The Nation September 28,2011

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TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

VOL. 7, NO. 1897 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

N150.00

Why some ex-governors won’t face trial, by CCB From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

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HE crisis of confidence in the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) was laid bare yesterday.

Many former governors accused of breaching the oath of office have been let off the hook, after a plea bargain, the Bureau said yesterday. The revelation raised the question of the propriety of trying former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu.

CCB Chairman Sam Saba told reporters in Abuja that some of those governors had made some refunds, hence their exclusion from trial.

He was reacting to questions on the sudden decision to prosecute the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader – a move that has been roundly condemned as political and selective.

Saba denied that Tinubu was charged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to persecute him.

“Tinubu has not been singled out for trial; it is an ongoing process. You will also note that some of those governors at that time made some refunds to the Federal Government. Somebody like Saminu Turaki made refunds to the Federal Government and so it is an ongoing exercise,” he said.

The CCB boss, who claimed that he had no personal interest in the case, denied Continued on page 2

•President Jonathan flanked by Vice President Namadi Sambo (left) and Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim, arriving for the lecture ... yesterday. Behind them is Rivers State Govenor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi (right).

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

Jonathan at lecture: I won’t change my style

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has blamed Nigeria’s woes on lack of strong institutional framework.

The President, who was speaking at the 51st Independence Anniversary Lecture with the theme, “Nigeria in Transformation”, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Auditorium in Abuja, noted that if the ap-

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

propriate institutions were in place, the system would work well.

Besides, he said, his style of governance will not change – as he did on Sunday.

Even if the President is not available for months, the administration of the country would not suffer as ministers could con-

tinue to execute their briefs, he said.

“So, I normally say that ‘look, when we strengthen our institutions, the system will begin to roll properly. I used to tell people in my office that ministers don’t need to see me, if the system is working well. Even if I Continued on page 2

Boko Haram vows to continue bombings Army chief says sect gets foreign backing

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•The late Yusuf

HE Boko Haram sect yesterday vowed to fight on, until their demands are met.

The group rejected the recommendations of the Ambassador Usman Galtimari Panel, which prescribed dialogue to resolve the crisis in which many have died.

Boko Haram spokesman Abu Qaga told reporters on the telephone in Maiduguri yesterday that the panel acted on its own.

Qaqa said that the group was not

THE DEMANDS •Punishment for killers of its leader Mohammed Yusuf •Rebuilding of destroyed places of worship •Immediate release of detained members •Compensation for destroyed properties From Yusuf Alli and Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja

satisfied with the members of the committee. It said those advising the government to involve the Sul-

tan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and some emirs in the Northeast in the talks are doing so at their own peril. He said the group regards the Sultan as a gov-

ernment official.

Qaga reiterated the Boko Haram’s demands.

They are: severe punishment for those who killed its leader Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf and other members of the sect arrested during the July 2009 uprising; reconstruction of its places of worship destroyed by security agencies in Maiduguri and other states; immediate release Continued on page 2

•MONEY P16 •SPORT P23 •LIFE P29 •POLITICS P43 •NATION INVESTORS P47

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

NEWS Continued from page 1

•Past President, Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), Dr Gamaliel Onosode(right); Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement Emeka Ezeh; NIM President, Dr Nkem Adukwu Bolujoke and Mr Yinka Fasuyi during the conferment of Fellowship of the NIM on Ezeh and Fasuyi in Abuja ... yesterday.

PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE

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HIEF of Army Staff Gen. Azubike Ihejirika yesterday said members of the Boko Haram terrorist group were receiving training, funding and equipment from foreign interests.

Gen. Ihejirika hinged his position on the sophistication of the weapons being used by the sect’s members, the communication equipment deployed in recent bombings and their expertise in the preparation of improvised explosive devices.

“Involvement of foreigners in Boko Haram’s terrorist activities in Nigeria is certain.

It is definite that the group receives training and possibly funding from some foreign elements,” he said, at the opening of the 2011 Chief of Army Staff conference in Abuja: He added: “This is evident from the type of weapons we have captured from them, from the type of communication equipment we have captured from them and from the expertise they have displayed in the preparation of improvised explosive devices.

These are pointers to the fact that there is foreign involvement in the terrorism going on in Nigeria.”

Highlighting the main focus of the two-day conference, Gen. Ihejirika admitted the security challenges confronting the nation, assuring all that the Army is appraising its operational training to

having any disagreement with his Federal Commissioners over the trial of the ACN chieftain.

But The Nation learnt that a board crisis has hit the Bureau. A member was excluded from a meeting the CCB held yesterday. Besides, he was not invited to the news conference.

The member, it was learnt, was against any trial without due process, such as Tinubu’s.

It was learnt that when the member asked why he was left out of the meeting, he was told that he was thought to have been out of the office.

It was gathered that the case of a former Kaduna State governor was discussed at yesterday’s meeting, but details of the discussion were sketchy at press time.

Why some ex-governors won’t face trial, by CCB Saba said even if he took “a central position in the activities of the Bureau in the case against Tinubu, it should be understood because he is the chairman of the organisation and its principal spokesman”.

Saba also denied that the plans to charge some former governors, who are estranged members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), before the CCT is a ruse to deceive the public on the victimisation of Tinubu.

He said: “We (CCB) don’t know if we are preparing names of new governors, but I know that we are working on some investigation and verification.

When it is appropriate for us to

determine that they have defaulted, they will be taken to the tribunal and the names of those to be taken to tribunal will be given to you. But, we are not going to subject anybody to trial on the pages of newspapers.”

Tinubu is accused of operating foreign accounts more than four years after he left office. The accounts, Tinubu insists, were never run while he was in office. The balances in all the accounts are said to be less than £32,000.

The frontline politician maintains that his trial is a desperate bid by the ruling PDP to punish him for its loss of the Southwest and oil its plan to reclaim the zone.

Boko Haram gets foreign backing Sect vows to continue bombings Continued from page 1

of detained members; while appropriate compensation should be paid to them for all their belongings destroyed by security agencies.

The group disowned Mallam Ali Tishau saying he’s not its spokesman.

Qaga said Tishau was initially not their member as he was sent by security agencies to investigate their activities, but converted to Islam and became a full member who later opted out and now out to tarnish its image.

Tishau’s disappearance from security custody has been causing ripples.

The co-founder of the Islamic fundamentalist sect, which has claimed responsibility for bombings across the North, including the August 26 United Nations House, Abuja disappeared from security custody in controversial circumstances.

He reappeared on Africa Independent Television (AIT), which broadcast his interview, last week.

Since then, there has been a frenzy meet emerging security challenges.

“This quarter has been particularly challenging, in view of the numerous security challenges across the country, the most recent being the UN House bombing by the terrorists here in Abuja.

“This is essentially a training conference and hence a large number of officers taking part. We have been told

over his whereabouts in security circles.

The Presidency has launched a probe into how Tishau was transferred between security agencies and how he was released.

Chief of Army Staff Gen. Azubike Ihejirika yesterday said InspectorGeneral of Police Hafiz Ringim and the Head of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) are in a better position to clear the air on Tishau’s exit from custody.

Gen. Ihejirika spoke at the opening ceremony of the 2011 edition of the Chief of Army Staff conference.

The Panel probing the release of Tishau is mandated to determine three issues: •whether Tishau was released by the police or the DIA; •under whose authority he was released; and •whether his release was on administrative bail or by the order of a court The National Security Adviser (NSA) is leading the probe into

to appraise our performance training, administration and in tackling the operational challenges the Nigerian Army has been involved in both internally and externally” “I want to emphasise that we have to be very frank and do a serious critique of our performances so that we can come out with a solution that will aid our performances in

Tishau’s escape.

“A committee comprising representatives of security agencies and the police is looking into the matter,” a source said.

Neither the Police nor the DIA has accepted responsibility for Tishau’s escape.

Said the source: “What is clear so far is that Tishau voluntarily surrendered to the police and he was detained for interrogation, until he was handed over to the DIA on July 7 by the IGP after a formal request.

“The DIA has also maintained that it returned Tishau to police custody. But the probe team would have to check the logs on the suspect’s movement.

“For a high-profile suspect like this, there are standard procedures for detention, interrogation and inter-agency movement.”

A new twist has emerged in the Tishau escape mystery. There is claim that he must have been released following a court order, but no such court order has been produced.

future undertakings,” he said.

The Army chief acknowledged the high expectation of the public from the security agencies, saying that the consensus among them is that a situation where bombs continue to shatter public peace is unacceptable.

“So, we need to really dissect our mode of operation, and the way we work and

cooperate with other agencies so as to come up with better strategies to enhance security tremendously,” the General said.

He deplored indiscipline among members of the Armed Forces and promised to tackle it with every seriousness required. He however added that indiscipline is a societal problem and not peculiar to members of the

•Gen. Ihejirika

Armed Forces.

Said Gen. Ihejirika: “The issue of indiscipline affecting soldiers is societal, but what I want to assure every Nigerian is that all acts of indiscipline on the part of soldiers and officers would be dealt with immediately, whether by court-martial or at the unit level’.

“I have brought commanders to the field so that we will drum it right into their ears so that they too can interact with us and we will know how to nip the problem in the bud once and for all.

“What I want to say is that the Army will meet the expectations of Nigerians and that we are ever prepared to carry out any task assigned to us. The issue of the country’s security is a collective thing running from government at various levels, well-meaning citizens and all the security agencies. What I want to assure you is that the Army will cooperate and collaborate with others to improve on our present performance.”

Jonathan at lecture: I won’t change my style Continued from page 1

am sick for six months, ordinary Nigerians will not know the President is sick because the system is supposed to run.

“Ministers have budgets approved by the National Assembly for them to run their ministries, their recurrent and capital projects. So, even if a minister does not see Mr. President for four years, that minister is competent and can run the ministry in a way that Nigerians will know that we are moving,” he said.

Jonathan also argued that now, almost everything requires the President’s intervention because things are just beginning to be done differently. “Now, we are in the process of that transformation. By the time we finish setting up all these structures, surely Nigeria will get to where we are all hoping that we will get to. I have no fear

about that,” he said.

The President cited the acclaimed success of the last general elections, attributing it to the strengthening of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies.

He said: “I did not conduct the election. I participated in the election. So, I did not play a role, but because we strengthened INEC and we strengthened the security services, they were able to conduct an election that the whole world accepted.”

The President lamented that Nigeria’s oil resources have been a source of corruption.

He said in the next 10 years, attention would shift away from the extractive industry and the government would be able to block leakages and run without depending on oil.

“If you look at the size of Nigeria, all the general import that come into Africa, about 20 per cent of them come into this

country. If we have well managed ports alone, the income we receive as a government from the trading activities alone will be enough but we are still running a deficit budget because there are a lot of leakages. Things are not being done properly,” Jonathan said, adding: “Some goods that are supposed to be cleared through Nigerian wharves are being cleared through other countries and smuggled into Nigeria. We consume all those goods here but we cannot clear them through our wharves. They have to be cleared through neighbouring countries and they will transfer them through all kinds of means to Nigerians for us to consume.

“If we fix a number of institutions that we must fix, it may be painful, but we have to do that. People will complain that politics is being used but it must be done. By the time

these institutions are fixed, I believe in the next 10 years or so, we should be able to run our economy without oil.”

On the bad perception of the country outside, the President said it is the responsibility of all Nigerians to paint a good image of this country.

He also insisted that he would not wield the big stick as being pushed by some critics.

But he promised that his administration will ensure that institutional structures are put in place as part of the transformation, adding that he is trying to do things differently with the objective of developing the country.

Said the President: “As the current president of Nigeria, I said ‘yes, we are moving this country forward and we are trying to do things differently, not by Mr. President carrying a big stick and breaking the heads of all corrupt people; to be breaking the heads of all

civil servants that report to work by 9am’.

“I was told that you rarely see people going to work by 8am, even though the period of service is between 8am – 4pm. How many directors come to work by 8am? I’m not sure 10 per cent of your directors come to work by 8a.m., not exactly.

“I’m not going to chase them by carrying a big stick, going into the ministries and breaking the heads of the people, but I believe that for us to get to where we want to go as a nation, we have to build strong institutions and when we build strong institutions, this institutions will drive the process.”

Guest speaker, Richard Dowden gave a frank assessment of the country and identified five key factors impeding Nigeria’s development.

The discovery of oil, he said, is a curse rather than a blessing, simply because Nigerian

leaders have failed to invest for future generations.

He identified corruption, flight of human capital, the country’s reputation and politics as other factors that have held Nigeria down.

He, however, said if the lapses are addressed, this country would get to its potential.

Dowden, who is the Director of Africa Royal Society, spoke on Nigeria in Transformation.

He noted that Nigeria, at Independence, had a trade surplus with the United Kingdom and substantial reserve.

“In 1970, oil was only 60 per cent of export. By 1982, it was 99 per cent of export and almost the same proportion of fiscal revenue. Almost all other exports, like cocoa, rubber, cotton and groundnuts, had been wiped out,” Dowden said.

Continued on page 6

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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NEWS Aside waste of man-hours and avoidable deaths caused by bad roads across the country, the highways make it easy for armed robbers to ply their evil trade, writes Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN

Sad tales from the highways N

OT long ago, Francis Okechukwu, a young Igbo trader, travelled to Kano from Lagos to buy some materials for his master. Between Lokoja and Abuja, the Peugeot 504 saloon car he boarded was ambushed by armed robbers and all the passengers were robbed. When the robbers heard the lamentation of the young man that his master would not believe he was robbed, the bandits said they would give him a receipt for the money they stole from him.

What the robbers did was to cut his nose and put it in his pocket so that his boss would believe he was truly robbed. Okechukwu is still nursing his injury.

Just last week, a family of five set out for a journey from Lagos to Imo State to attend a wedding . Very close to Onitsha, the driver of the mini-bus they travelled in was blinded by an on-coming vehicle’s headlamp. He hit a ditch in the middle of the road and one of the tyres burst. The bus veered off the road, somersaulted four times before hitting a tree. All the 14 passengers died instantly.

Recently too, at the Zariaga end of the bumpy Abuja–Okene road, 50 passengers died when armed

robbers waylaid their bus. The bandits ordered the passengers to lie face down on the highway. They complied, they were frisked and dispossessed of their valuables. As the passengers lay face-down, an oncoming vehicle ran over them.

Armed robbers usually position themselves at strategic potholed and bumpy parts of the highways to keep track of vehicles without much difficulty.

Many drivers and passengers have sad tales to tell.

The highways have become death traps owing to lack of maintenance, resulting in frequent accidents.

According to figures from the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), 29,715 Nigerians were killed in road accidents between 2005 and 2010.

About 1,000 children under 16 years died in road accidents within this period.

Besides, 118,993 of the victims recorded various injuries in the accidents involving about 53,000 vehicles.

The statistics issued by the FRSC showed that on the average about 400 lives are lost monthly on Nigerian roads and highways.

These figures are alarming, con-

•Figures released by Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) boss Osita Chidoka (above) show that the deplorable state of the highways in the country, especially the federal roads, cause a lot of havoc such as live-claiming accidents (see picture top on the right) and traffic gridlock, which waste man-hours and encourage armed robbery (see picture directly opposite).

The highway death figures

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Total

— — — — — — — —

4,380 4,775 4,475 6,661 5,488 5,936 ?

29,715

sidering the fact that the actual figure may be higher than what has been given by the FRSC. They show that the death toll is not reducing, in spite of all efforts by the commission.

Despite billions of naira being voted for rehabilitation, reconstruction and maintenance of roads, the impact has remained unfelt. The result is the grief that travelling on Nigerian roads brings to travellers.

Standard roads all over the world are expected to serve at least a minimum of 10 years before either palliative repairs or

comprehensive routine maintenance are carried out on them.

A retired civil engineer with Julius Berger, Mr Kayode Akinsowon, said roads are expected to have drainage channels on each side as well as shoulders or walkway, on both sides of the road.

“But, here in Nigeria, we hardly comply with this universal standard,” he said.

A director at the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Olatayo Komolafe, said inadequate funding has greatly hampered the operations of the agency, leaving the people to bear the brunt.

Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing in the Yakubu Gowon administration, Alhaji Lateef Okunnu, believes former President Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida should be blamed for what he calls criminal neglect of federal highways. He proposes measures for the repairs of the dilapidated roads. LEKE SALAUDEEN met him.

‘IBB, OBJ responsible for deplorable highways’

•Alhaji Okunnu

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OST of the roads we have in Nigeria today were built during your tenure. How did you achieve this feat?

When I was appointed Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing in May 1967, the network of the Federal roads at that time called Trunk A roads came up to just about 7,000 miles.

When I left the government and the ministry in December 1974, I

left behind me a network of roads in various parts of the country measuring well over 20,000 miles.

I met the North-South major highways. Those were LagosIbadan-Jebba-Kaduna-ZariaKano to the border with Niger Republic. The second North-South major road was Port HarcourtEnugu-Oturkpo-Makurdi-JosZaria again to the far North.

I added in my tenure two more North-South highways. These are Warri-Sapele-Benin-Auchi-Kotonkarfe with two-lane dual carriage bridge to what is now Abuja to Kaduna and again to the far north.

The second North-South highway which I left is Calabar-YolaMaiduguri highway. These are the highways North-South. Of course there is East-West or West-

East whichever you call it. There is Abeokuta-Sagamu. The beginning really for the reconstruction of two lane dual carriage Sagamu-Ore-Benin which continued to Onitsha. Then we have IlorinOmu Aran to Kabba-Lokoja and again continues to Cameroun’s border. They were part of many roads I left behind. There are other major roads like Sokoto-Kontagora. Many roads were constructed during my tenure linking the capitals and major towns of the new 12 states of the Federation. That was the network in a nutshell that I left in December 1974.

I can also add that when I left in 1974, the roads were, either in terms of construction or rehabilitation, completed or were under execution at the time I left or the

rehabilitation or reconstruction were on the board ready to take off. That was the state of Federal roads in December 1974 when I left government.

When you look at the deplorable state of the Federal highways in the country today, how do you feel?

I am very sad, very sad to see today that all these roads are in a state of utter disrepair due to what I will call criminal negligence by all administrations beginning, especially from General Babangida to Chief Obasanjo and may be the tail end part of the regime of General Buhari. I say this because in the mid 70s most, if not all the federal roads, were perfectly in good condition. At that time we employed the highest standard of construction you’ll find anywhere

in the world. Most of the roads are crying for reconstruction today not repairs.

What should be done to correct the sad situation?

What the present administration should do to correct the criminal neglect of past administration is to go on a programme of massive rehabilitation. While that is going on, they need to start engineering studies of the major roads. That is what I did in my time.

Who should handle the rehabilitation?

I will have no quarrel if the agency (FERMA) is equipped to carry out the repairs and rehabilitation because I started direct labour in my time in government.

It’s not everything you do in PPP which is now in vogue.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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NEWS

•The ‘eyesore’g the Ohafia-Arochukwu road (above and top left) and the abandoned Akure-AdoPHOTOS: CHRIS OJI (ENUGU) DAMISI OJO (AKURE) Ekiti highway (left)...yesterday

Ohafia-Arochukwu road of neglect R

EGULAR users call it the worst road in Africa. While they may not be totally correct about their assessment, it would be safe to brand it one of the worst.

The Ohafia-Arochukwu has suffered neglect since the end of the civil war 41 years ago. The road stretches about 40 kilometres across five communities.

In normal circumstances, the journey from Ohafia to Arochukwu should take not more than 30 minutes. Now, it takes a minimum of two hours to make the journey. No thanks to the hundreds of craters that

From Chris Oji, Enugu

have taken over the road.

As a result of the terrible condition of the road, transporters charge as much as N600 from Ohafia to Arochukwu, which would have normally cost N100. Commercial farmers in the area no longer produce enough to sell in the cities as commercial vehicles hardly ply the area. They have now resorted to subsistence farming to sustain their families.

The plight of the communities and commuters was almost abated by the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which

awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the road from Umuahia to Arochukwu and Ikot-Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State. But before the repairs could go far, the military left power and the PTF was scrapped.

By then, work had progressed from Umuahia to Ohafia, a stretch of about 70 kilometres when former President Olusegun Obasanjo assumed office. But, with the functions of the PTF transferred to the Federal Ministry of Works, further action on the road came to a halt. 12 years after, the remaining section of the road from Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

Army Barracks, Ohafia to Arochukwu and Ikot-Ekpene has remained untouched. The road caves in to the crushing weight of floodgates every rainy season.

Although the Obasanjo administration re-awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the remaining portion of the road to Julius Berger Construction and the construction giant started moving its equipment to site, it never began work apparently because of a breakdown of agreement with the government.

The company later moved out the equipment.

What went wrong remains a matter of speculations. The road was consistently included in the budgets of 2002-2007. And it was learnt that mobilisation fee of N1.4 billion was released for commencement of work, but the money never got to the construction company.

A community leader in the area, who preferred anonymity, said: “Our representatives in the National Assembly should explain to us what is happening to that road since 1999.

They gave us hope that they would tackle the issue of the road headlong, but up till now, nothing has been done about it.”

Motorists groan as Akure-Ado Ekiti highway is abandoned

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HE Akure/Ado-Ekiti road has joined the list of federal highways that have turned into death traps for the thousands of motorists and commuters that ply the route daily.

The less than 40-kilometre road passes through Ita-Ogbolu, Iju, Ikere-Ekiti and terminates in AdoEkiti. Dotting the stretch are hundreds of craters and potholes that obstruct vehicular movements.

The worst hit section is between Igoba village and Ikere-Ekiti.

Regular users of the road were close to heaving a sigh of relief a few months back after the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) deploy its men and equipment to effect repairs on the failed portion between Iju and Ikere-Ekiti.

Their intervention lasted only a few days after patching some failed sections. The downpour since April has compounded the condition of

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

the road, bringing untold hardship on motorists and commuters.

An earlier attempt by the administration of former Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State to intervene also hit the rocks, with a portion of the road between Ado-Ekiti and Ikere now completely closed to traffic.

A transporter and frequent user of the road, Mr Femi Adeniyi, urged urgent attention on the road with the Yuletide fast approaching.

He said a lot of commercial drivers plying the road have withdrawn their vehicles and moved to other routes because of frequent breakdown of their vehicles.

A top official of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state who preferred anonymity urged the appropriate authorities to take urgent action by fixing the road.

He said motorable roads are part of democratic dividends and the Federal Government should put the road in proper shape.

The lawmaker representing Akure North in the Ondo State House of Assembly, Akindele Adeniyi asked the Federal Government to fix the Akure/ Ado-Ekiti road.

Adeniyi, who spoke with The Nation after inspecting the bad sections of the road, said drivers are having nightmares plying the road.

Adeniyi who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Works said: “I challenge the Federal Government to wake up from its slumber to rehabilitate the road before people start dying daily. A journey which is supposed to be 30 minutes from Akure to Ado–Ekiti now takes one hour as a result of the poor condition of the road.”

He pleaded with the Federal Government to hand over the rehabili-

•A failed section on the road... yesterday

tation of the road to a competent contractor.

A resident engineer of FERMA in Akure, Bamidele Fasoranti, said the contract earlier awarded by the Federal Government was to cover Akure-Ado-Ekiti-Omu-Aran road in Kwara State but the contractor handling the project used his discretion to commence work from the OmuAran end.

Fasoranti said: “Before the work reached Ekiti section of the road, the fund had been exhaust-

ed and this prompted the abandonment of the Ado-Ekiti -Akure end of the road.”

He, however, said that a proposal on how to salvage the situation had been prepared by FERMA office in Akure and sent to Abuja head office for approval.

“FERMA does not award contracts during the rainy season, but immediately we approach the dry season, repairs work will commence in earnest subject to approval from our head office,” he said.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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NEWS Jonathan at lecture: I won’t change my style Continued from page 2

He said between 1970 and 2001, per capita income fell from $264 to $256 in constant dollar rate. By 2000, Nigeria became an oil-rich deeply indebted country and the vast majority of Nigerians became poorer. Dowden concluded that oil is a curse to this country.

Comparing Nigeria with other countries, such as Indonesia, which shared a similar socio economic and political experience, Dowden posited that it was unacceptable that Nigerian politicians are the highest paid in the world, with $1million as salary and $1million in expenses while the country accounts for over 10 percent of maternal and child mortality as well as 10 percent of the world’s ‘children who are out of school.

He also said between 1970 and 2008, illicit financial outflows from Africa were $854billion, with Nigeria accounting for $89.5billion.

On the role of politics, Dowden said. Nigeria and much of Africa have followed the wrong economic policies for political reasons, adding that “this has accounted for the over 100 million Nigerians living in poverty, which is a quarter of the total poverty in sub-Sahara Africa”.

After oil and corruption, which are closely linked, Dowden pinpointed the country’s bad reputation as another major problem inhibiting inflow of investors into this country.

“I would say that Nigeria’s reputation in the past still puts off investors and tourists,” Dowden said.

He also noted: “What I see here is that perceived or real unfairness in the system of resource allocation has led to fierce competition for success - or just survival. I would say that the competitive, creative spirit this creates is far more powerful than in any other country in the world.”

On the country’s reputation, he suggested that the issue is not about rebranding, but addressing the reality which, according to him, will change the reputation.

“Don’t try change the image. Change the reality; the image will follow. There is nothing worse than PR that goes wrong. You end up with the stereotype even more entrenched. So, the word is reputation-your record based on experience. Change the reality and the reputation will change itself.

The brand will follow,” Dowden advised.

He warned that if the upcoming generation of Nigerians is unable to fulfill their potential, the country stands the risks of experiencing mass revolt.

Dowden urged the government to build strong institutions that will ensure consistency and continuity in governance, adding: “Think of development as a project, not for next week, but for your great grand children. But start now.”

Subscribers in last-minute rush as SIM registration closes today

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EGISTRATION centres opened by operators of the Global System Mobile (GSM) to capture the identities of their subscribers were yesterday besieged by mobile telephone users.

The rush was to beat today’s deadline for the registration of all telephone lines as directed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Hundreds of subscribers were seen trying to have their identities captured at the Special Identification Modem (SIM) registration centres in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

The SIM registration exercise had been on across the country for more than a year.

The NCC, as the regulator of the telecommunications sector, had fixed today as the deadline for the registration of all SIM numbers in operation.

At the Airtel office on Ajilosun, about eight registration attendants had hectic time dealing with the subscribers.

The same was observed at the MTN, Glo and Etisalat offices.

The MTN registration co-

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado Ekiti and Adline Atili

ordinator at its office in Ajilosun, Mr. Bankole Ogunmilayo said there was an upsurge of people to the centre to beat today’s deadline.

According to him, over 2,000 MTN subscribers registered their SIMs on Monday.

Investigation showed similar figures by subscribers to other networks.

He said: “You know we Nigerians like doing our things at the last minute.

Many people had thought that the NCC is going to extend the deadline but when they discovered that the Commission is not likely to extend, they had to come out to register.

“Before, we don’t usually have this kind of large turnout; in fact, we used to go to their different houses and offices with our computers to beg them to register.”

He said that any SIM card that missed the registration deadline would be blocked, adding that retrieving such lines would take a long and

rigorous process.

A student of Engineering at Ekiti State University (EKSU), who identified himself as Kola, was caught in the lastminute rush. He admitted he had not given the exercise much attention.

Sesan Kumolalo, another student admitted: “I felt it was not that important. But when I heard that any SIM not registered will be blocked; I had to come out to register my SIM card.”

Mrs. Ayegbusi Modupe said she was “too busy in the office” to register her number until she heard it from a neighbour that the deadline for the registration would lapse today.

Going by the massive turn out of subscribers yesterday, it was uncertain if most users who besieged registration centres would have their SIMs registered.

In many parts of Lagos registration agents were besieged by subscribers. Many of them alleged they were unaware of SIM cards registration until yesterday.

When asked why he wait-

ed this late before registering his SIM card, a subscriber, who gave his name as Ojeme, claimed he did not know about the exercise until the previous day.

“It was when my sister and I were passing by some place where people were gathered that she asked me if I had registered my SIM card. I asked what that was about and she explained it to me. Honestly, I had not heard about it until that day. As I couldn’t do it on that day because of the crowd, I decided to do it today. I hear by tomorrow (today), they will start disconnecting people who have not registered. Thank God I heard on time.”

An Airtel registration agent, Evelyn said since Friday last week, it had been hectic registering subscribers who had chosen the approaching deadline period to besiege her.

According to her, since she started as an agent, the number of subscribers who register daily had been small until it started increasing gradually last week.

•Fashola (second right) at the inauguration...yesterday. With him are: Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Mrs Oluranti Adebule (left), Commissioner for Housing Bosun Jeje and Special Adviser on Housing Jimoh Ajao (right), among others PHOTO: OMOSEHIN MOSES

NAFDAC’s device for detecting fake drugs criticised

By Oyeyemi GbengaMustapha

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HE hi-tech facility introduced by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to detect fake drugs has been criticised by pharmacists.

According to members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), the technology-Truscan device, SMS Tech and other radio frequency technologies cannot detect fake or substandard drugs as it is not a test of the chemical equivalence of the active ingredient of the product which is verifiable only through assays in laboratories.

The National President of the Society, Azubike Okwor, spoke with reporters yesterday at the Second World Pharmacists’ Day.

No crack in Niger PDP, says party THE Niger State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has denied media reports that 8,000 of its members have defected to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) ahead of next month’s local government polls. It said the report is part of the plot to destabilise the party.

A statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Hassan Saba said PDP is not surprised at the report, going by CPC’s antecedents.

It said the PDP has seen an orchestrated plan by the CPC to put a wedge between the Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu-led PDP government and the electorate.

The statement dismissed allegations of rigging in the last general elections.

“CPC and its ilk expected the last general elections to tear our party apart but we disappointed them by coming out stronger and more united”, Saba said.

The party said it would win the upcoming local government elections.

Lagos donates house to slain bus driver’s family

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HE family of the late Mr Benjamin Igbokwe, a bus driver, allegedly killed last year by an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), got a new lease of life yesterday.

The late Igbokwe’s relations were presented with the keys to a three-bedroom apartment at the Ojokoro Housing Estate by Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN).

The presentation was the highpoint of the inauguration of 80 units of eight-in-one three-bedroom apartments at the estate.

Flanked by four of her siblings, the widow, Mary hailed the gesture.

The late Igbokwe was said to have worked as a bus driver for two years, before

•Fashola inaugurates Millennium Housing Scheme

By Miriam Ndikanwu

his death in March 2010. On the fateful day, he had left home in good health with one of his sons-Somtochukwu, who worked as his bus conductor.

According to Somtochukwu, he and his father set out for work that evening and while driving past Iyana-Ejigbo, a LASTMA official flagged them down.

His words:”My father did not hear him and I did not tell him because I wasn‘t even sure if it was our bus the official was referring to.

Unknown to me, the LASTMA official was after us on a motorcycle. When we got to Jakande Gate, he went to

where my father was sitting, the official was giving him blows on his head and he died on the spot. The LASTMA man said we did not close the door. LASTMA just killed my father for nothing.”

Since the unfortunate incidence, Mrs Igbokwe had been saddled with the responsibility of fending for her seven children.

Somtochukwu, who was yet to secure admission, lamented that an end had come to his dream.

But hope rekindled yesterday for the Igbokwes, who did not only get a new home, but also got assurance on their education.

Mrs Igbokwe said: “I thank

the governor for fulfilling his promise, for making us happy and restoring our hope.

The accommodation and the scholarship given to my children will do a lot in alleviating our pains.”

Speaking on the housing scheme, Fashola said the development was part of his administration’s plan to tackle housing in the state.

He, however, explained that solution to the challenges of housing being faced by Nigerians cannot be achieved by government alone.

According to him, a public-private sector collaboration would be required to end accommodation challenges.

Besides, he listed huge investment in housing, development or inducement of a fiscal and monetary policy control including exchange and interest rate that are friendly to the housing sector, as some factors against housing.

Fashola said in 2008 he led a team of officers in the public service and private sector to examine some variables hindering affordable housing.

He said: “We have agreed, disagreed and come to a compromise on what we consider to be the most efficient solutions that we can deploy especially when we do not have control over some of the variables, such as cost of fuel, interest rate, exchange rate and tariffs on imported building materials.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

7

NEWS

Mimiko, Obi to Presidency: let Nigerians discuss true federalism

•’The Sun presents Nigeria Golden Book

From Yusuf Alli and Austen Ehikioya, Abuja

A

From Yusuf Alli and Austen Ehikioya, Abuja

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NDO State Governor Olusegun Mimiko and his Anambra State counterpart Mr. Peter Obi, yesterday asked the Federal Government to allow Nigerians to discuss whether they want true federalism or not.

Obi also explained why the governors are opposed to the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) The two governors said the continuing imbalance in the operation of the Federal system of government has become a threat to good governance and enduring democracy.

The governors spoke at the presentation of the ‘Nigeria Golden Book’ by The Sun Publishing Ltd. in Abuja.

In his keynote address, Mimiko said the present scenario of overbearing centre and weak federating units cannot augur well for democracy in Nigeria.

To correct the imbalances, he asked President Goodluck Jonathan to rise up to the occasion and go beyond the ‘lukewarm’ attitudes of past leaders and tackle squarely true federalism.

According to him, the starting point is a genuine review of the 1999 Constitution and putting in place a mechanism that will ensure genuine participation of all stakeholders in the process.

He said: “Today there is an overbearing centre, with beggarly and weak federating units. We agree that this can never augur well for comprehensive and sustainable good governance and enduring democracy.

“We require purposeful leadership to reverse this situation and President Goodluck Jonathan should brace up to this challenge as a departure from the lukewarm attitude of previous leaders to the issue of true federalism. History beckons.”

On security, he said: “Today, we run a centralised security system that impedes the gathering of intelligence and control of crime. It is a known fact that each society has a way of handling its deviants and miscreants.”

“It is through the institutionalisation of local, community and communal means of apprehending and managing such that true security could be guaranteed. Only the review of the Constitution to allow the establishment of state police can move us at the

We must save Nigeria from bombers, says Abubakar

• Fomer Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar (right); Mimiko; Obi and Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido at the book presentation... yesterday

right speed in combating crimes.

He maintained that do-ordie approach to election and electoral matters in Nigeria has resulted in proliferation of light arms and militarisation of the civil society.

“What must be said, though in passing, is that even Labour unions have become affected by the militaristic approach to issues. Such use of language as ‘with immediate effect,’ ‘now or never,’ ‘act now or face the consequence’ and others like them have found their ways into the lexicon of labour relations and actions such that issues that could be resolved easily have become points on which strike actions have been hinged.

“The emergence of ethnic militias and of recent religious groups with either expansionist or disintegrative agenda can also be traced to the disposition of political elite to violence. Above all, the people themselves are fast becoming so alienated from their own governance that they see government as an outsider to be milked and pillaged. Those who steal barefacedly are celebrated as heroes in many instances and rewarded with chieftaincy titles in others.”

Obi said Nigerians must be allowed to discuss whether they want true federalism or not.

He also explained why governors are opposed to the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

The governor said the governors have fears that the funds might either be mismanaged or it might disappear one day.

Obi said: “Nobody can build this country for us ex-

• Managing Director, Sun Publishing Company Mr Tony Onyima welcoming Emir of Shonga Italiru Yahaya, who represented the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa’ad... yesterday PHOTOS ABAYOMI FAYESE

cept we do it. I agree entirely that we need to talk. That is the only way we can build a nation.

We never sat anywhere to make this Constitution, it was foisted on us. Not that we, the people, drafted the Constitution, somebody handed it over to us and we are just doing amendments.

“When we talk about true federalism, it is critical. We are either a Federation or not. Let us state where we are and once we state it, people will have respect for us.

“There are so many issues to talk about. We have issues of state creation, Sovereign Wealth Fund, Joint Account, and so on.

“I don’t think people are against SWF. People get ap-

prehensive because before you know it, the SWF becomes another thing or we start looking for it. It is the issue of trust. So, if we are sure, we will support.

“I believe there is need to discuss. This country has been abused enough. And the society we abuse today will take its revenge tomorrow. So, let us talk.

“You say we are a Federation. While I sit in Anambra State, somebody will give an order to me on what to do.

Take the issue of the N18, 000 minimum wage; it is not linked to productivity or GDP. “In many countries, they don’t talk of minimum wage.

There is no minimum wage in China, Malaysia or even

America where we copied our presidential system of government we are now using.

“Each state sets its wage structure in America. The budget of New York is over $200b; the budget of California is over $300b.

“Wage is not a buffet, it is ala carte. We are not against increase in wage; we are only saying that in doing it, certain things must be taken into consideration based on the economy of the state. There are states in Nigeria earning more than the whole states in the Southeast.

“I paid the minimum wage out of pain. I am now using 75 per cent of the resources of the state to service 15,000 workers whereas Anambra State has about five million people.”

FORMER Military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar yesterday pleaded with Nigerians not to allow the security threats confronting the country to allow it to collapse.

Abubakar, who spoke at the presentation of Nigeria’s Golden Book by The Sun Publishing Limited in Abuja, said Nigerians should come together to save the ship of the nation.

He said: “We fought a civil war for national unity between 1967 and 1970. Today, we are rocked by various kinds of national challenges particularly on the security front.

“But it behoves all of us to band together, put all hands on deck to ensure that the ship of state berths at a safe harbour.”

He said he accepted to serve as chairman at the event because no effort should be spread to save the nation.

He added: “I accepted to come here today as chairman because I believe no effort to emancipate and forge a better cohesion for our country should be spurned or treated with disdain and levity.

“With Nigeria’s Golden Book, another attempt has been made, not only to document the history of our beloved country, but also to chart a path for her future, amity and progress.

“It is truly a compendium of our national life from 1960 till date. Both successes and failures are chronicled in a way to serve as pathway to a greater future.

“It is equally fortuitous that this book is being unveiled just a few days to our 51st independence anniversary. It will charge and encourage us to think Nigeria always, and work assiduously for her growth and development.

On his part, the President of the Senate, Chief David mark said the National Assembly will engage in positive dialogue with the Executive on areas requiring constitutional amendments.

Represented by Senator Eyinnnaya Abaribe, the Senate President said the National Assembly has fulfilled its role in protecting the nation’s democracy.

Abaribe also said that the six geo-political structures artificially created by the administration of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, will soon be put in the 1999 Constitution.

He said: “If the National Assembly did not come up with the ‘Doctrine of Necessity,’ we don’t know where Nigeria will be today.”

ACN urges Jonathan to be firm, decisive

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said President Goodluck Jonathan got it all mixed up by implying that his critics want him to rule with an iron fist, saying all that Nigerians are asking for is a president who is firm, decisive and responsive.

In a statement in Lagos yesterday, the ACN through its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the comments credited to the President portrayed him as

being totally oblivious of what his compatriots want or being out of tune with the situation in the country.

It said: “For the avoidance of doubt, Mr. President, Nigerians are yearning for good and purposeful governance.

They want their leader to hearken to their yearnings by addressing, decisively, issues of security, against the background of rising violent crimes, including kidnapping and armed robbery, and deadly bombings by Boko Haram’’.

It went on:‘’They want their leader to act urgently in taking measures that will reverse the decay in infrastructure, especially roads; uplift the economy and raise the living standards of the people. Mr. President, it does not take a lion, dictator, or a pharaoh to do this.”

ACN said “a president who is ready to dance to the tune of his party to clamp down on the opposition or thwart the Constitution just to achieve set objectives is far from being as-

sertive; a President who vacillates when urgent actions are required is not decisive; and a President who carries on as if all is well when citizens are being daily tormented by the scarcity of kerosene, or who is ready to add to their burden by signing on to the removal of a nebulous petroleum subsidy is not responsive”.

The party also expressed shock at the statement credited to the President, in which he insinuated that he is not appreciated at home when he

is being praised by foreign leaders, especially United States President Barack Obama.

Said the ACN: ‘’We sincerely hope that Mr. President was misquoted on this issue. When did cheeky praises from foreign leaders become the yardstick for measuring the success of a leader? ‘’The President of Africa’s most populous nation and the largest black nation on earth should not be seen to be pandering to anyone. By that state-

ment, President Jonathan has confirmed speculations that he is more interested in what foreign leaders think of him than the opinion of Nigerians who voted for him. ‘’This simply reinforces all the stories coming out from Wikileaks, that our elected and appointed officials troop to foreign embassies to sing like parrots, thus compromising the security of their country and putting their domestic and foreign policy in jeopardy,’’ it said.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

8

NEWS NCAA chief urges operators to ensure successful Hajj

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HE Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren yesterday held a meeting with stakeholders on the annual airlift of Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to ensure a hitch-free operation.

About 100,000 Nigerians are expected to perform this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

A statement by the Media Assistant to the NCAA Director-General, Sam Adurogboye, said the airlift of the pilgrims would begin on October 2 and run for about three weeks.

He said the meeting was meant to work out the modalities for a smooth airlift of pil-

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

grims, adding that the designated operators should ensure that the pilgrims are conveyed to and from Saudi Arabia as scheduled.

This year’s number is higher than last year’s 34,000 pilgrims from Nigeria.

He listed the designated carriers as: Max Airline; Med Viwe Airline; Kabo Airline; Meridian Airline; and Trade Craft Nigeria Limited.

While Max Airline is to airlift about 40,000; Kabo will convey about 23,000; Med View, 14,000; Meridian, 3,500; and over 10,000 will go as international passengers.

Bauchi Assembly queries appointment of 24 DGs

B

ARELY 24 hours after Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda appointed 24 directors-general among his 1,070 political aides, the House of Assembly has set up a committee to find out if his action is constitutional.

The committee, comprising seven members, is chaired by Abdulmumini Hassan Ningi, representing Ningi Constituency, and will submit its findings to the Committee of the whole House on Thursday, September 29, 2011.

Speaking under Matters of Urgent Public Importance,

From Austine Tsenzughul, Bauchi

Dayabu Chiroma of Darazo Constituency, informed the House that “we had approved the Governor’s request for 20 Special Advisers, but in his announcement yesterday (Monday), there were 24 DirectorsGenerals, besides the 20 Special Advisers.

“In our over-sight, we cannot stop him from appointing political aides, but we have a Constitutional duty to regulate such appointments, because they have to be paid from Consolidated Funds.

‘NAFDAC used to prevent me from Kogi PDP primary’ From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

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NE of Kogi State governorship aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Jacob Abdullahi, yesterday alleged that his arrest for six days before the primary last Thursday was politically motivated.

Addressing reporters in Abuja, Abdullahi alleged that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) was used to prevent him from participating in the PDP primary.

PUBLIC NOTICE KOGI PRIMARIES ELECTION I wish to say that the case of membership of Alhaji Idris Wada as was allegedly reported to me in the advertisement in the Nation Newspaper of 27th September, 2011 edition is false and baseless.

Infact, I am not aware of any of such case reported to my office.

Signed: HON HASSAN USMAN PDP Chairman, Dekina Local Govt Area, Kogi State.

•Chief Ken Nnamani (right) discussing with the chairman of the occasion, Justice Muhammadu Uwais (middle), and D. Maduabun, at the third Justice Augustine Nnamani Memorial Lecture at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), PHOTO: RAHMAN SANUSI Victoria Island, Lagos...yesterday

Borno to Fed Govt: let’s listen to Boko Haram T HE Borno State Government has pleaded with the Federal Government and Nigerians to encourage dialogue with members of Boko Haram instead of giving the sect a bad name.

The Commissioner of Information, Inuwa Bwala, addressed reporters in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on the activities of the sect.

He said: “I wish to use this opportunity to plead with Nigerians to give the state a chance in its determination to seek a truce with members of the Boko Haram sect because the government is desirous to develop the state under peaceful atmosphere.

“The government’s stance for an honest and sincere di-

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

alogue with the sect is still open, especially now that gradual peace is being enjoyed across Maiduguri and environs.

“Boko Haram has created so much confusion in the minds of Nigerians, where other crimes, such as armed robbery, assassinations and others, are being branded as Boko Haram activities.”

He urged northern leaders not to reduce the activities of the sect to mere politics, saying: “It was more than that, because members of the sect

are well-placed materially or otherwise for anyone to think that they are being sponsored by politicians.”

Bwala noted that despite the security challenges, the Kashim Shettima administration has made impact in five key areas in its 100 days in office.

He said: “Since the assumption of office by this administration, the governor has urged the residents to give him ‘peace and he will give development’. So far, four out of the five general hospitals scattered in the three senatorial districts have been commissioned.

“The 5,000 tricycles and over 100 buses provided by the government have aided the creation of more jobs for the teeming youths. Also, 86 wells have been rehabilitated across the state. We place priority on health, water supply, education, security and poverty alleviation.”

Commenting on the complaints against members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) overseeing security in Borno State, Bwala urged the residents to cooperate with its members.

He said: “It will do a lot of good if the people adjust and accommodate the JTF men, who are in the state to provide the needed peace and tranquility.”

Senate moves against same sex marriage

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HE Senate yesterday set the stage to outlaw same sex marriage in Nigeria.

This followed the smooth sail of A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Marriage Between Persons of Same Sex, Solemnization of Same and for Other Matters Related Therewith.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Domingo Obende (Edo North), received unanimous support at the plenary.

Obende noted that there is a growing debate over same sex marriage, adding that while some countries have legitimised it, others are on the verge of doing so.

“We need to act very fast for this trend not to find its way into our country,” he said.

The lawmaker said opening the legal door to same sex marriage in Nigeria would be

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

“morally and ideologically unsound” when other indecent acts, such as incest, remain illegal.

Obende said: “The problem with same sex marriage is not the slippery slope. The primary assertion is that just as most Nigerians should maintain that incest is socially unacceptable practice, so too should they disallow same sex marriage.

“If marriage is to have a religious foundation, the interpretation of religious texts and traditions will be key. If marriage is a social institution or even a purely economic coupling, pragmatic arguments will still arise.

“Same sex marriage cannot be allowed on moral and reli-

gious grounds. The Muslim religion forbids it; Christianity forbids it; and the African traditional religion forbids it.”

Senators Victor Lar, George Thompson Sekibo, Benedict Ayade, Robert Boroface, Adegbenga Kaka, Emmanuel Bwacha, Oluremi Tinubu, Alkali Jajere, Musa Nagogo Yusuf supported the Bill and urged other senators to endorse it.

Lar said same sex marriage is ungodly and satanic, adding that it would desecrate the institution of marriage as no child would come from it.

Sekibo said it is unthinkable to refer to two of his male senator colleagues as husband and wife.

He said even the lower animals have not degenerated into same sex mating.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu

condemned same sex marriage, saying it would lead to confusion in the society.

Tinubu said: “There will be so much confusion not only for our children but also for our society. The act is totally bad. Same sex marriage is wrong morally. It is wrong religious-wise. We should show our children the joy of marriage. Every member of the society has something to do to show our children the good side of life.”

The Bill scaled through the second reading when it was put to vote by Senate President David Mark.

It was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights for further legislative work.

The committee will report back at plenary in the next two weeks.

Tribunal dismisses petition against Mark

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HE National/State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi has dismissed the petition against the election of Senate President David Mark by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Gen. Lawrence Onoja.

Tribunal Chairman, Justice Anselan Nwaigwe held that the motion setting down any petition for pre-hearing shall come by leave of the tribunal.

He averred that Onoja neither sought nor obtained the leave of the tribunal in consonance with Paragraph 47(1) of

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi, Onyedi Ojiabor (Assistant Editor) and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

According to him, since Onoja failed to activate his pre-hearing notice with the leave of the tribunal, it was deemed abandoned and consequently dismissed.

Mark, who was represented by a team of lawyers, led

by Chief Ken Ikonne, said the judgment was sound and a true interpretation of the law.

Counsel to Onoja, Ucha Ul-

egede, said he would appeal the ruling.

Mark described the tribunal’s ruling as the triumph of the wishes of Idoma people.

The Senate President spoke when his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, visited him over the ruling.

The Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President of the Senate, Kola Ologbondiyan, quoted Mark as saying: “I had no doubt in my mind that the petition against me would fail. It (petition) never reflected the wishes of the majority of our people in Benue South.

•Mark

“Our people were unanimous in their determination and support to return me to the Senate for the fourth term.”

9

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

NEWS 300 Ekiti residents get free surgery •52,000 senior citizens listed for social security scheme

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HE Ekiti State Government yesterday flagged-off free hernia surgery for patients at the State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) in AdoEkiti, the state capital.

The exercise is part of activities marking the administration’s one year in office.

Over 300 patients across the 16 local government areas in the state are expected to benefit from it.

Governor Kayode Fayemi said the free surgery would improve the health of indigenes.

Fayemi said some corporate bodies had indicated their interest to partner the state government in making healthcare easily accessible to residents.

He said: “Today’s event is another of the various health intervention programmes packaged to mitigate the health challenges of our people. The free hernia surgical festival that is being launched is to address the incidence of hernia in Ekiti State.

“It is indeed heartwarming that many corporate bodies are responding positively to our people-focused programmes in all areas. The active investment of development partners in this regard is the confirmation of the pre-

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado Ekiti

vailing conducive environment in our state for investment in both profit-making and non-profit making ventures.”

Commissioner for Health Wole Olugboji said the cost of operation and treatment of patients was paid for with donations from individuals and corporate bodies.

Also, over 52,000 senior citizens have been listed for the State Social Security Scheme billed to takeoff before the year ends.

The scheme, an initiative of the Fayemi administration, is to take care of indigent elders.

The Chairman of the Technical Sub-Committee and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Foluso Daramola said 52,165 senior citizens had been enumerated in the state, but the challenge facing his team was identifying those who are indigent.

Fayemi observed that the data collected by the enumerators did not include the profession of the children of the would-be beneficiaries, adding that the information would help identify those who are indigent.

15,000 shortlisted for Ogun jobs

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F the over 50,000 applicants that applied for jobs under the Ogun State Government’s Rapid Employment Scheme, 15,000 have been short listed.

Names of those short listed would be released in three batches of 5,000 each. Appli-

cants can check the list on the internet and at the State Civil Service Commission. The names would also be displayed on OGTV. Examinations would be conducted for those short listed, out of which 10,000 would be employed.

Ondo gets 16 more commissioners

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HE Ondo State House of Assembly yesterday approved the list of 16 commissioner-nominees sent to it by Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

Two of the nominees, who were former legislators, Remi Olatubora and Yekini Olanipekun, were asked to take a bow.

The others were assessed and okayed by lawmakers representing their respective senatorial districts.

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

The new commissioners are Akin Adaramola, Olanipekun, Igbekele Daodu, Olatubora, Sola Ebiseni, Taiye Akinyele, Nicholas Tofowomo and Mrs. Yinka Alabi.

Others are Lasisi Oluboyo, Ademola Olorunfemi, Deji Falae, Temitayo Oluwatuyi, Mrs. Margaret Akinsuroju, Dayo Adeyanju, Omotayo Akinjomo and Kayode Akinmade.

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Ex-Oyo governor’s family rejects N30m state funeral

HE family of former Oyo State Governor Kolapo Ishola has rejected the N30 million contribution of the State Government to Ishola’s funeral.

The government had approved N25 million to the deceased’s family and N5 million to the state’s funeral committee.

In a statement, the Isholas explained that although the government approved N25 million for the funeral, the family has completed 90 per cent of the preparations.

They added that the sum approved by the government was less than half the sum that had being expended by the family.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s media aide, Dr. Festus Adedayo, confirmed the rejec-

•Govt: it’s unfortunate From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

tion of the government’s gesture.

He said it was stated in a letter signed by one of the deceased’s sons, Kunle Ishola.

The statement reads: “Upon the death of the former governor, his family formally informed the government, and the governor constituted a committee of five, comprising commissioners, Special Advisers and Permanent Secretaries, to give the deceased a befitting burial.

“The committee met with another committee from Ish-

ola’s family, comprising four of his children, and they both deliberated on the N58 million budget brought by the family.

“The government offered to contribute N25 million, paid directly to the family, and another N5 million for logistics and contingency, such as the printing of invitation cards, posters and protocol. Government also extended state facilities like the Adamasingba Stadium, media coverage and protocol to the funeral programme.

“The family responded by giving the government an ac-

count number into which the money should be deposited.

It also handed over clothing materials for the funeral.

“However, today (yesterday), Mr. Kunle Ishola, son of the late ex-governor, who was a commissioner in the Ex-Governor Adebayo AlaoAkala administration, wrote a letter to the government, claiming that the family was no longer interested in the state burial for their father.

The governor had no choice but to accede to the request.

“Government however states that its offer to participate in the funeral of the late Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain was on the invitation of the family and respect for the dead, as well as continuation of the best practices all over the world.”

Aregbesola invites Julius Berger to salvage Osun roads

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OVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola has invited Julius Berger Nigeria Plc to salvage major roads in Osun State.

Yesterday, the company’s Head of West Division, Engr.

Wolfgong Loesser, led a team to inspect some roads, particularly those within and linking Osogbo, the state capital, with a view to come up with proposals on their repair.

Some of the roads inspected were the Iwo-Osogbo road, Gbongan junction to Osogbo, East and West Bypass roads in Osogbo, among others.

Aregbesola said his administration will partner the company to provide good roads for the people and fast track the state’s development.

He said the work done by Julius Berger Plc in Lagos State facilitated economic growth there, adding that it would be wrong of the company to concentrate only on Lagos, without considering other states in the Southwest.

The governor said: “Whoever is going to be fair to the phenomenal growth, devel-

•Aregbesola greeting Loesser...yesterday From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

opment and transformation of Lagos, must make clear reference to Julius Berger.

Berger was a major factor in the infrastructural development of Lagos. I was a participant in reviving the almost stale relationship between Berger and Lagos in 1999.

“Although Osun is not fi-

nancially buoyant, considering our federal allocation and Internally Generated Revenue, but with a strong spirit, high hope and superlative desire, we are not afraid of anything.

“We have high dreams and are undaunted by the enormity of what we want and the smallness of our means. We are convinced that we will achieve our

aims.

“Lagos State’s revenue was hardly any better than what Osun currently earns when it began its ambitious construction projects, which today have caused monumental economic development in Lagos.”

Loesser promised the governor that the company would do its best for the state.

Ladoja had no hand in Ajimobi’s victory, says Oluyole Forum

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GROUP, known as Oluyole Forum for Good Governance (OFGG), has condemned the claim by ex-Governor Rashidi Ladoja that he played a pivotal role in the emergence of Senator Abiola Ajimobi as Governor of Oyo State.

Ladoja, who was the governorship candidate of the Accord in the same election, had, during an interview to mark his 67th birthday in Ibadan, the state capital, said if not for God and his (Ladoja’s) effort, Ajimobi would have lost the election.

In a statement by its Chairman Chief Dele Akanni and Secretary Mohammed Inakoju, OFGG said Ladoja put all his machinery in full throttle for the two-pronged electoral battle to shame Ibadan elders, who endorsed Ajimobi’s candidacy, and disgrace his erstwhile deputy, ex-Governor Adebayo

Accord, ACN disagree over ex-governor’s claims

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EMBERS of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Accord in Oyo State have disagreed over ex-Governor Rashidi Ladoja’s claims that his party’s support facilitated Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s victory in the April Governorship Poll.

ACN members described Ladoja’s claims as untrue, insisting that Ajimobi’s victory was made possible by God and the electorate.

In a statement by its Publicity Secretary Mathew Oyedokun, ACN said: “We recall vividly, how Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola visited Ladoja’s Bodija home in Ibadan to appeal for his support for Ajimobi. Although the ex-governor tacitly dodged Aregbesola, his (Ladoja’s) wife statAlao- Akala, out of office.

It urged Ladoja to admit that he was “roundly defeated in the election he so fiercely contested, instead of seeking a castle of political relevance in the air.”

OFGG said: “How can Ladoja claim that he supported Ajimobi to ensure victory in an electoral battle in which he (Ladoja)

From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan

ed clearly that her husband would do no such thing.

“While we rejoice with the former governor on the occasion of his birthday, we must, however, put the record straight, so as not to allow the good people of Oyo State to be misled into taking an outright lie for truth.

‘For the avoidance of doubt, Accord was never part of our victory. Rather, it was made possible by God and the people of the state.”

A supporter of Ladoja and ex-Speaker of the House of Assembly, Adeolu Adeleke, yesterday described ACN’s reply to Ladoja’s claim as “unwarranted.”

Adeleke said: “The attack on Ladoja is uncharita-

was a desperate contestant and had his own votes?

“Ladoja was optimistic he would win the election, or at worse, ensure a runoff, an alternative B, which from available facts, he intended to employ to clinch the governorship seat.”

“If he is truly concerned about the plight of the people, why was he stub-

bornly opposed to the idea of a united front proposed by his people for the April Governorship Election?”

“Finally, it would do Ladoja’s psyche a world of good to ease himself out of the day dream of an agreement with Ajimobi, as the shipping business and politics/governance are parallel lines.”

ble, iconoclastic and ignominious. Before the said election, Ajimobi stated that Ladoja’s participation would help him because the votes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate would reduce. Is ACN now faulting Ajimobi’s political sagacity?

“It is ironical that while Ladoja is working hard to ensure the stability of the Ajimobi administration, some people are busy working with those who have vowed to make the state ungovernable for the governor.

“Ladoja’s support for Ajimobi is widely acknowledged and appreciated, and no amount of intrigue can break the mutual relationship that exists between the two brothers.”

PUBLIC NOTICE

The group advised Ladoja to go back to the drawing board to strategise for the Governorship Election in 2015.

ODEYEMI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Odeyemi Amudat Adufe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Adeyinka Amudat Adufe. All former documents remain valid. Yewa South LGEA), Ogun State SUBEB, and the general public should take note.

CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP I Esther Olufunmilayo Odubitan of 20, Joseph Makinde Street, Ketu, Lagos State notify the General Public that, I have applied to LSDPC for Consent to Change Ownership of house 58B Surelere Way, Dolphin Estate Ikoyi, Lagos State bought from Mr. Kunle Yusuf and House 4A Mainland Way, Dolphin Estate Ikoyi bought from Mrs. Adunola Farodoye LSDPC and the General Public should please take note.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

10

NEWS NGO donates equipment to Kebbi centre From Khadijat Saidu, Birnin-Kebbi

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HE United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated multi-million naira equipment to the Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) centre in Birni-Kebbi, the Kebbi State capital.

Addressing reporters after inaugurating the equipment, USAID Projects Manager on VVF cases Iyeme Efem said the agency, with the support of the Federal Ministry of Health, has treated over 20,000 VVF patients through advocacy visits.

He said Kebbi is the seventh state USAID has visited, adding that one of the aims of the visits is to enlighten women on the causes of VVF and how to curb it.

Efem said USAID encourages women to imbibe good health habits to prevent VVF in many communities.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development Hajiya Hafsat Ahmed Gulumbe said arrangement has been concluded to enlighten young women on the dangers of early marriage and to make them selfemployed through skill acquisition centres.

She noted that maternal mortality cases have reduced in the state due to the advocacy visits to villages.

According to her, 16 VVF patients have been operated upon and 15 others are waiting to be operated upon.

Hajiya Gulumbe urged parents to allow their children to become matured before giving them out in marriage.

She said early marriage and prolong labour are among the causes of VVF. The commissioner urged women, especially mothers, to visit hospitals whene they are expecting.

Ex-ACPN members listed for commissioner

Niger govt denies receiving N37b from Federation Account

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HE Niger State Government has denied the rumour that the state received over N37 billion in three months from the Federation Account.

The Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Mu’azu Bawa, admitted that the state received about N30 billion statutory allocations from January to August.

He said the state’s debt profile stands at N10.7 billion.

Addressing reporters yesterday in Minna, Bawa said the state’s monthly allocation receipt hovers between N2.6 and N2.8 billion and that if the state’s revenue in the last three months was that high, the government would have transformed the state and delivered more of its electioneering promises.

The commissioner lamented that the poor revenue base

From Jide Orintunsin, Minna

of the state made the government to source for funds from the capital market to execute developmental projects.

Bawa said the government has received approval from the capital market to access a N30 billion developmental bond in three tranches at 14 per cent interest.

The money will be paid over seven years, he said.

Giving a breakdown of the bond, the commissioner said the first tranch of N9 billion would be assessed before the end of the week, adding that the bond would be used to build and rehabilitate five roads and a bridge on River Kaduna at Shiroro.

Among the roads to be built are Eastern bypass to Maikun-

kele; Rijau – Dikko road; Shiroro Bridge; dualisation of Idi burial ground – Bahago bypass; and Kafi-Guda road.

Bawa said there would be quarterly monitoring of projects to be funded with the bond.

On the state’s debt profile, the commissioner said Niger secured N6 billion developmental bond in 2009, adding that only N2.7 billion of the loan is outstanding.

He assured that the outstanding balance would be offset within seven months.

Bawa also said the state has paid N1billion out of the new N9 billion bond, which was approved four months ago, bringing the debt profile of the state to N10.7 billion.

He added that the balance would be repaid within seven years.

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

•Ahmed

K

WARA State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has sent the names of three former Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) members to the House of Assembly for confirmation as commissioners.

The nominees are: Alhaji

Kwara tribunal rejects ACN’s bid to present forensic analysis T

HE National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, yesterday rejected the bid by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Rev. Bunmi Olusona, to present a forensic analysis.

Olusona, the party’s candidate for Ekiti/Isin/Irepodun/Oke-Ero Federal Constituency in the April 26 National Assembly poll, is challenging the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Hakeem Ayedun of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the poll.

In its ruling, after counsel to both parties had argued on the move, the tribunal held that the result sought to be

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

tendered in evidence had been used in the dismissed application of September 20.

The three-man panel said once a document is rejected, it would always be rejected.

The panel frowned at the move by the petitioner, describing it as an abuse of court process.

The tribunal added that “it is irritating that a document that had earlier been dis-

missed could still be reproduced, only for the petitioner to change the name of the analyst”.

Tribunal Chairman, Justice Bitrus Sanga said the petitioner copied the report of September 20 verbatim but changed the name of the expert.

Sanga said the previous result was rejected because the analyst was not a forensic expert but a data analyst.

According to him, this is not

known to law.

He said: “The petitioner just engaged his younger brother in the party to analyse, collate and compute the report, the same that was used in the dismissed application of September 20.

“The computation and analysis are the same in words and figures. Therefore, this application comes to fail and we hold same.

“Once a document is rejected, it will always be rejected. It is on this that this document is refused and the application is hereby dismissed.”

Saka Onimago, Kayode Towoju and Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed.

Onimago and Towoju were former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and National Legal Adviser of ACPN. The nomination of former ACPN chieftains may be part of the integration of ACPN into the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Speaker, Razaq Atunwa, yesterday read the governor’s letter seeking the confirmation of the nominees as commissioners.

Prominent ACPN leaders and members in the state, including Towoju, last weekend, defected to the PDP at a ceremony attended by the Acting National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, and PDP leader in the state, Senator Bukola Saraki.

The state’s PDP Chairman Ishola Balogun-Fulani had, three days before the defection, announced that their reconciliation and integration into the PDP had reached about 80per cent.

He said “some appointments have been reserved for the defecting ACPN members to ensure their proper integration into PDP”.

INEC ordered to conduct fresh poll in Kano constituency From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

•Prof. Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman

T

HE Kano State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal has ordered the Independent Na-

tional Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election in Bichi Federal Constituency within three months.

This followed the tribunal’s nullification of the election of the member representing Bichi in the House of Representatives, Lawal Shehu, of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). The three-man tribunal is led by Justice Muhktar Ladipo Abimbola.

Justice Abimbola said the tribunal predicated its decision on grounds of unlawful exclusion of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate, Alhaji Abdullahi Damargu, from the April 9 election.

He said INEC failed to publish a new list of candidates for the election, after a court had declared Damargu the lawful candidate of the CPC. He upheld the arguments of the petitioner and declared the election for the constituency null and void.

The tribunal chairman, who cited several court rulings, including Atiku Vs. Yar’Adua, said: “The issue at stake is not the validity of nomination but the exclusion of the candidate.

“INEC failed to comply with a court ruling. It should have published a new list of candidates to reflect the content of the decision of the court. We are entitled to take cognisance of court rulings.”

Muhammed Magaji, Shehu’s counsel, told reporters after the judgment that he would challenge the judgment at the Appeal Court.

Ex-VC urges cultural revival at book launch

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FORMER Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) , Ile Ife, Osun State, Prof Wale Omole, yesterday called for cultural reawakening and replication of the business heritage of the Ijesa for socio-economic development.

Omole spoke in Lagos during the public presentation of a book entitled: ‘Ijesa Chronicles: An Historiographic Tribute’ written by Prince Adeoye Agunlejika.

The author is the son of the late Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland, Oba Peter Olatunji Agunlejika, who joined his ancestors in 1981.

The former vice-chancellor, who gave a lecture entitled: Search for meaning, sustaining the Ijesa heritage, said true peace can be achieved when people learn to cater for the interest of others and be grateful for their situation.

He said: “In searching for

By Toluwani Eniola

the meaning of our existence, many have lost it by putting wealth first. But the truth is that wealth brings problems.

There are thorns between roses. Therefore, real peace and happiness can be achieved,not by achievement or pleasure but by serving others in every area of life.

Omole, who lauded the value system of the aborigi-

nes of Ijesa , said the ability of the Ijesa to humbly socialise in foreign lands to establish their enterprise shows their resourcefulness and quest to live a meaningful life.

He made allusion to Osomaalo, a word used to describe the resilience of the Ijesa in recovering debt after toiling hard to satisfy their customers. He urged Nigerians to learn from history.

He said trust , hard work and courage of the Osomaalo, the trader who renders services under difficult circumstances and punished himself to recover his debts, is still relevant and should be emulated.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof Bolaji Akinyemi and the former Chairman, Access Bank, Ayo Oni, were among the special guests at the launch.

Protesters shut Benue Assembly

B

ENUE State Assembly workers, under the aegis of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PSAN), yesterday protested their unpaid arrears amounting to N63 million.

Speaker Terhemen Tarzor and other lawmakers were prevented from entering the Assembly complex, a stone’s throw from the Government House, Makurdi.

As early as 7am, members of the association had barricaded the two gates leading to the Assembly and prevented the legislators and work-

ers from entering the complex.

Most of the lawmakers were caught unaware.

Tarzor’s pleas were rebufted as the placardcarrying protesters insisted that their allowances of four years must be paid.

Frustrated, the Speaker returned home while the protesters continued with their demonstration.

Addressing reporters, the branch Chairman of the association, Comrade Bem Mela, said the workers would continue with the strike until their entitlements are paid.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

NNPC subsidiary records N1.85b revenue From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

I

NTEGRATED Data Ser vices Limited (IDSL), a subsidiary of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has recorded about N1.85 billion in revenue between the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years.

The Group Managing Director (GMD), Austen Oniwon, who disclosed this yesterday, at the firm’s Annual General Meeting, said the money was about 33 percent of the full year revenue target of N5.88billion of the years under review.

Represented by the Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production, Andy Yakubu, Oniwon, said despite the dismal operational results due to various challenges, the IDSL continued to maintain strategic alliances in its core businesses in the review period.

He said: “In 2008, JV 172 in a timely manner, completed the 3D data acquisition project in OML 53 South (3D Land) for Chevron. JV 171 went on standby in the third quarter of the year due to the inability of the client to execute the 3D seismic contract which led to the temporary closure of operations and subsequently placing the crew on standby. The event took its toll on the revenue inflow of the company.

“Consequently, the company achieved total receipted revenue of N1.85 billion, which approximates 33 per cent of the full year forecast revenue of N5.88 billion.”

He explained that in 2009, the late approval by the NNPC board of all IDSL seismic acquisition contracts, which constituted about 90 per cent of the company’s forecast revenue, hindered the achievement of the company’s plan during the year.

If you have been following the financials of the three banks, you will know that before their licences were withdrawn, they were having negative shareholders funds. So, when you say lost out, we must ask ourselves from where?

-Ms Arunmah Oteh, DG, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

27% public sector funds at risk during banking crisis, says Jonathan B

UT for the timely in tervention of the Cen tral Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Government would have lost 27 per cent of public sector funds to the recent banking crisis in the country.

President Goodluck Jonathan made this known yesterday in Abuja while opening the conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

At the peak of the banking crisis, seven of the 24 Deposit Money Banks held about 52 per cent of the total public sector funds. He said three of the “healthy” banks held 52 per cent of all public sector deposits, while four of the banks taken over by the apex bank held 27 per cent.

President Jonathan noted that “when the apex bank intervened, majority of public

• CBN to insulate banks from European crisis From Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor, Abuja

sector funds were exposed to “concentration risks. So 78 per cent of public sector funds were in seven banks out of which only three are strong and healthy. The other four are already down.

He attributed the exposure of the funds to the aggressive marketing strategy the banks employed to secure Federal Government’s funds.

Jonathan, who was represented by the Minister of State for Finance, Alhaji Yerima Lawan Ngama, lamented that “the kind of aggressive mar-

keting that we do here has caused a lot of casualties. We need to sit down and moderate this thing. The competition has also affected the government. Marketing staff continue to go to state governments and the ones that are strong actually got all the deposits and at the end of the day, government ended up with concentration risks.”

“As at the time the Central Bank intervened and took over those seven or eight banks, 52 per cent of all public sector deposits were in three banks that were healthy, and 27 per cent in four of the banks that were

taken over by CBN. “So government cannot also sit down and see all the funds concentrated in banks that could burst.”

He said henceforth, all public sector funds would be spread among the Deposit Money Banks, to mitigate any shocks that might arise during banks’ failure.

Jonathan said he is “now talking with the Accountant-General of the Federation to ensure that the government also diversifies its own risks, because you cannot just carry all public sector deposit and put in one bank. We will try to ensure

‘Manufacturing answer to poverty in Africa’

By Daniel Essiet

A

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

that the AGF, in giving his approval, will ensure that government funds are spread across the entire banking industry.”

He said the Federal Government will continue to strengthen the regulatory authorities to enable them to effectively perform their supervisory roles, stressing that he “wants a future banking sector that is composed of conservative people. We are running a banking system where banks don’t move together because we find out that in every five years, one or two banks will fail.”

• Chief Executive Officer, African Investor (Ai), Hubert Danso (left) presenting the Ai 40 CEO of the Year award to the Group Managing Director/CEO United Bank of Africa (UBA), Phillips Oduoza, at the New York Stock Exchange.

N117b subsidy: Reps to oppose hike in electricity tariff T

HE House of Repre sentatives may oppose the planned hike in electricity tariffs by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission meant to take effect from January 2012.

This became evident as the House yesterday at plenary referred to its Committee on Power, a motion meant to suspend the planned hike of electricity tariffs by the NERC. This was sequel to a motion brought before the House by Hon. Faparusi Bamidele entitled: “Need to suspend the increases in electricity tariffs.”

The House committee is to further look into why the NERC is set to hastily approve a hike in electricity tariffs in spite of the fact that

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

N117billion was made available to the Federal Government for subsidies under the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO), which was meant to ensure orderly transition from subsidy to market determined price of electricity.

Faparusi, while moving the motion, noted that there was no basis for increasing the tariffs on electricity as the NERC has failed in ensuring that service providers are efficient in customers complaint handling, connection and disconnection procedures, customer service standards of performance and

meter reading.

The lawmaker noted that a total of N43.9billion has been released for distribution to beneficiaries under the subsidy arrangement and hence there was no need for a hasty hike in tariffs as planned by the NERC. “Nigerians, especially the poor continually pay the power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) for unmetered connection with no service for over 70 per cent of the time,” he noted.

According to him, the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO)provides for a 15-year tariff path for the Nigerian electricity industry, with limited minor reviews each year

in the light of changes in limited number of parameter (such as inflation and gas prices) and major reviews every five years when all the input are reviewed with stakeholders.

He added: “The Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) implementation which stated in July 2009 is based on the assumption that power generation output will be around 10, 000MW by the end of 2009 and that combined technical, nontechnical and collection losses will have dropped from 45 per cent to 30 per cent.

He said it was worrisome that NERC has introduced the last schedule of the 2008/ 2013 regime of the MultiYear Tariff Order (MTYO) with effect from 1, July, this year.

United Nations report on development in Af rica calls for increased manufacturing on the continent to reduce poverty.

“Africa now accounts for about one per cent of global manufacturing, and cannot realistically hope to reduce widespread poverty if its governments don’t take effective measures to expand this vital economic sector,” says the report by the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The Economic Development in Africa Report calls for “a practical, well-designed approach to industrialisation, that is adjusted to specific country circumstances and based on extensive discussion with and feedback from businesses and entrepreneurs,”the agencies said in a statement.

The report says that Africa is losing ground in labourintensive manufacturing, which is generally the entrylevel step in industrial development, and is a category especially important in Africa, where jobs are needed in rapidly growing cities.

Strategies to spur industrial development - in order to be effective - must be individually tailored by governments, according to the agencies.

The report says government’s support to private firms is necessary to steer investment and business activities into areas of industry critical for longterm economic growth and employment generation. But such support should not be open-ended. It should be terminated if improved performance - such as the production of competitive export goods - is not achieved within a specified period of time.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

12

BUSINESS NEWS Vision 2020: Govt urged to engage engineers

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

2.

3.

4.

5.

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8.

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

1.

2.

3.

4.

Arik Aero Arik Aero

1. Arik 2. Aero 1.

2.

3.

4.

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

LAGOS – KADUNA Aero 08.00 Chanchangi 10.00 Arik 10.00 Arik 15.10

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

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

2.

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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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Arik Aero Arik Aero

LAGOS – WARRI 08.15 11.50 11.55 14.55

09.1 12.50 12.55 15.55

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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

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

08.00 18.00

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

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

T

• Managing Director, LECON Financial Services Limited, a subsidiary of the Bank of Industry (BoI), David Nwachukwu receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of the Managing Director, BoI, Ms Evelyn Oputu; from the Director, Private Sector Operations, African Development Bank (AfDB), Tim Turner, at the African Banker Awards in Washington DC. PHOTO: AYODELE AMINU

Mark urges prosecution of NITEL, NIPOST looters S

ENATE President, David Mark, yesterday asked the Federal Government to prosecute those responsible for the collapse of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST).

It is mind boggling that those who wrecked NITEL and NIPOST are allowed to continue to walk the streets, he said, adding that the time has come for those behind the collapse of the two bodies to face the music.

Mark, who spoke at the inauguration of the Senate Committee on Communication, insisted that “people cannot just afford to run down a government organisation and walk away as if they have done nothing at all. Those who are responsible for the sorry state of NITEL and NIPOSTmust be brought to book and made to account for their actions or inactions,” he stated.

“NITEL has just simply died and nobody is saying anything about it. I remember that when GSM licences were given to operators like MTN and Glo. In fact, when MTN got its licence, M-TEL also got a licence and it just died down.

“That is tax payers’ money that

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

has gone down the drain and nobody is doing anything and we will just fold our hands and people will still talk nonsense.

“Those who buried NITEL and MTEL are walking free as if they have not done anything and if anything else, they expect that we should be clapping for them and paying them that they buried an organisation that should be yielding billions into the economy.”

The Senate President questioned the rationale for the N3 billion government budget for the registration of SIM cards.

“Well, I know that SIM card registration is going on, but what baffles me is why government should budget for a service provider to register where they make money from.

It doesn’t make sense to me.

“Why is government putting money in the budget for the service providers to register people? The service providers must go about and register those who have bought SIM cards from them without recourse

to government purse.

“I think this is something this committee needs to take up very seriously too because they provide all the time in the budget for service providers and then SIM card registration is not just a matter of taking photograph, you also thumbprint.

“What are you thumb-printing for just; because you want to register (a SIM card)? They cannot use that through the back door to begin to gather data on people.

“I think an ordinary photograph should be enough because the essence is for you to be able to trace somebody who has used his phone for a business that is otherwise other than a legal one.

“Asking people to thumbprint ... even in the advanced communities, nobody is being asked to thumbprint just because he wants to buy an ordinary SIM card.

“While we don’t want people to use their phones for some illegal businesses, at the same time, it should not become an avenue for people to gather data on Nigerians.

Minister asks PHCN firms to generate revenue for salary increase

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HIEF Executive Officers of the power generation and distribution companies, are to generate revenue to pay the 50 per cent hike that the government approved for workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji has said.

In a statement, yesterday, the Head, Media Relations of the Ministry, Greyne Anosike, said the minister described the increase as miserable, stressing that the government would no longer earmark funds to accommodate salary increment in future.

Nnaji reminded them that the hike in salary would be funded from the revenue generated by the workers, “ as the government would not commit a dime in this wise,” adding that the government has improved and stabilised generation, cut down losses and paid three months’ arrears of the 50 per cent basic salary increase.

He said: “We have improved and

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

stabilised generation, curtailed losses, paid 50 per cent basic salary increase with arrears to be undertaken by the Federal Government from June to August 2011. The onus is on you to prove that you are qualified and capable to drive the nation’s economic engine.”

“You are no more representing the government. These are your companies, run them as private enterprises. It is not possible to owe a private enterprise billions of naira on electricity consumed without being disconnected, and asked the companies to embark on mass revenue drive and spare no debtor who owes the company,” he said, adding, that would be the only way to shoulder their wage obligation and still make profits.

Nnaji urged the chief executives to device appropriate management strategy of the consumer metres and warned that it is a criminal offence

for any person to bye-pass metres.

Responding, the CEOs pledged to work harder to generate, not only more electricity, but revenue to justify the enormous funds injected into the power sector.

The minister praised the determination of the CEOs of the generation and distribution companies, who have pushed generation beyond 4005 megawatts, excluding the 268MW spilling reserves, saying the President is appreciative of their efforts.

He urged them to do their best not to fail the nation, and called on the CEOs to forward their monthly requirement of gas to him. He said they are in business and as such, must work hard to pay their way.

On manpower, Nnaji called on the CEOs to juggle what they have for maximum benefit as a short term remedy, while appropriate long term steps are being considered to find a lasting solution to the manpower requirement of the sector, he stated.

HE quest of the country to at tain Vision 20:2020 can only be achieved, if the Federal Government stops appointing nonengineers to head the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Speaking to reporters in Kano yesterday, the Kano Chapter Chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), O.A.U. Uche, said as long as this trend continues, the threat of collapsed building in the country will remain an illusion.

Uche spoke at the NSE’s Third Annual Memorial Engineer Salihi Iliasu Lecture/Induction, entitled: “Ajaokuta Steel Company Ltd: The bedrock of Nigerian industrialisation”.

He said the problem of collapsed buildings will continue as long as non-engineers are allowed to supervise construction.

He recalled that a three-storey building under construction collapsed recently in Kano, pointing out that investigation revealed that the building was being supervised by a pharmacist.

As a panacea to the menace of collapsed buildings, the chairman said the NSE is working in collaboration with stakeholders in the building industry to produce concrete reinforced blocks for future buildings, a move which he maintained will withstand the test of time.

According to him, the Federal Government has been paying lip service to some of the basic Engineering infrastructure in the country, emphasising that no nation or country can develop without harnessing its potential in Science and Technology. He, however, lamented that based on what the country is witnessing today, Science and Technology has been politicised from the local stage to the Federal level. He stressed that on many occasions, when well-researched documents are presented to the appropriate authorities, they are often treated with levity. “

Commission supports Loya Milk promo

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HE National Lottery Regula tory Commission (NLRC) has described the on-going Win Cash with Loya milk promo, through which three winners win N500,000 daily for 50 days, as transparent.

NLRC Assistant Director, Regulation and Marketing, Mr Henry Uwadiae, said this after the seventh draw at the Promasidor Nigeria Limited head office in Lagos last week.

According to him, the draw is open. Winners are drawn electronically. This is what the lottery board stands for to ensure that winners are not short changed.

“We will request for the list of the winners with verifiable addresses and contact phone numbers to ensure that the winners were given their prices and also investigate after about six months how it has changed their lives,” Uwadiae said.

He said what we hear is that people organise raffles, but do not give the prizes to the winners.

It will be recalled that the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) had also commended the promotion.

Head of the Lagos office of the CPC, Mrs Obidike Ngozika, made the commendation at the second draw of the promotion in Lagos recently, remarking that so far, the promotion has been transparent, but she enjoined the company to ensure that winners get their prizes.

She described the company’s ability to create awareness about the promotion as wonderful.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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ISSUES

• VMP building, Victoria Island, Lagos.

How to turn dead assets into wealth A recent report put the number of people living in poverty at over 100 million. Some of them would have had no business with poverty, if they had titles to their property.

But ignorance, high cost of title ownership and bureaucracy have rendered many property owners poor as their ‘assets’ cannot be traded. OKWY IROEGBU writes that except the government liberalises the building approval and land acquisition process, the ‘rich’ in the real estate will continue to wallow in poverty.

• STORY ON PAGE 14

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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ISSUES

How to turn dead assets into wealth W

HEN Mr Dodo Adeniyi promised his son Joseph that he would sponsor him to any university of his choice in the United Kingdom(UK), he thought he had it sorted out until his son went to keep a visa appointment and was required to prove that his father could sponsor his education in the UK. Brimming with confidence, Joseph brandished a list of his father’s vast estates in Ebute Metta and Sabo-Yaba, both in Lagos, before the visa officer. Thelist would not do, he was told, and advised to present a proof that those houses truly belonged to his father.

All his efforts to convince the visa officer that he was born in one of the houses in Ebute Meta and that he grew up there and that is why he is referred to as a landlords’ son fell on deaf ears. He was denied visa because his evidence was unconvincing and his father deemed incapable of financing his UK education.

Mrs. Evelyn Ihenacho was relieved that her husband managed to erect a storey building at Okota, Isolo, before his demise last year and after the completion of the burial rites, she needed to raise money to support her supermarket business and also raise enough to take care of her children’s needs.

Quickly, she went to the bank her late husband was patronising to ask for a loan to meet her sundry needs. She filled the necessary forms and was asked to attach supporting documents on the house for proof of ownership. She was shocked to learn, after presenting only the receipts on the purchase of the land from the traditional owners, that in the eye of the law she had no claim to the house and that she had been sitting on a dead capital for these number of years.

All her pleas and entreaties amounted to nothing with the bank officials as they told her in plain terms that all the papers she showed them did not give her legal title to the property. Little wonder, some state governments have re-directed their interests and energies to liberalise property ownership by coming up with reforms to make property acquisition and documentation easy.

This is more conspicuous, especially in Lagos where the state has come up with a lot of public enlightenment to educate people on the need to do through investigation before buying property. The Environment Commissioner, Mr Tunji Bello, said that much when the ministry embarked on the demolision of illegal buildings on drainage channels recently.

He said: “I urge prospective property buyers to undertake due diligence and ensure that the land they are buying is free of encumbrances as the government would not tolerate the development of structures along its drainage channels to forestall flooding and loss of lives and properties”.

He said obtaining development permit from the relevant authorities is an integral part of the construction process.

He deplored the practice whereby people commence construction before obtaining building approval.

This does not include educated and prominent Nigerians, some of whom have lost their buildings to demolition in Abuja.

The process leading to proper documentation and tradable properties that can be translated into

cash when needed or used in major transactions starts with ensuring that one obtains Development Permit from the relevant agency of government and in the case of Lagos, the State Physical Planning and Development Authority (LASPPDA).

Lagos State Government, convinced about creating wealth for the people through their dead asset, especially those who bought into the various government housing schemes brought out modalities to make for ease of registration/perfection of sub-leases.

The government enjoined stakeholders, who bought houses in housing estates before 2000 to take full advantage of the opportunity as there are robust plans to grant concessions to those who come forward to either register and/or perfect their title documents.

The former Permanent Secretary in the Lands Bureau, Mr Gbenga Ashafa, said: “If you fail to obtain a title to the property you bought from the state government, you limit the opportunities and benefits available to you as a property owner. Also, by registering the title to your property, you can get a mortgage from a bank to buy another property; you can also get a security of title. By registering the title to your property, you are guarding against the fraudulent practices of criminals coupled with the fact that you will be able to ensure seamless transfer of your property to third parties as you desire.”

He stressed that the aim of the state government is to harmonise the perfection of sub-lease title documents to allottees of housing units in government estates in the state, and encourage allottees to obtain title deeds to their properties and register such with the Land Registry to create wealth for the people.

In a concessionary period of three months, the government reduced charges for registration and perfection of title documents, conceded a lot of revenue, which otherwise should be due to it in a normal title perfection procedure.

The governor also reduced other charges related to title documents’ acquisition.

Underscoring the importance of title documents to a given property and the concession granted by the state, Governor Babatunde Fashola said the concession was initiated to encourage the allottees to “come forward, obtain their title deeds and register such at the Lands Registry, at a considerably reduced lump sum payment.”

Another reason for the concession, according to him, was that the required expenses for the registration of title documents may be too high for the qualified allottees “who are now old and retired.”

Anyone who qualifies for the concession will pay N10,000 for the low income estates, N15,000 for the medium income estates, and N20,000 for the high income estates. The governor said it was his administration’s way of encouraging wealth creation and turning otherwise dead capitals of individuals into wealth.

He said: “The plan to issue “Deed of Sub-lease” to allottees to register and document their properties will enhance wealth creation”.

Fashola regretted that many of the allottees that had attempted to obtain loans from financial institu-

• Minister of Lands & Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple

‘If you fail to obtain a title to the property you bought from the state government, you limit the opportunities and benefits available to you as a property owner. Also, by registering the title to your property, you can get a mortgage from a bank to buy another property; you can also get a security of title. By registering the title to your property, you are guarding against the fraudulent practices of criminals coupled with the fact that you will be able to ensure seamless transfer of your property to third parties as you desire’ tions have been denied such because their allotted flats were not acceptable as collateral to the financial institutions.

He said: “The project we are undertaking is to wake up your dead assets, put them in prescribed form, and transfer them from mere allocation letters to title deeds that are stamped, registered, and traceable, that will create collateral and bring a lot of people to a new world of wealth”.

A real estate expert and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kitari Consult Limited, Mr Ali Magashi, estimated that over N40 trillion may have been trapped as dead capital in properties located in Lagos State. He observed that houses with titles in the state are minimal because of the existence of family homes, which under the law they cannot prove they own and, therefore, cannot be converted to liquid asset when there is the need for it.

He, therefore, tasked the Land Bureau on refinancing such properties, which he argued, will not only increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state, but also

• Bello

• Adediji

stimulate its economy with multiplier effects. He canvassed what he called targeted subsidy in housing administration towards the provision of affordable housing based on what people can afford. He spoke at a recent economic summit in Lagos.

On the way forward, Magashi canvassed the streamlining of land approval process and also putting into motion affordable construction financing. The property finance expert also urged the government to consider interest buy back, tax breaks, provision of land and other incentives for developers to stimulate the provision of housing in the state.

In pursuance of the need to convert dead asset into liquid asset estate surveyors and valuers have made representations to the Federal Government through the Minister of Lands & Urban Development on the need to repeal or review the Land Use Act, which they say is an impediment to the growth of the sector.

They also called on state governments to liberalise the acquisition of property title documentation.

The estate surveyors, who spoke through their President, Mr Bode Adediji, argued that the government can effectively fight poverty if the needed reforms in the sector are embarked upon.

For a developer and property analyst, Mr Ikem Uzo, close to N50 trillion is trapped as dead capital in the sector. He accused the government of paying lip service to converting dead capital to liquid assets.

He said: “I have seen lives lost and businesses die because owners of properties cannot trade them for cash when they need them most.

Even if one decides to transfer one’s property to one’s children, they will soon realise that they may not be able to raise cash to improve their lives except for rentals, but God help them that they do not enter into litigation with a dubious tenant or relation who may come up with documents that will cast the ownership of the property in doubt”.

“I believe that the government has not done enough to sensitise people on the need to work on the conversion of their dead capitals into cash,” he said.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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MONEY

Agric’s future in Africa bleak, says CBN T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has painted a bleak future for agriculture in the sub-sahara Africa.

According to CBN, the sector is threatened by the near uncertainities including increasing resource scarcity, heightened risk from climate change, higher energy prices, biofuels demand and doubt about the speed of technical progress.

It is noted that the annual demand for agricbuisiness financing over the next 40 years is projected at $6.5 billion per annum, compared to the current annual fund supply of $1.5 to $5 billion.

It was, however, learnt that CBN and banks are working out modalities to reduce the agricultural financing gap. They are working with Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and other stakeholders to develop an innovative financing mechanism, tagged Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).

CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi said the scheme is expected to provide farmers with affordable financial products while reducing the risk of loans under other financing programmes offered by financial institutions. Initiative will build banks’ capacities to expand lending to agriculture, deploy risk sharing instruments to lower risks of lending and develop a bank rating scheme to assess banks based on their lending to the agricultural sector. He

Stories by Collins Nweze added that the initiative would help unlock access to bank finance critical for stimulating agric lending and increasing food and crop production.

In an interview in Lagos, Head Agricultural Banking, Stanbic IBTC, Jacques Taylor, said access to agricultural input, market linkages, technical support services as well as access to financial services are key to reviving Nigeria’s ailing agriculture sector. According to him, value chain financing will ensure the flow of financing within the agricultural sector, across all value chain actors, thereby getting agricultural products to the markets.

He said Standard Bank and Stanbic IBTC are driven by the conviction that opportunities exist to provide an end-to-end banking solution for agriculture in which the banks can leverage and cross-sell a full suite of products and services, from traditional commercial banking and lending products to crop and weather insurance products.

He said the bank is committed to empowering farmers’ access funds, and is also working with some government agencies and multilateral organisations to spearhead a true agricultural revolution in Nigeria leveraging on the Standard Bank Group’s experience and expertise in agricultural financing.

The AGRA and other partners are

also providing a guarantee fund, and in turn, Standard Bank made $100 million available for lending over three years.

Analysts insist that the large share of agriculture in Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) suggests that strong growth in agriculture is necessary for overall economic growth. “There is a need and an opportunity for investment that will develop the middle ground in Africa’s agriculture. Africa has enormous natural potential and the continent has to unlock this potential in order to reap the benefits of its natural resources,” said Managing Director, Amllied Farms, Ben Odia. For him, initiatives by funding banks were developed to finance small-scale farmers and by extension, include risk mitigating tools such as price hedging instruments and crop insurance.

Before now, the dismal performance of agriculture in terms of its contribution to Nigeria’s yearly total revenue in the last four decades prompted the CBN, in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee to increase lending to the sector from the current one per

cent to five per cent. Still, even when it is achieved, would not add the desired impetus to the funding gap in the sector.

As a follow-up, the CBN also allocatedN200 billion into the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS) meant to fasttrack the development of the agric sector through the provision of credit facilities at a single digit interest rate to large-scale commercial farmers. So far, participating banks have given out N133.11 billion to beneficiaries of the CACS. The fund is meant to boost the sector’s funding from financial institutions. The 139 beneficiaries, comprising 115 individuals/private promoters and 24 states of the federation, accessed the funds through the deposit money banks.

Already, banks and the CBN are discussing how to increase lending to the sector. “That agriculture contributes 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is the largest employer of labour and yet receives one per cent of lending is not good enough,” Sanusi said. He stated that the government needed to pay more attention to agricul-

ture, which still has one of the greatest potential in growing the economy.

According to the former vice president for Policy and Partnerships (AGRA), Akin Adesina, who is now Minister of Agriculture, agriculture development has to be encouraged in Nigeria so as to transform the economy, generate jobs and equitable growth. He said the country has become a net importer of food, showing that it spends about $4.2 billion a year importing food items such as wheat, fish rice and sugar among others.

The CBN has said it will equally channel $500 million (N77 billion) into the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL). The money will be invested under five basic segments. The Risk-sharing Facility is expected to receive $300 million to address banks’ perception of high-risks in the sector by sharing losses on agricultural loans. The Bank Incentives Mechanism would get $100 million and offers winning banks additional incentives to build their long-term capabilities to lend to agriculture.

MfB calls for improved investment environment

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HE Managing Director of HASAL Microfinance Bank, Rogers Nwoke, has called on the authorities to put in place policies that will attract investors to the small and medium business sector.

Nwoke, who made the call while speaking with reporters at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), in Abuja, at the weekend, said with the right environment, small businesses will thrive while microfinance banks will also be there to provide the needed credit to facilitate the growth and expansion of such businesses.

He restated the need for an investment-friendly environment that will assist businesses, saying the high cost of doing business in Nigeria would continue to hamper economic development unless the

From Nduka Chiejina, Abuja atmosphere was made more conducive.

He further urged government agencies to put in place policies that will enable the private sector to thrive so that there would be jobs to keep the youth off the streets.

Nwoke assured of better quality service from MFBs, stating that the playing field is large enough to accommodate all players in the industry. He said the bank was committed to assisting low income earners in building capital to improve their lives.

He, however, urged the government to assist microfinance banks with friendly regulations, arguing that the sub-sector has contributed immensely to the development of micro, small and medium enterprises.

IFC reaffirms pledge to Africa devt

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NTERNATIONAL Finance Cor poration (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has issued a report on its work in Africa during the financial year ending June 30. The report said the bank had seen strong business and development results across sub-Saharan Africa, supporting regional growth despite turbulence in the global economy.

During the previous calendar year, IFC’s activities generated power for an additional 6.6 million people, connected about 59 million telephone users, supported nearly 500 000 students, provided loans to 241 000 small businesses and 261 000 farmers and created about 217 000 jobs.

IFC said its new investments in sub-Saharan Africa reached 31 countries, with 87 of the 95 new investments made in some of the world’s lowest income economies.

Yolande Duhem, IFC Director for West and Central Africa, said: “IFC -

made significant progress in supporting Africa’s development last year. Our investments in West and Central Africa and other parts of the continent grew, we saw important reforms to improve the investment climate in the region, innovative projects in priority sectors, and we have a large portfolio of investment and advisory projects that are improving people’s lives through better services and opportunities.”

Jean Philippe Prosper, IFC Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, added: “Our increasing activities in Africa reflect IFC’s commitment to mobilise resources for entrepreneurial activity and projects driving forward the region’s private sector. IFC’s investments and advisory services are creating jobs, improving infrastructure, securing access to finance for small and medium enterprises, and raising health, education and living standards for Africans.

• From left: Alhaji Suleiman Yahyah, Vice-Chairman; Mr Norbert Bielderman, Chief Operating Officer and Ms Ona Peter, Head, Enterprise Risk Management, all of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, at the Road Show Presentation of N5 billion bond being raised by the organisation in Abuja.

Reforms needed to revive economy, says Rewane T

HE Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), Bismark Rewane, has said the economy has to be resuscitated with reforms to achieve its full potential. He said ongoing reforms in the banking sector and the capital market have to be sustained to enhance economic growth.

He said in the FDC monthly report that it was imperative for the country to address major hurdles that could undermine its economic success. For him, meddling with the autonomy and independence of organs, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could endanger the economy.

“Frustrating these champions of reform could easily lead to suboptimal economic performance and be counterproductive,” he said.

According to Rewane, poor corporate governance practices, undue exposure to the capital market, oil and gas sector, poor risk management, distress signs through the

banks’ frequent resort to the interbank market and the Expanded Discount Window (EDW) were defining issues before the reforms.

There were also matters relating to inadequate disclosure and lack of transparency about banks’ financial positions, making the reforms inevitable.

The CBN had, at the outset of banking reforms, commenced a special joint examination with the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to ascertain the true state of the industry. The outcome revealed that eight banks were on the verge of collapse, which could drag the sector down.

To stem further deterioration of the affected banks and protect the interest of depositors and creditors, the CBN replaced the executive management and, in some cases, boards of the banks with new ones.

The apex bank also injected N620 billion into the banks in form of

tier two capital to be repaid from the proceeds of recapitalisation.

In the capital market, the Federal Government set up a committee to review the Investments and Securities Act of 2007 as well as design a code of corporate governance for capital market regulators.

It is hoped that the setting up of the committee is part of renewed efforts by the government to ensure transparency, ethics and effectiveness in the capital market. Government insisted that the design of a code of governance for capital market regulators would help to improve the operations of the regulators.

Experts said there was also the need to strengthen disclosure and transparency process in the exchange. The integrity of any market can be partly measured by the level of information disclosure, transparency and quality of governance of institutions. The mere provision of information to the public is not the key issue.

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MONEY Sanusi re-affirms AMCON keeps identity of Recapitalisation: commitments to Sept 30 deadline bridge banks’ bidders secret T T

HE Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) is keeping lid on the 16 companies seeking to acquire the three bridge banks.

Six of the bidding firms are based in the country, the others are foreign-owned.

The banks up for grabs are: Mainstreet Bank Limited; Enterprises Bank Limited and Keystone Bank Limited.

AMCON had within two months injected N1.529 trillion (in two tranches of N679 billion and N850 billion) in the banks, rekinding investors’ interest in them.

According to AMCON, the time is not ripe to mention the bidders

By Akinola Ajibade

because of ongoing efforts to reposition the industry for improved performance.

AMCON Managing Director Mr Mustapha Chike-Obi told The Nation that the bidding firms’ identity would not be revealed for now.

Chike-Obi said AMCON would not talk about the bidders because the banks had just been put on a growth path.

CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Dr Kingsley Moghalu, had earlier said the banks would be run as a growing concern pending when they are stabilised.

Moghalu said the banks would be

run on the basis of free-market principle, and not as a government concern.

“What we have done is to use a market system, as well as a capitalisation system. We cannot give a particular time frame for the disengagement of AMCON from these banks. Let’s say a maximum of two to three years. That is my guess that AMCON would be dominant shareholders in these banks,” he said.

He said any votes for the transfer of ownership of the banks would have to be decided by the shareholders. He said the three banks would be regulated like any other banks in the country.

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has re-affirmed the decision of the apex bank to recapitalise the five renaming banks, two days to the expiration of the September, 30 deadline.

The banks are Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank International Plc, Union Bank Plc, Finbank Plc and Equatorial Trust Bank Limited. Sanusi, in a statement signed

by CBN’s spokesman, Mohammed Abdullahi said he was committed to the realisation of the recapitalisation of the ailing banks, and the reforms in particular.

He said the process was necessary, in view of the reforms sweeping through the sector in recent times. He said with the recapitalisation of the banks, a new drive has been added to the industry that has been going through critical moments since 2009.

The governor said the reforms process is demanding, adding that it would help in repositioning the industry for improved performance.

The apex bank began the journey to revive the industry in 2009 when it conducted an audit test for the 24 banks in the country. As a result, some banks were indicted for overexposure to the capital market, and oil and gas sector which led to their frequenting the inter-bank market for funds to keep them in business.

The CBN sacked the boards of eight banks, including their managing directors. It injected over N620 billion into the banks to reposition them for growth, and appointed

• Mallam Sanusi

By Akinola Ajibade new Chief Executives to run them.

However, the eight banks have continued to grapple with operational challenges, a development that made CBN to direct the banks to recapitalise before September 30, or face liquidation. Three banks namely Afribank Plc, Bank PHB Plc, and Spring Bank were renamed as bridge banks and provided with N679 billion for operations. This left only five banks with the option to recapitalise their operations

by September 30, or face outright liquidation.

Bureau seeks stakeholders’ support

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• L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Nebolisa Emodi, receives a gift from Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Emeka Ezeh, at a send off party organised for Emodi, a former BPP director in Abuja.

Foreign capital inflows hit $5.7b in eight months

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OREIGN Direct Investments (FDI) rose to $5.66 billion in eight months, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said. The figure, it said, is $1.06 billion or 23.04 per cent higher than the $4.60 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year.

In a statement, the CBN also noted the modest accretion to the external reserves in recent months.

Gross external reserves stood at $34.85 billion on September 15, representing an increase of $1.12 billion or 3.32 per cent above $33.73 billion attained as at July 21. The rise followed increased inflows of royalties into the Federation Account, reflecting the upward trend in international oil prices and stable oil production in the Niger Delta.

The CBN said persisting demand pressure in the foreign exchange market, driven by significant liquidity injections reflecting structural deficiencies, perpetuated the economys import dependence.

For instance, at the Wholesale Dutch Auction System (WDAS), the exchange rate between July 27 and September 15 opened at N150 to the dollar and closed at N153.52 to the dollar representing a depreciation of N3.52 or 2.35 per cent. At the inter-bank segment, the selling rate opened at N151.80 to the dollar, and closed at N156.30 to the dollar, representing a depreciation of N4.50 or 2.96 per cent.

By Collins Nweze CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said the exchange rate recorded a modest appreciation at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment where the selling rate opened at N163 to the dollar and closed at N158 to the dollar, representing an appreciation of N5 or 3.07 per cent.

The appreciation recorded in the BDC segment was attributed to increased supply of foreign exchange and the removal of ceilings on banks’ sales to BDCs. At the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, it was noted that the premium between the rates at the WDAS and the interbank stabilised towards the end of the review period; that of the BDCs narrowed significantly, suggesting the need to sustain existing measures to improve the market’s efficiency.

The CBN noted that given the difficult international environment, it is important to ensure that the current trends in growth are sustained and price stability maintained. The recent data on inflation showed that the headline inflation rate remained within single digit for two consecutive months. However, there are concerns about sustaining the present inflation trend.

Meanwhile, Renaissance Capital, an investment and research firm,

has said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) hike of the Monetary Policy Rate by more than the 25 basis points was expected.

“The MPC sustained its tightening mode and did not elect to moderate tightening as we had expected given the softening of inflation in recent months. Although inflation was at three-year lows when it fell into the single-digits in July and August, the MPC is not convinced the slowdown in inflation is sustainable,” it said.

Part of the increase was meant to address inflationary pressures stemming from large liquidity injections related to the operation of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the increase in utility tariffs especially electricity prices by 18 per cent as well as the need for positive real interest rates and significant pressure on the naira in the foreign exchange market.

Also, Afrinvest West Africa Limited said it acknowledged that CBN’s upward review of the MPR was an appropriate measure, considering imminent inflationary pressure from structural adjustments such as the envisaged deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector and electricity tariff hikes. But the firm expressed concern about the negative effect that an increase in MPR may have on credit to the private sector and finance cost to call.

IRECTOR-GENERAL of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) Emeka Ezeh has promised to carry all stakeholders along in the implementation of Public Procurement Act. He said no stakeholder would be ignored in order to realise the goals of the public procurement reform.

Ezeh, who spoke while receiving members of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN) in Abuja, said the Act outlining the functions of the bureau is clear on the roles, responsibilities and importance of stakeholders.

“We are, therefore, under obligation to work with all stakeholders,” he said, adding that because CIPSMN and some other bodies are strong stakeholders in procurement, “our actions impact on everybody. We are gatekeepers of sorts, of the public treasury and we can, therefore, not rest on our oars in ensuring that we deliver the necessary goods.”

On BPP’s mode of operation, Ezeh said the bureau was used to engaging entities in writing at the level of reason and ideas whenever the need arose. The bureau would rather not criminalise people and entities for the sake of it. It is good for us for management reason that we do not have a large bureaucracy, as the agency’s workforce was rightly conceived as a lean one from day one” Chairman of CIPSMN, Nelson Hundumofore said the institute identifies with the bureau and is willing to support it at all times.

Group calls for monetisation enforcement

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HE Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has called for the enforcement of the monetisation programme in public service. CSJ Director Eze Onyekpere said monetisation is backed by law and should be strictly enforced.

“A situation where officers and agencies that have some services monetized and directly paid to them go through the back door to enjoy official vehicles and other perks which they have already been paid is outrageous and should not be allowed to continue,” he said.

Speaking during a debate on the 2012 budget in Abuja, Onyekpere said there was the need to abolish or avoid wasteful expenditure in almost all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). According to him, it is also possible to consider a moratorium on new capital projects (except they are justifiable under very strict conditions) and concentrate on completion of the thousands of ongoing and abandoned projects.

He said the debate was imperative to improving fiscal governance, creating value, jobs and enhancing the standard of living.

“The idea is to kick start the debate on policy options and emergent best practices as to what has worked, what has not worked and what

Firm holds AGM

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AGGAI Savings & Loans Limited will hold its 2010 Annual Gen-eral Meeting on October 12, at Wisdom City, Surulere, Lagos.

The meeting will, among others, announce the results of the company for the year ended December 31, last year.

Highlights of the company’s performance include a gross earnings of N618,991,582 million, and a profit before tax of N225,917, 486 million.

In a statement, the company said a final dividend of 20 kobo per ordinary share for the year ended December 31, 2010 to all the shareholders, will be deliberated upon at the meeting.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

18

INSURANCE

Stakeholders blame NAICOM for unethical practices N

ATIONAL Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has been blamed for condoning indiscipline and unethical practices in the country’s insurance industry.

The commission was accused of ignoring unscrupulous operators who perpetrate different various unprofessional conducts and practices.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel, in his keynote address at the just-concluded Professionals’ Forum, organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) in Ibadan, said NAICOM had not treated breaches improperly.

“The commission took a less combative approach to regulatory actions despite the temptation to copy other regulators in taking ‘earth-shaking decisions. We have treated apparent criminal breaches as mere infractions and have applied sanctions quietly.

“All our actions were geared at nurturing a growing industry and laying a solid foundation for a modern and prosperous insurance

Stories by Chuks Udo Okonta

market,” he added.

He threatened that “the commission will henceforth wield the stick. Gone are the days of keeping sanctions of criminal breaches within the family,” adding: “laws are made to be obeyed and sanctions are available for anyone who violates the law.”

A veteran insurance professional, who pleaded anonymity in an interview with The Nation, said the Commissioner for Insurance, has been treating violations with kid gloves.

He said the commission should be held responsible for all the malpractices that have continued to weigh the industry down, adding that had the regulatory body not shied away from its responsibilities, the operators would have been obeying the rule.

According to him, the threat is not only belated, it is an afterthought by the regulator.

“The regulator allowed some operators to perpetrate various malpractices for this long to the detri-

ment of the whole insurance market.

“It has acted like a toothless bulldog up till now, so what is the assurance that it will now rise up to its supervisory and regulatory duties.

“Also, having allowed some operators to be above the law for this long, does it have any moral justification for sanctioning other operators, who would violate the laws going forward when some people have done that without being sanctioned or even reprimanded,” he queried.

Before now, shareholders in some insurance company blamed the commission for failing to enforce necessary regulations on compulsory insurances and as such, denying them the opportunity to maximise returns on their investments in the insurance sector.

He described NAICOM as “a toothless bulldog”, arguing that it failed to enforce relevant insurance laws in the country in spite of the fact that the Federal Government has empowered it to so.

“NAICOM is a toothless bulldog.

I said this because the regulatory body has failed to implement the laws on compulsory insurance, particularly the one on compulsory insurance of public buildings and buildings under construction.

“As you can see, many buildings are collapsing all over Nigeria because of the rains and flood and many others have been flooded.

“The failure to enforce these laws made it impossible for companies to make enough income and to pay shareholders adequate returns in form of dividend on our shareholdings,” a frustrated shareholders said.

Also, the Fire Offices Committee of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) blamed the commission for the poor showings of insurance companies, citing the failure to enforce compulsory building insurances as one of the reasons for the operators’ poor performances.

Its Chairman, Mr Olugbenga Falade, said one of the major challenges facing the insurance industry is the non-enforcement of the

compulsory insurance covers by regulatory insurance authority.

Explaining the problems of the law in the industry, the commissioner said: “We have, however, witnessed some measure of impunity by our colleagues, who see some of our gentle actions as signs of weakness. Besides, the effect on the regulators, market indiscipline is now threatening the stability of most companies and the prosperous future that our environment has provided. We have seen insurers destroy financial bases. Unbridled, unsustainable and technically unsound rates are being offered for risks by the underwriters more out of the need to market than to insure.

On insurance broking, he said some insurance brokers “operate without proper documentation and in some cases mislead the public by presenting different sets of documents for different purposes.

“They operate as if there are no laws or rules or that these do not matter. They are willing accomplices in any unprofessional act as long as they get appointed.”

CIIN berates insurers on insensitivity to flood victims

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HE President Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Dr Wole Adetimehin, has blamed insurers for their failure to pay condolence visits to Lagos and Ibadan flood victims.

Adetimehin, who said this at a forum organised by the CIIN in Ibadan, noted that insurers ought to leverage on the mishap to impact positively on the victim and educate them on the need for insurance.

He said: “We cannot be on-lookers or bystanders when events with abiding implications for insurance happen in our country. Typical examples are the natural disasters in our environment – flood in Ibadan and Lagos. These occurrences should spur us into action in promoting the efficacy of insurance.

Insurance institutions should pay visit to affected states governments and in condoling with them on the disasters, also impress it on them that insurance covers exist for such disasters.

“By so doing, the government and public will be better informed.

It would also be an opportunity to influence the government to make provisions in their budgets for the necessary insurances and formulate policies that will compel institutions, house holders and general public to embrace insurance.”

He said the institute has set in motion an initiative to reform the

industry, adding that current developments in the industry call for collaborative efforts.

Adetimehin said one of the initiatives, which is that of Insurance and Government Relations Programme (IGRP) will objectively promote insurance awareness among the three tiers of government. He noted that a formidable industry team charged with developing inputs yearly into the national budget is being worked out.

He said there will also be yearly forum for discussion and analyses of the budget, to bring to the front burner the opportunities for economic growth and in particular, the expectations from the insurance sector, noting that this will be the insurance voice on the fiscal and economic policies of government which has not been heard for a very long time.

“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 arms of the industry. Meetings will be quarterly to discuss and resolve industry issues while also initiating agenda that will proper future growth of the industry,” he said.

• From left: Mr Enajemo-Isire; Emerhor and Company Secretary of Standard Alliance Life Assurance Limited Miss Agnes Okiemute Umukoro, at the AGM in Lagos.

Royal Exchange posts N3.27b profit

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OYAL Exchange posted N3.27 billion gross premium income last year, its Chairman Mr Kenneth Odogwu has said.

Odogwu, who disclosed this at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, said the gross revenue fell from N3.64billion in 2009 to N3.27 billion last year.

Also, Standard Alliance (SA) Life Assurance Limited said it posted a gross premium income of N5.809billion last year.

• From Right: Deputy President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mrs Laide Osijo; Commissioner for Finance Ondo State, Mr Yele Ogundipe; Chairman, Ondo Ekiti Chapter of NCRIB, Mr L.A. Akinlolu and Mr Wale Oshodi, a member of the Council, during the visit of Mr Osijo to Ondo State.

• SA life makes N5.809b income Its Chairman, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, disclosed this at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

Odogwu noted that the capital market crisis restricted Royal Exchange in maximising investment returns from quoted equity portfolio, which dropped from N 254million to N86million.

He said the company could not pay dividend, but issued share bonus of one share for eight previously owned to its shareholders.

Odogwu noted that the company will continue to work hard to meet the expectations of its shareholders, adding that the resolve to upgrade it corporate governance and risk management framework will continue.

He said: “The upgrading of the corporate governance and risk management framework of the group will continue this year, since they are dynamic processes and the existing policies and codes would be implemented faithfully to ensure that Royal Exchange group maintains best practices in its operations.

“The group will continue to implement its branch network upgrade and expansion programme in line with the new corporate identity and brand strategy of the company.”

He said five new branches will be opened this year in state where the company does not maintain its

presence in line with its corporate strategy of increasing its total outreach and focusing and expanding its retail business.

Emerhor said the company recorded a total pay-out of N4.7billion to some policyholders and claim beneficiaries during the same year as against the N5.25billion it paid in 2009 and that this shows a decline of 10.4 per cent due to the company’s efficiency in its claims and benefit payment.

He said revenue from investment-linked products witnessed a decline in growth from N4.590billion in 2009 to N4.155billion in 2010, representing a 9.48 per cent reduction between the performances recorded in 2009 and 2010.

According to him, this reduction was as a result of Management’s strategy to have balanced mixed product sales.

However, Emerhor said profit before taxation and exceptional item increased from N251million in 2009 to N689.8million in 2010, 174.95 per cent growth over the result achieved in 2009.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company Mr Austin Enajemo-Isire, said: “The Board and Management are wellpositioned to work fervently to make the company more profitable in line with the expectations of all stakeholders.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

19

EDITORIAL/OPINION EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

COMMENT

$550m World Bank loan •Great, but money alone has never been the problem with agric in the country

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HE cash is a truckload, her optimism is infectious and her zeal this time around is that of a super patriot. That is the signal coming from Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s finance minister and head of the National Economic Management Team (NEMT). Speaking with the press a few days back in Washington, USA, after the recent meeting of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF), she revealed that Nigeria was on the verge of being ‘advanced’ funding to the tune of about $550 million from the world body.

That is the way to go girl. Considering the fact that the minister moved from being one of the managing directors of that institution to her current job, and more so that this is her second coming to the job plus that the conditions at home today are even

‘But lack of cash has never been the problem of our agriculture sector, or even that of the larger economy, for that matter ...

Therefore, in working out a detailed blueprint for investing in agriculture and repositioning the sector, the minister must also think through what needs to be done to re-orientate the workforce and reinstill the culture of work and selfless service in the civil servants’

more precarious than before, she can use every help that she can muster. It is quite salutary that Mrs Okonjoiweala seems to be pulling all stops and even more so that her former employers are willing to help her succeed at her new job.

We say that it is great for her to seek to quickly leverage on her clout to access lump sum funding to deploy in some areas of the economy that could earn the government some quick results. She has mentioned sectors such as agriculture, job creation, environmental challenges and the need to catalyse the public, private partnership (PPP) initiatives of the administration. According to her, the Goodluck Jonathan administration has drawn a detailed plan to invest in agriculture. The need to revolutionise Nigeria’s agriculture and wean the economy from its monocultural tendencies cannot be faulted.

Nigeria, it is well known, has the potential to earn huge revenue from agriculture, if harnessed. This will have positive impact on the economy.

But lack of cash has never been the problem of our agriculture sector, or even that of the larger economy, for that matter. The country has always proposed ample budget for the sector but hardly were funds properly deployed or accounted for. Over the years, the agriculture ministry, like most other arms of the civil service, has been in disarray and surely lacks

the capacity to respond effectively to the kind of change needed for quick impact in the sector.

Beyond systemic decay, corruption in the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government has reached a viral level that would require a special kind of vaccine to cure. We also know that different kinds of banks and development institutions had been set up in the past to re-energise agriculture. Funds, both from home and abroad had also been secured in the past and purportedly invested for the purposes of growing the sector. Most of these efforts, unfortunately, had been lost to severe corruption.

Therefore, in working out a detailed blueprint for investing in agriculture and repositioning the sector, the minister must also think through what needs to be done to re-orientate the workforce and re-instill the culture of work and selfless service in the civil servants.

Indeed, Nigerians need to know in clear, simple terms, the conditions for this ‘advance’ from the IMF. What is the rate and the repayment period?

Will the investment by chance pay its way? How will this fund be accounted for and what are the timelines for this investment in agriculture? While we commend the minister and the government for this initiative, there is a lot of work to be done.

Poor Nigerians • Agency boss explains why 100m of them are living below poverty level

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PEAKING at the third yearly National Programme Management Conference on Technology Acquisition and Promotion, the director-general of the National Office for Technological Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr Umar Bindir, cited the dearth of foresightedness as one of the reasons why over 100 million Nigerians are living below the poverty line.

Our concern is his pronouncement that Nigeria cannot be counted among the top 20 developed economies of the world in the near future “if the dearth of foresightedness to create a modern economy persists”.

Nigerian economy needs to be well focused and must also “have credible global visibility”. The conference which had as its theme “Project management and leadership: Partnership for project success” was organised by a non-profit making organisation, PRONACON., Its aim is to re-awaken government agencies and bodies to the responsibility of completing abandoned projects.

From the above, it seems that Nigeria’s problems are lack of foresightedness, lack of focus, and inability to execute projects successfully. All of these defects impact negatively on our economy: loss of jobs and misappropriation of fund usually repeated yearly in prosecuting abandoned projects which, in the end, will also be abandoned ad infinitum.

We have seen this in virtually all areas of our economy. Money budgeted for construction and repair of roads, electricity, water, railways,

refineries and many infrastructure are repeated yearly, with astronomical increases without anything to show for them. All the money is wasted through corruption. Since no financial wastage can contribute to economic growth, and money meant to develop human capital, infrastructure, jobs and welfare disappear into the thin air yearly, the citizens suffer from economic sabotage as unleashed by selfish and corrupt governments.

The money so wasted goes into the pockets of government officials while ordinary Nigerians wallow in abject poverty.

No wonder Dr. Bindir said that “60 per cent to 70 per cent of the Nigerian population, which translates to more than 100 million Nigerians, live in poverty in a typical Nigerian situation”. Once we lack foresightedness, the poverty level may be 60 per cent – 70 per cent now, but it may hit 75-85 per cent with time. Certainly, no country which wants to be counted among the top economies in the world would have 60-70 per cent of her population live below poverty level, not to talk of 75 per cent-85 per cent that can easily be projected from the present situation.

It can also be said that the profligacy of our three tiers of government constitutes a major problem of economic stagnation. What about the wastage of budgetary allocations every year, without commensurate development, the huge cost of running governments, where the Federal Government alone has 42 ministers and the same number of permanent secretaries, directors

and countless special advisers and special assistants! Our 469 federal legislators (not to talk of the states) spend about N50bn annually in a country where the minimum wage is N18,000 per month! The ‘apartheid’ situation that exists between the rich and the poor does not encourage conditions for economic growth. Add all of these to the huge cost of running the Presidency and you will see why Nigeria runs one of the most expensive governments on earth! If this is the case, it must, ipso facto, be one of the worst economies in the world.

In short, what we are being told is that unless something drastic happens, Nigeria should forget about its tall dream of becoming even one of the top 40 developing economies in the world. This will surely be the case if all, or even part of the impediments that make economic growth impossible are not removed in the three tiers of government.

‘Since no financial wastage can contribute to economic growth, and money meant to develop human capital, infrastructure, jobs and welfare disappear into the thin air yearly, the citizens suffer from economic sabotage as unleashed by selfish and corrupt governments.

The money so wasted goes into the pockets of government officials while ordinary Nigerians wallow in abject poverty’

An indefensible punishment

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HEN the Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty 35 years ago, it did so provisionally. Since then, it has sought to articulate legal standards for states to follow that would ensure the fair administration of capital punishment and avoid the arbitrariness and discrimination that had led it to strike down all state death penalty statutes in 1972.

As the unconscionable execution of Troy Davis in Georgia last week underscores, the court has failed because it is impossible to succeed at this task. The death penalty is grotesque and immoral and should be repealed.

The court’s 1976 framework for administering the death penalty, balancing aggravating factors like the cruelty of the crime against mitigating ones like the defendant’s lack of a prior criminal record, came from the American Law Institute, the nonpartisan group of judges, lawyers and law professors. In 2009, after a review of decades of executions, the group concluded that the system could not be fixed and abandoned trying.

Sentencing people to death without taking account of aggravating and mitigating circumstances leads to arbitrary results. Yet, the review found, so does considering such circumstances because it requires jurors to weigh competing factors and makes sentencing vulnerable to their biases.

Those biases are driven by race, class and politics, which influence all aspects of American life. As a result, they have made discrimination and arbitrariness the hallmarks of the death penalty in this country.

For example, two-thirds of all those sentenced to death since 1976 have been in five Southern states where “vigilante values” persist, according to the legal scholar Franklin Zimring. Racism continues to infect the system, as study after study has found in the past three decades.

The problems go on: Many defendants in capital cases are too poor to afford legal counsel.

Many of the lawyers assigned to represent them are poorly equipped for the job. A major study done for the Senate Judiciary Committee found that “egregiously incompetent defense lawyering” accounted for about two-fifths of the errors in capital cases. Apart from the issue of counsel, these cases are more expensive at every stage of the criminal process than noncapital cases.

Politics also permeates the death penalty, adding to chances of arbitrary administration.

Most prosecutors in jurisdictions with the penalty are elected and control the decision to seek the punishment. Within the same state, differing politics from county to county have led to huge disparities in use of the penalty, when the crime rates and demographics were similar. This has been true in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas and many other states.

So far, under this horrifying system, 17 innocent people sentenced to death have been exonerated and released based on DNA evidence, and 112 other people based on other evidence. All but a few developed nations have abolished the death penalty. It is time Americans acknowledged that the death penalty cannot be made to comply with the Constitution and is in every way indefensible.

– New York Times

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

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

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IR: Since my employment as Lecturer in Banking and Finance at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti in May 2004, I have worked relentlessly to make very meaningful, remarkable and quality impact and contributions to banking education in the polytechnic. Without ceasing day and night, I always ensured updated and quality lecture materials, given the nature of the courses I teach. In spite of these, for over five years now, I have been repressed and tormented by the ‘powers-that-be’ within the Polytechnic, all because of my firm and strong reactions to a damaging administrative lies and distortions to my personnel records by a deputy registrar of the polytechnic, who ideally, should have been reported to the Code of Conduct Bureau for abuse of office and powers.

The confirmation of my appointment which was recommended, approved and ‘gazetted’ to be effective May 21, 2006 was suppressed. My promotion that was recommended by the head of my department during the end of 2006 annual performance appraisal was withheld for a reason that could not be disclosed till today. All my personal career development efforts in the direction of PhD were frustrated. For over five years now, I have been in retardation, career

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SOS to President Jonathan and education minister growth limbo and uncertainties. I was made to suffer double jeopardy.

Four years ago, I appealed to the Rector and thereafter embarked on a grievance procedure on the issue and up till today, I have not got a response. As last resort, I wrote an SOS to the polytechnic’s Governing Council in July 2009 on same issue, up till I have not received a response.

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IR: I read with disbelieve, the recommendations of the federal government panel on the notorious extremist group – the Boko Haram. In the said report,it recommended that members who are willing to surrender should be granted amnesty; also those whose structures were destroyed should be adequately compensated. In addition, the panel recommended that those who lost their lives should

For the past months, owing to the effects of these tyrannies, despotism and frustrations, I have been on the battle to save my life after being diagnosed for an ailment that thereafter revealed abnormal functionality of an internal organ. An instant report of this situation to the management of the polytechnic led to the stoppage of my salary. I have been on and off hospitals and clinics here. Despite the prompt report,

doctor’s advice and other subsequent periodic medical reports, my salary remained stopped while my bank was directed to reverse the ones paid.

While I was struggling to be alive, it is disheartening and inhumane that my persecutors in the polytechnic were struggling tooth and nail for death to come. However, efforts are on to get the Nigerian High Commission Office and the

Amnesty for Boko Haram? be compensated too.

For a theory to be accepted,the premises of argument must be valid.If we look at the past events,we will discover that the panel is a smokescreen.Who are the sect members? What is their aim?

Nobody has come out to say this is us.

They attack security a g e n c i e s , r e l i g i o u s centres,government buildings, rob banks yet you wanted amnesty for

the faceless group.

To me this panel has not told us the truth rather it is corroborating what Wikileaks revealed about the connivance of the northern traditional rulers and the SSS, hence the statement by Maryln Ogar that they cannot prosecute the sect with subsequent the release of the sect’s leader from detention.

As far as l am concerned,the traditional rulers are the spiritual,

Nigerian leaders should rule in the fear of God

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IR: The need for leaders in all the tiers of governments to rule in the fear of God and see the staff in their hands as an opportunity to serve the masses, just as they are accountable to God. Going through Nehemiah 5 : 14 – 15 on the confession of Nehemiah, the governor in the land of Judah, the position of authority is a position of service and an opportunity to strengthen the weak, to be a

mouth to the dumb and a feet to the lame.

Many leaders were given staff of office like Prophet Moses; instead of using it to divide the Red Sea for the people to pass, from fear of security, poverty to prosperity, failure to fulfillment, they use the staff to hit their heads, and to oppress them, and they only rule instead of serving.

Many leaders, instead of reduc-

High Commissioner, Dr Dalhatu Tafida involved in attesting to, and confirming these medical issues to the appropriate office in the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja.

Through this medium and through other well meaning Nigerians, I am therefore making appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan and the Honourable Minister for Education, Professor (Mrs) Ruqayyahtu Rufa’i to give a kind-hearted look into my case and rescue me from this determined and orchestrated destruction that has continued to cause me ill-health, mental, physical and psychological torture and distress.

• Peter Kehinde MOGAJI Kennedy Road Barking Essex, England.

ing the pains of their people, remove the soothing balm. Leaders should understand this fact, that no matter how long, there is an end to everything, posterity will eventually judge. You may escape giving account to man, but, God will ask.

If you rule with fear of God in your domain, it will earn you credit, good conscience, boldness, keep you from evils and make you a good leader.

Nigerians should pray ceaselessly and fast for people in government so that they can keep their focus and not be derailed.

Beaten by hunger and misgovernance, Nigerians have no option but to turn to God, to gain God’s favour and seek divine forgiveness for their sins. Both the leaders and followers should repent of their sins and ask God to put an end to the hunger of poor Nigerians.

• Prophet Oladipupo FunmiladeJoel, Lagos

economic, political heads of the north. The people respect them more than the governors. Why are they showing double face since?

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State did not mention names but he managed to tell the so called northern leaders that they are a complete failure. How much will government pay for the dreams that were brought to an abrupt end? As for the trauma survivors will experience for the rest of their lives, will compensation erase it?

Why was Yusuff killed in detention? Who established “kalare”? Why are the northern leaders turning the other way? Why did the panel keep quiet on the atrocities of the sect and never recommended serious sanction against their sponsors or members’ arrest? Unless these and other questions are answered,we are not far from Armageddon.

• Johnson Adeloye, Alakia,Ibadan,Oyo State.

21

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

NASS: NECO 2012 Education Boxes’; ‘Free Education = Free+Donations’; Oct 1 :Buy an inverter

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DUCATION is not nuclear physics. It needs a good motivational learning environment for students and teachers with books and teaching Tony aids to activate brains.

Marinho Political ‘free exercise books’ are a fashionable, political smokescreen, not educational. Children want ‘free text books, not exercise, books, to build brains’.

A true ‘free education’ strategy must target parents, PTAs and private sector contributions and offer incentives and awards documented on a notice board ‘Award and Thank You List of Donations’. If government gives one dictionary as free education, every school must fill its ‘School Needs List’ from appeals.

Worldwide, even expensive schools ‘beg’ with ‘School Needs Lists’. Government free education policy must reward staff getting educational extras as they provide the missing link in education. Refusal to allow external contributions was a fatal educational mistake of ‘progressive governments’! Free education is a ‘PPPPP’ – ‘Political, Public, Parent, Private Partnership’. ‘Good Free Education= Free + Donations Please’ A 20% NECO pass is disastrous education failure. It is a ‘MUNI’, ‘Matter of Urgent National Importance’, to the 1+million NECO failures and to some NASS politicians. Our government enjoys 20% as evidenced by 20% electric power, 20% railways working and 20% roads ‘worthy’ and less than 20% of schools and classrooms are ‘worthy of the name and responsibility to educate Nigerian children.

But will an expensive National Assembly, education public hearing give us the answer? The deprived children and teachers know.

The NECO failure is a chronic national education disease. Is NASS ignorant of the cure? Our children are deliberately deprived in unsanitary pigsty schools though their mothers suffered and often died delivering them? We know that education saboteurs entrusted with education policy, forced Nigeria to abandon geography, history, civics studies,

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AST week, I did a sort of postmortem on the Steve Orosanye-led panel’s report on the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and the blanket dissolution of the board of the commission. I pointed out that concerted efforts were made by elements within and outside the NDDC to ensure that the sins of the perpetrators of the creeping anomalies that have strangulated the commission since inception were visited on the Managing Director, Chibuzor Ugwoha. These evil men propagated deliberate misinformation, half-truths and misrepresentation of hallowed facts in the public domain as they warehoused truth about happenings in the NDDC and offered the President and the generality of Nigerians re-cycled lies dressed in the toga of truth and designed to sway an unsuspecting public to their side.

Several issues took the front seat in the battle to make Ugwoha take the rap for the woes of the NDDC that pre-date his appointment as MD/CEO. But by far the one that has been given undue and needless publicity is the $20 million account transfer. For reasons of convenience, the commission operates an offshore account with the London branch of Union Bank (UK) Ltd. When Ugwoha came into office, the liquidity profile and shareholding indices of Union Bank were not salutary or business-friendly. It is conventional wisdom that banks are not programmed for liquidation on a set time-span or date. A proactive and discerning manager of men, materials and finance should be able to look ahead through the indices

laboratory and ‘practical science’.

The saboteurs maliciously reversed Nigeria’s education, replacing those subjects with ‘idiot’ subjects for fools called ‘the theory’ of biology, chemistry, and physics - leaving Nigerians deprived of ‘practicals’. Was this to prevent government wasting money on chemicals and equipping laboratories? Now we are a ‘theoretical nation’ with no practical skills and no imagination -a wasted ‘scientific’ generation.

Who does not know that when the military seized good functional schools from missionaries in the 1970s, the destruction started? Who does not know that government over-centralisation has centralised corruption and guaranteed education failure –just like in football, power, fertilizer, potholes and pensions?

Who does not know that the mega-salaries and arrogance of politicians have caused ‘collapse of morale’ throughout Nigeria’s working class needing two jobs to live? Politicians, during the ‘Education Public Hearing’ please ask what the salaries of discussants are and tell them your salaries –and allowances! Can poorly motivated and poorly equipped teachers in pigsties called classrooms or principals without power, deliver ‘quality’ education?

Nigeria is an educational paradox. Nigeria’s publishers and bookshops burst with educational utopia while one million classrooms are a barren wasteland for ignorant urchins deceived into expecting ‘education’. Why would any child have a burning desire to enter a Nigerian classroom when a Soyinka classroom in 1937, Ake: The years of childhood, had more educational equipment than now- 74+ years later!

Total redirection of our education funds, making solving the local needs of child and teacher the focus, is urgent. UBE and ETF must stop building blocks for a year and instead build brains by immediately equipping every classroom. The SSS3 classroom needs a massive First Aid effort and emergency books, educational tools, extra class NYSC graduate teaching support and stimulus of best NUT staff just for SSS3. We must use ‘Intensive Care Emergency 2012 Education Strategy’ before the 2012 examination while paying remedial attention to lower classes to bring the pass rate to 80%.

Our Principals and teachers have been castrated by over-

centralisation under military intervention and a false federal structure making ETF and UBE biased and inefficient. Imagine that Principal cannot even order books. Principals need to be empowered.

Our SSS3 children most urgently need books and ‘Classroom Content’ not blocks of new classrooms. Every SS3 classroom needs a ‘NECO 2012 Education Box’ by November 2011.

Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, has been used to develop other countries but not adequately in Nigeria. It needs redirection. Annually Nigeria creates 2,000-3,000 instant millionaires –costing N2-3bilion of the phone-in customers’ money. The latest is MTN’s 10th Anniversary N1billion naira bonanza making ‘instant millionaires’ if they ‘recharge’ and tens of millions will.

Why is instant millionaire mania the priority when we have no books in school? Nigerians dream of ‘quick riches’ instant millionaire status. Such instant millionaire winnings should come with positive moral responsibility to provide from the N1m, a matching contribution to buy books of 10-20%, N1200,000, to a ‘School Or Educational Project Of The Winner’s Choice’. MTN has an MTN Science Centre in South Africa but makes Nigerian instant millionaires with N1,000,000,000 instead of building 50 MTN Science Centres at N20,000,000 each or 100 Youth Centres at N10m each in Nigeria.

Imagine if Dangote, Odetola and other Foundations also did this in addition to Dangote’s N160m donation to flood victims.

Happy October 1st with so much missing. Avoid potholes, young irresponsible Okada drivers and ‘no light’ in your home. Please get an ‘electricity inverter’ this 51st anniversaryeven one battery just for 24 hour electric light power. You and your children deserve an anniversary gift 24 hour ‘light’. Since government failed, give power to your family. And ‘may you be invisible to the enemy’. Amen.

Mr. President and NDDC and act in the best interests of his organisation. Everyone knows the repercussion associated with trapped funds in any failed bank: irrespective of how much you deposit, you get N250,000 (or $50,000 in the case of the London branch of Union Bank) in the event of a failure.

The need to diversify NDDC’s deposit base and spread the risk factor became paramount. In consonance with corporate governance best practices, all the necessary requirements for opening a new NDDC account was complied with at the time Ugwoha gave his approval. As a matter of due diligence, a board resolution was not one of those requirements.

At this juncture, it is paramount to note the following with respect to the contentious $20 million NDDC account. The new account being vilified by traducers, sponsored by the fossilized cabal in the NDDC, is a current account opened in the name of NNDC, not Chibuzor Ugwoha or any other name. Paragraph 106 (ii) (a) of the Financial Regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2006 vests on the MD/CEO the responsibility of safeguarding the funds of NDDC hence the proactive and timely decision to lighten the risk burden of the commission.

Furthermore, it was Ugwoha himself who intimated the board of the NDDC, through his report, on why he had to direct the opening of the new NDDC account with First Bank (UK) Ltd. The NDDC funds

“It is expedient to advise that the President, as a committed son of the Niger Delta, do the needful and assess, dispassionately, the salient issues that have assailed the operations of the NDDC this past decade and provide a workable solution”

were not transferred to any personal or escrow account; the funds, in question, are in a safe and secure current account that is non-profit yielding or from which no profit is being anticipated and none has been paid since the opening. In all, the account opening has no corrupt or corruptive intentions in concept or execution but as a safety valve to secure scarce funds in the service of the people of the Niger Delta.

Perhaps, as a positive fallout of the new account with its London branch, First Bank Plc has entered into an overseas scholarship programme, worth $1.2 million that will ensure the training of critical manpower numbering 40 beneficiaries per year and totalling 200 students in five years. This never existed under the Union Bank (UK) arrangement for several years.

Therefore, with all this in focus, the allegation of document forgery was misleading and skewed to accentuate a scenario of fraudulent intentions and misdeeds. Forgery connotes criminal reproduction, cloning, misrepresentation, altering and presentation of an object (in this case, a document) for pecuniary, tangible or non-tangible benefits thereof. It is tied to criminal intent and is not cost-saving in concept and execution. Fraud does not give quarters or respect the interests of the victim. It exists with a mindset, game plan and schedule of ultimate self-enrichment. Like the Cosa Nostra, fraud festers in a cloak- anddagger setting involving a set of people with similar expectations and mindset. Ugwoha did not set out to benefit, and he never did.

Now, must Ugwoha’s traducers impugn “forgery and fraud” to press home their point that he is an incurable interloper who has come to spoil their “business” at the NDDC? Is it fraudulent to preach and practice due diligence, proper accounting, corporate governance and best practices in the midst of an ancient regime that has continued

to suck the NDDC like a leech since its inception?

The truth is that prior to Ugwoha’s assumption, the commission lost the sum of N1.6 billion to the liquidation of Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, SGBN, under the watch of most of the members of the naira-sucking cartel in the NDDC. Till date, the huge amount remains in a permanent voicemail.

No investigation has been carried out. No question has been asked.

I am sure that those now crying wolf are aware that one of their protégés, who was the acting Managing Director in the post-Timi Alaibe interregnum, committed a financial faux pas (albeit, very suspicious transaction) during his short stint as acting MD. He singlehandedly withdrew the princely sum of $40 million from the same offshore Union Bank (UK) Ltd on August 5, 2009 on the eve of the formal swearing-in ceremony of the new board of the NDDC. They may have comfortably ignored this for reasons best known to them.

It is on record that this colossal sum was hurriedly withdrawn in two tranches and domiciled in Union Bank Plc and UBA Plc in Nigeria on the same day. It is also on record that these hasty withdrawals recorded a shortfall of N34 million in one of the banks in spite of the fact that the two banks operated the same regime of CBNapproved exchange rates that same day.

The top shot has been a regular guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, in the last three months, and there are strong moves to cover up this questionable transfer which was based on dubious exchange rate. No one complained about this N34 million short-change, just as the cheerleaders relapsed into selective amnesia and left the sum of N1.6

Dele Agekameh billion in SGBN even when it was singing its operational Nunc Dimittis.

It is expedient to advise that the President, as a committed son of the Niger Delta, do the needful and assess, dispassionately, the salient issues that have assailed the operations of the NDDC this past decade and provide a workable solution. The recourse to wholesale dissolution of the board is tantamount to punishing the righteous for the sins of the guilty.

If the President must remove anybody, the searchlight should be on those with cases of indiscretion, incompetence, terminal and malignant tumours of financial recklessness, plundering, insider abuse and outright misuse of NDDC funds for personal aggrandisement.

It must not be someone who has championed a new era of due diligence, accountability and financial discipline in the conduct of the affairs of the NDDC in the past two years.

In doing this, the President will be enabling a new era of sustainable development through a properly refocused and re-engineered interventionist agency peopled by those who have the interest of Niger Delta and its people at heart.

Send reactions to: 08058354382 (SMS only)

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

22

EDITORIAL/OPINION FROM THE CELL PHONE ‘If Jonathan was too young in 1962, let someone tell him that it was the persecution of political opponents and the frame-up trial of Awo, the leader of opposition, that marked the beginnig of the end of the First Republic. He shouldn’t now embark on the same journey. Awo’s trial made him more popular; so it will be for Tinubu’

• Tinubu

For Dare Olatunji Re: Who is afraid of a people’s constitution? I am a proponent of no new constitution, but amendment. Attempt to begin to overhaul the present, for a new one will drain the nation’s purse further. Let us amend areas of deficiency! There are more important needs for Nigerians than a fresh constitution. Dare, you know now, sentiment aside. From Wahab Lanre Oseni, Lagos.

Sir, Nigeria’s rulers do not want a change that is why they are scared of constitution amendment. From Feyi Akeeb Kareem Your artcle in The Nation edition of Sept 20, 2011 “Who is afraid of a people’s constitution?” is very appropriate, but who is listening? The truth has only one face, no matter how people try to turn it around! The major problems in the so-called Nigeria are passivity of majority, ignorance, gaulibility and superstition! Unfortunately, the so-called elite you are talking to are not listening, and the downtrodden you are talking for are not interested! Indeed, a physician diagnoses his patient and discovers the cause of the ailment, he quickly applies appropriate drugs for cure. The most fundamental issue in Nigeria now is the formulation of the people’s constitution, to remove all fears of domination and intimidation by different nationalities! Hold national conference now or disband the country so that we can make progress. From Comrade Linus E Okoroji, CEO, Humanity Services Project, Amukoko, Lagos Today’s topic “Who is afraid of a people’s constitution?” is, indeed, fiercely frank. The culprits are those who, in more prudential times, would have been labelled certified reprobates and absconding felons who ought to be in jail but are now highly esteemed. They should go ahead to write a new constitution through the back door for the country. Although Nigerians have a strange resilience to oppression, those imposing their selfish wish on the people without honest due process should know that there is a limit to human endurance.

Those who resist improvements as innovations will soon have to accept innovations that are not improvements. From Adegoke O. O, Ikhin, Owan East L\G, Edo state.

I think you are quoting the President out of context. I have not heard him say that he will enjoy the new 6/7-year tenure. I am one of those who feel that Obasanjo is not and will never be a right-thinking man by bringing Yar’Adua and Goodluck together in the first place as two of them look the same; slow motion kind of rulers. But my views change when he mentions the cost of election. We don’t need that kind of spending as a third world country. I am on his side this time around, for the first time.

Somebody must and will present it. Uzo Ikedife from Port Harcourt.

Nigerian corrupt elite is afraid of the people’s constitution. We had the chance in “June 12” but MKO was affraid to wage a revolution against the corrupt elite. He had wealth/influence but lacked deep insight of liberty. Anonymous As a wise man, you’ve said your own but the microscopic few that are piloting the affairs of this country have little or no in-

terest in what you are writting.To me, I will advise that we keep silent to allow nature to take it’s course. Nasiru Ibrahim from Kisi.

Jonathan’s many mistakes. How on earth could he have sent Obasanjo to mediate for peace on his behalf? How many peace efforts did Obasanjo make when he was there for eight years? He should have sent another former Head of State, after all, General Gowon is praying for Nigeria. Those who brought Nigeria down to this level will one day become beggars on the street.

The evil they do will always live after them. I weep for my country, Nigeria. From Gabriel Olanrewaju Agbede, Ikorodu.

“Who is afraid of people’s constitution?”

Honestly speaking, I am yet to know Abiola‘s sin. Somebody who won the only free and fair election ever conducted in this country, and died for the sake of democracy is yet to be immortalised; but those who came to power with gun and arms are being voted for immortalisation. It is really unfortunate that even those voting for that were not voted for rather, they rigged their way to power. We are waiting for their 60 years to rule us? God will soon disgrace them all. From Ali Nathaniel, Port Harcourt Those old men and women at the Senate are not representing the people because most of them got their elections through PDP room arrangement not through the masses. Now, if you don’t want to be corrupt you loose your job. Justice Ayo Salami is a good example. From Comr. Paul Ataver, Benue State.

For Gbenga Omotoso Are you saying any message for the PDP clowns? Over Tinubu? Let the idiots be extremely careful, or else when the Southwest arises, it will be complete disaster for looters nationwide. I voted for Jonathan, but I know he will never do well. Let PDP be very very careful or else, they will spark a revolution that will consume them.

Anonymous Thanks for sensitising Nigerians about the fundamental deficiency of our groundnorm. Keep it up, we will get there in Jesus name. Please, help me tell Nigerian leaders that only God Almighty has authority to say “I can assure you.” From Michael, Ilorin Well written piece. The Asiwaju trial goes further to demonstrate how clueless our leaders are; with all the problems in Nigeria? Where are GEJ transformation agenda?

Please, enough of all these diversions. Is this what the people voted him to do? His four years will soon be up; we are waiting.

Anonymous If Jonathan was too young in 1962, let someone tell him that it was the persecution of political opponents and the frameup trial of Awo, the leader of opposition, that marked the beginnig of the end of the First Republic. He shouldn’t now embark on the same journey. Awo’s trial made him more popular; so it will be for Tinubu. From Alh. Adeboye Lawal, Felele, Ibadan Well, we wish the President and his party goodluck. If this is the best way to reciprocate what the Yoruba nation did for him to ascend the throne, my advice is that they should watch his back. Anonymous Nigerian Tribune campaign of calumny against Tinubu on the belated CCB allegations is unjournalistic. Focus should rather be placed on what the tenets of journalism are. From Olatunbosun Awe, Akure, Ondo State.

Please, don’t mind those Suegbe PDP people. Tinubu will become a big hero after all these. The PDP leaders are weak and their pockets burn. Anonymous Don’t mind them, they are making Tinubu

and ACN more popular. From J. D. Ebune,esq. Abuja Please, sing for us a new song; we are all tired of the PDP killers party. They don’t have the proof to nail Asiwaju. Anonymous The move to try Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, to me, is highly political and a re-enactment of the wild west scenario when the leader of Yoruba race, Chief Awolowo, was jailed under the same circumstance. I advise that the idea should be dropped immediately as it is a “regional persecution.”

Anonymous President Jonathan has distanced himself from the act of good governance by chasing shadows through the intimidation of opposition. His mentor and godfather, Olusegun Obasanjo, did it, but failed woefully. From Dare Fadipe, Ilesa.

Re:T”inubu’s CCT Trial” Sir, you can do more for Nigerians by publishing those statements of accounts.

Enough is enough for the PDP. From Donatus Nwosu, Lagos.

Soon, all the dirty and hypocritical designs of the PDP will be exposed for the world to see. But journalists must do more to lend more clarity to the situation.The impression is being given that the accounts were operative all through the period in reference. I doubt it. Can a leading and valued opposition leader be simply indifferent to such constitutional requirement when it would have caused little to give the Devil its due and force the predator not to lift this very bizzare arrow from the quiver? From J. O. Omotosho.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will come out clean. From Deji Owolabi.

Nigerian Tribune is crying more than the bereaved in the case of CCT versus Tinubu.

From O. Awe, Akure, Ondo State.

Whether or not the trial of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu would boost his political standing or not is in the womb of time.

However, the parlous state of the Nigerian polity is sufficient evidence of the poor quality of our elite. From AP There couldn’t have been a better way to describe them. Papa (OBJ) deceiving Pikin (GEJ). Funny enough, they always find ways of compounding problems rather than solving them. Anonymous

For Segun Gbadegesin Unfortunately, our country is a Third World nation, ruled by third class citizens.

History has always shown that major changes have been effected only through organised violent disruptions, prepared over time by few elite members of society.

No significant change will occur unless idealists accept to fight to death. Anonymous This notion remains unacceptable. What we have are arm chair revolutionary.

Anonymous A government that breaches an agreement, is like a constitution without an empirical backup. ASUU, please don’t allow your anger to deem the light that will take responsibility from you, but use psychological dimensions to bring sanity to our great nation from our insane political fathers, because “it is only an insane mind that doen’t stick to agreement”. From Alaihie Chijioke Clinton, Psychology Dept, IMSU, Owerri.

ASUU’s war should not be focused on government alone but also on the university administrators. How are the funds released spent? What is the level of ASUU members dedication to research and teaching, in spite of increased salaries over the years? These issues are more critical. Thanks. Anonymous You see, a Yoruba proverb says: ‘’Opolo

•Jonathan

ko mana odo mo, oda sawudu” (A frog that needs a wet enviroment to live lost its way to a river, and blamed anybody for its failure). That is what we are experiencing in Nigeria now. From Ayilara Bisiriyu.

Re: ASUU’s war revisited. Sir, I completely agree with you that the way government violates its own agreement with ASUU is, to say the least, irresponsible. But, I do not agree that ASUU conscientiously embrace its mission and responsibilities to students.

I say this because there are things within the control of its members that they don’t care about. For example, in many of our public universities, students get to know their 100L results when they are already in 300 or even 400L because the lecturers are too lazy/nonchalant to mark their scripts and submit scores on time. This is why, in addition to time wasted due to strikes, students stay home for another one year after graduation before they can proceed for National Youth Service; never mind the long years ahead to search for jobs. Yet, when these lecturers are invited by other examination bodies, they not only beat the deadline for submission of marked scripts/ scores, they even ask for more scripts to mark – money matter. Is that embracing responsibility to their students? The scenario is that under this circumstance, not many graduates of our universities today who entered at 18-20 years can put in 35 years of service. Ensuring that students get to know how they are fairing at every stage of their academic pursuit is the least ASUU and its members can do to demostrate their conscientious embrace of their responsibility to students. It is also the student’s right to know his/her full result from a level before moving to the next. From Jonathan Issac, Port Harcourt.

Re: ASUU’s war revisited. I read your above titled article. It is amazing how those who ought to know fold their hands to look in naira or dollar-purchased helplessness while the rot in tertiary education persists.

Given the government’s antecedents in breaching agreements with ASUU, and the quantum of emergency universities springing up everywhere, it is easy to connect the dots. The government is working hard to undermine education in Nigeria for both foreign and local interests. Anonymous Can I have your postal and email addresses? You can also reach me through info@cartng.org. Thanks. Prof Lasebikan.

It is ASUU vs ASUU. It is ASUU members in government that are breaching the agreement. Please, ASUU don’t go on strike.

Anonymous ASUU deserves to be supported. Particularly because they steal from poor students to buy Jeeps and build estates. Journalist are, indeed, guardians of the threshold.

From Odidi, Calabar Please, if the retirement age for professors is now 70 years, how will the younger ones grow? Ask Awuzie when last did he carry out a research with a view to improving his lecturing prowess. They are selfish, every Nigerian must condemn ASUU for holding us to ransom. From Osato, Benin Your article is one sided. Public sector lecturers in Nigeria are lazy. Most of them are not scholars. Their interest is money.

Anonymous

2013 AFRICA NATIONS CUP

Pg. 24

Nigeria in race to host

Super Eagles will end Guinea’s dream —Siasia

Pg. 41

Nation Wednesday, September 28, 2011

PAGE 23

•Mikel

•Taiwo

Taiwo, Mikel eye victory Pg. 41

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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41

NATION SPORT

NATION SPORT

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Taiwo, Mikel eye victory A

FTER his Serie A debut with AC Milan, Nigeria international Taye Taiwo will make his UEFA Champions League debut with the Italian giant against Viktoria Plzen of Czech tonight at San Siro.

Taiwo played his first minutes in a Milan shirt and despite escaping a red card and being subbed off just after half time, the signs are promising and coach Massimo Allegri welcome him back into the fold for the money spining league.

By Bimbo Adesina Milan have struggled domestically this season, sitting 11th in the Serie A after four matches, but secured their first win of the campaign against Cesena on Saturday.

Plzen won three successive away fixtures on their way into the group stage, but will face a different prospect against a side the calibre of Milan.

At the Estadio de Mestalla, Mikel Obi will be on the line-up for Chelsea when they take on Valencia in the Group E of

West Brom boss warns Osaze

N

IGERIAN striker Osaze Odemwingie has revealed that West Brom boss Roy Hodgson wants him to ‘relax’ more in a bid to rediscover his goalscoring touch.

The 29-year-old Nigerian international striker, who burst onto the scene last term with 15 goals to help the Baggies stay in the Premier League, has managed only one goal so far having worked his way back to full fitness following a pre-season ankle injury.

And, Odemwingie has admitted that Hodgson has given him a pep talk to try and get him back to the form of his debut season at the Hawthorns.

He told the Birmingham Mail: “The manager has told me to relax.

“He says that I think too much, that I should relax and play the game I know how to.”

Odemwingie also feels his sharpness is returning following the injury as he hopes to get back amongst the goals against Sunderland this weekend - who he scored against home and away last season.

“It is going to be better,” he added.

“It was coming more against Fulham and hopefully there’ll be no more setbacks.

“At Everton in the Carling Cup I got two good kicks on the ankle, and against Fulham another on the Achilles. English football is not easy.

It is sometimes tough.”

•Osaze

D

Sidwell and Marcel Gecov for a place in Fulham’s engine room.

“It was good to be back,” he said. “I didn’t really have time to get into it but I feel good.

“I’m probably a couple of games away from full fitness. We have some great players here but I’m confident in myself and my ability, so hopefully I will get some game time.”

League stars happy at resumption

•Bassey

L

EAGUE stars have expressed joy at the proposed resumption of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) which has been on hiatus over the past few weeks.

The 2010/2011 NPL season is expected to re commence on November 2 with match day 35 matches expected to be played.

Heartland Goalkeeper, Bassey Akpan was first to voice his opinion on the development.

“My brother, I am so happy to hear that league will commence again. We have always been asking when the league will resume so we were really happy to learn about the resumption date. “I am really happy to hear about this and I know other players are too,” he told SuperSport.com.

Captain of the champions, Enyimba,

Chiedozie Johnson was more concerned about the organizers of the league sticking to the new calendar.

“This is not the first time we have been told that the league will resume and then they postponed it. “I hope they don’t postpone it again,” he said.

The indefinite suspension of league matches had been a source of concern to many with the most decorated player still playing his trade in the NPL, Victor Ezeji telling SuperSport.com last week that he was ‘really looking forward to returning to the pitch’. “”I am really looking forward to returning to the pitch. I am sure the situation is the same with all the other footballers across the country,” Ezeji told SuperSport.com. “The disputes and arguments at the NPL were a source of worry for us footballers and I can tell you that we are all looking forward to action in the NPL. Football is our love and that is what we as professionals want to do at every point in time.”

Sunshine Stars and Dolphins are currently joint top of the standings with 64 points from 34 matches.

Top scorer of Sunshine Stars, Ajani Ibrahim wants to use the remaining four matches to make a telling contribution to the cause of the team.

“I am just hearing now that the league will commence in November and I am happy about it. “The top scorers’ award is important to me but if the club (Sunshine Stars) wins the league title, I will be happier,” he stressed.

Nigeria in race to host •As CAF set to replace Libya .•Algeria, South Africa also in the arce

F

OLLOWING the decision of Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) to replace war ravaged Libya as the host of 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria is already on stand-by to take over the tournament.

Nigeria is in competition with Algeria and South Africa to host the continental football fiesta.

The executive meeting of the continentental footall governing body is on in Egypt and is expected to annouce decision on the new host of the tournament.

By Bimbo Adesina While Nigerians and Algerians want to replace the Libyans, 2017 Cup of Nations hosts South Africa have proposed a swap with the North African country staging the African football showcase in six years’ time.

However, a South African decision in August to publicly announce they had struck a deal with Libyan officials did not go down well at CAF headquarters in Cairo.

“We are disappointed that the South African Football Association (Safa) has chosen to make public these discussions and plans before the matter is discussed by the CAF executive committee,” said CAF general secretary Hicham el-Amrani.

“It would have been correct to have waited until it is discussed and ratified. It is premature to make such an announcement and it has upset us that there has been this breach of protocol.

“Hosting rights to all CAF tournaments are duly awarded by the executive committee at sessions designated for such and not subject to barter by nations,” he stressed.

Nigeria co-hosted the Nations Cup with Ghana in 2000.

NIGERIA/GUINEA CLASH IGERIA’s Super Eagles are to receive another double bonus when they beat Guinea to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations, MTNFootball.com has exclusively gathered.

The Eagles are entitled to $5,000 as win-bonus, but they received double that amount for beating Madagascar in Antananarivo earlier this month with the players outside the 18-man squad getting $2,500 each.

“Each player in the main squad received $10,000 for the getting that very important victory in Madagascar and the federation are now working on the same amount for another mustwin game against Guinea,” a top official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) informed only MTNFootball.com “Everything is being done to guarantee a resounding victory to qualify us for next year’s Nations Cup

in fine style.”

The new bonus scheme has been kept under wraps until now.

Coach Samson Siasia has restated how crucial qualifying for the 2012 Nations Cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea is in his rebuilding of the national team, saying it would afford the team more time to train together and form a more cohesive force.

The Syli Stars of Guinea have led Group B from the first round of matches in September 2010, but a minimum 1-0 win in Abuja on October 8 would see Nigeria topple fellow West Africans from the summit when it matters most.

The Eagles last failed to qualify for the Nations Cup in 1986, when a coach Patrick Ekeji-led team crashed out to Zambia in the final qualifying hurdle.

The Zambians held Eagles to a goalless draw in Lagos, before they won 1-0 in the return leg.

G

Guinea will spend five days training in Paris before flying to Abuja, but Kabbaassan admitted that that was Plan B, with financial trouble forcing the federation to jettison the original plan of bringing the squad to Conakry.

“Our Plan A was to bring the players to Conakry, and come to Nigeria from there. But we have trouble with money, and so the players will stay in France, and we will come to Abuja with a commercial flight.”

Guinea lead the group on 13 points, three more than Nigeria, who need to win by 1-0 or two clear goals to finish as group winners.

A

•Eguavoen

rounding up with another northern test against Algeria.

The tournament will be held in Egypt from November 26 to December 10.

The eight teams participating in the competition have been split into two groups of four and will compete on a round-robin basis, with the top two sides in each pool advancing to the semi-finals.

The two finalists, as well as the thirdplace finisher, will automatically book their places at the London Games, while the fourth-placed team will face a two-legged play-off against a side from the Asian Football Confederation that have yet to be determined.

Group A in the qualification tournament includes hosts Egypt, South Africa, Gabon and Ivory Coast in what looks to be a very even pool.

Group B sees West African sides Nigeria and Senegal take on North African opponents in Morocco and Algeria.

T •Siasia champions.

“Heartland played more purposeful football and showed more hunger for victory. I think they deserved their win. I wish them an excellent reign,” Siasia, who once handled Heartland, told SuperSport.com.

S

HE President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation(NTF), Sanni Ndanusa has been toppled in the Africa, Confederation Tennis(CAT) election by a Malian just as the first vice president of the NTF, Yemi Owoseni was appointed CAT as the vice president of the CAT Zone two.

Owoseni will now serve in the capacity as the number two man in the administration of tennis game in the zone that comprises of West African countries.

The Ekiti State Tennis Association chairman noted that he sees his appointment as a welcome development in which he is ready to contribute more towards the success and upliftmnet of the game in the West Africa sub region.

Speaking further, Owoseni who was full of gratitude to God for this development said that his work and aspiration to make the game attained greater heights has distinguished him as worthy ambassador of the game

By Stella Bamawo in Nigeria.

He stated “I will use my over two decades wealth of experience to foster the growth of the game in the sub region, and to justify the confidence reposed on me by the body to ensure that tennis becomes a sought after sports in the region.”

“There is going to be transformation to the game of tennis in West Africa as well as in the whole of the Africa continent. I will work in collaboration with other board members to bring a change to the development of tennis in such that it will be a sought after sports in the region in due season”, “My appointment testified to the good work Nigeria Tennis Federation under the leadership of Eng Sani Ndanusa who also is the President of Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) had being embarked upon in the recent years, and we will continue to make the country tennis grow to the upmost level”. He said.

T

HE 2011 Nigeria Cup Golf Tournament will reach a climax today when about 50 professional golfers drawn from the Southwest and Southsouth of the country file out to claim a slice of the N3milliom prize money on offer.

It would be recalled that this is the biggest prize money in the Ikoyi Club Golf Section prime tournament since 1997 when it first held at the Ikoyi course in celebration of Nigeria’s Independence.

The pros would be playing 36 holes for two days and the winner is expected to smile home with a whopping N300,000 .

A top class field has also been assembled by the organising committee led by Victor Akinbayo, who is also vice-captain of the section.

Club top pro, Bashiru Bakare said he has fine-tuned his act to do well, especially with the course at its best due to this week’s clement weather.

The petit player would, however, have some of the best in the country to beat with the like of Noojeem Shofela coming the Ada Golf Club.

From Ikeja Golf Club, old reliable

Lateef lasisi would also be on hand to rekindle his top game that had seen him take Nigeria’s biggest championship trophy, the Nigeria Open Championship here.

Also defending champions, Nigeria based Ghanaian top shot, Emos Korbler could also be on hand to deal card on the course he has mastered like the back of his hand.

At the end of round two tomorrow, a befitting gala nite/ presentation ceremony would round off the evening.

The Nigeria Cup 2011 teed off last Saturday with the Children Golf Clinic which was a great improvement on that of last year with over 100 children participating.

Coordinated by leading training professional, Jacob Omoruah with ten other club professionals golfers, the children into five different categories according to their age were taken through basic rudiment of the game before the competition proper.

An elated Omoruah said he was elated with the turnout of members and their kids.

Ekiti to host national U-15 football friendly

E

KITI STATE government has concluded plans for hosting a friendly football match between the national Under-15 team and that of the State in the same age category, as part of celebrations marking 15th year anniversary of the creation of the state.

The match which is being organised

by Ekiti State Sports Council in conjunction with Ado Local Football Council has received the blessings of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the central football

Dream Team opens with Morocco USTIN Eguavoen’s Under-23 team will open their Olympic tournament qualifying group game against Morocco.

The Dream Team will open against the North Africans on November 27.

Three days later, they will face West African neighbours Senegal before

•As Owoseni is named VP

N

IGERIA faces Guinea in a must-win match to emerge Group B winners of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.

The two-time African champions are second on the table with 10 points, three adrift group leaders, Guinea.

Siasia, who was among the teaming fans that watched Heartland see off fellow Oriental foes, Enyimba 1-0 in the final of the 2011 Federation Cup on Sunday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos told SuperSport.com that the Guineans’ dream for a Nations Cup slot will be punctured on the last day of the qualifiers.

“We must win against Guinea on October 8. It does not matter whether it is one, two or three zero. What matters is to win and qualify for Gabon/Equatorial Guinea Nations Cup,” the Nigerian manager said.

On the cup final, Siasia believes that the Naze Millionaires are deserved

From Patrick Ngwaogu, Abuja UPER EAGLES’ right back, Chibuzor Okonkwo has assured Nigerians that the next qualifying match against Guinea in Abuja is a must win. Speaking in Lagos, the Heartland of Owerri strongman said “there is no controversy over this match, it is a match we must win, and Nigerians are not expecting anything less than a win from us. It would not be an understatement if I say that the match is a do-or-die affair. I am optimistic that with God on our side, we are coming out victorious on that day”.

The Olympic silver medalist said the injury that inhibited him from been part of the victory party in last weekend Federation cup, would not be an impediment for him in the match against Guinea “I want to tell you that the injury is almost healed. I had to rest it in order not aggravate it the more, but when I get to the national camp, I hope the doctors will have a final check on it, before I resume training”. He urged Nigerians to remain prayerful for the Super Eagles, as the country’s flag must fly in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea next year.

Guinea to name squad tomorrow UINEA coach Michel Dussuyer is expected to name his Syli Stars squad to face Nigeria on Thursday.

Keita Kabbassan, an official of the Guinea Football Federation, told KickOffNigeria.com that the ministry is not aware of the list circulating online and only expect the coach to send in his selection later this week.

“I don’t know about that one, but we have not received the selection from the coach.

“On Thursday, we will get the names and the media here are all waiting for it,” he said.

Super Eagles will end Ndanusa dropped from CAT position Guinea’s dream –Siasia

Okonkwo assures on Nigeria Cup: Lasisi, Bakare victory highlight pro field for N3m

Eagles to get super bonus

N

Etuhu eyes Fulham starting spot ICKSON Etuhu has set his sights on a place in Fulham’s starting XI after his return to action at West Brom.

The Nigerian midfielder has been sidelined for a month with a thigh injury, but made a late cameo as sub in Saturday’s stalemate at the Hawthorns.

And Etuhu insists he’s ready to fight it out with Danny Murphy, Steve

the Champions League.

Chelsea will have inside knowledge of Valencia’s strengths and weaknesses from Juan Mata, who left the club during the transfer window to move to Stamford Bridge.

The Blues made a winning start to their UEFA Champions League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen earlier this month, while Valencia drew with Genk.

Chelsea face a Valencia side who have not lost at home this season in all competitions.

The Spaniards have conceded just six goals in their five La Liga matches and began the group stage with a scoreless draw against Genk.

They will look to build on that against Andre Villas-Boas’ side and will hope the free-scoring Roberto Soldado, who has struck five times in La Liga this season, can breach Chelsea’s defence.

2013 AFRICA NATIONS CUP

From Sulaiman Salawudeen, Ado Ekiti administration body in the country.

Addressing a Press Conference at the South-Western Hotels , Ado-Ekiti, the Chair of the Ekiti State Sports Council, Prince Ademola Adetola explained that the match comes up October 15.

The sports council boss said the event would be heralded by a glamorous Road Show by the contingent from Abuja, the nation’s seat of power, to

No prize cash for Federation Cup

W •Joseph Yobo

INNERS of this year’s Nigeria Federation Cup Heartland did not receive any cash from the organisers for their long-awaited triumph, officials said.

“There was no prize money for the winners, but we ensured that all four teams were paid a subsidy,” general secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Musa Amadu, told MTNFootball.com The cup competition, which kicked off in 1945, does not have a title sponsor since Coca-Cola pulled out last year.

During its sponsorship of the

country’s longest running football competition, Coca-Cola paid as much as three million Naira (about $20,000) as prize money to the winners.

The champions of the Nigeria Premier League are entitled to a cash prize of five million Naira.

Heartland, who pipped favourites Enyimba 1-0 Sunday to win their first major honour in 18 years, will represent Nigeria in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup. It will be the first time the Owerri club will feature in Africa’s second annual club competition.

sensitize the public.

He disclosed that the state was able to secure approval for the match based on what he saw as cordial relationship among the state, the NFF and other stakeholders in the round sports.

Prince Adetola hinted that the event was historic since it would be the first time Ekiti State would be hosting a national team since its creation about 15 years ago.

The Prince expressed optimism that the encounter would not only boost the morale of sports lovers in the state, but that it would equally offer a window of opportunity.

In his remarks , Ekiti State Commissioner for Sports, Mr Folorunsho Olabode said the state government would offer all necessary supports to ensure successful hosting of the encounter.

The commissioner also disclosed that the present administration in the state would soon convoke a sports summit to chart a new course for sports promotion and administration in the state.

Other stakeholders at the event were, former board member of NFF, Taiwo Odebunmi, Chairman ,Ado Local Football Council, Gbenga Akinwunmi and other officials of the sports council.

TASK

INQUEST

APPEAL

Community challenged on hygiene

Women to probe rape case

Sultan urges good governance

Kano

37

ABIA

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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Sokoto

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Page 25

Email: news_extra@yahoo.com

Corps member gives water to FCT villagers

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member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Adakeja Olumide has written his name in the heart of the inhabitants of Kiyi Bassa village. He sunk a borehole for them, a facility they had never had. The community is about 10 kilometers from Kuje, the headquarters of Kuje Area Council and one of the six Area Councils that make up the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The about 3, 000 inhabitants of Kiyi Bassa, like all other FCT suburbs, were, for years, forced to accept their fate as inhabitants of a remote village where any form of social amenity was nonexistent.

•Olumide and the borehole

From Sanni Ologun, Abuja

The level of development in the village is still a far cry from the opulence and splendour of the capital city modelled after Washington DC in the United States.

The government, despite its giant strides in making the Centre of Unity what it is, seems to have cared less about the people who are indigenous to the area and who have been driven to the fringes to make way for the development of Abuja.

Apart from other social amenities that are lacking in the area, the problem of potable water has been

of major concern as the villagers have had to make do with brownish surface stream which appears more like flood water.

Notwithstanding its health hazards, the stream has become the main source of water with which the villagers washed and bathed. They also drink it.

Though the government had, three years ago, dug a manual borehole for the villagers to ameliorate their suffering, it was learnt that it went bad soon after and all efforts to get the government to refurbish it had remained fruitless. This unfortunate situa•Continued on Page 39

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HINGS are looking up in Benue State’s infrastructure, thanks to the state’s internal revenue service. Dilapidated roads are ploughed up and paved afresh. Health facilities are upgraded. Blocks of primary school classrooms are built, providing comfort for teachers and pupils.

That is not all. There is a boost, too, in the state water supply as well as in sanitation.

It is all part of the developmental support provided by the Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), distinct from the effort of the other arms of government.

The BIRS intervention has elicited cheer across several roads and streets in Makurdi, the state capital, and beyond.

They include Abu King Shuluwa Road, High Level Market Road, NKST Street, Uke Wende Street, among others.

Chairman of the BIRS, Mr Andrew Ayabam said the Service has an obligation to meet the people’s expectation.

“His Excellency Governor Gabriel Suswam had promised when he was signing our bill into law, and severally at other fora, that taxpayers’ money will be judiciously utilised,” he said. “Now in selling our business, there is need for the taxpayers to be adequately educated as to their responsibility and also whether or not government is meeting its obligation.”

Ayabam had a huge challenge when the governor appointed him in 2009 to drive the revenue service. The state’s internally generated revenue was paltry.

Firms operating in the state were making huge profits but were loath to pay tax, leaving the government with pretty little funds to execute projects.

Ayabam came in to change the picture. He mounted a tough drive to get such firms to fulfil

•Badagry Street in Makurdi in a makeover

Benue boosts infrastructure Schools, roads upgraded Internal revenue targets more tax From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

their obligations. The companies began to comply and the state revenue profile shot up.

“The revenue target for 2010 was N500 million a month,” Ayabam said, [but] “BIRS achieved N6.87 billion for the year…So we exceeded our target for 2010. Some of the things that have made that possible are one, the law itself, and then the re-

viewed rates. Before the law which included the rates or the bill, was passed some of the rates were as old as the time the state was created; those rates have been reviewed. We also have more staff, we have more locations, we’ve also blocked leakages and we are also working on recovering some of the taxes that are being owed the state and we have recorded considerable

gains from that area.”

The Makurdi Modern Market is one place that is experiencing a major turnaround.

“I think the market was making N10,000 or so in a whole month,” Ayabam said. “Now they are making over N50, 000 weekly. That’s a remarkable achievement and I believe that •Continued on Page 26

•Ayabam

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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Sultan urges self-sufficiency, good leadership From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

•Sultan Abubakar

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ULTAN Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III has observed that for the country to move forward, it must have credible leaders. He also pointed out that Nigeria must focus on productivity in order to be self-sufficient.

He said Nigeria needs to wake up and join other nations, pointing out that its prosperity has to be hinged on production.

“I am at a loss seeing that we

•Continued from Page 25

has affected other revenue subheads within that market.”

The BIRS chief explained how the service gets even hawkers to pay tax, saying some consultants help out in that area.

“The Binda Creation has been engaged by us to deal with personal income tax from hawkers,” Ayabam said. “These are people who move around from one market to the other. And so given the nature of their operation and also given the fact that we’re not in every local market we had to give them part of that responsibility. Their responsibility is to collect personal income tax; it’s unfortunate that for a group of people who have never since they started business paid personal income tax to Benue State Government, would now want to use this as a basis for increasing the cost of their wares.

It is a one-off responsibility; it’s paid once in a year. I don’t know

keep sliding backwards instead of forward, the Sultan said in Sokoto.

“Where was Dubai some 25 years ago? But today it is among the developed nations of the world. So also are Brazil, Malaysia, China, Singapore among others.”

Abubakar said Nigerians must create the atmosphere of trust, transparency, honesty and accountability in the spirit of the fear of God, otherwise, it will remain where where it is.

“We have to harness the God’s given abundant gifts of nature around us to make the country great,” he stressed.

Sultan Abubakar noted that Nigerians have kept talking and discussing on the leadership qualities of such eminent persons and scholars as Shiekh Danfodiyo.

“That is why we reflect on what they left back some 200 years ago,” he said.

Sa’ad Abubakar spoke while re-

ceiving a delegation of members of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) who paid him a courtesy visit in his palace. The visiting engineers were led by their National President, Chief Olumuyiwa Alade Ajibola.

He said the country has a number of excellent professional engineers scattered all over the world, who could make a difference.

But the revered monarch reminded them of the country’s numerous resources, in spite of which its people are still backward.

“We need to be innovative so that we can achieve stability as a production-oriented nation that

competes favourably with other countries of the world,” he said.

Abubakar also urged the regulatory body to brace up to the growing challenges facing the country, one of which is building collapse.

He saw the development as a big engineering challenge, which poses a threat to life and property.

“As a regulatory body, you need to have laws that will fast track quality and standards in the practice of the profession by any engineer,” he said.

“And I am sure if you speak with the President on good laws that will guide and protect your profession in relation to the peo-

We need to be innovative so that we can achieve stability as a production-oriented nation that competes favourably with other countries of the world

ple as a body, he will listen to you or ensure that the National Assembly creates laws to tackle the problems of collapse of buildings currently on the increase.”

Ajibola conveyed the greetings from the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade to the Sultan.

The NSE National President told Abubakar that engineering is a necessary profession for the socio-economic advancement and survival of any society.

He said they visited the seat of the Caliphate to pay homage to the Sultan and have firts-hand knowledge of the progress their profession is making there.

Ajibola disclosed that the NSE has 55 branches nationwide.

“We have a membership strength of 30,000 with distinguished fellows,” he said, adding that the umbrella body has 18 specialised associations with divisions in various branches of engineering.

The NSE chief said that in spite of the relevance of the profession, “Nigerians seem not to fully appreciate it.

Benue boosts infrastructure what the cost of whatever that people are selling and how much they’ve increased on that directly as a result of the personal income tax they’re asked to pay. Personal income tax is mandatory for everybody who is above 18 and who has a source of income. I don’t know how much that directly impacts on the cost of production.”

Revenue derived from hawkers’ income taxes is helping to bring development to the generality of Benue people. Everyone benefits from the improved infrastructure in the state. Better water supply improves the people’s health and capacity to work and generate income. The upgraded schools boost learning and, in turn, productivity.

Ayabam is happy that the people are responding positively to the new regime of taxation. But

he wants them to embrace the revenue drive even more.

“That is why we’re quite aggressive with taxpayer education,” the BIRS boss said. “We observed that the challenge was in the fact that the taxpayer was not adequately educated as to his or her responsibility. That is why information dissemination is very key and has remained very key to all our activities here at the Internal Revenue Service and so the challenge is taxpayer education, taxpayer education and taxpayer education.”

Ayabam spoke about his staff welfare.

“There is office accommodation provided for every staff, there is water provided for every staff.

There is power, there’s water, and these are the basic things. And salaries and allowances are paid

as at when due. Our staff for now, I believe, are the most exposed. I don’t think there’s any one organisation here, except may be when they have special projects, that can send as many as five of their staff abroad on training and refresher courses on a regular basis. Benue State is the only state now from last year that has been consistently sending about seven people and paying all their allowances up front. Before then it was only Lagos that was doing it. But now Benue State is doing that too. These are some of the little things that we’re doing to ensure that staff, one, work in a conducive environment and two, are motivated adequately. There is no perfect level for motivation. What motivates you might not motivate the other person but generally speaking we have tried to make the work easier. We’ve provided them with the tools with which to work and I ascribe every success that we’ve achieved over the years to the commitment and the work and determination of our staff. From the results of 2010 budget you could also see there that BIRS was the only agency of government that exceeded its target. We owe that to the commitment of our staff and what they put in.”

In boosting the state infrastructure, Ayabam said the BIRS works in tandem with other arms of government such as ministries, de-

Everyone benefits from the improved infrastructure in the state. Better water supplyimproves the people’s health and capacity to work and generate income •Job seekers at Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja fill out their application forms

•Suswam

partments and agencies, all known as MDAs. He also spoke on the relationship between the revenue service, the taxpayer and the government.

He said: “In the business of taxation there are two parties involved, the person who is paying and the person whose responsibility it is to provide the services for which the person is making such payment. Now we’re in the middle. We collect from the person who’s paying and give to the person who has to deliver on those responsibilities or obligations. So as we’re collecting from this person we also see that sometimes the person is frowning; as we hand over to this person we say make this other person smile.“ People are already smiling.

Ayabam said some “shop owners in one of those streets in High Level came out and were cooperating with our field workers.

In the past nobody would even want to come out and attend to you. They would say go, Madam is not even around, go you’ve not even done the road you’re coming on. But today, because this infrastructure is being provided the people are paying much with a better smile. And at least they’re offering us water when we go out there.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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Poly lecturers honour Minister T

HE Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa State chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has given a meritorious service award to the the Minister of Education, Prof. Rukayyat Rufai.

Over 30 lecturers as well as the rector of the polytechnic, Dr. Pius Salamai and the registrar, Hajiya Fatu Sabo, also received awards during the ceremony

From Johnny Danjuma, Lafia

which was held on the institution’s premises in Nasarawa, headquarters of Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state.

While receiving the award on behalf of the Minister, the Assistant Director of the Polytechnic Dr. Hilda Onyekwere thanked the union for recognising Prof.

The Ministry has had problems from other institutions over the years, but never from Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa because of the mutual respect and understanding

Rufai’s contribution to the development of education in the country.

She said the award to the Minister will inspire her to do more and be a challenge to others.

She commended the union and the school administration, especially the Rector, for the industrial harmony existing between them.

“The Ministry has had problems from other institutions over the years, but never from Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa because of the mutual respect and understanding,” she said.

The Chairman of ASUP, Nasarawa State Federal Polytechnic Chapter, Abubakar Abba Tamin said the Minister was given the award because of her commitment to the challenge of transforming the educational sector in the country.

He also hoped that the award will encourage the recipients to contribute more to service delivery and the development of the country.

•Mrs Rufai

Akpabio’s ex-aide protests inability to present MDG report

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ORMER Special Assistant to Akwa Ibom State Governor on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Ekaete Udo-Inyang has protested an alleged exclusion from presenting the state report on the MDGs. The report was to be presented in Kaduna State at the 13th Conditional Grants Scheme Focal Persons Meeting.

The meeting usually reviews the progress made in each state towards achieving the MDGs. It is on the basis of such progress that funds are granted to each state in the federation for the implementation of the goals.

Rural areas, schools, healthcare, water supply are among the focal areas covered in the scheme.

The CGS is coordinated from the Office of the Senior Speciall Assistant to the President on MDGs. The scheme can attract up to $1billion.

Udo-Inyang claimed that the organisers prevented her from presenting her report, and consequently walked out in frustration. She alleged that the coordinator organisers said she she would not be allowed to present her state report because “the state has a problem and you have to resolve that with my boss”.

The boss, Isiaku Mohammed insisted on seeing a forrmal letter from the state governor directing Udo-

From Tony Akowe, Kaduna

Inyang to present the state report.

Ekaete countered: “It is unheard of that they will insist that I present a letter from the governor before they allow us present our report. I challenge them to bring the letters brought to this meeting by others who are present here to represent their states.

“My governor and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) are in the United States of America. When the governor heard of this meeting, he directed me to represent the state and that is why I came here. Otherwise, I don’t have any business coming here.

“The letter they sent inviting us for this meeting did not ask us to bring any letter of authority when coming.

They asked us to come along with bank guarantee and other documents which we came with and now, they are placing obstacles on our way. We are not going to allow this to happen and we will fight it to the end”.

Mohammed told Newsextra that there was no way they could have allowed Udo-Inyang to make the presentation on behalf of the state because they had not received any official communication from the Akwa Ibom State government regarding who the state Focal Person was. He argued that even though she was the focal person for the state, since she

had not been reappointed as the Special Adviser to the governor on MDG, they would have accommodated her if there was a communication from the state governor regarding her status or directing them to recognise her.

“The person that was to make the presentation on behalf of the state was not the authorised person to make it as the government had not officially communicated to us a new focal person. The meeting we had was to take stock and review the level of implementation of the projects under the 2009 grant. We have finished evaluating their applications for the 2011 grant and the delay was the absence of the Federal Executive Council. Now that there is one in place, and now that a new Senior Assistant

to the President on MDG has been appointed, we are hoping that the applications will soon be approved and the funds released to the states before the end of the year.

“During our meeting in Kaduna, we did not allow Akwa Ibom to present the report because the person who was supposed to do that was not known to us. The meeting was for State Focal Persons who are mostly Special Advisers to the governors on MDG and the person who came was the last SA to the governor on MDG who had not been reappointed then even though she told us that the governor promised to reappoint her. But we said that since she has not been reappointed, there was no way we will allow her. There are channels of communication and

if they had spoken to our boss and we are told to deal with her, we would have taken their report. But we could not do that because the channel of communication was not followed. Want due process of accountability. At the end, we have been vindicated because that person was not reappointed as the Special Adviser on MDG by the governor. Furthermore, if we had allowed it, the state can deny the presentation and we would have no defence since there was no written communication from the governor”.

The question being asked is: will the non-presentation of the Akwa Ibom State MDG report not hamper its determination to lift the quality of life and facilities in the state?

DFID, others train Plateau youths on peace

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N its effort to ensure the return of peace in Jos and the entire Plateau State, the Institute of Governance and Social Research (IGSR) in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Citizenship and Leadership and Training Centre (CLTC) organised a week-long training session for youths in Jos North, Jos South, Jos East and Bassa Local Government Areas of the state.

•From Left: Chairman, Itire-Ikate Local Council Development Area, Hon Hakeem Bamgbola; Chairman, Drain Duck, Akeem Apatira; Chairman, Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government, Hon Kamal Bayewu; his MosanOkunola and Ikorodu North counterparts, Hon Abiodun Mafe and Hon Adeola Jokomba at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Abuja

From Marie-Therese Peter, Jos

Three hundred and sixty-one youths were tutored on the need to imbibe and preach peaceful coexistence among their peers.

The training which was the fifth in the series, tagged: “Peace in Jos: Arresting the Cycle of Violence”.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the training held from September 18 to 24 at Shere Hills, Jos, the state governor, Jonah Jang represented by his Special Adviser on Peace Building, Mr. Timothy Parlong, urged the youths not to leave the training they got at the camp behind but implement the brotherly spirit they learnt in the larger society as this will promote peaceful coexistence in the state.

Also speaking, President of IGSR, Prof. Isawa Elaigwu cautioned the youths against rumour mongering which could trigger violence. He urged them to return all arms in their possession to the stipulated security agency so that they will not be tempted to experiment with such dangerous weapons.

In a communiqué at the end of

the Camp V training, the youths decried the proliferation of arms among their peers and called on security agents to beef up security and address the issues of illegal arms.

The youths said: “We the participants of Camp V have learnt and resolved not to use violence to resolve conflict as peace is the only panacea for meaningful development. We call on the federal, State, local governments and the private sector to work towards empowering the youths through employment and skills acquisition.

“We call on all youths to shun social vices capable of breaching peace and report any suspicious movement to the security agents instead of taking laws into their hands”.

They also called for genuine forgiveness and tolerance of one another saying “no religion supports violence” and promised to imbibe dialogue in solving any differences they may have.

The 361 youths were drawn from Islam and Christianity and certificates of ‘Peace Ambassador’ were given to participants.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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K

• Yakowa

ADUNA State government is to introduce the tricycle, Keke-NAPEP, as a major means of transportation in the metropolis, Governor Patrick Yakowa has said.

Yakowa said this while receiving the Commercial Tricycle Association’s members, who visited him in his office in Kaduna.

He said his administration was interested in the association and had resolved to make Keke-Napep a major means of transportation to reduce accidents and promote safety.

Yakowa said that the association’s visit had strengthened his administration’s resolve to replace the motorcycles with the tricycles.

He said government would soon begin training and registration of commercial motorcycle operators to take charge of the tricycles.

Yakowa said the state’s Security Council and

Traditional rulers urge implementation of HE Northern Traditional Rulers’ Jos crisis report Council, has urged the Federal

T

Government and Plateau State government to implement the recommendations of the Solomon Lar-led Committee of Inquiry on the Jos Crises.

In a nine-point communiqué signed by Alhaji Najib Hussaini, the Emir of Kazaure, issued on Sunday, the rulers said the implementation of the report would resolve the crisis and ensure reconciliation.

“The council called on relevant governments to implement the recommendations made by the committees of inquiry on various crises in the northern states, especially that of the Solomon Lar-led Committee on Jos Crises,’’ the communiqué said.

It said that the rulers had set up a special committee led by the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, to prepare a comprehensive position paper to be presented to the governors in the northern part of the country at a meeting being proposed.

It said the paper would give a clue to how to deal with the socio-economic and political challenges affecting the northern states.

It also called on northern states governments and entrepreneurs to pursue economic issues in agriculture, livestock and afforestation, to address the challenges of rapid population growth, unemployment and poverty.

The council appealed to political leaders to be more responsive in the discharge of their duties to address the needs of the electorate as way of sustaining peace and harmony.

The meeting also resolved that traditional rulers would remain non-partisan in politics “regardless of the enormity of pressure on them to act otherwise. ’’ The council further resolved to pursue relevant legislative and constitutional review to empower traditional rulers to effectively participate in the affairs of the Nigerian State.

NGO seeks better treatment for the elderly T HE Executive Chairman, Skindudu Aged Foundation,Mr Tunde Babs-Olurinde, says there is an urgent need for the younger generation to imbibe the culture of caring for the elderly citizens.

He disclosed this at the Annual Seminar/GetTogether for Senior Citizens in Lagos recently.

Babs-Olurinde said the foundation, a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), was trying to revive the values of caring for the old in Africa, which he said were presently being eroded.

“As we all know, governments at all levels pay special attention to the youth population, which of course is the ‘tomorrow’ of the society.

“We should not forget, however, that as tomorrow starts today, so did today start yesterday,” Babs-Olurinde said.

He explained that people between the ages of 30 and 55 and majority of decision-makers in almost all spheres of life would later retire to become part of the elderly citizens.

The foundation chairman called on youths who are in positions of authority to “use their good offices today to promote the cause of the senior citizens”.

“This is because at some point, it is going to be their turn as well,” he said.

Babs-Olurinde said plans were on the way to spread the reach of the seminar, which the foundation started in 2009.

“It began at the grassroots and it is now at every local government area of the state,” he said.

Babs-Olurinde called for support of state governments and the private sector to make old age in Nigeria worthwhile.

“At Skindudu Aged Foundation, it is our genuine desire to inspire the younger generation at every point in time.

“We want them to always be conscious of the peculiar circumstances of the senior citizens in our midst, brought about by age and which of course is a natural occurrence,” he said.

Some pharmaceutical companies, including Fidson, Pfizer, Vitabiotics and Daily Needs Industries, donated drugs to the elderly citizens.

T

Tricycle for Kaduna

Bauchi decries encroachment on forest reserves T

Kaduna the State Executive Council would soon take a decision on how to check the menace of commercial motorcyclists in the state.

He said that he would look into the demand of the association and evolve modalities for the distribution of more tricycles on loan to operators.

Earlier, Alhaji Nasiru Ahmed, the Chairman of the association, said that the tricycle was a safer means of transportation.

Ahmed noted that the tricycles recorded less accidents and were hardly used for criminal activities.

He, therefore, urged the state government to consider introducing it as a major means of transportation in the state as had been done

by Kano, Bauchi and Niger states as well as the FCT. Ahmed also appealed to the state government to grant the association loan to procure more tricycles for their members to operate in Kaduna, Zaria, Kafanchan and Birnin Gwari.

The association said it currently had more than 70 registered members in the state.

It would be recalled that the state government recently restricted the operating hours of all motorcyclists within the metropolis from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., following the advice from the State Security Council.

Youths urged to support Fayemi

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HE Co-ordinator of Eyi Yato Youth Forum, Mr Olajide Ige Obasanjo, has urged youths in Ekiti State to join hands with the government to realise its goal.

Addressing members of the forum at its monthly programme in Ado-Ekiti, Obasanjo advised the youth to be focused and cooperate with the government.

The programme which was well attended, featured discussion on development challenges of the state and how to tackle them.

The coordinator said the youth need to show concern for governance by engaging in meaningful debate and giving constructive criticism.

He said: “To be able to do this, you must be well enlightened about governance, rather than condemning government policies, which doesn’t change the situation.

•Kogi State Governor Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (right) and the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the state, Idris Wada at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, PHOTO: ISAAC JIMOH AYODELE

issues in a number of specific technical subject areas, as well the accountancy and finance profession more widely. The groups will have an international remit to develop views which are supportive of the needs of business globally, with an increasing emphasis on emerging markets. This will include ACCA’s responses to consultations introduced by policy makers, regulators and standard setters.

Neil Stevenson says: “The membership of the forums and the issues discussed reflect the global nature of ACCA’s membership and our work. They embody ACCA’s belief that consistent global technical insight and policy positions are essential to the global economy, requiring wide contributions from diverse expertise across sectorsand

Vehicle owners warned

• From left: Deputy Vice Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Prof I.R. Ajayi; Olympic Gold Medallist, Chief Superintendent of Police Chioma Ajunwa-Opara and Dean of Students Affairs, Dr N. Duyilemi at the reception for the university’s medallists at NUGA, WAUG and All Africa Games

The Lagos Police Command has warned owners of vehicles parked at its Badagry Division to remove them or forfeit same through auction. The vehicles are: 1. Mazda 626 saloon car – LA4986 MG 2. Unregistered Volvo saloon car 3. Mazda 626 saloon car – CE151LND 4. Accidended Nissan Sunny car – DY612KJA 5. Gallant car – AY131JJJ 6. Accidented Jetta saloon car – DL988KJA 7. Opel car – AA 653 JJN 8. Golf car – AZ 346 BDG 9. BMW saloon car – AM 225TTD 10. Peugeot 205 GL (accidented) – DE 598 JJJ 11. Mercedes Benz car – CE 644LSD

HE Director-General of Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency,Dr Dije Bala, has decried the wanton encroachment into forest reserves in the state.

Bala spoke at a lecture organised by an NGO, Forward in Action for Conservation of Indigenous Species (FACIS), held in Bauchi in commemoration of this year’s International Climate Action Day. She lamented that over the years, most reserves had been taken over by residential buildings, shops and petrol stations.

“We have quite a number of gazetted reserves in Bauchi State. But of recent, most of them have been depleted. They have been converted to residential areas, shops and petrol filling stations.’’

According to her, not even the “sign posts’’ indicating that the areas are reserves were spared by the encroachers.

The director, who spoke on deforestation, global warming and climatic change issues, stressed the need for concerted efforts to address the problems at local, national and international levels.

Bala said that the international community had not relented in providing

Gombe to spend N2b on co-operatives

G

OMBE State government has promised to contribute N2 billion in the first two quarters of 2012 to the cooperative scheme launched recently in the state.

The governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo told reporters in Abuja that the money would be budgeted to match the N1 billion funds for 2011.

He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the agreement to provide counterpart funding to match the Bank of Industry’s funds for the project.

“That we have signed agreement between us and Bank of Industry is like a revolving facility that is initially for N500 million; that means we will provide N250 million, Bank of Industry will provide too.

“When they exhaust that, we add another N250 million and we they add N250 million before the end of the year; that brings the total to N1b.

“By next year when we take full charge of the budget we will add additional N1 billion in the first quarter of 2012 and another billion in the second quarter of 2012 so that we have N3 billion rolling around Gombe farmers and Gombe businessmen.’’

Dankwambo said the scheme would aid the growth of some selected products like cotton, tomatoes, grains and other commodities and also help cooperative societies to establish small scale businesses and enterprises in the state.

He promised the state’s involvement in the complete value chain of the products processing from cultivation to packaging of products.

He said: “we will promote and add to the complete

Association to lift technical committees

HE Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA) is reinvigorating its technical committees and will be launching 10 new global forums in September .

The forums will bring together experts from the public and private sectors, public practice and academia from around the world, including people from leading international organisations.

The forums will meet on a regular basis to further the thinking on current and future

37

geography.

“The forums will be advisory in nature, working to shape and inform ACCA’s global policy; they will also ensure that appropriate issues and concerns for the profession are addressed.”

The 10 forums will also support ACCA’s influential Research and Insights programme and provide new expertise to help ACCA develop publications and speak at events. ACCA believes that issues are very frequently local and will continue to pursue a local agenda where appropriate within this new framework, especially in areas such as tax, regulation and SME matters.

The new Forums will also help ACCA with its aim to strengthen its local contributions by drawing on thinking and best practice from around the world to inform its insight.

The new global forums are as follows. *Accountants for Business – This Forum will consider the issues relevant to Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and finance functions in the corporate sector and drive a global programme to strengthen the role of professional accountants in business. * Accountancy Futures Academy – This Academy will work to develop ACCA’s Research and Insights programme by identifying issues of major significance for the global accountancy profession. It will also develop a network of potential high-level contributors to ACCA’s work, and will ensure the overall quality of ACCA’s Research and Insights outputs. * Global Forum for Governance, Risk and Performance – Established to influence policy makers and regulators to create an appropriate environment for responsible, profitable business, this Forum will work to show how professional accountants can support ethical, sustainable business and enhance their value to their employers and other stakeholders.

Gombe value chain; that means from planting up to packaging and disposal of products at the market.

“That we have done and the process

has commenced in Gombe and people have started benefiting.’’

Dankwambo, who said Gombe State’s people were commerce-oriented, added that the state would create an environment for investments to thrive.

Bauchi

funds to check deforestation.

She, however, lamented that in spite of the efforts, the desired result had yet to be achieved due to lack of political will on the part of leaders to ensure the resuscitation and conservation of forests.

“A lot of the funds that come in form of assistance for tackling the problems are utilised for other social and political activities.’’

Alhaji Sule Yakubu, acting director of Forestry, Bauchi State Ministry of Environment and Forestry, enumerated measures put in through legislation to check deforestation in the state.

In their separate remarks, Rev. Shuaibu Byal and Sheikh Mohammed Suleiman called on the people to imbibe the culture of conserving forest and other natural resources.

• Governor Yuguda Alhaji Sabo Abubakar, the chairman, Board of Directors of FACIS, recommended the establishment of Social Mobilisation Committee on Climate Change in Bauchi State to create awareness on the dangers of deforestation.

Kano residents challenged on hygiene

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ALAM Habibu Yaro, an elder in Na’ibawa area of Kano Municipal, has called on the residents to consider environmental and personal hygiene as part of their religious belief.

He decried the situation where people had to be sanctioned before participating in the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.

“It is a shame when people have to be prosecuted and asked to pay fine for failing to comply with the simple regulation of only few hours,” Yaro told journalists Yaro, who said all Muslims must be mindful of the fact that cleanliness is part of their

Kano religion, advised heads of households to make their people to comply with the directive on the monthly exercise.

Yaro praised Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso’s administration for efforts to make the people obey sanitation laws as well as the restriction on movement during the monthly exercise.

It would be recalled that at inception, the administration inaugurated a committee to monitor compliance and ensure prosecution of defaulters.

American visitors join LSPDC cleaning

I

• Chairman, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Comrade Ayodele Adewale (middle) discussing with some leaders of Mile 2 Low Cost Housing Estate during the environmental sanitation exercise. With him are Elder Patrick Sado, Chairman, Unity CDA (left); Mr. Tola Ebitigha, Chairman, Zone C, Unit 3 (second right) and Mr. Ajeyori Samuel, former Chairman, Zone C (right)

BRIEFS

Kwara to develop agriculture

‘ Unity schools, symbols of national unity’

THE Kwara State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Mohammad Isah,has reiterated his determination to collaborate with stakeholders in the development of agriculture for food security.

Isah told journalists in Ilorin that officials of the ministry and those of the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending had met to discuss partnership.

He also said that the ministry had held a meeting with Chief Felix Okonti, the Managing Director of Lixkonti Ranch and Industry, Ejidongari and Prime Gold Fertiliser, Ilorin, on how to collaborate to boost food production.

According to him, the initiative is an offshoot of the Agricultural Transformation Action Plan for Nigeria, launched by President Goodluck Jonathan as a roadmap for agricultural transformation in the country.

He urged stakeholders to show interest and actively participate in the programme.

THE Kano State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Dr Abubakar Nuhu-Danburan, has described unity schools as symbols of national unity.

Nuhu-Danburan said this while receiving an award during a reception organised by the Barewa Old Boys Association (BOBA) ‘Class of 1978 Form 1’ held at the college in Zaria recently .

He observed that unity schools played host to different classes of people from different parts of the country with the aim of knowledge seeking.

“People from all over the country come together to study and it is interesting to note that they come together even after graduation; this is symbol of unity.

“I pray that we shall celebrate same increase many more years to come,” he said.

He recalled with nostalgia the good old days and called on the old boys to maintain the close relationship with a view to taking the country to greater heights.

In his speech, the guest speaker and former principal of the college, Alhaji Isiyaku Nuhu, lauded the efforts of the old boys in keeping themselves together.

He praised teachers for inculcating discipline in students, which according to him, resulted to “what we are celebrating today.”

N line with the Lagos State policy of making the centre of excellence clean, the Americans who came on a month training exercise joined the staff and students of Del-York International to clean LSPDC Estate Isolo.

The residents of the estate who did not know that they were going to have a visitors that morning were surprised when the visitors swung into action. The cleaning exercise which took several hours saw the 27 American film teachers removing waste within the neighbourhood.

The contingent drove into the estate in a convoy of five vehicles, and headed straight to the estate’s mini-stadium where the students immediately offloaded industrial bins, rakes and brushes from the vehicles and donated them to the Estate community to aid them in the regular environmental sanitation exercise.

They were met on arrival by some members of the executive of the Community Development Association (CDA) led by their chairman, Col. Michael Akanji (rtd), Youth leader, Kabiru Salami and a host of others.

Head of Students’Affairs at Del-York International , Lagos Mr. Jide Johnson said he was there to represent the Managing Director of the company Mr. Linus Idahosa.

Johnson also said the visit was a “thank you” tour to a community that has hosted Del-York International in the last one month. “We want to say a big thank you to Isolo people for being a wonderful host to Del-York International this year 2011. Our vision at Del-York is to help improve film making and television broadcast industry standards in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. This is why Del-York International struck a chord with the New York Film Academy to bring this training closer to us.”

According to Johnson, the first edition of the

Del-York International training on film production held in Abuja in 2010. Since then, over 600 students of film making have been trained in the past two years. “The outcome of this training would soon begin to pay off in the standard of the films produced in Nigeria. We spent a period of one month at Apata Memorial school, Ire Akari Estate and chose to end the training session with a community service here hence we are here with some of our lecturers, staff and students who feel very grateful to you,” he told the residents.

Also speaking, CDA Chairman of LSPDC, Isolo, Col. Michael Akanji, praised Del-York International for its positive contributions to the growth of movie making, television production and indeed creativity in Nigeria with the training exercise. He also thanked the management of the company for the donation of environmental sanitation implements adding that the bins and rakes will definitely be put to good use in the estate.

Church holds programme

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HE Chapel Grace Power Ministry, 4, Oluwaseyi Street, Isawo Road, AgricIkorodu, Lagos, has begun its seven-day revival programme tagged: Time of Freedom. The event would end on October 1.

The General Overseer of the Church, Prophet Rufus Odeyemi said: “God is set to give total freedom to all participants of the programme even as Nigeria clocks 51 on October 1. God promises freedom to all souls irrespective of the magnitude of problems.”

A gospel drama group, Ise Oluwa Drama Band, will entertain on Friday, September 30 andduring Thanksgiving Service on October 2.

•The American visitors in a group photograph with some members of staff of LSPDC

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Life My role in civil wars,

by Lindsay Barrett – Page 32

29

The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

Text only: 08023058761

The golden glimpse of a nation – Page 33

‘Give us leaner, prudent ministry’ – Page 34

‘I’m attached to my camera’ •Smart-Cole

• SEE PAGE 30

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

Sunmi Smart-Cole doesn’t look his age. At 70, he has the looks of a 50-year-old.

If you are meeting him for the first time, you will hardly believe that he is 70, the milestone, which he attained last Sunday. SmartCole is a man of many parts. He has been a teacher, a draughtsman, drummer, barber, photographer and journalist. At 70, he is still counting. He shares his life’s journey with EVELYN OSAGIE.

S

UNMI Smart-Cole maybe 70 but his looks say otherwise.

With a sunny smile, he welcomed this reporter into his home at Yaba, Lagos, this sunny afternoon.

One could see where his passions lie.

Beautiful plants welcomed the visitor into the compound.

As he opened the door to let one into his sitting room, it felt like walking into a gallery and an antique store of a sort.

The green colonial phone colonial crest (colonial Nigeria) beckoned for attention as one stepped into the room.

One cannot miss the iron phone from the old America (used shortly after the cowboy era) and a black one with the dialer later on the sides of the sofa.

But the over a-hundred-year-old piano, looking neatly polished, is sure to catch one’s attention as one takes in, but not like the ancient looking portmanteau would. These and more one is sure to find in the home of the new entrant into the septuagenarian clug. He shares his passion and more.

At 70, looking young I feel elated and grateful to God for everything – my life, family, my work ... He gave me a talent and made many people to recognise me. I am not in shape now because of my stomach…it’s too big. Because I have not been exercising the way I should coupled with the so-called ‘middle age spread’…I used to jog and walk but my kneel was damaged in a helicopter accident and it was totally replaced. You can’t find me eating pork or red meat. I eat poultry but without the skin. No alcohol. No soft drinks.

Only orange juice and the best drink in the world - water.

I don’t smoke or sniff any mind-bending drug. Alcohol is a legalised drug.

Growing up I never went to secondary school or attended any university. Photography that I studied was in a junior college in the US which was more like a college of technology.

I had to fend for myself from the age of 15. That was when I became a teacher without going to secondary school.

I passed my entrance examinations to three different secondary schools but could not go because there was no money. My mother could not afford it. She was a minor dressmaker. She wasn’t a designer but a seamstress who made clothes for women who couldn’t afford to pay. I ended up being a teacher at the age of 15; and taught till I was 17.

I resigned and apprenticed myself to an architectural draughtsman. They taught me enough: I taught myself the rest. I was mostly self-educated. I educated myself by reading, observing and listening, especially to people who spoke English. I used the libraries a lot. And I bought second-hand books, such as novels, magazines, newspapers to read; anything to improve my vocabulary. I used to pay people who cleaned aircraft to bring me copies of international papers from the first-class cabin; such as Time, Newsweek, Readers Digest, Herald World Tribune, New York Times. I became interested in international relations and world politics.

I used to get up early in the morning to listen to the news broadcast on BBC. I listened to know how to pronounce the words. Our broadcasters were also good. I read the Bible about three times over in search of words. Those things helped to hone my proficiency in English. There is

•Fidel Castro and Smart-Cole

‘I’m attached to my camera’ nothing like reading.

Studying on one’s own, sometimes, there was a tendency for me to suffer from inferiority complex then, thinking I didn’t know enough or as well as the other guys. But one thing that helped was that I listened more. I preferred to be around people, who in my opinion, are well-educated whether in a church gathering or party and listen to them speak.

My life as a Journalist Before photography, in 1974, Sam Amuka as Managing Editor of The Punch appointed me Punch’s correspondent in the United States.

Indeed, the Nigerian media have had very trying times.

Like when I was at The Guardian, two of my colleagues were jailed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari for publishing the truth. They published that some embassies were going to be closed – it was just that they said 13 instead of 12 embassies. The government’s attorney-general was sent to court to amend the charge to say that every word in that report must be true. A week before they were jailed Emeka Omerua as Minister of Information came to The Guardian

and told us that the government wanted to teach the press a lesson. It just happened that The Guardian was caught in it. But, of course, when they were freed by Babangida, he pardoned them.

I used to edit a newspaper called Lagos Life. We carried true stories – people’s escapades etc, but using coined names to protect their identities. Still, unless you were not at the receiving end, the true stories hurt. Every time, the paper hit the streets, while some people are rejoicing who knew the story; others are grieving. We hurt a lot of people. It got to a point I started feeling guilty. I could not bear hurting people and asked to be relieved of my position. For this action, people called me the ‘Reluctant Editor’. In the course of my job, some people even confronted me. I was once slapped and almost stabbed at the Arts Place. God saved me. I used to tell people that I was not a reporter but an editor. Mine was to make sure the stories the reporters were bringing were true. And when I asked to be relieved, they promoted me to the Managing Editor of The Guardian.

But that didn’t stop the people still. Up till date, people still call to give me security details of what is happening.

•Continued on page 31

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

‘I had to fend for myself from the age of 15. That was when I became a teacher without going to secondary school. I passed my entrance examinations to three different secondary schools but could not go because there was no money. My mother could not afford it. She was a minor dressmaker ... I ended up being a teacher at the age of 15; and taught till I was 17’ Fried Chicken.

I used to barb the hair of many tourists’ students here on summer (holiday) and most American Embassy officials who were black. They came to shapen their afros because – I don’t know if you heard that I popularised the afro haircut. There was a time I got all the women wearing afros whether their natural hair or afro wig. Those who could not cut their natural hair brought the wig and I’d comb them out, fix it on their head and then cut it to suit their face. Actually, at that time I had been a teacher, drummer then a barber. Barbing was something I had to do at the time because I did not want to go begging people for jobs.

My world as a photographer •The late Maryam Babangida and Smart-Cole

A man of many parts •Continued from page 30

On the FoI Act It is long overdue. When the British were here, they tried to muzzle the mouth-piece of the Nigerian people. A few Nigerians were in journalism like Mr Abdul Karim Disu, the first Nigerian to have a postgraduate degree in journalism. Journalists would write and sometimes they pigeon-grabbed them because they were all agitating for independence and universal adult suffrage.

We still need more freedom. But at the same time, too much freedom can be dangerous. Because if it weren’t for too much freedom, we wouldn’t have had the problem they had in London with News of The World.

The state of the nation Our problem started when we eliminated, overthrew the best government we had – the Tafawa Balewa administration. When we killed Tafawa Balewa for ‘corruption’ on a day he had only $25 in his bank account; he didn’t have a house. He was the best. At the time he was in office, Nigerian Airways pilots were earning more than ministers. They were earning $30,000 a year; the president was earning $14,000, the prime minister, $12,000, ministers, $10,000.

My friends for life There is an African adage that if you wash your hands, you would eat with elders. There is nothing like being loyal. I am grateful to God for the people that I have met over the years. And we have remained very close and faithful to one another. People such as the HRM the Obi of Onitsha, we were born in the same city and same year.

He was at my exhibition at the Silverbird Galleria. Although born in Port Harcourt, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, was raised in a street away from here. Babangida also lived here in Yaba. I have a lot of friends from the north, east and west. And if they are doing anything they invite me, not as a photographer but as a friend. Because I am attached to my camera; it is now left to me whether to go there with my camera and take photographs. But I could drop the camera and be one of those you call the ‘celebrities’. My friends have never looked down on me because of the fact that I did not have formal education.

‘

My friendship with IBB’s administration I am their family friend. I have known the family for years and whenever they are having anything, they invite me… I go. I knew him when he was a single man. He is only one month older than me: we were born in the same year. And I knew the wife when she was very young…17 and 18…with her brother who used to bring her to listen to Fela play. But I never worked for the government. I had travelled with the Presidency on state visits or mostly with its foreign ministers who served under him, especially Gen. Ike Nwachukwu. I once got a presidential commission – he commissioned me to produce a book on his foreign policy.

My music I am a drummer and jazz percussionist and a founding member of the Soul Assembly. I have performed with renowned jazz musicians, such as the late alto saxophonist Julian “Canonball” Adderley, organist Jimmy Smith, pianist McCoy Tyner, singer and key-board player Segun Bucknor, the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the late pianist Art Alade and The Jazz Preachers of Lagos, Nigeria; The Jazz Disciples of Freetown, Sierra Leone, among others.

I learnt how to play drums by watching Fela teach a drummer how to play, while I was a draughtsman.I knew him when he drank only Fanta: he never smoked or drank. At that time, he was a very handsome man. I used to join him to play at Jazz 38 at Awolowo Road. Not with his group, when he wanted to play the kind of music he enjoyed, he played jazz piano or trumpets. I sit-in. Sitting-in to jam means you are not a member of the band. He was a great friend.

We were the musicians for ‘teeny bumpers’ (the teenage groups). We used to perform at the UNILAG (University of Lagos) for students. Students of the University of Ibadan used to organise Havana Nite, which our musical group, the Soul Assembly, used to feature. I was an original member of Jon Hendrick’s jazz musical “Evolution of the Blues,” US (1982). I organised the first Nigerian Jazz festival in 1964 at King’s College hall in Lagos.

My barber’s shop My barber’s shop was the in-place for foreigners such as tourists and expatriates and fashionable Lagos elite at that time. It was called ‘Sunmi’s Place’. From 1967, I ran it for four years in this Yaba where you have N.O. Idowu the Tailor by Domino Stores where you now have Kentuckey

I learnt how to play drums by watching Fela teach a drummer how to play, while I was a drauhgtsman.I knew him when he drank only Fanta: he never smoked or drank. At that time, he was a very handsome man

‘

I am attached to my camera – that’s my life. I have always liked photography…taking pictures. But as you know it is a very expensive hubby. I am still taking pictures. And as I go on, I would still be taking pictures.

I bought my first camera at $5 in 1971 that was when I visited America for the first time in September 1971 and spent years there. I remember I travelled round many states (Washington DC, Virginia, Boston) by bus – because that was what I could afford – to see friends of mine (Americans) who I knew here as visiting students on Summer Holiday.

I did not get into photography, professionally, until October 1976. While working as an electronic draughtsman, in 1976, I started studying photography part-time at Foothill College in Los Altos, California.

Anyway, I had my first solo exhibition at Stanford University, Stanford, California, in 1978. And the second was at the National Arts Theatre under the auspices of the National Council for Arts and Culture. Mr Frank AigImoukuede, the then executive secretary, invited me to exhibit with them. And then some of the embassies noticed me. When the French Cultural Centre moved the office from Broad Street to Victoria Island, they used my exhibition to re-open the place. The Goethe Institut also hosted me twice.

After my exhibition in Nigeria in 1978, the management of Punch asked me to train their photographers. And that was how I started training people. I have done several exhibitions across the globe. By next month, I will be launching my book on my 36 years pictures collection. The Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, wrote the foreword.

My world as a horticulturist I have always treasured nature and grown plants. There was a time when I had about 250 species of plants. I am a founding member of the Lagos Horticultural Society alongside Mrs Adeola David, Dr Grace Guobadia at Ilupeju. And I was mandated with the job of recruiting men. But that was not the first time a horticultural society was formed in Lagos. During colonial times we had a botanical garden at Ebutte Metta. But it died off with the people that founded it. And people used to have the garden competition at Yaba.

I praise Fashola for remembering his childhood.

My fashion Most of the time, I wear double-breasted suit tailor-made for me. One hundred per cent cotton shirts, silk tie and I don’t wear anything outside brown or black shoes. And after 6pm, I must wear black shoes. No gentleman should be seen after 6 p.m., wearing anything but black shoes if you are going to a function. That is fashion for men.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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The Midweek Magazine

E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

My role in civil wars, by Lindsay Barrett Forty-five years ago, frontline journalist, poet, novelist and playwright Lindsay Barrett wrote his first book, The State of Black Desire, to draw attention to the alienation of Blacks, exile and the arts. Today, at 70, his dream for Africa and the Diaspora remains unfulfilled. But he hopes that the future will be brighter. He spoke with OZOLUA UHAKHEME, Assistant Editor (Arts), on his role in civil wars in the West Coast of Africa, his reasons for leaving Jamaica for Africa, his anger over degradation in Niger Delta, and why he naturalised as a Nigerian.

“W

HEN the Rastafarians were telling us that Jamaicans came from Ethiopia, I felt there should be other sources because for me, Ethiopia was too far from Jamaica.

And when I read the late Maazi Mbonu Ojike’s book, My Africa, it gave me extra impetus in search of my roots.” That statement skewed the focus of Jamaicanborn Nigerian Lindsay Barrett’s reminiscences of his life and work as freelance journalist and political analyst since leaving the Caribbean over 40 years ago. He turned 70 on September 15.

He recalled that at 40, he thought he was going to die because of his health. “Today, I am more disciplined and I don’t work for reward. This has kept me going as a writer,” Barrett said, thanking God he met his new wife 12 years ago. He added that he would not have made 70 but for his wife, who is from the Niger Delta.

To him, what makes Nigeria attractive has not been any major benefits but the hope that is constantly being raised by Nigerians to overcome difficulties of life. This, he said, could be seen in most Nigerians who believe in Nigeria and the possibility of a great cohesion that gives hope to other African nations. He cited the Nigerian press, which he described as being very vibrant even during the dark days of the military junta. Barrett, who was head of Information Services of the defunct East Central State under Chief Ukpabi Asika during the civil war, is not insensitive to fundamental issues and the survival of the Nigerian nation. In fact, in 1979, he wrote Danjuma, The Making Of A General, profiling the army general who oversaw the massacre of the Biafrans during the civil war. In all the civil wars in the West coast of Africa, he has played the role of an interpreter of the essence for peace. “I have not benefitted from it. I have had a good run. But no war I never expected to die,” he said, nodding his head like a victorious warlord. Disclosing some of his antics, he said he used to cross lines during the war to mediate for peace but not without a price. The popular No Victor No Vanquish statement by General Yakubu Gowon, at the end of the war, according to him, was the creation of Asika but crafted by him.

Yet, he is at crossroads on the desirability of the 30month fratricidal war. “If I knew Nigeria, the way I have now, I don’t know the side I would have been during the war. In fact, I don’t understand the depth of those grievances that led to the civil war. Yet, looking back, we have not overcome the grievances,” he reasoned.

He also wrote on the oil production and its effect on the nation’s economy and the environment. His position on the degradation in the Niger Delta has remained unshaken as he consistently commented on the disgrace the region represents considering the potential in the coastal states. He said it is dysfunctional to find Niger Delta in that state of decay, which he said, hurts him. “I never stopped writing on Niger Delta issues, though it was not a conscious effort,” he noted, adding that ‘if we had governed ourselves well, we would have done much better to improve the well-being of the people.’

He assured that despite the unwillingness of Nigerian political leaders to address national questions, such as true federalism, when it would be necessary to hold a sovereign conference, nobody would stop it. “Unfortunately, our leaders are pushing themselves to a situation when we cannot avoid it. I dream of a National Assembly resolving the issues but the assembly is more concerned about their benefits than of representation and good governance,” Barrett said with seeming hopelessness.

Forty-five years on, his stay in Nigeria has been made worthwhile by colleagues, such as Prof. Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark and Jimi Johnson. He said Nigeria is vast with different people and has been able to accommodate his bad and good sides, though he never planned to stay beyond two years. He naturalised as a Nigerian during General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida’s administration because the head of state wanted him to cover the Namibia independence celebration.

His philosophy as a Pan-Africanist stretches beyond the continent because he believes that ‘we should not confine ourselves to the frame of our liberation but to the values that bring us together.’ It was an attack for him then to be told he is not an African. He recalled that as a child in Jamaica, his grandfather used to teach him that he is an African, yet Africa was never thought in Jamaica schools.

Barrett’s career as a journalist was molded by thoroughness in skill acquired through apprenticeship in a

•Barrett

‘

PHOTO: OZOLUA UHAKHEME

Unfortunately, our leaders are pushing themselves to a situation when we cannot avoid it. I dream of a National Assembly resolving the issues but the assembly is more concerned about their benefits than of representation and good governance

‘

Jamaica’s leading daily newspaper, Gleaner between 1959 and 1961, before he joined Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation as news editor. But the man, who gave him the real push in career, was John Maxwell, who advised him to leave Jamaica for Europe. He worked as a freelancer for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Overseas Department and for the Transcription Centre, an organisation that encouraged African writers by re-

cording and broadcasting their works in Europe and America. To him, getting such a mentor at that early age was the greatest benefit. But the late rights activist Marcus Garvey and the late Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah were his real mentors. Among his publications and plays are The Conflicting Eyes, Lipskybound, A Quality of Pain and other poems, Song for Mumu, Jump Kookoo Makka and Sighs of a slave dance.

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•Ogunde

•Ogunde’s work

Golden glimpse of a nation

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OR the past months, Tony Anthony Ogunde, has been hunched over hundreds of canvasses and mixed-media workspriming, painting and turning waste to wealth. The bulk of these works of art will form the core of the exhibits for his second solo art exhibition, Glimpses at 50. It is second in five years. Still, he is not found wanting in his calling as an art teacher at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Lagos.

In July 2006, at Didi Museum, Victoria Island, Lagos, he held a solo exhibition, Man, genre in visual sensation: 20 years of creative research, to mark his 20 years of professional practice and 50th birthday.

A consummate artist, Ogunde, 55, has churned out over 100 pieces of art works out of which 35 will make the exhibition.

Specifically, the works dwell on issues that shaped Nigeria’s socio-political life since independence in 1960. Unlike 2006 show, which was more like a memoir marking his birthday, this year’s exhibition is focusing on wider and critical developments that have influenced or

By Ozolua Uhakheme Assistant Editor (Arts)

shaped today’s Nigeria. Issues the artist has visualised on canvass and mixed media include the evolving mega cities, brain drain, the civil war, the old currency and traditional weaving tools like wooden comb, Ilarun in Yoruba language.

The main medium is mixed media made from used cover of plastic bottles picked up from dump sites.

He disclosed that Glimpses at 50 is specially put together to give his numerous

students the opportunity to appreciate his works particularly the mixed media. “I have never shown my works at Yaba College of Technology. So, this a golden chance for the students to see my works as a body,” he said. The exhibition will open at the Yusuf Grillo Gallery at the School of Art Design and Printing, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos between November 1 and 15.

Ogunde said he takes his time to exhibit because it is not in his character to rush to exhibition hall, noting that he still produces works for his collectors. With a

‘As artist, you must continually be creative.

But the use of jute bag, which was quite present in my past works, is still being explored. For this show, there are lots of ideas being translated on different media, but only few of them will find space at the exhibition’

Seven artists for PUMA.Peace campaign

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UMA.Peace for 2011 has commissioned seven international artists and filmmakers to create original works focusing on personal acts of peace and how to contribute to a better world. The films will be shown at peace events globally and at peace games—a PUMA/Adidas tradition—in cities, such as Dubai, Herzogenaurach, Mexico City, San Diego, Subang and Tokyo.

Participating artists include Magali Charrier, Tom Gran, Kavleigh Gibbons, Christine Moloy, Joe Lawlor, Noriko Okaku, Jacob Olivier and Bill Porter.

“The goal of our PUMA.Peace initiative is to create programmes that foster a more peaceful world than the one we live in to-

day,” said Jochen Zeitz, chairman of the Board of PUMA and chief executive officer Sports & Lifestyle Group and CSO of PPR. “Each of us can make a difference in this world as individuals, as corporations and through strategic partnerships. Moreover, at PUMA we feel that we are uniquely positioned to contribute to making the world a better place for generations to come,” he added.

Curated by PUMA.Creative Chief Curator, Mark Coetzee and produced by Shooting People, these films encompass a diverse range of styles; including 35mm live action, experimental animation and fine art. Conceived as 30- to 90-second films to facilitate online as well as live screenings, the works

are based on the idea that “peace starts with me”. The filmmakers range from world-renowned award-winning artists, to recent graduates; all were selected for the quality and scope of their work and their sensitivity in interpreting this year’s theme.

As a contribution to society and to foster dialogue, PUMA.Peace commissioned these films under an agreement with the artists that they can be openly downloaded and shown, thus acting as ongoing tools for peace—for all. These films previewed at the World Peace Festival in Berlin, the One Young World Summit in Zurich, and around the world at the PUMA/adidas Thirrd Annual Peace Day Games. They are now gifted to the world, and can be downloaded from http:// peace.puma.com.

gradual shift, he uses jute bags and now plastic bottle covers to express his inner mind on burning issue. Little wonder he said he does not draw market scenes, which he described as works that might not be choices of discerning collectors. He added that such works could fit the walls of public buildings such as banks and hotels.

“As artist, you must continually be creative. But the use of jute bag, which was quite present in my past works, is still being explored. For this show, there are lots of ideas being translated on different media, but only few of them will find space at the exhibition,” he said. Ogunde is not dispose to the use of camera to capture a scene from which to sketch. Instead, he captures his scenes mentally after which he transfers on sketch pad.

Apart from ensuring that the works are aesthetically appealing to the viewers, the artist uses the works as record of history.

In last exhibition, he recorded moments, events and situations such as national assembly, Fela lives on, hustling at Oshodi and Last supper.

Lagos Jazz Festival gets Nov date

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HE International Jazz Festival (LIJF) holds in November. A statement by the festival Director Mr Ayoola Sadare, said the commitment of hosting a world class event can likened to any other found in major world destinations, like New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Cape Town is still on course. This year’s edition is designed to be bigger, better and more impactful content wise with concrete plans put in place to ensure its sustainability and profitability.

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‘Give us leaner, prudent ministry’ Should the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation be pruned? Yes, says the United States-based Nigerian scholar, Prof. Segun Ojewuyi, as the government plans pruning of the parastatals and agencies in the ministry. OZOLUA UHAKHEME, Assistant Editor (Arts), reports.

F

OR proper orientation, management and accountability of the cultural sector, a Professor of Theatre Arts at the South Illinois University, Carbondale, United States, Olusegun Ojewuyi, has prescribed the evolution of a modern and progressive model for cultural organisations, which must seek to bring together public funding and private enterprise.

He also called for the reduction of parastatals in the culture ministry for a more efficient management of programmes.

Ojewuyi, who spoke at this year’s annual lecture organised by the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), in Lagos, stressed that there are intra-ministry conflicts of purpose between departments, institutes and centres. He, therefore, called for a leaner, more efficient and financially prudent ministry through mergers and outright eliminations.

“There is a reason I do not call these mere duplications, but serious conflicts. Some of the conflicts are in the duplication of roles, some are to be found in the personalities of the administrators whose egos and absolute irrelevance to the positions they hold, have become so deep and counterproductive. Yes, there was a pruning of the parastatals some years ago. We need to have more pruning for a leaner more efficient and more financially prudent ministry,” he said.

He cited the National Theatre and the National Troupe as example of two institutions that should be one and under one management. He observed that the work of National Troupe is discipline intensive that it should not be burdened with the kind of unmitigated irritations it now deals with from the management of the National Theatre daily.

He explained that if there was any doubt, the manager of the National Theatre has spent his tenure proving the expediency of such a merger.

Ojewuyi, who spoke on Katankaru: The illogic of culture-nomics in Nigerian cultural administration, said going by records of allocations National Troupe is the least funded with a N10 million annual capital allocation. Of that, he said, only N2,355,000 has been released so far with few months to end of the year. He said the N10million was before the hatchet job of the House Appropriation Committee, which then cut another two per cent to bring the allocation top N8 million for this year.

“As a responsibility that one owes to oneself and to the creative and cultural prowess of the theatre arts, the combination of these two negative situations amount to a calculated insult and disrespect to the field of theatre and its practitioners, living and passed.

Those men and women, whose creative genius and productivity have established, Nigeria as a global leader in the world of drama and theatre, those lights blazed the glorious trail from Chief Hubert Ogunde to Ola Rotimi, from J.P. Clark-Bekederemo to Bayo Oduneye, from Hajia Lantana Ahmed to Peter Badejo, from Wole Soyinka to Bode Osanyin, from Zulu Sofola to Wale Ogunyemi. Also, from Sam, Loco Efe to Ben Okoegwale, from Kola Ogunmola to Akin Euba, from Moses Olaiya to Femi Osofisan and many more, whose names are read and studied and performed across the globe, we must stand up to the insult that now represents the management of the National Theatre and the kind of funding meted to the National Troupe of Nigeria,” he emphasised.

Ojewuyi observed that it is only in Nigeria that the national troupe of the country is without a home, saying it has been swindled out of its natural and now begs for a rehearsal hall from a landlord ruled by unpredictable mood swings. According to him, the National Troupe has been reduced to paying rent at the National Theatre for its rehearsal venue, must pay for its offices and compete with

•Ojewuyi

Nigerian Breweries for every other thing.

He also said: “It has even been locked out of the National Theatre, barred from the performance of its duties and its mandate from the people of Nigeria. All of this simply because of a moment of poor judgment that saw the appointment of some ex-staff of some outpost of the Nigerian Television Authority, who with no prior experience or exposure to the theatre and its unique values, now sits as the main officer.

“He personifies my earlier premise of culture-nomics where profit is at the expense of culture and the arts. He breaks all records of indecorous, uncultured collegiality in his dealings with the constituents of the theatre-

A

•Participants at the workshop

professional organisations…

Well, I guess wedding receptions in the dark, next to stinking toilets (the manager’s preference to plays and concerts) would qualify for some kind culture.”

The guest speaker also recommended that it is time to refurbish the National Theatre; to embark on the building of new theatres across the states to engineer the renaissance of t h e a t r i c a l l i f e a n d c u l t u r e i n N i geria, and that the ministry should foster deeper collaborations between parastatals in the ministry…ensure a cultural dialogue among ministries and with other arms of government.

Art Is Everywhere ends in ABU

RT Is Everywhere 10, an international waste-to-art workshop, ended at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, featuring over 50 participants, including seven foreign artists from The Gambia, Senegal, Togo and Benin Republic.

The workshop focused on recycling materials in Zaria environment in creating over 120 art pieces. Foreign participants included Malick Ceesay, textile artist and fashion designer, Amie Puye, and the co-ordinator of PACA Modou Camara (Gambia).

Others are Artmerh Assogba (Togo), Ferreol Yamadjako (Benin Republic) and Mor Faye, the President of the Visual Artists of Pikine City (Dakar). Lectures and slide presentations on various themes were given by Prof Tonie Okpe, Jerry Buhari, Dr Ken Okoli, Ayo Aina, Chike Obeagu and Okechukwu Eze. Art is Everywhere 10 was a unique experience as it brought together artists from different academic and geographical backgrounds. It gave the Gambia artists, who had no op-

portunity of higher academic art training, the chance for artistic exchanges with their colleagues from the academic environment.

The workshop was facilitated by experienced mixed media and installation artists, such as Ayo Aina (Kaduna), Ikechukwu Francis (Port Harcourt), Lamidi Lasisi (Zaria) and Chike Obeagu (Abuja).

Following the success of the workshop, the organisers are working on a 200-page book/catalogue entitled Art from Waste: Perspectives from West Africa, which will document the texts, lectures and artworks from the first to the 10th workshops and the study tours embarked upon by the coordinators.

Art is Everywhere workshops are organised to create avenue for inter-cultural dialogue and artistic exchanges between young artists of various artistic backgrounds. It operates as a mobile workshop in order to access peculiar waste materials offered by different environments. Since the inception of Art is everywhere in 2005, over 250 artists have so far benefitted from the project.

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A

T 14, Celie, the protagonist in Alice Walker’s novel Color Purple, discovers she is pregnant.

Even little Celie knows you don’t share extremely difficult information with your parents so as not to break their hearts. Such things you tell God in a prayer, disclose to a few confidants, or simply keep to yourself. Celie chooses to keep her unmentionable secret hidden in her diary, because if she mentions it at home, she just knows “It’d kill your mammy.”

Are there certain things a character does not reveal to the author who birthed it? Are there certain details a painting does not share with its painter? Are there some truths that a poem hides from its muse? If one could state it more blatantly: are there certain family secrets that Elesin did not tell Wole Soyinka, when the laureate wrote his classic work, Death and The King’s Horseman?

Soyinka, in his response to those who analysed the play, wrote an essay titled “Who is Afraid of Elesin Oba?” as a literary allusion to Edward Albee’s 1963 award winning play, Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

But who isn’t terrified of Kongi, with his stern sailor demeanor, the sixties’ Black Panther Afro hairdo, and the lion’s mane, all white with age and rage? If you were Elesin, would you not be too petrified with fear to reveal your unspeakable family secrets to Soyinka, your sire and God, just as Adam and Eve hid behind bushes with fear and shame in the garden of Eden? Am I not, therefore, justified to be afraid to disclose what Elesin reveals to me, knowing Kongi might eventually find out? As everyone knows, the king’s horseman does not deliver literal statements—the Alaafin’s horseman never speaks in prose; he talks in verses and proverbs, and readers have to dig deep to excavate meaning from his archaeological strata of verbiage. Nevertheless, as Yoruba people say, “It is not from my mouth that anyone would learn that the Alaafin’s mother is a witch.”

But as a painter, I conceal crypts in compositions and dare people discover them. Artists do this from time to time. My recent painting, titled Kongi and the King’s Horseman, is therefore an archaeological site conducive to conducting analytical digs. In the Neolithic stratum of the landscape, startling artifacts abound. The viewer is the visual archaeologist, and what she/he finds is directly proportional to the tools of excavation, the methods of data recovery, and the diligence of analysis. The archaeologist finds only what s/he can recognize, and is prepared to perceive. Whatever is beyond the ken of his or her lens remains imperceptible and irrecoverable.

Some of the paraphernalia in the crypts of my painting, Kongi and the King’s Horseman, are not archaeology-friendly especially to African viewers with homophobic scopes.

When I first arrived in the United States in 1992, I brought a full baggage of homophobia with me, thus limiting my ability to discern or manage certain obtuse meanings from texts and images that I encountered. I arrived liberal, in fact probably radical, but my experience and training in Nigeria did not present readings and viewings beyond phallocentric and heterosexual dimensions in art, music, and literatures. It was therefore shocking for me to encounter the work of Rotimi Fani-Kayode, a Nigerian photographer who was born in Britain, and who studied in the United States.

He was openly gay, and his work elabo-

Kongi and The King’s Horseman You better not ever tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.

Dear God, I am 14 years old. I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me.

—Alice Walker, Color Purple

By Moyo Okediji

rated on the complexity of his homosexual identity. He declared that, “My identity has been constructed from my own sense of otherness, whether cultural, racial or sexual.

The three aspects are not separate within me.

Photography is the tool by which I feel most confident in expressing myself. It is photography therefore—Black, African, homosexual photography—which I must use not just as an instrument, but as a weapon if I am to resist attacks on my integrity and, indeed, my existence on my own terms.”

His father did not approve of his sexual preference. Rotimi was the son of the late Nigerian politician, Chief Remi FaniKayode, who became Deputy Premier of the Western Region in 1963. Popularly known as Fani-Power, Rotimi’s father was a brilliant lawyer who studied at Cambridge.

Fani-Power was deputy to Chief S.L.A. Akintola, the leader of the Nigerian National Democratic Party (N.N.D.P.). When Akintola was brutally murdered in the military coup of 1966, Fani-Power narrowly escaped death. Because of the closeness between Fani-Power and Akintola in the early sixties, Fani-Power was akin to Elesin Oba, who was expected to die when the king

passed. Western Nigerians expected that those who assassinated Akintola would also kill Fani-Power. Although army mutineers who assassinated the premier captured him, the deputy got lucky. Loyal troops foiled the 1966 coup, saved, and released him from the mutineers. He immediately went into exile in Britain. This fortuitous evasion of death raises the analogy with Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman.

In Soyinka’s play, which dramatizes a real historical account, the king dies, and tradition demands that his horseman, Elesin, must also die in order to travel with the king to the other world. Prepared for this journey, Elesin begins the rituals toward his transition, when he encounters a beautiful maiden in the marketplace. Unable to resist the beauty of this maiden, Elesin loses his focus on the rituals of his transition, and chooses to sexually engage her. In the process of this distraction, he fails to perform his duty as the king’s escort to the other world, because the white colonial officer learns of this cultural practice, misinterprets it as ritual suicide, arrests Elesin, and jails him to “save” him from impending death. The arrest instigates Elesin’s son, Olunde, to substitute himself for his father, and to die in order to escort the king to the other world. When Elesin

learns of his son’s self-sacrifice, he kills himself by strangulation inside the colonial officer’s jail.

It is easy to jump into conclusion that the tragedy results from a conflict of cultures: a tension between the European interpretation of death as the end of life, and the Yoruba worldview in which death is merely a vehicle of transition to another life. In the preface to the published play, Soyinka therefore warns his readers and critics against arriving at any culture-clash conclusion. He insists that, “I find it necessary to caution the would-be producer of this play against a sadly familiar reductionist tendency….The Colonial factor is an incident, a catalytic incident merely.”

But none of Soyinka’s critics subscribed to his interpretation of the play. Anthony Appiah, the Princeton scholar from Ghana remarks that, “It is absurd to deny that Soyinka’s novel The Season of Anomy and the play Death and the King’s Horseman have something to say about that colonial relationship.” Tanure Ojaide asserts that, “the culture conflict in the play evokes racism in the United States.” Biodun Jeyifo of Harvard concludes that, “In Death and the King’s Horseman Soyinka polarizes the conflict between a traditional African organic vision of life and an alien system of discrete laws and social polity, with tragic results for the indigenous system.” And Bayo Williams maintains that, “by exploring the sacred terror of ritual suicide within the contest of the cynicism and cultural desiccations of colonialists, Soyinka is engaged in nothing less than a sublime cultural battle.”

These critics should have known better. The culture-conflict theme, which permeates a work such as Camara Laye’s The African Child, is too simplistic a theme to tickle Soyinka’s mytho-poetic sensibility. Soyinka contests that, “the confrontation in the play is largely metaphysical, contained in the human vehicle which is Elesin and the universe of the Yoruba mind.” What is central to the understanding of this play is the unspeakable psychology of sexuality that compels Elesin to seek heterosexual enjoyment at a crucial moment of transcendental intensity.

The bane of tragedy for Death and the King’s Horseman is the vulnerability, fragility, and ultimate collapse of heterosexuality “in the universe of the Yoruba mind.” The gendered rhythm of man-woman sexual consummation is not a sustainable vehicle of cultural transition, from the perspective of Rotimi Fani-Kayode. If Olunde saved the Yoruba universe from the heterosexual excesses of his father, from what sexual persuasion does he accomplish it?

Olunde was a chronic bachelor. In the play, Elesin had disowned his son before Olunde left for England to study medicine. Is this similar to the rejection of Rotimi FaniKayode, an openly gay photographer, by his politician father? And this is where silence becomes the play. Elesin does not tell us why he disowned his son. Was this a closeted family secret that Elesin did not dare tell even Soyinka, so as not to break his heart? In my forthcoming book, Western Frontiers of African Art, I dared to address this question. For those who are adept in conducting visual excavations, I also buried an answer in my most recent painting, Kongi and the King’s Horseman. Did I just say the king’s mother is NOT a witch?

•Okediji is of the University of Texas in Austin, USA

Australian govt to support copyright development in Nigeria

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HE Australian government has indicated its commitment to boost bilateral collaboration with Nigeria in the development of Copyright and Intellectual Property, it was learnt.

Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Ian McConville, made this promise during a consultative meeting with the Director-General of Nigerian Copyright Commission, Mr Afam Ezekude, at the Australian High Commission in Abuja.

The High Commissioner said the Australian Government has a postgraduate scholarship for government officials in Nigeria and the African countries.

According to him, the Australian Government would grant over 1,000 postgraduate scholarships to government officials yearly in 2012 and 2013, out of which Nigeria will get over 100 yearly.

He revealed that in the last three years, more than 300 scholarships were granted to public officials yearly while 450 scholarships were given this year across the African Region.

Nigeria, he added, has benefited 12 slots of postgraduate scholarships in 2009, 14 in 2010 and 20 this year. Also, this year, 10 copyright officer participated in the Australian Leadership Award Fellowship (ALAF) on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME).

By Evelyn Osagie

Mr Ezekude commended the collaboration between the Commission and the Australian Government in manpower development for copyright protection and development.

He called for the support of the Australian High Commission in developing initiatives of the ALAF programme in sensitisation workshops and advocacy projects under the auspices of AUSAID. He requested for the facilitation of the support of relevant Australian institutions for the Commission's capacity building programmes; and in assisting in securing appropriate scholarship slots under AUSAID for the Commission's nominees who may wish to pursue studies in IP in Australian Institutions.

The Director-General, who was accompanied by directors and beneficiaries of this year's ALAF programme, called for enhanced collaboration with the Australian Government for the benefit of more copyright officers in the ALAF programme.

He said the Commission has signed a co-operation agreement with the Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom, adding that the Commission also maintains linkages with other national and international organisations such as the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), United States Pat-

ents Office (USPTO), US Copyright Office and US Department of Commerce.

Others include the Swedish Development Agency, African Union Scientific, Technical and Research Commission, ECOWAS Copyright Observatory and the World Bank Economic Reforms and Governance Project.

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NICO SECOND ANNUAL LECTURE

BRIEF

Film forum gets flagship of DNA

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•Atilogu dancers at the National Theatre, Lagos

PHOTO: OZOLUA UHAKHEME

National Troupe in Independence show

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N commemoration of Nigeria’s 51st independence anniversary, the National Troupe of Nigeria will stage a 90-minute dance piece entitled: The Summary at the National Theatre in Lagos on October 1.

The dance, which reflects some land mark experiences that have shaped the character and personality of the Nigeria, is written and choreographed by a Director of Dance of the National Troupe, Arnold Udoka.

Set both in pre and post-independence Nigeria, The Summary comprises six dance pieces drawn from the troupe’s vast repertoire of dances including the famous ‘Kolanut Dance’.

Artistic Director of the National Troupe of Nigeria, Mr. Martin Adaji, said the dance is the troupe’s own way of undertaking a revue through dance of the events that led to Nigeria’s independence. He noted that it mirrors events that have shaped Nigeria’s existence as a progressive and indivisible entity. Adaji said at the command performance, guests would be reminded of the past, the present and Nigeria’s journey into the future.

“We thought it would be necessary at this point in our national life to use the platform of the performing arts, particularly dance to reflect on some of our land mark experiences so that this can inspire people to greatness, especially as we enter into the first year of another jubilee,” Adaji said.

To be performed by core artistes of the National Troupe, The Arbiter, The Kid, Black Skies, Ode to Earth, Rivers of Jubilation, and Kolanut Dance are some of the dance works that make up The Summary, a dance work that the Chorographer Arnold Udoka explained that the performance would showcase the rich dance heritage of Nigeria enshrined in dance presentation.

While The Arbiter highlights how political conflict is stoked by the merchant of violence, The Kid, a tribute to the pugilist Hogan Kid Bassey exemplifies an individual courage in the blossoming of national pride.

The challenges of mutual co-existence in the face of bomb blast, militancy, religious conflicts and the pains of these conflicts on the Nigerian civilisation and the national psyche is what Black Skies addresses while Ode

to Earth focuses on how cosmic harmony is consistently threatened by natural and cosmic disasters. The kolanut as a metaphor for a united Nigeria is the thematic preoccupation ‘of The Kolanut dance while Rivers of Jubilation showcases the therapeutic effect of athletics and sporting successes that has served as a unifying factor and that has continued to inspire unity.

In a related development, the National Troupe has secured the approval of the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation High Chief Edem Duke to honour an invitation by the Isreali government to perform Femi Osofisan’s small cast play The Engagement in Israel in October. The play will be directed by Josephine Igberaese, a director with the National Troupe in charge of drama. The performance in Israel is coming almost a year after the National Troupe played host to an Israeli-based theatre company, which staged Wole Soyinka’s Lion and the Jewel at the National Theatre as part of the bilateral agreement between Nigeria and Israel.

HE iREPRESENT Documentary Film Forum, organisers of the iREP International Documentary Film Festival, has been appointed as the flagship of the newly formed Documentary Network Africa (DNA), which is aimed at uniting African documentary filmmakers on the continent.

The decision was made in Johannesburg last week where Executive director of iREP, Mr Femi Odugbemi represented Nigeria at the People-2-People Documentary Conference that featured documentary filmmakers from about 20 countries on the continent.

The iREP is also a key promoter and co-coordinator of the West African Documentary Film Forum, which was inspired by the biennial Real Life Documentary Film Festival in Ghana.

At the conference, more than 150 documentary filmmakers from Africa had converged on the People-2-People Documentary Conference, and decided it was “time for African filmmakers to do things for themselves”.

A statement from organisers and initiators of the DNA stated: “A joint resolution that emerged after the historic three-day Johannesburg conference created the new organisation, Documentary Network Africa (DNA), where the participating filmmakers agreed “to work together to create a network and process to empower both our own storytelling and each other.

“This will be by Africans, for Africans, and with Africans.” The vision of Documentary Network Africa, continued the statement, is “to promote the importance of African documentary in the genre, and to use this to promote a more positive view of Africa”.

Yek Onka makes debut with Follow You

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FTER a life changing win at the first-ever Nigerian Idol and months of hard work, Yeka Onka, has released her debut single Follow You. It was produced by ace Chocolate City producer and artiste, Jesse Jags.

With an upbeat tempo, the sultry voiced singer, who has been called a Nigerian answer to Whitney Houston serenades, her lover with spicy declarations of love in different languages. Fans will be sure to love the eclectic mix of catchy lyrics in English, Yoruba and her native Igbo.

“It has been an exciting few months working through an amazing range of sounds and options,” Yeka said excitedly.

“I have been very blessed to work with this team of professionals to present my music,” she added.

However, an album is in the works for the fast rising star - she is hard at work in the studios with Cobhams Asuquo and is set for a working trip to the United Kingdom to finish work on the album and her music video.

WORDSLAM AT FREEDOM PARK, LAGOS

•Evelyn Osagie performing last Saturday

•From right: Ben Tomoloju, Edaoto and a member of the group on stage

PHOTO: OZOLUA UHAKHEME

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

38

N

ON-INDIGENES in Durumi, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have accused Gbagyi chiefs of sabotage.

The Gbagyis are the original inhabitants of Abuja.

A resident, Tochukwu Madu, whose house was marked for demolition said that they are being victimised by the FCT Administration and Gbagyi indi-

ABUJA REVIEW Tempers rise over planned demolition From Bukola Amusan and Anne Udeze

genes.

He said: “I built my house alongside a Gbagyi indigene that I bought the land from and when

They are not asylum seekers and should not be treated as such. This kind of incident is not tenable in the western world. If government cannot cater for the needs of the people, then they should control the upsurge in population

the Development Control Department came to mark the houses, they left his new building which he even rented and marked mine.

This is unfair. We’re all Nigerians and should not be treated like outcasts in our own land. We have all offended the government and if demolition comes then all new buildings should go. Not this selective demolition they’re carrying out. It’s unfair.”

A resident of the area, Bishop KC Douglas appealed to government to provide alternative accommodations for those affected.

According to him, it was the responsibility of government to cater for the needs of the citizens.

“They are not asylum seekers and should not be treated as such. This kind of incident is not tenable in the western world. If government cannot cater for the needs of the people, then they should control the upsurge in population,” he said.

The Public Relations Officer, Department of Development Control, Jossie Mudasiru said the exercise was in continuation of their routine sanitation exercise. Mudasiru advised people to go through the legal chan-

nels of land acquisition in the metropolis instead of buying illegally from indigenes.

“There have been allegations that the Gbagyis have been selling lands to non- indigenes but we’ve not been able to prove it because they claim they are not responsible for the new buildings that keep springing up in Durumi. We’ve had series of meetings with the community leaders in the past hence the demolition,” she explained.

The PRO said the exercise would be a continuous one until Abuja is restored to what it should be.

Corps member sinks borehole for villagers •Continued from Page 25 have paid dearly in terms of failing health.

“The villagers suffered various kinds of water borne diseases,” one of the villagers, Samuel Madaki said, adding that most of the inhabitants were “afflicted with skin infections, various stomach troubles and other forms of diseases.”

This was the sordid situation and near epidemic condition in the community until a Batch C member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the FCT, Adakeja Olumide, from Ado-Ekiti Local Government Area of Ekiti State had contact with the town.

Olumide, with service number NYSC/FCT/10C/1412 is a graduate of Electrical Electronics (Engineering) from the University of AdoEkiti and attached to Chams Switch in Abuja for his primary assignment.

He is also a member of the Outside Broadcasting Service (OBS) of the NYSC’s Community Development Service (CDS) group.

As a member of the OBS CDS group, he presents a programme every Saturday in Aso FM entitled Ajuwaya, which showcases the activities of corps members in the FCT. In the course of the programme and in the process of sourcing for information, he discovered Kiyi Bassa Village and its water predicament. There and then, according to him, he decided to make the construction of a befitting motorised borehole for the community a priority and his personal Community Development Service (CDS).

This singular resolve has, today, turned the songs of sorrow in the village to sweet melodies of joy as Olumide provided a brand new mechanised borehole for the villagers.

On what motivated him into taking up the project, Olumide told

Newsextra that:”I saw the dirty water from the river they were drinking and the risk the women and children in the community were prone to and I felt sinking a better borehole will reduce the long distance they would have to walk to the stream and give them access to clean water.

“When I realised that this was the main source of water for the villagers, I was greatly pained and there and then I vowed that I will dedicate my entire service year to providing them a more decent source of water.

This is so because I reasoned that if nothing was done and urgently too, there could be an outbreak of epidemic diseases in the village. This is in addition to the fact that they were poor peasants that could ill afford modern medical care.”

The task of constructing the borehole was a herculean one, he said as he had taken photographs of the stream with which he solicited funds from friends and public- spirited individuals.

“I had many challenges raising funds to carry out this project. I had to appeal to people for funds. I also had to solicit funds from my friends.

Some people I approached assisted me while others turned me down.

“I was able to source funds using the pictures of the stream and how people were drinking from it using alum. I took the pictures to some well-spirited Nigerians who saw the need for the project and supported it. Some gave me supports while others promised and failed. I spent over N1m on the project,” Olumide stated.

Today, the village boasts clean source of drinkable water from the borehole project which was constructed by the Lee Hyeok Borehole Limited, a Korean drilling company with a 2.5KVA generator donated by the corps member to help power the borehole in the event of power failure

•The Village Head Mallam Jibril conferring a chieftaincy title on Olumide from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

The water project has injected new enthusiasm into the villagers as they danced and celebrated during the inauguration of the borehole. In appreciation of Olumide’s efforts, a chieftaincy title of “Mazari Kanyin of Kiyi” was conferred on him by the Chief of Kiyi Bassa. The title simply means a permanent resident of Kiyi and the giver of life because he who gives water gives life, he reasoned.

The Vice-Chairman of Kuje Area Council, Hon. Dantani Dogo noted that Kuje comprises 268 communities and each of the communities had one problem or the other which the council has been grappling with. Dogo also appreciated Olumide’s effort at bringing decent water to the village.

The FCT Coordinator of the NYSC, Mrs Linda Amugo expressed her happiness over the development, especially seeing the joy on the faces of the hapless villagers. She said: “Olumide has made us proud.”

She also urged other corps members to emulate Olumide in contributing to the development

I call on the government, especially the Minister of the FCT and every other concerned agency to come to the aid of this community and look out for so many other communities like this without source of clean water of their fatherland. She urged the members of the community to maintain the project by keeping their environment clean, even as she urged them to live in peace with the corps members so that they could get the best from them.

On his part, Olumide said he feels fulfilled to have been of help to the villagers.

“I feel so excited and fulfilled.

The Area Council, the NYSC and the community are so happy about it and the NYSC is so proud of me now,” noting that, “if an offer is made by the government and even good-spirited Nigerians, I will definitely appreciate it.”

He urged the government to do more to alleviate the problems confronting the villagers.

“I call on the government, especially the Minister of the FCT and every other concerned agency to come to the aid of this community and look out for so many other communities like this without source of clean water.

“I call on all the corps members to see this development as a wakeup call to see what they can contribute to the communities rather than what the government should do for them because we are the government,” he declared.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

39

ABUJA REVIEW Minister seeks collaboration on development

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HE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed has called for increased participation of both Nigerians and foreign private investors in the development of the various sectors of the city.

At a meeting with a consortium of investors from the United States of America, the minister disclosed that so far, only 15 per cent of the territory has been developed.

The consortium, which is made up of Ana Global Corporation, Allied Steel Building, LANGAN Engineering and Environmental Services, FK Construction Company Limited, Philko Company Limited and Nicon Constructed Limited, is seeking approval to build a five star hotel and a mass housing district in Abuja.

Some members of the group were part of the business and trade delegations of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Rt. Hon. Alderman Michael Bear who visited Abuja and Lagos last week.

The FCT Minister, who blamed the slow pace of development in the FCT on over reliance on government, said the realisation of the fact that government cannot do it alone made the FCT Administration to open its doors wide for

Stories from Bukola Amusan

genuine indigenous and foreign investors to participate in the development of FCT. Mohammed observed that the high rate of population increase in the FCT has since outpaced the rate of development in the territory.

According to him, whereas the current level of FCT’s development is supposed to accommodate a population of one million people, at present, about five million residents are living in the territory thereby putting excessive pressure on available facilities and infrastructure.

He said the FCTA was determined to fast-track the develop-

ment of the territory in order to bring available facilities and infrastructure at par with the increasing population.

While thanking the consortium for showing interest in doing business with the FCTA, he declared: “Our road map is to deliver infrastructure and services. We are committed to building lasting frameworks and providing a level playing field for inflow of investments.”

Decrying the high rent in the city, the Minister said the FCTA is committed to the delivery of affordable mass housing for the people.

He directed the intending investors to quickly submit their comprehensive proposals for the

Our road map is to deliver infrastructure and services. We are committed to building lasting frameworks and providing a level playing field for inflow of investments

projects to enable relevant departments like the Abuja Infrastructure Investment Centre (AIIC), the Abuja Investments Company Limited, the Engineering and Mass Housing Departments of the FCTA to appraise them.

He said the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) would also play some roles in the area of infrastructure provision.

He further directed the consortium to clearly state the equity structure of their group to enable proper due diligence to be conducted.

Earlier in his address, the Managing Director/CEO of the Consortium, Mr. Christian Udechukwu, stated that it would cost the consortium about $1bn to build the five star hotels in Abuja.

He further explained that when completed, it would be a worldclass hospitality centre and the first of its kind in Nigeria with a helipad to enable helicopters conveying VIPs to land on top of it whenever there is serious traffic gridlock in the city.

He pledged that both the hotel and the mass housing could be completed between 24 and 36

•Muhammed months, depending on timely approval and full support by the government.

In his remark, the Permanent Secretary of FCT, Dr. Nathaniel Olorunfemi described Udechukwu as a man who has been engaged in promoting international business and trade in Africa for over 15 years from his base in the UK.

Women to probe Abia rape case

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HE Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development Hajia Zainab Maina has said that the ministry will mobilise security operatives and women groups in a partnership towards taking necessary action on the rape case in Abia State University.

The women groups include the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), and Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Agency (WRAPA).

A female student in the University (name withheld) was said to have been raped by five male students in the school recently.

Hajiya Maina, in a statement

•Hajia Maina

issued in Abuja and signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Saghir Mohammed condemned the act as “not only barbaric, callous, inhuman, and highly unacceptable but also a gross violation of the human rights of women.

She said the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development has always been at the forefront of the campaign against violence against women and girls, and “rape by whoever and under whatever circumstances, is definitely a grievous human rights abuse which must be investigated and appropriate punishment applied.”

While calling on the law enforce-

ment agencies to fully investigate the issue with a view to ensuring that justice is done, the Minister noted that there is the need to re-visit the issue of

domesticating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) so as to protect our women and girls.

The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development has always been at the forefront of the campaign against violence against women and girls, and rape by whoever and under whatever circumstances, is definitely a grievous human rights abuse which must be investigated and appropriate punishment applied

el-Rufai’s bulldozer man demolishes own house

A

LTHOUGH it sounds strange, yet it is real. What could make a man to wake up one day and feel it is time to pull his own house which served as shelter to his family down?

Mr. Gabriel Aigbologa demolished his own house. Although many rich men do this often when they want to raise the standard of their houses, in Aigbologa case, he had no such plans. He was not under a spell. This was a task imposed on him by his official duty.

Aigbologa, popularly called Angulu, is the bulldozer operator with the Development Control-an agency of the Federal Capital Territory Administration in charge of enforcing Abuja Master Plan.

Demolition became a household name in Abuja when Mallam Nasir el-Rufai held sway as the FCT Minister. el-Rufai, claiming to be working based on instructions from the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was determined then to clean up the city in conformity with the Abuja Master Plan. Many residents were sent back to their states of origin, no thanks to the demolition of their abode which the FCT Development Control Unit either labelled as illegal settlements or as encroachments on the Abuja Master Plan.

Residents living in satellite towns such as Lugbe, Pyakasa, Karomajigi, Aleita among others all on the

Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Road experienced the bitter taste of the exercise. But there is somebody who has said he is no longer afraid of demolishing properties in the city.”Angulu” as he is fondly called when accosted during the week by Newsextra said he does not have any pity again on those that lose their property to demolition as he had experienced same in the past.

To him, it is a happy time to bring other peoples’ houses down using bulldozer. He has also lost count of private residences, commercial structures as well as churches and mosques that had fallen to his bulldozer.To him, all the bulldozed structures were on illegal land and there was no reason not to bring them down when he has the order to do so.

Even though he was trained to operate heavy duty machines such

as pail loaders and bulldozers, in the beginning he never dreamt of a day he would be making people homeless and sad while eking out a living. The demolition work has taken him to most parts of the city, from the city centre to the hinterland of the area councils and the suburb.

According to him, his fate as a machine operator took a different turn in 2005 when the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir el-Rufai was determined to restore the flouted Abuja Master Plan. Hence the need for some houses considered to have been built on wrong places or without approval to give way.

He told Newsextra that he lost sympathy for other residents during the exercise when he mounted the bulldozer to demolish his own house and his wife’s shop, both in the Nyanya area of FCT.

I demolished my own house on July 25, 2005 when the Mallam Nasir el-Rufai was the FCT Minister. It was located in Nyanya, it was an illegal structure. I have demolished my own house, and demolishing other people’s houses does not mean anything to me again

“I demolished my own house on July 25, 2005 when the Mallam Nasir el-Rufai was the FCT Minister. It was located in Nyanya, it was an illegal structure. I have demolished my own house, and demolishing other people’s houses does not mean anything to me again,” he said.

But there was a price for him to pay for bringing down his wife’s shop. His wife denied him food at home for one week despite explanations that he was only obeying government’s order.

“In the same year I demolished my wife’s shop in the same area, Karu.

For one week, she refused to give me food but I told her that it was an order that I had to carry out.”

Although Angulu said he feels for owners of houses that crumble under his roaring bulldozer, he maintained that the affected residents built their houses on illegal places.

Before his present employment with the FCT Administration, he had worked with three construction outfits such as Strabag, Julius Berger and Nikoho as a caterpillar operator before he joined the services of the FCT Administration in 1996. The demolition “general” told our Correspondent that he was actually employed to work on road construction but noted that the system that operates in the FCT administration had converted him to a demolition agent.

Claiming to be a born again Chris-

tian, the man denied speculation that he normally takes ‘hot drink’ each time he has to mount the bulldozer for a demolition exercise. His words: ‘Na lie, I no dey shack.’ Am a born again Christian, I worship with Church of God Mission at Area 11.”

Asked if he would demolish his church if necessary, the Niger Deltaborn operator responded that he has demolished a lot of churches in the past as well as mosques because they had no papers.

On whether he collects kick back from residents to spare their houses from the blade of bulldozer, he retorted: “I no dey take bribe o,” adding that he believes in the efficacy of prayer and that is what he uses to ward off attack anytime a demolition wants to go awry for him from angry mob.

“When you have the fear of God and sympathy for people, whatever people do against you will never work,” he said. When reminded that demolishing people’s houses smacks of lack of sympathy, he was quick to say that the affected owners built their houses on areas illegally acquired,” he said.

As the FCTA is set for another round of demolition exercise, Aigbologa advised all those still living in illegal structures or having houses whose land papers have been acquired illegally to seek alternative abodes as the bulldozers are set to roll soon.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

I’m glad to inform you that with this short period of my stewardship, we have slated four boreholes set for commissioning in Ose and Owo communities, and not only this as part of our poverty alleviation and empowerment programme, we are distributing the sum of N7million to market women

• Representative of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Chief Bode Betiku (in glasses) discussing with Hon. Omosule to his left at the distribution of the lawmaker’s donated items

Lawmaker empowers constituents

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ELEBRATING his 100 days in office, a federal lawmaker, representing Owo/Ose constituencies in Ondo State, Hon. Eniolorunda Omosule has empowered the citizenry of the two communities with over N30 million worth of items.

It was a well-thought-out

From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

package meant to benefit a wide range of people in the two communities. There was something for secondary school students.

Unemployed youths of both sexes also had something to start them off in a trade. Even traders were not left out, getting some cash to boost their capital base.

The items included 10 cars donated to youths to be used for commercials purposes, 20 sewing machines, 20 weaving machines, 25 generator sets, 40,000 exercise books and mathematics sets for secondary school students and 20 drying machines.

Others were 15 barbing clip-

To our people including those in the hinterland, struggling to break the bond of mass misery and poverty, we pledge our last effort to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required. This we pledge, not because of anything, but because it is the right thing to do

•A fruit market at Dakwa, Niger State

pers and three vulcanising pumping machines. The sum of N7 million was distributed to market women in the two constituencies.

Speaking during the donation ceremony held at Oke-Mapo hall in Owo Local Government, the lawmaker, of the Labour Party (LP), said he made the donation as a way of thanking the people for voting for his party during the last general elections.

Omosule described the gesture as the beginning of a new era in the two constituencies, adding that without their support he would not have had the opportunity to contribute to the development of his community.

“I am extremely glad to inform you all that we have started our caring heart programmes,” he said. “The stage is different now, our party, the LP under the leadership of our amiable and kind-hearted governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko is determined to change the facet of governance and to adhere to the yearning and cry of our people.

“To our people including those in the hinterland, struggling to break the bond of mass

•Some items distributed

•Some of the cars donated

misery and poverty, we pledge our last effort to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required. This we pledge, not because of anything, but because it is the right thing to do.

“I’m glad to inform you that

with this short period of my stewardship, we have slated four boreholes set for commissioning in Ose and Owo communities, and not only this as part of our poverty alleviation and empowerment programme, we are distributing the sum of N7million to market women”.

He appealed to the beneficiaries to put the items into proper use, urging those who are yet to benefit from the gesture to be patient.

In his address, the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko noted that the LP has chosen credible representatives for the citizenry of the state, adding that the people should still be expecting more for their representatives.

The governor was represented by the chairman of Owena Press Limited, Chief Bode Betiku.

The governor commended the lawmaker for fulfilling his electioneering campaign promises to his people.

The gesture drew applause from people of both communities. They praised the lawmaker for providing jobs and a means of livelihood for them.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

The political, social and economic diversity of Kaduna pre-disposes the former capital of the defunct Northern Region to conflagration. Correspondent TONY AKOWE, reports the various dimensions that the minimum wage dispute in the state is taking.

Minimum wage spurs dispute in Kaduna A

LL over the country, the recently passed minimum wage law is generating violent reactions from workers who claim that the governments have failed to implement a legislation that would make them rise above the poverty line. In Kaduna State, workers and the government seem to be on the warpath as the government of Mr. Patrick Yakowa has joined the ranks of those who insist that the minimum wage is unsustainable unless the formula for sharing federally collected revenue is altered.

If media reports credited to the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state Comrade Adamu Ango are anything to go by, it is evident that the government is heading for a self destruct, while labour could invite job cut. Without the inclusion of local government workers, the labour leader is quoted to have said that, by their own calculation, the implementation of the new wage will cost the state government about N3.5 billion monthly. This, however, excludes local government workers. Investigations revealed that the state government allocation from the federation accounts fluctuates between N2 billion and N3 billion monthly, while it manages to generate about N600 million monthly. Labour sources claimed that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue runs between N800 million and N1 billion monthly. Government sources told The Nation that before the new wage increase, the government expended about N1.6 billion monthly on salaries alone at a time when the state was adjudged as the least paying state in the country.

During the last salary increase, while the federal government offered its staff N7,500, the Kaduna state government was paying its staff N6,500. Analysts in the state are already wondering where the state will get the balance of the money to pay the workers monthly and carry on with other activities of government without cutting down on the work force. Even though the government is ruling out the possibility of reducing the workforce following the implementation of the new wages, there are fears within the labour movement that the government may not be able to live up to its promise. In the alternative, a source close to the government’s negotiation team hinted that irregular payment of salaries could become the order of the day.

Labour posits that the government would be in position to pay what it calls “a living wage” if it succeeds in stamping out the ghost workers syndrome. “I can tell you that we have so many ghost workers in the system and the government is aware of this. If they are sincere, they must take measures now to check this ugly trend and purge the civil service of ghost workers. If they do that, I can assure you that a lot of money will be saved from that”, said the source.

To show its seriousness, workers in the state embarked on an indefinite strike action on Monday, September 19, 2011. Chairman of the NLC in the state told newsmen that the government made the announcement to implement the new wage without making available modalities for the implementation of the new wages and forgetting to include the local government employees in their calculations. Ango accused the state government of being insincere in its action.

He said: “They asked for time, and we agreed that they can start paying by October. We even agreed that they can start paying the arrears from November and stagger it to next year. We gave them time to pre-

‘Followers of the government/labour dispute believe that though the government may not be able to successfully implement the new wage without cutting down on the work force, government must take proactive measures to improve on its revenue generation capacity and block all leakages in governance’ • Gov Yakowa

pare a template for the payment, but they did not. The next thing we heard was government going on air to say that they have agreed to pay. No modalities for payment was made known to us. When we protested, a meeting was called just for government to inform us that it had made a mistake by not including the wage bill of Local Government Council workers. How could we have been negotiating about workers and government forgot that Local Government Staff are part of our negotiation? This is a ploy to frustrate implementation. Our goodwill to government should not be taken for weakness”.

The Chairman of the government negotiation team and Commissioner for Education, Mohammed Usman, told newsmen that the state government was committed to the implementation of the minimum wage in the state and asked labour to return to the negotiation table since both parties agreed that dialogue is the only way to resolving the dispute. The Commissioner confirmed that one of the contending areas for negotiation was the issue of local government, adding that the government wants a holistic implementation because the issue cannot be resolved without the involvement of the local government employees.

The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Reuben Buhari, also reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to the implementation of the new minimum wage. He told The Nation that, “in compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act 2011, the Government of Kaduna state went into discussion with the various labour unions in the state, represented by the NLC and TUC towards reaching an agreement on its implementation for the good workers of Kaduna State.

“In the course of the discussions, government felt the need to take a holistic view of the wage situation so that all categories of its workers will be included, especially those at the Local Government Areas that were not initially included in the negotiations by NLC and TUC. Government is convinced that that grey area required further attention. Government therefore wishes to inform the public; especially its workers that discussions are still going on with labour and hope to reach an agreement soon.

“The Government of Kaduna State will like to restate its commitment to paying the National Minimum Wage as earlier announced, but the State Government also wants a situation whereby Local Government workers will be included. All citizens of Kaduna state are encouraged to go about their lawful duties while negotiations continue”.

The situation and disruption of industrial peace was considered so potent that the Kaduna state House of Assembly had to cut short its vacation on Monday, September 19, 2011 with a view to intervening in the dispute. At the end of the emergency session, the Assembly set up a committee to mediate in the dispute and report back to the House within the shortest possible time. In addition, the labour leaders were said to have been sighted at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House seat of government late Monday night and were said

to have held a marathon meeting with the government till about 10.00pm.

Many people were taken aback when bank workers in the state joined the strike.

Those spoken to wondered why bank workers should be part of a strike which followed a dispute between the state government and labour. “Tell me, how does the payment of the new wage impact on the bank worker? If the government agreed to pay its workers the new wage, will bank workers benefit from it?”, asked a frustrated bank customer.

Followers of the government/labour dispute believe that though the government may not be able to successfully implement the new wage without cutting down on the work force, government must take proactive measures to improve on its revenue generation capacity and block all leakages in governance. They also argued that if the government fails to improve its revenue base, it may have to resort to borrowing to meet the needs of the workers and keep the government going.

Government officials are not forthcoming on the actual revenue accruing to the state. But competent sources close to the government said it is already looking for a possible way out of the situation without resorting to the option if reducing the workforce. “The governor is not disposed to the option of reducing workers in the state. If anything, the governor wants to create more job. However, when you consider the cost implication on the state, reducing workers may be the last option.

What we are praying for at the moment is that the revenue allocation formula be reviewed so that states can get enough money to pay these wages and keep the government moving”, said the source.

The opposition parties are so engrossed by activities at the tribunal that they have not paid attention to the rumpus. There are, however, concerns in the government that this nmay not last for too long. This may have informed the resolve to stave off industrial action as much as possible as the political terrain in Kaduna is so volatile that many dimensions may be introduced as soon as the strike option is adopted by the workers.

• Gov Amosun receiving chieftains of Afenifere Renewal Group, Hon. Wale Oshun and Mr Ayo Afolabi in Abeokuta... yesterday.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

44

POLITICS

Can politicians avert mistakes of the Second Republic?

Statesmen, political scientists, lawyers and civil society groups, at a conference in Lagos, compared the Second Republic with the current dispensation. They warned that the ship of state might hit the rock, unless governments at federal and state levels tackle mounting challenges, reports Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU.

W

HAT is striking in Nigeria’s politics is not what has changed, but what has remained the same. When some experts compared the Second Republic with the current dispensation in Lagos last recently, they contented that there was no improvement in the sectors to cheer. Instead, they lamented the situation in the country, which has gone from bad to worse.

Electricity was more stable 28 years ago, although the power and energy needs of the country was comparatively lower. Water was running from pipes and boreholes have not displaced the water corporation. Public universities were not at a low ebb. But, it was not a tale of total woes. The five Southwest states, which were dominated by the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) governors, represented a ray of hope.

National politics then, was an eyesore. It was because the foundation of the dispensation was laid on falsehood. The Second Republic took off on a wrong note when the former military Head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd) declared that the best presidential material may not emerge as the “Executive President.”

Experienced politicians, who had participated in the pre-independence, independence and military politics of the post-1966 were in control at the centre. But they lacked patriotism, sense of responsibility and foresight.

The shift from parliamentary system to presidential model changed nothing because there was no political attitudinal change. What the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) government did was to empty the treasury, rig elections and close eyes to the plight of the common man.

Top ruling party chieftains were neck-deep in the curious struggle to become millionaires. When their deposit accounts recorded millions, they rolled out drums. Public theft, avarice,

kleptomania, and all forms of corruption were the order of the day. Dr Umaru Dikko, who was then Transport Minister, dismissed the claims of soaring poverty, yelling that Nigerians have not started eating from the dustbins.

When the leader of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) warned that the ship of state was drifting and heading for the rock, presidential aides in the Second Republic dismissed his warning as reckless.

Miffed by the scenario, an American political scientist, Prof. Richard Joseph, documented the political acts of the operators. His book entitled: ‘Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: The Fall of the Second Republic’, captured the rot and retrogression by elements, who squandered a meaningful opportunity for the transformation of the promising country.

Many Nigerians believe that the current dispensation is not a wide departure from the graft and diminishing public morality that ruled the earlier period. At the one-day “Conference on Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: Critical Re-Interpretations”, various experts drew a semblance in the nature of political actors and the manifestation of the same factors and traits in this Fourth Republic.

The conference, which held at the Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, was convened by Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi. Other two facilitators were two Nigerian journalists-turned political scientists and university dons; Dr Ebenezer Obadare from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, United States of America and Dr Wale Adebanwi, who teaches at the University of California-Davis, USA. The brainstorming sessions attracted scholars from Nigeria and beyond. They include the Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA teacher and author, Prof Joseph, in whose honour the conference was or-

• Dr Fayemi and Chief Olusegun Osoba at the conference held in Lagos.

ganised, his former student, Prof.

Adigun Agbaje from the University of Ibadan, Prof Jane Guyer, Prof Rotimi Suberu, Prof. Sani Umar, Prof. Kunle Amuwo, Dr Abubakar Momoh, Shola Omotola of the redeemer’s University, Ogun State, and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ado-Ekiti, Prof.

Akin Oyebode.

Other participants at the conference were Lagos lawyer Femi Falana, former Ogun State Governor Segun Osoba, Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Mr Dele Alake, who represented the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, Lagos State Special Adviser on Lagos Central Business District, Mrs. Derin Disu, who stood in for Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), former Civil Liberty Organisation (CLO) leader, Mrs Ayo Obe, Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) chieftain, Jimi Agbaje, Dipo Famakinwa, Ondo State ACN chairman, Mrs Jumoke Anifowose, and commentator, Mr Kunle Abimbola Fayemi, who welcomed the participants in an address titled: “Knowledgegeneration and social progress”, observed that Nigeria may have ignored the instructive lessons of the past to its peril. Joseph’s book had offered explanations for the crisis of the Nigerian state. But after the Second Republic fell, the military dictators, who inherited power, became more destructive, prompting pro-democracy crusaders, including Fayemi, to engage the soldiers in a legitimate liberation war.

To his consternation, after the military retraced its steps, a “coalition of anti-democratic forces seized the commanding heights of the current democratic space”. These activities of these elements triggered a new battle for the sovereignty of the people, rule of law, equity and justice.

Fayemi also argued: “The Fourth Re-

public, despite the best efforts of genuine democrats, continues to face similar fundamental problems that were faced during the Second Republic. This is so principally because we have failed as a people to confront the fundamental structural challenges of our togetherness and collective political life. And until we do so in a way that would reorder the fundamentally flawed logic on which Nigeria has operated up to now, we will not be able to put the national state in the service of the diverse people who constitute it. We must address our diversity and differences.”

Falana supported this line of thought. To him, the starting point now is rescuing the judiciary from self-liquidation. The Lagos lawyer warned: “Judiciary may not be the last hope of the common man. If you want to have a country founded on the rule of law, when a case is in court, you must insist on justice”. Falana also blamed government for the raging impunity in the land, pointing out that “nobody has been tried over the killings and bombings in Maiduguri and other places”.

“When you have a country where criminal suspects cannot be tried, you are heady to anarchy,” he fumed.

Fashola frowned at the scenario. In his address read by Disu, he said: “Peace is a pre-requisite for national progress and development. There must therefore, be assurance of security for the individual and by extension, the society.”

The governor also said that “there is an urgent need to address the challenges of power, unemployment, illiteracy, poverty and discontentment to diffuse the tension, fear and anxiety.

Obadare, who introduced the theme: Prebendal politics, summarised its ef-

fects on the polity, saying: “Prebendal politics tend to erode the legitimacy of government institutions”. A Professor of Political Science from the University of Ibadan, Agbaje, did not object to the assertion. “This system is not sustainable”, he said, adding, consolingly that: “There may be ruin, but from it, a meaningful transformation is possible.”

Agbaje stressed: “Whether the current leadership structure can change is debatable, but there is the emerging coalition of civil societies, media and youths working in concert to ensure the success of democratic elections.”

But the political scientist berated the growing culture of corruption, which could not be stemmed by the Public Procurement Act. Twenty four years after, Joseph’s opinion about Nigeria has not changed because the system has remained the same. “There is a global crisis of governance. We have it in Nigerian and in my country too. There is failure of many people in the positions of responsibilities. People all over the world are looking at a new approach to governance.

Nigerian yearns for the prospects of moving forward to accelerate economic development. There is the need for a model of encouraging Africa to move out of the quagmire, poverty, conflict and violence,” he said.

Joseph also said that corruption must be conquered and control of resources should be monitored to ensure that public money is used for the promotion of public good.

He identified three dysfunctions, which he urged Nigeria to overcome through democratic means. Joseph said: “There is no alternative to the pursuit of democratic cause. Few are growing rich and many are growing poor. The gap should be bridged. Misappropriation of public funds should be avoided and public money should be used for public good”.

‘We are determined to reconcile Uduaghan, Clark’ Dr. Cairo Ojuogboh is the Chairman of a four-man Reconciliation Committee saddled with the responsibility of reconciling all aggrieved Delta State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members. In this interview with POLYCARP OROSEVWOTU, he speaks on the committee’s mission in ensuring that all members of the party are back in the same boat.

• Uduaghan

W

HAT informed the inauguration of your committee?

We put it up because we saw that the fortunes of the party and its outing in the recent times have not been too encouraging and we saw that the opposition is gaining ground. The opposition leaders that we are talking about are no other people but members of the PDP who left the party for one reason or the other to join other parties to put up a fight against their

beloved party.

When we x-rayed the happenings, we saw that if this is allowed to continue, eventually the PDP could lose Delta State in no distant time, so we have to ensure we look inward to see that the party bounced back and be very firm. l think that was why l was given the task and responsibility with three other members to fashion a way forward.

Why do you think the outcome of this exercise will be fruitful?

Already, we have started, and we have looked at the report of that former committee and we are starting from there. But where we feel they got it wrong, we will correct and move ahead. So far so good we have done a lot of work already. We have spoken to the governor of the state through the Secretary of the Party, Mr.

Terry Noah; we have also spoken to the Speaker of the House of Assembly who promised and made appearance at the public hearing that started, 6th of August, 2011. We have also spoken to Chief Edwin Clark who said that this reconciliatory committee was the best thing that has ever happened in the history of PDP Delta State. He also said that the aggrieved members of the party should avail themselves the opportunity to speak their mind.

I must tell you we are making progress, going by the number of people that have made submissions and memoranda on different issues and the public hearing we have held in the three senatorial districts, that tells you that the people are interested because it was very clear that they have been looking forward all these while for a committee of this nature.

A lot of the PDP faithful see the problem of the party as emanating from the leadership and even from the governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, mostly on the common allegation of imposition of candidates...

As the former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Young lgbrude, said in one of our outing and everybody agreed with him, we have all sinned and we are going to sit down and tell ourselves the truth. This is the opportunity for the party to right the wrong and l believe that with God Almighty on our side when we finish with Delta, other states will emulate what we have done.

We will no doubt hear from everybody and whoever is guilty, we will tell the person, if that is the only way we can move the party ahead. You know that the governor too needs

peace to execute his programme and we all must work hard to ensure that we achieve this by submitting ourselves to accept the reconciliation and be ready to work together in the interest of the party.

Let us look at the dispute between Chief Edwin Clark and the state governor critically, do you see both of them having the heart to accept, reconcile and work together as members of one party?

We have looked into that matter seriously and have asked both parties why several reconciliation attempts did not succeed..

We realise that there is always break in communication between them and it does appear that some persons who are close to these individuals after reconciling them will start to create doubts in their minds, l believe both of them will have this reconciliation done.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

45

46

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

47

THE NATION

INVESTORS T

HE market capitalisation of the Nigerian stock market might increase by about N123billion due to the ongoing business combinations in the banking industry On Monday, in the first of series of mergers and acquisitions, shareholders of Access Bank Plc and Intercontinental Bank Plc approved the two-phased business combination deal involving share reconstruction and recapitalisation.

Access acquired Intercontinental under the deal.

Market capitalisation of the rescued banks now stand at N75.35billion, but the mergers and acquistions are expected to result in postcombination market capitalisation of N198.33billion..

Feelers from the financial markets indicate that the four other deals involving six quoted banks, an unquoted bank and a consortium of investors are also expected to be perfected, completing the structural changes in the financial markets by this weekend.

Two other quoted banks, Finbank Plc and Oceanic Bank International Plc are scheduled to be acquired by First, City Monument Bank Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI). A consortium of foreign investors is investing in Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc. Sterling Bank Plc, a quoted bank, is scheduled to acquire Equitorial Trust Bank.

Union Bank currently has a market capitalisation of N28.24 billion; Finbank N8.36 billion; Intercontinental Bank, N13.20 billion and N25.55 billion.

Although existing shareholders would witness significant depreciation in the number and values of their shareholdings because of share reconstruction and share exchange ratios, post-combination analysis showed that the stock market would actually record significant premium on the values of the shares being taken away.

Union Bank is expected to have a market capitalisation of N125.28

Market capitalisation to gain N123b from banks’ mergers

• L-R: Executive Director, Domestic Bank, Ecobank Nigeria, Kingsley Aigbokhaevbo; Country Manager, Google Nigeria, Juliet Ehimuan; and General Manager, Enterprise Sales, MTN Nigeria, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, at the launch of the Getting Nigerian Businesses Online (GNBO) initiative by Google in partnership with Ecobank and MTN in Lagos, yesterday

By Taofik Salako

billion after the final phase of its recapitalisation which entails a rights issue of about 1.41 billion shares to existing shareholders at N6.83 per share, the estimated listing value for the shares of the reconstructed shares of the bank.

The post-combination shareholding structure of Union

Bank, according to the scheme of arrangement, would consist of 18.343 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. Existing shareholders are envisaged with 2.533 billion shares from initial share reconstruction and additional 1.407 billion shares from the proposed rights issue. The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) would be allotted 3.394 billion

shares while the consortium of core investors under the special purpose vehicle of Union Global Partners Limited would be allotted 11.008 billion shares. The Union Global Partners Limited will inject $500 million equity into Union Bank, in addition to $250 million debt finance.

With exchange ratio of one for 60 shares, existing shares of Finbank

would be reduced to 278.7 million shares, which translate into a market capitalisation of N1.09 billion at the current market value of First City Monument Bank, the surviving entity in the business combination.

Also, the current outstanding shares of Oceanic Bank would be reduced to 1.111 billion shares on the basis of one for 20 shares exchange ratio, implying a market capitalisation of N12.97 billion at the current market value of ETI; the acquiring bank.

Intercontinental Bank is expected to end with 20 billion shares after the share reconstruction and recapitalisation of the bank. The post-recapitalisation shareholding structure of the bank is scheduled to include 2.0 billion shares for existing investors, 3.0 billion shares for AMCON and 15 billion shares for Project Star Investments (PSI) Limited- the special purpose vehicle of Access Bank Plc. The reconstructed shares of Intercontinental Bank are valued at N2.75 per share, the offering price at which the PSI is willing to buy out any dissenting shareholder.

Under the scheme of merger between Sterling Bank and ETB, Sterling Bank is expected to issue 3.141 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to shareholders of ETB and subsequently merged the assets and liabilities of the privately owned bank with its operations. The additional shares would subsequently be listed as supplementary shares in the name of Sterling Bank. This will translate to additional N3.99 billion to the market capitalisation of Sterling Bank, at the current market consideration of the bank.

Capital market operators okay Union Bank’s recapitalisation

C

APITAL market operators have endorsed the recapitalisation plan of the Union Bank Plc to enable the nearly 100-year old institution remain quoted on the Stock Exchange.

After listening to the bank’s management presentation of its recapitalisation plan, stockbrokers, investement admirers and fund managers said the choice of core investors and fair valuation have locked in significant values into the bank in the immediate and distant future.

Under the recapitalisation deal, bank would receive about N76

billion ($500 million) equity capital and N30 billion ($200 million) Tier 2 capital from a consortium of international investors to retain its brand and regain its competitive verve as one of the strongest banks in the country. African Capital Alliance (ACA) is leading other partners including many reputable fund managers, investment funds of The Netherland, United States Governments, Standard Chartered and many other global financial firms under the Union Global Partners Limited, a special purpose vehicle formed for the recapitalisation of the bank.

Alhaji Rasheed Yusuf, chairman, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), said that stockbrokers have huge shareholding interests in Union Bank and would not want it to be nationalized. He assured that the body of capital market operators would support the success of its recapitalisation.

He said that the choice of a group of reputable international investors with requisite technical know-how and capital to drive the performance of the bank has reassured stockbrokers that their investments would soon witness notable im-

NAHCO woos investors on N5b bond

T

HE Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO aviance) has been wooing investors to its N5 billion bond issue, citing its financial strength and prospects for business expansion.

At the company’s road shows in Abuja and Lagos last week, which were attended by local and foreign investors, the company explained that its strong financials and balance sheet made NAHCO an investor’s delight.

By Tonia Osundolire

Net proceeds of the bond will be used to refinance existing facilities; procure new ground support equipment; build additional warehouse; and to augment ICT and working capital needs The bond will also provide additional security through a Debt Service Reserve Account established

by NAHCO and maintained by the company’s Trustees. The bond has been rated Aa by Agusto

and A- by GCR, on the back of the Company’s robust security structure, market position and future cash flows.

Speaking at the road shows both at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja and Civic Centre, Lagos, the Managing Director of NAHCO, Mr. Kayode Ojo said the company was raising money to finance its projects because of the need to provide top-level services and expand business to other parts of Africa.

provement.

“Knowing who the core investors are is very key, because we are not just looking at what we will get now but also let’s say two years and beyond. The core investors are institutions well-grounded in the financial industry, they will not just come with money but also bring know-how and experience,” Yusuf said.

Yusuf, who is also the chief executive officer, Trust Yield Securities Limited, said that besides the fact that failing to recapitalise by the September month end deadline would mean total loss to sharehold-

Vitafoam steps up sales drive

V

ITAFOAM Nigeria Plc has continued with the expansionary drive to boost its sales with the commissioning of a state-of-the art comfort center in Osun State to bring its array of quality products closer to the people of Ife and its environs.

The sales outlet will display all Vitafoam product segments including lifestyle, leisure, premium health and early days segments.

Speaking during the commissioning, Managing director, Vitafoam Plc, Dr. Dele Makanjuola, said that Vitafoam

comfort centers spread across the country are solution centers, with advisory services, that will help guide the customers make good choices that will give them value for their money.

“What we are unveiling today is another solution center that will cater for our customers in Ife and environs. When you come into this place, you will not only buy products but get professional advice that will guide your buying decision so that your choice of products will be based on what you need,” Makanjuola said.

ers, the offer of a core investor with focus on returns would collectively improve returns to all shareholders.

He said the share exchange ratio and the offer of post-recapitalisation 21 per cent equity to existing shareholders is a good offering, stressing that “nobody wants nationalisation” “We will do all to support you.

Anything that will turnaround our fortune,we will support it. What you have presented to us keep our hopes alive,” Yusuf said.

The supports by capital market operators came on the heels of wide•Continued on page 48

Forecast for Q4 VITAFOAM NIGERIA Plc Turnover N4.195b PAT N250.17m NEM INSURANCE Plc Gross Premium N6.754b PAT N1.683b PRESTIGE ASSURANCE Plc Gross Premium N3.928b PAT N374m GUINEA INSURANCE Plc Gross Premium N1.504b PAT N136.12m GOLDLINK INSURANCE Plc

Gross Premium N5.032b PAT N499.71m CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE Plc Gross Premium of N4.032b PAT N709.83m INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE Plc Gross Premium of N6.310b PAT N841.51m BETA GLASS Plc Turnover N2.968b PAT N315.4m

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

48

THE NATION INVESTORS Operators okay bank’s recapitalisation •Continued from page 47 spread endorsements from staff, pensioners, shareholders’ groups and customers.

Union Bank has some 500,000 shareholders but it has no shareholder with significant shareholding. Its highly fragmented shares are held by old and existing staff and directors and several hundreds of unrelated shareholders. Stockbrokers and fund managers however, hold significant stakes through their own investment and trading portfolios as well as investments under their management and advisory. Given that the capital market operators fully understand the usage of proxies, a consensual endorsement from the body of market operators would be a major sway for the success of the UBN’s extra-ordinary general meeting scheduled for Friday Sep-

tember 30. Extant law only requires that proxy should be deposited with the Registrar 48 hours before the commencement of the meeting.

Also speaking on the Union Bank recapitalisation, Chief Olusola Dada, chief executive officer, Anchoria Investment and Securities Limited, said the fact that Union Bank will retain its brand and the reputation of the core investors would make him to support the bank.

He advised shareholders to buy more shares now that the future of the bank has become almost certain, noting that there would be immediate capital appreciation after the recapitalisation.

Managing Director, Mission Securities Limited, Mr Sam Oguntayo commended the management of the bank for stabilising the bank and securing credible investors.

He said he has been advising his clients to hold on to their shareholdings in the bank as it would soon begin to appreciate.

Oguntayo specifically commended the ongoing branch refurbishment, noting that it has enlivened the bank as a competitive brand.

In her opening remarks, managing director, Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, said the management of the bank has had six fora with groups of stakeholders to further espouse the details of the recapitalisation deal.

The Union Bank boss said the management decided on the faceto-face interactive session to give shareholders and all other stakeholders opportunities to ask all questions pertaining to the bank and also get better understanding of the recapitalisation process.

She described the meeting with capital market operators as a crucial one given that as professionals they would be able to scrutinise the recapitalisation and advise their clients appropriately.

FACTS

T

HE mortgage sector is a recent creation on the Nigerian stock market. With the earliest company listed in 2006, all other mortgage companies were listed around 2008.

They had ridden on the back of the exceedingly bullish market situation in the prior years to raise new capital, restructure their balance sheet and woo investors into what was termed then as the mortgage or real estate boom.

The mortgage sector was one of the new sectors that were thought would provide new impetus for returns and further deepen the investors’ base of the stock market.

The underlying assets of mortgage companies lie in real estate.

Usually, a home buyer or builder obtains finance from a financial institution to complete the real estate development.

Beside the demand for initial equity contribution of varied size, the property in question also serves as collateral and the ownership only fully transferred to the owner upon complete payment of the loan and the conditions thereon.

Savings and loans companies, otherwise known as primary mortgage institutions (PMI), therefore mobilise savings from customers, mostly prospective home owners, and distribute such deposits to needy customers. As financial intermediation companies, PMIs are regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

With housing estate sprouting all over, the combination of the real estate boom and stock market boom had given many investors the beliefs of a one-for-two deal.

This much was also evident in the historic emergence of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), which also had its primary assets in real estate, on the stock market.

But with post-listing results, mortgage companies appeared to have suffered a failed start. Audited report and accounts of mortgage companies have not only year-onyear mostly showed significant declines since their listings, the immediate past year saw a heartrending build-up of losses and erosion of capital base.

Aso Savings and Loans Plc and Resort Savings and Loans Plc have the two largest issued shares in the four-stock mortgage sector. Aso Savings is the bigger of the two companies in terms of assets and operations.

But the performances of the two companies were similar, though with Aso Savings showing more restraints in the free fall. With billions of Naira in losses, declines sales and core capital and negative margins, the two companies sank

TO

Brokers reiterate commitment to market discipline

T

HE President of Char tered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Mike Itegboje, has reiterated the initiate’s determination to ensure discipline and compliance with laid-down rules within the stockbroking community.

Itegboje spoke at the inauguration of former Supreme Court Justice, Adesola Oguntade as the Legal Assessor of the Disciplinary Tribunal of the CIS in Lagos.

According to him, the Disciplinary Tribunal is one of the mechanisms that CIS uses to regulate the conduct of its members.

“This Institute, with proactive management, was determined to review the processes of regulating the conduct of its members to restore investors’ confidence in the Nigerian capital market and in doing this, we decided to re-position the Disciplinary Tribunal for

By Tonia Osundolire

speedy dispensation of the cases before it and making its directions credible and watertight,” Itegboje said.

He explained that to achieve this, the management of CIS guided by the statue that established it, requested the Attorney-General for the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, to nominate Legal Assessor for the Institute.

“Hence, Oguntade was nominated as the Legal Assessor. We are therefore, happy to have him as our assessor. The Tribunal already has a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) as a prosecutor but we needed a justice as an Assessor. We welcome him on Board and we believe he will assist to dispense justice faster and fairly in order to restore investor confidence in the market,” Itegboje said.

FACTS

Aso Savings vs Resort Savings: Mortgage burst

By Taofik Salako

deeper into the red in the immediate past year.

Sales Generation The mortgage industry has remained sluggish in recent years following the financial crisis and the resultant credit squeeze. Both Aso Savings and Resort Savings witnessed declines in their turnover in the immediate past year. Aso Savings’ turnover, which had grown by about 43 per cent in 2009, declined marginally by 0.8 per cent in 2010, indicating two-year average growth of 21.05 per cent. Resort Savings recorded 6.72 per cent decline in sales in 2010.

Profitability Both Aso Savings and Resort Savings ended the year in the red but Resort Savings appeared to be fallen faster than its competitor.

With a reversal in pre-tax profit margin from a positive 11.3 per cent in 2009 to negative 31.2 per cent in 2010, Aso Savings recorded pre-tax loss of N3.13 billion in 2010 as against profit before tax of N1.14 billion in the previous year. Profit before tax had dropped consecutively by 15 per cent in 2009 and 375 per cent in 2010, indicating average decline of about 195 per cent over the years.

Net loss stood at N3.25 billion

FACTS TO FACTS Turnover growth Gross profit growth Pre-tax profit growth Gross margin Pre-tax profit margin Net profit growth Return on Assets Return on Equity

•MD, Aso Savings, Hassan Usman

•MD, Resort Savings, Abimbola Olayinka

compared with net profit of N873.48 million.

Resort Savings also showed a worse profit outlook. Pre-tax profit margin reversed from about 35 per cent in 2009 to 153.4 per cent in 2010, implying that the company made a loss of N153 on every N100 unit of sale during the year. Profit before tax had dropped by 514 per cent in 2010 as against an increase of 95 per cent in 2009. Net profit also replaced the growth of about

112 per cent in 2009 with a decline of 761 per cent in 2010. Resort Savings recorded pre-tax loss of N1.68 billion in 2010 as against profit of N405.8 million in 2009. Net loss stood at N2.03 billion as against net profit of N308.3 million.

Actual Returns Shareholders in the mortgage companies have seen significant depreciation in both actual returns and dividend payouts. With mounting losses, returns on total

Resort Savings

Aso Savings 2010 % -0.8 -375

2009 % 42.9 -14.7

-31.2 -472 -5.2 -180.8

11.3 -17.8 1.4 15.9

and net assets were in the negative, which adversely affected the capital base of the companies. Aso Savings, which had recorded a positive return on total assets of 1.4 per cent in 2009, returned negative 5.2 per cent in 2010. Return on equity also reversed from about 16 per cent to -181 per cent. With this, Aso Savings’ net asset declined from N5.48 billion to N1.8 billion.

Also , Resort Savings returned about -35 per cent on total assets in 2010 compared with positive return of 4.1 per cent in previous year.

The same scenario was repeated on net assets, which has returned an average of -15 per cent over the next two years. Resort Savings’ net assets had dropped from N7.57 billion to N5.84 billion.

The Bottom-line The performances of the two mortgage companies underlined the continuing hangover of the so called bubble capital.

Like many other financial services companies, mortgage companies were caught in the web of bad assets and recycled investments.

With many capital market operators heavily exposed to mortgage companies, the poor fundamental returns and capital losses have further worsened the overall returns at the stock market.

Average % 21.05 -0 -194.85 0 -9.95 -244.9 -1.9 -82.45

Pre-tax profit margin (Aso Savings)

Turnover growth Gross profit growth Pre-tax profit growth Gross margin Pre-tax profit margin Net profit growth Return on Assets Return on Equity

2010 % -6.72

2009 %

-514 -153.4 -761 -34.9 -34.9

34.6 4.1 4.1

Average % -3.36 0.000 -257 0 -59.4 380.5 -15.4 -15.4

Pre-tax profit margin (Resort Savings)

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

49

THE NATION INVESTORS CORPORATE SCORE BOARD

P

RESCO Plc achieved a threedigit growth in the bottomline in the immediate past business year as increasingly efficient internal cost management enhanced the positive impact of an equally impressive double-digit tripled. Audited report and accounts of the company for the year ended December 31, 2010 showed that average profit per unit of sales increased by tripled, enabling the agricultural company to increase cash payouts by 150 per cent. With 35 per cent growth in sales and 33 per cent decrease in operating expenses, net earnings leapt by 357 per cent.

The report indicated a wellrounded performance with actual profit and loss and underlying profit and balance sheet indices showing marked improvements in profit-making capacity, efficiency, liquidity and balance sheet structure. In spite of the 150 per cent increase in cash payouts, dividend outlook was almost twice the previous year’s while the company's financial leverage was zero in 2010 as against 14 per cent in 2009.

However, there was less working capital in the immediate past year as the proportion of net available capital to the size of the business dropped from 21 per cent to 17 per cent.

Financing structure Presco achieved an appreciable improvement in its financing structure with a more amenable proportionate allocation of equity resources and other assets. With no short term bank loans and 34 per cent increase in equity funds, financial leverage dropped from 14 per cent in 2009 to zero in 2010. The proportion of shareholders' funds to total assets improved from 35 per

Presco: Achieving impressive growth

By Taofik Salako

cent to 48 per cent. Long-term liabilities/total assets ratio stood at 52 per cent as against 65 per cent while the proportion of current liabilities to total assets improved from 26 per cent to N7.2 per cent.

Shareholders' funds increased from N2.62 billion to N3.52 billion.

Paid up share capital, however, remained unchanged at N500 million, representing one billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. Total assets dropped from N7.59 billion to N7.38 billion while total liabilities reduced by 22 per cent from N4.97 billion to N3.86 billion.

Efficiency Average number of employees increased marginally from 329 persons in 2009 to 333 persons. Total staff costs meanwhile inched up to N364.43 million as against N351.46 million, indicating that average staff cost per employee remained almost unchanged at N1.1 million.

However, employee productivity improved tremendously with average pre-tax profit per employee increasing from N1 million to N4 million.

The company also witnessed a substantial reduction in cost of business. Total cost of business, excluding financing charges, reduced to 74 per cent of total sales compared with 90 per cent in previous year.

Profitability Presco rode on the back of a more efficient internal cost management and significant growth in sales to quadruple profit, which trickled down to impressive returns to shareholders.

Underlying profitability indices

Fiscal Year Ended December 31

2010

Nmillion

12 months

Profit and Loss Statement Main Business Segment Total turnover Cost of sales Gross profit Operating expenses Interest and other incomes Finance expenses Pre-tax profit(loss) Post-tax profit (loss) Basic earnings per share(kobo) Gross dividend Cash dividend per share (kobo) Net Assets per share (kobo) Balance Sheet Assets: Fixed assets Total long term assets Trade debtors Current assets Total assets Liabilities: Trade creditors Bank loans Current liabilities Long-term liabilities Total liabilities Equity Funds Share capital Total Equity Funds

5,382 5,386 3,089 2,297 908 109 165 1,334 1,095 110 500 50 352

•MD, Presco Plc, Mr Uday Pilani

showed that the three-digit growth in actual profit was driven by strong operating fundamentals. Profit before tax margin increased from 8.4 per cent to about 25 per cent. Gross margin dropped marginally from about 44 per cent to 43 per cent. Return on equity rose from 9.1 per cent to 31 per cent while return on total assets increased from 4.5 per cent to 18 per cent.

Total sales increased by 35 per cent from N4 billion to N5.4 billion due solely to improved local demand and market share.

Presco, which engages in development of palm oil plantations and milling and processing of derivable products, currently sells all its prod-

2009 % change 34.4 34.5 37.2 31.0 -33.2 114.9 54.5 294.6 357.4 358.3 150.0 150.0 34.4

ucts in Nigeria. Cost of sales stood at N3.1 billion in 2010 as against N2.25 billion in 2009, representing an increase of 37 per cent.

Gross profit thus rose by 31 per cent from N1.75 billion to N2.3 billion. With 33 per cent decline in administrative expenses from N1.36 billion to N908 million as well as a double in non-core incomes, operating profit jumped from N444.9 million to N1.50 billion. Interest expenses, however, rose by about 55 per cent from N107 million to N165 million. With these, profit before tax jumped by 295 per cent from N338 million to N1.33 billion while profit after tax leapt by 357 per cent from N239 million to about N1.1 billion.

With net earnings on the high side, the company increased gross dividend from N200 million to N500 million, indicating a dividend per share of 50 kobo for 2010 as against 20 kobo for 2009. Basic net earnings per share increased from 24 kobo to N1.10, which indicated a dividend cover of 2.2 times in 2010 as against 1.2 times in 2009. Net assets per share also improved from N2.62 to N3.52.

Liquidity The company's ability to meet emerging financing obligations improved markedly in 2010. Current ratio, which relates current assets to relative liabilities, improved from 1.43 times in 2009 to 2.75 times in 2010. This technically implies that should all the shortterm financing obligations cumulate within the same period, the existing easily convertible assets are thrice such liabilities.

Debtors/creditors ratio stood at

Fiscal Year Ended December 31

12 months 4,005 4,005 2,252 1,753 1,359 51 107 338 239 24 200 20 262

5,914 5,914 172 1,467 7,381

24.7 24.4 -47.4 -48.3 -2.8

4,741 4,754 328 2,836 7,590

137 0 534 3,328 3,862

-87.9 -100.0 -73.0 11.5 -22.2

1,132 379 1,980 2,986 4,966

500 3,518

0.0 34.1

500 2,623

about 126 per cent in 2010 as against about 29 per cent in 2009.

However, the proportion of working capital to turnover dropped from 21 per cent to 17 per cent.

Governance and structures Presco is owned majorly by the Societe d’investment pour l'Agriculture Tropicale anonyme (Siat), a Belgian company which holds 60 per cent equity stake while First Inland Bank/Fidelity Finance Company hold 8.11 per cent equity stake. Presco has nearly 10,000 shareholders. The company's board and management have been largely stable.

Mr. Pierre Vandebeeck, a Belgian, chairs the board.

However, Mr. Christopher Minguy resigned as managing director and was replaced with the former chief financial officer, Mr Uday Pilani.

Analyst's opinion The performance of Presco in the immediate past year is commendable. It shows, on the one hand, how untiring tilling of the ground can produce bounteous harvest while good operating environment, on the other hand, can give strong fillip to corporate performance. Presco had benefited from the N200 billion Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) agricultural intervention programme.

With recent expansions that doubled the milling and processing capacities of the company as well as continuing planting of new hectares, recent investments appeared to have put Presco in good stead for sustainable growth.

2010

2009

%

%

Financing structure Equity funds/Total assets Long-term liabilities/Total assets Current liabilities/Total assets Debt/Equity ratio

47.7 52.3 7.2 0.0

34.6 65.4 26.1 14.4

Profitability Gross profit margin Pre-tax profit margin Return on total assets Return on equity Dividend cover (times)

42.6 24.8 18.1 31.1 2.2

43.8 8.4 4.5 9.1 1.2

Efficiency Pre-tax profit per employee (Nm) Staff cost per employee (Nm) Cost of sales, operating exp/Turnover

4.0 1.10 74.2

1.0 1.10 90.2

Liquidity Current ratio Working capital/Turnover Debtors/Creditors

2.75 17.3 125.9

1.43 21.4 28.9

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

50

SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TIPS

Life of an auto ‘doctor’

H

IS passion is in auto diagnostic software,which are all about devices for detecting faults in vehicles.Alhaji Lukman, the Chief Executive of Garu Technologies, works with autodealers to grow the industry.

He said freelance diagnostic business is one area, unemployed Nigerians can explore.

Garu believes the use of diagnostic software to solve the problems of car owners is one of the smallscale, sustainable projects that can benefit young Nigerians.

The market is large,he said.

The advantages are that new entrants don’t need to hire employees.

The strategy, according to him, is targeting the average driver on the street as well as companies looking for individuals who can offer auto diagnostics services.

In the last three years, the demand for his services has continued to grow leading him to consider further investment in other products.

Garu said auto engineering is a diverse discipline, adding that the industry needs freelancers.

Raising capital can be discouraging, but the amount is affordable for prospective investors. The business is open to technicians and non-technicians.

Without a degree, they apprentice themselves to a start-up. Getting the word out on the new technology to potential customers is easy, but it is one of the things entrepreneurs must do to develop sales and make money.

He said there are opportunities for Nigerians to use the busi-

Investing in soft ropes, strings making plant

By Daniel Essiet

By Edwin Agbaike

ness to make millions.

Autosnap,which he markets and trains people on, has access to numerous data from the engine control unit (ECU) and offers a valuable source of information when troubleshooting problems inside a vehicle.

The software gives the vehicle owner or a repair technician access to the state of health information for various vehicle subsystems. The device helps the proferssional to carry out any works that are now required by diagnostics.

Diagnostics business is an

T

•Garu

‘Autosnap,which he markets and trains people on, has access to numerous data from the engine control unit (ECU) and offers a valuable source of information when troubleshooting problems inside a vehicle.’

amazing launch pad for all kinds of exciting jobs. With opportunities in diagnostic sector, the auto industry is opening up again.

The opportunity is even more remarkable with many Nigerians buying cars and trucks.

For Garu, the more cars people buy, the more business opportunities for those in autodiagnostics. There are too many complicated innovations on the market to be received by the customers in the traditional manner. Few motorists know about all functions in their cars.

Even well-established functions remain hidden to many customers.

He said diagnostic service entrepreneurs have to update them selves on the new software and need to know in advance what innovations are desirable.

N3 million realised at book launch

I

HIS investment guide is for the establishment of a soft rope and string manufacturing plant using petrochemical products. Ropes and strings made of natural fibres are affected by water, which causes them to decay and lose their effectiveness.

They are also unsafe as they cause hand injuries and require drying in the sun when soaked. The poor quality of natural fibres made ropes and strings have decreased the demand of the products.

Polypropylene ropes and strings products have excelled in qualities. They are, therefore, in high demand in areas, such as the fishing industry, agriculture, shipping and land transportation. The robes and strings are utilised for various purposes.

An entrepreneur who engages in this small scale venture whose raw materials could be locally sourced, will recoup his investment within a very short gestation period.

Raw material for the production of soft ropes and strings are polypropylene pellets, obtainable from any of the petrochemical industries or those imported and displayed for sale in the open market.

The main machinery/ equipment for production include: Tubular Film Unit, Stretching Unit, Tape Winder, Tape Rewinder. These machinery and equipment form two bulk unit of the equipment.

Investment cost for acquisition of the machinery/ equipment for this project is estimated at N2.8 million. This amount can be scaled or increased, depending on the financial position of the promoters.

The machinery has a capacity of producing 60,000 and 30,000 kilogrammes of soft ropes and string , working at eight hours per shift of 250 working days.

Soft ropes and strings are produced through the following processes: •The polypropylene pellet is put into the extruder where it is melted and extruded in tubular form and blown up to make a tubular film; •The film is split into two at the centre to form two sheets of flat film and then passed on to the stretching unit; •The film is heated on hot plate and stretched several times about six times successively then wound by the tape winder; •The large wound string is rewound by the tape rewinder for the rope making process which takes up to three pieces of strings for the rope twisting; •The twisted rope is also rewound by the rope for final sell to the various market; •The Rewinder cuts the rope with automatic cutter after the required metered measurement is reached; and •The rape rewinder is also equipped with the length meter by which the string is cut automatically after winding the desired length.

The plant has a production capacity of about 30 kilogrammes of soft rope and string per hour respectively. This is based on one shift of eight hours daily. This will give a daily production of 240 kilogrammes of soft rope and 120 kilogrammes of strings daily. The annual production, operating for a period of 250 days/ annum will be 60,000 and 30,000 kilogrammes of soft ropes and string. Revenue calculations, based on a wholesale price of N180 per kilogramme of soft ropes and N150 per kilogrammes of strings gives a yearly turnover of N15.3 million. A net profit figure of N3.825 million expected from this investment.

Target market for soft robe and strings are fisheries, agricultural establishments, package handlers, and domestic and industrial consumers for general purposes. The investors can also expand the market to neighbouring countries and the ECOWAS sub-region.

This project stands a good chance of attracting finance from the Bank of Industry or from the SME desk of any Commercial Bank, where individuals or corporate bodies are assisted with funds ranging from N500,000 to over N50 million. A well-packaged Feasibility Report is a pre-requisite to securing finance for the project. This can be provided by the Consultant on request. For details on how to implement this project or any other, please contact us. We are willing to assist potential investors on any aspect of the project. Prospective investors may get in touch with us at the address stated hereunder.

Kris-Ed Brilliant Limited (Brilliant Consulting)By: Edwin Agbaike .. Tel. Nos. 08098525122; 08023381900.

E-mail: krisedbrilliant@ yahoo.com; edwinagbaike@yahoo.com

T was Naira rain at the launch of three books on wealth creation written by renowned personal finance coach and motivational speaker, Tayo Ayinla.

Over N3million was realised at the event.

The books are Building lasting wealth; Wealth Capsules and The pathway to wealth.

Speaking at the launch in Abuja, the Chairman and former Minister of Education, Dr Jerry Agada,described the publications as creative works.

He said the books would impact on the lives of Nigerians in the area of personal finance.

Agada said the books were a collection of non-fiction literature which drew inspiration from biblical references to guide readers on personal finance. ``The books are highly motivational, and I want to urge for

a mass purchase and circulation of the publications to re-orientate Nigerians in their handling of their personal finances”,he said.

The guest speaker, Mr Ayo Arowolo, a motivational speaker, urged Nigerians to determine what their potentials were and strive to maximise them.

Speaking on ``Living on purpose and with Impact'', he also advised Nigerians to discover God’s purpose for their lives.

Arowolo urged them to, upon discovering God's purpose for their lives, commit themselves to achieving it.

He warned budding businessmen to eliminate the fear of the unknown, saying the inability to take initiative often kills creative ideas.

‘The main machinery/equipment for production include: Tubular Film Unit, Stretching Unit, Tape Winder, Tape Rewinder. These machinery and equipment form two bulk unit of the equipment. Investment cost for acquisition of the machinery/equipment for this project is estimated at N2.8 million. This amount can be scaled or increased, depending on the financial position of the promoters. The machinery has a capacity of producing 60,000 and 30,000 kilogrammes of soft ropes and strings, working at eight hours per shift of 250 working days’

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

51

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION with

Managing your boss BOOK REVIEW Richard Dare Ajiboye Publisher: Anchor Communications Ltd Reviewer: Goke Ilesanmi Author:

GOKE ILESANMI

I

T is a fact that most people get stuck on the ladder of career advancement due to inability to effectively, manage their boss(es). That is why I want us to examine this text interrogatively entitled Is Your Boss Difficult? this week.

It is written by Richard Dare Ajiboye, a human resource practitioner. Ajiboye, a motivational speaker, is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.

This text is segmented into 10 chapters. Chapter one is the introduction. Here, the author, through a random survey carried out in mid-2006 in some Nigerian companies, offers aggregation of views of subordinates about whom a boss is, based on the relationship existing between them and their bosses.

The views are documented. He says it is easy to manage subordinates by virtue of the power and authority a leader has.

Ajiboye expatiates that the boss has the carrot he dangles for good performance and the stick he uses when the subordinates breach organisational or work standards.

“Most people are good at managing their subordinates even though there are problems at times in doing this because of human complexities. Managing the boss is usually more problematic. It is problematic be-

cause the influence in this case can only be persuasive and non-directive. The boss reserves the right to or not to concede to subordinates’ persuasion,” stresses the author.

Ajiboye advises that if you are conscious of the simple fact that the success of your boss is yours in a way, you will do everything possible to succeed.

Chapter two is based on the subject matter of types of bosses.

The author says as human beings are different in personality, so also are bosses different from one another. Ajiboye explains that there are no two people with exactly the same personality traits. Such differences, no matter how slight, would make a great difference in relationship, perception, decisionmaking and problem-solving approaches, he educates.

Ajiboye stresses that the secret of ever succeeding in any relationship, work environment inclusive, is the ability to understand and appreciate differences among people. The different types of bosses identified by Ajiboye are the achievementoriented/autocratic boss; people-oriented boss; laissez-faire boss and situational boss. This author says an achievementoriented/autocratic boss is the one driven by result and does not care how results are achieved especially that he has dictatorial inclination. As regards a people-oriented boss, Ajiboye educates that this type of boss though interested in getting results, is mainly concerned about staff welfare. He is democratic in nature and conscious of collective commitment or team work.

According this author, a laissez-faire boss is lackadaisical in his style of getting things done. He often sees his subordinates as technocrats who should know what to do at any given time. As for a situational boss, this author illuminates that this is a complete person in leading subordinates. He is a combination of the three types of bosses earlier mentioned and leads according to situation, person and time.

In chapters three to six, Ajiboye analytically X-rays concepts such as functions of an executive; how to understand your boss; managing relationship with your boss and competences required to manage your boss.

Chapter seven is entitled “Tips on managing yourself”. The author says it is quite obvious that managing your boss successfully starts with how well you are able to manage yourself.

Ajiboye adds that it will be absolutely difficult for a person who lacks the right qualities to manage him- or herself to manage another person properly. In his words, “Most leadership problems that have been experienced are not unconnected with the fact that people who are not mature enough to manage themselves are for one wrong reason or another made to manage others.”

In chapters eight to ten, this author discusses tips for managing your boss; why your boss could be hard and conclusion on how to achieve effective relationship with people.

Finally, this text is on the high rung of the ladder. For instance, the language of the text is standard and embroidered with good word order and accurate diction.

The concepts, too, reflect a high level of primary and secondary forms of research as well as logical presentation. To reinforce readers’ understanding and consistently remind them of the thematic direction of the text, Ajiboye employs a technique of paraphrasing to achieve conceptual restatement. What’s more,

the interrogative mode of the title creates suspense, easily arouses and sustains readers’ interest while the outside front cover design radiates effective non-verbal communication.

However, a few errors of punctuation and interpretation are noticed in the text, e.g., “Executive Director Human Resources, Cadbury Nigeria Plc” (page 28), instead of “Executive Director, Human Resources, Cadbury Nigeria Plc”; “He is the AGS – Corporate Affairs of the BSN (page 28),

instead of “He is the Assistant General Secretary, Corporate Affairs of the Bible Society of Nigeria”, etc.

Generally, this text is a specimen of a high level of intellectual interface, reflecting perfect combination of human resource management and motivational forms of discourse. It is a mustread for all subordinates, managers, chief executives, entrepreneurs and organisations that cherish corporate success and harmony.

Organisational crises and effective communication strategy (4)

C

RISIS and organisational communication We said last week that to achieve communication during crises, organisations need to have a plan through anticipation, respond immediately to questions, avoid talking too much and accept responsibility. Now let us examine the concluding part of this discourse.

Correcting misinformation Discouraging rumours and correcting misinformation is another strategy towards managing a crisis. Lack of response is almost the same as implied consent. When something incorrect is printed or said, immediate action should be taken to point out the error and ask for correction.

Otherwise, the media involved will only assume that what has been written or said is correct.

One publication could print a damaging story with incorrect information.

Another publication could assume the information was and is correct and refer to it in a follow-up article. When repeated over and over, fiction and errors become facts. In a matter of sec-

By Goke Ilesanmi onds, the Internet can spread misinformation or rumours around the world. This is why it is so important to have open lines of communication with all employees, customers, vendors, shareholders and friends. You want to control your message as best as you possibly can but you cannot control what others say.

Addition Just as there are clipping services that read newspapers and magazines for any mention of a company or organisation, and services that monitor radio and television programmes, there are monitoring services that can be retained that regularly check the Internet for information.

Adversaries, disgruntled employees and former employees, and whistleblowers can leak confidential information, misinformation or outright lies that are republished on websites, message boards or blogs, and eventually find their way into mainstream media.

According to Ronald Alsop, a communication expert, com-

panies must protect their corporate reputation by refuting any harmful rumour that is picking up momentum on the Internet.

Ignoring the spread of a detrimental rumour is dangerous in the extreme. The correct strategic response is to neutralise the attack with a factual response.

Electronic age The electronic age has created entirely new problems for crisis managers and attorneys. John J. Walsh, senior counsel of Carter Ledyard and Milburn, New York, says, “Thanks to modern technology, all a person needs to extract and use misinformation from a false, archived article is a PC, Google, and a disposition to work someone else’s old material into an article on the theory that if Big Media reported it five years ago without repercussions, it must be true.”

The situation is not helped by the fact that in most jurisdictions, after one year, statutes of limitation expire on libel and defamation claims against a publication. A media crisis based on an article or broadcast can occur without warning, and

often can be precipitated by a whistleblower and a quick decision by the media to go public. The injured party can ask for correction, a retraction or an apology. By correction, the publication tells the public that a mistake was made and provides the correct facts. A retraction advises the public that specific statements are withdrawn, usually accompanied by an apology or at least a statement of regret.

Establishing corporate reputation Building corporate reputation before a crisis can help avert or manage a crisis well. Corporate organisations should try not to take any chance of losing their credibility with the media and public. That is why it is very important for them to establish reputation before a crisis and have a respectable reservoir of credibility. Build relationships with the media so that they know you are telling the truth in the face of challenges.

Recapitulation Success in crisis management depends largely on how quickly

and accurately your organisation communicates with its stakeholders. Stakeholders have something at risk, and therefore something to gain or lose as a result of your organisation’s activity.

NB: You can now apply for UNO jobs FREE on my website as requested. Just go to the “Links” section of the website and apply. Also, we have started regular public speaking training as requested. I appreciate your suggestions and interest.

• Concluded •GOKE ILESANMI, Managing Consultant/CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is a Certified Public Speaker/Emcee, Communication Specialist, Motivational Speaker, Career Management Coach, Renowned Book Reviewer, Corporate Leadership Expert and Editorial Consultant..

Tel: 08055068773; 08187499425 Email: info@gokeilesanmi.com Website: www.gokeilesanmi.com

52

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

53

54

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 27-09-11 2ND-TIER SECURITIES Company Name ADSWITCH PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

Quotation(N) 1.71

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,000 1,630.00 1,000 1,630.00

AGRICULTURE/AGRO-ALLIED Company Name FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC PRESCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 16 17

Quotation(N) 0.50 7.05

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,000,000 500,000.00 433,600 3,075,330.53 1,433,600 3,575,330.53

Quotation(N) 1.95 5.40

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 200,600 399,218.00 973,094 5,257,397.84 1,173,694 5,656,615.84

Quotation(N) 1.38

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 268,012 368,876.73 268,012 368,876.73

Quotation(N) 4.90 3.61 2.53 3.73 2.02 8.50 11.90 8.70 4.80 1.21 3.40 2.09 0.75 0.68 11.87

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 47,548,581 232,746,006.55 40,732 139,710.76 311,969 781,706.77 1,383,463 5,160,845.16 5,259,140 10,538,286.04 37,649,186 317,612,998.33 32,694,646 390,900,378.38 307,538 2,662,051.28 10,536,425 47,671,513.78 968,787 1,182,798.38 105,937,857 346,051,110.23 42,167 88,129.03 7,494,820 5,374,015.10 437,519 297,512.92 17,801,043 210,739,819.99 268,413,873 1,571,946,882.70

Quotation(N) 218.50 81.30

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 513,642 114,542,815.21 1,617,218 131,542,738.57 2,130,860 246,085,553.78

Quotation(N) 16.11 7.30 99.75 40.00

Quantity Traded Value 532,903 55,560 63,853 335,700 988,016

Quotation(N) 9.38 17.85 1.14

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 3,600 32,112.00 236,021 4,215,925.85 181,973 206,449.22 421,594 4,454,487.07

AIR SERVICES Company Name No of Deals AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC 7 NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC 58 Sector Totals 65 AUTOMOBILE & TYRE Company Name R. T. BRISCOE (NIGERIA) PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 9 9

Company Name ACCESS BANK PLC DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK NIGERIA PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC GTBANK PLC STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC SKYE BANK PLC. STERLING BANK PLC UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC. UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC UNITYBANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC ZENITH BANK PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 162 7 26 37 63 791 692 26 107 13 175 18 55 11 274 2,457

Company Name GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 87 170 257

Company Name ASHAKA CEMENT PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 18 4 16 41 79

Company Name BERGER PAINTS NIGERIA PLC CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PLC DN MEYER PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 4 28 7 39

Company Name COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 10 11

BANKING

BREWERIES

BUILDING MATERIALS of Shares (N) 8,585,647.33 385,586.40 6,089,075.72 13,011,210.88 28,071,520.33

CHEMICAL & PAINTS

COMMERCIAL/SERVICES Quotation(N) 0.50 2.20

Investors remain cautious of merging banks

M

ARKET values of all the four banks ac quiring other banks in the on-going business combination in the Nigerian banking industry dropped further yesterday, even as the surviving banks are expected to derive significant synergies from the acquisitions.

Already, the first merger and acquisition deal was struck on Monday as shareholders of Access Bank Plc and Intercontinental Bank Plc approved the two-phased business combination deal that involves share reconstruction and recapitalisation of Intercontinental Bank and eventual merger with Access Bank.

Shareholders of Oceanic Bank International also yesterday approved a deal under which it would be acquired

by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), which has scheduled a meeting for today to endorse the deal.

Also, shareholders of Sterling Bank Plc, a quoted bank, and Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB), a privately owned bank, would meet today to consider a merger between them.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc and Finbank Plc would present their merger deal to their shareholders tomorrow, while a recapitalisation deal under which a consortium of for-

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 10,000,000 5,000,000.00 173,300 378,760.00 10,173,300 5,378,760.00

No of Deals 3 3

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 27-09-11

Quotation(N) 3.25

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 5,379 16,621.11 5,379 16,621.11

Quotation(N) 1.90 30.00 0.78 35.22 27.51

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,296,109 2,462,607.10 1,015,312 30,463,087.65 7,340,367 5,520,284.76 1,147,078 41,820,664.13 1,829,345 50,318,753.26 12,628,211 130,585,396.90

Quotation(N) 49.64 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 35,396 1,669,329.36 968,075 484,037.50 1,003,471 2,153,366.86

CONGLOMERATES Company Name No of Deals A. G. LEVENTIS (NIGERIA) PLC 1 PZ CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC 49 TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC 52 UAC OF NIGERIA PLC 65 UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC 61 Sector Totals 228 CONSTRUCTION Company Name JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC MULTIVERSE PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 11 1 12

eign investors is investing in Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc is expected to be rounded off on Friday.

However, investors appeared to be undecided about the value propositions of the mergers and acquisitions as share prices of surviving banks continued on the downtrend.

ETI’s share price dropped by 4.37 per cent to close at N11.16 per share, FCMB’s market value dropped by 4.36 per cent to N3.73 per share, while market considerations of Sterling Bank and Access Bank declined by 4.22 per cent and 1.01 per cent to close at N1.21 and N4.90 respectively.

“Though the true positions of the rescued banks have been made public according to the Schemes of Arrangement, fear of uncertainty still pervades in the industry,” analysts at GTI Capital noted.

Many other banking stocks also suffered price depreciation including Wema Bank, which dropped by 4.23 per cent to 68 kobo; First Bank of Nigeria, which lost 3.63 per cent to close at N8.50; Fidelity Bank dropped by 0.98 per cent to close at N2.02; United Bank for Africa slipped by 0.58 per cent to N3.40 while Stanbic IBTC Bank dropped by 0.57 per cent to N8.70 per share.

With nearly two out of

LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE PLC. MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC N.E.M. INSURANCE CO. (NIG.) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 16 16

Quotation(N) 2.09

No of Deals 16 32 180 24 55 13 3 18 74 1 1 417

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 506,700 1,080,348.00 506,700 1,080,348.00

No of Deals 6 27 33

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 29,933 1,329,071.00 195,699 2,827,601.27 3,021,624 19,671,180.12 331,900 2,592,766.00 333,770 21,990,215.52 309,374 975,924.40 3,460 5,328.40 160,450 684,782.00 382,423 153,462,937.62 495 10,632.60 100 50.00 4,769,228 203,550,488.93

Quotation(N) 0.89 1.28 27.00 3.19 1.00 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 8,443 7,308.67 113,000 144,640.00 92,074 2,487,621.09 192,860 607,390.65 10,000 9,500.00 290,000 145,000.00 706,377 3,401,460.41

Quotation(N) 7.50 1.96

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 55,070 396,349.10 1,055,440 2,050,949.00 1,110,510 2,447,298.10

INDUSTRIAL/DOMESTIC PRODUCTS Company Name B. O. C. GASES NIGERIA PLC VITAFOAM NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 3 23 26

Quotation(N) 6.90 5.70

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 110,000 759,000.00 555,093 3,152,894.10 665,093 3,911,894.10

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Company Name CHAMS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 10,000 5,000.00 10,000 5,000.00

Quotation(N) 0.64 1.08 2.30 0.50 0.97 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 2,985,877 1,915,461.28 1,896,806 1,975,766.60 214,554 496,874.20 173,900 86,950.00 22,312 21,699.76 6,000 3,000.00

INSURANCE Company Name AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GUARANTY TRUST ASSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC.

No of Deals 27 4 10 3 5 2

250,188.00 5,250.00 5,000,000.00 2,250.00 2,500.00 50,000.00 1,322,478.00 11,132,417.84

Quotation(N) 0.90

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 60,000 54,000.00 60,000 54,000.00

Company Name JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 75 75

Quotation(N) 0.73

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 2,566,672 1,927,197.56 2,566,672 1,927,197.56

Company Name AFROMEDIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 2

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 97,200 48,600.00 97,200 48,600.00

MARITIME

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Quotation(N) 45.50 14.44 6.30 7.73 65.85 3.20 1.62 4.48 401.10 22.61 0.50

HOTEL & TOURISM Company Name CAPITAL HOTEL PLC IKEJA HOTEL PLC Sector Totals

500,000 10,500 10,000,000 4,500 5,000 100,000 2,644,956 18,564,405

MEDIA

HEALTHCARE Company Name No of Deals EVANS MEDICALPLC. 4 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 4 GLAXOSMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC 15 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 13 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 3 UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC 2 Sector Totals 41

0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

LEASING No of Deals 2 2

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 MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC NATIONAL SALT COMPANY NIGERIA PLC NESTLE NIGERIA PLC NORTHERN NIGERIA FLOUR MILLS PLC UTC NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

4 2 1 1 1 1 1 62

Company Name C&I LEASING PLC Sector Totals

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY Company Name CUTIX PLC Sector Totals

every three price movements on the downside, the overall market situation was generally negative. All key value indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) depreciated as the year-to-date return at the stock market worsened to -19.20 per cent.

Aggregate market capitalisation of all equities dropped from N6.434 trillion to close at N6.383 trillion while the All Share Index (ASI) dwindled from 20,175.54 points to 20,015.63 points. The NSE 30 Index, which measures price changes within the 30 most capitalized stocks bracket, dropped from 902.60 points to 894.25 points. NSE Food and Beverages Index slipped to 660.93 points as against 672.93 points. The NSE Banking Index declined to 272.48 points from opening index of 274.48 points while NSE Insurance Index and Oil and Gas Index dropped from 142.86 points and 233.99 points to 141.62 points and 231.60 points respectively.

Meanwhile, total turnover stood at 333.24 million shares valued at N2.31 billion in 4,211 deals. Banking subgroup accounted for 268.41 million shares valued at N1.57 billion in 2,457 deals. Insurance sector occupied the second position with 18.56 million shares worth N11.13 million in 62 deals while conglomerate sector recorded a turnover of 12.63 million shares worth N130.59 million in 228 deals.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

COMPUTER & OFFICE EQUIPMENT Company Name TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

By Taofik Salako

Company Name ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 1

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 1,270 635.00 1,270 635.00

Quotation(N) 1.67

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 400,960 673,836.20 400,960 673,836.20

PACKAGING Company Name No of Deals NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC 20 Sector Totals 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 1 17 1 29 23 145 13 229

Company Name ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LONGMAN NIGERIA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 9 11 21

Company Name UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 21 21

Company Name ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 6 6

Company Name UNITED NIGERIAN TEXTILES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 4 4

Quotation(N) 63.86 33.00 5.38 10.98 148.00 22.03 203.32

Quantity Traded Value 99 14,974 1,000 196,899 9,099 2,668,724 30,081 2,920,876

of Shares (N) 6,006.33 473,038.89 5,120.00 2,034,659.88 1,279,319.40 58,839,651.86 5,810,445.96 68,448,242.32

PRINTING & PUBLISHING Quotation(N) 2.60 5.08 3.90

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 2,000 4,940.00 201,615 996,288.60 917,493 3,581,365.00 1,121,108 4,582,593.60

Quotation(N) 12.65

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 134,200 1,697,690.00 134,200 1,697,690.00

REAL ESTATE

ROAD TRANSPORTATION Quotation(N) 0.52

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 197,256 101,575.56 197,256 101,575.56

Quotation(N) 0.78

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 84,000 65,520.00 84,000 65,520.00

TEXTILES

THE FOREIGN LISTINGS Company Name No of Deals ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED 46 Sector Totals 46

Quotation(N) 11.16

Quantity Traded Value of Shares (N) 660,507 7,479,633.85 660,507 7,479,633.85

Overall Totals

4,201

333,217,372

2,308,903,473.32

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

55

MONEY LINK

Foreign reserves flatten to $32.9b

N

IGERIAN foreign reserves have remained flat in the past four weeks. The reserves opened this week at $32.9 billion, exactly the same level it was on August 26.

The reserves had dropped to $34.9 billion on August 16, before it deteriorated to its current level, based on data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website.

The CBN said it was concerned about the sustained low level of the reserves in the face of higher oil output, higher oil exports volume and higher oil prices.

Stories by Collins Nweze Senior Correspondent

Before this reduction, the reserves had stood at $33.73 billion as at July 21, representing an increase of $1.84 billion or 5.77 per cent over the level attained on June 30.

Given that the current oil price level may not be sustained in the event of a slowdown in global economic recovery, the CBN said

tee (MPC) had at the last meeting, noted foreign capital inflows as at August, at $5.66 billion which is $1.06 billion or 23.04 per cent higher than the $4.60 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2010.

Experts say in a highly import-dependent economy with large pass-through effects of import prices on domestic prices like Nigeria, it is necessary to create a climate condu-

there was urgent need to pursue policies that would foster macroeconomic stability, economic diversification as well as encouraging foreign capital inflows.

Also, the foreign currency reserves equally stood at $37 billion as at July 4, 2010, and were up to $68 billion in August 2008 before the global financial crises impacted negatively on it, according to data from the CBN website.

The Monetary Policy Commit-

cive to larger foreign capital inflows.

This could be done through appropriate fiscal measures, particularly in the light of the gains that could be made in the current context of high crude oil prices. There is therefore need of continuing structural reforms and infrastructural development to enhance domestic production to reduce large import cost.

Oceanic Bank secures shareholders’ approval for ETI merger

S

HAREHOLDERS of Oceanic Bank International yester day overwhelmingly approved the planned merger with Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI).

At a court-ordered meeting, the shareholders consented to the entire proposal brought before them by the board of Oceanic Bank.

“Shareholders at the meeting gave their overwhelming support for the board and management to go ahead with the merger deal,” Group Managing Director, Oceanic Bank, John Aboh said.

He said both banks were coming together to form a solid larger bank that will deliver better returns to shareholders.

Aboh said that the entire reform process has taught shareholders and stakeholders that communication is very essential in everything.

He said that contrary to projections that share exchange ratio between ETI and Oceanic were 20 for one, it was actually 14 for one, adding that ETI paid N1.12k instead of N1.15k for each unit of Oceanic share.

“People thought that share exchange ration was 20 for one, but it is actually 14 for one. And also, if you look at the price, which of OceFGN BONDS

anic was suspended at N1.15k and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated is actually paying about N1.12k,” Aboh said.

He said that the combined entity is coming back together, not as an

asset striping corporation, but with the commitment to do business and create value for shareholders.

“It is the beginning of a new day for Oceanic Bank. It is the beginning of a new day for the combined

entity,” he said.

Aboh said that both parties will eventually decide based on the brand loyalty and so on what name will be chosen to represent the combined entity.

UBA boss emerges CEO of the Year

T

HE Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza has emerged the African Investor Ai 40 CEO of the year.

He emerged winner from a list of African business leaders including; Greg Mackay, CEO SAB Miller; Godwin Emefiele, CEO Zenith Bank, Nigeria; Sim Tshabalala, CEO Standard Bank, South Africa; Sifiso Dagbenwa, Group CEO MTN and

The awards referred to as the Ai Index Series Awards, instituted by African Investor (Ai), one of Africa’s leading international investment and communications group, recognises African CEOs, stock exchanges, listed companies, fund managers, stock brokers and research analysts who follow the Ai Index series and African equities.

It was held to round off the high profile investment summit themed

James Mwangi, MD Equity Bank, Kenya.

As the UBA boss, Oduoza is spearheading the renaissance of the panAfrican financial services group in Africa, implementing clear-cut strategies that drive the strong growth in the group’s operations across the continent said Carol Pineau, CEO, Africa Open for Business, during the awards ceremony held at New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday.

T

Represented by Bashir Yugudu, Minister of States for Works, Sambo said the aim of establishing the bank was to boost development in the building and construction sector.

He said the theme of the event, “Application of Local and Indigenous Building Materials,’’ underscored the preparedness of NIA to partner with the Federal Government in its

transformation agenda.

“This partnership is expected to culminate in the establishment and revival of the manufacturing concerns that are indigenously based,’’ he said.

He commended the NIA for the consistency it exhibited in the past 22 years, in ensuring healthy com-

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2011 “ 14-04-2011

GAINERS AS AT 27-9-11 SYMBOL FO LONGMAN IKEJAHOTEL RTBRISCOE REDSTAREX UNTL MAYBAKER UNITYBNK UPL CONTINSURE

O/PRICE 10.46 4.84 1.87 1.32 2.11 0.75 3.09 0.73 3.80 1.06

C/PRICE 10.98 5.08 1.96 1.38 0.78 1.38 3.19 0.75 3.90 1.08

CHANGE 0.52 0.24 0.09 0.06 0.03 0.06 0.10 0.02 0.10 1.89

LOSER AS AT 27-9-11 SYMBOL CADBURY FLOURMILL UACN OANDO UAC-PROP ASHKACEM CAP NAHCO DANGSUGAR STERLNBANK

O/PRICE 15.20 69.31 37.07 23.18 13.31 16.95 18.78 5.68 8.13 1.27

C/PRICE 14.44 65.85 35.22 22.03 12.65 16.11 17.85 5.40 7.73 1.21

Amount

Offered ($) Demanded ($)

MANAGED FUNDS

Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

petition in the building and construction sector. Sambo urged the institute to lay emphasis on skill acquisition and capacity building needed to sustain national growth.

The NIA President, Olatunji Bolu, expressed delight over the proposed bank, which he said would be of immense economic benefit to the country.

DATA BANK

Amount N

OBB Rate Call Rate

‘Linking US Investors to African Capital Markets’.

Speaking after receiving the award, Oduoza thanked the organisers and reaffirmed UBA’s commitment to the continent. “We are firmly committed to our strategic growth and development plans as an institution.

We will continue to provide the required leadership to ensure that we stay on course to achieve and surpass our growth projections,” he said.

Fed Govt to establish Construction Bank

HE Federal Government plans to float a construction bank that will provide low interest loans to estate developers.

Vice President, Namadi Sambo made the announcement yesterday in Abuja, at the closing ceremony of “ARCHIBULT 2011’’, a forum organised by the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA).

Tenor

NIDF NESF

He said that by the time the integration process is completed, the surviving entity in the combination will become the fifth largest bank in the country in terms of assets.

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)

19-09-11 N6.636tr 20,811.08

20-09-11 N6.657tr 20,875.32

% Change -0.32% -0.31%

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%

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

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 117.72 107.46 0.78 1.02 0.94 1,628.78 8.24 1.39 1.87 7,417.232 193.00

9.08 1.00 117.56 107.10 0.75 1.02 0.93 1,625.40 7.84 1.33 1.80 7,190.00 191.08

• KAKAWA GUARANTEED CHANGE 0.76 3.46 1.85 1.15 0.66 0.84 0.93 0.28 0.40 0.06

• 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 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

56

NEWS

ASUU rules out negotiation with Fed Govt T HE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday said it would no longer negotiate with Federal Government on the implementation of the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement.

Its Ibadan zonal Coordinator, Prof. Akin Ajisegiri, said there would be an indefinite strike.

“The Academic Staff Union of Nigeria Universities is now very worried. We are worried because almost all the other facets of Nigerian society do not see what we are seeing.

We have been shouting and crying about this issue for years. “ The prevailing situation in the society has vindicated our position. Nigerian state is not moving. Instead of progress what we see is stagnation. For how long are we going to be like this? We know for a fact that the development of any nation cannot go faster without the development of the educational sector.”

“Education is the bedrock of every developmental stag-

From Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan and Kofoworola Belo-Osagie

es and processes in all civilised world and aggregated society. We are becoming so worried because the Nigerian state is becoming increasingly unsafe for anybody to live in. We have all the indices. “ We are just not taking cognizance of them. For how long are we going to live in this type of fear? We have agitations everywhere. We all know that a hungry person is an angry person. People are hungry and people are angry.

The level of anger determines the way we react.

“We cannot move. There is the fear of the unknown of bomb scare in Nigeria, armed robbers (day and night) bombings in the East, West, North and South. If we are not properly educated, we cannot be productive, if we are not productive, we cannot move from the level that we are.

ASUU has been crying about improvement in the level of funding for the education sector. UNESCO has suggested that 26per cent budgetary allocation be made for education. ‘’ASUU President Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie yesterday said he received a call from an unidentified person in government who made overtures.

“We are looking forward to the implementation. They have our support. But let them implement it. They called me today to tell me they are working on it. They said the implementation involves the National Assembly, the Presidency and the Committee of Vice-Chancellors. They are the ones causing the problems.”

When asked how the Vicechancellors contributed to the strike, Awuzie said: “They are part of the problem because when asked to submit data about their institutions, they drag their feet,” he said.

Witness admits alterations to presidential poll results

T

HE Imo State collation officer for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the April 16 presidential polls, Prof Enoch N.T. Akobundu yesterday admitted that there were alterations in the result sheet he submitted.

Akobundu, a Deputy Vice Chancellor at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State was INEC’s sole witness that gave testimony at yesterday proceedings.

Under cross examination by counsel to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Abubakar Malami (SAN), he confirmed alteration on Form EC 8E (final result sheet containing results from the 21 Local Government Areas of the state), but quickly explained that the changes were done in the full glare of all stakeholders, including agents of some political parties who waited till the result was declared.

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja He said: “The alteration on the exhibit EPT 14 occurred before all the agents signed; the agents did not counter sign the result sheet because most of them did not wait till the final result was declared.”

Justifying the position of the commission that the presidential poll in Imo was free and fair, the witness said: “There was no shortage of election materials and no Presiding Officer or agent in the state was arrested throughout Imo State on the day of election as being alleged; all agents of political parties had free access to the collation centre where I was collation officer.”

A Certified True Copy (CTC) of Form EC 8E made available indicated that, figures from 11 of the 21 local government areas were altered, perhaps to reflect the accurate position.

Fed Govt’s concession agreement flawed, says ICRC

T

HE country’s inability to derive maximum benefit from most Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programme has been linked to some fundamental flaws in agreements entered into by the Federal Government, it was learnt yesterday.

The flaws were discovered

by Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (CRC), the agency responsible for infrastructure concessioning in the country.

The flaws are: poor project preparation, inadequate definition of output requirements, lack of knowledge and noncompliance with approved Public Private Partnership procurement process.

The commission said it identified some shortcomings in its enabling Act which it wants National Assembly to address.

Chairman, Governing Board of the commission Chief Ernest Shonekan, spoke yesterday while presenting the ICRC’s 2010 annual report and audited financial statements to President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House.

He said the shortcomings have impacted negatively on the PPP programme.

From Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

•Chief Shonekan

Shonekan did not name the affected concession agreements.

He, however said about 20 potential PPP projects were identified and are currently under development.

“Given our experience in the past year, it has become necessary to, once again, call on all MDAs to always develop and procure all PPP projects in line

with the National Policy on PPP (N4P).

“In doing this, ICRC should be consulted at the earliest stages for necessary guidance and support. It is also important that MDAs make adequate provisions in their annual budgets for project preparation,” he said.

The President directed the ICRC and other relevant government ministries, departments and agencies to expedite action on efforts to resolve difficulties in the implementation of concession agreements, especially that of the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway.

He said that all issues hindering the implementation of the agreement needed to be quickly resolved because of the critical importance of the expressway in Nigeria’s road transportation network.

President Jonathan also directed that arrangements be made for the ICRC to make a full presentation on its mandate and work to the Federal Executive Council to ensure that there is effective coordination and cooperation between the commission and MDAs in the implementation of concession agreements and Public Private Partnership projects.

Ex-VC urges cultural reawakening

By Toluwani Eniola A former Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Aw

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

57

NEWS Oshiomhole hailed over use of ‘democratic’ language

•’Anenih is learning fast’

A

CHIEFTAIN of the Edo State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Osamudiamen Obamwonyi yesterday chided some politicians for their use of ‘’undemocratic words’’: But he was full of praise for Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State who, according to him, does not belong to that category of politicians “We must look at the language of politicians and find how we can refine it. Such language as ‘do-or-die’, ‘we will capture’, ‘I have not decided on my successor’, are incompatible with democracy.” Obamwonyi said in a statement in Benin. He said: “Indications have emerged that the former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees’, Chief Tony Anenih must have enrolled in the Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole’s school of thought as the former has refrained from his undemocratic statements of “capturing Edo State” from the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria to “reclaiming the state”.

He said: “As a fast leaner, he has hidden his tail between his legs since the Comrade Governor took time to correct his undemocratic statements as we are not in a military regime or in an Animal Kingdom where hunters capture their prey. The old man has since changed his style and conforming to the democratic finesse postulated by Governor Oshiomhole, who believes Edo people cannot be captured’’.

Rights commission seeks speedy action on Abia rape case

T

HE National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the police to expedite action in its investigation of the rape of a female student of the Abia state University.

The Commission also wants the police to immediately arraign the suspects in court.

It called for adequate police protection and comprehensive medical examination for the victim who would have been exposed to sexually transmittable infections and unwanted pregnancy. The body described the gang- rape as cruel, dehumanising and unacceptable.

“It is a primitive act of violence against womanhood and those involved in this dastardly and beastly act should be made to give full account of their action” said the Commission Its Acting Executive Secretary Oti Ovrawah, who ex-

Police: we’ve not released any suspects

A

BIA State police command has dismissed media reports that two of the five suspects who allegedly gang raped a female student at the state university have been released.

The command said the two arrested suspects have not been released.

Commissioner of Police [CP],Bala Hassan, said they are still being held by the police command, adding that investigation is still ongoing.

Hassan said the police cannot just send the suspects home while they have not completed their investigation into the case.

He said interrogation of those already arrested is ongoing and that it will continue as long as the rape case remains unsolved. He said the police would soon solve the rape case.

From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

pressed shock and disbelief over the incident, welcomed the reported arrest of two suspects and said “…police pro-

From Ugochukwu Eke, Umuahia

He said: “There is no way the suspects would be released when we have not concluded our investigation and interrogation with them over the rape issue.”

Hassan gave reasons why the command has not allowed the identity of the suspects to be made public, saying that it is meant to stop mischief makers from slowing down their investigation.

He revealed that some people have gone to the internet to try to make the police lose focus on their investigation into the matter, adding that a case in point is when one person who posted some of the names of the alleged rapists on the internet said he made a mistake in respect of one of the names.

tection and medical care for the victim as well as diligent prosecution of the suspects are critical issues to be addressed.”

She described as embarrassing the initial dismissive ap-

proach by the relevant authorities in this matter without thorough investigation..

According to her, relevant government authorities must show capacity to sanction such a barbaric act in order to pre-

Six-month-old, others abducted in Owerri

T

HREE kids have been abducted in Owerri, Abia state, by unidentified women suspected to be a syndicate operators in the state capital and its environs.

The kids are six- month- old Munachi Ikwuazu, Uchechi Ukwuoma and Ugonma Ikwuazu.

They were allegedly taken

From Emma Mgbeahurike, Owerri

away while on their way back home after the 7.00am mass at St. Molumba Catholic Parish on Whetheral Road, Owerri.

Chinaza Ikwuazu (10), who was taking the victims home, said they were offered ice cream by a woman who took them to Ekeonunwa Market in a tricy-

cle.

She said while they were at the market, the woman put a call across to a member of her syndicate that she was in possession of some children.

According to her, the woman sent her to go and buy some items for her and by the time she returned from the errand , the woman had disappeared

with the three children to unknown place.

The incident happened barely one week after a suspected syndicate made away with a kid from St. Michael Immaculate Conception Parish, Orji.

Police spokesman Linus Nwaiwu confirmed the incident, saying the perpetrators would be arrested.

Mark defends huge Defence budgets

S

ENATE President David Mark yesterday defended the annual budget of the Ministry of Defence, saying no nation can progress without strong Armed Forces.

Mark also said that huge Defence budget is necessary because of the need for professionalism through continuous training in the Armed Forces.

The Senate President spoke at the inauguration of the Senate Committee on Defence and Army.

He said: “There is no democracy in the world today, strong democracy with strong econ-

From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

omy that has also not got equally strong Armed Forces.

They go hand in hand. They must work together because at the end of the day you have to defend your market.

“You are required to protect the territorial integrity of your country and it is important that we realise that ab initio.

“Our people sometimes give an impression that once you are in a democracy then you don’t need the Armed

Forces, no; the stronger a democracy, the more the Armed Forces.

“What I think this committee has to grapple with is not just the amount of money, and I say this without any bias at all.

“I know there is competing interest with the limited amount of money that we have and unfortunately for Defence, when you put in money into Defence, people would be saying why is so much money going in but what is coming out of it?

“Of course you don’t see anything going out like agriculture, or like health, or like water resources. But believe you me when they attack you then you know that something would come out of the money that we sink into the Defence.

“They have to be current.

Professionalism is a key issue in the Armed Forces and Army being the mother of the defence needs continuous training to be able to acquire the level of professionalism that we want.”

vent a recurrence and restore public confidence in the system.

Officials of the Commission in company of Mrs. Maryam Uwais, member of the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Children met with the Minister of Police Affairs Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd) last week and urged him to direct Police investigation into the matter.

The Commission, working with Dr. Chidi Odinkalu of Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), has forwarded a report of the Commission’s findings and recommendations to the Minister of Youth Development, Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi who has been co-ordinating efforts at unearthing the circumstances surrounding the act.

Funeral for ex-Rail worker PA SAMUEL Akinwumi Makinde, a retired Railway telecommunication officer, is dead. He died in Ibadan, Oyo State, on August 24. He was 81.

His remains will be interred on September 30 after a valedictory service at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Odo Ado, Ekiti.

According to a statement from the family, the wake keep for the late Makinde will hold on September 29 at Akodi Aduloju, Idemo, AdoEkiti home of the Makindes at 5pm.

He is survived by his wife, Roda, children and grandchildren, amomg whom are Yemi, Titi, Femi, Funke and Nike.

•The late Makinde

PUBLIC NOTICE TEENS FOR CHRIST FOUNDATION This is to notify the general public that the trustees of the above mentioned Foundation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under part C of the Companies and Allied Matter Act 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. Barr (Mrs.) Ifeoma Mike-Martins 2. Engr. Micheal Martins Umana 3. Barr (Mrs.) Adaobi Obowu 4. Mr. Chike Aduradu AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To groom teenagers and help them direct their passions and interests to the things of the Lord.

2. To organize free legal services for abused teens, rape victims, teens who suffer sexual assault and molestation, whose rights are violated; as well as the rehabilitation of teenage drug addicts, victims of rape etc.

3. To curb societal vices by organizing informative and educative seminars on sensitive areas e.g. career talks, sex education, home management, debate and quiz in secondary schools.

Any Objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days from date of this publication.

Signed: BARR (MRS) IFEOMA MIKE-MARTINS

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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NEWS Vision 20-20 committee set up From Kazeem Ibrahym, Uyo

T

HE Akwa Ibom State Government yesterday inaugurated a 10-man committee to work on how to achieve the Vision 20:20:20 project.

The committee has the Commissioner for Economic Development, Jerry Akpan as its chairman. The Commissioners for Finance, Bassey Akpan and Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs Eunice Thomas, are members.

Others are: Eddie Eyibo (Economic Development), Nse Ekefre (Finance) and Nicholas Ekarika (Budget Office), all Permanent Secretaries .

Also included are: Joseph Udo-Inyang ( Director, Economic Development), and Mrs. Enobong Okpongkpong. Eyo Abia would serve as secretary.

Akpan said the committee is necessary for the state to key into the agenda of the Federal Government towards the realisation of the Vision 20:20:20.

Akpabio’s NDA honour hailed

N

IGERIANS have continued to celebrate the recent award of Doctor of Management Sciences degree (Honoris Causa) given to Governor Godswill Akpabio by the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).

The state Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Cletus Bassey, has described the award as a recognition of the governor’s excellent services to the state and the nation.

Former Minister of

Commerce Senas Ukpana said the award was a public acknowledgment of Akpabio’s transformational leadership since he assumed office in 2007.

President-General of Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio Nse Ubeh said the award would silence the doubting Thomases, particularly as it came from an institution such as the military. Ubeh said the honour was Akpabio’s reward for a life of unremitting service to his people.

Edo urged to relocate community

T

HE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has urged the Edo State Government to relocate an erosionrisk community in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government to an alternative location.

The Director-General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, gave the advice in Abuja at a stakeholders meeting.

He said: “The gully erosion, which is a highly visible form of soil erosion that affects soil productivity, has claimed 20 lives and displaced more than 300 persons.”

Sani-Sidi said NEMA had sent experts to undertake comprehensive investigation and assessment of the problem to assist the different agencies/ministries.

He said the team observed that the gully sites were about nine years old.

T

Rivers traffic official kidnapped

HE Legal Officer of the Rivers State Road Traffic Management Authority (TIMA-RIV), Ms Cleverline Brown, was on Monday kidnapped in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Ms. Brown was kidnapped at 10 pm by four armed hoodlums, who came in a red Volkswagen Jetta saloon car.

She was attacked while driving to her house at Iwofe area.

The Nation gathered that the kidnappers took the TIMA-RIV official away in her Honda CRV Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), which was abandoned on Woke Street, off Rumuolumeni Road.

•Whereabouts of Edo businessman unknown From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt and Osagie Otabor, Benin

Police spokesman Ben Ugwuegbulam, who confirmed the incident, said the swift reaction by policemen led to the arrest of the driver of the Jetta car, simply identified as Prince, and recovery of the car.

Prince, according to Ugwuegbulam, hails from Omudioga in Ikwerre Local Government, but resides at Olodi Street, Eligbam, Port Harcourt.

Some property of TIMA-

RIV, including a beret, reflective jacket and a Motorola GP 340 radio, were recovered from Prince.

The police spokesman added that the suspect is being interrogated, while efforts are on to rescue Ms Brown.

The Controller-General of TIMA-RIV, Nelson Jaja, could not be reached for comments.

Governor Rotimi Amaechi established TIMA-RIV about a year ago, to ensure sanity on the state’s roads, just like what officials of Lagos State Road Traffic Man-

agement Authority (LASTMA) are doing in Lagos.

The whereabouts of Edo State businessman Nosakhare Eghobamien, who was abducted on Sunday, is still unknown.

His abductors are yet to contact his family.

Eghobamien was abducted by armed men dressed in military uniform in front of his home while returning from church.

His nephew, Eddy Eghobamien, said yesterday that they were yet to hear from the kidnappers.

‘I didn’t kill Edo Line’

E

DO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole yesterday in Benin absolved his administration of blame over the demise of the government-owned transport company, Edo Line.

“I was not involved in the death of the transport company, Oshiomhole, said at an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“I would rather be accused of not reviving the already dead company when I assumed office.

The governor said it was not economically wise and profitable to the people to invest in an already dead company. ‘’My attitude is different that government doesn’t need to maintain two companies.

“But the place was dead before I came.

You could accuse me of not having revived it. I have not been able to pull it back from death; it has not

resurrected, but, I am not responsible for the death.

But, there are challenges there. To be honest, I think because we are working hard to get our people to pay taxes and we are trying hard to convince them that it is in their interest that they pay the tax.

“So, it will be difficult for me to take Edo tax payers money to go and put in a company that is not going to add much value to their social lives.

“We needed to be wise and prudent in our spending of the very scarce resources.

I have no business subsidising the cost for people to travel from one city to another.

“This is to be left in the hands of the private sector and in my honest opinion, they are doing perfectly well.

“I would rather encourage the private sector to grow for them to provide roadbased transportation rather than government competing with the private sector.

•Oshiomhole at the forum...yesterday

Media must work for unity, says Oshiomhole

E

DO State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has said the nation’s unity is non-negotiable.

He urged the media to resist the temptation of giving valuable space to people, who have no stake in the unity of the country.

He spoke when the Chairman and Board of Directors of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), led by Patrick Ogbu, visited him.

Oshiomhole said the media must be at the vanguard of the promotion of unity in the country.

He said: “The NTA has contributed its quota to the Nigeria project and is helping to promote unity across various divide. I believe given the challenge of the past, we need national institutions, such as the NTA, to remind us of what unites rather than what divides us.

“For the media, it must resist commercial temptation to oblige people who have no stake in the unity of Nigeria

T

•Visafone chief challenges journalists on image

By Evelyn Osagie

or any part thereof.

“Even as we have challenges in the distribution of resources, I am convinced beyond doubt that no part of it can benefit from any division.

“The NTA must continue to side the forces that believe in the unity of the country and the unity of the country must flow from the unity of the parts. If the parts are divided they cannot stand.

“The media must be able to bring everybody into light and ensure that the rules of the game are obeyed.”

He urged NTA to be neutral in the coverage of the activities of the different parties, noting, however, that his government has enjoyed a cordial relationship with NTA in the state.

Ogbu commended the

governor for his acheivements in the state.

The Managing Director of Visafone Telecommunications, Sailesh Iyer, has called on the media to work at improving the nation’s image abroad.

He spoke yesterday at the presentation of The Moment newspaper at Sheraton Hotel & Towers,Ikeja, Lagos.

Iyer said the bad impression the international community has about Nigeria is as result of media reports on happenings in the country.

He urged The Moment to set the standard in journalism.

The keynote speaker, MD Universal Makan, Lekan Faseun, urged the media to seek to set agenda that would influence the nation’s economic development.

‘Rivers can revoke law on power distribution’

HE Rivers State Bureau of Public Procurement has said the state has the constitutional right to distribute electricity to the people by unbundling the law barring it from doing so.

The agency’s DirectorGeneral, Franklyn Nlerum, said the state could take advantage of the constitutional provision to unbundle the 130 megawatts it has in its Trans-Amadi gas turbine.

Nlerum spoke in Port Harcourt yesterday during a stakeholders’ consultative

From Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt

forum organised for journalists.

The DG said although power distribution is the exclusive preserve of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), the 1999 Constitution as amended, states that one of the obligations of government is to promote good governance and welfare of all persons.

Nlerum said the government could invoke the spirit and letter of these provisions to distribute electricity for 24 hours to Port Harcourt city and its environs.

He said: “I tell the government that give light to communities and companies and let the PHCN and the Federal Government sue you.

“The snag is that our problems and experiences hinder us from breaking new grounds. We want light and not megawatts. What is megawatt?”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

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Tomorrow in THE NATION

www.thenationonlineng.net

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL. 7

‘Can any group or individual, no matter how powerful, be above the law in a society where there is law and order? The answer is no. The fault is in our leadership and not in Boko Haram that it has become such a terror before which we LAWAL OGIENAGBON NO.1897 must all cringe’

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

T

ODAY marks another special moment in the history of the Nigerian Judiciary as we have just witnessed the swearing-in of Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher as the 12th Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher has a very rich and impressive legal background which eminently qualifies him for this appointment. The hallowed office of the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria carries with it onerous obligations. It requires the occupant of such an office to possess certain qualities: hard work, perseverance, ingenuity, a robust intellect and integrity.

Your Lordship, it is the expectation of the general public that as you assume office, the judiciary will remain totally committed to the cause of justice.

It is equally expected that your Lordship will at all times, particularly in the course of your service as the head of our nation’s judiciary protect and uphold the rule of law, respect and observe due process, exhibit great character and learning in the discharge of this sacred responsibility which God has placed on your shoulders.

And more importantly, inspire the confidence of the general public in the Administration of Justice.

It is my hope that your Lordship will steer the ship of the Nigerian Judiciary to the best of your ability at this moment when our dear nation and the Judiciary especially, is faced with daunting challenges. There is no doubt about the need to embark on comprehensive reforms in the Judiciary to enhance capacity, efficiency, and productivity as well as the perception and confidence of the general public in the ability of the judiciary to dispense justice.

The judiciary has a sacred duty to help ensure stability within the polity through the promotion of the rule of law, strict guardianship of the Constitution, and constant and unfailing application of the principles of justice.

To my mind, a vibrant judiciary, fulfilling its essence as the Third Estate of the Realm, acts as a restraining influence on the likely excesses of the Executive. It also provides a signal to all men that while their rights would be protected under the law, no form of impunity or wanton recklessness will be tolerated under the same laws. The fundamental value of the judiciary thus lies in the manner in which it builds a tradition of respect for the law.

Your Lordship, the most urgent task, with regard to the judiciary at this time, is to protect and ensure the sustenance of that tradition of respect for the law.

RIPPLES

NIGERIA NEEDS PRAYERS–Cleric

...and DELIVERANCE, too

OPEN FORUM By

GOODLUCK JONATHAN

Judiciary: Time for reforms

‘

Your main task therefore should be to further enhance the dignity of the courts, for on that foundation rests the integrity of our Constitutional Democracy. Every one of us must wake up every morning, confident that the judges of Nigeria will always protect our freedoms • Justice Musdapher

My Lords, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our judiciary has had quite an eventful history in contemporary times: from the era of military rule when its officers had to walk the tightrope between the enforcement of constitutional principles and the challenge of managing a military that combined both executive and legislative authority, to recent years when the separation of powers is well defined under a democratic framework. Political questions are now increasingly being resolved by the courts, a general awareness of the place of the courts as the last hope of the common man seems to be on the rise.

This is an encouraging development.

In many ways, the judiciary is proving to be a pillar of our Constitutional democracy; its potentials and value are well advertised.

But it is also, I must say, a judiciary that is faced with a lot of problems; in its relative success lies many unanswered questions, challenges and opportunities for fresh learning

’

and reform.

The wheel of justice, for example, still grinds rather slowly although many laudable efforts have been made to correct this. There are questions also about the quality and efficiency of the administration of justice with regard to procedures. This year, I had signed the Evidence Act and the Legal Aid (Amendment) Act as an indication of our preparedness to support all efforts to enhance the dispensation of justice.

We are prepared to continue to collaborate with the judiciary and the legislature to do everything possible to upgrade the performance of the judiciary as an institution.

However, a much bigger challenge is to be traced to Your Lordship’s reference at a recent public occasion to the widespread perception of a growing crisis of integrity within the judiciary.This is something that should be carefully addressed.

The reputation of judges, the public perception of their commitment and integrity, is cen-

HARDBALL

N

EARLY two months after the Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the Northeast was constituted to examine the Boko Haram crisis and recommend solutions, it has finally turned in its report. Before then, there were suggestions early this month that the panel in its interim report would ask the government to enter into dialogue with the sect. That report was not really made public.

However, in its final report presented to the Federal Government on Monday, the Ambassador Usman Galtimari-led committee has clearly asked the government to negotiate with the violent Islamist sect. It hoped the dialogue and other measures, including compensating religious organisations that suffered severe losses, would assuage the bitterness that fuelled what the panel described as a socio-economic revolt. The panel also called for the setting up of another broader committee with wider power to handle the assignment of finalising the solution to the Boko Haram menace.

Though the committee blamed security agencies for their inability to handle the security challenges constituted by Boko Haram, even accusing them of complicity in fuelling it, it nonetheless clearly identified the issues of lack of economic empowerment of teeming youths in the Northeast and general unemployment as factors predisposing the region to violence and

tral to the efficacy of the courts to uphold the law and dispense justice. Judges are expected to be impartial, independent-minded and fair to all concerned. A partisan judge compromises his or her oath of office and acts unfairly. A corrupt judge disgraces the Bench on which he or she sits and the title that he wears.

Judges should have power, and they do, but just as the Executive and the Legislature must not abuse their powers, judges are also expected to be above board.

Your main task therefore should be to further enhance the dignity of the courts, for on that foundation rests the integrity of our Constitutional Democracy. Every one of us must wake up every morning, confident that the judges of Nigeria will always protect our freedoms.

My expectation is that all judges whatever be their title or rank will cooperate with the Chief Justice of Nigeria to make his tenure successful. In-fighting, personality clashes, and needless acrimony within the judiciary can only serve the unwanted purpose of bringing the entire institution to ridicule. Nigerian judges themselves must see the need to set their institution on a path of renewal.

On the part of the executive, we pledge to make ourselves available and ready to partner with your Lordship on how to make the judiciary more efficient and inspire the generality of our citizens to become more confident about the capacity of the judiciary to do justice to all men.

To this end, this administration will give full support to your Lordship’s Reform Initiatives and necessary funding will be made available.

My Lords, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I will personally liaise with the National Assembly to support constitutional amendments necessary to further ensure the independence of the Judiciary and improve Judicial efficiency. Efforts would also be made to liaise with the State Governors to ensure that state judiciaries are also adequately provided for by giving full effect to the provision of S.121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Finally, I wish Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher, CFR the best of luck as he assumes the leadership of the Nigerian judiciary.

I thank you all.

•Being the text of a speech delivered at the swearing-in of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon Justice Dahiru Musdapher, at the State House, Abuja, on September 26

•Mohammed Haruna returns next week

•Hardball is not the opinion of the columnist featured above

Boko Haram panel’s conclusions instability. It also identified the issue of the injustice visited on Boko Haram leaders and members as some of the reasons that drove the sect to extremes. So far, from all the reports circulating on the committee’s work, there is nothing acknowledging the religious objectives of Boko Haram. Perhaps when the full details of the committee’s work are released, an insight into that muted aspect would be given.

It is hard to belittle the work done by the Boko Haram committee, or deny the relevance of their panaceas. The Northeast is acknowledged as one of the poorest political zones in the country. Its teeming and restive youths were, therefore, likely to find extremism and lawlessness attractive. Though it did not claim to have spoken directly to the leadership of the sect, the committee gave indication it had the understanding the sect would be willing to have the Sultan of Sokoto or his representatives, the Emir of Bauchi, and Sheik Abubakar Gero Argungu as members of a new committee to negotiate with Boko Haram. This last fact must be a relief to the government, even as it is instructive.

Having failed to nip the crisis in the bud, and because it was unable to summon the will and tactics to fight the sect from the beginning,

the government will now find it enormously difficult, if not impossible, to ignore the recommendations of the committee it set up to look into the crisis. In fact, even before the committee turned in its report, neither the committee nor the government was able to overcome the temptation to compare the Boko Haram menace with the militancy that destabilised the Niger Delta until an amnesty programme pacified the oil zone. The government did not also make things easy for itself by dithering for far too long over what solution to apply to the Boko Haram crisis – whether stick or carrot, or both. As the Galtimari committee has suggested, the government will now most likely set up another expanded committee to dialogue with the sect, make huge payouts to buy peace and then muddle through an economic programme involving the states where Boko Haram has festered.

In the medium to long run, however, the government will have to contend with the consequences of acquiescing to the linkage between socio-economic privations and violent revolts. It will probably hope that other deprived areas of the country, where youth unemployment is equally high, would not find taking up arms against the state tempting.

Published and printed by Vintage Press Limited. Corporate Office: 27B Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos. P.M.B. 1025,Oshodi, Lagos.

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