The Nation October 11, 2011

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

NAFDAC, others sacked from port

Akala, Daniel, Doma for trial today NEWS – Page 4

BUSINESS – Page 11

•NPA to enforce directive

•EFCC detains Goje in Abuja

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TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

VOL. 7, NO. 1910 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

CBN raises interest rate to 12%

N150.00

PEACE RALLY FOR LIBERIA’S POLL

By Ayodele Aminu and Nduka Chiejina

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O strengthen the naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday raised the interest rate by 275 basis points from 9.25 to 12 per cent.

It was the highest increase since the introduction of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) in 2007.

The hike followed a special meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on the dwindling naira in Abuja.

Rising from the meeting, the CBN also doubled banks’ Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from four to eight per cent effective from today.

It also reduced the net open positions banks can hold as reserves to 1 percent of shareholders funds, from 5 per cent with immediate effect and with full compliance by Friday.

MPC members also “agreed that the reserve averaging method of computation be suspended in favour of daily maintenance until further notice.”

These measures are expected to reduce the quantity of naira in the system and free up dollar supply.

The MPR, which was raised for the sixth time this year, is the nominal

•Liberian youths in a peace march in Monrovia ahead of today’s presidential election first round ... yesterday. Story on page 56.

PHOTO: AFP

Continued on page 4

Lemu Panel indicts Buhari over post-election violence It’s PDP’s game plan to paint CPC black, says spokesman

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ONGRESS for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari yesterday came under the hammer over the post-election violence in some parts of the country.

The Sheikh Ahmed Lemu Panel said Buhari’s utterances contributed partly to

We must issue white paper; heavens will not fall. Until government has the political will ... to do what is right ... the culture of impunity will continue – Jonathan From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

the violence that erupted in the North in which scores died.

“Provocative utterances by many individuals and the widespread charge by prominent politicians including the CPC presidential candidate to the electorate ‘to guard their votes’ appeared to have

WHO SAID WHAT Provocative utterances by ... CPC presidential candidate ... appeared to have been miscontrued by many voters to include recourse to violence which they did.

– Panel

been miscontrued by many voters to include recourse to violence which they did.

“However, a long interactive session was held between the CPC presidential candidate and a five-member delegation of the panel, led by the chairman, in the office of the CPC presidential candidate in Kaduna on September 14, 2011. It was discov-

If the panel has made any indictment, they are insensitive to the agony of Nigerians. When we see the report, we will take it up ... It is an unfortunate comment ...

– Bakare

ered that the he himself was a victim of the violence and of the destruction of his property, the photographs of which were given to the said delegation,” the panel said in its report submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja yesterday.

Reacting, Buhari’s running mate, Pastor Tunde Bakare, accused the panel of being

“insensitive”.

Bakare said: “It is an unfortunate comment and if anybody says that, he is insensitive.”

He said similar unguarded statements motivated CPC to sue presidential spokesman Dr Rueben Abati.

“Abati has been sued for Continued on page 4

•Buhari

•SENATOR, CONTRACTOR ARRESTED OVER ALLEGED N25B FRAUD P58

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

2

NEWS

How UNIBEN doctors free s Until the Chief Medical Director of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) announced the success of the first stem cell transplant in the country, the feat was considered unattainable here. JOKE KUJENYA unearths the inside story of this rare feat

F

IVE months into his birth, little Mathew Ndik, now seven years, started experiencing trauma. At first, the sickle cell-induced crisis was mild and not frequent. But with time, it became excruciating. The tot would cry non-stop, leaving his mother with no choice but to wail too.

His parents were no strangers to sickle cell. Of their five children, only one was free from sickle cell.

But, on September 29, he got his groove back and his genotype changed from SS to AA. Doctors at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) successfully carried out a stem cell transplant on him. A team led by an haemotologist and stem cell transplant expert, Dr. Nosakhare Bazuaye, two other nurses and a laboratory scientist were able to achieve the feat after a training at the Basel Hospital, Switzerland.

Mathew’s elder brother, Emmanuel, who is the only one with AA genotype in the family, donated the bone marrow, which

from his donor were then passed into his veins. The result: Matthew is thriving, which is a proof that his body accepted the cell transplant and the cells are now re-populating.

Bazuaye said his team destroyed Mathew’s bad cells and gave him the good ones from his elder brother. He said: “What we do when a patient has a diseased condition is to destroy his or her own bone marrow and then pick stem cells from a donor that is normal to replace his own bone marrow. The sickle cell patient is the one, whom we need to remove his bone marrow which has been producing hostile reactions on his body and replace with the donor’s cells which has AA. It is the AA we take from the donor’s body that we transplant into the sickle cell patient whose bone marrows had earlier been destroyed by the SS cells. So, the new one, which is haemoglobin AA now takes over the bone marrow of the SS cells patient.

And those new cells can never be infected because we have had to

NIGERIA’S FIRST STEM CELL RECIPIENT •Sickle cell patient since five months old •Suffers two episodes of stroke •Given Stem Cell Transplant on September 29 •Kept in isolation for three weeks •Survives on pastry called Parentral nutrition •Got gene match from elder brother saved him from being the third of his parents’ children die of sickle cell.

It was the first time UBTH or any teaching hospital in the country would achieve the feat.

The Ndiks had traversed various clinics in search of a solution. Mrs. Ndik told The Nation in Benin: “I just thank God my son is now free from the pains of sickle cell and the whole family is now free from the trauma. Truly, it has been God’s grace. If not, it is not easy at all. God has been there for us through the stress, the sleepless nights when he would be having crises till he had stroke. I just thank God for everything because I don’t know what else to say.”

Before he was transferred to the sickle cell unit of the UBTH, Mathew was at the Edo State Sickle Cell Centre on Preservation Road, Benin. It was there he suffered stroke. A second stroke could have killed him.

According to the Ndik family, Matthew’s second stroke, which was so severe, could have killed him.

Orthopaedic Surgeon, Director of Clinical Services and Training/ Deputy Chief Medical Director, UBTH, Benin, Dr. Alfred Ogbemudia said after Matthew was admitted into UBTH, the cells of his donor were harvested and prepared for transplant. He said before the transplant, Mathew was given drugs to wipe out his immune systems, including the cells. After this, the cells taken

kill the old stem cells.”

Mathew is kept in an air-tight room in the Stem Cell Centre of the new building carved out within the hospital for the medical feat.

Ogbemudia said the UBTH did the transplant as a pilot project to attract Federal Government funding. He said the equipment needed for continuous transplants would cost between N300 million to N400 million.

The doctor said for a successful transplant, there must be a Stem Cell Unit, special diets, laundry, air-conditioning units and wellequipped isolation unit because the patient must not inhale the air from hospital corridors.

For now, Mathew lays in an oxygen-tent supplying pure air.

The tent is powered by two industrial generators on 60 to 100 litres of fuel per hour, while recuperating at the isolation centre of the UBTH. He breathes through a mask to prevent any form of infection. At the moment, from the last few minutes he was monitored, Mathew had grown from zero cells to more. This means that the graft has been accepted and settled down well with his body.

“Our expectation is that over the next six weeks, his cell lines would have fully re-populated and then Matthew can begin to get exposed to his family, the public and continue his normal life,” said Dr. Ogebmudia.

‘I’m glad God used me to end our family’s woes ’

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ALL and soft-speaking Emmanuel Ndik, 14, is a Senior Secondary II pupil of Freedom Assembly Group of Schools, Benin City, Edo State. The stem cells transplanted into Mathew were taken from him.

He is the only one among his parents’ five children, who is sicklecell-free. His genotype is AA. Emmanuel said he was both scared and excited when he was told that he was the perfect match for his younger brother’s bone marrow need.

He narrated the experience to The Nation at the UBTH:”I was out of school for two weeks in order to be prepared for the donation of my bone marrow to my younger brother’s body. At the start, I was encouraged by the doctor, my uncle and other people and my parents. So, I came to the hospital, got tested by the doctor and I was told that my blood was the only one that matched my brother’s.

So, on Wednesday, they gave me drugs to lessen the effect of the thing they were taking from me. I was conscious of everything. They also gave me some injections that actually left me paralysed from my chest to my waist and I could not feel anything. But I doubt if the whole process was up to an hour. However, I could not immediately get up from the bed till the next day. Then, I had rested enough to gain back my strength and all. But I have been very okay due to the drugs I was given, though I still feel slight pains on my buttocks.

“But looking back, I feel so proud being the first in the country and even in West Africa as the doctors told me.

I am the first bone marrow donor.

But the pains of sickle cell affect an entire family. So, for me to have been the donor makes me to be grateful to God in that we got a match within the family. It is also a way of helping my family to reduce the pains we have all gone through for the past

‘

‘For me to have been the donor makes me to be grateful to God in that we got a match within the family. It is also a way of helping my family to reduce the pains we have all gone through for the past seven years of Matthew’s life.

Also, we are now free from the pains of using our parent’s incomes to purchase drugs’

‘

seven years of Matthew’s life. Also, we are now free from the pains of using our parent’s incomes to purchase drugs, the lack we have suffered in the family, searching and literarily begging for money every now and then, suffering from the fear of anaemia and all that which were all recurring in the family. We live very far from the hospital and sometimes, to even have money to transport ourselves was hard. My brother

•Emmanuel

has had series of transfusion and admission and re-admission in hospitals.

“His sickle cell condition was known from when he was five months old baby.

All I just want to plead for is that our government helps other families who may be going through the kind of trauma the UBTH has just saved us from in terms of funding sickle cell treatment in Nigeria. But I am much happy because some day he will live to remember that his elder brother saved his life.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

3

NEWS

e seven-year-old of sickle cell From left: Dr. Bazuaye and his team carrying out the transplant; Dr. Ogbemudia; and Mathew while he was being prepared for the transplant.

PHOTOS: JOKE KUJENYA

Doctor relives experience of first stem cell transplant Dr. Nosakhare Bazuaye, haematologist and stem cell transplant expert, at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), worked with Dr. Christoph Bucher, a haematologist cum stem cell transplant specialist at the Basel Hospital, Switzerland, to change young Mathew Ndik’s genotype from SS to AA. He explained the techniques deployed to Joke Kujenya

C

AN you explain what you did precisely in Mathew’s case?

All we did was to put a needle into young Matthew’s bone to suck out all the destroyed bad cells. Then, we put in a valve like blood, and then, you infuse the new stem cells into his body, as the recipient. It’s all because we need to access the stem cells from the marrows by acceleration. Now, to prepare Mathew, the patient and Emmanuel, the donor for bone marrow transplantation, we first did what is called a donor search.

So, in the case of Mathew Ndik, the seven-year-old that we just gave a transplant, he had a stroke. You will be surprised that children, between ages two to nine, could have a stroke.

One of the reasons children could have a stroke is when they are sicklers. And stroke in children is the highest indication for a transplant because if you don’t transplant them, they could have another stroke and they would likely die.

Young Mathew’s parents have earlier lost two children to the same sickle cell anaemia. They were sicklers and they had stroke. And Mathew too, has had an episode of stroke before.

If he had a second episode, he will obviously die. He was among the 10 families we sent their blood samples to the Basel Hospital in Switzerland, to do the typing. That’s where we were trained and we have a collaboration with them. We have not completed our HLA Typing Laboratory. And this is one of the areas where we need the Federal Government to help us.

But what we do is to send the blood, they do the typing, and then, the result is used to find the matching donor. The first step was to get the nec-

essary drugs to destroy the marrow.

He was brought in for a whole week before the commencement of the medications. A week after, we killed the marrow and then started the match from the donor.

And what effect would the drugs for killing his marrow have on his overall life?

Nothing much. It’s like taking antibiotics. We have some drugs that if you are taking them in a particular dosage, it will destroy the bone marrow. That’s why you often have people with bone marrow failure.

Even antibiotics as famous as Chloraphenicol can destroy the bone marrow if you take it wrongly and too much without prescription. Matthew was lucky to have a 14-year old brother who is sickle-cell free in his family. There is another one alive apart from the two that had died. So, Emmanuel matched Matthew’s bone marrow needs.

We first had to encourage the young man that what we were about to do what as simple as taking the stem cells that have the ability to produce themselves and other new cells and transplant them into the body of the patient who has an ailment and whose bone marrow has been destroyed; we then transfer it and engrafts into the bone marrow of the patient. And this will produce new cells.

How long does it take for the bone marrow to settle down in the new body?

It takes an average of two to three weeks. Matthew, for instance, will be in isolation for two to three weeks until we are certain that the new cells have produced enough cells that can make him withstand infection. The

•Dr Bazuaye

room he is in now is a special room with a hyper-filtration machine that sucks all the air in the room, filters the impurities and returns the clean air into his body. For the period, he eats special foods. And for you to go in there, you have to wear special face masks, special hospital clothing because your regular wears cannot be allowed in. Everything he will be taken now must not be contaminated. He must not eat cold, rewarmed food or put vegetables in his food. All these are done because the boy is still prone to infection at

this point. So, everything has to be done in accordance with the therapy.

Who funds the transplant and what obstacles do you have to grapple with?

Lots of obstacles. One, if electricity goes off, we have to turn on the generator right away. And for the period that Matthew is in isolation for the next two to three weeks, light must not go off for a second. If the power is off, he has the chances of getting infection in the isolation room because he will then have to be inhaling normal air, which shouldn’t be as the machine that filters the air would have gone off. So, power is one big problem. Two, the drugs and its high cost. For Matthew alone, the UBTH imported drugs worth N2.1m. So, that is a big obstacle for the hospital to fund. His parents were only able to raise a N100, 000. So, can we ask such parents to bring millions of naira? So, for now, the UBTH has taken it up. For instance again, the equipment used for the transplant are very expensive and they all have to be imported. The ones we have now cannot allow us to take on many cases at a time. We can only take one person at a time in a situation where Nigeria has the highest cases of sickle cell in the world.

There is the automated machine for blood parameters. Parameters have to be done on a daily basis. We have to check the bladder, kidney and every other thing. It is the automated machine that does the monitoring so that if there is any electrolyte that is calcium, chloride and other chemicals in the body that make the body function well, that has deranged, or

like if your potassium is low, you can have problems moving well. We must ensure that all the nutrients, including micro-nutrients, are taken care of. And we use the Central Lining to ensure that the patient has enough fluid and is not dehydrated because of the chemicals we are giving. And then, if the patient cannot eat subsequently because of the effects of the drugs, we need to give food in form of dribs. You know the normal drib just contains sugar and water, but the special food is called Parentral nutrition, and it is like feeding them with every nutrient that you find in our regular foods. We put everything into a drib and run it through the Central Line into the patient’s body. All these cost loads of money.

How then does the patient resume his or her normal life?

Usually, if the patient was clinically stable and didn’t have stroke, he’ll be moving around in the isolation room. But like Mathew that had a stroke before that affected his right arm and leg, we’re applying physiotherapy on him and he is doing well. He is able to use his two legs to walk. But because of the high powered drugs we are giving him, we are restraining him for now. For every treatment, there are chances of unexpected developments; but we are using high potent drugs, such as Reduced Intensity Conditioning (RIC) for him, which means we are not giving him the full intensive treatment. And there is no fear of Mathew developing any complications in his personality because there is no change of organ involved in his transplant because it is just cells that we infused into him.

4

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

NEWS

CBN raises interest rate to 12%

Lemu Panel indicts Buhari Continued from page 1

saying things without crosschecking. If the panel has made any indictment, they are insensitive to the agony of Nigerians. When we see the report, we will take it up,” Bakare said.

Buhari’s spokesman, Yinka Odumakin objected to the report of the panel, describing it as the continuation of PDP game to paint CPC black.

He said the panel’s findings confirmed that the President and his party were playing unnecessary politics with the fate of Nigerians whose vote did not count in the last general elections.

Odumakin said: “When the members of the Lemu Panel met Gen. Buhari, they praised him for being a statesman and patriot. Some of them betrayed their emotions when they met Gen. Buhari. Their report is now the opposite. I wish them goodluck.”

The panel also identified the zoning controversy, which started basically as an internal political affair of the ruling PDP, which changed the nature of the presidential election into ethno-religious contest particularly in the Northern states, as another cause of the violence.

The report blamed successive regimes for not acting on past reports on violence and civil disturbances, noting that this encouraged the wide spread sense of impunity in the culprits and perpetrators of violence.

It recommended that secu-

Continued from page 1

•Lemu submitting the committee’s report to Jonathan at the State House in Abuja ... yesterday.

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

rity agencies be ordered to fish out culprits of violence for prosecution, including previous offenders.

Other factors listed by the panel include the desire for change as a result of failure on the part of successive regimes to tackle various challenges facing the country.

The next major cause of violence and disturbances, according to the panel, is the lucrative nature of political office, which has turned politics to a do-or-die affair for which many politicians are seriously establishing private armies to execute.

The report noted that general insecurity of life and property also contributed to the violence.

It advised the Federal Gov-

ernment to address the socioeconomic problems of the country to avoid a social revolution.

The panel said: “The first and probably most important cause is the failure on the part of the previous successive regimes since the military handover of power in 1999 to implement the recommendations of various committees, commissions and panels that had taken place in our nation.

That failure facilitated the wide spread sense of impunity in the culprits and perpetrators of crimes and violence in the Nigerian society.

“We recommend to Your Excellency to order security agencies to fish out culprits of violence for prosecution.

Your Excellency should also

revisit those previous recommendations like the ones contained in the following reports.

“Babalakin Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Bauchi State Civil Disturbances; Karibi Whyte Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Kafanchan Disturbances; Niki Tobi Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Plateau State Disturbances; Justice Sankey Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Wase and Langtang Disturbances; Justice Disu Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Plateau State Disturbances; Professor Tamuno Panel of Inquiry on National Security; Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Committee.

Continued on page 9

anchor of all interest rates in the economy. It is the rate at which the CBN gives loans to banks and, as such, directly influences the level and direction of change in interest rates. Consequently, the MPC had increased its benchmark interest rate by a total of 3.25 percentage points.

The CRR is the proportion of banks total deposits held in cash balance with the CBN. This will automatically reduce the cash disposable by banks for on lending to fund the foreign exchange (forex) market that has been under intense pressure.

The increase in MPR means depositors will get higher interest on their deposits, which the banks will pass on to corporate borrowers, who will also pass it to consumers by raising prices.

Yields on bonds will also rise. And since the government is the major borrower through the purchase of bonds for cash, it means that the government will pay more for its local debt – thus raising the cost of borrowing and that of firms in the bond market.

The apex bank however, kept its 200 basis point corridor around the benchmark rate; its recommended deposit rate is 10 per cent and lending rate, 14 per cent.

Currently, average lending rate for prime customers, which is expected to go up is 17.79 per cent per annum, while that of those who are not prime customer is 20.40

Akala, Daniel, Doma for trial today

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T was a waiting game yesterday in Ibadan, Abeokuta and Lafia in Oyo, Ogun and Nasarawa states.

A large crowd waited for hours for the arraignment of former Governors Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo), Gbenga Daniel (Ogun) and Aliyu Akwe Doma (Nasarawa).

But the crowd left disappointed following the nonarraignment of the suspects, who are in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Former Gombe State Governor Danjuma Goje joined them in custody yesterday.

He was detained when he reported to EFCC in Abuja.

Alao-Akala, Daniel and Doma’s trial was stalled because of the conference of Federal High Court Judges which started in Sokoto yesterday.

EFCC spokesman Femi Babafemi confirmed that they could not be arraigned because of the judges’ conference.

They are alleged to have defrauded their states of N101 billion.

Daniel is accused of N58 billion fraud, Alao-Akala, N25 billion and Doma, N18 billion.

Daniel and Alao-Akala, it was learnt, may be arraigned today before the State High Court in Abeokuta and Ibadan. They were flown to their home states yesterday ahead of other arraignment.

Doma is expected to face trial at the Federal Capital

EFCC detains Goje

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HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday detained former Gombe State Governor Danjuma Goje.

Goje is accused of mismanaging N52.9 billion.

The sum includes N37.9 billion loans obtained from 27 banks and N15 billion spent as security vote when the state was not facing challenges.

Goje, who reported to the commission at about 5.30am, was taken to the Operations Unit where he wrote a statement.

While Goje reported at the EFCC, a team of operatives that went to Gombe State returned with documents, including payment vouchers, retrieved for his interrogation.

A top source in the commission, who spoke in confidence, said: “We were surprised that Goje surrendered to the EFCC earlier than the resumption time for work. He came at From Bisi Oladele, Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan and Johnny Danjuma, Lafia

Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, sources said, because “most of the mismanaged funds traced to him were allegedly spent in Abuja”.

In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, lawyers, supporters, friends and family of AlaoAkala as well as reporters shuttled between the Federal High Court, where he was to be arraigned for money laundering and related offences and the state high court, where he was expected to be arraigned for alleged stealing.

Before reporters left the state high court at 4.20p.m., no EFCC official was seen.

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

about 5.30am.

“Notwithstanding, we accorded him the utmost courtesy and we are getting his responses to allegations already isolated against him.

“We are detaining the ex-governor pending the conclusion of investigation. We have also decided to seize his passports and other travelling documents.

“We have also secured a court warrant to detain him till the end of our investigation.

“But our team from Gombe State has returned with relevant documents for the questioning of Goje.”

The Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said: “The exgovernor reported on Monday (yesterday) as promised, our team is already interacting with him on the allegations listed against him.”

The car park was filled; politicians discussed the development in hushed tone, while awaiting the former governor’s arraignment.

Some officials of the State Security Service (SSS) came around and left about 2.45p.m.

Alao-Akala’s loyalists and reporters spent hours on the phone, trying to ascertain if he would be arraigned.

A court official told reporters: “You people would have to go because we are not sure if Alao-Akala will be arraigned in court today (yesterday). I know you have been waiting since morning and I think it will be fair if I let you know the situation on ground. Alao-Akala may not be arraigned today again as

the charges against him are just being filed at the court ...”

An anxious crowd waited in vain at the Federal High Court, Oke–Mosan, for Daniel’s arraignment.

Daniel, it was learnt, was not brought to court because the case has not been filed.

As early as 8:30am, the crowd gathered at the court entrance but armed security men prevented them from entering.

Security was tight. The team was led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Wale Lawal. Court officials, reporters and others were frisked by men from the Bomb Detection and Disposal Unit before being allowed in.

A handful of supporters of Daniel and members of the

per cent.

Also, interest rate on savings account, which is currently 2.27 per cent per annum is expected to rise.

Interbank rates – rates at which banks borrow from one another to cover their positions is also expected to rise.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, CBN Governor Sanusi said: “The committee recognised the need to remain very clear on the bank’s primary mandate and maintain the credibility it has established so far by sending strong signals on price and exchange rate stability.

“In the face of the spectre of declining oil prices, declining foreign reserves, increased demand for foreign exchange, fiscal dominance and capital flow reversals, monetary policy must bear a larger burden of economic adjustment in the shortterm,” he added.

The naira, he said, has come under increasing pressure, and has recently traded outside the band of N150 +/- 3.0 per cent.

He said: “In the committee’s view, the increasing pressure on the domestic currency has been emanating from a number of sources not all of which can be addressed by purely monetary interventions.”

The committee, he added, is concerned about the likely Continued on page 9

Soldier, one other die as explosions rock Maiduguri

A •Alao-Akala

Peoples Party of Nigerian (PPN) stood in clusters, discussing on the street adjacent to the court. By 11:25a.m., the crowd began to disperse.

A senior court official told The Nation that Daniel’s case has not been filed, adding that they got to know of his planned trial in Abeokuta through media reports.

The official said there would be no sitting this week in all Federal High Court as the judges are in Sokoto, observing their legal year.According to him, Daniel’s trial will not begin until charges against him are formally filed before the court.

In Lafia, supporters of Doma and youths loyal to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), clashed yesterday in Lafia as they awaited the arrival of Doma from Abuja for arraignment.

After a long wait, they brought out placards with different inscriptions, many of which bore unprintable words.

T least two persons were killed yesterday after two bombs exploded in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. The bombs were allegedly detonated by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

One of the explosions which occurred near the After-Hour Market killed a soldier, according to the spokesman to the Joint Military Task Force (JTF), Victor Ebhaleme.

A civilian also died at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), a mortuary attendant claimed.

Another blast about 16 kilometres away had Sunday afternoon injured one person and destroyed a patrol vehicle parked in front of a Mosque, Ebhaleme said.

The JTF spokesman said two other soldiers were injured during yesterday’s explosion.

A witness, who did not identify himself for fear of reprisals, alleged the military burned down several shops at the market after accusing traders of allowing the Boko Haram members to hide bombs in their stalls.

Ebhaleme said some residents had been “harbouring suspects”, but he denied the claims that the shops were torched by soldiers.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

5

NEWS

‘Govt needs to solve power supply problem’ Last weekend, Nigerians in New York gathered to celebrate the nation’s 51st Independence anniversary. Adeola Fayehun spoke with some of them on how the country can develop. Excerpts:

•Kehinde Kolawole

•Jide Alake

I’m highly disappointed in the government. When you see the corruption that our leaders are involved in, you will feel bad. This cloth I’m wearing says ‘made in Indonesia,’ and I proudly bought it. I have not seen ‘Made in Nigeria’. I am looking towards the day I’ll see a ‘made in Nigeria’ product in America.

Fifty-one years is a milestone, so congratulations to Nigeria.

We don’t have any civil war going on, so life is still good.

However, we supply Benin Republic with electricity, and it doesn’t have light problem. It could be the people running it or how it’s divided, but I think a new system should be in place for electricity.

•Busola Obayemi

I celebrate the joy of being a Nigerian and having that blood inside of me. A lot of Nigerians in America are working really hard to do a lot and be creative; sometimes they get ignored and neglected because we focus on the negative side.

So, it’s good to celebrate who we are and what we’ve achieved here in America.

•Adetunji Majekodunmi

I’m a Nigerian for life!

Nigeria is a very sweet place to live. Our culture is very good, we are very friendly; we love one another even though the country is not very stable, we’re still doing our best to move together. We should try to develop our energy system so more people can invest in the country and this will develop the country.

•Funmilola Adeyekun

What we need to work on is ensuring that people get jobs after college, having good infrastructures, making sure there’s light and it’s not going off every minute, and a good sewage system. Those are the things I think we need to work on.

•Oluwaseyi Ogunyinka

I don’t see any achievement so far that I could talk about. A lot of people have left Nigeria for other nations, even the closest neighbour of ours – Ghana, and that is a job loss for the entire youths of our country. We have Kanji dam, we have Shiroro dam, we can tap into other sources of power, and coal is in Enugu.

Libya’s new regime set to capture Ghaddafi’s home town Anti-Muammar Ghaddafi’s forces yesterday intensified efforts to capture his home town, Sirte, with observers saying loyalists days are numbered

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IBYAN transitional government forces said they had cornered Muammar Ghaddafi loyalists in the center of the deposed leader’s hometown on Monday, but many desperate civilians were still trying to flee the fierce street fighting.

The protracted battle for Sirte, built up by Ghaddafi as a showpiece town on the Mediterranean coast, has raised concerns that civilian casualties could breed longterm hostility making it hard for the National Transitional Council (NTC) to unite the vast North African state once the fighting is over.

“Ghaddafi’s forces are cornered in two neighborhoods near the sea, an area of about 2-km square, but there is still resistance,” Abdul Salam Javallah, commander of NTC units from eastern Libya, told Reuters on the front line of their attack.

“We are dealing with them now with light weapons because there are still families inside,” he said.

Shortly after he spoke, a group of three women, three small children and two male civilians emerged from a house on the front line. They were searched by the rebels

and hurriedly got into a car and drove off waving the Vfor-victory sign.

Another family of three women and one man, stopping at a checkpoint as they fled Sirte, said they had been trapped in their house by the fighting.

“We didn’t know where the strikes were coming from.

Everyone is being hit all day and all night. There is no electricity and no water. There is nothing. There is not one neighborhood that hasn’t been hit,” said one of the women who gave her name as Umm Ismail.

NTC commanders say they are only using light weapons, but government tanks have also moved into road intersections and pounded Ghaddafi positions, while pick-up trucks mounted with heavy weapons as well as foot soldiers darted out of cover to fire wildly up ahead.

At times, NTC units came under fire from their own side, a hazard becoming more acute as the rag-tag groups of government volunteers attacking from the east and west close in on one another.

Most of the government forces attacking Sirte are from other towns and do not have

much help from the inside as they did they when they captured the capital Tripoli on August 23 and ended 42 years of one-man rule by Gaddafi after six months of civil war.

Many civilians from Sirte are also fighting alongside the remnants of Ghaddafi’s army in the belief the outsiders will commit atrocities once they capture the city of 75,000 people. Gaddafi is believed to be hiding in the desert far to the south.

“Ghaddafi’s troops know their way around,” said one government fighter in a brief lull in the fighting. “We don’t know the city. We don’t even know what’s in the next street.”

NTC forces have struggled to take Sirte and a few other leftover bastions of Ghaddafi loyalists, and this has impeded efforts to set up effective government nationwide and restart oil production, the lifeblood of the Libyan economy.

Several Libyan analysts also say they are worried fault lines are opening up between the Islamist-run Tripoli Military Council, which has nominal control over the city and is also believed to be backed by Qatar, and groups loyal to interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, a Western-trained tech-

•Libyan rebels rest in the bed of their country's ousted leader Ghaddafi in a palace in PHOTO: AP Sirte...yesterday.

nocrat.

The interim government sent out text messages on Monday urging their fighters to report to military bases and join the national army.

Concern is rising in the capital about potential conflict among armed groups that converged on Tripoli in August and have stayed on to demand stakes in a future government.

NTC forces in Sirte took three important landmark buildings on Sunday — the main hospital, the university and the opulent Ouagadougou conference center, built to host the summits of foreign dignitaries that Gaddafi was fond of staging.

“Eighty percent of Sirte is now under our control,” said Omar Abu Lifa, a commander of government forces attacking Sirte from the west.

NTC forces have repeatedly claimed to be on the point of victory in Sirte, only to suffer sudden reversals at the hands of a tenacious enemy fighting for its life, surrounded on three sides and with its back to the sea.

In just one field hospital to the east of the city, doctors said they had received 17 dead and 87 wounded from Sunday’s fighting. There were dozens more casualties elsewhere.

One man, a student, who had escaped from the center of the city, said he had watched from

a rooftop on Sunday as Gaddafi soldiers destroyed 10 government pick-up trucks.

“Their morale is very high,” said Salam Awad. “They are prepared to fight to the death.”

NTC chairman Abdel Jalil said his men had reached Sirte city center, while the only other major town in the hands of Gaddafi loyalists, Bani Walid in the interior desert to the south, was also under siege from no fewer than five sides.

“I think and I hope, with the help of God, the liberation of these two towns will be completed by the end of this week. God willing,” he told a news conference in Tripoli on Sunday.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

NEWS Palestine seeks Nigeria’s support for UN Seat From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja AN aspiration by Palestine to be accorded a United Nations member status received the nod of the Federal Government yesterday.

Nigeria promised to remain steadfast in its support for the legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had sent a special team to Abuja to seek the advice of the Federal Government on its application for Statehood now before the UN Security Council.

The entourage, led by Mr. Salman el-Herfi met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru at the weekend along with a former Palestinian Ambassador to Gabon and the Principal Representative of Palestine to Nigeria.

Ashiru, who received the team on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan hailed the delegation for the solidarity visit and assured him of Nigeria’s commitment to the Palestinian struggle and the notion of a two-State solution.

According to him, a resolution was the only guarantee of an enduring peace and security both in Palestine and the Middle East.

The minister urged the parties to return to the dialogue table as he pledged that Nigeria will, as in the past, remain steadfast in its support for every legitimate aspiration.

Speaking earlier, the envoy had told his host that the Palestinian President had sent him to seek the advice of the Federal Government of Nigeria on the application of Palestine for Statehood.

Recalling the various attempts made to resolve the question of the Statehood of Palestine, he said that in 1991, both parties went very close to the resolution before Israel allegedly broke out of the negotiation.

Osun names DG for Social Services OSUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has appointed Mr. Femi Ifaturoti as the Director-General (DG), Bureau of Social Services (BOSS) .

The Bureau of Social Services is a newly created office saddled with the task of monitoring and supervision of all policies, programmes and projects of the government.

It will assess and evaluate the performance of the commissioners and Heads of MDAs in their implementation of the sixpoint integral Action Plan as well as assess and document the community social impact of all government activities.

It will also analyse and monitor all acts of omission and commission of government, and also carry out periodic reviews of the six-point integral action plan with a view to redefining them in line with the desired strategic direction of the government.

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Anger in House over summons of Speaker, chairmen by Presidency

HERE was disquiet yesterday between members of the House of Representatives and the Presidency over an emergency summoning of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, principal officers and committee chairmen to the Presidential Villa for briefing on the 2012 budget.

Members were angry that the summon was against the principle of Separation of Powers.

But the Speaker and some members defied the anger of their colleagues to go for the session.

The Federal Government is proposing N4.8trillion budget for 2012 with a $75 benchmark price for oil.

Apart from the take-off of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), the government is also proposing savings of about N1.2trillion from the withdrawal of fuel subsidy.

A source said that there are also some fiscal measures

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

which will be implemented by the government to reshape the economy.

It was learnt that the President summoned the meeting to put House leaders into confidence on the issues in the 2012 Budget to avoid delay in passing it into law.

Members however felt the method adopted by the Presidency was wrong.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that most members were shocked by a sudden text message sent to them by the Chief of Staff to the Speaker.

The text message reads: “Dear Honourable, you are requested to join the delegation to State House for a briefing on the Budget from the

Minister of Finance, scheduled for Monday 10 October 2011 at 8pm.

“Kindly join Mr. Speaker at the House of Representatives New Building at 7pm prompt.

Kind regards. Chief of Staff to the Speaker.”

According to findings, the text was hardly circulated when members began to query why they had to be summoned to the Villa for a session on the budget.

It was gathered that the Minister of Finance ought to have come for a closed door session with the Speaker and members in the House.

A member of the opposition in the House, said: “We cannot understand why we have to be asked to come to the Villa like school children for briefing on the 2012 Budget.

“We have made our position

known to the Speaker that respecting such an invitation could erode the principle of Separation of Powers between the Executive and the Legislature.

“When last did you hear President Barrack Obama summoning members of the US Congress to White House?

“Some of us believe that the Executive ought to have been more tactical in handling the matter.”

Another member said: “I think we do not need to be railroaded into a predetermined meeting at the Villa.

“Instead, the President should have asked the Minister of Finance to meet with us like top security chiefs did to the Senate and the House recently.”

A source in the presidency, however, said: “The meeting

is part of the consultative policy of the President, it is not meant to undermine the Senate or the House in any manner.

“It is a kind of initiative to foster Executive-Legislature relationship. We want to avoid the usual disagreement between the two arms over grey areas in the budget since 2007.

“Of course, the issue of withdrawal of subsidy is throwing up some socio-economic issues which require the understanding of the members of the National Assembly.

“The government wants to lay its cards on the table, especially the true financial situation of the country and remedial steps being proposed to reshape the economy.”

A principal officer of the House, who spoke in confidence, said: “We have been pleading with our members to bear with the leadership over this briefing.

“We do not see it as erosion of separation of powers. If as president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan wants to see us and confide in us on state matters, we have to honour it.

“We decided to defer to the President as a matter of respect and not to sell out. Budgeting is an issue that affects all.

“Some of us prevailed on the Speaker to honour the session at the Villa.”

Seven firms get WHO pre-qualifications

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

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•Dr Orhii speaking at the ocassion...yesterday. With him are WHO representatives-Muscat (left) and Mr Serge Legay PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

Tinubu: ACN deserves victory at Lagos council polls

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CTION Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader Senator Bola Tinubu yesterday asked members to brace up for the local government elections scheduled for October 22, saying that the party deserves victory across the pre-existing 20 councils and 37 Local Council Development Areas.

The former Lagos State governor called for unity, reconciliation and harmony in areas where the primaries conducted by the chapter created tension and intra-party disagreement, reminding party chieftains that they would always find accommodation within the larger collective interests.

Tinubu addressed party leaders, candidates and aspirants at the ACN stakeholders’ meeting held at the party office, Ogba, Ikeja.

The meeting, which was presided over by the chairman, Otunba Oladele Ajomale, was attended by Deputy Governor Adejoke OrelopeAdefulire, former Deputy Governor Abiodun Ogunleye, ACN vice chairmen, Cardinal James Odunmbaku (Lagos West), Adeseye Amingo (Lagos Central) and Akanni

•Party flags off campaign at Onikan Stadium tomorrow

By Emmanuel Oladesu Deputy Political Editor

Seriki-Bamu (Lagos East); Mainland ACN leader Hon. Wale Oshun, former Head of Service Yakubu Balogun, House of Representatives member Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Commissioner for Rural Development Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, his Transport counterpart, Comrade Kayode Opeifa, Alhaji Mutiu Are, Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele, Mrs Kemi Nelson, Chief Funso Ologunde, Primate Charles Odugbesi, Hon. Toba Oke, Huntonyon Bamgbose and Hon. Goriola Agbara.

Ajomale thanked the chieftains and followers for keeping faith with the party, assuring them that they would not lose out when dividends of democracy are distributed at the grassroots. He announced the flag off of the campaigns for the council elections at Onikan Stadium tomorrow, advising leaders and candidates. to mobilise members.

Tinubu reviewed the primaries, lamenting that many members wrote spurious petitions against incumbent

council chairmen. He said the false petitions were ignored because the party believed in truth, fairness, justice and rule of law.

He added: “Some petitions written against the chairmen were not true. Don’t because you want to remove a chairman continue to write false petitions.

Remember the judgment day.

Councillors should also desist from running after money after elections. Councillors who threaten their chairmen with impeachment would be impeached instead, if they do not inform the party leadership”.

The former governor, who said the party leadership had approved the list of candidates for the polls, advised Ikeja ACN leaders to resolve their misunderstanding at home. He said the party had no reason not to field the council boss, Hon. Wale Odunlami, as its chairmanship candidate.

Tinubu explained that the chairman of Agege Council, Jubril Abdulkarim, had to be given a second chance because the allegations against him were false.

Urging the ethnic nationalities in Lagos to continue to sup-

port the ruling party, he said Arewa and Igbo must have supervisory councillorship slots in Agege and Ojo Local Government councils.

Tinubu frowned at the attitudes of members who have blocked the gates of council secretariats against some out-going chairmen, reminding them that their tenure would only expire when they handover to their successors after elections.

The party leader said the Ajomale’ Executive Committee had quashed the purported impeachment of the AgbadoOke-Odo Council out-going Chairman, Pastor Kenny Okunmuyide, affirming that he would serve his tenure to the end.

He urged the candidates and party members to work for the success of the party in their local government areas. Tinubu asked the members of the party in Isolo LCDA never to succumb to threats.

He said: “Don’t be afraid. I heard that they brought sacrifice to the council secretariat. get a keg of petrol and pour on it and it will be consumed by fire and that will be the end”.

EVEN indigenous pharmaceutical companies yesterday got pre-qualifications for the World Health Organisation (WHO).

They are Emzor Pharmaceutical Company; CHI Pharmaceuticals; Fidson, Neimeth, Swipha, Evans and May and Baker.

According to WHO Representative Pierre Muscat, the organisation came to Nigeria to see how the companies can start producing world class drugs that can be bought in to by donor agencies.

The Director General of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii, said many factors are drawing back the indigenous pharmaceutical companies from becoming international players.

“The fact of vast and porous borders that are poorly manned cannot help proper policing of importation, hence counterfeits thrive. International donors cannot buy drugs from Nigerian manufacturers because they do not have WHO pre-qualifications like Uganda, Morocco and South Africa. None is in West Africa. Nigeria is breaking the frontiers.

“NAFDAC in collaboration with PMG-MAN drew the guidelines for all the manufacturers and a list of 11 companies were sent out of which the seven were selected.

“It is an ongoing thing and more will still enjoy the prequalification. The WHO representatives are here to help us upgrade our companies so as to participate in international bids which are a huge market. N200b is required as soft loans for the companies to put their house in proper shape, and the Ministry of Health has approached the Bank of Industry (BoI),” said Orhii.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

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NEWS Agency warns of epidemic From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

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HE Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON) yesterday warned of an impending epidemic of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the country.

During a pre-public launch of its book, ‘Nigeria Health Review 2010’ in Abuja yesterday, HERFON Chairman Dr. Ben Anyene said the economic cost of NCDs from premature deaths arising from heart diseases, stroke and diabetics will increase to $8 billion by 2015.

He said five million Nigerians might die of NCDs by 2015, adding that deaths from diabetics alone would rise by 52 per cent.

According to him, the rising trends are a threat to Nigeria’s development.

He said the epidemic and the economic cost on NCDs can be reduced in Nigeria with the right steps.

Anyene said: “If we start now, we can raise a heightened level of awareness around lifestyle choices, regular screening, disease surveillance and pre-emptive management.

“We appeal to the media to assist in educating and informing the public about the new emerging epidemics.”

The HERFON Chairman said the launch would be chaired by the President of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Folusho Philips. Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu will be the Special Guest of Honour and Aliko Dangote the Chief Presenter.

NDLEA arrests 59-year-old grandmother

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FFICIALS of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a 59-year-old grandmother at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The suspect was to export 1.500kg of powdery substance which tested positive to cocaine.

She was arrested at the weekend during the screening of British Airways passengers to London Heathrow Airport.

The drug was hidden in the sides of her luggage.

NDLEA Commander at the airport Hamza Umar said the drug was detected at the luggage checking desk .

By Kelvin Osa- Okunbor

‘I was devastated the moment the drug was discovered. It was like the end of my world because I told my husband that I was going to Lagos’ He said: “A 59-year-old grandmother, Franca Ozekwe, had been arrested by NDLEA operatives. She was arrested following the discovery of

1.500kg of cocaine in her luggage during routine check.”

Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA Ahmadu Giade described Mrs. Ozekwe’s action as disappointing.

“It is difficult to comprehend her motivation for drug trafficking at 59.

“Her action is disappointing. This is one wrong step with adverse consequences for the rest of her life,” Giade said.

Preliminary investigation by the NDLEA showed that the suspect travelled to London five years ago.

She is married with eight children, two men and six women all married with children.

She hails from Umunya town in Anambra State.

Mrs. Ozekwe said she was promised £5,000.

“This is my first time. I was given the bag with the drug hidden in it and they promised to pay me £5,000.

“The man who organised the deal used to meet with me in an eatery in Lagos. He never told me that I will be caught.

“I was devastated the moment the drug was discovered. It was like the end of my world because I told my husband that I was going to Lagos,” she said.

She will soon be arraigned at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.

THE Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday cautioned the Federal Government on its plan to remove petroleum subsidy, saying that government must possess functional refineries before the commencement of deregulation.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja, IPMAN National President Aminu Abdulkadir advised that instead of embarking on full removal of the subsidy, the government should deregulate in phases till it is convenient for complete removal.

He urged the government to mobilise the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to secure the country’s 5,430kilometre pipelines network so that it can convey products from the coastal region to inland depots instead of bridging the products.

Abdukadir said the Federal Government should provide independent marketers with credit facilities.

The association warned that no nation can afford to leave its economy in the hands of foreigners as it is currently done in Nigeria.

Abdulkadir said government would worsen the situation by removing petroleum subsidy if the product is not available, especially now that 60 per cent of the product is secured through bridging.

By Jude Isiguzo

•Science fails to produce winner

By Evelyn Osagie

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From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

Man arrested for alleged fraud

Journalist gets NLNG prize

HE Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has named Mai Nasara, a journalist, winner of its 2011 Nigeria’s Prize for Literature.

His work, The Missing Clock, has earned him $100,000.

The judges said: “After an exhaustive discussion of each of the three finalists, Eno’s Story by Ayodele Olofintuade, Chinyere ObiObasi’s The Great Fall and The Missing Clock by Mai Nasara, we decided that the The Missing Clock by Mai Nasara (the pen name of Adeleke Adeyemi) is the winner.

Award-winning author Odili Ujubuonu said: “I am happy that this year’s edition has a winner. And I look forward to next year’s edition which would be prose.”

No winner was announced for the Nigeria Prize for Science 2011, which seeks to honour a specific science achievement.

The judges, headed by Prof. Awele Maduemezie, said: “After thorough examination and evaluation of all entries, including both internal and external assessment, that it is unable to recommend any of the 25 candidates for the Nigeria Prize for Science 2011, as none of them attained the level of excellence required for the award.”

Repair refineries, says IPMAN

• Head of the Advisory Board for the Nigeria Prize for Literature Prof. Ayo Banjo(left); member Dr. Jerry Agada and President Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA); Prof. Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo at the event...yesterday PHOTO: EVELYN OSAGIE

Why corruption thrives, by NBA

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HE President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Joseph Daudu (SAN), yesterday said the 1999 Constitution is responsible for the nation’s stunted economic growth, corruption, insecurity, and disunity.

Daudu said the constitution afforded a few people at the centre to take advantage of the uneven distribution of powers it promoted.

The NBA President spoke at the opening of the 2011/2012

From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

Legal Year of the Akwa Ibom State Judiciary in Uyo, the state capital.

He said one nationalistic gift the legislature can give the people is to embark on a thorough amendment of the constitution to ensure appropriate balance between the Federal Government and states.

His words: “The arrogation to the federation of 68

legislative items in the 2nd schedule of the 1999 Constitution some of which include power distribution, police and government security services, railways, mines and minerals and a few others has clearly turned out to be tragic to the pace of the nation’s economic and socio-political development.

“Democracy being a process has clearly revealed that Nigeria cannot continue with the kind of federalism pack-

aged in the 1999 Constitution.

“It is responsible, wittingly or unwittingly for the stunted economic growth, corruption, insecurity and disunity that currently plagues the nation.

“Happily, the NBA is in the forefront of the nation’s interest groups that is embarking on a nationwide exercise of fashioning out a wholly autochthonous Constitution.”

Alleged N3.3b theft: Lagos condemns failure to arrest been able to arrest them,” she HE Lagos State Governsaid.

Okereke-Onyiuke ment yesterday conShe also told the court of the

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demned the polices alleged failure to produce former Director-General, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Prof Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and some others in court to answer charges filed against them.

Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mrs. Olabisi Ogungbesan regretted the state’s inability to secure the production of the accused, when Justice Christopher Balogun of the Lagos High Court, Igbosere, sought to know the latest development in the case.

By Eric Ikhilae

The state had, in July, filed two charges against Ms. Okereke-Onyiuke and seven others, accusing them of stealing about N3.3billion.

The others are a former senior official of the NSE, Lance Musa Elakam; Uzoma Henry Onyekuru and five companies - Creative Financial Services Limited, Mining System Limited, OPDC Properties Limited, OAK Business and Finance Company Limited and Kingdom Securities and Finance Company Lim-

ited.

The state complained that the police could not arrest the accused, a development that informed the court’s decision to adjourn the case till October 10.

Yesterday, Mrs. Ogungbesan told the court that the situation was the same.

“None of the defendants is in court. As we have earlier complained, we have been trying through the police to arrest them and ensure that they are brought before the court. But the police have not

prosecution’s inability to serve the charges on the accused.

Defence lawyer Robert Clarke (SAN) told the court that despite the non-service of court processes on his clients, they were challenging the competence of the charges.

He said his clients read about the case in the newspapers and have filed notices of objection.

Clarke later volunteered to collect the court processes on behalf of his clients.

The court adjourned the case till November 2 .

A DEVELOPER, Tajudeen Yusuf, has told the police in Lagos how he allegedly duped 90 prospective tenants of N20 million.

The suspect carried out his act posing as an agent, renting out five mini flats at 38 Thomas Animashaun Street, Aguda, Surulere.

Police spokesperson Samuel Jinadu said Yusuf was clever enough to make sure that none of the victims met Jinadu said the suspect claimed to be a developer, adding that from June to September he allegedly defrauded 90 persons of N20million.

“He claimed he was in charge of a building at Aguda, Surulere, and that after he might have finished construction, he would give some of the apartments to the people,” Jinadu said.

Jinadu warned the public, specifically accommodation seekers, to be more vigilant.

Yusuf, who has since confessed to the crime, said he used the money in completing the building.

A victim, Nwokedi Franklin, said he got to know about the house through posters.

He said, “I got to know about the property through posters. When I called the number on the poster, he said I should meet him at Aguda and after negotiation, I paid him N350,000 and was told to come and collect the keys a month later.

“On September 20, when I went to the apartment, I met over 90 others laying claim to the place. That was how we knew we had been duped.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

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NEWS Ex-Ondo LP chair accuses Mimiko of seizing magazine copies •Govt: it’s a lie From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

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ORMER Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Ondo State Dr. Olaiya Oni yesterday accused Governor Olusegun Mimiko of preventing the circulation of Newswatch magazine in the Southwest, particularly Lagos State, in a desperate attempt to cover up the truth.

He alleged that the governor paid about N2,000 for each copy of the magazine to stop its distribution and threatened to deal with vendors who fail to surrender copies of the magazine.

The former minister told our correspondent in Akure, the state capital, that himself and the former Commissioner for Works, Mr. Yele Omogunwa, featured in an interview in this week’s edition of the magazine, where they spoke on the performance of the Mimiko administration.

Oni alleged that the governor also threatened to arrest the editors and shut down the magazine.

Olaiya said: “I do not know when granting of interviews and publications became an offence in Nigeria. It is not only ridiculous, but against public interest, for the governor to try and cover up information from the people he governs.

“Mimiko cannot prevent the rotten side of his administration from being exposed, because he is merely hiding behind a finger. The people of Ondo State have become disappointed and angry with the way they had been deceived by the Mimiko administration. I hope we are not moving toward a reign of terror in the state.

“This is not the first time the governor will be preventing the circulation of information to the people. He had earlier threatened to bulldoze the building of a private radio station in the state, ADABA FM, for reporting negative stories about his administration.”

The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Eni Akinsola, denied the allegation.

Akinsola said Mimiko, who benefited from the rule of law, would never stop a magazine from circulating its copies.

He said Mimiko has no skeleton in his cupboard.

Ogun tribunal affirms election of ACN men HE Ogun State Na-

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tional and House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital, has affirmed the election of four Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidates.

They are Gbenga Kaka (Ogun East Senatorial District), Abiodun Akinlade (Egbado South/Ipokia Federal Constituency), Abiodun Balogun (Ijebu North/East/ Ogun Waterside Federal Constituency) and Segun Williams (Abeokuta South Federal Constituency).

Their election was challenged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidates.

The PDP candidates are Musa Borokini (Egbado South/Ipokia Federal Constituency), Segun Seriki (Ijebu North/East/Ogun

From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

Waterside Federal Constituency) and Mohammed Tahir Odunowo (Ogun East Senatorial District).

The party contested the result of the House of Representatives’ election in Abeokuta South on behalf of former Speaker Dimeji Bankole.

Yesterday, the tribunal, in separate judgments, dismissed the four petitions and affirmed the victory of the ACN candidates.

The three-man panel, headed by Justice Elizabeth Karatu, said the petitioners could not prove the allegations of malpractices and disenfranchisement beyond reasonable doubt.

Olokun Festival kicks off with Yoruba quiz competition

By Adegunle Olugbamila

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HE 10th edition of the annual Olokun Festival began yesterday with a Yoruba quiz competition among some public schools in Lagos State.

They include Estate Grammar School, Ikeja; Ilupeju Secondary School, Ilupeju; Bolade Grammar School, Oshodi; and Ikeja Junior College, Ikeja,; among others.

The competition was held at Etal Hall and Hotel, Oregun.

The festival, organised by Olokun Festival Foundation, the cultural offshoot of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), started 10 years ago.

Speaking at the event yesterday, OPC National Coordinator Otunba Gani Adams said structures had been put in place to ensure a more fantastic celebration this year.

Some of the activities lined up for the event include a public lecture to be delivered by a professor from the Lagos State University (LASU). It will hold at the Excellence Hotel, Ogba, on Thursday.

The Olokun Beauty Pageant will follow on Sunday evening at 10 Degrees Event Centre, Ikeja.

The grand finale will hold on the 27/28 of this month at Badagry beach, Badagry, Lagos.

Gani said: “People should expect something bigger this year. This is the 10th edition of the Olokun Festival and we try to improve on it every year. The fact that the festival holds in Lagos State gives us leverage in terms of sponsorship, membership strength and even the uniqueness of the beach. We are set to make the festival more glamorous and once again, effect lasting impressions on our visitors and tourists.”

•Mrs. Olayinka flanked by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Ganiyu Owolabi (left), and the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funminiyi Afuye, at the news conference...yesterday.

We have touched lives, says Ekiti Deputy Governor

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KITI State Deputy Governor Mrs. F u n m i l a y o Olayinka yesterday said the Governor Kayode Fayemiled administration has touched the lives of the people within one year in office.

She promised the people of more dividends of democracy.

Mrs. Olayinka spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, while briefing reporters on activities marking the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) government’s one year anniversary.

They include a youth sum-

mit, night of arts and culture, inauguration of projects, economic summit and anniversary lecture to be delivered by the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Matthew Kukah.

The deputy governor said various laws put in place by the House of Assembly have helped the government to improve the standard of living of the people.

Enumerating the administration’s achievements, she said over 145,000 people suffering from various ailments have received free treatment under the Free

Health Mission to rural communities.

Mrs. Olayinka said about 5,000 unemployed youths have been absolved in the government’s Volunteer Corps Scheme.

On agriculture, she said the government has provided equipment, fertiliser and loans to farmers.

Mrs. Olayinka said: “Road construction equally received a boost with the ongoing repair of Ado-Afao, Ado-Ilawe and 10 other major roads.

“Other road projects inherited from the past government, including the Ado-Ifaki

dual carriage way, are now being prosecuted with renewedvigour to ensure early completion.

“You will agree with me that we have touched lives in the areas of health, education, social and infrastructural development, as well as the state’s economy, as we continue to break new grounds.

“Our government has kept hope alive and continues to demonstrate its commitment to executing developmental programmes as explicitly spelt out in our eight-point agenda.”

Pensioner dies at Ondo screening centre

A

N 80-year-old man, Mr. Olusa Ayodele, yesterday slumped and died while waiting to be screened in the on-going verification of Federal Government pensioners in Ondo State.

The octogenarian, who retired in 1984 from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, was taken to the venue of the screening by his 30year-old son, Mr. Deji

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

Ayodele.

The old man was said to have been feeling uncomfortable. Sources said he vomited twice shortly after he got to the venue.

Deji said his father had been on malaria medication for about five days.

He said: “My father was sick and this made it difficult for him to walk. I had to back

him to this place. When he started vomiting, I shouted for help, but there were no medical personnel on ground to offer first aid treatment.”

Pa Ayodele’s body was on the floor for about two hours, before the government’s attention was drawn to it.

No official of the screening committee was willing to speak.

The State Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Prince Adejare Adesida, blamed the incident on the slowness of the screening procedure.

Some people at the scene wondered why the screening committee did not make provision for emergencies, knowing they were working with the aged.

The committee was using only one computer to screen over 5, 000 people.

Judgment reserved in PDP’s petition against Ajimobi’s election

HE Oyo State Election Petition Tribunal yesterday reserved judgment in the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is challenging the election of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The tribunal reserved judgment after counsel to the parties adopted their written addresses yesterday.

The PDP claims that Ajimobi has dual citizenship and does not qualify to contest the election.

A

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

PDP’s counsel Mr. N.O. Oke (SAN) urged the tribunal to resolve the matter in his client’s favour, arguing that the respondents failed to cross examine any of his witnesses to debunk the allegation. But Ajimobi’s lawyer, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), urged the panel to dismiss the petition, arguing that the petitioner could not prove its case.

Akeredolu said: “The petitioner showed nothing in proof of his petition, so there was no need to debunk anything. All they brought to the tribunal indicated that he is a Nigerian. I urge the court to dismiss the petition with cost.”

Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mr. Ahmed Raji also adopted his address and aligned with Akeredolu’s submission.

Raji argued that Ajimobi is qualified to contest any election because he is a Nigerian by birth and not by naturalisation.

He condemned the PDP’s failure to join former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala as a party in the case and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition.

The head of the panel, Justice Abdulahi Muazu Pindiga, said the date of the judgment would be communicated to the parties.

Court upholds Osun lawmaker’s election

T

HE Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, yesterday validated the election of Mr. Nathaniel Agunbiade, representing Obokun/Oriade federal constituency in Osun State at the House of Representatives.

The court, which upheld

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

the verdict of the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal delivered in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, dismissed the appeal filed by Wole Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Justice C. Kekereekun said

the lower tribunal was right to have thrown out the petition.

The lower court had, on August 12, held that the election that brought in Agunbiade, the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), was conducted according to the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, Oke approached the appellate court, urging it to set aside the ruling of the lower tribunal.

Kekereekun and two other judges said the appellant could not prove his case.

They dismissed the appeal and upheld Agunbiade’s election.

9

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

NEWS CBN raises interest rate to 12% Continued from page 4

impact of a double dip recession on oil prices and already declining foreign reserves in addition to the delay in implementing fundamental economic decisions that will shore up reserves.

By selling dollars at auction the CBN is eating into Nigeria’s foreign reserves, which are built up through the sale of its crude oil.

Despite high oil prices and production, reserves stand at $31.4 billion, down from $35.4 billion a year ago.

But the naira touched a new all-time low in the interbank market and weakened at the CBN’s official window yesterday.

This came hours after the Minister of State for Finance Yerima Ngama said interest rates must rise to make government instruments more attractive and to support the naira.

The naira reached N167.40 against the dollar in the interbank market initially before recovering to close at 164.30, down by 4.2 per cent from Friday’s close of N160.10.

CBN sold $400 million at N156.91 to the dollar at its bi-weekly foreign exchange auction yesterday, short of the $736.94 million demanded and at weaker levels than at the official window last week.

Sanusi, however, warned that unless timely decisions are taken to remove petroleum subsidies, Nigeria may end up with the Greek experience, which has seen about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the country’s work force out of job.

The petroleum subsidy, Sanusi said, depletes the external reserve by about US$6 billion annually.

The removal of oil subsidy, he emphasised, would free up about N1 trillion to be used in other sectors of the economy.

He said passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and removing subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) will add at least US$10 billion to national reserves annually.

The Committee equally expressed concerns about the genuineness of demand for petroleum imports. According to the CBN governor, “this year alone, oil importers have bought over US$7.0 billion from the wholesale Dutch Auction System (wDAS), thereby, depleting the nation’s external reserves.” This demand, he said might have been fuelled by rent-seeking and subsidies.

Sanusi was of the opinion that the labour unions have genuine concerns about the impact of subsidy removal on the poorer segments of society, but he maintained that “the stark reality is that the country is living above its means.”

Commenting on the monetary tightening, Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, described it as “a big pill to swallow”.

Noting that the development has very wide implications, he said it would have been easier for the MPC to adjust the exchange rate.

Bayelsa groups mount pressure on Jonathan to dump Sylva

A

FRESH crisis of confidence yesterday erupted between loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan and the Governor of his home state Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva. Behind it all are alleged plans to stop the re-election of the governor next year.

Two groups, believed to be loyal to the President yesterday came out openly in Abuja to demand the adoption of a member of the House of Representatives, Henry Seriake Dickson as a consensus candidate.

The groups, which have been mounting pressure on the President, are: Bayelsa Restoration Team and The Green Movement.

But the President has not made any commitment on whether to dump Sylva or not.

Although the governorship poll will hold in the state on February 11, next year, the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has ordered a fresh primary election to pick its flagbearer.

But Sylva, who had won the re-election ticket in January said he would not chicken out of the race.

But there was tension yesterday at the National Secretariat of the PDP following the demands of the two groups.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The loyalists of the President are mounting

•Nobody can stop governor, says commissioner From Yusuf Alli, Abuja and Isaac Ombe-Yenagoa

pressure on him and the party to drop the governor for a member of the House of Representatives, Henry Seriake Dickson.

“In fact, Dickson’s posters were evacuated from Abuja to Yenagoa yesterday for display. The Bayelsans are building a new consensus around Sylva.

“This development has caused disquiet among members of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party. We have a serious challenge at hand.”

Spokesman for the Bayelsa Restoration Movement, Furoebi Sheba Akene, said: “We •Obi came together and reviewed the situation in Bayelsa State since the President left as its governor and we discovered that the state has been drained. No pin has been added to the development in Bayelsa.

“We met and agreed that we should make a positive change. We have agreed that the governorship of our state should go to Bayelsa West.

Looking at the parameters, we feel that Dickson is a better choice than Sylva.

“Nobody is perfect but Dickson is among the best in

Bayelsa and he can move the state forward than what it is now.”

Also, a former Commissioner for Science and Technology in Jonathan’s cabinet in Bayelsa, Eluan Izagara, said: “We have been working together with Dickson since we started Project 2003 and we believe he can take us to the Promised Land.”

In a statement in Abuja signed by its Chairman, Dr. Tarila Tebepah; Secretary, Bishop B.W. Deyi-Eremienyo; and Treasurer, A.J. Turner, The Green Movement said the time was up for Sylva.

But Bayelsa State government said no amount of intimidations would stop Sylva from recontesting.

A statement in Yenagoa by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Nathan Egba entitled: ‘The gang up against Sylva’, admitted that there has been series of rumours making the rounds on plans to stop the governor from contesting the 2012 elections.

The rumours, he noted had been attributed to politicians of the state origin residing in Abuja. He accused such politicians of dropping the name of Mr. President,and his wife, Dame Patience to endorse other aspirants.

The statement reads: “We in Bayelsa have been hearing and lately, reading on the pages of newspapers about all the gang up by some politicians in Abuja against the Governor of Bayelsa State, Dr Timipre Sylva.

“Much as we concede that everybody has the right under our democracy to aspire to whatever position they fancy, it is patently immoral to attempt to confuse and even dupe the public through name-dropping and other under hand tactics.

“Governor Timipre Sylva and his supporters fully welcome all contestants to the upcoming PDP governorship primaries in Bayelsa State, if it turns out that such a primary election would be held in the face of the earlier primaries won by the governor” He said: “We reject insinuations that our highly revered first family have endorsed any candidate against the Governor. If anything, its Governor Sylva that has a subsisting endorsement of Mr President and the First Lady. Even then, we do not wish to drag these highly placed and respected personalities into the fray in our quest to safeguard the mandate already given to Governor Sylva by the PDP in the state”

“Yesterday, it was reports of some 80 leaders from Bayelsa West Senatorial zone endorsing Hon. Dickson Seriake of the House of Representatives for the governorship of Bayelsa State. Today, we hear its the Green Movement of Bayelsa endorsing him”, the statement said.

“We welcome the chance to trounce him and put him in his proper place. We know that their plan is anchored on the upcoming Supreme Court judgment. In the event it favours them, then they plan to use the EFCC, the Police and other security agencies to intimidate and harrass both the Governor and his supporters into submission and seize the PDP ticket”.

“This as far as we are concerned is mere wishful thinking. No matter which way the Supreme Court rules, Governor Sylva will contest and by God’s grace secure a second term to finish the work he has started in Bayelsa State”.

“We do not see any role for the EFCC and Police or other Security agencies in the PDP primaries and are therefore not perturbed at all.”

Egba called “ on all supporters of Governor Sylva and the people of Bayelsa State to remain calm and steadfast in their support for both Mr President and the governor”.

•Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (right) presenting a souvenir to Edo State Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun (right) and General Overseer, The Governor Adams Oshiomhole when the Board of Directors of TY Danjuma Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye during Foundation visited the Governor in Benin City...yesterday. With them is Miss Adeboye’s visit to the Governor’s Office, Oke Mosan in Abeokuta...yesterday Thelma Ekiyor, Executive Director

Lemu Panel indicts Buhari over post-election violence Continued from page 4

“People indicted by the committees and commissions concerned should be prosecuted. These recommendations are based on what the panel observed from many victims of those previous disturbances which are nursing reprisals and have only been waiting for the slightest excuse to move into action which some of them did during the 2011 election violence and civil disturbances.

“The second major cause of the recent electoral violence was the existing widespread desire for change as a result of frustration and disappointment of many members of the general public regarding the inability of the successive past regimes to solve the problems of electricity power failure nationwide, deplorable state

of Federal Government roads throughout the nation, bribery and corruption which have virtually been legitimised in all affairs of our nation.

Thus with regard to the remedy of bribery and corruption, we recommend that the Heads of the Three Arms of Government as well as other major stakeholders in Nigeria should come together and agree on the most effective way forward to avoid the impending catastrophe.

“Similarly, general insecurity of life and property in people’s houses and on the high ways and kidnappings are fuel to the fire of public frustration and disappointment. The true state of affairs could escalate to social revolution if preventive measures are not taken in time. In fact, the current sporadic demon-

strations in educational institutions and by labour unions are all considered to be signals of more serious negative events to come. This assertion could be verified for your Excellency by the security agencies.

The next major cause of violence and disturbances is the manner in which political office holders have lucratised their respective positions at the expense of the nation. The panel discovered that the remunerations and allowances of the members of the legislature, in particular, are considered by stakeholders who addressed us or wrote to us about the issue to be outrageous. It has turned politics in Nigeria to a do-or-die affair for which many politicians of all parties are seriously establishing private armies to execute. In that

respect, easy access to drugs, serious general poverty at the grassroots level and youth unemployment, in particular, are providing many foot soldiers ready for recruitment at a cheap rate. The security agencies could verify this assertion also.

“Generally speaking, the basic cause of the violence in nearly all the communities concerned is political. Ethnoreligious sentiments were brought into the issue through negative campaigns and rumour mongering by unscrupulous individuals to achieve their ulterior motives.”

The panel recommended that basic education curriculum should henceforth contain - as a compulsory learning material for all students - the moral values of God fearing and of

accountability before God which are derived from the Islamic and Christian teachings as well as civic and cultural orientation in line with section 23 of the Constitution.

It was impossible to ascertain the casualty figure and other victims not accounted for, adding that it considered this to be the work of professionals and has informed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) accordingly.

With regard to weapons used, the panel said for the crisis in the North, knives, axes, cutlasses, clubs were largely used, adding that in Akwa Ibom, there was “a tide of illegal flow of sophisticated weapons into the state, which were used in the violence”.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

10

NEWS Arewa group hails Akpabio

T

HE Arewa Consultative Youth Forum (ACYF) has praised the achievements of AkwaIbom State Governor Godswill Akpabio in the last four year.

It said Akpabio has demonstrated his passion to develop the state, which has earned him national and international awards.

ACYF President Alhaji Yerima Shettima spoke to reporters in Lagos yesterday. Shettima said: “ The government of AkwaIbom State, under Akpabio’s leadership, in the areas of infrastructure and manpower development, should be a standard for public officers, because he met the state in a very pathetic condition and has, against all odds, sacrificed his pleasure to give the state the befitting status it now enjoys.

“What I expect from the good people of the state, no matter the political difference and other anti democratic tendencies, is to rally round the governor, so that he would continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.”

He urged Akpabio to continue to see the entire state as his constituency, saying: “ From the result of the elections, it is certain that the people voted massively for him across the three senatorial districts despite the various attempts to plunge the state into ethnic war.”

According to the activist,” those who have been criticising the various awards given to governor by several organisations both within and outside the shores of the country, which are based on performance, they should eschew the politics of bitterness, commend where neccessary and criticise where one has not done enough, but for now I think Akpabio is the governor that stands out among his peers and he should be celebrated, appreciated and commended to do more.”

•Amaechi (right) presenting a souvenir to Ibeneche...yesterday

Rivers safe for business, says Amaechi •Hails NLNG’s relocation to Port Harcourt

R

IVERS State Governor Chibuike Amaechi has said the state is now safe for business.

Amaechi spoke yesterday when the management of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), led by its Chairman, Chief O. R Long-John, visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

He praised the company

and the peaceful business atmosphere is sustained. We will support NLNG and make your stay peaceful and productive.”

Long-John said: “We tried to move earlier in 2006, but could not, because of militancy.”

NLNG Managing Director Mr. Chima Ibeneche said the relocation became necessary due to its social and economic benefits.

He praised the governor’s

achievements on security and the provision of infrastructure, adding that the current peaceful clime would provide the elixir for many businesses to thrive.

Inebeche said: “We have seen that Rivers State is ready for business and we want to be part of the progress.”

He said the company would have settled down fully by the end of next month.

Police foil robbery attack on 94-yr-old Delta monarch

OLICEMEN yesterday foiled a robbery attack on the Palace of the Owhorode of Olomu Kingdom in Delta State, 94year-old Ovie R.L. Ogbon Ogoni-Oghoro I. The incident occurred exactly 10 years after a similar attack on the palace by hoodlums led to the death of the monarch’s driver.

The gunmen stormed the palace in the wee hours of yesterday morning, but were curtailed by the timely intervention of the police and community vigilance group.

The monarch’s wife, Mrs. Grace Ogbon said: “At about 4am, seven armed men jumped over the fence and

P

for relocating its headquarters to Rivers, adding that the state is now conducive for investments.

Amaechi assured intending investors that his administration would sustain peace in the state and continue to improve on infrastructure and other facilities that will aid the growth of businesses.

He said: “We will do everything possible to ensure that every business is secured

From Shola O’Neil, Warri

attacked the security man.

They tied him down, collected his phone and removed the SIM card.

“They went to my room’s window and told my mother to go and open the door, but she ran to us upstairs.

“When she told us what was going on, we started making distress calls to people. By then, the robbers had removed the kitchen window’s protector and broke the store door. They went through rooms and offices on the ground floor.

“When they found the staircase door, they started chisel-

‘When they found the staircase door, they started chiselling the iron door. At that time, we were desperately praying for help. We were frightened because of our earlier horrible experiences.’ ling the iron door. At that time, we were desperately praying for help. We were frightened because of our ear-

lier horrible experiences.

“Then we heard a gun shot, which we later discovered was fired by the community vigilance group. Policemen from outside Jeremi division also came, and this scared off the robbers.

“We thank God for saving us, they were not able to steal anything or hurt anyone. We thank the vigilance group and the police for coming to our aid.”

The Eton of Olomu, Olorogum Ogbarode Ogbon, condemned the attack.

He said: “How can someone think of robbing a 94year-old king? Again, he is a king. These boys will not live long; they should run to God for confession and repentance.”

Corps member killed in Delta

A

MEMBER of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Hamman Abba Kerewha, has been shot dead by unknown gunmen in Delta State.

The late Kerewha, a geologist, was serving as a

From Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

teacher at the Institute of Continuing Education in Oleh, Isoko South Local Government Area.

The Bornu State indigene was on his way home when the gunmen shot him in the

chest. He died immediately.

The late Kerewa’s colleagues described him as “quiet, humble, respectful and committed to service of his father land.” His remains would be taken to Bornu for burial.

Acting Police spokesman

Mr. Patrick Ebokah said he was yet to be briefed about the incident.

The Head of Personnel Management, Isoko South Local Government, Chief F.O. Amudo prayed that God would grant the deceased’s family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Ex-NDDC chief urges govt to immortalise senator

F

ORMER Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Pastor Ziakede Aginighan has urged the Federal Government to immortalise the name of the late Senator Fred Brume.

Aginighan spoke at the

From Polycarp Orosevwotu, Warri

weekend during a condolence visit to Brume’s family in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State.

He described the late Brume as “a distinguished statesman, a bridge builder and a fearless crusader for better living

conditions in the Niger Delta and Nigeria.”

Aginighan said: “There is no doubt that Nigeria is greatly diminished with the demise of Brume. He was a freedom fighter, but did not carry AK 47. “Urhobo cannot talk about economic emancipation without mentioning

the late Brume, because he was the architect of the establishment of the Delta Steel Company.

“Even the history of the NDDC cannot be correctly written without a chapter devoted to the late Brume, because he was a facilitator to its formation.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

‘IFRS compliant,a must for G20 membership’

By Ajose Sehindemi

C

HAIRMAN, Imple mentation Commit tee, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and retired board member of International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), Bob Garnett, has said for any country seeking membership of G20, becoming IFRS compliant is a must.

Garnett said African companies will need to work together in regional groups to have more weight as they will not gain neccesary influence on their own because they do not have the IFRS track record yet.

He said this at a pre-workshop meeting with the theme ‘IFRS and Emerging market’ organised by Ernst and Young, a leading voice in IFRS conversion, that will hold today in Lagos.

Garnett will lead other experts from different sectors worldwide to the workshop where he will deliver a lecture on the topic ‘Developments of IFRS and Emerging markets’.

Other key speakers are Director,Ernst & Young and Head of Financial Reporting Group (Africa), Garth Coppin, who will speak on First time adoption,What does it mean for Nigeria, Country leader for Nigeria and Regional Managing Partner for West Africa?

Henry Egbiki, who talks on Why Now (West Africa), Head of Financial services sector, Ernst & Young,Africa sub-area; Emilio Pera, director,Financial reporting group, Larissa Clark and an IFRS, expert Jamiu Olakisan, who will speak on Financial sector and IFRS.

The CBN will continue to work towards keeping pace with contemporary developments, institutional and institutionalised best practices on non-interest banking. –Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, CBN Governor

Jonathan sacks 10 agencies from ports P RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday wielded the big stick when he approved the sack of 10 agencies from the seaports.

The affected agencies were accused of working against the international best practices in port administration.

They include the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Directorate of Naval Intelligence (DNI) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Others are the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), the Plant Quarantine and Animal Quarantine (PQAQ), the National Environmental Regulatory and Standards Agency (NESREA) and the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN).

Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who served the two-week eviction notice, warned against extor-

• NPA to regulate port charges

By Oluwakemi Dauda

tion at the ports.

Beside, she restated the determination of the Jonathan’s administration to reduce the time spent on good clearance from several weeks to about a week or less as obtained in other climes.

The two-week quit notice given by the President expires next week.

Addressing stakeholders and reporters after inspecting facilities at Apapa ports, the minister said the President has directed that only five out of the 14 agencies at the ports should be allowed by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to operate after the expiration of the ultimatum.

The agencies allowed un-

der the new dispensation are: the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Ports Police, State Security Service (SSS) and Ports Health.

The NPA and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the minister said, would also continue to perform their statutory functions at the ports.

According to her, the President directed that the NCS should embark on 24-hour operation at the ports.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala said the measure was part of President Jonathan’s efforts to make the ports efficient and attractive for business in the West African sub-region.

The minister, who spoke on behalf of members of the

Presidential Committee on Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, which included the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar and other top government functionaries, said the NPA, has been empowered to enforce the order and regulate the charges and the activities of the terminal operators for efficiency.

She said: ‘‘The task force was set up by Mr President to try to solve the problems at our ports. I am here with a simple message from the President and that message is that it is time for our ports to start working. And they must start working for honest and hardworking Nigerians. Not for those who are trying to make things more complicated, make money out of the ports and make life more difficult for the honest business men, man or woman in this country.

“We must make our ports work for Nigerians who want to create jobs.

NSE JSE NYSE LSE

-N6.747 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion

RATES Inflation -9.3% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending-22.42% Prime lending -15.84% Savings rate -1.42% 91-day NTB -6.99% Time Deposit -6% MPR -8.75% Foreign Reserve $34.87b CFA EUR £ $ ¥ SDR RIYAL

FOREX -

0.281 215.1 245.00 153.16 1.5652 243.2 40.57

From Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor (Abuja)

N

IGERIA’s drive to at tract foreign inves tors is yielding results as one of the world’s largest global alternative asset management companies, Carlyle Group, is in the country to invest in agriculture and financial services.

Addressing officials of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) in Abuja yesterday, the Managing Director of Carlyle Group, David Rubenstein, said the group’s private equity investments in Nigeria will have positive impact in job creation, capacity building, infrastructural and economic development as well as increased revenue from taxes.

Carlyle Group, he said, is one of the largest global alternative asset management companies in the world with over $153 billion in assets under management operating in 34 countries, adding that the group is planning a long term strategic partnership and investment in Nigeria. He stated that earlier this year, the firm launched the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund (CSSAF) with Nigeria as one of its primary markets.

Rubenstein, said a significant portion of CSSAF’s capital would be deployed in Nigeria in sectors where they have comparative expertise, such as consumer and retail, energy and power, financial services, health care, industrial, infrastructure, real estate, technology and business services, aerospace, telecommunication, media and transportation.

‘Why fisheries may collapse’

By Daniel Essiet

F

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$118.7/barrel Cocoa -$2,856/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,161/troy ounce Rubber -¢146.37pound MARKET CAPITALISATIONS

PENCOM partners Carlyle Group on agric, others

• From left: Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi (middle) flanked by Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Dr Kingsley Moghalu and Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Mrs Sarah Alade at a news conference on Monetary Policy in PHOTO: NAN Abuja...yesterday. (See story on page 1).

Subsidy removal: Marketers canvass refineries reactivation T HE Independent Petro leum Marketers Asso ciation of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said the reactivation of the refineries must precede any plan by the government to remove petroleum subsidy.

Speaking with reporters yesterday in Abuja, IPMAN National President, Aminu Abdulkadir, suggested that instead of embarking on full removal of the subsidy, the government should deregulate in phases till it is convenient for complete removal.

He urged the government to mobilise the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to secure the country’s 5,430 kilometre pipelines network to the extent that it can convey products from the coastal region to inland depots instead of bridging the products.

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

Abdukadir said the government should strengthen the capacity of independent marketers with credit facilities as the case with major marketers, stating that no nation can afford to leave its economy in the hands of foreigners as it is in Nigeria.

The IPMAN boss said in the last 11 years, this is the only time that NNPC has been able to convey products to its Gombe, Jos and Gusau depots, adding that the country’s level of preparedness for deregulation is still very low.

Abdulkadir said the government would worsen the situation should it go ahead to remove petroleum subsidy if the product is not available, especially now that 60 per cent of the product is secured through bridg-

ing.

He said the government should secure the pipelines, rejuvenate the refineries, make the inland depots functional and enhance the independent marketers’ capacity to deliver. No nation will ever leave their country for others to come and build, he added.

He said the government’s intention of removal of subsidy as a whole is not advisable, saying in the past 11 years, this is the first time NNPC is able to reach inland depots.

“As I have been saying, removal of subsidy should be done in phases. And before the removal of subsidy, it has to do with the provision of the requisite infrastruc-

ture in the oil and gas industry, particularly the downstream.

“If you look at our pipeline net work in Nigeria, it is about 5430 kilometres. Not all of these pipelines have been secured. Definitely, NNPC needs to secure these pipelines so that products can reach the inland depots. By so doing, it will enhance product availability in all nooks and crannies in Nigeria.

“It will also afford the marketers to access these products not necessary through long bridging. Today, about 60 per cent of our products is being bridged from the coastal areas to the inland depots, which was not the case before. Now if you deregulate fully and we have hitches along the line, what have you deregulated .

ISH stocks in the nation’s waters may collapse because of overfishing, a leading fisheries expert, has said.

The Don, Prof Martins Antetekhai, said the situation warrants fixing lowcatch quota.

Antetekhai, who is of the Department of Fisheries, Lagos State University (LASU) , told The Nation in an interview, that continuous over-fishing could led to collapse where stocks are overexploited.

Protecting stocks, he explained, will provide a sustainable food source and help fishing communities to be profitable, saying it is in the interest of the nation that there is a realistic assessment of the volume of fish actually caught and what is the state of the stock.

This, he explained, would help the government to determine whether the stock is going down and whether a higher quota should be set.

Antetekhai said stocks need to be rebuilt and that fishermen have to fish more selectively, benefiting their bottom line and the vulnerable stocks.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

12

BUSINESS NEWS IGR: FCTA rakes in N46m monthly

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

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

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

1.

2.

3.

4.

Arik Aero Arik Aero

1. Arik 2. Aero 1.

2.

3.

4.

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

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

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

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

2.

3.

4.

5.

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

08.40 08.40 14.55 15.10 17.40

1.

2.

3.

4.

Arik Aero Arik Aero

LAGOS – WARRI 08.15 11.50 11.55 14.55

09.1 12.50 12.55 15.55

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2.

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5.

6.

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

08.50 09.45 09.40 14.00 15.45 19.55

LAGOS – OWERRI 07.20 14.00 16.30

08.30 15.10 17.40

LAGOS – UYO 10.35

11.35

1. Arik 2. Arik 3. Arik 1. Dana 1. IRS 2. Arik

LAGOS – MAIDUGURI 11.15 13.15 15.50 18.00

LAGOS – ILORIN 1. Overland 07.15 2. Arik (M/T/TH/F) 17.30

08.00 18.00

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

From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

T

• Mr Phillips Oduoza, GMD/CEO, UBA Plc with Mr Martin Wittig, Global CEO, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, at a dinner in honour of Mr Wittig, hosted by the UBA chief, in Lagos.

Airtel recalls suspended workers

S

USPENDED workers of Airtel Networks Limited will return to their jobs on Thursday, while negotiation is expected to start on Friday and end on October 28.

This was contained in the agreement signed by the National Union of Post and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), with the company at the end of a twoday conciliatory meeting, at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu.

The Labour Minister, however, said his ministry will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology and other stakeholders to set up a technical Committee on regulation of outsourcing and other labour related issues in the Communications sector.

The dispute, which has resulted in the disruption of Airtel’s services, was about outsourcing and contracting of regular jobs.

The following agreement was

• Begins negotiation Friday

By Dupe Olaoye-Osinkolu

reached at the meeting: •That the issue of the outstanding fourth(4th) Quarter,2010 and the first (1st) Quarter 2011 Quarterly incentive scheme, contained in the Agreement signed by the parties on July 27, 2011 shall be implemented accordingly.

•That in consideration of security issues and matters ancillary thereto, stability shall be restored to the Airtel Networks Limited commencing immediately and the Labour Movement shall actively assist in ensuring the stability. *That Airtel will mandate its Business Partners i.e. Spanco Channel BPO Limited and Tech Mahindra Nigeria Limited to ensure the resumption of all staff affected by the suspension of operations not later than Thursday, October 13, 2011.

•That on Friday, October 14, 2011 negotiation shall start between Airtel Services Limited, Spanco Channel

BPO Limited, Tech Mahindra Nigeria Limited and National Union of Post and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE) to put in place a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

•The Collective Bargaining Agreement shall be concluded by October 28, 2011.

•That there shall be no victimisation whatsoever of any worker on account of any action or omission committed during the industrial crisis.

The agreement was signed by Jubril Saba for Airtel Networks Ltd, Sunday Alhassan and Taiwo Foluso for NUPTE, Digvijay Srivastava for Spanco Channels BPO Ltd while Hon. Uchenna Ekwe and Comrade Nuhu A. Toro signed on behalf of NLC. Others are Mukul Sah for Tech Mahindra Nig Ltd and Chinedu C. Dike on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

NNPC allays fears on blackout

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HE Nigerian National Petro leum Corporation (NNPC) has allayed fears over the impending nationwide blackout to be caused by the shutdown of some of its gas plants supplying gas for power generation.

In a statement, the Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Austen Oniwon, said NNPC and its Joint Venture partners have taken steps for the envisaged shutdown to ensure that Nigerians do not suffer undue hardship because of the planned maintenance.

In the statement signed by the

By Emeka Ugwuanyi Asst. Editor

Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, Oniwon, said: “The maintenance at the gas plants is not only routine, but it is also scheduled with the intention of improving gas supply to the power plants. There will be some shortfall in supply, but it should not result in blackout, but we are positive that this cannot lead to nationwide blackout or total system collapse as being portrayed.”

He stated that already supplementary gas and reallocation to critical users is being put in place in collaboration with all consumers including the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

The NNPC spokesman said the gas plants billed for routine maintenance from today include Shell P operated Utorogu and Ugheli East facilities.

Ajuonuma reassured Nigerians that the corporation in alliance with its JV partners are doing everything possible to provide adequate gas for power, adding that there is no need to panic.

Shell declares force majeure on Forcados shipments

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HE Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has declared force majeure on its Forcados export programme for October, November and December this year as a result of production shutdown caused by a sabotage leak on Trans Forcados Pipeline.

Force majeure is when it is impossible for an oil company to cover the promised supply from the field.

In a statement Shell’s Corporate Media Relations Manager, Tony Okonedo, said the declaration took effect from yesterday.

Okonedo said the leak was reported on October 6, and a Joint Investigation Team found that it was caused by explosion. SPDC is working to repair the pipeline and resume production as quickly as

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

possible, he added.

The company has also lifted the force majeure on Bonny Light export programme, which was declared on August 23, the statement.

Although Okonedo said the company as a matter of policy doesn’t give out production figures, it was learnt that over 400,000 barrels of oil would be shut-in within the next seven days the repairs is expected to last. As a result, crude lifting from the Forcados terminal for October, November and December, would be affected.

Besides, as a result of its strategic role, whenever the Trans Forcados Pipeline is shut, it adversely affects power supply in the country because it supplies gas to the majority of the thermal power plants.

Trans Forcados Pipeline, according to top official of the petroleum ministry, is a strategic pipeline that transports crude oil and condensates from various locations in the Niger Delta to Forcados terminal. It moves over 400,000 barrels daily to the terminal. Its shut down always has serious implication on electricity supply and crude export . It also has negative impact on the revenue that accrues to the Federal Government.

Following the planned shutdown of the pipeline, Nigeria Gas Company Limited (NGC) had on Sunday given notice to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) of gas supply shortage as a result of shut down of Shell’s Utorogu and Ughelli East Gas Plants, Oben, Sapele and Ogharefe gas plants of SEPLAT and Pan Ocean.

HE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said yesterday that its Monthly Internally Generated Revenue has increased to N46 million.

Also, it has paid up to 80 per cent of debts owed various contractors handling projects in and around Abuja.

The step, the FCT Administration said, is aimed at encouraging the various contracting companies to put in more effort in completing ongoing projects.

Director of Treasury in the FCT Administration, Mr Ibrahim Bomai, who disclosed this in an interview with The Nation explained that the remaining balance of 20 per cent comprises money owed contractors who have yet to submit adequate details information of their accounts to the administration.

Mr Bomai said the payment of contractors is based on the certificates of completion of projects as specified under the public procurement Act. “The financial disposition of the administration is such that internally generated revenue (IGR) is continually increased, the administration at present generates internally total revenue of about N46million on Monthly basis,” he said He explained that plans have been put in place to raise the revenue to N66million monthly through strengthening of tenement rates collection, which will henceforth not be received by the Area Councils any longer.

“We are receiving letters of bills from the secretariats, departments and agencies (SDAs), to compare to what funds we have at hands so that the administration could see the possibility of clearing out all outstanding liabilities,” he noted.

On preparation for the 2012 budget, the director said: “We have made our submission in respect of the 2012 budget to the budget office and anytime from now, they will be inviting us to defend our position”.

‘High costs threaten Food security’ From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

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HE Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has said increase in the cost of food prices has posed a major threat to food security in the country.

Adesina disclosed this yesterday during a briefing to commemorate the World Food Day in Abuja, adding that the Federal Government has failed to produce sufficient food to meet up with its increasing population.

He said: “The increase in food prices represents a major threat to food security in developing countries and most especially for the poor. According to the World Bank, between 2010 and 2011, rising food prices push seven million additional people into extreme poverty.

“The major reason for the rising prices and volatility are maladministration, which simply means not producing enough food to meet the rising population. Nigeria is no exception.”

It could be recalled that in 2007 and 2008, Nigeria witnessed unprecedented increase in food commodity, which actually led the government to intervene through its various agricultural policies and programme such as the National Food Security Programme (NFSP), the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy NEED, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), among others.

The Minister, however, attributed declining productivity of global agricultural products, climatic change, and conversion of food into bio-fuel as some of the factors associated to increase in food price.

TUESDAY, OCTOBERBER 11, 2011

13

ENERGY THE NATION

E-mail:- energy@thenationonlineng.net

There seems to be a renewed drive by the Federal Government to fully deregulate the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry, which in other words, is removal of subsidy on petrol. Reports say full deregulation takes off January next year but can interests let the policy sail through asks, EMEKA UGWUANYI Assistant Editor (Energy).

‘Petrol subsidy for 2011 will be well over N1tr’

• Austen Oniwon, Group Managing Director, NNPC

T

HERE is an indication that the subsidy for imported pre mium motor spirit (petrol) in 2011 will be well in excess of N1 trillion, investigation has shown.

Following the seemingly renewed zeal by the Federal Government to stop subsidising petrol, our correspondent carried out an investigation into what has been stalling this policy from being accomplished after nine years of efforts.

In 2002, the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Funso Kupolokun, was at the fore-front of deregulation which earned him the name, Mr Deregulation.

All through these years, the government at various times had shown signs of commitment to removing the subsidy, but has not any recorded success. It is either the labour and civil society coalition kicked against it or government soft-pedaled to address some infrastructural needs before deregulating.

However, investigation has shown that even the NNPC, which claims to support full deregulation, only pays lip service to the commitment. It was learnt that NNPC is the biggest beneficiary of petrol subsidy.

The NNPC is said to import as much quantity as the combined imports by the petroleum marketers and is placed at an advantage because it does wait for the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the agency that oversees the petroleum subsidy fund.

Unlike the marketers, the NNPC is said to withdraw its subsidy from source (proceeds from crude oil sales) before rendering the account to the government while the marketers have to go through PPPRA to pay them (marketers) the differential between the actual cost of the product and regulated pump price.

The PPPRA issues sovereign debt instrument (SDI) to the marketers who in turn submits the Debt Management Office (DMO). When the DMO takes the SDI, it becomes a sovereign debt note (SDN). The SDN acts as a sort of indemnity and guarantees payment because if the PPPRA fails to pay, the SDN through the DMO will compel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay, while this doesn’t apply to NNPC. It was also learnt that as at end of August, the PPPRA has paid N560 billion as subsidy to marketers and calculations and precedence show that every last quarter of the year, more petrol is consumed as a result of festivities and increase in vehicle population. Therefore, by the time the subsidy of the last four months is added to the already paid subsidy coupled with those of the NNPC, which imports as much as the marketers combined together, the cost of fuel subsidy for this year would be well over one trillion naira.

• NNPC biggest beneficiary Report from the members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) confirmed that the group and other private importers import just about 50 percent of the petrol needs of the country. For instance, the association in a public announcement placed in the media in 2009, said the private sector imported 50 per cent of the country’s PMS requirement while the NNPC imported the remainder. The group was contesting the huge debt the PPPRA owed them and besides, the said the exchange rate difference between the naira and dollar was so wide as the naira was depreciating against the dollar and doesn’t come close to exchange rate in PPPRA’s template.

The marketers demanded for a foreign currency window for payment to importers of petrol. They said the PPPRA delayed payment of subsidy far much than was stipulated in the agreement. For instance, the agreement was that PPPRA should pay monthly and within 15 days of submission of claim by marketers but some payments were as late as 200 days.

To avert possible strike and consequent fuel scarcity, the government had quickly to engage them and all the backlogs were paid last year. The government has ever since been trying to sustain regular fuel supply at subsidized price at a very huge cost.

Besides, the industry sources that spoke to The Nation in confidence on

this issue said that there is a bloated number of fuel importers noting that every Dick and Harry are into importation of petrol once the person has a god father that can issue a note for allocation import permit. They are of the view that the number of importers should be drastically reduced because as the business currently is, importation of fuel is highly politicized with government officials making cheap money for their cronies.

The sources are of the view that the government should not renege on its drive for full deregulation even they advised government to put in place some infrastructure before full blown deregulation. They also noted that the government should think out of the box because it is being ill-advised by its advisers on the policy.

• From left: Olusola Bakare, Publicity Secretary, Jide Ojo, President and Mayowa Afe, President-elect, all of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), at a press conference in Lagos.

‘Falling oil price may lead to budget underperformance’

I

F the falling oil price in the in ternational market continues to deteriorate, it might lead to underperformance of the budget and negatively affect the economy, it was said.

The thawing price of crude, which is attributed to the slowing demand and improvement in production from oil producing countries may be a setback for Nigeria following its dependence on oil for a

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

chunk of its revenue.

However, experts said even the price fall below the budget benchmark of $75 a barrel, it might not impact negatively on the economy especially as it is the nature of oil price to fluctuate. They said that it is only recently the price fell below $100 a barrel, therefore, the excesses of the previous months

should balance out the drop in price.

According to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Danvic Concepts, Mr Mayowa Afe, who also is the President-elect of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), the price of oil is not static and is it is not determined by local politics and polices. Therefore, it a global thing and doesn’t affect Nigeria

OIL PRICES SEPT 30 -OCT 7

Light Crude

Source: Rigzone.com

Brent Crude

alone.

He said: “On the impact of falling oil price on Nigeria’s economy, I think we have seen a lot of erosion in the price of oil over time and this is dependent on world politics and state of world economy. It is not something that is going to be static. It will be fluctuating depending on what circumstances we have across the world.

The oil and gas market is a global market. It is not dictated here by local politics so it is not going to be static.

“The implication of falling oil price on the economy is obvious.

When we go below our budget benchmark, we are making losses and there will be no capital development. There will be a reduction in overall economic activities because the income will be reduced. I don’t see it as something that will impact on the economy because it will still go up.

“The Publicity Secretary of NAPE, Mr Olusola Bakare, commenting on the issue, said: “If the crude oil price continues to go

down, obviously that will lead to underperformance of the budget because we are not able to realise what we expect to realise. It means there will be a shortfall at the end of the day. But it all depends the way the value of crude goes because we had excess before, when the price was over a 100 dollars per barrel and by the time we have some negative too, it should be able to balance out. The only thing is that we hope things will be done properly, so it will net out eventually.

“When you have positive and negative, if the negative does not exceed the fines of the positive, iIt should be able to have a net out to arrive at what you posited because we didn’t make our benchmark to $90 or $100 because there was a time it was selling for over a $100 a barrel and when it comes down to $70 it should not be a problem immediately unless it is prolonged. Because we are in the last quarter of the year, all the excess we had should be able to make for whatever shortfall we will have within the three months.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

14

ENERGY

‘Petrol importation costs Nigeria $10b yearly’

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HE Federal Government spends not less than $10 bil lion annually to import premium motor spirit (PMS) or petrol despite the country’s huge hydrocarbon deposits.

Beside oil and gas reserves, the country has three refineries, which have combined refining capacity of 445,000 barrels per day; however, only two have been functional over the years at very suboptimal levels compelling the country to depend on importation of refined petroleum products for its domestic consumption. USD10b expended annually importing PMS alone The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority, Dr. Noble Abe, who spoke at a recent forum in Lagos, said data from petroleum marketers association showed that “USD10 billion is expended annually by the country importing PMS alone.”

He said Nigeria’s biggest problem today is the huge percentage of our income that is spent importing refined petroleum products. He pointed out that oil and gas apart from providing fuel, constitutes important raw materials for production of different products.

He said: “Unknown to many Nigerians, oil and gas is a very important raw material and its use is not limited to powering generators and driving cars.

“Over 6,000 products can be identified as made from petroleum; therefore, exportation of mineral resources in its raw form undermines industry, job creation, the availability of raw materials for sec-

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

ondary industries, transfer of technology and contributes to fuelling social ills.

“Our goal should, therefore, be to add value to our greatest resource which is one of the most important raw materials known to man. The quantum effect of this will totally transform our economy in little or no time and help to resolve most of the problems we are experiencing as a nation today.”

He said that Nigeria despite being the world’s seventh largest oil exporter, with oil reserves of about 40 billion barrels and estimated gas reserves in excess of 180 trillion cubic feet, the oil and gas industry has not had any impact on the living standards of the people. He noted that Nigeria expends between $10-$15 billion annually in the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas yet with the Nigerian/local content policy of the government, less than 25 percent of this is retained within the Nigeria economy and the oil and gas industry employs less than three percent

of the Nigerian workforce.

He advised the government on the need to embark on and support the establishment of small sized refineries to be able to refine enough oil for domestic consumption. We at the Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority support the phrase “small is good for Nigeria,” that is reference to the establishment of modular refineries which we believe will help to reduce our dependence on imported refined products.”

Abe spoke on the backdrop of the need for diversification of sources of revenue generation by the government and support for free trade zones, which he described as an area with huge opportunities He cited, Republic of Ireland, Singapore, Turkey, UAE, Malaysia, China and India as countries that have employed Free Zone concept for economic growth.

In his presentation entitled: ‘Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone, relevance and opportunities,’ he said oil and gas free zones are panacea for some of Nigeria’s immediate problems. He decried the situation where Nigeria is the only oil producing nation in

the world that imports refined products as displeasing.

He said a visit to the Oil and Gas Free Zone in Onne would convince skeptics that the Free Zone can help resolve some of Nigeria’s immediate problems noting that over 100 companies currently do business in the Free Zone and over 30,000 people are employed directly and indirectly by the activities of these companies.

It is the only Free Zone dedicated to the oil and gas industry, he added.

Abe noted that the Free Zone combines effectiveness of private sector with support from the Federal Government. It is designed to maximize the comparative advantage of Nigeria to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the oil and gas sector. It is also a launching pad for growth in other sectors of the economy.

The Free Zone is today recognised as a key incubator of the Nigerian content policy. It is also key to job creation, transfer of technology, skills acquisition and promotion of export and foreign exchange earnings. It is therefore a solution to some of the most pressing problems of Nigeria

today, he said.

He said as a country of over 150 million people with institutions graduating well over 200,000 youths annually who are thrown into the job market, it is important that interventionist measures are taken by the government to create jobs for these teaming youths.

The Free Zone concept as applied to oil and gas is one of these measures. The Niger Delta problem, which has taken centre stage today is primarily as a result of youth unemployment. If the Free Zone concept is properly applied to oil and gas it will retain a sizeable chunk of the between $10 billion and $15 billion that is taken out of our economy annually thereby increasing our local content and injecting desperately needed funds into our economy,” he added.

Besides, he noted that the oil and gas Free Zone Onne is recognised world over as one of the successes of the application of Free Zone and it has impacted positively on the Nigerian economy while opportunities still exist for even greater achievements and successes.

OPEC may cut production as Libyan output improves

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HE decline in Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Coun tries (OPEC’s) oil below $100 a barrel for the first time since February is raising the likelihood the group will cut production, as Libya revives output and the global economic recovery falters.

OPEC Countries’ basket of crudes fell to $98.59 last week, down 18 percent from its highest level this year and within two percentage points of the 20 percent drop that’s deemed a bear market. Brent oil tumbled 21 percent from its April high and New York crude 34 percent.

According to Daily Star, oil is sliding as the United States, the world’s biggest energy consumer, shows signs it’s headed for a recession and Europe’s debt crisis deepens just as Total and Eni resume Libyan production.

OPEC, which supplies 40 percent of the world’s oil, will reduce output to prevent Brent falling below $90 because Middle East members are increasing spending, according to Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest member, boosted output five straight months this year.

“Saudi Arabia stepped up production to help compensate for the loss of Libya, and they will probably calibrate and go the other direction as production comes back,” Daniel Yergin, co-founder of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates,” said in a September 21 interview in New York. “The impact of Libya will be determined by what’s happening in the overall global economy.”

Brent had its biggest monthly drop in September since May 2010 after Eni, Libya’s biggest foreign investor, resumed operations as the fighting to end Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s 40-year rule ebbed.

• Group Managing Director, NNPC, Austen Oniwon, signing the condolence register in honour of the late former NNPC Group Managing Director, Shehu Ladan, last week. With him are top management staff of the corporation.

Izuoma community seeks govt’s intervention in Shell’s oil spill

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HE community of Izuoma, Oyigbo Local Government Council Area of Rivers State, has called for an urgent intervention of the Federal Government in addressing continued oil spillage by one of the assets of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), which has caused serious degradation to the environment.

In a joint communiqué by the paramount ruler of Izuoma, Chief Chinedu Nwaji, the community spokesman, Elder Lazarus Ibe Uleh, Izuoma community chairman and Hon. Emeka Nkwor, youth’s president, the people of the community said the spill caused by SPDC operations has caused pollution and environmental degradation to their farm land.

The spokesman, Elder Lazarus Ibe Uleh, called on Federal Government to compel SPDC to urgently come to their rescue by cleaning up the oil spill from its pipeline at Oyigbo Local government Council Area of Rivers State, which has been destroying aquatic lives and farm lands.

Elder Lazarus Ibe Uleh said: “When the oil spill occurred on September 15, we wrote the Police, DPR and SPDC and they sent people to come and inspect the spillage after which they left and have never come back to clean it or take any measure toward addressing the problem.

“We are worried about their silence because it is not safe for us.

We saw what happened to Jesse

people and we don’t want such occurrence here.

“We are using this medium to call SPDC to hasten up and come to clean up the spill because our lives are at risk. It is not a bad thing that oil is found in our community.

Please, come to our aid, we need immediate response to cleaning up the oil before it catches fire.”

The Izuoma paramount ruller, Chief Chinedu Nwaji, lamented about the spillage. He said: “We have lost everything to the spill including our farm land and it has caused serious pollution. Life has

been very hard for us and our families since then, I want SPDC to come quickly to clean up the area, at least they are aware that their pipeline had ruptured.

“They know the incident was not caused by sabotage. It is natural occurrence. If it is man-made, then we would have the blame. I wonder why they have not come since about a month ago. Our source of livelihood is gone, we need immediate help,” he stated.

He said the spill has destroyed the only source of drinking water, cash crops, aquatic life’s including

fishes and other sea foods; palm trees, ponds and raffia palms among others, adding that over 5, 560 inhabitants in the community now live in fear.

The monarch said the government should urgently find a lasting solution to the problem. He also asked the government to provide schools, health centres, good drinking water and habitable environment for the community.

“We need urgent clean up in all our affected waters and creeks Ikwere creek, Ogbopo creek, Imo River and Gbaragadam River.”

Lagos moves to check illegal mining, dredging

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HE Lagos State government has commenced enforcement of rules and regulations guiding mining operations and subsequent arrest of operators of illegal mining and dredging sites across the state.

The exercise, flagged off by the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources,Taofiq Tijani, saw a team of enforcement unit monitoring mining and dredging sites in Badagry.

During the tour, Tijani warned that sand miners and dredgers found operating illegally on unauthorised places will be prosecuted.

He advised registered miners in the axis to form an association to deal with illegal mining effectively.

“You registered miners in

By Bidemi Bakare

Badagry zone should come together and form an association so that it will be easy to identify illegal miners whose activities are giving you a bad name. I will like that you get yourselves together within two weeks and report back to my office on the issue of forming an association like those of your counterparts in the Ikorodu and Ibeju-Lekki axis” the commissioner advised.

He charged the registered sand miners in the axis to be alive to their responsibilities in line with the rules and regulations guiding mining activities in the State While decrying the activities of illegal sand excavators and dredger, the commissioner vowed that those operating illegally can-

not escape as his ministry and the state environmental task force have been strengthened to arrest and prosecute those excavating sands in the state without due authorisation.

Tijani revealed that the state government is poised to streamlining the activities of sand miners and dredgers in the state in line with international standards.

“The government is poised to check and co-ordinate sand mining and dredging activities to meet acceptable international standards to avoid serious and irreparable damage to the landscape of the area apart from degradation of the environment,” Tijani said.

The enforcement is expected to continue with a routine visit to identified mining sites in other parts of the state.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

15

ENERGY Brent oil struggles to recover

B

• Jetty location at Snake Island Free Zone in Lagos

NEPZA lists constraints to free trade zones development

T

HE Nigeria Export Process ing Zones Authority (NEPZA) has identified government’s policy reversals and inconsistencies as well as slow responses to changes in global trend as the major constraints facing the development of free trade zones (FTZs) in the country.

Free trade zones (FTZs) are among the modalities nations use to facilitate rapid development in their economies and drive growth in international trade by creating ‘no- barriers’ environment.

The FTZ concept has been modified and adjusted in many ways in various countries depending on the purpose for which they were set up and the economic functions they perform The free zones are sited at geographic areas within a country and it is established to promote export focused activities and guided by a set of policies that do not generally apply to the rest of the country. Free Zones are set up for industrial development to address weak national policies and infrastructural facilities within an enclave.

The fact that Nigeria’s economy is driven by oil and gas, most of the activities in its free zones revolve around oil and gas.

The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority at a forum in Lagos, said the challenges facing free zones in Nigeria include policy reversals and inconsistencies, slow responses to changes in global trend, weak infrastructure, conflict and overlapping laws and procedures with other relevant government agencies, delay in passing into law the proposed Free Trade Zone Bill, which is before the National Assembly, high cost of borrowing funds and nonavailability of long term fund as well as lack of consideration of free zones in policy formulation.

The Authority said that investment in Nigeria’s free zones is profitable and needs to be encouraged because the country has comparative advantage as well as large and dynamic workforce. And being the largest consumer market in Africa with abundant and untapped natural resources, the country is placed at vantage position. The presence of natural resources also gives investors advantage of proximity to raw materials and seaports for ease of export coupled with ongoing favourable government reforms as well as the wide array of incentives put in place.

To make the free zones more efficient, NEPZA suggested that consistent and realistic government policies should be put in place and in the process of formulating fiscal policy,

By Emeka Ugwuanyi

government should take into cognizance its implication on Free Zone’s operations and make appropriate exemptions where applicable.

NEPZA also advised that government should ensure that laws and procedures of relevant agencies especially Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) are clearly spelt out and do not in any way conflict or overlap with Free Zones’ incentives.”Government should ensure the availability of adequate power and good infrastructure and efficient port services. Government should ensure implementation of the 2005 Presidential Task Force Committee’s recommendation on Free Zones and also direct the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Federal Inland Revenue Service to create a front desk at management level at their headquarters to handle all Free Zones matters speedily.

The Authority also listed the benefits of free zones. It said free zones boost foreign exchange earnings of a country, enhances job creation, economic diversification, and financial empowerment of the people as well as creation of backward linkages.

It also enhances poverty eradication, encourages foreign Investment, increased productivity through removal of barriers as well as technology transfer, it said. It creates opportunities and incentives through simplified business environment with clear-cut operational guidelines

that are free from bureaucratic bottlenecks and unnecessary trade barriers.

It provides excellent industrial facilities and security such as serviced plots, pre-built factory buildings, constant and regular electricity and water supply, good telecommunication system and specialized security arrangements.

“It is, indeed, a one-stop window of business authorisation, immigration, customs and other similar services under one-roof of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority.

“Liberal tax breaks and duty exemptions, unrestricted foreign exchange, repatriation of foreign capital investment and repatriation of dividend and profit. No import or export license required, sale of any proportion of production allowed in the domestic territory of Nigeria and duty payment on sales in the domestic economy is limited to the prevailing duty on the raw material component imported from abroad,” the company said.

On import/export incentives, NEPZA said that no import duty is payable for goods imported into the Free Zone either for consumption, production or capital goods and there is no export charges on goods exported. It noted that in the Free Zone, goods are transferred under customs escort from any ports of entry in Nigeria to Free Zones and there is fast track of airfreight cargo movement under customs escort from any airport in Nigeria to the free zones.

RENT oil will struggle to re cover from its longest slump since the 2008 financial crisis as a weakening global economy cuts growth in demand to the lowest level for any fourth quarter in the past three years.

Brent crude will trade an average two per cent higher than October 5 opening price of $101.81 a barrel during the final three months of the year, according to the mean prediction of 10 analysts whose thirdquarter projections were the most accurate of 31 compiled by Bloomberg. Futures lost 8.6 per cent in the third quarter, extending a 4.2 percent drop in the second.

Oil is falling as Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter, pumps crude at near-record levels and Libya revives production just as the economic slowdown shows signs of sapping demand. Consumption, which typically climbs toward the end of the year as the northern hemisphere’s winter approaches, will rise four percent this quarter, about half the levels of 2009 and 2010, according to the International Energy Agency.

“The outlook is deteriorating more and more, and the velocity is somewhat alarming,” said Eugen Weinberg, the Frankfurt-based head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG who predicts Brent may average less than $100 a barrel in the fourth quarter. “The risks to forecasts right now are to the downside, and not just on demand. Libyan production is coming back sooner than expected.”

Brent will average $103.80 a barrel in the final three months of the year, based on the mean of the 10 most accurate forecasters tracked

by Bloomberg. It settled at $99.79 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange on October 4, after averaging $112.09 in the third quarter.

The 13 per cent slide in futures in the past six months was the first back-to-back quarterly decline since the second half of 2008, when prices sank to a four-year low of almost $30 a barrel amid a slump in lending between banks that led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Brent lost 11 percent in September this year, the biggest

ExxonMobil to invest over $37b on capital projects

E

XXONMOBIL Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said last week that the company expects to spend a record $37 billion on capital projects this year, almost nine percent more than it has previously said it was planning to invest.

“We are investing over $37 billion this year,” Tillerson said during an interview with CNBC. “We

‘Crude oil ‘ll average $115/bbl in 2012’

C

RUDE oil broke down in Sep tember, falling more than 10 per cent as investors repriced the new normal of lower growth and possible recession across several asset classes.

But, according to report by Forbes, underlying fundamentals would put a floor on oil’s possible fall, as producers rebalance supply and demand to keep the market tight, JPMorgan’s commodities research team says.

As oil continued to tumble, along with the commodities complex in general, equities, emerging market currencies, and everything but the safest of safe assets (the US dollar), investors began to reassess their views of the essential commodity.

Prices could continue to tumble, JPMorgan’s commodities research team argues, but crude oil will trade range-bound through 2012, at an average Brent price of $115 per barrel.

Oil’s resilience will come as a re-

sult of producers rebalancing supply and demand. According to JPMorgan, producer’s can still cut about 1.8 million barrels of daily production to rebalance demand and limit the fall in prices in the face of a fourth quarter global recession.

Into 2012, the return of Libyan production will reduce their flexibility, but producers are set to withstand a one percent to 1.5 percent global slowdown, given better capital positions and inventories remaining on the low end across the globe. Essentially, for the price of oil to breakdown, the pace of economic deceleration across the globe has to outpace OPEC’s capacity to constrain supplies.

Looking at past recessions and the price movement in oil, the floor seems to be in the $80 to $95 per barrel range for Brent. A breakdown in prices below that level would occur in the case of a ’09-like crisis, which could push Brent down to the $60 to

monthly drop since May 2010.

Oil exports from Libya are resuming as opposition forces cement their control over the country and hunt the deposed leader Muammar Qaddafi. Libya, home to Africa’s largest crude reserves, is producing 300,000 barrels a day, Oil Minister Ali Tarhouni said in Tripoli on September 29. It pumped 1.6 million a day before the conflict started.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has yet to signal it will reduce production from the 9.76 million barrels a day it’s pumping even as Libya restarts operations. The kingdom began increasing output in April to compensate for the loss of Libya’s oil.

The highest estimates among the top-ranked 10 for Brent prices in the fourth quarter are at $115, by Barclays Plc, and $110, by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “Yes, there are some weak spots in demand, but the weakness seen continues to be less pronounced than that seen during the troughs of the 2008-2009 cycle,” said Amrita Sen, an analyst at Barclays in London. “Growth rates in demand heavyweights India and China continue to remain strong.

And we remain cautious regarding the prospects of a swift reprise in Libyan production.”

Demand for oil is weakening as Europe struggles to contain its sovereign debt crisis while the economies of the US and China, the biggest energy consumers, show signs of decelerating. US consumer spending slowed in August as incomes unexpectedly fell, according to the Commerce Department. Manufacturing in China shrank a third month, the longest streak since 2009, an HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics index showed September 30.

Fourth-quarter oil demand will increase by 400,000 barrels a day to an average of 90.2 million a day, the Paris-based IEA said in a September 13 report. Consumption increased by 700,000 barrels a day in the same quarters of 2009 and 2010.

$70 per barrel range. At that point, cramped investment in alternative production methods like deep sea and ultra-deep sea drilling, oil sand, and other methods would become uneconomical, putting pressure on supply and once again setting markets up for bullish moves.

Despite what appears to be a longterm bullish, structural trend for oil, the market is set for extreme volatility, though. The inherent difficulties of supply management, along with wild swings in demand, can and probably will cause violent swings in the price of oil.

JPMorgan’s commodities research team estimates that supplies can swing by 500,000 barrels per day in a month, while demand can double that move. With inventory levels on the low end of the spectrum, these price swings can turn violent, particularly in the face of an unexpected improved economic environment.

will do more in the U.S. if we are given the opportunity to do so.”

ExxonMobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company by market value, in March said it expected to invest about $34 billion this year and between $33 billion and $37 billion annually through 2015.

Tillerson also said that the strong global oil supply is likely to be the main factor driving the recent decline in oil prices, which are trading about 28 percent below this year’s peak of over $114 a barrel in May. “What we are seeing in the oil price picture is that the supply fundamentals are actually pretty strong right now,” Tillerson said.

“Demand has been sluggish here in the U.S.; globally oil demand is here we expect it to be.”

Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled up $2.91, or 3.7 percent, at $82.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

November Brent crude contracts on the ICE Futures Europe exchange were up $3.00, or 2.9 percent, at $105.73 a barrel.

ExxonMobil’s acquisition last year of natural-gas producer XTO Energy for $25 billion was a “recognition of how significant the unconventional resources are going to be,” Tillerson said. Exxon Mobil expects unconventional resources, such as shale oil and gas, to increase five-fold in the next five years.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

16

ENERGY

NNPC is contravening local content law, by ex-militant Mr Austin Oniyesan is from the Omadino Community of Delta State and the Vice-Chairman of Itsekiri Regional Development Council (IRDC). In this interview with SUNDAY OMONIYI, he alleges that the Federal Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has not been following due process in the implementation of community development projects in the area and that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has not put a single facility in his community since its inception.

W

HAT is your grouse about the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)?

I am not satisfied with the distribution of community projects by the NNPC and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

As I speak with you, my community has taken the NNPC to court and we have also written protest letters to both the Presidency and the Office of the Inspector-General of Police. We expect that two wrongs cannot make a right and that is why we want to initiate our protest through the peaceful process. Besides, the way the NNPC goes about award of contract for the installation of oil pipelines in our community contravenes what the Local Content Law stipulates.

In several instances, the NNPC has been imposing contractors on us and as the host community, what the law says is that we should be given the first line of consideration to present the contractors to do the work. So, we are trying to put a stop to the illegalities of the corporation in our community and perhaps the whole of Delta State.

The most recent installation is the oil pipelines from Sapele to Excravos. The NNPC entered into a Joint Venture with a contractor whom we do not know to do the project. We were not brought into the picture at all. Before the NNPC can award a contract along that stretch, the communities where the pipelines will pass through as major stakeholders, are supposed to be involved. Currently, we do not know under what arrangement the NNPC brought Pan Ocean to come and work on our lands. But I am sure of one thing especially in this particular situation, we will not allow that work to see the light of the day.

But before we will step into the matter to resolve it in our own way, we have must have protested to Mr President to intervene.

Have you received any response from the Presidency?

We are yet to get any response from the Presidency. The only person that has responded to our protest is the Inspector-General of Police. We wrote a petition to him and he has taken a step by sending the case file to the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) here to handle the case.

What do you want from the NNPC? The local content law says that host communities must be represented in the execution of projects and that is what we want.

If the NNPC refuses to yield, what will be your next line of action?

If the NNPC does not respond to our agitation, definitely they will be beating the drum of war, and we are ready, in every form to tackle the matter. And I can assure you that without us in that project, the project will not have peace unless we are involved. The NNPC itself is the author of the local content law and if we must operate by that law, the would-be contractors are supposed to anchor the project with the host communities.

Every community here has contractors that it is anchoring with, and what the law says is that if the NNPC is proposing to go into a joint venture, the contractor presented by the NNPC is supposed to anchor with the contractors of the host communities. It is not for the NNPC to come and impose anybody that they like on us. But, unfortunately, the NNPC has been running foul of this law for a very long time. But in this situation, we will not allow the injustice to happen again. In my community, we have taken both the NNPC and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to court over this same issue in the case of OML 42 when they imposed Nest Oil on us, and we said no and took them to court. The same thing happened to OML 57 which they sold to Conoil.

We were not involved and that is what the NNPC has been doing to marginalize the host communities.

Why are you not exploring the judicial option in this case?

No. We don’t have the patience for that.

But why do you think the NNPC will go against the law that is its brainchild?

It is because of their personal interest and if they don’t make a redress, they are calling for another trouble in the Niger Delta region.

It is unfortunate that the NNPC, which is the representative of the Federal Government, encourages this kind of thing to happen. If I should classify the approach of the NNPC in doing its job in this region, I will say that they love vio-

lence than peace. What do I mean by that? If aggrieved people go through their protest in the lawful manner, the NNPC takes their protest for granted, unlike people who employ violence to address their grievances. If what they like is violence, then we will not hesitate to give it to them.

Are you considering violence as an option?

If it will be necessary but we believe the president will do something about the matter. One thing I am sure of is that without us in this project, nothing will happen along that stretch.

How sure are you that all the communities along the stretch share the same position with you?

There are nine communities around the right of way of the project and we are all in unity about this position, that whatever it will take, we will stop the project if we are not being involved.

Are you claiming that NNPC has

• Oniyesan not met with any of the nine communities?

It is not possible for you to meet with one community and ignore the rest. What we are saying is that empowerment of the people of the area will give them peace on the project. But what the government is doing is to isolate some people and treat them like the General

‘But what the government is doing is to isolate some people and treat them like the General Officer Commanding the entire Niger Delta region, that without such people nothing can be done. But they say that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander’

Return of oil supplies weighing on prices, says ISING output from Libya and such “unconventional” reExxonMobil from other oil-producing regions sources will quintuple over the

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is putting downward pressure on crude prices along with the broader economic weakness, the head of Exxon Mobil Corp said.

Some of the oil production curbed by war in Libya and interruptions in the North Sea and Nigeria was now finding its way back into the market, ExxonMobil Chairman, Chief Executive Rex Tillerson told the Washington Ideas Forum, the Reuters reported.

“The supply fundamentals are strengthening,” said Tillerson, who has run the largest U.S. oil company since 2006. “That is why we are seeing some downward pressure on prices.”

The supply of crude from nonOPEC countries is “strong,” and in the United States there is an “upward vector” to support more

rapid and aggressive production of oil and gas, he said.

Demand is holding up in China and the rest of Asia but the overall economic outlook has deteriorated, Tillerson said, due to problems in Europe and the United States.

“I am not as optimistic as I was six months ago. It will continue, I am afraid, to be a sluggish (U.S.) economy, and globally the economy will not perform as well as we expected,” he said.

“We will have positive growth (but) it is not going to be as positive as we hoped.”

The world will continue to develop more hydrocarbons from shale rock, Tillerson said, adding that Exxon expects global supplies

V

ENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez proposed creating a new oil exporters group parallel to that of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that would include only the “giants” of global

petroleum producers.

According to AFP report, Chavez made the comments last week while hosting Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Energy Minister Sergei Smatko, saying the two countries

Energy prices Energy & Oil Prices OIL ($/bbl)

PMS

AGO

DPK

Conoil

65.00

160.00

140.00

AP

65.00

160.00

140.00

Total

65.00

160.00

140.00

Oando

65.00

160.00

140.00

Mobil

65.00

160.00

140.00

Texaco

65.00

160.00

140.00

Energy

65.00

160.00

140.00

Fagbems

65.00

160.00

140.00

Nipco

65.00

160.00

140.00

INDIGENOUS

next five years.

Exxon made a big bet on U.S. shale gas with its $30 billion takeover of XTO last year. Tillerson said the company had expected U.S. natural gas prices to stay low for some time due to the amount of shale production in development.

But prices were staying low “longer than we expected they would” due to the weak economy crimping industrial and power demand, he added, while supply held up with private equity and foreign investment flowing into the emerging shale resources.

The Washington Ideas Forum is a series of interviews with political and business leaders sponsored by the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic magazine.

Venezuela’s Chavez eyes new oil organisation

Domestic prices of petroleum products Companies

Officer Commanding the entire Niger-Delta region, that without such people nothing can be done.

But they say that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Since we now know that the language the government understands is the language of violence, we will give it to them as they want it. The government should treat everybody as equals and discard this approach of talking with just one person.

What is the role of the NigerDelta Development Commission (NDDC) in all of this?

The term of reference of the NDDC is for the rapid development of the Niger Delta region.

But I can tell you authoritatively that there is no single project of the NDDC in my community. We have not benefitted anything from the commission since it started. If you get to Omadino Community now, erosion is steadily taking the community to the river. If you drive though other oil producing states in the Niger Delta, you will see the presence of the NDDC everywhere, but not same in Delta State, especially in my community.

PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME Nymex Crude Future Dated Brent Spot WTI Cushing Spot OIL (¢/gal)

82.98 105.87 82.98

0.39 -0.03 0.39

0.47% -0.02% 0.47%

10/07 10/07 10/07

PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME Nymex Heating Oil Future 285.88 Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future 264.76 NATURAL GAS ($/MMBtu)

-0.23 -3.84

-0.08% -1.43%

10/07 10/07

PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME Nymex Henry Hub Future 3.48 Henry Hub Spot 3.40 New York City Gate Spot 3.49 ELECTRICITY ($/megawatt hour)

-0.12 -0.09 -0.14

-3.25% -2.58% -3.86%

10/07 10/07 10/07

PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME Mid-Columbia, firm on-peak, spot 24.66 0.85 Palo Verde, firm on-peak, spot 33.33 FIRM Guide ON-PEAK, DAY •BLOOMBERG, Bloomberg Oil Buyers HOUSTON 39.00

3.57%

10/07

1.69 5.34% AHEAD SPOT/ERCOT 1.22 3.23%

10/07 10/07

could be part of such a super-cartel.

“I had an idea, create a new organization... of petroleum giants,” Chavez said during a cabinet meeting broadcast on radio and television with the Russian officials present.

“We are not more than four or five” countries, he added.

He said that “Russia and Venezuela are two of the oil giants of this planet” and that such a supercartel could co-exist with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The approach “would not at all mean that OPEC would suffer. OPEC is an organization with a history, with a profile, with a path, and Venezuela has played and will play a very important role,” added Chavez.

A founding member of OPEC, Venezuela produces an average of three million barrels per day. It was the world’s eighth biggest oil producer in 2009, according to the International Energy Agency.

Venezuela said in January it had dethroned fellow OPEC member Saudi Arabia to become the nation with the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, at nearly 300 billion barrels.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

17

AVIATION

FAAN installs CCTVs at MMIA T

HE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has installed Close Circuit Television (CCTVs) at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos.

Most of the cameras are located at strategic locations around the domestic and international wings of the airport.

The installation came on the heels of the recent security threat which has seen the airport as a potential target for terrorist activities.

The cameras are located at strategic locations along the Airport Road, stretching from the entrance of the old domestic terminal to the new domestic terminal. Some of the panels are mounted at the axis linking the round about.

The installation of the cameras, will cater for the surveillance of persons and vehicles and other activities around the airport.

Recall that last month, the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah Ogiemwonyi, explained that the Federal Government has initiated collaboration with the governments of the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom on how to identify the level threats at the 22 airports across the country. The airport authority has intensified the training of its aviation security personnel on counter terrorism and other developments that threaten aviation safety and security.

Apart from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, the close circuit television cameras litter other airports across the airport , not limited to the Nnamdi

Stories by Kelvin Osa-Okunbor Aviation Correspondent

Azikiwe International Airprort, Abuja, as well as some international airports across the country.

At the Lagos Airport alone, there are not less than 20 of such cameras littering the airport.

This development has started affecting the attitude of many airport users and workers, who do not want their activities covered by the cameras.

FAAN is also making efforts to replicate the cameras in other airports across the country, as part of the improved safety and security requirements for global airports.

In a related development, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments and other aviation stakeholders to join airlines in a partnership to improve aviation security and the experience of both travelers and shippers. Key to this is early adoption of IATA’s Checkpoint of the Future (CoF), a supply chain approach to cargo security, harmonisation of measures among governments and constant vigilance to new threats.

IATA is calling for an overhaul of airport security screening and urging early adoption of the principles behind its Checkpoint of the Future vision. The CoF introduces a risk-based approach supported by advanced technology to allow passengers to move through the checkpoint without stopping, unpacking or disrobing.

IATA’s Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Tony Tylor said: “Today’s security checkpoint was

• Close Circuit Television (CCTV) being installed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

developed in the 1970’s when hijackers carrying metal weapons were the threat. It is a 40 year-oldconcept that needs to fundamentally change. We have added layers of process in response to threats and events but we have not made it any more intelligent because we do not use the information that is collected on passengers to power a risk-based approach.”

Arik to fly to Abu Dhabi

A

BU Dhabi Airports Company and Arik Air have announced the launch of Arik Air flights, Nigeria’s largest international carrier, to Abu Dhabi International Airport.

The airline will start operations on November 29, this year with three non-stop weekly flights connecting the UAE capital to Lagos.

The new route will be departing from Abu Dhabi to arrive in Lagos using an Airbus A340-500 with a capacity of 237 seats.

The premium cabin is equipped with full flat bed seats and an advanced inflight entertainment system with 17-inch monitors.

James E. Bennett, Chief Executive Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports Company, said: “Abu Dhabi Airports Company is delighted to welcome Arik Air as the first West African carrier to operate to Abu Dhabi International.

We look to more growth on the route between West Africa and Abu Dhabi travellers and busi-

ness.”

Arik’s Chairman, Dr. Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, said: “Arik Air is pleased to provide its customers with a faster connection between Abu Dhabi and the West African region, as Abu Dhabi continues to become an increasingly important hub for business and tourism.

We look forward to working with Abu Dhabi Airports Company on further developing our services to travellers from Abu Dhabi International Airport.”

Bristow Helicopters appoints new directors LEADING helicopter service providers, Bristow Helicopters Nigeria Limited has announced the appointment of Messrs Lawrence FubaraAnga and Andrew Magowan into its Board of Directors.

A graduate of Yale University, Fubara-Anga is one of the founding partners at AELEX, a full service law firm and one of the largest law firms in West Africa.

Fubara-Anga heads the firm’s Transportation, Banking and Financial Services Practices. He attended Kings College, Lagos; Yale University; London School of Economics and Cambridge University. He is admitted to practice law in Nigeria, England and Wales and Ghana.

Fubara-Anga is the Country Chair for Nigeria of the International Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.

Qatar Airways to fly to China QATAR Airways, which flies daily into Lagos from Doha, has announced plans to extend its presence in the People’s Republic of China with the launch of flights to a fifth gateway – the western city of Chongqing from November 28.

Operating three-times-a-week, the non-stop service from the airline’s hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, will take the carrier’s capacity to China up to 28 flights a week.

The airline already operates daily non-stop flights from Doha to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou and four-flights-a-week to Beijing. The new Chongqing services will be operated with an Airbus A330 in a two-class Business and Economy configuration.

United offers on Lagos-Houston route UNITED Continental Holdings Incorporated has announced it is offering double Mileage Plus miles to customers making bookings on United’s daily, non-stop service from Lagos to Houston, to be launched on November 17, 2011 (westbound) and operated by Continental Airlines.

The offer is available from now through to February 1, 2012. The Lagos-Houston service, announced in June 2010, will be the first scheduled, non-stop passenger service between Africa and Texas. The flights will link Lagos with Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the new United’s largest hub.

Following their merger in October 2010 to form the new United, United Airlines and Continental Airlines continue to operate separately pending the new company’s receipt of a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is expected to happen later this year.

Emirates bags sponsor of Australian Open

• L-R: Head, Corporate Communications, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), Mr. Basil Agboarumi, President, Aviation Round Table (ART), Capt. Dele Ore and Chairman, League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) Mr. Chuks Iwelumo at the launching of Bus project at Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Annex, Murtala Muhammed Imternational Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE.

THE Australian Open is set to soar to even greater heights with the announcement that Emirates will partner the championship as the new naming rights sponsor for the next three years in an agreement with event promoters World Sport Group.

The sponsorship further deepens Emirates’ commitment to golf and sport Australia-wide. In addition to the Emirates Australian Open, Emirates is the Official Airline for 18 other golf tournaments worldwide including the Australian PGA Championship.

“Emirates have enhanced our partnership with the Australian Open, one of the world’s oldest national golf opens, in conjunction with our continued support of the Australian market,” said Barry Brown, Emirates’ Vice President Australasia. “Since joining as the Official Airline of the Australian Open in 2009, Emirates has been an integral part of the success of Golf Australia and the growth of the championship, and we look forward to the future of the event as well as the promotion of the game of golf in New South Wales and Australia.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

18

MARITIME

Operators canvass need T for maritime bank

NIMASA goes tough on bunkering, piracy

S

EVEN years after the passage of the Cabotage Act, the expectations of operators in the sector have not been fully met.

One of the operators, the Chairman, Managing Director of Gas and Maritime System, Mr Adeola Osinusi, said despite the banking sector consolidation and other developments in the financial sector in the last few years, the maritime sector is still replete with complaints of lack of developmental funds.

He said despite repeated appeals by local ship owners to financial institutions for support and encouragement over the years, only a handful of the banks have actually responded positively by setting up maritime desks to address the needs of the industry.

Osinusi, therefore, called for the establishment of a maritime bank that would be fully owned by Nigeria.

“In Britain and the United States, they have maritime development banks that give out money to the industry at almost two per cent interest rate “But contrary to what is obtainable in those countries, in Nigeria, you have banks giving an interest rate of 16 to 20 per cent per annum.

Nigerian banks, must forgo shortterm profits and support long-term maritime projects,” he said.

“It is still difficult for some ship-

HE Management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has issued a stern warning to those who engage in illegal business in the nation’s territorial waters to desist from such acts.

This warning comes on the heel of the arrest and detention of a Vessel MT ORTAKOY 1 for engaging in illegal business on Nigerian waters.

The arrest was triggered off when the Joint Nigeria-Benin Maritime Patrol Task Force officers on patrol spotted two vessels alongside each other carrying out suspicious activities close to the Nigeria/Benin border.

The agency’s Director-General, Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi had restated his commitment to safeguarding Nigerian coastal area through effective collaboration with the Nigerian Navy when some vessels were arrested last month for alledgedly engaging in illegal bunkering activities.

The arrest of MT ORTAKOY brings to four, the number of vessels arrested for operating illegaly in Nigerian waters within the past four weeks.

Stories by Oluwakemi Dauda, Maritime Correspondent

ping companies to get the required financial support from banks and other sectors. This is affecting the shipping industry because you cannot buy a vessel in January and be expect to pay back in December. A vessel is an asset which is going to be there for between 20 and 30 years, so financing for purchasing a vessel should be long term,” he said.

But The Nation, however, gathered that some banks have been active in the support of the maritime sector. They include Skye Bank, Fidelity Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Intercontinental Bank, Diamond Bank etc.

Statistics made available to The Nation also show that those banks are responsible for about 50 to 60 per cent of the new ships acquired in the country in the last few years.

A senior official of Skye Bank who who crave anonymity told The Nation that the bank had partnered with the US Ex-M Bank and other foreign institutions to finance a number of projects in the maritime sector.

Such projects, the source said, include financing the acquisition of the first Nigerian vessel to sail under the Nigerian flag from the US, provision of finance for acquisition and upgrade of National Clearing and Forwarding Agency, among

Pirates attack 4,186 seafarers

N • Minister of Finance Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

others.

Another stakeholder, Mr Godwin Michel also told The Nation that the former Transport Minister, Alhaji Ibrahim Isa Bio, had promised that the problem of shortage of funds hindering involvement of local operators in the maritime sector would be addressed with the expected establishment of the Regional Maritime Development Bank for Maritime Organisations of West and Central African States (MOWCA) to be based in the country. He said they are still waiting for the government to fulfill its promise before the end of the year.

147 vessels visit Lagos

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Only 10% ships owned by Nigerians, ISAN

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O fewer than 4,185 seafarers have been attacked by pirates us ing firearms and rocket propelled grenades while 1,090 were taken hostage in pirate-prone areas of the world between January and September, this year.

Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Admiral Efthimious Mitropoulos, disclosed this last Thursday at an event marking the 2011 World Maritime Day in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Mitropoulos, in an address read by the Head of Africa (Anglophone) Section of IMO, Mr. William Azu, disclosed that, since January this year, 516 seafarers have been used by pirates as human shields, while no fewer than 488 have been reported to be suffering from psychological or physical abuse.

“While innocent seafarers bear the brunt of these crimes, the world economy suffers too - an annual cost that is now estimated to be between seven billion and $12 billion. And with more than 12 per cent of the total volume of oil transported by sea flowing through it, the strategic importance of the Gulf of Aden can be severely affected, while ships, electing to divert via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid being attacked by pirates, face significantly longer voyages with all the associated costs and environmental consequences,”the IMO scribe stated.

NE hundred and fortyseven vessels berthed in Lagos last week, according to information exclusively obtained by The Nation from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

The vessels ranged from those carrying containers, vehicles, used vehicles, food items, chemical products as well as petroleum products. Out of the number, 18 were tankers awaiting berthing, laden with petroleum products ranging from JET A1, PMS, AGO and Base Oil. The combined quantity of petroleum products carried by the 18 tankers stood at 307,783 metric tonnes.

A further breakdown of the figures shows JET A1 accounts for 18,000 metric tonnes, PMA accounts for 10,000 metric tonnes, PM accounts for 14,920 metric tonnes, Base Oil accounts for 9,004 metric tonnes and AGO accounts for 5,000 metric tonnes. The bulk of the products, 268,867 metric tonnes, was PMS. A further analysis shows that 34 of the expected vessels carried containers, 17 carried cars, (some new

• From right: Managing Director, NPA, Omar Suleiman; Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Seyi Sijuade and Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Patrick Akpobolokemi, at the Radio House, Abuja.

PHOTO: OLUWAKEMI DAUDA.

NLY about 60 of 600 vessels in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry are owned by indigenous operators.

General Secretary of the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Captain Niyi Labinjo, who told The Nation in Lagos, that out of this 60 vessels, only about six of them are currently doing business in the offshore sector.

The ISAN scribe lamented that the rest are anchored at the nation’s waters without jobs.

Labinjo disclosed each vessel participating in the offshore operations collect at least $5,000 per day, which, according to him, is the least amount collected by foreign vessels doing business in the nation’s

By Oluwakemi Dauda, Maritime Correspondent

waters.

He said with the situation, the country is losing about N2 trillion annually as capital flight.

“We have plenty of hydrocarbons. As at today, it is 37 billion barrels but our government is working towards making it 40 billion. That is our proven reserve.

We are said to be the 10th-world producer of oil. The world as a whole everyday uses 84 million barrels per day of oil and Nigeria produces 2.5 million barrels every day. For gas, we have 24 trillion reserves.

“We have the best shrimps in the world called tiger shrimps, that is why you have very many Indian fishing companies in Nigeria. All the tiger shrimps are ex-

ported. We import into Nigeria every five million metric tonnes of cargo, 100 million metric tonnes of general goods. We import 65 million litres of petroleum products every year.

“In the oil and gas industry, Nigeria has close to 500 oil wells that we are drilling all over the place.

For each well, there is a rig which is supported by a minimum of five ships, and they are called oil support vessels. As at today, for ships that earn $5,000 and above per day, there are about 600 of them, there are those that even earn $150,000 per day, you now have 60 belonging to Nigerians out of this 600.

Those 60, if you go to our waters, you will see them there they have no jobs. So for offshore we are not just there,” he said.

By Uyoatta Eshiet

and some used), 10 vessels carried food items which include rice and fish and six vessels carried bulk cement. Two other vessels carried general cargo, another two carried bulk sugar while one carried bulk salt.

According to the schedule, APM Terminals was expected to hold 16 vessels laden with containers. The ENL Terminals was expected to handle 17 vessels and most of the vessels carried general cargo, rice, bulk cement, bulk sugar, bulk salt among other items.

Five Star terminals was expected to berth nine vessels with most of them bringing used vehicles. PTML Terminals was scheduled to welcome 12 vessels with most of them bearing vehicles. The Tin-Can Container Terminals was to welcome 11 vessels with most of them carrying containers. Ports and Cargo Terminal had four vessels, GDNL Terminals had six , IBAFON terminals had four, LADOL had two while JDAM had one vessel assigned to it, among others.

Group challenges stakeholders

N

IGERIA is importing over 12 billion litres of refined petroleum products annually, despite being one of the world’s major oil producing nations, but with low indigenous participation in the activities.

The revelation was made in Lagos last week by the Chairman of the Nigeria Maritime Expo (NIMAREx 2012) Planning Committee, Eze Chijioke Egwuagu Collins, during a meeting of the group.

According to the Collins, Nigeria being an import-dependent nation with an import volume of over 82 million tonnes of cargo in 2008, 93.7 million tonnes in 2009 and 100 million tonnes in 2010, the situation provides a fertile ground for remarkable participation of indigenous maritime players in the country.

“International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria export about 40 million barrels of Crude Oil per month or 480 million barrels per annum. The Nigerian Na-

By Uyoatta Eshiet

tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on behalf of the Government exports 40 million barrels of crude oil per month or 480 million barrels per annum.

“Nigeria has an LNG reserve of over seven trillion cubic metres.

LNG tankers are required for the non-stop massive shipment of LNG annually. Nigeria’s upstream Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) offshore exploration operations employs about 520 marine equipment, tug boats, crew vessels, barges” to mention a few but all this with few minimal participation by Nigerians in the lifting of these products.

He said NIMAREX, which debuted in the first quarter of this year, was primarily set up to serve as the viable platform to showcase such enormous maritime potentials to the rest of the world as well as encourage more participation of Nigerians in the venture.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

19

EDITORIAL/OPINION EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

COMMENT

Again, not now Removal of the so-called fuel subsidy is ill-digested and ill-timed AST week, President Goodluck Jonathan despatched two separate letters to the Senate and the House of Representatives to make good his threat to make the contentious subsidy on fuel products history. In seeking the endorsement of the two chambers of parliament, the President claimed that the measure would free up N1.2 trillion, part of which would be used to provide safety nets for the poor. The National Economic Council –which has the forum of 36 state governors as members – has reportedly joined the chorus in its endorsement of the planned subsidy removal.

If only the governments at all levels would care to admit it – it is more about addiction to money rather than the welfarist arguments that have become as boring as they are familiar. Like its counterparts all over the world, the Nigerian

L

‘The point remains that what the government claims as subsidy for which it claims to shell out trillions are actually payouts for graft and corruption, inefficiency and transferred costs incurred as a consequence of government’s myopia.

Why should the ordinary citizen, already contending with very minimal social services, be expected to shoulder the burden which stems from the inefficiency and collusion between regulators and operators?’

government is certainly not immune to the addiction of lucre. Unlike in other parts of the world though, the absence of value for money in all public expenditure across the board, plus the uncontrollable costs of running the governments at all levels, makes Nigeria’s case peculiar.

Of course, the claim about using the subsidy money to finance critical infrastructure is not only hollow, it is sheer bunkum.

Today, the subsidy debate has become a huge distraction to the point of becoming an alibi for non-performance by the two tiers of governments. While it has endured, it has tended to save the protagonists the rigour of fiscal re-engineering, seeking instead to transfer the servicing of the rentier economy into individual homes rather than address the root of the problem.

The point remains that what the government claims as subsidy for which it claims to shell out trillions are actually payouts for graft and corruption, inefficiency and transferred costs incurred as a consequence of government’s myopia.

Why should the ordinary citizen, already contending with very minimal social services, be expected to shoulder the burden which stems from the inefficiency and collusion between regulators and operators?

While we may agree that subsidies may sometimes distort the efficiency of the market’s allocation process, the idea of making a fetish of the market forces in an imponderably inefficient environ-

ment such as ours is clearly misplaced.

We have said it before, the way out of the fuel subsidy conundrum is for government to get the nation’s refineries working optimally, although it is also appreciated that the combined capacities of the four refineries would not even suffice to meet current requirements. We are aware that work is already on-going to build new refineries. That should be the focus at this time. The Federal Government ought to be seen as pushing aggressively for them to come on board to bridge the gap as against the latest distraction which can only stoke crisis.

Once again, we advice the Federal Government to maintain the existing fuel price template pending the time that the new refineries being constructed would come on board. The economic environment is certainly harsh enough even without the prospects of shrunk disposable incomes that is bound to be the case were the subsidy to be removed.

It would certainly be less disagreeable to the organised labour as indeed every Nigerian to be asked to pay market determined prices so long as the products are refined locally. Shifting the burden of paying the subsidy to the citizen before ensuring domestic self-sufficiency not only punishes the people for government’s misjudgement, it maintains a regime of reward for the cartel that brought the nation to this sorry pass.

We are yet to see the incentives for the private sector to build new refineries aside government’s fixations with the economics of refined fuel trade – which the subsidy issue represents.

Persistent policing •A 41-year manhunt is successfully concluded HE principle of rule of law is heavily dependent upon the firm belief that all individuals accused of criminal offences will be made to face due legal process, no matter how long it takes them to do so. This notion was memorably displayed recently when the American authorities identified and located George Wright, an escaped murder convict who went on to participate in a hijack operation.

Wright’s co-hijackers had been arrested in France in 1976, but Wright himself had apparently gone to ground. He remained hidden until the New York-New Jersey Fugitive Task Force was set up in 2002, with the objective of apprehending people like him whose cases had gone cold.

The task force assiduously followed up all leads, regardless of how hopeless the case appeared to be. Past victims were interviewed, movements were traced, and specially-enhanced photographs were developed and circulated. Finally, fingerprints matching those of Wright were found on a national database in Portugal. He had changed his name to Jose Luis Jorge Dos Santos, gotten married and had two children. He is currently fighting his extradition to the United States.

This successful conclusion of a 41-year manhunt has obvious lessons for Nigeria.

It shows that the passage of time should not be an obstacle to the investigation of crimes. It aptly demonstrates that the authorities are under obligation to do eve-

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rything to ensure the apprehension of fugitives. It also illustrates the vital role that technology and international co-operation play in ensuring that justice is served.

The recent past has shown just how weak and ineffectual the country’s policing has been. The country has had more than its fair share of unsolved highprofile killings: Marshall Harry, Bola Ige, Funso Williams and Dipo Dina, are only some of the more obvious ones. In spite of promises by government and the police to catch the killers, almost all of these cases are still unresolved.

In most cases, it is due to a lack of evidence, which is usually caused by the failure of the police to properly secure the scene of the crime. Such gross unprofessionalism is compounded by other acts of incompetence, like the inability to identify and interview useful witnesses, the mishandling or ignoring of vital forensic evidence, and the pursuance of political agendas which are diametrically opposed to the interests of justice.

Successive governments have also contributed to this terrible state of affairs.

The country’s internal security has not been given the priority it deserves. The police are perennially underfunded and poorly-equipped; the ratio of policemen to the general population is one of the lowest in the world. There has been little attempt to do away with the absurdities

of the antiquated federal policing system which turns the police into a virtual army of occupation. Very little political support is given to the investigation of high-profile cases, even when it is clear that their successful resolution is vital to stabilising the country’s security situation.

These cumulative failures have now come home to roost with the eruption of the Boko Haram menace and persistently high levels of insecurity in different parts of the country. If things are not to get even worse, the country must ensure that it develops the structures that will give its security officials the determination to go after anybody who falls foul of the law, no matter how long it may take.

‘This successful conclusion of a 41-year manhunt has obvious lessons for Nigeria. It shows that the passage of time should not be an obstacle to the investigation of crimes. It aptly demonstrates that the authorities are under obligation to do everything to ensure the apprehension of fugitives. It also illustrates the vital role that technology and international co-operation play in ensuring that justice is served’

Protesters against Wall Street

A

S the Occupy Wall Street protests spread from Lower Manhattan to Washington and other cities, the chattering classes keep complaining that the marchers lack a clear message and specific policy prescriptions. The message — and the solutions — should be obvious to anyone who has been paying attention since the economy went into a recession that continues to sock the middle class while the rich have recovered and prospered. The problem is that no one in Washington has been listening.

At this point, protest is the message: income inequality is grinding down that middle class, increasing the ranks of the poor, and threatening to create a permanent underclass of able, willing but jobless people.

On one level, the protesters, most of them young, are giving voice to a generation of lost opportunity.

The protests, though, are more than a youth uprising. The protesters’ own problems are only one illustration of the ways in which the economy is not working for most Americans. They are exactly right when they say that the financial sector, with regulators and elected officials in collusion, inflated and profited from a credit bubble that burst, costing millions of Americans their jobs, incomes, savings and home equity. As the bad times have endured, Americans have also lost their belief in redress and recovery.

The initial outrage has been compounded by bailouts and by elected officials’ hunger for campaign cash from Wall Street, a toxic combination that has reaffirmed the economic and political power of banks and bankers, while ordinary Americans suffer.

Extreme inequality is the hallmark of a dysfunctional economy, dominated by a financial sector that is driven as much by speculation, gouging and government backing as by productive investment.

No wonder then that Occupy Wall Street has become a magnet for discontent. There are plenty of policy goals to address the grievances of the protesters — including lasting foreclosure relief, a financial transactions tax, greater legal protection for workers’ rights, and more progressive taxation. The country needs a shift in the emphasis of public policy from protecting the banks to fostering full employment, including public spending for job creation and development of a strong, long-term strategy to increase domestic manufacturing.

It is not the job of the protesters to draft legislation. That’s the job of the nation’s leaders, and if they had been doing it all along there might not be a need for these marches and rallies. Because they have not, the public airing of grievances is a legitimate and important end in itself. It is also the first line of defense against a return to the Wall Street ways that plunged the nation into an economic crisis from which it has yet to emerge New York Times

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye

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THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11 2011

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

E

VERY 3.6 seconds, someone somewhere in the world dies of hunger. In a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), one-third of the world population is underfed while another one-third is starving. Though almost unimaginable for those who rarely skip a meal, over 50 million Nigerians cannot meet their daily food needs, even if they spend all their income on food alone (Nigeria Living Standards Survey, 2004).

Nigeria is rated off-track in the three nutrition-related MDGs of reducing extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. Nutrition is critical to achieving the last two goals also as experts have stated that infant mortality rate is closely linked to inadequate nutrition among pregnant women. In the face

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Fuel price hike, route to early grave of this challenging situation, it is saddening that the present administration, like its predecessors, is making no effort at diversifying the country’s economy. Rather, it is over-relying on petroleum products, the very mistake that has led the country into near destitution.

While President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration appears to be resolute about removal of subsidy from petroleum products (and some governors have already giv-

en their consent to enable them meet the 18,500.00 minimum wage), it has not made any known effort in addressing acute food shortage many Nigerians encounter on a daily basis. Rather than cut administrative cost by reviewing the salary scheme of public office holders to reflect the reality of the Nigerian economy, the government is attempting to make the poor people bear the brunt of the country’s retrogressing economy. This, to the

poor category of the Nigerian society, is not democracy but a disguised systematic tyranny.

The President and his cabinet should note that if the problem of hunger is solved, several other problems are also addressed in the process. Considering the strength of the country’s economy, being the second largest in Africa and ranked among the first 50 world economies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nigeria has no justifiable rea-

Bayelsa’s curious guber politics

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IR I don’t know of any other state besides Bayelsa where it has become a crime to declare one’s ambition to contest for the office of governor. The situation was not like this in 2007 when more than 12 aspirants under the PDP squared up against Dr. Goodluck Jonathan at the governorship primaries in Bayelsa State. At that time, Jonathan, being the incumbent did not arm any thug with battle axes, matchetes, and guns to go after other aspirants including Chief Timipre Sylva, as is currently the case now in the President’s state.

This intervention has become necessary in view of the unwarranted campaigns of calumny being orchestrated against Hon. Seriake Dickson, who has joined the 2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial race and whose supporters were violently attacked by sponsored thugs on October 5 soon after a meeting in Yenagoa. Some of the victims are now lying critically ill in the hospital.

One may accept the fact that Seriake may not be the best material for the office of governor from Bayelsa West Senatorial District. He sure has a right to contest for that office. Seriake is a bona fide citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and is empowered by the Constitution to seek any elective office in Nigeria. He is not known to have been convicted or indicted by any court or tribunal for an offence before, as far as we know. So the notion that he is not qualified to be a governor should be seen as the unmarketable product of a pernicious campaign which is not only mischievous in nature but also malicious in content.

It is not surprising that the reac-

tionary political forces in their kneejerk reactions, outrightly dismissed Seriake’s governorship as another scatter and gather move initiated by the political “enemies” of Bayelsa West in another election season! It was this very reactionary forces that swore in 2007 that it would be over ‘their dead bodies’ for Chief Francis Doukpolagha to be governor of Bayelsa State. Where did that scramble leave Sagbama and Ekeremor?

The district lost out on the governorship.

The only argument articulated so far that sounds tenable is the one that Hon. Fred Ekiyegha be given the chance this time around to fly the PDP flag in view of his vast reservoir of experience, exposure and commitment to the development of the state.

Even at that, Ekiyegha himself is not indispensable as thinking so would amount to building on a fallacy of self-deception. The Bayelsa West politician should put his ears to the ground and measure the tide of the current political season. If the “national political forces” that have always decided our political destiny in Abuja have decreed that Hon. Seriake Henry Dickson is Bayelsa’s next governor, then who are we to oppose them? Have we not seen this repeat itself over and over again before? And have we not seen the futility of raising a political army of dissent against the “national political forces” in previous polls in the state? There are so many case studies one can list here to drive home the point. Don’t we see the hand work of this “national political forces” in the election of Senator Emmanuel Paulker, Senator J.K. Brambaifa, Senator Heinekien Lokpobiri, Hon. Seriake Dickson, Senator Barigha Amange, Chief

Timipre Sylva himself, to mention just few?

The crux here is that if Abuja has anointed Seriake Dickson for the governorship, let the Bayelsa West politician unlearn his self-destructive politics and accept this unchangeable reality because doing anything contrary to this is to his own detriment.

Instead of playing the spoiler, the Bayelsa West politician should key into this new window of opportunity thrown open by Seriake’s governorship ambition.

It carries a refrain to note again that this pull him down politics in Sagbama and Ekeremor is the more reason why some political analysts have always argued that Sagbama and Ekeremor don’t deserve to be given the governorship. These poli-

ticians leading this anti-Seriake campaign, what did they do in the last election to stop him from returning to the National Assembly, having known that he is not good enough to represent the people?

If Seriake is not good enough, who is the angel among them? Why can’t they come out to declare for the governorship as other serious politicians are doing if they know they are better than Dickson? Let them not jump the gun! It is the party’s primary that will set the tone for the general election. Pray, let the Bayelsa West man not throw away the bath water and the baby of Seriake’s ambition because of ossified primordial sentiments.

•Kubuye Oscar Yenagoa

son to have the highest number of hungry people in Africa. Rather than show poor Nigerians the shortest route to early grave by removing fuel subsidy, the government should revive the agricultural sector of the economy so that food may be made available, and at cheaper rate. It is high time our leaders embraced the fact that we cannot forever rely on importation and foreign aids to solve the problem of hunger. No developed nation in the world attained developed status through a beggarly reliance on foreign aids.

In the past, Nigeria has had programmes like the Green Revolution of Gowon and the Operation Feed the Nation of Obasanjo. Some states had experimented Better Life for Rural Women, Operation Farewell to Poverty and the likes. Those programmes had come and gone but poverty and, by implication, hunger are still here. It is high time we addressed why those programmes failed to significantly solve the problem of food shortage.

For Nigeria to experience true democracy, our leaders must pay a conscious and deliberate attention to the problem of hunger. While we are busy devising means of curbing the myriads of problems that are facing the country, it is however expedient that we prioritize food shortage and deploy all machinery to ensure workable solutions to the problem before attempting fuel subsidy removal. If our leaders remember the Maghreb countries’ uprisings, they will realize the destructive potentials of hungry people. It is high time we fed, not kill the poor. President Jonathan should address the problem of hunger first.

•Wole Oladapo, University of Ibadan.

Tinubu’s trial and Jonathan’s pledge

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IR: One reason Nigerians voted for President Goodluck Jonathan was his statement that he had no enemies to fight. The statement caught our minds because we believe Nigerians will be better off if we forgive the sins of our past leaders like OBJ and IBB. Nigerians know for sure that a Buhari presidency would have prosecuted these past leaders since Buhari is a no nonsense leader. The minorities in North-central voted for the president because of this and not because he is also a minority, or even because he is a Christian.

The recent politically-motivated trial of former Governor Bola Tinubu by the Code of Conduct tribunal makes Nigerians to wonder whether the President was sincere when he made the promise. By going against Tinubu, the President Jonathan has certainly not kept his word. How can the

government try Tinubu for operating foreign accounts when he was governor without knowing how much was involved?

While OBJ is still smiling with his 16 billion dollars power project, Mr. Fix it is still active in politics after consuming N300 billion meant for fixing federal roads. Nigerians do not condone corruption, likewise selective trial. We all know that Tinubu is not a saint. What we also know is that he was accused alongside others including the President of keeping foreign accounts while serving as governor.

Why pick out only Tinubu for trail if this is not political victimization meant to bring him down at all costs?

The President and the P.D.P. must know that Nigerians are not in support of the trial. Tinubu is Nigeria’s finest politician alongside Atiku Abubakar.

Both have been fighting for our

common good by always standing with the masses. Since 1999, apart from Atiku no single Nigerian politician has put more forces in motion-legally, morally, ethically, economically and politically than Tinubu to make Nigeria a democratic nation.

Our dear President, if this is 2014 or 2015, Nigerian would’ve understood it as political scheming.

What Nigerian want from you now is for you to focus on governance and leave politics so that you will deliver your campaign promises. We urge you very strongly to drop the Tinubu trial.

The man cannot be victimized. His popularity will only increase because he is a man of people.

And finally, why should you put Tinubu on a trial since both of you were accused of the same issue?

• Tarnongu Egum Makurdi, Benue State.

21

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

I

R

N the Yoruba political front, a manoeuvre is on. But it is masked by an emotive lather of “unity”.

That is a plausible way to interpret the “Pan-Yoruba Conference”, hosted on October 6

by Mama HID Awolowo, at the Ikenne, Ogun State, homestead of Olakunle the late sage, Chief Obafemi Abimbola Awolowo. lordbeek@yahoo.com, 08054504169 (Sms only, please) Surely, in the Yoruba South West, a political apocalypse is here. All the emotive agitation for “unity” and the romanticisation of Yoruba “oneness” are nothing but a final Let it not be forgotten, in the present ocean of tears. The sosweepstake. A new order is born, but it is still tender and called “Yoruba marginalisation” at the Nigerian centre was frail. On the other hand, an old order hangs in the nether caused by the spectacular failure of the political world, between life and death. mainstreaming of the Obasanjo years. It is political cynicism The elections of April are lost and won. Now it is time to of the highest order, therefore, for a group that flopped so lure the unwary into some quixotic search for “unity”, which spectacularly and delivered unmitigated poverty to their may well, to the artful and scheming agitators, translate into people, after no less than eight years in central power, to some hoped-for political redemption, after the charade is regroup preaching some suspect “unity”, and brandishing over; and the people are sucked in, under the guise of cynical the same failed mainstreaming template, after deservedly Yoruba patriotism. losing power.

After the hurly-burly, the living dead may well get buried The place of Ikenne, Awo’s revered home, in all of this is for good, though they fondly hope they would storm back to not unlike the place of Ife, when Ibadan imperialism was at life. Also, the new order may well take full charge, its peak; and the Ibadan warlords conveniently hid behind reminiscent of the Awo Action Group, AG’s upstaging of the the suzerainty of Alaafin of Oyo to put an acceptable political political feudal lords of the old Western Nigeria, though face to their free-wheeling war plunder, even if the Oyo there is always the possibility of a slip.

Empire itself was declining.

But the only way the new South West political order would In all of the chaos that sparked the Kiriji liberation war bury the ghost of present power hustlers is to take to new (1877-1893), Ife was militarily weak; and the Ooni (Samuel heights Awo’s radical transformational agenda (eh, not the Johnson, in The History of the Yorubas, called the monarch Goodluck Jonathan’s version!) of the old West. It is really “Owoni”, in his definitive account of that era, though Johnson exciting times on the Yoruba political front! himself was an Oyo man) was no strong warrior-king. Yet, Yes, going by the pace of the old Western Region, and its his moral authority, as the spiritual leader of the Yoruba consolidation in the short-lived Second Republic (1979-1983), nation, tempered the plundering Ibadan army towards Ife. the Yoruba have hit the trough. But the antidote is not The iconic Awo did more than enough in his life to make banding together in artificial unity to coerce manna from a Ikenne sacrosanct in the heart of a grateful Yoruba nation, fraudulent and dying central order. It is rather by the South though his descendants are doing everything to promote West looking inside to develop itself, and set the trend for a atavistic campaigns the name of Awo does not need – except wilting unitary federation to seize the moment to reinvent to serve as wilful skin for reactionary wolves, to paraphrase itself, or fulfil the American predicted meltdown of 2015. the wolves-in-sheep’s-skin parable in the Gospel. This is because that golden name is already cemented on solid universal principles of hard work, justice, equity and fair play, and a vision of robust federalism in a federating Nigeria.

Ironically, the Alaafin, the perennial disadvantaged in the post-Oyo Empire progressive order Awo founded, in contrast to the Ooni, correctly read the situation by staying away and washing his hands off the “unity” confab. Was that borne out of superior thinking, or mere peer envy, for back in old Oyo State, the Alaafin and the Ooni were royal sparing partners for supremacy? Whatever it was, history will bear the Alaafin

out to have taken a sound decision.

Though the Ooni could hardly be faulted for doing the needful to support the conveners, not minding his own perceived closeness to the mainstream ancien regime now screaming “unity”, he ought to have known that begging for your God-ordained and law-secured rights was exactly what Awo decried, by articulating a federal Nigeria; and also walking his talk in those glorious days of the old West, when the region set the pace for the rest of the country.

Awo created the progressive South West order in his own fearless, federalist image.

That, not the fawning, begging posture of the ideologically vacuous mainstreamers, has earned the Yoruba respect, if grudging in some quarters, in contemporary Nigeria.

But for those who still think criticising the suspect unity drive is mere red herring, consider the following interesting parallels.

Iyiola Omisore, a former senator of the Federal Republic, was, at the unity palaver, pictured in some chummy handshake with Pa Ayo Adebanjo, one of the Afenifere titans. Given the circumstances of the death of Bola Ige, the late Afenifere Deputy Leader, that camaraderie would appear strange indeed!

The Afenifere grandees were, of course, there in numbers, in search of “unity”. But at about that same time, the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), the younger outshoot that broke off due to post-Adesanya leadership disagreement, were on tour of Government Houses in the South West, selling a new document, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, in the best federalist tradition of Awo. Indeed, as English poet William Wordsworth quipped, the child is the father of the man!

Then, Ibikunle Amosun, the Ogun governor, wisely stayed away, after having a week or so earlier, embarked on his own Ikenne photo-ops. Smart thinking! When the issue is the future of the Yoruba, smart and strategic thinking must trump emotive fervour!

Still, the present dominant order in the South West had better be warned. The Ikenne manoeuvre is the starting salvo in the furious, emotive war to come. In a way, history appears to favour the reactionary elements, always hoping to get some illicit electoral support from the “federal might”. It happened in 1983 and in 2003. But history need not repeat itself.

But that will be if the South West governors and their party’s overwhelming South West representatives in the National and state assemblies vigorously push radical South West development and prosperity ala Awo. So, let those who want to go begging in Abuja do so. In time, it would be clear these pork careerists, robed as Yoruba patriots, represent nobody but themselves!

N

It seems about time the government started attaching values to those if only for the purposes of putting the accounting in perspective and perhaps too for reasons of equity. It seems to me that the cost of maintaining the current regime of subsidy comes nowhere close to the multiple trillions which the uncaring government loses annually in unrealised value. That to me, is why asking Nigerians to pay more for fuel in the name of removing subsidies, without evaluating the costs borne from the alternative route not taken – which is boosting local refining capacity – remains a dishonest proposition.

This is even more so now that the government seems to have been sold on the idea that we can go on consuming imported petroleum products while we look for who to pay – or when the crunch comes – how best to redistribute the subsidy element in the fuel-price template.

The above naturally leads to the substantive matter of what the federal government is bringing to the table this time. Surely, it cannot be President Jonathan’s promise of three new refineries. After all, Olusegun Obasanjo before him went beyond mere promises when he awarded 17 refineries licences to cronies. To accuse labour of unreasonable obduracy, while insisting on doing the same things and expecting different results seems to me the height of tomfoolery.

Agreed, we have dwelt on the subsidy matter for far too long. Nigerians, in my view, have long passed the fruitless ideological debate of whether the market would perform the magic that the government have since abdicated, or better still, has proven incapable of working out. No one at this time is splitting any hairs over the planned liberalisation of the sector, which the government advertises as the goal. As far as I know, in none of the services currently being provided by the government can it truly claim to deliver true value to the citizens. So, it is not a question of some phantom obstructionism. What is at stake is good faith, equity and responsibility which the government cannot be accused of possessing in sufficient doses.

And yet, progress we must. Issuing promissory notes at this time would certainly not do. Nigerians already have dozens of irredeemable notes in their bags to last a lifetime. In any case, what is the difference between Jonathan’s promissory notes and Obasanjo’s? Are they not from the PDP House of the Torn Umbrella?

Progress means fixing the existing refineries and getting the new ones promised on board in record time. Turnaround time to deliver a new refinery, I am told, takes between 36 to 48 months. In other words, President Jonathan can still deliver if he truly means business. With the matter of sufficiency in local refining capacity resolved, that of removal of subsidy – that is, if there is still any – should not be a hard sell to Nigerians.

epublican ipples

Yoruba front manoeuvres

“The present dominant order in the South West had better be warned. The Ikenne manoeuvre is the starting salvo in the furious, emotive war to come.”

OT surprisingly, the federal government has resorted to its typically unimaginative ways in dealing with the so-called subsidies on fuel products.

Sample of this is the statement credited to Livi Ajuonoma –Group General Manager, Public Affairs, NNPC to wit; “some people are saying that the refineries should be fixed before the removal of subsidy; but the question is, where is the government going to get the money to keep fixing the refineries when it is spending the same money on fuel subsidy?”.

The statement, no doubt, highlights the basic disconnect between the government and the citizenry. It underlies the tragedy of an unaccountable national oil corporation whose business model belongs in the Stone Age. The answer to that question is simple: let the NNPC go to the banks and borrow they way other businesses do!

Such attitudes, clearly speak to the variant of the pathology best described as obsessive-compulsive hunger for free lucre. Its mainfest symptom is insatiable desire for a treasury brimming with cash – in the service of an indolent bureaucracy and graft. That affliction is what now ravages the executive lodges across the federation.

Whether it is President Jonathan making the case for the removal of the subsidy on the altar of some phantom altruism, or the club of governors who have made it conditional to implementing the minimum wage law, it conduces to injecting additional N1.3 trillion cash into their lordships’ treasuries – no one, it seems is thinking of how to take a dime out of the annual payout to Nigeria’s Rent Inc. Of course, it goes to the heart of the saying that the Nigerian rentier class will always find a way to keep themselves in business. Of course, there is no question about who they are. They are the cartel of fuel importers; the owners of the lightering vessels to whom we must pay dollars to bring the liquid gold from the high seas to the

‘Issuing promissory notes at this time would certainly not do. Nigerians already have dozens of irredeemable notes in their bags to last a lifetime. In any case, what is the difference between Jonathan’s promissory notes and Obasanjo’s?

Are they not from the PDP House of the Torn Umbrella?’

Policy Sanya Oni sanyaoni@yahoo.co.uk 08051101841

Ending the fixation storage depots. They include the financiers of rent, commission agents and their political and bureaucratic allies in high places.

To start with, the economics of the fuel subsidy is already disagreeable enough as it is. The inefficiencies and corruption along the marketing and distribution chain which is part of our reality sui generis merely compounds what should ordinarily be a simple matter. I have long given up the trouble convincing my friends on the left that the fuel subsidy is real just as it seems unlikely that there will ever be a meeting point between the latter and the government which insist that the burden is the reason the country cannot move!

Howbeit, whether the coefficient of the subsidy is blamed on the logic of fuel import importation, or the racket that goes by the name of import-price parity, we certainly have gone beyond contesting the fact that differentials do exist between the landing costs of petrol in particular and the price at the pump. While it seems legitimate to dwell on the foolishness and the sheer myopia which has made the importation regime a part of our lives, the differential – call it subsidy if you like, and which inevitably has to be paid for – has since grown from being a simple sore to a gangreneous ulcer in our political economy.

That ought to trouble everyone.

But the obverse side, contrary to government’s posturing, is no less troubling. Ideally, the nation ought to refine all of its crude before export. That way, maximum value, in addition to limitless linkages in the value chain is achieved. Now, for every barrel of crude that the irresponsible government ships out, not only does it lose the benefit of value-addition, it also loses unquantifiable direct and indirect benefits in derivatives from the several bye-products of the God-given resource. The opportunities to further translate these into wealth and of course skills and knowledge transfer and employment are thereby hopelessly frittered away.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

22

EDITORIAL/OPINION N the life of an average human being, a person is said to be on overtime when he is in his seventies. This position is reinforced if not derived from the Biblical prescription of three scores and ten as the average life expectancy of all humans. And about midway into this life sojourn a person is reasonably expected to have found his range or rhythm, hence the saying that a fool at 40 is a fool forever.

Though no nation or empire has ever lasted forever, a nation is reasonably expected to exist and remain far much longer than its people. But when a nation has not even spent up to the time allotted to the average human being and is showing signs of disintegration or lack of capacity to hold itself together and rule over its territory effectively and peacefully, then there is cause for concern.

Nigeria was 51 years old as a nation eleven days ago having gained independence from British colonialists on October 1, 1960, yet there was nothing to suggest that we are headed in the right direction. The tell tale signs of failure are there for all who can to see. The latest of such signs was the inability of our federal government to demonstrate to the rest of us that it has the capacity, capability, ability and willingness to protect us as well as the territorial integrity of the nation at all times.

The opportunity to firmly demonstrate this was penultimate Saturday when in the usual Nigerian spirit, the federal government would have rolled out the drums to celebrate yet another year as an independent nation, but it failed to do so, opting instead for a low key anniversary. The reason for this behind closed doors celebration so to speak was not unconnected to the threat posed to national security by such local terrorist organizations as the dreaded Boko Haram and a resurgent Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, better known as MEND. Recall that the 50th independence anniversary celebration at the Eagle Square in Abuja last year was marred by bomb blasts set off by MEND, while the peace of Abuja, Maiduguri, Bauchi and some key cities in the north have been breached repeatedly and seemingly with impunity by Boko Har-

I

IKE a flash, the first100 days of the administration of Senator Abiola Ajimobi in Oyo State rolled by. The journey has been especially tortuous, given the fact that expectations were high on the part of the beleaguered people of Oyo State.

They had suffered untold hardships in the hands of past administrations. They were neglected, forsaken and rejected. As a result, they were dejected and their spirits were at their lowest ebb, hence, their yearning for change which made them to vote for the former Senator.

The first litmus test for the governor was perhaps the protest that greeted him on Monday, May 31, his first day in office. The protest was carried out by the students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan to protest the 100 per cent increase in their tuition fee by the immediate past governor of the state, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, in the twilight of his administration. Although the protest was seen largely as misplaced, untimely and channeled in wrong direction, the irate students later realized these and tendered their unreserved apology to Ajimobi.

Besides, the agitation for the payment of N18,000 minimum wage almost pitched the governor against the civil servants in Oyo State. One particular reason why the agitation was so fierce was the move by Alao-Akala to worm himself into the hearts of the people of the state, particularly the civil servants, by approving the new wage, shortly after losing the April gubernatorial election.

After his dismal outing at the election, the Ogbomoso-born former governor suddenly realized that he needed to cuddle the civil servants, whose welfare he had neglected for long and vowed to pay them the new wage before his exit, even at a time negotiations were still on between the federal government and labour at national level on the wage issue.

Having realized that Akala’s move was a landmine buried on his administration’s path, Senator Ajimobi, then the governorelect, promptly wrote to advise against hurried implementation of the new wage which would not be sustainable. But Akala would not have any of it. He hurriedly sent a bill to the state House of Assembly for the approval of the new wage. Without blinking an eyelid to consider its implication on the economy of the state, the lawmakers then

L

Rewarding terrorism am bombers. The reactions of the federal government, especially the security agencies to these bombing campaigns have been largely ineffective as apart from mouthed promises, from President Goodluck Jonathan in particular to get to the root of the problem, fish out and punish the perpetrators, no tangible success have been seen to have been achieved in this regard.

In the run up to the 51st independence anniversary MEND had threatened to bomb Eagle Square, the traditional venue of all national open air events save football, and literally set the streets of Abuja on fire while Boko Haram had been unrelenting in demonstrating its readiness and ability wreak havoc on the nation at any time and place of its choosing. The Federal Government had on the other hand repeatedly told us everything is under control.

So, October 1 this year was therefore a perfect opportunity for the president and his team to demonstrate to us and indeed the rest of the world who is in charge here and whose words should be believed and obeyed.

Regrettably the government panicked, stayed away from Eagle Square and in the process elevated MEND and Boko Haram to a level that Nigerians have no choice but obey them. This is rewarding terrorism.

A government worth its salt would have rolled out not only the drums at Eagle Square on that day but also its tanks and boots in a daring show of superiority while also looking out for the terrorists. The message here would have been that no matter what, we would never give in to terrorists and never

allow them control our lives. This would have gone a long way to reassure not only the domestic audience but also the international community that we are indeed on top of the situation. Even if we are not, they will know or have the impression that we are and in this business perception is everything.

Since after 9/11 the United States has not become a fortress in spite of the security measures put in place and yet the people have not withdrawn into their shells because of continuing and repeated threats from Al Qaeda and similar terrorist organizations. It is business as usual over there and elsewhere where America’s interest is at stake but with an eye for vigilance.

Since the creation of the state of Israel the people have been living under the threat of Arab attacks especially from Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and even now from Hamas. Wars have been fought with the Arabs which they have won.

And with the PLO’s inspired Intifada, the Jewish state has had to endure series of suicide bombings in spite of peace treaties and peace talks with the Arab world. Yet the country and its government have not been cowed by all these. Even in Iraq and Afghanistan where terrorism is rife their governments have not been brought to their knees by these elements. Why is our own different?

A government is there to solve the problems of its people and not to create new ones, If this government gives Nigerians the impression that it is not in effective control of the affairs of the nation and allow us to be-

Ajimobi: so far, so good By ‘Wale Ajadi passed the bill and it was signed into law same day.

Although the state workers who unarguably were the least paid in the Southwest, had been salivating for the jumbo pay at the end of May, Akala could not pay it until his exit. This became a problem for Ajimobi.

Barely a week after his assumption of office, the governor was confronted with a demand by labour for the payment of N18,000 minimum wage which, according to them, had been concluded by the out gone administration. The labour leaders then threatened to shut down the state should the government fail to pay the new wage. Reason, however, prevailed and the matter was amicably resolved between the government and the workers’ unions.

So satisfied were the labour leaders, who had all along exhibited high level of understanding that they specially wrote to Senator Ajimobi commending him for his leadership style and kind gesture.

In the letter, signed by Comrades N. A. Arowolo, Bayo Ajayi and B. A. Olanrewaju, NJC Chairman, TUC Chairman and NLC Chairman respectively, the workers also promised to join hands with the governor to identify the areas of leakages in the generation of IGR and block them.

With that, Senator Ajimobi then set sail to fulfill his electioneering promises to the people of Oyo State, especially those he had promised to accomplish within his 100 days in office. Having moved round the nooks and crannies of the state, he discovered that the roads were in bad shape and needed urgent government attention.

He immediately flagged off the first phase of massive road rehabilitation.

The first phase, handled by the Oyo State Road Management Authority (OYSROMA), covered the Secretariat –Bodija Road, Customs–Officers’ Mess– Government House Road, Yidi–Onipepeye –Airport Road and Mokola –Queen Cinema Road. They have since been completed, while the second phase covering 16 roads in other parts of the state have commenced.

In fulfillment of his promise to provide affordable, decent and cost-effective housing for all in Oyo State, Gov. Ajimobi also partnered with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, with the setting aside of N2 billion for the construction of houses.

The health sector also got the attention of the Ajimobi administration. The Free Health Mission programme was flagged off on September 1 by the governor. The programme, tagged Oyo State Free Health Mission, it was floated in conjunction with Development Support Initiatives. It benefited no fewer than 68,000 people.

One unique feature of the programme which covered some local government areas of the state was the engagement of a total of 107 medical personnel, including surgeons, dentists, opticians, pharmacists and other paramedics to attend to people with different ailments.

“Since most of our people cannot afford the high cost of treatment in conventional hospitals, it is our resolve that we should take the hospital down to them so that they can have access to free treatment,’’ Senator Ajimobi had said at the flag-off of the programme in Ibadan.

This was besides the State Health Insurance Scheme whose take-off, in conjunction with the University College Hospital, Ibadan, has reached an advanced stage. The programme, the first to be established by any state in Nigeria, is aimed at providing improved healthcare delivery for the people of the state.

The United Nations International Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Oyo State Government also signed the 2011-2012 Multiyear programme implementation agreement, with the governor promising to deliver sound and institutional framework that will guarantee the progressive realization of children’s right to survival.

In line with his electioneering promise, the governor, after barely three weeks in office, ordered 50 per cent reduction in tuition fees in state-owned tertiary institutions, saying this was borne out of his concern for the

lieve that, then the country is in trouble and nothing more would gladden the hearts of those elements in Boko Haram, MEND and similar organizations. And before long, every region, state and may be households would have their own Boko Haram. May be Jonathan would wake up to his responsibilities then.

This is not a question of Jonathan bashing, it is the situation we have found ourselves in as a nation now. Nigeria is in trouble; our president is in trouble; he needs help from everybody, including the doves in Boko Haram et al to get us out of this mess. But he also needs to show us he can do it and everybody would fall in line. He needs to not only say it but walk the talk as the saying goes.

You don’t fight a bully by running away from him. You confront him. How do you fight terrorists when each time they bark you run for cover? No. This is not the way to do it Jonathan. Even the terrorist would not have respect for you. Wake up Jonathan; you are the commander in chief.

NB This column had been off for some time now without any explanation. Sorry I had to go on vacation. Nice to be back and thanks to those of you who either called, sent text messages and even email to inquire what has happened to the 4th Republic. I am back.

‘Regrettably the government panicked, stayed away from Eagle Square and in the process elevated MEND and Boko Haram to a level that Nigerians have no choice but obey them. This is rewarding terrorism’ welfare of the students and to enable them address the challenges they were facing.

What is more? The maturity with which the ownership crisis rocking the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) was handled by Gov. Ajimobi and his Osun State counterpart, Rauf Aregbesola, is still a reference point.

Gov. Ajimobi’s efforts in the area of transportation will soon see the rail mass transit being brought back to the state, as this had already been settled with the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC). Employment generation is also not left out, as 20,000 youths are being short-listed for employment in fulfillment of his promise during the campaign that 20,000 jobs would be generated within his first 100 days in office.

The governor’s concern for the rapid development of Oyo State had also taken the governor to Abuja to solicit for support. Of particular interest was his meeting with Mr. Olusegun Aganga, the Minister of Trade and Investment, who has also expressed his resolve to assist the state make the Oluyole Free Trade Zone and the Ikerete International Border Market near Saki realities.

Already, a feasibility study is being worked out with a foreign company on the take-off of Ikerete International Border Market which, when completed, will create over one million jobs.

• Ajadi teaches at Lalupon, Ibadan, Oyo State.

‘One unique feature of the programme which covered some local government areas of the state was the engagement of a total of 107 medical personnel, including surgeons, dentists, opticians, pharmacists and other paramedics to attend to people with different ailments’

SUPER EAGLES’ NATIONS CUP CRASH

We must rebuild now, Oliseh charges NFF Pg. 41

Eagles should return to Lagos –Kalu Pg. 24

Nation Tuesday, October 11, 2011

PAGE 23

NIGERIA/GUINEA FALLOUT •Siasia

Siasia: We deserve the insults Pg. 24

•Mikel

•Nigeria's players react on the pitch at the end of their African Nations Cup qualifying match against Guinea in Abuja, on Saturday

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

24

41

NATION SPORT 2012 OLYMPICS WOMEN’S QUALIFIER

Falcons target Cameroon win

A

S the Super Falcons’ Olympics qualifier preparation enters its second week, coach Uche Eucharia has made it clear that only victory in Cameroon will do.

The Nigerian ladies hold a nervy 2-1 score from the first leg, and Uche insists that even a draw will not be good enough for her as she aims for the 2012 Olympics ticket “I have no doubt in my mind that we will pick the ticket," Uche said. “As we all know,there are no longer minnows in African football. The girls know how important this match is to every one.

"Having said that, Cameroon can not stand in our way to achieving our aim."

Captain Precious Dede echoes the coach’s optimism by stating that Cameroon are beatable in their home.

“We all are working hard towards achieving one goal-victory. With hard work and God’s special grace victory is ours.”

The 2012 Olympic Games qualifier comes up on October 22nd in Yaounde Cameroon.

Eagles should return to Lagos –Kalu A

PPARENTLY piqued by Eagles’ Nations Cup ouster, former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu believes playing in Abuja instead of Lagos compelled the national team to toy with the aspirations of teeming supporters.

Kalu reasoned that playing before the ever critical but passionate Lagos crowd would have brought out the best in the Eagles since failure attracts dire consequences.

He said, "Whoever took the boys to Abuja must be remorseful now. Lagos is the ideal place to achieve results. The fans may be fastidious, (but) that brings out the best in the Eagles.

“Ask Jay Jay Okocha and Victor Ikpeba, both members of the NFF Technical Committee. After playing goalless with Congo in the 2000 Nations Cup, Lagos fans almost lynched them. In the next match against Senegal, they were condemned to win, even under tough circumstances. It was the Tunisian referee that eventually denied them the Cup." The former governor further stated that a jeering crowd and loud boos from the stands are part of football and should not put any good team in a deep blue funk.

"You know, just as the Eagles wear green, the fans also go green with envy when their expectations are not met.

NFF moved the team to Abuja simply because they were booed agaist SierraLeone, yet they won 2-1. Lagos is it.

Eko for show. No nonsense. Afterall, the Ivoriens play in Abidjan not Yamoussokro their capital, in America, Washington D.C. is not home ground while Bafana Bafana do not play in the capital city of South Africa," he added.

On Samson Siasia, Kalu called on compatriots to take it easy with the apologetic coach, stressing that failure could be his backdoor to success.

"Experience is the best of school masters, only the fees are heavy. Siasia failed us, we have every right to crucify him because never in our history did the fans appoint a manager. They backed him in the past, let them flog him. At the end, he has learnt his lessons. Do not forget that the same Clemens Westerhof we eulogise today, started as a failure who could not take us to the Italia '90 World Cup. Let Siasia remain and return the team to Lagos where there is a lot to gain from sports-loving governor Babatunde Fashola," Kalu said.

Siasia: We deserve the insults N

IGERIA coach Samson Siasia says his team deserve all the insults thrown their way by fans after failing to qualify for next year's African Nations Cup. The Super Eagles gave up a late goal to draw 2-2 with Guinea and miss out on qualification, with fan abuse trailing them since.

Siasia says the team deserves it "We deserve all the insults we are getting. In the end, we failed to qualify and that hurt the fans, so they have a right to be angry," Siasia said.

"We are also hurt, because as much as the fans wanted to see us at the Nations Cup, it pains us more than it pains them.

"We have young players who were looking forward to their first Nations Cup. We have experienced ones who wanted to return there to challenge again.

"We have found it hard to sleep because everyone is thinking about what happened."

But Siasia says the team can take

comfort from the progress that has been made in a short time "In the few months we have been here, the team has grown younger, we are tactically stronger, we play the ball quicker than before, we create more than seven chances in every game and we have not failed to score more than two goals. Except for the friendly against Argentina.

"So, this team is doing well. It was just a communication problem at the end. We thought we were going through at 2-1, but we were not sure if that was enough, and we didn't want to take any chances that’s why we were pushing.

Otherwise, we could have held on at 2-1."

Siasia's future remains uncertain, with the NFF having issued him an

administrative query in their quest for answers, but the coach says he is prepared for the worst "It is not in my hands now.

Whatever the NFF decide, we will accept. If they want us to stay, we will carry on rebuilding this team in the right way.

"If they don't, we will say thank you and move on. That is the way football works."

The Nigeria team face arch rivals Ghana today in London, and Siasia says an immediate response is imperative "We have to put what happened behind us. There is nothing we can do about it. We just have to learn from our mistakes and make sure we play a good game and win against Ghana."

Oshodi: NFF board should resign now •Eucharia

•Says Nigeria’s ouster, a blessing in disguise

A

LONDON 2012 PARALYMPICS GAMES

Nigeria targets Wheelchair Basketball ticket

By Akeem Lawal

T

HE Nigeria Wheelchair Basketball team has expressed hope of qualifying for the Wheelchair basketball event of the London 2012 Paralympics Games scheduled to hold in the United Kingdom just as the team takes on South Africa tomorrow.

Speaking with NationSport shortly before the team departed on Sunday for the qualifier in Morocco, the team captain Musibau Shittu assured that they are in high spirits having gone through a well prepared training exercise while in camp.

He also informed that the team is poised to pick the Paralympics ticket in order for the country's flag to be hoisted at the Games and that they are not only going to participate but to make an impact.

Shittu, having expressed appreciation to the Wheelchair Basketball Federation president, Bukola Olopade for the sponsorship of the team, also thanked the Gateway Front Foundation and the Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Victor Ochei for their support ahead of the qualifier. He also called on all Nigerians to give them maximum support and at the same time pray for them to achieve results. ''In as much as we are fully prepared for the qualifier in Morocco, we still need support and prayers to achieve adequate results because we have undergone serious training and we hope to pick the Paralympics game ticket for the country'', he said.

S mixed reactions continue to trail the failure of Nigeria to qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations, Lagos State Commissioner for Sport, Waheed Enitan Oshodi yesterday added his voice by charging members of the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to resign their appointments.

Speaking to NationSport in Lagos, the sports administrator, who is also a lawyer, said although the problems bedeviling the team had been on for a while, the present worsening development might be a blessing in disguise.

He said were Nigeria like the more civilised countries, the members of the NFF board would not need to be reminded of what to do as resigning their appointments would be the most honourable action to take. He added that the bane of Nigerian football is that the best people have never been at the helm of affairs.

“It was a sad day when we had to struggle to qualify from a weak group.

Cameroon did not qualify from a more difficult group, so we have to be

By Innocent Amomoh honest. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise; we have to look for people, who have the interest of football at heart. Right now we can’t really say we have the best people in Nigeria running our football. I must say that authoritatively because for us not to qualify from that group, in other parts of this world, members of the board would have had to tender their resignations as well.

“This is the honest truth. The NFF are our partners, but for the fact the we did not qualify for the Nations Cup is a disaster. And you also have to look at it from the honest point of view that this problem did not start with Siasia or this present NFF, it is a problem that has been for years. We managed to qualify for the World Cup on the last day, our team has not been good enough, that is the honest truth.

“Nigeria’s team play has not been fantastic. It is time to go back for new players, players that are committed to our cause. Players who will not just do with fighting and arguing with the coach and the NFF. We have serious problems in our football, and in Nigeria. We are hopeful that this is the problem that the NFF will resolve, if there’s really a problem. I am sure they will get down to resolving that very soon,” Oshodi said.

On the comment from the Super Eagles players that they were not aware of the rules of qualification, Oshodi said: “Let me take the first issue that all parties involved were not aware that we would have qualified with a 2-1 score line. That will be very surprising, I refuse to accept that the bulk has to stop at the table of the NFF and coach Samson Siasia. It the players didn’t perform well, they were picked by the coach, if Siasia didn’t perform well he was picked by the NFF, so at the end of the day the blame lies with the NFF.” He then called for a workable transition process that will ensure that players graduate from the lower cadre to the Super Eagles, saying that the administrator must start realizing that Nigerians are passionate about football and take its affairs very seriously.

“We all have an interest; we have a say, an opinion, so we will always have these problems until we have a strong NFF and a strong national team coach.

Right now it shows that there would have been no difference if we had been out of international football.

“The players who went to the U-20 World Cup, I didn’t see any of them coming through to the national team as it is in most places. Like the European Cup going on right now, there are players on the verge of the English national team doing well there. What happens to our own players when they are part of the U20, and U-17, nothing?

Bafana coach: I have let South Africa down

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•Oshodi

ITSO Mosimane feels he has let South Africa down, after Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Technically, Bafana Bafana finished top of Group G with a better goal difference to Niger and Sierra Leone, after all three teams finished on nine points, but in accordance with the CAF rules in the qualifying process for the 2012 African Cup of Nations, Niger qualified for the final phase by virtue of a better head-tohead record, having beaten South Africa and Sierra Leone.

“South Africa deserved to go to the Africa Cup of Nations and I feel like I failed South Africa. I don’t feel good, hey, and it is not good for me. It comes into my profile that Pitso didn’t help Bafana Bafana, because we failed to qualify under my leadership, irrespective of what rule

says what,” Mosimane said at a press conference.

'Jingles’ says it didn’t matter how Bafana played on the day as his focus was on sealing qualification.

“The short-term vision was to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and I didn’t want to play very well, I wanted to qualify so I played to qualify,” he said.

Mosimane admits that at the back of his mind a draw would be enough and he was stumped in the dressing room when CAF put a spanner in the works by revealing that Niger qualified instead.

“I gave it my best. I even warmed up Bongani Khumalo at some stage (thinking a goalless draw would be enough) because I wanted to take this home. It is sad, it is very sad for South Africa,” he added.

SUPER EAGLES’ NATIONS CUP CRASH

NATION SPORT Obudu 2011: WMRA officials to inspect new Race course

We must rebuild now, Oliseh charges NFF T

•Says he’s ready to help

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ORMER captain of the national football team, the Super Eagles, Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh has declared that the way out of the decline in Nigerian football is to commence a genuine rebuilding process.

Speaking to journalists yesterday at the Campus Square venue of the football clinic where he was the resource person, Oliseh said though it is sad that Nigeria failed to qualify for the Nations Cup, a conscious and sincere overhauling of the football development process in Nigeria will be necessary.

“We must rebuild. We are in a situation now where it has become really necessary for us to rebuild, if we are not aware, then we are really in trouble. We must rebuild and I think by the time we get the right people in charge of the right places, then you can be sure you will see a new Oliseh, Taribo, Yekini, and Finidi George. Like I say often if you don’t see players like Yekini up front, you’ll have problems.

“Let me say what my grandfather used to say. If you don’t know the nature of the ailment afflicting you, then you won’t know what medication to apply. I think the first thing to do is sit down and analyse the problem, and then from there we can move on.

“What I don’t like about Nigerians is that, when things happen, we point fingers. Every time I read through the newspapers and internet, I see very few people preferring solutions. We all now what is wrong, but nobody will tell you the way out. The first thing we should do is review. If you want to have good kids, you must have good parents. If you want good players, then you need a good technical crew, and good administrators, otherwise it is useless,” Oliseh declared.

Asked if he will be interested in taking up a job with the NFF, Oliseh said: “Well, I think it is always an honour to serve Nigeria, that is the thing, and if you want to serve Nigeria, it should be in the formation you have otherwise you will be a round peg in a square hole. I am open to helping Nigeria get out of this.

The situation as it is now not qualifying for the World Cup is humiliating enough,

By Innocent Amomoh but not being counted as one of the best sixteen countries in Africa, I don’t think that is what we planned for our nation and children.

“Like what I told them when they contacted me, that I will not pour water into a basket. If I know that there’s a calabash waiting to receive the water and make sure it stays, of course, I will be ready to work. So I am open to it. I will not let my country down because this is where I came from, I attended the school on the next street, Methodist Boys High School,” Oliseh further assured.

He however affirmed that he was not in a position to determine who goes or stays because that is the prerogative of the NFF, but insisted that change is inevitable if Nigeria intends to get the most of the array of talents that abounds in the country.

“Well sack or appoint, I think that question should be directed to the people who appointed, who are the NFF. For instance, you can’t ask me to divorce my wife because you didn’t run after her for me, so, it is like that. Of course, it was a big blow that we did not qualify. It was the first objective and a smaller objective than the World Cup it self. But then again it is the NFF that can answer that question,” Oliseh reasoned.

•Oliseh

MFM Cup begins

•Ogbuke

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HE 2011 edition of Dr. D. K Olukoya International Youth Football competition started on a glorious note on Monday 10th October, 2011 at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries Prayer City situated along the Lagos/Ibadan expressway with an opening ceremony that attracted close to 5,000 MFM youths. There was the traditional march past, praise worship and prayer sessions to commit the event into God's hands.

Participants are drawn annually from MFM Regions pan Africa with footballers from over 40 regions for the the three weeks event. The football event is one of several avenues MFM General Overseer, Dr Daniel Kolawole Olukoya is using to reposition youths for Christ Jesus.

Competition for the coveted trophy will begin with round-robin matches played simultaneously with five matches daily at the Prayer City and Legacy pitches at the national stadium, Surulere Lagos from Tuesday, 11th October, 2011.

Meanwhile, the G.0. has charged all players to be of good behaviour and to take the advantage staying in the Prayer City will provide them to revive their spiritual lives and seek God's favour in their chosen careers.

The annual Dr. D. K. Olukoya International Youth Football Competition started in 2007 with only MFM branches in Lagos participating.

MFM Headquarters won the maiden edition, but the second edition was enlarged to accommodate teams from outside Lagos and MFM Ilorin beat MFM Calabar to emerge champions. A year later, the sport-loving G.0., Dr Olukoya

yielded to pleas from MFM regions outside Nigeria to be part of the event and thus teams from Chad, Cameroon, Ghana and Burkina Faso participating.

At the end of hostilities MFM Headquarters defeated MFM Osogbo to win the third edition. In 2010, newly appointed Nigeria Under 17 assistant coach, Nduka Ugbade led MFM Ikeja to lift the trophy at the expense of MFM Headquarters.

Aregbesola commiserates with Onigbinde over wife’s death

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HE Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has commiserated with former Chief Coach of Nigeria, Adegboye Onigbinde, over the death of his wife, Regina Omobonike Onigbinde.

Aregbesola, in a condolence message by the Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, urged Onigbinde and the entire family to take solace in God. “While praying that the Almighty God gives you and the entire family the fortitude to bear the loss, we should all be reminded that it is from God we all came and to Him we shall all return. But we are also consoled by the fact that the late Mrs. Regina Omobonike Onigbinde lived a very fulfilled.”

ECHNICAL officials from the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) will be at the Obudu Ranch Resort later this month to inspect the new race course for the 7th edition of the annual Obudu international mountain race which holds on the 26th of next month in Obudu.

The officials, according to Patrick Ugbe, the Honourable Commissioner for Information and Orientation in Cross River State, who also doubles as the media director for the race, are coming to ensure that the new course complys with the regulations set by the international governing body for countries aspiring to host the prestigious WMRA world mountain running championships.

'The WMRA has told the Local Organising Committee (LOC) headed by Sir William Archibong that its officials will come for an inspection of the new course we are mapping out for the 7th edition of the Obudu international mountain race and the third African nations mountain running championships', revealed Ugbe while revealing some of the requirements the LOC must comply with in marking the new course.

'The LOC has been told that the course must not contain any dangerous sections and that it must be marked throughout, such that complete strangers to the courses

can follow without difficulty. You know mountain races take place across country which is mainly off-road and involves considerable amounts of ascent for mainly uphill races like we have in Obudu'', he revealed, promising that the LOC will ensure the recommended approximate distances and total amount of ascent for international races as contained in IAAF Rule 250.10 are met.

Ugbe further revealed the LOC's preparedness to also meet all the requirements contained in the technical regulations for hosting the biggest championships in the calendar of the WMRA. 'His Excellency, Governor Liyel Imoke made it clear to the president of the WMRA, Bruno Gozzelino that Obudu Ranch Resort is ready to host the world come 2014 and has charged the LOC to liase with the WMRA on what is needed to be done to ensure the 30th edition of the championships is hosted by Nigeria', Ugbe disclosed, adding that the LOC has also received the backing of Gozzelino.

He also revealed that the WMRA president has never hidden his admiration for the near perfect organisation of the annual Obudu International Mountain Race which has become one of the most anticipated events in the calendar of the association.

BANKERS GAMES FINAL

Skye win football, Fidelity top medals chart

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KYE BANK secured a deserved 1-0 win over Fidelity Bank to emerge champions of the football event of the 2011 Nigeria Bankers Games last Sunday but it was Fidelity Bank that topped the overall medals’ table as they finished with eight gold, eleven silver and five bronze won from table tennis, chess, athletics and scrabble.

Fidelity Bank reached the finals without dropping a point and had actually defeated Skye Bank at the Group stages but turned up the less fortunate on the day victory mattered most. Perhaps, the presence of Skye Bank’s Managing Director, Mrs Bola Adesola may have been the extra motivation that buoyed the players to ‘expand their winning world’ to the third Bankers Games football trophy. Ismail Sanni’s well served free-kick made the difference between the contenders as both sides enjoyed an equal exchange at offensive and defensive play in the game watched by a record crowd that spilled over from the stands.

The final whistle was the signal that supporters of Skye Bank needed to ‘mob’ their heroes as they ran onto the pitch jubilating, singing, dancing and waving the bank’s banners, T-Shirts and throwing caps into the air. Their Managing Director dispensed with the trappings of office to

join the supporters in the celebrations that heralded their third Bankers Games football triumph.

Standard Chartered Bank were also the luckier of the third place classification duel against the former defending Champions, UBA as Funlola Oni’s lone strike on 19th minute of play separated the two sides.

However, the overall medals’ standing saw UBA placing third with one gold, one silver and one bronze behind First Bank which came second with two gold, one silver and one bronze.

Medals and trophies were presented by the guest of honour and Lagos State Commissioner for Sports, Mr. Enitan Oshodi and Fela Bank-Olemoh, the Chief Executive officer of MediaVision, organisers of the tournament. Other dignitaries at the event included the Executive Director of Fidelity Bank, Mr. IK Mbagwu, former Super Eagles coach, Tunde Disu and officials of the Lagos State Football Association.

The Nigeria Bankers Games has been an annual fixture in the banking industry involving over 800 athletes and officials who compete for top spots during the weekend over an engaging period of 13 weeks.

David Mark flags-off football talent RESIDENT of the Senate, hunt tourney Senator David Mark, has stated

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that the antidote to the declining fortune of Nigeria football would be a complete return to the grassroots to catch the young and build from there.

Speaking when he flagged off the “2011 David Mark Talent Hunt football tournament, in Otukpo, Benue State over the weekend, Senator Mark emphasised that Nigeria needs to build football teams from the grassroots and keep them together as a matter of urgent national importance.

“What we saw on Saturday (Nigeria’s draw with Guinea) was a national embarrassment. National pride was at stake and our boys did not put in their bests. They did not understand the importance of the game to the nation and they failed us,” he lamented.

Senator Mark however counselled; “We should put the sad experience behind us, return to the drawing board, find out what went wrong and put our house in order.”

According to him, part of the measures to correct the ugly situation, would be to use his present initiative

•Westerhorf back to rebuild soccer to embark on a football talent hunt at the grassroots across the federation.

He cautioned football managers against politicising the game stressing that selection of players must always be on merit devoid of any sentiment or favouritism.

“One of the lessons from Saturday's woeful outing is that we must learn to catch them young and keep them together. We must learn to plan ahead because any nation that does not plan, plans to fail. We can avoid failure if we plan ahead,” Mark stressed.

The Senate President however expressed appreciation to Nigeria's former technical adviser, Clemence Westerhorf, for leading a team of international scouts to his country home, Otukpo for the football talent hunt, recalling that the nation's soccer got to its peak during Westerhorf's tenure, just as he pleaded for a return to the good old days.

25

PROPERTY

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.com

* The Environment * Mortgage * Apartments * Security * Homes *Real Estate

email:- property@thenationonlineng.net

Roads: World Bank’s $315m lifeline to the rescue •Pledges five-year maintenance

•The Benin-Ibadan Road

Federal highways have become death traps. States’roads are not better. Though governments claimed huge investments made in the sector, these for have so far not •Experts advocate rent-to-ownership concept stable polity translated into any meaningful improvement. But the latest effort by the World Bank may yet lift some of the nation’s roads, reports OKWY IROEGBU •CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

•Row over VI property - PAGE 26

•Flood: Remain calm, govt tell Lagosians

- PAGE 39

•Surveyors push for green policy

- PAGE 40

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

26

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT Eight years after a Federal High Court in Kano handed out its verdict in the dispute over the ownership of Plot 253 Muri Okunola Street Victoria Island, Lagos, originally owned by the late Mr Babatunde Adeyemi, his siblings have refused to yield ground. Since then, the buyer -Mafagots Industry Limited that said the court’s decision favours has not taken full possession of the property. LEKE SALAUDEEN reports:

Row over VI property •Tenants disobey court ruling

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HEN will Mafagots Indus try Limited take full posses sion of the property located at 253 Muri Okunola Street Victoria Island Lagos?

Why should individuals take laws into their hands and disregard court ruling?

These are the questions being asked by the management of Mafagots Industry Limited who has been struggling for the past seven years to take over the property it duly paid for.

Investigations reveal that Mafagots bought the property for N150 million from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) through a competent court order in August 2004.

Prior to the purchase of the property by Mafagots, a tenant in the house Mr Bube Okorodudu was occupying six out of the 10 flats in the building.

Mafagots Managing Director Mrs Ajoke Okusanya told our correspondent that following the court ruling that declared her company as the true owner of the property, Okorodudu was duly served with the normal statutory quit notice including four other tenants who had long ago vacated the building.

But Okorodudu, according to Mrs Okusanya, has vehemently refused to pack out. Instead, he had positioned mobile policemen in the compound to harass and intimidate people.

Beside, he has given two flats out to the wife and families of the former owner late Mr Babatunde Adeyemi, said Mrs Okusanya.

Despite the fact that various court orders and rulings were served on him, she said Okorodudu has refused

bluntly to vacate the building.

Mafagots boss stated that her company borrowed from Afribank to purchase the property, adding that the loan is now in excess of N1.4billion.

She alleged that Okorodudu has turned the six flats under his control into guest house charging between N40,000 and N50,000 per night since 2004 amounting to N802.5 million.

But Okorodudu told our correspondent that the ownership of the property is still in dispute because the Adeyemi family has gone to court on the matter. According to him, there was a court order that the status quo should be maintained on the property.

“As a tenant, I discharge my obligation by paying my rents as at when due. I pay my rent direct to the court.

“I have to protect my own interest.

The other party says they have gone to court and there is an order that the status quo must be maintained.

“I have no business listen to anybody or entertain letters written by individuals. It is the court that will decide whether I should leave or not”, Okorodudu said.

But NDIC said it was not aware of any court other that status quo should be maintained.

NDIC Director of Legal Service Alhaji Alheri Nyako told our correspondent that several attempts to make the illegal occupants pack out have failed.Despite the court ruling, which declared Mafagots owner of the property, Okorodudu and others stay put. Nyako said the agency is not relenting its effort in ensuring

•Plot 253 Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

that Mafagots take full possession of the property based on the court ruling. Okorodudu and his clique are using delay tactis to elongate their stay in the house.

The property in dispute originally belonged to late Mr Adeyemi Chairman/Managing Director of Temple and Golders Enterprises. The company in 1993 obtained a syndicated loan facility from a consortium of banks: ICON Merchant bank, Oceanic bank and Nigerian-Arab bank (later Assurance Bank). ICON was appointed Trustee for the N47.5million loan offered Temple and Golders while Adeyemi stood as surety.

Trouble started in 1997 when ICON had its banking licence withdrawn and was wound up by a court order. The

NDIC was empowered as liquidator to recover all debts due and payable to ICON. To recover the debts owed ICON and other banks, NDIC in 1998 filed a suit at the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices Tribunal in Kano against Temple and Golders, Babatunde Adeyemi and Ade Babington-Ashaye (the Receiver of Temple and Golders) for the recovery of debt. The tribunal ruled in favour of NDIC. To offset the debt owed ICON and others, the NDIC sold the property for N150million to Magfot in August 2004.

On November 5, 2002, NDIC sought for the court order appointing P.K.Ojo an estate surveyor and valuer to manage the property under the supervi-

sion of the deputy sheriff of the Federal High court.

The Federal High court in its ruling on April 15, 2003 granted the order and empowered the estate agent to collect rents and all other receivable from the property and to deposit same into an interest yielding account.

However, Ojo was recently discharged by the Federal High court Kano upon the application of the NDIC after several efforts in the past to get him hand over the property to the owner Mafagots.

The court also directed Ojo to give account of the management of the property at 253 Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island to Mafagots Industry Limited, the rightful owner of the property.

Roads: World Bank’s $315m lifeline to the rescue •Continued from Page 25

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HE World Bank has often ac cused the nation of having the highest cost in road construction, yet not necessarily the best in quality and standards.

The global bank’s deployment of over $315million in road construction in four states may offer a fresh hope for the nation’s roads if it is sustained.

Over the weekend, the bank announced the approval of $315 million grant for the construction of rural roads in four states to fasttrack development and encourage rural agriculture to uplift the living standards of the people.

The Bank’s team leader for Rural Access Roads Monitoring Projects, Mr Nicolas Pertiera, said while on an official visist to the Minna the Niger State capital to see the Acting Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Ibeto, said the gesture is born out of the desire of the Bank to ensure comprehensive efforts at opening up rural areas and enhancing agriculture.

The team leader, who refused to disclose the three states that would benefit with Niger under the pilot scheme, said the four states would benefit from the loan.

He said: “The World Bank has set aside the sum for the construction of 200 kilometres of rural access roads in each of the four states within a period of six months, and out of the amount, we will con-

tribute $195 million while the French international development agency would contribute $120million.

He assured that care would be taken in selecting the projects to ensure that only communities with high agricultural potential benefit in order to encourage farmers’ access to the market.

“The project is another way of alleviating poverty because we discovered that most people in the

rural areas don’t have access to sell their farm produce due to bad roads,” Pertiera, said.

He, however, implored benefiting states to collaborate with the World Bank, stressing that any state that completes its 200 km rural feeder road network within six months deadline would enjoy additional incentive The bank team leader promised that the Bank would maintain the

roads for five years after construction before handing them over to their respective states as part of confidence building mechanism.

Responding, the Acting Governor assured the World Bank team of government’s determination to partner with development agencies to fast-track its Vision 20:2020 development agenda using agriculture.

“This government intends to use

agriculture to develop the state and we are ready to partner the World Bank on all conditions needed for this project,” he said.

He commended the World Bank for including Niger in the programme, adding that the state road rehabilitation agency would maintain the road once it is handed over to the government

Minister bemoans spate of building collapse

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HE Minister of Lands, Hous ing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple, has attributed bad quality of building materials, poor supervision and inexperienced labour as some of the factors responsible for collapsed buildings in the country.

The Minister said this during the dedication of 17 Low-Cost Housing Units in Karu, Nasarawa State.

She said there is urgent need to place appropriate sanctions on unprofessional property developers as well as architects who make use of substandard materials for property development.

Her Words: “At least those that erect collapsed buildings are professionals; they are experts who have done some supervision so I think they should be punished. Most times, this problem is also attached to bad workers, bad supervision

From Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

and bad quality of materials that are been used for building these collapsed structures. In fact, why do we supervise houses when we know we are not capable of the supervision?

“We have to look at alternative building materials instead of continuous use of cements and sands.

Let’s look for something else to depend on.”

Earlier, the Chairman of Habitat for Humanity, Mr Fortune Ebie, called for immediate and effective approach to resuscitate the housing situation in the country adding that possessing land in some parts of the country has always been a difficult task for the people.

While commending MTN Foundation for their kind gesture, Ebie

appealed to the Federal Government for donation of free lands and infrastructures in order to complement government’s effort in providing shelter for Nigerians.

In his remarks, the Chairman of MTN Foundation, Ambassador Hamzat Ahmadu, said the housing project was a fulfillment of their

‘At least, those who erect collapsed buildings are professionals. They are experts who have done some supervision; so I think they should be punished’

promise to empower, sustain as well as contribute value to the country.

The chairman, represented by Mrs. Aishatu Saudaki, added that the initiative has not only contributed to affordable housing but also provided beneficiaries with opportunity to invest in their future.

The project, according to Ahmadu has been handed over to their partner to monitor repayment of the mortgages while forthcoming proceeds are to be used in providing more housing units for beneficiaries within the country.

It could be recalled that in 2005, MTN Foundation gave Habitat for Humanity, a property firm N117million to construct 100 units of two-bedroom housing units. The 17 Low-Cost Housing Units were additions to the 100 units built by the organisation.

27

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

E-mail:- law@thenationonlineng.net

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Joseph Daudu, in this interview with JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU, speaks on threats to democracy and how to avert them; the future of the judiciary, Constitution amendment, fiscal federalism, the need to revisit the post-election crises, how to deal with the recurring Jos unrest, Boko Haram, and why he thinks the Nigerian Police Force(NPF) has, unwittingly, become the hindrance to law enforcement.

•Daudu (SAN)

‘Introduce constitutional court to insulate Appeal Court from political cases’ •Judicial integrity at stake over investigation T

HE new legal year has started with special court sessions across the country.

How set are you for the year?

It is an auspicious event in that it affords us an opportunity not only to review the events of the past legal year as they affected the justice delivery sector to which it is tied, issues on the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, the relationship between the Bar, the Bench, the public, good governance and other related matters, but also to rededicate ourselves to those great ideals and principles on which justice is founded.

What are those ideals?

They are truth, honesty, incorruptibility,

the fear of God Almighty, upholding the Constitution and other laws made thereunder, courage, progressivism, the entrenchment of social and economic justice among others.

It is clear that we are in trying times and that, in the past one year, the image of the legal profession, the Bench, particularly, has been subjected to such a mauling that stakeholders have serious concerns as to our collective ability to recover from these unwarranted and, indeed, avoidable assaults, most of which are self inflicted.

Do you foresee a solution to the problem?

Towards the tail end of the last adminis-

tration, several events including a not-toocordial relationship that had been sustained on the basis of an unwritten detente (i.e. a relaxation of strained relationship in a politically-charged atmosphere) was suddenly translated or elevated into undisguised hostilities between the leadership of the Bench and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

A few weeks ago, I would have dealt with these issues at great length (at least for record purposes) and ventilated the Bar’s position on them to ensure that we avoid such divisive and potentially destructive scenarios in future, but we have what practitioners of the law on Tort refer to as a Novus actus

interveniens (a new intervening act), which is the emergence of my lord, the Honourable Mr. Justice Dahiru Musdapher CFR as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

I am constrained as I am expected to deal with the issue differently in the light of the new circumstances.

Nigeria turned 51 a few days ago. How would you assess its democracy?

Nigeria has, from time, striven to be a democracy in the sense that even under the occupation of the world’s dominant colonial power, Great Britain, the thrust was to acquaint the people with the rudiments of •Continued on page 31

•’Why Nigeria must step up at World Court’ - P.30 •Tasks before women lawmakers - P.31

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

28

LAW REPORT

Taking preliminary objection with main suit amounts to overruling before argument IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA On Friday, the 24th day of June, 2011 Suit No: SC.3/2011 BEFORE THEIR LORDSHIPS DAHIRU MUSDAPHER ....... Justice of the Supreme Court CHRISTOPHER MITCHELL CHUKWUMA-ENEH ....... Justice of the Supreme Court OLUFUNLOLA OYELOLA ADEKEYE ....... Justice of the Supreme Court SULEIMAN GALADIMA ....... Justice of the Supreme Court BODE RHODES-VIVOUR ....... Justice of the Supreme Court

BETWEEN 1. HON. ZAKAWANU I. GARUBA 2. HON. LEVIS A. AIGBOGUN 3. HON. FRANCIS O. OKIYE 4. HON. BLESSING AGBEBAKU 5. HON. CHRISTOPHER I. ADESOTU 6. HON. SUNDAY EBOSELE EREGHAN 7. HON. EMMA OKODUWA

HON. ZAKAWANU I. GARUBA & ORS V. HON. EHI BRIGHT OMOKHODION & ORS CITATION: (2011) LPELR-SC.3/2011 •Cont’d from last week

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HAT is to say, in regard to this case that the points being canvassed as per issues 1, 2 and 4 on the supposition that they have constituted legal issues cannot be raised without the benefit of additional evidence otherwise they become otiose. It is clear that to sustain these grounds and the issues raised therefrom there must be additional evidence. Hence the appellants have filed an affidavit in order to place on record for consideration the said two cited cases of this court.

Also it is settled that issues as the instant ones here formulated as arising for determination in an appeal must relate and arise from the grounds of appeal; and must be consistent with and within the scope and confines of the grounds relied upon, thus postulating that issues for determination ought not to be formulated in abstract legal issues with no concrete reference to the facts of the case as in this matter. With regard to issues 1, 2 and 4, I have no difficulty in holding that they are not germane for the resolution of this appeal and have been introduced as red herrings to divert attention from the main issues in this appeal and so they are liable to be struck out. In an attempt to garner additional facts to support these issues, and prop them up the appellants have resorted to amending the record/proceedings of 26/4/ 2010 by way of an affidavit challenging the record. This is a non-starter as I will show anon.

Again, it is also settled that where a ground of appeal does not arise from the judgment appealed against (in this case as regards grounds 3, 4 and 6) then the validity of the issues raised therefrom for determination cannot be said to have arisen from incompetent grounds of appeal . It is equally settled that a ground of appeal must correlate with as well as arise from the decision appealed against and should frontally attack the ratio of the decision otherwise it is baseless and liable to be struck out being incompetent. See: Anie v. Uzorka (supra). And so whether or not in this instant case the trial Court subtracted or read out of the record with regard to issues 1, 2 and 4 has no definite bearing as to whether or not the cases cited in grounds 3, 4 and 6 hereof have formed part of the record/proceedings of 26/ 4/2010 so as to be judicially noticed so as to be considered. It is settled that where an appeal has been successfully challenged as is the case of the foregoing grounds it is liable to be struck out where there are no other grounds to sustain the appeal.

Coming particularly to grounds 3, 4 and 6 as challenged by 8th to 11th respondents in their preliminary objection I have examined ground 3 of the notice of appeal alongside its particulars which clearly is not questioning the trial Court’s sole deciding factor in this matter to the effect that the appellants have neither sought nor obtained leave of

court before filing the instant notice of appeal as the grounds are questioning the exercise of the trial Court’s discretion and so have raised questions of mixed law and facts and also that the lower court’s observation as per ground 3 is obiter and not an appellable point and I agree entirely. Ground 4 which is questioning the lower court’s judgment for failing to take judicial notice of the said 2 cited cases of this court as well as for not considering them by the trial Court on the other hand, has no bearing whatsoever with the judgment appealed against and it is settled law that a ground of appeal challenging the judgment of a court (trial or appellate court) cannot be founded on what the court has never decided; the lower court has no duty deciding on the failure to take judicial notice of the said two cited cases as that issue has not arisen from the decision of the trial Court; this ground of appeal clearly does not arise from the lower court’s judgment and should be struck out.

As regards ground 6 - which has complained of failure to judicially notice of the two Supreme Court cases and for not considering them, again, this ground does not arise from the decision of the lower court. And all that I have said with regard to grounds 3 and 4 above applies with equal force to this ground and being incompetent it should also be struck out.

See: Osuji v. Ekeocha (supra), Owie v. Ighiwi (supra), Dalek v. Ompadec (supra) and Oruntoba-Oju v. Abdul-Raheem (supra). See: Osuji v. Ekeocha (supra) and Owie v. Ighiwi (supra).

Even more fundamental to this case is that grounds 3, 4 and 6 of the appeal are equally baseless in the sense that the appellants have

not sought nor obtained leave of the lower court to raise fresh issues not pronounced on or decided by the trial Court. The appellants have without leave of court attempted to widen the ambit of their case in the lower court and this court by introducing the question of the said two cited cases and its implications, improperly without leave of court.

This is a fresh issue as no reference has been made to the two cited cases by the trial Court in its judgment; their citation has not formed part of the record/proceeding of 26/4/2010.

They cannot be allowed do so at this stage in this matter as an appeal is a continuation of the original suit. The appellants’ leave to raise a new issue in this regard in this case is very fundamental otherwise the new issue being foisted on the court will be totally discountenanced. The appellants must be seen in this matter to maintain a consistent case at all the stages of the case otherwise the matter may be struck out. See: Jumbo v. Briyanko Internal Ltd. (1995) 6 NWLR (Pt.403) 545 at 555-6, Horizon Fibes Nig. Plc. v. M. v. Baco Liner & Ors. (2002) 8 NWLR (769) 466 at 489 and Ajide v.

Kelani (1985)2 NWLR (Pt.12) 248. I have therefore come to the inevitable conclusion that issues 1, 2 and 4 not having arisen from the d ecision of lower court are incompetent talk less of their not having attacked the ratio of the lower court’s decision and so should be struck out. The same fate goes for grounds i.e.

3, 4 and 6 being groundless are incompetent for the reasons given above and should also be struck out.

In this regard I now come to the crucial point on which in my view the appeal vis-a-vis all the grounds including grounds 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 is premised. The question simply put is whether or not the citation of the said two Supreme Court cases to wit: Diapalong v.

Dariye (supra) and Inakoju v. Adeleke (supra) have formed part of the record of appeal/proceeding of 26/4/2010 vis-a-vis the respondents’ contention that the purported amendment of the record by the appellants by way of an affidavit challenging the record is a nonstarter. The appellants in this matter relying on the settled decisions of this court in Diapalong v. Dariye (supra) and Inakoju v.

Adeleke (supra) have submitted that where an objection to jurisdiction is raised in an action commenced by Originating Summons it is prudent to hear arguments on jurisdiction and the substantive case together. It must be stated that such procedures are not of general application as the primary purpose of raising such objections is to terminate the proceeding at that stage. For an example where the grounds and the issue raised therefrom are bad in law and will lead to rendering the notice of appeal and the appeal itself incompetent as here, it will be a fruitless effort to proceed to full scale trial of the matter no matter how well the case is conducted will save the situation.

I must however say that it is trite that the court before whom a proceeding is pending or has been completed takes judicial notice of all the processes filed in the proceeding as well as the proceeding itself including the judgment as the case may be and so following from this proposition of law all the processes

to be relied upon in any application made before that court in the proceeding are judicially noticed.

The record/proceeding of 26/4/2010 of the trial Court as affirmed by the lower has been challenged by the appellants who have filed an affidavit to that effect contending that the citation of the two cases viz: Diapalong v.

Dariye (supra) and Inakoju v. Adeleke (supra) as well as their submission thereon has been left out of the record/proceeding of the trial Court on 26/4/2010 and that the same be made part of the record of appeal/proceeding of 26/4/2010 in this matter particularly as the said affidavit has not been countered by the other parties. The said affidavit has been served on the parties and the court and not having been countered the appellants have contended that the record of appeal/proceeding of 26/4/2010 has ipso facto been accordingly amended without more. With the greatest respect, I must say that to amend the record of appeal in any proceeding including the instant one is much more than simply filing an affidavit challenging the record/proceeding as here without more. All the parties to this suit although served the affidavit challenging the record it must be followed by a formal application to court to amend the record for the court to sanction the amendment as the whole essence of filing an affidavit in that respect is to bring about an amendment of the record of appeal/proceeding of 26/4/2010. A record of appeal therefore cannot be amended without the court’s approval in exercise of its discretionary power to grant or refuse to sanction an amendment of the record of appeal.

See: Thynne Thynne (1955) 2 WLR 272 as approved by this court. In case of Akinyede v.

Opere (1967) 5 NSCC 299 at 301, also see Blay v. Pollard (1930 1 KB.628 and London Pass.

Transport Bd. V. Aboscrop (1942) 1 KB. 347.

At this juncture, I have to observe that the importance of record of appeal/proceeding in our appeal system cannot be overestimated as cases have to be decided based on the record of appeal and without it hearing of appeals will be difficult to undertake. A record of appeal/proceeding has to be duly and properly compiled to guarantee as to its correctness; and it must be meticulously checked and compared with vis-a-vis the original processes/ documents filed in the matter as well as the proceedings of court. A record of appeal/proceeding having been duly compiled has to be authenticated and certified as prescribed by law. It is settled law that the record of appeal is binding on the court, the parties and their counsel. The instant purported amendment of the record of appeal/proceeding of 26/4/ 2010 as the appellants have undertaken by filing the said affidavit has recognized of the fact that to raise and discuss the questions on the citation of the said two cases in the lower court and this court in the context of their not having formed part of record of appeal/proceeding of 26/4/2010 at the trial Court the said citation and their consideration thereof of the said two cases must be placed on record of appeal/proceeding of 26/4/2010 by amending the same before they will be considered and relied on in any legal argument in this matter in this court.

•To be continued

From left: Chief Akuro George, Mrs. Tess Morris Okeke; former President,Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and Chinwe Nwandike at the last NBA NEC meeting in Awka, Anambra State

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

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LAW COVER CONT’D

‘Constitutional court will insulate Appeal Court’ •Continued from page 29

democracy. Such efforts included the amalgamation the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914 by Lord Lugard, the 1922 and 1945 reforms leading up to the Macpherson and Lyttleton Constitutions of 1950 and 1954 and the Independence and Republican Constitutions of 1960 and 1963.

The essence of these documents was to empower Nigerians to elect their leaders by themselves for the purpose of governance and law-making.

Has it worked out well?

The Military truncated this journey in 1966 as a result of the proven excesses of the civilian democrats, which resulted in a military putsch and the reign of the jack-boot continued until 1999, with a brief interlude from 1979-1983. As things stand, Nigeria is a constitutional democracy rooted in its grund norm, the 1999 Constitution (which recently enjoyed some amendments).

The said document prescribes the mode of administering the country as a democracy not as a Nigerian version of democracy. Consequently, Nigeria’s democracy is premised not only on blood, sweat and tears, inflow of stupendous cash from petroleum or oil proceeds, but on a collective desire by her multiethnic people to live together.

What future do you see for Nigeria?

It is the desire of her people to be bound by a collective destiny that makes the task of considering Nigeria’s future as a formidable political entity a worthwhile exercise. There are certain behavioural pattern, events, cataclysms and calamities that have characterised the nation’s landscape which question not only the viability of democracy as a system of governance, but the future of Nigeria as a nation.

These issues are very grave, they can best identified and described from the spectacle or catalogue of a number of recent unfortunate and sometimes violent events that have characterised the nation’s landscape in the past few years. It is agreed by all and sundry that if the root cause of these events and calamities are not resolved, then Nigeria may not remain a corporate entity for long.

Why did you say this?

This is because, these happenings, if left unchecked, could torpedo democracy in Nigeria. I propose to consider, (i) The Plateau (Jos) crisis, (ii) 2011 Post-presidential election crisis, (iii) Niger delta crisis, (iv) Boko Haram, (v) corruption and economic crimes, (vi) road carnage. Each issue here is precipitated by an underlying national malaise which if left unchecked, would have ruinous consequences.

The Plateau (jos) crisis bleeds the heart. It exposes the fragility of Nigeria in terms of not only structure and unity, but in the clear unwillingness of leadership (State and Federal) to confront the problem globally. In International circles, the Plateau crisis is described as a ‘genocide’, for the simple reason that thousands of non combatant innocent Nigerians have been killed on account of differences in ethnic and religious status.

What do you think is the cause of the crisis?

At first, the “Jos crisis”, as Nigerian and foreign media have named it, seems complex and confusing. It is however possible to untangle the reasons for this explosion of violence that took place on 27 and 28 November 2008 in the capital of Plateau State, North of Nigeria. Early December 2008, interviewed by RFI, Daniel C. Bach stated that the main cause of these clashes is to be found in the unequal right to “indigeneity” between the Beroms and Hausas in Plateau State.

The distinction between “indigenes” and “allogenes”, i.e. between locals and immigrants, establishes what amounts to a “right of blood”. For inhabitants of Jos like the Beroms and others, a certificate of indigeneity gives them privileged access to scholarships, public employment and land. A solution to the problem would be, according to D.C.

•CJN Musdapher

•Senate President Mark

•Speaker, House of Reps, Aminu Tambuwal

Bach, to redefine this right so as to identify all individuals, whatever their background, as Nigerian citizens. “ How can the problem be solved?

It is suggested (though I disagree) that ‘In fact, the origin of this lies beyond the scope of this constitutional inequality. I say address constitutional inequity and see if the problem will not disappear. The Jos Crisis brings to the fore the question of the rights of a Nigerian in his own country. The problem as shown above is that settlers in Jos are not regarded as indigenes and they therefore are accorded secondary rights. Thus, there exist disparate access to rights and privileges such as the acquisition of land, payment of taxes, education advancement for children, etc. The Jos crisis demonstrates how the minority question, ethnic and religious discrimination, indigineship and settler crisis can stultify Nigeria’s democracy. I propounded the solution thus: The panacea lays in nigerianising everybody.

What do you mean by this?

That is, there should be no indigene or non indigene if you have elected to live among any ethnic group in Nigeria for an agreed number of years and you demonstrate a desire to continue to live there, then such a person should be qualified to append as his Local government and State such place of his domicile. It was to facilitate inclusion and rapid development which such a measure will bring about that the NBA last year recommended to the National Assembly an amendment to Chapter 3 of the 1999 Constitution, which is the chapter of Citizenship to introduce a new clause on internal citizenship in the terms described above. But they did not even look at it.

You think amending the clause will solve the problem?

It is only by this clause that the absolute impartiality can be guaranteed. Indeed, it is only after this super Constitutional provision has been set up that the Federal Character Commission, which is the other recommendation of the Commission, can really function. Therefore the task ahead is to encourage practicality and objectivity. To see beyond our parochial interests is imperative in this circumstances’. Failure to do so will encourage more internal crisis which can be hijacked by our external enemies just as the Jos crisis is breeding.

What other threats to democracy have you identified?

There was a tragic aftermath to the 2011 Presidential election, especially after the rightful winner was declared as duly elected.

For three days, hundreds of innocent Nigerians, who are not of northern extraction, or are not from the north and are Christians, or are indigenes and Muslims, but were perceived to have voted for the ruling Party, were brutally and savagely attacked and in some cases killed. Churches in Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Yobe etc were torched/burnt down, shops and other businesses of those Nigerians referred to as strangers in their own country were looted. The highways were no longer passable as Nigerians and other identifiable non indigenes were pulled out of vehicles and killed. Etc. What is the implication of this?

The implication is the events questioned once again, the unity of this country. It also

raised the question of political maturity and the response of Government to crises that snuffs out the lives of her citizens. It was suspected that as usual, the events will be swept under the carpet and the cold blooded murderers left to walk free. Government does not act in the interest of the unity of this country. Our leaders appear to have forgotten the lessons of history, the 1967-1970 civil war started on a similar note of loss of lives. The NBA recommended the following: What can government do?

Government is enjoined to bring all those involved in this carnage to book. It is also necessary to constitute a high powered commission of inquiry so as to collate the extent of loss of lives and property and every opportunity given to aggrieved or affected persons to speak out. Thirdly, such commission should be empowered to pay compensation for lives and property lost and same be deducted from the accounts of States where the losses or deaths occurred.

Fourthly, the National Assembly should consider enacting stiffer laws to protect the lives, liberty and property of every Nigerian regardless of where he resides in this country. Fifthly and most importantly is that the Governorship elections in the affected States must be postponed until at least law and order are fully restored. Part of the objective of the masterminds of this purge is to intimidate non indigenes for the last election as well as punish them for daring to vote according to their choice and conscience.

It will be a travesty of the electoral process if the remaining election is conducted under this very ominous cloud in the affected States.

Are you saying justice has not yet been done?

The danger signal to our democracy by this type of activity and the concomitant inability or reluctance of government to bring perpetrators of such divisive activity to book is that law and order is deemed to have broken down. The failure of justice has grave economic and political repercussions for such a society. Firstly, investors, local and foreign will not put their funds in any tinderbox economy that is prone to conflagration at any point in time.

Secondly and this is most important, the absence of quick response promotes impunity, lawlessness and unilateral actions by citizens who otherwise should await swift justice from the appropriate authorities but who are convinced that justice will not be served. They now engage in tit for tat measures while Government continues to wring its hands in utter helplessness.

What is your assessment of the federal structure?

Are we practising true fiscal federalism?

Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1947 described Nigeria as ‘A mere geographical expression’.

Have we gone beyond that since then despite the numerous constitutional changes that we have engaged in? I fear not. The clamour for constitutional balance is at the loudest. The weaknesses of the 1999 Constitution are daily being exposed.

For the justice delivery sector at least five amendments have been suggested. They include but are not limited to (i) Introduction of a constitutional court to insulate the court of appeal from political cases, (ii) reducing the number of appeals that go to the Supreme

Court by the expansion of the situations in which the leave of either the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court can be sought and conversely reducing the situations in which appeals can go to the apex court from the intermediate court as of right, (iii) the composition of the National Judicial Council, its functions and impact on the administration of justice, (iv) the reorganisation of the functions of the Court of Appeal and (v) the general reorganisation of the justice sector for the benefit of Nigerians.

What other areas need amendment?

Other areas of the constitution that calls for reconsideration is the lopsided federal domination in the legislative lists, these need to be balanced and items redistributed as to reflect true and proper federalism. The questions of the creation of state and community police, reorganisation of local governments are areas that require constitutional consensus by Nigerians. So as in other scenario examined above, the issues thrown up by the Niger delta crises are issues that can derail Nigeria’s fledgling democracy.

How can the problem of corruption be solved?

The strategic position of the police in the fight against corruption has long been identified as the weakest link. This is due to the constitutional stipulation of Section 214 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that ‘There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof.’

This unfortunate provision has unwittingly been the source of the problems relating to law enforcement in Nigeria. By designating against all known principles of federalism, a federal agency as the sole Police Force for the Centre and 36 States, the Constitution had unknown to it, created a recipe for anarchy and incompetence. The present Police Force is understaffed and ultra-sensitive to the principles of Federal Character that it usually jettisons merit for geographical representation.

The greatest danger to the Nigeria project and by extension our democracy is corruption. Available research shows that ethnicity, religious differences and other divisive factors are merely factors to facilitate corruption. To make progress we must collectively shun corruption and the leadership of this country must enforce the laws in such a way as to eliminate or at least reduce corruption.

How do you think the security threat posed by the Boko haram can be managed?

The solution lies in the approach of the leadership. The indices show that the structures or machinery of government are weak and unable to guarantee the constitutional minimum of peace, order and good government.

With this conclusion, attention must turn to how to remedy matters.

Those in leadership must recognise that the responsibility imposed by their positions is a sacred one and they must be guided by the dictates of truth, honesty, sincerity and the fear of God Almighty. For the people; greater responsibility rests on them to be the barometer of the leadership. All in all, no one group can be absolved from blame for the danger signals to Nigeria’s democracy. We are all guilty.

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LAW & SOCIETY

‘Why Nigeria must step up at World Court’

T

HE International Criminal Court (ICC) is one of the most important international institutions in the world. Some have even described it as the most important international institution that has emerged since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945.

One measure of the ICC’s importance is the fact that it gives sleepless nights to those errant heads of states who grossly violate the human rights of their citizens.

It is, therefore, an institution where Nigeria, a country that is by far largest and most important African and black state deserves to have a distinctive presence. But sadly, this is currently not the case.

It is a cardinal principle of the recently reinvigorated foreign policy of the Goodluck Jonathan Administration that Nigeria should and must play a leading role in important international multilateral institutions (such as the ICC).

Another cardinal principle of Nigeria’s revamped foreign policy is that from now on, Nigeria will insist on earning an appreciable return for the money it invests in the conduct of its international relations within and without bodies such as the ICC. But one institution that Nigeria has so far not fared well at by the measure of these two principles is the ICC.Beginning with the principle that Nigeria must begin to earn and claim a significant return on its investments in the conduct of international affairs.

Nigeria’s current assessed contribution to the ICC is over 541,000 euro. This makes it the second highest African contributorto the annual budget of the ICC. Among African countries, only South Africa pays contributes more to the ICC budget than Nigeria. But a South African judge has served on the ICC. Dr NaviPillay, the UN High Commissioner for Humanis from South Africa, and served as a judge at the ICC before being appointed to her current position.

Yet, despite being the second largest African financial contributor to the ICC, Nigeria has never served a turn on that court’s bench. Nor has Nigeria ever had the benefit of any of her citizens being appointed to serve in any senior position at the ICC. This has been so despite the fact that many other (much smaller) African states that contribute as little as 10,000 euro (as against our relatively humungous 541,000 euro contribution) have enjoyed success at getting their citizens to serve as judges and principal officials of the ICC. These countries have punched far above their weight at the ICC, while Nigeria has so far punched far below its weight. To illustrate, there are seven African states whose citizens are serving on the ICC in senior positions (including as judges);

LAW AND PUBLIC POWER

with

By Obiora Okafor

and there are seven other African countries that are now competing with Nigeria in the judicial elections scheduled for this December.

Nigeria’s annual contribution to the ICC’s budget exceeds the combined total annual contributions of all 14 states.And this kind of scenario has played itself over the past nine years that the ICC has been in business. Nigeria has thus not earned anything close to a commensurate or even significant return on its investment in the ICC. Speaking in global terms, Nigeria is the second largest country (populationwise) that is a member of the ICC. The only ICC member that is larger than Nigeria is Brazil, which has successfully placed one of its citizens on the ICC’s bench. Again, Nigeria is by far the largest common law country that is a member of the ICC, as well as the largest African country that is a member of that key global body.

Needless to say, the time has come for Nigeria to step up and take a judicial position in this exceedingly important international institution.

Happily, Nigeria has, as we write, fielded a superb candidate as her flag bearer in the ICC judicial elections billed to take place this December 2011.

Nigeria’s candidate, Dr.Chile EboeOsuji, is one of the most highly qualified and most experienced International Criminal Lawyers of our time, and is widely respected around the world.

Among his other degrees, he holds a PhD in international criminal law. He received his legal education in Nigeria, North America and Europe.He has been practising international criminal law longer than any of the other 18 candidates, who are currently vying for election as judges of the ICC. He is the legal advisor to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva (a very senior and influential position).

He is also concurrently serving as the principal appeals counsel to the Prosecutor of the Special Court of Sierra Leone in the Charles Taylor Case in The Hague.

He had served as a senior appeals counsel for the Prosecution at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown, Sierra Leone; senior trial counsel for the Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania; and as head judicial legal officer to the judges of the ICTR (where he helped them in drafting judgments and decisions).

As importantly, he has represented the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg; has taught international criminal law as a lecturer at the University of Ottawa, Canada;and has numerous published books and scholarly articles in international criminal law, international human rights law and international law.

None of the other 19 candidates vying for election to a judicial office at the ICC even comes close to matching Dr. EboeOsuji’svery impressive credentials.

gabriel AMALU email:gabrielamalu1@yahoo.com

Politicians and their bad luck

•Okafor

But in the world of international “real politik” that we live in, all of these positive qualities will not automatically win the election for Nigeria.All the other states which have fielded candidates for the election have already signaled that they will not simply bow, as Nigeria saunters along to victory.

They want Nigeria to make the supreme effort to win the election. And despite the fact that Nigeria’s candidate has already received the strong endorsement of the African Union and the ECOWAS Heads of State, many of our sister African countries have still signaled their intention to fight it out with Nigeria. These countries have simply refused to respect these weighty endorsements.

Nigeria must, therefore, rise to the occasion, by demonstrating that it knows how to win important international elections when the chips are down. Stories have it that during his recent trip to New York to attend the high level segment of the UN General Assembly, President Goodluck Jonathan did make it known to some of his interlocutors that Nigeria is serious about the ICC bid.

If this was the case, it is, indeed, a good strategy that needs to be sustained. There was a time past, when Nigerian heads of state would deploy special envoys to tour the capital cities of all the relevant states for purposes of winning important elections such as this one.

Such campaigns involved intense shuttle diplomacy. Nothing less than that is called for with regard to the forthcoming elections into one of the most crucial international institutions of our time that will take place this coming December. And nothing less than Nigeria’s resurgence and reestablishment as an important global player is at stake.

•Okafor is a professor of International Law,Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada

•Chairman designate, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)Prof Chidi Odinkalu (left) and Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), at the last Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Awka, Anambra State

T

HE tragedy of our country failing to qualify for the next Nation’s Cup in Gabon and Guinea Bissau, will take some time to sink. The young players and older first timers in the national team, who may never have the second chance to go to a Nation’s Cup, would be cursing their stars. Coach Samson Siasia, who is now vulnerable as our national team coach, will be wandering what struck his confidence and the many skills on display last Saturday. The incompetent football administrators who have turned the Glass House into a house of scandals would be rehashing their usual lies for their country men.

Nigerians, on their part, would be wondering and asking what went wrong with their proverbial good luck? Remember the miracle of Daman, when the young Kanu Nwankwo and Nduka Ugbade and their team mates literally resurrected from certain defeat, to beat the Russians. Even the presence of the talisman Kanu, and the magic maestro J. J. Okocha on the bench to buoy the team could not save us a devastating elimination from the Nation’s Cup. In a dire premonition, I guess, a friend who was with me during the kick-off ceremonies, had on seeing the political dignitaries, prayed aloud, against the team being infected by the bad luck of these politicians.

What had elicited laughter before the kick-off turned to a heated debate, when eventually the team failed to qualify despite the several clear chances to ‘kill the game’ in the first half of the game. Osaze, Yobo, and Nsofor, all blew clear chances in front of the post. While there was no consensus as to who bore the bad luck among the actors; many agreed that, the politicians who came to be associated with a successful outing should now partake in the shame of missing out in the nation’s cup for the first time since 25 years.

But what really went wrong with our qualification process, such that we were at the mery of lowly Guinea? Was it bad luck or incompetence of the coach and or players? Was it maladministration on the part of Nigeria’s officials? Was it sabotage by those who fixed a match to be played by ‘European Nigerians’ (nearly all the players live and ply their trade in Europe) in a hot afternoon. Was it possible that the coach’s insistence on exerting his pound of flesh against some key players played a part in the several misses in front of goal? Could the suspended Vincent Eyema have made any difference? Was outright suspension of recalcitrant players a better disciplinary measure than asking them to pay a fine? Questions.

Talking about bad luck, Nigerians surely have an overdose of it; when it comes to the management of our political economy. Now we have been told to brace for massive increase in petroleum products from next year. The reason is that the trillions of naira spent to subsidise the cost of the products, will be removed to repair our decayed infrastructure. Plausible reason l would say; if we will hire hard-nosed competent managers to manage the money that would be realised from the increase in the cost of the petroleum products.

But that is where the bad luck of politicians, like a firm grip, takes over. Never mind the presence of Sister Ngozi Okonjo Iwuala, (borrowing from brother Steve Osuji), once the politicians get away with their plans to increase the cost of the petroleum products, the legislators and members of the executive council, at all levels, would dust up all manner of allowances for their enhanced up keep; so that the projected income would instead further put pressure on the naira, as they heighten the capital flight with more naira in their hands, leaving ordinary Nigerians at the receiving end of the resultant inflation. Nigerians would suffer the effects as the politicians fret away the gained resources to Europe and America, leaving our currency further weakened, and, ultimately, further devalued.

Now the reccurring bad luck is that the further devalued naira would see the political bad lucks start the rehash again, that at so so value of naira as against the dollar, the Federal Government is subsidizing petroleum products to the tune of so so trillions of naira, and unless, Nigerians allow the removal of subsidy, none of us would come to any good.

And because, the bad roads would still be there, and the railways would still be very ancient, and electricity under supplied, they would also promise us that the trillions to be saved when the new subsidy is removed would be used to repair the failed infrastructure. The same cycle of bad lucks for the ordinary Nigerians you may say; even though good luck for them.

But the ultimate bad luck is that we are at the mercy of these men and their tricks. As things are, we are inundated with the reality that no development will take place unless we allow them to remove the subsidy from petroleum products. As happened under the Obasanjo’s Presidency, the protagonists of the Jonathan’s so called transformation agenda are telling us that it would be different, this time around. But assuming they are right, what happens when his term comes to an end, and a different regime thrusts their bad luck on our part, assuming President Jonathan has any plans to make a difference.

As we mourn our bad luck of last Saturday, what do we do with the live in bad luck that our political actors have turned to? It is this four years cycle of forlorn hope that President Jonathan wants to turn to seven years at a stretch. May God save us?

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LAW & SOCIETY

•From left: Oyebode, Mrs Fayemi and Mrs Onyejeocha at the event

Wake-up call for women parliamentarians on T development, gender equity HE country is increasingly embracing the concept of gender equity, with the rise in the number of women in positions of authority, politics and government inclusive. Unfortunately, this cannot be said to have improved the lot of women, who ought to be the major beneficiary of gender equity advocacy.

To what extent have the Nigerian woman and the vulnerable mass of the nation’s population benefited from the growing involvement of women in decision making? How can the efforts of beneficiaries of the fight for gender equity be harnessed and directed at driving national development initiatives?

These among others, engaged some women parliamentarians, rights advocates and other female decision makers in Lagos last week.

It was at a two-day workshop organised by a group, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), under the theme: Strengthening Democracy through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): The role of the parliament.

Speakers, including Prof Akin Oyebode, an expert in International Law; wife of the Governor of Ondo State, Mrs Bisi Fayemi; a member of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, and a member of Sierra Leonean parliament, Mrs Elizabeth Lavalie, stressed the need for women in authority to forge a united front aimed at ensuring a collaborative effort that would be directed solely to the development of the people, particularly the vulnerable lot.

Prof Oyebode hailed the success recorded so far in the fight for gender equity, noting that most conservative societies are now realising the inevitability of the need to accommodate women in the scheme of things.

“Today, there is an inexorable movement towards almost total equality of the sexes such that it is no longer a question of if, but when women would cease apologising for their gender and assume command of the highest echelons of leadership and control, in particular, all facets of human endeavour,” he said.

Oyebode, of the University of Lagos said: “Nigeria is in a very precarious situation” and observed that “The legislators have important duties to perform, to assure us that Nigeria will survive and it will improve to become a better society.”

He stressed the relevance of such gathering, stating that it was meant to sensitise the female legislators on critical issues and the choices that the people are confronted with in the face of existing socio-political realities in the country.

He emphasized the importance of the contribution of the law makers to the realisation of the people’s quest for development. “No one can deny the centrality of the Legislature in the scheme of things and the need to ensure optimality in the policies and programmes designed to transform Nigeria’s political economy,” he said.

Mrs. Adeleye-Fayemi urged the legislators to help facilitate legislative framework for

By Eric Ikhilae

the development of women and girls in their societies. “As parliamentarians, make sure you have opinions about something. Make sure you contribute to issues. Show them that you are not just there to make up the number.”

She said the country could only achieve gender equality by focusing on women’s needs and rights. Mrs. Adeleye-Fayemi urged women to always endeavour to partake in decision making, including participation in politics.

She decried the reduction in the number of women in parliament from seven per cent in 2007 to 4.5 per cent after the last parliamentary election. She advised women against relying on god-fathers to finance their elections and urged them to raise fund for themselves through partnerships with women in the private sector.

“If we agree that leadership is the issue that we must address to transform this country, then it starts with us. My suggestion therefore, is that the women’s movement should be proactive and develop strategies to provide support to First Ladies and their team of advisers.

“I do not believe First Ladies should arrogate unto themselves the right to become the women’s movement in their countries or states. I see their role as being a part of what the women’s movement is trying to accomplish – social justice and equity for women.

“First Ladies should be able to use their voices, clout and connections to be effective advocates of the women’s movement as opposed to stifling the autonomy of the movement. It is also very important to exercise informal power and authority with the utmost discretion, respect, sensitivity and integrity.

“Our countries do not belong to big businesses, to political godfathers; to all those who conspire to squander our commonwealth. Our countries belong to the ordinary citizens who wake up everyday wondering how they are going to create a better world for their children.

“Our countries belong to the millions of women who, in spite of the very difficult circumstances they find themselves in,always find a way of building and sustaining communities that survive wars, genocides, economic crisis and ecological disasters,” she said.

She urged the legislators to strive to ensure the domestication of the state version of the National Gender Policy, which she observed, has been done in Ekiti State. Mrs Fayemi charged the gathering to push for the application of such informal powers and influence for the benefit of the people.

•Mrs Lavalie

•Mrs Akiyode-Afolabi

Mrs Onyejeocha stressed the need for female legislators to play active role in budgeting processes to boost financial support for women interest issues.

WARDC’s Executive Director, Mrs. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi urged the legislators to help promote the MDGs as a way of ensuring gender accountability and national development.

“To translate good intentions into reality requires the contribution of people in position of leadership and the role of the law makers in this regard cannot be over emphasised.

“WARDC believes that we need to canvass for more elbow room for women’s greater participation in governance. However, women in parliament can add value to ensuring that governments in Nigeria protect and promote women’s right,” she said.

Mrs Akiyode-Afolabi contended that there was no proof of the values that women in government and positions of authority are

justifying why people must continue to canvass for support for more women participation in governance.

She said the workshop was meant to challenge women in parliament to be more responsive to gender and governance accountability issues and to be more pragmatic and da r i n g i n t h e i r e n g a g e m e n t s i n t h e i r various constituencies and state parliaments.

“We want to be able to showcase the achievement of the women in parliament. We believe we need to network around a development agenda to be able to support the gender agenda.

“The MDGs is a good development framework that the women in parliament can key into to support gender accountability and equity. We are the privileged few in the corridors of power. We owe the women’s movement a duty to be good ambassadors,” she said.

‘The MDGs is a good development framework that the women in parliament can key into to support gender accountability and equity. We are the privileged few in the corridors of power. We owe the women’s movement a duty to be good ambassadors’

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LAWYER OF THE WEEK Our lawyer of the week, Prof Ayodele Victoria Atsenuwa, last week at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Lagos, delivered the maiden edition of Prof Jadesola Akande annual memorial lecture entitled: Constitutionalism and Legal Feminism: Stepping stones or impediments on the long road to freedom for Nigerian women? Not a few see her as the late Akande’s successor in women right activism.

Dr. Chinyere Ani of NIALS profiles her.

Atsenuwa: An advocate of legal feminism

I

T was Lucretia Mott who said: “Learning, while at school, that the charge for the education of girls was the same as that for boys, and that, when they became teachers, women received only half as much as men for their services, the injustice of this distinction was so apparent, that I resolved to claim for my sex all that an impartial Creator had bestowed, which, by custom and a perverted application of the Scriptures, had been wrestled from women”.

This quote by an American, Quaker minister epitomises the philosophy and activist posture of Prof. Ayo Atsenuwa, who is a champion and defender of women’s rights.

The greatness of the human personality begins at the hour of birth. Prof. Atsenuwa was born on July 23, 1964 in Surulere, Lagos, to the family of Mr. Moses Oyajobi, a career banker and Mrs. Florence Oyajobi, a renowned teacher. Both were democrats even at the home front, and had among their priorities sound education for all their children regardless of their gender.

After a brilliant early primary education, Ayo had her secondary and A levels education at Federal Government Girls’ College Oyo and the prestigious Queens College Lagos, respectively.

She enrolled into the University of Ife, (now Obafemi Awolowo University) Ile-Ife in 1980 from where she obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) Hons.

Degree in 1984. In 1985, she attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, where she was called to the Nigerian Bar, as Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

She left the shores of this country to the United Kingdom in 1986 in further pursuit of the proverbial golden fleece. A year thereafter, she bagged a Master of Laws LL. M. with Merit from the University of London, specializsing in Criminology and Criminal Justice, she won the British Chevening Scholarship. With her academic thirst still unquenched, Ayo took to the words of the American Educator Agnes E. Benedict, who said: “The only thing better than education is more education” and she promptly proceeded to the University of Warwick, still in the UK, for a second Master of Laws LL.M, which she specialized in Law in Development, coming out this time, with Distinction, and received the Best Graduating Student Award in 1998.

Shortly thereafter in the same year, 1998 she returned to Nigeria, and joined the Faculty of Law, Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo, as a Lecturer Grade II. In October 1990, she moved to the Department of Public Law, University of Lagos. She rose to the position of Associate Professor in October 2003 and in April 2010, she joined the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies as Research Professor.

Being an academic of repute, Prof. Atsenuwa has engaged in research and teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels including doctoral research. Her research and teaching areas span Human Rights and Civil Liberties, Gender, Development and the Law, Criminal Law, Criminology & Sentencing and Treatment of Offenders and Refugee law. She has supervised several research projects, including doctoral research thesis. Her students, my self being one of them will quickly attest to her uncommon mastery of the subjects and her rare eloquent lecture delivery. There cannot be a boring moment in her class as her lectures are practical and exciting. She is certainly a delight to listen to any day.

An erudite scholar, she has many of her works published in book forms, articles in peer reviewed journals and chapters in books.

The books she published include : • Feminist Jurisprudence: An Introductory Text (Lagos: Florence & Lambard 2001).

• Engaging Custom and Customary Law: Towards a New Feminist Legal Agenda in Nigeria (Lagos: Legal Research and Resource Centre (2009).

The books she edited include: •Reproductive Health, Rights and Law Series, No. 2 by Agomo C. K. & Atsenuwa A. V. (Eds.)

(Lagos: Legal Research and Resource Centre, 2009).

•Public Defence in a Developing Country: Looking Behind and Beyond. By Owasanoye, B. and Atsenuwa, A. (Eds.) (Lagos: Lagos State Office of the Public Defender 2010).

In addition to these, she has 19 chapters in Books and nine articles in learned journals.

Besides core teaching and research, she has engaged in Administration having held some key positions within the academic environment. These positions include: •Sub-Dean, Faculty of Law, University of L•Ag. Head, Department of Public Law, University of Lagos- Sept 2003- Aug 2005 •Director, Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos - April 2009 – April 2010 Ayo is a woman of several parts. Apart from her activities in the academic community, she has engaged in several research consultancy projects commissioned by International and local agencies for the general good of the larger society. Such projects include: •Consultant, Project on Institutionalising Non-Custodial Sentences in Lagos State - Reviving Probation and Introducing Community Service 2008-to date •Consultant/Researcher, BEIJING + 15: Nigerian Country Assessment commissioned by UNICEF (2010).

•Consultant/Researcher, Assessing the Prospects for the Enforcement of Economic and Social Rights in Nigeria commissioned

by Social and Economic Rights Action Project (SERAP) (2010) •Researcher, Study of Nigerian National Legislations, Policies and Practices Congruent and Incompatible with the Provisions of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa commissioned by CIDA (2008).

•Researcher, Lessons Learnt Study (an Evaluation Study) of Citizens’ Legal Assistance Programmes in Four States (Lagos, Ekiti, Enugu and Jigawa) commissioned by the Security and Justice Programme of DFID/UK (2008).

•Researcher/Zonal Coordinator, National Baseline Study on Child Protection Issues undertaken by the Dept. of Public Law, University of Lagos and supported by the UNDS (UNICEF/ILO/UNODC) (2006-2009).

•Researcher, Evaluation and Documentation of 8-year Activities of the Directorate of Citizens Rights, Lagos State Ministry of Justice (2007) •Consultant to ENHANSE/USAID to prepare Draft Bill for the Prevention of HIV-Based Discrimination in the Workplace (September 2005).

•Lead Researcher, National Study on Human Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS and People Affected by HIV/AIDS in Nigeria undertaken by LRRDC & supported by UNIFEM (2004-2005).

•Lead Researcher, Baseline Perception on Access to Justice by Vulnerable and Poor in 4 states of Nigeria undertaken by LRRDC & supported by Access to Justice, DFID/UK (2003) •Consultant to CIDA to develop the Human Rights Strategy for Mainstreaming Human Rights into the Nigeria AIDS Responsive Fund (NARF) (2004).

•Researcher, Study on Violence Against Women and Access to Girl-Child Education In Nigeria commissioned by Action Aid, Nigeria (2004) •Researcher, Study to Review Laws relating to Reproductive Health and Rights in Nigeria commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Health (2003) •Researcher, Study to Review Reproductive Health Law in Nigeria commissioned by MacArthur Foundation (2002).

•African Expert/Consultant to African Dialogue II on Impunity and Reconciliation in

•Prof Atsenuwa

Africa, UNOHCHR, Geneva (2002) and •Researcher/Zonal Coordinator, National Study on the Situation of Women’s Rights in Nigeria undertaken by LRRDC (1992-94).

Prof. Atsenuwa has given her best in community service, both within and outside the university. Within the university community, she has served as member of many Boards and Committees such as: •Member, Committee on the Review of Cases of Student Cult Members- 1999 –2000 •Member, Unilag Consult Board- 2008 – to 2010 •Member, Security Council, University of Lagos- 2005-2007 •Member, Human Resources Development Board, University of Lagos- 2005 -2008 •Member, Student Disciplinary Board, University of Lagos- 2005 – to date

Outside the university community, she has been and is still member of several boards and council.

The chronicle of the accomplishments of this outstanding achiever will be incomplete without mentioning that she is a complete family woman. She is happily married to Mr. Dickson Atsenuwa and both are blessed with two children, Modupe and Ejemite.

The Chairman, distinguished ladies and gentle men, it’s my pleasure to present to you, a woman of substance, an excellent scholar, human rights advocate, women’s rights defender, protector of children, Professor Ayodele Victoria Atsenuwa to deliver the NIALS Maiden Jadesola Akande Memorial Lecture.

Dr. Ani is the head, Dept. of Alternative Dispute Resolution, NIALS, Lagos

Ngige’s father-in-law for burial Friday THE father-in-law of Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), educationist, community leader and businessman, Mr. Josephat Anichebe (a.k.a “Onyekunzi”), is dead. He was aged 74.

A statement by his family said his remains will be buried in his home town, Alor in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State after a requiem high mass at St Mary’s Catholic Church Alor on October 14 this year.

Until his death in Lagos, Anichebe was a former General Manager of Lifeway Block Industries Ltd, Owerri, Imo State. He was a renowned school teacher who taught in different primary schools in old Eastern Region, and later in East Central State and thereafter old Anambra State.

He is survived by many children, grand children and in laws including Mr Chibuzo Anichebe, Ikechukwu Anichebe, Mrs Ogochukwu Ngige, and Chief Ngige.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

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LAW & SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM AND BOOK LAUNCH TO MARK 5OTH BIRTHDAY AND 25 YEARS AT THE BAR OF LAGOS STATE SOLICITOR-GENERAL, MR LAWAL PEDRO (SAN)

• Justice Bisi Akinlade and Lawal Pedro (SAN)

• Lagos State Attorney -General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye

•Alhaji Femi Okunnu and Prince Bola Ajibola

•Prof Lanre Fagbohun and Gbenga Ojo

•Prof Funmi Adewunmi and Prof Bolaji Owasanoye

•Lawal Ogienagbon and Demola Hammed

•Tokunbo Alomaja and Ochuko Pedro

•Prince Ayodele Oyekan and Chief Mustapha Akinola

•Justice A. Olorunimbe

•Deniji Okuyiga and Abdul Rahman Alarape

•Publicity Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos Branch, Mrs Tolani Edu-Adeola (left) and Director, Legal Drafting, Lagos Ministry of Justice, Mrs Tola Akinsanya PHOTOS: ABIODUN WILLIAM

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs. The Abia South two term Senator in this interview spoke about how the 7th Senate is gearing up to tackle headlong issues that are weighing the country down. He also spoke about moves to create a new positive image for the country’s national parliament.

ONYEDI OJIABOR, Assistant Editor, was there.

Abaribe: Senate poised to tackle security challenge ‘We think that what has T happened really is not that

HE Senate has just constituted its stand ing committees, what should Nigerians expect from the upper chamber this time around.

I think that the first thing we are going to do is to try to project positive image of the Senate and the National Assembly in general. We know that at the moment we do not exactly have the confidence of the Nigerian public as much as we would like. Our intention is to try as much as possible to bridge whatever communication gap between the public and the Nigerian Senate.

The agenda of the 7th Session of the Senate was enunciated by the Senate President in his address to the plenary when we started this session. He said what we are going to do is to tackle some of the contentious issues that continue to weigh this nation down. He made allusion to this by posing certain questions that kind of defined where the Senate would like to concentrate efforts in the 7th Senate.

These are things that are not new to Nigerians and have been talked about at various for a and they deal with the matter of devolution of power, fiscal federalism, state creation and associated matters of state and local government accounts, the matter of state police, state INEC, minimum wage and revenue allocation formula. Whether these things are going to be modified in some way and I think that that is where we are going to concentrate efforts. Insecurity is a major challenge now. How do you think the Senate could complement the executive to combat the new trend? What everybody is trying to do now is to deal with the very serious problems Nigeria is facing. That includes perceived insecurity. What I mean by perceive insecurity is that Nigeria is grappling with new types of insurgency which we are not used to before. And it is because it is new and we are not used to it that makes everybody go into a heightened state of panic and makes some feel that everywhere is insecure whereas that is not actually the case.

It is a large country of 140 million people, 774 local governments and something happens in three or four local government areas, it is counted that the whole 774 local governments is actually in turmoil. If you look at the way it is presented, it makes everybody feel that Nigeria is a destination not to go.

But we know as a matter of fact that there are more murders committed in South Africa daily than in Nigeria monthly. Which means, that South Africa is inherently far more insecure than Nigeria but because of the way it is presented, people still go there and go around and feel very safe and secure. What we see here is that if a police station is attacked the whole world sees it and it is presented as if all the policemen in Nigeria have been killed.

What I’m saying in effect is that because this thing is essentially what has come to us now, what it means is that we have just passed the age of innocence. The age of innocence in Nigeria has just passed. So those things we felt will never come to the shores of Nigeria are now with us. And what it means is that we have to redesign our paradigm to face the challenges. So things we used to take for granted will no longer be taken for granted.

The security agencies themselves those areas in which by their training they ought to have participated and we are not doing so because of the perceived notion that Nigeria will not go to that path, will have to reverse all their prognosis and reverse their training. Now I think that the Federal Government is doing a good job and for us it is to provide for the government of Nigeria the best legislative instrument that they can use to give us quality life.

Some of the issues raised by the Senate President were considered no go areas in the past. Such contentious issues like state police, devolution of powers, revenue formula.

How will these issues be adequately ad-

Nigerians have negative impression about the National Assembly, Nigerians are misled about the operations of the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

That means that we are not communicating enough. So part of what we intend to do is to be open, to be transparent and to be proactive in our communication with the Nigerian people’ • Abaribe dressed by the 7th Senate?

All issues that have been listed form the plank on which we are to operate in this 7th Senate. There is no way we can say any of those areas is no go area. What we want is that Nigerians should actually talk, Nigerians should actually discuss, Nigerians should actually interact on all these contentious areas. I don’t know what you call a no go area but there is no place that is no go for us.

Can Nigerians hold these issues raised by the Senate President as a social contract between the Senate and Nigerians so that in four years the Senate can be evaluated based on how far it has gone with the contracts?

This is the legislative agenda that the Senate has, a pact with Nigerians to do the best for the country.

Would you say that at 51 Nigerians are free to call themselves Nigerians wherever they may find themselves?

The nation called Nigeria is work in progress. As much as we know, we have not blended the way that we ought to. Actually there is a different feeling by some people that we were closer in the past than we are today because we know that at a particular time Mallam Altino was the Major of Enugu even though he was from the north. We know also that people contested elections, people were freer at that time, but today one of the requirements for you to even be in public life is your state of origin. Those are not things that bind a country together. What we ought to do is not to pander to them but to try as much as possible to de-emphasize all these things that keep us apart. That is why you find that in the Senate we never take any decision on the basis of where you come from.

Whatever decision that is taken it is always collective and in the best interest of Nigeria.

What we say is that the larger society should take a cue from us. We will also provide the necessary legislative environment to make sure that wherever you are in Nigeria you are to be adjudged a Nigerian. It is a very difficult thing. The reason you find most of these tendencies prevalent is because of the competition for resources, competition for jobs, competition for the commonwealth of Nigeria. Because they are not enough people are willing to go to any length to make sure that they get their share. One of the problems that Nigeria face is for us to make an effort to improve welfare to every Nigerian because if you don’t have to struggle to own a house

because the mortgage system is working well, if you are sick you are able to get good and quality healthcare because the healthcare insurance systems are working well and you don’t have to spend everything you have to do an operation for example, you will find that most of the keen competition and divisive tendencies will ultimately be reduced. So what we think is that there should be conscious effort to provide for everybody and improve the standard of living of Nigerians.

How is the Senate working to change the negative perception of the National Assembly?

We think that what has happened really is not that Nigerians have negative impression about the National Assembly, Nigerians are misled about the operations of the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives. That means that we are not communicating enough. So part of what we intend to do is to be open, to be transparent and to be proactive in our communication with the Nigerian people. We will manage our information in such a way that you can get it when you want. When you have access to information then you are not going to be misled in any way. I had interaction with journalists during the Guild of Editors conference in Benin, Edo State. One of them confronted me and asked why we are not jailing all the people we found that committed grievous crimes against Nigeria in the probes that we do. That is one of the problems that we face.

The public looks around, you are doing an investigation, you find people culpable and you are not doing anything. What it means is that there is a misperception of the role and powers of the National Assembly. What I did was to refer him to Section 85 of the Constitution which is where the powers of the legislative houses are derived from. What it says is that we can expose corruption. When we expose corruption our job will be to just pass it on to the Executive arm of government. It is the Executive that will now charge whoever is involved to court. It is not just that, I go home and people confront me and want to know why a road to my place is not tarred.

They ask why we are not building roads. In other words, there is also a misconception that we ought to do things that are exclusively reserved for the Executive.

These are things that we will bring out and make everybody to know. All manner of misconception go on that way. We don’t want to

wait until something is wrong and then we go and look for remedy. We know that if you go to the website of the National Assembly today, you are most likely not going to get up-to-date information, if you get any at all.

We are going to deal with that. We are going to find a way of interacting with the public and we are looking into the possibility to call them. You can call us and get information and have somebody who is on standby during working hours to answer questions.

If we redesign our website and re-do things there you can now find out what goes on everyday. You can look at our notice paper and know what is being discussed. You can know which committees are meeting, when they are meeting and who they are meeting with.

We are going to send out information to the public so that everybody will get to know.

So that we no longer have to continue to react to uninformed opinion. I know it is a little difficult. The reason also is that the National Assembly most of our interaction with the public comes from the National Assembly Service Commission which is peopled by civil servants.

The budget of the National Assembly was reduced, don’t you think that the reduction might affect the general performance of the National Assembly?

We think so, but the National Assembly was reacting to public view that the cost of governance is high and decided to take the first step to reduce the cost of governance and expects the Executive to follow suit. Part of that was also caused by inaccurate information. The National Assembly of the 7th Session will work within the limit of available resources and deliver more to Nigerians than was the case in the past.

The 2012 budget will soon be presented to the National Assembly, one wonders why grey areas identified by lawmakers still find their way into the final copy of the budget.

You pass the budget despite discovering shortcomings.

Sometimes, shortcomings are discovered, sometimes also, the National Assembly is handicapped because we have not put in full operation the National Assembly budget office that is supposed to give us independent verification of the figures presented in the budget. What really happens is when MDAs come to defend their budgets we do not have independent means to verify the data that they give to us. Also, you find in the budget; what is rolled over. But I can understand why it happens. For instance, in order to ameliorate youth unemployment, I put in the budget for my Senatorial zone skill acquisition centre to be built by the Ministry of Youth Development. Till today, three years after, every year it goes into the budget, it has not been built. I continue to write letters and pursue the ministry but the ministry will say there is no money, that they have not released any money for the project. Meanwhile, it is in the budget and so they have to roll it over. I also put two libraries in the budget, but they have not been built. The contractors have not been mobilised. The point really is while we may have questions, when you seek and they give you answers, the proper thing would have been to have our own figures to compare with the data from the budget office.

Another issue that is longstanding is the issue of who really signs off the budget. If ministry ‘A’ brings a budget and we who are the representatives of the people look at their proposal that does not go far enough to address problems on the ground, we say no, based on the revenue profile that we have determined, you can still bring enough money and do more. By the time it goes back, what we get is resentment from the Executive saying that we have no right to increase what they have brought. So at every point these seeming issues are what are causing differences that you see.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

POLITICS At the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was elected governor of the commercial nerve centre of the North, Kano. He was voted out in 2003. Now back in the saddle, a new Kwankwaso appears to have learnt the lesson that a politician is as strong as his bond with the people. How is he applying this lesson to the task at hand? Correspondent KOLADE ADEYEMI explores the new world of the Kano State governor.

Kwankwaso seeks new pact with Kano people K

ANO State Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso is not new to the power game. He has been on the states political circuit since the Third Republic. He appears to have become the history of governance in the state. There is now thinking in government circles, that governance is not about sharing money and playing to the gallery by engaging in meaningless rhetoric.

The administration says it is determined to refine governance by providing the much-needed socioeconomic and political advancement of the state in the interest of the people.

Kwankwaso seems to share in the old saying that, ‘give a man a fish, and you have fed him for just a day, but teach him how to fish, you have fed him for life.” Indeed, the agelong cliché appears to hold water as regards what is happening in Kano State.

The state’s its human resource is huge and the fertile soil is vast, yet, the kajority of the people are still grappling with the challenges arising from poverty, unemployment and destitution.

Going by the last national census, the population of Kano State was put at 9.3 million people. It is thus surprising that the state has a rich human capital base that can be tapped for its development.

A breakdown of the population indicates that youths constitute more than 60 per cent of the population, majority of whom are redundant, as there are few or no job opportunities for them to utilise their energy for productive enterprises.

Trained and knowledge-based quality human resource is no doubt an asset, but an untrained and unskilled population is a resource that is extremely difficult if not impossible to manage. This trend, according to analysts, provides a fertile ground for the prevailing culture of destitution and social disorder in the state.

To tackle this challenge, Kwankwaso, during his first term, between 1999 and 2003, launched a comprehensive human development programme to empower the youth so that they can make their own contributions to the development of the state. Unfortunately however, he was unable to stay in power long enough to translate his lofty dreams into reality. But once

• Kwankwaso he got a second mandate to govern the state, Kwankwaso revived the programme and gave it a new concept, leading to the establishment of about 18 different institutes, which seek to provide vocational skills in various areas of human endeavour.

The Kano State Government, it was learnt, seeks to use the institutes as a springboard to tackle destitution, poverty and unemployment in the state.

Within the first three months in power, Kwankwaso left no one in doubt as to the direction of his administration. Speaking at a forum recently in Kano, Kwankwaso announced that his administration was establishing the 18 institutes, to serve as the launch pad in his battle against the menace of destitution and unemployment: “We are all aware of the cosmopolitan nature of Kano state and its burgeoning population.

It will not be out of place to state that youths constitute 60 percent of the human population of the state.

It is however, unfortunate to observe that these teeming youths are the worst victims of pervasive unemployment, food insecurity and poverty, which no doubt contribute to recurring youth restiveness not only in Kano state, but the nation at large.

As a way out of this situation and as a strategy towards providing gainful employment for our youths, my government has established eighteen vocational training institutes of which six are in the agricultural sector. The six institutes include: Farm Mechanization, Livestock, Fisheries, Poultry, Irrigation Development

and Women in Agriculture Skills Employment. Already, two of the institutes (Farm Mechanization and Informatics) have taken off. I have launched the Farm Mechanization institute with the initial intake of 500 trainees in four training locations in the state.

“Recently, about 200 farmers graduated from the Farm Mechanization Institute, Bagauda, after undergoing a three-week rigorous training in cultivation techniques and management of work and equipment.”

At the graduation ceremony, Kwankwaso presented certificates and work bulls with ploughing equipment to the graduands, tasking them not only to become self-sufficient, but also to work towards the realisation of the food security aspirations of his administration. There are also plans to train 44,000 women in poultry farming.

1,000 women are to be drawn from each of the44 Local Government Areas of the state, under a deliberate policy aimed at reducing poverty among rural women in the state.

Pleased with the laudable initiative of the Kwankwaso administration, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Adewumi Adesina recently came down to Kano to perform the foundation laying ceremony of the Fishery and Livestock Institutes, all at Bagauda. The governor is optimistic that the establishment of the Institutes would drastically reduce destitution in the state. “We strongly believe that this strategy will not only provide the necessary knowledge and skills to our youth, it will also enable them to be self-employed, and arm them with opportunities to contribute their quota to national development,” he said.

There are fears that, it is one thing to establish training institutes, it is quite another for the institutes to run efficiently especially if the course is perverted through polilticisation Kwankwaso has, however, made it clear that the task of moving the state forward must be accomplished, despite the lean financial resources of the state and the alleged huge liabilities he inherited from the Shekarau Administration. Now, the people of Kano State are watching closely how Kwankwaso intends to use their resources to put an end to destitution and mass unemployment in the state.

•From left: Chairman, PDP Northwest Zone, Amb. Musa Kazaure; Vice President Namadi Sambo; and Gov. Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State, at the PDP Northwest Zonal executive meeting in Kaduna.

Group flays National Assembly over state police

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GROUP, “June !2 Coalition of Democratic Formations”, has flayed the National Assembly for rejecting the proposal for state and community policing, saying that it may aggravate the security situation in the country.

The group led by frontline rights activist Baba Omojola vowed to launch a campaign for a national referendum that would permit Nigerians to express their views on security, economy and regional governance.

Dissecting the country’s 51 years of existence, the association declared that federalism was in jeopardy in Nigeria, adding that the vision of the founding fathers at independence have not been realised.

Pushing for the restructuring of the polity, Omojola said: “We have noted the collapse of national security occasioned by the spate of bombings by the Boko Haram sect as an affirmation of the urgent need for political restructuring as the only genuine and acceptable way for resolving all germane issues that had been raised by other ethnic nationalities”.

The pro-democracy crusader also ascribed the social insecurity ravaging society to the insensitivity of the political class and its rush for primitive wealth accumulation.

He wondered why government is not bothered by the threat to the National Youth Service programme, which has served symbol of unity for decades, adding that the scheme has not lost focus, status and relevance.

Omojola said the National Assem-

By Emmanuel Oladesu, Deputy Political Editor

bly has declined to be a worthy partner in securing lives and property by rejecting the proposal for community policing. He condemned corruption among the legislators as reflected in their emolument, which he described as outrageous.

He stressed: “There is a high level of corruption at all levels of government, the legislature, and thus hindering the passage of important laws that could ameliorate the living conditions of the ordinary people.

Omojola chided the conversion of political parties into business ventures and imposition of candidates for elections, lamenting that the platforms lacked defined political ideology.

He also rejected the six year single tenure proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan, advising him to convoke a Sovereign National Conference (SNG) for debate of contentious national issues by ethnic nationalities.

Omojola faulted the trial of former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, saying that it is suspicious. He added: “This is because few years back, Nigerians were informed that about 60 public office holders, including some sitting governors had personal foreign accounts, but now, only Tinubu is singled out for persecution in the guise of trial. Could it be because he remains an outstanding opposition leader? If not, the rest of those on the list should be publicised and put on trial immediately”.

2012: Parties warm up for Sokoto poll

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AJOR political parties have begun preparations for the next year’s governorship election in Sokoto State.

Posters of aspirants on the platforms of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Fresh Democratic Party (FDP) adorn strategic locations in Sokoto, the state capital, and other towns.

Smaller parties, which were once written off, are also rising from their slumber. Last week, Alhaji Mua’azu Abubakar emerged the flag bearer of FDP at the party’s primaries.

Mu’azu, who was the party’s past chairman in the state, got the overwhelming votes of the 37 delegates, who participated in the congress, out of the 82 expected to vote at the CNPP office, venue of the exercise.

His emergence has added some weight to the opposition mounting in the state governorship race.

A business man, Mua’azu is said to be from the same Sokoto Central Senatorial District with sitting Governor Aliyu Wamakko.

However, this development is coming on the heels of growing political intrigues and manipulations ahead of the most celebrated contest for the state number one seat.

It also elected its executives following a unanimous votes’ that brought in Alhaji Muhammad Dalhatu who succeeds the immediate past chair. The exercise was conducted by two officials from the party’s headquarters, Mr. Solomon Tukura and Mrs. Priscilia Ezechukwu under the observation of two officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Muhammad Musa and Ahmad Musa.

Other offices returned in the peaceful and orderly process included those of the Secretary, Treasurer, PRO and Chairperson.

•Abubakar From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

Speaking shortly after his victory, the party’s governorship candidate said he joined the race to fast-track development by ensuring remarkable changes in all respects across the state.

“I have a dream for the state and want to guarantee people of their hope and integrity for the prosperity of the state’’, he added.

He pointed out that Sokoto had been on a low level of infrastructural development in the areas of education, roads, water supply and health which he hopes to reverse to ensure rapid transformation of the rural communities if given the mandate.

In the same vein, the newly elected chairman, Dalhatu, who described the process of his emergence and the party’s governorship candidate’s as democratic and peaceful, said FDP would not compromise its pursuit towards ensuring victory in whatever means possible to keep a clean political score sheet.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

39

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT

‘Involve professionals in Nigeria’s transformation’

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HE transformative agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan will remain a pipe dream unless indigeneous professionals, particularly engineers are involved, President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Olumuyiwa Ajibola has said.

He warned that the success of the agenda lies in incorporating local engineers who would be involved in the nation’s infrastructural projects.

Ajibola, who is the Agbaakin of Ile-Ife, stated this in Ilorin during the dinner organised by the Ilorin branch of the society.

The NSE council was in the state to assess the facilities in the state preparatory to the hosting of the society Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Ilorin next year.

His words: “We are very much

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

in favour of what the President is doing. He has our support and we also need his support to enable us be part of this transformation.

Without which the transformation may be not so interesting because Nigeria must be the owner of whatever transformation we have at the end of the day.

“If you do not know, many Nigerian engineers are leaving the country to work elsewhere on merit. So, we are losing, there is a negative brain drain of engineers at this time. If we don’t take care, we will lose the best engineers to developed nations.

“What we need is for the government to ensure that this does not happen. Nigerian engineers remain in Nigeria and should be

Law on urban development in Ondo coming

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HE Ondo State government has introduced the Urban De velopment Policy, which will soon be ratified and passed into law.

This is to control and guide management of urban utilities and services, urban renewal and slum upgrading, sanitation and urban Environment, civic responsibility, urban wetlands development, and urban security and governance.

At a forum to mark this year’s World Habitat Day in Akure, the state capital, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Igbekele Daodu, said the administration was conscious of the positive role a wellplanned city could play in the economic and social development of the citizenry.

According to him, part of the measures was the creation of separate full-fledged ministry of Physical Planning and that of Environment in 2009.

Daodu said the state government also established the State Environmental Task Force (SETF) to enforce environmental laws and strengthened the State Emergency Agency (SEMA) to respond to natural disasters.

Besides, he said the administration founded OSARMCO, which

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know what we think about infrastructure development that is going on in the country “It would be a mutually beneficial situation to the Kwara State government and the people.”

The president said the state has the facilities and atmosphere conducive to host 4,000 delegates and their spouses nationwide that would be attending the meeting which has always been held in Abuja , the Federal capital.

The Ilorin branch Chairman of the society, Mr Kamil Olalekan, an engineer, noted that infrastructural projects account for 60-70 per cent of government annual budget and stressed that it is imperative to involve engineering professionals in policy articulation and formulation.

He praised the Kwara State Government for appointing three NSE members into the cabinet, saying, “the NSE is taking steps to work with the new administration to ensure that relevant and competent professionals are employed to guarantee that necessary technical details are incorporated into project designs.”

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Isiaka Gold, who represented Governor AbdulFatai Ahmed, assured that the state government would continue to support indigenous engineers to excel.

He disclosed that most of the infrastructural projects embarked upon by the last administration and the present were handled by indigenous engineers.

‘The NSE is taking steps to work with the new administration to ensure that relevant and competent professionals are employed to guarantee that necessary technical details are incorporated into project designs’

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

designed and constructed line drains and channels to distribute water in the cities and city connective roads, channelisation of rivers in Ondo State to avoid blockage and flooding.

The commissioner said typical examples are the massive channelisation of Lipakala in Ondo town and Ijala in Owo as well as watershed stream from NEPA market through Court road, Akure.

He said: “The massive afforestation programme initiated by the state government, urban renewal and slum upgrading programmes including relocation of street traders and re-development of markets and channelisation of river courses, especially Elegbin and Ala rivers.”

He added that the state had done a lot in the de-silting of drainage channels and clearing of waterways, while the Waste Management Authority (WMA) had been re-invigorated to perform its functions.

Daodu disclosed that the state is set to prepare master plans for major cities to guide their growth in a sustainable way to avert untoward consequence of unplanned urbanisation.

FCT, Taraba to partner on housing EDERAL Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed has restated the commitment of the FCT Administration to the provision of affordable houses to its people.

He made this known when the Governor of Taraba State, Mr Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, paid him a visit in Abuja.

Mohammed stated that the FCTA, through its mass housing programme, was determined to partner with governments, organisations, institutions and companies towards providing housing to the teeming residents of FCT. He thanked the Taraba State Government for showing interest in the FCT’s mass housing sector stressing that the state has a strong presence in Abuja due to the number of citizens residing there.

While describing the governor’s visit as symbolic, Mohammed praised him as a level headed and honest leader who was doing a lot to improve the quality of lives of Taraba citizens both

given the opportunity to work in Nigeria and perform to the best of their ability.”

He added that the engineering profession was being hit by negative brain-drain with many professionals crossing outside the borders.

On the state of infrastructural development in the state, he said: “I see that the infrastructure is growing and the standard appears to be appropriate. But what I cannot tell you is whether at the end of the day, everything is perfect.

“That will be the subject of another visit which will be specifically to assess the infrastructure development in Kwara State.

“We have a programme to do this across the country. It is called infrastructure rating. We would be doing that and letting people

From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

at home and outside.

“The Federal Government and our party are proud of you as one of the high performing governors.You have come to Abuja to add value and you are assured of all possible assistance because what you want to do is in the nation’s interest,“ the Minister said.

Earlier, Suntai had told Mohammed that he embarked on the visit, his first to the FCTA, to identify with a worthy brother and explore areas of mutual collaboration between Taraba and the FCT. He congratulated the minister on the various achievements of his administration and prayed God to continue to protect and guide him.

Governor Suntai intimated the minister about the intention of the state government to build a housing estate for its workers and others residing in Abuja and solicited the assistance of the FCT Administration to actualise the plan.

•A canal at Itire-Ikate LCDA, Lagos cleared by the state government.

Floods: Remain calm, govt tells Lagosians

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AGOS Commissioner for the Environment Mr Tunji Bello has advised Lagosians not to panic with the recent rains experienced in parts of the state.

In a statement made available to The Nation he said: “Residents are advised not to panic as this incessant rainfall is as a result of global warming, which

By Okwy Iroegbu, Asst Editor

the state government has adequately dredged and cleared our drainage channels to contain.”

He disclosed that the state government has dispatched the Emergency Flood Abatement De-

partment teams to all the zones in the state to assist residents in areas of need.

Bello, however, urged Lagosians to desist from dumping refuse into the drains. He said refuse not properly disposed may end up on the highway, which could cause serious flooding on the road.

NGOs to meet on pollution reduction

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HE Nigeria-Africa Stockpiles Programme Implementation Network (NASPIN) will today organise a stakeholders sensitisation workshop on Community Action to reduce the offloading of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) into the Lagos Lagoon.

POPs are carbon-based, chlorinecontaining chemical compounds that are toxic in the environment and differ from conventional pollutants as the latter remain close to their sources. But POPs can travel long distances and tend to build up in the food chain. POPs in the environment pollute foods which when consumed accumulate in the fatty tissues such as the human breast.

Humans are exposed to POPs through consumption of foods rich in fats, such as meat, fish and dairy products. Illnesses and disabilities

linked to POPs include breast and pancreatic cancer, leukaemia; neurological disorders including attention deficit disorder, behaviour problems such as aggression and delinquency, learning disabilities and impaired memory; immune suppression; reproductive disorders including abnormal sperm, miscarriages, pre-term delivery, low birth weight, shortened period of lactation and menstrual disorders; and diabetes, endometriosis, hepatitis etc.

About 80 per cent of industries in Nigeria are located in Lagos State and the proliferation of urban and industrial activities along the Lagos lagoon has resulted in a complex mix of domestic and industrial wastes being discharged into the Lagoon. The lagoon has an estimated 2000 industries discharging their effluents into

it. Currently, it is subjected to a wastewater load of about 6.2t/km2/ annum some of which are persistent toxic substances. These land based sources of pollution results in the Lagoon’s loss of productivity, habitats and biodiversity.

This research is being carried out

by NASPIN, a network of NGOs concerned with issues of chemical management formed. NASPIN hopes to achieve the following objectives namely - provide data on the pollution state of the Lagos lagoon; proffer suggestions on how to ameliorate its POP load through a community based intervention strategy; engage the private sector in watershed management and explore conditions for sustainable industrial activities; facilitate dialogue between governments, private sector and host communities on POPs pollution.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

40

PROPERTY/ENVIRONMENT

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HE Nigeria Institution of Es tate Surveyors & Valuers (NIESV) has canvassed a green policy in planning and governance.

It stated this at an event organised by the state chapter of the body to mark the World Habitat Day in Lagos.

The Chairman, Shola Fatoki, said since his colleagues manage the environment, they would pursue a policy that would compel house owners not only to have an environment that is free of filth, but also full of green to improve the well-being of the people.

The chairman, who was represented by the Publicity Secretary of the association, Mr Shola Enitan, said since 60 per cent of the world population live in the city, the need to have proper management of the city becomes imperative in terms of waste disposal and good living habits.

He called for a regulation on satchet water producers to ensure that they disposed properly their nylons to preserve the environment. He urged relevant government authorities to task them to have recycling bins by positioning them at convinient points where people can reach them easily.

In his words: “These manufacturers should face some kind of taxation to make the environment and cities better. The government should construct drainages that will have the capacity to off-load into the cannal by ensuring that the needed infrastructure are provided with cross connectivity of what

Surveyors push for green policy

•Surveyors at the World Habitat Day celebration in Lagos.

By Okwy Iroegbu Asst. Editor

makes the environment safe.

“Open drainage system should be discouraged in its entirity while our drainage channels should be such that they can be used for trans-

portation while discouraging the disposal of waste into the canal and water bodies which puts pressure on the people health bill.”

Another surveyor, Owakade Adebola, called for a sustainable environement free of polution and channelisation of the canals to

check flooding.

He advised the public against building on flood plains and not observing setbacks, which block the free flow of water.

On the high rate of slums, he said except the private sector is encouraged to invest in the housing sec-

‘Open drainage system should be discouraged in its entirity while our drainage channels should be such that they can be used for transportation while discouraging the disposal of waste into the canal and water bodies which puts pressure on the people health bill’ tor, the rate of homelessness will continue to increase daily.

The World Bank’s presence should also be felt in slum upgrades as witnessed elsewhere, he advised.

Francis Okpaleke, in his contribution, regretted that the pressure on housing has laid little emphasis on quality, but focussed on quantity without much progress.

He encouraged the government to insist on green concepts and designs, noting that only then can it check the quality of human habitation in the country which described as low because majority of people live in places that cannot be considered as a habitable.

Lagos to build more satellite towns, says agency

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EW Towns Development Authority (NTDA), the Lagos State government’s agency for the creation of satellite towns, has expressed its determination to arrest rural-urban drift in the state.

The General Manager, Mr Adeyemi Isiba, who disclosed this while receiving a delegation of the French Development Agency led by the Deputy Country Director, Mr Villar Michelle, at the Campbell Street headquarters of the Authority, said Lagos is one of the heavily congested cities in the world as a result of massive rural- urban migration.

He stated that Lagos with a landmass of 3,577 square kilometre has a population of over 20 million and it is expected to hit 25 million by 2015. The Population Spatial Distribution of Lagos was put at ratio 70:30 (Urban: Rural) and it has 27.4 per cent of the total urban popula-

By Okwy Iroegbu Asst. Editor

tion of the country.

Dr. Isiba said given the present situation, which has led to the growth of slum settlements, there was an urgent need to redistribute the population through the creation of satellite towns, a mixed development that will consist of industrial, commercial and residential areas.

These will be provided with basic infrastructure, such as drainage, road, potable water, electricity etc and other support services like open spaces, play ground and shopping complex.

The creation of such settlements, the General Manager noted, would enable a lot of people to work, live and play in their neighbourhoods, reduce urban drift, congestion, environmental degradation, stress on infrastructure and public utilities and limit the need for transporta-

tion.

But Isiba observed that the desire of the Lagos State government to create a working and sustainable mega city, is confronted bysome challenges, which include funding, and the several years of neglect, which he said, had created a gap between the state of the environment and what is the ideal.

He pointed out that the limited resources of the government cannot take care of all challenges of urban regeneration initiatives at a time.

Thus, the need to seek partners in funding the satellite towns and that the French experience at creating the most successful satellite settlements make the latter a point of reference and most sought after partner in the quest for sustainable satellite towns.

Isiba revealed that about 382,882 people came to Lagos daily in 2010 and a large percentage of this fig-

ure did not go back. He said since shelter is the second natural need of man, this teeming population must seek and this is where the call for participation of the private sector investors comes in. The indices show that investment in the property sector in Lagos State is a goldmine, he added.

The population and economy of the state is such that investment in residential houses,commercial plots or even development of recreation and tourism facilities guarantees good return on investment.

He, therefore, implored the French Development Agency and other investors in real estate to collaborate with the Authority to invest in the provision of infrastructure, such as roads, houses, potable water, drainage and power supply in the various estates to facilitate the speedy creation of as many satellite towns as possible for the growing population and stem the

growth of slum settlements.

Responding, Mr Michelle said the agency has been monitoring developments in Lagos State and it has invested in some infrastructure including the BRT Phase II, Eye Clinic in Lagos and Abuja.

He disclosed that the agency has $300 million annually mostly dedicated to infrastructure development. The 2012 budget, he said, is targeted at rural roads, energy and electricity and integrated urban development. The essence of the meeting, he added, was to identify a specific project for them to finance.

The Urban Development Projects Manager at the French Development Agency’s headquarters, Paris, Mr Guillaume Josse, said the agency was used to financing the type of projects NTDA handles, but they have to factor in the social and economic effects, environmental issues as well as sustainability to get sponsorship.

Sultan tasks engineers on collapsed buildings

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HE Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has called on the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to mobilise its self-regulatory mechanism to avert the failure of infrastructure in the country.

He also called on the society to use the National Assembly to initiate a law that would give it the power to sanitising the profession.

The monarch gave this charge during a visit by NSE President, Olumuyiwa Alade Ajibola in Sokoto, stating that engineering is life and it is the only way to industrial and economic development.

He said: “The government needs to give more attention to the profession or they will keep lamenting on issues of collapsed building, failed infrastructure and low quality execution of engineering projects.

“We must enforce regulatory issues without hindrance. Unless we do that, we would keep lamenting and lamentation takes us nowhere. The government should engage the NSE in a way that can give the society authority to dis-

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

cipline its members in the government when they go against the tenets of the profession. I will give full support to the profession whenever needed.”

Ajibola appealed to the Sultan to use his good offices to get to the government on the use of indigenous skills in engineering services and building of infrastructure. Stating that the current situation is that the government patronises foreigners, while abandoning the over 30,000 registered engineers in the country, he said: “Many other countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia, are ahead of us because they looked inwards and used their own people. There is need for a legislation to bring into force Nigerian content in the construction and infrastructural sector as was the case with oil and gas.

However, he observed that many staff of the centre, who were working as engineers, were not registered with NSE nor with COREN. He said there was the

•A collapsed building at Mile 12, Lagos.

need for them to do so as it was a crime for anybody to practise engineering in Nigeria without registration with COREN or in the

case of the Civil Service, to be promoted beyond Grade Level 10 without registration.

Ajibola was later conducted

round some of its new projects, which inlude solar power to Biogas cooker and solar cooking panels.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

43

HEALTH THE NATION

E-mail:- health@thenationonlineng.net

Experts sharpen skills on malaria diagnosis T

HE National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP)/ Roll Back Malaria (RBM) of the Federal Ministry of Health and the Department of Defence HIV Programme (Nigeria), Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Embassy of the United States of America, Abuja, have concluded a two-week training on diagnosis of malaria, and on the use of introduced diagnostic-based kits.

This is against the backdrop of the growing cases of misdiagnosis of the disease in the country and looming resistance of the malaria parasite to the first line drug in the treatment of malaria, Artemisininbased Combination Therapy (ACTs).

The synergy rolled out Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for malaria to primary health care (PHC) centres located at the local councils and has trained 100 microscopists/medical laboratory scientists on malaria diagnosis strengthening programme.

According to the trainer, Dr. Ezekiel Akintunde, the malaria diagnosis training is being funded by the United States government to support malaria initiatives in Nigeria.

Explaining how the training is intended to impact on the health of Nigerians, Dr Akintunde, an Associate Director, Laboratory Services of MHRP/Department of Defence HIV Programme (Nigeria)

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Embassy of the US, Abuja, said under the United States President Emergency Preparedness Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Nigeria, there is programme to support the health programme, especially for the HIV infected individuals, but of recent, it was realised there are other communicable diseases and even preventable diseases that affect positive people.

Akintunde said the Obama administration has put together the Global Health Initiative (GHI), which approached the health system holistically, not treating a particular disease in isolation, but integrated.

“We realised that the capacity to carry out quality diagnostic test for malaria is a sort of barrier and it has been very difficult also to continuously monitor the drug resistance to malaria because in Nigeria people hardly go to the laboratory or visit the hospital due to the cost of health care delivery in the country, to seek for adequate treatment relating to fever that is occurring in them.

“People carry out presumptive

•L-R: Banjo, a Communication Officer with Public Affairs Section (PAS), American Embassy, Dr Akintunde and Ntadom

diagnosis and go to the pharmacist or the laboratory and say give me prescription, which they get, and buy their drugs. So what we have done when we look at the challenges confronting the citizens of this country is to put in place a laboratory strengthening system in malaria diagnostics to support the government of Nigeria under the PEPFAR programme, as integrated activities under the GHI of the US”, Dr Akintunde said.

On the role of the rapid diagnostic test, Assistant Director, Laboratory Services of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), Federal Ministry of Health, Jide Banjo, said: “It is for people at the grassroots in local governments to

recognise malaria before treatment.

We are talking of preventing the resistance of the ACT because by the time the patients are not tested and the clinicians are overloading the patients with ACTs, there is the tendency that there will be resistance in the future. But if malaria is diagnosed at that level without microscopes, the clinician will be guided. The essence is to scale up malaria diagnosis in Nigeria.”

He said a recent study by the NMCP has shown that only 35 per cent of all the people in Nigeria that have fever are with malaria. The study suggested if Nigerians continue to treat fever with ACTs, it means that about 65 per cent, who actually do not have malaria are re-

‘For anybody with malaria to be treated, the new policy says he/ she must be diagnosed. When you are talking about the diagnosis you are talking about using microscopes or rapid diagnostic tests’

ceiving the drugs, thereby increasing the chances of resistance.

A team player, Dr. Godwin Ntadom of the Case Management Unit, National Malaria and Vector Control Division, said: “If you continue to treat malaria without diagnosis, the ACT will fail just like chloroquine because of the abuse. That is why the Federal Government thought it wise to introduce diagnostic-based treatment. For anybody with malaria to be treated, the new policy says he/she must be diagnosed. When you are talking about the diagnosis you are talking about using microscopes or rapid diagnostic tests.

“The training is actually to support the country to build the capacity of the microscopists in diagnosing malaria. If you go to most of the health facilities, that area has gone under and most of them are no longer interested because most Nigerians are used to ‘I have fever, treat malaria,’”, he said.

‘Hypertension causes heart failure’

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YPERTENSION or high blood pressure (HBP) has been identified as the most common cause of heart diseases.

According to the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Lagos State University Teaching Hospital,

By Wale Adepoju (LASUTH), Prof Wale Oke, hypertension is a condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is chronically elevated.

Oke, a cardiologist spoke to The

Nation in Lagos. He said: “With every heart beat, the heart pumps blood through the arteries to the rest of the body. Blood pressure is the force of blood that is pushing up against the walls of the blood vessels. If the pressure is too high,

From left: General Manager, Marketing, FidsonHealthcare Plc, Ola Ijimakin; Product Manager, Gideon Dashe and Brand Development Manager, Femi Akinwunmi, at the briefing to announce the change of the antibiotic, Ciprotab from tablet to Soflet.

the heart has to work harder to pump, and this could lead to organ damage and several illnesses, such as heart attack, stroke, heart failure, aneurysm, or renal failure.”

Oke said the condition could be treated and prevented.

He said: “The normal level for blood pressure is below 120/80, where 120 represent the systolic measurement (peak pressure in the arteries) and 80 represents the diastolic measurement (minimum pressure in the arteries). Blood pressure between 120/80 and 139/89 is called pre-hypertension (to denote increased risk of hypertension), and a blood pressure of 140/90 or above is considered hypertension.”

He said the causes of hypertension are usually unknown but there are several factors that have been highly associated with the condition. The factors are smoking, obesity or being overweight, diabetes, sedentary lifestyle, lack of physical activity, high levels of salt intake (sodium sensitivity), insufficient calcium, potassium, and magnesium consumption, Vitamin D de-

ficiency, high levels of alcohol consumption, stress and aging. Others are medicines, such as birth control pills, genetics and a family history of hypertension, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and adrenal and thyroid problems or tumours.

Oke urged: “It is most important that everybody knows one’s numbers. That is, their Body Mass Index (BMI), cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Once these numbers start going higher contact your doctor.”

According to statistics from the American College of Cardiology (ACC), African-Americans have a higher incidence of hypertension than other ethnicities.

It said further that there is no guarantee that a person with hypertension will present any symptoms of the condition. About 33 per cent of people actually do not know that they have HBP, and this ignorance can last for years. For this reason, it is advisable to undergo periodic blood pressure screenings even when no symptoms are present, the body urged.

‘Statistics from the American College of Cardiology (ACC), African-Americans have a higher incidence of hypertension than other ethnicities’

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THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

HEALTH

Research on psychiatry under way

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PIONEERING collaborative research on biological psychiatry is currently underway between the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States of America.

The research, first of its kind in West and Central Africa, is designed to improve on the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders in the country. Statistics showed that Nigeria has less than one psychiatrist per million of the population and only one in 10 persons who required psychiatric care and treatment, eventually obtained it.

Disclosing the essence of the research during the first seminar on biological psychiatry held at the hospital, the Medical Director, Dr. Rahman Lawal said,”We are trying to couple practice with research to improve quality of service to clients. The end point is that we are entering into a new age of psychiatry in Nigeria and we are proud of

F

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

this achievement.

“With the cause of psychiatric disorders being identified, psychiatry is going the way of becoming an illness that can be diagnosed just like malaria, hypertension or diabetes. This is known as biological psychiatry where biological markers are identified to explain the possible cause or causes of psychiatric ailments.”

Lawal observed that with the assistance of an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Schizophrenia Related Disorders Programme, (MPRC) Neuro-genetics Laboratory, University of Maryland, Baltimore in the USA , Dr. Ikwunga Wonodi, the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hopital, Yaba, had already obtained a small grant to build a laboratory and begin research into biological psychiatry. “This is the best thing that can happen to any psychiatric hospital in this area,” he stated.

Wonodi, who is also the Direc-

From Khadijat Saidu, Kebbi

K

•Lawal

•Wonodi

tor of the First Episode Psychosis Clinic, Maryland Psychiatric Research Centre, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, said he was in Nigeria to help set up the biological research psychiatric programme. He presented a

paper entitled ‘Building capacity for Neurobiological research: Endophenotype-based genetic dissection of Schizophrenia’ to prepare the staff of the hospital for the actualisation and take off of the laboratory.

Firm inaugurates drugs on diabetes, hypertension

OR better management of diabetes and hypertension, Novartis Pharma Services has rolled out Galvus/GalvusMet and ExforgeHCT. They are oral novel innovative products for the advancement in the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension respectively.

According to the Senior Medical Adviser, Novartis Pharma Services, Galvus (Vildagliptin) is an important new treatment option for controlling type 2 diabetes because it provides beneficial blood sugar reductions without many of the side effects seen with other diabetes medications.

As a DPP-4- Inhibitor, Galvus (Vildagliptin) works through a

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

novel mechanism of action by targeting the dysfunction in the Pancreatic Islets that causes high sugar level in people with Type-2diabetes. Islet dysfunction, along with insulin resistance is a contributing factor to Type-2diabetes progressive disease in which control of blood sugar deteriorate over time Adverse events, such as hypoglycaemic and weight gain limits the use of existing oral anti diabetes

In most developing nation, diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death. Controlling blood sugar levels is difficult even among patients receiving treatment and more than half of patients with type 2 diabetes currently taking medication are still not reaching their blood level goal.

When left untreated or not kept under control, type 2 diabetes can lead to heart and kidney disease as well as vascular and neurological problems.

Another resource person Dr. Femi Fasanmade, an Associate

Professor, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), hypertension is the most commonest non-communicable disease which affects about 25 per cent of adults in the country. “It is the most prevalence cardiovascular risk factor. If high blood pressure is not well treated, it can lead to heart attack or stroke,” said Fasanmade.

Another Associate Professor of Cardiology, Jane Ajilorchukwu, said “Recent guidelines advocates multiple drug therapy and more importantly Fixed-Dose combination for target BP goal to maximse the reduction in long term risk of Cardiovascular disease and death.

Uduaghan assures on Eku hospital project

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ELTA State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan said his administration will reward peaceful communities in the state by providing more masses-oriented projects.

Dr. Uduaghan made this assertion during inspection of renovation at the Eku Baptist Hospital in Ethiope East Local Government Area which he assured he would restore to its past glory He assured his government was committed to ensuring that work at the hospital was completed on time and to specification.

From Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

He praised the community for providing a peaceful environment for the re-construction work to move on smoothly saying “The government will carry out more developmental projects in any community in the state that is peaceful.”

The governor admonished host communities on their responsibility to ensure that any project in their domain run smoothly without disruption stressing that it would encourage government to execute more projects in such areas.

Kebbi to re-engage retired doctors, nurses

He called on the community to co-operate and give the necessary support to the PDP familyin the area and state.

Governor Uduaghan said government has slated a primary school in the area to be re-constructed and equipped by the state government adding that the access road to the hospital would also be tarred by the government.

He noted that his administration was not only re-constructing the hospital but was also equipping it with modern medical facilities and medical expert’s in order to make it

a star hospital in the state and country. “ Eku hospital was one of the best hospitals in this country in the past, we are renovating it so as to restore it to its past glory. The medical facilities to be used are being imported while medical specialists are already on ground in the hospital, more will be employed.”

The governor who was conducted around the hospital by the project manager of the contracting firm Mr. Adedeji Banjo urged the firm to ensure that they meet up the stipulated time for the completion of the work.

EBBI State Governor, Usman Saidu Dakingari is bothered with the mass movement of the doctors, nurses and other health workers leaving the state service for the greener pastures in the neighbouring states.

He spoke to journalists shortly after the state EXCO meeting in Kebbi.

Dakingari, who was represented by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mohammed Sani Kangiwa, said a 10-man committee has been set up to advise the government on what causes this exodus and come up with a solution to arrest the situation which he described as worrisome.

He said the state government has also agreed to employ the services of retired doctors and nurses to the health sector on contract appointment, adding that all these are government efforts towards restoring confidence in the health sector.

Church supports victims of attack in Jos From Marie-Therese Peter, Jos

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HE health and development arm of the Anglican Diocese of Jos under the aegis of Centre for Gospel Health and Development (CeGHaD) has called for dialogue during disagreement rather than resorting to violence.

According to the Director of CeGHaD, Ven Noel Bewarang, dialoguing would ensure peaceful co-existence irrespective of religions and tribes.

Bewarang spoke during CeGHaD donation of 50 cartons of assorted intravenous fluids and given financial support in aid of victims of various attacks in communities in Jos South local government area of Plateau State.

He said the donation was to support government’s efforts in alleviating the hardship faced by the victims who have received or currently receiving treatment at the Vom Christian hospital, Jos. While handing over the donation plus N60, 000 to the management of the hospital and the victims respectively, Bewarang said it was made possible with the support of Action Aid Nigeria and European Commission.

Health security, necessary for development, says Lagos Commissioner

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EALTH security has been identified as a pre-requisite to the attainment of global, national and individual development.

According to Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, no individual or country can grow without health security, hence it is indispensable to development.

Idris spoke at the Annual General Meeting of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN). The topic is, The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Lagos, a Megacity: So far, how far?.

He said there is hope despite notable setbacks after the 2008/2009 economic crises as corroborated by 2011 MDG report released on July 7 by the United Nations SecretaryGeneral, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon.

Idris said: “As doctors, our area of competence is the health sector, and the reality however, is that

By Wale Adepoju

other sectors impact directly or indirectly on health. The implication of this is that health has multiple determinants, including some in sectors other than health. Hence, multiple sectors of government should collaborate and pay attention to their impact on health.”

He noted that the MDGs and its goals represent the most ambitious commitment ever made by the international community, adding that its achievements would make the most difference in the lives and future prospects of impoverished populations in the history of humanity.

Idris said: “If these goals are met, ancient impediments to human development long considered intractable, such as poverty, ignorance, diseases, unhealthy environments and premature death from preventable causes would be

•Dr Idris

overcome.”

He said though Lagos State is the smallest out of the 36 states in terms of land mass, it is the most populous accounting for over 10 per cent of the country’s total population and it has been projected by

UN Habitat that it will emerge as the third largest megacity in the world with a population of 24.5million after Tokyo and Mumbai by 2015.

“The number one challenge of health service delivery in the state is the population which is as a matter of necessity taken into consideration when planning for the attainment of the MDGs, and indeed, the public health sector in particular,” he added.

Idris said as a result to this urbanisation are the emergence of urban slums, over-crowding and associated diseases such as tuberculosis and measles, challenges of environment, water and sanitation that have impacts on health itself.

“Improvement has been made to health with regards to child mortality, maternal health and combat of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, which are

emerging on a global level and constituting public health challenges. These challenges of the epidemiological shifts from communicable diseases to noncommunicable diseases, principal among, which are cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes and cancers are here with us,” he said.

Idris said MDGs have always been of major areas of concern to the government, hence it is no coincidence that the state government’s 10-point agenda bear striking similarities to the MDGs, adding that some the state government’s accomplishments on the MDGs include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, provision of Universal Primary Education, promotion of gender equality and women empowerment, reduction of child mortality, and improvement on maternal health, among others.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

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HEALTH

‘Children living with Down Syndrome need care’ C HILDREN living with Down Syndrome in Nigeria have not received the necessary attention and support they deserve, Marketing Manager, NUTRICIMA, Mr Lampe Omoyele, has said.

According to him, this made their condition worse. He urged people to make them feel positive about themselves.

He spoke during his company’s donation to Down Syndrome Foundation, in Lagos.

Omoyele said the event was organised to support them, to create awareness and to garner support for their nutritional status.

He said the company has resolved to make life better for the children, thereby donating 5.5 KVA TEC generator, health and beauty products, and Nutricima range of milk brands.

He said the items would aid their learning, adding that children can do more if the condition is conducive.

By Sulaiman Gbenga Idowu

Omoyele said nutritious food is very important to the health of the children, and that since his organisation is into the trade of offering nutrition they included such needs in their package as another way of supporting the foundation.

“We offer our nutritional product to the association and the children and all people who have this condition over time and that is one of the way we support them. We also partner with a sister company, Tech Appliances, that deals in electronics”, he said.

Omoyele added: “Beyond the donations, we also try to spend time with them. What we give them is a platform for them to bring out their potential.”

Haier Thermocool, Paterson Zechonis (HPZ) representative, Mr Olaonipekun Okunowo, said children in such a condition need tender love and care, rather than be neglected as the case of most of

•From: Mrs Mordi, Omoyele, Okunowo with a child living with Down Syndrome.

them.

He said the children are special and unique, saying: “Nobody can make you feel better than you. We are part of your life and it’s important for us to make you happy.”

He promised to spend some time

with them as much as possible in the future.

The National President of the foundation Mrs Rose Mordi said “God has put in the children what some people don’t have.

She said in the past people killed

them while others abandoned them.

On their needs, she said: “They need early medical education and social intervention to integrate them into the society. We run the programmes in the school.”

Gates urges governors to support campaign against polio

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•From left: Nutrition and Health Manager, Unilever Nigeria, Victor Ajiroh; Vaidehi Ketkar of Unilever Oral Care (Asia), Executive Director, International Association of Dental Researchers (IADR), Dr Chris Fox and Category Manager, Oral Care Unilever Nigeria, Onome Odili, at the event.

Unilever introduces Close Up

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HE investment of Unilever Nigeria Plc in re search and development for the improvement of Oral Care has yielded fruits in the production of a whitening toothpaste.

The product is clinically certified, say experts at the ongoing International Association of Dental Research (IADR) conference in Abuja.

A member of IADR, and of Royal Society of Chemistry, Dr Andrew Joiner, said there is a demand for products that whitens teeth and through the understanding of colours, science and its application for tooth colour, a new approach to tooth whitening has now been made possible from toothpaste.

He said this is achieved by the

deposition of blue foams onto the tooth surface where it changes the optical properties of the teeth such that their appearance is both measurably and perceivably whiter immediately after treatment, as confirmed by in vitro and in vivo studies.

The Marketing Director of Unilever David Okeme said that the whitening toothpaste, known as Close Up White Now aside improving oral health also helps consumers to get fullilment.

According to him, the products puts an end to the consumers’ search for cosmetic benefits from oral care products.

“The product contains a conventional cleaning system that provides more gradual stain removal

and whitening which is capable of dental restorative materials. The unique formula of the product also provides all the protection of fluoride toothpaste and with the inclusion of Glacier Fresh Flavour, the consumers will have a feeling of intense freshness in the mouth”, he added.

The Marketing Director also reiterated that the position of the company in the Oral Care business is that of a leader, thus our continuous efforts in research and development for oral Health.

The company is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of branded toothpaste with over 40 years experience delivering quality products for oral hygiene with a presence in more than 100 countries.

Church donates ambulances to Delta

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HE Christ Embassy Church, DSC branch, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State has donated two ambulances to Orerokpe and Orhuwhorun in Okpe and Udu Local Government Area of Delta State.

Making the donation during this year ‘Reach Out Nigeria’ tagged ‘New hope’, Pastor Ken Igini said the two

From Polycarp Orosevwotu, Warri

ambulances donated was part of its drive to fulfill its social responsibility for the year with free medical care to over 4,000 adults and children.

Igini commended Pastor Chris Oyakhilome founder of the church, for giving them the opportunity to key into one of the three-point

agenda of the state government, adding that they have also given treatment to over 4,000 persons in Okpe and Udu council areas.

Responding, Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Otumara, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Delta state said he was impressed with what the church has done for the two communities.

FTER reducing polio cases by 95 per cent in 2010, polio is re-emerging in Nigeria with 32 cases reported across six northern states since the beginning of the year.

During his visit, Microsoft fonder, Bill Gates urged the country’s northern governors in particular to re-double their efforts to ensure no child is missed during immunisation.

A communiqué was signed for adopting and re-confirming the 2009 Abuja Commitments by the Vice-President, Nnamadi Sambo and Rotimi Amaechi of River State. Those commitments lay out steps for the governors and Local Government Area chairmen to ensure that polio is stopped and immunisation services reached more children.

Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also announced a new initiative for Governors challenging them to deliver a dramatic improvement in polio and routine immunisation by the end of 2012. The programme, initiated with the governors’ Forum, will recognise those governors, whose states pass a pre-defined threshold to improve routine immunisation coverage and end polio. The states that meet the threshold criteria will be awarded a $500,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support their top health priorities.

He said: “Nigeria’s leaders are critical to making Nigeria polio free and their renewed confirmation of the Abuja commitments will make an important difference. As Nigeria’s partner, the Gates Foundation is committed to doing what we can support their efforts to end this terrible, but preventable, disease.”

The award will support winning governors’ priority initiatives in public health, such as malaria and tuberculosis, improving immunisation, HIV prevention and treatment, or safe drinking water and hygiene promotion. In addition to the grant,

By Oyeyemi Gbenga-Mustapha

those governors who achieve the goals will receive special recognition from Bill Gates for their contribution to the elimination of polio. Winning governors will be highlighted in foundation communications, such as Gates’ yearly letter or the foundation’s annual report, social media materials and Mr Gates’ public engagements globally.

“As governors push hard over the next year to achieve the 2012 deadline to end polio, I want to ensure their efforts are acknowledged and that the governors are simultaneously supported to tackle other key health problems they face in their states,” said Gates.

If governors choose, they also may contribute $250,000 to their chosen health project and the foundation will match that contribution, meaning a potential total $1 million towards improving health in their state.

“Nigeria’s governors want to stop polio and improve routine immunisation to protect Nigeria’s children against preventable diseases,” said Amaechi, who is also Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. “This award recognises that effort and the fact that we need to work hard if we want to stop polio in this country by 2012.”

Meanwhile, the Nigeria G o v e r n o r s ’ F o rum will provide the secretariat for the challenge programme, and will actively engage the governors in the 12-month period to encourage them to stay on track in the fight against polio and achieve the qualifying threshold for the award.

The Immunisation Leadership Challenge (ILC) will be open to all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Any instituted governor will need to officially enter his state in the award programme through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum by October 31, 2011. To receive the grant, the state will need to pass a rigorous set of criteria based on outcomes in their polio programme and routine immunisation

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THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

NEWS

•Ekiti State Deputy Governor Mrs. Funmi Olayinka(left) presenting the Staff of Office to the Onifisin of Ifisin-Ekiti, Oba Emmanuel Folarin Fabunmi assisted by his wife, Olori Laduntan at the weekend

•Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar cutting the tape to open the mosque built in honour of President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote during the third convocation of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State...at the weekend. With him are Dangote (left) and House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal

•Delta State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Misanr Ukubeyinje representing Delta State Governor (left), Chairman of the ocassion, Dr Micheal Omolayole , President, Nigeria Danish Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Prince Ben Koya Adako and a Commissioner in the Lagos State Local Government Service Commission Dr Adeleke Ipaye representing Osun State Governor at the investiture of Prince Adako in Lagos...at the weekend

•Deputy Head of Mission and Head of Economic Affairs, Netherlands Embassy, Mr. Hans De Brabanmder, Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Dr. Charles Akinola, during a business meeting with Osun State Government in Osogbo, Osun State

•Former Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Ango Abdullahi (left) congratulating the Vice Chancellor, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Prof. Muhammad Hamisu, during the wedding of his (Hamisu’s) daughter in Bauchi...at the weekend

Prof Tunde Babawale (second left) being assisted by his wife, Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko (left) and Chairman, Bi-Courtney Highway Services, Dr Wale Babalakin to cut his 50th birthday cake at the University of Lagos...at the weekend PHOTO: ISAAC AYODELE

•Houses and commercial tricycles submerged in flood at Obale Street, Badiya, Apapa-Iganmu Local Council Development Area, after the rain in Lagos...at the weekend

•Governor Abiola Ajimobi (right) with members of the Oyo State Socio-Economic Management Team (OSSEMAT)-Prof Ademola Ariyo (left); Mr John Tegbe and Commissioner for Agriculture Mr Bimbo Kolade after the team’s inauguration at the Executive Chamber of the Governor’s Office...at the weekend

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

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MARITIME Maritime Watch NPA, Railway collaborate Stories by Oluwakemi Dauda, Maritime Correspondent

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• A cargo ship

Six years after, 48-hour cargo clearance remains unrealistic A

LMOST six years after its introduction, the clearance of cargoes within 48 hours is still unattainable, it emerged last weekend.

Experts gave reasons the policy has not been viable.

First is the inconsistency and poor implementation of government policies over the years.

Second is the failure to reduce the huge number of government agencies with overlapping functions and charges at the ports.

Third is the Federal Government has not made provision for night services, electricity, security, infrastructure, road network, and equipment to make the ports competitive with other neighbouring ports in West African sub-region.

Fifty-one years on, the country is in darkness and the government seems to be in limbo and lacks the courage to tackle the problem.

Port operation, operators claimed, is in comatose.

For instance, investigation conducted by The Nation revealed that in the last 11 years, Customs at the TinCan Port has been using two drums of diesel daily to power their generator. It is the same thing for all other government agencies that are saddled with the responsibility of clearing cargo at the port.

Customs and banks, Ajayi said, have to function effectively before the 48-hour cleaning target can be

Stories by Oluwakemi Dauda, achieved.

Maritime The FederalCorrespondent Government, he said, would continue counting its losses as goods worth several billions of naira would continue to be diverted to neighbouring countries because of the inability of government agencies at the ports to clear within the shortest time.

Ajayi argued that this trend will persist, except the Federal Government and the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) embark on massive infrastructural development at the ports; the terminal operators, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and the Ministry of Finance reduce duties on imported goods.

Ajayi said importers were disturbed by the amount of money and time they spend in doing business at the ports, a problem that has led to diversion of cargoes to the neighbouring ports. How to stop the trend, he said, should be the focus of the nation at 51.

Also, the Executive Director, Telex Consult, Mr Oluwadayisi Oladapo, made a case for the scrapping of punitive trade barriers in form of excessive charges at the ports.

To move against obstacles that are causing delays in cargo clearance by Customs and provide ways for further improvement in port

business, Oladapo suggested that the automation of Customs operations should be given attention and that the local Trade Release Study (TRS) initiative should also be made to work in tandem with the World Customs Organi-sation’s (WCO) efforts.

This, Oladapo said, would be part of the efforts to reduce the many challenges facing the ports as the nation clocks 51.

Similarly, he called on the Federal Government to make available a special grant to develop the ports to international standard and make it competitive.

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

The money, Oladapo said, would also enable NPA to complement the efforts of terminal operators and perform her role at the port.

Another operator, Mr Albert Osoyinpeju, said the country can be the number one maritime nation in Africa if human capacity building and the 48 hour cargo clearance are taken seriously that the country is now 51 years old.

He argued that proper training of officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other govern-

ment functionaries at the nation’s ports is essential for the success of the policy.

“It is a pity that the country could not achieve 48hour cargo clearance in the last 51 years. It is clear to all and sundry that that the proponents of 48 cargo clearance at the ports are not sincere.

The policy was made over five years ago and it has not seen the light of the day.

And the reasons the policy has not yielded the expected results are inconsistency and poor implementation of government policies at the port over the years, security, infrastructure, road network, and equipment.

It has also been discovered that even with efforts committed to structural formation to position our shore facilities for efficient shipping services, Nigerians have negligible productive share of shipping operations because of the failure of the government to make the nation’s ports competitive in terms of charges and time spent on cargo clearance.

It is estimated that up to 80 per cent of the maritime business is undertaken by foreigners with attendant loss of foreign exchange earning, loss of employment opportunities, as well as implied threat to national security resulting from the ports and coastal trade dominated by foreigners. At 51, our leaders have the responsibility to think and make the maritime industry work for the nation and her people,” Osoyinpeju said.

Customs intercepts N11.5m Indian hemp

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FFICERS at the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have intercepted 121 bags of Indian hemp worth N11.5 million in the IwoyeImeko bush path, a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic in Ogun State, and the Oyo axis in Oyo State.

Speaking with The Nation in Lagos last Friday, the Acting Comptroller of the command, Mr Victor Dimka, said the bags of Indian hemp were intercepted about 6.30 am on Tuesday following a tip-off by an informant. The cargo was enroute Nigeria.

According to him, information got to the patrol team in that axis that “they are us-

ing that particular route to bring in the hemp”.

Giving a further insight into how the seizure was made, he disclosed that the Customs operative “kept trailing and working on the information until yesterday around 6.30 am when eventually the information paid off.”

“On seeing the Customs vehicle, they took to their heels and ran back to Benin Republic and we were only able to get the vehicle and its content, which is 107 bags of Indian hemp,” he disclosed, even as he added that another batch of 14 bags of high-grade Indian hemp was also seized by his men.

According to him, the importers of the weeds have lost

about N11.5 million, which is the street value of the items.

He stated that the driver of the pick-up van in which the hemps were being transported jumped from the vehicle on sighting the Customs patrol team and ran into Benin Republic.

“If this man had been caught, nothing will get him out of prison. Unfortunately, he ran way into Benin Republic,” he lamented, but assured that the culprit would be caught one day, because, according to him, “smugglers don’t relent.”

Highlighting what would have happened if the hemps were not seized by his men, the Comptroller lamented that “the effect that these

would have on the society can better be imagined, because people go into armed robbery and other vices not with clear heads. They take things like this to ginger them, after taking things like this, they see you as animals and not as human beings”.

Apparently appreciating the need for members of the public to assist the Customs Service with information about activities of smugglers, Dimka solicited for co-operation. “We urge all Nigerians that see things like these that can destroy the country to give such information to the Customs so that we can go all out to track them and get them arrested”.

HE Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is partnering with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to reduce containers carrying trucks on the roads.

Speaking during the visit of the United Kingdom Mass Transport Sector Delegation to NPA, its Managing Director, Omar Suleiman, who was represented by Tolulope Talabi said NPA is working in line with its 25 years development master plan, meant to meet the Federal Government’s desire of becoming one of the 20 leading economies of the world by 2020.

The NPA boss added that the Federal Government is making efforts to reduce the number of agencies within the port system to an acceptable level.

Earlier in his statement, the

Mr Steve Cameron, informed NPA Management that the visit was to provide a comprehensive review of the sectors in Nigeria and to compile this in a report for the UK Mass Transport Sector.

He also wanted to know the challenges and prospects of the Nigerian concession, which he described as a very unique example. He further said that UK being a knowledge-based economy is ready to assist Nigeria in her areas of need and will recommend business opportunities to British business men for consideration.

He advised the government to take a critical look at the multiplicity of agencies in the port to resolve their existence.

Cameron was accompanied by Mark Wandles, a lawyer with Walson Forla and Williams and Co. in UK.

A General at Customs, Tin Can

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HE posting of a woman Deputy Comptroller of Customs, also a wife of a serving top shot in one of the security agencies has drawn the attention at the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos.

Importers and clearing agents alleged that the woman, popularly referred to as General, delays cargo clearance. They accuse her of over zealousness and relying on the privileged position of her spouse.

Some of the importers and clearing agents, who spoke with The Nation under the condition of anonymity, alleged that she demands gratifications from them before releasing their goods from the port.

For instance, a clearing agent

alleged that she collects between N500,000 and N550,000 from fellow Customs officers when clearing 2011 vehicles, and take a whopping N1.5 million from agents clearing the same type of vehicle.

The agents identified two men who are said to be fronting for her.

But the image maker of the command, Mr Chris Osunkwo, refuted the allegation. He urged importers and their agents to support the transformation efforts of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Gikko Abdullahi, by making proper declaration and necessary payments to the Federal Government cover.

Operator gets Prince of Peace Award

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HE Chief Executive Officer of Ships & Ports Communication Company Mr Bolaji Akinola, has been honoured with 10 other bigwigs in the nation’s maritime industry. He won the Prince of Peace Award.

They were honoured by the Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transport and Corporations (SSACTAC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Branch.

President of SSACTAC NPA Branch, Comrade Umar Jimoh, who presented the award to Akinola, said the union deemed it fit to honour him as a result of his immense contributions to industrial peace and har-

mony in the maritime industry.

Jimoh added that Akinola has redefined maritime reporting in the country.

Akinola, is President, Executive MBA 15 of Lagos Business School (LBS).

He is a Fellow of four maritime institutions namely, Nigerian Institute of Shipping (NIS), Certified Institute of Shipping (CIS), Nigerian Institute Air Travel and Maritime Studies (NIATMS) and the Port & Terminal Academy of Nigeria.

Akinola holds a Masters in Transport Management from the Ladoke Aintola University of Technology (LAUTECH).

UAE plans terminal expansion

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UBAI’S DP World will boost yearly capacity of its flagship Jebel Ali container terminal by one million 20-foot equivalent units to 15 million TEUs, as the United Arab Emirates’ appetite for imports continues to grow.

The company will expand the wharf at the Middle East’s biggest transshipment terminal by 1,312 feet to 9,842 feet by the end of 2012. This will allow the largest of three DP World terminals in the United Arab Emirates to handle up to six 15,000 TEUs vessels simultaneously.

“We have seen very strong container growth in the region, with DP World UAE region

handling a record 6.1 million TEUs in the first six months of 2011,” said Mohammed Al Muallem, the company’s senior vice president in the UAE. The UAE terminals also handled a record quarterly traffic of 3.1 million TEUs in the April-June period. The previous major expansion at Jebel Ali increased capacity by five million TEUs in 2008.

DP World boosted traffic at its 49 operational terminals in the first half of the year by 11 percent year-over-year to 26.2 million TEUs. The company’s 23 consolidated terminals handled 13.5 million TEUs, up 2.2 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

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NEWS Fed Govt to shut down unaccredited medical schools From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

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NACCREDITED medical schools are to go, Health Minister Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu said yesterday.

He said the Federal Government is worried by the increasing number of such schools.

Chukwu spoke when the National Association of College of Medicine (NACOM), chaired by the Provost, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwole Atoyebi, visited him.

The minister said any medical school that is not accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) after one year of takeoff, would be shut down.

He said the ministry had written to President Goodluck Jonathan to address the anomaly.

“I am highly worried by the issue of accreditation of medical schools in Nigeria.

I am happy that the Provost of the University of Abuja Medical School is here. So, many things have gone wrong; I have discussed with my colleague, the Minister of Education. I have written to her and have also written to the Board and management of University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.”

“It is sad that in this country we continue to admit our students into non-accredited programmes and some take accreditation serious almost after seven years. We are lucky that medicine has to run for six years and so we still hope that those students can still graduate within 12 years.”

Kano approves N230m for commercial agric From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

T

HE Kano State Government has approved N229 million counterpart fund for commercial agriculture and Fadama projects in the state.

Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs Dr Umar Farouk Jubril announced this in Kano after the 16th Kano Executive Council meeting.

He said the Musa Kwankwaso administration approved the money because of the importance it attaches to agriculture.

Jubril said the council also approved N3.5 million for the state’s contingent in the National Agricultural Show in Abuja, to be held this month.

He said about N1.203 billion has been approved for the provision of potable water in Kano.

The money is also meant for the supply of 600milimetre ductile iron pipes to cover 40 kilometres from the Watari Water Treatment Plant that will run through Bichi to Dawakin Tofa Ungogo, Dala and Fagge Local Government.

The commissioner said N9.1 million was approved for the Water Board.

He urged the public to pay their water bills to enable the government improve water supply and report leakages of pipes to the Water Board for prompt repairs.

Police confirm three deaths in Niger council poll T HE Niger State Police Command yesterday confirmed the death of three persons during last Saturday’s local government election in the state.

Police Commissioner Ibrahim Maishanu said the three were killed in Kontagora, Rijau and Wushishi local government areas.

The police chief said there have been some arrests over the killings but did not say how many.

He promised to parade the suspects to the public as soon as they are brought to the command’s headquarters.

The Nation learnt that 10 persons were hospitalised, following clashes among rival parties during the council poll.

In Gawu-Babangida, Gurara Local Government Area, four persons sustained severe injuries from gun shots and machete cuts when they were attacked on the night of the

•CPC kicks as PDP sweeps results From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

election.

The attack was allegedly spearheaded by an aide to a former council chairman.

Candidates of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were yesterday declared winners of 24 of the 25 local government areas in the council election.

But the opposition Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) rejected the results declared by the state Independent Electoral Commission (NISIEC).

Announcing the results at the headquarters of the electoral commission in Minna, the local government Returning Officer, Alhaji Moham-

med Abubakar said aside from Kontagora Local Government Area, where the election was suspended for security reasons, PDP candidates won in the remaining 24 local government areas.

He said six of the seven parties that participated in the election fielded chairmanship candidates.

But CPC Chairman, Mallam Shuaibu Umar, and Umar Bago lodged complaints at the NISIEC office over the outcome of the election.

Addressing reporters after a meeting with NISIEC chairman and his commissioners, the CPC chairman decried the manner the electoral body released the results.

Umar said: “How can you

explain why SIEC is releasing results of local government election and none of the agents of the political parties was in attendance? Why release the result secretly? Where were the agents of the parties that contested the election?”

The CPC chairman listed many complaints against the conduct of the election.

These include non-serialisation of ballot papers; non-display of electoral officers, as required by the law and objection on the personnel engaged for the elections.

“We are rejecting the election results. The electoral commission compromised with the PDP to deny the people of the state a say on who and who should govern them at the local government level. The election was characterised with a lot of malpractices, irregularities and intimidation. We cannot accept the so-called result announced today,” Umar said.

Niger women pilgrims for pregnancy test From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

NIGER State’s intending women pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj will undergo a pregnancy test and scanning 24 hours before travelling to the holy land, Executive Chairman of the Pilgrims Welfare Commission, Alhaji Mamman Mohammed has said.

The pilgrims commission chief spoke in Minna, the state capital, as the first batch of the 4,463 pilgrims prepares to take off tomorrow from Minna International Airport.

Mohammed told reporters that none of the women pilgrims in the state’s contingent fell short of the rule that forbids expectant mothers from performing the Hajj as stipulated by the Saudi Arabia government.

He said the move would prevent any penalty against the National Hajj Commission, adding that Saudi Arabia authorities sanction expectant mothers who perform the holy pilgrimage, because of the rigours involved.

Mohammed said the first batch would have left on October 2 but for the local government election that took place on that day.

Tribunal strikes out Turaki’s case From Eunice Bosua, Dutse

• Chairman, Senate Committe on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Andy Uba (left) with INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, at a meeting between the Senate and INEC chiefs in Abuja.

Plateau Poly students protest as lecturers resume strike

S

ECURITY agencies, comprising members of the Special Task Force (STF), the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) yesterday averted a security breach in Plateau State.

Students of the State Polytechnic in the main and Jos campuses protested their lecturers’ resumption of an earlier suspended strike.

The students at the Jos campus alerted their colleagues at the main campus at Heipang in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area at 7am.

They gathered in Jos with placards, marching on the streets to protest the renewed strike.

The timely intervention of

•STF Commander urges youths to avoid violence From Marie-Therese Peter, Jos

the security personnel stopped the students from moving into the major highways and causing a breach of the peace.

There was no government official to address the students but President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), Comrade Pam Gyang said the students were at the receiving end of the face-off between the government and its workers.

He noted that the protracted strike had taken almost a year to resolve.

Gyang said: “We are tired of this strike. Since October 28, last year, we have been at

home and anytime we hoped that we would return to school to study and graduate, the hope was dashed. We are appealing to the government to give the lecturers what is due to them so that peace will reign and we can graduate.

“It appears no one has our future at heart, for the strike to linger till now without solution.”

The Commander of the Special Task Force (STF) in Jos, Maj.-Gen. Olayinka Oshinowo, yesterday urged Plateau State youths to avoid any advice that might jeopardise their future and make them a liability to their generation.

Oshinowo addressed 459 youths from Jos North, Jos South, Jos East and Bassa local government areas, who were receiving training on how to stop violence in the state.

The training was organised by the Institute of Governance and Social Research (IGSR) in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (CLTC).

Oshinowo urged the youths to channel their energy towards productive ventures that would make them responsible citizens of the nation, adding that he would support such ventures.

Man jailed four years for sexual harassment

A

BAUCHI State Chief Magistrate Isa Mohammed has sentenced Mallam Attahiru Umar Sade to a four-year imprisonment for criminal trespass, wandering, and enticing a married woman.

Suleiman Bello, husband to Malama Munira, through his counsel Usman Darazo, Auwal Ibrahim and Jibrin Sa’id Jibrin, filed a criminal complaint against Sade.

From Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi

He said sometime in July, last year, the accused approached his wife, Mallama Munira Mohammed, with the intent to have sexual relationship with her. The woman reported the matter to him, he added.

Bello said he warned Sade to keep away from his wife and relocated Munira from their former home.

He said: “This was done to prevent further approach to her. But despite the preventive measure, the accused still obtained her cell phone number.

Since then, he has been making calls to her. Some of Sade’s calls were made on September 26.”

Bello said the accused sent his wife a text message with a recharge card worth N500.

According to him, the action forced him to lodge a com-

plaint, on September 27, at Dutsen Tanshi Police Station in Bauchi.

Bello also said the police arrested the accused when he called his wife and asked if her husband was at home.

Counsel to Bello said Sade committed criminal trespass by enticing a married woman, contrary to Sections 342,344, and 389 and punishable under Sections 348,355, and 389 of the Penal Code.

THE Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, yesterday struck out the case between Senator Saminu Turaki of the Action Congress Nigeria (ACN) and Senator Abdullahi Adamu Sankara of the People Democratic Party (PDP).

Turaki went to the tribunal to challenge the election of Sankara.

Justice K. S. Uwayan struck out the ACN candidate’s case for lack of merit. He ruled that the petitioner failed to prove the case of election malpractices, manipulation of election result and others beyond reasonable doubt.

The tribunal also ordered the ACN candidate to pay 50,000 each for wasting the tribunal’s time.

Jang agrees to pay N18,000 minimum wage From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

The Plateau State Government yesterday said it has approved the payment of N18,000 minimum wage to its workers in line with the new National Minimum Wage Act, 2011.

Commissioner for Information and Communication Yiljap Abraham addressed reporters at the Government House, Jos, on the matter.

But Labour said the government was playing with the intelligence of its workers.

Abraham said: “In an effort to meet the requirement for the payment of the new minimum wage, identified clusters in the salary structure were smoothened.”

NLC state Chairman, Comrade Jibrin Banshir said: “The government is making a mockery of the whole thing.

We are never part of any such agreement with the government on what they have decided to pay.

54

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 10-10-11 2ND-TIER SECURITIES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 1 1

ADSWITCH PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

1.71

1,000 1,000

1,630.00 1,630.00

AGRICULTURE/AGRO-ALLIED Company Name

No of Deals (N) 1 1 7 9

FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC PRESCO PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.50 0.50 7.33

1,000 1,000 21,610 23,610

500.00 500.00 155,299.30 156,299.30

AIR SERVICES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 17 38 55

AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

1.95 5.90

500,000 309,549 809,549

1,020,000.00 1,847,989.59 2,867,989.59

AUTOMOBILE & TYRE Company Name

No of Deals (N) 1 22 23

DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC R. T. BRISCOE (NIGERIA) PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.50 1.62

7,900 420,185 428,085

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

5.35 3.30 2.52 4.16 1.93 9.07 12.38 9.18 4.70 1.43 4.30 2.09 0.75 0.76 12.40

2,080,609 1,379,648 348,150 76,131 3,813,183 49,372,367 28,810,172 1,780,200 2,542,548 1,587,658 35,865,931 1,022,908 24,430 528,800 33,017,082 162,249,817

3,950.00 651,771.42 655,721.42

BANKING Company Name

No of Deals (N) 84 43 20 10 48 460 423 33 97 30 279 23 5 28 285 1,868

ACCESS BANK PLC DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK NIGERIA PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC GTBANK PLC STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC SKYE BANK PLC. STERLING BANK PLC UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC. UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC UNITYBANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC ZENITH BANK PLC Sector Totals

10,632,629.01 4,646,600.78 879,860.34 313,737.10 7,393,859.64 447,736,568.26 354,615,080.50 16,545,543.00 11,483,900.86 2,245,420.74 146,294,836.14 2,137,877.72 17,589.60 412,194.00 397,020,345.71 1,402,376,043.40

BREWERIES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 48 7 162 217

GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

210.00 5.76 82.00

149,162 110,350 1,560,746 1,820,258

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

16.17 7.25 96.00 40.15

140,820 111,500 241,628 271,635 765,583

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

19.60 0.77

116,433 700,000 816,433

29,920,785.28 604,718.00 128,032,363.45 158,557,866.73

BUILDING MATERIALS Company Name

No of Deals (N) 35 11 26 25 97

ASHAKA CEMENT PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC Sector Totals

2,228,765.83 778,135.00 23,195,227.56 10,895,009.19 37,097,137.58

CHEMICAL & PAINTS Company Name

No of Deals (N) 14 2 16

CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PLC PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC Sector Totals

2,273,652.10 539,000.00 2,812,652.10

COMMERCIAL/SERVICES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 1 1 11 13

COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC Secure Electronic Technology PLC RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.50 0.84 2.17

1,000 1,000 255,635 257,635

500.00 800.00 554,707.95 556,007.95

Equities dip as fresh MPR increase enhances fixed-income

T

HE Nigerian stock mar ket opened this week with a loss of N38 billion as yesterday’s 275 points increase of the benchmark rate for fixed-income securities appeared to have triggered portfolio rebalancing in favour of fixed-income instruments.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at its extraordinary meeting yesterday, increased the Monetary Policy Rate by about 30 per cent from 9.25 per cent to 12 per cent, the largest increase in seven consecutive increases.

Fixed-income rates are widely expected to tremble upward in line with the increase in the benchmark rate, which analysts said might exacerbate flight into fixedincome securities.

Aggregate market capitalisation of all quoted companies dipped to N6.412 trillion as against its opening value of N6.450 trillion.

The All Share Index, which measures the pricing trend at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), also slipped from 20,225.02 points to 20,106.08 points.

Market analysts, described the considerations for the knee-jerked increase as narrow and simplistic, noting that though it may serve short-term purpose, it could further undermine the longterm capital formation and growth of the economy.

No of Deals (N) 2 2

NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

5.22

799 799

4,378.52 4,378.52

CONGLOMERATES Company Name

No of Deals (N) 36 1 50 34 75 196

PZ CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC SCOA NIGERIA PLC TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC UAC OF NIGERIA PLC UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

30.00 6.11 0.81 33.00 27.26

129,452 300 2,319,650 219,623 6,413,834 9,082,859

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

47.16 0.50 5.37

37,716 1,000 59,000 97,716

3,836,529.95 1,743.00 1,813,038.61 7,278,511.77 174,687,726.97 187,617,550.30

CONSTRUCTION Company Name

No of Deals (N) 7 1 2 10

JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC MULTIVERSE PLC ROADS NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

1,697,258.55 500.00 316,830.00 2,014,588.55

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY Company Name

No of Deals (N) 2 2

CUTIX PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N) 2.00

No of Deals (N) 2 56 102 73 68 12 2 20 62 2 1 1 401

7-UP BOTTLING CO. PLC CADBURY NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIGERIA PLC HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC NATIONAL SALT COMPANY NIGERIA PLC NESTLE NIGERIA PLC NORTHERN NIGERIA FLOUR MILLS PLC TANTALIZERS PLC UTC NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

2,000 2,000

4,000.00 4,000.00

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

48.00 14.00 6.40 7.13 60.00 3.00 1.62 4.40 400.00 21.48 0.50 0.50

1,989 858,081 974,435 1,408,954 395,167 70,540 2,500 264,890 579,129 60,000 200 1,000 4,616,885

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.90 1.14 27.00 3.14 1.08 0.50

12,000 200,000 16,170 57,834 1,357,995 1,000 1,644,999

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

2.47

612,040 612,040

92,488.50 11,954,906.30 6,222,337.39 10,092,505.38 23,635,969.33 215,433.40 3,850.00 1,153,217.69 230,568,614.28 1,288,800.00 100.00 500.00 285,228,722.27

HEALTHCARE Company Name EVANS MEDICALPLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXOSMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 2 3 10 5 11 1 32

IKEJA HOTEL PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 19 19

11,240.00 228,000.00 423,945.76 173,302.00 1,335,835.10 500.00 2,172,822.86

1,511,738.80 1,511,738.80

B. O. C. GASES NIGERIA PLC FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC VITAFOAM NIGERIA PLC VONO PRODUCTS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 5 1 4 1 11

No of Deals (N) 6 6

C&I LEASING PLC Sector Totals

CHAMS PLC STARCOMMS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 3 2 5

No of Deals (N) 21 21

JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 27 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 9 CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC 4 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 9 GUARANTY TRUST ASSURANCE PLC 36 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 1 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 2 LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 1

2,010.00 893,153.50 190,220.00 178,800.00 50,000.00 50,000.00 10,000.00 290,075.00 3,900.00 1,000.00 179,385.00 39,120.00 12,861,713.00

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.94

69,133 69,133

63,019.70 63,019.70

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.86

950,054 950,054

817,046.44 817,046.44

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS Company Name

No of Deals (N) 15 1 16

CRUSADER NIGERIA PLC. NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.50 0.91

160,000,000 100,000 160,100,000

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

1.85

657,093 657,093

80,000,000.00 91,000.00 80,091,000.00

PACKAGING Company Name NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 25 25

1,222,821.14 1,222,821.14

PETROLEUM(MARKETING) BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA OIL & GAS PLC. FORTE OIL PLC MOBIL OIL NIGERIA PLC. OANDO PLC TOTAL NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 2 17 6 18 13 188 20 264

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.50 35.00 4.81 9.60 140.00 26.20 200.00

12,000 23,796 45,500 110,281 10,307 1,302,852 84,234 1,588,970

6,000.00 820,769.22 208,655.00 1,101,387.84 1,376,627.00 33,226,103.11 16,010,270.00 52,749,812.17

PRINTING & PUBLISHING Company Name LONGMAN NIGERIA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 3 24 27

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

4.65 3.85

3,000 221,713 224,713

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

13.45

44,881 44,881

13,260.00 839,172.40 852,432.40

REAL ESTATE Quantity Traded Value of Shares

Company Name

6.95 0.50 5.95 2.88

18,100 1,000 10,704 25 29,829

UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. PLC Sector Totals

131,949.00 500.00 61,599.84 72.00 194,120.84

Company Name

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

0.50 0.50

51,000 32,700 83,700

Company Name

25,500.00 16,350.00 41,850.00

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.60 1.03 2.31 0.52 1.21 0.50 0.50 0.50

997,090 1,500,000 52,445 556,400 7,157,316 1,000 233,333 55,000

590,150.22 1,507,000.00 126,586.90 289,229.00 8,316,416.88 500.00 116,666.50 27,500.00

No of Deals (N) 13 13

630,752.25 630,752.25

ROAD TRANSPORTATION

Quotation(N)

INSURANCE Company Name

4,000 1,786,307 380,440 357,600 100,000 100,000 20,000 580,150 7,800 2,000 358,770 78,240 14,327,891

MARITIME Company Name

Quotation(N)

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Company Name

0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

LEASING

INDUSTRIAL/DOMESTIC PRODUCTS Company Name

3 3 4 9 1 1 1 7 1 1 4 5 129

Company Name

Company Name

HOTEL & TOURISM Company Name

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 10-10-11 LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC N.E.M. INSURANCE CO. (NIG.) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. OASIS INSURANCE PLC SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC STACO INSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Sector Totals

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

FOOD/BEVERAGES & TOBACCO Company Name

Beside the negative impact of the rush to fixed-income securities on the flagging equity market, resultant increase in interest rate would compound comparatively high operating cost, placing companies in what an analyst described as, a “double jeopardy” of inability to access funds from panic-stricken equity market and passage of high cost to consumers.

Managing Director, GTI Securities, Tunde Oyekunle, said the decline yesterday was due to anticipatory transactions due to expected increase in the MPR as well as profit-taking activities by investors seeking to lock-in capital gains.

He said the increase in MPR would be a major determining factor for market direction in the period ahead in spite of the obvious upside expected to be created by the release of third quarter reports of quoted companies.

Total turnover at NSE stood at 361.36 million shares valued at N2.23 billion in 3,494 deals. Banking sector was the most active with 162.25 million shares valued at N1.40 billion in 1,868 deals.

Insurance sector occupied a distant second with a turnover of 14.33 million shares valued at N12.86 million in 129 deals.

On price movement, Fidson and Northern Nige-

rian Flourmills traded lower with five per cent to close at N1.20 and N22.61 per share.

Paint Company followed with 4.94 per cent to close at N0.77 per share.

Ecobank, Nigerian Bags Manufacturing and Ikeja Hotel, shed 4.91, 4.64 and 4.63 per cent to close at N2.52, N1.85 and N2.47 per share respectively.

Japaul oil, lost 4.44 per cent to close at N0.86 per share, while NPF Micro Finance shed 4.21 per cent to close at N0.91 per share.

Fidelity Bank and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company also dropped 3.98 and 3.75 per cent to close at N1.93 and N5.90 per share.

On the other hand, Roads topped the day’s highest price gainers with 4.88 per cent to close at N5.37 per share, while CAP followed with 4.87 per cent to close at N19.60 per share.

Neimeth Pharmaceutical added 4.85 per cent to close at N1.08 per share. RT Briscoe, United Bank for Africa and Guaranty Trust Assurance, garnered 4.52,4.37 and 3.42 per cent to close at N1.62, N4.30 and N1.21 per share.

Flourmills gained 3.09 per cent to close at N60.00 per share, while Oando gained 2.75 per cent to close at N26.20 per share.

Zenith Bank and Access Bank gained 23.48 and 2.29 per cent to close at N12.40 and N5.35 per share respectively.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

COMPUTER & OFFICE EQUIPMENT Company Name

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

No of Deals (N) 4 4

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.50

13,000 13,000

6,520.00 6,520.00

TEXTILES UNITED NIGERIAN TEXTILES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals (N) 3 3

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

0.89

300 300

279.00 279.00

THE FOREIGN LISTINGS Company Name ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED Sector Totals Overall Totals

No of Deals (N) 4 4

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares

12.40

21,300 21,300

3,489

361,340,132

253,517.00 253,517.00 2,233,420,033.31

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

55

MONEY LINK

Bank directors propose salary framework for boards

T

HE Governing Council of Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN), has approved a framework that would enable it, the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) and their consultants decide remuneration for board members of banks.

President, BDAN, Ferdinand Alabraba, said this has become exigent to harmonise the disparities that exist in the remuneration of different banks.

Speaking yesterday at the BDAN Forum held in Lagos, Alabraba, said the Council has also decided to play a pivotal role in proposing a credible framework for the remuneration of non-executive bank directors. The framework will take cognizance of similarities and differences in contextual characteristics of the banks to reflect the renewed responsibilities of the boards and also evaluate best practices of contemporaries in other nations.

He said assistance from FITC and their consultants would be needful, adding that such recommendations

represented by CBN Director, Financial Policy and Regulation, Chris Chukwu, said there is a considerable improvement in the macroeconomic environment with a broadly stable naira exchange rate sustained for over 18 months, and inflation rate moderating to a single digit of 9.3 per cent.

He said the recent takeover of the erstwhile Afribank, Bank PHB and Spring Bank by AMCON has restored significant value to the affected banks and stability to the banking system.

He said no bank has failed or collapsed and no depositor in any Nigerian bank lost any funds on account of the banking crises.

“In the past, eight banks in which the CBN intervened would have been transferred to the NDIC for liquidation, with the attendant threat to depositors’ funds, and confidence in the banking system as well as associated risks to financial system stability,” he stated.

The Deputy Governor also said no funds from the government treasury was utilised in the bailout exercise, thus

•Banks’ NPLs drop to N692b

By Collins Nweze

would be based on researches and available industry information. It will also consider interest of all stakeholders, business continuity and effective governance of respective banks.

Alabraba appealed to banks to cooperate with FITC to ensure the credibility and success of the exercise. The BDAN boss, who was represented by the Vice President, Ashim Oyekan, said he working out a framework for greater engagement of its members with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other regulators as a means of supporting the on-going banking reforms.

“The bank directors also have a major role to play, part of which is to ensure that the reforms succeed.

Achieving this requires that they work closely with the regulatory authorities to ensure that the ongoing reforms in the sector

achieve the desired stability,” he said.

Meanwhile, the CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Kingsley Moghalu, said there is significant reduction in the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total credit in the banking sector.

He said total industry NPLs, stood at N692 billion or 9.37 per cent as at August 2011, as against N1.11 trillion or 15.49 per cent in December 2010 pre-Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) intervention. This represents a significant decline of N418 billion, or 37.66 per cent, which is below the maximum threshold of 12.5 per cent.

Moghalu also said the banking reforms have led to improvements in corporate governance in banks and impacted positively in the operations of AMCON. The Deputy Governor, who was

•CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi Lamido

making Nigeria the only banking system’s crisis that was resolved without recourse to tax payer’s funds.

“The cost of resolving the banking crises has been borne by bonds issued

by AMCON and a banking sector resolution cost fund established by the CBN and 24 banks, which contributes N50 billion and 0.3 per cent of their total assets respectively to the fund,” he stated.

‘Categorisation of operators not a solution to present downturn’

T

HE move by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to categorise stock broking firms’ houses by total volume and value transacted weekly, has continued to attract reactions from various quarters.

Speaking with The Nation, the President of the Association of Stock brokering Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) Alhaji Rashed Yussuff, said what the market needs presently is to be back on tract.

He argued that categorising the operators has been on-going, saying it is no use pursuing the measure when the market itself is distressed.

His words: “Categorising the various houses is not a problem in itself.

But what will you market to the public? he asked. Is it a place they just

By Tonia Osundolire

burnt their fingers and have not recovered. I don’t rule out the possibility of having a healthy competition when the market is back, but first thing first,” he said.

On the gainers list, he said even the regulators have said the main play-

“What do you expect when 80 per cent of their transactions are done by foreign investors? They will continue to remain on the top ten either by volume or value. We need an urgent solution going forward,” he said.

Last week, the top ten by volume and value were represented by just 15 stock brokering houses. Five of those on the

ers in the market for now are foreign investors who are using about three to four stock brokering houses for their transactions, stating that the transactions done by theses houses are dominated by 80 per cent from the foreign investors, while the remaining 20 per cent are from the local investors.

Demutualisation: Operators endorse SEC on committee

A

CROSS section of market op erators yesterday reacted to the technical committee set up by the Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC) with mixed feelings.

They said they will support the measure only if SEC is using the

committee to raise guideline for the demutualisation process.

The group said SEC has no business with implementation but can issue guidelines just as it does for private companies when they are coming to the primary market for onward listing on the floor of the

exchange.

The CEO, Lambert Securities, David Adonri, said the step taken is in the right direction and is justified since it is the regulator of the capital market. He said the decision to set up the committee is because this is happening for the

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

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2011 “ 14-04-2011

GAINERS AS AT 10-10-11 SYMBOL ROADS CAP NEIMETH RTBRISCOE UBA GTASSURE FLOURMILL OANDO ZENITHBANK ACCESS

O/PRICE 5.12 18.69 1.03 1.55 4.12 1.17 58.20 25.50 12.10 5.23

C/PRICE 5.37 19.60 1.08 1.62 4.30 1.21 60.00 26.20 12.40 5.35

CHANGE 0.25 0.91 0.05 0.07 0.18 0.04 1.80 0.70 0.30 0.12

LOSER AS AT 10-10-11 SYMBOL FIDSON NNFM PAINTCOM ECOBANK BAGCO IKEJAHOTEL JAPAULOIL NPFMCRFBK FIDELITYBK NAHCO

O/PRICE 1.20 22.61 0.81 2.65 1.94 2.59 0.90 0.95 2.01 6.13

C/PRICE 1.14 21.48 0.77 2.52 1.85 2.47 0.86 0.91 1.93 5.90

Amount

Offered ($) Demanded ($)

MANAGED FUNDS

OBB Rate Call Rate

first time in the market and the SEC needs advice from experts on the process.

However, Adonri said the decision to demutualise by the NSE does not rest on the authority of the SEC, but should come under the authority of the NSE.

DATA BANK

Tenor

NIDF NESF

top ten by volume also made their way to the top ten by value.

The top ten by volume was led by Rencap Securities (Nig) Limited and they contributed 58.93 of the total volume of transaction last week, while the top ten by value contributed 63.46 per cent of value recorded in the first week of October.

Amount

Exchange

Sold ($)

Rate (N)

Date

450m

452.7m

450m

150.8

08-8-11

250m

313.5m

250m

150.8

03-8-11

400m

443m

400m

150.7

01-8-11

EXHANGE RATE 26-08-11 CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Currency

Year Start Offer

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD

147.6000

149.7100

150.7100

-2.11

NGN GBP

239.4810

244.0123

245.6422

-2.57

NGN EUR

212.4997

207.9023

209.2910

-1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

Bureau de Change 152.0000 (S/N)

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

Parallel Market

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

NSE CAP Index

NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N)

13-09-11 N6.7026tr 21,018.52

14-09-11 N6.760tr 21,199.16

% Change -0.87% -0.86%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

(S/N)

153.0000

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

Aug ’11

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

8.75%

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% 9.4%

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 117.96 107.46 0.77 1.02 0.92 1,628.78 8.24 1.39 1.87 7,348.48 193.00

9.08 1.00 117.57 107.10 0.74 1.02 0.91 1,625.40 7.84 1.33 1.80 7,132.80 191.08

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 • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED

CHANGE 0.06 1.13 0.04 0.13 0.09 0.12 0.04 0.04 0.08 0.23

• STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

Rate (Previous) 24 Aug, 2011 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 26, Aug, 2011 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, OCTOBER 11, 2011

56

NEWS LIBERIA’S ELECTION Ben Asante writes on today’s crucial election in the once war-ravaged country. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is also in the race. It is not clear how last week’s Nobel Peace honour will affect the outcome.

‘Johnson-Sirleaf a symbol of Liberia as a whole’

Liberia’s crucial presidential race

E

XCITEMENT as much as tension is mounting within Liberia, ahead of today’s presidential election. Over a dozen parties are participating. The election is much of interest to voters within Liberia as it is to the rest of the ECOWAS region including the country’s prominence in the Nigerian media, given the history of war and the role of the regional body in ending the decade and half of fighting.

Because of this concern, ECOWAS Chairman President Jonathan a fortnight ago sent the former head of state Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and former Ghanaian President John Kufour to Monrovia to talk to the leaders of the parties, the election commission as well as stating the region’s concern for peaceful elections. Nigeria recently made large logistics contributions to the Liberia National Election Commission including vehicles.

As many as 16 candidates are standing for president among them President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is running for a second term. The President and leading opponents are set for yet another

dramatic clash as they did six years ago, when a run-off presidential election was forced between her and the former international football star, George Weah popularly known in football circles as Oppong.

In that race, Oppong Weah, attracting large youthful votes, led slightly in the wide field of several candidates with no one single person scoring absolute majority.

But in a subsequent straight fight in a run-off between Oppong Weah and Johnson Sirleaf, Sirleaf emerged the winner. The country had been sharply divided. The prospects of a footballerturned-politician overnight winning against one of the country’s best known politicians, a long-time fighter for democracy, a financial expert, former finance minister and a World Bank and UN expert, generated a huge sensation.

The qualifications of the two candidates for the job sharply came into focus and divided the country, such that most educated Liberians, even university professors and others working abroad, took sabbatical to come home and campaign for a Johnson Sirleaf win. They argued that

By Lindsay Barrett

•Fahnbulleh

T •Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf

electing a president was ordinarily an important serious decision, especially for a country coming out of prolonged war devastation.

Some went further to the extent of saying that if a surgeon makes a mistake the result is one victim being affected but if a politician in leadership makes a mistake, millions of people are affected. Despite the groundswell of youth votes and part-ethnic backing from the southeast regions – Oppong Weah’s homestead – the votes in the run-off went against him because he was considered less educated and less qualified for the job, than Mrs Johnson Sirleaf.

HE name Miatta Fahnbulleh is known throughout West Africa. Liberia’s fiery diva has been one the region’s most notable singers for decades.

Today she spends most of her time running a free school for indigent young people in Monrovia but she is often on the road as well, whether recording a new album in Accra or visiting her bosom friend Madam Ajoke Mohammed, widow of Nigeria’s late Head of State Murtala Mohammed, in Abuja. Miatta runs an NGO known as Obaas Girls Educational Outreach in Monrovia. The purpose of this organisation is to renew the relevance and availability of educational opportunities for young people especially after the consequences of the brutal civil war that tore her nation apart for nearly two decades. Today this remarkable woman, whose youthful beauty conceals the fact that she has already spent six dec-

ades on earth, remains an icon of commitment to the PanAfrican cause, and the empowerment of the people.

She inherited this legacy from both of her parents. Her mother Madam Mary Brownell is a renowned human rights activist and advocate of reform in Liberian society who is no less radical in her eighties today than she was in her youth. Madam Brownell served until recently as a Commissioner of the National Electoral Commission and continues to make provocative statements about the political situation in her country. For example she recently declared that Liberia’s status as Africa’s oldest republic was nothing to be proud of given the history of mismanagement and oppression of successive governments. Instead she said the republic might have benefited from a period of colonialism if only because it would have had to fight for its independence. In that case she said Liberians would have appreciated the privilege of freedom more.

Miatta’s late father Ambassador Henry Boima Fahnbulleh Sr. was an outspoken advocate of the rights of indigenous Liberians even though he was a member of the nation’s elite. He was persecuted by the Tubman regime but remained steadfast

in his advocacy against all odds and warned about the imminence of revolt in the society long before the military uprising that brought Samuel Kanyon Doe to power. Miatta’s brother, Henry Boima Fahnbulleh Jr., is a perceptive political thinker and the author of a remarkable novel entitled “Behind God’s Back”. He is the present National Security Adviser to the incumbent government and was the youngest Foreign Minister in Africa for a short while under the Doe Regime. Not surprisingly he fell out with Doe when he criticised some of the actions initiated by the government, even though he was a part of it, and was forced to spend several years in exile.

With a family legacy like this and an extraordinary speaking and singing voice it is not surprising that Miattah Fahnbulleh’s views are listened to closely by Liberians.

She has a popular weekly phone-in programme entitled “Let’s Talk About It” on a radio station in Monrovia.

The programme is remarkable for the frankness and genuine objectivity with which she allows public issues to be discussed. In spite of her generally critical stance Miattah praises the incumbent President Madam Ellen JohnsonSirleaf for the freedom that she has encouraged in the society.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

57

NEWS Court upholds election From Emma Mgbeahurike, Owerri

THE Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri has dismissed the appeal filed by the candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chima Akuzie, challenging the election of Simeon Iwunze as the member representing Isiala Mbano State Constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly.

Customs chief advises agents TRADERS in the Southeast have been advised on the need for proper documentation before shipping, to obey the Federal Government import guidelines.

Comptroller, Federal Operations Zone C, Owerri, Victor Gbemudu, spoke during a meeting with maritime stakeholders and the Southeast Amalgamated Traders Association (SEAMATA) on the economic importance of paying duties on vehicles and imported goods.

Gbemudu told the traders that they have nothing to fear provided they are not engaged in illicit trade which contravenes the Federal Government policy.

FRC gets directorates

Ebonyi community protests killing of kinsman

N

O fewer than 200 indigenes of Okpuma in Amangwu Edda autonomous community of Afikpo South Local Government of Ebonyi State yesterday stormed the Government House and the State Police Command in Abakaliki to protest the alleged killing of their kinsman.They also condemned the arrest of three others by a joint military/police patrol at the weekend.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions: “Our governor, please help us”, Her Excellency, come to our aid”, “Okpuma people are

A

BOUT 1,000 Imo youths have staged a peaceful protest demanding the arrest and prosecution of former Governor Ikedi Ohakim by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The protesting youths marched from Dan Anyiam Stadium on Wetheral Road, Owerri, to the Government H o u s e .

They were received by Deputy Governor Jude Agbaso.

They displayed placards with inscriptions: ‘Owelle, we demand Ohakim’s arrest now’, ‘Why EFCC doesn’t

stream.

“Instead of the Fulani people coming to make peace, they went and invited the joint military/police patrol, claiming that our people kidnapped their herdsmen. And the military/police patrol invaded our village, killed one person and arrested three others”.

Agbanu gave the name of the deceased as Alum Amadi and those arrested by the police as Eluu Nnachi, Egwu Egwu and John Amadi.

The protesters were prevented from entering the Government House by security operatives. The gover-

From Emma Mgbeahurike, Owerri

want to arrest Ikedi,’ ‘Why is the government keeping silent over Ohakim’s arrest by EFCC?’, ‘Ohakim, Opiah bring back Imo money.’

Leader of the group Comrade Nduka Chiagozie Ozuruigbo said the former governor should be made to account for his administration’s financial recklessness and misappropriation.

Ozuruigbo also accused the former governor of masterminding some criminal activities and urged security agencies to carry out further

investigation on the antecedents of the former governor.

They are also asking the EFCC to investigate the dredging of Nworie River, rehabilitation of Oguta Lake Motel, construction of multipurpose hall and several inflated road contracts awarded by the former governor.

Addressing the youths, Agbaso described their action as democratic and reiterated government’s commitment to improve their lives through creation of jobs.

He assured that their demands would be forwarded to the appropriate authorities.

A

N Onitsha-based transporter, Godwin Okeke, yesterday petitioned the Anambra State Commissioner of Police Muhtari Ibrahim, alleging a plot by the police prosecutor to scuttle the trial of the suspected kidnappers.

Okeke, who was abducted in 2009, is asking that the Prosecuting Police Officer be withdrawn from handling the case and replaced with a more dedicated police officer.

Okeke alleged that the prosecuting counsel have been financially induced to destroy the kidnap case in

From Adimike George, Onitsha

court in order to set the suspects free.

Okeke was abducted by gunmen on August 23, 2009, inside the All Saints Anglican Church, Onitsha, shortly after a church service. He was released after a ransom was reportedly paid to the kidnappers.

The suspects were arrested between October and November, 2009, and arraigned before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Onitsha. They were remanded in prison custody.

Okeke said when the eight

suspected kidnappers were arraigned, the police prosecutor charged them for attempted kidnap. But when he (Okeke) raised an alarm in court, the prosecutor amended it to kidnap and attempted murder.

He said since over a year now, the police prosecutors have not forwarded the case file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Okeke said another suspect was arrested and arraigned before the court on September 22 , adding that during his trial, the Chief Magistrate discovered that the police were yet to sign their own

Okorocha to set up oil, gas zone From Emma Mgbeahurike, Owerri

•Okorocha

G

OVERNOR Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has unveiled his administration’s plans to set up an oil and gas industrial zone in the state.

The governor spoke during a meeting with oil and gas operators. He said his administration is determined to provide the enabling environment for the operators.

He said Imo State has over 7.8 trillion SCE of Natural Gas deposit and several billion barrels of crude oil, adding that his govern-

ment would continue to work closely with the Federal Government to ensure that marginal fields are concessioned to interested operators.

Okorocha urged oil companies to abide by their corporate social responsibilities.

“The status of your current operation in Imo State may be described as absentee operator with little or no developmental efforts in the state. We therefore encourage you to become more visible in the state by establishing functional offices in Owerri as well as provide at least 25 mega watts in Owerri industrial cluster,” Okorocha said.

Minister of Finance Mrs Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala urged the oil and gas operators to key into Okorocha’s vision, by showing much presence in the state.

She described oil and gas

as a key sector of the economy, saying the need for the proceeds to be used in diversifying other sectors of the economy.

Representatives of Agip, Chevron, Shell and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) attended the meeting.

Arthur Eze, Chairman Oranto Oil; Paschal Dozie, Chairman MTN and Diamond Group Advisory Board and Charles Osezua, Chairman Owel-Linkso Group also attended the meeting.

PUBLIC NOTICE ADEDOYIN I formerly known and addressed as Adedoyin Adeniyi Agbaje.

Now wish to be known and addressed as Hammed Adeniyi Agbaje. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHIBUIKE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Chibuike Efe Blessing.

Now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joseph Efe Blessing All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

nor’s aide referred them to the State Police Command.

Assistant Commissioner of Police,P.J. Esoung and police spokesman John Eluu urged the protesters to remain calm as the matter was being investigated.

The police assured that those arrested would be released after investigation.

“A matter such as the one at hand was a very sensitive one because of the involvement of two government agencies.

The police would want to get the real facts of the matter. In this situation, only a thorough investigation would reveal the truth,” they said.

Ogun West PDP gets chair

A

•Ohakim

Kidnap victim alleges plot to scuttle trial

Foundation gives scholarship SHINA Awelewa Foundation which marked 10th year anniversary this year is set to give scholarship and other items to the needy and underprivileged in the society.

The event is scheduled for tomorrow at the Training School, Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti South West Local Government, Ekiti State.

A statement by the founder of the Foundation, Shina Awelewa,said 20 indigent secondary school pupils would benefit from the scholarship award.

The Foundation will also dole out vehicles, motorcycles, sewing machines, clothes, shoes, barber’s equipment and other essential materials.

peace loving” and “Okpuma village is crying for help.”

The community leader and spokesman Sunday Agbanu said the patrol team invaded their village, killed one person and arrested three others.

Agbanu said the security operatives carried out the operation on the invitation of Fulani herdsmen who misinformed the security personnel that some Fulani herdsmen were being held hostage by the villagers.

The community leader said after the killing and arrest of their kinsman, the joint patrol

team took those arrested to the State Police Command, where they were labeled kidnappers.

He said: “The matter started when some Fulani herdsmen and their herds invaded our farmlands and streams, destroying crops and polluting the only source of drinking water in the village. The youths of the village mobilised and apprehended four of the herdsmen, and released two of them; one to look after the herds while the other one should go and invite the Alhaji who owns the herds to come and see the damage done to our farmlands and

EFCC urged to arrest Ohakim

By Musa Odoshimokhe

SEVEN directorates have been established to oversee the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the Executive Secretary of the Council, Jim Obazee, has said.

Obazee spoke at an enlightenment forum with external auditors and other stakeholders in Lagos. He said the FRC would protect investors and ensure the practice of corporate governance.

Obazee said the board of the Council had been enlarged to accommodate all relevant interests and would register accountants, and other professionals who render services to the public.

They are the Directorate of Accounting Standards (Private Sector), Directorate of Accounting Standards (Public Sector), Directorate of Auditing Standards, Directorate of Actuarial Standards, Directorate of Inspections and Monitoring, Directorate of Valuation Standards and Directorate of Corporate Governance.

From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

column of the binding over sheet.

Okeke said this prompted the court to order the police to come to the court and sign their column within seven days.

The petition reads: “It is instructive to intimate the police commissioner that since the arrest and detention of these kidnap suspects, high profile kidnappings and bank robberies in Awka and Nnewi had reduced considerably.

“I request that the erring prosecutor be replaced with a more dedicated police officer, without delay”.

FORMER member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Odunleye Odunjo has emerged as chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun West Senatorial District.

Odunjo, who was unanimously elected by party members and leaders at a meeting held in Owode, Yewa North Local Government Area, succeeds Alhaji Yakubu Ajai who voluntarily resigned his position.

He has promised to use his position to reposition the party in the district.

“I will use my position to bring back the lost glory of the PDP in the senatorial district with the support of our leaders, such as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Adetunji Olurin, and Prince Buruji Kashamu,” he said.

Missing person FORTY-FIVE -YEAR-OLD Mrs Eno Sunday Udoka(fondly known as Mrs Mary Peter), a native of Akwa Ibom State, is missing. The mother of three left home on August 28 and has not returned home. She is a Christian and speaks English, Annang and Ibibio languages fluently.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

58

FOREIGN NEWS Anglican head meets with Mugabe, slams intimidation tactics HE head of the worldwide Anglican church yesterday met with Zimbabwe’s longtime ruler and criticized abuse and intimidation against his church’s worshippers in the southern African country.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is paying a two-day visit to Zimbabwe. After the meeting, he said that President Robert Mugabe told him he was not familiar with the scale of the intimidation mentioned. .The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been divided since a breakaway bishop Nolbert Kunonga was excommunicated in 2007 for inciting violence in sermons supporting Mugabe’s party. But Kunonga says he left the Anglican church because of it position on same sex marriages.

Leaders of the global Anglican Communion have condemned gay relationships as a violation of Scripture.

However, the Anglican Communion is loosely organized without one authoritative leader such as a pope, so some individual provinces have decided on their own that they should move toward accepting same-gender unions.

Mugabe is a bitter critic of homosexuality.

Williams said he presented the president with a “dossier” on the abuse and intimidation mainstream Anglicans are going through in the southern African nation.

Excommunicated leader Kunonga’s followers have seized the country’s main cathedral and bank accounts.

His followers also have taken control of an orphanage, and evicted nuns and priests who do not recognize Kunonga.

T

Cape Verde’s ex-leader Pedro Pires wins Mo Ibrahim prize

F

ORMER Cape Verde President Pedro Verona Pires has been awarded this year’s $5m (£3.2m) Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance in Africa.

The prize committee said Mr Pires, who stepped down in August, had helped make the archipelago off the West African coast a “model of democracy, stability and increased prosperity”.

The prize is supposed to be awarded each year to a democratically elected leader who has voluntarily left office.

There has been no winner for two years.

The committee said there had been no suitable candidate.

The $5m award, given over 10 years followed by $200,000 a year for life, is the world’s most valuable individual prize.

The previous winners are

Botswana’s President Festus Mogae and Mozambique’s Joaquim Chissano.

Sudan-born telecoms entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim says the prize is needed because many leaders of sub-Saharan African countries come from poor backgrounds and are tempted to hang on to power for fear that poverty awaits them when they leave office.

Mr Pires, 77, told the BBC he was at the gym when he heard that he had won the prize.

“I want to invest the money to publish a book about the story and the struggle for the independence of Cape Verde,” he said.

“I have no thought of using the money to invest in business or anything like that.”

Mr Pires played a key role in the fight against Portuguese colonial rule and became prime minister at independence in 1975 - a position

has experienced significant economic growth in recent years, partly because of a boom in tourism.

It is now classed by the United Nations as a middleincome country.

But unemployment and poverty are still high, forcing many people to emigrate.

PUBLIC NOTICE OTOBO and ARVAI

This is to inform the general public that Mr. Charles Oreye Otobo and Miss Tunde Arvai, of No. 44 Adetola Street Aguda, Surulere, Lagos formally solemnised their union on March 28, 2009 at the Ikoyi Registry, Lagos.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEWS

Alleged N25b fraud: EFCC arrests Senator, contractor A

S former Oyo State governor Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala faces 11-count charge in the State High Court, Ibadan today, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday night arrested Senator Hosea Agboola (also known as Alleluya), who served as a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs under the embattled helmsman.

Also picked up last night was a contractor-friend of the ex-governor, Femi Babalola, an engineer.

Both Agboola and Babalola handled most projects executed by AlaoAkala’s administration.

he held until 1991.

He led moves to introduce multi-party elections, which his PAICV party lost.

Ten years later, he bounced back to become president and stepped down after two terms, rejecting calls to change the constitution to remain in office, like several African leaders have done.

Despite winning the prize, Mr Pires said he had no advice for other leaders on the continent.

“I don’t like to give lessons. I think each leader has his own challenges,” he said.

“We have to believe in African people and allow them to decide their own fate.”

Committee head Salim Ahmed Salim praised his “humility” and “personal integrity” in refusing calls to change the constitution.

Cape Verde - an Atlantic archipelago of 10 islands -

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

Investigation showed that while Agboola was arrested in Abuja, Babalola was seized in Lagos by EFCC operatives.

The duo last night joined Alao-Akala and ex-Ogun State governor Gbenga Daniel in the EFCC custody in Ikoyi, Lagos, preparatory to their arraignment in Ibadan and Abeokuta today.

A top EFCC source said: “While ex-commissioner Agboola was central to the alleged mismanagement of local government account, Babalola was rated as the

first- choice contractor of the Alao-Akala administration.

“We are arraigning the two suspects with AlaoAkala before the Oyo State High Court on Tuesday (tomorrow). We will move them to Ibadan from Lagos.

“Akala and his accomplices will be prosecuted by Mallam Ustaz Yunus (SAN) and Mr. Godwin Obla Esqr.

“We have also beefed up security in Ibadan and Abeokuta where the two exgovernors will face trial to avoid any mob action.”

Contacted at about 10pm yesterday, EFCC spokesman, Mr. Femi Babafemi

said: “We have flown all the suspects to Lagos. We also arrested Senator Agboola and Engineer Femi Babalola who will be tried alongside ex-governor Akala.”

Out of the N25 billion allegedly mismanaged by Alao-Akala, one of the issues includes alleged deduction of N8.2 billion from the Excess Crude Funds of the 33 local government areas in the state to finance 155kilometer road projects.

Each of the 33 council areas was forced to raise N250 million for the special road projects.

About five-kilometre road was to be constructed in each of the 33 local government areas at N250 million.

FUGRO INVESTMENTS NIGERIA LIMITED NOTICE OF CREDITORS MEETING Pursuant to Section 472 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2004, the Directors of Fugro Investments Nigeria Limited, hereby give notice that a Meeting of the Creditors of the company will be held as follows: TIME : 10: 30 a.m.

DATE: Friday, October 14, 2011.

VENUE: Fugro Investments Nigeria Limited 91, Odani Road, Elelewo Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

AGENDA: To consider the Winding up of the company and approve same if thought fit.

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

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NATION SPORT

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Euro 2012 Qualifying...Euro 2012 Qualifying...Euro 2012 Qualifying...

France wants medical ‘miracles’ before Bosnia game

I

NJURY-PLAGUED France need their medical staff to perform “miracles” before tonight’s Euro 2012 qualifying decider at home to Bosnia where Les Bleus will be going for a win despite needing only a draw.

France, who lead the Group D standings with 20 points and hold a one-point advantage over Bosnia, made light work of Albania in a 3-0 win on Friday, playing forward-minded football throughout and they intend to do the same on Tuesday.

They are, however, hampered by defensive problems as they are without Bacary Sagna and could miss Patrice Evra, Mathieu Debuchy and Eric Abidal, who are injured.

Centre back Adil Rami, who picked up a knock on Friday, should be available, as well as Evra, according to Blanc, but Abidal, striker Kevin Gameiro and midfielder Yohan Cabaye may struggle

to be fit.

“It will be complicated. The medical staff will have to work miracles,” Blanc, who also has to deal with the absence of the injured striker Karim Benzema, told a news conference.

While a point would put the former champions into next year’s tournament in Poland and Ukraine, they want to make absolutely sure by taking all three points.

“We should not be trapped into playing out a draw. It’s not our game, we’re not Italy, who can close the shop and wait for their opponent,” midfielder Samir Nasri, who was finally near his best in the navy blue shirt on Friday, told reporters.

“We’re going to play our football and put them on the back foot. The good thing is that they are a team who like to play so there should be space. We’re not going to make calculations and do everything we can to win.”

Portugal coach calls for tight defence

P

ORTUGAL coach Paulo Bento has urged his makeshift defence to show drive and concentration to help the team qualify for Euro 2012 by securing at least a draw against Denmark tonight.

The Portuguese and the Danes are level at the top of Group H on 16 points, but having beaten their rivals 3-1 at home a year ago, Portugal need just a draw in their final game to book a berth at next year’s finals in Poland and Ukraine.

Denmark will likely have to take the initiative so Bento hopes his back four will not give in to the Danes’ physical game and wobble as they did against Iceland on Friday, when they won 5-3 but only after surviving a shaky second-half performance.

“We will need to improve our concentration levels and play at some stages of the game with greater aggressiveness at the back,” the coach said.

Key defenders Pepe and Fabio Coentrao are sidelined after picking up injuries playing for Real Madrid, while their club mate Ricardo Carvalho was last month banned from the national side for a year after abandoning their training camp without explanation.Experienced central defenders Rolando and Bruno Alves looked vulnerable against Iceland’s set pieces and long balls in a second half during which the team nearly lost control of the game.

Winger Nani’s flamboyance and firepower made up for the defensive woes, and Eliseu, who stood in for Coentrao at left back, also impressed by grabbing two assists and scoring a fine goal.

Captain Cristiano Ronaldo looked lively despite not getting his name on the scoresheet and remains the team’s top scorer in the qualifiers alongside Nani on four goals.

Following a dismal start to the campaign under Carlos Queiroz, the wingers have spearheaded Portugal’s revival

under his replacement Bento, helping the new coach become the first ever to win the first five competitive matches after taking over.

“We are naturally happy to arrive at a situation where we can go decide the qualification in Denmark,” Bento said.

G

•Neuer

C

RAIG Levein insists Scotland have “nothing to fear” against Spain in tonight’s do-or-die Euro 2012 Group I qualifier in Alicante.

Craig Mackail-Smith’s first goal in his first international start in a 1-0 victory over Liechtenstein kept the Scots’ qualifying hopes alive going into the final game against the world and European champions who are looking to complete a clean sweep of victories in this campaign.

Scotland are one point above Czech Republic and must at least equal the Czechs’ result in Lithuania to book a playoff spot.

“It is a tall order, we understand that but there is nothing for us to fear, that is the important thing, there is nothing to fear,” Levein said.

“We are playing the world champions, of course, but we are in the position where if we win the game we qualify. I believe wholeheartedly in the players and their ability to rise to the challenge.”

The Scotland boss, who revealed Barry Bannan was a

concern with an Achilles injury and that Charlie Adam had picked up a knock, is looking to take the uncertainty away from that scenario by inflicting an unlikely defeat on the Spanish.

“Our intention was to move into second place in the table and now we are in the position where the second place is ours to lose,” he added. “We have a group of players who recover quickly, they are a fit bunch of guys and they are in a position I would have taken at the start of the campaign, where if we win the game we finish second, that’s a fact.

“We can’t go in the game relying on what happens in Lithuania, we have no influence over that. So it makes complete sense for me to do everything I can to win the game on Tuesday night.

“Of course we recognise it is difficult but we have nothing to fear and I can assure you that the lads will run themselves into the ground attempting to get that second spot.”

Keane doubtful for Ireland game

R France's Samir Nasri (2ndR) reacts with teammates (from L to R) Florent Malouda, Patrice Evra and Yann M'Vila after Loic Remy (not pictured) scored a goal against Albania

Neuer: We want a flawless qualification campaign ERMANY goalkeeper Manuel Neuer insists that he and his international team-mates will be looking to maintain their 100 per cent record when they entertain Belgium in their final Euro 2012 qualifier tonight.

The 25-year-old has urged Joachim Low’s side to continue their impressive form by winning tonight’s final Group A game against Belgium.

The Bayern Munich man played a key role in Friday’s 31 away win against Turkey, and says that Germany are intent

Levein: Nothing to fear from Spain

on securing their 10th victory in Group A - as any other result could have negative repercussions at next year’s tournament.

“We don’t want to show any weaknesses and we want to keep our qualifying run as flawless as possible,” Neuer told Bild.

“The smallest display of weakness could have implications for us at Euro 2012 and we can’t allow that.”

And with Joachim Low expected to rotate his squad for the game in midweek, Neuer

also spoke of his nation’s strength in depth.

“The national team has never boasted so much quality. We’re solid in every position and that goes for the substitutes bench as well,” he added.

“The confidence is flying.

When you win matches it makes you even stronger, and that strengthens my optimism for the near future.”

Neuer made his debut for the national side in June 2009 against United Arab Emirates and has currently made 23 appearances for Germany.

OBBIE Keane and Marc Bernaus Keane is about to be challenged by Andorra’s Marc Bernaus in Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier which the Republic won 2-0 Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane faces a race against time to be fit for tonight’s decisive Euro 2012 qualifier against Armenia.

The LA Galaxy striker complained of a sore abductor muscle after Friday’s win over Armenia and is scheduled to undergo scans.

“Giovanni Trapattoni has said that Robbie Keane is a strong doubt ahead of Tuesday’s match,” said the FAI. The Republic need a point tonight to guarantee a playoff spot.

Mathematically, the Irish could still win the group but it appears highly unlikely as

they need Andorra to beat Russia tonight.

Dubliner Keane is Ireland’s record scorer with 51 goals and his absence would be a major blow for Trapattoni.

Keane has embarked upon a series of gruelling transAtlantic journeys to play for the Republic since heading to the United States, although he insisted earlier this week that he is feeling no ill effects.

The Irish manager has no other injury problems and his squad was boosted on Saturday by the arrival of Stoke forward Jonathan Walters, who was forced to miss the Andorra match because of an ankle problem.

Full-back Stephen Ward is ruled out by suspension after being booked in Andorra but Richard Dunne is available again after being banned for Friday’s game.

F I X T U R E S

Kazakhstan Malta Turkey Germany Croatia Georgia Rep of Ireland Russia FYR Macedonia Hungary Sweden Moldova Bulgaria Norway Denmark Switzerland Italy Spain Lithuania Slovenia France Albania

v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v

Austria Israel Azerbaijan Belgium Latvia Greece Armenia Andorra Slovakia Finland Holland San Marino Wales Cyprus Portugal Montenegro Northern Ireland Scotland Czech Republic Serbia Bosnia-Herzegovina Romania

•Keane

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NATION SPORT

PREMIERSHIP...PREMIERSHIP...

van Persie backing Gunners to recover

R

OBIN van Persie has backed Arsenal to recover from their miserable start to the season and begin climbing the Premier League table.

Arsene Wenger’s side endured a summer of turmoil with the departures of key midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to Barcelona and Manchester City, respectively.

And they have struggled for form on the field too, with just seven points garnered from their opening seven fixtures in the Premier League to sit 15th in the table.

An 8-2 drubbing at Manchester United was

followed by an embarrassing 4-3 reverse at Blackburn and in their last outing the Gunners suffered a 2-1 reverse at the hands of local rivals Tottenham.

But captain Van Persie insists there is no need to panic and is confident Wenger and his players can get back to winning ways soon.

“I have every trust in the things we are doing within the club,” he told the Sunday Mirror.

“There is only a fine line between winning and losing.

Just look at our last match against Spurs. We could have won that game with the chances we had. There is no

Baby boy for Skrtel

L

IVERPOOL Football Club offered their congratulations to Martin Skrtel and his girlfriend following the birth of their baby boy.

Barbora gave birth to Matteo in Liverpool on Friday night.

Speaking to his official website, Skrtel said: “I would like to announce great news!

My lovely girlfriend Barbora gave birth to our first child!

“This great news came on Friday before our (Slovakia’s) match against Russia. I would like to say that everything went okay and my girlfriend and Matteo are both doing

well!

“I feel a little bit sorry for the fact that I couldn’t be with them because of our match but on the other hand I am very proud and very happy!

“I would like to thank everyone for their support, especially people from the hospital in Liverpool. My special thanks go to Mrs Jane Ashton who works for Liverpool FC. “She was the one who was helping Barbora with everything. She also gave me all the information I needed so I was always in touch with them.”

need to panic for anyone.

“Our start is not good. I would have felt better if we had won the derby. We didn’t and right now there is a negative feeling. But I assure you, it is not all that negative.

“It is up to us, players and staff, to sort it out on the pitch.”

Van Persie’s own future remains the subject of much speculation, with the Holland international reiterating that he is not looking too far ahead at present.

He added: “I am not going to make any statements about my future. Not now, not for a while.

“I’ve been at Arsenal eight years and that is quite extraordinary these days.

Which is why I treasure this.

What my future will bring, nobody knows.

“I can understand people are curious, but I am just dedicated to everything at Arsenal right now.”

Kompany focuses on title V

INCENT Kompany believes the emergence of Manchester City to challenge the established order in the Premier League can only be good for the game.

City are regarded as genuine title contenders this term

Redknapp still chasing Cahill

H

ARRY Redknapp has not ruled out making another attempt to bring Bolton defender Gary Cahill to Tottenham in January.

Spurs failed to secure the England stopper’s signature over the summer transfer

window, with Trotters boss Owen Coyle revealing the only bids they received for the 25-year-old fell well short of their valuation.

But Redknapp has not given up his pursuit of Cahill, who is out of contract at the Reebok Stadium at the end of the

•Gary Cahill

•Arsenal's Robin Van Persie (R) celebrates with team mates

season and could leave on a free transfer next summer.

He told the Sunday Mirror: “We were able to negotiate a deal with West Ham for (Scott) Parker, but we couldn’t get a deal done for Cahill.

“That’s not to say we won’t try again in January. If the chairman can reach an agreement with Bolton I’d love to bring him here.”

Another player to have been repeatedly linked with a move to White Hart Lane is former England captain David Beckham, who is out of contract with Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy in November.

The veteran midfielder recently revealed staying in California would be the better option for his family but he is yet to sign an extension in Los Angeles, with French giants Paris Saint German also thought to be chasing his signature.

Speculation suggests Beckham could return to the Premier League for a loan stint at Spurs during the MLS off-season, but Redknapp has reiterated there is no agreement in place.

He said: “I’m not aware of any agreement with David.

“I’ve always had the utmost admiration for him as a player and he’s a fantastic role model.

“I wouldn’t rule anything in or out. The biggest problem is accommodating him in the side because I have an abundance of riches in midfield.”

having finished third behind champions Manchester United and only below Chelsea in second on goal difference.

Roberto Mancini’s men also lifted the FA Cup last summer and have started the new campaign in fine form, to sit level on points with their fierce local rivals at the top of the table.

The vast sums invested in the club by owner Sheikh Mansour have caused consternation among supporters of many rival clubs, who feel City are attempting to buy their way to success.

But uncompromising defender Kompany is unconcerned by the sniping of their rivals, and feels the recent rise of City and the strides made by Tottenham makes the English top-flight a more entertaining competition.

Kompany said: “I think Tottenham and ourselves doing well in the past few years has been great. Had it just been the same four sides challenging each season, it would have damaged the game here.

“Now there are maybe six teams capable of winning the title and that can only be great

for English football.

“We finished equal-second last season so there is only one spot to go for this year - and that’s to win the title.

“It’s a big challenge - but why not? There is pressure and expectation on us but that’s what we want.

“I don’t see what we achieved last season as anything other than the beginning. The club has changed on and off the pitch since the new owners arrived.

“But our fans deserve success as much as other great clubs.

There should be no credit taken away from the players - it doesn’t matter what other people think about us.”

Rovers need results —Rao B LACKBURN boss Steve Kean and his players have been told results must improve after a meeting with club owners Venky’s in India.

Kean has come under increasing pressure from the Ewood Park supporters after a miserable start to the season which has seen them garner just four points from seven matches.

The Rovers squad flew out to India during the international break to play a friendly match against Pune, which had originally been scheduled for pre-season, with the club hierarchy taking the opportunity to speak with their staff.

Co-owner Venkatesh Rao revealed that the meeting had been ‘frank and straight’ and is confident it can prove to be a turning point in their season.

Rao said: “Believe me, it was frank and straight and we need results.

“Everyone is looking forward - from the players to the manager to the owners.

“I am positive. The luck didn’t go for us in the first two games and then we had a wonderful win (against Arsenal) before we were

sliding down.

“Now after this meeting and the team coming especially to India, they have had a refreshing time, and I think they will go with a positive note after this meeting.”

Rao also admitted that the club’s current position was difficult to take and has pledged that they will soon give the supporters something to smile about.

He added: “I would like to assure the fans we are very much concerned about the situation.

“It is really painful, I know that. It is painful for the owners with what is happening.

“I would like to be honest we will show some results and we will produce some results and make our fans happy.”

•Steve Kean

THE NATION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011

63

SPORT EXTRA AFTERMATH OF TWITTER OUTBURST

Kwara United place 14 players on transfer

Osaze in for Black Stars friendly • Tunde Sani named Chief Coach D W EST BROM striker Peter O s a z e Odemwingie returned to England Monday fresh from an angry Twitter exchange with Nigeria fans over their failure to

qualify for the African Nations Cup. The Baggies forward will be available to the club in January after Guinea’s late equaliser on Saturday ended Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for the finals.

WHEELCHAIR TENNIS CLINIC

53 physically challenged youths participate

O

VER 53 physically challenged youths in Kano State yesterday in Kano began a week-long wheel chair tennis clinic, aimed at rehabilitating the large army of physically challenged youths, who are on the streets begging for alms.

In an interview with NationSports yesterday, the National Tennis Coach of the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), Mr Frank Tarmena, who is in charge of training the youths, stated that with the kick off of the National Wheel Chair Tennis clinic, the youths will to a large extent be engaged in learning the basics of wheel chair tennis.

According to him, the training programme, which is supported

by Golden Penny Noodles is to among other things, impact the skills of handling rackets on the physically challenged youths, including how to lob, the back hand, the forehand, the spins and the smashes.

Besides, he disclosed that the trainees will be having fun, as they will be treated with Golden Penny noodles during break time, adding that they will also be supplied with exercise books to take home and revise what they have been taught during the training sessions.

He explained that the training programme will help in keeping the physically challenged youths off the streets, adding that at the end of the day, the state Government will benefit tremendously from the project, as they will have a large number of them physically engaged in wheel chair tennis.

Among the benefits, he said will include playing wheel chair tennis as both a career and a profession, which he explained will not only improve the quality of their lives but also that of their immediate family members.

“I have noticed a lot of enthusiasm from the players, they are willing to learn, so when you have such large number of players that are willing to learn to become professionals in that field, you will know that potential talents abound. In any sports, first and foremost, the interest must be there because if there is no interest talent does not just come.”

At the close of the day, he appealed to the State Government to support Wheel Chair Tennis, so as to encourage the physically challenged in the state and the country to embrace the sport.

Commenting on the commencement of the training clinic, the Kano State Secretary, Tennis Association, Dr Abdul Mohammed commended the efforts of Golden Penny noodles for supporting the programme,

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano which he said will keep them away from engaging in criminal activities.

But Odemwingie was locked in an angry online exchange with fans and reporters as he returned to England for today’s rearranged friendly against Ghana at Watford.

The 30-year-old was booed from the field by Nigeria fans when he was substituted on Saturday and was then embroiled in a bizarre post-match disagreement with journalists.

He was forced to use his Twitter account to deny blaming the prediction of a Christian minister for Nigeria’s failure to qualify.

• Osaze

ETERMINED to revitalise Kwara United FC of Ilorin, the management of the Kwara darling team has elevated Coach Tunde Sani to the position of Chief Coach even as 14 players have also been placed on transfer.

The management, under the headship of Toyin Olokoba, said that Coach Tunde Sani will take charge of the technical crew in the next league season.

The Afonja Warriors are currently 10th on the League table with 49 points from 35 matches.

The clubs’ Media Officer, Olayioye Ajide, informed NationSport that the decision

was hinged on the determination of the management to reposition and overhaul the team.

“Having examined the team’s performance this season, the management deemed if necessary to overhaul the team ahead of next season and has placed 14 players on the transfer market.

The list of the players includes Orire Luqman, Ijaiya Luqman, Nojeem Raji, Anifowose Ganiyu, Kuso Mohammed, Abaluwa Anthony and Jimoh Sheu.

Others are Ahmed Mohammed, Moses Oyedepo, Abdulakeem Olayinka, Babatunde Afolabi, Monday Samuel, Benjamin Nworgu and Blessing Okardi.

www.thenationonlineng.net

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

TOMORROW IN THE NATION

VOL. 7

NO.1,910

‘In 2011, there should be no fuel price increase until two things are done - until we are self-sufficient in petroleum refining and until we have 24-hour electric power silencing Nigerian generators’

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

J

UST a little more than five years ago, the British All-Party Parliamentary Group, issued a report on the Nigerian oil industry that exposed the essential falsity of the claim by a long line of Nigerian rulers from 1985 to the present that the government has been paying out colossal sums of money to shield Nigerians from having to pay the real cost of their prodigal consumption of petroleum products.

Quoting documents supplied by Shell, the British All-Party Parliamentary Group stated in a report prepared for the Blair Commission (Guardian, January 23, 2006) put the “technical costs” of extracting a barrel of crude at $ 4.00, and the “industry margin” at $1.87. The balance, the report said, went to the government in equity and taxes.

This meant, the report added, that if crude sold for $30 a barrel, the government was taking $24:13, or 80 percent of the total cost.

At the $50 dollar per barrel that ruled the market at the time of the report, the government was hiving off $44.13, or 88 percent, of the total.

With crude selling at an average of $120 per barrel for the better part of two years until the price fell by roughly one-third, the government had literally been gorging itself on cascading oil revenues. Even when the cost of refining and distribution is factored into the equation, oil revenues accruing to the government could be reckoned only in stratospheric figures. And the more the government earned, the more it sought to appropriate.

Employing typical British understatement, the report said that some N625 billion was lost every year through “organised pilfering” from the sprawling pipeline network and from bunkering on the high seas. The team said it gathered that “senior military and political personnel” were involved in the theft, as well as their collaborators in neighbouring states. It said it learned that “no serious attempt” was made to prevent stolen oil from being transferred from land to sea and traded in international waters.

It was “impossible,” the report said, “to be certain how much the government actually receives and where the money is spent.” It should have added that it is also almost impossible to be certain how much oil is actually lifted or sold.

Yet, another round of “subsidy” removal or reduction was to have been instituted in June 2008. But President Musa Yar’Adua had “graciously consented” to hold off the measure, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Odein Ajumogobia, assured his anxious compatriots.

After decades of denial and obfuscation, the Federal Government in a statement finally confirmed the damning report of the

OLATUNJI DARE

AT HOME ABROAD olatunji.dare@thenationonlineng.net

Again the phantom ‘subsidy’

‘

In more than two years in the saddle, he cannot point to a single thing he has done to improve the living conditions of the average Nigerian. If he cannot lighten their yoke, he must not increase it. After all, we have his assurance that he is no pharaoh •Dr. Jonathan

British All Party Parliamentary Group. The statement painted a picture of racketeering, incompetence, inefficiency and sabotage almost beyond belief. It spoke of refined petroleum products being shipped from local refineries, emptied into other tankers at sea and then returned to shore as imported stuff qualifying for hefty subsidies Yet, the Federal Government would claim the following year that, in the face of the global economic recession, it could no longer afford to underwrite the subsidies to the tune of N640 billion a year. Was it pure coincidence that the alleged subsidy was justN15 billion higher than the amount lost to the Nigerian oil industry through fraud every year, according to the British All-Party Parliamentary Group?

Once again, as happens whenever the government is experiencing balance-of-payments difficulties, the first expedient it can conjure up is abrogating or reducing an al-

RIPPLES NIGERIA’S 3,000 MEGAWATTS TARGET SHAMEFUL–Mark

...and LAUGHABLE , too!

‘

leged subsidy on petroleum products.

Now, as before, the existence of a ‘subsidy’ is merely asserted, never demonstrated.

They had begun the campaign to end the alleged subsidy in 1985 by warning that a situation in which a gallon of petrol cost far less than a bottle of soda was pernicious and unsustainable. But so did the cost of a daily newspaper at that time as well as a medium-size loaf of bread, to continue the false comparison.

When this line did not work, they came up with the argument that if they sold the products in Europe or the United States, they stood to get higher prices than they were getting in Nigeria. The difference, they said, was a ‘subsidy’ that had to be eliminated if the oil industry was to be saved from imminent collapse.

Opponents countered that the difference being claimed as a ‘subsidy’ was really an opportunity cost, and that a subsidy would

HARDBALL FTER about four months of appearing to do nothing on the matter, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions (EFCC) has finally roused itself to call a few former governors to question on their financial dealings in office, with a promise to extend the same favour to many others sooner or later. The news of the arrest of former governors Aliyu Akwei Doma (Nasarawa), Gbenga Daniel (Ogun) and Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo) by the anti-graft agency last week made headlines in virtually all newspapers, but it was strangely not celebrated with the usual gloat Nigeria’s boisterous media were accustomed to. Could it be because they were sceptical what the final intention of the EFCC was on the matter, especially in view of the long delay in hauling the exgovernors before the law? Or was it due to the fact that previous arrests and trials always petered out into either a stalemate or juridical comedy?

It is of course pointless to exult over anyone’s misfortune; and perhaps newspapers are beginning to wake up to

A

EFCC and exgovernors the need for detachment when they report news, no matter how tragic or stirring the reports are. The former governors themselves have protested their innocence.

In particular, Daniel has attributed his problem with the EFCC to politics, ostensibly Ogun politics, and promised that he would be vindicated. A statement by his media aide claimed that the EFCC invitation was prompted by politically motivated avalanche of petitions against him. When it was speculated yesterday that two of his fierce opponents— Messrs Tunji Egbetokun, former Speaker of the Ogun House of Assembly, and Tunde Oladunjoye, a former local government chairman — would serve as prosecution witnesses, Daniel would probably feel justified to fear the intrusion of politics into the case against him.

TONY MARINHO

be operative only when a product sells for less than its cost.

How much did it really cost to produce to gallon of petrol and deliver it at the pump, then?

The unspoken answer of the authorities was that the question was irrelevant, because even if crude oil was delivered to the refinery free, the retail price of petrol would still fall far below the production cost. The situation was that dire. Nor was the question any longer merely a eliminating a subsidy on petroleum products; it was now a matter of subjecting them to “correct pricing.”

Higher prices, they said against all human experience, would curb adulteration and hence end the explosions that resulted from using such doctored products in kerosene lamps and stoves and the horrific, oftentimes fatal, injuries they inflicted. It would also serve they said, as a disincentive to cross-border smuggling into neighbouring states where they were sold at much higher prices for windfall profits.

The smuggling was real, to be sure. But as the Yar’Adua Administration, in which Dr Goodluck Jonathan was vice president, was moved to admit, it was an inside job, carried out by persons within the system, who were in turn protected by the system.

That explains why no big-time smuggler has ever been caught or prosecuted.

There is no longer any question, then, that what successive governments since 1985 have claimed to be subsidising is not consumption of petroleum products but racketeering, fraud, sabotage, inefficiency and incompetence on a scale beyond belief. The entire industry is as transparent as a black hole President Jonathan surely cannot claim innocence of this sordid history.

In more than two years in the saddle, he cannot point to a single thing he has done to improve the living conditions of the average Nigerian. If he cannot lighten their yoke, he must not increase it. After all, we have his assurance that he is no pharaoh.

And since he is not a general of the army, he must know that he cannot summon brute force to contain the explosion of rage that is sure to follow implementation of a plan that long-suffering Nigerians will be fully justified to regard as a wanton provocation.

Instead of threatening to end a phantom subsidy that has been growing bigger the more they cut it – they say it now stands at more than one trillion Naira a year — Dr Jonathan should move swiftly against the men and women behind this monumental racket and make them pay reparations, with compound interest.

•For comments, send SMS to 08057634061

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above But what neither he nor his media aides mentioned was who the arrowhead of that political motive was. Could they by any chance be referring to the lawgiver in Abeokuta, the unstoppable, unflappable and unappeasable behemoth who promised in the heat of electioneering early in the year that Daniel would pay for his insolence? If the reported intention of the EFCC to try the detained former governors in their states is factored in to the mix, it is unlikely Daniel would not cavil at the triumphalism of his chief political enemy. Of all the governors to be prosecuted by the EFCC, even if it is a tokenistic libation to the rule of law, Daniel would feel the most uneasy on account of the enemies that surround him.

Hardball will make no pronouncement on the case or on whether Daniel is getting his comeuppance. However, it was inevitable that since he fell out with the big guns in the state, and repeatedly balked at reconciliation, he was fated to lose every time he encountered them in battle.

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