Thursday 5th May 2016

Brains and Hammers Launches New City in Abuja Bennett Oghifo

T H I S D AY S P E C I A L R E L E A S E

Brains and Hammers Limited, a foremost real estate and infrastructure development group, has commenced the construction of a new housing development comprising 3,500 homes named “Brains

& Hammers City” in the heart of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

Aligning with the federal government’s declaration of a 17 million housing deficit, Brains and Hammers said

in a statement that it would construct a turnkey residential and commercial project that consists of 3,500 units ranging from one bedroom apartments, two-bedroom flats, three-bedroom flats,

four-bedroom terraces, fourbedroom semi-detached and five-bedroom fully detached modern homes. The 72-hectare project will be located in the district of Life Camp, Abuja.

Keeping in line with the company’s aim to provide secure quality gated

communities, the Brains and Hammers City will feature infrastructure like 24/7 electricity, a water treatment plant, gymnasium, jogging track, schools, hospital, swimming pool, mini-theme park for kids, a spa, restaurants, cinema, parks

and gardens, etc.

In addition, the commercial area will consist of major branded retail supermarkets, office spaces, schools and clinics. The city will cater to mid and high-level residents Continued on page 6

Sanusi Confirms Amaechi Leaked Letter on Missing $49.8bn...

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Thursday 5 May, 2016 Vol 21. No 7679. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

TODAY'S WEATHER

ABUJA 16°C-33°C

MAIDUGURI 15°C-35°C

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& RE A S O

ENUGU 22°C-34°C

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KANO 11°C-33°C

LAGOS 23C-31°C

PORT HARCOURT 20°C-30°C

With Huge Gas Reserves of 650bcf, Lagos Joins Oil Producing States Ejiofor Alike After spending 25 years exploring for hydrocarbon resources off the coast of Lagos, Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum, in partnership with Panoro Energy ASA and First Hydrocarbon Nigeria (FHN) Limited, among others, finally catapulted Lagos State into the league of oil and gas producing

states in the country.

Panoro, an independent oil and gas company based in the United Kingdom, announced yesterday that oil production had commenced from the Aje oil field located in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 113, offshore Lagos, on Tuesday, May 3.

Of greater significance also Continued on page 8

FEC Approves 34 Priority Programmes for Implementation

Targets appropriate exchange rate, low interest rate Nigeria, Cameroun to continue fight against Boko Haram Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday, at its meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, adopted 34 strategic priority programmes that the federal government will implement in 2016 once the budget is signed into law.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai

Mohammed; Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Investment, Ms. Aisha Abubakar; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Senator Khadijat Bukar Abba Ibrahim; and Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, briefed State House correspondents in Abuja on the outcome of

SEE

LIKE

BUY

Continued on page 6

GOOD TIDINGS FROM NIGERIA TO CAMEROUN

President Muhammadu Buhari (right), presenting a framed photograph to President Paul Biya of Cameroun and his wife, Chantal, at the world press conference held in Abuja… yesterday

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THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016 T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016

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THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016 T H I S D AY

Access Bank Plc RC125384

RETURNS ON UTILIZATION OF FUNDS PURCHASED FROM THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA DATE OF RETURNS: 28/04/16 SN

CUSTOMER

FORM M/A NUMBER

LC, BC or INV

ITEM OF IMPORT

DATE OF FUND PURCHASE

EXCHANGE RATE

AMOUNT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164

NAMPAK ABC POLYMERS LIMITED AZUBROS BOND CHEMICAL IND LTD CKS INTERNATIONAL LTD DAG MOTOCYCLE DE CHIMEX ALUMINIUM & STEEL D-MARC INTERNATIONAL NIG EKO SUPREME RESOURCES ELECTRONIC PAYPLUS EVERLITE INTEGRATED RESOURCES NIG LTD FOLAWIYO ENERGY LTD G MOER AND SONS INLAKS COMPUTERS LTD INTEGRATED OIL AND GAS IPCA PHARMA NIG LTD JOF NIGERIA LTD JOSUCAM INDUSTRIES KARMA MILK INDUSTRIES KUKA PHARM LBENERG LIMITED M.C. PLASTIC LIMITED MULTIBASE PHARMA IND NIGER BISCUIT CO LTD NU-LYNE INTL PET AND PEETIS SYSTEMS PISCES POWER PJS PRODUCTS PRESTIGE COSMETICS LTD QUALITEC INDUSTRIES LTD QUANTUM PACKAGING NIG LTD ROYAL PACKAGING SAGAR OVERSEAS SAHARA SANNI PHIL COMPANY LIMITED SEWATECH SHIV LILA POLYMERS LIMITED SHIV LILA POLYMERS LIMITED SIEGWERK WEST AFRICA SIMS NIGERIA LIMITED SKY INDUSTRIES NIG LTD SPECIALITY PULP AND PAPER LTD STRATEGIC ENERGY LIMITED TECHNO OIL LIMITED TOYOTA NIGERIA LTD UCAK NIG LIMITED UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC VEEVEE PAPER PRODUCTS LTD VIRAMSUN NIG LTD ZINOX TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED BLAKENEY MANAGEMENT AIR FRANCE AIR FRANCE AIR FRANCE ADEBIYI ADEREMI NELSON ADELEYE OMOWONUOLA ADETUTU ADESUYI ADENIYI ADEYEMI BEATRICE ABIMBOLA AKINDOYIN RICHARD AKPAN ANNE JOHN AMPITAN ADEWOLE AKINYEMI ANDREW OMOWUMI MARY ANYANWU BERTRAM ARUWAYO OLADELE AWAGU KASIE KELVIN BLESSING OBILERI CHIJIOKE EMEKA HAROLD CORONA SONUGA-OYE EGEJURU VICTOR EKWEMPU ADAOBI EMMANUEL DUDARI ENAHOLO GABRIEL GABRIEL ODOGWU IBANGA INYANG IBRAHIM LAWAL IFEANYI JUDE IFEYINWA NWOKIKE ISA GARBA JAWAD TAHER JONATHAN KAFILAT KUPOLATI JOHNSON TAIWO LORI VINCENT MADUBUKO EMEKA MARIAM IKUPOLOWO MENTIE JOY MODIBBO ALIYU MR AND MRS OGUNTADE MUKHTAR ABDU NIGERIA MORTGAGE NJOKU CLEMENT NNEBOCHA NWANNEKA NWANKWO LINUS NWANKWO LINUS NWOKEDI IFEANYI OBALEKE PATRICK OBATERU KEHINDE ODUNUGA OLADEJO ODUSANYA ADEYEMI ODUSANYA ADEYEMI OLUWASESAN ODUYEMI JUMOKE OGHUMU RUTH OGUNJOBI OMOBOLARINWA OGUNLEYE ADEOLA ABOSEDE OGUNYEMI EMMANUEL OJELEYEBABAJIDE OKECHUKWU CHIDINMA OKEKE MICHAEL OKUNOLA WALEADE OLADAPO OLALEKAN OLAYEMI OLUDELE OLUYOMI BADEJO OMIUNU OLABISI OMOJUSARIBI JULIUS OMORINOYE ADETOUN ONASANYA SOBOWALE ONIKOYI IBIKUNLE ONNADEPO LOLA ONYEKWELU DATA ONYEMELUKWE OKEY UZO OSINEYE SAMUEL OTUYA ENEGIDE OWUAMANAM DANIEL PATRICIA ADEKALU PATRICIA ADEKALU RANA FADLALLAH SALEH MAINA SAMINU SANI ZAGE SANUSI OLALEKAN SARATA CATILDA EGELE SARATA CATILDA EGELE SEGUN BELLO TETEH CAMILLUS UCHEGBULAM STELLA UDOGIE OMORUYI UDOGIE OMORUYI UDOGIE OMORUYI UDOH JEANETTE UNONGO GRACE YEKINI YETUNDE ABBAS OMOBOLANLE ADERIBIGBE ADEWALE AGBOBU JOSEPHINE AKINDE AFOPEFOLUWA ARASIM ABIOLA KARIMOT ARASIM WUNMI MORINHAT BUSARI RAHEEMAT EDOCHIE ROWLAND EKWUEME EMEKA PETER ERHIMEDAFE M AMAKA FAFIYEBI TOSIN TEMITOPE FAJEMIROKUN YINKA JINDAL SURBHI JINDAL TARUN MANOHAR TEJWANI MOHAMMED YESUFU OBI NNENA ISABELLA OGUNDAIRO KIKE OJO OLUWAFEMI ADEYINKA OKAFOR IJEOMA LILIAN OKPUGO LILIAN ONUKO CHIDI RUFAI IDRIS RUFAI OLUWAKEMI SUNITA TEJWANI

MF20140167184 MF20150056599 MF20150110964 MF20160043627 MF20160045807 MF20160040991 MF20150133874 MF20150111258 MF20150142892 MF20160042956 MF20150110132 MF20160028321 MF20150063313 MF20160045677 MF20150084177 MF20160044656 MF20160037613 MF20160039934 MF20160046029 MF20150144983 MF20150010048 MF20160020216 MF20160043546 MF20160048727 MF20160011311 MF20150091751 MF20150071711 MF20160005922 MF20160042304 MF20160045225 MF20150040974 MF20150143047 MF20160043876 MF20150111693 MF20150131676 MF20150049168 MF20150082631 MF20150106240 MF20160040631 MF20160040398 MF20160044476 MF20150052808 MF20160049618 MF20150061396 MF20160049377 MF20160047720 MF20160043614 MF20160037253 MF20160039831 MF20150072354 AA2489229 AA2762123 AA2423429 AA2762122 AA2698845 AA2427248 AA2306590 AA2680840 AA263087 AA1248410 AA2310997 AA2688690 AA001894 AA2437971 AA2830128 AA2830558 AA2837976 AA2702715 AA2709284 AA1949899 AA2705915 AA1922926 AA2837948 AA2415599 AA2553778 AA2357628 AA2319646 AA283797 AA2702444 AA2474938 AA1891146 AA1952962 AA2830963 AA2843136 AA2639010 AA2837522 AA2698875 AA2843474 AA2474054 AA2707507 AA2602879 AA2487730 AA2487731 AA1684343 AA25800547 AA2755186 AA2657808 AA2843378 AA2478274 AA2843410 AA1874183 AA2843167 AA2762747 AA1917210 AA2430774 AA2406831 AA2702396 AA1365746 AA2698697 AA2780469 AA1930498 AA2442606 AA2843389 AA2495701 AA2830677 AA2830910 AA2686341 AA2601761 AA2491530 AA2843217 AA2493850 AA1684347 AA2702876 AA2702875 AA2857415 AA2657818 AA2762974 AA2493642 AA2491448 AA2491447 AA2457844 AA1936094 AA2843210 AA2830480 AA2830479 AA2830484 AA2843434 AA1949896 AA2705586 -

BC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC LC INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV INV

PAPER BOARD IN SHEETS 198 MT PVC RESIN GRADE 225P/F622/123OP ALHAM INSTANT GINGER DRINK RAW MATEIRALS AND PACKAGING MATERIAL PRODUCT OF AGRICULTURE MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE BAJAJ BOXER-BM100CC MOTORCYCLE IN CKD PACKED CONDITION PLAIN ALUMINUM COIL LABORATORY EQUIPMENT ODORIFEROUS SUBSTANCE TOTALASE WIN (ENZYME) SODIUM CARBONATE (DENS) SMARTCARDS ALUMINIUM WIRE PREMIUM MOTOR SPIRIT SONIK MOSQUITO SWATTER MODEL HYD-4403.

NAUTILUS HYOSUNG BRAND CASH DISPENSER UNIT 30,000.00 MT (+/- 10 PERCENT) OF UNLEADED GASOLINE (PMS) LARIDOX SP TABLETS LIQUID GLUCOSE BICYCLE SPARE PARTS INSTANT FAT FILLED MILK POWDER PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS ESSESNTIAL RAW MATERIAL USED IN MANUFATURING PROCESS POLY PROPYLENE COPOLYMER PVC FILM - 250 MICO SODIUM BICARBONATE FOOD GRADE INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIAL AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND SPARES CKD GENERATING SET GLYCERINE USP 99.7% MICRO TALC ALUMINIUM PLAIN COILS 400MT OF INDUSTRIAL RAW MATERIAL - FLOTING IN REELS PRINTED ALUMINIUM SHEETS PHARMACEUTICAL RAW MATERIALS GASOLINE TECHNO, MODEL: T347, OTHER FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENTS AND PIPES OF VULCANISED RUBBER PLASTIC RAW MATERIAL "PLASTIC RAW MATERIALS: VARIOUS COLORED UNIBASE MASTERBATCHES ROYAL CHEST FREEZER IN CKD LDPE LOTRENE FD0274 PAPER PROJECT MACHINERY AND ACCESSORIES 6 UNIT OF ELIXIR ELECTRONIC STATIONARIES LPG FILLING MACHINE PMS 26 UNITS OF TOYOTA HILUX MOTOR VEHICLES ELECTROL - IA. INHIBITED TRANSFORMER OIL CONFORMING TO IEC296 PARSLEY LEAVES 2-4MM. 750 CARTONS EACH 8 KG NET IN 40'' HC CONTAINER. TEST LINER IN REELS RAW MATERIAL FOR EXERCISE BOOK PRODUCTION CKD ZINOX SMART BAREBONE FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN REPATRIATION AIR TICKET REMITTANCE FOR JAN 2016 AIR TICKET REMITTANCE FOR FEB 2016 AIR TICKET REMITTANCE FOR NOV 2015 SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES SCHOOL FEES PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA PTA

4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16 4-May-16

197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50 197.50

149,597.12 82,800.00 67,400.00 40,425.00 89,276.35 152,925.00 161,627.00 91,445.65 100,000.00 22,813.05 60,544.40 500,000.00 26,024.00 194,300.00 306,850.21 32,820.00 138,000.00 27,600.00 143,000.00 64,570.25 119,978.80 74,700.00 31,500.00 7,101.00 45,000.00 11,000.00 52,012.80 6,140.08 20,020.00 100,000.00 141,885.38 67,300.00 10,340.00 500,000.00 186,382.95 22,052.87 150,960.00 46,695.10 31,220.00 113,982.00 23,632.50 38,500.00 49,500.00 419,599.80 435,562.00 93,020.00 20,672.56 12,088.14 127,418.80 300,000.00 2,000,000.00 154,779.22 320,832.38 274,388.40 3,950.00 10,000.00 2,061.00 6,500.00 2,981.00 600.00 6,054.14 10,000.00 2,748.86 1,640.00 2,097.84 7,000.00 5,000.00 6,543.75 2,662.91 9,000.00 1,545.79 400.00 3,956.98 3,000.00 1,150.00 6,462.00 6,866.98 9,186.60 7,610.00 6,500.00 8,391.37 2,242.71 1,258.71 8,191.39 7,716.74 7,932.09 8,000.00 9,000.00 2,737.61 3,935.94 800.00 4,709.61 5,034.82 3,528.08 1,561.72 9,186.60 9,952.15 9,000.00 9,000.00 1,300.00 3,316.59 6,687.87 6,973.23 7,000.00 2,583.73 1,330.00 5,873.96 807.00 1,300.00 6,728.06 9,186.60 750.57 1,000.00 866.69 6,124.40 5,963.63 1,192.40 5,000.00 2,300.00 5,000.00 2,517.41 10,000.00 1,565.00 3,000.00 7,000.00 2,000.00 5,000.00 6,000.00 1,837.32 1,837.32 2,342.58 8,495.42 6,124.40 1,019.55 1,271.29 1,678.27 2,418.00 1,948.77 4,593.30 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00 4,000.00

T H I S D AY THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016

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PAGE SIX

CCB: Buhari, Osinbajo, Saraki’s Assets Verified

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has said it has completed the verification of the assets declared by President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki and other top government officials in the

current dispensation.

A statement issued yesterday by the bureau’s Head, Press and Protocol Unit, Mohammed Idris, said any report claiming that the assets of the aforementioned individuals are yet to be verified is false.

He faulted a newspaper publication which claimed that the verification of the

assets of Buhari and other government officials by the CCB was still ongoing.

Idris, an assistant director in the bureau, said the newspaper publication was a ruse targeted at undermining the ongoing trials before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), but did not clarify which trials he was referring to.

The statement added that under Buhari's administration, the CCB had recorded an increased level of compliance on assets declaration by public officials.

“The bureau wishes to inform the general public that it has since concluded the verification of assets declared by those mentioned in the said

publication.

“The said publication is another trick to misinform the public so as to undermine the ongoing trials of cases of false declaration of assets before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

“Since the inception of the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari, the rate of compliance by

public officials in responding to assets declaration has greatly increased.

“The bureau will like to use this medium to appeal to those who are yet to declare their assets to visit the Asokoro Head Office at No. 23, Haile Selassie Street, Asokoro, Abuja to collect, fill and submit same to the office,” the CCB said.

Ajaokuta railway line in 2016. We are also revising the National Rail Master Plan which is commencing with the construction of the Lagos-Kano standard gauge line and also to finalise the negotiations regarding the Calabar-Lagos rail line.

“Of course, the objective of this is to increase the availability of mass transit transportation in order to relieve pressure on roads infrastructure. The Ministry of Transportation is leading in this regard, working in collaboration with Ministries of Finance and Budget and National Planning to ensure the required funding is available for this project.

“There is also a plan to undertake the rehabilitation and construction of 31 major projects and restore the degraded sections of some major highways and improve connectivity over a distance of 210,093 kilometres through public works maintenance, public-private partnerships (PPPs) and other interventions. The objective is to ease the movement of people and enhance road movement and connectivity.

“The fourth thematic area is oil and gas reforms.

One of the key objectives is to adopt and execute a comprehensive national oil and gas policy, which is supposed to be the road map for the petroleum industry development diversification, as well as privatisation, and also to adopt and execute a roadmap for the stoppage of gas flaring in our country.

“We are setting a threeyear deadline to achieve self-sufficiency in refined petroleum products and to become a net exporter of petroleum products. The objective of this is to increase domestic supply of refined products and to reduce demand on foreign exchange for importing refined products in our country. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources is pushing this.

“There is also a plan to push for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in conjunction with the National Assembly.

“Nigeria has been classified as one of the countries that is very poor in terms of ease of doing business, so we have a target to move 20 places up the ranking from 169 to 149.

“We are going to do this by implementing a number of measures specifically targeted

at fast-tracking business approvals, acquisition of land titles, and the issuance of visas for persons seeking to come into our country and do business.

“The sixth area is in investment in the lives of our people by implementing various social projects covering health, education and the essence is to bring succour to the poor and vulnerable to achieve the targets set by the Social Protection Policy which is currently under production.

Almost every ministry has a role to play in this.

“On the health sector, we plan to rehabilitate 5,000 primary health centres in 5,000 wards in 2016. The objective is to deliver affordable health care services to Nigerians as closely as possible to their homes.”

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs presented notes on Buhari’s participation at the Nuclear Summit held in Washington D.C., United States.

The minister said: “The importance is to join world leaders in the fight against terrorism.”

Meanwhile, Presidents Buhari and Paul Biya of Cameroun have agreed to continue to support the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) until Boko Haram is eliminated.

Both countries also agreed to continue to abide by the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Bakassi Peninsula.

Responding to questions during a joint press briefing which followed the signing of a bilateral agreement on security, among other key areas, between Nigeria and Cameroun, Buhari assured his Camerounian counterpart that Nigeria remained a law abiding and respectful country and would not act contrary to the ICJ judgment.

A camerounian journalist had asked Buhari why Nigeria was still producing crude oil from the oil-rich Bakkassi Penunsula despite the judgment of the ICJ that ceded the region to Cameroun.

In his response, Buhari told Biya and his people to put their minds at rest, adding that a committee had been set up with members from both countries to deliberate on the matter.

He remarked that while the report of the committee was being awaited, Cameroun had nothing to worry about, as

Nigeria would not contravene the decision of the ICJ. He said: “On this issue, I will like the government and people of Cameroun to keep their minds at peace.

We (Nigerians) are an internationally respectful and abiding nation. Somehow there was a crisis between the two nations on the Bakassi Penisula over the hydrocarbon exploitation. This issue was dealt with by the International Court of Justice.

“The technical part of the extent of international interest forms the second part of your question. On maritime resources, there is a committee of experts comprising Camerounians and Nigerians.

“I cannot fully answer that question until after the results of this committee report gets to us and when they submit the report, I expect that with a few of us that are still around, we shall sit together and see what is the best way for the two countries. So feel secure and be at peace.”

Also reacting to a question on why Cameroun allegedly harboured suspected terrorists who ran to the country for safety, Biya dismissed the allegation as unfounded.

He maintained that Cameroun was committed to ending the insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin, adding: “Yes, I have heard of this information. I heard it in New York during the conference that Cameroun serves as a base for Boko Haram, but what can Cameroun benefit from that?

“Is it the ideologies? Are we going to benefit from finances?

No. It was just bad press.

Cameroon remains focused and committed to the fight against Boko Haram.”

Also at the dinner and cultural night organised in honour of the visiting president and his wife, Chantal Biya, at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday night, Buhari conveyed his thanks to the Camerounian government for giving protection to over

“This estate will set the tone for every new homeowner to experience an enhanced quality lifestyle as we have the capability to customise any feature for your new home.

“The Brains & Hammers City will be the ultimate live, eat, work and play environment for years to come, but more importantly, we want to also provide affordable homes for working Nigerians who hitherto thought owning a

home was beyond their reach,” said Mr. Umar Abdullahi, Managing Director of Brains and Hammers Ltd. In making homes affordable, Brains and Hammers is offering the opportunity to own a home to every working class Nigerian.

It has several home ownership programmes and mortgage routes to ensure the dream of home ownership is realised, said the group.

FEC APPROVES 34 PRIORITY PROGRAMMES FOR IMPLEMENTATION the meeting.

Speaking on the areas targeted by the federal government, Ahmed said the 34 specific areas were grouped into four major objectives.

She said: “The first is policy, governance and security, second diversification of the economy, the third is creating support for the poor and the vulnerable and the fourth is reflating our economy through investment.”

She said each of these programmes had very clear deliverables, targets and indicators, which would be measured to ensure that the respective ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) deliver on what they are committed to implement.

The minister said she expected the National Assembly to transmit the budget to President Muhammadu Buhari either yesterday or today.

“On the 2016 budget, I must say the executive and legislature have worked very hard at putting things together, reviewing the details of the budget and is at its final stage, so maybe between today and tomorrow the National Assembly will start the process of transmitting the details to the president,” she added.

She also said that the 34 priority areas to be implemented in 2016 had been categorised into six thematic areas.

Other than the Budget and National Planning Ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also presented memos that were approved, she disclosed.

Ahmed added: “We discussed the strategic implementation plan for the budget. Our ministry’s presentation was introduced to council for discussion on priority economic activities that we need to undertake to ensure that the purpose for which the 2016 budget was made which is to stimulate the economy – to create jobs for our teeming youths and to extend support to the poor and very vulnerable – is realised.

“The paper was well received by council. We got some very positive comments and the 34 priority programmes were approved for implementation.”

She added that her ministry was given the responsibility of tracking and reporting on a quarterly basis to the council

on the performance of these key priority areas.

While giving a further breakdown of the strategies, the minister said: “There is policy, governance and security and one item from that is to achieve and maintain a capital spend of a minimum of 30 per cent on an annual basis starting from 2016.

“The objective of doing that is to reflate the economy and enhance employment generation capacity for the productive sector.

“Another area is to achieve an appropriate exchange rate regime, so the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is leading this particular action. The objective is to achieve a predictable exchange rate by the end of 2016.

“Let me emphasise that when we say we want to move towards a predictable exchange rate in the country, we are not planning to devalue the naira.

“The CBN and the monetary policy committee are working on this and this will be concluded and made public to enable users to be able to predict the exchange rate at any point in time.

“There is also a target for us to achieve low interest rates for the real sector, so the focus is to achieve an interest rate that is single digit maybe nine per cent and the purpose is to increase output and growth.

“Again the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment along with CBN are taking action on this.

“We also have a target to maintain a stable debt management strategy so that we can optimise local and foreign debts that we have, and the Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office (DMO) will be taking action on this.

“On the thematic area of diversifying the economy, we plan to implement measures to achieve self sufficiency and become a net exporter of certain agricultural produce, the first one being rice. We plan to attain self-sufficiency in rice production by 2018, in tomato paste 2016 and also increase local production of maize, soya beans, poultry and livestock, and the deadline for these will be announced later in the year.

“The Ministry of Agriculture is still trying to work out details. It means we will stop importing and we will get to a point when we

will start exporting.

“We also have plans to expand the agro-allied sector to intensify local production of cassava, cocoa, cashew nuts, fruits and sesame seeds and the agriculture ministry is also leading in that area.

“There is also a plan to make use of 5,000 hectares of arable land in the 12 River Basin Development Authorities and to utilise 22 dams for commercial farming by prospective investors and the objective is to extend farming so that it can become an all year round activity and that there is productivity all year round.

“There is also a plan to implement a roadmap to increase private sector investment in tourism and sports, and the objective is to increase investment in the services sector thereby increasing job creation and youth employment.

“The power, rail and road projects are also very important priority areas.

There are a number of specific activities but one of them is to optimise up to 7,000MW of installed capacity and to ensure the associated infrastructure to ensure we transmit and distribute this capacity at the maximum operational level that is obtainable and also to conclude the privatisation of the NIPP plants and improve management and performance of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). The Ministries of Power, Works and Housing, as well as Finance are leading in this regard.

“The target deliverable is to increase the availability of power thereby enhancing investment, productivity and employment and business growth in our country.

“There is also the priority objective of resolving all issues that have to do with gas pricing. The availability of gas is very key to the availability of power, so gas pricing is a priority and is currently being addressed and will be finalised and payments will be made to the gas suppliers who are being owed significant amounts of money.

“Also, there is a plan to conclude the roadmap on development in gas production. The objective of this is to increase investment and gas supply by the oil industry.

“There is also a plan to complete the Kaduna-Abuja-

BRAINS AND HAMMERS LAUNCHES NEW CITY IN ABUJA at affordable price points, the group stated.

Brains and Hammers has positioned itself as a leader in the real estate and infrastructure industry. It has completed over 1,000 residential homes across Nigeria and work is currently ongoing for over a 1,000 more.

Its current development portfolio consists of residential projects within Lagos and Abuja.

The sites include Life Camp,

Galadimawa, Gwarimpa, Apo I, Apo II, Apo III, Apo IV, Apo V, all in Abuja and along the Lekki corridor in Lagos.

The group has also succeeded in providing infrastructure of access roads and streetlights of over 10 kilometres leading to their various estates, all complete with adequate drainage and streetlights as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). Brains and Hammers

continues to provide trade and vocational employment opportunities to each surrounding community.

“The Brains & Hammers City is an exciting new 72-hectare real estate development project we are embarking on. We’ve managed to incorporate international building codes and standards with mid-to-high end features while maintaining a safe community for living and entertaining.

Continued on page 8

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

NEWS

Anisulowo Recounts Her Ordeal, Says She Lived on Water for Seven Days Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta Former Minister of State for Education, Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, has narrated her experience during her sevenday ordeal in the hands of her abductors.

Speaking to journalists after she arrived the Government House, Abeokuta, Ogun State on Tuesday night, Anisulowo said she survived solely on water, adding that she did not eat throughout the seven days of her captivity.

She said her confidence in the courage and fighting spirit of the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, in securing her freedom was what kept her alive and hopeful that she would eventually regain her freedom.

She recalled that she had to shun the food offered by her abductors and remained prayerful throughout her captivity, saying: “I’ve been on water, I did not eat anything throughout.”

She added: “I’m short of words, but I want to thank the governor and also thank God. I want to thank His Excellency for all the efforts you have put in with the security agents.

“I know the courage you have and the spirit to fight to the end and that was what kept me alive in the bush. I had the assurance that with the security agents that you

have, you will work it through, so I thank God.” The governor, who also spoke shortly after welcoming Senator Anisulowo back, disclosed that the kidnappers raised her ransom from N100 million to N200 million because of his involvement in the search for the female politician.

Amosun said the leaders of the kidnapping gang abused him “thoroughly” on the telephone in a conversation he had with them while the search for Anisulowo lasted.

According to him, the kingpin of the group accused him of “poke nosing” into an issue that did not concern him, rather than facing his primary duty of governing the state.

Amosun also explained that the kidnappers told him on the phone that they had wanted to ask for N100 million as ransom but had to raise it to N200 million because of his efforts to secure the release of the former minister.

Amosun added that the kingpin even threatened to deal with him and teach him a lesson. He also expressed his appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for his personal intervention and the Inspector General of Police (IG).

He also thanked all the security agencies in the state for their efforts in ensuring Anisulowo’s release and expressed confidence that with

Anisulowo modern equipment, the police, army and the Department of State Services (DSS) would improve their capacity in protecting the lives and property of Nigerians.

He described the rescue of the former minister as a huge success, adding that the feat would reduce the scourge of kidnapping in the country.

“I have always argued that our security agencies can work, unless they don’t want to. We need to give kudos to God and thank our security people.

This indeed is a different experience for me, I see the extent to which our security agencies can go.

“I don't want to sound immodest, but I want to thank Mr. President and the IG, the army and the DSS.

They created a war room and everybody was communicating everyday.

“Like I said, I don't want to sound immodest, but truly, the way they have resolved this is amazing.

“I want to place on the record that the IG personally got involved, the AIG, the Commissioners of Police of Ogun, Oyo, Lagos and Kwara states, and of course, all the commandants of the Nigeria Army in each of those states, all of them got involved.

“Indeed, the DSS in all of the states that we mentioned were all involved. At all times, they were being briefed.

“We spoke with her (Anisulowo) and with them (kidnappers). They were moving from one place to the other and they did that wonderfully well.

“Believe me, it was a pleasant surprise that technologically our people can do what they did.

“If they are given the necessary equipment, they will work wonders. It is a huge victory. I think the issue of kidnapping will go down a bit with what they (security agencies) have achieved.

“I think it is a big shame that we find ourselves in a situation where we should not be. Young people that are supposed to be working are demanding ransom of N200

million. They even said because I got involved they increased it from N100 million to N200 million.

“They insisted from the second day that their ransom was N200 million. They said they had wanted to collect N100 million and I told them that they will face the law, and that it was in their interest to release her.

“They even threatened me and every other person. They said they will teach me, the IG, the brigade commander and all others lesson. They were abusing everybody on the phone, but we thank God the way it was resolved. All glory to God. “I can say it authoritatively that no kobo was paid to them.

Of course, we did all that we were supposed to do. They reduced the ransom to N150 million, we asked them to come and take, but they did not come. We didn’t pay a kobo to anybody. We thank God that she is here live and direct,” he said.

The state Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, who drove Anisulowo to the Government House, commended all other top security agents in the state for the synergy while the rescue operation lasted.

Ali confirmed that two of the suspected kidnappers had been arrested and promised

that they would be properly investigated and charged to court.

The state police boss added that the kingpin of the gang was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, while attempting to flee to Dubai.

He added that another suspect was also arrested over Anisulowo’s abduction.

Ali said: “I want to thank the brigade commander, the state director of the DSS as well as the IG for all the support.

We moved virtually all our technical equipment from Abuja to Ogun State.

“We traversed over three states and we continued to look for them; luckily, they gave up. The pressure was on them. The helicopter patrol was another thing entirely. We are grateful to the people of the state because they have confidence in the security agencies.

“I want to tell you that for the first time, the synergy that we set up here was so marvelous that we shall continue to work together.

We are grateful that mama (Senator Anisulowo) is back with us alive.

“We want to ensure that no one will come to Ogun State and try something like this again. We have made some arrests and the kingpin is in our custody.”

“They also welcomed ongoing discussions on the fate of arrested Boko Haram members arrested in both countries and stressed the need for a judicial framework that will ensure their fair trail and if need be, be transferred to their countries in accordance with international best practices.

“The two presidents expressed commitment to the upcoming second session of the regional security summit in Abuja on the 14th of May 2016 and pledged to fully participate in the process and to implement the outcome of the meeting to ensure peace and security in the Lake Chad Basin.

“The two leaders also agreed that the tripartite meeting of the two countries and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees

(UNHCR) should be convened

by July 2016 with a view to agreeing on a framework for the safe return of Nigerian refugees currently hosted by Cameroun.

“The two presidents welcomed the increased interest by investors of both countries in each other’s economies as a measure that will strengthen and expand the already mutual, beneficial economic cooperation between the two countries.

“They pledge readiness to work together to harness the investment potential that both countries have in order to open up opportunities for their people and urged the Ministers of Economics in the two countries to convene the Nigeria, Cameroun Forum in Abuja as soon as possible.

“They welcomed reports from a meeting between

the two countries on the modalities for the construction of a bridge over the Nile Tier River that will link Belel in Nigeria and Damsan in Cameroun and related infrastructure along the Jabi Lamba Garuwa corridor and directed for the early signing of the MoU and terms of reference as well as the execution of the project.

“Concerning the demarcation of borders in the remaining areas between the two countries, both leaders agreed that following the gradual return of peace to the affected areas, experts of both countries should resume the demarcation exercise as soon as possible.

“The two presidents welcomed the border, which has already been initiated and have agreed to take concrete measures towards signing.”

Jacka Resources.

The partners to the Aje field had in January 2014 submitted the Field Development Plan (FDP) to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and this was approved in March 2014, primarily for the development of the Cenomanian oil reservoir.

THISDAY had reported that the partners had missed the December 2015, January 2016 and March 2016 targets for first oil, apparently due to the late arrival of the FPSO from Singapore, delay in the completion of the anchor handling operations, and late completion of the installation of the subsea equipment, including the manifold and flowlines.

After leaving Singapore for Nigeria, the FPSO had stopped briefly in Cape Town, South Africa.

According to the field development plan, the development of the Aje Cenomanian oil reservoir would be implemented via two subsea wells, the new Aje-5 well and a recompleted Aje-4 well, and a leased FPSO. The initial two wells were scheduled to start oil production early in 2016.

Two further wells - Aje-6 and Aje-7 – are expected to bring total Cenomanian oil production up to over 50 million barrels.

The field development plan also provides that a third Turonian gas condensate development phase that was conceptualised by the partners would involve three or four wells that would produce over 500 billion cubic feet of gas, 22 million barrels of condensate and 40 million barrels of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

FEC APPROVES 34 PRIORITY PROGRAMMES FOR IMPLEMENTATION 56,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Nigeria since July 2014.

The president, at the dinner that had the Senate President Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Chief Justice of the Federation, Mahmud Mohammed; and top private sector and government functionaries from Cameroun in attendance, also thanked the United Nations (UN) and other international donor agencies for their assistance to IDPs across the country, just as he condoled with the families of Boko Haram victims along the NigerianCamerounian border.

He said: “Our special condolences go to families of our fallen heroes who had sacrificed their lives to safeguard our territorial integrity and provide security

for the lives and property of our people.

“Permit me to use this occasion of Your Excellency’s visit to Nigeria to once again extend my personal gratitude and that of the federal government for your country’s hosting of over 56,000 Nigerian refugees since July 2014.

“We also appreciate the assistance of the United Nations, international donors, local and international nongovernmental organisations, and the ordinary Camerounian families who share their meagre provisions with the refugees in the spirit of African brotherhood. We thank them all.”

The communique issued after the meeting between Biya and Buhari reads: “On security issues, the two presidents noted with satisfaction the

successes recorded so far on the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency and condemned the murderous activities perpetrated by the sect.

“The two presidents commended the efforts of both the Camerounian and Nigerian military under the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), especially the two recent joint operations conducted in Ngoshe and Kumti, both within the Nigerian territory and the ongoing clearance operation being carried out by military forces of the two countries to bring the activities of the terrorists to an end.

“The two presidents also reaffirmed their commitment to continue to support the Multinational Joint Task Force till the Boko Haram insurgency is eliminated.

WITH HUGE GAS RESERVES OF 650BCF, LAGOS JOINS OIL PRODUCING STATES is the disclosure that the oil field holds untapped reserves of about 650 billion cubic feet (bcf), which if harnessed in two to three years' time, according to a company source, could supply Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, all the gas feedstock it needs for the thermal power stations and other manufacturing concerns domiciled in the state and its environs.

A statement from Panoro, which has assets in Nigeria and Gabon, said that the subsea installation activities had been underway at Aje since January and were completed in early March, ready for the hook up of the Front Puffin Floating Production Storage Offshore (FPSO), which arrived in Nigeria on March 16.

According to the statement,

oil produced from the Aje field will be stored in the Front Puffin which has a production capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and storage capacity of 750,000 barrels.

“Flow rates will be provided in Panoro’s next operations update, following a period of inauguration and well stabilisation,” the statement added.

However, a company source informed THISDAY that the first two wells in Aje were expected to peak at 12,000 barrels of oil per day, and the flow rates would increase as more wells are drilled on the field.

Panoro’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John Hamilton, said his company was extremely pleased to announce the start of the first oil production at Aje. “This is a transformational

milestone for Panoro and represents a great achievement by the Aje project teams. It is also a key building block in our strategy to become a full cycle E&P company focused on West Africa.

“The commencement of production at Aje is also significant for Nigeria as it is the first commercial production for the country in the emerging Dahomey Basin,” Hamilton said.

Located in the extreme western part offshore Nigeria, adjacent to the Benin border in the Dahomey Basin, the field is situated in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,500 metres, about 24 kilometres from the coast.

The field is situated 64 kilometres from Lagos and 12 kilometres close to the West African gas pipeline operated

by Chevron.

In geological parlance, the field contains hydrocarbon resources in sandstone reservoirs in three main levels – a Turonian gas condensate reservoir, a Cenomanian oil reservoir and an Albian gas condensate reservoir.

With the field’s multiple oil, gas and gas condensate reservoirs in the Turonian, Cenomanian and Albian sandstones, geologists said the Aje field, which was discovered in 1997, has hydrocarbon resources similar to the nearby producing Jubilee field, offshore Ghana.

The current Aje partnership, which was formed in August 2013, is made up of Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum (operator), New AGE (African Global Energy), FHN, Energy Equity Resources (EER), Panoro, and

T H I S D AY THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016

CBN'S DIRECTIVE ON RECOVERY OF DELINQUENT CREDIT FACILITIES The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) has recently directed all banks to periodically publish, in at least three national dailies, names of their delinquent debtors, whose accounts remain non-performing.

Note that the details of the delinquent debtors will include their directors, subsidiaries and other related parties. In addition, the delinquent debtors in the category described above will be blacklisted by the CBN and barred from participating in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange and Government Securities Market.

Notice is hereby given to all customers of United Bank for Africa Plc with non-performing facilities to immediately liquidate their indebtedness to the Bank.

Failing the above, the Bank will be constrained to, amongst other measures submit the names to the CBN as well as publish the names and other relevant details in the national dailies as required by the said CBN directive. This will be exclusive of all other rights as the Bank may have to recover all sums due to it.

Signed: Management

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THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

News Editor Davidson Iriekpen Email davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081

We Won’t Tolerate Any Excuse for Killings, Military Warns Herdsmen Northern senators defend cattle rearers, warn governors FG targets four months for resolution of clashes

Omololu Ogunmade, Damilola Oyedele, Senator Iroegbu and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja In response to the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to deal decisively with the rampaging Fulani herdsmen, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has vowed not to tolerate excuses from any armed group to unleash mayhem

on innocent Nigerians.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, gave this warning yesterday in Abuja during a meeting with the leadership of Miyatti Allah Cattle Breeders Association.

Olonisakin who was represented by the Director of Defence Administration, Maj-Gen. Fatai Ali, said the recent killings

Sanusi Confirms Amaechi Leaked Letter on Missing $49.8bn Davidson Iriekpen Almost two and a half years after his letter, which was referenced by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in another letter to former President Goodluck Jonathan on the non-remittance of $49.8 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the treasury was leaked, the Emir of Kano and former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Alhaji Muhammad Sanuri II, has finally admitted to what was long been an open secret in government and political circles and has been admitted by the former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi.

Sanusi, in an interview with Forbes Africa magazine, admitted that Amaechi who is not the Minister of Transportation, was responsible for leaking Obasanjo’s letter to Jonathan on the “missing” $49.8 billion. Amaechi has also long been suspected for leaking Sanusi’s letter to Jonathan on the same issue.

Sanusi, as the CBN governor, had written to Jonathan to raise the alarm over billions of dollars from oil sales between January 2013 and July 2013 that had not been remitted to the Federation Account by NNPC. In the said letter, he alleged that an estimated $49.8 billion had not been remitted to the Federation Account, which was strenuously denied by NNPC and the then Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

As the outrage over his revelation grew, he was later to revise the figure to $12 billion and $10 billion, before settling for $20 billion at a public hearing held by the Senate to investigate his allegation.

Obasanjo then followed up with his own letter titled: “Before It is Too Late”, which was published in full by online newspaper, Premium Times, before it was republished by other outlets.

Sanusi was later suspended as the CBN governor, but a few months later was enthroned as the Emir of Kano while he was in court seeking that his suspension be declared illegal.

Sanusi, in the interview, revealed that Jonathan did nothing until Obasanjo wrote him the letter.

The emir also said Ben Bruce,

the senator representing Bayelsa East, told him that he had it on good authority that Jonathan would jail him over the affair.

Narrating the “missing” funds saga to Forbes, Sanusi said in 2012 and 2013, government revenue collapsed by $10 billion, without a collapse in oil prices or production capacity, adding that the CBN found a $49 billion revenue gap.

Shocked at the revelation, Sanusi said he wrote Jonathan, saying: “If this continues, we are going to have a big problem if the price of oil came down. We can’t protect interest rates, we can’t protect exchange rates, we can’t protect reserves.

“We may have to tighten money to prevent inflation, there will be unemployment, government will suffer – all of the things we are seeing today.”

Sanusi said nothing was done until Obasanjo wrote his famous open letter to Jonathan. In that letter, he referred to a letter from the central bank governor.

“This was in August 2013, the president received the letter and did nothing. A few weeks after that, the finance minister called to say, governor, can we do some reconciliation on oil revenue numbers? I said minister, I report to the president.

“I have written to the president, if the president wants me to sit with you and do reconciliation, the president will tell me.

“After Obasanjo’s letter, all hell now broke loose. The letter was then leaked to online media, and it became public. That was when the president got angry and we then had to sit and do reconciliation,” he said in the interview with Forbes.

He added that he knew that taking on the NNPC was akin to taking on the most powerful minister in Jonathan’s government, noting that nobody who had touched AlisonMadueke had survived.

“It was not a question of what would happen, I just didn’t care at that time. I did not want to go down in history as having seen this and kept quiet.

“After the first round of reconciliation, there was $29 billion that was explained. And how was that explained? Crude that was shipped by NNPC did not entirely belong to NNPC,”

Cont’d on page 59

involving herdsmen in local communities in many parts of Nigeria, have become a source of concern to the security agencies in particular and the federal government.

He, however, promised that the military in conjunction with other security agencies would do everything possible to maintain peace and security in Nigeria, in line with the directives of the president.

He said: “I want to promise you that whoever is involved in this killing will be brought to book and tried in line with the law of

the land.

“A committee has already been constituted by the CDS to interface with all the stakeholders on this issue, go to all the flash points, meet with the various stakeholders and come back and to report on appropriate lines of action.”

The committee, according to the CDS, would be headed by Maj-Gen, Edward Nzeh, whom he said had visited Benue State and would still visit other parts of the country affected by the recent clashes.

Speaking further, Olonisakin called on all parties involved to

sheath their swords and ensure that they do not cause unnecessary casualties.

He stressed that: “Nigeirans otherwise the federal government will use the full weight of the force and law to bear.”

“We are working hard to apprehend these who have committed heinous crime in the past. I also wish to state that the military will not tolerate any excuse of armed groups to unleash violence on innocent Nigerians for whatever reasons or guise. Innocent people should not be attacked.”

The defence chief also assured

that the military would conduct its operations while dealing with issue of herdsmen in line with rules of engagement.

Meanwhile, the senators from the North under the aegis of Northern Senators’ Forum yesterday vehemently defended the Fulani ethnic group, saying rampaging herdsmen who kill, maim and rape in various parts of the country are not Fulanis and hence, must not be labelled so.

Addressing journalists in the National Assembly yesterday,

Cont’d on page 57

FRIENDS OR FOES

President Muhammadu Buhari (left), welcoming Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, to the presidential dinner in honour of President Paul Biya ofCamerounwhoisonathree-daystatevisittoNigeriainAbuja...yesterday

Senate Approves Death Sentence for Kidnappers Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The Senate yesterday resolved to enact a bill that would make provisions for death penalty as the punishment for anyone caught in the act of kidnapping.

The resolution followed the adoption of a report by the Joint Committee on Police Affairs and National Security and Intelligence presented by its Chairman, Senator Abu Ibrahim.

The Senate had on November 19, 2015, asked the committee to engage the Inspector General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase, and Director-General of Department of State Services (DSS), Mamman Daura, on recurrent cases of kidnapping and hostage taking, and recommend its findings to the chamber.

The committee also recommended adequate funding of security agencies and advised the federal government to ensure that deliberate efforts are made towards creating employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths.

The Senate also tasked security agencies to embark on training and

retraining of security personnel for effective capacity building.

It charged state governments to make laws that will enable security agencies prosecute kidnappers and culprits of related offences in their respective domains.

The Senate also canvassed the need for synergy and intelligence sharing among security agencies just as it advocated the need to encourage the IG and DG of DSS to be more committed.

However, the committee observed that security agencies had been unable to perform optimally as a result of inadequate funding which it said deprived them of the opportunity to procure modern technology and equipment.

The committee further noted what it described as “unnecessary and unhealthy rivalry among the security agencies leading to lack of required synergy and intelligence sharing on time,” adding that “Relations of the victims are always ready to pay ransom which tend to encourage the criminals.”

In his contribution, Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, noted that kidnapping became

popular after former Anambra State Governor and incumbent Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, was kidnapped in 2002. Also yesterday, a bill seeking a five-year jail term for lecturers in tertiary institutions who exploit their vantage positions to subject female students to sexual harassment passed first reading.

Tagged ‘Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Prohibition Bill, 2016’, the bill is sponsored by Senator Ovie OmoAgege (Delta Central).

The bill which is co-sponsored by 45 other senators “makes it a criminal offence for any educator in a university, polytechnic or any other tertiary educational institution who violate or exploit the studentlecturer fiduciary relationship for sexual pleasures.”

Commenting on the bill, Omo-Agege said the bill made it mandatory for any vice chancellor, provost and rector of a university, polytechnic and college of education to promptly act on the report of any sexual harassment by a female student, failing which he said such authority would be jailed for two

years.

He said: “The bill imposes stiff penalties on offenders in its overall objective of providing tighter statutory protection for students against sexual hostility and all forms of sexual harassment in tertiary schools.

“The bill provides a compulsory five-year jail term for lecturers who sexually harass students. When passed into law, vice chancellors of universities, rectors of polytechnics and other chief executives of institutions of higher learning will go to jail for two years if they fail to act within a week on complaints of sexual harassment made by students.

“The bill expressly allows sexually harassed students, their parents, or guardians to seek civil remedies in damages against sexual predator lecturers before or after their successful criminal prosecution by the state. The bill also seeks protection from sexual harassment for prospective students seeking admissions into higher educational institutions, students of generally low mental capacity andphysically challenged students.”

THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWS

Babangida Aliyu, Bala Mohammed, Others Seek Postponement of Convention Party cancels ward congresses in four states South-west settles for secretary, other positions Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and James Sowole in Akure Concerned leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including former Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bala Mohammed, have asked the party leadership to postpone the May 21 national convention in order to avert crisis.

The leaders faulted the resolutions reached at the last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of party, stating that what transpired at the poorly attended NEC is inconsistent with the original PDP principles.

The position expressed by the concerned PDP group came on the heels of yet another meeting convened by a group led by a former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, known as G-18 last night in Abuja to add their voice to the growing concern over the contentious issue of zoning of offices ahead of the convention.

Some of the party leaders mainly former ministers who together met at a venue in Abuja to articulate their views regarding some perceived shortcomings in the party, especially decisions taken at the last NEC meeting were, former Ministers of Women Affairs, Mrs. Zainab Maina; Environment, Mr. John Odey; National Planning, Hon. Sulaiman Abubakar; Capt. Hassan Mohammed (rtd); Saidu Ndako Idris; former Minister of Women Affairs, Dr. Bolere Ketebu; and Hon. Kaulaha Aliyu.

At the close of a meeting of the leaders led by Aliyu in Abuja yesterday, they said: “That the procedure and conduct of the congresses nationwide were flawed with resultant disaffection and disagreements.”

The affected PDP chieftains said their meeting was to critically examine the current developments in the party with special reference to the ongoing ward/state congresses to culminate in the forth coming national convention.

In the statement signed by Aliyu, the leaders said the current zoning formula for the position of national chairman as adopted by only one-third of NEC is inconsistent with the original PDP principles.

“In consonance therefore, the group unanimously resolved as follows; call for the postponement of the national convention and appeal to the leadership of the party to revisit these fundamental issues to enable the party to organize and conduct a more cohesive and acceptable national convention to avert the situation whereby aggrieved members may be compelled to organise parallel congress/convention,” it said.

Meanwhile, the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) has approved the cancelation of the ward congresses held last Saturday in four states, Lagos, Sokoto, Adamawa and Osun.

The party also dissolved the congress committees in the affected states and reconstituted a fresh committee to carry out the exercise at a later date.

THISDAY gathered from a reliable source who was privy to the letter to that effect signed by the PDP National Organising Secretary, Abubakar Mustaphar.

Also,the South-west chapter of the party yesterday settled for the position of National Secretary zoned to the area ahead of the National Convention of the party scheduled to hold later this month.

The acceptance of the National Secretary position in addition to the position of National Publicity Secretary, Auditor

and Zonal positions, was one of the resolutions contained in a communique issued at the end of its meeting held in Akure, Ondo State capital.

The meeting held at the instance of the Ondo and Ekiti State Governors, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and Ayodele Fayose, respectively, was attended by notable party leaders and former national and state political office holders from Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos, Osun and Ogun States.

The communique was read by the former Minister of Sports, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja.

It was resolved that the time

was ripe for all members of the PDP in the South-west to forge a common front and pursue a common agenda towards occupying their destined leadership position in Nigeria.

“That despite the challenges confronting the PDP, the Southwest caucus has agreed to unite and confront the challenges that is facing the Yoruba race in Nigeria.

“That members of the PDP have agreed to rise up beyond personal interests to confront crucial national issues that affects us as a race especially the thriving menace of the Fulani herdsmen,” it stated.

The leaders noted with dismay the poor state of the nation’s economy, expressing sadness that the current ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has not demonstrated the capacity to contain the economic challenges with attendant dwindling fortunes that have reversed almost all the economic gains recorded during the PDP reign They lamented that the current administration had rubbished laudable accomplishments recorded by the last PDP government.

Specifically, the PDP leaders said the credible electoral processes put

in place by the immediate past administration had been rubbished.

“The South-west PDP wish to put on record its dissatisfaction with the performance of the electoral body under the ruling party as all the elections the APC has so far superintended have ended as inconclusive,” the leaders added.

They declared that the party would not shy away from effectively playing the role of an opposition.

“This role is crucial to democratic survival and the party shall continually make Nigerians look up to it as a credible alternative to the ruling party.”

POLICY MAKERS

L-R: Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma; and Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, during the Federal Executive Council meeting (FEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja....yesterday Godwin Omoigui

Kogi Bans Illegal Felling of Total Foreign Capital Importation Declines Economic Trees Statewide Significantly to $710.97m in First Quarter Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja In an effort to protect forest reserve, the Kogi State Government has placed a ban on illegal felling of economic trees and trading of sand in the state.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Sanitation and Emergency Management, Mrs. Rosemary Osikaya, made this known when she led members of the Task Force on Forestry on inspection to assess the level of deforestation in the eastern part of the state.

Osikaya, who expressed concern over the level of illegal excavation and trading of sand at Emonyokwu, Ogugu centre, Ette Ogugu and Okpa in Olamaboro Local Government Area of the state, said the measure became necessary as it would cost government more to repair the damage caused.

According to her, government had sealed off the areas, warning that anyone caught would face the wrath of the law.

The special adviser warned that the increasing rate of deforestation and degradation of forest and soil

reserve can no longer be tolerated as government places high priority on the issue of environment.

Osikaya said the original plan by the colonial masters was to ensure a safe environment for the people, and maintained that the present administration in the state would leave no stone unturned to make the environment safe.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the task force, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Mamman Jimoh Araga (rtd), called on traditional rulers in the state to educate their subjects on the importance of the environment to avoid illegal activities.

Meanwhile, at the palace of the Ochogwu of Ogugu, Chief Michael Salifu, he praised the State Governor, Yahaya Bello, for setting up the task force on forestry and expressed his readiness to support them.

Other places visited included the erosion site at Ogugu and sawmills where the apecial adviser sealed off the premises as a result of continued work despite the ban and directed the saw millers to report to the task force.

James Emejo in Abuja Nigeria’s total foreign capital importation declined by as much as 54.34 percent to $710.97 million in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2016) compared to $1.55 billion in Q4 2015, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Year-on-year, capital importation also declined by 73.79 percent.

Both the quarterly and year on year decline also represented the lowest records since the series began, the NBS stated.

“As a result of these changes, total capital importation has fallen by 89.13 per cent since its peak level in the third quarter of 2014,” it added.

According to the summary of Capital Importation Report for the First Quarter of 2016, which was posted on its website yesterday, the magnitude of the decline in Q1 attested to the challenging period which the Nigerian economy is currently undergoing following the fall in crude oil prices.

But it added the huge drop could also explain why the amount of capital imported into the country in

recent years may have been higher than usual.

One of such theories was the inclusion of Nigerian in the JP Morgan Bond Index, and globally low interest rates triggering a search for higher yields over this period, the NBS noted.

It further said: ”The fact that the amount of capital imported has dropped to a record low suggests that there are further reasons why Nigeria has attracted less foreign investment in recent quarters.

“Investors may be concerned about whether or not they will be able to repatriate the earnings from their investments, given the current controls on the exchange rate. In addition, as growth has slowed in recent quarters, there may be concerns about the profitability of such investments.”

In the period under review, Portfolio investment was largest, accounting for $271.03 million, or 38.12 percent of all capital imported, with equity as the largest subcomponent which accounted for $201.69 million, representing 74.41 per cent of portfolio investment and 28.37 per cent of total capital

imported.

Equity has been the largest part of portfolio investment in every quarter since 2007.

Although it remains the largest subcomponent, this is despite contributing the most to the decline in portfolio investment; Equity recorded a quarterly decline of 74.54 per cent, and a yearly decline of 82.30 per cent, the NBS stated.

It further stated:”The second largest subcomponent of Portfolio Investment was Money Market Instruments, which accounted for $67.85 million, or 25.03 per cent of portfolio Investment, despite recording a quarterly decline of 57.62 per cent. In contrast to the same quarter of 2015, Bonds was relatively unimportant, accounting for only 0.55 per cent of portfolio investment. This followed a year on year decline of 99.79 per cent, from $705.12 million to $1.50 million in the first quarter of 2016.”

According to the statistical agency, second largest component was Other Investment, which accounted for $265.48 million, or 37.34 per cent of all capital imported.

As in the final quarter of 2015,

only two subcomponents recorded any investment: loans, which accounted for $241.81 million or 91.09 per cent of other investment, and other claims, which accounted for $23.66 million or 8.91 per cent.

Each of these subcomponents had seen large quarterly declines, of 42.54 per cent and 60.86%% respectively.

In contrast to other investment types, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) recorded a quarterly increase in the first quarter of 2016, from $123.16 million to $174.46 million.

“As a result its share of total capital importation increased from 7.91 per cent to 24.54 per cent, although it remained the smallest part of imported capital. FDI is dominated by equity, which accounted for $173.73 million in the first quarter, or 99.58 per cent of FDI. This share represents an increase relative to the previous quarter; as a result of equity increasing by 43.60 per cent relative to the previous quarter, and Other Capital declining by 66.60 per cent.

Given the respective shares of Equity and Other Capital, movements in FDI largely reflect movements in Equity,” the NBS added.

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THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

Buratai: Military to Review Strategy after Sambisa Operations

Visits Bama, Banki Junction, orders troops to block terrorists’ moves

Senator Iroegbu in Maiduguri The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has disclosed that the Nigerian military will re-strategise and review the counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency (CTCOIN) operations in the North-east after the Sambisa forest battle.

Buratai therefore charged the troops engaged in the ongoing ‘Operation Crackdown’ aimed at flushing out the Boko Haram terrorists from their remaining enclaves in the forest to end it quickly.

He said this was in order to improve the performance of troops in the theatre of war against terror.

The army chief disclosed this last Tuesday, while addressing troops at the 7 Division’s Tactical Headquarters in Bama.

Even though Buratai did not give details of the expected changes, he however promised that the planned overhaul would address observable lapses in the ongoing war.

The COAS said: “I want to assure you that as soon as you are through with this phase, we will readjust the policy for this

operation.

“We will readjust the deployment, we will re-strategise so that we will have a very new approach to fighting this insurgency.

“We will try to provide all the logistics that you need in this operation, for those of you who have been here for some time, you can see the difference, we have tried to change the way things are done.”

The COAS, who on arrival at the military base in Bama, met with the operational commanders before interacting with the troops, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the troops involved in the special operation to finally rid Sambisa forest of the Boko Haram insurgents, code named `Operation Crack Down’.

He also commended what he described as the troops’ “gallantry and commitment in the operations,” assuring them of President Muhammadu Buhari’s support and the prayers of all Nigerians.

Particularly concerned about the quick end to the current phase of the operation, Buratai urged the troops to sustain the momentum until the remnants of the insurgents

in the Sambisa forest and environs were eventually cleared.

The army chief who also inspected troops and equipment mobilisation before they were deployed for the ongoing `Operation Crack Down’ in Sambisa forest, stressed its importance, noting that it will help terminate the existence and safe haven of Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria.

He continued: “I want to say well done for the operation Lafiya Dole and for the special operation `Operation Crack Down’. I am satisfied with the brief from your General Officer Commanding (GOC).

“This operation is very crucial in the overall plan of the operation as well as the federal government’s plan to end insurgency in the North-east. Your

GOC has assured me that you guys will not waste time in this forest, you must smoke them out quickly and face other areas so that you can reunite with your families in good time.

“We are here today to say well done. President Buhari is happy with you and so are other Nigerians.”

In a related development, Buratai, in the company of other senior officers at the army headquarters and Military Command and Control Centre (MCC) in Maiduguri, visited the strategic Banki Junction, where he directed the troops to block movement of insurgents to and from Sambisa forest.

The COAS, while fielding questions yesterday from journalists shortly after monitoring troops’ deployment at Banki

junction, in Borno State, said: “The troops are forming a blocking force to prevent the terrorists from moving into Sambisa or coming out of the area.

“I am here to see the ground forces and how they are doing, but there is tremendous operation going on presently inside the main Sambisa forest.”

According to him, Banki visit was to further confirm the movement of troops and equipment and to personally observe the situation in the theatre.

He noted that the location of troops at Banki junction was key in the military’s operations to restrict movement of the insurgents from outside the country through Cameroon or Chad.

Buratai further assured Nigerians that the ground troops supported

by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets would continue to hit the forest until the insurgents were eventually cleared.

He said: “You know we were together with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) in Maiduguri where the theatre commander briefed us on the ongoing operation crack down.

“This Banki junction is a major route that links the North to the South and is also bordering Cameroon, and from here, you can also link up with Chad Republic.

It is a major route which the Boko Haram insurgents have been using to move between the Sambisa forest and the northern part of the country up to the Lake Chad. “ So it is an important location which has tactical, strategic as well as operational significance to what we are doing in this region.”

STRATEGISING TO TAME MALARIA

L-R: Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris; Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe; and former Minister of State for Health and Co-Chair, PHN , Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, during the CEO Roundtable on World Malaria Day with the theme, ‘Malaria Elimination in Nigeria - Challenges and Opportunities for Investment’ held at the bank’s Head Office in Lagos...recently

CAN Files Complaints against Herdsmen with NHRC Says govt’s indecision encouraging further attacks Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The Benue State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), yesterday filed a complaint at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over the alleged killings and wanton destruction of property by the Fulani herdsmen in Benue State.

Receiving the complaint at the NHRC’s Headquarters in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof. Bem Angwe, said: “It is sad that these killings and destruction of property have continued over time and a lot of people have lost their lives as a result of these numerous attacks.”

He promised that the commission would carry out an impartial investigation into the

matter and also ensure that justice prevailed at the end of the day.

Angwe called on the federal and state governments to take proactive steps to restore peace to the affected families to avert hunger as the farmers whose produce feed the nation, could no longer go to their farms for fear of attacks.

Continuing, he said, “The commission condemns in very strong terms the attacks that are today going on between pastoralists and farmers.”

He said the commission was taking proactive steps within its mandate to protect the rights of Nigerians and other nationals living in the country.

While calling on all hands to be on deck to curb the incessant clashes between farmers and

herdsmen, he noted that “the nation is beset with security and economic challenges and to add hunger to the situation would be disastrous.”

Earlier, the CAN Chairman, Benue State chapter, Rev. Augustine Akpen Leva, had expressed dismay at what it described as the failure of government to curb the incessant, unwarranted killings and wanton destruction of property allegedly perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen against the people of Benue State.

He told the commission that: “These mindless killings and invasion of the land reached its climax from 2013 and are advancing with sporadic and regular attacks here and there. The worst affected local government area so far are: Agatu, Markurdi (Adaka, Adeke, Adem, Upahar, Tse-Kwaghbo, Apir

and Mbalagah communities. Others are Gwer-West, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Kwande and Guma (Tse-Oragbo and Tse-Anundu) and Tarka Buruku etc.

He demanded adequate compensation from the federal and state government to assuage the feelings of the people whom he noted had been so traumatised and dehumanised following the series of attacks unleashed on them from time to time.

He regretted that the herdsmen were equipped with sophisticated weapons and that, “it is a fact that the continued attacks, which are evidently encouraged by the indecision of government, are clearly jihadist attempts, calculated at forcefully Islamising and subjugating the people of Benue State.”

T H I S D AY THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016

COMMENT

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

EMEFIELE, STAKES AND MISTAKES

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Olubukayo Jamiu argues the central bank governor is being criticised for the wrong reasons

et us assume I do not like Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Let us also assume that I believe every public officer in Nigeria deserves nothing but abuse, name-calling and scandalisation. Let us then say that by default, I am happy that Mr. Emefiele has been under severe media attacks since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office on May 29, 2015. The simple conclusion I would have reached by now is that there is more to what I am reading than I am reading. It would no longer matter if I like Mr. Emefiele or not. I would now be getting concerned that some people are hell bent on getting rid of the CBN governor. I would now be asking myself if there is something else behind the anti-Emefiele emotions.

In less than one year, Emefiele has come under attacks for so many things. He has been criticised for not devaluing the naira; for restricting forex access to 41 imported items, including toothpicks and private jets; for making forex available to a “privileged few”; for making money available to the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), based on a presidential directive; for secretly employing the children of the rich and the powerful; for flying private jets “used by Diezani Alison-Madueke”; for making forex available to the wife of the president; and so long a list I have virtually lost count.

It is now appearing as one week, one accusation against the CBN governor. While I am not in a position to say if these allegations are true or not, I am getting worried as a Nigerian that these attacks are unending. Are they mere coincidences? Or orchestrated?

I do not hold any brief for the CBN governor. Indeed, I have never been his fan. It is nothing personal or ideological. My problem with him from the beginning was the manner of his appointment by the former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Simply because Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi raised issues of accountability, Dr. Jonathan illegally removed him as governor of the CBN and appointed Mr. Emefiele to replace him. For that reason, I did not like the new governor. I thought he was a beneficiary of an unholy decision by the former president.

I have therefore found it very difficult to warm up to Mr. Emefiele.

I cannot deny that he had a great banking career, rising to the very top at Zenith Bank Plc, but that has never swayed me. As far as I am concerned, he benefited from a dubious decision by Jonathan and he must pay for it.

Ironically, as an accountant, I should ordinarily have a tribal feeling for Emefiele. But this is not about sentiments; it is about my own moral persuasions. Dr. Jonathan took a political decision in removing Sanusi.

That is my ground of dissent. I never agreed with those who said because Emefiele is an accountant he should not be a CBN governor, or that only an economist should be appointed as CBN governor. That is absolute rubbish. In the first place, there are several examples of reserve bank governors across the world who did not major in Economics. But that is beside the issue. That someone is an accountant does not mean he knows nothing about economics. Apart from studying Economics up to university level, even if not as a major, Emefiele has had a 26-year banking career which we cannot easily dismiss. What do economists know that an Emefiele does not know, either in theory or practical? We don’t have to make a fetish of Economics.

Let us dissect some of the issues at stake. The first storm Emefiele ran into was the exchange rate. With crude oil prices crashing and forex reserves falling, the logical action was to allow the naira to depreciate in line with the new market realities. Unfortunately, some of these policy prescriptions are easier to make than to implement. Today, we are buying fuel at N86.50 (official price, bar scarcity). If the naira is devalued to N300 as many people want it, the pump price of petrol

THE IRONY SURROUNDING EMEFIELE, HOWEVER, IS THAT HE MAY STILL EMERGE THE REAL WINNER AT THE END OF THE DAY. HIS POSITION ON THE EXCHANGE RATE HAS BEEN WELL DEFENDED BY PRESIDENT BUHARI HIMSELF. THE FOREX ALLOCATION BAN, LIKE EVERY POLICY, IS PRODUCING WINNERS AND LOSERS

will move to at least N150 per litre (again, bar scarcity). If petrol is selling for N200 in the black market because of product scarcity, it follows then that even if you devalue the naira to N300, fuel could go for N600 per litre in times of scarcity. It is not as if we have found the solution to the multifarious problems facing us and that the CBN is the only thing holding us back. Our problems are rooted in historical structural and policy challenges that we are yet to address. The bigger problem, however, is that some experts think they have the solution to the challenges Nigeria is experiencing. But things are not as easy as they appear. At no time in our history have we depended on imports as today. With a monthly bill of over $4 billion and forex revenue less than $1 billion, it would take magic to meet the need of everybody. If President Buhari fires Emefiele today and appoints somebody else, I still do not see the magic that will grow our forex reserves when crude oil prices are low and we cannot do anything about it. The notion that devaluing the naira will automatically attract forex inflow is also exaggerated. Emerging economies are taking a hit in the current global recession. It is not a Nigerian problem. Countries that have devalued are yet to start reporting an enormous flow of foreign investments.

Some of these things are easier said than done.

The alleged secret employments by the CBN should be cause for worry, but the reports of “secrecy” and lack of regard for “federal character” have been denied by the central bank. This puts an analyst in a tight corner. Who should we believe? The CBN’s acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, was quoted in the press as saying: “In the last two years, we have had cause to recruit specialists, and what the law says is that if we are going for that kind of recruitment we should apply for waiver, so that we can do targeted recruitment. The other issue is that there are states that are not well represented in the CBN, and in this case we focus on those states to recruit people of certain classes that we used to cover the shortfall in those states.” Okorafor’s explanation suggests that no law was broken in the process since waivers were duly secured. I am at a loss on what the real facts are. This is where journalists need to help us out.

However, if it is true that the necessary approvals were secured for the recruitment, the accusation will again fit perfectly into the conspiracy theory that there is more to the criticism of Emefiele than the eye can see. There seems to be a frantic search for evidence to nail him and remove him as CBN governor. An online newspaper recently wrote an editorial campaigning for the replacement of Emefiele with a serving or retired deputy governor. For someone who is yet to complete the second year of his five-year tenure, canvassing that he be replaced with a deputy governor is curious. The impression you would get, even if you are not a fan of Emefiele, is that there is certainly a well-oiled campaign against him. This cannot be ordinary. It can’t be routine.

The irony surrounding Emefiele, however, is that he may still emerge the real winner at the end of the day. His position on the exchange rate has been well defended by President Buhari himself.

The forex allocation ban, like every policy, is producing winners and losers. Just as there have been reports of factories closing down because of forex scarcity (which, it must be noted, was caused by falling oil prices and not the CBN), we are also hearing encouraging stories of the gradual development of the agricultural value chain. We are reading reports of the benefits being enjoyed by local farmers who are getting fully supported on different fronts, including access to cheap finance provided by the CBN through the Bank of Agriculture. It is early in the day to conclude that the policy has failed, especially when the alternatives offer no magical returns.

Mrs Jamiu wrote from Ibadan, Oyo State

AGAIN, THE MACABRE DANCE

There will be consequences if Bukola Saraki, Senate president, is disgraced out of office, argues Gbenga Giwa

S

araki versus federal might. We have witnessed this dangerous circus before, and it wasn’t that long – just a little under three years ago, in May 2013. It was Rotimi Amaechi versus federal might. It started as a little storm in a teacup with the election of the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) in which the favourite of the then ruling government, Governor Jonah Jang lost to Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Both were of the same Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but with Amaechi having lost his romance with Aso Rock, it was unacceptable to the seat of power to see Amaechi get re-elected into that office. Despite the comedy and futility of wanting Nigerians to believe that 16 is greater than 19, Aso Rock stubbornly refused to recognise Amaechi as the authentic Chairman of NGF. Many thought it was an isolated incident that will soon be resolved.

However, instead of the crisis going away, it snowballed into a major crisis that saw the then Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, former acting PDP National Chairman, Kawu Baraje, seven serving Governors, 12 Senators,

39 House of Representatives members and several party members, walked out of the PDP convention, to form the nPDP, just three months after the NGF election debacle.

Still, Aso Rock thought it could ride the storm. But instead of abating, the rebels went for the jugular. They aligned with the opposition to form All Progressives Congress, (APC) in 2014. The rest as they say, is history. The PDP macabre dance resulted in the only certainty it could – defeat.

Fast forward to 2016 and we are having an encore. The dramatis personae may be different, the platform may have been reversed but the plot and the dance steps are ominously similar. When Muhammadu Buhari won the 2015 presidential elections and declared at his inauguration speech that he “belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody”, his party members including Saraki thought they could take the statement to bank. They were even encouraged if not emboldened when Buhari went further to say he was ready to work with anyone or any group that emerged as the leadership of the National Assembly. So, all moves played by the grandmasters, John Odigie-Oyegun,

the APC National Chairman and Bola Tinubu, the party leader, were checkmated by the emerging rebels of Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara to become Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives, respectively.

Now, having played their cards badly, especially in the case of Saraki, including the wild-goose-chase to the International Conference Centre, Abuja for a meeting purportedly called by Mr. President, on the exact date and time the elections into the principal offices the National Assembly were taking place, l thought history, in the absence of commonsense, would have jolted the APC hierarchy, to count their loses and start a new game of chess and not be so brutal and flippant in their dealings with Saraki.

Anybody who says Saraki is not being politically prosecuted – or is it persecuted – needs his or her head examined. He had the audacity to not only present himself for the election against the anointed candidate of the party but to actually win it. But Saraki won the Senate Presidency fair and square just as Rotimi Amaechi won his re-election as Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum

in 2013. Amaechi turned against Jonathan when he was pushed to the wall and resolved to lose all or win all – there was no middle ground. I see a repeat performance in the present Saraki debacle if not properly handled. He may be prepared to damn the consequences and go for broke. Jonathan underestimated Amaechi to his own peril.

The situation is not yet unredeemable.

President Buhari can still resolve this imbroglio by inviting Saraki and offer him a soft landing and not allow him to be disgraced out of office. Nobody can predict the extent of damage by a loose canon. Mr. President should do this even if it is against his integrity principles. He should do it for our sake. Nigerians are tired of this egocentric rigmarole by our leaders. Nigerians did not elect him and the APC leadership to play unending drama. He was elected to better the lots of the people so that the citizenry can enjoy the dividend of democracy. One year is almost here and soon we will begin to assess the impact of his government and governance.

Giwa wrote from Abuja

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T H I S D AY THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016

EDITORIAL DEATH OF SIX MEDICAL DOCTORS

O

There is need to strengthen emergency rescue services on our roads

n a daily basis, so much blood is spilled on Nigerian roads.

Last week, six members of the Ekiti State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and their driver died in a road accident along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway. The men were on their way to Sokoto to attend the NMA’s Annual Delegates’ Conference when the bus conveying them had a burst tyre, reportedly on the same spot where the former Minister of State for Labour, Mr James Ocholi, wife and son, recently died. The Kaduna State sector command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) attributed the accident to over-speeding, like it did for the one involving the minister.

However, Dr. Ekundare Folu, chairman, National Association of Government and General Medical and Dental Practitioners in Ekiti State who was among the six medical doctors that survived the crash said the FRSC had its facts wrong. “The deputy corps commander (of the FRSC who issued the statement) did not even see the vehicle THIS ACCIDENT REVEALED either at the scene of THAT SOME DEATHS the accident or at the COULD BE AVOIDED IF police station,” said EMERGENCY SERVICES Folu. “I was in the WERE PROMPT AND same vehicle sitting EFFICIENT in the row behind the driver and I checked the speedometer from time to time. The bus also makes a beeping sound once the speed exceeds 110km/hr.

Let me state categorically that the bus driver was not speeding.”

So, if the vehicle was not speeding, what went wrong? Dr. John Akinbote, another survivor, said lack of immediate and proper attention was responsible for the death of the six doctors. “It became worse when we got to Doka Hospital; there was no doctor to attend to us and the only nurse on duty had no first aid facilities to administer treatment.”

That is a familiar story, which in the circumstance, is

Letters to the Editor

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ironic for the doctors caught in such an unfortunate trap to which many Nigerians are subjected almost every day.

However, while we commiserate with the families of the deceased, the accident once again highlights the dangers inherent on our roads. A recent report put the rate of fatalities on Nigerian roads at 33.7 per 100,000 population, one of the highest in the world and the highest on the continent. According to experts, speeding by motorists plays a major part in road accidents, accounting for one-third. But there are other factors and these include the condition of the road, the condition of vehicles, driver errors and lax regulations.

M T H I S DAY

EDITOR IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU DEPUTY EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, EMMANUEL EFENI, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUFEMI ABOROWA DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, FIDELIS ELEMA, MBAYILAN ANDOAKA, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI GROUP HEAD FEMI TOLUFASHE ART DIRECTOR OCHI OGBUAKU II DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

ost of our roads are pot-holed with several of the vehicles, rickety while many drivers are reckless. But the recent accident also revealed that some deaths could be avoided if emergency services were prompt and efficient. Indeed, the doctors who survived the tragic accident accused the road safety personnel of negligence, just as they also indicted their health colleagues for laxity - something ordinary folks witness on a routine basis. In many hospitals across the nation, accident victims hardly receive prompt attention because of issues related to money - about who eventually will pick up the bill.

In a country where most of the citizens have no health insurance, only people who can afford to dip into their pockets receive prompt and adequate attention. But at the end of the annual delegates meeting in Sokoto last week, the NMA issued a communiqué pressing federal and state governments to urgently provide and station well-equipped functional ambulances along the major highways for the purpose of immediate conveyance of injured victims of vehicular accidents to nearby hospitals.

It also acknowledged their concerns on the state of our roads and urged their immediate rehabilitation “with proper and appropriate road signage on the major highways across the country”. In addition, the association called on government to expedite action on the National Health Act 2014.

There is every reason for government to listen to the association.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (9501000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

LET’S BEWARE OF THE CHINESE

hina has knocked on the doors of many African countries, Nigeria inclusive. Gladly, African leaders have opened all the doors for them. Africa has opened its doors to the Chinese in a quest to tap from the mouth-watering offers from them. Most development enthusiasts admire the growing Afro-Sino relationship and the way China is ‘helping’ many African countries in the development of their economies and infrastructure. However, keen watchers of the Chinese’s exploits in Africa have an aversion to the way the Chinese approach Africa. They come with everything- The Yuan, labour force, machinery and even their language- the Mandarin. I admire mandarin- sweet language.

Nigeria occupies a special place in China’s relationship with Africa because of the country’s potential and market size. Nigeria can thus take advantage of its special position in China’s relationship with Africa. When dealing with the Chinese, the Nigerian government and private entrepreneurs should specifically not forget the need for local content development. And, we should be aware that the Chinese are not coming for nothing, mutual benefits and sharing of responsibilities should be key.

For example, instead of flooding the Nigerian markets with cheap Chinese textile, the Nigerian government should implore Chinese investors to build textile factories in Nigeria or help to revive the moribund ones. We have many cotton farmers, fertile land, thousands of skilled textile workers and a very large market. President Buhari was very right when he said to the Chinese investors: “Do not see Nigeria as a consumer market

alone, but as an investment destination where goods can be manufactured and consumed locally” The currency (Yuan) deal between Nigeria and China will surely boost Nigeria’s economy- Nigerian businesses that import from China will have access to the Yuan easily. However, we should look at other ways to use the Chinese to make Nigeria a manufacturing nation. For instance, Nigerian can push for major Chinese investment in agro-allied industrialisation being that based on the prevailing economic reality; agricultural development should be our main target now. Nigeria should use the relationship with the Chinese to advance building prototype agricultural equipment and machinery. Plants and factories for the manufacturing of these can be established in Nigeria. It pains to see that millions of tonnes of tomatoes and other perishable crops get wasted in northern Nigeria due to the absence of simple preservation and packaging equipment.

Another area that Nigeria can utilise its relationship with the Chinese for mutual benefits is in building modular petroleum refineries – the recent call by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for investors to invest in the oil and gas sector by co-locating refineries within premises of any of the four existing for state owned refineries – with mouth-watering incentives is a major boost in this regard. The Chinese investors can within a short period come-up with modular refineries.

The NNPC can encourage investors to site more than one refinery per refinery premises. This will make investors feel more welcome and boost investment, competition and improve refined products supply for national consumption.

There are already good reports that the Yuan deal is yielding positive results- as pressure on dollar is easing. Thus, we should look to explore other aspects of currency agreement to help leapfrog the economy of Nigeria. Nigeria can also use the Chinese to harness the country solar and wind energy.

Nigeria can negotiate with the Chinese investors to site critical manufacturing industries that will free large chunk of foreign exchange. For instance, the Chinese can collaborate with Nigeria investors to build solar panel and wind vends producing factories accompanied with tax waivers for some years. Thus, the solar panels and wind vends can be used for electricity generation in many states of Nigeria, especially rural areas.

There have been concerns about the Chinese exploring all beneficial avenues of agreements they sign with African countries, while most Africa countries do not. We cannot blame the Chinese; they negotiate their way to get what they want, while African political leaders negotiate while keeping our minds on one or two things. For example, on the currency deal between Nigeria and China, we keep on emphasising on the benefit of easing pressure of foreign exchange for import purposes; while there are hundreds of other benefits of currency agreements which we can gain from in the long term.

The budding Afro-Sino rapport is a gold mine for Nigeria because of our potential and strategic position in Africa.

However we might find ourselves shortchanged if we do not, in our local parlance ‘wise up’ and beware of the Chinese.

Zayyad I. Muhammad, Jimeta, Adamawa State

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

POLITICS

Group Politics Editor Olawale Olaleye Email wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com 08116759819 SMS ONLY

T H E G U B E R N AT O R I A L I N T E RV I E W

Emmanuel: We’re the Ones Funding Security Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, at a recent gathering with journalists in Lagos State, said in spite of the fact that security is directly under the purview of the federal government, governors are the ones directly funding security in their respective states. He addressed many other issues, including the current effort to reposition the PDP. Olawale Olaleye presents the excerpts:

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receive it, forget it. Whatever you do cannot stay.

We had to launch a whole lot of campaigns. We had to launch a lot of philosophical campaigns to jerk the minds of the people. We also believe that as a leader, you need to provoke the people to get into action that would actually bring out positive results.

Things that naturally if you leave them could not have been done. As a good leader, you must provoke the minds of the people to get to do most of those things. So, that led us to a whole lot of actions and things we have done like the youth development, the Dakkada philosophy that you guys have been reading everyday in the papers. We have been trying to see how we can raise Dakkada ambassadors and use that to challenge the minds of our people that once the passion is right, nothing is impossible so that all of them can actually realise their potential. And it is yielding good results. If you check in youth development, we are trying to also let people know for the fact that if you cannot make it in the class room, you can make it either in the football field or the lawn tennis court or in film making.

For every single human being, there is something God has put in you that can actually make you realise those potential. That has been the focal point of youth development in Akwa Ibom. In terms of mindset, we are trying to bring the people back for us to do a whole lot in terms of economic foundation that we are trying to lay. I would limit going into specifics.

Today, I have a hospital in my state that the average number of patients is 1,230. So, you now can find out the challenge that we have in terms of that. And you need to do a whole lot to make sure the facilities in the hospital can cope with that traffic.

hat are your reflections as the governor of Akwa Ibom State, barely a year in office?

We want to count the resources of this government. Almost everywhere, there is something actually that the whole world would be looking for in Africa and then in Nigeria.

The question now is: how come we do not sit on the same round table with the world? That actually should be our cause for concern. I keep borrowing and I keep saying so anywhere I have the opportunity. If you look at the G7, they do not sit there because they can shoot gun or do propaganda or anything. When you hear the committee of G7 nations, it is those that have the economic power.

So, the question then is, we even have better than what they have but how come we are still where we are today? I am one governor that initially believes that I do not need to tell people what I am doing as a governor for my people but I also have to move in line with the environment that one is operating. I do not need to tell people whether I have given my people water or not because I take those house-keeping things as basic.

I saw it to be very basic because how would people in the outside world hear that it is just now that I am connecting people in the villages to the national grid? The question then would be all through the ages, does it mean they did not have light? It means they did not have but that is the truth about Africa. How come now is the time I am thinking that my people should have portable water to drink but that is the truth about Africa!

You cannot take some of those things away but these are some of the things that we call

Unfortunately, I can’t say much on security but take it from me and you can quote me anywhere, every state governor would tell you the same thing: the little money we get today from federal allocation, we spend a lot on security. I want to be quoted anywhere. Let me tell you something, the late MKO Abiola once said if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

If a state is not paying attention to security, and say it is a waste of money, go and sleep and see whether you would sleep well.

Emmanuel...I’m a professional in politics

house-keeping that we picked it up initially.

We tried to change the basic things and see that irrespective of the lean purse that we have and the lean financial resources that we are managing to do those things. At times, it is not how much but how you put those things to use to really affect people. We also look at a whole lot in terms of human development.

I keep telling all of us in Nigeria that if you think that you can afford medical treatment offshore and you can ignore medical facilities here, wait until something happens that a flight of 53 minutes would seem to you like a flight of 15 hours. Then you now know the difference. I am saying this because I have seen it severally even when you have the money.

To take the person out of the country, for the person to even fly like say from Uyo, he is already in ICU; then, tell me how you take the person to Europe or anywhere? Based on that, you must really, really look at several other areas. That is why you see us trying to look at basic things like healthcare, education and see how we can actually improve where we met it. In the system we run, we believe

that government is a continuum. We are one set of resource managers that we do not just think that because a particular administration stopped somewhere, we should come and start all over again.

This is because the resources of the people must have been committed to a particular point. We need to take that to a certain level so that we can actually draw so much from the benefit of deploying those resources to the people. So, that led us to so many other ongoing projects that we are trying to complete that would impact the lives of the people. And we also look at the minds of the people because no matter what you do, the question there is in Nigeria, in the past 30 years, let us compute as a country how much we have made. Let us even take the crude oil that is the main thing; how much have we made from crude oil? How come it is not impacting on the common man?

So, there is a whole lot to do in the minds of the people. How do we now work on the psyche of the people to bring them back? This is because whatever you want to do now, the mindset must receive it. If the mindset does not

There’s a public perception that your predecessor left a very big shoe for you. Do you agree?

I said earlier that government is a continuum.

If someone gets into power in year 2007, the shoe size is 2007. If I get into power in 2015, the shoe size is 2015. So, which one is actually bigger? I do not know how a 2007 shoe would be bigger than a shoe of 2015. The 2015 shoe size is actually bigger. At times, Akwa Ibom is a little bit different because of the way we are structured and that is why we are going the way we are going.

We have structured it in phases and that is what you would be seeing in the next few years if the Lord tarries. When my predecessor came, there was total decay in infrastructure. Mind you, when you are talking about infrastructure, you have certain infrastructure that you say I do not want to count these ones. We met a total decay. So, what we needed to do was to try and arrest that and by doing that, it was like somebody laying a foundation. It was like doing a tiling for a skyscraper. And you would be conscious of the fact that if you have to build a skyscraper, you do not put a quack that would come and do a bungalow. If you do, you would have lost the resources there.

So, if you want to build a skyscraper, you must look for a steely manpower that would come and give you the number of stories that you want to do.

In government and governance, that is why you get it all wrong in this part of the world.

You just thought that any governor is coming to start afresh and alone. No, that is not how we want to run Akwa Ibom. That is not the type of Akwa Ibom that we are designing. We are designing an Akwa Ibom that one person CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

INTERVIEW EMMANUEL: WE’RE THE ONES FUNDING SECURITY comes and he does a pilling for a foundation of a 100 storey building. If I come and take it to the 11th floor, another person would come and take it to other floors until we reach where we are going to.

This is because we have realised that within a short period, getting to Abuja to seek bail in and bail out might not work. You must be the architect of the fortune of your own state.

My predecessor came, he had a focus and he attacked that. I am coming in and I would build on infrastructure but at the same time, I started by telling you that if you get to the G7 nation, they sit there because of their economic power. I am coming to let people know that there was a time Akwa Ibom was the fourth largest producer of Cocoa and today, we are not even in the top 10.

We want to go back to at least the first two.

Why, because the flavor of our cocoa is among the best in the whole world, so why should we let it go? I am coming to let the Akwa Ibom people know that we have a 129 kilometer shoreline and that that alone could be turned to wealth. There is nothing in Singapore than their water, so why can’t we turn our water to wealth? I must drive a policy and governance in the mindset of the people to let them know that they are sitting on wealth. I am coming to let the Akwa Ibom people know that in a whole year 24/7, we have an evergreen area.

That alone suggests that you can actually feed the entire world with the raw materials that they are looking for. So, there must be something there. I am coming to let the Akwa Ibom people know that even if the crude oil price is $150 and you put the money in your house without a solid economic foundation, that money would fly away overnight. That is not wealth creation.

That is not poverty alleviation. I am coming to let Akwa Ibom people know that in the past 16 years that we have been doing poverty alleviation and putting money in peoples’ hands and the next thing, they go and buy ‘I better pass my neighbour’. No money to even fuel it. That is a total waste. I want them to know that gone are those days.

Now, you must be a seed sower. Things have changed. We are building blocks. We are also coming because you see, anywhere in the world, what drives the economies of great nations, security is number one. Number two is reliable infrastructure and three is transparent legislation. Security is ongoing and you can’t finish on that. We needed to lay a foundation on reliable infrastructure. That is what we are building on and you do not wait until you complete the infrastructure before you now start to build on the economy. So, it is not a question of shoe size. I think we are going somewhere as Akwa Ibom.

What are the effects the decline in the oil price have had on the pace and style of your administration?

There are certain things you need to know. The cost structure when the economy was running on $128 per barrel, $130 and $140 would remain the same. It is not easy to change that cost structure under a democracy especially in a system, where most of our people rely on government. Here, government influences a lot of things even the financial services. If there is no statutory allocation, look at how liquidity would dry up in the system. A whole lot of things are wholly dependent on the direction of the government.

The cost structure when the oil price was $140 is not coming down; it is rather going up because inflation is not static. The population is growing, people are growing from new age grade to another; that calls for certain classes of demand for goods and services in addition to the cost structure you are running. So, you are running a cost structure that the revenue you are earning today is less than 25 per cent of the revenue that actually put that cost structure in place. So, that calls for ingenuity in managing the resources. We are not boasting but go and check it. People think Akwa Ibom collects so much. It is a relative term. What we collect today is relative to what we used to collect that our cost structure was based on. Every state government is in the same situation but what would differentiate you is a little bit of ingenuity, ideas and creativity. That is why you do not make noise about it.

How can you tell the whole world that you are paying salaries? But in Nigeria, it is an

We are changing the Akwa Ibom story

achievement. If you are paying salaries and pensions because when you turn around and you see others owing eight and nine months, you come back home and say, God I have tried now. Take for example, this month, the local government and primary school teachers; you know we run free and compulsory education at basic level for even people from our neighbouring states. So, the enrolment is much. I have a lot of primary school teachers because people from neighbouring states come to my state to go to school because it is free.

As at today, the statutory allocation from the federal government for primary school teachers and local government employees came to N2 billion, but on a very screened, and when I say screened, I have done all the biometrics, I

That is when creativity, ideas and ingenuity would come in. That is why I tell you today that those that are paying salaries, it is a big achievement. There are challenges but the question there is as I said earlier, what brings out the best in a good leader is when you are faced with those challenges. For somebody like me, that is when you put me in my best and make me to put on my thinking cap. So, those challenges are meant to bring the best out of us

have put all the checks and balances and I still have a structure of N2.77 billion. The question now is, if what you are getting could barely meet that, how are you managing to pay the salaries and still run general administration of the state and be able to meet all other challenges of governance?

That is when creativity, ideas and ingenuity would come in. That is why I tell you today that those that are paying salaries, it is a big achievement. There are challenges but the question there is as I said earlier, what brings out the best in a good leader is when you are faced with those challenges. For somebody like me, that is when you put me in my best and make me to put on my thinking cap. So, those challenges are meant to bring the best out of us.

Probably, if I met oil price at $140, $150 per barrel, I would have, like those days we used to enter Molue, say ‘go on soun”. I would not have checked those things that make us to move forward economically. That is not the thinking of today. That is not where the direction should lead us to. We should not behave like the days of manner falling from heaven. These are the days of tilling on the land. People must be able to work to create wealth. That is a challenge and that is why you see a whole lot of our economic policies at channeling towards addressing that.

Has the long time you spent at the tribunal not disrupted the chain of your programmes?

Time is money but at the same time, I am not a lawyer. So, throughout the tribunal – from tribunal to appeal and to Supreme Court – I went into the court premises only once. I am not a lawyer and I did not need to go there to defend myself. I just concentrated on my work. Why? Because I knew that if the mandate was from the people, whatsoever happened, as far as the people are still alive, there would be no problem. You know, when people were shouting rerun, I did not know what they meant by rerun because rerun to me is a very lay man’s language. It is run the way you were running before.

So, if I was running before, why should I be afraid? So, I do not know why that was the main issue? You know that people made mountains out of that rerun.

For me, rerun is run again the way you were running before. It also means re-vote the way you voted before. That rerun to us was not an issue. And let me also tell you, I have a kind of principle; I am like Cocoa Cola and inside Cocoa Cola company, you cannot mention Pepsi.

You hardly hear me mention any other political party. As far as I am concerned, it is only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). If you look at the cardinal things of my party, you see progress and that is what you see in Nigeria;

it is power to the people.

So, everything I need on a platform to showcase my governance and administration is on the platform of the PDP. Every other thing you hear in terms of political party stops at the plaza in Uyo. You know there are 31 local governments in Akwa Ibom and 329 wards and if they are gathering in one ward, they have left 328 for me to explore. So, why should I bother myself with what they are doing? That rerun you were hearing, they were telling my people to run again and to run even faster than the way they were running before. So, it was not really an issue. What really affected us was the second aspect of the question I answered, the reason being that it is not difficult for people like us and for somebody like me to create money or to raise money to do what I needed to do. But you know that in the system of government that we are running, as a state government, you do not have the liberty to raise money anyhow.

If you want to raise money, you must have to go back for approval. It is completely different.

For the federal government, even if they cannot pay salaries, they just call on one bond without approval anywhere and pay salary. I have a lot of laudable projects that I can borrow to finance and all I need is a year or two moratorium and those projects would pay for itself without anything from the government but I do not have that liberty. It is not the same thing with the state government.

That is the only thing that is a little bit of drawback to people like us that can just raise money for projects. All I need is a year or two moratorium and those projects would pay for themselves from the beginning to the end without anything from the government but I do not have that liberty. That is the only thing that is a little draw back to us that can easily raise and create money. You need approvals for all that and even approvals to improve on federal assets are not easy.

On the national convention of the PDP, the South-west are making a case and they are not joking. Is that not another crisis brewing?

On South-west leaders of PDP in relations to the party’s National Convention, I think that was two weeks ago, but as at today, we all have the same view. Let me say something, there must be some dissenting voices here and there whether you like it or not, even between two brothers, where they are seated, it doesn’t mean two of them must then agree on certain things at the first instant. Be that as it may, if you keep doing things the same way, you will keep on getting the same result. But in politics, you should know that when you have the majority, you are home and dry, and today we have the majority. What do we want? We want a solid and virile party that is united and that can handle the problem of this country.

Somebody like me, I don’t have any other party, the only party I know is PDP. This is because that is the party that brought development.

So, as far my people are concerned, that is the only thing they know. So what we are telling people now is look, what do you want to achieve? Can we work from what we want to achieve? We must leave all those things, all those sentiments, biases and so on that we started from outside before we can determine where to go. So that is the new direction and that is why you see some of us in the frontline of repositioning our party. Sorry to say, we would not allow the selfish ones to derail what we are doing. That is what we are working on and we would succeed.

Do you envisage a predecessor/successor crisis?

One thing about human beings is how to manage fellow human beings. So predecessor/successor’s relationship in Africa as a whole occurs because people don’t know how to relate. Two, you must put a round peg in a round hole. If I am a professional in politics, I must also know that a professional in politics would succeed me to ensure there wouldn’t be problem. If I am a professional in politics and I go and look for a professional politician, there would be a problem in his own ideology and so on. Three, it also depends on what are you are looking for because that is the question many people don’t bother to answer: what are you looking for?

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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INTERVIEW

Ortom: Why We’re Looking in China’s Direction Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, was on President Muhammadu Buhari’s delegation to China recently, after which he anchored a business and investment forum between Chinese businessmen and major stakeholders in the North Central states, as well as financial and investment institutions in both countries. He spoke about the gains of the trip and other concerns. George Okoh brings the excerpts:

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hy did you visit the assembly plant in Wuzheng?

You can see that Benue State is the food basket of the nation, and at a personal level, I’m a farmer.

This plant is deeply into the production of agricultural machinery and in China here, it’s one of the best. It also has some little presence in Benue State. I felt like coming here to encourage them because they’re already doing some trading in agricultural machinery like tractors and other farm implements in our state.

I’m here to discuss with the President and Chairman of this group in order to ensure that we not just go into trading of these machinery but we can start an assembly plant in Makurdi, the headquarters of Benue State. Apart from the benefits of having the equipment close to farmers in the food basket of the nation, the assembly plant will generate jobs, create opportunities and create wealth because it will be a center to service neighboring states especially those in the North Central part of the country.

I’ve taken advantage of the president’s visit to China, which opened up many opportunities for Nigeria. I’m happy that I was part of the delegation and I want to take maximum advantage of the visit in order to ensure that my state benefits first, that is why I’m here and I’m glad that the agreement has been signed.

The chairman has agreed to start an assembly plant in Makurdi and has directed his people to do a feasibility study on how this can be done. I think that within the shortest possible time, the benefits would be there with their practical presence.

What are the other gains of your trip to China?

They are massive, even though we’ve not finished the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and agreements with different provinces that have indicated that they want to partner Benue State. But I can assure you that more opportunities have been opened up for the people of Benue State because I had the opportunity of showcasing our potential as a state in the areas of agriculture, solid minerals, as well as culture and tourism.

The people here have been quite receptive to these and it’s happening at a time the president visited and signed several agreements of friendship and bilateral issues that affect the two countries. I’ve noticed that the average Chinese man and woman are quite receptive. I’m happy with this visit especially now that they have so much and are looking for opportunities to invest outside their country. I’m discussing with quite a number of them and during the Trade Fair, the chairman of Benue Chamber of Commerce was here with a delegation from the chamber and other government officials, who accompanied me.

We’ve gone into discussions with various investors and businessmen over here with emphasis on establishing their plants and factories in Benue State so that we can get maximum benefits out of these. We’re not just looking at trading, but for members of the Chamber of Commerce in the state, who are willing can start with trading because that will also be of benefit to our people. We believe that this foundation that we’ve laid with the president’s visit, the Trade Fair and the visits that we’ve paid to several provinces will definitely generate positive results for our state.

For instance, we’re discussing with the government and people of Guangzhou about an agreement with them so that Makurdi can become a sister city to Guangzhou, this will bring a lot of benefits. Before you know what is happening, someone who just heard our discussion went into discussion with his government in a different province and they decided that we should come and sign an agreement that they want to partner us, an investor who is willing to come to Nigeria and

it took place.

It’s quite challenging for anyone that comes here if you are someone with a development heart, you’ll be challenged to replicate it back home and that’s the challenge that I have. I’m not just folding my hands, I’ve always told people that please identify something and do.

Here, everything that concerns every human endeavor can be found here in China and our people should take advantage and let us together develop Benue State and Nigeria.

Ortom...China is the future

Benue State in particular by this May. He’s willing to invest in agro processing, in tourism, and is also willing to invest in solid minerals. We’ve gotten investors, who have indicated interest and I’ve given them invitation

Today, they have the capacity to produce high standard and quality products and I can attest to this. Gone are the days when people used to criticize China, they should come here and see. I think that people who criticize me for looking towards China are completely ignorant about what is happening around the world. They should travel to America and go to the shops, 70 per cent of what you see on the shelf of an average shop in America is produced in China, the same thing in Europe, the same thing in other parts of the world. This is where it’s happening and that’s why they’ve made a lot of progress

to visit the state. The Nigerian Mission here in China is really supportive of these initiatives arising from the fact that our business forum for two days at the Hilton in Guangzhou was a great success. The Chinese investors and the people from the North Central States displayed commitment and enthusiasm to ensure that we go into partnership. I believe that things will work out. The business forum was a very big success particularly for Benue State which anchored it. I can assure you that the benefits are already there.

Why do you keep looking towards China?

Our people say that ignorance is darker than night. When you are not fully informed and knowledgeable about certain things you may be confused. Today, in the whole world, if you go to other parts of the world, in America, go to Europe, go to other parts of Asia, go to the Americas and everywhere in the world, you will see the presence of China whether by way of the people or their products. Gone are the days when we experienced substandard products from China.

Today, they have the capacity to produce high standard and quality products and I can attest to this. Gone are the days when people used to criticize China, they should come here and see. I think that people who criticize me for looking towards China are completely ignorant about what is happening around the world.

They should travel to America and go to the shops, 70 per cent of what you see on the shelf of an average shop in America is produced in China, the same thing in Europe, the same thing in other parts of the world. This is where it’s happening and that’s why they’ve made a lot of progress.

For me, I want my state to develop, I want my state to progress, I want my administration to make an impact on our people and I’ve identified and seen that the way forward is here, that’s where the whole world is going.

We went to Canton Trade Fair, for instance, and the entire world was there, from America, from Europe, from India and other parts of Asia – they were all here. These people have had a breakthrough and come to think of it, this revolution that we’re seeing in China took place just about 30 years ago, within 30 years

What’s your reaction to those who say you’ve spent so much money on the trip in the face of the economic crunch and non-payment of salaries back home?

For me, it’s money that makes good soup. If I folded my arms and sat in one place while our industries were not working, technology has gone very far and we cannot identify this and bring to the state to effect development, then what are we doing? You must not eat your seed if you want development, if you want to prosper, if you want to make progress. You must learn how to use your seed wisely so that in time of harvest you can harvest more, that’s what I’m doing.

In any case, I’ve not spent money outside my entitlements; the same applies to other members of the delegation. Is it the commissioner or the Director of Industries that you don’t want to attend the Trade Fair? Is it me that the president invited because of the strategic role that Benue State has on the map of Nigeria, to accompany him to China that would have said no because we have no money? I want to appeal to those, who seek to make political gain by criticising this government to please reason because politicking is over.

We have three more years ahead of us, let us do governance. Let them bring ideas, let them go back and check what the other government was doing before we came in. I’ve not been traveling, go and check the records. How many times have I travelled out of Nigeria since I became Governor? I can assure you that for this purpose the state stands to benefit far more than even myself and the people who travelled with me. I didn’t make the trip for personal reasons.

I’ve just started my leave for one week and I’ll go back. I’m not the type that travels for fun or for leisure. This is my first time of travelling to attend a Trade Fair outside the country since becoming Governor. But this and the other trips have mostly been at the invitation of the President. In any case, those criticising should go and check whether I’ve done anything outside the rules or outside my entitlements.

Some said you left the Trade Fair in Makurdi to attend the one in China, is that not a contradiction?

I and the Deputy Governor are on one ticket, if the Deputy Governor is present at any function that is me. We are on one ticket, anywhere you see the Deputy Governor that is me. Of course, I did organise that Trade Fair and I told them what I wanted and we’ve achieved results there too and so, what is the essence of two us being there? If I had not come here the achievements we’ve recorded here wouldn’t have been there. I think they’re just criticising for political reasons, I don’t see how a reasonable person would compare the Canton Trade Fair which is worldwide – the entire world was here – and the Makurdi Trade Fair. It is what we get here that we can use to make the Trade Fair of Benue more vibrant next year in terms of empowering them through machinery and several other benefits.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

INTERVIEW

Ndoma-Egba: The Seeming Lack of Capacity in INEC is Disturbing Former Senate Leader, Senator Victor NdomaEgba, spoke with some journalists recently in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, on national issues, including the capacity of the new INEC leadership to conduct credible elections and the fight against graft by President Muhammadu Buhari, among others. Bassey Inyang, who was at the session, presents the excerpts:

W

hat do you think is responsible for what many have described as an inactive APC in Cross River State?

A lot has been going on and we have been in the dark room or in the engine room and you will see the result at the appropriate time. But things are happening; not exactly what you will see in the public glare. The grand rally was just to announce to the world at large that the party has made its entry into the state. Every other thing that will happen – some will be to the knowledge of the public and some will not be.

Like the issue of the super highway, which people expect to hear from the opposition, it is one issue that needs to be looked at methodically first because there should be a very clear balance between development and protection of the ecology and the economy and the heritage of the people.

We know that recently there was a publication for acquisition of the right-of-way, we have information about the publication, but there is

I am worried about the pattern that has emerged since the present leadership of INEC took over.

I mean, every right thinking Nigerian should be worried that what we are seeing is a pattern that every election is inconclusive. So, it is for INEC to reassure us and the nation that they indeed have the capacity to conduct free and fair elections, and carry out their responsibilities because INEC is not to be supervised by anybody because it is called Independent National Electoral Commission

the need to authenticate it because you have to acquire the right-of-way in such object. In fact, I will reserve my comment on the publication until it is authenticated. When we are satisfied that the publication is authentic, we will make our comment.

Is the APC-led federal government succeeding in its fight against corruption?

We will be living in delusion if we think that corruption will not fight back. Certainly, it will fight back and it will fight back so ferociously, and it will fight back fiercely and mercilessly.

But the important thing is that there is a sheer magnitude of the depravity now in the public sphere, and it is a subject of public discourse and public discussion.

My understanding and my take is that the outcome of this public conversation and the sheer magnitude of corruption, is that we will reach a common consensus that never again will we get to this level of depravity.

So far, how would you rate the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari?

One thing that is very clear is that the will to implement very difficult decision is available in this government. I give you a few examples.

Take the Treasury Single Account (TSA) for instance. The constitution contemplates that all revenue of government should be paid into a Consolidated Account, and the whole essence of that is that at every time you know what is coming in. But over time, the experience was that MDAs (Ministries Departments and Agencies) had multiplicity of accounts. Some departments had over 20 accounts; some of the accounts known to very few individuals and others known to none. With the TSA today, government is able to have an idea of its income and collective revenue. Now, it is not as if this TSA is new because the idea of a Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) has been in all constitution of the nation since independence. What has been lacking is the will to enforce it.

The second is the reinvigorated fight against corruption. Before now, I think it was just mere preachment and mere lip-service. So, again we are seeing commitment that the scourge of corruption must be contained, and we all need to fight corruption, if not we will all be victims of corruption. When people celebrate the spoils of office, they are unwittingly celebrating their own demise because that spoils of office is actually what would have gone into amenities and infrastructure.

So, now we see the will to fight corruption. We also see the biggest infrastructure of corruption being taken away easily which is the fuel subsidy.

It has been removed and Nigeria is still moving on. So, in terms of political will, we can for once say that we have seen the will of the government to do the needful. I concede that there is a lot of hardship, but that hardship is not something that is created overnight. It is an accumulated circumstance.

Things cannot get better without them first getting worse. It’s like a seed when planted; it gets rotten before it germinates. We are in that process of germinating. So, the long and

Victor-Ndoma...Buhari needs our support

short of my summation is that we need to give support to President Buhari, and show some patience.

What do you make of the conduct of inconclusive elections by the new leadership of INEC? I am worried about the pattern that has emerged since the present leadership of INEC took over.

I mean, every right thinking Nigerian should be worried that what we are seeing is a pattern that every election is inconclusive. So, it is for INEC to reassure us and the nation that they indeed have the capacity to conduct free and fair elections, and carry out their responsibilities because INEC is not to be supervised by anybody because it is called Independent National Electoral Commission.

They owe Nigerians and the state a duty to carry out their constitutional responsibility to a conclusion. Elections must have a winner and a looser; that is what the common man on the street expects. So, to say that an election is inconclusive after financial and material expense, after the emotions because every election is emotionally draining for the candidates, and the supporters are drained, after putting them through all that at the end of the day you say there is no result. That is totally unacceptable.

INEC needs to get its acts together immediately because they remain independent only as long as Nigerians have confidence in their ability and capacity to deliver on their mandate. The moments Nigerians lose confidence in their ability, and then they have lost their independence.

So, INEC must do everything to ensure they create a new beginning.

Do you see the frequent trips by President Buhari yielding positive results in terms of the repatriation of funds allegedly stashed away, using the agreement signed between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirate for instance?

I have heard people complain that the president travels too much. My simple reaction to that is: if you are a good student of anti-corruption fight and its strength, the travels of the president are strategic because, out there, it is common knowledge where the bulk of the stolen funds are being hidden; and in my view, the president’s travel has coincided with this common knowledge of where these funds are, and we are beginning to see the benefits.

Today, we can talk about Mutual Assistance Agreements (MAA) being signed with some of these countries where these funds are such as UAE, Kenya and a few others, and very soon, the president will be going to China to consolidate on investments and loans for infrastructure, and one of those other issue that may also come up, is that of illegal funds.

I think even from the president recent comment, he has reiterated his determination to recover all those illegal funds wherever they are, and it is in our best interest to recover funds that have been illegally taken out of our system.

When you talk of capital flight, it is not only when multinationals bring experts into Nigeria and are paid in foreign exchange.

People also steal money and take it to foreign

countries and that is capital flight. So, we need to stem this capital flight and recover whatever we can recover and bring back into our economy to regenerate this system. So, for me, I support every move that is being made that all the illegally stolen funds are brought back into the country. I am in total support.

What advice do you have for the federal government so it can effectively account for and apply the slush funds to good use?

First, let me say that the issue of recovered and recovery of funds illegally taken out of Nigeria is now an economy by itself because the sums we are talking about is not penny.

We are talking about huge sums of money because it is an economy of its own. There is need for a legal framework to manage the process of recovery and to manage the process of the management of these recovered funds, and also manage the process of accounting for them. My view is that all of these recoveries should end up in the Consolidated Account and should be part of the revenue of government for which it should be appropriated. But, before it gets to that point, there should be legislative framework to manage the process of recovery, and the process to manage the recovery until it has ended in the consolidated account.

What explanation do you have for those who are of the opinion that the laws in Nigeria are too weak to fight corruption?

Let me say that corruption is a very versatile phenomenon. It adapts to new situation and new environment. It is a very sophisticated phenomenon and you can never contemplate every aspect of the mutation of corruption. So, for me, it is very difficult for one to contemplate and anticipate because those involved in it are very intelligent and sophisticated. You can never foresee every situation. So, for me, let us have broad frameworks for dealing with it.

People say that we have enough frameworks for dealing with it. Generally speaking, yes. But, when it comes to stealing; as you know money laundry is a new challenge by itself dealing with illicit funds, especially money from terrorism, which is a challenge on its own. So, our laws must continue to respond to the demands of the times. It is a very sophisticated situation that we are dealing with, so our laws must be responsive at all times.

What about suggestions on capital punishments for corruption related offences?

Now, for the law on capital punishment, in as much as I feel drained by the sheer depravity of corruption as we know, I still do not think that death is a punishment. Death is not a punishment. Death frees you from all punishment.

As a Roman Catholic, my faith is against death penalty, and as such, I do not support a death punishment. Death is not a punishment rather it is a relief, a freedom, and you are looking at eternal judgment.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

20

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

Acting Features Editor Charles Ajunwa Email charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

Giving to the Needy Supporting the less-privileged has always been the dream of the Director of TLS, Ikoyi, Mrs. Olubunmi Egbeyemi, as she recently renovated the nursery class of Red Cross Orphanage, Makoko, Lagos. Funmi Ogundare writes

The children in the makeover classroom with their teachers

T

he outpouring of prayers and gratitude from parents and teachers of the Red Cross Orphanage, Makoko, Lagos, recently, greeted the completion of the renovation/makeover of the nursery class of the orphanage established by the Red Cross society in 1988.

It was renovated by the Director of Tender Love School (TLS), Ikoyi, Mrs. Olubunmi Egbeyemi, as part of the charity drive of her school.

For a first time visitor or a parent bringing her child into such a class, would have asked if they indeed do a Montessori system in the school, as the class is now wearing a new coat of paint, a sleeping corner that used to have ordinary mats has been replaced by soft puff bed and throw pillows for the comfort of the children, as well as laminated numbers on the wall which the children can recognise and learn from.

Aside this, the playground which currently has weak play gadgets will also be completely replaced and made more child-friendly.

Asked what spurred her interest in the orphanage, Egbeyemi said, "when I was an administrator at Mayday School, Isolo, I have always have a relationship with the Red Cross office, and then I looked at areas where we needed to do more for the children, so I embarked on extracurricular activities. I used to go to Makoko to buy uniforms for the Boys Scout and Girls Guild Society.

“I also needed to have a relationship with the officers to train the children. It

When I informed the head teacher of my intentions to improve the classroom, she agreed with me and we got the painting quotation to brighten up the classroom. We had extra furniture from my school which we tidied up and we decided to donate them during the Easter holidays and I told the head teacher that before they resume for the third term, they will come into a new classroom.

They also had a box television which we had to replace with a flat screen type

was during one of my visit to the place then to buy uniforms that I realised that there is an orphanage and I took interest in the orphanage. I didn't even realise they have started a proper school."

She said her school sometimes last year, embarked on a charity drive when it sold tickets to parents to embark on project for children from less-privileged background and realised about N500,000.

"In doing this drive, we didn't realise we will get so much money, and we looked at what we are going to do with it aside donating old toys and clothes. In the committee that was set up, a teacher that brought the idea for the orphanage said rather than give them the cheque of N500, 000, we can look at something significant that we can do at the orphanage."

At the beginning of this year, Egbeyemi said she decided to visit the playground and take a picture of what she intends to do, noting, "Fortunately we met the matron and the admin manager and we told them we needed to upgrade the playground.

I used that opportunity to go round the classrooms and immediately I got to the toddler class particularly, my heart sank.

There were about 30 children there, the moment I entered there, I felt we could do more and make the class brighter and child friendly. They were sleeping on the mats and there was a barricade to divide the classrooms. The children greeted so well and I felt these are children we could do more for.

"When I informed the head teacher of my intentions to improve the classroom, she agreed with me and we got the painting quotation to brighten up the classroom.

We had extra furniture from my school which we tidied up and we decided to donate them during the Easter holidays and I told the head teacher that before they resume for the third term, they will come into a new classroom. They also had a box television which we had to replace with a flat screen type."

Egbeyemi who disclosed that the projects would be in phases said, "the class makeover took us a week to do and we delivered when we needed to do that. The playground is going to be delivered in September 2016, we will clear the old metal play equipment which are no longer safe. When you are looking at safety for children, these are things that could hurt the children and they could be rusty. Clearly with more exposure and enlightenment, we don't want to have such equipment in a playground where toddlers are playing.

"We also noticed they don't have the right kind of sand, playing in the playground is not about the equipment. We are going to take the old equipment out, we want to look at the space and pour white sand that is good for playing. We make the space more beautiful, put a bit of gravel and create beauty. The clearing stage will be at the end of April or May, we will get the sand in by June. The whole idea is for them to have room to run around."

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• T H I S D AY THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

FEATURES

The orphanage staff in the new classroom

On the impact the project will create on the lives of the children, she said it's going to be a different orientation for them, adding that it will be like an incentive for the teachers who are there.

"I am sure by the time we get to the older class, some teachers would have got the idea of how to set up their classroom better.

In a way, it's training for the teachers. That was why I told the head teacher that we are not just stopping at decoration and the playground, we are going to be doing a mentoring programme. We will be having

Even those in the design team in my school can also have a day workshop with them to teach them how to do little things too. That way we are enhancing the quality of teaching too. I have had this idea for years, we want to go beyond giving food or clothes being an orphanage, why can't we adopt the school and teach the teachers and create something different. I did it out of something I have always wanted to do

Front view of the Red Cross Orphanage, Makoko

an exchange programmes where a day or two, their own teachers will come in free and mentor my pupils. “Even those in the design team in my school can also have a day workshop with them to teach them how to do little things too. That way we are enhancing the quality of teaching too. I have had this idea for years, we want to go beyond giving food or clothes being an orphanage, why can't we adopt the school and teach the teachers and create something different. I did it out of something I have always wanted to do."

The Chairman Sub-committee of the Red Cross Society, Lagos State, Mrs. Omolara Ehindero described the project as laudable saying that though before now, other donors have been coming around, but it is the first time the orphanage will be having someone who will be embarking on such project at once.

"I thank God for her vision, to erect play gadgets for the children. All work and no play, makes jack a dull boy. The children in the nursery school need to play and exercise their body. When children play, the memory lingers on instead of staying in bed for a long time. It's a very laudable project and we actually welcome it, it will stay long in our memory too as a society," she said.

She also thanked Egbeyemi for her wonderful work saying that she had to tell members of her society during one of their meetings to see how they could help the orphanage educationally and morally.

"When you do something for the orphanage home, your life is fulfilled. I have been seeing some youths coming in to teach the children out of their own volition, they are helping the society, "Ehindero stressed.

The Headmistress of the orphanage, Mrs.

Newyear Iheanacho also commended the efforts of Egbeyemi saying, "It's already a great thing to the parents and to the Red Cross society. Nobody goes in there and come out without saying kudos, it's wonderful.

When we resumed for the third term, Mrs. Ehindero had planned to bring people together to pray in that class but she couldn't make it, so she gave an instruction that we should do that.

"We went in there and prayed for her for the great work she has done. It has really been so wonderful. It will take us far as well. It will change the environment and also change the lives of the children.

Environment matters a lot in the lives of the children, in a conducive environment, they will learn, it will be an attraction to anybody that wants to bring in their children."

22

IMAGES

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com

L-R; Keynote Speaker, Dr. Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija; Discussant, Mr. Desmond Majekodunmi; Ogun State Governor, Senator lbikunle Amosun;his wife/celebrant, Mrs Olufunso Amosun; Chairman of the Day, General Theophilus Danjuma and his wife,Senator Daisey Danjuma during a forum on’Green Education for the Youth disclosure’ to commemorate the 50th birthdayanniversary of Mrs Amosun at the June 12 Cultural centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, Ogun State...recently ABIODUN AJALA

L-R: Creative Director, MOE+ Art Architecture, Papa Omotayo; Principal Architect, CmDesign Atelier, Tosin Oshinowo; and Principal Architect, SI.SA/ Co-founders, African Alliance for New Design (AAND), Seun Oduwole, at the AAND exhibition in Lagos... recently

L-R; Front Row: Kwara State Head of Service, Hajia Zahra Omar, Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission, (UBEC), Dr. Diko Suleiman, Deputy Executive Secretary, UBEC, Dr. Yakubu Gambo and other Staff of UBEC during a courtesy visit to Government House, Ilorin....recently

L-R: Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering , Lagos State University (LASU), Professor Femi Shonnike; Guest Lecturer and Progrmme Officer, Media, Ford Foundation, West Africa, Lagos, Dr. Paul Nwulu; Vice Chancellor, Professor Lanre Fagboun; and Lecturer, Journalism Department, Dr. Tunde Akanni, during LASU’s lecture to mark this year World Press Freedom Day Anniversary at the Main Campus in Lagos... recently Yomi Akinyele

L-R: Economic/Commercial Consul, Chinese Consulate in Lagos,Mr. Peng Zhang; President, Shandong Province Auto Parts, Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Zhou Liping; Director General, Lagos State Chamber of Commerce (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf;Vice Chairman, Organizing Committee, China International Auto Expo, Mrs. Zhang Yazhu; and Director, Policy / Planning, National Automative Design and Development Council, Mr. Leegman Mamndu, during the Nigeria-China auto parts economic/trade seminar and business matchmaking forum in

L-R: Acting Executive Secretary, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Mrs. Bola Eniola; Master Rokibu Oyewo; and State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, during the personal donation of school uniforms to the 400 pupils of the school by the governor, in Ibadan...recently Photo: Oyo State Government

L-R: Musical director, John Stoddart; Gospel artiste, Kirk Whalum; Senior Pastor, Trinity House, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo; and Manager, Earl Stone, during the visit of performing Whalum Gospel Team to Trinity House in Lagos... recently

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

23

BUSINESSWORLD NIBOR OVERNIGHT 1-MONTH

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Quick Takes Elizade Boss for Entrepreneurial Class Founder and Executive Chairman of Elizade Group of Companies, Chief Michael Ade Ojo, is set to share the leadership and entrepreneurial experiences that have brought success to all the companies he leads at the forthcoming Leadership & Entrepreneurship Master Class organised by BNC Conferences in conjunction with Maple Travel Ltd. The training is schedule for next month at Smokin Hills Golf Resort, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State.

According to the MD/CEO Maple Travels LTD, Prince Folarin Adesemowo, the training, designed for business owners, managers and Golf Enthusiasts, becomes imperative because of the significance of entrepreneurship, leadership and enterprise to this era.

He said: ‘Within organisations, business owners are demanding leadership and entrepreneurship qualities from a wide range of staff with responsibility for taking decisions. This is because business growth and success are now linked to the actions of individuals who do not necessarily occupy the C-Suite, but everyone who can contribute ideas to shape and change the dynamics of the business. Leadership, entrepreneurship is now known to make the difference between success and failure among individuals, organisations and nations.”

Court Expands FBI Hacking Powers

PROMOTING 5G TECHNOLOGY

L-R: Chairman, Commonwealth International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Group, Dr. Bashir Gwandu and Director, Network Technologies, European Commission, Dr. Bernard Barani, at the Wireless-World Research Forum 5G Conference held in London... recently

Telecoms Operators Demand Framework for VAS Licences Stories by Emma Okonji Following last week’s disagreement between the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), over the released framework for the regulation of Value Added Service (VAS) operators in the country, ALTON has insisted that the best approach to address the issue, was for NCC to review the framework and make the necessary amendments.

Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, told THISDAY that the review was very essential and ALTON must be involved in the exercise.

TELECOMS The NCC had in the past, received several complaints from telecoms subscribers and operators about the services of VAS operators. Their complaints stemmed from fraudulent broadcast and unsolicited text messages otherwise known as short message service (SMS) that flood customers’ phones, a situation that compelled NCC to develop and released a set of regulatory guidelines to help address the issue.

Despite the disagreement between ALTON and the NCC over the guidelines, which ALTON said were inimical to the growth of the telecoms sector,

Review

Adebayo said the association would be willing to work with NCC to resolve the issue.

He urged the NCC to review the set guidelines, and make quick amendments in the interest of the telecoms industry.

“That given that many of those implicated in the fraudulent practices highlighted by the NCC are entities to which the Commission itself has issued VAS licenses, NCC should review its framework for issuing VAS licenses. NCC can consider engaging the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), which is the industry body for VAS licensees in Nigeria, to provide

of

ceriticates of fitness to persons applying for VAS licenses,” Adebayo said.

He said the NCC should continue to work with the industry to ensure uncompromising enforcement of agreed consumer protection measures such as the “Do Not Disturb” lists, timing and volume restrictions on unsolicited SMS. According to him, the Commission should either re-constitute the Short Code Working Group or enlarge it to include other stakeholders, including consumers if necessary. The Working Group Continued on page 24

NIPOST Revokes Licences of 14 Courier Operators, Seals Two The Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), on Tuesday in Lagos, raided two courier companies over unethical practices.

The courier regulatory body also revoked the licences of 14 courier companies for various offenses ranging from nonrenewal of operational licence for up to five years period; operating under cover; unethical, as well as sharp practices that are capable of swindling innocent customers who transact business with them.

The action of CRD is in line with its ongoing efforts to rid the courier industry of unethical practices indulged by

COURIER most operators, in an attempt to defraud customers who place documents in their care for safe delivery.

The two courier companies whose offices were sealed, were Nation Delivery Services and Kungo Rock Worldwide Express, both located in Ikeja, Lagos. Courier waybills and courier dispatch motorcycle were discovered with the two operators as evidences that they operate courier business in the country, yet they have no operational licence for doing so, thereby depriving government of its revenue. Aside short-changing government,

such courier operators defraud customers since they operate under cover because they were not licensed to operate in the country.

Those whose licences were revoked, included Abia City Express, Baxglobal Intercontinental Express, Datol Express Courier Service, Ezex Courier services, Gulf Agency and Shipping, Hand 2 Hand Courier, and Helpline Handling and Logistics. Others are Interline Shipping Ltd, Mast Logistics Ltd, Nedlink Courier, Pacific Logistics International, PalsyWalsy Ltd, PurpleBlue Courier Services and Roadmarks Nigeria Ltd. All the 14 courier companies operate from Lagos, with

branch offices outside Lagos.

Senior Assistant Postmaster General and Head of CRD, Dr. Simon Emeje, told journalists shortly after the revocation that the 14 courier operators, henceforth, have ceased to operate as courier companies in the country. He advised Nigerians to stop patronising them, insisting that any customer who decides to do business with them, will be doing so a great risk.

“Henceforth we will closely monitor them and we will make sure they do not operate as courier operators in Nigeria anymore,” Emeje said.

Continued on page 24

The United States Supreme Court has approved a rule change that could allow law enforcement to remotely search computers around the world.

Previously, magistrate judges could order searches only within the jurisdiction of their court, often limited to a few countries The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said the change was necessary to modernise the law for the digital age.

But digital rights groups said the move expanded the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI’s) hacking authority.

The DoJ wants judges to be able to issue remote search warrants for computers located anywhere that the United States claims jurisdiction, which could include other countries.

A remote search typically involves trying to access a suspect’s computer over the internet to explore the data contained on it.

It has pushed for a change in the rules since 2013, arguing that criminals can mask their location and identity online making it difficult to determine which jurisdiction a computer is located in.

“Criminals now have ready access to sophisticated anonymising technologies to conceal their identity while they engage in crime over the internet,” said DoJ spokesman Peter Carr.

“The use of remote searches is often the only mechanism available to law enforcement to identify and apprehend them.

The amendment makes explicit that it does not change the traditional rules governing probable cause and notice.”

However, groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have warned that the change could expand the FBI’s ability to conduct mass hacks on computer networks.

Opera Software Deadline Extended Opera Software said a Chinese consortium extended a $1.2 billion offer for the Norwegian mobile browser firm, having fallen short of the required level of acceptance among shareholders.

The consortium, which is made up of internet firms Kunlun and Qihoo as well as investment funds Golden Brick and Yonglian, will keep its offer open until 24 May, in the hope of winning over more Opera shareholders. The deal was announced in February.

Currently, the offer has received acceptance from shareholders representing 72 per cent of the company’s equity, but needs to exceed 90 per cent for completion.

“There will be no further extensions to the offer period,” said a statement by the consortium.

The sale by Opera follows a strategic review announced last year. The company’s management and board both backed the offer by the Chinese consortium.

“Since there is dignity in labour, Nigerian workers deserve to have their financial dignity even in retirement,” Executive Secretary, PenOp, Ms. Susan Oranye

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BUSINESSWORLD TELECOMS OPERATORS DEMAND REVIEW OF FRAMEWORK FOR VAS LICENCES should then be challenged to finalise the Industry Code of Conduct, not later than one month. This should be a comprehensive document, which entrenches the ideal of self-regulation, as is the case in other jurisdictions.

He listed some of the implications for the regulation of VAS to include threat to new investments; market upheaval; negative effects on job creation; and national security concerns, among others, In the area of threat to new investments, Adebayo said VAS is used for customer engagement and not primarily for revenue. In the face of falling voice revenues, serious investments are being made to roll out 3G/4G networks primarily to drive the provision of data and digital services to retain customers and help achieve government’s economic growth and inclusion objectives. If we cannot guarantee the viability of present and future investments by providing services, which keep customers on our networks, why should we continue investing in network expansion and broadband services, he queried.

NIPOST REVOKES LICENCES OF 14 COURIER OPERATORS, SEALS TWO He explained that the 14 operators have been operating under cover for some years without operating licences, a situation, he said, remained dangerous to customers who may want to place vital documents in their care for clearing and delivery. He cited cases where documents were handed to some of the operators, and the documents were not delivered, even when money had been paid for the delivery service.

Emeje vowed to sanitise the courier industry and free it from sharp and unwholesome practices that are capable of defrauding customers.

Prior to the revocation, CRD had 283 registered courier operators across the country, but the number dropped to 269 after the recent revocation.

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Maritime Editor

John Iwori

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Crusoe Osagie

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

Chinedu Eze (Aviation) Linda Eroke (Labour) Eromosele Abiodun (Cap Mkt) Ejiofor Alike (Energy) James Emejo (Nation’s Capital) Obinna Chima (Money Mkt) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (AgricBusiness)

NEWS

Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Announces Production of First Oil from Aje Field Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Co. Ltd said that it has commenced production of crude oil from its Aje field located in Block OML 113 offshore Lagos, Nigeria.

YFP is a wholly owned Nigerian company and is the Operator of OML113. The other partners are New Age Exploration Nigeria Limited, EER (Colobus) Nigeria Limited, Pan Petroleum (Panoro Energy) Aje Limited and PR Oil & Gas Nigeria Limited.

After over 25 years of exploratory, appraisal and developmental activities, YFP has successfully pioneered the opening of the Frontier Benin Embayment as the Aje Field is the first field to record production from this part of Nigeria, the first production outside of the Niger Delta.

Commissioning of the Front Puffin FPSO was successfully completed after its arrival in Nigeria on 16th March. Oil produced from the Aje field will be stored on the Front Puffin, which has production capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day and storage capacity of 750,000 barrels.

The Chairman of YFP, Tunde Folawiyo, said: “The attainment of this milestone is indeed a laudable achievement not just for YFP but for the Nigerian oil and gas industry as a whole and indeed Lagos

State which can now be addressed as an oil producing state. Recording this achievement in the present global oil climate together with the peculiar challenges of the field is clearly no mean feat. We are very proud of and appreciate

the efforts, determination and commitment of the entire Aje Project team past and present, the constant support from our regulators, the DPR and Ministry of Petroleum and our financiers. We believe this crucial support will

spur us on to even greater achievements.”

Aje is an offshore field located in OML 113 in the western part of Nigeria in the Dahomey Basin. The field is situated in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,000 metres

about 24 km from the coast.

The Aje field contains hydrocarbon resources in sandstone reservoirs in three main levels - a Turonian gas condensate reservoir, a Cenomanian oil reservoir and an Albian gas condensate reservoir.

A BOOST FOR MSME

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Konga online.com, Mr. Shola Adekoya; Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Rotimi Ogunleye; Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Commerce, Hon. Benjamin Olabinjo and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Mr. Olalekan Akodu, at the first Lagos State MSME Exclusive Fair held at the state’s secretariat, Alausa, Lagos…recently

Omatek Proffers Solution to Nigerian MTN Fine: Experts Warn of Implications on Digital Electricity Problems Stories by Emma Okonji Omatek Ventures Plc, an integrated Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company, has said its new line of business in the power sector is already yielding results. The company said it is fully positioned to fill the power vacuum in Nigeria.

Omatek’s latest and modern solar factory is now in the best position to immensely provide the assistance towards ensuring that the federal government delivers enduring power to ordinary Nigerians, the company said.

The Group Managing Director of Omatek Ventures, Florence Seriki, who made the disclosure at a recent public forum in Lagos, said the 50KVA three-phase off-grid solar solution commissioned earlier in its factory would provide 24/7 power with 85 per cent reduction in power consumption for factories, banks, telecoms firms, government and other organisations that require big power installations.

Seriki also disclosed that the factory assembles locally the 12watts, 20 watts, 500 watts power solutions that replace the power output from mini generators. She said such from Omatek Ventures could serve small homes, shops, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), churches, rural electrification and rural system, street lighting implementation, schools and for students, farmers among others.

“Why should our students still use lantern to read as we did, in this new digital age?” she queried.

Seriki added: “Omatek is now more than ready to partner the federal government to offer affordable power solutions to communities and rural areas as part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda of finding a lasting solution to the perennial power problems in the country.”

Furthermore she said that the entry cost has dropped since the company reduced the consumption required by about 85 per cent, which eventually reduces the solar wattage requirement.

“However, for this to go round most Nigerians, federal government and state governors can assist by encouraging smooth consumer-type procurement where civil servants can buy on consumer basis and pay over a period from salary deductions,” she said adding that this will bring smiles back to Nigerians as sleeping in the heat can be very depressing.

Students and farmers are not left out from this arrangement as banks, leasing companies, insurance companies, cooperative societies, among others, can consider partnering to assist Nigerians to own this solution.

“Omatek is currently engaging distributors and partners for this change process and for the bright future of our country,” she said. Commenting on the progress Omatek has achieved since the launch of Omatek LED bulbs installed at

the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) that reduced the lighting consumption by 75-90 per cent, the immediate past Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, told the media that the country had been concentrating her energy on building power plants, whereas there is Omatek solar-led hybrid solution that is reducing power consumption by an average of 80 per cent thereby saving energy for others to use. They are indeed making energy available for all without building power plants.

The Minister Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, said at a recent town hall meeting organised by the federal government in Lagos that the available energy at the moment cannot be enough for the population unless he delivers power in tranches.

He also said the solutions to the current power challenge in Nigeria, is the adoption of hybrid solutions and power reduction strategies as it is done in Ghana.

Explaining further, Seriki said one of the solutions the company is offering the market is solar powered light integrated with inverter and solar – all in one. This development means that the days of generators are numbered. “You can light up your home with our 12 watts; and for bigger homes, you can get 500 watts to 1,000 watts and I don’t see why all SMEs cannot go back to business, since the power output can carry all the lights, fans and televisions on the solar,” Seriki said.

Switchover

Industry experts have called for a quick resolution of the MTN fine in the interest of the country’s quest to achieve digital switch over by the new date of June 2017. They have also warned that if the situation persists, it may send wrong signals and hinder the interest of local and foreign investors who might be willing to roll out their operations in the country to achieve this objective.

The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, at a summit organised by the National Association of Information Technology Professionals in Public and Civil Service (NITPCS) in Abuja recently, said: “The National Assembly is investigating the matter. Some of us do not want to make comments because we believe our comments may alter the outcome of the investigation.

As you have seen, the process of legislative investigation is still ongoing and I believe when the investigation is concluded the matter will be put behind us”.

Similarly, an expert in broadcast and communication, Dr. Dele Odunlami said Nigeria could no longer sustain the rigidity shown so far in resolving the fine issue particularly now that the country is in dire need of investors for its economic resurgence.

“I am aware that MTN is investing heavily in technologies and infrastructure that will bolster Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Nigeria, particularly in the area

of digital switch over, where Nigeria hopes to migrate from analogue broadcasting to digital broadcasting by June 2017. I know they have invested in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, capable of doing broadcast, data and voice. But, now that this issue of fine is dragging on for this long, I am afraid the company may be weighed down as I am sure they would want this matter resolved on time and I believe the earlier the matter is resolved, the better for the Nigeria economy” Odunlami said.

On the sentiment surrounding the fine Odunlami said: “The Nigerian public share the sentiments of the government for patriotic reasons but it is not as bad it is was made to appear.

There are major considerations with significant ripple effects on the general economy in this instance. For example, there is anxiety among people working in MTN majority of whom are Nigerians.

There is anxiety among investors to whom President Buhari have continually waved the olive branch of a favourable investment environment in Nigeria. There is anxiety over possible bilateral bickering particularly since the visit of President Jacob Zuma to Nigeria was assumed to help in resolving the matter diplomatically.

In all, there is a need to calm the nerves by quickly resolving the issue and we all move on as a nation”.

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E-BUSINESS

Enhancing ICT Development in Africa Connectivity, capacity building, creativity and regional collaboration, are key factors that will bridge the digital divide and enhance technology development across African regions, writes Emma Okonji

Satellite dish for digital connectivity

Mauritius and South Africa are the only countries in the top 50 out of the 144 countries in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) calculated by the World Economic Forum (WEF)). Nine of the 10 African nations at the bottom include Nigeria, which ranks 134.

Disturbed by the poor state of infrastructural development in Africa, which was clearly captured by the NRI report, eXtensia, the organiser of the yearly Innovation Africa Digital (IAD) summit, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Galaxy Backbone, decided to host this year’s summit in Nigeria, in partnership with private sector organisation like MTN, among others.

The organisers said the focus of this year’s IAD Summit was to strengthen Africa’s collaboration across regions through the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools for good and thorough collaborative, shared experience that would facilitate infrastructural development in Africa and at the same time, bridge the digital divide in Africa.

The Chief Executive Officer of eXtensia, a UK based organisation with focus in African development, Mr. Tariq Malik said: “We know and accept that ICT is a tool that will drive technology development in Africa. The IAD Summit is ready to use such tool, through collaborative thinking to help accelerate the closing of the digital divide in Africa.”

About IAD Summit The IAD summit is an annual event, which focuses on Africa development in the area of infrastructure spread across regions in Africa.

The summit, which is in its 14th year, has been hosted by 13 different African countries, including South Africa, Egypt, Gambia, Zimbabwe, among others. For the first time in the history of the summit, Nigeria hosted its 14th edition in Abuja penultimate week, where over 450 delegates from 45 countries across the globe attended.

The focus of the summit is essentially to drive demand for infrastructural development that will boost economic growth across Africa. The organisers of the summit believe that Africa has the potential to develop technologically, despite its nanny challenges, and they are of the

view that collaborative ICT deployment across Africa, will drive infrastructural development across African regions.

Over the years, the summit teams have worked with global technology leaders, regional service providers and national policymakers to identify and spur Africa’s digital aspirations. Each summit builds on the successes and experiences of the previous events. The summit also feature unique blend of key stakeholders from across industry, government, academia and civil society.

Benefit to Nigeria Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Mr. Yusuf Kazaure, while welcoming African delegates to the summit, said: “Hosting IAD Summit in Nigeria did not only provide a robust platform to demonstrate the importance of ICT as a central pillar Nigeria’s socio-economic development in the 21st century, it also supports the growth of Africa’s telecoms and ICT sectors, especially in view of the dire economic challenges facing the continent.”

The hosting comes with a lot of benefits for Nigeria. For instance we had 450 attendees that registered and participated for the summit,

As part of that ICT ecosystem and guided by our recognition of the boundless potential of our great nation within the digital economy, MTN has invested over $16 billion (over N3 trillion) to date in fixed assets and facilities nationwide to build the most expansive network in the country

out of which 250 attendees were from African countries, with majority from Nigeria.

“The attendees are key stakeholders in ICT that are looking for ways to invest in Africa technology ecosystem, because they have seen that ICT is a catalyst for national development.

So we have policy decision makers from other countries being hosted in Nigeria, and by so doing, Nigeria is exhibiting its leadership position in Africa. Again, the hosting will help increase ICT contribution to GDP from its current 10 per cent. The hosting will make Nigerian government see the need to invest in ICT to enable the country move from mono economy that depends only on oil, to diversified economy, through ICT,” Kazaure said.

He explained that African countries have peculiar challenges, which is about weak institution and weak infrastructural development, which he said could be addressed through the summit. MTN Executive, Amina Oyagbola, at the opening ceremony of the summit noted that the summit is more about prescriptions for future growth and success and that is why the theme, “Harnessing Africa’s Digital Growth”, is apt and timely.

“It presupposes rightly that Africa is at a critical stage of its digital growth and increased efforts should be made to further develop the ICT sector and improve its contribution to the GDPs of African countries,” she said.

ICT investments Speaking on ICT investments in Nigeria, Oyagbola said in Nigeria, the revolution in the ICT sector has provided well over $32 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last 15 years.

“As part of that ICT ecosystem and guided by our recognition of the boundless potential of our great nation within the digital economy, MTN has invested over $16 billion (over N3 trillion) to date in fixed assets and facilities nationwide to build the most expansive network in the country,” she said.

“Such investments in infrastructure have created an ICT backbone that powers various critical sectors of the economy such as Banking, E-commerce, Insurance, Oil & Gas. Little wonder that mobile and broadband infrastructure have been described as the infrastructure of

infrastructures,” she added.

She commended the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu in the area of ICT development in Nigeria, for his vision to develop Nigeria’s ICT sector towards achieving a ‘Smart Digital Nigeria’.

“From education to financial inclusion, agriculture to solid minerals, e-government to mobile health, ICT is a fulcrum for ensuring maximum impact across key elements involving people, processes and productivity. ICT can re-tool and upskill people in every sector; upgrade processes for greater operational efficiency and enhance productivity for stronger growth while attracting further investment,” Oyagbola said.

She said the bank-led financial inclusion in Nigeria has been fueled by digital technology, facilitating the entry of millions of people from the informal sector who did not have access to formal financial services.

“As we continue to celebrate success stories in this regard such as Mpesa Mobile Money in Kenya and Diamond Y’ello Account in Nigeria, we should be further energised by the figures which indicate the millions yet to be brought into the greater economic opportunity and socio-economic mobility facilitated by mobile and digital banking,” Oyagbola added.

She advised that beyond this summit, Africans must work to strengthen relationships and knowledge management platforms towards building the better and more digital future for the African continent.

Quest for ICT development According to Kazaure, the global quest for ICT for development is enormous to both developed and developing countries.

This is because ICT skills are critical to the success of enhancing national development in a globalised era. In this regards, African governments should be focused on creating opportunities for citizenship participation in ICT training, knowledge and skills acquisition, and general application and usage of ICT tools to solve problems, promote their wellbeing and enhance national growth.

No doubt, with the dwindling revenue Continued on page 30

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E-BUSINESS

Accelerating Economic Growth through PC Adoption Following the exponential growth in mobile internet connectivity, Emma Okonji writes on the need for increased access to personal computers among Nigerians to further boost internet access for national development

Computers for access and connectivity

The number of mobile internet users in Nigeria has continued to rise following increased penetration of smartphones in Nigeria. It is on record that 90 per cent of those that have access to the internet in Nigeria do so via their mobile phones and other mobile devices like tablets. However, this cannot be said of personal computers (PCs) connectivity to the internet as few people have access to PCs. According to the statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as at September 2015, mobile internet users were 97 million, a figure that slightly in February 2016.

The little increase of PC among Nigerians could perhaps be linked to the efforts of companies like Intel, Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft, Zinox, RLG, Asus, Tecno, through programmes like the PC adoption initiative, where they invest knowledge in Nigerians, and help sensitise the benefits of the PC in various sectors of the economy and how it can impact on creativity, productivity and utility. The programme, which has been successful this far has helped to enrich the lives of Nigerians by showcasing innovations in today’s newest PCs. Moving from one city to another, it creates platforms to support and nurture the development of innovators and businesses in the country.

However, in addition to PC adoption initiative, there is need for government to come up with measures that will enhance increased PC access among Nigerians to further drive national development.

Technology and economic growth According to experts, there is a significant relationship between technology and the economic growth of a nation. In that regard, any country seeking expansion and innovation

must not ignore technology and its tools like PCs, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, among others.

It appears that the Nigeria government has come into a better awareness of this fact going by a pronouncement made by the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, that about two million jobs would be created in the country through the Information and Communications Technology (ICT). He also called on key stakeholders in the ICT sector to come up ideas and proposals to partner with the country to achieve this goal in the sector because the government is willing to

The little significant increase of PC among Nigerians could perhaps be linked to the efforts of companies like Intel, Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft, Zinox, RLG, Asus, Tecno, through programmes like the PC adoption initiative

support ideas that provide jobs for unemployed youths in the country.

Like never before, the Nigerian economy is currently in the spotlight. With the continued fluctuation of oil prices, which led Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to drop to a record low in 2015, it does not appear as if 2016 would be any different. While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) attributed the drop in GDP to the oil sector, it also said that, “The non-oil sector accounts for 90 per cent of GDP, even when the oil sector plays a central role in the economy.”

Although the focus of the minister was on ICT when he made the announcement to the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in Lagos, Nigeria needs to make a solid plan on how to integrate technology in nation-building.

Today, major economies in the world rely heavily on technology. In fact, it has reached a state that the ability of an economy to compete globally is tied to its ability to take advantage of technologies. A recent article published by the World Economic Forum collaborated this when it outlined five ways technology can help the economy in area of direct job creation, contribution to GDP growth, the emergence of new services and industries, workforce transformation and business innovation.

Computer education Without doubt, the federal government already recognises the benefits of technology and its tools like the computer and this is why it now seeks to give its full attention to develop it in the country. For Nigeria to expand its potential and grow across board, it needs to make PC available in Nigerian schools so that young people can explore

their potential and create new technologies through this platform.

Today, PC is largely indispensable for creating innovative solutions to deal with today’s problems, from education to business to entertainment. Sadly, access to a PC is still more of a privilege than a necessity in Nigeria. In 2012, a joint survey by the Annual Socio-Economic Report: Access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that 95 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to computers. It also indicated that the most widely-used ICT devices were mobile phones and radios. There is therefore a need for government to begin to think of ways to boost PC access among Nigerian students and Nigerians that are out of school.

While one is quick to recognise and appreciate the efforts of the government fast track growth of technology, it is important to reiterate that any serious society that seeks to expand economically must at this time adopt the trend of equipping itself with PCs. President of ATCON, Lanre Ajayi had suggested that government should subsidise the cost of PCs and make them available to all students in tertiary institutions, irrespective of their discipline. According to him, the initiative will boost research and learning in schools and it will increase access to PCs across Nigerian homes and schools.

As the government is ready to show commitment to enable technology in education even if the focus is on ICT, it is pertinent for the government to encourage organisations that are driving Nigerians’ PC adoption so that the increase in ICT skills and even entrepreneurship skills can indeed be actualised for a better Nigeria in today’s world that is driven by access to technology.

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Afe: Nigerians Need to Be Sensitised on Adoption of Right Technology Solutions Managing Director, Hewlett Packard Nigeria, Ify Afe, spoke with select journalists on the organisation’s commitment to boost technology development and the need for government to sensitise Nigerians to adopt the right technology solutions in addressing personal and economic needs. Emma Okonji presents the excerpts: What is HP’s vision for the Nigerian computer and printing market HP is strong in the Nigerian market but we are yet to explore the market to its fullest. We have a long term and short term strategies for the Nigerian market and we intend to remain longer in the market, being that we are the oldest original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the Nigerian PC and print market. Our continued stay in the Nigerian market shows our good intents and purposes for the market.

Being one of the oldest players in the Nigerian PC market, what would you say are the opportunities and challenges of the market?

For us at HP, we see a lot of untapped opportunities in the Nigerian market and there is need for proper education and awareness to tap into the opportunities. I think education is the key because it is the only medium for us to carry along the youths and other categories of people in the country.

For example we have a programme called the HP Life + UNIDO, where we are partnering the schools to provide hands-on training for students. What we do with the programme is to visit schools, understand their interest and challenges in impacting knowledge and we will go back and develop software that will help them overcome their challenges and at the same time enhance the performances of both the teachers and the students.

That is one area we are really focusing on in HP as an organisation.

How will you compare the Nigerian market with other developing markets?

Looking at developing economies in the African continent, you will discover that Nigeria is a growing market with lots of potential and capacities to grow. In Nigeria, we have a lot of tech wizards who are startups and are eager to hit the ground running. A lot of countries in Africa may not be at the same level with Nigeria in terms of technology growth. Nigeria has the population to drive technology growth, which other countries do not have and if that advantage is properly harnessed, Nigeria will come up even stronger in the area of technology growth. The only thing that Nigeria needs to improve on is in the areas of education and awareness. In Nigeria, the technology potential is high and untapped and we need to explore these potentials better.

So why are the technology potential still largely untapped in Nigeria?

The reason for this is that there still exists a wide gap in the area of education and awareness and Nigerians need to be exposed to the opportunities in Information Technology (IT).

We have huge population as well as huge challenges in our hands as Nigerians, but very few are aware of the existing solutions to address their daily challenges. They are aware they have challenges but they do not know the means and the how to address those challenges. A lot of Nigerians are not fully aware of the technology solutions that are already on ground that that can be used to address their challenges and we have a lot of those solutions from HP, and I think that is the area the Nigerian government needs to focus more by creating the opportunities for people to understand how to use technology to address their daily challenges.

It is for this reason that HP devotes a lot of time on research and marketing, just to understand the needs of Nigerians and develops software solutions that will address all of those challenges.

Could it be that Nigerians are naïve when it comes to technology opportunities?

distributions have been empowered to do the business, and this is a sure way of localising our kind of business and to also drive local content development.

Through our partnership programmes, we have been able to support other organisations, especially the technology start-ups. HP has been in Nigeria for quite a long time, providing the best of services to our clients and customers.

Our continued stay in business is a testament to the fact that HP is here to stay and will continue to expand the Nigeria’s PC market.

We are local and we truly want to be local.

The Nigerian economy appears not to be favourable to business, in terms of the forex exchange. How is this affecting the production line of HP? With the forex situation in the country, we do know that it is affecting many businesses, but we will continue to create solution that will address the imbalance in the market place. In providing solutions to challenges, we stick to the rules and ensure we do not go beyond the set of guidelines. In trying to walk our way out of the difficult economic situation in the country, we have been able to do things a bit differently.

Afe

It is not that Nigerians are naive of the technology opportunities or that they do not understand that there are challenges before them. But the truth of the matter is that they know that the challenges exist but they do not know that the technology solutions to address those challenges are available and that is why we are particular about education and awareness creation among the Nigerian people.

Again, government must ensure that the right policies are put in place to facilitate all of these, and we are working closely with government to achieve it. Government should insist on the right level of standard for products and solutions in the country and endeavour to come up with policies that will protect organisations operating in the country as well as the Nigerian citizens.

For instance, government must insist that hospitals must use the state-of-the-art technology in order to provide the right treatment to patients.

Why the HP Life + UNIDO partnership and what does HP intends to achieve through it?

HP partnered United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on a programme called the HP Life + UNIDO partnership, designed to capture Nigerian youths that do not know how to use the right technology solutions to address their personal challenges.

We want to create awareness campaign in this area to make Nigerians better informed because majority of Nigerians have good business ideas, but they do not know how to go about them and how to create opportunities out of them.

The HP Life programme will expose them on how to achieve their dreams and that is what is actually driving the HP Life + Programme.

We have come to realise that a lot of young school leavers who tried to start something on their own, were grounded at a particular level of their business, because they lack the skills and exposure, and they do not know how to scale-up their business. This is our sincere reason for the partnership.

There is a recent split in HP’s operations.

Why the separation and what will it benefit the organisation?

I am happy to announce that the separation was good for HP as an organisation. If after the separation, nothing good came out of it, then there could have been no reason for the

separation in the first place. The essence of the separation is to ensure that HP’s focus is more streamlined. We are faster in our operations and we are more agile with renewed focus after the separation. When we talk of agility, we are not talking of just been smart about doing business, but also being innovative in business. HP had to split into HP Enterprise and HP Incorporated. HP Incorporated is focused on computing, printing, mobile devices and the solutions that drive each of them. The HP Incorporated will be coming with different business solutions in printing technology and computing technology. For example HP has come up with the design of the world thinnest PC in the market, courtesy of HP Incorporated.

Apart from the size and weight, which make it the thinnest, HP Incorporation has been able to improve on the quality of HP products for better customer experience. We now have desktop computers with diverse functionalities, using the 3D ability. The HP Enterprise Department is in charge of idea development that will drive the growth of the company.

HP is in the market of competition. How do you intend to remain over and above competition in the market?

Competition is the backbone of any business and the ability of any organisation to survive competition, determines the strength of such organisation. We have always faced competition and healthy competition drives the market. One thing that is key to surviving competition, is to set your business away from others. For HP we have continued to research on market demands to know what the market wants from us and this has helped us to come up with ideas and solutions to address challenges and needs of customers. In the enterprise space, we do ensure that we give to consumers, what they exactly want.

What is HP’s stand in PC adoption initiative?

The PC adoption initiative is very broad and it cuts across a number of activities. We have been working with a number of OEMs on how to kick-start some of our initiatives in line with the PC adoption initiative.

The whole essence of PC adoption initiative is to make PCs available and affordable to consumers and we are playing big in that area. People What is HP doing about local content develop- need PC, but they do not have the financial ment and support for local Original Equipment capacity to purchase them, as a result of some Manufacturers (OEMs) in Nigeria? financial challenges they are faced with. We We are concerned about local content development are currently working with our partners and in all our production and support for local some OEMs to ensure that people have access OEMs in the country. This is true because it to PCs in the most affordable ways. is inimical for any business to work in silos.

There are policies for these and HP has been As managing director, what are your priorities guided in everything we do in our business in driving the HP business in Nigeria? to promote local content and support for local The role of a managing director in an organisaOEMs. tion like HP, is tasking but my priority is to For example, our Go-to-Market strategy, maintain policies and structures that will enable which was borne out of policy formulation, me do what I had always loved doing in the is one thing that we adhered strictly to. So technology sector that will see me grow the the policy does not allow us to sell directly to HP business in Nigeria and make our product customers, and this is to enable our channel the first choice for customers. partners who are local firms to have proper My priority is to come up with workable ideas grip of the market. This is one of the several to further drive the company’s activities. I have ways that we encourage OEMs, and it helps a need to give back to Nigeria and the fact that us to avoid having any form of competition HP as a global company, believes in Nigerians with them on a retail basis. So we do wholesale and can put their business in the hands of a marketing through our partners and distributors, Nigerian like me to manage, gives me that who then sell directly to customers. courage to say that HP meant to do long term So the total volume of sales that HP turns business in Nigeria and to grow the Nigerian out every day, depends on the efforts put in by market in a more profitable way. our local partners and distributors in driving So my priority is to ensure that I use the HP the business. HP as an organisation, stands tall technology to address issues that will change in the business today because our partners and the individual and collective lives of Nigerians.

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T H I S D AY • THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD Dell, Aerohive to Boost Campus, Data Centre Networking Solutions Dell and Aerohive have announced fresh plans to introduce new capabilities for campus and data centre environments, designed to address the Information Technology (IT) networking needs of campuses and data centres with ease.

The plans include the launch of new cloud-managed wired and wireless solutions powered

by Dell and Aerohive, Operating System 10 milestones and in-rack platforms for the data centre.

The new solution, incorporates Dell N-Series switches and Aerohive access points into Aerohive’s HiveManager NG, which is a next-generation cloud-based management solution. The solution greatly simplifies end-user access, setting a new standard for wired and wireless network convergence by bringing enterprise-class management to the public or private cloud.

According to the Country Manager, Dell Nigeria, Akin Banuso, the IT solutions provider is building on its One Network campus vision by collaborating with Aerohive to deliver a new cloud-managed solution that integrates and manages wired and wireless infrastructure.

“Major trends such as cloud and software-defined solutions create a dynamically changing IT landscape, both on campus and in the data centre. These new Dell Networking solutions

help our customers navigate these changes with future-ready architectures, open technology and hyper-scale inspired efficiency,” Banuso said.

To further simplify wired and wireless converged network management, Dell has expanded its industry-leading ProSupport to provide users with a single point of contact for unified network support.

Through SupportAssist technology, ProSupport offers proactive and predictive automated support for issue prevention and resolution.

Commenting on the milestone, the CEO of Aerohive, David Flynn observed that the milestones demonstrate its vision of providing streamlined operations, configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting for all elements of customers’ networks.

“We believe cloud management has the opportunity to transform the way our customers serve their customers. We are proud to extend enterpriseclass cloud management that Aerohive customers use to manage our access points to Dell’s switches,” Flynn said.

Dell is driving ahead with its Operating System 10 (OS10) development with community building and integration projects including Open Compute Project’s (OCP), Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) and partners Ansible, F5 and Silverpeak on the projects.

E-BISINESS

Intel, Huawei Partner on Cloud Computing Processes Stories by Emma Okonji As part of its ‘Cloud for All initiative’ commitment to innovate and simplify computing processes, Intel has entered into a partnership with Huawei on the Huawei Cloud Congress West Africa.

The partnership event brought together, industry stakeholders and thought leaders to demonstrate and discuss the opportunities that Cloud 2.0 offers in Lagos recently.

According to Huawei, the Cloud Congress was aimed at demystifying the concept of Cloud technology to users.

Tagged: ‘Make It Simple, Make Business Agile’, the congress saw Intel and Huawei showcase cloud demos to promote the adoption of private cloud in enterprise Information Technology (IT).

The demo also gave customers the opportunity to

experience the benefits that Cloud service delivery brings.

Speaking at the congress, the Vice President, IT Solutions, Huawei West Africa, Zhang Tao Alexander identified company’s array of cloud strategies and solutions, targeted at different sectors of the economy including finance, education, telecoms and government.

Commenting on one of the solutions, Tao said: “Our Distributed Cloud Data Center is based on an innovative infrastructure which enables rapid and flexible services.

This solution supports thousands of virtual machines and reduces construction periods by more than 30 per cent, while also reducing capital costs by over 20 per cent.”

While justifying Huawei’s collaboration with Intel on the Cloud Congress, Tao said: “Collaboration with

industry leaders is a good way to accelerate processes and maximise impact. Huawei and Intel are working together to provide accessible and easy to deploy cloud solutions, making sure that businesses are ready to respond to any situation.’’

The Regional Director for Enterprise Business, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Intel Corporation, Frederico Carvalho, who gave a presentation on Intel’s Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) cloud solution, explained Intel’s strategy on cloud solutions.

According to him, “Corporate computing has evolved over the past few years and more and more businesses are adopting Cloud computing and storage. This is because of the innovation, agility and cost savings it offers. Thus, Intel’s aim is to create an initiative that will help companies

and institutions put a Cloud infrastructure in place in less than 24 hours.”

Speaking on Enterprise Data Centre Modernisation, the Enterprise Technical Sales Director for Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Intel, Sameh Helmy, said: “Enterprise demand is the next wave of cloud. Cloud architecture is being deployed by dedicated service providers, and is also used in IT, via private/hybrid clouds. Innovation begins in the data centers and moves to businesses. The current approach to data center architecture needs to evolve to meet the demands of the digital service economy.”

The Huawei Cloud Congress West Africa is one of the world’s leading technology events. The first congress was held in 2015 with more than 200 customers, partners and media in attendance.

Kotivu Launches Workplace E-learning Platform for Capacity Building Kotivu, a social impact educational software firm, has launched an e-learning platform known as kotivu.ng that is expected to provide affordable workplace education to individuals, corporations and institutions desirous of building capacity by doing some great learning. The bouquet of learning programmes offered by Kotivu span workplace readiness, professional, executive and emerging entrepreneur programmes.

Speaking at the launch of the workplace e-learning platform in Lagos recently, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, kotivu.ng, Stephen Ojji, disclosed that the platform was created to raise the quality of the human resource available to organisations in Nigeria.

He said Kotivu decided to introduce the platform because of the harrowing experiences of many employers during recruitment exercises.

“We were inspired by our past recruiting experience to set up kotivu.ng. Several recruitment exercises, which we had in the past, left us with much pain in our hearts because we saw that people, most especially graduates, lacked basic communication and presentation skills needed in a formal environment,” he said.

“Research has also shown that over 85 percent of companies, especially small and

medium scale enterprises (SMEs) failed to send their staff on training in three years. Major reasons for not training staff were high cost and man-hours loss by business. This inspired us to create a portal that will make training affordable and easily accessible to employees on site thereby reducing manhour loss. The birth of kotivu.ng was therefore hinged around the democratisation of workplace by making it affordable for millions of Nigerians,” Ojji said.

Co-Founder and Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Kotivu.ng, Emore Ogho, said with the growing influence of technology in all spheres across the world, including in the education sector, the e-learning platform, would shift the focus of workplace capacity development programmes away from the conventional classroom to online with the aim of helping people to become well-grounded in their professions on a user-friendly portal.

According to Ogho, “The direction in education worldwide now is to leverage technology to deliver lessons. This is one reason why Kotivu.ng is moving training and learning from the classroom to the online domain using technology. Our goal is to make people better at their craft.

The Nigerian workforce must keep learning to stay abreast of their peers in other parts of the world.

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON BTS

L-R: Commissioner of Police, Finance and Admin, Hyacinth Dagala; AIG of Police, Communications, Danladi Mshelbelwa and CEO, IHS Nigeria, Rajiv Jaitly, at a workshop organised by IHS on protection of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in Nigeria, at the International Peace Keeping Training Centre, Force HQ, Abuja...recently ETOP UKUTT

Lagos City Mall, Airtel Provide Free Wi-Fi Services to Customers In its determination to provide value added services to its numerous tenants and visitors, the Lagos City Mall, Onikan, in collaboration with Airtel Nigeria, is providing free superfast Wi-Fi services at the mall.

The Airtel Wi-Fi services was rolled out last year and is meant to serve public places like malls, airports, universities, hotels and event places.

The service is for users with Wi-Fi enabled devices like mobile phones, laptops and tablets.

The Chief Executive Officer of the mall, Mr. Emmanuel Efuntayo, said the collaboration was part of its current efforts at rewarding loyal visitors to the mall. Efuntayo said the Wi-Fi would provide

superfast internet services to mall visitors once they are within the premises and log on to the platform. He said the mall wanted to connect more with its tenants and visitors and at the same time help satisfy their communication needs.

“The free Wi-Fi services is another value added service from us to our tenants and customers and it is an attestation to our commitment to improve their shopping experience. It is part of our efforts to welcome more people and make the mall a friendly place for them. When you come into the mall even without data on your phone, you can browse for free for the first 15 minutes while shopping. We believe that

given its status as one of the leading malls in the country, Lagos City Mall should have this facility in place. Shopping at Lagos City Mall is fun and will stop at nothing to sustain the experience,” he said.

Already some users of the facility have welcomed the new service, saying it would positively enrich their shopping experience. They said beside other attractions at the mall, the free Wi-Fi services would give them another reason to shop at Lagos City Mall.

Efuntayo also said that the Lagos City Mall was poised to continue to offer quality shopping experience to visitors at the mall. He described themall as a one-stop shopping and entertainment centre where

friends and families can visit to unwind. Apart from the quality experience offered by the mall, he said the it was strategically located for shopping comfort.

He urged visitors and residents of Lagos to patronise the mall for their lifestyle shopping and entertainment.

He said the mall would create more fun and social hub for South west Ikoyi, and Lagos Island. The mall boasts of retail brands in body and beauty, fashion, lifestyle, banking, telecoms, food and restaurants, health, grocery and supermarket, Accessories and gift store, game arcade, multipurpose event hall and entertainment, aimed at creating a renewed and memorable shopping experience.

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BUSINESSWORLD Lagos Begins Implementation of National Policy on MSME The Lagos State Government has commenced implementation of the National Policy on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with the inauguration of the Lagos State Council on MSME. The state has also flagged off the first Lagos State MSME Exclusive fair and the ‘Purchase Made-in-Lagos: Create Employment” campaign to boost patronage for products of MSMEs. Speaking at the inauguration of the council and the fair, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode said that the establishment of the Lagos State Council on MSMEis was to ensure proper coordination of MSME subsector in the state and to key into the implementation of the National Policy on MSMEs. Ambode, who was represented by the Deputy Governor of the State, Mrs. Oluranti Adebule, charged members of the Council to identify MSMEs operating in the state and recommend how the state can enhance their productivity so that they can truly serve as bedrock for the economic development of the state.

Elaborating on the functions of the Lagos State Council on MSME, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Prince Rotimi Ogunleye, said that the Council, among other things,

will ensure that resources allocated for the support of the sector are properly and judiciously utilised.

Ogunleye, who is also the Chairman of the Council said: “The Lagos State Council on MSMEs would be a platform for implementing the following five critical policy priorities of the national policy: Enabling a regulatory environment that supports MSMEs; Fostering MSME growth and profitability by promoting clusters; Facilitating business support services and creating demand for MSMEs’ products and services; Improving access to financial support for MSMEs; Raising broad-based awareness and appreciation for Entrepreneurship and equip a new generation of entrepreneurs with requisite business management skills; and Ensuring , through adequate vocational, technical and entrepreneurship training institutions, an adequately skilled workforce that can effectively support the growth of the MSMEs subsector in partnership with strategic MDAs at the federal, state and local government levels; the private sector and the civil society.

Ogunleye said first Lagos MSME Exclusive fair is a marketing intervention programme for showcasing indigenous MSME products.

EMC Unveils Suite of Intuitive, Cloud-Native Content Apps Emma Okonji EMC Corporation’s Enterprise Content Division (ECD), a leader in enterprise content management, has announced EMC LEAP, a suite of purposebuilt, cloud-native content apps designed to revolutionise the content management industry and transform interactions with business content.

Unlike other offerings in the market, EMC LEAP apps deliver enterprise-grade content management capabilities combined with the most intuitive user experience for diverse business use cases.

President of EMC’s Enterprise Content Division, Rohit Ghai, said: “Our goal with the EMC LEAP family is to humanise the experience of interacting with business content,” “Beautiful, intuitive, and purpose-built appsdrive engagement, which has a ripple effect.

Customer engagement drives loyalty; employee engagement improves productivity; and partner and supplier engagement fosters better collaboration across the value chain. This level of engagement enables superior customer service, greater agility and new business opportunities, and is a key marker of a successful digital business.”

The EMC LEAP family will consist of both EMC and thirdparty content apps, a modular platform and a premier market place, powered by the industry’s richest and most-advanced set of content services.

EMC LEAP apps are interoperable with existing content repositories, but engineered to work “better together” with the Documentum family of content management products.

Repository independence allows content to be managed in place – without customers having to migrate their content – unlike other solutions in the market, Ghai said. EMC is introducing five apps focused on a variety of content management use cases, a new partner and customer success programme, and a new partnership with DocuSign. LEAP dramatically improves the document consumption experience on mobile devices. It allows for fast, yet detailed reading and reviewing of business documents like sales contracts and agreements on the go. It eliminates the frustrating “pinch-to-zoom” experience by automatically reformatting the document based on selected font size for the device, and reduces the requirement to view documents on non-mobile devices.

According to VP of Business Development and Channels at DocuSign, Mark Register, “LEAP is a game-changing set of SaaS-based content applications that advance EMC’s vision for next-generation enterprise content solutions.”

“We are thrilled to have EMC join the DocuSign Global Trust Network to bring the power of DocuSign DTM and eSignature to EMC customers to help them solve critical digital challenges,” he said.

NEWS

DPR Seals Seven Filling Stations in Owerri Amby Uneze in Owerri Efforts by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), to ensure that filling stations sell petrol at the federal government regulated prize of N86.50 per litre is yielding results as most filling stations in Owerri, Imo State capital have stated complying following the agency’s decision to seal petrol stations that sell the product above the approved pump price.

The agency has been carrying routine checks on the filling stations in and around the state capital as part of efforts to ensure petrol is sold at approved pump price.

Leading the enforcement team, the Controller of the zone,

Ogbuefi Morrison Nwokedi ordered the sealing of seven filling stations in Owerri municipality and Nekede, Owerri West local council area of the State while many others were compelled to dispense the petrol to motorists at the government approved pump price of N86.50 per litre. At Oando filling station along Port Harcourt road, Owerri the officials of the DPR also discovered the station, which was sealed, even had over 61,000 litres of PMS but failed to sell the product alleging faulty generating set.

Apparently jolted by the excuse, an official DPR, an engineer by profession volunteered to fix it, only to discover it was in order. Irked by the develop-

ment, Nwokedi, ordered the sealing of the station.

Also, at MRS filling station situated opposite the Government College Owerri, along Okigwe road, the manager claimed the station had no products but unknown to him, the DPR had document of product sent to it recently which was properly diverted.

The leader of the team, Albert Echeibe immediately ordered the sealing of the station.

However, the situation was different at Ebere Links where the product was being sold at N170 before the arrival of DPR officials, who immediately forced them to revert to the official pump price.

Other stations which had their

pump prizes changed to N86.50 per litre included those along Amakohia-Orlu road such as, Chibet Pure Energy Ltd which were selling at N130 before the arrival of the team, Nnamson Investment Ltd, Ozurumba Oil, Chybyke Filling Station, Ukoromi and Bencas Petroleum.

Answering questions from newsmen after the monitoring exercise, Nwokedi said he was happy about the full compliance of government directive on the sale of PMS. According to him “No marketer has so far given us any lead to justify the outrageous price tag they placed on the petroleum product. Until they do this, we will continue to insist on the government approved pump price.”

NIGERIA HUMAN CAPITAL TRENDS

L-R: Chief Executive Officer Designate, Deloitte Nigeria, Mr. Fatai Folarin; Outgoing Transitional Leader, Deloitte Ngeria, Mr. Tawnda Gumbo; Country Organisation/Human Resources Director, Lafarge Plc, Fidelia Osime; Executive Director/Human Resources Manager, Mobil Producing Nigeria Plc, Mr. Udom Inoyo and Head of Service, Lagos State, Olabowale Ademola, at the 2nd edition of Deloitte talent management platform on Nigeria human capital trends 2016 in Lagos...recently

Cisco Supports UN Girls in ICT Day in Nigeria Cisco recently hosted its second ‘Girls Power Tech’ mentoring sessions in Nigeria. The mentoring sessions were part of a global mentoring initiative to support and complement the United Nations (UN) ‘Girls in ICT Day’ organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The Girls in ICT day, which also took place on the 28th of April, 2016, was aimed at improving the understanding of careers in ICT among girls.

Cisco has supported Girls in ICT since its inception in 2011.

This year, girls from ages 13-21 from Nigerian Naval Secondary School, Queens College, Federal Science and Technical College and Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Saint Micheal Anglican College, Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, and New Estate Baptist College Lagos, were invited to participate in Girls Power Tech mentoring opportunities with Cisco employees, allowing girls to make informed career choices about working in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

They also experienced Cisco technologies first hand and met with other girls participating

in Girls in ICT Day across the region via Cisco TelePresence.

The day’s agenda included an executive welcome by Cisco country GM, Mr. Kunle Oloruntimehin, group mentoring, an immersive telepresence experience with entrepreneurs Rachel Zietz and Naomi Whittel on innovation, entrepreneurialism, fearlessness, & mentorship, a learning session with Rachael Asonibare - Head, Country Technology Management, Standard Chartered on Innovation and Female empowerment and a site tour.

Globally and in Nigeria, there is a massive shortfall projected in the numbers of workers trained for careers in ICT. Cisco’s ‘Girls Power Tech’ is focused on encouraging girls and young women in more than 50 countries, and 90 Cisco offices, to discover opportunities opened by careers in ICT. Often students are discouraged from pursuing careers simply because they either do not know anyone who works in these fields or they do not understand what people in these fields do. That’s why Cisco’s hands-on mentoring is so important.

Accountant General Lists TSA Benefits, as 900 MDAs Get Link The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Alhaji Ahmed Idris has enumerated the benefits of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to global audience in London. He said the federal government has stopped borrowing from itself as commercial banks use ministries, departments and agencies’ (MDAs) idle balances to buy treasury bills and other short-term instruments.

The AGF, who spoke at the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN), UK International Zonal Conference last month, disclosed that as at end of March, 2016, total inflows into TSA was about N3 trillion ($15billion), while the number of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on TSA has risen to 976.

According to him, successful TSA implementation rests on a tripod, which includes the collection of MDA receipts, payment by MDAs and budgetary control of MDAs spends.

He explained that two core systems supported TSA, the Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS)

at OAGF and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Payment Gateway, called Remita at CBN. The two systems were integrated and deployed in 2012.

He said: “TSA became fully operational in April, 2012 with 93 pilot MDAs accessing their allocations directly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account. Incrementally, MDAs on TSA went to 225 (2013), 345 (2014) and 706 (2015).

Currently over 900 MDAs are on TSA.” While listing the benefits of the TSA , Idris said the adoption of the system provides better information on the cash resources available to government at any point in time and the financing gap that need to be met.

He said the initiative instilled fiscal discipline, eliminated the process of cash backing MDAs accounts with commercial banks, and gained economy of scale due since the adoption of the systems by the MDAs instead of investing resources in several ICT platforms. The system has also reduced average monthly ways and means advances of the CBN associated costs.

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BUSINESSWORLD

CONSUMER

Bournvita Consolidates Its Pole Position

While some brands in the beverage market are working to improve on their market share, some are struggling for visibility. But for Bournvita, the ambition is to consolidate on its leadership position, writes Raheem Akingbolu With many business owners within and outside African continent looking in the direction of the Nigerian market, the terrain has become more competitive. Consumers too have become more sophisticated and selective. As a result of this, each of the players is engaging the market through different positioning tools to gain competitive edge. Of course, some have come out with feedback of good results while some have failed.

Some experts have linked the failure of businesses to poor approach of the players. Those who hold the belief have often argued that most businesses fail because their promoters have little or no understanding about branding and repositioning. In the Nigerian Choco beverages market, where Bournvita, Ovaltine and Milo are the major players, the competition to win consumer loyalty is strong. For some time, Bournvita, which has remained a household name for years, appeared to have allowed complacence to weaken its brand equity. In particular, Bournvita and Milo have been at ‘war’, in the quest to be crowned ‘King’ in the market for years. From any angle one chooses to look at it, the intense competition has not been helped by the incursion of other popular Choco beverages like Ovaltine, Hollicks, Richoco and Suco, which have punctured on the market share of the market leader. Brands like Pronto

For Bournvita, its popularity got to the peak when it suddenly became a tool in the hands of playwrights and filmmakers across the market. First, it was mentioned in Indian romantic comedy film, ‘Partner and ‘Looking for Isabella’ and later, the late Nigerian writer; Chinua Achebe mentioned it in his short story ‘Civil Peace’

The 30m tall inflatable jar built to commemorate the event

and Vitalo have gone into extinction along the line. For Bournvita, its popularity got to the peak when it suddenly became a tool in the hands of playwrights and filmmakers across the market. First, it was mentioned in Indian romantic comedy film, ‘Partner and ‘Looking for Isabella’ and later, the late Nigerian writer; Chinua Achebe mentioned it in his short story ‘Civil Peace’. While ‘Civil Peace’ mentions it passively, a character in the Indian play called Rohan tells a classmate after a small fight to drink Bournvita to become stronger.

Leadership position Having been a household name for several decades in several countries across the globe, Bournvita was quick to bounce back and reclaimed its market territories after a little sleep. Among other tools, the brand has in recent years engaged in repacking, re-branding and sponsorship to connect Nigerians. As a customer focused company, with a brand essence that focuses on satisfying the taste needs of its patrons, the leading beverage is appeared to be more than ever poised to deliver on its promise to consolidate its leadership position. At a recent

event to refreshed the identity of the brand, its promoters declared that they wanted their numerous customers and all Nigerians to know that their Bornvita brand is alive, exciting and always improving. Among other objectives of the rebranding project, the handlers reinforced the leadership position of Bornvita and recreated a new excitement around the brand to further connect with the brand’s primary target.

Recent re-launch At the re-launch of the brand in Lagos, which witnessed the unveiling of a giant inflatable replica of the new Bournvita jar, stakeholders and regulatory agencies, including the director generals of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Consumers Protection Council were on hand to give their endorsement. In a way, the re-launched was depicted by the unveiling of the 30M high and 31.5M circumference inflatable jar.

With a new pack to go with it, the handlers disclosed that it has been fortified with more vitamins, minerals, cocoa and milk to make it more chocolaty and creamy. This, according to them, is in line with consumer’s preferences,

with the aim of providing the best in nutrition and vitality to develop both the mind and body of the consumer.

While commending Cadbury for its various CSR projects, wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode Bolanle noted that Nigerians including her children consume most of the company’s products, which attests to the company’s good quality products.

Speaking on what informed the rebranding exercise, the managing director of the company, Roy Naaman, said the company has a great commitment to growing the Nigeria food industry and remaining steadfast despite the very challenging environment. He also pointed out that innovation was a major tool in the company’s toolkit and that it informed the new development.

On the largest Cocoa-Beverage inflatable jar, Naaman explained that Cadbury is attempting to set a world record by unveiling the jar measuring 30m tall.

With a new factory which was launched a few months ago and a rebranding exercise to follow, Bornvita is believed to have changed the tone and ready to take the market to another level.

ENHANCING ICT DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA from oil and gas, the federal government of Nigeria has realised more than ever before that telecommunication and ICT are among the main drivers for the social and economic development of Nigeria and play a vital role in enhancing access to basic services in all sectors of our national life. With a significant percentage of the Nigeria’s population having access to mobile cellular services, the increasing and sustained growth in internet usage and broadband deployment, the government through the Ministry of Communications and its various Smart project initiatives, is focused on leveraging ICTs to create a robust economy. Global issues as the digital divide, cyber-insecurity, emergency telecommunications and climate change enjoy varying levels of prioritisation in the change agenda of the government and central to its strategies and work programmes.

I am aware that Galaxy Backbone Limited, established in 2006 as a government owned company and charged to deliver connectivity and other information and communication technology infrastructure to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government, currently has up to 350 MDAs of government connected to its 1-GOV.Net in over 4000 office locations nationwide making it the largest single network

ever developed in the public sector in Africa. It is even more noteworthy that Galaxy Backbone’s 1-GOV.NET initiative – a common network infrastructure platform - was benchmarked with global best practices and the company emerged in the 2013 United Nations Public Service Award as 1st Place Winner for “Promoting Whole-of-Government Approaches in the Information Age” for its 1-GOV.NET initiative.

Govt’s position Speaking on government position on ICT development in Nigeria and across Africa, Adebayo said the time has now come for governments to fully embrace ICT to enhance lives of its citizens, to enhance transparency and good governance if we really are to fulfill the “Change” mandate that will bring about development.“ICT has come a long way and is currently contributing about 10 per cent to GDP as Oil and Gas. It is arguably one of the fastest growing sectors of the Nigerian economy and is the second largest ICT market in Africa.

ICT, which already employs more Nigerians than the oil and gas sector is poised to drive growth. Industry analysts suggest that the ICT tools and devices, software solution, IT outsourcing and the e-Commerce sector alone

could employ over 40 million Nigerians and contribute billions of dollars to our economy when appropriately channelled and nurtured,” he said.The minister therefore called on African governments to take the summit seriously and make efforts to develop the African continent, through the deployment of ICT tools.

“The use of ICT to drive efficiency, transparency and cost reduction especially in this era of shared services cannot be over emphasised,” Adebayo said. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, said the Nigerian government would continue to collaborate with other African countries to drive infrastructural development that would boost development across Africa.

ICT for social development A panel discussion, which featured the Regional Coordinator UN Women, Fatou Ndiaye; and the Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Nonny Ugboma, discussed the use of ICT for social development.

Describing the great role that ICT plays in delivering corporate social responsibility (CSR) for social development, Ugboma said: “We at MTN Foundation have been able to use digital to create awareness that reaches a wide audience;

our various projects have been amplified by digital and social media platforms resulting in many beneficiaries.”

She mentioned projects such as scholarship scheme for the blind, scholarship scheme for Science and Technology students, music scholarship and medical intervention scheme as some of the many projects of the foundation.

Ndiaye in her analysis observed that women were not benefiting as much as men in technology creation and usage. She identified lack of space in terms of access to information as a challenge and said that the UN has created a platform called “Empower Women” which is a global advocacy and knowledge platform to empower women and Nigeria has the most active women participation on the platform.

While responding to a question on the extent of MTN Foundation projects in the country, Ugboma said that about 6,000 persons have benefited from the scholarship scheme. She added that this is followed by an employability workshop where the students are taught relevant skills to help them survive in the job market and create their own jobs. The key issues raised at the summit as summerised by Oyagbola, include connectivity, capacity building and collaboration among African countries.

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BUSINESSWORLD

ADVERTISING

‘Not in My Country’ as a Re-branding Tool Raheem Akingbolu, who watched the premiere of “Not in My Country” produced by Bufferzone International Ltd, a television production and media relations consulting firm, believes it will be a good starting point for the debate on how to alter Nigeria’s somewhat unsavoury image Corruption is everywhere; offices, among taxi drivers, in the market and workshops.

That is the message the producers of ‘Not in My Country,’ a development communication campaign, are out to establish. At its premiere on Tuesday in Lagos, media influencers and marketing communications experts, called on government and other believers in the Nigerian project to key into the campaign and use it to re-orientate the masses.

The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, said at the event that for the country to experience change, it should begin with individuals. He stated that Nigerians could be good followers if they have the right leadership.

Professor Adewole, who was represented by a director in the ministry, Mrs Boade Akinola, said the citizen-based anti-corruption campaign is a welcome development at this critical time in the history if Nigeria as it keys into President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda that corruption needs to be totally wiped out of the country.

This was also the position of the Managing Director of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, who expressed his concern over the extent at which corruption has eaten deep into the system. He called on relevant agencies of government to join hands with the producer of the drama series to re-orientate Nigerians.

The campaign, which is in many faces, mirrors the society and points out the ills in various callings. The one-minute drama is catchy, entertaining and pungent. It delves into various incidences of corruption encountered

by Nigerians in their day-to-day routines.

From a government official, who inflated the cost of contract to an artisan, who fixed a substandard tool for his customer, there is lesson for all. Through a well written script and actors and actresses that perfectly interpreted the rolls in all the area touched, ‘Not in My Country’ succinctly captured the frame of mind of those who want corruption stamped out in the society.

It is a well researched literary work that digs into the conscious and entrenched acts of corruption often referred to as business as usual. The producers therefore deployed the mechanism of advocacy to galvanize the citizens’ collective ethical competences to campaign against corruption. According to them, their aspiration is to use the project to ignite a revolution of doing things right in Nigeria with a robust benefit envisioned for the nation in all sectors of human endeavour.

It is aimed at cleansing the nation through a well conceptualised creative work of drama.

It is set to enhance attitudinal change and transform every citizen into change agents.

They believe that it is only a responsibly citizenry that can demand for an accountable leadership and transparent governance.

The target audience of the one- minute drama, which is expected to be in 365 different experiential clips round a year, are; perception index-shaping institutes, international watchdog agencies, global and local media and the general public. To reach relevant quarters, it is said to have already being aired on radio and YouTube while efforts are being put in place to translate it to all Nigerian languages.

Synopsis For instance, one of the campaigns exposes the corruption in the Aviation industry, where ticketing officers hoard tickets and sell discriminately. Two young men come to the counter and demand for Abuja tickets but the two young ladies handling the ticket simply tell them the seats have all been occupied. In a jiffy, another customer, this time a woman believed to be richer, approaches them and they obliged by giving her an outrageous

Fadeyi

price. Surprises show on the faces of the two gentlemen standing and they demand explanation. Fortunately, Bukky Wright, the popular Nollywood Artist, who plays the role of a wealthy woman, reasons with the men and they all reprimand the cashiers.

They all chorus ‘Not in My Country.’ Another episode shows a businessman, who insist that two million naira should be added to his company’s invoice while making a purchase.

Sensing that the other man is not ready to play ball, a shouting match starts and the owner of the shop ends the conversation with ‘Not in My Country’. There is also the story of a taxi driver, who deceives its passengers and a manager in an insurance company, who lies about claims. Beyond this, it sends messages to different sectors of the economy; health, education, oil and gas and the judiciary.

Objectives Through the one-minute drama series, the producer attempts to establish a goal for citizens to anchor believe and hope in development agenda within a just society driven by globally acceptable norms of civilised conduct and mutual respect for one another.

The drama also engenders mass populace awareness and participation in the quest for transparent governance, accountability and the rule of law. Finally, it deploys a nation-wide anti-corruption campaign as indicators for community and citizens monitoring with a totally rehabilitated national psyche in view.

With this, it is believed that the President’s brand personae and body language against corruption as the Lead-campaign symbol can be a driven force in actualising the dream of eradicating corruption in the society Nigeria today According to the producer of the campaign, Mr. Akin Fadeyi, what informed its production was the fact that the Nigerian Nation has been beleaguered with corruption and the fact that it has paralysed citizens’ collective psyche and confidence as a nation. To him, there is need to work hard to get it right before the generality of Nigerians and the

Lai-Mohammed

global community.

He said: “Corruption is an unethical behaviour which runs counter to the accepted social norms and moral values. It is a behavioural pattern, which seriously hurt public morality and leaves the society worse for it. Corruption is an act involving dishonesty, illegality and non- conformity with accepted standard of behaviour. And such an act or behaviour has as its main aim, the return for financial or material benefit, either for the person committing the act or on behalf of any other person.

“Corruption has been the bane to socioeconomic development in Nigeria. It has destroyed the moral foundation of our society and occasioned incalculable distress to individuals. Corruption has ravaged the country and destroyed most of what ought to be cherished national values. Unfortunately, the political class saddled with the responsibility of directing the affairs of the country have been the major culprit perpetrating this act. Regrettably, this has culminated in the institutionalisation of corruption in all agencies of the public service, and in all facets of national endeavour in Nigeria inclusive of even the private sector,” To drive attitudinal change Speaking on why it is easy for the Nigeria Integrated Marketing Communications (NIMC) industry to champion the campaign, Fadeyi said the industry is reputed to have grown local and international brand and that growing the Nigerian brand shouldn’t be a problem. With the new campaign, he said it has been designed to expose the various facets of corruption in Nigeria, which he stated that his troupe has captured through an in-depth and exhaustive exposé of the ingenuity behind this cankerworm that has eaten deep into the nation’s fabric.

“NIMC is also designed to commence the cleansing of our nation through systemic, well conceptualised creative work of Drama.

It is set to enhance attitudinal change and transform every citizen into change agents.

After all, it is only a responsibly citizenry that can demand for an accountable leadership

and transparent governance,” Dramatic personae The producer of Not In My Country’, Akin Fadeyi, is the Lead Consultant of Bufferzone International Ltd, a TV Production and Public and Media Relations Consultancy Firm. He was consultant to United Nations Women on Gender Equality and Media Awareness. He has worked in Cadbury Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, when it was known as Zain. Fadeyi is supported by some of the best hands in the performance arts industry who passionately share his vision for a corrupt-free society.

Among them is comic actor, Hafiz Oyetoro aka Saka, a dynamic professional and a talented actor. Beyond his luggage of humour, the real life story of Hafiz offers huge lesson to anyone. At a time theatre business brought little income, he stayed to pay his due. Jude Orhorha, another artist featured in the drama is a fantastic Nigerian actor who brings candour, honour and depth to the table when it comes to measuring artiste impact on a film project.

There is also Tina Mba, a Theatre Amazon with huge fan base. She is not a run of the mill; Tina knows her Onion and she has paid price to reach this enviable level in the made believe world of acting.

KelechiIdegbe, popularly called Officer Titus, is one of many esteemed ‘Not in My Country’ arrays of Nigerian actors who expressed willingness to nip corruption in the bud with their acting prowess. He was said to be at his best through-out the four-weeks shoot of the drama.

Though known mainly in the IMC industry, GaniOlowu, who plays the role of taxi driver, displayed a bundle of talent in the drama.

He is a marketing public relations specialist that has worked on key brands like MTN, GSK (Lucozade Boost), MTV Base and Heritage Bank.

With the willingness of the federal government to encourage any move taken to change Nigeria, it is believed by pundits that the Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Muhammed and other relevant agencies of government will see ‘Not in My Country’ as a good tool to drive attitudinal change in the country.

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T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

CONSUMER

Endorsement as a Spring Board for Mamador’s Strength Raheem Akingbolu writes on the impact of endorsements on brand growth and sales, citing the recent certificate given to Mamador, a cooking oil from the stable of PZ Wilmar by the Nigerian Heart Foundation

L – R: Vice Chairman, Nigerian Heart Foundation, Dr. Femi Mobolaji-Lawal; Director General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Professor Innocent Ujah; Executive Director,Nigerian Heart Foundation, Lagos, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye; Marketing Director, Food & Nutrition, PZ Wilmar, Mr. Kalyan Bandyopadhyay; a professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan, Professor Tola Atinmo, during the presentation of endorsement certificate to Mamador Cooking Oil by NHF in Lagos.. recently

Endorsements are by no means a recent phenomenon in the Nigerian market but it has become a pungent tool for brand building. In the last few years, hardly there is any brand that worth its name that has not, at one time or the other, attracted either a celebrity endorsement or the certificate of a regulatory body. European coca wine maker, Vin Mariani set the standard back in the 19th century with print endorsements from Pope Leo XIII and French actor Bethelier. Since then, the trend has become popular among the premium brand, especially those targeting the high segment of the market. From Pepsi, to Nike, Diageo to Coca-Cola, all have ride on endorsement to extend their frontiers in the market.

With endorsement, brands connect more people and earn trust and respect among consumers.

It is also a means of advertising as the credible organisations lend their names or images to promote a product or service. Brand owners believe that such approval by a celebrity or recognised institution will influence buyers favourably. For example, Kanu Nwankwo endorsing motorcycles and biscuits can influence young men or children who look to him as role model. If it is adapted as advertising, it is believed that it will connect with a lot more people than ordinary advertising can, because people will notice the display of the organisation or personality. Such ads works well for aspiration products to connect easily with their target segment of the market.

However, when it comes from a professional or regulatory body like Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF), the impact becomes greater. That was what happened recently when NHF awarded Mamador cooking oil a certificate for being a standard product and recommended it to Nigerian consumers. According to the NHF board, the process was though rigorous and demanding, the promoters of the oil were not deterred but rather cooperated while it lasted.

An affiliate of the World Heart Federation in Geneva, NHF has consistently championed

the cause of originality and quality in the Nigerian market. Having gotten the nod of the organisation, Mamador has thus become certified cooking oil for consumers.

As organisation, the major objective of NHF is to prevent heart diseases, promote and support research on cardiovascular disease and create public enlightenment on prevention of heart diseases. The body is also committed to subject products to various scientific tests.

As stated by the Executive Director of NHF, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, who stood in for the chairman of the board, Prof. Oladipupo Akinkugbe, at the presentation ceremony in Lagos, the courage of the management of PZ Wilmar, a joint venture between PZ Cussons and Wilmar International, to come forward for assessment spoke volume for the company’s credibility. He said: “NHF is committed to international standard and will never compromise our assessment procedure.

For PZ Wilmar, to have come forward and submitted the product to be assessed indicated showed the seriousness of its management. In a way, they have practically demonstrated that the product is good for human consumption,” According to him, the body wanted to act thoroughly in order to justify its eventual scientific claim on the product and whatever result it would come out with. As a result of this, it took its time to examine the product to authenticate the product as heart friendly product. At the end of the examination, the body endorsed Mamador as heart friendly cooking oil product.

Significance In a market that parades many cooking oil brand, the certification will sure boosts the profile of the brand and makes it appeal more to consumers. Considering the emphasis being laid on consumption of healthy foods, the certificate will further build the confidence of consumers towards the product. Besides, it will further educate patrons of the brand and the general public, who are keen about avoiding

food that can damage their system or lead to complications such as heart diseases and obesity.

The executive director, spoke glowingly about the experience the organisation has about labeling since 1998 and the process involved.

“We have to prove ourselves, because whatever we are doing is global and we have to be accepted globally to be given recognition. We have to take every needed step systematically and ethically.

We thank Mamador to challenge us again” According to him, the endorsement of Mamador has a global scientific backing. “Whatever we are doing, it is not just for Nigeria but globally and for us to endorse any product we need to take every needed step systematically,” he pointed out.

He attributed heart disease especially among black population to fat and stated that science is dynamic. The scientist argued that what is considered to be false today can be the truth tomorrow, adding that the best way is for those who want to remain relevant to continue to involve in research.

Brand’s strategy for growth The name ‘Mamador’ was not known in the Nigerian market until two or three years ago, when PZ Wilmer introduced its Mamador cooking oil. Since it had giants to compete with in the market, handlers of the brand were smart to have quickly introduced a promotion and other incentives to attract consumers.

As a player in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), it is a usual terrain all over the world. To players in the sector, promotion is not just a marketing tool but a connecting factor in a competitive market. Therefore, more than any sector of the economy, FMCG has consistently leveraged on promotions and reward schemes to connect with the market.

With the ‘Mamador Cook and Cruise promo’ the company dared the giants and competes successfully in the market. By the time it would end recently, cars and other items worth millions had been won. The determination of the

handlers of the brand to approach the NHF and eventual certification can be said to be another giant stride. Reacting to the achievement, the Marketing Director of PZ Wilmar, Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, who led a team from the company to receive the certificate, admitted that the approval was a demonstration of the commitment of PZ Wilmar to produce products that are relevant and beneficial to the consumer in each local market.

“All the benefits and claims of the brand which include its cholesterol free claim, vitamins fortification and Omega 6&9 were all tested and adjudged to be true claims and therefore certified by NHF as a brand that promotes heart health,” he said.

The company’s General Manager, Bukky Bandele, who also spoke at the event added that the endorsement has now given Mamador the required partnership platform to do more for Nigerians. Specifically, she stated that the certificate will help the brand to set out on its ‘Mamador Million hearts Mission’ to promote healthy living among consumers. She noted that modern lifestyles demand that consumers pay more attention to the health of their hearts by being more discerning about their diets and be more active in their choice of leisure activities.

“It takes courage to go to NHF and for any product manufacturer to desire that its product should be tested, it should be sure.

For passing through the rigorous test, it proves that Mamador is good for consumption and good for the heart,” she stated.

To observers, the approval has given the Mamador brand an edge as a leading product when it comes to promotion of healthy lifestyle in Nigeria through dieting which can reduce risks of obesity and illnesses such heart disease and stroke. It is however too early to predict what the future will look like for Mamador as competitions could be watching keenly on what to do to outsmart the brand but at the moment, the market appears to be there for its promoters to explore.

T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

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BUSINESSWORLD Pension Fund Operators Target 20m Contributors by 2025 The Executive Secretary of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, (PenOp), Ms. Susan Oranye, has said industry strategic direction is to ensure that over 20 million Nigerians are signed up to the 10 years old contributory pension scheme in Nigeria.

According to Oranye, the number of those who have signed up to the scheme currently stood at 6.9million nationwide and this figure has contributed N5.3trillion so far.

Making this disclosure at the 2016 Workers’ Celebration at Onikan Stadium in Lagos, Oranye stated that contrary to the N20trillion being touted as the total contribution, the actual contribution from 6.9 million employees across the country stands at N5.3trillion.

According to her, there has been marginal growth since May 1 last year and there is still a lot to be done by encouraging Nigerians to see the benefit of pension at retirement. “As at first quarter of the year, the total fund was N5.3trillion.

Since May last year till now the industry has grown and that is an indication that workers are paying pension in preparation for their retirements. People understand the important of a pension that is why they are joining the contributory pension.” She said.

Commenting on the numbers, Oranye said: “There is a lot of work to be done because we have 6.9 million people as contributors. This is a drop in the ocean when you consider the population of the country though we have progressed but we are aware that there is still

work to be done, if we need to reach N60trillion mark.”

Speaking on the dignity of labour, the PenOp boss said “There is dignity in labour, Nigerian workers deserve to still have their financial dignity in retirement also’. Something can be said for the independence you enjoy when you have a steady pension coming in to help maintain a decent standard of living for your loved ones when you retire.”

While speaking on the essence of maintaining a retirement saving account as well as joining the Contributory Pension Scheme, Oranye contributors can regularly update their account such as to change of contact address, telephone and other key information that might hinder payment of monthly check.

“It is mandatory to inform your PFA 6 months before retirement so that your benefits can be paid on time, adding that one can access 25per cent of his or her RSA balance if one is out of job for 4 months,” she said.

On withdrawal, contributors can withdraw up to 50per cent balance of lump sum upon retirement. Highlighting on the effect of the current economic situation on the scheme, Oranye said she does not want to be a pessimist. According to her “it can only get better. The Nigerian economy is going through a bad parch,” she lamented adding that “but they usually say after the night fall, the sun comes out.

So the growth may not be as good as we may have wanted because of the current economic situation with retrenchments and businesses going out.”

NEWS

‘Deregulation of Core Sectors Will Boost FDI Inflows’ Stories by Raheem Akingbolu The federal government’s inability to deregulate some critical sectors of the economy like mining, rail transport and energy among others is hampering the sectors from attracting investors like the telecommunication sector.

The Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates, Ayo Teriba, who stated this at the Nigeria-S/African Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting in Lagos, pointed out that the telecommunications sector grew astronomically in 15 years to contribute from less than one percent to about 10 percent to the country’s $ 510 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He spoke on ‘Beyond Oil- Nigeria’s attractiveness as an investment destination.’

The expert, who is a leading policy consultant with experiences spanning over a decade, wondered why government

could not muster enough political will to de-regulate and reform various critical sectors even when it is acknowledged that such grip and control is stifling the inherent potentials including employment in those sectors. To this end, he said government needs to break its monopoly on certain sectors to loosen the economy for further local and foreign investments.

“Government needs to end its own monopoly to create more access for FDI in rail transport, gas pipelines and power transmission as it is the case in telecommunication,” he said.

Expressing his concern on government continued stronghold on some sectors that would have grown the nation’s economy; the economist said federal government monopoly has constituted the biggest obstacle to the inflow of FDI into large network infrastructure sectors that could catalyse the growth of all other sectors in the Nigerian economy.

He emphasised that the bottlenecks constituted by rail and energy supply are contributing massively to why some sectors are stagnant.

Looking at Nigeria’s economic potential with other African countries, the expert stated that Nigeria currently offers the largest absolute growth and investment prospects in Africa, adding that the country should remain the continent’s most promising investment destination in the future if government can sufficiently stabilise the naira to liberalise capital flows.

Nigeria has over the time ranked low on the ease of doing business, ranking 169 out of 189 countries examined by World Bank in 2015 which was not pleasant to Teriba as he told his audience that Nigeria, in addition to its potentials would remain investment destination if the present government delivers on its promise to make business easier to do.

“Nigeria only needs to create more conducive environment to actualise evident growth prospects”, he said at the meeting sponsored by Coca Cola Nigeria. He believed that Nigeria is also well placed to attract more medium to long term investment from its citizens in Diaspora.

According to him, though oil which accounts for about 75 percent of government revenue is weak but Nigeria’s economy remains strong. “Nigeria has the largest non-oil economy” In terms of priorities and sequencing, however, he said it is logical that successes in rail transport, gas and power transmission reforms are required to make agriculture, mining and manufacturing more competitive, and also induce further FDI into the sectors, just as a stable exchange rate and liberalised capital flow regime will encourage the return of foreign portfolio inflows (FPI) into Nigerian bonds and equity markets.

SB Telecoms to Honour Most Punctual Nigerian Employees In a bid to promote punctuality and efficiency in the workplace, SB Telecoms and Devices, has said it will honour the most punctual employees in Nigeria with the Time and Access Management Systems (TAMS) Ambassadors Award at the TAMS Summit on 19 May 2016.

The Summit, which is a high-level time management event, will take place at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, during which over 15 employees from public and private sectors of the economy would be honoured for punctuality at their respective workplaces over the last one year.

Speaking on the awards, Chief Executive Officer, SB Telecoms & Devices, Mr. Afolabi Abiodun, said the awards was organised as part of the Summit to recognise employees of organisations who understand the importance of punctuality in the workplace as well as its overall contribution to the organisation’s effectiveness.

“The soul of any business in this world is punctuality. For any business to be effective, it must be able to strictly follow a timeline to achieve its desired result and for such organisation to achieve that, employees must be able to effectively conclude their tasks before deadlines to be successful,” Abiodun said.

He added that “The TAMS

Ambassadors award, therefore, honours employees who are always punctual at their workplace and diligently work on the tasks assigned to them.

These set of people need to be encouraged and shown as an example to other employees in organisations across the country because in this era where people arrive their workplace ridiculously late, rendering all sorts of excuses, these few people, through our TAMS Application Portal, will be rewarded for always being punctual and diligent at their workplace during the course of the past one year.”

The TAMS Ambassadors award is an initiative of TAMS NIGERIA created to eradicate “African Time Syndrome” and appreciate timeliness in organizations across Nigeria.

It is a worthwhile idea that kicked started in 2014 and has so far rewarded over a 100 of the most punctual staff within private and public sectors across Nigeria.

TAMS Ambassadors are selected from the TAMS Application Portal, a domestic application developed by SB Telecoms & Devices for organizations to seamlessly monitor and manage the attendance of members of staff and, in essence, curb time theft, lateness and absenteeism within the system.

DESERVED AWARD

L-R: Country Manger OLX, Lola Masha; Brand Marketing Manager, OLX, Fife Aiyesimoju; Africa Co-chair for Publicity, Communications at WFIoT, Chris Uwaje and, PR/Communication Lead, OLX, Uche Nwagboso, during the BoICT Award, where OLX received the Classified Advert Website of the Year Award in Lagos...recently

IS Internet Solutions Nigeria Three Crowns Award for Mothers Wins ICT Award Begins IS Internet Solutions Nigeria has bagged an industry awards at the just concluded Beacon of ICT Awards ceremony which was held recently. The company won the award of the Internet Service Provider of the year 2016.

According to the organisers of the event Communications Week Media, IS Internet Solutions was voted as the ISP of the year in an online poll which ran from November 2015 to March 2016.

At the event, IS Internet Solutions outstanding achievements in the ISP space was recognised and the organisations ability to create tailored ISP solutions to their enterprise clients and their quality of service delivery accounted for them emerging as the ISP of the year.

Internet Solutions (IS) is a Pan-African telecoms service provider, providing innovative end-to-end telecommunication

solutions and related services for over 20 years in Nigeria.

Today, IS Internet Solutions Nigeria is said to be at the forefront of Internet Protocolbased technologies and building solutions and services tailored to the increasingly complex demands of organisations across the enterprise, public sector and global carrier business sectors.

A subsidiary of the Dimension Data Group and part of NTT, IS Internet Solutions leverages its infrastructure and global footprint to support organisations with the rapid deployment of emerging technologies.

Reacting to the award, the CEO/MD of IS Internet Solutions Nigeria, Olusola Teniola, said: “We are happy and honored to receive this award that stands as recognition of our hard work, dedication, and exemplary and tailored solutions, in the ISP space.”

In commemoration of the 2016 Mother’s Day, Three Crowns Milk, a product from the stable of FrieslandCampina WAMCO, has commenced the search for a distinguished mother to be crowned the 2016 ‘Mum of the Year’. The initiative is aimed at recognising and celebrating the unique roles of mothers in a family by identifying and designating a mother as the ‘Mum of the Year’.

According to the Senior Brand Manager, Three Crowns Milk, Mrs. Maureen Ifada, the event is the brand’s special way of rewarding mothers who are the key target consumers for their unalloyed support and patronage to the brand in sustaining its leadership position in the category over the years.

“The mothers are as invaluable to the brand as they are to their families. The mothers are our primary target as the key

decision makers and influencers through which the brand connects to other stakeholders.

Hence, the brand places a very high premium in identifying and celebrating them” she said.

Ifada explained that the upcoming Mother’s Day celebration provides Mothers the opportunity to compete and win amazing prizes for themselves and their families during the competition which would take place on Monday May 30, 2016. She announced that the winner of the 2016 ‘Mum of the Year’ campaign would get an all-expens paid vacation for herself and four members of her family to a yet to be disclosed destination. On how mothers can participate in the competition, Ifada said: “All our esteemed consumers need to do is to simply buy the Three Crowns Mum of the Year special pack for #1000 only.

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T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

CONSUMER

Nigerian Banks: Driving Economic Growth in Tough Times Nume Ekeghe Nigeria’s economy is growing in reverse at this time, backtracking to an 11 year low with GDP sliding to 2.11 percent in January 2016.

“It is the lowest growth rate since at least 2005 as lower oil prices keep hurting the oil sector, dragging government revenues down and weakening the naira”, according to tradingeconomics.com, an online data base on global economies.

While all sectors of the economy especially Agric and other non-oil sectors contributed their fair share to the economy, it was the banking sector that oiled the growth with advancing credit to the economy.

Nigerian banks typically advance as much as 75.33 percent of their deposit portfolio (which is the Central bank threshold) as loans to lubricate the economy, according to the 2015 BMI report, a situation Fitch expects to remain healthy according to February 2015 report.

“Despite increasing competition for low-cost and stable deposits, customer deposit growth should remain healthy and help loans-to-deposit ratios remain below the regulatory limit of 80 per cent,” says Fitch in a recent affirmation ratings of the sector.

Available statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), trading economics.com and BMI, though showed a fluctuation in Nigeria’s loan to GDP ratio, the latest figures revealed an uptrend while still keeping non performing loans at the barest minimum.

Domestic credit provided by the banking sector crashed to 10.1 percent in 2000 from 23.7 percent in 1990, rose to 35.7 percent in 2010 and is put at 21.7 percent in 2014, the last date for which figures are available.

Domestic credit to the private sector however, rose to 12.5 percent in 2000 from 9.4 percent in 1990, further vaulting to 29 percent in 2010 before receding to 14.6 percent in 2014.

The emerging figures demonstrate that banks are not paying mere lip service to lending to the economy; their imprints can be seen from oil and gas, agriculture, SMEs and the real sector.

Oil and Gas Sector Most Nigerian banks have extended loans to the oil and gas sector, which is the nation’s number one forex earner and therefore its mainstay.

According to Oxford Analytica, a London-based consulting firm, Nigerian banks allocated 23.8 percent of their loans to the oil and gas sector in the first half of 2015, up from 10 percent in the previous year. The three largest banks in asset terms – Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and First Bank of Nigeria – grew their oil and gas portfolios by 101 percent, 47 percent, and 37 percent, respectively in 2014, Oxford Analytica stated.

First Bank for example, has thrown in over N1.47trn loans to that sector as of 2014. The bank funded Petrolog’s acquisition of a brand new ABS classed Dynamic Positioning (DP2) Dive support Vessel “DSV Vinnice”.

The vessel, which is 85 metres long with a beam of 22 meters is the largest indigenously owned DSV in its class and is capable of providing diving, offshore construction and field support.

Skye Bank has been particularly supportive of indigenous participation and growth of the oil sector, financing OML field developments, acquisition, gas projects as well as storage and barges among others.

The Bank has issued SBLCs to guarantee cash calls of Exploration and Production companies, participated in the financing of engineering, procurement, installation and construction of a liquid hydrocarbon transportation pipeline, financing of a 200mmscf per day gas processing plant, and several field development activities, amongst many others.

Skye Bank’s investment in support of local production and processing capacity in the upstream oil and gas sector is said to be in the region of USD550m (over N100bn). It also provides financing support for major oil and gas traders.

To grow its Oil and gas portfolio, Zenith

MD/CEO, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo

Bank recently signed a $100 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The group managing director/chief executive officer, Zenith Bank Plc., Peter Amangbo, described the deal as a way of exploring “business opportunities in strategic sectors that will bring the much needed development to boost Nigeria’s economy”.

Skye Bank’s investment in support of local production and processing capacity in the upstream oil and gas sector is said to be in the region of USD550m (over N100bn). It also provides financing support for major oil and gas traders

Manufacturing/Real Sector One of the examples of support for the manufacturing sector is Access Bank’s support for Peugeot in its vehicle acquisition finance scheme. The partnership allows prospective and existing customers to own any brand of Peugeot car. The arrangement may ultimately ensures success of the made in Nigeria call by the Federal Government.

Skye Bank has demonstrated sterling support for the manufacturing and real sector of the Nigerian economy by extending credit to several real sector operators, including many of the top names in the paharmaceutical sector, food and confectionary industry, chemical and agro allied industry, aluminium and steel industry, amongst others. It has financed major facility upgrades, plant and capacity expansion and working capital support. Portfolio reports of the bank indicate that it has expended over N80billion in financing support for the real sector of the economy. This undoubtedly has contributed to the creation of several jobs and growth in the economy.

SMEs Banks have also significantly impacted small business, championing CBN’s Small business policy.

According to the CBN, the Small and Medium Enterprises Equity Investment scheme is a voluntary initiative of the Bankers’ Committee in response to the government’s concerns and policy measures for the promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as vehicles for rapid industrialisation, sustainable economic development, poverty alleviation and employment generation.

The Scheme requires all banks in Nigeria

to set aside ten (10) percent of their Profit After Tax (PAT) for equity investment and promotion of small and medium enterprises.

Under the terms of the guidelines (as amended in July 2016 by CBN), the contribution will be 10% of profit after taxation. However, this is no longer mandatory. The SMEEEIS Reserve are non-distributable, as such many deposit money Banks may choose not to make any appropriation thereof.

That notwithstanding, only last year the CBN earmarked N220 billion for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development (MSME) fund.

First Bank, in a recent post said the Bank has been a consistent promoter and supporter of the SMEs and some of the Bank’s interventions for SMEs include Overdraft for working capital, Operational Vehicles Loans; e.g. School Bus, Delivery vans, Equipment Finance, Commercial Building Loan, Education Management Portal, Contract & LPO Finance, Invoice Discounting Finance, Import Finance, Bonds & Guarantees, Bill & Tax Payments, Bulk Payment & Collections Solutions, e-Commerce Platforms, Non-Oil Export Financing, Domestic Money Transfers, Zero COT Accounts, Non-Oil Export Financing, Import Finance Facility, Key Distributorship Finance (Cement, Telco, FMCGs) among several other products.

Speaking recently, Mr. Babatunde Lasaki, Head Media and External Communications at the bank, said in the last five years, the bank had extended a lot of financial support to small businesses across the country.

“In addition to that, we have done for women led SMEs, media SMEs and different sectors of the economy and in every branches that you go to, you have an SME desk you can actually get advice services for free. And then we do train SMEs from time to time,” Lasaki said.

He also said the bank was focused on capacity development, which was why it went into partnership with various SME training schools, organise seminars, educate operators and aspiring business owners through its regular radio programme.

In addition, he said the bank sponsors an SME startup show on CNN. Another Bank, which has shown commitment to SMEs, is Zenith Bank; the bank has obtained several international facilities to commit to SMEs. For instance, not long ago, it obtained an AfDB N21.3bn and an IFC $100 million facility to throw at small businesses across the country.

Skye Bank has been at the vanguard of not only providing funding for SMEs, it has consistently taught business owners how to manage their businesses in seminars and workshops across the nation.

The bank recently announced that it has disbursed the sum of N500 million loan to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) intervention fund.

Commenting on the development, the bank’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, said that the lender would continue to partner with small business owners who are interested in creating value and contributing to the development of the country.

He said that beyond loans, Skye bank had put structures and modalities in place to make the SME sector the true driver of development by helping the operators to overcome their problems and grow their businesses through its sector-based seminar series (Skye Business Seminar) initiative to improve the financial, marketing and managerial skills of the business owners in partnership with affinity groups like BDSPs etc., nationwide.

The Bank is to be one of the biggest supporters of SMEs in the banking industry. It is also working with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), to develop non-traditional collateral options outside real estate properties for SMEs to reduce the difficulty faced by business owners in their bid to secure credit facilities from banks.

T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

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BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

Preparing for a Post-2020 Nigeria Roberts U. Orya Year 2020 is forty-four months away. According to the 2009 perspective planning of the National Planning Commission, the Vision 20:2020, the country’s GDP is projected to reach $900 billion by 2020. That would rank Nigeria as one of the top 20 economies of the world.

My estimate is that Nigeria’s GDP reached $588 billion in 2015, based on the World Bank estimate of $569 billion in 2014 and 3.3% growth rate of 2015. This already makes Nigeria the world’s 21st largest economy.

From its 22nd position in 2014, Nigeria leapfrogged Sweden last year.

But I’m afraid, the current GDP growth estimate of 5 percent average between now and 2020 would not see Nigeria rise above Switzerland (the world’s 20th largest economy) whose GDP was $701 billion in 2014, and growing at around 1.9 percent. With that, Nigeria’s sceptical brigade would like to sound the death knell of another economic target which the government had dared to enact but became unrealisable. But Nigeria’s economic potential has not diminished.

With a longer time horizon, Nigeria’s economic stature would confound the sceptics. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has just released a report that projects Nigeria to become one of the 10 largest economies of the world by 2050. Economic diversification and high growth rate would accelerate the GDP to $6.4 trillion by 2050, according to PwC’s The World in 2050: Will the shift in global economic power continue? This means Nigeria would ultimately leapfrog United Kingdom and France – the current fifth and sixth world’s largest economies, respectively.

UK’s GDP was estimated at $2.99 trillion in 2014, while France was $2.83 trillion. Both countries are likely to continue to grow at less than half the rate of Nigeria’s expansion.

This might sound outlandish at the moment, but that would be to those who have not been keenly observing the shift that had begun to take place in the world economy before the last global financial meltdown and in its aftermath. Collectively, the traditional economic powerhouses have been growing at a very slow pace. The emerging economies, notably China, had plugged the global growth gap until recently. The next decades would see the frontier markets – chiefly Nigeria, Indonesia, South Korea and Mexico – and the next emerging market giant, India, intensify the shift in the global economic power.

Nigeria’s place amongst the world’s biggest economies is affirmed by the breadth and depth of economic potentials of the country.

It is instructive that PwC’s radical projection of Nigeria’s economy came at a period of low oil prices. This confirms the open secret that Nigeria is far more than an oil economy. The potentials of the country actually lie in the non-oil sectors, which remain largely untapped.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently identified to the meeting of the National Economic Council the sectors that his Administration would be focusing on for the transformation of Nigeria’s economy. These are agriculture, manufacturing, power, healthcare and housing.

He also mentioned the transformational impact of education, science and technology.

These sectors spell out the key role of government in Nigeria’s economic transition, from potentials to greatness. A direct interventional role by government, and Nigeria’s ability to attract private investment, are critical to the realisation of the potentials across what could be classified as the key business and social sectors of focus by President Buhari. Therefore, certain policy imperatives immediately come into reckoning.

The first of three policy imperatives is formalisation of the informal sectors. There remains a lot of work to be done with regard to the formalisation of both production and

Nigeria’s place amongst the world’s biggest economies is affirmed by the breadth and depth of economic potentials of the country. It is instructive that PwC’s radical projection of Nigeria’s economy came at a period of low oil prices. This confirms the open secret that Nigeria is far more than an oil economy. The potentials of the country actually lie in the non-oil sectors, which remain largely untapped

trade activities in as many as four of the five sectors of focus by the Administration. Top on the list is agriculture, where much of the activities are off the radar of fiscal operations.

In as much as Nigeria’s housing deficit is driven by rural-urban migration, the presence of urban slums and unplanned housing in the suburban and rural areas shows the degree of informalisation in the housing sector. And slow uptick in formal health sector growth, juxtaposed to high population growth rate, is seeing growing informal healthcare provisioning which might not be safe and is also difficult to account for in economic measurement.

Informal activities, especially trade, are also very present in the manufacturing value chain.

We have to devise a plan to bring “enlightened capital” to these sectors to overcome the challenge of informality. Here, the planned investment in infrastructure can open the pathway for critical mass skilled human capital and sophisticated finance in these sectors. This might look straight forward, but definitely it is not a simple solution to come by. Our ability to mobilise enlightened capital into our informal sectors would be proof positive of the adequacy of our strategies and implementation.

Formalisation of the economy is the next step after the rebasing of the GDP in 2014.

The rebased GDP has provided a wider economic canvass for engineering growth.

Formalisation would help capitalise these sectors and generate tax revenue for government to fund its fiscal operations, including social programmes.

The second imperative is performance of public institutions and public investments.

Government parastatals just have to become business-like. This is not limited to adapting private sector ethos of performance engineering and measurement, although it is the less controversial aspect of it.

Without necessarily wanting to stire the hornet’s nest, government’s commercial and revenue-generating institutions have to reach for higher levels of top line and bottom line performances. Whether or not we believe government has any involvement in business, it already does. Therefore, the institutions must operate optimally and support the Government in improving the economy.

Chinese state-owned enterprises have been part and parcel of the country’s growth story.

While the Chinese SOEs seem to struggle right now with the transition to a more open and private sector-led growth model, the role they played in revenue mobilisation, local investment finance and overseas investment outreach cannot be easily discountenanced.

Heritage Bank Declares May ‘Children Banking Firm Launches Month’ Platform In keeping with its tradition for the second year running, Heritage Bank has declared this May as Children Banking Month as part of its children financial literacy initiative to commemorate the youngsters on May 27. Aptly themed, “Taking The Early Lead,” the Heritage Children Banking Month, which activities will directly impact a minimum of 320 primary and secondary schools nationwide this year, is in recognition of the pivotal role children play as the leaders of tomorrow.

The Managing Director / Chief Executive Director, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, who made the declaration said: “We are dedicating this month to our young customers with the aim of encouraging them through their parents to imbibe the culture of savings.”

Sekibo stated that “aligned with the dedication is our financial literacy campaign, geared towards equipping

our future leaders with the requisite knowledge to make them better leaders in keeping with the bank’s vision of creating, preserving and transferring wealth across generations.”

Each experience centre, a nomenclature of the bank for its branches, is expected to select two primary or secondary schools within its area of operation and interface with them in two ways: play host to the schools, taking them through banking operations and allowing them perform some easy roles during the excursion and at a later date, staff of the branch will then visit the schools and address or coach the pupils on aspects of financial literacy.

Altogether Heritage bank at the end of the month would have imparted financial education on over 700 schools across the country since commencing this programme last year, an initiative that the vibrant and

dynamic financial institution also considers as a corporate social responsibility.

The Managing Director added: “The project is part of Heritage Bank’s contribution towards transforming the nation in paying more attention to the bud stage. This underscores our belief that if we get it right with the children, then the future of the nation is guaranteed.

At Heritage Bank we believe in creating, preserving and transferring wealth.”

Hundreds of exercise books, pencils, water bottles, umbrellas will be won by pupils, parents and wards in the course of the month through various engaging activities. The high points of the commemoration will be the launching of a first-of-its-kind financial literacy comic book for easy and better understanding of financial education and the hosting of a huge children’s day party for all its Bud account holders.

The Nigerian small, medium and large entrepreneurs sector has received a boost with the launch of Tradenigeria. ng, an interactive business based platform, anchored on promoting entrepreneurship, business development and market growth in the country.

Announcing the business platform in Lagos recently, Director of TradeNigeria.ng, Ms. Michelle Smellie, said: “With Nigeria’s current economy no longer relying on oil and gas, the silver lining is that this creates more opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship to emerge. Nigerians are entrepreneurial by nature, and combining this drive with technology is one of the clear ways to ensure that businesses are highlighted and receive the traffic and client interest that they need in order to succeed.”

According to her, the business platform www.tradenigeria.ng aims at filling the gap for busi-

With regard to public investment, infrastructure is catalytic. President Buhari has raised hope on this with the size of the capital investment in the 2016 budget.

Infrastructures are ineludible signposts of development. However, in present day Nigeria, they would be a lot more than that. Delivery of key infrastructure would inspire private sector investment and significantly ease the burden of doing business. The high capital allocation in the budget in an environment of government’s anticorruption agenda can serve as a boon for the development of the infrastructures to propel Nigerian economic growth.

The third imperative is a focus on developing the regulatory institutions. Two reasons for this stand out. One is that rising business sophistication is conterminous with high growth economies. Sophisticated market instruments are increasingly deployed in the local market as foreign investments become part and parcel of the local growth story. The regulatory agencies cannot operate behind the curve of economic sophistication; ideally, they should provide the lead, or at worse keep pace with market complexities.

The second reason is identifiable in the ongoing efforts to have agreement on the fine of MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communication Commission. Nigerian businesses are growing into behemoths, and multinational and transnational corporations are expected to continue to latch on the Nigerian growth in the foreseeable future in which we would attain global economic status. These large corporations exercise immense power of lobby. They sometimes can out-muscle local regulators. Even the most advanced economies struggle to enact policies and implement them due to the lobby by the big corporations. To minimise the risk of the corporations overrunning the regulators, we have to start to strengthen our regulatory institutions today.

Years of inadequate policy and governance have only delayed the transformation of Nigeria into a global, top-ranked economy.

But this transformation is inevitable, given the consumption capacity of our large population and our human and resource endowments.

From all indications, we are getting closer to the inflection point of this economic destiny.

The shift in global economic dynamic is in favour of Nigeria, and we are on our way to the top. We have to believe it and we have to act it.

- Orya, a former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export - Import Bank

Interactive

Entrepreneurship

nesses to launch their products into the market, learn best practices on how to succeed in business in Nigeria as well as to be motivated by the story of other successful businesses in Nigeria.

“Nigeria is a tough market and there are those that are sinking and those that are swimming.

TradeNigeria. ng aims to be the support system for everyone looking to develop and grow their Nigerian based businesses, including global companies entering the market,” she said.

Advertising and digital marketing is a great way to engage with your clients as Nigeria has the highest number of internet users in Africa.

The tradenigeria.ng model is not advertising, but creating awareness through the sharing of your company story, which engages your core audience.

The well- priced, and digital marketing solutions that Trade

Nigeria offers allows your client to be targeted. By telling your story through Trade Nigeria, you will effectively reach your potential clients and in turn, translate your products and story into sales and growth.

Previous clients who have been featured on tradenigeria.ng can see an influx of traffic to their websites, products and services, she said. Tradenigeria.ng is also offering a more holistic approach by bringing budding businesses closer to successful Nigerian entrepreneurs through their webinars and round tables. This enables the audience members to have direct question and answer (Q&A) sessions and also get tips on how to make it in business in Nigeria, Smellie said.

Trade Nigeria platform aims is to be most informative and interactive source for those aspiring to achieve their goals and have successful businesses in Nigeria.

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Infrastructural Devt as Catalyst for Economic Growth Collaboration for better infrastructure delivery by stakeholders was the focus of discussion at the first Global Infrastructure Forum jointly organised by the multilateral development banks (MDBs) in partnership with the United Nations (UN) at the recent 2016 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, USA. Funke Olaode reports

I

t has often been said that any country’s economic growth revolves around investment in infrastructural development most especially in good roads and energy while bridging the infrastructure gap is essential to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ending poverty.

Though it seems developed countries have tackled this issue, developing countries most especially in Africa are the worst hit. According to recent reports by the United Nations, 1.2 billion people still live without electricity; over 663 million don’t have access to safe drinking water; over 60 per cent of the world population lack access to internet, 2.4 billion lack access to improved sanitation while at least one quarter of the rural population is not served by good roads.

Forum for Collaboration Against this backdrop, the inaugural global infrastructure forum was held at the recent 2016 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, DC. The forum brought together, for the first time, leaders of the multilateral development banks (MDBs) as well as development partners and representatives of the G20, G-24, and G-77, with the aim of enhancing multilateral collaborative mechanism to improve infrastructure delivery globally.

The forum was mandated by the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development and this year’s theme was ‘Spending more, spending better on infrastructure.’

It sought to enhance coordination among MBDs and their development partners so they can better support creation of sustainable, accessible, resilient, and quality infrastructure in emerging markets.

Rallying Point While the challenge of boosting infrastructure investment in emerging markets is key to achieving the SDGs, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, noted that it is necessary to mobilise for infrastructural development because there is a gap due to many years of neglect decay and low investment in infrastructure.

“Colombia has the largest infrastructure initiatives. Infrastructure is the best tool to boost Africa in this time when economy seems to be on the slow side. In this regard, we need to encourage public private partnership (PPP). And to solve these problems, we need to combine technology and human.

“Above all, without combined effort of human and resources, it will be difficult to achieve this.

And that is why we need to work together and mobilise private sector to be involved”, he added.

“The future of Africa is within Africa and not outside of Africa. And to make it a reality, we need to mobilise the resources in the continent to solve the infrastructural problems”

Africa needs transnational rail infrastructure

Crucial Observations While the forum stressed that blended finance and risk sharing are important innovations in infrastructure financing, it noted that overcoming the challenge of implementing these policy tools to expand the financial resources available to countries and investors is essential to close infrastructure gap in and to implement the SDGs; thus calling for a blend in finance.

The forum also observed that governments invest billions of dollars annually in infrastructure projects, which are long term that will shape the course of development in their countries.

Yet it noted that deep uncertainties about future conditions pose formidable challenges to make near-term decisions that make long-term sense infrastructure projects, and therefore, a lot of incentives are needed to encourage private and public sectors to invest on infrastructure in their member countries.

Impact of Corruption Lending his voice to the call for global infrastructure development, President of Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina said it is a welcome development, but noted that impediments revolve around waste, mismanagement and corruption.

For the call to be effective, he said communities must be involved because they also are stakeholders. To him, “the importance of good governance is also key for accountability, transparency and satisfaction. The problem is not capital really but bankable projects. Again if the projects are awarded and fall into wrong hands, its execution is substandard or a waste.

“When you look at Africa, whether in terms electricity, rail, port, transnational highways; these are very critical for Africa to integrate for its economy to be able to play big in the bigger market, And when you look at the infrastructure deficit of the continent today it is more than $50 billion gap in terms of infrastructure, and if you don’t fix that gap it means we are going to shed off 5 per cent of our GDP growth in Africa, which we cannot afford now.

“Again, when you look at infrastructure, the most important one is electricity. It is mindboggling for me that 138 years after electricity was discovered by Thomas Edison, we can still not light up Africa. Today, over 600 million don’t have access to electricity in Africa. In African Development Bank, we have a prioritise Light up Africa and power Africa initiative. I told Kim that if there is anything we are going to agree on is to power Africa. For us at the Bank, we are going to put in $12 billion in the

Abimbola Akosile

next five years into energy sector. And we are also hoping to leverage between $45 and $50 billion from the private sector.

“And for this to happen, we have to pay attention to the fact most investments on infrastructure in a year is from the public sector. So I agree with Jim Kim that we have to optimise around how these are used efficiently. At the end of the day, the money in the capital market far exceeds than what Africa can put together.

And that is why we launch Africa 50 to help leverage on the Sovereign Trust Fund and the pensions. For me the future of Africa is within Africa and not outside of Africa. And to make it a reality, we need to mobilise the resources in the continent to solve the infrastructural problems.”

Leveraging Loans In his remarks, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said the importance of World Bank as a guarantor in these difficult terrains is that it was created as a leverage to provide loans at a lower rate than what they can get anywhere.

“I hope ministers of finance will see us as a

fantastic investor. And that is why they have to leverage on public private partnership. The key point is that countries should spend more and spend better on infrastructure”, the bank boss said.

Lamenting how poverty has continued to ravage humanity, Kim it was announced for the first time that the percentage of people living in extreme poverty around the world was projected to fall under 10 per cent globally in 2015.

Today, roughly 700 million people live in extreme poverty, a reduction of more than 1 billion people than 15 years ago, he noted.

“But the weakening global economy threatens our progress toward ending extreme poverty by 2030. In the global economy, there are not many bright spots around the world -- the United States is one among the developed economies and India is another among the middle-income countries. Growth remains weak in Europe and Japan, and among emerging economies, Russia and Brazil are projected to post negative growth once again. We have just downgraded our global growth economic forecast this year to 2.5 per cent from 2.9 per cent”, he added.

RAMDOM THOTS

Not in My Country

As pervasive as corruption is deemed to be in Nigeria, there are still some sane and concerned voices, fighting the grip of a social malaise, which permeates every segment of the society. It goes beyond hallowed government corridors and corporate boardrooms right into the rooms of the average citizen.

In a series of short innovative and dynamic flicks showcasing various types of corrupt practices titled ‘Not in my Country’ and unveiled to the media in Lagos on Tuesday, a communications expert, Mr. Akin Fadeyi hit the nail on the head.

Corruption, to him, starts from the bottom to top and the average citizens are equally neck-deep in the negative practice, which was showcased by the 24 one-minute flicks shown to an avid audience.

The logical solution would be to start the fight against corruption from the bottom to the top of the governance structure in Nigeria.

Change must involve every one of us, and corruption must not be allowed to flourish again in this country. Not in my country.

Abimbola Akosile

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEvELOpMENT/ISSUESINBOx

Nigerians need value re-orientation, starting from the young

To Develop Nigeria, What Must Change First?

Although the present administration swept into power nearly a year ago on the promise of change for the better, many Nigerians are angry because the situation appears worse than before, in terms of governance. However, some analysts also believe that change doesn’t have to come from government alone, and that it involves everyone and everything for real development to occur. To you, what must change first for Nigeria to develop, and how?

Abimbola Akosile * We, starting from myself, must change first before any real change must happen in this our beautiful country. Our attitude in all things is appalling. Where do you start from: Is it on our roads and the way we behave when there is a little traffic buildup, is it our attitude towards amassing money by all means through all forms of scams and malfeasance, is it our glorifying people of all sorts of means without questioning where the wealth came from? I can go on and go on infinitum. In short we need a complete reorientation. This can only happen if we have people who have been accused of corruption and found wanting given appropriate jail terms not a slap in the wrist as was done a few years ago. Until people are really disgraced we will not be perturbed as a people.

- Prof. Kate Nwufo, mni, Abuja * For Nigeria to continue developing, Nigerians must completely embrace the ‘buy Made in Nigeria’ philosophy and mantra, so jobs stay here.

- Mr. Ekwenjo Iheanyi Chukwudi, B.A.R., Apo, Abuja * Nigeria can never develop properly under its present constitutional arrangement. There should be a constitutional change from the present highly centralised set-up that concentrates so much power at the centre, to a loose federation where the federating units will control their resources and pay tax to the central government for the maintenance of a few common services. The present dependency of federating units on funds from the central government breeds in them a state of political and economic languor.

This stands as a hindrance to proper national development.

- Mr. Neville Kikpoye-Jonathan, President, Abua National Associates, Amalem -Abua, Rivers State * For Nigeria to develop, the collective psyche of the citizens must change. We must stop running down locally-made products at the expense of fake foreign products and we must proudly promote the dignity of labour at the expense of quick corrupt enrichment. For the former

THE FEEDBACK Top tip:

Value re-orientation

Second:

Promote local products

Third:

Power devolution

Radical tip:

Kill sacred cows!

Total no of respondents: 12 Male:

8

Female:

4

Highest location:

Lagos (4)

to happen, government officials must lead by example by refraining from sending all their children to Ivy League schools in developed countries and even in nearby Ghana; and also stop running overseas for minor ailments like common cold or headache. All that can only stop when the foreign exchange expended on these frequent trips and foreign products are invested in developing basic infrastructure.

When the masses see this pride in indigenous things being spearheaded by their representatives, all hands will be on deck to make the country a better place. Also, the successful prosecution and conviction of a top corrupt public official would help sway the doubting masses about government’s anti-corruption battle.

- Mr. Olumuyiwa Olorunsomo, Lagos State * Nigerians must practice and promote politics of nationalism, patriotism, character, equity, accountability, justice, ethnic and religious tolerance, morality, conscience, principle, fairness, anti-corruption, human, consumer and child rights and lastly service to humanity.

- Mr. Feyi Akeeb Kareem, Change Makers Forum, Delta State * Governance and development are a collective effort and responsibility. Every individual must contribute his/her minute quota to produce giant strides. We must do proper moral trainings of children at home not collectively produce upright and very patriotic great citizens. All hands must be

on deck because a tree does not make a forest, whereas unity is strength. No man can succeed all alone but the positive results of cooperation are amazing.

- Mr. Apeji Onesi, Lagos State * President Muhammadu Buhari and APC promised Nigerians change and it must come; it is just a matter of time. PMB is on the right track to develop Nigeria. All the machinery has been put in motion to take Nigeria to the next level of infrastructural development and other sundry. Soon, PMB’s foreign trips will start yielding results. Every Nigerian will enjoy; what Nigerians should understand is that a race of one million miles starts with a step. I believe one year is not too much to judge leadership of four years. All we need is prayer and patience despite the challenges over fuel problem and other issues; we must reach our promised land.

- Mr. Gordon Chika Nnorom, Public Commentator, Umukabia, Abia State * I believe that the change we need must involve everyone and everything and not necessarily government alone. It is a collective responsibility to really develop.

We must work on our mindset positively and glue to a united patriotism.

- Miss Apeji Patience Eneyeme, Badagry, Lagos * How can we develop our country if we don’t love ourselves? The problem with Nigerians is that if you are not of my tribe or we are not from the same religion then you better forget about it. Unless there is a total change from all these things and we start respecting our citizens, to develop Nigeria will only be lip talk.

- Hon. Babale Maiungwa, U/Romi, Kaduna * Let every state introduce War Against Indiscipline (WAI) first.

- Mrs. Blessing Lawrence, Port Harcourt, Rivers State * I used to think that change could begin with the masses but I am convinced that in Nigeria it has got to be the leadership. On a scale of access to resources, the ordinary Nigerian is far more corrupt than many of those in leadership positions; they simply

do not have access to large funds. Many of the ghost workers/ pensioners we see on government payroll at different levels of government are perpetrated by lower and middle level civil servants. My experience at various filling stations recently has shown me how pathetic our situation really is. At the main NNPC mega-station in Jos, when you confront them about the sharp practices going on there, they have a ready slogan.

They say ‘even if you are clean in the area of buying fuel, everyone is corrupt in one area or another’. When the masses begin to see what six trillion can achieve, then the change can begin to trickle down.

- Mr. Buga Dunj, Jos, Plateau State * Nigeria must rethink its values, get priorities right and demonstrate a genuine change in attitude to redeem our nation and global image. This is the responsibility of every Nigerian and not just the leadership.

- Miss Nkeiruka Abanna, Lagos

Next Week: Despite Issues, Can Nigeria Remain United?

Against the background of the huge tension generated by the killings perpetrated by criminal herdsmen; the spate of random kidnappings of both top and average citizens; the clamour for separation by some regional interest groups; the lingering issues of economic hardship, mounting poverty and unemployment, the fear of the 2015 USforecast on Nigeria’s break-up appears real. To you, is there any real and present danger to this country’s unity and collective development? please make your response direct, short and simple, and state your full name, title, organisation, and location. Responses should be sent between today (May 5 & Monday, May 9) to abimbolayi@yahoo.com, greatbimbo@gmail.com, AND abimbola. akosile@thisdaylive.com. Respondents can also send a short text message to 08023117639 and/or 08188361766 and/ or 08114495306. Collated responses will be published on Thursday, May 12

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT

Personal safety net; begging for alms in Lagos

AKINWUNMI IBRAHIM

W’Bank Report Highlights Impact of Climate-driven Water Scarcity on Economic Growth Abimbola Akosile A new World Bank report has revealed that water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, could cost some regions up to 6 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), spur migration, and spark conflict.

The report, which was released in Washington, USA on Tuesday and titled ‘High and Dry: Climate Change, Water and the Economy’, stated that the combined effects of growing populations, rising incomes, and expanding cities will see demand for water rising exponentially, while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain.

Unless action is taken soon, the report said, water would become scarce in regions where it is currently abundant - such as Central Africa and East Asia - and scarcity will greatly worsen in regions where water is already in short supply - such as the Middle East and the Sahel in Africa. These regions could see their growth rates decline by as much as 6 per cent of GDP by 2050 due to water related impacts on agriculture, health, and incomes.

Nigeria, which has several types of vegetation belts ranging from mangrove forest to desert, also has a Sahel savannah belt in the northern part of the country; and the impact of climate change is already being felt in the higher temperature across the country and the receding Lake Chad, which reportedly serves as the source of livelihood to more than 1.5 million people.

The report also warned that reduced freshwater availability and competition from other uses - such as energy and agriculture – could reduce water availability in cities by as much as two thirds by 2050, compared to 2015 levels.

Water insecurity could multiply the risk of conflict, the report added. Food price spikes caused by droughts can inflame latent conflicts and drive migration. Where economic growth is impacted by rainfall, episodes of droughts and floods have generated waves of migration and spikes in violence within countries, it said.

“Water scarcity is a major threat to economic growth and stability around the world, and climate change is making the problem worse,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. “If countries do not take action to better manage water resources, our analysis shows that some regions with large populations could be living with long periods of negative economic growth. But countries can enact policies now that will help them manage water sustainably for the years ahead.”

The negative impacts of climate change on water could be neutralised with better policy decisions, the report said, with some regions standing to improve their growth rates by up to 6 per cent with better water resource management.

“There is a silver lining,” said the report’s author and a World Bank Lead Economist,

Richard Damania. “When governments respond to water shortages by boosting efficiency and allocating even 25 per cent of water to more highly-valued uses, losses decline dramatically and for some regions may even vanish. Improved water stewardship pays high economic dividends.”

In the world’s extremely dry regions, more far-reaching policies are needed to avoid inefficient water use. Stronger policies and reforms are needed to cope with deepening climate stresses, the report stated.

It outlines policies and investments that can help lead countries to more water secure and climate-resilient economies. These include better planning for water resource allocation, adoption of incentives to increase water efficiency, and investments in infrastructure for more secure water supplies and availability.

The report follows the appointment last month of 10 heads of government to a High Level Panel chaired by the UN and World Bank to mobilise effective action to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which focuses on ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for everyone.

During the recent COP21 in Paris, the World Bank announced a significant boost in funding for water programmes in India, the Niger River Basin, Morocco and Kenya to help

tackle water challenges.

The 6 per cent figure represents a median across the various scenarios considered under business-as-usual water policies. In general

the numbers inform us under business-as-usual water policies, GDP is 6 per cent lower than what it would have been without climate change pressures.

Also, a lot of variation across regions, so there are no major effects on Western Europe but more severe effects on warmer, drier parts of the world, which are also typically poorer.

US Investor Seeks Poverty Reduction in Nigeria Adebiyi Adedapo in Abuja An American investor and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Global Green Development Group, Ms. Mary Flowers has committed efforts into finding practical solutions to imminent poverty in Africa, particularly in Nigeria.

Flowers, who is the guest speaker at the 2016 edition of World Mayors conference, scheduled to hold between May 23 and 27 in Calabar, the capital city of Cross River State, is billed to speak on the topic ‘Poverty Reduction through Biofuel Production’ and ‘Attracting Foreign Investors & Achieving Investment’.

The Executive Board member of the District Export Council of Southern California is serving her fourth four-year term as a member of the United States District Export Council as a member appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Flowers is the Chair for the African Global Economic & Development Summit that is held in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, which has a major

focus on empowering rural dwellers, and has invested quality time, energy, and genuine commitment to work with Africa.

She has prepared a blueprint on the development of housing infrastructure, workforce development, economic and the overall infrastructure development throughout the continent. Nigeria is set to play host to the 2016 edition of World Mayors Conference scheduled to hold during the above-mentioned dates.

Chairman, World Mayors’ Conference, African Region, Ambassador Eyo Asuquo in an exclusive interview with THISDAY, noted that Flowers has shared with Nigeria the many extensive links and good relationships that she has over the years established worldwide.

“Ms. Flowers has been building strong relationships with governments and private sector developers of the West and many other East African countries, with an emphasis on humanitarian causes to empower developing countries to stimulate growth

and economic benefits for their citizens.

“Her signature project in West Africa is the social and economical based Global Green BioEnergy Programme, which organises local farmers into cooperatives to develop jatropha as a feedstock, for its biofuel refineries that are cited throughout the region.

Currently, Ms. Flowers has garnered a total of 150,000 hectares of land pledges for her programme, and agreements to develop ten biofuel refineries.

“The goal is to develop an exclusive brand of biojet fuel and other alternative fuel products to assist with US mandates for alternative transportation fuels. Ms. Flowers has also acquired land in Imo State and is developing a 300 MW Power Plant and Industrial complex,” he said The mayor of Accra, Dr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije and other African mayors are expected to brainstorm on investment opportunities in Africa, when they meet in Cross River State during the proposed programme dates.

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BUSINESSWORLD

DEVELOPMENT QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“A total of 1,200 young aspiring entrepreneurs with the highest scores based on the outcome of the evaluation of their performance in the training programme are expected to emerge for funding by Bank of Industry (BoI) subjects to a maximum of N5 million each. The 1,200 businesses that would eventually be created are expected to generate 36,000 jobs” - MINISTER OF INDUSTRY, TRADE AND INVESTMENT, DR. OKECHUKWU ENELEMAH, SPEAKING IN LAGOS

NGO Offers Free Medical Care to 100 Persons in Edo Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Ban Urges Speedy Implementation as Session Meets on UN Sustainability Agenda Abimbola Akosile The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has underlined the importance of devising creative and coherent approaches in linking the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development as world leaders continue to work towards successfully implementing the UN development agenda.

Speaking at the opening of a three-day segment on promoting integration of the three pillars of sustainable development that began Monday in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at UN Headquarters in New York, the UN chief said “Now is the time for implementation”.

“We now have a set of goals and targets that form the basis for a coherent, integrated and indivisible approach to eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development. We must pursue the goals with their complementarity and inter-linkages in mind, and with the aim of breaking down silos and avoiding onesize-fits-all solutions,” Ban said.

Noting that the meeting was the first such gathering since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development this past year, the Secretary-General said it also follows other landmark conferences and agreements on disaster risk reduction, financing for development, and climate change.

“This Integration Segment focuses on the importance of implementation through policy innovation and integration. It is a reminder that we will have to be creative in linking the three dimensions of sustainable development,” Ban said, referring to the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability.

In particular, the Secretary-General said the financing requirements to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are “enormous,” stressing that mobilising these resources will be a significant challenge, particularly at a

Eradicating poverty; the first SDG

time of continued economic uncertainty and financial constraints.

For its part, the inaugural Forum on Financing for Development two weeks ago had sent a clear message that the full realisation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda remains “a matter

of urgency,” the UN chief said.

“We must strive to continually assess challenges of integration – whether they are policy and institutional questions, capacity or technological gaps or questions in programming and financing,” he said.

No fewer than 100 persons living with chronic leg ulcer and High Blood Pressure (HBP) are to benefit from a four-day free medical treatment in Fugar, Edo State. The free health medical treatment organised by the Okakagbe Foundation in collaboration with an America-based ‘Charity Wound Care Foundation’ is aimed at providing the free treatment to the patients.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Okakagbe Foundation, Mr. Richard Anatekhai, gave the number of the projected beneficiaries at the recent flag-off in Fugar, the administrative headquarters of Etsako Central Local Government Area of Edo. “We are targeting over 100 persons to benefit from the free medical treatment of chronic leg ulcer and all sort of relative wound diseases,” he said. According to him, the treatment was aimed at providing succour to people living with chronic ulcer and HBP who could not afford the treatment, stressing that the motive of the exercise was to help the indigent people in the rural communities who could not afford to seek medical attention.

On her part, the Clinical Director, Charity Wound Care Foundation, (America), Dr. Joyce Aghedo, described chronic leg ulcer as a break in the skin of the leg, which allows air and bacteria to get into the underlying tissue.

“The disease is caused by an injury, often a minor one that breaks the skin. The most common underlying problem causing chronic leg ulcers is disease of the veins of the leg”, she stated. Aghedo, a wound specialist noted that the increasing rate of chronic leg ulcer in the country necessitated her foundation to visit Nigeria and offer free medical treatment.

She said “Our visit to Nigeria is to provide free treatment to people living with the disease and to reduce the number of persons suffering from chronic leg ulcer”.

She however, advised the general public to take care of their skin and seek for a wound specialist for treatment of leg ulcer.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Okakagbe Foundation Mr. Solomon Obomighie commended the founder, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe who because of passionate feelings for his people decided to bring doctors from America to treat his people living with chronic leg ulcer and HBP free.

He said at the end of the four-day programme, the doctors are expected back in three months time for evaluation and continuation of the treatments.

One of the beneficiaries, Chief Vital Anavhekhai thanked the founder and the doctors for providing the free medical treatment for the people, adding that he was God-sent to save humanity.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Sub-Clan head of Ivinone, HRH Emmanuel Ogah thanked the medical team for coming to Fugar.

“I must tell you sincerely that my people are highly overwhelmed with joy on your life-saving visit. The love you had that propelled you across the Atlantic Ocean to get to Fugar can only be compared to the type Moses had for Israelites” “As you are in Fugar not for amusement but to help my people on health related issues, God will accept all your sublime supplications”, he added.

Okakagbe Foundation ‘Improving Lives” has in the past given bursary awards to about 312 students from different higher institutions in Nigeria and also empowered some widows.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UN MILLENNIUM CAMPAIGN / UN SDG ACTION CAMPAIGN

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HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

Email: charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

Nigerian Children at Risk of Flavoured Cigarette Addiction The recent influx of flavoured cigarettes into the Nigerian market, which are mostly targeted at luring children, has again laid bare the country’s lack of implementation of the Tobacco Act passed into law last year, writes Martins Ifijeh

W

hen former President Goodluck Jonathan in May last year signed the National Tobacco Control Bill into law, one would think illicit trade on tobacco products would be a thing of the past, or at best be reduced to a very insignificant level because of the contents embedded in the Act, which were designed to ensure effective regulation and control of production, manufacture, sale, labeling, advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products in Nigeria.

Fast forward one year after. The illicit trade has taken a more subtle but daring and dangerous approach. It has gone more underground, while still achieving its heinous results of offering banned tobacco products to unsuspecting customers, especially at alluring different fragrances and flavours that are often at cheaper prices since they are smuggled products without duty fee paid on importation.

What is more worrisome in recent times is the influx of flavoured cigarettes into the Nigerian market. These set of banned cigarettes come in different flavours ranging from strawberry, mint, apple, cherry, among others, targeting not just smokers, but designed to lure even non smokers and children whose penchants for certain flavours would be the catch for them to have a feel of the flavoured cigarette.

Weeks of investigation by THISDAY showed that these illicit tobacco products are smuggled into the Nigerian market from various borders in the country, especially the land borders where they are hidden inside other products and transported into the country. They are also sold at ridiculously cheap prices since taxes are evaded on them. No duty fees are paid on smuggled products.

The products which are sinister innovations are manufactured with sweet fruity flavours that have a powerful appeal to children and completely mask the smell of tobacco. The influx, which started slowly about two years ago, has reached every nook and cranny of the Nigerian market, mostly outside the eye of the various regulatory bodies.

Though, sometime last year, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) warned Nigerians on the illicit tobacco products, but the practice continued.

The SON had published a full page consumer alert notice in some national dailies where it warned that the organisation had uncovered the marketing, distribution and sale of certain brands of Oris Slims Strawberry, Oris Slim Double Apple, Nakhla Tobacco (Peach, mint and apple flavours), Mizo Grape Water Pipe Tobacco, Lamar Strawberry Super Slims and Business Club Strawberry, Apple and Cherry Flavoured Cigarettes in Nigerian market.

The alert further read that, “these brands of cigarettes are not allowed to be manufactured or imported into Nigeria by the Nigeria Industrial Standard for Tobacco Products-cigarettes, as it could initiate and induce children into smoking. In addition, these products were not registered nor did they pass through SON Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) process prior to entry into the Nigerian market.”

However, investigations by THISDAY reveals that these products still flood the Nigerian market. From Lagos in South-west, to Kaduna in North-west, up to Edo State in the Southsouth region of the country, the stories are the same. People now prefer these category of tobacco products, even though they present great health risks to the body.

Though, in order to quell this rising tide, especially in Lagos State, a special task force

Flavoured cigarettes lure children into smoking

by the government recently raided some parts of the state, including, Orile, Alabasuru and FESTAC Town. But the efforts appear to be a little drop in the ocean, as several other parts of the city and the country at large are ladened with pockets of vendors who trade on illicit tobacco products, especially on the flavoured cigarettes.

Dangers Inherent in Smoking Flavoured Cigarettes: Flavoured cigarettes are, according to experts, types of contraband cigarettes and illicit tobacco products smuggled into the country or manufactured locally. It has been proven that there is a possibility that a particular flavouring might contain elements that would be more harmful to the body.

Since they are not being submitted to regulatory bodies for vetting, they therefore are likely to pose more medical harm to the body physiology than the conventional and standard cigarettes which are being regulated.

For instance, research findings have shown that the menthol cigarette, which is a type of

No doubt, lower cigarette prices have a strong appeal on consumers, but unfortunately, they also have grave consequences on health and wellbeing

flavoured cigarette, inhibits nicotine metabolism in the body. They have a strong allure to children and underage persons. They are also addictive in nature, which most times become an introductory point for children and former non-smokers to fully embrace the habit of tobacco intake.

According to the World Health Organisation data on Nigeria, as of December 31, 2012, approximately 18 per cent of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 have smoked a cigarette before. Such vulnerable group can be protected by introduction of stiffer laws, having more effective enforcement actions and prosecution of offenders. The sale of tobacco products to minors is clearly prohibited by the National Tobacco Control Act. The law clearly states in Part II Section 3 (1) that, “No person below the age of eighteen years (18 years) are allowed to purchase or take tobacco.”

Efforts by Consumer Protection Council in Curbing the Menace: In an interview with THISDAY, the Head, Consumer Protection Council, Lagos branch, Mr. Joshua Ngadda, said the council recently got wind of the influx of flavoured cigarettes and other illicit tobacco products into the market, adding that they have sent surveillance teams out to monitor and make recommendations to the council on the trade.“In few days the report will be ready and we will swing into action. If they are found to be illicit tobacco products, all the persons involved will be brought to book, because the health of the citizens is of great concerns to us,” he added.

He therefore asked THISDAY to come back next week for update on the council’s action towards eradicating or reducing the trade in the country.

Economic Consequence of Illicit Trade on Tobacco: A financial expert, Dr. Julius Odia, believed Illicit tobacco trade has done more harm to the country in recent times than some other vices currently campaigned against in the country.

According to him, since revenue and excise duties are avoided by the traders because they

are not permitted by law to either manufacture, distribute or sell banned tobacco products to customers in the country, they often would use an underground tactics to deliver same products to customers, while they also evade tax, thereby not just contributing to the health issues in the country, but financial loss.

It is also observed that this affects all industries, as well as intellectual property owners, as it harms, damage businesses, promotes criminality, mislead consumers into buying products of dubious quality, and ultimately harm consumers.

Impact of Illicit Trade on Consumer of Tobacco Products: No doubt, lower cigarette prices have a strong appeal on consumers, but unfortunately, they also have grave consequences on their health and wellbeing. It is common knowledge that illicit traders do not comply with prevailing industrial hygiene and safety standards; even when they do, it is usually low.

Over the years, reports have emerged of illicit cigarettes containing sawdust, rat droppings, and even human faeces. Hence, smokers can only hope that their cigarettes have been manufactured in accordance with the required standards.

How to Identify a Tobacco Product not Registered by SON and other Regulatory Bodies: Smokers should look out for the following when buying a tobacco product; SON certification, ingredients used in the manufacture of the tobacco product, as well as the language used in the display area. It is often believed that a strange language is a strong indication of a smuggled or counterfeited tobacco.

The SON Conformity Assessment Programme was introduced in 2005 by the federal government of Nigeria to address the concerns of unsafe products entering the country. This assessment conformity scheme requires all imported products, whose standard specifications were declared compulsory by SON, to be inspected for conformity to the relevant Nigerian standard before release into the Nigerian market.

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NEWS

‘Nigeria WHO: Malaria Hampering Nigeria’s Economy N132b lost annually Paul Obi in Abuja The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the high prevalence of malaria in the country was hampering the Nigerian economy in various dimensions, resulting to the loss of about N132 billion annually to malaria related projects.

This was made known in Abuja during the sensitisation programme on Malaria prevention organised by Africare, through the Power Forward Programme at Government Day Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja.

Speaking at the event, WHO National Programme Officer, Dr. Lynda Ozor explained that the impact on the nation’s economy was very severe, cutting across different sectors, which in turn affect the economy negatively.

According to Ozor, “malaria has a devastating effect on the economy, before now it has been estimated that about N132 billion is lost annually due to malaria. This is due to the nets that are distributed, the treatment cost, the out-of-pocket cost, the lost in manpower, the lost in productivity.

“When you estimate these things, they have a devastating effect on the economy. When one person comes down with malaria, the person doesn’t go to work, check the hours that have been lost, check the productivity that has been lost.

So it has devastating effect on the economy,” she said.

Ozor further stated that the need to eradicate malaria remains a front burner issue that should be tackled with, women, youth and children being at the forefront.

Africare Project Manager on Power Forward, Terfa Akpoyibo while highlighting the importance of the programme, explained that the objective is to “teach students and youth health literacy, things that they can do to prevent malaria; we work in 10 schools in the FCT,” he said. According to Akpoyibo, “malaria control, treatment and management” are essential components of the project, adding that, “we will continue with the community sensitisation across the FCT, believing that eliminating malaria is achievable.”

He observed that involving students and youth in the fight against malaria is very strategic in halting the spread of the disease, specifically, as it concerns hygiene and sanitation. A student of the school, Zulayat Mohammed on her part, said the campaign would help create more public awareness among students in the FCT. “The malaria campaign is really important, because it educate us on how to prevent malaria, it is not only educating, it helps us create awareness, so that the message on malaria prevention would spread wide and far,” Mohammed said

INVIVO to Provide Free Healthcare to 2.5m Nigerians Annually Martins Ifijeh The spate of drug abuse, poor diagnosis and lack of access to quality healthcare among Nigerians leave much to be desired. Today, it is no longer news that most Nigerian youths have taken to drug addiction while self medications have become the order of the day in almost every home. According to experts, these have resulted to untimely deaths of individuals and severe medical complications in many. Worse still, the non availability of health information has almost made it impossible to prevent even the commonest disease.

However, in what seems like a rescue mission to improve the quality of health care in Nigeria by working within the core principles of primary health care as recommended by the World Health Organisation, INVIVO Health & Beauty stores introduced a one-stop destination for all health and beauty needs with over 10,000 Nigerians treated free of charge within one year in its three stores located in Lagos, Abuja and Ibadan.

Speaking during a tour of its facilities in Lagos and Ibadan, the Director, Mr. John Onyeoguzoro, who disclosed that plans are underway to have 500 stores across Nigeria said

Gobir

the goal of the company is to treat 2,500,000 Nigerians free of charge annually.

“Already two more outlets are currently in the pipeline and these will run a pharmacy and treatment room with a resident doctor offering free consultations on daily basis.”

Onyeoguzoro noted that INVIVO, a subsidiary of Smartmark Limited, was established to address social problems such as lack of easy access to primary healthcare; the menace of counterfeit and fake dugs; self-medication; and lack of early diagnosis of potentially fatal disease conditions.

According to him, in line with the company’s objectives, INVIVO is determined as a patient-centred and health focused business, to support the government towards achieving

its primary healthcare goals.

He said the free health check facility in all INVIVO stores allows patients to walk-in; get their vitals checked and a resident doctor or nurse to consult free of charge.

“Health is one of the basic rights of life, but unfortunately a lot of Nigerians don’t have access to it.”

The Deputy Managing Director explained that the organization is managed by seasoned professionals who have spent years of their careers in the pharmaceutical sector and understands where gaps exist and to offer solutions.

Narrating their experiences since inception in 2014, he noted that the incidence of drug abuse is on the rise among young people. “There was a time a young boy came here to ask for codeine based cough & cold syrup. We walked him out because he didn’t come with prescription, because they are regulated products and subject to abuse.

Also lending his voice, the Founder of INVIVO Pharmacy, Mr. Yakubu Gobir, disclosed that no fewer than 3,000 patients have been treated free of charge in the last 10 months.

He explained that the clinic offers free medical consultancy, partnership with Metro eye for free eye checkups and glaucoma

screening, free HIV/Hepatitis B screening, screening for Cervical PAP Smear, Mammography, as well as prostrate screening.

Continuing, he noted that the clinic also collaborates with Ibadan South West Local Government Primary Health Care Department to provide free immunization for children aged 0-59 months and offer vaccination for Hepatitis B at a reduced price.

Stressing on the importance of health promotion, Gobir hinted that the clinic was into preventive, health promotion services and awareness on tests available for each age group and sex.

“Reproductive, maternal and child services are also available with counselling and information are given on family planning and contraceptive use.

Body mass index calculation and weight management counseling are also given with subsequent follow-up of high risk obesity patients for cardiovascular risk assessment for all customers.”

On commonest illness seen among customers, he said High Blood Pressure, HBP, was on the increase and to check the trend, the clinic is following up on such patients to prevent further complications and ensure that their drugs are taken appropriately.

Drug Counterfeiter Bags Five Years Jail Term Two others 30 years for cannabis, illicit drugs possession Martins Ifijeh A 35-year-old fake drugs manufacturer, Osita Paul Ely, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment without option of fine by a Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State.

Ely, had been standing trial since October 2015 after he was arrested by operatives of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for manufacturing, sale and distribution of fake drugs and other related acts in September last year.

The arrest at his residence in the Bonsacc area of Asaba, on a tip-off where cartons of fake packaged drugs and machines for production were recovered before he was handed over to the Police for prosecution.

During his arraignment in October, Osita Paul Ely had initially pleaded not guilty to a 7-count charge preferred against him, but later admitted guilt during court proceedings that he indulged in drugs’ manufacturing business to earn a living and meet his financial demands.

Osita Paul Ely, a graduate of economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka,

had also claimed to be a first offender through his counsel, Mr. Emeka Orji had pleaded for his leniency.

But the presiding Judge, Justice Anthony Faji while delivery his ruling, found the accused guilty in all the counts especially as he admitted guilt during cross examination, adding that in view of the evidence, circumstances and the accuse admission of guilt to the charges, it was clear that rather than helping to grow the economy of the country as a graduate of Economics he has decided to increase the population of the people in the hospital and the dead at the mortuary.

Noting that the accused person abused privileges of education, Justice Faji therefore sentenced him to five years custodian jail without options of fine.

In his reaction, the lead prosecution counsel, Umar Shamaki applauded the the judgement. He commended the courage of the judge in this instance adding that by this single act the right signal and message has been sent to those that engage in drug counterfeit that there is no safe haven for them to carry out their nefarious activities.

FOR BETTER HEALTHCARE

L-R: Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari; and the Governor’s wife, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, during a free health screening programme, under the Futured Assured Initiative of the president’s wife, in Ibadan... recently

Health Minister Commends IPAN on Preventive Health Martins Ifijeh The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has commended the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria, IPAN, for their role in healthcare provision, as their efforts in regulation of medical services, cosmetics, food, drugs and other products has in no small measure prevented health issues in the country.

Ehanire, who spoke at the Mandatory Training Workshop of the Institute in Lagos recently, said the Federal Government will continue to encourage the

practise of analysis, adding that a sick nation cannot grow economically.

The Minister, who was represented by the Acting Registrar, Institute of Chartered Chemistry of Nigeria (ICCON), Mrs. Owotade Kojore, commended the IPAN for the training, tagged: ‘Entrepreneurial and Innovation: Creating Value Beyond the Laboratory Environment’ as it would expose its members to the need diversify their trade.

“The theme of the workshop is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s mantra of

economic diversification in view of the downward spiral in oil price, which has been the mainstay of the economy. The need for improved entrepreneurship, innovation and invention at this time is compelling and the only solution to free the nation from mono-economic slavery,” he noted.

He explained that the development of any nation was hinged on science, but more importantly on its investment on human capital, adding that the country cannot be an exemption, as this was one of the attractions or the compel-

ling reason for his decision to honour the invitation to attend the workshop.

He therefore assured the Institute that the health ministry was fully in support of efforts geared towards creation of employment or targeted at improving the nation’s economy, which obviously would translate to better lives for the citizens in terms of health and wealth.

He also promised to look into the legal challenges in the Institute’s enabling law which affects the practise of the profession and restrict benefits to the society.

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HEALTH

Strike in the Health Sector is a Crime Against Humanity, Says Olatinwo The Chief Medical Director of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), ProfessorAbdulwaheed Olatinwo recently spoke with journalists on the outbreak of Lassa fever, medical tourism, incessant strike actions, the healthcare delivery system, his vision, achievements and challenges since he took over the affairs of the hospital.

Hammed Shittu was there How would you describe the recent outbreak of Lassa fever in Nigeria?

There is a need for people to easily get access to medical attention at the sight of a symptom of an ailment in any hospital within their localities.

That should be established within our medical system in Nigeria. And what we need to contain or avert a case like Lassa fever or any other one for that matter is surveillance.

That is we quickly pick people identified with that ailment and mark that area. Some of these things have been lacking. Remember we had a case of Ebola, you could see the way the country moved at that period. I believe that these surveillance activities should be ongoing, we should not wait until when we have another crisis. Each of the local governments should have its own functional general hospital so that any ailment that breaks out within a locality can be effectively contained .

What are your thoughts on medical tourism even though some of these ailments can now be cured in Nigeria?

We should be able to strengthen our primary healthcare (PHC), while hospitals should be able to focus on complex cases, these are the things that people travel overseas for.

How would you assess the healthcare delivery system in the country?

The healthcare delivery in the country has gone through several stages. I remember during the days of Professor Olikoye Ransome Kuti, emphasis was on PHC level and invariably it got to the tertiary care level. With the commencement of the present administration and the change process, it has been established that PHC is the key, but there is also the need to strengthen the secondary health care. Of course, we should also be able to maintain the tempo at the tertiary care level too.

That means that different governments at different levels must be able to perform their responsibilities in the area of healthcare delivery.

The local government must be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring an effective primary healthcare delivery officially. In our own case here, more than 80 per cent of the patients we treat here are supposed to be treated at the primary and secondary care levels, it’s not good for the system and that is actually affecting seriously our management system. The aspect of training, research

and services, which are among our core mandate have been tampered with because the bulk of our patients fall within the category of primary and secondary healthcare.

So, my take home is that there must be functional general hospital, functional in terms of personnel and services.

We must have minimum of one functional and fully equipped general hospital each across the 774 general hospitals we have in Nigeria.

And of course within the perimeter of where one is living, say about 200 metres, there must be primary care facility.

Meaning that if everybody in the area register at that PHC facility, then you go to the general hospital. It’s the ailment that they cannot solve that you bring to the teaching hospital. This will conserve more money and make healthcare delivery more effective.

Discussions are already ongoing about how to make rural health care very effective.

The local governments, states and federal government must be able to take due cognisance of their responsibilities in the area of healthcare delivery and also work harmoniously together. So, as we have 774 local governments across the country, there must be effective and functional 774 general hospitals across the local governments in the country.

What are your main goals for the Teaching Hospital?

When I came here, I realised that there was the need for attitudinal reorientation, the attitude is generally low, everybody looks at the job and say it’s government work.

Meaning that whether you work or not, the possibility of getting your pay at the end of the month is very high. So, we focused on the patients because that is why we are all here. It was a one point agenda, what it simply means is that our performance rating would be decided from the perception of the patients. And to achieve this, we organised various workshops and seminars for the staff, then we also moved to “ownership”meaning that you do the work as if it’s your own. When you consider the fact that the next patient might be my relation, then you are bound to guide the job jealously. Then we move to stewardship, whereby you are able to access yourself and conclude that you have been able to do even far more than what is expected of you. Then we also focus on how we can give back to the system. The

Professor Olatinwo

job is about love, we need to show concern about the patients that we treat. And ours is a complex job because our customers are complex, they always want their ailments to go immediately, so we successfully taught the staff communication skills of how best to speak with our patients. So, it’s from attitudinal change to massive transformation.

What are your thoughts on incessant strike actions by unions, including that of your constituency?

It is most unfortunate in our medical field here because it shows serious lack of sympathy. I know they talk about enforcement of their human rights, but people also have the right to better care. And we have to understand this basic fact that health is an essential service.

You might say that government has not given you enough money today and tomorrow government gives you the money, how about the lives that have been lost during your strike, who will give them back their lives? I think going on strike in the hospitals is fundamentally wrong, we have to change our perception. Strike is a way to make government reason about workers demand, but I believe there are other means. In fact, it must be after every other option has been exhausted that workers should go on strike.

And here, ideally they are not supposed to go on strike when you check the trade dispute act.

Any worker that is on essential services cannot go on strike.

Unfortunately, things have really degenerated badly, you can’t really blame the unions, you blame the government and the system to the extent that when agreements are reached, they are sometimes not implemented.

I think it’s important for us to have a rethink about going on strike in the hospital. It’s really worrisome and very unfortunate . It is unfortunate that the people who we look up to as leaders of tomorrow have not imbibed their spirit of love. So we are running this place working on how people’s sufferings can be minimised. I’m not saying that people’s right must not be expressed, but we must collectively know that a live once lost can never be recovered. When hospitals go on strike, everything is at a standstill and sincerely, 99 per cent of the reasons behind the strike is welfare package and the question is, can we really justify the welfare package they are always fighting for in terms of their performance in the hospital? So basically, there is need for people to know that strike in the health sector is crime against humanity.

What are the challenges facing your administration since you assumed the leadership of the hospital?

The major problem is dearth of support services. We are supposed to have light 24 hours daily, but unfortunately in the last two years or so,

things have become so bad that we have not had electricity supply in two hours in a day, so meaning that we are solely on generator. There’s no way we can be working on generator 24 hours in a day that the generator will last longer than it’s expected, so virtually every time we are using our money to buy diesel and also we are not connected to national water, that means we depend on borehole and surface tanks.

Our other challenge is the problem of poor road system.

No quick access to the hospital, though the kwara State government tried to dualise Zango up to Oyun bridge. We have made several efforts to expand the road from Oyun Bridge to this place, so what we are looking at now is to contact University of Ilorin, to connect from their light and that is about seven kilometres from here. So electricity supply is a major challenge.

We also realised that government is trying, but sincerely government cannot do it all alone, there is a need for individuals and organisations to come and support the government towards financing some of these things, though few organisations are showing up, there are lots to be done so we encourage others to follow suites. We also encourage the state government to complete Oke Osin water reservoir so that it can ease our water crisis in this place. We connected to that reservoir three to four years ago thinking that within few months we will

get water from that place, but unfortunately up till now nothing has been done. We have the personnel, we have the people, we have the human resources, we have staff who are highly competent.

This Teaching Hospital under your management has recently celebrated a feat, kindly give us an insight?

We are at the stage of making an hospital for the future.

Recently, we did a renal transplant and about three or four weeks ago we did another one. We have recorded a lot of successes. We did open heart surgery few months ago.

We are partnering with an institution in India and we have this arrangement of secure transfer. By April/ May, these people are coming around to train our people. By then, people would have been skilled enough to do some of these things on our own.

We are also working on bone marrow transfer and we are partnering with them.

What are other achievements?

We have done other advanced surgeries such as neck surgeries, spine surgeries, appendix for young and old and many others that we have never done before. We are actually more of a referral centre and training centres for many institutions in Nigeria. And of course, we are now getting patients from outside Nigeria.

I am sure that in the nearest future, people will come from other countries and benefit from our services.

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HEALTH

Ijaw Women Call for more Public Awareness on Hepatitis B

“Nigeria’s Healthcare Challenges Present Investment Opportunities”

Paul Obi in Abuja

Martins Ifijeh

The Ijaw Women Connect (IWC) a pan-global of Ijaw women resident in Abuja organised a public awareness programme for women to get free testing for and inoculation against hepatitis B. President of IWC Abuja chapter, Embeleakpo Ogriki bemoaned the poor knowledge of hepatitis and the level of attention given to the disease by government.

“A lot of emphasis is being put on HIV/AIDS and other diseases, whereas hepatitis B is a killer disease which attacks the liver and, before you know it, the person is dead,” Ogriki said.

She said many were not aware of the disease, its symptoms and that an inoculation can keep them from contracting hepatitis B in the first place.

IWC brings together Ijaw women spread across Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ondo, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa—numbering in their thousands.

According to Ogriki, gatherings always had possibility where not all participants

would be aware of issues affecting their health, including hepatitis and menopause.

“Some of us don’t know.

We have heard people talking about hot flashes and other symptoms but we don’t know what it is. Some of our women have been in and out of hospital without knowing it is these menopausal symptoms they are having,” said Ogriki.

Obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr. Ifeoma Amungo who also educated women on menopause, called it a natural phenomenon that will happen to every woman but required information to deal with it.

“The more you know about something that is going to happen to you, the better prepared you are to handle it. Information is power. That information will help you handle it with confidence,” she stated.

A participant at the event, Ebirein Robert observed that “women need to know, because most of us we are novice about these things,” adding: “when sensitisation comes, women sit up and know what they ought to do.”

The Managing Director, The Bridge Clinic, Dr. Richardson Ajayi, has called on stakeholders in the international healthcare industry to look at the health issues in Nigeria and other developing countries as opportunities for investment.

Ajayi, who made the call in his presentation at the 2016 Healthcare Business International Conference, held at the Royal College of Physicians, Regent’s Park, London recently, said that a private sector-driven service delivery holds the future in the in Nigerian healthcare sector.

He informed the gathering of policy makers, operators and investors in the health sector from many parts of the world that Nigeria’s public health facilities will not be able to meet the healthcare requirements of the emerging middle class in Nigeria. According to him, Nigerians who can afford it are

already spending their healthcare dollars abroad as official statistics inform that Nigerians spend in excess of one billion dollars on healthcare abroad annually. The actual figure will be much larger than this when one considers that the unofficial sector is not represented in this figure. About 60 per cent of this amount is spent on heart, kidney, orthopedics and cancerrelated health issues. Fertility, maternity and urology are major specialties in the remaining 40 per cent. These specialties, he said, reflect major opportunities for investments.

In his paper titled, ‘Healthcare Investing in Nigeria: Igniting the Opportunity’, Ajayi informed the participants that one of the major challenges in the sector in Nigeria and other developing countries was the absence of a developed healthcare ecosystem which makes service delivery inefficient and expensive for the emerging middle class in these countries.

Ajayi, one of the international resource persons who presented papers at the two-day event, said; “A private sector-driven healthcare system will build an efficient healthcare ecosystem that will address the shortcomings of the public sector facilities and minimize out-bound medical tourism.”

He listed some of the challenges inhibiting the development of Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem to include poor regulatory framework and weak consumer protection, poor referral culture, lack of health support schemes like health insurance, inefficiencies in medical consumable procurements and high costs of equipment installation and maintenance. Others are high operational costs arising from poor infrastructure, poor management systems, low personnel capacity, and high cost of finance among others.

According to Ajayi, these challenges limit healthcare

development because these inefficiencies are generally passed on to the consumer who sees quality healthcare as expensive healthcare. “This limits the opportunity as there are few Nigerians who can afford the higher cost of quality care. Quality is non-negotiable in healthcare delivery because we are dealing with human lives and so we have to work hard to make quality healthcare affordable to all.”

He advocated for the development of an ecosystem based on the focused factories approach, which focuses on facilities that deal with particular specialties either in the support services and service platforms. In this approach, support services include pathology, imaging, equipment maintenance, consumable and pharmaceutical supplies health insurance etc. and the service platforms are primary care clinics, small hospitals and surgery centers and specialty clinics.

We’ll Make UITH One Stop Heart Facility in Africa, Says CMD The Chief Medical Director, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara State, Professor Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, at the weekend declared that, the hospital would soon become a one stop of heart facility in Africa in order to cater for patients with heart related diseases in the country.

This, he said would stop people with heart related diseases from traveling outside the country for medical attention.

Already, Olatinwo said that, an ultra modern Cardiac Catherization Laboratory (Cat Lab) worth several millions of naira would be constructed at the hospital so as to assist the hospital to achieve the goal.

Olatinwo, disclosed this in Ilorin while briefing newsmen at the end of the open heart surgery performed on three Nigerian children at the hospital.

The CMD said with the feat recorded in the open heart surgery, the hospital has laid the foundation of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (Cat Lab) which is expected to be completed and equipped in six months.

According to him, “Cat Lab was essential for a full fledged Cardiac surgery centre.

He said, “the vision of the hospital was to be the best Heart Centre in Africa before 2018, hence the resolve of the management to send three of the doctors on training in India”.

Olatinwo said that, “Catheterization involves the use of machines and other imaging procedures to diagnose and treat congenial heart conditions.

“With Cat Lab, you can treat

heart problems if the defect is not that much, patients with abnormal heart activities can also be treated in the Cat Lab”.

According to the CMD, “what the hospital has been doing for the past five years and would continue to do would revert to medical tourism for the hospital”.

He said that the hospital can now boast of qualified personnel and equipment that can give Nigerians, irrespective of status the best care in heart facility.

“As part of our vision, we want to make the hospital a one stop heart facility which we believe with this in place anybody with heart problem in Nigeria, Africa and West Africa can come for treatment,” Olatinwo said.

It could be recalled that the open heart surgery on the three children were carried out by a team of surgeons with Dr. Philip Adeoye leading UITH, while Prof .Neville Solomon of Apollo Hospital, led his team from India.

The children with holes in their hearts were aged between four and six years were said to be in stable conditions and may be discharged soon.

He said the cost of the surgery ranged between N700, 000 to N1. 8million, adding that the patients cannot afford the fees, the hospital subsidised it as they only pay less than 20 per cent of the fee.

Olatinwo said the hospital collaborated with the Apollo Hospital in India to carry out open heart surgery with the first one performed on two young girls in July 2015.

BETTER HOUSING FOR PHARMACISTS

L-R: Former National Chairman, Association of Industrial Pharmacists (NAIP), Mr Ade Poopla; immediate past National Chairman, NAIP, Dr. Lolu Ojo; President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Alhaji Ahmed Yakasai, and immediate past President, PSN, Mr. Olumide Akintayo, during the commissioning of residential apartments at the Pharmacist Estate at Ofada, Ogun State ...recently

FG,NHF,CallforHealthyLifestyleagainstNonCommunicable Diseases Martins Ifijeh The Federal Government and the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) have called on Nigerians to maintain a healthy lifestyle against Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), as it has been proven to prevent the scourge.

Speaking during NHF National Summit in Lagos recently, the Minister for Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said unhealthy lifestyle, such as tobacco use, harmful alcohol intake, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity were the major clustering risk factors for the development of cardiovascular and other NCDs, adding that these risk factors aggravated by poor awareness, harmful cultural practices, beliefs and misconceptions by the public play a major

role in the high prevalence rate of the diseases.

Adewole, who was represented by the Director General, Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Professor Innocent Ujah, said NCDs which are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, were responsible for 63 per cent of deaths worldwide, while the disease was responsible for 27 per cent of the total deaths in Nigeria in 2008 According to him, “the current burden of NCD will increase unless we sharpen our strategies. We need robust collaboration to deliver quality, affordable, accessible and acceptable health services to Nigerians. We also need to strengthen our NCD surveillance system,” he added.

In view of the enormous task

of fighting NCDs through risk factor modification, Adewole called on the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, Trade and Investment, Youth and sports, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Consumer Protection Council, among others to be part of campaign for a healthy lifestyle.

He also called for need to regulate cross border marketing of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars, salt, among others. “We also need to increase the availability and access to local foods by enhancing support to farmers, fishermen for home production, through technical assistance, tax breaks, subsidies and other support measures,” he said.

Also lending his voice, the President, NHF, Prof.

Oladipupo Akinkugbe, said globalisation and urbanisation has brought about rapid changes in lifestyle in the country, with consequent heavy impact on the health of the population.

He said the negative results of these changes were unhealthy dietary patterns, increased tobacco use, decreased physical activity, increased sedentary lifestyle and increased alcohol consumption, which leads to rise in NCD. The renowned heart specialist noted that in tackling the rising health issue and in furtherance to the 2013 World Health Assembly which endorsed the NCD Action Plan 2013 to 2020, the Foundation will not relent in terms of awareness and researches until the scourge was reduced or eradicated in the country.

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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITOR TO THE MEMBERS OF PREMIUM PENSION LIMITED Report on the financial Statements We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Premium Pension Limited (''the Company''). The financial statements comprise the statement of financial position as at 31 December 2015 and the statements of comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

DECEMBER 2015

DECEMBER 2014

ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents Investment Securities Prepayments Other assets

N000 797,293 3,218,647 220,096 794,517

N000 2,624,735 1,445,826 247,395 636,070

Property and equipment

1,607,499

1,590,674

155,283

139,592

6,793,335

6,684,292

Intangible assets Total Assets

Directors’ responsibility for the financial statements The directors are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and with the requirements of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, and for such internal control, as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s responsibility

LIABILITIES 392,782 1,688 1,738,698 262,553 __________

830,437 1,153 1,419,947 204,123 _________

Our responsibility is to express an independent opinion on the financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform our audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement

2,395,721

2,455,660

657,126

657,126

97,161

97,161

Retained earnings

2,740,247

2,897,544

Statutory reserves

978,330

719,697

(2,545)

(1,757)

(72,705)

(141,139)

Total equity

4,397,614

4,228,632

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error.

In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the directors, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.

Total Liabilities and equity

6,793,335

6,684,292

Account payables Defined contribution liability Current tax Deferred tax liability Total liabilities EQUITY Share capital Share premium

Treasury shares Available for sale reserve

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Opinion

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

DECEMBER 2015

N000 5,989,048

N000 5,252,238

(3,086,009)

(2,643,315)

Profit before income tax

2,903,039

2,608,923

Tax expense

(833,979)

(843,230)

Profit after tax

2,069,060

1,765,693

68,434

(163,079)

2,137,494,

1,602,614

315

269

Revenue Operating expenses

Change in fair value of available for sale financial assets Total comprehensive income

Earnings per share (basic & diluted)

In our opinion the accompanying financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the Company’s financial affairs as at 31 December 2015, and of its financial performance and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and the requirements of the Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Financial Reporting Council Act.

DECEMBER 2014

Report on other legal requirements The Companies and Allied Matters Act requires that in carrying out our audit we consider and report to you on the following matters. We confirm that: i.

we have obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purposes of our audit; the company has kept proper books of account, so far as appears from our examination of those books; the company’s statements of financial position, statement of comprehensive income and statement of changes in equity are in agreement with the books of account.

ii. iii.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 25 March 2016 and signed on its behalf by:

Akande Aliyu Dikko

Kayode ___ Director/Chief Financial Executive Chairman Officer FRC/2013/IOD/00000002375 FRC/2013/ICAN/00000002211

www.premiumpension.com

Wilson Ideva Managing Director/C E O FRC/2013/ICAN/00000002210

….the future starts now

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INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Trump Emerges Presumptive Republican Nominee

Billionaire reality TV star, Donald Trump, completed his transformation from longshot White House candidate to presumptive Republican presidential nominee after his commanding win in Indiana’s primary forced his main rival Ted Cruz to drop out of the race The New York billionaire, who has never held public office, had repeatedly defied pundits’ predictions that his campaign would implode. He prevailed despite making outrageous statements along the way that drew biting criticism but still fed his anti-establishment appeal.

Trump now can prepare for a match-up in the Nov. 8 election. Hillary Clinton is expected to be his Democratic opponent, though her march to the nomination was slowed by rival Bernie Sanders’ victory over her in Indiana.

Trump’s immediate challenge is to unite deep fissures within the Republican Party, easing tensions with party loyalists who are appalled at his bullying style, his treatment of women and his signature proposals to build a wall on the border with Mexico and deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

The New York businessman himself called for unity in a speech at a victory rally that was free of his usual bombast and flamboyance. He also directed fire at Clinton. “We’re going after Hillary Clinton,” he said. “She will not be a great president, she will not be a good president, she will be a poor president. She doesn’t understand trade.”

Support for Trump among national Republicans had soared in recent weeks to the highest

level of the primary campaign, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. A recent poll found Trump with the support of 53 percent of Republican participants, well above Cruz at 25 percent. Ohio Governor John Kasich, the third Republican in the race, had support of 16 percent.

In a potential general election match-up, however, Clinton led Trump by about 10 percentage points among likely voters. The poll included 623 Democrats and 556 Republicans and had a credibility interval of 5 percentage points. Trump’s victory put to rest a belief that Republicans would choose their nominee at a contested convention among party leaders in July.

Nonetheless, Kasich vowed to stay in the race until California holds its primary on June 7.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Trump the party’s presumptive nominee in a tweet and said, “We all need to unite and focus” on defeating Clinton.

As the vote returns flowed in, Cruz announced that he had ended his campaign in Indianapolis, with his wife, Heidi, at his side. Cruz, 45, sounding beaten but defiant, said he no longer saw a viable path to the nomination.

“We gave it everything we got. But the voters chose another path, and so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign,” said Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas.

Cruz’s exit came as a surprise, and many Republicans who had denounced Trump were grappling with what to do next.

Reuters/Ipsos polling in April found Cruz supporters split on

Turkey on the Verge of Completing EU Visa Deal Turkey is on the verge of completing the necessary work to secure visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to the European Union, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday after parliament passed new legislation overnight.

The 28-nation EU depends on Ankara’s cooperation to maintain a March pact that has helped stem the flow of refugees and migrants arriving from Turkey, from which more than a million people reached Greece and Italy last year.

The European Commission is expected to declare on Wednesday that Turkey has broadly met the criteria for visa liberalisation and ask EU governments and the European Parliament to approve the decision by the end of June.

“We are on the verge of completing the necessary technical work, including on passports. We want to see all that in the European Commission report,” Cavusoglu said in comments broadcast on NTV. European visa-free regulations are limited to holders of biometric passports, which Turkey has not yet introduced.“If there are shortcomings,

this is a process like EU membership, and these shortcomings can be overcome with Turkey’s determination in the period ahead,”he said.

Late onTuesday,Turkey’s parliament pushed through legislation key to the EU pact, clearing some of the last hurdles for the country to win visa-free access to Europe for its nationals.

The assembly passed a law that aims to regulate, through a monitoring commission, how law enforcement officers are disciplined or punished for alleged crimes. It then approved legislation concerning Ankara’s migrant readmission agreement with the EU. The Turkish cabinet on Monday approved waiving visas for visitors from all 28 EU member states, once Europe relaxes its own visa requirements for Turks, another of the 72 criteria for the deal. Freeing up visa rules for Turkey, a Muslim country of 79 million people, is a contentious issue among EU states.

But Brussels is pressing ahead to keep the migration accord in place, as Europe struggles with its worst migration crisis since World War Two.

whom to support if their candidate quit. Thirty-eight percent of the 1,639 Cruz backers said they’d vote for the New York mogul in a match-up between Trump and Clinton, while 21 percent chose Clinton.

About 40 percent of the

Cruz supporters would not select either candidate. The poll had a credibility interval of 3 percentage points. Lanhee Chen, who had advised former Republican candidate Marco Rubio, on Tuesday night floated the possibility of a third-party

candidate.

“Tonight’s outcome raises seriousness & urgency of discussions about thirdparty alternative; how real it is depends on who steps up to run,” he tweeted. Other prominent Republicans said

they would support Trump.

“It’s binary now. It’s Trump or Clinton, my vote’s for Trump,” former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who dropped his own White House bid in November 2015, said on Fox News.

SERIOUS DAMAGE

Flames rise in Industrial area south Fort McMurray, Alberta Canada…yesterday

US Allies Target IS Militants in Mosul The United States and its coalition partners yesterday launched 22 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, including 10 near the key city of Mosul, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement released yesterday.

The coalition is working alongside Iraqi forces to try

and retake Mosul from the militant group’s control. The strikes there hit an Islamic State headquarters and nine Islamic State units of fighters as well as various weaponry, including a heavy machine gun, three large machine guns, two weapons caches, and four mortar

systems, the coalition said.

The Mosul strikes also destroyed 17 of the militants’ vehicles, two vehicles with improvised explosive devices, and a fuel truck, among other targets, according to the statement.

Five coalition strikes hit

near Falluja, striking three tactical units of Islamic State fighters, six tunnel entrances used by the group, an various weaponry, and other targets.

Other strikes were conducted near Albu Hayat, Bashir, Bayji, Hit, Sinjar and Sultan Abdalla, the task force said.

Kenya Arrests Key Member of Militant Group Plotting Attacks Kenyan police have arrested a suspected key member of an Islamist militant group that was plotting attacks similar to one in 2013 on the Westgate shopping mall that killed at least 67 people, authorities said on Tuesday.

Militant attacks mostly by al Shabaab militants from neighbouring Somalia have increased in recent years in Kenya, which has a large Muslim population concentrated mostly along its Indian Ocean coast. President Uhuru Kenyatta sent troops into Somalia in 2011 to join African Union military operations against al Shabaab that have driven it out of its major territorial strongholds

but not ended its ability to carry out selective, deadly attacks.

Al Shabaab has vowed to fight Kenya until it withdraws its troops and it claimed responsibility for the assault on the Westgate Mall in the capital Nairobi as well as on a university in eastern Kenya where at least 148 people were killed.

In a statement, Kenyan police said Muhammed Abdi Ali was arrested on Friday as a suspected member of an east African militant group with links to Islamic State, which has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria and inspired offshoot groups elsewhere in the Middle

East and Africa.

Ali worked as a medical intern at a hospital in eastern Kenya before his arrest and also studied at a university in neighbouring Uganda, the police statement said.“Ali has been engaged in the active radicalisation, recruitment of university students and other Kenyan youth into terrorism networks,” it said.

His militant group was also planning “large-scale attacks akin to” the Westgate Mall, the statement said, and Ali’s network included medical experts who were plotting a biological attack in Kenya using anthrax.

The police statement said

two suspected accomplices of Ali - Nuseiba Muhammed Haji, who is also his wife, and Fatuma Muhammed Hanshi - had been arrested in neighbouring Uganda.

Police did not say whether Ali’s group had links to al Shabaab.

The Somali jihadist group aims to topple the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and impose its own strict version of Islamic law on the Horn of Africa country. The African Union peace force known as AMISOM has managed to push al Shabaab out of Mogadishu and large parts of Somalia although analysts say it remains a resilient force.

Venezuelan Opposition Presents Petition against Maduro Venezuela’s opposition has presented to the electoral authorities a petition with the signatures of 1.85 million voters calling for a referendum to oust President Nicolas Maduro. This is the first step in a process which could lead to a recall referendum being held

by the end of the year.

The opposition blames the socialist government’s policies for the current economic crisis and the shortage of staple goods in many shops. Maduro’s term ends in 2019.

The executive secretary of opposition party MUD (Democratic Unity

Roundtable), Jesus Torrealba, said he had handed over to the National Electoral Board 80 boxes with the signed papers.“With this successful strategy, MUD moves forward in its bid to achieve urgent political change through strictly peaceful and constitutional means,” Mr

Torrealba said.Under Venezuela’s constitution, presidents can be removed from office by means of a referendum once they have served half their term. Mr Maduro took office in April 2013. He was elected to replace Hugo Chavez, who died of cancer.

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INTERNATIONAL

Three Red Cross Workers Kidnapped in Congo Three Red Cross staff members have been kidnapped in eastern Congo in an attack blamed by a rights group on Rwandan rebels. The abductions were confirmed on Tuesday in a tweet from Dominik Stillhart, the Red Cross’s director of operations, who added: “We’re doing everything we can to bring

them back home safely.”

The Congo-based Centre of Studies for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights said the three were drivers from Goma in the east of the country. Their vehicles were abandoned at the site of the kidnappings, it said.

It said the culprits were believed to be members of

the Rwandan rebel group, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which consists of former soldiers and Hutu militiamen behind Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

The rebel group, which has waged wars against

other armed groups and the government, is thought to be at the heart of instability in the region. Members say they want to return to Rwanda but the U.N. peacekeeping mission has said the group’s goal is to overthrow the Rwandan government.

There have been a series of abductions targeting aid workers in the vast central African country. The United Nations said in January a spike in kidnappings and insecurity had made it difficult to provide humanitarian aid.

Resource-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered from instability since millions were killed in regional wars in 1996 and 2003, mostly from hunger and disease, and armed groups have continued to remain in the area.

Liberia: George Weah’s Lawyers to Go to US over Warrant Lawyers for Liberian presidential candidate and former soccer star George Weah will travel to the United States after a warrant was issued charging him with child abandonment, a spokesman for Weah’s party said on Tuesday.

The warrant, filed in the U.S. state of Georgia, was in relation to Weah allegedly failing to pay child support. The crime of child abandonment is punishable by up to 12 months in prison. The warrant was withdrawn after Weah’s lawyers spoke to court officials, said Sam Manna, a spokesman for Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change. Manna said a hearing had been scheduled for May 11 at the Newton County Court in Georgia.

Weah announced last week he would make a second bid in 2017 for the presidency of the West African nation, still trying to rebuild after civil war and a devastating Ebola outbreak.

He lost in the run-off during the 2005 presidential election

to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Weah has said he would focus on repairing the education system, constructing clinics and fighting youth unemployment.

“This is a calculated propaganda trying to diminish our political momentum,” Manna said of the warrant, after thousands of supporters packed his party headquarters last week to hear Weah’s announcement that he would run again. [nL5N17VA2S] Weah’s illustrious soccer career in Europe lasted more than a decade and he played for teams including Paris Saint Germain in France, AC Milan in Italy and Chelsea in the United Kingdom. Weah became the first non-European to win the European player of the year award in 1995, the same year he picked up the African and World player of the year awards.

Two of his children, George Jr. and Timothy, have followed in their father’s soccer footsteps.

French Govt Condemns Anti-police Violence Riot police clashed with demonstrators outside a school building in Paris yesterday, prompting government and police calls for an end to weeks of violent protests mainly linked to plans for a loosening of France’s highly protective labour laws.

Police used tear gas to disperse a crowd that sought to stop them removing nearly 300 immigrants who had moved into an empty school building that is soon due to reopen for classes after renovation work, Paris police chief Michel Cadot said.

While the standoff had little directly to do with the contested government plans to make hiring and firing easier, some of the protesters came from a youth movement set up a month ago largely to demonstrate against those plans.

“The state is obliged to apply the law,” Cadot said.

The migrants from countries including Sudan and Eritrea were removed peacefully after police broke through a ring of 200 to 250 protesters, he added.

Four police were slightly hurt, a statement said.

A major police union, Alliance, said law enforcement forces were already working flat out to ensure greater security following last November’s Islamist

attacks in Paris and condemned what it described as mounting “anti-cop hatred”.

Hundreds of police officers have been reported injured in the past few weeks in clashes with demonstrators across France, mostly during protest rallies against the labour law reform.

Seven riot police officers were hurt on Tuesday in clashes with masked youths in the western city of Nantes. “This is totally unacceptable, with 300 police hurt since the start of the year,” said government spokesman Stephane Le Foll.

“We will not let this pass.”

The primary focus of protest is the planned reform of some of the most extensive and protective labour rules in Europe. An Elabe opinion poll released on Wednesday showed three out of four French people oppose a bill that the government argues will slash red tape and encourage employers to recruit in a country where the jobless rate is above 10 percent.

Critics fear the bill will undermine employers’ obligations under the current national labour code. The Alliance union urged police forces to stage their own demonstration on May 18 to highlight their plight.

REPUBLICAN CRUZ

Ted Cruz stands with Carly Fiorina after he announced Fiorina as his running mate in Indianapolis..yesterday

EU Proposes Scheme to Share out Asylum Seekers The European Commission proposed a system to distribute asylum seekers across the EU on Wednesday that aims to ease the load on states like Greece and Italy but drew immediate condemnation from governments in Eastern Europe.

The European Union executive published legislative proposals to reform the so-called Dublin system of EU asylum rules that includes a“fairness mechanism” under which each of the 28 states would be assigned a percentage quota of all asylum seekers in the bloc that it would be expected to handle.

The quotas would reflect national population and wealth and, if a country found itself handling 50 percent more than its due share, it could relocate people elsewhere in the bloc. States could refuse to take people for a year -- but only if they paid another country 250,000 euros per person to accommodate them.

“There is no a la carte solidarity in this Union,”First Vice President Frans Timmermans told reporters.

“This is a way to be able to show solidarity in a situation where ... you are not able to take the refugees which were allocated to you.”

But at a meeting in Prague, ministers from Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic all repeated their opposition to the idea of relocation:“It makes no sense, it violates EU member states’ rights,” Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told reporters.

Hungary’s foreign minister called it “blackmail”.

A two-year emergency relocation scheme was set up last year as Greece struggled to cope with the chaotic arrival of nearly a million people, many of them Syrian refugees, most of whom reached Germany. It was agreed over the furious objections of several central and eastern states, two of whom, Hungary

and Slovakia, are contesting the quota system in the EU courts.

In fact, only 1,441 asylum seekers have been relocated out of the 160,000 allowed for under the current temporary scheme. The proposals, which also include measures to speed up the process of handling asylum claims and tighter controls on the movements of migrants themselves, need backing from governments and the European Parliament -- a process that officials expect to be an uphill battle and involve many amendments.

Germany, the bloc’s main paymaster and destination for the bulk of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, has pushed hard for a permanent relocation system and has voiced frustration with the refusal of governments in the east who benefit the most from EU subsidies to take in asylum seekers.

Poland, Hungary and other

formerly communist states say immigration, especially from the Muslim cultures of the Middle East, would disrupt their homogeneous societies.

Governments also object to paying as an alternative to taking people in.

A similar proposal last year to set a payment of 0.002 percent of GDP was not taken up in the temporary scheme. The Commission did not issue its quota figures. Last year’s tables gave Germany a roughly 18 percent share, France 14 percent, Poland 5.6 percent and Hungary 1.8 percent. Any reform of the system, from which Britain, Ireland and Denmark are exempt, will require majority approval by EU governments.

But senior officials say EU leaders will try to avoid forcing a deal through over strong minority objections, as happened with the temporary relocation scheme last September.

Wildfire Destroys Homes in Canadian City An out-of-control wildfire destroyed much of one neighbourhood in the remote Canadian city of Fort McMurray and badly damaged other areas, the local government said yesterday, hours after it ordered all 80,000 residents to leave in the biggest evacuation in the area’s history.

Firefighters in the northeastern Alberta city at the heart of Canada’s oil sands were bracing for another tough day. Hot, dry

weather has made it difficult to being the fire under control. A forecast for potential fire intensity showed much of the area around at class 6, the highest possible level. Some 44,000 people had fled the city by late on Tuesday, but evacuations were delayed by gasoline shortages, local officials said. No injuries or deaths were reported.

In a bulletin posted on Twitter in the early morning, the regional

government said 80 percent of Beacon Hill, a residential area at the south end of town, had been lost. Two other neighbourhoods, Abasand and Waterways, were listed as “serious loss.”

Shell had closed one oil sands mine and was in the process of closing another. Chief Financial Officer Simon H e n ry s a i d t h e c o m p a ny ’s p r i o ri t y wa s s a f e t y, a n d t o support the community.

H e n ry s a i d u p g ra d e r s , w h i c h process oil sands to produce crude, would operate for a few more days.

Alberta Health Services said in a statement that all patients had been successfully evacuated from Fort McMurray’s hospital. The fire broke out southwest of the city on Sunday, shifting aggressively with the wind to breach city limits on Tuesday.

52

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY,MAY 5, 2016

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN: Energy Firms Owe Nigerian Banks N3.93tn Nume Ekeghe with agency report Oil, gas and power firms owe banks in the country about N3.931 trillion as at the end of December 2015, according to latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The CBN, in its Quarterly Statistical Bulletin for the Fourth Quarter, 2015, released recently, said the indebtedness represented a decline of 1.36 per cent or N54 billion against N3.985 trillion recorded at the end of November 2015.

A breakdown of the commercial banks’ sectoral credit allocation showed that the downstream, natural gas and crude oil refining segments owed banks up to N2.273 trillion as at year end.

This was slightly higher than the N2.264 trillion recorded in November, while the upstream

and oil and gas services sector owed N1.156 trillion against N1.192 trillion month on month.

In the power sector, the banks are owed N340.31 billion by Independent Power Plants (IPPs), and power generation companies, while power transmission and distribution companies owed N162.44 billion against N168.1 billion in the corresponding period.

As a result, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that exposure of the banking sector to energy firms as at year end, increased by 10.02 per cent or N358 billion in comparison to end-November’s N3.573 trillion.

The report stated that total loans and advances to the domestic economy during the period stood at N12.263 trillion, down by N15.7 billion or 0.1 per cent below the level recorded in the preceding month, but an increase of N86.8 billion or 0.7

per cent above year end 2014.

In addition, the report said: “Sectoral analysis of credit to private sector revealed that the service sector gulped 44.6 per cent, the industry sector had 33.3 per cent and other sectors secured the remaining fraction of the credit to private sector with agricultural sector obtaining the least, 3.4 per cent.

“Further analysis of the credit to industry sector showed that oil and gas; manufacturing; power and energy; and mining and quarrying sub-sectors received 52.1, 39.8, 7.8 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.

“Furthermore, a breakdown of total credit to service sector revealed that other sub-sectors; oil & gas; finance; insurance and capital market; real estate; power & energy and education had 50.7, 19.8, 13.6, 11.9, 2.8 and 1.3 per cent, respectively.”

Inflation Projected to Rise Further to 13.2% Obinna Chima The Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC) has predicted a steep rise in yearon-year April inflation to 13.2 per cent, 0.4 per cent higher than the 12.8 per cent recorded in March.

The expected rise in the inflation figures would be the fourth consecutive monthly increase in 2016. The Lagosbased firm, which stated this in its latest economic bulletin obtained yesterday, stressed that its forecast is accurate, it will be head-turning for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), “which have barely recovered from the spike in March.”

“The lingering fuel scarcity was debilitating to economic activity

and pressurised consumer prices in April. Additionally, rising transport costs and seasonality are also driving increase in costs of food staples and perishables.

A disequilibrated exchange rate and its distortionary impact on monetary stability is beginning to feed through the system for a prolonged period,” it added.

Following the 100 basis points hike in monetary policy rate (MPR) at the last MPC meeting, “the CBN was under pressure to increase policy rates again.

With real returns back in negative territory, the CBN will have to deliberate on the efficacy of using interest rates to contain the current inflationary trend. The absence of a foreign exchange policy, which still continues to be a major factor leading to uncertainty,

has to be addressed at the MPC. “We estimate a slight slowdown in inflation in May towards 12.5 per cent due to consumer resistance following the sustained rise in consumer prices. As the production possibility frontier increases, prices of goods are expected to decline.”

The report showed that the inflationary trend across SubSaharan Africa continues to be a mixed bag, stating that countries that witnessed higher price levels were Ghana and Angola. The underlying reason for the increase in inflation those countries was weakened currency. Ghana’s inflation rate accelerated to 19.2 per cent in March from 18.5 per cent in February due to sharp rises in transportation costs, clothing and footwear.

Ogun Identifies Environment, Agriculture, Transportation as Viable Sectors As Ogun State looks forward to hosting its 2016 Investors’ Forum, the state has identified environment agriculture and transportation as major areas it would be looking at as critical sectors to drive its growth.

Speaking to journalists in Abeokuta on Wednesday during the unveiling of the theme for the forum, Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who took time to highlight some of the key achievements of his administration, said the state currently ranked fourth in terms of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). He noted that not less than 90 high profile companies are presently operating in the

state.

The governor pointed that despite the challenges facing a lot of states, Ogun has been able to weather the storm so well.

He stressed that his state has created an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

“Ogun State is currently ranked fourth in terms of IGR in Nigeria. According to Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria, Ogun State industrial zone ranked fourth in 2014.

New investments into Ogun in 2014 valued at N514.87 billion, which was an increase from 2013 investment of N376.57 billion.

While total investment stood at N691.77 billion at the end of

2014,” the governor said.

Speaking further the governor said: “What are those things that must be in place for business to thrive? Of course, infrastructure must be there, security must be there, our environment must be peaceful and friendly and we must be comfortable.

And we must also have employable people that will be on ground when needed by investors. We are making sure that we get the right manpower that will do the job, so that when investors come in, they won’t start running around in search of people. It will encourage them to source for all the raw materials locally.”

Emefiele, African Central Bank Governors Meet on Financial Stability The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele last night began the hosting of several central bank governors across Africa to discuss the effects of the exogenous shocks from the global economy on financial systems across the continent. In the aftermath of sharp drop in commodity prices, which is the main export and

foreign exchange earner of most African countries, many financial systems across the world are still grappling with the adverse effects of these shocks.

According to a statement, as Co-Chair of Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Consultative Group of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), Emefiele, alongside the Governor of the Reserve Bank

of South Africa, Mr. Lesetja Kganyago, is hosting this meeting at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja to find lasting, effective and common solutions that can be applied to AFRICAN financial systems.In addition, though, the group will also be focusing on finding country-specific solutions that best suit individual AFRICAN countries.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

FEBRUARY 2016 Broad Money (M2)

20,489,166.72

-- Narrow Money (M1)

9,095,578.34

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,377,483.11

---- Demand Deposits

7,682,095.23

-- Quasi Money

11,429,588.38

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

5,471,351.78

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

15,017,814.94 22,414,322.75

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC) ---- Credit to Government (Net)

3,424,029.62

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

4,807,604.55

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

1,383,574.93

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

18,990,293.13

--Other Assets Net

7,396,507.81

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,095,380.23

--Currency in Circulation

1,711,623.51

--Banks Reserves

3,383,756.72 • Source - CBN

MANAGED FUNDS Initial Price (N) Stanbic Balanced Fund

Buying Price(N)

Selling Price

1,660.29

1,685.29

Stanbic IBTC NEF

1,000.00

11,002.32

11,326.67.11

Stanbic SIBond

20

120.47

120.47

Stanbic IBTC Ethical

1

1.10

1.13

Stanbic IBTC GIF

142.90

143.38

UBA Balanced Fund

1.2563

1.2493

UBA Bond Fund

1.3443

1.3443

UBA Equity Fund

0.8205

0.8074

UBA Money Market Fund

1.1510

1.1510

ARM Aggressive Growth Fund

N13.0544

N13.4480

ARM Discovery Fund

N288.2515

N296.9425

ARM Ethical Fund

N22.5268

N23.2060

ARM Money Market Fund

13.1030 (Yield % ) • Monetary Policy Rate - 13%

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT TUESDAY, 3 MAY 2016 The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $41.02 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $42.47 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Minas (Indonesia), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

53

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

4-May-16

3-May-16

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

01 Dangote Cement Plc

169.00

171.57

-1.50%

2,879,845,751,445.00

10.64

15.88

5.86

4.73%

4.47

02 Nigerian Brew. Plc.

122.00

121.68

0.26%

967,350,308,336.00

5.37

22.73

3.50

2.95%

5.68

03 Nestle Nigeria Plc.

680.00

678.32

0.25%

539,006,251,360.00

29.95

22.71

3.56

4.26%

14.18

04 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

17.00

17.10

-0.58%

500,330,046,808.00

3.38

5.03

2.18

10.41%

1.21

05 Zenith Bank Plc

12.99

12.97

0.15%

407,840,454,280.14

3.37

3.86

0.94

13.86%

0.69

06 Lafarge Africa Plc.

73.00

71.38

2.27%

332,507,832,130.00

5.93

12.32

1.24

4.11%

1.89

07 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

14.70

15.50

-5.16%

269,738,402,860.50

1.39

10.56

0.52

4.22%

0.72

08 Forte Oil Plc.

190.00

193.46

-1.79%

247,471,409,570.00

4.45

42.71

1.99

1.82%

5.35

09 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd.

340.00

340.00

0.00%

188,125,506,420.00

23.48

14.48

1.67

4.68%

0.67

10 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

14.50

14.30

1.40%

145,000,000,000.00

2.04

7.12

1.23

0.69%

1.29

11 Guinness Nig Plc

93.46

94.00

-0.57%

140,740,310,050.48

0.78

120.09

2.82

0.00%

3.15

12 United Bank for Africa Plc

3.49

3.57

-2.24%

126,615,546,863.78

1.64

2.12

0.40

17.19%

0.38

13 FBN Holdings Plc

3.50

3.53

-0.85%

125,633,524,772.00

0.42

8.29

0.25

4.29%

0.22

14 Access Bank Plc.

4.30

4.25

1.18%

124,390,278,013.30

2.28

1.89

0.37

12.79%

0.34

32.24

30.71

4.98%

121,973,471,100.00

0.32

102.30

2.06

0.16%

15.24

16 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc.

145.00

145.00

0.00%

92,885,602,635.00

11.12

13.04

1.19

1.52%

3.87

17 P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc.

21.30

22.42

-5.00%

84,571,161,058.50

1.10

19.41

1.17

6.10%

2.01

18 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

5.85

5.80

0.86%

70,200,000,000.00

0.96

6.09

0.69

8.55%

1.21

19 International Breweries Plc.

20.00

20.00

0.00%

65,884,985,600.00

0.64

31.29

3.56

1.25%

5.47

20 Julius Berger Nig. Plc.

43.00

43.00

0.00%

56,760,000,000.00

1.85

23.26

0.42

3.49%

2.34

4.65

4.62

0.65%

55,960,977,857.10

0.50

9.30

0.10

16.13%

0.35

147.80

155.00

-4.65%

53,295,979,723.60

13.51

10.94

0.83

4.87%

3.47

20.30

21.00

-3.33%

53,272,014,896.10

1.84

11.03

0.16

9.85%

0.52

156.03

156.03

0.00%

52,975,592,227.11

11.92

13.09

0.25

8.97%

3.26

25 Sterling Bank Plc.

1.54

1.47

4.76%

44,337,243,914.04

0.36

4.31

0.40

5.84%

0.46

26 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc

1.00

1.03

-2.91%

38,720,997,425.00

0.05

19.06

0.95

0.00%

0.44

27 Presco Plc

35.76

35.76

0.00%

35,760,000,000.00

3.28

10.91

3.15

0.28%

1.60

28 U A C N Plc.

18.10

18.00

0.56%

34,767,645,404.70

2.70

6.71

0.48

5.52%

0.47

1.35

1.37

-1.46%

31,266,525,106.80

0.24

5.53

0.14

0.00%

0.15

16.50

16.27

1.41%

30,990,333,660.00

3.21

5.15

0.92

7.88%

2.99

31 Fidelity Bank Plc

1.05

1.10

-4.55%

30,410,714,976.60

0.48

2.19

0.21

15.24%

0.17

32 Wema Bank Plc.

0.74

0.76

-2.63%

28,545,104,899.94

0.06

12.27

0.62

0.00%

0.62

33 Okomu Oil Palm Plc.

29.11

29.11

0.00%

27,768,320,100.00

2.76

10.55

2.85

0.34%

2.30

34 Cap Plc

38.50

38.50

0.00%

26,950,000,000.00

2.49

15.49

3.82

2.99%

17.73

35 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc.

21.43

21.43

0.00%

25,627,633,137.84

0.81

26.56

0.84

1.40%

1.94

36 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.24

2.26

-0.88%

23,520,000,000.00

0.16

14.15

1.42

2.23%

1.35

37 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

8.40

8.27

1.57%

22,255,282,375.20

0.79

10.57

1.38

6.55%

3.14

38 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.67

3.67

0.00%

21,586,441,595.65

0.71

5.14

0.72

3.81%

0.83

39 FCMB Group Plc.

0.96

0.95

1.05%

19,010,602,349.76

0.24

3.99

0.12

10.42%

0.12

40 Skye Bank Plc

0.98

0.98

0.00%

13,602,695,381.80

0.85

1.15

0.10

30.61%

0.10

41 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.56

1.60

-2.50%

12,371,108,346.48

0.14

11.04

0.25

10.26%

0.58

42 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.03

1.02

0.98%

10,683,926,641.36

0.21

4.99

0.54

11.65%

0.69

43 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

7.45

7.45

0.00%

9,362,249,356.70

0.96

7.79

0.72

1.34%

0.92

44 Unity Bank Plc

0.65

0.65

0.00%

7,598,069,662.30

0.54

1.20

0.12

0.00%

0.09

45 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.10

5.16

0.94

6.00%

0.45

46 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

3.85

3.85

0.00%

6,617,187,480.75

1.81

2.13

0.59

18.18%

0.20

47 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

3.80

3.71

2.43%

6,172,031,250.00

0.33

11.48

0.73

5.26%

1.01

48 Resort Savings & Loans Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

4.68

0.11

0.02

0.00%

1.89

49 AIICO Insurance Plc.

0.75

0.77

-2.60%

5,197,653,360.00

0.28

2.71

0.16

6.67%

0.54

50 Fidson Healthcare Plc

2.13

2.24

-4.91%

3,195,000,000.00

0.50

4.29

0.39

2.35%

0.51

15 Unilever Nigeria Plc.

21 Oando Plc 22 Mobil Oil Nig Plc. 23 Flour Mills Nig. Plc. 24 Total Nigeria Plc.

29 Diamond Bank Plc 30 Cadbury Nigeria Plc.

TOTAL

8,231,048,409,759.53

TOTAL MARKET CAP

8,845,628,456,647.34

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

93.05%

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open 3-May-16

NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion)

25,865.50 8.90

25,715.42 8.85

-0.58 -0.58

106.47 8.29

105.71 8.23

-0.71 -0.71

Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

Close 4-May-16

Change %

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open 3-May-16

Unilever Nigeria Plc. Sterling Bank Plc. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc Lafarge Africa Plc. National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

Close Change 4-May-16 %

30.71 1.47 3.71

32.24 1.54 3.80

4.98 4.76 2.43

71.38 8.27

73.00 8.40

2.27 1.57

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open 3-May-16

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc. Fidson Healthcare Plc Mobil Oil Nig Plc. Fidelity Bank Plc

Close Change 4-May-16 %

15.50

14.70

-5.16

22.42 2.24 155.00 1.10

21.30 2.13 147.80 1.05

-5.00 -4.91 -4.65 -4.55

Market ASI sheds 0.58% after a 3-day gaining streak Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Wednesday, May 4, 2016 was bearish as the market closed red due to increased selling pressure by investors. This was further highlighted by negative performances from all the NSE Sub sectors; Banking, Insurance and Oil & Gas (Save Consumer Goods). However, trading activities increased in volume as 330.57 million shares worth N2.26 billion in 4,053 deals exchanged hands today. This is an increase from the 220.12 million shares worth N1.50 billion in 3,474 deals carried out on Tuesday. Topping in volume terms was FBN Holdings Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc, while FBN Holdings Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed negative with a modest 0.58% (-150.08) decrease to 25,715.42 from 25,865.50 the previous trading day. Market Capitalization depreciated in tandem to N8.85 trillion from the previous trading day figure of N8.90 trillion. The Thisday BGL 50 Index also followed suit with a decrease of 0.71% to close at 105.71 from 106.47 the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N8.23 trillion from N8.29 trillion reported the previous trading day.

A total number of 26 stocks gained on the bourse today while 20 stocks declined, leaving 143 stocks unchanged. Unilever Nigeria Plc emerged the toast of investors as it topped the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list with a gain of 4.98% to close at N32.24 per share. It was followed by Sterling Bank Plc with a gain of 4.76% to close at N1.54 per share. Others on the gainers list include; Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc and National Salt Co. Nig. Plc, while on the decliners’ list; Ecobank Transnational Incorporated led with a loss of 5.16% to close at N14.70 per share. It was followed by P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc with a loss of 5.00% to close at N21.30 per share. Others on the losers list include; Fidson Healthcare Plc, Mobil Oil Nig Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE This report has been prepared by BGL Plc. BGL Plc does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should use this report as one of many other factors in making their investment decisions.

For more details go to www.thisdaylive.com

54

T H I S D AY • THURSDAY,MAY 5, 2016

MARKET NEWS

Domestic Investors Dominate Trading at the Equities Market

Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun

Domestic investors continued to dominate transactions at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) statistics released by the exchange has shown. According to the data for the month of March, domestic investors outperformed foreign investors by 28.48 per cent.

Although the total transactions

in the month of March 2016 decreased by 17.87 per cent from N117.27 billion recorded in February 2016 to N96.31 billon, domestic investors dominated the performance. Comparatively, the N96.31 billion recorded in 2016 is 47.66 per cent lower than the N184.02 billion recorded in 2015. The bourse recorded N201.37 billion transactions.

However, in the month of March 2016, domestic investors

accounted for N61.87 billion, while foreign investors recorded N34.44 billion. But, monthly foreign outflows outpaced inflows, which was consistent with the same period in 2015.

Foreign outflows decreased by 40.20 per cent from N31.84 billion in February 2016 to N19.04 billion while foreign inflows increased by 40.77 per cent from N10.94 billion in February 2016 to N15.40

billion in March 2016.

A further analysis of transactions by domestic investors showed that institutional investors remain in control. Out of the N61.87 billion traded by domestic investors, institutional investors accounted for N38.52 billion, while retail investors recorded N23.35 billion.

Compared to February, the transactions by domestic investors fell from N36.24

billion, while transactions by institutional investors increased marginally from N38.25 billion.

Market analysts and some investors have called on the regulators to ensure more participation of retail investors, saying that would check the volatility in the market.

Meanwhile trading at the stock market turned bearish yesterday as investors took

profit following the significant gains recorded by some stocks the previous day.

The NSE All-Share Index depreciated 0.6 per cent to close at 25,716.06, while market capitalisation shed N51.4 billion to be at N8.8 trillion.

However, volume and value of trading grew by grew 50.1 per cent and 50.5 per cent to 330.5 million shares and N2.3 billion respectively.

DAILY STOCK MARKET REPORT T H E

N I G E R I A N

STO C K

E X C H A N G E

THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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New Edo Speaker Promises Open Leadership as another Member Joins Her Camp Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City The ranks of lawmakers that signed the impeachment notice removing the former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Victor Edoror, have continued to swell as the member representing Oredo East, Osaigbovo Iyoha, who was on his side, has joined the 16 members who impeached him on Tuesday.

Iyoha’s move, THISDAY gathered was made know yesterday during a victory party organised by the new speaker, Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie, when she presented the 17th member in her camp.

During the party, which took

place at the legislative quarters, the newly elected speaker reassured members of the assembly of her decision to run an open door leadership.

She said the purpose of bringing the members together was to reaffirm that she remained the newly elected speaker of the assembly and to assure them of her desire to run an open door leadership.

“We have given you the opportunity to see all the members that have taken part in this impeachment and that we have been able to clear the air and that you should not have any doubt in

your mind and in fact, from 16 members we are now 17 members.

“And by our rules twothird of the 24 is 16 and all the statutory things that we are supposed to do, we have done it. And as we speak now, we have started doing the work of the assembly and you are going to see a very re-burst assembly, you are going to see a assembly that will be an envy that other states are going to emulate.

“The Edo House of assembly will run a very inclusive and

transparent house and we will not allow cheating any more,” she said.

She said being the first female speaker of the house, was a big challenge and that all that she needed to do is to work hard to surpass the men who have been speakers of the Assembly.

Speaking earlier, Chris Okabean (Oredo West) said they had absolute trust in the leadership of the newlyelected speaker, Ative and that they would give her the necessary support to succeed as the speaker

of the assembly.

“We are here this afternoon to reaffirm our united commitment that the impeached speaker stands impeached and that the Edo assembly stands united under the leadership of Ative,” he said.

However, rumour making the rounds has it that Governor Oshipmhole during the meeting he held with the lawmakers just after the impeachment of the former speaker, Edoror, had offered the aggrieved lawmakers Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) to bring back to

office.

In his reaction however, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Oshiomhole, Mr. Peter Okhiria, debunked the rumour, saying the impeachment of the speaker had nothing to do with the issue of SUVs. According to him, “The lawmakers for long have requested for official vehicles which has been approved. So the impeachment is not connected to SUVs but an internal matter between the lawmakers themselves.”

Police Extend Deadline for Re-validation of Tinted Glass Permit Warn policemen against extortion, harassment Chiemelie Ezeobi The Inspector General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase, yesterday warned policemen across the nation against extorting and harassing road users over the validation of tinted glass permit and firearms licence.

The directive came at the heels of the decision by the Nigeria Police High Command to extend the deadline for revalidation of tinted glass permit and firearms licence to July 31, 2016.

Thus, with the extension, the IG directed all state commands commissioners of police to stay enforcement of the law on tinted glass permit and firearms licence until the expiration of the deadline.

In a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, an Assistant

Commissioner of Police, the IG restated that revalidation of tinted glass permit was free of charge.

He also warned policemen against extortion and harassment of motorists over revalidating their permits and licences.

The statement reads in part, “The IG therefore urges members of the public who are yet to obtain the automated tinted glass permit and firearms licence to seize the opportunity of the extension to complete necessary formalities for them to key into the electronic platform.

“The IG wishes to reassure the public of the commitment of the force to the provision of round-the-clock security for the teeming citizens of the country.

“Citizens are further enjoined to continue to support and assist the police in its constitutional task of safeguarding the nation.”

We Have No Link with Auctus Integrated, Says Ayeni Following persistent enquires from a section of the media, the Chairman of Skye Bank Plc and NATCOM, Mr. Olatunde Ayeni, has dispelled the speculation that he has interest in an oil company called, Auctus Integrated.

Auctus Integrated is one of the companies allegedly mentioned in the $115 million fund said to have been paid into Fidelity Bank Plc. at the instance of the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

In a statement signed

by Ademola Adedoyin, Special Adviser, Corporate Communications to Ayeni, the alleged link with Auctus Integrated was described as “unfounded and without an iota of truth.”

The statement said: “following persistent enquiries from a section of the media, we deem it fit to lay this speculation to permanent rest as our Chairman, Mr. Olatunde Ayeni, has no interest whatsoever and has no link in whatever capacity with the said Auctus

Integrated.

“The attempt to link the chairman’s name to the $115 million slush fund with Fidelity Bank is not only mischievous but disingenuous handiwork of adversaries who will stop at nothing to concoct stories no matter how ridiculous about our chairman.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we need to state it again that Ayeni is a law abiding and patriotic entrepreneur who continues to contribute to the growth of this economy and who, through business acumen and initiatives, continues to create employment opportunities to hundreds of Nigerians in the finance, telecommunications, oil and gas, maritime and real estate sectors, among others of our economy.

“In spite of the mischief of these adversaries, Ayeni remains committed to this economy and shall continually do everything ethical and within the law to contribute his quota to its growth.”

STRATEGISING FOR 2019

R-L: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore; Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko; his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayodele Fayose; and PDP chieftain, Chief Bode George, at the PDP South-west leaders meeting in Akure... yesterday

Minimum Wage Review: You Don’t Understand the Issues, NLC Tells Oyegun Paul Obi in Abuja The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday said the comments credited to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, showed that he did not understand the issues associated with minimum wage.

Oyegun at a briefing in Abuja this week told journalists that the dire economic situation in the country would not augur well for a new minimum wage put forward by the organised labour.

He had informed journalists that the demand for a new minimum wage “shouldn’t be a federal matter, states should be allowed to make their decisions based on their abilities to pay. The cost of living is not the same in every part of the country,” the APC national chairman said.

But labour on the other hand had argued that should government plug up the leakages in the system, halt corruption and harness the recovered looted funds, it will be in a better position to meet NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) demand for new minimum wage placed at N56,000.

Speaking with THSIDAY, NLC Secretary General, Dr. Peter OzoEzon, debunked the claims by the APC national chairman that the demand for a new wage was not feasible, stressing that, he barely

understands the issues of new minimum wage at stake.

“The demand for a new minimum wage is genuine; it is not focused on the federal government, the issue of minimum wage is not only a government issue, it is a wide issue on the economy, involving the private sector,” Ozo-Ezon said.

He told THISDAY that “the chairman did not understand the issues; he needs to understand the issues on how a new minimum wage can be arrived at.”

NLC Secretary General further argued that what is needed is not for the federal government to negotiate alone, but to rather constitute a tripartite commission or committee to include the three tiers of government on one side, organised labour and the private sector.

He added that “that’s the ILO convention for fixing minimum wage and Nigeria is a signatory to the convention, where it pledged to obey the rules.”

Ozo-Ezon explained that the tripartite commission in the negotiation of minimum wage is not new to the government.

He cited the last committee headed by the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore (rtd) as a clear example.

The NLC chief scribe contended that any opposition to the proposed new minimum wage should be based on verifiable facts; adding

that individuals or groups opposed to the proposal should “Support their argument with analysis, all these are matters of the process.”

Asked whether labour would soft pedal on the N56,000 wage bill and reduce it to a workable plan, Ozo-Ezon said: “We cannot be telling you whether we will reduce the amount we have put forward or not.”

Since labour proposed the new minimum wage alongside threats that it will go the whole

hog to ensure that it stands, government has kept mute on the matter. Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, also kept silent when he represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the last May 1st Workers’ Day rally in Abuja.

All efforts to speak to Ngige were not fruitful as he was not available for comments. Neither did he return the calls put across to him.

Again, Rivers Elections Petition Tribunal Relocates to Abuja For the second time, the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal on rerun elections in the state sitting in Port Harcourt, has relocated to the High Court in Apo, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This was contained in a statement issued yesterday by Sirajo Gusau, the secretary to the tribunal.

“I am directed to inform the public and all lawyers concerned that the election tribunal has been relocated to the High Court Apo, Abuja, FCT with immediate effect,”

the statement noted.

Gusau, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that he was not in a position to disclose what informed the relocation.

The Elections Petition Tribunal that handled petitions that arose from the 2015 general election was also relocated to the FCT. Sources said the relocation might have been informed by insecurity.

Gusau said the secretariat had received 10 petitions from politicians, but did not give details.

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THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

Shettima: Stone PDP Supporters, Like Satan is Stoned at Kabba FG to distributes items seized by Customs to IDPs, liberated towns

Senator Iroegbu and Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri

thecommencement of distribution of relief materials in Maiduguri by the National Logistics Committee The Borno State Governor, Kashim on Distribution of Relief Materials, Shettima, yesterday said the Shettima said: “The politicians who people of the state were saved left us to our troubles in the last five from extinction by the victory of years only to come back when peace President Muhammadu Buhari at has returned to the state to tell us that Jonathan’s administration was last year’s general election.

This is coming as the federal better than the present should be government disclosed that all stoned just like the Satan is stoned the goods seized by the Nigerian at the Kaaba.”

Earlier, the Presidential Customs would be distributed to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Committee on the Distribution mostly to those returning to the of Relief Materials to the IDPs, liberated towns in parts of the said that the goods seized by the Nigerian Customs would be North-east.

The governor, who claimed that distributed to mostly the persons had the result gone otherwise the returning to the liberated towns people would have fled from the in parts of the North-east.

The Chairman of the Committee, state by now and this would have left the state deserted, called on the ACG Sanusi Usman, disclosed people to show their dissatisfaction this yesterday when he led towards those politicians who other members to visit the Chief abandoned them at the peak of of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, at the Military the crisis.

Speaking in Hausa at Command and Control Centre

(MCC), Maiduguri, Borno State.

Usman said that the committee was constituted to ensure that the materials were well distributed to the where they are needed, especially to those villages where people are returning.

According to him, the aim was to encourage people to return to the liberated towns and ensure that those who have returned are not in lack of the basic necessities of life.

He said: “It was proposed that all the seized goods should be distributed to the IDPs. The purpose is to ensure that this platform created by the President is well distributed to the affected areas and not only to the IDPs

but mostly to the villages so that the people can go back to their villages.

“We have found out from our experience from the visit to Yobe State that there is no need to concentrate on the IDPs but mostly to the villages as most of them are increasingly returning to their communities. Its in this state that many saw the devastation of Boko Haram and were moved.

“We assure that these products ceased will be distributed accordingly as we have done in Adamawa and some to Edo State.

In Yobe State, we went to Buni Yadi where live is returning to normal.

Borno State is very significant

because we have about 10 border posts,” he added.

Responding, Buratai commended the federal government for what he described as the “laudable initiative to make this available for the affected people.”

According to him, those that are in need and deprived by Boko Haram of their livelihood would be catered for through the Committee’s efforts.

He noted that the work of the committee will also be complementary to the operations of the military to bring life back to the liberated areas.

“These are people that have been displaced by Boko Haram

for a long time and this approach will help them settle back to their villages. This will also assist the military in our operations as when people settle down it will help us to quickly move to the other areas of operation.

“So far, the distribution has been going on smoothly and it will encourage people to go back to their hamlets and villages. Also, the issues of medical supply will be useful to them as well as building materials that will make them to settle down quickly. I commend President Muhammadu Buhari for all he is doing to ensure that Boko Haram menace is brought to an end,” he said.

Buhari, Saraki, Dogara, APC Leaders in Closed-door Meeting Tobi Soniyi in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday met behind closed doors with some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The meeting had the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the National Chairman of APC, John OdegieOyegun, in attendance.

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari and the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, were also in the meeting.

Also at the meeting were

the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, and former Minister of Information, Tony Momoh.

APC Deputy National Chairman North, Shuaibu Lawali, and the Deputy National Chairman South, Segun Oni were also in the meeting.

Though the agenda was not disclosed, it is believed to have trappings on some contemporary issues which included the 2016 budget, the menace of Fulani herdsmen, among others.

The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

Anenih is Alive, Travelled to London, Says Aide Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The former Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih, is alive, hale and healthy, his media aide, Sufuyan Ojeifo, has said.

Ojeifo who reacted to the rumour making the rounds that Anenih had passed away, denied it, saying the politician had travelled to London and will soon be back in the country.

He described the report as false and mischievous.

He said: “I spoke with him at 1.37p.m. He is hale and hearty. The report was simply a concoction of mischief. Only God and the harbingers of the rumour know what they meant.

“When I spoke with him, he said he did not know the hospital mentioned in the report neither did he know the doctor mentioned. He said he did not have brain cancer.

He rounded off with me by saying “God is on the throne.”

Some political associates of Anenih, have also denied the

rumour.

The social media was yesterday awash with reports that the elder statesman died of cancer in a London hospital.

However, two political associates of the elder statesman, Edo State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, and a former youth leader of the party in the state, Vincent Akhere; described the claims as total fabrication and handiwork of mischief makers.

Akhere, who spoke with THISDAY on phone, said he spoke with Anenih on phone yesterday morning.

He added that Anenih travelled to London on Tuesday and that he would be back in the country weekend.

Akhere said, “I spoke with him on phone about 15 minutes ago.

Chief is well, alive and kicking.

We even joke over the matter. It is true that chief had a surgery not too long ago but he is fine now.”

Orbih simply said the rumour was unfortunate, adding that the people behind it should ask God for forgiveness.

DIVERSIFICATION OF THE ECONOMY IN FOCUS

Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara (right), welcoming the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh ( left ), to the sectoral debate on the diversification of the Nigerian economy at the National Assembly in Abuja...yesterday. With them

Christian Group Condemns Attacks by Fulani Herdsmen Flays indiscretion of northern governors

Ejiofor Alike The National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) has condemned the recent attack by Fulani herdsmen on Nimbo in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The group also described as an insult added to injury for the so-called “19 northern states” governors to declare that the harbingers of death and destruction across the nation should not be labelled “Fulani” and alleged that the intelligence service is also being used to promote Islamist ideology in the Nigeria.

NCEF, which cited a petition written by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Solomon Asemota, to the Department of State Services (DSS), noted that having studied the petition and taken a global look on events in the country, the use of intelligence service to promote Islamist ideology is characteristic of authoritarian governments.

The group alleged that in enforcing a new ideology on a

people, “the intelligence service has often been used to subvert, coerce, and intimidate the citizens.

“This was the reason Hitler introduced the Gestapo to promote the Nazi ideology, the Communists introduced KGB in Russia, and the Security Services of South Africa helped to entrench apartheid.

There is the need to overhaul the intelligence service of Nigeria so that it would fulfill its mandate of protecting Nigeria and not promote Islamist ideology,” the group added.

In its paper, ‘Weapons win Jihads but it takes ideas to win the peace,” NCEF also recommended an overhaul the intelligence service, to make it a Nigerian and not a “Northern” institution in the promotion of Islamism.

It also recommended the setting up of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to establish the platform for future relations of all Nigerians.

NCEF also called on all wellmeaning Nigerians to condemn the attacks of what it described as the forces of Jihad on the Enugu

community, saying that the attack was as an act of genocide.

The group warned Nigerians that if urgent steps were not taken, the forces of Jihad were determined to spread their tentacles of terror and destruction all over the nation in their unbridled determination to turn Nigeria into a Sharia state.

It accused the Fulani herdsmen of attempting to assassinate Cardinal John Onaiyekan on Friday, April 29, 2016 along Benin-Ekpoma road in Edo State.

“Suspected herdsmen shot at his vehicle and if not for the intervention of God, a notable leader of the Christian faith in the nation would have been assassinated. According to reports, his vehicle was ridden with bullet holes,” NCEF said.

The group condemned what it called “unwarranted attacks targeted primarily at Christians and Christian communities by the forces of Jihad seeking to redefine Nigerian from a Democratic nation into an Islamic theocratic state.”

NCEF also considered the position of the 19 northern

governors as cruel, inhuman, and insensitive for declaring that the harbingers of death and destruction across the nation should not be labeled ‘Fulani.’

“We wonder which identity the governors want to place on them? From the Middle Belt to the southern parts of the nation, this particular group of people have been killing Nigerians, raping women in their farms, destroying farms with impunity and sacking mainly Christian communities. Even international observers have noted that the fourth most dangerous terror organisation in the world are the Fulani herdsmen,” the group added.

It insisted that Governor Shettima of Borno State should immediately apologise to the nation.

NCEF said it was absolutely shocked that governors of the Middle Belt states were included in this group of northern governors and none of them came out to refute the statement of Governor Shettima of Borno State on behalf of the northern governors.

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Bill to Address Demise of Governorship Candidates Passes Second Reading Damilola Oyedele in Abuja A bill to make provisions to cover the vacuum in the event

that a governorship candidate dies before the conclusion of elections, yesterday passed second reading in the House

After Two Failed Attempt, Nigeria Begins Switch over from Analogue to Digital Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja After missing out on two deadlines to transit from analogue to digital broadcasting, the federal government last Saturday began a pilot scheme in Jos, Plateau State ahead of the June 2017 deadline for the Digital Switch Over (DSO).

To ensure the smooth transition of the scheme, the federal government has equally approved high subsidy for the set-top boxes The Minister of Information and Culture,Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known at a press conference yesterday in Abuja, where he stated that after the successful roll-out in Jos, the government is currently moving to Abuja and then Lagos.

According to him, “When we came in about six months ago, a cloud of uncertainty and confusion hung over Nigeria’s digital transition.”

Muhammed added: “There were no Set–Top Boxes, without which the transition could not be kick-started; there was no established

signal distributor on ground. There was no software and security devices for protection of the boxes, “The banks had cancelled the Letters of Credit that were granted for the importation of Set-Top Boxes and no one could say for sure if indeed we will meet the third deadline of June 2017 to fully switch on digital broadcasting and switched off analogue broadcasting,” the minister noted.

He said investor confidence was waning, and doomsday critics who said Nigeria had no capacity to transit were about to be proven right.

Against the background, Muhammed stated that government swung into action by setting up a inter-ministerial task force to drive the process, in a show of political will, thereby meeting with all the critical stakeholders.

The minister explained that after a series of meetings and concrete actions to resolve knotty issues, investor and stakeholder confidence was restored, which he said later led to last Saturday’s roll-out.

of Representatives.

Sponsored by the Majority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and six others, the bill seeks to amend the Electoral Act 2010 to empower election tribunals and courts to declare the deputy governorship candidates as winners in the event of death of the governorship aspirant.

It also seeks the declaration of the candidate with the second highest vote as winner, if the tribunal finds that the winner of the election is not unqualified ab initio.

The bill is intended to address issues such as the thrown up when the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Abubakar Audu, died

before the conclusion of the last governorship elections in Kogi State, making Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the election inconclusive.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Abubakar Malami, had posited that the APC can substitute the late Audu with the second placed candidate in the party primaries, now Governor Yahya Bello.

The deputy governorship candidate to Audu, Hon. James Faleke who is currently in court challenging Bello being picked as Audu’s replacement, was absent from plenary.

The sponsors of the bill also seek the inclusion of use of the

card reader into the Electoral Act, and the elimination of all forms of discrimination in political parties.

Gbajabiamila in his argument, said the inclusion would codify what is already part of the process.

“The courts have insisted that the card reader is an inhouse regulation of the electoral umpire, INEC and that it’s not embedded in the Electoral Act. And for that reason the Supreme did not recognise it as law,” he said.

“It is for this reason that this part of our law that can be amended by this amendment bill that says accreditation can be with the use of a card reader, and that anyone who cannot be

accredited by the electronic card reader, shall not be eligible to vote. And then it goes further to say that provided that when the electronic card reader malfunctions and incidence form shall be filled and subsequently the person shall be allowed to vote,” the majority leader added.

The Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, also harped on the need for a clearly articulated electronic voting system.

The House also passed through second reading a Bill for an Act to Alter the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for Electronic Voting and for Other Related Matters.

Bello Wasted Kogi’s Finances in First 100 Days As the Yahaya Bello’s administration in Kogi State braces up for its 100 days in office celebration this weekend, the Audu/Faleke Political Organisation has scored the government an overall low in development initiatives but high in fiscal indiscipline and recklessness.

In a statement signed on behalf of the group by its Director, Media and Publicity, Hon Duro Meseko, the group lamented that despite being in the saddle for 100 days, Kogi State is still reeling in poverty, want, misery, directionlessness and ineptitude on the part of the Bello-led government.

“Despite repeated warnings, the administration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello has continued its grandstanding by throwing caution to the wind and engaging in mind blowing financial recklessness to the detriment of the long suffering people of Kogi State.

“Only recently, precisely the third week of April, reports indicate that Bello’s government secured another loan of N400 million from the Zenith Bank under the subhead of security votes! This is different from another N450 million he secured in early March.

“More worrisome is the government’s alleged withdrawal of N200 million every week from an Abuja Zenith Bank branch still in the guise of security vote. Pray, how can the state make any progress in this unfortunate situation? Can our own dear state ever witness any infrastructural development or growth with this spate of financial recklessness? Is it even logical to take loans for security?” the group queried.

The Audu / Faleke group lamented that despite spending 100 days in office, Bello has achieved

nothing infrastructure wise.

“We challenge Bello to show us what he has achieved within this 100 days as per infrastructural development. Nothing is happening in Kogi except chaos in all the sectors of the state”.

On the recent bailout approved for the state, the group said the“ Yahaya Bello administration should come clean on the current staff strength of the state vis-a-vis the staff strength before he took over.

The governor has been boasting of the success of his staff verification programme, so let him tell us the staff strength now, what he will pay them from the bailout and what he would be paying back to the CBN”.

According to the group, the Idris Wada government applied for the N50 billion bailout based on some statistical data during his tenure.

“Now that Bello has secured part of the bailout and has a reduced staff strength based on his verification exercise, what is he going to do with the extra money, how much were we paying as salaries before and how much are we going to be paying henceforth? Or is Alhaji Bello going to be paying the same salaries as paid under Wada administration? The people of Kogi demand answers to these posers in order to engender transparency in the application of the bailout funds.”

On how Bello’s government was able to get the House of Assembly’s approval for the bailout funds despite the fact that the Assembly was not in session, the group said it was the result of “ the temporary triumph of impunity and lawlessness over decency and rule of law”.

CAMBRIDGE PRESS ARRIVES NIGERIA

L-R: CEO, Cambridge University Press, Mr. Peter Phillips; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, Prof. Ismail Junaidu; Senior Economic Adviser, Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative, Oby Ezekwesili; and Director, Quality Assurance Department, National ExaminationsCouncil,Dr.IkechukwuEmmanuel,atthelaunchofCambridgeUniversityPress inLagos...yesterday

WE WONT TOLERATE ANY EXCUSE FOR KILLINGS, MILITARY WARNS HERDSMEN the forum’s Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who was flanked by other senators, warned governors, farmers and community leaders against making what he described as inflammatory statements.

Claiming that it is not only Fulani men who rear cattle, Adamu argued that there were Igbo and Yoruba young men who also rear cattle.

“We did address that issue. We said we should be careful when making statements. If you are fair to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, you will appreciate and disseminate the fact that we have tried to kill the idea that every herdsman is a Fulani man. As I talk to you, I have a farm, I rear cows. I am not Fulani by birth.

And if you go through northern states, you will see a lot of them.

In fact, if you go to the East, you will see young men who have assimilated with the Fulanis in their various communities and they are involved in cattle rearing.

“I was in the West when we lost the Ooni of Ife. I saw in the cause of my trip - I went by road from Abuja - Yorubas young men and women rearing cows. If you go to

Borno State in the North-east, there are so many tribes there; one of the states with the highest number of ethnic groups in Nigeria. And you find that virtually every tribe there, there are people who rear cattle. So, it creates the wrong impression that everybody you see with a cow is a Fulani man and therefore becomes a common target for the present problem we are addressing as a government,” he said.

He said the warning against inflammatory statements was not made against only one group of persons but against all Nigerians including governors.

“It is for all Nigerians. A governor is a community leader.

The only difference is that he has a label called governor. If you don’t mind, in recent times, it started with the West when elder statesman, Olu Falae, had some very nasty experience. And it was attributed at the time to Fulani herdsmen. And at the end, those people were apprehended, they were not Fulanis. And this thing has been going on in virtually all the country today. If we now say that everybody should rise

and say herdsmen should leave, we will not have a country,” Adamu said.

He added that northern senators would soon initiate a bill to address the menace of herdsmen as he commended the federal.

In a related development the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Audu Ogbeh has disclosed that the federal government is working towards the resolution of clashes between herdsmen and farmers with plans in advanced stage to begin the establishment of grazing reserves in the next four months.

Ogbeh, speaking on Wednesday, at the sectoral debate aimed at exploring diversification of the economy, organised by the House of Representatives disclosed that nine state governments have already agreed to release 5000 hectares of land for the reserves.

The reserves would be tilled with grass imported from Brazil, a development that has generated criticisms to the government. The Minister however explained that the grass being imported guarantees high yield as they have already

been treated.

“Grass is not Grass, there are grasses and there are grasses. These grasses were taken from Nigeria and worked upon and they are better,” he said.

The Minister also disclosed that some private companies are already in agreement with the government for the utilisation of some derivatives and by products from the reserves, adding that the reserves would boost the economic status of the herdsmen.

Speaking on plans for food sufficiency, the Minister lamented the level of dependence on imported food items, adding that those who profit from the importation are working against the government’s food sufficiency bid.

“They even protested against Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) interventions. The challenge is, how do we cope with resistance, competition, cheap finance among others? Among other things we are putting in place , 40 rice mills would be installed around the country by December, with tomato paste and banana processing plants also on the way,” the minister said.

THURSDAY MAY 5, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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CRIME&PUNISHMENT

Paucity of Funds, Modalities Slow FG’s Move to Disarm 1,500 Militants in Arepo Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The recent move by the federal government to disarm about 1,500 militants in Arepo, a border community between Lagos and Ogun States is being hamstrung by paucity of funds and modalities to carry out the exercise.

The militants, who had recently made overtures to the government to voluntarily be disarmed and be granted amnesty include some of those who had engaged in pipeline vandalism and violent skirmishes with law enforcement agents as well as members of the community.

Their activities had elicited some counter measures with the federal government battling them through a Joint Military Task Force codenamed Operation Awase.

But with the militant group opting to lay down their arms, THISDAY had reported recently that some top government officials were billed to embark on a verification visit to Arepo last month for a thorough on-the-spot assessment of the operational area of the militants and the kind of

weapons they intend to surrender.

Some of those who were to embark on the tour included about two ministers; the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), BrigGen Paul Boroh (rtd), and some top military and security chiefs.

The ministers, who were billed to embark on that visit, THISDAY gathered from a source close to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, included the Minister of State in the ministry, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu and his Power, Works, and Housing counterpart Babatunde Fashola.

However, investigations revealed that the visit to Arepo is yet to commence due to paucity of funds, and the modalities of handling a post-disarmament ex-militants.

On the issue of paucity of funds, our source hinted that the dwindling national revenue occasioned by the fall in oil prices, which has impacted negatively on allocation to the three tiers of government, is a major factor slowing the move to disarm the militants and provide them with a lifeline.

The federal government is said to be meticulously weighing the options on how to meet the fresh financial responsibility the issue of the militants is about to foist on it.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to assent to the 2016 Budget due to areas of disagreement with the National Assembly is said to be affecting the activities of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

Due to the paucity of funds to meet the challenges of running the Amnesty Office, including payment of monthly stipends of the beneficiaries of the PAP, Boroh reportedly visited the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun,

recently.

The federal government, THISDAY gathered, is also in a quandary on how best to take care of the militants after disarmament in view of the fact that the militants are demanding to be included in the amnesty programme.

The government may however not be in tune with the idea of incorporating the new militants into the amnesty programme, which was supposed to have ended December last year but which may enjoy a two-year extension if the recommendations of a task force is to be followed.

According to the task force, which came up with the transition

exit strategy of the PAP, a proposed change of nomenclature to the Presidential Sustainable Reintegration Programme for the Niger Delta was recommended.

Incorporating the yet-to-be disarmed militants into the amnesty programme is said to be a remote consideration of the government because of the huge cost outlay.

The government, it was learnt, might be more comfortable with a one-off programme that would settle the militants once and for all after disarmament and demobilisation.

Besides the 1,500 militants in Arepo, Boroh had recently disclosed that the Amnesty Office was in touch with some of the contact

persons to the militants in the other states in the South-south, who had been linking up with the office on the issue of disarmament.

He had disclosed that there were plans to write the presidency for permission to receive the arms and ammunition from the wiling militants because it was in the interest of the country to ensure that such dangerous weapons were mopped up from them.

According to him, some of the militants intending to disarm were displaced from Bakassi, Cross River State while others who are armed in other states were willing to lay down the dangerous weapons.

Lagos Signs Agreement for Establishment of DNA Forensic Centre The Lagos State Government yesterday signed an agreement for the establishment of a DNA Forensic Centre in the state.

Speaking at the official signing of the agreement between the state government and ITSI Bioscience LCC in Alausa, the state AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, said that the Lagos State DNA Forensics Centre (LSDFC) is a unique forensic technique that is now being used all over the world and it is aimed at achieving the growing DNA needs of criminal investigation.

He said the signed agreement was in fulfillment of the state government’s plan to establish a DNA Forensic Centre in the state to facilitate prompt and effective prosecution of criminal activities.

The centre, according to the Attorney-General, would aid

investigation on domestic and sexual violence cases, boost family and paternity proceedings, help in identifying victims of natural and man-made disasters and also be a tool for the judicial system.

Kazeem said that the centre would be equipped with stateof-the-art equipment to support all levels of DNA collection from people and objects, evidence examination, DNA analysis and provide evidential DNA storage.

“I am certain that the Lagos DNA forensic laboratory is going to be another unique solution to fighting crime in our quest for a safer and secure Lagos,” he said.

Earlier, Dr. Richard Somiasi, who signed on behalf of ITSI Bioscience LCC thanked the state government and promised to live up to the task.

EFCC Set to Arraign Ex-police Commissioner, Mohammed Sambo, for N10m Fraud The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will next Thursday arraign a retired Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Sambo, before a Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja on a one-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N10million.

Sambo, who connived with one Nuhu Bello Dabai, had allegedly duped the complainant, Abdul Malik Bello, Managing Director/ CEO, Ideal Sunbeam International

Company Limited, the sum of N10 million, after claiming that he needed to defray both the survey and other preliminary expenses involved in the execution of a contract worth over N1billion purportedly awarded him by Zamfara State Governor, Abdul Aziz Abubakar Yari.

The accused person was subsequently arrested and granted an administrative bail by the commission on January 19, 2015.

He, however, jumped the administrative bail granted him on April 7, 2015.

ALUTA CONTINUA

L-R: National President National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), John Adaji; General-Secretary and Chairperson,Industrial Sub-Sahara Africa, Issa Aremu; and Deputy General Secretary NUTGTWN, Dele Ojo at a press conference on the union’s demands for the immediate implementation of the report of the NLC Reconciliation Committee in Kaduna...yesterday. Idris Egaji.

Police Smash Traffic Robbery, Pickpocket Syndicate, Arrest 14 Suspects Chiemelie Ezeobi The operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command, yesterday smashed a seven-man pickpocket gang, as well as another seven-man traffic robbery syndicate (known as one chance), who specialise in robbing with commercial buses.

The operatives also recovered two commercial buses used by the gangs in operations along Oshodi – Mile 2 Expressway.

The 14 – seater buses with Lagos registration numbers KTU 716 XS and GGE 532 XL, are presently at the RRS Headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja.

The arrested commercial bus robbers were identified as 42-year-old Akeem Fatai, 24-yearold Jerry Nwokoro, 29-year-old Olayinka Tadius, 36-year-old Lucky Thompson, 31-year-old Stanley Augustine, 25-year-old Ubah Kenneth and 48-year-old Henry Ate. In the same vein, the arrested pickpockets were identified as 17-year-old Habib Nurudeen, 23-year-old Oyemi Ilesanmi, 30-year-old Kenneth Okojie,

24-year-old Chinedu Uzubi, 26-year-old Ajakaiye Christopher, 23-year-old Samson Uwaneze and 24-year-old Wasiu Kazeem.

THISDAY gathered that although the suspects were picked up majorly at Ajegunle, six of the suspects were picked up hotels in the area, where they usually lodge.

The others were picked up during their operations at different bus stops along Mile 2 - Oshodi and Oshodi – Iyana Ipaja route, following the tip-off from members of the public of incessant attacks around the axis.

In his confession, one of the traffic robbers, Ate, said they operated in shifts – morning and evening, adding that they retire to their hotels in the afternoon after morning operations and re-group later in the evening.

He said: “As at the time we were arrested, more than half of us had gone out for morning shift operations. Seven of us were picked up at various bus stops in Oshodi – Mile 2 route while in operations.

“We know ourselves. We have no other jobs than this. It’s what we live on. We occasionally interchange members.”

Four Naval Ratings,Two Others Feared Dead in Bayelsa after Attack by Militants Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa Attacks by daredevil militants on Nigeria’s security forces in the Niger Delta continued yesterday when four naval ratings attached to an oil servicing company, were reportedly mauled down by some suspected criminals.

Deploying the same strategy which they have used in recent times, the suspects, mainly sea pirates ambushed the military personnel at the Nembe creeks, Nembe Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, routing four of the naval ratings instantly.

On Tuesday a similar attack on some soldiers led to the officer sustaining serious injuries while about four of the suspected were killed by the army personnel in another ambush.

It wasn’t clear if yesterday’s killings was a reprisal attack on the security forces, following the failure of a similar ambush which was said to have failed leading to the death of four of the gunmen on Monday.

However, a reliable military source noted that the naval ratings had not been confirmed

dead, noting that they were only missing at the moment.

He added that their colleagues were still searching for them as at yesterday evening.

Aside the military men, it was gathered that a senior employee of the firm and his wife identified simply as Mercy were among persons reportedly gunned down by the suspected criminals, in a trend that is a increasingly becoming a norm in the region.

The wife of the owner of the oil firm, Mercy, reportedly died on the spot, while her husband also gave up the ghost before help could come. also killed two soldiers providing security for the construction firm, Setraco Nigeria and abducted an expatriate during a shootout along OgbiaNembe Road in Nembe Local Government Area .

Attacks have been on the rise for weeks in the Niger Delta, which provides most of Nigeria’s oil and gas wealth, while a new militants group, the Niger Delta Avengers, demanding a greater share of the mineral wealth and an end to oil pollution in the region, have vowed more strikes.

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$40m Contract: Jonathan’s Cousin Drags FG, EFCC to Court over Continuous Detention Akinwale Akintunde

Robert is claiming that under section 8 of the Administration of A Niger-Delta activist, Mr. Azibaola Criminal Justice Act, he should not Robert, yesterday urged the Federal be arrested or prosecuted for any High Court in Lagos to restrain the civil contract or transaction.

He is therefore urging the Federal Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from issuing High Court to hold that sections 293 and 294 of the Administration a remand warrant against him.

Azibaola is a human rights of Criminal Justice Act, relied activist and cousin of former on by the EFCC, deals with president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. criminal offences attracting capital He filed the suit through his punishment and not financial lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, crimes.

He is also praying the court challenging his unlawful detention.

Robert is praying the court to to hold that the attempt by the stop the respondent from applying EFCC to force him to implicate for a new remand warrant against the former president, is contrary him from any court in Nigeria, to section 7 of the Administration adding that such attempt would of Criminal Justice Act. He argued that the Act has be a ploy to keep him in custody outlawed the practice of arresting indefinitely.

In his affidavit of facts, the a citizen as ransom for the alleged applicant argued that he was offence of another citizen.

The applicant consequently seeks commissioned by the federal government to execute an an order, directing the respondent assignment to network with all to forthwith abstain from applying stakeholders for the purpose of for a remand order against him preventing oil pipelines vandalism, over matters pertaining to financial oil bunkering and crude oil theft. crimes.

He is seeking an order, directing He averred that the assignment was duly executed upon payment. the respondents, whether by According to the applicant, on themselves, their servants, agents, March 23, he honoured an invitation officers or otherwise, to forthwith to the Abuja office of the EFCC release him from unlawful custody.

In the alternative, the applicant but to his surprise, he was kept is praying the court for an order, in custody since then.

directing the respondent to institute a criminal charge against him and arraign him before any court of competent jurisdiction.

The applicant is also in the alternative, seeking the court order, directing the respondent to forthwith grant bail him

on liberal terms or upon any such conditions of bail already granted by any court of competent jurisdiction.

The applicant’s suit is No.FHC/L/CS/596/2016 and is yet to be assigned to a trial judge for hearing.

SANUSI CONFIRMS AMAECHI LEAKED LETTER ON MISSING $49.8BN he told his interviewer.

He said some oil companies paid taxes and royalties in oil, and the NNPC sold this oil on behalf of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), meaning FIRS got the money and not necessarily the federal government.

“No reasonable explanation for $20 billion, of which $6 billion was with NPDC (Nigerian Petroleum Development Company – the exploration and production subsidiary of NNPC) that had not gotten to the federation account till date.

“In the middle of all this, the president called me and said I should see him at 3 pm. I turned up at 3 pm and the entire place had been swept. There was no one apart from security services.

I got to his office, it was just me and him. It was as if everybody had been asked to go.

“And so he says to me, he’s calling me because he is surprised that the letter I wrote to him got to Obasanjo, and I said I was

surprised too.

“He said he’s convinced that the letter went from the central bank to Obasanjo, and I had 24 hours to find who leaked the letter or sack somebody – the director who prepared the letter or my secretary and if I did not sack them, that was proof that I leaked the letter and therefore, I should resign.

“I said to him that I’m surprised that I’m being asked to resign for raising the alarm over missing funds and the minister in charge of the portfolio is not being asked to resign.

“From then I knew I had signed my equivalent for a death warrant.

But I said I was not resigning. He got very angry and said whether you like it or not, you’re going to leave that office, I cannot continue to work with you, either you or I will leave government,” Sanusi recalled of his confrontation with the president.

The emir said he was amused that the leakage of the letter was seen as a bigger crime than the “missing”

money, adding: “I went straight to the office of the principal secretary to the president, and I met him with a gentleman from Kano, who was the foreign minister Ambassador Aminu Ali. “I said to them, gentlemen, I’m coming to you because I just had a meeting with the president, and there were no witnesses, and the president had threatened me.

“I repeated what happened and told them I am going to tell people close to me, if anything happens to me, it is the president.”

Sanusi said by informing the former president’s principal secretary and foreign affairs minister, he was really afraid of any threat, noting: “Even if you don’t like someone – Jonathan was not the kind of person that would have someone killed. He wasn’t that kind of leader.”

He also recalled that Ben Murray Bruce, who is now a senator, met with him to warn him (Sanusi) that he had it on

good authority that if he went to the Senate with his documents, he would be removed, investigated and imprisoned.

“Then I said, why would I be imprisoned, and he said, you know, you’ve worked in government. I have worked in government, if people really want to find something on you, in the central bank, five years, they would come and look, they would find something.

“I was like they would find it if I have done it. I mean they can plant something, but if haven’t done it, maybe somebody under me had done something that I wasn’t aware of.

“But in all my years at the central bank, to the best of my knowledge, I had done nothing that should put me in prison. However, I said to him, tell the president, from me, that if the punishment for going to the senate is prison, he doesn’t need to go through all of that, just ask him to tell me what prison he wants me to go to and for h

HERDSMEN AND THE KILLING FIELD…2 • Continued from the back page “Second, the post-independence government in especially the former Northern Region designated over 415 grazing reserves now spread across the 19 Northern states. However, most of the designated reserves were appropriated by corrupt means by political and private interests, thereby creating dearth of land for pasture and grazing, that they were created to address. This must be redressed urgently and the reserves must be recovered.

“Thirdly, as the conflicts rose and fatalities mounted, the federal government had posited that it is working ‘silently’ to resolve it. Due to this ‘silent’ manner, many communities perceive that there is a deafening indifference to the conflict, the growing fatalities and the dangers that these pose to our country, our communities and people. As a result, affected communities of both sedentary farmers and pastoralists have increasingly resorted to selfhelp, vigilantism and violence. What we need is a more robust approach that carries both farming and pastoralist communities along, re-assuring of them of protection of their lives and livelihoods”.

The killings and conflicts, according to Odinkalu and Bello, can be ended once the government, at all levels, is ready to provide a long term policy framework for urgently addressing food security and climate change as a challenge for livelihood and human survival in our country. But they also have an admonition for critical stakeholders, including journalists, if we must resolve this problem: “cross-community responsibility and dialogue will be required and the assistance of the media will be critical. Some of the reporting of these incidents has contributed to escalating tensions among the communities rather than dousing them. It is important to recall here that pastoralism is not a monopoly of any community or single ethnic group in Nigeria. Anyone can indeed own, keep or farm livestock. As a livelihood tendency, over 16 ethnic groups in Nigeria are identified with pastoralism; tens of millions of Nigerians are engaged in both sedentary and migrant farming”.

This then brings me to the heart of the matter.

In addressing this problem, we must put the burden on the fact of criminality rather than the ethnic complexion of the perpetrators of crimes that brought and continue to bring huge sufferings to innocent people and communities. How come the attacks and raids of the herdsmen almost always catch our security people unawares?

Given the long tradition of the nomadic cattle herding in the country, we ought by now to have acquired enough human assets among

the herdsmen as to rely on flawless human intelligence to preempt and prevent these attacks.

Indeed, that our security agencies are failing on this crisis is evident from the fact that they have not even interrogated the challenge to understand what exactly we are dealing with and I will cite just one example.

A church member with whom I am very close was recently kidnapped somewhere in Kogi State while travelling to his village in Ondo State. Throughout the tricky negotiations with them while my friend was in their captivity for five days, the kidnappers spoke in Hausa and of course, the conclusion of everyone was/is that they are Fulani herdsmen. However, from the experience recounted by my friend (after his release and following payment of ransom, of course), though they are Hausa-speaking, the kidnappers also claimed to be graduates and they spoke impeccable English. In justifying their crimes, according to my friend, the boys spent the whole time moaning about the conditions of the country and bad leadership. There was nothing to suggest that these opportunistic criminals own a single cow!

What that tells me is that as Boko Haram makes life and living difficult in some sections of the North (that is assuming we discount the marauders from Chad and Niger), many young people are moving south and those of them with criminal tendencies are plying their trade.

Does that now make all of them herdsmen? I do not think so. Besides, there are hundreds of Fulani settlements in the southern part of the country. The statistics I got last week from one of the security agencies is that there are about 1200 of such settlements and here we are not talking about the migrant (nomadic) pastoralists.

Finally, the issue of herdsmen is a security challenge that also comes with economic opportunities. A former staff of World Bank assisted Projects in Nigeria who has dealt with this problem in the past sent me a mail, part of which reads: “I like the part of your article on 'Gaa Okanla' although you left the fact that Baba Okanla and his children probably spoke only Yoruba and Fulfulde. These types of settlements also exist in several communities in the South-east. I know for a fact that there is a major settlement of Fulani herdsmen in AdadaNkpologu-Adani-Iggah axis with other minor settlements in Awgu-Nkanu-Abakaliki axis all in Enugu state. They have lived peacefully for years.

The Federal Government under a World Bank assisted Second Livestock Development Project (SLDP 1987-1995) established two Ndama Cattle Ranches in Adada in Southeast and another one at Fashola, a town not far from Iseyin in Oyo State in the South-west. Ndama are trypanotolerant

cattle (that have some resistance to the disease Tryponosomosis caused by Tsetse flies) which were imported from Senegal.

“A credit model financed by the then NACB of five heifers (young female cows) and a bull was designed and disbursed to beneficiaries in these zones only. Most of the beneficiaries were from the communities I mentioned above.

Obviously there will be exchange of labour and technologies between the Fulanis and the indigenous credit beneficiaries. These are some of changes in cattle ownership in Nigeria that should be encouraged. The worrisome question now is: why will people in such communities that have lived for long harmoniously suddenly start killing each other overnight? Like you said the current analogy is just too simplistic and there is need for the relevant authorities to interrogate what exactly is going on.”

For a government that has made all the noise about reviving agriculture, we can turn this crisis to a big opportunity. Nigeria's cattle inventory will grow in numbers and body weight the moment we begin to modernise the mode of production.

That can only take place in the context of settled ranches supported by research extension services.

That incidentally is the only route towards the economic emancipation and empowerment of the herdsmen as a unique ethnic and cultural component of the Nigerian federation.

As a nation, we must begin to pay attention to the economy/poverty dimension of this crisis that may have just started. On Tuesday, the World Bank warned that acute water shortage across the sub-region, but particularly in Nigeria, may deepen the clash between farmers and herdsmen in our country. Titled, “High and Dry: Climate Change, Water and the Economy” the report highlights the fact that there has been an increase in the frequency of clashes between herdsmen finding water and grazing land for their cattle in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria in recent times, while pointing in the direction of herders from Mali, Niger and Mauritania as perpetrators of the violence. Water, the report says, could multiply the risk of conflict while hike in food prices caused by droughts will most likely inflame latent conflicts and drive migration.

Interestingly, there is no shortage of ideas when it comes to dealing with this challenge.

In the last one week, I have received several mails from readers who have proffered different solutions but the one by Mr Benjamen Osawe stands out in terms of the issues to address which he identified as: Ranch infrastructure; technology of fodder, land regeneration and water production; sociological/anthropological challenges, especially those pertaining to transition

from roaming to sedentary pastoralism, structure of families and clustering; indigenous rights and compensations; security of ranches vis-à-vis cattle rustling; comprehensive animal census and survey in the country; public communication and messaging for stakeholders buy-in as well as immigration issues related to trans-border migration of pastoralists across West and Central Africa into Nigeria.

For sure, we cannot continue to encourage the violation of the rights of settled landowners and farmers whose means of livelihood now bear the brunt of cattle grazing, whether in the south or in the north. But we must also deal with the security component of the current crisis because the herdsmen that I grew up knowing carried only sticks and dane guns to hunt, just like the farmers they usually encountered and contended with. Now, we hear of AK-47 and other high-calibre weapons.

Just recently, soldiers from the Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Abuja apprehended some of these men who claimed to be on a mission to recover their stolen cows. Assorted ammunition, including pump action rifles were recovered from them. Nothing has been heard about that incident ever since. Where did those guys get their arms and ammunitions from? Who exactly are they and what was their mission?

The danger of not getting to the root of such issues is that it could encourage farmers and communities in the savannah belt to make their own private security arrangements which would be nothing more than a resort to self-help.

Right now, there is a subtle but growing online campaign to “go protect your land” which is no more than an incitement for communities to start acquiring arms. When that happens, anarchy is at the door for our country. That is why we must see this as a national challenge that tasks all of us, whether in the south or in the north, and regardless of the faith we profess.

In a gesture of goodwill that is commendable, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima on Tuesday led a delegation to condole with the government and people of Enugu State on the tragedy. His words at the occasion were also very soothing and on point. But the man who deserves greater accolades for showing leadership at a most difficult period is Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Even when he belongs to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he has placed our national unity above all other considerations.

However, the man who bears the ultimate responsibility in this crisis is President Buhari, who must rise up to the oath of office he swore--to defend all citizens from sources of insecurity--not because of any sense of guilt arising from his

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THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Chelsea Captain, John Terry, Confirmed for Yobo Centenary Game Chelsea Captain John Terry is the latest player from the English Premier League to confirm to be available in Port Harcourt for the Joseph Yobo Centenary Game scheduled for May 27 to celebrate the retirement of the former Super Eagles captain from football.

The centre back who captained England national football team, the Three Lions between August 2006 and February 2010, and again from March 2011 to February 2012 confirmed his

availability for the game to Yobo last weekend.

“We are really excited by the confirmation of John Terry for the Yobo Centenary Game in Port Harcourt. He’s one big player that is very popular here in the country because of England and Chelsea’s large followership in Nigeria,” observed Coordinator of the Centenary Game, Waidi Akanni.

Terry is Chelsea’s most successful captain, having led them to four Premier League

titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and one UEFA Champions League title since 2004.

He is one of five players to have made over 500 appearances for Chelsea and is also the club’s all-time highest scoring defender.

In 2007, he became the first captain to lift the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium in Chelsea’s 1–0 win over Manchester United, and also the first player to score an international goal there, scoring a header in England’s 1–1 draw with Brazil.

Both Thierry Henry and Wayne Rooney are also expected along with a host of other players from Europe.

Also confirmed for the match are top African players like Samuel Eto’o Fils, the Ayew Brothers, Dede and Jordan, Sulley Muntari, Djibrin Cisse and Tresor Lualua amongst others.

Akanni, a former Super Eagles player said yesterday in Lagos that the Yobo testimonial has continued to generate interests from past and present players from around the world.

“In the course of Yobo’s career that saw him clock 100 caps for Nigeria, he built so much goodwill around Europe.

Anywhere you mention his name, people remember him with fond memories,” stressed Akanni.

Last weekend,Yobo who was special guest at Everton’s home game against Bournemouth was duly hailed by fans who remembered his 10 years adventure there. Chants of ‘Yobo, Yobo, Yobo’ rocked the stands as fans honoured him.

Akanni also commended proprietor of NPFL FC IfeanyiUbah, Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah for his support for the Centenary Game.

“Dr Ifeanyi Ubah is fully committed to making the testimonial a memorable one for Yobo and his friends,” the coordinator hinted.

The Joseph Yobo Foundation is in partnership with Rivers State Government for the Centenary Game at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in the Garden City.

NPFL: Enyimba Wins in Kano to Deny Pillars Top Spot Champions Enyimba defied the form book yesterday when they beat Kano Pillars 2-1 and denied the host team the chance to go top of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) table.

Pillars thus stay in second place on 24 points from 14 matches, three points behind leaders Enugu Rangers, while Enyimba climbed to 13th place with 17 points from 11 matches.

Experienced central defender Ike ThankGod grabbed the match winner for Enyimba eight minutes from time in a rescheduled league match yesterday.

Pillars went in front through skipper Rabiu Ali after 20 minutes, before midfielder Nzube Anaezemba restored parity in the 51st minute.

Enyimba goalkeeper Theophilus Afelokhai on his first return to former club Pillars did not complete the game as he was forced out by injury in the 83rd minute. He was replaced by Femi Thomas.

Pillars enjoyed the ball possession from start to finish, but Enyimba took their chances very well to inflict the first loss at home for their rivals this season.

Players of Giwa FC are grumbling over the uncertainties hanging over them as the Josbased club will be thrown out of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) should they fail to honour a second straight league match this weekend.

Several players of the club also told AfricanFootball.com they are unhappy they have not been paid salaries for several months now.

At the weekend, Wikki Tourists walked over Giwa at the Ilorin Stadium after the Jos club stayed away from the match venue following their banishment from the Rwang Pam Stadium in Jos on account of crowd trouble there recently.

Should Giwa fail to honour their next game away at Abia Warriors on Sunday, they will

be expelled from the league as clearly stipulated in the rules of the competition.

One of the disturbed Giwa players said their fate is hanging in a balance.

“We don’t know what next for us here. All we do is to go to training and come back. We are not happy at all,” he told AfricanFootball.com “We went to Jos stadium last weekend for the game against Wikki and there were no referees for the game. We the players are in dilemma right now and every day we get frustrated.”

Another player informed AfricanFootball.com they have not been paid salaries.

“We are being owed salary, some four months, some three and others two months,” he disclosed.

Frustrated Giwa Players Grumble over Salaries, Crisis

Federation Cup Draws Hold in Abuja The draws for the men and women competitions of this year’s Federation Cup will hold at the NFF/FIFA Technical Centre, Abuja today.

Head of the Federation Cup at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Emmanuel Adesanya, confirmed yesterday that 18 NPFL teams, 15 Nigeria National League (NNL) teams, 18 Nationwide League (Nationwide) teams and 10 non-League teams will be in the pots for the men’s draw.

The women’s draw will involve 22 teams: 16 Premier

League teams, one Pro League teams and 5 Amateur League teams.

NFF’s 1st Vice President and Chairman of the Organising Committee, Seyi Akinwunmi and General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi top the list of dignitaries expected at the event.

Adesanya revealed that instead of 64 teams, 61 teams will take part in the men’s draw, because no team from Adamawa State registered for this year’s competition, while Ebonyi State registered only one team.

Terry...coming to Port Harcourt

Yobo... plans big for his testimonial

Dalung, Oshiomhole in Okpekpe Race Battle Royale

Top stars arrive Nigeria for IAAF Bronze Label road race

Duro Ikhazuagbe Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, has registered for Saturday’s IAAF bronze label fourth Okpekpe 10km International Road Race.

The minister has submitted his registration form to the organisers of the race and will join Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole to race for fun.

“We are delighted to have the number one sports man in Nigeria register for the race. This shows a recognition by government of the image laundering power of sports and that the Okpekpe race, being the only IAAF bronze label race in Africa in 2016 and one of only two IAAF label races in Africa this year has proved that Nigerians are capable of organising world class events,”said Spokesman for the race, Dare Esan.

Meanwhile as many as 11gold level elite runners are among the 20 international elite athletes who jetted into Nigeria Wednesday for Saturday’s fourth Okpekpe race in Edo state.

Also in town for the race is the International Elite Athletes Manager of the race, Walter Abmayr.

Esan revealed that five out of the gold level elite runners are women while six are men.

‘Our international elite athletes manager has confirmed 20 world class runners made up of nine women and 11 men for Saturday’s race.

Out of the 20, 11 are gold level elite runners, eight are silver while only one bronze level elite runner has been confirmed for the race thereby raising the standard of the race from a bronze label one to gold in terms of the quality of the international elite field,”said Esan who added that the athletes are spread across six African countries namely Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa. ‘’We are going to have a very explosive race in Okpekpe this year and I won’t be surprised if a new course record is set.

The men and women course records are held by Ethiopian duo of Teshome Mekonnen and Wude Ayalew who ran 28:35 and 32:41 respectively at the second edition of the race,”said Esan who revealed that some athletes from the initial entry list dropped out due to injuries.

“Mr Abmayr has promptly replaced the injured athletes with those who are of higher standard such that the list of gold level elite runners have increased from the initial list of seven to 11. In the initial list we have four women and three men confirmed who are of the highest level in terms of performance but now we have 11,” he said.

“What this means is that the race will be more competitive than we initially thought and will certainly bring the focus of the world, especially the athletics family to Okpekpe.

“It is also connotes that we are actually organising a gold label race in a bronze label environment because part of the requirements for a bronze label race is that the international elite field of athletes must be a minimum of five men and five women participating in the competition who are bronze level elite runners and a minimum of four different nationalities must be represented.

“For a gold or silver label race, the requirements are the same except that there must be a minimum of five different nationalities and they must be

gold or silver level elite runners.

It will be safe to safe this is more like a gold label race,”added Esan who explained that it will boost the chances of the Okpekpe race getting a silver label status next year.

Meanwhile a total of $92,000 in prize money will be paid to the top eight finishers in the men and women’s race with the winner in each gender category going home with $15,000 while $10,000 and $7,000 respectively will go to the second and third placed finishers. ‘’The prizes for 4th-8th placed finishers in each gender category are $5,000, $3,000, $2,500, $2,000, and $1,500 respectively,” said Esan who also revealed the introduction of performance bonuses to this year’s race.

“Athletes achieving a world leading time will be eligible for a special bonus which will be revealed in due course,”further said Esan who announced the close of entries for and local athletes. Athletes from the domestic scene had until yesterday, May 4 to submit their completed registration forms.

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T H I S D AY •THURSDAY MAY 5 2016

THURSDAYSPORTS U E FA C H A M P I O N S L E AG U E

It’s All Madrid UCL Final as Real Tame City

Real Madrid reached their 14th European Cup final and ended Manchester City’s hopes of a maiden title after securing a 1-0 victory in the second leg of their Champions League last four clash last night.

Zinedine Zidane’s side will face city rivals Atletico in the final for the second time in three seasons after a first-half own goal from Fernando was enough to secure a narrow win that barely reflected Real’s dominant display.

After last week’s goalless first leg stalemate, Madrid, chasing a record-extending 11th European title, opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Gareth Bale’s cross was deflected into the top corner by the City defender.

The victory opened the door for Real Madrid boss Zidane to end his first season at the club with club football’s most coveted prize, while ending City manager Manuel Pellegrini’s hopes of signing off from the club with European silverware.

City had made a bright start but their early momentum was halted in its tracks as captain and centre back Vincent Kompany was forced off with a muscle injury after nine minutes, handing the initiative to the hosts, who quickly went on the offensive.

City looked slightly overawed as they handed territory to Real Madrid who punished them when Bale picked up Dani Carvajal’s pass and aimed a cross towards the far post that was deflected by Fernando past Joe Hart into the top corner.

The linesman’s flag prevented City falling further behind when Pepe stabbed into the net only for his effort to be ruled out for offside, while City’s only glimpse of goal in the first half came when Fernandinho’s effort clipped the post.

Madrid continued to dominate after the break, but found a second goal elusive as Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo failed to convert chances, while Bale’s header hit the crossbar.

Sports Reform Committee Continues Retreat in Abuja The Sports Reform Committee set up to fashion an enduring sports development architecture is having its third retreat in Abuja beginning today.

A statement from the committee said the opening day will be a closed session for members while Friday will be an open session featuring four presentations from very notable sports resource persons.

Those expected to make presentations are former Commissioner for Sports, Edo State, Brown Ebewele; former director NTA Sports, Akinloye Oyebanji; and former Director, Sports Medicine Centre of the National Sports Commission, Dr Muazu Abdulkadir.

Ebewele, an Olympian, will

be talking on funding issues cutting across the three tiers of government while Oyebanji will present a paper on: “Sports in Nigeria - where we are and the way forward,” Dr Muazu, a sports medicine expert, will among other things, be dealing with alternative sportsspecific career paths in medicine.

The Sports Reform Committee which has Godwin Kienka as chairman include, Babatunde Fatayi-Williams, Prof Florence Adeyanju, Chief Segun Odegbami, Chief Mary Onyali, Col. Sam Ahmedu (rtd), Waziri Lamimu and Bola Orodele.

Others are, Dr Ademola Aare, Yusuf Datti, Kayode Thomas, Despan Kwardem and Ayo Olubato.

AFN Donates Training Kits to Greensprings Impressed with the giant stride made in school sports, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has matched his words with action by providing basic training kits to Greensprings School in Lagos.

This was in fulfillment of the promise made by the AFN President, Solomon Ogba, during his recent visit to the school.

The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Athletics Kids bag was donated to Greensprings following its genuine involvement in sports.

The decision to support the school with the equipment was made in January by the AFN boss, who believes the initiative can encourage other schools to give sports priority.

According to Ogba,

Greensprings has done a lot for school sports development in Nigeria and such school should be supported to boost its sports initiative.

IAAF certified instructor for Kids Athletics in Nigeria, Funmi Nutai lauded AFN for identifying with Greensprings while urging other sports federations to take a cue from AFN. Also, a Lagos-based sports academy, Dynaspro Weekend Sports Academy benefited from the AFN’s gesture while the Coordinator of the academy who is also a consultant on sports to Greensprings, Oluseyi Oyebode, applauded AFN for identifying with the academy being the first academy in Nigeria to benefit from the gesture.

Real Madrid players celebrating the victory over Manchester City last night

10 Zenith Bank WBL Players Listed for Olympic Qualifier 2016 Final Eight set to dunk off in Lagos Ten players from the Zenith Bank sponsored National Women Basketball championship have made the list of the 25 players called to camp ahead of preparations for the Olympics qualifiers coming up in Nante, France, between June 13 and 19, 2016.

Among those that made the list, five are drawn from First Bank’s Elephant Girls, and one each from; Benue Queens, Customs, IGP Queens, Plateau Rocks and also from the current champions, Dolphins of Lagos.

Nigeria qualified for the play-off in France after placing

third at the continental AfroBasketball championship for Women in Cameroun late last year.

Meanwhile, teams have arrived Lagos for the Final Eight of the league’s 12th edition, which begins this morning at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

Defending Champions, Dolphins Basketball Club of Lagos and eight-time league champions, Elephant Girls owned by First Bank Plc, will join six other teams namely; Customs, Delta Force, AHIP Queens of

Kano, IGP Queens, Benue Princess and Plateau Rocks to complete for the grand prize.

According to a statement by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), today and tomorrow have been set aside for arrivals of the teams and the meeting of the League’s Technical Committee.

Actual competition is expected to start on Saturday, May 7.

As part of the high points for this year’s competition, the ‘All Stars Match’ with players drawn from across 13

teams, is scheduled for Wednesday, May 11; while the grand finale to decide who emerges the 2016 champions is scheduled for Thursday, May 12.

Sources from the sponsors revealed yesterday that “the bank is prepared to give the players good fun throughout the duration of the championship, to climax with an ‘after competition party’ scheduled on the day of the finals to treat the winners and remaining teams to a grand cocktail to round off this edition.

Messi’s Afghan Lad Flees for Fear of Kidnap The family of a young Afghan boy, who gained worldwide fame after being photographed wearing a makeshift Lionel Messi soccer jersey fashioned from a plastic bag, has fled to Pakistan after receiving threats, the father of the boy told CNN. The family is now living in Quetta and has submitted an application with the United Nations seeking asylum in Pakistan.

“I received 20-30 unknown threatening calls in Afghanistan asking why I’m teaching my kid about football and not teaching him about the Quran,” the boy’s father, Muhammad Arif Ahmadi, told CNN. The family decided to flee to Pakistan 40 days ago for their safety, he said.

“I thought, ‘I’m not safe here.’ That’s when I decided to come to Pakistan,” Ahmadi said. “Afghanistan cannot protect itself, so how can it protect me and my kids?”

The boy, Murtaza Ahmadi, became an Internet sensation in mid-January after a fan account for Messi, the Argentine soccer star, tweeted an image of him wearing a plastic “Messi” bag.

The photo showed him only from the back -- a small boy

with a buzz cut, wearing a brown sweater under his “jersey” -- with a message that read: “A kid in Iraq ...” It included an emoji of a breaking heart.

The Iraq reference turned out to be false. But the attention helped Internet sleuths locate Murtaza, 5, and his family, living in a poor village in Jaghori, Afghanistan.

The boy’s father told CNN in February that Murtaza

pleaded tearfully for days for a Messi jersey before his older brother made one for him with Messi’s name and number scrawled in blue ink on the striped bag.

“He stopped crying after wearing that plastic bag shirt,” Ahmadi said.

Word of the boy’s devotion reached Messi, who in February sent him two autographed shirts and a signed ball via the United Nations Children Fund

Little Murtaza (right) and his dad

(UNICEF). Little Murtaza has yet to meet his idol, however.

The boy, his four siblings and their parents are now renting a house in Quetta for $50 a month, Ahmadi told CNN. They have relatives in Pakistan, he said.

As Ahmadi spoke with CNN this week, his nowfamous son kicked a soccer ball outside. “I love Messi and want to meet Messi,” the boy said.

TR

Thursday, May 5, 2016

UT H

& RE A S O

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Price: N250

MISSILE Mary Onyali to Nigerians “When other nations are planning to win (at the Rio 2016 Olympics), we are busy praying. God hears our prayers but you have to help yourselves too. That is why I am nervous that we may not come back with a medal and it will be very disheartening and devastating to the country” – Former sprinter, Mary Onyali, on the lack of preparation for the Olympics by the Nigerian sporting authorities

OLUSEGUNADENIYI Herdsmen and the Killing Field... 2 THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

E

arly in 2012, I took my son to the birthday of a classmate of his at Maitama Amusement Park, Abuja where I noticed a familiar face. As I muttered almost to myself, “is that not Mrs. Maryam Abacha?” my son, then eight years old, replied in the affirmative. “Yes, that is his grandmother. His grandfather was General Sani Abacha that you wrote about in your book.” Although I didn’t say anything to that, my son then added: “They say his grandfather was a very wicked man.

But he (the classmate) is not wicked. He is a good person.”

I didn’t need any reassurance about this particular well-mannered classmate of my son even though I had no inkling until then that he had any relationship to the late General Abacha.

However, my son was probably concerned that I might have been trying to judge the boy by my prejudices against his grandfather. That was one message I took away from the testimonials he was reeling out. As amused as I was, that also taught me a lesson about how we judge others, not necessarily by who they are but by the family or ethnic group they belong to or the religion they practice.

Ever since the seasonal violence for which herdsmen are protagonists started about three months ago in some sections of our country, I have followed most of the comments and had been worried about the slant. Among herdsmen, who must be in hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, we have some criminal gangs roaming the country, killing innocent people.

If we don’t isolate and deal with them as the criminals that they are, but would rather criminalise the entire herdsmen in our country, then we are unwittingly helping to give them group protection by default.

Converting the national security threat posed by some herdsmen to another North-South/ Christian-Muslim issue with which to score cheap political points is a dangerous thing to do and I could see that very clearly. While some political leaders in the South were exploiting the tragedy to send out inciting messages that propagate hate and revenge, some highly placed Northern defenders were also mobilizing behind the herdsmen who have remained marginalized and pushed to the fringes of existence by a succession of political leaders from that same region.

Given the foregoing, I set out last week to moderate the discussion so that we can all see this as another national problem that tasks all of us. Unfortunately, one sentence in the piece left me open to the charge that I did not care enough about the victims of the mindless violence, especially the people who were killed at Ukpabi Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani local government of Enugu State. I regret that misunderstanding.

Before going further, I must state that this piece is not about appeasing those who don’t share the position I take on issues; it is about accountability to my readers. Ordinarily, because the weekly THISDAY editorial board meeting which I chair holds every Wednesday, I try to write my column the day earlier (Tuesday) but last week, I didn’t even start writing until Wednesday evening. It was a very hectic week

Buhari for me and while that cannot be an excuse, it was partly responsible for why the very idea that I wanted to convey, that of the victims who deserve justice, as against politicians who are using the tragedies to exact vengeance, was lost.

That happened because as I was rounding up the piece around 10pm, I saw the statement from the presidency on the Enugu tragedy. In the earlier draft, the kernel of my argument was on President Muhammadu Buhari’s silence ever since the herdsmen violence started. Here then was I, confronted with his first intervention which, even if belated, was still strong. I had a dilemma: If I incorporated the statement, it would make nonsense of my argument; yet disregarding it would be dishonest. I elected to go with it but to do that, I also had to remove some critical paragraphs without the benefit of time to read and reflect.

As early as 5.15am last Thursday when the

However, the man who bears the ultimate responsibility in this crisis is President Buhari, who must rise up to the oath of office he swore--to defend all citizens from sources of insecurity--not because of any sense of guilt arising from his ethnic affliction, but rather because he is the President of Nigeria in whose hands lies our collective destiny

first Tweet came from @iamtenseve, I knew I was in trouble because I had to read the piece again and immediately, I understood where I goofed. While I have received several mails from readers (surprisingly, many were actually positive, though I have paid more attention to the negative ones) and have also read the abusive messages (including all the name-calling on Twitter before Tiwa Savage, Tee Billz and ‘Edible Catering’ provided a more exciting discussion topic), two mails speak to the issues. The first one from Mr. Ubohmhe Glenn Olowojaiye reads: “As you may already know, I am one of your ardent followers. Besides the quality and depth of your thought and interventions, one other thing that endears me to your writings is that you always seek to balance your views as a moderator. However, on the topic of today, please permit me to strongly disagree with this particular statement of yours: ‘I am also aware that most of the hysteria about herdsmen are political and may be no more than a campaign of calumny essentially targeted against the president, just because he is a Fulani man’.

“The threat of herdsmen is more real and widespread than is being reported in the media.

My father in-law, who is about 65 years, and whose only means of livelihood is farming, has had several unpleasant tales to tell about the herdsmen. Just two months ago, his entire farm was not only destroyed but the seeds/seedlings were methodically uprooted from the ground and nothing (I mean nothing) was left. This was not a one-off incident. At that point we had to advise him to stop farming.

“To be sure, I do not have allegiance to any of our political parties and I have always voted Buhari in all the elections he has participated in, including the one that brought him to power (I hope my judgement was not wrong in view of the prevailing socio-economic situation in the country and his handling of issues). Therefore, to assert that most of the hysteria of the herdsmen is political is wrong. The threat is real and widespread.”

The second one from Mr. Bemdoo Hulugh who wrote from Makurdi, Benue State is along similar line but he highlighted a few other salient issues: “One, the political angle of it is not only those using the attacks against President Buhari.

There are also those who are afraid of speaking because our president is a Fulani man. All of a sudden, in my state (Benue), the APC politicians don’t want us to call them ‘Fulani’ herdsmen anymore, prefer to call them foreign herdsmen or Boko Haram disguising as herdsmen. They say all these even though these herdsmen most often confess to killing villagers in retaliation for killing their cows. Two, these attacks by armed Fulani herdsmen have been happening at this particular time of the year for a very long time now but I think this year’s attacks have been more daring. Three, as you rightly observed, the nomadic way of rearing cattle can no longer be sustained. We have a gathering that people come to share their stories or experiences about these herdsmen. Today, a young man told us of how a stream in their village which is the only source of drinking water has been polluted by

the cattle from these herdsmen. We have also heard stories of local tax collectors and village chiefs collecting money from herdsmen and allocating someone else’s farmland to them for grazing thus leading to conflict. Four, those who want to rear cattle should ranch them but first President Buhari must apprehend those who are arming these herdsmen and make them face the full weight of the law.”

From the foregoing two letters, what is still clear to me is that this is a law and order problem as I identified last week but the line about “public hysteria” became offensive simply because I had removed the paragraphs that would have put it in context. I ought to have removed it too, but forgot to do so. I apologise because I understand the pain of families who have been caught in the crossfire of this violence. Notwithstanding, we still need to find a solution to what has become a national security challenge and that can only be done in an atmosphere of reason, not of anger, recriminations and name calling.

Fortunately, there are still voices of reason in our country. Last week, the duo of Chidi Anslem Odinkalu, (recently elected President of the Unity Schools Old Students Association, USOSA) and Mohammed Bello Tukur, the National Legal Adviser of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) issued a joint statement on the crisis which they also tried to put in context and I want to quote extensively from their position: “It is no accident that these conflicts between pastoralists and sedentary farmers are intensifying around Nigeria’s Savannah belt with its borders from the southern parts of Kaduna State to the north; Enugu north in the south; parts of Ondo State to the west and parts of Taraba State to the east. Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Plateau States are also captured within this widening geography of the livelihood conflicts. Such criminality and livelihood conflicts affecting pastoralists and sedentary farming communities have also led to loss of lives and properties in the many other parts of Nigeria from Abia in the South to Zamfara in the north.

“The causes of the conflicts are traceable to three broad but related factors. First, over the past half century, many natural sources of water in much of Nigeria’s Sahelian Belt dried up, forcing pastoralists to move south in search of grazing and water for their herds.

The Lake Chad, for instance, shrank by over 90% from 25,000 square kilometres to less than 2,500 square kilometres in a period of less than 50 years, displacing over 60 million herds and affecting nearly 30 million people, many of them pastoralists. As they moved, pastoralists took with them into the Savannah and tropical rain forest zones their identities of faith, language, ethnicity, production methods and land use patterns peculiar to Sudan-Sahel belt. Natural tensions inherent in this contact were bound to escalate in the absence of reliable mechanisms of mediation…

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com Continued on page 59

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