken the process of demutualisation, it was important for the regulators in the Nigerian market to speed up the process.

-Mr Oscar Onyema, CEO, NSE

Inflation dips

Naira rises to highest on rate cut

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T

HE naira advanced to its highest level in more than a week after a fall in the inflation rate spurred bets the central bank may cut interest rates from their record high at its meeting tomorrow.

The currency of sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy appreciated as much as 0.2 per cent to 157.6 per dollar, its strongest level since March 9. It traded less than 0.1 percent higher on the interbank market in Lagos, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The naira has advanced 2.9 percent since the beginning of this year, the fourth-best performance among African currencies.

The Central Bank of Nigeria sold $200 million at a foreign-currency auction today, with lenders buying the entire amount on offer, the Abuja-based bank said in an e-mailed statement. The marginal rate, also used as the prevailing exchange rate, remained unchanged at N156.06 from the previous sale on March 14, it said.

Kainji’s 233MW lost power restored

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

T

HE Kainji Hydro Power Station came back on stream yesterday restoring 233 megawatts (MW) of electricity shut-in last week.

Minister of Power, Prof.

Bart Nnaji, who announced this, said the power station is back on stream and delivering power to the national grid from its four available units that were shut three days ago.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media, Ogbuagu Anikwe, said the plant was shut on Thursday last week, following excessive leakage from its dam, which threatened to flood the station.

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$123.6/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 -N6.503 trillion JSE -Z5.112trillion NYSE -$10.84 trillion LSE -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -12.6% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending-22.42% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -14.18% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $34.6b FOREX CFA 0.2958 EUR 206.9 £ 245 $ 156.4 ¥ 1.9179 SDR 241 RIYAL 40.472

• Ms Ifueko Okauru (left), with the Group Managing Director, Union Bank, Mrs Funke Osibodu, at the workshop in Abuja ... yesterday.

Fed Govt orders double taxation review T HE Federal Govern ment has ordered the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to review Nigeria’s double taxation law regime.

This is aimed at ensuring that tax treaties entered into would provide the maximum value for the country.

The Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister for Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, disclosed this yesterday at a workshop on tax treaty in Abuja.

She said the Jonathan administration would continue to work hard on other reforms to improve the country’s investment climate, assuring that resources are being channelled to address the security challenges bedeviling the country.

She said: “No nation or government, which wishes to bring development to its people and become a respected voice in the international community, will ignore these critical issues.”

Okonjo-Iweala said a memorandum would be sent to the Federal Executive Council for the ratification of

From Nduka Chiejina, Asst.

Editor and Frances Ajewole

two other tax-related treaties entered into by the Federal Government. One with Sweden, and the other being Nigeria’s membership of the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), the umbrella body for tax administration in Africa.

While these treaty network are commendable, she expressed worries that they “still fall short of the expectations of Nigeria’s investors, especially since these countries account for less than half of our volume of trade, and excludes key trade partners such as the USA, Germany other European countries, India, and even ECOWAS states.

The tax system, being the main mechanism through which the government can influence private investment decisions, she added, is at the heart of this administration’s reform agenda.

She said: “We must reform our tax system for Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global economy to improve.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the FIRS, Mrs. Ifueko OmoiguiOkauru, said the workshop was on how to avoide double taxation and exchange of information strategy. According to her, “Nigeria’s increasing need for exchange of information agreements, which though not fullfledged treaties, are important in facilitating the free flow of information between countries and partner agencies and organisations.

“This is important given Nigeria’s invitation to and membership of the Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development OECD) global forum on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes in 2010, further to which Nigeria would be ranked in 2013 on its compliance with global standards for exchange of information.

In an analysis of Nigeria’s tax treaty network, OmoiguiOkauru said: “We will show that we have not taken full advantage of the opportunities which exist in this regard...This narrow treaty network belies the extent of foreign investment into and out of Nigeria. Our current tax treaty network is not only inadequate and unsatisfactory, but may be viewed as an impediment to the inflow of investment into Nigeria and expansion by Nigerian companies to other jurisdictions.”

The focus, she explained, “is not to have a large treaty network which provides no tangible economic benefits to our country or our partners, such a treaty will be dead on arrival and will merely occupy space in our statute books.

The focus is to enter into agreements, which will enable us make Nigeria an attractive investment destination and also encourage Nigerian companies and businesses to take advantage of opportunities available in treaty jurisdictions.”

Cash-less: Rollout to other states now Jan. 2013

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HE Central Bank of Ni geria (CBN) has de ferred the take-off date for the cash-less banking initiative in other states till January 1, 2013.

It has also extended the implementation of pilot programme in Lagos State from March 31 to December 31, 2012 – meaning that withdrawals and lodgments by individual and corporate customers over the stipulated amount would not be attract any surcharge till January.

A statement from the CBN signed by its spokesman, Mohammed Abdullahi, said the banking watchdog took the step to allow people get more conversant with the new policy.“The pilot programme in Lagos State has been extended to December 31, 2012 to allow people

• CBN cuts withdrawal, processing fees

By Collins Nweze

to be more conversant with the new initiative. As such, the roll-out of the programme in other states of the federation has been deferred to January 1, 2013,” it said.

He explained that having monitored the partial implementation of the exercise, in Lagos State and following discussions with various stakeholders on the effective implementation of the project, the regulator decided to reassess the policy.

The purpose, he said, was to allow for smooth transition and adoption in Lagos State in the first instance and the entire country at a later date.

Part of the review also was

daily cumulative cash withdrawals/lodgments limits of N150, 000 and N1 million now increased to N500,000 and N3 million on free withdrawals and lodgments by individual and corporate customers respectively.

Besides, the CBN reviewed downwards, the processing fee for withdrawals above the limit for individual customers from 10 per cent to three per cent. The processing fee for withdrawals above the limit for corporate bodies was aldo reviewed downwards from 20 per cent to five per cent.

The processing fee for lodgments above the limit for individual customers has equally been reviewed downwards from 10 per cent

to two per cent, while the processing fee for lodgments above the limit for corporate bodies has also been reviewed downwards from 20 per cent to three per cent.

The apex bank, however, granted exemptions to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal and state governments on lodgments for accounts operated by them, for revenue collections only.

It reiterated that the cashless policy applies to transactions conducted in branches of banks situated in Lagos State only for now even as the implementation of the newly approved processing charges by deposit money banks in Lagos will commence on April 1, 2012.

The charges are subject to review every six months.

IGERIA’s inflation rate eased last month as the removal of fuel subsidies had a more muted impact on prices than forecast, strengthening analysts’ expectations that the central bank will hold interest rates unchanged on Tuesday.

The government scrapped subsidies on petrol imports on January 1 but nationwide protests led to their partial reinstatement.

Fuel prices stayed higher than before the subsidy was removed, likely leaving Nigerians with a smaller proportion of their disposable income to spend on other items, some analysts believe.

“This will come as a huge surprise to the market and no doubt lead to much focus as to what was behind the outcome,” said Razia Khan, Head, Africa Research at Standard Chartered.

“The increase in fuel prices no doubt had a contractionary impact on real disposable income. In some sectors, a slowdown in momentum had been evident for some time, so pricing power - the key ingredient needed to see a translation into any meaningful secondary (inflationary) impact - was largely missing,” Consumer inflation in Africa’s most populous nation eased to 11.9 per cent year on year last month, from 12.6 per cent in January, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Monday.

Oil Spill: Tough times await operators From Onyedi Ojiabor, Asst.

Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

T

HE Senate has vowed to deal with any reckless oil operator whose actions result in oil spillage,the Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki, has said.

He gave the warning yesterday at a two-day consultative forum for select members of the committee in Abuja.

Saraki warned that the Senate would deal with oil firms that engaged in reckless operations that result in oil spills.

He said: “Senate will not take it lightly with oil operators who engage in reckless operations resulting in oil spills.

“We shall codify, amend and establish new institutions where necessary, to save, secure and preserve our environment from oil spill related pollution.

“In view of the recent incessant oil spills in the Niger Delta, it must be said as at today, only the oil in Navigable Waters Act CAP 337 LFN (1990) addresses pollution of the sea and navigable rivers.

12

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY

ADO-EKITI (ABUAD)

KM 8.5 AFE BABALOLA WAY, ADO-EKITI, EKITI STATE, NIGERIA. P.M.B. 5454 ADO EKITI. WEBSITE: www.abuad.edu.ng

AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY GIVES N17.6M CASH PRIZES TO STUDENTS AND STAFF A major highlight of Afe Babalola University 3 rd year Founder’s week celebration which took place on 21 st February, 2012 was the award of scholarships, bursary and merit awards totaling N17,600,000.00 (Seventeen million, six hundred thousand Naira only) to students, academic and non-academic staff which is in line with the Founder’s philosophy of motivating, learning and moulding character in order to produce disciplined graduates.

200 LEVEL 2010/2011 ACADEMIC SESSION ACCOUNTING

The numerous awards which range from N400,000.00 to N50,000.00 are as follows:-

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LIST OF AWARDEES GROUP A. OUTSTANDING UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS – N400,000.00 EACH (5.0 CGPA) 1. Opasina Eniola 2. Ade-OjoHelen Olayombo 3. Odebunmi Ifeoluwa 4. Ogunbusola Oluwatosin 5. Adesina Aderonke 6. Adeyemi Funmilayo 7. Akinseye Clinton

Matric No. 09/law/092 09/law/007 10/SMS01/037 10/SMS01/040 10/SMS09/009 10/SMS09/012 10/ENG07/010

Department Law Law Economics Economics International Relations International Relations Petroleum Engineering

GROUP B MERIT AWARDS ACADEMIC AWARD- 4.5-4.9 CGPA – N100,000.00 EACH COLLEGE OF LAW 100 LEVEL 2010/2011 ACADEMIC SESSION S/NO. NAME MATRIC. NO. 1.

ODUNSI E. OLUSOLA 10.LAW01/075 10/LAW01/027 2.

ANYAMUTAKO ADAOLISA 10/LAW01/077 3.

OGUNBA OLAIDE T. 10/LAW01/032 4.

BABAFEMI TOMILEHIN F. 10/LAW01/034 5.

BALOGUN AYOOLUWA MOYO 10/LAW01/064 6.

KOLA- ADEFEMI TENIOLA 10/LAW01/010 7.

ADEYANJU ANTONIA A. 10/LAW01/092 8.

OLOYE ANNOINTING F. 10/LAW01/078 9.

OJO ABOLADE Y. 10/LAW01/099 10.

OSUNFISAN IFEOLUWA 10/LAW01/070 11.

OBABA OLUWANIFEMI 10/LAW01/103 12.

PAM TOK JEWEL 10/LAWO1/005 13.

ADEJUMO OLUWAPELUMI 10/LAW01/100 14.

OSUNYIKANMI KEHINDE V. 10/LAW01/037 15.

BECKLEY OLUWABUSOLA 10/LAW01/069 16.

NWOSU PEACE UGOCHI 10/LAW01/019 17.

AKIN-ALADE IYINOLUWA 10/LAW01/094 18.

ONAH PATIENCE O. 10/LAW01/015 19.

AJADI OYINDAMOLA 10/LAW01/033 20.

BABALOLA ADUKE FOLAKE 10/LAW01/040 21.

ELECHI NHOEMA AMADI 10/LAW01/076 22.

OGLAFA EBIYE 10/LAW01/080 23.

OJOGE- DANIEL TOMMY 10/LAW01/041 24.

EMADOYE OGHENERUKEVWE J. 10/LAW01/106 25.

SHOTUMINU OLADIPUPO 200 LEVEL 2010/2011 ACADEMIC SESSION 09/LAW/045 26.

FASINA OMOLOA 09/LAW/050 27.

ITAMUNOALA SARAH 09/LAW/061 28.

NNABARA MARY U. 09/LAW/033 29.

DURUIKE PRINCESS U.

CGPA 4.95 4.87 4.87 4.85 4.85 4.85 4.82 4.82 4.79 4.79 4.74 4.74 4.72 4.72 4.67 4.64 4.62 4.62 4.59 4.59 4.59 4.56 4.56 4.54 4.51 4.77 4.64 4.62 4.53

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES 100 LEVEL 2010/2011 ACADEMIC SESSION ACCOUNTING S/N 1.

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NAME MATRIC NO. EBE ABIGAIL TEMITAYO 10/SMS02/013 LONGE TITILAYO CHRISTIANAH 10/SMS02/024 ARIGBE EGHOSA SOPHIA 10/SMS02/008 AKINDUTIRE YETUNDE 10/SMS02/006 FALAYI DAMILOLA 10/SMS02/016 DUROTOYE SHAKIRA Y. 10/SMS02/012 OPHROTE PERPETUAL 10/SMS022/036 ECONOMICS ACHUKWU M. ADAH 10/SMS01/003 ADEYEMI ADEJOKE C. 10/SMS01/008 AKINPELU BUNMI 10/SMS01/009 EBHOHIMEN A. OBEHI 10/SMS01/015 UWAIFO OSAMUEDE J. 10/SMS01/053 ODUKOYA OPEYEMI 10/SMS01/039 KOROYE JACINTA 10/SMS01/030 EKPEYOUNG KESIAH Y. 10/SMS01/018 MUSA MARTIN O. 10/SMS01/033 INTEL & SEC. STUDIES FALAYI AKINPELUMI I. 10/SMS11/003 OLANIYI ELIZABETH TOSIN 10/SMS11/007 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & DIPLOMACY ALADENIKA ABIMBOLA 10/SMS09/022 ONWUHARA FORTUNE C. 10/SMS09/080 OLOKE I. OLAPOSI 10/SMS09/072 AKINSEESIN D. DAMILOLA 10/SMS09/020 IFIDI EBISUO G. 10/SMS09/045 OBAWEDE OLUWABUKOLA T. 10/SMS09/061 OLADIMEJI ESTHER 10/SMS09/068 FAWEHINMI ADEOLUWA 10/SMS09/042 EBIKI SONIA A. 10/SMS09/038 10/SMS09/041 ESSIEN DIANA ESSIEN 10/SMS09/046 IJEBOR COLIN 10/SMS09/053 MODESTUS QUEEN ADA 10/SMS09/057 NWAEZE NKECHI F. 10/SMS09/008 ADELUSI TAIWO 10/SMS09/013 ADEYEMI S. ABRAHAM 10/SMS09/067 OKON PEARL MICHAE PEACE AND CONFLICT STUDIES 10/SMS10/001 SHENI RAMYA MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES 10/SMS04/010 BODUNDE IKEOLA J. 10/SMS04/005 ADU AGATHA O. POLITICAL SCIENCE 10/SMS08/001 ADEGUN AYOBAMI K.

CGPA 4.93 4.80 4.76 4.73 4.66 4.59 4.78

S/N 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

11.

COURSE MATRIC NO. AKOMOLAFE ADESOLA 09/SMS02/001 ADEWALE TITILOPE 09/SMS02/004 AYINDE AHMED B. 09/SMS02/008 AROGUNDADE BABAJIDE 09/SMS05/003 ASIMOLOWO ADEWALE 09/SMS05/004 ECONOMICS UBAH PAUL U. 09/SMS01/018 ANYADIEGWU N.L 09/SMS01/007 ABUMERE E.S. 09/SMS01/001 MAKANJU A.A. 09/SMS01/015 ALOFE BIDEMI D. 09/SMS01/005 MEDIA & COMMUNICATION STUDIES Oriwoh Irenosen 09/SMS04/007

S/N 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

NAME EBOH KESIENA KELVIN AJIMAKIN ADETUNJI BIOCHEMISTRY OLAOYE OYINDAMOLA MICROBIOLOGY MUHAMMED ABDALLAH INFO & COMM. TECH. ATSADU SARATU OWAKWA

S/N 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

NAME EBUZOME CHIDIFU PETER LAWAL MUHAMMED ADEBOLA OLATUNBOSUN GBELEKALE HAMMED ABOLAJI FALASINU OLUMIDE EMMANUEL BIOCHEMISTRY OLAOYE ISRAEL IDOWU .HUMAN BIOLOGY LAOYE BABAFEMI JOHN COMPUTER SCIENCE ALABI MARYAM OMOWUNMI OSAGIE AYODEJI FESTUS KOLAWOLE EMMANUEL MICROBIOLOGY OLAGUNJU MARYAM OLAYEMI

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

NAME BAOKU OLABANJI FAKOREDE OLUWASEUN OLAYEMI OLUWASEUN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING EL-OSEMWINGIE ISREAL ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS FABUNMI TIMILEYIN ADEBAYO ADEOLA ODJIGHORO OGHENETEJIRI ASHIEDU BENEDICT SHUAIB ZAINAB OROVWIRORO DANIELA IHEAKANWA NWAMKA CIVIL ENGINEERING DADA TEMIDAYO COMPUTER ENGINEERING BABALOLA ROTIMI CHEMICAL ENGINEERING ADENIJI RAHMON NWAMBUONWO SAMSON JISIEIKE IFUNANYA

4.95 4.70

CATEGORY S/NO. MOST DISCIPLENED STUDENT 1 2011 NEATEST STUDENT 2011 2.

14.

15.

16.

CGPA 4.93 4.78

10/SCI03/006

4.69

10/SCI05/010

4.64

10/SCI02/004

4.52

MATRIC. NO. 09/SCI02/012 09/SCI02/016 09/SCI/02/002 09/SCI02/013 09/SCI02/012

CGPA 4.81 4.81 4.65 4.58 4.55

09/SCI03/009

4.62

09/SCI04/002

4.63

09/SCI01/007 09/SCI01/025 09/SCI01/015

4.70 4.60 4.50

09/SCI05/009

4.52

MATRIC NO. 10/ENG07/016 10/ENG07/019 10/ENG07/031

CGPA 4.96 4.72 4.61

10/ENG06/007

4.83

10/ENG04/022 10/ENG04/004 10/ENG04/032 10/ENG04/011 10/ENG04/044 10/ENG04/040 10/ENG04/025

4.87 4.85 4.85 4..59 4.59 4.57 4.54

10/ENG03/009

4.59

10/ENG02/008

4.80

10/ENG01/003 10/ENG01/010 10/ENG01/008

4.93 4.89 4.67

GROUP C MERIT AWARD ON DISCIPLINE AND CHARACTER FOR STUDENTS – N50,000.00 EACH

3.

4.

5.

NAME OSUNYIKANMI KEHINDE - 10/ LAW01/100 OJOGE DANIEL TOMMY - 10/ LAW01/080 BEST DRESSED STUDENT 2011 ADEKUNBI OMOLOLU - 10/ SMS02/033 MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT UBA PAUL - 09/SMS01/018 LEADER 2011 MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT OSUNYIKANMI KEHINDE -10/ LAW01/100 OF INTEGRITY 2011

6.

MOST INDUSTRIOUS STUDENT 2011

ABOLARIN EBUNLOMO - 09/ LAW01/001

7.

MOST RESPONSIBLE STUDENT 2011

MUSA MARTINS - 10/SMS01/033

8.

MOST PERSEVERING INDIGENT OGUNGBADE OLUWATOSIN – 10/SMS02/030 STUDENT 2011

9.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR 2011 FABBY JAPHET - 09/SMS03/004

10.

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR 2011

4.59

4.65

MATRIC. NO. 10/SCI01/007 10/SCI01/001

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING 100 LEVEL 2010/2011 ACADEMIC SESISON PETROLEUM ENGINEERING S/N 1.

2.

3.

GROUP D MERIT AWARD ON DISCIPLINE AND CHARACTER FOR ACADEMIC STAFF – N100,000.00 EACH CATEGORY S/NO. 1. BEST DRESSED LECTURER 2011 2. MOST DISCIPLINED LECTURER 2011 3. ABUAD LECTURER OF THE YEAR 2011 4. MOST ENGAGED LECTURER 2011 5.

6.

7.

4.57

2OO LEVEL 2010/2011 ACADEMIC SESSION INFO & COMM. TECH.

13.

4.87 4.74

4.84 4.70 4.62 4.52 4.51

COLLEGE OF SCIENCES 100 LEVEL 2010/2011 ACADEMIC SESSION COMPUTER SCIENCE

4.95 4.95 4.88 4.71 4.71 4.66 4.63 4.61 4.56

4.95 4.93 4.90 4.86 4.86 4.81 4.79 4.76 4.69 4.67 4.67 4.64 4.60 4.57 4.55 4.55

CGPA 4.93 4.89 4.89 4.64 4.59

OLADESELU DOLAPO – 09/ SMS05/009

NAME MR. DAPO BABALOLA – SMS DR. ADEREMI BANJI – LAW MRS. IGBEKOYI O.E. – SMS BARR. IKECHUKWU OKAFOR – LAW MOST PUNCTUAL LECTURER 2011 MR. ONI EMMANUEL – SMS MOST PERSEVERING LECTURER 2011 DR. ADEOYE ADEYINKA – ENGINEERING MOST SELFLESS ACADEMIC STAFF DR. (MRS.) IBIYINKA OGUNLADE – SCIENCES

GROUP E MERIT AWARDS -NON ACADEMIC STAFF – N100,000.00 EACH CATEGORY S/NO. 1. MOST OUTSTANDING NON TEACHING STAFF 2011 2. MOST DUTIFUL NON TEACHING STAFF 2011 3. MOST DILLEGENT STAFF 2011 4. MOST PERSEVERING NURSE 5. DRIVERS OF THE YEAR 6. SECRETARIES OF THE YEAR

NAME MR. OLASEINDE AKINYELE MRS. EBUNLOMO OMIYALE

MR. OLANIYI AFEES MRS. OLOPETE P. MR. FESTUS ALADEMR. AJAYI ALEX MR. OSEKITA TOSIN – BOT MR. ADEBAYO PETER – BURSARY 7. ABUAD NON TEACHING STAFF MR. ESOSO AGBOR OF THE YEAR MR. AYO AREGBESOLA 8. MOST PERSEVERING STAFF MR. JUDAH T. ADEDARA 9. MOST DILLEGENT LIBRARY STAFF 10. TECHNOLOGIST OF THE YEAR MR. MUSA YESUFU MR. ADEMOLA ADEGBESAN – MALE OSTEL 11. PORTERS OF THE YEAR MISS BADAKIN TITI – FEMALE HOSTEL

12. MOST OUTSTANDING CLEANER FUNMILAYO AMODU OPAKUNLE S. OLAYEMIAJAYI ADEKUNLE 13. MOST SUPPORTIVE STAFF

GROUP F Award to encourage maintenance culture STUDENTS USING THE CLEANEST TOILET IN THE HOSTEL – N50,000.00 EACH S/NO. 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

NAME ABUBAKAR AISHA - 09/SMS03/001 OGUNWANDE RASHEEDAT - 09/LAW01/069 ELEM BLESSING - 09/LAW01/036 ADEOJO OLAYOMBO - 09/LAW01/007 OKECHUKWU E.M. - 09/SMS04/006 ATERE REMILEKUN - 09/SCI01/001 UZAMERE THERESA - 09/SMS04/008 ABUMERE SUSAN - 09/SMS01/001 AROHUNMOLASE KOFOWOROLA - 09/LAW01/024 ONI MERCY ODUNAYO - 09/SMS03/010 OLA TOLULOPE ABIOLA - 09/LAW01/074 ABUMERE LOUISA - 09/LAW01/002 ALABI O. MARIAM - 09/SCI01/007 ALABI OLAPEJU - 09/SMS04/003 OLAREWAJU E.I. - 09/LAW01/076 ABOLARIN EBUNLOMO - 09/LAW01/001 KOLADE BUSOLA SONIA - 09/LAW01/056 EMELERATA EKEMENA – 09/SMS05/007

ROOM 30C 30C 31C 31C 32C 32C 33C 33C 34C 34C 35C 35C 36C 36C 37C 37C 38C 38C

GROUP G Award to encourage maintenance culture STUDENTS USING THE CLEANEST ROOM – N50,000.00 EACH S/NO. NAME 1.

ADEBISI ADETOUN H. 2.

OBLA PEACE 3.

SOMIARI ELIZABETH B.

ROOM AG2 AG2 AG2

GROUP H MERIT AWARD – PARENTS – N100,000.00 MOST CARING PARENT

PROF. A.S. FASHINA

GROUP I -N50,000.00 MOST PERFORMING VENTURE STAFF MR. ABE ABAYOMI THOMASPRINTING PRESSS MRS. AJAYI C. – GUEST HOUSE

GROUP J – N100,000.00 FOUNDER’S MOST COMMITTED LECTUREROF THE YEAR

BARRISTER IK BERNARD OKAFOR

Signed: REGISTRAR

TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

13

ENERGY THE NATION

E-mail:- energy@thenationonlineng.net

• President Goodluck Jonathan (2nd right) flanked by Executive Secretary, Nigeria Content Development & Monitoring Board, Ernest Nwapa (left); Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe; Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke; and Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), during the inauguration of the NNPC/MPN satellite field development project platforms at the Nigerdock’s Snake Island Integrated Free Zone in Lagos.

Jonathan to oil majors: Patronise Nigerian firms P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has called on the multinational oil companies in the country to support Nigerian firms in the oil and gas industry to boost the Federal Government’s Nigerian Content aspirations.

The President disclosed this in Lagos at the weekend while inaugurating the three wellhead platforms fabricated by Nigerdock at its Snake Island Integrated Free Zone for use at the ExxonMobil’s satellite Abang, Oyot, and Itut oil fields located in oil mining leases (OMLs) 67 and 70, offshore Nigeria, noted the importance of other oil companies to emulate ExxonMobil by giving challenging projects to Nigerian firms.

Jonathan, who was elated to be the president when these transformations in the industry are taking place in the country, expressed delight that what used to be done overseas in the past are taking place now in Nigeria.

He said because of the place of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria’s economy, its benefits should be optimised through channelling proceeds from the sector to industrialisation of the country and creating the much needed employment opportunities for Nigerians as well as other value creations in-country.

The President said it is through developing capacities locally and having equipment used in industry that the sector can increase employment opportunities, produce and utilise more locally manufactured goods and components.

He said lack of technology and skilled workforce had been the problem of Nigerian Content development but with the construction of platforms in-country, Nigeria is on the way to attaining its aspirations in the industry.

The three oil fields are part of ExxonMobil’s satellite fields’ development project phase-1.

The Abang, Oyot and Itut fields are targeted to recover more than 100 million barrels of oil and 20

Stories by Emeka Ugwuanyi Assistant Editor

million barrels of oil equivalent of natural gas liquids. Peak production from Phase-1 is anticipated to be 70,000 barrels per day.

The Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke said that Nigerdock has constructed facilities such as FPSO topsides, offshore platforms, buoys, subsea

trees and pressure vessels and noted that the next achievement should be the integration of floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) topside in a Nigerian yard.

Alison-Madueke said Nigerian Content interventions have galvanised the oil and gas industry, adding that the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board

(NCDMB) had resulted in successful collaboration between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, multinational oil companies, original equipment manufacturers and local service companies.

She said the Act was stimulating steady growth in the areas of engineering, procurement, construction, fabrication, installation, shipping and logistics, drilling

and subsurface, equipment component manufacturing, pipe mills, instrumentation controls, banking and insurance.

The Chairman of Nigerdock, Mr. Anwar Jarmakani, said the company’s plan was to ensure that the planned integration of an FPSO in-country will be executed at Nigerdock to further contribute to the development of the sector.

Reps move to fix refineries

•Hon. Dakuku Peterside

T

HE members of House of Representatives have concluded plans to begin action on sustainable resuscitation of the ailing refineries.

The Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Dakuku Peterside, said it has become imperative for the lawmakers to intervene in issue and ensure the refineries return to optimal production for the interest of Nigerians.

He said for many years now, the sector has moved progressively from one major crisis to another.

He noted that the issues came to a climax at the beginning of the year with the review of the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Federal Government. This led to incalculable loss by the Nigerian state following the protracted strike action by the organised labour and civil society groups, he added.

Peterside also told our correspondent that the House of Representatives will hold a refining refining capacity summit in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State next week where issues concerning the refineries and the solutions will be holistically discussed for quick implementation. He promised that the lawmakers will return Nigeria to a functional refining regime and the petroleum industry to the path of profitability.

He said the theme of the summit will be: “Towards a functional refining regime in the Nigerian petroleum industry.” Besides tackling refineries issues, Peterside said they will look at the issues on

Petroleum Industry Bill and examine the reasons none of the 20 approved refineries that received their licenses since 2000 are yet to become operational. The conference will also determine the effect of the regulatory regimes on the domestic refining and will also proffer solutions to all the issues, he added.

He said: “But the Nigerian refining capacity summit is more than just another talk show. It is, indeed, a gathering of key players in the petroleum sector and for two days, they will focus on those important issues that continue to retard the nation’s progress in the oil and gas sector.

“These solutions will go a long way in addressing the obvious contradictions around the nation’s oil and gas. For instance, Nigeria is the 12th largest producer of petroleum in the world, the 8th largest exporter, and has the 10th largest proven reserves, which stand at 187 trillion cubic feet (tcf).

Nigeria is a major player in the global oil and gas industry. Regrettably, she is also a major importer of petroleum products. Be-

Agency to prosecute fraudulent oil marketers

T

HE Department of Weights and Measures, a unit of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, has threatened to take legal action against fraudulent marketers.

The Head, Weights and Measures, Lagos office of the Department, Mrs. Crescentia Erukpeme told reporters that it would not be business as usual for marketers found cheating customers as such erring marketers would be

charged to court.

Erukpeme said the department has taken it upon itself to be visiting filling stations in Lagos in an effort to bring sanity to fuel retail•Continued on page 14

tween January and October 2011 alone, about 35 million litres of petroleum products (85 per cent of domestic demand) was imported daily into the country at a cost of close to three trillion naira or approximately 18 billion dollars out of which 1.348 trillion naira or approximately 8 billion dollars was subsidy. This amount exceeded the federal capital expenditure for the same period.

“Sadly, everybody seems to be watching as the situation gradually deteriorates. This is the deplorable state of the industry but hope beckons with Nigerian refining capacity summit. So from March 28, all roads will lead to Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort, Uyo. “The summit will include experts from within and outside the country and will afford policy makers and drivers of oil and gas sector the opportunity to speak on their experiences and the challenges they face in the day to day running of the different arms of the industry.

“We will discuss the state of Nigerian refineries and the domestic supply of petroleum products, opportunities; incentives and challenges in the downstream sector, deregulation, private refineries and quest for self sufficiency in domestic supply of petroleum products and establishing a petroleum refinery in Nigeria: regulatory and financial challenges; funding options; environmental and infrastructural issues and role of the Legislature, among others.

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

14

ENERGY The Nigerian Content development is achieving results by the day as more wholly indigenous oil services companies continue to make breakthroughs in engineering, design and fabrication, among others, reports EMEKA UGWUANYI.

Local Content: Vandrezzer achieves landmark in technology

•Udofia

A

NIGERIAN firm, Vandrezzer Energy Services Limited, has achieved a milestone in meeting the Federal Government’s Nigerian Content aspirations by developing a wellhead jacket from conception to finish. The company, which offers engineering and fabrication services, recently completed the construction of world class wellhead monopod jacket for oil mining lease (OML) 90 field development project.

The project comprises the engineering design, fabrication, construction and installation of a wellhead platform complete with jackets and a concrete-coated pipeline for some offshore operations.

Before now, these equipment were designed, fabricated and assembled overseas resulting in grave capital flight and export of jobs. But since the government took the development of in-country capacity more seriously coupled with the establishment of the Nigerian Content Act and constitution of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, the international oil companies have substantially increased their compliance with the local content directives.

Some jobs, according to the Act, must be done in Nigeria except where there is no local capacity. Nigerian oil firms since then, have continued to show they have the ability to do it and competently too. The SCC Limited, Nigerdock , Dorman Long and upcoming LADOL, have been in the forefront.

The entry of Vandrezzer into the fold of indigenous technology firms, was applauded by the industry operators as that meant more skills and technology transfer to Nigerians and creation of more jobs in the country. Vandrezzer just showcased its capabilities in engineering design, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI), which was witnessed by industry regulators and operators at its Trans-Wodi Yard, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The wellhead jacket has been certified ready for operation and set for loading up and installation offshore.

The Managing Director,

Vandrezzer Energy Services Limited, Joe Udofia, in his address said the unveiling of the wellhead jacket coincided with the company’s fifth. He said: “Vandrezzer has made history today as the sole contractor handling the OML-90 field development project.

“We must collectively acknowledge as an industry that this is the first time an indigenously owned Nigerian company is solely handling an EPCI project of this nature from front end engineering design (FEED) and detailed engineering design, through procurement to construction, which is the stage we currently are, and to the forthcoming installation. The wellhead jacket you are viewing now is a practical testimonial for Vandrezzer’s competence and credibility as an indigenous EPCI service provider with proven capabilities. Indeed, it is a breakthrough for our local content initiative. It is a great feat that the entire energy, oil and gas industry and by extension the whole of Nigeria should celebrate because, as a matter of fact, it clearly signals that amidst our trials and challenges, there is a great hope for our beloved country Nigeria.”

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Ernest Nwapa, who delivered a keynote address at the event, commended the vision and passion behind Vandrezzer’s drive to emerge as the best local content provider in the quest for renewable resources. He called on major players in the industry to pay more attention and support to champions of Nigerian content development in the energy, oil and gas sector such as Vandrezzer.

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) Corporate Assets Engineering Manager, Afolabi Ojo, corroborated Nwapa, noting the Vandrezzer’s out-

standing high performance as an indigenous energy service provider.

He commended the company for start-to-finish of the project.

“Vandrezzer is our beloved son in whom we are well pleased. And Vandrezzer’s managing director is a man with a strong drive for excellence, class and top quality and you can see that reflected in all the things he does. So, obviously, the entire management and staff of Vandrezzer must have emulated his passion for excellence. And these are just a few of the reasons that SPDC has developed this keen relationship with Vandrezzer. We believe they should be supported all the way because they have a lot to offer.”

• Wellhead jacket

Gas marketers seek govt’s intervention on pricing, affordability T

HE Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) has called on the Federal Government to intervene in the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sector by making the product affordable to ordinary Nigerians.

The association’s concerns arose from the rising cases of kerosene explosions that have claimed many lives. The group said if LPG also called cooking gas is cheap and affordable to every Nigerian and not perceived as an elitist commodity, such unwarranted deaths shouldn’t have occurred.

Council members of the association said policy the government should implement include a national cylinder scheme that would lead to the injection of millions of cylinders into the market so that many Nigerians can afford it.

President of the association, Alhaji Auwulu Ilu, while regretting the death of 11 people in Edo and Delta states as a result of kerosene explosion, said the government should join the association in the

Agency to prosecute fraudulent oil marketers •Continued from page 13

ing business in the country. She assured Nigerians that the department would continue its crackdown on filling stations that engage in any form of sharp practices.

She said that the agency would not allow insatiable operators in fuel marketing and distribution business to shortchange Nigerians.

She noted that most of filling stations the agency visited in Lagos adhered strictly to the department regulations, with petroleum products measures showing total conformity with the law.

She said: “I am happy that what the department has been agitating for over the years is beginning to yield good result as most stations have begun to comply with weights and measures regulations.

“I want to state categorically that under my jurisdiction in Abuja Federal Capital Territory, the depart-

Mr. Seyi Adeleye, the representative of the Sogenal/Oando/Exile Resources (SOE Joint Venture), the clients of Vandrezzer on the OML90 field development project summarized the team-spirit in Vandrezzer saying: “Without their (Vandrezzer) cooperation, we would not have achieved this feat.”

The OML-90 field development project includes the design from FEED to the construction of a wellhead monopod jacket and a sixinch by 15km concrete-coated pipeline installation that is 10km from Akepo-1 well to the beach-approach at a water-depth of 27 feet; and which runs five kilometres from the beach-approach to the

Benigboye flow station. Its execution in-country engendered a respectable number of skills development and technology transfer, giving ample opportunities to professionals and supported members of staff to gain experience and further develop their various skill sets.

Udofia said the project has been executed with excellent attention and adequate attention given to the health, safety and security of both human resources and the environment. He said his company exhibited high level of corporate social responsibility as it ensured global best practices and standards in all phases of the project and the various communities in which they operated were carried along, therefore, the company didn’t record any incidence of crisis or conflict with the communities.

ment was able to drag fraudulent marketers to court where they were penalised.

“We have recorded great success in most stations visited within Lagos lsland, lkeja, Agege, Somolu, Badagry, lkorodu, Maryland, Ebute Metta, Ikoyi and Victoria Island.

They demonstrated total compliance with weights and measures standards.”

She also noted that the weights and measures department has a constitutional role in the monitoring and controlling of accurate measures both in upstream and downstream sector of the petroleum industry. “This is provided in the pre-shipment inspection of Exports Act cap P25 of 1996, the Act empowers weight and measures department to work with other agencies at terminal to oversee and ascertain accuracy in quantity to be exported,” she added.

Erukpeme said that in keeping with the laws, which established the department, officers of weights and measures Lagos office has embarked on spot assessment of some flow meter pumps in some filling stations in Lagos to ensure strict compliance with the said Act. She said that any station that fails to comply with the weights and measures obligations under the relevant Federal Government law which is punishable under stations (7) and (30) of weight s and measures 2004 Act. She also said: “The department is very firm in making sure that some abnormalities observed in fuel service outlets in some years past are corrected. With the ongoing inspection we can also at least attest that most consumers get about 95 per cent satisfaction on products bought.”

cylinder scheme that would see to the importation of one million cylinders by various companies in the association before the end of the year.

Ilu identified Gas Terminalling Limited, Oando, Total, Chimons Gas, Sea Gas and Ultimate Gas, as among some corporate members of the association that would bring in one million cylinders this year as part of the scheme.

Ilu said: “We are reviving the national cylinder scheme under, which these companies are injecting one million cylinders. We are hoping to bring in between now and the end of the year about one million cylinders to ensure that with the low cost many people will start using cooking gas.”

He said that a synergy between the association and the government including the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), would give rise to the use of LPG by many Nigerians.

Ilu who also is the Managing Director of Ultimate Gas Limited, called on the Bank of Industry (BOI), to create a special window for LPG financing. He explained that the target of the member companies of the association is to bring in 3.5 kg cylinders so that many Nigerians can afford them an idea meant to create new users of LPG on daily basis.

Ilu expressed concern that many Nigerians have been dying as a result of kerosene explosion, which is one major reason the govern-

ment should join in the promotion of LPG. He said: “We are also looking at how we can get cheap funds so that we bring in additional LPG trucks because it is one of the major hindrances to the transportation, moving the LPG either from the refinery depots to other locations. Sometimes you have products you want to move but the trucks are not there. From the statistics we have at the moment, we are having less than 170 trucks for the whole country, and with the volume we want to move at least before the end of this year, we will require about 1,000 trucks.”

He called on the Federal Government to introduce zero duty on gas cylinders and accessories and also make a one off intervention with 25 million cylinders to make many Nigerians be in a position to acquire cylinders.

He urged the Bank of Industry to introduce an intervention fund of at least N10 billion for the promotion of LPG, and asked International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other lending institutions to consider as a matter of national interest, making cheap funds available to the marketers at affordable interest rate.

Managing Director of Gas Terminalling, Mr Felix Ekundayo, said introducing duty free on cylinders would lower the start-up cost for new LPG users.

The Managing Director of Banner Energy Limited, Mr Nuhu Yakubu, said the government should assist in massive injection of cylinders into the market, in addition to the removal of trade obstacles for importers.

15

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

AVIATION

$6m judgment debt stalls NCAA, NAMA operations W

EIGHED down by a $6million (about N965billion) judgment debt, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) are said to be struggling to discharge some of their obligations The verdict arose from a suit instituted against the agencies by Hydrogas Airline for the damage of its plane on the Lagos runway last year.

NCAA and NAMA were said to have agreed to settlle the matter out of court and their accounts were subsequently garnished.

Since the freezing of their

Stories by Kelvin Osa-Okunbor Aviation Correspondent

accounts, the agencies’ operations, sources said, have been slowed down.

NCAA and NAMA, according to a source, are finding it difficult to meet some of the demands of their clients and staff because of paucity of funds.

“They cannot access their accounts in some banks which have been attached to satiisfy the judgment debt,” the source said.

It was gathered that there is a new twist to the problem, even as the Ministry of Aviation is said to have agreed “in principle” to

settle the debt.

The ministry, it was learnt, agreed to settle the debt from the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) account.

But the money must be appropriated for by the National Assembly before payment can be made.

The money, it was learnt, has been appropriated for in this year’s budget, which has yet to be implemented.

For example, because of the unstable power supply, NCAA and NAMA have generators across the country to run their operations daily. It costs millions of Naira to maintain the generators.

The debt is also taking its toll on the training of the agencies technical/operational staff of the agencies.

The representative of the civil society in the Federal Government’s Medium Term Sector Strategy(MTSS) (Aviation), Comrade Rasaq Saidu, condemned what he called the continued capping of the accounts of the agencies. He wondered why the payment of the debt should be tied to BASA account.

Saidu called on the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly to intervene in the matter to enable the agencies access their accounts.

Middle East carriers spread net MIDDLE East carriers - Emirates Airlines; Ethiad Airways and Qatar Airways- are venturing into new markets, connecting many regions of the world including Africa, Asia and Latin America, investigations have revealed.

Emirates Airlines, which was launched in 1985, is one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world, with a fleet of 169 planes serving more than 100 destinations.

At the heart of its success is a strategy that looks east, actively targetting emerging markets that are often unserved

by Western carriers.

Tim Clark, the airline’s president, has been instrumental in mapping out those routes. “I don’t think we contemplated then in the late 80s what we are doing today as regard to the emerging markets,” Clark said.

Thriving in the untapped markets of South-East Asia, Africa and Latin America, Emirates quickly took off. It’s now the largest operator of the A380 Superjumbos.

Dubai has never been blessed with the oil riches of its neighbours, but it has been one of the main ports in the Persian Gulf for centuries. Now the government has put aviation at the heart of its growth strategy, not just by launching Emirates, but by supporting and expanding Dubai’s airport.

Dubai airport is the world’s fourth-busiest international airport, with passenger numbers growing at a rate of more than 15 per cent each year. Greater traffic through Dubai’s airports brings more people into the city, boosting the overall economy.

“Today the aviation sector, which includes the airport, is 25 per cent of the GDP of Dubai,” said Clark.

The Emirates Airlines story is serving as the template for the region’s two other main carriers, Etihad and Qatar airways, whose ambitions are equally grand.

Skyteam launches into Africa

•Oluwasegun-Ojo (middle); Mr Gordon Gofwan, Executive Director,Business Development (left) and Mr Kehinde Abioye,Technical Services Manager during the inspection of some of the equipment at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja Lagos

Nahco Aviance gets N2b equipment HE Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (Nahco Aviance) has received some Ground Support Equipment (GSE) worth N2 billion.

About 325 different types of GSE it ordered last year started arriving last week.

The equipment comprise two units of wide body push back, six units of motorised conveyor belts, 12 units of passenger step, three units of motorised toilet bowser, 12 units of ground power unit (GPU), four units of air start unit (ASU), 80 units of container dollies, 100 units of pallet dollies, and 40 units of baggage carts.

Also, 17 different types of forklifts, made up of four units of five tonnes, three units of seven tonnes, eight units of three tonnes and two units of 12 tonnes were received.

Receiving the equipment, the Managing Director, Kayode Oluwasegun-Ojo, said the equipment represent part of the company’s project transformation initiative which entails infrastructural renewal and re-fleeting of GSEs. He said: “Besides deliver-

T

ing service efficiency, the company’s gesture is also to support the Federal Government’s vision for airport modernisation, as well as open up the much-needed investment in the aviation sector.

“We at Nahco Aviance Plc should be at the forefront of change, and to attain this, we must move at the speed of change,” he said.

He reiterated the importance of aviation to economic development, saying the industry offers the fastest commercial means of moving goods and persons.

“It means we are at the cutting-edge of transportation,” Oluwasegun-Ojo added.

He thanked the company’s client airlines and other customers for their support and encouragement, saying “they have proved to be worthy partners to Nahco Aviance Plc and to the aviation industry even in the face of the infrastructural challenge being addressed by the Minister of Aviation.

The Chief Operating Officer, Norbert Bielderman, listed other equipment cur-

rently on the high seas as 13 units of high loader, made up of six units of lower deck, two units of Commander 15i and five units of Main deck loader.

Others are 15 units of tow tractors manufactured by TUG Corporation 11 different types of Tow Bar as well as three units of AC-unit and a mobile workshop from Mallaghan of Northern Ireland.

The equipment were financed from the proceeds of the bond raised by the company last year.

‘He said: “Besides delivering service efficiency, the company’s gesture is also to support the Federal Government’s vision for airport modernisation, as well as open up the much-needed investment in the aviation sector’

Global airline alliance, SkyTeam, has launched its new Go Africa Pass providing cost savings and flexibility on flights operated by Kenya Airways within Africa.

The pass is available to business and leisure travellers flying with any of SkyTeam’s 15-member airlines on an intercontinental round-trip to Africa or a Go Round the World ticket.

Kenya Airways operates service to 45 African destinations in 36 countries including; Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; Johannesburg, South Africa; Luanda, Angola; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Lusaka, Zambia; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cairo, Egypt.

Customers purchasing a Go Africa Pass can opt from a minimum of three to a maximum of 16 flight coupons.

Fares are calculated based on the number of miles flown non-stop, offering discounts of up to 75 per cent off standard fares, depending on the itinerary.

Coupons have no minimum stay, open-jaw itineraries are permitted and passengers can stop in each city multiple times - giving them complete flexibility to plan their trips.

The Go Africa Pass is available for sale now, for travel starting on or after March 1st.

“With continued demand for travel to and within Africa, SkyTeam’s Go Africa Pass complements our already comprehensive network of flights from key global cities to major African destinations,” said Jerome d’Anglejan, SkyTeam’s Director of Sales.

“The Go Africa Pass enables passengers to explore Africa’s full potential by increasing their travel options throughout the continent.”

16

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

MARITIME Committee moves against truck drivers

By Oluwakemi Dauda

•Lagos port

Why 24-hour port operation is not working D ESPITE the euphoria that greeted its introduction, the 24-hour port operation policy of President Goodluck Jonathan has remained a mirage.

This, according to experts, is because of lack of the officials to carry out the night pilotage scheme; poor port infrastructure, lack of proper education of importers and clearing agents, high level of insecurity, inconsistency in government policies and lack of incentives and facilities to make night operation attractive.

Chairman/Managing Director eTSOL Cargo and Oil Mr Tolulope Ajayi said since the 24-port operation entails working day and night, “it seems the Federal Government did not consider the security implication, the need for electricity, and road network before introducing the policy.”

Customs and other security agents such as the Police and State Security Service (SSS) operatives, Ajayi said, have to respond to distress calls at night before the operation

• Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar

•Managing Director, NPA Omar Suleiman

Stories by Oluwakemi Dauda, Maritime Correspondent

The policy, he said, would remain unworkable, except the government embarked on massive infrastructure development at the ports and the shipping companies, terminal operators, Customs and the Ministry of Finance reduce duties on imported goods.

Ajayi said importers were

can be successful.

He said goods would continue to be diverted to neighbouring countries because of the inability of government agencies, terminal operators and shipping companies to reduce tarrifs.

disturbed by the amount of money and time they spent in clearing their goods from the ports.

The Executive Director, Telex Consult, Mr Oluwadayisi Oladapo, called for the scrapping of all punitive measures, such as excessive charges at the ports.

He suggested the automation of Customs operations, adding that the local Trade Release Study (TRS) initiative, should also be made to work in tandem with the World Customs Organisation’s efforts.

He called on the government to release a special grant for the development of the ports to international standard.

The grant, according to him, would enable the government and NPA to provide electricity, security, infrastructure, road network and equipment needed to uplift the ports beyond their present status.

The money, he said, would also enable NPA to complement the efforts of terminal operators and perform its role at the ports.

Agents may shut terminal

T

HERE are fears of a fresh crisis at the Lagos ports. Clearing agents are planning to shut one of the terminals at TinCan port today.

They accused officials of the terminal of negligence and high handedness.

Investigation by The Nation revealed that a letter has been sent by the umbrella body of the clearing agents (ANLCA) to the terminal involved and the concerned authority about their plans to protest what they called lack of modern and adequate equipment at the terminal.

Importers are worried over the development as the clearing agents may not shift ground on their demand that the terminal be upgraded.

They are urging the Federal Government to wade into the face-off.

The call, the importers said, became necessary to avert another crisis that may paralyse business at

the seaports.

When contacted, their spokesman, Mr Alex Babatunde, confirmed the development. He urged all agents to settle the matter amicably to save them from paying demurrage to the terminal after the crisis may have been resolved.

He said the agents met on at the weekend to discuss their relationship with the terminal and the action they are going to take.

He said: “There is an urgent need for the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar to call a meeting of stakeholders that would resolve the crisis between terminal and clearing agents in the interest of peace and the nation’s economy.

Another importer, Mr Samuel Adesida, raised the fear of congestion if the agents should close the terminal over what he called an alleged extortion at the ter-

minal.

A member of the union, who craved anonymity, vowed that they would ground businesses until their allegations of extortion and delay in cargo clearance against the terminal officials are addressed by the government.

National President of ANLCA, Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, said it is an issue they are set to address once and for all.

THE Presidential Port Monitoring Committee said it is set to deal with truck drivers who violate the rule on entering the port without obtaining the necessary permit from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

Speaking with The Nation on Friday in Lagos, the committee Chairman, Prof Sylvester Monye, said trucks’drivers coming to pick or to drop containers at the ports will no longer be allowed to come in directly or queue on the expressway. They are to go to the holding bays of the shipping companies from where they will be called to the ports if they have business to do there.

He said the major challenge facing the NPA in the management of the chaotic traffic situation is the lack of discipline of the drivers He accused some of the drivers of using the port access road as garage and parking lot.

He said significant steps would be taken by the committee in controlling traffic on the port’s access road.

“The current behaviour of the truck drivers,” he said, “is unacceptable to the Federal Government and we are set to correct the abnormality.

“This port was constructed in 1977 and despite the fact that cargo throughput has grown over 10 times, what we had 30 years ago, the type of chaos we experienced sometimes can be totally eliminated if every stakeholder complies with his responsibility and it is our responsibility to ensure that everybody complies.”

He identified the inordinate tendencies of truck drivers to return empty containers to the various terminals as a problem in the area.

Apart from finding a solution to the traffic on the Apapa Expressway, the committee said it has been able to reduce the number of days used in clearing of goods at the port from 39 to seven days.

NPA boss calls for e-system MANAGING Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Omar Suleiman has said an electronic trade facilitation initiative will eliminate human contact and the use of discretion, factors which have been identified as major causes of delay in the clearance of cargo at the ports.

Suleiman said technology has brought about the need for speed. “Shippers, importers and freight forwarders are constantly searching for more efficient ways to get their business done at the port,” he said.

Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, the NPA boss said the electronic system would not only facilitate trade but also ensure improvement in revenue generation and help developmental plans.

He said the initiative would resolve most of the major problems confronting cargo clearing at the ports.

He said the reports on the situation at the seaports call for a one-stop-shop that will accommodate all relevant agencies where importers and their clearing agents can clear their goods within the time limit.

‘CVFF can’t solve problems’

By Uyoatta Eshiet

THE Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Patrick Ziadekede Akpobolokemi, has said the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) will not solve the problems of indigenous operators.

Akpobolokemi, who stated this during a chat with The Nation in his office, said Nigerians should look beyond the fund, as, according to him, the fund cannot solve one–fifth of the problems in the maritime sector.

The NIMASA boss, who disclosed that the money accumulated in the fund to date cannot better the lot of the industry, urged Nigerians to look in the direction of building capacity for the industry rather than the CVFF. “The CVFF is no way going to solve the problems of the maritime industry as it is today. How much are you talking about that is in the CVFF? Assuming you have $200 million in the CVFF, that is about N16 billion. What can N16 billion, for instance, do for a country that wants to be hub for maritime activities in Africa? How many vessels can that acquire? It is like a drop in an ocean. Our problem is much more than the CVFF, unless we don’t want to face reality,” he said.

On why indigenous operators have not participated fully in coastal trade years after the enactment of the cabotage Act, he said indigenous operators do not have the capacity, noting that many of them still single hull vessels.

Lawyer canvasses use of arbitration

Ship brokers condemn domination

M

PRESIDENT, Association of Shipbrokers and Consultants, Mr Lucky Idehenre, has condemned the domination of the maritime industry by quacks, saying this has led to the under development of the industry in the last few years. It said they are ready to curb the trend by embracing the best practices.

He called on practitioners to join the association in its efforts to promote and foster ideals, standards, professionalism and best practices in the maritime industry.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the group in Lagos, Idehenre said the association intends to bridge the gap between ship owners, operators, government agencies, charterers and brokers.

ARITIME lawyers have been advised to use arbitration in settling disputes in the industry, as it saves time and money.

Speaking at a seminar tagged Effects of resolving maritime dispute through arbitration, organised by maritime traders in Lagos last Friday, a lawyer, Mr Deji Agbaje, said arbitration attracts foreign di-

rect investment and sustains local private investments.

He noted that arbitration is cost effective and has contributed to a just and timely settlement of disputes in several sectors of the economy.

He added that it is needed for the smooth-running of the industry which contributes greatly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Most maritime arbitrations involving Nigeria parties were conducted in London in the past. However, with the combined effect of the Arbitration Act as well as arbitral institutes, facilities and associations in Nigeria disputes arising out of maritime transactions are settled within the country. This has contributed immensely to the growth of the economy,” he said.

TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

17

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Six days to the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Southwest caucus has not endorsed a consensus candidate for National Secretary, which is reserved for the geo-political zone. Group Political Editor BOLADE OMONIJO and Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examine the chances of the contestants warming up for the convention.

•Babatope

•Pedro

•Daramola

•Sarumi

•Adeniran

Who is PDP’s next National Secretary?

S

OUTHWEST Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may go into the national convention holding in Abuja on Saturday as a divided house. Although the position of the National Secretary has been zoned to the region to pacify it for the loss of the House of Representatives Speaker, it has been difficult for the six states to agree on a consensus candidate. Jostling for the position has polarised the zone.

Other national offices allocated to the Southwest are National Vice Chairman and National Auditor. But competition for these positions is not as fierce as that of the national scribe.

According to Article 13(4) of the PDP Constitution, the National Secretary is the Chief Administrative and Accounting officer of the party responsible for the day to day running of the party and its organs.

Currently, it is widely believed that the Southwest PDP is marginalised in the National Executive Committee (NEC). Apart from the Vice Chairman, a mandatory position for the zones, the region is only represented by the National Legal Adviser, Olusola Oke. The National Youth Leader, Muyiwa Collins, had passed on last year.

The Obasanjo factor Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is the party leader in the region and Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman is expected to play a major role in the emergence of the new secretary. However, party sources said the retired General has not been able to wield that much influence. The aspirants are mounting serious pressures on the former Commander-InChief. His Ota and Abeokuta residences have become another political Mecca, where aspirants converge to obtain his blessing for victory.

Although little-known on the scene, Dimeji Fabiyi is flying the Ogun State flag. The only way he could be a fly is with the famed Obasanjo support and the former president.

It wants to retain the BoT chair, in spite of agitations that he should yield ground. Oyo State PDP, which coveted the number four position without success thinks that the position should be used to compensate the branch. But aspirants from Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Lagos are not also relenting.

Observers argue that the hot race has unveiled the weakness of the Southwest PDP and the inability of its leaders to forge unity and foster compromise. President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP leadership, it is believed, expects the former President to evolve an arrangement that could build on consensus building ahead of the national convention. But efforts to rise to the occasion have failed because aspirants have insisted on pursuing their ambitions to logical conclusion.

A party source said, although Obasanjo should have been in a position to play the role of a respected leader, many chieftains, especially PDP returnees, continue to perceive him as a destabilising factor because of his iron fist style of leadership when he called the shots at Aso Rock, seat of power.

Dapo Sarumi Former Minister of Information Chief Dapo Sarumi does not require a waiver. He had returned to PDP, shortly after his senatorial ambition crashed on the platform of Progressive Action Congress (PAC) in Lagos East in 2003. Sarumi is a political veteran who took Lagos by storm in the Third Republic. Then, he and the late Prof. Femi Agbalajobi polarised the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the state during the preparations for governorship primaries.

Now, the political fame and influence of the great operator is gradually fading away. His rivals for the post in Lagos State, including Chief Olufemi Pedro and Owolabi Salis have not even shown inclination to step down for him as a mark of reverence. Gone were the potent and extensive networks, the fabled PDM machinery in the state and enormous wealth required to run successful campaigns.

However, as an experienced politician and founding member, he is eminently qualified for the prestigious office.

Tunde Daramola

Another heavyweight in the race is Chief Tunde Daramola. He is a party man and his face is not new in the PDP circle. Between 2005 and 2008, he was secretary of the Lagos State branch of the party, and since last year, he has been secretary of the Elders Caucus.

At the federal level, he is an ex-officio member of the National Executive Committee. This has given him the opportunity to interact with the high and mighty and sell his candidacy.

He told The Nation in an interview that he did not just wake up one day to decide on entering the race. He said he had been at it since last year and had moved round the country. He has engaged the social multimedia in getting across to not less than 1,000 leaders every day. He is well loved by the party hierarchy who see in him a fresh face to contribute to building a new PDP. His chances, at the time of filing this report, remained very bright.

Femi Pedro Two other aspirants-Pedro and Salis-are from Lagos State. Pedro is an effective speaker. A banker, he began his political career from the top. That robbed him of the opportunity to build adjustive resources needed for adaptation to sudden political pains. For when a transient challenge confronted him in the AC, where he was former Governor Bola Tinubu’s deputy, he hurriedly quit the party, when he failed to get the governorship ticket.

Pedro is said to be the candidate of Chief Bode George. He is also said to be close to Obasanjo to whom he ran when he was about to quit the AC.

Owolabi Salis The backbone of Salis, a lawyer, is not known. He is a veteran governorship aspirant in Lagos PDP. He once left the party in 2007, but he later returned to try his luck at the governorship primaries in 2011. He built on his previous failure. However, he has

ideas. He also is highly educated. He is not known to have access to PDP leaders outside Lagos, and even in the state, if an election is to be held for the post, he would likely be the last of the men with glittering political credentials.

Olusola Oke The only aspirant from Ondo State is Olusola Oke, lawyer, former legislator and member of Ondo State Oil Minerals Producing Board. He had fought a hard battle with Nelson Enikuomehin for the position of the National Legal Adviser he currently holds. He became a national officer because former Governor Olusegun Agagu preferred him to Enikuomehin.

His party is polarised at home and he may not be able to garner enough support from the neighbouring states.

However, he has experience, having served in two arms of government at state level and topmost decision-making organ of the ruling party.

Oke, who described himself as a man of great credential, said that he has what it takes to serve in this crucial capacity. “PDP is a very big party. Our major challenge is effective administration. If you are talking about administration, it all bothers on the office of the national Secretary”, he said, emphasising that he has acquired enough experience in professional practice and politics to play the role.

What may work against him is strong opposition from Obasanjo who has told all those around him that Oke worked against his interest in Ogun State during the battle to make General Adetunji Olurin governorship candidate and install his favorite as state chairman. Obasanjo does not easily forgive.

Tunde Adeniran Prof. Tunde Adeniran, a retired University of Ibadan teacher, was a member of the Political Bureau led by Dr. J. S. Cookie. He was also a Director of

‘Lagos occupies a special place in the federation. It is not only the most populous, but the industrial and commercial nerve centre. This has conferred political prominence on it. Given the desperation of the PDP to win the state, it could concede the highly important post to it.

Both Pedro and Daramola, in that case, may have to slug it out’

the Directorate of Mass Mobilisation (MAMSER), member of G-34, governorship candidate of PDP in 1999, chairman of Presidential Inauguration/ Transition Committee in 1999, former Minister of Education and Ambassador to Germany. In 1999, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, who ran for governorship on the platform of the old Alliance for Democracy (AD), defeated him.

But, Adeniran, who is in his sixties, had suffered some political tragedies which he bore with maturity and philosophical calmness. Even, when the Ekiti North senatorial ticket was withdrawn from him and given to Ayo Arise, he kept his cool, full of hope for a brighter future. He is a consistent PDP leader; loyal and committed to the success of the fold at all times.

However, those who believe that a younger man should be trusted with the office are arguing that, at 67, the Professor should rather serve as an adviser to the new executive.

Bola Olu-Ojo Olu-Ojo is the current chairman of the party in Ekiti State. However, the fact that a better-known Adeniran is contesting from the state has limited Olu-Ojo’s chances.

His friends believe that being secretary of the Conference of PDP State Chairmen may somehow boost his chances. However, anyone with knowledge of the operation of the party knows that the state executives are beholden to their respective governors.

Taoheed Adedoja Another egg head in the race is Prof.

Taoheed Adedoja, former Provost of Special College of Education, Oyo. His campaign assistants have described him as a vibrant and energetic operator driven by goals. A survivalist, Adedoja had made deft political moves in the past. He defected from PDP to AC in 2007 to emerge as its governorship candidate. When he kissed the dust before Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, he struck a deal with him, defected back to PDP and became the Commissioner for Education. Later, he served as a minister of Sports and later, Special Duties. He is the only former minister who served under President Jonathan that is in the race.

•Continued on page 18

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

18

POLITICS ‘Tinubu is Yoruba leader’

L

•From Left: Tenabe, Mrs. Tenabe, Adebiyi and Awojodu at the lecture.

Yoruba in Diaspora ask governors to prepare for true federalism

I

S the Southwest prepared for the challenges of true federalism?

That was the puzzle Yoruba in the United States of America and United Kingdom were trying to find answers to at the recent Obafemi Awolowo Memorial Lecture organised by ‘Egbe Omo Yoruba’ in New York. The lecture was titled: “Southwest states’ integration as a path to the region’s renaissance”.

At the forefront of the clamour for true fiscal federalism are frontline Yoruba leaders who believe that it is the key to regional development and healthy competition among the component units. However, restoration of true federalism may impose some challenges for the some states and geo-political zones. The reason is that some of them have lost the vital ingredients and potentials that made the system rewarding in the pre-and immediate independence days.

After the First Republic, Southwest made a mistake of neglecting agriculture, which was the mainstream of its economy. The farm settlements of Awolowo era were abandoned. The rank of cocoa farmers depleted. Tourism potentials were not tapped. Even, the joint venture of the zone, Oodu Group of Companies, was for sometime a shadow of itself. The most viable state, Lagos, was denied the benefit of its Value Added Tax (VAT).

Without federal allocation, states cannot pay salaries of workers. The region that was rated as a model before independence joined the bandwagon of retrogression.

State creation, as noted by the Lagos State Special Adviser on Regional Integration, Rev. Tunji Adebiyi, had broken Southwest into smaller units assailed by the challenges of boundary disputes, asset sharing and transfer of civil servants to their states of origin.

Now, industries in the region are dead, making graduate youths to roam the streets. The results are growing poverty and crime.

The source of hope, according to the Egbe, is the recent integration agenda mooted by the Southwest governors. At the lecture, the chairman of the USA chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Chief Lekan Awojodu, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, who was represented by Adebiyi, and chairman of the ‘Egbe’ in North America, Mrs. Moni Tenabe, said the time is ripe for the region to return to the basics.

Awojodu applauded Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) for waking the Southwest from slumber. He said the presentation of the “Development Agenda for Western Nigeria “ underscore their passion

By Emmanuel Oladesu Deputy Political Editor

for development in the region, urging the governors of Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos to implement the proposals.

Awojodu argued that Yoruba would be ahead of other units in the event of unforeseen contingencies. He warned: “Volatile elements forced into coexistence face the possibility of implosion. Peaceful coexistence can only be a byproduct of mutually agreeable solutions achievable through engagement of federating units in a national conference.”

Adebiyi declared at the ceremony that the conflict of options is over, pointing out that Yoruba have rejected mainstream politics and taken their destiny in their hands. The governors are handicapped in the face of collapsing federal infrastructure, especially the Lagos/Ibadan, Osogbo/Akure/ Ado-Ekiti, Ibadan/Ogbomoso/ Ilorin, Lagos/Sagamu, Ore/Benin, and Ibadan/Ife Roads are in utter disrepair. Like other states, Southwest states are deprived of their revenue generation potentials for wider development.

The first step is to create ministries of integration in the states.

Apart from Adebiyi, who holds a Masters Degree in Social Work, Ekiti State also appointed Integration Commissioner Biodun Oyebanji, a political scientist. Osun has also followed suit. Adebiyi disclosed that, as the region embarks on socio-economic and political renaissance, the seven resolutions of the governors at Abeokuta, Ogun State, sent a strong signal about the region’s seriousness.

Major areas covered by the resolutions are the establishment of a secretariat, devolution of power, resource allocation, transportation, security, power supply, and stake-

‘Volatile elements forced into coexistence face the possibility of implosion.

Peaceful coexistence can only be a by-product of mutually agreeable solutions achievable through engagement of federating units in a national conference’

holders forum.

However, the Special Adviser said other states should emulate Lagos in the collective drive for self-reliance and regional progress.

He recalled that the state survived the onslaught by People Democratic party (PDP) Obasanjo Administration, which withheld its allocations, following the creation of additional 37 councils. “During that period, Tinubu’s government strengthened the internal revenue generation and our IGR rose from N600m in 1999 to N6 billion in 2003", he said.

Adebiyi said that, through sheer good governance, as exemplified in the flow of investment, successful infrastructure battle, robust housing policy, efficient transportation system and independent power projects springing up, Lagos State has created market for other states in the region. He said the next step is to “look inward and develop our various areas of comparative advantage, especially agriculture and agro-allied industries”.

He added: “Almost 70 per cent of tomatoes,pepper, yam, and other food stuffs being consumed in Lagos come from outside the Southwest. Imagine the huge revenue that will benefit the development of the region, if the neighbouring states can take advantage of the huge foodstuff market in Lagos to grow their own economies”.

A communique issued at the end of the conference and signed by the President of the association, Buki Otegbade, and Public Relations Officer, Mr. Dele Alade, urged the governors to sustain the collective spirit aimed at regional development. The group commended the governors for returning to the basics, stressing that when the Southwest bounces up again as an agrarian region, it would become a large producer and marketer of food.

The group asked the people to vote only governors of proven ability, dedication and commitment to the a self-reliant Yoruba in the future.

Other resolutions include an appeal to governors to declare March 6 as ‘Chief Obafemi Awolowo Day and public holiday in the Southwest, just as March 3 is a public holiday in USA in memory fo Luther King Jr, convocation of a Sovereign National Conference, and compulsory teaching and learning of Yoruba Language in the Southwest schools.

At the conference were Mr. Bukola Oreofe, Dr Wumi Akintide, Prof.

Tenabe, Mr. Tony Isama and delegates from America and United Kingdom.

EADER of the ‘Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Total Loyalty Group Alhaji Wasiu Balogun has urged progressives to rally round the national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in his crusade for electoral reforms and good governance in the country.

He also asked Yoruba leaders to support his pro-democracy activities, adding that time and circumstances have thrown him up as the leader of the race.

Balogun, who spoke in Lagos, congratulated the former governor on the occasion of his 60th birthday, enjoining him to reflect on the journey so far and rededicate himself to the service of the masses.

He unfolded plans by the group to organise a birthday party at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos in honour of the leader.

Balogun extolled Tinubu’s virtues, saying that he is a committed democrat, humanist, philantropist, advocate of electoral reforms and lover of the rule of law.

He also recalled his battle for the restoration of stolen mandates in the

•Balogun

By Emmanuel Oladesu

Southwest geo-political zone, stressing that he won the war of liberation for Yorubaland in post-Awolowo era.

Balogun said progressive-minded youths of the Southwest have been inspired by the steadfastness, astuteness, sagacity, resolve and boldness of Tinubu and his principled position on the welfare of the common man.

He added: “Asiwaju is a bridge builder and a non-tribalist. He is a man of the people”.

Who is PDP’s next National Secretary?

•Continued from page 17

If Adedoja becomes the secretary, he will endow the position with visibility. He hailed from Oyo State, but he was born and bred in Kano, a point that has warmed him to some northern members of the party. He speaks Hausa fluently and has maintained his network in the region, having worked at Bayero University, Kano, where he rose to professorship. However, he is not schooled in the politics of the PDP. He is said to lack knowledge of the internal working of the party and its organs and should not, therefore be trusted with the responsibility of the Chief Administrator.

In a chat with reporters at Ibadan, Oyo State capital, Adedoja unfolded his vision. He said he would restore fairness, justice and rule of law in the party, reconcile aggrieved members and improve the confidence of members in the secretariat. If the aspirants are allowed to slug it out in an election, the professor may likely have an edge.

Ebenezer Babatope Another popular aspirant is Chief Ebenezer Babatope, who had served as Minister of Transport under the Abacha Adminisration. The lawyer and politician has experience. He was the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) Director of Organisation in the Second Republic. He is a prolific writer, versatile, vocal, brave and bold. Circumstances made the Southwest to lose the likes Babatope to the conservative bloc. His membership of PDP has mocked his antecedent as a progressive mouthpiece. His natural habitat should have been Afenifere/AD/ AC/ACN. 1999 was a moment of emotional wrenching for the consummate Awoist as lieutenants of the late sage shut the door of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group against him and former Lagos State Governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande. Since then, his political career has never blossomed. If Babatope is given the task, he will definitely justify himself. He exudes confidence and has promised to re-enact the secretaryship of AG’s Ayotunde Rosiji and Sam Ikoku, UPN’s Tom Fox, NPN’s Buba Ahmed and PDP’s Okwesilieze Nwodo. What Babatope, the political son of Awo needs to bounce back to reckoning is the Chief Scribe of the ruling party. Besides, he genuinely believes that transformational reforms are possible in PDP. Those who see a septuagenarian emerging National Chairman, say another should not be installed in the

office of the scribe.

Rashidi Ladoja Former Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja enjoys the status of a founding member of the PDP in the State. He recently returned to the party from Accord which he built for the purpose of the 2011 elections. That singular act contributed to PDP’s loss of the state to ACN. Despite his political vicissitudes, Ladoja, an Ibadan chief, has remained popular in the state. He may have crashed out of the race as he was not given a waiver. To aspire to any party office, an aspirant must have been a member of the party for at least two years.

The Southwest congress on Wednesday would help narrow the competition as the state that produces the National Vice Chairman is unlikely to be allowed to supply the National Secretary.

Lagos occupies a special place in the federation. It is not only the most populous, but the industrial and commercial nerve centre. This has conferred political prominence on it. Given the desperation of the PDP to win the state, it could concede the highly important post to it. Both Pedro and Daramola, in that case, may have to slug it out.

However, Oyo State is arguing that it contributed the most to the electoral fortunes of the party last year. But, party leaders believe that it lacks the material to run the party at the moment. Besides, it is argued that it has been compensated with the important post of Leader of the House of Representatives. Who best fits the bill? This is left for the National Convention.

But, before then, the zone will have the opportunity of sanitising its house after Wednesday’s congress.

•Adedoja

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

19

EDITORIAL/OPINION EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

COMMENT

Some sobriety, Heineken!

•His proposed labour law is in bad taste. Nigerians should watch out for such excesses

T

HE bill sponsored by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and a few other senators to undermine the right of trade unions to go on strike is in bad taste. The bill, dressed up as an attempt to democratise the process of calling a strike by trade unions is nothing but a hatchet job by agents of the executive arm of government in the legislative chambers.

Even the spurious argument by Senator Lokpobiri that “the use of platform of trade union for political gains is not a trade dispute” clearly shows that the bill is merely in furtherance of a myopic political interest. Considering the challenges of good governance in our young democracy, we counsel the leadership of the Senate that the bill, if passed, will do great harm to democracy in the country.

If we may ask, do senators Lokpobiri, Ayogu Eze, Ita Enang, James Manager, George Sekibo, Magnus Ugbesia and Bassey Otu who supported the bill always seek a fresh ballot from their constituencies each time they are to cast a vote in the Senate on any issue? We know that once elected, they act fully for the four years as elected representatives of their constituencies; but they will not even grudgingly allow the labour leaders exercise the mandates given to the congresses of the unions. They would rather they legislate into existence a perennial balloting process which they can thwart or rig, in order to avert a strike action against unconscionable government policies like the recent fuel price hike.

What these senators and those sponsoring them wish to see in place is a similar rancorous election process that hauled many of them into offices. They

want to extend the confusion in our electoral process to the calling out of strike by trade unions, willy-nilly.

Indeed, they want to legislate into law a process that will make it practically impossible for trade unions to go on strike. These men prefer that Nigerians sheepishly follow all government policies, even if those policies will lead majority of Nigerians into greater penury.

While pretending to be pushing for internal democracy in the trade unions, they are rather subverting the natural intendments of the constitution, and the essential dynamics of our fledgling democracy. We urge Nigerians to condemn the scheme by these senators.

Thankfully, their effort was countered by some of their colleagues, including senators Olufemi Lanlehin, Smart Adeyemi, Joshua Dariye, Ahmed Makarfi and Chris Ngige, who stood on the side of sobriety and constitutionalism. Indeed, we agree with Senator Ngige’s argument that the bill is “antipeople, anti-labour, anti-Senate and antiNational Assembly” and should be thrown away.

The cheap recourse by Senator Lokpobiri, in comparing our trade union laws with those of other jurisdictions to gain support is untenable in our circumstance, because labour unions have provided the necessary bulwark against the reign of hardship as economic policies by government. As Senator Adeyemi stated, the labour unions do not go on strike without the concurrence of majority of their branches, and there are internal processes to deal with any shortcomings in their leadership.

We believe that if for any reason the labour leaders act beyond their mandate, their members can use their internal

mechanism to sack them. What Senator Lokpobiri and his colleagues should rather push for are economic policies to better the lot of Nigerians. This should include ensuring that the Senate does not take a disproportionate share of the available national resources.

To concentrate their legislative energy to seek to gag Nigerians and the leadership usually provided by labour against irresponsible economic policies through this bill is an effort in futility; unless of course the senators pushing for the bill prefer anarchy to organised protests. As the last strike action showed, Nigerians are on the same page with labour in fighting economic hardship disguised as transformation agenda.

The summary of our argument is that the Trade Union Act adequately provides procedures for strike. We do not need any other law to regulate the procedure by some idle lawmakers who do not have the interest of Nigerians at heart.

‘They would rather they legislate into existence a perennial balloting process which they can thwart or rig, in order to avert a strike action against unconscionable government policies like the recent fuel price hike. What these senators and those sponsoring them wish to see in place is a similar rancorous election process that hauled many of them into offices’

New police uniform • There are more pressing issues begging for attention in the police force

T

HE way Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, the Inspector-General of Police’s (IGP) adornment of new police uniform was celebrated; the world was made to believe, though erroneously, that uniform change is one of the most serious problems facing the Nigeria Police Force. Olusola Amore, Deputy Commissioner of Police and the Force’s Public Relations Officer said the new uniform, according to the IGP, is ‘in line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Government and the long desire of the police management team to reform and to launder an acceptable image for the police through the turn-out of its officers and men.’

He further stated that the new police camouflage will ‘curb the menace of hoodlums and undesirable members of the society sewing and using fake police uniforms to perpetrate robbery and other societal crimes in the country.’

‘We acknowledge the notable moves so far taken by the current IGP to sanitise and stabilise the force, but we think that his efforts will be better appreciated if he does not make new uniform his priority, when other obvious problems are begging for attention’

Good points, but the aesthetics of the police camouflage which has a blend of colours black, white and grey bears too much of resemblance with the military camouflage in terms of pattern. Though it is alleged to be cost-effective to maintain, operationally durable and highly customised with security features to forestall impersonation, it must be stated that the outfit, as adorned by the IGP is not people-friendly. The new police camouflage reminds Nigerians of the sad era of military rule and its inherent brutality.

We would have thought that if the police uniform must be changed, even though we hold a contrary position, something that is more civilian-friendly, colour-wise, ought to have been selected so as to remove the dreadful aura surrounding this test-run camouflage. We believe that a people-friendly police uniform should not be competing with the military’s long established camouflage, especially in a democracy. This kind of uniform is antithetical to democratic values.

The question must be asked about what actually is wrong with the current uniform of the police force to warrant the proposed new costume? We are aware that in the past, successive IGPs had changed police uniforms that consumed billions of naira which should have been deployed to fund other necessary security needs that could have helped to further reposition the police. Despite pub-

lic outrage against such move in the past, the police leadership had always gone ahead to effect the change. This is why we doubt the sincerity of the police in the present instance, calling for constructive criticism from members of the public. Is the IGP genuinely doing this or he was just playing to the gallery?

We know that the costume, like the others before it, will cost the government billions of naira to effect. We think this is not necessary at this time when the police are seriously under-equipped, demotivated and not well remunerated. We are not saying that the police should not be reformed because indeed, the force needs urgent and effective reforms- not the type that is coming in the guise of costume change.

The police personnel need sophisticated arms and ammunition, security gadgets, well maintained operational vehicles and better welfare package so as to be able to fiercely combat crime in the country. The projected cost of providing this new costume will go a long way in providing these. The racket of uniform change must forthwith be stopped in the police force.

We acknowledge the notable moves so far taken by the current IGP to sanitise and stabilise the force, but we think that his efforts will be better appreciated if he does not make new uniform his priority, when other obvious problems are begging for attention.

Britannica yields to the digital age Its reputation for accuracy will probably ensure that the online version of its reference materials will continue to be popular. But the Internet is steadily undermining the brand’s franchise.

T

WO months after Eastman Kodak Co.declared bankruptcy, another household name is succumbing to the relentless march of technology. Encyclopaedia Britannica announced Tuesday that it is discontinuing its best-known product, the 32-volume collection of reference material on everything from aardvarks to zygotes. The company is shifting its focus to the Internet, where it offers a virtual version of its books and a slate of fee-based educational services.

The company’s ability to sell pricey bound volumes for 244 years is a testament not just to the power of its brand, but also to the demand for a convenient, reliable source of information. The market for the latter isn’t going away, and at least four other publishers will keep printing multi-volume encyclopedias after the last set of Encyclopaedia Britannica is delivered.

Yet it seems only a matter of time before the market evaporates for all of these costly editions. For families with a computer that’s always connected to the Internet, free or low-cost research materials online provide an alternative that’s at least as convenient and far more up to date. And smartphones provide access to virtual reference tools anywhere at any time, making a set of bound volumes on a bookshelf appear archaic.

Britannica’s reputation for accuracy will probably ensure that the online version of its reference materials will continue to be cribbed by students around the globe. But the Internet is steadily undermining the brand’s franchise in at least three ways.

First, the Web is an echo chamber that enables people to read and hear only the information that fits their point of view. The search tools that make it simple to find information online aren’t built to elevate “definitive” sources such as Britannica, or even to separate fact from fiction; instead, they tend to rank sources based on their popularity. The more something is repeated or cited online, the more it is promoted on Google. The definitive word on a subject may be simply the most widely held view, not the actual facts.

Meanwhile, sites such as Wikipedia enable the public to bring its collective knowledge to the task of writing reference material, independent of the experts employed by Britannica.

That “wisdom of the crowd” approach has proved to be surprisingly accurate and effective.

More important, the Internet puts a trove of original documents and other primary sources of information at people’s fingertips. Instead of relying on middlemen to do research for us, we now can go directly to the sources that Britannica writers and Wikipedia contributors used. In a sense, the entire point of education is to develop the ability to think critically — to sift through the data and draw the right conclusions. That’s a lesson that kids don’t learn by rewriting Britannica entries into term papers.

- Los Angeles Times

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

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THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

S

IR: Since 2009, the Boko Haram has been killing innocent Nigerians with bombs. From Niger to Borno, from Abuja to Jos, the activities of the group is being felt in the country. Whoever doubts that their actions have the potentials of splitting Nigeria is a holdout without access to means of receiving information.

Combating the Boko Haram terrorist acts should entail finding out their grievances, and devising ways to addressing them. It should go further than our policemen’s engaging them in a shoot-out.

Some people feel that President Jonathan’s ascendance to power, which resulted from his refusal to abide by the PDP’s power sharing formula, fuelled the Boko Haram insurgency. The northern politicians felt wronged and short-changed in the scheme of things. Now, people are insinuating that they’re sponsoring the terrorist acts of the Boko Haram.

But, before the PDP. zoning formula

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

Forces tearing Nigeria apart came into being, Nigeria had a long history of ethno-religious conflicts. This is not unexpected in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country like Nigeria. Didn’t Adaka Boro declare the Niger-Delta republic in the 1960s? The northerners wanted secession in the 1960s. Between 1967 and 1970, the Biafra- Nigeria civil war raged and led to the deaths of millions of people on both sides.

The fact is that Nigeria is a combustible mix of diverse ethnic nationalities that are

antagonistic and fearful of one another.

The education we acquired has not disabused our minds of biases, prejudices and stereotypes, which undermine our national cohesion and breed animosity among us.

Nigerians perceive themselves first as Ibos, Hausas or Yorubas before seeing themselves as Nigerians. This subordination of nationalistic feeling beneath ethnic sentiments doesn’t encourage national integration and unity, which is the

foundation of national growth. These centrifugal forces are tearing Nigeria apart.

More so, since Nigeria became a sovereign nation in 1960, corrupt leadership has been a constant in our history. It is undoubtedly the bane of our national growth. Members of the Shehu Shagari administration were involved in financial corruption. Retired General Ibrahim Babangida, who ruled between 1985 and 1993, entrenched corruption in Nigeria.

During his military regime, billions of

Reason why lawmakers are afraid of Soyinka suit

S

IR: Darkness is always afraid of light. National legislators on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are afraid of a constitution that reflects the opinion of the people of Nigeria. Hence the National Assembly (NASS) “has filed an objection to a suit by Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and Fred Agbeyegbe, seeking a Federal High Court, Lagos, to declare that the amended 1999 Constitution is not an act of the people.” Is it an act of the people or a militarily imposed one?

The demand of the plaintiffs is simple. They are asking the court “to order that the draft constitution prepared by the Peoples’ National Conference in August 2006 and the recommendations of the National Political Reform Conference of 2006 be subjected to ‘a proper referendum’ of Nigerians within 18 months.” Or, in the alternative, that the court should “order that the 1999 Constitution be subjected to such referendum in order to seek the opinion of the people of Nigeria.”

Rather than appreciating the demand as the best thing in a democratic setting, and try to do what is right, the PDP-dominated NASS said the suit

should have been filed in Abuja. Of all the defendants, only the Clerk of the NASS was represented when the case came-up for hearing, arguing that Lagos was not the proper place for the case. The other defendants, which include the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, did not show-up; probably to avoid the shame of not doing things as it should be done.

That is how the PDP perpetrates in-

justice and impropriety, which the Hausa man and woman call Boko Haram. Even traditional rulers and religious leaders who feed from crumbs that fall from the PDP imperial tables support the Haram. Why try to prolong and frustrate the demand of the plaintiffs, through sheer technicalities? Truth is – all those in power at the national levels are appointees of the military dictators that imposed the 1999 constitution on Nigeria.

The continual survival of the ex-military leaders who continue to enjoy their

loots at the expense of ordinary Nigerians hang on the constitution they crafted in 1999. Hence none of their appointees want to alter anything that may spill the beans. For instance, if the constitution should take the power of choosing the electoral umpires from the President to a non-partisan body, as recommended by the Electoral Reform Committee of Justice Muhammed Uwais, can the PDP guarantee any electoral victory?

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

Naira that accrued from the gulf-oil windfall was not accounted for. Late Sani Abacha combined kleptomania with sanguinary proclivities and stole Nigeria blind. Soon, James Ibori, the thieving governor, who ruled Delta State in the recent past, will be sentenced in a British court, having been found guilty of corrupt enrichment.

Our leaders’ financial corruption causes anger and disaffection among us. And, it may be the trigger that will lead to revolt in Nigeria.

In January, President Jonathan mindlessly removed the fuel subsidy, which caused wide-spread protest across Nigeria. The removal of the fuel subsidy increased our suffering while it lasted. It took our protest for the government to back down on its policy, and to reduce the fuel price.

Inflicting untold hardship on Nigerians through maladministration and embezzlement of our collective financial wealth can cause anger to well up in our hearts and lead to violent uprising. Not every nation that experienced uprising came out of it intact.

And, the existence of separatist ethnic militia groups like MASSOB, MEND, OPC and others do not augur well for our national cohesion. These groups protect their ethnic interests, and agitate for a geographical space of their own because of the inequities and injustice prevalent in our country.

We should learn from the Arab spring that happened in some countries where disgruntled and disillusioned youths sacked sit-tight despotic leaders in libya, Tunisia and Egypt.

•Chiedu Uche Okoye Uruowulu- Obosi , Anambra State.

Bring back discipline in schools

S

IR: Discipline is no longer given its rightful place in schools these days. In the past, erring students were adequately punished, either by caning or by allotting a portion of the school field to cut or by other measures the disciplinarian deems fit for the student, to serve as a deterrent to others. Consequent upon that, the students were meant to understand that living a life of indulgence is not good. Impressively, they were well behaved and they took their stud-

ies very serious.

But unfortunately the reverse is the case these days. The trend has shifted from caning discipline to oral discipline as the students are no longer given the deserved punishment by the teachers for fear of being insulted or molested by their parents who often get slighted whenever their children or wards are flogged. Little wonder there has been a dismal downturn in the level performance of students in examinations.

Discipline in schools should be restored to status quo. Students should be adequately punished when they misbehave, especially when they ignore teachers instructions or fail to do their home work, for such is a safer and apt method of correcting them Parents should eschew overpampering children. They should train in order to prepare them against future challenges. Teachers should be given a leeway to handle the students properly in order to bring out the best

in them, and should not be insulted or molested before the students, for such would develop bad blood between the two parties and would not augur well for the society. Students should face their studies and avoid all side attractions like manipulation of their cell phones and excessive watching of home videos and other irrelevancies.

•Gabriel Orhuwhorun, Field Crest International High School Ekete Warri, Delta State

21

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

EDITORIAL/OPINION T was at the 2009 public presentation of Sir Olaniwun Ajayi’s book, Nigeria: Africa’s Failed Asset? in Lagos. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, literally burst on the audience with his impassioned speech on the imperative to feel “Nigerian”, rather than feel Hausa, Fulani, Tiv, Igbo or Yoruba.

It was an impressive cast of discussants: Prof. Itse Sagay, Odia Ofeimum and Reuben Abati, among others. Pa Ajayi had written a book critical of how the British allegedly worked hand-in-glove with the North to deliver

I

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epublican ipples

lordbeek@yahoo.com, 08054504169 (Sms only, please)

a paralytic Nigeria, useful to no one save a parasitic few.

But he had also invited to play an important role Prof.

Attahiru Jega, the radical who, as president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), fought the philistine federal government to a standstill. Yet, he later rose to be vicechancellor of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), a federal university. It was Prof. Jega’s pre-INEC days.

Pa Ajayi was coy about how Prof. Jega would take the invitation. He had written a critical, nay damning book on the North, viz-a-viz the Nigerian political power question. Yet, he wanted a calm and cerebral non-southern personality to play a vital role at its public presentation and discourse. Jega was assigned that role. But Sir Olaniwun let the intermediary give Jega early notice of the book’s unflattering content, lest the respected academic be embarrassed.

But Jega assured the author it was all right; and the academic went in there to give an academic-cum-diplomatic performance that ruffled no feathers; and that would have doused all controversy over a highly controversial book.

However, all that would vanish with CBN Governor Sanusi bursting on the scene to defend the North’s honour against southern hawks. To be fair, the southern discussants opened the salvo; and it was going to be their favourite pastime of northern shellacking, from the safe, coastal redoubt of Onikan.

But Sanusi would brook no such nonsense.

Sanusi’s opening blaze was to dismiss Pa Ajayi, the author, as a luckless ancient trapped in his Yoruba skin and lost in a time warp as far as Nigerian evolution was concerned. He then pummelled the people of his own “generation” for speaking in the language of the past. Though born Fulani, Sanusi thundered, he was now Nigerian.

“My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian,” he declared with flourish, eliciting applause. “The problem with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953.

Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke, but I cannot forgive people of my generation speaking in that language.” Enter the quintessential new Nigerian!

But from recent developments, that quintessential new Nigerian has not lost his quintessential northern root – which is

W

ITH barely 10 days left to the mandatory cutover date for cashless Lagos decreed by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), this column had originally intended doing a close-up on the policy in the light of several concerns raised by stakeholders as to its operability more so as the CBN appears to have gone sabbatical after decreeing down the policy – expecting, as usual, that things would go on auto-pilot, no matter the odds.

However, with Wednesday shocker at the House of Representatives probe of the capital market, naturally, the issue became one of which one to come first. In the end, I opted to marry both, convinced that since the two developments represent the obverse sign of the same coin of bad faith and incompetence of those claiming to drive change, lumping them in the same basket would change nothing.

I start therefore with the cashless Lagos initiative –another one straight from Sanusi’ House of hubris. Now, several months down the line, the more one looks at how far the policy has gone, the more it comes across as one of those brainwaves hatched on the spur of the moment without the due rigour of thought. Simply because more and more Nigerians now have access to Automated Teller Machines – the ubiquitous cash-vending machines now dotting our urban landscapes – the apex bank, ever so eager to showcase its activism, appears to have exaggerated the citizens’ readiness to go cashless.

Of course when one settles down to examine the brass tacks of a policy said to be driven by the need to reduce the volume of cash in daily transactions, the paucity of rigour comes starkly revealed. It starts with what the CBN fixes as cash deposit/withdrawal limits. For the individual, it is N150,000 daily; for corporate bodies N1 million. And then, it ends with exaggeration of what is on ground to actualise the so-called vision of the cashless society.

Guess I need to be clear here: there is nothing wrong with the goal of a cashless society. The danger is the means to bring it about. The danger of going ahead with the policy as presently conceived couldn’t have been better presented than the way the South-west zone of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) brought it out in their open letter to the CBN governor as published in this newspaper on March 9, and in The Punch of March 12.

The contention of the marketers was that the punitive charge of 20 percent on deposits in excess of the CBN-imposed cash limit of N1 million daily transactions an industry whose margins are fairly regulated was a recipe for disaster. The group argued rather persuasively that since the issue of payment options was beyond their control, imposing the burden of cash handling charges on their daily deposits amounted to making Citizen Paul to pay for the sins of Joe! Imagine a service station in the heart of Lagos with daily

Olakunle Abimbola

Sultan of CBN just as well! As the great Awo once said, he would rather first be a good Yoruba before becoming a good Nigerian. But then, Awo too perhaps was trapped in the past! Kid Nigerian Sanusi would rather zoom, jet-age, from Fulani to Nigerian. The snag is: he appears having a problem walking his talk!

With Boko Haram ravaging the North, Sanusi’s instinctive grand theorem, in an interview with London’s Financial Times, was to ogle Niger Delta’s 13% derivation revenue; and blame the alleged surplus cash in the oil-blighted South-South for the misguided anarchists that plague the North, using Islam as convenient cover.

But who does not know that Boko Haram is deadly comeuppance to the North’s traditional feudal and modern elite education policy, as distinct from mass education embraced in most parts of the South? And who does not know that the North’s mass poverty is a direct consequence of the power irresponsibility of that region’s stream of rulers, at the apogee of their power hegemony? But it does not matter: when hot blood passion gushes, icy logic must melt!

Now, about everyone among the North’s elite has latched on to the grand theorem of the quintessential new Nigerian, fast petering into Sultan Sanusi of CBN. Muazu Babangida Aliyu, governor of Niger State and chairman of Northern Governors Forum, has mood swings between “editing” South-South’s cash cache to give the North more cash; and restructuring the country for each section to drive its own wealth.

Dr. Junaidu Mohammed, the latest visible Saracen in the northern jihad to slice quite a chunk off South-South’s derivation trove has even upped the ante. He has made it be known the North

‘The pristine Arewa is a land of honour.

But now, is there no more shame in that land? That its elite would hanker after other people’s resources, instead of working for theirs’, using some phoney ‘Nigerianness’?’

Policy Sanya Oni sanyaoni@yahoo.co.uk 08051101841

As reform cart pulls economy’s horse cash takings in excess of five million being made to pay this CBN of 20 percent of anything over the N1 million cash threshold! Now that a fortune for the banks for simply sorting bank notes! That is transformation!

Rather than address the root of why Nigerians prefer cash in their transaction with a view to creating incentives to get more and more Nigerians to embrace alternate payment options, the CBN in its typical fit of policy arrogance, obviously believes that the option of imposing levies on transactions above its imposed cash deposit/withdrawal threshold is sound policy. It has until March 30 to find out that it is not.

As for alternative payment platform of cheques, that again is a matter of what the CBN chooses to believe. Unfortunately, not many Nigerians accept a cheque is as good as cash. In the South-west for instance, it takes, on the average, three working days to clear a third-party cheque; for up-country cheques, it takes about a week. And now, the individual cannot obtain onthe-counter value for third party cheques in excess of N150,000.

What’s N150,000 worth? At today’s market price, the sum would fetch no more than 75 bags of cement; it is about what it costs an industrious yam seller to transport his ware from Niger State to Mile 12 in Lagos.

The question of course remains; how many businessmen would release their goods without first obtaining value on cheques drawn? Certainly, not the spare parts seller in Ladipo, Lagos or even his more formal counterpart dealing in industrial spares. What this goes to highlight is the need to promote confidence in the cheque instrument first. What has the CBN done, for instance, to tighten the rules on issuance of dud cheques? Moreover, what is the state of the backbone infrastructure? While there has been so much hype about the so-called robust telecommunications infrastructure to facilitate seamless cutover to e-payment platforms, even the bankers

would go to court – not to uproot legislations that put under central monopoly solid minerals where the North might mine its own “oil”; but tinker with the 13% derivation, brandishing some self-serving 70-30 offshore-onshore dichotomy, which will fill the northern till by 70% and reduce the SouthSouth till by same percentage on the offshore oil fields. Haba!

The pristine Arewa is a land of honour. Even the lowly maiguard that drive the household

security business nationwide, strike you with their quiet dignity and penetrating honesty. Now is there no more shame in that land? That its elite would hanker after other people’s resources, instead of working for theirs’, using some phoney “Nigerianness”, the type of show the Sultan of CBN tried to put up at Sir Olaniwun’s expense, at the old man’s book launch?

But it is doubtful if the duelling South-South elite have any moral swagger over the North in this needless controversy. It took just seven days of pan-Nigeria protest over an unconscionable fuel pump price hike for the Ijaw Mafia to downgrade Goodluck Jonathan’s “pan-Nigeria” mandate to one from the Ijaw enclave.

Atedo Peterside, an ordinarily urbane Lagos-bred banker suddenly became fair-weather power soldier, barking orders and swearing to crush misguided protesters. And Ms Ankio Briggs? Just a seven-day strike, she virtually forgot all her life exertions about derivation, national conference, restructuring and all that, just because Goodluck Jonathan was not elevated to some republican god to be worshipped willy-nilly, rather than being called to question by the people who elected him.

See what power does to folks?

The North, like other parts of Nigeria, has its own Jibril Aminus, Shamusdiden Usmans, Nasir el-Rufais, Attahiru Jegas, Mansur Mouktars and Ibrahim Ayagis, brilliant minds that can hold their own anywhere.

They should come up with useful proposals to solve that region’s development crisis in the context of Nigeria’s sick federalism, rather than surrender to the tyranny of dead ideas from a section of the northern power elite. That elite’s annoying sense of entitlement and its penchant to be development brain-dead the moment the Federation Account stops flowing does little credit to that region’s brain power.

If every politics is local, let the economy too be local. Let everyone go work its land; and dazzle the centre with its trove.

As for Malam Sanusi’s free cascade from new Nigerian to Sultan of CBN, it is the futility of artificial “Nigerianness”. Lamido’s Fulani essence is no conflict to his Nigerian essence. But given the new Nigerian’s gurgling Fulani blood, Pa Ajayi is not so ancient after all! themselves readily admit that there is a long way to go yet – to get that infrastructure as indeed other ancillary infrastructure ready and reliable.

As it is – we have 10 days to see wishes translate to horses.

It is something all of us would enjoy if it does!

Now to Wednesday’s shocker at the House of Representatives probe panel. Here it seems again, another Nigerian tragedy playing out. Now with the hunted turning the tables to become the hunter in one desperate moment of self-preservation, chances of the nation getting to the root of what is alleged to be the monument of corruption that the capital market regulator is alleged to have become has become dimmed.

Again, the scene is all too familiar. Remember the Ghanamust go bags of naira notes in the heydays of Ghali NaAbba House –which disappeared moments after it was exhibited as evidence of an alleged bribe in the House chambers? Arumah Oteh, the embattled Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission needn’t bother about presenting proof of her many allegations against the House committee. She obviously knows a thing or two about how the Nigerian psychology works – something that her sparring partner, the Honourable Herman Hembe may not have mastered well enough.

Does anyone worry about the costs of pursuing our socalled reforms – not least how the costs of maintaining those head-hunted to drive the reforms have grown humongous in years while the constant is the downward spiral of the institution they were brought in to salvage? That is what happens when the reforms cart is allowed to drive the economy’s horse.

It is a Nigerian phenomenon.

‘What has the CBN done, for instance, to tighten the rules on issuance of dud cheques? Moreover, what is the state of the backbone infrastructure? While there has been so much hype about the socalled robust telecommunications infrastructure to facilitate seamless cutover to e-payment platforms, even the bankers themselves readily admit that there is a long way to go yet – to get that infrastructure as indeed other ancillary infrastructure ready’

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

22

EDITORIAL/OPINION OOTBALL has been identified by many as the only thing that truly unites all Nigerians irrespective of their differences; religious, ethnic, economic or what have you.

Put any of our national teams, male or female on the pitch against any other national team in an international football encounter and you’ll see why Nigerians are described as the happiest people in the world.

The way they would applaud every move of our players you’d think all our problems such as epileptic power supply, bad roads, decaying healthcare facilities, declining education standard, bad leadership, corruption etc are over. And when the boys/girls play badly, the condemnation would be total.

It is not just about their love for the round leather game, it does appear that Nigerians are at their happiest and most united when the nation’s pride and integrity are at stake.

This is not about their leaders, it is about the people themselves. When our collective interest as a people/nation is at stake, we do not need anybody’s prompting to act united.

This is a lesson our leaders need to learn as they administer our affairs.

You might be wondering what the hell I am talking about? I am talking about patriotism, undiluted and spontaneous patriotism that Nigerians do exhibit whenever the times call for it. Remember the recent deportation of some Nigerians from South Africa by the South African authorities over Yellow Fever vaccination and their humiliation at the Oliver Thambo international airport in Johannesburg? In spite of Nigerians dwindling support for and lack of faith in the Jonathan administration, not a few backed the Federal Government’s tough stance against South Africa. Most Nigerians supported the tit for tat measure adopted by the government in dealing with the issue. Take a look at some of the responses to this column some weeks back titled: “An eye for an eye”.

AIDS free cert. *Thank you for your piece today. You spoke the mind of most Nigerians. How about asking South Fricans to produce AIDS free certificate before they can enter Nigeria? Anonymous 08023525986 A head for an eye *The callous, repugnantly repulsive and vexatious inhuman treatment meted out to fellow Nigerians by our distant South African brothers deserve an attractively juicy explanation and they had better start doing

F

T

Nigeria United that now. A country that produced the likes of the legendary Madiba, Oliver Thambo and Archbishop Desmond Tutu should not pay our benevolence with malevolence! If ‘symptoms persist’ after this time-out, then I recommend ‘a head for an eye and a heart for a tooth’! From Kayode A, Abeokuta. 08073821313 Serves us right *Why blame South Africa for our woes? We helped them gain independence just in the 90’s, but how come that we are trooping out to their land when they should be coming to us that got independence since 1960. We deserve what we are getting from South Africa, United States Iraq or even Togo! We should be ashamed. Anonymous 08027438872 These are just a representative sample of what a cross section of Nigerians feel about the recent South Africa/Nigeria face off. As stated earlier, when the cause is just, Nigerians would react almost in unanimity. Remember the fuel price hike strike?

There are some other issues as well that can bring Nigerians together, especially when they border on ethnicity or religion. When this columnist commented last week on the hypocrisy that attended the burial recently of former Biafran leader and Eze Ndigbo Gburugburu, Chief Emeka Odumegu Ojukwu, the Ikemba of Nnewi, the usual reaction from our compatriots across the Niger came in torrent. These are samples: *To keep Nigeria one A very good piece today. You actually hit the point on the right target. But as usual and often, you people always make the mistake that Ojukwu took up arms against Nigeria, meaning that he declared war on Nigeria.

Why do you people find it difficult to state the correct facts. Nigeria led by Gowon declared war on Biafra “to keep Nigeria one”.

HE legislature and its peculiar democratic tradition forms a foremost cornerstone of modern democracies the world over. Nigeria is no exception. Perhaps more than any since the advent of the Fourth Republic, the seventh House of Representatives has - in terms of its oversight mandate, legislative agenda, people-oriented leadership footing and self-awareness of its brief - delivered a most commendable scorecard.

Perhaps, the current lifespan of the seventh House is insufficient to validly judge its efficacy but it is enough to provide an indication of the path it has chosen to travel. Are members of this House a bunch of saints? Hardly so. But to hold a steady course that is almost now predictable requires discipline and conviction. This, the seventh House has demonstrated to its credit. The outcome of the Honourable Farouk Lawan-led committee which probed the management of petroleum subsidy fund is an important case in point.

The Lawan committee flowed from a resolution passed by the House during an emergency session on January 8. The resolution stemmed from the sudden, complete withdrawal of the petroleum subsidy by the government, a scenario which led to the generation of considerable heat in the polity for several weeks.

It’s worth recalling that on Thursday, February 9, a threeweek long public hearing conducted by the House adhoc committee wound up. During the public hearing, many surprising revelations of squalid deals committed by players in the downstream arena of the petroleum industry were made public.

During investigations proper, about 140 oil firms that participated in the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) appeared before the probe panel to clarify their roles. Interestingly, their submissions raised more questions than answers. For instance, up till the time the panel wound up its sitting, no one had an exact figure of the amount expended by the Federal Government on subsidy in the last appropriation circle. Neither the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) nor the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had an accurate account of how much was involved.

Only N240 billion was provided as subsidy fund in the 2011 Appropriation Act, according to the legislators, but the total disbursement for the period was in excess of N770 billion. Thus, tentatively, about N1.7 trillion allegedly went down the drain in the form of subsidy which only ended up benefitting a privileged few in the sector rather than the masses who are the targeted beneficiaries.

As things stand, the report of the Lawan committee is expected to resolve this when its recommendations are even-

Biafra led by Ojukwu defended it’s sovereignty. The war after all, was fought on Biafran soil and not Nigerian soil. And you people deliberately continue to write that Ojukwu declared war. It is a good article, anyway, but try to believe and understand the facts of the civil war. Cheers. Chris, 08033217721 The truth *I really sympathize with you because truth is dead in this country. Your article Hypocrites, all of you hypocrites, is nothing but the truth. From Otto Essien, 08037933534 Truth about Biafra? *The truth about Biafra will never be told by the present ruling class. Why? Because the neo-colonial capitalist system that caused the bourgeois war is a gold mine for the ruling class. From Amos Ejimoye, Kaduna 08039727512 Hatred for North? *I absolutely agree with you on your editorial/opinion today titled Hypocrites, even though as Yoruba, you can’t end without displaying your unavoidable hatred for the North. Anonymous, 08075728098 Rebel leader *May God bless you Mr Waheed. I have been looking for someone who will be truthful. Not saying evil of the dead but saying the truth. Ojukwu died a REBEL LEADER. Fatai Isola, 08056119569 Liberation mission *Sir, to help you answer your question on what Biafran soldiers were doing in Ore, ask yourself why late Brigadier Ogundipe could not assume power as the most senior Army officer on Ironsi’s death? In the words of some Yoruba scholars and elders “ the West was occupied by northern soldiers”. Biafran soldiers were on a liberation mission , and the thrust was led by late Victor Banjo. Who reneged on the Aburi Accord? Gowon, urged

When parliament pitches for Nigerians

By Dan Iwerebo tually released into the public domain soon. The emerging consensus is that the Hon. Farouk Lawan-led committee has kicked off a thorough job that may be seen through by what the relevant authorities eventually chose to do with it. But then the Nigerian dimension has reportedly crept in. The committee while compiling its report on the probe has reportedly rebuffed several emissaries from powerful interests from the subsidy industry and other shady sources.

Most importantly, the resolute performance of the Lawan committee cannot be delinked from the larger canvass of the activist legislative agenda defined by the leadership of the House. It could be recalled that with masterly insight, timing and demonstration of a fundamental grasp of the legislative dimension to governance, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal killed off niggling doubts that surrounded his controversial emergence as Speaker, together with his deputy, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha. In terms of the value and clarity of political signalling, the emerging consensus, influenced by their sure-footed moves, is that they have scored a high in the morning of their outing.

Instructively, Tambuwal set the tone of the kind of leadership he will provide and his game-plan quite early. In “Time to Remake Nigeria”, his inaugural acceptance speech, the diminutive dynamite revisited the fundamental arena of true federalism, to give real meaning to the nation’s troubled sociopolitical journey. Rightly or wrongly, there is a perception that this territory, in terms of political discourse, is clearly ‘un-northern.’ But he has changed all this. In his words, we must, “review how we federate as a nation with the aim of achieving more cumulative effectiveness in the federating units based on comparative endowment advantages.” For a key figure from the northern political intelligentsia, this expressed position is seen widely to be significant.

On the new blueprint that will and is now guiding legislative activities in the seventh House, he revealed the new focus would be on making new laws and strengthening existing ones, more so because the self-esteem and integrity of the

on by his advisers-you sure know some of the advisers. I ask, would Ojukwu stand vindicated if the Aburi agreement turns out to be the basis of a rejigged Nigerian federalism? Anonymous, 08134807676 Blood on the Niger *Good morning Waheed. On the “truth about how the war was conducted on both sides...”, why take it as a challenge, and service to fatherland, by investigating and revealing the truth ala Emma Okocha’s “Blood on the Niger”? Anonymous, 08134807676 Worthy rebel *Thank you for your write-up “Hypocrites, all of you hypocrites”. In my opinion, there is nothing to be ashamed of by Ojukwu if he was tagged a rebel. In fact , he has everything to be proud of, for standing up to defend the dignity of his people. As a young college boy in St. John’s College, Kaduna, I witnessed the pogrom. My own father was chased from our house by boys I played Saturday set football with. As God will have it, he managed to escape into our College premises and headed to the Bishop’s residence. That was what saved him. It was my College father, now a senior member of the Bar, Barrister Mike Mamman Osuman, may God be with him, who finally arranged his safe exit from Kaduna. There was no way Ojukwu could have sat back and watch his people killed and maimed. To add salt to the injury, the Aburi Accord, which I considered at that period, was a recipe for peace, was unilaterally jettisoned by the Federal Government. For me Ojukwu was a good and worthy rebel. Like you pointed out, the solution to fixing Nigeria, is dialogue. However, I do not believe in the SNC. The National Assembly should be able to trash out all the gray areas in our constitution and come up with a good amended constitution.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Captain (NN) A.I Olisadebe(rtd), 08033119751 Shameless people *Alhaji Waheed, your piece on hypocrisy of 13-3-12 made an interesting reading. In fact you read my mind. You will recall Jimmy Cliff in one of his songs in the seventies described Nigeria as a country of hypocrites.

The earlier we shunned this trait in us the better. I believe people who indulge in it have no shame. Thanks for reading my mind.

From Alhaji Shittu, 08188810889

lower House had become questionable. In a move that verged on statesmanship uncustomary to the House, Tambuwal graciously conceded that the House accepted responsibility for failures and unconscionable gaps in meeting its brief. He humbly sought the forgiveness of Nigerians. Nigerians today are observing some of this legislative activism. Clearly, this young Turk, ably backed by his dynamic deputy is betraying a stature beyond his years. There is more.

Tambuwal has further amplified his activist footing by seeking financial autonomy for houses of assembly across the country. At a recent workshop in Abuja organised for speakers of the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly, Tambuwal, through his deputy, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, called on the speakers in attendance to ensure that the issue of financial autonomy for them is included in the next constitution amendment ‘to guarantee greater independence and efficiency of the state legislature.’

Tambuwal regretted the rebuff of the National Assembly’s commitment to grant states’ Houses of Assembly financial independence during the last attempt at constitutional amendment when some of the Houses of Assembly, through ‘under-hand tactics of their governors’, frustrated the exercise. According to him, this has “reduced them to mere appendages of the executive arm of government. We deprecate this evident development that is not healthy but detrimental to the promotion of accountability in government.”

Regrettably, in July, 2010, state Houses of Assembly curiously endorsed the amendment which sought to grant the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) financial autonomy by putting them on the consolidated revenue fund of the federation but all of them, except Lagos State House of Assembly that secured autonomy earlier, rejected theirs.

More principled, focused voices like that of the leadership of the seventh House are needed to fast-track the change Nigeria currently needs. · Iwerebo, a public affairs analyst, resides in Enugu

The resolute performance of the Lawan committee cannot be delinked from the larger canvass of the activist legislative agenda defined by the leadership of the House.

AHEAD OF LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

YOBO SAD

Egbunikehopefulof threerelaymedals

Pg. 24

Pg. 24

over draw

Nation PAGE 23

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

MIKEL:

we didn't

Pg. 24

sack

AVB Always nice to score goals —Akpala Pg. 24

•Netted his 19th

24

41

NATIONSPORT TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

NATION SPORT

NATION SPORT

Mikel: we didn't sack AVB

C

•Mikel

H E L S E A Football Club of England and Nigerian midfielder, John Mikel Obi has revealed that players of the club had no hand in the sacking of erstwhile manager Andre Villa- Boas contrary to reports making the rounds.

I n a c h a r t w i t h MTNFootball.com, the former junior international said that despite his lack of regular playing time under VillaBoas, it is not enough reason for him to want his downfall.

“No. I don't know anything about players sacking AVB! He is a world-class coach. Yes,

By Innocent Amomoh I was not playing regularly under him and it was frustrating for me because I always want to play when I am not injured, but that does not mean I hate him.

“He is a nice guy and a good coach, things just didn't work for him at Chelsea as everyone thought it would be, but all I can say is that we did not sack AVB. I am wishing him all the best in the future,” he said.

Asked which manager he hopes to replace the Portugal-born coach despite Roberto Di Matteo working on an interim capacity, Mikel said he is not in the position to determine who is brought as Chelsea manager

AHEAD OF LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

Egbunike hopeful of three relay medals

N

ATIONAL Athletics Coach Innocent Egbunike is optimistic about the chances of Team Nigeria’s track and field athletes winning three medals in the relay events of the London 2012 Olympic Games which begins July 12 and ends August 12.

Speaking from Atlanta, United States where the National Sports Commission (NSC) camp for track and field athletes is based, Egbunike, who was named the National Athletics Coach last month by the Honourable Minister of Sports and Chairman of the NSC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said: “Basically, what we are doing now is getting the athletes in shape so that they will be race-ready. The talent in the team is enormous, and with the right coaching, tutorials and attitude, we will do well at the Olympic Games.’’

Egbunike, a member of the bronze-medal winning 4x400m team at the Los Angles’ 84 Olympics, said only a seer will predict correctly what the team will achieve in London, “We have athletes like Blessing Okagbare, Damola Osayomi, Tosin Oke, Doreen Amata and a few others who could make it to the final of their events and in track and field; once you are in the finals of your events, anything can happen."

“In the relays, our women team, the 4x100m, and the 4x400m have qualified for the games; the men’s teams, 4x100m, and 4x400m have a very good chance of qualifying at the any of the following athletics meetings here in the USA and Jamaica: The Penns Relays, the Mount Sac Relays and the meet in Jamaica in May. Three of the four relay teams have a very good chance of winning in London,” said Egbunike, who coached the Nigeria 4x400m men’s team to win the gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Egbunike thanked the Sports Minister and the Director-General of the NSC for creating an environment that will enable him succeed at the games. ''They have been wonderful,” he said. “I also thank my federation's head, Solomon Ogba, and the Ministerial Committee on the Olympics, they made our camping in Atlanta possible, we can only repay them and Nigerians with medals in London. I am appealing to Nigerians to remember us in their prayers and join us in praying against injury and o t h e r uncertain •Blessing Okagbare (l) of Nigeria ties”.

as his role is on the field of play.

“I am not in a position to say who should be Chelsea manager. As a player, I will work with whoever is in charge. We are doing well under the current manager and my job is to concentrate and do well on the field for him, myself and the team,” Mikel explained.

On whether Chelsea can end the English Premier League (EPL) among the top four clubs despite stiff opposition from the likes of Arsenal, and Newcastle, Mikel said the Stamford Bridge occupants will do better than expected.

“We can even finish third ahead of those two and Tottenham Hotspur. It won't be easy; we have to work hard

for it. With the form that we are in now, I am sure we won't finish below fourth place on the table,” he said.

Mikel declined comments on his purported move to several European clubs at the last transfer window, but admits that his major priority now is to concentrate on contributing to club's fortune in the ongoing season.

“I don't want to talk about anything as it concerns transfer again. The window is closed and I am still

playing for Chelsea. I am concentrating on playing and winning with my club. It is always frustrating when one is not getting playing time when you know you should,” he declared.

Joel Obi meets Balotelli in Milan •Gets Zanetti’s praise

N

IGERIA whiz-kid Joel Obi made his sixth start of the season in Inter's 0-0 draw with Atalanta on Sunday. Before the 20-yearold's appearance at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, he met a very good friend on Saturday, the Manchester City attacker Mario Balotelli, informs fcinternews.it.

Manchester City had a free weekend and Balotelli visited Milan with his girlfriend Raffaella Fico. Obi has known the Italy international since his days in the youth ranks of Inter Milan and the two very promising youngsters have an excellent relationship.

Meanwhile, Inter captain Javier Zanetti believes that Joel Obi and Andrea Poli have a significant future at the club.

Speaking after the 0-0 draw with Atalanta, the veteran underlined that the duo should be part of whatever new project the outfit come

up with at the end of the season.

“Obi and Poli are becoming more consistent,” the veteran midfielder stated. “They're showing their ability.

“I thought Obi was excellent against Atalanta and he, and Nagatomo, were a threat to their defence.

“They are the future, they still have to improve but they’re coming along well.”

20-year-old Obi graduated through the club’s youth system to make 19 League appearances for far this season.

Poli, meanwhile, is 22 and is now starting to prove himself after an injury affected first half of the campaign.

The latter joined the club from Sampdoria in the summer on a one-season loan, but with the option to buy outright.

Always nice to score goals —Akpala •Nicked his 19th

F

ORGOTTEN Nigeria international Joseph Akpala scored his 18th and 19th goal of the season in the Brugge derby on Sunday.

Akpala's pair of strikes was enough to hand Brugge a 2-1 victory over their bitter rivals, Van Eenoo Cercle.

As the clock ticked towards full time, the Nigerian even had a chance to bag a hat-trick. It was a tremendous opportunity but the former Bendel Insurance ace missed an open goal. ''It's always nice to score and especially in the knowledge that we have achieved this victory in the derby against Cercle. Of course, I am happy with my own performance, but it's more important that today we have taken the three points.

“It would even have been better because I had a hat-trick chance. But, unfortunately, I was not cold-blooded enough to get the ball over the line.

“This was actually the easiest chance of the three and it is incomprehensible that I let such an opportunity slip,'' Akpala said in his post-match comments.

Joseph Akpala is now the third most feared forward in Belgium with 12 goals in Pro League. Club Brugge trail lead leaders Anderlecht by six points.

F

ENERBAHÇE have missed the opportunity to close the points gap on league leaders Galatasaray after drawing 2-2 at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium on Saturday. The Yellow Canaries trail Galatasaray by nine points.

Super Eagles skipper, Joseph Yobo put up a commanding display in his 29th game

•Fabrice Muamba posses with fiancee and son before the incident

ENGLISH FA CUP FALLOUT

Prayers galore for Muamba

•Yobo

YOBO

SAD over draw

of the season. However, in a c h a t with allnigeriasoccer.com, the 31year-old was very disappointed that Fenerbahçe failed to get the maximum points on offer. ''I am really unhappy we could only get a draw from this game. I said before the encounter that it was very important for us

to get three points.

Derby games are usually very difficult to play. ''It is very important we win our remaining matches to enable us qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season,'' Yobo, who praised the

performance of the Senegal striker Moussa Sow, explained to allnigeriasoccer.com.

Fenerbahçe are at home to Bursaspor in the next round of matches in the Super Lig. Before then, they play Ekigho Ehiosun and Simon Zenke's Samsunspor in the Cup on Wednesday.

L

AST SUNDAY, the football world was thrown into shock when England and Bolton Wanderers midfielder, Fabrice Muamba slumped during an English FA Cup fixture against Tottenhem Hotspurs.

Since the incident however, fans, Club Officials, friends and well wishers, including fellow players all over Europe have continued to express the desire to see the Zaire-born Briton return to his fit.

Muamba, according to reports, is still lying helpless at the London Chest Hospital, and this has continued to send jitters down the spines of all and sundry.

In a statement Bolton said: “Bolton Wanderers can confirm that Fabrice Muamba has been taken to hospital following his collapse at White Hart Lane Saturday evening during the FA Cup quarter-final. There is no further information at this stage.”

Muamba, who began his career in Arsenal's youth academy, has represented England at all age group levels and captained the under-19 team. He was an integral part of England's under-21 European Championship side last year.

There was an outpouring of shock over the incident on Twitter Saturday night. Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand posted: ‘come on Fabrics Muamba, praying for you.'

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp said; ‘Praying for Fabrice Muamba. A very very sad day. Hope the young lad pulls through.'

Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney wrote; 'Praying for him and his family. Still in shock', further tributes came from Lord Sugar and England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard.

Fans sang Muamba's name while he was being treated on the picth.

The player himself had posted a tweet before the game. Muamba's last message ahead of the match - sent at 3.59pm using his iPhone - read; Just reach (sic) white hart lane. #COYW (Come On You Wanderers) lets have it now.'

Muamba, who attends an evangelical church and began an Open University Accountancy Degree last September, was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then called Zaire, in 1998.

He lived through the country's long and bloody civil war and once told of how he dodged sniper fire to play football with friends.

His father, Marcel, was a political adviser to President Mobutu Sesa Seko's government and became a prime target when rebels combined to form the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Zaire.

This forced him to flee the country in 1994 and he travelled to England without his family to seek asylum.

Muamba went into hiding with his mother Gertrude.

In an interview last year, he said “What l have experienced keeps me going and gets me out of whatever difficulty l face. When l look back on the journey, l can see how lucky I am. I'm not the most talented footballer but l can see how l can do and what l need to do to stay where l am.”

When Marcel was granted indefinite leave to stay in Britain in 1999, he brought over his son and family. They settled in East London where Muamba attended Kelmscott School in Walthamstow , taking his A-levels and excelling in football.

He joined Arsenal's academy in 2004 aged 16 and signed his first professional contract a year later.

He made his first team debut in a League Cup the against Sunderland.

25

PROPERTY

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Haven Homes made its initial foray in property development in Magodo and Lekki, Lagos, which are middle and upper class abodes. Their signature is outside aesthetics and economy of space. The company is developing houses in Abuja, in response to rising demand.

OKWY IROEGBUCHIKEZIE writes that the landscapes of Asokoro and Ministers’ Hill are about to change for good.

H

AVING conquered Magodo and Lekki areas of Lagos State with its luxurious and western aristocratic homes, Haven Homes next port of call is Abuja. The upscale Asokoro and Ministers’ Hill, Mabushi are to host its stylish homes for the upper class and the super rich.

The developer combines European architecture with a mix of modern design which maximises space while creating leisure.

At a brief ceremony to unveil its Windsor Park at Magodo

Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.com

* The Environment * Mortgage * Apartments * Security * Homes * Real Estate

email:- property@thenationonlineng.net

•Haven Homes model for Ministers’ Hill, Abuja

Asokoro, Ministers’ Hill estates get April date Government Reserved Area (GRA), Havens Managing Director Tayo Sonuga said: “We felt that Abuja, being the federal capital, should get a piece of what we can do when it comes to lifestyle homes. Being a gateway to the world, we felt the best of our architecture should be showcased through the homes that we build.

“Whereas the Asokoro project sits on a land area of 1503. 47 square metres, comprises four units of fourbedroom terrace houses with a penthouse, the Mabushi project, sitting on 6,000 square metres of land,

•Jonathan inaugurates N4.5b Bayelsa Fed secretariat - PAGE 26

comprises five units of five-bedroom detached homes.”

The two Abuja projects are to be delivered soon.

Sonuga said they were inspired to go to Abuja by the overwhelming demand for their lifestyle homes in Lagos.

He said construction of the projects would begin next month and that the off-plan sale of the housing units was in progress.

The Haven Homes boss said they are committed to providing customers with ultra-luxurious homes that offer unique and individual layouts, abundant natu-

ral light, mezzanine levels, galleries, bridges, atriums and sometimes, roof terraces that can be used for weddings, birthday parties, engagements and other social events.

On some new features customers, especially thosein Abuja, want added to their homes, Sonuga said they have had to do some modifications, hinting that the ceiling under the new model would neither be straight nor flat. But would be cascaded to achieve more beauty.

He said: ”The kitchen design would be upgraded to double the

•‘Fashola’s housing

volume with 100 per cent imported components as against 40 per cent imported components in the former model. Some other upgrade measures would be incorporated in the 2012 model to make it distinctive.

On the Lagos Homes, he said, they were oversubscribed because of their unique designs and aesthetics.

A developer, Tona Ladega, owner of Play-in-Architecture, described as the designs as “lip stick and eye-shadow architecture,” which is achieved by “using more colours in the right places.”

•‘High land charges affect property development’

policy on course’ - PAGE 39

- PAGE 40

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

26

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT

•Artist impression of the secretariat

Jonathan inaugurates N4.5b Bayelsa Fed secretariat

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has said his administration would ensure equal distribution of projects to states.

He spoke at the groundbreaking of the Federal Secretariat in Yenagoa. The government is to build secretariats in other states.

From Isaac Ombe, Bayelsa

He said this informed his citing of six new federal universities across the country.

He emphasised that state capitals will be treated equally in terms of development as the administration will “ensure that

this country is uniformly developed”. He said other secretariats in the offing are to be built in Osun, Adamawa, Zamfara Gombe and Nassarawa states.

With these six, the number of federal secretariats will invrease from 23 to 29.

The Minister of Housing & Ur-

ban Development, Ms Ama Pepple, said the secretariats “will be a great relief to civil servants. She noted that the ministry will ensure timely completion of the secretariats.

However, she said the maintenance of the secretariats may pose a challenge but assured

that it would be done within the budgetary provisions of the ministry.

Governor Seriake Dickson, who expressed delight at the ground breaking in his tenure, lauded the Federal Government for providing an office complex for workers in the state.

“Since the creation of the state, the Federal Government has been a tenant”, Dickson said, thanking President Jonathan for not making the dream come true.

Dickson, who appealed for more projects, lamented the lack of Federal projects in the state.

“We need more Federal presence. The state has not enjoyed Federal Government presence, we also need estates for the workers. We will continue to ask for more,” said Dickson.

The state, he added, will push for the completion of the project on record time.

Chairman of TRENUR Nigeria Ltd, contractor for the project which is expected to completed in 2015, Chief George Turner, appealed for quick release funds and adequate security to ensure timely completion.

The Project Manager, Mr. Sunny Omekwe, explained that the initial cost of the project was N2.5 billion but after new considerations and variations it came to N4.5 billion.

Why low cost housing is difficult, by Pepple

T

HE Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple, has said the high cost of land and building materials are responsible for the failure of low cost housing in Nigeria.

Ms Pepple, who spoke at the just concluded second ASO Savings National Housing Exhibition in Abuja, however, said her ministry was exploring various strategies to break the barriers militating against the realisation of affordable shelter for the people.

The minister, shortly after assuming office, said she would pursue a policy of low cost housing vigorously, with a view to ensuring that majority of the working class have access to affordable housing.

Restating her commitment to the realisation of the lofty idea, Ms Pepple said her ministry had begun discussion with state governments making land available for the low cost housing give thatthe vesting of ownership of land in state governments has, more often than not, been a stumbling block.

As part of the moves to have accurate data on the housing deficit in the country, she said the ministry was talking with Cities Alliance with a view to conducting housing census. Ms Pepple commended ASO Savings and Loans for organising such an exhibition which provided opportunities for housing investors and end-users to come together under one roof.

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie Asst Editor

She hinted that the ministry would find a common ground to work in collaboration with stakeholders in the housing industry to resolve the challenging facing the industry in the country provide Nigerian with affordable but quality houses, we recognised the enormous challenging the industry is facing, but that should not stop us from providing the necessary and enabling environments for the property developers” she declared.

Also speaking at the forum, the Managing Director, Aso Savings & Loan, Mr. Hassan Usman, said that the bank would continue to provide financial services to the country’s housing delivery sector.

For instance, he said that the mortgage bank had in the past decade, provided loan facilities of N40 billion for over 15,000 house owners across the country.

Speaking on the drive behind the exhibition, he said,” Aso’s passion to see Nigerians own their houses and experience financial freedom has led to our organising this exhibition, a forum where all stakeholders involved in the housing market can convene; this includes Estate Developers, Building materials suppliers, architects, interior decorators.”

Usman also added that the forum provides ample opportunities for exhibitors to display their new products and services to the

•Ms. Pepple declaring the exhibition open.With her are Usman (left) and Odidi Okeke

general public.

He reiterated his company’s passion to see that every Nigerians own their own houses and experience freedom which according to him led to organise the exhibition,

according to him is a forum where all stakeholders involved in the housing market can convene, he said. The ASO Savings boss said they continue to embark on its passion to finance the develop-

ment of desirable affordable houses across the country disclosing that ASO Savings and Loans Plc will be hosting an annual conference to affordable Housing in Nigeria in the near future.

Kwara Council raises alarm over Ilorin-Kishi-Kaiama road

K

AIAMA Local Government of Kwara State has sent a saveour-soul (SOS) to Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed, the Federal Government and the National Assembly to the repair of Ilorin-KishiKaiama road.

The Ilorin-Kishi-Kaiama Road is about 60 kilometres and the only link road between the state capital and the local government.

The council chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Ahmed, told reporters, in Kaiama shortly after the presentation of the N1.8 billion 2012 budget proposal to the legislature.

Ahmed said: “We have written to

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

the governor and our members in the National Assembly. We have written to Alhaji Zakari Mohammed who is representing this constituency. Also Lafiaji Shaaba. I think they are working on it. The governor is so keen on the road. Sincerely speaking anytime we are meeting, if he is talking of road, the number one road he would mention is this KaiamaKishi Road.

He said the only thing holding the road is that they need to sort out some things with the Ministry of Works.

“The way they were doing it, be-

fore the state will intervene on a federal road and make claims but now the Federal Government has designed some measures that need to be put in place before the state government can intervene.”

The council boss lamented that “the road is very bad. You can imagine how bad it was before the local government’s intervention. Except we grade it the much we could, I do not think that by now, you would be in Kaiama, it would even take you another six hours before reaching here. We are trying our best way to keep the road better. That is the only road that links us to Ilorin.”

Sincerely the government should help us. It is a federal road but we are nearer to the local government.

The can adopt the Baruten way, the way they did it for Baruten.

“Annually we spend between N70 to N80 million on the road. We grade it every three months and we have been doing it for very long time. The bad road has many effects. That is why you see prices of foodstuffs go high in the town because a journey that is not suppose to take you an hour is taking you five hours and the fuel the vehicles will be consuming will be built in back to the consumers. Some times,

armed robbers take advantage of the road. Also some time, people say they are not coming to Kaiama Market because of the bad state of the road, armed robbers attack people. In our payroll we have about 353 members of vigilance group the LG is paying.

“Out of the 16 local government areas, Kaiama has the worst road network. From Baruteen to Kaiama, there is a road there but you have to spend about 6 hours which should not take more than 45 minutes. We believe that if the road is open, it will boast socio-economic activities.

TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

27

E-mail:- law@thenationonlineng.net

To the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), judges and key players in the Election Petition Tribunals, our electoral laws are not perfect. They contend that Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution and some sections of the Electoral Act, as amended, are anti-people and the cause of the confusion in the current electoral process. To them, there is the need to overhaul the affected laws before the next general elections. They spoke at the NBA Committee on the Review of the performance of Election Petition Tribunals’ two-day conference in Benin, the Edo State Capital. Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU reports.

Lawyers, judges canvass overhaul of electoral laws

P

ARTICIPANTS at the conference on the review of the performance of Election Petitions organised by the Nige rian Bar Association (NBA) were unanimous that some sections of the Electoral Laws and Section 285 of the Constitution as amended should be reviewed if Nigerians are to see a better election process in 2015.

The conference drew participants from the Bar, the Bench, academia and players in the economy. One after the other, judges, lawyers and stakeholders at the conference held in Benin, Edo State, spoke on the challenges of resolving electoral disputes.

Most speakers blamed the amended Section 285 of the Constitution for the challenges faced by litigants. They all agreed that this section as amended is the major cause of the confusion the current electoral process.

In a paper presented by his Senior Special Assistant, Prof. Deji Adekunle, on his behalf, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mohammed Bello Adoke, said: “Permit me to also raise the issue of the statutory requirement of 180 days within which petitions were required to be completed. It seems to me that this requirement calls for industry and resilience on the part of the judge and lawyers alike. Unfortunately, in several cases, much time was wasted on interlocutory issues. At the end of the day, the substantive issues in the petitions were not addressed as the petitions abated without the court being able to determine the cases on their merit.”

Welcoming participants, NBA President Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN) said the conference was timely because, over the years, “our collective inability to be led by leaders elected by universal adult sufferage, in a free and fair electoral process, has been the main factor militating against good governance in the

country.”

He said the idea of the conference was mooted when President Goodluck Jonathan invited the NBA last year as part ot consultation he was then “carrying out was not only with the Bar, but with other veritable stakeholders such as the Nigerian Society of Economists.”

Daudu said: ‘’Of importance at the meeting is the fact that President Jonathan, in the pursuit of the partnership with the Bar, invited us to examine the present state of our electoral laws, electoral justice and culture and come up with improvements to the existing Electoral Act before the 2015 election. ‘’To the President’s credit, he abhorred a situation where preparations for election will commence late in the day. He expressed a desire to have sent the appropriate draft legislation fashioned by this NBA Committee to the National Assembly within 12 months.’’ ‘’I have taken this charge by the President seriously and that is why the NBA has put together this conference as the first steps in realising the presidential assignment given to us. There is no doubt going by the calibre of resource persons and attendees that substantial outcomes geared at improving the electoral system will emerge from this conference. Specifically, our standing committee on constitutional and electoral matters, currently chaired by past NBA President Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) will review the report of this conference and distil all recommendations and changes to the existing legislation and justice system. ‘’I will then submit the report to the President for him to interface with the National Assembly and generate thereby a new •See story on page 28

Inside: How to use law to achieve stable financial system- P.29 Lawyer tackles banks over alleged...- P.34

28

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

LAW COVER CONT’D

Lawyers, judges canvass overhaul of electoral laws

• Alegeh (SAN)

• Ngige (SAN)

• Okutepa (SAN)

• Ogala

• Continued from page 27

calculated destruction of our Judiciary because they are temporarily not favoured by its decisions.”

Former General-Secretary NBA, Rafiu LawalRabana (SAN), said the conference brought judges and lawyers together to review the performance of the tribunals and the appellate courts.

He said: “We had good presentations which looked at the grey areas of the Constitution and the Electoral Act. Various conflicting judgments were examined. I think that it was a very successful conference which would serve as a guide for future petitions.”

Chief Alfred Eghobamien (SAN) said: “I doff my cap for the Executive Committee of the NBA for organising this conference; they have done marvelously very well. This is how to do it; and by the time the President leaves office, other people will start from where he stopped.

“There cannot be perfection in one day. We, the lawyers, are to put our house in order. Many of the problems in the system as we have seen in this conference are principally caused by us, lawyers.”

“I was in the election petitions before the Court of Appeal, from 1999 till 2007. Then, judges were very ready to work from 9 am, take one hour break at about 3 pm, and come back. Matters went successfully. But, today, many judges are lazy, many lawyers put their hands in many things including canvassing unnecessary adjournments. Interlocutory injunctions should be abolished. In England, where I studied law and was called to the English Bar by Lord Denning (MR), you cannot appeal on Interlocutory injunctions from the Court of Appeal to the House of Lords, which they now call the Supreme Court.

So, these are the areas we must look at,” Eghobanien concluded.

Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) said: “All over the world, there are bound to be conflicts and it is by coming together of stakeholders that you can identify the issues, discuss them and agree to move forward.

“No matter how good or perfect a system is, there is always room for improvements; we should seek perfection although perfection belongs to God. Until we attain that, we should not rest on our oars. I believe that with the calibre of people here and the seriousness attached to the programme, we will come up with something very useful at the end of the day and each person will go home a new or renewed person, that is why we must thank the President of the NBA, J. B Daudu (SAN) for thinking it fit to organise this programme.

Mike Mamman Osuman said: “ The gist of my paper and presentation is that because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at all material times and in all elections must as a necessity be one of the respondents, there has always been the tendency for them to collaborate with the sitting governor who would have been the perceived or the declared winner’’. ‘’Because they intend to share interest, they become over protective and in doing that. They behave unstatutorily and unethically.

“We have a section in the Evidence Act that says, when a party is approached through the medium of a court to produce documents and he fails to produce the documents, he will be deemed to have produced that document because he knows that on production, the content, thereof, will be prejudicial to his interest and therefore, whatever catastrophe that is vis-

ited on the INEC is equally shared by the corespondents, in this case, they governors, the perceived winners or the declared winners.

Osuman continued: “On one occasion that I appeared for a petitioner. I had to get three successive orders of the court. At first, I came by way of ex-parte motion, in two subsequent occasions I came by notice, I put them on notice and the court gave drawn up orders yet, they refused to obey. That is the contre piece of my complaint.”

Osuman stated that efforts must be made to ensure the security of tribunals and their members.

He said: “I recall that in 2007, Justice Ejembi Eko of the Court of Appeal, was the chairman of a tribunal in Enugu. When he got there, he complained about insecurity. They were relocated to Abuja. The same thing happened this time in Bornu State. The Acting President of the Court of Appeal relocated them to Abuja.”

So, you don’t send people to a place like that and you expect them to function properly and reasonably when, indeed, their persons are endangered.” ‘’And finally, we are talking about Section 285 (6)(7)(8) of the Constitution as amended. If you juxtapose this with Section 36 of the same Constitution, you wonder, which one should prevail. Section 36 provides for the Fundamental Human Rights which talks about fair hearing.

And when it is not the fault of the petitioners, how can you visit the ills of this statute bar generated by Section 285, this 180 days and 60 days provision. How can you put it on their shoulders or blame the petitioners for this, when there were intervening factors that caused those delays and at the end of the day, would you say that justice has been done.’’

Okey Wali (SAN) said: “First and foremost, let me congratulate the president of the NBA, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN) for coming up with this novel and noble idea of holding a conference to look at election petitions and all that, there is no doubt that this is the most fruitful conference this far.

“There was opportunity to talk. There were several topical issues that we were not too certain on the position of people on those matters.

Now we have heard everybody, for instance, on the conflicting judgment of the Court of Appeal. I have always held the view that the panels of the Court of Appeal are Courts of coordinate jurisdiction; that you cannot bind a court of co-ordinate jurisdiction. However, the beauty of it all is that in our judicial system, the doctrine of Stare Decises is there. So whatever happens at the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court is there to review the matter and give its own judgment. ‘’And whatever judgment the Supreme Court gives becomes the law of the land. So, it is a dangerous thing for people to imagine that you can get one panel of the Court of Appeal even if the President of the Court of Appeal was on that panel, to bind another panel of the Court.

You cannot bind your colleague of co-ordinate jurisdiction by your judgment. Every court comes to judgment based on its own logic and reasoning, understanding and appreciation of the case before it “These are some of the issues that have been addressed exhaustively and we are all richer for it. Our judicial system will definitely come out stronger as a result of these deliberations Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) said: “This conference has been the most enterprising, the

most informed, the most articulated dialogue that we have had in recent times. It is in the interest of this country that we should be having this type of conference, especially to examine ourselves in house, to identify what the problems are and then take up the challenges to surmount them. It is a worthwhile exercise and gives us a very good experienced” Akintola stated.

Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN) said: “I think the conference is a bit belated. A lot of damage has been inflicted on litigants at various election tribunals before this conference now came about.

“It’s like medicine after death. A conference like this ought to have been held immediately after the elections so that the stakeholders would know their roles, duties and responsibilities under the electoral regime.

“Thereafter, another one will be held after the litigation process has been exhausted. Perhaps the conflicting decisions on the commenecement of pre-hearing conference,the 180 days issue and dumping of documents at trials, judicial corruption etc would have been trashed out by the stake holders.

“Any way the post mortem on tribunals, court of appeal and supreme court which the conference was all about will now be used to cure the identified loopholes in the electoral laws. I’m however worried that the entire exercise may come to nothing following the noticeable absence of National Assembly members at the conference.

“I expected the lawyers who are in the legislature to play active part at the conference. It would have helped in facilitating legislative amendments to the various laws that required amendments.

“Finally this conference ought to have been organised by either Section on Legal Practice (SLP)or Section on Public Interest and Development Law(SPIDEL) rather by an adhoc committee. “ I think the relevant committee was simply sidelined which should not have been the case.

All in all, I think the legal profession gained something from the conference.”

Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said: “The conference was not only timely, it was exigent and crucial for our democratic renaissance and electoral system re-engineering “The newly emended Electoral Act, which has removed the monstrous spectre of horrific delays in the dispensation of electoral justice and proscribed the protection of stolen mandates needed to be discussed with a view to opening up new vistas, practicalising its letters and spirit, thus bugling, deepening and widening the plenitude of our democratic space.

“Those who practise electoral matters, Judges and Lawyers alike, took home lasting lessons that will former further reinvigorate this Sui generis’ aspect of our corpus juries. NBA has performed excellently well in blazing this trail of deepening our knowledge of our electoral system. After all, the very first ingredient of the soup of democracy is a free, fair, credible and acceptable election that commands integrity”.

Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) said: “My paper talks about the performance of the election petition tribunals and I look at it from the perspective of the registry, the lawyers, the litigants, the tribunals themselves and I came to the conclu-

Electoral Act or act as he may wish with the report.’’

In his welcome remarks, the Chairman of the organising committee, Augustin Alegeh (SAN), said: “The objective of the conference is to identify the areas of weakness in the performance of Election Petitions Tribunals as well as the factors inhibiting their proper performance and to proffer lasting solutions to these problems. ‘’To achieve this, we have to be brutally frank but always respectful in our deliberations. The sessions are designed to be interactive and every person present is a discussant and can contribute or comment on issues raised in any presentation at the conference.”

Yusuf Ali (SAN) said: “The provisions of Section 258 should not be amended yet. The constitution should not be amended as if it is a normal statute. We have just experimented with the Section now, which gives a time limit for the disposal of election matters. So, let us use or two or three elections and see how the judiciary should be able to cope with it.”

“I have always advocated that Section 140(3) which gives power to the tribunals to declare a petitioner winner if the election is nullified should be removed, that has put a lot of pressure on the judiciary. It is making people to start to do something like work to answer, that if we lose the election, as long as we are able to work along so and so line, we shall get so, so and so answer’’.

“Election is about popularity. It is about the electorate. It is about popular adult suffrage. So you cannot substitute the wisdom of five people for the flooshiness of the majority, it is never done.”

“Anytime the election is nullified let them go back to the electorate so that people would know and appreciate the fact that they get to these offices by virtue of the electorates, not because two or three judges somewhere had made some calculations somewhere.”

Former General-Secretary NBA, Dele Adesina (SAN) said: “The conference is by all means a huge success, in spite of the absence of the President, governors and other significant political office holders.

Adesina said: “Let me say, straight away, that their absence is a clear manifestation of the fact that, in this country, our leaders hardly get their priorities right. How I wish we could so that we could consciously begin to recreate our world.

Self-appraisal is very powerful in determining the functionality and efficiency of any person, institution, process or system. It also helps in planning for the future.

“You cannot know what you have done badly or fairly well without proper review of the past; it also helps in determining what you want to be tomorrow today.”

On the lessons of the conference, Adesina said: “A lot has been learnt; promises have been made and there is the determination to do things better and differently where past performance has been below expected standard. Politicians are at the centre of it all; no matter how the judiciary or the Bar association may try, as long as politicians continue to do things in the same way, they will continue to get the same results.

“Democracy devoid of democratic persons is a mere slogan. Practitioners of democracy must get it right that: in a contest between two or more people, only one person will win either at the polls or in court. They must not embark on a

• Continued on page 29

THE

, 2012

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

29

LAW & SOCIETY

How to use law to achieve stable financial system

H

OW to ensure the stability of financial systems was the focus of the Knowledge Exchange forum organised by the law form of Olaniwun Ajayi LP in Lagos at the weekend.

A book by the firm: Troubled Asset Resolution, was presented at the event. It is the second in its series on the financial market.

It focuses on the resolution of the banking crisis through the implementation of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Act. Experts from across the world explored trends and opportunities in the world of finance.

Assistant Governor, Central Bank of Malaysia, Donald Jaganathan, said Malaysia took a four-stage policy response to the 1997 financial crisis.

The first stage, he said, involved improving balance of payments and inflation. They had to contain government expenditure, reduce bank lending to contain inflation and tighten prudential standards of financial institutions.

The second stage was to minimise economic contraction by improving loan intermediation and liquidity management to avoid a credit crunch and strengthening financial sector through restructuring of financial institutions.

They regained investor confidence through improved transparency and disclosure, and assisted adversely affected segments of society through selected fiscal measures.

The third stage was to revive the economy. It set up three institutions to strengthen the financial sector, and introduced the National Economic Recovery Plan to stimulate the economy.

The government implemented counter-cyclical policies, including an expansionary monetary policy, corporate tax reductions and spe-

By Joseph Jibueze

cial funds for target areas of growth, said Jaganathan.

The fourth stage was to reduce external vulnerabilities and improve financial stability. The government pegged the ringgit against the dollar and implemented selective exchange and capital controls to curb speculation on the Malaysian currency and stabilise shortterm capital flows.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said the CBN’s reforms in the aftermath of the financial crises focused on four pillars: Enhancing the quality of banks, establishing financial stability, enabling the evolution of a healthy financial sector and ensuring that it contributes to the real economy.

As a consequence, Sanusi said there is now a new mindset in the industry as banks are putting in place best practices in the areas of corporate governance and risk management.

“A number of banks have returned to the profit-making path, improved their balance sheets and resumed lending to the private sector.

“Additional liquidity of more than N1.7 trillion has been injected into the banking system through the issuance of Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) bonds.

“Progress has been made in redirecting credit to the power sector and SMEs at single digit interest rates, thus creating thousands of jobs in the economy.

“Corporate governance has been strengthened; all chief executive officers of banks shall serve a maximum tenure of 10 years.

“Nigerian banks are now key players in the global financial market with five of them falling within the Top 20 banks in Africa by Tier

• From left: Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Chief Olaniwun Ajayi, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Managing Partner Olaniwun Ajayi LP, Koyin Ajayi (SAN) and Sanusi. Behind left: Prof. Deji Adekunle, who represented the Attorney-General of the Federation.

1 Capital and among Top 1000 banks in the world,” Sanusi said.

Sanusi said the CBN intends to push for the enactment of four bills by the National Assembly to tighten financial sector regulations.

He said the Electronic Transaction Bill if passed into law, will give effect to the admission in evidence of all electronically generated statements of account which the Evidence Act currently forbids The Financial Ombudsman Bill will facilitate faster resolution of financial disputes if enacted.

The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Regulatory Commission Bill aims to create an ADR Com-

mission to promote and regulate the practice and use of ADR in Nigeria.

The Nigerian International Financial Centre (NIFC) Bill will establish the NIFC for creating a world class financial zone in Nigeria, Sanusi said.

Senior Partner at Clifford Chance LLP, a law firm based in London, United Kingdom, Mr Malcolm Sweeting, said care must be taken in introducing regulatory regimes a country is not used to, adding that regulation cannot solve all problems.

He said there is need for responsible lending laws, transparency, corporate governance, prevention

of market abuse, and structural reforms of the banking system.

Regional Industry Director, Financial Markets, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Dolika Banda, said the banking system performance is directly linked to the economy of the country.

The health of the banking system, she said, is also linked to supervision, regulation and management.

Therefore, only healthy banking systems can regularly survive recessions.

Loan losses may accrue, but capital buffers absorb the shock, even as confidence in the system is critical to retaining deposits, she said.

Lawyers, judges canvass overhaul of electoral laws • Continued from page 28 sion that lawyers contributed greatly to the low performance of the tribunals because when they are supposed to assist the tribunals to do justice according to the law rather they came up with decisions that are conflicting.

“I also hold the view that the Supreme Court, with due respect came to a wrong decision on November 14, 2011, when it ordered for a rehearing of the petitions from Benue and Akwa Ibom states because as at the date of that order, the 180 days in Section 285 of the Constitution had elapsed and I said with that decision which they gave, they played to the public galary “I say this with all due respect to them. There was no need for them to say that the Court of Appeal was not listening to them when they were ordering for retrial of the cases because the provisions of Section 285 (6) of the Constitution is not new in our laws. If you look at the Basic Constitution and Transition Provision Decree of 1998, this provision is there, that petitions must be heard within 30 days and there were appeals that were allowed.

“But because of the time frame to conclude these proceedings, they couldn’t make any further order.

Okutepa stated: “We must not accuse the lower courts of doing something that suggests they are the ones doing wrong things whereas, indeed, in the beginning, the Supreme Court itself by the above mentioned cases, laid the foundation for whatever errors their lordships at the courts below may have committed in ordering a retrial. We should call a spade a spade.”

Hon. Babatunde Ogala said: “Having been a participant in this conference, for the past two daysand as a

resource person, I would say that this conference is timely. It is a conference in which I expect that at the end of it, we will be able to come up with a template on what legislations on electoral matter would look like.

There have been laws that have been passed with the intent to correct some perceived and, indeed, actual wrongs, but as you could see, they have created more problems.

“A typical example of this is Section 285 of the constitution as amended which in my own view, has created more problems than it was meant to solve, because what that section has simply done is to deny persons of their rights to fair hearing.

“That law is totally at variance with the universal adult suffrage, the African Charter on Human and peoples Rights and the time tested rights to fair hearing.

“Thank God that the Supreme Court and the appellate courts are well represented here because they too seem to have fallen short of displaying enough courage to pronounce that certain provisions of the law are at variance with the fundamental rights of persons to fair hearing.

“For instance, the Supreme Court giving an order for matters to be held on their merit. These are matters that have been struck out or dismissed on technical grounds. And when you now make this type of orders and the orders get back to the tribunals, such matters would definitely be frustrated.

“A classic example is the Benue State case, where the Supreme Court made an order and its order was frustrated albeit by subsequent decisions “My hope is that at the end of this conference, we would be able to come out with a template and as was disclosed by our president, that is was a mandate of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that the NBA

assist the nation in coming up with a model electoral law, we do hope that at the end of this stimulating conference, we would come up with something.”

“Most importantly, we do hope that the powers that be, who have mooted the idea, will be kind enough to, indeed, respect and feel obliged to take our advice. Bye and large it is a very important conference, I think that this is the first time Nigeria is really doing a comprehensive review of the entire process.”

Chijioke Emeka, Partner, Olisa Agbakoba and Associates, said: “The Conference was worth the time, efforts and resources that went into it.

“It is to the eternal credit of the NBA of JB Daudu (SAN) that this happened at this time. It was a time of honest and bold confrontation of the contributions, positive and negative, of the Law, the Bar and the Bench alike, to Electoral Justice and Electoral Injustice.

“We told ourselves the truth and nothing but the truth. Although Lawmakers did not attend, the negative contribution of some of their inelegant statutory provisions was underlined. Observations were made on some judges who were not sufficiently in charge of proceedings or not sufficiently clear about their judicial roles.

“It was the same with some lawyers who were simply not grounded enough or not serious enough in the performance of their roles. Some failed to properly advise their clients. The politicians well on what should come or not come to the tribunals. While in few isolated instances, some displayed unprofessional behaviour towards the Bench.

“The workshops were breath-taking and profitable. Generally, a pass-mark was scored the judiciary,

which despite the odds in the difficult terrain of political litigation, acquitted itself creditably to ensure peace in Nigeria.

“While some recurring decimals in Election Petition litigation like Senior Advocates of Nigeria: Onyechi Ikpeazu, Alex Izinyon, Wole Olanipekun, Donald Denwigwe, Lateef Fagbemi, Rickey Tarfa, Emeka Ngige, Ken Mozia etc, made enlightened contributions, the attitude of most official stakeholders in sending representatives was disheartening.

“While some representatives like that of the CJN and Acting President of the Court of Appeal were worth the representation and acceptable, some representatives, especially that of some governors were regrettably below par and unacceptable.

“While one understands that many of these stakeholders might have been unavoidably absent, hence the spate of representations, the seriousness of the subject-matter to peace, order and good government of Nigeria requires that next time they ought to attend in person.

“Regrettably, President Goodluck Jonathan, whose name featured in a prominent role, shunned the conference. With the richness of the result of the seminar, one would hope that it doesn’t stop at that. The communique must not gather dust.

“The NBA should immediately avail policy-makers and convening authorities in the legal framework for election petition adjudication with every detail.

“The authorities, including the National Assembly, the CJN, the President of the Court of Appeal, the AGF and INEC, have a corollary duty to ensure that this important adjudicatory system is strengthened by a vig-

orous implementation of the outcome of this very credible conference.”

Chief Joshua Alobo said: “This conference is the first of its kind and it is quite illuminating in as much as the problem and perception of the average lawyer, the man on the street, is being highlighted even by the seasoned practitioners.

“Election petition is not about the application of law alone, you must gauge the pulse and mood of the people. And if you look at the lead speaker and the guest speaker, they are not lawyers, but because they are active participants in the electoral process, they know what would be the outcome of any petition assuming that all the evidence are adduced and presented “There have been a lot of discordant tunes ranging from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court. Some of these have resulted to more hardships on the respondents. In as much as the blame is shifted to the legislature, law is what the court says is the law, what is in the mind of the Judge, that is the law. It is not what the legislature says it is.

“The major problem is the interpretation ascribed to Sections 285(6)(7)(8).

That an appellate court cannot order a retrial, what then is the essence of the appellate jurisdiction. They 180 days, which I have already captured in my book, Jurisprudence of election petitions is to look at the mischief necessitating that section, it is not to armtwist the electorates or dash their hopes because what happened in Benue and Akwa Ibom states were quite pathetic, “Now, a lot of people have a lot of misgivings about our judicial system, but now that the stakeholders have come together on a round table to discuss and look at the grey areas, this will give us insight into what will happen in 2015.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

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COURT

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Court urged to dismiss John Holt‘s application

LAW AND PUBLIC POWER

Stories by Adebisi Onanuga

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USTICE M.O. Emeya of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has been urged to dismiss an application for a stay of proceedings brought by John Holt Plc in a suit instituted against it by a former employee, Mr Olusegun Thomas Ejoor.

Ejoor had sued his former employer, John Holt Plc, over its refusal to pay his gratuity of N11,157897.28 since he left in June 2008 after 35 years of meritorious service.

He also asked to be paid interests at 30 per cent per annum on the N11,157,897.28 from July 1, 2008 to the date of judgment and thereafter, interests at the prevailing bank rate until full and final payment of the judgement sum is liquidated.

At the resumed hearing of the suit in Lagos, Mr A. Fadipe, counsel to Ejoor, urged the court to dismiss John Holt’s application for failing to comply with the provisions of Order 31, Rule 2 and 3 of the rules of the court.

Fadipe referred the court to its previous rulings in the matter and

argued that the fact that the defendant had filed notice of appeal over the rulings does not mean the court should stay proceedings.

He submitted that there are conjunctive requirements stating that a valid appeal must contain substantial and exceptional issues.

Fadipe posited that the conduct of the parties as well as the balance of convenience must all be considered conjunctively and resolved in favour of the applicant.

He said the defendant, from court records and counter affidavit, cannot be taken to be serious because they have not sought the permission of the court to ignite the process of the appeal.

He said the defendant has also not taken any step to pursue the interlocutary appeal since it was filed at the Court of Appeal and they do not want the substantive suit to make progress. “ As soon as they read our counter

affidavit, they found out that they have an uphill task that they have not complied with the law of filing appeal.

“This application lacks merit, it is to waste everybody’s time, waste the claimant’s time who have served them for about 35 years” Fadipe said stressing, “the application should be dismissed”.

Counsel to John Holt Plc, Mr Emmanuel Uvhie, in his submission, argued that the issue involved is that of jurisdiction and it must be dealt with by the Appeal Court before proceedings could begin in the lower court.

He pointed out that since the appeal was filed within the stipulated time, the court should allow the appeal to hold in the matter.

According to him, it would be unreasonable for a court which has seen a notice of appeal to proceed with hearing in the matter.

“I urge the court to grant our prayer because it would not be in the interest of the court and the parties if at the end of the day, the Appeal Court rule that the court has no jurisdiction to hear the suit,” Uvhie submitted.

Human Rights lawyer, Ubani for NBA Ikeja chair

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UMAN rights lawyer and social activist, Mr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, has declared his intention to contest the chairmanship position of the Nigeria Bar Association(NBA), Ikeja Branch scheduled for May, this year.

Ubani, who acknowledged the achievement of the out-going executive told judicial correspondents at the weekend that he intend to inject new energy and vigour into the bar association.

Stressing that he joined the race to serve, Ubani called for support from lawyers in Ikeja to make a choice for a leadership change in the branch.

“This represents what we have all been yearning for. I humbly seek your mandate to actualise the vision of our founding fathers. Your vote for me is an assurance for the

regeneration for the tiger branch and the enthronement of good governance, transparency, fiscal accountability and focussed leadership.

“Ikeja Branch of the Bar is a branch respected all over the federation. We need new energy and vigour to propel it to another height,” he said.

The human right lawyer argued that the time is ripe for the country to convene a sovereign national conference and urged all the state houses of assembly to pass a resolution for the conference to be convene immediately for the survival of the country.

He said events in the country of late presents a gloom picture adding that the Nigerian nation is on the brinks.

“In the southsouth, we are plagued by the Niger Delta mili-

tancy, in the North by the rampaging Boko Haram sect, in the East by kidnappers and armed robbers and of course in the south west by hoodlums, area boys and armed robbers.

“No where today is safe in Nigeria, the only difference is the degree of unsafety” he observed.

The NBA Ikeja chairmanship aspirant also berated the political class for looting the country saying that they portend great danger to the survival and political development of the country.

Ubani also took a swipe at the leadership at the various tiers of government and accused then of being the bane to development of the country.

He noted that at a time they should be looking for solution to the nation’s problems, they are much more preoccupied with holding on to power.

• From left: Sule Usman, Osas J. Erhabor, Chinwe Nwadike, NBA General Secretary, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, NBA President, Joseph Daudu (SAN) and Prince Adekunle Ajasa during the NBA conference on the review of the performance of election petition tribunals, in Benin, Edo State

• From left: Chief Funsho Ologunde; Mrs Sola Sadiq; Oluwapelumi Ologunde; Moyo Sadiq-Soneye; Deji Sanyaolu; Demola Sadiq; Prof Fisayo Ologunde and Mr Bode Soneye after Oluwapelumi’s call to bar in Abuja.

PHOTO: NNEKA NWANERI

gabriel AMALU email:gabrielamalu1@yahoo.com

Minister Wike’s globetrotting HE Minister of State for Education Hon. Ezenwo and other issues Nyesom Wike’s recent

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itinerary clearly shows the waste associated with an over-bloated bureaucracy. In the absence of any serious responsibility at home, or bereft of any hands-on policies for the much-needed radical improvement in our education sector, the amiable young Minister has been globetrotting seeking meaningless collaboration for the neglected technical education in government secondary schools. Despite the negligible impact from these wasteful foreign trips, the Honourable Minister glories this enterprise by the continuous release of photo sessions with foreign officials as he reminds Nigerians of the decay in the country’s education sector.

The most recent was the Minister’s visit to South Korea, during which the Minister praised the technology savvy of the Asian tiger and asked it to build more schools in Nigeria and extend its technical education support to our secondary schools. For goodness sake, Honourable Wike should concentrate his energy on helping to revive basic education in Nigeria schools. As minister of state, he has the primary responsibility for basic education and unity schools, and I have been wandering what technology transfer he would secure for our secondary schools, as he roams the world.

What he should concentrate his energy on is to set standards and ensure that states and private entrepreneurs in the education sector are encouraged, through grants and other incentives to revive technical education in Nigeria. He should stay in Nigeria and visit schools to draw attention to them and to get first hand information on the level of dilapidation and neglect; and then encourage states and the owners to revive them. What we are talking of here is introductory technology in carpentry, metal work, automobile, plumbing, bricklaying, electrical and similar basic technologies. I think it is ridiculous that the minister is wasting public resources going round the world with top officials of the ministry in search of help for basic education. Those countries he is visiting are more interested high technology bilateral relationships, and that explains the low level officials he meets on his world tour.

Another recent reminder of distasteful conduct of public institution is that of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh, the head of the commission made an appearance during a public hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets. According to the Director-General of SEC, it was unethical practices that brought capital market to its knees in 2008. According to her report, banks and private sector players consciously manipulated their shares on the Stock Exchange for fraudulent reasons, and that led to the crash.

As I read her submissions, I felt sad. It is shameful that a commission whose primary responsibility is to protect investors in the capital market stood idly by in 2008, when many Nigerians were robbed of their entire life savings by a group of bandits masquerading as economic wiz kids in Nigeria.

While Ms. Oteh was not in charge of the commission when those monumental atrocities were committed against Nigerians, I am not aware of what she and her commission has done to bring the culprits to book, or are they no names behind the “the banks and private sector players who consciously manipulated their shares on the stock exchange for fraudulent reasons”. It is indeed a shame that our legal and judicial process have not been marshaled in aid of the Nigerians who were practically robbed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange under the watch of Mrs. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke as Director-General. It is also strange that some of the former managing directors of the banks who contrived the bubbles and bursts in their shares prices that ruined many Nigerians are today parading themselves as public-spirited individuals and economic miracle workers; instead of heading for jails for their economic crimes.

The other disgusting exercise of public power exposed recently, was the scam in the management of the police pension fund. Regardless of who the culprits will turn out, there is enough information in the public domain, that those entrusted with that high public responsibility turned it to a bazaar. In a testimony at a Senate hearing, an assistant chief accountant in the pension office confirmed that a whooping sum of N240 million was budgeted for 50 top Nigerians to travel overseas to conduct biometrics for 20 retired senior police officials. While the blame game is on, there is clear evidence to support Prof Afolabi’s assertion that there was attempt to compromise everybody who had one thing or the other to do with the police pension scheme.

While Nigerians are appalled by these allegations of criminality in the management of our common resources, the Presidency has, as usual, promised to set up a committee to examine the pension scam. Many Nigerians are convinced that President Goodluck Jonathan has not shown enough determination to fight corruption, and so the committee is likely to paper the reports and before long the matter would die a natural death. The chairman of the now perpetual Pension Reform Task Force, Abdulrasheed Maina, now oscillates between the good and the ugly. While he is claiming to have saved the pension fund billions of naira, he is also simultaneously accused of participating in monumental racketeering in the pension management. In the meantime the national treasury is bleeding, while some of the pensioners are dying in penury.

I will end this column by urging our public officials, especially Mr President to save our country from corruption induced anarchy, as Nigerian public officials seek to out do one another in stealing our common resources. The fight against corruption, no doubt, needs a shot in the arm, and the country is waiting on Mr President.

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

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LEGAL OPINION

NIALS leads advocacy for abolition of death penalty

By Joseph Jibueze

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HE Nigeria Institute of Ad vanced Legal Studies (NIALS) has called for the abolition of the death penalty in Nigeria.

It urged the Attorney-General of the Federal and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) to set in motion the machinery for amendment of the law proving for it.

Director-General of the institute, Prof Epiphany Azinge (SAN), in a letter to Adoke, said the time has come for Nigeria to expunge capital punishment from the law.

A copy of the letter was made available to The Nation Law. NIALS said it came to the conclusion that the death penalty should be abolished “having extensively conducted a research on the subject of abolition or retention of death penalty in Nigeria.”

It said it is on record that since democratic governance in 1999, at least 650 people have been sentenced to death in Nigeria, but no execution has taken place.

Indeed, no death warrant has been signed either at the federal level or at the state levels, the institute said.

It added that out of the 725 men and 11 women on death row in 2008, at least 40 of them were under 18.

“It is pertinent to mention that the execution of juvenile offenders under the age of 18 years goes

against international human rights law prohibiting the execution of juveniles.

“NIALS is of the considered view that there are punishments better than death penalty. Criminal should, therefore, be subjected to life imprisonment or other punitive measures as may be prescribed. Death penalty is certainly not an option.

“It is against this background (without prejudice to well researched arguments in favour of abolition of death penalty) that we appeal to you to quickly set in motion the machinery for amendment of the law for the abolition of death penalty.

“Let it be known that history will record you as being courageous enough to take this bold and visionary decision.

“Please support the abolition of mandatory death sentencing provisions in the penal laws,” Azinge wrote.

The letter added: “Since independence, the criminal justice system of Nigeria has accommodated death penalty as a punitive measure for specifically defined offences.

“In the past 15 years, scholars, researchers and students of penology and criminology have championed the debate for abolition of death penalty.

“Many countries of the world have since abolished death penalty.

Out of 192 countries on the planet, 111 countries have de facto or

• Prof Azinge (SAN), left and Adoke (SAN)

dejure abolished the death penalty.

Among countries around the world, almost all European and many pacific Area States have abolished death penalty.

“In Latin America, most states have completely abolished the use of death penalty, while some countries such as Brazil, allow for capital punishment only in exceptional situations, such as treason committed during wartime.

“In Africa, Nigeria is one of the 18 countries still retaining death penalty. Others in this category are Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Congo DR, Egypt, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Nigeria, Si-

erra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

“African countries that have abolished the death penalty include: Cape Verde (1981), Mozambique (1990), Namibia (1990), Sao Tome & Principe (1990), Angola (1992), Guinea Bissau (1993), Seychelles (1993), Mauritius (1995), South Africa (1997), Cote D Ivoire (2000), Rwanda (2007), Burundi (2009).

“De facto Abolitionist countries include: Algeria (1993); Benin (1993); Burkina Faso (1988); Central African Republic (1981); Congo (1982); Eritrea (1989); Gabon (1981); Ghana (1993), Gambia (1981), Kenya (1987); Madagascar (1958);

Malawi (1992), Mali (1980); Mauritania (1989); Morocco (1993); Niger (1976); Swaziland (1989); Togo (1979); Tunisia (1991); Tanzania (1995); Zambia (1997).

“Only 10 African countries have ratified the second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR on the Abolition of the Death Penalty. Cape Verde (2000), Djibouti (2002), Guinea-Bissau (2000), Liberia (2005), Mozambique (1993), Namibia (2004), Rwanda (2008), Sao Tome & Principe (2000), Seychellas (2004), South Africa (2002).

“Nigeria is not a party to the protocol.”

Constitution amendment, challenges of election petitions The interpretation of Sections 285 (5-8) of the Constitution as ammended by the Supreme Court, no doubt, brought a lot of election petitions and cases before the courts to an abrupt end. In this article, STEVE UNACHUKWU examines the purport of the amendments, IES consequences on cases before the courts, particularly election tribunals and our legal system.

• Continued from last week

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HERE was no settled posi tion of the courts on what the application of 180 days should be. There was this point canvassed, that where an election petition was determined in limine upon a preliminary objection and the petitioner goes on appeal over the dismissal of the petition in limine, if the appellate court finds merit in the appeal and returns the petition for trial denovo at the election tribunal, the one 180 days limited for the hearing of the petition shall start afresh to run. This argument appears to be captivating and an easy way out of the unlawful and unwarranted but de-

structive ambush set for several election petitions by respondents in the form of preliminary objections. The same argument was bought by the Court of Appeal (Enugu Division) in the case of Dora Akunyili & Anor v Chris Ngige & Ors where the appellate court pronounced that 180 days limited for the trial of a petition is 180 days at the election tribunal spent on the trial of the petition and does not include the days spent at the Court of Appeal on an appeal arising from an interlocutory decision. This elegant judicial reasoning was elongated by the Court of Appeal, (Markurdi Division) in Appeal No. CA/MK/ EPT/46/2011, P D P v Arc. Austine

LEGAL DIARY

Commonwealth lawyers to hold conference

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HE Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) will hold its conference in Sydney, Australia from April 19 to 22.

A statement from its President, Mrs Boma Ozobia, said adequate and easy visa processing arrangements have been put in enable Nigerian lawyers who wish to attend the conference to obtain visa with ease.

She said: “We have made adequate arrangements, the Australian High Commission is fully aware of the fact that we are participating and that this conference is holding.

“They have in turn informed their Foreign Affairs Office of

• Ozobia

this. From the Secretariat of the CLA, we are sending updated lists of the delegates to them so that once delegates have registered and paid up and once we send applications in for their visas, they will be dealt with expeditiously”.

Asema Achado & Ors where the court stated that the life span of an election petition may pass through three stages, commencing with declaration of result in the election and filing of petition by the aggrieved party. That an era ends when the tribunal delivers judgment in the petition. If a party aggrieved by the judgment files an appeal, another era in the life of the petition has commenced and ends with judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal. Where the Court of Appeal makes an order of retrial, there is yet another era in the life of the petition which derives its life and force from the order of retrial made by the appellate court. The court followed this reasoning in Appeal No CA/ MK/EPT/1/2012, P D P v Prof.

Steven Ugba & Ors, wherein the court adopted and followed its earlier position in the case of Senator Ita Solomon Gang v Obong Nsima Umoh & 3 ors (unreported) judgment delivered on Thursday, 26th day of January,2012 where the court, per Garba (JCA) of the Calabar Division put the mater this way: “In fact, the basis of the new trial on the merits was not connected and affected by the date of filing the petition, but the order by this Court which has nothing to do with the provisions of sections 285(6), as demonstrated earlier, and so cannot be said to have extended the period of 180 days provided therein. The Court did not pretend or give the impression that it extended the said period but very clearly showed that it was exercising the legitimate and unquestionable jurisdiction vested in it by the Constitution. Which having done so in no certain terms, the tribunal had the constitutional

• Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dahiru Musdapher

• Unachukwu

duty to give effect to enhance the order made by commencing the trial of the petition as ordered as provided for by the provision of section 287(2) of the constitution(as altered)….”

The Court of Appeal seems to find justification for it’s position in the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended which vests jurisdiction on the various courts created by the constitution in a hierarchical arrangement as well as the attitude of the apex court(the Supreme Court) which has never spared any court below it which hesitates to obey or follow its judgment. In P D P v Arc. Austine Asema Achado & Ors (unreported), the Court of Appeal had

this to say, per Dongban -Mensem JCA at page 17 “Several decisions of the Apex Court and of this Court abound on this and indeed the consequence of non-compliance. I found as very instructive the decision of Katsina Alu, (JSC) (as he then was) in the case of Dalhatu V. Turaki (2003) 15 NWLR (pt. 823) pg. 310 @ 336. His Lordship held that:‘This Court is the highest and final Court of Appeal in Nigeria. its decision binds every Court, authority or person in Nigeria. By the doctrine of stare decisis, the courts below are bound to follow the decisions of the supreme Court.

• To be continued

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THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

LAW & SOCIETY CONFERENCE ON THE REVIEW OF THE PERFORMANCE OF ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNAL IN NIGERIA ORGANISED BY NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IN BENIN, EDO STATE

• From left: Governor Adams Oshiohmole of Edo State; NBA President, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN) and Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour (JSC), who represented the CJN

• From left: Justice Amina (JCA) Augie, Justice M.L. Tsamiya (JCA) and Justice K.B. Aka

• From left: Okey Wali (SAN), Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) and Sir Alfred Eghobamien (SAN)

• Rafiu Lawal Rabana (SAN) (right) and his wife Nneka

• From left: Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Dele Adesina (SAN) and Donald C. Denwigwe (SAN)

• From left: Chijioke Emeka, Emeka Etiaba, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) and Afam Obi

• Prof Epiphany Azinge (SAN) (left) and Olufemi Ojomu

• From left: Ajilaye Abimbola and former Chairman NBA Kaduna branch, Muyiwa Olowokure

• From left: Prof Deji Adekunle, Gbolahan Gbadamosi and National Publicity Secretary of NBA, Emeka Obegolu

• From left: Abdul Rasheed Muritala, Akaraiwe Ikeazor and Nurudeen Ogbara

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THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

LAW & SOCIETY ANNUAL DINNER/AWARDS NIGHT ORGANISED BY OTU OKA-IWU, AT METROPOLITAN CLUB, LAGOS

• From left: Former President of Otu Oka-Iwu, Chief Guy Ikokwu, Senator Onyabor Obi and President, Otu Oka-Iwu, Z.C. Zick Obi

• Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu (left) and Chairman of the occasion, Prof Anya O. Anya

• From left: Former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and his wife Lilian

• From left: Former Military Governor, Lagos State, Rear Admiral Ndubisi Kanu (rtd) and his wife Gladys

• From left: Former Chairman, Diamond Bank, Chief Pascal Dozie, his wife Chinyere and former Director-General, NIMASA Mr Ferdinard Agu.

• Mike Igbokwe (SAN), former Secretary NBA Lagos, Sunday B. Onu and Chief Chiedozie Ezeasor

• From left: Chairman, NBA Lagos branch, Taiwo Taiwo and Secretary, NBA Lagos, Alex Muoka

• From left: Former Chairman NBA Lagos, Chijioke Okoli and his wife Ngozi

• From left: Chukwuma Ezeala, Dr Dominic Ekesi and his wife Kathia

• Obi Okwusogu (SAN) and Justice Sybil Nwaka.

PHOTOS: JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

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FROM THE COURT

Lawyer tackles banks over alleged unpaid N2.3b fees

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AN a lawyer’s claim that a financial institution alleg edly defaulted in paying his professional fees form the basis for winding up such institution? Can a court validly reject an application for leave to advertise a company’s winding up petition despite the provision of Rule 19 (2) (b) the Companies Winding Up Rules 2001?

These form part of the core issues thrown up for determination in three suits, now before the Federal High Court, Lagos, brought against three banks -Access, Keystone and Intercontinental - by a lawyer, Anthony Ajibola Aribisala (SAN). He is seeking to wind up the banks on the ground that they have allegedly been unable to settle their indebtedness to him. He put the purported debt at about N3.25billion.

In the suit against Access Bank marked: FHC/L/CP/1492/2011 the plaintiff is claiming N2.265billion, which he said constituted his professional fees and other costs arising from the services he provided for the bank including recovering of about N19.7billion debt owed it by some of its customers.

He said the bank via a letter dated October 29, 2010 instructed him to recover a debt of N16.117billion allegedly owed it by Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited. He said the bank engaged him, in November 2010 to prepare “a comprehensive Loan Agreement” between it and GZ Motors Limited for a N210million overdraft facility granted the company.

He claimed to have instructed, between October 29 and March 3, 2011 to recover N3.621billion allegedly owed by Bi-Courtney Limited.

In the case marked: FHC/L/CP/ 1490/2011 the plaintiff is claiming about N171.18million against Keystone Bank (formerly BankPHB). The amount, he said is due to him as fees having been engaged by the bank as a Debt Recovery Agent (DRA) of about N21.1billion debt owed by some of its customers.

Aribisala gave the breakdown of the said customers and their alleged debt to include the National Sports Lottery Plc (N2,006,604,986.53), Home Trust Savings and Loans Limited (N13,294,038,110.47), Viva Wireless Limited (N1,334,310,089.17), Caverton Helicopters Limited (N346,744,803.94); Caverton Marine Limited (N474,394,323.11) and Caverton Offshore Support Group Limited (N4,218,075,776.25).

The lawyer, in the suit against Intercontinental Bank, marked: FHC/ L/CP/1491/2011 is claiming about N879.32million as cost of professional fees and reimbursement for expenses incurred while prosecuting the bank’s assignment for the recovery of about N64.8billion debt allegedly owed the bank by 11 customers.

He gave details of the said customers and their alleged indebtedness to include Bulk Pack Services Ltd (N8,230,907,580.60), Dansa Oil and Gas Ltd (N12,460,289,281.78), Capital Oil and Gas Ltd (N4,350,080,676.69); Rahamaniyya Oil and Gas Ltd (N12,858,892,054.00), Dr. Chris Ejike Imota (N1,614,134,867.09), Chris Ejik International Agencies Ltd (N332,780,507.61) and Festus Boniface Odimegwu (N1,756,184,792.50).

Others, according to him, are Ekha Agro Farms (N376,237,440.78), Lorna Global Services Ltd (N9,750,363,388.04), Sammy Beth Interbiz Ltd (N5,678,152,796.56), Camden Resources Ltd (N4364,663,932.89) and Riverside

By Eric Ikhilae

Logistics Ltd (N3,030,461,850.25).

Aribisala averred upon the said instructions, particularly those relating to debt recovery, he put machineries in motion to ensure that the assignments were well executed to the satisfaction of the banks.

He said he engaged all strategies, including writing to the alleged defaulting customers and subsequently instituting cases against them at different courts. Aribisala said he also engaged lawyers in his chambers, who pursued the cases vigorously, which resulted in them succeeding in some instances, in securing orders freezing the affected customers’ accounts and assets.

The plaintiff averred that while he was still making efforts to ensure the recovery of the said debts through the court, the banks allegedly sold the said debts to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) without his knowledge and participation.

He stated that unrealising this development, he wrote to the banks separately, demanding for his fees, comprising the percentage due to him from all they earned from AMCON on the said debts for which was engaged, on which he had filed suits in court and attended the court to prosecute them, and the cost of all other professional services he rendered.

The plaintiff further stated that the defendants neither responded to his letters nor paid his demanded fees, a development that prompted his winding up petitions. He argued that the banks’ alleged refusal to pay him implied that they have become insolvent and unable to pay their debt, a ground he contented, was enough for the banks to be wound up.

He argued that the bank’s decision to sell the said debt as loan assets to AMCON amounted to varying the mandate given to him to recover the debts and in to which he had deployed his professional capabilities and funds in executing.

Aribisala further argued that when he was engaged by the banks, there was no indication that such debt would be off-loaded to AMCON that was not in existence as at when he was engaged. He contended that since by their agreement, the remuneration for his services in respect of the debts was contingent upon the recovery of the said debts, the banks, by selling the debts to AMCON have altered the basis of the contract between them.

He argued that he is entitled to be paid by the banks from the money paid to them by AMCON because it formed part of the recovery mandate given him by the banks and from which he was to be paid upon recovery. He contended that it was not within the rights of the banks to alter or sell out to another body the subject of recovery for which he was engaged and from which he was to be compensated.

Of the three banks, Access Bank has objected to the hearing of the petition against it on the ground that the petitioner resorted to the action with a view to embarrassing it. It queried the court’s jurisdiction to hear the petition, arguing that the purported debt was currently being disputed.

The banks also contended that the Federal High Court was not the proper forum for the resolution of disputes arising from disputed debt which is a product of a contractual agreement. It added that a winding up proceeding was also not a proper measure to resolving such dispute.

In a motion dated December 29,

•Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, CEO Access Bank

2011, Access bank prayed the court for among others, an order directing that all applications by the petitioner must be on notice and an order of injunction restraining the petitioner from publishing the content of the petition in any media pending the determination of its application to either strike out the suit or stay proceedings.

It agued in a supporting affidavit that the petition was allegedly filed in bad faith and intended to embarrass and tarnish its reputation and put pressure on the bank to pay a claim which it disputes.

In another motion dated January 5 this year, the bank restated its application for a restraining order against the petitioner to prevent him from taking any further proceedings in respect of the petition, including advertising it. The bank also urged the court to either stay proceedings in case or strike it out.

Access Bank hinged this latest application on the ground that it disputes the indebtedness alleged by Aribisala, and that the filing of the petition amounts to an abuse of court process having been allegedly filed in bad faith and intended to pressurise it (the bank) into paying fees the petitioner is not entitled to.

It admitted in a supporting affidavit that it engaged Aribisala in the recovery of the debts allegedly owed it by Zenon and Bi-Courtney and the drafting of the agreement in respect of GZ Motors. It also acknowledged that the lawyers instituted actions in court as part of efforts to recover the said debts.

The bank denied any agreement between parties that the lawyer would be paid 10 per cent of the recovered funds. It also denied that the contract with the lawyer excluded the bank from exploring other means of recovering the debts and that the lawyer’s legal efforts resulted in the recovery of any of the debts. It also denied that it has as today, finalised negotiation with AMCON on the sale of

• Oti Ikomi, CEO Keystone Bank

the debts.

The bank stated that it has paid the lawyer N173million in relation to the Zenon case, but that the said amount “largely exceeds the value of the services rendered by the petitioner in respect of all the instructions.” It added that should the value of the services rendered by Aribisal be deducted from the said N173million, it (the bank) will be entitled to a refund.

As against the petitioner’s claim that it was insolvent, the bank stated that it is “a thriving going concern and is not insolvent.” On its prayer that the petition should not be advertised, the banks agued that such advertisement will adversely affect the banks’ image, create panic in the mind of the public and cause shareholders to dispose of their investment.

On the argument that a liquidator be appointed from the bank in the event of it being wound up, Access argued that the appointment of a liquidator will gravely disrupt its operations and negatively affect its profitability.

The bank has opposed an application by the petitioner to change the name of the respondent in the case against Intercontinental Bank to reflect Access Bank. The petitioner, in an application for substitution of parties, said the change became imperative because Access Bank, having taken over Intercontinental, has inherited its assets and liability.

The bank has also opposed the petitioner’s decision to sue Keystone Bank, arguing that the ban was a deferent entity form Platinum Habib Bank (Bank PHB).

Last week, parties were before Justice John Tsoho where they argued their preliminary applications, including those seeking to prevent the publication of the petition and the petitioner’s objection.

The bank’s lawyer, Tunde Fagbohunlu (SAN) while arguing his client’s applications stressed the need for the court to either stay proceed-

‘Access Bank stated that it has paid the lawyer N173million in relation to the Zenon case, but that the said amount largely exceeds the value of the services he rendered in respect of all the instructions’

ings or strike out the petition and also prevent its publication in the media.

He argued that his prayers were informed his client’s contention that the suit was wrongly brought before the court because the alleged debt owed to Aribisala by the bank was being disputed. He argued that winding-up proceedings was not the proper suit in respect of alleged disputed debt arising from a contractual agreement.

Fagbohunlu also queried the petitioner’s locus standi, arguing that there was no agreement between parties that Arbisala was entitled to 10 per cent of debt recovered for it by the petitioner.

He contended that the court could not hear the petitioner’s winding-up suit because he has not been able to show that he actually recovered any debt for the bank to entitle him to the said 10 per cent.

Wole Olanipekun (SAN) , who led Aribisala, Roland Otaru (SAN) and Oladipo Okpeseyi (SAN) for the plaintiff, argued that Access Bank’s applications violated the provision of Section 6 (6) of the Company Winding-Up Rules, which required a petitioner under the rule to apply ex-parte to advertise the petition.

He described the bank’s application as a gross abuse of court’s process, noting that what Access Bank asked the court to do by restraining the petitioner from applying ex-parte for a leave to advertise amounted to an abuse of the court’s process.

“The danger in acceding to the application by the bank is that the court would have unknowingly decided the case in a way. The court at this stage does not have the jurisdiction to decide whether or not that debt is disputed,” he said.

Olanipekun argued that should the court grant the application, it would unknowingly deny itself the jurisdiction to hear the petition because such ex-parte for advertisement formed part of the condition precedent to the court’s assumption of jurisdiction over a winding up petition.

He queried whether it was within the power of the court to prevent media publication of an action before the court even when no specific mention was made of a particular media organisation.

Justice John Tsoho has adjourned to May 23 for ruling on the Access Bank’s case. Hearing in the other cases has been fixed for May 18.

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

35

LAW & SOCIETY

Mentoring law students for successful practice

By John Austin Unachukwu

F

OR students of Nigerian Law School, Lagos Campus, penultimate week was memorable. On Tuesday of that week, the fourth session of the Nigerian Law Students mentoring programme organised by Sterling Partnership, Legal Practitioners, held at the institution’s Auditorium.

Kick starting the event, Justice Olubunmi Oyewole, who spoke on the topic “A day in the life of a judge,’’ stated that the day of a Judge actually starts a day before, not the very day in question.

He advised students who wish to go to the Bench to be prepared for hard work.

Oyewole said: “The judge starts his day by reading his files, and preparing for the next day. He stated that punctuality to the court is another key issue for Judges and lawyers alike.

“As a legal practitioner, you client pays you for results, so if you as a lawyer gets to the court at 9.30 a.m. and found out that you case was called at 9.05, what have you achieved?”

Oyewole said his court sits at 9.00 a.m. and if a lawyer is there by 8.30, nothing stops him from hearing his case.

He noted that another key area is study and research. He said: ‘’A good lawyer is not a person who knows all the law, but is that person who knows where to find the law. So, read far and wide, be familiar and conversant with developments in law all over the world’’ Oyewole stated that life is all about packaging and urged the would be lawyers to dress well.

He urged the students to put in a lot of industry into their work so that they excel in life. He also emphasised the importance of integrity in the legal profession.

He said he always tells students who come on attachment in his court: ‘Though your family name may open a room for you, that same name cannot keep you in the room.”

He added: ‘’Honesty and diligence will open doors for you, life is not all about knowing people, if you mess up while at the Bar, nobody will invite you into the Bench and if by any means you’re nominated, people will protest, shout and and raise objection.”

Addressing the students on the qualities of a good advocate, Mr Kalu Obosi said: “You must be prepared before going to court.

Don’t even go to court without full knowledge of your file.

“Know the issues and the subject matter because you don’t approach the court unless you have covered all the angles and most importantly, know the judge before whom you’ll appear.”

He urged the young lawyers to be diligent because the quality of your submissions will distinguish you.

He said: “Know the law, be on top of the law, be prepared, speak good and fluent English, you will definitely excel.”

Speaking to the students on being a good advocate, Mrs Funke Adekoya (SAN) advised the young lawyers to find out about the judge before whom you would appear.

She said: “Find out his peculiarities. Is he the type that will be turned off if you come with heavy books. Does he appreciate a contrary opinion or view because you are representing a clients’’.

“You also need to recognise when a judge is giving you a hint, be careful to understand his expressions.”

She emphasised the need for time management among lawyers. She stated that young lawyers stay long in court waiting for their matters to be called. She said: “Do not spend this time reading newspapers or browsing through your phones, but listen to those before you and understand how to handle your own case’’.

She advised female lawyers to understand the society very well, if not, they may not manage their time well and so, may not have that luxury of time to socialise.

She also said: “The law is jealous and will absorb all your time, you must have a passion for it. If you don’t enjoy standing and talking in the presence of people, you have to learn that. You must be able to speak clearly, shortly and distinctively. You must learn about public speaking, how to present your case and how to manage your time before you can make it in advocacy.”

Speaking on the day of an Inhouse Counsel, General Counsel, Total Plc, Chidi Moma, urged the students not to lose hope, that if he could make it in life, they also will also make it.

He stated: “The day in the life of an in-house Counsel starts from the day you graduate from the Law School. Find a good law firm and do at least three to five years litigation there.”

He noted that for you to be a good lawyer, you must give attention to details and as an in-house counsel, you need not go to court everyday, but you must be familiar and conversant with law practice and procedures to enable you to advise your client well.

He advised the lawyers to learn

to work hard, work in a good law firms, give attention to details, your curriculum vitae must be clean, well-spaced out, most importantly, you must be as presentable as you CV.” He said an in-house counsel has only one client, the company he works for, ‘’so he advised them, engages external layers. He must be versatile to do a lot of these.”

The Editor ThisDay Law, Funke Aboyade advised the students to always put their best foot forward.

She noted that the law degree is so versatile that it enables the lawyer to do almost everything he wishes to do.

She advised the young lawyers to spend at least the first two years after their call to Bar in law practice. This, she said, will position them and give them the required stability to engage in other areas of life career.

Aboyade further advised the students to have passion for whatever area they want to pursue after their call. She stated that she had passion for reading, editing and giving much attention to details.

She told the students that there are possible careers lines in newspaper editing, foreign service, politics, legislative services, tax consultancy, media both print and electronic etc. She said: “Even if you want to be a comedian do that, nothing at all is wasted.”

Mrs Caroline Etuk draws the attention of the students to the new emerging areas of Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, (ADR) and the opportunities provided by the Lagos Multi-Donor Court House.

The Deputy Director, Nigerian Law School, Lagos Campus, Mr Olanrewaju Onadeko, said: “This programme has really gone very well like the ones we had in the past.”

“From the responses and questions from the students, it is apparent that they found it very beneficial. It has really expanded the frontiers of knowledge no doubt about it and I think, we can only be better for it.”

“On our part, we appreciate it because of the ethics content, which of course reiterates what we teach at the law school, so it is a very good enterprise.”

Boma Ozobia said: “I would say that it is actually achieving our objectives and even going beyond that, it is meeting our expectations and exceeding that.”

“We are over whelmed by the response of the seniors. The caliber of lawyers we had attending this mentoring session, who came to talk to the aspiring lawyers, giving up the time for their practice, from so many important things in the middle of the afternoon to be here with us gives me hope for the profession, because they want to impact, they want to assist and guide the young ones grow.

“And we provided the platform for this to happen. Now going to the part of the students, I was deeply impressed, you saw how keen they were, their response to my question whether they wanted to dismiss, they didn’t want to go because of their quest for knowledge, their desire to known more and passion to excel in the legal profession. They sat down quietly in that auditorium, asking their questions. We couldn’t even attend to all their questions so, I am happy that the mentoring programme that sterling partnership started is growing fast and helping our students to grow in knowledge of the legal profession’’.

Mr Israel Aye, partner in Sterling Partnership, said: “This is the fourth in the series of this exercise that we have been having. One thing that we did dif-

ferently this year is to invite back the participants on the previous sessions.

“So you observe that we had a far bigger penal, some in primary speaking role and others in not necessarily primary speaking role, it provided opportunity for all of them to interact with the pupils.”

On whether the programme has achieved its purpose, Mr Aye yes. “I comment that it is really achieving the purpose of helping law students to find their bearing, for it is not enough to complain about the quality of legal education, this is our own little way of contributing to the improvement of the quality of lawyers that come out and I am very very satisfied with the outcome.”

Mr Paul Oki, a partner in Sterling Partnership, said: “One of the huge concerns that practitioners in private practice will tell you and even those is in house practice will tell you is that the quality of students who come out of the schools have dropped because they don’t get exposed early to mentorship just like those of us who passed the Law School and are now successful in our careers.”

“So what Sterling is doing is part of its corporate social responsibility. We can’t build roundabouts. We can’t decorate streets corners, but we are doing something what we feel is of use for our profession, that is getting our young lawyers to interact with the experienced older lawyers in the society. So that they begin to understand the practical steps they need to take to follow the parts that are available to them in the legal profession.”

36

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

THE NATION MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

37

DISCOURSE Conclusion of the text of the lecture delivered by Adeyinka Ajayi, chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, at the first Legislative Summit on Collaborative Development Agenda (Southwest and ACN states), organised by Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation newspaper, on February 15 and 16, for federal and state legislators and Executive Council members.

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Law as a tool for regional development

A

CASE in study is the travesty of justice and the rule of law is the Justice Ayo Salami’s saga.

Executive brigandage at the federal level rode roughshod on the subsisting provisionary laws of the land, with the active connivance and willful collaboration of a section of the consenting judiciary, and the uncomfortable silence of the National Assembly to perpetuate a criminality that attracted a widespread condemnation from far and near.

If the Southwest region is to become a model of blaze-trailing footnotes to other regions, the legislative houses within the region must provide the needed independent apparatuses for the judiciaries in the region, such that the rule of law will never suffer any form of travesty or desecration, either through conspiracy, connivance or despicable collaboration between any of the two arms of government, or through the inappropriate silence of the legislature What it unequivocally denounces at the federal level must not become a convenient status quo or an irresistible attractive option when an ugly need for such arises.

This will lead to quick crystallization of egalitarianism among the entire people of the region, and almost all inducement to judicial malpractices and pillages would have fallen to zero, and where such malpractices are attempted, it would be easy to them by existing legislations as checks Law as a tool to drive an efficient, reliable and sustianable intelligent infrastructure system within the region What is Intelligent Infrastructure Systems?Intelligent Infrastructure Systems represents a broad range of solutions aimed at taking the infrastructure provisions currently in place and striving to make it more effective and efficient to the general public.

Infrastructure provisions such as stable electric power, efficient transportation systems, potable water supply, interconnecting road networks etc are what improves on a large scale the quality of life a people, and also provides a veritable roadmap to assessing the index of socio-economic development of any modern society.

For example, In the area of transportation, the most common applications are the coordination of interconnected signals in cities and towns, changeable message signs along the roadway informing the traveling public of pending roadway delays or detours as a result of natural disasters, weather or construction.

Less common, yet equally functional applications are closed circuit television to monitor flow at intersections, automatic vehicle location for transit vehicles and signal pre-emption for emergency vehicles.

Overall goal: The overall goal is to improve the target populations’ quality of life in the sub-region through coordinated partnerships and projects.

Planning process goals: To identify and promote partnerships to address specialised infrastructure needs among public or private non-profit, social service agencies or advocacy groups working with target populations. To identify possible projects that can respond to needs and gaps emerging through the process and potential partners for the implementation of these infrastructure projects within the region.3. To encourage new partnerships for the development of these projects and application for funding under the Coordinated Planning process.

The establishment of South West Infrastructure Development Authorities (SWIDA) within the region by regional member states, as it is the case with some developed countries could provide major funding sources for public infrastructure within the region. The SWIDA provides two funding sources: the Local Infrastructure Fund (LIF) and the State Infrastructure Assistance (SIA) fund State’s House

of Assembly members with full oversight functions on Infrastructure development can collaborate to enact what is called Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Infrastructure Equity Laws to drive the infrastructure blueprint for the region.

A Joint Consultative Committee, comprising eminent and tested technocrats, selected from the members of the public to prepare a Public-Private Participation Plan (PPPP) that will drive this blueprint is empowered by this Act. The PPPP is intended to provide and document the direction for public involvement activities.

Objectives of the Public-Private Participation Plan: Raise level of understanding of the Infrastructure planning process in the region and identify how interested citizens and private interests can participate.

Maximise opportunity for publicPrivate involvement in the Infrastructure development process.

Maintain contact with interested citizens and key stakeholders throughout the process of developing plans and projects.

The public is encouraged to inform the committee about what would be helpful in addressing the objectives of the PPPP. This Joint Consultative Committee, empowered by a joint act of the representatives of the individual States House of Assembly is to develop a Coordinated Public Services Infrastructure Plan in response to legislation under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Infrastructure Law. The Law will require this locally developed plan to establish “a unified comprehensive strategy for public infrastructure service delivery” through a coordinated planning process to address unmet needs of target populations within the sub-region.

Funds are made available under the empowering Act, and programs are matched by local human service resources and other funding to leverage more infrastructure facilities within the region.

Facilitation of economic integration and industrial revolution by addressing unfavourable trade imbalance within the region Law, as a viable tool, promotes the need to develop the effective legal systems for encouraging and overseeing increasingly competitive business activities in the region.

The necessity of eliminating barriers to entry of trade and investment creates a need to provide, at a regional level, an effective protection against unfair competition to govern the economic activities and transactions of those business players located in that region.

As more liberal trade and investment regimes are established, there is an increasing requirement for competition rules to regulate fair competition among business players, as well as to supervise their behavior. Therefore, agreements restricting competition as well as the abuse of dominant positions of market power should be controlled under competition laws.

This is the rationale for regional competition law for strengthening economic integration in any region.

Since the region will develop its integrated regional market, it requires a regulatory regime that can facilitate free movement of trade and intra-region investment.

Competition law is compatible with “open regionalism” because it is basically neutral and non-discriminatory. Moreover, the development of a regional competition law and policy that enhances fair competition among firms doing business in the region might also provide a basis for evaluating the economic benefit of entry by a foreign investor on competition grounds, rather than the discriminatory criteria used in screening procedures.

The various States’ legislative houses within the region can enact common laws to drive a refined and

reformed version of free trade policy within the region.

Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation within the sub-region. ‘Free’ Trade Act differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading members are determined by price strategies that may differ from those which would emerge under deregulation.

These governed prices are the result of government intervention in the market through price adjustments or supply restrictions, including protectionist policies. Such government interventions can increase as well as decrease the cost of goods and services to both consumers and producers.

Example of laws that drive free trade policy: Antitrust Laws exist because of the belief that the economy functions best when competitors have limits for permitted activities. Activities governed by laws include monopoly, pricing limitations, predatory practices, merger control and advertising.

Related areas include: consumer protection, torts (wrongful interference, slander, etc.), intellectual property, employment and contracts.

Unfair Competition Law deals with a wide variety of laws that are enforced to protect consumers and businesses alike against deceptive business practices. Some examples in commercial law include: trademark infringements, trade defamation and misappropriation of business trade secrets. Whereas for consumers, unfair competition deals more with unfair pricing strategies and false representations.

Protection of environments within the region Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity.

This may be divided into two major subjects: (1) pollution control and remediation, (2) resource conservation and management.

Laws dealing with pollution are often media-limited - i.e., pertain only to a single environmental medium, such as air, water (whether surface water, groundwater or oceans), soil, etc. - and control both emissions of pollutants into the medium, as well as liability for exceeding permitted emissions and responsibility for cleanup.

Laws regarding resource conservation and management generally focus on a single resource - e.g., natural resources such as forests, mineral deposits or animal species, or more intangible resources such as especially scenic areas or sites of high archeo-

‘The Southwest geopolitical region is well endowed with human and natural resources.

We must make room for the exploration of mineral resources, particularly crude oil, gas bitumen and the numerous solid minerals which are available in many places in the region. We need major investment in agriculture such that we do not just produce for consumption in Nigeria but export abroad’

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logical value - and provide guidelines for and limitations on the conservation, disturbance and use of those resources..

Environmental law to be enacted by the members states in the region must be influenced by principles of environmentalism, including ecology, conservation, stewardship, responsibility and sustainability. Pollution control laws generally are intended (often with varying degrees of emphasis) to protect and preserve both the natural environment and human health.

Resource conservation and management laws generally balance (again, often with varying degrees of emphasis) the benefits of preservation and economic exploitation of resources.

From an economic perspective environmental laws may be understood as concerned with the prevention of present and future externalities, and preservation of common resources from individual exhaustion.

Understanding the science and management of the environment and the nexus between environmental change, human livelihoods and vulnerability to hazards is fundamental for sustainable natural resources use.

Natural resource degradation has implications for rural livelihoods and poverty, natural resource management, and vulnerability to disasters.

The coastland Southwest Nigeria qualifies for description as a hotspot of ecosystems changes and natural resource degradation.

This study sets out to address the connections and relations between environmental change process, natural resource degradation and vulnerability of rural communities around the coastline of the region. It is incontrovertible that policies, legislations, conventions, frameworks, etc., on environment and natural resource management in the region lacks basic data and information systems from which critical monitoring variables and indicators can be generated to regularly assess performances and health of the ecosystems.

Hence, recommendations for urgent considerations include restoration of degraded environment, providing information, education and incentive/encouragement for local dwellers. This is to stimulate the use of their tacit, informal and experienced based knowledge of environment and natural resources management, spatial re-organisation and land-use planning within the region.

Also, this will include the provision of strong local and community institutional basis for implementation of policy and programmes on disaster and natural resources management as well as the development of integrated regional databank and information systems for environment, natural resources and disaster monitoring.

The specific objectives to be achieved by the individual State’s House of Assembly committees on Environmental matters are to: · Assess Land-use and Land-cover patterns of the study area for the states using archived maps and multi-date

satellite imageries. · Analyse land-use and land-cover change for the region from the multidate land-use/land-cover data · Investigate the nature, extent, pattern, and trajectory (direction) of prevailing land (ecosystems) degradation processes and their impacts on livelihoods of communities in the study area. · Investigate the key drivers of land degradation and predict future landuse and cover change and land degradation using any time-tested model . · Construct disaster vulnerability indices for communities within the region. · Pinpoint the theoretical and policy implications of the research for natural resources management and long term disaster management in the State, which upon integration becomes the blueprint for the region.

In conclusion The Southwest needs a development strategy similar to the Western China Development strategy. The main component of that strategy include the development of infrastructure (transport, hydropower plants, energy, and telecommunications), enticement of foreign investment, increased efforts on ecological protection (such as reforestation), promotion of education, and retention of talent flowing to richer provinces. In the case of the south west, our infrastructural need include good roads, rail, inland waterways transportation system and power.

The Southwest geo-political region is well endowed with human and natural resources. We must make room for the exploration of mineral resources, particularly crude oil, gas bitumen and the numerous solid minerals which are available in many places in the region. We need major investment in agriculture such that we do not just produce for consumption in Nigeria but export abroad. The Southwest zone must resuscitate the cocoa and palm oil industries and reestablish Nigeria as the No. 1 producer of cocoa and palm oil products.

We need to harmonise our laws such that the legal environment for business is similar if not the same throughout the south west. Through homogeneous laws, better security, advanced infrastructure we can position the south west as the best region for FDI. To achieve this we must eradicate needless bureaucratic practices and make government services business friendly. Imagine if you can get a Certificate of Occupancy within two weeks all over the south west. Imagine if obtaining Governor’s consent take just one week.

Imagine if building permit can be obtained with 10 days all over the south west. Imagine if commercial disputes can be resolved with three to six months through ADR instead of decade long commercial disputes.

It is not going to be easiy, but then not good comes easy, but If the Southwest states we can work together to achieve this. Unemployment will be drastically reduced, crime rate will fall, wealth will be created for our people and we then can call on the rest of Nigeria to give us power if they want to see true development.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Southwest can become the envy of Africa and Indeed the World as a whole; all we need to achieve this is the visionary attributes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the courageous faith of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, coupled with the tireless and enviable conceptual governmental ingenuity and dexterity introduced into modern day Governance by the likes of the Governor of the State of Osun Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Armed with these qualities we will eventually usher in mind blowing development to the south west, just as we swept out Peoples Democratic Party’s disingeneous legacies of pain occassioned by bad governance, out of this region.

Thank you ladies and gentlemen and God bless.

38

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

39

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT

‘Fashola’s housing policy on course’

By Emmanuel Oladesu

•Jeje

F

OR decades, Lagos, the fastest growing mega-city in Nigeria, has been confronted by the problem of housing. When Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) assumed the reins of power, he promised to tackle this challenge. Six years after, he has a good account to render in the sector.

“Today, we can confidently say there is a lot of improvement. We have Michael Otedola Estate in Epe; Hon. Olaitan Mustapha Estate in Ojokoro; Mrs Adetoun Mustapha Estate in Ojokoro; Senator Fasinro Estate in Apapa and the just inaugurated Oba Elegushi Estate in Lekki Phase 11.

“We have Oba Adegboruwa Estate at Igbogbo. There is another in Ikorodu named after the deceased

member of House of Assembly. We have ones that have been fully completed at Iloro, waiting to be inaugurated,” said Commissioner for Housing, Bosun Jeje.

The Oba Elegushi Estate and Senator Habib Fashinro Estate were built by the LSBC. CORTEX Gardens, Ikota is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project, like that of the GRA, Ikeja, Yaba, Ikoyi and Victoria Island.

Explaining the rationale behind the PPP arrangement, Jeje said: “Basically, we know the government alone cannot do it. Government alone cannot provide houses.

So, we should encourage private investors to come in. That said, we don’t even have the resources to do it.

“In fact, the government should be the regulator of the system. Not a provider, but a regulator. In the circumstance we find ourselves now, and considering the meltdown across the world, even private investors without government intervention cannot also do it.

“So, that is why the government is funding the business of housing right now. But basically, the government should be a regulator and we are going to get to that stage later. When we mature to that level, we will quit the stage.”

The commissioner said the ad-

ministration intended to address glaring housing deficit in the mega city.

“Basically, in all mega cities of the world, housing is always the major challenge. Though it is not an empirical data that we have; what we understand is that we have 16 million housing deficit in Nigeria and Lagos State alone accounts for five million of the 16 million, considering the population we have in the state. So, to address the challenges of the housing deficit, that is why we embarked on all these measures, we have taken.”

During the campaigns last year, Fashola promised Lagosians that, if re-elected, he would make housing a cardinal objective. The evidence of the commitment is seen in the allocation to the sector in this year’s budget.

However, Jeje said the Federal Government should complement the efforts of the state government in the sector.

“The Federal Government has to participate in providing houses or else, it would be difficult for the states to do it alone.”

In the commissioner’s view, Lagos State is due for a special status as the former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and economic headquarters.

He said: “This is where money comes in. When 100 people come into Lagos State, 80 stay back. And

the population keeps escalating. So, it deserves a special status considering the population, the mega status and the infrastructure on ground that Lagos State would not be allowed to go desolate. So, we need the Federal Government’s intervention in taking care of them.”

But how affordable are the houses being provided? Jeje said affordability is a relative concept, explaining that “what is affordable to you may not be affordable to me.”

“What we mean by affordability is ability to pay. That means the tenure system. If you have a house and we are not asking you to pay immediately, we are giving you 15 to 20 years to pay, that is what we mean by affordability.

“When we have broken down the price to small pieces for you to pay every month and we give you 15 to 20 years to pay that is affordability.

Not the cost of the house but ability to pay.

“For example, if a house is N3 million, yes, it is affordable to you but you don’t have N3 million to pay immediately, that is where there is a problem. But when we ask you to pay it over 15 or 20 years, then, that is affordable to you, because you are now paying N15, 000 per month or N10, 000 per month and the house is yours.

“The moment you pay the first instalment, makes the house become your own. And then, what

you are paying every month is rent on your own house. So, you are paying to become your own landlord. So, that is what we mean by affordability. It is affordable to everybody.”

On the “Lagos Homes Scheme,” he said: “Right now, we have developed a concept known as Lagos Homes which will be everywhere in Lagos State. It is going to be in the three senatorial districts and five administrative divisions in Lagos State. It is a mass housing project to be seen everywhere that would convince the people the more that, definitely, Fashola is in action in addressing housing problem.”

He also spoke on plans for urban regeneration, saying it would be dictated by the availability of resources.

Jeje said: “Basically, we plan to turn slums to modest and modern cities. But don’t forget that resources are few, and challenges for the resources are many. So, we have to prioritise our activities. Well, the slums have to go. We have to regenerate them. But in the mean time, government is on the drawing board to see what we can do.”

Jeje also shed light on the mortgage scheme in the state. He said: “All our mass housing schemes which we say are affordable are on mortgage. Basically, it is going to be on mortgage.

Even if you have your money, we are not going to sell to you.”

National Assembly, engineers partner to improve laws

T

HE Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) will collaborate with the National assembly to come up with laws that would ensure improvement in the practice of the engineering profession.

The President of NSE, Mr Mustafa Balarabe Shehu disclosed this in a statement signed by the Head, Media and Publicity, Emeka Okpani.

Shehu said the government has to define clearly what the relationship should be between it, the citizens, the professionals and foreign companies coming into the country to do engineering jobs.

He said: “The government was supposed to come up with a frame work and a deliberate policy that ensures foreign companies coming in to do engineering jobs in the country do such in a manner that encourages sustainability, technology transfer and building of local capacity where they are not available.

“Every economy develops through deliberate actions and activities, not by chance. There should be a law restricting or promoting actions by some people.

“The purpose of bringing in foreigners should have been to fill capacity gaps where such skills are not available and that local engineers would have been signed on the job to understudy the expert and take over as soon as the period of contract of the foreigners elapsed,” he said.

He regretted that many foreign companies get contracts ahead of their Nigerian counterpart solely on the fact that they are foreigners and not that they have more skills than their indigenous counterparts.

Shehu observed such companies come with their own workers from abroad and take our money to their home countries and the worst is that many of them come with ordinary artisans to work as engineers.

The collaboration with the National Assembly would be to identify these areas and come up with a legislation that would address them for the overall development of the country.

He added that there is need to generate awareness on the capacity and skills of Nigerian engi-

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

neers and share ideas on how the media can collaborate with the society to help Nigerians realise the need to avoid the use of quacks and open avenues of interaction and understanding between the society and the engineers in the country.

In a related development, Shehu made a case for the enforcement of the engineering regulation act and creation of awareness on skills of professional engineers to eliminate quackery in the system. He said quackery has become an issue of concern in almost all the professional groups in the country.

He said: “It is not only in engineering that we have quacks operating. They are everywhere, in journalism, in the judiciary and all other professions. So, it will take the collective efforts of us to stop them from practicing.

“Part of that effort on your part will be the creation of awareness among the people so that they have information on how and where to get to the real professionals.

“The people should be sensitised on the disadvantages of using quacks under any guise and that is why the NSE is seeking partnership with media houses for this purpose,” he stated.

Shehu stated that there was need to ensure enforcement of regulations in a robust manner adding that people would comply with rules not because they like to but because of the penalties that they will suffer if they don’t.

Noting that the enforcement of the laws have not been effective, Shehu, however, said the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has set up the Engineering Monitoring Regulation (ERM) Committee, which assesses engineering works, determine the owners, contractors, consultants and ascertain their qualifications and suitability and advise the owners where necessary.

Related to this, there is a tribunal set up by COREN to investigate, try and discipline offenders who go against the engineering standards.

•Goshen Estate, Lekki, Lagos

Town planners flay non-inclusion in BPP matrix T HE Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), has made representation to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to fashion out requisite synergy between professional regulatory powers and public procurement regulations.

They frowned at the non-specification of core planning areas in its matrix of service procurement category as well as the non-listing of its registration body.

President, Town Planners Registration Council (TOPREC), Mr Anthony Obi stated this in his goodwill message at the opening of the ATOPCON 2012 Professional Development workshop held in Lagos with the theme “Project Procurement and Effective Service Delivery”.

Obi criticised the BPP for qualifying professional consultancies outside those in the registers of professional regulatory bodies such as TOPREC and called for its immediate reversal.

He called ATOPCON members to comply with the council’s direc-

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie Asst Editor

tive on the use of Professional Regulatory Stamps as otherwise would be illegal and attract sanctions.

In his submission, President, Nigeria Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr Kabir Yari asked them to hone their skills to be competitive in the sector and to offer jobs for young town planners who need to be mentored.

On the theme of the workshop, he said since procurement is the key to successful plan implementation and consequently when master plans and development plans are implemented many tangible benefits will accrue to the society in areas such as employment generation, improved access to service, economy and aesthetics.

Yari harped on the need for thorough understanding between planners in the public and private sector on procurement issues and how to make planning services acces-

sible and affordable to clients.

Earlier in his opening remarks, ATOPCON President, Mr Toyin Ayinde, said the workshop is geared towards providing opportunity for members of the association to continuously improve their skills and thus be able to make substantial contribution to the development of the economy and human settlements.

He said the theme was chosen to provide an opportunity for members of the association to continuously improve their skills and thus be able to make substantial contribution to the development of the country.

He said: “We need to have a good understanding of the Public Procurement Act in order for us to be able to practice effectively.

In addition, the workshop intends to further expose participants to other laws or regulations governing the relationship between Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with regards to procurement of consultancy services”.

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

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PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT Building Issues

‘High land charges affect property development’

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HE Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has promised to engage the Federal Government on land reforms by advising on appropriate amendment of some sections of the Land Use Act. The land reform process, the institution said would underpin the type of wealth creation the nation needs to go through to achieve successful development.

This was disclosed by the first VicePresident of the institution, Mr Emeka Eleh in an interview with The Nation. He said the institution is gearing up to champion the issue of land reforms to free up land for investment and development.

The reform, he said, will ensure people have title to the land they own so much that even those in the villages are able to use the land they have to raise money to do local business.

He said: “There is no miracle to what they are doing in developed economies. It is just that they insist that any loan system requires a bit of a guarantee”. He said the institution is campaigning for land reforms to unleash capital on land owned by the people and stimulate development in the sector.

According to him, a piece of land can lead a parallel life. “You can lease to somebody, you can securitise it.

What the people require is to have an asset that will be guaranteed by a title number and made available in a data bank for verification.”

Eleh frowned at the time it takes to register a particular property while in some countries it takes just a day or slightly more. He knocked

Abroad and dreaming of building a house in Nigeria?

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie Asst Editor

the Lagos State government for failing in her advertised 30 –day land registration programme and the high cost associated with it. On its implications, he said it limits dealing in property, particularly the rate at which people buy and sell property which generally affects the GDP of the nation.

He said in developed economies housing remains a major contributor to the gross domestic product as growth in the sector determines the growth of the overall economy and development.

“Though we want to champion housing, we realise that the basic issue that underlines it is land, because land remains a major component of housing. If you owe the land you can decide on how to phase your building project without interference.”

Calling for a robust mortgage system, he supported the immediate raising of the share capital of mortgage banks to N5billion to enable them create a discount window. He canvassed a virile discount window to enable mortgage banks to thrive, stressing that if done properly the country would be a better place to invest in as far as real estate development is concerned.

On future plans of the institution, Eleh said it would work on the quality of graduates of Estate Management, explaining that some of their members will be encouraged to go to schools to engage the students so that they would have the benefit of practice/ private sector experience.

L

•Eleh

“We will encourage members to volunteer for the scheme, at least to put in five or more hours annually.

They can go to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) or university of their choice to spend an hour with the students every other month to just tell them what they do in practice because there are things they are not taught in school. There are plans also to embark on aggressive membership drive as our number is grossly inadequate for the nation’s population”.

He also disclosed that the institution is working tirelessly to encourage partnerships. According to him, the era of having one man running a practice is gone noting that if they must be competitive locally and internationally the need to apply the rules that will take them there is imperative. An urgent plan by the institution is to encourage members to specialise in certain areas so that when individuals come together to own a practice it will be a case of ‘two heads being better than one’.

•Elegushi Estate, Lekki, Lagos

NIESV to partner FCDA on property tax

T

HE Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has said it is working out modalities to partner the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) on revenue generation, especially in the area of property tax.

Chairman of Abuja branch of NIESV, Mr Ayodele Ibuoye disclosed this at a press briefing at the weekend in Abuja .

Ibuoye said property taxation is an area which has not been adequately explored by the FCDA. He assured of the preparedness of the NIESV within and outside the Federal Capital Territory to work with relevant authorities to generate revenue through property tax.

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

While outlining other areas that revenue could be generated, Ibuoye noted that land titling is another veritable area to raise revenue.

He said any land that is not titled is a dead land.

Ibuoye said: “There is land in Abuja that are not yet titled. Any land that is not titled is a dead land.

“Land must also be mapped out clearly and with that one can use it as collateral at any bank for the purpose of borrowing money.”

The Abuja NIESV chairman said the 42nd Annual Conference of NIESV with the theme Transforma-

tion of Nigeria through the built environment, Estate Surveyors and Valuers in perspective is slated to hold this month. He said the body would discuss important issues on the transformation of the country through the built environment.

He noted that there was no doubt that the FCT, Abuja urgently requires upgrading of infrastructure.

Ibuoye said provision of infrastructure should not be the sole responsibility of the FCDA but through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) coupled with aggressive internally generated revenue drive throughout the area councils.

On the 2012 annual conference, he said President Jonathan Goodluck is expected to declare it open.

AST week I got a mail from

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie somebody living in the Asst Editor United States desirous of building a house in Lagos and his ment needed for a three bedroom home town. He sought for advice flat. It’s not enough to say that Mr. on how to start and who to en- A built a three bedroom bungatrust the building project to. I will low with N3million and so yours attempt to answer some of the must be built with the same questions and also give advice amount. The cost of a building that can help not only him but oth- derives from the quality of mateers. rial used and the finishing. All Generally, when deciding to things being equal, a four bedbuild a house like the Holy Book room flat give or take can be put at said, you have to count the cost, a conservative N4million. This is this time in material and human in a situation that one does not resources. Though one may not need to do a raft foundation or necessarily have a clear picture of sand filling where money is ‘burwhat the total cost might be but at ied’ underground before actual least a clear view of what the over- construction. all picture would look like will not If you intend to build during the be out of place. If the idea is to dry season be sure that you will build a rental place in Lagos and pay a little more for cement and a family house in the village, you even labour because it is the peak may need to be careful when buy- of construction if you wait for the ing a land in Lagos. rainy season you will also have to contain with the Buying land in vagaries of nature Lagos comes with Buying land in and it may lead to its challenge deLagos comes with u n q u a n t i f i a b l e pending on the losses as rain may amount of money its challenge not only disturb you have. It is wise depending on the the schedule for to get a lawyer who amount of money construction but is known in your also wash away family circle or a you have. It is cement or sand as friend to assist you wise to get a the case may be. in conducting a Not also minding search to ascertain lawyer who is the fact that the the authenticity of known in your labour for a day the land. family circle or a may not be fully Many people utilised at the peak have been known friend to assist the rains. This to lose their hard you in conducting of only proves that earned money, it’s a search to building a house is more trickish if not just what you they realise that ascertain the decide to do in a you live abroad as authenticity of split second but a they will always project embarked the land. believe that you on after a thorough have cash to throw around. To avoid a deal gone understanding of all it takes. awry it is advisable to involve If you are desirous of building a your parents if they are still alive modest and tastefully finished because you can trust that they house that will come close to what want you to succeed, you may you have in the United States you also bank on them to recommend should at least be looking at N4 to a relation they are comfortable 5 million. This cost is off course with or if you have friends that outside the cost of the land. This are reliable, sometimes good is so as you need not less than friends are better than some re- 5,000 blocks at N110 to N120 lations. It is always better to en- each. Depending on the type of gage professionals from the de- roofing desired you can consersign to construction stage. The vatively budget N900- N1.5 miltruth is that if you live abroad it lion, nobody expects you to use is given that that you will pay asbestos to roof your building. about 20-20 per cent higher for Another cost you must factor in services than people at home no is that the construction of borematter how prudent and careful hole, you may not possibly run you or your agents are. The be- away from this in as much the lief is that the money is there and government is trying to check the besides how else can relations proliferation of boreholes in the profit from your long sojourn municipality. overseas if not through this God Is not as if there is a law against given opportunity! it but wait a minute, there must be Somebody can always come up class and panache when someto you to advise on using Baba body as it were is building with Mukaila (itinerant brick-layer) hard currency. You have to insist whose only skill is the number of that they get you the best of the years he has stayed on at con- artisans especially in handling struction site to know how many your plumbing, windows, door blocks and probably bags of ce- and electrical fittings.

Developer offers discount on property

A

DEVELOPER, Gioni Homes, has come up with promotional offers and discounts on site & service plots with special payment options on the Lekki-Epe Expressway .

In a statement, it said the target markets are corporate bodies, cooperative societies, government agencies and minis-

tries. It said about 100 residential service plots have been marked out for sale to private developers interested in investing in the estate while individuals or groups that buy between March and June, the promo period, will get between five and 10 per cent discount of the total cost of the land.

•Contributions, questions? e-mail: quichi3cities@yahoo.com

SLIDING TACKLE

"Forget it, we won't win this Liga.”

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

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Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, finally giving up on his team’s quest to win a fifth straight Spanish La Liga title after repeatedly failing to cut the 10-point gap opened by bitter rivals, Real Madrid.

AVB DIDN’T TRUST ME,

says Torres F

ERNANDO Torres, the £50million Spaniard was the Man-of-the-Match as Chelsea crushed Leicester to move into an FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham or Bolton. He then insisted that in Roberto Di Matteo he is finally playing for a manager who trusts him.

Torres said: “I feel the confidence of the manager now and obviously it’s a good thing for me and for Chelsea.”

Torres became a peripheral figure under Villas Boas, sacked by Roman Abramovich three weeks ago.

The striker’s goals Sunday were his first since scoring against Genk in the Champions League on October 19.

But the former Liverpool star is now set to play a big part in Chelsea’s end-of-season charge for the top four, the Champions League and the FA Cup. And Torres insisted the team are now more committed under Di •Torres Matteo as their winning run was extended to four matches.

He added: “I needed those goals. I’d been working so hard to get those goals and in the last month the team is much better than before.

“We are more committed and I think we have shown in the last two or three games that we can do things in a good way.

I’m feeling much better. I was playing good but I wasn’t scoring goals. But I found the net today so it’s a good day for me. I feel happy.

“This season I’ve been playing at a very good level but I wasn’t scoring goals and the job of the striker is to score goals.

“If you don’t do that then people think you are playing badly but for me the main thing is the support of the people.

“They have all been with me. The teammates and the staff.” Di Matteo said later: “It was a wonderful team performance and it was reflected in the scoreline.

Other sports...Other sports...

Federer wins IndianWells ATP

R

OGER FEDERER continued his red-hot run by dispatching surprise finalist John Isner 7-6 6-3 on Sunday to become the first player to win the Indian Wells ATP tournament four times.

The Swiss world number three blunted the powerful serving of Isner with a controlled display, edging the American 9-7 in the first set tie break then breaking him twice in the second set to triumph in one hour and 21 minutes.

Federer clinched the title when the towering Isner, w h o upset world number one Novak Djo kovic in the semi-finals and will rise to a career-high 10th in the rankings on Monday, dumped a forehand into the net.

"This tournament victory couldn't come at a better time in my career," Federe r , w h o h a s triu mphed six times i n his last eight ATP World Tour events, told reporters while sitting beside the glittering crystal • Federer trophy.

ENGLAND FA CUP LATEST

Bolton wary of White Heart Lane replay

B

OLTON FC could feel it is too much to ask players to return to White Hart Lane so soon after witnessing Fabrice Muamba's harrowing fight for life.

Saturday's quarter-final with Tottenham was abandoned after the midfielder's collapse and a rematch would usually be played next Tuesday or Wednesday.

The entire club and especially the playing staff have been badly affected after Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest.

Some players have already talked privately about not wanting to go back so quickly to the north London ground.

But senior figures at the Reebok see it as an opportunity to win the tie for Muamba — and will gauge feelings before making a decision.

The match was called off after medical teams worked to resuscitate the player on the pitch.

He was then taken to London Chest Hospital.

Bolton's game at Aston Villa today has been postponed.

Boss Owen Coyle said: "The players wouldn't be in any fit state to play.

Football pales into insignificance at this time.”

Barca dedicate win to Abidal

B

ARCELONA'S players dedicated their Primera Division victory over Sevilla to team-mate Eric Abidal.

The France defender is to undergo a liver transplant and players from both teams wore t-shirts in support of him before the game.

The Catalan side won the match 2-0 thanks to goals from Xavi and Lionel Messi.

"This victory is for Abidal," goalkeeper Victor Valdes told the club's official website. "These are difficult times that we must overcome.

"However, with the strength and confidence that Abidal has, I'm sure that he'll come out of this one."

Abidal had liver surgery a year ago after being diagnosed with a tumour, but returned to the team just seven weeks later.

Defender Gerard Pique said: "We have to be by Abidal's side and give him our love.

"We had to forget about what happened off the pitch and start the game focused. The fact that we don't have Abidal is difficult. We'll try to be with him but on the pitch we have to do our jobs well."

Midfielder Cesc Fabregas added: "As a player and a person he's very committed, sincere and honest. It's a shame, but we're with him 100 per cent."

Barca's win kept the pressure on leader Real Madrid in the race for the title, but coach Pep Guardiola does not believe his side will catch its bitter rival.

"In general we played a good game, especially in the first half," he said of the win over Sevilla. "We're pleased that we won in such a difficult stadium.

"I would have liked to compete for this league title until the end, but I don't know if it will be possible. There's another team that's managed to earn better results than we have."

When pressed, he added: "Forget it, we won't win this Liga.”

•Abidal

EURO 2012

‘Don’t put pressure on Ronaldo’

R

EAL MADRID defender Pepe has warned fans not to put too much pressure on team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo to perform at Euro 2012.

The 27-year-old attacker has taken a central role in Madrid's squad since his £80 million (€94m) transfer from Manchester United in 2009, scoring 128 goals in as many appearances for Los Blancos.

Portugal's fans expect the same level of form in Poland and Ukraine this summer, where the Seleccao must face Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands in the group stage, but Pepe warned that too much pressure on Ronaldo may affect his game.”I think Cristiano has always had a lot of responsibility since he was 18, and people put a lot of pressure on him," Pepe told Uefa.com.

"People now understand the importance of the squad. The squad needs to give support to Cristiano, so that he can be calm and play his football.”

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HEALTH THE NATION

E-mail:- health@thenationonlineng.net

Treating prostate cancer M

OST cancers are equalopportunity killers.

Some, though, are perforce sex-specific. Breast cancer is rare in men. And prostate cancer is obviously absent from women. Recent years have seen a plethora of new drugs-starting in 1998 with Herceptin-for treating breast tumours that are threatening to get out of control. No such breakthrough has happened with prostate cancer. Though easily treated if caught early, late-stage prostate cancer is serious and often fatal. But that may be about to change.

Better understanding of the biology of the disease, and particularly of the role of testosterone in promoting it, has stimulated a new era of drug development, reminiscent of the revolution that ushered in Herceptin. These novel treatments, which are now undergoing clinical trials, were one of the main topics of conversation at the Congress of the European Association of Urology, which took place in Paris on February 24th-28th.

In this section "The men's room, the wow factor, Violating the rules Smarter than the average bear.

Some of the therapies discussed remain conceptual almost to the point of fantasy: a genetically engineered virus that could destroy prostate-cancer cells from within, for example. Several, though, are already available, or are just about to be.

Cabazitaxel, made by Sanofi, a French firm, is one. It is a relative of taxol, a drug used to treat breast and ovarian cancer. It works by preventing the formation of structures called microtubules, which pull the chromosomes apart in dividing cells (such as cancer cells). It was approved for use in 2010 after trials showed that it could prolong the lives of men with late-stage disease.

A second drug, abiraterone, made

by Johnson & Johnson, an American company, was approved in 2011 after a trial was stopped because it had been so successful that the organisers deemed it unfair on those

in the control group that they were not receiving the medicine too.

Abiraterone works by interfering with an enzyme involved in the production of testosterone. Crucially, it does so in all testosterone-producing tissues, particularly including the adrenal glands, not just the testes. A common change that occurs when prostate cells turn cancerous is that they become extremely sensitive to testosterone-so much so that late-stage prostate cancer is often referred to as being "castration-resistant", because even that drastic testosterone-reducing treatment cannot halt it. But abiraterone can.

Testosterone poisoning Cutting off the testosterone supply is not, however, the only approach possible. MDV3100, made

by Astellas, a Japanese firm, and Medivation, an American one, reduces the cancer's sensitivity to what testosterone is already there.

This drug, not yet approved for prescription, works by gumming up testosterone receptors on the cancer cells' surfaces, so they cannot react to the hormone. It also cuts the lines of communication between any receptors which are still activated and the cell nucleus, so that the nucleus cannot take instructions from the hormone.

A fourth drug, alpharadin, developed by Algeta, a Norwegian firm, has a completely different mechanism of action. It works not on the primary cancer but on one of its most dangerous consequences, secondary bone tumours. Ironically, its active ingredient is radium, a substance more usually thought of as a cause of cancer than as a treatment.

But one reason radium is dangerous is that, as a glance at the periodic table will show, it is chemically similar to calcium, a principal ingredient of bone. It therefore gets absorbed by bones if ingested, rather than being excreted.

Algeta's researchers have exploited this to produce a drug that

‘The next decade should do for prostate cancer what the past one has done for breast cancer’ is taken up by bones. In someone who already has cancer that is a good thing, because the radiation produced kills the cancer cells, and the drug gets concentrated where it is needed most.

It sounds desperate, and it is. But it seems to work. A trial at the Royal Marsden Hospital, in London, was stopped last year for the same reasons that the abiraterone trial was stopped: the treatment was too successful to deny it to the control group. Alpharadin is now, therefore, awaiting approval by the authorities.

The final proven approach to castration-resistant prostate cancer is

a vaccine. This is not a prevention, in the way that most vaccines are, but a treatment for existing disease.

Sipuleucel-T, as the vaccine in question is known, is made by Dendreon, an American firm. The starting point is a culture of human dendritic cells. These are part of the immune system and, if suitably treated with a substance called a fusion protein, can be used to make prostate-cancer cells vulnerable to immune attack.

Sipuleucel-T's main drawback is that each treatment has to be handcrafted to the individual receiving it, using dendritic cells from his own body. This is hugely ex-

pensive-almost $100,000 a course.

That is a sum which insurance companies and government health services might understandably be reluctant to fork out.

Cost, indeed, is a consideration for others among the new anti-prostate-cancer treatments. Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which assesses the cost-effectiveness of new medicines that might be paid for by the country's National Health Service, reckons, for example, that abiraterone is too expensive to justify the extra months of life it brings. But Herceptin, too, was subject to scrutiny about its cost at the beginning.

Now Herceptin treatment is routine, and many women's lives are the better (and longer) for it. With luck, in a few years' time, men will be able to say the same.

• Culled from The Economist

Three million in danger of kidney disease

T

HREE million people are in danger of dying from kidney disease, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, has said.

He listed uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes as factors responsible for the high prevalence of the disease.

Idris, however, said early detection will curb the progression of the disease to end-stage renal damage.

Speaking during the World Kidney Day (WKD), Idris who was represented by an Officer of Directorate of Disease Control, Dr Lateefat Adeleye, said of 90 per cent of patients waiting for a kidney only 2,500 transplants were carried out yearly.

Although kidney disease is treatable, Idris said: “3,000 people die yearly while receiving dialysis while 300 die before a transplant is carried out. The only treatment for the disease is dialysis and transplant or conservative care.”

On symptoms, he identified high

•2,000 get free kidney screening

By Wale Adepoju

blood pressure (HBP), changes in the number of times urine is passed, blood in the urine, puffiness in legs and ankles, pain in kidney area, tiredness and loss of appetite.

Others are difficulty in sleeping, headaches, lack of concentration, itching, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting and bad breath and a metallic taste in the mouth.

He said there was a state-wide free hypertension and diabetes screening for people of 18 and above to reduce the disease. “During the programme 75,645 people were screened, 14.8 and 4.2 per cent have hypertension and diabetes respectively. 42.3 per cent with moderate hypertension were referred to secondary health care facilities with their respective Local Government Areas (LGAs) while 57.7 per cent of those with hypertensive

cases were referred to primary health care centres for follow up and counselling after the initial treatment,” he added.

Consultant Nephrolologist Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr Olayinka Adekoya, said the Day was to sensitise the people and raise awareness on kidney disease. He said: “We don’ have any renal registry in Nigeria, but an estimated 20 million people are suffer-

B

ing from various kidney diseases across the country.”

Meanwhile, not less than 2,000 traders received free kidney screening at the Mushin Main Market, Lagos.

It was organised by the Renal/Dialysis Unit of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) to commemorate the WKD. According to a Senior Registrar, Nephrology Unit, LUTH, Dr Rahim Raji, the programme was aimed at bringing awareness to the grassroots as most people are careless about their health.

A clinical medical diagnostics laboratory, PathCare and Nathan Kidney Foundation also screened traders for kidney disease free, at Sura Market Complex, Lagos Island.

According to PathCare, the theme provided a chance to reflect on the success of kidney transplantation as a therapy for end-stage kidney disease.

Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), it said there were over one million new cases of end-stage kidney disease yearly.

Firm begins health, wellness programme

EVERAGE giant, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited has started this year’s wellness and healthy living campaign tagged “Ee Eva Active” with Eva Fun Walk.

According to a statement by the company, the event will attract Nigerians who are interested in exercises

The company said the walk will start at the National Stadium with warm up exercises, followed by a 10-kilometre walk from the National Stadium through Costain, Eric Moore, Bode Thomas, Adeniran Ogunsanya, Alhaji Masha Road, Western Avenue to Ojuelegba, and back to National Stadium.

It said that there will be a four city-wide walk supported by numerous community-based walks facilitated by gyms and community partners, adding that the programme’s aim will be to encourage people to stay healthy and in shape by walking, and taking the first step towards developing an active, healthy lifestyle.

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EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 19-3-12

FCMB recommends 3 for 20 bonus shares T HE board of First City Monument Bank are recommending bonus of three new issues for every 20 already held despite the loss brought about by additional allowance made for doubtful debt.

According to the full year report, the bank made a loss after tax of N9.92 billion against profit after tax of N7.93 billion posted in 2010. This represents a decline of 224.92 per cent while the gross earnings of the bank grew by 28.26 per cent to N80.4 billion against N62.69 billion posted in 2010.

Management of the bank noted that in spite of the net loss induced by write-offs and provisions, underlying operational performance was strong as evidenced by the growth indices.

“The bank’s financial health indicators are also in excellent shape as evidenced by its ratios, particularly asset quality, liquidity and capital adequacy,” the bank noted.

Management assured that all legacy loans and weaknesses associated with capital market and oil and gas transactions have been fully regularised through sales to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) or outright provisioning and write-off.

It noted that of all loans booked since January 2010, less than one per cent are classified as non-performing as out of the total N29 billion loan charge in the fourth quarter of 2011, 99 per cent predated 2010.

•NSE index returns to the 21,000 level

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

“Management expects that the first half of 2012 will see continued improvements and is likely to exceed its released forecasts. Management also expects earnings accretion in the second half of 2012, as FinBank merges with FCMB on 1 July 2012. Target earnings per share is in the region of N1.10 for 2012” FCMB stated.

Meanwhile, market continued its uptrend with the key indications appreciating further by 1.13 per cent each. Market capitalisation appreciated by N4 billion to close at N6.646 trillion followed by the AllShare-Index improvement by 23 5.96 points to close at 21,060.21 points.

According to market analyst, the figures recorded by the indicators can be attributed to the strong performances of the two highly capitalised stocks on the Exchange. These include Dangote Cement and Nigerian Breweries whose singular performance shored up equities value by 62.1 per cent.

The bullish investors’ sustained dominant role over traded volume value and deals recorded against Friday’s performance. The deals recorded on Monday went up by 40.7 per

cent followed by 50.5 per cent and 76.6 per cent by the volume and value recorded at the beginning of the week.

Besides the performances of Dangote Cement and Nigerian Breweries activities of the shares of Access Bank, FCMB, Oando, Presco, Unilever, Sterling Bank and Zenith Bank also contributed to the positive advancement of the key indicators.

Specifically, the volume of shares traded yesterday dropped by almost half or 49.79 per cent of the figures recorded last Friday. The week ended with a total volume of 414.05 million shares.

Dangote Cement topped the gainers’ list with a gain of N3.17 to close at N114.50. Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain of N3 to close at N98 per share.

Flour Mills of Nigeria gained N1.51 to close at N58. UAC of Nigeria rallied N1.45 to close at N30.45. NCR Nigeria gathered 59 kobo to close at N12.42.

Unilever Nigeria rose by 51 kobo to close at N29.56. Presco added 44 kobo to close at N9.35 while Cadbury Nigeria chalked up 25 kobo to close at N10.85 per share.

On the downside, Guinness Nigeria led the slackers with a loss of N5.94 to close at N233.06.

MRS Oil and Gas followed with a loss of N2.06 to close at N39.17.

International Breweries dropped by 28 kobo to N5.72. Union Bank of Nigeria slipped by 22 kobo to close at N4.26. Portland Paints and Products lost 20 kobo to close at N3.98 while Tripple Gee and Company dropped by 14 kobo to N2.80 per share.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 19-3-12

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THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

MONEY LINK

CBN may shut 47 finance firms • 59 pass stress test

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday gave a 30day notice to 47 closed or inactive finance companies to submit evidence of their existence and/or operations, or lose their operating licences.

The banking watchdog said that the affected finance companies had closed shop, ceased to operate, or abandoned finance company business.

They include Asset Management Group, Cal Finance Investment Limited, Capri Martins Finance Limited, Corporate Finance Group Limited , Equator Capital Assets Management Limited, Eston Funds

Stories by Collins Nweze

Limited , First Bond Finance Limited, First Spring Finance And Investment Limited , Grand Bond Finance & Securities Limited, Intel Trust Limited, Leo Investment Limited among others.

The order came after the regulator carried out routine examination on the 106 finance companies under its supervisory purview, with 55 found to be actively engaged in the finance company business and four others undergoing

vestment Limited, Light House Investments Limited, Opticom Leasing Company Limited, Pilot Finance Limited among others.

The finance houses undergoing restructuring include Boulevard Finance Limited, Regency Financings Limited, Resolution Finance Limited and Supra Finance Limited.

The CBN in statement said only the 59 finance companies with CBN licenses are the institutions currently approved to carry on finance company business in the country.

Members of the public are therefore, advised to transact business only with these 59 companies as anyone who transacts finance com-

restructuring.

The finance companies found to be active include Alex Finance & Trust Nigeria Limited, Aquila Leasing Limited, C & I Leasing Plc , Citicorp Financial Services Limited , Co-link Investment Management Company Limited , Crownrise Finance & Investments Plc, Dominium Finance Limited, Dynamic Finance Limited, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Grand Treasurers Limited and Integrated Trust& Investment Limited. Others are Kc Finance & In-

Enterprise Bank provides seamless education portal

Goldman Sachs Chairman, Richardson, others for Lagos summit base of the telecoms companies OLDMAN Sachs Chair-

G

man/Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein and Bill Richardson – a respected American politician, who served as the 30th Governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011, are some of the eminent speakers expected at the 6th Lagos State Economic Summit.

Tagged Ehingbeti 2012, the summit, which kicks off from April 2325, will focus on power, agriculture and agro allied industries, transportation and housing/urban renewal.

Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Ben Akabueze, who is also the chair of the summit, said although the Nigerian constitution does not categorise the state as the nation’s economic capital but the reality on ground has conferred the status on the state.

He said that the Lagos state government is determined to work with the private sector to fully

maximise the economic potential of the state.

The summit according to the commissioner, is designed to identify the path that will galvanise Nigeria to join the league of the leading emerging economies.

With the title, ‘From BRICs to BRINCS: Lagos Holds the Key’, Akabueze said the summit is meant to prepare Lagos State for its preeminent role in the quest of Nigeria to join BRIC. BRIC is a grouping acronym that refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development.

Justifying why Lagos holds the key to achieving this tall order, he noted that the state consumes 45 per cent of the total petroleum products in the country, has 40 per cent of bank branches and has over 40 per cent of the total subscribers’

operating in Nigeria.

Besides, he noted that Lagos has the two major ports that account for over 80 per cent of the total freights recorded in the country, 80 per cent of international air travels (arrivals and departures) as well as 50 per cent of domestic flights.

He said the state government is determined to make the summit a worthwhile event with active collaboration of members of the private sector.

Noting that the summit is not just another talk show, Akabueze said the confab is geared towards giving an account of what it has done with previous resolutions and recommendations. “In the previous summits, 119 recommendations and resolutions were made and over 100 have been implemented.

Those that are yet to be implemented are those that require action by the Federal Government,” he explained.

S

TUDENTS seeking admission into tertiary institutions in the country have been experiencing easier application processing, courtesy of Enterprise Bank Limited (EBL), which has strengthened its dedicated online admission application portal.

A statement from the bank said some of these institutions has enjoyed the bank’s seamless application process that is convenient for candidates. The beneficiaries include the Maritime Academy, Oron, Akwa Ibom State, the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo State and the College of Health Technology, Ijero Ekiti in Ekiti State as well as The School of Nursing, Ido Ekiti, whose admission is presently running.

It explained that prospective candidates seeking admission into the tertiary institutions simply walk into any branch of the bank or

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

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

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 28-04-2011 “ 14-04-2011

UACN NCR PRESCO AIRSERVICE PAINTCOM CONTINSURE LIVESTOCK DANGFLOUR TRANSCORP FIDSON

Current Before

O/PRICE

C/PRICE

CHANGE

29.00 11.83 8.91 1.77 0.69 0.92 0.96 4.90 0.53 0.82

30.45 12.42 9.35 1.85 0.72 0.96 1.00 5.10 0.55 0.85

1.45 0.59 0.44 0.08 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.20 0.02 0.03

CHEVRON UBN PORTPAINT TRIPPLEG ADSWITCH INTBREW NEIMETH DNMEYER IPWA PRESTIGE

O/PRICE

41.23 4.48 4.18 2.94 1.71 6.00 0.86 0.89 0.91 0.67

C/PRICE

39.17 4.26 3.98 2.80 1.63 5.72 0.82 0.85 0.87 0.65

150m

150m

150m

155.8

29-2-12

138m 113m

138m 113m

155.8 155.7

27-2-12 22-2-12

147.6000

149.7100

150.7100

-2.11

NGN GBP

239.4810

244.0123

245.6422

-2.57

NGN EUR

212.4997

207.9023

209.2910

-1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

(S/N) Bureau de Change 152.0000

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

NSE CAP Index

27-10-11 N6.5236tr 20,607.37

28-10-11 N6.617tr 20,903.16

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N)

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

153.0000

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%

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 1,177.37 99.76 0.76 1.04 0.88 1,666.70 8.24 1.39 1.87 7,137.57 193.00 1.67

9.08 1.00 1,160.06 99.49 0.73 1.04 0.87 1,663.73 7.84 1.33 1.80 6,953.84 191.08 1.62

ARM AGGRESSIVE KAKAWA GUARANTEED STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND THE LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL BGL SAPPHIRE FUND BGL NUBIAN FUND NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY THE DISCOVERY FUND FIDELITY NIGFUND • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED • STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE

CHANGE

2.06 0.22 0.20 0.14 0.08 0.28 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.02

Date

138m 113m

LOSERS AS AT 19-3-12 SYMBOL

Rate (N)

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD

Parallel Market SYMBOL

Exchange

Sold ($)

CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Year Start Offer

(S/N)

GAINERS AS AT 19-3-12

Amount

EXHANGE RATE 6-03-12 Currency

INTERBANK RATES

Amount

Offered ($) Demanded ($)

MANAGED FUNDS

OBB Rate Call Rate

branches of other commercial banks in the country to vend Personal Identification Numbers (PINs), which then enable them follow the process of application on the relevant portal.

Once the PIN is procured from the bank by the intending student, it becomes a very simple task of logging into the portal with the specified username as well as password and then following the easy process flow as prompted by the system.

“It is a very simple system as long as the applicant follows the process correctly. But it must be stated also that intending visitors to the portal ensure that they correctly type in their username and password as given to them by bank. This is because if the information is incorrectly imputed, the portal will dictate it and immediately log-off such attempt after three trials,” the bank said.

DATA BANK

Tenor

NIDF NESF

pany business with any company other than the under-listed, does so at his/her own risk.

The CBN had last year, said it will commence comprehensive reforms of the Finance Houses subsector this year. The regulator said the sector, still wallowing in neglect and lacking clearly defined operational structure, has been relegated to the background in recent years.

CBN Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu said the apex bank now wants to see Finance Houses that are strong, efficient and able to perform their constitutional roles in the economy. Achieving this requires comprehensive reforms of the subsector that would enable it carve a niche for itself in the financial services sector.

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

Rate (Previous) 4 Mar, 2012 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

• AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

Rate (Currency) 6, Mar, 2012 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK Previous

Current

04 July, 2011

07, Aug, 2011

Bank

8.5000

8.5000

P/Court

8.0833

8.0833

Movement

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

57

NEWS Kwankwaso gives N50,000 each to 200 jobless youths

‘Hajj officers defrauded pilgrims in Niger’ N

IGER State Amirul Hajj, Justice Jibrin Ndajiwo, has called for the prosecution of some Area Pilgrims Officers (APOs) who allegedly duped pilgrims by collecting fares and failing to ensure that they performed the last hajj.

Ndajiwo said this yesterday while submitting the report of the 2011 Hajj to Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu.

The Amirul Hajj, who is also the chief judge, told the governor that the APOs collected money illegally from

From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

the prospective pilgrims and carried out other illegal activities during the preparation and hajj.

Ndajiwo, who did not name the officers or their local governments, urged the government to prosecute them to deter others.

He said he received about seven petitions against a tour agent, who also alleg-

edly defrauded pilgrims, adding that the tour agent should be sanctioned and made to refund the money illegally collected.

The chief judge said three pilgrims from the state died.

Ndajiwo said because of the pregnancy test carried out on intending women pilgrims before their departure, the state did not flout the laws of the Saudi Arabian government.

K

•Aliyu

Governor Aliyu promised to punish erring Area Pilgrims Officers.

Fake Corps members arrested in Bauchi

T

HE police in Bauchi State have arrested three persons who allegedly introduced themselves as National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and exstudents of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.

The command’s spokes-

From Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi

man, Hassan Mohammed Auyo, said in a statement that “the three men have formed a syndicate.”

He gave their names as Abdulrasheed Abdulkadir, Ibuwo Kazeem and Isma’ila Aliyu.

Auyo said: “The three

men went to the NYSC camp and presented themselves as Youth Corps members and alumni of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.

“But they were not lucky as police detectives, acting on a tip-off, trailed and arrested them.

“When they were

searched, NYSC trousers, a jacket, a pair of white socks, a cap and some documents believed to have been forged were recovered from them.

“Also recovered were a blue Volkswagen car, a Panasonic laptop, a photo camera, one memory card and a card reader.”

ANO State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso yesterday presented N50,000 cheques to each of 200 unemployed health and sanitation graduates to empower them to be self-employed.

Presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries at the School of Hygiene, Kwankwaso’s Special Adviser on Sanitation and Immunisation, Shehu Aliyu Yammedi, said 2,400 unemployed health graduates are to benefit from the Lafiya Jari Scheme before the end of the year.

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

Yammedi, who is also the coordinator of the scheme, said the beneficiaries embarked on a three-week intensive training and re-orientation organised by the Kano Institute of Entrepreneurship Studies.

He said the scheme was reintroduced by the Kwankwaso administration to improve supply of quality drugs in the state and tackle unemployment among youths.

Why I refused to probe Shekarau,

by Kwankwaso ANO State Governor

K

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has given reasons why he refused to probe former Governor Ibrahim Shekarau over alleged looting of public funds.

Kwankwaso, who spoke to The Nation, said delving into that would distract his government.

“I don’t think I want to go after him by investigating his administration. I consider such move as unnecessary. I believe what anyone sows is what he reaps. I ignored probe so that we can progress.”

Kwankwaso recalled how Shekarau set up committees to investigate his government

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

when he assumed office in 2003.

“At the end of the day, they came up with a commission of inquiry that produced a fraudulent White Paper with the aim of tarnishing my image.”

He said the commission of inquiry, which indicted him, was a mere political weapon put together to stop him from contesting the governorship election in 2007, adding that another attempt was made in 2011, “but it did not work because God had already destined that I would be a governor.”

Minister condemns torching of Benue PDP chair’s home

T

HE Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has condemned the torching of the Otukpo family home of the Benue State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Emmanuel Agbo, by yet-tobe-identified persons.

The family house was gutted by fire early hours of Sunday.

Moro, who expressed shock over the incident, said the destruction of people’s homes is not in the character of the people of Benue South Senatorial District.

“This is strange. People of

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

goodwill in Benue State and Nigeria in general must condemn the incident,” he added.

The minister, according to a statement issued yesterday by his Special Assistant Liaison, Sunday Orinya, described the act as an irritant, saying it should be condemned by everybody.

He called on the police, State Security Service (SSS) and other security agencies to launch a thorough investigation to ensure that those behind the incident are punished.

Almajiri schools: Wike directs UBEC to release funds to Niger contractors

M

INISTER of State for Education Ezenwo Nyesom Wike has directed the management of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to release funds to the contractors handling Almajiri schools in Niger State.

He spoke at Paggo, Niger State, while inspecting schools.

The minister decried the slow pace of work, saying it would be difficult to meet up with the June handover date of the first set of almajiri

schools.

He hailed the contractors for starting the job without receiving mobilisation fees.

“I have directed the management of UBEC to release funds to the contractors for speedy execution of the job.

“The delay was caused by the late release of land. It was handed over in February. We shall work towards the June date.”

Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu praised the Federal Government for funding basic education for almajiris.

Govt urged to care for old people

A

NON-governmental organisation (NGO), Old Peoples Welfare Foundation (OPWEF), has urged the government to care for old people.

The President/Founder of the NGO, Mrs. Felicia Aderemi Ilaka, told reporters in Lagos yesterday that old people are suffering because of the prevailing economic situation.

She said: “I established the foundation to assist old people. Some of them are pensioners and they are not paid

regularly, while the majority of them are not receiving pensions. We all know that young people today are struggling to survive. Therefore, they find it difficult to cater for their parents.

“This is why it is necessary for the government to give old people monthly allowance. They should also be given free food.”

Mrs. Ilaka said the foundation, which was established two years ago, would be launched on Saturday in Lagos.

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NEWS

Two parallel excos emerge in Ondo PDP

A

FACTION of the Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Prof. Olu Agbi,yesterday said the party has formed parallel executives.

It dissociated itself from the congress held in the state on Saturday where Ebenezer Alabi emerged as the new chairman.

Agbi, who was Nigeria’s Ambassador to Greece and Austrialia, said in Akure

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

that the interim executive shunned the order of an Akure High Court, it stopped them from holding the exercise.

According to him, the position of the leadership of the party in the first instance was that no member of the interim committee should contest This, he said, would be morally wrong of them to midwife an arrangement

that would return them to office.

The party at its congress had elected Mr. Ebenezer Alabi as Chairman; Fatai Adams as Deputy Chairman; Chief Olufemi Omosanya as Vice-Chairman (North Senatorial District) and Apostle Akinbuwa Olorunwa as Vice-Chairman (South Senatorial District).

Others were Mr. Charles Adeduro as Vice-Chairman (Central Senatorial District);

Chief Ibine Oyedele as Secretary, Mr Wale Ozogoro as Publicity Secretary; Mr Adeniyi Z A as Treasurer and Mr. Afolabi Akinbowale as Organising Secretary, among others.

Agbi, however, said the Interim chairman, Alabi, who emerged as the new chairman was actually advised to resign if he was interested in contesting and agreed until he changed his mind at the last minute.

Omisore is no Omoluabi, says Osun ACN T HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Osun State has described as “mischievous” the description of Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s achievements by Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as “mere propaganda”.

The party was reacting to a statement credited to Omisore in the Sunday Tribune of March 18 that he had not seen anything on ground except propaganda.

In a statement, ACN Publicity Director Kunle Oyatomi, said: “It is very unfortunate that a politician of his standing, who should know better, has decided to play politics with facts.

“For Omisore to say that the OYES initiative of the Aregbesola administration is similar to what ousted Governor Olgunsoye Oyinlola did in 2003 is untrue.

“That nobody took notice

T

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

of what Oyinlola did proves the insignificance of his action (if it happened at all), compared to what Aregbesola did within his first 100 days in office, which attracted the World Bank’s attention and is being replicated across the country.

“The fact that the PDP in Osun still does not appreciate Aregbesola’s work is a mark of political immaturity and its leadership’s inability to be objective about events occurring in the state.

“The truth is that the ACNled government is transforming PDP’s failure in over seven years into a grand success within 15 months, which institutions like the World Bank can see, but PDP leaders still cannot

see.

“Also, for Omisore to have said in the interview that everybody in Yorubaland is Afenifere and that the quality of Omoluabi is not exclusive to ACN raises many questions. And that again is false.

“Afenifere is not a cultural organisation in Yorubaland, it is a political ideology created by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

“The political parties in our history which represent that ideology are the Action Group (AG), Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Congress (AC) and now ACN. These are the only group of politicians who can really call themselves Afenifere in Yorubaland.

They are the disciples of Awo. “Today, Omisore is no longer a disciple of Awo. He

•Aregbesola

is a PDP stalwart and a PDP member can never be Afenifere, certainly not after the destruction that party has systematically done to everything Awolowo did in the West “On the question of who is Omoluabi, Omisore again missed the point completely.

Any PDP member associated with the destruction witnessed in the last 12 years in Yorubaland is an enemy of the race. “ If you are not politically Afenifere, how can you be politically Omoluabi?”

Ekiti PDP congress: Olubolade’s, Fayose’s men HE three-day congress gal Adviser, Mr Kola of Ekiti State Peoples sweep all seats Adefemi; and Youth Leader, Democratic Party

(PDP) ended yesterday with candidates sponsored by the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade (rtd) and former Governor Ayo Fayose sweeping all elective posts.

The exercise ended the almost four-year reign of Chief Bola Olu-Ojo, who became chairman in 2008.

PUBLIC NOTICE ADVERTISEMENT I, MR MICHAEL INYANG of privatisation of Nigeria Coal Corporation for Principal Partner Advertise for certified true copies of All properties of coal corporation Registered in the Lands Registry Enugu.

PUBLIC NOTICE ADIDO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adido Omobola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Otubogun Omobola. All former documents remain valid. General public should take note.

MICAH

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Uloma Micah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Uloma Uzuegbu. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public should take note.

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado-Ekiti

The election, which held at the Petim Estate, White House on Ado-Iworoko road, Ado Ekiti, started on Saturday and ended in the early hours of yesterday.

The speculated alliance between Olubolade and Segun Oni failed at the last-minute and Fayose’s men coasted to victory.

Winner of the chairmanship slot, Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe, who belongs in Fayose camp, polled 318 votes to defeat Akin Omole, an Oni adherent, who polled 310 votes.

Mr Taye Olatunji.

The Chairman, Transition, Reconciliation and Congress Committee (TRCC), Mr Babatunde Odusina, conducting the swearing-in ceremony and administering the oath of office on the new Chairman at the party secretariat, Ajilosun in the capital, urged the incoming Executive to make unity of members a priority.

Olubolade noted that the outcome of the congress had overturned earlier presumption that the PDP could not achieve internal democracy, assuring members that democracy shall remain the credo of the party.

Osun ACN lashes out at Abuja lawyer

T

HROUGH its Osun State chapter, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday accused an Abuja lawyer, Mr Kayode Ajulo of being used by enemies of the state government.

The party alleged that the lawyer has been making un-

PUBLIC NOTICE I, formerly Known as Shittu Opeyemi Bukola, now wish to be Known as Ige Opeyemi Bukola. The Nigerian Immigration Service, The Institute of Mass Communication and Information Management, and the general public should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE I formerly known and addressed as Miss. Okpara Ijeoma Anne now which to be known and adressed as Mrs. Uzoekwe Ijeoma Anne. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

Other candidates included Femi Bamisile, former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, who emerged Deputy Chairman; Dr Tope Aluko (Secretary); Mr Tunde Adetifa (Vice Chairman, North);Mr Femi Ogunleye (Vice Chairman, Central); and Mr Gani Bankole (Vice Chairman, South).

Others are: Treasurer, Mr Adeolu Aluko; Organising Secretary, Lateef Agbaje; Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kolawole Oluwawole; Woman Leader, Mrs Busola Oyebode; Financial Secretary, Mr Akutupu Afolayan; Auditor, Olatunji Olanrewaju; Le-

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss. Okpara Ijeoma Anne now which to be known and adressed as Mrs. Uzoekwe Ijeoma Anne.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

substantiated allegation against Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

A statement by ACN’s spokesman Kunle Oyatomi said: “Our attention has been drawn to the recent theatrics of some psychopath through their hireling, one Kayode Ajulo, making baseless allegations against the person of the symbol of our party in the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

“Ajulo had claimed in a widely published petition he sent to the personal physician of Governor Aregbesola, requesting for the medical reports of the governor from Nov. 27th 2010 till date, hiding under the provision of Section 2 of Freedom of Information Act 2011.

“False allegations had

been in the public domain before now about Ogbeni Aregbesola’s health, but Kayode Ajulo’s puerile allegations, instigated by his paymasters went beyond the boundary of sanity.

“We openly challenge him to depose to an affidavit and state his allegations if he is convinced of the purported facts stated in his letter. We assure Mr. Ajulo that upon receipt of his affidavit, we shall respond fully to his rantings otherwise he should be seen for whom he is, a hireling of some psychopath in the corridors of power.

“We further challenge Mr. Ajulo that he needs not wait for the seven days he threatened in the letter; he should immediately proceed to any court he may want to go to pursue his ridiculous claims.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

61

NEWS We’ve taken necessary steps in Koluama disaster, says Presidency

Court jails three Indians for disobeying its orders

T

HREE Indian brothers, who are owners and managers of a plastic wares manufacturing factory in Lagos - Sacvin Nigeria Limited- were yesterday jailed for contempt by a Federal High Court in the state.

Chandru Ganglani (Managing Director), Bharat Ganglani and Trishul Ganglani (both described as directors in court documents), according to a ruling by Justice John Tsoho, are to spend one month in prison for disobeying the order of the court.

Justice Tsoho’s ruling came after arguments from lawyers representing the complainant and the contemnors on whether or not the Indians should be committed to prison or not.

The complainant, Vik Industries Limited had sued Sacvin Nigeria Ltd on the ground that the defendants allegedly engaged in the manufacturing and sale of plastic products similar to its own.

It claimed to have been the sole authorised manufacturer in Nigeria of plastic products produced in the design of VIK Singera Basin Mould, VIK road,

By Eric Ikhilae

Neck Mould and VIK Mug Mould.

The plaintiff said it discovered in June 2009 that Sacvin Nigeria was allegedly selling in Nigeria plastic products with the design of Sacvin, though not its own but closely resembling and identical in design to its products.

It claimed to have been experiencing difficulties in sales as a result of the defendants’ company’s infringement, and was incurring financial loss on daily basis.

The court, on July 9, 2009 granted an interim order restraining Sacvin Nigeria from further engaging in the trade or business of manufacturing and selling or distributing the plastic products and surrender them to the court pending the determination of the substantive suit.

The defendants ignored the said orders and went ahead with its business, a development that informed the contempt proceedings.

Vik Industries’ lawyer, Chukwudi Enebeli told the

court while arguing his application yesterday that the defendants disobeyed the July 2009 orders with impunity and engaged in manufacturing, importing, supplying, selling and distributing the plastic products.

Enebeli consequently urged the court to commit the defendant company’s directors, who •The Ganglanis ...yesterday were in court, to prison for disobeying the order of the ed that the directors are the dicourt. He said if they were not recting minds of the company. penalized, they will persist in Justice Tsoho upheld Enebedisobeying the order of the li’s argument and held that the court. directors, being the directing Defence lawyer, Dan Olowminds of a company, are liable ojaiye, who did not file any for any act committed by the counter motion to the concompany. tempt proceedings, argued The judge rejected the dethat the directors cited for confence lawyer’s suggestion that tempt were not personally his client be given an option of served with the court’s orders. fine on the ground that it will He claimed that the said make a mockery of the judicial contempt was carried out by system and consequently senthe company and not the ditenced the three directors to a rectors, an argument Enebeli month imprisonment countered, insisting that it was Hearing in the substitutive the court’s directive that the case has been adjourned to orderwas to paste it at the April 20. premises of the court. He add-

Ogun, Bi-Courtney quarrel over Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project

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HE Ogun State Government and Messrs BiCourtney Highway Services Ltd. yesterday resumed their hostilities over the redevelopment of the 120kilometre Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Bi-Courtney, the firm franchised to fund the highway redevelopment by the Federal Government under the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) arrangement, said the police authorities have asked the state to stop interfering with the rehabilitation of the expressway.

But the state, through its Information and Strategy Com-

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta missioner, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu urged the company to seek legal redress if it has an axe to grind with the state.

The company was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) of claiming the police authorities had also directed an end to the alleged harassment of the company’s workers on the site.

The workers were allegedly being harassed by government agents.

A company source, who pleaded anonymity, said that

the police decision followed a petition to acting InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP) Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, by the company, asking for intervention.

The source said workers will return to the site tomorrow, although their equipment seized by the government had yet to be released.

He said that the Federal Government and the firm were determined to ensure that the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement on the road was adhered to.

Reports had said that Ogun

State Government tried to prevent the company from securing the highway’s right of way, a major step in road reconstruction or expansion.

But reacting, Olaniyonu said if the company felt it has a matter with the government, it should go to court and not resort to obtaining a none existent police report.

He said: “Can any person get police report against a state government? How are we harassing or disturbing the company? Do we have the police or the army? We don’t have the instrument of coercion.”

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HE Presidency yesterday took exception to Action Congress of Nigerian (ACN)’s criticism of Federal Government’s intervention in the plight of the victims of the gas explosion in Koluama, Bayelsa State.

In a reaction to reports of such criticism by the ACN, Presidential Spokesman, Reuben Abati claimed that the Federal Government has taken all necessary measures to ameliorate the effect of the incident on the people and their environment.

He argued against comparing the incident in the country with that of the April 2010 British Petroleum (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States.

He noted that while it took about 85 days to stop the release of crude oil in the US incident that occurred about two years ago, the affected company, British Petroleum and the U.S. government are still not done working out the details of compensation to be paid to the victims.

Abati, in a statement yesterday argued that in the case of the Koluama gas explosion, the country has already achieved a

By Eric Ikhaile

lot. “We have put out the fires, initiated the process of compensation for the victims and met their immediate needs through the provision of relief materials.

“Having visited the Koluama community in Bayelsa State in the company of Mr. President, I can confidently assert that nothing could be further from the truth than the statement by the ACN Publicity Secretary.

“The gas explosion incident at the Chevron platform in Koluama occurred at the height of the fuel subsidy crisis, but the Federal Government gave priority attention to the matter by setting the necessary machinery in motion to manage the disaster.

“The President promptly dispatched the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Maduekwe, to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment to determine its extent and what needed to be done to relieve the suffering of the community and ensure that the threat to the people’s lives and livelihood was contained.”

Supreme Court orders Yuguda to pay ex-deputy N215m

T

HE Supreme Court yesterday struck out the appeal filed by Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda and 15 others against the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Jos, which directed them to pay former deputy governor, Garba Mohammad Gadi all his entitlement.

Justice Walter Onnoghen, who presided over a five-man panel struck out the appeal upon withdrawal by Yuguda and other appellants.

A five-man panel of the Appeal Court, led by Justice Bayang Akaahs had on November 25, last year affirmed the judgment of a Federal High Court, Bauchi, which or-

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

dered the state government to pay Gadi’s entitlement.

Akaahs ordered that the total sum which was calculated at N215 million be paid to the court within 30 days from the day judgement was held.

“Deputy Chief Registrar is required to open an interest yielding account with the Main Branch of First Bank of Nigeria Plc Jos to await outcome of the appeal”.

Justice Haruna Tsammani of the Bauchi Federal High Court had on June 25, 2010 ordered the reinstatement of Gadi, who the court held was removed unconstitutionally.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

NEWS

FOREIGN

From Berlin to Brussels: Will Europe underdevelop Africa again?

Continued from page 5

Agriculture is the sector where Africa has comparative advantage and with the right policies and incentives, can feed Europe cheaply. A regime that keeps the status quo of harmful agricultural subsidy and the pittance of misguided and largely consumptionoriented aid, and hopes to ‘develop’ Africa is, to put it mildly, suspect. The EU refuses to put the reduction or elimination of their agricultural subsidy on the EPA agenda. A clear signal from the EU here is that whenever its own interests are affected it is unwilling to make any concession. To make EPA a development agenda, agriculture must take centre stage.

But humanity has experience in delivering aid that works. We can replicate it for an effective and truly development-oriented EPA. The most effective aid in human history was the US aid to Europe after the Second World War— the Marshall Plan to rebuild the European infrastructure. The US felt a sense of obligation (given the historical ties with Europe) to provide a ‘big push’ to lift Europe up after devastation by the war. We are not sure if EU feels the same sense of obligation to Africa (given the history we all know too well). But just imagine for a second that EU feels a need to support Africa through a Marshall Plan kind of aid.

Imagine that the EU were to stop its subsidy to agriculture and divert just three years’ subsidy fund to create African Fund for Transformation— call it the ‘Brussels Plan for Africa’— and this will come to about $225billion. Alternatively, instead of stopping the subsidy abruptly, EU could go for a phased process, diverting just 50% of the subsidy fund into the Africa Fund over the first six years before finally phasing the subsidy out.

If this Fund (akin to a sovereign wealth fund) is invested and the annual income proceeds invested (estimated at about $20 billion per annum

in perpetuity), you could over time build highways and train networks linking all of Africa, and increasing the irrigation of its arable agricultural land from the current less than 5% to more than 50%. Let EU bring its own contractors—since it cares much about procurement, but let’s get this done.

That way Africa can feed itself, Europe, and the world cheaply; lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, and you can create an environment for a truly ‘virtuous circle’ of growth and transformation. With a truly integrated African market, a new dynamism for quantum leap will have been created, and no one will be surprised that the combined African economy might become the next China or India.

This is when the kind of FDI inflows romanticised about in EPA documents can be expected to kick-in.

The point of the foregoing is that an alternative future between Africa and Europe is possible. Pervasive leadership failures have been at the heart of African underdevelopment in the last 50 years. Finally, there seem to be some flickers of light, and Africa is gradually pulling itself up by its own bootstraps. Africa has never had it better than in the last one decade, and compared to the lost decades it has begun to at least crawl. If EU cannot assist Africa to walk and run, the least it should do is not to hinder the nascent progress. Aggregate African economy is less than 2% of global GDP, and thus as a small open economy, it needs to integrate within and without: Africa needs the global market. But lessons of the last two decades have reconfirmed that there are right and wrong ways to integrate into the global market, especially for poor and fragile economies. While the world is yet to invent anything better than a market economy, it is also true that extreme market fundamentalism—that denies the existence of market failures and missing institutions—has

brought more ruin than remedy. A more balanced approach has been the winning strategy for all countries that have developed in the last century.

But EPA, as currently designed, is a poison chalice. Fragmenting Africa and ramming through deadly trade arrangements in a manner that undermines internal African integration, ties the hands of policymakers and circumscribes the policy space, and literally enslaves the African economy may be smart for Europe in the short-run but not wise in the long term.

If EPA is meant to develop Africa, it needs to be owned by Africans. Currently, even in countries that have ‘signed’ or ‘initialled’ the document, there is little or no public discussion by the private sector, parliaments, and civil societies. We hope if EPAs are to be domesticated, it will not be the kind of charade of ‘rent a crowd’ consultations that were designed to rubber stamp the poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs). We now know better and must therefore do better.

Africa and Europe need a “Development Summit”: we need to talk to each other frankly and directly. If the issue is ‘development’ of Africa, there are certainly superior alternative proposals for a more beneficial relationship between Europe and Africa.

The African Union, various sub-regional groupings, and even the ACP ministers of trade have canvassed alternatives to EPA. History should not repeat itself. In the mid 1980s, Africa came up with the Africa’s Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programme (AAF-SAP). All African governments endorsed it; the United Nations General Assembly endorsed it, but the conventional SAPs were rammed through by the donor agencies which had the power of the purse.

It took almost two decades of destruction for most development partners to admit that ‘mistakes were made’ and that ‘no one had all the answers’,

and before major elements of AAFSAP became part of the Washington orthodoxy. This kind of costly experiment must be avoided. It is the lives of hundreds of millions of Africans that are at stake again. It is time to sit down and talk. Other partners, such as China, India, and the US can join the Summit. So far, the EPA process and outcomes have more of the characteristics of a second scramble for Africa (that is, a second Berlin conference) than a development (Brussels’) initiative. That may not be what many stakeholders thought it was, but de facto, that is what is being delivered. We believe there is sufficient goodwill and technical capacity on both sides to craft a new rather than a raw deal. We believe also that many scholars, statesmen and women, civil society organizations etc may certainly not be fully aware of what is going on. Frankly, I do not believe that the UK, France, and the Nordic countries in particular, can, with all the recent talks about a new century for Africa, be part of this contraption.

Those who care must rise to the occasion NOW, and not wait for years and then write post-mortem analyses of doom and gloom. Some 30 years ago, I read a depressing book by Walter Rodney entitled: “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”. At the turn of the 21st century, we must sing a new song. With sufficient will on both sides, I pray that my grandchildren will in the next few decades read a response to Rodney in a book to be entitled “How Europe developed Africa”.

• Soludo, a Professor of Economics, was Chief Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He is currently on the Board of the South Centre, Geneva; Chairman of Board of the African Institute for Applied Economics; and a Member of the Chief Economist’s Advisory Council, World Bank.

Six convicted of plot to unseat Mugabe

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ZIMBABWE court convicted a group of six activists yesterday of plotting to unseat President Robert Mugabe’s government using public protests similar to ones that pushed out long-standing autocratic rulers in North Africa last year.

The group, led by Munyaradzi Gwisai, a former opposition lawmaker in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party, was arrested in February last year after police raided a meeting they were conducting.

They were charged with attempting to incite public violence to overthrow Mugabe, who has ruled the southern African state since its independence from Britain in 1980.

Fierce fighting erupts in Syria

A

FIREFIGHT has erupted in Damascus, in one of the fiercest clashes in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule began.

Witnesses say machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades were heard from the heavily guarded district of al-Mezze, which hosts several security buildings.

Syrian TV said three "terrorists" and a security force member had been killed.

The United Nations estimates more than 8,000 people have died in the year-long uprising.

Meanwhile, a team of experts sent by special United Nations and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has now arrived in Syria to discuss ceasefire and monitoring plans, AFP news agency reports.

And in Moscow, the head of the Red Cross said that Russia had reacted "positively" to his call for a daily two-hour cessation of hostilities in Syria.

THE NATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012

63

www.thenationonlineng.net

TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

TOMORROW IN THE NATION

VOL. 7

NO.2,070

‘Faced with this massive loss of limbs, it is urgent that governments set up a multidisciplinary Mobility Support Strategy, involving universities, polytechnics, engineers, medical specialists, physiotherapists and social workers before we are all left immobile’ TONY MARINHO

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

S

INCE last August when Kwara Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed made the sensational disclosure that crude oil had been discovered in Aran-Orin, in the Irepodun Local Government Area, my life has not been the same. Having been sidelined from potentially rewarding economic activity all these years more by circumstance than choice, I resolved that I was going in this time for a piece of the action.

The circumstances could not be more propitious. My wife, a princess on both her father’s side and her mother’s, comes from Edidi, scarcely 30 miles from Aran-Orin, and can claim a greater stake in the fortunes of that part of the Igbomina country than the average indigene. A metamorphic analysis of the area showed that her family house could be sitting atop a gusher.

So, for a start, I took steps to change my legal residence in Nigeria to Edidi. That way, nobody could dismiss me as a “stranger” with an eye on the main chance.

Then, based on expert advice, I found a reputable oil prospector in Texas with whom I entered into a partnership that should, all things being equal, redound hugely to the benefit of all parties. With a solid business plan in place, we then applied for an oil prospecting lease.

There was nothing capricious in these proceedings. The oil was so abundant that it had cascaded from its underground reservoir and flooded farmlands. Crackerjack geologists from the Kwara civil service had confirmed that the oil find was for real, and had given its quality the highest rating in the business. Independent oil companies had also authenticated it.

The authorities in Kwara were already calculating how much the oil would contribute to the state’s measly internally generated revenue, and how it would transform whatever section of its economy the Shonga Farms had not already transformed.

Seven months later, nothing has been heard again about the oil find. It is all so discombobulating, Where is the oil, Governor?

If the stuff doesn’t materialise soon, I will instruct my attorneys to demand compensation, plus aggravated damages, for the expenses I incurred as detailed above and for the emotional distress I have suffered in the process.

The only consolation here is that I am not alone in my discombobulation. An enterprising young man I know is just as discombobulated, but on account of a burning culinary issue that lies at the heart of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformative Agenda.

It all began with Vice President Namadi Sambo on national television handing out to members of the Executive Council of the Federation pieces of a loaf said to have been baked from locally-produced cassava.

OLATUNJI DARE

AT HOME ABROAD olatunji.dare@thenationonlineng.net

Where are they now?

‘What happened to the cassava bread, Dr Jonathan? Why should it remain an exclusive Presidential delicacy rather than a dividend of democracy from which all Nigerians should profit as a matter of right?’

•Ahmed

If the stuff could induce such finger-licking and lips-smacking rapture among those parading the most cultivated palates in the nation, consider the response it is sure to draw from the mass of the people, especially when it costs far less than bread baked from wheat flour.

When Dr Jonathan declared weeks later that he would eat no other kind of bread except that made from cassava flour until the end of his tenure, regular or elongated, that was it.

Even without a formal proclamation making cassava bread the official breakfast item at the Presidential Villa and the official snack of the Council of Ministers, the young man ploughed all his savings into buying a cassava farm that would ensure a continuous supply of the raw material for the new wonder loaf.

That was the least he could do, the young man said, to advance Dr Jonathan’s Transformative Agenda.

Since then, nothing has been heard or said from on high about cassava bread.

What happened to the cassava bread, Dr Jonathan? Why should it remain an exclusive Presidential delicacy rather than a dividend of democracy from which all Nigerians should profit as a matter of right?

RIPPLES

HARDBALL

•For comments, send SMS to 08057634061

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Pension fraud as Nigeria’s new puzzle

GROUP BERATES LADOJA’S UNSTABLE POLITICAL ACTIVISM-News

IVEN the scale of the crisis and confusion surrounding the federal and police pension schemes, it should surprise no one that the schemes have been wrapped in indecipherable riddles to the point of becoming a nightmare for the government and pensioners. The scheme has been reformed for the private sector, but not many people are comfortable with anything that has to do with pension administration.

They wait with bated breath for the other shoe to drop. The National Assembly probes into pension administration, and the mindboggling revelation of the magnitude of fraud that has surrounded the scheme, have combined to make Nigerians deeply cynical about both the competence of government to run anything and its ballyhooed effort to fight corruption.

The scale of fraud in the federal pension scheme, stories of the many psychopaths who stole billions they do not have the management ability or the mental capacity to utilise in their lifetimes, and the truly bizarre and unadulterated larcenous glee with

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What else do you expect from a BREAD and BUTTER politician?

I humbly recommend that the issue be referred to the Culinary Subcommittee of the Special Committee on Foods in the Presidential Commission on the Fine-tuning and Implementation of the Transformative Agenda for a speedy resolution.

Does anyone remember David Edevbie?

We know where James Ibori and his wife and the woman everyone calls “his mistress” are, even the shyster who did the enabling paperwork. But one person whose name was frequently mentioned but was never indicted in the Ibori saga has not been seen anywhere lately.

Where is David Edevbie ?

The last time we heard of or from him, he had just returned from the Saudi hospital where former President Umaru Yar’Adua was holed up, reportedly fast recuperating from the condition that finally claimed his life.

Edevbie had journeyed there in his capacity as Yar’Adua’s principal private secretary, armed with a copy of the 1999 Appropriations approved by the National Assembly for his stricken boss to sign into law.

It was already an open secret then that Yar’Adua had already lost all cognition, but Edevbie returned with the document duly “signed,” thus enabling the organs of gov-

ernment to continue their accustomed gorging.

Edevbie had been “seconded” to Aso Rock

by Ibori, whom he had served meritoriously as finance commissioner. I will not be surprised if his remit was to monitor closely everything going on in the Villa, especially the President’s correspondence, and report anything that might be of interest, however tangentially, to the prisoner formerly known as the Odidigborigbo of Africa.

The British judge who described Ibori as “a thief in Government House” was at once wrong and unkind. Ibori is not your run-ofthe-mill thief. There is method to his larceny.

Money was something, to be sure, but money alone did not guarantee power or safety or influence. It had to be deployed in tandem with strategic information.

They don’t frame corporate operations any better than that in Graduate Business School.

Apropos of the Ibori saga, it is also necessary to ask: Where are those he suborned in and outside the news media to demonise Nuhu Ribadu, whom he saw as the last person standing between him and his getting away with his loot?

Where is Ibori’s one-time senior aide, the encyclopaedic Professor GG Darah, who stood resolutely by his man and vouched unequivocally for his innocence?Where is the soft-spoken-Tony Eluemunor, alumnus of the Nieman Program at Harvard and media aide to Ibori, who continued to defend Ibori’s integrity when practically everyone else was assailing it?

It should be said in their favour that they were never found wanting in the department of loyalty, unlike those who did Ibori’s bidding when the going was good but abandoned him to his fate when the law caught up with him.

Where are the police authorities who conspired to dispatch Ribadu to Kuru, claiming that it was for his career advancement, only to reduce him in rank on his completing the course and punitively deploy him to Ibori’s backyard, literally: where are they, and the media commentators who cheered them on enthusiastically?

Those who, in the name of fair play and due process, made a big issue of Ribadu’s accelerated promotion: why are they silent now when nearly a dozen senior police officers have been given accelerated promotion in the wake of a so-called reorganisation of the security apparatus that has failed to deter Boko Haram’s murderous visitations?

To think that the police authorities were busy pursuing Ribadu and confecting all that high-minded concern for process while officials gorged themselves on the Police Pension Fund!

which pension funds were looted and kept at the homes of corrupt serving and retired officials, are really stupendous. By now, it must occur to exasperated Nigerians that their country is in much deeper trouble than the oil cartel and fuel subsidy controversy of late last year and early this year showed.

But as privately shocked as they must be over the scale of the pension fraud, even they must be humbled by the unenviable impression we have managed to create of ourselves in the estimation of the rest of the world.

The National Assembly probes, and even the financial misapplication controversy that seemed to have denuded the revelatory work done by the Abdulrasheed Maina-led Pension Reform Task Team, point in one direction only: that we are either too stupid to be human or we have lost our minds. No sane people should ever organise themselves as predatorily and incompetently as we have done in running our oil industry and managing pension funds. It is recalled that our officials, both private and public, managed to run the electricity sector down

so comprehensively that even when a probe panel was set up to make sense of the horrifying scale of the thievery that undermined it, the probe panel was itself rubbished by allegations of fraud and crass opportunism.

It is hoped that as damaging as the information being unearthed on the pension fraud is, the latest of which concerns the police pension scheme, the National Assembly probes will help the country chart a clear path through the thicket. It is looking increasingly likely that the federal government may be minded to consider turning over their pension scheme into the hands of private sector pension administrators. If it does, it must look for practicable, if not infallible, ways of regulating or policing the new monolith. In any case, as government anti-graft agencies hunt down those who perversely undermined the federal pension scheme, the only option that is ruled out is to sustain the status quo or tinker with the scheme. The problem is too monumental not to require drastic and gargantuan remedy.

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