Saturday 13th August 2016

T H I S D AY, T H E S AT U R D AY N E W S PA P E R •SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

6

PAGE SIX

NSIA, Old Mutual, UFF Agri-Fund Sign $700m Deal on Agric, Real Estate Adeosun: Talks underway to privatise railways to boost agriculture James Emejo in Abuja The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) yesterday signed a total of $700 million-agreement with Old Mutual Investment Group (OMIG) South Africa, and UFF Agri-Fund for the establishment of real estate and agriculture co-investment vehicles, with massive direct investments expected in both sectors.

The signing came on a day the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun disclosed that the federal government had commenced discussions on the privatisation of the country's railway system to provide necessary infrastructure for agriculture to thrive.

Under the real estate agreement signed, $500 million is expected to be invested in commercial and retail assets

with an initial commitment of up to $100 million each from NSIA and Old Mutual, with deal origination and execution to be undertaken jointly by both parties.

The agricultural component of the deal will require both parties to make commitments for an initial vehicle size of $50 million ahead of the targeted $200 million, with deal origination and execution also expected to be undertaken jointly by NSIA and UFF Agri-Fund.

Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja, Adeosun said the agreement marked a critical milestone towards delivering on NSIA’s broader mandate to invest in key sectors of the Nigerian economy.

She said the privatisation of the rail system would help address storage issues relating to farm produce, boost competition and ensure that

farmers can move goods from the farm to where they can be sold efficiently.

She said lack of infrastructure remained a key challenge to investments in agriculture.

The minister also said the federal government is currently examining the agricultural book with the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) with a view to discounting some asset books in a bid to attract foreign investors.

She said: "One of the biggest problems with agriculture is infrastructure and it's not that we don't grow enough, it's that very often, it (farm produce) rots in the fields because it's so difficult to move it out or to store it.

"So, there is a lot of investments that need to go in before you go directly into agriculture. As far as

our diversification plans are concerned, agriculture is absolutely critical and we are focused on it both in the budget and other areas both directly and indirectly.

"But the most important thing is infrastructure because until you can move goods from the farm to where they are being sold efficiently, we would not be able to be competitive.

“Our fields are as good and fertile as anybody's else's one in the world but the problem is that it's cheaper to move goods from China to Lagos than moving it from Kano to Lagos and that's because we don't have the infrastructure.

We've got to get our rail moving and then, we can begin to scale up direct primary agriculture."

She noted that the agreements signed was in line with President Muhammadu

BUDGET PADDING: ABDULMUMIN SEEKS COURT PROTECTION FROM ARREST enjoying the cooperation of the police, over the allegations against Dogara and others.

But Abdulmumin, in the suit filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja with No: FHC/ABJ/CS/595, said there was a police siege on his home and that up till the time of filing the suit on August 9, 2016, the siege was still in force.

The affidavit deposed on his behalf by his legislative aide, Mr. Bashir Bello said this was “in a bid to arrest him unlawfully and achieve their pre-determined aim of tampering with his fundamental human rights.”

Abdulmumin, in the suit, accused the police of plotting to “nab him and also put him out of circulation and so as to lay their hands on the said documents and destroy the evidence therein, and avoid a leakage of their roles in the budget issue.”

The embattled lawmaker, in a separate suit, also sued Dogara, the Clerk of the House and others, to restrain the lower chamber from suspending him.

Others listed in the suit filed at the Federal High Court Abuja on August 9, 2016, include the Lasun, Doguwa, Ogor and the eight chairmen of standing committees.

The House is set to resume from its summer recess on September 13, 2016.

Abdulmumini in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/595, said Dogara and others had perfected plans to ensure his indefinite suspension from the House, after his petition to the EFCC, ICPC and the police.

“That if the reliefs of the Plaintiff are not granted, the Plaintiff would be suspended as a member of the House of Representatives and this would greatly prejudice

FOR THE LOVE OF SPORTS...

him and thousands of his constituents who rely on him to afford them their due representation in the Federal legislature,” his affidavit read.

Sources however told THISDAY that Abdulmumin’s fears may not be unconnected with alleged plans by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to revive and re-arraign him over a N15 billion money laundering case in October 2011.

Abdulmumin and his firm, Green Forest Investment Ltd, had been charged alongside a former Governor of Nasarawa State, Aliyu Akwe Doma, for laundering stolen state funds totaling N15 billion. In Dec 2012, the EFCC removed his name from its amended charges. THISDAY, however, could not get EFCC's confirmation on plans to re-arrange Abdulmumin on the money laundering charges. Efforts to also reach Abdmumin

by phone calls and text messages proved abortive, as his phone repeatedly rang out unanswered.

The House has been embroiled in crises following the removal of the Abdulmumin

by Dogara.

After his ouster, Abdulmumin, accused Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa and 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 10 committee chairmen for corruption and abuse of office.

Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode (middle), being presented with an Arsenal Football Club jersey by Super Falcons and Arsenal Ladies FC star, Azeezat Oshoala (right) during Oshoala's courtesy visit to Lagos House, Ikeja, With them is Senior Special Assistant on Sport to the Governor, Mr. Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye ...yesterday

Buhari’s administration's concerted efforts to diversify the economy away from oil and attract investments into other core sectors which can stimulate sustainable growth.

Managing Director/Chief Executive, NSIA, Uche Orji said the deals would have multiple effects on agriculture and real estate as institutional investors from outside the country would be involved.

Deals with the proposed investors are expected to be closed and announced soon.

Orji said: “We believe that the real estate and agriculture sectors offer considerable potential for economic growth in Nigeria. Our commitment in these sectors is underpinned by the economic imperatives

of urbanization, population growth and enhancement of liquidity for the sectors.

"The real estate vehicle once created alongside the Agriculture Vehicle will be configured to address some of these issues. The NSIA will continue to serve as a catalyst for private sector involvement in key sectors of the economy by exploring partnerships with credible entities such as Old Mutual Investment Group and UFF Agri-Fund."

Also, Chief Executive, OMIG, Diane Radley, said that the partnership with NSIA was critical step in its plans for commercial real estate and agriculture strategies in Africa.

NNPC, NPA’S TUSSLE OVER N5BN DEBT THREATENS FUEL IMPORTATION commitment to pay up.

The NPA, under its new management team, has commenced serious debt recovery drive aimed at addressing long periods of indebtedness spanning between one and 10 years.

The Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman had told some terminal operators in Calabar, on Thursday that NPA would ensure maximum collection of all fees due to the government while urging them to stick to the terms of agreements entered with government.

Terminal operators, who had paid fees to NPA in Naira in June 2016, have had their money returned to them with NPA insisting that the payments be made in United States Dollar as specified.

Meanwhile, efforts to get the NNPC to comment on the matter failed as its spokesperson, Mr. Garba-Deen Mohammed, did not answer calls made to his mobile telephone number.

Oil marketers had, during the week, threatened to increase the pump price of petrol, due to the continued scarcity of

foreign exchange to finance the importation of the product.

According to them, the United States dollar hit an all-time high last week, as it exchanged for N400 at the parallel market.

Worried by the development, the marketers said, if not urgently addressed, the pump price of petrol would not remain at the approved rates.

The federal government liberalised the downstream sector of the petroleum industry on May 11, 2016, and announced an increase in the pump price of petrol from N86 and N86.5 per litre to between N135 and N145 per litre.

It also stated that the market was to be driven by the factors of demand and supply, as it was now largely in the hands of private sector players.

But oil marketers announced last Monday that despite the competition in the business, they were struggling to retain the price of the Premium Motor Spirit within the approved range.

DECLARE 30-DAY MORATORIUM, WE’LL RESTORE PEACE TO N/ DELTA, INC TELLS FG come out with settlements that are implementable.

“Let the Federal Government give a 30-day moratorium on their action and we will certainly get a ceasefire from the creeks.

No government should use attrition, especially violent attrition, as the first way of resolving a problem within its own borders. Do they want our own military, paid, dressed, clothed and armed by money coming from the same Niger Delta to come and kill us? Who would they be shooting and bombing?”

While advising the federal government against more bloodshed in the region, the INC president warned that the congress would not hesitate to press for war crimes against the government should there be another military invasion of the area.

“The anomie of Odi must not repeat itself because if it does, we will have no choice than to approach the International Criminal Court of Justice at The Hague for war crimes against hapless and helpless people. Please we appeal to the federal government. We are not making ourselves

the point of negotiation but we are saying as the titular body of the Ijaw nation of which every single Ijaw son or daughter is a member, the INC has the moral and the consensus right, ability and duty to bring this anomie to an end. Let them have the rapprochement with us and we will do the needful.

“If the Federal Government is willing and sincere, we ask for 30 days. Peace can return to the Niger Delta in 24 hours if the right thing is done; if there is truth, faithfulness.

Negotiations take time but armistice can be done in 24 hours.”

Harry stated that Ijaw people and other people of the Niger Delta were suffering in the current dispensation in the country and called for a restructuring of the nation.

“An Ijaw man is suffering from the yoke on his neck. The oil in our area has become a weapon of destruction and it is intolerable. We suffer acid rain and our people still drink from the same water they defecate inside.

Continued on page 55

10

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

NEWS Biafra: I’m Open to Political Solution, Says Nnamdi Kanu

News Editor Ahamefula Ogbu 08116759810 (sms only) Email ahamefula.ogbu@thisdaylive.com

Alex Enumah in Abuja The incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has disclosed that he was not opposed to any kind of political situation that would lead to his freedom as well as proffer solutions to the crisis pitching agitators of Biafran Republic against the Federal Government.

The detained IPOB leader who described his arrest and continued detention by the Department of State Security Services (DSS) as unlawful and politically motivated said he would welcome any genuine effort involving people of integrity.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, counsel to the IPOB leader, Ifeanyi Ejiofor who spoke on behalf of Kanu, denied any links with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), and called on the Federal Government to directly deal with Kanu whom he said was within reach in his prison cell in Abuja.

Ejiofor, while arguing that government’s effort would not yield the desired result if it continued to deal with those that had not been approved or appointed by Kanu, said it was pertinent to make the clarification.

“In the past few days, the media was awash with the news on negotiation going on between the Federal Government and the

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), where our client’s name (Nnamdi Kanu) conspicuously featured. It is on that note that we wish to inform the general public, that Nnamdi Kanu has no connection, contact, ties or any form of relationship with the members of the MEND. “As such, MEND has no implied, direct or express authority of Nnamdi Kanu to represent him or Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in any purported negotiation, going on between MEND and the Federal Government. The general public is accordingly advised to ignore, discountenance and disregard the falsehood being peddled by MEND”, he said.

He further stated that, “Nnamdi Kanu has people of proven integrity and impeccable character that will negotiate on his behalf, based on his demands, when communication to this effect is established”.

Just few days ago, the FG announced the release of IPOB members held in custody. The counsel, while describing it as a welcomed development however opined that it was pertinent for government to address issues that encouraged agitation for self -determination by aggrieved groups in the country.

“The release may be an olive branch extended to the counsel to Kanu”, he said.

Responding to newsmen’s

ROYAL CONSULTATIONS...

L-R: Ibenanawei of Bomu Kingdom and pioneer Chairman, Bayelsa Council of Traditional Rulers, HRM King W.S. Joshua Igbugburu (JP) ; President Muhammadu Buhari; and Gbenemene, Tai Kingdom and President Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, HRM King G.N.K. Gininwa (JP) OFR, during a visit to the State Housein Abuja ... recently question whether Kanu would renounce IPOB if released, his counsel maintained that the issue of IPOB was beyond Kanu,

N’Delta Crisis: Host Communities want Pipelines Surveillance Jobs for Locals Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja To rid the Niger Delta of the current crisis it is currently embroiled in, some oil-producing communities in the region yesterday called for the award of pipelines surveillance jobs for people living in the area.

This is as a group under the aegis of Ijaw Community Association has called on the various Niger Delta militant groups to embrace peace and dialogue with the federal government, saying renewed agitation in the region have added more difficulty to the already ailing economy.

The leadership of the Host Communities of Nigeria (HOSCON), a coalition of leaders from the areas from which the federal government gets most of its oil revenue, noted that implementing the idea as a matter of policy would help douse the tension in the region and create jobs for the restive youths.

HOSCON, led by Dr. Mike Emuh, also called for the dredging of the Excravos Bar in Delta State to open up the major seaports in the area and decongest the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

While commending the recent appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari

into the Peace Committee set up to interface with the Niger Delta militants and the Ogoni Clean-up Committee, the communities urged the agitators to sheathe their sword.

“We request the Federal Government to urgently consider the award of a contract for the dredging of Escravos Bar to allow for a full usage of the four moribund Seaports of Burutu, Warri, Sapele and Koko as this is capable of decongesting the over-congested Apapa Seaport in Lagos.

“We also use this medium to appeal to Mr. President to direct the necessary government agencies to urgently award the pipeline surveillance contract through the Host Communities of Nigeria as the de-facto landlords of these areas where the pipelines are situated”, the communities demanded.

HOSCON, comprising traditional rulers, national leaders, women groups and youth groups in the Oil and Gas Producing States of Nigeria, also lauded the selection of persons in the region to oversee the peace process and the cleaning up of Ogoni in Rivers State.

The appointments are those of King Alfred Papapreye Diete-Spiff, former Military Governor of old Rivers State as Chairman of Niger Delta Peace Dialogue; Chief

Wellington Okirika, Bolowei of Gbaramatu as members representing Delta State on the Dialogue group and Dr. Mike Emuh as Member, Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Clean-up Committee.

A statement by HOSCON's Director, Media and Publicity, Mr. Monday Whiskey, described the selections as ‘credible’, noting that dialogue remained the most suitable option for dealing with the Niger Delta crisis.

“We commend the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Muhammadu Buhari, for the appointment of three (3) of our notable leaders into National positions in the last one week.

“These are not only well thought-out appointments but a clear indication by Mr. President that dialogue remains the best option in enhancing a greater peace process in the Niger Delta region.

“The Host Communities of Nigeria (HOSCON) as a grassroots mass movement has always believed in the instrumentality of pro-active dialogue in achieving the desirable results in the Niger Delta.

“The appointments of these foremost leaders of the Niger Delta Extractions will go a long way in finding a lasting solution to the Niger Delta situation”, HOSCON said.

adding that the unfolding events in the polity had vindicated the long held view that Kanu was a political prisoner.

Ejiofor said the charges preferred against Kanu were concocted and hurriedly filed by the government in order to continue to keep him

in custody, adding that treasonable felony was a crime that could not be committed by a single individual.

THISDAY Editor, Nwogwugwu Loses Mother Mrs. Elizabeth Chinyere Nwogwugwu, a linguist and retired senior civil servant, has died peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, August 11, 2016. Born in Uzuaku, Asa, Ukwa West Local Government in Abia State on March 23, 1942, she got her primary and secondary education in Umuahia. After her secondary school education, she got married in 1963 to Dr. Joshua Anwuatu Nwogwugwu, before proceeding overseas for her university education.

Having acquired a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Languages and Literature and Master of

Arts Degree in Philology from the Moscow State University in 1970, Mrs. Nwogwugwu worked briefly in the United Kingdom, before returning home with her family in 1973 to start an illustrious career in the Nigerian civil service. At various times she served as a translator assigned from the Federal Ministry of Information on state visits to Russia (then USSR) and as an Information Officer in the Federal Ministry of Education. She was later to transfer her service to the Ministry of Defence, where she worked until

her retirement as Director, Information and Media.

Upon her retirement in 2002, she ran various businesses, was keenly involved in charities and NGOs with a focus on children, and served diligently as a Sunday school teacher in her Anglican Church parish, Abuja. She is survived by Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, Editor/ Group Executive Director, THISDAY Newspapers, Dr. Obisike Nwogwugwu, Mr. Ugochukwu Nwogwugwu, Ms. Nnenna Nwogwugwu, Mrs. Chichi Christine, and five grandchildren.

6 Fear Dead As Hausas, Akokwa Indigenes Clash in Imo Amby Uneze in Owerri No fewer than six persons have been feared dead and several others deeply injured in a clash between the indigenes of Akokwa community in Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo state and Hausa community living in the area.

The incident THISDAY authoritatively gathered occurred in the community during the evening hours Friday, has led to the loss of properties, burning of the community and people deserted their locality in the process .

A source in the community said that an Hausa man had ran amock killing two indigenes and equally taking his own life thereafter.

It was further disclosed that the bizarre attitude of the Northerner led the locals in a reprisal attack leading to the deaths of three others, believed to be Northerners.

Confirming the ugly incident to THISDAY Friday night, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, in the state, Mr Andrew Enwerem, a Deputy Superintendent of police, DSP, said that his office received a report that about six persons were feared dead in the attack, while

several others were injured and receiving treatments at various hospitals.

The police spokesperson further disclosed that on receiving the information, the state commissioner of police, CP Taiwo Lakanu, personally mobilised officers and led the operation to the community where normalcy was restored.

Enwerem said that the police officers have taken over the community, while investigation into the cause of the violence and subsequently the killings has been launched with the view of bringing the perpetrators to justice.

12

AUGUST 13, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

COMMENTARY

THE WAGES OF HARD WORK

G

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, leads others in good governance poll, writes Wale Akinwale

overnor Akinwunmi Ambode o f Lagos State was recently announced as leading the others in a poll organised by a body known as the African Leadership Magazine to determine top performing governors. Tagged Good Governance Polls for Nigeria’s Top Performing Governors, the poll, according to the organisers, was designed as part of its strategic engagement tool to monitor performance and gauge the mood of the electorate in line with its objective of providing credible information and support to leaders in Nigeria and Africa at large. .

Within the couple of weeks that the polls were running and as the time of this report, Ambode led with 36.1 per cent of the total vote cast. The Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, came second with 25 per cent while the Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, was in the third place with a score of 8.8 per cent. The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, was fourth with 7.9 per cent while the Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai came fifth with five per cent.

This, according to the organisers, clearly showed Ambode’s popularity as he continues to deliver good governance, promote infrastructural development and peoplecentred policies that better the lives of the people of Lagos.

The Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, however, faulted the poll. The party through its spokesperson in the state, Gani Taofik, believed the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose and his Ondo State counterpart, Olusegun Mimiko, both of the PDP, were better performers. The party also alleged that the poll was sponsored by the Lagos State Government to mislead the public. Describing the rating as laughable, the spokesman of the party said it was far from the current realities in the state.

Taofik said, “Can Governor Akinwunmi Ambode walk on the streets and receive the same kind of support that Governor Fayose gets in Ekiti? Ambode’s elitist style cannot be compared to that of Mimiko and Fayose, who are governors that the common man recognises and relates easily with.”

In reaction, Joe Igbokwe, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos State described the PDP’s statement as mischievous and laughable. He said nothing good would ever come out of the former ruling party. “The Lagos PDP will not acknowledge the monumental achievements recorded in the last 14 months by the Ambode administration, which are being appreciated by all and sundry,” Igbokwe stated.

Some observers believe that Igbokwe was speaking the minds of many. Some critics accuse the PDP of generating needless controversy over the issue of the poll. They point out that governance is not about grandstanding or playing to the gallery in the manner that the two PDP governors mentioned have been carrying on. Ambode, it is said, does not have to sponsor fake polls to validate himself since his

AMBODE HAS BROUGHT HIS CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE TO BEAR ON THE PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF THE RESOURCES OF THE STATE. HE HAS BEEN ABLE TO REDUCE THE COST OF GOVERNANCE IN THE STATE BY ABOUT N3 BILLION MONTHLY

numerous works are speaking for him.

Tracing the trajectory of the Ambode administration since its inception, many like those polled believe that Governor Ambode has lived up to his promise and vision even with the current reality of the country’s economic situation.

Ambode had said at the initial stage, “I am resolved to offer you genuine leadership that will be accountable with all the principles of good governance, a government of inclusion that will not leave any race or gender behind.”

Not many like the PDP sceptics believed he could record the present level of achievement. But since assuming office, Ambode has embarked on arrays of infrastructural upgrade and development across major areas in the state. Many roads have since been rehabilitated while numerous new ones have been constructed. The government is also pursuing smart transportation for Lagos metropolis by injecting numerous new BRT buses for Ikorodu-Mile 12-CMS corridor and other parts of the state. The governor has also promised that the Blue Line of light rail project will be completed by December this year.

In furtherance of his infrastructural development, Gov. Ambode recently inaugurated the light up of many stretches of roads in Lagos. This has enhanced security and improved night life. The initiative was part of Ambode’s promise of building a 24/7 economy that would create employment and wealth for the people.

The administration is also dealing with the intractable traffic logjams in some major sections of the state by construction overhead bridges that bypass the gridlocks. The construction of flyover bridges for two of the state’s highdensity traffic zones – Ajah Roundabout on the Island and Abule Egba Junction on the outskirts of the Mainland have since been embarked on.

The governor is also paying pertinent attention to the issue of security. He has massively supported the security forces in the state by equipping them and acquiring for them very modern security gadgets for effective assault on crime while at the same time taking care of their welfare.

The Ambode administration is making impact in all the other key sectors. In the health sector he has provided a good number of mobile intensive care unit ambulances, additional transport ambulances deployed across all the general hospitals in the state. Ambulance points across the states have been created for easy access to the people. The administration has also installed power generating sets ranging from 350 – 500 KVA as additional back-up sets across all the general hospitals to ensure 24-hour power supply. In addition, 26-mobile x-ray machines are being installed at all the general hospitals across the state. The abandoned Ayinke House project for pregnant women has been re-awarded and the contractor has been on site to finish and deliver the project within months.

Akinwale wrote from Lagos

BURNING OF A HIGHER ORDER VALUE Ngozi Asoya pays tribute to Umaru Shinkafi, a politician and an intelligence chief

“The death of an old person is like the burning of a library” -An African proverb The death of Umaru Ali Shinkafi, Marafan Sokoto, was Nigeria’s unquantifiable loss. He was an encyclopaedia of Nigerian events but much more.

I called him Baba because he was indeed a father, a father whose diverse values I knew but couldn’t fully utilise nor could Nigeria, which spent so much to produce such a colossus. He was clearly underutilised, as we do to all such great minds.

He has played his role.

It is trite to say that a huge national library was burnt the day he died. It will be a mystery if we could find any single volume that can capture all the dimensions of Umaru Ali Shinkafi, who now shares the distinction of being the only ‘outsider’ to lie with the mighty princes of Sokoto and the enigmatic founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Uthman Dan Fodio in the same grave yard.

In dying on July 7, 2016, Marafa, achieved in death what he sought all his life: unite Nigeria’s disparate tendencies and focus her sight on the higher order values of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: innovative conservatism, selfdevelopment and self-transcendence.

Whether they (we) will learn those lessons is not now his business but ours: the army of mourners now praising him to high heavens, but who refused to see things from his perspective while he was alive; the colony of praise-singers who are dancing on his grave now, hoping to make

a capital of his towering stature; his teeming supporters, many of whom adulated him but never understood him and his family, to whom he was an exultant father but still a distant figure, whom national exigencies may never have allowed to fully experience his paternal nearness and those of us from no-where, to whom he became a father.

As a fresh post-graduate student of Mass Communication from the University of Lagos, I had answered the advertisement that requested for a speech writer and after written tests and face-to- face interview with the National Coordinator of his campaign organisation, CHOICE 92, Dr. Ademola Adebo, I was employed as a Special Assistant to the National Coordinator but that was to become a short relationship as I soon began to interact with Alhaji Shinkafi, more directly to the consternation of many of his older staff, some of who saw me as an upstart, usurper, interloper, and an over-ambitious young man. I never quite got to know why he took a liking for me but I thought it was because of my writing skills, which had blossomed during my undergraduate years at LASU, from where I had got my first article published in The Guardian in 1988. If it was, I couldn’t have been more shocked, traumatised and down-cast when I wrote the first speech for him. The copy came back with red ink painted over the entire face of the document in the name of correction. Boy, was I disappointed?

I had come out tops of my graduating class of 1989 in LASU and got awards for my brilliance. In my post graduate class

I was a leader in a couple of courses. So you could imagine how much confidence I was bristling with. Now, here was my opportunity to prove to my god-father in the secondary school, Paul-Stanley that I had made a success of my love of English Language going up in smoke. Was my school god-father right that English was such a difficult course after all or was I just lucky to have been this successful with my ‘brushes’ with this foreign language? This first copy for Shinkafi threatened to unravel all I had thought that I had learnt. If, as the red drawings and marks indicated, my copy was so bad, I was doomed. I was curious to know why it had so much lines and comments. I found out that this was a sore point of his campaign all along: the inability of all the intellectuals in the campaign to do a good copy that was usable. The distressing corrections turned out to be an endorsement of my potential.

He had bothered to do all the corrections because he saw the hope of building me into something of an asset to the campaign.

He is the only Nigerian that I know who made a distinction in the following subjects: English Language, Hausa and English Literature at the Cambridge examinations of 1957(?)

He was not just a towering figure intellectually. I am proud to say that of all Nigerian politicians living and dead, I have only seen three like him but who had different dimensions of excellence. The first is late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the second is Dr. Alex Ekwueme and the last is the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. Awolowo

was great in the depth of his political thoughts and pragmatism; Ekwueme was deep in the strategic dimension as much as he is intellectually and Yar’Adua was the ultimate in political sagacity that I can ever imagine. But Umaru Shinkafi was (sad to write about him in the past), the man-mountain in intellect even though he was humble to a fault. You wouldn’t find a man more intellectually balanced than the late Marafan Sokoto, who was as detailed as Socrates and profound, even prophetic, as Nostradamus.

Three ‘prophecies’ of Shinkafi stand out for me: the activities of the Shiites in the Middle East, the election of Barack Obama and the Boko Haram conundrum. On the first, I had asked him what his views about the coalition of the West against Saddam Hussein were and, as was usual with him, he had asked me what turned out to be Socratic questions: ‘What was Saddam’s offence?’ ‘Has the West seen any evidence of chemical weapons against him?’ By the time you answered the questions he threw back at you, you were always left answering your own questions. When I answered the questions he had thrown at me correctly, he had hissed and retorted: ‘Let them remove him and see what the Shiites would do to that region.’ Now that ISIS has become a nightmare, and all the turmoil in Iraq, Syria and that region shows the folly of the West in removing Saddam, it’s clear to me that Marafa saw it long before it happened.

Asoya is a former Special Assistant (Media) to Alhaji Umaru Ali Shinkafi

14

AUGUST 13, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

POLSCOPE

with Eddy Odivwri eddy.odivwri@thisdaylive.com 08053069356

APC and the Search for What Has Changed

G

iven the near putrid state of the Nigerian nation on all fronts, the quest for a new experience was a burning desire of many Nigerians including even those who were active members of the then ruling party—the Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP).

That explains why the mantra of “Change” introduced by the All Progressives Congress (APC) caught up like wildfire. Even babies helped to echo the monosyllabic word: Change, whenever there is a loud hail of A-Pee-Ceee The imperative of change could not be over-emphasised. And the unstated understanding was that with the advent of the said change, Nigeria will experience a radical transformation from all the challenges and drawbacks she has suffered, to a new order defined by a new lease of life where all the odds of the past have been thrown into the abyss.

But 15 months after, there is yet a furtive search for those things which have changed.

In this piece, I will deliberately stay away from the economy which has been a sore point facing the government, resulting in Nigeria losing the status of having the largest economy in Africa. South Africa, during the week, was declared as having displaced Nigeria, just two years after Nigeria held the position.

I was shocked when I read of the pending Ondo State gubernatorial contest, where in the APC, governorship aspirants are expected to collect the guber form with the sum of N126 million. Yes, N126milliom! For form!

These are some of the things we condemned loudly under the PDP government.

to enable him collect the presidential form at N25 million last year, Nigerians had expected a remarkable slash in the cost of forms for the party’s aspirants, especially as Buhari had complained at the time, of the huge cost of the form. Conversely however, what Nigerians have seen is the hike in the cost of forms in the APC, far higher than that of PDP. In the September 10 guber contest in Edo State, for instance, PDP aspirants collected their forms initially with N16 million. This was then reduced to N13million, with the form itself costing N10 million, and the Expression of Interest costing N2million while administrative charges is put at N1million.

Now the danger with such huge preelection expenses is that whoever emerges from such a capital-intensive system, will ab initio, set out on a recovery mission, if elected.

No matter how gospelled such an official maybe, the primary attention will be to pursue, catch up and overtake his expenses profile via unbridled project/contract padding. Little wonder that the criticized practice of ten per cent kick-back, in the second republic, now looks like kiddies’ joke.

Odigie-Oyegun The APC had appeared flaked with socialist flavour, in direct opposite of the bohemian How can a form, just a form, cost as much as PDP. It is thus such a smoking irony that the N126 million, especially in party that promises nomination form of the APC guber election is not only higher than the vilified PDP, but even change? higher than the amount used to collect the If form alone will cost as much, it can only be imagined the trailer load of sacks of money presidential form last year, in the same APC. As I write this, the question is echoing that will be poured into the campaign itself. louder and louder: so what has changed? If a It is even more curious that the N126 million could just go with the wind after the primaries guber nomination form costs N126 million, how much will the presidential nomination where only one of the many aspirants will form cost? emerge as candidate.

Or is it the cost of dollar that has affected the Given the ascetic disposition of Mr President who had to approach his bank to obtain facility nomination forms?

The idea of using the nomination forms to generate huge sums required to run the election is anachronistic and backward mentality. There are nobler ways of generating money in a party.

The other implication of the expensive forms is that it effectively knocks out good but non-stupendously rich aspirants. That way, the contest is reserved only for money-bags, who are most likely going to rape the treasury of the state, when they are elected. The consequence is that we will have office occupiers who will make no meaningful impact in the lives of the ordinary men and women on the street. And as they say, the beat goes on. Were it not so, if just 50 per cent of all the budgets so far executed in the last 17 years were actually deployed for the good of society, Nigeria would have been remarkably transformed.

It is noteworthy that the Jonathan administration had mooted the idea of streamlining campaign funds, in a way that it wont be this humongous. But the administration, like in many other such issues, did not have the political will to implement it, as it actually provoked wild dollar-rain before and during the 2015 general election. It is the effect of that mindless dollar-rain that we are yet to recover from today, more than 15 months after. Those in the political fray at the time, know what I am saying.

All said, the APC must make conscious effort to distinguish itself from the malaise of the past administration. Already, the harsh economic pinch on every Nigeria is querying the change mantra. But it will be far worse an interrogation if the APC begins to beat and surpass the notorious and reprobate acts and records associated with the PDP. Let the Change be visible!

The State, CBN and Pilgrimages

I

f there was any search of how Nigeria’s robust fortune had been mismanaged in the past, one such example would be in the use of tax payers’ money to sponsor pilgrims to the so-called “Holy Lands” Six years ago, I had written a similar article condemning the federal and state governments as they indulge in sponsorship of pilgrims to either Israel, Rome, Saudi Arabia or Mecca.

In the said article, I had queried the connection between a man’s personal religious concern with the larger business of public governance. But despite that article, many (though fewer) states continued the odious practice of sponsorship of pilgrims to the Holy Lands. This is more prevalent in the northern part of the country where pilgrimage sponsorship is seen as a political tool and gesture to curry and retain political favour from the masses. These are the same states that are unable to execute major developmental projects for the benefit of the larger public.

It was thus relieving when the President Mohammadu Buhari administration, at inception, announced the cancellation of sponsorship of pilgrimages.

But the nation was aghast and taken aback penultimate Thursday when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular directing banks and other authorized dealers to sell the US Dollar to pilgrims at N197/$1, with the added instruction to banks that commissions should not be charged… all in the name of Pilgrims’ Travel Allowance (PTA).

See it: In the circular titled, ‘2016 Hajj Operations: Purchase of Pilgrims’ Travelling Allowance.’

It said pilgrims would be entitled to a minimum of $750 and a maximum of $1000 at a “concessionary exchange rate” of N197 to a dollar. No commission

should be charged to such pilgrims This is the same CBN that is groaning under the weight of forex scarcity , turning around to subsidize forex demand for the unproductive venture of Hajj pilgrimage. There is no greater example of a captain who has lost control of the ship. It is such a dump policy that cries to the high heavens.

Did this CBN not ban the importation of some 41 items considered unimportant, just to conserve forex demand? Did this CBN not initially ban the BDCs as a way of controlling the circulation and demand of forex? Has this CBN not been groaning under the weight of low capacity to provide forex to the real sector?

Is this CBN not aware that companies and businesses are closing down and laying off workers because they cannot access foreign exchange that will enable them continue their businesses? Does this CBN not know that many Nigerian students are stranded overseas because their parents and guardians are unable to source forex to pay for their studies and even accommodation abroad?

Does this CBN not know that the shrinking of the economy is partly caused by the draught of its forex regime?

Pray, did the Quoran (through Istita ‘ah) not recommend that those who want to go for Hajj must have the physical and financial capacity to do so?

How can Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor knowing all these, open his eyes and offer to subsidise the cost of religious flight of fancy called pilgrimages? What is the economic wisdom in this venture?

For Heaven’s sake, those who want to go on pilgrimage should find their ways to wherever. The state should be left out of it. Is it that the Nigerian government is so idle that it has to concern itself with groups of individuals who want to go

Emefiele and pray and sing in some foreign land?

I even think the bureaucratic body of government-funded Pilgrims’ Board should be disbanded. How does the pilgrimage venture increase the nation’s GDP? How does it generate growth and development for the nation? Of what use is the Hajj commission and all the shenanigans that follow it?

I am convinced that if all the past years of government’s involvement in pilgrimages has not directly or indirectly led to a better and greater country, then the government must divorce itself from the religious frivolities associated with pilgrimages, be it of Christians or of Muslims.

If government will not subsidise productive sectors with concessionary dollar sales, then it has no business whatsoever with subsidizing Hajj pilgrimage or any pilgrimage for that matter.

It is even more perplexing to note that the many years of pilgrimages of both Christians and Muslims has neither increased productivity nor even sincerity of

service to the nation. There is no evidence to support the expectation that those who frequent these Holy Lands from Jeddah to Jerusalem are not involved in the many instances of corruption plaguing the nation. Put differently, the pilgrimages have not produced holier and more dedicated and corruption-free work force or citizenry.

Last year, Nigeria’s Hajj pilgrims hit 200,000, higher than half of the rest of African Hajj pilgrims.

It is sad that Nigeria has the propensity of embarking on large number of pilgrimages, year-in, year-out. It got to a height that even the Saudi Arabian government had recommended that pilgrims who had come to Mecca five times should be barred from further coming to the Holy Land. But Nigeria, in its typical culture of vagrancy, refused to keep to that policy from Saudi Arabia. That way, you see some pilgrims going for Hajj almost every year, most times at government’s expense because they are connected to political power hub. That is why many think that the pilgrimages are jamborees.

At other times, it is out of sheer desperation and undue religious zealotry.

Or how else can one explain cases where some Nigerian pilgrims in 2014, get stranded in Mecca as to start begging for alms to enable them come back to their homes.

It is however relieving to note that following the uproar of the public on the CBN double-standard policy, the decision to sell dollars to pilgrims at concessionary rate may have been reversed as the circular to that effect was pulled down from the CBN website last Wednesday.

The inclination to grow and support the health of the Nigerian economy should be uppermost in the policy direction of the CBN, not inane and unrewarding programmes.

15

August 13, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

TUNDERAHMAN

tunderahmanu@yahoo.com 08055069548 (Text only)

Dogara’s Obstinacy, Dream Team’s Resilience and Wike’s Other Side

N

ext to the bribery allegation that rocked former House of Representatives member, Hon Farouk Lawan, in infamy is the budget padding controversy involving Speaker Yakubu Dogara. Former Chairman, House Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, Hon. Lawan, was alleged to have received $620,000 bribe from businessman, Femi Otedola. He lived in denial for so long, unknown to him that the transaction was recorded by Otedola. Although, the case of bribery instituted against him and the former Secretary of the committee, Boniface Emenalo, by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission in 2003, is neither here nor there, Lawan, Mr. Integrity as he was once called, has been quiet ever since.

Now, what rankles about the entire budget padding saga is the way and manner Speaker Dogara is carrying on, as if telling all of us thus: “yes, we padded the budget, and so what? You can all go to blazes”. The other day he visited Aso Rock Presidential Villa to discuss with President Buhari on the same issue, he emerged from the meeting to grandstand before State House Correspondents, saying, “What is padding? Padding is not an offence and is not anywhere in the constitution”. He repeated the same haughty attitude on Thursday at a Civil Society Dialogue Session in Abuja on the ‘One Year Legislative Agenda of the 8th House’. Dogara said those calling for his prosecution over his alleged involvement in padding of the 2016 budget were doing so out of ignorance. What an insufferable arrogance! He says no National Assembly member can be investigated or prosecuted for performing the legislative duty of passing an Appropriation Act and he is right. But we need, in my view, to separate the act of passing the Appropriation Act from the act of fraudulently manipulating the budget, which is criminal and deserves to be punished. I have made the point in an earlier article entitled “Dogara, Jibrin and Can of Worms” and it goes this way: “I’m well aware of the provision of Section 80 (4) on the power of the Parliament over public funds, but I think this power is being overstretched. Where does the Parliament’s power of appropriation end, and deliberate padding and fraudulent manipulation of the figures begin?”

Former Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin, may be an aggrieved party in the extant case, but he is an insider and his allegations should not be swept under the carpet.

The nation needs to get to the bottom of the allegation of criminal activities by House leaders in passing the budget. Beyond all the grandstanding about the Parliament’s power of appropriation, Speaker Dogara has some explaining to do, in my view.

In the meantime, what I set out to do this week is to make some interventions on some issues, including Dogara’s obduracy, as I have already pointed out. I plead with readers to indulge me this week. Issues and events are occurring in quick succession for which a writer needs to comment on.

Significant for me also is the Dream Team’s performance thus far at Rio Olympics. The story of the adventure of Nigeria’s football team at the ongoing Rio Olympics has once again reaffirmed Nigeria’s hardiness, toughness and the can-do spirit in most of us. At the time I was writing this piece, the country’s Under 23 football team had qualified for the Quarter Finals of the football competition even after their first two games. Even if that is all they achieved at the event, they have won my heart, going by their bumpy road to the games. Barely six hours after they landed

Dogara

in Brazil, after being stranded for hours at Atlanta, U.S, they went into the match with Japan and defeated that country. In the second match played without their bonuses paid, the team also beat their opponent, Sweden, 1 goal to nothing.

I was ashamed of my country when even the commentator for the Nigerian/ Sweden match spoke of the Dream Team’s rough road to the games and their spectacular performance in spite of the travails. Also, when the games formally began with the opening ceremonies, the dresses for the Nigerian contingent had not arrived. It’s all well and good that the Sports Minister Solomon Dalong has apologised for all the lapses, saying he was taking responsibility for them. It should go beyond that, however. The country should probe and uncover who actually did not do what he or she was supposed to do. Not to worry though, when we probe deep, we will discover that the problem was about funds; funds not been allocated and not been released and when eventually released, not being given to those for whom they were meant. Adequate planning and preparation are key to winning games at events like the Olympics. We cannot be failing to plan and be preparing properly, and expect to win medals at competitions.

Even before the curtains are drawn on the games, our results are staring us in the face: one or two medals, if any at all.

And this: Governor Nyesom Wike pleasantly surprised some of us Editors last week. It was the most unlikely thing I expected to hear and glimpse, given the animosity between former governor Rotimi Amaechi and Governor Wike who were once political buddies. As a matter of fact, Amaechi could be said to be Wike’s political godfather because the latter was the former’s Chief of Staff. But they soon became estranged and turned into combatants. Rivers, at some point, became a theatre of war with Wike and Amaechi leading troops of supporters and sympathizers who constantly clashed.

Those who are resident in the state would tell you there are many flashpoints in the

incessant skirmishes between the two.

Despite shaking hands and signing a peace deal recently in Abuja at the instance of Acting Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris, the battle between the duo is not over and does not seem about to be over. It is waiting for another day, perhaps for the postponed senatorial elections in the state.

But as I indicated earlier, Governor Wike surprised me by seemingly putting politics aside and embracing the culture of continuity of projects, as we have seen in Akinwunmi Ambode’s Lagos. Please, get it right. It should n’t be a big deal that another governor continued and perhaps completed the projects initiated by his predecessor. However, in our own peculiar brand of politics and style of governance, some governors would not touch, talk less complete projects initiated by their predecessors, even if they are both from the same political party. They would rather initiate their own projects that would stand to their names. The governors in this category are also not dissuaded in this condemnable act by some in our society who would rebuke them for completing other governors’ projects rather than initiating their own. So it was news to me when during the Nigerian Guild of Editors’ Conference last week in Port Harcourt, which he hosted, Governor Wike gleefully regaled editors with the list of projects he inherited from past administrations in the state, including Amaechi’s regime, which he has continued with or even competed in some cases. His administration, he said, started 27 new roads and completed 15 strategic roads and bridges abandoned by the previous administration.

Two of the projects he inherited and continuing with at present are remarkable: the Civic Centre initiated by Diete Spliff and Eleme Road the dualization of the 16 km Sakpenwa – Bori – Kono road started by Amaechi. Hitherto abandoned by previous administrations, Wike has completely transformed and remodelled the Civic Centre and it’s now an architectural masterpiece to behold. The Sakpenwa – Bori – Kono road straddles three

Dogara said those calling for his prosecution over his alleged involvement in padding of the 2016 budget were doing so out of ignorance. What an insufferable arrogance!

He says no National Assembly member can be investigated or prosecuted for performing the legislative duty of passing an Appropriation Act and he is right. But we need, in my view, to separate the act of passing the Appropriation Act from the act of fraudulently manipulating the budget, which is criminal and deserves to be punished. I have made the point in an earlier article entitled “Dogara, Jibrin and Can of Worms” and it goes this way: “I’m well aware of the provision of Section 80 (4) on the power of the Parliament over public funds, but I think this power is being overstretched.

Where does the Parliament’s power of appropriation end, and deliberate padding and fraudulent manipulation of the figures begin?” Former Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin, may be an aggrieved party in the extant case, but he is an insider and his allegations should not be swept under the carpet

local government areas in the state. Wike said the questions he always asked about abandoned projects in the state included –“will the project generate money for the government and will it be beneficial to the people?” For me, this is a new commendable side of Wike, not the tough-talking, combative side that we normally see and I commend him for this.

• Rahman, former Editor Thisday on Sunday, is the Editor-in-Chief of Western Post Newspaper. You can follow him on twitter @tunderahmanu

16

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

INSIGHT Illegality of Actions of MDs of MDAs Such as AMCON Whose Boards Have Been Dissolved

I

Mike Ozekhome t is patently illegal for the Managing Director of a dissolved Department or Agency of Government to exercise powers and take major decisions in the absence of an extant Board, the previous Board having been dissolved. A Board of Directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization, which can include a non-profit organization or a government agency or corporation. A Board of Directors’ activities are determined by the powers, duties, and responsibilities delegated to it or conferred on it by an authority outside itself.

From the provisions of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria Act CAP L5, LFN 2004, the Board of Directors is vested with the responsibility regarding the policy and general supervision of the affairs of the Corporation. Section 9 of the Asset Management Company Of Nigeria Act, provides as follows: (1) There is established for the Corporation the Board of Directors (in this Act referred to as“the Board”) which shall be responsible for: (a) the attainment of the objects of the Corporation (b) the policy and general supervision of the affairs of the Corporation; and (c) Such other functions conferred upon it by any other provision of this Act. (2) The Board may delegate any part of its responsibilities under subsection (1) of this section and under any other provision of this Act as it may deem fit.

Although, the Act specified under sub-section (2) of that the Board can delegate its responsibility as it may deem fit.

Generally, the Board of Directors is synonymous to the management of the company. Under Section 17 of the Asset Management Company Of Nigeria Act, CAP L5, LFN 2004, it is provided that: (1) The Managing Director shall have responsibility for the day-to-day management of the affairs of the Corporation.

(2)The Managing Director shall be responsible to the Board for the performance of his functions and the implementation of the Corporation’s strategic plans and objective.

In Corporate law, the Board of Directors of a company is entitled to exercise all such powers, and do all such acts and things as the company is authorized to exercise and do. In exercising the aforesaid powers or doing any of the aforesaid acts or things, the Board will be subject to the provisions contained in that behalf in the Act setting up the Company or under which it derives its validity and power to so act .

Thus, the Board may exercise all powers of the company and can do all such acts and things that the company can do except those which are specifically provided to be exercised or done by the company in general meeting. It is therefore clear that the powers of a company in respect of all matters are to be exercised by the Board of Directors except where these are reserved for exercise by company in general meeting.

In specific reference to the Asset Management Company of Nigeria , analogical relationship as to the overriding powers of the Board of Directors can be gleaned from the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAP C20, 2004.

Section 63 of CAMA provides as follows: A company shall act through its members in general meeting or its board of directors or through officers or agents, appointed by, or under authority derived from, the members in general meeting or the board of directors.

In the case of Asset Management Company of Nigeria, where there is no General meeting, it can be read to mean that officers or agents of the company derive their power or authority from the Board of Directors. If this analogy is accepted, it therefore means that where for instance, the Board of Directors at the material time has been dissolved, the power of the Board cannot be usurped by the Managing Director and any act of the Managing Director which touches on the power exercisable by the Board will be deemed null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

It is pertinent at this junction, to draw further analogies of the overriding and exclusive powers of the Board of Directors of a public corporation like AMCON by sifting the common law doctrine as encapsulated in the “exceptions” to ”indoor Management rule”- also known as “the rule in Royal British Bank v. Turquand”. This rule, states that outsiders dealing with a company are not bound to ensure that all the internal regulations of the company have in fact been complied with as regards the exercise and delegation of authority: but they are entitled to assume that all acts of internal management have been properly carried out in accordance with the maxim “omnia praesumuntur rite et solemniter esse acta” – “all things have been done properly and solemnly which ought to have been done”. In other words, a person dealing with an incorporated company is not expected to peep into the internal affairs of the company or to investigate the locus standi of the officers before transacting any business of a normal every-day nature with the company.

The case of ROYAL BRITISH BANK V. TURQUAND (1856) 6 E. & B. 327., was the case in which the rule was first enunciated and therefore, the locus classicus on this point.

AMCON Managing Director, Kuru

Ozekhome, SAN

In that case, the Royal British Bank sued Turquand as the liquidator of the Coalbrook Steam, Coal, and Swansea and London Railway Co., on a bond signed by two directors, whereby the latter company acknowledged itself to be bound to the Royal British Bank in an amount of 2,000. Under the Constitution of the company the Directors, might borrow on bond such sums as should, from time to time, by a general resolution of the company, be authorized to be borrowed, and the defendant pleaded that there had been no such resolution. The Court held that the defendant was bound. Jervis C.J. gave the rationale for the rule in the case thus: “We may now take for granted that the dealings with these companies are not like dealings with other partnerships, and that the parties dealing with them are bound to read the statute and the deed of settlement. But they are not bound to do more. And the party here, on reading the deed of settlement, would find not a prohibition from borrowing, but a permission to do so on certain conditions. Finding that the authority might be made complete by a resolution, he would have a right to infer the fact of a resolution authorizing that which on the face of the documents appeared to be legitimately done” In the case of TRENCO (NIGERIA) LTD. V. AFRICAN REAL ESTATE AND INVESTMENT CO. (1978) 3 S.C.9, (1978) 1 L.R.N. 146 , the Supreme Court also held, applying this rule, that the defendants were entitled to assume that the Chairman of the plaintiff company had the authority to enter into a binding contract with the defendant company on behalf of the plaintiff company.

Also, in AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD. V. LAGOS EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT BOARD AND UNITED AFRICA COMPANY OF NIGERIA (1966) (1) A.L.R. COMM. 438, the plaintiff acquired a leasehold of two plots of land from the first defendant, LEDB, which executed a deed of lease in plaintiff’s favour. Afterwards, following a request conveyed by the Managing Director of the plaintiff company to surrender the deed and be released from the contract, the Plaintiff’s General Manager who was a director of the company, signed the deed of surrender on behalf of the company which was witnessed by an accountant with the company’s seal affixed.

Eleven years later, Plaintiff brought an action against the first Defendant seeking a declaration that the deed of surrender was null and void; claiming also, that the Board of Directors had not given the General Manager authority to execute the deed of surrender. It was held applying, the earlier authorities, that the Defendant Board was entitled to assume that Plaintiff company’s General Manager who was a Director in his own right in the company, had authority to execute the deed of surrender of the lease, and that the plaintiff company was bound accordingly.

someone deriving title under the company shall be entitled to make the following assumptions and the company and those deriving title under it shall be estopped from denying their truth that– (b) every person described in the particulars filed with the Commission pursuant to section 35 and 292 of this Act as a director, Managing Director or secretary of the company; or represented by the company, acting thro ugh its members in general meeting, board of directors, or managing director, as an officer or agent of the company, has been duly appointed and has authority to exercise the powers and perform the duties customarily exercised or performed by a director, Managing Director, or secretary of a company carrying on business of the type carried on by the company or customarily exercised or performed by an officer or agent of the type concerned; Provided that:(i) a person shall not be entitled to make such assumptions as aforesaid, if he had actual knowledge to the contrary or if, having regard to his position with or relationship to the company, he ought to have known the contrary; (ii) a person shall not be entitled to assume that any one or more of the directors of the company have been appointed to act as a committee of the board of directors or that an officer or agent of the company has the company’s authority merely because the company’s articles provided that authority to act in the matter may be delegated to a committee or to an officer or agent.

What we are trying to establish by the above-analogies are that even in strict corporate law, there is no authority which expressly states that an officer of the company can usurp the powers of the Board of Directors. The law has been that where there is ostensible authority wielded by such an officer on behalf of the company and which induces or acts as an allurement to unsuspecting third party suffering detriment in any way, the company will be held liable and it would not lie in its mouth to say that such an officer does not have its authority to so act. The law, it must be noted, never stipulate that the officers of the company can usurp the powers of the Board. As a matter of fact, it is because of the very fact that such company officer(s) do not have such power that necessitated the court’s intervention to state that where such officer is allowed to represent the company as a result of his position in the company, the same company will be estopped from denying such authority or evading liabilities.

Exceptions to the Indoor Management Rule The Indoor Management Rule is subject to some limitations and it does not apply in the following cases: (i)Where the person seeking to rely on the rule is himself aware, or has knowledge, of the irregularities; (ii) Where the transaction is of such an unusual nature or by reason of some suspicious circumstances, that a person dealing with the officers of a company might reasonably be expected to make inquiries to assure himself that those with whom he is dealing are acting regularly and within the authority of the company; (iii) Where the person seeking to reply on it was not aware of the contents of the memorandum and articles of association of the company. (iv) Insiders (persons holding responsible positions within the company) cannot rely on the rule because they must be taken to know of the irregularity. (v) Where the transaction involves forgery or is a“non-genuine” transaction.We now consider the exceptions seriatim with relevant decisions.

The above exceptions have been codified under Section 69 of CAMA thus: “69. Any person having dealings with a company or with

Conclusion

Sieving from the analogical position of the law above, we state emphatically, that the power to manage and supervise the Asset Management Company Of Nigeria is vested in the Board and as the Asset Management Company Of Nigeria Act, expressly states, the Board can delegate such power. It is also the law that the Managing Director does not have the final say in the hierarchical scheme of things but is responsible to the Board. The law of delegation is that any person to whom power is delegated becomes an agent of the delegator, being that such a person, acting under authority cannot without express authority of the delegator, delegate such power. This is encased in the maxim, delegatus non potest delegare.

It is a well known position of law that the death of a Principal/ Delegator is an instantaneous and absolute revocation of the authority of the agent. Therefore, the cessation of the operation of a Board of Directors of Asset Management Company Of Nigeria as evidenced by the dissolution of same by the President is analogically tantamount to the death of the Board, thus, effectively revoking the Managing Director’s exercise of power delegated to it by the Board as touching the Board’s power to oversee and act as the last echelon commander in the chain of authority under the Asset Management Company Of Nigeria Act, CAP L5, LFN 2004. Act. It is therefore safe to conclude that the Managing Director’s power is only limited to the day to day administration of the Company and nothing more till a new Board is inaugurated. Therefore, anyone who feels aggrieved by any exercise of power not inherent in the Managing Director, may approach a Court of law to ventilate his grievances.

–Ozekhome is a constitutional lawyer and human rights activist

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER AUGUST 13

18

Plus

My Invention Changed the World’s Perception of Nigerian Army He is a world acclaimed inventor of a life-saving device – one of a kind. He is a shining light among his peers.

He is a renowned medical doctor, an inventor of note and a retired Brigadier-General of the Nigerian Army.

Chances are if the name Oviemo Ovadje doesn’t ring bell, you are probably not around in the 1990s when he invented the Emergency Autologous Transfusion Set (EAT-SET) – a blood transfusion device that caught the eye of various global organisations. It has been nine years since he retired from the Nigerian Army, yet he remains a testament to the fact that the Nigerian Army is not a cartel of coupists but an army of professionals who represent their country gallantly both in battlefields and at intellectual fora.

Ovadje’s intellectual prowess has won him many laurels. He was the first African winner of World Health Organisation (WHO) Gold Award in Geneva in 2000. In 1995, he won the World International Property Organisation (WIPO) Gold award. In the same year, he won Best African Scientist/Inventor award in Addis Ababa; Winner, ARCO Gold Award in Dorchester in England in 2001. But today, his EATSET invention is being paraded by a United States-based SISU Global Health organisation as a new discovery. What will he do? In this interview with Funke Olaode, Gen. Ovadje sheds light on his one of a kind medical invention and why he deserves acknowledgement from the US organisation

A

t your age, you’re still agile and active. What is the secret and what are you up to lately?

It is the special grace of God that one is hale and hearty and the Bible says ‘God would renew our youth like that of the eagle.’ I was retired at the age of 53 in 2007. I don’t want to take the credit for my fitness or attribute it to the rigorous exercise received in the Nigerian Army because we were many who passed through the training. And what I have been up to lately – well, I may be retired but not tired because I have since delved into so many things including farming.

What have you been doing since you left the army? Are you still involved in medical research?

Well, while I was in the military I was much involved because I was then the chief delegate to the World Congress of Military Medicine and each time we attended these meetings we moved from one country to another. I always made sure that I had a new thing to present in my lectures during those congresses.

My life dynamism altered immediately I left government. My first challenge was a home to live because I was living in an official quarter in Ikoyi (Lagos State).

Luckily, former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had desired to give out the official quarters; the first offer to owneroccupiers. Obviously, I was the one to bid for it. I did bid for it though there were challenges and battles along the way, with God on my side, I secured the place. So, here I am.

How widespread is the use of EATSET you invented 17 years ago in Nigerian hospitals?

I never made an invention for Nigeria because the EATSET is a worldwide product acknowledged by the World Health Organisation (WHO). After it was certified by the WHO that the product was genuine and not fake as many people in Nigeria thought it was then, the first 200 units of the equipment was manufactured in Germany by BERCO Industries. The equipment was given out to various hospitals for clinical trials. I remember it was reported on the Nigerian Television Authority’s (NTA) Newsline by the current Senior Special Adviser to President (Muhammadu) Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who was a broadcaster of the NTA then. The World Intellectual Property Organisation which later gave me the WIPO gold medal award sent some delegates from Geneva to witness the use of EATSET in Nigerian hospitals

Ovadje

such as Lagos University Teaching Hospital and Ayinke Hospital. All the international bodies monitored me and followed it up. And talking about its wide usage – well, if I were in the academic world I would be writing papers and all that. I have got a proposal from a reputable university abroad asking me to accept an honorary professorship.

The important thing for me is not whether it is used all over the world, but I know EATSET as my concept is being globalised. If you go to the Internet now you find that people have started copying the concept. The most important thing is that the idea of using one’s blood, which is instant in an emergency condition, was invented by me. When I started the invention, I went to Prof. Ajabor and told him what I was working on. He encouraged me. He said in 1958 at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, women were bleeding to death through ectopic pregnancy and they were using a piece of cloth to filter blood. And 30 years after, we were still doing the same thing?

I said it was a crude technique. From that moment, I started thinking about the way out. I witnessed the case of a lady who was rushed down to the emergency ward

Photos: FUNKE OLAODE

at Island Maternity in Lagos but she died because they couldn’t stop the bleeding. I said to myself that I had to intensify effort to invent that device to save humanity.

Since I had watched many people die, I took up the responsibility because the surgeons would not operate if they are not sure there would be blood.

Can you recall a case you used the machine before it was certified?

I watched a case of one Miss Adesiyan who was brought in and was bleeding profusely. I volunteered to use the EATSET technique. I signed for the operation. They took her to the theatre and they watched me use the EATSET to recycle her blood during the operation. I thought they would call me that she was dead. But they called to say that the girl was troubling them that she was hungry.

Normally, when you do abdominal surgery it is advisable not to eat for three days. But she was hungry because it was her blood that was used to perform the operation. And the time she spent in the hospital was short because she did not use other people’s blood. That gave me confidence to forge ahead on this device that changed the status quo. When the

Commonwealth sponsored a conference at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, I gave a lecture, demonstrated how to use the device and everybody was impressed. When you are doing something new, you don’t demonstrate it on the pages of newspapers. You go to your peers and that is why we have Peer Reviews especially in the academic world. Giving lectures to doctors, nurses that would be able to understand and be critical of your invention.

At what stage did your effort catch the authority’s attention?

It was divine because I didn’t push what I was doing but the authorities noticed it and were quite impressed that one of them has made them proud. It was during the military era and former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, said I have to represent Nigeria at the World Military Congress in America. I went and gave my lecture and there was a loud ovation because many of them were not used to it. So it was strange to them because they didn’t experience such because of their health care system.

I understand you have a factory

19

AUGUST 13, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

Plus How I Have Coped As a Widower with Five Children that produces EATSET and syringes somewhere in Calabar. What is the status of that factory?

It got to a point where the UNDP and WHO mandate stops. They have a mandate for development but don’t have a mandate to sponsor commercialisation.

When we got to the point when we wanted to commercialise the products, I wrote a proposal and presented it. I looked for investors and we were able to set up a factory in Calabar, Cross River State. It is the biggest medical manufacturing outfit not only in Nigeria but in West Africa. I was encouraged by the then Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke and his wife, Onari to acquire the land at the Calabar Free Trade Zone. Of course, I and my Managing Director flew down to Calabar and the land was allocated to us. We paid all the necessary dues and we commenced construction. We completed the building in 2002/2003. It was a huge investment and we appointed a consultant after which we deliberated on equipment to settle for. Initially, we were supposed to use equipment from Asia. So I travelled to South Korea and Indonesia with my partner to source for companies that can come and establish it for us. We had a good deal but by the time we came back that plan changed.

What happened?

My chairman had met with some other people who advised him that European equipment were better. But they didn’t tell him the condition because European equipment are very expensive. For instance, for every N100 spent in Asian countries like China, India, Korea, you will spend N10, 000 in Europe. It was burdensome but my chairman wanted the best. So we ordered for equipment from Europe and set it up. While setting up the manufacturing outfit, we envisaged that Nigeria’s polymer granules would have been available in our raw materials. When I went to China to make my presentation, I had a private audience with the head of the Chinese Army and his team. He advised me that Nigeria’s Polymer granules were whiter than the Chinese which has a line of blue. And I am asking for hospital clean white which you must see through so that if the blood is contaminated you would know.

Having invested heavily in the project, at what stage did plans go wrong?

Well, we thought everything was set when the same consultant came back and he said we could change the name of the company from EATSET (so it wouldn’t be a mono products company), and engage in production of other products such as syringes and so on. Of course, we debated it. If I refused it would look as if I was selfish since EATSET was my baby.

So I agreed and the company’s name was changed to First Medical and Sterile Products. Of course, we were asked to manufacture auto-destruct syringes; these are syringes that immediately after you use it, it destroys itself. You can’t use it again. It looks attractive. We realised that some hospitals boiled syringes and re-used them. And you couldn’t be sure if all the viruses were killed. So we started manufacturing and we thought all was well. As I said earlier, it was a Free Trade Zone and we were assured that there would be steady power supply.

You know what? We never got electricity after sometime. And we were spending one million naira every month on diesel. You know those European equipment must not be put off once they start working, whether you are manufacturing or not, because they are electronically calibrated and immediately you turn them off, you have to start all over again. Once it goes off you can no longer talk about the series because many of the things you manufacture are in batches and immediately one batch is faulty, others can be recalled and withdrawn from the market. This is why the machine must be active 24 hours.

With the epileptic power supply we couldn’t cope because there is nothing we would be able to manufacture and make profit. Right now, we still have over 3, 000 units of EATSET in Calabar. EATSET is currently being manufactured in India.

I am trying to visit India to ensure that no EATSET will come into Nigeria

Prof. Kuti. After two weeks I got a phone call from Prof. Kuti’s office to see him.

He wrote a letter, got my documents and sent to WHO and UNDP. That was the beginning. Later on, my write-up was sent to the Netherlands and a consultant in blood safety was appointed to make an input.

My proposal was sent to Prof. Watson Williams, a 70-year-old American and another consultant in blood safety. They all made their inputs. Prof. Williams was sent to Nigeria to interview me and even made a presentation before Nigerian doctors at Blood Safety Conference at Ota, Ogun State. This man congratulated me and said I had passed the presentation and said my work was ‘novel.’ He wrote a letter to the UNDP that they should release funds for me that he had approved my invention. Along the line, I got grants to further my research. Though there were obstacles here and there as a consultant appointed to assist me teamed up with a South African counterpart to take credit for my research. God intervened by using people who were aware of my research trajectory. This consultant was sacked and by God’s grace I took my credit. That was how medals, awards started trooping in.

Ovadje unfinished. The Calabar factory is still functioning but not at full capacity.

A similar product (a blood transfusion device) is being promoted from the United States by SISU Global Health.com. Is it a new invention or similar to yours?

I have petitioned the American Patent Office not because I want to stop the promoter of this product but for plagiarism. If you are doing anything you must make reference to what has been done in that field particularly when you were picking languages, saying things that had been said by the earlier inventor. So they shouldn’t try to claim originality. For me, this is an intellectual fraud. I have given series of lectures on EATSET device internationally. In fact, the lecture I gave in California is on Youtube; there you will see various practical demonstrations of real life experiences with the EATSET. And the said SISU Global Health.com have read everything about my work and looking for a way to come in. They waited for almost 20 years because after 20 years, my claim to ownership of EATSET technology will be in the public domain. And after 20 years, the intellectual property goes into the public domain and anybody can try to do the same thing.

So, what do you want from SISU? What I need is an acknowledgment and not litigation or monetary gain. In the academic world, when a new work is carried out, reference is made to previous works done by earlier inventors in the field. Again, I am going to fight what they are doing from different level not because I want to stop them. I am happy that an American or a British or some company somewhere are doing what I did that many people in this country did not believe in. When Njoku Obi discovered the cholera vaccine, Nigerians killed it back home due to lack of support. The thing went out and the credit to cholera vaccine is given to a Swiss scientist. Do oyinbos (Americans and Europeans) suffer cholera? Do they have the idea of what we are experiencing here? You cannot invent what you don’t know about. Njoku Obi did it because in Nsukka, poor women who fed their children from the ground had cholera.

Now back to the SISU Global Health.com; they were making reference to what I have done before. Among them there are no doctors or clinicians. It is a company trying to do business. They even said in one of their write-ups that they have discovered a $4 billion annual business in blood transfusion in Africa. I am going to contest that later. They should carry out their clinical trials in their country. They should use Americans as guinea pigs. Of course, they (Americans) won’t accept it. But because the black man thinks the

white man has it all, so when they come here we think they are helping us. The idea is mine. They are only looking for a way to do something similar and then take advantage of their position and commercialise it.

They are hoping to make $4 billion dollar out of it. So let us see how it will go as I said I have already petitioned the authorities in America. I am not fighting them because they have helped me to popularise my invention. What I want is acknowledgement. Period! They are bringing a product, which was my invention, packaged it in a metal contraction instead of plastics which I used. They now incorporated a non-return valve into it, which is a complicated mechanical structure in a system that is straightforward and simple. This is a potential source of contaminating the blood that is to be recycled, especially when dealing with fastidious organisms like viruses such as Hepatitis C. And they say you can sterilise it 50 times; for a device that makes contact with human blood that can be a source of spreading infections to subsequent users. At the appropriate time I will be in Geneva, to make contact with all stakeholders in blood safety to prove my point. And they are coming to try this specifically in sub-Saharan Africa.

They should try it in America and get the product certified for use there and let the relevant bodies like the Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI), in Plymouth Meeting, Philadelphia, to scrutinise before coming to Africa to talk of $4 billion business. I took my EATSET to ECRI under the supervision of Professor Joel Nobel and Chris Lavanchi; because the device uses an invasive technique, it requires the rigorous certification process of the WHO before it can be deployed anywhere in the world just like I did with the EATSET. Your device has the stamp of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Can you give an insight into the process of getting these global endorsements of the device?

I got all these endorsements by attending global conferences delivering lectures, making presentation, showing video clips of my invention or how the technique works. The doors began to open at the Commonwealth Science Organisation Conference held at LUTH years back.

A representative of WHO and Prof.

Olikoye Ransome Kuti, the then Minister of Health were at that conference. By the time I finished my presentation somebody from WHO came and dropped his card that I should see them so they would ask me what to do. They said they didn’t deal with individual that Prof. Kuti should write them a letter they requested for. I had earlier sent a letter to

You are academically inclined.

How did you combine this with your responsibility as a doctor in the Nigerian Army?

When my fame was going up, the Chief of Army Staff, General Saliu Ibrahim called my overall boss in the Nigeria Army Medical Corps and said He watched my interviewed on BBC with his wife and was embarrassed when his wife asked him about my work.

The Chief requested that I be formerly presented to him. What did my boss say? He said sir, “I have always said the officer is very intelligent and that he is a university material.” That statement would have ended my career that day.

But God used the then Chief of Administration, the late Gen. Tanko Ayuba who was at that conference to disagree with my Commandant. I leant he said ‘with due respect sir that my then boss, Major Gen. Oye was wrong. Was he telling the Chief of Army Staff, that the Nigerian Army does not need intelligent officers?”

Another Gen. also attacked General Oye. That was how my career was saved that day. So what I was doing at that time was medical research that brought honour and respect to the Nigerian Army across the globe. I remember when l gave my lectures in Europe and America, they ask me if I belong to the same Army that plans coup that troubles Nigerian government and all that. It was an honour not only to me but to the Nigerian Army, Nigeria and the black race. The Army compensated me in kind. I am one of the few military officers that won three Chiefs of Army Commendation Awards.

I also got an Army Council Medal. The government also compensated me with various awards and medals. I had about five presidential commendations from General Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, General Abdussalam Abubakar, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr Goodluck Jonathan who gave me the Centenary Medal.

How do you combine your busy life with taking care of five children as a widower?

I lost my friend, my soul mate in 2005 who left five children behind for me to look after. I give the credit to God Almighty. I also thanked my late wife who nurtured before her death children who are focused, and responsive to training.

My children are cooperative. My first born was in third year in a university in America and the last born was four years old. God helped me, they also made friends and God used American family whom I met during one of my presentations in the US. They are a wonderful family. They took it upon themselves and they were visiting my daughter. And when another one went to Canada, God had positioned my cousins, their late mother’s friends to look after them. And for the finance God was able. Today, they are doing wonderfully well. One of them won an award for discovering the properties of Dandelion Tea that is used to cure cancer. They have made me proud and I am grateful to God Almighty.

23

AUGUST 13, 2015 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

FEATURE

Ebele Obiano’s Overflowing Milk of ‘Woman’ Kindness Translated into English, her name represents the abundant mercy of God. She was very certain she was going to take the driver’s seat on issues concerning women, widows and children upon becoming the First Lady of Anambra State. Her nature is to go about doing good. No wonder her Aguleri people named her Osodieme, she who is in tune with her husband in acts of charity. Two years down the line, Mrs. Ebele Obiano has lived her talk. She has gone round the nook and cranny of the 177 communities in the state doing good. Kasie Abone in this report captures some of the giant strides of her NGO, CAFÉ

C

CAFÉ To the Rescue aring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ) was launched

by Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano on assumption of office as the First Lady of Anambra State as a platform to fulfill a life-long passion of charity and care for humanity. It is also a vehicle to support her husband’s programmes in delivering good governance to the people of the state. Since its inception, CAFÉ has not only lived up to its aims and objectives but has maintained its vision of becoming a beacon of sustainable empowerment for women and the less privileged through improving the fortunes of all members of the family by providing succour to the less privileged.

Overflow Of Human Kindness Mrs. Obiano, told select group of women at the Governors Lodge, Amawbia in her maiden outing that the milk flowing out from my breasts was so much that it could supply enough nutrients to nourish the numerous women and children in Anambra State.

No doubt many Anambrarians expressed skepticism as to whether she would be able to fill what was presumed at the time, former governor Chief Peter Obi’s wife, Mrs. Margaret Obi’s big shoes. Mrs. Obi had captivated Anambra women with her winning smiles as she toured different parts of the state when her husband held sway as the number one citizen doling out goodies to their admiration and cheer. Like the old saying, change is constant but people are always resistant to change. It did not take long before Mrs. Obiano began to demonstrate that she is indeed a woman whose milk of human kindness overflows.

In order to extend care giving to the indigents, less privileged and vulnerable across the 177 communities in the state, Mrs. Obiano instituted Caring family enhancement initiative (CAFE), a non-governmental organisation which is non-ethnic, non-religious and non-partisan. CAFÉ aims at provision

The Agulu building before reonstruction

of humanitarian and charitable services for Ndi Anambra as well as pursue, promote, propagate the welfare and safety of the citizens based on principles of equity, justice and fairness in other to foster socio-cultural, political and economic development of the state.

While unfolding her agenda for women, children and the indigent in 2014 Mrs. Obiano announced that CAFÉ would assist indigent women set up small-scale businesses, extend welfare packages to vulnerable children as well as support physically challenged persons live meaningful life.

Health is Wealth To ensure that the citizens of Anambra State achieve hygienic and healthy environment in the rural areas, Mrs. Obiano commenced the construction of modern toilet facilities at market places. The toilets to be built across the three senatorial zones in the state are in phases. Afor Umunachi, Eke Igwe Nteje Market in Oyi Local Government and Afor Mbaukwu in Awka South Local Government Area are some of the markets where the toilets are already built. Construction is still ongoing in different locations.

Rationalising the toilet project Mrs. Obiano said,” the concept of the market toilet is borne out of genuine desire to promote healthy market environment and cleanliness in our rural markets and the well-being of our industrious mothers. I observed the lack of basic conveniences in the rural markets, and decided to encourage them by preserving their self-esteem. The toilets are complementary to the good work of the government in the area of maintenance of clean environment, and as you can see it is funded by donors whose selfless input are recognised on the plaque placed on the walls here for posterity.

This is my modest way of ensuring that our society and our children stay healthy always in this 21st century.”

Roof Right Over Their Poor Heads Who feels it knows it’ sang Bob Marley.

Obiano

Though she is not a widow nor is she prepared to become one soon, but as a woman and mother Mrs. Obiano understands the plight of widows in our society. Rather than sermonise, she made provision of decent housing for indigent widows in each of the three senatorial zones one of CAFÉ’s cardinal programmes. Conceived as CAFÉ Housing Project each of the buildings is equipped with a borehole that also serves the immediate community of the beneficiary.

Some of the beneficiaries of the housing and borehole projects include Mrs. Helen Okafor of Amatutu Village, Agulu in Anaocha Local Government Area; Mrs. Rebecca Ekezie of Okebunoye Village, Alor in Idemili South Local Government Area; Mrs. Chinyeaka Okeke of Ebenato Village, Amichi in Nnewi South Local Government Area and Mrs. Margaret Anayo of Amorka in Ihiala Local Government Area. Others were Mrs. Nneuwa Nwajideofor of Enugwu-Otu in Ayamelum Local Government Area; Mr. and Mrs. Ekesiobi of Ifite Village, Ogbunike in Oyi Local Government Area; Mrs. Catherine Ibekwe of Obeagu Village, Nri in Anaocha Local Government Area and Late Mrs. Chidili Igboamalu of Isioye Village, Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area Presenting the house to the daughter of late Mrs. Igboamalu was very emotional. Unlike other political office holders or their representatives who look for flimsy excuses to renege on their promises Mrs. Obiano displayed rare act of compassion and integrity to the extent that even the death of the direct beneficiary could not make her go back on her words by handing over the key of the beautiful two bedroom apartment to the woman’s daughter Miss Blessing Igboamalu amidst regret over her demise. Blessing was overjoyed that tears like a river flowed. If only her mother lived to enjoy a decent roof over her poor head.

Ten houses and 12 boreholes have so far been built by Mrs. Obiano for widows across Anambra State with two located at Isulo and Omasi. More of such projects are under construction across the state.

Ahouse project for a widow in Agulu

Restoring Sanity to the Insane Not long ago a total of 27 inmates of Home for Mentally Challenged at Nteje, Oyi Local Government Area who underwent rehabilitation were successfully treated and discharged.

This milestone added another fillip to CAFÉ caring initiative for the helpless. They were all certified fit and discharged to reunite with their families. The 27 discharged patients were part of the 57 inmates of the home which is run by Mrs. Obianos CAFÉ in collaboration with the State Ministry of Social Development, Women and Children Affairs. The remaining 25 are still undergoing treatment and rehabilitation. From the speed of recovery Mrs. Obiano was hopeful that they would soon fully recover and rejoin their families.

Empowerment for Self reliant In the last two years of its inception, over 2000 indigent widows, women and youths have been empowered through various skill acquisition initiatives including tailoring, bakery and confectionery, hair dressing, soap making, community health service, telephone repairs among many others. With these empowerment programs the number of dependency and unemployment is reduced as the widows become self-reliant according to Mrs. Obiano. On completion of the skill acquisition exercise, the beneficiaries receive money and tools with which to start up their businesses. At one of the occasions when the first lady presented them with cash and materials she urged them to be diligent and entrepreneurial in order to lift their families from poverty and dependency.

Besides these interventions, the first lady, has also intervened through her CAFÉ project in other areas of life. For instance, over 1000 people have received prosthetic limbs to enable mobility. About 50 Children have successfully undergone free corrective surgery for cleft lip cum palate congenital deformity while free wheel chairs have been given out to over 500 beneficiaries amongst other medical interventions.

26

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

AUTo

Ford Grives Charges Drivers Tips on Road Safety Stories by Bennett Oghifo

A

first consideration any driver should have is to keep themselves and their families safe, but a lot of the time people drive for themselves only.

“When someone jumps onto the road while we are driving and he is hit, it hardly concerns us because he is a ‘pedestrian’.

But your life will change if you were to kill a pedestrian. People need to be more courteous because it is an attitude issue. We should be as courteous on the road as we are in the work place.”

This talk and some tips were given by the Training Director, Driving Skills for Life (DSFL), Ford Motor Company of South Africa, Derek Kirkby at a special training for members of Nigeria Auto Journalists Association, which held at the facility of Coscharis Motors in Awoyaya, Lagos, recently.

Kirkby said most people do not optimise the use of the safety features in their vehicles, adding that some people do not wear their seat belts and most do not insist that passengers in the rear seat where belts. “Why don’t we care about our passengers?

It’s the same thing like not caring about ourselves.

An interesting fact is that when the vehicle has a collision at, say, 80 kilometres per hour, the person at the back then weighs triple his weight. If the person weighs 60 kilograms, then it means a person weighing 180kg is coming to hit you; it is enough to kill you. The vehicles come with rear seat belt, why are we not using them. Seat belts save lives.

We work in the industry and there is one per cent chance that the seat belt might kill you but 99 per cent chance that you will survive.”

The headrest, he said is also a safety feature and not just something to rest the head on in traffic.

Another feature is the ABS and how quick it can bring the vehicle to a stop, particularly in wet weather. “Motors take some time to stop but what is important is your reaction time. A person’s reaction time affects the ability of the

Ford Focus

car stopping. Some people are quick others are not so quick. It is the time it takes to get my foot of the petrol pedal and hit the brakes and that is, for an average person .75 seconds. But we are all working, stressed, on medication and so the reaction time has changed with less reaction time, which is now about a second. This means that in a second and at 60km/hr the car has covered

almost 20 metres before you applied the brakes; it is absolutely frightening.”

An important aspect of driving, he said is pretrip inspection; something you need to do every day before driving. “Before you enter the vehicle, you take a long way round the vehicle to check if there is damage, flat tire or any other thing; it will take you only 15 seconds to do that. Fifteen

seconds will tell you whether you’ll have a flat tire ahead. At least once a week, we should check the tyres. There are five tyres in the car and the one in the booth loses pressure faster that the four on the ground. This is because the four tyres’ A-molecules are moving and the environment is acting on them. The oil and water should be checked in the morning.”

Weststar Produces First Nigerian Globally-Certified Trainer

T

he Training manager, WeststarAssociates Limited, Mr. Abdul Ligali, recently, received a certificate of excellence in global trainings from DaimlerAG Global Training Center in Stuttgart, Germany- Placing him as the first Nigerian to be certified as a Mercedes-Benz global trainer by Daimler.

According to the Managing Director of Weststar, Mr. Mirko Plath, this is in preparation for the expansion of a certified global training Centre for the leading brands Weststar represents in Nigeria, which is already in the pipeline.

Since inception, Weststar has organised technical and non-technical trainings for staff, dealers, and customers in order to expand the knowledge base of all employees and meet the various needs of customers. In 2014, Weststar officially set-up an in-house training department which up to date, has over 300 participants trained in various aspects of the business. The in-house training involves inviting a global trainer usually assigned by the manufacturers, to deliver a customized training program to the team which in most cases, consists of employees, dealers, and customers as a form of support. This is an addition to the regular e-trainings held locally.

These different trainings could be about a particular product, sales, service, after-sales, customer relationship management, use of various software applications such as Electronic Parts catalogue (EPC), Workshop Information System (WIS), ordering systems amongst others.

Expressing his gratitude for the opportunity, Ligali said it was a step in the right direction, as it will reduce dependency on only foreign trainers. “This is a welcome development for Weststar; there will be a reduced dependency on foreign trainers. In the future, we hope to expand our training center for the brands we represent that will be open to the public and not just our staff, dealerships or customers.

There would even be dual vocational courses for interested individuals. Our vision is to become the training hub for West Africa. I also plan to train and mentor other global training aspirants locally as well.” He stated. “Currently, I am the global trainer for non-technical aspects such as service and processing. We hope to develop more global trainers in both technical and non-technical areas.

This will provide multiple job opportunities for Nigerians and also contribute positively to the educational sector by encouraging the youths to take up various technical careers. “He added.

The training for the global certification lasts for two years in which, there is a 3-session qualification program, two-session supervision trainings by assigned mentors and the final certification audit where the participant is drilled rigorously as a test towards the acquisition of a certificate of excellence.

As the new and only Daimler certified global trainer in Nigeria, all trainings he organizes will automatically be approved by Daimler.

To reduce the “total cost of ownership” and to

Abdul Ligali and an instructor at Daimler AG Global Training Center in Stuttgart, Germany

increase benefits for customers in terms of safety and efficiency, Weststar provides support in creation of an assessment program for new drivers and customized driver qualification program which includes information on: Products and Technol-

ogy, Safety & Comfort Systems, driving dynamics, Interior Gadgets, Maintenance and Service/daily routine, checkpoints, Professional handling of specialised vehicles like (Tippers, Mixers, etc.), including Practical Sessions and Driving Test, etc.

ZF Recalls Nine-SpeedTransmissions in FCA, Honda and Land Rover Vehicles

T

ransmission builder ZF Friedrichshafen AG is recalling about 505,000 vehicles in the U.S. which use its nine-speed automatic transmission.

In the affected cars, which come from numerous brands, the transmission can suddenly shift into neutral while driving due to a wiring harness with a faulty crimp attaching it to the sensor cluster. A high electrical resistance is the result of the bad crimp which causes the drops into neutral. A software flash will either prevent the transmission from shifting or warn the driver before the shift into neutral occurs.

The 2015 Chrysler 200, Ram ProMaster City, Jeep Renegade and Cherokee make up 324,000 units of the recall, while the rest are from Honda and Land Rover. Neither of those companies have specified which vehicles will be recalled yet, though we know that the Acura MDX, the Honda Pilot and the Land Rover Evoque all use the ZF-built nine-speed unit.

For now, FCA is only recalling 2015 model year vehicles, despite the fact that many of its 2016 and 2017 model year vehicles still use the same transmission. ZF did make a change to its crimping process in July of 2014, which could be the reason why the newer vehicles

are not being brought back in.

A search of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) website turns up hundreds of complaints regarding the transmission, with Car and Driver counting at least 895 separate owners complaining of not just random neutral drops, but also hesitation, rough shifts, acceleration surges and vehicles that roll away even after they are put in park.

About 16 complaints have been levelled at the transmission in 2016 model year vehicles.

NHTSA says 10 injuries have been reported as a result of transmission issues.

“In this instance, ZF provided the necessary

documentation to NHTSA to address a specific issue,” ZF spokesman Bryan Johnson told Car and Driver when asked about the other alleged transmission problems. “All other concerns and filings need to be addressed by our customers.

It is ZF’s policy to refrain from speaking on their behalf.”

FCA is also currently dealing with another recall and lawsuits over a confusing shifter design which resulted in rollaways.

The case gained the spotlight when famous actor Anton Yelchin was killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled away and crushed him.

(Source: Car and Driver)

27

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

AUTo SAFE DRIVING

Official Cars of the Olympic Games: Past and Present

JONAS AGWU

with

(Asst Corps Marshal) Zonal Commanding Officer Zone RS7 Abua phone 08077690700 FRSC TOLL FREE NO 122 Email:j.agwu@frsc.gov.ng

Stories by Bennett Oghifo

N

issan is the official car of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which have officially started.

While motorsports currently are not a part of the Olympic Games, cars play a major role in the events and there is one primary automotive sponsor every two years. At this year’s games in Rio de Janeiro, Nissan takes the honors and is supplying 4,200 vehicles to meet the day-to-day mobility needs of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Here’s a look at what we can expect to see this year, as well as automakers that have sponsored the Olympic Games in the past.

Rio 2016: Nissan Kicks...

The all-new Nissan Kicks is the official vehicle of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, a stylish crossover that could be heading to the U.S. Competing with the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX3, the compact crossover is a bit longer and taller than the Juke and has much more traditional styling. Nissan expects to launch the Kicks in more than 80 global markets, but hasn’t confirmed that North America is one of them. There’s also the possibility that the Kicks will just replace the Juke in the near future.

With about 200 Kicks being

Driving Health Hazards

S

The all-new Nissan Kicks

present in Brazil for this year’s Olympic Games, Nissan has brought 4,000 other vehicles to the event. This year’s fleet includes the March (also known as the Micra), Versa, Sentra, Altima and Frontier pickup truck.

Sochi 2014: Volkswagen Amarok Polar Expedition...

Two years ago, Volkswagen was the official automotive sponsor of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games

in Sochi, Russia. Arguably the coolest vehicle to come from those Olympic Games was the Volkswagen Amarok Polar Expedition, which it actually built prior to the Olympics to promote the event in Russia’s most remote regions. A total of three custom pickups were built to take nine people on an expedition from Moscow to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which was about 9,942 miles

away. The team also earned a Guinness World Record for the longest off-road journey through a single country.

Naturally, the VolkswagenAmarok Polar Expedition wouldn’t be very feasible to be used for dayto-day activities at the Winter Olympic Games. Instead, the Volkswagen Group supplied more than 3,000 Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and commercial vehicles to the Olympics.

Toyota Avensis Marks Successful First Year with Further Improvements

T

he first updates are being made to the current Toyota Avensis range, as it approaches its first full year on sale.

The principal change for the 2016 range is the installation of the latest version of Toyota Touch 2,Toyota’stouchscreen-controlled multimedia system. Avensis benefits from latest iteration of the technology, as previewed at this year’s Geneva motor show.

The home screen menu has been redesigned and access to the My Toyotaonlinecustomerportalhas been made simpler.

The satellite navigation package has been rationalised into a single customer offer – Toyota Touch 2 with Go – with the added benefit of three years’ free map and connectivity updates. This, according to market, can be extended by a further two years, if desired. This gives peace of mind that journeys can be planned accurately, with access to apps giving the latest on traffic flow, weather, fuel prices, parking availability and other

2016 Toyota Avensis

useful information. The system can be linked to a number of online service providers, including GoogleSearch,GoogleStreetview, Aupeo!, Aha and Twitter.

The Avensis sedan and Touring Sports are newly available with an optional Platinum Bronze

exteriorpaintfinish.Anew16-inch alloy wheel design has also been introduced to the 2016 line-up, which is on sale now.

The new Toyota Avensis, launched in 2015, has firmly established the model’s credentials as a strong and attractive market

competitor. Built and designed in Europe and for Europe, it offers prestigious, dynamic styling, rich sensory quality inside and out and, thanks to precision chassis and steering engineering, a rewarding experience behind the wheel.

Next-Gen 2018 Audi A7 Spied for the First Time

S

py photographers have caught the next-generation 2018 Audi A7 testing for the first time.

The photos, which are blurry because they were caught from a long distance, don’t allow us to see a great amount of detail, but we can see that the “coupe”

sedan retains its fastback design and is wearing Audi’s new singleframe grille and sharper headlights. The size will likely remain the same.

In typical Audi fashion, don’t expect the exterior of the new A7 to look dramatically different from the current model. The 2018 Audi A7 will likely get a more muscular and

streamlined look, but the more dramatic changes will be under the sheet metal.

The next-generation Audi A7 will be built on the “MLB evo” platform that underpins the excellent Audi Q7 and will also be used on the next A8. This means that we can expect the A7 to shed some weight and gain some power and better

driving dynamics, as well as post better fuel economy ratings.

We can expect similar engine options to the current model: a supercharged 3.0-liter V6, a turbo V8 in the S7 and RS7.

Foreign markets will likely get a diesel model, and some believe Audi will unveil a new plug-in version with this generationA7.

ukanmi was just 18 when he started understudying his father’sone-man’struck business.At25years,his fatherdiedafterbattlinganailment leaving Sukanmi as heir to the solo transportbusinessthathadsuffered toomanyhiccups.Aswasexpected after learning the ropes from his late father, he did pretty well until one black Saturday. On that day, Sukanmi as is traditional, drove to the park, conducted his early morningprayers,thedailyroutine of checking the state of his vehicle, loadedhisbuswithcommutersand setoutonatriphehopedwillbehis lastbeforebequeathingsamebusinesstohisownson.Thirtyminutes after he left the park, a passenger noticed the zigzag movement of the vehicle and raised alarm .The vehiclelostcontroluntilitrammed on to a tree. After all had alighted, someone observed that the driver hadhisheadbowedonthesteering.

When attempts were made to pull him out, Sukanmi was in a pool of hisownblood,lifeless.Autopsylater confirmed him dead as a result of complicationsarisingfromdiabetes.

His tragedy is one of the numerous stories told a fortnight night ago during a special public rally jointly organized by the Federal RoadSafetyCorpsundermywatch and the Shell Petroleum DevelopmentCompanytagged”Healthin MotionBeyondtheroad”meantto bring health care to the door steps of drivers as part of the Corporate social responsibility .The program provided medical care on various health challenges such as malaria ,typhoid,diabetes,glaucoma,ca taract,macuopathy,hypertensi on,high cholesterol, gastric and duodenal ulcers among others.

Drugs for various ailments were provided as well as free reading glassesforthosedeservingofthem after diagnosis from optometrists, while mosquito nets were equally distributedtonursingmothersand pregnantwomen.Theresultwhich I hope to focus on someday were eye openers and has compelled us with the same support of Shell to seek ways of extending this novel campaign to other States such as Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom with the hope that a culture ofhealthawarenesswillbeinstilled inthepsycheofdriversasaplankfor promotingsoundhealthfordrivers.

While we await the outcome of the one day programme, I don’t know what your story or experience has been as a driver or acommuter.Ialsodonotknowfor how long you have been driving whether as a private car owner or as a professional driver who is always on the road. I am at a loss at the policy or structure put in place bymostorganizationstopromotea healthyculturefordriversalthough Iknowforcertaintythatthisculture isamustinmultinationalorganizationsandinsomebigplayersinthe transport sector. But do you know thattherearehealthimplicationsfor beingonthewheelsdailyespecially againstthebackdropoftheincreasingtrafficgridlockinmostcitiesthat todaycompelspeopletodoalmost

everything in their cars.

Traffic in most cities such as Lagos,accordingtostandupcomedian Basketmouth,issobad thatpeople willdoalmostanythingintheircars such as buying food ingredients to make a dish, making up in the cars for ladies running red lights, reading the newspaper, eating breakfast, shaving, and talking on cell phones while driving are common and dangerous including the craze to drive and watch television on motion .Obstacles and bad drivers are just some of the many hazards we face on the high-speedbattlegroundcalledthe commute. Did you really know that there are health hazards in driving? I am not talking about accidents. I am talking about the stress placed on your mind and body that occurs with road rage, eye fatigue and night blindness, androadfatigue,themultitasking, pollution among others. Because of the increasing spate of crashes involving articulated vehicles, let me first begin this focus of the healthhazardsfacedbythesegroup ofdrivers.Butevenonanormalday, drivingcanhavedangerouseffects on your health. Before I do so, let me inform you that all categories of drivers suffer from the biggest health hazards of multitasking whichcanKill.Thishazardinclude distraction in particular, telephoning,discipliningchildren,andteen driversinteractingwiththeirfriends.

Todays drivers are too confident boasting of years of experience, competence forgetting that they need to understand the limits to their concentration. Research findingsdemonstratethatthereare limits to one’s ability to multitask.

Theyfoundthatevenwhenpeople perform tasks that utilize different partsofthebrain,doingthematthe sametimesucksawaybrainpower.

To perform two different tasks at once, you have to switch from one set of mental processes used in the first task to another set used on the second. Scientists call this “goal switching.”Whenyouswitchtasks, the rules that govern the second taskhavetobeactivated,andwhen your mind is occupied by the first task, switching can take almost a second -- long enough to cause a serious accident. That one-second distractioncontributestothe42,000 peoplekilledontheroadeachyear and the $250 billion annual injury cost of commuting in the United States ofAmerica.As at the time of thispieceIcouldn’treachouttodata on our clime Let me now talk on trucks and truck drivers? Do you know that car drivers cause most truck-car accidents? Because Trucks take longer to stop or turn, you must keep a wider separation. But this is not the case as we daily see smaller cardriversstrugglingforownership with heavy duty trucks. We forget that despite the nuisance value we place on some truck drivers, they play vital roles in the chain of moving stuffs to us.

Truck driving is too demanding withattendantoccupationalstress, in addition to the struggle to keep fit and eat well.

30

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

GLOBAL SOCCER

Etebo

Eye on Olympic Gold Following Nigeria’s Dream Team V1’s lacklustre arrival at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games few hours to kick-off, no one expected the team to do well. They however have booked a quarter final ticket while the team’s striker, Oghenekaro Etebo, has gone on to equal a 44-year old record. For him though, it is the gold that matters in Olympic football. Kunle Adewale reports

T

he Nigerian team landed in Manaus at about 2pm local time after an eight-hour flight from Atlanta, where they had been stranded for days after a logistical mix-up.

But incredibly, the Mikel Obi-captained team won 5-4 in their Olympic opener against Japan. But away from the victory, it was the four goals scored by 20-year-old striker Etebo Oghenekaro, that stole the headlines.

After the four-goal feat, Oghenekaro stated that he would prefer being an Olympic gold medalist to being the tournament’s top scorer. But little did he know he had achieved a greater accomplishment with his double brace – a 44 year old record has been equalled.

It had been 44 years since a player last scored four goals in an Olympic football match, when West Germany’s Bernd Nickel scored four goals against USA in Munich. And last Thursday, in the dry, difficult conditions of Manaus,

Etebo matched Nickel’s feat.

“Thank God it has happened, but what I’m most excited about was the victory. I’m very happy because it was a great joy, although it wasn’t easy due to the stress and all that.

If I had scored but we lost, it’s not going to be too fantastic. I’m happy we’re topping the group, and I’m really happy about the goals. I didn’t expect it at all. I’m not going for personal glory but team glory, which to me means winning gold. Without the gold, it’s going to be painful because achieving that is important for me, for Nigerians and for my team-mates," he toldFIFA.com.

Goals are in Etebo’s blood. Indeed, he's well used to making the kind of impact he has made at Rio 2016. In Etebo’s first ever Nigerian Premier League match as an 18-year old, he scored a hat-trick and at the end of that season, he finished as the league's second-highest goal scorer.

“I’m not that perfect but I believe, like my coach says, once you get

a chance, its better you convert it because you don’t know when you’re going to get another one. I’m not a special striker or fantastic goal scorer, but it’s better to be at the right place at the right time to score good goals," he said.

During the CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal, the qualifying tournament for Rio 2016 for the continent, Etebo finished as the tournament's top marksman.

“Now in Brazil, I scored four goals in the first game. When I scored those goals, I didn’t think about anything. It’s a game of football!

Luck was on my side,” Etebo said.

Etebo showed on Thursday night in the Amazon that he has all the attributes of an elite forward: composure in the penalty area, ruthlessness in front of goal, precision and awareness from distance and clinical penalty-taking ability. But has there been another striker that has inspired him in his development?

“There’s one player that I really

cherish most. He’s playing for Manchester United and his name is Wayne Rooney. I really like him a lot from day one," he said.

The England captain would surely have admired the natural way Etebo scored his goals, while writing his name in the books of Olympic football history in his first ever match at the Games.

“I just want to dedicate the goals to my family, friends and well-wishers. I really appreciate them a lot. The way we are going, I believe we are going to get it right. As long as we’re disciplined, we’re going to take advice from the coach, and listen to his instructions for every game. I believe we’re going to do it. I believe we’re going to get it right," the Nigerian star said.

The Nigeria U23 striker believes the Dream Team VI can achieve its ultimate ambition of winning gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after Nigeria became the first side to qualify for the quarterfinals following victories over Japan and Sweden.

Etebo was impressive in Nigeria's

32

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

GLOBAL SOCCER

Leicester City Start Title Defence Leicester City will today start the defence of their English Premier League title as they travel to newly promoted Hull City for the league opener. However, it is tomorrow’s encounter at the Emirates Stadium between Arsenal and Liverpool that will catch the eye of most followers of the English Premiership

A

fter a surprise championship title last season Leicester City will start the defence of its first Barclays Premier League title as the team opens the 2016/17 season in an away match against Hull City. In their two previous meetings, Hull never won against the defending champions. The teams drew in one match while Leicester won the other.

Hull City last match was back in late May when they defeated Sheffield Wednesday, 1-0, in their closing match in the Football League Championship at the Wembley Stadium.

The team won the playoffs to get promoted in the first-division competitions this term, although they are starting the season without a permanent manager at the moment.

Former head coach Steve Bruce resigned last month as boss of the Tigers and the club has yet to find a replacement for the 55-year-old Englishman. Recent rumors have emerged that Wales national team manager Chris Coleman is being lured by club officials to coach the squad, but the Football Association of Wales has not approved the offer.

Meanwhile, Leicester City is coming off a 1-2 loss to an improved Manchester United in the Community Shield match held at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

Despite the loss, Ranieri is optimistic about the Foxes' chances to repeat as champions this term. The team had actually almost taken the opening lead at Wembley, but Shinji Okazaki's shot just hit David De Gea's goalpost.

Leicester will definitely use this opening game as a testament that they will be ready to defend their title this season.

Leicester has reportedly completed the contract renewal of miracle maker Claudio Ranieri. The manager led the team to a miraculous victory last season and has pledged his long-term commitment to the club which he only joined last summer..

To further motivate the players, the club’s Thai owners have reportedly rewarded them with brandnew sports cars- BMW i8 coupe.

Last season’s breakout star Jamie Vardy will be the one to look out for this season. Fans are delighted that the club was able to keep Vardy despite offers from rival clubs after his stellar performance. Ranieri was also able to hold on to key player Riyad Mahrez. Unfortunately, N’Golo Kante has been lured by Chelsea.

And no-one can accuse the champions of standing still, with Nige-

rian striker Ahmed Musa a potentially exciting addition from CSKA Moscow for a club-record £16m plus highly-rated former Nice midfielder Nampalys Mendy arriving as a £13m acquisition to strengthen midfield.

If the Foxes can fight off any late moves for Riyad Mahrez then top 10 is very attainable.

Meanwhile, Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger faces a defensive headache ahead of their Premier League opener with Liverpool on Sunday.

The Gunners boss watched in horror as Gabriel Paulista was stretchered off during their pre-season friendly win over Manchester City last Sunday, and fears the Brazilian faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines with ankle ligament damage.

Gabriel is definitely out of this weekend’s clash at the Emirates, as is Per Mertesacker, who has a knee injury.

Laurent Koscielny, Arsenal’s other senior centre back, has not featured at all in pre-season having been given an extended post-Euro 2016 break, leaving Wenger with just Calum Chambers and new signing Rob Holding as specialist options.

Arsenal have used teenage Polish midfielder Krystian Bielik in defence in friendly matches, and are reported to have trained with Francis Coquelin at centre back as an emergency measure.

Shkodran Mustafi, the Valencia defender, has been linked, as has West Brom’s Jonny Evans and Lukas Klostermann of Red Bull Leipzig. A deal for any of those, however, would need to be rushed through if they were to face Liverpool and indeed Klostermann is currently away with Germany at the Olympic Games in any case.

Liverpool have concerns of their own, of course, with doubts over James Milner’s fitness chief among them. The vice-captain hobbled off with a foot injury during the 4-0 win over Barcelona and could well miss out.

Marko Grujic, too, limped off against Mainz a day later with an ankle problem, while Daniel Sturridge missed both the weekend’s games with a hip issue.

The Reds are already without Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Leiva, Joe Gomez and Loris Karius heading into the new season.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola will start his Premiership journey as the Citizens welcome Sunderland to the Etihad today. The arrival of the world's most celebrated coach is the fulfilment of a long-held dream for Manchester City's owners - he is the man they have always wanted at the head of their football organisation. The Etihad house has been built waiting for him to move in.

City's run to the Champions League semi-final and a Capital One Cup final win barely covered up a campaign of Premier League under-achievement with Manuel Pellegrini in charge last season. They were left hanging on until the last game of the campaign to secure a

Leicester City celebrating their Premiership victory last season

Champions League place.

Guardiola is the perfect choice to get more out of a quality squad that has too often seemed short of inspiration and motivation. He is a fiercely driven perfectionist who will not let standards slip.

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan will add guile when he is fit while winger Nolito is a shrewd capture from Celta Vigo.

Now that City have signed defender John Stones from Everton, responsibility will lie with him for curing the defensive ills caused by the poor form of Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi, as well as captain Vincent Kompany's injuries.

I'm backing a Guardiola-inspired City to reclaim the Premier League title.

City will test the system of Guardiola as they go against last season's lowly team Sunderland, who will also feature a new manager in David Moyes, for their maiden match of the season.

The game will be the official debut of Guardiola in the English top flight competitions and he will bring with him a winning tradition that he had cultivated since the 2007-2008 season with Barcelona.

In his eight-year head coaching career, the Spanish tactician only missed a title once, during his last term in Barcelona when the team finished runners-up to Real Madrid in the 2011-2012 season. All his other seven seasons as head coach, four for Barça and three for Bayern Munich, ended up with the league championship.

The team will also unveil some new

players, such as Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund, Nolito from Celta Vigo, Leroy Sané from Schalke, and their latest £47 million signing John Stones from Everton.

City fell to Arsenal, 2-3, during their final preseason friendly held at the Ullevi Stadium on Monday as strikers Sergio Agüero and Kelechi Iheanacho scored a goal each.

Meanwhile, Sunderland will be led by former Manchester United manager, Moyes starting this season as he replaced The team had not been active during the summer transfer window as the Scottish mentor is said to be keen on spending moderately at this moment.

The Black Cats' only new signing so far this summer is defender Papy Djilobodji from Chelsea for a fee of £8 million last week, but there were rumors that Moyes could also snag striker Adnan Januzaj in a season-long loan deal from United.

Sunderland held Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund to a 1-1 draw at the Cashpoint Arena to conclude their preseason.

City is the stronger team on paper as compared to Sunderland and with Guardiola at the helm, it is expected that they will pull off a convincing win over their opening day opponents.

Bournemouth wrapped up their preseason with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Ligue 1 side Angers, ensuring they head into their Premier League opener against Manchester United having not lost a game over the summer.

While very few clubs find any real positives in preseason outside of obvious fitness boosts and technical

33

AUGUST 13, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

GLOBAL SOCCER

Multichoice Nigeria Stages Football Season Kick-off Event

A

tune-ups, manager Eddie Howe said he was "delighted" with an unbeaten couple of months as it's helped to "breed confidence" heading into the new campaign. This self-belief will play a key role in where Bournemouth end up this season.

Confidence in football is vital to success and fortunately for Bournemouth their manager is arguably one of best in the country in terms of instilling that belief in his players. You can't help but believe Howe when he says his side have a "good chance" against Manchester United on Sunday.

Despite only having played each other twice in Premier League history, this is already a fixture that is associated with drama. Junior Stanislas scored directly from a corner in the same match last year (a game the

Head to Head 10/02/10

Arsenal

1-0

Liverpool

15/10/10

Liverpool

1-1

Arsenal

17/04/11

Arsenal

1-1

Liverpool

20/10/11

Arsenal

0-2

Liverpool

03/03/12

Liverpool

1-2

Arsenal

02/09/12

Liverpool

0-2

Arsenal

30/01/13

Arsenal

2-2

Liverpool

02/11/13

Arsenal

2-0

Liverpool

08/02/14

Liverpool

5-1

Arsenal

21/12/14

Liverpool

2-2

Arsenal

04/04/15

Arsenal

4-1

Liverpool

24/08/15

Arsenal

0-0

Liverpool

13/01/16

Liverpool

3-3

Arsenal

Cherries went on to win 2-1) before the pair ended their domestic season against each other in May. The 3-1 scoreline in United's favour was irrelevant, but the initial bomb scare at Old Trafford ensured no one forgot the rescheduled day in a hurry.

Fast forward to this year's clash and both clubs have already scored plenty of goals, albeit in preseason. Bournemouth have scored 11 in six, while United's five against Galatasaray and two against champions Leicester City in the Community Shield suggest this matchup will be another high-scoring affair. The chief defender tasked with preventing goals from entering Bournemouth's net will be Steve Cook.

Cook, 25, is set to play an even more vital role this season after two of last year's defensive partners - Tommy Elphick and Sylvain Distin --departed over the summer.

Due to United's direct attacking style with Zlatan Ibrahimovic now spearheading their attack, similar no-nonsense defending will likely be required on Sunday.

s football fans warm up for the start of a new season of the 2016/17 English Premier League, MultiChoice Nigeria is ready to bring an unforgettable and unmatched football season to fans across the continent.

Last season was unpredictable and exciting as Leicester City were crowned Premier League champions. Football lovers all over the world are anticipating another unpredictable season with coaches like Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Conte, Arsene Wenger and Jougen Klopp going against one another in the Premier League.

To make this season more memorable, MultiChoice Nigeria together with SuperSport, will screen day two matches of the Premier League with a live studio broadcast on Sunday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos.

Viewers will be immersed in the action from their favorite clubs and players with former Liverpool FC legend, John Barnes alongside other SuperSport on air personalities delivering live commentary and in-depth analysis of the Bournemouth versus Manchester United and Arsenal against Liverpool matches.

“This season we decided to screen day two matches at the National Stadium to give more football lovers the opportunity to witness the game in high definition amid funfair”, said Martin Mabutho, general manager marketing, MultiChoice Nigeria. He

disclosed that MultiChoice continuously looks for innovative ways to make the season more exciting as it has become the most anticipated event that subscribers look forward to. ”Our ongoing Live Your Dream campaign starring Watford FC striker, Odion Ighalo, already set things in motion. Our subscribers can rest assured that this football season will be packed with so much entertainment and exciting offers”, Mabutho concluded.

Match day two promises to be exciting as the “big” teams come out to play. Last season 16th placed Bournemouth will play at home against Manchester United.

United finished fifth last season but has since hired the ‘Special One’, Jose Mourinho to get them back to their glory days. Red Devils and a lot of Mourinho’s supporters and foes will be looking forward to this game.

Players like Zlantan and Pogba will be making their debuts for United.

Meanwhile, Arsenal who finished second last season and automatically qualified for this season will be up against Liverpool that finished sixth last season on the League table. The Gunners, will be looking for an excellent start but Klopp and his boys will do anything to take a point away from the Emirates stadium.

The Premier League matches and other league international matches will be broadcast live and in high definition (HD) on dedicated SuperSport channels on DStv and GOtv.

Fixtures

TODAY Hull Burnley Crystal Palace Everton Middlesbrough Southampton Man City

v v v v v v v

SUNDAY Bournemouth Arsenal

v v

Leicester Swansea West Brom Tottenham Stoke Watford Sunderland

12:30 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 17:30

Man Utd Liverpool

13:30 16:00

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (left) and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger shake hands

35

AUGUST 13, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

AFRICA PLAYS

with KENNETH EZAGA 0807 0530 677, zigi199@yahoo.com

NPFL TITLE RACE

Yaaaay! The EPL Returns, Give Me a Break!

I watched Wednesday’s friendly game between Spanish La Liga side Valencia and the Nigerian Professional Football League’s All-Star team on tour in Spain at a public place and all I could think of was that we needed to wake up from our slumber in this country. Football is big business and we need to get ours right if we want it to contribute richly to our quest for economic success. At the club where I was, it took my personal intervention to switch the channel to the one where the game was being aired as nobody seemed to know such a match was going on. Part of the problem was that the publicity was not exactly larger than life, the other part was that many who were exposed to the adverts were not sufficiently interested enough to store the details in their minds as we tend to do when the subject turns to the English Premier League. A pleasant young barman, on discovering that the NPFL side were locked at 1:1 with Valencia in the second half was incredulous. He had apparently expected something more like a 5:1 scoreline, and he proceeded to draw the attention of every one of his coworkers that came by to this. In the end, impressed though he was, he was convinced that had this been ‘his’ club Barcelona, the scoreline would have been more to his expectation. This game has come courtesy of the recent partnership between the managers of the NPFL and their La Liga counterparts, and more games are planned in the coming days against Atletico Madrid and Malaga. So in an age when investors around the world are pumping billions of dollars into football annually, shouldn’t our leading minds see this as a golden opportunity to come together to advance the business of Nigerian football? For a country with our football pedigree, that can mean lots of foreign sponsors and investors sinking millions of dollars (billions of naira) annually into our game. However, that can only happen when we throw our weight behind the NPFL, because no one is ever going to put money in our sport when they see our interest is elsewhere.

W

ere we top businessmen, big dreamers and innovative people for instance, now would have been when our titans of industry would smell the coffee from Spain and leverage on the global La Liga brand to make big gains in their share of the global spend on football. This is when we would have been asking about how to partner global clubs to develop our own league so we can have a platform to build players – like we invest in building real estate - and selling them at a huge premium. Al Ahly of Egypt recently sold 19-year-old Ramadan Sobhi to Stoke City for about two million pounds (almost a billion naira if not more). Manchester City snapped young Brazilian star Gabriel Jesus, who some wise marketing men have christened the new Neymar, for 27m pounds, and we are sitting down in Nigeria and clapping for them, while expecting President Buhari to wave a magic wand and somehow make us rich. Keep waiting. We are a country of 180 million people, with a rich pedigree in the game. We have produced giants like Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Mikel Obi and we can produce more, but we have to get off out couches and self-important worlds and actually invest in our clubs and leagues to attract foreign investments and make us all richer. Even if you need government to facilitate with the right policies, you would still need to believe in what is possible, come out and push for the change you want to see.

The La Liga has offered us a shop window to sell Nigerian enterprise in football. It is as good a platform as we are ever going to get, but where are the big Nigerian investors who can see beyond opportunistic openings in oil and gas, real estate and the next piece of government largesse. Where are the builders who are thinking of upgrading our stadiums or building new ones? Where are the medical practitioners, lawyers, groundsmen, media practitioners, IT companies, farmers, brewers, advertising agencies, etc, who stand to benefit from the popularity of our league?

Are we the world’s biggest cheerleaders?

In many ways it is shameful that our ‘real’ league starts this weekend. Around Nigeria today, from illiterate bus driv-

League action between Ikorodu United and 3SC

ers and conductors to Harvard-trained captains of industry, we will all lose ourselves in the English Premier League.

Consequently, rather than money coming into our league from overseas, we will start paying our TV subscriptions, buying visas and tickets to travel to England, spending heavily on club merchandise and generally further pounding our stricken economy to grow the British economy. What is it about us that makes us put other people’s businesses ahead of our own? Even if we are not happy with the quality of the NPFL, why are we not jointly holding the people responsible for running the game to task? One thing is certain the mentality behind not having a thriving sports industry is a microcosm of the Nigerian problem. Just as the Nigerian sponsors opt to throw their money behind the ‘popular’ EPL, Nigerian footballers, administrators and other sportsmen also

opt to buy foreign goods because they are better quality. Even the industrialist calling for local support is on Facebook or Twitter howling about how he is a Chelsea or Manchester United die-hard fan. Recently I asked a tennis player who was complaining about a lack of support from Nigerians what his favourite football club was and he quickly said Arsenal. He simply did not get the irony.

So exactly where does this foolishness end?

We are not the only ones in the world who know what ‘good quality’ is. As I have said many times here, the Scots do not have a single world-class player in their league, yet the Scottish Premier League, not the EPL, is front and center for them. Let’s not kid ourselves, what is missing is not the quality of our league, but the absence of a shared sense of purpose and the failure to understand that

we are an ecosystem that is only as strong as its weakest link. The Nigerian economy is in recession, everyone is preaching diversification, and looking to government, yet the very people who should be our leading lights are the ones who will be leading the chorus of support for the Arsenals, the Manchester Uniteds and Chelseas from this weekend. That, my friends, is our tragedy.

Right now we hardly notice the consequences. Today, for instance, the English national team is more popular among Nigerians under 30 years than the Super Eagles, and these are the people we hope will someday burn with national pride and lead Nigeria out of the doldrums. There was a time our forebears sold our future to slave masters because of the simple pleasures they derived from gifts of mirrors and tobacco, today we appear to be not too far off, trading the future of our children for the simple pleasures from a sport.

236

JUNE 2011 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER THISDAY, THE16, SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

FAIRGROUND

UBA Group Sends Forth Oduoza,Two Executive Directors in Grand Style

with

AZUKA OGUJIUBA

azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

P

an-African banking group, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc., recently organised a befitting sent forth for its former Group Managing Director, Mr. Phillips Oduoza and two retired Executive Directors; mr. Femi Olaloku and Ms. Obi Ibekwe.

The event, which had in attendance customers, shareholders, board of directors, staff and associates, took place at the Eko Hotel Banquet Halls in Lagos. Also present were top dignitaries from Nigeria and the rest of Africa, including the Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness, Muhammadu Sanusi Lamido II, captains of industries like the MTN Chairman, Mr. Pascal Dozie, as well as political leaders such as Governors Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State; Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State; and Simon Lalong of Plateau State. Former governors were not left out of the roll call former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke; Senate Minority Leader and former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio; and former Governors of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba and Gbenga Daniel.

Regulators such as Mr. Abdul- Nashiru Issahaku, the Governor of the Central Bank of Ghana and Ibrahim Mahama, the brother of the President of Ghana, also graced the occasion.

Tony Elumelu, Chairman of UBA Plc, in his remarks at the occasion, paid glowing tribute to Oduoza, describing him as “very cerebral, very diligent, loyal and astute.”

He further described Phillips Oduoza as a wonderful colleague and supporter, a man who loves and encourages progress. “The performance of UBA today, both financial and brand equity, are attributable to Phillips and all the professional teams at UBA. PO, as he is fondly called, has served his time at the helm of the Bank, pushing to achieve the strategic vision as outlined by our board of directors for the bank here in Nigeria and across Africa. He leaves behind a bank that is not only a dominant player in the African financial industry but also has one of the best asset quality ratios in the African banking industry today,” Elumelu said.

The Emir of Kano, who was the Central Bank Governor when Mr. Oduoza was appointed CEO of UBA in 2010, commended him for his reforms as Chairman of the Bankers Committee on the Nigerian payment systems.

“Oduoza is largely responsible for the reforms of the Nigerian payment systems, which the banks and many Nigerians are benefiting from today. He drove the reforms in the sector that has now made it easier for many Nigerians to use their cards locally and internationally and also witness the growth of various e-channels in the country,” HRH Emir Sanusi II said He praised Oduoza for his contributions to the Nigerian banking system, describing him as a man of integrity who deserves accolades.

Oduoza, who was emotional in his response, thanked the UBA Chairman for his kind words and for taking a bet on him.

He also expressed appreciation to the banking regulators for providing the enabling environment that made UBA to thrive during his tenure, as well as staff and executive management of the bank, whom, he said were largely responsible for all the bank’s achievements during his tenure as GMD. He stated that he would continue to contribute his quota to the development of the Nigerian banking system.

Ms. Ibekwe similarly thanked the bank

L-R: Former GMD/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, his wife, Jumai; New GMD/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, his wife LOTANNA; Chairman, UBA Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu and his wife, Awele, during the send-off ceremony in honour of Oduoza

New GMD/CEO, Kennedy Uzoka with senior management executives of the bank

Former GMD/CEO, Phillips Oduoza and New GMD/ CEO, Kennedy Uzoka

Senate Minority Leader, Chief Godswil Akpabio; wife of Kaduna State Governor, New GMD/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Simon Lalong; former GMD/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza; Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai; Chairman, UBA Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu; and Governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, at the send-off ceremony held for Oduoza in Lagos on Saturday

Former Executive Director – Obi Ibekwe

for the honour done to her. She said she cherished her time at the bank and would continue to be a great ambassador of the UBA brand wherever she goes.

Top Nigerian music acts brought more excitement to an already fun-charged evening. Dr. Sid, as well as Olamide “Baddo” kept the audience dancing throughout. But the night was not just

flags of their respective countries to usher in Mr. Uzoka.

In his short speech Mr. Uzoka expressed his gratitude the board and stakeholders for the opportunity to be the new helmsman and promised that he and his team would build on the foundation laid by Oduoza to take the bank to greater heights.

about those retiring, as the bank also used the opportunity to introduce the bank’s new GMD, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka.

It was a sight to behold when the bank’s Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Victor Osadolor, Executive Directors, CEOs from its 18 African subsidiaries and its operations in New York, London and Paris, came on stage waving the

37

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

POLITY

Ganduje: Delivering on Electoral Promises in Dire Times

T

Ibrahim Shuaibu he coming of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as Governor of Kano State came with many firsts. It is the first time PhD. holders are both Governor and deputy governor in Prof. Hafiz Abubakar.

Apart from being well honed in academics, Ganduje learnt the ropes as he was Deputy Governor of the state from 1999 to 2003 and 2011-2015 under the administration of Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso.

While taking oath of office, he promised to submit a Bill on Free and Compulsory Primary School Education to the state House of Assembly for consideration.

“The law will make it compulsory for all children of school age to access free primary education in the state’’, he said. The scheme, he further explained, was part of efforts to sustain the free education policy of the former governor Kwankwaso.

That dream of sustaining the legacy of his predecessor was nearly thrust in to the thrash can as he inherited an empty treasury with liability of N379 billion but for some aces up his sleeves. The buzz in the grapevine is that, “Ganduje was not the choice of Kwankwaso but that of President Muhammadu Buhari so we are likely to expect more of this. However, Ganduje has defended Kwankwaso on the debt issue saying it is not too much considering the works he did”.

Ganduje’s pro-people projects spread across the state are testimonies of deliberate planning and adroit application of scarce resources. The Governor had in his inaugural address promised to ensure continuity of all the projects that his administration inherited from Kwankwaso.

Some of the projects that Governor Ganduje completed include Bela to Dakata road, Sabon Gari roads, Murtala Mohammed flyover, BUK road flyover and Gadon Kaya underpass road.

He also revisited the five-kilometer roads across the 44 local government areas where new systems have been introduced to ensure that roads infrastructure spread across all the local

Ganduje

government areas of the state.

His 14months in office have been a turning point in the history of Kano State which has become destination of interest to all.

Despite the internal crisis within the party and its stakeholders who underrated Ganduje’s coming to power as governor, many people have confessed to witnessing positive change in the state. The administration is about to inaugurate a flyover along Sani Abacha Road (Bank Road) and is to construct a vehicle underpass at the busy Bukavu Barrack junction adjoining Kofar Ruwa, along Katsina road – Aminu Kano way, in Kano metropolis. Similarly, the engineering design of the underpass is the second such project embarked upon by the Ganduje administration in the past 15 months.

Besides easing vehicular traffic, the project is one of the efforts to enhance the physical status of the state capital as a mega city.

Other projects he has embarked on are construction of Marhaba-Farm Center road, the construction of covered drainages at Adakawa,

Yantandu-Limanci, Karofin Gangamau-Kabuwaya and Zaitawa-Bakin Zuwo-‘Yanmota, in Dala local government with a similar project at Kabuga, Gwale local government area.

In addition, administration concentrated on desilting and maintenance works on some drainage within the state capital to check flooding and ensure better environmental management.

On the issue of security, the Ganduje administration approved the release N305 million for the procurement of 25 utility vehicles for the state Command of Nigeria Police and N19.4 million for purchase of communication and working materials for the command.

He also partners with the private sector to upgrade the overall infrastructure as seen in the provision of N86. 59 million for the provision of essential equipment and furniture at 10 Basic Health Clinics constructed by Dangote Foundation in the state as well as Sabon Sara Maternal and Child Health Clinic and Imam Halliru Memorial Maternity and Pediatric Clinic.

Thousands of indigent peoples were assisted with free eye and other ailment treatments as part of assistance to the people of the state and making healthcare available to all.

On the backlog of scholarship payment to local and oversea students, the state government has defrayed five years backlog right from the 2012 academic session while thousands of students whose bursaries have been outstanding would be paid to avoid disruption of their academic activities.

Recently, the state government made good its promise when it released N677, 589, 092 for payment to 54, 862 students in various universities across the country, for 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 academic sessions. The payment was to cushion the possible negative impact on the education sector of the state.

In addition, the government approved N136, 558,100 to defray outstanding balance owed Kano students studying at American University, Yola, Adamawa State and another N389. 3 million, for 377 Kano students at Bells University of Technology Otta, Ogun State for 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 academic sessions with

an assurance to parents and students that the Ganduje administration would not allow their studies to be stopped midstream.

Prior to this development, the state government approved N115, 400,477.6 for payment of upkeep and other allowances, for three months, in respect of 459 students on the state government scholarship, pursuing various degree programmes in China, India, Cyprus, Egypt, Uganda and Sudan. It released N138 million for settlement of outstanding school fees in respect of 89 of them sponsored by the immediate past administration in the state, at Mideast Aviation Academy, Jordan. The Governor assured that the government would continue to make determined efforts to revive its bursary scheme.

In a bid to broaden access to education and to ensure a well-informed society, Ganduje introduced Education Promotion Committees at state and local government levels, pointing out that because of this initiative, community participation in reviving education at public schools was so far encouraging.

He dwelt extensively on efforts of his administration to transform the state through revolutionising Internally Generated Revenue as well as making huge investments in infrastructure, agriculture, health, job creation and sanitation, despite financial challenges, requested the continued support of the people to attain maximum success.

Part of the yields in the revenue generation is the release of N1.2 billion by the government from its internally generated revenue to the 44 local government councils in the state to augment their federal allocations, so that they could pay their workers salary for the month of June.

The Ganduje administration said it constructed Yusuf Road in Nassarawa local government through the internally generated revenue and had to use such to provide the needs of the people as a payback to good citizenship that respects civic obligations and promised to do more.

The strides of Ganduje have made political analysts to view his coming to power as a positive step that would save the state from many challenges.

TRIBUTE

Tribute to My Dear Mother, Ezinne Comfort Ifeyinwa Okonkwo Kasie Abone

T

he moment I received the news of your ascendance, Maami, my world caved in. My heart was torn into two, one was filled with heartache and pain, the other died with you. Sleep eluded me. I lie awake at nights when the world is fast asleep, through the stillness of the dark; alone I take a walk down memory lane with tear filled eyes.

If I could write a story about you, dear mother, it would be the greatest ever told of a kind and warm heart, a loving and caring mother who had a generous heart of gold.

Diction fail in providing the right words that would correctly describe your sterling qualities.

The images fill my head but my education could not arm me with words to say how you are. I could write a million pages yet unable to say just how much you gave yourself, your love, your resources, your everything; how dedicated you were to caring for your children and others around you; the hope and succour God gave to the childless through you; the free drugs you gave generously, the child delivery you superintended through sleepless nights without asking for a dime; the home you gave to the homeless. You paid for education for those who could ill afford it; mediated between warring couples; your generous smile, your sincere advice and kind words that soothe all troubled souls around you, your profound belief that God in heaven watches over our actions.

If I could write a story about your life struggles, the needless troubles and battles you went through in defence of your children and your brother and a huge heart full of sunshine with which you tolerated and forgave, a million pages would not be enough to tell the story of how simple a heart you were. You desired that those who troubled you could understand your inner pains; they failed to understand that you loved and cared for them so much.

To the policeman who was hired to assassinate you when every diabolic means failed, you prayed and blessed him; the young man was so overwhelmed with your magnanimity that he went on his knees and wept. When the life

of your first son was wickedly terminated at 36 and was labelled an armed robber by those who killed him to cover their wicked and mindless act, your counsel was, “ka njo dili ofu onye, rapulu Chukwu” (vengeance belongs to God). When your stepson threatened you with a gun, destroyed your properties, insulted you and made life miserable for you, goaded by his evil and wicked accomplices (my stepmother and uncles) “don’t ever lay a hand on your brother,” was your candid advice to me. Were it not for your kind and forgiving soul, Maami, you would have still been alive till today.

Mama, I watched helplessly as you were harassed, threatened and eventually hounded to your untimely grave. Each time I wanted to act in your defense you would always say “Nuu rapu.” How I wished I did not listen to you Maami. My pain is not in the fact that you are gone but in the senseless circumstances of your death. Though the wicked (who has since after your death ran away from our compound) may rejoice but your death will remain their loss and shame but to Gods glory.

Who will they go to for free medicare when they are sick? Who will they run to when they need bread? Who will they go to for advice?

Who will they call for help when they run into trouble? (which was regular). Who would mend their leaking roof or give them water to bathe and wash their dirty clothes? Who will provide them shelter when it rains? When babies cry, when women are in labour, who will give them free delivery and medication? If they had thought about all these Maami, they would have prayed that you lived longer.

You called me sister, yes Maami, you were my BIG SISTER. I called you Maami because you were like no other mother. You were the most precious and most beautiful. You gave me life, you nurtured me, you loved me unconditionally, you taught me how to navigate the shark infested polygamous home, forthrightness and my strength of character, you taught me how to fight, be myself and stand on my own. You shouted at me and cuddled me. Above all, you taught me what love truly is and the beauty of forgiveness.

You were a bundle of inspiration to all around you. Your kind soul, wise counsel and

Madam Okonkwo

outstretched hands can’t be quantified. Your home was open to everyone, your hospitality made them feel special. You are the most humble, compassionate, understanding family oriented woman I have ever seen. You are so dear and so true. You had an indescribable inner strength. When father passed on 35 years ago, you went through storms and battles to raise all your children. Like mother hen you shielded us from harm, navigating through legion of landmines laid for you and your children in your home. You owed no man and paid everyone their dues. You were very energetic, highly organised and disciplined. I was not surprised that each group we went for clearance after your death, the reply we got was the same “Mama Emma o n’eji kwanu ugwo (Mama Emma doesn’t owe).

I could still hear you say Nuu rapu ka njo dili ofu onye, Nuu jili nwayoo. Nuu kedu ka iga esi nye aka, etc.

When I watched you dance on Mother’s Day, March 6, 2016 the day you were celebrated by the entire congregation of St. James Church, Abagana as Ezinne Nne Obioma (a kind and generous mother) I saw you dance like never before. You were so happy. Never in my life had I seen you, dear mother, dance like one intoxicated with new wine. It was a glorious moment. That God opened your eyes to see

how much Abagana community love and appreciate you was glorious. From then a new lease of life entered into you. You became a happier person. You began to radiate in peace and joy of your new discovery. A month, a week and two days after, God took you away to be with Him. You have fought a good fight.

God opened your eyes so that you can see how beautiful you are. He took you so that you will have the peace you so much desired as you continue to dance in glory with Him in heaven.

Born to the family of Nze Silvanus Beluonwu Okoye Nwolise and Madam Beatrice Ofulanu Nwolise of Umueze Village Amawbia, she was trained as a midwife and Community Health Extension Worker. She dedicated her life caring for couples, pregnant women and children.

Even at 79, she hardly had four hours of sleep.

Money was not her consideration. She gave out drugs and food free. When I complained she wasn’t making profit because we always replenished her stock without any returns, her response was that she would continue to pray for us to have enough money to buy the drugs so that she would be able to continue giving them out free.

I am saddened by your death, dear mother.

You went home at the time we were beginning to reward you for your labour over us. But I feel profoundly honoured, blessed and proud that you are my mother. Missing you is a heartache that will never go away but your life will remain a constant reminder that there is no greater way to honour you than to be a better me and uphold the love and peace you lived and died for.

No doubt your parting has left a deep crater but we will fill it with memories of joy, laughter, friendship, kisses that we shared. Yes, Maami, these things we shall miss very much.

Enjoy your deserved peace with the Lord, Ezi Nnem Oma, till we meet again to part no more.

Adieu Nne m oma Nwannem Adieu Nne Umuaka Adieu Nne Obioma Adieu College Umunwanyi Your daughter and best friend, Noel Kasie Abone

August 13, 2016 • THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

39

43

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •AUGUST 13, 2016

WITH

MARKET PLACE

OMOLABAKE FASHOGBON 08033621009

L-R: Patrick Doyle, Nollywood Veteran Actor, Esele Odion, Market Digest Nigeria Magazine Publisher, Price Sunny Aku, Chairman, Royal Billonaire Luxury Lifestyle. Amanda Akah, Business Development Market Digest Nigeria Magazine

Winner of Call of Duty game, Obinna Akpen, FIFA 16 Soccer winner, Bamigbola Oluwadare and other winners at the techplus 2016 gaming finale at Eko Hotel, in Lagos recently

Shopity, New Online Fashion Store Debuts With a focus on fashion products, new online retail store, Shopity, has finally set out for business in the Nigeria’s e-commerce industry.

According to the 22-year-old founder of the retail store, Chimmie Ijezie, the new business has come to take care of the hassle associated with the traditional shopping system and provide consumers with opportunity to possess their desired fashion items, at a time they need it without

stress.

Ijezie explained, “We have built a solution that will treat users to an unforgettable experience through our amazing fashion products and accessories at affordable rates and premium quality. Our partnership with major fashion vendors and local fashion designers has made this possible. Customers do not need to worry about their sizes as we have introduced bespoke category that will enable them make their orders

Technologists Okay Max 3 for Nigerian Market

Who Is Huawei?

The much talked about Max 3 from fastselling mobile device brand, InnJoo, has finally hit the Nigerian market as it received multiple endorsements from tech experts and lovers.

The high-end device has been described as yet another disruption in the mobile phone segment that Nigerians would find useful in their personal and business lives, especially with its epic six -inch high definition (HD) screen.

Other rare features of the device are its fingerprint technology, a first time applied 2.5D diamond-cut glass ,a 4000mAh long-life battery which last 2 days on a normal usage and 19 hours phone call time on a single charge, high-powered dual cameras of 13MP at the back and 8MP in front, offering the best bet for selfie lovers as well as a rapid response quad core processor which offers users 0.35 seconds lightning fast unlock speed.

Speaking at the event that announced the device, chairman, Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, expressed confidence in the device output and enjoined phone lovers to go for it.

“Already, Technology Distribution (TD) had signed on InnJoo mobile phones and devices to market them in Nigeria, and this is because the new smart device comes with high quality standard that meets the needs of Nigerians at affordable rates. Most companies we brought to Nigeria have grown to become global leaders in their space. Such companies as Microsoft, HP, Apple and many others and InnJoo will soon join that line”, he said.

Former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe also gave his nod to the product, adding that smartphones would continue to drive mobile and internet connectivity in Nigeria.

President of InnJoo, Mr. Jack Lee who emphasised the uniqueness of the device noted that “Nigeria is the first African country where the product is launched and it is already generating huge excitement among tech savvy Nigerians who are anticipating the new offerings of the latest device”.

and have it customised and tailored to fit them at an affordable rate.

“This is the first time in Nigeria that one would be able to shop bespoke and have a cloth tailored to his size and preferences.

We are happy to have set the pace in this area and we will be investing over the next couple of years to take this to the next level and also introduce more categories like electronics, gadgets, groceries and lot more.”

10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Global Leading ICT Solutions Provider While you may not be aware of what the Huawei brand represents, it is a highly successful brand that has most likely affected your life at some point.

1. Yes, Huawei makes modems but they do a whole lot more!

2. The P9, Huawei’s flagship device has the best camera in the world. It should come as no surprise that Huawei is the maker of the sleek, high quality P9 with the groundbreaking dual lens camera. About half of Huawei staff are in research and development with centers in Germany, Sweden, the US, France, Italy, Russia, India, and China.

6. Huawei is the 3rd largest vendor of mobile phones globally with more than 27million units sold in 2015.

7. A training center was commissioned in 2004 in Abuja and can accommodate 2000+ trainees every year.

8. Huawei is the maker of the Nexus 6p, a phone that was widely acclaimed to be the best android phone in 2015. They partnered with google to make the highly successful 6p.

3. The Huawei brand is present in more than 170 countries.

4. Huawei is the Number 1 supplier in Nigeria’s telecoms market with over 60% market share.

9. Huawei was awarded ‘European Consumer Smartphone 2015 - 2016’ for the Huawei P8.

5. Huawei is a Fortune Global 500 com pany. It is number 129 a long wayfrom 228 last year - no mean feat.

Listed among firms like BMW, Nestlé and Pfizer – Huawei is no doubt a global brand.

10. The Huawei brand has far reaching tentacles ranging from mobile phones to modems to cloud services. Huawei also makes technology to improve the technological experience of drivers on the road by developing connected car technology.

The young innovator identified with the rising trends in online shopping which to him was more convenient for shoppers as well as pushing for a cashless society.

“Shopity.com.ng has come to change the landscape of online business in Nigeria and it promises to offer a unique experience for consumers”, he pointed.

Essentially, the firm concentrates more on men and women’s wears, shoes, bags, beauty products and accessories.

Alcatel Takes Products on Roadshow As part of efforts to call attention to its wide range of products in the market, Information and Communications Technology ( ICT), firm has embarked on a month- long road show to gain stronger stand in the Nigerian market.

The company will be visiting a host of Information Communication Technology (ICT) Markets, shopping complexes and tertiary institutions across the South-West and South-South parts of the country to showcase the full range of its affordable devices to consumers.

Regional Director of Alcatel Nigeria and Central Africa, Nick Imudia explained that the idea behind the road show was to enable consumers have a close feel of their varieties.

“At Alcatel, we take pride in the fact that we’ve reduced the price points for premium products. Our devices are stylishly designed and packed with premium features but come very affordable. We want to give Nigerians the opportunity to experience the rich features of our product line up which is why we are taking it to them in their own spaces.

“The Alcatel range has something for everyone from entry-level to premium devices but we go one step further by giving more than the standard features at every level. At a time like this, consumers want real value for money and this is guaranteed with our brand.”

The Alcatel roadshow kicked off in Lagos last week with product experiences and activations at the Ikeja Computer Village and will move to neighbouring Ogun and Oyo States.

Other Alcatel teams will be covering Edo, Delta and Rivers states while a third team will cover Abia, Akwa-Ibom and Cross River states in the first phase of the roadshow.

The second phase will cover the remaining parts of South East and the Middle Belt.

44

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

The Niger Delta Crusaders, Muslim Pilgrims and the United States of Nigeria Femi Fani-Kayode “If Boko Haram kills Christians and burns churches, we will slay Muslims and raze down mosques. We want to warn them that we, the Niger Delta youths, in this 21st century will not accept the killing of innocent Christians or the burning of churches. That if they try it in the north or any part of Nigeria, we the Niger Delta youths will not see any Muslim or mosque in the Niger Delta”- Niger Delta Revolutionary Crusaders, Vanguard Newspaper, 5th August, 2016.

Iam ch has finally seen the light and has denounced the Buhari regime.

I

t is no longer news that the new leader of Boko Haram, Mr. Abu Musa Al Barnawi, who apparently has the backing of ISIS, has said that he will target only Christians and burn down all the Churches in the country. He has also said that Muslims and mosques will no longer be targeted and that Mr. Abubakar Shekau, the erstwhile leader and principal voice of the terror group, was no longer the leader.

Mr. Shekau has responded by saying that he would continue to slaughter whoever he pleases and that he remains the authentic leader. There appears to be a very serious rift in the ranks of Boko Haram which is good news. As far as I am concerned the two factions can do us all a favour by destroying one another and burning in hell. Anyone that targets Christians and Churches, or indeed any innocent civilians for slaughter, is not worthy of life. They are nothing but vermin and, like the cockroaches that they are, they must be crushed.

Mr. Shekau is evil but Mr. Al Barnawi is even worse: he is the devil incarnate. He represents ISIS and we all know what that means. Whichever way we look at it and whatever is going on within the ranks of Boko Haram, we must not lose sight of the bigger picture. And that bigger picture points to one thing: Nigeria is in a mess.

Quite apart from the poverty and hardship that has afflicted the land coupled with the total destruction of the economy and quite apart from the shattering of peoples’ dreams and the drastic reduction in their standard of living by the ineffectual and barren fiscal and economic policies of an inept and incompetent government, our President did not stop there.

He also went as far as to appoint as his Minister of Sports a man who is clearly (to use Donald Trump’s words about Hilary Clinton) “unbalanced and unhinged”. This is a man that can barely speak English and who, during the week of the Olympics, publicly referred to our country as “the United States of Nigeria” whilst reprimanding our Olympic football team for getting stuck in America and arriving late in Brazil.

Solomon Dalung Someone should tell Solomon Dalung that it was his job to get our boys to Rio De Janeiro on time and that it was something of a scandal and a national embarrassment that it took the last minute intervention and assistance of Delta Air, a private American airline, to get them there in time for their match with Japan.

Whilst our boys did us proud by going on to defeat Japan and later Sweden, the video of the Minister disparaging them and spouting nonsense about some fictitious and imaginary country called ‘the United States of Nigeria’ whilst wearing his ridiculous red beret went viral on the internet. A fool goes by no other name. In normal climes, the Minister would have been forced to resign the following day and he would have been compelled to apologise to the nation that he is purportedly serving for forgetting its name. Sadly though, there is nothing that is “normal” about Nigeria or the Buhari administration.

Equally abysmal was the recent outing of Babatunde Fashola, President Buhari’s “super Minister” of Power, Works and Housing, on BBC TV’s Hardtalk. Before millions of viewers from all over the world, the Minister told his host Mr. Stephen Sackhur a shameless and pernicious lie by claiming that he never promised Nigerians an increase in power generation and supply. It is his inability to be forthright, to appreciate the virtues of telling the truth and to keep his election promises that has earned my aburo, Tunde Fashola the nickname of Minister of Darkness.

Since he was appointed ‘super Minister’ the power generation in our country has dropped from 5000 megawatts at the time when President Jonathan left office just over a year ago to under 2000 megawatts today.

Worst still, he has not managed to construct or complete the refurbishment of a single road. Yet it is not the crippled economy, the

erring and dim-witted Minister of Sports, the intellectually dishonest and lying Minister of Power, Works and Housing or any of the other numerous foibles of the Buhari administration that gives us the most concern today.

It is rather, the gradual and systematic generation and invocation of a frightful and cataclysmic atmosphere of war and the looming threat and increasing likelihood of a great and violent ethnic and religious conflict, the likes of which Africa has never seen before. If it is not Boko Haram that is slaughtering our people, it is the Fulani herdsmen. Worse still, they are doing these despicable things with the active connivance and support of a few people that are in the corridors of power today whose objective is to Islamise our nation, plunge us into a fiery abyss and create chaos.

The bible says ‘there is no fellowship between light and darkness’. We have said it before and we will say it again: we must restructure Nigeria before it is too late. If we fail to do so we will have no choice but to reconsider our so-called unity. We can’t afford to wait any longer because we are playing with fire and we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder. We must attempt to do whatever needs to be done peacefully and we must not allow the butchers and those that kill in the name of their god to provoke us into another civil war.

Nothing represents the danger of the war that is looming more than the response of the Niger Delta Revolutionary Crusaders (an affliate of the Niger Delta Avengers) to Al Barnawi’s threat. They responded by saying that if Christians and Churches are targeted by Boko Haram, they will kill all the Muslims in the Niger Delta area and they will burn down all the mosques. It is a simple case of “action” and “reaction” and I sincerely hope that those that are used to killing others and not being killed themselves take them seriously.

Clearly, we are living in dangerous times and I sincerely hope that those that brought religion into our politics in 2015 and that used Islam and the Boko Haram offensive as a political tool against a southern Christian President are seeing the fruits of their labour.

When you invoke the proverbial genie and let it out of the kettle you must be prepared to live with the consequences and whatever follows.

Yet, the folly does not stop there. As if our sensibilities were not already sufficiently provoked, President Buhari took the religious dance to yet another level last week by directing the Central Bank of Nigeria to sell foreign exchange to Muslim pilgrims that were on their way to Saudi Arabia for hajj at 197 naira to 1 USD. This whilst everyone else, including students, manufacturers, businessmen, Christian pilgrims, the ailing and holiday-makers, must continue to buy at 400 naira to 1 USD. And all this in a

country that is not only impoverished and whose people are suffering from the worst economic hardship and poverty crunch since independence but also one that is meant to be a secular state.

Such is the national outrage that President Buhari’s forex concession to his Muslim brothers and sisters has provoked that a well-known political commentator and activist Mr. Paul Achalla wrote the following on his Facebook wall on August 5th: “N410 to $1 for business, education, entrepreneurship, food processing, manufacturing, etc. and N197 to $1 for pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia?!!!”

If it is not the Sultan of Sokoto declaring public holidays, it is the President giving subsidised rates of foreign exchange and preferential treatment to members of his own religious faith. If it is not that he is leading our country into a sinister and dangerous military coalition of Sunni Muslim nations, it is that he is holding conferences in Abuja with foreign Muslim clerics whose stated objective is to “spread sharia throughout Nigeria” and Islamise our country. If it is not the Sultan of Sokoto declaring public holidays, it is the President giving subsidised rates of foreign exchange and preferential treatment to members of his own religious faith. If it is not that he is leading our country into a sinister and dangerous military coalition of Sunni Muslim nations, it is that he is holding conferences in Abuja with foreign Muslim clerics whose stated objective is to “spread sharia throughout Nigeria” and Islamise our country. Worst still, virtually all his Service Chiefs and principal commanders in his Armed Forces together with his National Security Advisor, his Minister of Defence, his Minister of Internal Affairs, his Inspector General of Police, his Chief of Defence Intelligence, his Director General of State Security, his Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, his Commander of the National Civil Defence Corps, his Comptroller General of Customs, his Comptroller General of Immigration, his Comptroller General of Prisons and ALL his other security, para-security and intelligence agencies, bar one, are northern Muslims.

Can there be any greater form of corruption, abuse of power, injustice and betrayal of trust than this? Does this not prove the fact that our country is in dire need of restructuring? .To be continued. Worst still, virtually all his Service Chiefs and principal commanders in his Armed Forces together with his National Security Advisor, his Minister of Defence, his Minister of Internal Affairs, his Inspector General of Police, his Chief of Defence Intelligence, his Director General of State Security, his Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, his Commander of the National Civil Defence Corps, his Comptroller General of Customs, his Comptroller General of Immigration, his Comptroller General of Prisons and ALL his other security, parasecurity and intelligence agencies, bar one, are northern Muslims.

Beyond Anti-graft War: Nigeria Needs Good Governance – Ex-CBAAC Boss Nduka Uzuakpundu

N

igeria is, currently, not being governed. She’s more of a vessel rudderless on a journey in an uncharted, restless and howling brine. But the present cluster of political and economic crises should be seen as a distress signal to President Muhammadu Buhari and his antigraft team; that all is far from well. The crises should serve as a wake-up call for Abuja to act fast before the country slides – perhaps, almost hopelessly, as she did, in the late ’80s and early ’90s, when the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the Babangida era, harsh and crippling, as it was, reigned supreme – into a recession.

These were the views expressed by a former Director General of Centre for Black Art and African Civilisation (CBAAC), and currently, lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Lagos, Akoka, Professor ’Tunde Babawale. The fear of a recession

– with its attendant dislocation of economic activities, which may, inevitably, trigger off a well- sustained, nationwide turmoil, said Babawale – is fast finding frightening expressions in weak indices of development and workers’ weal: south-bound income, north-bound inflation, Daura-bound unemployment, north-bound insecurity; south-bound value of the Naira – compared to the American dollar, the euro, the British pound; indices that are, put tersely, Niger delta-bound.

The situation is so appalling that, as Babawale observed, it’s having a telling effect on the average Nigerian family.

“There’s an ugly trend now that family ties are being strained – amidst policies that tend to impoverish Nigerian consumers and taxpayers. Where inflation in about 20 percent – for the first time in three decades – there’s a steep fall or stagnation in the value of worker’s salary, to the extent that it cannot neutralise the adverse effect of north-bound cost of living,” he said.

And yet, he wondered for how long

the country would wallow in this state of distress. One way out, he offered, was to slash, considerably, the salary of members of the National Assembly. Their gargantuan salary, which makes them the highest paid in the world, is no longer sustainable – given the current economic crunch. That – in nearly two decades of the Fourth Republic, the members of the National Assembly have, constantly, consumed about 25 per cent of the nation’s budget – has been an unrelieved accessory to the impoverishment of a majority: a once-ominously silent majority of industrious, Nigerian workers and taxpayers, who are, now, seething, openly, with discontent.

That – a salary of more than N20million per month, collected by each member of the National Assembly, compared to a drop in the ocean, that is the average, national salary of N20,000.00 – is morally indefensible. The salary slash, about which Babawale spoke, in a recent chat, should, as well, be extended to Councillors, Governors, Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Directors, Deputy

Directors, and Assistant Directors in Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Ministers, etc.

Such a salary reduction – affecting Security and Constituency Votes of Governors and legislators, respectively, as well – could be effected via negotiations and exhortation for sacrifice on the part of those who’d be affected – if only to save the Fourth Republic from the current haemorrhage, which was not the honest intent of voters, when they ushered the Buhari administration in.

In keeping with the Change mantra of the Buhari administration, Babawale posited that it was high time the affairs of the National Assembly – the serious business of making laws for the country – was made a part-time affair, which would be managed by seasoned technocrats: individuals who’re versed in legislative affairs, public administration, policy implementation, economic development etc.

Read full article online: www.thisdaylive.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

45

PERSPECTIVE

Why Joe Igbokwe’s Self-enslavement Should Worry Ndigbo Jude Ndukwe

I

n his well published diatribe against the Igbo people of Nigeria titled “Igbo ethnic bigotry and hate campaign worry me,”, Joe Igbokwe, the Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Lagos State chapter, who is also a son of Igbo, poured invectives on the Igbo nation while making spurious allegations against them.

For those who know Igbokwe’s leanings and past stance on national issues, his latest scurrilous attack on great people of the south-eastern part of Nigeria did not come as a surprise. The only surprising thing is that this latest attack seem to come somehow awkwardly late and too far apart given the man’s relentless and unrepentant penchant for always attempting to ridicule Nigeria’s most resilient and enterprising people in an essay full of contradictions, lame postulations and outright insults.

His grouse is that, according to him, the Igbo have refused to move on since after former president Jonathan lost the last presidential election to the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari. In one fell swoop, he accused the Igbo of ethnic bigotry and still went ahead to wonder why it is that the people of the South South region have since moved on while their South Eastern brothers have refused to move on from that election.

If the Igbo were ethnic bigots, how would they be so concerned about the loss of a Bayelsa man in an election to the extent that a certain Joe Igbokwe is riled by their stoic and unwavering support to such a man even more than a year after his loss?

Rather than paint the Igbo in such uncomplimentary, yet, false light, Joe should turn his focus on his principals and paymasters who are working tirelessly to continually divide Nigeria along ethnic and religious lines.

When the president of a country has officially divided his nation into two political, ethnic and religious lines by the virtue of the “97% vs 5%” declaration of no person less than the president himself, the Igbo view him as one who does not mean well for the nation.

In this light, the Igbo view Jonathan as a hero because, even though he is not Igbo, he would never have made such a divisive and unpresidential statement not to talk of acting it out. And as if to prove that declaration as an official policy of his, President Buhari’s appointments have not been federal either in character or in intent. To this extent, the Igbo view themselves as endangered species in a nation that easily preaches one Nigeria but state actors do the exact opposite.

The president’s continued seclusion of certain parts of the country from State offices and projects, if there is anyone at all, is what is crippling Nigeria. The cry of the Igbo, which the likes of Igbokwe have misinterpreted to serve their own selfish purpose, is that Buhari should not crash the nation with his own hands.

Late Ojukwu

If anyone sees this as ethnic bigotry, the person has urgent need for an optician and a psychiatrist! With the level of poverty visited on us in Nigeria by the Buhari administration, it is enough to make people like Igbokwe spew nonsense in the name of criticism, and also makes it imperative for regular brain checks to be part of such people’s daily menu.

When armless and harmless Igbo embark on peaceful rallies and the military shoot at them without provocation, killing many in the process, not once, not twice, and hurriedly bury them in mass shallow graves in military barracks and elsewhere in order to cover their evil, Joe Igbokwe expects Ndigbo to applaud rather than criticize state actors for their wickedness and insensitivity.

Enough is enough! What is not good is not good no matter those involved even if they are Igbo. It is high time we started calling a spade by its name.

When about a thousand defenceless and helpless core northerners including women and children were shot at and killed by the same military in Zaria sometime in December 2015, and their leader, El Zakzaky wheeled in a barrow in a pool of his own blood, it is this same Igbo “ethnic bigots” who took up the fight and condemned that action of the military in its strongest terms.

The Igbo are not bigots, brother, they just believe that injustice and oppression of anyone anywhere is injustice to all. It is the Igbo that have condemned in the loudest voices the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu as much as they have done for Sambo Dasuki and Femi Fani-Kayode. That is not a trait of bigots!

It is this same Igbo that elected a Fulani man, Alhaji Umaru Altine, from the old Sokoto Province of the then Northern Nigeria as its first Mayor when Enugu was the capital of the then Eastern Nigeria. The

operative word here is “elected”. The man who was not only from Sokoto but also a scion of the Sokoto Caliphate, was elected by Igbo people to lead them not minding the fact that at that time, the Igbo were already established in academics, commerce, trade, politics etc and did not lack candidates to fill that position which Umaru Altine held from 1952 – 1958 without any rancour or disloyalty from his subjects.

Weekly Trust captures it this way: “Nigeria never fails to shock. This power to shock in a positive sense is embodied in the life and career of Umoru Altine, scion of the Sokoto Caliphate, who, on a record two occasions, became the Mayor of Enugu, which lies deep in Nigeria’s South East. He was the first ever Mayor of Enugu” (published on March 22, 2013).

It is also very instructive to note that this same excellent Mayor was a cattle rearer.

It was his cattle herding that took him to Enugu where he eventually settled and lived at then 39, Carter St, Ogui, and later at 1&3, Hassan Lane, Uwani both in Enugu. (When Fulani herdsmen prove good neighbous, the Igbo do not mind elevating them to exalted positions even in their own land but when these same Fulani herdsmen turn killers of their hosts, the Igbo would not hesitate to put their foot down!)

Altine contested one of his elections against a South South “brother”, D.T. Inyang, whom he defeated by 117 to 53 votes while he was returned unopposed at the next election.

These facts are instructive as they prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Igbo are not parochial, hateful or bigot as some, even brothers want others to believe. If they voted for Altine and against Inyang then, and today, they vote for Jonathan against Buhari, it is not because of where they come from but because of records and perceived future performances of the two major contestants in the last election. To the Igbo, it does not matter where you come from, if you are good, you are good!

I do not want to condescend to the arena of who wears what and eats what. But it is a well known fact that while the Igbo man/woman has no qualms at all wearing an agbada, babariga, aso oke etc, how many non-Igbo wear the Isi agu except for campaign purposes?

According to Igbokwe, “If Mrs. Eunice Elisha had been an Igbo hell would have been let loose” (Mrs Eunice Olawale Elisha was the woman-evangelist recently killed in Kubwa area of Abuja by suspected religious extremists). Well, I do not know if Igbokwe is aware of what is happening in Dallas Texas, USA over the alleged racist killing of black people by white police officers? I have not seen any Igbo carry arms in protest or anyone marching at all for Mrs Elisha. What I know is that, like many other reasonable Nigerians, the Igbo have joined in the condemnation of that dastardly act and will continue to do so even if it is Buhari, Tinubu or Joe Igbokwe’s immediate relation that is a victim.

The notion that “the Igbo would have let hell loose” is only the figment of Joe’s imagination. When the incident of Mrs Bridget Agbaheme, the 75 years old Igbo woman that was recently stoned to death in a most barbaric manner in a Kano market happened, what hell did the Igbo let loose?

When Fulani herdsmen invaded Enugu recently and killed scores of people in a manner that elicited international outcry, what hell did the Igbo let loose? The Igbo shouted, cried and condemned that which was condemnable even if it was done in the strongest of terms. That was understandable given the prior unhindered rampage of the herdsmen in other parts of the country.

This unwholesome exaggeration of Igbo’s resilience to oppression, subjugation and injustice can only be from people whose livelihood is based on sophistry.

No other ethnic group in Nigeria has suffered human, political and economic loss in Nigeria than the Igbo, yet, the only weapon the Igbo unleash on their oppressors is their ability to speak up and out. And in doing this, they are visited with tears, sorrows and blood by the authorities just for speaking and using their vote as they see fit.

Contrary to Igbokwe’s assertion, we are all aware of how our Yoruba brothers held the nation hostage in the aftermath of the annulment of June 12 presidential election.

We are aware of how the nation was brought to its knees using the media including Radio Kuburat (an equivalent of today’s Radio Biafra), industrial actions including crippling ones led by NUPENG and PENGASSAN as headed by Frank Kokori then, NADECO, demonstrations including pockets of violent ones, to the extent that non-indigenes became so afraid of an impending war that they had to leave the South West in what was known as oso Abiola!

Just like the Igbo, the Yoruba also hate injustice; they can fight against it with their lives only that this time, a majority of them have been trapped, quietly and subtly ruing their political miscalculation in the last general elections. Despite this fact, a good number of them are still fighting, fighting for justice, equity and the rule of law. Among them are Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, Femi Fani-Kayode (former Minister of Aviation), Yinka Odumakin (National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere) etc.

The Igbo attitude to issues and politics has been aptly defined by Woodrow Wilson who said “I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately triumph than triumph in a cause that will ultimately fail”. The choice is yours, the Igbo have made theirs.

Finally, nobody is saying Joe “Omosonu” Igbokwe (Omosonu in Yoruba meaning a lost child) should not eat but while eating the crumbs that fall from his paymasters’ tables, let him not point to his roots with his left hand; an Igbo proverb says only a foolish child does so.

–jrndukwe@yahoo.co.uk; Twitter: @ stjudendukwe

POLITY

NEXAG Calls on FG for SME-Friendly Policies to Aid Exportation

T

he NACCIMA Export Action Group, NEXAG has called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency evolve policies that would help the SME segment impact more positively on the economy through international trade.

In a communique issued at the end of the group’s recent meeting at the NACCIMA House, Ikeja GRA, it demanded that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN should revisit the restriction of the usage of non-oil and export proceeds as well as the suspension of the current Export Expansion Grant, EEG, among other things so as to make the operating environment

more SME friendly.

Chairman, NACCIMA Export Action Group, Ade Adefeko said it had become imperative for the CBN to revisit the policy on restriction of non-oil export and export proceeds because “the policy has negatively affected most SMEs, particularly indigenous exporters.”

He wondered why the EEG grant should remain under suspension at a time the Nigerian economy is in dire need of other sources of boosting earnings from international trade with oil prices turning things against her economy. “The suspension of the Export Expansion Grant, EEG has limited the growth of non-oil export and as such, we are calling on the Federal

Government to lift this suspension as a matter of urgency,” he said.

Other areas that NEXAG wants the Federal Government to look into urgently to help the SME segment make more positive impact on the economy, include compelling “the Nigerian Custom Service to accept Negotiable Duty Credit Certificate, NDCC as issued by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC for duty payments and accepting the NDCC for payment of other government revenues,” according to the communique.

The Group wants to see the CBN and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, NEXIM cooperate with the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry,

Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA to make access to fund easier for SMEs particularly with the N300bn non-oil intervention fund already set aside by the government.

According to Adefeko “the CBN should simplify the procedure in such a way that the fund will be accessible by exporters, particularly those in the SME segment without being exposed to the intrigues and rigours of the commercial banks.”

The NEXAG would also want to see that SMEs able to access loans under the intervention fund to be allowed to repay with the NDCC as issued by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC.

47

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

RIGHT OF REPLY

Ogah: Eze Chikamnayo and Denigration of Judicial Sanctity

By Peter Agba Kalu

T

he question on the lips of concerned citizens of this country is this: should the judiciary allow and exacerbate the balkanisation of her respect, secret, sanctity and standards? Can there not be new and more stringent ways to punish the “snakes”, “vultures”, and “dogs” that are out to destroy this noble institution? Why should the judiciary allow Chikamnayo to sit in judgment on Ogar in a case still pending in court? And he wasted no time in pronouncing Ogah guilty; and even had the effrontery to call a press conference to announce his own “judgment”. Why are they folding their hands and allowing “brothel keepers” to disrespect the very institution we hold in high esteem? Did Ogah make a mistake in approaching the court? To ignore Eze Chikamnayo’s utterances is to give green light to individuals to run riot over cases in court. If Chikamnayo is a lawyer sharing his legal opinion, it would be understandable. But he’s not and he is everywhere abusing Ogah and the judiciary over a case that is still pending in court.

Since the Abia State governorship tussle between Okezie Ikpeazu and Uche Ogah started, it appears heaven was let loose with all manner of unfair judicial comments on a matter squarely before courts of competent jurisdiction.

We have seen and read all manner of opinions, viz. legal, “illegal”, and political.

The article published by Eze Chikamnayo on Monday August 8, 2016 titled, ‘God has used Abia Crisis to Expose Ogah’ should have been ignored by all, as the writer succeeded while trying to attack Ogah, in exposing his ignorance of the law which cannot be an excuse in Nigeria and at the same time confirmed that his master, Okezie Ikpeazu, submitted tax documents to INEC on oath that are questionable. This rejoinder became necessary to set the record straight so that some people would not rely on the false information of the writer as gospel.

For the record, here is the true position of things as narrated by Barrister Ubani who is representing Ogah in court. Masters Energy Oil and Gas Ltd, Uche Ogah’s company, had a business relationship with one Mrs. Bridget Adeosun. She had an allocation to import petroleum into the country but had no financial capacity to carry out the business. She approached Masters Energy to buy her allocation and they told her that they had enough allocation and did not need any such allocation but she begged and cried raising all manner of sentiments, including pleading poverty, suffering and lack of financial assistance as her husband was incapable due to ill health. Shortly thereafter, the husband died and she pleaded with Ogah, who in his characteristic manner gave her the sum of about N5million to enable her bury her husband. After the burial, she came back pleading again and if you know the character of Uche Ogah, you will understand why her proposal to sell her allocation to Masters Energy was accepted and a Memorandum of Understanding was executed including Account Opening Documents in the bank wherein signatories were

Ogah appointed to the knowledge of all parties to the transaction. She was given the full sum of the purchase price by cheque and she signed personally as having received the full sum for the sale of the allocation. She cashed her money (we have all the evidence yet Chikamnayo claimed we have only photocopies because it was all forged). Masters Energy carried out the importation and incurred a loss in the transaction, but that was no longer the business of the seller as she was not liable for the profit or loss of the business. Later on, Masters Energy applied for dollar differentials to the Debt Management Office of the Federation and they agreed to pay the sum of about N51 million.

Since the cheque would be written in the company’s name of Mrs. Adeosun as NNPC does not recognise third party payment (NNPC deals only with the name of the company that initially secured the allocation), Mrs. Adeosun developed interest in the N51million differentials and applied to UBA which has the account of the transaction to be an ‘A’ signatory in order to withdraw the money whenever it was paid into the bank. Masters Energy got wind of the fraudulent move and took steps to block it. Part of the measures they took was writing to the Debt Management Office not to issue the cheque in the name of the company of the woman and they also went to a Federal High Court Abuja and got an interlocutory order that the said sum should not be paid into the account of the woman’s company but that the sum should be paid into an interest yielding account of the court pending the final determination of the suit as to who owns the money. That move got Mrs. Adeosun mad and that coincided with the time Ogah was seeking for elective office in Abia State. Aided by Ogah’s political opponents, Mrs. Adeosun took a pure civil transaction to the police alleging that all the documents she signed for the transaction were all forged. She went to about five police formations in

officials in a matter between Mrs. Adeosun, a Yoruba woman, and Masters Energy, a company owned by Dr Ogah?

On the issue of forgery, Eze Chikamnayo goofed by saying that Ogah’s case has nothing to do with uncovering forgery. For the avoidance of doubt and clarity of purpose, Ogah’s case has to do with false information to INEC on oath contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act which makes such a deposition an electoral offence. Before you swear to an oath about documents you are submitting to INEC and/or your party for the purpose of election, it is mandatory for you to examine and re-examine them to make sure they are correct. Once submitted, you cannot turnaround to plead mistake whether by you and /or any person(s) for that matter. Needless to pass the buck to the government that issued the tax clearance certificate. After all, any beneficiary of such a document as in this case, knowing the importance in the eyes of the Electoral Law has to “shine his eye” and if not satisfied, can even reject it. Is Chikamnayo trying to tell us that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu intentionally collected irregular tax certificate from the government so that he can rely on the “Doctrine of Irregularity” for defence? It is laughable for Chikamnayo the country over this allegation and at to submit that the Federal High Court each formation, she was told that the ought to have invited the Abia State matter was purely civil and has no iota Board of Inland Revenue to address of criminal intent or act. But buoyed by the court. What then, one may ask is the money Abia State government was the duty of the lawyers that stood for dishing out generously and spending on Okezie in the case? If the lawyers on the all the police formations, she persisted side of Ikpeazu had deemed it necessary to the end. Police got tired and finally to invite the Board of Internal Revenue charged the matter to court with no in proving their case, nothing could single evidence that Ogar committed have stopped them from doing so. So any crime. if Justice Mbang, on the strength of the When the matter came up for the facts and the evidence before him gave first time in court, Dr. Ogah pleaded his verdict, who then is Chikamnayo not guilty as there was no criminal to fault the means he chose to arrive at intent or act in a matter that was a pure that verdict? civil transaction in which greed had It is also very infantile for Chikamenveloped Mrs. Adeosun who claimed nayo to say that Ogah wants to to be a pastor. As we waited for her to become the governor so that he can get prove her case in the court of law, Eze immunity. For the many years he has Chikamnayo invaded the public space been in business and even now, there is and started finding Ogah and judges no established case against him in any guilty through press conferences and court of competent jurisdiction that can distorted Facebook posts. When the affect him to the extent of rushing to get matter was adjourned for mention and immunity. As a matter of fact, it is not on the said date, unfortunately, the mag- a crime to aspire to become a governor istrate was indisposed, Eze Chikamnayo especially for a man who has done a and the Okezie media team once more lot for his people and whose name is a invaded the public space and indicted household name to the downtrodden the judiciary of having taken slush people earnestly looking for a genuine funds from Ogah to postpone hearing, change in their God’s own land. I want not even judgment, till 26th October, to to remind Chikamnayo that it was only enable Ogah win his cases in court and Masters Energy filling stations that be covered by immunity. maintained the price of N50 for keroThe same Eze Chikamnayo who sene in the entire state for many months jumped into APC immediately after the when other filling stations made huge last election is the author of the twin profits by selling their stocked kerosene allegations that Ogah is using the APC products then above the government to win his case, and that Ogah is now regulated price. a member of the APC. This is very What the Abians need now is a goverabsurd and cheap talk, to say the least. nor who can bring about the muchAs his media aide, I want to assure needed change in Abia State. Who the good people of Abia and Ndi Igbo would not like good roads, provision of that love this dynamic young man that other infrastructure, regular payment of Ogah is a member of the PDP and workers’ salaries, employment of youths will remain there till the end of time and graduates roaming the streets? All whether his distractors like it or not. He these are little things to Uche Ogah is not going anywhere as he has refused considering his wealth of experience a long time ago to leave the PDP. Not in managing resources as a big private then and not now! sector player.

The reasonable question any discerning Abian should be asking is what is –Peter Agba Kalu is the Media Aide the business of Abia State government to Uche Ogah

48

EVENTS

T H I S D AY, T H E S AT U R D AY N E W S PA P E R • AUGUST 13, 2016

M

rs OmololaAdeyemi-Omotoso recently celebrated her 40th birthday with family and friends at Diamond Banqueting Suite, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. Here is a crosssection of guests at the ceremony. Photos: Helen Eniola-Olaitan L-R: Omolola and her husband, Dr. Lanre Omotosho

L-R: Rev. Dr. Olabisi Adeyemo and his wife

L-R: Wale Abayomi and Barrister Femi Adeyemo

L-R: Ms Adeola Deji-Oluwa, Ms Funmi Balogun and Ms Damilola Oyesanmi

L-R: Dr. Segun Adetunji and his wife,Tola

L-R: Joy Chukwuma and Ruth Imo

L-R: Ms. Toyin Oluyemi and Kansola

L-R: Mr. Olumide Olusanya and his wife, Bunmi

L-R: Mr. Adeyemo and his wife,Tayo

50

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

BUSINESS ANALYSIS

Leveraging Africa-China Ties to Drive Nigeria’s Economic Growth

Eromosele Abiodun writes that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Standard Bank-Stanbic IBTC partnership will help Nigeria take advantage of the burgeoning links between China and Africa for its economic growth

T

here is no doubt that the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, must have a breather now. This is because for almost 12 months, as President Muhammadu Buhari stridently resisted clamours, both from home and abroad, to devalue the naira, Mrs. Adeosun was left with the thorny task of calming the markets, unsettled by foreign exchange shortages and ambiguous policies. In the aftermath, the economy contracted by 0.36 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 as it seemingly steadily headed towards recession.

Shortly after President Buhari gave hint of a ‘flexible’ approach, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced a new flexible exchange rate policy that would be determined by the interplay of market forces.

Emefiele had while announcing the policy said: “The foreign exchange market framework is now ready. The MPC voted unanimously to adopt greater flexibility in exchange rate policy to restore the automatic adjustment properties of the exchange rate. Consequently, all nine members voted to hold and introduce greater flexibility in managing the foreign exchange rate.

“Came to the conclusion that although the balance of risks remains tilted against growth; previous decisions need time to crystalise. Consequently, in a period of stagflation (price rising continuously without corresponding increase in jobs), the policy options are very limited. To avoid complicating the conditions, the Committee decided on the least risky option to hold.”

The least risky option, he said, was the adoption of a flexible foreign exchange rate. However, the CBN “would retain a small window for funding critical transactions. Details of operation of the market would be released by the CBN in a few days time”, the CBN governor said.

“Critical transactions,” according to the him, include foreign and local investments in manufacturing and importation of equipment purely for basic raw materials with very low altitude call content.”

Commenting on the state of the economy, which Emefiele warned was heading towards recession, the CBN governor lamented that “headline inflation spiked in April 2016, far above the upper limit of the policy reference band”. “Inflation has continued to be driven mainly by supply side factors, such as fuel scarcity, increase in tariff and deterioration in electricity supply, increase in the price of petrol, higher input costs as a result of scarcity of foreign exchange, persistent security challenges and exchange rate pass-through to domestic prices of import.”

The Committee, in July 2015, had hinted on the possibility of a recession, unless complementary measures were taken by the monetary and fiscal authorities.

Unfortunately, Emefiele said, “the delayed passage of the 2016 budget constrained the much-desired fiscal stimulus, thus edging the economy towards contractionary output”.

As a stopgap measure, the Central Bank, he said, had continued to deploy all the instruments within its control in the hope of keeping the economy afloat.

“The actions, however, proved insufficient to fully avert the impending economic contraction. With some of the conditions that led to the contraction in Q1, 2016 still largely unresolved, the weak outlook for growth which was signalled in July 2015 could extend to Q2.

“Policy actions have to be predicated on a less optimistic outlook for the economy in the short term, given that, even after the delayed budgetary passage in May 2016, the initial monetary injection approved by the Federal Government may not impact the economy soon, as the processes involved in MDAs finalising procurement contracts before the disbursement of funds may further delay the much-needed financial stimulus to restart growth”, Emefiele said.

While the MPC believed that the recent

Standard Bank Headquarters, South Africa

deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum sector was in the right direction and would lead to increased supply, members of the committee noted that “the pass-through effect of prices to other products has to be factored in policy considerations.

“Mindful of the limitations of monetary policy in influencing structural imbalances in the economy, the Committee stressed the need for policy coordination with the fiscal authorities in order to effectively address the identified pressure points.”

Given the current limited policy space, Emefiele said it had become “imperative to balance stability with growth stance while working on options that, in the short term, are certain to isolate seasonal and transient factors fuelling the current price spiral.”

Impact of New Policy Since the policy guidelines were released on June 15, some measure of stability has returned to the system while investor confidence is gradually picking up.

Prior to introduction of the new exchange policy, Nigeria had entered a currency swap deal with China, a move that was expected to reduce the demand for dollars as Nigeria’s import bills from China would be denominated in the Chinese Yuan. Given the huge volume of trade between the two countries, experts had predicted that the swap agreement would help to shore up the naira considerably, even if in the short term.On the other hand, as the swap deal was essentially entered between CBN and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest bank, a strategic partnership with immense resources and expertise to impact Nigeria’s economy was already afoot. ICBC owns a 20 per cent stake in the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest financial institution by assets and earnings, which in turn holds majority shareholding in Nigeria’s Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. Only recently, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, on behalf of Nigeria, signed MoUs valued at over $80 billion in new investments with some Chinese businesses. The bulk of the investment will be ploughed into Nigeria’s pivotal oil and gas industry, to bridge the infrastructure funding gaps in the oil and gas sector, according to Kachikwu.

More deals are expected to be consummated with the Chinese in the months ahead, said Kachikwu, as China-Africa ties have continued to broaden and mature, substantially altering the make-up of Africa’s political and economic milieu.

Since assumption of office, President Xi

Jing Ping has made Sino-Africa relationship one of the top priorities of his foreign policy, culminating in the signing of several partnership agreements to boost trade, investment and aid. In the last 15 years, China has emerged Africa’s main export market as well as its largest source of imports. The Asian giant accounts for approximately 20 per cent of imports from sub-Saharan Africa and about 15 per cent of its exports. Instructively, over 80 per cent of Chinese imports from Africa are mineral products.

China is the biggest global player in Africa, its interests focused on mining and oil. According to Dealogic, a financial markets platform, about 80 per cent of Chinese acquisitions in Africa were in the mining and oil sectors. Employing a mix of political and economic leverage, the country has established a remarkable presence in almost every African country. Overall, despite the global economic turbulence, economic ties between China and Africa continue to grow, focusing on finance, aid, health, education and trade.China has been at the centre of the re-calibration of Africa’s trade and investment trajectory at a time of global meltdown and the stuttering of the advanced economies.

Two ingredients, according to experts, have helped to re-enforce diplomatic and political rapport between Africa and China: the inflow of capital from policy banks and a decent timeframe to develop a two-way trust, in addition to a well-established commercial institutional know-how and infrastructure.

ICBC, Standard Bank Partnership With the burgeoning links between China and Africa having become quite diverse, like Africa itself, it requires players with the experience, expertise, reach and clout to help nourish the ties and sustain its momentum. The ICBC-Standard Bank-Stanbic IBTC partnership readily comes to mind. ICBC, within the context of a visionary financial organisation striving to proactively make inroads into emerging markets with vast untapped potential, readily sees huge opportunities and limitless partnerships in Africa, nay Nigeria. As the Standard Bank Group is development-focused, its combination with ICBC, which is also very focused on trade and infrastructure financing, creates a strategic synergy with enormous capacity to facilitate investment flows and access between Africa and China, with Nigeria at its epicentre.

Analysts and social commentators are agreed that Nigeria’s fundamental developmental dilemma is that of infrastructure. From power, which is barely existent, to transportation, which is still cumbersome, from mineral refin-

ing, which is still at the primary stage, to agricultural expansion, the tale is the same: underdevelopment.

China, on the other hand, has strategically developed considerable expertise in these areas while some of its institutions such as the ICBC have correspondingly amassed considerable expertise as well in the financing of such major projects. It is in this context that the recent Nigeria-China currency swap deal comes in as positive for Nigeria. Going beyond helping to stabilise the local currency, it is hoped that in the medium to long term, working in tandem with its partner, Stanbic IBTC, which itself has a distinguished pedigree in infrastructure financing, ICBC and Standard Bank will partner with the government at various levels to help guide Nigeria towards a new regime of rapid and massive infrastructure development.

“The power and infrastructure space for us is at the core of the Standard Bank Group’s business identity because it is synonymous with supporting resource extraction and the infrastructure that makes it happen. That has been the history of the bank’s business and the area where the bank has core competence,” said Abiodun Oni, Head of Power & Infrastructure at Stanbic IBTC Bank.

He added, “Another key value that we have is that we are also in a strategic partnership with ICBC of China. It has 20 per cent shareholding of the Standard Bank Group. For its involvement on the African continent, Standard Bank is its partner bank. We have seen that Nigeria is also gravitating towards the rest of the world particularly China in helping to support the infrastructure expansion in Nigeria. So, to that extent, we see that we also have roles to play in working with not only ICBC but other Chinese clients and other Chinese corporates that function in the Nigerian economy to continue to grow with the diversification initiative.”

It is expected that in years to come, the links and partnership between China via ICBC on one hand and Nigeria via Stanbic IBTC and its parent group Standard Bank on the other, will help to increasingly unveil trade and finance opportunities between both countries and empower institutions and individuals willing to play a role in what is potentially a very buoyant trade relation between two of the world’s evolving economies.

The renewed interest in Nigeria by global titans like ICBC, is positive and inspires hope that the outside world recognises Nigeria’s potential and that its massive economic potential will be aggressively and productively harnessed for the benefit of the majority of Nigerians.

51

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •AUGUST 13, 2016

WITH

MARITIME BITS

JOHN IWORI

08020609986

R-L: Customs Area Controller (CAC), Eastern Marine Command, Comptroller Usman Kankara Bello receiving a souvenir from the Brigade Commander, Second Amphibious Brigade, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Brigadier-General Hamisu Hassan when he paid him a courtesy call to solicit for synergy and co-operation between the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Army.

L-R: National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu and his wife, Stella flanking their son, Niyi shortly after Niyi’s graduation at North American University, Cotonou, Republic of Benin …recently

China Seeks Better Partnership with NCS The Peoples Republic of China has expressed her readiness to seek deeper partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Stakeholders in the maritime industry have averred that a collaboration between the world most populous nation and African most populous country is expected yield more benefits that would leverage on the existing bilateral ties both countries.

The Deputy Consulate General of China in Nigeria, Mr. Li Yong stated this in Lagos when he paid a courtesy call on the NCS Zonal Coordinator,

Zone ‘A’, Lagos, ACG Eporwei CB Edike.

In furtherance of this partnership, Yong who represented the Consulate General, requested for an interactive forum between the NCS and the People’s Republic of China in Nigeria to enable them have more knowledge on import and export laws and regulations.

The training, he said will improve their knowledge of Customs import and export laws and regulations and so reduced friction between the NCS and the Chinese traders in Nigeria.

Yong expressed his happiness over his meeting

Cleric Tasks Buhari on Governance As the economic policies of the Federal Government continue to impact negatively on the citizenry, a cleric, Archbishop Goddowell Avwomakpa has tasked President Muhammadu Buhari on good governance in the country.

Avwomakpa who is also the Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), South-south Zone and Chairman, Niger Delta Bishops Forum, enjoined Buhari to call for a national conference where the representatives of the various ethnic groups will come together to discuss the way forward to attain national unity, peace and progress.

According to the cleric, the suffering in the land is getting very worrisome especially with the destruction of farmlands by Fulani herdsmen and incessant killing of innocent citizens coupled with the horrible condition that majority of Nigerians now find themselves.

He argued that there was need for the various ethnic nationalities that make up the country to seat at a conference to discuss the way forward Avwomakpa noted that before now, majority of the citizens in rural areas-mainly farmers, artisans and unemployed young adults who voted for change based on President Buhari’s antecedent and campaign promises expected to see some manner of change one year after this government took over.

with NCS, pointing out that he was glad to meet the Zonal Coordinator and the management of Zone ‘A’.

According to him, he sincerely believed that the visit will deepen the relationship between the peoples of Republic of China and Nigeria.

The Zonal Coordinator in his response thanked the Deputy Consulate General for the visit and appreciated his effort in seeking for an interactive session to educate his people in Customs Import and Export laws and regulations.

“This will go a long way in trade facilitations

Maritime Training and Safety: NLNG Teams up with UK Academy

Seafarers Protest Proposed 50% Salary Cut

In a bid to ensure an efficient training and safety consciousness of its personnel, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural NG Limited (NLNG) has joined forces with a maritime training institution in the United Kingdom.

To this end, it has commissioned a manned model of its new dual fuel diesel electric (DFDE) vessels at Southampton Solent University’s Warsash Maritime Academy, Southampton.

The partnership is meant to contribute to the training and development of mariners across the globe.

The outgoing Managing Director and Chief Executive officer (CEO) of NLNG, Mr. Babs Omotowa who dropped the hint in a ceremony to kick off the programme said the introduction of the manned model was “a deliberate strategy to upscale NLNG’s world-class safety and operations records and achievements.”

NLNG General Manager, External Affairs, Mr. Kudo Eresia-Eke in a statement said the manned model will join other model used by Warsash Maritime Academy, a world leading marine technology and training academy, to provide training, consultancy and research to NLNG and help develop mariners in the art of handling a ship.

The models are tools of simulation and are built to the correct power to

Seafarers employed by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Ship management Limited (NSML), a subsidiary of the gas company has protested the proposed 50 per cent cut in salary.

The protest was in reaction to a mail sent to them by the company mandating all seafarers to sign and comply with the 50 per cent cut within seven days or risk losing their jobs.

The protesters called on government to intervene and put an end to what they called the “unjust proposed wage cut” as it does not meet up with the present economic situation of the country.

In a mail signed by Mr. Kennedy Agbonkhese, Crewing Manager, which was made available to journalists on behalf of the company, said seafarers are required to sign the copy of the wage cut letter within one week and the reduction was in view of the revised Bonny Gas Transport (BGT) wages rate to be implemented by all NSML Shipboard personnel.

Condemning the drastic salary slash which is expected to take effect soon and the manner at which they were informed, they alleged that seafarers of other nationalities within NSML were affected by only 20 per cent cut, which means giving them better consideration above indigenous staff.

They averred that the seafarers of other nationalities which include Indians, Pakistanis, Russians, Croatians, among others were also challenging the wage cut.

They argued that the proposed 50 per cent salary cut would subject them to earn far below their other counterparts in other companies.

One of the seafarers, Mr. Peter Tobori, argued that rather than salary cuts, they deserved an upward wage review which the company has failed to live up to its mandate since its inception in 2009.

Tobori alleged that efforts to dialogue with top management of NSML on Tuesday, ended at a deadlock as the company is determined to lay them off and employ cheap third-world officers.

According to him, the move if allowed to stay would kill the dream to achieving the Nigerianization plan committed to ensure that Nigerian seafarers engaged are well represented on board BGT and NLNG chartered vessels. If caution is thrown to the wind, NSML would be headed same path of moribund as the defunct Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL).

weight ratio as its full sized counterpart.

It was built to the 1:25 scale after one of the six DFDE vessels recently commissioned by Bonny Gas Transport (BGT), a subsidiary of NLNG. THISDAY had reported that the company in 2013, signed $1.6 billion deal with Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to build six vessels.

Omotoba stated that NLNG’s current goal is to sustain growth and build upon it, safely. And that is precisely why we are here today. NLNG’s partnership with Warsash Maritime Academy helped us to obtain the required design specification for the manned model, which was delivered from South Korea last month.

His words: “The partnership will also deliver the highest quality ship handling training for NLNG fleet officers and authorized third-party personnel. This is in addition to specialized consultancy services required for the planned NLNG Marine Resource Centre at Bonny Island.

Our two companies may be separated by the oceans and great distances. But I have no doubt that we are united in our joint ambition to be the very best at what we do. It is no big surprise therefore that Nigeria LNG and Warsash have a relationship dating back many years.”

“You are Owing Us”, NPA MD Tells Terminal Operators Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has said that some of the terminal operators in the nation’s seaports are owing the authority.

Usman who stated this at the first leg of her familiarisation tour of port facilities in the Cross River State capital, Calabar charged the terminal operators not to shirk their roles and responsibilities as enshrined in the agreement they signed with the Federal Government through the authority.

She charged them to live up to expectations, especially in meeting their financial obligations to the Federal Government as

and revenue generation which is one of the customs mandate”, he said.

On the issue of interactive forum, the Zonal Coordinator promise to forward the Deputy Consulate General request to the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Colonel Ibrahim Hameed Ali (retired) for permission to organize the session.

Edike in his response said that the visit is very important and will enhance the already existing bilateral trade investments between Nigeria and the Peoples Republic of China.

NPA under her watch would do everything possible to improve on its revenues by blocking all leakages in the system.

Her words: “You are not doing us a favour by paying us (NPA) our financial entitlements. You are making gains so you must fulfil the provisions of the concession agreements you signed with the Federal Government.

Some of you have been owing us and this is why we are desirous of reviewing our concession agreement”.

According to her, the authority is instituting processes that will ensure that the concession agreement it had entered

into with terminal operators in 2006 is reviewed.

Among other places, Usman and her entourage visited ECM Terminals Oil and Gas Logistics, NTELS as well as Shoreline Logistics Nigeria Limited.

The concessionaires used the occasion of the NPA boss visit to enumerate their operational challenges.

These include poor infrastructural facilities, low vessel traffic, and the low draft of the Calabar channel.

Usman assured the concessionaires she would do everything within her powers to address the challenges they outlined.

52

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

POLITY

Obi,EmodiIdentifyEmpowermentasaWayofAlleviatingPoverty Charles Onyekamuo in Awka

S

enators Ben Ndi Obi, the interim national secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Joy Emodi, the immediate past Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly matters have identified the empowerment of constituents by the law markers they voted into positions as the best form of democracy dividends they can

bequeath to the people.

The duo spoke in Onitsha during an empowerment programme organized by the member representing Onitsha North and South Federal constituency in the National Assembly, Hon. Lynda Ikpeazu for her constituents.

According to Emodi, representatives of the people at both the state and national assemblies should endeavour to empower their constituents at their levels with a view to

NULGE Warns against Centralization of Payment of Council Workers in Kwara Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

T

he over 30,000 workforce in the 16 Local Government Councils in Kwara state under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), yesterday, warned the state government against its purported plan to centralise the payment of their salaries and arrears.

They also advised the government not to engage consultants to pay their salaries and arrears, saying such move was a violation of the provision of the fourth schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended that makes provision for the local government councils administration in the country.

In a statement issued by the state chapter of NULGE, signed by Comrade Afolabi Abayomi and made available to journalists, the union vowed that any attempt by the state government to undermine the corporate existence of local government councils’ administration in the state would be vehemently resisted by the workforce.

But, in a swift reaction yesterday, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said there was no such plan by the government to centralise or engage consultant to pay salaries of council workers in the

state.

Akorede said, “The government rather said that the Kwara state Personnel Database Development Committee, headed by His Excellency, The Executive Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, engaged a consultant to conduct staff verification and develop a robust payroll database for the state and local governments in order to eliminate illegal recruitment and other payroll offenses.”

Akorede also said, “The same consultant has conducted staff verification and created payroll systems in Benue, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Cross River, Anambra, and Plateau States, which are currently verifying their staff.”

However, the NULGE said, “We want to say that the state government has almost taken over all the functions of the councils in the state ranging from the collection of revenues and taxes from the councils and now it is planning to centralise the payment of salaries of council workers with the intention to give it to a consultant.”

The statement said, “This is an aberration of highest order and the entire 30,000 workers in the 16 councils in Kwara state will not accept such alleged move so as to move councils forward in the state.

alleviating poverty in many suffering homes.

The masses she noted had stood under the blazing sun and at times torrential rainfall to elect senators, House of Representatives and state Assembly members and deserved to be carried along in the scheme of things.

“Empowerment is the best thing any law marker can give to his or her constituents because when you teach somebody to fish, he will continue fishing for himself afterwards; and will not be coming to your doorsteps to beg for food and money”, she said.

To Obi, when the people are empowered through materials and equipment it would make them work and the beneficiaries self dependent, adding that he was impressed by the initiative by Ikpeazu.

“I like what Hon. Lynda Ikepazu is doing.

She is giving to those who are doing something but are limited by funds, materials and equipment and not the people you will give and they will spend the money or sell the equipments”, he said.

Though Ikpeazu distributed goods, cash and materials worth about N20million, and which included 50 motorcycles, 60 sewing machines, one Hilux Pick-up van, five grinding machines, eight electric generators, three tricycles and cash to over 250 beneficiaries from her constituency but said it was simply a primary responsibility.

When you are blessed and elected into office, one of your primary responsibilities is to alleviate people’s problem through this kind of empowerment, I have always believed that empowerment is better that handout.

“When you give money, food or clothing’s people they will come back tomorrow when those things have been exhausted, but when you empower them through working materials and equipment, they will go to work, empower and employ others and poverty will be alleviated not only by you the politician but by those who have benefited from the empowerment you initiated.

“If you give people an avenue to earn some money no matter how little, it goes a long way to alleviate their problems, so what I did was to get all those equipment that could be used to empower women and youths, I picked the women from all the markets in Onitsha and gave them equipment to work.

“I also went for the widows and other women who are trading in the markets, but have goods worth less than N2000, in their shops and gave them materials and some cash to increase their stocks, I cannot imagine how a woman will leave her house by 6am in the morning and go home 7 pm trading on goods or materials less than N2000”, she said.

Read full article online: www.thisdaylive.

PHOTO NEWS

L:R: Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Zonal Co-ordinator, Zone A, Lagos, ACG Charles Edike handing over a souvenir to the Deputy Consulate General of China in Nigeria, Mr. Li Yong when Yong paid him a courtesy visit in Lagos…recently

L-R: Chairman, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, Mr. Jacobs Moyo Ajekigbe; Global CEO FrieslandCampina, The Netherlands, Mr. Roelof Joosten; President Muhammadu Buhari and the Managing Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, Mr. Rahul Colaco,when the firm paid a visit to the State House, Abuja...recently

L-R; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema; Dean, Lagos Business School (LBS), Mrs. Enase Okonedo; Group Managing Director, Greenwich Trust, Mr. Kayode Falowo; and Academic Director, Lagos Business School, Mr. Franklin Ugwu, during closing of gun ceremony by Lagos Business School at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, in Lagos, yesterday Photo: Sunday Adigun

L-R: Divisional Head, Human Resources and Change Management, First City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB), Ms. Felicia L-R: Capital Founding Partner, Bunmi Akinyemiju; Capital Managing Partner, Nichole Yembra and Capital Founding Obozuwa; Chairman, Executive Council, Federal Nigeria Society for the Blind (FNSB), Mr. Fola Osibo; Group Head, Corporate Communications and Brand Management, FCMB, and Mr. Diran Olojo, during the donation of braillers by Partner, Kunmi Demuren during the launching of Green House Capital at Oriental Hotel, Lagos...recently Photo: Abiodun Ajala FCMB to the FNSB Vocational Training Centre, Lagos… recently

53

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

NEWS

In Brief

Five Killed in Motor Accident

No fewer than five persons have lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident on Lokoja -Ajaokuta road in Kogi State. The state Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Ogochukwu Ugboma while confirming the accident to newsmen in Lokoja yesterday said that the victims, three men and two women died on the spot at Gidan Bassa village. He said that the accident which occurred on Thursday involved three vehicles, a truck belonging to Dangote Cement Company with registration number Kano GWU 34 XA , a Hilux pick –up van with registration number CT 29 B02 and an Audi TE model with registration number Lagos 418 AAA . He said that seven people were involved in the accident, adding that two of them escaped without any injury. Ugboma blamed the accident on wrongful overtaking but said that full investigation to ascertain the remote and immediate cause of the accident is underway. According to him, all the corpses had been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.

Troops Clear Mines, IEDs

WELLS OF OIL...

R-L: Special Adviser to the Governor on the Environment, Mr. Babatunde Hunpe (3rd left); Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare (4th left); Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde (right); Sole Administrator, Isolo LCDA, Mrs. Abimbola Osikoya (2nd right) and Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni (3rd right) during the arrest of illegal Oil bunkers at Ibadan Street Ilasamaja, Isolo, Lagos, on Friday, August 12, 2016

Lagos Seals 12 Houses as Police Uncover Oil in Ilasa Wells Chiemelie Ezeobi

The Lagos State Government on Friday shut 12 houses in Abeokuta and Ibadan Streets in Ilasamaja area of the state over discovery of oil in shallow wells dug by landlords to illegally scoop diesel from pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The oil wells were said to have been built for the purpose of illegally scooping diesel and selling same to members of the public, while some of the affected landlords built pumping machine and bore hole to perpetrate the crime on a large scale.

According to a statement

from Habib Haruna, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the State's Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde who confirmed this while briefing newsmen at the Lagos House, Ikeja, said the step to shut the wells and condone off the area was taken by government to forestall loss of lives and property as a result of the looming danger.

Ayorinde, who addressed journalists alongside top government functionaries and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said a combined team from the police command, the Ministry of Environment, Lagos State Environmental Protection

Agency, Lagos State Fire Service and Sole Administrator of Isolo Local Council Development Area carried out a thorough inspection of the entire area and discovered nothing less than 12 of the illegal oil wells.

He said that initial investigation revealed that a few of the landlords where the wells were located were taking advantage of the situation by commercialising the dangerous act.

He said that samples of the substance had been taken for immediate investigation in order to determine the true nature of the substance as well as what led to the unusually occurrence.

He said the State Government

was working with the NNPC for further investigation.

Ayorinde said that for the safety of residents, especially on Abeokuta and Ibadan Streets, the affected well had been sealed off, adding that the government would also work with those who were likely to be displaced as a result of the development.

“The Lagos State Government wishes to use this opportunity to remind Lagosians and the residents of these areas in particular, to assist the police with useful information and to urge them to always volunteer information before any potentially dangerous situation degenerates to public hazard,” he said.

NDLEA Discovers Cocaine in Shoes, UNICEF: Nigeria's New Polio Cases Arrests Suspect with Fake N9.8m in Ilorin Underline Risks for Children in Conflict ChineduEzeand Hammed ShittuinIlorin Officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos have detected parcels of cocaine hidden inside the sole of shoes. The consignment of shoes where the cocaine was discovered was said to have originated from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

This is as the Kwara State Command of the Agency also arrested one Mohammed Adamu for allegedly being in possession of N9.8million fake currency . The fake currency, mainly N1, 000 notes were concealed in a cartoon of noodles wrapped with cello tape .

The owner of the luggage has been arrested while two other suspected drug traffickers that tested positive and excreted narcotics are also being investigated. A white powdery substance found to be cocaine with a total weight of 3.950kgs were seized from the suspects.

NDLEA commander at the Lagos Airport, Ahmadu Garuba said that one of the suspects concealed the drugs inside shoe soles while the remaining

two ingested wraps of cocaine. In his words, "three suspects have been arrested with a total of 3.950kgs of cocaine. They are Mbatugosi Paul Ifechukwu, 32 year old caught with 1.950kgs of cocaine hidden inside shoe soles, Adugba Ugochukwu Godson, 34 year old who ingested 1.50kgs of cocaine on his way to Sydney, Australia and Onuoha Friday Dominic, 42 year old found to have ingested 850 grammes of cocaine from Brazil. The cases are under investigation and will be charged to court soon".

Ifechukwu who use to sell shoes at Enugu said that he was introduced into drug trafficking by a friend he met in Brazil. According to him, "After my graduation from Technical College in my home town Ihiala, Anambra State in 2002; I went to Enugu where I was selling shoes. In 2015, I travelled to Brazil in search of better opportunities.

However, while in Brazil, I worked as a barber to earn a living. After a year and three months in Brazil, I was disappointed because I had no savings, so I decided that I will get some money and be exporting shoes to Nigeria. It was in the process of looking for a start-up capital that a friend introduced me into drug trafficking.

Paul Obi and Marvellous Okeke in Abuja

Following the worrisome confirmation of two cases of Polio Virus in Borno State, UNICEF yesterday said the two new cases of polio in Nigeria underline the prevailing risks children encountered in conflict zones.

UNICEF Polio Eradication Director Reza Hossaini said news about the two cases was very devastating to the whole efforts to completely eradicate polio from Nigeria.

He said: The sobering news that two children have been paralysed by wild polio virus in northeastern Nigeria underscores the urgency of eradicating the disease in conflictaffected areas, UNICEF said today.

"The Government of Nigeria and the World Health Organisation have confirmed an outbreak of wild polio virus in conflict-ridden Borno State, where children are already facing dangerously high levels of malnutrition."

According to Hossaini, "the two cases were discovered in parts of Borno that have recently become

accessible, but large areas of the state remain unreachable.

"Nigeria – and the continent – had its last confirmed polio case two years ago and was within a year of being certified polio-free, thanks to a massive mobilisation by the government, partners and local health providers.

“We cannot deny the connection between conflict and the continued threat of polio. The two new cases mean children across the Lake Chad region are now at particular risk. With our partners, we will not stop until we reach every child with polio vaccination,” he said.

The Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria, supported by WHO, UNICEF and partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, are rolling out an emergency immunisation campaign, starting in the accessible parts of Borno State.

The discovery and confirmation of the outbreak was as a result of strengthened surveillance due to improved accessibility which has been made possible by the recent military action in liberating more communities in the North-Eastern part of the country.

The Nigerian military has carried out mine and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) clearance operations in different parts of Borno State.The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, yesterday said that following information provided by an arrested suspected Boko Haram terrorist, Lawan Abbai, troops on Operation Lafiya Dole on Thursday morning carried out mine clearance at Gomboru which was along the troops main supply route. Usman said that the troops located and recovered two heavy IEDs buried in the ground by suspected remnants of Boko Haram terrorists. He said: "In the process of recovering the deadly IEDs, the troops intercepted four fleeing suspected Boko Haram terrorists that alleged that were on their way to surrender to troops. On preliminary investigation, they were identified as confirmed Boko Haram terrorists members planting IEDs along troops routes by their arrested colleague, Lawan Abbai."The Army spokesman also disclosed that the troops rescued five women and a baby from Boko Haram terrorists at the same general area.

Police Move against kidnappers, Bandits

The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Rabiu Yusuf has advised Herdsmen living around the notorious Falgore forest in Doguwa Local Government Area of the State to organise themselves and settle in one place. The commissioner said instead of living in clusters at the bank of the forest, coming together at a one place would make security operations easier to carry out their duties effectively. He said if the Herdsmen could settle in one particular place or location, it would assist the police in checking the activities of kidnappers and other armed bandits. Rabiu during an assessment visit to some communities affected by the activities of kidnappers and armed bandits in the area advised them to always be security conscious and report any suspicious movement to the Police for quick response.

Court Remands Kpaidna Attack Suspects

A Minna Chief Magistrate court on Friday ordered that 57 suspects arrested in Kpaidna and surrounding villages during the army invasion of the community should be remanded in prison custody. Deputy Chief Registrar Ahmed Bima who gave the order when the suspects were arraigned also adjourned further mention in the case to September 6 this year. The accused persons were arraigned on a four count charge of culpable homicide, causing mischief being in possession of dangerous weapons and obstructing officers from their lawful duties contrary to various sections of the penal code. Chief Magistrate Bima also directed that those injured among the suspects should be given medical treatment. Our correspondent who was at the chief Magistrate court reported that there was a mild drama when the police declined to accept those injured because of lack of facilities to handle their treatment. The prison officials too kicked against the large number of the suspects and the limited space at the Minna prison. However the prison officials later took custody of the suspects and moved them in two buses to the prison opposite the Bako Mohammed Kontagora stadium. It would be recalled that last week's attack on Kpaidna and four other villages left over 24 people including 11 soldiers dead. The attack on the villages by a combined team of the Nigerian army and those of the air force was to take possession of illegal weapons which intelligence claimed were hidden in the villages.

Buhari Felicitates With Oyegun at 77

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday congratulated the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun as he marked his 77th birthday on August 12, 2016. A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said Buhari joined Oyegun’s family, friends and admirers in celebrating another year of good health and strength for a man who had shown uncommon dedication to the peace, progress, stability and development of Nigeria. The president commended his patriotism, hard work and leadership in managing the affairs of the governing party through the period and in the aftermath of the historic 2015 elections.

The president affirmed that Oyegun’s dedication to noble causes and democratic ideals had indeed endeared him to many Nigerians who would continue to draw inspiration from his legacies to offer their best for the country. Buhari prayed that God Almighty would grant him many more years of happiness and good health to see a better and prosperous Nigeria.

Traditional Praise, Worship

The City of Recovery Deliverance Ministries International has announced that it would be holding her Traditional Praise and Worship programme tomorrow at the Church auditorium, Plot 11, Akewusola Street, Off Santa Maria Street, Beside Christ School, Egan, Igando, Lagos. According the Senior Pastor, Apostle Dan Achibong, dress code is traditional as; “everything at this event shall be purely traditional and will take place at 10.00am prompt. It promises to be a memorable event”.

54

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

newS

Rights Violation: NHRC, Police, NESREA Train ESWAMA Field Workers on Civil Enforcement

PDP Reconciliation: I'll Not Sacrifice My Political Interests, Says Sheriff

Christopher Isiguzo and Cynthia Madueke in Enugu

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nigeria Police as well as the National Environmental Standard and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) yesterday in Enugu trained about 100 field officers of the Enugu State Waste Management Authority (ESWAMA) on modern and civilised ways of enforcing environment and waste management laws.

Prior to the training, there had been several cases of human rights violation, harassment and intimidation of hapless residents allegedly by officers of the agency on enforcement drive within the metropolis.

Speaking at the one day workshop, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Mrs. Amaka Anajemba said ESWAMA under her watch would function differently, noting that such anti-democratic tendencies would no longer be tolerated.

While announcing that plans were underway to make Enugu the cleanest State Capital in the country as the necessary facilities to rid it of all forms of filth had been acquired and deployed, Anajemba said the agency decided to engage the bodies including the Civil Defence Corps in the training in order to properly equip the field officers on how to operate.

Apart from equipping the

officers, the workshop would also provide a clearer picture of the new vision and mandate of the agency to the officers, she noted.

"Since I took over barely a month ago, we have laboured to bring new ideas and innovations to the management and crew of ESWAMA to achieve more efficient and responsive organisation and ultimately to keep Enugu state clean.

"I am also sure that what our field officers will learn today from the resource persons and security personnel here, will go a long way in teaching them how to do their job in a more efficient and civil manner, in line with the vision of the management of the agency of changing

the negative perception of the organisation by members of the public in the past," Anajemba noted.

She warned that the management would not hesitate to discipline any filed officer that violates any section of the code of conduct and rules of engagement which all the trainees signed at the end of the workshop.

Earlier, a representative of NESREA, Ituen Ukpong and officers from NHRC, Civil Defence, Nigeria Bar Association and the Police had trained the field officers on democratic ethos and other issues which centred on harnessing the mandates of ESWAMA through civil enforcement practices.

GOOD TO HAVE YOU...

L–R: Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Mr. Aminu Aliyu Bisalla; Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah; Chairman, SecureID Limited, Mr. Adedotun Sulaiman; MD/CEO, SecureID Limited, Mrs. Kofo Akinkugbe and Director, SecureID Limited, Mr. Kunle Akinkugbe during a recent working visit by the Honourable Minister to SecureID Limited Plant at their Isolo's office in Lagos

Diamond Bank Launches Online Loan Application Platform Diamond Bank has raised the bar in Nigeria’s financial services sub-sector with the introduction of an online loan application platform that allows customers to request for a loan, monitor and receive automatic feedback on the approval process anywhere, anytime without hassles.

With this, the Bank has reaffirmed its commitment to continue to drive financial inclusion of the un(der)banked in the economy, and consolidated its revolutionary leadership role in the crusade for quality service delivery through

digital innovations.

The new Diamond loan application is a convenient, hassle free application and it is not limited to Diamond customers only.

In a press release made available to media houses, the Bank stated that the online loan application platform was in line with its vision to be at the forefront of using technology to deliver quality customer service that went “beyond banking”.

“With the introduction of the Diamond loan platform in this technology driven age, it will be

unnecessary for an individual to leave the comfort of his or her home to visit a branch to apply for a loan. All they need to do is to visit the bank’s website: www.diamondbank.com to fill a loan application and monitor the approval process,” the Bank stated.

One of the key features of the online loan application platform is that one does not need to have an account with Diamond Bank before he/she can apply for a loan.

Ayona Trimnell, Head, Corporate Communications Division

of Diamond Bank, stated that the digital transformation offered invaluable benefits and advantages to the customer, pointing out that the new online loan platform was simple and user-friendly.

She said: “It gives the customer greater control of the loan application process because the customer is able to monitor the loan requests and the interactive loan calculator helps the customer to plan his/ her monthly repayment. Also, the online loan platform provides access to information on personal and business loans”.

Ex-THISDAY Editor, Ologbondiyan Joins Race for PDP Spokesman Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja A former Deputy Editor with THISDAY newspaper, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan has expressed interest to contest for the position of the .National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ologbondiyan who had served as the Special Adviser ( Media and Publicity) to the Ex-Senate President, David Mark joined four other aspirants in the race when he picked nomination form at the PDP temporary national

Secretariat at Tabasaka Street, Wuse 11 in Abuja.

Addressing Journalists shortly after collecting the form, Ologbondiyan said he intended to help rebuild the image of the party.

The Kogi born Ologbondiyan, said that PDP had a better understanding of the problem confronting Nigeria than the All Progressives Congress (APC), adding with good information management it would not be difficult to win back the confidence of Nigerians for the party.

Also with his professional

expertise and wealth of political experience, Ologbondiyan’s entrance into the race has raised the bar for the contest for the specialised position which requires high-level cognate professional proficiency.

Ologbondiyan rose through the ranks in his professional and political callings. He was Group Political Editor of Thisday Newspapers and as a correspondent, covered several high profile political beats including, the Presidency, National Assembly, State Government Houses and political parties.

A graduate of the University of Lagos and holder of a PGD in Journalism from the institute of Journalism, Lagos, Ologbondiyan is well-versed in Nigerian political evolution with strong institutional memory of activities of the PDP. Ologbondiyan will be bringing to the table his vast knowledge, goodwill and contacts in both the media and political circles.

The journalist-turned politician said that has been a loyal and active participant in PDP activities and contested the party’s House of Representatives primaries in 2011.

The ousted national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has said that he would not sacrifice his integrity, political interest and his followers as part of the ongoing peace deal.

Speaking on the performance of the PDP during the 2015 general election, Sheriff regretted that if former President Goodluck Jonathan had taken his advice and implemented it religiously, the party would not have lost elections in Borno and Yobe states.

Sheriff's position came just as his kinsmen from the north east met in Abuja under auspices of the zonal caucus to appraise zoning arrangement ahead of the PDP national convention.

The meeting of the north east caucus which had in attendance governors of the Gombe, Ibrahim Dankwanbo and Dairus Ishiaku of Taraba State, sought to articulate a position which would help in resolving the leadership crisis rocking the party.

Speaking while receiving a faction of the Yobe State executive committee of the PDP in Abuja, Sheriff vowed that no fresh congresses would be conducted in those states where it had taken place during his tenure.

Sheriff who was offered concessions during a meeting with members of the reconciliation committee led by former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana Thursday night, said that he would not accept any move to conduct fresh congresses in those areas that the exercise had been concluded.

"Members of the BoT are coming to see me, even last night they came to meet me at my place and the governors are also meeting with me but that does not mean that we are going to agree on anything that will affect our integrity, followership and our political interests.

"I heard someone talking about the congress in Yobe, and I must say that as far as I am concerned the congress has been held no one can reverse it. It is not even an issue to negotiate. The NEC of our party approved that fresh congresses be conducted in only five states, short of that is a waste of time. " As some of you rightly said, some of them were ashamed to Identify with the party. Now the PDP has become a strong party, everybody is looking up to PDP and we will not be distracted.

This Party, as I rightly said must be returned back to the owners.

Anything short of that is a nonestarter," he said.

According to Sheriff the only states where he would accept a fresh congress are Oyo, Lagos, Anambra, Kebbi and Sokoto. He said that the National Executive Committee had approved the cancellation of the congresses held in those states.

"You know some people grow, and they still want to believe that we are in the 19 century. Time changes. Life itself, you have the time that you grow. It is natural for you to grow and allow others to grow. The wish of every father is for his sons to grow better than him. Not when you have failed and you want your own children to fail again. It cannot work. " It cannot work. Be rest assured that you will be protected fully. All the congresses in Nigeria, I have presented to NEC which has endorsed it. Yobe is not among the states we said primaries would be re-conducted Earlier on Thursday night, the embattled former national chairman, was presented with recommendations of the Jerry Gana-led peace committee.

THISDAY gathered that after studying the demands made by Sheriff and making consultations, the peace committee, arrived at some concessions which it believed could help resolve the deadlock.

NSC to Partner NITT on Capacity Building John Iwori

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has expressed its readiness to partner with the Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) for effective training and capacity development of its personnel.

The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello stated this in his office when he received the officials of NITT led by its Director General, Dr. Aminu Yusuff who paid him a courtesy call in Lagos.

Bello who said the capacity building was instrumental to the development of the nation’s maritime industry, called for signing of Memorandum of Understanding between both parties.

According to him, maritime is a knowledge driven institution and hence the need for the maritime industry to be driven by personnel in specialised transport and other related fields.

He, however, commended the effort made so far by the institute noting that it had trained large number of professionals in the transport

sector of the economy.

“The two institutions are knowledge driven. What we need to do is to get the required knowledge because it is the knowledge that drives the industry and so many mistakes have been made due to lack of knowledge.

But the choices we have for the industry are limited and we cannot afford to make such mistakes. Therefore, we have to patronise this fountain of knowledge called NITT”, he said.

Bello explained that NSC as economic port regulator, was to make Nigeria a regional maritime hub in African sub region.

Yusuff had earlier his opening remarks called for more patronage and support from NSC by sponsoring its workforce on short and long term professional and continuous skill development programmes of the institute.

The NITT boss who, commended the NSC for its meaningful contributions to the nation’s maritime sector, said more development is still expecting if both institutions agree to come together.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 13, 2016

55

newSXTRA

Oyegun : Nigeria In Last FG, UAE Firm Sign MoU for Lucas Advises FG to Restructure Days of Economic Hardship Purchase of Mi-35 Helicopters Factory Work for Youths Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said that the current economic hardship was be the last Nigerians would go through in the life of this administration.

Odigie-Oyegun said this on Friday in Abuja in a brief speech at the 77th birthday party organised for him by staff of the APC. Oyegun said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had decided that the country would never ever again depend upon a single crop, for survival, hence the determination to lay a solid foundation for economic stability.

"He is laying a very solid foundation for the take-off of this nation such that all resources that God has endowed this nation with whether it is anything. `God in his wisdom has provided

APC to the nation at this crucial time and in his wisdom gave us a man of strong will, iron determination, courage in the person of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“If God did not give us a president of that stature or determination, a man who is ready to take challenge, who has determined that this is the last economic hardship this nation will ever go through.

Speaking with journalists shortly after the ceremony, on his life as a politician, the chairman said life was like a "lucky dip'' and got it lucky.

He said his sojourn into politics was by accident and he had no regrets whatsoever and he would strive to make his mark.

“Most importantly, I don't do anything that will worry me or that will lead to threats. I have no political enemies. Believe that there is room for everybody, no particular individual is in your way.

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja

The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based firm, Peel Aston Global Free Zone Company, for the purchase of Mi-35M Russian Helicopters.

The Minister of Defence, BrigGen. Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd) signed the MoU on behalf of the government , as well the Director, Peel Aston GFZC, Mr. Khomeini Bukhari, who was accompanied by the Nigerian representatives of the company.

Bukhari who in a statement yesterday in Abuja, quoted the minister as saying that the government planned to buy more Mi-35M Russian Helicopters in addition to the two it had purchased.

"The Minister appreciated the visit of the company and its Direc-

tor, Mr. Khomeini Bukhari along with his Nigerian representatives and expressed his desire to work with them in partnership in the areas of defence," the statement read.

He said that Aston Peel GFZC looked forwarding to working with Nigeria and to contribute to the growth and development of the nation.

Bukhari described Nigeria as a country with prospects and opportunities, but few challenges, noting that his company was willing to partner with the government and the citizens to move the nation forward.

"Nigeria has a great future in Africa and with the human resource of over 180 million people, agriculture and abundant mineral resources, the country has what it takes to create a beautiful future," added.

CONTRBUTING FROM THE BAR...

L-R: NBA President, Augustine Alegeh SAN; Speaker, House of Representative, Hon. Dogara; Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN; Governor of Sokoto State and Chairman, Building Fund Raising Committee, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, at the Commissioning Ceremony of Nigerian Bar Association NBA House, Abuja

Declare 30-day Moratorium, We’ll Restore Peace to N/Delta, INC Tells FG Cont’d from Pg. 6 “We have had communities displaced and abductions in our land and we believe that if the federal government is sincere and wants dialogue it should dialogue with the people of Niger Delta.

The problem of Niger Delta goes beyond Niger Delta Avengers and even beyond MEND,” he said.

According to him, one of the ways to calm the agitation in the Ijaw group was restructuring of the country, asserting that the foundation of the country was erroneously laid by the colonial masters.

“We further say Nigeria has to be restructured. It is no longer a thing of doubt that we as Ijaws can no longer continue to live in six states; five states minus one, balkanised as minorities.

Our lands are contiguous, our people are homogenous. We are one people, we have one destiny.

We cannot accept that we are a minority in Ondo State where the best we can be is a local government chairman, where we need the connivance of others for us to be a member of the house of assembly.

“Why are we not put together in maybe three states of our own?

It is the policy of INC that we be put together and delineated into three states of Oil Rivers, Bayelsa and Toruebe. Why should that not happen; it is a question of divide and rule, unacceptable,

unjusticeable, and intolerant.

We are also very pained about obnoxious unnatural laws foisted down the Ijaw man that tends to degrade them. Some include the Land Use Decree, the Inland Waterways Decree, the Petroleum Act; they all tend to rob Peter to pay Paul.

“We do not subscribe to the fact that we must go cap-in-hand as a people to the federation account for distributions to be made to us. If Nigeria is a federation, then we must practice true fiscal federalism where every nationality is tasked by its own worth and natural resource to carry out the business of the Federal Republic, which to my mind, should only include such things as defence, foreign affairs etc.”

Meanwhile, barely one month after Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) lifted the force majeure declared on May 10 on the exports of the Bonny Light grade of crude oil following a leak on the Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL), the company yesterday declared another force majeure on the exports of the crude oil stream.

Shell had on July 7 lifted the earlier force majeure it had declared following a leak on the NCTL, which had forced the operator of the pipeline, Aiteo E & P to shutdown the facility

for repairs.

The NCTL and the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) are the two main pipelines used by Shell and other producers operating in the Eastern Niger Delta to transport their crude from the producing fields to the Bonny Export terminal in Rivers State.

A Shell Nigeria spokesman, Mr. Precious Okolobo said yesterday that the company declared another force majeure after Aiteo shutdown the NCTL following a leak that was discovered on the export facility.

The declaration of force majeure on Bonny Light exports is coming four days after the oil major declared force majeure on gas supply to the Nigeria LNG’s export facility on Bonny Island following a leak on the Eastern Gas Gathering System pipeline through which Shell supplies the bulk of its gas to NLNG. “SPDC declared force majeure on Bonny Light liftings effective 10.00 hrs (Nigerian Time) today due to shutdown of the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) by the pipeline operator, Aiteo, following a leak," Okolobo said.

However, the exports of Bonny Light exports are continuing through the Trans Niger Pipeline, which had reopened after being closed since early June.

The Trans Niger Pipeline is scheduled to export 211,000

barrels per day of crude oil this month.

The cause of the leak on the NCTL was not immediately known but Bonny Light is the fourth oil grade under force majeure as militants attack oil and gas facilities in Nigeria’s largest export stream, ExxonMobil’s Qua Iboe, as well as Shell’s Forcados and Agip’s Brass River crude streams are also under force majeure, thus curbing about 700,000 bpd of Nigeria’s crude output.

Rebecca Ejifoma Rev. Brother Stephen Lucas of St. Dominic Catholic Church, Yaba, Lagos has advised the Nigerian government to address job structure in the country, especially factory works, to encourage Nigerian youths to earn better living.

He said this at a press briefing to mark his 57th year service in Nigeria, ahead of his preparation to finally depart Nigeria for his home in Chigaco, United States.

Brother Lucas, who is leaving Nigeria after his dedication to God and humanity since his arrival in the country in 1959, said he would be returning to his home town in Chicago after his send-forth, which takes place today at the St. Dominic Church, Yaba, Lagos.

He said, "After I received the letter from the authorities to return home at 84, I obediently accepted the same way I accepted when I left for Nigeria."

On why the factory work should be restructured, he said, "A young boy walked up to me and told me how he earns just N25, 000 in a factory monthly.

These young men will pay house rent and other bills. That should change."

This is as the octogenarian, also said that all countries needed peace and joy to survive.

"There are a lot of obstacles in developing nations. People are different. They think differently.

So, we have to be patient. We have a lot of patience to practice and how to come together as one.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Gato Santos, who was commissioned from Rome to welcome Lucas on his

arrival, said the Brother served God and humanity for the entire 57 years. He added that Lucas' objective was to develop projects around the country.

"Although he is leaving, St. Dominic will never forget him. He helped both the church projects and families, too. He is known as a father of the sick, the poor and the homeless. He spent all his energy here," he said.

Several beneficiaries and members of the parish alongside others were present to support him. They said his departure would not be easy to accept, "But we shall show him love."

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as EVBOKHUARU IMUETINYAN EVELYN, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ENISUOH IMUETINYAN EVELYN.All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as ADENIRAN ADESOJI, now wish to be known and addressed as MAPADERUN OLUWASEUN ADESOJI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as OLOLO OMOEFE VICTORIA, now wish to be known and addressed as EDWARD OMOKINIOVO VICTORIA. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MOHAMMED SIDI-ALI BELLO, now wish to be known and addressed as MICHAEL SIDI-ALI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as DADA OLABISI, now wish to be known and addressed as DADA ABIODUN. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as MISS OLUWATOBI ADERIKE ADESHINA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OLUWATOBI ADERIKE OLOJO. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as AKO LATE, now wish to be known and addressed as LATE MESSAN AKOVI. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as ABDULRASHEED ADEYEMI BABATUNDE, now wish to be known and addressed as ABDULRASHEED OYESHOLA. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as FALERU OMOTAYO, now wish to b known and address as TANLOJU ESTHER OMOTAYO. All former documents remain valid UBA Bank and the general public should please take note.

This is to notify the public that my name was wrongly spelt as ENGEDEFA B. JANE instead of ENGEDEFA BRIAN JANET. Henceforth my correct names remains ENGEDEFA BRIAN JANET. All documents remain valid,Bayelsa State, Environmental Sanitation Authority, FCMB and the general public should please take note