The Nation September 19, 2011

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VOL. 7, NO. 1888 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

S

TATES finance chiefs left Abuja empty handed at the weekend.

There was no cash from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), no thanks to a row between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Commissioners of Finance.

Minister of State for Fi-

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

Row between NNPC, states stalls cash sharing

By Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor

nance Yerima Lawan Ngama described the matter as “a small issue.”

The FAAC meeting was postponed on Friday.

The meeting, chaired by the minister of state for Finance, is usually the forum for the sharing of the monthly allocation between the two tiers

of government.

The minister said the disagreement had been lingering for over one year between the NNPC and the states. But he declined to reveal the issue. The commissioners also declined comments on “the small matter.”

But the minister said the contentious N450 billion debt owed the FAAC by the

NNPC had been amicably resolved, with the oil giant agreeing to start paying off the debt.

This month’s FAAC meeting was initially slated for September 13 before it was moved to last Friday. After a three-hour wait, the meeting was put off and an extra ordinary session was held to address “the small but appar-

ently very important issue between the commissioners and the NNPC”.

Ngama said the contentious matter was initially passed to a committee to resolve but the complexities involved forced the committee to return the matter to the whole house.

A meeting attended by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) and offi-

N150.00 cials of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the NNPC and the Ministry of Finance was held.

The minister said because the issue could not be resolved, the FAAC meeting was postponed until it is settled. A new date for the meeting will be announced.

Security agents unmask killer of Obasanjo’s host SSS places N25m prize on suspect Nur’s head

ASSASSINATED

SUSPECTED UN HOUSE BOMBER

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

S

ECURITY agencies have unmasked the killer of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s host in Maiduguri, The Nation learnt yesterday.

The head of Fugu family, Babakana Fugu, hosted Obasanjo last Thursday in the Borno State capital. He was killed on Saturday.

The killer is believed to be Ustaz Mote, a close associate of the wanted al-Qaedatrained Boko Haram element, Mamman Nur. Nur, who has been declared wanted by the State Security Service (SSS), is believed by security agents to have conspired with two others to mastermind the August 26 bombing of the UN House in Abuja SEE in which 23 people died.

Fugu’s killing has left memALSO bers of the Boko Haram (WestPAGE ern education is a sin) divided.

58 The Federal Government has ordered more security build-up in Abuja, Borno and most parts of the North where members of the Boko Haram are believed to be hiding.

A source, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “Preliminary report on how Babakura Fugu was killed has indicated that it was perpetrated by one Ustaz Mote, who grew up in Fugu Family House and an ardent footsoldier of Nur. “The assassination of Babakura Fugu on Saturday afternoon is said to have been masterminded by the Mamman Nur group (faction), which felt that the recent arrest of some Continued on page 4

WANTED

•The late Fugu

•Mamman Nur

TOP: A videograb released yesterday and taken from a video obtained by AFP, said to be from Boko Haram shows a young man, apparently responsible for last month’s bombing of the UN headquarters in Abuja. The soft-spoken, 27year-old smiling man pleads with his family to understand his actions, and a vague warning is sent out to “Obama and other infidels.” During much of his time on the video, he holds an AK-47 while two others lean against the wall. Two gas cannisters are on the floor at his feet.

He is rail-thin and wears a striped, polo-style shirt, a turban and what looks to be a suicide vest.

•SPORTS P23 •JOBS P25 •CITYBEAT P31 •CEO P39 •MOTORING P49

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

2

NEWS It had a clear mandate to turn around the fortunes of oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta. But intrigues among those saddled with the implementation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) mandate have robbed the region and its people of the desired benefits, reports OLUKAYODE THOMAS

NDDC: Controversy Incorporated M

ORE than a decade after the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to replace the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADC), the commission has not lived up to its mandate of stimulating rapid and sustainable development of the oil region.

Rather than making the Niger Delta area economically prosperous, socially stable, politically peaceful and environmentally stable, the NDDC has been crisis-ridden. The commission has consistently been in the news, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. If it is not misappropriation of funds, it is outright embezzlement. If the youth groups are not demonstrating over perceive injustice, the board members and the directors are at one another’s throat.

But all these came to a head with last week’s dissolution of the NDDC board.

The dissolution was the culmination of allegations of financial impropriety, forgery and subversion of due process, recklessness and disregard for both the NDDC Act and Public Procurement Act. Thelast straw that broke the camel’s back began shortly after the sacked board was inaugurated in 2009. Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso had resigned his membership of the Board in June 2010.

Genesis of the crisis What was basically an in-house crisis blew into the open when some board members petitioned the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, on the power tussle between the sacked Managing Director and Chief Executive (MD/CEO), Mr. Chibuzor Ugwoha and some board members over who should be saddled with the day-to-day running of the Commission.

While Ahmed raised a panel to look into the crisis, petitions were sent to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) over an alleged transfer of $20 million from the Commission’s account in the United Kingdom and award of contracts without following due process.

Ugwoha and other directors were invited by the anti-corruption agency for interrogation.

The petitioners had alleged that since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said funds in ailing banks were secured, Ugwoha had no justification to move the fund from Union Bank to First Bank. Besides, they stated that if his intentions were

genuine, he would not have withdrawn only $20 million and leave $58 million in the troubled Union Bank.

They also claimed that the account opened with United Kingdom (UK) branch of the First Bank by Ugwoha was a Current/Deposit Account and that no interest had accrued to the NDDC since it was opened.

The petitioners alleged that another $37million was transferred to the First Bank (UK) bringing the total transferred fund to $57 million.

The sacked managing director was also alleged to have awarded contracts without due process; failed to implement board decisions, interfered with the functions of state representatives, usurped the functions of the board, among others.

The Steve Oronsanye-committee was established with a mandate to investigate the current crisis, review the process and challenges facing the NDDC with a view to making recommendations to government on ways to address institutional weaknesses.

Though given two weeks to complete its work, it took the panel a month to finish its fact-finding and submit its report to the Federal Government.

Investigation showed that the panel faulted the managing director ‘s controversial transfer of $20 million from Union Bank, UK and the opening and lodgement of same in a current/deposit account with the First Bank (UK).

The Oronsanye panel also stated that the action was carried out after belated mandatory approval of the Accountant- General of the Federation (AGF) as required by the NDDC Act and Section 701 of the Federal Government Financial Regulations.

The approval of the AGF to open the said account was obtained in December 2010, three clear months after the account had been opened. The panel discovered that while $20 million was withdrawn from the ailing Union Bank, a sum of $58 million was left in the same.

The committee also discovered that no interest had been credited to the NDDC since September 2010, when the account was opened. The committee established that another $37 million was transferred to First Bank UK’s offshore account bringing the total of funds in the account to $57 million.

It found that over 500 contracts worth over N120 billion were awarded without budgetary provisions, in total disregard to the Public Procurement Act (PPA).

The findings of the Oronsanyeled committee sealed the fate of

•NDDC headquatres Port Harcourt

Goodluck Jonathan has vowed to do all within the ambit of ‘ President the law to sanitise and reverse the decay that had attended the Commission, which the Oronsanye Committee had described as acutely crisis-ridden

’

the Commission’s Board and its directors as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim said that the dissolution was in line with the report submitted by the Presidential Committee set up to look into the problems of the NDDC. In his endorsement of the NDDC Board dissolution, President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed to do all within the ambit of the law to sanitise and reverse the decay that had attended the Commission, which the Oronsanye Committee had described as “Acutely crisis-ridden.”

Beyond dissolution By dissolving the Board and sacking its top management team, President Jonathan has merely done what other Presidents (Obasanjo and the late Umaru Yar’Adua) before him did, treating the symptoms of a disease, instead of finding a lasting cure.

Past dissolutions had not served as deterrents to in-coming Board and management team.

The Sam Edem voodoo scandal When what seemed to be the most embarrassing scandal in the history of the commission, involving Ambassador Sam Edem and a fortune teller broke out, the late President Yar’Adua ordered the then InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro

and the EFCC to thoroughly investigate the matter. Edem was said to have paid N715 million to a sorcerer to perform some rituals that could keep him perpetually in office. Of the amount, N270 million was allegedly burnt at the Port Harcourt cemetery.

The soothsayer, Perekabowei Ogah, told the world that Edem paid a huge sum of money to him. Edem put the amount allegedly collected from him by the fraudster through the hypnotic spell at about N800 million.

Ogah claimed Edem contracted him to help destroy Mr. Timi Alaibe, the Managing Director of the NDDC and Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State as well as “work on the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan so that he can always obey him (Edem) and always support him if there is any plan to remove him from office’’.

The Presidency ordered investigation, prosecution has not yet started.

Restructure of the commission Apart from prosecution and punishing those found guilty, government must work out a clear line of authority to guard against a recurrence of the confusion that characterised the dissolved board.

Until its dissolution last week, the sacked team had, from inception in 2009, been enmeshed in power tus-

sle between the three executive cadres at the commission. The cadres were represented by Ugwoha as the managing director, Power Ziaked Aginighan as the executive director, finance and administration and Esoetok Etteh as the executive director, project.

The crisis was said to have started when Ugwoha decided to change the modality for signing and counter signing of cheques, a decision that did not go down well with Aginighan, who saw the development as an infringement on his powers.

The NDDC Act and the Public Procurement Act have also always been in conflict. The procurement Act overrides the NDDC Act. Before naming members of the new board and its management team, the government must also spell out the role of the board members and the management team to avoid boardroom politics as witnessed since inception.

According to the law establishing the Commission (NDDC Act, 2000) members of the board with exception of the managing director and the two executive directors are on part-time. While members of the board ought to be on part time, most members of the last board have offices at the Commission’s headquarters or in the states.

Unless these measures are put in place, it will still be business as usual as it has been in the last decade.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

3

NEWS

•Oronsanye submitting the report to Jonathan...

Thumbs up for Mr. President

N

IGER Delta leaders region appeared to have endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to sack the board and management team of the NDDC. Senator James Manager, who was chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, said: “The members of that board also knew that they were going to be dissolved because there was internal wrangling and mistrust. The distrust was right from the very beginning of that board.

Unfortunately for this erstwhile board, people didn’t allow peace and unity to reign. Several times, attempts were made when I was chair-

man to resolve whatever they saw as their problem and it all proved abortive.

“A very clear example is the case of the 2011 Budget. As chairman of the committee then, I warned in 2009 and 2010 that the budget is supposed to come few months to the end of the year preceding the proposed budget year, but you would see that as a result of the confusion in that board that the budget which is supposed to have come up in September 2010 is yet to come and this is September 2011, we are supposed to be expecting the budget for 2012. And that is one clear example of a people who were terribly disorganised.”

Senator Ita Enang also said after the dissolution: “The governors of the region should meet according to what the Act says. When we passed the Act, we knew that there would be situations where there could be disagreements at the board level. So, we made a role for an advisory body to be made up of the governors. All others have been meeting, but we have not heard of the governors and we are pleading with them to meet in accordance with Section 11 of the Act which gives them a role of advising. I am sure that if they had advised that it wouldn’t have come to this.”

They came, they saw, they fought

• Koinyan

• Ugwoha

• Etteh

A retired Air Vice Marshal, Larry Koinyan, was head of the Governing Board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) who hardly agreed with the Managing Director, Chibuzor Ugwoha. The former boss of the defunct Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure hails from Trofani, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. He was born on May 31, 1942 in Enugu, Enugu State. After his secondary education at Stella Maris College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State in 1962, Koinyan worked briefly with the Niger Delta Development Board before enlisting into the Nigeria Air Force, NAF, as an Officer Cadet in 1963.

Chibuzor Ugwoha was the Managing Director accused of being strongheaded and unbending. He had his background in oil and gas sector.

Born in 1964, Ugwoha attended the Erema Primary School in his native village. Secondary school education was at the Stella Marris College where he shone so well and made grades that qualified him for admission into the University of Port Harcourt. He graduated in 1988 with a second class upper degree in Urban and Regional Planning. He was posted to Katsina State for the mandatory national youth service.

Thereafter, he was admitted to study for a post-graduate degree programme in Urban Regional Planning.

An architect by training, Esotek Etteh was one of the two executive directors ever at loggerheads with Ugwoha.

He was born on September 1, 1946 at Ukpenekan, Ibeno Local Lovernment Area, Akwa Ibom State. After his primary school, he was admitted into the Methodist Boys High School, Oron, where he obtained his West African School Certificate, WASC, in 1965, and later GCE 'A Level from Federal School of Arts and Science, Lagos in 1968. He bagged his Bachelor of Science, B.Sc (Arch) degree from the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria in 1972, followed by a master's degree in the same discipline in 1974.

• Aginighan

An ordained pastor, Power Ziakede Aginighan was also an executive director who found it hard to agree with the managing director, who he believed was not acting in the commission’s interest.

He was born on January 9, 1959 at Ezebri Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, PZ, as he is fondly called by his admirers had his early education at Local Authority Primary School, Oge-Eze (1965 1970), Saint Vincent's College, Okwagbe (1971 - 1972) and Government College, Bomadi (1973 - 1975) .

He also holds the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy as well as a Masters in Business Administration.

4

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

NEWS

•Some of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) graduating cadets of 58 Regular Course in Kaduna ... at the weekend

Three killed in attack on Kaduna village

ICPC begins audit of ministries, agencies

T

HE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has started an audit of ministries and agencies of government as directed by President Goodluck Jonathan.

There were indications that some ex-ministers and heads of parastatals, who served under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua might be

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

recalled by the commission to make clarifications on the award of contracts.

Also, the acting Chairman of ICPC, Mr. Bako Abdullahi, urged Nigerians to support the anti-graft war of the Federal Government.

The ICPC said the audit of ministries would cover the period between 2007 and

2011.

The ICPC in a statement by the Resident Media Consultant Mr. Folu Olamiti, and Head, Public Enlightenment Department, Mr. Mike Sowe said: “Following the directive

by President Goodluck Jonathan for an audit of Ministries, Departments and Agencies from 2007 to date, the ICPC has completed a special training programme

for its operatives who have already started the exercise.

“The MDAs being investigated under the first phase include the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Commission for Colleges of Education, the University of Abuja , the Federal University of Technology Minna, the Education Trust Fund, and the National Universities Commission.

Continued on page 6

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

•Dr Jonathan

Presidential Tribunal summons Jega to give evidence in CPC’s petition

T

HE Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has summoned Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof.

Attahiru Jega to appear before it.

In a subpoena issued by the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Kumai Bayang Akaahs, Jega is to give evidence in the petition filed by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) whose candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is contesting President Goodluck Jonathan’s victory.

But the petitioner is finding it difficult to serve the sub-

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

poena on the INEC boss. It alleged that Jega is evading service to frustrate its petition.

In a motion brought pursuant to Order 6 Rule 5 and Order 56 Rule 1 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2009 and paragraph 48 (4) of the first schedule to Electoral Act 2010 as amended, the CPC is praying for an order to serve Jega by substituted means.

The party is urging the court to allow it serve Jega the subpoena by advertising it in

two national newspapers and pasting it on the notice board of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, where the tribunal is sitting.

Besides, it is seeking “an order deeming the substituted as having been duly effected upon proof of advertisement of the subpoena in the two national newspapers.

And such further orders as the court may deem fit and proper to make in the circumstances of the case”.

Although the motion filed

by James Ocholi (SAN) on behalf of the CPC was exparte, the tribunal on Saturday ordered the petitioner to

serve all respondents. It fixed the hearing for today.

In an affidavit in support of the motion ex-parte deposed to by Daisy Anagende, the party told the court that on September 15, a bailiff of the court, Abubakar Mohammed, attempted to effect personal service of the subpoena on the director in his office but he evaded service.

The party alleged that despite the fact that the bailiff introduced himself, he was denied entry.

CPC said: “On September 15 when Mr. Abubakar Moh’d, a bailiff of this court,

attempted to effect personal service of the subpoena on the 2nd respondent at his office located at INEC Headquarters, Maitama, Abuja, he was frustrated.

On 15th September 2011, when Mr. Abubakar Moh’d, a bailiff of this court, attempted to effect personal service of the subpoena on the 2nd respondent at his office located at INEC Headquarters, Maitama, Abuja, he (the bailiff), despite the fact that he introduced himself as the bailiff of this honourable court, was refused entry into the premises of INEC by agents of the 2nd respondent”.

Obasanjo condemns killing as suspect is unmasked Continued from page 1

key members of the group who are very close associates of Nur were facilitated by the late Babakura Fugu.

“Nur, who is wanted in connection with the recent bombing of the UN House in Abuja, believed that Babakura Fugu had entered into undue alliance with the government and benefiting financially.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “Security agencies are on the trail of the suspected killer (Mote).”

There are indications of a split within the Boko Haram.

The spiritual leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, is alleged to have condemned Fugu’s elimination.

The source added: “An enraged Shekau described the killing as immoral and further injustice on Fugu’s family, which has every right to seek redress on perceived persecution without recourse to the group”.

A security source said even as the search for Fugu’s killers continues, “we have been

SSS places N25m prize on Boko Haram suspect Nur

T

HE State Security Service (SSS) yesterday put a N25 million prize on Mamman Nur, who is wanted in connection with the August 26 bombing of the United Nations (UN) building in Abuja.

Twenty-three people, including 11 UN employees, were killed in the attack. Many others were wounded.

The SSS also made available Nur’s photograph.

The SSS declared Nur wanted shortly after the bombing but did not release his photograph, making it impossible for people to come up with any information on his whereabouts.

According to an SSS statement signed by Marilyn Ogar, the agency’s spokesperson, the N25 million cash will be given to anydirected to beef up security in Abuja, Borno, Bauchi and all Northern states, in the light Saturday’s development”.

The source said: “It is apparent that the Boko Haram members are really poised for a long-drawn confrontation with security agencies. The government has mandated these agencies to protect the sovereignty of this country.

“The Joint Task Force will be reinforced in Maiduguri,

From Gbade Ogunwale, Asst. Editor, Abuja

one with information that could lead directly to Nur’s arrest.

The SSS requested anyone with information concerning the suspect to contact the nearest police station, military formation or any other security agency.

The statement reads: “Attached herewith is a picture of Mamman Nur. He is still declared wanted. A reward of twenty five million naira (N25, 000, 000) is being offered for information that could lead directly to the apprehension or conviction of Mamman Nur. If you have any information concerning this person, please contact the nearest police station, military formation or any other security agency.”

until the Boko Haram sect is checked. Prior to Obasanjo’s visit, the JTF had succeeded in restoring peace to Maiduguri and most parts of Borno.”

Hours after a splinter group of the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad (J.A.S.L.J), aka Boko Haram was quoted on BBC radio as claiming responsibility for Fugu’s murder, another faction of the sect has denied responsibility

for the action.

The faction described Fugu’s death as “painful and unfortunate”.

The group spoke to reporters in Maiduguri through one of its top members, Abu Kaka.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has appealed to people of goodwill to eschew violence and follow “the path of justice, peace, unity and stability for the progress of

Nigeria”.

In a message of condolence to the family of the slain Babakura Fugu, in Maiduguri, Obasanjo said he received the news of Babakura’s killing while outside the country.

In the message, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Obasanjo said: “Babakura, who joined others to receive me in the demolished compound of his late father, was genuinely working for justice and peace.

“He should not be hated for that, let alone being killed.

“My condolence goes to his family.”

Obasanjo last week visited Maiduguri and Jos in a bid to find a lasting solution to the spate of violence in parts of the country.

“I appeal to all people of goodwill to eschew violence and follow the path of justice, peace, unity and stability for the progress of Nigeria. This is our commitment,” the former President said.

G

UNMEN yesterday attacked Ungwan Rana, Bitaro in Jabo Local Government Area of Kaduna, killing three persons. Many others were injured.

The attack came less than one month after gunmen attacked another southern Kaduna village, killing two people.

In Plateau State, attacks on villages within the last one month have resulted in the death of more than 100 people. In some cases, whole families were killed.

The police, after drafting its men to the surrounding bushes in search of attackers, said the attack was pure assassination. They ruled out robbery because the attackers did not take anything from the houses attacked.

Sources told our correspondent that the invaders, numbering about 15, came into the village at about 12 am and attacked three houses, killing three persons. The names of those killed were given as Istifanus Daniel, Monday Hassan and a woman, simply identified as Godiya.

Residents accused the police of failing to assist them. They said when they called the police in Kwoi, the headquarters of Jaba Local Government, policemen on duty claimed they could not take any action since their Divisional Police Officer (DPO) was not available.

The police confirmed the attack, but said they are yet to confirm the motive or those behind the attack.

Kaduna police spokesman Aminu Lawan said investigation had begun, adding that they could not confirm yet the motive of the attackers.

Youths took to the streets to protest the attack. But they were immediately called to order by the Chief of Jaba, Dr. Danladi Gyet Maude, who assured them of security of lives and property.

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

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

5

NEWS IBB pleads for security agencies

Jonathan off to New York From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will today, depart for New York, to participate in the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

A statement from the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity said Jonathan would participate in a HighLevel Meeting on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought, which will be hosted by the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, President Jonathan will deliver his statement to the General Assembly and confer with several world leaders on strengthening bilateral relations with other countries.

Besides attending a reception by President Barack Obama in New York, he is scheduled to meet with President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, President Sebastian Pinera of Chile and President Mahinda Rajapaska of Sri Lanka. He will also meet with President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, President Pal Schmitt of Hungary, President Mikhail Shaskashvili of Georgia, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Prime Minister Pedro Coelho of Portugal and Japan’s Prime Minister, Mr. Yoshihiko Noda.

President Jonathan returns to the country on Friday and will participate in a Roundtable on the Nigerian Economy being organised by the African Business Roundtable and Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

African leaders to discuss climate change in Lagos

By Miriam Ndikanwu

LAGOS State Government will host African leaders and environmentalists for a twoday deliberation on the impact of climate change.

The conference, tagged: Africa’s Mayoral conference, is expected to explore best initiatives and practices to address the climate change challenge.

Commissioner for Environment Mr. Tunji Bello, who addressed journalists on the development at the weekend, said the conference will provide a platform for local authorities in Africa to focus on climate change.

The event, to hold at the Eko Hotels and Suites, will kick off on Wednesday.

Bello said: “African policy makers must formulate policies that will help build capacities in building low carbon and climate resilient cities. It is time to swing to action and enough of rhetoric.

“You will agree with me that Africa needs to unite to make a strong voice; the evidence of climate change is real; it is so real in Africa that we can feel it in agriculture, wildlife, extreme weather conditions, coastal damage, drought, health risks and water scarcity.”

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

F

•Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi (centre) flanked by his deputy, Hon. Moses Alake Adeyemo (right) and Prof. Ademola Ariyo (left) at the opening of a three-day empowerment retreat for political appointees at IITA, Ibadan... on Friday.

ORMER military President Gen Ibrahim Babangida has said security agencies need public support to tackle crime effectively.

Babangida spoke to reporters at the weekend at the Benin Airport shortly after attending the funeral ceremony of his former deputy, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu in Idumebo-Irrua.

He said government must continue to support security agencies.

Babangida said: “I think we must all accept that security is the general responsibility of everybody. It includes you, it includes me, it includes the security agencies and what we need to do is to continue to support them, to continue to help them in whatever way we can so that they can function very well.”

House explains choice of committee chairmen C

ONCERNED about the cold reception that accompanied the announcement of standing committee chairmen last week, the leadership of the House of Representatives has told aggrieved members to ditch personal ambitions.

As it strategises on how to douse the tension following the announcement of the chairmen of the committees, the leadership of the House has pledged that it would not be a failure.

Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity Hon. Zakari Mohammed, who spoke at the weekend in Abuja, said the task before the leadership is to unite the House for the progress of the country.

He said: “I want us to look at it from the point of view of the fact that all these committee chairmanships and memberships constitute a call to duty. And that should be primary. We should see ourselves as very privileged because Nigerians have done us a favour.

“A favour in the sense that

From Dele Anofi, Abuja

we are privileged that of a population of about 150 million, 360 of us were chosen to represent Nigerians in the House of Representatives. So, any other position we find ourselves should spur us to greater responsibilities to our fatherland.

“The important issue is that the leadership is trying to make the House a family unit. And if you want to do that, it will not matter whether the man who is at the other side does not share certain opinion with you before your election.

“So, we want to bury party affiliations, groupings, and all other disuniting elements because those were the things that were the constraints of the past.

They relied heavily on party affiliations.

“And whether you like it or not, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) needs other parties to make things happen in this parliament,” he said.

“Certainly, we are going to address and we are addressing those things that made the sixth

House of Representatives fail.

And that is reflecting in all steps that we are taking as humanly as possible.

“And that is why rather than see ourselves as antagonists of other arms of government, we are constructively engaging them with Nigeria as the point of focus because all of us whether the Executive, the Judiciary or the Legislature, have Nigeria at heart.”

Saying that transparency would be the hallmark of the Seventh House, Mohammed assured that “we are going to be as open as possible. We are going to run a House that is transparent. There will be no voodoo here; no more “the more you look, the less you see”.

“We will place our challenges and our limitations on the table for Nigerians to see.

No matter how bad they seem, we will come out with them and let you know what our challenges are. We do not have all the solutions to our problems but with the co-operation of Nigerians, we will

definitely not miss our steps.

He threw light on the process that led t the composition of the standing committee chairmen, saying, “If you look at the processes that resulted in the constitution of the committees, you will find out that every member was carried along.

“There was a selection committee in which every state had a representative; members were given an opportunity to choose committees where they wanted to serve; ofcourse it is not possible to get all the committees you have chosen to serve.

“On the whole, I think one can say that the entire exercise was fair enough.”

According to the House spokesman, the cordiality that existed between the lawmakers irrespective of party affiliations before the recess was what the leadership of the lower chamber would not want jeopardised as a result of the outcome of the chairmanship tussle.

Mohammed said: “I want to rely on the fact that over a hun-

•Speaker Tambuwal

dred days ago when we came in as members of the green chamber, we have seen ourselves as members of a united force.

“We have been relating on the basis of people ready to put Nigeria first above every other considerations. Committee or no committee, I believe that the House of Representatives will definitely come back as one entity.”

“We want a departure from the past where sometimes a cobbler’s job is being given to a bricklayer. And within the limit of the resume of members that have been collected, I think we can say that we have gotten a pass mark in terms of placement of members in the committees.

“That is not to say that there won’t be disenchantment here and there but time will heal wounds.”

CNPP urges Jonathan to probe killing of Boko Haram leader

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HE Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate the killing of a Boko Haram leader, Babakura Alhaji Fugu.

Barely 72 hours after holding a peace meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Fugu, a brother-in-

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Port Harcourt

law of the slain Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf was killed by unidentified gunmen in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital last Saturday.

A statement signed by

CNPP National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu said: “Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) condemns in no uncertain terms the killing of Babakura Alhaji Fugu, by an unidentified gunman in Maiduguri Borno State on Saturday 17 September 2011; two days after a meet-

ing with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

“At the same instance, we call on President Goodluck Jonathan to as a matter of urgent national importance, set up a Public Inquiry to unravel the death of Babakura Alhaji Fugu, brother in-law to the late leader of Boko Haram, Yusuf Mohammed.

“We are making this call on the following grounds: Boko Haram had denied the killing; their antecedents indicate they don’t take prisoners; Babakura was about to grant interview to international media before his death; The issue of money is doubtful; as Chief Obasanjo is not a Bazaar man.”

Tinubu’s trial: ACN UK accuses Fed Govt of double standard

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HE United Kingdom chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), has accused the Federal Government of Nigeria of “unwarranted witchhunt” of the party’s leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

In a statement jointly signed by its Acting President and Secretary, Phillip Idaewor and Ibrahim Emokpaire, the group described the

move as an attempt to muzzle the ACN. The statement reads: “Part of the mandate of the Code of Conduct Tribunal is to ensure prompt declaration of assets of public officers. There are hundreds of public officers who have failed to declare their assets months after assuming public office, and yet the tribunal is mute on these, but very quick to act on a re-

tired public officer who left office over four years ago.

“Would this be a coincidence that Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu is a national leader of the official opposition party to the PDP that is fast gaining ground and offering alternative to the PDP led government? This is more like a case of calling a dog a bad name to facilitate hanging it.

“All you needed to do be-

tween 1999 and 2007 to be in the bad books of the EFCC was to fall out with the erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“If the PDP and Mr President are truly serious about the war against corruption in Nigeria, let this government set the tone by empowering the true independence of all law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies. Let the Code

of Conduct Tribunal publish the names of all elected officers including the President stating the dates these officers declared their assets.

“In the 21st century, this capacity for record keeping is no longer rocket science. As the saying goes. He who comes into equity must come with clean hands. Can the PDP- led government truly do this?”

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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NEWS ‘No pressure over House Leader’s appointment’

Group calls for disbandment of Benue Appeal panel

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

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MEMBER of the House of Representatives, Faruk Lawan, has said there was no pressure on members to appoint Mulikat Akande-Adeola as the first female Majority Leader.

He said her appointment was based on merit, competence and understanding of the legislative process.

Lawan, who addressed reporters in Kano at the weekend, denied that members of the House were not coerced into appointing Adeola as Majority Leader.

The lawmaker, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Education, said the choice of Adeola was not to compensate her for losing to Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in the election of the Speaker but based on principles.

He said: “There was no form of pressure or intervention from any quarters to warrant the appointment of Mulikat.

She is competent and has a good understanding of the workings of the House. As such, we, the members of the House, are ready to work with her.”

On the alleged opposition by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to the election of Tambuwal, Lawan accused the former President of making utterances capable of overheating the polity and causing disaffection in the country.

He alleged that Obasanjo made several moves to oust Tambuwal, on the premise that the position of the Speaker was zoned to the Southwest by PDP. Farouk, who represents Bagwai Shanono Federal Constituency of Kano State, urged Obasanjo to “find a corner in the political arena and hide himself because he has no business interfering in House matters”.

He added: “Obasanjo sometimes makes statements that undermine the proceedings of the House and those statements clearly portray him as being politically irrelevant, despite his exalted position in the country.

“As an elder statesman, Obasanjo is expected to make utterances that would contribute to the growth of the country instead of making inciting statements.”

Farouk said the election of Tambuwal was unanimous by members.

He wondered why the former President is against the election of the Speaker.

Jos Muslims deny meeting with Obasanjo From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

THE Muslim community in Jos under the umbrella of Jama ‘atu Nasri Islam (JNI) Platea State chapter has denied holding any form of meeting with former president Olusegun Obasanjo as reported in the media.

In a statement in Jos, JNI Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Shuaibu, said: “Our attention has been drawn to a publication, captioned: ‘Obasanjo leads peace talk with Boko Haram’, in which it was reported that Obasanjo met with Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Plateau leaders in Jos.

B y Wale Adepoju

•Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi (left); former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr Christopher Kolade and former Minister for Health, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi at a dinner with captains of industries tagged: An Evening for Ekiti, in Lagos... at the weekend

ICPC begins audit of ministries, agencies Continued from page 4 “In order to accomplish a thorough and comprehensive exercise, the Commission has mapped out a system review template for an examination of the due process procedures adopted by MDAs in the award of contracts.

“This entails an inquiry into the budgetary provision, advertisement of tender and composition of the tenders board as well as the tender analysis and selection of bidders.

“ICPC operatives will also establish the approval limit and the appropriation act for each MDA, and study the actual expenditure.

“The legal status of contractors and ownership of companies will be investigated, as well as evidence of payment of tax and audited accounts of companies.

“The Commission is

particularly concerned with contracts awarded over and above the benchmark and others awarded without cash backing. The authority to incur expenditure (AIE) and the enabling act of each MDA as it relates to internally generated revenue (IGR) will be scrutinized.

“The Commission’s operatives will look out for cases of multiple award of contracts to a single company, insider trading and abandoned projects. They are to examine all project monitoring and evaluation reports, the Completion certificates and carry out physical inspection of projects executed.

“Furthermore, the contract agreements of each MDA will be inspected while all contract documents are to be traced to their origin.

“At the end of the exercise the Commission will forward its findings to the President; and will prosecute

any Chief Executive Officer that breaches the ICPC Act.” A top source in the commission, who spoke in confidence, said: “Where necessary, we may invite some former Ministers and heads of parastatals who served under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and when the President was in an acting capacity.

“The audit is not a punitive one but it is aimed at ascertaining how public funds were spent under the specified period.

“At the right time, the list of those to be invited will be released to the public.”

The ICPC boss called on committed and patriotic Nigerians to brace up in support of anti- corruption agencies in their fight against corruption.

He spoke in Ilorin at the inauguration of the Kwara State chapter of the National Anti-Corruption Volunteer Corps (NAVC) over the

weekend.

Speaking through Olamiti who is the NAVC National Coordinator Bako said: “It is evident that the destructive effects of corrupt practices have been of unlimited proportion and dimensions, which portend eminent danger to both social and national security.

“The act of terrorism, arson attack on individuals, youth restiveness and related crimes are the negative spill over effects of corruption.”

Barrister Bako said Nigerians should put a lie to the United States Intelligence Report that identified “perverse corruption” as one of the factors that could lead Nigeria to a failed state in 2015.

Nigerians, he said must also correct the impression in another report that adjudged 76 countries as weak and failing, of which Nigeria was ranked 54th.

A GROUP, Campaign Against Corruption in the Judiciary (CACJ), has urged Acting President of the Court of Appeal Justice Dalhatu Adamu to disqualify the Justice Mohammed Tsmiyu– led Appeal Panel from hearing Governor Gabriel Suswam’s appeal in the Benue election petition case.

Suswam’s election is being challenged by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate Prof. Steve Ugba.

In a statement, the group said the panel’s mind is made up to dismissing all petitions against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The group said the judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Markurdi delivered on September 16 is contradictory.

“In a surprising move, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain the motion ex parte by which the petitioner commenced the prehearing session and therefore, set aside the order of the Tribunal commencing the said pre-hearing session for failure of the petitioner to obtain leave.

“The effect of this decision is that the prehearing session having been commenced without leave, has been rendered null and void as failure to apply for pre-hearing session by a petitioner renders the petition a nullity,” the statement said.

Kogi: Aspirant dangles N1m cash before each delegate D

ESPERATE to win the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship primary in Kogi State on Thursday, one of the aspirants has promised each of the 1,400 delegates a cash of N1million and a Golf car to wit.

But a group, Kogi Youth Vanguard for Democracy, has asked security and anticorruption agencies to investigate the said aspirant.

The group, in a statement alleged that the aspirant unfolded the largesse at a meeting in Lokoja with some PDP stakeholders on Saturday The group, in the statement signed by its President, Mr. Adinoyi Idris Abdulrahman, asked security and anti-graft agencies to look into a case of money laundering against the said aspirant.

The group offered to make the name of the aspirant available to these agencies if invited to do so.

The petition said: “We are a youth group known for the promotion of true and enduring democracy as well as a quality democratic culture in Kogi State . As such, we have

•Youths petition security, anti-graft agencies

PDP screens seven for polls

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HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will on Sunday begin the process of picking its candidate for the December 3 governorship election in Kogi State.

Dr Sumaila Sambawa, chairman of a fiveman panel set up by the National Working Committee of the party to conduct the congress, told reporters in Lokoja at the weekend that the screening would take place in Lafia.

Sambawa,who spoke shortly after monitoring the congress for the election of delegates, said the choice of Lafia for the exercise was part of efforts to ensure a level-playing filed for the seven aspirants.

The spirants are Alhaji Abdulrazak Kutepa, Alhaji Jibrin Isah, Dr Ojo Onukaba, From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

voluntarily and gratuitously saddled ourselves with the responsibility of monitoring the activities of political glad-

Dr Aaron Baba, retired Air Vice Marshall Saliu Atawodi, Alhaji Wada Idris and Chief Phillips Salawu, the incumbent deputy governor.

He, however, said that the governorship primary would come up in Lokoja on Thursday, and with be shown live on Nigeria Television Authority` (NTA) and African Independent Television (AIT) networks as part of efforts to ensure transparency.

The chairman also said that members of the panel had met with Governor Ibrahim Idris, the aspirants and other stakeholders to obtain their commitment to seeing the primaries as a family affair.

Other members of the election panel are Chief Tony Akachukwu, Chief Iboro Edaba, Chief Bola Orolugbagbe and Alhaji Ladi Hassan.

iators and in particular, aspirants to various political offices in Kogi State with a view to ensuring that treasured and time-tested political culture and tradition are not

abused and or trampled upon.

“Information reaching us from very reliable, authentic and dependable sources have confirmed that a gubernato-

rial aspirant on the platform of the PDP in Kogi State has concluded arrangements to corruptly and criminally influence the outcome of the Party primaries slated for the 22nd September, 2011 with a strong promise to buy for each delegate, a “GOLF 4” car and a cash gift of N1million each.

“He has vowed very seriously that the promise is not political but for real. It must be stressed that there are over 1000 delegates for the scheduled party primaries.

“To our mind, this is a criminal display and or use of wealth which must attract the attention of your commission.

“His source of wealth must necessarily and indeed imperatively come under your searchlight. This is to avoid cases of money laundering and such allied criminal amass of wealth.

“Our democracy must not be left to the whims and caprices of criminally amassed wealth. We urge you to intervene immediately,’’ the group added.”

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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NEWS Jos crisis: NEMA compiles victims’ names

Ajimobi gets commissioners’ plans

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From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

S the three-day retreat for political office holders in Oyo State ended in Ibadan, the state capital, yesterday, commissioners have submitted their four-year action plans to Governor Abiola Ajimobi.

The governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Dr Festus Adedayo, said the commissioners received key performance indices during the retreat, to help them focus on what is expected of them.

The retreat opened at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on Friday and was rounded off yesterday.

Ajimobi restated his commitment to the task of restoring, reforming and repositioning the state, saying it was a battle he was set to win.

The governor urged political appointees to key into his vision for the state so that at the end of his tenure, they would have succeeded in transforming and repositioning Oyo. At a dinner at the retreat, eminent industrialist, Chief Kola Daisi, lamented the state of affairs in the State before Ajimobi came to power, noting that it was imperative for his administration to embark on a restoration agenda because he had inherited a state that had little or nothing on ground.

He acknowledged that the task before the governor was Herculean because he has a lot of issues to contend with to transform and reposition the state.

Daisi noted that when Ajimobi became governor, some of the challenges he inherited began to show.

Among them, he said, were the acts of lawlessness by members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the agitation for minimum wage by the workers.

He expressed confidence in Ajimobi’s ability and the quality of his aides to accomplish the target.

Eminent scholars delivered a number of papers during the retreat.

They took the appointees through theoretical processes of achieving the transformation agenda of the Ajimobi administration.

Prof. Alex Gboyega, renowned Public Administration scholar, delivered a paper on: Meaning, Purpose and Dimensions of Governance Under Democracy while Prof. Ademola Ariyo and Dr. Abiodun Folawewo, both of the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan (UI), spoke extensively on Planning and Budgeting for Effective Transformation of Oyo State.

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•Adamawa State Finance Commissioner Daniel Kiri flanked by his counterparts, Dr Wale Bolorunduro (Osun) (left) and Bassey Albert Akpan (Akwa Ibom) during the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja...at the weekend.

PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE

Community leaders back Ikuforiji

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OTABLE leaders from Epe Division of Lagos State, the birth place of the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, at the weekend expressed solidarity with him over the allegation of N7 billion fraud against him.

The leaders, under the aegis of Epe Division Leadership Forum, led by its President, Alhaji Shakiru Akanni Seriki, urged Ikuforiji not to be distracted by the “frivolous and wild allegation” against him.

Seriki assured the Speaker of the forum’s support, saying: “You are our son; you have performed creditably well since your assumption of office as the Speaker of Lagos State

•Speaker: Rumour peddlers are envious

By Oziegbe Okoeki

House of Assembly in December, 2005. We, members of Epe Division Leadership Forum, from the place of your birth, are very proud of your marvelous achievements.

“It is public knowledge, for instance, that our dear state has been receiving commendations from far and wide for showcasing best practices in governance.

“While Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) remains the best governor today, as attested to by the people and even by members of the opposition nationwide, the same kudos is logically shared by the La-

gos State House of Assembly.”

He said the laws that paved the way for the massive infrastructural transformation of the state under Fashola were backed by the Assembly under Ikuforiji’s leadership.

Seriki said: “The recent malicious and wild allegation of N7 billion fraud by a faceless group is a frivolous petition that can never fly.

So, our advice to you is that you should remain focused and refuse to be distracted.

We are sure that the Almighty God will vindicate you because you remain without blemish.

“Let us also assert here

that (by 2015) it is Epe’s turn and we know that what members of the faceless group are trying to do is to distract you from our ultimate goal. But we know that they will fail woefully by the grace of God.” Ikuforiji said he was elated by the support.

He described those behind the petition as “political detractors” who were “gunning for the soul of Lagos State”.

The Speaker said: “I’m very conscious of my position, integrity and origin”, adding that he never made the issue of “amassing wealth the central focus of

Oyo police chief for contempt trial Oct 7

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N Oyo State High Court in Ibadan has fixed October 7 for the commencement of the trial of Police Commissioner Moses Onireti and two other senior officers of the police command for alleged contempt of court.

Cited with Onireti are: Taiwo Suraju Yusuff, Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Eleyele Divisional Headquarters, Ibadan; and Romanus Ossai, now of the Area Command Office, Iwo Road Area Command, Ibadan.

The trial, earlier scheduled to begin on September 15, was postponed following the non-service of court processes on Ossai, after his recent redeployment as Di-

By Eric Ikhilae

visional Crime Officer (DCO) at the State Command, Eleyele.

The committal proceeding followed a motion on notice brought pursuant to Order 9, Rule 13 of Judgment (Enforcement) Procedure Rules 2000, by a businessman, Engr.

Abayomi Badmus and his company, King of Glory Limited (KGL). They are praying the court for an order committing the CP, Yusuff and Ossai to prison for refusing to obey an earlier order by the court.

The contempt proceeding arose from the alleged contemnors’ refusal to obey the order made on June 1 by Justice F. I. Oyelaran of Court 9, Oyo State High Court, directing the CP, Yusuff and Ossai

to release unconditionally, “The Ford Engine Rig” they allegedly impounded unlawfully at the Eleyele Divisional Police Station.

Justice Oyelaran’s order was made upon an interlocutory application by Badmus and his company, accusing the three police officers of unlawfully detaining their borehole drilling equipment – the Ford Engine Rig. They accused the police personnel of acting at the instance of of Olusegun Adegboye, the Director, State Security Service (SSS), Osun State.

By Justice Oyelaran’s order, the Oyo Police Command was to release the confiscated drilling equipment to the owners pending the determination of the suit

against Adegboye, his wife, Agnes and the named Police personnel.

The suit filed by Badmus and his company, KGL, is seeking among others, an N11 million compensation from the defendants, for alleged damages, unlawful detention and breach of contract between the plaintiffs and Adegboye.

The plaintiffs are also praying the court to restrain the CP, Yusuff and Ossai and their agents from further arresting, incarcerating, intimidating and harassing them over a purely civil matter.

They urged the court to declare their earlier detention as unconstitutional, and compel Adegboye to pay the N450,000 being the agreed sum for the borehole.

HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in collaboration with the Plateau State Emergency Agency, has started the compilation of names of victims of the crises in the state and those of their families with a view to assisting them.

NEMA DirectorGeneral, Alhaji Muhammed Sani-Sidi, dropped the hint yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said the compilation was in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive that the agency should provide immediate relief materials to victims of the crises in the state.

He said NEMA had activated its contingency strategy to meet the challenges of the presidential directive.

Sani-Sidi added that NEMA employees in its Abuja had been directed to join their counterparts in Plateau to ensure “massive and elaborate intervention” where every victim would be catered for.

He said: “We are very much ready because we have activated our contingency strategy.

We already have in place a zonal office in Jos, which covers the North Central zone.

“We have a very big warehouse where we have all our relief items in Plateau. We have our men there too. I have directed that our workers in the Abuja operations office should join their colleagues in the Jos zonal office so that we have a massive and elaborate intervention.

“We have a presidential directive, I will make sure that each displaced person is being catered for.”

The NEMA chief said the agency was partnering the Red Cross, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other stakeholders in the Jos crises to ensure smooth provision of relief materials to the victims.

Sani-Sidi, who visited some victims of the crises at the Jos Teaching Hospital on Saturday, promised that the Federal Government would settle their hospital bills.

Ilorin NBA to protest Salami’s suspension today From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

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EMBERS of the Ilorin branch of the Nigerian Bar Asso-

ciation (NBA) will today begin the boycott of court and tribunal proceedings to protest the suspension of Justice Isa Ayo Salami as President of Court of Appeal.

Proceedings at the election petition tribunals in Kwara State may suffer a temporary setback as a re-

sult.

The NBA took the decision at its meeting last week after it reviewed the circumstances of the suspension by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the replacement of Salami with an Acting President of the court by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Though not all lawyers appearing for clients at the

tribunal are from the Ilorin branch, most of them are.

The lawyers, besides the boycott, plan to stage a procession to the Government House on Ahmadu Bello Way as part of the protest.

In a notice to its members, the NBA said: “In line with the resolution of the branch at the general meeting, the court boycott will take place on September 19. We

are to converge at the Bar centre at 9am for procession to the Government House. Please, there must be total boycott of all courts and tribunal.”

The association said it is staging the protest after the Lagos and Ikeja branches, Lagos State, made similar protests about a week ago where they demanded the reinstatement of Salami.

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

NEWS NUC okays facilities at Afe Babalola varsity

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HE School of Medicine and Health Sciences, as well as Geology, may soon take off at the Afe Babalola University in Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), the Ekiti State capital.

Members of the National Universities Commission (NUC) team, who were on a two-day visit to inspect facilities at the varsity, were impressed by the school’s rate of development.

The team, led by Dr. Modupe Adeniran, also inspected facilities at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Ido-Ekiti. It signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the hospital in respect of medical programmes at ABUAD. Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, said: “What we saw in ABUAD was surprising. Even the Federal Government could not have done better within this short period of the university’s existence.”

Prof. Ozumba spoke at the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, when the team visited the monarch.

Oba Adejugbe said he was happy that the facilities at ABUAD met the require-

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado Ekiti

ments of the commission, adding that the founder of the university, Aare Afe Babalola, is determined to develop education in the state.

He said: “Anything Babalola does is always the best. His farm is one of the best. He is hardworking and unassuming. He is not just a lover of the environment, but also a lover of quality education.

“ABUAD is about the best in the whole of Africa. The rate of development is a miracle. I know you will give us the certificate and would not regret it. The Federal Medical Centre has also assisted the institution. By the time you come in the next five years, we would have our own hospital at ABUAD.” The monarch urged people to emulate Babalola and contribute their quota to the country’s development.

He said: “We want more Afes in this country. Those God has blessed should help this country, especially in providing jobs for the youths. Annually, we produce more graduates, but no one is talking about where they would work. This is a challenge to us all.”

Ibadan cholera death toll hits 18

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IVE persons have been killed by cholera in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, bringing the death toll to 18.

In the last two weeks, the disease has been ravaging some parts of the city, especially Ido Local Government Area.

At Bakatari community in Ido council, a five-yearold boy was killed by the

Council boss: control measures are in place

From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

disease last Saturday.

The boy died at Oluwatoyin Maternity and Clinic, where he was on admission.

The deceased’s younger brother is also on admission at Lafia Hospital, Ap-

ata.

Four others reportedly died at the Cholera Unit of Jericho Nursing Home and the University College Hospital (UCH), where scores of cholera patients are admitted.

A health worker at the UCH Cholera Unit, who

Osun has improved, says NIPR

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SUN State has witnessed unprecedented development in the last nine months, the state chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), has said.

NIPR Chairman Mr. Gbenga Ojo spoke when delegates of the institute visited Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the Governor’s Office in Osogbo, the state capital.

Ojo said: “Aside from the public relations principles you have employed since your emergence as governor, we have been overwhelmed by the deluge of innovations and economic emancipation techniques that you have introduced, such as, O’YES; O’REAP, O’CLEAN and O’TOUR. This has further confirmed that you are really Omoluabi personified.”

Ojo said the state now wears a new look.

He praised the governor for creating the Bureau of Communications and Strategy, saying it has lifted Osun ahead of its peers in Information Communication Technology.

Ojo said the Bureau has been informing and educating the public on the programmes and policies of the administration.

Aregbesola said his administration has succeeded in reversing the negative image of the state, and focused the world’s attention on the virtues, history, enterprise and industry of Osun people.

He said he would explore all avenues to generate fund for capital projects.

The NIPR delegation said Aregbesola would receive an award from the national office of the institute before the year ends.

No going back on transformation, says Ajimobi

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YO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has reiterated his determination to reposition the state.

Ajimobi spoke yesterday at the end of a three-day retreat organised for political appointees in the state.

He urged the appointees to work in line with his vision to develop the state.

At a dinner organised earlier, eminent industrialist, Chief Kola Daisi, lamented the deplorable state of things in Oyo, which was inherited by the Ajimobi-led administration.

Daisi said the task before the governor is huge and urged political appointees to support Ajimobi in making a change.

The retreat featured paper presentations by scholars.

A Public Administration scholar, Prof. Alex Gboyega, spoke on the “Meaning, Pur-

•Ajimobi

pose and Dimensions of Governance in a Democracy,” while Prof. Ademola Ariyo and Dr. Abiodun Folawewo, both of the Department of Economics at the University of Ibadan, spoke on “Planning and Budgeting for Effective Transformation of the state.”

Every commissioner in the state was required to submit a four-year action plan and they were given key performance indices to look out for.

•The Managing Director, United Development Bank of Nigeria (UDBN), Adekunle Oyinloye (left), and Aurecon General Manager, Emerging Regions, Pual Lombard; signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Aurecon Headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa.

pleaded anonymity, said two patients died at the weekend.

UCH Chief Information Officer Mr. Ayodeji Bobade said he was not sure if the deaths were from the cholera unit.

A source at Jericho Nursing Home confirmed the death of two cholera patients, a middle-aged woman and a little girl.

“The situation at Jericho Hospital needs the urgent attention of the state government. This is because the number of patients brought to our cholera unit daily is more than the available facility,” the source said.

Chairman of Ido Local Government Prof. Niyi Olowofela regretted that the disease is still claiming lives, despite measures taken by the state and local governments to curb it.

Olowofela said: “I am surprised that people are still dying. The control measures are still in place, including the distribution of essential drugs to both private and public health facilities.

“Environmental officers have been going round the local government, treating wells and educating people on the need to always keep their environment clean. I assure you that we are not going to rest until this disease is stamped out.”

New born baby set ablaze in Ibadan

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NEW born baby was set ablaze by unknown persons in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at the weekend.

The incident occurred at Lemomu Street in Ekotedo Iyaolobe. Ekotedo is home to many sex workers, with brothels scattered all over the place.

From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

Though the identity of the baby’s parents and perpetrators of the act are yet to be unmasked, Police spokesman Femi Okanlawon said two male suspects, who work at a hotel in the area, have been arrested.

There are suspicions that

the baby may have been born by a sex worker.

Okanlawon said the command has begun investigation and those behind the act would soon be apprehended.

He said: “Yes, a case of suspected murder is in our hands. Our men in Mokola were informed around 11 am on Saturday that a new born

baby was set ablaze by unknown persons at Lemomu Street in Ekotedo Iya Olobe area.

“We have arrested two men in connection with the incident. Investigation has begun into the criminal act and the people behind it would soon be tracked down.”

Our investment to yield dividend soon, says Fayemi

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KITI State Governor Kayode Fayemi has pledged to involve all indigenes in the programmes of his administration.

Fayemi spoke at a meeting with Ekiti indigenes resident in Lagos last Thursday.

He said the meeting would enable indigenes contribute to the state’s development.

Fayemi pledged to run an all-inclusive government, in which all the stakeholders would have their say in the affairs of their home state, irrespective of their social, religious and political backgrounds.

Fayemi restated his determination to develop the state.

He said: “The situation is bad, but not hopeless. We are determined to turn around the fortunes of our state for

‘The situation is bad, but not hopeless. We are determined to turn around the fortunes of our state for good and we plead for patience and understanding in meeting people’s expectations’ good and we plead for patience and understanding in meeting people’s expectations.

“Very soon, our robust investment will yield dividends. The state government, under my watch, will marshal all available resources to halt underdevelopment.”

The indigenes pledged their support for ongoing reforms by the Fayemi administration.

They praised the governor’s achievements, especially the creation of jobs for 2,500 youths through the State Volunteer Corps Scheme, Ado-Ekiti Urban Renewal Project, transformation of the Ikogosi Warm Spring, and inauguration of Social Security Scheme for the Aged.

The people also praised him for rehabilitating roads, reforming the education sector and raising the state’s Internally Generated Revenue

(IGR) from N100 million to over N300 monthly.

President of the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) and ex-Military Governor of the Old Western Region, MajorGeneral Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd.); ex-Ekiti State Governor Adeniyi Adebayo and former Health Minister Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi were at the meeting.

Also present were two former military administrators of Ogun State, Rear Admiral Oladeinde Joseph (rtd) and Commodore Kayode Olofinmoyin (rtd); a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ado-Ekiti (UNAD), Prof. Akin Oyebode; Access Bank Chairman Mr. Gbenga Oyebode and Arch. Dipo Ajayi.

Aregbesola promises good facilities in schools

O

SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday said the government would replace dilapidated structures in public schools with ultra-modern facilities.

In his message to pupils, who resumed school today, Aregbesola said the best infrastructure would be provided in the education sec-

tor.

In a statement by his media aide, Semiu Okanlawon, the governor said: “As our children return to school, we reiterate this administration’s determination to provide state of the art facilities for learning.

“These range from modern classrooms to modern

teaching aids, in line with what obtain in most advanced parts of the world.”

Aregbesola said before the year runs out, the sector would have witnessed noticeable transformation.

To raise the standard of education, he said the government has begun the training of teachers.

The governor said: “Such training will continue because our teachers must be up-to-date in their fields, while our investment in Information Technology will enable pupils learn through the most advanced aids.”

He urged teachers to rededicate themselves to their duties.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

9

NEWS Evening National Creed coming

I’m not dropping Odubu, says Oshiomhole

ALL is set for the release of Evening National Creed, an evening newspaper published by Slice and Dice Limited.

It will be published three times weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). The paper will be edited by Adebola Owolola.

In a statement, the publisher and Chairman, Sir Odafe Othihiwa, a former General Manager of Daily Times, said the Evening National Creed is in response to the yearnings of Nigerian evening news readers.

Othihiwa said the paper’s goal is to redefine the way evening news is gathered and disseminated.

Edo advises indigenes EDO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has urged Edo citizens in the diaspora to return home and invest in the economy.

The governor spoke at the 20th Anniversary of the Edo National Association in Florida, United States.

Oshiomhole said investors should take advantage of the state’s Public Private Partnership.

He commended investors like the Dangote Group, which agreed to set up a fertiliser plant, providing over 10,000 jobs.

“The Public Private Partnership initiative is to relate with people who want to identify with different businesses.

“We have got a lot of interactions with one or two persons who want to set up business in the state.”

The governor got the “Distinguished Visitor” award.

Ex-senator advises Jonathan From Shola O’Neil, Warri

A FORMER member representing Delta South , Mrs. Stella Omu, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to deal with security challenges in the country.

She said this when she was awarded “Personality that Inspires” by the Management of Exploit Magazine, at Mom Civic Centre, Warri, Delta State, at the weekend.

She said the security situation in the country demands a holistic approach that would involve all stakeholders.

The National President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, advised Nigerians to see themselves as one irrespective of their ethnic group, religion and political affiliations.

He described Mrs. Omu as a woman of honour, who has distinguished herself in the murky political waters of Nigeria.

From Osagie Otabor, Benin

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•Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva (right) congratulating Nathan Egba after his swearing in as Commissioner for Information, Strategy and Orientation at the Government House, Yenagoa

Anenih remains my friend, says Ogbemudia

F

ORMER Governor of the old MidWest and Bendel State Gen Samuel Ogbemudia (rtd) has said his quarrel with the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, is not personal but in the interest of Edo State.

Ogbemudia, who turned 79 on Saturday, was speaking on the state of the nation in Abuja.

He, however, maintained that Anenih remains his friend, despite their political differences.

The former governor said the menace of Boko Haram could only be solved through appropriate intelligence gathering and not the use of military

From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

might by the Federal Government.

He said: “The problem is not Ogbemudia or Anenih.

We have no personal differences. He remains my good friend.

“I am a PDP man and the purpose of politics is to win political power and use it for the benefit of the people.”

On how to tackle Boko Haram, Ogbemudia said: “At this stage, we have reached measures to be adopted by security agencies that can no longer be discussed publicly.

“This is entirely the responsibility of intelligence gathering and every Nigerian should see himself or

herself as an agent.

“There should be intensive publicity that will bring awareness to all Nigerians that a dangerous animal has entered the premises.

“It is the single most important challenge facing government and the people.

“Government alone can’t watch the streets; government can’t do it alone.

“Now that it is in its infancy, all hands must be on deck to effectively crack down on it. They should be on their guard.

“We do not have the infrastructure and facilities to deal with terrorism.

“Even the countries that do are still having problems coping with it. So we must help ourselves.”

He urged Nigerians to

support President Goodluck Jonathan to succeed in the overall interest of the country.

Ogbemudia urged the present administration to provide the basic needs of the people.

His words: “There are basic needs of man: security, shelter and mobility. Security covers every aspect of human endeavour, including food security, social security, economic security as well as security of lives and property.

“I always say a hungry nation is an angry nation and you cannot teach a hungry and angry nation the ideals of democracy. So, feed first thy country.”

Trinidad and Tobago to train ex-militants

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IGERIA has signed an agreement with Trinidad and Tobago to train some ex-militants.

The President’s Special Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Kingsley Kuku and the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner, Nyahuma Menthuhotep Obika, met at the weekend on how the trainees will be sent to Trinidad and Tobago after completing the orientation.

Kuku is expected to visit Trinidad and Tobago with service providers to see the facilities and institutions in that country.

Some 197 ex-militants will graduate as professional welders in

•197 graduate from Ghana Institute From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

Ghana on Thursday.

Kuku said the Federal Government was concerned about immediate placement for the beneficiaries.

He said: “As part of the contractual process what we do is that we contract you for training and for possible placement and engagement. ”We are not interested in those who just want to train and make money. If you know placement is possible for 50 people you deal with the 50 people, so that others

will not have any problem with you.

“We will visit Trinidad and Tobago to see for ourselves what we have there.

“All service providers ,which have shown interest in taking our people to Trinidad and Tobago, must show us their proposed locations; we inspect the facilities therein before we return.”

Kuku said of the 26,358 who accepted the amnesty, over 19,000 have been demobilised; 1,321 are undergoing various training both vocational and academic in United States, Russia, Poland, South Africa, among

others.

“On September 22, 197 trainees will be graduating with certified trade test qualifications as artisans-professional welders in Ghana.

“The Ghanaian government is graduating them, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Labour will be there and so would I to see our boys graduate.”

Obika said: "So I think your visit to Trinidad and Tobago will be very important to get a first hand view to see how we can both benefit from this experience.

The sooner you come the better".

He was accompanied by Dan Ayidu and Manoj Nazare of Elhanan Ventures.

Akwa Ibom ACN condemns court judgment

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Akwa Ibom State yesterday described last Thursday’s judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, as shocking.

The court dismissed the appeal on technical grounds The ACN, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Innocent Johnson, said the decision of the Appeal Court has nothing to do with the merit and substance of the complaints of ACN that the April

From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

26 governorship election was rigged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The party said it believes in the rule of law and the supremacy of truth over lies and falsehood, adding that it would await the decision of the Supreme Court on the verdicts.

The statement reads: “Despite the shocking and unbelievable judgments of the Akwa Ibom State Election Petition Tribunal and the

Court of Appeal, Calabar, we are confident that justice shall prevail in the Supreme Court "We have instructed our lawyers to appeal against the judgment.

“We appeal to our supporters, well wishers to remain calm and await the final statement of the position of the law in this matter from the Supreme Court.”

ACN, its governorship candidate , James Udoedehe and running mate Ime Umanah, had challenged the return of Governor

Godswill Akpabio by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Election Petition Tribunal, headed by Justice Adam Onum, had dismissed the petitioners' application for failure to seek the leave of the court in applying for pre-hearing session.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, the ACN filed appeal and raised six issues for the court's determination.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appellants' application on technical grounds.

DO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has reportedly asked those asking him to drop Deputy Governor Pius Odubu to provide 10 reasons why he should do so.

There has been pressure on Oshiomhole to pick Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a former Secretary to the State Government, as his running mate in next year’s governorship election.

Sources said some ACN leaders had met Oshiomhole, demanding that Odubu must be replaced ahead of the election.

Oshiomhole reportedly told the leaders that if they give him good evidence, he would have no option than to pick another running mate.

The source said Oshiomhole told the leaders that he has worked with Odubu for three years and is satisfied with his performance.

An ACN chieftain, Mrs. Evelyn Igbafe, said any move to replace Odubu as Oshiomhole’s running mate will fail.

Mrs. Igbafe said what the ACN need now is unity, adding that continuity must be maintained.

According to sources, others jostling to replace Odubu are Patrick Obahiagbon, popularly called Igodomigodo, Ehigie Agbonayinma, Charles Idahosa, and Henry Idahagbon.

•Oshiomhole

‘Create jobs in our state’

By Kelvin Osa- Okunbor

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KWA Ibom State Deputy Governor Nsima Ekere has called on foreign companies to invest and create jobs in the state.

He spoke yesterday at the inauguration of the corporate headquarters of a Canadianbased Information Technology and Security Engineering Company, Introserve Technologies Limited in Uyo, the state capital.

The Deputy Governor, accompanied by the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner, Jean Gauthier, commended the company for employing Akwa Ibom youths.

“Government is impressed with this kind of thing and we are looking forward to more private enterprises like this to partner with the state,” Ekere said.

Gauthier said the High Commission visited Akwa Ibom State to explore possible areas of cooperation with a view to “promoting the services of Canadian companies that are operating in the state.”

Introserve Technologies is handling communications, Information Technology Networking, Fibre Optic infrastructure and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Engineering Infrastructure at the Akwa Ibom International Airport.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

10

NEWS Ocholi gets Kogi CPC ticket From Mohammed Bashir, Lokoja

THE Kogi State Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) at the weekend elected James Eneojo Ocholi its governorship candidate.

He defeated other aspirants by a wide margin, polling 956 votes against his closest opponent, Alhaji Lamidi Itopa, with 26 votes; and Alhaji Idris Mai Yanga, eight votes.

Accepting the result of the primary, Ocholi thanked the party and its supporters for finding him worthy.

He said his mission is to industrialise the state and make it a tourism haven, if voted into power.

PDP’s 100 days in Kwara wasted, says ACN

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Kwara State has described the 100 days in office of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a complete failure.

The party said the Abdulfatah Ahmed-led administration is anti-progress, like its predecessor.

Addressing reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, ACN Chairman Kayode Olawepo said: “This makes the future hazier for our people and our dear state. But we promise our people that this misrule and poor governance will soon be over, by God’s grace, and Kwara shall fulfill its promise. In the meantime, our party stands ready to

PUBLIC NOTICE ROYAL ROCK LIBERATION ASSEMBLY This is to inform the general public that the above named church has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission Abuja for the registration under part “C” of the companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Bro. Mike Enyioma 2.

Bro. Green Onyinyechi 3.

Engr. Ikenna Okosisioma Ugorji 4.

Bro. Albert Nwaogu 5.

Bro. Uchechi Onyebinanma 6.

Pastor Ifeanyi Mezue AIMS/OBJECTIVES: 1.

To preach and spread the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to all nations.

2. To preach, teach and propagate the Word of God through electronic and print media and distribute magazine, pamphlets to all mankind, etc.

Any objection should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, PMB 198 Garki Abuja, within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: ENYINNAYA D. ONYEGBU ESQ.

PUBLIC NOTICE GOD’S POCCESSION CUSTODIAN MINISTRY The general public is hereby notified that the above named Ministry has applied to Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja for registration under “PART C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No.1 of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Engr. Adewale Adegbayi 2.

Mrs. Adegbayi Oluwafunmi 3.

Asp Adegbayi Amos 4.

Rev. Oluwarotimi Babatola Thomas 5.

Mr. Ameh Attabo 6.

Mr. Sunday Idowu AIMS & OBJECTIVES 1.

To assist in total evangelism programme of God’s word.

2.

To assist in Christian camping and seminars.

3.

To help in mission support in all its ramifications.

Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the RegistrarGeneral, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi lronsi Street, Maitama Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

FRIDAY NNANA UDOM, ESQ. SOLICITORI NOTARY PUBLIC 08023015842 fnudom@yah.oo.com

•’Opposition is shocked by our achievements’ From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

speak the minds and champion the cause of the people now and always.

“Over the last 100 days, we have seen a continuation of capital flight and consistent disregard for transparency that characterised the Bukola Saraki administration (2003-2011), especially in the area of award of contracts and misappropriation of public funds. Nearly all the projects being celebrated as this administration’s achievements fall in this category.

“In the past three months under consideration, Kwara alone has collected from the Federal Allocation in the excess of N16billion! Nobody knows exactly how much Kwara generates as internal revenue but a clearly doctored data on the government website says at least N500million is being generated monthly. There has been nothing to show for these huge sums.

“Presently being celebrated as ‘sterling’ achievements of this administration are: 72 hand pump boreholes (still questionable though); renovation of the School for the Handicapped;

renovation of the Shariah Court; painting of the Secretary to the State Government’s Office; partial patching of potholes; renovation of a nursing school in Oke Ode; a purported water dam in Pepele (which we dare say is not the project of this administration – so why claim credit for what is not yours?); controversial payment of the minimum wage; and yet-to-be employed 2,000 youths.

“Before going into whether these projects were indeed financed by the state government, we ask: what is the value of these projects in relation to the whopping N16billion taken from the Federation Account between May and July?

“As at September 12, only four were ready for commissioning. We challenge this administration to tell the public how many of these boreholes are located in each local government of the state. As a matter of fact, of the three boreholes purportedly sunk in Pategi Local Government, only one is working. This is the observable trend across the state.

“Worst still, we are aware that these borehole projects are

being financed from the local government fund! The classrooms purportedly built by this administration, we are aware, are also being financed from the local government fund. Where then have the billions of state allocation gone to? Why will an ex-governor attend meetings where state and local government allocations are being discussed? For how long are we going to endure this?

“This administration has also continued with the legacy of criminal neglect of the critical sectors, such as health and education with dire consequences for our people. As we address this press briefing, Kwara has less than eight consultants. Despite having the worst medical record in the whole of North Central, today Kwara is the only state in Nigeria that feels the only way forward for the health ministry is for it to be headed by somebody with no background in healthcare delivery.

“While our people struggle to send their wards to school and whereas the Kwara State University (KWASU) remains

a no-go-area for an average person in the society, the only thing the PDP administration found expedient was to commit taxpayers’ money to sponsor 500 (strictly) PDP henchmen and loyalists to Saudi Arabia for Umrah. Apart from these 500 people sent from the state level, 35 persons each from the 16 local government areas were also sent to Umrah with public fund.

That leaves us wondering whether this government is not at odd with the common trend in governance.

“It is on record that while the new ACN governments in Oyo, Ogun and Osun, on assumption of office embarked on downward review of tuition fee in their tertiary institutions, the PDP administration in Kwara has turned a deaf ear to the cries of our people and students of KWASU where the least tuition fee is in the region of N200, 000 per session.”

Through its Publicity Secretary Mas’ud Adebimpe, PDP said: “ACN is clearly shocked by the accomplishments of the PDP government within the first 100 days in office and is grasping at straws in a fruitless attempt to gain political relevance.”

Kogi governorship aspirant denies GOVERNORSHIP aspirant in Kogi State on failed contract allegation the ticket of the Peo-

A

ples Democratic Party (PDP), Captain Idris Wada, yesterday denied an allegation that his company abandoned a road contract after being paid.

He dismissed the allegation as the handiwork of his political enemies.

Wada spoke in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, during the screening of aspirants for the Kogi State governorship primary.

He said: “The mudslinging has kept decent people out of politics. But the exigencies of the time have made my entry inevitable because those who genuinely appreciate good service delivery for our state far outnumber the few opportunists that are averse to positive change.”

•‘Idris never dumped Echocho’

From Johnny Danjuma, Lafia

Governor Ibrahim Idris has reportedly endorsed the candidature of former Afribank Executive Director, Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho.

Idris was said to have dumped Wada, said to be his in-law and business partner, to back Echocho after pressure from family and top government officials.

But the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mallam Adamu Zakari, said there was no time the governor dumped Echocho.

He noted that since Echocho emerged winner in the last PDP

primary, he remains a strong contender in the coming primary.

“Echocho was never in any occasion pushed aside by the governor as he remains a strong contender in the race. I can’t imagine people spreading the rumour that the governor dumped him. After all, governorship aspirants in the party always have the support of the governor,” Zakari said.

The alleged endorsement, The Nation gathered, was not unconnected with the surprise visit of Senate President David Mark to the Government House on Thursday.

Mark had landed in Lokoja,

•Idris

the state capital, in an Air Force helicopter and was conveyed to the Government House.

A source, who spoke in confidence, told The Nation that Mark’s visit was to compel Idris to stop his support for aspirant other than Echocho.

The governor was reported to have recently backed Captain Idris Wada, who is said to be his in-law and business partner.

Benue Assembly workers plan strike over unpaid allowances

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ORKERS of the Benue State House of Assembly have issued a seven-day ultimatum to the leadership of the Assembly to pay their backlog of allowances or face an indefinite strike.

The workers are said to be owed about N63million.

It was gathered that Governor Gabriel Suswam had directed the Commissioner for Finance Omadachi Oklobia and Accountant-General Benedict Ikyernum to pay the workers, but the directive was reportedly ignored.

The national secretariat of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) issued the seven-day ultimatum to the Speaker of the Assembly.

A letter at the weekend by PASAN’s Acting General-Secretary, Ololade Oyeyipo, expressed displeasure over the non-payment of the allowances.

It said the new ultimatum followed an earlier 14-day demand that was ignored.

The letter reads: “PASAN is claiming that the Finance

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

Commissioner and the Accountant-General are reluctant in releasing funds for the payment of the outfit allowances owed staff of the Assembly, as investigations indicate that Suswam gave the approval since July 1.

“We hope that the leader-

ship of the House would get the Commissioner of Finance and the Accountant–General to make full payment as aforementioned in the previous correspondences on the matter.

“Speaker, it is important to point out clearly and empathically at this juncture that failure to pay the arrears of the

outfit allowance to staff of the Benue State House of Assembly within these seven days, which PASAN has given as a period of grace as well as final notice. The National Executive Council of our association will view this as an invitation to lead staff of the Benue Assembly on an indefinite strike.”

Yobe workers suspend strike

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HE Yobe State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the weekend suspended its strike to reopen negotiation with the government.

Its Chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Lawan, told reporters that both parties would resume negotiation tomorrow.

He, however, warned that the strike would resume if both sides are unable to reach an agreement.

The decision to suspend the strike, Lawan said, is in line with labour laws which do not allow negotiation in the course of a strike.

The state NLC chapter and the government have in the

•To resume negotiation with govt From Duku Joel, Damaturu

past four days been at loggerheads over the N18,000 new minimum wage passed into law by the Senate and signed

by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Governor Ibrahim Gaidam had offered N364 million but labour insisted that the new salary should be fully implemented with N500 million.

Lawan was accompanied by the Yobe Head of Civil Service, Dauda Yahaya; representative of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and other government officials.

He said Labour was maintaining its position on the implementation of the new salary.

“We are not going to collect anything else from the government when the negotiation re-opens,” Lawan said.

Yahaya, on behalf of the government, has signed an agreement for the suspension of strike by tertiary institutions in the state.

The institutions have been on strike for about a year.

Yahaya said no workers would be victimized for participating in the strike.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

Vision 20:2020 as it stands today is in a great danger. However, 2011 would determine whether we would start the journey. All the sectors of the economy are in a bad state.

We need to make up for the loss time and further accelerate our journey.

-Mr Emmanuel Ijewere, former ICAN President

DPR to sanction fraudulent oil marketers

CBN revises microfinance policy

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HE Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is to impose ‘heavy’ sanctions on any oil marketer found to be aiding and abetting smuggling of petroleum products outside the country.

The measure was announced in the quarterly journal of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

The Public Relations Officer of the DPR in the North-West region, Alhaji Mohammed Bulama said in the statement that the agency was partnering with security agencies to stop the activities of unpatriotic marketers.

“With the availability of the products in the country now, unscrupulous marketers are indulging in smuggling the products to neighbouring countries in order to make more profits thereby creating artificial scarcity at home,” he said.

He said the DPR had been working hard to ensure petrol tankers did not divert their product to neighbouring countries as such constitutes a big economic sabotage.

Bulama appealed to members of the public to report any marketer suspected of smuggling the product to security agencies for prompt action.

He restated the agency’s commitment to ensuring efficient service delivery in the down steam sector of the industry, adding that the DPR would continue to monitor and seal off any filling station selling the product above the Federal Government’s approved N65 per litre.

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

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

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

FOREX -

0.281 215.1 245.00 153.16 1.5652 243.2 40.57

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• From left: Regional Head, Enterprise Bank Limited, Mrs. Nkechi Nwazota; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ahmed Kuru; Chairman, Premier Lotto Limited, Sir Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu and the bank’s Executive Director, Mr Niyi Adebayo, during a courtesy visit by the bank’s CEO on Chief Adebutu in Ikeja, Lagos.

SEC to audit shareholder associations I N line with its efforts to sanitise the capital mar ket, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to start an audit of purported shareholder associations in the country.

The Nation gathered that this is intended to generate frameworks, operate guidelines and standards for their activities. It will also engender a saner dispensation in which compromised individuals, engaged in the championing of dubious interests, will no longer find shelter in phony shareholder associations.

In the envisaged order, according to sources close SEC, shareholder associations will be true representatives of investor clusters. The source also said the audit will also ensure success of the electronic system of dividend payment (e-dividend policy). “There has been deliberate misrepresentation of facts and blatant effort to misinform the public on e –

By Taofik Salako

dividend by beneficiaries of the old order in the capital market. These men, who are proxies of some, also hide under dubious shareholders associations to make uninformed and unguarded utterances on behalf of their principal,” the source said.

E-, which was inaugurated on February 28, 2008 in Abuja by the former Minister of Finance, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, refers to the payment of dividend due to shareholders through direct credit by electronic means into their nominated bank accounts. It implies same-day clearance for dividend payment following which registrars would send confirmation letters of the dividend payment to the respective shareholders.

The commission, it was

learnt, is taking these steps to stem the observed occurrences of market abuse, improve the efficiency of the capital market and enhancing the level of investors’ confidence. Also, the initiative would minimise cases of unclaimed dividends, eliminate dividend loss-in-transit and enhance shareholders’ ability to access and utilise their dividends immediately.

To ensure the success of the initiative, respective shareholders are expected to meet their implementation modalities, that is, issuers are to meet payment obligations immediately after declaration of dividends at Annual General Meetings (AGMs), registrars are to upgrade their ICT infrastructure while stockbrokers – and registrars – are to include shareholders’ data and informa-

tion on share transfer forms and banks are to authenticate shareholders’ signature.

The automated electronic funds transfer would be operated through the existing electronic payment platforms of the Nigerian Interbank settlement system to effect payment into shareholders’ bank accounts. In doing this, registrars are expected to issue notice to shareholders to inform them of dividend deposit into their respective bank accounts.

From the CSCS statistics, about 40 per cent of the investing public in the capital market have so far embraced the e-dividend introduced into the market on February 28, 2008. Forty per cent of the 4.5 million shareholders in the central depository system, according to the CSCS, represent about 1.8 million shareholders who have embraced the edividend system of payment.

States seek review of Land Use Act

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HE states are seeking a review of the 1978 Land Use Act to have easy access to land, a measure they argued, would encourage foreign Direct Investment.

This was one of the highpoints of the communiqué at the end of a two-day retreat organised by the Ministry of Trade and Investment for the 36 states commissioners of trade and investment in Abuja at the weekend, with the theme, Retreat for Creating Jobs, Generating Wealth and Enhancing Economic Growth.

According to the communiqué, the Land Use Act of 1978 vests the ownership of land on the governor.

This means that the governors are statutorily responsible for the allocation of land in their states while the Minister of the Federal Capi-

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja

tal Territory oversees the allocation of land in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

Participants stated that although there exists land registries in each state, there had been little effort on the part of the state governments to computerise the land registries.

They argued that since transactions on land require the governor’s consent subject to registration with land registry, obtaining a expensive, time-consuming and frustrating.

“This situation constitutes serious barrier to investment. In order to remove the bottlenecks associated with the acquisition of land for investment, there is an urgent need to simplify existing land procedures for effective title and consent delivery,”

the communiqué, stated.

It noted that one of the major problems militating against attracting Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria is the provisions of the Land Use Act, saying there is an urgent need for the Federal Government to review it to make it proactive, investorfriendly and easier for land to be used as collateral.

“In order to achieve this objective, state governments should ensure speedy access to Certificates of Occupancy and Governor’s Consent to complement the efforts of the Federal Government in facilitating investment into the country, the communiqué, said, adding that the Land Registry in states should be digitalised, the concept of Geographical Information System as applicable in Abuja, should be replicated in all the states,

and that governors should be encouraged to delegate powers to appropriate officers in the states to approve and sign Certificates of Occupancy.

“Similarly, there is a need to prevail on the governors to create industrial layouts in all Local Government Areas of their states and also pay compensation on land acquired for investment purposes,” it stressed.

While commending the efforts of the Ministry of Trade and Investment for facilitating the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment into the country, participants, however, stressed the need for closer collaboration among Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government in order to successfully drive the Transformation Agenda of the current administration.

HE Central Bank of Ni geria (CBN) has ap proved the revised microfinance policy supervisory and regulatory framework for Nigeria, an official of the bank has said.

The Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Mr Olufemi Fabamwo,said this on Saturday in Abuja at the First Annual General Meeting of the National Association of Microfinance Banks, (NAMBs) According to him, the policy provides for three categories of microfinance banks (MFBs).

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Fabamwo said the first category comprised those authorised to operate in one location with a minimum paid capital of N20 million.

Such MFBs were prohibited from having branches within the same state, he said.

The second category of banks were only authorised to operate within one state or Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with a minimum paid up-capital of N100 million and they can open branches or cash centres within the same state.

He stated that for the third category, the paid-up capital was N2 billion, and that they were allowed to open branches in any part of the country.

He warned that all the implementations were subjected to the CBN certified decision and ratification for meeting the required standard.

Akwa Ibom to partner foreign investors From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

T

HE Akwa Ibom State Government has called on foreign companies doing business in the state to key into the state government’s policy of technology transfer to create employment and also fast-track the industrial development of the state.

The state Deputy Governor Nsima Ekere made this call over the weekend while inaugurating the corporate headquarters of a Canadianbased technological and security engineering company, IntroserveTechnologies Limited in Uyo, the state capital.

Ekere, who was accompanied by the Deputy High Commissioner in the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria, Mr Jean Gauthier, expressed happiness with Introserve Technologies for employing some young engineers in the state.

The deputy governor noted with delight the statement by the Canadian envoy that some Canadian firms were willing to be involved in different sectors of the state, including the management of the Ibom Tropicana Entertainment Centre and the development of the electricity distribution infrastructure.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

12

BUSINESS NEWS Dana Air lifts 1.25m passengers

By Kelvin Osa- Okunbor

T

HE Managing Director of Dana Air, Jacky Hathiramani, said the airline has carried over 1.2 million passengers as at August 31, this year.

He said: “Between November 10, 2008 and August 31, this year, the airline carried a total of 1, 259, 282 million passengers,” stating that the statistics is a testament to the fact that Dana Air is a force to reckon with.

“With the quality of our in-flight services and our acclaimed on-time performance, we are pleased that we have become the number one airline for discerning travellers, within such a short time. We are extremely grateful to our loyal guests for their patronage and we will continually strive to exceed their expectations,” Hathiramani, said, adding, “our vision is to be recognised and respected as Nigeria’s most reliable and customer-friendly airline and our mission is to earn the loyalty and respect of our customers by consistently demonstrating our commitment to service, and providing affordable regional air transport services that focus on innovation, quality and service excellence.”

Unions petition Jonathan over TRACON deal T

WO aviation unions have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate the alleged misappropriation of the N4 billion meant for the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON).

The two bodies, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSSAN), in a letter to the President alleged that the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) in connivance with some external bodies committed the fraud. They urged Jonahtan to set up a machinery to investigate the alleged fraud.

But in a swift reaction, the General Manager, Public Affairs NAMA, Mr Supo Atobatele, said: “The allegation to say the least is unfounded, lacking facts, evidence and aiming solely to embarrass the management of the agency.”

By Kelvin Osa- Okunbor

In the petition jointly signed by the secretaries of the two unions, Comrades Abdul Kareem Motajo and Frank Sunny Aiyede, stressed that the directors of NAMA should be held responsible if the agency collapses as a result of what they called “undue interference and over bearing tendencies of the board members.”

The unions said the much-touted TRACON has no support service while several airports landing aids were working without the required backups. They added that the radar coverage constitutes security challenge and urged the president to intervention in the provision of necessary supporting facilities including expertise and retraining.

Meanwhile, NAMA has noted that the TRACON facility, contrary to the unions’allegation, is adequately covered by support service under a maintenance agreement with the main manufacturers -Thales ATM of France in 2009.

“The sum total of the support service is N4.2billion for a period of five years. So far, N1.6 billion had been paid to the Thales ATM with the first payment being N1.6 billion in 2009 while N400million was released in 2011. All payments were made through letter of credits into Thales ATM accounts in Paris. The support service (maintenance) was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2009 with Due Process Certificate accordingly issued,” NAMA said.

Don tasks Fed Govt on Vision 20: 2020

By Joseph Eshanokpe

T

HE Federal Government has been urged to invest in edu cation, research, infrastructure and education if it is wants to attain its Vision 20:2020.

A Senior Lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, Dr Sylvanus A. Nwafili, made the call in a paper he delivered during the award of fellowships of the Institute of Administrators and Researchers in Lagos.

He said it was due to lack of these factors that other visions failed in the past. He said: “There are prices, which must be paid, if we are to join the comity of developed nations. We must invest in competence, manufacturing ability, in the job training, skills, genuine administration and research and education and many other critical success factors.”

He said the country’s education is declining seriously because of government’s apathy to research funding. He cited South Korea’s 2.55 per cent, Taiwan-China’s 1.97 per cent and Singapore’s 1.47 per cent investments of their Gross Domestic Products (GDPs) on research and development against Nigeria’s less than one per cent, saying that the figure must be increased if the government wants its vision achieved.

On administration, he said: “The position occupied by administrators is not well-utilised for the benefits of state institutions. Our administrators are not result-oriented. They are inefficient and lack the needed administrative skills required to succeed in the execution of government policies and programmes.”

The Director-General of the institute, Prof Jacob Etinagbedia, asked the new fellows to exhibit a high degree of probity, accountability and integrity. “As certified administrators and researchers, you are dynamic, unique and dependable.

You must discard mediocrity. This will make you outstanding wherever you are. Endeavour to loathe and abstain from any act that will bring the name of the institute into the mud,” he advised. He announced that the institute is working on establishing a university.

In his response on behalf of the awardees, Delta State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Raphael Misan Ukubeyinje, said he was happy to be part of the new fellows.

While noting the importance of research in nation building, he promised to assist the institute to attain its lofty objectives.

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

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

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Arik Aero Arik Aero

1. Arik 2. Aero

• From left: Chairman, Turkish-Nigerian Business Council, Mr Hakan Ozel; National President, NACCIMA, Dr. Herbert Ademola,Turkish Ambassador in Nigeria, Mr Ali Ritat Koksal and Chairman, Forem Ltd,Mr Obuz Yalcin, at the opening of Turkish Export Product Fair 2011, at the Eko Hotel Lagos.

PHOTO: NIYI ADENIRAN

Money supply hits N12.5b, says CBN

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released statistics for August, which saw the M2 Money Supply rising to N12.5 billion, about 8.6 per cent lift from the June figure. The M2 is the total amount of money available in an economy at a time.

However, private sector credit climbed 1.3 per cent to N10.8 billion, while average interbank rate stood at 11 per cent flat.

Economists use M2 to determine the amount of money in circulation as well as explain different economic monetary conditions. Also, money supply measures reflect the different degrees of money in the financial services sector which can serve as legal tender. The narrow-

By Collins Nweze

est measure, M1, is restricted to the most liquid forms of money, such as currency in the hands of the public, travelers’ cheques, demand deposits and other deposits against which cheques can be written. M2 includes M1, plus savings accounts and time deposits, among others.

Also, inflation slowed to 9.3 per cent year-on-year in August, from 10.2 per cent year-on-year in June.

Inflation fluctuated from 12.1 per cent to 11.1 per cent to 12.8 per cent to 11.3 per cent to 12.4 and to 10.2. per cent in January, February, March, April, May and June.

The foreign reserves stood at

$34.8 billion as at September 14 and was $31.5 billion in July 7.

The CBN said it acknowledged the modest increase to the external reserves in recent months. It, however, noted that inflow into the CBN is not consistent with the high oil prices, stating that this underscores the need for tighter fiscal controls around oil revenues as well as first line charges, including Joint Venture Company deductions and subsidies.

A higher rate of retention of oil revenues should facilitate the efforts at maintaining exchange rate stability as an antidote to imported inflation without excessive reliance on monetary tightening measures, the apex bank said.

Interbank rates fall, liquidity tight

A

S the Monetary Policy Com mittee (MPC) meets today and tomorrow in Abuja, analysts anticipate a hike in benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to nine per cent.

Interbank lending rates however, eased to an average of 10.75 per cent last week from 11.41 per cent last week, encouraging banks to use the Central Bank of Nigeria’s discount window to borrow cheaper funds.

“The market went into a negative balance of N36.9 billion ($236.1 million) at the opening last Friday while many banks were borrowing funds from the CBN’s discount window and placing them in the market,” a dealer said.

Traders, according to Reuters, said huge cash withdrawals by state-energy firm NNPC from its deposits with some lenders drained liquid-

• As MPC meets ity from the system.

Inflows of matured treasury bills of about N51 billion last Thursday helped keep the market in check, a dealer said.

The secured Open Buy Back (OBB) dropped slightly to 10.50 per cent from 10.75 per cent, 175 basis points above the CBN’s benchmark rate and 3.75 percentage points above the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate.

Overnight placement closed lower at 10.75 per cent from 11.50 per cent, while call money dropped to 11 per cent from 12 per cent last week.

Dealers anticipate a further tightening of lending rates this week if the apex bank’s hike its benchmark

rate after the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee meets tomorrow.

“We are expecting the disbursement of budget allocations to government agencies next week, which could help improve liquidity in the system and force down lending rates, but this will depend on the outcome of the MPC meeting on Tuesday,” another dealer said.

Indicative rates for the Nigeria interbank offered rate (NIBOR), however, climbed, with seven-day funds closing at 11.62 percent from 11.50 percent last week.

Thirty-day funds were broadly flat at 12.04 per cent against 12.0 per cent, the 60-day closed at 12.62 per cent from 12.45 per cent, while the 90-day fell to 12.90 from 13.0 per cent.

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

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

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

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

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

08.40 08.40 14.55 15.10 17.40

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LAGOS – WARRI 08.15 11.50 11.55 14.55

09.1 12.50 12.55 15.55

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

08.50 09.45 09.40 14.00 15.45 19.55

LAGOS – OWERRI 07.20 14.00 16.30

08.30 15.10 17.40

LAGOS – UYO 10.35

11.35

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

LAGOS – MAIDUGURI 11.15 13.15 15.50 18.00

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

08.00 18.00

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

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 , 2011

13

ISSUES

•A telecoms network operation centre

Poor quality service, high tariff, drop-calls and network congestion have blighted the phenomenal growth in the Nigerian telecommunications sector. For fear of losing their long-held phone numbers, consumers have been compelled to subscribe to two or more service providers at a time. The implementation by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) of the proposal Number Portability holds the ace to the challenge, writes ADLINE ATILI

Will number portability revolutionise telecom?

P

LANS are in full swing by the telecommunications industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to commence implementation of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) after the September 28 deadline for SIM cards registration.

The commission has appointed a firm to implement the exercise. According to NCC, MNP will remove barriers to the choice of a service provider by a subscriber, ensure further increase in the level of open competition among network operators, and act as an incentive for them to improve service delivery and ensure consumer satisfaction.

What does it mean?

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) or Number Portability allows subscribers to

keep their phone number when they switch to service providers.

In specific terms, if a subscriber, for instance, uses Airtel SIM card and wishes to switch to MTN, MNP allows him to retain his existing phone number under his new service provider.

What this means is that he will begin to recharge his phone with MTN recharge voucher and do other things only subscribers, on the MTN network do; he will, in every respect, be an MTN subscriber but with an Airtel phone number and vice-versa.

Benefits

Globally, nations are recognising that subscribers benefit from Number Portability because it can help develop and sustain competition in the telecom sector. While MNP is

usually a government-driven mandate, many leading operators have approached it as a business opportunity and have strengthened their market position through it.

It is expected to increase competition in the mobile telephony market as customers will have the choice to change operators if they are not satisfied with the quality of service or tariff they get from their current providers, without having to give up their phone numbers.

According to NCC Executive Vice-Chairman Dr. Eugene Juwah, the quality of telecoms services, especially of wireless telecommunication networks, is deteriorating nationwide.

He said the nation can derive more value from an enhanced and optimised mobile network, especially with improved quality of service. The commission said MNP will re-

move barriers to the free choice of service provider by a subscriber, ensure further increase in the level of competition among network operators, and act as an incentive for service providers to improve QoS and consumer satisfaction.

“We will continue to vigorously pursue programmes that will deepen competition and bring down prices, such as introduction of more operators and programmes, like Number Portability.

“Number Portability will improve QoS, improve competition and bring prices down. We want to address this through strategic actions aimed at improving competition and accountability of the service providers to the consumers of their products • Continued on page 14

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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ISSUES

Will number portability revolutionise telecom?

• Continued from page 13

and services.”

Regulators have also embraced it in promoting healthy competition among operators. They believe implementation of Number Portability initiative, in many key markets’ will create new opportunities and improve consumers’ experience.

Although changing numbers has been in vogue, the challenges that go with it have discouraged customers from switching mobile service providers. As a result, operators were sometimes lulled into a degree of complacency about serving their existing customers. MNP made it a lot easier for customers to shop around for the best deal and shifted the market to a ‘consumer-centric’ number ownership model, rather than the ‘operator-centric’ number ownership model that was previously the case.

In many markets across the world, MNP has forced the operators to compete more fiercely on customer service and network quality.

Consequently, telecoms service has become more like a commodity, manifesting itself in rate plans that are not all that different from operator to operator.

It has also led to a consolidation among service providers, hinged on pricing and service changes that encourage subscribers to stay with their carrier, for instance, multiple-year contracts and freebies.

Although cuthroat competition that may lead to decline in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) level, network congestion and high rate of churn (the loss of customers to some other network operators) are imminent with the implementation of MNP, operators remain unperturbed about the exercise, confident of retaining their existing subscribers and even gaining more.

Speaking on the sidelines at an event recently, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans, said: “A customer’s number belongs to the customer. It doesn’t belong to the networks; so we feel that it’s important that customers can take that number if they want to and move to another network. Why shouldn’t they be able to do that?

“The same number that they’ve given to lots and lots of people so that they can contact them, why should they have to change it after switching networks? We are very supportive of it and believe it’s all about freedom of choice for the customer.

“I think Nigeria is definitely ready for it with regards to the networks, but I am surprised that most operators are reluctant to welcome it because clearly, they see it as a competitive threat.

“I think their fear is that of losing customers who may want to move their lines to other network and experience the quality of their services.

“Many countries have introduced Number Portability and it is quite interesting for the customers and the operators themselves. If it works in other countries, then it can work in Nigeria .”

Bharti Airtel has also indicated its intention to adopt Number Portability as a means of giving Nigerian telecom consumers freedom of choice.

During a visit to Nigeria, Chief Executive Officer of the company, Manoj Kholi, advocated the immediate introduction of Number Portability, stating that it would increase competition in the telecom market and challenge operators to improve quality of operations.

Impact on service delivery

Although tariff may not be a differentiating factor in the choice of operator, experts say Telcos that offer superior products and services; better quality of customer service, better price structure and higher network quality, will have an edge in ‘porting’ customers.

With the industry still reeling from the price war sparked-off last year when Bharti Airtel acquired Zain and slashed tariff prices, analysts believe that Number Portability may spur another price war capable of squeezing the profitability of service providers.

But a top official of MTN Nigeria, who spoke with The Nation on the issue, disagreed with the notion.

She said: “It’s an established fact that Number Portability does not change the dynamics of mobile subscription; it does not mean an operator would become larger or smaller by subscriber base.

“The way it’s going on in Nigeria makes it all seem it is going to change something for some operators, whereas it wouldn’t.

“If anything, it would stimulate more competition. At MTN, we are not worried because we know how it goes elsewhere in the world. Number Portability is just the next phase in the maturity of the market.”

A telecoms analyst, Mr Emeka Agu, however, disagreed with the view that Number Portability is not going to

•Juwah

•Evans

change the dynamics of mobile subscription.

He said: “I read somewhere that the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) President, Titi Omo-Ettu, said Nigeria may not have more than 30 million ‘real’ subscribers after all. I totally agree.

“At present, there are over 100 million connected lines, where only about 80 million are active. This means each of the 30 million-odd subscribers own about three SIM cards.

“If we have 30 million subscribers, it then means there is still a lot of un-served population out there that would benefit greatly from Number Portability when they are eventually served.

“It also means the initiative will keep operators on their toes in terms of service delivery, because there is still a large market for mobile phone subscription.”

The implementation of MNP, which would have taken place long ago was delayed by the ongoing SIM card registration. The Executive Vice-Chairman NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah, noted that Number Portability was delayed because of lack of SIM registration data base.

He said: “We deliberately delayed Number Portability because we don’t want to inject Number Portability in a state of anonymity of SIM cards; in a state of confusion and chaos of data registration.

“We said that as soon as we get a good grasp on SIM card registration we are going to revive the process of actually appointing a clearing house and operator for the number portability project.”

He, however, said appointment of an MNP operator does not mean the project would commence straightaway, until after all logistics has been taken care of.

He said: “We are now at the tail end of appointing a provider for Number Portability data base.

“However, the appointment of an operator for Number Portability doesn’t mean that it would start immediately; the operator has to set up equipment and interconnect with all the operators.

“By international standard, it takes nine months from the time of appointment of a Number Portability operator to realising the porting itself.”

This means by the first quarter or first half of next year, MNP would be in full swing across the country.

Additionally, the commission has created a new department, Projects Office, which will oversee the implemen-

tation of the various projects of the commission, Number Portability inclusive.

Subscribers, who spoke with The Nation were excited about the idea. They argued that though people subscribe to more than one network in Nigeria , most people have their main numbers which they give out to friends, family and business associates, adding that it would likely decrease the prevalent use of multiple SIM cards and phones.

‘We are not reinvent-

ing the wheel. This project is being managed and led by KPMG that has done it in many countries of the world, it would be done according to international standards.’

Checking abuse of MNP

Ahead of implementation, Juwah has assured subscribers that hitches that may come up in the MNP process would be satisfactorily resolved by the Commission.

He said: “Porting always has a donor and a recipient. If there are issues where the donor cannot allow a recipient to receive a subscriber coming from the donor, of course, they will give reasons why it is not accepting the porting and of course, NCC is there as an arbiter when there are issues of this nature to resolve.

“A donor cannot arbitrarily say no. There are categories of rejection which are normally tabled out.

“If there are issues of disagreement in the reasons the donor is giving, that’s where the regulator steps in, but normally the fewer the categories of rejection, the quicker porting is.

“We are not reinventing the wheel. This project is being managed and led by KPMG that has done it in many countries of the world, it would be done according to international standards.”

To prevent subscribers from abusing the system by frequently moving from one network to the other, which may cause disruption in the system, Muoka said NCC may introduce token ‘porting’ fee and conditions before being allowed to move from one network to another.

To ‘port’ or not to ‘port’

Lofty as the MNP project seems, a Telco official who did not want his name mentioned, took a swipe at the NCC, saying it should focus attention on some other more important issues affecting subscribers.

He said: “Number portability is something NCC should have done long before the proliferation of SIM cards.

“As it is now, the idea is no longer cheering as a lot of Nigerians use multiple SIM cards. So tell me, which number would they ‘port’ when they have all the numbers already?

“To me, NCC is just chasing shadows; it should rather devote resources meant for Number Portability to other pressing initiatives that would benefit subscribers, like broadband access provisioning.”

But the Head of Media Research, Reuben Muoka disagrees saying: “With porting, you eliminate the practice of carrying many phones because one of the reasons for porting is to get better quality service.

“Nevertheless, porting is a matter of choice for the subscriber. No one is forcing any subscriber. If you are satisfied with your operator, you do not need to port. The whole essence is to stimulate competition among the operators to deliver better services to consumers.

Which way mobile Internet!

On whether mobile Internet numbers or services can be ‘ported,’ Muoka said the mobile Internet subscription is a special type of service and is not generic, unlike the voice service.

“The mobile Internet subscription is s special type of service and not generic, so you may not be able to port the number or service. I do not believe subscribers can port for specialised services; it is not voice service,” he said.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

Ajimobi weathers storm of governance in Oyo Governance in Oyo State has been a relay race since 1999. Alliance for Democracy (AD) was in charge from 1999 to 2003. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took control between 2003 and May 29 this year, when the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) took over. In this report, Correspondent BISI OLADELE chronicles the major events that have marked out Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s 100 days in office.

Appointment of commissioners

W

HEN the Action Congress of Nige-ria (ACN) flag bearer, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, was inaugurated as the seventh elected governor, the people heaved a sigh of relief. His movement to Agodi Government House raised hopes of a rebirth of a once progressive state. Voters, who were tired of the eight years of the leadership offered by the ousted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke with one voice at the polls that they could not wait to see a return of the progressives who have shown the ability to revive the good old days of the Obafemi Awolowo era.

Ajimobi was the symbol of the change voters and other stakeholders yearned for. No wonder the city stood still for him on May 29 when people, thirsty of change, literally shut down Ibadan, the state capital, as they thronged in hundreds of thousands to witness the swearing-in of the new governor at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium. The stadium burst at the seams for the hours that the ceremony lasted – all to witness a new dawn.

Yet, the reality of the time presented more challenges, which in a sense, were also opportunities to shine as a true leader of men.

Minimum wage conflict First to rear its head was the workers’ agitation for N18,000 minimum wage. The situation was more interesting because the immediate past governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, approved the payment just before he bowed out. Hence, the new governor was confronted with the need to satisfy angry workers who complained of having suffered for the four previous years being the lowest paid civil servants in the South West and a low revenue hardly enough to meet need for capital projects.

That was a week after assumption of office. After about two weeks of dialogue, Ajimobi decided to publish the financial situation of the state showing why his administration could not afford the new wage. He proved to all that the government would need to borrow N200 million monthly in addition to the entire revenue to be able to pay the new wage alone.

To show his transparency, the governor challenged labour leaders and Finance Ministry staff to publish any other income they thought may have been concealed in the statement should they suspect a deliberate cover up. In the end, the workers settled for what the state could afford with a promise to earn more as revenue increases. The new pay rated with what obtains in the region. That was over 40 days after assumption of office.

Inauguration of House of Assembly As the world waited to witness the inauguration of the House of Assembly, many were left in conjectures because the take-off of the assembly dragged on far

• Gov Ajimobi [right] monitoring Environmental Sanitation excercise at Iwo Road Roundabout, Ibadan yesterday.

much longer than expected. The reason was not unconnected with the make-up of the assembly. Out of the 32 seats, only 13 were won by ACN. The PDP won 12 while the Accord won the remaining seven. For Ajimobi, the control of Accord by his cousin, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, became a great hurdle to cross. The governor obviously needed a simple majority to have an assembly led by his own party, the ACN. Yet, the PDP, still under the firm grip of Alao-Akala had made swift moves to work with the AP to produce the Speaker with obvious implications. So while negotiations were going on with the labour over minimum wage, Ajimobi was busy cracking his head over how to prevent the emergence of a PDP Speaker.

Ladoja had rejected calls by his kinsmen to stand down for Ajimobi for the purpose of a smooth victory over the PDP in the election. The former governor insisted that his decision to join the race was borne out of popular demand by people across the state who believed in his leadership. He came third when the result was released but his party secured seven seats in the legislature to become the bride the two other parties struggled to court.

While the world was waiting, Ajimobi, who dreaded an alliance between the PDP and Accord, jettisoned all other considerations and approached Ladoja for an alliance. The move paid off as the seven Accord members joined the ACN legislators to produce the first female Speaker who is an ACN member. His trade-off of some appointments for the bridge-

building opposition party as part of the honourable agreements with Ladoja to pave way for the ACN to produce the Speaker was later thwarted by the ACN in the state. While Ajimobi delivered on his promise, the party frowned at the development during the screening of commissioner nominees, by the House.

NURTW crisis Early in June, the violent crisis within the state’s branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) reached a crescendo when they killed innocent commuters on the dusk of June 4 at the Iwo Road interchange. After visiting the site and some victims at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ajimobi banned the activities of the union in the state.

The ban has since paved the way for peace in the city as people now go about their normal businesses without fear of being attacked. He also set up a Judicial Commission of enquiry which submitted its report last week.

The destructive first flood and road rehabilitation While that was being sorted out, some parts of Ibadan were flooded on June 26, killing three people and destroying some roads. On return from Mecca where he had gone to observe the lesser Hajj, Ajimobi rolled out caterpillars to reconstruct the roads needing urgent attention. Five roads across Ibadan were rehabilitated in the first phase of the facelift while some others were repaired in other towns and communities in the second phase. One striking mark of the rehabilitation was quality.

Undertaken by the state’s road maintenance agency, Ajimobi

insisted on having quality job delivered to tax payers. He said he wanted to be remembered for quality in all the projects undertaken by his administration.

The governor spoke copiously about the poor quality of jobs undertaken by his predecessor and challenges residents to judge him by the quality of his works.

The road rehabilitation also came with beautification. Some roads in Ibadan were marked out for beautification, leading to pulling down some structures deemed to be defacing the beauty of the city.

Controversy over LAUTECH and slashing of fees In July, Ajimobi slashed fees in state-owned tertiary institutions by half to fulfill his campaign promise. That was shortly after reversing the joint ownership move by his predecessor. Alao-Akala had taken, practical steps to allow Oyo State take sole ownership of the Ladoke AKintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso but Ajimobi reversed the moves based on public outcry against it.

Job creation for youths While approaching the end of July, Ajimobi launched his job creation scheme tagged: “YES-O”.

It is aimed at employing 20,000 youths across the 33 local governments in the state, according to the governor. It was gathered yesterday that beneficiaries, who have been shortlisted, would know their fate in coming days. The governor had pledged during his campaign that job creation would be done more in the agriculture, environment and traffic management sectors of the economy.

While the party bickered over the list of commissioner-nominees sent by the governor to the House of Assembly, Ajimobi contended with criticisms over perceived lopsidedness in his appointment.

Sources informed The Nation that the apple of discord was the governor’s insistence on using more non-politician professionals than politician professionals.

Just as the commissioners resumed work on Monday, August 22, the flood of distress visited the city of Ibadan on Friday 26. Heaven was let loose as rain pounded the city for over six hours, resulting in raging flood. In its wake, the flood left a monumental loss of lives and property, which turned the attention of the world to Ibadan again 31 years after a similar flood ravaged the city. For a government still managing to spread its wings, the flood became a test of its competence. The governor was away on lesser hajj to Saudi Arabia.

Yet, Ajimobi’s lieutenants rose up to the challenge. The Deputy Governor, Chief of Staff, commissioners and other top government functionaries rose to the occasion by visiting flooded sites the following morning. On seeing the magnitude of the loss and the damage done by the flood, relief camps were immediately opened at different locations with medics and relevant workers moved in to attend to the victims. Victims have since been well taken care of by other humanitarian agencies even as the Oyo State Government resettles those displaced by the flood.

Free health mission On Monday, August 31, the governor flagged off free health service for residents. In the scheme dubbed: “Free Heath Mission,” residents enjoyed free medical services in 10 local governments across the state. With 120 medical professionals, including 10 surgeons, lined up for free services across the state, over 60,000 people benefited from free treatments, drugs and eye glasses among others. The second phase is expected to cover other local government areas and will later be integrated into the state’s heath service. The service was organised in partnership with the Development Support Initiative (DSI). Beneficiaries have praised the government for introducing the mission, considering the level of poverty in the land.

However, critics fault Ajimobi’s administration on speed, saying he has been unable to meet the expectation of those who expected physical structures as a mark of speedy rebuilding in his first 100 days in office. They also contend that he spent more time sorting out politics than governance. But the governor has insisted that rebuilding rotten structure and system takes more time of planning as well as requires steady movement than deceiving people with cosmetic projects.

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

NEWS Senator Olufemi Lanlehin (Oyo South District) spoke with Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on the urgency of constitution amendment to ensure the review of the revenue allocation and birth of true federalism.

‘Constitution amendment should be National Assembly’s priority’ I

S there any sign at all that ACN legislators in the National Assembly are making the difference?

Of course, yes. The 7th National Assembly has just taken off. There are a lot of challenges to tackle. Despite the fact that the number of the ACN members of the National Assembly is comparatively lower than the ruling party, we are putting in our best and trying to make the difference. There was the initial problem of settling down. ACN members have raised a couple of issues that underscore our patriotism and willingness to raise the bar. Some of us have raised the issue of the revenue allocation formula, which we believe should be reviewed, the bad nature of our roads, especially the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. It is the road from the Nigerian ports to other parts of the country. We have raised the issue of following the due process in all things we do. ACN legislators are patriotic, focused and determined to make a great difference that would impact positively on our people. ACN senators spearheaded the need to respond in time to the Lagos floods. A lot was done by the ACN in the senate to make appropriate agencies to respond positively by finding lasting solution to the problem.

How are the ACN legislators responding to the challenge of the impending constitution amendment?

It has been discovered that there is the need to amend certain aspects of the constitution.

One of the important aspects is the revenue allocation formula. Although the constitution has provided that the National Assembly has a duty to from time to time revisit, reassess and, if need be, restructure the revenue allocation formula. This is the best time to do it.

Another topical issue is the appointment and discipline of judges. The NJC, by the nature of its composition, is filled with the nominees of the Chief Justice. He nominates a large percentage of the membership. It is not the best in the circumstances. When one individual wields so much power over an institution, it becomes very dangerous. In view of what happened recently, that aspect should be looked at. Another aspect is the state and local government creation. The creation of state and local government under this constitution has been very difficult, if not impossible. We must find a way of simplifying the process and making it more realistic to create states and new local governments as demanded, taking into consideration legal and constitutional requirements that should be followed. We should have a holistic approach to it. The National Assembly should set up a committee, which will look at the constitution as a whole, in consultation with the people.

Elaborate and expansive public hearings should be conducted. All the segments of the societymarket women, students, academia, politician, security people-should be consulted and their views collated. The idea of piecemeal amend-

ment as government changes should be discouraged.

What is your reaction to the single term proposal by President Goodluck Jonathan?

It is an issue that should not even arise at this time at all. Our problem is not about tenure. our problem is about good governance; letting the caliber of people to govern the states and nation. If the electoral system is allowed to throw up energetic and capable people, we will have good governance. An example was what happened in the 2011 elections. The election was, to a large extent, free and fair. There was a concerted effort on the party of everybodystate and Federal Government, INEC, security personnel. If we have a good electoral system, our problem would be solved. Our problem is due to the fact that that the electoral system often throws up wrong people who attain position through all sorts of subterfuge, shenanigans, violence, ballot snatching, ballot stuffing.

They do not see themselves as representatives of the people because they attain office through manipulation. They owe no obligation to the people. The constitution amendment is important. But what is more important is the attitude of our people in giving effect to the constitution. We need people to make it work according to the spirit of the constitution. We need constitution amendment, but we also need a good electoral system that will throw up the right people, in terms of education, attitude, experience, patriotism. These are the people who can make the constitution to work.

In the light of the constitution we operate now, is the local government a third tier of government?

In words, according to the constitution, it is supposed to be a third tier of government.

Again, the constitution is not too clear about the roles and how they should perform their duties. The section of the constitution is not clear about the processes for the creation and powers of the local government. By the virtue of the constitution, we have the exclusive legislative list, the concurrent and the residual. Giving] the appointment of the state electoral commission and their powers, the state has so much powers over the local government. In most states, it is the party in control that controls the local government. The state government has an overbearing influence on the choice of the chairman of the local government and controls virtually the activities of the local government.

• Lanlehin

This reduces the independence of the council.

This leads us again to the question of the electoral system. We must give people the choice of choosing who they want.

What is your reaction to the proposal to abrogate the State/Local Government Joint Account?

In most instances, the state has dominance over the control of the funds of local government.

There are states where the governor determines what is got, what is done and other activities of the local government. These are the issues we must look at in the constitution. As it is now, the local government cannot be called the third tier of government. It is a third tier in name, but in functions, it has not been so in many of the states.

What is the Senate doing about insecurity in the country?

You will recall that, sometimes ago, the Senate invited all the security chiefs to brief it about the state of security in the nation. We were extensively briefed about the problems and challenges. Certain requests, which could help their duties, were made. But by and large, a lot still needs to be done about insecurity in the country, particularly Boko Haram. They are giving us a very bad international image. Apart from the substantial loss of lives, it has also given our people psychological insecurity, torture and

‘But what is more important is the attitude of our people in giving effect to the constitution. We need people to make it work according to the spirit of the constitution. We need constitution amendment, but we also need a good electoral system that will throw up the right people, in terms of education, attitude, experience, patriotism’

‘Bode Thomas left a legacy of integrity’

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IFTY eight years after the demise of the eminent lawyer and politician, Chief Bode Thomas, his daughter, Mrs Eniola Fadayomi, has reflected on his life and time, saying that he left behind a legacy of integrity.

She spoke in Lagos at a ceremony marking the naming of a street after his deceased brother, Hon. Dapo Bode Thomas,

by Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA). Fadayomi said that her father played a politics of honour, credibility, ideology and service to the people.

“I was very young when he died. But in terms of his achievements, I have been privileged to have benefitted from the strong and positive legacies he left behind, Fadayomi added, stressing that the deceased leader has a large following in Oyo, his ancestral root and Lagos, where he practiced law and played politics.

Thomas, Balogun of Oyo and deputy leader of Action Group (AG) led by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, died in 1953

By Emmanuel Oladesu

at the age of 34 years. He was a factor in Southwest and Nigerian politics; vibrant and resilient. He was a member of the House of Representatives and Federal Minister. His controversial death denied him the opportunity of reaching his full potentials.

In the Second Republic, his son, Dapo, became a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly. In 1999, he was appointed Special Adviser to former Governor Bola Tinubu on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. Fadayomi had not directly participated in politics. But she was Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner under the military rule.

Under Tinubu Administration, she was also a commissioner.

The former commissioner said that his father’s memory cannot be obliterated because he made impact on the polity as one of the backbones and financer of the AG.

“ Integrity is his greatest legacy. He was not found wanting. He was a progressive politician”, she added.

Fadayomi also paid tribute to Dapo Bode Thomas, saying that, despite his demise, his followers still respected him. She said the late politician played a politics of patriotism like his illustrious father to the end.

Unlike his father and sibling, Fadayomi seems to lack the rugged nature required for politicking. Asked why she had been reluctant to engage fully in politics, the former chairman of the Afribank said: “We cannot all be in politics. Even, if I had not been in elective politics, I have had the opportunity of being appointed into political positions. I had opportunity to serve. In my own way as a lawyer, I have had opportunities to serve my state and country.

“We all have to serve in our different ways. We have different skills. I believe I am serving in my own way as a lawyer and adviser”.

helplessness, to some extent. That is the primary duty the security apparatus should face.

All over the country, we still have spates of armed robbery, kidnapping and brigandage.

This affects the image of the country and the number of direct overseas foreign investment that should come in and the number of Nigerians in the Diaspora that would have come back to invest their money. It affects all aspects of our economic life. As part of its priority, government should revisit the security situation and power situation. These are the two major issues. If the President can tackle and reasonably solve them, it will give him a lot of credit.

What should be the reaction of the Senate to the agitation for a special status for Lagos?

I believe that Lagos has played major roles in the economic, social and political life of the Nigerian nation. It is still playing a major role in the economic life of the country. At the moment, Nigeria is an income dependent nation.

All the things we import come in through the Lagos ports. So, the economic activities of Nigeria revolve around Lagos. We cannot but pay attention to the welfare of Lagos, its roads, its social infrastructure. It is not new. we have had nations that have relocated their capitals. But they have not abandoned their former capitals.

Lagos has the largest population in the whole country. The population is increasing on daily basis. People still move into Lagos on daily basis. There is pressure on infrastructure there.

People that come to Lagos are from all the nooks and crannies of the country. It will be beneficial to all the states. Look at the Lagos/ Ibadan Expressway. I believe that it is the most important road in the country. It is the main road linking the ports with other parts of the country. All the goods that come into the country pass through this road. All the exported goods also pass through this road. There is pressure on the road due to the heavy equipment.

The road is in a bad state. The federal government should pay special attention to the road.

It is beyond collecting tolls to do it. The number of accidents arising from the bad state of the road; the number of man hours wasted on the roads, the damages done to the roads due to heavy vehicles and equipment are reasons why the road should be reconstructed by the federal government. Many times, tanker drivers would spill petrol and it leads to conflagration, leading to loss of lives. The road was built in 1976; that is 35 years ago. What the road needs is major reconstruction.

What is your reaction to the recent de-registration of seven parties by INEC? I think it is long overdue. In as much as there is the need to abide by the provisions of the constitution on the freedom of assembly and association, at the same time, we have to look at the reality of the situation. There is a provision that parties should be directly funded by INEC. This has give rise to mushroom parties and clog up the political space by parties that cannot win a single councillorship seat.

• Thomas

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

19

EDITORIAL/OPINION COMMENT

EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

Paying more for less

ITH more than 14 million people out of work and all Americans fearing a doubledip recession, President Obama stood face to face Thursday night with a Congress that has perversely resisted lifting a finger to help. Some Republicans refused to even sit and listen. But those Americans who did heard him unveil anambitious proposal – more robust and far-reaching than expected – that may be the first crucial step in reigniting the economy.

Perhaps as important,they heard a president who passionately contrasted his vision of a government that plays its part in tough times with the Republican’s vision of a governmetn starved of the means to do so.

The President’s program was only a start, and it was vague on several important elements, notably a direct path to mortage relief for troubled borrowers.

And some of the tax cuts for employers may prove ineffective. Nonetheless, at $447 billion, the plan is large enough to potentially lower the unemployment rate and broad enough to be a significant stimulus.

As Mr. Obama pointed out, virtually every proposal on his agenda has been accepted over the years by Democrats and an earlier generation of Republicans that was not reflexively opposed toa recession-fighting fiscal policy. This generation is different, and the president’s challenge to purely partisan resistance was forceful and clear. “The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy”, the said.

At the core of his plan are two cuts in the payroll tax – one for employers and one for employees – that have long been embraced by Republicans. The plan would provide $35 billion in state aid to prevent up to 280,000 teacher layoffs while hiring tens of thousands more, along with additional police officers and firefighters. It would create jobs to modernize 35,000 schools across the country. And it would accelerate $50 billion in improvements for highways, railroads, transit and aviation.

It was gratifying to hear him call for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, but his warning of cuts to Medicare and Medicaid – lifelines to the most vulnerable - raised concerns about trading one important program for another.

We hope Mr. Obama keeps his promise to take his proposals all over the country.

The need to act is urgent.

- International Herald Tribune

The jobs speech

•Proposed increase of electricity tariffs is unjustifiable

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ESPITE strings of undelivered promises and unrealisable targets, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is reported as proposing another cycle of increase in electricity tariffs by January next year.

The rationale is said to be the so-called Multi-Year-Tariff-Order (MYTO) which allows the commission to undertake annual review of electricity tariffs to reflect cost factors, inflation and exchange rate.

While not forthcoming on the new tariff regime, (some industry sources say NERC is looking at 40 percent hike on current rates), its commissioner for government and consumer affairs, Abba Ibrahim, at a forum in Lagos last week insisted that the new tariff had become imperative to enable in the inflow of private sector investment into the sector.

To start with, the regulator should be well advised to spare the Nigerian electricity consumer its regular staple of re-

‘The point really is that the problem of PHCN would not be solved by what is increasingly the case of addiction to tariff reviews; just as it is even more unlikely that constant pushes for tariff reviews will enjoy the understanding of the consumer, so long as the extortionist practice of hooking them on the archaic post-paid meters or no meter at all, endures’

cycled stories – episodically served to force tariff increases on them. In case the commission does not know (or pretends not to), Nigerians have gone past the debate on the pricing of electricity; they have since gone on to the matter of how to get the product delivered to their homes. While it may not be exactly true that Nigerians are indifferent to the pricing of electricity, they have however grown weary of perennially handing Power Holdings Company of Nigeria (PHCN) further alibis for under-performance.

Only NERC pretends to be oblivious of the fact that there is nothing sacrosanct in pricing a commodity as scarce and as grossly inadequate as electricity. This is even more so in an environment where the cost co-efficient is not only infinitely elastic, but is actually characterised by such degrees of inefficiencies that would make propositions of market determinism utterly laughable.

The bottom-line is that Nigerians desire power availability – on a sustainable, fair and equitable basis. That this is far from what they are getting at the moment despite the modest improvements said to have been recorded by PHCN of late should be of greater importance to NERC. It may well be that the current tariff structure, touted as unrealistic, deserves some adjustment. Of course, the argument about cost-recovery and the need to attract investment into the sector being so self-evident would seem to lend

to no further debate. There is however another side to the argument, which is that the electricity consumer is today far from getting value for his money’s worth even for the modest performance that comes their way. Apart from being forced to put up with the so-called estimated bills, sundry charges – chief of which is the highly contentious meter maintenance charge, even when meters are not provided – are routinely slapped on them.

The point really is that the problem of PHCN would not be solved by what is increasingly the case of addiction to tariff reviews; just as it is even more unlikely that constant pushes for tariff reviews will enjoy the understanding of the consumer, so long as the extortionist practice of hooking them on the archaic post-paid meters or no meter at all, endures.

NERC cannot in good conscience overlook the ancien regime of posting estimated bills– several years after the industry ought to have cut over to pre-paid meters. Being made to pay premium for services not enjoyed at all remains bad business any day. It is possible mainly because the Nigerian electricity consumer has no choice. Equity demands that NERC should shelve any further review of electricity tariffs until every household is guaranteed supply of prepaid meters. That way, everyone gets to pay for the service enjoyed – no more, no less.

As for the contentious meter maintenance charge, NERC should move with speed to get it abolished, forthwith. Its retention in the value chain is hard to defend, and harder still, to justify.

ASUU’s strike notice •Govt and the lecturers must avert any disruption to academic calendar now IVEN the several irresponsive administrations in the country, and the obstinacy of successive Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) leadership, the prospect of having uninterrupted academic calendar in public higher institutions of learning across the federation looks bleak. Again, Prof.

Ukachukwu Awuzie, current national President of ASUU at the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the University of Ibadan (UI) served a notice on the nation, of the resolve of the academic body to stage a one-week warning strike beginning from September 26.

The ASUU NEC, according to Awuzie, arrived at the decision:” after extensive deliberations on government’s refusal to judiciously implement the agreement it reached with ASUU, albeit having noted the commendable efforts of the principal officers, and other well-meaning Nigerians towards ensuring the full implementation of the agreement, decided to give the government up to September 25 to show commitment to the full implementation of the agreement, review pension law to effect the 70-year retirement age for academics in the professorial cadre; implement the earned allowances component of the agreement and drastically improve funding of education in general and the universities in particular.”

The Federal Government reportedly reached an agreement in 2009 with the academic union and sadly, two years after signing the agreement, many aspects of it are yet to be implemented. We unconditionally abhor official impertinence toward agreement reached, not only with

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ASUU, but individuals and other institutions in the country. This point was underscored in our numerous previous editorials written on the lingering crises between the Federal Government and ASUU that have absurdly made university students stayed more at home than in their classrooms.

This reprehensible regime of endless strikes must be dropped since it has not achieved any meaningful result other than the distractions and nuisance that have emanated from the practice. ASUU should find a more result-oriented way of ensuring that recalcitrant governments are forced to abide by the agreements reached with them. For example, withholding results of examinations conducted by lecturers is better than disrupting academic calendar mid-way into a semester-all in the guise of pressing for pecuniary entitlements. On the issue of subvention and others, the body can approach the court to seek for an order of mandamus to compel the government to perform its responsibility to the universities.

The responses of previous and present administrations to agreements reached with ASUU have been deplorable. Perhaps, if official mistakes of the past can be forgiven because of the military and low educational antecedents of those that were at the helms of affairs then, we are astounded that now that an academic, President Goodluck Jonathan, is controlling the wheel of governance, the academic body is still encountering problems in pushing through its demands from government.The truth is that strike, whether warning or full blown, would

not augur well for the nation at this point in time. President Jonathan should prove to be a genuine academic by doing less of talking and more of action on the matter so that the universities would not be thrown into another avoidable turmoil.

The old trend of allowing the crisis to linger before official olive branch is waved in the last minute should not be allowed to occur again.

This usual distasteful official tactics of unnecessarily foot-dragging in dealing with academic demands has not projected the government in good light. Most of the demands are reasonable and should be implemented, but in areas where government has shown expected reservations, we call on ASUU too to also show understanding in the overall interest of the students that are avoidably forced to stay at home, and that of the nation.

‘Most of the demands are reasonable and should be implemented, but in areas where government has shown expected reservations, we call on ASUU too to also show understanding in the overall interest of the students that are avoidably forced to stay at home, and that of the nation’

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TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

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IR: The Democratic Socialist Movement rejects the planned attempt by the authorities of Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU), Ile-Ife to increase hostel accommodation fees payable by students. This rejection is made with the understanding that public education is a basic social need that must be funded by the governments from the collectively owned resources of the country.

In recent time, fee increment has been one of the major tools employed by the universities’ administrations under the pretext of generating more funds for infrastructural developments, while shirking away from compelling the governments to fund these institutions adequately. This antistudent policy is only a way of assisting the government in shirking their responsibility. The resources of the country if well managed can provide free and functional education. Therefore, fee increment is just a means to weaken toiling but poor parents by squeezing money out of their pockets.

According to recent UN survey, over 90% of Nigerians live below $2 per day. Workers across the federation are currently agitating for the implementation of N18, 000 minimum wages which translates to a paltry sum of N600 per day while pensioners are hardly paid their meager entitlements. It is in this light that we feel that the mass of students, and indeed the working and poor Nigerians should not be further impoverished with this anti-student policy of fee increment.

The federal government itself revealed the cost of maintenance of an average student in Nigeria to be about N400, 000. This is obviously not obtainable from the poor people of Nigeria. Fees increment will never

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No to fee hikes in Obafemi Awolowo University resolve any of the fundamental problems confronting our institutions of learning, but rather deny vast population access to higher education.

We advise the university administration under the leadership of Prof. Tale Omole to turn to the federal government for improved funding of the university, and not make life unbearable for the already suffering students and their parents.

enjoyed a good living and studying ambience of having two students per room and every student being entitled to free meals. He however went offline to propose the increment in accommodation fee as a panacea to this bad state of things. While we appreciate this history, it must not also be forgotten that these conditions were not products of exorbitant fees.

In fact, many of those in that generation would not have had the

perspectives were intentionally drowned. The victims are vilified and branded criminals while the criminals are venerated.

At the moment enormous human and material resources are being wasted in a relentless war raging between the United States and groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the end is still not in sight. History is replete with stories of America’s sponsorship of terror organisations in the past only to turn against her creation when the alliance crumbles.

The persona of Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar the AlQaeda and Taliban leaders respectively are monstrous creations of the Americans. Today, the whole world is led by the nose in pursuit of this American nightmare without any deep thought. All these underhand manipulations are hinged on the well sought after commodities- oil and raw

materials.

Only leaders who comprehend the disastrous consequences of “free” trade agreements, protest against companies that exploit desperate people in sweatshops and pillage the environment; those who know that the Third World calamities stem from fallacious concepts and theories of neo-liberal economic development; those who respect and stand for the sacredness of truth, who understand the essence of economic independence of nations, can appreciate the beauty of the ideologies and agitation by groups opposed to their orthodoxies.

Before the fall of the USSR, many were led to believing that communism was evil. Today it has been acknowledged that the pranks and lies of the America and her allies have not only fallen flat on their faces but no longer hold water. The 2008

Now that Gaddafi is out, what next?

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IR: The words of the Indian Chief Powhatan in 1609 to the British colonialists in America have some Shakespearean inkling because they still ring true till this present day. “Why should you take by force that from us which you can have by love? Why should you destroy us, who have provided you with food? What can you get by war?

What is the cause of your jealousy?”

The exasperated leader had cried his heart out at the near annihilation of his people by colonialists.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was a nauseating tyrant. However, there is a curious question to ask. Why is the West suddenly attacking him after turning a blind eye for over four decades?

Much as I am not weeping for Gaddafi, the fact remains that there is no iota of altruism in the attack

• Jacob Odunayo OAU, Ile-Ife.

Politics of oil and raw materials

IR: The survival of the industrial economy of the United States of America and her Western allies depends largely on the abundance of both oil and raw materials scooped from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. These all important two lifelines must be protected at all cost without which their economies are doomed. They subjugate nations and crush with utmost ruthlessness any obstacle which dares to stand on their path to retaining these lifelines.

The west has employed the services of the mass media to champion their causes, cook up vicious lies and twist facts in favour of their imperialistic tendencies. The subjective reportage of their activities by international western media has gone a long way in wrongly shaping the opinion of many. Concerted efforts by minority opinions to put this issue at their right

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We are convinced that if the administration takes this road, the mass of students and workers in the university will gladly and resolutely support this.

To justify the planned fee hike, OAU’s new VC Prof. Omole at a recent meeting with all students lamented the deplorable state of the university particularly the halls of residence. He referred to the time of his generation when students

opportunity of obtaining a degree without the existence of an institution like OAU where they had to pay almost nothing. Unfortunately, we are now in a period when the living conditions of the masses have worsened drastically as a result of the anti-poor, neo-liberal capitalist policies, inspired by IMF/World Bank and gullibly accepted by Nigeria’s capitalist ruling class.

The DSM believes that the University and indeed the country have the resources to provide good accommodation facilities for students. The onus lies on the ViceChancellor to use his office to demand for increased funding of education vis-à-vis increased allocation to the university.

on Libya by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It’s simply a neo-colonial strategy to shamelessly grab more oil.

The insurgents must beware of the plot by the West to run their collective destiny by proxy.

Gaddafi’s faults notwithstanding, he gave the basic things of life pro bono to all Libyans. Housing, education up to the tertiary level and food was affordable to most citizens. He shunned Islamic fundamentalism and was quite secular in his outlook. Libyan women go to school and have a profession etc. He built good road networks and the oil refineries in Brega.

The Gross Domestic Product under him was about $62 billion which gave it a middle income country status.

His crime is his failure to understand that the people wanted something more fundamental to their existence: freedom! It would have been a climax if he had bowed out when the ovation was loudest and his profile may have even soared higher than that of his mentor: Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Externally fuelled revolts are always failures because they are designed to serve the selfish interests of the external backers.

Great countries come out of the ashes due to internally driven insurrections. The Shah of Iran was defeated by an internal insurrection; the Bolshevik led Russian Revolution in 1917 was an internal movement; the Revolution in Zanzibar in 1964 was internally motivated; the changes in Ukraine, Georgia etc – all were internal

insurrections. It should be for the leaders of a resistance in any given country to decide their strategy, not for interest-driven foreigners to fund insurrection groups in sovereign nations.

Gaddafi should eat the humble pie by enter ing into dialogue with the rebels to stem the current bloodbath. It is condemnable that the African Union mission was unable to enter Libya because western countries started bombing the day they were supposed to arrive. The Libyan imbroglio remains an African problem that can be resolved within the continent.

The opposition groups on their part should be nationalistic enough to conduct their affairs internally.

Tony Ademiluyi Lagos

global economic meltdown was an unforgettable revelation that communism was not evil as was painted by the West. Most governments in the West and Europe paid to rescue their failed enterprises instead of auctioning them as they always recommend for third world developing countries.

You can fool some people sometimes but you cannot fool everybody all the time. The Americans, according to John Perkins’ The Confession of An Economic Hit Man ‘were said to have been liberated by the words of Paul Revere, Tom Paine and Thomas Jefferson which fired the imaginations of their countrymen, and opened their hearts and mind to the question, and when they did, they discovered a new reality that cut away at the deceits.

They discerned the truth behind the patina, understood the way the British Empire had manipulated, deceived, and enslaved them.

They saw that their English masters had formulated a system and then had managed to convince most people of a lie—that it was the best system mankind could offer, that the prospects for a better world depended on channelling resources through the King of England, that an imperial approach to commerce and politics was the most efficient and humane means of helping the majority of the people—when in fact the truth was that the system enriched only a very few at the expense of the many. This lie, and the resulting exploitation, endured and expanded for decades, until a handful of philosophers, businessmen, farmers, fishermen, frontiersmen, writers, and orators began to speak the truth.

This truth must be told in our own time too!

• Sunday Onyemaechi Eze Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna.

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

What’s Mr. President saying?

Nigerians are waiting for Dr. Jonathan’s better packaged state of the nation address that would give the optimism that notwithstanding the enemy’s evil machinations, truly, this nation would not disintegrate, and living would become more meaningful to the people.

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DID not watch President Goodluck Jonathan’s maiden Media Chat on television last week. I only read the reports in dissimilar angles in newspapers the day after. Many who watched it live barely slipped on it as the populace was not well acquainted of the programme. I still cannot configure why the promo could be so low key at a time when many apprehensive Nigerians are anticipating knowing how the president intends to navigate the bewildered nation out of its present socio-economic crossroad.

Even then, over and over, I have pondered on what could be picked from the reported presidential utterances capable of giving the distraught and distressed citizens hope of a secured and fulfilling tomorrow. Yes, the critical issues were raised, but where is the nation left thereafter? The responses were essentially the promises we have heard over time, and have been awaiting practical actions to bring them to realistic manifestations.

Talk of power, there was hardly anything new to convince us that all those old concepts and plans are now being emplaced to turn the nation’s dragging unproductive darkness into light. Or the now bastardised judiciary that was once the last hope of the oppressed? One remains at loss how a badly dented institution would just be left to panel beat itself. Or how does one assess our president’s casual dismissal of WikiLeaks hurtful disclosures as mere beer parlour talks? And many more simplistic and basic explications of what ought to be addressed as serious national issues.

Above the distraction called single tenureship was an overstretched unapologetic emphasis as if it were a national priority.

Then the aching security issue left us with the uncertainty as to who would really rescue the nation from Boko Haram’s ceaseless bombings and recurrent senseless termination of lives on the plateau.

I thought we should realise by now the futility of mere troops’ deployment as the solution to our internal security challenges. If such failed to work against the militants in Niger Delta and it has not hindered the rate at which Boko Haram deploys explosives to destroy and kill, why should anybody still see such as the way out in Jos? Moreso when the military personnel on ground are being accused of being used the back-up way of NATO in Libya?

Let’s give it to former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his new peace initiative to pacify the rampaging Boko Haram. He has demonstrated wisdom in placing word above war. In short space, we might just stumble on the way out.

FEEDBACK Dear Omotunde, your article, PDP’s curse on Nigeria? is a hearttouching piece. To PDP’s Acting Chairman and his cohorts, change is a mirage in their sub-consciousness. Their benefits lie in the plight of the masses; hence they have no time to focus on meaningful governance. The Holy Bible in Jeremiah 13:23 rightly showcase their attitude when it says “can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Hiss desire for his party’s continuous stay in power is a serious disservice to Nigerians. He has lost focus. Pride, they say, goes before a fall. Does he know that PDP cannot win any position in a free and fair election? He is a day dreamer. Over 12 years now, the party cannot execute a single policy to better the lots of the masses; they are still groping in darkness, only taking pleasure in looting our treasury. – Etop, AKS Sir, on Baraje that PDP will rule forever, the man should be ignored because it is his character to talk without thinking. The other time he said in Ilorin during the election campaigns that PDP would win Lagos State because it won a bye election in Ikorodu. –Ayo Oyeniyi Nigerians are not interested in PDP, ACN, CPC or any party that wants to perpetuate itself in power forever. All we want is infrastructural development. -2348023602401 A country where 90% of the leaders are Baal worshipers will never move forward. Many Nigerian politicians are ritualists. – G. Nwosu, Ebonyi Even if the PDP decides to reconstitute not only their constitution but themselves, no magic would make a leopard change its spots. After 12 years of the party in power, Nigeria is creaking under the burden of an expensive legislature, a hapless power sector, insecurity, mass unemployment, half baked basic educational system, non-existent healthcare service, crumbled infrastructure and bone-crushing abject poverty. Until the polity, regardless of party, understands their responsibility, not only to themselves, family, friends and cohorts, but to an electorate that has the right to a federal and legislative system which enforces proper accountability at all levels – federal, state and local, we will keep banging our heads against the wall. - Toye Falusi.

Soji, your article speaks volume of who your paymaster is. You can’t deceive Nigerians. - 2348038900703 Please help tell Baraje that the eternity and forever he unjustly used ought to be used thus: Unless himself and PDP repent, eternity will forever be against them. – Pastor Mark Adasho, Abuja

I greatly enjoy your write-up on South West. But Uncle Soji, political party that one belongs to does not have anything to do with performance. Dr. Olusegun Mimiko is of LP, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi is of PDP and our brother in Imo is of APGA and they are doing well. They are progressing. Chief Awolowo’s achievement was not UPN doing; it was Baba’s doing because of his love for his people. Hon. Tambuwal defines it better for us the role of political party after elections. – Com. Meshack ‘Femi, Igbotako, Ondo State.

I enjoy your thought on Mimiko’s South West integration.

We need it. The region was robbed of much-needed developments by eight years of PDP misrule. Governors in this region must come together and share ideas. It is amusing when the electorate vote for personality instead of party ideology. – Gboyega Oni, Ijaye, Lagos.

Please sir, don’t ever refer to Mimiko as progressive. Come to the state and see deceit and fraud. He promised to work for us, but now it is his family he is working for. Don’t be carried away by what he said. His antics are open secret in Ondo State.

– Femi, Akure.

Fantastic, fair and factual! I hope people in authority in other geographical zones would emulate the progressive Yoruba who are ahead of the pack because of education. Some fringe misguided mystical morons claim there is Haram in Boko. Let us without haste convene a Sovereign National Conference, where those opposed to civilization can peacefully secede and establish the Islamic Caliphate of Boko Haramistan in the far north – Yusuf G. Mshelizza.

In fact, you are a true nationalistic Nigerian and a role model because you’ve been educating and enlightening people through your medium. The good legacy Baba Awolowo of blessed memory bestowed on us can’t be easily forgotten. That is why history is the study of the past, present and futuristic events. But it is very unfortunate for us in this country today that we have a visionless, focusless political party called PDP at the centre ruling us. Their members both in executive arm and legislative arm are bunch of robbers. Or how do you explain a president that promised transformational leadership and is not sticking to it? He appointed 65 ministers with Special Advisers when Nigerians are saying we should reduce the cost of governance. He is busy creating additional burden and problems on Nigerians. Is that a serious president? –Tayo Tola Agbaje, Garki. Abuja Your piece is wonderful. PDP is just a bunch of People Disgracing People. They are visionless. – Olude Ayotunde, LAUTECH. Your piece is historical and also highlights the way forward.

The Olabisi Onabanjo University workers unjustly sacked by Gbenga Daniel administration should be topmost on agenda of the ACN governor because they were a force crucial to Gov Amosun winning the last election. – Ayodeji.

I have just read your column. I don’t know whether to call you a pastor or good old journalist. – Chidi Ndu.

Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu and the Book

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IM Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu has been a recurring figure in the Nigerian politics for more than four decades. He is a recurring face in the Nigerian dialogue and the enduring face of Biafra, the 30month secessionist attempt to pull out a major part from the Nigerian mosaic.

Lawrence Durrell suspects that every artist loathes his countrymen and everyone loathes his country. It is unlikely that Ojukwu loathed his country the way an ordinary folks would. You do not loathe your country and enlist in a vocation that requires you to lay down your life for the nation you loathe. You ordinarily also do not dump a District Officer’s job and the obnoxious perquisites it offered in the colonial era to enlist in the army as a foot soldier out of spite.

As it turned out, the trajectories of Odumegwu-Ojukwu and the Nigerian Army were no ordinary. They might have been facilitated by the deft hands of a man with ambition, as some insist; they were also plotted by the gods or destiny, or the gods and destiny. Here was one born with platinum ladle in his mouth, trained in the citadel of British intellectual aristocracy with prospects for a glorious career in the ‘Senior Service’ but who instead chose to enlist in the Army against odds and strong parental objections. Dim Ojukwu eventually defined the nation and the army much as the army and the nation define him.

H.G. Wells, the Darwinian philosopher, had a rather dour perspective of the military. He magisterially surmised that intellectuals ought not to consider a career in the military to avoid premature ageing and banishing themselves from seminal thoughts. Wells curiously felt the army “age(s) men sooner than law and philosophy”.

To him, the concept of intellectual soldier is either a farce, an oxymoron or both. When Odumegwu-Ojukwu joined the Nigerian army in 1957, only few of his countrymen would have heard about H.G. Wells. Fewer still would have had strong opinions about the western law or philosophy. But many Nigerians instinctively understood why the road from to the barracks should not connect from Oxford. It is not surprising that Emeka, Fredrick Forsythe’s insightful biographical work on OdumegwuOjukwu, copiously dwells on the typical Nigerian perspective of the army in the 1950s and the stiff opposition Ojukwu got from his family when he mooted the idea of enlisting.

I read the glossy work of Fredrick Forsythe in 1983. At

By Akin Goldsmith

the time, NPN was the ruling party in Nigeria, Shehu Shagari was president and the subject of Forsythe’s biography had just been pardoned by the state. It was also a period of unfounded confidence and peculiar ironies for the party and the nation. Like NPC in 1965, NPN insisted it won a landslide victory in 1983, and made no bones about ruling the nation for another century. The penchant to dance at the precipice was revved to the zenith. In all the major particulars, 1983 could as well have been 1965 the year before Nzeogwu made the coup that installed Odumegwu-Ojukwu providentially at the government house in Eastern Nigeria.

It was 1983 and you did not expect Ojukwu to shout déjà vu or engage the Shagari administration on dialectics of repeated history. The political undertone of his pardon was discernible even to the blind. Besides, this is Africa and you don’t spit in the face of your benefactor especially one that had granted a pardon that took many years to come.

Since then, Nigerians have anticipated that the intellectual-soldier side of Ikemba Nnewi would oblige history with a memoir, to offer a peep into the thoughts of the man that shared a sizeable portion of the burdens of one of the major conflicts in post-independent Africa. The questions were legion on the expectant minds. How did the way lead from Oxford to the parade grounds for the young man in 1957? What are his personal thoughts on C.K. Nzeogwu and the gang of January 15, 1966? Aburi; was it the turning point that history says it is? Did the statement credited to Obafemi Awolowo on West following East in event of secession a part of consideration for the succession attempt?

Dim Ojukwu memoir would further provide answers to the questions on the tactical decisions of that war from the Biafran side on the rationale for push to the Lagos and making Victor Banjo, a Yoruba man, the arrowhead.

Did Biafra actually expect that Lagos would sit on its hands or decorate the Major with purple garlands on arrival just because of his name?

What were Ojukwu’s thoughts on the day a Nigerian armoured column was incinerated at Abagana and when Biafran soldiers successively whipped the Nigerian amphibian forces at Onitsha in 1968? Why did Biafra lose the war? Was it actually due to the activities of saboteurs as the Biafra war propaganda machine alleged? What

are his private thoughts Okoko Ndem? What thoughts kept him awake at night afterwards? When did the Commander-in-Chief know that the war was irretrievably lost? It would be interesting to know what Dim Ojukwu now thinks he could have done differently.

David Ben-Gurion, an unrepentant Zionist and first Prime Minister of Israel was not enamored with memoirs; he thought men mostly write them to doctor history.

But Ben-Gurion ended up writing one. The Victorian novelist, George Meredith, however had the opposite view. To him, history would always need the backstairs provided by memoirs and autobiographies to peep into the innermost chambers of leaders and re-capture private moments that had escaped the attention of biographers or court chroniclers. Historians would side with George Meredith that reconstruction of past events thrives on variety of the sources. A man is best suited to tell his own story, especially if he is a major driver in a monumental event of history like the Nigerian civil war.

Besides, it is left for historians to sift fact from fiction in a memoir.

I guessed Dim Ojukwu agreed with George Meredith when he pledged to offer history a memoir on the civil war at the official launch of his book Because I am Involved, in 1987 at the National Theatre, Lagos. Then he promised to give “the book” at the appropriate time.

History still awaits the promise three decades on, even as many Nigerians pray for Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s speedy recovery. Posterity also beckons Dr. Yakubu Gowon to tell his own story without which the sources of historical reconstruction of the war would be incomplete. They both owe it as a moral duty.

• Goldsmith writes from Bamikemo, Ile-Oluji

‘What were Ojukwu’s thoughts on the day a Nigerian armoured column was incinerated at Abagana and when Biafran soldiers successively whipped the Nigerian amphibian forces at Onitsha in 1968?’

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

22

EDITORIAL/OPINION

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NE of the qualities for which democracy is admired above other forms of government is its capacity to offer unfettered ambience for dissent. This quality is further reinforced in a multi party framework. The existence of many parties presupposes alternative persuasions as to how best to conduct the art of governance.

They provide alternative paradigms to the electorate and strive to convince them that their interests will be better served through them. Through these, they keep at check, the excesses of others thereby ensuring that the art of governance is conducted for public good.

If this philosophical background is the basis for the current posturing of the Imo State wing of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP on matters concerning governance in the state, then it is within its statutory calling. In the last couple of weeks, the PDP in Imo state has been shouting on top of the roofs about what it perceives as the excesses of Governor Rochas Okorocha. All of a sudden, it has assumed the role of an apostle of good governance and the conscience of the Imo electorate. It seems to have risen to the challenge that a government must be kept in constant check so as to make it accountable to the people.

Ordinarily, the current posturing of the party ought to be seen as one of those things that make democracy tick. But this conclusion would amount to an oversimplification of the matter. This is more so given the very recent antecedents of that party whose candidate Ikedi Ohakim had just been swept away through a popular electoral revolution.

During that period, the same PDP displayed a very high level of intolerance to dissenting views despite the atrocities that were being committed by that government against the citizens of the state. Ironically, some of the issues for which the party would now want to fault the government of Okorocha were the same issues the opposition raised and were dismissed with a wave of the hand by the party. Given this background, it would appear that the PDP is inherently encumbered in functioning in the capacity it currently presents itself. Its hands are soiled and therefore it is not qualified for the temple of justice One is not holding brief for the current government in Imo State as they are not lacking in people whose primary duties is to address some of the issues that have been raised.

Emeka OMEIHE 08058105720 email: EmekaOmeihe@yahoo.com

Imo PDP and Okorocha

But it would amount to an unmitigated insult on the sensibilities of Imo people for the same PDP to wake up three months after it has been humiliated in an election, to assume the conscience of the people on good governance. If it knew the right things, why was the Ohakim government – a monumental liability to the state such that the much orchestrated power of incumbency failed him when it mattered most? Why did that government not benefit from the fountain of knowledge which the PDP claims to be richly endowed? These are the searing questions.

Perhaps, the party has now become a born again apostle of good governance. That could well be. But this later day convert has a serious moral burden to discharge in its new assignment. First, it has to convince the Imo electorate that it is not out to settle scores.

This is more so against the backdrop of its strong aversion to criticisms during the years of the locust represented by the last regime.

One vividly recalls that in several write-ups, the Ohakim regime was taken to task on such issues as the purported offer of 10,000 jobs when the combined workforce of the government was barely 9000; the N40 billion bond; deductions from the local government allocations; several phony projects and kidnapping which had reduced the state to a verity of the Hobbesian state of nature.

That government was severally challenged to publish the list of beneficiaries of the job bonanza together with their places of deployment. Nothing of such happened even as each applicant had to cough out N4,000 in the name of processing fees.

Then also, the reaction of the same PDP to these issues of public interest was that they amounted to an affront on the person of the

governor. Such criticisms were then viewed as ‘the hurling of insults on the governor’ and an act of desperation by those who think they must always feed from the government.

Three months thereon, what can we make of the recent rantings of the same party in Imo state?

The insincerity of the PDP is further evidenced by the fact that some of the issues for which the new government would not be allowed sleep were traps deliberately and wickedly laid by Ohakim even after he had failed the election. Appointment letters were hurriedly issued and recognition given to over 100 autonomous communities on the eve of his departure so as to make it difficult for the incoming government to function.

Off course, the incoming government did not waste time to dismantle that booby trap.

Today, the suspension of the so-called 10,000 jobs and the bazaar in replicating autonomous communities are some of the ills the party is citing.

It is also hyping the issue of demonstrations from these ill motivated actions. Is that the path of a crusader of good conscience?

Perhaps, the most insincere of the issues raised by the PDP in Imo State is the insulting attempt to compare the Ohakim regime with that of Okorocha so soon after. The party had claimed among others that Okorocha travels in chartered flights, a practice they claimed Ohakim never contemplated. This is bare faced lie. In fact, if Okorocha really travels by chartered flights, he must have copied it from Ohakim. The issue needs not be overstretched as the facts are there for anyone that cares. Traveling by chartered flights was one of Ohakim’s trade marks.

But this is beside the issue. It would amount

to an unmitigated insult to the Imo electorate for anybody to be telling them so soon after of whatever value there was in that discredited regime.

This was a governor that came to power on a platter of gold. But instead of being sober and humble, arrogance and boastfulness held him hostage. He overestimated his worth within the power matrix in the state. He relied more on the so-called power of incumbencyan aphorism for cutting corners especially during elections. All of a sudden, he became a political colossus with a burning electoral value. But the euphoria and arrogance of power did not allow him to notice when the carpet was being pulled from under his feet.

Then, elections came. He went on stage and told all that cared that ‘he’ will give President Jonathan over 85 per cent of the Imo votes.

Note the emphasis on him as representing the entire Imo electorate. He delivered including the one cast by this writer.

But on his own the D-day, he could not deliver himself and was shown the way out.

That is the character the PDP wants to remind the Imo electorate of the pains he inflicted on them. What an irony of fate? In effect, it is good that the PDP is now in opposition in the state. It should taste opposition and see how it is. The next time around, if it finds itself in power, it will be better attuned to dissenting views. That seems to be the message in all these.

But Okorocha must convert these criticisms to advantage and rise to the challenges of the high expectations of the good people of Imo State in his government. His, is a very popular government and there is no reason Imo people will not get real value for the mandate they gave him.

‘The insincerity of the PDP is further evidenced by the fact that some of the issues for which the new government would not be allowed sleep were traps deliberately and wickedly laid by Ohakim even after he had failed the election’

VIEW FROM THE FOREIGN PRESS

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CAME to Kenya partly to help make a PBS documentary about empowering women as a way to lift families and communities — men included — out of poverty. And I promptly met a prostituteturned-businesswoman who epitomizes that theme.

Jane Ngoiri is a 38-year-old single mom who grew up in a slum and dropped out of school after the eighth grade. She married at age 18, but when she was pregnant with her second child, her husband informally took a second wife (polygamy is common for Christians here as well as Muslims), and she was nudged out. Jane soon found herself with small

‘There’s a tendency these days to give up on poverty, to dismiss it as a sad but inevitable feature of humanity, particularly at a time when we have deep economic problems of our own. But if a former prostitute in a Nairobi slum can build a dressmaking business, buy a home in the suburbs and produce over-achievers like Caroline, Anthony and Cynthia, then it’s worth remembering that sheer grit, and a helping hand, can sometimes blaze trails where none seem possible’

Sewing her way out of poverty

By Nicholas D. Kristof children, no home and no money.

To survive, she sold her body for the next five years. It was a perilous existence in Mathare, a collection of dangerous slums in Nairobi. The area, a warren of winding, muddy alleys, is consumed by crime and despair.

Regular jobs are rare, and many men selfmedicate in ways that perpetuate selfdestructive cycles of hopelessness. Social workers estimate that one-third of the slum’s men get drunk every night — spending about $1.50 an evening, which could otherwise finance their children’s education. Poverty becomes selfreplicating.

Then in 1999, Jane joined an antipoverty organization called Jamii Bora, which means “good families” in Swahili. The group, founded by 50 street beggars with the help of a Swedish woman, Ingrid Munro, who still lives in Nairobi, became Kenya’s largest microfinance organization, with more than 300,000 members.

But it also runs entrepreneurship training, a sobriety campaign to reduce alcoholism, and a housing program to help slum-dwellers move to the suburbs.

In Jamii Bora, Jane was pushed to save for the future, to lean forward. There is growing evidence that the most powerful element of microfinance is not microlending, but microsavings, and that’s how Jamii Bora starts: it encourages members to save small amounts, perhaps just 50 cents a week. Then members are coached to use those savings, coupled with loans and training, to start tiny businesses.

Jane learned to sew, left prostitution and

used her savings and a small loan to buy a sewing machine. She began buying secondhand wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses for about $7 each, and then cutting them up to make two or three smaller dresses.

Jane’s business flourished, and she used her profits to buy a small home in a safe suburb and to keep her children in school. Her eldest daughter, Caroline, became the first child in the family to graduate from high school and is now taking computer classes.

The intellectual star of the family is Anthony, the second child, who is ranked No. 1 in his class of 138 pupils at a good boarding school with much richer students. Anthony, a star soccer player even though he has no soccer shoes, hopes to go to college and become an engineer. He told me that when he gets his first paycheck, he’s going to buy something beautiful for his mom — and his eyes glistened as he spoke.

Another child, Cynthia, a seventh grader, has just been chosen by teachers to become head girl of her school next year, a tribute to her grades and leadership. Jane hopes to send Cynthia, who dreams of being a lawyer, to a good boarding school as well, but it’s difficult to see how she will pay all these tuition costs.

Careful research by Professor Esther Duflo of M.I.T. and other economists suggests that microfinance can chip away at poverty but is not a panacea. You see that in Jane’s life.

After I finished my interviews, catastrophe struck. Cynthia’s big toe was

mangled in a traffic accident, and ultimately it was amputated — a disfigurement in a country where people routinely wear sandals. Jane devoted every scrap of savings to medical costs — leaving Anthony unable to return to school.

Our documentary team took up a collection, and Anthony is now back in class. But the crisis was a reminder of how fragile the family’s gains are. Jane’s life reflects the lesson of mountains of data: overcoming poverty is a tumultuous and uncertain task, but it can be done.

There’s a tendency these days to give up on poverty, to dismiss it as a sad but inevitable feature of humanity, particularly at a time when we have deep economic problems of our own. But if a former prostitute in a Nairobi slum can build a dressmaking business, buy a home in the suburbs and produce over-achievers like Caroline, Anthony and Cynthia, then it’s worth remembering that sheer grit, and a helping hand, can sometimes blaze trails where none seem possible.

‘Jane’s business flourished, and she used her profits to buy a small home in a safe suburb and to keep her children in school. Her eldest daughter, Caroline, became the first child in the family to graduate from high school and is now taking computer classes’

SPANISH LA LIGA

Guinea will be Ike Uche nets very tough —Obuh historic goal Pg. 24

Pg. 41

Nation Monday, September 19, 2011

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•Okabare Blessing of Nigeria (r) is congratulated by fellow Nigerian runner Osayemi Damola (l) after Blessing finished in first place in the Women's 100 metres

ALL AFRICA GAMES

Nigeria ends in third place N

IGERIA dropped to the third place at the end of the 10th All Africa Games which ended on Saturday in Maputo, Angola, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Egypt, which had maintained the third spot before now, displaced Nigeria, while South Africa maintained its top position.

The medals' table released by COJA, the main organising committee, on Sunday, shows that Nigeria had a total of 98 medals -31 gold, 28 silver and 39 bronze.

Egypt, however, had a total of 66 medals -32 gold, 14 silver and 22 bronze. South Africa finished with 156 medals -- 61 gold, 55 silver and 41 bronze.

NAN reports that 808 medals were won comprising, 248 gold, 246 silver and 314 bronze.

Tunisia, Algeria, Kenya and Senegal placed fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively winning 68, 84, 50 and 33 medals.

Coming from the rear among the 36

countries are Togo, Sao Tome and Principe and Liberia with one bronze each.

The table also shows that swimming alone accounted for 74 medals, comprising 33 gold, 23 silver and 18 bronze, won by South Africa.

Nigeria, however, dominated in athletic events, where it topped the haul with 42 medals comprising 18 gold, 13 silver and 11 bronze.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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NATION SPORT

Eguavoen set to defend programme for Dream Team V

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ATIONAL U-23 coach Austin Eguavoen will on Tuesday defend his Olympic games qualifying programme before the Barrister Chris Green led technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation.

Eguavoen who at present is undergoing the ritual of becoming a chief in the Bini Kingdom said he has been excused to attend the meeting.

“I will be there on Tuesday, because there is a lot I need to explain to the committee on how I intend my programme to run” he said.

“You know this qualifying series is more of a championship and we are leave nothing to chance in ensuring that we pick a ticket to London 2012” the former Enyimba of Aba’s coach added.

Coach Austin Eguavoen had in July

submitted his qualifying programme to the Football Federation with a plan to commence camping from the home front with players from the Nigeria leagues.

According to the Media Officer of the Team, Arafat Aliu, the Technical crew had proposed a five week camping period of two phases with the first phase being at home before a possible one month intensive training tour of Europe.

“Plans are on to have the team camp in either Portugal or Turkey; this is one of the decision the Federations technical committee would be considering tomorrow” Arafat said.

He added that there are also plans to arrange friendly matches for the team

in the next two FIFA free windows. “The Federation says it intends to give the team exposure since 75% of the players are now based in Europe and as such plans are on to have the Dream Team V engage a yet to be named National sides in the FIFA free window of October which is the weekend of 8-10th October.”

“The idea which has been welcomed by most of the foreign based players is also to create a relationship with clubs so as to ensure prompt release of players in the future” he explained.

Eight teams will participate in the elimination tournament to be held in Egypt from 26 November to 10 December.

The qualified teams are hosts Egypt, Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.

'Retain Flying Eagles for the future'

A

FTER a not -too-impressive performance at the just concluded FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia, coach of the side, John Obuh has called on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to retain squad for the future.

Speaking to newsmen in Lagos at the weekend, the former Kwara United coach said the team that won the African Youth Championship (AYC) in South Africa, has the quality and team work to represent the country in international engagement.

"I will advice that they should keep this team, call it whichever name, look at it as a reserve Olympic team, so that if the country has an urgent engagement, they can fill in. It may have to do with friendlies, meant for U-23, they can be sent to play it. When the chips are down it will not be difficult to have a blend of the U-23

By Innocent Amomoh

and the flying Eagles to form a new Super Eagles team.

"If we allow them to just return to their various place like,, the continuity, understanding, and compatibility that team has enjoyed will be wasted," he said.

Though though expressing respect to other national teams, Obuh further explained that the team has the understanding that can not be compared with other teams.

"But the difference between my team (U-20) and other teams is the understanding that exists. If they are kept together to advance, they will make a very good team. If you want them to play in the Super Eagles, they can. I am not saying that those representing Nigeria at the U-23 are not good , but these players have the understanding that cannot be

compared," Obuh said.

He said this is evident in the case of the busiest national team player at the moment, Ahmed Musa, adding that the team work and understanding the VVV Venlo star enjoyed at the AYC and the World Cup cannot be quantified.

"For instance Armed Musa’s performance cannot be quantified when played for the Super Eagles compared to when he played for my team. He has a very good understanding when he plays for my team. We must encourage him by allowing him to play more with the people he has understood overtime. Super Eagle is there, U-23 is there, no problem, but arrangement should be made to see that these players are kept together.

I believe that in fews years to come, these players will form the core of the Super Eagles.

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFIERS

Guinea will be very tough,Obuhpredicts F

LYING Eagles’ coach John Obuh has declared that though the Super Eagles are up to the task ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against the Syli Stars, the Guineans will prove a hard nut to crack.

Though the Guineans had run away with a 1-0 win over the Eagles in the first leg in Conakry, the match in Abuja which is the decider for the group ‘B’ ticket to Africa’s most prestigious football competition is very crucial. Beating the Nigerians in their backyard may be a tall order.

Obuh explained that for Eagles’ coach Samson Siasia, the encounter will be a major test in his career, as he added that matches of this magnitude will either make or mar a coach.

“At every point in time in life i will put Siasia in prayer because he is one of my role model. I have asked myself what makes this coach thick, i forced myself to become his friend, and he reciprocated well.

“I like when situations are like this, it brings out the best in anybody.

Guinea match is expected to be a very

"There was a miscommunication with the referee, but nobody is perfect and this was a learning experience."

The bout at the MGM Grand was the first time Mayweather took to the ring in more than a year.

Prior to Saturday night's fight, Mayweather, 34, had won all 41 of

his professional fights and was a six-time world champion at five different weights.

Many had hoped Mayweather would fight eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. But disagreements over drug testing and other issues have repeatedly derailed the talks.

•Mayweather unleashes a right hand on during the fight Ortiz

By Innocent Amomoh

tough, yes, but that is the game that is going to make them. If nothing was at stake, and Nigeria wins, it will not have made any difference.

But this time, everyone is under pressure, but as far as i am concerned, and considering the quality of players, it is better to be in a tough situation, it makes you think and to be more committed. So I am looking forward to seeing Nigeria qualify,” On his new assignment as the man to coach the next U-20 team for another period, Obuh said he has not been giving any brief yet on when to commence work.

“One thing is that we accept what is being said, but you people don’t ask how it is being done. I expect you to be more investigative in your approach. I have accepted to remain as U-20 coach, it is your duty to now ask them to what extent have they gotten the coach involved in the agreement.

“You are press men, you have to be investigative; don’t leave everything to the coaches. Before you make one noise or the other as a coach, those that hired you will start firing you. That is by the way, the U-20 competition is coming next in two years, what stops us from starting now. If you ask me it is the best of time to start.

“Once I am briefed and things are done properly, I will kick-start affairs. I am always ready to do my job,” Obuh declared.

On how he intends to groom a new team he said: “It has been a very big concern for me because Nigeria has so many talents. At every point in time we can discover good players,” he said.

A

STON Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor has defended footballers’ millionaire wages – and said Hollywood stars get paid more.

The Birmingham-born player has been in the top flight with his boyhood club for six seasons, earning a fortune in the process.

Some footballers have admitted being embarrassed by the riches they earn on the pitch, but Gabby says his income is nothing compared to other high-profile careers.

“Look at actors and the NBA (US National Basketball Association). The amount they get paid is a lot more than footballers,” the 24-year-old told the Sunday Mercury.

“I don’t think you can look at footballers getting overpaid, whether it’s too much or too little.

“That just happens.”

The England international was speaking at an event to mark his appointment as Villa’s ambassador for Acorns Children’s Hospice, which cares for seriously ill children.

The kind-hearted striker is encouraging other players and fans to support the Birmingham-based charity this season.

And he said many other fellow footballers did use their vast wealth to help good causes – often with little recognition.

“There are a lot of footballers out there who don’t get the credit they

2011 OBUDU RACE:

Defending champions confirm November 26 Race

Mayweather knocks out Ortiz 2 F LOYD "Money" Mayweather Jr. remained unbeaten Saturday, knocking out Victor Ortiz in a fight that will be remembered for its controversial ending.

In the fourth round of the fight, Ortiz landed a flurry of punches on Mayweather and head-butted him.

Referee Joe Cortez deducted a point from Ortiz for what he deemed an intentional headbutt.

But as Ortiz appeared to be apologizing, he tried to hug Mayweather, lowering his guard.

Mayweather responded with a left followed by a quick right that sent Ortiz to the canvas.

Ortiz could not answer the referee's 10-count, and Mayweather became the new World Boxing Council welterweight champion in Las Vegas.

In the post-fight interview, Mayweather told HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant that, "in the ring, you have to protect yourself at all times."

When Merchant tried to press the boxer about the controversial ending, Mayweather berated him, telling him that "you never give me a fair shake." Mayweather also told Merchant, "You don't know anything about boxing."

Merchant replied, "I wish I was 50 years younger and I'd kick your ass."

Ortiz said he was blindsided by Mayweather and his knockout came as part of a miscommunication with the referee.

"There's two ways to look at it, but as far as I was concerned, I came here to entertain the fans, and I think they were entertained," he said.

•Awaits NFF on new assignment

Agbonlahor defends players over huge wages

010 Obudu International Mountain Race defending men and women champions Abebe Dinkesa and Meselech Haileyesus have confirmed their participation in the 7th edition of the race which holds on the 26th on November at the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obudu,Cross River state.

Dinkesa,an Ethiopian who set a then race course record of 41:45mins when he won his first Obudu title in 2008 and became a two-time winner last year is desirous of making history as the first

man to win the men's title three times in under 10 years.

'Abebe has confirmed that he will be coming to defend his title on November 26 when executive governor of Cross River state, Senator Liyel Imoke flags off the race on November 26 at the Obudu Ranch Resort',reveals Patrick Ugbe,the Cross River state Commissioner for Information and Orientation who is also serving as the media chief for the race.

Ugbe revealed further that Dinkesa's compatriot,Meselech Haileyesus,the defendimg women's champion has also confirmed she would be at the Obudu Ranch later this year.

'We are really delighted that the Obudu mountain race has continued to attract the best mountain runners in the world.With the huge support we are getting from His Excellency,I believe this year's race will be the best ever.The governor has charged the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to ensure the organisation of this year's race receives another positive commendation from the president of World Mountain Running Association,WMRA,Bruno Gozzellino',he said.

The Obudu International Mountain Race is organized by the Cross River State Government,in conjunction with the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN).It enjoys tremendous support from the African Athletics Confederation(CAA),the World Mountain Running Association,(WMRA) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The race covers a distance of 11 kilometres uphill to an altitude of 1,575 metres above sea level, taking you to one of the finest tourist destinations in the world, the Obudu Mountain Resort and remains the highest paying Mountain Race in the world, with star prize of $50,000 for both men and women.The star prize for the African Nation’s Mountain Running Championship is $15,000 for both men and women teams.

•Yakubu

deserve for what they do for charities,” he explained.

“Many footballers give a certain percentage of their money to charity.

They are sharing and helping charities.

“I made a donation last season but I don’t really want to talk about that.

“Even if people don’t make donations but go and see the charities and go and see the kids, I think that is worth more than just writing a cheque.’’

And he added: “I’m trying to get the message across, asking more people to donate to Acorns.

“I’m trying to get more involved myself, making appearances at the hospice.

“If I can put a smile on the faces of the children here, then that will be great.”

The striker has already made time to meet with families who need Acorns’ help.

He added: “When I visited previously I really tried to find out more about what was happening and the care they give to the kids.

“It is so good that Birmingham has this service. There should be Acorns in every city.”

Collins Edwin FC wins Samsung Cup, as Obuh hails organisers

I

T was Ibeh Smith’s brace that earned Collins Edwin FC of Lagos Island the title at the maiden Samsung Cup over the weekend at the National Stadium in Surulere.

However, the special guest at the final match, Flying Eagles Coach, John Obuh has hailed Samsung Electronics Nigeria for bankrolling the tourney as it would help to discover more players for the national teams.

The former Golden Eaglets handler, appealed to the organisers to set the age bracket for the participating teams in subsequent tournaments.

To emerge champion at the three-

day championship, Collins Edwin thrashed Surulere Grassroots Football Club 2-0 in the final match of the competition.

The scorer of the goals, Smith also won the golden award for his scoring prowess at the tournament.

Speaking at the event, Obuh said "I want to thank Samsung Electronic West Africa for carrying out this exciting football competition. The Samsung cup competition will help to expose and nurture young budding football talents that are hitherto hidden in the country” “I can assure you that they have great potential to go further with football as a career, this is the kind of thing we want in Nigeria, for corporate bodies to come to the aid of football house with different football initiatives that can bring out those raw talents for us to build our national teams on” said John Also speaking at the ceremony, the Managing Director of Samsung Electronic West Africa Nicholas Shin said that the grassroots football competition is going to be a continuous process adding that participants should expect more in the coming year.

He said that the competition is Samsung's little way of giving back to the community as well as nurturing the youths to reach their full potential in football.

The three- day competition was endorsed by the Lagos State Football Association and the final was attended

by Flying Eagles stars such as: Abdul Jeleel, Dami Paul, Philemon and Omoh Ojabu.

Cargolux Championship final sets LCC agog

T

HE 7th edition of the annual Cargolux inter-club squash tournament came to a glamorous close at the Lagos Country Club at the weekend, producing the most gruelling encounters in the history of the championship.

In the Men Category, Haniel Hadison of the Lagos Country Club emerged champion. He beat Billy Joseph of Police College Club in pulsating final games dubbed clash of the titans 3-2 to win the coveted trophy.

The Veteran Category meant for players 50 years and above, produced Tunji Agbeleye of the UNILAG Squash Club as the winner. Agbeleye defeated Mike Nwabuzor of Ikoyi Club, who had been the champion of that category since 2008, 3-0 to end his 3-year reign.

The championship featured 10 clubs including Apapa Club, Ibadan Recreational Club, Ikoyi Club, UNILAG Senior Staff Club, Police College Club, Obafemi Awolowo University Squash Club, Eagles Club, Ivory Health Club and the host, Lagos Country Club.

In his remark at the even marking the closing ceremony of the championship, Barr Wale Osomo, President, Lagos Country Club, commended Cargolux Merchant Express for sustaining the sponsorship of a competition that has continued to promote the game of squash in the country.

“With corporate organisations like this promoting squash, now is the time for the game to pick up in Nigeria. We cannot thank Cargolux enough for providing sponsorship support for this championship in the last 7 years,” Osomo said.

Mr Mike Adekoya, Chairman, Squash Section, Lagos Country Club, also lauded the organisation for supporting the championship. He said “what Cargolux has done in the annals of squash in this country remains indelible. In the last two days, we have seen squash played at the sublime level. This is very encouraging”.

The final ceremony of the championship coincided with the investiture of Capt Sina Akinfenwa, CEO, Cargolux Merchant Express Nigeria Limited, sponsors of the tournament, as the patron of Nigeria Squash Federation.

Blackburn boss praises Yakubu

B

LACKBURN boss gaffer Steve Kean has praised

Yakubu Aiyegbeni after his brace helped defeat Arsenal 4-3 in the EPL on Saturday.

The former Liverpool based player scored a goal in each half (25th and 59th) on his debut at Ewood Park.

"The Yak brings experience and know-how and he's clever. People

have a go at him for not moving but he's saving his energy and then when he does go he's very effective,' Kean said in his post match comments.

If Yakubu continues his good run and scores against Newcastle United in the sixth round of matches in the league, it would be his 100th league goal since he arrived England.

Omidiran gets sports committee post

H

ON. Ayo Omidiran has been appointed deputy chairman of the House Committee on

Sports.

Omidiran, a former NFA executive committee member and owner of women football team Omidiran Babes, was voted into Nigeria's House of Representatives at the last elections in April.

She replaces Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye,

who is no longer in the House.

Hon Godfrey Gaya, previously a member of the committee, was appointed the new chairman, replacing Hon Mohammed Bello Suleiman.

Omidiran is also a member of the FIFA Women's Football Committee as well as the FIFA Committee on the organisation of the Women's World Cup.

Uche nets historic winner

N

IGERIA striker Ikechukwu Uche scored the match winner Saturday that gave newly promoted Granada their first win in 35 years in the Spanish top flight.

Uche found target with a header in the 56th minute against Villarreal to give Granada their first points of the season after they lost their first two matches on return to the elite division.

Incidentally, the striker, who was later replaced after 73 minutes of action, is on loan from the team he scored against.

Granada, who also have Olympic international Odion Ighalo on their books, have now shot to 11th in the Spanish La Liga.

Their next game is away at Real Sociedad on Tuesday.

JOBS THE NATION

Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.com

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

25

• NICON Plaza

Insurance: Exit the old, enter the new The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has embarked on a campaign to get old workers out of the insurance industry. To CIIN, it is the season of youth and so they should be given an opportunity to lead the sector. AKINOLA AJIBADE reports.

T

HE clock is ticking for old workers in the insurance industry. The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has described a large percentage of the workforce as too old. According to CIIN, “they have passed the retirement age or are due to retire”.

Those who have attained the retirement age, it alleged, are employing subterranean means to keep their jobs. They lie about their ages and falsify the birth certificates to prolong. The workers, he said, have been doing this for long without being noticed.

The CIIN, the education arm of the sector, said the game is up for such workers. It said, it is putting in place mea-

sures to rid the industry of such workers to employ young graduates that will bring in the desired level of competence and output.

In a statement, the institute said it was high time old workers understood that they must go for the young. It made a case for the employment of young and highly qualified graduates to stimulate growth in the industry, adding that plans were underway to employ 5,000 new graduates in the next few years.

In its reckoning, aged workers are unyielding, burdensome and unproductive.

ItsDirector-General, Adegboyega Adepegba, said his mandate is to train and conduct examinations for young graduates,

as well as encourage operators to give them a chance to prove themselves.

He said the body would continue to encourage underwriters and brokers to engage fresh graduates to make up for the skills gap in the industry.

Adepegba warned that the industry would, in the next 10 years, grapple with an overaged workforce if the issue is not tackled now, adding that the development would impact negatively on operations of insurers. He said the succession programmes of many companies would be affected because old and less-qualified people would be running the business.

Relying on statistics, Adepegba said 60 per cent of the workers in the industry would

be due for retirement in a few years.

He said: “Our own bill, apart from training and conducting examinations, is to encourage operators to give the young ones a chance. This is because, from the statistics available to us, in the next 10 years, the industry workforce will consist of people that are 60 years and above, and this is not good for the industry. If about 60 per cent of the industry’s workforce will be aging – going towards 60 years, therefore, there is a dire need to inject new people into the industry. I think everybody has agreed on this. By the time we achieve all these, • Continued on page 26

26

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

JOBS

Insurance: Exit the old, enter the new •Continued from page 25

succession, planning and running of the companies will be made easier.”

Adepegba said the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and CIIN have started creating awareness on the issue, adding that the programme has made much impact in the industry. He said more people would be given the opportunity to enter the industry either through internship, youth service or as graduate trainees to ensure growth.

The industry, he said, was building a school to boost research, stressing that the school will help in training operators so they can compete with their colleagues outside the country. Adepegba said the body was committed to grooming professionals that will sustain the industry, adding that no effort would be spared in putting in place a strong workforce.

“You cannot do research in insurance in isolation, research

would have to look at the micro and macro economy. You have to look at the insurance itself, look at economy within which it is operating before you can conduct any meaningful research. And maybe it has to start from conducting research on products and the need of the industry. You really need to know what are the skill gaps where you can quickly put in place pre-requisite training programme. For instance, in oil and gas, there is a yawning gap in the skill required to do that job effectively. In the next few months the institute is going to do something to bridge that gap, there are so many other areas,” he added.

The former president of the institute, Mr Sunny Adeda, said it had become necessary for the Elders Forum to rise up to the task of improving professionalism in the industry.

The Elders Forum was constituted to improve the skills of operators. The forum comprises

• NAICOM DG, Fola Daniel

• CIIN DG Adepegba

members who have distinguished themselves in the industry.

Adeda said a meeting of the forum must be convened because CIIN believes the elders are repositories of knowledge on vital issues affecting the institute and the industry.

“We have made efforts to be in touch with the elders in our belief that the elders of our great institute will continue to be relevant

in the scheme of things, especially in their capacity as repositories of knowledge on some vital issues affecting the institute, in particular and the industry,” he said.

He said the forum would help in giving wise counsel to the younger generation of insurers, adding that the development would chart a new course for the industry.

Adeda said the involvement of

the elders in the search for a strong and competent workforce is a good omen for the industry, adding that firms would benefit from this initiative.

A former General Manager (Administration), Leadway Assurance Limited, Mr Ajadi Ajibade, said the industry needed stronger and more effective workers to achieve success. He said insurance is a sensitive area, which requires specialised skills, urging practitioners to improve their skills, if they are to compete favourably with their colleagues all over the world.

Ajibade called for the employment of young graduates, arguing that, with time, they would become, experienced and drive the industry to a greater height.

NAICOM’s spokesman Mr Lucky Fiakpa said the commission was in the forefront of bringing in fresh and creative minds to the industry. Fiakpa said the regulatory body has been advocating the employment of younger workers to address the staffing problem.

From all indications, the industry is trying to reposition itself for growth. It has taken a bold step to actualise its dreams, by targeting the employment of young graduates. The days of the aged workers are numbered. The question is: Will the older workers get the signal early enough before they are axed.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Unilever names Obi of Onitsha chairman

U

• Obi Achebe

NILEVER Nigeria Plc has named the Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, as its Chairman.

Achebe’s appointment has been described as a plus for the company, which is a big player in the conglomerate subsector for the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Before has appointment, the company had named Kwaku Boateng, David Okeme and Kasturi Sudarshan, directors of Customer Development; Brand

Building and Finance.

A statement by the firm’s Head of Media, Mr Yemi Adeboye, said Achebe would bring on board his professional experience spanning over 40 years.

“A strategic manager of men and other resources, Obi Achebe is an astute board room expert who is also widely travelled and has global views on business and other issues.

Obi Achebe, the statement said, joined the board of Unilever of Nigeria Plc in March 2003 as non-

executive director.

The Obi attended Government Secondary School Owerri, graduated BSC (Hons) Chemistry from Stanford University, California in 1966, and MBA, Columbia University, 1969.

He joined the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria in 1972 following after working in the US. He held senior positions in several strategic functions in Shell Nigeria, the Netherland and the United Kingdom.

He became an Executive Director of Shell Nigeria in 1981 and subsequently became director of several other shell companies in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, United Kingdom and Netherland.

He served on the governing councils of Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) and Nigerian Employers Consultative Association. He is the Chairman of Diamond Bank Plc, Universal Insurance Company Limited, among others.

CAREER MANAGEMENT

Hidden job market secrets

Ten new commandments for career success A

N important and recurring fact every person on the job market must factor in his/ her job search is the fact that over 80 per cent of vacant positions are not advertised. Your job search will be quick and rewarding if you have the skills required to uncover this hidden jobs. Networking is the key element.

Networking is not just about finding a new career opportunity that isn’t advertised. Networking is more than the hidden job market.

Being an active, engaged professional is smart executive career planning.

Networking can accelerate job hunting by bringing new challenges to a candidate’s attention even before an employer officially acknowledges reorganisation.

Sometimes until a new resource is identified, no thought is given to a restructuring.

It all comes down to being at the right place at the right time. Thus, the more one networks and is connected, the greater the probability of a new career opportunities being made available through inside leads.

Relationships are key to successful networking. The trust and con-

By Olu Oyeniran

fidence that colleagues share play a major role in networking being an effective job search method.

Credibility is definitely critical to a successful outcome for both the candidate and the employer. If a good relationship exists before the interest to collaborate, then the recruiting process is shorter, straighter and easier.

In today’s economy, the recruiting and hiring is often lengthy so making long term investments in good professional relationships can really pay off with a quicker hiring process for candidates already familiar with an organisation and known to key company players.

Moreover, the competition for openings is so fierce, that savvy networking may be the only way to win an advantage over the large numbers equally qualified candidates. If a prospective employee isn’t networked, they are at a disadvantage.

What does it take for executives and professionals to succeed in the current environment?

Keep networking If you recently completed a job

search, stay in touch regularly with those you met. If you can’t manage this, at least keep up with anyone with whom you felt a special affinity or sensed that you shared something in common.

The old school of long term employment, from graduation till retirement is a model that is out of date Keep networking, because you are going to need these contacts to help you learn of new opportunities and vice versa.

Technology is changing at warp speed To keep up with innovations and stay on the cutting edge, keep learning. Networking is an exchange of ideas and a learning experience.

Keep networking.

The world runs on relationships The more extensive and better quality your connections, the greater your advantage when it comes to finding out inside information, getting an early lead and being a part of the inner circle of knowledge. Keep networking.

In the final analysis, it is whom

you know not just what you know that equals success Stay in touch, be friendly, co-operate, and don’t burn any bridges.

Remember that networking is a two way street; it isn’t called a circle of contacts for nothing. Keep networking.

While a large active network is advantageous, practicalities dictate how much time and effort can be devoted to being a good (above) networker Be selective and cultivate relationships if they are better than average connections. Keep networking.

Establish networking as a priority It is not just socialising. Information is exchanged that has value to both sides in the transaction. Keep networking.

Be on the lookout for ways to stay in touch finding relevant data to exchange, even an appropriate article, cartoon or person Suggest that your network contact pass this along to their own network giving you exposure to their contacts that you don’t know.

Keep networking.

Networking with others in your industry probably is the best use of your job search time Be clear on your objective which makes it simpler for someone to know how to help you. You might be able to assist them now or in the future so keep networking.

Want to make a change in your career? The best way for that to happen swiftly is through a personal referral Let your network spread the word and keep networking to expand your exposure to new opportunities in the unadvertised or hidden job market.

This article was based on a presentation by By Debra Feldman of Job-whiz.com.

Olu Oyeniran is the Lead Consultant, EkiniConsult & Assoiciates.

Website: www.jobsearchhow.com E-mail: oluoyeniran@yahoo.com Tel 08083843230 (SMS Only).

FACILITY

PROGRAMME

PRAYER

Fashola’s wife inaugurates water project

Ekiti gears up for social security scheme

Monarchs, others in spiritual retreat

Lagos

28

Ekiti

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

35

Ekiti

36

Page 27

Email: news_extra@yahoo.com

•From left: Mrs Busola Ogundele, Chief Olu Odeyemi, Mrs Funso Amosun and Mrs Elizabeth Sonnubi at the seminar

S

OMETHING new is happening in Ogun State. Adire, a once vibrant local fabric which brought fame to the state, and then lost patronage, is staging a comeback. And driving this revival is the wife of the governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun.

The fabric, consisting of striking patterns, is associated with the Egba, but in time also became synonymous with the entire state, helping to lift its profile. Yet, as in many industries in the country at large, Adire lost patronage, its practitioners slipping into the precincts and near obscurity.

But there is a resurgence inspired by the Ibikunle Amosun administration which lays emphasis on generating jobs and shoring up the revenue base of the state. The governor’s wife led top government officials and several others to a seminar where the fabric was re-pre-

Job boost as Ogun revives local textile Adire fabric in resurgence From Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta

sented to the people in grand style. First, she turned out in a colourful outfit made of the fabric, complete with a remarkable headgear, also of the same cloth. So did other dignitaries at the event, one of whom the state Commissioner for Women Af-

fairs, Mrs Elizabeth Sonubi.

It was certainly a practical way to launch the comeback of the once prized fabric. But there was more to the seminar, organised by the state Ministry of Culture and Tourism, than merely donning the local textile.

Almost everyone who spoke extolled the merits of the Adire industry. Some said it is a gold mine from which to tap N1 bil-

lion annually. Everyone agreed that it will generate lots of jobs. Mrs Amosun, the Culture and Tourism Commissioner, Chief Olu Odeyemi, Mrs Elizabeth Sonnubi of Women Affairs laid out its profile.

The governor’s wife, in her speech, noted that the Adire fabric can contribute immensely to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and even that of the country if it is better processed and produced in line with global trends.

“Today, the Adire fabric has become synonymous to Ogun State,” she said.

“However, much is still to be done to reposition it to that much desired vantage position that will hit the international market and thus make its way into the wardrobes of many at the national and international levels.

“Much is still to be learnt from our •Continued on Page 28

Senator floats Ekiti development scheme

I

•Senator Ojudu

N a bid to inspire the youth of Ekiti State to realsie their potential and contribute to the development of the state, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District, has initiated a leadership development scheme.

Initiative of Babafemi Ojudu for Leadership Development (iBOLD), is aimed at giving the youth the opportunity to contribute towards the socio-economic development of both the state and the country at large.

The initiative has inaugurated an annual essay competition for students of the state’s origin in tertiary institutions.

This, according to a release made available to Newsextra, is to enable them make suggestions and recommendations through critical, development-based essays on how

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado Ekiti

to develop the state.

Before now, Ojudu had floated other empowerment programmes for many communities.

The release said: “This is a project dedicated passionately to help young people express their creativity, aspirations and ideas. It is an opportunity to promote literary and academic excellence and a demonstration by them of an awareness of key national developmental issues.”

The students are expected to write an essay entitled “Turning Ekiti Around: A New Generation Agenda.”

The competition is designed to reward the

spirit of creativity and excellent scholarship in the Ekiti youth.

Besides, it is to serve as a springboard for calling forth young, hitherto unknown and uncelebrated heroes to air their views on any matter that could lead to societal development. It will also enable them to unbound their talents and creative voices on matters about the development of Ekiti State.

The senator said the iBOLD essay competition was designed to raise awareness on, and encourage ethical and developmental values which lie at the core of his Ekiti Rebirth Organisation (ERO) ethos.

It will also will be an avenue to discover •Continued on Page 28

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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Fashola’s wife inaugurates water project

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MID funfair, two units of borehole water facilities equipped with 2.5KVA generator sets have been inaugurated by the wife of Lagos State governor, Mrs Abimbola Fashola. She described the project, which was donated to the people of Oremeji Street by the Managing Director of Core Media Services, Mr Olajide Adediran, as a noble humanitarian act worthy of applause and emulation.

The commissioning attracted local Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftains, traditional rulers and community leaders, women groups and youths, who described the donor as a responsible youth, who takes delight in ploughing back to the society that bred and nurtured him.

Mrs Fashola said: “This is a heart-warming and noble act. It is the manifestation of the harvest of the private-public partnership

By Emmanuel Oladesu

initiative of the Fashola administration aimed at accomplishing the mega city project. The mega-city project can only be actualised through the cooperation of the people with government”.

The governor’s wife enjoined the people to make judicious use of the facility.

“The lucky residents are assured of good water,” she said. “You should use it efficiently and ensure its safety. I also call on individuals and private organisations to emulate the gesture of the Core Media Services. We need this type of intervention in education, health and environment”.

Mrs Fashola advised parents to bring up their children properly to become responsible citizens, adding that they should make

This is a heart-warming and noble act.

It is the manifestation of the harvest of the private-public partnership initiative of the Fashola administration aimed at accomplishing the mega-city project

sacrifice to educate their wards.

The chairman of Mushin Local Government, Hon. Babatunde Adepitan, who taught Adediran at Bishop Aggrey Secondary School, Mushin, said that he was not surprised at the philanthropic gesture of his old student, recalling that he was a diligent and responsible student.

“Jide is not the only person God has blessed. But he remembered his community.

Although he is not living here again, he has brought life to this place because water is life,” he added, thanking the donor and urging other well-meaning people to emulate him.

At the ceremony anchored by the ace comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka, were the chairman’s wife, Dayo; Mrs Bimpe Bamgbose, Mrs. Ronke Ganiyu Solomon, Mrs Ladun Ogunbanwo, the Baale of Igbehin, Chief Wasiu Olalekan, Chief Fatai Omopariola, Chief Olu Fagbohun, Chief Oladele Dasaolu, Chief Imam Jamiu Adedayo and Jide Oloko.

Adediran, a former broadcaster with the Lagos State Television, said that he was moved by the shortage of amenities in the local areas when he accompanied Fashola in his maiden tour of the local governments on assumption of office in 2007. He said since then he had had it in mind to help his community.

Adediran told the members of the community that the boreholes would supply 30,000 litres of water daily. “There is the need to plough back to society and comple-

Job boost as Ogun revives local textile •Continued from Page 27

Chinese brothers and other countries whose fabrics have made remarkable success in the national and international market. Modern technology also exists for the Adire makers to tap into to increase speed of production, quality and lessen the burden of human labour.

“Economically, Adire has become an income earner and provider of jobs to the many who have thought it wise to make a profession out of it. I strongly believe that the future holds much to be desired in the industry,” Mrs Amosun said.

No fewer than 5000 persons – men and women, young men and ladies, across the state are engaged directly or indirectly in the Adire craft. And the bulk of them are concentrated in Itoku, Kemta and Asero areas of Abeokuta, the state capital.

And over a quarter of that number attended the seminar

targeted at taking Adire business from near obscurity to global relevance for enhanced income, employment generation and culture–tourism.

The proprietor of Ojubo Adire, Mrs Funmi Craig, one of the resource persons, said Ogun State can generate N1bn annually from Adire making but cautioned that the prospect would not come to reality if the mode of producing it remains static as it has been since 1830 when the Egba people began to pay less than passive attention to the trade.

Mrs Craig, a major stakeholder in manufacturing and merchandising of Adire fabrics locally and internationally, lamented that the “technology and technicality of making Adire has not changed,” saying “63 per cent of producers in Abeokuta and elsewhere in Ogun still use manual system.”

She said for the Egba people to become global players in the making of Adire, there should

steady modernisation of their production process to meet the “quality and standard of global markets.”

Citing Pakistan, India, China, Yugoslavia, Pennsyvania in USA as examples of where technology and expertise have been brought to bear upon the making of Adire fabrics, Craig said the time has come for local producers to undergo trainings abroad.

She said there should be “minimum standard and template” for Adire makers to comply with so that it does not become an allcomers’ affair.

Commissioner Odeyemi who noted that the untiring commitment of women and men in Itoku, Asero and Kemta Adire markets have kept the age-long heritage alive, expressed the optimism that if the trade is harnessed, it would create more job opportunities to teeming youth population in the state.

•Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi with his Commissioner for Works, Mr Callistus Ilozumba inspecting failed portions of road at Ochanja, Onitsha PHOTO: OBI CLETUS

•Mrs Fashola ment the efforts of the state government. I did this, not because I want to contest, I am not saying that politics is not good. But all of us cannot become politicians. I am fine as the MD of Core Media”.

The secretary of the “Ijoko Agba”, a group in the community, who read the address of the chairman, Elder Famakin Olayinka, thanked Adediran for his act of generosity and implored the state and local governments to complete their projects in the area for the benefit of the people.

•Continued from Page 27 the potential that abound in youths of the state who would participate meaningfully in the state’s development He said: “There have been empowerment programmes in Ekiti Central Senatorial District, which are designed to assist all sections of the populace from unemployed graduates to market women, farmers, traders and other segments of the society. This is a complementary effort towards sustained poverty alleviation/ citizens’ empowerment programmes of the administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi in the state.

“In fact, there is already a database of categories of the unemployed in the district and I am aware this is being replicated in other districts and federal constituents of the state.

“The essay competition is meant to serve as indirect empowerment programme for bright minds in our tertiary institutions who, though very talented, may not have the material and financial support for meaningful focus on their studies.”

In a telephone chat, Olusola Timileyin, one of those who submitted an entry, told Newsextra: “I think the effort of the Senator is commendable. This will make more students more serious, especially when they see that it is not a fluke. This idea should continue.”

Newsextra further learnt that winner of the competition would receive N500,000 and brand new laptop while a second-placed winner gets N300,000 and a brand new laptop. Third and fourth positions would equally walk away with N150,000 each with accompanying brand new laptop sets while 5th placed contestant gets only a brand new laptop.

It was stated that entries would be j u d g e d based on elements such as convincing

Senator floats Ekiti development scheme and persuasive narrative plot, awareness of key developmental issues central to Ekiti State; while masterful use of the English language suitable to the subject and level of education shall equally be accorded prime consideration.

The release noted that names of 20 topmost successful participants would be announced as assessors had gone far in the exercise. The 20 who would emerge at this level would then write the second phase of the essay in which they would face normal examination condition of strict timing and invigilation.

According to the release, the competition would climax in a grand ceremony which holds this month where cash prizes would be presented to worthy winners.

Intending participants in iBOLD Annual Students’ Challenge have been encouraged to make enquiries from the Project Manager, 33, Textile Road, AdoEkiti, Ekiti State or contact 2348091770582.

However, President of Federation of Ekiti State Students’ Union (FESU), Comrade Ayiti Adebayo has commended Senator Ojudu for coming up with such an innovative idea designed to empower the youth most of whom are indigent and who could not afford the cost of their education.

He said: “We commend the Senator for the brave efforts.

However, we want to appeal that the process of grading and assessment of entries should be fair to all and successful entries should not reflect party or religious affiliation.”

THE NATION

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

12-year-old wins NNPC award

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HE 12-year-old daughter of Warri, Delta State-based veteran journalist and TV reporter, Mr. Godwin Oruma has emerged the overall best pupil and winner in the 2009/2010 Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Unity staff schools competitive examination in Mathematics, English Language and the sciences in Nigeria.

Miss Chojakeme Oruma won the contest after defeating nearly 1,000 other contestants who participated in the examination.

Hundreds of high-performing students from NNPC schools across the country competed for the prize.

For her sterling performance, Miss Oruma was rewarded with a brand new HP Desktop computer, a suit case and cash prize of N20,000 as well as a commendation letter from the management of the NNPC. In the award letter signed by

From Shola O’Neil, Warri

Mr. Peter Odijoji, the company congratulated Miss Oruma for her outstanding and excellent performance in the keenly contested examination.

It read in part: “On behalf of the corporate management of NNPC, I congratulate you on your excellent performance during the Unity examination held in July 2010.”

In her reaction, Miss Oruma described her success as a result of the strong foundation laid by her former school as well as her seriousness with her studies, stressing that she was determined to be the best.

Also reacting to the news, headmistress of the NNPC Staff School, Ekpan-Warri, Mrs. P O Momoh, said she was not surprised as the winner was an excellent pupil who carried out her assignments and studies diligently.

•Headmistress, NNPC Staff School, Ekpan, Momoh (left) with Miss Oruma, winner of NNPC education award

On his part, Mr. Godwin Oruma, veteran journalist with the Independent Television, Benin, thanked God for the

success of his daughter, who is now a JSS 2 student at the Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State.

He promised to continue to steer her in the right path to educational excellence and greatness.

HIV/AIDS: Lawmakers move against discrimination

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HE Ondo State House of Assembly has received a bill to prevent the people of the state from discriminating against people living with HIV/ AIDS or PLWHA. Already, the bill which has entered its first reading is also to ensure that people of the state are adequately enlightened on the need to shun indiscriminate sex.

The Chairman, House of Assembly Committee on Health, Adeyinka Banso, said the bill would address the discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS from getting jobs from both government and private establishments.

According to him, the bill will bar private and governmentowned companies from discriminating against people liv-

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

ing with HIV/AIDS from being employed.

Banso lamented the high level of intolerance against people living with HIV/AIDS, adding that

the House would ensure speedy passage of the bill.

He explained that since HIV/ AIDS cannot be contacted through hugging and eating together, it is wrong for people to discriminate against people liv-

The bill, when finally passed, will go a long way in stopping discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. The bill will ensure that people living with HIV/AID are not rejected by various companies

•The ‘birthday boy’ Alhaji Razak Gawat (second left) assisted by Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) commissioner, Alhaji Musbau Oyefeso; Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Mrs Oluranti Adebule (second right) and Alhaja Bola Muse during the 50th birthday ceremony at City Hall, Lagos PHOTO: TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO

ing with the disease.

He said: “The bill, when finally passed, will go a long way in stopping discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. The bill will ensure that people living with HIV/AID are not rejected by various companies.

“It is very wrong for companies to reject people living with HIV/ AIDS. Since there are ways the disease can be contacted, the bill

will make it illegal for such people to be rejected.”

Banso added that the state government has engaged the services of 28 medical doctors to boost the health sector in the state.

He noted that despite the issue of minimum wages, the state government did not hesitate to endorse the recruitment of the new medical doctors.

‘Community’s shoreline problem over soon’

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HERE is apprehension in the riverside Ayetoro community in Ilaje Local Government Area in Ondo State over the problem of sea incursion in the area, but the contractor handling its shoreline protection project has however assured the people of early completion of the project before December this year.

The contract for the project was awarded to the Dredging Atlantic Company (DAC) through the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to curb the perennial sea incursion which has endangered the community.

But, the spokesman of the company Mr. Oladele Obadiah told reporters that with the level of work done, the project would be completed in the next few months.

He said: “Work has been going on at a fast speed with all equipment already moved to site for the quick completion of the project.”

Obadiah further said the contractor was currently laying about 2.8km pipeline from the shoreline pit in Ugbo-Nla Zion to Ayetoro community.

He assured that within the next o n e month, laying of p i p e s would be completed a f t e r w h i c h back filling of the coast line within the community would be executed.

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

The spokesman however said the major challenges confronting the contractor were scarcity of sand at various identified areas of silica deposit.

Obadiah however appreciated the support of the host community, stressing that the project would be completed on time.

With the level of work, the project would be completed in the next few months…Work has been going on at faster speed with all equipment already moved to site for quick completion of the project

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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Lagos launches empowerment scheme T

• Governor Fashola

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Govt to lift health centres `

HE Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Hon Alake Adeyemo, has said that the state government would not relent in its effort to improve the standard of health centres in the state.

The deputy governor spoke during a resuscitation programme for Comprehensive Health Centre, Sepeteri, popularly known as UCH Sepeteri.

The programme was organised in partnership with the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan to lift the health centre.

Also at the event were the Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Otunba Bamidele Dada and the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Saki East Local Government area of Oyo State, Hon Wahab Adebayo.

Adebayo, who praised the state government and UCH for the partnership, said medical

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HE Lagos State government has launched a four-component empowerment programme for tradesmen and artisans, saying that the move is geared towards improving the service delivery of the informal sector.

Permanent Secretary Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Wale Raji, who launched the scheme at a stakeholders forum organised for tradesmen and artisans, held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, said the scheme would focus on four areas such as, equipment acquisition, capacity building, identification and registration as well as welfare and insurance scheme.

According to him, “Tradesmen and artisans constitute an important aspect of our

Oyo activities in the centre had been poor because of many problems such as obsolete medical facilities.

“One is saddened by the turn of events at UCH Sepeteri as activities in the centre have been brought to a halt because of obsolete and poor medical equipment. The state government’s partnership with UCH Ibadan to lift the health centre would go a long way to improve health care in the community”.

The Chief Medical Director UCH, Ibadan, Prof Temitope Alonge , said the health centre would soon witness new lease of life as more drugs and equipment would be provided there soon. He also said more medical personnel would be deployed to the centre.

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HE Ekiti State government has established a Data Capturing Centre(DCC) to know the number of the elderly in the state for immediate take-off of the Social Security Scheme for the aged.

The government said enumerators had been despatched to all the 177 wards to compile the names of those that are above 65 years and sent to the DCC for computerisation, so that the elderly in the state could have free access to healthcare services and monthly remuneration for their upkeep.

The Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Hon Funminiyi Afuye, who made this known in Ado Ekiti while being conveyed round the facilities at the centre said, the state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi will soon send a bill to the House of Assembly for passage into law to consolidate the programme.

He said the programme needs a legal backing to enhance its sustainability , so that other successive governments would embrace the scheme that was established to give comfort to the elderly.

Lagos

By Miriam Ndikanwu

lives. We enjoy their services on a daily basis and we want to set the pace as the Centre of Excellence. This is the only state that sets a day aside to celebrate tradesmen and artisans and paramount on our agenda is to move them to the next level.

Raji said the state was in talks with Stanbic IBTC Bank to help artisans acquire modern technology equipments in order to upscale their operations just as he revealed that an insurance welfare scheme is also in the offing to guard against unforeseen losses and incidents.

He said the state government will also embark on identification and registration of all tradesmen and artisans in the state to enable government to evolve adequate plans and strategies to aid the sector.

On capacity building, Raji stressed the need for artisans to be updated with current trends and skills, saying that the trend of technology evolving on a daily basis demands for consistent training and retraining.

In her remark, state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs OlusolaOworu, said it was imperative for the government to respond to the need of the sector as it has become a key player in the growth and development of the state economy.

•From left: Guest Lecturer, Hon Opeyemi Bamidele; Mrs. Iyabo Fasehun; Dr Frederick Fasehun and Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko during the inauguration of Frederick Fasehun Annual Lecture in Akure

NDE trains 5,000 youths

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HE National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Osun State has trained more than 5,000 youths for its Rural Employment Agricultural Scheme.

The irectorate’s Acting Coordinator in the state,Mr Isaac Odebiyi,told jourrnalists in Osogbo that the youth underwent training at the

‘Islamic Banking has no link with terrorism’

HE Chief Operating Officer, Lotus Capital, Mr Taofeeq Agbaje has chided those who said that the introduction of Islamic Banking system in Nigeria would aid terrorism.Agbaje said it is evil thinking to link Islamic Banking with terrorism.

He spoke during the special monthly lecture organised by The Criterion, an association of Muslims in business and profession at the Mosque pavilion of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Alausa, Ikeja.

“We feel offended when people link Islamic Banking with terrorism. Nobody has ever accused conventional banks of sponsoring terrorism which is possible but because this has to do with Islam now, such issue is being raised.

These are institutions and some of us are professionals. You think a professional banker will fund terrorism. People forget that there are regulatory bodies that monitor banking activities,” Agbaje said.

He boasted that the country will benefit more from the system.

“The country stands to gain a lot from Islamic Banking system. The greatest problem facing the country today is infrastructure and it is difficult getting fund from conventional banks for this purpose, this is another area Islamic banking would be helpful,” he said.

Criterion National Amir (President) Alhaji Ahmed Tunde Popoola believed that Islamic banking would aid participation of more Nigerians especially people in the North whose doctrine is against the conventional banks because of interest.

“There are 24 commercial banks in Nigeria with

Lagos

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

5,400 branches. The banks are concentrated in one region out of the six regions in Nigeria.

About 40 per cent of those branches are in the South-West, specifically there 2, 200 branches out of the 5, 400 branches in the West alone, whereas in the North-East, there have about 350 branches which is just about six per cent.

That means there is high level of disenchantment and dislike for the conventional banks in the northern part of the country where there is heavier concentration of Muslims. “ If you introduce the Islamic finance system which principle is in line with their faith, those who have been running away from the conventional banks will now have the opportunity to participate in the Nigerian financial system,” he said.

The state district’s Amir, Alhaji Wale Sonaike, asserted that Islamic Banking is meant to bail people out of poverty.

Sonaike said it would interest Nigerians to know that two-third of the beneficiaries of Islamic Banking today are non-Muslims.

“When statistics showed that over 75 nations operate Islamic Banking and majority are nonMuslim states. How many Muslims are there in South Africa, Kenya, France, London and other western nations operating Islamic window finance?” he querried.

• From left: National Naibul Amir (Vice President) The Companion, Alhaji Musbau Oyefeso, Managing Director, Optimum Exposures, Alhaji Lere Alimi Agbaje and Alhaji Fatai Owodunni at the event

Osun centre established in Osogbo in 2009.

He explained that the centre focused on arable and livestock farming, and added that the trainees were attached to relevant establishments for a period of three months “to sharpen their knowledge”.

Odebiyi further said that the participants were exposed to the practical aspects of rabbit rearing, poultry, fishery, bee-keeping and cultivation of cassava and plantain, among others.

“The programme involves both graduates and non-graduates, and it is an all-year round exercise designed to make people to be selfreliant.

“Depending on the availability of funds, the directorate considers it fit to give beneficiaries resettlement loans to enable them to start a business of their choice.”

The acting coordinator, however, said that those who trained in fishery and poultry seemed to get more attention in loan disbursement at the end of the programme.

He emphasised that the Federal Government, through the NDE, encouraged training in rural agriculture for interested individuals to reduce unemployment.

ICT firm for relaunch

By Paul Oluwakoya

From left: Group Chairman Riverdrill Group, Prince Tonye Princewill; Chief Operating Officer, Beeta Universal Arts Foundation, Bikiya Graham-Douglas; Chief Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas and Managing Director of Sahara Energy Resource Limited, Tonye Cole, after the play: Castle In The Air, by Beeta Foundation, at Terra kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos

Badagry residents advised on polls

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ESIDENTS of Badagry in Lagos State have been admonished to keep faith with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and not to sell their votes to parties that do not mean well for them.

Alhaji Adio Igboro, a popular community leader in Adio Village, OttoAwori, Ijanikin, Lagos State, who is also a chieftain of the ACN made the charge while speaking on the various problems affecting Nigerians.

Specifically, he told Badagry residents and indeed, others in the state to vote for ACN candidates in the next councillorship/chairmanship polls in order to ensure speedy development of the community and the state in general.

According to Igboro, the performances of the ACN-controlled administrations especially in the Southwest have convinced all that the party is the only one in the country today with genuine interest of the people at heart.

“Our party has shown all that the best use of a mandate is for the welfare of the people. This is why our people must vote en masse for ACN in the coming councillorship and chairmanship elections in order to sustain the growing culture of service in the land,” he said.

At the national level, he advised the

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Lagos

By Dada Aladelokun

Federal Government to consult with the state governors on how best to ensure infrastructural development in the country because they are closer to the people.

As a way of finding a lasting solution to the lingering attacks by men of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Igboro suggested that to solve the problem, government must first find out their motive before talking about solving the menace.

“The way things are going in this country is worrisome. The people are not happy at all. Is it bad roads or poor power supply that has crippled many businesses in the country, thus leading to escalation of crimes one will talk about?

It is time the F e d e r a l Government realised that there are a lot to do in terms of improving the welfare of Nigerians,” he said. •Adio

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business support services and Information Communication Technology (ICT)firm listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange (South Africa) is set for a relauch in the country.

This follows Morvest’s Nigeria introductory launch in Lagos in June this year. The event will host as special guest of honour, Mrs Omobola Johnson the Minister of Communication and Technology in Abuja later this year.

At a news conference, the Managing Director of the company, Mr Louw Cilliers, disclosed that the company’ expansion strategy is geared toward increasing its investment in Nigeria, particularly on infrastructure and manpower development, through considered investment into and partnering with local Nigerian companies.

“Morvest has the capacity and expertise to transfer technology to Africa markets such as Nigeria and so help bridge the technology gap currently preventing African business from competing effectively worldwide.

“We have hundreds of direct and indirect staff and we plan to employ more through this expansion strategy in Abuja. All our employers are Nigerians. Our contracts are primarily awarded to Nigerian companies. “he said.

Speaking on the company’s move to extend its service beyond sim and smart card voucher production,he said:“Originally Moverst’s service in Nigeria was limited to cards production but the upcoming launch on September 20 will initiate Morvest’s Business Innovations and Group (BIG) into Nigeria with specialties in professional advisory, consulting, governance and training services”.

Ekiti gears up for social securityscheme Ekiti From Damisi Ojo, Ado-Ekiti

Afuye disclosed that the compilation and computerisation of the exact number of elderly in the state for effective budgeting proposal to prosecute the scheme.

He added that the governor introduced the scheme in his strive towards making the state a balanced society as obtainable in advanced climes.

The commissioner assured that the programme would be devoid of political colouration, as all the registered elders would benefit regardless of their political leanings and religious beliefs.

•Governor Fayemi As away of improving the economy of the state, the state government has constituted a 17-man economic team under the chairmanship of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Funmi Olayinka to serve as think-tank on economic matters.

Free tutorials for secondary school pupils

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member of the Action Congress Of Nigeria(ACN) in the Oyo State House of Assembly,Mr Femi Adelakun,has organised free tutorials in all public junior and senior secondary schools in the Afijio Local Government Area of the state.

Hon Adelakun announced this at a meeting with principals of the schools, and representatives of Parents Teachers

Council moves against rape

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HE wife of Oye Local Government Area, Mrs. Olubukola Adekoya, has constituted a 12-member task force to sensitise residents of the council on the evils of rape and sexual harassment.

Mrs Adekoya inaugurated the task force after a public lecture on Rape and Sexual Harassment among Youths and Teenagers, organised by her at the legislative building of thecouncil.

The task force whose members were picked from the 12 wards of the local government were charged to enlighten the people of the negative consequences of rape and sexual harassment on the socio-economic growth of individuals and the society at large.

The lecturer of the day, Mrs T.A. Ayinde, had earlier charged victims and relations of victims of rape and sexual harassment in the area to complain at the Human Rights Centre in the council.

The lecturer who hoped that the state House of Assembly would soon pass a law with stiff penalties for the evil acts, lamented that the lives of many maidens had been ruined in the area in the past because rapists had always had a field day.

The wife of the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Owolabi, who graced the occasion, also expressed her worry at the increasing rate of rape and sexual harassment being perpetrated in the area, describing it as “alarming and frightening”.

She urged her audience, consisting of representatives from all the wards in the area, to take the message of the lecture back to their various wards.

Academy holds luncheon

Oyo From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo

Associations (PTA), in Ilora.

Hon. Adelakun said the gesture was borne out of his concern for the poor standard of education in the state, which according to him, required “holistic approach” to tackle.

“Teachers for core subjects like English, Mathematics, Sciences are grossly inadequate, while most classrooms are not only unfitting for human habitation, but not conducive for meaningful learning. Enthusiasm needed for effective teaching are not there for teachers, as most of them handle their jobs with levity, or

lacking the commitment.”

The lawmaker pointed out that in addition to free extra- tutorials which would be between the hours of 2.00p.m and 5.00p.m awards for best students in some key subjects would also be instituted.

Similarly, Hon. Adelakun disclosed that principals and teachers would not only be greatly motivated, especially those in the core rural areas, special package would soon be unfolded for those who are diligent to duties.

He directed principals of the schools to engage the services of labourers to clear their environment and furnish his office with the amount it would cost, for prompt release of money.

Lawmaker remembers constituents

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OR her gift of two pieces of roast plantain to Dr. Ifeoluwa Arowosoge, who represents Ekiti South West, Ikere and Ise/Orun Federal Consistency 1 in the House of Representatives, Mrs Mary Ojurongbe has got a grinding machine in return. It was at the lawmaker’s thanksgiving ceremony held in Ilawe Ekiti recently.

The woman had, during Arowosoge’s electioneering campaign, presented him with two roast plantain (boli) without collecting the money offered her by the politician for the plantain.

For the N80 plantain which earned her the machine that is worth N100, 000 in appreciation of her contribution to the politician’s campaign, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde, Arowosoge’s friend from Abuja who felt impressed by the woman’s gesture, also gave her N20, 000. The people of the constituency who turned out in their hundreds in Aso Ebi were filled with joy. It was a gathering of who is who.

The lawmaker who used the occasion to flag off empowerment programmes for indigent citizens of his constituency donated three complete computers sets to the best schools in School Certificate Examination (SCE) in his constituency in 2011 “to encourage them to do more and also to encourage them on ICT.” Not a few politicians from his constituency smiled home with cash gifts from the lawmaker.

The beneficiaries of the computer sets are: St. Louis Secondary, Ikere; United Comprehensive

Ekiti

By Dada Aladelokun

Schools, Ise-Ekiti and Campus Secondary School, Ilawe-Ekiti.

Ilawe-based clubs - Progressive Society and Achiever Sisters Club appreciated the lawmaker’s gestures with awards.

The Principal, St. Louis, Ikere, Mrs Margaret Oluwakemi Alonge was full of joy and praises for Arowosoge’s unprecedented gesture. She added that with the computer gift, the school would strive harder to maintain its academic standards.

The lawmaker vowed to ever remain committed to contributing to the growth and development of the area. He added that his gesture was to complement Governor Kayode Fayemi‘s efforts at raising standard of education in the state. “When you give education to a person, it has multiplying effects as it will engender development in the society,” he said.

He said work had commenced on empowering the teeming youths of his constituency by giving out loans to support their chosen vocations.

Earlier at the St Patrick Catholic Church, Ilawe Ekiti where a thanksgiving mass was held, the Catholic Priest, Rev. Rev. Father Julius Adewumi who described Arowosoge as a Godfearing man also commended him for appreciating his people’s support.

By Adejo David

T

HE Academy for Entrepreneural Studies has held its monthly business luncheon for September at Protea Hotel, 22, Awolowo Road, Southwest Ikoyi, Lagos. The meeting has become a platform for stakeholders to discuss issues affecting the economy as the country aims to become one of the most developed economies come 2020.

Addressing the gathering, the chairperson of the AES Excellence Club, Dr. Nike Akande, said: “We have positioned ourselves to believe that if the nation is to be placed in the limelight of sustained economic growth and development to meeting the objectives and targets of the vision 20: 2020, then all hands must be ready to support the government for the realisation of this dream.”

Dr. Akande thanked participants as well as the Director- General of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Dr. Joseph Odumodu for honouring the invitation as the guest lecturer of this month (September) business luncheon.

•Arowosoge (middle) congratulating Mrs. Ojurongbe after receiving the machine while other beneficiaries watch

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

CITYBEATS THE NATION

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E-mail:- ynotcitybeats@gmail.com

•The Michael Otedola Housing Estate, Epe

Lagos moves for cheaper, affordable houses T

HE houses sit on a large expanse of land in Odoragunshin on the outskirts of Epe, Lagos. They comprise flats and room and parlour: “Why room and parlour in this jet age?” some guests asked in hushed tones.

They got an answer from the Commissioner of Housing, Bosun Jeje, as if he knew what was on the minds of such. The room and parlour, he said, are meant for the less privileged.

It was at the inauguration of the Michael Otedola Housing Estate last Tuesday by Governor Babatunde Fashola. The estate was built under the N40billion mortgage scheme unveiled by Fashola in 2008. The mortgage has a 25-year moratorium and carries a maximum interest rate of 10 per cent.

The scheme is to facilitate home ownership by low and medium income earners.

By Miriam Ndikanwu

The initiative, which is supported by: Oceanic International Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, FirstBank Plc, Access Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc. The mortgage will have as primary target public servants. It was to be extended to other employed citizens of the state in subsequent phases.

According to Governor Babatunde Fashola, the mortgage window is part of the attempt to increase the housing stock and shore up supply.

The 362 housing units comprising 160 units of room and parlour, 86 units of one bedroom and 90 units of two bedroom flats are on 9.60 hectares of land. The estate was unaugurated on the heels of the promulgation of the tenancy law, which will regulate landlord/tenant relationship. It also sets out arbitration rules for resolving dis-

Jonathan, Fashola for Anglican Church synod THE Diocese of Lagos West, Anglican Communion, will host the 10th General Synod of the church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion between today and Saturday.

The event, which takes place at the ArchBishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Oba Akinjobi Way, GRA, Ikeja, will be presided over by the ArchBishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria, The Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh. The Lord Bishop of the diocese, Rt Revd Peter Awelewa Adebiyi, is the chief host. A statement by the Chairman of the Publicity Sub-committee, Mrs. Ijeoma Enekwa, said the synod is the platform on which the strategic vision and direction of the Church is fashioned and formulated.

The synod will be declared open on Wednesday, by President Goodluck Jonathan. He will be assisted by Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola and other eminent Nigerians.

•Governor, Fashola (middle) flanked by the Commissioner of Housing, Mr Jeje (left) and former First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Doja Otedola (right) at the event PHOTOS: MIRIAM NDIKANWU

putes.

While lamenting the acute housing shortage and the attendant inability of majority of Nigerians to own or rent affordable and decent houses, Fashola said the situation reflects the failure of past government policies. He assured residents that the planned mortgage scheme would solve this age-long problem.

The estate also boasts of facilities, such as a health centre, with male and female wards and three consulting rooms, a police post, water, tarred internal roads and drainages

and three façade with gatehouses.

Fashola said his administration is committed to providing dividends of democracy to the people, noting that more of such estates are being constructed across the three senatorial districts and will soon be launched.

He said: “We have devoted time, energy and resources to our vision of providing comfortable and affordable housing for all; and it is gratifying to note that this commitment has started yielding the desired results as we are set to deliver

several housing estates that are affordable to our people.”

Fashola urged the Federal Government to repeal the Primary Housing Mortgage Institution (PMI) Act and replace it with a law that will help fund mass housing initiatives.

He stressed that the challenge of housing delivery over the years has been the lack of finance and the high cost of building materials.

“Let me also restate that the problem of housing was not that of building alone, it was also a problem of

•SEE PAGE 34

Lagos warns illegal sand miners

Disabled group protests plans to impound vehicle

THE Lagos State Government has warned illegal sand miners to stop their activities or face the law.

The Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr Taofiq Ajibade Tijani, sounded the note of warning in his office.

He said the illegality runs contrary to the law enacted by the House of Assembly, in 2004.

The Commissioner said the Ministry will soon commence a verification exercise on permits issued to sand miners operating across the state, to revalidate and renew those that have expired.

MEMBERS of the National Disabled Sport Association last week stormed the State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja protesting the proposed decision by government to impound commercial vehicles not painted in registered colour.

The protesters, who came in their wheel chairs or crutches, urged the government to exclude their association's vehicles from the directive. They describe the plan as an indirect way of compounding the plight of the physically challenged members of the society, adding that the group had ventured into transport business to alleviate the poor state of its members.

The President of the Disabled Transport Assisted Project, Mr Patrick Ene, said the association is worried by the decision of government to impound vehicles not painted in authorised colours of commercial vehicle in the state.

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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CITYBEATS CDA warns against impersonation

By Mary Okon

THE Kirikiri Town Community Development Association (KTCDA), has urged the government and other corporate bodies to attending to individuals or group claiming to represent the community.

In a statement, the association dissociated itself from a a publication entitled: We are fighting for safety, not to blow up tanks by the Kirikiri Creek View Residential Estate Association (KCVREA).

The CDA claimed that KCVREA had written unnecessary petitions on behalf of the community which led to clamp down on tank farms in Kirikiri.

The statement reads: “When the tank farms were sealed off by the Lagos State Government through various petitions made by the Creek View Resident Association, tankers from various parts of the country that came to load petroleum products suffered huge loss and the cost of the loss was transferred to the cost of the products.

“We were surprised to read in the newspapers how they raised false alarms to the Federal Government and other relative bodies where they accuse the tank farms of pollution, violating other environmental laws.

"We rather emphasise that it was the so called creek view residents that are causing disorder in the community by erecting a signboard of their association in the community without informing elders in the community.”

Gbagada Rotary Club gets new president

By Wale Adepoju

THE Rotary Club Gbagada, District 9110 Nigeria has a new president. He is Lateef Temidayo Lawal, a medical doctor. He took over from Mr Lanre Kasim.

Rotarians, their family members and friends thronged Sky Pavilion, Ikeja, Lagos, venue of the investiture, last week.

The fun-filled event provided the much-need platform for friends and family members that have not seen or heard from one another to reunite. It was a happy reunion for most of them.

The highpoint of the event was when Kasim removed the collarette and put it on his successor, the Rotary way of installing a president.

Lawal in his acceptance speech thanked every member who thought him fit to lead the club. He said he would raise the bar with good performance worthy of a true president.

"I want to ensure that I improve on my predecessor’s achievements," he said.

1. Fire and Safety Services Control Room Phone Nos: 01-7944929; 080-33235892; 080-33235890; 08023321770; 080-56374036.

Lagos moves for cheaper, affordable houses •Continued from page 31 sustainability. The problem manifested itself in various forms, such as the congestion at our ports, which compounds the cost of imported components of building materials.

"It also manifested in the rate of foreign exchange which adds to cost of building, the absence of long term mortgages and funding, exacerbated by high interest rates which compelled our citizens to indulge in desperate situations to raise money to pay for houses in one single payment; the reluctance of investors to invest in housing, because of the difficulty of repossession when tenants default."

He stressed that the Arbitration Rules will ease the problems of recovery of possession of houses acquired under mortgage. It is a criti-

W

HEN 19-year-old Eze Ajah came to Lagos, two months ago, he had a dream - to become a soccer star and a university graduate.

Eze, from Enugu State, had just completed secondary school. He came to join his uncle, Mr Lawrence Chukwu.

His soccer wizardry soon endeared him to many youths in the neighbourhood as his uncle enlisted him in a local football club to develop his skills.

But Eze's dream ended last week. He met his death after he was stabbed repeatedly by an 18-year-old girl Uduak Effiong, who lives in another flat in their building.

Gbadebo Street, Ijesa, a

•Governor Fashola unveiling the commemorative plaque of the new estate, while traditional obas and chiefs from Epe watches PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

cal incentive to bankers and financial institutions to finance mortgages which will be the critical driver of home ownership, Fashola said.

"I expect that legal advisers of banks and financial institutions will take time to familiarise themselves with

the Arbitration Rules which can be obtained from the website and advised their management on its benefits.

"Of course, the website also demonstrates our responsiveness to change, adoption of current global best practices for communica-

tion and doing business in order to bring efficiency to the scheme,” he added.

Earlier, Commissioner for Housing, Mr Jeje, said the provision of the room and parlour apartment was a deliberate attempt to ensure that the less-privileged ben-

efit from the scheme.

He explained that in spite of the many demands competing for government resources, the government is committed to providing mass housing for the people.

Maid,18, stabs budding soccer star to death

By Toluwani Eniola

Lagos suburb, where the incident happened, was thrown into mourning as residents, in pensive moods stood in groups discussing the incident when this reporter visited. Some who spoke with CityBeats described Eze as a gentle and easy-going person.

Chukwu, Eze's uncle said: “Eze came to Lagos barely two months ago. He had just finished from secondary school in Enugu, so he came to join me in Lagos. I just got him a local club in Lagos because he was very good in football. I was putting machinery in motion to get him a passport in

preparation for a trip to Germany, so he can realise his dream.

“It all started last Monday morning between 8 and 9. I just woke up. Eze was washing my car outside. I heard him quarelling with our neighbour's maid, Uduak, so I went downstairs.

She was already holding a spanner, threatening to hurt him. She said the boy splashed water on her while washing the car. I pleaded with her to forgive him and bury the hatchet. She refused to be placated. I shouted at her, but she remained adamant. Later, another neighbour stepped in and she was eventually pacified. We

•Kasim decorating Lawal while his wife, Mrs. Oluremi Lawal watches

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never knew she was still annoyed.

“Very early the following morning, another scuffle ensued and I rushed outside to see that Eze had collapsed.

With the assistance of other sympathisers, we rushed him to the Randle General Hospital in Surulere, Lagos, but he died on the way.

An occupant of the house, who identified himself as Mr Uche and who witnessed the event, described the crime as shocking.

He said: “It is a very saddening occurrence. I was the one who took the girl to the Ijesha police post because if residents in the neighbourhood heard that the boy was dead, they could kill her.

“The sad event took place between 7 and 8 am. We were upstairs when, suddenly, I heard the boy scream and I saw the girl chasing him about with a kitchen knife.

She stabbed him on the neck, thigh and hand. She continued to pursue him until he ran into the corner of the house, where they could not be seen. The boy collapsed on the floor and blood was gushing out of his neck.

“A mammoth crowd had gathered to behold what had happened. By the time I saw the boy, I knew he would not survive the injury. A particular vein on his neck was sliced open from where blood was gushing out as he was breathing. We were watching as life gradually slipped out of him. I never saw such a barbaric scene in my life. People were

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•Eze

•Uduak incensed and wanted to descend on the girl, but she quickly ran inside her guardian’s (Mr Moris Ekpanam) sitting room where she sat down shivering.

Uduak, who is in police custody, said she never meant to kill Eze. “I never meant to kill him.

We were always quarelling and I merely wanted to scare him,” Uduak said.

A neighbour, who doesn't want his name published, said the girl has always exhibited crazy attitudes and is known for being quarrelsome.

He said she once slapped an elderly commercial motorcyclist and has always been aggressive.

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

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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We pray that all those who work with the President this time round are those who understand the problems of the country and how to solve them

Monarchs, others in spiritual retreat

T

RADITIONAL rulers and gospel musicians were among the people who embarked on a spiritual retreat to a mountain in Erio-Ekiti, Ekiti State to pray their way into glory.

Christians from all walks of life usually throng the ‘Mountain of Mercy,’ as the location is called, at least once a year to seek deliverance and divine blessings under the ministration of Prophet Hezekiah Oluboye Oladeji of Christ Apostolic Church (Canaanland).

The prayer conference marked the ninth edition of the Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola Power Explosion entitled Signs and Wonders.

Gospel music maestros Evangelist Bola Are, Evangelist Bisi Aluko-Alawiye, Timi Osukoya and a host of young gospel musicians were present at this year’s gathering.

Worshippers are not only drawn from Ekiti; many turn up from neighbouring states, but makes the exercise special is that kings and other dignitaries find the mountain a veritable place to seek God’s intervention in their lives and in their domains. There everyone forms one whole mass of praising and singing worshippers.

State governors are not left behind to seek the face of God. The Regent of Erio-Ekiti, Princess (Mrs.) Deborah Adejoke Adetoyinbo Ojo, who attended the session stated that “the ninth edition of the power explosion

R

• A crowd at the Mountain of Mercy in Erio-Ekiti From Toyin Anisulowo, Ado-Ekiti

crusade and the attendant healing and miracles testify to the faithfulness of God in our lives and especially in the life and ministry of God’s servant, prophet Hezekiah Oladeji.”

Her father, the Elerio of Erio, Oba Benjamin Adesoba Adetoyinbo, attended the eighth edition of the programme last year, but died on March 10, 2011. The regent, however, took solace “in the fact that he’s gone to be with the Lord.”

She expressed her joy at the

turnout in this year’s episode.

“I would like to appreciate and welcome your Royal Highnesses, who have come to meet the King of Kings in this year’s event,” she said. “God shall continually guide you in Jesus’ name.”

Prophet Oladeji told newsmen at a press briefing on the mount that solutions to incessant bombing incidents and the general insecurity in the country can only be achieved through divine intervention.

He urged Nigerians to seek the face of God for solutions to security challenges in the country,

observing that government alone cannot solve the problem.

“What God has demonstrated to us through these bombings is that all power belongs to Him. And to Him alone we must all seek refuge. We are all under Him whether we agree to this or not. We are nothing before God except those who obey his commandments. Neither money nor power can provide security for man, but God. No matter how smart or careful we might seem to be, we must also understand that if we fail to believe that all security is in the hands of God, all what we put in place in terms

of security might not yield the desired results.”

He called for appointment of public office holders who are familiar with the vision of the nation.

He said: “What we have experienced in the past was that most of the people who governed us lacked vision and didn’t really know how to tackle Nigeria’s problems in spite of the enormous resources available. We pray that all those who [work with] the President this time round are those who understand the problems of the country and how to solve them.”

Improved rail to boost transport

ELIEF is coming for commuters, especially the poor masses. Transportation inister Idris Umar has said the Federal Government would focus on ways of attracting private investment in the development of the nation’s rail transportation system.

Umar explained that such private intervention would be directed at the development of new rail infrastructures, particularly new lines.

With this done, rail transport will be improved and more people will travel and at a cheaper rate.

The minister said this while reviewing his ministry’s activities, in commemoration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s 100 days in office. He reaffirmed government’s commitment to the development of the rail transport system.

“We have concluded arrangement to present a Bill to the National Assembly for the repeal and re-enactment of the Nigerian Railway Act to pave way for private sector participation in the rail sector. The subsisting legislation - the NRC Act 1995 - can not be relied upon for a modern rail system,” he said.

Umar said the new lines to be

By Eric Ikhilae

developed through public private partnership arrangement include the proposed East –West line (to run from Lagos, through Ibadan, Benin, Onitsha to Enugu); the Coastal line (from Benin through Warri, Yenagoa, Port Harcourt, Uyo to Calabar) and the Highspeed line (from Lagos to Abuja).

He was optimistic that rehabilitation works on the Jabba-Kano axis of the Lagos-Kano narrow gauge rail line would be completed this November to allow for the movement of passengers and goods from Lagos to Kano by rail.

The minister noted that a functional rail system would help reduce pressure on the roads and elongate their life span. He said work is at advanced state in the construction of the 22 kilometre extension on Ajaokuta-Warri rial line.

He said government’s commitment to the development of the rail transport sector, was in furtherance of its desire to “Cover Nigeria and provide a robust transportation system for the country in line with its strategic development plan,” he said.

•From left: Managing Director, NRC, Mr. Adeseyi Sijuade, Umar and NRC's Director, Mechanical, Signal and Communication, Mr. Fidet Okhiria during the Minister's inspection of rail facilities in Lagos

THE NATION

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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PERSONAL FINANCE

Email: taofad2000@yahoo.co.uk

Investor’s Worth

An intellectual as investor

P

ROFESSOR Emmanuel Edozien has won glo bal acclaim as an erudite economist and development expert. A former professor of Development and International Economics at the University of Ibadan, Edozien served as the Chief Economic Adviser to a former President.

He has also consulted for many leading international organisations including the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation as well as many arms of the government.

Given a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge of economics and development, Edozien’s insights into portfolio investment show a tilt towards sustainable growth and returns.

He has not only built his nest eggs in well-cast security of the blue chips, Edozien maintains aboveaverage shareholding that ensure that he benefits more from the development of the Nigerian economy.

P

RICE-Earnings (PE) Ra tio is a measurement of the most recent earnings of a company in relation to its current market values to ascertain the fairness of the pricing trend.

The PE ratio is derived by dividing the closing price of the stock by the earnings per share for the period under review, usually the audited 12month period.

For instance, the PE ratio for a company with a share price of N40 and earnings per share of N5 will be eight. Simply, fundamental analysts tend to use the PE ratio to measure the attractiveness of a stock, using the ratio as indication of the probable period that it might take to recoup one’s

W

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

The largest shareholder on the board of PZ Cussons Nigeria, Edozien’s shareholding in the most capitalised conglomerate in Nigeria quadrupled the total shareholdings of other directors. With the exception of PZ Cussons (Holdings) Limited UK, which holds 66.1 per cent equity stake in the N119.4 billion PZ Cussons Nigeria, there are only 15 other shareholders among the nearly 78,000 shareholders of the conglomerate whose shareholdings rank above Edozien’s category. Such a strong position has continuously strengthened Edozien’s financial security.

For instance, a bonus issue of one for four shares for the immediate past year increased his shareholdings by 25 per cent without additional cash payment.

The bonus, which added more than one million ordinary shares, has added over

•Edozien

N30 million, based on the current market consideration of the conglomerate’s shares.

This is in addition to a seven-digit dividend payouts that followed another impressive performance by the conglomerate in the just-concluded business year.

With his portfolio, Edozien has demonstrated the insights of a pragmatist and set out practical example, especially for the academia, who tend to indulge much in theories and postulations.

Ask a Broker What is price-earnings (PE) ratio? investment.

Thus the lower the PE ratio, the more attractive the stock is and vice versa.

However, a low or high PE ratio does not necessarily indicate the value consideration and potential of a stock. In some instances, low PE ratio may indicate higher risk while high PE ratio may indicate lower risk and better returns depending on the earnings outlook and business cycle.

So, beyond the simplistic view, PE ratio is a highly advanced measurement tool for both fundamental and technical analysts and it is better used in relation to other indi-

ces.

Besides, to ensure a more reflective measurement, many analysts undertake comparison of many PE ratios to determine the “appropriate” PE ratio. So, beside the PE ratio based on the current price, PE ratio may be found for the highest, lowest, opening and closing market values of a stock within a period or over several periods. With these, an analyst can determine the median or mean PE as well as the range for a stock, a group of stocks or the entire markets and used these variables for stock-by-stock, sectoral and market reviews.

Ways and Means

Inculcating early savings habit

S

AVINGS is the bedrock of capital formation for individuals and corporate institutions.

With the realisation of the importance of savings in the process of financial intermediation, many governments and financial institutions often design programmes to induce people to save part of their earnings.

For instance, the decision of financial services regulators, with the explicit support of the government, to provide 100 per cent guarantee for depositors’funds in the banking sector is part of the recognitions that any impairment in savings culture that may arise from the loss of depositors’funds will be detrimental to the economic interest of the nation.

The several promotions and incentives by banks are also targeted at encouraging capital formation through accelerated savings.

However, most of the savings incentives are targeted at adults.

Psychological experts have,

meanwhile, underscored the importance of early childhood education including savings and investments education.

With the desire to “catch them young,” Access Bank recently launched a savings programme to encourage children to save.

Tagged the Access Bank’s Early Savers Account, the account is a custom-made banking product for parents and children.

To woo children, the bank is partnering with Nickelodeon, the global family entertainment company, to use Nickelodeon’s world-famous animated pre-school heroine and cartoon character, Dora the Explorer, to encourage financial responsibility from an early age.

In conceptualising and designing the Early Savers Account, Access Bank seeks to serve the unbanked segment of the economy, particularly children of up to age of nine years.

The Access Early Savers Account recognises that existing banking products targeted at

Signs, implications of financial distress

children fail to address some of the key elements children would like to see in offerings from banks.

These include: making the banking process simple and fun; educating them about banking in an engaging fashion; making banking for children a family affair and extending the life cycle of the product to match the development life path of children from birth through childhood to teenage years and eventually adulthood.

The Early Savers Account/ Nickelodeon programme was conceptualised to inculcate values of hard work diligence, savings and entrepreneurship in participating children.

Designed as a friendly savings account, the product offering delivers some benefits including competitive interest rates, access to loans for school fees payment, discount vouchers at selected shops and merchant outlets, club membership that inspires a proud sense of belonging, invitation to special Early Savers’ events.

ITH several corporate failures and unsettling global and national economic recession, investors and operators in the financial markets more than ever, need to be more alert to developments that could positively or adversely affect their fortunes.

One of the wide-impacts developments that portend dangers and opportunities to the public and financial market operators is financial distress, often linked to a more common term, insolvency.

Financial distress is triggered by factors that include financial engineering and restructuring, bankruptcy, liquidation, stock crash, take-over and many other consequences.

Financial distress is described as a situation where a company’s operating cash flows are not sufficient to meet current financing obligations, thus forcing the company to seek remedies.

This is better explained by the definition of its twin concept often used interchangeably, insolvency. Insolvency, according to Black’s Law Dictionary, means the inability to pay one’s debts, lack of means of paying one’s debts.

Such condition of a woman’s (or man’s) assets and liability that the former made immediately available would be insufficient to discharge the latter.

From the foregoing, insolvency can occur basically in two ways: assets and flows.

Asset-based insolvency or otherwise called stock-based insolvency occurs when the value of the assets of a company are less than the value of the debts, thus the company has negative net worth or negative equity.

Flow-based insolvency occurs when operating cash flow is insufficient to meet current obligations.

This latter form of insolvency refers to the inability to meet one’s contractual required payments, such as interest and loan repayments.

Financial analysts look at the financial state or solvency level of a company from several angles depending their interest.

It can be looked at in the immediate, medium or long terms by distinguishing between durations of debts and correlative cash flows.

The peculiarities of businesses are also considered in determining possible financial state. For instance, companies engaging fast moving consumer goods with huge regular cash inflow can quickly surmount minor liquidity problems while those with irregular unpredictable flows can degenerate into worse problems.

Analysts often gauge the propensity of a company to financial distress through financial leverage analysis.

Financial leverage refers to the proportion of debt to equity of a company. It is commonly held that the higher the debt-to-equity ratio, the higher the financial leverage, the more vulnerable the company is to fluctuation in earnings.

This position has held true for many companies in recent times and accounted for many financial restructuring and recapitalisation.

In many instances, leverage ratios are usually complemented with liquidity ratios to

By Taofik Salako

reflect the true state of its financial soundness. Liquidity refers to the degree of correlation between a company’s assets and its liabilities.

One way is to open an immediate window of assessment by comparing assets with liabilities. The resulting ratio is called current ratio.

Current assets can further be undressed by removing less liquid assets, such as inventories to determine the ‘quickness’ and ‘certainty’ of the liquidity of the company. This undressing is called quick ratio, after the intent of the removal of less liquid assets.

The denoting signs for companies in financial distress are many, but usually linked.

However, it must be emphasised that the presence of any of the signs may not be sufficient to pinpoint a serious case of financial distress and the fact that financial distress itself does not constitute the termination of the company.

The extent of damage of financial distress depends on the company’s approach to management of the problem.

The list of signs associated with financial distress include payment defaults (inability to meet creditors’matured claims), inability to secure funding from banks, dwindling profit and subsequently loss, reduction and absence of cash dividends, assets disposal, scale down of operations or closure of plants, salary cuts and layoffs, resignation of chief executive and other top executives, payment default based litigations, plummeting share price, take-over by receiver manager and various distress resolution moves among others.

Financial distress, no doubt, represents a difficult trying period for any company and as such, it behoves investors to monitor for precursors and signs of financial distress, to nip the stem in the bud or bail out before the mad rush.

One major cause of financial distress is financial mismatch, such as using proportionally large interest-based short-term funds to finance a long gestation business plan.

Shareholders have roles to play in this regard through careful and comprehensive deliberations on the business plans and finances of their companies at their meetings.

Besides, understanding the many ways companies can deal with financial distress and implications of the various methods will also enable investors to contribute meaningfully to the adoption of best approach and quick and effective resolutions of financial distress.

Companies deals with financial distress by undertaking restructuring of assets or restructuring liabilities or a combination of both.One major way companies deal with financial distress is by selling redundant or non-core assets to create a fresh line of cash flow.

Most often, companies spin off unprofitable subsidiaries or fixed assets to new investors as part of efforts to bolster the financial position of the company.

This approach was seen in the restructuring most conglomerates in recent times.

Most conglomerates have dis-

posed some assets including fixed assets, such as buildings and trimmed their business lines following downturns that resulted in losses to focus on core growth areas.

Companies can also bail out of financial distress by seeking business combination, merger or acquisition. Many banks were rescued from acute liquidity problems during the justconcluded banking consolidation by business combinations.

For companies engaging in capital intensive expansion projects and research and development, the obvious way to moderate financial distress is to cut capital commitments to on-going projects and suspend further capital intensive projects.

One way of restructuring liabilities is to renegotiate and restructure short-term debts with creditors.

Recently, many companies undertook debt rescheduling by refinancing their bank loans with equity funds and renegotiating the remaining debts.

Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) intervention funds have enabled many companies to restructure their loans.

Also, companies stave off financial distress by adopting debt-equity swap approach.

Under this approach, the troubled company offers its shares to the creditor(s) as part or full payment for its debt.

This approach is being used by rescued banks to settle their huge indebtedness to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

Many companies prefer to raise new equity funds either through existing shareholders or a combination of shareholders and new investors. Nigerian capital market in recent time has witnessed many new issues ostensibly due to financial restructuring. Many shareholders prefer this option because of its visible immediate impact on the profitability of the issuer. Not less than eight companies including Lafarge Wapco Cement Plc have indicated interests in raising new equity funds to restructure their balance sheet and reduce bank loans.

One other approach is to declare a state of bankruptcy, voluntarily by the company or forced by the creditors.

Though not a common option in Nigeria, many companies in advanced economies survive financial distress by filing for bankruptcy. Studies have showed that most companies that have filed for bankruptcy were able to return to profitability following reorganisations of their operations, although with effects on shareholdings and controls of core investors.

Though financial distress sounds scary, experts say there are beneficial effects of financial distress and companies that survived financial distress are better placed to avoid similar situation while those yet to experience financial distress are more prone to it.

Restructuring due to financial distress can lead to emergence of new operating strategies as well as organisational structures that could put the company on a stronger footing.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

39

THE CEO James Abiodun Olotu is the managing director and chief executive officer of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), which manages the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP). He explains the reasons for the establishment of the project and plans to inject more power into the grid next year.Assistant Editor (Energy) EMEKA UGWUANYI writes.

‘The problems in power sector are many’ W

HY was the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) established?

Nigeria has a population of about 150 million people and it is increasing fast. The land mass of Nigeria is about 937,000 square hectares, so you can see how vast it is. If you divide 6,000 megawatts (MW) by 150 million Nigerians, you will have about 35 watts of electricity per person.

Thirty-five watts per person means that, right now in my office, we are consuming what about 250 people should have. In other words, if you calculate our consumption here in this office, we are consuming what 250 people should have. This means that 249 Nigerians don’t have power. That is the meaning of that equation. That was the situation in 2005.

But is there any change currently?

Now, there was a reform of the power sector that was on-going, which was also approved under President Obasanjo’s regime and some sections of the Reform Act provide that the private sector should come in with investment in power, but one year, two years down the line there was no private sector investment as expected. It means that the private sector was not catching up at the speed with which we wanted; like the activities to catch up between demand and supply of some few private investors, such as the ones we have with Shell and Agip. Shell’s Afam VI, is located in Rivers State while Agip’s Okpai is in Delta State.

They gave us a small percentage of what we expected to enable Nigeria to attain in order to become a great nation. Now, all over the world there is a relationship between the capacity of power and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any country. It has been proven that the nations that have higher capacity of power like the United States, China, France you can trace close collaboration between their GDP growth and their power growth. Nations that also don’t have power in the adequacy that they deserve, you can also locate their low GDP to such inadequacies. And every country in the world aspires to develop and to catch up with the developed countries of the world. China has shown to the world that it could do it, China was at one time a third world country.

Today I think America is just struggling to keep China at number two. India is coming up. Nigeria in the whole world is the next bastion. But to meet that, we must do something about our power capacity and these were the factors that made government to realise that we cannot wait for the private sector to come in because their speed vis-avis the urgency, was very slow. One of the factors is because the private sector operators are business people and if you don’t create the enabling environment for business to thrive, if you don’t settle security issues, if you don’t convince them that their investment can translate into profit they want participate. Besides, the tariff level for power was not accommodating enough.

Again, if you don’t give them assurance that when they invest in Nigeria, and are

• Olotu ready to go, they can take their money away without any hassle, and convince them that their money is safe and that they themselves are safe, you are not likely to attract good and desired investment. And don’t forget that the entire world is a global village; every single investor knows that there are investment opportunities in Nigeria in the same way that there are in China or in Ghana and so on. So if your nation gives them one little problem they dash to the other nations who are also willing to take in such investments. All these factors put together showed Nigeria at that time that we must do something significantly different by way of solving this problem and this led to the formation of NIPP. If the reasons for the formation of NIPP were as noble as you have just explained, why did the project suffer setback after take off?

The birth of NIPP was, therefore, as a result of these difficulties I enumerated and a fast track solution was thereafter required to solve the problem within a short time.

The gas-fired power plants solution of the NIPP was thus intended to make sure that within a short time like two to three years, the power plants would be delivered. The projects that were undertaken under NIPP were meant to be completed within that period of time. The funds for the project, coincidentally, came with the fortune Nigeria had at that time from sale. There was this fortune coming from the excess crude oil.

The international events at that time made it possible to make more money than the country budgeted for and the three tiers of government – federal, states and local governments – came together to agree to use the excess earnings to finance these projects.

There was a basket of projects at the time that were expected to be completed within a short period of time. These projects involved gas projects, power generation projects, transmission lines and sub-stations, among others. The whole projects needed equal attention because if you do not have the complete value chain, you will not get the desired result. There is no point having power generated and it is not transmitted; there is no point in having transmission and it cannot get to our homes; and there is no point having this infrastructure without the fuel to power it; so it is gamut of a chain.

What, therefore, was the hiccup?

The problem, therefore, was that in 2006/ 2007, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation Fiscal Commission found a flaw in the methodology for funding the project and went to court. The commission sued the government and its argument was that it was wrong for the Federal Government at the centre to seemingly just dip its hands into the excess crude oil account and start spending money without the relevant Houses of Assembly of the states and the National Assembly passing the enabling Act that empowers the government to do so.

The method the Commission wanted the

government to apply took too long a time to resolve and the projects started to suffer.

Again there was this subject that may be the whole NIPP project was wrongly conceptualised and that people did not understand what it meant and people did not even know what values they would get from it.

Therefore, people suspected that there was a lot of foul play that has gone into packaging the project. Again, some people alleged that about $16 billion went into the entire power infrastructure and Nigerians were not seeing the power. Naturally, issues were raised and then it became necessary to subject that to clarification or through a mechanism, which was done by the Federal House of Representatives. This, however, has come and gone but in the course of that, we suffered a three year halt on the project. Now, the NIPP that was conceptualised as a fasttrack project became a very slow trackproject and it continued like that until the current government came into power and tried to save the situation. So, what we are doing now is to save a lot of the projects from disappearing completely.

What are the consequences of the setback?

Nigeria is a country of great responsibility in its relationship with the African continent that it belongs to. Nigeria is supposed to be the leader in Africa. Again within the concept of internationalisation of our • Continued on page 40

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

40

THE CEO • Continued from page 39

existentiality, you will find Nigeria occupying a unique position in the world and anything that is going wrong in Nigeria attracts the attention of the senior powers. You have seen newspaper headlines like “Power sector stinks – US” Why should the US be interested in Nigeria? For the US to be interested in the power sector of Nigeria it means that the country occupies a unique position.

Look at the contracts Nigeria was going into, all those contracts were international contracts, dealing with foreigners – Germans, French, Americans. So, when you start telling the world through this NIPP project, that we are not serious or that Nigeria does not respect contract, that is the first effect you have. Secondly, we are looking at the financial institutions of the world. Today because of such problems that we created unknowingly the financial world would not respect our financial instruments as they should. I will give you an example. If a Minister in the Arab League signs a paper to the General Electric and says ‘’provide such transformers, I will pay you later’’ they will supply. Now, if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issues a legitimate letter of credit and it say it is a sovereign national letter of credit, they won’t take it. This is because they believe that in Nigeria we are used to reneging on our promises. When a lot of the NIPP projects were stalled, a lot of things were in the making at that particular time; a lot of equipment had been procured by those who were fortunate to have funding for their projects. I told you that there was an integration of the projects, you have people doing power, you have people doing transmission lines, you have people doing gas and you have people doing distribution.

The projects were caught up at different levels of execution, when the NIPP project was stopped; some people had imported materials but they had not gotten access to their sites, so the materials remained at the ports and they were abandoned and the reason was that the contractors needed to come to the site to clear it, meet with the communities, pay them compensation for getting access to their land and the communities would inform the contractor this is your site. These were not done, so the contractor abandoned the project because his equipment was kept at the port for no fault of his.

What other effects did the stop work order have on the projects?

Let me also state that the contracts for the NIPP were in small pieces. For example, General Electric (GE) were to supply all the turbines while the Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPCs) companies were to secure the sites where these equipment will land. We were fast to pay G.E. but we didn’t pay some of these contractors and some of them didn’t even know where their sites were. So the equipment landed on time but there was no place to take them to. Nigeria had to start paying demurrage, storage, preservation; these are consequences of our action. Again, projects are supposed to be queued.

What I mean by queuing is that when you look at a programme of work for delivery of a project such as big as what we have in the power sector, because these ones are not small project like building a house. When you stop a project mid-way, the queuing is also now stopped; there is a sequence whereby a part of a project starts before another one and it goes on like that. It is a kind of a chain. If the one in the middle has been paid his money, he goes ahead to deliver but in terms of the work at the site, if the one that should come before has not been paid and the one that should happen after him has also not been paid, whatever the middle does is useless.

The power sector is a unique organism; if the organism is not complete and the last bolts are not tightened you won’t see the power. Unlike in building of a house, for instance, let us say you are building a 24 storey building, you can live in the floors that are finished while work continues in the unfinished ones. In the power sector this is absolutely impossible, unless the last bolt is tightened.

When you now dislocate the project, tendencies are that one project will finish, the other one that should benefit from the earlier one is not yet ready, the project will suffer setback and Nigerians cannot see the power and when Nigerians don’t see the power, they say the money has been stolen.

But the truth is that the money is tied down in equipment, among other things. The other consequence is that when you now finally decide that the project should go on, you have already wasted some two or three years

‘The problems in power sector are many’

• Olotu along the line – that was when everybody now saw the sense in continuing the project again.

What happened during the legal battle for continuing or not continuing the project?

During the legal tussle, when the inquiry was going on, Nigeria as a country did not stop functioning as a nation; our children were being born, people were dying. Nigeria didn’t stop functioning and so our demand for power was actually rising and the gap that was created by the stoppage of work became bigger such that even, if today, we deliver all of the NIPP projects, the gap has widened, the consequences are numerous but I will just stop there because they are just too many and it is really painful sometimes when we discuss these issues.

A contractor has a contract to deliver in the power sector and he says I will deliver it in 12 months – most of the contracts have 12 to 18 months’ time frame. Now you sign the contract. Out of 42 of them, three had letters of credit opened for them, only seventeen got advance payment, all the rest didn’t have anything; now all these projects are tied together so that Nigerians can have the benefit. Now only three have letters of credit and are the only ones that can procure anything, but the question is to procure to where?

Then the 17 who have advance payment to mobilise to site, the rest were given hopes that they will get paid. So all of them together started doing some work. Nobody thought Nigeria would renege on that since they have excess crude account and that Nigeria is now a better place to do business, I think we will now get it right. Unfortunately those who went to their banks and collected money and others who sourced for it elsewhere and put it into this project suffered a traumatic effect. Now there are consequences of contractual delays.

When you delay a project like that for a year or two or three or even four all the people would be waiting for you because you didn’t tell them to stop the project or that the project has been terminated, they went on doing the minimal work they could

do using their own resources, which was not enough to finish the project, the consequence is that someone has to pay for it. These are very simplistic explanations and happenings that we should learn to avoid.

Why are the NIPP projects gas-based?

What we are doing here is thermal and you know that as a nation we have experience in thermal. The only thing that was certain was that at the time government decided to do these power projects, they were originally conceptualised as seven medium sized power stations in the Niger Delta area because that is where the gas is. The first project was to capture the requirements for those power stations but eventually one couldn’t go through, which was that planned for the steel company, the Aladja Steel Company.

The privatisation process was on then and those who bought that company didn’t want a power station built there, so instead of seven it became six. When you look at the power expected from there, at that time it was 2,300MW to 2,400MW coming from those six. The entire Niger Delta area cannot consume that power. It was necessary therefore, to ensure that Nigerians who have been contributing together to do the projects benefit and the only way you can achieve that is to secure transmission projects across the nooks and crannies of this country and also to do distribution projects in all relevant areas to ensure that power gets to you and me in the quality and the quantity that will make Nigeria a better place.

That was what brought about the kind of scope that we have, but even then the government now saw more value in the programme, six power stations will only give us 2000 megawatts and Nigeria needed much more than that. You can say our requirements are in the region of 10,000 megawatts. So the existing power stations the Federal government had done were added to the initial six. These new ones include Geregu, Omotoso, Olorunsogo and Alaoji.

Alaoji was completely transferred from Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to NIPP. It was originally a Federal government

‘The problem in the power sector is huge and this can only be corrected through huge investment by all stakeholders who must also be wooed and encouraged to come in. Our problem is capacity shortage in generation, capacity in gas, capacity in water, capacity in transmission and capacity in distribution’

project but given to NIPP to complete. For the other ones – the three, the second phases of those power projects were transferred to us, we called them the expansion phases of the phase one. They were to give higher capacity than the original PHCN/FG power projects that were done under the phase one.

There are allegations that contracts are given to politicians who know little or nothing about power. What can you say about this?

Most politicians who promised electricity supply to their communities actually meant to do so in most cases. I remember when President Obasanjo brought in the late Bola Ige as Minister of Power, he said in six months he would turn stones into power.

He really meant it. When you see most politicians talking on the television you see passion in them; they really meant to do good but the missing link is that they do not know what it takes to deliver the power to the people. There was the need to understand what the issues are and how to go about getting the solution to the problem.

The problem in the power sector is huge and this can only be corrected through huge investment by all stakeholders who must also be wooed and encouraged to come in.

Our problem is capacity shortage in generation, capacity in gas, capacity in water, capacity in transmission and capacity in distribution. The gamut of our infrastructure was completely low in capacity. If you generate one megawatt you should have the capacity to transmit 1 or 1.2 megawatts, now at the distribution end you must have capacity to distribute 1.5 megawatts.

That is how the things are linked together.

The reason is that you have redundancies at every point down the chain until it gets to you and I, but what we have is that in Nigeria there is no redundancy anywhere. In fact the transmission lines we have were going in one direction. When people or vandals want to vandalise, they just need to throw an object, hit it at a particular weakest spot and the entire network goes. Only those before that spot will have power, every other place beyond that point will not have power and will remain so for as long as that thing is not corrected. The antidote to it is to ring the nation first. Sometimes two layers of ring, sometimes three layers of ring, and the more powerful nations have four to five layers of ring so that every location, every city has power from two or three source. If one fails another one is there. Japan had power up to a certain time even in the midst of a catastrophe. Iraq too, even during the war, such huge disruption, they still had power up to a certain time. In our case, if something bad happens (God forbid), we will never have a backup.

Is there anywhere in the world where the type of NIPP projects are being executed?

I don’t think there is anywhere in the world, in the entire world where the size of the projects that we are doing now, is going on, nowhere. It is not comparable with any other place in the world. And may be that was why our people suffered some kind of apathy, confusion and distrust in the implementation. You could have a country like say Sudan doing its Amiyawe Dam, which is 1,600 megawatts or so and is hydro power plant; that power is equivalent to about two or three of our own power plants but it is just one single project.

Every single power project has its complications. Now what we are having in Nigeria is that we multiplied those complications by 10 at once, so we are doing 10 of those power plants at the same time in Nigeria not minding whether this one is 400 megawatts or the other is 1000 megawatts. Another problem is that when our projects materialise fully and we are beginning to deliver, the transmission lines we have in the country cannot carry the load. So we now have to increase the scope of NIPP by adding transmission lines to evacuate the power and to make the grid system more robust so that power will get to where we want to send it to.

At the lowest point, we found out that most of the transmission system of PHCN have aged. If you go round and observe, you will see how they look like: transformers were overloaded by indiscriminate changing of phase. We thus need to improve that system by having more transformers and building more transmission lines into the system so that when power is ready it will transmit and distribute smoothly.

So to answer your question: there is no nation in history that will gather this kind of projects together at one time and begin to do them. It means that the Nigerian government that conceived it and the one that has now taken over meant well for the country.

SLIDING TACKLE “At the moment we are not capable of focusing for 90 minutes from a defensive point of view,When you are 2-1 up with the quality that we have, it is important that you don't give cheap goals away like we did”

42

Monday, September 19, 2011

FERGUSON TELLS MAN UTD CHIEFS

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger bemoaning Gunners loss to bottom of the table Blackburn Rovers in their last English Premiership League match

Mourinho must be my successor M

ANCHESTER United boss Sir Alex Ferguson wants Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho to eventually succeed him.

The Mail on Sunday says senior figures at Old Trafford are concerned Mourinho will tarnish the club’s reputation, and his cause was not helped earlier this month when he allegedly

•Ferguson

Guardiola: We put on a show against Osasuna

B

•Gurdiola

ARCELONA coach Pep Guardiola praised his side for putting on a show to demolish Osasuna 8-0 in the Primera Division on Saturday.

After its recent draws against Real Sociedad and AC Milan, a convincing performance was regarded as the perfect remedy to Barca's struggles, and the Catalans did so in dominant fashion, much to the joy of their tactician.

"We played well and we have worked hard to help people enjoy what has

become a good show," Guardiola said after the match. “It was like going to movies or the theatre but at the end it stops being a show.”

However, the 40-year-old reserved some words of encouragement for his embattled opponent.

"Osasuna is a team I know well and I admire its coach [Jose Luis Mendilibar]," Guardiola said. "There are few teams in the league that have the courage to get at our faces and I like these types of coaches as we learn a lot from them.

poked Barcelona’s assistant manager Tito Vilanova in the eye following a recent Real Madrid defeat at the Nou Camp.

But Ferguson, who has grown increasingly close to Mourinho since the Portuguese left England in 2007, still believes he is the right man for the job with the required experience, work ethic and personality - and will tell the United board when he is consulted.

A source who knows both managers said: "Alex and Jose are close - Alex will do what he can to get him the United job. Jose has had many problems at Real Madrid but Alex understands that is largely to do with his nationality.

"Jose is proud of his country but Spanish people look down on the Portuguese and don’t like to take orders from them.

"It is different in England - when Jose left, it was massive news and the Chelsea players felt it was like a bereavement.”

A

defensive point of view," said the bitterly frustrated Arsenal manager.

"When you are 2-1 up with the quality that we have, it is important that you don't give cheap goals away like we did."

Regarding his side's start to the season, Wenger added: "It's terrible. It's just not good enough and of course we are very frustrated.

"The number of goals we have conceded is just not good enough. On the other hand I believe the group will take off. But it's important we get good results."

Wenger said Arsenal were still nursing the psychological wounds inflicted by Manchester United in an 8-2 mauling at Old Trafford three weeks ago.

"At the moment defensively we are fragile because our confidence is

gone due to what happened at Old Trafford," he said.

But Wenger brushed off suggestions that he may be tempted to consider his future at the club, where he was appointed manager 15 years ago this month.

"Speculation is part of modern life. My future is focusing on what I do well, which is give my best to the club," he said. "What can I do? Not talk too much."

Arsenal were on course for a first Premier League away win since April 10 when goals from Gervinho and Mikel Arteta put them 2-1 ahead at half-time at Ewood Park.

But Blackburn, without a win since the final day of last season, staged a remarkable comeback to storm into a 4-2 lead.

DAVIS CUP FINAL

Nadal powers spain ahead RAFA NADAL showed he had put his exertions at the U.S. Open firmly behind him when he thrashed France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-0 6-2 6-4 to put Spain through to the Davis Cup final on Sunday.

Tsonga, who helped France to victory in Saturday's doubles to keep the best of five tie alive at 2-1, was powerless against Nadal's relentless claycourt game as the world number two claimed his 17th win in 18 Davis Cup singles matches.

The victory gives Spain, who are bidding for a third title in four years and will play champions Serbia or Argentina in December's final, an unbeatable 3-1 lead with only the final singles rubber to be played.

Serbia won Saturday's doubles in Belgrade to maintain their hopes of defending the title they won last year with a 3-2 victory over the French.

On another sweltering day in Cordoba, Nadal followed up his demolition of Richard Gasquet in Friday's opening singles with another commanding display on his favoured surface at the Andalusian city's converted bullring.

The 25-year-old lost a gruelling U.S. Open final to Novak Djokovic on Monday before flying straight back to Spain and he had little time to adjust to clay from hardcourts.

He did not face a single break point against Tsonga and sealed victory on his first match point when the Frenchman went long with a sliced backhand.

Adebayor delighted with goals

Wenger bemoans loss to Blackburn RSENE Wenger vowed to carry on despite labelling Arsenal's start to the season "terrible" following another defeat.

A 4-3 setback at struggling Blackburn Rovers on Saturday left the London club with just four points from five league games.

They remain without a Premier League away win in seven games and have now conceded 12 times in their last two domestic away matches.

And Wenger did not hold back after watching his side twice blow the lead against a Blackburn side that had begun the day rooted to the foot of the table.

"At the moment we are not capable of focusing for 90 minutes from a

•Nadal

•Wenger

EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR believes he has won over the Tottenham fans already afte r scoring twice on his home debut in Sunday's 4•Adebayor 0 win over Liverpool.

The former Arsenal striker joined the Gunners' north London rivals last month, after an unhappy spell at Manchester City, and netted away at Wolves to open his account.

Two more at White Hart Lane confirmed his threat to opposition defences, and any fears the Tottenham faithful would not take to a former Arsenal favourite have been dispelled.

"I'm very happy, very delighted," Adebayor told Sky Sports.

"It's always important to score your first goal at home.

"I have done it already away.

"I know the fans all love me because that's what they're looking for, a player who can score goals.

"I'm very happy that everything is going well for me at this club.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

45

CAPITAL MARKET

Bear run persists at NSE

T

HE bear run witnessed a fortnight ago continued last week as the market indices fell by 0.91 per cent.

The bearish return was attributed to the price crash of some stocks.

Overall market performance determinants, that is, the Market Capitalisation, All share Index and the braIndex® fell by 0.88 per cent, 0.91 per cent and 2.66 per cent in support decrease of 0.87 per cent, 0.47 per cent and 0.42 per cent recorded a fortnight ago.

The worth of activities last week fell noticeably and its sustainability requires stringent market re-orientation to restore lost confidence. In the current week, the value of transaction stood at N 7.43 billion with the volume of transaction of 0.65 billion shares as against of 0.62 billion shares worth N 4.93 billion a fortnight ago.

The banking and brewery sectors claimed 76 per cent of the total volume of transaction, that exchanged hands at the stock market last week.

Contribution shows that traders exchanged 0.36 billion units’worth N2.77 billion in 8,881 deals as against 0.33 billion units valued at N2.35 billion in 7,375 deals a fortnight ago.

The banking sector maintained 37 per cent of the total activities at the Exchange last week, indicating that the banking stocks were passively traded at the Exchange Compared to 53 per cent the penultimate week, returns on banking volume dropped by 15.68 per cent while the value of money spent on banking stocks stood at 37.32 per cent.

The Insurance sector occupied the first runner-up with 85.63 million units worth N 57.92 million in 414 deals. On average evaluation, the Insurance sub-sector accounted for 13 per cent of the total activity and 0.77 per cent of the total funds invested at the Exchange during the week under review.

Transactional volume shows that Conglomerates sub-sector’s performance improved by 1.01 per cent last week. The total weekly value of stocks in this sub-sector stood at N171.35 million.

Shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FirstBank of Nigeria Plc, and United Bank for Africa Plc were the toast of investors as they were actively traded in terms of volume and total investment.

The Market capitalisation, which measures the share price movement fell from N 6.74 trillion a fortnight ago to N 7.02 trillion last week; the All Share Index also fell to 21,158.25 from 21,396.43, representing a 0.91 per cent drop on weekly assessment.

Apparently, the braIndex® also fell by 2.66 per cent.

All the three market indicators fell last week showing that overall activities in terms of volume and fund invested may decrease noticeably.

The fall in returns on both benchmarks were less than three per cent and attributable to the recent decrease in share prices of some stocks.

On a year-to-date basis, both benchmarks - the NSE All-Share Index and the braIndex® - showed losses of 7.98 per cent and 10.66 per cent.

Stock Market Sectoral Performance Investors in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc exchanged 62.27 million units in 2,026 deals worth N 792.05 million.

The average number of deals remained well over 405 deals per day during the week. Zenith Bank Plc was second with 40.86 million shares worth N 720.94 million.

In the Insurance sub-sector, N.E.M Insurance Co (Nig) Plc led with 25.81 million shares worth N12.90 million. The sectoral volume amounted to almost 85.63 million units and

Table 1: A Five-Day Moving Average Data of the Market Indices Change(%)

Market Capitalisation (%)

All-Share

Average Weekly Depth

(1.47)

(1.38)

(1.88)

Year To Date (YTD)

(8.03)

(7.98)

(10.66)

Month To Date (MTD) Week To Date(WTD)

(7.18) (0.88)

(7.17) (0.91)

(6.46) (2.66)

Values

Market Cap(trillion Naira)

All-Share Index

braIndex®

As of closing on September 15, 2011

6.74

21,158.25

13.90

Source: NSE & bra Limited Table 2: Stock Market Summary Statistics for the week ending Sept. 15, 2011.

Period Market Capitalisation (Trillion) 08/09/2011 6.80 09/09/2011 6.72 12/09/2011 6.71 13/09/2011 6.70 14/09/2011 6.76 15/09/2011 6.74 Source: NSE & Bra Limited

All-Share Index (Base Points) 21,352.02 21,104.10 21,032.53 21,018.52 21,199.16 21,158.25

braIndex® (Base Points) 14.28 14.25 14.18 14.16 14.05 13.90

Table 3: Statistics on Weekly Sectoral Contribution Sectors Banking Conglomerates Food, Beverages and Tobacco Brewery Insurance Source: bra Limited

% of Total Trading Net Worth 37.32% 2.31% 7.78% 39.83% 0.77%

Trading Net Worth(in Naira Millions ) 2,774.72 171.35 578.62 2,961.19 57.928

Figure 1a: The All Share Index and braIndex® Performance at a Glance

Source: BRA Computation

Source: BRA Computation

constituted over 13 per cent of the sector’s trading volume.

Companies Appraisal Guaranty Trust Bank Plc was the most active organisation in the Banking sub-sector with 62.27 million units, followed by the Zenith Bank Plc. Zenith Bank Plc, which was the first runner-up closed the week at N720.94 million in 1,285 deals.

Among the most active companies in the Insurance sub-sector were N.E.M. Insurance Co. (Nig) Plc, Guinea Insurance Plc, AIICO Insurance Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc and Custodian Insurance Plc. In the Automobile and

Tyre Industry, RT Briscoe Plc was the most active company in the sector.

The Breweries industry was also active in terms of the market value.

Nigerian Breweries Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc and International Breweries Plc were some of the most active stocks in the sub-sector.

Last week, shareholders of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Vita foam Plc, Stabic IBTC Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc saw the value of their investments earning profit less than one per cent while investors in Chellarams Plc, U.A P Plc, U A C of Nigeria Plc and Julius Berger Plc made less than five per cent loss

daily.

vestors.

Points to note: The weekly stock market analysis reports the current position of the outlook of the stock of the companies listed on the Exchange and the aggregate market.

The NSE closed the 37th trading week on a bearish note. The movement shows clearly that the bearish returns may persist in coming week activities as predicted a fortnight ago.

Historical analysis of trading volume shows that in the new week, the Banking, Insurance and Conglomerates stocks are likely to continue to be the toast of in-

Disclaimer This report has been prepared for information purposes only and for private use.

Whilst reasonable care had been taken in its production, bra Limited does not guarantee the correctness of its contents nor does the company accept liability for any loss arising from a reliance on its contents.

Kindly note that our suggested recommendations and other tactical actions are based on bra Limited best estimates which are guided by generally available information and our Proprietary Tools. This is not an invitation or a solicitation to deal in any stocks and we do not guarantee the future outcome of such recommendation.

46

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

CAPITAL MARKET Bond and Money Market Review

A

CTIVITIES at the bond market segment further increased as capitalisation rose by 0.40 per cent to N1.85 trillion from a lower value of N1.843 trillion recorded penultimate week.

Though there was about 0.02 per cent rise in value on daily assessment a fortnight ago, the market appreciated noticeably by 0.15 per cent. From the beginning of the week till the close, the prices of most short term instruments remained the major driving force of the overall market performance.

The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bond Index began the week at 1,517.09 and closed at 1,522.82 points, increasing by 573 basis points in support of a rise of 243 basis points a fortnight ago.

It ended the week at 1,522.82 points. Average index stayed at 1,520.11 points, compared to 1,517.02 points the previous week.

The 30-day, 60-day and 90-day indices rose by 0.04 per cent, 0.08 per cent to claim 10.37 per cent and 11.08 per cent, while the 90-day rate decreased by 0.04 to stood at 11.70 per cent respectively.

The volume of market transaction increased from N1.843 trillion to N1.850 trillion, while the index on the other side closed at 1,522.82 points, as it started the week with 1,517.09 points. Market capitalisation closed with N1.85 trillion to end last week transactions as against N1.84 trillion observed in the penultimate week. the daily changes in the index increased slightly to close the week.

The index movement showed that there was noticeable increase in the market performance supported by the changes on daily examination as it also increased slightly due to minor increase in price of some short and long term instruments.

These price changes in cited instruments were the major drivers of the market performance a fortnight ago.

Among the 15 traded bonds, most of the traded bonds had their price increased throughout last week’s trading activities. Surprisingly, the prices of short term instruments witnessed appreciation towards the end of the trading week.

The top price loser was the 20year bond, 15.00 per cent FGN November 2028, which appreciated by N0.26 to close at 121.88.

However, the five-year bond, 10.50 per cent FGN March 2018 also declined by N0.46 to end the week at N100.50.

Figure 1 illustrates the year-todate change in the bra FGN bond Index. The bra FGN bond index is a market value weighted index and is designed to measure the performance of the investment-grade fixed income market.

Although the index remained flat during most of January and February as seen, it recorded a sharp drop in March as investor outlook turned negative in the bond market in anticipation of elections. The FGN index recorded its biggest decline (108 points) in March losing roughly seven per cent of its value.

We observe the stabilisation of the declining trend in April and a gradual recovery in May and June.

July followed this recovery trend with index values reaching their March levels.

The index stabilised in August closing at 1512 points on August 26 flat compared to 1517 points on July 30.

Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold foreign exchange worth $350 million to authorised dealers at the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS) window as against $400 million a fortnight ago.

The dealers had demanded $510.6 million before the auction while the actual amount offered stood at $350 million.

Capitalisation hits N1.85tr Table 4: Key Statistics of Market’s Stock Performance as of Sept. 15, 2011 S/N

Company Name

Share Price Gain (‘N)

% of Shares’ Gain by Investors

TOP FIVE GAINERS BY PRICE 01

Cadbury Nigeria Plc

16.50

0.34%

02

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

9.55

0.30%

03

Vita foam Plc

5.90

0.20%

04

Stanbic IBTC Plc

9.69

0.19%

05

Nigerian Breweries Plc

84.20

0.19%

8.94

-4.99%

TOP FIVE LOSERS BY PRICE 01

Berger Plc

02

Chellarams Plc

24.23

-4.98%

03

U.A.C – prop. Plc

16.49

-4.95%

04

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

12.53

-2.71%

05

U.A.C. of Nigeria Plc

39.02

-1.83%

Source: NSE and bra Limited Indicator Turnover Value Deals FGN Bond Index Market Capitalisation Index Weekly Returns (%) Index Year-to-Date Returns (%) 1-Month Returns (%) 3-Month Returns (%) 12-Month Returns (%)

CurrentWeek 197.8 million N160.43 billion 1,301 1,522.82 N1.850 trillion 1.74 5.32 0.61 4.45 3.91

PreviousWeek 192.8 million N157.84 billion 1,296 1,517.82 N1.843 trillion 1.73 5.30 0.59 4.44 3.89

% Change 2.59 1.64 0.16 0.15 1.16 1.53 3.27 0.23 4.28

Source: BRA Figure 1: FGN Bond Index

Source: FMDA

Figure 2: Nigerian T-bill Primary Market Auctions

Primary Market Auction

Source: Financial Markets Dealers Association The over-the-counter bond market notched up by 2.59 per cent last week, yielding N160.43 billion with a turnover of 197.8 million units in 1,301 deals.

The amount compared favourably with the N157.84 billion invested on 192.8 million units in 1,296 deals a fortnight ago. The activity was boosted by the 20-year bond, due in July 2030 with 10 per cent coupon rate.

It traded 41.95 million units valued at N31.30 billion in 316 deals.

This was followed by the threeyear bond, 5.5 per cent FGN Feb-

ruary 2013, which traded 33.55 million units valued at N30.04 billion in 281 deals.

Sixteen of the available 34 FGN bonds were traded during the week, compared with 12 the previous week.

In the NTB Primary Market, there were three new issues of NTBs with three, six and 12 month maturities.

The yield ranged from 7.34 per cent to 9.35 per cent annually. These rates are slightly up from the previous month’s auctions when the true yield on the three-month issue was 6.91 per cent and the yield on the six-month issue was 8.1 per cent.

We observe the real interest rate on Nigerian one year T-bills equal to or near zero, which could be a deterring factor for investors in the region.

Both Ghana and Zambia offer more attractive real returns on their one year treasuries. This could lead to decreased investor appetite for NTBs. Nigerian Yield Curves In terms of long term bonds, there were three issues of FGN Bonds with maturity dates ranging from three to five and to 10 years for a total amount of N70 billion.

The yields on these bonds ranged from 10.75 per cent on the three-year bond to 11.19 per cent on the fiveyear and to 11.39 per cent on the 10year one. The same yields were 10.25 per cent on the three-year note and 11.69 per cent on the 10-year one a month ago.

The increases in the FGN bond yields suggest a decline in investor demand for FGN debt in the short term but an increase in the long-term notes.

Figure 23 shows the volume of the NTB and FGN Auctions in the Primary Market.

MOTORING

47

THE NATION

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Website:- http://www.thenationonlineng.net

0803-4693-984 tajudeen1423@yahoo.co.uk

email:- motoring@thenationonlineng.net

For 2011, the Toyota Sienna has been completely redesigned. Changes include a new entry-level four-cylinder version as well as a sport-tuned, writes TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO with agency additions.

•Toyota sienna

Toyota redesigns Sienna for more comfort

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ESPITE the popularity of crossover SUVs, the minivan remains the king of family vehicles. The minivan’s boxy shape is the best for maximising passenger and cargo space within a given footprint, and its dual sliding rear doors make entry and exit super-easy. And to spark more interest in this function-over-form segment, there’s the redesigned 2011 Toyota Sienna.

The newest Sienna is virtually the same size as the outgoing version, and as before it can seat seven or eight passengers and has available all-wheel drive - Sienna exclusive.

But there are a number of significant changes for 2011. Among them are the debut of a four-cylinder engine, a new six-speed automatic transmission, available recliner-style seating for the second row and a new splitscreen video monitor for the rear seat entertainment system.

Those on a tighter budget who are also looking for max fuel economy may want to consider the new four-cylinder base and LE trims. On the other side of the spectrum is the new Sienna SE, which comes with a sporttuned suspension as well as styling tweaks that include lower skirting and a larger lower grille. What has not changed much is the Sienna’s basic and likable character, which means a smooth, quiet ride, easy handling, comfortable seating and plenty of familyfriendly features. And based on its strong record, we assume the Sienna will likely pro-

vide many miles of low-maintenance and trouble-free transportation.

Still, the Sienna has its age-old rival, the Honda Odyssey, vying for minivan supremacy. Previously, the Honda had the advantage in driving enjoyment with its superior steering feel and relatively agile handling, making it the choice for driving enthusiasts in need of practical family wheels. Now, however, Toyota offers the Sienna SE to appeal to that same consumer. The Sienna also has a quieter ride and continues to offer the option of all-wheel drive. The latter is an exclusive option for the 2011 Toyota Sienna, and gives it added appeal to those who live in inclement climates.

Body Styles The Sienna minivan comes in five trim levels – base, LE, SE, XLE and Limited. The LE and XLE come in seven- and eight-passenger configurations; the base and Limited are seven-passenger only and the SE is eight-passenger only. All trims come with front-wheel drive while the LE, XLE and Limited can also be had with all-wheel drive.

The base Sienna includes 17-inch alloy wheels, dual sliding rear doors with powerdown windows, triple-zone air-conditioning, full power accessories, a telescoping steering wheel, cruise control and a four-speaker CD/MP3 stereo with an auxiliary audio jack.

The four-cylinder LE adds privacy glass, heated side mirrors, steering-wheel-mounted audio controls, a 3.5-inch display (includes a back-up monitor), floor and overhead consoles and an 8-way (manual) driver seat. The

•Interior of the car

LE V6 adds a roof rack, power-sliding side doors, auto-dimming rearview mirror, power lumbar supports (front seats), second- and third-row sunshades, Bluetooth and a sixspeaker audio system (with satellite radio, a USB jack, iPod connectivity and Bluetooth audio).

The sport-themed SE is equipped similarly to the LE V6 but adds more aggressive styling via 19-inch alloy wheels, a unique front fascia (with foglights, mesh inserts and a larger air intake), lower body skirting and tinted head- and taillights. Inside the SE are leatherette/cloth upholstery, unique instruments and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

The audio system, however, is essentially the base unit with six speakers.

The Sienna XLE features a unique metallic gray grille insert, a power liftgate, a sunroof, a tow prep package, triple-zone automatic climate control, leather upholstery, wood grain interior trim, a power driver seat, heated front seats and auto-up/down power windows. The AWD version of the XLE also comes with second-row lounge seats that feature pop-up footrests.

The plush Limited features 18-inch alloy wheels, a satin chrome grille, power-folding side mirrors (with auto-dimming, signal repeaters and puddle lamps), dual sunroofs, keyless ignition/entry, two-tone leather seating, driver memory settings, a leather-and•Continued on page 48

48

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

MOTORING •Continued from page 47

wood steering wheel, an upgraded 10-speaker JBL surround-sound audio system, second-row lounge seats and a power-folding/split thirdrow seat.

Options on the Toyota Sienna are grouped into packages that vary based on trim level and buying region.

Notable highlights include xenon headlights, rain-sensing wipers, adaptive cruise control, a rear-seat DVD entertainment system (with a large screen that can be split to display two different sources) and a navigation system (with a back-up camera).

HE Federal Government has commenced the re-construction of t he Onitsha-Awka-Enugu Highway in fulfillment of its promise to the South-East before the April 2011 general elections.

The Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, said this in Onitsha on Saturday while inspecting the extent of damage on the road caused by erosion among other factors.

Onolememen said the re-

T

Toyota redesigns Sienna for more comfort Powertrains and Performance Base and LE models come with a 2.7-liter inline-4 that makes 187 horsepower.

Available on those two trims and standard on all others is a 265-hp 3.5-liter V6.

Both engines come matched to a six-speed automatic transmission. The Sienna LE, XLE and Limited V6 models can also be had with all-wheel drive.

Safety Antilock disc brakes, sta-

bility control, traction control, a windshield de-icer and a full complement of airbags (including driver knee, frontseat side and full-length side curtain) are standard on all 2011 Toyota Sienna models.

The LE adds a rearview camera (with the monitor integrated into the rearview mirror).

Interior Design and Special Features The Sienna’s cabin is handsomely fitted with high-quality fabric on the lower trim

levels and leather and somewhat unconvincing faux wood on the higher-end models. The various controls are simple to use, storage space is plentiful and the seats are plush. The available rear seat entertainment system has a new split-screen monitor that can allow two different media (e.g. a movie on one side and a video game on the other) to be shown simultaneously.

Seven-passenger Siennas feature second-row captain’s chairs that tip up to allow

F

Driving Impressions Equipped with the V6, the 2011 Toyota Sienna offers truly spirited performance.

This year’s new alternative, the 2.7-liter four-cylinder

engine, is a smooth and fairly quiet operator, and it has enough punch to deal with traffic and freeway cruising with two people aboard. But when faced with steeper inclines, quick merging or a full load of passengers, it has to work harder and the thrust quickly tapers off. The smart six-speed automatic does a great job at keeping the four-cylinder lively, but the downside of this powertrain is that the fuel economy isn’t that much different from the V6’s.

FG begins work on Onitsha-Enugu road construction would cover the Head-Bridge to Upper Iweka Axis of the road, adding that palliative work would be done on the parts leading to the Onitsha-Owerri road.

He said the contractor handling the road had been fully mobilised for the first phase and its palliative work; while work on the other phases would follow later.

“As I can see, this road is critical and deplorable as Gov. Peter Obi described it when he visited me in my office.

“The President has directed for work to commence and it has started already,’’ Onolememen said, adding that work would start soon on the 2nd Niger Bridge as the president has directed.

“Mr President is committed

to the 2nd Niger Bridge Project and would want to deliver it before he leaves office as he has promised,’’ he said.

The minister, however, decried the attitude of traders who use the service line of the road for trading and mounting of bill boards.

“The contractor must work with the controller of work and the state authorities to get

Akwa Ibom to establish databank of motorists OLLOWING recent incidents of bomb blasts in some parts of the country and fears of its escalation, Akwa Ibom government has announced that it will begin registration of all motorists and vehicles in the state.

The measure, according to the Commissioner for Transport, Mr Ekpeyong Ntekim, is to develop a data bank of all vehicles and owners in the state to make it easier to iden-

easier access to the third row. They also have a longslide feature to maximise legroom for taller passengers. However, those seats do require a fair amount of effort to slide, and removing them is a job best left to two people, as they are rather heavy and awkward.

tify sources of crimes associated with vehicles.

Ntekim said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo that the measure was also in conformity with the directive of President Goodluck Jonathan during the recent launch of new driver’s licence and vehicle plate number.

“We are going to take a complete bio-metric of every person who own and drive a car or tricycle in Akwa Ibom.

“Every car must be registered alongside a driver that drives the car and if you change a driver, you will file a notice of change, otherwise we will arrest the owner in case of crime,” Ntekim said.

He explained that the registration would be done electronically, adding that a legal framework was already being put in place to make failure to register vehicles an offence.

“The crime that led the government to ban the use of mo-

torcycle and tricycle in the state must be addressed and the bio-metric registration of every vehicle operating in the state is one of the strategies for addressing the issue,” he added.

The commissioner blamed the regular snarl-up of traffic in Uyo metropolis on the impatience of some motorists, saying the government had begun construction of some by-passes to ease the problem.

these people and these billboards out for the re-construction to continue without hitches,’’ he said.

Mr Hishem Gosayni, Area Manager of Consolidated Construction Company (CCC) in charge of the road, said the company had been mobilised to continue work, assuring that it would deliver a quality job within the time frame.

Hishem appealed to Onitsha residents and the Anambra government to co-operate with the company, to enable it delivers on schedule.

Gov. Peter Obi thanked the minister for facilitating work on the road, “especially at the beginning of the road, which is considered to be critical’’.

“I will assure you Sir, that I will personally supervise this project myself,’’ he said.

Chief Executive Officer of Britamold Ltd, Mrs Lolita Victorio has urged the Federal Government to stop its

annual budgetary allocations to contractors, handling road projects because of the shoddy jobs usually carried out by the contractors.

Mrs Victorio made the call in Abuja on Thursday at a ceremony to present a new brick making technology at the Stakeholders Meeting of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria.

She urged the Federal Government to seek alternative means of procuring quality materials for road rehabilitation and construction.

“Contractors use the yearly allocations for rehabilitation to make money at the expense of quality of projects bearing in mind that the following year allocations would be made to them,’’ she said.

She urged government to always ensure that quality materials were used in road construction, adding that it was vital soil analysis were carried out by experts before embarking on road construction projects.

Over 1b cars on road worldwide THE number of cars on the road has hit the one-billion mark for the first time ever. The landmark figure comes because of the burgeoning market for cars in developing nations.

Nigeria accounts for over 20 million cars on the road.

More than 35 million new cars were sold last year - the same number as is on the United Kingdom’s roads now.

China leads the growth trend, with a massive 14 million cars sold in 2010 and ownership leaping by 27.5 per cent in a single year.

China now has more than twice as many cars on the road as the UK does, and it is expanding rapidly. However, it still pales compared the United State’s total: 240 million. That is almost one car per head of the population.

In India, just one in 56 people own a car, though the proportion is rising with an 8.9 per cent growth in ownership last year.

The contrast in tastes between developing nations and European ones is an interesting one: last year, Toyota sold just one Prius hybrid in China, while 850,000 4x4s left forecourts.

The one billion cars on the road means there is double the number that there was in 1986, and four times the total of 1970; it has been suggested that by 2050 there will be 2.5 billion cars.

This calls for building of more roads especially developing nations.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

49

INSURANCE

Insurers to tackle terrorism, kidnapping, other emerging risks T

O effectively provide cover for emerging risks such as terrorism and kidnapping, insurers are to develop policies for such risks.

The Director-General, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Adegboyega Adepegba, in an interview with The Nation, said: “There are emerging trends which the institute has to look at and develop a suitable study that would be able to offer the industry solutions to the issues that are thrown-up.”

He said the institute would engage in researches to boost the industry and the economy, adding that the College of Insurance established by the CIIN would help bridge the gap

Stories by Chuks Udo Okonta

in human capacity development.

“What we have been able to achieve in the last few months is to get a befitting place for the college. We have not been able to complete the administrative blocks but that does not stop the college from functioning,” he said.

“We have lots of plan to begin to train people at the college. We will start conducting research at the college that will benefit people in the industry and fundamentally make input in the economy through research.”

Council to weed out errant brokers

T

HE Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) is working on measures to get rid of errant members, the President African Insurance Brokers Association, Dr Feyi Soyewo, has said.

Soyewo, at a media parley in Lagos, said the move would help reposition the insurance business.

He said the council is worried about the bad image such members have given the profession.

He said: “Our goal is that if we are able to tackle the brokers and we have world class brokers, about 60 per cent of the industry would have been solved. Today, we are recognised as professionals, but we still have some challenges. I want to assure you that as a member of the disciplinary arm of the NCRIB, by the grace of God before the end of the year, most of the challenges in the sector would have been over, and we can then have a broking profession that can compete favourably in the world.

“We want to have a broking sector that would be able to regulate itself. We want to build the sector to a height where we would not lay our challenges on any body again. We are making a move that would make sharp practices witnessed in the past to be totally eradicated.”

He said it is worrisome that some underwriters do not have respect for brokers while some

brokers are also not on good terms with their fellow brokers, adding that such attitude would not encourage development in the insurance industry.

He called on underwriters and brokers to complement one another and shun unnecessary competition. President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr Teslim Sanusi, said brokers have initiated a re-branding programme to redeem the poor public image of the industry.He noted that the council will uphold the tenets of the industry and ensure that errant members are sanctioned.

He said: “In the area of ethics and professionalism, the current management has continued to give priority attention to the NCRIB law with respect to membership registration.

“Management has seen the need to project the Council in positive light through an effective registration of members. Consequently, any member who does not conform to conditions stipulated in Section 6 (1) of the NCRIB Act may not have his/ her name listed in the membership register of the Council.

“We have come to realise that the image problems being encountered by the insurance industry of which insurance brokers are an integral part, were partly occasioned by activities of charlatans operating in the market. We are resolved to put an end to this.”

“You cannot do research in insurance in isolation, research would have to look at the micro and macro economy,” he stressed.

“You have to look at the insurance industry itself, look at the economy within which it is operating and, therefore, for you to have any meaningful research it has to be all embracing.

“You really need to know the skill gaps where you can quickly put in place pre-requite training programme. For instance, in oil and gas, there is a yawning gap.

There is skill required to do that job effectively which may not be adequate for now and in the next few months, the institute is going

to do something to bridge that gap, there are so many other areas.”

He said CIIN is committed to grooming professionals that will sustain the industry and advance its performance, adding that the CIIN was established for the determination of the skill to be acquired by those who will hold themselves high as insurance professionals in Nigeria.

“Over the years, we have conducted our examinations and certified some people fit and proper to practise as insurance practitioners in the insurance market and we have continued to train and re-train them through our Mandatory Continuing Professional Development

(MCPD) programmes. We have also had our annual conferences, seminars and training programmes. We have a fullfledged training directorate that is in charge of all these,” he added.

Commissioner for Insurance Mr Fola Daniel, said the emerging risks have thrown up the need for Nigerians to embrace insurance as it remains the best way to mitigate risks.

“I think there is no better time for Nigerians to be conscious of protecting their properties through insurance. This is because the risks are getting higher and the prices of items have escalated. Really, when you have issues like these, it is then time for people to be conscious and hold on to what they have and insurance is the cheapest mechanism of protecting one’s life and property.”

• From left: Deputy President, NCRIB, Mrs Laide Osijo; Chairman, Lagos Area Committee of NCRIB, Mr Tunde Oguntade; President, Mr Teslim Sanusi; and former President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Mr Sunny Adeda, at the NCRIB lecture in Lagos.

NAICOM partners IMF on money laundering

T

HE National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is partnering the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to combat money laundering, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel has said.

Daniel spoke at a workshop

• Managing Director Niger Insurance Plc Mr Justus Uranta and Head Corporate Affairs Mr Tony Ojeme, at the company’s press conference in Lagos.

organised by NAICOM in Lagos, saying the move is to keep the industry safe from ill-gotten money.

He said the commission has also begun building internal capacity for Anti-Money Laundry/ Combating Finance Terrorism (AML/CFT) risk-based supervision, leveraging on technical support provided by the IMF, among others.

He noted that having adequate knowledge about customers and reporting suspicious transactions to the NAICOM, will aid the fight against money laundering and financial terrorism, adding that every institution has an obligation to know its customers to overcome the challenges of compliance deficiencies in the insurance sub-sector in particular, and the financial system in general.

He said: “Money laundering is a serious crime that affects the economy as a whole, impeding the social, economic, political, and cultural development of societies worldwide.

“Over the last decades, globalisation has been accompanied by growth of crossborder and national underground economies fuelled by illegal businesses. Such criminal activities as drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, traffic in body organs and firearms, as well as prostitution

and racketeering, have generated immense profits that boost demand for money laundering.

Fighting money laundering involves combating the recycling of illegally gained proceeds and providing additional tools to detect and go after the underlying crime.”

Daniel said a central objective of supervisors and regulators is to boost confidence in the financial system, and use all available tools to ensure that financial institutions are not controlled by criminals or misused for criminal purposes.

“To assist national governments to implement effective antimoney laundering programmes, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a list of 40 recommendations, which set out basic, universally applicable framework of measures against money laundering. The FATF has also issued out nine special recommendations on terrorist financing as new international standards to supplement the 40 recommendations,” he said.

He added that at the regional level, the FATF-styled regional body has been very active in ensuring compliance with the FATF recommendations in West Africa.

“It has achieved this through continuous researches, awareness campaign and through constant mutual evaluation of member states,” he said.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

50

INSURANCE LASACO, 23 others to insure Nig Comsat 1R

L

ASACO Assurance Plc and 23 other insurance firms have been appointed by the Federal Government to insure the new satellite to be launched by Nigeria before the end of the year, its Managing Director, Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, has said.

Ladipo-Ajayi said the risks covered are in two parts – the launch and in-orbit risks, adding that the in-orbit risks would last for 12 months from the date of launch and renewable annually thereafter.

He commended the Federal Government and its space agencies for involving local firms in the programe, as well as the Nigerian scientists in National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) for their roles in building the Nig. Sat NX, saying that the feat has challenged Nigerian insurers to follow them into space as it were.

He expressed the hope that when Nigeria shall send her first Astronauts into space, LASACO Assurance Plc and the other insurance companies would be ready to cover the venture.

Ladipo-Ajayi, said special risks are not usually domiciled within any one country, noting that they are normally placed in the international market, where the risks are shared by the companies from different parts of the globe.

“It is important that Nigerian companies should participate in the risks which Nigeria is introducing into the international market. With these, the performance of Nigerian Insurers would be gauged by the international insurance community as an actual step in their integration into the market as key players. This would encourage Nigerian companies to meet other standard requirements to facilitate their integration,” he added.

The satellite which is to be launched by the Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited, coming closely at the heels of the Nig. Sat 2 and Nig. Sat NX both of which were launched last August 17 in Yasney Russia.

LASACO Assurance led the Nigerian companies that are covering these Satellites which are now in orbit.

Continental Re gets B+ rating

C

O N T I N E N T A L Reinsurance Plc has been rated B+ by A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited.

The rating company upgraded the firm’s financial strength rating (FSR) to B+ (Good) from B (Fair) and issuer credit rating (ICR) to “BBB-” from “BB+”.

The Managing Director, Dr. Femi Oyetunji, said the new rating will go a long way in projecting the company as an reinsurer of choice.

“It is a very good achievement for us and it confirms our resolve to continue to provide credible reinsurance security and services to our clients and sustainable value to our shareholders and other stakeholders.

We will not relent in our efforts at ensuring that insurance business achieves its pride of place in Africa,” he stated.

According to AM Best, the rating upgrade reflects Continental Reinsurance’s favourable underwriting performance record, its robust risk-adjusted capitalisation, a strong improvement in the technical expertise and experience of the

company’s board and senior management team following a number of key appointments.

Other factors highlighted by the agency, includes improving quality of the company’s reinsurance panel and its risk management practices, as well as a reduction in outstanding premium debtors as a percentage of gross written premiums.

An analysis of the company’s performance, showed that Continental Reinsurance’s premium income has grown rapidly over the last three years following a capital injection in 2007, which increased shareholders’ funds to over N11 billion ($71 million), from N 2.2 billion ($14 million) at year end 2006.

Although further strong premium growth is anticipated in 2011 and 2012, risk-adjusted capitalisation is expected to remain strong. The credit quality of Continental Re’s outward reinsurance programme continues to improve, with 98 per cent of ceded premiums placed with reinsurers with a secure rating in 2010, compared to 81 per cent in 2009.

Sovereign Trust wins award

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HE National Association of Insurance Correspondents (NAICO) has named Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, as the Most Media-Friendly Insurance Company in the country for 2011.

Receiving the Award on behalf of the company, its Head of Corporate Communications and Brand Management, Segun Bankole, expressed profound appreciation to the association for the honour.

He said: “This Award is quite inspiring and encouraging to all of us in Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc and we will not rest on our oars in ensuring that the relationship we have built with your association over the years is strengthened in the years ahead.”

He also commended the efforts of the association in pro-

moting and projecting the Insurance Industry in the country and equally assured the leadership of the association of his company’s continued support for the activities of the association.

He said the firm has Shareholders’ funds in excess of N4billion, a paid-up capital of N2.6billion and a balance sheet size of about N6billion and that it recently concluded its rights issue exercise geared at propelling the next phase of the growth agenda and to also allow Shareholders increase their stake in the company as a way of maximising their investments for greater returns.

Bankole noted that the values of the company are hinged on, superior customer service, innovation, professionalism, empathy and integrity.

PenCom to automate retirement benefits approval process

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HE National Pension Commission (PenCom) is to automate retirement benefits approval process to ensure that retirees are paid on time, its Director-General, Muhammad Ahmad, has said.

Ahmad said the commission would also develop framework for auctioning annuity/ programme withdrawals as well as examine and propose reserve/ intervention fund to handle diminution in value of pension assets.

He said: “In line with the objective of ensuring that retirees get their retirement benefits as and when due, the commission would initiate processes to automate retirement benefits approval process, develop framework for auctioning annuity/program withdrawals as well as examine and propose reserve/intervention fund to handle diminution in value of pension assets.

“All these would necessitate strengthening the internal operations of PenCom to enable it to effectively and efficiently discharge its duties and attain world class standards. In this regard, the commission would refine its structure in line with changing operational environment, ensure clarity in the definition of roles and responsibilities of its staff and pension operators as well as commence the automation of its processes and operations.”

Stories by Chuks Udo Okonta

He said the commission would leverage on reforms in the financial sector to boost the pension industry, adding that the industry has a promising future with sustainable government support in creating an enabling environment for the industry to grow.

He said PenCom would maintain its risk-based philosophy to promote transparency, provide early warning signals and encourage pension operators to regularly selfevaluate their activities, particularly their investment decisions, noting that the dynamic investment monitoring process would continue to be pursued in line with changes in the operating environment. Thus, the commission would continue to be proactive in its regulatory and supervisory activities as well as leverage on the reforms in the banking and non-banking financial sector to promote growth of pension fund assets and ensure fair returns on pension fund investments.

“The Commission would leverage on the state-of-the-art information and communication technology to enhance its surveillance and supervisory activities on the industry. There is no doubt that the deployment of the Risk Management and Analysis System (RMAS) would enable PenCom to obtain direct information on different activities of the pension fund operators to ensure a safe and

sound pension industry.

Similarly, the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) would assist the Commission to identify multiple registrations using biometrics of the RSA holders.

“The Oracle E-business Suite application would also enhance the efficiency of the operations of the Commission. Arrangement has already commenced toward ensuring the completion and implementation of these applications in 2011.

“The Commission would intensify its compliance and enforcement strategies through public enlightenments and awareness campaigns and prosecution of erring employers as well as continue to support the efforts of state governments in the implementation of the PRA 2004,” he added.

Ahmad noted that as part of the commission’s efforts to strengthen the pension industry, some strategic initiatives were outlined for implementation this year, which are part of its strategic plan for years 2010 to 2013.

“To ensure a strong and competitive pension industry that would be driven by fit and proper persons, the Commission would raise paid-up capital requirement for licensed operators. In addition, the guidelines for qualification of top management staff of licensed operators would also be updated towards achieving this goal.”

• From left: Executive Vice-Chairman, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc Mr Remi Olowude; Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Mr Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi; and Director-General NIA Mr Sunday Thomas, at a media parley in Lagos.

‘Ceding of insurance service inimical to growth’ T

HE ceding of core insurance services to other sectors is inimical to the industry’s growth, Managing Director, Lectern Insurance Brokers Limited, Mr Tunde Oguntade, has said.

Oguntade told The Nation that the ceding of soft risks such as pension and employees’ compensation would not allow the insurance industry thrive as expected, adding that effort should be made to encourage the industry instead of ceding core businesses from it.

He noted that insurance service is highly technical and should not be left in the hands of those without professional training.

President Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Dr Wole Adetimehin, said the encroachment into core areas of in-

surance practice threatens the soul of the profession. He asked insurers to collaborate to enable them to foster unity and growth for the industry.

He said: “There is the need for reawakening to ensure the continued sustenance of the profession.

We must all come together to ward – off the encroachment into the core areas of insurance practice.

Evidence abounds of insurance service being rendered by bodies without the professional training and experience.

“This is a trend that threatens the soul of our profession, an aberration that deserves our collective attention. We are, therefore, pursing

the repositioning of the insurance profession.

“The Insurance Industry Forum (IIF) will be charged to promote industry unified goals, inter government regulatory understanding and development. The forum will be under the chairmanship of the Commissioner for Insurance, while membership will encompass all the various arms of the industry. Meetings will be on a quarterly basis to discuss and resolve industry issues while also initiating agenda that will proper future growth of the industry.

“The future of all professions depends largely on the quality of knowledge and skill possessed by the practitioners and insurance cannot be an exception in the profession.”

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

52

NEWS

ANPP urges Fed Govt to honour pact with ASUU

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HE National Chairman of All Nigeria Poeples Party (ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has urged the Federal Government to honour its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

A statement signed by Onu said: “Our great political party is worried about the ongoing dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria Universities (ASUU).

“In the circumstance, we urge the Federal Government to abide by the agreement it entered into with ASUU. “It should realise that trust

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Port Harcourt

is an important component of the social contract between government and the people.

It is therefore important for the Federal Government to keep its own side of the agreement with ASUU in the interest of good conscience and sincerity of purpose.

“Education remains an important instrument for the peace and development of our nation. It is regrettable that in recent times, standards have fallen to the extent that many parents now send their children to schools in other countries. A few years ago, it

was overseas. Now, it is our immediate neighbours. This is unacceptable and needs to be addressed urgently.

“For too long, students in our schools, especially those in tertiary institutions, enrol without knowing when they will graduate. Incessant strikes have introduced instability in our school system and distorted the school calendar. This has become an embarrassment.

“To redress this unfortunate situation, we call on the Federal Government to keep to the agreement it reached with the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria Universities and prevent the looming strike.”

PDP, ex-commissioner cautioned over council poll

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GROUP in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), comprising elders and youths in IbejuLekki, Lagos State , has advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State to forget the state and look elsewhere for votes in next month’s council election.

The group also warned a former commissioner in the state, Dr. Tola Kasali, not to tamper with the people’s choice, a move which it said could affect the fortunes of the ACN in the area.

The group, which rose

By Dada Aladelokun

from a meeting at the weekend, expressed its readiness to defeat PDP candidates in the 20 local governments and 37 development areas. It, however, added that its stand on the people’s candidate remains unshaken.

A statement signed by the group’s leader, Mr. Kamilu Olaotan, said: “The decision of the people on the chairmanship candidate or aspirant in our council area stands and remains acceptable to all and sundry; any pick-hole by the ex-commissioner might scatter the

assembled seeds.

“We don’t want any uproar and that is why we are appealing that the former commissioner should properly mind his Lekki Council Development Area where he hailed from and leave Ibeju-Lekki alone for us.”

The statement pleaded: “People’s interest in a vital matter like this should be accorded due regard under a democratic process. If this is adhered to and the system is allowed to run its decent course, ACN will record landslide victory in the coming election in the state.”

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

53

NEWS MTN concerts move to Calabar, Port Harcourt AFTER impressive showings in Makurdi and Enugu, the MTN Power of 10 Concerts took pulsating stops in beautiful cities-Calabar and Port Harcourt, bringing life and lights to the heart of the Niger Delta.

In Calabar, the Cultural Centre, venue of the event, was filled beyond its 8,000 capacity despite fears that the concerts might not attract as much patronage due to the closure of the University of Calabar which is the traditional source of audience for festivities requiring an army of youths. Reports say the Hall was packed full before 7 pm.The Calabar surge was replicated two days later in Port Harcourt where the Civic Centre got packed to bursting point by a sea of people flowing towards the MTN ‘thank you’ Concert.

Enlisted to shake up the parties were some of Nigeria’s finest musicians, Ras Kimono, Omawunmi, Wacozy, The Prince, Oritse Femi and J Martins. Also on the concert train were MTN Project fame discoveries currently enjoying generous airplay on Nigeria’s top radio stations, Iyanya, Chidinma and Mike Anazado.A significant highlight of the night in Calabar, home of the Efik people, was the line by line rendition of a Yoruba song by Orise Femi, underscoring the power of music as a unifying factor and the role of MTN Power of 10 Concerts in that regard. The audience was delighted beyond measure.The Concert train continues its national tour with next stops in Ilorin, Abuja, Benin, Owerri, Ibadan and Lagos.

The MTN Power of 10 Concerts is part of activities to mark the telecom giant’s 10th year anniversary in Nigeria.

‘Salami, a man of integrity’, says ex-governor

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FORMER schoolmate yesterday defended the integrity of suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Ayo Salami, describing him as a man beyond reproach.

Group Captain Bola Latinwo, who attended Offa Grammar School between 1957 and 1961 with Justice Salami, said he is a man of impeccable character, straightforward and truthful.

Latinwo, who was governor of Kwara State during the Buhari/Idiagbon regime, said what is happening in the judiciary would be a trigger for good things to come.

Justice Salami was suspended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) for what the council called breach of

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

his oath of office. It also recommended him for retirement by the President.

But it is widely believed that Justice Salami was suspended because of his faceoff with the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, over the Court of Appeal’s handling of the Sokoto State governorship election dispute.

The court was set to deliver judgment when Justice Katsina-Alu allegedly asked Justice Salami to stop the verdict or, in the alternative, disband the panel hearing the case.

When Justice Salami refused, Justice Katsina-Alu got the Supreme Court to ‘arrest’

‘

‘The crisis in the judiciary is an opportunity to sift the wheat from the chaff, so that at the end of the day, a genuine and proper system that will stand the test of time will emerge’

‘

the judgment because, according to him, it had ‘’leaked’’.

There has been a public outcry against Justice Salami’s suspension, especially what is perceived as the ‘’hasty’’ appointment of Justice Dalhatu Adamu as acting PCA. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is leading the campaign against his suspension.

It has asked the President to reinstate Justice Salami, pending the outcome of his case challenging the NJC’s directive that he should apologise to Justice Katsina-Alu and the council. The NJC suspended him after he went to court.

In an interview with The Nation, Latinwo said the crisis in the judiciary is an opportunity to sift the wheat from the chaff ‘’so that at the end of the day, a genuine and proper system that will stand

World Bank calls for improved health care in Nigeria

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NANS uges safety for students THE National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on security agencies to beef up security on campuses of tertiary institutions to ensure safety of students against threat of attack by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

NANS National President, Comrade Dauda Mohammed advised the Federal Government not to take the threat by Boko Haram with levity. He said attention of NANS has been drawn to the threat by the Islamic sect to launch its assault on about 20 universities in the country.

Mohammed said: “While certain authorities and individuals are treating the threat by Boko Haram as a mere rumour, the leadership of NANS is not prepared to bury any student”. He condemned series of bombing and other terrorist attacks in various parts of the country and expressed worry that Boko Haram is now targeting campuses.

“We are calling on the Federal Government and all security agencies in the country to beef up security on our campuses rather than treating the threat of bombing of our campuses with levity.

Boko Haram, which is campaigning against western education is serious about its threat to blow up our tertiary institutions”.

the test of time will emerge’’.

The system, he said, should be allowed to find out what is wrong with itself, adding that it is only when this is done that ‘’we will have a strong judiciary’’. ‘’These things happen; when they happen, they should be allowed to follow due course. By so doing, the truth will come out; when it comes out, it will be a new order that keeps the system.

It is all part of life. Except we have things like this the system won’t grow. We should not be frightened by what is happening; we should not be afraid that it is happening. But at the end, let’s have the truth that will be the benchmark and will sustain the judiciary’’, Latinwo said.

•Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Oluseyi Petinrin (left) and Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko at a dinner in honour of the Chief of Defence Staff by Ondo State Government at the Government House, Akure... at the weekend

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HE World Bank has called for an improved health care system to help reduce the high rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria.

Mr. Sudhir Shetty, Co- Director, World Bank 2012 World Development Report (WDR) on gender and equality at a video conference on Sunday to launch the report observed that Nigeria still had a high rate of maternal death.

He said: “In the case of Nigeria, what is observed is that the maternal mortality is still quite high, which is also a big issue in almost all parts of Africa.

“There is a need for necessary improvement in health care delivery.

“The second issue is that female farmers have lower yield than their male counterparts and this calls for discussion on the need to improve women’s access to resources through window mechanisms, window access to productive resources, improved technology and education.’’

Explaining the report, he said it was the first time that the bank devoted its WDR to gender equality and it focused on four major areas.

Those are: reducing excess female mortality and closing education gaps, improving access to economic opportunities for women and reducing earnings and productivity gaps between women and men.

ACN chieftains seek Tinubu’s intervention in intra-party crisis party leader, Hon. Bayo Osi•Ajomale: Justice, fairness would prevail ernnowo, who represents the constituency in the House of As-

CTION Congress of Nigeria (ACN) leaders in Kosofe and AgbadoOkeodo local governments have appealed to the party leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to resolve the crisis triggered by the handling of the chairmanship and councillorship nominations ahead of the local government elections scheduled for next month.

In Agbado-Okeodo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), protesting party leaders, market women, youths and civil servants stormed the ACN state secretariat, decrying alleged moves to give the chairman, Rev. Kenny Okunmuyide, a second term, insisting that the vice chairman, Dr Augustine Arogundade, is the ACN chairmanship candidate for the election.

The Chairman of the party in the LCDA, Olusegun Shodiya, said the party rejected

By Emmanuel Oladesu Deputy Political Editor

Okunmuyide’s bid for a second term because he did not perform to expectation in his first term, adding that no single project was inaugurated by his ‘inept’ administration. He also announced his suspension from the party on account of anti-party activities.

Shodiya said: “The party was disappointed at the way Okunmuyide administered the council and his return will create bitterness and confusion in the party”.

In Kosofe sub-zone, the choice of councillorship and chairmanship candidates for the council polls has polarised the chieftains of the party under the leadership of the state deputy chairman, Pa Safiriyu Abiodun Sunmola.

Party chieftains, who have vowed to resist imposition of candidates, appealed to Pa Sunmola to make merit, fair play and justice the yardsticks for fielding candidates for the poll, stressing that this is in ACN interest.

The party stalwarts, under the aegis of “Association for Good Governance” led by Hon. Ojo Peters, enjoined Pa Sunmola to emulate the style of the national leader, Asiwaju Tinubu, in resolving the crisis triggered by the contrasting ambitions of loyal party members.

Peters said: “Alhaji Sunmola should emulate the accommodating attitude of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, whose rewarding system is based on merit, hardwork and loyalty, as opposed to favouritism, nepo-

tism and tribalism”.

Crisis broke out in the subzone following the allegation that Pa Sunmola is sponsoring his son-in-law, Mr Folabi Shofola, a permanent member of the Lagos State Universal Primary Education Board since 2008 for the chairmanship of Kosofe in the election.

It was also alleged that he has nominated his wife’s younger brother for the position of Special adviser to the Speaker of Lagos State Assembly, Hon. Yemi Ikuforiji.

Awori and other ethnic nationalities are complaining that the distribution of political offices is skewed to the advantage of Ijebu chieftains and to their detriment, urging Tinubu to halt the alleged marginalisation.

The group also asked anoth-

sembly, to shun the penchant for the monopolisation of power and personalisation of limited political privileges, adding that ACN can only grow in leaps and bounds when all members are carried along in the decision-making process.

Pa Sunmola and Osinnowo denied the allegations, vowing to continue to work for the unity and progress of ACN at all times.

The group said: “What is worrisome to us is the apparent disrespect for the popular yearnings and feelings of party members. Our position is that no effort should be made to impose Shofola as Kosofe Council chairman because he has just commenced his second term of five years as a permanent executive member of SUPEB.

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 16-09-11 2ND-TIER SECURITIES Company Name FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC PRESCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1 9 11

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.50 7.00

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 100 50.00 20,000 10,000.00 209,244 1,464,828.00 229,344 1,474,878.00

AIR SERVICES Company Name AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 38 40

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1.95 6,700 12,665.00 5.69 376,094 2,121,944.19 382,794 2,134,609.19

AUTOMOBILE & TYRE Company Name DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC R. T. BRISCOE (NIGERIA) PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 12 13

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.50 4,000 2,000.00 1.30 137,960 174,032.95 141,960 176,032.95

BANKING Company Name ACCESS BANK PLC DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK NIGERIA PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC FINBANK PLC GTBANK PLC STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC INTERCONTINENTAL BANK PLC. OCEANIC BANK INTERNATIONAL PLC SKYE BANK PLC. STERLING BANK PLC UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC. UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC UNITYBANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC ZENITH BANK PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 112 44 19 50 73 548 5 381 42 8 6 61 22 161 28 30 21 188 1,799

Quotation(N) 5.30 3.91 2.90 4.34 2.02 10.40 0.50 12.80 9.33 0.70 1.15 5.26 1.49 4.15 2.09 0.58 0.64 12.60

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,199,363 6,226,938.30 1,572,340 6,161,011.41 168,457 465,247.98 6,298,417 25,464,577.34 3,315,536 6,709,754.69 19,132,120 196,473,826.77 5,139,100 2,569,550.00 5,532,818 70,489,613.15 25,557,996 242,764,588.57 63,855 44,698.50 511,593 588,331.95 2,619,955 13,714,134.20 419,116 615,031.20 5,220,774 21,260,814.28 403,695 843,722.55 2,574,947 1,445,489.13 615,639 394,506.73 4,324,483 54,301,623.30 84,670,204 650,533,460.05

Quotation(N) 220.00 6.06 88.41

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 32,176 7,106,171.94 500 2,880.00 976,538 82,925,917.81 1,009,214 90,034,969.75

Quotation(N) 19.39 7.30 100.00 8.26 43.20

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 207,391 4,014,063.14 567,893 3,991,431.93 5,184,640 518,471,674.17 200,000 1,652,000.00 359,388 15,526,730.97 6,519,312 543,655,900.21

Quotation(N) 9.38 24.23 1.14 0.93

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 200,725 1,834,692.50 138,336 3,245,991.57 18,930 20,675.72 4,000 3,560.00 361,991 5,104,919.79

BREWERIES Company Name GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 33 1 145 179 BUILDING MATERIALS

Company Name ASHAKA CEMENT PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC NIGERIAN ROPES PLC. LAFARGE WAPCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 37 7 49 1 23 117 CHEMICAL & PAINTS

Company Name BERGER PAINTS NIGERIA PLC CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PLC DN MEYER PLC PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 13 28 6 2 49

COMMERCIAL/SERVICES Company Name COURTVILLE INVESTMENTS PLC RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 23 24

Stock market in marginal recovery

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HE Nigerian stock market witnessed a marginal recovery last week but investors remained on edge on the uncertainties in the banking sector.

The benchmark index for the Nigerian stock market, the All Share Index (ASI), inched up by 0.02 per cent last week to open today at 21,106.67, while total market capitalisation of all quoted companies increased to N6.73 trillion.

Notwithstanding the slight week-on-week appreciation last week, investment advisers said they were still concerned about the policy direction of the forthcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and outcomes of the extra-ordinary general meetings for the conclusion of crucial banks’ business combinations.

Investment analysts, said any increase in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) might adversely affect the stock market, but a stable rate would enhance the attraction of equities, most of which have been significantly undervalued due to eight-month recession.

They said, since the focus of the MPC has been stability in both inflation rate and the foreign exchange market, the consecutive decline in inflation rate in the past two months to single digit and relative stability of the foreign exchange market, should encourage the apex

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.50 1,000 500.00 2.35 1,673,758 3,715,050.66 1,674,758 3,715,550.66

No of Deals 1 46 94 47 56 244

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 16-09-11 Quotation(N) 1.99 30.07 0.86 39.02 27.49

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 260 494.00 182,105 5,477,268.09 30,519,233 26,211,332.65 172,897 6,689,811.17 476,769 12,943,822.30 31,351,264 51,322,728.21

CONSTRUCTION Company Name JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC ROADS NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 7 2 9

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 52.25 63,083 3,132,568.95 3.65 55,000 200,750.00 118,083 3,333,318.95

FOOD/BEVERAGES & TOBACCO Company Name 7-UP BOTTLING CO. PLC CADBURY NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIGERIA PLC HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT COMPANY NIGERIA PLC NESTLE NIGERIA PLC TANTALIZERS PLC UTC NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 17 31 144 25 26 8 16 39 1 2 309

Quotation(N) 45.15 16.50 6.12 9.30 78.99 3.32 4.28 401.00 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 82,659 3,732,053.85 146,604 2,338,364.94 2,218,962 13,574,389.70 228,050 2,122,738.38 44,450 3,335,972.50 47,500 150,340.00 302,256 1,250,273.18 50,035 20,026,225.67 92,000 46,000.00 137,530 68,765.00 3,350,046 46,645,123.22

HEALTHCARE Company Name No of Deals FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 3 GLAXOSMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC 20 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 6 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 4 PHARMA-DEKO PLC 1 UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 1 Sector Totals 35

Quotation(N) 1.42 27.00 3.61 1.15 3.68 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 75,666 107,445.72 195,320 5,273,644.50 44,650 153,149.50 5,257 5,960.70 500 1,840.00 4,000 2,000.00 325,393 5,544,040.42

HOTEL & TOURISM Company Name IKEJA HOTEL PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 38 38

bank to maintain MPR at 8.75 per cent.

Inflation rate is currently at 12-month low of 9.3 per cent compared with a high of 13.6 per cent during the period. The year-to-date return at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) stands at 14.79 per cent.

Meanwhile, further analysis of the pricing trend at the NSE showed that the recovery was muscled by gains of a handful of highly capitalized stocks as the market remained largely on the downtrend. Indicating the top-heavy price movement, the NSE 30 Index, which measures the pricing trend of 30 most capitalized stocks, appreciated by 3.25 points or 0.35 per cent to close at 949.59.

However, all four sectoral indices depreciated during the week. The NSE Food and Beverage Index depreciated by 12.97 points or 1.81 per cent to close at 705.16, the NSE Banking Index depreciated by 4.01 points or 1.3 per cent to closed at 302.35, the NSE Insurance Index depreciated by 1.00 points or 0.7 per cent to close at 143.62 and the NSE Oil and Gas Index depreciated by 6.68 points or 2.65 per cent to close at 248.20.

Twenty 20 stocks closed the week on the upside as against 44 stocks that suffered price depreciation. Nigerian Breweries Plc, led on

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1.50 2,735,800 4,144,389.00 2,735,800 4,144,389.00

Company Name C&I LEASING PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

No of Deals 2 14 1 17

Quotation(N) 6.90 5.70 2.88

No of Deals 47 47

Company Name AFROMEDIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

No of Deals 1 2 3

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 4,000 27,600.00 267,194 1,529,366.05 97,000 279,360.00 368,194 1,836,326.05

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.50 500,000 250,000.00 4.97 400 1,892.00 500,400 251,892.00

LEASING

Quotation(N) 0.67 1.01 2.51 0.50 1.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.51 8,000 4,080.00 8,000 4,080.00

MORTGAGE COMPANIES Company Name RESORT SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.50 200,000 100,000.00 200,000 100,000.00

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS Company Name ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.50 1,000 500.00 1,000 500.00

PACKAGING Company Name NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 69 69

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1.83 561,480 1,013,242.20 561,480 1,013,242.20

PETROLEUM(MARKETING) Company Name MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA OIL & GAS PLC. FORTE OIL PLC MOBIL OIL NIGERIA PLC. OANDO PLC TOTAL NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 17 36 2 33 12 105 11 216

Quotation(N) 63.86 33.00 5.39 11.58 148.00 28.00 203.32

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 63,339 3,879,232.05 362,394 12,353,112.13 8,304 42,599.52 132,806 1,492,627.29 24,775 3,503,841.75 590,645 16,494,297.03 16,033 3,096,946.28 1,198,296 40,862,656.05

PRINTING & PUBLISHING

INSURANCE Company Name No of Deals AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 29 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC 3 CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC 12 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 2 GUARANTY TRUST ASSURANCE PLC 10 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. 1 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 2 LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 1 LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE PLC. 5 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC 2 N.E.M. INSURANCE CO. (NIG.) PLC. 12 NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. 2 REGENCY ALLIANCE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 1 STACO INSURANCE PLC 2 UNIC INSURANCE PLC. 1 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 6 INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 1 Sector Totals 92

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.90 1,630,189 1,453,463.32 1,630,189 1,453,463.32

MEDIA

Company Name ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LONGMAN NIGERIA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 5 9 16

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,323,687 872,205.02 87,333 88,231.33 266,497 680,751.49 11,000 5,500.00 223,500 223,455.00 60,000 30,000.00 446,231 223,115.50 42,450 21,225.00 450,000 225,000.00 187,000 93,500.00 4,671,000 2,335,500.00 109,900 54,950.00 200 100.00 3,800 1,900.00 500 250.00 978,261 489,130.50 66,000 33,000.00 8,927,359 5,377,813.84

Quotation(N) 2.60 4.61 3.58

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 900 2,331.00 24,533 107,454.54 299,702 1,067,375.60 325,135 1,177,161.14

REAL ESTATE

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Company Name CHAMS PLC e-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC Sector Totals

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.98 1,000 940.00 1,000 940.00

MARITIME Company Name JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

INDUSTRIAL/DOMESTIC PRODUCTS Company Name B. O. C. GASES NIGERIA PLC VITAFOAM NIGERIA PLC VONO PRODUCTS PLC Sector Totals

the gainers’ table with N7.41 to close at N88.41 per share, while PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc followed with a gain of N1.31 to close at N30.07 per share.

On the other hand, Guinness Nigeria Plc led on the price losers’ table, shedding N8 to close at N220 per share, while Julius Berger Nigeria Plc followed with a loss of N2.75 to close at N52.25 per share.

In all, the market recorded a turnover of 809.75 million shares worth N8.89 billion in 19,377 deals, in contrast to a total of 877.74 million shares valued at N7.65 billion exchanged in 20,383 deals penultimate week.

The banking sub sector was the most active with 449.54 million shares worth N3.43 billion exchanged by investors in 10,670 deals. Volume in the Banking sub sector was largely driven by activity in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc. Trading in the shares of the four banks accounted for 253.43 million shares, representing 56.37 per cent and 31.30 per cent of the sub sector’s turnover and total volume traded during the week.

The Insurance sub sector, boosted by activity in the shares of NEM Insurance Plc and Guaranty Trust Assurance Plc followed on the week’s activity chart with a sub sector turnover of 124.63 million shares valued at N93.52 million in 619 deals.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

CONGLOMERATES Company Name A. G. LEVENTIS (NIGERIA) PLC PZ CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC UAC OF NIGERIA PLC UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

Company Name UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 18 18

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 15.67 81,079 1,271,171.68 81,079 1,271,171.68

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST Company Name UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRU Sector Totals

No of Deals 5 5

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 50.00 68,500 3,425,000.00 68,500 3,425,000.00

ROAD TRANSPORTATION Company Name ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 10 10

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.50 303,430 151,715.00 303,430 151,715.00

TEXTILES Company Name UNITED NIGERIAN TEXTILES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 2

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 0.69 1,026 738.72 1,026 738.72

THE FOREIGN LISTINGS Company Name ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED Sector Totals Overall Totals

No of Deals 21 21

Quotation(N) Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 12.00 364,683 4,352,091.45 364,683 4,352,091.45 3,387

147,409,934

1,469,098,711.85

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

55

MONEY LINK

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has used the successes re corded in online salary payment for Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as wide scale use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) by bank customers as a benchmark to its new cash policy.

CBN director currency operations Mohammed Nda, said this during the cash policy seminar organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos. He said the retail cash policy would commence from June 1, 2012 .

The policy stipulates that over the counter cash transactions’ above N150, 000 and N1, 000,000 for individual and corporates respectively will attract a

E-salaries, ATM usage to drive new cash policy

By Collins Nweze

charge. The apex bank said the policy was meant to address the currency management challenges in the country and enhancing the national payments system.

The thinking in the apex bank is that the progress made by the Federal Government in the electronic payments of salaries and contractors/suppliers, the growing acceptance among the citizens of innovations such as the ATM and mobile telephony and commitment by the banking community to improve the supporting infrastructure

management, frequent printing of currency notes, currency sorting and cash movements.

The direct cost of cash management to the banking industry was N114.5 billion in 2009, and it is estimated to be as high as N192 billion by 2012.

“This spiraling cash management cost, most of which is passed on the consumer in the form of bank charges and lending rates, is as a result of the cash dominant economy,” he said.

Clarifying issues on the policy, Sanusi said 90 per cent of bank customer daily withdrawals are of

for seamless electronic payments were encouraging factors, which propelled the new retail cash policy.

It disclosed that data analysis of the commercial banks showed a high cost structure in the banking industry, of which a significant proportion is passed on to the customers in the form of high service charges and high lending rates.

CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had said the economy is cashoriented, thereby imposing high costs to the banking sector and, consequently, the customer, in terms of cash

amounts below N150, 000 whereas only 10 per cent of bank customers who withdraw over N150, 000, are responsible for the heavy cost of cash management being borne by all bank customers.

“The present levels of cost and inefficiencies in providing banking services and the poor quality of services experienced by the majority of the banking public will be addressed by the new cash withdrawal policy, in concert with other efficiency initiatives by the CBN in collaboration with the Bankers Committee,” he said.

Union Bank’s shareholders drum support for recapitalisation deal

By Taofik Salako

S

HAREHOLDERS of Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc ap peared to have seized the initiative to take the lead in securing the overwhelming approval for the recapitalisation of the bank as the board of directors passes on the deal for shareholders’ consideration.

Under the recapitalisation deal, Union Bank would receive about N76 billion ($500 million) equity capital and N38 billion ($250 million) Tier 2 capital from a consortium of international investors to retain its nearly century-old brand and regain its competitive verve as one of the strongest and reliable banks in Nigeria. African Capital Alliance (ACA) is leading other partners including many reputable fund managers, investment funds of

Standard Chartered Bank, The Netherland (FMO) and United States Governments (OPIC) under the Union Global Partners Limited, a special purpose vehicle formed for the recapitalisation of the bank.

At the maiden interactive forum with shareholders in Lagos to highlights the recapitalisation, several large-stake shareholders and shareholders’ groups said the recapitalisation deal offered the best value for shareholders. Shareholders who spoke after a comprehensive review of salient details and rationales for the scheme of arrangement, said with better understanding of the propositions and consideration of other options in the event of failure to

ment Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) would not be a source of undue government interference in the bank. AMCON, which is responsible for reversing the huge negative capital Union Bank to zero level, would hold minority equity stake of 18.51 per cent in the post-recapitalised bank.

Mr. Alfred Akinremisi, who spoke on behalf of former staff and pensioners of Union Bank, said the emergence of a new core investor in the bank would impact positively on both the operations of the bank and dividends to shareholders.

Akinremisi spent two decades between 1964 and 1984 working at Union Bank at a time that Barclays Bank was the owner and later core investor in the bank. Recalling the glorious period of the bank, he said the well-

recapitalise, they would mobilise supports to secure necessary shareholders’ consent for the deal.

Chief John Akinleye, a major shareholder whose shareholdings could result several millions of votes, said though he had suffered serious depletion in the value of his shareholdings, he would support the recapitalisation to salvage the remaining value. He however, charged the management of the bank and financial services regulators to continue to pursue the debtors and staff who have mismanaged the bank to ensure they secure justice for shareholders.

Another major shareholder, Chief Mobolanle Ajomale, expressed supports for the recapitalisation of the bank but worried that the shareholding by the Asset Manage-

•GMD Union Bank, Funke Osibodu

known reputation of the new core investors should put the bank in better stead to compete effectively. “I know the benefit of a reputable core investor given our experience then under Barclay,” Akinremisi said.

ETI to pay N55b for Oceanic Bank’s acquisition efits to be reaped from the merger.

Analysts said the NPV is a standard way for using the time value of money to appraise long-term projects. Used for capital budgeting, and widely throughout economics, finance, and accounting, it measures the excess or shortfall of cash flows, in present value terms, once financing charges are met.

Report from Renaissance Capital , a

E

COBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI) will be paying N55 billion to acquire 100 per cent equity in Oceanic International Bank.

The payment will be based on net present value (NPV) of Oceanic Bank’s expected earnings over the next five years.

The appeal for ETI according to the bank, lies in the potential scale ben-

September 14 to outline the terms of its proposed acquisition of Oceanic Bank.

Post-acquisition, ETI intends to merge Oceanic Bank and Ecobank Nigeria Plc. The acquisition will be 70 per cent funded by way of ETI ordinary shares (2,488,688,000 shares) and 30 per cent funded via participating ETI cumulative convertible preference

market research and investment firm, said the new entity will become the fifth-largest bank ranked by total assets in the country, behind First Bank, Zenith, UBA and the merged Access/ Intercontinental. Also with 606 branches, it will have the third largest branch distribution network, trailing UBA at 711 and First Bank at 611.

ETI had held an investor call on

FGN BONDS

DATA BANK

Tenor

Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES OBB Rate Call Rate

7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2011 “ 14-04-2011

GAINERS AS AT 16-9-11 SYMBOL 7UP NB ACCESS BERGER NASCON ROADS FCMB REDSTAREX FIRST BANK UBA

O/PRICE 43.00 84.20 5.05 8.94 4.08 3.48 4.14 2.25 10.00 4.00

C/PRICE 45.15 88.41 5.30 9.38 4.28 3.65 4.34 2.35 10.40 4.15

CHANGE 2.15 4.21 0.25 0.44 0.20 0.17 0.20 0.10 0.40 0.15

LOSER AS AT 16 -9-11 SYMBOL UAC-PROP NIGROPES DANGCEM FIDSON WEMABANK CONOIL CONTINSURE IBTC VITAFOAM DANGSUGAR

O/PRICE 16.49 8.69 104.98 1.49 0.67 34.36 1.05 9.69 5.90 9.55

C/PRICE 15.67 8.26 100.00 1.42 0.64 33.00 1.01 9.33 5.70 9.3 0

Amount

Offered ($) Demanded ($)

MANAGED FUNDS

NIDF NESF

shares (1,066,580,000 prefs).

Also, the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), is expected to inject N290.2 billion to restore Oceanic Bank’s net asset value to zero, prior to the acquisition. Currently, AMCON holds 32.5 per cent of Oceanic Bank’s shares and will increase it to 69.9 per cent post -capital injection, Renaissance Capital said, in a statement.

Amount

Exchange

Sold ($)

Rate (N)

Date

450m

452.7m

450m

150.8

08-8-11

250m

313.5m

250m

150.8

03-8-11

400m

443m

400m

150.7

01-8-11

EXHANGE RATE 26-08-11 CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Currency

Year Start Offer

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD

147.6000

149.7100

150.7100

-2.11

NGN GBP

239.4810

244.0123

245.6422

-2.57

NGN EUR

212.4997

207.9023

209.2910

-1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

Bureau de Change 152.0000 (S/N)

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

Parallel Market

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

NSE CAP Index

NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N)

13-09-11 N6.7026tr 21,018.52

14-09-11 N6.760tr 21,199.16

% Change -0.87% -0.86%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

(S/N)

153.0000

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

Aug ’11

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

8.75%

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate Inflation Rate

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00% 9.4%

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 117.83 107.46 0.79 1.02 0.96 1,628.78 8.70 1.39 1.87 7,730.72 193.00

9.08 1.00 117.53 107.10 0.81 1.02 0.95 1,625.40 9.14 1.33 1.80 7,487.67 191.08

ARM AGGRESSIVE KAKAWA GUARANTEED STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND THE LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL BGL SAPPHIRE FUND BGL NUBIAN FUND NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY THE DISCOVERY FUND • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED

CHANGE 0.82 0.43 4.98 0.07 0.03 1.36 0.04 0.36 0.20 0.25

• STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

Rate (Previous) 24 Aug, 2011 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 26, Aug, 2011 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK Previous

Current

04 July, 2011

07, Aug, 2011

Bank

8.5000

8.5000

P/Court

8.0833

8.0833

Movement

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 2011

56

NEWS

‘N630b food import cash can establish 300 firms’ A

N average of the N630 billion that Nigeria spends on food import yearly can establish 300 agro-allied companies, an expert has said.

The Country Crop Manager, Harvest Plus Nigeria, Mr Paul Ilona, said each firm could be established “at an exaggerated cost of N2 billion”.

Each of the firms, he said, would employ 5,000, thereby reducing unemployment.

Ilona spoke at the 25th National Conference of the Farm Management Association of Nigeria (FAMAN) in Akure, Ondo State.

Ilona said there was likelihood of future food crisis unless corrective measures are taken.

He said building a successor generation of farmers could only be achieved if farming becomes attractive to investors, scalable and profitable and with less drudgery.

“Today, private investment in the agricultural value chain is at a low level because of perceived risks and uncertainties. Large and medium

Stories by Daniel Essiet, Agric Correspondent

scale farms and agro-allied industries have failed for non technical reasons. New investors are scared, as they cannot predict their production environment just as they cannot predict price and market demand. In these conditions, the finance institutions will continue to refuse to put money in this sector,” he said.

Ilona said appropriate policies for input supply, output marketing, and rural infrastructure would benefit both the food and cash crop sectors.

Achieving sufficient food supply, he noted, is one part of the strategies to prevent hunger and urged the government to ensure major staple foods are nutritious enough to meet micronutrient requirements for healthy living.

FAMAN President Prof Isiaka Mohammed advised the Federal Government to develop in agricultural investment plan for achiev-

ing its vision of being among the top 20 economies of the world by 2020.

Mohammed said the government must be commited to the national budget, stimulate private sector investment in agriculture, promote food productivity, technology, tackle hunger and malnutrition to attain agricultural stability.

His words: “Nigeria has come of age in terms of the required manpower to be conscious of our agricultural sector development needs. What is, however, challenging, is whether we are willing and committed to implement the policies; we, on our own, or with the intervention of international agencies.”

The contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), he said, has been declining since 1958/59, adding that the output of traditional cash crops, such as cocoa, cotton, rubber, groundnut and palm produce have dwindled in the last 30 years. Production of livestock also fell to the extent that Ni-

geria became a net importer of food, he added.

An Agricultural Performance Survey last year, Mohammed noted, showed that in general, the improved farm input procured and distributed by state agencies did not meet farmers’ needs.

Farmers, he added, were unable to access fertiliser needed for increased productivity.

“The sector’s growth has not kept pace with the country’s socio-economic needs and expectations; value added per capita in agriculture has risen by less than one per cent per year. Food production has not kept pace with population growth, resulting in rising food imports and declining levels of national food self-sufficiency. The situation is sufficiently bad to warrant a frontal attack.”

The extant agricultural development policy, Mohammed said, is tailored towards the country’s realisation of the Vision 20:2020.

He urged the government to compare the world’s best 20 economies, based on irrigation, mechanisation, farming techniques, government expenditures on agriculture (especially on R&D), contributions of agriculture (mainly processed foods) to export and the proportion of labor force engaged in agriculture as well as the percentage of arable land cultivated.

On FAMAN, he said, it was established for the attainment of efficient and effective resource utilisation for sustainable agricultural and rural development in the country and beyond.

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ekiti State, Dr. Adio Folayan, said one of the challenges facing the sector is policy inconsistency.

He said if there was a greater commitment to agriculture, the current

suffocating level of unemployment will not only reduce, but the muchdesired food security will also be better guaranteed.

He said there is a wide gap between the actual and expected costs of producing crops in Nigeria. The major components of costs, he listed include labour, input, transport and services.

The Dean, Faculty of Agricultural Science, Ekiti State University, Prof Sunday Fasina, called the government to legislate against abandonment of programmes and projects in the agriculture According to him, lack of project continuity has lead to abortion of brilliant ideas needed to move agriculture forward.

He urged the government put in place favourable legal framework, fiscal monetary trade and environmental policies that would boost agricultural development.

“There is the need to establish a Commercial Agricultural Development Council (CADC) by state governments as being done by Federal Government. This will encourage State governments to generate supportive complimentary policies to attract investors at the grassroot level into agriculture,” he said.

On subsidies, he said there is no country in the world where agriculture is successful and the people are well fed, without subsidies in agriculture.

“The Federal Government should stop listening to IMF and World Bank that agricultural subsidies should be removed. It should view the provision of subsidies in agriculture as part of social services to the people because provision of food is more or less a social welfare,” he added.

He urged the government to use its powers to curb abuses associated with agricultural subsidies.

Zamfara to enact law on cotton production

Z

• FAMAN 1st National Vice-President, Dr. Kolawole Adebayo (right), discussing with a member of the Local Organising Committee, Dr. Olu Osundare.

German agency decries use of children as farm hands

G

ERMAN International Cooperation (GIZ) is not in support of using children as cocoa farm hands to meet increasing world demand, its Technical Adviser, Sustainable Cocoa Business, Mr Ayo Akinola, has said.

Akinola told The Nation his organisation promotes responsible cocoa farming adding that its efforts underline all shared responsibility in achieving a significant reduction of child labour in the cocoa growing areas.

GIZ, he said, places emphasis on actions that foster safe, healthy, and productive environments for families involved in cocoa farming.

West and Central Africa, Akinola noted accounts for nearly 70 per cent of global cocoa supply produced by two million small farmers.

He said small farmers’ households who depend on cocoa as their main source of income are severely limited on account of buyer-led prices, fragmented co-operative structures,

middleman worldview, lack of access to inputs, technical knowledge, business skills and financial services.

To reverse the situation, Akinola said his organisation is involved in large scale training of cocoa producers in business skills through the Farmer Business School (FBS), adding that many cocoa farmers have been trained in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria.

He said more than 27,000 farmers have graduated since last year.

He said the FBS training approach is domesticated to the different cocoa producing regions. 290 trainers and supervisors have been provided by 23 public and private partners.

The training is conducted over a five-day period in primary school, town halls or churches to average class size of 30 participants. Within the country, he said 3,343 farmers consisting 967 females, have graduated from the programme.

Consequently, he said farmers find out how to plan their activities, how to target investments of labour, land and capital for better yields and quality of cocoa and other produce.

He said the organisation facilitates the Cocoa Livelihood Programme (CLP) with the goal to enhance the livelihoods of 200,000 small holdings across Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria CLP, he explained, seeks to do this by strengthening service-delivery capacities for quality cocoa production, marketing efficiency and competitiveness of diversified cocoa smallholdings He said the activities of the organisation are restricted to only training without market access.

According to him, improving farmer knowledge and productivity, and the quality of the cocoa production, can help these small farmers boost their yields and incomes so they can improve their lives.

AMFARA State government is working on a bill that would make cotton production a criterion for receiving agricultural support and other incentives, Governor Abdulaziz Yari has said.

Yari spoke in Gusau when he received representatives of farmers from Maru, Tsafe, Maradun and Gummi local government areas.

He said his administration was committed to harnessing the agricultural potential of the state to develop the economy.

“The state has great potential in

agriculture, particularly in cotton production, which can earn us hard currency, rejuvenate our economy and address our pervasive poverty,’’ he said.

Yari said the government would forward the bill to the state Assembly, adding that it would boost commercial production of cotton, if passed into law.

The governor promised that his administration would provide farmers with high yielding cotton seeds, fertiliser, and modern farming equipment to ease farming activities.

Fadama III: ‘656 councils receive $48m’

S

IX hundred and fifty-six local government councils have received $48 million as grants for the implementation of Fadama III. The Acting National Coordinator, National Fadama Development Programme, Mr Tayo Adewunmi, said in Abuja.

He said the $48 million was part of the $450 million budgeted for the implementation of the programme in Nigeria.

He said $250 million of the amount was contributed by the World Bank.

According to him, the balance of $200 million will be provided by federal, states and local governments areas.

Fadama III programme is a poverty alleviation tool promoted and financed by the World Bank.

Adewunmi noted that projects executed under Fadama III, were aimed at building the capacity of rural farmers through advisory services, equipment acquisition and actual construction of small-scale community-owned infrastructure.

He observed that the implemen-

tation of Fadama III had assisted in boosting the income of more than one million farmers.

He said the execution of the fiveyear programme had assumed a new dimension with the establishment of Fadama Equity Fund to assist Fadama Users Groups.

According to him, the fund is a compulsory 10 per cent savings deducted from the income of the group, which beneficiaries could utilise to expand their farms or as collateral to secure loans from banks.

Adewunmi said the programme had recorded many of achievements since it commenced in the 656 participating local governments areas.

He listed some of these to include the construction of 93 culverts, 21 small bridges, the establishment of one hectare grazing reserve, construction of market stalls and water points, among others.

He said the major achievement recorded in the implementation of Fadama III was the CommunityDriven Development (CDD) approach to project identification and execution.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

57

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

58

NEWS ‘Talks with unrepentant criminals a time bomb’ From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

C

ATHOLIC Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has described the decision of the Federal Government to dialogue with unrepentant and faceless criminals and murderers of innocent citizens in the country as a time bomb.

The CBCN gave the warning in a communiqué issued at the end of its Second Plenary meeting of the BCN at the Bishop Thomas McGetrick Pastoral Center, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

It said terrorism in the country exposes the weakness of security apparatus and called for an overhaul of the institutions and personnel that provide security at the federal and state levels.

The communiqué signed by its President, Archbishop Felix Alaba Job and the Secretary, Bishop Alfred Adewale Martins, said unaddressed grievances by government provoke violent reactions.

The communiqué reads: “The unfortunate ascendance of these terrorist activities once again exposes the weakness of the security apparatus in our nation. “

Amaechi identifies causes of Boko Haram

G

OVERNOR Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State at the weekend attributed the cause of the Boko Haram sect to lack of education.

Amaechi said about 80 per cent of certain children in the North did not learn some essential things at the appropriate time.

The governor spoke at the flag- off ceremony of the 2011 capacity building workshop held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The ceremony was for basic education teachers and education managers organised by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in collaboration with State Universal Basic Education Board, Ameachi said the militants in the Niger Delta who “constituted problem in the society” also lack proper education.

The governor, who regretted the activities of the Boko Haram sect, advised the Federal Government to give priority to education sector.

Amaechi, who was represented by Deputy Gov-

No plan to bomb UI

T

HE Chairman, Governing Council of the University of Ibadan (UI) in Oyo State, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has dismissed rumours that the dreaded Boko Haram sect plans to bomb the school.

Olanipekun spoke to reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, last Saturday.

He described the bomb scare as “a hoax and unsupported tale,” urging students and their parents to disregard it.

Olanipekun said: “I was at the institution until 7am this morning, nothing of such is happening. There is no iota of truth in the rumour From Gbenga Omokhunu and Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

ernor Tele Ikuru, said: “The Boko Haram problem we have in the North today, if you ask me, I can confidently tell you that 80 per cent is attributed to the fact that certain children did not learn certain things when they were supposed to learn. And where does that take us to? It simply means that the greatest assets that we have and which we should pay greatest attention to are teachers at the UBEC. “The teachers, when their faces are down this

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado Ekiti

and I appeal to parents and students to discountenance it and go about their normal academic work.

“UI remains the pride of the nation and nothing should be done to destroy the glory it has brought to Nigeria.”

Last week, it was rumoured that some members of the institution received text messages regarding plans of the Boko Haram sect to bomb the school.

nation will be down, when their faces are up this nation will be up.

One of the few things the government of Amaechi did when he assumed power in Rivers State was to ask why we had militants among us. In the course of the analysis, part of the things that came up was that there were some children who were suppose to be in school or who were purportedly in school at a certain time in the cause of our history but somehow they did not learn what they were suppose to learn.

“They did not go to

school the way they were supposed to and some cases never ever had the

‘They did not go to school the way they were supposed to and some cases never ever had the opportunity to go to school. Now those were the same set of people who grew up between 1985 and 1995, specifically those were the same set of people who by 2005 constituted problems in the society’

From Adline Atili, Cape Town

By Wale Adepoju

SPECIAL Adviser on Christian Religious Matters to Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State Rev Sam Ogedengbe has urged Nigerians to live together peacefully to reduce criminality.

He urged government to protect the lives and property of the citizenry.

He spoke at the launching of a book, entitled: In the City, in the Village, authored

by Pastor Martha Omede and one year anniversary of the Word and You ministries.

Ogedengbe said the christian community would continue to advocate for peace, genuine love and unity among the people, irrespective of ethnic groups or religion.

THE Customs Officers’ Wives Association, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Lagos chapter, is expected to raise N150 million from its fund raiser/launch slated for September 21.

The event will hold at Airport Hotel, Ikeja, at 11 am. The paramount ruler of Badagry, De Wheno Aholu menu toyi 111, is expected to be the royal father of the day.

Augustine Okafor, a leading player in the maritime industry, will be the chief launcher.

COWA’s chairperson Mrs Maureen David Dimka said the proceeds would be used to build a state of the art skill acquisition and vocational centre for members and indigent women.

Comptroller-General’s wife Hajia Saadi’at Diko is expected to be the mother of the day.

•Amaechi

‘MTN committed to journalism’

Governor’s aide calls for peace

COWA to raise N150m

opportunity to go to school. Now those were the same set of people who grew up between 1985 and 1995, specifically those were the same set of people who by 2005 constituted problems in the society.

“It simply means that unless we take the foundation very seriously you will agree with me that as a society we are in trouble.

I am delighted by the fact that even the Federal Government has come to this realisation. We as a state have ensured that education moves to the front burner.”

•Parish priest of St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Very Rev. Fr. Raphael Adebayo; Dean of Agege Dynary/Representative of Cardinal Okogie, Monsignor Christopher Edema Boyo and the celebrant, Rev Austine Nnaemeka, during the 10th priestly ordination anniversary of Nnaemeka at St. Cyprian Catholic Church, Oko Oba, Agege, Lagos.

Ebonyi PDP suspends Senator, 37 others

E

XECUTIVE Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Ohaukwu Local Government chapter of the party in Ebonyi State yesterday announced the suspension of Senator Anthony Agbo, who represented Ebonyi North Senatorial District and 37 others in Ohaukwu.

The Senator, who represented Ebonyi North between 2007 and 2011, was suspended with a former member of the House of Assembly, Benard Nwankwo, ward executives and others.

A statement signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the party in the local government, Mike Egwu and

From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

Titus Nwenyim,said the members were suspended for anti-party activities.

The statement reads: “In view of the activities of some disgruntled and unrepentant members in the party in Ohaukwu local government; we frown at the unbearable anti-party activities of these members and resolved that the underlisted are suspended from the party and that those suspended will face a disciplinary committee to be announced and inaugurated by the Local Government party chairman within three days from September 14.

But the Ohaukwu PDP passed a vote of confidence on Governor Martin Elechi, Deputy Governor Dave Umahi, state party Chairman Ugorji Ama-oti as well as the council chairman, Sunday Inyima.

They also expressed satisfaction with the performance of their elected members, including Peter Oge Ali representing Ebonyi/Ohaukwu , Frank Onwe and Mabel Aleke of the House of Assembly; and some political office holders.

Ama-oti, confirmed the suspension. He said the state secretariat has been notified by the Local Government Executive Com-

mittee (LEC) in Ohaukwu.

Ama-Oti said the party would review the suspension and that if they feel the Ohaukwu LEC did the right thing, the matter would be put before a state disciplinary committee, especially in the case of Agbo to allow them to defend themselves.

State Secretary of the party, Uche Egar Ali, who is a stakeholder from Ohaukwu council, alleged that the suspended members worked against the party during the April elections.

The PDP chief said the suspension was in tandem with Section 21 of the party’s 2009 Constitution as amended.

MTN has reaffirmed its commitment to the advancement of journalism and the media in Africa. It maintained its decade-long relations with the Highway Africa Conference, which kicked off in Cape Town, South Africa at the weekend.

Widely regarded as the world’s largest annual gathering of African journalists, Highway Africa has brought together media and key Information and Communication Technology role players from across the continent.

This year Highway Africa is being attended by more than 500 journalists. It will focus on the role of the media in tackling the global sustainability challenge and seek ways to improve its understanding and coverage of climate change in Africa.

The conference is expected to serve as an opportunity for an interrogation of African journalism and media, and how they have framed issues such as climate change, food security and global sustainability.

Another issue on the agenda is how African media can prepare adequately for the upcoming United Nations’ Climate Change Summit in Durban, South Africa, later this year, and what platforms would be used to cover the event effectively.

“We are very excited with the opportunity to be part of this crucial event for journalism and media on the continent. For MTN, Highway Africa doesn’t only provide us with a platform to engage key pan-African journalists, but it’s another way in which we reiterate our commitment to continue playing a leading role in the development of journalism and the media on the continent.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

60

FOREIGN NEWS

Rebels end assault on Gaddafi’s stronghold in chaotic retreat

11 dead in India, Nepal after magnitude 6.9 quake

E

LEVEN people — six in India and five in Nepal — died when a magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck the northern Indian state of Sikkim near the border between the two nations Sunday night, police said.

Three died in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu and two in the town of Dharan, about 217 miles east of Kathmandu, police said in a statement. About a dozen people were injured when they jumped from their houses during the quake, police said.

The three in Kathmandu died when a wall of the British embassy collapsed, according to Kedar Rijal, Kathmandu police chief. They included an 8-year-old girl, her father and a third person.

The British Foreign Office confirmed that a “compound perimeter wall” of the embassy collapsed, saying the ambassador has met with the community and offered condolences.

In India, six people died and 33 were injured, said Karma Gyatso, Sikkim’s chief secretary. At least two buildings have collapsed, and others developed cracks, he said. The damage was still being assessed, and rescue efforts were under way, he said.

A total of three quakes struck the region. The U.S. Geological Survey initially put the largest quake at 6.8 magnitude, later upgrading it to a 6.9, and the other two at magnitudes 4.8 and 4.6. All three occurred within an hour and 15 minutes, the USGS said. The India Meteorological Department said the quakes were 6.8 magnitude, 5.7 magnitude and 5.3 magnitude.

Egypt holds polls in November’

E

GYPT’s ruling military council has proposed 21 November for the start of the first parliamentary elections since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, media say.

A formal announcement is expected to be made next week.

The elections are likely to be held in three stages, so the process will take more than a month.

No date has been set for a presidential election, which is not expected to take place until March or April.

Egyptian media quoted the election commission head, Abdel Moez Ibrahim, as saying voting for the lower house, the People’s Assembly, would be in three stages, the first on 21 November and the last on 3 January.

Upper house elections would spread from 22 Janu-

ary to 4 March.

State news agency Mena quoted a source at the commission as saying the ruling council would fix the dates in a decree on 26 September.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo says the opposition will be hoping that these are the first fully free elections to be held after many decades of notoriously corrupt votes.

The opposition has been pressing the military to announce a timetable for the return of civilian rule.

Our correspondent says the long timescale for the presidential elections actually suits many of the new opposition movements, which say they need more time to get themselves organised.

But he says they will be looking closely at the details, to make sure that the system really does allow Egypt to evolve into a proper democracy.

41 Al-Qaida suspects on trial in Saudi

S

AUDI Arabia’s state news agency says 41 suspected members of al-Qaida have gone on trial, accused of planning attacks on United States forces in Kuwait and Qatar.

The SPA news agency said Sunday some of the defendants were charged with recruiting and sending militants to fight in Iraq and sending money to Taliban fighters.

It did not say when they were arrested.

The report said one Qatari, one Yemeni and an Afghan national are among the accused while the other 38 are Saudis.

In June, the kingdom started trying 85 suspected al-Qaida members accused of taking part in a deadly 2003 attack inside the country.

Sudan, South sign security deal

S

UDAN and South Sudan signed a border security agreement yesterday and said they would set up 10 crossing points, the first time the two neighbours have signed a deal over the tense boundary since the south declared independence in July.

Sudanese Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein told reporters the

designated crossing points would help movement of citizens between the two states, speaking after meeting his southern counterpart in the highest-level bilateral meeting in Khartoum since the split.

Fighting has flared up along several points along the border, but on the northern side, since southern independence.

Strauss-Kahn describes New York hotel maid liaison as ‘inappropriate’

D

OMINIQUE Strauss-Kahn has described his liaison with a hotel maid in New York, over which he was charged with attempted rape, as “inappropriate” and a “moral failing”.

In his first TV interview since criminal charges were dropped, the former IMF chief said he would always regret his action.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, resigned as IMF chief in May after his arrest.

The maid, Nafissatou Diallo, is bringing a civil suit against him.

The charges were dropped in August when prosecutors said Ms Diallo’s lack of credibility meant the case could not continue.

Mr Strauss-Kahn is being questioned by Claire Chazal, a friend of his wife Anne Sinclair.

L

IBYAN interim government forces fled on Sunday in a chaotic retreat from the town of Bani Walid, after failing in yet another attempt to storm the final bastions of loyalists of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Since taking the capital Tripoli last month, motley forces of the ruling National Transitional Council have met stiff resistance in Bani Walid and Gaddafi’s birthplace Sirte, which they must capture before they can declare Libya “liberated”.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters have tried several times to storm Bani Walid, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Tripoli, in recent days only to retreat in disorder under fire from defenders.

Sunday’s failed attempt appeared to be among the worst yet, setting off angry recriminations among the attackers.

NTC fighters said they had planned for tanks and pickup trucks with anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers to lead Sunday’s attack, but foot soldiers had piled in first.

“There is a lack of organisation so far. Infantry men are running in all directions,” said Zakaria Tuham, a senior

‘The biggest mistake by the rebels is that they come in and leave without setting up checkpoints.

When they leave, Gaddafi militiamen come in with their own checkpoints and flags and terrorise local people’ fighter with a Tripoli-based unit. “Our commanders had been told that heavy artillery units had already gone ahead, but when we advanced into Bani Walid they were nowhere to be seen.

“Gaddafi forces were hitting us heavily with rockets and mortars, so we have pulled out.”

A Reuters reporter saw fighters withdraw around two km (more than a mile) after they

had stormed into the town.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters from Bani Walid blamed comrades from elsewhere in Libya for being unwilling to coordinate. Those from elsewhere accused some local fighters of being traitors and passing information to Gaddafi loyalists.

“Commanders who are from the Warfalla tribe, they tell us one thing and then commanders from the other cities say something else. We do not understand anything,” said pro-NTC fighter Mohamed Saleh.

“So we are just going in and pulling back without a single purpose. It’s impossible to take this city this way. It will continue like this until they send more experienced troops who know how to use their weapons.”

Some fighters openly disobeyed orders. In one incident, an officer from Bani Walid was heckled by troops from Tripoli after he tried to order them to stop randomly shooting in the air as they celebrated seizing a mortar from Gaddafi forces.

“You are not my boss. Don’t tell me what to do,” one of

the Tripoli fighters snapped back at him.

Shells whistled above antiGaddafi positions and exploded across the desert valley as invisible snipers sprayed bullets from Bani Walid’s rooftops and smoke rose above the town.

NTC fighters helped some families evacuate from the town, driving them out in military pickup trucks.

“The past two weeks been awful but last night was particularly bad,” said Zamzam al-Taher, a 38-year-old mother of four. “We have been trapped here without a car and with no food. Snipers are everywhere.”

“The biggest mistake by the rebels is that they come in and leave without setting up checkpoints. When they leave, Gaddafi militiamen come in with their own checkpoints and flags and terrorise local people,” she added.

NTC forces and NATO warplanes also attacked Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace. Fighters launched rockets from the city’s southern entrance and traded fire with Gaddafi loyalists holed up in a conference centre.

12 dead as Yemeni troops shoot at protesters

Y

EMENI forces reportedly opened fire with anti-aircraft guns and automatic weapons on tens of thousands of anti-government protesters who gathered on yesterday in the capital city, Sana’a, to demand the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

At least 16 people were killed and dozens were wounded, witnesses said, in the deadliest attack for

months against protesters.

Tensions have been escalating in the long, drawnout deadlock between the regime and the opposition.

Saleh left for Saudi Arabia for treatment after being severely wounded in a 3 June attack on his palace, raising hopes for his swift removal but he has dug in, refusing to step down.

Demonstrations grew this week after Saleh assigned his vice president to negoti-

ate a power-transfer deal – a move many believe is just the latest of many delaying tactics. Greater numbers of security forces and armed regime supporters have also been out on the streets, raising fears of a new bloody confrontation.

Witnesses said more than 100,000 protesters massed on Sunday around the state TV building and government offices, and security forces opened fire when

they began to march toward the nearby presidential palace. Snipers fired from rooftops, and plainclothes Saleh supporters armed with automatic rifles, swords and batons attacked the protesters.

“This peaceful protest was confronted by heavy weapons and anti-aircraft guns,” said Mohammed al-Sabri, an opposition spokesman. He vowed that the protests “will not stop and will not retreat”.

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

61

NATION SPORT

Mayweather cool on Pacquiao F

LOYD Mayweather has shrugged off renewed calls for a superfight with Manny Pacquiao, insisting his Filipino rival "has to get his business in order" before the two can meet.

Floyd Mayweather has shrugged off renewed calls for a superfight with Manny Pacquiao, insisting his Filipino rival "has to get his business in order" before the two can meet.

The failure of boxing's two leading fighters to get it on is the longest-running saga in the sport but remains as far off as ever with Mayweather still insisting on extra stringent drug tests and Pacquiao seemingly intent on pursuing other plans.

"Pacquiao is famous because

he is attached to my name," Mayweather ranted. "When they say Pacquiao, they say 'that's the guy they are trying to get to fight Floyd Mayweather'. When they say Floyd Mayweather, they say the greatest ever.

How can Pacquiao offer me anything? I do the offering. He has to get his business in order.

When he fights, he gives up 30% of his check, I get 100%."

Self-styled 'Money' Mayweather added: "I just want an even playing field. That's it.

If you have nothing to hide, then take the test.

"With or without Pacquiao, any time Floyd Mayweather goes out there he is going to make 70 million dollars. I don't need him."

•Mayweather

J

W

Ogilvy said. "It's a bit more complicated than your normal tournament."

He was tied with Bill Haas, who was within three shots of the lead until a bad break on his tee shot at the 16th led to double bogey. Haas, who is No. 12 in the Presidents Cup standings, had to settle for a 69 and was five shots behind. If he can hold his position, Haas would make the team.

Mathathi sets a new course record

M

ARTIN Mathathi set a new course record and fellow Kenyan Lucy Wangui Kabuu dominated the women's event as near-perfect conditions led to fast times across the elite events at the Great North Run. Mathathi took nine seconds off Zersenay Tadese's 2005

record of 59 minutes 5 seconds with a storming run as the Kenyan pulled away in the second half of the event.

Mathathi's time ranks in the top six all-time for a halfmarathon event.

Jonathan Maiyo had been the first to make a break, pulling clear after five miles, but Mathathi had overtaken

Flower confident of young talent

E

NGLAND cricket coach Andy Flower has warned the senior players in his side of the threat of the younger generation.

In the recent one-day series against India, England have proven that there are younger players capable of performing at international level.

In the final game of the series, 20-year-old Yorkshire batsman Jonathan Bairstow made his debut in England's run chase at Cardiff and impressed with a crucial 41 not out from 21 balls to see his side over the line. The result added to a dominant summer display from England against India.

M

I C H A E L Schumacher has not made decision on his Formula One future when his current Mercedes contract ends in 2013.

Schumacher's form has been indifferent since his return to the sport from retirement in 2009, but he has impressed in recent races. The German came from the back of the grid to finish fifth at Spa, then he finished fifth again at Monza.

Despite the upturn in results, the seven-time champion reacted angrily to rumours that he would stay in the sport after 2013.

"I don't give a damn about suggestions," he said.

"There is no point to talk about my future right now. I

don't want to give any suggestions."

Schumacher said that he was committed to seeing out the final year of his Mercedes deal in 2012, and would look at the situation then.

"I'm doing what I'm planning to do - and that is to be there next year, definitely, and then I will find out afterwards," he insisted.

The 42-year-old lies eighth in the world championship, just four points behind teammate Nico Rosberg.

Schumacher has yet to finish on the podium since returning to Mercedes, with fourth places in Turkey and Korea last year, and Canada this season his best results so far.

Djokovic tips Murray for glory

Justin Rose blooming at BMW Championship

USTIN Rose kept it simple even as Cog Hill got a little harder Saturday, making only one bogey in his 2under 69 that gave him a fourshot lead going into the final round of the BMW Championship.

He played a tidy round in mild sunshine and a swirling breeze. And while Rose failed to birdie any of the par 5s, he didn't make any of the big mistakes that hurt the other two players in the final group.

Mark Wilson, who started the day tied for the lead, played a five-hole stretch in 5 over on the back nine and shot 77. He played the last hour unsure if he would get a two-shot penalty for grounding his club in the bunker at No. 14, although he was cleared because his club was placed in the sand to keep his balance as he replaced his ball. Wilson still shot 77 and fell eight shots back.

Webb Simpson was in contention until going from a bunker into the hazard and making double bogey on No. 17. He shot 73 and was six shots out of the lead.

Rose, who is at No. 34 in the FedEx Cup, should have no trouble getting into the top 30 who advance to the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta. He was at 13-under 200.

The closest player to him was John Senden of Australia, who needs to win to have any chance of making the Presidents Cup team. Senden had a rugged start, but had four birdies on his last eight holes for a 70.

Even with Rose looking like a runaway winner, there was plenty at stake for two cups - the FedEx Cup that pays $10 million to the winner next week at East Lake, and the Presidents Cup in Australia that doesn't pay a dime.

The latter means more to Geoff Ogilvy, who grew up in Melbourne and now has a home on the 14th hole. He put himself into position for a shot at both of them with four birdies late in his round for a 68, leaving him in a tie for third at 8-under 205.

A week ago, he was on the verge of being eliminated from the FedEx Cup playoffs until making a birdie on the final hole to finish at No. 69, when only the top 70 advanced to Cog Hill.

If he can stay no worse than a two-way tie for third, he will go to Atlanta and qualify for the International team at the Presidents Cup. "I'm trying not to think about anything other than just play good golf, but it creeps into your mind every now and then,"

Schumacher cagey on future

Flower believes the competition for places will help keep everybody focused on playing well.

He said: "If people aren't hungry enough then I don't think they will keep up with the side. They will drop out or be dropped out.

"The hunger is very important because it drives you to train harder, it drives you to get out of bed early in the morning to go training. It drives you to do the extra work and to do your skills practice.

To keep the weight off your body. It drives you to be inquisitive about maximising your potential."

•Flower

him by the eight-mile mark and proceeded to pull clear with apparent ease.

Maiyo settled for second, 31 seconds back, while the London Marathon winner, Emmanuel Mutai, was third in a time of 59:52.

"I couldn't believe (the time)," Muthathi told BBC1.

"My manager told me maybe I could run a 59-minute race and he gave me a lot of motivation and encouragement."

Keith Gerrard was the first Briton to finish, 10th, in a time of 63:39.

The women's race was dominated by Kabuu, who had joined defending champion Berhane Adere in pushing the pace early on but then broke clear by the fivemile mark.

The Kenyan quickly established a big lead and was soon out of sight, just missing out on breaking the symbolic 67-minute mark as she finished in 67:06. Only nine women have completed a half-marathon in less than 67 minutes.

Jéssica Augusto, the 2009 winner, came in second a minute and a half back, with Britain's Joanne Pavey and Helen Clitheroe fourth and fifth respectively.

Kabuu's time was the third best in the history of this event, in only her second race back after giving birth to a daughter, Angel.

"I have trained well, and I expected to win the race," she said. "I was expecting to run a good time today."

Canadian Josh Cassidy won the wheelchair race in a time of 43:57, ahead of Denis Lemeunier. The Briton, David Weir, who had won the previous two races here and four since 2003, was absent with a shoulder injury.

Shelly Woods won the women's wheelchair race in a time of 50:14 for her third victory in the Great North Run.

ORLD number one Novak Djokovic believes Britain's Andy Murray will eventually be "the one to look out for" in grand slam events.

The Serbian won three of this year's four grand slams and 64 of his 66 matches during an extraordinary season as he pulled clear of Murray and traditional powers Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to become the world's leading player.

But he told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme: "Regarding Andy, he's a player with a lot of quality and potential, he's proved that on many occasions. He's played in three grand slam finals alright, in those finals he has not managed to step up and play his game, but it takes time to overcome those pressures and expectations."

He added: "I'm sure in the future he will be the one to look out for in major tournaments."

On his personal year, which brought him the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open

crowns, he said: "It seems like a dream come true.

"I definitely didn't expect it but it comes as a result of hard work and dedication to the sport and believing I can win major events.

"I'm not too surprised with the way I am playing, I know I always possessed this quality and I believed I could be the best in the world.

"Winning this many matches, winning three majors - it seems impossible because Roger and Rafa have been so dominant. But nobody could take that belief away from me - I had a lot of doubts but overcame those moments and played the best tennis of my life."

Nadal expressed his belief that such a season will never be repeated, and Djokovic said: "I would say almost the same thing, I think it would be very hard, but I will do my best to try to win as many majors and important tournaments as I can.

"I'm ready, I'm still motivated, I'm still only 24 and have many years to come, but I will just enjoy the present at this moment."

•Djokovic

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THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

NATION SPORT

PREMIERSHIP...PREMIERSHIP...

Redknapp: Modric not bothered with Chelsea move T

OTTENHAM boss Harry Redknapp admits he's delighted they kept Luka Modric away from his move to Chelsea.

Modric was impressive at Wolves last week.

"In not selling Luka, chairman Daniel Levy made a statement, I think, that big

Djourou — We just have to bounce back

J

OHAN Djourou expects Arsenal to bounce back in a positive fashion following Saturday’s defeat against Blackburn Rovers.

The Swiss defender replaced Bacary Sagna in the second half at Ewood Park on Saturday but could not prevent the hosts coming from behind to win 43 on a disappointing afternoon for Arsène Wenger's side.

Arsenal now face Shrewsbury Town in the Carling Cup on Tuesday before hosting Bolton in the Premier League next weekend and Djourou wants to the players to respond in the right way.

“When you lose, it is always important to have a response,” he told Arsenal Player. “Even

if it is at home in the Carling Cup, we want to win so we need a big response on Tuesday.

“We have to bounce back because we have another game and we have to be ready for those. We are disappointed but there is still a long way to go and things are not over yet.

“We had many chances to put the game to bed in the first half and, when you don’t do that, you are always in danger of getting punished. I think that is what happened on Saturday.

“The team is building together and we are getting stronger together,” he added.

“We could have won the game but this team has got a lot of potential and we have to work hard to be the best.”

•Modric

clubs can’t just call up Tottenham and buy who they want," Redknapp told the Mail on Sunday.

"It was a hard pre-season.

We had a lot of players who didn’t want to be here, like Alan Hutton, Peter Crouch, Robbie Keane, Jermaine Jenas and Wilson Palacios, as they couldn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Then Luka wanted to leave for Chelsea.

"I told the chairman that there was a mood around the place that I didn’t like. There’s nothing worse than having two or three you don’t want to see in the morning, it makes your job difficult, doesn’t it?

"But I understood the position of the lads who have gone. Luka, though, is a boy I look forward to seeing every day. All right, he didn’t want to play against Manchester United at the start of the season, but I think maybe others were controlling him.

"Yet he was never a disruptive influence; he trained hard every day, and there’s nothing cocky or nasty about him. He’s just a fantastic footballer, a massive influence for us; and you never have to worry where he is on a Saturday night after a game. I believe the chairman plans, quite soon, to sit down and discuss a new contract with Luka."

Rodallega out for three months W

IGAN Athletic striker Hugo Rodallega could be facing up to three months on the sidelines following an injury sustained in Saturdays Premier League defeat at

•Djourou

Moyes unconcerned

by Saha's Twitter post

L

Aston Villa: Darren Bent out of form

D

ARREN Bent squandered two golden chances as Aston Villa had to settle for a 11 draw against Newcastle despite taking an early lead.

Leon Best earned the visitors a deserved share of the spoils at Villa Park on Saturday as his third goal of the campaign cancelled out Gabriel Agbonlahor’s early opener.

But England striker Bent should have punished the Magpies only for his predatory instincts to desert him, and he

completed a miserable afternoon by limping out of the action in the closing stages.

Villa boss Alex McLeish admitted his side should have been more ruthless in front of goal.

“We could have been better in the final third,” he said. “We were a bit careless and we’ve got to be more ruthless in those situations.

“Benty had a right good chance to make it 2-0 and it is not like him to miss those chances but he is only human.”

Goodison Park against Everton.

With the Latics 2-1 down and time running out the Colombia international battled for the ball with Everton substitute Denis Stracqualursi, unfortunately

OUIS Saha says he is "absolutely destroyed" by being left out of Everton's squad Louis Saha vented his frustration at being left out of Everton's squad to face Wigan but manager David Moyes later denied there was a problem.

Shortly before kick-off, Saha wrote on Twitter: "I am not good enough. It's coz I'm confident in my ability that

•Moyes

I'm gutted.

Absolutely destroyed."

After his side's 3-1 win, Moyes responded: "It's good that, great.

"I want them upset when they are not involved. I'm not really that bothered. I was interested in the 11 players."

Saha, 33, has played just 41 minutes this season and has not featured since the Carling Cup win over Sheffield United on 24 August.

Moyes has stressed he will only pick players who are in form and has demonstrated that by starting club captain Phil Neville on the bench for the last two matches.

As Saha had been struggling for match fitness, the Frenchman was left out again against Wigan. It is understood the striker was at Goodison Park ahead of the game but left the ground soon after discovering he was not in the squad.

Everton won the game 3-1 as Apostolos Vellios and Royston Drenthe scored their first goals in English football.

for Hugo, following the challenge, his right leg appeared to get caught under his body and twisted at the knee, with the Latics man obviously in distress the referee stopped the game and following lengthy treatment he was carried from the pitch on a stretcher with his leg in a brace.

Latics boss Roberto Martinez confirmed that Rodallega has suffered a knee ligament injury and faces a

•Rodallega

lengthy spell on the treatment table, speaking to the clubs official website Martinez said: 'Hugo has damaged the medial ligament in his right knee and it doesn't look good.

'He's been looking sharp and enjoying his football and it's the biggest negative to come out of the game.''The scans will give us a final verdict in the week but, if it's a rupture of the ligament, we're looking at him being out for around nine to 12 weeks so we'll keep our fingers crossed and see if Hugo's body has reacted well to the injury or not.'

Latics appear to be suffering from a spate of early season injury woes, James McCarthy has struggled with an ankle knock, Antolin Alcaraz and Steve Gohouri are both out with calf problems, full backs Ronnie Stam and Emmerson Boyce are sidelined at the moment and Momo Diame has had a slight problem that kept him out of the Everton game, now with Hugo looking to be out until Christmas we will have our squad strength tested to the hilt.

63

THE NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

SPORT EXTRA CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Enyimba invincible against Cotonsport E

NYIMBA extended their unbeaten run in the CAF Champions League to 11 matches after they defeated Cotonsport of Cameroon 2-0 in a Group A match in Aba Sunday.

The Nigerian champions remain undefeated in Africa’s premier club competition since October 2008 and did not appear to want to slow down in front of their home fans against a team who humiliated them in the same competition in September 2008 by thrashing them 3-0 in Garoua.

Enyimba thus finished top of the group on 14 points from six matches and will take on Wydad Casablanca of Morocco in the semi-final of the competition.

Al Hilal of Sudan grabbed the other semi-final ticket after they held hosts Raja Casablanca of Morocco to a goalless draw in Morocco.

The Sudanese giants finished on eight points, a point ahead of Cotonsport, who were beaten in the final of the competition three years

• Beat Cameroonians club 2-0 ago.

The semi-finals will be played in the weekends of October 1 and 2 with the return legs two weeks later.

Enyimba went ahead after 45 minutes against Cotonsport through a penalty taken by striker Ifeanyi Ede, who made up for several misses earlier in the encounter.

Man of the Match Uche Kalu was brought down inside the box by Cotonsport Niger international goalkeeper Daouda Kassaly and Ede tucked away the resulting spot kick.

The Cameroonian champions, who lost the reverse fixture 3-2, gave as much as they got especially in the midfield where Michel Balokog held sway with his creativity.

Goalkeeper Kassaly made two superb saves off Josiah Maduabuchi and the impressive Kalu in the 49th and 52nd minutes, respectively

Nsofor: I can play better

D

AY after scoring in his Russian side’s UEFA EUROPA CUP match against Sturm Graz last week, Nigerian forward, Victor Obinna Nsofor was interviewed by Lokomotiv Moscow’s press office where he relived details of the game including witnessing his first power outage in Eurpoe before a match as well how well he has adapted in Russia.

Have you ever witnessed situations where the kickoff is delayed due to problems with electricity in the stadium?

In the place where I was born, such stories happen sometimes. However, it concerns only matches of the Nigerian championship. I don‘t remember such accidents on national team games. In Europe I have never witnessed such situation as well. When you appear on the pitch and suddenly you are asked to wait for 40 minutes more, it puts (you) out for sure. But I think we kept the concentration and that incident didn‘t become a big problem for us.

Can you recall the episode when you scored the goal?

For sure I was lucky. I don‘t even remember how the ball jumped to my hip. The most important is that after that touch the ball crossed the goal line. It‘s possible to say that I had appeared in the right place at the right time.

In general for striker it‘s not important, how you score, the most important thing is – how much (goals).

Did Sturm surprise you?

I wouldn‘t say that. It‘s a good team, but our players are stronger and we just realised our advantage in the quality. Surely we wanted to score the third goal. And we had a few chances to do it, while Sturm

wasn‘t allowed to create something.

You scored in your second match in succession. Is it possible to say that you have already fully adapted to Lokomotiv and feel yourself on 100 per cent?

Not yet. I know that I can play better and bring more benefit to the team. But I need time. From game to game my mutual understanding with my team-mates is growing and I know better already what to expect from them and they – from me.

How about your adaptation in Russia outside the pitch?

It‘s good. I like Moscow, I don‘t face serious difficulties in everyday life. Though in the last two months there were a lot of games, I went to my national team as well and it seems that for all this time I’ve spent not more than one week in my Moscow flat.

‘The People’s Elephant’ doubled their advantage five minutes from time through a free kick smashed home by left back Valentine Nwabaeli on a water-logged pitch caused by heavy downpour.

Most of the second half was an eyesore and a disgrace to African football as the Enyimba International Stadium pitch was flooded and almost unplayable but the referee insisted on seeing through the match.

Cotonsport, who needed at least a draw to stand any chance of reaching the semifinal of the Champions League, severally complained about the water-logged turf.

Ferguson: Man Utd must improve

A

LEX Ferguson believes his Manchester United troops must improve despite recording their best ever Premier League start.

First half goals from Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney set up a 3-1 victory over Chelsea — making it five wins from five.

But having seen Rooney miss a penalty and a Fernando Torres howler avoid a nervy finish at Old Trafford, Fergie feels there is more hard work to be done.

He said: "It was a fantastic, open match but we created our own problems for ourselves. We gave the ball away in attacking areas and they kept counter-attacking us. In the first half they could have scored two or three.

"We created more opportunities, fantastic opportunities, particularly through Nani and Ashley Young, who kept getting in very good areas. That was our strength, they couldn't cope with that."

One negative for United was a late injury to Javier

Hernandez, who went off after a poor challenge from Ashley Cole.

Asked about the Mexican striker's condition, Ferguson added: "For me it's a shocking tackle. The referee has booked him (Cole) and if he's booked

Villas-Boas: It was a crazy scoreline

A

• Nsofor

• Ferguson

him I don't know why it wasn't a penalty.

"We're going to have to wait until the morning because at the moment his leg is very numb. He could be out for a couple of weeks anyway."

Chelsea boss Andre VillasBoas meanwhile bemoaned a "crazy scoreline" after his side lot their first game in the Premier League under him.

He said: "It was a strange game, very,very open and a lot of opportunities for both team. If luck could play a better part for our side today, maybe. We had some very good chances to even the score or even to score first.

"The scoreline went crazy in the first half, but we had good opportunities to do something in this game.

Coming back from 3-0 down is always difficult and we had to take risks without exposing ourselves too much. The second-half recovery was very good and we had a couple of chances to even the score. The scoreline is crazy."

NDRE Villas-Boas felt Chelsea were on the end of a 'crazy scoreline' after losing 3-1 at Premier League champions Manchester United.

First-half goals from Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney on the face of it had United in command, but Chelsea created numerous opportunities throughout the game.

Fernando Torres missed a good chance in the first half before scoring inside the opening minute of the second half, only to then side-foot wide in front of an open goal with seven minutes to go.

Ramires also wasted a golden opportunity for the Blues in the first period and visiting manager VillasBoas was left puzzled by the final score.

"It was a strange game, very, very open and a lot of opportunities for both teams." he told Sky Sports 1.

"If luck could play a better part for our side today,

maybe. We had some very good chances to even the score or even to score first.

The scoreline went crazy in the first half, but we had good opportunities to do

Levante beats Real Madrid 1-0

L

EVANTE stunned 10man Real Madrid 1-0 on Sunday, with Arouna Kone's second-half goal giving the Spanish powerhouse its first loss of the league season.

While Barcelona routed Osasuna 8-0 for its biggest home win under coach Pep Guardiola on Saturday, a lackluster Madrid was held scoreless for the third consecutive visit to Ciutat de Valencia stadium.

Madrid played a man down from the 40th after Sami Khedira received his second yellow card.

Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench at halftime to try and spark Madrid, but Kone converted Levante's numerical advantage into the 68th-minute winner.

The loss left Madrid one point behind Barcelona and two points behind league leader Valencia.

• Di Maria

something in this game.

"Coming back from 3-0 down is always difficult and we had to take risks without exposing ourselves too much. The second-half recovery was very good and we had a couple of chances to even the score. The scoreline is crazy."

Adebayor 'delighted' with goals

E

MMANUEL Adebayor believes he has won over the Tottenham fans already after scoring twice on his home debut in Sunday's 40 win over Liverpool.

The former Arsenal striker joined the Gunners' north London rivals last month, after an unhappy spell at Manchester City, and netted away at Wolves to open his account.

Two more at White Hart Lane confirmed his threat to opposition defences, and any

fears the Tottenham faithful would not take to a former Arsenal favourite have been dispelled.

"I'm very happy, very delighted," Adebayor told Sky Sports.

"It's always important to score your first goal at home.

I have done it already away. I know the fans all love me because that's what they're looking for, a player who can score goals.

"I'm very happy that

everything is going well for me at this club. Hopefully I can keep up the hard work and keep going."

Red cards for Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel left Liverpool depleted and Adebayor's two goals came with the visitors down to nine men.

"What is important is to take three points," Adebayor said.

"We did that well with lot of qualities. I'm delighted for the team."

WHO SAID WHAT

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL.7, NO. 1,888

‘We do not have the infrastructure and the facilities to deal squarely with terrorism. Even the countries that do are still having problems coping with it.

So we must help ourselves’ SAMUEL OGBEMUDIA

C OMMENT & D EB ATE EBA

N

O one can forget President Goodluck Jonathan’s shoe speech of seduction.

We remember it not for its rhetorical distinction. Jonathan has not delivered any speech that stuns except for playing games with facts. But the shoe speech distinguished itself by its bare bones fact, its evocative familiarity. He said he did not have shoes as a little boy and walked barefoot to school.

It was a seduction speech because he tapped the experience of many who grew up in his days, whether in the Niger Delta, in the Southeast, in the Southwest or all parts of the North. In the 1970’s in Warri, we called it “tearing ten toes.”

Most people did not buy shoes. They could not afford it, and it did not seem then like a big deal if you did not have shoes because many did not. That was the point President Jonathan did not make. He was not alone without shoes. He grew up in a generation of shoeless school goers. He was not an isolated poor. We all had that foot deficiency with blisters, petrified soles and toes, limping over wounds coming and going.

He delivered the speech when he declared he wanted to run for president after he survived the plots and ululations of the socalled cabal or kitchen cabinet. Those were the men and woman who would not give him the right to which providence and the law entitled him, and he broke a law on his own called zoning in his party in order to declare his “I did not have a shoe” speech. It was perhaps the most resonant appeal in all speeches declaring a presidential ambition in Nigerian history. I might also say it was the most opportunistic.

But that is not the point today. It is because President Jonathan has spent one hundred days in office and he seemed to bask in false glory in an organised media chat in which he failed to elevate his thoughts. He was incapable of generating an enthusiasm among Nigerians about whether he had a direction. Editors found it hard to cast any good headline because in the two-hour exposure he did not make any meaningful exposition. Not on security, not on the federal question or power or infrastructure development or on the vexing bugbear of education did he utter any succinct line of policy. As a PHD, he did not sound coherent.

As a former teacher he did not inspire one to take notes. As a past technocrat, he showed no sign of the policy wonk.

Yet, the nation is in dire pains. Poverty worsens by the hour, and all the challenges we face in the areas of Boko Haram eruptions, the failure of power, the exodus of businesses, the rising illiteracy levels, all show how poverty continues to grow like an ominous monster feeding fat in the sewer.

In all of these, I don’t think he knows the

SAM OMATSEYE

IN TOUCH

intouchsam@yahoo.com 08054501081(sms only) •Winner, Informed Commentary 2009 (D.A.M.E) •Columnist of the Year 2009 (NMMA)

‘Our president has no shoes’ ‘It was a very simple pledge. It was an IOU. It is time to start paying up. But from how he has performed since he took over as a substantive president- though he has been president for over a year now- I see no signal of progress’ •Dr. Jonathan

significance of his shoe speech. It was not just an emotive moment. It was a challenge, a potentially inspirational moment. It was a pact with all those who live at the level he lived in the shoeless era. He vowed - if he did not realise it on that incandescent stage that Abuja afternoon – to ensure that those who could not afford shoes in 2011 should be able to afford them by the time he is done in office.

It was a very simple pledge. It was an IOU. It is time to start paying up. But from how he has performed since he took over as a substantive president- though he has been president for over a year now- I see no signal of progress. No one is asking him to set up a shoe factory. That will not cut it. And no one

RIPPLES 100 days: IMO SSG APPEALS TO CITIZENS FOR PATIENCE

Patience...for another 1,000 days

is asking him to go on a charity spree, buy shoes in their millions and distribute them to the poor of subaltern Nigerian or even in the city.

That will be phony. In fact Nigerians have become so adept at second-hand shoes that even the very poor afford threadbare varieties of footwear. What Jonathan should focus on now is to create conditions that will make it easy for the poor to afford shoes. It sounds simplistic. But that is the power he needs to tap for a successful presidency.

Before a boy of school age whose parents cannot afford shoes can afford them, certain things have to happen. The parents have to be able to have enough money, and not just

HARDBALL

T

HE first major crisis the Goodluck Jonathan presidency will be facing since he assumed office in May is the Boko Haram revolt in Maiduguri and neighbouring towns. He did not father the crisis, nor did his predecessor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, directly trigger it. It had been brewing for many years, until it matured in 2009 in an open revolt against the state.

However, unlike Yar’Adua who at least decided firmly on a foolish line of action against the armed insurrection, Jonathan has fidgeted interminably on the crisis. One moment he is conciliatory; and the other moment he is talking tough. It is now obvious that the Jonathan government suffers from a debilitating paralysis on the crisis, unsure whether to fight or to make peace. This paralysis perhaps explains why the government clutched at the imprudent straw offered by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s visit to the families of Boko Haram leaders extrajudicially murdered in 2009 by the police.

It is unlikely Obasanjo’s visit to Maiduguri was a unilateral decision. It seemed to have been sanctioned by the Jonathan government.

The visit was only disguised as private partly because Jonathan still felt uncomfortable negotiating with terrorists, and did not have the courage to come out boldly to tell Nigerians and the rest of the world that in

enough to feed, but also for shelter, for school fees, and other essentials. Shoes were seen as luxuries in those days. You had to afford the basics and later go to the level of footwear. Footwear was at the bottom of the list. Shoes are still a luxury today. For the parents to get money, they have to have jobs and jobs do not spring from lumbering economies.

What this means is that Jonathan should make it possible for the poor to rise out of their present state of misery. But for a presidency that has not narrowed its objectives and set a coherent strategy for implementation, the story of all those with shoeless lifestyles remain endangered.

In his first duty as president, which is security, he has proved out of sync. Jos has become a cauldron of weekly and sometimes daily tragedies. In the approach to the Boko Haram eruptions, he is engaging in counterterrorism without intelligence.

Nobody wages a war without intelligence.

If knowledge is power, how can you fight without knowledge? This is a typical Nigerian paradox.

How can businesses flourish, or education standards rise and infrastructure develop in the absence of security? That is what Nigeria is today.

This is not the time to allow himself to dither. This is not the time to be distracted by the issue of a six-year term. He made it clear it was not six years he was proposing but seven. He said Nigerians presumed he was going to benefit from it. He did not make any categorical statement about whether he was going to exploit it. Not that any such categorical word was going to mean anything. Zoning is an example.

Agriculture is still behind, and Nigerians live on less than a dollar a day. Yet the value of the Naira to the dollar has dropped about N15 in only three months. The banks do not show the real values. Go to the Bureaus de change to find out the truth. The Nigerian is devaluated like our currency and that does not presage good things for those without shoes.

The worse the situation, the more likely it will be for those with shoeless boys and girls to afford shoes. The president ought to take this seriously. How marvelous it would be though if the president does well and at the end of four years, we are able to pick those whose lots have so improved that they can afford shoes for their children to go to school.

If not, that rhetoric of seduction on that gleeful stage of intention would be a big waste, a grandiloquent lie. The president could protest his failure by taking off his shoes. But we cannot have that of our president because people will say our president has no shoes.

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Worsening the Boko Haram crisis the country he governs it is always okay to negotiate with lawbreakers. Unfortunately for all of them, including those who prematurely lauded the action, Obasanjo’s disguised visit of last week has miscarried badly. Some two days after he met with representatives of the families of the late Boko Haram leaders, one of those who received him, Babakura Fugu, was murdered in broad daylight in Maiduguri. The media is awash with speculations on what led to the killing. Two motives are bandied about: one is connected with alleged disagreement between Boko Haram families over the prominence given to the representative who received Obasanjo and the cash gifts he was alleged to have collected; and the other has to do with principled disagreement by a faction opposed to any negotiation whatever.

The Saturday killing of the Fugu scion may yet make the decision of Obasanjo to explore dialogue with Boko Haram, possibly with the connivance of Jonathan, rather messy. All signals since May point to Jonathan’s preparedness to talk with terrorists, for his government has portrayed itself as weak and allowed itself to be persuaded that Boko

Haram is not different from all the violent groups the country has fought against or engaged with in the past few decades. But, as is usual with abhorrent public policies, the decision to begin exploring the possibility of discussing with Boko Haram was poorly timed. Neither the graves of victims of the late August bombing of the United Nations House in Abuja nor the tears of their relatives had dried before Obasanjo, the most unlikely peacemaker to come out of Nigeria, began his indefensible journey to the Boko Haram enclave.

What may worsen the crisis are not the intensified bombing campaigns by the terrorist group, or the lengthening of their demands, assuming the terror merchants are inclined to expand the list. What will worsen the problem is that a government reluctant to fight terrorism may now be compelled by its own stupid mistakes and indulgent definition of terror to brace up for a nasty fight. Boko Haram can of course not win.

But against a presidency unconvinced that it should fight, the cancer is bound to fester badly and make everyone miserable for a long time.

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