Wednesday 3rd August 2016

House Members Give Conditions to Back Dogara APC fails to broker truce as Jagaba challenges Abdulmumuni on alleged link to Farouk Lawan bribery scandal

Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

The budget scandal in the House of Representatives has opened grounds for horse

BUDGET IMBROGLIO trading as several lawmakers who felt left out during the constitution of the so-called “plum committees” last year,

are now demanding for assurances of compensation from its leadership, before joining others to pass a vote of

confidence on Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

This is as several caucuses yesterday began rallying to avert any move aimed at impeaching Dogara

and changing the current leadership of the lower legislative chamber.

The House has been embroiled in crisis following the sack of Hon. Jubrin

Abdulmumini as the Chairman, Committee on Appropriation by his former ally, Dogara.

Continued on page 6

Apapa Bridge Suffers Integrity Defects, Threatens Lives, Property...

Page 8

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70% of Onshore Oil Output Shut in, FG Resumes Payments to Militants Avuru: Militancy impeding attainment of 15,000MW of electricity Buhari promises stable power supply

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja and Ejiofor Alike with agency reports As the federal government resumed cash payments to militants in the Niger Delta, it was revealed yesterday that up to 70 per cent of oil and gas production from traditional onshore and shallow water

terrain has been locked in due to the attacks on oil infrastructure in the region.

This was just as the Managing Director/CEO of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Mr. Austin Avuru, warned that the crisis in the Niger Delta has Continued on page 6

Naira Remains Stable as Lemo Calls for Patience

Obinna Chima

The naira exchange rate remained almost unchanged on the interbank market yesterday where it closed at N316.83 to a dollar, compared to N316.37 to a dollar at the close of business on Monday.

On the parallel market, however, the naira tumbled

again by N1.00 to close at N382 to a dollar yesterday.

THISDAY had exclusively reported yesterday that recent measures taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were gradually yielding results, as evidenced by the improvement in liquidity on the interbank spot FX market, Continued on page 6

SEEKS TO LURE NIGERIAN INVESTORS Mother of Rescued Chibok Schoolgirl, TOGO R-L: President Muhammadu Buhari; President of Togo, Mr. Faure Gnassingbe; and President, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Amina, Fears for Her Future... Page 9 Alhaji Aliko Dangote, during a courtesy visit by the Togolese president and Dangote to the State House in Abuja… yesterday

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016 • T H I S D AY

PAGE SIX NAIRA REMAINS STABLE AS LEMO CALLS FOR PATIENCE

which recorded a turnover of $196.14 million and an average daily volume of $39.23 million last week.

The improvement in market liquidity in recent days was confirmed by a former deputy governor of the CBN, Mr. Tunde Lemo, who also advised Nigerians to be patient with the new foreign exchange rate regime.

Lemo, who spoke to THISDAY in Lagos yesterday, backed the central bank for introducing the flexible exchange rate regime.

“I have said it time and again that Nigerians are a bit impatient. If we started this market six weeks ago, it is too early to start to say foreign investors have not started

coming. They would take their time.

“When they take their time and they realise that the market is up and running and is organised, they would come.

“When you do a trend analysis, you will find out that the foreign exchange flow that you have been seeing in the last two weeks is higher than what happened at the outset six weeks ago.

“When the market started, the trade arrears of about $4 billion were cleared by the CBN. But today, I can tell you that in the last two weeks, the CBN has not been the major supplier of foreign exchange. It is now coming from independent sources.

“So you are beginning to see the market settle, and before long, the naira would find a new equilibrium and then we will begin to see the sanity that we expect. But it would take some time.

“Good a thing the government is addressing the issue of security. Now, there are discussions going on with the militants and they are working very hard to fix infrastructure.

“So the good news coming out of Nigeria now, should encourage foreign investors to return to Nigeria any time soon,” Lemo, who is currently the Chairman of Lambeth Trust & Investment Company Limited, said.

He stressed that confidence

was a vital factor that is needed to lure foreign investors to Nigeria.

According to him, now that the country operates a flexible forex market, investors are watching.

“Every time there is a news flash about Nigeria – kidnapping, Niger Delta Avengers, and all of those things – they are doing their risk analysis. All of these wash into our confidence index.

That is what then determines when the foreign investors would come,” he added.

Responding to a question on what should be the trade-off in an economy that is on the brink of recession and also battling galloping inflation, the former policy maker said:

“We are in a dilemma. There is no policy maker that wants to be in this kind of dilemma in the sense that on one hand, you are in recession officially and at the same time, you have high inflation.

“In most other climes, inflation is very low when you are in recession and with that it is very easy to deal with.

“This is because the simple thing to do, as textbook economics tells you is to spend your way out of recession.

You increase spending so that you can stimulate consumer demand by pushing out a lot of money. But if you do that in a high inflation environment, then you have a problem.

“Ordinarily, when a policy

maker has that kind of dilemma, in my view, my priority should actually be to drive growth. In other words, let high inflation be for the time being and try to stimulate the economy.

“When you have done that, you can now come back and deal with inflation. However, our own economy is peculiar in the sense that if you do that in Nigeria, the structure of the Nigerian economy is such that the key elements driving inflation are things you could pick up on your fingertips.”

Nigeria’s inflation rose to 16.5 per cent in June. But Lemo explained that inflation in Nigeria today was imported inflation pass-through.

care during the Farouk bribery scandal had disappeared.

Jagaba, in a phone conversation with THISDAY, said Abdulmumini should provide documents to back his claim.

“I am not afraid of EFCC at all. If he strongly feels about it, he should stop making noise, he should write a petition on it and attach the relevant documents,” he said.

Jagaba described Abdulmumini as a “loose canon”.

“I do not want to join issues with a loose canon,” Jagaba said.

sitting with Abdulmumuni and we would continue to sit with him,” he said.

Lawan said contrary to insinuations that the party has summoned the former appropriation committee chairamn to discipline him, there was no basis for passing judgment on the matter yet, adding that APC believes that immunity covers whatever happens in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

“I want to say that what we discussed, honestly speaking, was to get a better brief on what happened, because we have to be carried along. They are our members, we should know from them directly what is really going on so that we can see how we can handle the situation without necessarily making it a town square dance.

“In respect of what is going on in the House of Representatives which you people know more than all of us, but I asked him to come and brief the party, honestly speaking we never thought it would be covered by the media.

“I that summoned him, the national secretary of the party and the national vice chairman of his zone sat down to discuss, there is nothing like passing any judgment on any member of the party, we only play our role as the umpire in this matter to see how we can create some atmosphere of peace and unity among our members.

“But when certain things go wrong, of course, the party needs to call its members to know how best to unite any feuding members and that is exactly what we did.

“What we did actually was that we heard from him. We have heard earlier from the speaker but because it was not in the newspapers, nobody knew we held a meeting with the speaker,” he said.

On his part, Jibrin, who was evidently not comfortable with the party’s embargo on him, managed to utter a few words to journalists.

He however confirmed that the meeting with the APC was centered on the budget crisis that has pitted him against the speaker and the leadership of the House.

“I’m here on the invitation of our party, the APC. We

discussed extensively the crisis in the House. We will continue to discuss and engage ourselves, I will continue to honour the invitation of our party and I am sure that whatever it is we decide you will know in due course,” he said.

The lawmaker, who was decked in a white brocade babariga (Nigerian traditional attire) and a cap to match, entered the party secretariat in the company of a team of lawyers and aides at about 2.05 p.m. in a black Toyota Land Cruiser sport utility vehicle and made straight to the office of Shuaibu where he was received by the National Working Committee of the APC led by the party's National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, National Treasurer, Bala Muhammed Gwagwarwa, and National Vice Chairman, Inuwa Abdulkadir.

Before the meeting with the APC leadership, Abdulmumini had also clarified that he was not invited to the party secretariat to appear before a disciplinary committee of the APC, but to meet with the party leaders in respect of the current crisis in the House.

On his twitter handle yesterday morning, Abdulmumini said: “I am confident that the party will do the rightful thing by throwing its weight to support our resolve to wipe out corrupt people and institutional corruption in the House and prevail or direct Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, Whip Alhassan Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo Ogor to reconvene the house immediately and step aside to face their imminent prosecution and save the party and our dear country from further embarrassment.”

HOUSE MEMBERS GIVE CONDITIONS TO BACK DOGARA Following his ouster, Abdulmumuni has employed a scorched earth policy by accusing Dogara, Deputy Speaker, Yussuf Sulaimon Lasun, Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor of allocating N40 billion to themselves out of the N100 billion appropriated for the National Assembly, and making “senseless’ insertions into the 2016 budget”.

He also petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Nigeria Police, demanding the arrest and prosecution of the speaker, three principal officers, and 11 committee chairmen for corruption and abuse of office.

But as the crisis over Abdulmumini’s revelations gathered steam, the Northcentral caucus of the House headed by Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Jibril Buba (Kogi APC), met for several hours at the National Assembly yesterday, while the North West caucus, headed by Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa (Kano APC) met in Kaduna.

Also, Dogara’s “kitchen cabinet”, headed by Hon. Mukhtar Betara (Borno APC), met at the National Assembly.

The speaker was however not at any of the meetings.

Leaders of the caucuses had set up the meetings to get enough signatures to pass a vote of confidence on Dogara and the House leadership, but were confronted by aggrieved members who were “unsatisfied with certain developments in the management of the House”.

“Some wanted certain things and are using this window to demand for it. Some felt left out in the scheme of things, and are saying yes, while they support Dogara, their interests should be taken care of,” a lawmaker from one of the northern states told THISDAY. The lawmaker explained that a decision was therefore taken to ensure any acrimony or bitterness among members was resolved before going public with the “vote of confidence” plan.

He, however, assured that Dogara still has a comfortable majority among the lawmakers,

with at least 75 per cent support from each of the caucuses.

The lawmaker, who preferred not to be named, added that members of the APC caucus from the South-west, were still on the fence as they were awaiting instructions from their national leader, Senator Bola Tinubu.

“But Ekiti members are completely with Dogara,” the lawmaker claimed, adding that “they cannot get members to remove Dogara, even if there are external influences, it will not happen”.

The North-central caucus, at its meeting, THISDAY gathered, agreed on the need to protect the lower chamber from any “rampaging external forces” allegedly using Abdulmumini to create discord.

A member of the caucus, who opened up on the meeting, confirmed that the caucus and other caucuses in the House would soon formally pass a vote of confidence on the speaker.

“The problem is that we are on recess and this recess is really long. So since we are not holding plenary, we have resolved to show our support for the House leadership. We would pass a vote of confidence on the speaker, but I am not sure what day that would be, as other caucuses are still meeting,” the lawmaker said.

The lawmaker was also adamant that Dogara would not be removed, saying: “No plot to remove Dogara would work, forget it.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House also dismissed the plot of impeachment against Dogara.

Although the PDP caucus did not hold its meeting which was scheduled to take place yesterday, Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, presented its position.

Speaking with THISDAY, Ogor said the allegations levelled against the speaker and other principal officers were “non-issues”, adding that investigations by the anti-graft agencies would unravel what “is really the truth”.

“The first point of call would be to examine what happened to the budget that Mr. President refused to assent to and the truth would be revealed. We would see who would laugh

last, but it is definitely not those shouting wolf today. We, in the PDP caucus, would not lose sleep over this,” he said.

He added that Dogara has the full support of the caucus.

“How can you impeach him, what are the offences? There is an impeachment process… let him (Abdulmumim) come and make his allegations open.

“Is it the Zonal Intervention Fund? Let us see the allegations, we should be confronted with facts, then we will respond clearly to them. We are happy and excited that the man himself has run to the EFCC and ICPC, so we are waiting for their invitation. Our doors are open, because it would unravel a lot of things,” Ogor added.

The Ghost of Farouk is Resurrected However, Abdulmumini, who was at the EFCC last night, yesterday also accused the Chairman of the House Committee on Interior, Hon. Jagaba Adams Jagaba of not being able to account for $500,000 which was allegedly given to him by a former House member, Farouk Lawan, after the latter received the amount four years ago as bribe from the Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola.

In order not to indict Otedola and his companies, Farouk had allegedly demanded $3 million dollars from the Forte Oil chairman in 2012 when he chaired the adhoc committee to investigate the fuel subsidy scam.

Otedola had played along and paid out $620,000 to Farouk in a sting job that was to lead to his prosecution and ended his career as a legislator.

At the time, no trace of the $620,000 was ever found until yesterday when Abdulmumuni alleged that $500,000 was given to Jagaba, but could no longer be accounted for.

He also described Jagaba, whose name he included in his petitions to the anti-graft agencies as one of the committee chairmen who inserted 2,000 projects into the budget, as corrupt and a bigot.

Reacting to the allegation, Jagaba challenged Abdulmumini to back up his claim that $500,000 kept in his

APC Fail to Broker Peace Meanwhile, efforts by the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to intervene and resolve conflict between its members in the House over the budget alteration scandal did not yield any result yesterday.

The party had summoned Dogara and Abdulmumuni to appear before it in order to resolve their differences.

But after several hours of separate meetings with the duo, the party said that they were yet to resolve the crisis.

However, the party succeeded in extracting a commitment from the warring parties that they would refrain from further media exchanges.

THISDAY gathered that the party leadership first met with the speaker at a residence in Abuja, where an extensive discussion on the conflict between him and Adbulmumuni was held.

After the meeting with Dogara, another one was held with Abdulmumuni at the party secretariat in Abuja.

Speaking shortly after meeting with Abdulmumuni, which lasted for about three hours, the Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Lawan Shuaibu said that the party wanted to know what really went wrong and to see how it could handle the situation.

“We are discussing with them and it is an ongoing consultation, we are not done with them, we sat with the speaker, and we just finished

FG RESUMES PAYMENTS TO NIGER DELTA MILITANTS interrupted major reforms in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, which were initiated a few years ago to increase oil and gas production for the attainment of 15,000MW of electricity and also boost economic development

nationwide.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration stopped the payments last February, resulting in militants accusing it of breaching the amnesty deal negotiated in 2009 with the federal

government.

The BBC yesterday quoted the spokesman of the Amnesty Programme, Piriye Kiyaramo as saying that the payments, which include tuition for those studying abroad, had been made on Monday, but

militants contacted by the BBC said they were yet to receive the money.

Kiyaramo later said a “hiccup” meant that the money was to be paid yesterday evening.

“We expect the amnesty

allowance to be paid tonight to 30,000 youths involved in the amnesty programme. The Central Bank has released the money,” he said.

Under the amnesty deal, Continued on page 9

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T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

NEWS

Apapa Bridge Suffers Integrity Defects, Threatens Lives, Property Compounding gridlock, environmental pollution

Gboyega Akinsanmi A portion of Apapa Bridge, which connects Apapa Central Business District (CBD) to Lagos Island and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway via Ikorodu Road, has caved in, thus putting its structural integrity to question, investigations by THISDAY have shown.

By implication, the bridge, whose construction started under the regime of former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and was completed by Olusegun Obasanjo when he was military head of state in the 1970s, is a disaster waiting to happen.

A check on the bridge and its land area by THISDAY depicted grave conditions that regularly cause intractable gridlocks, traffic crimes, and has become an environmental eyesore in the Apapa CBD. As THISDAY observed, the concrete connecting the bridge to Wharf Road opposite A.G. Leventis is completely eroded to the extent that the iron rods are protruding, causing the portion to be cordoned off with ‘Danger Signs’ to notify motorists of the looming danger and prevent accidents, especially for the articulated trucks the ply bridge and road everyday.

Consequently, the condition of the bridge and its land area makes vehicular movement from Apapa CBD and commuters experience unimaginable nightmare.

Apart from the caved in portion, THISDAY checks revealed that some of pillars holding the bridge have suffered structural defects

due to fire incidents that have worn off the concrete parts and exposed the iron rods. It is no wonder that the bridge shudders and sways menacingly whenever heavy trucks that ply the bridge are on standstill.

THISDAY observed that right from the land area to its first-two segments, the bridge is littered with large portions that are already depressed due to the articulated trucks that it carries daily.

About five hundred metres to the tip of the bridge further showed that its land area had become corrosively undulated while other parts dotted with depressed portions have now rendered the road almost impassable.

It was observed that the asphalt overlay from the front of the Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) Plc complex to the Ijora Seven-Up ramp on the bridge that leads to Lagos Island and Iddo is completely worn off, thereby making the portion unduly full of potholes.

The condition of the bridge and its land area when exiting Apapa now forces most motorists to divert to the service lane beside A.G. Leventis, from where they connect to NNS Beecroft and turn left before Marine Beach Road to connect to Mobil Road, against traffic.

Commuters into and out of Apapa who spoke to THISDAY on the development, all said the depressed portions of the road and bridge were a major threat to the national economy.

A recent report showed recently that Nigeria loses N1.825 trillion annually to

Exposed steel rods at the base of Apapa Bridge, Lagos Apapa’s traffic congestion.

It further showed that the condition of the bridge poses a daunting threat to human lives and properties due to high accident rate, which has risen on that section of the road/bridge.

The prevailing condition of the bridge showed the failure of the federal government to implement the recommendation of a technical committee it set up with the Lagos State Government in 2012 to address the challenges threatening lives

and businesses in Apapa CBD. The committee, which was co-chaired by the former Lagos deputy governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefilure and former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, came up with 12 recommendations directed at resolving the diverse challenges of traffic gridlocks, environmental abuse and insecurity in Apapa.

The federal government was represented on the committee

by Okonjo-Iweala, the then Minister of Works, Mr. Mike

Onolememen, his former transport counterpart, Mr. Idris Umar and Chairman of the Ports Monitoring Committee, Mr. Sylvester Monye while the Lagos State team included the deputygovernor, former Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello and his transportation counterpart, Mr. Kayode, among others.

THISDAY learnt that the technical committee duly submitted its report to the National Economic Council

(NEC) in the second quarter of 2012 for necessary action.

However, since its submission, the federal government has been silent on the report, which clearly identified areas of intervention by the federal and state government.

THISDAY gathered that the failure of NEC to adopt and implement the recommendations of the technical committee has aggravated the situation in Apapa.

conference with the theme “Transparency in the Oil and Gas Business: An Imperative for Energy Security and Stability”, Neff, who spoke on behalf of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said transparency by all the stakeholders would solve the challenges of insecurity in the Niger Delta and the collapse of oil prices.

According to him, the industry and relevant agencies should share data and ensure effective collaboration.

“We believe that transparency can effectively tackle these challenges for the benefit of all the stakeholders,” Neff added.

But as oil sector operators lamented the intractable crisis in the Niger Delta, the president again reiterated his administration's commitment to improve power supply in the country.

Speaking at a joint press briefing with the visiting President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, Buhari said giving Nigerians stable power remained a priority of his government.

The Togolese president was in Nigeria to inspect

the ongoing refinery project being built by the Dangote Group in Lagos.

Buhari also noted that Republic of Benin was also having issues with power supply because it is dependent on Nigeria for electricity.

He said: “They say seeing is believing. You can see the efforts private investors are making. We are also building pipelines, but it is not as formidable as what Dangote is doing. We are improving on it.

“We also have the NLNG that is helping to liquefy the gas and then turn it into gas with modern technology.

“And if you will recall, I made mention to the President of Benin, we have power problems and Benin has power problems because they depend on us. But we are working very hard to stabilise the situation.

The resources are available, the technology is available, so we are trying to stabilise the situation.

“If we improve power which means our productivity can be competitive and God willing, we are going to achieve our objectives.”

Buhari said both presidents also discussed the unfortunate incidents in South Sudan and

Burundi.

“It is an agonising situation.

Several citizens are living under primitive conditions.

We hope at the AU meeting, we will be able to stabilise the situation in South Sudan and Burundi with the efforts being made,” he said.

The visiting Togolese president said he was impressed by Dangote Group’s string of investments in Africa.

“I’m impressed by the investments by Dangote because we have been talking of socio-economic integration and promoting trade among African countries.

“If you want to promote trade, you have investors that are very competitive, this will contribute to reduce importation from non-African countries.

“I was told that the (Dangote refinery) gas pipeline that will be built will be buried under the sea to make it safe. It means that if you want to promote a blue economy, our ocean needs to be very safe.

We need security,” he said.

Gnassingbe said he also came to Nigerian to invite Buhari to attend the maritime summit holding in Togo in October this year.

FG RESUMES PAYMENTS TO NIGER DELTA MILITANTS each militant is entitled to N65,000 a month and job training.

Buhari had announced plans in this year's budget to reduce funding for the programme by 70 per cent amid allegations of widespread corruption.

At the same time, a new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), stepped up attacks on oil industry assets, causing a sharp fall in oil production and worsening the country’s financial crisis.

While the Seplat boss said the real solution to the Niger Delta crisis was not yet in sight, the Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Clay Neff said transparency by all the stakeholders could resolve the security challenges in the oil-producing region.

Speaking yesterday in Lagos at the opening session of the 2016 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE) of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Avuru said that the crisis in the oil-producing region has locked in 70 per cent of oil and gas production from the traditional onshore and shallow water terrain.

Avuru, who said he was

hopeful that oil and gas production would fire up by 2020, however added that he was not aware of any real solution to the Niger Delta crisis in the near future.

“A year ago, we were battling with the drop in crude oil prices. Today, we are battling with zero production; zero revenue and zero everything. For upwards of five to six months, some companies operating in Nigeria have not been producing.

“Some of us no longer check the oil price; it has become irrelevant. Oil price is only relevant when you produce,” he explained.

Avuru said the oil and gas industry was undergoing a major transformation a couple of years ago to increase domestic consumption of gas from less than 300 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) to 3 billion cubic feet per day.

“We said this industry in Nigeria must move away from just being a primary revenue earner for the federal government to being an enabler for economic development.

“We had said that this industry will move away from

domestic consumption of less than 300 mmscf/d of gas to consumption of 3 bcf per day and in the process, energise companies like Dangote to become net exporter of cement and fertiliser; in the process deliver 15,000MW of electricity and all its multiplier effects.

“That is the journey that the industry had started few years ago. This journey unfortunately today is being interrupted by forces that you and I have looked at how we can combat them.

“The crisis in the Niger Delta has taken a new turn that must worry all of us because when we don’t produce, our companies are destroyed, jobs are destroyed, and the economy is destroyed.

“This whole transformation that I described is interrupted rudely. Unfortunately, I do not know if there is any real solution in the horizon,” Avuru said.

The Seplat boss, whose company is listed on both the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges, however, said he was hopeful that by 2020, the country’s production of oil and gas would fire the economy.

Also speaking at the

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWS

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

Mother of Rescued Chibok Schoolgirl, Amina, Fears for Her Future

Held for months by the federal government and confined to a house in the capital for the foreseeable future, Amina Ali, a schoolgirl who was rescued after two years in Boko Haram captivity, may never be the girl she once was, her mother fears.

Amina, one of more than 200 girls abducted from a school in Chibok in April 2014, and her four-month-old baby were rescued last May near Damboa in Borno State by soldiers working together with a civilian vigilante group.

After a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, in the hope she would shed light on the fate of the other kidnapped girls, Amina has since been held in a house in the capital Abuja for what the Nigerian government has called a “restoration process.”

But her mother, Binta Ali, who has spent the last two months in the house, according to the Voice of America (VOA), is concerned about Amina’s welfare and future.

“Before she was kidnapped, she wanted to further her education,” Binta told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Chibok, having briefly returned there to seek medical treatment.

“But now she is afraid of schooling, and she wants to be close to me at home,” said Binta, adding that Amina wants a sewing machine so that she can start a business making clothes.

Binta said she was also worried that her daughter was being pressured into following Islam, having been forced to convert from Christianity to Islam by Boko Haram militants during

her captivity.

“Amina herself does not want to remain a Muslim,” Binta said, explaining how an Islamic teacher had visited the house several times and told her daughter to maintain her new faith.

“She did not want to see him,” Binta said, adding that the teacher had stopped visiting after she complained about him.

Garba Shehu, Buhari’s spokesman, said Amina’s confinement in the house had nothing to do with religion.

Boko Haram kidnapped 219 girls from their school in Chibok, Borno

State, North-east Nigeria, in April 2014, as part of their seven-year-old insurgency to set up an Islamic state in the north that has killed some 15,000 people and displaced more than two million.

Some girls escaped in the melee but parents of those still missing accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s then leader, of not doing enough to find their daughters, whose disappearance sparked a global campaign #bringbackourgirls.

Binta said she was shocked to hear about the hardships faced by her daughter as a captive of the

Islamist group.

Amina and the other girls, starving and with nothing to cook with, resorted to eating an entire bag of beans and maize raw.

“I cannot imagine how a human being can eat raw maize and beans like a goat,” Binta said.

Amina also told her mother how some of the kidnapped girls had died in captivity, while others suffered broken legs or went deaf after being too close to explosions.

But she pleaded with her mother not to break the news to the families in Chibok.

“Other parents have been coming

to visit me since I returned,” Binta said. “But I have not told them anything, even though I know some of those whose daughters have died.”

Despite her fears over Amina’s religion and education, and uncertainty over when she will be allowed to return home, Binta said she still had reason to be positive about her daughter.

“She used to be very afraid,” Binta said, explaining how Amina would talk to herself during the night prior to her kidnap.

“But now she sleeps soundly.

She is no longer afraid.”

FG Seeks Help, Consults Experts on Economy The federal government’s Economic Management Team met with top economists and financial experts in Abuja yesterday in continuation of its consultations towards tackling the country’s economic recession.

The meeting, presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, had in attendance Bismarck Rewane, Akpan Ekpo, Ayo Teriba, Badeye Sani and Bode Augusto.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), told State House correspondents after the meeting that the economic team was in the middle of consultations to develop a mid-term economic framework.

He said the experts made presentations to the Economic Management Team on their response to the draft Medium Term Economic Framework (MTEF), which was still a consultative document.

“It is part of a comprehensive

consultation process that we are embarking on to make sure that we reach out to a wide spectrum of Nigerians to get a feed back in terms of how best to make sure that we come out of this recession.

“That we get the best possible MTEF (Medium Term Economic Framework).

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act requires us to do so.

“On Thursday, we will be meeting in Lagos with private sector to continue with the consultations,’’ Mr. Udoma said He acknowledged that the Economic Team had met with some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) last week and would hold similar consultations with members of the organised private sector.

The Minister said that at the end of the consultations the Federal Government would come out with a programme which had received the “buy-in’’ of many Nigerians.

“That was what this process was about,’’ he added.

PDP Sets up 242-member Convention Committee Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has appointed 242 members to serve on its National Convention Planning Committee for the National Convention scheduled to hold on August 17, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The convention which is headed by the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, also has the Taraba State governor, Darius Ishiaku as Deputy Chairman, while Senator Ben Ndi Obi, is to serve as Secretary.

In a statement issued yesterday, by Secretary of the NCC, Senator Ndi Ben Obi, the party also appointed another 80-member National Convention Finance Committee under the chairmanship of the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel with the former governor of Katsina State Ibrahim Shema as Deputy Chairman while Senator Biodun Olujimi will serve as Secretary to the committee.

In the same vein, the party has

set up committees to oversee the organization of State Congresses in Imo and Yobe State Chapters which have been fixed for Monday,August 8.

The National Caretaker Committee said that it has approved the conduct of state congresses in the Imo and Yobe States Chapters where the congresses were not conducted or concluded in May .

Accordingly, the NCC has nominated Hon. Austin Opara and Alhaji Shehu Musa Gaban to serve as chairman of the congress committees for Imo and Yobe states respectively.

Senator Solomon Ewuga is to serve as chairman of the Electoral Appeal committees for the congresses.

PDP also constituted the Committees/Panels for each state to conduct Ward Congresses to nominate three Ad-Hoc Delegates to LGA Congresses on August 10 and to conduct Local government Area congresses to nominate National Delegates to the National Convention on August 12.

PRODUCT LAUNCH

L-R: Head, Emerging Business, Diamond Bank, Mrs. Njideka Esomeju; Director, Enterprise Development Centre, Pan African University, Mr. Peter Bankole; and Managing Director/CEO, Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, during a press conference to launch Diamond Bet6 held in Lagos ....yesterday Mubo Peters.

Fulani Herdsmen Kill 15 in Adamawa Gunmen kill 11 in Kaduna

John Shiklam in Kaduna and Daji Sani in Yola A fresh crisis involving Fulani herdsmen and villagers at Kodomun village in Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State has claimed 15 lives and left many injured.

An eyewitness revealed that Fulani herdsmen unleashed terror attack on Kodomun village and some neighbouring villagers on Monday at about 6p.m. when the villagers were resting after a burial of an old woman.

The crisis had started in January this year involving the herdsmen and Koh community which is a few leading to Kodomun village, resulting to the killing of many farmers including a police officer who was the Divisional Police Officer(DPO) of Vonokilang Division under Girei Local Government Area in the state.

Some villagers who escaped from the area by whisker told journalists that the figure might be much higher as scores of others are still missing in the hinterland.

“15 dead bodies were recovered for now,” he said.

The Commander of the 23rd Armoured Brigade, Yola, Brigadier General Benson Akiroluyo, state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ghazzali, and state Deputy Governor, Mr. Martins

Babable, yesterday visited the area for an on-the-spot assessment of the troubled area.

The trio had earlier visited the paramount ruler of Batta, Hamman Batta, Chief Alhamdu Teneke to commiserate with him on the incident.

Speaking with journalists at the palace of the Hamman Batta, a member representing Demsa Constituency in the state House of Assembly, Mr. Lumsan Dilli, disclosed that the causality figures given by the villagers was higher.

According to him, some people were declared missing and most of them are presumed dead.

The lawmaker added that the migrating herdsmen continued to kill, maim and burn villages as they move from one destination to the other for grazing, adding that the dead bodies unaccounted for are more than the ones that had been recovered.

Mr. Lumsan Dilli called for serious security intervention to prevent the situation from degenerating to a full blown war as the affected villagers are mobilising for reprisal attack.

Also speaking to journalists, the Chairman of Demsa Local Government Area, Mrs. Wale Fwa, who was just sworn-in yesterday, regretted that her first assignment in office was to contend with herdsmen/farmers clash.

The council chairman announced that a newly elected councillor for the area, Mr. Hani Habila, was among the victims of the crisis, saying that over 40,000 people had been rendered homeless by the attack.

Mr. Wale Fwa disclosed that council in conjunction with security agencies and the traditional institution are making frantic efforts for possible dialogue among the warring groups.

The state police commissioner, Mohamed Ghazzali and Commander of the 23rd Armoured Brigade, Yola, Brigadier General Akiroluyo called for serious caution in handling civil unrest.

The two security chiefs stated that they are watching the situation for possible next line of action.

Eleven people were reportedly killed with several others injured when gun men believed to be fulani herdsmen invaded three villages in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The villages according to sources include Gada Biyu, Akwa’a and Anguwan Anjo.

Giving details of the attacks in a telephone interview, sources disclosed that in Gada Biyu, six men and three women were killed, while in Akwa’a and Angwan Anjo, two men were killed.

According to the source who is a resident of one of the villages

and who does not want his name in print, “Fulani men in a large number invaded Gada Biyu, 2 km from Godogodo around 6.00 am on Monday morning and started shooting and burning down houses.

“People fled in different directions. However, the police were quick to arrive and the invaders fled into the bushes. “Four people were killed that day. Today (Tuesday) after combing the bushes five more corpses were found.

“When the killers escaped from Gida Biyu, they resurfaced at Akua’a this morning and killed two people. But they did not burn any house there. The Police arrived on time again, and they ran away again. But this afternoon they appeared at Agwan Anjo and started shooting.

“But by this time people have fled the village, and the police also arrived promptly. However, about an hour after the police went to get some food in the town, the gun men launched another attack again.

“We believe that the motive of the attack is to displace us and take over our lands. We are hoping that the military will join the police because we are sure that they will return, or even attack Godogodo town where our women and children are taking refuge. We need urgent help.”

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NEWS

Togolese Govt, Dangote Explore Partnership in Petrochemicals, Gas Investment Crusoe Osagie The Republic of Togo and Dangote Group yesterday began exploring opportunities of investment in the petrochemical industry and other arms of the oil and gas sector.

The partnership between the Francophone West African nation and Dangote Group culminated in a visit of the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, to Dangote’s petrochemical plant in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.

Gnassingbe who was conducted round the four different segments of the petrochemical plant, expressed satisfaction with the effort of the company, pointing out that his country was open to partnership and similar investment.

Speaking during the event in Lagos, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said Togo can benefit from the sub-sea gas pipeline infrastructure, one of the aspects of the investment, which he said can help to convey

Buhari Nominates Durojaiye as NCC Chairman, Dare as Executive Commissioner Tobi Soniyi in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the Senate to confirm nominees into positions of Chairman, Executive Commissioner, and Non-Executive Commissioners of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Astatement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari in a letter dated August 2, 2016, sent to President of the Senate, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, nominated a former presidential aspirant, Senator

Olabiyi Durojaiye (South West), as Chairman, while Mr. Sunday Dare (South West) got the nod as Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management.

Those nominated as NonExecutive Commissioners are: Aliyu Sa’idu Abubakar (North East), Clement Omeiza Baiye (North Central), Chief Okoi Ofem Obono Obla (South-south), Pastor Ezekiel Yissa (North Central) and Senator Ifeanyi Ararume (South-east).

Adesina said the nominations were in accordance with Section 8(1) of the NCC Act 2003.

gas to Togo as an alternative to the West African Gas Pipeline Project (WAGP).

Dangote and Gnassingbe also agreed that when the fertilizer, petrochemical and refinery plants which make up the complex become operational, it could serve as a good source of petroleum products and petrochemicals for Togo due to the advantage of reduced freight cost, which would result in an overall drop in the cost of energy in the country and more affordable raw materials for the plastic industry.

According to Dangote, on completion of the refinery, the domestic demand for fuel in Nigeria would be met and the surplus would be exported with the prospect to generate other macroeconomic benefits which include a $5.5 billion per annum forex earnings and over $7.5 billion per annum forex savings from import substitution.

He noted that the entire project which would cost around $17 billion, would become the largest refinery, petrochemical and fertilizer complex in Africa with a

capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, produce 750,000 mtpa of polypropylene from its petrochemical plant while the fertilizer plant, will produce about 2.8 million mtpa of urea and ammonia.

He stated that in terms of employment, with the ongoing construction at the site, over 1500 people have been engaged directly through various contractors executing contracts, pointing out that when operational, about 1,200 will be engaged directly at the refinery, while ancillary jobs of about 150,000 will be created through indirect and various allied contractors and service providers.

Also speaking at the event, the Governor, Lagos State, Akinwumi Ambode, said the investment is one of the biggest in Africa and would have a huge positive impact not only on the Nigerian economy, but the whole of West African region.

He said the refinery when completed, would be the largest single train anywhere in the world refining 650,000 barrels of crude per day, stressing that apart from

creating jobs, the refinery would contribute immensely to solving the fuel supply challenge in the West African region “We are happy with the level of work that has been done here.

A lot of progress has been made on this project and we commend Dangote Group for this vision, doggedness and his unwavering desire to contribute positively to the growth of the Nigerian economy,” he said.

He noted that the investment is a strong confirmation that Lagos is a prime investment destination, maintaining that the investment also shows the positive investment climate in the state which he said has boosted investor confidence.

“We believe strongly that the future prosperity of West Africa is dependent on the collaboration between government and investors. Lagos is open for business and also open to Togolese government and Togolese investors to move both countries forward. Our government is investing massively in creating infrastructure to support businesses and individuals. We have also made huge investments in security and we will continue

to ensure that the lives and properties of all citizens are secured. We remain partners in progress with our investors,” he added.

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, in his comment, said the investment demonstrates the success of the partnership between the government and the private sector, saying that the private sector is the engine for economic growth and development.

“Nobody will go through this site without understanding the power of the private sector to drive an economy when given the opportunities to thrive. The project we are seeing here and other investment of the company embodies that,” he said.

He said “Africa needs champions to drive growth in the continent,” noting that Dangote’s investments in Nigeria and across the continent is commendable.

“He has chosen to invest in Nigeria. We are very interested in what you are doing and of course you know you have the support of the federal government,” he said.

IPOB: We Didn’t Ask MEND to Solicit Release of Nnamdi Kanu David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has disowned the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) over the purported negotiation with the federal government for the release of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the Director General of Radio Biafra and leader of IPOB. Its Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, who stated this in a statement to THISDAY in Awka, said IPOB under Kanu did not ask MEND to negotiate for the release its leader, saying it is unfortunate for MEND to claim to be negotiating for the release its leader without their full knowledge.

Part of the statement read: “We the members of IPOB worldwide and people of Biafra can never accept any little conditional attachment towards the release of our leader, Kanu and other members detained alongside with him because they did not commit any crime, we can only accept the unconditional release of our leader nothing more and nothing less.”

Kanu was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) in Lagos on October 14, 2015 and taken to Abuja where he was later charged

to court.

Speaking on the alleged negotiation entered into on its behalf by MEND, the IPOB media officer said MEND’s agreement with the federal government to release their leader with the agreement for him to renounce and jettison the struggle for the restoration of Biafra shows that MEND is not even aware of the groups unshaken resolve.

“MEND is a group that does not know what it is looking for and a group that decided to stay and use the plights of their people to make demands from the federal government, but everybody knows that Kanu is not the type who will sabotage the people of Biafra.”

Powerful said a lot of people have sacrificed their lives for the restoration of Biafra and it would be a suicidal thoughtsand mission for some groups or individuals to come towards the end of the total liberation of the people of Biafra to cause confusion, and that such will not be accept.

He urged MEND to take a cue from real freedom fighters like the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), who he said have sacrificed all to ensure liberation for their people.

CORRIGENDUM In the obituary advertorial published on page 44 in our July 13, 2016 edition by a committee of friends for the late Major General Adadonye Simon-Hart (rtd), Lieutenant Col. Aminiowugha Owen Manila-Pepple, the Chairman of the Bonny Council of Chiefs was inadvertently addressed as a Lieutenant. The error is regretted.

-Editor

SUBMITTING TO PARTY SUPREMACY

Former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumin (left), arriving the national secretariat of the All ProgressivesCongress(APC)nationalsecretariattomeetwiththe officialsofthepartyinAbuja...yesterday

Meltdown in Nigeria Affecting Neighbouring Countries, Says Benin President Buhari pledges conversion of gas for easy export Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The economic meltdown in Nigeria is affecting neighbouring countries, the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, has said.

Talon who is in Nigeria on a one-day visit spoke at a joint press briefing between him and his host, President Muhammadu Buhari.

He lamented that the economic downturn in Nigeria was gradually affecting his country and other nations in the West African sub region.

Describing Nigeria as the engine room of West Africa, Talon challenged Nigeria to begin to explore its non-oil potentials to boost the country’s revenue profile and its standing as a big brother

in Africa.

Talon said he was looking forward to reactivatig the existing bilateral relationship between Benin and Nigeria especially in the areas of trade relations, economy, energy development and education.

He pledged to partner Nigeria in dealing with the problem of illicit trade affecting both countries.

Earlier, Buhari has said his administration was considering the possibility of using modern technology to transform gas into liquid form for easy export, especially to the West- African sub-region.

The president also said Nigeria is making efforts to ensure that the West African Gas Pipeline project becomes more efficient to stabilise

the energy sectors across the West African sub-region.

Buhari said the government was doing everything possible to stabilise the gas pipelines to enhance electricity supply in Benin and other West African sub-region.

“The economy part of (our discussion) it is mainly energy, making sure that the West African Gas pipeline is made much more efficient. This government is making all the efforts it can to stabilise the situation because the resources are there.

“The world knows that Nigeria has plenty of gas, what we need to do is to stabilise the environment so that this gas can be regularly pumped to the sub-region through the infrastructure already in place.

“Also, the Nigerian energy mixed is not doing too badly as gas can now be converted into liquid form gas, the technology is now available, to transfers to Benin Republic to run their power stations.

“The sad and long standing problem is the question of using Benin as a transit camp to bring a lot of goods into Nigeria.

“Under ECOWAS agreement, all we have to do is to remind ourselves about our respective national commitments that other than reall ECOWAS-originated commodities, we should not allow it. If we get strict on that, I think Nigerian industries would benefit from ECOWAS agreements,’’ he said.

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NEWS

End Impunity in Agencies, FG Tells New Heads of Education Parastatals Paul Obi in Abuja The federal government yesterday charged the newly appointed 17 chief executive officers who are to oversee various parastatals and agencies under the Federal Ministry of Education to urgently put to an end to the high level of impunity and financial recklessness in their organisations.

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, gave the directive while inaugurating the newly appointed chief executives in his office yesterday in Abuja, he charged them to work in line with the change mantra of President Muhhammadu Buhari.

The minister explained that there was an urgent need to nip in the bud the recklessness and

increasing cases of impunity that have characterised the running of some of the agencies.

Adamu also tasked the chief executives to within one month, assess their various agencies in order for them to come up with an action plan.

Speaking to journalists at the inauguration, the Registrar, National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof. Charles Uwakwe, said the minister was explicit on what was expected from the new chief executive.

“The minister was very clear on what our task and mandates are. The President insisted that we must ensure that the change mantra is carried through in our various organisations.

“The president also talked about stopping impunity in our various organisations; that is a

very important mandate that is chief executive have been mandated with and we have pledge to carry it through to the best of our abilities.

According to him: “We have been given about a month to acclimatize and do an assessment and then come up with an action plan for the next for years and we have pledged that we would do our best.

The Registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Prof. Sunday Ajiboye, said: “The council under his leadership would work assiduously to reposition the teaching profession in the country.

“I intend to go there and study the situation; we know that teachers are very key to the issue of education in Nigeria, we are coming in to reposition

the profession He said: “The minister was very clear about his charge to various CEOs, more specifically about the focus on the change mantra of the present government which the administration believes and promote, and also to go to our various parastatals and agencies and look at the issues and problems in those places and begin to set up agendas for moving the agencies forward.

Further, the Registrar, National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB), Prof. Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe, stated that “the new appointed heads of education parastatals were appointed based on merits.

“The inauguration this evening was a modest one, but very well organised. the duties

Military Commanders Meet inYenagoa, Insist on Nigeria’s Indivisibility Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa and Sylvester Idowu inWarri Several military commanders and base heads in the Niger Delta yesterday met in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, to review the new strategic direction of the new Operation Delta Safe (ODS), insisting that Nigeria’s indivisibility was non-negotiable.

Yesterday’s meeting, which lasted several hours at the Joint Task Force headquarters in Igbogene, was in apparent response to recent pronouncements by militant groups in the region that they had concluded plans to create an independent republic.

THISDAY also learnt that part of the agenda of the interactive session which drew sector heads from Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Ondo States was to forge a common front against the violent agitators who have been destroying critical oil and gas infrastructure in the region.

The JTF Commander, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie, who spoke to journalists on behalf of his colleagues maintained that every Nigerian has the right to move around anywhere in the country without fear of molestation.

While explaining the deployment of heavily armed security operatives to the region, Okojie noted that the military has the duty to maintain peace in the area, assuring all residents of the readiness of the military to quell any threat to security in the area.

“All I want to say is that the Federal Republic of Nigeria belongs to all of us.

The armed forces can move anywhere at anytime. ODS covers the whole of Niger Delta maritime area.

“So, if you see heavy presence in a village or town, it’s just the routine patrol we are carrying out. It is just the presence, and we have the right to be present there. At least nobody has complained of molestation.

“It’s also about the information passed round recently about some faceless individuals creating certain republics for themselves. This will

not be allowed to happen,” he said.

Okojie assured all other ethnic groups that were asked to vacate the Niger Delta by the Adaka Boro Avengers of their security.

“For that reason, we have to show everyone, especially the peace loving people of the Niger Delta and those who transverse the roads in the region, that ODS under the commandeer-in-chief and the chief of defence staff is doing everything.

“We are performing our normal duties, not listening to rumours, and we assure the public to go about their duties without fear,” he added.

The JTF commander explained that the conference was also to intimate the various sector heads of the new focus of the military operations in the area.

“The Adaka Boro Avengers had vowed to pronounce the Niger Delta a self-governing republic on August 1, but later aborted the plan, citing several calls from ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Edwin

Jonathan to Lead AU Elections Observer Mission to Zambia The Chairperson of the African Union Commission has appointed former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to lead the African Union Elections Observation Mission (AUEOM) to the Zambian general election scheduled to take place on October 11, 2016.

A statement posted on AU’s website yesterday stated that Jonathan would be leading members of the short term mission to join the continental body’s deployment of long term election experts who are already on ground in Zambia.

Below are the details of the statement: “The Chairperson of the African Union Commission has approved the deployment of African Union Elections Observation Mission (AUEOM) to the General Elections scheduled to place in the Republic of Zambia on October 11, 2016.

“The deployment of the AUEOM will take place in two phases.

The first phase comprises the deployment of long term election

experts and took place from July 14 to August 22, 2016, and it is made up of 10 observers. For the first time, the AU long term experts include election/ legal political/ media/campaign analysts. The objective is to ensure that the AUEOM approaches its work with added professionalism and factual analysis of the legal, political, electoral, media and campaign aspects of the electoral process in Zambia.

At the second phase of the mission, the long term experts will to be joined by short term observers from the August 1 to 15, 2016. The Short Term Mission will be headed by Goodluck Jonathan, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The African Union Elections Observation Mission draws its mandate from various AU instruments, most importantly: (a) the African Union Guidelines for Elections Observation and Monitoring Missions (2002); (b) the

OUA/AU Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (2002); African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (1981) and (c) African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007), among others.

The objectives of the Mission is (a) to provide an accurate and impartial reporting or assessment of the quality of the October 25 General Elections in the United Republic of Tanzania, including the degree to which the conduct of the elections meets regional, continental and international standards for democratic elections; (b) to offer recommendations for improvement of future elections based on the findings; and, and (c) to demonstrate AU’s interest to support Tanzania’s elections and democratisation process to ensure that the conduct of genuine elections contributes to the consolidation of democratic governance, peace and stability in Tanzania in particular and the East African sub-region in general.

Clark, traditional rulers and activists as reasons for deferring the plan.

Meanwhile, Nigerian Navy in Warri, Delta State, yesterday said it did not lose any of its officer in any form of accident last week.

The Base Information Officer, Lieutenant N.Lamu, gave the clarification in an interview with THISDAY as reaction to last Sunday publication in which it was reported that the Navy lost an officer in an accident in the state.

THISDAY had exclusively reported that a Naval Officer attached to the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS Delta) Warri lost his life last Thursday night due to the negligence of the authority of the base.

and objectives expected from us were wll communicated and we are very grateful that each of us were appointed based on merits.

She commended President Buhari for finding them worthy to serve at this critical time, given the need to scale up Nigeria’s educational system.

The new appointees who were present at the innuaguration included: Prof. Abubakar Rasheed (National Universities Commission); Prof. Lilian Salami (Nigerian Institute for Educational Planning and Administration); Dr. Hameed Boboyi (Universal Basic Education Board); Prof. Lanre Aina (National Library of Nigeria); Prof. Charles Uwakwe (National Examinations Council); Prof. Abba Haladu (National Commission aor Mass Literacy, Adult and

Non-Formal Education); Prof.

Bashir Usman (Nomadic Education Commission); and Prof. Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe (National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB).

Others are Prof. Sunday Ajiboye (Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria); Afolabi Aderinto (Computer Registration Council of Nigeria); Prof. Bappah Aliyu (National Commission for Colleges of Education); Dr. Abdullahi Bichi Baffa (Tertiary Education Tax Fund); Prof.

Garba Dahuwa Azare (National Teachers Institute); and Prof.

Michael Afolabi (Librarian Registration Council of Nigeria).

Also present are Prof. Steven Ejugwu Onah (National Mathematical Centre, Sheda); Prof. Ishaq Oloyede (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board); and Prof. Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche (National Institute of Nigerian Languages among other dignitaries.

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

COMMENT

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

THE NORTHERNISATION OF NIGERIA (2) There will be no unity without justice, argues Sonnie Ekwowusi

P

resident Buhari’s lopsided political appointments are a betrayal of trust, a defeat of the oneness of humanity, and a violation of the principle of federal character as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. The murder of a 74-year-old Mrs. Bridget Agbahime for alleged blasphemy and the hacking to death of a 42-year old Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) lady pastor Mrs. Eunice Elisha in the course of exercising her freedom to religious liberty are numbing. It is a big irony that in a country where there is no state religion a citizen could be hacked to death by some religious fanatics for merely exercising her constitutional right and the issue is still being treated with the usual levity. It is also a big irony that whilst President Buhari keeps on harping that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable or cannot be re-negotiated, the behaviour and actions of the Buhari government as exemplified in the lopsided political appointments are fanning the embers of disunity, disloyalty and secession among the various ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. If Nigeria federalism were functioning as it ought to; if the various ethnic groups and geo-political zones in the country were fairly accommodated in the Nigerian union there probably would have been nothing like the Niger Delta militant groups or Biafra agitations today and even if there were, they would have been nipped in the buds.

Akin Osuntokun did very well in his piece (On The Unity of Nigeria, THISDAY July 22, 2016) to dig deep into some aspects of the Nigerian political history in order to remind us that secession is neither a prerogative nor an exclusive preserve of the Igbo of the South-East. The phrase “unity of Nigeria” is a malleable concept, or, even an abusive concept being embraced or rejected at various times and circumstances by the various Nigerian ethnic nationalities. These nationalities have shown that oil wealth is thicker than “unity of Nigeria”. And secession is inversely related to access to Nigeria’s oil wealth. When a Nigerian ethnic group gains political power and controls the oil wealth they clamour for “unity of Nigeria”. But the moment they lose out in the political power equation and no longer control the oil wealth they begin to beat the drum of war and clamour for secession.

In his book, “Ethnic Politics in Kenya and Nigeria,” Godfrey Mwakikagile wrote that in 1950, barely four years after Nigeria became a federal union, Northern Nigerian threatened that unless it was allowed to assume the political dominance over the rest of country it would secede from Nigeria. The late Prof. Ali Mazrui also wrote that in the decades that followed the 1950’s before Nigeria’s independence, Northern Muslims, fearful of Southern domination, wanted to secede from the entity to be called Nigeria.

IF THE BUHARI GOVERNMENT INTENDS TO RID NIGERIA OF SECESSIONIST AGITATIONS AND SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS, IT SHOULD PROMOTE TRUE FEDERALISM

In 1953 Northern leaders organised a secessionist violent demonstration in Kano in which thousands of people were killed, similar to the 1945 violence in the North which claimed several lives. In the same 1953, Western Region wanted to secede from Nigeria but was prevented from doing so by the British Secretary of State for the Colonies Mr. Oliver Lyttleton. According to The Guardian Newspaper of London, June 3, 1967, the word “secession” has been used over the years as a re-negotiating tool by the various ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. The paper recalled that in 1960 Northern Nigerian openly threatened to secede unless it was guaranteed half the seats in the federal parliament. Northern Nigeria also threatened to secede after General Aguiyi-Ironsi issued his “unitary decree”. The paper states that “secession appeared to be Colonel Gowon’s original intention when he assumed office”.

Some continue to argue that the Yorubas would have seceded if the Obasanjo Presidency did not happen to pacify them after the annulment of June 12 Presidential Election. And following the attacks and invasion of their farmlands by some Fulani herdsmen last year, notable Yoruba leaders held an emergency summit in Ibadan, Oyo State, and threatened to review the status of the Yorubas in the Nigerian federation. And after former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae was abducted last year by suspected Fulani herdsmen, Yoruba leaders met and threatened secession from the geographical expression called Nigeria.

From the forgoing, it is obvious that failed federalism breeds secessionist agitations and separatist movements in Nigeria. Therefore if the Buhari government intends to rid Nigeria of secessionist agitations and separatist movements, it should promote true federalism. Now is the time for true amendment of behaviour and actions to avoid permanently sinking in the mud. Unity has a price tag. It is not something imposed from the top through executive fiat. You cannot say that unity of Nigeria is not negotiable while at the same time you are putting obstacles to that unity. According to Osuntokun, “You want unity, you bridge and heal divisions not deepen and aggravate them. You listen and respect public opinion, not dismiss and wave it away”. And I will add: if you want unity and progress, eliminate the circumstances that bring secession, separatist agitations and rebellions. Correct the present lopsided political appointments. Allow the citizens to exercise their freedom to religious liberty.

Appoint competent technocrats to run the government irrespective of their tribes and tongues. Let commutative justice reign. After all, unity and peace spring from the crannies of justice. Without justice there will be no true unity and peace.

A GLIMMER OF HOPE Jones Ekpa reckons the appointment of Victor Ndoma-Egba as NDDC chairman is well made

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hile it is agreeable that the Niger Delta region occupies a strategic place in the development of Nigeria, the attitude of successive administrations in harnessing development initiatives for the region has been a subject of diverse scrutiny.

Various agitations in the region since independence had been about development issues, though, often hijacked by some clandestine interests with ulterior motives.

Since coming on board, President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated considerable wherewithal to get it right on the issue of development in the region. Apart from mobilising resources to bolster development, the need to bring in knowledgeable hands to steer the development processes has also been adequately addressed by the administration.

This is where the recent appointment of Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, as Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) comes into focus. This appointment further confirms Buhari administrations readiness to put square pegs in square holes.

For a man who has been in public service for the better part of his life, Senator Ndoma- Egba comes to the job

with a wealth of experience to justify President Buhari’s confidence in him.

To refresh memory, his father, Justice Ndoma-Egba, a legal luminary in his own right, dedicated a large part of his professional experience to the issue of development in the Niger Delta region. The senior Ndoma-Egba obviously passed the concerned traits to the younger who has remained a voice of reason since his younger day as Director General of Cross River Basin and Rural Development and then Commissioner for Works, both in the old Cross Rivers State.

Known for his avowed prudence, Ndoma- Egba brought the enthusiasm as a development advocate even while he consolidated on his legal profession where he rose to the height of legal prominence as a Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

When the good people of Cross Rivers Central Senatorial District overwhelmingly elected Victor Ndoma-Egba as senator in 2003, it was a reflection of the people’s appreciation of his potential and deep understanding of the challenges of the Niger Delta region. He rose through the ranks in the hallowed chambers in a career spanning 12 years to become Senate Leader.

While he served in the senate, NdomaEgba made the development of his

constituency and the entirety of the Niger Delta region a fulcrum of his legislative interventions. While many in Cross Rivers State today owe their livelihood to the numerous skills acquisition projects of the amiable senator, many more in the Niger Delta see him as their champion.

Addressing development challenges in the Niger Delta requires tact and commitment. Evolving modern approaches that meet the demand of time should be at the heart of any effort targeted at achieving results. Any well-meaning person who has the interest of the Niger Delta at heart should join hands with Ndoma-Egba to achieve the collective objective.

His background in law and lawmaking is an added advantage to the task ahead.

With renewed militancy in the region, some elements of sentimental opposition to the vision of the Buhari-led federal government and the stark underdevelopment that haunts the region recently, the verve that Senator Ndoma- Egba is bringing aboard is capable of meeting the mandates of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and this is comforting. To rally the people of a region who felt short-changed by successive administrations - including the one by their immediate kinsman- is a herculean task but could be met by the pragmatism

of the incoming NDDC Chairman.

Majority of the people of the Niger Delta are confident of the sincerity of President Buhari in improving their lots.

What the new NDDC leadership under the knowledgeable chairman needs to do is to consolidate on this confidence by bringing needed development to the region.

Senator Ndoma- Egba’s appointment is instructive in two ways: President Buhari has given Cross River State a better sense of belonging in the region, after her oil wells were taken by Akwa Ibom State in a most controversial manner, and the imperative of encouraging quality leadership which the erstwhile senator would bring to bear. Even the virtue of integrity and a knack for excellence which he is known for further attests to the president’s charge for change.

Ndoma-Egba parades a robust resume including an LL.B degree from the prestigious University of Lagos, LL.M from the University of Calabar and was called to the Nigerian bar in 1978. He was promoted to the rank of SAN in 2004, the only time a sitting senator ever got such privilege. In this particular appointment, President Buhari has shown that he truly appreciates excellence.

Ekpa wrote from Abuja

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

EDITORIAL THE PERENNIAL FLOODING CHALLENGE The country must pay attention to the environment

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rom Ibadan, Oyo State, where a family lost its bread winner and two children to Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, where no fewer than a thousand people were rendered homeless, floods are again wreaking havoc in our country. In several parts of Nigeria within the past one month, villages and farmlands had been submerged and more people are swelling the population of the internally displaced. This perennial challenge should not be allowed to continue.

Unfortunately, the situation was also avoidable in many instances. Just recently, the federal government requested Nigerians, particularly those living along the banks of the River Niger, to immediately relocate to safer places. The report indicated that the flood path traversing the Republics of Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria would remain dangerous, warning that an estimated 105,000 Nigerians may be affected. Not many people heeded the warning. Now floods are occurring with a vengeance, endangering many THERE IS NEED FOR people and bringing NIGERIANS TO BEGIN down everything on TO IMBIBE THE RIGHT its path.

ATTITUDE TO WASTE Instructively, DISPOSAL BECAUSE while Nigeria has FLOODING IN SOME many challenges, the OF OUR MAJOR CITIES environment is not CANNOT BE SOLELY often listed as one of ATTRIBUTED TO THE them. It highlights QUIRKS OF NATURE a national malaise and our lackadaisical attitude to serious issues. It is therefore time Nigeria became part of the global trend of putting issues of the environment on the front burner while the relevant authorities should be proactive in preventing disasters. And when they inevitably occur, governments at all tiers, complemented by private sector organisations and well-endowed individuals, should come to the aid of the victims as we see in

Letters to the Editor

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other parts of the world.

Elementary science teaches that as global temperatures rise, oceans get warmer. When water heats up, it expands, leading to a rise in sea levels as we have been witnessing in several countries in recent times. It is therefore no surprise that in several coastal cities across the world today, climate change is creating a situation where too much water comes at an unexpected time, or in unexpected places causing serious problems. It is little wonder that the densely populated, low-lying cities and towns in our country have also become environmental nightmares for most of their inhabitants on account of flooding.

H T H I S DAY

EDITOR IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU DEPUTY EDITORS BOlAJI ADEBIYI, JOSEph UShIGIAlE 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

owever, beyond the intervention of the government at all levels is the need for Nigerians to begin to imbibe the right attitude to waste disposal because flooding in some of our major cities cannot be solely attributed to the quirks of nature. The habits of the people indeed play a crucial role in what has been happening over the years anytime it rains. Most drains are blocked due to the indiscriminate dumping of waste on the roads and drainages.

This unsanitary attitude quite naturally leads to blockages of canals and man-holes resulting in the type of floods that have been witnessed in recent weeks. There are also several buildings that have been erected on drainage channels. This ugly trend must stop while the state government must ensure that all those buildings are pulled down for free flow of water into the canals.

However, it is not enough for the government to just ask citizens to leave flood paths without providing any measures for their relocation. There is need therefore to resettle those living close to flood-prone areas. There will be resistance from some people, but they must be made to realise the consequences of whatever choice they make: between accepting to be resettled and staying back in their endangered communities.

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.

BIAFRA: BEFORE THE COCK CROWS

all it the curse of Ham, and you may be right. Call it the black man’s plague and you are still not far from the truth. But anywhere you see the man of colour whether in Europe, in the Caribbean, America, Asia or even in the African continent, one striking feature is the apparent lack of unity. The only thing the black man agrees upon is to agree on nothing.

Since 1876 when the Scramble for Africa was started by King Leopold of Belgium, one of the pathologies which made the partitioning of Africa so easy was the disunity that existed and still exists among the blacks. This is the reason why slave trade flourished n black African nations as we became easy pickings for the colonial masters who capitalised on our penchant for disunity to further disunite us.

At the beginning of Apartheid government in South Africa, five million whites suppressed and subjugated 28 million blacks because of the inability of the South African people to come together in the spirit of unity. It will be recalled that the Xhosas and Zulu people of South Africa have been fighting for close to 200 years prior to this time.

Our beloved nation, Nigeria is over 100 years old as a federation, dating back to January 1, 1914 when the Northern and Southern protectorates were merged together, yet there remains a big chasm in our ranks. The 2015 elections was an eye-opener when politicians campaigned across tribal lines and even Nigerians voted ditto. In Lagos, in particular, a certain political party sufficiently used the ethnic card to curry votes from Igbos who reside in Lagos.

It is not unusual to hear Africans lay the blame of African nations at the doorstep of supposed colonial masters who had left the shores of Africa for God knows when. It is only when we want to speak with both sides of the mouth and are ignorant of history that we

would wholly lay the blame of our disunity on the colonial masters that ‘divided’ us. The truth of the matter, however, is that the colonial masters merely capitalised on our disunity to entrench their hegemony.

In Rwanda, for instance, the Hutus and Tutsis have shared common distrust and dislike for one another ever before the first white man stepped on the soils of Kigali. How does one explain the massacre of 1.2 million people in 90 days without the help of a nuclear weapon or hydrogen bomb? So bad was the Rwanda genocide (not war) that the Hutus also killed fellow Hutus who abode the Tutsis ‘cockroaches’. It was called Operation Cut the Tall Trees and it involved neighbours against neighbours, brothers against brothers, even husbands against wives.

In Nigeria, today, over three decades after the end of the civil war, the ghost of Biafra is coming back to haunt us like the walking dead.

It is looking like a thriller night. The arrowhead of the renewed Biafra agitation this time around is not a Sandhurst-trained colonel from a rich aristocratic background like Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu. It is a UK emigrant named Nnamdi Kalu who is popularly referred to as ‘Director’ by his followers. He founded the media-savvy organisation known as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The organisation is affiliated with an active diplomatic arm (Biafra Diplomatic Mission Worldwide), online TV (Biafra Television) and radio (Radio Biafra) stations, an online newspaper (Biafra Times), and active social media outlets (including a Facebook page with 223,000 Likes).

In February Kanu opened an “Embassy” of the Republic of Biafra in Spain; IPOB claims to have members in more than 80 countries.

Kanu was arrested by operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) in Lagos in October 2015, and has been in detention since then even

after a federal court ruling deemed the activist’s detention unlawful.

Since then, IPOB has regularly held street protests, calling for his release. Several people have been reported killed in clashes with the police and military.

At this point, it is crucial to ask some pertinent questions. After all, the elders of our land say to get the right answers, we need to ask the right questions. Is it true that the average Hausa man hates the average Igbo man and vice-versa? Is it true that an Igbo man can never become the president of Nigeria given the political hegemony of the North?

Is it true that if an Ebele had won the re-election bid in 2015 and not a Muhammadu, the Ghost of Biafra will be sleeping quietly in its grave? Will going our separate ways, ala the Brexit path, do us much good? Has it helped the USSR or Yugoslavia? Who really stands to benefit from the fall out of the Biafran agitation? Is it the poor woman plying her wares in Aba or Onitsha market or the young Ikechuckwu in Nekede (or Oko) trying to hustle and survive against all odds?

In all honesty, I sincerely believe that our major problem in this country is not really our multi-ethnic composition. The major problem as I see it is the greed and inordinate ambition of the ruling class. The typical Hausa man basically has no qualms about who becomes the president or not. Likewise the average Yoruba or Igbo man. All the masses care about is where their daily bread would come from. The ruling elite merely play the ethnic card to capitalise on the emotional stress of the masses and turn them against each others.

Jedy Omisore, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016 T H I S D AY Advertorial

T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

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

THE NEWSMAKER

Ekere’s Big Comeback The appointment of a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere, as the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission is more than just a ‘job for the boys’. Segun James writes

T

hat President Muhammadu Buhari was going to appoint someone from Akwa Ibom as the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was not in doubt. The Act establishing the commission dictates that it was not only the turn of the state to produce the chief executive of the commission, which rotates among the oil producing states, according to the oil production quota, but that the state still has about two more years to run on its four years tenure before another state takes over.

The surprise, however, was the submission of the name of a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Nsima Ekere to the Senate for confirmation by the President. Not only that, the appointment of a former Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, as chairman of the Commission, also took many by surprise. Ndoma-Egba only recently joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ekere immediately replaces Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, a former Commissioner for Information in Rivers State, who has been acting as the Managing Director of the commission since Mr. Bassey Dan Abia was removed by President Buhari last year.

Ekere, a political warrior, was at loggerheads with his principal, former Governor Godswill Akpabio over who would succeed him. While he believed he should naturally take over from the governor because of his supposed loyalty to his boss, the governor thought otherwise and in the political crisis that followed, he was ousted, a situation that made him and his successor, Valerie Ebe as one those who had occupied the office of deputy governor for the shortest period.

With only 17 months and two days in office, Ekere had the shortest stint as deputy governor in Akwa Ibom’s history while Ebe was the first female deputy governor in the state. Ekere had hurriedly resigned from office on Wednesday, October 31, to beat his planned impeachment by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, believed to have been instigated by Akpabio.

After the former deputy governor resigned, words like loyalty and obedience popped up in the air as citizens speculated what really went wrong between him and Akpabio, and at what point their relationship went bad. But a segment of the people in Akwa Ibom, who were carried away by the emotions of 2015 politics saw it differently – that another powerful aspirant from the Eket Senatorial District had been “forced out of the race for the 2015 governorship election”.

As a result of his resignation, Ekere defected to the APC and was one of the aspirants that made it tough for the PDP candidate to emerge governor of the state. Since the general election, Ekere had been out of the limelight until his surprise appointment, which is by all standards, a big comeback for him, both politically and otherwise.

Reacting to the appointment, the Akwa Ibom State Working Committee of the APC in a statement jointly signed by the leader of the party, Obong Umana Umana and the state chairman of the party, Dr. Amadu Attai, commended the president for the reconstitution of the board of the NDDC. “On behalf of the State Working Committee and the entire membership of the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), we want to commend President Muhammadu Buhari on the reconstitution of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

“We are indeed delighted at the high quality of appointees to the new Board of the Com-

As a result of his resignation, Ekere defected to the APC and was one of the aspirants that made it tough for the PDP candidate to emerge governor of the state. Since the general election, Ekere had been out of the limelight until his surprise appointment, which is by all standards, a big comeback for him, both politically and otherwise

Ekere...is he the change the NDDC craves

mission and want to register our appreciation of the President’s careful and well-considered choices, which reflect deep concern for experience, competence and integrity. We are confident that the new Board under the able chairmanship of the highly experienced Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba will effectively steer the affairs of the Commission for the fulfillment of its mandate to the people of the Niger Delta,” the party stated.

The party also described the former deputy governor as the right pick for the top job at the Commission in terms of his track record, exposure and other indicators of leadership and expressed confidence in his ability to discharge the office of Managing Director of the Commission with utmost prudence, dedication and exemplary sense of duty.

They further expressed delight at the choice of the Commissioner-designate from the state, describing Hon. Frank as a man known for his self-control, loyalty to any cause he believes in and commitment to duty and therefore wished all the appointees to the new Board of the NDDC success in their new assignments.

Also, a former Minister of Petroleum, Atuekong Don Etiebet, who spoke on the telephone with our reporter from the United States of America,

said Buhari had by the NDDC appointment proved mischief makers wrong.

“I received the news two days ago while on a trip in the USA with lots of excitement. I quickly sent my congratulations to His Excellency, Obong Nsima Ekere on his very well deserved appointment, which has gone to prove the political mischief makers wrong that Akwa Ibom was being neglected. I thank President Muhammadu Buhari most heartily for the appointment and pray Almighty God to give His Excellency, Nsima Ekere all the wisdom to make the difference at the NDDC required of him in this dispensation,” he said.

On his part, the immediate past Senator representing Akwa Ibom North West, Senator Aloysius Etok described Ekere’s appointment as a perfect match for the institution and expressed gratitude to President Buhari for making it happen.

“I congratulate His Excellency, Obong Nsima Ekere on this well-deserved appointment as the Managing Director of NDDC. He is a square peg in a square hole given his wealth of experience and knowledge of the Niger Delta Region.”

Ekere was born on May 29, 1965 in Ikot Oboroenyin, Edemaya Clan in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He

started his secondary education at Regina Coeli College, Essene, Ikot Abasi, and completed same at Mary Knoll College Ogoja, Cross River State.

He had a brief stint at The Polytechnic, Calabar between 1981 and 1982 before proceeding to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he graduated with B.Sc. Honours Degree in Estate Management in 1986.

He is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (FNIVS).

He is also a registered member of Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVRBN). A Senior Certified Valuer of the International Real Estate Institute, IREI, Minnesota, USA, Ekere is an associate member of the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation, IRRV, London.

In 1989, Mr. Ekere set up Gassons Nigeria Limited, an indigenous anti-corrosion, environmental, fabrication/maintenance engineering company.

Before joining politics, Ekere was the Principal Partner at Ekere and Associates, a firm of estate valuers and real estate development consultants with offices in Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja and Uyo, which he started in 1993.

He had sat on the board of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) and also served in various entities like Universal Energy Resources Limited, Anchor Insurance before emerging deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State.

Ekere’s active political career began in December 1997, when he contested and won election into the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly during the Abacha Transition on the platform of the Grassroots’ Democratic Movement (GDM). He wasn’t however inaugurated before Abacha died in June 1998 and that transition was truncated.

He then joined the PDP at the start of the Abdulsalami Abubakar’s transition in 1998 and played a very active part in the politics of the state till he emerged deputy governor on May 29, 2011.

In March 2008, Ekere was appointed Executive Chairman of Akwa Ibom Investment & Industrial Promotion council (AKIIPOC), the investments and industrial promotions’ arm of the Akwa Ibom State Government. He also served simultaneously as Chairman of Ibom Power Company, the independent power generating company owned by Akwa Ibom State.

According to him, he left the PDP on personal grounds on October 31, 2012. He was the leader of the G22, a group of 22 disgruntled PDP governorship aspirants in the 2015 governorship poll, who defected to the APC after losing out in the primaries. He is married to Ese.

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PERSPECTIVE

MIDWEEKPOLITICS

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!

It’s time to stop making excuses for President Muhammadu Buhari and see through his evident short comings, writes Reno Omokri

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AVEAT: I know Segun Adeniyi, the current chair of the editorial board of THISDAY newspapers, personally. He is a brilliant and intelligent patriot, whom I believe has Nigeria’s best interests at heart. This piece should not be seen as an attack on the former presidential spokesman. It should be seen in the light of what it truly is: an emergency intervention.

Voices like Adeniyi and others of his kind are national treasures. They should be jealously guarded and appreciated by the nation. Part of that guarding and appreciating involves gently calling their attention to unforced errors they may have made so that they have the opportunity to make a course correction. That is the light in which this piece should be seen. End of Caveat!

There is so much misinformation in Nigeria today and I really cannot understand how the media that were like a Rottweiler under former President Goodluck Jonathan have suddenly turned into a chihuahua. What is going on? A lot of Nigerian journalists have reduced themselves to generators of excuses for President Muhammadu Buhari and I am concerned for the Fourth Estate of the realm. Really concerned!

In particular, I was rather disappointed when Olusegun Adeniyi said in his regular THISDAY back page column entitled ‘Leadership in a Time of Recession’ that ‘I sympathise with President Muhammadu Buhari because he inherited a broken system’ (published July 28, 2016).

Puhlease! Inherited a broken system?

Adeniyi in his piece more or less accused former President Goodluck Jonathan of inheriting a good system and handing over a worse and broken regime to President Muhammadu Buhari.

What a daring revision of history!

If any President tried to un-break the system, that President is former President Goodluck Jonathan, who demystified governance and lifted the veil that prior administrations had placed on the government infrastructure of Nigeria by signing the Freedom of Information Act into law on Saturday, May 28, 2011.

The question that should be asked is that if the signing of the FOI law helped to un-break the system, what was the equal and opposite action for which the FOI law was a reaction?

The system of transparency was broken in Nigeria when Major General Muhammadu Buhari (as he then was) promulgated Decree number 2 which made it a crime for any journalist or individual to report anything that embarrasses the government even if it is true!

That obnoxious law opened a Pandora box that encouraged every subsequent administration to tamper with press freedom. That was one tiny blow that broke the system.

Another blow that broke the system is the fact that because of the disregard to financial rules, which was the hallmark of military dictatorships, especially the Babangida and Abacha administrations (contrary to Buhari statement that ‘Abacha did not steal’, Abacha did steal and stole big!) Nigeria had over the years operated a system where the federal and state governments maintained multiple accounts which made it easy for corruption to thrive. The solution to un-breaking the system was a simple strategy devised by the Jonathan administration known as the Treasury Single account.

In the activities that marked its first

Let us be men and speak the truth to power. The Nigerian system was broken by Muhammadu Buhari and his long list of military successors and the most comprehensive effort at un-breaking Nigeria was carried out

by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan through the National Conference inaugurated by the then President on the 17th of March, 2014

Buhari...a curious obsession with Jonathan.jpg

year in office, the Buhari administration listed the Treasury Single Account (TSA) as its showpiece achievement. Even The Economist of London described the TSA as ‘her (Adeosun’s) Treasury Single Account’.

The truth is that TSA does not belong to the beautiful minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun in any way. To address it as hers is a fraud of the highest order. The idea is the brainchild of Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former President Goodluck Jonathan. In an attempt to

The system of transparency was broken in Nigeria when Major General Muhammadu Buhari (as he then was) promulgated Decree number 2 which made it a crime for any journalist or individual to report anything that embarrasses the government even if it is true! That obnoxious law opened a Pandora box that encouraged every subsequent administration to tamper with press freedom. That was one tiny blow that broke the system

revise history, the Buhari administration has alleged that the Jonathan government did not have the political will to implement the TSA. What a lie!

The truth is that the Jonathan administration had a Joseph who could see tomorrow (to borrow Mr. Adeniyi’s words) and that Joseph is alive today and is by name Dr. Mrs. Ngozi OkonjoIweala.

She warned the then President that an immediate and drastic implementation of the TSA would lead to a colossal loss of jobs in the banking industry, whose multiplier effect could trigger recession in the economy. To forestall that from happening, she advised a gradualist approach to its implementation.

With the benefit of hindsight, even Segun Adeniyi would have to agree that NOI was correct. The Buhari administration mad rush to take glory for another man’s ideas led it to implement the TSA in one fell swoop which has led to the loss of 80,000 direct jobs in the banking industry and has contributed to the recession Nigeria now finds itself.

And the desire to take credit for the work of others, to reap where they did not sow and to bask in the shade of trees planted by others has become a troubling pattern in the life of this administration.

Before the coming of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the railway sector of Nigeria was broken. Heck, it had even collapsed!

The Jonathan administration revived it and not just that, the underappreciated Jonathan government went ahead to complete the Abuja-Kaduna 187 KM fast rail network.

This legacy project was commissioned

by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday the 27th of July, 2016. On

that day, the President admitted that the railways had been restored back to their lost glory.

The question for Segun Adeniyi is this: who broke the railways? If he does not know, then I humbly request for his physical mailing address so I can mail him a copy of the front page of The Sunday Times (a rested publication of Daily Times of Nigeria) dated Sunday, January 20, 1985 with the headline ‘Weeds Overrun Rail Coaches’.

Does Segun Adeniyi want to hazard a guess as to who was in power in January of 1985, when the railways were broken? So, Segun, let me get this straight, the military administration of President Buhari broke our railway and the government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan straightened it out, yet in your judgment ‘President Muhammadu Buhari inherited a broken system’?

When Major General Muhammadu Buhari took power in 1983, Nigeria had a free press, Nigeria Airways was a viable airline, Nigerian National Shipping Line had multiple ships, Nigerian Railway Corporation was in full working order and the first underground metro-line project was on its way to reality in Lagos.

Let that represent an unbroken system.

By the time Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as President on the 6th of May, 2010, not one of these corporations existed. Yet, some pundits want to heap all the blame on Dr. Jonathan for breaking the system! Nigerians, by and large, are either cowards or suffering from the Stockholm syndrome: the act of blaming the victim and absolving the perpetrator.

Let us be men and speak the truth to power. The Nigerian system was broken

by Muhammadu Buhari and his long list of military successors and the most comprehensive effort at un-breaking Nigeria was carried out by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan through the National Conference inaugurated by the then President on the 17th of March, 2014.

Funny enough, it is President Buhari, the man who allegedly ‘inherited a broken system’ that has said that the report of that conference is fit only for the ‘archives’. Why will he not say so, when he has enough people like Segun to generate unsolicited excuses for him!

May the cerebral and highly respected Segun Adeniyi wake up one day and smell the coffee! In Jesus name, I pray!

Failing to do so would be to surrender to the fallacy of the single narrative that Segun himself warns us about.

-Omokri, a former aide of former President Goodluck Jonathan, is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center in California

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FEATURES

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

On the Trail of Serial Stowaways Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that the recent apprehension of four Nigerians who tried to stow away on a Malaysian-bound vessel, was a fallout of the recent basic maritime operations course which operatives of the Marine Police Command attended

"I

had no other option but to travel out of the country since I couldn't make it in Nigeria.

I didn't want to steal so I decided to stowaway. Although I was in South Africa before I was deported, I decided to try France after some of my friends who had earlier stowed away to France called me to come over."

Those were the very words of serial stowaway, 24-year-old Ahmed Azeez, a Kwara indigene, whose recent attempt to stowaway on a Malaysian-bound vessel was foiled.

Aside Azeez, the three others identified as 33-year-old Tunde Yagba and 33-year-old Ajose Kehinde, were recently paraded at the Marine Police Command, Lagos, and the fourth suspect, 25-year-old Adewale Sunday was hospitalised following an ulcer wound.

In their confessions at the jetty of the Marine Police Command, Victoria Island, Lagos, the suspects said they had all travelled to other countries like France, South Africa and Brazil in the past, but they were caught after some months in the country and were deported. Not deterred by that, they bided their time and this time, their target was a Malaysian-bound cargo vessel, MV Maersk Casablanca.

THISDAY gathered that their modus operandi was to hijack a fisherman's boat, wait till it was late in the night and then sail to the vessel and smuggle in through the manhole into the vessel, and join arrival at their country of choice, will leave same way and swim to the shore. Whilst in the belly of the vessel, they would feed on the comestibles like gala and garri, dousing it with sachet water.

Their arrest by the Marine Police Command was a positive result of the Basic Marine Operation Course (BMOC) 39 of its officers undertook at the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Quorra recently. The BMOC was a joint collaboration which saw the police undertake trainings in counter maritime crimes like pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and was targeted at developing capacity for marine and riverine operations for personnel of the police marine wing.

For 12 weeks, 14 assistant superintendents of police, six inspectors, four sergeants and 16 corporals were trained in areas of operations/jurisdiction in the internal waters best practices in seamanship, navigation and other specific areas of maritime operations.

The Suspect's Confession Azeez who said he had no other option but to smuggle out of the country added that the other option, which was stealing, wasn't a viable alternative, hence his decision to stowaway. He said, "Although I was in South Africa before I was deported, I decided to try France after some of my friends who had earlier stowed away to France called me to come over. We didn't steal the boat. We paid a fisherman N500 to ferry us across to the vessel. We bought garri and gala to tide us over."

The mastermind of the group, Ajose said he had in 2009 travelled to Brazil but was later deported, adding that he called the three others so that they can try again. He said, "We all met at the football field where we play football. So since I wanted to travel abroad, I told them of my desire and they all agreed to join me.

Some of the marine police patrol gunboats used in the operation

"We then bought some garri and gala with a bag of pure water. In the night, we paid a fisherman N500 each to carry us to the vessel and we entered through the manhole. I don't know how they heard us, maybe it's the people in the engine room that called the police.

"Because we were at the bottom of the ship, we didn't know where we were going but all we noticed was that they kept turning. We didn't know that the police had already alerted them.

"The crew came down to where we were and took us up to the bridge (the room from where the ship is controlled) and fed us some food because we were hungry. At

This particular route they took was an easy corridor for human trafficking, drug peddling, gun running, piracy, smuggling and hostage taking...this has been a recurring phenomena in the maritime environment as most of them claimed to have previously gone through this process to South Africa, Spain, and Canada only to be deported

that point, Adewale was already sick. His ulcer started disturbing him so after we were arrested, he was taken to the hospital.�

Also speaking, Yagba, an aspiring footballer said, "It was Ajose that called us together.

I told my family but they told me to desist but I had nothing to do so I followed my friends. I regret my actions now because I have shamed by family." His claims were later collaborated by his in-law, one Mr. Adebayo Onibayo who said, "He told me about his intending trip but I cautioned him. I thought he listened to me. It's bad friends that caused his ill-fated act."

The Marine Police's Strategy The tracking and arrest of the suspects, which was done by the Marine Police Command of the Nigerian Police was based on a tip off from the Amphibious Ambush Squad of the Marine Command. With the Officer-in-Charge of Marine Command, DSP Ben Ogungbure, under the leadership of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Marine Police Command, Muhammed Katsina, the operatives began to track their movement, who were without proper documentation.

The tracking paid off as the suspects were arrested and during preliminary interrogation, it was discovered that the suspects have in the past traveled to Brazil, South Africa and some even Canada before they were deported. Speaking with THISDAY, Katsina attributed the arrests on the training of its personnel at the BMOC at NNS Quorra.

Katsina said, "In my maiden speech upon my assumption of office as AIG Maritime, I made a pledge to empower a wide range of security architecture to cover our maritime environment, the waterways and littoral communities. Now, we are gradually dominating the maritime environment through our network of intelligence, which is very active.

"In this matter, it's a case of self human trafficking and stowaway of four young Nigerians who conspired with a criminal motive to travel out of the country without proper documentation. The suspects, all indigenes of Snake Island Village behind Tincan Island Port, Lagos, conspired with an intent to commit felony. They stole a canoe under the cover of darkness and paddled to a Malaysian-bound cargo ship MV Maersk Casablanca.

"The vessel was berthed at Tincan Island Port and trespassed into the vessel. They dived into the water and sneaked through the propeller into the manhole, where they hid themselves in a small compartment. It happened that 23 hours after the ship had sailed out, my intelligence group from the Amphibious Ambush Squad (AAS) alerted me of the presence of some strange elements in the vessel.

"We quickly alerted our operatives at Onne Port, in collaboration with the men of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) who played a commendable role and they were found and arrested. One of them (Adewale) was bleeding profusely as a result of injury he sustained in the process while sneaking into the vessel."

The AIG said upon interrogation of the suspects, it was discovered that the particular route they took was an easy corridor for human trafficking, drug peddling, gun running, piracy, smuggling and hostage taking.

He said, "From the account of the suspects, this had been a recurring phenomena in the maritime environment as most of them claimed to have previously gone through this process to South Africa, Spain, and Canada only to be deported.

"Therefore, we will redesign the methodology of our operation by seating with the Nigerian Navy, NIS and other sister agencies

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

to cover the maritime environment. So that whenever they want to use this corridor to commit crime, they will be arrested and prosecuted within the ambits of the law."

About the Basic Maritime Operations Course Undoubtedly, the success of the police operation can be traced to the BMOC held for the Marine Police Command at Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Quorra of the Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC).

Whilst it lasted, the BMOC Training Commander was Captain Livingstone Izu, and some of the maritime courses were taught by Captain Mayowa Olukoya, deputy commander of the Special Boat Services (SBS), for the 12-weeks course.

The training, which was broken down in three phases started with the 'Orientation Phase' at the Under Water Warfare School, which lasted for six weeks and it covered areas like basic seamanship, introduction to basic communication, Rules of the Road (ROR),International Humanitarian Law and Law of Armed conflict, chart work, search and rescue and it all culminated with a sea trip onboard NNS PROSPERITY. The next phase was the 'Weapon Handling', which was handled by the Special Boat Service instructors and lasted for two weeks.

The participants were introduced to AK-47 rifle, FN rifle and the Pistol.

They were also taught on weapon safety rules, marksmanship principles, basic loading and unloading drills as well as stripping and assembling of small arms. The participants were thereafter assessed.

The last phase was the 'Riverine Phase', and was conducted at the SBS Camp. This phase lasted for four weeks and covered craft recognition and familiarisation, boat handling skills and outboard motor maintenance, water survival skills (life jacket and Man Over Board drills), boat formations, pacing drills, Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) techniques for vessels, waterborne guard post and beaching.

THISDAY, who was at the recent graduation ceremony of the police operatives had recorded that the NAVTRAC Flag Officer Commanding, Rear Admiral Joseph Okojie, had noted that the graduation was a milestone for the navy and the police. He had also said that given that the maritime domain remains a strategic asset with enormous resources and potential, they are equally cognisant that the natural benefit has been persistently channeled by a myriad of threats that have impinged on Nigeria's economic wellbeing and national security.

He had noted that some of the major challenges in addressing these crimes have been inadequate trained manpower, procedural errors in arrest, improper evidence management and lack of diligent prosecution of the part of the security agencies, thus a holistic approach in the management of the maritime environment would therefore require a coordinated approach among the security agencies operating within the nation's maritime domain.

Stressing that it also calls for integrated capabilities, doctrine and interoperability, which underscores the need for inter agency

Therefore, we will redesign the methodology of our operation by seating with the Nigerian Navy, NIS and other sister agencies to cover the maritime environment.

So that whenever they want to use this corridor to commit crime, they will be arrested and prosecuted within the ambits of the law

The Officer-in-Charge of Marine Command, DSP Ben Ogungbure, and the immediate past Assistant Inspector General of Police, Marine Police Command, Muhammed Katsina, at the police jetty

The three stowaways arrested onboard a Malaysian-bound vessel

Three of the best maritime police officers that partook in the BMOC

collaboration and training, Okojie said it was in that light that the navy was tasked to conduct the BMOC for personnel of the NPF and so, the course was aimed at ensuring that the marine police have a grasp of the necessary skills.

His assertions were also collaborated by the Commandant of the school, NNS Quorra, Commodore Francis Isaac, who said that with the knowledge and practical experience from the SBS camp, the underwater warfare school and other lectures and presentations

organised, the police would expect more from them. And that was exactly what happened when the information of the stowaways came.

Still basking in the knowledge received, the men were able to track and effectively arrest the suspects.

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IMAGES

T H I S D AY •WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

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

L-R: Founder & CEO of the Olakunle Soriyan Company, Mr. Olakunle Soriyan; Convener & Visionary of Excellence In Life, Dr. Femi Paul, and CEO & Founder, ImagePro Consulting Limited Mrs. Evelyn Femi-Paul, during a lecture on THE CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE, at University of Lagos,recently

L- R: Past District Governor, Rotary International, District 9110, Dr. Kamoru Omotosho; Special Guest of Honour, Dr. Adekunle Hassan, and, President, Rotary Club of Ikoyi, Barr. Oladele Ojogbede at the induction of Ojogbede as the 32nd President of the Club in Lagos...recently

L-R: Former President, Rotary Club of Ikate District 9110, Moses Chukwuka; President, Alade Olanrewaju Solomon; Immediate Past President, Tony Anselm; Former Presidents, Ambo Obobong; and Don Anaeto, during the installation ceremony of Alade as the 30th president of the club in Lagos‌recently

L-R: General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation, Abimbola Okoya;; Senior Special Adviser to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, and Sustainable Development Goals Fund Director, Paloma Duran during the Universal Sustainable Development Agenda Workshop for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Fund(SDG-F) at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja... recently

L-R; Director General, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Paul Angya; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mallam Aminu Aliiyu-Bisala; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enilamah; and President, Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Frank Udember Jacob, at the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment one day interactive forum with the captain of industries. in Lagos...recentl sunday adigun

L-R: Vice President, Brands and Advertising, Airtel Nigeria, Enitan Denloye; The Voice Nigeria Coach, Waje; Winner of The Voice Nigeria, Arese and Head, Youth Segment, Airtel Nigeria, Omoyeme Effiong at the Grand Finale of The Voice Nigeria in Lagos...recently

Charter President, Rotarian Bola Oyebade, District 9110 Governor, Rotarian Patrick Ikheloa, Rotarian Olusegun Alao; Current President, the Rotary Club of Maryland, Ikeja, Rotarian Babatunde Ojo his wife Rotarian Ann Temitope Ojo, District Governor Spouse, Zainab Ikheloa and District 9110 Governor Elect, Rotarian Dr Adewale Ogunbadejo during the District Governor team official working visit to the Rotary Club of Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos...recently

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

Group Business Editor Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Email chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08057161321, 08033294157

BUSINESSWORLD NIBOR OVERNIGHT 1-MONTH

R A T E S NIBOR

4.5833% 15.2916%

3-MONTH 6-MONTH

A S

17.6379% 19.7737%

A T

NITTY 1-MONTH 2-MONTH 3-MONTH

J U L Y 15.5180% 16.0890% 16.2215%

2 9 ,

6-MONTH 9-MONTH 12-MONTH

2 0 1 6

18.4206% 19.66375% 20.0408%

EXCHANGE RATE NN321.16/1US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes Nigerian Firm, CAR Govt Sign Deal

A leading Nigerian company, Sykes Energiprojekts Limited, that provides Energy support services to the Nigerian oil industry, added another major milestone to her string of achievements by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the government of Central Africa Republic (CAR) for the purpose of building brand new oil storage facilities and LPG plants/filling stations across the country to add to existing infrastructures that were built in the 1960’s. In a statement by the Company’s Chief Executive, Engr.

Johnny Esike, the project, valued at about 60 million USD, would promote human capital development in Nigeria as well as the Central African Republic among other African countries.

Also, it said it would help in accelerating the nation’s socio-economic upliftmentefforts,furtherstrengthenbilateralrelationsandenhance mutually beneficial economic based policies of Nigeria with other African nations.

Skye Bank, Parkway Partner on e-Banking

PUTTING HEADS TOGETHER

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo (Right) in a tête-à-tête with the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Segun Awolowo during the Press Conference/Inauguration of the Zero2Export programme in Lagos …recently

FG’s Revenue Drops by 53 Per Cent in May Obinna Chima At N384.88billion, estimated federally-collected revenue (gross) in May 2016, fell short of the provisional monthly budget estimate of N814.87billion by 52.8 per cent.

It was also lower than the receipt of the preceding month by 1.6 per cent.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which disclosed this in its monthly economic report for May 2016 that was posted on its website stated that the development, relative to the provisional monthly budget estimate was attributed to the decline in oil and non-oil revenue.

According to the report, at N185.76 billion or 48.3 per cent of the total revenue, gross oil

ECONOMY receipts also fell short of both the provisional monthly budget estimate of N452.60 and the preceding month’s receipts of N227.69 billion by 59 and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

The decrease in oil revenue relative to the monthly budget estimate was attributed to the decline in domestic crude oil/ gas sales owing to shut-downs and shut-ins in production arising from repairs at some NNPC terminals.

Pipeline destruction, vandalism and the persistent decline in crude oil prices also contributed to the decline.

Furthermore, it revealed that non-oil revenue, at N199.12 billion or 51.7 per cent of the total revenue fell short of both

the provisional monthly budget estimate of N362.26billion and the preceding month’s level by 45 and 2.7 per cent, respectively.

The decline in May 2016, compared with the preceding month, was due to the decrease in receipts from the independent revenue of the federal government, Customs and excise duties.

Of the gross federallycollected revenue, the sums of N57.11billion, N1.20billion and N6.33billion were deducted from the gross oil revenue in respect of JVC Cash Calls, Department of Petroleum Resources’ cost of collection and NNPC Refunds, respectively, leaving a net balance of N121.12billion as oil receipts.

Similarly, the sum of N7.35billion was deducted as

cost of collection by the Federal Inland Revenue Service and Nigeria Customs Service from the gross non-oil receipt, leaving a net balance of N191.77billion.

It also showed that Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids stood at an average of 1.35 mbd or 41.85 million barrels (mb) in the review month.

This represented a decline of 0.33 mbd or 19.6 per cent below the average of 1.68 mbd or 52.08 mb recorded in the preceding month. Crude oil export stood at 0.90 mbd or 27.90 mb, which represented a decrease of 26.83 per cent, compared with 1.23 mbd or 38.13 mb recorded in the preceding month. The development in crude oil Continued on page 24

Five Banks Support Customers with N6.6trn Loans in Six Months Goddy Egene Five banks have boosted the businesses of their customers with N6.561trillion in the first six months of the year through loans and advances, THISDAY checks have revealed.

The amount of loans and advances is 21 per cent higher than the N5.435trillion given out by the same banks in the same period of the previous year. The five banks are FBN Holdings Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Sterling Bank Plc and FCMB Group Plc. Given the headwinds in the economy that have increased the risk of debt repayment, banks were expected to reduce their

BANKING exposure to their customers.

However, THISDAY checks showed that instead of a reduction in level of lending, the five banks that have released their results for the half year ended June 30, 2016, increased their support in terms of loans and advances to customers.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated that has operations across the African continental led with N2.856 trillion, up from N2.321trillion in 2015.

FBN Holdings Plc trailed with N2.111trillion, compared with N1.817trillion in 2015.

FCMB Group Plc gave out loans and advances of N657 billion, up from N593billion

the previous year, while Union Bank of Nigeria Plc boosted the businesses of its customers with N475billion in 2016, an improvement on the N366billion in 2015.

Sterling Bank Plc recorded loans and advances of N462billion, up from N338billion in 2015. Market analysts said while the economic situation remains challenging, banks are strengthening their risk assessment strategies to ensure mitigation against those challenges.

For instance, FBN Holdings last week said it had continued to revamp its credit and risk management processes towards generating high quality assets and have begun to see

improvements in this process operationally.

According to the Managing Director /CEO of First Bank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan said, “Despite the 40 per cent devaluation impact on our risk assets, we have made progress with building stronger risk management architecture and strengthening the overall control environment. The economic slowdown has continued to constrain lending activities; however, as we overhaul our risk management processes, lending will be measured, very structured and controlled.

We are focusing on growing transactions/activities of our Continued on page 24

Skye Bank Plc has signed an agreement with Parkway Projects Limited to deploy Parkway’s innovative business banking suit called Bank3D, to provide pleasant online banking experiences to its business and corporate customers. A statement issued by the bank said the partnership will enable the its corporate customers gain visibility and control over all bank accounts in Nigeria as well as their value chain of vendors, suppliers, dealers, customers and employees from a single shared industry platform.

Bank3D is a managed business banking hub with apps for large, mid-sized,smallbusinessandgovernmentagencies;theircustomers, vendors and employees; offered in partnership with Nigerian banks.

“Parkway has consistently demonstrated thought leadership and expertise in building innovative financial technologies for the industry over the past decade. We are proud to be the first to be fully activated on Parkway’s PSSP licensed shared platform,” Group Head, E-channels, Skye Bank, Mr. Akinwale Ojo said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer, Parkway Projects, Mr. Uzo Eziukwu, said: “The Bank3D service was developed inresponsetotheincreasingyearningofbusinessesandcorporations in Nigeria for simple integrated online banking solutions that connect the business to its bankers and value chain for seamless transaction banking on the go.”

CFAO Offers Leasing Services

CFAOhasannouncedthatitsignedanewmulti-yearlicenseagreement with Avis Car Rental, one of the world’s best-known car rental brands.

CFAO operates the Avis Car Rental brand inWestern Africa and now, as part of this agreement will also offer vehicle leasing to customers.

“CFAO has a 20-year long partnership history with Avis, and proven experience successfully operating the Avis Car Rental brand in Western Africa,” the chief executive officer, Rental Operations, CFAO, Stéphane Henry.“We are delighted to operate leasing under the LOXEA / Avis Fleet brand going forward. We’re delighted to extend our relationship with CFAO,” president and chief financial officer, Avis Budget Group, David B. Wyshner said.

“This is an opportunity to leverage CFAO’s extensive knowledge of the car rental and leasing markets to grow and develop the Avis brand acrossWestern Africa.” In 2015, CFAO generated consolidated revenueof€3,435.7millionandrecordedrecurringoperatingincome of €269.2 million.

Firm Extends CSR to Campuses

As part of its corporate social responsibility initiative in Nigeria, personal style brand, Natures GentleTouch has extended its free hair consultation campaign to tertiary institutions across the country.

The campaign which kicked off at the University of Lagos is aimed at educating individuals, especially women, on how to grow, care, and maintain healthy hair and scalp by cultivating healthy hair routine.

Speaking on this development, Field Education Manager, Recare International, manufacturers of Natures Gentle Touch, Mr. Daniel Komla, was quoted in a statement to have noted that the campaign was borne out of the need to empower women with the knowledge to make informed choices in the face of frequent hair and scalp challenges.

“As a country, we must be able to feed ourselves and when you are able to feed your population, and then half of the problem is solved”

MD, FirstBank of Nigeria Ltd

Dr. Adesola Adeduntann

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD FG’S REVENUE DROPS BY 53 PER CENT IN MAY production was attributed, largely, to destruction of oil and natural gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta by the militants.

Allocation of crude oil for domestic consumption remained at 0.45 mbd or 13.95 mb during the period under review.

At an estimated average of US$47.59 per barrel, the average spot price of Nigeria’s reference crude, the Bonny Light (37º API), indicated an increase of 12.6 per cent, compared with the level in the preceding month. The development was attributed, largely, to increasing global oil supply outages and the growth in global oil demand, plus on-going declines in the US rig count and in crude oil production.

The UK Brent at US$44.77/b, the WTI at US$46.61/b, and the Forcados at US$47.19/b, exhibited similar trends as the Bonny Light.

In the same vein, provisional data indicated that relative to the level at end-April 2016, growth in the key monetary aggregates were moderate at the end of May 2016. On month-on-month basis, broad money supply (M2), at N20.971 trillion, fell by 0.03 per cent, in contrast to the increase of 1.3 per cent at the end of the preceding month.

FIVE BANKS SUPPORT CUSTOMERS WITH N6.6TRN LOANS IN SIX MONTHS existing customers as we keep leveraging our robust technology to provide digital banking and other innovative solutions to best serve our customers.”

Also speaking on the asset quality, Managing Director of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Yemi Adeola said: “The bank prioritised improvement in asset quality which was reflected by a 70 basis point decline in the non-performing loans and a 100 basis point reduction in cost of risk. Cost of funds also declined by 120 basis points to 4.7%. This was in spite of the foreign exchange liberalisation policy, the attendant liquidity squeeze and the rising inflation rate which peaked at 16.5 per cent in June 2016.”

Group Business Editor

NEWS

AON Denies Government Funding of Airlines Chinedu Eze The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has debunked reports that government has been funding Nigerian airlines, insisting that domestic airlines in the country did not get any form of funding from the government in the past 30 years when the deregulation of the industry was introduced in 1983.

The operators said this is contrary to widely held beliefs, opinions and publications in the media in recent past that they were given an intervention fund by the federal government.

The Chairman of AON, Capt. Nogie Meggison noted that domestic airlines in the country are privately owned establishments and have been funded solely by their owners without any form of injection of funds by the federal government.

He said the airlines have approached banks to source for funds like any other highly capital intensive private entity doing business in Nigeria and employing Nigerians, so airlines are free to approach the banks for loans which are serviced regularly at stipulated interest rates.

Meggison clarified: “Contrary to what most people in the public think, the airlines never received any direct fund from the Federal Government intervention. Rather, what happened was that the funds released went to the banks in an effort to keep them afloat for bad debts owed to banks by the airlines during a period of economic recession of 2011.”

The AON said the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, confirmed its position during the Senate hearing on the investigation of disbursement and utilisation of $40 million

Afrexim loan and N86.6 billion federal government intervention funds held at the National Assembly complex, Abuja on June 20, 2016.

It added that minister who incidentally was also a member of the Senate Committee that looked into the matter some years ago, noted that they observed that the banks were responding to global shocks at the time and argued that on the strength of the revelations, the monies were not meant to help aviation but rather to help some banks from going under.

“If monies were sent to a bank for a specific purpose and it was used for other purposes not directly to the airline account, then that matter should be looked into seriously,” Sirika

had said.

To this end, Senator Hope Uzodinma, former Chairman Senate Committee on Aviation noted that since the money did not eventually get to the airlines to revamp their fleet, then the money should not be called an aviation intervention fund.

Meggison expressed concern that airlines in Nigeria are grossly over burdened by the numerous charges from government agencies, taxes, overheads and epileptic and excessively priced aviation fuel of N200 per litre, unavailability of forex that they have to grapple with on regular basis to meet repairs and maintenance costs, purchase of spare parts and excessive bank loan interest of 26 percent, as well as training of pilots and

other technical personnel abroad on regular basis.

“It is very sad to note that despite all these numerous burdens on the shoulders of the Nigerian airlines which leaves them virtually able to survive or even make ends meet; airlines are still expected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to pay taxes out of their losses, making the operating cost more expensive to run an airline in Nigeria than anywhere else in the civilized world today due to multiple and excessive taxation from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigeria Airspace Management Authority (NAMA).

“This is an aberration and we

therefore call on the government to as a matter of urgency forge a strategy to bring all parties to the negotiating table, and look for the first time direct intervention funding to airlines in the interest of saving the aviation system from collapse considering that without the airlines there is no aviation,” Meggison said.

“It must also be put on record that the Nigerian airlines create about 90 percent of the full time employment in our aviation sector today both local and international and “we remain a pivot to the Nigerian economy and one of the main catalysts to economic recovery and national progress through the critical services we provide daily”, the operators added.

A WARM HANDSHAKE

L-R: Executive Director, Finance & Strategy, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman; Chairman, China Africa Finance and Industry Cooperation Summit, Mr. Yuan Ru Jun and Nigerian Ambassador to China, Shola Onadipe after a meeting in Abuja…recently

FG Moves to Curb Cybercrime Threat to National Security Emma Okonji Following the rise in cybercrime in recent times, the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has said that the federal government is now ready the expand its horizon to protect the nation’s cyberspace.

The Minister reiterated government’s commitment to address the growing rate of cybercrime during a keynote address he delivered at the NGSecure Infosecurity Conference put together by DIFENSORE in Lagos recently.

Speaking on the theme: ‘Cybersecurity Framework for

National Security’, Shittu said in view of the critical nature of the economy and government activities, “it is obvious that protection from different types of cyber and terrorist attacks is required.”

Shittu added: “Our cyberspace is being exploited to aid radicalism and violent extremism and government have realised that those tasked with the responsibility to protect our cyberspace can no longer function within a framework of the past.”

According to the minister, to address emerging cyber threats, “the government has setup computer emergency response teams

through the Office of the NSA and NITDA. Additionally, to further improve the nation’s preparedness to secure the cyberspace, the Cybercrime Advisory Council has also been inaugurated. The council is expected to facilitate the implementation of the Cybercrime Act, 2015, as well as the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy.”

He however said there was a need for accelerated Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development to foster inclusive development and address rising youth unemployment and other developmental challenges.

Shittu assured organisers of the conference of his support and collaboration to fight the ills in the country’s cyber space.

“Nigerians should therefore feel free to submit to me any realistic blueprint for my dispassionate consideration and immediate implementation,” he said.

The minister also said government’s proactive measure was necessary because Nigeria’s growing dependence on digital infrastructure poses grave threats to national security as the country loses about N127 billion which is 0.08 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP), yearly to cybercrime.

He identified software piracy, identity theft, electronic fraud, online spam, intellectual property theft and malware attacks as capable of having devastating and far reaching consequences on the economy.

Shittu urged the gathering to view Information Technology (IT) for national safety and security beyond a narrow focus on the usual security concerns and expand the scope to see IT for national safety and security as an outstanding and indispensable revenue earner, job creator, youth developer, innovation enabler and growth stimulator.

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku 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 (Maritime) Ejiofor Alike (Energy) James Emejo (Nation’s Capital) Obinna Chima (Money Mkt) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (Capital Market)

NIRSAL Guarantees N61.16bn Loans to Agriculture Plans credit to 3.8m farmers over 10 years James Emejo in Abuja Managing Director, Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Mr. Aliyu Hameed has said that the firm has guaranteed loans totaling N61.16billion to agriculture and disbursed N753.35million as rebate to borrowers who paid back loans on time between 2013 and 2015.

This was the period when the agency was still a project

implementation office under incubation within the Development Finance Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He added that NIRSAL had also guaranteed up to 207 agricultural value chain projects valued at N39.49billion under the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) programme of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development (FMARD) and paid $2.2million (N439.09million) as interest draw back to beneficiaries on

91 agriculture related projects.

Hameed said NIRSAL had between 2013 and mid-2016 trained 157,000 farmers/ primary producers in 6 value chains including rice, cocoa, cotton, tomatoes, sesame, and soybeans.

Speaking during a presentation at the Design Workshop on Establishing an African Agriculture Risk Sharing and Financing Mechanism which was organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in

Nairobi, Kenya, the NIRSAL boss argued that the growth of agriculture in Nigeria will lead not only to prosperity but also improve income equality in the country.

He, maintained that the positive impact of agriculture on income inequality was one of the several reasons for the focus of the Buhari administration on the sector which is believed to have the potential to boost the economy and improve the

lives of Nigerians.

Hammed further described the progress made so far by NIRSAL as a product of the farsighted pro-people vision of the Buhari administration and the continued commitment of the CBN under Mr. Godwin Emefiele to achieving the vision.

His comments also came as the AfDB identified the NIRSAL financial model as of the current successes of African agriculture during its post event assessment of the workshop.

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BUSINESSWORLD

EQUITIES WATCH

FBN Holdings Shows Resilience

Despite making huge provisions for impairment charges, FBN Holdings Plc ended the first half of this year with modest gains, writes Goddy Egene “This has been a very difficult time in the history of our institution. Despite the tough macroeconomic and regulatory backdrop during the year, our underlying business remains strong as reflected in the gross earnings growth of 4.9 per cent to N505.2 billion - clearly a leading position in the industry.

“In coming periods, our primary focus is to drive efficiency and operational excellence across all operating companies. Key initiatives in achieving this, as we eliminate the value eroding factors and seek to reposition the Group towards a new growth path, include: enhanced focus on moderating risk appetite, risk management practices and culture; disciplined cost containment; asset optimisation; and synergy realisation.”

The above were the words of the Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings Plc, Mr. UK Eke while commenting on the performance of the financial institution for the 2015 year.

It was a year FBN Holdings’ its profit after tax plunged to N15.1 billion from N84 billion in 2014.

According the financial institution, the fall in bottom-line was caused by the recognition of impairment charges on some specific accounts resulting from a reassessment of the loan portfolio within its commercial banking business. The bank made a provision of N119.3 billion for impairment, up from N25.9 billion in 2015. However, going by the results of the FBN Holdings released last week, things are getting better as the level of decline has significantly reduced.

Financial performance An analysis of FBN Holdings’ results show that it recorded gross earnings of N267.9 billion in H1 of 2016, which is 1.2 per cent lower than the N271.3 billion in H1 of 2015, reflecting the slow business environment and restricted trade flows.

Net interest income fell by 5.0 per cent to N126.1 billion from N132.7 billion, impacted by the reduction in the average volume of loans to customers due to deliberate measures on moderating lending activities and lower yields from interest earning assets relative to the previous period.

Non-interest income increased by 52 per cent to N94.1 billion, up from N61.9 billion and contributed 42.7 per cent to net revenue in 2016, compared to 31.8 per cent in 2015.

Foreign exchange income stood at N52.9 billion, up by 56.3 per cent from N16.9billion in 2015.

A further breakdown shows that fees and income, was N34.7 billion, as against N33.2billion in 2015. The improvement was driven by N37.5 per cent in electronic banking fees to N10.4 billion, from N7.5 billion as well.

Underscoring the revenue synergies inherent in its business and enhancing the contribution of the non-commercial banking businesses to the Group, net insurance premium grew by 30.5 per cent to N3.5 billion, from N2.7billion in 2015.

Similarly, financial advisory and fund management fees from its merchant banking and asset management business increased by 76.5 per cent and 75.9 per cent respectively to N3.2billion and N1.2billion.

Despite the rising cost of doing business in the country, FBN Holdings was able to control its expenses. Consequently, operating expenses declined by 13 per cent from N119.9billion to N104.3billion. Cost to income ratio improved from 61.6 per cent to 47.4 per cent in 2016.

But net impairment charges jumped to N69.9 billion in 2016, from N22.6 billion in 2014. The rise in impairment charges was driven primarily due to the impact of the devaluation of the Naira on the oil and gas, real estate and general sectors.

In terms of total assets, FBN Holdings closed the H1 with a total assets of N4.8 trillion, up from N4.2 trillion as at December 31, 2015, essentially driven by growth in loans to banks and customers by 87.8 per cent and 16.2 per cent to N724 million and N2.1trillion respectively.

The bank’s total customer deposits customer deposits rose by 4.2 to N3.1 trillion from N2.97 trillion).

commercial banking arm of the FBN Holdings Plc showed that profit after tax rose down by 26 per cent to N29.4 billion, from N39.9 billion in 2015. Total assets rose by 15.4 per cent to N4.39 trillion, from N3.97 trillion.

Commenting on the results, the MD/CEO of First Bank, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan said: “We have again demonstrated very strong revenue generation capacity with gross earnings of N244.9 billion in the first half of the year.

Again, this reflects that the fundamentals of our underlying business remain strong.

In addition, we consolidated on improving trends in operating expenses, with a 14.3 per cent year on year reduction achieved in a 16.5 per cent inflationary environment.”

“Despite the 40 per cent devaluation impact on our risk assets, we have made progress with building stronger risk management architecture and strengthening the overall control environment. The economic slowdown has continued to constrain lending activities; however, as we overhaul our risk management processes, lending will be measured, very structured and controlled. We are focusing on growing transactions/activities of our existing customers as we keep leveraging our robust technology to provide digital banking and other innovative solutions to best serve our customers.”

The Commercial Banking business contributed 91.0 to the group’s gross earnings as against 91.5 per cent in 2015, and 78.5 per cent to the Group’s profit before tax compared with 91.1 per cent in 2015.

“We sustained effort in achieving an appropriate deposit mix at the right price. Underscoring this, the proportion of term deposits to total deposits remained stable but at a lower average cost. Low-cost deposits now represent 67.5 per cent of the Group’s total deposits from 67.3 per cent as at December 2015,” the bank said.

A further analysis of the deposit indicates that retail deposits in First Bank (Nigeria) represent 71.2 per cent of total deposits, up from 67.7 per cent in December 2015, with

corporate and commercial banking deposits representing 15.0 per cent of total deposits down from 20.1 per cent in December 2015.

Total loans and advances to customers increased by 16.2 per cent to N2.1 trillion, up from N1.82 trillion in December 2015, driven largely by the translation effect of the Naira devaluation on foreign currency loans.

Commercial Banking Group A breakdown of the performance of the

FBN HOLDINGS HALF YEAR FINANCIAL SUMMARY 400 350 300

JUNE 2016 N267.9bn

JUNE 2015 N271.3bn

250 200

JUNE 2015 JUNE 2016 N132.7bn N126.1bn

150 100

JUNE 2016 N69.9bn JUNE 2016 N45.9bn

50

JUNE 2015 N52.1bn

45

JUNE 2016 N35.9bn

40

JUNE 2015 N40.1bn

35 30

JUNE 2015 N22.66bn

25 20 15 10 05

GROSS EARNINGS

NET INTEREST INCOME

IMPAIRMENT CHARGES

PROFIT BEFORE TAX

PROFIT AFTER TAX

Merchant Banking & Asset Management The weak macroeconomic indices (rising inflation, foreign exchange scarcity, GDP contraction) continue to limit business activity and impacted the performance Merchant Banking and Asset Management (MBAM) business. MBAM’s total revenue reduced by 1.1 per cent to N18.7 billion, down from N18.9 billion, while profit before tax increased by 66.1 per cent to N9.8 billion, up from N5.9 billion, demonstrating the resilient and diversified nature of the business portfolio.

The key drivers of performance were the Investment Banking, Corporate Banking, Fixed Income Trading and Trustee businesses. The performance was also positively impacted by gains from the revaluation of foreign currency assets. Assets under management (managed funds) remained flat at N220 billion as against N219 billion as at December 2015, while total assets stood at N186.7 billion, compared with N168.2billion.

“Looking ahead to the second half of the year, despite the more liberalised exchange rate system, fairly stable oil prices, and a budget aimed at stimulating growth, we expect the macro headwinds to persist for some time before noticeable improvements start to materialise. We, however, expect our annuity like business to maintain a steady growth trajectory, whilst we cautiously grow our risk assets and seek to capitalise on periods of volatility,” the company said.

The MBAM business contributed 7.0 per cent to the Group’s gross earnings and 21.5 per cent to the Group’s profit before tax as against 6.7 per cent and 11.2 per cent in 2015 respectively.

Insurance Business The insurance business group grew its revenue in the first half of the year due to increased sale of retail risk products, increased premium generation from corporate distribution and additional product offerings. The group continues to enjoy strong brand recognition and good patronage, which is reflected in its revenue profile.

Revenue for the Insurance group increased by 31.7per cent to N5.4billion, up from N4.1 billion in 2015. Profit before tax increased by 14 per cent to N1.38 billion, from N1.21billion in June 2015 largely attributable to increased claims settled in the general business during the period.

“We remain reasonably optimistic of the prospects to increase revenues from retail and public sectors of the economy, while leveraging on the synergy opportunities within the Group,” the company said.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Your Phone as Your Bank Account!

Obinna Chima writes that the adoption of mobile banking has the potential to give millions of people access to payments, fund transfer services, and would open up access to a broader range of financial services

CEO, Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo

Life is becoming easier. With your mobile phone, you may no longer have to go into the banking hall to deposit, withdraw or transfer money. Mobile phone subscribers can also transfer money to any mobile number – and spend the money directly from their mobile money account to pay for goods and services.

Globally, mobile banking is becoming a powerful tool for building more inclusive, stable, and secure financial sectors. The potential of mobile technology to improve people’s lives is growing exponentially.

According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, one billion people globally (1 in 7 people on the planet) had used their phones to perform at least one banking transaction as at the end of 2015. The research authority projected this figure to grow to two billion by 2020, representing 37 per cent of the global adult population.

Mobile banking has been described as an innovation that lowers trading costs, transaction time and allows for immediate financial transfers (credits and debits) by both formal and informal sectors.

It has the potential to drive financial inclusion by providing efficient transaction options and greater reach. Mobile banking is also a tool for economic growth and development, if fully explored. It enables monetary transactions to be done on mobile phones through text messaging.

Therefore, as internet penetration continues to deepen in Africa, the use of mobile phones as the new and preferred banking channel is expected to take centre-stage. Already almost all banks in the leading countries on the continent have published mobile apps that enable a myriad of transactions such as bills payment, funds transfers, travel bookings and lots more.

In Nigeria, banks are taking it a bit further and have introduced USSD banking (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) to ensure the mass populace that presently do not own smart phones are not disenfranchised and suffer financial exclusion.

USSD is a Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication technology used to send texts between a mobile phone and an application program in the owner network

Mobile-banking.

The significant volume of Nigeria’s unbanked population has over the years been a source of concern. This has also been severely constrained by the weak infrastructure in the country.

Although banks have tried to improve on this with the aggressive drive for expansion by deploying ATMs, the country’s huge population of rural dwellers are yet to really feel the impact of all these.

Low level of awareness A recent survey that had shown that 37 per cent of Nigerians are not aware of mobile banking services and as such, do not use the payment platform, is worrisome. According to the report

by Philip Consulting, out of the remaining 63 per cent respondents that knew about the solution, 31 per cent were between the ages of 26 and 35 and constituted the majority. Also, 15 per cent were between 36 and 45 years, 10 per cent between 18 and 25 years, five per cent between 46 and 55 years and one per cent each for the under 18 and over 55 years age group.

Also, another survey by the NOI Polls had also attributed the slow pace of adopting the mobile banking services to the low public awareness on the payment transfer system. As a result of this, experts have stressed the need for improved awareness.

In addition, banks and other mobile money operators have also been advised to significantly increase their investment in mobile money technology so as to encourage more users of that means of money transfer.

On its part, the Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), a financial advisory firm, had noted that borrowing from Kenya’s story, mobile banking remains the most feasible means to create a successful cashless economy.

It added: “The major grey area according to the central bank is the ability to control the platform and the anticipated effect on monetary policy since consumers do not need bank accounts in order to use mobile banking services.

“The mobile banking platform in some sense creates another ‘bank’ which may be difficult to regulate. Therefore, the CBN may be unwilling

to adopt the mobile banking platform under the cashless policy model.”

Analysts at the FDC had also projected that the high level of subscribers to GSM in the country was expected to translate into an increase in bankable Nigerians.

The research and investment advisory firm also noted that mobile payments was infinitely more efficient than the cheque settlement system, adding that mobile banking product would lead to a significantly higher velocity of circulation and financial intermediation.

The value of mobile banking transactions in Nigeria stood at N8, billion as at the end of June 2016.

But the Director, Banking and Payment System, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun highlighted power, telecommunications network, among others as some other challenges facing mobile banking.

According to the CBN, it opted for the creation of an enabling regulatory environment as a policy path towards achieving availability, acceptance and usage of mobile payment services in the country, after it identified person to person payments (over the mobile phone infrastructure) as a practical strategy for financial inclusion of the un-banked.

The overriding vision, the apex bank explained, was to achieve a nationally utilised and internationally recognised payments system.

“The objectives of the regulatory framework are: Provision of an enabling environment for mobile payment services in reducing cash dominance in the Nigerian economy; specification of minimum technical and business requirements for various participants in the mobile payments services industry in Nigeria,” it had stated.

Zenith Bank’s Solution Zenith Bank Plc, one of the industry leaders in terms of tier-1 capital is a major promoter of mobile banking channel. The bank which had unveiled its *966# USSD banking solution, believes that it would help drive the nation’s financial integration programme being championed by the CBN. A report disclosed that Zenith Bank’s *966# USSD banking solution themed the ‘Easy Way to Bank’ enables customers of the bank perform

financial transactions on all known mobile phones, without having to go on the net or download a mobile app.

“To open a Zenith Bank account, people only need to dial *966*0# and follow the prompts.

An account number is automatically generated for the customer and they can start running the account after a short visit to any of the bank’s branches.

“To perform transactions with the solution, the bank’s customers are required to perform a one-time registration by dialing *966*00# and following the prompts,” it added.

It also provides subscribers the opportunity to carry out functions such as to check their account balance, airtime purchase, carry out funds transfer, among others.

It added: “Eazybanking by Zenith bank is a convenient, fast, secure, and affordable way to access your bank account 24 hours a day, seven days a week through your mobile phone without internet connectivity. It is a session- oriented service unlike SMS which is a store and forward based service. This service is available to all individual account holders (except ZECA and Premium account holders) with any phone that runs on the GSM platform.”

It explained that the mobile banking platform is different from other technologies used like SMS, GPRS and application based services because it provides an interactive browsing experience; available on all GSM handsets; has an in built USSD encryption and “no store just forward” facility for performing secure transactions; and is faster.

In terms of security, it described Eazybanking as being safe as it has different levels of authorisation that ensures banking transactions and information remains private.

“The service can only be accessed from the number registered with the bank for transactions notification. It is available to all Zenith Bank individual customers. Target customers are low income earners with non- feature phones. Cumulative transfer limit is N100, 000 daily. Cumulative transaction limit on airtime top-up is N3, 000 daily,” it added.

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BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

Cost of Governance: Is Public Sector Downsizing Escapable?

Tunji Olaopa It is no longer news that the Nigerian economy has officially entered into recession.

This announcement by the Minister for Finance is just a formal acceptance of a reality which most Nigerians, especially those working in the public service, have felt for the past few years. Out of all the 36 states in Nigeria, only very few states have been able to conveniently pay the salaries of its workers. Even the federal government is borrowing to pay its workers’ salaries! The result is that many workers have been left existentially stranded, and more significantly, the economy has been paralysed because of the unceasing industrial action by several unions in the states. The effect of all these on the productivity profile of the Nigerian economy is terribly gloomy. The naira has been in a downward spiral for a while now; corruption saga has become a recurrent refrain on the national media space; production of crude oil, Nigeria’s monocultural economic product, has been rudely disrupted by militants in the Niger Delta as well as sundry global forces. On the whole, there are so many things currently wrong with the Nigerian state and its economic dynamics.

It would then seem that the change slogan of the Buhari administration is being resisted at all corners by several economic forces and intervening variables it did not bargain for, anticipate and which perhaps, requires that much more strategic policy intelligence than is currently in place, be deployed. This is now a fact for all to see. But the other fact is that change within the Nigeria socioeconomic context is urgently required if there is to be any significant national development.

And to all intents and purposes, the administration’s confrontation with a few policy conundrums, like the anticorruption campaign, is highly commendable. Yet, there is more that needs to be done. Here is a fundamental advice that the president might be wise to take from a former president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

One of Nigeria’s failings is that we fail to experiment at certain critical policy levels.

And if there is an issue which demands “bold, persistent experimentation,” it is the cost of governance distress Nigeria has been facing for a while now. True, the Buhari government has paid attention to this, but we need more than cosmetic reduction in personnel and structures to achieve a significant restructuring of the economy. The Nigerian presidential system of government is one of the most expensive in the world.

It is as if the system was manufactured to gulp scares resources. When Lamido Sanusi Lamido, the former governor of the central bank of Nigeria, raised the alarm sometimes ago that close to 30% of the national budget goes to servicing overheads in the national assembly, we were just about scratching the surface of the cost of governance trouble Nigeria faces. The national assembly is just one tiny side of the equation; the entire public sector institutional architecture really needs unbundling and downsizing.

The cost of governance problematic is a huge one. In recent times, the media have been shocked by the humongous figures, in billions of naira, that were recovered from a perfected system of siphoning involving “ghost workers.” Efficiency and productivity are sacrificed on the altar of numbers, while the trade unions remain vigilant in guiding the affairs of those who ordinarily ought to benefit from severance from the public sector. Rightsizing has always been the obvious and easy antidote to high cost of governance dilemma. In fact, it constitutes the first condition in a restructuring exercise that ought to automatically lead to a productivity revolution to be supervised by a debureaucratised managerial public service primed for national growth and development. The sign is clear: with the

President Buhari

stark phenomenon of bankrupt and nonviable states, Nigeria faces the danger of a significant economic collapse worse than the present recession. But then the solution is also clear: a radical, scientifically derived but humane restructuring not only reduces the cost of governance but also enables the diversion of cost saved to infrastructural development. If it must be done however, then the payroll and institutional restructuring, using productivity audit tools, must be extensive enough to involve the review of all appointments in government that are funded from national revenues and the entire expenditure of government. It is only in this sense of unbundling and restructuring of the entire expenditure structure of government that the government could go with clean hands to equity to negotiate with the trade unions the rightsizing inescapable option. But then, as Banchao, the Chinese diplomat asked, “How can one catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger’s lair?” How can great governance deeds be accomplished without uncommon courage and perspicacity?

Restructuring arises from a conceptual understanding of the role of government in governance. Redefining the role of the state implies doing away in Nigeria, at the first instance, the claim that the Nigerian government is the largest employer of labour.

That reputation exposes the government’s ignorance about its capability to generate wastage and undermine productivity. The essence of the managerial revolution in the public service is to interrogate government’s limited capacity to organise efficiency through the infusion of private sector and Diaspora skills and competences. In terms of efficiency saving, this is done through the application of an econometric calculus that suggests an optimal and affordable size of the workforce required in the MDAs and the public service at large.

This vision appears clear, but its possibility lies in the government’s awareness of its role, and its willingness to enter into a continuous conversation with trade unions and employers of labours to fast track a change management dynamics that can make Nigeria work for democracy and de-

velopment. Restructuring has many critical dimensions each of which could undermine the overall objective. The trade unions are a critical part, but once the adversarial undertone is removed by the willingness to brainstorm and engage the bigger picture in the nation’s best interest, then their support is crucial to the success of all the other requirements. One of these is the urgency of creative human resource good practices, mediated by a rigorous job evaluation and comprehensive manning procedures, which matches skills and competences to the scope of workload requirements in the public service. In other words, employment in the public sector would have to deploy meritocratic metrics that trumps nepotism, corruption and incompetence. This will automatically involve, for instance, the firming up of establishment and treasury control that will serve as the institutional bulwark against bloatedness.

One of the advantages of government instituting a constant conversation with the trade unions and other employers is that, at the level of the state government, a decentralisation framework can be established that ensures that wages are conditioned to the productivity profile and financial strength of each state rather than a blanket wage framework that ignores the economic reality which is presently being played out in terms of the incapacity to pay salaries. It beats the imagination to compare Lagos state with Osun; or Ebonyi wih Sokoto. What is interesting about restructuring, but which requires real understanding, is that a properly restructured public sector brings real benefits eventually in terms of real wage and welfare package. And once the conversation gets going between the stakeholders, it becomes possible to put all the economic elements of any state on the table, reengineer efficiency through the appropriate rightsizing method and plough back the benefits into workforce welfare and compensations.

One appropriate rightsizing method which the trade unions would applaud once they see its intrinsic benefits to the progress of Nigeria is a humane and properly crafted employability package that is attached to

any severance plan for those who are due for retirement. Of course, the first source of fear is the perplexing cost that would be generated by the severance package.

But then, a fringe benefit could come from development partners which might be persuaded to underwrite the cost. Beyond this, severance from the public sector comes with a moral imperative concerning government’s care for those who have spent their productive years serving the government without any adequate attention to the acquisition of any post-retirement competences. Employability training ensures that public servants, while preparing for retirement or upon notification of redundancy, are prepared with skills and competences that could tide them over while out of service.

A humane severance programme and package has a larger effect on the system—it sends a critical message to others still within service that their lives do not literally come to an end in penury and bitterness after retirement. Once there is a reigning perception of the loyalty of the government to its serving and retired workforce, there is a more than average probability that corruption and productivity can have inverse reaction upon each other.

Restructuring is a critical business involving enormous risks but immense advantages for a country like Nigeria seeking national growth through a transformed productivity paradigm. But every effort so far have been met with severe reactions and public outcries. Most governors would prefer to evade the issue until the end of their terms to pass the buck to the coming administration. But then, there will be a critical point when the buck could not be passed again, and political courage would have to be cranked up to deal with it. I suspect we have all arrived at that critical juncture. It is either Nigeria will survive the cost of governance menace and properly restructure or her national coherence will fizzle out within a framework of avoiding responsibility.

Olaopa is the Executive Vice Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP), Ibadan. Email:

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

Nigerian Brewers: Going through a Rough Patch Goddy Egene writes that weak consumer demand, high cost of finance and security challenges are some of the factors that have impacted negatively on the performance of breweries in the country

Bottling line

Nigeria is a market that manufacturers of consumer goods will always want to be considering its larger population. Many companies see the population as a big market where they can sell their products and make significant profits.

While the huge population still exists and many companies have made profit in the past, things are changing fast.

Despite the population, companies are witnessing shrinking revenue and lower profits. Some are even recording losses due to economic headwinds. The brewery sector is not insulated from these challenges, which have dictated their performance. The financial performances of the breweries operating in the industry and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have shown mixed grill. While the leading breweries witnessed some decline in their bottom-lines, small players are improving on their performances.

Industry Operators The Nigerian brewery has a 15 million hector litres market and dominated by two operators and some marginal players. The market is controlled

by Nigerian Breweries Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc, which have a combined market share of 95 per cent. Both companies have Heineken and Diageo respectively as their parent firms.

Heineken, through Nigerian Breweries, controls about 71 per cent share of the market while Diageo has about 27 per cent market share through its stake in Guinness Nigeria Plc.

Apart from Nigerian Breweries Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc, there are also International Breweries Plc, Champion Breweries Plc, Premier Breweries Plc and Golden Guinea Breweries Plc that listed

Nigerian Breweries revenue growth has been quite modest and margins flattish due to negative brand mix. Earnings have consequently come under pressure, with PAT growing 0.4 per cent average between 2012 and 2015 (compared to 20 per cent between 2008 and 2011)

on the NSE. But Premier Breweries and Golden Guinea have been inactive for some time.

Statistics published by Heineken showed that the Nigerian beer market will record a compound annual growth rate of 5.6 per cent between 2011 and 2020. However, the strong long-term outlook notwithstanding, the industry is going through a rough patch at present due to challenges in the operating environment. The factors affecting the sector include increase in the cost of living, which has depressed consumer spending, pressures from foreign exchange rates as well as distribution challenges stemming from security concerns and poor infrastructure.

Nigerian Breweries A look at the financial performance of Nigerian Breweries over the past years to December 2015 showed a moderate growth affected by the economic challenges and high cost of finance. Revenue that was N230.1 billion in 2011, improved to N252.6 billion in 2012, rose further to N268.6 billion in 2013. However, it fell marginally to N266.37 billion in 2014 before rising again to N293.9 billion in 2015.

In terms of profit before tax (PBT), Nigerian Breweries posted N56.3 billion in 2011, fell to N55.6 billion in 2012. It rose to N62.2 billion in 2013 before falling to N61.4 billion in 2014.

PBT fell further to N54.5 billion in 2015. An analysis of the profit after tax (PAT) shows the same trend, with PAT at N38 billion in 2011

and 2012. It rose to N43 billion in 2013 and fell to N42.5 billion before it declined further to N38 billion in 2015.

One of the factors that have affected the bottom-line is the high cost of debt funding by the company, which raised the cost of finance from N1.604 billion in 2011 to N7.714 billion in 2015. The cost of finance hit a high of N9.547 billion in 2012 before it declined to N7.483 billion and further to N5.39 billion in 2014. The cost of finance, however, rose to N7.7billion in 2015. But the company adopted an alternative funding means of commercial paper last year that is expected to bring down the cost of funding going forward.

By the end of June 30, 2016, Nigerian Breweries recorded a PAT of N19.1 billion, down from N21.477 billion in the corresponding period of 2015. Finance cost was still an issue in H1 of 2016, jumping from N2.917 billion in 2015 to N8.392 billion in 2016.

The company explained that it was able to deliver top line growth with revenue increasing by four per cent compared to the first six months of 2015.

However, it added that rising inflation combined with higher inputs costs as a result of scarcity of foreign exchange, led to a flat operating profit compared with the preceding year. “Despite a lower interest cost from the Commercial Paper Programme, PAT declined by 11 per cent, mainly due to foreign exchange losses arising from the rates going up in June. Although

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BUSINESSWORLD

ANALYSIS

NIGERIAN BREWERS: GOING THROUGH A ROUGH PATCH the board expects the operating environment in 2016 to remain challenging for the rest of the year, the company remains focused on its twin agenda of cost leadership and market leadership supported by innovation and the board remains positive on the Nigerian market for the medium and long term,” the company said.

Commenting on the company’s performance, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said although Nigerian Breweries Plc has performed resiliently (given its rich portfolio of products), it is not completely insulated from the challenges in the economy.

According to them, Nigerian Breweries revenue growth has been quite modest and margins flattish due to negative brand mix. Earnings have consequently come under pressure, with PAT growing 0.4 per cent average between 2012 and 2015 (compared to 20 per cent between 2008 and 2011).

“Nigerian Breweries reported Q1-2016 result that beat consensus expectation. Revenue grew in low double-digit (10.9 per cent y/y), while pre (3.9 per cent y/y) and post tax (3.5 per cent y/y) profits grew in low single-digits, each.

Worthy of acknowledgment is the fact that a close competitor (Guinness Nigeria Plc) posted operational loss during the same three months period. Notwithstanding the strong start to the year, we look for 2016 revenue growth of five per cent and 10 per cent decline in post-tax profit (previously +5 per cent). On revenue, we do think the macro environment is strong enough to sustain the base-effect driven growth seen in the first quarter. On the profit line, primary headwinds are: the adverse impact of forex and energy driven cost inflation on margins and significant unrealised forex loss following the floating of the Naira,” Cordros Capital said.

Guinness Nigeria The bottom-line of Guinness Nigeria has maintained a steady decline over the past five years. Revenue stood at N123 billion in 2011.

Rose to N126 billion in 2012 and further grew to N131.4 billion in 2012. However, revenue declined to N109 billion but improved to N118 billion in 2015.

PBT recorded a decline from N26.2 billion in 2011 to N21.1 billion in 2012. It declined further to N17 billion in 2013, N11.6 billion in 2014 and N10.7 billion in 2015. PAT fell from N17.9 billion in 2011, fell to N14.6 billion in 2012, N11.86 billion, in 2013, N9.57 billion in 2014 and N7.79 billion in 2015.

High cost of finance has also been a drain on the bottom-line of Guinness. From N1.513 billion in 2012, finance cost rose to N3.605 billion in 2013 and N4.441 billion and N4.872 billion in 2015.

As at March 31, 2016, which is nine months of its operations, Guinness Nigeria recorded 83 per cent in PAT to N864 million from N5.216 billion in the corresponding period of 2015.

An analysis of the nine months results showed that Guinness posted revenue of N69.618 billion in 2016, down by 16 per cent from the N84.75 billion in 2015.

However, the management strived to reduce costs as cost of sale, marketing and distribution expenses, administrative expenses, net finance cost went down.

Net finance cost was also reduced by 32 per cent from N3.4 billion to N2.3 billion. Despite that PBT fell from N7.134 billion to N1.204 billion.

Although Guinness cut its tax payment by 82 per cent, from N1.917 billion to N340 million, it ended the nine months with a PAT of N864 million, compared with N5.216 billion in 2015.

On a quarterly basis, Guinness actually recorded a decline of 33 per cent in revenue in the third quarter from January to March 2016 and loss after tax of N309 million compared to a PAT of N1.8 billion in Q3 of 2015.

However, the Managing Director of Guinness, Mr. Peter Ndegwa had assured stakeholders that the company expected to see some improvement in sales with innovation and the distribution of Diageo’s international premium and mainstream spirits brands which have been integrated into its business.

In their comments, analysts at FBN Quest said apart from the challenging macro-environment, we believe that Guinness’ limited representation in the value category has been a major factor constraining topline growth.

“Although the wide market acceptance of“Orijin”, Guinness Nigeria’s herbal brand, supported topline growth in FY 2015(end-June), we believe that the marked slowdown in that category contributed to the weak growth on the topline. Given the challenges with sourcing transportation fuel in

NIGERIAN BREWERIES FIVE YEAR PERFORMANCE SUMMARY REVENUE

300

PROFIT BEFORE TAX

2015

400 350

FINANCE COST

PROFIT AFTER TAX

2014

N293.9 bn

2013 N268.3 bn

N266.3 bn

250

2012

2011

N252.6 bn

N230.1 bn

200 150

N62.24 bn

N61.46 bn

N54.51 bn

100

N56.4 bn

N55.6 bn

50 45

N42.5 bn

N38.05 bn

40

N43.08 bn

N38.04 bn

N38.02 bn

35 30 25 20 15

N7.714 bn

10

N9.54 bn

N7.48 bn

N5.39 bn

N1.60 bn

05

GUINNESS BREWERIES FIVE PERFORMANCE YEAR PERFORMANCE NIGERIAN BREWERIES FIVE YEAR SUMMARY SUMMARY REVENUE

FINANCE COST

PROFIT BEFORE TAX

2015

180

PROFIT AFTER TAX

2014

2013

160 140 120 100

N131.41 bn

N109.20 bn

N118.49 bn

2012

2011 N123.66 bn

N126.28 bn

50 45 40 35 30 25

N17.0 bn N11.86 bn

20 15 10 05

N26.17 bn

N21.07 bn

N4.87 bn

N10.79 bn N7.79 bn

N4.44 bn

N11.68 bn N9.57 bn

N3.60 bn

N14.67 bn

N17.9 bn

N1.52 bn

0

the last few months, it may also be that the company was faced with logistics/distribution issues during the quarter,” they said.

International Breweries International Breweries Plc has performed well,

The bottom-line of Guinness Nigeria has maintained a steady decline over the past five years. Revenue stood at N123 billion in 2011.

Rose to N126 billion in 2012 and further grew to N131.4 billion in 2012. However, revenue declined to N109 billion but improved to N118 billion in 2015

recording growth in top and bottom-lines in last five years. Revenue rose from N9.908 billion in 2011 to N3.2 billion in 2015, while PAT jumped from N147 million in 2011 to N2.6 billion in 2015.

A breakdown of the performance showed that revenue rose from N9.908 billion in 2011 to N17.38 billion in 2012, N18.49 billion in 2013, N20.649 billion in 2014 and N23.269 billion in 2015. PBT rose from N190 million in 2011 to N3.734 billion in 2012, N3.925 billion in 2013, N2.815 billion in 2014 and N3.656 billion in 2015, while PAT grew from N147 million in 2011 to N2.506 billion in 2012, fell to N2.106 billion and N1.946 billion in 2014 before rising to N1.709 billion in 2015.

Champion Breweries Champion Breweries has also witnessed improved fortunes in the last few years, recovering from loss position to profitability in 2015. The company had challenges due to huge debt overhang but the company ended 2015 with a profit after recording a loss in 2014.

Addressing shareholders recently, the Chairman of Champion Breweries Plc, Dr. Elijah Akpan, said revenue increased to N3.5 billion from N3.3 billion in 2014 while operating profit was N207 million as against N26 million recorded in 2014.

Also, PBT was N210 million, up from N1.1 billion loss recorded in 2014.

He assured shareholders that the company would sustain the positive performance recorded

in 2015 and achieve dividend payment very soon.

“The company’s successful conclusion of debt re-financing, increase in production and sales volume of Champion Lager Beer as well as re-introduction of Champ Malta has resulted in positive turnaround of the business performances during the year,” he said.

He assured the shareholders of better days ahead, saying they will soon start enjoying the dividend of their investments.

“Considering our present financial position from deficit to surplus, our company has the right mindset and structures to achieve payment of dividend to you our dear esteemed shareholders in no distant time,” Akpan said.

Share price performance A look at the share price performance of the companies as at the close of trading on Monday indicates that International Breweries Plc has recorded the best performance. Although Nigerian Breweries Plc has the highest share price at N137.99, it has recorded a marginal growth of 1.46 per cent since the beginning of the year. Guinness Nigeria, which has a share price of N94.50, it has declined by 21 per cent, underperforming the NSE All-Share Index. However, International Breweries Plc has appreciated by 21.2 per cent to stand at N19.38 per share, while Champion Breweries Plc has recorded an appreciation of 8.6 per cent to close at N3.66 per unit.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

30

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Akaraiwe: Monetary Policy Alone Cannot Address Nigeria’s Economic Challenges The Chief Executive Officer at Graeme Blaque Group, a financial advisory firm, Mr. Zeal Akaraiwe, who was a former bank treasurer, in this interview, stressed that the Nigerian economy is facing an unusual mix of challenges which require strong collaboration between the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Minister of Finance and that of Minister of Trade and Industry, to come out of the woods. He spoke with Obinna Chima. Excerpts: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) last week raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 14 per cent. In your opinion, do you think that was what is needed in the economy at this point in time?

That is a very tough question. The central bank has boxed itself into a very tight corner.

We have a very unusual mix of issues. We have high and rising unemployment because productivity is dropping. The country is going into a recession. With both factors, what we expected the MPC to do was to drop interest rate to stimulate the economy and increase productivity. If you are looking at productivity, recession and unemployment, what you should do is to drop interest rate. That was what the United States did in 2009. They dropped interest rate to zero and held it there. This is because you need to stimulate the economy by making interest rate low so that people can borrow and do business. As they are doing business, productivity is increasing and you are employing people and the economy comes out of recession.

The problem we have is that we have high inflation. So, having a recession and high inflation is very unusual. High inflation is driven by the fact that there is plenty money in circulation.

So, how is it that you are going into a recession when with high inflation there is supposed to be plenty money in circulation? So, we are in a very unusual circumstance. In my opinion, our inflation cannot be addressed using monetary policy alone. So, if you are using monetary policy alone, we are in trouble. The situation we have was driven by structural issues. We don’t have enough foreign exchange. And because we don’t have enough foreign exchange, the currency is losing its value. We have gone from N166/$1, to N199/$1 to N330/$1, in less than two years.

Based on that, prices of goods and services have doubled. So, it has nothing to do with monetary policy. So, I think the central bank as well as the fiscal authorities need to sit down together to tackle the issue. The Central Bank of Nigeria alone cannot use monetary policy given the circumstance of the issue of foreign exchange.

We had a negative trade balance in 2015 and in the first quarter of 2016. With a negative trade balance, your currency will lose value. As your currency loses value when you are importing most of your goods and services, prices would increase. If prices increase, we have inflation.

That is not just a monetary policy issue, it also involves fiscal policy. So, the central bank has control only over monetary policy issue. So, they are trying to use monetary policy issue to attack structural and fiscal policy. That won’t work. For example, those 41 items that were banned from accessing foreign exchange from the interbank market, the CBN is trying to use monetary policy to address them. But what the CBN ought to do is to bring back the 40 items back to the official market, then fiscal policies such as duties and tariffs would take over. If you want to import any of those items, let’s say rice, Customs would raise the duties by maybe 100 per cent. So, by doing that, you are using fiscal policy to discourage the importation of those items, instead of saying go to the black market to buy forex to import them. This is because when you send them to the black market, you are starving the official market of forex. So, we have structural issues that we have not yet addressed and we are fighting the symptoms. Inflation that the central bank is fighting is a symptom and not the issue. The second issue I have with them on this hike in MPR is that it takes about six month for a money policy change to be felt in an economy.

So, what we are suffering now, the MPC should have been tackling it in November last year or January. In January this year, when some

you are worsening inflation. So, this is a unique problem where you need to forge a unique solution. So you are looking at different factors: Interest rate, inflation, employment, productivity, oil production, forex that you don’t have, and all of these issues happening at the same time.

Finding solution to some might worsen other problems. That is what I mean that we are boxed into a corner.

That means there needs to be a trade-off?

Yes, that was why I said the Minister of Trade for Investment, Minister of Finance and the CBN Governor need to sit down to decide the problem they need to fix urgently. Look at it like a situation of life and death and someone is in the hospital. If they say he has HIV and tuberculosis, the tuberculosis will kill him in two weeks, the HIV may kill him in six months, but you want to treat the HIV first.

Then you are foolish. So, we should know the problem that can kill our economy first among all the challenges I highlighted earlier and they should tackle it first. Whatever the consequence of treating that one, you must live with it. So, we need to do a trade-off.

We need to do an analysis to find out the most pertinent problem today. For me, that problem is not inflation. In my opinion, it is more about productivity and forex. This is because if you don’t produce or if you don’t have forex, your economy will die. Inflation will not kill your economy. Inflation is a consequence. So, why are we worried more about the consequence than the root cause of the problem?

Akaraiwe:

of us were telling them to hike rate because of the inflation in the future, they didn’t do it. Now that inflation has gone up, they are hiking rate. It is like as they say, locking the stable after the horse has bolted. They should have hiked rate long before now to dampen the effect of a higher inflation. But given the monetary policy tools available, they had no choice. The CBN cannot increase duties and tariffs to prevent import. So, what they can do is what they are doing, but what they are doing is not enough. Monetary policy cannot act alone.

So, our economic team – the Minister for Trade and Investment, the Minister for Finance, the CBN Governor, the Vice President, the Head of Customs, all need to sit down and map out a strategy that they would all execute jointly.

CBN alone cannot get us out of this problem.

What fiscal policy measures do you think can be introduced to address the situation we face as a nation?

Like what I said earlier, let’s look at the 41 items that the CBN banned from the forex market.

You will see that the CBN only banned them from the official forex window and that is all the central bank can do. Now, it is Customs that can ban them from the country entirely.

But because of all our trade agreements, I don’t know if they would be able to do that. What I expected was for the Customs to come up with policies that states that for anything that is being imported, which can be produced locally or that is non-essential, there is need to hike the tariff. We had a negative trade balance, so the value of our import in 2015 was $7.5 billion more than the value of our exports. If we have the same situation in 2016, it means in two

years, we would have lost $15 billion. How much is our reserves? Our export is majorly oil and we cannot control the prices of oil and the production of oil is not entirely in our control.

So, let us control the value of imports. The only reasonable way you can control the value of imports is to discourage consumption. So, if you are importing fish from abroad, Vodka and other things that are non-essential or things that can be produced locally, Customs should hike the tariff to discourage the consumption locally so that they become luxury items and it is only the rich that can consume it. If the rich decides to consume it, at least Customs would make revenue from it. Looking at that example, that is what we need to do, let’s start from there.

Factories are shutting down because they don’t have forex and you are now increasing interest rate, how will that help the real sector? If you do not help the real sector, then you are not helping productivity and if you are not helping productivity, then you are encouraging more imports, which is where our problem started from in the first place. So, I think monetary policy acting in isolation cannot help us, if anything, it would make things worse. Very soon you will hear borrowing is at 30-35 per cent. Of course it would worsen inflation. Unfortunately, they are just using the standard text book approach: If you want to fight inflation, raise interest rate.

If you raise interest rate, borrowing would be discouraged and if borrowing is discouraged, then there would be less money in circulation.

That is the classic text book approach. But we don’t have a classic text book problem. We have a very unique problem. The Nigerian economy is boxed into a corner. If you fix inflation, you are worsening recession. If you fix recession,

But there is a general belief that by faithfully implementing the new forex regime, the issue of forex scarcity would be resolved in the medium term as it is anticipated that the country would start seeing inflows?

Yes, but before that happens, what we should do is to ensure that our consumption of imported items reduces. We have not done that. Have you heard anything about Customs discouraging imports or any campaign by the government to discourage imports? There is nothing. Have they increased tariffs for anything that is unnecessary? We still import foolish things like Vitamin C, soap, fish. We spent $7.5 billion importing items such as chicken, fish and meat.

So, pending when the foreign direct investments start flowing, we need to make sure that our consumption behaviour on imported items is attacked.

What role would the effective implementation of the 2016 budget play in in resolving these challenges we are facing?

The 2016 budget, because government is still the largest single spender around, the 2016 budget would mean when they start implementing, they would be spending money. They said they are going to build roads, they have to give somebody the contract to build the road and that person would employ people. So, implementing the capital expenditure part of the budget hopefully means that there would be jobs given out and some of those jobs would mean that people would get employed. If you start building houses, people would have contract to supply cement, architects would get involved. So, that is the real thing. But it is very limited. The real sector is losing jobs every day, factories are reducing production and laying off staffs. Already the oil industry is laying off staff as well as banks. So, what we need to be doing is to concentrate on those things we need to do to encourage productivity. Productivity means employment and employment means people are spending and we would be able to get out of a recession.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

31

BUSINESSWORLD

INSURANCE

Niger Insurance Beats the Odd Whereas most insurance firms hid under the challenging operating environment in 2015 to deny their shareholders the much desired dividends, Niger Insurance took exception to this and declared a dividend of 3.5 kobo, Ebere Nwoji reports

L- R: Managing Director Niger Insurance Plc, Mr Kolapo Adedeji and Chairman Niger Insurance, Yusuf Abubakar, during the 29th annual general meeting of the company held in Abuja ...recently

The insurance industry, among other sectors of the economy, is witnessing another period of financial result declaration and presentation of individual company’s score cards to investors.

Those whose financial reports have been approved by the regulatory agencies, now hold their annual general meetings and declaring returns on investment to their shareholders for the year ended December 31st, 2015.

As at the last count in the month of July, less than half of total 59 insurance and reinsurance institutions operating in the country have successfully satisfied the regulators in the preparation of their annual reports and accounts in line with the new account reporting system adopted by the International Finance Reporting Standard (IFRS).

Among these insurance firms who have satisfied the regulators in their financial reports presentation and are qualified to hold their 2015 AGMs is the Niger Insurance Plc, which recently took its shareholders and other stakeholders to the Federal Capital Territory for its 46th AGM. This 46th edition of the company’s meeting, was presided over by its new Chairman Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar, who took over the mantle of leadership of the company’s board from the erstwhile Chairman, Alhaji Bala Zakariya’u, whose retirement from Niger insurance took effect from January 1, 2016 after 23years of meritorious service in different capacities in the company.

Abubakar, a trained lawyer and an administrator with vast experience at senior executive level in both private and public sectors will steer the affairs of Niger insurance board for the next ten years according to the industry prevailing law and is expected to bring his wealth of experience as a board room guru from other sectors of the economy where he operates to bear in the operations of the company.

Abubakar, who sits on the board of other prominent organisations in the country such as Nigerian Communications Commissions as commissioner, Sahelian Energy and Integrated Services as the chairman, Sahelian Power SPV Limited, owner of Kano Electricity Distribution Company as a board member, and Northwest Power limited, preferred bidder for kaduna Electricity Distribution Company plc as the chairman, is expected to use his vast influence in both local and international business arena, to attract foreign investors into Niger insurance especially at this time indigenous insurance firms have become the toast of foreign investors and at this time that dynamism in modern insurance business underwriting has spelt the need for foreign shareholding and technical partnerships among indigenous firms.

Shareholders of the company, at the meeting, said dilution of ownership structure of Niger insurance, which is currently wholly owned by Nigerians has remained the best way to beef up the company’s capital and bring in investors with world class business ideas especially as federal government has indicated interest in reviewing upward the minimum share capital of insurance firms.

At the meeting, Abubakar, presenting the company’s score card to the shareholders, informed that Niger Insurance lost a major federal government account as a result of the transfer of the Deposit Administration Schemes to a designated federal government agency in full implementation of Pension Reform Act 2004.

He however, said in spite of this, Niger Insurance showed resilience to maintain and achieve above average market performance.

He announced the Performance of the company for the period saying, “our company recorded a gross premium written of N10.497billion in 2015 compared to N11.065 billion achieved in 2014.

According to him, the figure, represents five percent decline in the company’s premium in the current year.

He gave further reports of the company’s performance for the year saying, “ net premium income of N10.596billion was achieved in the current year as againstN10.536 billion written in the previous year showing a marginal net growth of one percent.

Profit-wise, Abubakar said Niger insurance during the year under review, grew its Profit Before Tax from N638.465million in 2014 to N703.948 in 2015, representing 10 percent improvement.

Also Niger Insurance group grew its operating profit before tax (PBT) from N644.781million in 2014 to N736.030 million in 2015 showing 14 percent growth.

Profit after tax (PAT) for the company for the year under review stood at N569.189 million while that of the group stood at N600.911million.

Total Asset of the company stood at N22.215billion in 2014 declining to N20.386billion in 2015.Similarly, total liabilities of the company went down from N14.268billion to N12.161 billion.

Abubakar explained that the downward movement in the performance of the company was as a result of discontinuation in underwriting of the deposit administration scheme and the application of relevant assets to settle substantial part of the liabilities thereof.

The Niger Insurance boss, said despite the challenges faced by businesses during the year under review, Niger Insurance was glad to declare 3.5 kobo dividend to the shareholders.

With this, Niger Insurance has distinguished itself as one of the few insurance companies that declared dividend to shareholders for the period under review.

From past records, Niger insurance has

built culture of regular dividend declaration over the years.

Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Kolapo Adedeji, commenting on this stated: He added: “To every company, you have important stake holders. To us, shareholders are very important stake holders, another set of important stake holders to us are the employees; then, most importantly, the customers and again the government. When you talk about the customers, is a subset of the society. So you have to also have consideration for the society and that is why we talk about corporate social responsibility.

“We don’t give money to the shareholders we deliver value to all stakeholders including government in the area of taxation, giving back to the society through Corporate Social Responsibility, for employees you have to remunerate ,to shareholders, returns on investment to make them feel they have a stake in the company. Over the years, we have been very consistent in recognising and rewarding the shareholders because they are diverse, you have retirees, working class, you also have people that are there for the purpose of growing their businesses, the board considers these and tries to maintain the tradition of rewarding them consistently.

We know the times are hard; but after the rain, comes the sunshine, so we believe there is still light at the end of the tunnel.”

Adedeji said Niger Insurance is continually making efforts to consolidate its position in Nigerian Insurance market adding that to achieve this, the management had established a company-wide corporate strategy retreat session with the agenda of adopting new vision, mission and core value statement as well as adopt a strategic plan to create more value for the company stakeholders in the short to medium term.

32

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD Oando Grows Revenue by 18% to N212 Billion in Six Months Goddy Egene Oando Plc has reported a revenue of N212 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2016, showing an increase of 18 per cent above N180 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2015. Gross profit decreased by 49 per cent from N37.1 billion in 2015 to N19 billion in 2016. However, the company recorded one-off unrealised foreign exchange loss of N28.6 billion from dollar denominated liabilities as a result of currency devaluation. Consequently, it ended the H1 with a loss after tax of N27 billion in 2016, as against a loss of N35 billion in H1 of 2015.

Along with many in the industry, Oando’s PAT numbers are indicative of the effects of the global slump in oil prices which has seen Nigeria’s oil export receipts decline dramatically, indigenous firms face a scale back in proposed Joint Ventures with IOCs, deeper cuts to capital spending, finding new markets and investor wariness.

A review of the half-year results of oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria reveals a continued steady decline in earnings, Royal Dutch Shell missed its quarterly profit expectations by more than $1 billion after reporting a 72 per cent plunge in earnings due to weak oil prices and high costs following its $54 billion takeover of the BG Group.

ConocoPhillips posted a loss of $1.1 billion in Q2 – a six fold increase in loss over the same period in 2015 and Chevron, a $1.47 billion loss in its half-year 2016 result compared with profit of $571 million in the preceding year. Also, Seplat Petroleum declared a N13billion loss in Q2 2016. Revenue dipped 41% to N29bn ($143m) partly owing to

the vandalism of its Forcados terminal Commenting H1 results, Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, said: “The first half of the year has revealed how challenging the oil & gas environment is in Nigeria, having experienced a 25 per cent decline in production volumes arising from the increased disruptions from militant activities, we however benefit from the implementation of the oil price hedge, which has helped to calm the effects of the disruption of production activities.” According to him, now that the dollar liquidity position in the country has improved, “we have converted 60 per cent of our dollar denominated obligations to naira, while restructuring our debt through the N108 Billion medium term note, thus managing any future currency volatility. We reiterate our forward looking business model of a focused upstream and export trading businesses, which will drive profitability through consistent dollar earnings.”

He noted that as part of plans to return the company to profitability by year-end 2016, Oando is in the concluding phase of its five-pronged strategic group initiatives, 67 per cent of its non-producing asset disposals and 50 per cent of refinancing target have been concluded.

The company successfully restructured its debt through a N108 billion Medium Term Note with lower capital costs circa 15 per cent and a renewed five year tenor in the first quarter of 2016 as well as the full divestment of its upstream services business, reducing the group’s debt profile by 32 per cent.

NITDA, Nigerian Consulate in UAE Move to Boost Investment The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Nigeria foreign mission in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through its Consulate in Dubai have identified an Investment Information Helpdesk (IIH).

The IIH is a critical resource tool that can be used to help prospective offshore investors get adequate answers to their enquiries in real-time on how to invest in and enter Nigeria’s economy, particularly the ICT sector.

While comparing notes on fast-tracking the ease of doing business in Nigeria for foreign companies through the UAE, acting Director-General of the NITDA, Dr. Vincent Olatunji,and the acting Nigeria Consul General, Dubai, UAE, Ambassador Babagana Wakil, both agreed that it was imperative to set up an IIH at the consulate in Dubai where prospective investors seeking answers on the entry requirements to doing technology related businesses in Nigeria could be quickly availed of such information directly from an equivalent IIH in NITDA,

Abuja.

According to a statement, the officials agreed to engage the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and other related statutory bodies.

“Happily, most if not all of these bodies are already working as partners with the NITDA for the promotion of local content and investment opportunities for ICT in Nigeria,” Olatunji said during a recent working visit to the Consulate as part of Nigeria’s participation at the Gitex Technology Expo holding later this year in October 16- 20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

“Nigeria’s participation in past Gitex expo has elicited a lot of interests and attention from prospective investors in the Middle East and Asia.

NEWS

Dangote Sugar Refinery Posts N11.1bn Half-year Profit Goddy Egene Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc last week has announced a profit before tax (PBT) of N11.1 billion for the six months ended 30 June, 2016. The unaudited results for the half year indicated that all performance measurement indices trended upwards.

The results showed that profit before tax rose by 13.3 per cent compared to N9.8 billion in the same period in 2015. Similarly, the sugar group recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of N7.4billion, which rose by 17.5 percent over N6.3billion posted in the corresponding period in 2015.

Group revenue increased by 37.86 percent to N70.5 billion

compared to N51.1 billion in 2015, reflecting the increase in sales volumes during the period.

Gross profit increased by 9.57 percent to N13.9 billion in contrast to N12.7 billion despite higher production costs mainly driven by increased LPFO usage and currency devaluation. The unit prices for gas and LPFO were also higher than in the comparative period.

Speaking on the six months unaudited results, Acting Group Managing Director of DSR, Abdullahi Sule, said: “Despite market challenges experienced in the first quarter and operating challenges in the second quarter of 2015, we were able to grow our revenue compared to the

same period in the previous year.

Our focus for the remainder on the year will be to increase sugar production at reduced conversion cost and improve distribution to match the increasing demand from our customers. Our greater growth strategy “Sugar for Nigeria” continues to gain momentum as we execute the first phase of our expansion plans.”

According to him, the various operational and economic challenges the company was faced with during the period under review notwithstanding, the overall performance shows an improved outlook for the period.

Dangote Sugar is Nigeria’s

largest producer of household and commercial sugar with 1.44 million tonnes of refining capacity, with the ability to supply most of the country through an extensive network of distributors. The Group’s refinery at Apapa imports raw sugar from Brazil and refines it into white, Vitamin A fortified sugar suitable for household and industrial uses while Savannah cane sugar factory located near Numan, in Adamawa State has an installed factory capacity of 50,000 tonnes. Covering 32,000 hectares in extent, the Savannah estate has considerable opportunity for expansion which is underway.

AWARD OF HONOUR

L-R: Outgoing Director, Okwuoma Nnajiofor; former chairperson, Oghenero Ozobeme; Immediate Past Chairman/Incoming Director, Ernest Mkpasi; and Chairperson, Ehimhen Agunloye, during the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Lagos Section 61 annual general eeting (AGM), Awards Night and new board inauguration held in Lagos … recently

Skye Bank Incurs N40bn Loss on N35bn Impairment Charges Goddy Egene As part of efforts to reposition the bank and record better future performance, Skye Bank Plc has made a total provision of N34.681 billion for impairment charges for the year ended December 31, 2015. Although the bank ended the year with higher interest income of N127 billion in 2015, up from N107 billion in 2014, the impairment charges made the bank to record a loss of N40.726 billion compared with a profit of N18.717 billion in 2014.

While N27.53 billion impairment charges were for loans,

N7.145 billion was provided for as impairment charges for other financial assets.

The bank’s huge exposure to the oil gas, energy and other sectors of the economy affected its loan performance, a development that made the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to intervene in the bank last month.

The new Group Managing Director of Skye Bank, Mr. Tokunboh Abiru had assured capital market operators that the management team and the board would work to achieve value enhancement for shareholders, customers and other stakeholders by

bringing the cost-income ratio to acceptable levels, improve the risk assets quality and work towards increasing the liquidity and capital adequacy of the bank.

Abiru described the reconstitution of the bank’s board as an intervention, saying the lender ’s fundamentals are good and strong.

Also, the Chairman of Skye Bank Plc, Mr. M.K. Ahmad had explained that the CBN did not take over the bank but only intervened to correct observed corporate governance issues under the old board.

According to him, the

ownership of the bank remains in the hands of the shareholders, stressing that the CBN does not own the bank and has not taken over the bank, saying the CBN was fully behind the bank and would support it to fully stabilise.

Ahmad, a former Director General of the National Pension Commission, re-assured the bank’s stakeholders that the bank was not distressed but only had corporate governance issues under the old board. He said the bank’s fundamentals remain strong and that it remains one of Nigeria’s leading and retail banks.

FG Urged to Engage Professionals to Market Policies Raheem Akingbolu To achieve effectiveness in the delivery of its policies to the people, the federal government as well as the states and local councils have been urged to deploy the use of experiential marketing, citizen engagement and community relations.

These three marketing elements were stressed at the just

concluded 3rdannual general meeting of the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN) in Abuja, as the most effective and potent ways to engage Nigerians.

This was contained in a position paper presented at the 2016 AGM by President of the Association, Dr.Rotimi Olaniyan entitled, ‘Building Nigeria through Meaningful

Experiences: The Role of Experiential Marketing in Citizen Engagement and the Marketing of government policy.”

Speaking on the role of EXMAN and the pursuance of citizen engagement and policy marketing in Nigeria, Olaniyan said that the professional body offers the opportunity for government to gain sufficient partnership from the private

sector for its initiatives.

According to him, “We offer the opportunity for government to receive immediate feedback from citizens on the effects of their public policies and projects. The association has healthy relationships with most communities across the country, thanks to many years of brand activations and engagements within these communities.”

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

As Barkindo Takes over OPEC, Analysts Review Difficult Task Ahead Powerful oil cartel OPEC has a new secretary-general — Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo — but analysts doubt he’ll have any influence over either the 14-member group’s near-term future or oil markets as a whole.

Barkindo, a Nigerian oil industry veteran, took over from Abdalla Salem El-Badri on Monday, ending a long, drawn-out tussle between members of the group over who the next secretary general should be.

El-Badri, a Libyan, had been in the role for nine years and had been due to leave the position in 2012, but his term in office was extended due to an impasse between Middle Eastern member countries Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq over a possible successor. Nigeria proposed Barkindo earlier this year, however, and the group finally accepted the choice at its last meeting in June.

Barkindo, described by analysts as having a relatively low profile in the oil world, was seen as a “neutral” appointment for the group particularly as relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran – both within and outside the group - remain difficult.

Not much is known about the oil producer group’s new figurehead but oil markets will have time to get to know Barkindo as he will serve a three-year term at OPEC’s helm.

He’s no stranger to the oil industry, having served as the head of Nigeria’s state-owned National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and doing a stint as acting secretary general for OPEC in 2006.

However, Barkindo is not coming to the role at a harmonious time for oil markets: Global oil prices are still hovering around $40 a barrel due to a very slow rebalancing of markets due to a glut in supply and a

Barkindo

failure of demand to keep pace.

OPEC largely contributed to the decline in oil prices by refusing to cut production in November 2014, choosing to defend its share of the market rather than the oil price. Analysts believe that Barkindo’s appointment will do nothing to change the group’s strategy which was seen as a way to put pressure on rival non-OPEC producers, particularly shale oil producers in the U.S. and Canada.

Since then, the group has continued its strategy of record-high production despite the damage it has done to its members’ economies, in terms of lower oil export revenues.

Known as OPEC’s “fragile five,” Venezuela, Nigeria, Algeria, Iraq and Libya have been most worst-hit by the group’s decision to maintain record-high production often above the official limit of 30 million barrels a day.

“It’s a positive step that OPEC was able to agree on Barkindo’s appointment and he’s from outside of the main rivalries in the group but we shouldn’t overate the role he will play in terms of policy,” Richard Mallinson, who leads the analysis of international affairs and energy policy at Energy Aspects, told CNBC on Monday.

“His appointment won’t make much difference as OPEC policy will still come down to whether individual members can agree on a common position,” he added.

When OPEC last met in June, its 14 members (Gabon rejoined in June and Indonesia returned to the group last year) failed again to agree on any measures to shore-up prices continuing a policy of non-intervention as it said that markets were on their way to rebalancing.

Mallinson sounded an optimistic note that Barkindo’s appointment could herald a period of easier relations once the oversupply in oil markets had worked itself out of the system (with expected higher demand coming from India and continued non-OPEC oil supply declines still expected next year).

“I do think though that there may be more potential for co-operation once the period of low oil prices and the rebalancing period has passed,” he added.

Most analysts agree that Saudi Arabia and Iran (a country which has only recently re-ignited its oil industry after years of international sanctions and is not keen to curb output now) will continue to hold the strings in OPEC. Mallinson noted that it is “Saudi and Iran who are the dominant members of the group and if they’re not on board in terms of policy then nothing will change. The secretariat can aid diplomacy and negotiations within OPEC but he cannot set policy which the members have to agree on.”

Miswin Mahesh, oil market analyst at Barclays Capital, said that Barkindo’s new role was largely administrative and spokesman-like and that he was unlikely to be able to heal any deep-seated differences between members.

“It’s a figurehead position really, “ Mahesh told CNBC on Monday. “He can bring together the administrative parts of the body but his powers to execute policy are very limited and, sadly, political differences (such as those between Saudi Arabia and Iran) will overrule that, even if he does have good leadership skills.”

•Culled from CNBC

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

FG Pledges Support for Omatek to Reduce Power Consumption by 85% Emma Okonji The federal government has expressed its determination to collaborate with Omatek Ventures to maximise power by reducing consumption rate by 85 per cent.

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu made the pledge when he visited the production factory

of Omatek in Lagos yesterday.

According to the Minister, Nigeria has more population than South Africa, yet it generates less electricity than South Africa. He explained that for government to provide enough electricity for Nigerians, it (government) must first reduce its power consumption in order to save power that could be used by other Nigerians.

“I am impressed that Omatek has ventured into solar energy and its factory is producing and installing solar energy with light emitting diodes (LED) bulbs that reduce power consumption by as much as 85 per cent.

The federal government will support Omatek on this project to ensure that enough power is saved for onward

distribution to the growing population of Nigeria, since our power generation has dropped” Ogbonnaya said.

He added: “Omatek needs the support of government in the area of science and technology because no nation has ever been truly great in the world without science and technology. Nigeria should aspire to be a truly great nation

in technology innovation in the world. The challenge with Nigeria is that government has neglected the importance of Science and Technology in nation building for too long,” the Minister said.

He called on Nigerians and government agencies to patronise local products from Omatek and other Nigerian companies that are into local

production. “No nation has ever succeeded by not looking inward. Every great nation has looked inward to patronise their locally-developed technological innovations and other products and as such, Nigeria is looking towards that direction as well towards encouraging patronage of locally-developed products,” the Minister said.

Stanbic IBTC Bank Expands SME Capacity Building Initiative Stanbic IBTC Bank has announced the expansion of the scope of its capacity building workshop for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).

A statement from the bank explained that in two days in August, the sessions will hold in eight cities across the country.

They are Abuja, Ibadan, Kano, Lagos, and Onitsha.

Others are Port Harcourt, Aba and Enugu. While the event will hold simultaneously in Abuja, Ibadan, Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Aba on August 9, it will be the turn of Onitsha and Enugu on August 10.

The Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking, Babatunde Macaulay, said the course content and resource persons, who are experts in manpower development, have been carefully chosen to ensure participants derive maximum benefits from the seminar.

“We have streamlined the seminar course content to include essential topics such as Book Keeping and Financial Management; Operational Ef-

ficiency; Customer Relationship Management and State of the Nigerian Economy. The seminar is a unique offering by Stanbic IBTC Bank to develop and sharpen participants’ business skills,” Macaulay said.

“Our key mandate of financial intermediation ensures that we are mindful of providing the right support and solutions for individuals and businesses to achieve their goals. Stanbic IBTC boasts of highly trained and motivated staff that have expertise in SME financing and support,” added Macaulay.

He urged SME operators to take advantage of the seminar to build capacity that can help them manage and grow their businesses successfully. The forum is open to both Stanbic IBTC customers as well as interested SME operators.

Macaulay said the SME sector is pivotal to the economic growth and development of any nation and Nigeria is no exception, especially as the government attempts to diversify the economy in the aftermath of declining revenue from oil due to plummeting prices.

Shopping Malls Construction on the Rise in Nigeria, South Africa on Decline Construction of shopping malls in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is on the rise, while in South Africa development of new malls has tremendously declined.

Despite its large economy and high population – over 170 million people – the West African oil producing nation has lagged behind on the shopping mall construction craze that hit the continent over the last decade.

Nigeria has just a handful of formal shopping centers each with more than 10,000 square meters of leasable space. But that’s changing as several large malls are under construction.

The country has more than 100,000 square meters of leasable area in modern-format shopping centers and will be adding another 180,000 square meters of retail space by the end of 2016, according to a Broll Property Report.

By the end of last year, Nigeria had about a dozen Western-style shopping malls catering for people living in urban areas, The New York times reported.

Just last week a $50 million shopping mall was commissioned in Ikeja, Lagos, after the local government settled a dispute with residents of the area over the relocation of an open air market,Construction Review Online reported.

The emergence of malls — and mall culture — in Nigeria and other African nations like Kenya reflects broad trends on the continent, including a growing middle class with spending power.

But as Nigerian malls come online, in South Africa – the continents second largest economy and the most industrialized – the sector is facing an oversupply.

With over 2,000 malls and counting, the country has the seventh highest number of shopping centers in the world, covering over 23 million square meters — more than all the countries in Europe, according to Bloomberg.

South Africa has 60 percent of shops in the country in formal retail supermarkets, compared to just two percent of Nigeria’s, according to Ventures Africa.

CHATPAY LAUNCH

L-R: Divisional Chief Executive Officer, Switching and Processing, Interswitch, Mr. Akeem Lawal; General Manager, Mobile Finance Services, Craft Silicon, Mr. Niladri Sekhar Roy; Chief Evangelist, Chatpay, Mr. Gbanga Adams and Sales Head, Craft Silicon, Mr. Ketam Pulau, during the launch of Chatpay held at Civic Centre, Lagos…recently

Friends Funwine Hits Nigerian Market In what looked like a subtle move to revolutionise the wine market in Nigeria and Africa, promoters of a German brewed wine with its headquarters in Florida, United States have entered the continent with Friends Fun Wine, with the promise that it would give consumers value for money.

The launched of the wine in four different flavours which comes in 250 ml in quality alluminum slim Cans was unveiled recently in Lagos. Promised to takeover and redefine the way Nigerians and lover of wines perceive regular wine, its promoters say it is a revolution that is every age friendly.

In his opening address, the Group Managing Director for the new African initiative, said having involved in a few things in Nigeria since 2000, he was

delighted to be part of the funwine and its real revolution in the beverage business in Nigeria.

According to him, Nigeria is the first country in Africa where the brand is first launched. “Funwine started in the mind of one of the world best food and beverage specialists, Mr. Joe Peele.

The concept really is breaking through! Funwine was created as an Affordable-Healthy-TastyRTD-Flavored Wine packed in a quality aluminum slim cans and bottles.

While throwing more light on what good wine entails, Brosh said quality wine whether in red, white or rose is a must and a major ingredient in Funwine, he noted that using a state-of-the-art beverage technology creates a clear smooth natural organic wine based flavored drink.

Speaking further on the new-

est, tasty, refreshing and delicious wine, Brosh said the friend fun wine which is currently available in five flavours is the first ever coffee wine in a Can in Nigeria.

“It comes in different flavours namely Moscato, Chardonnary (Coffeee Cappuccino), Cabernet (Coffeee Espresso) and Sangriar.

Funwine contain Vitamins, low Alcohol -Only 6% and low nutrition value compared with the alternatives and also has minimum sparkling which makes the drink easy and fun.

Corroborating Brosh in promoting the brand, group chief designer, Mr. Kerensaid Funwine creed and design are completing the experience of funwinetaste and Smell. “The aluminum Slim Cans and Glass Bottles are the finest available in the industry.

Our ready-to-drink, known as RTD, Flavors are one of their

kind.It’s not Wine, it’s simply fun-wine.

“Funwine gives relaxed feeling alone, or bonding people who wish to have FUN all through the day, it design and colors were carefully chosen to give a natural-relaxed-atmosphere.

We didn’t only try to make a precise design, but we paid a huge attention to the synergy between funwine taste-smell look and Feel,” Keren said.

As the company which started its operation in America and currently operates in 42 countries around the Globe spreads its tentacles in Nigeria looking for qualified distributors and dealers to join the fun, Brosh reiterates its company’s commitment to contribute to the Nigerian economy as it plans to establish a winery and a filling facility in Nigeria within 2017.

Nigeria to Showcase SMEs at ITU Telecom World 2016 Emma Okonji Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) innovators, industry players and stakeholders are among the large number of delegates to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom World 2016.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will feature prominently at the 2016 ITU Telecoms conference, where it plans to showcase SMEs as part of the Nigerian community that is key to

digital transformation.

The event, which is due to hold in Bangkok, Thailand from November 14 – 17, 2016, will provide participants, including SMEs, the opportunity to network, showcase their innovations and tap new business models in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) space.

Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, who confirmed Nigeria’s participation, said participants would explore importance of

collaboration in the digital economy through best approaches, business models and technologies to forge flourishing inclusive ecosystem.

According to Ojobo, Nigeria has adopted a theme: “Smart Communities: the key to a Digital Nigeria”, and that the theme underscores the importance that Nigeria attaches to the ITU Telecom World 2016.

The general theme for ITU Telecom World 2016 is “ Collaboration in the

Digital Economy” and this will signpost collaborative regulation, the connected car, smart sustainable cities, fostering SME innovation, new roles for the satellite industry and digital financial services.

This year’s theme theme according to Ojobo would feature compelling formats ranging from top-level CEO/ Ministerial round tables to open dialogues between governments and small and medium business leaders and interactive panel debates.

T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

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EDUCATION ‘Regular Dialogue Reduced Conflicts in LASU’ Six months into his tenure as the current Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University, Professor Lanre Fagbohun said his administration is making steady progress on the five components of its vision to restore academic excellence in the institution. In this interview with Uchechukwu Nnaike, the Professor of Environmental Law also explained the moves he is making to maintain peace on campus and make a positive impact on the society. Excerpts: What are your achievements six months after your appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of LASU? If I look at the last six months, I will say that we are achieving positive incremental gains on what I will say were the five imperatives of my own vision. The first one is that there will be enduring peace at the university. Yes it is work in progress, but it is ongoing very well and for this I must thank my very distinguished colleagues in the university and our very dear students, they have been very supportive, they have all keyed into the vision and they are very supportive of the vision. I will also want to thank our unions for that, they have also been very supportive, and so we are making good progress in terms of ensuring that there is enduring peace in LASU. A second thing that we are doing is that I had as a vision which we are also making very good progress on is ensuring that we heighten academic excellence.

In this area, the flagship of our committee driving that is our quality assurance committee, the chairman of that committee is Prof. Peter Okebukola and one of the directors leading it with him is Prof. Amodu Sanni, of course there are other members of the committee. Then also we have about 32 other committees that are also involved in different ways in bringing to bear academic excellence. The third part of the vision is to be able to attract funds for the running of the university because no longer is it possible to expect that the government will be able to fund the kind of activities that academic institutions are into and that is why we have to leverage on the private sector and so far so good we are achieving that. I must say that the interventions of the federal government by way of TETFund and NEEDS, these are critical things that are also very supportive and of course we have the passion of the governor of Lagos State for the university, that has also gone a long way, but we are making good progress in terms of attracting funds to the university.

The fourth one is consolidating on the previous gains of the university because if you don’t consolidate on your previous gains and you get new gains, you will waste them, so you must be able to consolidate on previous gains and then build it up with the new achievements and that is what we are doing. The final one is impacting on the society. We just don’t want to be an academic community pontificating and coming up with theories, whatever we do must be able to impact on our society and we are also doing a lot in that area. So I will say that incrementally, we are making progress on all these five imperatives that we have as a vision for the next five years.

How do you want to see research in this university and what are you doing to enhance it?

In times past, the language of the academic environment has always been teaching and research, but in recent years, the clear indication is that any university that is just talking about teaching and research cannot achieve much. You must be able to marry teaching and research in a way that will impact on the society, that is the nexus now and that is the exciting world of the academia now, being able to impact on the society with your teaching and research. So if I am going to answer that question, I will say that where I want to see research for LASU is for research not to sit on the shelf. When our professors, scholars come up with the output of their research, these are things that we must be able to translate into innovation because the idea of research is for you to come out with innovation from it, something that you can market to the private sector or something that you can market to government. For instance

up, we are able to discuss them at these meetings so much so that by the time we discuss the issues, there is no more tension between the parties and we go away. If there are issues in the course of that, we are always ready to engage with each other. I think the idea of regular engagement that we are having now has really reduced a lot of conflicts and reduced the kind of things that degenerate into friction in previous times. We have substantially reduced that and that is the mechanism we have been able to find to ensure that we have a very peaceful relationship between us.

On the issue of payment of backlog of arrears, which was one of the demands of the unions, how far have you gone?

That was a critical issue hitherto that the last administration confronted, but what we have done so far is when I came in I sat with the unions, I looked at what can we do immediately, we all agreed on what we will be able to do as an immediate thing and that was done, then they also are privy to the steps we are making in order to be able to pay the balance and that is why I said earlier that I really want to thank them for their understanding because they do understand that efforts are being made and they are ready to support the efforts to ensure that we are able to achieve our goals. Not too long ago, the Lagos State government increased our subvention so that we will be able to meet our personnel cost. Now that the government has done that for us, it will make it possible for us now to use our IGR to meet our obligations to our unions and other third parties.

Fagbohun

one of the solutions that came out in the course of some of the things our students are doing is software for electronic voting, at the end of the day, by the time we perfect it very well, we can sell it out to government. Again we are doing a lot of things now in the area of looking at how we can work on biofuel so that it can become something that will contribute to energy resources. There are a number of things that we are doing with the ministry of science and technology in Lagos and we have already submitted our research to them and they are looking at how to work with us to commercialise them. At the Epe Campus where we have the faculty of engineering, our department of polymer came up with a particular kind of paint that is unique to our environment and we are looking at the possibility of commercializing this, get it patented and at the not too distant future be able to sell such things. Research should not just be done for the sake of doing research, it must result in something that can be of benefit to the society.

Campus. In this regard I make reference to our College of Medicine; we want to make positive impact there, the Faculty of Engineering at Epe, the School of Agriculture at Epe and all the faculties. But in terms of where I think I can give leverage for the Faculty of Law, I believe the goodwill I have is such that I should be able to bring people who can assist the faculty in different areas where there are gaps and disconnects and that I have already started.

I have started talking to senior advocates of Nigeria, respected judges that I know can come on board to support the faculty, even our alumni who are interested in giving back. We are also trying to cultivate a relationship with them such that they can come back and be able to give back to the faculty. All of these we are looking at holistically to be able to assist the faculty. I know you are asking that question in the context of the fact that the Law Faculty of LASU for a long while has been the flagship of frontiers of law in Nigeria. We are getting back to that.

Do you have adequate facilities and are you putting facilities in place for this kind of research?

In terms of the facilities that we have, I will say that we are developing a lot of facilities that we are going to be leveraging on as we move forward in addition to current facilities.

For example, we are going to be building a centre for entrepreneurship at Epe, this centre will be more like a skills acquisition centre, we will have a partnership with the industry, we will invite them to come and be a part of us in setting up this centre. We already have funds for it.

Regarding the enduring peace you mentioned how is your relationship with the staff unions and how did you resolve the issue of the withdrawal of the doctoral degree certificates of the ASUU chairman and others?

The issue of the withdrawn certificate was something that already engaged the attention of the governing council before my appointment and the governing council had a sub-committee that looked into it and came to a conclusion that the withdrawal ought not to have happened and all of that was corrected and that issue has been resolved. Dr. Idris has already been issued his certificate, all of that has been sorted out.

But beyond that, I want to say that the kind of understanding we have now is such that we meet regularly, as a matter of fact, I have meetings with all the unions every month; I also have meetings with all the students, the students representatives, I have meetings with them every month, this way, when issues come

As a professor of law, how do you intend to make your impact felt in the Law Faculty of LASU? First I will say that yes I am a professor of Law, I want to impact on the Faculty of Law, the same way I also want to impact on every other faculty whether within or outside Ojo

The university had announced plans to construct hostels for students, how far have you gone with that and other developmental projects of the previous administration?

In terms of the projects that were being done under the previous administration, they are still ongoing. If you look at the senate building, it is nearing completion; the law library is also nearing completion and these are the areas where the state governor has been very benevolent because what the governor has done is to make sure that outstanding payments that stalled the progress of the buildings, have now been made.

In terms of the development of hostels, guest centres, conference centres, recreational facilities, what we are doing is that we want to bring in private sector participation to use the private sector to aggressively develop them and we advertised an expression of interest, which was fully subscribed to, so we are hopeful that we will be able to work with one of the top notch accounting firms in Nigeria to shortlist because what we don’t want to do is to bring on board some one that will start a project and will not be able to finish it and will start giving excuses.

We want to do a thorough due diligence so much so that whoever we pick to embark on any project will be able to execute it to our satisfaction, we are going to be cost-conscious because whatever we want to develop must not be too expensive for students. Quality is also a critical component for us, then whatever we want to do, we want to green because at the end of the day, we are conscious of environmental issues. We are looking at a situation where in another 15-18 months, the skyline of the university will be different because we will have our hostels in place, instead of our students being accommodated in areas just around the university, they will be properly accommodated within their university. This will also increase the bonding between our students because when they live together they are able to appreciate each other better and they are able to maintain that network of friendship going forward in life.

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

EDUCATION

Foreign Study: Nigeria Loses N155bn Annually, Says Don Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Director, Ahmadu Bello University Distance Learning Centre, Prof. Adamu Zoaka Hassan, has decried the lack of facilities and space in higher institutions in the country, which he said has forced thousands of applicants abroad, thereby costing the country about N155 billion annually.

To this end, the institution has launched its Distance Learning Centre (DLC) to mop up some percentage of qualified applicants that are unable to

secure on-campus admission, thus, putting Nigerian tertiary education system among the best in the world.

He regretted that the establishment of additional universities has not significantly altered the problem; hence the decision by ABU to reverse the trend and help generate more revenue for the country.

Hassan, who made this known while briefing journalists in Abuja recently, stressed the need to review the educational delivery in Nigeria in line with current

trends.

“There are over two million undergraduate applicants annually and less than 30 per cent are admitted due to limited space and facilities.

Tens of thousands of Nigerian students are compelled to study in foreign countries with over 71,000 in Ghana costing Nigeria over N155 billion annually.”

Hassan noted that the distance learning centre would also accommodate “the on-campus students unable to continue their studies oncampus, Nigerians in diaspora

and foreigners interested in Nigerian degrees and organisations seeking special trainings.

“We are just starting with the MBA in October, the total time to complete an online course will be equivalent to that of an on-campus programme and the same degree will be earned as the ones on campus.”

He explained that the ABU distance learning model involves the applications of multimedia technology that supports electronic instructional delivery mode

(e-learning), as well as independent learning.

“The ABU model is unique, you can acquire PhD without leaving your home. Wherever you are in the world you can get quality certificate from ABU without being in the classroom. ABU is the first university to introduce the distance learning and our intention is to put the university in the world map that is where we should be.”

Hassan explained that the suggested time for the completion of the programme

by the National Universities Commission (NUC) is between 18 months and three years.

“How long you stay on your programme depends on you, you have to decide when you want to graduate.”

In his remarks, the ViceChancellor, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Ibrahim Naiya Sada, said the programme has the approval of the NUC and the senate. He promised that the model has all it takes for qualitative learning.

Lagos Private Schools Have Till August 10 to Register, Says Govt Uchechukwu Nnaike Private primary and secondary schools in Lagos State, irrespective of their accreditation status, that are yet to register with their respective education district in compliance with the new directive of the state government, have until August 10 to do so or face sanctions.

According to the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Oluranti Adebule, the directive became imperative in line with the state government’s desire to ensure the delivery of quality education to all students in the state.

Adebule, who doubles as the Commissioner for Education, said: “The importance of the services being rendered by private educational institutions to the socio-economic development of the state and the nation cannot be overemphasised.

The number of children in the various private schools are too

numerous to be ignored, hence there is the compelling need to redefine the criteria for the delivery of quality education in the state.”

She stressed that the exercise is free, adding that it is neither aimed at generating revenue nor taxation. “It is inclined towards knowing the education service providers, visit them and monitor what they are doing to ensure that it is in line with the quality assurance regulation of schools below tertiary level with a view to improving learning outcomes.

“The administration places high premium on the education of our children whether they are in public or private schools. Thus, we have to ensure that the learning environment is conducive; the curricular and co-curricular activities are such that are in tandem with the vision of the state for the future of the pupils and students.”

FCE Okene Has Quality Teachers, Says Provost Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja The Federal College of Education (FCE) Okene, Kogi State has been described as a major player in the task of building Nigeria as a result of the quality of teachers it produces.

The Provost, Dr. Ajayi Iyela, who said this at the opening ceremony of accreditation exercise by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) held at the school auditorium, stressed that the institution had long placed premium on development and sustenance of functional ICT and electronic library for quality outputs.

“As one of the foremost colleges of education in Nigeria, we are aware of the importance of having a functional library and ICT unit. Indeed both are fundamentally parts of the several facilities that underscore the academic and intellectual strength and tone of an institution of this nature.

“The college has a fully

equipped and functional Management Information Centre (MIC) with which students and staff can access the world, register their courses, pay school fees and access results online.”

According to Iyela, the college which started with only 15 departments has grown to 28, saying that the feat was achieved as a result of highly committed and hardworking provosts that had managed the school over the years.

He told the accreditation team that the college’s curriculum is strictly in adherence with the NCCE minimum standards with lecturers laying emphasis on learner-centred approach which he said has translated into the production of highly innovative graduates over the years.

Responding, the leader of the accreditation team, Dr. Vitalis Lorwua Uji, who commended the provost for an elaborate presentation on the programme and structural facilities of the college.

EGG HEADS

L-R:The Deputy Vice-Chancellor Development, Federal University of Technology (FUTA), Professor Akinbogun Tolulope; Professor of Wood Products and BiomaterialsTechnology, Babatunde Ajayi ; the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academics, Professor Olatunde Arayela; and the Registrar, Dr. Modupe Ajayi, shortly after Professor Ajayi delivered the 77th inaugural lecture of the university

JAN Tasks FG on New Education Model Peace Obi The Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), an economic empowerment non-governmental organisation, has called on the federal government to adopt its model to support the education system in the country.

The Executive Director of JAN, Mrs. Ehizefua Edeh, made the call at the graduation ceremony of the week-long educational and empowerment camp for 50 girls drawn from private and public schools across the country tagged ‘Leadership, Empowerment, Achievement and Development’ (LEAD Camp).

According to her, JAN has been empowering youths from five to 27 years through its three pillars for success - financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurshipsince 1999.

She said the organisation has a successful track record among youths in the country and encouraged the government to adopt the JAN model, adding that the federal and state governments should expand their curricular to accommodate JAN as a supplementary education model.

Edeh also urged governments and private individuals to allow JAN to establish its skills acquisition centres in all schools in their

domain to enable it implement the work readiness, financial literacy and empowerment in all schools across the country.

“I guarantee that the quality of life of Nigerian youths will improve within 10 years once government adopts Junior Achievement Nigeria’s supplementary education model in all schools across Nigeria.”

She said the organisation has been in existence since 1999 and has reached over 650,000 students in over 750 schools in 29 locations across the country with the support of 1,000 volunteers, adding that as a part of 121 county global network, JAN is able to leverage and deliver unique experiential programmes.

The executive director disclosed that the LEAD Camp, which was sponsored by Union Bank, will not end with the graduation of the 2016 set, but that they have been inducted into an alumni with participants of previous LEAD Camps.

She said there is also a JAN Club through which the students are mentored and given empowerment tools that would enhance their aspirations, adding that every initiative that the girls have come up with during the LEAD Camp will be followed up through mentoring.

‘Proper Research Must be Conducted on Schools Abroad’ Funmi Ogundare The Sales Director, Abbey DLD Group of Colleges, Mr. Charles Johnson, has appealed to parents to ensure that they conduct a proper research as to the type of sixth form college they want their children to attend, saying that once such schools are not prepared to share the basic things one needs to know through their website, then they have something to hide.

Johnson, who made this known recently while briefing journalists in Lagos, said parents should also make efforts to check the calibre of teaching that would go a long way in impacting their lives.

“Parents need to check the destination and the calibre of teaching, if the child is not happy about the school, then you may find out that he/she is not working hard.

Parents need to check out for the university website, for instance, if there are 150 universities in the UK, is the university they are looking for the 149 position? If so you might simply go. They have to make sure that the school will deliver some sort of quality.”

He stated that they also have to look for the kind

of institution that produces students that can compete globally, adding, “you want your child to study in a place where you have some element of your culture and the people you know are there.”

Asked if his college has link with the British Council, Johnson said the council ensures that IGSCE is done in a proper manner and that there is proper standisation of the examination.

The Student Admissions Manager, Africa, Mr. Muazu Jalalude, who highlighted the challenges faced in the Nigerian education system said, “Nigerian education system with time has deteriorated that is why parents who can afford prefer to send their children to study in the UK for the stipulated year.”

On the yardstick for scholarship, he said students must have excellent performance as an incentive procedure, adding, “we can give them discount and we have a payment plan for them.”

He said some schools in Nigeria have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with colleges in the UK to run foundation programmes, adding that such partnership will be a form of investment for them and to Nigeria.

37

T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

EDUCATION

Expert Harps on Capacity Devt at FSTCY’s Graduation Uchechukwu Nnaike The government and all well-meaning stakeholders in the education sector have been advised to focus more on human capacity development by investing massively in technical and vocational schools and centres so as to produce world-class workforce to curb the menace of youth unemployment in the country.

The immediate past President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Mr. Olumide Akintayo, who gave the advice at the eighth annual speech day and prizegiving ceremony of the Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, Lagos, regretted that the county pays little or no attention to celebrating true excellence and as such, youths are currently wasting away in employments that cannot be sustained.

Akintayo, who was chairman of the occasion, said a tour of the school shows that it possesses the requisite equipment to develop vocational and technical skills in the country, but most of the equipment are outdated; he stressed that these are the kinds of institutions that corporate organisations need to help resuscitate so as to groom a new generation of youths who have something to do.

Addressing the graduands in a paper

titled ‘Path to Positive Success’, the guest speaker, a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos, Dr. E.O Obidiegwu, stressed that the path to positive success is not always smooth.

“For you to achieve that, you must be ready for action. That you are receiving prize today is the result of taking action (burning the midnight candle). Nothing good comes so easy. Nevertheless life is all about choice. You can be a passive victim of circumstance or you can be the active hero of your own life.”

She urged the graduands to try and discover their own talent, and advised them not to choose a career because their friends are choosing it. “By discovering your talent and working hard you can be the best in the vocation of your choice.”

Obidiegwu said for them to achieve greatness, the qualities expected from them are self-discipline, organisation, perseverance and non-procrastination; adding that to remain great, they must possess qualities like hard work, honesty, humility and obedience.

“You don’t know the future, but you know the one who holds the future and that is God. Always consult Him with prayers so that your future will be bright,” she said.

In his remarks, the Principal, Rev. Chris

Ugorji, who presented the report of the college’s activities for the 2015/2016 academic session, stated that the academic life and tone of the college has improved tremendously following the machineries put in place by the management to monitor the teaching and learning processes.

“The implementation of the ‘Sit Down and Read’ programme has been yielding results which we believe would be reflected in the outcome of our internal and external examination results.”

Among other achievements, he said the college successfully completed and commissioned the Excellence Block of three classrooms for junior secondary one students; inaugurated the new girls’ hostel built by the PTA; renovation, refurbishing and commissioning of the general staff room; and the provision of over 500 units of two-in-one classroom furniture and over 700 units of single examination desks and chairs.

The principal stressed that the college is in dire need of adequate science laboratory; adequate refectory; more classrooms, accommodation and furniture; replacement of obsolete machines in the technical workshop with modern ones; training and re-training of teachers to meet the demands of advance technology, among others.

Antidote for Teacher-Stress A science teacher is summoned by her line manager and an occupational therapist, to a return-to-work interview.

His/her employers are concerned about his/her high record of sickness days off.

Occupational Therapist: “...and the greatest vitamin you need for maximum performance/less days off your duty is ...”

Science Teacher (replying presumptuously): Vitamin B1?

Occupational Therapist: Could well be the case in your vocation. If you incorporate this into your daily meals, you would soon reduce your escalating sickness days-off.

Vitamin B1 is the first of the B category vitamins to be discovered. Vitamin B1 famously known as thiamine or thiamin. Thiamine (vitamin B1) is found in plant and animal foods which include: beans, peas, soybeans, lentils and other legumes, rice, oats, corn meal, barley, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortilla, yeast, organ meats, peanuts and other nuts, pork, meat, poultry, bran, as well as in other vitamin B complexes products.

Taking enough of Vitamin B1 foods, particularly at breakfast is important because it enables our body to withstand stressful conditions. A purposeful effort to eat foods from this category of vitamins would help you to function better at menial and mental jobs. Diets rich in vitamin B1 increase your energy levels, fights stress, prevents memory loss, enhances your ability to learn and and contributes to your achieving positive mental attitudes.

These days, breakfast foods such as cereals and bread are fortified with vitamin B1. Look out for this in the ingredients as listed on your food packaging.

Vitamin B1 works, like the other seven B vitamins.

They help our bodies convert the carbohydrates in our foods into glucose. Glucose is the ‘fuel’ which our bodies use to derive energy. In addition to this, all the B vitamins help us break down protein and fats.

People living with issues like: Beriberi, Crohn’s disease, anorexia, alcoholism and on kidney dialysis, may lack enough thiamine in their system. Consequently, they may need treatment with thiamine, by their doctors or health care providers.

Vitamin B1 is also available as supplements. It can be found in over-the-counter multivitamin drugs for adults and children.

Have you got enough thiamine in your daily meals?

Omoru writes from the UK

REWARDING HARD WORK

R-L: The Secretary, Holy Saviour’s College (HOSACO) Alumni Association 84, 85 set, Mrs. Oluwaseyi Olokode; the President, Mr. Kamorudeen Ajayi; the winner, BestTeacher of the Year, Mrs. Adesokun Oyindaramola, the Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Lola Adeniyi; and Mrs. GiasatTiamyu, during the 2016 valedictory/prize-giving day of the school in Isolo, Lagos… recently

C/River Launches Smart School Programme As part of measures to ensure that secondary schools in the state are ICT compliant and fully digitized, Cross River State Government has commenced its Smart School Programme with a pilot scheme at Government Secondary School, State Housing Estate, Calabar.

The programme, which is in partnership with Samsung West Africa Electronics Ltd, will ensure that seven secondary schools in the state benefit from the over N50 million worth of computer laboratory.

Apart from the Smart School programme, the partnership is expected to give rise to the establishment of a Samsung Technology Academy in the state.

Unveiling the programme, the Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, represented by the Deputy Governor, Prof Ivara Esu, said the initiative was a testimonial that signed MoUs by the administration are beginning

to come to fruition.

“The project is focused on training the trainers and Calabar will soon be a smart city. Fibre optic cables have been laid, relevant contracts have been prepared and very soon, wherever you are, you will be able to access the internet.”

He charged the beneficiaries to use the facilities wisely in order to meet the demands of the 21st century technology and to centre allow others to benefit from the initiative.

Making the presentation recently, Samsung Managing Director, represented by the Head, Enterprise and IT Business, Mr. Rotimi Agbola, said the initiative would make quality education delivery a reality in the state.

“Education is a basic human right and it is something Samsung takes seriously.

We also believe that Cross River State and Samsung Electronics share the same

goal in improving education, hence our smart school and global lining concept is going to impact on the lives of the people.”

He noted that the school will focus on the “training of 50 teachers in basic computer literacy, provision of teachers with access to tools, empowerment of teachers to access digital contents, as well as conducting assessment of students’ progress and providing them with learning tools from any location.”

Explaining that the Smart School in Calabar is among the first three of 10 ICT laboratories which Samsung intends to roll out across the country in the nearest future, the Managing Director said: “Guidance from teachers who understand the technology will be the first step for students to gain the skills needed in a rapidly advancing ICT world.”

Commending the governor for his passion for the full

digitisation of the state, the Commissioner for ICT, Chief Offu Aya said: “Long before coming into office, Ayade realised that one of the major tools required for the liberation of the state from the quagmire of poverty was to build a robust knowledge economy with ICT as the critical enabler.”

According to the Commissioner for Education, Mr. Godwin Ettah, “the smart education programme has three folds which include the training of 50 teachers to retrain their colleagues; negotiating with Samsung to provide ICT centres; and the building of a Samsung Technology Academy in Cross River state.

“Arrangements are in top gear for the establishment of two ICT centres in each of the 18 local government areas in the state to move Cross River from having a minimal four JAMB centres to 36.”

First Set of Semi-finalists Emerge in 2016 Cowbellpedia Maths TV Quiz It was mixed feelings in the first preliminary round of the 2016 Cowbellpedia Secondary Schools Mathematics TV Quiz Show aired on major television stations across the country as the first set of semi-finalists emerged.

Favour Okeke of Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja and Emmanuel Igban of Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State triumphed over their counterparts to proceed to the semi-final stage of the junior category.

Ayomide Ajayi of BiboOluwa Academy, Ilesa, Osun State; Ugozuchuwu Offor of University of Nigeria Secondary School, Enugu Campus; Divine Uzagu of Federal Government College, Okposi, and Praise Isinkaye of Federal Government Academy, Suleja, Niger State did not make it to the semi-final after both rounds of the preliminary stage.

Igban and Okeke who were visibly exited, expressed confidence in their ability to get to the final and win the ultimate prize. Isinkaye, the only female student in the

group was emotional about her exit, but promised to do better next time.

In the senior category, Adegoke Aromolaran of BiboOluwa Academy Ilesa, Osun State and Kenneth Nwagu of Graceland International School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State made it to the semifinals. Aromolaran had a perfect score in the stage one qualifying exam, while Nwagu scored 93 per cent.

The duo however tied at 110 points in the second round to knock out Redemption Adebayo of Model Secondary School, Alagbaka, Akure, Ondo State; Ayomide Ajewole of Bibo-Oluwa Academy, Ilesa; Theophilus Nkwuda of Twelve Apostle College, Sharon, Ebonyi State; and Fortune Emmannuel-King of Word of Faith Schools, Benin City, Edo State.

Nkwuda and Ajewole blamed their exit on nervousness and lack of speed, while promising to sharpen their skills for the future. “This is my first time, but my exit does not mean the end. I will

38

T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

EDUCATION

Poor Funding, Unpaid Salaries: ASUU Wants NUC to Visit Ondo Institutions James Sowole in Akure Citing alleged inability of Ondo State to fund its tertiary institutions, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the National Universities Commission (NUC) to pay investigative visits to three universities established by the state government to ascertain their true state and take the necessary action.

The call was contained in a statement signed by the Benin Zone of the union, Dr. Anthony Monye-Emima, urging the union not to be complicit in the attempt by the Ondo State Government to reduce university education to a ridiculous level.

In a swift reaction, the state government through the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said what is happening is not peculiar to the state going by the economic

situation in the country.

“Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions are not the only ones facing challenges and the government has been trying a lot to address the situation.”

ASUU in the statement titled ‘Making a Travesty of University Education in Ondo State’, said going by the economic situation in the country and the state of affairs in the state universities, it was obvious that the state cannot fund them as expected.

Ondo has three universities, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akugba Akoko (AAUA); Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitikpukpa (OSUTECH); and Ondo State University of Medical Sciences, Ondo (UNIMED).

According to Monye-Emina, AAUA and OSUTECH lecturers have been on strike over the non-payment of their salaries, while the institutions are

groaning under non-payment of subventions and poor infrastructure.

“The first two state-owned universities in Akugba-Akoko and Okitipupua are shut down owing to inability of the academic staff to continue to go to work. This is due to nonpayment of salaries, for several months, and gross underfunding of the institutions.

Adekunle Ajasin University staff are owed arrears of salary and deductions running into months.

“Between November 2015 and now, the university has not received a dime from the state government for the payment of salaries and meet other running costs that are also begging for attention. Simply put, the university is reeling under the yoke of gross underfunding.

“Deductions have not been remitted to co-operative societies,

welfare/thrift groups since last year. Efforts by the university administration at paying salary via internally generated revenue, though unacceptable, have been rebuffed by the state government. “Unions’ deductions are being withheld illegally while efforts by staff to better their living condition through the cooperative society have been frustrated.”

Monye-Emina described the case of OSUTECH as pitiable, saying, “the last time the staff received salary was in January 2016. In other words arrears of salary owed runs into months and nobody, not even the university management or the state government is engaging them on the issue.

“While ASUU called on the state government to immediately pay all arrears of salaries owed its members in AAUA and OSUTECH without further

delay the Benin Zone of the union is in solidarity with its members in the universities concerned.

“The zone also calls on the government to rethink its policy of establishing multiple universities, taking into consideration its financial strength. For a state that does not have a relatively well-off financial base and highly dependent on federal allocation to own three universities is simply absurd.

“Education is not a revenuegenerating sector and so a heavy financial burden has been placed on the state. The consequences can be counter-productive. This explains the current challenges witnessed in the two older universities”, the coordinator stated.

He added that Ondo-owned institutions are known for excellence and if the government had not shown commitment, all the

accolades cannot be possible.

“It was when Mimiko came on board that many projects were executed at the OSUTECH and which led to the movement of academic activities to the permanent site. Tertiary institutions were established to democratise education. We are investing in the future of youths. We pride education as a golden project in the state.

“The University of Medical Sciences, which is the first in West Africa, was purposely established to ensure that we train our own medical personnel unlike before when we have to go to Ibadan and Ife. The university was established to provide medical education for those who cannot afford to send their chidren to private universities or send them to foreign universities. We want many people to have access to tertiary education.

Teachers Identified as Key to Quality Education at Pacific College’s Graduation The Chairman, Board of Trustees of Pacific Comprehensive Schools, Lagos, Remi Omosowon, has stressed the need to pay more attention to the quality of teachers as the key to quality education in Nigeria.

This he said is a critical action required of government to complement the effort of the educational institution in a bid to raise the standard of education at the secondary school level.

“There has been a curriculum review and schools have introduced more enriching programmes, like in Pacific Schools where we have integrated financial literacy, entrepreneurship, music and trade subjects. What is needed now is for government to employ more qualified teachers, and start paying attention to teachers as critical factor in the whole education complex.”

He made this known during the15th valedictory service and prize-giving ceremony of the school, which draws its students from everywhere across the country. The event which started at 10am recorded an impressive turnout of parents, educationists and other invited guests from far and near.

For the graduands, the valedictory service was an emotional occasion that was filled with fun and gaiety. It was also a moment for sober reflection as they bid farewell to the school and prepare for further academic pursuit.

In his remarks, the Principal, Mekwunye Andrew, said a good secondary education is crucial in academic endeavours since it is at that level that students gain the basic knowledge needed for future skills and creativity acquisition in higher schools.

His address to the 2016 graduating class which was titled ‘The Future Belongs to those Who are Good at What

They Do’ underscored the school’s excellent academic record, which by WAEC’s rating placed it as the 91st among 1,000 best schools in Nigeria. He enjoined the student to take that as evidence that they have had a good secondary education, which will serve as a springboard for their take-off into future success.

“The future belongs to the people with the critical knowledge of how to get results and those who are adding to their knowledge base every day,” he said and advised them not to relent but to continue to pursue critical knowledge that will be useful to future success.”

The school chairman in his address to the graduands said: “Most of you will go to universities, while a few may go straight to work, yet some may go into entrepreneurship, sports or the arts, whichever way you go, you must impact the world.”

He charged them to be successful. “It is not enough to simply try to get by in life that does not move the world forward. Your individual successes benefit the society as a whole because when you succeed, you are in a position to give rather than take. Your education in this college has equipped you for success, the tool to take on the world.”

An exhortation by Pastor Idowu Adara emphasised the need for parents to provide quality education for their children, as well as closely monitor their academic progress. Adara, whose four children passed through the college, and are currently working in various professions- one of whom is a successful medical doctorenjoined the graduands to make the most of the education they

STEPPING UP

A cross-section of the graduating students of Pacific Comprehensive College, Lagos, during their valedictory service and prize-giving ceremony… recently

Lagos Set to Launch Schools’ Maintenance Gang Funmi Ogundare The Lagos State Government will this month launch a ‘Maintenance Gang’ for its public schools by engaging graduates in construction trades from its technical colleges.

The ‘gang’, which consists of graduates from the states technical colleges are drawn from the fields of blocklaying, plumbing, carpentry and electrical installation. They will ensure that facilities in public schools are constantly and adequately maintained and sustained.

Already, the graduates have been trained in the areas of plumbing, carpentry and blocklaying/tiling under the technical skills development programme of NECA, in addition to supervised internships and have their companies which they established, incorporated.

The Deputy Governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, disclosed this recently at the graduation ceremony of NECA-ITF

technical skills development project students of Government Technical College, Ikorodu.

She said aside the opportunities available to the graduates at NECA member organisations to render minor repairs and maintenance services, the state will be engaging the 30 companies incorporated by the graduates from the initiative, adding that more enterprises would be incorporated by graduates of the other four technical colleges to also offer renovation and maintenance services in public schools.

“In our resolve to provide a conducive learning environment in the state public schools, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has graciously approved the release of N9 billion for rehabilitation works in our secondary and primary schools. It is expected that students will resume into an enhanced learning environment in September.

We are no doubt committed to renewing our promise for wealth creation and provision

of jobs for Lagos youths especially through technical skills development.”

Adebule, who presented certificates of incorporation to the graduands, described the technical skills and entrepreneurial training of the graduates as a novel approach by the state government to reforming its technical colleges with the infusion of enteprenueral education in a self-reliant economy.

The Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Educational Board (LASTVEB), Mr. Olawumi Gasper, reinforced the mission of the state government in building the blocks of an inspiring and empowering environment for youths.

“At this point of huge youth unemployment, innovative solutions that can transform the economy of the nation are imperative.

There is need therefore to engage the private sector in making more investments in the youths using TVE to

inspire them to achieve their full potential.”

He added that the highlights of the training was a business registration workshop facilitated by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), aimed at sensitising the students on the legal and regulatory requirements as prospective micro/small enterprise owners in the built environment.

The Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr. Babatunde Durosimi-Etti, commended NECA and ITF for supporting the initiative, and LASTVEB for the successful implementation of the programme, while congratulating the graduands.

“You have been supported with entrepreneurial skills, you need to go out and have the opportunity in a competitive environment.

You need to unleash your potential and translate your ideas into reality. Don’t forget the support you got from the state and employers.”

39

T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

EDUCATION

Lagos Equips Youths with Entrepreneurial Skills, Current Best Practices

Funmi Ogundare

The Lagos State government recently held its fourth Enterprise Day for students of its technical colleges, aimed at stimulating their entrepreneurial mindset, imparting skills and breeding quality entrepreneurs who are equipped with current best practices that will enable them compete favourably in local and global business terrains.

The programme with the theme, ‘Nurturing Innovation and Entrepreneurship’, held at the NECA House, Ikeja, saw speakers after speakers mentoring the students on the need to have the right mindset, while encouraging them on innovative business start-ups.

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), Mr. Olawumi Gasper, said since the introduction of the programme in 2013, it has continued to evolve a brand that promotes entrepreneurship in Lagos youths and has witnessed the delivery of youth-led businesses. “The delivery of youth-led businesses is as showcased in the 30 buildings and building-related entities recently incorporated and the engagement of the companies by this administration to carry out minor repairs and maintenance of Lagos public school buildings and facilities.”

He thanked the private sector partners and mentors

for their support in evoking the entrepreneurial spirit in the students, saying that the impact of new technologies, relevant skills acquired from its technical colleges, vibrancy from the youths and incubation of business ideas from the students call for the continuous support of the private sector partnering the government.

In his keynote address, the Africa Regional Coordinator of Teach a Man to Fish, based in Kampala, Uganda, Mr. James Love, expressed concern that Nigeria is not preparing its youths enough with the skills they need to be entrepreneurs, adding that it is more focused on academic grades.

“What we want in people is

a range of knowledge, attitude, values and behavior. With the Teach a Man to Fish initiative, we are trying to support schools and educational systems, as well as give students the practical learning they need to ensure business success. It is about team work and motivation, you are able to learn to how to market and keep records. It is about building a generation of young entrepreneurs.”

Panelists that mentored the students emphasised the need for them to have the necessary skills, to be focused and stand out in all they do. An entrepreneur, Mrs. Fehintola Foluso-Onogoruwa recalled how she had to take a decision 43 years ago to become an entrepreneur and how she had

to resign from paid employment after realising that being in an employee status would not enhance her vision and her preferred lifestyle choice after retirement.

“You have to take a decision, if you remain on the same road, you will not get to your destination, you have to write down your decisions and know here what you want to be in the next five to 10 years.You must have a business skill and own the job by putting a system in place. The concept is that you must have dream of where you are going.”

The Managing Director and Founder of SLOT Systems Limited, Mr. Nnamdi Ezeigbo, advised the youths to create value for themselves and the society,

saying that people struggle because they lack managerial abilities.

“You need capacity, strategy and capital, you have to be different, smart and simple.

If you know what consumers want, then you can become a billionaire. It is all about producing products that meet the needs of the society.

A public speaker, Mr. Rajiv Sharma said, “when you listen to your customers, you can provide what they are looking for. You have to create a vision and start your journey by creating your vision, look for what people need. You need to use your brain effectively and you need a vision to start executing your plan.”

Winners of Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition Emerge Peace Obi A student of Zamani College, Kaduna, Miss. Fadilah SaliuAhmed has emerged winner of the 13th Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition for Secondary School Students in the country.

Saliu-Ahmed, who maintained the same grade level in the first and second phases of the competition, scored 75 per cent to clinch the first position in the competition that received 846 entries.

While the second position went to Miss Barakat Adebayo of Roshallom International School Egbeda, Lagos, Miss Wuraola Adeoye of Fountain Height Secondary School, Lagos finished as the third position.

Miss. Oluchi Onyenso of Corona Secondary School, Agbara came fourth.

Moradeyo Olaitan of Fountain Height Secondary School, Lagos came fifth. The sixth and seventh positions went to Master Nathaniel Brown of Ritman College Ikot Epkene, Akwa-Ibom State and Master Ibe Solomon of Township Comprehensive Secondary School, Amaifeke, Imo State respectively.

Disclosing some of the distinguishing factors that made the judges consider Saliu-Ahmed as the winner, the Chief Examiner, Professor T.A Ezeigbo said “Saliu-Ahmed wrote with tact in a natural and effortless way.

Her expressive ability and the application of necessary grammatically disposition made her the first prize winner for this year’s competition.

“We had 846 entries for the 13th edition of the competition.

The organisers introduced a filtering procedure and quality enhancement mechanisms, which ensured that only good and assessable essays got to the judges for evaluation. So, in the first round of the competition, we adjudged seven contestants as being suitable to proceed to the onehour written test intended to confirm the integrity of their submissions.”

Highlighting the impact the newly introduced mechanisms

had on the competition, Ezeigbo said, “this year, cases of copying, collaboration and plagiarism that regularly characterised the exercise in preceding years was significantly reduced.”

The chief examiner added that the topic for the second round of the competition was ‘Adopting and Practicing Tolerance as a Core Value in Nigeria’ and that it was closely related to the overall theme of the year. He said the second phase of the competition, which had just the seven finalists assemble at the TREM headquarters in Lagos afforded the contestants the opportunity to meet and make new friends.

This he said was unlike what was previously obtained where all the contestants travelled from different parts of the country to the TREM headquarters for the second phase.

Announcing that prizes would be presented to the winners at this year’s Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture on September 1 at Shell Hall of the MUSON Centre, Lagos, he said Saliu-Ahmed will get a cheque of N100,000, a laptop, a plaque, while the school will get three sets of computer and a printer.

The second prize winner will get a cheque of N75,000, a plaque and the school will get two sets of computer and a printer; the third position will be rewarded with a cheque of N50,000, a plaque and theschool will get a computer set. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh candidates will get consolation prizes of N20,000 each.

The competition, initiated in 2004 as part of activities marking the birthday of the Presiding Bishop of TREM, Dr. Mike Okonkwo is said to be Okonkwo’s contribution to the development of education in the country.

“Dr. Mike Okonkwo has continued in this gesture for the past 13 years using his God-given talent, strength and resources to be a blessing to the younger generation in the pursuit of academic excellence by encouraging them to cultivate the habit of reading and writing effectively.”

ALL FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION

L-R:The Executive Secretary, Lagos StateTechnical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), Mr. Olawumi Gasper; the Chief Executive Officer and founder of SLOT Systems Limited, Mr. Nnamdi Ezeigbo; a public speaker, Mr. Rajiv Sharma; and Director,Technical and Vocational Studies LASTVEB, Mr. Laolu Oguntuyi, during the Lagos State fourth Enterprise Day… recently

US Consulate General Amaechi Named Today’s Holds Orientation Session Impact Education Man Award for Nigerian Students The Minister of Transportation, boarding facilities, as well as Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, who standard housing for teachers.

About 120 Nigerian undergraduate and graduate students who have been admitted to United States higher institutions recently attended an education USA pre-departure orientation at the US Consulate General in Lagos.

The newly admitted students were treated to a wide range of practical advice about US culture and educational expectations to set them up for success, such as building positive relationships with professors and peers, time management, and balancing course workloads with a strong social and community life.

EducationUSA Advisers, Chinenye Uwadileke and Adeola Oseni, who led the session in concert with 11 current and former students from Nigeria, shared extensive wisdom from first-hand experience.

The acting Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Frank Sellin, welcomed the group, saying that they are beginning

a life-changing educational and cultural experience, while urging them to bring back their experiences and knowledge to the benefit of all Nigerians.

EducationUSA is the authoritative and premier source of advice and information on higher education in the United States.

The Education USA advising centres at the US Embassy in Abuja and the US Consulate in Lagos provide quality, timely, accurate, and unbiased information about all accredited US higher education institutions for persons wishing to study in the United States.

In addition to free general orientations open to the public on finding and applying to programmes in the United States, the centres offer individual advice for a fee to help interested Nigerian students who have the academic qualifications and financial resources for studying in the United States.

was Governor of Rivers State until 2015, has clinched Today’s Impact 2015 Education Man of the Year Award.

This is just as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) also bagged Today’s Impact 2015 Agency of the Year Award.

In a colourful ceremony in Abuja to herald its official launch, the education-focused newspaper said in his citation that Amaechi was given the award because of his unmatched investment in public education up to 2015 when he was governor.

“One of the strategic projects that continue to endear the ex-governor and now transportation minister to the masses was the massive construction of 700 model primary schools with 20 classrooms costing N3.1 billion each and equipped with ICT facilities.

“The secondary schools were not also left out as 24 model secondary schools were constructed across the 23 local government councils in the state, with fully equipped modern day educational, recreation and

It added: “Many education experts have often referred to those schools as mini universities as a result of the state-of-the-art infrastructure that are ubiquitous in the schools. The remarkable successes recorded by students from the states in national and international examinations following the establishment of the schools testified to this, even as there were many reported cases, were parents withdrew their children from highly rated private schools to the government owned ‘mini-universities.”

Today’s Impact, which was launched as the only free national newspaper in Nigeria, as well as the only one focused on education, hit the newsstand on 18 May 2015 as a weekly in Abuja. The paper, which was officially launched on July 28, 2016, had in attendance dignitaries from all walks of life and from the education sector.

The launch was graced by former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, who was represented by his former Chief of Staff, former Governor of Niger and Plateau States, Col. Habibu Shuaibu.

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

CITYSTRINGS

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

An Island in Need of Attention

Lagos’ Snake Island has a huge potential for economic growth and development, but its abundant resources remain untapped, writes Ugo Aliogo

I

t is nestled in the deep flowing waters of the Badagry creeks. Existing myths about the island say that it was a place where condemned prisoners and slaves were thrown into in the past. For these prisoners and slaves, it was a place of no return. Like a caged animal, these slaves were caged here by the overstretching vegetation in the Island. Another myth stated that it was an Island filled with snakes in the past.

Hence, the name ‘Snake Island’.

These myths are not entirely misleading. But there is a more nuanced view. According to a community secretary, Mr. Adebayo Adams, the island is called ‘Snake Island’ because of the topography of the land, which is shaped like an ‘S’. He also said that the Yorubas, who migrated from Ile-Ife about 400 years ago, are the original natives of the community. “The main works of our forefathers were farming, fishing, and other traditional works,” Adams said.

The Island has a large deposit of sand and it is usually very flooded during rainy season. It has a few modern amenities such as a public health centre, police station, private hospital, hotel, primary and secondary schools. Life in the community is slow and steady. Commercial motorcycles are used for transportation in the community. The community is relatively safe. There exists a standby team of foot soldiers who provide security in the locality. The community has a fishing minority known as the Egun people.

These groups of individuals are not Nigerians.

Findings in the community revealed that they are foreigners from neighbouring Benin Republic and Togo. Many of them don’t understand English language; therefore they prefer to speak Yoruba language or their native language.

In some cases, the children are able to understand Pidgin English and communicate with it. While in other cases the children may not understand, but expressing themselves is a big challenge. They live on the water in wooden makeshift tents. Children from these families don’t go to school. For them, fishing means a lot and been a trade they inherited from their parents. It is not just a source of livelihood, but a lifestyle handed on to them by successive generations. THISDAY gathered from a neighbour living nearby that the Egun people buy most of their fishes from other people in the creeks. The neighbour also stated that the Eguns give their female into marriage at a very early age between 10-11.

The community has different festive seasons and each is accorded its own traditional observances and ritual rites. The festive seasons are Oro, Egungun, Gelede, Osun, Obaluwaye, Awonga, and Akaka. The sources of drinking and cooking water in the community are through wells constructed in residential homes. There is also borehole water, and free tap from Niger Dock Yard.

Electricity was brought by government, but after sometime, it stopped working. Therefore, we are appealing that we have regular electricity.

This will boost economic growth in the community.

Welders, hair stylists, and computer operators all need electricity to do their works

A street in Snake Island

An outside view of the Island

Boat riding is another viable business which most youths are involved in. These boat riders are under an association known as Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transporters of Nigeria (NATBOWAT).

However, despite the claim by Adams that the land is originally owned by the migrating Yoruba settlers, there is still a struggle over the ownership of the land, between the community’s Oluwa family and Niger Dock Nigeria Limited, an oil and gas company.

“The Niger Dock Yard has been here for 20 years now. The Niger Dock paid compensations to the Oluwa family who claimed that they

owned the community. We are also in court with Niger Dock Yard. The compensation paid to Oluwa was very wrong. They are not the rightful owners of the community.

On June 22, the case was also taken to court.

Niger Dock yard is also claiming ownership of some piece of land with us,” he added.

He said there is also a claim by Niger Dock Yard that about 250 hectares of land in the community belongs to them. While noting that they (Niger Dock Yard) affirmed that they acquired the plot of land from Oluwa family without the knowledge and approval of the community, “this caused a problem

about four years ago, then we took the case to Federal High Court in Ikoyi. But at the moment they are trying to settle amiably with us.”

Adams added: “The case is still in Ikoyi Federal High Court. Niger Dock Yard has not done anything for the community since their establishment here over 20 years. Though they employed some indigenes of the community as security men, but many are still on ground for them to employ. We have only one primary school and one secondary school which were built by Lagos State government.

“We have a health centre which was built

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016, • T H I S D AY

CITYSTRINGS by the Amuwo-Odofin Local Government which the Island is under. The health centre is functioning very well. People go there for treatment and there are nurses. Here we do various works in order to make a living. Some are into apprenticeship, craft, and individual computer training schools. We had only one Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Stay Alive which came here 12 years ago. They taught youths tailoring, hair styling, and computer training.

“The state government, through the local government council, built the Igbologun Township Hall here. We have the Amuwo-Odofin Local Council here which employs most of our people. Before now, we had coconuts trees in the community. It was our cash crop, but due to oil spillage, our lands were destroyed and we cannot farm any more. We also have cassava and vegetables as other food crop in the community. Men in the community get married at the age of 20-25, while the women marry at the age of 17-18, (those are accidental marriages in the case of women).

The women are into tailoring, hair styling, and trading works.”

The community is made up of six other communities which are Igbologun, Igbese-yore, Igbosu, Ilase, Imore, and Ibeshe communities.

These communities are called the Badagry creeks. However, the community scribe, Adams, remarked that despite being among the Badagry creeks, they don’t pay homage to the King of Badagry because they have a Baale who is the paramount ruler of the community. He also added that presently they are proposing for a king.

He went on to call on the state government to build a standard technical school for the community in order to enable youths learn craft works. Adding that electricity is a major challenge in the community, and it needs to be improved upon to boost the growth of small-scale businesses.

“Electricity was brought by government, but after sometime, it stopped working.

Therefore we are appealing that we have regular electricity. This will boost economic growth in the community. Welders, hair stylists, and computer operators all need electricity to do their works. We also need a large and organised market for our women. Women here sell in small kiosks shops only. We don’t have market here, we have been proposing for it,” he said.

Adams also appealed to the government for the construction of a standard road network which would link Igbologun with Igbese.

While reacting to speculations that there are plans by government to build a bridge from Kirikiri to Snake Island, he said “If government can do such for us we will be very glad. This will enable people to cross to the Island apart from using canoe.”

Building a linkage bridge from Kirikiri is one sure way of opening the community up for development and commerce. Presently, in the community, there are a lot of arable lands which the public and the private sector can use to build to establish industries. This will open the community up for development, and employment opportunities will be created.

Small-scale businesses such as hair styling, tailoring, carpentry, wielding, and others is another aspect of the community which are growing at a fast rate. Many youths have taken to these small-scale businesses, not only as a means of livelihood, but also to meet

Building a linkage bridge from Kirikiri is one sure way of opening the community up for development and commerce. Presently, in the community, there are a lot of arable lands which the public and the private sector can use to build to establish industries. This will open the community up for development, and employment opportunities will be created

The Community Primary School in Snake Island

Another street in Snake Island

A large piece of land in the Island with potential for agriculture and investment

the growing needs of the community. If there is an appreciable support from government and the private sector, more youths will be trained, equipment will be provided and seed capital will be given to support them.

There are three health facilities including a Public health centre built by Lagos State government through Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area, the Igbologun Medical Centre, a private clinic and Mercy Home, a maternity home. An indigene of the com-

munity, who pleaded anonymity, said that the Igbologun Medical Centre is well equipped with up to date medical facilities and drugs, but their bill is very high. Therefore people prefer to use Mercy Homes, a maternity run by a mid-wife. But the challenge is that the maternity does not have facilities, and it makes referrals to the medical centre frequently.

He added: “The Igbologun Medical Centre is which also known as Tolu. The reason is because the doctor came from Tolu in

Ajegunle Local Government Area. In Mercy Home, they carry out delivery, treatment of malaria, typhoid and other minor illnesses.

But cases such as surgery and tests are taken to Tolu. While in the community health centre, the women go there for immunisation and collection of shared mosquito nets.” When THISDAY visited the public health centre, the health workers declined to speak to stating that they had no approval from the Chief Nurse of the health centre.

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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016 T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016

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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016 T H I S D AY Advertorial

SOKOTO: BETWEEN TAMBUWAL, WAMAKKO AND THE PEOPLE

A

s an informed citizen of Sokoto State keenly interested in current socio-political developments in the state, I frequently scan and monitor news media reports. I was casually going through Daily Trust edition of June 17, 2016 when I came across the two-page advertorial titled RE: WAMAKKO AND HIS MAGIC on pages 30/31, signed by one Ibrahim Cika, Coordinator, Sokoto Political Advancement Forum (SPAF), Sokoto. I proceeded to read it and was immediately disturbed by the references to “cowardice”, “mudslinging”, “desperate politicians of Sokoto” and “aspersions on the person of ex-Governor Wamakko” in the opening paragraph. When did such alarming language creep into the normally rancor-free Sokoto politics? What could be responsible for the apparent rise in the temperature of the political arena a year after electioneering ended? Why is former Governor Wamakko still in contention a year after handing over to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal?

As these worrisome posers agitated my mind I realized that the publication was a rejoinder to a previous publication titled “WAMAkKO AND HIS MAGIC” that appeared on page 14 of Daily Trust edition of May 16, 2016, which I missed. I therefore hurriedly obtained a copy and read it to get a better understanding of the issues raised in the rejoinder.

From the first publication I was able to understand that focus was on certain matters arising from the transition from the Wamakko to the Tambuwal Administration last year. Specifically, the lack of accountability in the handing over process coupled with the seeming reluctance of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to make public details of the financial and related position of the Sokoto State he inherited has become a matter of serious concern to some people and they decided to share their grievances with the generality of citizens through the advertorial of May 16, 2016. The second publication was a rejoinder in which, from my understanding, followers of ex-governor Wamakko rose to his defence and sought to dismiss the public petition against the allegations of shrouded hand over and compromising take over while enumerating achievements recorded in the tenure of former Governor Wamakko as sufficient evidence of prudent expenditure of public funds.

As an observer with keen interest in the affairs of my state I was very concerned that the important issues of transparency and accountability under democratic governance had been politicized and personalized in Sokoto State to the extent of failing to uphold them. I could not believe that both former and incumbent governors of Sokoto State seem to be hand-inglove in breach of democratic tenets and the rights of citizens of the state.

They both seem also to be unconcerned that the situation is already heating the polity and threatening peaceful co-existence by creating political discord where none existed and refusing to do the needful. In consideration these undesirable developments I crave the indulgence of all concerned citizens of Sokoto State to share my own thoughts on the matter, not to join the politics of personalities, but to draw attention to the salient issues of public interest, good governance and democracy that are being swept aside, in the interest of all well-meaning citizens of our dear Sokoto State as an informed observer.

I will start by recalling some basic facts in the political history of Sokoto State since the return to democratic governance in 1999 as they relate to issues raised in the two publications. While it is true that by the time of the 2007 elections in the state there was general concern over the disregard by political rulers of the era for time-honoured norms and values of the people of the state, there can be no denying that for seven out of eight years of the Bafarawa Administration, Wamakko as deputy governor was part and parcel of the political leadership. Keen followers of Sokoto politics with a dispassionate view of that era will therefore agree that the situation was more a reflection of the people liking Bafarawa less than of them liking Wamakko more. I can recall that the dynamics of the time showed that Wamakko could not have grasped and clung to power if he had not defected to the ruling PDP for cover and collaboration because personality cult politics had not taken root in Sokoto politics.

Next is the issue of “achievements” recorded under an 8-year administration being paraded as substitute to comprehensive public declaration of assets and liabilities of the state in handing over documentation. Achievements are the routine expected outcomes of governments in the discharge of their constitutional functions and responsibilities facilitated by the revenues accruing to the public treasury and budgeted annually. Since budgets are mandatorily presented annually for public record through the state legislature, an account of how budgeted funds were expended should also be made public in addition to audited report on government accounts for the period. Even if the law does not require such public accountability, good governance demands that the people be informed of how public funds were expended by those entrusted with leadership, particularly in Sokoto State, custodian of legacies and principles of good leadership as enunciated by Sultan Mohammed Bello, founder of the Caliphate.

In fact Governor Tambuwal himself set the stage for demanding and making public a statement of accounts of the state government at the end of

Wamakko's eight year rule when in his inaugural address he declared : : " The most critical challenges of our dear state continue to be low income, low literacy level, weak internal revenue base, weak private sector, unemployment, infrastructure deficit resulting in rural urban migration, need to improve on our agriculture, declining cultural practices, access to potable water and environmental sanitation.........” Surely since this was his assessment after eight years of the Wamakko Administration and billions of naira budgeted, the people deserve explanations for such an appalling score-card.

It is pertinent to also correct some misrepresentations in respect of projects listed as “Wamakko's achievements.” Actually they are achievements of the Sokoto State Government from which Wamakko drew remuneration to perform constitutionally-assigned duties with the mandate of the people who elected him into office for that purpose. He also swore to discharge the duties. Anybody so elected will be expected to do the same if only to justify the salary and mega post-retirement benefits. But this cannot by any stretch of the imagination amount to compliance with transparency and accountability principles of good governance without making public details of all expenditures to determine prudence in management of public funds. There should also be a willingness and readiness to be answerable to relevant agencies of government charged with responsibility for investigating compliance with transparency and accountability regulations in the public interest. I was therefore shocked to the marrow to read how Wamakko actually went and procured a judicial order via SUIT NO: FHC/S/CS/20/2015 filed before the Federal High Court, Sokoto on March 25, 2015 against the EFCC, ICPC, Inspector-General of Police and the National Intelligence Agency PREVENTING the agencies from making inquiries in respect of accrued and appropriated funds for Sokoto State for the period of his tenure (2008-2015) as copiously cited in the first advertorial. Ironically, Wamakko went to great lengths taking Bafarawa, who made public disclosure of the state of government accounts at his departure in 2007, to task questioning the accuracy of figures quoted as balance in the accounts in the handing over notes!

I am also perplexed that some people even attempted to defend the indefensible on the laughable excuse of preventing the PDP ruling party from using EFCC to victimize Wamakko for decamping to the APC. Asha !

Why did the other PDP governor-decampees like Abdulfatah Ahmed, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Amaechi and Nyako not follow Wamakko's strategy?

And why were they not victimized by EFCC as a result of that lack of judicial cover? Moreover,Tambuwal as Speaker, House of Representatives, was engaged in a war of wits with the PDP and the Presidency from day one of his emergence but was never “victimized” with EFCC “persecution” throughout his tenure even as he lacked the immunity enjoyed by Wamakko and other governors.

Another point of correction is that the College of Agriculture was established by enacted law which also provided for appointment of a provost even before location of its temporary site. So, college buildings were uncompleted at the time of its “commissioning”. Incidentally, getting former heads of state to “commission” projects cannot confer completion on the projects especially when the invited statesmen had no inkling of the charade they were involved in. Neither can such sham ceremonies bestow certificate of compliance with due process, particularly when the “commissioning” provided opportunities for organizers to make undue proceeds leaving the projects with funding challenges.

The College of Legal and Islamic Studies was also “commissioned” before buildings were ready but Wamakko did not establish the college. It was established by late Shehu Mohammed Kangiwa of blessed memory in 1981, a few months before he died. It is also misleading to claim that Wamakko started granting scholarships to state students for tertiary institutions in Nigeria and abroad whereas such scholarships were being awarded since the days of Northern Regional Government, North-West State, larger Sokoto State and the current Sokoto State. If I am not mistaken, Wamakko himself enjoyed Sokoto State scholarship to attend Pittsburg University for a crash programme degree course, ABU Zaria, Royal Institute of Public Administration and many other courses in Nigeria and abroad.

My fellow Sakwatawa, these are my candid observations and frank conclusions about the current situation we are facing in Sokoto State. I cannot see any reason why any well-meaning citizen or leader of the state should either keep quiet or embark on propaganda to distract attention from the seriousness of the issues at stake and the need for Governor Tambuwal to do the needful and let the people know what he and his predecessor are keeping to themselves. After all they were elected by the people to serve them so they must give account to the people as demanded by democratic principles, good governance and above all the heritage of the Seat of the Caliphate.

I am ATIKU MOHAMMED, a retired federal civil servant in Sokoto.

T H I S D AY WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

CBN: We Did Not Stop Operation of Licenced Money Transfer Operators Describes allegation by WorldRemit as false Obinna Chima The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday described as false a report by WorldRemit, an online remittance provider that it has stopped money transfers to Nigeria.

The acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said this in a phone interview with THISDAY last night, while reacting to a statement by WorldRemit yesterday that hundreds of global remittance companies had been forced to cease transfers to Nigeria, while Western Union, MoneyGram and Ria continue.

WorldRemit had also called “for the urgent restoration of money transfers to Nigeria as draconian new rules leave virtually all money transfer operators (MTOs) unable to provide services to the West African country.”

But the CBN spokesman said: “In Nigeria, providers of financial services are licenced just like in other jurisdictions.

Here, we licenced providers of financial services, not only to protect the customers, but also to protect the financial system itself and to be able to vow for the credibility of those institutions.

“For us, only three of them are licenced – Western Union, MoneyGram and Ria. So, we didn’t stop the operations of any of these three companies.”

Nigeria recorded over $21billion remittances in 2015, the country is the sixth largest receiver of remittances in the world.

In order to improve dollar liquidity to Bureau De Change operators, the CBN recently directed banks that act as agents of international money transfer operators to commence the sale of foreign currency remittances to licensed BDCs. But a banking industry source alleged that unlicensed money transfer firms that had been diverting dollar remittances into the country are no longer comfortable with the recent CBN directive on funding of BDCs from remittances.

“What these unlicensed agents did was they came to open naira accounts. And when our people want to remit money home, they would collect the foreign exchange there and instruct the banks here to pay naira. What that means is that the dollars don’t get to Nigeria. So they deny us that chunk of dollar supply,” the source added.

According to a statement by WorldRemit yesterday, the firm has been instructed by its local correspondents that transfers to Nigeria will no longer be processed and is, accordingly, suspending services immediately.

WorldRemit founder and CEO, Ismail Ahmed said: “This move is arbitrary, inexplicable and hugely detrimental to the Nigerian diaspora who rely on hundreds of money transfer companies and banks, providing them with choice, convenience and competitive pricing.

“Even now, as we suspend our service, there is no clarity on why this sudden change has happened. If it is on the basis of

new rules, there was no warning. If it is a re-interpretation of old rules, local correspondent networks and banks should have been forewarned.

“This reverses the progress made by the country when the Nigeria Central Bank banned Western Union’s exclusivity agreements that had created a near-monopolistic position in the international money transfer market. Western Union controlled 78 per cent of the market share when CBN outlawed exclusivity agreements with local banks.”

Until now, money transfer operators such as WorldRemit operated via partnerships with licensed local correspondents in Nigeria, enabling transfer of funds to local bank accounts – providing a more efficient service than the SWIFT infrastructure.

WorldRemit also raised concerns about a 2015 memorandum from the Central Bank of Nigeria, setting out minimum requirements for companies offering international Mobile Money transfer services to Nigeria.

The guidelines specify that any company offering mobile money transfers must have minimum net assets of $1 billion and have been operating for more than 10 years.

“It looks like all systems in Nigeria are currently geared against encouraging new entrants and competition in the mobile remittance markets. That is worrying in the extreme,” Ahmed added.

AMCON to Lease Seized Property to Plug Funding Gap The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) set up six years ago to take on bad debts and rescue the nation’s banking industry from collapse may lease out properties seized from companies that are failing to repay loans as it grapples with its own cash crunch.

The corporation may introduce the “real-estate investment scheme” by the end of the year to raise money to meet its bond repayments, its Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Kuru said in an interview with Bloomberg.

It plans to sell the properties when the economy improves and the assets can attract fair value, he said. The agency is confiscating more assets than its receiving from its recovery efforts as businesses battle to sell products and generate cash, Kuru said.

Companies that owe money to AMCON are struggling to meet their debts as Africa’s

largest economy and one of its biggest oil producers heads for a recession because of a slump in crude prices and a 15-month currency peg to the dollar that crippled foreign-exchange supplies.

AMCON has no plans for another rescue package for banks and is focused on how it will repay N5.2 trillion ($16.5 billion) of outstanding bonds over the next nine years, he said.

The agency purchased about 14,000 non-performing loans at a cost of N3.9 trillion in a government-led bailout of 10 companies following the 2009 banking crisis.

A levy that sees banks pay 0.5 per cent of their assets annually generates as much as N190 billion for AMCON and is helping the agency fill funding gaps, Kuru said. The shortfall widens as the downturn in the economy causes the price of

assets to fall below their book value, making sales difficult, Kuru added.

“We are in the second phase, which is redemption of our debts, not bailing out banks,” Kuru said. “We are not in the perpetual business of bailing out banks.’’ The sale of Keystone Bank Limited, the biggest of three banks nationalised after the 2009 crisis, is in the “final stage” and it will probably be sold this quarter, Kuru said.

Sterling Bank Plc said last month it withdrew a bid to buy the lender, which has assets of 318 billion naira and two international units, over price negotiations.

“Our activity here is directly linked to the economy,” Kuru said. “The combination of the economy picking up for the banks and also for the obligors’’ will help AMCON meet its objectives and wind down in 2023 as planned, he said.

LASPEC Commends Leadway Pensure PFA Leadway Pensure PFA yesterday received a formal commendation from the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC) on behalf of the state government, in recognition of the organisation’s consistent proactiveness in paying terminal benefits and exemplary customer service displayed while conducting its operations.

This commendation was

issued during LASPEC’s 49th Stakeholders’ meeting.

Reacting to the commendation, the Managing Director of Leadway Pensure PFA, Mrs. Aderonke Adedeji, expressed gratitude to the commission for recognising and commending the service levels being rendered by the organisation.

According to her, “It greatly encourages us to not only ensure

this level of service does not diminish but also to work tirelessly at taking it to even greater heights The future of all our clients is truly our passion, and the driving force of all our activities.”

She described the honour as a welcome development in a scheme that a number of individuals are still sceptical about based on past history.

CBN building

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

MARCH 2016 Broad Money (M2)

20,470,436.00

-- Narrow Money (M1)

9,040,817.68

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,441,365.03

---- Demand Deposits

7,599,452.65

-- Quasi Money

11,429,618.32

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

5,551,714.27

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

14,918,721.73

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

22,664,815.74

---- Credit to Government (Net)

3,782,578.01

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

4,991,246.39

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-1,208,668.38

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

18,882,237.73

--Other Assets Net

-7,746,094.02

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,758,634.07

--Currency in Circulation

1,811,090.48

--Banks Reserves

3,947,543.59 • 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 MONDAY 1, AUG 2016 The price of OPEC basket of fourteen crudes stood at $39.10 a barrel on Monday, compared with $38.97 the previous Friday, 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), Rabi Light (Gabon), 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

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T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

2-Aug-16

1-Aug-16

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open 1-Aug-16

NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion)

27,843.00 9.56

27,831.95 9.56

-0.04 -0.04

115.37 8.98

115.32 8.98

-0.05 -0.05

01 Dangote Cement Plc

183.00

180.00

1.67%

3,118,412,855,115.00

11.57

15.56

5.93

4.44%

4.39

02 Nigerian Breweries Plc

133.13

134.00

-0.65%

1,055,601,201,219.44

5.37

25.70

3.96

2.61%

6.42

03 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

24.09

24.29

-0.82%

708,997,107,506.16

3.38

7.12

2.37

7.36%

1.63

816.20

837.50

-2.54%

646,966,032,882.40

29.95

28.38

4.45

3.41%

17.73

05 Zenith Bank Plc

16.80

16.71

0.54%

527,461,095,604.80

3.33

5.08

1.27

10.64%

0.85

06 Lafarge Africa Plc

53.07

55.86

-4.99%

241,728,639,056.70

5.93

9.45

0.95

5.36%

1.45

07 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

12.34

12.74

-3.14%

226,433,461,993.10

0.71

18.01

0.43

4.87%

0.46

167.00

174.80

-4.46%

217,514,344,201.00

4.58

38.32

1.80

1.97%

4.97

09 United Bank for Africa Plc

4.77

4.64

2.80%

173,053,340,555.94

1.64

2.77

0.52

13.19%

0.50

10 Access Bank Plc

5.68

5.50

3.27%

164,310,878,864.08

2.48

2.25

0.47

9.86%

0.42

282.94

297.83

-5.00%

156,553,619,960.22

23.48

12.68

1.46

5.35%

0.59

38.85

38.85

0.00%

154,253,033,198.25

1.10

35.40

2.13

3.35%

3.67

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

04 Nestle Nigeria Plc

08 Forte Oil Plc.

11 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd 12 Presco Plc 13 Guinness Nig Plc

94.00

93.00

1.08%

141,553,489,672.00

3.70

25.56

1.26

0.00%

3.21

14 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

13.41

13.25

1.21%

134,100,000,000.00

2.04

6.51

1.12

0.75%

1.18

15 Unilever Nigeria Plc

35.00

35.00

0.00%

132,415,368,750.00

0.32

109.93

2.21

0.14%

16.38

3.30

3.35

-1.49%

118,454,466,213.60

0.30

11.19

0.24

4.40%

0.20

133.00

133.00

0.00%

85,198,518,279.00

11.12

11.96

1.09

1.65%

3.55

6.52

6.65

-1.95%

78,240,000,000.00

0.96

7.28

0.83

7.14%

1.37

200.40

200.09

0.15%

68,040,176,134.80

11.92

15.23

0.30

7.71%

3.79

5.58

5.07

10.06%

67,153,173,428.52

0.50

11.20

0.12

13.39%

0.43

21 Julius Berger Nig. Plc

48.39

48.39

0.00%

63,874,800,000.00

1.85

26.18

0.48

3.10%

2.63

22 International Breweries Plc

19.34

19.34

0.00%

63,710,781,075.20

0.64

30.32

3.45

1.29%

5.30

162.00

162.00

0.00%

58,416,432,444.00

13.51

11.99

0.91

4.44%

3.80

21.50

21.50

0.00%

56,421,099,520.50

5.50

3.68

0.15

9.90%

0.55

1.19

1.19

0.00%

46,077,986,935.75

0.05

24.97

1.24

0.00%

0.58

20.00

20.73

-3.52%

38,417,287,740.00

2.70

7.68

0.54

4.82%

0.54

27 Diamond Bank Plc

1.55

1.62

-4.32%

35,898,602,900.40

0.18

8.67

0.17

0.00%

0.17

28 Sterling Bank Plc

1.22

1.19

2.52%

35,124,310,113.72

0.36

3.50

0.33

7.20%

0.38

35.00

35.00

0.00%

33,386,850,000.00

2.76

12.20

3.30

0.30%

2.66

30 Fidelity Bank Plc

1.11

1.17

-5.13%

32,148,470,118.12

0.47

2.64

0.25

13.01%

0.19

31 Wema Bank Plc

0.72

0.71

1.41%

27,773,615,578.32

0.06

12.27

0.62

0.00%

0.62

32 FCMB Group Plc

1.33

1.41

-5.67%

26,337,605,338.73

0.06

24.57

0.19

7.14%

0.17

33 Cadbury Nigeria Plc

13.90

13.56

2.51%

26,107,008,356.00

3.21

4.45

0.80

9.11%

2.59

34 Cap Plc

37.00

37.00

0.00%

25,900,000,000.00

2.49

14.89

3.67

3.11%

17.04

35 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

4.00

4.00

0.00%

23,527,456,780.00

0.72

5.52

0.74

3.51%

0.85

36 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc

18.50

18.45

0.27%

22,123,715,028.00

0.72

25.75

0.72

1.63%

1.65

37 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.08

2.15

-3.26%

21,840,000,000.00

0.16

13.58

1.36

2.33%

1.30

38 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

8.00

8.19

-2.32%

21,195,507,024.00

0.79

10.18

1.32

6.80%

3.02

39 PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc

18.45

17.60

4.83%

18,450,000,000.00

3.28

5.67

1.64

0.54%

0.83

40 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.60

1.60

0.00%

12,688,316,252.80

0.14

10.76

0.25

10.53%

0.56

41 Unity Bank Plc

1.02

1.02

0.00%

11,923,124,700.84

0.54

1.88

0.19

0.00%

0.14

42 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.02

1.07

-4.67%

10,580,199,198.24

0.19

5.57

0.54

11.21%

0.67

43 Skye Bank Plc

0.70

0.70

0.00%

9,716,210,987.00

0.85

0.82

0.07

42.86%

0.07

44 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

6.32

6.65

-4.96%

7,942,203,481.12

0.96

7.31

0.67

1.43%

0.87

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 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

4.00

4.00

0.00%

6,496,875,000.00

0.26

15.57

0.79

5.00%

1.06

47 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

3.55

3.55

0.00%

6,101,562,482.25

1.81

1.99

0.55

19.44%

0.19

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

0.73

0.73

0.00%

5,059,049,270.40

0.28

2.68

0.16

6.76%

0.53

50 Fidson Healthcare Plc

1.90

1.91

-0.52%

2,850,000,000.00

0.31

6.26

0.42

2.60%

0.45

16 FBN Holdings Plc 17 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc 18 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc 19 Total Nigeria Plc 20 Oando Plc

23 Mobil Oil Nig Plc 24 Flour Mills Nig. Plc 25 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc 26 U A C N Plc

29 Okomu Oil Palm Plc

TOTAL

8,978,886,108,288.40

TOTAL MARKET CAP

9,558,867,725,035.35

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

93.93%

Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

Close 2-Aug-16

Change %

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open 1-Aug-16

Oando Plc PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc Access Bank Plc United Bank for Africa Plc Sterling Bank Plc

5.07 17.60 5.50 4.64 1.19

Open 1-Aug-16

FCMB Group Plc Fidelity Bank Plc Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd Lafarge Africa Plc Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

1.41 1.17 297.83 55.86 6.65

Close Change 2-Aug-16 % 5.58 18.45 5.68 4.77 1.22

10.06 4.83 3.27 2.80 2.52

Close Change 2-Aug-16 % 1.33 1.11 282.94 53.07 6.32

-5.67 -5.13 -5.00 -4.99 -4.96

Downward trend persists as ASI declines by meagre 0.04% Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today – Tuesday, August 2, 2016 closed bearish as the stock market closed red due to cautious trading. However, this was further highlighted by negative performances from all the NSE sub-sectors: Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas. Trading activities decreased in volume as 275.74 million shares worth N3.15 billion in 4,126 deals exchanged hands today. This is a decrease from the 331.69 million shares worth N4.75 billion in 4,114 deals exchanged on Friday. Topping in volume terms was Zenith Bank Plc, Transcorp Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc while Zenith Bank Plc and Lafarge Africa Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed negative with a 0.04% (-11.05) decrease to close at 27,831.95 from 27,843.00 the previous trading day. Market Capitalization depreciated in tandem to N9.56 trillion from N9.56 trillion of prior trading day. The Thisday BGL 50 Index also followed suit with a decrease of 0.05% to close at 115.32 from 115.37 recorded at the end of the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N8.98 trillion from N8.98 trillion of the previous trading day.

A total number of 17 stocks gained on the bourse today while 26 stocks declined, 56 leaving stocks unchanged. Oando Plc emerged the day’s toast of investors as it topped the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list with a gain of 10.06% to close at N5.58 per share. It was followed by PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc with a gain of 4.83% to close at N18.45 per share. Others on the gainers list include: Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Sterling Bank Plc while on the decliners’ list; FCMB Group Plc led with a loss of 5.67% to close at N1.33 per share. It was followed by Fidelity Bank Plc with a loss of 5.13% to close at N1.11 per share. Others on the losers list include: Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd, Lafarge Africa Plc and Cement Co. Of North.Nig. 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

48

T H I S D AY • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3 , 2016

MARKET NEWS

Unity Bank Half-year Profit After Tax Falls by 70% to N2.2bn Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Unity Bank Plc has recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of N2.353 billion for the six months ended June 30, 201, showing a fall of 70.2 per cent compared with N7.897 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2015.

The results showed that gross income declined by 39 per

cent to N21.776 billion in 2016, down from N33.563 billion in 2015. Net interest income fell by 48 per cent from N14.563 billion to N7.555 billion in 2016, while total interest income stood at N15.723 billion, as against N23.856 billion in 2015.Consequently, PAT dipped by 70.2 per cent to N2.353 billion, down from N7.897 billion in 2015.

Market analysts said given the H1 performance, the

T H E MAIN BOARD

DEALS

MARKET PRICE

board and management need to work harder to improve on the bank’s performance in the second half of the year in order to deliver on the assurance given by the Managing Director/CEO of the bank, Mrs. Tomi Somefun while commenting on the 2015 performance and 2016 outlook of the bank.

Somefun had noted that “with the bank’s repositioning efforts and consistent focus

N I G E R I A N QUANTITY TRADED

to tap into the emerging opportunities in the enlarged economic space within Nigeria, Unity Bank is poised to deliver quality banking service to emerging sectors in Retail/ SME, commercial and the agricultural value chain. The bank is building strong infrastructure for retail banking and attracting youths for its sustainable banking business by developing customer-centric products to meet the needs of

STO C K

VALUE TRADED ( N )

its esteemed customers and build new clientele base. With the bank’s capital raising exercise, the year ahead is bright as the effects of the on-going transformation initiatives will surely consolidate Unity Bank as a retail bank of choice, culminating in superior financial performance and values to all stakeholders.”

Unity Bank relocated its head office to Lagos from Abuja in March 2016. It had said

the benefits of relocation are beginning to trickle in with enormous positive impacts felt by the business nationwide.

“The bank is now in a better position to tap into the core commercial hub of Lagos by leveraging on the huge retail spin-offs/opportunities and harness the diverse business potentials provided by population, port and patents for excellent service delivery to its esteemed customers.

E XC H A N G E

MAIN BOARD

DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

DAILY STOCK MARKET REPORT

Daily Summary as of 22/02/2016 Printed 22/02/2016 14:36:10.010

Daily Summary (Bonds) No Debt Trading Activity Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals Food Products DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. TIGER BRANDED CONSUMER GOODS PLC Food Products Totals Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Household Durables Totals Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Micro-Finance Banks NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UNITED CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC

6 6 12

30.00 34.00

12,629 11,640 24,269

374,530.15 421,345.20 795,875.35

19 19 31

1.25

1,078,511 1,078,511 1,102,780

1,358,964.30 1,358,964.30 2,154,839.65

5 68 13 86 86

0.77 1.13 20.47

33,500 6,740,423 65,995 6,839,918 6,839,918

25,070.00 7,635,453.96 1,344,425.15 9,004,949.11 9,004,949.11

13 13

41.50

31,970 31,970

1,409,214.78 1,409,214.78

5 5 18

5.20

28,901 28,901 60,871

154,716.48 154,716.48 1,563,931.26

6 24 7 98 135

2.85 118.85 20.00 99.00

190,900 53,000 15,200 429,541 688,641

528,079.00 6,201,924.95 293,757.00 42,728,789.84 49,752,550.79

9 9

168.50

166,476 166,476

28,285,937.95 28,285,937.95

54 38 6 12 1 29 140

5.61 19.00 1.37 6.86 6.65 1.27

2,120,306 314,421 40,000 119,863 433 3,285,739,119 3,288,334,142

11,610,520.13 5,953,792.96 55,716.00 842,442.48 2,736.56 4,074,348,894.07 4,092,814,102.20

11 54 65

17.86 700.00

18,825 98,360 117,185

329,518.50 68,567,962.00 68,897,480.50

11 11

4.46

99,050 99,050

420,455.00 420,455.00

13 21 34 394

21.90 28.00

36,887 133,117 170,004 3,289,575,498

820,034.75 3,737,067.92 4,557,102.67 4,244,727,629.11

82 51 21 25 200 41 16 147 11 15 67 676

4.10 1.49 15.60 1.21 16.70 1.07 1.76 2.95 5.30 0.63 0.98

3,962,506 2,163,396 278,470 790,900 4,847,312 1,969,858 1,204,932 8,586,418 39,752 501,617 5,920,564 30,265,725

16,210,255.82 3,314,106.88 4,136,459.40 958,864.34 80,963,793.44 2,115,552.11 2,087,767.85 25,302,954.71 205,645.40 316,018.71 5,813,502.17 141,424,920.83

14 8 2 3 7 10 1 1 46

0.80 0.90 0.50 0.50 2.06 0.76 0.50 0.50

200,107 276,500 5,004,000 1,000,000 351,540 327,285 37,708,135 10 44,867,577

160,838.67 251,350.00 2,502,000.00 500,000.00 720,728.80 245,325.31 18,854,067.50 5.00 23,234,315.28

1 1

1.08

4,760 4,760

4,950.40 4,950.40

31 7 105 7 20 170 893

2.46 4.00 0.85 14.15 1.31

1,149,464 27,041 31,257,120 38,035 708,255 33,179,915 108,317,977

2,830,722.84 104,002.06 26,613,309.20 537,985.34 931,556.31 31,017,575.75 195,681,762.26

27

2.69

614,065

1,572,223.05

GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Pharmaceuticals Totals HEALTHCARE Totals ICT IT Services TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. IT Services Totals ICT Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals OIL AND GAS Totals SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals Printing/Publishing LEARN AFRICA PLC Printing/Publishing Totals Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC Support and Logistics Totals SERVICES Totals EQTY Board Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board ASeM CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC Food Products Totals CONSUMER GOODS Totals ASeM Board Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board PREMIUM FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Other Financial Institutions FBN HOLDINGS PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials DANGOTE CEMENT PLC Building Materials Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals PREMIUM Board Totals Equity Activity Totals

32 4 6 69 69

25.33 0.94 0.69

551,998 16,020 597,000 1,779,083 1,779,083

13,903,164.18 15,299.40 412,110.00 15,902,796.63 15,902,796.63

1 1 1

1.69

500 500 500

805.00 805.00 805.00

16 9 4 6 10 31 76

24.00 9.30 35.78 8.62 3.36 80.50

110,727 40,229 26,700 142,300 299,900 14,373,223 14,993,079

2,707,053.97 362,501.29 992,680.00 1,227,076.00 966,480.00 1,157,057,077.16 1,163,312,868.42

6 6

1.51

134,500 134,500

204,240.00 204,240.00

5 5 87

50.00

24,529 24,529 15,152,108

1,165,135.50 1,165,135.50 1,164,682,243.92

2 2

0.50

24,262 24,262

12,131.00 12,131.00

90 90

3.47

3,827,573 3,827,573

13,288,632.05 13,288,632.05

21 7 8 21 7 64

18.34 1.84 342.00 150.00 145.00

81,125 100,300 20,300 16,295 13,699 231,719

1,505,034.50 182,832.00 6,595,470.00 2,396,080.60 1,959,692.96 12,639,110.06

33 33 189

318.00

389,934 389,934 4,473,488

124,037,602.56 124,037,602.56 149,977,475.67

1 1

0.50

941 941

470.50 470.50

5 5

3.80

32,870 32,870

127,756.40 127,756.40

13 13

0.89

624,500 624,500

538,430.00 538,430.00

1 22 23

2.29 4.00

4,588 251,094 255,682

10,001.84 1,001,583.80 1,011,585.64

1 1 43 1,811

1.68

10,000 10,000 923,993 3,428,226,216

16,000.00 16,000.00 1,694,242.54 5,785,390,675.15

2 2 2 2

1.21

270,464 270,464 270,464 270,464

327,261.44 327,261.44 327,261.44 327,261.44

306 306

11.45

13,929,679 13,929,679

159,605,439.23 159,605,439.23

278 278 584

3.74

10,438,552 10,438,552 24,368,231

39,515,087.18 39,515,087.18 199,120,526.41

35 35 35 619 2,432

139.83

38,770 38,770 38,770 24,407,001 3,452,903,681

5,304,666.00 5,304,666.00 5,304,666.00 204,425,192.41 5,990,143,129.00

2 2 2 2 2 10 10 10

2,330.00 2.33 6.02 11.09 18.07

3,000 20 20 20 15 3,075 3,075 3,075

6,986,000.00 46.70 120.20 221.80 270.65 6,986,659.35 6,986,659.35 6,986,659.35

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund Name NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA BANKING ETF VETIVA CONSUMER GOODS ETF VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF VETIVA INDUSTRIAL ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals ETF Board Totals ETP Activity Totals

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016 • T H I S D AY

49

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Post-convention Poll: Clinton Retakes Lead over Trump Zacheaus Somorin withagency reports Hillary Clinton emerges from her party’s convention in Philadelphia with a restored lead over Donald Trump, having earned a 7-point convention bounce, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll. In a two-way head-to-head matchup, Clinton tops Trump 52% to 43%, and in a four-way matchup including third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, Clinton leads 45% to 37% with Johnson at 9% and

Stein at 5%.

Besides improving her standing against Trump, Clinton’s convention appears to have boosted the share of Americans who think her policies will move the country in the right direction (from 43% before either convention to 48% now), while Trump’s right direction number held roughly steady following the back-to-back political gatherings in Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Further, a majority of Clinton’s backers now say their vote is more to show support for her than to

Africa: Stakeholders Hold Forum on Women Empowerment Zacheaus Somorin African women gathered recently in Lagos to brainstorm on women empowerment in the continent, especially in Nigeria and Ghana. The Stakeholders forum which was organised by The Centre for Public Policy Alternatives (CPPA) had in attendance discussants and panelists cutting across different sectors.

CPPA is an independent nonpartisan public policy think-tank committed to rigorous research through which public policies and processes are examined, supported and best practices disseminated. The CPPA aims to help Sub-Saharan governments and their agencies realise the goal of rapid development and a prosperous future for their citizens.

While speaking at the event, the General Secretary of West Africa Women Association (WAWA) and founder, Hauk Explorer Schools, Lagos, Mrs Hauwa Shodeinde, pointed out that empowering women across the continent has become critical hence the need for appropriate orientation of the female child.

She pointed out that for women to be sustainably empowered, there was need for

correct educational background.

‘We have problem with our education. Our educational system needs reform. Because foundation matters, educating female child must be tailored towards economic independence’.

As against general perception that husbands may impede their wives progress, she explained that woman need their spouses in their business involvements, saying with team work, women would be able earn the family’s respect and support.

While advising participants on entrepreneurship, she posited that women don’t need much money to be entrepreneur, saying with little savings and smart strategy, small businesses can be established and if well managed, would become big in the long run.

For Mrs Olanrewaju Oniyitan, Founder and CEO of W-holistic Business Solution (W-HBS), rural women in Nigeria need more help and support than their urban counterparts; pointing out that gender is not all about male and female, but about opportunities created. She stated that rural woman eke out their daily survival precariously through farming, saying more should be done in taking them out of lumpen poverty.

oppose Trump, a sharp shift since early May. Back then, 48% said their vote was one of support for the former secretary of state, 58% say so now. While Trump also improved his numbers on that metric, his voters are more evenly divided, with 47% saying they’re backing him to show support and 50% saying it’s more to oppose Clinton.

More of Clinton’s backers also say they are certain to support her come November: 44% of registered voters are Clinton supporters who say their mind is made up, while 36% say they are solidly behind Trump. Only about 16% of voters say their minds could change in the 99 days left between now and Election Day. Clinton’s convention appears to have helped her reverse the damage done to perceptions of her honesty during the GOP convention, but she did not improve those numbers compared with where they stood before either convention. Overall, 34% say they consider Clinton honest and trustworthy, up from 30% after the GOP convention but exactly where that figure was in

a poll conducted before either convention happened.

Clinton made more progress on several other measures, however, with 50% now saying she’s in touch with the problems of ordinary Americans, and 48% that she will unite the country and not divide it.

She gained three points -- a change inside the margin of sampling error for this poll -- compared with a poll conducted before the Republican convention on having the right experience, running for the good of the country rather than personal gain and as someone you would be proud to have as president.

On each of those measures, Clinton fares better than Trump, except when voters are asked about their honesty. Thirty-five percent say they see Trump as honest and trustworthy, just about even with the former secretary of state. On the rest of the attributes tested, the Democratic convention appears to have wiped out the significant gains Trump made on several of these measures, including being seen as in-touch with ordinary Americans, someone you’d be proud to have

as president, running for the good of the country rather than personal gain and uniting the country rather than dividing it.

Nearly half of registered voters say what they saw or read of the Democratic convention left them feeling more likely to vote Clinton vs. 39% who said it turned them off from supporting her. Trump’s convention merited a slight negative tilt on this question, according to a CNN/ORC Poll released last week, with 42% saying they would be more apt to back him vs. 44% less likely.

The 49% saying the DNC made them feel more apt to vote for Clinton is the fourth highest in CNN/ORC and Gallup polling, dating back to the 1984 Democratic convention. It’s behind the 60% who said they were more apt to back Bill Clinton after the 1992 Democratic convention, 56% more likely to back Michael Dukakis after his 1988 convention and 51% who said they would be more likely to vote for Barack Obama after the ‘08 Democratic convention.

Clinton’s acceptance speech

merited mixed reviews, with 44% calling it excellent or good, 20% just OK and 19% poor or terrible.

Last week, a CNN/ORC survey found 40% calling Trump’s speech excellent or good. Clinton’s speech ranks well behind other recent Democratic acceptance speeches, 64% called Obama’s ‘08 address excellent or good, and 52% each called John Kerry’s 2004 speech and Al Gore’s 2000 speech excellent or good.

In the new poll, there is a wide gender gap in reviews of Clinton’s acceptance speech, with 50% of women calling Clinton’s speech excellent or good compared with 37% of men. There was no gender gap in perceptions of Trump’s speech. This gap isn’t merely a partisan divide, it exists within each party as well, and most notably at the extremes.Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, 42% of women called her speech excellent vs. just 25% of men. And among Republican and Republican-leaning men, 28% called Clinton’s speech terrible, vs. just 18% of Republican and Republican-leaning women.

FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

L-r: Co-founder, Jajara E-commerce Limited, Mr Ajibola Alfred; Founder & CEO, H-wholistic Business Solutions, Mrs Olanrewaju Oniyitan; and General Secretary, West African Women Association (WAWA) and Founder, Hauk Explorer Schools, Mrs Hauwa Shodeinde at the a stakeholders forum on women empowerment organised by The Centre for Public Policy Alternatives (CPPA) in Lagos...recently

Turkey to Move Provincial Capitals in Kurdish Region 120 Migrants’ Bodies Found off Turkey’s parliament will vote to Selma Irmak tweeted. have died in the fighting since then. 15 million Kurds but has scaled Coast of Libya

The bodies of 120 migrants believed to have been trying to reach Italy by boat from Libya have been found off the Libyan coast over the past 10 days, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said yesterday.

“We are getting this information from Libyan authorities that we are collaborating with,” said IOM spokesman Joel Millman. The bodies had been discovered near Sabratha and had not come from previously known shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.

Mainly African migrants are taking often unseaworthy boats from Libya to Italy, gateway to Europe. Nearly 8,000 were rescued at sea between Friday to Monday on that central Mediterranean route, Millman told a briefing.

It is a longer and more perilous journey than that from Turkey to Greece, largely shut down since a deal was struck between the European Union and Turkey in March, although 174 migrants did make it by sea to Greece over the weekend, IOM said.

More than 257,000 migrants and refugees have already entered Europe by sea this year through July 27, and for the third straight year, at least 3,000 others have died, the agency said.

A total of 4,027 migrants or refugees have perished worldwide so far this year, three-quarters of them in the Mediterranean, Millman said. The figures represents a 35 percent increase on the global toll during the first seven months of 2015, he said.

move the capitals of two mainly Kurdish provinces, according to draft legislation submitted yesterday, in an apparent effort to tighten strategic control over the restive southeastern region.

Sections of the two new capitals were demolished in fighting earlier this year between Turkish troops and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but these cities are considered more easily defendable than the more remote old capitals.

Thousands of people have been killed in fighting since a ceasefire with the militants collapsed a year ago. The opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which has Kurdish roots, won all seven parliamentary seats in the area in last November’s general election.

“This suppresses identities and is an act of revenge,” HDP lawmaker

The law would move the administrative capital of Hakkari province from the mountain town of Hakkari, near the Iraqi and Iranian borders, to the larger town of Yuksekova on a nearby plain. It would also change Hakkari’s name to Colemerik, a corruption of its older Kurdish name Colemerg.

The province would renamed Yuksekova, after its new capital, according to a copy of the bill drawn up by the ruling AK Party. Just to the west, Sirnak province would shift its capital from the mountain town of Sirnak to the plains city of Cizre near the Syrian border.

The province’s name would change from Sirnak to Cizre and Sirnak town be renamed Nuh. The PKK launched its insurgency in Hakkari province in 1984 and over 40,000 people, mostly Kurds,

It first wanted an independent homeland for Turkey’s estimated

that back to more political rights for the region.

Iraqi PM Bans Travel for MPs Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, said yesterday that six lawmakers accused of corruption in the defence sector would not be allowed to travel abroad until a parliamentary committee had completed an investigation.

Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi on Monday accused Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and five other MPs of lobbying for businesses seeking contracts to sell overpriced planes, vehicles and other goods to the armed forces.

He said they sought to influence ministry appointments and some tried to blackmail him. All six deny the accusations.

The scandal comes at a critical time for Iraq as its armed forces gear up to recapture Mosul, the capital of Islamic State in Iraq, in what is meant to be a final push to defeat the militants.

Earlier on Tuesday, parliament appointed a committee to probe the allegations, which will begin its work on Wednesday, the parliament’s Integrity Commission head Talal al-Zobaie told Reuters. “This matter caused an earthquake in parliament,” he said.

Separately, Abadi announced the six MPs, four men and two women, would not be allowed to travel until the investigations were completed.

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Bello Accused of Mismanaging N48.4bn Bailout, Statutory Allocations EFCC, ICPC asked to probe allegations Gboyega Akinsanmi An Abuja-based civil society organisation, Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA), yesterday accused the Kogi State Governor, Mr. Yahaya Bello, of mismanaging N30 billion bailout the state received from the federal government and N18.412 billion statutory allocations it received from Federation Account.

Consequently, the group asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to probe the allegation, which it described as alleged monumental fraud and

rapacious movement of cash rocking the state government.

The group made the demand in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Sadiq Jobi, alleging that the spate of the depletion of the bailout funds and other statutory funds under Bello administration was mindboggling.

Giving details on how the funds domiciled in the state’s bank accounts with Zenith Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc were mismanaged, the group said the allegation “must not be glossed over by any right-thinking anticorruption organisation.”

It alleged that the state government “got N30 billion

FG Distributes 2,000 Extra Bags of Foodstuff to Borno IDPs Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri The federal government yesterday delivered 2,000 bags of assorted food to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Borno State to mitigate hunger and malnutrition.

Delivering the items, which included bags of maize, rice and millet to the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for immediate distribution to over 1.6 million IDPs at various resettlement camps in Maiduguri metropolis and Jere Local Government Area of the troubled state, the federal government emergency relief agency, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said the daily feeding of IDPs had been re-introduced by the agency.

The North-east Coordinator of the agency, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar, who delivered the items to the SEMA chairman at the zonal office of the agency in Maiduguri, disclosed that in the last three weeks, NEMA had resumed the daily feeding of IDPs following an outcry that some IDPs suffered severe malnutrition.

He said due to increase in number of IDPs after the liberation of some communities recently by the military, NEMA has to present additional 2,000 bags of food items to augment the monthly allocation of 8,000 bags earlier released.

Kanar said: “I want to state that IDPs issues is dynamic; we were here last three weeks and

NEMA presented 8,000 assorted bags of food items, which is to cover a period of one month, unfortunately, SEMA tabled a complaint to my office that these food will not be enough as a result of continuous influx of IDPs in camps, and so, NEMA has to present additional 2,000 bags today (yesterday) to cater for the increasing number of the IDPs. “We have been collaborating with SEMA and over 31 international partners/NGOs in managing these IDPs in the North-east, and I want to assure you that we are strategising as we have stockpiled enough food for onward distribution to other satellite camps in Banki, Konduga, Sabon Gari, Damboa, Dikwa, Bama, Biu among other liberated communities.”

Responding on behalf of the state government, SEMA Chairman, Ahmed Satomi, and Chairman Monitoring/ Distribution of Relief Items to IDPs in Borno Borno, Alhaji Mohammed Sani, in their separate remarks, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari, NEMA and other humanitarian agencies for complementing the efforts of the state government in managing the plights of the IDPs. They however asked the federal government to increase the intervention to include assisting the IDPs meet their social needs such as befitting schools, clothing and recreational facilities.

This they said would help in alleviating their psychological suffering.

Buhari Appoints New Post Master General President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Bisi Adegbuyi as Post-Master General/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST).

The appointment was contained in a statement signed by Bolaji Adebiyi of the Office of the Secretary

to the Government of the Federation.

Adegbuyi replaces Enoch Ogun, who hitherto was the acting post master general.

Before his appointment, he was the Director General of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State campaign in the last general election.

bailout as follows: N10 billion for infrastructure, N20 billion for salaries. N10 billion out of N20 billion for salaries is domiciled with Zenith Bank, while the remaining N10 billion for local government salaries is domiciled with Access Bank.”

Precisely on July 26, the group alleged that the sum of N 912,648,960.49 “was paid from the infrastructural account number 1010756707 at Zenith Bank to AG Vision Construction Nigeria Limited account number 1920001651 at Skye Bank as part payment purportedly made for the construction of AgasaUkpogoro road, a fictitious no-existing project as at today.

The group alleged that an independent investigation it conducted revealed that nothing of such happened on the road, noting that it suspected the movement of the money especially at this time where four appellants “are challenging his purported election at the appeal tribunal.

“We also note that towards the end of the case at the lower tribunal, the governor approved the movement from

the infrastructure account the sum of N1.7 billion account purportedly for a contract to a Lebanese Company, MAJ Global construction Company ltd, owned by one Michel Abboud as CEO. “The contract was purportedly meant for the renovation of 17 units of houses within Government House. Now the question is why did the government award such contracts without advertising them? Even if the contracts were advertised, how could a single company win all the bids in such a competitive environment as we have in Nigeria today?”

The group provided details about the contracts and their costs, wondering why Bello administration should spend N1,566,655,738.50 to renovate buildings, lamenting what would it cost the state government to construct a new building for a poor state like Kogi.

It said: “Preliminaries cost N 500,000.00; personal assistant residence N56, 831, 620.00; Permanent Secretary residence N55, 393, 500.00; PPS residence N 85,533,500.00;

ADC residence N 54,171,150.00; Guest House (Aliyu) Residence N64, 005, 750.00; Accountant General residence N64, 672, 500.00; DG Protocol residence N53, 324, 220.00; CSO residence N 52,916,450.0; CP residence N 50,557,320.00; SSG residence N 52,321,470.00 and Imam’s residence N 47,527,670.00.”

It said the sum of N857, 010,027.501 was spent “to renovate six-unit office building, another sum of N669, 645, 711.00 was spent units residential building, bringing the grand total to N 1,566,655,738.50. Our investigations reveal that nothing is being renovated in most of these buildings.”

Aside, the group said its investigations further revealed that from salaries account number: 1014673585 with Zenith Bank, out of the N20 billion bailout for salaries, the account has less than N1 billion left.

It lamented that civil servants and pensioners “are not paid and are owed seven months salaries.

No infrastructural facilities are being embarked on. More startling is our investigation into the federal

allocations accruing to the state from January 2016 totaling close to N20 billion with nothing on ground to show for it.”

It said the Bello administration received N2, 580, 000, 000 in January; N2, 690,764,451.52 in February; N3, 516, 357,267.2 in March; N 2,291,476,388.06 in April; N 3,843,118,140.02 in May and N3,490,878,662.89 in June, totalling N18,412,594,909.69 According to the group, this is exclusive of the allocation to the 21 local government areas in the state. Yet Kogi State Government is not paying salaries, no single drainage being done, students have been at home, no subvention to tertiary institutions. So what has Governor Bello done with all these monies?

It added that more shocking “is the spate of shameless deductions from local government accounts using the local government administrators to deduct N20 million each monthly and submitting the cash to the Chief of Staff, Edward Onoja, on the basis that N10 million out of the N20 million is for the repayment of vehicles bought for them.

WE NEEDTO COLLABORATE

L-R: Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr. Usman Mallah; Director Project, NCC, Ms. Ayodeji Sofolahan;ExecutiveViceChairman/CEO,NCC,Prof.UmarDanbatta;and CorpsMarshal,FederalRoadSafetyCommission(FRSC),Dr.BoboyeOyeyemi, duringacourtesyvisittotheNCCheadquartersin Abuja....recently.

FG Owes Workers N293bn Benefit Claims Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Mrs. Wilfred Ekamen Oyo-Ita, has revealed that the federal government owes workers in the civil service to the tune of N293 billion as claims and arrears.

She made the staggering admission while briefing journalists on the activities to celebrate the civil service week.

The HoS said on appointment last year, she was confronted with a boggling service wide claim from workers on death benefits, repatriation allowances, promotion and arrears.

According to her, President Muhammadu Buhari was equally stunned when he received the huge claims, prompting him to refer the

matter to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.

Oyo-Ita said government had till this moment been unable to indemnify the claimants largely because of financial challenges.

Nigeria has struggled to implement its budget because of resource constraint which has resulted in the a sharp reduction in its revenue by more than 55 per cent since the new administration came to office last year.

The head of the service said though efforts had peaked to prioritise the payment formula, the affected workers would be paid after the conclusion of the phased payment formula that is being reconciled in collaboration with the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF).

Oyo-Ita, who was appointed

Nigeria’s third woman to head the civil service in October last year, also disclosed that an unspecified number of federal public service workers are in detention by anticorruption agency, EFFC, for fraud, adding that the use of Private Voters Card (PVC) has sufficiently helped the service in uncovering ghost workers and fraudulent suspicion in the national payroll system.

“There are a lots of public workers that are currently in EFFC detention for fraud, particularly for a serious crime related to ‘ghost workers’. We don’t want to mention names but that is the situation. We have zero tolerance for fraud. This is the first time that any administration in Nigeria is tackling the issue of ghost workers headlong. We are currently cleaning up the system in consonance with the Ministry

of Finance,” Oyo-Ita said.

She said her office had initiated a systematic verification of civil servants through a reliable and authentic database of government workers to reduce fraudulent acts in the payroll and eliminate incessant request for staff documentations.

Oya-Ita said staff welfare would be addressed from many fronts, noting that the civil service was exploring the possibility of providing bulk payment of rent allowance for workers within this fiscal year.

She also said a committee had been set up on national salary review and would sit with the stakeholders to take a decision on pay rise. The HoS also added that there was no plan to retrench workers, saying it is cruel to throw people into the labour market.

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FG Signs Modified Agreement with Global Steel Holdings on NIOMCO Kick-starts steel devt, takes over ownership of Ajaokuta Global Steel Holdings to submit business plan within 105 days, says govt Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The federal government has taken a major step in its plan to revitalise the steel sector as it signed a renegotiated concession agreement with Global Steel Holdings Limited for the Nigerian Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), Itakpe.

By the new agreement, according to the government, Ajaokuta Steel Complex has now reverted to the federal government, effectively freeing the entity from all contractual encumbrances that had left it uncompleted and non-functional for decades, while GSHL retains NIOMCO. The new agreement, which came after four years of mediation,

was signed yesterday at a short ceremony presided by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in his office at the Presidential Villa.

Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari gave the approval for the execution of the modified concession agreement with Global Steel Holdings Limited after he received the reports of the mediation meetings from the Ministry of Justice.

Speaking at the event, Osinbajo hailed the mediation process that led to the resolution of the problems that made it impossible for the two national assets to be functional for years.

According to him, “It is one of the cases of failures. It is a tragedy

PDP Convention: Kwara Group Lobbies for Party Spokesman’s Job Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Leading stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State have begun a lobby to have the coveted position of National Publicity Secretary of the party zoned to the state.

Under the recently approved zoning arrangement released by the National Caretaker Committee of the PDP, the North-central has been asked to produce the next spokesman of the party at the proposed national convention coming up later in the month.

As part of the lobby,a political interest group,thePDP KwaraSupportGroup, has reached out to the North-central zone leadership urging it to be fair to the state on the basis of equity and justice to reconsider and zone the office of the National Publicity Secretary to the State.

The Kwara support group leader specifically appealed to Professor Jerry Gana, Senator

David Mark, Alhaji Senator Ibrahim Mantu, Senator Jonah Jang, ExGovernors Gabriel Suswan, Idris Wada, Abdulkadir Kure, Babangida Aliyu and all other key stakeholders that have influence to favour Kwara State PDP. In its appeal contained in a letter to the leadership of the party in the North-central zone, the group said it believed that allowing the state to produce the next PDP spokesman would rally the people together towards reinvigorated strong PDP in Kwara State ahead of 2019.

“The appeal as a clarion call and SOS is targeted at the leadership comprising of all the six states chairmen and secretaries, youth leaders, zonal treasurers and women leaders in the North-central zone alongside with the two per state key stakeholders caucus members to graciously reconsider the zoning arrangement to as it affects the office of National Publicity Secretary to favour Kwara State.

Zaria Clash: Army Studying Judicial Panel Report Senator Iroegbu inAbuja The Nigerian Army has said its studying the report by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the Kaduna State Government to investigate the December 12-14, 2015 clash between the NigerianArmy and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiite sect.

The report, which was made public on Monday, indicted the Shiite leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, for alleged acts of lawlessness by his members and calledfortheprosecution of soldiers involved in the killings of the sect members.

The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, told THISDAY yesterday that the NigerianArmyisawareandexamining the contents of the report.

Usman said the army will not issue out any official response yet as the authorities are still studying the report.

“The Nigerian Army is aware of the report and is studying it,” he said.

The 13-member panel headed

by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal, had in its report submitted to Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, said El-Zakzaky and his members should be held responsible for the bloody clash with the Nigerian Army last December, which led to the deaths of 349 people, including one soldier.

The report also accused the Nigerian Army of “disproportionate use of force contrary to its rules of engagement”, declaring that soldiers and officers of the NigerianArmy who were involved in the killing of 348 members of the Shiite sect should be prosecuted.”

“The panel’s findings contained in the report said 349 people – including one soldier – were killed. “Out of the said 349 dead persons, 347 (excluding the soldier) were buried in a mass grave,” said the report.

of immense proportion that we have both Ajaokuta Steel Complex and NIOMCO and couldn’t get anything out of them for many years.”

The vice president who said making the entities to work was a top priority of this administration, urged GSHL to keep to the various timelines in the agreement in the spirit of mediation.

He added that it was important the concession work “so that Ajaokuta can take off too.”

Also, speaking the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who signed on behalf of the government in the mediation process, said with the new agreement on NIOMCO, the next step is to commence the process of taking over Ajaokuta and ensuring that it is given out to a serious operator with proven technical and financial capacity.

Fayemi said: “It is our expectation that we would accomplish two things- bring NIOMCO to full

function and start the process of retaking Ajaokuta and then give it to a new operator. With this, we will move from being just a mineral nation to a mining nation.

Fayemi described the settlement as a landmark development that would help the diversification plans of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

While responding, the Chairman of GSHL, Prammod Mittal, who signed on behalf of the company said, the company waited for eight years to achieve this ‘amicable’ settlement.

According to him, “My organisation was committed to the objectives of the agreement and guaranteed supply to Ajaokuta plant and Delta Steel Company, after which, it will sell what is left to other interested parties.”

He assured the government of its readiness to commence operation soon, adding that in the next two years, Nigeria would begin to produce steel.

The international mediator, Richardson, lauded the government and GSHL for opting for mediation as a means of settling the dispute.

The negotiations for amicable resolution of the Ajaokuta crisis has dragged on since 2008, leaving the country’s steel and industrial sectors largely in comatose. Following this settlement, the steel sub sector is on the way to being revitalised and Nigeria’s industrial base solidified.

Meanwhile, the federal government yesterday disclosed that following the signing of the modified agreement between it and Global Holdings Limited, the company is to submit its business plan for government’s approval within the next 105 days.

In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, the federal government noted that the submission of business plan for approval is part of the timeline agreed upon by both parties for the revitalisation of the entity It stated that under the new

arrangement, the concessionaire is to implement the business plan as approved by the government.

According to the timeline released by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, GSHL would within 48 hours of the signing of the agreement gain access to NIOMCO plant at Itakpe, Kogi State, for due diligence.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Fayemi, stated getting NIOMCO and Ajaokuta working would move Nigeria from just being a mineral-rich country to a mining nation.

He said: “Once the first phase of the agreement is accomplished, it is the intention of the federal government to quickly move into accomplishing the objectives of concessioning the Ajaokuta Steel Plant to the most competent operator.”

Under the new arrangement, the concessionaire is to implement the business plan as approved by the government.

FACTS BEHIND THE FIGURES

L-R: Executive Director, Marketing Operation and Technology, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Ade Bajomo; Group Chief Executive Officer, Forte Oil Plc, Akin Akinfamiwa; and Group Chief Financial Officer, Forte Oil, Julius Omodayo-Owotuga during the Facts Behind The Figures presentation by Forte Oil Plc at the NSE, Lagos on Monday, Abiodun Ajala

Nigerians Oppose Life Pension for Ex-governors, Lawmakers The issue of payment of life pension to governors, their deputies, National Assembly and House of Assembly members has been on the front burner of public discourse in recent times.

In an opinion poll conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) nationwide, the respondents said that the ongoing payment of pensions to former governors should be discontinued.

They noted that the former governors, who were now senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, were by implication, earning double pay.

In Abuja, 17 of the 18 respondents, who returned their questionnaires, opposed life pension

for leaders of the legislative houses, while one person supported it.

Also, 16 persons opposed governors enjoying life pension, while only two persons supported it.

In the South-west zone, 442 of the 600 respondents, representing 73.6 per cent, rejected life pension to governors, while 148 people or 24.6 per cent, were in support.

Similarly, 435 respondents, representing 72.5 per cent, opposed life pension for leaders of the National Assembly, while 149 people or 24.8 per cent, supported it.

In the North-east, another 600 people responded in the six states.

Four hundred and ninety four, of the sampled population,

representing 82.33 per cent, opposed the payment of life pension to legislators, while 58 people or 9.67 per cent supported it.

The survey showed that 426 people or 71 per cent, also rejected life pension to governors, 132 people or 22 per cent supported it, while 42 people or seven per cent, were undecided.

In South-East, where 100 questionnaires were administered in the five states, 83 respondents voted against pension for legislators while only 12 voted in favour with five respondents undecided.

Similarly, in the North-West, 273 questionnaires were administered in Kano, Kebbi and Sokoto with 126 people or 46.15 per cent

rejecting life pension to governors, while 105 people or 38.5 per cent, supported it.

The respondents in the zone also unanimously rejected payment of life pension to leaders of the legislative houses.

Also, all the respondents in North-central voted against life pension to both former governors and the leaders of the legislative houses.

South-south respondents opposed the payment of life pension to ex-governors and legislators.

They argued that they were well paid while in office and in addition, went with handsome severance packages.

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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3, 2016 • T H I S D AY

CRIME&PUNISHMENT 20 Policemen Arrested for Bribe-taking in Rivers

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

The new Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Francis Odesanya, has said his command has arrested no fewer than 20 policemen in the state for taking bribe.

This is as he pledged to be apolitical in the protracted political crisis in the state.

He also warned cultists to stay away from the state or be ready to face the wrath of the law when apprehended.

Odesanya, who spoke yesterday during his maiden press briefing at the Police Officers’ Mess, Port Harcourt, said the policemen were arrested within the short period he has been in the helms of affairs of the state police command.

He said: “We do not have road blocks in Rivers State, but Section 27 of the Police Act gives us the power to stop and search any time and at any point. In as much as I don’t support corruption and I don’t support the policemen taking money, already presently, with the

monitoring team, we have over 20 policemen already arrested since I came in.

“They are going to be thoroughly sanctioned and I know that my predecessor had been doing the same. The IG has a monitoring team that moves round; the AIG has a monitoring team. We are doing our best to put an end to all these. My plea is this, it takes two to tango. Please, don’t give police money.

“This is an era of social media; there is a response unit with the police that you can easily access with your phone if the man is demanding for money and they will definitely come to your aid.

Let us cooperate with ourselves.”

Odesanya stated that it is the responsibility of the government to guarantee the safety of persons, who are carrying out their legitimate endeavours without hindrance.

He identified unending political crisis and the reign of unresolved violent crimes, as the main two pillar threatening the peace and tranquility of the state.

He said: “There are two critical

pillars troubling the peace and tranquility of Rivers State which are the unending political crisis and the reign of unresolved violent crimes. In every society, some level of crimes exist.

He stated: “No doubt, the state is infested with political crisis. But under my watch, we shall; remain apolitical in the discharge of our constitutional responsibilities. All the political parties in the state will be given a level playing field in terms of security of lives and property.

I shall remain balanced in my judgment.”

He also said: “It is one of the primary responsibility of government to guarantee the safety of civilians and every other persons carrying out their legitimate endeavours without hindrance. Crime sets in where opportunity exists, escape is very possible and premium is derivable.”

He added that in dealing with the problem of kidnapping and armed robbery in the state, the state police command would go after cultists and fight them to a standstill.

Odesanya pointed out that the command had intensified the fight against cultism, adding that the current “massive onslaught” against hoodlums would be sustained.

Describing Rivers State as strategic to the economic wellbeing of the country, the state CP vowed that the command under his watch would never allow cultist, kidnappers and armed robbers have their way.

He also reiterated his command’s readiness to mop up illegal arms in the state.

“We must sustain the fight against criminality, especially cultists because Rivers State is strategic to the economic wellbeing of the country. This assignment is a wake-up call to duty and to deliver on this mandate, I have identified the security challenges facing the state.

“It has come to my notice that illegal arms are in many places across the state. We will work towards mopping them up. Armed robbery, kidnappingandothercrimesareenergised by cultist. We shall fight cultism to the end in the state,” he added.

SUSPECTED CULTISTS

Suspected members of Black Axe confraternity being paraded at the Anambra State Police headquarters....Awka....yesterday

EFCC Investigates Diversion of Company Funds in NAHCO Chinedu Eze The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last week arrested the Chairman of Nigeria Aviation Handling Company Plc, Suleiman Yahaya, for allegedly diverting huge amount of money from the company for personal use, THISDAY investigations have learnt.

Yahaya was arrested by EFCC operatives last Friday in Abuja as he allegedly wanted to travel to South Africa, ostensibly to escape from the long arms of the law, and was whisked to Lagos and detained at the Ikoyi, Lagos office of the commission.

THISDAY learnt that EFCC sought remand order from the court last Monday to detain Yahaya for 14 days under which it would complete investigation on the chairman and directors who served under him to unravel the alleged fraud.

A source also disclosed that last week Thursday, EFCC invited former Chairman of the Company,

Major General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd) for questioning and was later released.

It was alleged that Yahaya diverted funds of the company, including the money the company obtained from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), and padded them into staff salaries until recently when petitions written to EFCC by disenchanted former officials of the company who felt they were unjustly sacked, drew the attention of the commission to the company.

Yahaha was accused of using his company called Rosehill Group to collect 5 percent monthly on all income generated by NAHCO from cargo handling services. The service Rosehill Group provides for the handling company was called Management Support but officials of NAHCO said the company did not have any personnel and rendered no visible service to NAHCO. The agreement was signed in December 2010 between NAHCO and Rosehill Group under the

prompting of Yahaha who allegedly convinced NAHCO board to sign the deal.

Yahaya was also accused of taking N5 billion bonds for NAHCO, which he allegedly used to buy handling equipment for the company and to kick start diversification programme.

It ventured into power and agriculture and bid for Kaduna Power Distribution Company (DISCO) and lost. Recently, the company hinted that it wanted to bid for the concession of airport facilities, which the federal government plans to undertake.

THISDAY also learnt that a day before the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of NAHCO was held last Wednesday in Abuja, the Managing Director, Nobert Bielderman, who might have got wind of the visit of EFCC, sneaked out of town and travelled overseas, while Yahaha, who was about to check into South Africa Airways flight to Johannesburg, was arrested by EFCC operatives.

Asource told THISDAY yesterday

that what Yahaya allegedly did was a breach of corporate governance of the company and in line with the anti-corruption stance of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) have threatened to sanction indicted companies’ directors, including seizing their assets and prosecuting them with relevant security agencies to bring them to book when they defraud their companies.

The Manager, Corporate Communications and Services of the company, TayoAjakaye, who had earlier confirmed the visit of EFCC to NAHCO headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and the arrest of the Chief Financial Officer, said he would not comment on the latest development but directed THISDAY to the Managing Director of the company, Bielderman, whom he said was airborne on his way back to Nigeria at the time of filing the story.

In Brief Police Arrest Notorious Abuja Fraudsters

The Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) Force Headquarters, Abuja, has tracked and arrested three suspects notorious fraudsters operating in Abuja. The police started trailing the suspects after several complaints received from well meaning individuals and highly placed personalities in Abuja of serious threat to their lives, intimidation and attempts to defraud them of huge sums of money. According to the Force PRO, Don Awunah, the syndicate specialised in sending test messages and calling highly placed individuals such as ministers, senators, governors, captains of industry on phone to demand huge sums of money or else the victims should await a grievous consequences if they failed to comply.

When he was arrested, one of the suspects, 21-year-old Abdulrahman Shaibu, the leader of the gang, led the operatives and they equally arrested 47-year-old Isiaku Maheed Zanbuk and 35-year-old Hassan Haruna, who are also key members of the syndicate. He said: “The three suspects confessed to the crime and explained to the investigators various roles played by each of them in the perpetration of this criminal act and other related crimes they have committed in the past. Exhibits recovered from their possession included phonecontaining the SIM card /number used to threaten the complainant; copies of letters of threat to life addressed to highly placed Nigerians; copies of letters of fraud addressed to well meaning individuals and cooperate bodies. Soliciting for monetary assistance for non existing tragedies and projects and list of names and phone numbers /contact of hundred of important personalities in public and private sectors in Nigeria. They will be arraigned in court on completion of investigation. “However, members of the general public are advised to be vigilant and report promptly any threat of this nature to the nearest police station.”

20 Suspected Cultists Paraded in Anambra

Less than 48 hours after taking over officially as the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sam Okaula, has registered a feat, by rounding up 20 suspected cultists, whom he said were members of Black Axe Confraternity. Okaula said the cultists were mostly students of Federal Polytechnic, Oko and some unemployed youths and were arrested while trying to initiate some new members into the group at Ochuche, Umudu village in Ogbaru local government area of the state. Also, one Mr. Uche Ugwu, aged 35, was arrested with a Beretta pistol while trying to rob a man of a large sum of money along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, the commissioner added. Okaula said this feat was registered in just 24 hours of his assuming office as the commissioner of police in the state, and that these should be a warning to criminal elements in the state that the time for their operations was up. “As some of you already know, I took over from my predecessor yesterday (Monday), and almost immediately after that ceremony, we got information of some cultists who were about to initiate new members into their group and we swiftly moved in and rounded them up. I met a safe state, courtesy of my predecessor and especially the Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, who have been working hard to ensure security in the state. I am calling on the people of the state to join hands with me so that we can sustain that security and move the state to another level. The people of the state should know that they now have a new Sheriff in town, and the new Sheriff does not tolerate crime. All criminal elements should turn a new leaf now or leave the state, else they will meet their waterloo,” Okaula said.

He also enjoined the people of the state to feel free to approach his office with useful information on anything that is likely to cause a breech if peace, and he would be ready to work on it. The police chief stated that he would initiate a new strategy in fighting crime in the state, but would prefer not to disclose it, but let the people of the state feel it. Items recovered from the suspects included pistols, live cartridges, concoctions for initiation, gongs, drums and other musical instruments meant to be used for the initiation.

Police Recruitment: Fraudsters Create Fake Facebook Account

The Police Service Commission (PSC yesterday raised the alarm that fraudsters had created a fake facebook account with the name of its Chairman of the commission, Mr. Mike Okiro, with the intent to defraud innocent applicants of their money. In a statement signed by the commission’s Head of Media, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, in Abuja, said the fraudsters are already demanding for money from applicants on the on-going police recruitment by the commission.

According to statement, the commission had concluded the various states screening and would soon begin the second phase of the process leading to the recruitment. The statement further stressed: “The Chairman of the commission said that he has no Face book account and has never operated such account. He advised unsuspecting applicants to beware of the fraudsters and restrict themselves from being desperate for recruitment into the Force.” Okiro in the statement added that the recruitment would be transparent and based on merit.

Okiro, the statement said, would resist any pressure to undermine or compromise the integrity of the process and its outcome, warning that the fraudsters would soon be rounded up. He said the policewere already after them and will soon apprehend the culprits. In a note of warning to applicants, the chairman said anybody paying for any assistance to be recruited would definitely be disappointed, stressing that security operatives are on the alert to arrest those giving and the others that are receiving.

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WEDNESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

D’Tigers Fall to Team USA in Last Warm-up Match

Keno Edhowo with agency report Nigeria’s senior male basketball team, D’Tigers lost 110-66 to Team USA who are gold medal favourites at this year’s Olympic Games in Brazil.

In the pre-Rio 2016 exhibition game on Monday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, Carmelo Anthony led the way with 19 points, Klay Thompson scored 17, Kevin Durant 14, DeMar DeRozan 13 and DeAndre Jordan and DeMarcus Cousins 10 each.

NBA.com reported yesterday that the victory enabled Team USA to complete their Olympic warm-up tour with a 5-0 record, beating Argentina, China (twice), Venezuela and Nigeria by an average margin of 43 points.

It was the first time the two teams played since August 2, 2012 when the Americans won by a whopping 156-73 as Carmelo Anthony set a team record with 37 points in 14 ½

minutes, shooting 10-for-12 on 3-pointers.

Earlier, there were a few moments to treasure in D’Tigers’ performance. The first came when 6-foot-4 guard Benjamin Uzoh drove through the lane and threw down a one-handed slam dunk over 6-foot-11 DeAndre Jordan with 4:38 left in the first quarter that cut the U.S. lead to 11-10 and brought a collective gasp from the sellout crowd.

The win raised Mike Krzyzewski’s record as head coach with Team USA to 80-1 and was the 68th in a row (including exhibition games) for the Americans since 2006.

The U.S. will take a 17-game Olympic winning streak into Rio de Janeiro.

Team USA will open their Olympic schedule Saturday against China, while D’Tigers begin their campaign against Argentina on Monday morning.

The Nigerian stars will then face Croatia on Thursday night before games against Spain, Brazil and Lithuania.

D’Tigers’ Ike Diogu (right) up against Team USA’s Carmelo Anthony during the warm-up match at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas... Monday night

Dream Team VI to Debut Team Nigeria to Know Table Tennis Opponents Today Aruna Quadri gets bye into second round as Africa’s best player with New Nike Jersey Nigeria’s Under-23 squad, Dream Team VI is to wear a new set of jerseys at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The new home and away kits were announced by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday afternoon.

The NFF signed a threeand-half -year contract with Nike in 2015 that will see the US-based sportwear giant provide products worth $3.75m.

The home kit is a solid green shirt, with white ribbing around the back of the modern crewneck collar featuring Nike’s Dri-FIT technology.

In keeping true to the national colours of Nigeria, the new away kit is white with a green stripe that runs the length of the sides of shirt and shorts, and a green stripe along the back of the collar.

Nike’s Dri-FIT technology draws sweat away from the body to the exterior of the shirts and shorts, where it quickly evaporates. This allows players to perform at their best by remaining cooler, drier and more comfortable.

The laser-cut ventilation holes and mesh panels in the key areas of the kit are designed to improve performance by increasing air circulation and helping regulate players’ temperatures.

The shirt is crafted using mesh fabric that makes up the full front and back panels of the shirt, increasing airflow and facilitating enhanced movement.

Nigeria will play their first game against Japan on August 5 at 2am.

Team Nigeria will today at the Riocentro Pavilion 3 in Rio de Janeiro know its opponents in the team and singles events of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

Also, as the best ranked player in Africa, Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri has gotten a bye to the second round of the men’s singles after the

TWO DAYS TO GO

2014 ITTF Star Player was listed among the top 32 players in the singles event of the Rio to start his campaign in the second round.

In the August 2016 ranking released by ITTF on Monday, Quadri remained the best player from Africa despite sliding to 40 from 38 spot of last month while his continental rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar plummeted to 55 from 41.

And for the men’s singles event of the Rio Olympic Games, Quadri is rated 27 while Assar dropped to 37.

With this development, the Egyptian will start his campaign from the first round like Nigeria’s Segun Toriola and Assar’s sibling, Khaled in the men’s singles.

In the team event, Nigeria may be drawn in same group with top teams as they are

the third lowest ranked team in the men’s team event.

There are 16 teams to battle for laurels in the team event while they are to be drawn into four groups of four teams in each group.

The top two teams in each group are to advance to the quarterfinal stage.

Also Nigeria is the oldest team in the table tennis event with an average age of 35.2years.

According to ITTF, the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles will follow a knockout (single elimination) format, consisting of a preliminary round (conditional), round one (16 matches), round two (16 matches), round three (16 matches), round four (eight matches), quarterfinals (four matches), semifinals (two matches) and medal matches (two matches).

The entries ranked 1 to 16 will qualify directly to the third round, the entries ranked 17 to 32 to the second round and the entries ranked 33 to the total number of participants will have to qualify to the first or preliminary rounds.

In the semifinals round, the winners advance to the gold medal match, in which the gold and silver medallists will be decided.

The losers compete for the bronze medal In both Men’s and Women’s Team events there will be 16 teams entered, each team representing an NOC. A team consists of three players but a team of two players is allowed to participate in the team match if the third player is absent due to injury, illness or disqualification.

Football Kicks off Rio2016 Olympic Games before Opening Ceremony Rio 2016 officially gets under way with the opening ceremony on Friday - but did you know football kicks off the action two days earlier?

The first group stages of the women’s tournament begins today with Sweden facing South Africa, while the men’s group stages start on Thursday, when Iraq play Denmark With 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams, there are 58 matches to get through. There is football being played on 12 days of the tournament, with six rest days.

Of course, some of the stars of the top leagues in Europe are going to be on parade during

the Games in Rio2016.

Barcelona forward Neymar will captain a Brazil squad aiming to win its first Olympic gold medal.

The hosts also have Lazio midfielder Felipe Anderson in their squad along with Neymar’s Barca team-mate Rafinha and Paris SaintGermain defender Marquinhos.

Meanwhile, Tottenham forward Son Heung-min will represent South Korea and Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi brings experience for Nigeria.

Five-time women’s world player of the year Marta competes in her fourth

Olympics for Brazil, while her 38-year-old team-mate Formiga is going to her sixth Games and is looking to continue her streak of appearing at every women’s Olympic football tournament.

The reigning world and

Olympic champions USA have seven gold medal winners in their line-up. Among them is goalkeeper Hope Solo, who could win a record fourth Olympic title at Rio, and current world player of the year Carli Lloyd.

MEN’S GROUPS Group A: Brazil, South Africa, Iraq, Denmark Group B: Sweden, Colombia, Nigeria, Japan Group C: Fiji, South Korea, Mexico, Germany Group D: Honduras, Algeria,

L-R: Neymar, Mikel, Carli Lloyd and Formiga will all be competing in football at the Olympics

Portugal, Argentina WOMEN’S GROUPS Group E: Brazil, China, Sweden, South Africa Group F: Canada, Australia, Zimbabwe, Germany Group G: USA, New Zealand, France, Columbia.

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Transfer: EPL Clubs Spend £475m in First Month

Premier League clubs have spent £475m in the month since the summer transfer window opened on July 1, according to business analysts Deloitte.

The figure compares with £515m at the same stage in 2015 and an £870m outlay in the whole of the 2015 summer window.

Leroy Sane’s £37m move to Manchester City, confirmed yesterday, is not included in the figures.

Deloitte said gross outlay could rise above £1bn for the first time before the window closes on August 31.

Manchester United could bump up the spending significantly if their reported £100m move for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba goes through.

The Premier League starts a new £5.1bn three-year television deal this season.

“The prospect of increased revenue from the new broadcast deals next season

has encouraged Premier League clubs to invest in this window in order to be as competitive as possible,” said Alex Thorpe, senior manager in the sports business group at Deloitte.

“With a month of the window still to go, some significant deals in the pipeline and a number of clubs yet to enter the market, we may see another summer of record Premier League spending, possibly breaking the £1bn barrier for the first time.”

Sky are paying £4.2bn and BT £960m for the rights to show live top-flight matches over the next three seasons and, as a result of the deal, each club can expect to receive between £30m and £50m from the Premier League for 2016-17.

The combined total spent

by Premier League clubs over the summer and winter transfer windows last season was £1.045bn - up from £965m for 2014-15.

Onazi Seals Move toTrabzonspor Nigeria international Ogenyi Onazi has joined Turkish Super League side Trabzonspor on a four-year-deal.

The Lazio midfielder, who was welcomed by a sizeable number of Trabzonspor supporters and club officials at Ataturk Airport, told AfricanFootball.com that he

signed a four year deal.

“Thank you bros. I signed a four-year-deal with Trabzonspor,” he revealed yesterday.

Onazi was also a target of another Turkish club Besiktas.

The Jos-born star arrived in company with his agent Ayodele Makinwa.

Sigurdsson Signs New Four-year Swansea Deal

Leroy Sane switched to Manchester City yesterday

Iceland’s Euro 2016 midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson has signed a new four-year contract with Swansea City.

The 26-year-old playmaker was linked with a £25m move to Everton but ended speculation about his future by signing a new deal with the Swans until 2020.

It is a boost for Swans boss Francesco Guidolin, who has sold three strikers and is expected to lose Wales captain Ashley Williams to Everton this week.

Sigurdsson, who had two years left on his deal, is in his second Swans spell.

He rejoined from Tottenham in July 2014 and was part of

the Iceland team which reached the Euro 2016 quarter-finals, scoring one goal.

Chairman Huw Jenkins has already admitted Swansea need “at least two strikers” following the departures of Eder, Alberto Paloschi and Bafetimbi Gomis’ loan move to Marseille.

The Welsh club do have Ghana forward Andre Ayew as an attacking option but his future is uncertain as Ayew is regularly linked with a move to Premier League rivals West Ham. Swans coach Alan Curtis admitted Seville striker Fernando Llorente was one of the players on Swansea’s wanted list but the World Cup winner wants to stay in Spain.

Oyedeji Basketball Camp Tips-off Ifeanyi Ubah Eyes CAF Seat August 22 in Lagos This year’s edition of Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp will hold from August 22 to 27 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos.

The basketball camp which enters its 17th edition is one of the various programmes of the Olumide Oyedeji Youth Foundation channeled towards the development and empowerment of youth.

The camp is aimed at enriching the lives of Nigerian youths and to enlighten them about education and sociodevelopment skills.

“We plan to use sports as a tool for the empowerment of young Nigerians. The basketball camp will help identify and develop young talents, instill discipline in them and teach them the importance of self-belief and

team work,” Oyedeji said.

“As you are all aware, over the years, many of the camp alumni have become pro-athletes and some have become professionals in other industries,” the former Seattle Supersonics player said.

The former captain of the national basketball team, D’Tigers, also noted that over 40,000 youths have graduated from the camp while over 70 of them have represented Nigeria in various categories of national teams.

Among those that have passed through the camp are former captain of the Nigerian women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, Rashidat Sadiq; Chukwudi Maduabum who was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2011, rising star in high school basketball in the United States, Charles

Bassey, who was a two-time MVP of the camp; Uju Ugoka, member of the D’Tigress to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in France, NCAA Champion and Washington Wizards sign-on, Daniel Ochefu; Zenith Bank League MVP, Nkechi Akashili, and dance sensation, Kaffy.

The camp has also been held in Ibadan, Kano, Abuja, Osogbo, and Port-Harcourt in recent times.

Oyedeji, a member of the world basketball governing body, FIBA, said forms for the camp which will be available at the office of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) is open to kids between the ages of 7 and 18 years, stressing that dates for Jos in Plateau State and other city to hold the camp will be announced later.

Wawrinka out of Olympic Games Due to Injury Switzerland’s world number four Stan Wawrinka has withdrawn from the Olympic Games because of a back injury.

Wawrinka, 31, aggravated the injury in the Rogers Cup in Canada, meaning five of the men’s top-10 players will not participate in Rio. Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem have also withdrawn.

“I would like to have witnessed my third Olympic Games,” Wawrinka said. “This will not be possible now.”

The injury is another blow for the Swiss team after 34-year-old Federer, the world number three and 2012 silver medallist, withdrew with a knee injury.

That leaves just two

remaining players - Martina Hingis, whose last appearance at the Games was in 1996, and Timea Bacsinszky - from the initial six-member Olympic team.

World number seven Milos

Raonic and world number eight Tomas Berdych cited the Zika virus for their omission.

Tennis is not the only sport to suffer large withdrawals, with more than 20 male golf players pulling out of Rio 2016.

Wawrinka knocked off Rio2016 by injury

There are very strong indications that oil magnate and owner of Nigeria premier league club FC IfeanyiUbah Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah is being prepared to gun for a seat on the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

“Ifeanyi Ubah is being positioned to contest for a seat on the CAF executive committee,” a highly-placed official exclusively informed AfricanFootball.com It was further gathered that the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is behind the plot to install the wealthy club owner, who interestingly in the 90s tried out as a goalkeeper in Fanny Amun’s Golden Eaglets.

The plot has already seen Ifeanyi Ubah elected as chairman of Anambra Football Association in a polls that is still shrouded in controversies.

The club owner was one of the top officials who welcomed FIFA present Gianni Infantino on his recent visit to Nigeria.

He was one of a handful of officials who visited Nigerian

President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock Villa along with Infantino after several top officials including NFF general secretary were left out.

AfricanFootball.com further gathered that the NFF leadership specially presented IfeanyiUbah to the 18 African FA presidents who were part of Infantino’s visit.

Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah

NPFL: Rivers Utd Stars out of Hospital after Mishap The Rivers United players who were admitted after the club’s bus was involved in an accident last Thursday have been discharged from Hospital.

Yusuf Jaiyeola, Sope Hameed and club captain, Festus Austin all sustained varying degrees of injuries after the accident that occurred in Ndele, Rivers State.

They were subsequently admitted at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) where they received medical attention.

The trio have now been discharged with the club’s doctor, Chukwuemeka Agi, revealing that two of the three players can now return to action.

“Sope suffered a laceration while Austin injured his knee.

However, the knee injury suffered by Austin turned out not to be as serious as first feared and he can therefore return to action.

“The only person who cannot play competitive matches at this stage is Yusuf who suffered a deep cut in the Achilles tendon.

“Seventeen other persons who were in the bus at the time of the accident have since been treated for minor bruises and psychological trauma,” he told supersport.com.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) First Vice-president, Seyi Akinwunmi, has commiserated with Rivers United over the accident that left three footballers and one official seriously injured.

“I want to commiserate with Rivers United FC over the accident that happened last Thursday.

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Civil Society to Kaduna Govt ”It is extremely disquieting that the Kaduna State Government would rather arrest and prosecute over 200 persons for the death of one soldier than charge one soldier for the death of well over 348 residents of the state” – A civil society group, Access to Justice, urging the Kaduna State Government to bring to justice the military officers implicated in Shiites killing in Zaria

TOYINAKINOSHO GUEST COLUMNIST

Buhari and the Avengers L

ong term security of installations in Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta region depends on who wins in the battle of wits between President Muhammadu Buhari and the so-called Niger Delta Militants, whose leaders are essentially from the Ijaw nation, the country’s fourth most populated ethnic group.

Is President Buhari prepared to stare down the “militants” and wear them out while their actions continue to cripple the continent’s largest economy? Or does he bow to pressure and go to the negotiating table, begging them to stop?

Armed gangs have been destroying Nigerian crude oil evacuation infrastructure at an unrelenting pace since February 2016, gaining media attention and de-branding the Nigerian corporate image in the process. President Buhari’s ineffective public communication notwithstanding, it was obvious, until the weekend of May 30, 2016, that he had chosen the military option to deal with the crisis, which has cut the country’s crude oil production by 40%.

Now talk of the government’s call for the military to stand down while “negotiations” take place is worrying.

The Nigerian state bowed to pressure from sympathizers of a variant of these “militants” seven years ago and granted amnesty to those who had picked up arms to destroy facilities and kill Nigerian soldiers. The government then awarded millions of dollars of contracts to leaders of these militias, to secure the installations. Even so, routine pipeline vandalism continued unabated.

The Trans Forcados system, (comprising a crude oil pipeline, a crude oil loading line and the Production Terminal), was down for over 30 days in 2015, right in the Goodluck Jonathan era.

The 97 km Nembe Creek Trunk Line, which was commissioned less than six years ago, was repeatedly down due to vandalism all through the Jonathan years. So was the Trans Niger Pipeline. These were all at the time that “Pipeline Surveillance” Contracts to Militant Leaders were subsisting.

Things ratcheted up, however, as soon as the Buhari government moved to stop the contracts and investigate abuse of the process, armed gangs again started bombing installations.

We believe there are two things at work here: (1), the return to brigandage by so-called militants is a continuation of the election process by other means. A few days to the March 2015 elections, during which Buhari beat the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, who hails from the Niger Delta, a number of the region’s top politicians had vowed to make the country ungovernable if he lost. Jonathan’s historic acceptance of Buhari’s victory temporarily dissuaded them.

The Niger Delta region hosts a large number of incorruptible, hardworking, and well-meaning people, but a few influential members of Nigeria’s rapacious rentier elite, with roots in the region, have felt pushed to the wall by the investigations into corrupt practices that the Buhari government has promoted since he came to power.

(2) “If they’d get Tompolo they will get to us”. Niger Delta Avengers, who have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, have stridently claimed their actions have nothing to do with sympathy for Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, a key beneficiary of the surveillance contracts who is being sought by the anti-corruption agency Economic and

Buhari Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

If you’ve covered the Nigerian oil industry closely as we’ve done all these last 15 years, you’re likely to be persuaded that the Avengers’ actions are desperate attempts to stop the EFCC from pursuing Tompolo and several leaders of the Niger Delta allegedly caught up in corrupt transactions in the last administration. This view is contrary to the media’s widely reported claim

by Tompolo that he distances himself from the exploits of the Avengers. Media reports that Governors of the Niger Delta region who on May 31, 2016, met with the Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House allegedly “called for the majority of corruption cases in the region to be dropped by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)”, tallies with what Africa Oil+Gas Report has strongly suspected all along.

The point is that corrupt persons who claim to be leaders of the Niger Delta are not working in the interest of the Niger Delta.

How can elected Governors be pushing for armed insurrection because of investigations into corrupt practices? Who’s there to look out for the small guy, whose children cannot go to school because some people with access have looted the funds with which the teachers were supposed to be paid?

How can few individuals be so invincible, because they can play with a few million dollars, sponsoring attacks to stop the state apparatus on a quest for justice and taking advantage of our collective predilection for emotional responses to grave challenges?

The wealth of the beneficiaries of the last regime of heightened attacks on oil facilities (2006-2009) has not trickled down into improving the livelihood of the teeming masses of the region.

Nigeria does not have to conduct its National Conference under the threat of grenade.

This particular issue offers the nation a singular

You can’t keep on rushing to the negotiating table anytime someone picks up arms against the state

opportunity to build the intelligence of the police, the only security agency with offices in the nooks and crannies of the country. The government has more money in its arsenal to create a functional police force that stops criminality before it happens, than these criminal minded leaders have in waging pipeline bomb wars.

These militants who don’t have our interest, are not fighting a spiritual warfare; they are materialists. Let us agree that oil money may not flow in for a while and stare them down.

The world will not collapse.

The country’s security agencies themselves need to rethink their attitude to engaging people taking arms against the state and destroying property. Their preference to “put men and guns” to respond to security threats after the fact is a significant part of the challenge of securing the country.

Whether they are tackling armed robbery in the southeast, or fighting Boko Haram in the Northeast, the Nigerian security apparatus would rather engage in warfare. What is wrong in doing basic police work, gathering intelligence in communities and checkmating vandals before they act? Winning hearts and minds of the local populace anywhere may sound cliché, but it’s the way to go to secure information to prevent these actions. The work of intelligence is important to separate people from activities that shackle the economy, or destroy livelihoods.

Some allegedly patriotic Nigerians are applauding the recent air force raids on

supposed militant hideouts in the southwest.

So will “militants” be living in isolation? Anyone who assumes that there wouldn’t be collateral damage as a result of that action, in the last week of July 2016, has lost his humanity.

Poor local governance and distrust of the institutions of state makes intelligence gathering quite problematic, and to properly elaborate on the requirements for this paradigm shift requires a separate article.

Still, the perspective by Femi Falana, a leading Nigerian rights activist, helps to put this argument in context. I will quote him extensively: After the crisis in the region and the emergence of the militants and the crisis that led to the amnesty programme, we would have expected the country to keep records. With amnesty, warlords had been asked to drop their guns and weapons to the society.

But no one monitored them. At the time they were holding meetings to launch a more ferocious attack on the nation, no one was worried about them. The security operatives were concerned about other minor issues. It is pathetic that our security officials are more interested in reckless abuse of human rights rather than gathering information and intelligence that can fight and track crimes in the country.”

What we know is that the Nigerian government is encouraging terrible, criminal habits if it keeps rushing to the negotiating table anytime anyone takes up arms against the country.

•Akinosho, a petroleum geologist, is the Publisher of Africa Oil+Gas Report

WHAT ARE WE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN?......06 WHAT KIND OF FATHER ARE YOU? IT’S ALL OVER TOWN THAT YOU ALLOWED YOUR SON’S NAME TO TOP THE LIST OF STUDENTS RECOMMENDED FOR EXPULSION, EVEN THOUGH THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE WANTED HIM ONLY CAUTIONED!

YES, AS THE PRINCIPAL, I HAD TO DO THAT OPENLY TO SEND A STRONG MESSAGE TO STUDENTS AND TEACHERS THAT I DON’T CONDONE FAVOURITISM OR NEPOTISM!

SO,WHAT MESSAGE DID YOUR FRIEND, THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION SEND TO THE NATION WHEN HE REMOVED YOUR NAME FROM THE LIST OF PRINCIPALS RECOMMENDED FOR REMOVAL FOR MISUSE OF FUNDS FIVE YEARS AGO?

RELAX! …I WAS JUST GOING TO TELL YOU I ALSO SECRETLY INSTRUCTED THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE TO REMOVE YOUR SON’S NAME FROM THE LIST BEFORE THEY PRESENT IT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS FOR APPROVAL!

NOW, YOU’RE TALKING!

THAT’S MY DAD! THANKS, DAD!

DON’T THANK ME! I DID IT BECAUSE IT OCCURRED TO ME I COULD GET AWAY WITH IT! ..AND BECAUSE OUR PEOPLE’S BARK IS WORSE THAN THEIR BITE!

18-07-16

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