September 08, 2015

Newspaper of the Year

No pay cut for Oyo workers

Buhari set to name ministers NEWS

Page 6

NEWS

Page 7

•‘I’ve declared my assets four times’

•Party disowns labour’s claim

•Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

VOL. 10, NO. 3331 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

•www.thenationonlineng.net

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

N150.00

•INSIDE: THE POWER TROUBLE P3 SEVEN PAGES OF E-BUSINESS BEGIN ON P13

Adeduntan is FirstBank CEO-designate

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NEW helmsman is set to take over at First Bank.

Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the Executive Director/ Chief Financial Officer, is Managing Director-designate. He is to succed Mr. Bisi Onasanya, who has given a notice of retirement as

By Collins Nweze, Finance Correspondent

Group Managing Director/ CEO. FBN Holdings, the bank’s parent company, also yesterday, announced Gbenga Shobo, the Executive Director, Lagos & West, as Deputy Managing Director-designate. The

appointments, which have been ratified by the Board of Directors, subject to regulatory approvals, take effect on January 1, next year.

Adeduntan, has expertise in Treasury & Financial Management, Risk Management, Accounting, Corporate GoverContinued on page 6

•Adeduntan

•Shobo

•Awosika

•Eke

21 ex-governors, ministers to lose passports by force 42 ex-ministers, ex-lawmakers hold on to official travel documents

Merkel pleads for migrants

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ERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said that all EU countries should help to accommodate the human tide of Arabs, Asians and Africans seeking refuge from war and poverty.

French President Francois Hollande announced...

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

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HE Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) yesterday asked 21 former governors, 42 ex-ministers, and more than 260 former members of the House of Representatives to return their diplomatic and official passports.

The NIS said it might be forced to impound the diplomatic and official passports of past public officers defying the directive.

The Comptroller-General of Immigration Service, Mr. M. K. Ibeshi, gave the directive in a statement he personally signed.

It was gathered that the Federal Government was worried that some former ministers, who have cases to answer, had been junketing abroad with diplomatic immunity.

Although the statement was silent on the actual number of those affected, it was learnt that the list includes 21 former governors, 21 ex-deputy governors, 42 ex-ministers, 233 former members of the House of Representatives, 76 senators and more than 774 former local government chairmen, among others.

The statement reads: “Further to the directive on the withdrawal of diplomatic and official passports held by unauthorised persons, the Nigeria Immigration Service hereby directs all affected persons to comply forthwith. These persons include, among others, former: (i) State Governors( ii) Senators( iii) Members of House of Representatives (iv) Members of State Houses of Assemblies; (v) WILL THE Ministers CHIBOK (vi) Commissioners, GIRLS EVER RETURN? Continued on page 6

?

Foreign Page 62

Nigeria plans to beat Niger

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ITH one point in the bag for Nigeria in the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualification match against Tanzania, all eyes will shift to the game the Super Eagles will be playing against Niger at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium...

Sport Page 24

•THE F ACE OF A KIDN AP SUSPECT FA KIDNAP SUSPECT:: Eno with the children... yesterday.

PHOTO: PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU

Baby’s cry exposes suspected kidnappers

By Precious Igbonwelundu

B

UT for the ceaseless crying of a four-month-old baby yesterday, three children may have ended up in a kidnappers’ den.

The cry of the baby, carried by Eno, the suspected kidnapper, who was accompanied by a teenager, inside an Iddo, Lagos-bound Bus

‘

That woman is not my mother...My daddy’s name is Effiong. He is at Air Force Base

’

Rapid Transport (BRT) vehicle, attracted other passengers.

With the woman and the teenager, a girl, were two other chil-

dren—Happiness Effiong (four) and her sister, Patience (two). They claimed that all three were Eno’s children.

Worried by the baby’s cry, other women inside the bus asked Eno to breastfeed her.

But she refused. She was also unable to pet the baby to stop crying.

Continued on page 6

Nigerian jailed for life in UK

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HE sensational life of a Nigerian criminal has collapsed at the gates of a British prison.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday said a fugitive, Abdul Adewale KekereEkun, who was arrested...

News Page 5

•DICKSON, SYLVA, PAULKER, OTHERS BATTLE FOR BAYELSA GOVERNOR’S SEAT P58

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

2

NEWS

What is the

•Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola flanked by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi (right) and Osun State House of Assembly Speaker Najeem Salam, when the frontline monarch paid a condolence visit to the governor on the demise of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, at Government House, Osogbo...yesterday.

Despite the fact that a whopping $20 million has been sunk into the power sector in the past 16 years, electricity supplies reamin epileptic as many businesses and homes rely on self-help.

In fact, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry says only small-scale industrial concerns have 40 per cent dependent on public supply from the National Grid. The multi-nationals depend 100 per cent on private power generation. But, a Senate committee will today launch a probe into the problems even as the National Electricity Regulatory (NERC) has raised a 14member task force to shore up supply, write ONYEDI OJIABOR and JOHN OFIKHENUA.

S •From left: Director-General, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhil; Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Oguntimehin Olukayode; Chairman, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMGMAN) and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) SKG Pharma Limited, Mr Okey Akpa and President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Mr. Olumide Akintayo at the Nigeria Pharma Manufacturer Expo in Ikeja, Lagos…yesterday PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS

•From left: Managing Director, Maxxconnection Ltd, Owolabi Mustapha; Public Health Partner official, Dr. Ubiame Omas; Head, Brand Management, Keystone Bank, Bola Osotule and Eye foundation official, Dr. Paul, at a free health and eye screening organised

by Keystone Bank and coordinated by Maxxconnection Ltd for inter-state drivers, at the Ojota Motor Park in Lagos...yesterday.

•From left: Project Coordinator, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientist of Nigeria, Godwin Ihimekpan; Senior Technical Advisor, Institutional Capacity & Knowledge Exchange Center for Leadership and Management, Eliana Monteforte; National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientist of Nigeria, Toyosi Raheem and Business Manager, e- Learning Programme, Jack Lampang, at a business planning for health programme in Abuja.

PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN.

ENATORS will today begin investigation into alleged unwholesome practices in the power sector.

A statement by the Clerk of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Power, Cletus A. Ojabo, said that the power sector probe will be in form of investigative hearing and interactive session.

Ojabo said that the investigation will centre on funds appropriated for the power sector since 1999 and the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

The statement was, however, silent on those that have been invited to appear before the probe panel.

It is expected that all those who played key roles in the power sector since 1999, including ministers and heads of government departments and parastatals, will appear before the panel.

Senate President Bukola Saraki inaugurated the ad-hoc committee to conduct a comprehensive probe of allegations of questionable practices in the power sector.

The committee, headed by Senator Abubakar Kyari (Borno North), is to examine the entire power value chain, including generation, transmission and distribution with a view to identifying the sector’s problems in the sector are.

At the committee’s inauguration three weeks ago, Saraki noted that the task before the panel is huge, as he frowned at the irregular supply of electricity, despite the huge investments in the sector.

Kyari, in his remarks, detailed the nature of the investigation his committee is saddled with.

He said: “A close look at the entire power value chain (generation, transmission and distribution) calls for review of our policies in order to obtain optimum performances across the board.

“The abysmal performance of the generation segment is no longer news in view of the current deteriorating power supply which hovers around 4,600 megawatt (MW) for a population of over 170 million people, despite the huge resources committed into the sector.

“This compared with our contemporaries it is highly regrettable. No wonder so many companies have relocated from the shores of this nation, due to increasing cost of production.

“The issue of turnaround maintenance and gas pipeline

•The power station at Kainji Dam

National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) •Alaoji Generation Company (Abia State) •Benin Generation Company, Ihovbor, (Edo State) •Egbema Generation Company (Imo State) •Gbarain Generation Company (Bayelsa State) •Calabar Generation Company (Cross River) •Geregu Generation Company (Kogi State) •Omotosho Generation Company (Ondo State) •Ogorode Generation Company, Sapele, (Delta State), •Omoku Generation Company (Rivers State) •Olorunsogo Generation Company (Ogun State).

•They have a combined installed generation capacity of 5,453 megawatts (Mw) but currently injecting less than 2,000Mw into the National Grid. vandalism,just to mention a few, are some of the teething problems bedeviling the sector.

“We must address it now in order to stem this destructive tide. The committee will beam its searchlight in this direction to put things in proper perspectives.”

Kyari added: “Having realised that the transmission segment is the major linkage between the generation and distribution fronts, increasing our capacity in this direction is also very necessary, since power produced must be utilised immediately.

“Deteriorating infrastructures in this segment must be addressed forthwith. The Committee attaches great importance to this and would work assiduously in ensuring that all these leakages or slippages in this area are brought to the front burner and dealt with.

“It is in line with this objective that the committee would be seeking explanations from the management of

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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NEWS

trouble with the power sector?

•The Olorunsogo NIPP

PHCN successor companies NNPC JV Independent Power Some of the Electricity Distribution Companies DISCOS •Okpai Power Plant (AGIP) Projects (IPP) Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kano, Port •Omoku (Rivers) operational Harcourt, Yola and Kaduna •Mabon (Gombe) •Afam VI Power Plant Some of the Electricity Generation Companies (GENCOS) •Wempco (Ogun) (Shell) operational •Afam Power Plc •AES (Lagos) •Agura Power Plant •Egbin Power Plc •Trans Amadi (Rivers) Hydro Power Stations (Chevron) in the pipeline •Kainji Hydro Electric Plc •Notore (Rivers) under construction •Qua Iboe Power Plant •Sapele Power Plc •Ibom Power (Akwa Ibom) •Mambilla Hydro (Taraba) (ExxonMobil) ongoing •Shiroro Hydro Electric Plc •Geometric (Abia) •Zungeru Hydro (Niger) •Ughelli Power Plc •Gurara Hydro (Adamawa) •Geregu Phase I •Olorunsogo Phase I, THE COMMITTEE’S TERMS OF REFERENCE Transmission Company of Nigeria • Examine the entire power value chain (generation, transmission & distribution) (TCN) on the terms of their manage- •Abysmal performance of generation segment •Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) ment contract with the Federal Gov•Gas pipeline vandalism •Deteriorating infrastructure ernment as it relates to assets inherited, funds injected into the Com- •Explanations of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) pany so far and the achievement re•Pre-privatisation states of power plants. corded.”

On distribution, Kyari noted that • Sucessor companies’ investments so far (including metering) the committee is desirous of ascertaining the level of funds commit- •Motive behind request for bailout/loan by successor companies. ted into it before privatisation since the segment is currently solely private sector driven.

He said: “It calls for vigilance as successor companies are expected to bring in investments to improve the quality of services in terms with the agreement.

“Signals emanating from their activities show that excessive profiteering has been the major de-

terminant of their decisions.

“It is on record that some of the distribution companies rejected power load allocations to reduce cost.

“Their metering system calls for fundamental review, since the emphasis has been on estimated billings and imposition of fixed charges for services not rendered.

“There have been a lot of unwhole-

some practices by some of these companies and the committee has to get down to the root of these problems especially where provisions have been made in the past through appropriation, prior to privatisation and funds were not properly utilised.

“We must find out what has brought us to this sorry state. The

National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) was designed to fast-track the improvement of electricity supply nationwide, hence it was involved in project implementation across the gamut of the power chain.

“However, some of the power plants built have not been able to contribute meaningfully to the

power generation through the National Grid.

“The resources committed to these projects are enormous and the committee, in keeping with its mandate, will be seeking for answers in order to chart the way forward.

“The Federal Ministry of Power, its departments and agencies and other key players within the power sector will be appearing before the committee to provide needed information in order to achieve our laudable objectives”.

He added: “The second arm of the committee’s mandate is in respect of the unbundling of the power sector, which was midwife by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

“The committee will be seeking inputs from the establishment on the process of privatisation as it relates to funds committed to the privatisation process, funds generated, the settlement of laid-off employees of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and successful bidders (companies) financial profile.

“Of importance is the need to verify why these companies are already asking for bail out/loan facilities from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

Kyari however noted that “this committee is not out to witchhunt any person or organisation. We are on a fact-finding mission and would pursue our mandate objectively”.

NERC raises task force for attainment of 5,000MW

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ETERMINED to raise power generation to 5,000megawatts for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) by the end of the month, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday inaugurated a 14-man task force.

It is part of plans to end the year with the attainment of the 6,000 megawatts mark.

A peak capacity generation of 4,800 megawatts was achieved few weeks ago on account of stringent regulatory measures applied by the NERC with the cooperation of operators in the power sector.

It was also the operators’ response to the Federal Government renewed commitment to improve power supply.

NERC Chairman Sam Amadi constituted the 14-man industry-wide taskforce with the terms of reference to ensure recovery of

stranded 1,800 megawatts within the network; articulate measures for effective delivery of the stranded power to consumers; and initiate actions to continuously ramp-up generation.

Challenging the commission’s employees on the 6000 megawatts target, Dr. Amadi said: “We are witnessing increase of gas supply to power plants. This has resulted in the historic 4,800mw generation a few weeks ago. From the report of the System Operator, it is clear that we could have reached 5,000mw if we did not have load rejection by distribution companies and some frequency control issues as gas supply improved.”

He said that the present administration has “ensured discipline and zero tolerance for corruption has created a political environment that is aligned to NERC’s transparent, accountable and effective regulatory approach.”

The NERC chief noted further: “But, the

success we have recorded is still precarious and fragile. We have genuine fear that unless we continuously monitor the network and focus on proactively solving small problems.”

He listed such problems as as load rejection by electricity distribution companies with attendant shrinkage in gas supply that could damage the long-term prospect of capacity growth in the market.

Reminding the workers on the task ahead, Amadi said the commission has solved the commercial reason for load rejection by abolishing the imbalance trading in electricity and has subsequently remove the disincentive for rejection of power.

“Therefore, we need to deal with the technical reasons which include poor network management by the electricity distribution companies and poor frequency control by the generation companies and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).”

He told the employees that the challenges ahead of them will entail increased enforcement activities as well as ensure the implementation of regulatory regimes that incentivised sustainable investment and efficient management of the network.

He said: “In order to ensure that we are able to effectively deliver 5,000mw daily by the end of the month and 6000mw by the end of the year, I constitute a task force that will remove any obstacle to achieving the mandate.”

The task force is headed by the NERC Commissioner in charge of Engineering Standards and Safety, Dr. Abba Ibrahim, with representation from National Control Centre/ System Operator; Transmission System Provider; Market Operator; National Integrated Power Project; a representative each of distribution and generation companies.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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NEWS Peterside calls for enduring policies on education

Lagos APC to Tinubu’s critics: stop attacking our National Leader

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HE governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has called for robust policies on education as a way of giving learning access to everybody, irrespective of gender or social status.

Peterside, who said this in his message to mark the International Literacy Day, also described education as the ultimate liberation experience for anybody. He, therefore, called on governments and policy makers to make education available and compulsory to citizens as this would make management of people and running of government a lot easier.

“I need not over-emphasise the fact that education is everything to any serious nation or people. Regrettably, part of our problems today as a nation comes mainly from many years of neglect and indifference to issues of education by society and even those who should know.

“Let me also state here that education is a leveller. I agree completely with Nelson Mandela, the great African statesman who once said that it is only through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor. I also agree with the anti-apartheid icon that education is the great engine of personal development.

T •Peterside

This is an incontrovertible fact.

“Today, successes by frontline countries in research and development, political stability, scientific breakthroughs, technology, economic growth, and improved standard of living, among other indices, are built on education and literacy, not on natural resource.

“Therefore we must wake up to the realities of the modern times. For us to make progress, we need to evaluate our journey so far. Our schools and training centres must be running and there must be incentives for education so that we can all return to that worthy path.

“As we mark the International Literacy Day, it is, therefore, important for us to reflect and to work collectively towards reclaiming our lost glory in the education sector. We must also ensure that our centres of learning become conducive for teachers and pupils. I am confident that the new government at the centre has the will and vision to drive the process and turn around the many challenges facing education across the country.”

HE Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged fifth columnists to stop attacking the ruling party’s National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The party described as reckless the back page article of The SUN of September 2, in which the author, Dele Akin Rahman, made some scathing remarks about Tinibu.

In a statement by its Lagos spokesman, Joe Igbokwe, the APC described as illogical that a leader, who backed Buhari to get the presidential ticket and weathered the nationwide campaign that ended the 16-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), could now turn to bring down the structure he played a pivotal role to build.

The party accused the author of not only doing a hatchet man’s job, but doing the bidding of his paymasters who never envisaged that the APC could end the rudderless administration of the PDP. The statement reads: “Lagos

•Party describes attack on ex-governor as reckless APC condemns in strongest terms this calculated attempt to bring Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu down to their miserable level and to judge the consummate leader of men by their horrible and dubious standards.

“Before the 2015 Presidential elections our well-respected National leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed and President Buhari were subjected to vicious attacks and debilitating assaults just to bring them down but they failed woefully. President Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu ran away with a resounding and unprecedented victory on March 28, 2015.”

According to Igbokwe, the author and his paymasters have been angry, frustrated, confused, humiliated, humbled, afraid and disgraced at the loss of the last general election to the APC. He said: “Politically, they have been decimated and relegated to the background,

economically their business of stealing government money in billions has been checkmated and blocked and socially they have been ostracised and rejected by Nigerians.

“These fraudsters and morally bankrupt nonentities know that it is impossible for them to get to Asiwaju BAT’s intimidating, illustrious and glorious personality, so they resort to blackmail and character assassination to bring the sage, the colossus and the leader of men to the miserable level.

“Having failed to stop the Buhari-Tinubu tag that rescued Nigeria from the forces of decay, corruption, and rot, having failed to distract and derail the recovery of Nigeria from the forces of decay, the desperadoes are now trying a sly tactics of instigating Buhari to go after Tinubu for the crimes of wrecking and looting Nigeria blind for 16years when Tinubu’s only feel of power was 8 glorious years he

•Vice President Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo greeting the Chairman, Civil Service Commission Deaconess Joan Ayo at the official launch of Capacity Builing Programmes for Public Servants at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa in Abuja...yesterday.

With them are Head of Civil Service of the Federation Danladi Kifasi (second left) and Secretary to the Federal Government David Lawal.

Transfer of voters in Kogi, Bayelsa ends Oct 6, 20 From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

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HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given hope to eligible voters who have relocated to participate in the Bayelsa and Kogi governorship elec-

tions.

INEC directed that all transfers of voters should be concluded 45 days ahead of the governorship elections scheduled for Saturday, November 21 and Saturday, December 5, 2015 in both states.

Anyone who relocated to another place outside the (polling) unit in which he/she registered cannot vote in his/her new location unless he/she transfers his/her registration.

The person who intends to transfer his/her registration should write an application to INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kogi or Bayelsa through the Electoral Officer (E.O.) of the Local Government Area where he/she is currently resides.

Such an application should contain the address of the applicant (as this will assist in allocating the Polling Unit (PU) nearest to him/her) and the applicant should attach a photocopy of his/ her Permanent Voter Card (PVC) to the application.

According to INEC in-House daily bulletin, the transfer of voters in Kogi would end on October 6, 2015 while that of Bayelsa would end on October 20, 2015.

The Commission said the 45 days deadline was to enable it effect the integration of the transferred names into the Register of Voters which is to be certified and published not later than 30 days to each of the two elections.

Police to reactivate intelligence unit

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HE Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone Two, Bala Hassan, has said the police will revive the intelligence unit.

He spoke yesterday while assuming duties at the headquarters in Lagos.

Hassan, who was received

by Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni, his Ogun State counterpart, Abdulmajid Ali, as well as other commissioners and senior officers in the zone, said the bureau would help in keeping criminal elements off the zone.

He noted that aside the continuous collaboration with other security agencies, the police will ensure it generates all necessary intelligence to intercept people with ques-

Precious Igbonwelundu

tionable characters before they enter the zone.

He said: “We are still partnering with other security services. We know that we cannot do it alone. We will partner with the Nigerian Army and the DSS. I will also visit the other military commands, the Nigerian Customs Service and Nigerian Immigration Service.

“So that when we put our heads together, we will be able to make headway. As for allowing people of questionable characters to invade Lagos, we have the Zonal Intelligence Bureau. These units are replicated in the states as the State Intelligence Bureau.”

ruled Lagos.

“It is obvious that these dying forces of evil are on a futile effort to parry their 16years of wreckage and who else to bear the brunt but a Tinubu who has come to personify a living nightmare to the dying PDP. “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains a well-respected political figure in Nigeria, Africa and the world today and anybody who thinks in his wildest imagination that a strong and powerful image built for nearly 50 years can be destroyed by the antics of a foolish constituency and men without honour must be jokers.

“Every leader writes his own history through his own deeds and choices. Asiwaju Tinubu has become a working history in Nigeria by his actions and deeds for nearly 50 years and no power in the tongue of any man can vitiate this even in this age or the age to come.”

PHOTO: AKIN OLADOKUN

Nigeria’s quest for FDIs must allign with reality, says UNCTAD chief

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HIEF of Trade and Poverty Branch of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Dr. Patrick Osakwe has said the country’s search for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) must allign with its political realities.

He spoke in an interview with The Nation on the sideline of the 24th Annual Meetings of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) Board of Governors, which ended in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the weekend.

He said despite the craving for FDIs, this must be done to determine the investment that would be good for the economy considering the nation’s political reality.

The UNCTAD official decried the idea of giving concessions to FDIs that were not vital to a nation’s economic growth plan.

His words: “Every country needs to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). FDI is good. But it is important for each country to know the kind of FDI it wants to promote.

Most African country promote

From Bola Olajuwon, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

FDI without trying to do research to determine what specific aspect of FDI will be the best for their economies. It is not every FDI that comes into a country that is good for an economy.

“You have to do enough research to determine what kind of FDI that will be appropriate for your economy giving the structure you have in place and political reality. This is important because it will enable you to know the kind of leverage you have when you are negotiating with foreign investors.

“Now, if an investor wants to invest in a sector that is so vital to the economy, those are the kind of investors you want to give concessions to because they have those things you don’t have. But if an investor is trying to come into a sector that is not critical in terms of achieving your development objective, those kinds of investors are not the ones you have

to give incentives.

“They should come if they want to and provided they follow the right rules or set of rules the country has put in place.”

Osakwe said what he had found in most developing countries was that they failed to do their homework in identifying the kind of FDI they need to grow their economies.

“One thing we don’t know is that trade has the potential to enable a country lift people out of poverty. But to realise this potential, you need to put in place the right policies and develop the productive capacities to take advantage of opportunities in the trading system.

“Unfortunately for most developing countries, especially the poorer ones, it is either they don’t have the right policies in place or they have not made an effort to transform the structures of their economies to be able to take advantage of opportunities in the trade system,” he said.

The UNCTAD official, who stressed the need for diversi-

fication, noted that “Nigeria is too dependent on oil.”.

“There has to be a way of diversifying the economy from the oil sector. The good news is that the Federal Government is beginning to pay a lot of attention to this issue of diversification. My hope is that in the next few years, we will start seeing some of the results,” he added.

To maximise Nigeria’s gains in international trade, he called for structural transformation.

UNCTAD’s Chief of Trade and Poverty Branch said: “When Nigeria is thinking of FDI, it should be thinking of what type of FDI that will allow it to transform the economy structurally. We need to ask ourselves that: the investors that are coming, are they going to transform our economy structurally?

“If he is coming with the kind of investment that won’t have significant impacts in terms of structural transformation, those kinds of investments are not the ones you want to give priority. My position is that countries have to do their homework. “

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

5

NEWS SERAP seeks World Bank’s probe

Nigerian jailed for life in UK for murder T HE seeming incredible life of a Nigerian criminal has collapsed at the gate of a British prison.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) yesterday said a Nigerian fugitive, Abdul Adewale Kekere-Ekun, who was arrested on February 12 for identity theft-related offences, would spend the rest of his crimnal life in prison.

Kekere-Ekun was jailed for the murder of 18-year-old Marcus Hall in 2001, following a brawl outside Luton’s Atmosphere Nightclub, where the popular music group, So Solid Crew, had performed.

The conviction was the aftermath of the extradition of Kekere-Ekun to the United Kindom by the EFCC, based on a notice signed by the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke(SAN).

A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said seven of the gang members were convicted in 2002 and 2003.

The statement said: “Though 39-year-old KekereEkun, who goes by several aliases, like Adebayo Dalvin and James Ekun, Adeba Yo

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

Kekere-Ekun, Adeba Yo Muta Lito Kekere-Ekun, James Dalvin, James Adebayo, had initially pleaded guilty to the murder charge before the Luton Crown Court, he fled to Nigeria.

“He, was, however, arrested in Nigeria in February by EFCC. During investigation, it was revealed that KekereEkun, who was arrested for fraud, was on the wanted list of the United Kingdom Police. ”Consequently, an extradition notice signed by the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, was served on him by the EFCC. ”He was finally extradited back to the United Kingdom, where he reportedly admitted to the killing.

“Before his conviction on Monday, seven of the gang members had been convicted in 2002 and 2003 for their part in Hall’s murder, but two convictions were later quashed.”

The EFCC gave the details of how the convict was identified by the Bedfordshire Police.

The statement added: “Revealing how he had been

T

‘

My son’s death still hurts as if it had happened yesterday and I will never get over it. You did not just ruin one life, you left a ‘ripple effect’ which has impacted on everyone involved in my son, Marcus’ life

•Kekere-Ekun

traced, the Bedfordshire Police said he was identified in CCTV footage of the attack, where he was wearing a distinctive checked coat. ”Upon discovery of a flyer for the shop found by the Bedfordshire Police during a

raid on his home, detectives went to a designer clothes store in London, where it was discovered that the jacket was one of only nine sold in the United Kingdom and the convict was listed as one of the buyers.

“After the sentencing, Mr. Hall’s mother, Icelyn Wilson,

’

in a statement issued through the Bedfordshire Police, was quoted to have said : ‘‘My son’s death still hurts as if it had happened yesterday and I will never get over it. ‘‘You did not just ruin one life, you left a ‘ripple effect’ which has impacted on everyone involved in my son, Marcus’ life.”

Why civil service is declining, by Buhari

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RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Monday gave reasons why the Nigeria’s civil service had been declining over the years.

He blamed it on the inability to clearly articulate a vision and inability of the service to develop the required capacity to implement various components of the vision.

Buhari spoke at the launching of the Capacity Building Programmes for Public Servants, Structured Mandatory Assessment-based Training Programme (SMAT-P) and Leadership Enhancement And Development Programme (LEAD-P) at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said: “Many who mourn the decline of the civil service today from its days as ‘primus inter pares’ in the Commonwealth to one which has

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From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

earned a reputation for inefficiency, low productivity, corruption and insensitivity to the needs of the public fall into the error of thinking that the problem is a poverty of ideas and capacity on the part of the civil service; whereas, it is the inability to clearly articulate a vision, ensure that the service develops the required capacity to articulate and implement the various components of the vision.

“Here, we’re launching capacity building initiatives designed to strengthen the leadership at all levels in the service and build a new performance management system.

But the fundamental questions are: what is the ethos, the ethical and ideological world view that the service is to deliver? To what purpose do we

deploy leadership skills and for what ends? How can we measure performance when the objective itself is unclear?

“Without clear answers to these questions, the service will grope in the dark and take the government and people along with it on a blindleading-the-blind voyage. So, what sort of country do we envision?

“We want to build a nation with the citizen as its reason for being and thus its sole focus and responsibility. The citizen regardless of station in life must be respected by the governing authorities and treated with dignity. Flowing from these is the imperative that our society must be governed by the rule of law administered by a trustworthy, fearless, impartial and efficient judiciary”. He added Stressing that the nation

was standing on the threshold of a great future, Buhari woh was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo noted that the federal civil servants were the foot soldiers in Nigeria’s march to a great destiny.

He was optimistic that the federal civil service would not fail Nigerians.

The President, however warned that like an army, the service, can not afford indiscipline, inefficiency or lack of focus as the hopes and aspirations of the society rest on its shoulders.

The civil service, he said, must see itself as servants and facilitators of commerce and entrepreneurship, designing policies and removing obstacles to doing business in Nigeria.

He also advised the service to cultivate the habit of scor-

ing itself not in enforcing processes and procedures but as to how efficient and expeditious they have enabled businesses to be.

He queried: “What are the strategic and financial planning initiatives important in a strong private sector led, free market economy but with a robust social protection system for the poor majority?

“What are the crucial communications to make to the people in a season requiring sacrifice and perseverance on account of falling revenues or for that matter communicate the position that our anti-corruption, zero tolerance stand, is not merely a moral or ethical stand but a developmental construct that recognizes that corruption if not apprehended will destroy all institutions, the economy and eventually our society?” he added.

HE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the involvement of the World Bank in the repatriation, management and spending of repatriated stolen funds.

The Executive Director of the organisation, Adetokunbo Mumuni, stated ?this at a public presentation of the organisation’s new publication- “Deterring Kleptocracy: Finding Nigeria’s Re-Stolen Billions and Repatriating Looted Asset” held at the Weston Hotels, Opebi link road, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.

Mumuni claimed that over $2?billion stolen by the late Head of State, Gen. Sanni Abacha, was repatriated to the country during the Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar and former President Olusegun Obasanjo administrations.

He said such investigation into the repatriated fund was to ensure transparency and accountability in these transactions.

SERAP also asked the World Bank to “publicly disclose the level of involvement of the bank in the repatriation of Abacha stolen funds and other similar funds to Nigeria, and its role on the management and spending of such funds, as well as the projects on which the funds were spent.“ “The World Bank should publicly disclose its involvement in any other ongoing repatriation initiatives to Nigeria, and the mechanisms it is putting in place to ensure transparency and accountability of such mechanisms and the judicious use of repatriated funds.”

The 37- page report also urged the Buhari government to “revisit and challenge in court unfair settlements in bribery cases by successive governments and repatriation agreement between the government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the family of the late Abacha dated July 14, 2014 and other similar dodgy and unfair agreements with a view to getting better deals, receiving damages/compensations from companies such as Halliburton, and achieving justice for the Nigerian people.”

Obasanjo advises youths against risky voyage to Europe

ORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday expressed sadness at African youths’ desperation to get to Europe even at the expense of their lives.

The ex-president also berated the European nations and their leaders for not doing anything to help the migrants that had reached the continent.

Obasanjo, in a statement in Abeokuta, Ogun State, urged the international community to rise up and find solution to the growing wave of African children leaving their continent for Europe to meet “uncertain future.”

The statement reads: “It is a matter of considerable sadness for me when I witness the current wave of desperate youths risking their lives to travel to Europe and the futile efforts of the European countries to deal with those who have already set sail or have even reached shores of the European continent.

“Sometime in September 2000, the ex-Libyan leader, Col. Muammar Ghaddafi,

UN hails Austria, Germany for taking refugees

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HE United Nations refugee agency has praised Austria and Germany for welcoming thousands of refugees from Hungary, describing it as a “political leadership based on humanitarian values.”

The UN reports that the number of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) has exceeded 50 million recorded during World War II, and Germany plans to welcome 800,000 from Syria by the end of this year.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR), in a statement, said “all over Europe, (we are) witnessing a remarkable outpouring of public response, including from faithbased organizations, NGOs and individuals, in many cases driving governments to change policies and rhetoric.”

UNHCR has, however, warned that there was need for a more sustainable solution.

“There is clearly an urgent need to put in place an emer-

gency plan to manage the refugee crisis,” says UNHCR, recalling the concrete proposals put forward by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres.

“A very preliminary estimate would indicate a potential need to increase relocation opportunities to as many as 200,000 places,” said Guterres, adding “This can only work if it goes hand in hand with adequate reception capacities, especially in Greece.

Solidarity cannot be the responsibility of only a few EU member States. Europe is fac-

ing a moment of truth.”

“We urge the Hungarian authorities to put in place immediate and adequate emergency reception, assistance and registration capacity, so that refugees disembarking in Europe are welcomed into a safe and caring environment,” he said.

The UN estimates that about 250,000 had been killed in the unrest in Syria, and about half the country’s population of 23 million displaced, including more than 4 million who fled Syria.

called me and brought to my attention, the presence in Libya of thousands of Nigerian illegal immigrants attempting to make their way to Europe.

“These illegal immigrants almost entirely consisting of young men and women, who were prevented from using

the facilities of Libya to sail to Europe, had constituted themselves into a menace.

“Some of them were involved in crimes and anti-social activities such as credit card fraud, burglary, drug trafficking and even violent crimes such as armed robbery.

“There was tension between the illegal immigrants and local Libyan communities resulting in the immigrants often being subjected to violent attacks.

“I agreed with Ghaddafi on the need to take immediate action to repatriate the immigrants to Nigeria. In this re-

gard, I instructed the National Security Adviser to raise a team of officials from the security agencies to proceed to Libya to document all the illegal immigrants from Nigeria.

“I also approved funds for an aircraft to be chartered to evacuate them to Nigeria.

By Adeola Oladele-Fayehun

The team worked assiduously over a period of two months with the cooperation of their Libyan colleagues.

“They travelled all over Libya and brought out to safety and provided protection to Nigerians who were in hiding for fear of attacks from local Libyan gangs. A camp was provided by the Libyan authorities where the illegal immigrants were accommodated, provided with basic necessities and documented.

“I also spoke to other West African leaders whose citizens had found their way to Libya and encouraged them to accept responsibility for the repatriation of their citizens back from Libya.

“Those who lacked the capacity to effect the repatriation were assisted by Libya and Nigeria-Libya by providing additional aircraft and Nigeria by accepting the return to Nigeria of citizens of ECOWAS countries, who I then arranged to be transported to their countries from Lagos.”

6

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

NEWS Adeduntan replaces Onasanya as FirstBank CEO

Buhari: I’ll name my ministers this month

Continued from page 1

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

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RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Aburi, Ghana reassured Nigerians and the international community that he will name his cabinet before the end this month.

Buhari spoke at a joint news conference with Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.

The President said: “After I was sworn in, I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so.”

He also told reporters that the military, in close collaboration with the Multi-National Joint Task Force, has recorded remarkable progress in the fight against Boko Haram since he assumed office as President.

He said: “The first thing I did after I came into office was to reorganise the military and clear orders were given to them in terms of retraining, re-equipping and redeployment of troops.

“In the northeast, the military is gaining ground and Boko Haram has been limited to the Sambisa forest. ”Internally Displaced Persons are gradually moving back home and they are being reintegrated into their respective communities,” President Buhari said.

On the declaration of assets, the President affirmed that it was a constitutional requirement that all public office holders in Nigeria should declare their assets before Continued on page 59

•President Buhari (left) and President Mahama...yesterday

Buhari to MDAs: comply with Single Account order

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RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday gave next Tuesday’s deadline for full compliance with his directive for all revenue due to the Federal Government or its agencies to be paid into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) or designated accounts maintained and operated in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A circular issued to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government by Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi,

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

urged the MDAs to ensure strict compliance with the deadline to avoid sanctions.

The circular – HCSF/428/ S.1/125 of September 4, 2015, according to a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina, noted that a number of MDAs were yet to comply with Circular Ref. No. HCSF/428/S.1/120 of August 7, 2015 which conveyed President Buhari’s original directive on the payment of all Federal Govern-

ment revenue into a Treasury Single Account.

The new circular reads: “In this regard, His Excellency, Mr. President has directed that all MDAs are to comply with the instructions on the Treasury Single Account (TSA) unfailingly

by Tuesday, September 15, 2015.

“Heads of MDAs and other arms of Government are enjoined to give this Circular the widest circulation and ensure strict compliance to avoid sanctions,” Mr. Kifasi wrote.

Baby’s cry exposes suspected kidnappers Continued from page 1

Suspecting her, the passengers were said to have alerted men of Iddo Police Station, Railway Terminus, who promptly arrested her and her accomplice.

At the police station, Eno again refused all entreaties to breastfeed the baby. Instead, she brought out a feeding bottle containing an orangecolour watery substance, which the baby refused to take.

Eno, who initially told the police that she lives at IyanaOba, Majidun in Ikorodu, later said she stays at Igando.

Asked for her husband’s phone number, she claimed

she does not know it, adding that she does not have a phone.

The teenager, who she claimed to be her sister, was asked to use her own phone to call any of their family members to confirm Eno’s statement.

The unsatisfactory response from their supposed brother, who she called, prompted the police to detain them.

Although the suspects insisted Eno is the children’s mother, Happiness denied knowing either of them.

Happiness said she lives at the Air Force Base, Ikeja and gave her father’s name as Effiong. She said they were taken from their home by the

woman.

“That woman is not my mother. My name is Happiness. This is my sister Patience. My daddy’s name is Effiong. He is at the Air Force Base.

“My mother and daddy are in the house. I do not know her (Eno); she is not my mother. And I do not know her,” she said while responding to questions.

Eno again changed her story, saying the children’s father is one Effiong who works as a cleaner at the Air Force Base.

She claimed Happiness rejected her because she was arrested by the Task Force on Environment few months af-

ter she gave birth to her, adding that the girl doesn’t really know her.

“They are my children, I am their mother. If you think I am lying, let us go to the Air Force Base and meet their father.

“I was arrested by former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola when she (Happiness) was like this baby I am carrying now. Their father signed the paper for Fashola to take me away.

“It was while I was with Fashola that I gave birth to this one (Patience) and this one I’m carrying now is four months old. I have five children, two with another man and these three with Effiong,” she claimed.

nance and Strategy Development, Advisory and Compliance. Shobo has a banking career spanning over 25 years with experience in Corporate banking, Institutional banking, Commercial banking, Retail banking and Treasury.

Bello Maccido, pioneer Group CEO, FBN Holdings, is leaving his position to become pioneer Chairman of the newly-licensed FBN Merchant Bank Ltd. UK Eke, the bank’s Executive Director, South, is Group Managing Director-designate, FBN Holdings Plc. Other changes at FirstBank will see the Chairman, Prince Ajibola Afonja, retire. Mrs. Ibukun Awosika will succeed him.

A statement from the bank said the appointments followed a rigorous selection driven by the Board and supported by Heidrick & Struggle, the internationally renowned executive search firm.

The bank said that as pioneer Group CEO of the FBN Holdings Group in very critical times, Bello birthed the process to establish the multi-faceted group to comply with diverse regulatory requirements, navigating through uncharted territory.

“He will bring his wealth of experience, spanning over 30 years post call to Bar experience as an accomplished Retail, Corporate and Investment banker, to bear in his new role,

chairing the Board of the emergent FBN Merchant Bank Ltd. The incoming Group Managing Director, UK has over 30 years’ post experience in financial services, auditing, consulting, taxation, process engineering and capital market operations,” the statement said.

In announcing the appointments, Dr. Oba Otudeko, (CFR), Group Chairman, FBN Holdings, explained: “Following an exhaustive and competitive process, we are proud to announce these appointments.

In reaching these decisions we are mindful of the imperatives for a more efficient group structure that will benefit the Group’s need to deploy systems which deepen efficiency while expanding revenue and returns on investment. We are confident that we have made the right choices in these appointees. In selecting our MD and DMD we were particularly mindful to identify outstanding and topnotch professionals with complementary and mutually reinforcing skill set.”

“These appointments are a testament to the strength of our succession planning mechanisms and the calibre of candidates it produces. It also rearticulates our commitment to put our customers first with the confidence in the value that this new leadership team brings to bear on behalf of the Group, customers and employees, even as we strive to return greater value to shareholders,” Otudeko said.

21 ex-governors, ministers to lose passports by force Continued from page 1

(vii) Special Advisers/Special Assistants; (viii) Chairmen/ Deputy Chairmen of Local Governments Areas; (ix) all retired Heads of parastatals and (x) Retired public servants “These categories of persons are hereby informed that these passports which were previously held by them have been revoked and should return them to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters Sauka Abuja, with immediate effect.

“Failure to comply with this directive will amount to an offence under the Immigration Act 2015. Such unauthorised possession will be impounded at our control posts on arrival or departure.

This is the second time in a month that the Federal Government will issue the directive.

The government in August directed the former elective and political office holders to return their diplomatic and official passports.

“The Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abubakar Magaji, Federal Ministry of Interior, has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service to retrieve all valid diplomatic and official passports with immediate effect from all persons who are not entitled to hold such documents,” the statement said.

“The attention of the Federal Government has been drawn to the fact that some Nigerians who are not entitled to hold diplomatic and official passports are in possession of these documents,” it said.

According to the statement, the measure is intended to protect and promote Nigeria’s integrity in the comity of nations in addition to ensuring law and order.

Nigeria sends Togolese asylum seekers back home

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IGERIA has deported the 119 Togolese asylum seekers who have been refugees their whole lives, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRA) said yesterday.

The group of Togolese came to Nigeria in July after Benin Republic, which had hosted them for nearly a decade, stripped them of refugee status.

Sogbo Maonou, who was among those deported, said Nigerian soldiers loaded them onto buses in Lagos on Saturday and drove them to Togo through Benin Republic.

Brigitte Eno, deputy representative for the U.N. Refugee agency in Nigeria, said the group should have been coun-

selled before being repatriated.

"They were supposed to be informed individually and counselled but immigration did it their own way," Eno said adding: "We were not even aware of the fact they were being put on buses."

General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Michael Akindele, said due process was followed, they were all interviewed but their requests for asylum were rejected.

Many of the Togolese asylum seekers claim they face repression at home, having fled political violence after the 2005 election.

Some said they witnessed family members being arrest-

ed and killed by the military because of their support for the opposition.

Amnesty International reported in February that Togo sometimes tortures detainees.

Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe was reelected in April after succeeding his father in the 2005 elections marred by violence and rigging to perpetuate a family dynasty that has ruled for nearly 50 years.

The asylum seekers were spotted on Awolowo Road in Lagos in August, close to the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Person, NCFRMI, office.

The refugees were registered

by NCFRMI officials.

But the Lagos State Government which provided them with temporary shelter, urged the Federal Government to prevail on its agencies to repatriate back to their country the illegal immigrants who took refuge at the state's Emergency Resettlement Centres (ERCs) in Igando, Alimosho Local Government area and Agbowa, Ikorodu.

Secretary to the State Government Mr. Tunji Bello said the government could no longer continue to accommodate the illegal immigrants due to the enormous pressure put on the ERCs at Igando and Agbowa facilities.

Bello explained after the Togolese nationals were sight-

ed at Awolowo Road, Ikoyi “Immediately Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was informed of their illegal presence, he promptly directed that the relevant state agency should take up responsibility of accommodating them, initially at the Emergency Relief Camp (ERC) in Igando and later at its camp in Agbowa, Ikorodu,” he said.

Bello added: “As at today, the number of Togolese illegal immigrants has increased from 114 to 199, putting serious pressure on the limited spaces at the two camps.”

He pointed out that the Togolese immigrants were expelled from Benin Republic where they had lived for over 10 years.

“They came to Nigeria, Lagos

to be precise, and because of the accommodation provided by the state government at its ERCs, those illegal immigrants at the Igando camp started calling others on telephone in Benin Republic to come to Nigeria, telling them that they now have a new home. As at the Weekend, another 85 illegal immigrants of same Togolese descent were taken to ERC, Agbowa.

“The state has discovered that many of them smuggle their ways through the Nigeria borders,” he said.

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7

NEWS

Crisis brews in Osun over monarchs’ chairmanship

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RANGUN of IlaOrangun, Oba AbdulWahab Olukayode Oyedotun, Bibiire I, yesterday advised the Osun State government and the public to disregard a claim that the Owa Obokun of Ijeshaland, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, has been appointed the acting chairman of the Osun State Council of Obas.

Speaking at a news briefing in his palace at Ila-Orangun, Oba Oyedotun said the claim

by Oba Aromolaran through newspaper advertorials was misleading and should be corrected to prevent history from being distorted.

He said since the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, who died in a London hospital,

•Orangun tackles Owa Obokun From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

vacated the office of the chairman of the Osun State Council of Obas, at no time was any traditional ruler appointed to act as the chairman.

His words: “It is misleading for the Owa Obokun of Ijesha land, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, to start proclaiming himself as the acting chairman of the Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers. In the first place, what we have is Osun State Council of Obas. Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers does not exist, neither is there any acting chairman in the person of Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran.

“Until his demise, the late Oba Sijuwade remained the bona fide chairman of the Osun State Council of Obas and till now no chairman has been appointed as his successor. The late Oba Sijuwade was the permanent chairman and the position was proclaimed by the government. The arrogation of the position of acting chairman on the Owa Obokun by himself is, to say the least, illegal.”

The monarch, who said the Orangun of Ila position in the obaship hierarchy was superior to that of Owa Obokun, noted: “I am surprised to have found the name of Orangun of Ila below that of Owa Obokun in the publication, which must have

sent a wrong information to millions of Nigerians.”

He drew the attention of the government, Nigerians and the Yoruba race to the fact that the Owa Obokun position does not take precedence over the Orangun of Ila, insisting that Oba Aromolaran attempted to “concoct, bastardise and subvert facts.”

In attendance at the briefing were the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrasheed Olabomi; the Olokuku of Okuku, Oba Samuel Oluronke; the Elerin of Erin-Osun, Oba Yusuf Omoloye Oyagbodun; the Olunisa of Inisa, Oba Joseph Oladunjoye; and Timi of Edeland, Oba Munirudeen Lawal.

Fayemi to speak at symposium

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ORMER Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi will tomorrow be the guest speaker at the maiden public symposium organised by the Advanced Media and Communication Academy (AMCA), at the Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan (UI).

He is to speak on Our new Nigeria: Role of professionals in government, at the symposium held in honour of Ambassadors Yemi Farounbi and Ayoola Olukanni. The event starts at 2pm.

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NURTW urges drivers on traffic law

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HE Lagos State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, yesterday warned commercial drivers against violating traffic

laws.

He described as a welcome development, the decision by the Lagos State government to stop the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) from impounding vehicles.

The government last week ordered LASTMA to release to their owners, seized vehicles and should henceforth impose fines on offenders.

Agbede said the decision would make drivers more responsible.

He said a task force had been mandated to ensure sanity on the roads by promoting free flow of traffic.

•Two documents tendered Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

T •A Prince of Ile-Ife, Adedamola Aderemi (left) with President John Mahama of Ghana when he visited the president

‘Ajimobi didn’t talk about pay cut for workers’ T HE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State yesterday described as a misrepresentation, reports quoting him as having reached an agreement with the labour to cut workers’ salaries as a way out of the cash crunch.

The party, in a statement by its Director of Publicity and Strategy, Olawale Sadare, said the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, Comrade Waheed Olojede, must have either misconstrued the submission of Governor Abiola Ajimobi on the subject matter while the latter was featuring in an interview programme broadcast by an Ibadan-based radio station last weekend, or got briefed by the fifth columnists.

APC said: “Like many other members of the public who monitored the Saturday morning interview, we were taken

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

aback when we read again that the NLC chairman quoted Mr. Governor to have mentioned an agreement with labour to bring about a downward review of workers’ pay in view of the present economic downturn. The truth of the matter is that the governor never said that.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it is on record that Senator Ajimobi, while reacting to a poser on salary payment palaver, said the government was meeting with relevant stakeholders, including the labour unions, on how to save the state from its economic problems and part of options being considered was salary review.

“The governor did submit that workers’ pay was a consti-

tutional issue, which no government could decide without the input of relevant authorities. He hinged his position on the need to prevent a situation whereby workers would be owed arrears of salaries in future as it is being witnessed at the moment and for anyone to mislead the public over this will be most unfair.

“As a matter of fact, the APC administration will not do anything capable of undermining the efficiency of workers as we assure of continued friendly relationship between the government and its workforce, regardless of the numerous challenges. In a matter of days, the outstanding salaries and allowances owed public servants will be paid and the bones shall rise again.”

Ekiti community boils as youths protest outage

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By Adeyinka Aderibigbe

INETY persons, including expectant and nursing mothers, were arrested yesterday at Oshodi in Lagos by officials of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI).

They were apprehended for not using the pedestrian bridge.

The action, it was learnt, was aimed at improving road safety and reducing accidents called ‘hit and run’, which had claimed lives.

In the exercise, which caught many unawares, pedestrians were arrested at Oshodi under bridge by stern-looking KAI officials, who marched the offenders into a Black Maria from where they would be taken to the agency’s office for trial.

The enforcement was the first major operation under the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration.

The action forced many people to use the pedestrian bridge.

One of such people, a marketer, Miss Margret Oladele, said she couldn’t remember when last she used the pedestrian bridge in the last five years.

A KAI official, who preferred anonymity, said the move was to reduce deaths on the roads, adding that no fewer than 10 persons were knocked down daily while crossing expressways.

Election tribunal: APC closes defence

Osun workers to smile before Eid-el-Kabir IVIL servants in Osun State have been assured that they will be paid before the Eid-el-Kabir.

A lawmaker representing Ayedaade/Irewole/Isokan Federal Constituency, Mrs. Ayo Omidiran, spoke in Lagos yesterday.

Mrs. Omidiran, one of the conveners of a stakeholders’ meeting held three weeks ago to address “the embarrassing situation of wage burden” in the state, said she had the assurance of Governor Rauf Aregbesola that the salaries would be paid before the festival.

Although the lawmaker was not sure how many months of arrears would be paid, she said “a substantial part, if not all, will be paid.”

The stakeholders’ parley, which was attended by the governor and representatives of sectors, appraised the situation and sought ways of getting out of the economic doldrums, which resulted in government’s inability to pay salaries.

KAI arrests 90 for crossing expressway

RAFFIC was paralysed for hours yesterday on the Ado-Ikare Federal Highway, as Ijan-Ekiti youths in Gbonyin Local Government blocked the road to protest nine-month power outage.

They demanded the restoration of power by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

The youths marched to the palace of the Onijan, Oba Oyewole Fadahunsi and urged him to make representations to the BEDC authorities, saying they could no longer bear the blackout, which had paralysed social and eco-

From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado Ekiti nomic activities.

The protesters, who carried placards, said the outage gave robbers and other criminals the opportunity to perpetrate evils.

They gave BEDC a seven-day ultimatum to restore electricity or they might be forced to take legal actions.

They urged Governor Ayo Fayose to prevail on the electricity company to desist from disconnecting communities when it was only some individuals that defaulted in the payment of

electricity bills.

Oba Fadahunsi pleaded for civility in carrying out the protest, describing the outage as embarrassing.

He said he had made efforts to compel the BEDC to see reason why electricity should be restored, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. The monarch said the youths’ request would be conveyed to the government and the company.

The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Kola Oluwawole, enjoined BEDC to ensure that communities enjoyed the electricity they paid for.

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday closed its defence at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abeokuta.

It said it was contented with the evidence derived from crossexamining the petitioner’s witnesses as an anchor in the defence.

Counsel to APC, George Oyeniyi, said having reviewed his case, he was able to extract evidence through the witnesses called by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Gboyega Isiaka (petitioner) and the first respondent, Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

During the pre-trial phase, Oyeniyi told the tribunal that 11 witnesses would be called to give evidence, but yesterday, he opened his defence and closed same in less than 30 minutes without calling a witness.

He, however, tendered the declaration result sheet (form EC8E) as evidence and it was marked by the tribunal Chairman, Justice Henry Olusiyi, as exhibit R3.

Also, a certified true copy of a seminar report conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was tendered by him and admitted in evidence as exhibit R4.

He said: “I have reviewed the evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses and have extracted the evidence in my own case through their witnesses. These are our pleadings and we have been able to prove them during the cross examination of their witnesses.

There is no need to call other witnesses.

“We have looked at the petition on hand, commend the evidence put forward to your Lordships, take note of the cooperation enjoyed from the petitioners so far and hereby close our case.”

But counsel to INEC (third respondent), Oluwajare Ogunnaike, sought adjournment till tomorrow, saying the electoral body was not ready to open its defence.

According to him, the expected witness had been moved out of the state and would require sometime to produce witness.

Justice Olusiyi adjourned the case till today for INEC to open and close its defence, since it has one witness to call.

How Fernadez supported pro-democracy activism underneath, by ARG From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

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HE Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) yesterday revealed how the late billionaire, Amb. Deinde Fernandez, financed pro-democracy activities from behind the scene during Nigeria’s dark days.

In a statement mourning the late diplomat, the group said the international businessman deliberately hid his philanthropic gestures from public glare.

The statement signed by the group’s Director of Publicity, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, reads: “ARG would like to put on record that not only did the late Fernandez have a legacy of philanthropic services rendered to a wide range of institutions across the world, he was a firm believer and promoter of Yoruba traditional institutions and religion, which he demonstrated in many unique ways. However, his philanthropy is off the public gaze, a deliberate decision of this wonderful and colorful man.

“We must bring to the fore however, that the late Fernandez played critical, significant and enabling role during the emergence of the present democratic government that Nigeria enjoys. During the difficult days of the military era, many members of the business class and political elite distanced themselves from pro-democracy and socio-political activisms and refused all entreaties for support – overtly or covertly.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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NEWS

•The suspected robbers during the parade by the Oyo State Police Command at Eleyele, Ibadan

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HE Oyo State Police Command yesterday paraded 12 robbery suspects and seven vehicles said to have been recovered from them.

Police Commissioner Leye Oyebade vowed to drive criminals out of the state.

He said three of the suspects, who allegedly terrorised motorists on the Igbeti-Kisi Road, were arrested at Okun village near Igbeti on August 25 when robbing Chief Rafiu Ojo and Fatunmbi, who were travel-

•The ‘stolen’ cars ...yesterday. Inset: Oyebade (right), DCP Administration, Mrs. Jade Agbede and PPRO DSP Adekunle Ajisebutu PHOTOS: FEMI ILESANMI

Police parade 12 robbery suspects From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

ling from Ilorin to Kisi.

The suspects confessed to the crime in an interview with reporters.

One locally-made singlebarrel gun, cutlasses and mobile phones belonging to their victims were recovered from them.

The suspects are Abdullahi Muhammed, Abubakar Sheu and Baguba Majo.

•Seven vehicles recovered Also paraded were two robbery suspects, who are Fulani.

The suspects - Alimi Aliyu and Sidi Marugobi - were arrested on September 2 after attacking a Fulani trader at Bagudu village near Ofiki, dispossessing him of a huge sum of money. A third member of the gang, simply identified as Ibrahim, is at large.

A 27-year-old suspect, who specialised in snatching tricycles, Opeyemi Alagbe, was among those paraded.

Alagbe, who told reporters that he dropped out of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Osun State, in 2012, where he was studying an engineering course, vowed to shun robbery if par-

doned.

He said he dropped out of school for financial reasons, adding that he was riding a tricycle in Mowe, Ogun State, before he engaged in robbery.

According to him, he got the gun recovered from him from a friend, whom he claimed, found it in his father’s home after his (friend’s father’s) death.

Alagbe said it was his first

time, promising never to return to it.

Others paraded included suspected petroleum pipeline vandals. They were arrested on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway with two buses loaded with jerry-cans of petrol, at Bare village near Ajanla, Ibadan.

Oyebade said the suspects would be prosecuted.

He thanked the public for providing information and pledged that the command would keep the state safe for residents.

introduces street parking Suspected cultists ‘kill’ 40-year-old man Ogun GUN State government has introduced an electronic pay

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USPECTED cult members have killed a 40year-old man in Ondo

town.

The incident, which has thrown the town into mourning, occurred barely 24 hours after the new Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 11, Mrs. Kalafithe Adeyemi, visited Ondo.

Sources said the incident happened during the Ogun festival, which was celebrated by traditionalists in

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

the town and attended by people from across the state.

It was learnt that suspected members of the Eiye Confraternity trailed the deceased from Okegbala to Fiwasaye Street, where he was killed with a machete.

The incident, which was reported at the Enuwa Police Station, it was gathered, caused confusion, as youths protested.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mr. Kunle

Omisakin, who confirmed the incident, said one person, Seto Akinbobola, had been arrested.

He said the suspect was assisting the police in their investigations.

Omisakin added that Akinbobola had been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Akure.

Police spokesman Wole Ogodo said the matter would be investigated and the culprit would be punished.

Ekiti impounds 77 cars

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EVENTY-SEVEN vehicles and hundreds of motorcycles popularly called okada have been impounded by law enforcement agents in Ekiti State.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR), Mr. Ropo Ogunjobi, who spoke in Ado-Ekiti, said the exercise would guarantee safety and security on roads, stressing that it would also ensure that only properly-licensed drivers and vehicles plied the roads.

He said the exercise was executed through the joint efforts of the workers of the Board of Internal Revenue,

•Generates N1m daily on papers’ renewal officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the police and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs). Hailing the exercise, the governor’s aide said it would not only minimise accidents, but would boost the IGR. Ogunjobi said there had been an increase of up to a million naira daily on IGR since the beginning of the exercise.

He said the turnout of people for registration and renewal of vehicles’ particulars as well as applications for the renewal of driver’s licences had increased, adding that the development would

improve the deplorable financial situation caused by the huge debt inherited by the Ayo Fayose administration and the dwindling revenue accruing from the federation account.

Assuring that impounded vehicles would be released as soon as the papers were perfected, Ogunjobi cautioned motorists against patronising touts, stressing that payments should be made at designated banks, while vehicle papers should be obtained at the Ado-Ekiti, Ikere and Ido-Ekiti centres to avoid falling into the hands of fraudsters.

Senator Tinubu for town hall meeting

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HE lawmaker representing Lagos East, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, will tomorrow host her

constituents at the 15th town hall meeting.

The Media Assistant in the Lagos Central Senatorial District Office, Maxwell Adegbenro, said in a statement in Lagos yesterday: “The Lagos Central Senatorial District is pleased to announce its 15th edition of the quarterly town hall meeting.

“It will be held tomorrow at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos. The theme is: ‘New Chapter, Hope Renewed’.

“The meeting is to promote transparency and accountability. It has been a feedback mechanism for the people since Senator

‘Constituents, chieftains and supporters of APC at the ward and state levels are expected at the event’ Tinubu’s election in 2011.

She will highlight and discuss her programmes and events in the eighth Senate. The senator will answer questions on important issues affecting the people. She will request opinions and inputs on legislation.

“Constituents, chieftains and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the ward and state levels are expected at the event, the first in the eighth Assembly.

Guests and the public are expected to be seated by 8:30am.”

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and display machine for organised street parking.

The user-friendly solar-powered machine, which is the outcome of a partnership between the state Bureau of Transportation (BOT) and Parking Services & Management Company Limited (PAKS), was installed at Itoku market in Abeokuta.

It is aimed at minimising cash collection for parking, while emphasis is on the use of the parking e-payment cards. Motorists can obtain the cards at the point of parking (free for now) or from the BOT office in Abeokuta or at PAKS offices nationwide.

Motorists are expected to load units into the cards at the venue or through other recommended media.

All that is required is to tap the e-card at the designated spot on the P&D machine and follow instructions as displayed, and within five seconds, the payment is deducted and receipt is issued for the driver to display on his/her dashboard.

Amosun eulogises Osunkeye at 75

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GUN State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has described Chief Olusegun Oladipo Osunkeye as a God- fearing man, an industrialist, a philanthropist and an icon, who has contributed to the socio-economic development of the state and the nation.

He spoke when he joined other dignitaries from all walks of life to felicitate with Osunkeye, who turned 75.

The event was held at the Archbishop Vinning Memorial Church Cathedral, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos.

The governor, represented by his deputy, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga, described the celebrator as God’s gift to the Christendom, who had distinguished himself as a vessel of honour in his service to God and mankind.

“Pa Osunkeye is God’s gift to mankind, particularly the Christian community. He has affected many lives. I join other Nigerians to wish him happy birthday,” Amosun said.

The Bishop of Lagos West Diocese, Rt. Rev. James Olusola Odedeji, described Osunkeye as a reservoir of knowledge, who contributed to the growth of the church and mankind.

He said people should be thankful to God and shun sinful acts, adding that “these are the avenues to establish good relationship with God.” Chief Osunkeye thanked Almighty God for keeping him alive.

He said the birthday would challenge him to remain steadfast in the service to God and humanity.

Osunkeye was born on September 7, 1940. He hails from Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. He holds a long list of honours including, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Certified Accountants, London (FCCA), Fellow, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), former chairman of many national conglomerates, including Nestle Nigeria Plc, Larfarge Africa Plc, Glaxosmithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc and Pilot Security Ltd. He is at present the president of the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria.

EKSUTH begins service at Ire-Ekiti

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HE Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti has begun health care service at Joan Memorial Hospital, Ire-Ekiti.

Speaking at the inauguration, the Onire of Ire-Ekiti, Oba Victor Adeleke Bobade, said he was happy that an outreach of the tertiary health care institution was situated in his domain.

While thanking the founder of the hospital, Congressman Bimbo Daramola, for his vision in establishing the hospital, he assured the workers of security of their life and property. He said he would support them.

The Chief Medical Director, Dr. Kolawole Ogundipe, implored the monarch to mobilise his subjects and indigenes of neighbouring towns and villages to patronise the hospital, in order to enjoy quality medical services.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

“The governors owe Nigerians explanations why they could not pay their workers because they collect money from Abuja every month. So, what did they do with all the money? Some of them were launching ambitious projects that were unrealistic such as building airports.”

-Managing Director, Neo Media & Marketing, Mr Ehi Braimah

Stakeholders kick against CBN’s time limit on complaints’ resolution

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TAKEHOLDERS have criticised attempts by the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) to put a time frame within which bank customers can bring in complaints of overcharging and claim of refund.

Contrary to Sections 57 (1)(a) & (b) and Section 58 of the Limitation Act, which provide that time does not begin to run in the case of fraud or mistake of the defendant, until the plaintiff has discovered the fraud or mistake, CBN’s six-year time-limit for complaints and claim of refund for overcharging implies that except bank customers discover the fraud or mistake of banks in not complying with their obligations and overcharging their customers within six years, the bank customer will lose its right to complain and the bank can keep the money overcharged the customer.

Responding to newspaper publications that the apex bank has fixed time limits within which to resolve complaints by customers relating to certain charges considered excessive, stakeholders in the banking sector including some major depositors and bank customers who asked not to be identified for fear of victimization, said such a directive, in addition to its being illegal, would amount to the regulator aiding banks to fleece customers.

Mr. Gbadebo Olatokunbo, a leading investors’ rights activist, said the apex bank should not place any time limit as this would amount aiding the banks to shortchange the customers.

“The issue of time limit should not be there as most bank customers don’t even

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• ‘Don’t protect banks against customers’

By Tolulope Lawani

know when the banks are overcharging and deducting their money. Putting any time limit is uncalled for; once a customer discovered overcharging or excessive deduction, then the customer should be able to get refund no matter how long, even if it is 12 years,” Olatokunbo said.

He related a personal experience with a bank that deducted certain charges from a retirees’ group account where he was a member, without any previous consent from the group.

Mr Adeleke Abayomi, a customer of a top-five bank, said the time limit was a disservice to banks’ customers noting that the complainants should be able to get refund in as much as the offending bank is still operational.

Other stakeholders argued that when any bank unlawfully debits the customer’s account and takes away money thereby depriving the customer the use of it, it amounts to stealing, stressing that the action amounted to an economic crime that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), should investigate.

They pointed out that when these unlawful actions are perpetrated by banks with the connivance of government officials at a particular time, “for any pecuniary benefit of such government officials, it will amount to aiding and abetting a crime.

“Therefore setting a time limit like CBN has done is really dangerous and it will

shelter, encourage and protect the perpetrators of these crimes – bankers and government officials - because we all know that some elected officials have two terms of four years each, that is eight years. Therefore an elected official may connive with bank officials to fleece the government confers with excessive charges on facilities (shared with the bank) in the first two-years of his tenure, knowing that his immunity will cover him during his tenure and when he has left office and his immunity has expired, CBN’s time limit will continue his protection.

They said the cases over which the CBN is interfering, or seeks to be legislating, such as excess interest charges; excess management fees charges; excess Team Loan Repayment charges; fees charged above Bankers tariffs; excess charges on restructured team loans; excess penal interest charges and excess COT charges, among others, amount to civil wrongs, criminal offences and constitutional breaches of the rights of their customers, which are already covered and addressed in the Constitution.

As they put stated, “it is a civil wrong and amounts to breach of contract if these charges are not in accordance with the terms of the facilities granted the customer. It is criminal in many ways as it amounts to an offence of stealing under the Criminal Code Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria,” pointing out that a person

BUA Group signs $600m contract with Chinese firm

UA Group has signed a $600 million contract with China’s cement manufacturing supplier, Sinoma CBMI, to commence the construction of a second production line.

In a statement, Bua said the pact came following the successful start of production at its new Obu Cement Plant, adding that it is set to further double the capacity of the plant to seven million metric tonnes per year.

This agreement, signed at the Sinoma CBMI offices in China will further bolster BUA Group’s share of the cement market in Nigeria.

Speaking at the signing ceremony which held at the Sinoma CBMI Headquarters in China, Executive Chairman of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu, said the new line was part of the group’s organic growth strategy for its cement arm, BUA Cement.

“Given their proven track record and vast expertise in deploying cement plants across

By Collins Nweze

the world, we are confident in SINOMA’s ability to deliver a world-class second line for our Obu Cement Plant as well as meet our stringent environmental, safety, quality and technical requirements for our plants and products.

This additional capacity forms part of our strategic growth programme for our Cement arm, BUA Cement. In the long term, we expect to commit significant investments in cement production across the continent whilst also ensuring that the quality of our products remain a key differentiating factor in the marketplace.”

Board Chairman of Sinoma CBMI, Tong Laigou, said: “We are happy to sign this contract and extend our ongoing partnership with BUA Cement. This signing follows an earlier project to install an additional 1.5mtpa capacity to Sokoto Cement– also subsidiary of BUA Cement, which is expected to be completed soon and com-

missioned in 2016. We intend to bring our wealth of experience and expertise to bear in bringing this project to fruition.”

Sinoma CBMI has completed many key projects for cement production in China and across the world, including almost all foreign-funded projects in China, with total number of cement production lines exceeding 150.

Among0 its numerous achievements, CBMI was responsible for constructing the world’s largest cement plant consisting of two 10,000 t/d cement production lines.

BUA Group is one of Nigeria’s largest Foods and Infrastructure conglomerates with significant investments in various sectors of the economy including Cement, Sugar, Steel, Flour & Pasta, Edible Oils, Housing, and Port Operations. It’s cement arm, BUA Cement, currently operates factories in Obu and Okpella, Edo State Nigeria and also in Sokoto through its majority shareholding in CCNN.

who fraudulently takes anything capable of being stolen, or fraudulently converts to his own use or to the use of any other person anything capable of being stolen, is said to steal that thing.

And in the case of money, it is sufficient if the intent is to use it at the will of the person who takes or converts it although he may intend afterwards to repay the amount to the owner.

The stakeholders argued that no one can be dispossessed of his property, including money – without due process. “Therefore if any bank has unlawfully debited into a customer’s account some millions or billions of naira, the customer has the right to complain under Section 44 of the Constitution and CBN has no right to limit when the complaint can be made, as CBN is not the National Assembly nor a State Assembly”.

They said: “The CBN is a creation of statute, the CBN

Act. It can only exercise powers granted to it under that Act and under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act. These statutes give the CBN limited powers to issue subsidiary legislations to regulate banks. This right does not include right to limit the rights of Companies and individuals who are customers of banks, stressing that their rights are more than banking rights.

Citing decided cases, the stakeholders said: “Where the acts complained about are continuous acts – for instance where the bank made more than one unlawful debit to the customer’s accounts – the time limit do not apply or better still, starts to count on the date of the last debit”.

“Where the injury complained of is a continuing one, time does not begin to run for the purpose of the application of a limitation law until the cessation of the event leading to the cause of action. In other words, “continuance of injury” means the continuance or repeat of

• CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele

the act which caused the injury.”

Stakeholders call on President Buhari to direct CBN to withdraw this circular in the overall interest of the banking public and pursuant to the President’s fight against corruption and impunity.

“CBN should not be seen or perceived to be protecting banks against their customers. And many banks don’t need this support as they simply do not over charge their customers.

CBN should hold the banks accountable to CBN, their customers and the Nigerian state,” they argued.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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BUSINESS NEWS Sahara Group to raise $1.4b in London, Lagos stock markets

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AHARA Group, a Nigerian energy company, plans to raise as much as $1.4 billion through a dual listing of its oil and gas unit in London and Lagos along with a debut dollar bond sale.

Lagos-based Sahara, which trades crude oil and owns Nigeria’s biggest power plant, wants the money to buy oil blocs in Africa’s largest producer as it seeks to ramp up production five-fold to 60,000 barrels a day, said Executive Director Tonye Cole.

Sahara is seeking as much as $600 million in the initial public offering, which may take place within a year, and $800 million through a sevenyear bond that should be issued by the end of October, he said.

“Over the next five years, our target is to be one of the largest indigenous producers in Nigeria,” Cole, 48, who owns a third of Sahara, said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Lagos. “A lot is dependent on the IPO. We started down that road before oil prices collapsed, but we’re still focused on it.”

Sahara and others including Seplat Petroleum Development Co. and Shoreline Group, are taking advantage of so-called indigenisation laws in Nigeria’s oil industry that are meant to boost production by local companies. Those groups account for about 20 per cent of

By Modupe Elegushi with Agency report

Nigeria’s production of nearly two million barrels a day.

Seplat, which pumps about 70,000 barrels daily, became the first Nigerian company to sell its shares in London and Lagos when it completed listings in April, 2014. The stock has fallen 69 percent in London in the past year as crude prices more than halved, giving the company a market capitalisation of 409 million pounds ($624 million).

“We’re looking to raise somewhere between $500 million to $600 million for about 20 to 25 per cent of the shares,” Cole said, which would value the unit at between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Sahara will meet investors in Europe and the U.S. in the next few weeks to discuss the deals, Cole said. He declined to identify the banks working on the IPO or Eurobond sale.

Companies from Africa’s biggest economy are increasingly looking to sell stock in the U.K. Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, wants to list his main company, Dangote Cement Plc, which already trades in Lagos and London.

Interswitch Limited., which processes bank transactions and owns a brand of debit cards, is also considering a dual listing.

Beyond oil and gas produc-

tion, Sahara, which makes revenue of about $10 billion annually, is expanding its trading and power divisions.

It plans to double generation at the Egbin power plant in Lagos to 2,600 megawatts within five years, Cole said.

Sahara needs to recoup its debts from the governmentowned bulk buyer of electricity before that happens, he said.

Sahara may re-bid for new government oil-swap contracts, also known as offshore processing agreements. The company’s OPA, which saw it provide refined petroleum in return for crude, was canceled last month after the stateowned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. said the terms were “skewed.”

“There’s no one that would ever deny that when the swap, or the OPA, was instituted six years ago that it was a necessity at that point,” Cole said. “But we had discussions with the NNPC. We all agreed that it was time to have a review and move forward. I have no problem with it.”

Sahara will also consider entering into joint ventures with Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, he said. The NNPC is under pressure from President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power in May promising to revamp the graft-ridden oil industry, to revive the dilapidated refineries and end Nigeria’s reliance on imported fuel.

CPC probes DISCOS

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HE Consumer Protec tion Council (CPC) has started investigation into indiscriminate increases in electricity bills, non-supply of metres to consumers, irregular disconnection with an assurance of prosecuting the electricity companies if there are no strong reasons for what they are doing.

CPC Director-General, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, made this known at the opening ceremony of investigation into

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

complaints of alleged consumer abuse in Abuja.

The investigation is being held behind closed doors after the opening ceremony.

She said the Council will ensure speedy redress to consumer complaints, ensure consumer interest receive due consideration.

She said CPC has carefully watched the ongoing reforms in the electricity sec-

tor, which commenced with the enactment of the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act of 2005 and the unbundling of the erstwhile Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) by the Federal Government.

“Two years after the privatisation of electricity distribution in the country, consumers are still groaning over almost all issues that existed in the old order, she said.

Nigeria gets support for GITEX 2015

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HE Nigeria foreign mission in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through its Consulate in Dubai has expressed support for the country’s participation in the GITEX Technology Show scheduled for Dubai in October.

Nigeria’s Consul-General in Dubai, UAE, Ambassador Dr. Mike Omotosho, affirmed that the foreign mission in the UAE would mobilise business ventures in the UAE representing different countries to pally with Nigeria’s technology ventures during the five-day ICT expo touted as the 3rd largest in the world.

Gitex attracted over 145, 000 trade visitors last year from over 115 countries and Nigeria was the Official Country Partner. Nigeria’s participation is being facilitated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The NITDA has already drawn participation from other sister agencies including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

Africa’s largest economy would be welcoming

investors and global partners to explore the country’s diverse opportunities inside the Nigerian Pavilion at the Sheikh Rashid Hall where Nigerian is hosting 20 established local companies and startups.

The exhibiting companies include Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited, Data Sciences Nigeria Limited, Precise Financial Systems (PFS) Limited, RLG Communications Nigeria Limited, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, SKtel Nigeria Limited and the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), a professional, non-profit, non-political umbrella organisation of all telecommunications companies of Nigeria.

Others are Sasware, Chams Plc, Agrovative Limited, Blubird Retail Management Limited, Cribpark Systems Limited, Hutbay Limited, Largeminds Enterprise Limited, Medrep, Smart City and Truppr. The 20 exhibitors feature eight

startup companies that the NITDA is promoting to the global event to facilitate business pitches for the budding ventures.

“We are here to promote the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. We know this will boost our country’s business interest and also offer an additional window to showcase the strong and positive attribute of Nigeria as a country not only in the ICT sector but other economic areas. Let me assure you that you have our full support,” said Dr. Mike Omotosho to the NITDA delegation led by the Director of Finance, Mr. Abdulsalam Raheem Olalere, who represented the DirectorGeneral Mr. Peter Jack.

Also at the event were NITDA’s Director of Corporate Strategies, Dr. Olatunji Vincent, and Head of Corporate Communications, Mrs. Hadiza Umar.

Others are President, Pinnacle Consult LLC, Mr. Akande Ojo, and Chief Executive Officer, Knowhow Media International (KMI), media consultants to Nigeria at Gitex 2015, Mr. Segun Oruame.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

e-Business The ongoing deactivation and revalidation of subscriber identity modules (SIMs) have brought untold hardship to telecoms subscribers across the country. So much money has been spent by the Federal Government and the telcos to conduct the exercise. Subscribers say this development reflects the contempt and disrespect the operators have for the customers, LUCAS AJANAKU, OLATUNDE ODEBIYI, TOLU LAWANI and MODUPE ELEGUSHI report.

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HE arrived at the experience centre of her mobile network operator (MNO) in company of her husband who cuddled their baby. When she saw the huge crowd that was waiting at the gate, shouting at the gate men, she became crestfallen.

The 35-year-old pregnant woman who introduced herself simply as Chinyere, said she was shocked when she discovered that her phone and that of her husband could neither receive nor make calls. She complained to one of her neighbours and was advised to visit the nearest office of her MNO to complain.

She said: "I was shocked when I could neither make nor receive calls on my phone. When I told my husband, he too complained about having similar experience. We thought it was one of those gimmicks they resort to each time they have issues with their network. Our neighbour later advised us to go to the office of our service providers. That is why we are here now. The baby with my husband is about a year and six months old. See my husband waiting under the tree because of the sun.

“With the mammoth crowd here today, I do not know when we are going to leave this place. It is embarrassing that this is happening to us five years after using these lines."

Though Vivian Ekene, a secondary school teacher, lives and works in Lagos, she got her subscriber identification module (SIM) registered in far away Nekede, Imo State. According to her, she was on vacation and her hosts told her there was a registration centre nearby. She took advantage of the proximity of the centre to where she was staying to do the registration. According to her, she got an acknowledgement that her SIM had been successfully registered.

Now, her SIM is one of the over 10 million lines blocked on the order of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) over deficiency in the registration process. "This is rude. How can they just deactivate my line without the courtesy of a text message? This shows how disrespectful they are to their customers," she said.

Kunle Lanrewaju, a civil servant, got his SIM registered in his office.

He had taken advantage of a mobile SIM registration agent to do his long time ago. He later received a message from his service provider that his SIM registration failed.He promptly walked into one of the customer care centres and got the SIM registered again. Today, his line has been deactivated. "If I had been told earlier, I would have done the correction but it's late. Look at the crowd. Very bad," he lamented.

These are just a few subscribers that have been subjected to harrowing experience over the last one week in the country.

How it started A SIM is a card issued by mobile phone operators which provides the individual user with the appropriate number recognised by that network. A subscriber inserts the card into his or her mobile phone to access the mobile phone network.

Since the launch of the global system for mobile communication (GSM) services in the country in 2001, SIM cards were offered to subscribers without the requirement to provide proper identification by the users.

Sometime in early 2008, security agencies approached the NCC to assist in resolving crimes perpetrated through the use of phones which were not traceable to the phone users because they were not registered as users.

Consequently, the commission held a consultative forum involving various telecoms operators, consumer groups, security agencies, telecoms associations, dealers, the

SIM deactivation blues Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC), National Population Commission (NPC), National Census Commission, the media and a host of others.

All the participants agreed that it is appropriate and necessary to register phone users in the country. Another committee was then set up to further look at the details of the implementation of the registration programme and submit its recommendations to the NCC. Upon reviewing the recommendations of the committee, the Board of the NCC approved the registration of all phone subscribers in the country.

This began on March 28, 2011, when the official flag-off of the registration of all SIM cards was performed by for Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, in Abuja.

The registration of existing SIM cards officially ended in January 2012.

However, MNOs continued to register new SIM cards.

On completion of the validation, harmonisation and scrubbing of the records of all registered SIM cards, operators will be authorised to disconnect unregistered SIM cards from the networks. NCC requested for and got budgetary approval of a whopping N6.2billion to register existing operators.

NCC's ultimatum The NCC said it is worried by the seemingly intractable security situation in the country, it handed down a seven-day ultimatum to GSM and other network providers to deactivate all pre-registered SIM cards or face sanctions.

It said the action was the fallout of a meeting between Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Department of State Service (DSS), MNOs and NCC. The meeting which took place at the NCC boardroom in Abuja, took into cognisance crimes committed against members of the public either by kidnappers, terrorists, robbers and threats to lives, through the use of such unregistered SIM cards across all the networks.

Operators were however told to notify such subscribers before deactivation of their SIM cards.

At the meeting were the representatives of the NSA, Group Captain,

Ibikunle Daramola, DSS, Mr. Godwin Ometu, the immediate past NCC Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Dr Eugene Juwah Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Engr. Ubale Maska and representatives of MTN, Globacom, Etisalat, Visafone , Airtel and others.

NCC Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo said the Commission and all operators are to embark on vigorous public enlightenment on the need/ desirability for subscribers to register their SIMs, as well as the dangers of selling /buying preregistered SIMs. The NCC lamented that till date more than 120 million SIM cards have been registered and transmitted to the Central Database by the operators, adding that validation exercise revealed a preponderance of unreliable data in terms of incomplete and/ or inaccurate demographic and / or biometric data.

The issues relating to unreliability of data essentially border on the operators' failure to ensure compliance with the formats and specifications that were jointly developed and agreed by the NCC and the operators before the commencement of the exercise in 2011.

It was also noted that as at September last year, about 45 per cent of the total number of registered SIMs, at that time, were deemed invalid for reasons of invalid portrait image only, invalid fingerprints only, invalid portrait image and fingerprints, and incorrect/ inaccurate demographic data (name, address and others).

Ojobo said the invalid records were returned to the operators in September last year for correction, adding that less than 30 per cent of the invalid records have been resubmitted.

These resolutions were part of the ongoing efforts by government to nip in the bud the incessant occurrences of threats via telecommunications networks and the danger they portend for psyche of the citizenry.

Credibility of exercise Over the years, SIM registration has come under criticism by security experts and other stakeholders

in the IT industry.

An official of the Directorate of State Security Service (DSS) who spoke on the sideline during a cyber security forum organised by ONSA in Lagos dismissed the exercise as a charade. He said with the level of breach of the guidelines set by stakeholders on SIM registration, data collated could not be reliable.

Similarly, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) faulted the exercise, arguing that it cannot produce a reliable data for the country.

Its Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Chris Onyemenam, said the exercise is currently marred by a lot of irregularities stemming from the fact that NCC abandoned the roadmap NIMC had prepared for its implementation.

"Based on what we did and most of the people who did it are (still around) we worked on the SIM registration project; it was designed by the NIMC. We followed the standard that we felt, if they adopt and implement, the data will meet our own standard and our own standard are the benchmarked on the basis of international standard for such identity data base.

"The moment we stopped being part of the SIM card registration project, rather than (settle for) 10 finger prints, they settled for something less and rather than the number of demographic data we recommended, they settled for something less. Obviously, it is no longer a perfect feat. Secondly, the background when you are doing the face shot capture, some of us have been to the high commission for visa, you know they tell you the type of background and the size of the passport photograph. There is a reason for that," he said.

According to him, there were locations where all the kiosk attendant did was just to ask the person willing to register SIM to stand well regardless of what the background was and just do the face capture.

He said the practice does not meet international requirement. "That is just an ordinary passport photograph. If you want to convert it into something that can be used to conduct face recognition it is useless.

They just asked me to stand and I did

‘We thought it was one of those gimmicks they resort to each time they have issues with their network. Our neighbour later advised us to go to the office of our service providers. That is why we are here now. The baby with my husband is about a year and six months old. See my husband waiting under the tree because of the sun. With the mammoth crowd here today, I do not know when we are going to leave this place’

and they took my shot in their office. The place was not well lit and I shook my head that this is not what we recommended. There were certain parameters for all these," he said.

MTN apologises MTN apologised to its customers over the noticeable congestion in its service outlets across the country as a result of ongoing SIM validation exercise.

In a statement signed by its Corporate Services Executive, Akinwale Goodluck, the company is doing everything possible to ameliorate the conditions at the service centres. "We wish to apologise to all our customers who are experiencing difficulty with the ongoing SIM registration/ revalidation exercise. Affected customers can revalidate their registration details at all MTN sales outlets including the nearest agent and dealer shops. We appeal for calm as customers visit our various outlets.

We are committed to ensuring that all affected subscribers complete the process as directed by the NCC. It is for this reason that we have increased the number of staff handling SIM registration/validation across all our channels. We have also mandated all our registration outlets to remain open till 8pm every day until further notice."

According to Goodluck, the decision to deactivate all lines with invalid or incomplete subscriber registration details was in compliance with the NCC directive. "It is to enable us provide maximum support to government in achieving the national interest objectives of the exercise," he said.

While reiterating that SIM registration is free, he urged all MTN customers in their interactions with MTN Channel Partners and agents, to be assured that in full compliance with NCC regulations, every element of the registration will be completed at once; and to report any fraudulent activity to the MTN manager in charge at the centres.

Airtel extends operation hours Airtel said its customers that are yet to update their records as well as register their SIM cards in line with the directives of the NCC, have been offered another window of opportunity to do so. It announced an extension of its operation hours in all its showrooms and customer touch points across the country.

According to Airtel, all showrooms across the country have extended their daily operations by two hours every day of the week, Monday to Sunday, in a strategic move to accommodate the recent influx of customers who are desirous of updating their records in line with the Know Your Customer registration exercise.

15

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

e-Business

CBN reviews mobile money rule to accommodate telcos T

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HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is reviewing its tight regulatory policy on mobile money to make telcos play more role in the adoption of the initiative which aims at driving financial inclusion across the country.

Under CBN’s rule, the telcos’roles have been reduced to nothing as the transactions merely passed through their ubiquitous network of infrastructure. But the apex bank said it had realised that the telcos have huge infrastructure spread across the country and could actually provide the enabling infrastructure for mobile money agents to work effectively.

Its Deputy Director, Banking and Payment System Department, Mr. Musa Itokpa Jimoh, said: “The telcos have outlets and so they can come in as super-agents, which means, we can leverage on some of these infrastructure to provide

mobile financial services and that is basically what we are doing. So, all outlets of the telecommunication companies are going to act as agents.”

According to him, with this review, which allows for the participation of the telecommunication companies, mobile money will get a huge boost.

Already, three telcos have applied for super agent to drive the mobile money scheme, which started over three years ago to provide basic financial services to Nigerians without bank accounts, as well as to help drive financial inclusion.

Three years on, adoption has been very slow in a country that boasts of over 146 million active mobile subscribers. Several surveys had attributed the slow pace of adopting the mobile money services to the low public awareness. Another

challenge had been low number of agents as well as inadequate infrastructure, according to IT Pulse.

The telecom companies have the platform and widespread network with which mobile money transaction can best thrive, but the apex declined to license them, saying they don’t want a clash of interest between banks and telecommunications operators.

According to CBN, a research was conducted that revealed the telecoms operators have more subscribers and wider network area for the penetration of mobile money, but the banks have the financial strength to drive the process much better.CBN encouraged telecommunications operators to partner with licensed banks and other financial and nonfinancial institutions in driving the scheme, since they have the platform on which mobile money transactions will thrive.

Osinbajo to get E-PPAN's report • Lemo, Fatokun, others for meeting

HE Chairman, Economy Team of Nigeria, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, will receive the result of the deliberations of the meeting of an electronic payment group, the E- Payment Providers Association of Nigeria-(E-PPAN).

The meeting will host personalities, such as its Chairman, Advocacy Committee and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Central Securities Clearing System Limited (CSSL) Mr. Kyari Bukar; former Director (Operations) the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Tunde Lemo; Chairman, Lambeth Trust Investment Limited, Oluwatoyin Jokosenumi; Head, Programme Office, FSS2020 CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun- Director; BPSD CBN and Chairman of NEFF and the E-PPAN Board of Trustees and the Governing Board Members.

Its Business Development Officer, Adesakin Folasayo, said the group would hold its first meeting on September 10 at the Colonades Hotel, Ikoyi Lagos between 10am and noon.

"This meeting will be structured in the usual E-PPAN technical/interactive session. The meeting will be anchored on the just-concluded E-Government Summit 2015 hosted in collaboration with FSS2020, CBN and other partners," Folasayo explained.

At the summit, hosted by E-PPAN and FSS 2020/CBN, key policy statements were made and the forum opened a new vista of op-

•Prof Osinbajo

By Olatunde Odebiyi

portunities for the industry as deliberations were centered on the uncoordinated approach to the implementation of the national policy on e-payment in the public sector, challenges in implementing national policies on e-payment at various levels of government; and the silo approaches being adopted by the private and public sector in addressing issues concerning epayment and e- government.

These, among others, will be the focus of discussion at the meeting to enable the group to come up with solutions that will convert the outcomes of the summit to business profitability for E-PPAN members and the industry as a whole.

Glo Xchange agents begin operations

•From left: Makwane; CEO, MainOne, Funke Opeke; Lever; and Small Medium and Business Partners’ Director, Microsoft Nigeria, Oluwawemimo Adeniyi, at the MainOne/Microsoft Cloud announcement in Lagos.

Why Microsoft partnered MDX-i on cloud solution, by Makwane

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ICROSOFT Nigeria’s Managing Director, Kabelo Makwane, has said the firm is partnering MainOne’s Data Centre subsidiary, MDX-1 because of its strength in connectivity and its certification as Tier 3 Data Centre in the country.

He said the firm will continue to explore ways of working with indigenous firms that have braved the odds to invest in the provision of the state-of-the-art infrastructure to realise the goals of economic development of the country and the continent.

Makwane spoke during the announcement of the launch of MDX1’s new cloud-based service offering with Microsoft in Lagos at the weekend.

The solution, which is built on Microsoft Azure’s enterprise grade infrastructure, provides flexible, highly available and fully secure private computing environments to companies on a pay-as-you-go basis.

By combining expertise in proven, yet familiar technologies and geographic specialisation, MDX-i Cloud Services deliver a solution tailored to meet the needs of enterprise customers in West Africa. Benefits of the Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS) solution include access to a wide range of comput-

ing resources, such as storage, central processing unit (CPU), memory, security firewalls and network bandwidth, provisioned on a subscription basis.

The new solution is the first Cloud offering MDX-i is launching in partnership with Microsoft, the leading global provider of Cloud Services. With this launch, MDX-i is positioned to meet the computing infrastructure needs of companies deploying private, public or hybrid clouds from its Tier III Data Center in Lagos.This ensures quick and agile provisioning of infrastructure for businesses and government agencies as required, thus improving their time to deliver on-demand applications and services.

Makwane said: “The Cloud OS Network is a worldwide group of select service providers that partner closely with Microsoft to offer customers hybrid cloud and Azureenabled solutions. Uniquely combining expertise in Microsoft technology, customer requirements, and geographic specialisation, Cloud OS network members deliver the Microsoft Cloud Platform customised to your specific needs.”

Also, MDX-i’s Business Development Executive, Rob Lever said the new cloud platform is a scalable and cost effective alternative to

dedicated computing resources deployed in-house by companies and includes managed virtual data centers, virtual private servers, and virtual LANs to assure customers of high availability.

He said: “Businesses are beginning to embrace Cloud services because it promises increased agility in addition to savings in OPEX (operating expenditure) and CAPEX (capital expenditure). Our IaaS platform reduces complexity, interoperability, and security concerns of our customers. It provides them the benefit of leveraging our infrastructure, and the expertise of MDX-i and Microsoft, without their having to incur the substantial costs associated with deploying such solutions.”

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), PCL Mobisafe, Christian Landmark, said the pilot customer of the new cloud offering, expressed his confidence in the performance levels and reliability of the solution.

He said: “We chose MainOne as our Cloud Provider because of their excellent reputation for quality and support in the telecoms sector. We are impressed by their technical expertise and willingness to go the extra mile in their provision of what is a fairly complex solution.”

Globacom has announced its readiness to roll out the first set of marketready agents for its mobile money service, Glo Xchange.

This new development follows the launch last year of Glo Xchange, which is Nigeria’s first mobile money superagent network in the country. It was followed by a training for thousands of the agents in over 30 states in the country.

The company said in a statement in Lagos that no fewer than 10,000 proficient Glo Xchange agents would be added to its super-agency network in the next 12 months to deliver the much-expected mobile money revolution in Nigeria.

The Glo Xchange Agents, Globacom explained, would operate from designated mobile money outlets, such as kiosks, shops, pharmacies, supermarkets and mega stores in strategic locations.

These outlets will complement the over 160 Gloworld and Glozone shops, which are offering Glo Xchange services to customers along with branches of all Globacom’s mobile money partners, such as First Bank, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Zenith Bank.

Head, Mobile Money Financial Business in Globacom, Mr. Esaie Diei, said

Glo Xchange was introduced to speed up financial inclusion in the country. It added that this will take cashless transactions and e-payments to the grassroots. With mobile money, he said the mobile phone users could make payments, do transfers, buy airtime, pay bills for example Dstv, GoTV, PHCN etc, pay expressway tolls and conduct any such financial transactions without cash exchange, but through the mobile phone.

Diei said the company has also in-built innovative features to enhance security, convenience and effectiveness of the operations.First, the service comes with a dedicated toll-free Agent-Care short number 33003 for quick assistance to Glo Xchange Agents.

Secondly, a dedicated USSD Short Code, *800#, has been introduced to allow Glo Xchange Agents to access the mobile money services of any Mobile Money Operator (MMO). There is also an application to inform the end-user of the nearest Glo Xchange Agent location.

“The customer can have more information by dialling the USSD Short Code *800# free of charge,” Diei added.

Online travellers’ platform makes debut QUANTUM Travels Limited, a travel management company, has unveiled a new online travel platform, ajala.ng.

Its Head, Brand Marketing and Projects, Ms. Omolua Oyakhire, described platform as a one-stop online travel management platform delivering unique offerings that allows customers take control of their travel plan and optimise opportunities at the lowest cost possible.

“Our number one aim is to provide travel paths and plans that won’t break the bank, whilst meeting our customers’ need.We provide a holistic approach to our travel service offerings thereby granting control to the traveler to create a travel experience that exceeds their expectations” she said.

Oyakhire explained further that the new online platform would help improve the ease of acquiring travel information and support customers who desire to travel but do not have adequate resources by providing them

with the option of spreading payment over a specific period of time and still meeting their travelling desires with a relatively low cost.

Its Head, Customer Relationship Management, Mrs. Bukola IsaacOluwasanmi, said the new travel platform is convenient, fast and userfriendly in comparison to what is currently obtainable in the industry, providing unique browsing experience for the customers.

“By utilising a combination of automated tools and manual processes, we are able to deliver to our customers the lowest available airfare real-time at any given time. Every booking made would go through a rigorous lowest logical fare check to ensure the best fare is available for the traveler” she said.

She enjoined the firm’s customers to take advantage of its unique services to get a stress-free travelling experience both local and international.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

e-Business GADGET REVIEW

Motorola Moto X Pure

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Banks not doing enough to tackle online fraud, says survey

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BOUT half of banks and payment systems prefer to handle cyber incidents, rather than invest in equipment which can prevent them, a survey has revealed.

The survey was conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International among company representatives to find out their attitudes toward data security, including financial companies' policies towards protection from online fraud.

More than 5000 representatives, including 131 banks and payment services, from 26 countries participated.

During the survey, 48 per cent of financial organisations said they protect their clients from online fraud, aiming at mitigating the consequences rather than preventing incidents entirely.

It said 29 per cent of companies believe it is cheaper and more effective to address cases of fraud, rather than attempt to prevent them.

According to the responses, whenever a cyber-fraud incident involving a client's account occurs, only 41 per cent of organisations take measures to prevent it from re-occurring in the future.

According to Engineer IT, the survey showed that 36 per cent of companies conduct an analysis of the vulnerability exploited in the attack, and 38 per cent compensate the losses. The most popular policy among companies is to try to find out who was behind the attack: two-thirds (66 per cent) of financial organisations are guilty of this practice.

Global Head, Fraud Prevention Division at Kaspersky Lab, Ross Hogan, said relying on mitigating the negative consequences of fraud is similar to trying to treat the symptoms of an illness rather than its cause.

The symptoms will recur, and the illness will progress. In this respect, Kaspersky Lab recommends that you do not forget how important prevention is. Many of the world's leading banks have acknowledged this and have implemented "root cause fraud prevention", but alarmingly many still rely on "reactive fraud detection".

Experts recommend that banks and payment services use comprehensive online fraud protection methods to protect the bank's clients at several levels.

One such method is a fraud prevention platform which includes threat control tools installed on client devices, as well as the server component located within the bank's information infrastructure.

Through the special code imbedded in the bank's web-page, this component can remotely detect a client device infection.

Hogan laments that each year, cybercriminals invent more and more sophisticated methods of attack, and if the banks do not have preventive measures in place, it enables further growth in the numbers of financial cybercrime and increased losses.

A recent example is the discovery of Blue Termite - a cyber espionage campaign that has been targeting hundreds of organisations in Japan for over the past two years.

The attackers hunt for confidential information and utilise a zero-day Flash player exploit and a sophisticated backdoor, which is customised for each victim.

In October last year, Kaspersky Lab researchers encountered a never before seen malware sample, which stood out from others because of its complexity.

Further analysis has shown that this sample is only a small part of a large

and sophisticated cyber espionage campaign. The list of targeted industries includes governmental organisations, heavy industries, financial, chemical, satellite, media, educational organisations, medical, the food industry and others.

To infect their victims, Blue Termite operators utilise several techniques. Before July this year, they mostly used spear-phishing emails - sending malicious software as an attachment to an email message with content, which would most likely attract a victim's attention.

However in July, the operators changed tactics and have started to spread the malware via a zero-day Flash exploit. The attackers have compromised several Japanese websites so that visitors of the sites would automatically download an exploit once they are on the website and become infected. This is referred to as a driveby-downloads technique.

After a successful infection, a sophisticated backdoor is deployed on a targeted machine. The backdoor is capable of stealing passwords, downloading and executing additional payload, retrieving files and conducting other dangerous exploits.

One of the most interesting things about the malware used by the Blue Termite actor is that each victim is supplied with a unique malware sample that is made in a way that it could only be launched on a specific PC, targeted by the Blue Termite actor.

According to Kaspersky Lab researchers, this has been done in order to make it difficult for security researchers to analyse the malware and detect it.

IHS, Airtel complete tower sale, lease deal

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IGERIA-based telecommunications infrastructure group IHS Holding Ltd has completed sale and lease back of telecom towers in Zambia from Airtel Zambia.

Last December, Bharti Airtel announced that it had sold over 1,100 telecom towers in Zambia and Rwanda to IHS Holding at an estimated $180-200 million to pare debt.

As part of the 10-year renewable contract, Airtel will lease back the towers from IHS.

Its Executive Vice Chairman & Group CEO, Issam Darwish, said: “This acquisition will enable us to eventually upgrade these towers and continue to roll-out innovative energy saving technology throughout the continent.”

Outsourcing tower infrastructure to IHS allows Airtel to focus on its core business and customers; enables it to deleverage through debt reduction, and will significantly reduce its ongoing capital expenditure on passive infrastructure, Airtel said in a statement.

•Darwish

HE ideal Android Smartphone looks like this: it has good design, fast performance, clean software, and it doesn't cost as much as an iPhone.

Motorola's been chasing that ideal since 2013 with its Moto X phones, which have always had an attractive ergonomic design, an unencumbered Android experience, and pricing well below flagship smart phones from Apple and Samsung. But at the same time, the Moto X has also represented what many consider to be the worst of Android: lousy cameras and mediocre battery life.

Now Motorola is launching its third edition of the Moto X, which you can preorder starting today. The Moto X Pure Edition (or Moto X Style if you're not in the US) is a lot like its predecessors. It's also aggressively priced, perhaps more so than ever before, starting at just $399 completely unlocked. That last bit is important as the new Moto X isn't being sold through carriers (in the US, at least) at all, you can only purchase it direct from Motorola or from its retail partners (Best Buy and Amazon). But it's compatible with all four major US carriers, which is still a rarity among unlocked phones.

Beyond working with virtually any SIM card you might have, Motorola says this year's phone includes a class-leading camera, addressing the biggest complaint with its prior devices.

Based on Motorola's promises, you'd think that it's finally cracked how to build t h e perfect Android Smartphone.

I've been using it for the past week, and, well, it's far from perfect. It's not the best Smartphone you can buy, Android or otherwise. But it is a really good Smartphone at a really great price, and to do better than the new Moto X, you're going to have dig much deeper into your wallet.

Motorola's been using the same design theme across its products since the first Moto X, and the new version doesn't deviate from it at all. That's fine; the curved shape and tapered sides of the phone make it comfortable to hold, and though it's not as thin as other smart phones, it doesn't feel like a chunky brick.

It's a good-looking design that works.

In fact, the new Moto X looks so similar to last year's version that you might be hard-pressed to tell them apart at first glance. It has the same dual front-facing speakers, same metal trim, and same customizable back, where you can choose from various woods, leathers, or plastic finishes using Moto Maker.

The Moto X has good-looking design that works There are two distinct differences: the camera surround on the back has been redesigned (though it feels like it was changed just for the sake of changing something, and not for any particular purpose), and the phone is much bigger this time, housing a significantly larger 5.7-inch display. That display pushes the Moto X from a small- to medium-sized device into Big Phone territory, and makes no mistake, this Big Phone. But like the Galaxy Note 5, the Moto X doesn't feel as big as it looks, and it's not completely unwieldy to use. (The Nexus 6 has only a slightly larger display, but feels significantly bigger than the Moto X, for example.) It also fits in my pocket, and I didn't drop it a single time in the week I've been using it. We all want phones with big screens, but at the same time want them to be manageable to use.

This year, Motorola and Samsung (and to a certain extent, LG) have seemed to figure out the formula to make that work.

The similarities to Samsung's flagship phone largely end there, however. The Moto X is a well-built device with a smart and efficient design, but it's not nearly as premium feeling as Samsung's device.

The phone has all the pieces of a flagship

phone: metal rim, Gorilla Glass front and nice styling. But there's a subtle sense that the pieces don't all mesh into a singular whole like they could. For example, the curves from the front to the metal sides are plastic. None of this makes it look cheap, but it doesn't take long to figure out which is the more expensive device when you compare it to a Galaxy Note 5.

It doesn't feel as premium as other high-end phones Motorola's new, 5.7-inch quad HD LCD display also isn't nearly as nice as Samsung's panels. It's not a bad screen by any means. Motorola went with an LCD display this time around, and it's sharp, colorful, usable outdoors, and has good viewing angles. But it's not eyepopping or class leading by any stretch.

It's a functional display that does its job, but it doesn't encourage you to stare at it and appreciate its beauty.

Perhaps the biggest (and most anticipated) upgrade from last year to this is the Moto X's new 21-megapixel camera. It's a significant leap in b o t h resolution a n d capability over the 13megapixel model from last year, and it does a much better job at taking photos. But last year's model set a really low bar, and while the new camera is much better, it's still outclassed

by Apple, LG, and Samsung's cameras.

Images taken in good lighting conditions are bright and colorful, though there's a tendency for them to look over-sharpened. It makes the images look unnaturally digital and not as attractive as those captured by the Note 5, iPhone 6 Plus, or G4. In poor lighting, the Moto X does a much better job than before, but it still misses focus often and pictures come out much softer than I'd expect. I also wish it had optical image stabilization, which has basically become a must for any premier Smartphone.

If these sounds like I'm being overly critical of the camera, that's because I am.

The camera is one of the most important features on any smartphone, and it's something that many people use every single day. It's one of the few things that can make or ruin a Smartphone experience, as my colleague Vlad Savov has pointed out time and again. The Moto X's camera isn't bad by any means; it's just not as good as other options.

On the plus side, the Moto X's camera is better than virtually any other option in its price range, including the OnePlus 2 or ZTE Axon Pro. Its app is also quick, and the twist gesture to launch the camera is faster and more reliable than before. (It's still not as quick as Samsung's double tap on the home button, however.) But if you're looking for the absolute best Smartphone camera, the Moto X doesn't have it.

The front-facing camera on the Moto X is a 5-megapixel unit with a wide angle lens, which is great for selfies.

Motorola decided to put an LED flash on the front this year, but I don't recommend using it. It put spots in my eyes and produced unnatural lighting.

It's no shocker that a bright light shined two feet away from your face is exactly as terrible as it sounds.

The Moto X is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 808 and 3GB of RAM, which is a good combination for solid, reliable performance. The X didn't exhibit significant stuttering or lag while I used it, and it handled games without issue. It also didn't get uncomfortably warm, even when multitasking or playing games. The 808 is not a top of the line processor, however, and the X never felt as snappy quick or lightning fast as other Android phones that have come out this year.

•Culled from www.theverge.com

17

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

THE NATION

BUSINESS TRANSPORTATION

E-mail: ynotaderibigbe@gmail.com

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HE Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) is to establish a traffic radio for motorists’ education, its Chief Executive Officer Boboye Oyeyemi, has said.

He said the radio station, which may take off soon, is in line with global best practices and would educate the public on road etiquette and traffic news nationwide.

Oyeyemi said: “The initiative will promote safety culture and is part of strategies aimed at reducing road carnage in the country by 20 percent and death from crashes by 30 percent.”

Speaking on the ongoing Operation Scorpion, Oyeyemi said 2,261 trucks and other articulated vehicle drivers were arrested between July 27 and August 14, for 3,289 traffic offences.

The arrests, according to him, took place in seven critical trailer/tanker routes such as the Lagos/Ibadan, Benin/Asaba, Mokwa/Makera, and Abuja/Kaduna roads.

Others are Onitsha/Owerri, Ilorin/ Jebba and Port-Harcourt/Okigwe roads. He added that 1,791 vehicles were impounded in an operation carried out by 3,000 FRSC personnel.

He urged all commercial drivers and vehicle owners to avoid the wrath of the law, as the Corps would not spare anyone caught flouting its directive on the installation of the speed limiter device.

Describing the device as another effort aimed at reducing the road carnage, Oyeyemi said no efforts would be spared in ensuring that evry road user known how to use the road responsibly and without causing any injury or death to other users.

He said the Corps has in the past few weeks embarked on the training and retraining of all truck and trailer drivers at major locations acroos the country and had also introduced free medical check-ups among others to enable them know their heal status.

Oyeyemi said the medical checkups have also been incorporated into the free quarterly safety checks conducted on vehicles,adding that at the last exercise conducted last

• Akpabio (fifth left), Ogun State Sector Commander Adetunji Adegoke (fourth left), R.S.2 Zonal Head of Operations Godwin Ngueku (fifth right) and R.S.2 Zonal Head, Administrative and Human Resources, Adijat Akinbote (fourth left) after the meeting at the FRSC Lagos Headquarters.

PHOTO: OLALEKAN AYENI

FRSC to set up traffic radio

By Adeyinka Aderibigbe and Olalekan Ayeni

month, 27, 562 vehicles were checked and no fewer than 28, 528 defects found with the owners of such vehicles mandated to effect the repair of such before their vehicles were released.

“This shows an increase of 15 percent in vehicles checked over the same period of 2014, with a decrease of one percent in defects. This checks have also been expanded to include medical check-ups on the drivers which is aimed at ensuring that not only the mechanical status of the vehicles, but also the health status of the drivrs are known.”

Oyeyemi said statistics of road crashes for the month of June has shown a 12 percent reduction compared to the same period of review last year, adding that deaths from these accidents also reduced by 15

percent in comparison with the same period.

Meanwhile, the agency has pledged to sustain ‘Operation Scorpion,’throughout the Ember months. The exercise began last month.

The Lagos and Ogun Zone Commander Nseobong Charles Akpabio, said in Lagos after meeting with the zone’s senior officers that the special operation had gone a long way in reducing accidents involving heavy duty vehicles.

The exercise, he said, exposed the bad habits of trailers’ and tankers’ drivers that often resulted in crashes.

Akpabio said the drivers must be forced to cultivate the right road ethics and forced to obey traffic rules and regulations in the interest of other road users.

Akpabio said the exercise has also enabled the Corps to apprehend

some drivers and those arrested were prosecuted, adding that the agency ensured that the mistakes were corrected before they were set free.

He pledged that the corps will not rest on its oars until the roads are made safe.

He congratulated the Sector and Unit Commands under the Zone for emerging the first among the 12 Zones of the Corps in the 2015 second quarter assessment.

He said before the best zone emerged, the assessments and activities of the zones were evaluated.

Akpabio said: “It was a thing of pride that RS 2.1 emerged the best zone by the commission for the second quarter.”

He appealed to both the Regular and Special Marshals to continue with the winning attitude to enable the zone sustain the great feat.

He urged the officers to double their efforts saying: “Success is a product of action and without action, there will be no success.”

Akpabio appealed to the officers to increase their surveillance, patrol and continually train and retrain and be more receptive and committed to the service to enable them to continue to deliver.

He urged the Sectors and Unit Commanders to ensure all recalcitrant drivers are arrested and charged to court to enable the road become accident free.

He directed that any driver caught with fake or without drivers’ licence must be arrested and compelled to procure original licence before he is set free.

He urged them to increase their collaboration with media and other security agencies to enable the Corps achieve its set goals.

Road repair excites residents, motorists

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HE rehabilitation of Ikorodu-Sagamu Road, w h i c h has been in a bad shape for years, has begun.

Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode ordered its repair following the plea of the Majority Leader of the House of Assembly, Sanai Agunbiade, the law maker representing the area.

Agunbiade hailed Ambode.

Residents and motorists are excited by the development and thanked Agunbiade for his motions urging the road repair.

They said they had resigned to fate after their pleas to the government did not yield result.

“The worst is that this road is a federal road and it is along the road that the office of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), is located. Many times, officials of the Lagos State Government had been frustrated while trying to work on this road

by FERMA officials.

“It is whenever the officials of Lagos State get here that FERMA would suddenly realise that the road belongs to the Federal Government,” Saidu Adepoju, a resident, said.

Another resident, Aderoju Ladega, while expressing happi-

By Oziegbe Okoeki

ness at the development, said: “after much agitation and appeal to the state governor by Agunbiade, Ikorodu-Sagamu Road axis of Lagos State is presently undergoing palliative repairs.

He said: “I must confess I appreciate this good move made by S.O.B (Agunbiade),” he urged those who would use the road after the rehabilitation to drive carefully.

When completed, the road is expected to ease the endless traffic congestion on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as vehicles and travellers to the southern and eastern parts of the country could make use of the road.

Contacted, Agunbiade, said his peoples’ commendation should go to the governor and the General Manager of the Public Works Corporation.

Agunbiade said:”Why I said that is because the road, a federal road, had been very bad. I wrote a letter to the governor concerning the road and later met him and he said he would look into it. One night, someone called me from the Governor’s Office that the GM of Public Works had been directed to speak with me.

•Agunbiade

•The Ikorodu/Shagamu road under repair.

“That shows that the governor keeps my discussions in mind and that shows the responsiveness of the governor. You can imagine how many other people would have spoken with him and the volume of things he would be thinking about. But he remembered,” the lawmaker said.

Praising the Public Works Corporation, Agunbiade said was told that FERMA often stopped the state from embarking on the project.

“It is on that road that we have LASPOTECH, the Waste-to-

Wealth, that’s where we also have the Army Cantonment, two housing estates, about 25 communities. The worst of it is that FERMA also exists on that road,” he explained further, adding that before the repairs began, Ambode asked some officials to follow him to inspect the road and the officials returned with a report to the governor.

“Behold, on Saturday, the officials just called me and told me that they were on site. I went there to see the extent of the massive work they did. The position of the governor is that it is the

indigenes that ply the road even though it is a federal road,” he added.

Agunbiade said he only did what the people of Ikorodu expected of him as their representative.

He urged the people of the area and the state to cooperate with the current administration, adding that the governor is just taking his time to start running so that he would avoid making mistakes.

“Our people should be patient with those in government and pray for them because without their support and prayers, those in government cannot do anything. What the state government is doing now is a palliative to make it motorable,’’he said.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

18

THE NATION

BUSINESS MARITIME

e-mail: maritime@thenationonlineng.net

How NPA can bail out economy, by Ministry official

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HE Federal Government has been urged to support the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in its bid to boost the economy.

NPA, it was gathered, is set to double its revenue next year, after achieving 95 per cent of its target in the 2013 and 2014 budgets.

A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance, who craved anonymity, said at the weekend that things were expected to look upward, with the automation of NPA’s operations and its adoption of Revenue Invoicing Management Systems (RIMS).

The officials said under this arrangement, revenue leakages will be blocked and operational revenue improved.

With the port reforms, NPA is able to monitor terminal operators to track revenues through the automation platforms set up by its finance department.

“With the introduction of RIMS, the NPA management under the leadership of Mallam Habib Abdullahi will be able to track where the revenue is leaking and it was based on his commitment that they have been able to achieve over 95 per cent of their annual budget in the last three years.”

Findings however, revealed that a major impediment to NPA revenue drive is trade facilitation, while the management is working towards making the nation’s sea ports a hub in West Africa.

“To double its revenue and surpass the budget target, what NPA needs now is the trade facilitation role of other government agencies.

NPA has put its house in order with the cadre of the people that are currently leading the agency. But there is need for the Federal Government

Stories by Oluwakemi Dauda Maritime Correspondent

to ensure that the role of other agencies makes it very easy for any of the land-locked countries in West and Central Africa to know that the goods that are passing through Nigerian ports are safe, secured and will be delivered wherever they are needed,” the official said.

Speaking with The Nation after launching RIMS, NPA Managing Director Abdullahi said the authority had “fully automated” the ports operations nationwide.

He said the NPA would continue to introduce initiatives in line with best practices to ensure that it remains efficient, transparent and accountable to stakeholders and the people.

“In February and September last year, we launched the Electronic Payment System and the Electronic Ship Entry Notice (E-Sen) as a first step towards full automation of our processes. This has tremendously improved efficiency in port operations as well as giving value to our esteemed stakeholders.

“The Revenue Invoicing Management System and Customer Portal which we have just introduced are fully convergent and real time platforms for our processes, which will lower operational cost and shorten the time for documentation. These platforms fully integrate the electronic flow of information for business–to–customer and business– to–business with higher availability and flexibility. The platforms are also fully integrated with all our existing solutions such as Oracle Financials, Oracle Human Capital Management, NPA Pay direct via Inter switch and Electronic Ship Entry Notice (eSEN).

“The introduction of this system has the potential to improve our service offering, improve our relationship with stakeholders, create efficient payment method, maximise revenue and minimise loss associated with fraud and revenue leakage.

“The Customer Self Service Portal (CSSP) on the other hand, provides a platform for our customers to initiate and conclude their business process with us and also communicate with NPA. The benefits accruing from this portal, according to him, are: Improved customer service delivery; easy access to customer accounts status; view of all transactions and status in respect of bills; electronic upload of manifest; e-invoice and e-receipt generation.

“Similarly, our Billing Applications which are already operational in all port locations, will soon proceed to the next stage. Currently, it covers payment processes in areas such as Lease Fees, Service Boats, Passenger boats, General Bills (Jetties and Trawlers), and Oil Terminal Dues (OTD)/Compulsory Pilotage Rates (CPR). The next stage will cover Throughput Fees, Estate Bills and Provisional/Final Bills.

“The introduction of these measures will facilitate business growth with high performance and unlimited scalability of the operations of the authority. This is evident from statistics which have shown that cargo throughput increased from 46,150,518 metric tonnes in 2006 to 86,603,903 metric tonnes in 2014 indicating an 87 per cent increase during that period which is due in part to continued efforts at improving processes.

NPA’s Executive Director Finance

• President Buhari

•Abdullahi

and Administration Mr Olumide Oduntan said that RIMS solution will improve cargo-based revenue by 52 per cent within a year and 65 per cent subsequently.

Oduntan also said that the e-ship entry notice initiative introduced by the NPA has improved Gross Tonnage (GRT) based revenue by 38 per cent between 2014 and 2015.

His words: “The deployment of e-SEN and RIMS Solution by the NPA has blocked all leakages in our operational activities by 95 per cent and the remaining five per cent would be blocked upon the launch of a command and control centre which is expected to go on stream by the end of November, this year.”

Oduntan added that before the end of November this year, “operational leakages would be a thing of the past in NPA.” The National Vice President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Chairman - Dala Inland Dry Port, Kano, and Ahmad Rabiu said that

they were happy with the giant stride so far taken by the NPA in its revenue drive..

“Nigerian Shippers, Cargo owners and shipping lines have a lot to benefit from the Revenue Invoicing Management Systems (RIMS) introduced by the NPA. It is an excellent initiative that will improve efficiency and save so much time and costs. NPA needs to keep it up.

“We are proud of the NPA and as we know that some of the operators’ ports of the neighboring countries like Cotonou are already crying due to the forex control measures. We must support the NPA and do more as Nigerians to block revenue leakages and distortions, improve efficiency and block channels for corruption in our ports.

Other stakeholders who spoke with the paper agreed that the introduction of the e-platforms by the NPA would boost their revenue base and make the agency contribute meaningfully to the economic calendar of the Federal Government.

Cargo Tracking Note will aid ports security, say importers, others

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AN the Federal Government secure the sea ports without the introduction and enforcement of the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN)? No, say importers, clearing agents and other stakeholders in the maritime industry.

CTN is a web-based cargo verification solution facility designed to monitor shipment of seabornecargo, allowing for real-time generation of ‘notes’ and various trading statistics on the cargo, vessel and shippers.

The introduction of CTN by Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), stakeholders said, is to assist the Buhari administration facilitate seamless marine transportation to guarantee the safety of human and marine life, goods, vessels, the ports environment and the country.

Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) president Prince Olayiwola Shittu said CTN is required for every Bill of Lading including groupage containers in many ports of the world to prevent crime and increase security.

It is also a way of verifying the contents of every cargo, and then tracks that cargo between ports to ensure safety and security.

“We are in support of the Nigerian Shippers Council in its quest to introduce the Cargo Tracking Note. They have promised us that it will not add to the cost of doing business in our ports. We are also

•Bello

in support because all international moving companies across the globe are required to comply with the cargo tracking note scheme.

The shippers comply by collecting the required information on the goods to be shipped at a particular port. The carriers comply by checking that all cargo is covered by a CTN number before receiving for shipment, the Port Authorities check the details and the statistics

to eliminate any threat to the safety of lives and port facilities. With the high level of insecurity in the north, I think we need the scheme to protect our ports and the people,” Shittu said.

An importer and Executive Director Sua-Salau International Company, Mr Suarau Salau said that the Federal Government should not hesitate in supporting NSC in the introduction of CTN if it would bring peace and stability to the country.

“Most importers want to be sure that the goods they are bring into a country will arrive securely, complete and intact. They also want to know when they will arrive and be ready for pick up to avoid payment of demiurge to terminal operators and the shipping companies.

“Nigeria in 2015 needs a webbased system that interlinks all the major ports in the world to a tracking note that will carry all its details which will be used to assess the state and location of the cargoes coming into the country at all times.

“CTN is a process that has its legal origin from the SOLAS Convention and ISPS Code. Nigeria is one of the least countries in the implementation of the cargo tracking notes as a result of which its benefits are lost in terms of national security,” Salau said.

Investigation conducted by The Nation revealed that CTN has been in operation for a long time in con-

tinental Europe, America Asia and other African countries apart from Nigeria.

When this reporter visited the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore and the port of Cotonou few weeks ago, findings revealed that all ships and cargoes coming to the two countries are tracked through the CTN to provide adequate security for their people.

It has been revealed however, that in spite of its enormous benefits, CTN is yet to be introduced into the Nigerian port and cargo system.

Speaking with The Nation at the weekend, its Executive Secretary Mr Hassan Bello boss said now is

the time to bring the benefits of the system to this country.

Nigeria, Bello said, needs a human and technological-necessary for cargo tracking notes that will work efficiently and effectively.

“With the planned introduction of CTN, the NSC wants to ensure that cargo arriving our ports is properly taxed and that no ‘leakage’ is occurring during transit.

NSC also wants to know and be sure that dangerous goods are not being smuggled into our country for the benefit of all,” Bello said.

The rules on CTN, he said, would apply in addition to existing ports and Customs rules laid down by the federal Government and ECOWAS countries.

Customs realises N30b

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HE Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Area Command, generated N30.1 billion last month.

The amount is over N5 billion higher than the N24.5 billion it collected in July. The revenue is the second highest it generated after it made N32.4 billion in March.

Of the amount, N16.082 billion was collected into the Federation Account, and N14.066 billion with the non-federation account.

Its Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ekpa, said N30.1 billion was collected from import duty on wheat grain, rice levy, sugar levy

and seven percent port levy among others.

He said 39 vessels called at the port during the month under review compared to 51 that called in the corresponding period of 2014, adding that yard occupancy of the port was 45 per cent as against 75 percent in August 2014 while import discharge was 16,983 as against 27,722 of 2014.

The image maker said despite low vessel calls at the port in August, the command recorded an increase in its revenue profile mainly due to dedication of officers and men of the command.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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COMMENTARY EDITORIALS

LETTER

Charmed out of legit business?

• The odyssey of ChamsCity in the national ID card concession compels a revisit to Nigerian governments’ attitude to Nigerian businesses

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HAT is the cost of downgrading a 10-year concession into a contract? In the case of Chams Plc and ChamCity, its Nigerian national identity card concession special purpose vehicle, it is N9.2 billion of investors’ money down the drain.

That is the long-and-short of the national ID card deal between Chams Plc and the Federal Government of Nigeria, via its agency, the Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC). The disputed deal has led to the virtual death of ChamsCity — except the Buhari Presidency quickly intervenes. This has also sustained the hoodoo that has plagued the national ID card scheme, conceived in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but yet to witness full implementation.

“Today is a sad day for entrepreneurship and innovation,” Sir Demola Aladekomo, Chams Plc’s founding managing director, griped, “as we close down ChamsCity at Ikeja that got Nigeria into the Guinness World Record, because my government could not protect Chams Plc from the onslaught of the NIMC management; a nation that kills its own.”

Sir Demola’s stinging comment is rather strange. Why might NIMC, an agency of the Federal Government, not only disagree with its principal but is alleged to have muscled it to truncate a concession between the government and Chams Plc? Chams’ allegations are even graver.

After winning an open and transparent national ID card implementation bid, which featured 65 other international companies in 2007, the NIMC chief executive officer allegedly dragged his feet, for three years, to frame the concession

agreement.

In-between, based on then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s assurances, that Chams need not wait for the formal concession details, Chams, according to a report in The Nation, went to the market to raise N8.4 billion, to which it added its own N800 million, making a total of N9.2 million. All this it invested in hardware and software, the ChamsCity virtual malls, which entered the Guinness Book of Records as the only digital mall in the world boasting more than 1, 000 fully networked computers in a single location.

Indeed, ChamCity are in four locations: Abuja (1,200 workstations), Lagos (1,100), Port Harcourt (1,000) and Benin (800), all reportedly geared to, by 2009, start delivering on the national ID card promise, such that by 2014, 50 million Nigerians would have had their ID cards. The concession would have lasted 10 years.

According to Chams, however, by 2010, when the formal contract details came out, the concession had reportedly morphed to a one-off contract, thus sparking a legal dispute.

Rued Sir Demola: “We tried, we begged, we did our best to protect a concession we won after a major international tender process. N9.2 billion shareholders’ funds was wasted for pecuniary interests,” he alleged, “of converting a concession to contracts. God help Nigeria!”

That has led to the closure of ChamsCity in its four locations; and holding in further abeyance, the national ID card project, which would appear to be jinxed.

Whichever of the two parties has defaulted, the courts would pronounce in good time. Still, the Chams allegations are

grave enough for the Buhari Presidency, under the rubric of its anti-corruption war, to investigate. That would be in the national interest.

For one, too much money, with too little result, has been spent on the National ID card project for the government not to wade into the matter. It should; and see if it can fix the problem without much delay, so that the project can resume.

For another, if the Chams allegations are true, it would be yet another painful example of how the Nigerian bureaucracy often throttles private entrepreneurial initiatives, on an alleged nose for sleaze.

If Chams had been a mono-product company, and it had met this brick wall, the business would have sunk — and with it, hundreds of its employees, not to talk of the money its shareholders would lose.

That would be wilful waste indeed, for a country in which mass unemployment is a terrifying problem. So, the early the Federal Government intervenes in this matter, the better.

‘Whichever of the two parties has defaulted, the courts would pronounce in good time. Still, the Chams allegations are grave enough for the Buhari Presidency, under the rubric of its anti-corruption war, to investigate. That would be in the national interest’

500 days and still counting We shall never be free of the burden of bringing back the Chibok girls

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HURSDAY, August 27th, marked another tragic milestone in the evolving barbaric narrative of the Boko Haram terrorist insurgency that has, over the last five years, claimed thousands of lives, particularly in the NorthEast of Nigeria, and rendered the region economically prostrate.

It was exactly 500 days that day since the extremist sect invaded the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on the night of April 14, last year, abducting 276 girls who were preparing for their end-of-year Senior Secondary School examinations and carried them away in several trucks into the evil bowels of their Sambisa Forest fortress. But for about 57 of the abducted girls who were lucky to escape from their captors, nothing has been heard till date of the remaining 219 girls.

‘Even though it did not create the problem, the challenge and responsibility of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is to mobilise all the resources at the disposal of the Nigerian state to locate and rescue the girls. Luckily, the administration enjoys tremendous international goodwill and support, which it should draw upon to achieve this objective’

That horrific incident shocked the entire world and exposed not only the depth of evil symbolised by the Boko Haram sect, which claimed to be waging a war against western education, but also the utter irresponsibility, insensitivity and incompetence of the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration. For one, it was simply incomprehensible how the insurgents could operate with such abandon and audacity in an area that had been placed under a state of emergency by the Federal Government.

Even more exasperating was the inexplicable initial lethargic and unserious reaction of the Jonathan administration to the girls’ abduction. The administration only bestirred itself to act almost two weeks after the incident, and then only because of the international outcry that ensued. That squandering of valuable time is certainly a key reason why the insurgents were able to successfully spirit the girls away and their fate remains uncertain and unknown over 500 days after.

The girls and their families heroically insisted on their obtaining western education despite the murderous threats of the Boko Haram barbarians. Unfortunately, the Nigerian State failed in its prime responsibility of providing them with adequate security to safeguard their lives. The sheer agony that the relatives and loved ones of these girls have been put through since the commencement of this ordeal can best be imagined. For, they have no way of knowing what fate has befallen the helpless girls. The par-

ents of at least 17 of them have reportedly died during the ordeal. It is improbable that even if they are eventually rescued, the girls’ lives can ever be the same again.

Messages of solidarity from across the world on the 500th day of their abduction show that the plight of the girls continues to haunt the global conscience. The Bring Back Our Girls movement deserves commendation for its tenacity in keeping the issue at the forefront of international consciousness. Even though it did not create the problem, the challenge and responsibility of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is to mobilise all the resources at the disposal of the Nigerian state to locate and rescue the girls. Luckily, the administration enjoys tremendous international goodwill and support, which it should draw upon to achieve this objective.

Understandably, President Buhari has been cautious not to create the impression that he has a magic wand to find and bring the girls back home. It would be cruel and dishonest to raise the hopes of their loved ones on unrealistic premises only to have them dashed eventually. But no matter how bleak the situation looks, we must never give up hope of rescuing and returning the girls home. We agree with the sentiments of the Pakistani human rights activist, Malala Yousafzai who in a letter to the girls said: “…Today and every day, we call on the Nigerian authorities and the international community to do more to bring you home. We will not rest until you have been reunited with your families”.

Buhari and the anti-corruption war

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IR: The glaring lack of political will to tame the scourge of corruption by successive administrations in Nigeria has led to degeneration of moral values and institutional decay. Corruption in the country today has become a malignant cancer spreading out of control.

On a daily basis, Nigerians are inundated with reports by the media on the monumental corruption that has taken place in the country over the years by past government officials.

That corruption is Nigeria’s leading bane is evidenced in the state of our economy today with high unemployment rate.

About two-third of the population live on less than one dollar per day.

Several reports and ratings by local, regional and international organizations and agencies paint a disturbing picture for the present as well as the future of our dear country. While majority of Nigerians are reeling under grinding poverty and serious material deprivations, those in government who are saddled with the responsibility of promoting the material well being of the people are engaged in looting our economy and pauperising the masses with brazen impunity, living an ostentatious and opulence lifestyle.

The essence of service is no longer motivated by selflessness and patriotism but selfish and monetary interest.

For us to come out of this self-inflicted problem, President Muhammadu Buhari must be ready to do more biting than bark; take a strong stance against profligacy and corruption and move beyond rhetoric and walk the talk, move away from the era of business as usual and “stealing is not corruption”.

So also, he must put in plan corruption preventive measures to nip it in the bud before it occurs, build stronger institutions, and embark on judicial reforms to strengthen our judiciary and judicial process which has continued to allow corrupt government officials to go scot-free. In this same vein, our anti-corruption agencies must be strengthened for it to be more effective.

• Wasiu Odukoya, Surulere, Lagos.

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

• Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Ade Odunewu

•Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon

•Advert Manager Robinson Osirike

•Deputy Editor (News) Adeniyi Adesina

• Gen. Manager (Training and Development) Soji Omotunde •General Manager (Abuja Press) Kehinde Olowu •AGM (PH Press) Tunde Olasogba

•IT/Pre-press Manager Bolarinwa Meekness

•Deputy Editor (Nation’s Capital) •Press Manager Yomi Odunuga Udensi Chikaodi •Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu •Legal Counsel John Unachukwu •Group Business Editor Simeon Ebulu • Manager (Admin) Folake Adeoye •Group Sports Editor Ade Ojeikere •Acting Manager (sales) •Editorial Page Editor Olaribigbe Bello Sanya Oni

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

20

CARTOON & LETTERS

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IR: It is appalling and pathetic how the country continues to lose her citizens in callous road mishaps on daily basis. Most disturbing is the fact that majority of these road accidents are highly avoidable if, and only if, the appropriate authorities had been proactive and willing to enforce the relevant traffic rules without fear or favour.

Last week, the media was dominated by shocking images of a 40feet fully loaded container which fell off at the ever-busy Ojuelegba flyover bridge crushing three occupants of a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in the process, while a driver of another vehicle barely escaped death by a whisker. From different accounts of this sad event, one thing remains abundantly evident; both the driver of the articulated lorry and the state traffic management officials acted without due diligence. A particular eye witness, according to media reports, allegedly made efforts to stop the lorry from using the bridge at material time without success. Curiously, officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LATSMA) were also reported to have dissuaded this patriotic Nigerian, even when it was overtly obvious that the driver of the ill-fated truck was violating the traffic rules and heading for danger.

The Ojuelegba tragedy was not the first time the state would record such a tragic incident in the recent past. In January this year, a young woman and her son were crushed to death after an unhooked container fell on them at the Ketu busstop. We can’t also forget in a hurry the Anambra incident of a few weeks ago where an entire family was wiped out when an unlatched container fell on a bus they were travelling in. Countless number of these misfortunes occur every now and then in virtually all the major cities in the country. Authorities appear to be as helpless as the victims of these sad events in terms of addressing it.

Interestingly, there are explicit rules and regulations on how these articulated trucks should operate.

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Curbing deaths from falling containers What baffles one then is how various states have continued to allow the menace to fester amidst existing regulations. For instance, the Lagos State Traffic Law, 2012, places a restriction on articulated trucks on the road from 6.00pm - 9.00pm.

For avoidance of doubt, Section 2 (1) of the said law states clearly that “Save as may be prescribed by the Commissioner by Regulation, no trailer other than petrol tankers and long vehicles used in conveying passengers, shall enter into or travel within the metropolis of Lagos between the hours of 6.00am9.00pm”. Subsection (2) further pre-

scribes a fine of N50,000 or a term of imprisonment for six months or both upon conviction on the said offence.

Sadly, this law appears largely a dead wood as far as its enforcement and implementation are concerned.

The state is yet to prosecute a single offender of this law. Yet the truck drivers continue to violate the law on daily basis with impunity. If the Lagos State government had deployed similar zeal it adopted in enforcing the sections that deal with motorcycle and tricycles restrictions from selectd areas in the metropolis in checkmating these trucks,

many lives would have been saved in the process. One does not want to believe that the law was merely targeted only at the Okada operators in the state. It is absolutely sad that the state government has refused to enforce the law in spite of deadly activities of these truck drivers in the state.

The rule that every articulated trucks carrying goods must be properly latched before taking off should be implemented and enforced to the letter. There is also a need to train the personnel of various traffic outfits in the state for an effective enforcement of the law.

It is also important that the driver and owner of the ill fated truck be made to answer for their callous negligence. The families of this unfortunate mishap and other road users in the state need to be reassured by the Lagos State authorities that no pin will be left unturned in bringing the culprits to the long arm of the law, while hoping it restores sanity on the roads. Thankfully, the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has issued directive to relevant authorities to begin to implement the laws henceforth . However, Nigerians and Lagos residents are waiting anxiously to see how this will play out in the days to come even as it is sincerely hoped that this will not just be one of those grand standings by the government.

• Okoro Gabriel, Esq. Lagos.

Lagos is not Terra Nullius

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IR: ”I tried to build an igloo out of orange peel but it kept falling down and even when it stood up I didn’t have an eskimo to put in it, so I had to invent a story about ‘How Eskimo Got Eaten’, which made me even more miserable. It’s always the same with diversions, lies, propaganda and deception; you get involved” – Jeanette Winterson In the course of human history, from pre-historic period down to this modern era,there is no portion of land that is terra-nullius (no man’s land) because there is always some dwellers in or within such territory(ies) and backed by modern legal systems. The concept of noman’s land only exist in realm of the ignoramus because if territories like U.S.A, Iceland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Alaska and the extreme northern-most part of the world are inhabited by Aborigines, Red Indians, Eskimos or Inuit tribes with extreme harsh weather conditions are someone’s land,then

it beat commonsense hollow to say that Lagos, with its fantastic tropical climate, agrarian, maritime economy and booming socio-economic life dating back 10th century, and to declare a territory that is sandwiched within certain tribal enclave as no man’s land is tantamount to making vogue and irrational claims that white Europeans are native Americans. This assertion has no basis and those behind this propaganda are nothing but beer parlour patrons who instead of engaging their minds intellectually are wasting it indulging in anti-social activities.What comes forth from such lazy minds should not at any time be subject of public discourse.

About the argument that Benin Empire conquered Lagos,I dare any well-grounded student of history to exhume any empirical historical evidence to buttress the claim that Lagos was indeed a conquered territory. The standard evidence was that Lagos is a trade centre in subSahara Africa to the outside world

because of its coastal waters and neighbouring tribes such as the Ibos, Benin’s, Hausas, Fulanis, Igbira, Eguns, e.t.c, have their representations or representatives in what we now refer to as embassies in modern time along coastal areas of Lagos as contact point to the outside world.

The word “Eko” has it origin from the Lexicon of the Aworis of Lagos dialect and, even if Eko is of Benin origin linguistically, language is dynamic because it evolved and developed over the years through human social-economic and political interactions. That nature of homosapiens and all it attributes are dynamic is a solemn verdict. This is not disputable!

That many European languages had some borrowed words from Greek and Roman languages doesn’t mean other Europeans were subject or conquered by the Greek or Romans. Hell no! Such an assertion does not meet the standard test of simple logic.

About the origin Oba of Benin’s

stool, I challenge any wellgrounded student of history to ask themselves the solemn question (s) of why all the Obas of Benin were always buried in Ile-Ife. These recorded practice continued till 1936 or thereabout and it probably ceased in order to forestall over bearing influences of outsiders in palace politics because in all traditions, in particular, in sub saharan Africa, a king should not be buried outside his domain. It is a taboo but because the Benin people of that time knew the origin of their Oba, they had no other option other than to bury their dead kings in Ile Ife. Empirical historical analysis, evidence and its verdicts are not written and attained by copy and paste of computer keyboard or mouse nor through sheer gossips from beer parlour or social media. There is no terra nullius anywhere.

• Akinola Muiz, Verona-Italy.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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COMMENTS No doubt, the South East, as O hee-hawing: Muhammadu any other part of the counry, Buhari, president of the Federal has the right to yell and kick, Republic, is provincial! But is if it feels short-changed. And that necessarily bad? despite that region’s clear In a multi-national country, with a general anti-Buhari parlous record of northern political electioneering and electoral domination, that would appear a posture, some South Easterners Twitter: @Lordbeek1 disaster. The image of the Nigerian still stuck out their neck for the Presidency as bastion of northern president. These presidential hegemony creates a disturbing déjà Olakunle allies would be most hit. They vu: we had seen it all, in those bad old face “we told you so!” jeers days, many would sneer. Now, are we lordbeek1@gmail.com, 08054504169 (Sms only, please) Abimbola from their people, but little to condemned to living it all, in this season cheer from their stubborn of purported change? electoral choice.

Believe it, the image is not exciting!

Still,, the South East stridency But the substance? would appear hobbled by its Put another way, does provincialism automatically negate Buhari’s natural mainstream political elite’s culpable indifference, particularly glamorise the other extreme as detribalised, whatever that when such appointive injustices are in their people’s favour. traits which, in part, powered him to the Nigerian presidency? means. So, to be a proper Nigerian, you must erase your Strictly on principles, Buhari’s perceived nothernaisation of Before you answer that question, just ponder these two cultural nativity? his government is no worse than Goodluck Jonathan’s situations, between President Buhari and Vice President Yemi This emotive imaging has caused a lot of havoc in the easternisation of his. Yet, the South East elite appeared comfy Osinbajo – Osinbajo, said to be as cosmopolitan as his principal political space, though it is fair to say such havoc resulted with the Jonathan-era injustice – a case of the Achebe quip is provincial – on account of picking their very close staff: from mutual distrust, which emanated from real and potent that you don’t spew out palm kernel put in your mouth by chief of staff and senior special assistant for Media. fears of unfair domination. Three names, in Nigeria’s political benevolent spirits? If that were so, what is the justice in the If you discount Femi Adesina, Buhari’s and Osinbajo’s picks, history, past and present, will just anchor this point. present South East’s shriek of alleged injustice? for chief of staff and chief of media, follow the same Obafemi Awolowo. He was the most rigorous political As for the South West and South-South, the dominant geographical parallel. The president picked Abba Kyari, as thinker of his generation. Yet, conventional Nigerian “wisdom political elite would appear a confused lot. In Ripple’s opinion, chief of staff; and Garba Shehu, as senior special assistant dismissed him as “tribalist”. Why? Because his closest aides Lagos’ Babatunde Fashola and Rivers’ Rotimi Amaechi would (SSA) media; both northerners. The vice-president picked Ade were generally Yoruba; who he often dispatched to sensitive appear the best two governors in the national gubernatorial Ipaye, as chief of staff; and Laolu Akande; as SSA media, both duties all over Nigeria, even during election time. Still. There class of 1997-2014. Yet, both blocs, though fired by different Yoruba. is no proof the tribalist tag diminished his rigour or vision. motivations, went on over-drive demonising the duo. But Now, what is the definitive difference between these two But on that sole score, he never became Nigeria’s prime when the dust cleared, and appointments had gone elsewhere, picks? Still, that Osinbajo picked fellow Yoruba as closest minister or president – hard as he tried. they suddenly jerked awake to bawl “northernisation” and staff – does that then re-make him as provincial; or even Olusegun Obasanjo. He is Awolowo’s very opposite, “marginalization”! make his choice evil? unabashedly “Nigerian”; and his admirers followed up to Even if Buhari was really “northern” in his outlook, what And it both cosmopolitan and provincial end up with gift him the eulogy of “father of modern Nigeria”, which chances did these sniping South West and South-South similar principles to choose aides, shouldn’t it be clear there Baba Iyabo merrily lapped up. As elected president, he went ancestral warriors give him, to essay a change of heart? Please could perhaps be more fundamental dynamics driving both ahead to reflect perhaps the most pan-Nigeria outlook in not that the Fashola and Amaechi examples are only – indeed, everyone – beyond the political correctness of being appointive decisions. But after all that, what? Not unlike the metaphors of the willful lack of strategic thinking “Nigerian”, to hypocritical applause?

Biblical white sepulcher: all-gleam outside but all-rot within demonstrated by these two blocs. It didn’t mean both Fashola Indeed, there is a deeper principles; and it is that Nigeria is – for beyond imaging, Obasanjo’s pan-Nigeria ensemble didn’t and Amaechi were in contention (even if they were, Ripples a federation. A federation is no fancy tag: it is a country appear to have got the job done. If they had, Nigeria won’t be was in no position to know) though either making the list peopled with different peoples, though it is hoped these in this terrible pass today. would have drastically changed the Buhari Presidency’s different peoples will eventually yoke, in a melting pot; and Muhammadu Buhari: By Nigeria’s terrible political-speak, perception as “northern”. that alchemy would produce a “national” culture. Still, a Buhari would be the first “tribalist” to make the Nigerian Still, nothing from this piece should be interpreted as an person gets to know first, families and friends; and not a few presidency. During electioneering, his opponents threw endorsement of Buhari’s northernisation of his presidency, go through life trusting this immediate environment, no everything at him: tribalist, northern irredentist, religious perceived or real. Just as Obasanjo’s pan-Nigeria imaging matter how limited or extensive their exposure has been. bigot. shielded his government’s rot until it was too late, Buhari’s In Nigeria’s often emotive media, such people have often Yet, such was the rot; and such were his perceived sterling emerging image of a northern presidential laager may too been demonised as tribalist or bigoted; but go ahead to basic qualities that they shone through the clouds of negative early blind the polity from the president’s promise of a coloration, that his coalition powered to the presidency; on national-changing tenure.

If Buhari’s electoral coalition could boast a pan-Nigeria ‘Buhari’s perceived northernisation of account of massive votes in the core North; and his makeover in the South West and the Middle Belt. mandate (though located more in the North’s three geohis government is no worse than But the distemper of electioneering would appear to linger, political zones and the South West), it should be capable of Goodluck Jonathan’s easternisation of coupled with new-found panic in the South West. pan-Nigeria citizens of quality and character, from all parts brings the discourse to the rather unflattering reaction of the country. his. Yet, the South East elite appeared toThat Buhari’s latest appointments which, in truth, is skewed in Any rationalisation short of that standard is nothing but comfy with the Jonathan-era skewing’ North’s favour. And the South East, somehow unusually, has presidential cant – and presidential cants are agree with the been most strident. president’s mantra of change.

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epublican ipples

Buhari: between image and substance

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OW that things have relatively quietened down after the last bout of industry-scale ritual of ‘naming and shaming of delinquent borrowers, we can now reflect on the aftermath of an exercise that has done more to confound than resolve problems. Until most recently, I probably assumed that debt is not necessarily a vice. With perhaps the exception of our cash-hung economy, my understanding was that debt constituted the main fuel on which modern businesses run – a serious business at that. Whether we are talking of a giant corporation or a struggling household business in some remote corner of town; debt is like oxygen – the presence/absence of which determines whether or not a business will live or die.

In this wise, I must say that the controversies that have trailed the exercise is hardly surprising. It is a measure of the banality that the debt instrument has become particularly in our clime.

After all, those who hunger for it a la credit – that is its other name – hardly ever gets it while those who get it are those who hardly needs it. Call it the Nigerian paradox; it explains why the manufacturer who has a factory to run – whose operations are hobbled by dearth or inadequate working capital – is left dry in the sun while the economic vagrant, whose only net-worth is in the number of cars in his convoy, commands all the attention. It is at the root of why the Zungeru cash cropper cannot cut an impression with our stiff-necked banker while the fuel importer is given free rein into the vault.

To be sure, yours truly would have been most surprised is if the parties involved had quietly sorted out their mess while allowing the rest of us some peace. However, for an exercise that was said to have been designed to shake up the so-called delinquent players, it seems doubtful that it achieved anything of substance aside ruffling a few feathers. Yes, it stoked anger – lots of it – and with it threats and here and there. Beyond that, there is as yet, little evidence that it achieved much in terms of getting the wayward debtors to pay what they owe, and certainly far much less in addressing a problem that has become rather systemic.

No wonder the exercise ended as an elaborate farce – which is what made it tragic. For if merely by the tone of its letter of April 22 to banks and discount houses, the apex bank left no doubts about the seriousness it attached to the exercise. The relevant part of the letter read – “The CBN has managed to keep the banking industry safe and sound in collaboration with all members of the Bankers’ Committee….But some data shows that it is increasingly becoming difficult for some debtors to pay up their loans. So it was decided that going forward, one thing that we may do is to stop them from getting access to foreign exchange. This is to ensure the continuous safety and soundness of the banking industry”. That understandably was the reason behind the pill handed the so-called delinquent debtors – the three months of grace, effective May 1, during which they were to turn their

Policy Sanya Oni sanyaoni@yahoo.co.uk 08051101841

That circus of ‘name and shame’

accounts from non-performing to performing status, failing which their names would be published in major newspapers.

After two massive shakedowns – call it – comprehensive, industry-wide restructurings both of which were massively promoted as designed to deliver a brand new financial services industry – it says a lot about how very little has changed that the very afflictions that necessitated them – the appetite for uncalculated risk, sundry abuses of insider credit and other forms of abuses – have simply refused to go away. Merely by what the CBN letter suggest, the plague appears to have morphed into sublime but no less malignant forms.

For sure, we know who is getting what. The oil and gas sector tops the bill. The reason is not far fetched; that is where money could be made without breaking a sweat. You ask how? Tell me of a sector that would shell thirty-something percent interest all in a year’s cycle of investment and I would show you a modernday Robin Hood come to town. It also happens that the sector which claims the lion share of the available credit also carries with it the maximum risk.

Now, this is far from pronouncing guilt on everyone as charged.

Indeed, I am reminded of an a rather interesting riposte fired by the powerful Federation of Construction Industry (FOCI) – a body that has on its membership list, big names like Julius Berger Plc, C&C Construction, Costain West Africa, Hitech, Brunelli Construction, Jagal Nigeria, G. Cappa Plc, PW Nigeria Limited, Dantata and Sawoe and RCC – in the wake of the publication of the debtors list. Their position was simple: the CBN cannot isolate ‘delinquent debtors’ from the toxic environment which produce them. The body gave the example of the Federal Ministry of Works which it claims owes its members over N500 billion just as it admonished the apex bank to also publish names of government

ministries, departments and agencies indebted to their members for Nigerians to have a fair appreciation of the problem. Here is how their President Solomon Ogunbusola puts it: “We are indebted to banks and CBN is threatening our members, saying that it will publish their names as chronic debtors. How can you explain it that someone borrowed money from the bank for two to three years and government refuses to pay for the contract done with the money? What will CBN do to government that refuses to pay the contractor? The names of such governments must be published too”?

I am also aware of another set of people – those whose names have no business being on the debtors list as published. And we are not here talking of few muddled up names but individuals, who despite not having borrowed a dime from the banks, have had their reputations sullied by their appearance on the infamous list. Again, it says a lot about the appalling record-keeping in the financial sector as a whole that those charged with keeping custody of other people’s funds cannot be trusted to keep a clean list of debtors. When added to the poor judgment behind a good number of the credit decisions, the financial services sector would emerge as standing in graver risk than anyone could have imagined.

That, to me is the salient danger we must reflect upon, more so at these difficult times.

Glad to be back

I must apologise that yours truly made a rather dramatic disappearance from this page for more than four weeks running.

Some personal exigencies dictated that I take some time to sort things out. Now, I am back, fully refreshed to continue in the struggle to make our nation what it truly deserves to be…

‘It says a lot about the appalling record-keeping in the financial sector as a whole that those charged with keeping custody of other people’s funds cannot be trusted to keep a clean list of debtors. When added to the poor judgment behind a good number of the credit decisions, the financial services sector would emerge as standing in graver risk than anyone could have imagined.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

COMMENTS

I

T was Michael Watson, former British professional boxer whose career ended prematurely following a near-fatal injury he sustained during a WBO Super Middleweight title fight defeat by Chris Eubank in September 1991, who said: “You can never win an argument with a negative person. They only hear what suits them and listen only to respond”. He probably had Olufemi FaniKayode, former federal minister in mind.

A controversial personality, Fani-Kayode would be remembered for his unenviable roles as Director of Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, but more than anything else, his penchant for courting trouble and earning the administration a notoriety many would rather leave in the past. As minister of aviation and later, culture and tourism, he was relatively unknown until, as some people would comically say, he discovered a missed career in insolence. He rabidly insulted and lampooned anyone, who dared to differ from the views of government.

Indeed, for anyone in the know of FaniKayode’s antecedents, his article titled – Nigerian President or King of the North – would elicit minimal shock, except that he deliberately twisted history and stood truth in the head from start to finish. But how do you educate a man, who like Watson, listens only to respond? As could be seen in his article, a perfect example of a phantasy trip, he is angry at President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments, which in his imagination, favours the north. He reeled out the president’s sins: “President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria – North. 2.Senate President – North. 3. Speaker of the House of Representatives – North. 4.

Chief Justice of the Federation – North. 5.

President of the Court of Appeal – North. 6.

Chief Justice of the Federal High Court – North. 7. Secretary to the Federal Government – North. 8. Chief of Staff to the President – North. 9. Chief of Army Staff – North. 10. Chief of Air Staff – North. 11. Comptroller General of Customs – North. 12. Director-General of State Security Services (SSS) – North. 13. National Security Advisor – North. 14. Director General, NIMASA – North. 15. Chairperson of the Independant Electoral Commission (INEC) – North. 16. Comptroller-General Immigration – North. 17. Accountant-General of the Federation – North. 18. Commander of Civil Defence Corps – North. 19. Chief Security Officer to the President – North. 20. ADC

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HEN former Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, was sworn-in as Governor of Sokoto State on May 29, attention of the nation was shifted to the historical state, with genuine prospect of ‘continued change’ rising among citizens. This was expected largely because of the pedigree Tambuwal built while representing the people of Kebbe-Tambuwal Federal Constituency in the National Assembly and his subsequent success as the Number Four citizen in the hierarchy of protocol in the federation.

Tambuwal had campaigned for the new position on the premise of continuing with most of the programmes of the previous administration of Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko in Sokoto State. This was much evident in his numerous speeches before, during and after the elections.

The need for the ‘continued change’ mantra was necessary since both politicians not only belong to the same political party, but were from the same political family whose cord was coupled together years back. But like all individuals, it was an established fact that even though continuity of policies is guaranteed, governance style is a product of individual peculiarity since all persons are born different and unique.

Rather than feel any difference in individual composition between the last and present administration, the foundation laid by Tambuwal in the last 100+ days have heightened the already spiraling expectation from the public. The new approach to governance has galvanized the populace and attracted attention not just nationally but among development partners and other interest groups. The people have been co-opted and their inputs sought in efforts to improve their well-being and build on the foundation laid in preceding years. A priority to him at the moment is institutional reform. He has repeatedly said that when the institutions are on sound footing, the journey will be smoother.

What we have been served by Tambuwal is a development module that integrates Sokoto’s historical peculiarities and huge potentials while seeking to modernize all aspect of its life. Knowing fully-well that no human endeavour will move successfully without quality education, Tambuwal made the revamping of the sector his number one priority. Within days of taking over the reigns of affairs, he received an unusual request from Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar to introduce school transportation system for kids

Let Buhari be king of the North

By Abdulwahab Oba to the President – North. 21. Principal Secretary to the President – North. 22. Senior Special Assistant to the President on media – North. 23. Chairman of the EFCC – North. 24.

MD Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) – North.

25. Head of Service – North. 26. DG, National Communication Commission (NCC) – North.

27. Chairman NDLEA – North. 28. CEO, AMCON – North.”

But, perhaps, because he is Fani-Kayode, he did very little to get the records right, but was so quick to criticize just so he remains in the news for the wrong reasons. Seemingly on a whiff of imaginations and probably because he was yet to get over the defeat of his party at the polls, he paid little or no attention to incontrovertible facts regarding appointments by the former president and the current administration. For the records, former President Jonathan made the following appointments: Mike Oghiadohme, Chief of Staff; Chief Pius Ayim Pius, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Ita Ekpeyong, Director General, Directorate of State Security Service (DSS) and Major General Azubuike Ihejirika, now retired, Chief of Army Staff. Others were: Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba, as Chief of Naval Staff, Air Chief Marshal, Paul Dike as Chief of Defense staff and Air Vice Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu, as Chief of Naval Staff and later, General Kenneth Minimah, Chief of Army Staff.

Other appointees include: NIMET DG, Dr. Anthony Anuforom, NNPC, Engineer Andrew Yakubu, NIMASA, Patrick Apobolokemi, PENCOM, Chinelo Anohu Amazu, FERMA, Engineer Chukwu Amuchi, DPR- George Osahon, Bank Of Industry- Ms. Evelyn Oputu, Nigerian Content Development AgencyErnest Nwanpa, Consumer Protection Agency- Mrs Dupe Atoki, National Communications Commission (NCC) Engineer Eugene Juwah, NAMA -Engr. Nnamdi Udoh, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Engr.

Akikuotu; Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)- George Uriesi; Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Capt.

Chinyere-Kalu, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Ms. Aruma Otteh, Sovereign Wealth Fund, Uche Orji, National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Dr Paul Orhi, FIIRO, Dr. Mrs. G. N Elemo, Maritime Academy Of Nigeria-Oron Joshua Okpo, Nigeria Railway CorporationEngineer Seyi Sijuwade, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Mrs. Sally Mbanefoh, Budget Office of the Federation- Dr Bright Okogwu.

From the above appointments, there is no gainsaying that President Buhari has been very fair in his appointments and has not in any way violated the constitutional federal character principle, except for the likes of FaniKayode, who would never be satisfied unless they are in every government. Though there other numerous appointments to be made, but who really cares about where a president comes from or about who makes his cabinet?

With a badly battered economy, a skewed system that encourages corruption, a collapsed sense of infrastructure development and a value system that is on bended knees, obviously, Nigerians want more than appointments that celebrate the federal character principles, but people of competence to deliver high premium service to the nation. This is probably where Fani-Kayode, who in sheer characteristic mischief, sees everything from the ethnic prism.

Who, really, is Fani-Kayode speaking for?

Definitely, he is not speaking for the people of the South-east, who though have a historic and emotional connection to Biafra Republic, but still believe so much more on personal industry than on who gets what in government or how and where an administration has violated the federal character principle. FaniKayode is neither speaking for the people of the South-south, who like the Igbos of the South-east, are more concerned with a working system that guarantees freedom of speech, association, job opportunities, security of life and property, even development and equitable share of national resource.

Need anyone remind Fani-Kayode that Buhari needs people he can trust in order to stem the tide of sabotage, betrayal and dis-

trust blamed for the wreckage of the Jonathan administration? While it may be difficult to comprehend life outside government in a country like ours where public officers are at liberty to act with impunity, a time comes when people turn the page and start another chapter. Instead of continually fanning the ambers of discord and creating fear and anxiety where none exists, Fani-Kayode and his PDP should find a new vocation in the promotion of cultural and ethnic cohesion among Nigerians. Or, better still; proffer practical and functional solutions to the challenges facing Nigerians and Nigeria as a nation. If PMB has decided that his template for a better Nigeria would be achieved by bringing in people of like minds, all that would be required of every Nigerian is to support him, for, at the end of the day, the buck stops at his table.

We must face the realities of our present stage as a nation. But more than anything else, we must equally realize the fact that without changing our bad attitude, which like a flat tyre requiring complete change, we will go nowhere as individuals and as a nation. While President Buhari is expected to strongly consider our diversities in culture and religion, as well as ethnic backgrounds when taking decisions that bind on the nation, there is no better time to rebuild Nigeria than now. And, this can only be possible when we eschew needless intrigues and dirty politics, and worse still, any centrifugal attitudes.

•Abdulwahaab writes from Ilorin, Kwara State.

‘With a badly battered economy, a skewed system that encourages corruption, a collapsed sense of infrastructure development and a value system that is on bended knees, obviously, Nigerians want more than appointments that celebrate the federal character principles, but people of competence to deliver high premium service to the nation’

Take-aways from Tambuwal’s 100

By Imam Imam days in office in the state. His thinking was that with this kind of arrangement on ground, learning will be enhanced. Tambuwal promptly took up the challenge. Modalities for implementation are currently being developed pending budgetary approvals from the state legislature.

In a bid to boost enrolment figures and halt historical anomaly, government announced a policy that will criminalise refusal to send children to schools. The policy, seen as both radical and revolutionary, has drawn wide applause from social commentators and other stakeholders. This was followed immediately by recruitment of 500 teachers to address shortfall in teaching personnel in public secondary schools.

At a meeting with UNICEF, Tambuwal ordered immediate payment of counterpart funding for training of primary school teachers whose services will be employed upon completion of the trainings. The government has also abolished the discrepancy in the payment of school fees between indigenes and non indigenes in all public schools in Sokoto State. The entire operational manual for the tsangaya system of education, which integrates western and Islamic school system, has been redrawn. From the next academic session, designated teachers will lecture the students in their areas of learning pending when better facilities are provided to create a condusive learning environment.

Then also, in Sokoto, emphasis is now on technical education to ensure all students who graduated from O’levels are equipped with necessary skills for self reliance. Feasibility studies have been completed for the opening of entrepreneurship development centres in the three senatorial zones of the state.

In the areas of employment and youth empowerment, few weeks back, government started registration of 25,000 youths expected to benefit from a skills acquisition scheme over a two-year period. In the coming weeks, government will unveil a special training scheme for artisans and semi-skilled professionals to enhance output and marketing potential for their products. Sokoto government has also signed an MoU with the Usmanu Danfodio University for the training of nurses and birth

attendants whose services will be deployed in all parts of the state. To appreciate Sokoto indigenes studying health related courses, government has offered automatic employment for them upon successful completion of their studies.

Much has happened in the health sector in Sokoto in the last 100 days. After paying unscheduled late-night visits to public hospitals to assess things for himself, Tambuwal announced an increment in allowances paid to itinerant health care workers who frequent rural areas daily to render services to those in need. To enhance use of life-saving drugs, government began distribution of free drugs to pregnant women and those who gave birth in public hospitals or private health care centre under government supervision in the rural areas.

Consultations have also started on efforts to introduce health insurance scheme in Sokoto State. The scheme is part of measures to decentralise the National Health Insurance Scheme for optimum performance. Governor Tambuwal said seeking the views of religious scholars and traditional rulers is essential for its future success. Due to space constraint, let me say that social welfare schemes met by Tambuwal have been enhanced, with the ultimate objectives to ensure all citizens feel the impact of government at all levels.

In agriculture, Tambuwal started off by reclaiming a huge irrigation land abandoned since colonial times. With it on board, the new drive to enhance rice farming received a boost. Government has also opened discussion with the Central Bank of Nigeria to open a new credit line in addition to existing facilities so as to modernise the farming, packaging, storage and export of rice from Sokoto. Tambuwal has already appealed to the federal government to stop granting waiver to rice exporters in order to assist local producers.

In housing, Tambuwal last week laid the foundation stone for a 250-housing unit Caliphate Workers estate to be sited at Kasarawa, along airport road in Sokoto. Three other estates, initiated by the last administration, will be commissioned early next year with a combined capacity

of 1300 housing units. At the last Sokoto Business Forum, Aso Loans and Savings Ltd announced that it will construct 4000 units of houses over four-year period in Sokoto.

On security, apart from sustaining cooperation with various security agencies serving in the state, Tambuwal ordered all hotels in Sokoto to, from next year, ensure that all guests present valid ID cards as a condition for lodging.

An innovative approach to environmental sanitation was unveiled where government gave a monetary incentive to the cleanest neighbourhood in Sokoto. The policy has attracted interest from all parts of the state. On days designated for sanitation, huge crowd flock to streets with brooms and shovels in bid to win Tambuwal’s N2.3m Naira on offer.

On the important matter of bills and legislations, to demonstrate government’s commitment to have legal framework and institutionalise reforms, work on nine bills have been completed. They are the Sokoto Commodity Board bill, Sokoto Criminal Justice Law Reform bill, Anti-Child Pornography and Cyber Crimes bill, State Mortgage bill, Sokoto Education Reform bill, Sokoto Geographic Information Systems bill, Sokoto Transport Management Agency bill, Sokoto Primary Healthcare Development bill and Sokoto Environmental Protection Agency bill.

• Imam is the Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to Governor Tambuwal

‘In a bid to boost enrolment figures and halt historical anomaly, government announced a policy that will criminalise refusal to send children to schools. The policy, seen as both radical and revolutionary, has drawn wide applause from social commentators and other stakeholders’

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

23

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

25 To that same extent, an allegation of forgery, as claimed with ’the regards to the standing order of the 8 senate, is a crime against state, and it is the prerogative of the criminal justice instituth

tions of the state, on behalf of the nation-state, to vigorously pursue the allegation, and in furtherance of that, if the circumstance so demands, to properly bring before the court, any person(s) allegedly involved in the crime, to answer to the charges

’

E-mail:- law@thenationonlineng.net

See page 39

Few weeks to the start of the 2015/2016 Legal Year, lawyers have set agenda for the judiciary. They argue that it must give fillip to the Buhari administration’s anti-corruption war to make the crusade meaningful. ADEBISI ONANUGA reports.

Lawyers: Courts must join anti-graft war H

INSIDE:

OW will the judiciary fare in the 2015/2016 legal year, which begins this month? All eyes are on the courts to see how they will deal with corruption cases expected to come before them. It will be the judiciary’s first full legal year under President Muhammadu Buhari. As the last hope of the common man, so much is expected of it.

In the 2014/2015 legal year, there were sundry allegations against the judiciary.

Things are expected to be different under the Buhari administration which is waging war against corruption.

At the just concluded 55th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari urged lawyers to back his admistration’s fight against corruption and impunity.

Acknowledging the responsibility of lawyers to defend their clients, he urged them to do so without compromising their ethics and the integrity of the legal system – no matter how lucrative the brief may be.

Buhari urged lawyers to see corruption as a gross violation of people’s rights, stressing that pervasive corruption has continued to deny people access to basic needs.

“For the masses of our people, millions still wallow in want and diseases, corruption is a major reason why they cannot go to school; why they cannot be gainfully employed; and why there are few doctors, nurses and drugs in their hospitals and health centres. It is the reason pensioners are not paid and potable water is scarce.

“Viewed in this way, I think we can all fully appreciate the gravity of this oppressive and destructive evil. This should rouse us to fight it with the same zeal and doggedness as we deploy in the defense of fundamental rights.

“I am convinced that the law, lawmakers, lawyers, law courts and the law enforcement agencies all have pivotal responsibilities to discharge, if the change we seek is ever to materialise,” he said.

Buhari stressed that his administration has taken on the challenge of fighting corruption, saying, “the fight against corruption is in reality a struggle for the restoration of law and order. Corruption and impunity become widespread when disrespect for law is allowed to thrive in the society. Disrespect for law also thrives when people get away with all sorts of shady deals and the court system is somehow unable to check them.

“Ability to manipulate and frustrate the legal system is the crowning glory of the corrupt and, as may be expected, this has left many legal practitioners and law courts tainted in an ugly way,“ he said,

‘Why Law School should be unbundled’ -Page 27

adding that it should be the role of legal practitioners to help the country back to the path of rectitude.

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed said incessant delays in the administration of justice remains a problem.

“Lawyers now insist on pursuing cases and interlocutory appeals based on nebulous points of law, regardless of the length of time or the expense involved in doing so to the detriment of their clients.

“Whilst it must be acknowledged that our judiciary is not perfect, we cannot overlook the role of counsel in facilitating the onset of delay”, he said.

Justice Mohammed noted that delay in most instances are either occasioned by the lack of diligent prosecution of a case, antics of counsel such as the use of interlocutory appeals to stall and frustrate a legitimate expectation of justice, or indolence on the part of some Judges.

“My learned colleagues, this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue. It is one thing to talk the talk, but I am also determined to walk the talk”, he stressed.

“It is for this reason that, as part of our determined effort to ensure that our Judicial Officers are alert to their responsibilities, the National Judicial Council has constituted an Inspection and Monitoring Committee for on-the–spot assessment of Judicial Officers on duty.

“As we continue to fish out and discipline indolent and lazy judges by showing them the way out of the system, we must also acknowledge and praise those judges that are diligent and hardworking.

To this end, the NJC’s Judicial Officers’ Performance Evaluation Committee has also been strengthened to perform its functions,” the CJN said.

He also said that the reforms recently introduced in the judges’ appointment process was yielding results and will, in no distant future, eliminate indolent and unqualified judges from the Bench.

As the nation gets set to commence the legal year 2015/2016 in a couple of weeks, what especially must the country look forward to in terms of justice delivery?

Are there areas that the National Judicial Council (NJC), judges and lawyers must improve on? What are the expectations from the courts with regard to the current bid to rid the country of corruption?

Expectations Lawyers believe that there is room for improvement. They note that a lot still needs to be done to make the judiciary truly the last hope of the common man.

Former Chairman of the NBA, Ikeja Branch, Monday Ubani; his successor Yinka Farounbi; a member of Ogun State Judici-

How to make cybercrime law effective -Page 28

• Lady Justice

ary Service Commission, Abayomi Omoyinmi, Lagos lawyer, Yemi Omodele and Emeka Nwadioke, among others, said the judiciary must live up to expectations by helping the Federal Government in its anticorruption crusade.

Ubani lamented that justice delivery system is still, unfortunately, very slow and discouraging to persons who believe in peaceful resolution of disputes through the court system. According to him, the slow process in Justice delivery portends danger to national growth generally.

“Therefore, my expectations will be the enthronement of a judicial structure and mechanism that will facilitate a quicker, less costly and justice-driven administration of justice. Simply put, our justice delivery system should be fast-tracked, transparent and fair to all parties at all times.

“The NJC as a body must intensify its disciplinary measures against erring judges, should try to accede to the States in terms personnel demands and requirements. I do not personally subscribe to the idea of NJC denying the demands of the states on the number of judges that will sufficiently dispense justice efficiently in their states.

“Some amendment needs to be done to our laws to ensure we correct what I consider an anomaly.States in the federation should get the number of judges they require to dispense quicker justice. The former chairman of NBA Ikeja said his expectations from judges are numerous,saying: “They are to remain incorruptible, justice-driven character in handling cases and firm and fair to all parties that appear before them. Above all efficiency, thoroughness and justice

should be the watch word of every judge in Nigeria”, he said. For the bar, he said, “lawyers as ministers in the temple of justice must assist the judicial system to attain efficiency with the attendant confidence that does to the entire system and by extension to the entire country. They must avoid filing frivolous cases and applications during trials; they must stop being a cog in the wheel of justice by the frequent requests for adjournments in order to derail the cause of justice during proceedings. The disciplinary body of NBA must live up to expectation by instilling discipline in the legal profession and ensure that erring lawyers are properly punished for infractions of the ethics of the profession. Contending that corruption, as a heinous crime, has retarded our national growth and put our generation and generations unborn under severe bondage, Ubani suggested that for the country to get rid of corruption and save the future of the nation, the Nigerian judiciary must rise to the occasion and save Nigeria from total collapse. The judiciary, according to him, will achieve these by ensuring that the philosophy of ridding the country of corruption must be tackled seriously using the judiciary as a deterrence. He said trials of corrupt cases must be handled with every seriousness they deserve and processes ensured that trials and proceedings are not bogged down by technicalities and unnecessary rigmaroles employed by parties and lawyers during trials. Laws must be enacted and implemented

Forgery and the Senate

-Page 39

•Continued on page 27

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

26

LAW COVER CONT’D

Our legal year expectations, by lawyers •Continued from page 25

judiciously. He stated further that part of the reforms must include dedicating special courts made of incorruptible judges to handle and dispense corrupt cases under new timelines that the new law will prescribe.

“I will suggest that corrupt cases should not take more than one year to conclude and appeals should be once after proceedings and both the trials and appeals on them should not take longer than two years to conclude. Any judge found wanting in handling these sensitive case/s should be shown the way out of the system without delay”, he contended, adding that abolition of long hand in proceedings, financial autonomy and provision of basic facilities and employment of honest, dedicated and capable judges we will be on the wayto having an efficient judiciary that all of us shall be proud of”.

Omoyinmi on the other hand said he expects that the delivery of justice should be prompt, absolute and just.

Emphasising that justice delayed is justice denied, he said there should be improvement in dispensation of cases in our justice system so that quick dispensation of justice can be achieved even if it means appointing more judicial officers to adjudicate in order to cope with increase of cases in our courts. Omoyinmi expects lawyers in particular to improve in making sure that matters in court are speedily dispense with professionaly. The courts must however brace up to its responsibility by making sure that cases of corruption are adjudicated upon without fear or favour in order to support the country in its quest to rid country of corruption.

Omodele said the new legal year should bring about breakthrough in Nigeria on the basis that many corruption cases are going to be prosecuted by the government of the day.

In views of this, “I state that it is a year where judges should be bold and fearless in delivery of justice.

They should do their work without fear or favour to anybody whatsoever”, he stressed.

Omodele’s expectation is that lawyers should assist the bench in quick dispensation of justice saying, “filing of frivolous applications should be jettisoned by counsels”. His expectation is also that the government of the day, both at the federal and state levels, should ensure that the condition of service of the judicial workers are well taken care of to avoid incessant strikes in the sector.

I also expect a situation where appointments of lawyers to the bench are done without any influence from any quarter whatsoever”. He said that the proposal to establish a special court to try corrupt and fraud related cases could be done by adopting Lagos State method of having corrupt and other related division rather than waiting till the time the constitution is amended. These will fast track those cases. This, according to him, was because there is likelihood that some members of the National Assembly(NASS) may frustrate the amendment. “The constitution accommodates this style of Lagos State and I suggest same for the Federal Government and other states of the federation . He added that economic and other related offences court is hereby suggested to commence without delay. Nwadioke remarked that it was deeply frustrating that the challenges reeled out during the last legal year are still staring us in the face. “ It is however expected that a diligent implementation of the new Administration of Criminal Justice Act will have a salutary effect on criminal justice administration especially in aiding speedy dispensation of criminal justice and decongesting of the prisons”.

Nwadioke said there must be a virulent advocacy for increased

Man docked for alleged N10.5m fraud

By Robert Egbe

A

•Farounbi

•Ubani

•Omoyinmi

38-year-old man, Kazeem Giwa, has been arraigned in an Ikorodu Magistrate’s Court for allegedly absconding with N10, 518,400 given to him by one Emeka Okeke to buy baby goods.

The prosecutor, Woman Corporal Kemi Adeniran, told the court that Giwa, of No.16 Odoleke Street, committed the offence of stealing on February 29, 2015, at No. 22, Shina Street, Ijegun Road, Lagos.

“He obtained the money in two installments of one million and nine million naira on the pretext that he would deliver baby holding goods to the complainant,” the prosecutor told the court.

“He had earlier won the complainant’s confidence by supplying baby goods worth two million naira at a very good price. There was a balance of one million naira left with him, but he persuaded the complainant to give him nine million naira more so that he could get more goods.”

She said the offence contravened Sections 285 (3) (5)b and 312 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge and was granted bail in the sum of one million naira and two sureties in the like sum.

The Magistrate, Mr. O. O. Olatunji, adjourned the case till September 17, 2015.

‘Therefore, my expectations will be the enthronement of a ‘Buhari would have judicial struc- picked Gani to lead ture and mecha- anti-corruption war’ nism that will

By Robert Egbe facilitate a RESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s respect for the late Chief Gani quicker, less Fawehinmi would have persuaded him to appoint the legal lumicostly and jus- nary to champion the current adminisanti-corruption fight, a former tice-driven ad- tration’s chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local GovArea, Mr. Ayodele Adewale, ministration of ernment has told The Nation.

Mr. Adewale, who spoke last Wednesjustice’ day at the Freedom Square, Ojota, La-

P

• Omodele

• Nwadioke

funding of the judiciary. This will redress many of the gaps in the justice sector, not least the infrastructural decay that feeds delayed justice among other ills. In return, the judiciary must be seen to be at the forefront of the fight to combat corruption and impunity by curbing influence peddling within and outside its ranks. Judicial appointments must be done transparently to ensure that only the best in character and learning superintend our temples of justice. Law thrives on certainty. Conflicting judgments negate this hallowed aphorism.

Nwadioke expects that lawyers should give the judiciary every assistance and cooperation to ensure speedy dispensation of justice, including but not limited to shunning frivolous applications that impede the wheel of justice.

“The Nigerian Bar Association deserves our commendation and gratitude for giving the Bar a people’s constitution. Even for some of us who have been ardent critics of Bar governance in recent years, the Alegeh Administration has written its name in gold for this singular milestone. However, there is no substitute for a diligent implementation of the new constitution. The welfare of lawyers must continue to be addressed frontally to shore up professionalism”, he added.

Farounbi said the new legal year comes with great expectations.

He said:“This is understandable as it is like moving from a December of an old year to a January of a

new year.

“I am generally looking forward to a Bench that will hold tightly to the oath of office taken by dispensing justice without fear or favour to all manners of people, and a Bar that will guide our Judges and Justices to arrive atfair decisions that will be beneficial to the generality of Nigerians.”

On corruption, he said: “The country is presently swimming in the cool water of corruption, the Bar and Bench should play the greatest role in assisting this new government in making the water to be hot with the view to eradicating the menace so as to avoid the prediction of Mr. President that: ‘If we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill us’.

“I equally urge the NJC to beam its searchlight more on our Judges and Justices. No doubt, some of our Judicial officers are still very corrupt, some are lazy and some are not too knowledgeable in law and are not willing to develop themselves. Honestly, some of these Judicial officers have no business in the system.

“These individuals should be identified and either shown the way out of the system or made to fall in line with the demands of the 21st century Justice System.”

On disciplining errring lawyers, Farounbi said: “I equally urge the NBA to sharpen the teeth of the Disciplinary Committee of the association with a view to identifying the bad eggs in the profession for eviction. High moral standard and ethics that are previously taken for granted are now lacking

among most of our colleagues.

“Lawyers now put on jeans with brown shoes, and blazers to attend our Courts. In fact, some no longer remember the injunction of the sage, Hon. Justice Oputa that a lawyer must, at least, have a ‘serviceable suit’.

“What about the seniors and the not too seniors in the profession who are corruption pipes to ferry bribe to some of our Judges and Justices. We will do good to fish them out and make them face the consequences.

“They are a disgrace to the profession and great clog in the wheel of the development of our legal system. The emanating judgments from their actions are minuses to the system rather than the other way round. To whom much is expected, much should equally be given.

“Our government should place fundamental importance on the Judiciary and the Justice System generally.

“If we expect our Judges and Justices to, like Caesar’s wife, live above board, then we should pay greater attention to their welfare, security and training.

“Nigeria is more than overdue for electronic recording of our proceedings. It is highly inconsiderate to expect our Judges and Justices to take down proceedings in long hands for five, six hours every day for five days in a week. In fact, this must be stopped pronto.

“All these points and more attended to, we will have a legal system we will all be proud of. I wish Nigeria and Nigerians a wonderful Legal Year.”

gos, during the sixth year anniversary rally in honour of Chief Fawehinmi, said before his death, the fiery social critic endorsed President Buhari’s election bid because he saw a clear determination to fight corruption.

“President Buhari on his part saw Gani as a prudent, honest and visionary leader. Buhari would probably have chosen Gani to head his anti-corruption fight rather than Sagay,” he said.

Professor Itse Sagay, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), distinguished Professor of Law and human rights activist, was appointed three weeks ago by President Buhari to head a Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption. The body is to advise the country’s leader and his administration on the anti-graft war and the implementation of reform in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.

“Nevertheless,” Comrade Adewale continued, “Gani would be happy with President Buhari’s corruption fight.”

Mr. Adewale, an All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftain, was one of the speakers at the rally organised by the Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organisation (GOFAMORG) as part of activities to celebrate the ideals of the human rights lawyer.

Other speakers at the event included civil rights campaigners such as Ayodele Akele, GOFAMORG Chairman; Dr. Joe Odumakin, the president of Women Arise for Change Initiative and Campaign for Democracy; Venerable Folorunsho Oginni and Goodluck Obi, the deputy chairman of the National Conscience Party in the Southeast.

Comrade Akele urged President Buhari to begin to lay the foundation towards fulfilling his campaign promises.

27

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

LAW & SOCIETY Sylvester Imhanobe graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1989 and was called to the Nigerian Bar the next year. He was awarded the Chevening Scholarship of the British Council to undertake Master of Laws degree at the University of Manchester in 1992 where he bagged the R.G. Lawson Prize for his brilliant performance. He later taught at the Nigerian Law School, from where he resigned as a senior lecturer in 2003 to pursue private practice. He speaks with ERIC IKHILAE and JOHN OFIKHENUA on how to ensure justice at election tribunals, problems with Legal Education, among others.

‘Why Law School should be unbundled’ A

S a former teacher at the Law School, why do many consider the Bar final examination very difficult?

Ok, yes, there could be a few things. The first is that the focus of the Nigeria Law School is that it is a vocational institution. It is meant for practical training, unlike the universities that are meant for academic work.

You see, there are three levels of Legal Education: the academic, that is, the one in the university. Here, they are taught the substantive law and the rest of that.

The second level is the Law School, which is a vocational institution. It is like where you use your hands; that is, the how. You are taught the application of the principles that you already know.

And, the third level is the post-school. That is, after you have been called, you still have postqualification trainings.

So, most students that come to the Law School, a few of them don’t appreciate this difference between when you were in the university – that was purely academic and when you are now at the Law School – which is more practical. And, you see, the kind of questions that they meet at the Law School are different.

There are two different types of questions, there are questions that are actually trying to test more of your memory and those are the economic questions. You can cram and come into the examination hall and pass and even do well. But there are questions that are actually meant to test your intelligence and most of those questions are problem questions. They are practical questions. So, you find that 80 per cent of the questions at Law School, if not 100 per cent, are practical questions.

So, you have to know it. There can be no crash programme. When you were very brilliant in the university, you were very good at memorizing; you memorize the entire topic and when the questions come, you pour it as it is.

You can’t do that at the law school, you won’t go anywhere. So, you must first of all, know it and then apply it in any given situation. That is why you find that some students, who would have done well at the university, don’t do well here or some, who didn’t do well there, perform better here out of maturity.

Maturity is very key, because you find that a mature student is likely to do well in Law School, because he is seeing the facts as they are. So, maturity plays its own role. But by and large, it is still the same thing, if you were good at the university, you should still be able to come to the Law School and understand what is being taught and improve yourself.

There is the perception that there is a drop in quality of training for lawyers these days. How to you react to this?

Yes, I agree with you to an extent. You see, one immediate cause of this is that Law is still part of the entire society. I think it is still a function of the falling standard of education generally. But then, talking specifically about Law, we have to watch

our private universities. Without saying much about them, most of them are purely out for the money.

So, in which case, the extent of grooming must be thoroughly looked into. Even though there is accreditation and the Council of Legal Education goes round to accredit them and all that, we all know what goes on there.

At the faculty, the number they admit overshoots the number allowed. You have a class that has about 400 students with facilities for just a hundred, So, what can you teach ? Apart from the challenges in the school itself, the bulk of the challenges is even with the students.

The students that we have today are different.

This is a digital world and because of that, everything they do, they try to do it on their phones. And like I mentioned a while ago, the issue of maturity is important. You can’t learn Law by just reading law books alone, you must apply them.

So, it is not as if the students are not being taught, but then, their level of concentration has reduced. Most of them will spend so much time on telephone, browsing without studying well.

Even when you now teach them, how many of them are ready to settle down?

Above all, we need structural changes in the legal education system in Nigeria.

What defects can you identify in the current structure of Legal Education in the country?

I have, since 2003, been advocating that the Law School should be unbundled. You see, it will sound as if you are trying to attack the system, but until we unbundle the law school we will continue to have this challenge.

The Law School now, as it is, is the only institution in Nigeria where the operator and the regulator are fused as one. There is the Council of Legal Education, which is a Regulatory body that should regulate the law school, but as it is now, it is almost the other way round.

The NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission), as a regulatory body, is different form the telephone service providers; so is the West African Examination Council (WAEC) which regulates the School Certificate examination by secondary schools. That is how it should be with the Council of Legal Education and the Law School.

So, as it is now, where the both institutions are fused, it means that nobody can criticize itself if the Law School is not doing it right. Because they also constitute the council, they will not tell you.

So, the Law School must be unbundled. Separate the Council of Legal Education from the Law School strictly and the examination should also be an external exam. What we do now is that, it is an internal exam. You see, you should separate the Law School from the council of legal education. Let the council perform regulatory roles. Let the Law School perform its role of teaching.

Is that how it is in other countries?

All over, that is how it is. That is how it is in US, that is how it is in the UK.

• Imhanobe

But, also, it is a matter of choice. You could finish in the UK and then you decide where you want to go to. But in Nigeria now, it is almost compulsory that once you leave the university, you go to the Law School, and look at the number of students from the universities that don’t have admission at the Law school.

Will the separation of the Council of Legal Education from the Law School address the problems you have identified, including the crisis of admission at the Law School?

In a profession that gives so much respect to seniority, you may not get admission for reasons other than you own cause, so it is because of over centralization. The time that Law School was established far back as 1962 you will find that the first set of students at the Law School were just about eight but now, the people that graduate from the universities run into thousands.

We have almost between 13-15,000 graduates from the universities, and how many can the law school absorb?

So if we unbundle Law School and make the council to perform its statutory role, the school will be able to concentrate on its core responsibility. I will propose that Law education should be extended to seven years - five years in the university, then there should be a year that is

purely devoted to vocational training, and when you have written your exam and passed, you should have one year of internship.

The reason is that as soon as you are called to bar, I should be able to give you a file to handle any matter.

But, what we have now, which allows only one year at the Law School inadequate, because it is inside that one year that you have the internship; internship of about six to nine weeks, when you send them to the chambers they come here and they don’t do anything. They are thinking of how to pass their exams, considering that this is a country that focuses more on certificates than the skill.

So, under our proposal as well, you will not even have these grades; grading should stop. It is a professional exam. We will just have pass and then we have distinction. We should still give room for those eggheads to be recognized, every other person should belong to pass. What is 2-1, Third Class?

We have to professionalize the profession. If we continue with what we are doing now, we will continue to have poor results. So, there is need for change. Change should also go into the area of Legal Education in Nigeria.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is being accused of frustrating the inspection of election materials, even where tribunals have ordered such inspection. Should petitioners be at the mercy of INEC? I was a counsel in the 2011 presidential petition, that is, the one filed by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) against INEC and others. And I recall that I was on the petitioner’s side.

I recall that Justice Ayo Salami (retired) granted CPC an order to inspect the biometric database of INEC in respect of the elections of 2011. As soon as he granted that order, I was on the team that went to INEC, but lawyers from the other side, who were in government then interpreted that order of court in the way that would suit them.

And when we came back and now reported the matter to the court that its order is being flouted, we actually filled a motion for judgment. That motion for judgment was pending as at when Justice Salami was removed. The petitioner had a motion for judgment pending against the respondents, that is, INEC and the erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan when Justice Salami was removed.

The law is very clear. The court has given an order that you should be allowed to inspect materials, then you should be allowed to inspect materials. But even at the level of the presidential petition, we had an order to inspect materials and we were not allowed.

Now when I watch these things go on, the same people that flouted the order then, are the people that are complaining now. But, the law is very clear; if a court has given an order, it is contempt for you to disobey it. You must obey it.

Landlord threatens mother, child defiled by neighbour with eviction

O

MOWUNMI, the mother of the 10 year old girl (names withheld) allegedly defiled by a co-tenant , Mayowa Adeyemi, is now being threatened with eviction from her one-room boys squatter apartment at Miyaki, Oworonshoki by her landlord.

In spite of the psychological and traumatic experience she has been going through after the incident, the woman said she is also under pressure by her landlord simply called Baba Sulia and a lawyer called Kayode, who is representing the interest of the man who allegedly defiled her daughter to settle out of court and accept N100,000 compensation.

Those who are also pleading with her to settle out of court and accept monetary compensation include the siblings of the defendant and a lady who lives in Bourdillon said to be a benefactor of the perpetrator of the dastardly act.

Mayowa who is alleged to have defiled the child is presently being tried by the Police at an Ikeja Chief Magistrate court sitting in Ogba.

He was arraigned before the court presided by Chief Magistrate Y. J. Badejo-Okusanya on charges bordering on child molestation and defilement on Monday August 24, 2015 and is presently in prison custody on the order of the court

By Adebisi Onanuga

while the matter had been adjourned till October 12, 2015 for continuation of trial.

Mayowa was arraigned by the police before the court following the outcome of the examination carried out on his victim at the Mirabel Centre, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

From the Mirabel Centre, Omowunmi was referred to the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) upon the medical evidences discovered by the centre corroborated the oral testimony of the victim, hence the commencement of his trial.

Omowunmi said she woke up in the middle of the night on August 18, 2015 only to discover semen on the thigh and vagina of her nine year old daughter.

Upon enquiry, the victim told her mother that her neighbour, Mayowa forcibly had canal knowledge of her.

Asked why she did not cried out, the victim said her assailant covered her mouth with a pillow and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

Upon the confession of the victim, the mother said she quickly called the RRS team who arrested the defendant and took them to

Oworonshoki Police station.

She said they were referred to Mirabel Centre by the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) Aisha for further test after her initial examination of the victim and based on what she discovered in the vagina of the victim.

In spite of this development, the mother of two said she is being threatened with eviction from her one-room apartment despite that she has a subsisting tenancy arrangement on the house which she moved into December last year after paying for a two year tenancy arrangement with her landlord.

While the lawyer was pressuring her to accept N100,000 as compensation on behalf of the victim, her landlord, simply called Baba Sulia threatened her with eviction because he was not consulted and given opportunity to intervene in the crisis between her and her neighbour in order to achieve amicable settlement between them before inviting the Police into the matter.

She said in addition that her landlord and wife have continuosly abused her in the most unprintable languages for refusing to drop the case instituted by the Police against Mayowa.

She said she no longer feel safe in the house as the senior brother to her daughter’s assailant may

have also been monitoring her movement as he daily, asked of her movement since the incident occurred two weeks ago.

The threat of eviction of Omowunmi by her landlord is now being handled by the Citizen’s Mediation Centre(CMC) an agency of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.

The DSVRT Coordinator, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi said all those pressurizing the mother of the victim to drop the case have all been informed that these are issues that the state government is interested in and that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) had already requested for the duplicate of the case file to be forwarded to the office.

Vivour-Adeniyi said the case epitomizes the undue external pressures faced by victims and their relatives to have these matters settled out of court. She stressed that the state government is however determined to ensure that justice is done in the matter.

She said issues of rape, child defilement and other forms of domestic violence are crimes committed against the State and only the AttorneyGeneral has the power to discontinue a matter.

Victims should therefore be encouraged to speak out and urged members of community to desist from pressurizing victims to settle out of court.

28

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

LAW & SOCIETY A lot of people and groups are engaged in activities akin to legal services without having the knowledge of the law under which they are operating. The Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA) Lagos State, last week organised a training programme for these groups who offer paralegal services to the vulnerables in the society, ADEBISI ONANUGA reports

• Participants at the training programmes for paralegals.

‘Paralegal services key to access to justice’ W

HAT are the roles of paralegals? This was one of the issues discussed during a training programme organised by the Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA), Lagos branch, last week.

It was held in collaboration with the Social Development Fund (SDF) of the Embassy of France in Nigeria to educate participants on laws they can apply in helping the vulnerable.

FIDA Chairman in Lagos, Eliana Martins said the training programme was the result of a survey the association carried out in the communities which revealed that a lot of people are not well informed as to what their rights are and how they can actively access justice.

Martins said FIDA is committed to the promotion and protection of the rights of the vulnerable people particularly by focusing on the women and children. We started with a survey and with the information we got there, we are now packaging programmes to deal with issues that emanated, based on the outcome of that survey by going to market outreaches, communities and visit

community leaders to ensure that they work with us effectively to bring access to justice closer to the women and children. According to her, FIDA, Lagos believes that the training of those involved in paralegal services is very key to Access to Justice. She said this explains why they gathered leaders of or representatives of different groups working within the communities in Lagos for the training programme.

In her paper at the training programme, she described paralegals as persons who are qualified through education, training or work experience to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts. “Anybody who has the right qualities can be a paralegal. Once you have the drive, the passion and commitment to ensure that due process is carried out; to ensure that when the rights of people you see around you are infringed upon, you are ready to speak out, enlighten them and to do the needful by working with the lawyers to ensure that justice is done. ”FIDA Lagos is engaging people

who are already working in different communities and we brought them together so that they can effectively provide the legal aid in those communities that they operate. We are teaching what the concept of paralegal is, what the functions are, the role they are required to play. We are seeking their cooperation to work with FIDA. Even though we are lawyers, we are not always available to touch the grassroot and everywhere. There is so much conflict and issues around the society. So we came up with this training so that these paralegals can work effectively with FIDA and deliever that first legal aid. By working with us, we would continue to engage them and when there are cases they cannot handle through mediation and negotiation, FIDA will take up these cases”, she said.

The association, according to her, has handled numerous cases within the last one year.” In mediation alone , we have handled not less than 200 cases. Though the legal process is long but through mediation, not less than 30 cases have been successfully resolved and not less than five

cases through the court system”, she added.

The Secretary FIDA, Lagos, Marian Jones in her paper titled, “Nigerian Law and Legal System” took the trainees through the features of the Nigerian legal system, the processes of law making, the basic provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Court system.

She explained for instance that there are two basis forms of lawwritten and unwritten. She said under the Constitution of the country, no one can be punished for breaking an unwritten law but that there may be sanctions imposed by customs and traditions or religion for those who break rules.

She also explained that under the laws of the country, while a police has the power to arrest a person who has committed a crime, a person has a right not to say anything until he gets a lawyer as stipulated in section 3(2) of the Lagos State Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2011.

Former Secretary of the association, Ifeyinwa Awagu in her paper,

dealt on family law, with focus on marriages, divorce and related issues, including the rights of women under different forms of marriages.

Awagu who spoke strongly on the plight of women who co-habitate with men, bore children without getting married to them emphasised that women have more legal benefits and rights and can make claims if they are statutorily married. She said co-habitation has very serious legal implication for women whether or not they bore children for the man and strongly advised women to guard against getting into such relationship.

The Vice Chairman, FIDA, Lagos, Ngozi Ogbolu whose paper dealt on Criminal Law took time to lecture the trainees on the burden of proof in criminal cases. Ogbolu said prosecution must prove his case beyond reasonable doubt to sustain and get a conviction in a criminal charge.

She explained that production of evidences is very crucial to prosecution in criminal matters and that where the prosecution fails and there is any doubt on the available evidences, the matter will be decided in favour of the accused person.

How to make cybercrime law effective

By Joseph Jibueze

• Udotai

A

LAWYER, Mr Basil Udotai, has called for a central prosecuting agency to enforce the Cyber Crime Act of 2015 effectively.

He said a provision in the Act which empowers nearly all agencies with

prosecutorial powers to enforce the law may make its implementation less effective.

Udotai, who is the Managing Partner at Technology Advisors, a law firm with specialisation in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) law practice, spoke with journalists in Lagos at a seminar by the Financial Services Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he was a guest speaker.

The lawyer said an existing security agency, such as the police, could be equipped to set up a dedicated cybercrime and cyber security unit for effective enforcement because of the cost involved in having multiple units.

According to him, a special entity can also be created by regulation, which the Act allows, to enforce the Act. “It will be legal if the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) adopts a regulation under the Act and cre-

ates a special dedicated unit to tackle cybercrime. Part of the reason that should be the way to go is because the resources to set up a cyber crime investigative environment are very high.

“I don’t think government thought about this properly, because where will you get the money with falling oil prices? It costs millions of dollars to set up cybercrime investigation systems and to replicate it across all law enforcement agencies. It doesn’t make any kind of sense,” he said.

Udotai, who is the immediate past Director of Cybersecurity and pioneer Head of the Directorate for Cybersecurity, Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), said the Act will need a review in the future.

“In the long run, the law needs to be amended. The law is already in force. I guess part of the reason the law is not so overwhelmingly enforced now is because there is really no single entity that is giving the leadership. When there are several law enforcement agencies, who is the boss? So there is a terrible over-

sight. Nobody knows who to go to,” he said.

In his paper, Udotai criticised the law as it relates to the financial services sector, saying technology laws are supposed to be technology-neutral, not technology-specific. He added that Cybercrime laws are supposed to be generic in provisions, not particular, as is the case.

He said all provisions specific to technologies and particular to processes in the financial sector can be removed from the Act, without any impact on the substance of the law; adding that leaving those provisions intact is guaranteed to cause severe harm to the sector – especially banks and payment services providers.

Besides, he said the law challenges the regulatory integrity of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the CBN Act by criminalising certain internal procedures of the banking system, thereby creating “chilling effect” on investments in creative and innovative solutions in the sector.

Udotai, who served as Coordinator of the Nigerian Cybercrime

Working Group (NCWG) for two years, urged financial services players to petition the President on the provisions they consider onerous and which can affect their transactional and compliance burden.

“The Cybercrime Act though long in coming and beset with major challenging components, may be applied to effectively tackle cybercrime and cybersecurity issues in the country.

However, the chances of this happening naturally are slim to zero.

“Thus, deliberate efforts must be made by the key players – Office of the NSA and the Office of the AGF, working with stakeholders, to strategically position this law to take us to this highly desirable end.

“Those efforts must aim, amongst others, in seeking to – in the short run: create a single enforcement authority; prevent the enforcement of technology specific and industry particular provisions (financial sector mostly); while proposing a comprehensive amendment in collaboration with the National Assembly,” Udotai said.

Newspaper of the Year

AN 8-PAGE PULLOUT ON NORTHERN STATES

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Crowds have marched through Jos and Abuja drawing attention to unending killings in Plateau State, reports YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU

PAGE 29

INSIDE Gombe donates vehicles to FRSC

PAGE 30

•The protesters

Protests in Plateau, Abuja over killings T

HERE was a note of exasperation when, for four days on end, gunmen raided a community, Bisichi, in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State killing about 20 people. After that incident, more bodies were recovered every day for a week. The event took place last month when United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was visiting.

It was a stunning development coming after Fulani cattle breeders and Berom farmers made peace, returning stolen cows on both sides and pledging love for one another.

That was why protesters took to the streets of Jos, Abuja and other strategic locations to urge action from the federal government, making the point that containing insurgency in the Northeast is as much an emergency as stemming the bloodbath in Plateau.

The protest in Plateau lasted two weeks, featuring clergymen and state and National Assembly legislators.

They said, “President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has, within his first 100 days in office, only concerned himself with the insecurity and humanitarian crisis in the Northeast without a mention of that of Plateau State as if those being killed on the plateau are sub-humans.”

In Abuja, the protesters occupied Unity Gate for six days to welcome

‘

The protesters took to the streets of Jos, Abuja and other strategic locations to urge action from the federal government, making the point that containing insurgency in the Northeast is as much an emergency as stemming the bloodbath in Plateau

‘

Mr. Ban with their posters. The next day, they moved to Transcorp Hilton Hotel where Mr. Ban was lodged. This was done strategically to draw the attention of the UN Secretary General to the humanitarian issues in Plateau State. Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Senator Dino Melaye, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Chief Imam of Abuja, Nuru Khalid convened the protest.

Then, the protesters addressed the press and continued the action in Jos where they occupied premises of the state House of Assembly for hours and then Government House in Little Rayfield.

One of the banners proclaimed,”To Break the Conspiracy of Silence on Killings on the Plateau”. Another urged: “President Buhari must give equal attention to North Central and

North East”.

Members of the state House of Assembly joined the crowd of protesters as they moved to Government House. The representative of Riyom Constituency Hon Daniel Dem led his colleagues in the protest, which featured green leaves.

The Anglican Bishop of Jos, Rev Benjamin Kwashi was at the head of the protest too, appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the crisis.

He said, “Plateau State was losing too many citizens to the endless deadly attacks. As a pastor, I have conducted more burials occasioned by attacks than weddings and naming ceremonies since 2001. It’s sad to note that most victims of the attacks are harmless children, some infants,

women and youths; the present administration must end the killings, attention should not be concentrated only at the Northeast alone; people are being killed here in Plateau, Benue Nasarawa and Kaduna states.”

“A sad event that revealed that life cost nothing in the state was the fact that four persons that were supposed to be part of the protest were attacked and killed by unknown gunmen in just 12 hours to the protest. Painful as that may be, the protest had to go on as planned, said Dr. Daniel Menshak.

At Government House, Governor Simon Lalong warmly received the protesters, listened to their grief and promised to convey their message to President Buhari.

In the Abuja protest, the spokesperson was Mrs. Kate Pam, who addressed Mr Ban, saying, “We bring you greetings from the traumatised men, women and children of Plateau State. The attacks on our villages started over 10 years ago

by Fulani herdsmen whom we willfully gave our land as pasture for their livestock. Things got to a climax on the 10th March 2010 with the Dogo Nahawa massacre, where over 500 men, women and children were slaughtered in a cowardly dawn attack. From then on, we have had not known peace. Our tormentors have moved from village to village, killing, maiming, looting, shooting, burning.

Continued on page 31

Gombe lawmakers tackle clashes

PAGE 32

Exorcising the demons of power sector

PAGE 36

30

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

THE NORTH REPORT

Gombe donates vehicles to FRSC T

HE Gombe State government has donated two patrol vans to the state Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to aid its operations.

The Sector Commander, Mr. Abayomi Omiyale received the vans on behalf of the command.

He said, “The donation could not have come at a better time or on a better day than on the very first day of the ‘ember months, the period during which most of the crashes in the year actually occur.

“For the governor to have donated these two vehicles means that he does not want traffic offenders to go unpunished and therefore, you will not enjoy his sympathy if you are apprehended, especially as we go through the ‘ember months “For those of you who think you could use Route ‘B’ because Road Safety is operating on Route ‘A’, it is no longer business as usual. We

W

By Vincent Ohonbamu

are now ubiquitous, that is, we can now be at different points at the same time.”

Omiyale recalled that the administration of Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo had earlier donated three ambulances to the Sector Command and equally established a Unit Command in Cham near where majority of the crashes along GombeYola Road used to were happening before that Unit Command was established.

He said, “Not only that; he provided ample office accommodation for the Command, including residential accommodation and fuels our patrol vehicles on a weekly basis.

“It is for this reason that the Corps Marshall and Chief Executive of the FRSC, Engineer Boboye Olayemi Oyeyemi himself would have loved to be here but he is out of the coun-

•The vans

try.”

He said this commitment led to a further decline in the statistics of road crashes, adding: “If you look at Janu-

ary to July of last year, 2014 and this year 2015, road crashes in Gombe State have gone down by 18% from 103 in 2014 to 84 in 2015; injuries have

also gone down by 20% from 424 in 2014, to 341 in 2015 and fatalities (death) have also gone down 28%, from 74 in 2014 to 53 in 2015.

Buhari’s wife, Plateau governor’s help Jos IDPs

IFE of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari and Mrs Regina Lalong, wife of Plateau State governor, have lifted the spirits of displaced women and children in internally displaced persons camps in Jos, the state capital.

They presented relief items worth millions of naira to the IDPs on a visit to the camp at Zang Commercial College Jos. Some of the items included bags of rice, cartons of noodles, cartons of ceramic bowls, kegs of palm oil, toiletries, bundles of cloth and bags of salt, among other items.

Mrs Buhari was represented by the wife of Nasarawa State governor, Hajiya Salamatu Almakura.

The camp manager and Director, Stefanus Foundation, Mark Lipdo said, “The IDPs camp was established in November with over 470 families comprising over 4,000 people. But today some have returned home but there are still 94 families who have no home to return to in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states. There are currently 38 males, 88 females and 340 children totalling 466 individuals, while over 300 families have been successfully integrated into various host communities. We have over 5,000 IDPs currently in Panda and Karu local governments of Nasarawa state.”

Mrs. Lalong said, “It is with a heavy heart that I stand before you to address fellow women and children who are victims of insecurity in the country. No amount of reasons can justify the violence in Northeast that caused innocent women and children these kinds of pain you are experiencing in this camp.

“I am here with the wife of our President who has come all the way because of you and because of the level of inconveniences you faced as a result of your displacement from your various homes.

“As women and mothers we will do our best to make sure we cushion the effect of whatever you are passing through at the moment and to also encourage you that this moment is temporal.

Mrs Al-Makura said, “The wife of our President has received information about your presence in this camp and she has asked me to come and see you on her behalf.

“These few items have been assembled by the wife of our President and the wife of Plateau

•The donors and their items

State governor as a show of love and to prove that we all share in your moment of hardship.

“Having come and seen your situation, I will go and report back to the First Lady and she is prepared to take further action to alleviate your sufferings.

“Please don’t think your present condition is going to be permanent, the government of President Buhari is very passionate and committed to do all that is possible to return you to your various homes to continue with your normal life as you used to do.

‘

As women and mothers we will do our best to make sure we cushion the effect of whatever you are passing through at the moment and to also encourage you that this moment is temporal “So I encourage you to remain calm, hopeful and be prayerful while the federal government proffers lasting solution towards your rehabilitation.”

The IDPs were elated.

‘

Mr. Ezekiel Bala spoke on their behalf: “We want to return home, we have spent one year in this camp and we have been looking forward to the day we will return to our homes right from the very day we

came here. Some of us went home and came back to the camp because all our houses have been demolished.

“Apart from the absence of houses, our places are not still safe for occupation, people cannot go to farm, the insurgents are still lurking around. We want to know how long we are going to remain here. Our children have not gone to school for one year, they have no future in their own country.

“We want Mr. President to provide us shelter and security for us to return home as soon as possible; that is our demand.”

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

31

THE NORTH REPORT

Protests in Plateau, Abuja over killings Continued from page 29 “From May this year, the attacks on our villages have increased in frequency and intensity. The people of Riyom and Barkin Ladi are worst hit.

An average of 10 people are killed every week. On the 2nd of May 2015, 27 people were massacred in a COCIN church in Foron. Amongst the dead were the pastor of the church, Rev. Luka Gwom, and a young woman who only just got married two weeks earlier. Two days later 30 people were killed in Zakupang in Barkin Ladi LGA. “Another attack on Kakpwis village left two men dead. The villages in Barkin Ladi have continued to suffer these attacks, at least twice every week. On the 29th of May 2015, over 500 gunmen invaded Shonong village, leaving a trail of corpses, ashes and smoke. That attack left over a thousand people displaced with about 300 houses razed to rubble. The month of June has also been a nightmare for the people of Barkin Ladi and Riyom. Over 20 villages have been attacked in well-coordinated •Some of the protesers attacks. In the first 10 days of July, we have witnessed quite a number of attacks already” The Abuja protesters said in a statement, “You are all witnesses to the effort by concerned citizens of Plateau State to draw national and global attention to our plight, as we face the daily threat of total annihilation.

For 6 days, we have occupied the Unity Fountain in the FCT – the symbol of our national unity – drawing the empathy of men and women of goodwill. We have however been unable to draw the attention of the Federal Government, and it is not because we have not tried hard enough. The decimation of a people, their land, and heritage should spark national indignation and criticism, but it has not, as yet. It is almost as if of the federal government, even if it the Nigerian State is in denial of this has jurisdiction over the entire secuhumanitarian crisis, or perhaps it is a rity architecture of state. The silence of the victim has emboldened the vicvictim of inertia.

“Over a decade, Plateau State has timiser. Our effort is aimed at breakbeen the theatre of a series of crises, ing the cycle of violence by breaking this is no longer news. But in the past the cycle of silence. But it is not only few years and especially from the the victim and the victimiser that have second quarter of this year, the rural been silent. The federal government communities in Barkin Ladi and has hidden its head in the sand, the Riyom local government areas have state government is overwhelmed as witnessed sustained attacks from its efforts have not yielded fruit as yet. gunmen. The fury of these violent There has been under-reporting of the men is total. They kill and destroy seriousness of the situation by the everything in sight: men, women, media – print, electronic, online. It is children, the aged. At the last count, almost as if these brutal killings are over 40 villages have been com- not happening, as if the people being pletely sacked and completely razed. killed are subhuman.

“We also admit that we have not Farmlands have not been spared.

Thousands of acres of arable land been quick off the block in speaking out. But it would be immoral not to have been destroyed.

These attacks have left the people do so with the recent turn of events. homeless, traumatised, living in ab- From May this year to date, over 300 ject poverty. The frequency, intensity people, mostly women, children, and and scale of these attacks have led us the aged, have been slaughtered in to the conclusion that this is a well several night attacks. Today, we burthought-through, lavishly financed, ied Ibrahim Nyam and Jimmy Pam and professionally executed act of Pwat will be buried on the 1st of September. They were hacked to death terrorism.

“While we feel that this crisis has by these evil men last week along the been left to fester for too long, we Barkin Ladi – Mangu highway. The hesitate to drop the blame at the feet death of these young men is perhaps

‘

The villages in Barkin Ladi have continued to suffer attacks, at least twice every week. On May 29, over 500 gunmen invaded Shonong village, leaving a trail of corpses, ashes and smoke. That attack left over a thousand people displaced with about 300 houses razed to rubble. The month of June has also been a nightmare for the people of Barkin Ladi and Riyom

‘

a pungent reminder that we are all potential victims, for they were killed by the roadside, a route that we all ply almost always “Let us not be deceived that this is a skirmish between herders and farmers. Let us not also think that the problem can be wished away, or ignored.

We are witnesses to how this started: a small night attack in 2001 on a remote village called Vwak in Jol ward was torched leaving over a dozen dead. Less than a decade after, 500 people were slaughtered in their sleep in Dogo Nahawa on the 10th of March 2010. From then on, the attackers have moved from village to village, killing, maiming, stealing, burning and destroying. At the last count about half of the local government areas in Plateau State have been attacked.

Benue, Kaduna, Taraba, Niger, Nasarawa also count their losses from these evil men. This crisis is about good people and bad people; about killers and victims; about innocent Nigerians from diverse backgrounds and deadly, bloodthirsty gunmen. We are all victims, or victims-in-waiting.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is pertinent to remind you that the insurgency in the northeast started with a

few disgruntled persons who had nonspecific demands. Sadly, the Federal Government underestimated the size of the fight. Now Boko Haram is not only a national and regional security threat but a global threat to world peace. God forbid that we allow this monster to grow beyond containment before we begin to act.

It is better to over-deploy resources in containing the situation while it is still localized, than to wait until more lives are lost before we begin to enjoy citizen protection as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

This crisis has left our people in dire straits. Schools and health centres have been burnt, teachers and health workers have left. Children of school age have lost a minimum of 4 academic sessions; the health needs of the people are unmet. A recent survey, with 1,500 respondents revealed that 73% of the women are hypertensive. This may not be unconnected to the psycho-social trauma occasioned by this crisis. Schools have been converted to IDP camps that have swollen in size due to the influx of more IDPs from the northeast. The wanton destruction of farmlands has place the

victims without trade or vocation. The economic effects of this are far-reaching: depletion of source of livelihood and loss of economic land; the state also losses IGR accruable from the entire value chain of vegetables and grains. The beautiful scenery of the Plateau is no longer attractive to tourists, with attendant loss of revenue.

Permit us to acknowledge the role of the security agencies in the state.

Without the presence of the Special Task Force, the situation would have been worse. The bravery of the Nigerian military is commendable. This was demonstrated several times. Notably, we acknowledge their role in warding off the attack on Kwi village in July this year. We however call on the military authorities to cull the bad eggs amongst them. For these few unprofessional soldiers, life is for sale and the highest bidder curries their favour. We are aware that those arrested in the past walk freely on the streets now. It has been brought to our notice that about a dozen heavily armed men were apprehended this week by the STF and handed over to the police. We have it on good authority that the police is under intense pressure to release these men and to look the other way.

After all, the protesters put up some demands on the federal government; “We call on the Federal Government to deploy military high-command centers to be stationed in strategic locations within the state, fully equipped with surveillance equipment and hardware. The centers should have a rapid emergency dial code, to facilitate quick communication and a helicopter and vehicles to shorten response time.

We call on the Federal Government to issue an ultimatum to the Nigerian Army to end the mindless killings of innocent people, especially women and children in Plateau State within 3 months as applied to the northeast insurgency.

“As a matter of priority, the STF should work closely with the local communities in information gathering and utilization. Many of these attacks would have been forestalled had the STF been looped into the informal communication network that the natives share. Allegations of impropriety by soldiers should be thoroughly investigated. This is one way to engender trust between the communities and their benefactors – the soldiers.

“We call on NEMA to urgently live up to its constitutional mandate of providing first-line relief to IDPs who suffer incalculable deprivation, and are currently suffering the effects of an inclement weather. Mattresses, bed nets, beddings, water supply, food and toilet facilities are either absent or in short supply.

“Victims of these attacks should be resettled, rehabilitated and compensated, in a similar fashion as planned for victims of terror attacks in the Northeast.

We urge the Federal Government to profile and classify these attacks as acts of terrorism and to diligently prosecute all arrested attackers.”

•Children at the Zang Commercial College camp of internally displaced persons in Jos, Plateau State

Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), Mr Haruna Furo (right) with a member of Adamawa State House of Assembly representing Mubi North lga, Mr Sani Shehu on assessment of the damage caused by flood in Shuwari Ward in Mubi

32

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

THE NORTH REPORT

Gombe lawmakers tackle clashes

M

EMBERS of Gombe State House of Assembly have waded into the land crisis in the southern district of the state.

Clashes over land in such councils as Balanga, Billiri, Kaltungo and Shongom have led to deaths, injuries and arson among other fallouts.

Worried by these incessant clashes, the member representing Billiri South constituency in state House of Assembly, Honourable Rambi Ibrahim Ayala moved a motion seeking a clear-cut demarcation of boundaries in the district as a way of ending the bloodshed.

Ayala who chairs the House Committee on Land and Water Resources also called for the reinforcement of security in the affected areas.

He said: “Despite the relative peace enjoyed by the people in the state irrespective of their diverse backgrounds…communal clashes in some parts of the state have continued to rear [their] ugly head leading to many loss of lives, and thereby disrupting economic activities in those areas. We have a responsibility to our young ebullient and dynamic state to serve as a fountain that will quench the ravaging conflagration of ethnic strife in our state.

By Vincent Ohonbamu

“As we are all aware, the unresolved land boundary disputes in some parts of the state have given rise to skirmishes as recently witnessed amongst the inhabitants of Kaltungo, Shongom, and Billiri local governments of the state, which has led to unavoidable loss of lives and property. Therefore, we cannot continue to remain complacent as in the case during the Holocaust”.

Ayala said he urged the House to send a delegation to the affected communities and mobilise their elders to enlighten the residents on peace.

He praised Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo’s efforts in containing insecurity and enshrining the culture of peaceful coexistence in the state.

Inspired by the Ayala motion, the state House of Assembly constituted a joint committee on security and land to look into the matter and report to the House.

The most recent of such tension heightening contentions over farmland was the fierce fighting at Poshiya village in Billiri local government area which led to the death of the Dean of Academics, Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Theological

cultivate but the women were sent away by Shongom people.

Next, the clergy went himself to ask why his hirelings were chased out.

He was waylaid and killed.

•Deputy Governor Charles Iliya (left) with the Dagaci (Village Head) of Poshiya Dedan Kamasco

Seminary popularly known as Kufai, Reverend Emmanuel Joshua.

The conflict which occurred around mid-June 2015 reduced Poshiya village to a ghost town as all the villagers fled their homes and went into

hiding due to fear of more attack from their opponents in Shongom local government Area which shares the same border with Poshiya.

Reverend Joshua had hired some women to clear a farmland for him to

The clash also consumed Seminary’s Liberian, Agabus Abona and two others, leaving several others with injury.

Spokesperson of Gombe State Police Command, Deputy Superintendent Fwaji Atajiri said the command immediately deployed a team of mobile policemen to the area to deal with the situation but did not make any arrest so as not to escalate the problem.

Gombe state Deputy Governor, Honourable Charles Iliya visited the area to pacify the communities, urging the leaders to prevail on their youths to sheathe their swords.

The Dagaci (Village Head) of Poshiya, Mr. Dedan Kamasco expressed his disappointment over the clash.

He said they have documents of a court ruling apportioning the disputed area to his community and wondered why their opponents would not just accede to a court ruling.

‘Govts neglect smallholder farmers’

S

TAKEHOLDERS in agriculture have accused government of favouring big-time farmers, while neglecting smallholders.

They said governments at all levels grant multinationals and big organisations tax holidays on acquired land, leaving the small-scale growers to their own devices.

The stakeholders who gathered in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, included Actionaid, Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE), the state government and Association of Smallholder Farmers of Nigeria.

ActionAid’s Food and Agriculture Advisor, Azubuike Nwokoye said government’s preference to big-time investors in agriculture is worrying and that in some instances government gives a moratorium of between

I

WAS gladdened by the report that the Jigawa State government plans to airlift the state pilgrims from Dutse International Airport, and no longer from another place since we have our own, but to be candid, I am astonished and worried by the present administration’s penchant from its inception to attack, discredit and condemn the construction of the first-class facility built by the Sule Lamido administration.

For the record, the present governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru has used the airport to receive and send off his friends, families, observers, relatives, political and business associates etc within and across the country before, during and after his inauguration. In short, even Lamido did not make use of the airport like the present governor Alhaji Badaru did in these few months. What a pity!

The day the Dutse International Airport was commissioned would be remembered for a long time to come. It was also the day on which the 2014 airlift of Nigerian pilgrims from the newly-built Dutse International Airport was inaugurated. The day was a festive one in the Jigawa State capital of Dutse.

All roads leading to the new airport were jammed with vehicles. Among the eminent personalities who were there to grace the event were the former Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad, the Shehu of Borno, former Niger State Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, former Minister of Transport Senator Idris Umar, former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nurudeen Muhammad, the Emirs of Kano, Hadejia, Suleja, Ringim,

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

10 and 15 years with low bank interest rate to such investors, neglecting the small holder farmers.

Nwokoye said, “Smallholder farmers especially women farmers who produce the bulk of the food we consume in Nigeria are neglected. That is why we must put all hands on deck to protect [them]. That is why we must resist the [rich] from forcefully and illegally grabbing our land from us.”

Director, Kwara State Bureaus of Land, Muideen Abdulkadir said the bureau will assist “organisations, associations and individuals in acquiring land for farming activities.”

A woman farmer from Asa Local Government Area of the state, Iyabo Babatunde urged the state government to assist women in the state through provision of land and farm

implements.

Mrs. Babatunde said their plight is being compounded by the Fulani herdsmen whose cows invade their farmlands to graze destroying their crops.

CCEPE Programme Officer, Abdulrahaman Ayuba presented the simplified versions of the United Nations voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure or land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security.

The guidelines contain rights of the farmers, states obligations to farmers, investors, judiciary, communities and agencies’ obligations.

The guidelines stipulate that farmers have rights to hold and use land, fisheries and forests whether registered or not registered; farmers have the right to demand for justice; rights

to be protected against eviction and rights to be informed of prior knowledge of any land deal.

States obligations include providing necessary laws to recognize, respect and protect people’s land rights; providing access to justice; prevent tenure disputes; seek free prior informed consent of all community members and provide equitable land valuation mechanisms and fair tax systems for land, fisheries and forestry.

To investors, UN guidelines stipulate disclosure at all times and in all settings, full information of their real investment and land use intentions; respect and recognise the land rights of all community members; seek agreement of all community members before any land contract is signed.

The guidelines also urge communities to know their rights and how to protect themselves against corrupt behaviours from others; should demand full compensation where their rights are lawfully or unlawfully violated; to provide and promote a conducive environment for negotiations and interactions with investors and the government; provide and apply all available dispute resolution systems and should not discriminate against women on issues that relate to use of land, fisheries and forests.

Judiciary’s obligations include application and enforcement of all laws to protect interest of farmers and other land rights holders; hear all cases without discrimination on basis of gender, ethnicity and religion and provision of prompt and efficient services without requesting for bribes.

Between Hajj 2014 and 2015 in Jigawa

By Adamu Muhd Usman

Dutse, Daura, Kazaure, Gumel, Kaltungo and Maradun etc as well as Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos, who was the 2014’s National Amirul Hajj.

Dutse International Airport project began on October 5, 2012 when President Goodluck Jonathan did the ground-breaking ceremony and ended on October 21, 2014 when Jonathan commissioned it, two short years. It has been the best and fastest airport project ever executed by any government in Nigeria. It stands as a telling testimony to Sule Lamido’s declared intention to build the facilities and institutions that would anchor the state’s development agenda.

This brand new airport was planned and built by his administration to help prepare for the state’s rapid industrialisation, to make it an investors’ haven and ease the movement of goods and services in and out of the state. Jigawa State will be able for the first time in its 23 year history to establish its infrastructural independence from facilities in far-away Kano.

Dutse International Airport will enter the records for having some of the best facilities of any Nigerian airport. It was built on five square kilometers piece of land 10km northwest of Dutse town. Among the edifices in its architecturally beautiful sprawl are the standard terminal building, tarmac and runway, sevenstorey control tower, fire service sta-

tion, apron and car park, access roads as well as fully air-conditioned arrival, departure and protocol sections.

This N16 billion edifice also has a 3000 by 60 meters runway. It is one of very high quality as attested to by the German pilot Capt Ripp Christian who led 3-member crew that made the inaugural flight into Dutse Airport on October 5, last year. He said, “I have gone round most of the airports in Nigeria but I have never had as smooth a runway as this one. It is of international standard.”

Security was also given serious attention in the airport’s design and construction. It has been fully fenced; there are three brand new fire trucks of category 9 standard which are basic requirements for the landing of 747-400 series aircraft, and there is a combined water stock of 37,500 litres, the first of its kind in Nigeria. In addition there are body scan machines, conveyer belts, the high resolution Close Circuit Television cameras (CCTV) which record movements in the whole airport. Also with respect to safety, there are state of the art air navigation equipment, Doppler voice communication and control system (VCCS) and the Conventional Very High Frequency unidirectional Radio Range (CVOR) housed in the 7-storey control tower. It establishes communication from all directions with aircraft at a distance of 180 nautical miles from Dutse International Airport. The

CVOR is the latest and best air navigational equipment in the world manufactured by Thales. The airport’s Landing Aid Instruments Localiser which guide the aircraft to the centre of the tarmac, the Glide Slope that provides glide angle, the Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) and Non Directional Beacon were all carefully installed to give pilots and passengers a pleasant experience while landing at the airport. All these combine to make it a most modern airport in Nigeria equipped with the latest equipment and facilities.

The pilgrims of Jigawa, Borno and Yobe states that took off from the airport for the 2014 concluded Hajj exercise also witnessed a preparation that was among the best in the country.

Jigawa State had a team of clerics who preached to them and guided them throughout the hajj exercise. The pilgrims also had a qualified medical team with an adequate provision of drugs that attended to their health throughout the rigorous hajj rites.

There was also the provision of daily meals while the state pilgrims’ board did very well by securing accommodation close to the Masjid ahram.

A Jigawa State pilgrim was thus able to observe his or her five congregational prayers in the Masjid haram because they were quartered not far away. The remarkable records on the successful airlift of 2014 Jigawa pilgrims from Dutse International air-

port is a testimony of the determination and political will of Sule Lamido’s administration on welfare of his people. Everyone is elated with successful conduct of Hajj exercise since inception of his administration and the construction of the new airport.

The 2014 Hajj exercise is best in the history Jigawa state and it is attributed by the support and prompt release of fund by the administration of Sule Lamido and the innovations of provision of feeding, accommodation subsidy and good medical attention to Jigawa pilgrims. It is stressed that, Jigawa state has become a reference point on Hajj exercise. Jigawa is the first state that has introduced meals for pilgrims and the policy of first timer pilgrims giving priority for ensuring equity and justice in which made many states in the country emulate Jigawa. And so, in the airport and in the 2014 hajj, Jigawa State got the best of both worlds. But the question here is, can the present administration under Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru hold the tempo and maintain the process?

Alas! That is on the contrary, because I read from the report that the pilgrims had already paid for the two meals. I appeal to Governor Badaru to subsidise the meal, medical and other related issues for the pilgrims.

•Adamu is a former media aide to Alhaji Sule Lamido

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

Website: http://www.thenationonlineng.com

Page 33

Its founders may have conceived a near-paradise of a metropolis but all the Centenary City has offered is one controversy after another. GBENGA OMOKHUNU reports on the latest: indigenous women taking former Minister of the territory, Bala Mohammed to task over nonpayment of compensation

Centenary City of controversy W

HEN will dreadful tales end about a city conceived to offer beauty and class? Initiated by the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration to mark the country’s 100th anniversary, the Abuja Centenary City was, at least in the head of its founders, nothing short of a dream land, a metropolis where everything was in its place.

In reality, the multi-billion naira city has provided nothing but agony and controversy. There is no city to speak of. No houses, no residents, no beautiful lawns or classy cars cruising well paved roads. Forests surround the site. The city has failed to take off.

That is not all. Many have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to scrap the project. Some have asked whether former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, whose office championed the project, had any personal interests in it and whether or not he declared such interests. Anyim also faced questions regarding how he reportedly sourced N1.2 billion allegedly paid from his company’s account to displaced people.

“Professional estimates put the

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value at more than The multi-billion naira city has compensation N10 billion. A lot of our young peoare going to be rendered idle and provided nothing but agony and con- ple we do not want this to happen bean idle mind is a fertile mind troversy. There is no city to speak of. cause for anything.

“Compel the Minister to retract his No houses, no residents, no beautiful malicious and false accusation that he has paid us one billion two hunmillion (N1,200,000,000) naira lawns or classy cars cruising well paved dred as compensation. Reassure us that we not regret our support for your roads. Forests surround the site. The will administration by correcting this outright injustice. city has failed to take off “Proactively handle this to avoid

Now, some of those displaced people have said they were not paid any resettlement fees as compensation for their indigenous lands acquired for the Centenary City. Indigenous women in Abuja under the auspices of Airport Road Gbagyi Women Association have petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over nonpayment of compensation by the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Centenary City Plc. Women Leader of Centenary City

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affected communities, Mrs. Ladi Danladi who made this known in a press statement called on Buhari to sanction the former Minister for FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed for pitching him and his administration against the people.

According to the indigenous women, Buhari should compel the former Minister for FCT Senator Bala Mohammed to immediately provide adequate compensation for their lost means of livelihood.

a breach of peace within the FCT and by extension the Nigerian nation.

We write to vehemently protest the wicked, malicious and unfortunate deprivation of our means of sustainable livelihood, false accusation, discord and hatred being sown in our community that may lead to breach of peace by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed.

“We are the entire women representing the original inhabitant communities of the area presently designated as the centenary city, consist-

ing of the following communities, Baruwa, Dayisna, Kpaikpai and Togo. We as women are the last bastion of peace, as we have been intervening and preventing our men from carrying out their threat of outright confrontation,” they said.

They explained that their communities have always loved and supported the present administration and they are willing to give President Buhari more support, that however, following the recent development, many of their people are beginning to question the sincerity of the present administration based on the actions of the FCT Minister.

“The Minister has announced that he is compensating us for our means of sustainable livelihood with a sum of One billion Two Hundred Million Naira (N1, 200,000,000). Your Excellency, this sum is very paltry considering the huge number of our people whose means of livelihood will be terminated. No proper enumeration has been conducted and these figures do not in any way represent the quantity of losses that has been and will be incurred on the loss of our livelihood.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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ABUJA REVIEW

Centenary City of controversy Continued from page 33 reminiscing over the purported one billion two hundred million naira announced to us as compensation, it is on record that the minister has only released the sum of three hundred, nineteen million, five hundred and seventy four thousand, nine hundred and seventy eight naira only.

“The actual amount paid was N319, 574,978 the affected communities are BARUWA with a population of 702 people paid N80, 467,925, KPAIKPAI with a population of 656 people paid N55, 551,641, TOGE with a population of 681 people paid N86, 614,069 and DAYISNA with a population of 1,015 people paid N96, 941,343. Putting these people together, you will have a total number of 3,054 persons from the 4 communities. in Abuja, said that the affected communities namely, Barwa, Dayisna, Kpaikpai and Toga the condemned condemned and disassociate themselves from the statement.

“We categorically consider the said approval of the report as submitted to Mr. President in it entiréty as fradulent, misleading and deceit. The authority had reneged on our collective position reached between the affected communities and the authority to constitute a standing Committee to fashion out modalities for the relocation and resettlement of the affected communities.

“We have sincé rebuffed and countered by our letters to some government and concerned authorities, the statement made by the Director of Centenary City Plc, that affected communities have been compensated.

“It is however, regretable that up to the time of this press briefing, we are yet to receive any response, correspondence or attention from the concern authourities. It is on record that the sum of N319, 574,979:00k only was spent as monetary compensation to the affected communities with respect to their crops and economic trees only,” they said.

The indigènes explained in a breakdown of how the N319,574,979:00k they got for their crops and economic trees was shared amongst the affected communities, that Barwa village got N80,467,928, Dayisna village got N96,941,343:50k, Kpaikpai village N55,551,641, while Toge village got N86,614,069.

“We therefore challenge the authority to explain how, and when the said a whoopping sum of over one billion naira, N1.237 was spent as compensation to the affected communities with verifiable evidence.

“We have resolved to undertake all available legal and constitutional means to make sure that our inalienable rights as guarranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are not trampled upon as citizens of Nigeria,” Gade said.

END.

I

T is not enough to have a spare tyre or fire extinguisher and those other things road safety managers insist on; you should also present your vehicle for computer test.

At the first anniversary of the Abuja Computerised Vehicle Testing Service (CVTS), its executive officer Mr Segun Obayendo urged motorists in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to take their vehicles to CVTS centre for the test.

He said the measure prevents accidents.

Obayendo said the measure had been around for decades.

“Now we have improved on it by using state-of-the-art equipments. The problem is that it is new and we lack the tendency to resist change, even

•The road to the City

•A section of the Centenary City

PHOTOS: GBENGA OMOKHUNU

‘Take your vehicles for computer test’

By Gbenga Omokhunu

if it is to our own advantage.

That is what has affected this project, but with consistent sensitisation programmes, we will get people to comply.

“When we go on enforcement, sometimes we get motorists who are not with the inspection report and some are still having the handwritten Road Worthiness Certificates, that is not what we are issuing out after the inspection, it is against our laws. We believe that as time goes on, people will do the right things on the issue of road worthiness,” he said.

He also frowned at the fact that the vehicles inspection

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We have improved on vehicle testing by using state-of-the-art equipments.

The problem is that it is new and we have the tendency to resist change, even if it is to our own advantage. But with consistent sensitisation programmes, we will get people to comply center has been able to inspect just 14,000 vehicles in the FCT in the past one year in their two vehicles inspection centres, which he said is a very small number compared to their expectations.

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“The two centres we have, have capacity of 250 each, which 500 vehicles per day.

That means we are supposed to have inspected over 140,000 in one year, if the people were complying.

“For now the sanction of offenders is that when they are caught, we compel them to go through the exercise for them to get the road worthiness certificate and then they will pay a fine of N2000 for not complying with the law initially,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary, FCT administration, Mr. John Chukwu, further advised the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) FCT chapter and the FCT Transport Secretariat to partner with the vehicles inspection testing services in order to have safety on FCT roads.

“We are also encouraging motorists in the FCT to Make use of this facilities, by ensur-

ing that their vehicles are worthy of road use. If they do it, they are ensuring the safety of their passengers, families and their own lives.

“That is why we are encouraging both the FCT Transport Secretariat and the Road Safety to collaborate with the VIO, to ensure that these facilities are used. In doing that, we are going to reduce the numbers of lost lives and fatalities on our roads,” he said.

Merit Awards of Excellence were given to the immediate past FCT Transport Secretariat Secretary, Engr. Jonathan Ivoke, Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase and FRSC Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, amongst others for their contribution in ensuring that Thérè is saftefy on FCT roads.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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ABUJA REVIEW

Our infrastructure challenges, by Kuje residents

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ESIDENTS of Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) bemoaned their lack of basic amenities in their community, calling on chairman of the council Shaban Tete to respond to their needs.

One of the residents, Mr. Joshua John who spoke with Abuja Review said nothing much has changed for the better in the council since Tete took office.

By Gbenga Omokhunu

He said, “The good thing about this administration is endless promises without fulfilment. We have not seen anything that has been constructed and commissioned by this administration that can improve the living standard of Kuje people, apart from the market that was recently commissioned.

“The leadership of the council led by Mr. Shaban Tête promised

us potable water supply and rural electricity when he assumed office; now it is going to three years and nothing has been done in any community. The people are still suffering from water shortage and living in darkness.

“Kuje roads that were constructed by previous administrations are going bad on a daily basis, mostly the roads that lead to the town when coming from Lugbe; also the road that leads to the General Hospital. In fact,

almost all the roads in Kuje town are becoming dilapidated and inaccessible. The council cannot even maintain them.”

Grace Oba, another resident, lamented: “We voted for him [Tete] because of the promises he made to us to make the council like other developed councils like Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). But, since the present administration, things have gone worse in this council.

We spend most nights in dark-

ness in this council. We need things to change for the better.

“We are appealing to him to make his promises a reality by correcting so many things that are going wrong in the council, before Kuje town becomes like one of the communities in the hinterland where there are no access roads, water and electricity. Very soon another election will commence, and the people are waiting and watching to hear more promises.”

Traffic offenders to be sanctioned T

RAFFIC offenders are in for a rough ride in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) judging from pronouncements from the Administration.

FCTA has also threatened to sanction motorists who indiscriminately park their vehicles on walkways and other unauthorised places.

FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr. John Chukwu, an engineer, said this in Abuja at the first anniversary of the Abuja Computerised Vehicle testing services.

Deputy Director and Chief Press

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The Permanent Secretary threatened that parking on walkways and other unauthorised places would not be taken lightly as appropriate sanctions would also be applied From Gbenga Omokhunu and Grace Obike

Secretary FCT, Muhammad Sule made this known in a press statement, i which he stated that the Permanent

Secretary had appealed to all Abuja road users to obey traffic rules and road signs to avoid crashes.

He also stated, “The Permanent Secretary further threatened that parking on walkways and other unauthor-

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ised places would not be taken lightly as appropriate sanctions would also be applied.

“Engr. Chukwu used the occasion to appeal to all road users in the Federal Capital Territory to obey traffic

Youths urge parties to select credible candidates

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ESIDENTS of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) under the auspices of Concerned Youths of AMAC have asked political parties in the council to select credible chairmanship candidates for the poll.

Leader of the youths, Comrade Shekwo Audu made the call at a press briefing, said that future chairmanship candidates should emulate the present leadership of Hon. Micah Jiba for his sterling performance in office, establishing various skills aquisition centres.

Continuing, Audu said the era of selecting selfish candidates who do

By Gbenga Omokhunu

not mean well for the people has passed, adding that any candidate selected must be ready to work in the interest of indigenes and residents of AMAC. He also praised the Jiba administration for ensuring that communities in the hinterland are provided with basic dividends of democracy like water, electricity and other infrastructural developments.

He said indigent children in rural communities are getting more educated due to the council’s com-

mitment to education.

“Very soon,” he said, “political parties will be organising primaries to select their candidates for the forthcoming Area council elections.

Many people have been showing interest to contest in different political parties. We are not against anybody, but we are advising the political parties to select credible candidates that would continue with the good work of the present council chairman, Hon. Micah Jiba.

“We are appealing that people that mean well for the people of AMAC, just like he does should be selected by all political parties, so

that during the election, anybody that wins, the people of AMAC will celebrate, because there will be credible persons to continue with the good works of this present administration.

“We want to also advise residents of AMAC not to allow politicians to buy their conscience with money; rather they should pray and vote in the right people when the election fully commences. The Jibaled administration is really doing well and we are praying that God will give us somebody that will come and continue with this good works,” he said.

rules and road signs to ensure safety on Abuja roads.

“He identified three major causes of road crashes, which according to him include the state of the road, the attitude of the driver and more importantly the state of the vehicle.

“Where the state of the vehicle is largely compromised, the resultant effect can better be imagined and therefore every effort must not be spared to keep vehicles plying FCT roads Roadworthy.

“The Permanent Secretary thus, instructed the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services to synergise with the operators of the Testing Centre to ensure that all vehicles in the Territory are subjected to the clinical diagnosis of the Centre before roadworthiness certificates are issued to the owners.

“In order to reduce the effect of the high rate of road fatalities occasioned by the prevalence of unworthy vehicles, Engr. Chukwu directed the Directorate of Road Traffic Services to replicate Vehicle Testing Service Centres in all the six Area Councils of the Territory.

“He reiterated that the establishment of the Testing Centre in the six Area Councils would provide easy access to motoring public in and around the Satellite Towns to get their vehicles tested.ý”

RCCG makes case for health centres in suburbs

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HE Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has advocated the building of more healthcare centres in the suburbs of Abuja.

Pastor-in-Charge of the City of David Parish of the RCCG, Abuja, Gbolade Okenla stated this during the church’s medical outreach at Jahi village in the Federal Capital Territory.

He said, “The sum of N2 million

By Franca Ochigbo

for each will go a long way in the construction of primary health centres where locals could attend to their health needs rather than embarking on long distances to access medical care.”

Okenla said this is to fulfill the vision of the General Overseer Enoch Adeboye, that the church must assist communities within

their areas of worship, which he referred to its Corporate Social Responsibility.

“We have to go out and minister to our neighbours and show them the true love of Christ. It’s to let everybody know that in whichever community we are we have to contribute in our own little way to help them,” he said.

Dr Edache Adikun Etega, a member of the team of medical doctors

and laboratory scientists, who participated in the exercise, identified malaria, hypertension, and diabetes as the main cases observed in the community.

Some of the beneficiaries thanked the church for the exercise while calling on other religious and public-spirited individuals and organisations to emulate the gesture.

I have collected my drugs and I am happy. I want God to continue

to reward this church for helping the masses,” says Mr. Musa Salihu Ahmed, an engineer, who was treated for fracture.

Blessing Ogwuche, who also thanked the church for the gesture, called on the government to establish a health centre in the area as the residents usually go to Gwarinpa or Asokoro to access medicare.

From left: Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Mr Barnabas Bantex; Chairman, Interim Management Executive Director, The Inclusive Friends, Miss Grace Jerry (right) with the Project Committee, Zango/Kataf Lga, Mr Aliyu Wakili, and Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, at the third town hall Officer, Mrs Patricia Pam, during a workshop on what violence means to women meeting at Kafanchan in Kaduna State with disability in Jos

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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ABUJA REVIEW

P

IPELINE vandals had such a field day that it seemed no day passed during past administrations without a case of vandalism. And it was at a huge cost, affecting power generation due to lack of gas supply.

This probably gave past administrations reason to believe that the attacks were the handiwork of economic saboteurs since the frequent breaches took place as soon as major repairs were completed.

As expected, the action of those cabals behind the vandalism cost Nigeria billions of naira which could at least have been channelled to better things.

There was so much confusion as to whether those behind the vandalism were generator sets importers, Labour unions who had initially opposed the reforms and privatisation of the power sector, or simply by some unscrupulous elements who were benefitting from the attacks in other ways.

The manner of the attacks caused then Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo to declare that the sector was under the attacks of ‘demons’ and ‘witches’, which he promised to exorcise.

During his screening as a Minister by the Senate in 2013, Nebo declared to the lawmakers: “If the president deploys me in the power sector, I believe that given my performance at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where I drove out the witches and demons, God will also give me the power to drive out the demons in the power sector.”

Throughout his tenure, power generation was at its lowest ebb as the vandalism never stopped.

The situation got so worse that the whole country was almost in darkness just before the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on May 29.

Buhari has brought a ‘magic wand’ that immediately fixed the problems in the power sector.

Vandalism, that more or less was a daily affair under past administration, has not been witnessed in the first 100 days of President Buhari’s administration.

The ‘demons’ and ‘witches’ since Buhari came on board have either been subdued by the fear of Buhari or running away from actions that will prompt Buhari’s probe of the sector.

The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Power, Godknows Igala, who has been in the system before this administration came into power, made the revelation of the improved power generation while speaking to State House correspondents last week Monday.

He said: “There have been more engagements of communities and stakeholders where the gas pipe-

Exorcising the demons of power sector lines pass through so that they can give peace a chance and allow the gas to flow to the power plants.

“The gas is now passing to the gas pipelines and I think that the government has been engaging the stakeholders in the places where these gas infrastructures pass through.

“We hope it will be sustained because like I said there is a conscious engagement.” He said Igali continued: “There has also been redoubling of efforts with those who supply gas to the power plants.

Our friends in the oil sector and gas sector have made sure more gas are available for the power plants that are hungry for gas.

“Redouble means that there was effort and when there was effort and you put additional effort and additional effort, then, it means that you have redoubled your work and that is what is going on and at different levels the engagement of where the pipelines passed.

“We saw tremendous vandalism especially before the handover. It has never been so bad. But, now for nearly three months not a single day have we had that kind of vandalism.

It is our prayer that this will continue.”

He said: “Mr. President from inception has made clear the fact that

From the Villa

By Augustine Ehikioya

there is a need to redouble efforts by all stakeholders.

“No doubt, in the past three months, nobody has built any new power station, any new turbines. But then there has been a redoubling of efforts in the way these assets are managed.

“The Vice President has been holding almost daily meetings with the distribution companies. He added It is really hoped that Nigeria has perfectly put behind it the issue of pipeline vandalism for the power sector to play its key role of improving power supply and backing the upcoming industrialisation and revolution in various sectors of the economy.

Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed presenting second-class staff of office to the New Oloota of Odo-Owa, Oba Joshua Oluwatoba Adeyemi. With them is the Chairperson, Oke-Ero Local Government Area, Kwara State Hajia Aminat Yusuf

Ending poverty, unemployment With the level of natural and human resources Nigeria is blessed with, no Nigerian ought to have any business with poverty and unemployment.

But due to corruption, lack of transparency, and unstable power supply, among other factors, many Nigerians could not afford three square meals in a day as many do not even have a roof over their heads.

But the problems will soon be over as the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo last Wednesday laid the

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic outline before the 45th Annual Accounting Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Abuja.

As a way forward from the present economic challenges, he called for immediate social sector investment, which includes investing in the people, education, job creation, national school feeding scheme, conditional cash transfer and reinflating economies of the States.

To re-inflate states that could not pay workers’ salaries, he said that the Muhammadu Buhari administration has already approved bailout package for the workers in the country.

Another area to reduce poverty is the commitment of the administration to provide one-meal-a day for all primary school students that will create jobs in agriculture, including poultry, catering and delivery services.

The multiplier effects of the introduction of the scheme, he said, include 1.14 new jobs; increased food production – up to 530,000 mt/ a; attracting investor by investment – up to N980b.

Through conditional cash transfer to alleviate poverty, he said that 25 million poorest households would be supported.

•Some of the worshippers during the second bible reading service at the Aso Villa chapel.

PHOTO: SUNDAY AGHAEZE

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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LAW & SOCIETY Following the amendment of the Taxes and Levies Act, Chukwuemeka Eze, a taxation law expert, examines the implications of the amendment, whether is a harmonisation or duplication of tax laws in the country.

Harmonisation or legalisation of Multiplicity of Taxes and Levies?

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HE Federal Government, under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, acting through the then Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on May 26, 2015, amended the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap. T2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. The Act was previously referred to as Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Decree, No. 21 of 1998. It came into effect on 30th September, 1998. The Act is an existing law under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, section 315 of which provides in subsections (1)(a) and (2) as follows: (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, an existing law shall have effect with such modifications as may be necessary to bring it into conformity with the provisions of this Constitution and shall be deemed to be – (a) an Act of the National Assembly to the extent that it is a law with respect to any matter on which the National Assembly is empowered by this Constitution to make law.

(2) The appropriate authority may at any time by order make such modifications in the text of any existing law as the appropriate authority considers necessary or expedient to bring that law into conformity with the provisions of this Constitution.

By the combined provisions of Paragraphs 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Part II of the Second Schedule, and Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Fourth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, the Federal, State and Local Governments have the responsibility to collect taxes, levies and other variants of them as a fallout of our federal system of government.

Pursuant to section 1(2) of the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act (hereafter referred to, for convenience, as “the Act”) provides: The Minister of Finance may, on the advice of the Joint Tax Board and by Order published in the Gazette, amend the Schedule to this Act. Throughout the Jonathan administration, the Minister was under intense pressure to harmonise taxes and levies payable in Nigeria at all levels because of its bearing on the cost of doing business in Nigeria.

The necessity to generate increased revenue for the various tiers of government had led to a situation where the Federal, States, and Local Governments had refused to be bound by the taxes and levies listed in the Schedule consisting of three parts to wit, Part I (eight for Federal Government), Part II (eleven for each State Government), and Part III (twenty for each Local Government) as provided for by section 1(1) of the Act. Besides, it was discovered that ad hoc revenue contractors and touts were being used by many States and local governments to harass taxpayers contrary to section 3 of the Act which provides: A person who— (a) collects or levies any tax or levy; or (b) mounts a road block or causes a road block to be mounted for the purpose of collecting any tax or levy, in contravention of section 2 of this Act, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N50,000 or imprisonment for three years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Section 2 of the Act actually provides that no person, other than the appropriate tax authority, shall assess or collect, on behalf of the

Government, any tax or levy listed in the Schedule to the Act, and members of the Nigeria Police Force shall only be used in accordance with the provisions of the tax laws. It is also part of the provision of section 2 that no person, including a tax authority, shall mount a road block in any part of the Federation for the purpose of collection of any tax or levy.

Any person resident in Nigeria, since 1999, will attest to the fact that the provisions of these stated sections 2 and 3 of the Act were obeyed more in breach than otherwise. Many States and local government councils patronised non-professional revenue officers who mounted road blocks indiscriminately demanding for myriad of levies thereby distorting business plans and disrupting businesses. This prompted the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) (as a representative of the business community in Nigeria) in 2011 in collaboration with the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), USA, carried out a study on “Fostering Private Sector Participation in Policy Making through Taxation Reform” across three pilot states of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo. Out of the 1,298 questionnaires administered, 1,014 were retrieved and analysed, while 17 Chief Executives Officers of selected companies were directly interviewed. The study was aimed at understanding the nature of multiple taxation and its effects on businesses. The result formed the basis for appropriate advocacy programmes intended to influence policy formulation processes of government with a view to reducing the tax burden and make Nigerian businesses more competitive.

The objectives of this study were to strengthen the capacity of the private sector to contribute more meaningfully to policy making process, and to enhance the capacity of local, state and federal government officials to appropriate tax policies and their effect on business community.

Relying on the result of its study, MAN petitioned the Federal Government, which allowed MAN to make a presentation to the National Economic Council (NEC) on 29th January, 2014.

Consequently, the NEC set up a Committee with Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, Governor of Gombe State, as chairman, on the Review of Incidences of Multiple Taxation across the Federation at various levels and its effects on the Manufacturing Sector’s Productivity.

The Committee created a Technical SubCommittee headed by Alhaji Kabir Mashi, the then Acting Chairman, FIRS, which met from Februry 22 to24, 2013 and produced a report that acknowledged the existence of multiple taxes and levies in Nigeria.

It submitted the Report with observations and recommendations to the Dankwambo Committee, which considered it before submission to NEC. Given the seriousness of the incidence of multiple taxation as constraints to manufacturing, agriculture and overall national development, five critical recommendations were made for immediate attention: (i) Review and amendment of the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap. T2, LFN 2004; (ii) Outlaw the use of unorthodox means to collect taxes and levies; (iii) Automation of tax operations by relevant tax authorities to eliminate leakages and ensure ease

of collection; (iv) Tax authorities should discontinue the use of consultants for tax assessment and collection; and (v) Tax authorities should publish the approved list of taxes and levies within the States and Local Governments to educate the public and facilitate compliance.

The National Economic Council in due course accepted these recommendations. The duty to review and amend the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, Cap. T2, LFN, 2004 fell on the Minister of Finance in accordance with section 1(2) of the Act. The States, whose Boards of Internal Revenue are members of the Joint Tax Board, made out a case for the inclusion of several taxes and levies in the amended list.

No wonder, the list of taxes and levies for State Governments contained in Part II to the Schedule has increased by 14 from eleven (11) to twentyfive (25). This astronomic rise, is regarded in official circles as harmonisation of taxes and levies but critics see it as legalisation of multiplicity of taxes. In contrast to the states, the taxes and levies contained in Part I for the Federal Government merely increased from eight to nine while Part III for local governments increased from twenty to twenty-one.

Furthermore, a 4th Schedule contains 6 levies that are to be harmonised among the State and Local Governments, where applicable. Besides, members of the Joint Tax Board are to advise the Minister of Finance on determining the amounts payable and review of rates from time to time with due cognisance to changes in economic trends in the country.

For instance, the Social Services Contribution Levy is a creation of the Rivers State Social Services Contributory Levy Law of 2010. The law later became a matter of litigation and the High Court in Port Harcourt subsequently struck out the suit instituted by the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law on 19/8/2012 due to lack of locus standi. Rivers State has caused the JTB to prevail on the Minister of Finance to include this levy as No. 24 of Part II of the Schedule to the Act as amended by the 2015 Order. The Rivers State Social Services Contributory Levy Law is too harsh in its punitive provision as contained in section 19, which provides: (1) A company or organisation who fails or neglects to deduct from its employees and remit the levies due, shall be liable to a fine of three times the total deduction due; (2) A person who defaults in the payment of levy imposed shall after notice by the Board be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of twice the levy imposed or imprisonment for one year.

The Land Use Charge, which is a tax harmonisation enterprise between the Lagos State Government and its local government councils in respect of tenement rate and ground rent, has been included as No. 12 in the new Part II of the Schedule. Hotel, Restaurant or Event Centre Consumption Tax, which originally became controversial in Lagos before stakeholders gradually accepted it, is now No. 13 in Part II of the Schedule. Ogun and Edo States have emulated Lagos and enacted their own variants of the Law. Some States charge Entertainment Tax and in order to accommodate their own nomenclature, Entertainment Tax is distinct and chargeable on a taxpayer.

Although it will be foolish to do so, a State may charge Entertainment Levy as well as Hotel,

• Eze Restaurant or Event Centre Consumption Tax. Also of significance is the No. 7 levy in the new Part II of the Schedule, which has revised the previous levy on business premises. The amended provision reads: Business premises registration fee in respect of urban and rural areas which includes registration fees and per annum renewals as fixed by each state.

The obvious implication is that a State may increase the Business Premises Levy from the maximum sum of N10,000 for registration to N50,000 or N100,000. Each State is also at liberty to revise the renewal fee to any sum it deems fit.

No. 25 on the List contained in the new Part II of the Schedule is “Signages and Mobile Advertisement.” This means basically payment for signages such as signboards, billboards, posters, etc. A local government is also empowered under No. 20 of the new Part III of the Schedule to collect signboard and advertisement permit fees. There is no better example of multiplicity of levies than this. A similar relationship exists for a business operating in a riverine or coastal environment like Lagos or Port Harcourt. He will pay Wharf Land charge to a Local Government as legalised by No. 21 on the Part III List of the Schedule, pay Wharf Landing Fee as approved by paragraph 2(c) of Part IV of the Schedule. Besides, he will pay for sticker [see 2(a), Part IV], Haulage Fee [See para. 2(b), Part IV], single Parking Permit [see para. 2(d), Part IV], road worthiness [see para. 2(f), Part IV], Environmental (Ecological) Fee or Levy [see No. 15, Part II], Fire Service Charge (no. 21, Part II), Infrastructural Maintenance Levy (where applicable) (No. 20, Part II), Economic Development Levy (where applicable) (No. 23, Part II), Road Taxes (No. 6, Part II), Personal Income Tax (No. 1, Part II or No. 8, Part I), Withholding Tax (No. 2, Part II or No. 2, Part I), Companies Income Tax (where applicable) (No. 1, Part I), Business Premises Levy (No. 7, Part II), Vehicle radio licence fees (No. 15, Part III), Motor Park Levies (No. 9, Part III), Wrong Parking Charges (No. 16, Part III) (where the vehicle parks wrongly), etc.

With a total list of 61 taxes, levies, fees and charges contained in the Schedule to the new Order (9 in Part I, 25 in Part II, 21 in Part III, and 6 in Part IV), leading to an increase of 22 taxes and levies from the previous 39 to the current 61, is this what the MAN bargained for when it presented its petition to NEC on 29th January, 2013? Is this the meaning of harmonisation of taxes? Or should it be understood as legalisation of multiple taxes and levies? Let the debate continue!

Lagos Customary court law for review, says CJ

By Adebisi Onanuga

• CJ Justice Atilade

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HE 2011 Customary Court Law of Lagos State is to be amended to expand the scope of operations of customary court judges, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade, has said.

Addressing new Presidents and Judges of Customary Courts during their swearing–in ceremony at the High Court, Ikeja, Lagos last week, Justice Atilade said officials of the court are already working with the Ministry of Justice to amend the law with a view to increasing the jurisdiction of the courts.

“In the past, the Customary Court Law had the jurisdiction to entertain cases involving tenement rates, sanitation issues, minor road traffic offences.

“With the 2011 Customary Court Law, the jurisdiction of the Customary Courts in civil matters as provided

for in Section 25 of the Customary Court Law 2011 is limited to matrimonial matters, issues of inheritance not exceeding N500,000.00 and civil bye-laws. In criminal matters, the jurisdiction of the Customary Court is only limited to contempt in the face of the court as provided in Section 40 of the Law”, she noted.

The Chief Judge pointed out that the Local Councils and LCDAs are responsible for the salaries, allowances, provision of court rooms and maintenance of such court rooms.

In view of the responsibility of the Local Government Council and LCDAs, she said it would be necessary to increase the jurisdiction of these courts to accommodate minor offences such as minor traffic and sanitation offences which do

not require custodial sentences .

She said that the state government and the judiciary are also looking at the establishment of a Customary Court of Appeal for the state, noting that at the moment, all appeals from the Customary Courts go to the Magistrate Courts.

Justice Atilade pointed out that with the pausity of Customary Court Judges in the state, it became expedient for the Judicial Service Commission to commence the process of recruiting persons of proven character and good standing in the society into the positions of Presidents and Members of the Customary Courts to replace such persons who had been disengaged by age, tenure or death.

According to her, there are 52 Customary Courts spread all over the state with each Local Government Council or LCDA having at least one court.

Justice Atilade congratulated all the newly appointed Presidents and members of the Customary Courts as Customary Court Judges of Lagos State.

The Chief Judge admonished the new appointees to be diligent , fair and impartial, stressing that the attributes of a judge include but not limited to humility, impartiality ,knowledge of the customs of the land and being a good listener .

“A Judge must be above board whether in court or out of court .Above all you must always bear in mind that in all you do, there is an ultimate Judge”, she stated.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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LAW & SOCIETY Keynote address by Femi Falana (SAN) at a Review Session on Electoral Violence in the 2015 General Elections under the auspices of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre held at Abuja.

Way out of electoral violence N

O doubt, election petitions are being at tended to by the various Election Petition Tribunals. The impunity that was witnessed during the election has continued as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is trying desperately to justify the rigging of many governorship and legislative elections. Apart from frustrating the inspection of election materials as ordered by the tribunals, INEC has been filing objections that are designed to frustrate the speedy dispensation of justice. As if that was not enough, INEC has urged the tribunals not to place any probative value on the use of card readers. As there is no plan to prosecute the people who committed serious electoral offences the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CSLAC) deserves commendation for reminding the Nigerian people of the urgent need to revisit the orgy of violence that was witnessed during the 2015 general elections.

The CSLAC and other civil society organisations should be more focused and vigilant more than ever before. While the various factions of the ruling class are fighting for a government of national unity that will be peopled by the representatives of all ethnic and religious groups the government should be reminded that the youths, women, workers, people with disability and other vulnerable segments of the society should be represented in the running of the affairs of the country. As corruption fights back the progressive extraction of the civil society should not hesitate to rally round the government in ensuring that the stolen commonwealth is recovered and earmarked for the development of the country.

The penalty for subverting democracy in Africa In the 1990s, the results of credible elections were annulled in Algeria, Nigeria and some other African countries by dictatorial regimes. The political violence generated by such annulment led to the disruption of the democratic process and the reckless massacre of many people. The perpetrators of such carnage were never brought to justice due to the weak criminal justice system which was put in place by the anti-democratic forces in power. Several complaints were filed by human rights bodies at the African Commission on Human and People Rights in Banjul, Gambia on the mass murder of people. As the findings of the Commission have no binding force the indictment of the killer regimes was regularly ignored. However, the victims of the genocidal acts which took place in Chad under Mr. Hasne Habre secured a warrant for his arrest and trial in Belgium.

The decision of the President Abdoullahi Wade not to extradite Mr. Habre, who is in exile in Senegal, was supported by other African leaders. Although the said warrant of arrest was issued under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction which operates in some countries European countries, Mr. Habre’s trial for the massacre of over 2000 Chadians has since commenced in Dakar.

However, the ratification of the Rome Statute by several African states signaled the end of impunity in respect to genocidal acts and crimes against humanity. Under the Rome Statute the trial of President Laurent Gbagbo for crimes against humanity arising from post election violence in Cote D’ivore is due to commence soon at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

In 2008, the failure of the electoral body to announce the results of the presidential election held in Kenya led to the brutal killing of over a thousand people and the destruction of several properties. Mr. Kofi Anan, a former SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations was invited by the government to conduct an inquiry into the po-

litical violence. Based on the report of the inquiry charges of crimes against humanity were filed against Messrs Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Notwithstanding the election of both suspects as President and Vice President of Kenya in the 2013 general election while the case was pending the charges were not discontinued.

Instead of drawing the necessary lessons from the case, African leaders threatened to withdraw the ratification of the Statute of Rome if the trial of the Kenyan leaders was not terminated by the Special Prosecutor of the ICC. Although the threat was ignored the case has been struck out for want of diligent prosecution. In a bid to stop the trial of African leaders at the Hague the African Union resolved to expand the mandate of the African Court on Human Rights sitting in Arusha, Tanzania to deal with allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in any African country. In spite of the criminal jurisdiction conferred on the African Court the forthcoming trial of President Laurent Gbagbo at the ICC has contributed to peaceful transfer of power in the several African countries including Nigeria.

Peace Accord and Electoral Violence

Shortly before the 2015 general elections, Mr. Kofi Anan and Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a former secretary-general of the Commonwealth, jointly presided over the signing of a Non-Violence Accord by the presidential candidates of the registered political parties. At the well celebrated ceremony which held in Abuja at the instance of the National Peace Committee the candidates of the two leading political parties embraced each other. While the media and several people were excited with the development I expressed the view that the so called peace accord would not stem the tide of political violence in the country due to the violent nature of the electoral system coupled with official impunity. As rightly observed by the National Human Rights Commission, “signing a peace pact is easy, the more difficult part is to ensure that the political office seekers and their supporters work within the rules of engagement.”

Notwithstanding the peaceful transfer of power from the ruling party to the opposition party the country recorded a reign of terror by armed thugs who engaged in the bombing and burning of party secretariats, the destruction of vehicles belonging to political parties, the harassment of political opponents , the extrajudicial killing and brutal attacks of innocent people at party congresses and primary elections, the unprovoked assault on judges etc. Top political leaders made inciting statements. A governor published a death wish advert capable of causing ethno-religious riots. Another governor attended a meeting where ex-militants threatened to declare a war on the Republic if the particular candidate backed by them was not re-elected. In Lagos, scores of well armed operatives of an ethnic militia who were accompanied by the police staged a street protest. A state governor accused a minister of paying armed thugs to stone President Jonathan during a political rally in Bauchi.

The aforementioned cases of electoral malfeasance were never taken up by the law enforcement agencies. Indeed, the security agencies did not hide their partisan position during the season of anomie. In particular, the former national security adviser and the service chiefs instigated the INEC to postpone the general elections by six weeks. Under the pretext of maintaining law and order the state security service endorsed the wearing of masks by armed thugs at campaign rallies. Indeed, there were politically motivated killings traceable to security personnel. With such official impunity the leading political parties engaged in the uncontrolled contravention of the electoral law and the penal code. The National

• Falana Human Rights Commission disclosed that not less than 100 people were killed during the general elections. So far, no suspect has been prosecuted for the reckless murder of the unarmed citizens.

Official impunity and electoral offenders In 2007, President Umoru Yaradua admitted that the election which brought him to power was flawed. In a bid to sanitize the electoral system he set up the Mohammadu Uwais Electoral Committee . Among other recommendations the Committee called for the establishment of an Electoral Offences Tribunal. The Yaradua Administration rejected the recommendation without any justification. However, following the political violence which greeted the announcement of the results of the presidential election in some states in the North and Akwa Ibom in April 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan set up the Ahmed Lemu Panel to investigate the crisis. From the detailed report of the Panel, 943 people were killed while 838 others were injured. While the Federal Government has paid over N10 billion as reparation to the victims of the riots, the 626 suspects who were arrested in connection with arson, culpable homicide and other grave offences perpetrated during the civil disturbances have been left off the hook on account of official impunity that has become the order of the day under the current political dispensation. Convinced that electoral offenders ought to be prosecuted in order to stop electoral violence the Panel equally made a strong case for the setting up of “an autonomous and constitutionally recognized electoral Offences Tribunal, but which may be an ad hoc body as it may not have much to do in between election periods.” In accepting the recommendation of the Federal Government undertook to take all necessary actions to establish the Tribunal. Although the recommendation was adopted in August 2012 , the Tribunal is yet to be set up. Instead of signing a non-violence accord President Goodluck Jonathan ought to have instituted the Electoral Offences Tribunal. That would have put an end to the official endorsement of politically motivated violence in the country.

Since ours is a country which claims to operate under the Rule of Law it is inexplicable that the suspects involved in sabotaging the electoral process have not been charged to any criminal court. The crisis of impunity in the land has been compounded by the partisan involvement of the authorities of the police, the armed forces and other security agencies in the political process.

Although there are adequate and elaborate provisions in the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended and the penal statutes to deal with political violence and electoral malfeasance the managers of the neo-colonial state lack the political will to bring electoral offenders to book. In a number of decided cases, the courts have held that candidates sponsored by political parties cannot be held vicariously liable for politically motivated violence and electoral malpractice carried out on their behalf unless they can be directly linked with instigating or directing their supporters to engage in such criminality. Indeed, political leaders usually dissociate themselves from acts of violence by condemning the perpetrators. In many cases, attorneys-general are directed to file nolle prosequi to stop the prosecution of suspects who belong to the ruling parties. Hence, the cases of the hundreds of suspects charged to court by the Police for electoral offences committed during the 2003, 2007 and 2011 general elections were abruptly terminated in all the states of the federation.

It is submitted that the withdrawal of cases of electoral violence is illegal as it is subversive of democracy. It ought to be pointed out that even executive immunity does not cover election petitions and electoral offences! In Turaki v.

Dalhaltu(2003) 38 WRN 54 at 168 Oguntade JCA (as he then was) held that “If a Governor were to be considered immune from court proceedings, that would create the position where a sitting Governor would be able to flout election laws and regulations to the detriment of other persons contesting with him. This will make a nonsense of the election process and be against the spirit of our national Constitution which in its tenor provides for a free and fair election.”

As President Buhari has pledged to bring the perpetrators of electoral violence to book the federal government should direct the National Human Rights Commission and the Nigeria Police Force to collaborate with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prosecute all electoral offenders. In view of the limited capacity of the INEC to discharge the onerous duty conferred on it by section 150 of the Electoral Act, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should assist in the prosecution of electoral offenders throughout the country. The influential members of the National Peace Committee may wish to join the campaign to end impunity in the country. Unless electoral offenders are punished as envisaged by the Electoral Act and the Constitution the subversion of the democratic process will continue unabated.

Conclusion Finally, I wish to call on the federal government to constitute the INEC without any further delay. The many vacancies in the INEC should be filled with independent minded Nigerians of unimpeachable integrity through a transparent process. Once reconstituted the INEC should proceed to ensure that all citizens of voting age are registered and issued with permanent voters cards on a continuous basis while the use of card readers is perfected for future elections. The National Assembly is called upon to amend the Electoral Act to permit electronic voting and the use of permanent voters cards and card readers. Henceforth, the INEC should bear the legal responsibility of proving that elections have been properly conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act.

Ex-Commonwealth lawyers’ boss wears new cap

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ORMER Commonwealth Lawyers Associa tion (CLA) president Mrs. Boma Ozobia has been appointed a member of the MNCapital Africa Advisors ( MNCAA) advisory board MNCAA is a South Africa-based firm which offers corporate advisory, capital raising and market entry services, with partners in key African markets, including Botswana, DRC, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, as well as key financial centers across the globe.

Ozobia was the first woman CLA President in over 50 year. She was on the Board of Trustees of the Royal Commonwealth Society and also served as the Chairwoman of the Association of Women Solicitors of England and Wales between 2005/2006. She was awarded national honours of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in September 2014.

MNCAA Managing Partner Mansur Nuruddin said: “Boma’s wealth of experience will enable us to provide a much higher level

By John Austin Unachukwu

of service to our international clients looking to invest in Nigeria as well as our clients in Nigeria seeking capital and international partners.”

Ozobia said: “MNCapital Africa Advisers is

well positioned to drive economic growth and employment in Africa through its expert advisory services and strategic partnerships. I am delighted to be a part of this and look forward to working with the team to achieve the corporate objectives.”

LEGAL DIARY

Law firm holds roundtable

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LEADERING commercial law firm, Stering Partnership, will hold a roundtable on law and economic development. Topics to be discussed are: Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Tracing and Entertainment Law under the broad theme: The role of law in economic development.

The event will hold on September 16 at the Wheatbaker, 4, Onitolo Road, Ikoyi, by 9am.

Keynote Speakers are Partner, Cooley LLP, United Kingdom, Mr. James Maton, and founding partner, Law Allianz and co-founder, Chocolate City, Mr. Yahaya Maikori.

Professor of legal, social and political environment at the Lagos Business School, Olawale Ajai, Justice Peter Obiorah of the Anambra State High Court; Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN); Mrs Boma Ozobia; Mr. Israel Aye and Mrs. Ifeoma Fafunwa are among the expected guests.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

39

LAW & SOCIETY

Widow asks Appeal Court to suspend bench warrant

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IDOW of a former Perma nent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory, Ayodeji Omotade, Folashade, has asked the Court of Appeal in Lagos to stay execution of a bench warrant issued for her arrest by Justice Latifat Oluyemi of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.

She is also prayed the Court of Appeal for an order suspending the operation of the bench warrant and for a stay of all further proceedings in respect of the contempt proceedings pending the determination of the appeal.

Justice Oluyemi had on August 4 issued a Bench Warrant for the appellant’s arrest for her alleged failure to appear in court on July 21 in a case involving her late husband’s estate.

The warrant was issued over her sale of a house located in Omole Phase 1, Ojodu Lagos which the litigant, Grace Omotade claimed belong to the late permanent secretary.

Ayodeji Omotade died in the illfated Bellview Air crash of October 22, 2005, which crashed at Lisa Village, Ifo shortly after taking off from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos en route Abuja, killing all 117 passengers on board.

By Adebisi Onanuga

Folashade is a defendant in a suit instituted by Grace, who also claimed to be the deceased’s wife.

Folashade’s appeal was filed by her lawyers led by Professor Taiwo Osipitan (SAN). In her grounds of appeal, Folashade argued that the trial judge erred in law by issuing/ordering the issuance of a Bench Warrant for her arrest on account of non-appearance in court.

She claimed not to have received any hearing notice.

Osipitan said the trial judge erred in law “by assuming jurisdiction over the Contempt proceedings in Civil Suit instituted against the Appellant, and issuing Bench Warrant against the Appellant.”

“The right of the appellant to fair hearing was compromised or is likely to be compromised by the assumption of jurisdiction over contempt proceedings by learned trial judge whose order is alleged to have been violated by the appellant”.

He submitted in addition that the trial judge whose order was allegedly violated cannot be a judge in her own cause,” noting also that ”the exercise of judicial power of issuance of Bench Warrant, for the arrest of

the appellant (during the long vacation of the court) compromises or is likely to compromise appellant’s right to personal liberty enshrined by the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Folashade however averred in a supporting affidavit she deposed to that the house belonged to her and that she purchased it from one Robinson Omorere in the sum of N60million.

She claimed to have paid for the property in three installments with cheques drawn from her company’s account.

She denied knowledge of Grace as a wife of her late husband and, challenged her to produce legal proof of marriage.

Her counsel, Osipitan argued that the alleged contempt in respect of the sale of the property situated at 5, Kayode Alli Street, Omole Phase I, Ikeja, Lagos State is not a contempt in the face of the court emphasizing that the trial judge lacks the jurisdiction to try a case of alleged contempt which is not in the face of the Court.

He also argued that the trial judge lacks the Judicial power to issue bench warrant of the appellant.

According to her counsels “the position of law is that the bench warrant cannot be executed whilst there is still an application for stay pending before the Court.”

• Plateau State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Rev Soja Bewarang (left) and other clergymen praying for Governor Simon Lalong, (left kneeling), his wife Regina; Deputy Governor Prof. Sonni Tyoden and his wife Abike during a thanksgiving service to mark Lalong’s 100 days in office.

Quarry Project: Family sues firm over ‘trespass’

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PROMINENT family in Ondo State has sued an in digenous company at the High Court in Owo over alleged trespass and damage to its farmland.

In its suit numbered HOW/6M/ 2015, the family of late Pa Josiah Aderinola of Ipele in Owo Local Government Area, is asking for N3million as special and general damages against DIC Materials Limited of Plot 1138, Suite 8, Central Plaza, Central Business District, Abuja.

It also wants the court to declare that the company trespassed on its land and to restrain it from further activities on the property.

In its statement of claim, the family alleged that the company illegally entered its property and bulldozed more than two acres of its farmland at Ipele/Ifon Road, and destroyed cash crops, including cocoa trees, palm trees, cassava, plantain stems, kola nut trees, maize and yam, among others.

The company later moved in and set up its operational base for blasting rocks without any regard to the resultant effects on crops, water, houses and human settlement

By Joseph Jibueze

within the vicinity, the family said.

Last August 25, the family’s lawyer, Dr. Bode Ayorinde, had written to DIC Materials Limited to stop further work on the site, pending a meeting with the representatives of his clients to work out necessary compensation based on agreement.

But the company denied charges of not paying compensation and said it followed due process by signing a Community Development Agreement (CDA), a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Olupele of Ipele, Oba Abel Olaleye Alade (now late), in addition to a letter of consent for rock mining and documentary evidence of “compensation to land-owners and occupiers”.

The company’s quarry manager, Mr. Balogun Ayodele also said in a letter that an unspecified “monetary compensation” was paid to “any farmer for his/her crop within the perimeter of the area where the explorer will explore/crush rock”.

Not satisfied with the reply, the family’s lawyer wrote back last November 4, saying the company had

confused the consent it required from the government and traditional ruler on the rock exploitation with that required from the family as the owners of the land for its operational base.

“Our client will not compete with HRH, the Olupele of Ipele or the Federal Government of Nigeria on their right and authority on the rock in question which is legally classified as mineral deposit.

“However, no law in Nigeria has appropriated our client’s land to the traditional ruler or the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel. It is left to you to operate directly on the rock or find another piece of land to serve as your operational base,” the lawyer said.

The statement of claim further said that despite the exchange of letters, the company had “willfully refused to consider the economic hardship” inflicted on members of the family by its activities.

“The family has not alienated, granted or sold any part of its land to any person, including the defendant, and has not appointed any person as its agent to collect any money from the defendant,” the family added.

LAW AND PUBLIC POWER

with gabriel AMALU email:gabrielamalu1@yahoo.com For comments: 08033054939 (sms only)

Forgery and the Senate

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HE 8h senate is stymied in controversy, and, despite the best efforts of the beneficiaries of the leadership crisis, the issues have refused to go away. To compound the disagreements, five members of that otherwise august body, have reinstated that they are still in court, claiming that the senate standing orders, through which the present leadership emerged, is a forged document. That allegation, is in addition to the controversy arising from the intrigues and subterfuge that bedevilled the indecorous emergence of senators Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu, as senate president and deputy senate president, respectively.

To be fair to the distinguished and undistinguished senators alike, the matter of who leads the senate, is the prerogative of the senators. Well, considering that they may not always all agree on a choice, a fortiori, the law enjoins them to set down the rules of engagement, ab initio. Going forward, once they set down any rule, then, it is sacrosanct that they follow it, unless they agree in a manner afore-agreed, to ignore it, or set it aside, also, in a manner pre-determined. Anyway, whether or not such was the case, in the emergence of the foremost principal officers, will be determined by the courts, since the matter is presently, subjudice.

However, just as the senators have their privileges, the nation state, made up of citizens, and institutions of the state, have their collective privileges. To that same extent, an allegation of forgery, as claimed with regards to the standing order of the 8th senate, is a crime against the state, and it is the prerogative of the criminal justice institutions of the state, on behalf of the nation-state, to vigorously pursue the allegation, and in furtherance of that, if the circumstance so demands, to properly bring before the court, any person(s) allegedly involved in the crime, to answer to the charges.

So, it is strange that despite the national importance of this matter, no person has been charged to court for the alleged felony that has thoroughly embarrassed our country. Or is the allegation of forgery of the standing orders of the 8th senate, a ruse? Strange country. In fact, stranger than fiction, if one ponders some of the strange things happening here. Ordinarily, there are enough laws in the book, to determine, whether the criminal offence of forgery, has been committed.

Also, considering that the document in question, is not one of the ragtag obscene publications, without a copyright, that steal our attention at bus-stops; because of its obtrusive and lurid pictures and headlines; it is strange, that nobody has been held, for the alleged forgery.

Let’s look at what the criminal code, which is substantially in pari materia with the penal code, says about the offence of forgery. Section 465, of the Criminal Code Act, provides the Definition of Forgery, thus: “A person who makes a false document or writing knowing it to be false, and with intent that it may in any way be used or acted upon as genuine, whether in the state or elsewhere, to the prejudice of any person or with intent that any person may, in the belief that it is genuine, be induced to do or refrain from doing any act, whether in the state or elsewhere is said to forge the document or writing”.

Bearing this definition in mind, the simple question for the investigating authority would simply have been, to find out whether the senate standing order 2015, is a false document? To determine this, in the circumstance, is to find out, who made the document, and whether the maker, had the authority under the law, to make the document.

Where the maker had no powers to make the document, and went ahead to make same, with the intent to represent it as genuine, then prima facie, the offence of forgery may have been committed.

The responsibility of that investigating officer, or institution of state, which under our extant laws, is the Nigeria Police, is to bring the offender(s) before the law to answer the charge of forgery. Considering the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the police should after their investigations, forward their finding to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, for it to decide, whether and where to prosecute. Strangely, or if you prefer, stranger than fiction, there is the unbelievable tale, as to what has happened to the police report. The report in the media is that, the report has been lost in transit, albeit in its shuttles, between the two institutions of state.

Should the report be found, and it is established that the senate standing order was forged, Nigerians hope that the maker(s) would be taken before a magistrate or judge, for a criminal trial. According to section 467, of the criminal code: “Any person who forges any document, writing, or seal, is guilty of an offence which, unless otherwise stated, is a felony, and he is liable, if no other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for three years”.

In climes, where the law is not afraid of some of its citizens, those who allegedly forged the senate standing orders would by now, have had their day in court. If as some senators have claimed, the allegation is baseless, then the institutions of state, should say so. Or is it possible, as reported in the media, that the police report, did not mention the maker of the allegedly forged document. Of note, in Alake vs State, Alagoa, J.C.A; held, ‘If the charge upon which an accused person is arraigned relates to forgery, it must be proved that it is the accused person that committed the forgery’.

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LAW REPORT Lawyer and Univrersity of Lagos (UNILAG) lecturer Wahab Shittu says other public officials should also declare their asset in the spirit of transparency.

Asset declaration and best practices

N

IGERIANS on September 3, 2015 woke up to new realities as details of the assets of the President and Vice President, Buhari and Osinbajo were unveiled to the public through public declaration of their assets. The assets are as declared before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on assumption of office on May, 29. The development implies that the two officials took a step higher than what the law prescribes in causing publication of assets already declared to be made in the newspapers.

According to the report, details of the President’s assets declared publicly include: Less than N30m cash; one Union Bank account; shares in Berger Paints, Union Bank and Skye Bank; five homes in Daura, Kaduna and Abuja; two plots of land in Kano and Port Harcourt; Farms, an orchard and a ranch; 270 head of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses, birds, trees; Cars, two of which he bought from his savings and the others supplied to him by the Federal Government in his capacity as former Head of State.

The Vice President’s assets include: N94 million and $900,000 in his bank accounts; 4-bedroom residence at Victoria Garden City, Lagos and a 3-bedroom flat at 2 Mosley Road, Ikoyi, a 2bedroom flat at Redemption Cam and a 2-bedroom mortgaged property in Bedford, England; Law firm, known as SimmonsCooper; Shares I Octogenerium Ltd., Windsor Grant Ltd., Tarapolsa, Vistorion Ltd., Aviva Ltd., MTN; Infinity SUV, Mercedes Benz and a Prado Jeep.

The public declaration of assets by the President and the Vice President is significant for several reasons. First, having made the issue a subject matter of campaign during the build up to the last presidential elections, the gesture may have been an indication of promise kept. I recall that in an interview I granted to The Guardian on Tuesday June 9 2015 tittled: “Buhari, Osinbajo will make asset declaration public” I responded to anxieties about the prospects of the President and the Vice President declaring their assets this way.

“We must proceed from the premise of what the law stipulates, which is to the effect that they are expected to declare their assets. The law did not stipulate that those assets should be publicised, the assumption being that once declared, it is in the public domain. Whoever is interested should go and apply for a certified trued copy from the code of conduct bureau. But in the light of the present circumstance, on the strength of the integrity and antecedent of Mr. President and his vice who rode to power on the integrity ticket, with the well-known incorruptible posturing of both men who have zero-tolerance for corruption, my expectation is that they should take a step further by causing their asset declaration to be made public. My view is that they are going to do that. I am 100 percent optimistic that they would cause the asset declared to be published.

My optimism arises from my knowledge of the personalities involved, particularly the vice president, who has a record of integrity in public service and values his reputation. I would implore the civil society organisations to be patient with the new leadership because they are just settling down and there are a lot of issues to be grappled with. Let us see what is going to happen in their first 100 days, because they have said within this period, they are going to make their asset declaration public. I think we should not stampede them and invest faith in their credibility and integrity. They have done what is required of them, legally speaking. They cannot publicly declare such assets without complying with the formalities prescribed by law, which is what they have done now. Having declared and submitted their forms to the code of conduct bureau, let us wait for further policy pronouncements of what they intend to do. I believe it is rather premature to think that they are trying to shy away from declaring their assets publicly. I happened to be in a public function, where the vice president assured that beyond what the law stipulates, such asset declarations would be published in major national newspapers. I know he is a man of his words. So, those criticising them should keep their gun powder dry and let’s wait for few more weeks”.

On a personal level, I feel fulfilled that the two topmost public officials in the country have kept their promises, meaning that the optimism that some of us expressed have not been betrayed.

The word of a gentleman ought to be a bond.

Beyond keeping of promises, the gesture must also be considered and analysed against the background of international experience of asset declarations with a view to determining whether our country can also draw useful experiences from best practices in other climes.

Undoubtedly, asset and interest disclosure has

zanian model emphasises the use of data compiled through means of notice board. Can we share this experience?

Useful Lessons

Our parliamentarians can borrow from the UK experience. In the UK the house of commons has set up a register of interest in May 1974 maintained by the parliamentary Commissioner for Standards as laid out in the House of Commons Standing Order No. 150. “The purpose of the register is to encourage transparency and accountability. It is “to provide information of any pecuniary interest or other material benefit which a member receives which might reasonably be thought by others to influence his or her actions, speeches or votes in parliament, or actions taken in the capacity of a Member of Parliament”3.

The register is not intended to be an indicator of a member of parliament’s personal wealth, nor is registration an indication that a member is at fault”.

•Buhari

•Osinbajo

become a key global anti-corruption issue. In the light of the clear agenda of Mr. President on the basis of which he rode to power, this public declaration of asset is one clear signal that this administration is really serious and committed to its anticorruption campaign. If the number one and number two citizens have declared their assets publicly, what prevents any other public official from not following this worthy example? It is also important that this declaration is coming before the appointment and constitution of the cabinet ministers. My expectation is that all appointed ministers and other categories of public officials now have heavy moral and legal responsibilities to publicly declare their assets. There can be no excuses for non-compliance. Indirectly, the President and Vice President may have started the war against corruption on a very solid and bright foundation.

The understanding is that the asset declaration represents a veritable tool for transparency in governance – an important hallmark of the democratic tradition.

The international community considers asset declarations as a tool for transparency. This is evidence by its inclusion in the UN Convention against Corruption, which notes that: “Each State Party shall endeavour, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to establish measures and systems requiring public officials to make declarations to appropriate authorities regarding, inter alia, their outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may result with respect to their functions as public officials” The understanding is that “regulations concerning the disclosure of assets and interests can help prevent conflicts of interest among public office holders. Disclosure of information on private interests increases the transparency of decision-making processes, and thereby lays the foundations for the accountability of office holders for their actions. The disclosure of assets helps to provide a baseline and thus means for comparison to identify assets that may have been corruptly acquired and that a public official may legitimately be asked to account for. A good disclosure system can, further, be the basis for successfully enforcing criminal and other legal anti-corruption provisions”.

Best Practices – Country Examples

International best practices on asset declaration vary from country to country depending on the legal regime and the emphases placed on combating corruption by the authorities. While some countries prefer to restrict the disclosure requirement to senior office holders or those in sensitive positions, others require the declaration of interests of less senior public officials more generally, with some also requiring information about the assets of public officials’ spouses. Few countries, however, require asset disclosure of public officials at all levels. Examples of countries in this category include: Belarus, Brunei Darrussalam, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, Guatemala, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon and Malaysia.

This underscores the seriousness of asset declaration. Nigeria’s latest example is a clear indication that our country is ready to implement the international code of conduct for public officials – a commitment which has long been established as the main objective of UNESCO Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which publishes a yearly report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the international code

•Shittu

of conduct for public officials. One clear recommendation to be made is the need to comply with international best practices. A few examples of how some countries have addressed this challenge would make the point being made clearer.

Albania In Albania there is a Revised Asset Disclosure Law approved by the parliament on the strength of the agitation by the Albania Coalition against Corruption. It took over one and a half years to convince the government that drafting a new law was a necessary element to the reduction of corruption in public finance. The model may be useful in reforming our law in this area particularly areas that would streamline remuneration packages available to our parliamentarians with a view to ensuring reduction in the cost of governance – a popular clamour in our society today. The Albanian experience was informed by research findings indicating the lack of transparency of financial disclosures by public officials.

The Albania’s law recognises that all declaration be made public; a reduction of the number of senior officials and the family members required to declare assets from 11,000 people to 3,500. The legislation also expects members of families of public officials to also declare their assets particularly those who have access to public funds.The law is enforce by an independent body call the High Inspectorate, responsible for the enforcement of the law.Is Nigeria ready for such a model?

Liberia

In Liberia there is a model for combating political corruption through asset disclosure which shows how effective asset disclosure can lead to public accountability the National Election Commission (NEC) in Liberia is actively involved.

This means political parties and candidates contesting elections publicly declared their assets.

These declarations were made available for public scrutiny via the NEC website and written about widely in the press. The electorate thus had an opportunity to make more informed decisions at the polls and to hold the winning candidate accountable in the future.

Papua New Guinea and Taiwan In Papua New Guinea and Taiwan the role of Ombudsmen in monitoring asset declaration is emphasized. These are two countries where the ombudsman can review and monitor declarations of income and assets made by senior public officials. The ombudsman is an office independent of government with the investigative capacities to examine the contents of financial declarations. This model can avoid the necessity for establishing other independent mechanisms specifically for monitoring financial assets. Is Nigeria looking in the direction of creating the office of the ombudsman?

Tanzania

In Tanzania, “the Tanzania Governance Notice board collates and presents information that is useful for the strengthening of accountability, transparency and integrity in Tanzania. Key statistics, including budget data, audits and other governance related indicators, have been gathered in the TGN database. Though the noticeboard doesn’t explicitly collect information resulting from asset/wealth disclosures, it is interesting as an example of an IT platform sharing a range of financial information to enhance transparency and accountability”. The Tan-

Transparency

Transparency is also promoted by the obligation on members to declare in parliamentary debates or proceedings and dealings with other members, ministers or public servants, all interests, whether registrable or not and including indirect, past and future interests which are relevant to the business in hand. While the obligation to register outside employment, sponsorship, property and shareholdings is absolute, in respect of other gifts and benefits the requirement is only to register those interests which in any way arise out of membership of the House of Commons. In line with this principle, the interests of spouses, partners and dependent children are registrable only if they arise out of their relative’s position as a member, or if they are held jointly with, or by, the member. The interests which are to be registered are set out in the “Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules relating to the Conduct of Members”.

Interests are registered under the following 10 categories: Remunerated directorships; Remunerated employment, office, profession etc; Clients; Sponsorship or financial or material support; Gifts, benefits and hospitality (U.K.); Overseas visits; Overseas benefits and gifts; Land and property; Registrable shareholdings and Miscellaneous and unremunerated interests

Senate and House of Representatives

Our Senate and House of Representatives can draw useful experience from the model and compliment the Buhari administration’s resolve to fight corruption through transparency and accountabilities.

United States of America

In the USA there is a window established by the Centre for Responsive Politics emphasising personal Financial Disclosures Database. “The Centre for Responsive Politics is a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy. The centre conducts computer-based research on campaign finance issues for the news media, academics, activists, and the public at large. The centre’s work is aimed at creating a more educated voter, an involved citizenry, and a more responsive government…the centre has devised an innovative way of communicating information via the internet on the assets of political representatives – a searchable, online database that can be sorted by various categories”.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is need for Nigeria to embrace international best practices on asset declaration by our public officials. Drawing specific examples from Albania, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea and Taiwan, Liberia, UK and United States among others the following measures may be considered: 1. Extending asset declaration to members of families of public officials 2. Instituting a code of conduct on asset declaration for our parliamentarians 3. Setting up the office of the ombudsman to monitor and enforce compliance 4. Creating a register of interests to be rigourously enforced by our parliamentarians 5. Other measures depending on the model being adopted.

Next to public declaration of assets is the need to insist on code of conduct for public officials.

Whether for parliamentarians or public officials, codes of conduct help to build an atmosphere of ethics. For government officials, they offer a clear, concise frame of reference for an institution’s ethical principles in a single document.

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The need I see today that is bigger is that we ‘must take full advantage of this opportunity we have to elect a governor via the ballot box ’

POLITICS

In 2007, Prince Ebitemi Amgbare contested for governor in Bayelsa State on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), but lost to Chief Timipre Sylva. He, went to court and got Sylva’s election annulled in a judgment that changed the electoral calendar of the state. He recently resigned his appointment in the administration of Governor Seriake Dickson. He spoke with MIKE ODIEGWU on his resignation and other issues.

‘Second term in Bayelsa must be based on performance’

R

ECENTLY, you resigned your appointment in the administration of Governor Seriake Dickson. Why did you leave?

Let me go back to how it all started. Sometime, in March, during the fuel subsidy crisis, I saw that our people were suffering with regards to movement. There was serious transportation challenge in town, and I called the governor that I needed to speak with him on that. So when I saw him, I told him about the difficulties, and in the course of our discussion, I proffered some solutions, and I think he was impressed with the solutions I proffered. He now said, ‘Can you help us go to transport and help us reposition the company?’ and I said, ‘Why not?’ And precisely, July 2012, he announced me as the General Manager of Bayelsa Transport Company with immediate effect. And I resumed, came up with a lot of blueprints. But whether or not I was supported to carry out my blueprints is not a matter for today.

The reason why I pulled out is that, there is another need. Remember, it was a need that made me to approach him, and because of that approach, I got a job. But today, I see a bigger need. The need I see today that is bigger, is that we must take full advantage of this opportunity we have to elect a governor via the ballot box. And, I can say for the very first time, you know how Bayelsa has been; how our elections have been in the past. Our elections have been more of endorsements. Materials, really, never got to the grassroots. Leaders would just agree, and endorse, and share votes: give 30% to one party and 70% to another party. That is why in 2007 when I contested, I challenged the misconduct of that election, and I was able to prove that it was not properly conducted.

Don’t you think there will be a campaign against you that you could not run a simple transport company?

I will wait for that time to come. But for now, I will dwell on why I left Bayelsa Transport Company. I want to dwell on that, because I know that nobody will raise what you are saying in the public domain. But if anybody dares to mention it, I will handle it at that point in time. But for now, the very reason why I left is because I see a need – the need is to make sure that our votes count in the December 5th governorship election in Bayelsa state.

Historically, Bayelsa, as you pointed out, is known for selection, instead of election. Do you think this has affected the development of the state?

Naturally, if you owe your emergence as governor to the people, you will never take them for granted; forever you will hold them in high

esteem, because you know they brought you there. I’m in the system. I’ve been in this system since 2001, and I know the efforts we have made to pull this thing to the grassroots. As Chairman of PDP in Sagbama, 2001/2003, I came up with ‘Operation Deliver Your Wards’.

I did that, because at that point, it was a central arrangement, you know, few leaders in the local government will just sit down and share the votes. Materials will not even go to the Ward headquarters. So I said no. Let materials get to the Ward headquarters. That’s why I came up with ‘Operation Deliver Your Wards’. Then in 2003 election, Alameseigha, the then governor adopted it as his policy for the election, that leadership at the ward level must be recognized.

So, that has been our problem. So this time, my energy, my wealth of experience in election matters, I want to see how I can deploy that to bring about making the votes count.

Do you think the governor has delivered on his promises?

You see, the truth of the matter is, when it comes to campaigns, I’m sure everybody in Bayelsa state knows where we are today, where we were in 2012, when Dickson came on board.

So, it’s not a matter to talk about. For now, my focus is how to make sure we mobilize Bayelsans, provide leadership, inspire them and make sure that on December 5th when we come out for governorship election, they come out.

In fact, it’s a process. You know, we want to start the build-up for tomorrow, start preaching the gospel why we want to make sure that it’s a complete departure from the past. And, I, Ebitemi Amgbare, will be doing my people a lot of disservice if I tie myself in one corner, and don’t provide this leadership at this time.

Which political party are you heading for?

I’ve already registered with the All Progressive Congress. You’ll recall that before I got this appointment, I was a member of the ACN. And I didn’t take part in the process of registration because I was busy serving my people as General Manager of Bayelsa Transport Company.

But now that I have disengaged from that assignment; I did that yesterday- registered, I’m a member of the All Progressive Congress.

Why did you go back to the APC? That’s where I belong. And, I have my sympathy for APC. I am a progressive minded person. I am completely different from this conservative kind of arrangement. Even though I was in that government, of course, you will know from my policies, my blueprints that as the GM of Bayelsa Transport Company, I came up with the promoted idea of subsidy in the transport sector. The few places, even though I

•Amgbare

‘

Naturally, if you owe your emergence as governor to the people, you will never take them for granted; forever you will hold them in high esteem, because you know they brought you there

’

didn’t have a vehicle I was able to go into franchise arrangement with vehicle owners, and so, Amassoma, Yenagoa, because of the NigerDelta University, I made sure that it was N100 or N150, even when the National Union of Road Transport Workers and other unions were charging N200. I believe that government must subsidize. Food is very expensive in Bayelsa state, and what is the reason? transportation.

Movement from one point to another is very difficult. So those are the policies of a progressive-minded group, and that’s where I belong.

There is an insinuation that Bayelsa State is not developed because no governor has been able to completely break the second term jinx.

Why should the governor not complete his tenure?

No. I hear people say that there is a second tenure jinx. There is no second tenure jinx.

I came into Alameseigha’s administration. I was in that government for close to three years.

That means Alameseigha spent almost three years in his administration second tenure, before he had his challenge, and his problem was not an internal problem, it was from outside.

So,you see, there is no jinx. But to be candid, you must earn your second tenure. First tenure may be by chance. But second tenure is purely on merit. If you merit it, you’ll get it. But if you don’t merit it, the people will kick you out.

Do you think Dickson merits a second tenure?

I will leave that for the people to judge. My concern here, as I said is that the mandate must come from the ballot box. Dickson must get his second tenure via the ballot box. If the people think that he deserves the second tenure, they’ll give it to him. But, if they think that he does not deserve it, I’m sure they will kick him out.

In 2007, you challenged the outcome of the governorship election as the candidate of the defunct ACN. You got a judgment that changed the political calendar of the state.

Why did you go to that extent?

It was not properly conducted. Even as the governorship candidate of my party, I did not see the ballot paper. They just sat in Government House and wrote results. And I was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that materials did not get to units. The tribunal disagreed with us, but fortunately, the appeal court saw reasons why the election should not be allowed to stand.

The 2007 judgement annulled the election of Governor Timipre Sylva. Now, Sylva is the leader of APC in Bayelsa state. Do you have a problem with that?

No, I don’t have a problem with that. Even when we were in court, Sylva and I were quite close. We were talking, and I said to him that, my loyalty was for my party, and that the reason why we were in court was that my party felt the need to deepen democracy. And you can imagine if we did not prove all that; if we did not succeed in annulling the elections; if Oshomhole did not succeed in upturning the victory of Osunbo; if Rauf Aregbesola did not succeed in Osun; if Fayemi did not succeed in Ekiti; you know, in Ondo state election, if Mimiko did not succeed, we wouldn’t have had any reason to deny Morris Iwu a second tenure.

Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant Reuben Okoya, in this interview with EMMANUEL UDODINMA, speaks on his plan for the state, the division in the party and the way forward.

‘PDP ‘ll retain Bayelsa’ W HAT are the challenges facing Bayelsa State?

I agree that over 70 percent of the surface area in Bayelsa is water lodge and we have problems developing them. The rainy season lasts for seven months or there about often with a devastating effect. That had actually consumed some homes in the state. In Bayelsa, you have to excavate before you sand-fill, so you spend a lot of money in laying foundations. But these problems are surmountable and we can do it. You know we are not much educated as we should be; education is the key to success. I took a ride a couple of years ago to Nembe and I was flabbergasted. No chairs, no structures that we can attribute to good education environment. The problems are many. If we are properly focused, with direction, dedication and carrying people along, our problems will be solved. No man is an Island,

as a leader you must get lieutenants that must help you work.

Bayelsa is a mono-economy.

What is your blueprint?

When I was Commissioner of Special Projects, I was doing buildings; the governors that I worked for hardly come to the sites because they had confidence in me. So, I know how to go about the problems. Another problem we have is the lack of private industries in Bayelsa which really affects the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). It is all over the world, that if you build a good city, investors will come. If you provide the platform, investors will come, tourists will come and the state will make progress. Investors find investment destinations by themselves and tourists do the same as well. If you go to Dubai, nobody is calling on investors to come and invest. We must deal with this first; we must have good roads, schools, private

hospitals and primary healthcare facilities to secure the sate against malaria, dysentery and simple diabetes etc. When the necessary things are taken care of, then the investors will come by themselves. There are lots of things that government does today which are wastages. Bayelsans deserves the best, so coming on board; I will give them the best.

How will you assess the conflict in the Bayelsa PDP? I have been a loyal member of the PDP since the year 2000, when I came into the country from America.

I will continue to remain in PDP. PDP is a united party and in any party, there are always issues to resolve. And any problem that is in the PDP can always be surmounted.

Any problems you see in the PDP are the same problems you see in other parties. There is no situation on ground, you know as politicians, there is always this struggle for su-

’

•Okoya premacy and that is the situation on ground.

You want to contest against the governor who is seeking a second term. Do you have the structure?

Let me say this very distinctly. Politics is not a do or die affair, the constitution allows for two tenures which is not a must. Doing one tenure do not guarantee you second tenure. Nobody is perfect, however, people say politics is a game and I believe that if you are a serving governor as a governor and want a second term, you ought to work for it. You ought to convince your party and the people that you want to go for it.

If somebody decides to compete with you in an election, it doesn’t mean he is your enemy. It will only be a check on you. The reason why presidential election has two tenures is that if you are not performing well, somebody else or another party will be given the opportunity to take over. Now, Nigeria adopted the presidential system for a purpose, to make sure that governors, senators, House of Representatives members and state assembly members are in check. So, if someone decides to run election against you, it doesn’t mean that the person hates you but for you to buckle up.

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POLITICS

Bayelsa State was always in the news for the wrong ‘reason and the general consensus at a time was that Bayelsa cannot be rescued from the backwaters ’

In this piece, public affairs analyst Francis Agbo highlights reasons why Bayelsa State Governor Deriake Dickson deserves second term.

‘Why Dickson deserves second term’ C

AN anything good come from Nazareth? Most students of Biblical history fondly remember this popular rhetorical question the Jews in the Bible asked, in the face of the messianic exploits of Jesus of Nazareth. Indeed, before Jesus Christ, nobody reckoned with Nazareth, a small exclave until His ministry turned Nazareth to a mecca of sort and hence the question.

Like Nazareth, Bayelsa, a creeky small state; the smallest of the 36 states in Nigeria is very rich in natural resources especially oil and gas.

Curiously, its oil and gas deposits have arguably become a curse to the people rather than a blessing! While the state bled to near death under the reign of Governor Timipre Sylva between 2007 and 2011, the ruling elite wallowed in luxury; stealing of public funds had become the rule rather than the exception! Cultism, crime and criminality walked with two legs untamed and residents slept with one eye open.

In the build up to the 2011 general election in Bayelsa State, bombs were detonated and the state which prides itself as Jerusalem of Ijaw Nation was thrown into a petal of blood. Consequently, Bayelsa State was always in the news for the wrong reason and the general consensus at a time was that Bayelsa cannot be rescued from the backwaters. This even forced Comrade Mike Igini, the current Resident Electoral Commissioner in Edo State to declare Bayelsa, a failed state.

The 2011 governorship election in the state was shifted to 2012 following a Supreme Court verdict in a suit brought before it by Sylva in a bid to elongate his tenure, following the nullification of his 2007 election by the tribunal and subsequent victory in the re-run. After over four years of his misrule, the same Sylva sought reelection at the 2012 governorship poll but the PDP had become more sensitive. Sensing that Bayelsans would reject him at the polls, the party disqualified him in the primary election which threw up Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson as PDP governorship candidate and won with about 90 percent of the vote in a highly competitive election.

Since February 12, 2012 that Hon Dickson has held sway in the Creek Haven as governor, the narrative about Bayelsa has changed. Tagged Restoration Agenda, Dickson who was member representing Sagbama/ Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and Chairman of the Justice Committee has left no one in doubt that it would be business unusual!

Upon assumption of office, the Countryman governor who hails from Toru-Urua, a tiny community in Sagbama Local Government, summoned the uncommon courage, 18 years after the creation of Bayelsa State in 1996 to redefine the governance culture, cleansed the Augean Stable in the state and offloaded the N332 billion debt burden incurred by the Sylva administration by redeeming the sum of N232 billion, making the state the least indebted in the federation.

The governor inherited a whopping sum of N1.685billion, being the budget the Sylva government claimed to have used monthly to run Government House, Yenagoa which Dickson reduced to N685million and now to N200m following the economic depression. The predominance of ghost workers in the civil service bloated the monthly salary wage bill of workers put at N6billion, the second after Lagos State which the Dickson government has cut to N4 billion through staff audit, thereby saving money for the state. The governor granted autonomy to the Judiciary, making it possible for the third arm of government to receive their allocation on the first line charge. The Police officer turned governor, outlawed kidnapping/ cultism and made them punishable with death.

So far, the governor has walked the talk so much so that ordinary Bayelsans now call him the ‘‘talk na do governor,’’ meaning a governor who makes, keeps and fulfills his promise.

The governor then proceeded to sponsor an executive bill (Transparency& Accountability Law) that makes it mandatory for the governor to, on a monthly basis render account of stewardship; the accruals and expenditures of government in a Town Hall Meeting where the people ask the governor questions, he provides answers. Call it citizen governance.

The governor also enacted the Compulsory Savings Law, which makes it mandatory for him to save money for the state. The savings became handy in the wake of the current credit

In line with his ‘ inaugural promise not to politicise the security of Bayelsans, the restoration government has invested so much in security, and the resultant effect is that Bayelsa is now one of the safest and peaceful states in Nigeria

•Dickson crunch as the money was deployed to meet the strategic obligation of government. At a time when neighbouring oil producing states with low salary wage bills but with more federal allocations are owing workers salary and pensioners, Dickson has kept a clean slate!

Having laid the legal framework for the government by signing these bills into law, Dickson, popularly known as Countryman governor because of his strong connect with the grassroots started implementing his lofty free and compulsory education in primary and secondary schools because he inherited a comatose educational system. In the last three years, N24billion has been spent on the building of over 30 model first ever boarding secondary schools across the 24 state constituencies, building of 400 primary schools with headmaster/ staff quarters across the state. In addition, free textbooks, uniforms, sandals, bags, and writing materials are distributed to pupils and students. Government is also responsible for the payment of WAEC, NECO, and JAMB forms fees for students. And above all, a teachers training institute to train and re-train the teachers has been built and equipped with cutting edge technology. Significantly, government under the watch of Dickson has spent N7billion on sending hundreds of Ijaw speaking Nigerians, particularly Bayelsans to the best of universities abroad on graduate, post-graduate and doctorate degree scholarship.

The good news today is that the Bayelsa education story has changed for good. According to a policy think tank, the African Health, Human and Social Development (Afrii-Dev), Bayelsa has gone from the bottom of the ladder to having the lowest rate of illiteracy among male Nigerians. In 2013, the state had the 6th highest pass rate among Nigeria’s 36 states with 51 per cent pass rate. In 2014, Bayelsa State jumped two places ahead to become the number four best performing state with a pass rate of 52.83 per cent as 34, 242 students scored

’

five credits and above, including Mathematics and English.

Unlike before when Bayelsa was described as a one-road state, the restoration government of Dickson has constructed a ring road that links people from Portharcourt via Igbogene to the heart of Yenagoa without passing through the hassles of traffic gridlock. Before the economic down turn, Bayelsa was turned into a construction site and the people could see their money being judiciously utilized. No more capital flights! Many new roads have been built, several of them rehabilitated and dualized across the state while an audacious first ever flyover named restoration flyover has been built. Many of the contracts including the flyover were handled by Julius Berger. The crowning capstone of these roads are the dualization of the Isaac Adaka Boro Express Way in Yenagoa into three lanes, the Ogobiri/ Toru Ebeni bridge, the longest in the state connecting Sagbama with Southern Ijaw local governments , while the construction of the three senatorial roads- Bayelsa West, East and Central has reached advance stage.

The Ogbia-Nembe road in Bayelsa East is worth mentioning here.

The contract was first awarded in 1973 and has since been abandoned until Governor Dickson came to judgement and paid the contractor off. When Timipre Sylva became governor, many had expected him to tar it and electrify the town since he hails from Nembe but he didn’t. Before now, Nembe could only be accessed by water. It is amusing that the same Sylva wants to return to Creek Haven.

A world-class diagnostic centre, and a drug mart named after the late Prof. Dora Akunyili have been built and billed to be commissioned this month. Today, there are referral hospitals in the eight local government headquarters of the state because there is a Dickson as governor. Aside these, the government has also constructed the followings: School of Tourism and Catering, school of music, four state secretariat annexes , Traditional Rulers Secretariat, multidoor Court built for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Government house clinic, Police Officers Mess, deputy governor’s residence, driving school, transparency plaza, government lodges, School of Language, Museum, all in Yenagoa and a host of others. Work on the football academy in Sagbama, in Sagbama Local Government, the NYSC Orientation Camp and Youth Development Centre in Kaiama and Sports Academy, both in Kolokuma Okpokuma Local Government Area have reached advanced

stage, while an ultra-modern stadium has been built and put to use in Nembe City. An Ecumenical Centre in Yenagoa and a new government house are about to be completed in Yenagoa, all in less than four years.

A first ever Commercial Cassava Starch Processing Factory cited in Ebidebri in Sagbama with a value chain capacity of providing over 30 thousand job opportunities is about to take off in the state. Several rural communities have been hooked to electricity under the restoration electrification scheme. An airport on the Wilberforce Island, Amassoma meant to open up the state and make it a player in the Gulf of Guinea is under construction. The underpinning philosophy of Dickson’s development paradigm is that no Bayelsan child should go through the deprivation he suffered as a child and that is why education is free for all, so that there is no drop out; and that explains why all the nooks and crannies of the state are linked up through good roads and other social amenities, apparently to avert a situation where children would not have the harrowing experience of sighting a vehicle only at 18 years or so as was the lot of Dickson who had no idea of how a vehicle looked until he rounded off his secondary education and travelled by water to Patani, a town in the present day Delta State.

In line with his inaugural promise not to politicize the security of Bayelsans, the restoration government has invested so much in security, and the resultant effect is that Bayelsa is now, one of the safest and peaceful states in Nigeria.

The peace that prevails in the state today is no happenstance. Government set up a security outfit named Operation Dooakpo which has helped to maintain the peace and respond to emergency calls within five minutes. Though there are pockets of crime in the state but any case of breach has always been contained. In 2013, Dooakpo was voted as the best African security outfit in South Africa.

The success story of Bayelsa appears to have taken the state to the world and the world to Bayelsa. Investors now throng to Yenagoa, the state capital to, in the words of the Governor, explore Bayelsa which the countryman once described as ‘‘the world’s best kept secret.’’ In appreciation of the rebranding of the state, several major national and global events have held in Yenagoa, the state capital. Chief amongst them are the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Miss Century, Fashion Festival, AMAA Festival, Global Jazz festival. Others are Economic Summit and the latest, All Nigeria Editors Conference. Interestingly, international figures like Reverend Jesse Jack, wife of Jacob Zuma, envoys and a host of others have also taken time out of their busy schedules to explore the heartland of Ijaw land.

What baffles me is that even though Governor Dickson remains the only governor who renders account of stewardship monthly to his people, set aside November 2 as Thanksgiving Day, gave full autonomy to the Judiciary, introduced full scale free and compulsory education, built a teachers training institute, instituted a social security of N5,000 for all aged, from 75 years and above, paid the salary and pension of workers without borrowing and without tempering with local government funds, he is yet to receive a commensurate encomium for his selfless leadership. Like him or hate him, Governor Dickson has clearly proved that good tidings can also come from Bayelsa, the Jerusalem of Ijaw Nation!

• Kogi State Governor Idris Wada (left) receiving an award of excellence from Chairman, Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON), Kogi State chapter, Comrade Dominic Ondeku at a workshop for head teachers in the state.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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BUSINESS AVIATION

Govt should assist domestic airlines with incentives

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HAIRMAN of Air Peace , Mr Allen Onyema has called on government to design a package of incentives for domestic airline operators who are struggling with a myriad of challenges .

The airline chief said the challenges are not limited to high cost of operations and an unfriendly investment environment and the re- introduction of import duties on aircraft spares as well absence of tax holidays for fledging carriers .

Onyema said such package has become imperative to cushion the effects operators go through in their bid provide air transport services around the country.

Speaking in an interview in Lagos , he said rather than encourage indigenous airline investors , some agencies of government continue to erect obstacles on their way thereby frustrating efforts to development the air transport sector .

He said government ought to consider tax holiday for fledging indigenous carriers to enable them create more jobs for Nigerians in the transport sector .

He said there is need to remove unnecessary bottlenecks that kill private business .

The airline boss said it is important for the regulator of the sector : Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) to mediate between domestic airlines and other agencies to avoid any infraction on airline operations .

Stories by Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

Onyema said rather than criticize domestic airlines government should look at the challenges operators struggle with as it affects the cost of aviation fuel, import duties on spare parts by the Customs which will contribute to make airline business unprofitable.

He said the harsh operating environment could be reduced through investment friendly policies that would make it conducive for new players in the air transport sector .

Onyema said government has to create a more enabling environment to allow indigenous carriers benefit from the duty waiver on aircraft spares and parts as the activities of Nigeria Customs Service requesting airlines to pay duties on such items is contrary to the directive of government .

He said some agencies of government are in constant habit of introducing measures , policies and directives that acts as huge disincentive to operators in a business he said has very low returns on investment .

Onyema listed the challenges indigenous airline owners grapple with to include prohibitive costs of aircraft maintenance, high cost of securing airport land , difficulty in getting aircraft spares , multiple taxes and unfriendly policies that discourage investment in aviation.

•Onyema

He said :” Talking about challenges, they are enormous. To start there is the problem of procurement of spare parts for aircraft when it develops a problem.

“Nigeria is very far away from the sources of these aircraft spare parts.

We get aircraft spare parts from either America or from Europe. If you have a snag on your airplane and you do not have that particular part in your store, then you are in trouble.

“You might wait for about four days to even get that aircraft spares

into the country.

And when it finally arrives, the Nigeria Customs Service will keep it because you have to pay customs duties. Airlines are not supposed to pay such duties because in 2009 government approved import duties waiver on aircraft spare parts .

“So these are the issues; all these things aggregate to make the running of airline in Nigeria prohibitive.

“The cost is so prohibitive that it may not be wise to run the business with a loan taken from the banks running at double digit interest rate.”

He accused some government agencies of frustrating efforts by airlines to expand due to what he described as overzealous attitude to recover revenue through taxes .

Such agencies he said should design programmes to grow indigenous carriers rather than think of ways to kill the business .

He said :” Government is supposed to package incentives for airline owners who provide jobs.

“They should create enabling environment for those who provide jobs and not the other way round. I am telling you that in America, if you are able to create jobs for 50 people, the government gives you every support you need because you are helping them to curb the state of insecurity and you are helping people to live a good life.

“Somebody should call the tax agency to order. If not for anything

they should rather give tax rebate.

“That is how it is done, so that we can create more jobs.

They should be looking at the number of Nigerians we have employed.

In the real sense, we have been providing jobs on behalf of the government.

“Government agencies should behave responsibly; that is not how to do things, I am really piqued at what the tax agency did by calling on the public not to patronize some airlines over alleged failure to migrate into a tax collection platform.

“That to me is the height of wickedness in killing private investment .

And when you express your reservations over such unfavorable conduct you are given names .

“At times people recommend to government, policies aimed at a particular person they don’t like. We cannot grow as a nation like this For us to succeed, in aviation and every other sphere, government must think about job creation actions.

“Government or any of its agencies must not act as a disincentive here to job creation. The president should call to order, some of these agencies, they are not acting in the best interest .

The best thing government should do is to create a conducive environment for entrepreneurs and not strangulate private investment.”

Anxiety grips indigenous operators over plans to set up new carrier

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• From left: Francisca Ayodele; Faculty Officer, Gilbert Odior; Goesciences Co-ordinator Exxon Mobil, Prof. Abiodun Onilude; President of Nigeria Minning and Geoscience and Dr George Unoma; Senior Technical Adviser (Stratigraphy) at the lunch of Exxon Mobil University Lecture Series held at the Geology department of the Univeristy of Ibadan, Oyo State.

PHOTO : FEMI ILESANMI

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Firm launches travel portal

UANTUM Travels Limited has unveiled a new online travel platform, Ajala.ng; aimed at catering for the exponential growth and demands of their individual customers who desire personal, quick and unique travel management services.

Speaking at the event, head Brand Marketing and Projects, Ms. Omolua Oyakhire described the travel firm as a one-stop online travel management platform delivering unique offerings that allows customers take control of their travel plans and optimize different opportunities at the lowest cost possible “At Ajala.ng, our number one aim is to provide travel paths and plans that won’t break the bank, whilst meeting our customers’ need. We provide a holistic approach to our travel service offerings thereby granting control to the traveler to

create a travel experience that exceeds their expectations” she said.

She explained further that the new online platform would help improve the ease of acquiring travel information and support customers who desire to travel but do not have adequate resources by providing them with the option of spreading payment over a specific period of time and still meeting their travelling desires with a relatively low cost.

Also commenting on the launch of the company, the Head, Customer Relationship Management, Mrs. Bukola IsaacOluwasanmi, remarked that the new travel platform is one of the most convenient, fast and user friendly website in comparison to what is currently obtainable in the industry, providing unique browsing experience for the customers.

It provides a date search matrix to help see prices across a week at a glance, maps to help pinpoint one’s destination as well as other innovative tools at the customers’ disposal.

“More so, by utilizing a combination of automated tools and manual processes, we are able to deliver to our customers the lowest available airfare real-time at any given time.

Every booking made would go through a rigorous lowest logical fare check to ensure the best fare is available for the traveler” she said.

Commenting on the unique service offerings of Ajala.ng, IsaacOluwasanmi enjoined both current and prospective customers to take full advantage of the unique services available at company for a stress free travelling experience both local and international routes.

OMESTIC operators are worried over plans by Federal Government to float a new national carrier .

The concern is hinged on the fear that the new airline, when actualised, could displace their multi billion naira investment in the air transport sector.

Apart from losing their investment , investigations revealed that the operators are anxious that they may loose their staff, mainly pilots and aircraft engineers as well as cabin crew attendants to the new airline .

Consequently, some operators are planning to infiltrate the committee set up by government to fashion modalities for the setting up the new carrier. A source hinted that some operators are strategising to convince government of the need to drop the idea of the new carrier as It could threaten their investments.

The source hinted that if government goes ahead to float the carrier without considering the challenges existing operators are grappling with many of them may close shop .

Investigations reveal that many

pilots, aircraft engineers and cabin crew professionals are optimistic that the setting up of the new carrier would create more enabling work environment for them as debt ridden private operators owe them many months salary .

An airline owner who spoke on conditions of anonymity disclosed that that it would be the greatest disservice for government to float a national airline without putting their challenges into consideration.

Speaking in an interview , the managing director of Financial Derivatives Nigeria Limited , Mr Bismarch Rewane said government should look beyond national pride before setting up any new national airline .

But, chairman of Arik Air , Arumemi Ihkide said as much as the new airline proposed by government is welcome there is need fir a level playing field among existing operators .

He faulted the inclusion of the director general of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) Captain Mukthar Usman as a member of the committee on the national carrier set up by government .

Air France mulls launching low-cost, long-haul subsidiary AIR France is considering establishing a long-haul, low-cost subsidiary as part of its ongoing plans to stabilize and improve its financial performance.

The troubled French national carrier is working its way through Perform 2020, a multi-pronged plan designed to improve profitability and remain a major global player in the airline sector. As part of this, a longhaul, low-cost operation is being studied.

“It might be part of the plan,” an Air France said :!”Currently, 50 per

cent of our long-haul routes are not profitable. Our objective with this plan is to set a target of 80 per cent in 2017.”

Any such long-haul, low-cost plan would await the impending arrival of Air France’s Boeing 787-9s, which are due to start appearing late 2016.

The type’s improved economics would be a major factor in lowering costs.

“The arrival of these aircraft is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the return to breakeven of the long-haul network,” the spokeswoman said.

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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•From left: Founder/Group CEO of Technology Times, Shina Badaru; ex-Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch, Alex Muoka; President, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON), Sola Salako; Managing Partner, Technology Advisor, Basil Udotai; during Technology Times Outlook Review of Nigeria Cybercrimes Act 2015 in Lagos.

Smile Telecoms secures $365m for S LTE in Africa

MILE Telecoms Holdings Ltd (Smile), which owns and operates mobile wireless 4G LTE broadband networks in the 800 megahertz (MHz) band in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, has raised $365 million in debt and equity financing.

Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd is the parent company of Smile Communications Nigeria Limited.

The funding will be used to expand Smile's 4G LTE networks and services, such that, by the end of this year, the firm will offer voice services, in addition to mobile broadband; and will have national coverage comparable to that of the largest 3G network in each of its countries of operation. It will also launch its broadband network in DRC early next year.

The funding comprises $50 million of equity, raised from the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) for the government Employees Pension Fund (PIC), and a $315 million multi-tranche, multi-jurisdictional debt facility led by Africa Export-Import Bank with participation from the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Diamond Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria, the PIC, the

Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Limited and Standard Chartered Bank.

Smile's shareholders comprise Al Nahla Group, a Saudi Arabian-based company, the majority shareholder; Renven Investment Holdings, a panAfrica investment vehicle, which represents the majority Nigerian investors, among others; Verene, representing Smile senior management and social entrepreneurs from South Africa; Telecom Investments, a Saudi Arabian-based investment company; Capitalworks, an alternative asset management firm; the PIC; and Smile employees.

Under the terms, the proceeds will be used to accelerate national network roll-out, including equipment and services provided by Alcatel Lucent and Ericsson, a full Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network, a London Point of Presence (PoP) and expanded international backhaul services, and to fund operational expenditure and working capital.

Smile's objective is to be-

come the broadband provider of choice for super-fast data and clear voice in each of its markets and to provide the over 300 million potential customers in its four countries of operation with an efficient, reliable, quality tool to accelerate development and wealth creation. Technological advancement has facilitated the realisation of this objective by creating an ecosystem for the 800MHz band that can overcome the restrictions associated with limited fixed line infrastructure and overcontended legacy networks and lead to higher broadband penetration, which is a key driver to economic growth.

According to Broadband Strategies Handbook, of the World Bank, "A 10 per cent increase in the penetration rate of broadband in developing countries is associated with a 1.4 per cent increase in GDP (gross domestic product) per capita ..." Furthermore, there is persuasive evidence linking broadband to job creation; the Brookings Institution states that "for every one percentage point increase in

broadband penetration, employment is projected to increase by 0.2 to 0.3 per cent per year."

The funding is one of the largest capital raises ever for a telecommunications operator in Africa and brings the total funding committed to Smile since its founding in 2007 to approximately $600 million.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Irene Charnley, said: "Now that we are fully funded to deliver national coverage of unrivalled super-fast internet access and clear voice services, our priority is to ensure that our customers experience and benefit from the power of high speed mobile broadband compared to the narrowband services available to date, including how to effectively manage the superior experience in terms of data consumption."

Chairman, Smile Communications Nigeria Limited, Dr. Ernest AzudialuObiejesi, said the funding is an enabler of its quest to deepen broadband penetration in Africa especially in key markets of Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

He said: "Nigeria is one of

Place order, drones 'll deliver to your doorsteps, says Yudala

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HE management of Yudala, Nigeria's ecommerce platform, said the firm will deploy drones to get products across to its customers to avoid delays caused by traffic snarls in major cities.

Its Online Co-ordinator, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, who spoke in Lagos, said customers would get revolutionary experience of online retail with the launch of online shopping bay, adding that the firm is determined to fast-track products' delivery nationwide with the aid of drones.

He said: "We have acquired a few drones and working with partners in Asia to develop and deploy these Integrated Drones to avoid vehicular traffic in major cities in Nigeria. We are working to secure appropriate permits from the relevant government agencies. This will go live soon as we live up to our man-

Stories by Lucas Ajanaku

date of setting new milestones for the online retail business in the country.

"We are extremely delighted with the reception of Yudala Online and the massive hits received on Yudala.com from the moment we went live on Monday. This is testimony to the fact that this is the revolution in e-commerce which every Nigerian has been waiting for.

"For the first time ever in the history of e-commerce in Nigeria, the customer no longer has to face the uncertainty of where to turn for support. We offer core after-sales support on both warranty and out-ofwarranty products purchased from our online platform or from any of our offline stores nationwide.

"Most importantly, you are guaranteed peace of mind when you buy Yudala. Apart from the secure, safe shopping

experience you enjoy on the website, every product carried on our platforms, either online or offline, comes directly from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). As a result, there are no issues of grey products finding its way into your hands. You also get to enjoy all risks cover (except theft) from Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc. on every product purchased from us. These are the bases for the Yudala management taking responsibility for every product purchased from and delivered by us."

He expressed delight with the visits to the e-commerce platform which officially went live late last month with the company taking to its social media pages and other channels to thank Nigerians for their resounding patronage and acceptance of the medium.

He said: "Thousands of enthusiastic shoppers besieged the Yudala website, which went live at 12 noon to take

•Chairman, Zinox Technologies, Leo Stan-Ekeh

advantage of the mega deals and other mouth-watering promotions on offer which ended at the weekend. Yudala Online processed orders and other enquiries from all over the country including Ghana, Cameroon and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa while huge discounts and millions of freebies were enjoyed by shoppers."

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

e-Business In spite of the benefits that information communication technology have brought to the country, many rural communities are either unserved or underseved. OLATUNDE ODEBIYI writes that initiatives, such as Samsung Digital Village, will help bridge the digital divide.

How technology can develop rural communities M

AMA Bassey, 40, a petty trader, left her home for her shop beside the ever-busy main road in Oban town, Cross River State. She takes a bike with her wares. On her way, she received a call on her phone that her youngest son had come down with fever. She aborted her journey and quickly dashed home, picked her son and proceeded on a 10km journey to the nearest hospital.

After consultation with the doctor, the boy was placed on malaria drugs but the hospital's pharmacy was out of drugs. He was also supposed to receive a vaccine; unfortunately, the last batch, which the hospital received a few months ago, had been discarded because there was no power to preserve the vaccines.

Mama Bassey and her family paid dearly for the illness in terms of time and money. It would have been worse had help not come on time.

The global socio-economic landscape has welcomed many organisations that are changing the educational, healthcare and business terrain with innovative and exciting products and services that make life better and easier.

In India, Educom is providing solutions that can support every level of the educational need from teachers, to large scale procurement for new educational projects, by working with schools, colleges, state bodies and teachers to provide advice and resource materials to improve learning. These smart schools are fostering opportunities for teaching and learning by integrating learning technology. People in this community and its environs, however, spend less on acquiring better education.

Africa Indoor Residual Spraying programme (AIRS), since 2001, has also helped protect millions of people in Africa from malaria, by spraying insecticides on the walls, ceilings, and other indoor resting places of mosquitoes that transmit malaria.

The group also ensure that spraying does not harm people or the environment. It is expected that Africans with the help of this programme will spend less on the treatment of malaria and will be at a lower risk of death caused by malaria.

In Nigeria, Samsung Electronics West Africa came up with unique solutions in education, healthcare and electrification when it launched its digital village. The village uses one resource that Africa has in abundance - sunshine.

In partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Samsung launched a solution, dubbed the Samsung Digital Village, in Oban, Cross River State. This is first of its kind in Nigeria and it is made up of various solar powered innovations, which altogether provide holistic solutions to rural infrastructure challenges, such as those faced by people like Mama Bassey. The Digital Village relies on solar energy to power its activities.

Speaking during the inauguration of the facility, Managing Director, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Brovo Kim, said a sizeable proportion of rural communities across Africa do not have access to electricity, a situation that denies people in these areas access to tools and resources to drive socio-economic development. "We are not only bridging the digital divide but also providing a facility that meets the most critical health and educational needs of the rural community," he said.

The Digital Village has various components that the beneficiaries can leverage on to enhance their livelihoods. For instance, the solar powered gen-

erators are the heart of the village and are designed to power classrooms, small businesses and community facilities.The generators can last for up to 25 years, compared to the normal traditional diesel generators which are not sustainable and require a lot of servicing. The batteries in the generators can last for up to eight years before they are replaced.

Innovations such as the Digital Village, smart classroom and malaria management have been known to transform lives and communities. Just last year, a randomised control trial in a Ugandan community found that tea, when consumed once a week, was effective in preventing multiple malaria attacks in human beings. Smart classes, however, have changed the process of learning. In this new dispensation, learning is happening more through screens; be it television, laptop or films. Students are quick in learning new technologies, particularly when used in education.

The Village is designed to help beneficiaries overcome socio-economic barriers that prevent rthem from accessing quality healthcare and

education.The initiative will also contribute to the ICT sector, through the provision of transformative e-learning solutions.

With these fetters lowered, the digital environment offers opportunities for people to take part in the wide spectrum of activities that makes learning sociable and fun.

The thrust of this innovative initiative reveals an operational shared value approach, which is manifested in the fact that both Samsung and its consumers are expected to benefit from this innovative social investment to transform the lives of its beneficiaries.

The Village has previously been launched in South Africa, Ghana and Gabon and has positively impacted on the lives of millions of people in these countries, providing them with a cluster of connected health and education facilities, helping to fast track the development of these countries.

With innovations such as this, it is expected that there will be less demand on the family purse and time.

Competition hurting telecoms Over the years, the telecoms sector has experienced unprecedented boom with huge subscribers figures and a fairly competitive end user tariff regime. Competition among the telcos is not only helping the sector, it is also hurting it, writes TOLU AKINLUYI

R

ECENTLY, my colleague bought a smartphone. Though an excellent phone with a sharp 5.5inch display, 32 GB storage, and an 8 MP camera, on the latest version of Android, it cost a little over $100.

I spent some minutes looking at the device and marvelling at its value, and it hit me – consumers have never had it better, but telecoms companies have never been under more pressure.

Samsung - the world’s largest mobile device manufacturer recently - recorded a 37.6 per cent drop in profits, due to competitive pressures. Even with a global brand and large advertising revenues, it has become extremely difficult for Samsung to compete with over 100 various mobile devices’ manufacturers all struggling for market share (and profitability). This is only part of the story.

There are four main smartphone software platforms – Apple iOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry. According to Gartner, of these platforms, Android owns over 83 per cent market share while iOS about 13 per cent.

The Android platform is owned by Google, and is free to handset manufacturers. This has made it relatively easy for them to enter the market, as Google manages the platform and has created an attractive and profitable ecosystem for application developers to deliver their content to subscribers.

Google, in turn, makes money from this platform using an advertising supported model. Most of the smartphone devices sold by Samsung run on the Android platform, they, therefore, have to compete for market share with over 100 device manufacturers and can only distinguish themselves on hardware specifications, and to a limited extent, on software customisation and services.

Consumers are spoilt for choice, as manufacturers are stuck in a race to the bottom on price. Even Apple with its unique combination of hardware, software and services, and sky high profitability, recently suffered a share price drop when it announced record-breaking - yet-lower-than-expected sales and revenue figures.

According to Forbes, investors are concerned about Apple’s growth prospects in the light of current market dynamics. This is in spite of the fact that Apple already makes over 90 per cent of all profits in the entire smartphone industry, leaving all other operators to struggle for just seven per cent of smartphone profits.

Telecoms operators and service providers are also facing similar struggles globally. Traditional operator revenue streams (voice telephony and text messages) are declining and will continue to do so.

In the near future, Cisco predicts that voice will make up less than 10 per cent of total mobile traffic.

Subscribers are increasingly turning to cheaper over-the- top (OTT) alternatives such as WhatsApp and Skype, to make calls and send messages.

These OTT players have lower entry costs but global reach, and pose a significant challenge to existing telecoms operators. For example, Juniper Research says the total number of mobile VoIP minutes is expected to grow from 15 billion in 2010 to 471 billion, this year. Furthermore, telecoms subscribers now have much higher expectations from their providers, and telecoms operators are scrambling to find ways of providing differentiated customer service to address the needs of their subscribers, to avoid losing them to rivals - especially now that technology has reduced the hurdles of switching between telecoms providers.

Almost all telcos are looking to data to drive growth. However, the competition for provision of data services is fierce – especially since this strategy puts them in direct competition with traditional internet service providers (ISPs) in many cases.

Telecoms operators and service providers therefore now face pressures from both sides as well.

Traditional revenue streams are drying up due to competition from OTT players (among other factors), and there is increased competition in new areas of interest. The scenario is also causing a race to the bottom on price for telecoms services.

Competition is supposed to be a good thing for consumers. It is meant to create a situation in which they get the best value and price for goods and services. At the moment, consumers have never had it better – they can choose their devices from an increasing list of manufacturers at constantly decreasing prices, choose their connectivity from a bouquet of offers with constantly decreasing prices, and choose their applications from a collection of low cost or free options.

However, at some point this competition could turn out to be a poisoned chalice. What happens if device manufacturers and telecoms operators start or continue going out of business? Now that consumers’ appetite has been whet, is it sustainable to continue to expect prices to drop? Should regulators be doing more to ensure an even playing field? Should governments do anything to protect their companies from global competition? Should the principles of free markets be allowed to prevail without fetters?

A lot of difficult questions need to be asked and answered in the global telecoms industry – and these questions equally to the local in-

•Akinluyi

dustry.

For example, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued 4G licensces to wireless internet providers to ensure that subscribers have access to affordable (and widely available) data services. However, licences have not yet been made available for auction to mobile operators.

These operators face increasing pressure as traditional revenue streams are being eroded

by OTT players, for example, and this erosion is encouraged by the presence of these new wireless internet service providers. As a result, these mobile operators may not compete effectively as they have to use their limited spectrum to provide the quality of service (QoS) guarantees that traditional voice services demand, while trying to compete against providers who do not have this challenge.

•Akinluyi, Senior Manager, Accenture Nigeria, wrote from Lagos.

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Corporations, others to increase security spending by 25 per cent

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NEW view toward information technology (IT) security and the protection and its enablement has sparked a new wave of increase in security investment from 18 per cent it is today to 25 per cent over the next three years.

In the industry, protection is still the main driver for security, but a new study released at the weekend showed that organisations understand that the application (app) economy demands a new view and approach to security.

The study, sponsored by CA Technologies and 8 Steps to Modernise Security for the Application Economy as its title showed how mobility, Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) and an eye for growing business have brought a balanced view of control and enablement to security.

Speaking on the study, BU Manager, Security, CA Southern Africa, Michael Horn, said: "Today, we need to live in a security-first world - light-years from the days when

security was an afterthought and bolted on after a service or application was deployed. With the application economy going full-throttle in the hyper-connected world of people, devices and expanding ambient data, businesses realise that security goes beyond protection.

The same tools that govern who and what can access our data, also can deliver a frictionless and positive customer experience and contribute to business growth in a variety of ways."

The study showed that when it comes to mobility matters, improving the mobile customer experience was cited as a top security priority (42 per cent), second only to protecting against data breach (56 per cent). In addition, 49 per cent of respondents say mobility has a big or significant impact on security practices and policies with respect to customers.

"We expect this number to expand as mobility, BYOD (bring your own device) and the Internet of Things (IoT) drive an increas-

ingly "unwired enterprise" where perpetual connectivity adds a complexity and security risk that must be addressed for employees, customers and partners," the report added.

Success in the application economy requires businesses to innovate and release applications more quickly, and API-assembled apps will lead the way. To facilitate that need, 79 per cent of respondents are opening their data as APIs to accelerate mobile and web application delivery, improve customer engagements and open new revenue channels and opportunities. This adds new considerations to the protection factor of security.

Similarly, 48 per cent of respondents recognise that business enablement is an important benefit of security and can drive growth.

Seventy-eight per cent of respondents have seen or expect to see increased revenue from new services enabled by improved security.

FEEDBACK Tips on data management, airtime on smartphones

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OOD day sir, I would like to commend you on your e-business column that features every Tuesday.

Great job. Your column, which I find very informative, is the favourite part of the Tuesday’s paper.

However, I observed that people complain often through your column’s Complaints Box about their smartphones, Android devices particularly, consuming their data subscription and even their airtime as well as putting all the blame on their service providers. This shouldn’t always be the case.

Here is a short article, a sort of techtips, that will help your readers reduce data use on Android devices.

How to manage your smartphone’s data subscription Smartphones consume a lot of data as most of their features are internetdependent but users can still manage to control their device data usage.

You can, however, control your smartphone’s data subscription by:

Turning off auto sync data Auto sync data is a feature that allows your smartphone to automatically synchronise data from your phone to your email and google accounts which in turn consumes internet data.

Auto sync can be turn off by going to settings> general> accounts and sync and then unmarking the auto sync icon.

By Ibitoye Feyisara

and switching to manual update allows you the freedom of choosing which essential apps you wish to update and saves you more data by preventing the frequent and unnecessary update of less important apps.

Restricting background data By restricting background data, you prevent background apps and services on your phone from eating your data.

So unless you open an app, it can’t use your data. Restrict background data can be turned on by going to settings>network>mobile data>options and then marking the restrict background data icon.

Data conserving apps Data monitoring and conserving apps can help you to monitor and conserve your device data usage. Some good apps such as my data manager or dataeye would do the job.

Also some browser apps consume more data than others. Recommended browsers such as operamini and uc browser minimise data usage but still offer great browsing experience.

It is, however, noteworthy that it is always advisable to turn off mobile data when not in use so as to conserve data and battery usage.

•Feyisara, a graduate of Physics and Electronics awaiting the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) deployment, wrote from Lagos.

Turning off automatic update Turning off automatic updates of apps Dear Sir, My number is: 08187580759 I write to express gratitude to this platform which facilitated solution to my data problem.

I had earlier complained about my data getting wiped off in the speed of lightning and appealed to to my service provider to do something about it.

Over the past three weeks, I have noticed an improvement in my data service. The speed has not only increased, it is no longer wiping off. The minimum number of weeks my data lasts now is four.

This is significant because the same amount of money I was spending and was disapperaing in two days now lasts for so long.

I commend my service provider for acting proactively to address my problme and enjoin other service providers to borrow a leaf from it.

•From left: Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement, Emeka Ezeh; President/ Chairman, Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria) (CPN), Prof. Vincent Asor; and Registrar, Mr. S. A. Shehu, during a visit by CPN to the BPP.

Skilled youths vital to driving growth, says NITDA

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HE National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said it is committed to driving youth development through the promotion of the acquisition of relevant information communications technology (ICT) skills, adding that this is one way of driving the economy.

Its Director-General, Peter Jack, said Africa is growing while the youth are showing the way, stressing that technology forum, such as DEMO Africa 2015, a pan-African launch-pad for technology startups to become technology leaders and entrepreneurs, is the way to go.

He said: "Africa is growing in strength and its youths are pointing to the direction of things to come. NITDA is committed to Demo Africa as part of its mandate on youth development from the perspective of IT as well as its belief that a large population of highly exposed and trained youths will be the driver of Nigeria's new economy."

The DEMO Africa takes place between September 21 and 25 in Lagos. It will showcase 30 technology start-ups from across Africa.

Nigeria leads the table with eight startups. They are: PoshRite, Oga Venue, TalkingBookz, iKon Tracker, Mavis Computel,

•Affirms confidence in DEMO Africa 2015 CarpartsNigeria, Zuvaa, and SmartEdu. Kenya, increasingly gaining global spot as tech-startup haven, has six namely: Bitsoko, BambaPOS, Shield Finance, InsureAfrika, LipaPlus, ENT-Mobile, Abacus, and SimbaPay. South Africa has three startup-representatives: Edge Books, Bozza and Eco-mc2. Ghana has two: Ghana's Zeepay and Flippy Campus. Egypt also has two: LockName and Raye7.

Cameroon features two: Koomza and Feem Wi-Fi; and Zimbabwe also has two startups: IPC eProductivity and RoadRules.

Uganda, Tanzania and Ivory Coast each have one startup in this order respectively: Roundbob, Tango TV, and Airshop.

Francophone Ivory Coast with its Airshop startup company will be featuring in the event for the first time and underscores the expanding ecosystem for Africa's technology startups.

NITDA with the Ministry of Communication Technology is a co-host of DEMO Africa in collaboration with LIONS@FRICA and VC4Africa. NITDA is already promoting eight Nigerian startups at this year's GITEX Expo and Conference taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

DEMO Africa also has the support of private sector technology giants, including Microsoft, under the 4Afrika Initiative.The software company is encouraged by the support of public institutions such as the NITDA for the DEMO Africa forum.

"It is actions by different players that will see technology entrepreneurship effectively bringing sustainability to entrepreneurship across Africa," said Executive Producer of DEMO Africa, Harry Hare, while commending on Microsoft's support for the event.

One of the highpoints of DEMO Africa 2015 is the newly introduced knowledge streams to delve into critical topics including Business Modelling, Scaling Businesses, Creating an Unfair Advantage, and Raising Capital. Top industry players, including MEST Founder, Jorn Lyseggen, President, Harry Tomi Davies-ABAN, Partner, Adlevo Capital, Folabi Esan, IROKO TV CEO, Jason Njoku, among others, will lead the discussion.

Other notable activities at the event would include an investor roundtable forum and theLIONS@FRICA Summit, with the uptake of Africa-generated technology being expected to dominate the conversations.

COMPLAINTS BOX Feyise Akeeb Kareem is my name; my number is: 08098245620 Sir, help us tell Etisalat that its data runs out too quickly. All the MNOs should be told to stop sending us unsolicited messages.

Also, assist in drawing the attention of MTN, Airtel,Etisalat and Glo to the poor coverage of their networks in Ogwashi Ukwu town, Delta State. There are areas in the town where there’s no coverage at all. This is very worrisome to the residents.

My number is 08023254106 About two months ago, I travelled to Dubai for an official engagement.

When I checked my airtime account, it was too low. I asked somebody in Nigeria to load my phone with N6,000. I am not sure if I received more than two short calls and in less than three hours, my N6,000 got depleted. Back to Nigeria, I have been loading the phone with N2,000 and N3,000 regularly and I watch my service provider ‘steal my credit’ instalmentally. My operator waits for me to buy airtime, and as soon as I do that, it gets depleted. I got the rude shock of my life when I took time out of my busy schedule to visit the Ilupeju, Lagos care centre of my MNO. A lady that attended to me was rude, and not giving a hoot about my age, she said: “From what I can see here, you have not been recharging this number. There is no truth is all your claims. I will consider porting out of this network if my challenges are not addressed.’’

My phone number is 08033242256.

I always receive unsolicited text messages from my service provider .

This SMS can come anytime of the day, including weekends! They come through coded numbers such as 5201, 5031 ,3021 ,3031 and others.

They normally command me to subscribe to one thing or the other like

health tips, sports, music, wise sayings ,proverbs and all sorts of stupid distractions! I normally delete these SMS but am getting tired and frustrated ,pls ,advise them to stop all these rubbish or else I will be forced to tear their SIM card into shreds! I don't need the messages at all! There are lots of problems in this country and it is unfair that my service provider should be adding more through numerous and high provoking and insulting unsolicited and vexatious messages!

My number is: 08165255703 Each time I buy airtime on my phone, it disappears with the speed of lightning.

Kindly use your good offices to ask my operator what has happened to my line.

08035735383 is my number: My problem has to do with data. I use a Blackberry phone and naturally I subscribe to a data bundle plan. My worry is that each time I intentionally deactivates my internet connection at the expiration of my data plan, I noticed that my service provider kept deducting my money for data usage. I am shocked that this could still be happening to me because the data icon had already been deactivated. Or does it mean that so long as one uses a smartphone, data subscription becomes automatic?

My service provider should not auto-renew my data subscription. It is courtesy to ask if I was interested in continuing with the data bundle plan.

•Send complaints lukajanaku02@gmail.com

to

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MONEYLINK

ANAN advises Buhari on taxation

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HE Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) has urged President Mohammadu Buhari to pursue tax payment as a panacea for national development.

It said payment of taxes is the major instrument for enhancing internally generated revenue.

Edo State Chairman of ANAN, Felix Ahonsi, who stated this at the association’s 2015 dinner and award night, said the role of a leader is

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

important in the fight against corruption.

He said besides the fight against corruption in Nigeria, quality leadership is another virtue requiredto ensure orderliness in the country.

Presenting a paper, titled: ‘Taxation as an Instrument for enhancing IGR,’ Dr. Romanus Ebuehi, said payment of taxes is important to internal development of any country, and urged the fed-

•President Buhari

eral government to effectively use the media to promote payment of taxes.

The association honored some individuals for contributing to the development of their communities.

Afrinvest’s 2015 Banking Report coming

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FRINVEST (West Africa) Limited, is set to unveil the 2015 edition of its annual ‘Nigerian Banking Sector Report’. This year’s event coincides with the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the firm.

In a statement released by the company, Managing Director, Ike Chioke, said, “We are pleased to announce that the 2015 Nigerian Banking Sector Report is set for launch on October 6, at the prestigious Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The report is titled “Looking Ahead: Nigerian Banking in the Next Decade.”

He noted, “For us at Afrinvest, this year’s launch is significant in more ways than one. Not only are we unveiling the 10th edition of the annual Banking Sector Report, we are also celebrating 20 years of the firm’s corporate existence.”

Afrinvest was founded in September 1995 as Securities

By Collins Nweze

Transactions & Trust Company Limited (“SecTrust”).

SecTrust commenced trading as a research-focused brokerage and asset management firm and went on to pioneer the transformation of equities brokerage and investment advisory in Nigeria from an opaque, informal business into an industry that today employs hundreds of skilled professionals.

In 2005, SecTrust entered into a business combination with the Nigerian affiliate of Afrinvest (UK) Limited and renamed itself as Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited. Since then Afrinvest has become a household name in the Nigerian financial services and capital markets industry.

Some of the firm’s innovation and groundbreaking transactions, according to the Afrinvest boss are “The Eurobond issue by a sub-Saharan Africa corporate outside South

Africa – $350 million 5 year Eurobond by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (2007); the listing of Global Depositary Receipts by a sub-Saharan corporate – $750 million issue by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (2008); and Financial adviser and broker on the largest ever listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange – N2.1 trillion listing of Dangote Cement Plc (2010).”

Others include “The 2012 restructuring/reorganization of United Bank for Africa Plc. from a bank holding company into a pure play commercial bank resulting in the spinoff of Afriland Properties Plc., African Prudential Registrars Plc. and United Capital Plc.; advisory to AMCON on the N126.6 billion divestment of its 100 per cent stake in Mainstreet Bank to Skye Bank Plc. (2014); and introduction of online, real-time trade execution on the Nigerian Stock Exchange via www.afrinvestor.com in 2014.”

AfDB expands African Bond Index to Botswana, Namibia

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HE African Development Bank (AfDB) through the African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI) launched its AfDB/ AFMISM Bloomberg African Bond Index (ABABI) in February 2015.

Calculated by Bloomberg Indices, the composite index is currently comprised of the Bloomberg South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya local currency sovereign indices and will be joined from October 2015 by Botswana and Namibia.

“As more African countries are increasingly looking to

domestic capital markets to source much-needed financing for economic development, we are delighted to welcome Botswana and Namibia to the index and expect to include more countries to it as soon as reliable pricing information is made available,” says Stefan Nalletamby, Director of the AfDB’s Financial Sector Development Department.

The expanded index will now include the six most liquid sovereign bond markets in Africa and three sub-indices for different maturity ranges. To be included in the

index, a security must have at least one year remaining to maturity and withstand price stability tests.

The AFMI works to deepen the continent’s local currency bond markets and also strives to create an environment where African countries can access financing at variable terms. By providing transparent and credible benchmark indices, the AfDB/AFMISM Bloomberg African Bond Index provides investors with a tool with which to measure and track the performance of Africa’s bond markets.

CSR: Keystone Bank to tackle road accidents

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EYSTONE Bank has charged professional drivers who convey commuters across different cities of the country to pay attention to their health as a strategy to prevent road traffic accidents.

Managing Director/CEO of Keystone Bank, Philip Ikeazor who made the call in Lagos yesterday, said when the drivers are in good health, it would reduce the incidence of highway accidents.

Ikeazor, who was represented by Mr. Hafiz Bakare, Executive Director, Corporate Bank and Treasury, spoke at the Health and Eye Screening project organized

by Keystone Bank in part-

nership with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Public Health Partners (PHP) and the Eye Foundation Hospital.

The Keystone Bank health and eye screening initiative tagged Think Road Safety, Save Lives, is in line with the FRSC projection to reduce road traffic accidents by 50 percent by 2015. Similarly, it aligns with the United Nations General Assembly resolution of 2010 calling for a Decade of Action for Road Safety from 2011 to 2020.

The health screening exercise for long distant drivers held at the Ekesons Motor Park in Jibowu, Yaba and the Ojota New Garage Park, on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

Hundreds of drivers from several motor companies operating in several motor parks participated in the screening exercise and majority whose vision were found to be deficient got free medicated eye glasses for improved vision apart from being counseled on healthy living.

In an address titled, Health in the Driver’s Seat, Mr. Hafiz Bakare said the Keystone Bank’s Think Road Safety, Save Lives project is one of the Bank’s CSR initiatives.

He said it is driven by the need to identify with and support the transport sector because “we believe that this would improve safety on our roads thereby saving lives.”

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

NEWS Re: Political appointments in Ekiti State: Religion has no place The Ekiti State Chapter of the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO), in its reaction to Senior Citizen Deji Fasuan’s piece on Political appointments in Ekiti State: Religion has no place and published on September 3, condemns what it called his (Fasuan) misplaced views.

UST like our “highly revered leader and undisputed patriot”, Chief Deji Fasuan, we would not have dignified him with a reply on the highly misplaced views, he expressed in respect of the issue raised by the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Ekiti State Council, which was published in The Nation newspaper of Thursday, September 3rd, 2015.

In the first place, Chief Deji Fasuan appeared to be edgy to the release for two reasons: one, because Governor Fayose, his godson was involved and two, because the appointments made by Governor Fayose unduly favoured his town, Afao – Ekiti.

To our greatest consternation, Chief Fasuan shifted what is ordinarily a group matter to a personal matter. For the information of Chief Fasuan and his ilk, Alhaji Yakubu Sanni, the President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Ekiti State Council, merely signed for the body, hence, the attack on the person of Alhaji Yakubu Sanni is most unwarranted, highly misplaced and quite mischievous. We demand an unreserved apology from the Chief.

To properly situate our position in the interest of those who might have been misinformed by Chief Fasuan’s views published on page 6 of the Nation of Friday, September 4, 2015; the NSCIA had been compelled to react to Governor Fayose’s attack on the President, Muhammadu Buhari on account of violation of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the threat to the unity of the country just because in his opinion, the President’s appointment of 31 people into political offices out of which only 7 were from the southern part of the country is “lopsided” It is amazing that Chief Deji Fasuan did not see anything wrong in the opinion expressed

by Governor Ayodele Fayose in this respect. While the Muslims are not holding brief for the President, we feel Chief Fasuan who had the time to reply to our opinion within 24 hours and who has such positive views about the President’s appointment could keep sealed lips until the Muslims’ reaction.

In his first tour of duties in the state, Governor Fayose treated Muslims in Ekiti State the same shabby way. Governor Adeniyi Adebayo appointed Muslims into the offices of Commissioner, Permanent Secretary and other top positions in the public service. The Muslims felt short changed, and protested. Chief Fasuan was in Ekiti State then and he did not see anything wrong in the Muslims’ position. Governor Segun Oni had a Muslim as Deputy Governor, Commissioner and other appointments. Muslims felt they were not fairly treated and they reacted. Yet, our “revered father” did not see anything wrong with the opinions expressed by the Muslims.

Governor Kayode Fayemi

J •New Permanent Secretaries in Plateau State civil service taking the Oaths of Office during their inauguration at the Government PHOTO: NAN House in Jos...yesterday

Ex-Kogi top appointees threaten to sue govt for unpaid pensions

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IVE retired Kogi State Heads of Service (HOSs) and 52 permanent secretaries have threatened to sue the government fot the non-payment of their harmonised statutory pension allowances.

The 57 aggrieved pensioners, under the aegis of Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries, expressed their displeasure in a letter to Governor Idris Wada yesterday in Lokoja, the state capital.

The letter by the aggrieved pensioners’ Chairman, J. O. Mesole and Secretary, John Ausa, accused the government of placing them on 50 per cent pension since December, 2011.

They said the government was owing them N11.3 million monthly.

The retired senior civil

From James Azania, Lokoja

servants regretted that nine of their members had died since 2012 while waiting for their pensions.

According to them, they had reached the limit of their patience and would take legal action to protect their rights, as enshrined in the Constitution.

The pensioners said their counterparts, who retired after December 2011, were receiving their full pensions, while 57 of them, who retired before the 2011 harmonisation, were placed on 50 per cent part-payment.

The letter reads: “Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries are in the management cadre. They are also on consolidated pay (not on salary grade level) and earn 100 per cent of their

total emoluments as pension for life.

“For this reasons, their pensions are to be automatically harmonised to be at par with the pay of their serving counterparts with effect from the date there is pay rise for them. Their own case of harmonisation is different.”

The association noted that withholding pension or part of it violated Section 210(2) of the Constitution, which states that a pension shall not be withheld or altered to the disadvantage of a pensioner.

They said: “Asking us to wait until the finances of government would have improved before our request could be granted is as good as saying we should wait indefinitely or that we should forget about the request.”

The retirees said they were not unaware of the financial position of the state,

adding that they would not ask for payment of arrears from December 2011 till date but the approval for full implementation from July 1, 2015.

They said: “All we are requesting is for Your Excellency to kindly approve, with effect from July 1, 2015, payment of the fully consolidated and harmonised pension of the five retired HOS and 52 permanent secretaries.”

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede, acknowledged receipt of two letters from the association on the arrears of 50 per cent of their harmonised pension.

He called for their understanding, saying the state was going through “a very difficult, excruciatingly painful financial crunch at the moment”.

Three corps members detained for alleged robbery

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HREE Batch “A” National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have been detained since Friday by security agencies in Niger State for alleged robbery.

The corps members, who are serving in Suleja Local Government Area, were detained last Thursday by the local government’s security men, usually called the Yabanga, following allegations that they resembled some wanted robbers.

Fellow corps members, who witnessed the arrest, told our reporter that the three corps members were beaten up by the security

By Mojisola Clement

men and detained by the police.

An eyewitness said the corps members bought some drugs at a mall near Stadium, Kwamba.

Two women allegedly raised the alarm that the corps members looked like those who robbed them a few weeks earlier.

The people nearby apprehended them, including the Yabanga, and started beating them up before the police took them to the station.

They were accused of rob-

ENUE State Governor Samuel Ortom yesterday asked for compensation for victims of military attack in a community

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members were at their various places of primary assignments and doing very well.

She said: “I am a civil servant; I cannot talk. Please, talk to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO). As far as I am aware, I am sitting in my office and all corp members are at their various places of primary assignments. There is nothing of such.”

A friend, who visited them yesterday in Minna said he was also detained at the police.

According to him, he was released after the suspects said he was innocent.

Ortom seeks compensation for victims of military attack lost their means of liveliFrom Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

•Ortom

bery at an unspecific location.

The corps members were detained since Thursday and denied visitation by their fellow corp members.

The state code numbers of the corps members are: Oscar Owolabi (NG/15A/2225), Jimmy Sodiq (NG/15A/3258) and Dore Sola (NG/15A/2226).

They have been transferred to Minna, the state capital, for further investigation without the intervention of the NYSC authorities.

The NYSC Zonal Inspector in the local government area, Mrs Mederia told our reporter that she could not speak on the matter because the corps

in North Bank, Makurdi, the state capital.

The governor spoke at the Government House in Makurdi when he hosted a delegation from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), led by its Executive Secretary, Profe Bem Angwe.

Ortom said he had sent a protest letter with a comprehensive list of the destruction

to President Muhammadu Buhari, who he said was displeased with the development and directed the Chief of Army Staff to investigate the matter and sanction those found culpable.

The governor noted that although the commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME) apologised for the attack, the victim needed to be compensated, since most of them

hood.

He said: “The only way to stop this kind of action, which is a crime against humanity and the people of the state, is to mete out sanctions to the perpetrators.

“We appreciate the concern of the commission for responding promptly to the request to investigate the matter and the House of Representatives member, who reported the matter, for living up his responsibilities.”

appointed over fifty (50) Muslims, including Commissioners, SSG, Special Advisers, Chairmen and members of statutory Commissions as well as Special and Senior Special Assistants into other strategic positions.

Even though Muslims felt what they got was not enough, they saw the development as a significant improvement. If Papa wants to be fair, as he pretends to be, Governor Fayose would have picked some of Chief Fasuan’s Muslim relatives in Afao Ekiti and the Muslims would have been more than pleased. Governor Fayose has appointed 122 people into different offices in Ekiti out of which ONLY FOUR are Muslims. If Gov, Fayose sees the lopsidedness in the appointment of 31 people out of which 7 were southerners as infraction of the Constitution and threat to the unity of Nigeria, what do we call the action of Governor Fayose who made his appointment in complete contravention of section 14(4) and 15(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended. Section 15(2) in particular states; “Accordingly, national integration shall be actively encouraged whilst discrimination on the grounds of place of origin, sex, RELIGIOUS STATUS (emphasis ours), ethnic or linguistic association or ties shall be prohibited”.

Though Pa Fasuan may not see any good in appointing Muslims into political offices in Ekiti State but Governor Fayose saw the need when he was campaigning and he dressed in turban and appeared in the Mosque before Muslim congregations and he promised to give Muslims fair consideration but alas, this is pure deceit!

This was in the public domain and we are sure that Chief Deji Fasuan, as our very enlightened leader, is no doubt aware of this.

When then is religion no longer a factor in the affairs of the state according to our revered Chief? We note that Chief Fasuan’s attack is on Islam and Muslims in Ekiti State we take exception to this.

On a final note, we don’t know when Chief Deji Fasuan became the Information Commissioner to Governor Fayose or his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media. If Pa Fasuan is not, he should be more reserved rather than getting himself busy in matters in which he knows little or nothing about.

Signed: Engr. Abdullah AdebayoAmir, Muslim Student Society of Nigeria, Ekiti State Barrister Tajudeen Ahmed- National Legal Officer, National Council of Youth Muslim Organisations (NACOMYO)

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

NEWS

Nwabueze counsels Buhari on appointments F OREMOST legal scholar Prof. Ben Nwabueze has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to respect the principles of justice and equity, warning that any deviation from them ould constitute a violation of the constitution.

He also advised the President to administer the country in a way that will create doubts about his commitment to one Nigeria, true federalism and national unity.

The former university don criticised what he described as President Buhari’s “dictatorial disregard of the commands of the constitution,” adding that the neglect of the Southeast in his recent appointments was worrisome.

He said the appointments clearly revealed that the President has discriminated against the Ndigbo, thereby

•Appointments should reflect equity and social justice

By Emmanuel Oladesu

subjecting the race to a feeling of alienation.

Nwabueze stressed: “By concentrating in the North nearly 80 per cent of his 31 strategic appointments and by excluding the Northeast completely, a feeling of alienation, of not being wanted, may have been created on the part of those so disadvantage or excluded. A feeling of alienation may grow into that of disaffection and disloyalty.”

He added: “If the state is he product of a social contract, then, all citizens should count equally in relation to it.”

Nwabueze said, for Nigeria to justify its status as a democratic state, it should treat its stakeholders with fairness and promote equity and social justice.

The legal scholar lamented that President Buhari has not accorded priority to equality, advising him to make amends.

He said: “The actions of President Buhari since his assumption of office seem to fly in the face of the necessity for equal treatment of citizens, regardless of differences in ethnicity and in their religious and political affiliations, and of the compelling rationale for the principle of equal treatment as articulated above.”

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VAILABLE healthcare planning statistics has shown a phenomenal rise in ante-natal care attendance in public health facilities in the Lagos State, it was learnt yesterday.

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos Health Service Board (LHSB), Dr. Jemilade Longe, confirmed the increase yesterday after appraising public health facilities utilisation in the state.

Dr. Longe traced the trend to the positive impact of the robust strategies being adopted in the maternal and child mortality reduction programme in the Centre of Excellence.

The permanent secretary said: “Since the commencement of the maternal and child mortality reduction strategies which were fashioned towards addressing the major causes of maternal and child mortality in the state.

‘Public health facilities record increase in ante-natal care patronage’ “The key performance indicators have been pointing upwards evidencing that the strategies adopted are yielding positive results as shown in the increase in ante-natal attendance, increase in deliveries, increase in patronage of child survival interventions like immunisation against childhood killer diseases, and increase in women accessing family planning services.”

Longe noted that the key performance indicators on ante-natal attendance in Somolu General Hospital showed an increase in ante-natal attendance from 491 in January to 635 in July.

At the Ikorodu General Hospital, the statistics showed an increase from 681 in January and 1,021 in July.

The permanent secretary

Wike, Rivers APC disagree on Amaechi, projects •APC: governor wasted over N120b •’I’m prudent’

Paulker, Dickson fight for ticket

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

RIVERS State Governor Nyesom Wike yesterday said he was running a prudent administration and managing the state’s resources well.

The governor spoke when he conducted reporters round some projects his administration was executing in parts of the state.

Wike, a former chief of staff in the Government House, Port Harcourt, and the director-general of Rotimi Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011, said his administration decided to first complete the projects started by his predecessor for the benefit of Rivers State residents to prevent abandonment.

The governor assured that he would also start new projects.

But the All Progressives Congress (APC) said the governor spread falsehood and propaganda in his 100 days in office.

The party accused the governor of wasting over N120 billion since assuming office.

S •Ogun State Deputy Governor Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga (right), celebrator Chief Olusegun Oladipo Osunkeye(left), his wife, Abosede (second left), first daughter Mrs. Kemi Adewole and her husband (second & third right) during Osunkeye’s 75th birthday anniversary thanksgiving at Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja, Lagos...yesterday

Jonathan backs Dickson’s re-election for ‘continuity’

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ORMER President Goodluck Jonathan is supporting the second term ambition of Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson.

Jonathan said his endorsement was based on the governor’s achievements.

He described Dickson as one of the most performing governors in Nigeria.

The former President said Dickson had an excellent track record in regular payment of workers’ salaries, reduction of the state’s huge debt profile and what he called an unprecedented infrastructural development.

Jonathan’s declaration ended the speculations on his position about Dickson’s desire to seek the ticket of the Peo-

From Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

ples Democratic Party (PDP) for a second term.

Dickson, last week, submitted his nomination and expression of intent form at the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja to contest the party’s primary ahead of the December 5 governorship poll.

Jonathan spoke at the weekend when he hosted Dickson in his courtyard at Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area.

The former President insisted that his decision was based on the achievements of the governor in the last three and a half years.

Jonathan said: “If Bayelsa is compared to other states in the

country in terms of physical infrastructure, coupled with the degree of indebtedness in terms of bank loans and capital market, Dickson deserves to be praised.

“I am not expecting the governor to score 100 per cent.

There are three key parameters where I will like to score Dickson: payment of salaries, physical infrastructure and low indebtedness of the state in terms of bank loans and in the capital markets.

“If you compare what has happened in other parts of the country, you will praise the governor. People should think more about the way the state is being run and prepared for our future generation.

“Bayelsa is not a cursed state.

Sylva submits form ahead of deadline

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ORMER Bayelsa State Governor and the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC) leader Timipre Sylva, submitted his nomination and expression of interest form at 4.40pm yesterday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja to beat the deadline.

There had been speculations about Sylva’s interest in the governorship race.

But he was said to be undecided between contesting the party’s primary and getting a national appointment.

Addressing reporters after submitting his form, Sylva accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of opposing his government from the beginning of his tenure in 2007.

The APC chieftain noted that

stated that the various maternal and child health services in public health facilities have been strengthened and improved upon in line with the commitment of the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration.

The governor has promised an efficient, qualitative, effective, equitable and affordable healthcare delivery to Lagosians.

Longe said that in line with the policy thrust of affordable healthcare delivery, the last review of charges for services rendered at the various categories of secondary healthcare facilities as approved by the government was contained in a circular: SHSC/88/S.3/T/ 267 dated November 27, 2012.

He reminded members of the public that the prices have remained the same since then.

“Specifically concerning charges in our health facilities for antenatal booking, it is an average of about N12,000; though with minor variations depending on the category and location of health facility whether they are urban, suburban or rural”, Longe said.

•Accuses Jonathan of ousting him in 2012 From Tony Akowe, Abuja

despite the opposition from the Presidency then, he delivered some high quality projects to the people of Bayelsa State.

Such projects, he said, were not inaugurated before he was ousted by “impunity and wickedness in high places”.

Asked about the driving force behind his ambition, Sylva said: “There is always a driving force behind an ambition.

For me, it is very simple. I went into Bayelsa State Government House in 2007 under very difficult circumstances, having a central government that was interested in ousting me from day one.

“If you noticed, from day one

when I entered the Government House in 2007, the Vice President - as he then was - headed my opposition. When the state apparatus was summoned to run you out of office, it was a very uphill task. Despite that, we were undaunted and we carried on.

“I went into Bayelsa State at the height of the militancy problem. A few years into my administration, I designed a strategy, which I called the Triple E Strategy. That led to the end of militancy in the Niger Delta. I can single-handedly take credit for that; even my opponents will not begrudge me for that.

“I also did a lot of roads. No other governor in the history of the state can say he has done

more roads in Yenagoa than I did. I started the senatorial roads leading to Okporoma and started the road leading to Brass. In the area of power, what we did was seen by all.

“In 2012, we were preparing to celebrate in 2013 one year of uninterrupted power supply in Yenagoa. I had installed turbans, and there is a turban that was 93 per cent complete when I was ousted. The outgoing (Dickson’s) government refused to commission it because it did not want me to take credit for it.

“I built a hospital that would have been one of the best in Nigeria. It was to be inaugurated in May 2012. The outgoing government has refused to go near that hospital since I was ousted.”

On the notion that governors in Bayelsa cannot do eight years, it slows down the rate of development. Except there is continuation in government, development will be truncated. Performance is not about satisfying individual needs. So, we need to encourage Dickson to go for a second term.”

The former President described Dickson as his political first son, noting that if given a second term, the governor would consolidate on his achievements.

Dickson solicited Jonathan’s support to run for a second term.

The governor noted that his support was crucial since he was PDP’s leader at the state and the national levels.

ENATOR Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central) yesterday obtained the nomination forms to challenge Governor Seriake Dickson for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket.

The governorship election is expected to hold in December.

Paulker, a former chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), submitted his form at the party’s headquarters in Abuja.

The senator told reporters about his bright chances to upstage Dickson “even though he’s a sitting governor”.

He added: “The race is quite open and the will of party members is supreme in deciding who ultimately gets the party’s ticket for the contest.”

Paulker expressed confidence that the PDP, which he said was rebuilding, “will toe the path of honour and allow a free and fair primary where the best candidate who can effectively represent the inter-

Robbers attack The Nation man in Asaba

ROBBERS yesterday stormed the home of Mr. Okungbowa Aiwerie, The Nation Correspondent in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

They stole musical equipment, a laptop, jewellery and cash.

The incident, which occurred at 2.30am, was the third on the journalist.

Okungbowa said the robbers scaled the fence into his compound.

The reporter said he heard a loud bang on his door as the hoodlums forced their way into his rented apartment.

He said: “At 2.30am, I heard a loud noise. Before I could wake up, I was accosted by the gunmen. My wife, two sons, my son’s friend and my daughter were asked to face down. I was beaten up with the butt of their

By Our Reporter

guns and asked to bring out the money in my possession. I quickly complied.

“They ransacked the house, taking any valuable, including my wife’s jewellery, money, laptop and musical sets. The operation lasted about an hour.”

Okungbowa said he refused to report the matter to the police because nothing came out of a previous attack on him on December 30, last year, despite lodging complaints with the police.

The journalist said he was most pained by the loss of his laptop because it was the “only work tool I relied on for sending my reports.”

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

NEWS Buhari: I’ll name my ministers this month Continued from page 6

and after their term in office.

The President said: “I recall that in 1975 when late Murtala Mohammed became the Head of State, we were lined up - governors, ministers, members of the Supreme Military Council. Officials of Ministry of Justice were brought and every individual was made to declare his assets.

“All Heads of States and Government, governors, ministers, permanent secre-

taries have to declare their assets because it is a constitutional requirement.

“I have declared my assets four times. When I was governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of Petroleum and as a member of Supreme Military Council, I declared. When I was Head of State and now as a President, I have also declared.”

Speaking earlier, President Mahama said both leaders had fruitful discussions on how to enhance bilateral relations and improve regional

security.

President Mahama said that Nigeria and Ghana will soon begin the process of reviving their joint commission for cooperation.

The Ghanaian President added that both leaders also agreed to encourage closer cooperation between the intelligence and anti-graft agencies of both countries.

He thanked President Buhari for his visit and assured him of Ghana’s support in the fight against terrorism.

Rivers: Appeal Court ruling stalls proceedings

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LAIM by lawyers to respondents at the Rivers State governorship election petition tribunal that the Court of Appeal has ordered a suspension of its on-going trial stalled proceedings yesterday in Abuja.

Governor Nyesom Wike, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are respondents in the petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the election, Dakuku Peterside.

Their legal teams are being led

by Emmenuel Ukala (SAN), Chris Uche (SAN) and Onyech Ikpeazu (SAN).

At the beginning of proceedings yesterday, the petitioners, who had called 22 witnesses since trial began last Wednesday, were expected call more witnesses, when respondents' lawyers informed the tribunal that the Court of Appeal in Abuja delivered a ruling last Saturday directing that the tribunal should deliver its rulings on the

From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

respondents’ motions pending before it before resuming the trial.

The appellate court had on August 31, heard about three appeals by the respondents and reserved judgment to a latter date.

Some of the motions pending before the tribunal are seeking the dismissal of the petition by the APC and Peterside.

Reacting to the oral information by respondents' lawyers, the lawyer to the petitioners, Akin Olujinmi (SAN), argued that the tribunal could not rely on the oral information about an appellate court's ruling when no one had sighted the certified true copy of the said order.

Tribunal Chairman Justice Mohammed Ambrosa agreed with Olujinmi and requested that the CTC of the appellate court’s ruling be filed before the court on Tuesday so that the tribunal would determine what step to take next.

Cross River legalises death penalty for kidnappers

The former chairman of the tribunal, Justice Mu’azu Pindiga, had directed that rulings on some of the respondents’ motions, which affect the content of the main petition, will be taken with the judgment of the tribunal after hearing the petition on merit.

The tribunal later stayed proceeding till 12 noon today to enable the respondents produce a CTC of the ruling.

Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Emmanuel Udom opened his defence at the state's governorship election petition tribunal in Abuja yesterday.

He called witnesses, who insisted that the election was not rigged as alleged by the petitioners.

Testifying, Obong Hon Emmanuel Titus from Etinan said his party, PDP ,had agents in all the 11 wards in the Local Government and that collation of results took place in the polling units, wards and local government.

Hearing resumes today.

•Makes housing citizens’ right

•Ayade

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ROSS River State Governor Ben Ayade, yesterday signed into law a bill that prescribes death penalty for convicted kidnappers.

The anti-kidnapping bill was one of 10 bills the governor signed into law at the state Executive Chambers. it was witnessed by the Speaker and members of the House of Assembly, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) Ntufam John Okon and secretary to the State Government Mrs Tina Agbor.

The law also empowers the state to seize assets as well as freeze accounts belonging to convicted kidnappers and those who aid and abet kidnapping in the state.

Speaking on another bill he had just signed into law, the Social Housing Law, which makes housing for the vulnerable a right, he described the law as holding emotional significance to him.

“The most emotional bill to me is the Social Housing Law

which seeks to provide housing for the poorest of the poor in the state. Various researches have linked corruption in civil service to housing. It has also been proven that given the salaries of average civil servants, if they don’t originate memos that give them extra money, if they don’t compromise, they is no civil servant in Nigeria that will be able to build a house. So, by virtue of our salary structure, you have already created a catalyst for corruption to thrive.

“By this bill, housing in Cross River State is now a right to the citizenry, it may not be justiciable at this point in time but we have created a legal stimulus to drive the structure that we can achieve housing for everybody, and in the process, stamp out all mud and thatch houses in Cross River State.”

As a measure aimed at generating revenue to the state from its abundant water resources despite being pronounced a non-littoral state by the Supreme Court following the loss of Bakassi Peninsula, the Governor signed the Water Landing and Fee Charges bill into law.

“When the Supreme Court ruling said that Cross River State is hemmed in, and by implication we ceased to be a littoral state, we are today demonstrating with a simple law that that ruling was wrong because the implication of that

ruling is that whatever waterways that exist within the confines of the state is internal and therefore cannot be covered under the Inland Waterways of Nigeria. So we have the right to regulate it.

“We are going to place a maximum figure on any vessel coming into Cross River waterways. So when it becomes an affront to the Federal Government they will revisit the ruling.”

Other laws signed into law by the governor include: Infrastructure Safety and Regulatory Law, Water Front Management and Development Law, Corporate Social Responsibility Agency Law and Tax Exemption Law for low income earners.

House of Assembly Speaker Hon John Gaul Lebo who described the legislature as the incubator of leadership said the bills were thought of to help the government better the lot of Cross Riverians.

He said it was quite impressive that in just three months the House is able to turn in10 bills in three months, adding that the development was an indication that the vision of the Governor is so clear that the House was able to translate it into laws.

He promised the collaboration of the legislature with the executive to ensure that the PDP- led government in the state succeeds.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

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CITYBEATS S CORES of highway sweepers and midwives in Lagos State yesterday stormed the House of Assembly to protest the alleged non-payment of salary arrears.

The protesters, in separate groups, lamented that life has been unbearable.

The midwives claimed they were being owed more than a year’s salary; the sweepers alleged that they were owed between three and five months wages.

A highway sweeper, Yemisi Oresanwo, said life had been difficult for her and her family since their transfer from Ministry of the Environment (MoE) to Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).

According to her, there are seven zones handling sweeping of highways in the state and each zone is owing salaries.

It was gathered that the sweepers earn N12,000 monthly; their supervisors collect N20,000.

They said they had complained to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment, who promised to look into their demands.

Oresanwo, a supervisor from Ikeja zone, said it had been difficult for them to survive, pointing out that they had complained to their bosses but nothing has been done.

“Like for me as a supervisor, I’m being owed five months salaries. Others are

CITYBEATS LINE: 09091178827

Customs hands over suspected traffickers, $271, 135 cash to EFCC

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

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Midwives, highway sweepers protest non-payment of salaries •The protesters... yesterday

By Oziegbe Okoeki

being owed three or four months. So we want government to come to our aid.

“Since the time we were transferred from MoE to LAWMA, the latter has been responsible for payment of our salaries until recently when they refused to pay us,” she said.

Oresanwo added: “LAWMA has been paying their own workers but has neglected us”.

The protesters said LAWMA management claimed that the said Ministry of the Environment is

PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

owing them; hence they cannot fulfil their obligation to the sweepers.

Also speaking, Abidemi Najeem said they have been enduring the situation but could no longer do so as their children are expected to resume school soon.

Najeem, who is representing Jibowu-Fadeyi zone, said they had been transferred since 2013 to LAWMA, adding: “We want the government to state categorically whether we are under LAWMA or MoE.” Najeem said: “Our children will soon resume school and

we are expecting Ileya festival, how do they expect us to take care of ourselves and family members.”

Speaking on behalf of Midwives Service Scheme (MSS), Beatrice Ajayi explained that they belong to an umbrella body for midwives in Nigeria.

She said the Federal Government deployed them in Lagos State, adding that the former has been fulfilling its obligation, while the latter has done nothing.

“This is not the first time we have protested, when we protested last year, they paid 2014 arrears but left 2013 un-

paid. We find it difficult to go to work as we can’t afford the transport fares.

“They have been promising us but we are tired of waiting. We borrow money to go to work,” she said.

A lawmaker, Bisi Yusuff, who addressed the groups on behalf of Speaker Mudashiru Obasa appealed to them to remain calm.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, he said, does not owe salaries, promising that the matter would be addressed.

Yusuff said the House would look into the matter when it resumes.

Kids, teenager, octogenarian die in disasters

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OUR persons yesterday died in various disasters across Lagos

State.

A 10-year-old girl Miss Eniola Shodipe drowned in a well at Atanda Street in Mafoluku, Oshodi.

An infant – Isaiah Bamidele was recovered dead after a 17-passenger

By Precious Igbonwelundu

boat accident occurred around Odo-Isitu, Egan, a Lagos suburb.

Another 16-year-old boy, as well as an octogenarian, were consumed in separate fire that occurred at Lekki and Ojo. Miss Shodipe, who was said

to have visited some relatives to spend the long vacation, fell in the well while playing with other kids.

The incident, which occurred at about 2pm threw the neighbours into panic.

Many struggled to rescue her but were unsuccessful because the wood used to cover the well fell on her.

Though, the well was not very deep, the teenager passed on before she was recovered.

Six-year-old Bamidele was the only casualty in the boat accident that occurred around 1:20pm.

The Nation learnt that the boat had colluded with another one coming from

Wood merchant charged with defrauding Kashamu

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WOOD merchant Mohammed Isiaka from Gboloko in Bassa Local Government Area of Kogi State has been arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for allegedly defrauding Senator Buruji Kashamu of N400,000.

Isiaka, according to the charge, obtained N400,000 from Senator Kashamu by giving false information to the police that former President Olusegun Obasanjo paid one Tony Kabaka N25 million to eliminate Kashamu.

The charge reads: “The accused person gave the false in-

By Ebele Boniface

formation to the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone II Onikan Lagos on July 25 at Onikan, a Lagos Magisterial District, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 93 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

“That Isiaka, on the same date, time and place in Lagos Magisterial District, time and place in Lagos Magisterial District, did obtain from one Senator Buruji Kashamu the sum of N400, 000 with the pretence, that he had given information to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police knowing same

to be false.”

Magistrate O. Kusanu granted the accused N800, 000 bail with two sureties in the like sum and evidence of threeyear tax payment.

Kusanu adjourned the case till October 14.

The accused, who claims that he has a National Diploma in Accounting from Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, is said to be into wood business shuttling between Kogi and Benin.

According to the police, the AIG instructed the Zonal Special Anti-Robbery (ZSARS) to investigate the matter.

Investigation revealed that

•Isiaka

Isiaka lied to obtain money from Kashamu.

The police said Isiaka confessed that he collected N200,000 from Kashamu the first time he gave him the information and got another N200,000 later.

Totowu. Bamidele fell inside the water.

He was recovered dead by local divers and handed over to his family who buried him immediately.

The 16-year-old boy died in a fire outbreak at 35c, Ajiran Road, Agungi, Lekki; the 86-year-old woman died in a separate fire outbreak at the weekend.

Confirming the incidents, the director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe said the old woman’s building of 10 rooms on Dickson Adebayo Street, Iba New Site, Ojo, was consumed in the inferno.

Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Dr Onimode Bandele urged residents to be safety conscious.

He appealed to boat operators to embrace the use of safety jackets and ensure their passengers comply.

Bandele hailed the local divers for their prompt response in savings the victims, noting that more lives would have been lost if not for their swift intervention.

•From left: Baytuzzeenah Chief Executive Officer Hajia Saidat Otiti assisted by Voice of Nigeria (VON) Assistant Chief Strategic Officer Hajia Mujidah Abdul-Aleem-Olagunju to present a N1 million dummy cheque and certificate to Kareemah Oladipo during the maiden Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF) Business Plan Competition organised

by ZSF in partnership with Jaiz Bank Plc and Al-Barakah Microfinance Bank Limited at Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

HE Murtala Muhammed Internatonal Airport Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) two persons arrested last week for allegedly attempting to traffic over $271,135.

The cash was also handed over to EFCC for safe keeping and further investigation.

Its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Thelma Williams, gave the suspects’ names as: Owolabi Tijani of Patovillki, a cleaning firm at the airport and Uwan Livinus.

Williams said: “At about 11am on September 3, one Owolabi Tijani a staff of Patovilki “Cleaning Firm” was apprehended by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officials who attempted to smuggle US$271,135 through “D” wing departure screening point.

“The said Owolabi after interrogation confirmed to FAAN Officials names of people involved in the crime, including Mrs Omo Seun (Iya Urobo) and Uwan Livinus.

“Statements were therefore taken from the suspects and officers who witnessed the process.”

Man cleared of fowl theft

By Robert Egbe

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N Ikorodu Magistrate’s Court in Lagos has cleared a 28-year-old man, Michael George, of stealing a fowl belonging to Mrs Miriam Usman.

When George was arraigned on June 2, police Inspector Kehinde Muhammed, standing in for the prosecutor, Corporal Kemi Adeniran, alleged that the accused was caught with the fowl on the night of May 31, on the complainant’s premises.

The charge reads: “That you Michael George on May 31, at 10pm on Adegboyega Street, Ibeshe Titun Area, Ikorodu, did steal a fowl valued at N2000, property of one Miriam Usman.”

He said the offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

The accused pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate A. S. Odusanya, who initially handled the case, granted George N5,000 bail with one surety in the like sum.

Yesterday, the George’s counsel, Mrs M. O. Folami urged the court to strike out the case, adding that her client was detained for two days at Kirikiri Prison and made to pay N35,000 in restitution for the said crime.

She said: “Members of the complainant’s community have collected N35,000 from my client already as payment for the fowl and other expenses they said they incurred in prosecuting this matter. Yet, the witnesses, all members of the community, didn’t bother to show up in court.”

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THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

NEWS

MASSOB demands release of members •Police arrest 156 suspects in Delta•No going back on Biafra, Uwazuruike insists

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EADERS of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Southsouth zone, have demanded the release of their members who were arrested when the police raided Chief Ralph Uwazuruike’s home at Owerri.

Rising from an emergency meeting in Obigbo, Obigbo local government area of Rivers State, MASSOB leaders, led by the regional administrator, Commander Obinna Nwosu, demanded the release of their members.

Nwosu said they converged in Port Harcourt to show solidarity with their leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, and to demand the release of those arrested.

From Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcourt, Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba and Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

He said MASSOB, as a peaceful organisation recognised worldwide, would not resort to selfhelp by causing problems, but would not accept any intimidation and harassment against its members.

He accused the police of chasing shadows by arresting the innocent members, adding that the police should instead, channel their efforts towards arresting criminals that have taken over the state.

His words: “We have accepted Biafra as our own nation and that is why MASSOB members no longer talk in fear. The arrest of our members in Imo State did not go down well

with us and we demand the unconditional release of those arrested.

“The Federal government cannot intimidate us; we have been on this struggle for years and as far as we are concerned, the arrest is politically-motivated. But one thing is certain; no government will end the Biafra struggle.”

But the Delta State Police Command said it arrested 156 persons suspected to be members of the Movement.

Police spokesman Celestina Kalu said 11 of the suspects were being held for investigations while others, including women and children, were warned and released.

She said those detained were the ring leaders and they would be prosecuted at the end of investigations.

Kalu said the suspects were arrested while they held their meeting at Oneh Primary School in Asaba.

Items recovered from the group included a CD plate, group photograph of members and the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

Others were Biafra National Anthem, World latest vote on Biafra, a Sony camera and a book, Agueleri: The pivot of the Bani-Israil in Nigeria.

The spokesman said anyone who contravenes the law would face the wrath of the law.

Leader of the Movement, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has reported at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Imo State police command.

He was taken to the Zone

9 Headquarters in Umuahia after a closed-door meeting with the police Commissioner, Taiwo Lakanu.

Police spokesman Andrew Enwerem said Uwazuruike was summoned over the group’s activities.

“MASSOB and its activities are outlawed and his invitation was not unconnected to that. Yes he reported at the command’s headquarters this morning (yesterday) and he was moved to see the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 9,” Enwerem said.

But Uwazuruike, briefing reporters after his release insisted that “there is no going back on the struggle for Biafra”.

“I was not at home on Saturday when I got a call that

policemen have invaded my home. In the morning, I got a letter from the Commissioner of Police and when I reported, he told me he does not want MASSOB but I told him he cannot stop me; there is no going back on Biafra and I was taken to Umuahia to see the AIG. “At Umuahia, the AIG vouched for my non-violent stance on the struggle for Biafra. Anyone who does not want MASSOB should leave Igbo land,” Uwazuruike said.

He however distanced his group from the activities of other splinter groups that have engaged in criminal activities, saying “no MASSOB man has ever been caught for stealing, kidnapping, raping and other crimes. We are non- violent but no one can stop Biafra.”

Kuku alleges plans to implicate him

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•Registrar, Ekiti State University, Mr. Emmanuel Ogunyemi (left); President, Bible City International Mega Ministry, Pastor David Oni and his wife and Chief Medical Director Titilope Hospital, Oke-Opin City, Kwara State at the Seventh Annual Halleluyah Convention

Emulate Akunyili, Obi urges Nigerians

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ORMER Anambra State Governor Mr. Peter Obi has urged Nigerians to emulate the virtues of the former Minister of Information the late Prof.

Dora Akunyili.

He spoke while delivering Akunyili’s one year memorial lecture at the Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu.

Obi said Nigerians had lessons to learn from Akunyili’s life of service and commitment to the ideals of honesty and integrity.

Using the hidden part of Akunyili’s life to illustrate her greatness, Obi narrated how, as the Supervisory councillor on Agriculture at

Anaocha Local Government, she shared truck load of fertilisers from trucks straight to community buses.

“At the end of the sharing, the communities, happy at getting the fertilisers, opted to give her one bag each, but she refused,” Obi said.

Obi narrated her experiences with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, under whose tenure Akunyili was the director-general of the National Agency for Foods Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

“Akunyili was not afraid to speak to power once she was convinced she was right. Her driving passion was best cap-

tured in small events about her that were not reported. As President, Obasanjo once recommended someone for employment in NAFDAC. She politely informed him that his candidate would be sent to the Examination Board like others and she was told to follow due process. “The end of the story was that the person failed and was not employed.

Till today, Obasanjo uses it as an example on how to follow due process.”

Concluding, Obi said her family was often not spared of her thoroughness and insistence on due process.

“Once, I was discussing with her husband, Dr. Chike

Akunyili and he told me his experience being Dora’s husband. Being a very good cook, when Chief Daniel Ogbuefi lost her father, Ogbuefi’s wife, as the husband told me, appealed to Dora to help her prepare special pepper soup for their important guests. When she finished, her husband asked for some, but all Dora did was to package everything to the owner.

After handing over the delicacies to Ogbuefi’s wife, she was asked to take some for herself and this, she brought home for her husband. For Dora, trust should not be betrayed in any way.”

Enugu registers 22, 000 rice farmers

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ADAMA State Implementation Committee in Enugu State has registered over 22, 000 rice farmers.

State Coordinator Ikechukwu Jude explained that though FADAMA III Additional Financing targets 5, 000 farmers for 5, 000 hectares of land for rice cultivation, the high number of registered farmers was due to the new reality of dwindling oil revenue that was making more people

divert into agriculture.

He hoped that those who may not be captured by FADAMA III AF will be engaged by other state projects. “Before the end of the project in 2017, we are looking at about 30, 000 farmers to be engaged either

by FADAMA III AF or by the state government.”

While the capacity of farmers is being developed in the state, the coordinator said the first and most important goal was to change

the farmer’s orientation.

“They must realise that farming is no longer development agriculture, but a business enterprise that must be diligently pursued”, he said.

Jude said the project would provide 50 per cent of the farmers needs as grants. This will include certified improved rice seeds, agro chemicals, fertilisers and other assets and infrastructure.

“The project has an ap-

proved six locations of seven installations for central pivot system of irrigation. That means farmers in that location will have over 350 hectares of land to be done three times a year, which means a cumulative 1, 050 hectares of rice farm in a year on that project alone. A major off taker has also been contacted and assurance has been given to buy all the outputs, thereby resolving the issue of marketing,” he said.

ORMER Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs and ex-Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku has said there are plans to implicate him in a financial deal he knows nothing about.

He described as untrue and politically- motivated, reports that his account had been frozen.

A newspaper reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had frozen an account belonging to Keketobou Foundation.

According to Kuku, “the foundation has only N720,484 as balance and the proceeds from my book, “Remaking The Niger Delta: Challenges and Opportunities”, was donated to charity.

“I distributed JAMB forms to applicants, gave financial and material support to the aged, widows and the physically, challenged and helped in the rehabilitation of walkways and

From Sikiru Akinola, Ibadan

drainages in my hometown, Arogbo, Ondo State. These gestures were borne out of my determined spirit to give back to my final place of return in life.”

Kuku said the report was politically-motivated and intended to smear his reputation.

“What on earth links my face to the alleged story about NIMASA? It is still all part of the anti-Jonathan onslaught. I am open to investigation as a public officer, but ongoing activities of the ‘goebellic’ distortion by the anti-graft agencies and some sections of media creates in the heart of it all, suspicion of witch-hunt and bad politics.

“I hope no desperate elements would deposit illicit funds into the foundation’s account to implicate me because the full details of the account from opening to date are with us,” he warned.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

62

FOREIGN NEWS

Merkel demands EU partners share in burden of migrants •Pledges $3.3billion more in aids, and 800.000 migrants by year’s end •UK to resettle 20,000 in five years

•France 24,000 •Millions more feared in coming months

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senting a voice of reason in the EU flock of 28 countries.He said Europe first must focus on security measures designed to force travelers from troubled lands to seek asylum in neighbouring countries, not travel thousands of miles (kilometers) into the heart of Europe.

He said the current discussions on a new quota to handle 120,000 migrants soon would

ERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel, reflecting on “a moving, in some parts breathtaking weekend behind us,” said Monday that all EU countries should help to accommodate the human tide of Arabs, Asians and Africans seeking refuge from war and poverty.

French President Francois Hollande announced his country would welcome 24,000 refugees, while he and Merkel had agreed on a formula for spreading the migrant load across Europe.

But Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, said he wasn’t prepared to pitch in and questioned how any EU quota system based on current figures could resolve the real issue of unrelenting immigration.

Even as calm returned yesterday to the main AustriaHungary border crossing where more than 15,000 people crossed over the weekend en route to Germany, Hungary’s leader hit back at European partners who blamed his country for stoking the chaos.

Merkel told reporters in Berlin that Germany would ensure that those who need protection receive it, but

those who stand no chance of getting asylum would be swiftly returned to their homelands.

Germany is preparing to receive by far the largest number of immigrants, an estimated 800,000 by the end of the year, and Merkel said other EU nations should take some.”Germany is a country willing to take people in, but refugees can be received in all countries of the European Union in such a way that they can find refuge from civil war and from persecution,” she said.

Outside the EU, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the U.K. will resettle up to 20,000 Syrians from camps in Turkey, Jordan and Syria over the next five years.

Announcing the vast expansion of Britain’s refugee program, he told Parliament Monday that Britain has a moral responsibility to act, citing shocking images in recent days. Cameron said vulnerable children and orphans will be given priority.

Orban mocked the European Union’s efforts to distribute migrants through a quota system and compared Hungary to a “black sheep” repre-

lead to discussions on hosting millions more.Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and other EU leaders have blamed Orban for bungling Hungary’s intake of migrants so badly that it left Austria and Germany no choice but to open their borders to thousands who had complained of neglect and human rights violations in Hungary and refused to stay in refugee camps there.

• Merkel

Immigrants in U.S. should 'speak American': MMIGRANTS to the Palin told CNN she took Ex-VP nominee Palin Spanish United States should classes in high school.

I

"speak American," former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said on Sunday, adding her voice to a controversy triggered by Donald Trump's criticism of fellow Republican White House hopeful Jeb Bush's use of Spanish.

"It's a benefit of Jeb Bush to be able to be so fluent in Spanish, because we have a large and wonderful Hispanic population that is helping to build America," Palin said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"On the other hand, you know, I think we can send a message and say: 'You want to be in America? A, you better

be here legally, or you're out of here. B, when you're here, let's speak American.' I mean, that's just, that's - let's speak English," added Palin, Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in 2008.

Palin, who is popular among some U.S. conservatives, said that "a unifying aspect of a nation is the language that is understood by all." Most of the illegal immigrants in the United States come from Mexico and other Spanishspeaking Latin American countries.

Bush on Thursday rejected

the notion offered by Trump that people should speak only English in the United States.

Bush, who is fluent in Spanish and frequently breaks into the language at his events, vowed to keep speaking Spanish whenever he feels like it.

Trump, the Republican frontrunner whose hardline stance on illegal immigration is a hallmark of his bid for the party's nomination in the November 2016 election, said: "We're a nation that speaks English."

Bush said Trump's jibe at him that he "spoke Mexican" while on a visit to the U.S. border was deeply divisive.

"And I took French in high school. Shouldn't have taken them both, because I got them all mixed up by the time I was graduating," the former Alaska governor added.

Palin also said she might like to be appointed energy secretary if Trump wins the presidency.

"I think a lot about the Department of Energy, because energy is my baby, oil and gas and minerals, those things that God has dumped on this part of the Earth for mankind's use, instead of relying on unfriendly foreign nations for us to import their resources," Palin said.

ICC asks S. Africa to explain failure to arrest Bashir

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UDGES at the International Criminal Court have asked South African authorities to explain why they failed to arrest Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in June when he attended a conference.

Bashir, accused of masterminding genocide in Darfur, was able to leave an African Union summit in South Africa and fly home, in defiance of a ruling by a South African court ordering his detention under a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

South Africa, a member of the ICC, is obliged to enforce warrants from the Haguebased tribunal.

In a statement on its website, the ICC asked South African authorities to submit by Oct. 5 the reasons for "their failure to arrest and surrender Omar Al Bashir".

The tribunal said in cases

where a member of the ICC fails to cooperate, the tribunal may refer the matter to either the Assembly of States Parties, the ICC's governing body, or the U.N. Security Council, which established the court and has the power to impose sanctions.

President Jacob Zuma has de-

fended the decision to let Bashir leave the country, saying the wanted leader had immunity as a guest of the African Union.

Clayson Monyela, the spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said he was unaware of the request from the global tribunal.

"I haven't heard anything about it. And even if it's there I won't be commenting on it that matter is subjudice. It's in the courts," said Monyela.

Pretoria has said it will review its membership of the ICC and challenge a high court ruling that found the state erred in letting Bashir leave.

S' Leone village quarantined after Ebola death

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EARLY 1,000 people in Sierra Leone have been put under quarantine following the death of a 67year-old woman who tested positive for Ebola.

It comes five days into a sixweek countdown for the country to be officially declared Ebola-free.

The quarantine will last for three weeks, provided no new cases are recorded.

More than 11,000 people have died since the start of the

Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

The BBC's Umaru Fofana in the capital, Freetown, says the authorities had been optimistic after a long period without any new Ebola cases and this caught them off-guard.

The quarantine is stricter than previous ones. It includes a curfew in which people will not be allowed to move from one house to another.

Soldiers and police have been deployed to keep the quaran-

tine in Sellakaffta, a village in Kambia on the northern border with Guinea.

The World Health Organization and Sierra Leone's health ministry are planning a vaccination programme for those who could have come into contact with the woman.

Guinea is still trying to contain its outbreak while the WHO announced that the Ebola virus had stopped spreading in Liberia for a second time last week Thursday.

U.S. to introduce equal partnership to Africa

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NITES States of America (USA) Acting Consul General to Nigeria, Ms Dehab Ghebreab has said the United States is set to bring about new model of relationship between the U.S. and Africa.

Ms Dehab said the relationship will be an equal partnership for the same vision to expand security, strengthen democracy and also ensure peace through young African leaders.

She made this known over the weekend in Lagos during a reception in honour of Nigerian participants of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) network who recently returned from the YALI regional learning in Accra, Ghana.

The Acting Consul General said the equal partnership will make the United States and Africa help each other and work together adding that: "when those things happen and Africa prospers, the trade relationship will increase across other countries too."

She charged the young African leaders to play their role in a very constructive manner in assisting the government towards developing the African continent.

"Government cannot do it all and that is why the citizen has a role to play; that is why we want young African leaders to get the leadership experience needed in entrepreneurship, civil society and public service.

"The easiest way to do business is with the neighbouring countries and I see this as an opportunity for entrepreneurs because we can trade and we can exchange best practices across Africa, you are the new generation growing up understanding the principles of leadership, principles of discipline, principles of working together and networking because you are all of the same mind and that is why it will be easy for you to trade and negotiate.'' She added.

"While some of you in some years to come, you will

By Ibrahim Adam emerge top African leaders, you are the ones to make things happen in politics, in business, in civil society with an ultimate goal of transforming Africa, so that Africa uses its natural resources for the good of all Africans.'' She concluded.

A member of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) network and a lawyer, Chuwkuemeka Mbah in his remark said the team became knowledgeable on how to be responsible and responsive to the present day challenges in Africa and the global environment.

Chuwkuemeka said, the team have pledge to collaborate for change, network and leverage on each other's strength and implement action plans that will make the African continent witness more changes.

He said the American people have shown that the best form of investment is in human capacity and promised to apply the knowledge they achieve for the Africa development.

Another YALI member, Echeji Chibuike Brian, an educator, described the regional training as a platform to network and brainstorm on how best to move Africa to its rightful position on the global socio-economic map, building strong cross national partnership and solid relationships. U.S Barack.

In July 2014, President Obama created YALI Regional Leadership Centres in Africa. These centres build on existing institutional capacity to provide high quality training, mentoring, and networking support to a greater number of young leaders than can be reached through the Mandela Washington Fellowship.

The YALI Regional Leadership Centres reach exceptional young leaders between the ages 18 and 35 from a wide range of backgrounds and diverse experiences.

Qatar 'deploys 1,000 troops' for Yemen

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ATAR has reportedly deployed troops to Yemen for the first time, according to the Doha-based alJazeera news.

One-thousand ground troops, supported by armoured vehicles and helicopters, are reportedly headed for the province of Marib.

Last week, 60 soldiers from the Saudi-led coalition were killed at a base in Marib.

The missile strike by Houthi rebels killed 45 UAE, 10 Saudi and five Bahraini soldiers.

The troops died after an ammunition depot was hit in the town of Safir.

Following the attack, Emirati warplanes launched airstrikes on targets across Yemen.

The Houthi rebels described the attack as revenge for "crimes" committed by the Saudi-led coalition, which has carried out months of air strikes in Yemen.

The coalition is trying to restore the exiled president, who left as the Houthis gained control over much of the country.

The UN says some 4,500 people - including at least 2,110 civilians - have been killed in fighting on the ground and by coalition air strikes since late March.

Coalition countries are thought to have sent several thousand troops to Yemen in an effort to restore President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to power.

They helped southern militiamen opposed to the Houthis retake the southern port city of Aden in July and have since advanced northwards.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Coalition airstrikes hit Yemen across the weekend, including in the capital Sanaa.

THE NATION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

63

TODAY IN THE NATION

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL.10 NO. 3331

‘It says a lot about the appalling record-keeping in the financial sector as a whole that those charged with keeping custody of other people’s funds cannot be trusted to keep a clean list of debtors. When added to the poor judgment behind a good number of the credit decisions, the financial services sector would emerge as standing in graver risk than anyone could have imagined’ SANYA ONI

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

What a difference 100 days make.

OLATUNJI DARE

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NE hundred days ago, heady optimism filled the air as President-elect Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office. The momentum had built up steadily through the campaign, and not even Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s panicked postponement of the presidential election could stop it. Buhari’s emphatic victory consolidated the momentum, rendering the change that lay at the core of his agenda more insistent still.

Not since 1975 when Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo shoved aside General Yakubu Gowon’s exhausted military regime has such optimism swept the country.

The enthusiasm was understandable.

Jonathan had inflicted grave damage on virtually every aspect of Nigerian life in his six years of misrule, the culmination of which was a systems collapse. There could not have been a more eloquent epitaph to his tenure.

The change Buhari and the APC had promised was about to be launched and, finally, the translation of Nigeria’s vaunted potential into actuality was going to start in earnest.

However, large swathes of the country refused, for all kinds of reasons, to be caught up in the wave, some from habit, some from genuine doubt, some from indifference and some from fear of retribution, especially those individuals and groups and blocs that had profited immensely from the systemic corruption and impunity that were the directive principles of the Jonathan administration.

Iyiola Omisore, a stalwart of the PDP, spoke a greater than he intended or realised when he admonished the faithful on the eve of the last election that the PDP was “nothing without the Presidency.” Message: Win the presidential election at all cost, or face decline and oblivion.

That prospect is real. Desperately short on cash, the PDP secretariat recently served notice that it was going to cut its army of staffers and hangers-on by 50 per cent, and then cut by 50 per cent the pay of those who survive the attrition.

Back when the PDP, the self-proclaimed biggest political party in Africa, was in power, that was unthinkable. The so-called Presidency, of which it was an arm — or was it the other way around? – would have stepped in with a train-load of cash to keep it going.

But it is a tribute to the PDP’s tenacity that as it struggles for its life, it is showing the kind of innovativeness it could not muster in its glory days, even its life depended on it. It has launched a hi-tech national campaign, biometrics and all, to recruit young persons into its thinning ranks – the same young people whose lives and prospects it blighted for 16 years.

For six of those 16 years, the Jonathanled PDP government saw the young people

RIPPLES

WE FAILED PDP AS LEADERS, says Babatope

Yes, ASSOCIATION OF FAILED POLITICIANS...AFP

AT HOME ABROAD olatunji.dare@thenationonlineng.net

One hundred days later

•President Buhari

mainly as a reservoir from which to rent its crowds to create the illusion of popularity, only that the young men and women were sometimes not paid the promised rent at all, or were heavily short-changed.

None in the PDP is trying more desperately than its pathetic National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, to shore up its sinking fortunes. Day in day out he is grinding out hysterical screeds that say more about his detachment from reality than about Buhari’s failings, real or imagined.

Does he seriously believe his own charge that Buhari has in just 100 days destroyed not only the robust economy he allegedly inherited from Jonathan, but indeed all the wonders allegedly wrought by Jonathan’s transformation agenda?

The truth is that Jonathan inflicted grave damage on every aspect of Nigerian life, and the consequences will be with us for a long time. What he handed to Buhari was a poi-

soned chalice.

That is the background against which Buhari’s first 100 days in office must be judged.

Those who saw him as the new messiah who would build all the road networks and hospitals and fast trains within that period and deliver to every home trays of freshbaked potato bread that was reserved exclusively for Dr Jonathan’s breakfast table will doubtless be gravely disappointed.

So also would those who expected Boko Haram to hand over the Chibok girls or morph into an international relief organiszation, or that Nigeria would overnight become a net exporter of electric power, or that importers would resume paying premium price for Nigeria’s crude oil, or that the Naira would attain parity with U.S. Dollar and greater purchasing power than the Euro.

And so also would those who believed that Buhari would make life more abundant for all Nigerians within his first 100 days in office.

They all are entitled to their disappointment, but they must blame it more on their delusions than on what the man said he was going to do or what he could reasonably be expected to do.

If Buhari’s supporters and opponents can agree on one thing, it would have to be that he has not moved mountains. He has not moved mountains.

But he has arrested the drift of the Jonathan years and given purpose and direction to governance. He has served notice that the depredations of the Jonathan years will no longer be tolerated, and that the brazen impunity of that era will have no place under his watch.

In the past, you could abuse the public trust with the utmost contempt, confident that you could use the elastic framework of the law not merely to escape but to prevent justice, and then live happily ever after with your

HARDBALL

E

ARLY enough, Femi Adesina, chief presidential spokesperson, dropped a cyberbomb that set the social media howling: wailing wailers!

That two-word bomb sent presidential supporters cheering, presidential opposers jeering and neutrals rather disturbed at the rather cavalier dismissal of presidential opposition.

But in truth: Mr. Adesina would appear prescient, at the shape of malicious, bordering on utterly senseless, anti-Buhari criticisms to come — from those who appear to suffer from acute post-power belligerence syndrome (APPBS).

Reacting to the Buhari 100 days in office, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) provoked a storm on twitter, when it claimed the president’s first 100 days were “wasted 100 days”. That drivel provoked such an ire you could feel the virtual heat. But those who reacted ought to have shown some empathy: that irrational judgment was triggered by the abyss of APPBS. Instead of fury, they should have reached for the dial, to ring up a doctor: Nigeria’s former ruling party needs very, very urgent help!

On this score, Olisa Metuh, PDP spokesperson, is chief and unfazed wailer. Tell him he needs a consultant in post-power psychosis, and he would probably wail and scream even louder. But the holy truth: the decibel of Mr. Metuh’s hysteria would appear going a notch too high, a function of

loot.

Henceforth, that will not be so easy. Buhari has set up a committee of eminent jurists and scholars to devise ways of removing, without doing violence to fundamental legal principles, those loopholes and technicalities that have stood as barriers to justice.

To be effective, the war on corruption must be as comprehensive as possible. But in practical terms, it must have a boundary.

However you draw it, the boundary will necessarily be arbitrary. The important thing is to start somewhere, and make sure that appropriate lessons are taught.

Corruption has reached such an alarming degree in public life in Nigeria because no lessons were taught. And because no lessons were taught, no lessons were learned.

Nigerians are used to judging government performance mainly on the basis of tangibles – roads and hospitals built or rehabilitated, electric power generated, jobs created, etc. On this score, Buhari has achieved next to nothing. The period in review is too short even to process a contract for a major project.

But governance is also about restoring faith and confidence in the system, creating a climate for recovery, in which people believe that government can be made to work for them rather than for a few — intangibles on which the attainment of other deliverables may well hinge.

Buhari has instituted a dynamic of accountability. By making public his material assets and those of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, he has set an example that other public officials will find it hard to ignore.

He has begun the difficult task of re-building the value system that the political class in and out of uniform has destroyed. He is establishing an environment in which mountains can be moved.

I suspect that most Nigerians now feel more optimistic about the country’s prospects today than they did in the twilight of the Jonathan era, if not throughout its duration.

That, as I see it, is a good start.

But there is much more work to do. Buhari should name a cabinet immediately, not only to give shape and direction to his administration, but also to stem growing criticism that he is running the country as if he was leader of a military regime rather than a democratically-elected president His cabinet should reflect the abundance of talent and expertise with which Nigeria is endowed, as well as the country’s plural identities.

•For comments, send SMS to 08111813080

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Wailing Metuh acute political agitation that needs rather urgent poli-medicare.

Hear Mr. Metuh’s take on President Buhari’s asset declaration, just made public: “We have noted the release of a flimsy list of belongings of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo by the Presidency, who wants such to pass as the public declaration of assets as pledged by the President. Nigerians are not deceived by this poor attempt at window-dressing, designed by the Presidency to hoodwink the unsuspecting populace in a desperate bid to shore up its diminished image.”

Really? Assuming without conceding (as Mr. Metuh’s learned friends would say) his claim is true, what was the situation when the doomed Goodluck Jonathan was at the same presidential juncture, even with the stellar example of his late principal, President Umaru Yar’Adua?

The man, whose personal good luck spectacularly exposed the country’s bad luck, only snapped: “I don’t give a damn about what anyone says; I’m not doing any public declaration of asset”. That set the tone for criminal opacity that would clean out the national till, doom the Jonathan presidency and banish PDP to the power wilderness, from which Mr. Metuh and co now wail.

If the Metuhian metaphor claims Buhari’s effort is “poor attempt at windowdressing”, in the Jonathanian cave, there was even no window to dress; and Mr. Metuh still spun such crass opacity as the best of global presidential practices. Sure, the Metuh gibberish is still alive and well. The difference, however, is it is getting, by the second, more and more ridiculous.

Oh, talking about caves reminds Hardball of the Plato allegory of the cave, making pith-darkness the nadir of ignorance; and dazzling light, the summit of knowledge. That was why the soul in the allegory, after snapping free of the chain at the bottom of the cave, got the scales off his dark eyes at the sight of light and went near-berserk at the sight of glorious sunshine! That is the exhilarating liberation of knowledge!

If Mr. Metuh’s wailing wailers (apologies to Mr. Adesina) still dismiss the Buhari’s first 100 days as “wasted”, it is because they are still chained to the pit of Jonathan-era cave. On the electricity supply front alone (and every pun intended), that shows how Metuh and co languish in their Jonathan cave, while everyone else has moved on.

Pity!

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