Tuesday 6th September 2016

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

NEWS

Isidore Okpewho, Foremost Literary Scholar, Dies A foremost scholar of Oral Literature and award-winning novelist, Isidore Okpewho, has died at 74.

He was a prolific author, co-author and editor of about 14 books, dozens of articles and a seminal booklet, A Portrait of the Artist as a Scholar.

According to an online news portal, Premium Times, Okpewho, a professor, died peacefully at a hospital in Binghamton, a town in Upstate New York, United States, where he had lived and taught since 1991.

His teaching career spanned University of New York at Buffalo (1974-76), University of Ibadan (1976-90), Harvard University (1990-91), and State University of New York at Binghamton.

According to the Canadabased professor in Carleton University, Nduka Otiono, quoting family sources, the distinguished professor at State University of New York, Binghamton, passed away on September 4, 2016, surrounded by family members.

Although he battled illness recently, the scholar

and humanist demonstrated exceptional capacity in dealing with his challenging health conditions.

Indeed, only two years ago, his last book to which he had long committed his intellectual resources, "Blood on the Tides: The Ozidi Saga and Oral Epic Narratology", was published by University of Rochester Press.

Born on November 9, 1941 in Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria, Okpewho grew up in Asaba, his maternal hometown, where he attended St. Patrick’s College, Asaba.

He proceeded to the University College, Ibadan, for his university education.

He graduated with a First Class Honours in Classics, and moved on to launch a glorious career: first in publishing at Longman Publishers, and then as an academic after obtaining his PhD from the University of Denver, USA. He crowned his certification with a D.Litt from University of London.

With his two earliest seminal academic monographs, "The Epic in Africa: Toward a Poetics of the Oral Performance

(1979) and Myth in Africa: A Study of Its Aesthetic and Cultural Relevance (1983)", Okpewho quickly established his reputation as a first-rate scholar and pioneer of Oral Literature in Africa.

For his distinctive and prolific output, he was honoured with a string of international academic and non-academic awards that included the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) in Humanities for the year 2010.

As a writer noted: “Recognition for Professor Okpewho’s work has come with some of the most prestigious fellowships in the humanities: from the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars (1982), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (1982), Centre for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences at Stanford (1988), the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard (1990), National Humanities Centre in North Carolina (1997), and the Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2003). He was also elected Folklore Fellow International by the Finnish

Academy of the Sciences in Helsinki (1993).”

Okpewho also served as the President of the International Society for the Oral Literatures of Africa (ISOLA).

For his creative writing work, Okpewho won the 1976 African Arts Prize for Literature and 1993 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book Africa. His four novels, "The Victims, The Last Duty, Tides, and Call me by my Rightful Name" are widely studied in Africa and other parts of the world, with some of them translated into major world languages.

“We will miss his charming presence, warm-heartedness, and wise guidance,” said a member of the family last night in Binghamton, New York, adding: “But we are consoled by the great life he lived, the many lives he touched beyond the nuclear family, and the remarkable intellectual legacy he left behind.”

Reacting to the demise of the literary titan, Gordon Darah, Professor of English at Delta State University, Abraka, and President of

Nigeria Oral Literature Association (NOLA), said: “That is a library destroyed by the fire of death.”

Okpewho is survived

by his wife, Obiageli; his children — Ediru, Ugo, Afigo, and Onome as well as members of his extended family.

document (circular) issued by the CBN pursuant to the accounts administration agreement, would also be issued a warning letter with other sanctions stated in the first and second infractions stated above.

Fourthly, if there is a closure of a transaction account by a DMB without prior written consent of the refinancer, the penalty, according to the CBN, would be N2 million and further infraction entails terminating the DMB's participation as a Mandate Bank.

Other issues that would be regarded as infractions as highlighted by the central bank that could attract various forms of sanctions include: when a collection bank and principal collection banks do not provide the

right to view Transaction Accounts or any such other information relating to the transactions effected or to be effected on the Transaction Account in real time; where collection banks allow revenues (including cash collections and revenues received from all electronic or other platforms) generated by any Disco to be paid directly in any account other than the Feeder Collection Accounts as stipulated in the Account Administration Agreement; and where collection banks allow a debit/withdrawal from a Feeder Collection Account (FCA) to the principal collection account contrary to terms of the Accounts Administration Agreement.

Others include a situation where the DMBs open additional bank account(s)

for a Beneficiary Disco, whether not for the purpose of receiving payments, fines, fees or electricity consumed by its customers without the prior written consent of the refinancer as well as where the DMBs permit debit/withdrawals from the FCA to a nonprincipal collection account.

These attract sanctions that range from N2 million and their termination as Mandate Banks.

Meanwhile, the naira closed at N422 to the dollar on the parallel market yesterday, marginally stronger than the N423 to the dollar it was last Friday. On the interbank forex market, the spot rate of the naira closed at N314.20 to the dollar, slightly higher than the N314.77 to the dollar it closed last Friday.

have called for a shift in date of the gubernatorial election in Edo State scheduled to hold on Saturday to another date as it clashed with their Mathematics examination also scheduled by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for the same day.

The students who stormed the Government House, Benin City, with placards with various inscriptions said holding the examination and the poll same day would disenfranchise them.

The students also said they would kick against any plan to be moved to other states for the Mathematics examination as planned by WAEC, adding that this would not only disorganise them but also put them at a disadvantage.

Spokesman for the students Iko Emmanuel Moses said: “Our position about the General Certificate Examination (GCE) in Edo State, the scheduled governorship election on the 10th of September, with

a deep sense of regret and pains, we wish to express and oppose the disturbing circumstances surrounding the above examination of this year and its effect on our expected performance in the examination.

“The plan to relocate us out of Edo State, our state, to other regions to sit for the examination because of the September 10 election in Edo State as scheduled by INEC is an ill wind which will affect our chances to perform well in the examination. We have found this situation very disturbing, discouraging and we cannot take the risk.”

In his response, Governor Oshiomhole said he would pass their protest letter to the president, saying the election was fixed by INEC which is an independent body.

He said the responsibility of fixing the governorship election in the state rested with INEC, explaining that he was not consulted when the election for September 10 was scheduled.

Late Okpewho

CBN READS RIOT ACT ON N213BN ELECTRICITY STABILISATION FUND collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Power and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the NEMSF. The N213 billion facility was launched in 2014 and was expected to bring about improvements in power supply for the benefit of all Nigerians.

In May this year, the CBN disbursed N55,456,161,481 from the facility, which was the fourth batch from the N213 billion.

Listing the sanction in the latest circular, the central bank stated that firstly, if a collection bank and the principal collection bank fails to provide the refinancer/administrator with statement of account for the transaction account

within five business days after the end of each month, the first sanction would be a warning letter to the bank, instructing that the infraction must be remedied within two working days.

Further infraction on the matter involves a financial penalty of a minimum of N500,000 daily until the infraction is remedied, on each account that such infraction is committed.

"If there is further infraction by the deposit money bank (DMB) after payment of the above financial penalty, the DMB's participation as a Mandate Bank under the CBN-NEMSF shall be terminated," it added.

Secondly, the circular stated that if a DMB does not comply with a request by the refinancer/

administrator to provide copies of statements for any other Discos' accounts maintained by it and such other information relating to the transaction effected or to be effected on the transaction accounts within five business days from the date of such request, the bank would be served a warning letter at first.

"Failure to comply within two working days will attract a financial penalty of a minimum of N500,000 daily until the infraction is remedied. If there is further infraction by the DMB after payment of the above financial penalty, the DMB's participation as a Mandate Bank under the CBN-NEMSF shall be terminated," it added.

Thirdly, any DMB that does not comply with the operational process

ANXIETY AS APC, PDP GOVERNORS STORM BENIN IN BATTLE FOR EDO STATE that the people must own the process of electoral system.

It has been observed that whatever the modalities INEC has put on ground to conduct a credible poll, the people must ensure that they behave in a civil manner to help democracy grow in the country," he said.

Also, Prof. Mim Abutudu of the University of Benin, in his presentation stated that rigging and fear of electoral manipulation could be a high risk factor that could raise the level of violence and urged INEC to ensure that materials were deployed on time to the various polling units.

The Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation, Mr. Benson Olugbuo, explained that the foundation had as one of its cardinal objectives to monitor and report the level of security threat to the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

Stakeholders agreed that the activities of security agencies, including officials of INEC must be checked to ensure that the process was

violence-free, credible and fair to all.

Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr. Sam Olumekun, has disclosed that Incident Form would be used if the Smart Card Reader failed to authenticate a prospective voter.

Olumekun, who spoke with journalists shortly after receiving the Director General of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), BrigaiderGeneral Sule Zakari Kazuare, in his office in Benin City, however, said the commission anticipated that the use of the incident form would be few and far between on Saturday.

According to him, "We don't expect that there will be too many of such cases but if condition warrants it, off course we will use it."

He also disclosed that the distribution of Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) would continue at the local government INEC offices until Thursday, adding that some persons, who tried to

hijack the 2014 PVCs in the state were arrested by security agents and the PVCs collected from them.

However, the Director General of the NYSC, BrigGen Kazaure, met with corps members participating in Saturday's governorship election in the state, warning them that any corps members found wanting during the election would bear the full weight of the law.

Kazaure, who visited the state to solicit for adequate security for corps members participating in the governorship election, visited the 4 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, headquarters of the state police command and the state headquarters of INEC. Addressing the NYSC Director General, the Commander of the 4 Brigade, Brig-Gen Bebenla Raji, said the army was working with the police, the DSS, FRSC, NSCDC and the Nigeria Police to ensure a peaceful election and protection for the participating corps members.

He said: "As long as you have me here, rest assured that the corps members are well protected. We have even gone as far as arranging for the corps members to have the phone numbers of the officers that will be at the respective units where the corps members will be stationed."

He also stated that more protection would be given to the corps members as troops would be stationed in not too far distances to the polling booths in line with relevant laws guiding the conduct of elections.

While receiving Kazaure in his office, the outgoing Edo State police commissioner, Chris Ezike, assured Kazaure of police protection for the corps members, charging him to inform the corps members that any of them found wanting on Saturday would be prosecuted.

Students Protest, Want New Poll Date Secondary school students

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWS

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

Boko Haram: Wanted Journalist, Salkida Arrested by DSS at Abuja Airport

Ahmed Salkida, the journalist who was declared wanted along with two others - Ahmed Bolori and Aisha Wakil - by the Nigerian Army over Boko Haram’s latest video, was yesterday arrested by

the security operatives.

Salkida, who arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja aboard Emirates flight EK 785, was said to have been arrested from the door of the aircraft.

Be Focused, Ignore PDP’s Blackmail, APC Tells Buhari Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to remain focused in its bid to restore economic growth in the country and avoid being distracted by alleged attacks by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While reacting to the scathing criticism made by the PDP against APC-led federal government on the worsening economic situation, the ruling party suggested that instead of joining issues on the matter, the government should focus on legitimate and innovative means to achieve economic turn-around in the quickly.

In a statement issued by its National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, APC said despite PDP’s blackmail, the truth remains that the hardship being faced by Nigerians is a direct consequence of the mismanagement of the economy and unprecedented looting of the country’s commonwealth during PDP reign.

According to him, “In spite of the PDP’s orchestrated and feeble attempts to blackmail the current administration and twist facts, the reality remains that the prevailing socio-economic hardship being faced

by Nigerians is a direct consequence of the mismanagement of the economy and unprecedented looting of the country’s commonwealth perpetrated under its watch.

“The PDP’s attempt to turn truth

on its head is fraudulent, insensitive and an insult to Nigerians. For the umpteenth time, the PDP must own up to its transgressions and apologise to Nigerians.

“Going forward, the urgent task before the President Buhari-led APC administration is to restore the country’s battered economy back to health and all legitimate and innovative means are being employed to achieve this in the quickest and possible time.

“The APC assures Nigerians of strong political will and commitment of the President Buhari administration to revive the economy and tackle the nation’s current challenges through suitable and wellthought out economic policies, fiscal discipline and socio-political reforms.”

As part of strategic interventions to salvage the economy, APC said the government should consider diversification of the country’s economy as a priority.

“To this end, President Buhari is aggressively formulating and implementing policies aimed at diversifying Nigeria’s economy from oil to other sectors such as agriculture, mining and manufacturing.

“The APC assures Nigerians that the administration will pull the country out of the present hardships. With the support, cooperation, patience and prayers of Nigerians, the country will reach its deserved potential under our leadership,” it said.

Saudi Introduces New Hajj Procedure to Avoid Stampede Jameelah Sanda in Makkah Saudi Arabia To prevent a repeat of the stampede disaster that occurred during last year’s hajj which claimed the lives of over 2,000 pilgrims, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj has introduced a new arrangement to simplify the movement of pilgrims while performing the hajj rituals.

The Head of Makkah operations for the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Mallam Aliyu Tanko, stated this in Makkah at an enlightenment programme for pilgrims on the new arrangement.

According to Tanko, “In the past years, the procedure involved in the chain of performing the hajj ritual was that pilgrims after their stay on the plane of Arafat proceeded to Muzdalifa to spend the night and then the next day moved to Jamarat for the symbolic stoning of the devil.

“However, this year the new procedure adopted is

that pilgrims after their stay in Muzdalifa would move back to Muna to spend the night where they would be transported to Jamarat in batches for the symbolic stoning of the devil.”

He explained that the Saudi authorities had modified the process of stoning the Jamarat for security and safety reasons.

Some Nigerian pilgrims expressed satisfaction with the new arrangement, stating that it would enable them observer the symbolic stoning of the devil with ease.

In an enlightenment forum on the new arrangement for the armed forces pilgrims, the leader of the Nigerian armed forces hajj team, Colonel Shehu Mustapha, said the new step would alleviate the difficulties experienced by pilgrims in observing the hajj ritual.

About three million pilgrims from around the world are expected to perform this year’s hajj exercise which would commence on September 8.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that following a conversation between him and a passenger on-board the flight, Salkida had said he knew he would be arrested because he had been declared wanted by the Department State Services (DSS) “I recognised the journalist from photos posted on the Internet and engaged him in conversation throughout the seven-hour flight,” said the passenger who sat next to him during the journey.

She said Salkida told her that he was expected to be arrested upon arrival because he was traveling with an Emergency Travel Certificate (ETC) and that the State Security Service (SSS) was aware of his coming. He expressed fear that he would not be given a fair trial and accused

the government of pronouncing him guilty without trial.

He also said he didn’t know the whereabouts of the missing Chibok girls as claimed by the Nigerian army.

However, he admitted to receiving two video clips from Boko Haram before they were released to the public.

He said Boko Haram had confidence in his objectivity as an investigative journalist, having previously interviewed Mohammed Yusuf, the founding leader of Boko Haram.

Recall that barely a day after being declared wanted by the federal government for alleged association with Boko Haram terrorists, Salkida, had said he should be commended for making sacrifice to free the Chibok girls rather than being labelled an accomplice.

Salkida has been living in the Middle East since the outbreak of the Boko Haram crisis and is believed to have close on Monday said he had commenced preparations to return to country to honour the invitation.

According to a statement declaring them wanted, the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, had said the wanted persons had information on the conditions and the exact location of those girls.

“Therefore, the Nigerian Army hereby declares the two gentlemen and the lady wanted for interrogation.

“We are relying on the relevant laws of the land, and in particular the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended) where Nigerians could be punished for failure to disclose information about

terrorists or terrorists” activities.

“This becomes necessary as a result of their link with the last two videos released by Boko Haram terrorists and other findings of our preliminary investigations.

“There is no doubt that these individuals have links with Boko Haram terrorists and have contacts with them.

“They must therefore come forward and tell us where the group is keeping the Chibok girls and other abducted persons to enable us rescue them,” Usman said.

He called on all Nigerians and other peace-loving people to give useful information on the whereabouts of the suspects. “We are also liaising with other security agencies for their arrest if they fail to turn up,” he said.

BRIEFING MY PRESIDENT

R-L: President Mohammadu Buhari; Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; and Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Hon. Abubakar Bwari, when the ministers were briefing the president on the discovery of nickel in parts of Kaduna State...recently

Nigeria Moves up from 10% to 14% Broadband Penetration NCC optimistic of 30% penetration by 2018 Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), yesterday in Lagos, revealed that broadband penetration in the country has moved from 10 per cent in 2014 to 14 per cent in 2016.

It also assured Nigerians of the possibility of attaining the planned 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018, as projected in the country’s National Broadband Plan.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who made the disclosure yesterday at a stakeholders’ forum organised

by NCC to announce Nigeria’s participation at the forthcoming ITU Telecoms World 2016 which would take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 14 to 17, an annual telecoms programme put together since 1971 by the International Telecoms Union (ITU).

Danbatta said he was convinced based on the broadband infrastructure on ground, that it is not impossible for the county to attain 30 per cent broadband penetration by 2018, contrary to widespread speculations that Nigeria may not meet the country’s projected broadband plan of attaining 30 per cent broadband penetration by the said year.

“As we speak, Nigeria has moved from 10 per cent broadband penetration to 14 per cent, and the penetration is expected to increase more with the rollout of 2.3GHz broadband services

by Bitflux Consortium that won the 2.3GHz broadband spectrum licence,” Danbatta said.

Also, NCC has licenced two infrastructure companies for Lagos and North Central, including Abuja.

Five more licences are underway for North-west, North-east, South-west,

South-south and South-east.

“Our processes are being finetuned to actualise the licencing rounds. By the time all these are put in place, broadband penetration will increase and surpass the 30 per cent penetration by 2018,” Danbatta added.

He said although the ICT sector has recorded a very significant growth in the last 15 years when the country moved from 500,000 active lines to 157 million active lines and surpassed the 100 per cent threshold for teledensity to 107 per cent, there is still much to be done to boost broadband penetration in the country.

“Mobile internet connectivity climbed from 50,000 in 2001 to its current 97 million. We have over $35 billion foreign direct investment (FDIs) and local investments are also in billions of dollar. Our success story is very long but we as the regulators are

not resting on our oars, believing that we are largely there.

“There is a gap in our broadband sector and we hope to bridge this gap by attracting foreign investors to invest in broadband,” the NCC boss stated.

He said the need to attract investors remained the reason NCC is mobilising Nigerian companies and multinationals doing businesses in Nigeria, including individuals, to participate in this year’s ITU conference.

“We are going to Bangkok in Thailand to showcase our products and solutions and to attract foreign investors to come to Nigeria and invest in broadband,” he added.

NCC, he said, would be showcasing some Nigerian technology startups that have developed viable solutions that address immediate needs of the country.

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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWS

Economic Crime is a Global Problem, Says Amaechi Ejiofor Alike The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has said that economic crime is a global problem that requires collaboration of countries in sharing strategic information to stop the network of such crimes.

Delivering a keynote speech yesterday at the opening of the 34th Cambridge University prestigious International Symposium on Economic Crime, at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, Amaechi insisted that countries need to partner to tackle economic crime.

Four Soldiers Feared Dead in Bayelsa Boat Accident Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

Four soldiers attached to the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Delta Safe (ODS), who are currently carrying out an operation codenamed ‘Crocodile Smile’, to rid the Niger Delta of criminalities, were yesterday feared dead in the creeks of Bayelsa State.

The loss of the security personnel, it was learnt, followed a boat mishap along the Brass Water Front in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, which led to the troops drowning in the water which was said to have risen to a high level at the time.

All the weapons in possession of the troops at the time of the accident, including service rifles belonging to the soldiers, were also said to be missing.

It wasn’t clear why the boat capsized, but it was gathered that during the incident, which occurred at about 10a.m. yesterday, many other soldiers were able to swim to safety, though their weapons could not be recovered at the time of this report.

No military officer was willing to comment on the matter, but it was learnt that the troops, comprising mainly the newly deployed officers, were among the missing or feared dead.

The government recently commenced the mass deployment of military personnel in the creeks of the Niger Delta consequent upon the prolonged destruction of oil and gas infrastructure belonging to the federal government and multinationals.

The security operations against renewed militancy, sea piracy and search for those threatening to hoist the Niger Delta Republic flag on October 1, has continued despite indications that the militants had signified their intention to begin peace talks with the government.

Yesterday, an indigene of the Brass community identified as Etta, who said he witnessed the incident, noted that attempts by community youths and other soldiers to assist in a rescue operation failed. Many of the affected soldiers could not be found, he added.

“In recent times, we have been noticing increased movement of soldiers in our area. The boat that capsized was conveying a new batch of soldiers to the waterfront.

“I was going to dispose of refuse at the waterfront and I saw uniformed soldiers struggling to rescue their colleagues in a capsized boat.

“When the confusion subsided, four soldiers were missing with their rifles and other military stuff.

Some others that were rescued had their rifles missing and struggling out of the water,” he said.

As at yesterday afternoon, military authorities were said to have sought the help of local divers and youths to assist in the search for the missing soldiers, but one of the youths confirmed that the high tide of the water was impeding the search and rescue operation.

The state Chairman of the maritime union, Lloyd Sese, who confirmed the incident to journalists said the union had received the report on the boat incident, but did not have details on the number of casualties yet.

An official of Brass Local Government Area who pleaded anonymity, also confirmed the development, saying, “but we thank God it was a natural incident.”

The Acting Coordinator of the Joint Media Centre, Lt. Commander Thomas Otuji, when contacted, said only the military headquarters in Abuja could make comments on such issues.

FAAN Alerts NAF will Conduct Mock Exercise at Abuja Airport The management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has notified air travellers and the public that the Nigerian Air Force would be conducting a mock exercise on counterterrorism simulation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The Managing Director of the agency, Saleh Dunoma, said the exercise was part of strategies to reinforce the safety and security of air transport and the nation’s airports, in addition to sustaining international best practice, regulatory policies and world class service delivery.

In a statement signed by the the General Manager,

Public Affairs, FAAN, Saleh explained that the exercise might consist of aerial and land manoeuvres, which might create some dramatic spectacles and affect vehicular and human movements.

He therefore advised air travellers and members of the public to be aware and go about their normal activities as operations at the airport would not be affected.

While apologising for any inconvenience the exercise might cause, he enjoined air travellers and other airport users to always adhere to laid down rules and procedures for the safety and security of all.

In his address titled: ‘Beyond Blame Game: The Imperative of Tackling Economic Crime Together,’ Amaechi said economic crime was often committed in an organised manner involving several people across countries through multiple jurisdictions.

According to him, such crimes may originate from one country, but it often involves the participation of clandestine, criminal networks operating in different countries, playing one role or the other and benefiting from such illicit proceeds.

“At the seventh African Union and Economic Commission for Africa conference that held in Abuja back in 2014, the former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, stated that Africa loses between $50 billion to $60 billion annually as a result of Illicit Financial Flows (IFF). These are said to occur through forms of tax avoidance including transfer pricing or mispricing- depending

on which side you are- through which multinationals minimize their tax obligations by shifting their profits from high tax to low tax jurisdiction thereby short-changing some of their host countries especially in the developing world and draining them of legitimate revenue, impeding their projects and denying their population access to basic services,” Amaechi said.

He further explained that since economic crimes are committed through networks spreading over countries, it is a global problem that can only be effectively tackled through global collaboration and partnership.

Amaechi stated that for countries to collaborate, the public and private sectors especially the banks must come into collaboration beyond high sounding rhetoric and public relations. According to him, institutions from both developed and developing countries must

learn to share information and act swiftly to erode the efficacy of these networks to successfully use any jurisdiction either as transit routes or safe havens for proceeds of economic crime.

The minister added that strong, effective, regulatory and enforcement capabilities must be encouraged both domestically and internationally through technical cooperation.

“Partnerships must be encouraged to provide platforms to share best practices and intelligence and strengthen legislations between jurisdictions,” he added.

He also noted that leaders across countries and institutions must take responsibility when economic crime or corruption happens.

“That is what it means to be held accountable. In doing so, leadership is expected to do three simple things; perhaps four.

They are - upholding the primacy

of leadership and political will, insisting on the force of example, enforcing the urgency of incentives and the necessity of sanctions and finally by leveraging on the power of partnership.

“As someone who has been in active politics for more than thirty years, I have learnt that many well intended reforms are possible only if the leader can offer the requisite leadership and muster the right political will. In my country, since our President, Muhammadu Buhari was elected, he did not leave anyone in doubt that the fight against corruption will not only be taken seriously but will form a cardinal plank of his policy direction,” Amaechi said.

The Attorney-General of England and Wales and Advocate General of Northern Ireland, Rt. Hon. Jeremy Wright, also spoke on the first day of the week-long symposium.

WE ARE HERE TO SAVE RIVERS

L-R:ChiefofArmyStaff,LieutenantGeneralTukurBuratai;RiversStateGovernor,NyesomEzenwoWike;andDeputyGovernor, Mrs.IpaliboHarryBanigo, duringthevisitofGeneralBuratai andhisentouragetoGovernmentHouse,PortHarcourt...yesterday

Budget Constraint Crippling the Judiciary, Says CJN Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has said that the judiciary is suffering more than any other arms of government under the present budgetary challenges.

The CJN spoke in Abuja at the 2016 refresher course for Chief Registrars, Deputy Chief Registrars, Directors and Secretaries of Judicial Service Commissions/Committee, organised by the National Judicial Institute (NJI).

His lordship expressed discomfort over the impact of inefficient financial allocation to the judiciary.

According to him, current budgetary challenges being experienced in the country affected the judiciary more than any other arm of government.

Mohammed therefore urged court administrators to evolve ways of ensuring efficient operation of the courts in spite of the budgetary

challenges.

He said: “The current budgetary challenges permeating the nation, no doubt affects the Judiciary more than any other arm of government and remains a perennial challenge to judicial independence and the effective performance of our constitutional roles.

“Nonetheless, despite the difficulties, you must ensure that your policies are holistic, calculated to improve the credibility and effectiveness of your respective jurisdictions specifically and the entire system of justice administration as a whole.”

He urged them to shun unethical practices, including corrupt acts and abuse of office, capable of impacting negatively the public image of the judiciary.

He advised participants to always be guided by their codes of service and work to ensure the effectiveness of the justice administration system.

“As the ‘heart’ of the court

system, the Chief Registrar and/ or Secretary must be honest, a person of exceptional integrity and decorum and an expert in financial, administrative and social matters.

“Your actions are like a beacon of light that other staff can aspire to follow and depend upon for guidance. Thus, a Chief Registrar/ Secretary who is susceptible to bribery in any form, or who is prone to nepotism, favouritsm, tribalism and other negative ‘isms’ is unworthy of his office and has no place in the judiciary,” he said.

The CJN urged the senior judicial staff to be strict on discipline and ensure that the bad ones among court workers are identified and promptly dealt with.

He called on the senior officials to lead by example because attitudes found among the junior staff, largely reflected the attitude of the leadership.

“As such, you must act in

accordance with due process and be disciplined in your work, avoiding the tendency to micro-manage as a policy-maker, while ensuring clear authority for implementation in the managers.

“You can only stand on a moral high ground and act effectively, where your own ethics and integrity are not in doubt, as our collective objective is to maintain the sanctity and solemnity of our temples of justice.

“All court administrators must collectively strive to remove any clog in the wheel of justice by creatively imbibing strategies that will systemically improve our processes thus, enhancing transparency and accountability.

“Specifically, Chief Registrars must appreciate that as the chief executive of your courts, the buck stops with you in the drive to eliminate inefficiency and any corrupt practice within your jurisdictions,” the CJN said.

T H I S D AY TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

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Wike: Military Operation will Make Niger Delta Safer Stay away from Rivers, militant leader tells Avengers

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt with agency report Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared his support for military operation in the Niger Delta, codenamed the Operation Crocodile Smile, saying it would bring peace in the region.

This came as the Amanyanabo of Ancient Grand Bonny Kingdom, King Edward Dappa Pepple, Perekule XI; and other stakeholders in Bonny called on security agencies to provide security for boats operating in the area to check incessant attacks by sea pirates.

Wike also said he would do everything necessary to ensure peace and security in the Niger Delta.

This is as the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, explained that the operation was introduced to train army personnel on the techniques of operating in the Niger Delta.

Wike spoke yesterday when he granted audience to Buratai, and some senior army officers at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

The governor said: “The Rivers State Government is fully in support of the Operation Crocodile Smile.

I was fully briefed by the Brigade Commander and we associate ourselves with the programme

because it will make the Niger Delta safer.

“One of the advantages of the programme is that hoodlums in the creeks are being uprooted for a safer Niger Delta. I support the programme insofar as it is done with the constitution.”

The governor also said the state government would sustain its support for security agencies to create the right atmosphere for democratic governance.

He disclosed that the state government had procured six new armoured personnel carriers (APC) for the police and in the process of concluding the acquisition of 10 gunboats for the Nigerian Navy.

Earlier, Buratai said the Operation Crocodile Smile would ensure that the security challenges in the Niger Delta are addressed and peace enhanced.

“The Operation Crocodile Smile is an exercise to train our troops on amphibious operations,” he said.

He said the exercise seeks to provide the civil authorities with the right environment to carry out governance, adding that the exercise would ensure that the troops are professional with the required training to conduct operations within the law.

“Our waters are generally porous.

The Nigerian Army has amphibious capabilities in conjunction with the Nigerian Navy to carry out limited

operations within the creeks,” he said.

Buratai added that another aspect of the Operation Crocodile Smile would witness the army intervening in critical areas of need for the communities. The army, he said, has already embarked on medical outreach in Bille (Rivers State) and Nembe (Bayelsa State).

Meanwhile, following persistent attacks by pirates along the BonnyPort Harcourt sea route and the consequent effect on indigenes and visitors to the island, theAmanyanabo of Ancient Grand Bonny Kingdom, King Edward Dappa Pepple, and other stakeholders met in the island on the security situation there.

In a communique issued at the end of the meeting yesterday, they called boat owners/operators in Bonny to take responsibility of ensuring that their boats movement are scheduled and that the boats move in large convoys.

The communique said: “The boat owners and operators must take responsibility of ensuring that no boat that is not in perfect mechanical condition is set to sea, and that every boat must have a walkie-talkie with which to communicate with their administration on land and the security agencies.

“The JTF, Navy, Civil Defence, DSS and police should organise themselves to provide escort for

these convoys of boats in both directions.” They also called on the federal and state governments to provide adequate logistics support to the security agencies.

“The federal government, the state government, the local government and the multinational companies operating in Bonny should in a matter of necessity procure at least four gunboats with adequate logistics support for the Bonny-Port Harcourt route; “The IOCs in Bonny agreed to support the kingdom in enhancing sustained security both on land and water,” they said.

They also said: “The Bonny-Bodo Road project is of neccessity to the Bonny Kingdom, and the federal government should make haste to complete the Bonny-Bodo Road for which the Nigeria NLNG has committed 50 per cent of the funding; “Should the federal government continue to delay, the Rivers State Government should show enough concern for the plight of Bonny people and provide the fund to match that of the NLNG so that this vital road would be completed in 2017.”

The communique was signed by representatives of Bonny Local Government Council, security agencies, Shell Petroleum

Development Company, Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited, Nigeria LNG Limited, and chiefs of the kingdom, while the monarch endorsed the document.

Meanwhile, the leader, of a militant group in Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, the Aggrieved Youth Movement (AYM), Don Waney, has warned the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and other militant groups to stay away from the state.

Waney, who gave the warning in his country-home, Aligu, while addressing journalists after officially accepting amnesty gesture from the state government, vowed that they would resist any militant group that attempts to cause crisis in the state.

He advised NDA and other militant groups to embrace amnesty as he has done to move the Niger Delta region forward, or they should carry out their nefarious activities elsewhere.

Speaking further, the militant leader stressed that the AYM was not a violent group, pointing out that their agitation was traceable to youth unemployment, lack of technical training for manpower development, scholarships for those in tertiary institutions, widespread poverty, lack of basic social infrastructure and others.

He said: “On a strong note,

we are non-violent and we shall remain so in our collective agitation for a better ONELGA, Orashi and Rivers State. In the light of this, we call on the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) group to leave ONELGA and Orashi region out of their targets.

“We are against the bombing and destruction of vital oil and gas installations in our communities.

We shall not allow them or any of their type to enter our land. We want peace and development and that is what we have signed with our father and governor, Nyesom Wike. Rivers State is peaceful and we do not want outsiders to cause crisis and general insecurity in our state again.”

Waney commended Governor Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike for his efforts to ensure there was restoration of peace in the state, and urged other aggrieved groups to toe the path of peace for the Niger Delta region to develop.

The militant leader said: “We have accordingly accepted amnesty gesture the government has granted us. We salute the governor for his love for the sanctity of lives of some young people, who may have been deceived in the past. We believe that the amnesty will go a long way to transform for good, the lives of these youngsters.

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

COMMENT

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

DOGARA, ABUBAKAR AND THE BAUCHI PEOPLE Ibrahim Mohammed urges Governor Mohammed Abubakar to provide leadership

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recently read comments credited to the Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara is leading other federal lawmakers to wage a political battle against him because he was not in support of his emergence as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It is instructive to note that the speaker himself has never been on record to have said anything negative about the governor. I have searched in vain for a shred of evidence.

The governor reportedly told State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on August 31, 2016, that, “My problem with Rt. Hon. Dogara Yakubu started during the election for the leadership of the National Assembly, I stood on the side of the party. I directed every Bauchi lawmaker to toe the line of the party by voting Femi Gbajabiamila as speaker. At that time, nine out of the 11 Lawmakers did that, and later the candidate of Bauchi (Dogara) won.”

The governor also said that the speaker, who hails from the same Bauchi south zone with him, is the brain behind the troubles he is witnessing in the state and federal level.

This came as a surprise, considering the well known fact that it was the speaker who gave Governor Abubakar a consolidated bloc vote of delegates from Bogoro/Dass/ Tafawa Balewa during the primaries where he ran against his fellow lawmaker and friend, Hon. Yusuf Tuggar and former federal minister, Dr Yakubu Lame and won by 36 votes only.

There is no informed Bauchi indigene including the governor that will deny the known contributions of speaker Dogara to his emergence as Governor of Bauchi State. On the contrary, this gesture was not returned by the governor, as he himself confessed that he refused to support Dogara during his race for the seat of the speaker of the House of Representatives. Instead, he mobilised Bauchi members to vote against him. But the speaker is not one to bear grudges.

Interestingly, the governor presently does not have the support of 11 out of these same 12 Reps members. As a testimony to what the speaker stands for, even Hon. M S Abdu, his own brother from Bauchi State, who nominated his opponent during the speakership election is now a committed ally; ditto so many honorable members who voted against him.

He is also not known to hold any resentment against his main challenger, the Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila who later became the house leader. The question agitating my mind

IT IS TIME TO FOCUS ON BUILDING THE STATE AND ITS INSTITUTIONS TO SERVE THE PEOPLE OF BAUCHI. THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED IF THERE IS A SYNERGY BETWEEN THE GOVERNOR, SPEAKER, ADAMU ADAMU, SENATORS, LEGISLATORS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS

is why should the case of Gov. Abubakar be different when the speaker has reconciled with those who worked against him?

Instructively, all the three senators from Bauchi State have parted ways with the governor because they are not happy with the hardship his style of governance is bringing to the good citizens of the state who fought hard to bring him to office.

The question Governor Abubakar should be asking himself is: Why is it that nearly all NASS members from the state are not with him? Why are nearly all Bauchi elite not with him? Why is he being stoned all over the state?

Why are preachers and traditional rulers against him? Are all these happening to him simply because he refused to support the emergence of Dogara as speaker? Certainly not.

Indeed, not even a fool would fail, in the present circumstances, to see that the governor’s problems are much more deeper. The sooner the govenor realises this, the better for him. It seems it’s the entire people of Bauchi State or an overwhelming majority of them that have had enough of the govenor and his antics and have decided to face him on their own.

Why is the governor scared to mention other reputable stakeholders like Mallam Adamu Adamu, Senator Ali Wakili, Senator Nazif Gamawa, Hon. Yusuf Tuggar, Dr .Yakubu Lame and others who are all strongly united in rejecting his retrogressive brand of politics? Is it cowardice or share brinkmanship? Is he saying they are not important enough to warrant his attention? Is he telling us that all these principled and distinguished stakeholders from Bauchi have abandoned him and joined forces with Dogara to fight him for no reason other than what he alleged? Where are the marines that would buy the governor’s story? He talked about lies being spread about him without telling us what the lies were. Has Dogara become so central to the politics of Bauchi so much so that he can orchestrate a counter revolution at will or spread lies so well that the mass of Bauchi will start stoning the governor in all the local government areas he visited? Come on, your Excellency, why would you elect to insult Bauchi people and some of us who are keen watchers of political developments in the state? You really believe you are being stoned for not supporting Dogara to emerge as speaker or for lies speaker Dogara is peddling about you? Is that how stupid Bauchi people have become, stoning their Governor for an election that was settled more than a year ago?

Mohammed wrote from Alkaleri, Bauchi State

THE IMPERATIVE OF THE WAR AGAINST POVERTY

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True leadership entails finding solutions to existing problems, argues Ayo Oyoze Baje

he dark days are here for real.

The screaming newspapers’ headlines attest to this: “79.9 million Nigerians are jobless.

272 manufacturing companies close shop. Industrial production dips by 9.53%. Banks and insurance companies cut workers’ salaries. Inflation hits an all-time high of 17.1%; the worst in three decades! 1,200 workers lose jobs as Aero Contractors halt operations. 600 pilots roam our streets. Many Nigerians are relocating to their villages….” One is not a doomsday prophet, or scare-monger.

But the dire economic situation could get even worse.

That is, if the slide goes down by 2% over another quarter and urgent, drastic steps are not taken by the current All Progressives Congress-led administration to bail the ship of state from the eye of the economic storm, instead of indulging in self-decimating blame game. Currently, 22 states are yet to pay pensioners their entitlements and 27 states cannot pay staff salaries, as at when due. That is curious, even as some of the state governors concerned fly over the long-suffering masses in private jets, while others riddle our days with convoys of siren-blaring, exotic wonders on wheels. Still, nobody is asking questions on how the so- called bailout funds have been expended. But that is not all.

Without sounding immodest, yours sincerely was one of the first writers to predict it; precisely on October 15,2015. I had warned back then, with my opinion essay titled: “Nigerians, are you prepared for the looming economic recession?” It was first posted on my Facebook page before The Punch published the edited version on

November 9 and 10, 2015. Unfortunately, few, if any of the policy makers took my opinion seriously then. Now, it is a clear and present danger within our shores.

As also presaged is the increase of terminal diseases such as high blood pressure (HBP), stroke, malnutrition and diabetes. So are untimely deaths and the rate of suicide. A month ago, another of my essay asked the question: “Do they know we are suffering?”

Good enough, Mr. President responded by admitting that he knows Nigerians are groaning in misery. But what rankles is the repeated, yet tepid excuse that former President Goodluck Jonathan caused all our woes! Really? You may tell that to the marines. If memory serves, the controversial issue of corruption, and worse still, the crass culture of impunity did not start with the past administration. It was one of the issues reflected in the speech made by Major Nzeogwu Kaduna (late) on January 15, 1966 during the infamous Nigeria’s first coup de tat when he referred to the corrupt “ten per centres” that gave the loophole for the coup plotters to strike.

Yet, subsequent years of the restless run of ravenous locusts, via unbroken one-and-half decade of military dictatorship as well as the weaverbirds; the class of self-seeking politicians who pillaged and plundered our national till, literally brought us to our knees.

What matters most now, however, is how to find lasting solution to the current economic woes. Poverty is no picnic. Solutions should be a holistic, involving governments at all levels, the private sector and rich individuals. Government needs to increase on spending. It should fast track budgetary process and more so its implementation.

Stable electric power generation and distribution, in addition to bank loans at single-digit interest rates, made available to small and medium scale enterprises would increase the commercial sub-sector and eventually boost the real sector.

Indeed, one of the root causes of it all, is the dysfunctional political system we run that concentrates the lion share of state resources in the hands of a few to the detriment of millions of citizens. The bloated pay package of politicians is at variance with the harsh realities on ground. We seem to be running the anthill structure whereby the worker and soldier ants are constantly at the whims and caprices of the king and queen termites. This should not be.

Political restructuring that would devolve enormous political and economic powers from the bloated centre to the federating states or geo-political zones has become an imperative. The current unitary system that bestows emperor-like status on the federal centre will never get us out of the economic wood. Ordinarily, the federal government should have no business with power generation, agriculture, education, healthcare delivery and much of the infrastructural development in the states. It should rather concern itself with security institutions such as the armed forces, perhaps the police, as well as international relations and supervisory role of some national institutions.

If the Western Region (now defunct) could fund the free education policy, build the Cocoa House, provide good access roads and the first television station in sub-Saharan Africa during the tenure of Chief Obafemi Awolowo (of blessed memory), with revenue from unprocessed cocoa beans, why can’t

our present states be allowed to develop at their own pace and with their God-given natural resources? They could be asked to pay a certain percentage of between 25 to 30 per cent to the centre. Also, laws should be enacted and enforced to give the needed autonomy to the local government administration. It would bring governance closer to the people.

With that in place, poverty alleviation programmes would impact more positively on the human development index (HDI) of the people at the grassroots. For instance, fanciful sounding initiatives such as DFRRI, the family support programme (FSP) during the military era and others such as NAPEP, the Youth Empowerment Scheme(YES),the Rural Infrastructural Development Scheme(RIDS) and NEEDS under our democratic dispensation all failed. But why? They collapsed because they were far removed from the intended beneficiaries. And some were used as mere conduit pipe for self-enrichment.

Another means of alleviating poverty is for rich Nigerians to borrow a fresh leaf from the laudable Giving Pledge initiative of 38 American billionaires. Inspired by Warren Buffet, back in August 2010, they decided on their volition to channel at least 50 per cent of their enormous wealth to charitable causes in less developed countries. Our billionaire, prosperity-preaching pastors and prophets should also join the fray.

Above all, our political helmsmen should realise that true leadership entails finding solutions to existing problems against all odds, not giving flimsy excuses for successive failures of programmes and policies.

Baje, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

EDITORIAL DEALING WITH JAILBREAKS (2) There is urgent need to overhaul the criminal justice system

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he recent jailbreak at Abakaliki Prison in Ebonyi State (fourth within a period of six weeks) reinforces the argument that the Nigerian prisons are in dire need of decongestion. But such efforts, aimed at ameliorating the plight of Awaiting Trial inmates will come to naught without a judicial reform to overhaul the country’s criminal justice system. If crime investigation continues to drag on endlessly, if suspects are detained indefinitely in custody or dumped in prisons on trumped-up charges, if court trial is stalled by endless adjournments at the instance of the prosecution for lack of vital evidence, then there is no way the Nigerian prisons can be reformed.

More importantly, the horrific conditions prevailing in Nigerian prisons are scandalously degrading to humanity such that after spending long jail terms, inmates come out as hardened criminals. Meanwhile, most of the prisons are archaic with statistics and profiles of prisoners kept in old and worn out files. Therefore, finding themselves in the hell hole without speedy trial, the prisoners are so desperate to do anything, including being killed, to regain their freedom through jailbreaks.

But there are other problems.

Over the years, the provision of welfare services to inmates in Nigerian prisons has been far from satisfactory. Many prisons do not meet the miniTHE NIGERIAN BAR mum standard for the ASSOCIATION WHICH treatment of inmates HAS OVER 100 while others violate BRANCHES SPREAD the right to medical ACROSS THE COUNTRY services and the SHOULD BE ADVISED likes as stipulated by TO COLLABORATE WITH rule 31 of the United THE NATIONAL HUMAN Nations Standard RIGHTS COMMISSION, Minimum Rules for THE LEGAL AID COUNCIL the Treatment of PrisAND THE HUMAN oners. For instance, RIGHTS COMMUNITY TO the document insists DECONGEST THE PRISONS that mentally handi-

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOlA BEllO, KAYODE KOMOlAfE, ISRAEl IWEGBU, EMMANUEl EfENI, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OlUfEMI ABOROWA DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, fIDElIS ElEMA, MBAYIlAN ANDOAKA, ANThONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEh ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS hENRY NWAChOKOR, SAhEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOlA TAIWO, UChENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUhI GROUP HEAD fEMI TOlUfAShE ART DIRECTOR OChI OGBUAKU II DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION ChUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

capped prisoners should be isolated and given adequate treatment in mental institutions. Unfortunately, the present system tends toward secrecy and an attempt to hide from the relevant authorities how exactly prisoners fare while they serve their sentences.

There are other critical challenges that border on corruption and organised crime. In the Lagos area alone, 197 people were jailed (without option of fine) between 2005 and 2007 for drug trafficking. None of them was ever found in any prison. A government panel identified the syndicate of prosecutors, defence lawyers and warders behind the criminal enterprise but the indicted suspects have been allowed to remain in the system.

There were also allegations that some young boys were usually substituted for rich convicts between the courts and the prisons. The lucrative trade, we understand, is called “prison exchange”. Unfortunately, the prison reform bill designed to halt the rot and modernise the prison which was submitted by the executive to the National Assembly in 1999 never saw the light of day.

For now, we wish to suggest that all prison inmates who escaped from prisons be declared wanted. State governments should also be urged to contribute to the funding of the prisons. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bar Association which has over 100 branches spread across the country should be advised to collaborate with the National Human Rights Commission, the Legal Aid Council and the human rights community to decongest the prisons.

Besides, given the rate at which high-profile individuals are qualifying for jail terms, may be it is time to deploy some of the huge sums being recovered from treasury looters to build and develop better prisons. In parts of Latin America, arrested and jailed drug lords are allowed to build their own jail houses but the state ensures that they are kept out of circulation. In parts of the United States and South Africa, the private sector builds, maintains and owns some prison facilities which they lease out to the government. This may be the time to try innovative ideas to keep bad people out of circulation and perhaps make them better citizens when they have served their term.

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

GOVERNOR BINDOW AND HIS ROADS

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oth supporters and antagonists of the Adamawa State governor, Muhammadu Umaru Jibrilla Bindow share a common view that the governor has performed well so far, and is doing excellently well especially in terms of infrastructure development.

However, he has also failed woefully in certain strategic areas. With regard to infrastructural development, his critics have been able to pick holes in his work.

For instance, the appearance of potholes in some areas of newly constructed roads has brought up questions about the quality of the roads and whether they are built to lasting quality. Some civil engineering experts are of the view that the quality of the roads ought to be at least six to eight inches compacted aggregate of laterite, stone dust and gravel as a base for at least eight inches asphalt pavement. On the contrary, Governor Bindow’s roads are made of just laterite as a base for few inches of asphalt pavement. This is one of many discrediting analyses of Governor Bindow’s new constructions.

The development drive has also been concentrated within the state capital and a few towns, which has earned the governor the sobriquet ‘state capital governor’ among his critics.

Governor Bindow has also failed in the aspect of workers’ salaries. Teachers, healthcare and local council workers are being owed salaries for several months.

The workers’ screening exercise embarked upon was also handled shoddily; some workers who have served the state for many years were alleged to have been screened as ghost workers. But Adamawa State has a bloated workforce and fraudriddled workers’ payroll. The governor made a political blunder in his failure to manage the widening division within his own party and the growing disconnect between him and some political bigwigs in the state. Governor Bindow erred by sidelining many members of the legacy parties - ACN, CPC and the ANPP. The only political bigwig that is with the governor is former vice-president Atiku Abubakar. And Atiku’s well established

vast political structure, immense war chest and history of successes in political battles have emboldened Bindow so much that some political observers believe the governor often appears ‘self-assured’ in the murky waters of Adamawa politics.

There are even insinuations that Bindow has started reaching out to some of his governor-colleagues to support Atiku’s quest for presidency come 2019. Well, it is politics.

Nonetheless, while Bindow feels safe in Atiku’s arms, he faces a formidable opposition, or better said, a ‘threat’ within his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), that may easily consume him. And his opponents may have an edge over him if they play their cards together and smartly - they will sway aggrieved members of the APC and they may also have ‘Abuja’ on their side.

There is need for Bindow to look inwards and start re-engaging all APC stakeholders, instead of just local government party chairmen. Politics is all about state-wide development, party politics,

patronage and representative engagement.

Bindow has scored low in all.

Looking at the current atmosphere of Adamawa politics, the masses’ view of governance is that the governor and his few lieutenants have cornered everything.

Other important stakeholders are just doing ‘siddon look’.

The fear for the governor is: when the chips are down, most of his right men today will not swim and drown with him. And, equally important, despite Atiku’s immense war chest, of recent, winning elections in Adamawa is becoming very difficult for the Turaki. His preferred candidate, Yayaji Ibrahim Mijinyawa lost twice the Adamawa APC governorship primaries.

If he must succeed, Governor Bindow needs to redress his style of politics.

There is still ample time for reconciliation, realignment and the spirit of give and take, because most of the ‘arms’ around him might not be able to hold him when the storm comes.

Zayyad I. Muhammad, Jimeta, Adamawa State

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

POLITICS

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

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

All Eyes on Edo Gubernatorial Poll With the Edo State governorship election a few days away, there is no doubt that all attentions will shift to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and political parties, Davidson Iriekpen writes

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his weekend, all attentions will shift to Edo State, where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct the much awaited governorship election. Last week, the commission said it would deploy 18,511 personnel to conduct the election in the state, made up of 18 local government areas with a total of 1,925,105 registered voters; 192 registration areas; 2,627 polling units; and 4,011 voting points.

In a statement, it also said it would deploy one Returning Officer; 18 Local Government Area Collation Officers; 192 Registration Area Collation Officers; 263 Supervisory Presiding Officers; 2,627 Presiding Officers 12, 036 Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs) I, II and III; 2,530 Assistant Presiding Officers; 728 Reserve APOs; 19 Local Government Area Supervisors, including 1 HQ Reserve; and 97 RA Cluster Supervisors and Headquarter1 Reserve (2RAs/Supervisor).

The electoral umpire also said it had accredited 44 observer groups for the poll. It added that while 37 of the observer groups are domestic, seven are foreign. It, however, urged all the accredited groups to deliver credible and reliable information to members of the public during and after the election coverage.

For those, who understand election very well in the country, it is not the announcement of the deployment of the personnel and their number that matter; it is their effectiveness and efficiency as well as their ability to ensure that no part of the state is disenfranchised. For a commission that has in recent times given a majority of Nigerians cause to doubt its capacity to successfully conduct elections once under its

For those, who understand election very well in the country, it is not the announcement of the deployment of the personnel and their number that matter; it is their effectiveness and efficiency as well as their ability to ensure that no part of the state is disenfranchised. For a commission that has in recent times given a majority of Nigerians cause to doubt its capacity to successfully conduct elections once under its current Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the attention of Nigerians will certainly focus on how it goes about its duties in Edo State

Ize-Iyamu...PDP’s joker

current Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the attention of Nigerians will certainly focus on how it goes about its duties in Edo State.

As the people anxiously look forward to Saturday, though in all, 19 political parties are participating in the election, the contest is really between Godwin Obaseki of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The two major candidates will fight to control the Dennis Osadebey Avenue, the state’s seat of power when the incumbent governor, Adams Oshiomhole leaves office in November. Already, the candidates, their supporters and political parties are perfecting last minute strategies to achieve victory come Saturday.

For Ize-Iyamu, the only baggage he is taking into the last days of the election is the frequent accusation of political prostitution against him, having moved from the PDP to the APC and back to the PDP, and the fact that he once served under a government believed to have left the state worse than it met it between 1999 and 2007, which the PDP candidate has always defended by saying he was simply an aide not the chief executive officer.

On the other hand, Obaseki is largely seen as a lackey considering the way he defeated other heavy weights in the party in a primary that was allegedly teleguided by Oshiomhole himself, who many observers suspect is determined to cover up his dirty tracks and reintroduce godfatherism, which he dismantled in the state when he assumed power in 2008.

Another serious disadvantage against the ruling party is the fact with its victory at the federal level, there hasn’t been any serious impact on both the people of the state and Nigerians in general, who now live in misery and regrets.

With the election just four days away, there is no doubt that the pre-occupation of the two major parties now is how to ensure that it is free and fair.

In the last few weeks, the PDP has really had it rough with the state government alleged of victimizing its members, particularly the youths to be hurled into detention under flimsy excuses. Before then, the PDP had tasked

Obaseki...APC’s ace

President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure a level playing ground in the election.

The party, in a statement, said it was important that Buhari and the APC allow a level-playing ground the same way President Goodluck Jonathan did when Oshiomhole was seeking a second term in office and other governors from other political parties.

It was against this background, the state PDP Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, last week, said the party has done all it required for its candidate, to emerge victorious in the governorship election.

According to Orbih, INEC and security agencies should for once be prepared to live up to their responsibilities to provide a level playing field for everybody.

“We have toured the nooks and crannies of the 192 wards across the 18 local government areas of the state and have interacted with the people. The people, who have been assured of their safety, have also vowed to effect the needed change in governance through their votes, come the decision-making day. Now, the fear is no longer about our level of preparedness but about the technical aspect of the election process.

“Right now, INEC is the election, security agencies are the election. If Edo State must have a credible, free, fair and conclusive election, it will be dependent on the level of seriousness and preparedness of these institutions.

“On our part, the party and its candidate are prepared and we have done our homework and can confidently say the governorship contest is almost a done deal. This is because the people have seen the true colour of the ruling APC, both at the national and state levels and are ready to effect real change on the election day.

So, come September 10, the people will willingly and truly, in their numbers, march out to effect that genuine change in Edo State.

“They have resolved to damn the consequences of Oshiomhole’s threat and boastful posture to exercise their franchise without fear of being intimidated at all. The only aspect remaining for the state to witness a conclusive election is the technical aspect of the electoral process which involves INEC and the security agencies.

“The onus now lies with these institutions to proof their level of readiness by providing a level playing field for all and sundry for a realisation of the much needed conclusive election in Edo State. INEC will have to proof that it has sufficient logistics and control of it to deliver all electoral materials to polling centres timely.

The security agencies have to show capability to squarely provide adequate security for all.”

The PDP candidate, Ize-Iyamu, appealed to foreign missions and agencies in the country to send observers and monitors to ensure that plans by the opposition APC to rig the elections are nipped in the bud. He pointed out how the state government shut him and his party out from the state-owned media and how his billboards and posters were vandalised by members of the APC. He stressed that though his party is interested in a free and fair election where the votes of the people would count, it was however, ready to ensure that the APC does not manipulate the polls and results. He said his party in the state placed a high value on election observation across the state and would therefore welcome the presence of observers and monitoring teams to observe the forthcoming elections to forestall any attempt by any party to truncate the democratic process.

“All we request is a level playing field which the incumbent has so far failed to provide. You must be aware of the obstacles they have put in our way to prevent us from campaigning effectively as well as their denial of our use of public facilities like venues, radio and television to reach the people.

“We believe your appeal to the federal government, INEC, the judiciary, army, police and other security agencies will go a long way in ensuring that there is free, fair and credible election and that there will be peace in Edo State before, during and after the governorship election on September 10,” he concluded.

For the APC, unlike in 2012, when the last governorship election was held in the state under the PDP-led federal government, there is no cause for alarm this time. Instead, the party has remained calm because it is in control

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

ONTHEWATCH

Tension in Kogi over Replacement for Late Minister Following the death of a former Minister of State, Labour and Employment, James Ocholi sometime in March this year, plans to pick a replacement is causing tension in the state, writes Yekini Jimoh

T

ension is gradually mounting in Kogi State over the non-appointment of a replacement minister from the state after the unfortunate death of the late James Ocholi, a former minister of state, Labour and Employment, who represented the state at in the Federal Executive Council. Politicians in the state are unhappy with President Muhammadu Buhari for excluding the state for so long from the cabinet, five months after the death of James Ocholi.

THISDAY reliably gathered that those jostling for Ocholi’s job include former Acting Governor of Kogi State and one time Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Chief Clarence Olafemi, Alhaji Mohammed Kasim, Senator Alex Kadiri, Professor Sam Egwu, Senator Mohammed Ohiare and Chief Gbenga Ashagun.

Many party chieftains believe loyalty to the party should be sacrosanct in picking the ministerial replacement. Some eminent politicians and groups from Kogi East and West in the state are already holding meetings for the ministerial position. A group known as Kogi West Solidarity Forum, recently, while addressing newsmen said they agreed with the need to fill the slot to ensure that Kogi is rightfully represented and given a sense of belonging in the running of the affairs of the country.

Spokesperson for the group, Chief Richard Asaje said the group took serious exception to the position of a body called CPC, which today does not exist beyond the imagination of those, who gather themselves to advance personal, parochial and narrow interest that is totally against the spirit of APC of today.

“Since the formation of APC as a political party, it was clearly stated and understood that no merger parties have any identity to hold on to again.

Just like the legacy parties for which CPC belonged and the new-PDP that joined believe in equal right within the APC. This belief does not exempt Kogi State from the understanding.

Furthermore, what is the history and strength of default CPC in Kogi that warrant the selfish call to monopolise the ministerial slot for Kogi.

“It is an absolute disservice to the unity of APC, the default new-PDP in Kogi State currently boasts of 7 out of the 13 state Assembly members of APC with none from CPC, 4 of the 6 House of Representatives as against only 1 for CPC, and 1 of the 2 Senators of APC with none from CPC. In fact, the little relevance of CPC is felt in two out of the 21 Local Governments of the state – Lokoja and Koto Karfe, others elsewhere are just noisemakers that have not been able to produce a single councillor in their area,” he stressed.

According to him, during one of the presidential campaign meetings in Abuja, Kogi was apportioned 25% performance budget but at the last count of the presidential election, APC Kogi scored over 70% of votes for President Buhari, coming first by percentage in North Central and second by total votes within the region.

He said it was the first time the state would

Bello...where does he stand

turn out massively against PDP in any election since 2003 to date, stressing that the defection of new-PDP on 23rd September 2014, en mass

THISDAY reliably gathered that those jostling for Ocholi’s job include former Acting Governor of Kogi State and one time Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Chief Clarence Olafemi, Alhaji Mohammed Kasim, Senator Alex Kadiri, Professor Sam Egwu, Senator Mohammed Ohiare and Chief Gbenga Ashagun

Ocholi...left the vacuum

to APC was responsible for this feast.

This defection brought APC to 7-serving House of Assembly members, two former Speakers, one Acting Governor, one State PDP party Chairman, one former ambassador, many former Council Chairmen and their councillors and several of their supporters, lamenting that almost two years into the victory, no member of the new-PDP in the state has been given any position anywhere at the federal level.

“CPC does not see justice in allowing this slot to go to new-PDP element of APC. The new-PDP in Kogi is independent from any new-PDP anywhere and totally loyal to the party and the President, but suddenly, it has become an orphan in APC despite our huge labour for the success of APC. “We, therefore, appeal to the president to ignore the claims in totality by these self-seeking minors and do justice and fairness by appointing a credible, experienced and committed member of the new-PDP from the state, taking into consideration the power of equation currently existing in the state.

“With the Governor coming from the Central Senatorial District, the Deputy Governor coming from the East Senatorial District, one will expect for fairness, equity and Justice that the 3rd most important position which is the ministerial position should come from the West senatorial district,” the group pleated.

Another group known as Kogi Progressives Unity (KPU) is also saying for Justice and Equity in the state, the next minister should come from Lokoja-Koton Karfe axis since the axis

has never produced a minister from the state.

Addressing newsmen recently, spokesperson for the group, Mr. Daniel Ali Ochene and the publicity secretary, Tokubo Samson respectively said all the ethnics groups with cultural and religious affiliations in the state had produced minister in the past except Lokoja-Koton Karfe Federal Constituency.

KPU appealed to other Senatorial districts in the state to allow Lokoja produce the next minister for equity and Justice.

A prominent member of the All Progressive Congress (APC) from Kogi East, Alhaji Linco Ocheje, said since the late James Ocholi was from their Senatorial district, whoever is going to replace him should also come from Kogi East.

“What do we have? The governor is from Central, the deputy is from East while the West got the position of Speaker and Secretary to the State Government. The minister should come from East and I don’t mind who gets it as long as the person is from Kogi East,” he said.

Another source familiar with the development said, “Unfortunately for the proponents of party loyalty, the president does not see political appointment as payback cheque for party loyalty.

The President believes that competence rather than party loyalty should be the basis of critical appointments and he has always insisted that he is concerned about those who can perform in office rather than the length of stay in the party,” the sources disclosed.

However, sources close to the party in the state disclosed to THISDAY that the president may name a replacement for Ocholi this month.

ALL EYES ON EDO GUBERNATORIAL POLL of the state and federal government and its security agencies.

This, perhaps, was while speaking in Benin City at the weekend, the National Chairman of the APC, who is an indigene of the state, Chief John Odigie Oyegun appealed to the people of the state to vote massively for Obaseki in order to consolidate the gains of Oshiomhole’s unparalleled achievements in the last seven and half years.

He said the party had performed creditably in its almost eight years in government as against the over 10 years the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in charge in the state.

“Our campaign has been very good. There was a period of drama but all that is behind us and the arguments are very clear irrespective of

whatever individual issues there must be and there have been. The issue is simple: we have had the APC in government for seven years plus; before that we had PDP in government in the state for 10 years. You can hardly see anybody who can point to any single substantial development in the 10 years of PDP compared with the almost eight years of APC under Oshiomhole and that in fact, decides the issue.

“When you ask people, ‘what is your preference, do you want the good times to continue or do you want to revert to the bad old days’, the issue becomes very clear and then you get a resounding ‘let the good days continue’. That is where the debate rests and the result has been very good. Yes, there was a time when there were all sorts of discordant tunes as a result of group interests, personal interest but

all that had been sorted out now. I think we are rowing down to a very substantial victory, no doubt at all,” he said.

On the fears that the prevailing economic downturn under the APC federal administration could sway votes in favour of the PDP, Odigie-Oyegun said, “Again, if you stretch it down, it is the same argument. One thing that pleases me today is that Nigerians and the ordinary voters are more perceptive than we think they are. Yes, the APC at the national level has been in office for one year plus but everybody knows that the problems we have today could not have been created in one day.

“We have come to fix the nation, to fix the problems, otherwise as a people, as a nation, we would have been going through a struggle for existence and a great challenge would have

been confronting this nation. These were the issues and challenges that were inflicted on this country by years of or a decade and a half of poor governance at the national level.

“Unfortunately, as if that was not enough, we also took over at a time when the crude market collapsed from $100 dto $140 a barrel to a time when sometimes, we were managing to make $40. At some stage, it was less than $30 per barrel. That is the reality and the people recognise this. It does not stop the fact that they are aching, it does not stop the fact that they are in pains, that they are hungry. But they know these are not the creation of the APC and that what the APC under Buhari is set to do is to ensure that the fundamental problem with the country, a mono-culture economy is solved once and for all.

18

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

Goat Loans for Widows

Recently, Jigawa State Governor,Alhaji BadaruAbubakar unveiled a goat-rearing micro-credit programme for vulnerable women. The programme, which is first of kind in Nigeria, has already empowered18,000 vulnerable women, especially widows across 27 local government areas in the state. Gboyega Akinsanmi writes

Some of the goats loaned to vulnerable women in Jigawa

B

inta Abdullahi is a victim of double tragedies. Binta, a Gwaram resident in Jigawa State, lost her husband few years ago.

She was alone with her children to cope with the country’s harsh socio-economic realities. Also, Binta has lost her two eyes, a condition which she said, made it difficult to overcome challenges that her status as a widow naturally threw up.

Confronted with these grim conditions, Binta had to trudge on with courage, though according her, often challenged by the stern realities of life. She acknowledged that it was indeed not easy, coping with her sight loss and enduring a life of solitude. Amid Binta’s battle for survival, there was no hope in sight, which she said, perhaps made her resign to providence.

Like the case of Binta, thousands of women are battling diverse socio-economic conditions in different parts of Jigawa State.

Even though they are married, some women are unemployed or under-employed. Also, many of them are bereaved, leaving them with the huge responsibility of breadwinner.

Others are physically challenged in one way or the other.

The indicators of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) bears witness to the grave conditions of Jigawa’s women. According to the NBS, Jigawa has a population of 4.3 million. Of the population, about 47.6 per cent comprises women of different strata.

By these indicators, Jigawa has the highest poverty rate. Of course, women as the most vulnerable in the state.

After he took up the mantle of leadership in Jigawa State, Governor Badaru Abubakar said the grim picture of Jigawa’s socio-economic life spurred his decision to

The governor, specifically, cited the example of Botswana and South Africa, where he said, borrowed the idea of goat multiplication programme. In these Southern African countries, Abubakar said the goat loan scheme has brought out millions of women from poverty and penury

study the goat multiplication programme, which he said, had yielded much results in other climes in different parts of the world. He said he shared a belief that once a woman “is empowered, a generation has been empowered.”

So, the passion to lift up thousands of women fom the dregs of life informed the decision of Abubakar to initiate a goat-rearing micro-credit programme. By design, the programme was initiated to loan three goats – one male and two female – two women, who are faced with the stark realities of life in 287 wards in the state.

What could have spurred the Abubakar administration to introduce the goat-rearing micro-credit programme? The programme has really worked in other climes, according to the governor. He said it was a kind of programme, which he said, had been used in some countries in Africa, Asia and South America as “a powerful tool to eradicate poverty amongst women.”

The governor, specifically, cited the example of Botswana and South Africa, where he said, borrowed the idea of goat multiplication programme. In these Southern African countries, Abubakar said the goat loan scheme “has brought out millions of women from poverty and penury. It thus became imperative to look at different options to assist women in our state.”

But for him, really, the fact that the goat loan scheme worked in Botswana and South Africa is not a sufficient reason to introduce in Jigawa. Different findings showed that other empowerment programmes

“rarely yield desired impact on the lives of the beneficiaries,” whom he said, were empowered and equipped to create wealth and opportunities in the state.

However, according to the governor, the goat loan scheme differs from other empowerment programmes, at least for one good reason. He explained that the scheme was different because it was sustainable. He, thus, compared it with other programmes, by which he said, beneficiaries received equipment that could enable them practice their trade.

He said: “Findings show if 10 youths are trained in tailoring or carpentry and given tools for such trade, there will not be market for them in this rural setting. They will add to the existing number of tailors or carpenters that are not fully engaged by the available business their skills offered.

At the end of the day the youth would sell the tools and return to square one.”

After a comprehensive survey, Abubakar said, the goat multiplication was adapted to address the peculiar challenges of Jigawa women. He said the main reason was “to eliminate poverty among Jigawa women.”

He said Jigawa “has the highest poverty rate, especially among women in the country and we are curious to reverse the trend.

This is something we must stop.”

Aside, the governor said, the goat multiplication programme is part of our electoral promise to create wealth in the state. In Nigeria, today, Abubakar explained that there was a consensus that agriculture “is the potent tool of job creation in a state

19

• T H I S D AY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

FEATURES

Abubakar...passionate about the empowerment of the less-privileged women One of the scheme's beneficiaries, Mrs. Aishatu Limawa with the goats loaned to her

Some beneficiaries of the Jigawa goat-rearing micro-credit programme

where more than 80 per cent of its population are involved in animal husbandry and crop production.”

But the programme presents different advantages, according to the governor. He explained that there “is a corn-stalk shredding and grinding machine to be provided in each of the 287 wards in the state. The loan beneficiaries will trade the manure of their goats with farmers who will give them corn stalk for grinding which is a by-products of their crops.”

Abubakar explained that the grinded stalk would be used to feed the goats, which he said, would be stationed at a place “instead of roaming about and littering the communities with their excreta.

The fact that the goats are kept at a place will enhance their sizes, productivity and enriched their droppings with urea from their urine, which improves soil fertility.”

The governor’s Special Assistant on Women Empowerment, Mrs. Hauwa Umar-Aliyu provided more insight into the goal multiplication scheme, which she said, had been recognised worldwide. Already, the special assistant said the Veterinarians Without Border (VWB) had adopted the programme, which she said, had transformed millions of lives in other countries.

Umar-Aliyu explained the significance of goat multiplication programme and how the programme had empowered women globally. She said the VWB, an international organisation, unveiled several programmes on goat loan scheme in Bangladesh, Rwanda, Uganda and other countries where it proved a successful strategy to bail women out of poverty.

"Goats thrive and reproduce without much intervention. Goats are also central to

VWB/VSF’s special approach to community development. Pairs of goats are given to selected families. The families will raise the goats within a period of time. They are expected to produce three goat kids eventually, which can then be donated and loaned to someone else.

“It is a small-scale lending system that uses livestock, a more tangible and relevant currency than cash to many in the underdeveloped countries. The programme is designed to empower women to improve their families and their communities as a whole. It has worked in Botswana, Rwanda and Uganda among others. Here, in Jigawa, it has started to work.”

In Jigawa, Umar-Aliyu said a comprehensive marketing plan “has been put in place to support the marketing of the goats by setting a committee of breeders that are working to ensure success of the programme. We have set up a committee that is working with 18,000 beneficiaries so that the output of the programme will be marketed and sold at optimum profit.”

Already, the special assistant added that the Saudi Arabian Government Mass Animal Purchase Scheme “is being exploited by the committee so that in the next few years, the beneficiaries will be able to sell their goats to both exports and domestic markets.

It is estimated that by end of the year, the goats loaned to Jigawa’s women will multiply to over 100,000.”

By implication, Umar-Aliyu noted that the goats “will form a large resources for the beneficiaries and revenue for the state government when they are finally taken to markets for sales.We are sure that in the next few years, millions of women will be taken out of poverty through the goat

loan programme. Already, some states have started coming to study us.”

She noted that Katsina, particularly, had sent a team of experts “to study our version of goat loan programme. Katsina has launched the same programme in

It is a small-scale lending system that uses livestock, a more tangible and relevant currency than cash to many in the underdeveloped countries.

The programme is designed to empower women to improve their families and their communities as a whole. It has worked in Botswana, Rwanda and Uganda among others. Here, in Jigawa, it has started to work

their state. We hope Jigawa’s goat loan scheme will surpass what Botswana and South Africa have achieved. Jigawa will become the biggest producers of assorted goats for both domestic use and exports.”

Even though the programme had benefitted about 18,000 households in the state, critics said the Abubakar administration had taken the state backward. For them, the administration of former Governor Sule Lamido built an airport, which they said, brought Jigawa “to the comity of elite state in the federation. The goat loan initiative is a joke.”

However, the governor said the programme had gained acceptance among women across the state. He, thus, gave an illustration that if Jigawa’s women are given the options of a return flight “to Abuja from Dutse Airport at N50, 000 and three goats at N15, 000, they will definitely opt for the later because it will add value to their lives, families and communities.”

He argued that people criticised the goat loan scheme because they did not know “how to solve problems. I have tried empowerment programmes in skills acquisition and vocational training. But these programmes have not been as successful as the goat programme. Already, we have recorded over 70 per cent rate success in the goat programme we did.

“We put monitoring and evaluation mechanism in place to measure the impact of the programme. When we evaluated different empowerment programmes, we discovered that the success rate is less than 20 per cent. Some beneficiaries sell the empowerment materials given to them the same day they collected it because it cannot sustain them,” Abubakar explained.

20

IMAGES

L-R: Dagunrewe of Ijebu Ife, Oba Michael Adekoya; Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetola, Newly elected Ojotunmoro of Abigi Land, Oba Olusegun Ogunye and his Olori, Funke, during the traditional induction of Oba Ogunye to the council of Obas in Ijebuland, at the Palace of Awujale, in Ijebu Ode....recently

L-R: Minister of State, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Ibrahim Jibrin; world renowned environmentalist, Dr. Newton Jibunoh; and Deputy Director, Environmental Protection, Ghana, during the international environmental roundtable for Africa in Abuja...recently ENOCK REUBEN

L-R: Chairman, Sosaco Nigeria Limited, Mr. Francis Ogboro; Managing Director, Mr. Shailesh Kumar and the Special Guest, Mr. Mathew Ogboro, at the launch of new Jago gold and the unveiling of the New Pack Design for Jago , at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos...recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Ms. Nonny Ugboma; Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Kaduna State, Dr. Paul Manya Dogo and a Director, MTN Foundation, Mrs. Aisha Sadauki, during the commissioning of the new-look Maternity Ward of the Yusuf Danfodio Hospital, by MTN Foundation Maternal Ward Support Projects, in Kaduna...recently

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

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

L-R: Chairman, Mineral Watch Consultant Ltd, Prof. Omar Rahaman; President, Association of Water Well Drilling Rig Owner and Practitioners (AWDROP), Mr. Ale Michael; Lecturer, Department of Geology, University of Maiduguri, Prof. Ibrahim Goni; and National Vice-President, AWDROP, Mr. Dayo Opeyemi, at the 2016 conference of National Borehole Master Drillers in Abuja...recently ENOCK REUBEN

L-R: Vice-Chairman, Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Mr. Lawrence Onuchukwu; FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello; and Chairman, AMAC, Abdullahi Adamu Candido, cutting the tape to commission the LEA Iddo Maji Primary School built by the AMAC chairman in Abuja recently

L-R; Creative Director, Kinabuti Fashion Label, Ms. Caterina Bortolussi; Publisher, TW Magazine, Mrs. Adesuwa Onyenokwe; Photographer, Mr. Kelechi Amadi-Obi and the Head, Brand Management, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, Mrs. Adeyosola Atere, during the mentoring session by the Bank as part of the 2016 edition of the Dare2Dream empowerment programme for youth, in

Cattle disembarking from the train that brought them from Zamfara State to Lagos at Okooba, Agege, Lagos...recently ABIODUN AJALA

23

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

ENERGY

Bintube: We Just Realised Our Vulnerability to Gasto-Power Projects Waziri Bintube is the acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, otherwise known as the Bulk Trader. He spoke to Chineme Okafor on recent developments in Nigeria’s power sector, particularly the government’s sudden spirited interest in developing the solar energy. Excerpts: The government is suddenly so interested in solar power. How did this come to be, how did you arrive at the new feed-in tariff for the 14 new solar projects?

Well, negotiations started about three years ago.

It was an ongoing one and we started at about 32 cents per kilowatt hour and then along the line, the regulator approved a solar tariff in MYTO 2.2. But we knew that the tariff they proposed was not the optimum for the country and that we could do better. So, we kept negotiating but that became stalled during the elections last year and the aftermath when there was uncertainty about the economic direction that the incoming government might introduce.

It was a bit stalled but once the minister of power was appointed, he reintroduced new momentum in the whole thing, and we re-engaged the solar promoters again.

The way the government addressed the Azura Power stalemate was convincing because the transaction was stalled for nearly a year due to some disagreement on whether or not the government of Nigeria was going to sign an indemnity agreement. The Attorney General had an opinion that the government should not, on the other side, we felt that this was a frontline project and it was necessary we signed the agreement and restore investors’ confidence.

So, when the government came in, it tackled it head-on and resolved it quickly and once the new minister came in, investors became eager and we started talking. We talked about 17 cents per kilowatts hour from 23 cents but the minister held on that he was not going to allow Nigeria sign on at a rate that was higher while other places like Zambia had significantly lower solar tariffs.

After intense negotiations, we were able to arrive at 11 cents per kilowatt hour, which is considered very good for Nigeria, especially for the frontrunner projects.

But there are indications that the promptness was particularly from renewed militancy in the Delta and its attendant impact on the country’s electricity system?

In the midst of these, there were other issues like the vandalism of gas lines. Suddenly we woke up to realise that we are very vulnerable and relying almost entirely on gas for our energy.

So, that was a trigger and it forced us to think about other quick alternatives we can bring in and upgrade the grid. It was then solar became a top priority because it is relatively easy to bring in and there won’t be issues of vandalism.

So, promoters are good to go with the PPA you signed?

Yes. The PPA itself is a document that enables the sponsors to raise funding for their projects.

It also gives them assurance that there is an off-taker to ensure that payments are continuously made without interruptions. It is backed up with a put call option agreement to give them an assurance that should there be a major force majeure in Nigeria or expropriation, that the developer can get reimbursed for the entire amount he has invested and the government of Nigeria can take over.

If, on the other hand, for some security reasons, the government wants to have total control of the power plant, it can also buy over the plant and reimburse the entire amount for the plant.

So, it is a complex document.

But looking at existing remittance challenges you are having with Discos, are you very capitalised to take on this and cover the new solar plants?

When we are buying power, the main source of payment is remittance from the Discos. They also give us letters of credit from their banks, and it is like a guarantee from their banks to say that should they fail to pay us, their banks

Bintube will pay us. Out of the 11 Discos, about eight have given us that guarantee and it is just that we have not called on them because we are very sensitive to the impact it might have on the banking industry.

But we have formed a structure and assigned our rights on those guarantees to the Gencos who can now call their banks and make them pay if the Discos fail.

So, there are three levels of the waterfall.

The first one is the cash collection from the consumers, which the Discos are supposed to pay and if they fail, there is the LCs from their banks.

Then third level is the World Bank partial risk guarantee, though, it is not all the Gencos that have it, but what it does for the Gencos that have it is that if NBET and the Discos fail to pay them, then the World Bank through that structure pays them. That is why it is called partial risk guarantee and not full but kicks in when the need arise.

NBET has a working capital; up to $350 million was given to us under the Euro bond facility and we have that amount in our kitty, which we can deploy in exceptional situations. In addition, the government has given us N50 billion from its privatisation proceeds from Egbin, which we have put in our escrow account. The purpose of that is to breach the time difference when the Gencos want their money and when they can be paid.

In addition, there are some off-the-line supports like the Central Bank’s Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation fund that was granted by the CBN to cover obligations in the market from the date of privatisation. That was another form of support to the market.

We are currently negotiating with the CBN again to come in with a second tranche. They have some amount that they are yet to disburse but even after that, we are looking at getting the board to approve another second tranche on top of the N213 billion that has already been approved. We are looking at about N180 billion.

Are you getting any kind of indications that this would happen soon?

Yes, we have the assurance of the CBN Governor; he is very dedicated to resolving the logjam and ensuring that all the key pillars of the economy work because they are interrelated.

If the power plants work, the manufacturers will have lesser problems; the banks will get paid for their products and then there will be less need for foreign products to come in.

That reduces the request for foreign exchange.

Just imagine that if our refineries are working, we will not need to depend on importation which takes away a lot from us including profits and jobs.

The transmission system is quite unstable.

How are these solar plants going to cope with this sort of unreliable system?

The sponsors are also aware of the transmission constraints and have tried to locate their stations to areas closest to a transmission evacuation corridor. They are taking into consideration the existing constraints and optimising it within that kind of remit whilst requesting for more upgrade on the transmission.

The transmission constraints are being addressed, especially by the government now. The minister’s goal on incremental power is driving these issues and resolving the key challenges, which are not rocket science. There are some key transmission areas like the South East corridor that once you resolve them, will sort out other impediments in the system.

Could you give me an update on the remittance levels of the Discos, as well as how the market is trending right now?

The remittance level is a function of the energy that is delivered. Because of the very severe disruption on gas supply and its negative consequences on power generation, consumers are not buying power because it is not available and remittance has declined because of this drop in total energy generation.

If we don’t supply power, Discos are not able to collect money and we have seen that their remittances have declined to about 30-40 per cent at the moment. This can go up if the energy supply goes up. So, it is a function of how much energy is available and put on grid and then to households.

Gencos recently complained of how badly they are faring with poor remittance levels. Has this in any way impacted on your capitalisation?

Have you had to draw down any fund to augment payments to Gencos?

Rightly, the parties that are most affected in the poor remittance scenario are the Gencos.

Discos are in a better position because they collect cash from the consumers and can take some to meet their obligations before they remit to us and that is how it runs.

Gencos don’t have this access to cash. But in terms of ownership of the power, they produce but don’t sell. Yet, they don’t have total control on what they produce and that is their concern because contracts are not being respected as they should.

In terms of the impact on NBET, we are in between and at the moment. We cannot use our capitalisation to bridge this because our bind programme has not been approved by the National Assembly. To be able to do

this, we will need a lot of approval from the government and the National Assembly. We have not used our capitalisation. It is 100 per cent intact because we are only taking from the Discos, aggregating it and paying to parties concerned without mark up or profits.

What sort of narrative are you looking to write in the solar power subsector?

We are guided by the national power policy and what the country is trying to do is to ensure that by 2020, we have this composition of energy mix: 33.13 per cent from renewables, 33.13 from thermal plants using gas, 33 per cent also coming from hydos. It is going to be a complete mix, so that the country is not over exposed to one particular source of power.

That is what we are doing aggressively with supports from Nexant and Power Africa to come up with bankable industry documents that can attract the required funding from financiers and that will give them confidence to be able to support the construction of more power plants and improve some of the enablers in the system.

Now, there are no doubts about the commercial viability of the telecoms industry in Nigeria and that is what we are driving at.

Are there new people on the line to sign solar PPAs with the NBET, apart from these 14?

Absolutely, we have a lot of interests from overseas and beyond. The appetite for Nigeria is huge because they know there is a huge supply-demand gap in Nigeria. The 14 we have signed is a tip of the iceberg but we are telling them right now to take it easy and one step at a time because we want to vet this 14 and ensure they are already on stream before taking on more. There is no need to take on additional obligations when we have not sorted out the one we have on the ground.

Was President Obama’s Power Africa involved in any way with the negotiations for the 14 solar power PPAs? Yes, and I have to put on records our appreciation to President Obama’s Power Africa team working in Nigeria, especially contracting through Nexant. We had a training programme in Lagos and our people were there. We are generally very happy at the catalytic role Power Africa is playing in the evolution of a commercially driven electricity market.

Their role may not be visible but they are doing a lot in ensuring best practices. They were indirectly involved in the solar power negotiations, with transaction advisers and their lawyers like Georgia Iordanescu who was here with us negotiating the put call options for weeks

24

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

ENERGY

A Clear-cut Job for Ugbo at NDPHC ChieduUgbo was last week confirmed the substantive head of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), a special purpose vehicle for the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP). ChinemeOkafor writes that the new MD and his team have a clear-cut job of restoring NDPHC’s credibility to deliver power to Nigerians Last Wednesday, the federal government confirmed Joseph Chiedu Ugbo as substantive Managing Director of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), a special purpose vehicle funded by the three tiers of Nigeria’s government to fast-track power generation and delivery in the country.

Through a circular from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ugbo, who acted in that capacity for close to two months after the government relieved NDPHC’s pioneer head, James Olotu, was asked to lead NDPHC into its next phase – a make or mar phase as it appears. For Ugbo and his team, sector analysts believe that their job is simple – get NDPHC profitable in terms of project management.

Ugbo from the government’s circular on his appointment, may not be lacking in paper and applied qualifications. He appears equipped for the job at hand, but as it is always stated, a book is best judged not from its cover but its content value. According to the circular, Ugbo as a legal practitioner, was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1991. He is reportedly a specialist in infrastructure regulations with a robust experience in electricity industry reform and privatisation. He also holds Bachelor and Master of Law Degrees from the University of Lagos.

For over 15 years, the circular said he provided legal advisory services to public sector power entities including legal support to the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) which metamorphosed into the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) during the privatisation of the successor companies PHCN. Going by this, Ugbo can aptly be described as one who knows Nigeria’s power sector well, and so should have minimal difficulties moving things around for the NDPHC to come good on its mandate of improving Nigeria’s wretched public power system. Alongside him, the government also approved the appointment of two executive directors for the company. They are Babayo Shehu, who will be the Executive Director Finance and Administration and Ife Oyedele, as the Executive Director Engineering and Technical Services.

Like Ugbo, both candidates are reportedly with enviable qualifications. Shehu has a First Class Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.

Accordingly, he began his working career with the Bauchi State Development Board in 1981, and has worked in the country’s banking sector from 1987 to 2003 before he joined the federal public service in 2003. Oyedele on the other hand graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Lagos in 1982, and has being a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and Institute of Directors.

Between 1982 and 1992, Oyedele worked in both the public and private sectors. He reportedly established his own company, Messrs Matcom Limited in 1992, and was its Managing Director until he was appointed into the NDPHC. Existing conditions The new team at NDPHC has no other task but to reposition the NDPHC to profitably play out the role for which it was set up in Nigeria’s power sector. In the last couple of weeks that Nigeria’s public power system has shown its defining flaws, random views shared with THISDAY by industry experts have shown that the choice of setting up the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) and have NDPHC run it has not really given Nigeria the sort of outcomes it projected.

As a fast-track initiative, the NIPP was meant to stabilise the country’s electricity supply system.

It was to do this with the construction of 10 gas fired power plants – seven situated in the Niger Delta for ease of access to gas feedstock,

putting on the national grid today? Very minimal because the government has remained adamant and allowed private investors who would add value to them go away.

“Government is doing the O&M by itself but I insist that it does not have that capacity.

It should allow people who know the power business to bring out the values of the NIPP plants. “There is no way the government can run these plants efficiently otherwise the whole idea of privatisation would mean nothing,” added Kunle. Another industry source anonymously told THISDAY that the NIPP initiative was suffering from misplaced planning, especially with adequate provision for gas feedstock.

The source said with the vast transmission infrastructure built by the NIPP, transmitting power from its stations should not have been a challenge but for the lack of power therein.

“If there was a deliberate plan to have good gas supplied to the power stations of the NIPP, there wouldn’t have been the kind of issues that arose with investors during its privatisation.

“But because we deliberately plan without focus, the NIPP is in what I can call a limbo because it is neither giving out the values it ought to give or allowing others who have the capacity to do,” said the source who worked in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and has vast knowledge of how gas supply arrangements work.

Ugbo another three situated side by side with existing plants in the south west to enable them share gas supply infrastructure.

These plants were to give out a cumulative generation volume of 5055 megawatts (MW) of electricity which will be transmitted and distributed to consumers using as well the 114 transmission lines and substations and 296 distribution injection substations built in its entire scope. But at the moment, productivity from the NIPP which was conceived in 2004 to add significant new generation capacity to Nigeria’s electricity supply system along with the transmission, and gas supply distribution infrastructure needed to help it has continued to vacillate for reasons related with poor project management and unhealthy bureaucracies.

While some of NIPP’s generation projects which have defined completion timelines are yet to fully come on stream – Alaoji -789MW; Calabar -630MW; Gbarain -252MW; Omoku252MW; and Egbema- 378MW – due majorly to construction delays, productivity from the 750MW Olorunsogo; 504MW Sapele; 495MW Geregu; 504MW Omotosho and 504MW plants have experienced casual fluctuations on account of gas supply issues.

Though the NDPHC had in the past claimed that seven of the 10 power plants have been in operation and producing 25 per cent of Nigeria’s generation output despite these challenges, experts believe that the $7.1 billion generation assets should be doing more than they do today. According to the experts, the initiative was set up to run seamlessly, but it has so far experienced unnecessary encumbrances typical of public project implementation in Nigeria.

“The NIPP situation is a classical Nigerian way of doing things. Delays and in some cases, lack of seriousness to deliver key infrastructure projects,” said Dan Kunle, an energy expert.

Kunle, a former official in the past government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has a deep knowledge of the NIPP conception and project expectations. He told THISDAY in an interview some months back that it was completely un-

necessary for Nigeria to have dragged on with the NIPP for over 10 years now.

He also explained that despite the initial challenges which resulted to the suspension of the project, works on its generation aspects should have been completed long before now to give the country some leverage in its power generation capacity.

According to him, issues of inadequate gas supply to the plants even after close to $500 million had been put into building and upgrading gas supply infrastructure, have continued to put a big question mark on the values the NIPP has so far brought to the country’s power supply system. “What is the point of having power plants with no gas to turn them on?” Kunle asked. He further said: “The fact that some of these plants do not have gas supply to them shows how unserious we can be sometimes with planning and executing key infrastructure projects to the end.”

“While I completely give it to the NDPHC for mustering that quantum of assets, the assets are huge and robust especially the transmission networks, I also believe that the power stations should have been completed by now and everything related with its first phase completely forgotten,” he added.

Kunle explained that it was because of the country’s irrational decisions on completing the NIPP generation plants as at when due with its associated gas infrastructure that has cost it the opportunity to have private investor buy them over in a privatisation exercise that has been on suspension for more than two years now.

He stated that the government which is currently running the plants that are in operation through the NDPHC does not have the capacity to do it under an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) arrangement. The NDPHC supervises this O&M framework in some of the plants like Geregu-2.

He added that the financial values attached to the plants during the privatisation rush in 2014 would have plunged on the account of the many challenges of the plants.

“How many megawatts of power are they

Tasks before Ugbo and his team As at the last count, a decision on how the stalled NIPP privatisation has not been taken or made public by the government. The process, which was initiated in partnership with key stakeholders like the BPE has not progressed because preferred bidders refused to close the deal on account of unfulfilled sales agreements with the government.

One of such issues identified by preferred bidders of the 10 plants was lack of gas supply to the stations, Ugbo and his team would have to find a good enough solution to this critical issue, and quickly push the government to take a decision on the privatisation process.

There are indications the government may be considering a piecemeal approach to the privatisation, that is, one-by-one sale of the plants based on their production readiness and willingness of the preferred bidders. If this is considered a good option, the new team has to be fast in implementation and make funds available for the second phase of the NIPP. Another critical issue the team would need to be proactive on it happening is the completion of plants that project consultants have delayed for so long. The Alaoji plan is one of such projects that have lingered well beyond its project implementation timeline, Ugbo and his team would need to be transparent and decisive in dealing with this knotty issue amongst others that have kept the value of the project from being realised.

The poor state of the NIPP has also not been without the contribution of the country, which reportedly owes the NDPHC about N99 billion in debt for energy supplied to the national grid. This huge financial debt to the company means that it is running its O&M operations unprofitably in the plants under this arrangement.

Running a company on this reported state means that it is a charity organisation that is heavily dependent on subvention. And with Nigeria’s current economic status in consideration, Ugbo and his team has to recover debts owed NDPHC by the country’s electricity market.

Also, the second phase of the NIPP in which NDPHC plans to build identified hydro power plants up north, and complete transmission projects that were carried over from its first phase demands that Ugbo and his team initiate and stick with credible project procurement and implementation processes to avoid such unhealthy issues that are associated with the first phase and which also delayed the completion of projects in that phase.

06.09.2016

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Law, Media and Economic Development

Damilola Babatope

D

espite the heavy rain and late arrival of Conference materials, the morale of delegates at the 56TH Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association was predominantly high.

It was one of the largest gathering of Legal Practitioners in the World with world renowned and highly resourceful Discussants speaking on topics that cut across all sectors and their contributions to the Economic Development of our Nation. Every session was chaired by a Legal Luminary of great repute.

The Social scene was equally invigorating. Lawyers were serenaded by the finest in the entertainment industry.

The food and snacks at the Friendship Centre were surprisingly affordable and delicious especially the local appetizer: Roasted Plantain and Fish spiced with aromatic leaves and sauce.

Being my first time as a Delegate at the Conference with high expectations, I will definitely attend more Conferences to come.

One of the Sessions that attracted the highest number of young minds tagged “Law, Media and Economic Development” was aimed at discussing the impact of the Law and Media on Economic Development while highlighting how Lawyers have contributed to the economy in their utilisation of the Media.

Media, simpliciter, is a platform through which effective communication

is done.

Until recently, social media has been tactfully ignored when discussing the media as a tool of economic development.

As a young Lawyer and a Discussant during one of the Parallel Sessions at the Conference, I emphasised more on social media, being an offshoot of the Mainstream Media.

Any IT compliant Legal Practitioner will be in no doubt that when there is low or no connectivity, productivity almost grinds to a halt. Social media is vital not only for its distinguishable contributions to the economic development, but, to our very existence.

Social media is a combination of computer based tools that enable people create content; share same, exchange information, interests and ideas in virtual spaces and networks all from the corner of one’s office cubicle.

According to research figures, 71% of young Lawyers use the internet for career development, 48% for Client development, 45% for education and current awareness, and 24% for Case Investigation.

Some of the older Lawyers perceive social media to be limited to gossip websites or where the latest “Aso-ebi” styles are shown off. There are other forms of social media including legal blogs and Fora for critical analysis of trending legal issues, legal services review and referral. Due to the influx of online traffic, income is generated from paid adverts that are strategically placed on such websites.

At some point during the Conference, #NBAAGC2016 was trending on Twitter and Instagram. Given the virality of those platforms, the desired publicity

at no direct costs to the Organisers of the Conference was generated. Potential Sponsors and Collaborators were definitely attracted and it repositioned the visibility of Nigerian Lawyers.

Even though social media does not typically create jobs, it facilitates the process for young lawyers to thrive.

24% of Lawyers have had a Client retain them directly or via referral because of their online networking.

In today’s global landscape, location is crucial and becomes key in competitive advantage. It is impossible for a Lawyer to be physically present everywhere his services are required, location herein means the virtual space where he has his social media presence.

Advocacy for social justice is on a progressive rise. Human rights violations can be reported, protests can be held using hash-tags and mentioning relevant authorities. The recent decry and subsequent suspension of “The Social Media Gag Bill” is a vivid example of the virtual struggle against some self-centered Lawmakers.

It has given the people the much needed voice to air opinions. There has been continuous condemnation of the Niger Delta crisis which is fuelling the ongoing economic recession and destroying its own communities.

Economic development is human development. Social media promotes literacy and education among lawyers.

Continuing Legal Education is one of the cardinal points upon which the legal profession is founded. One could be drinking Garri and at the same time receiving career focused lectures in any part of the world. Economic development is access to education and how well rounded such level of education is.

The most valuable asset of any lawyer is his time. Productive time that could be wasted in traffic congestion could be used to peruse important documents in the ‘owner’s corner’ of comfortable vehicles. By the click of buttons, one could request for a door step taxi pickup and/or even share the ride thereby sharing expenses.

Social media is a digital gold mine for lawyers. There are new and evolving areas of legal specialisation every fortnight ranging from: liability incurred by a third party user on a website, infringement of “Selfie” (Image) use, defamatory content(s) from a Tweet, aggravated Internet assault, unauthorised collection of personal information, deceptive advertising, dismissal for Facebook remarks, to, who benefits more and ownership of content on Social media: Users that create or Corporations that own and host?

In conclusion, since Social media ranks higher in frequency, accessibility, usability, immediacy (instant response to and from Clients) and its capability to reach a global audience, every Legal Practitioner is advised to have at least a medium, most importantly, a website; which should contain the following: • Firm contact information •Lawyers’ profiles • Lawyers’ articles/Presentation • Press Releases/ Newsletter • Links to Firm’s social media profiles • Self-help Legal guides • Client intake form • Real-time communication tools Babatope is an Abuja based lawyer and one of the speakers at the NBA Lawyers in the Media Forum at the AGC.

Legal Personality of the Week Adeyinka Moyosore Kotoye

‘The Legal Profession is the Best Profession in the World’

My name is Adeyinka Moyosore Kotoye.

I attended the University of Ibadan and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1998. I served in the firm of Afe Babalola, (SAN) & Co. In February, 1999, I started working in the firm of Chief G.O.K Ajayi, (SAN) & Co. In August, 2000, I joined Libra Law Office where I worked under the tutelage of Mrs. Hairat A. Balogun.

I was there till January 2009, when I started Pisces and Gemini Law Office (P.A.G.E) in Ikeja.

I have been a Partner in the office since then.

Have you had any challenges in your career as a lawyer and if so what were the main challenges?

There have been several challenging situations but I do not look at them in that perspective. I do not consider them as challenges at all. I take them in my stride. Life itself is full of challenges.

What was your worst day as a lawyer?

I have never had any "worst day" as a Lawyer.

I have been in active litigation right from the day I was called to the Bar. I think I was called on a Thursday. I started going to court the following Monday with Mr. Hakeem Afolabi, (SAN), one of the greatest legal minds I have ever come across. Therefore, for me, the Court room is my natural habitat, my fortress. Without sounding immodest, advocacy is second nature to me.

The only punishment you can administer to me as a young counsel is to take me out of the court, nevertheless I will still find a way to go and watch proceedings.

Adeyinka Moyosore Kotoye

What was your most memorable experience?

I got initiated into high level litigation when I filed a Petition on behalf of Chief Olu Falae in 1999. I was working with the Late Chief G.O.K. Ajayi, (S.A.N) at that time. Since then, every day in court has been very memorable, whether I lose or I win. It does not matter. I

just enjoy the ambiance of the Court room. It gives me some form of motivation. There is always something new to learn and take away.

wanting a career in law?

The Legal Profession is the best profession in the world.

Who has been most influential in your life?

My Mother and Bishop David Oyedepo, while I was growing up had a very huge influence on me but lately, my Wife.

If you had not become a lawyer, what would you have chosen?

Nothing. I never had a second choice. It was so bad that while filling my application forms for HSC at the Federal School of Science and Arts (FSS), Victoria Island, Federal government College, Ijanikin and Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta, I wrote "Law" in all the columns meant for subjects. The heads of those institutions then had to call my father at different times to make enquiries about the motive behind my obsession with the Law. It was the same situation while filling JAMB forms. My First choice was "Law" and my Second choice was "Law".

Why did you become a lawyer?

My decision to become a Lawyer dates back to 1979 during the campaign for that year's general election. I got inspired by the picture of the late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo, (S.A.N) that I saw in a poster somewhere within our neighbourhood. Of course, you dare not bring the poster to the house because nearly the entire household were members of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

Between ages 15- 18, I read nearly all his books, to wit: "My march through Prison", "Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution" etc. Also within the same period, I started reading Autobiographies of people like Chief Ernest Shonekan, GCFR, Late Abel Ubeku, late Adeyemi Lawson, Ayo Rosiji and I thought I could model my career along that path before I stumbled on litigation in Chief Afe Babalola's office.

What would your advice be to anyone

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Certainly not where I am at the moment.

I am too restless to be static or stagnant. The office has just ventured into publishing. We have two flagship publications which are titled "Appeal cases of Nigeria" which is going to be a monthly law reporting journal in the style of the London Law Times Journal and "Practice Digest for Legal Practitioners" which is also going to take the form of the old Empire digest.

They will be in both hard and soft copies. This is our focus at the moment. Deo volente, other things may be added in the future.

6/

06.09.2016

Fostering Nigerian MSMEs Competitiveness: A Review of the Report by SMEDAN and NBS Chuks Okoriekwe

at the recently released World Bank Doing Business (DB) Report of 2015 where it ranked 169 out of 189 economies assessed by the Bank.

This is a pointer to the fact that the government has a lot to do in improving Nigeria’s competitiveness in the business community. As such, there is need to put in place regulatory framework as well as procedure and practices at all level of government to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria, especially at the MSMEs level.

N Introduction

igerians greeted the inauguration of the Muhammadu Buhari – led government on May 29th 2015 with much hope and optimism. Many, seeing it as a resurgence of the people’s mandate to take the country to greater heights. For some others, scepticism reigned in their minds. Arguing that the present administration, though full of good intentions, is coming at a time when Nigeria’s economic fortune is at its lowest ebb. Oil which is the mainstay of the nation’s economy is selling at a price no one envisaged –one third the price of last year’s sale. This has compelled the Federal Government (FG) to take strict measures in controlling the economy – forex restriction, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) promotion, amongst others.

In growing the economy, much emphasis should be placed on the potential of the Micro, Medium and Small Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) to be the panacea to Nigeria’s economic woes.

The MSMEs accounts for over 57.9% of Nigeria’s rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while employing over 60% of employed working class Nigerians. No doubt it has the potential for growth if the government makes necessary reforms with adequate infrastructure in place.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has however taken a giant stride in providing intervention funds to the MSMEs through various-FG intervention programs in conjunction with banks and relevant financial institutions.

No doubt, funding the MSMEs at this point would stimulate the economy and also be helpful in mitigating Nigeria’s economic tailspin. One must consider other factors that would ensure that these funds do not go down the drain like previous intervention funds. To this end, this article seeks to critically assess the SMES Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)’ Report on MSMEs Competitiveness.

The Report on MSMEs’ Competiveness On the 29th of February, 2016, the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki was presented with a report by SMEDAN and NBS on promoting Nigeria’s competitiveness (“the Report”). According to the Report, the growth of Nigeria’s economy is largely dependent on removing legal and institutional bottlenecks affecting MSMEs through sectoral reforms.

MSMEs have the potential to create myriads of jobs, thereby bringing to fruition the FG’s plan of creating a million jobs in the tenure of this administration. This position is however, being threatened by Nigeria’s declining foreign reserve due to instability in the price of oil.

As a result, these MSMEs are unable to access funds needed for their business growth and where the funds are accessible, they are soon stiffened by the harsh business climate.

To stem this growing tide, it is pertinent that the government provide the right environment for small businesses to thrive, this would in the long run help in stabilising the economy and prevent a looming, drawn out, recession.

The government, particularly the Legislature must create the right policy framework while amending or repealing any cantankerous legislation. The Report further itemised legislations it considers inimical to the growth of small business in Nigeria. Accordingly, these legislations were classified into high, medium and low categories based on their impact on the Nigerian business landscape.

The Report also identified some key findings for urgent legislative actions. These are: a) Passage of Reform Bills In order to strengthen Nigeria’s ailing economy through the MSMEs, the government needs to urgently consider and pass some pending bills before the National Assembly. These bills are: (a) Federal Competitive and Consumer Protection Bill (2015), which is aimed at protecting the economy from untoward monopoly. If passed, it would invariably cover the oversight performed

by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on mergers. This would be a welcome development as it would provide a clear cut direction on mergers in Nigeria; (b) Federal Roads Authority Bill (2015) which seeks to create an agency to oversee road networks within the country. By implication, the creation of an agency would increase the wage bill of the FG and duplicate functions as the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) already manages all federal roads. Rather than create this agency, the FG should ensure effective and efficient performance of the existing government agency; (c) National Inland Waterways Authority Bill (2015); National Transport Commission Bill (2015); Nigerian Postal Commission Bill (2015); and the Nigerian Railway Authority Bill (2015) all of which are geared towards the promotion of private sector participation in the delivery of services through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

With the exception of the Federal Road Authority Bill, when other bills are passed and they become operational, they would go a long way in strengthening investors’ confidence in the MSMEs thereby creating more jobs. b) Establishment of a Federal Legislative Clearing House The report recommended the creation of a legislative clearing house whose responsibility would be to scrutinise bills before presentation to the National Assembly. If this proposition is carried out, dead time will be eliminated and efficiency in legislative activities will be promoted. Thus, any proposed bill from members of the National Assembly would be sent to the clearing house for scrutiny and recommendations would be made before such bill can be presented to the National Assembly.

However laudable this move might seem, it portends additional staff being employed which would increase the recurrent expenditure of the legislative house – apparently this was not the intention of the Report. Notwithstanding, this position can be consolidated with the training of legislative aid and staff of the National Assembly Service Commission to act in recognising duplicity and overlapping provisions in bills presented to the National Assembly. Further, the clearing house can be a department in the National Assembly Service Commission solely dedicated to the function. For this to be achieved, there is need for the amendment of Section 7 of the National Assembly Service Commission Act. c) Access to finance and property This has been the bane of MSMEs development in Nigeria. Most times, the government through the CBN would set aside certain intervention funds to assist these businesses, however, these funds are hardly ever accessed due to excessive charges and interest rate collected by the DMB. According to the Report, only 17% of the MSMEs under review accessed a bank loan for its start-up owing to the difficulty in obtaining a bank facility. To increase access to finance by MSMEs, it further recommended that with the passage of the Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency Bill (2016), Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Bill (2015), and National Development

Bank of Nigeria Bill (2016), these issues would be resolved. Accordingly, the Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency Bill holds the potential of solving the challenge of collateral by allowing businesses to securitise their commercial warehouse receipts. Also, the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Bill seeks to give creditors an effective way to discover whether a potential borrower has already granted a security interest in a collateral and, if so, what priority those rights have through the establishment of a National Collateral Registry.

To consolidate the operations of development finance institutions, the National Development Bank of Nigeria Bill will be instrumental. With the passage of these bills into law, they could ensure that businesses, especially MSMEs have access to different avenues of financing their operations at reasonable interest rates.

One must acknowledge the contributions of the non-banking financial services from the private sector in providing the much needed funds for the MSMEs which has been aided by the e-commerce rave. However, these funds are accessed at cut-throat interest rate because of the nature and risk involved in the non-collateral loan transaction.

In the same vein, limited access to land for operations has also hindered the growth of MSMEs in Nigeria. Most especially, the requirement to obtain the Governor’s consent with regards to any transfer in land. One of the recommendations contained in the Report is the elimination of the requirement for the Governor’s consent. This underlines the inability of MSMEs to borrow from financial institutions as they more often than not, lack title documents evincing ownership of landed collateral.

In tackling this challenge, the Lagos State Government introduced electronic Certificate of Occupancy (e-C of O) in 2014 by automating her Lands Registry. Undoubtedly, this has eased doing business in Lagos by granting operators of MSMEs ease of obtaining title documents with which to access funds for operation, streamlined processing fees, and reduction of erstwhile corrupt practices which plagued the issuance of the C of O. This process can be improved upon with the signing of the Unemployment Trust Fund Law by the Lagos State Government which presents the prospect of disbursing more funds to MSMEs operators. However, there is need for other States in Nigeria to emulate this giant stride as it would open the States to investment opportunities in the MSME space. d) Establishment of a National Legislative Forum The Report recommended that there should be a dialogue between the Federal and State Governments with a view to harmonising laws, regulations and practices affecting Nigeria’s Business Environment (NBE). This is mainly in the area where both tiers exercise concurrent jurisdiction.

The legislative forum would oversee the implementation of any of such agreed harmonisation with government parastatals and agencies through the performance of its oversight functions.

Nigeria occupied an unfavourable position

e) Improving Commercial Dispute Resolution One of the factors that boost investors’ confidence in the BE of any country, is the sanctity of contract and the assurance of access to justice if such sanctity is voided by a party to the contract. More so, this follows the cliché: “justice delayed is justice denied” This therefore places an obligation on the government to put in place mechanisms to ensure speedy dispensation of commercial disputes.

It recommended that the draft Federal Arbitration and Conciliation Bill, 2007 be updated to repeal and re-enact the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. This would ensure that the law keeps pace with recent developments in the BE. For instance, the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration has been amended severally to keep pace with recent developments and reflect commercial realities. One of such amendments recognises the power of arbitral tribunals in granting preliminary orders.

Also, since contracts are governed by State Laws, it was advised that all states in Nigeria emulate the Lagos State example by setting up Multi-Door Courthouses with a view to promoting Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR). This would invariably aid the speedy determination of investment and business disputes. f) Simplifying the Payment of Taxes One of the canons of taxation is convenience.

In the process of tax administration, the tax authority must ensure the convenience of the taxpayer. Also, the nature of tax being paid must be made known to the taxpayer in clear terms. To ensure that MSMEs are tax compliant, it is essential to simplify and streamline the nature and payment of tax. Currently, there are numerous tax obligations scattered across different legislations and are based on income profits. This shrinks the expected profits of the business and thereby extinguishing any hope of growth. It is worthy of note that the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) should be made public and handed to MSMEs operators to avoid instances of conflict in collection by revenue agencies. More so, the various Revenue authorities of the States should sensitise the general public on the disadvantages and implication of defaulting in one’s tax obligation.

Most importantly, the legislature should consider enacting legislation to streamline tax payment by introducing one tax for each tax base.

Conclusion If indeed the FG intends to achieve its plan to create more jobs, the MSMEs which have the potential to absorb unemployed Nigerians must be given necessary consideration to accelerate its growth. Funding is one of the requirements for such growth. However, the government needs to look beyond funding and consider other multifaceted factors to create an enabling environment. This can thus be achieved through the implementation of some of the recommendations of the Report. One can argue that the Report will not holistically solve the myriad of challenges confronting the MSME space. However, it would be a right step in the right direction as the gains from such implementation can be consolidated for future improved performance. It is therefore hoped that this would invariably promote the competitiveness of the MSMEs in the BE while increasing the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

Chuks Okoriekwe is a business lawyer and he practices with LeLaw Barristers & Solicitors in Lagos.

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Recession Preventive Rehabilitation and the Nigerian Draft Insolvency Bill: Lessons from the EU? Sanford U. Mba

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ith the current economic recession with which Nigeria is faced, these are certainly not the best of times for Nigerian businesses. From the micro and small scale operators to the medium and even large corporations, no one is spared the agony of the harsh business climate. Like no other time, debtors are more likely to default on interest payment on facilities and lenders are also under pressure to cut their losses. While secured creditors are positioned to call in the securities, unsecured creditors are also exploring all means at their disposal to get debtors to pay up their debt obligations, whether by co-opting law enforcement agents or reluctantly approaching the courts to obtain money judgments.

Debtors too are learning to cut their losses and without doubt, job losses are common place, with the attendant social consequences. The other day, we were greeted with the news of a businesswoman who left behind a suicide note lamenting her indebtedness. Indeed, these are trying times.

More than anything else, viable businesses now need a regime that ensures the resolution of indebtedness arising from circumstances such as those pointed out above. One lesson learnt from the 2008 global economic recession is that hard times as these present policymakers with the opportunity to rework their business insolvency legislations, to ensure the effective resolution of firm level distress. This explains the excitement which stakeholders presumably should have felt when the 8th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria successfully passed what will possibly become Nigeria’s first legislation dedicated to, amongst other things, the resolution of the distress of businesses. Elementary constitutional law tells us that there is still a long way to go as the House of Representatives will need to activate the process of law making and upon completion, the Bill will still have to reach the presidency for assent.

Permit me to somewhat digress from the crux of the matter by drawing attention to two peripheral observations that should interest watchers of business insolvency reform in Nigeria. First, as at 2014, there was a Bill which was being actively pushed by the Business Rescue and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN). At the INSOL International Africa Roundtable which was held in Kampala from 17-18 October, 2014, the summary submitted on reform efforts in Nigeria was that “[T]here is a draft Insolvency Bill which has been exposed to stakeholders and is now before the Federal Minister of Trade who is pursuing approval of the Federal Executive Council so it can be forwarded to the National Assembly for promulgation as a government bill.

The draft Bill is basically the work of BRIPAN.” Remarkably, the present Bill passed by the Senate is different from that Bill which largely takes after the English Insolvency Act, 1986 and its provisions on business rehabilitation.

One wonders what has become of the Bill and why a more recently introduced

Bill has suddenly passed through the Senate with such incredible speed.

The second observation is to do with the reference to currency in the draft legislation. It is interesting that the Dollar is the currency of choice everywhere currency reference is made in the draft legislation. For instance, in the notice of intention to make a proposal to its creditors, an insolvent person (natural or legal) must state in a prescribed form, amongst other things, “the names of its creditors with claims amounting to two hundred and fifty dollars or more and the amounts of their claims as known or shown by the debtor's books” (see s. 30 of the draft legislation).

Another example, s. 106 of the draft legislation provides that decisions in a meeting of creditors may be reached by resolution carried by the majority of votes. Votes are equated to “each dollar of every claim of the creditor that is not disallowed.” It is not clear whether this is an oversight on the part of the draftsman that also escaped the scrutiny of the constitutional procedure of passage in the Senate, or whether it is a deliberate preference of the Dollar over the Naira by the draftsman. The House of Representatives may have to consider this.

When businesses are unable to pay their debts, contemporary insolvency laws provide two pathways. First is the liquidation of the business and the distribution of its assets to the creditors and if possible, to the residual claimants (shareholders). Secondly, the law may facilitate the rescue of the indebted business. It does this by providing a framework within which the debtor and its creditors negotiate their debt.

There is growing global preference for this latter option for viable businesses that are financially distressed. The idea essentially is that being financially distressed should not mean the end of the road for businesses. The expectation is that emerging from the process, the business is more efficient and continues to operate within the economy. The 269 sectioned draft legislation as already pointed out seeks to cater for corporate

and individual insolvency. It also claims to be positioned to facilitate the rehabilitation of insolvent businesses. It is very gratifying that the Bill introduces a regime that allows the debtor to make a proposal for the restructuring of its debt. This regime should see an improvement on the floating chargee centered receivership and the hardly used arrangement and compromise provisions in CAMA which are the only extant business rehabilitation options in Nigeria.

While a cursory look at the draft legislation has so much to commend it for, one point which the House of Representatives may look out for is the provision of a prophylactic regime that facilitates restructuring for troubled businesses which although not already insolvent, are likely to become so.

Providing for the restructuring of the debt of the business when it has become insolvent is just like taking a sick patient to the hospital when (s)he is already terminally ill. The chances of rehabilitation may therefore be less.

In its present form, the draft legislation appears to stand at the very end of the dark tunnel, awaiting the insolvency of the debtors before its provisions may be set in motion. This may be inferred from the scope of its application (bankrupt and insolvent persons).

Nigeria may wish to learn from the response of the EU to the economic crisis of 2008. Faced with the economic and social crisis that affected people in terms of job availability and businesses survival, the EU Commission and Parliament championed a policy directed towards the modernisation of insolvency law in the EU to enable businesses weather the financial difficulties, carry out their operations within more efficient structures and when needed, provide the opportunity of a fresh start for honest entrepreneurs. The EU Recommendation on New Approaches to Business Rescue and to give Entrepreneurs a Second Chance (2014) is a manifestation of this policy thrust.

This recommendation in its essential respects requires Member States to

provide for a preventive framework that enables debtors to commence restructuring of their businesses as soon as the possibilities of insolvency begins to loom. Within this framework, the debtor should be able to continue in the day to day management of its business operations. The debtor should also be able to request a temporary stay of individual creditor enforcement action while the restructuring is ongoing. As part of this prophylactic restructuring regime, the recommendation proposes a restructuring plan or proposal to be adopted by a majority of creditors prescribed by law, which upon confirmation by the court binds all creditors. Finally, because “new money” will be necessary to enable the debtor work its way out of distress, the Recommendation provides that financing for the implementation of the restructuring plan should be protected from being declared void, voidable or unenforceable in any court proceedings.

Also, criminal or civil proceedings may not be instituted so far as there is no fraud involved.

There is indeed no better time to undertake the much needed reform of Nigeria’s insolvency law regime, with a special focus not only on the rescue of viable distressed businesses but through the provision of a preventive restructuring framework. Indeed, reforms of insolvency laws in many parts of the world were undertaken in critical times as these. The point has to be made here that the claim is not that a preventive business rescue framework holds all of the answers to business failures. However, it guarantees that, other things being equal, if troubled businesses are allowed access to a formal restructuring framework at the earliest possible time, it may go a long way in helping such businesses stay out of insolvency and provide enhanced value for all stakeholders in the long run.

Sanford Mba is currently a doctoral candidate in the International Business Law (IBL) program at the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.

06.09.2016 "YOU HAVE RIGHTLY IDENTIFIED BAD LOANS AS A DRAIN ON PROFITS OTHERWISE DUE TO SHAREHOLDERS" have the direct responsibility of proposing law reform legislation to the Legislature in the National Assembly and that the Solicitor General/Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice be made a permanent member of the Commission and vested with executive approvals to proposals for law reforms.

Can you explain the rationale behind these propositions?

Under the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Act, the Attorney-General drives the wheel of the Commission, everything to be done requires his initiative or approval. The Commission thus functions practically as an agency of the Attorney-General’s office. The Commission has no general mandate on reform or codification of laws, elimination of anomalies or repeal of obsolete, spent and unnecessary enactments. Under the Act, all end reviews/reports of the Commission shall be submitted to the Attorney-General of the Federation, who, as Chief Law Officer will study same and lay before the President such proposals for law reform. From thence, the proposals are processed for federal executive sanction, and submission to the legislative process of the National Assembly.

Whereas, in conception, the Commission should be able to embark on a continuous, sustained process of reviewing laws and proffering solutions through amendments. It is, therefore, imperative that its proposals must timeously reach the National Assembly whose leadership must see law reform as a primary duty. Attorneys-General change with the four-year term of each administration and, sometimes, changes are made in between. The absence of continuity results in unread law reform reports and expired dreams or efforts to initiate some reform. Hence it is my suggestion that the Commission should have direct responsibility of proposing law reform legislation to the legislative arm. Whilst the role of the Attorney-General cannot be completely eliminated in the process, it is recommended that the Solicitor-General/ Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice be a permanent member of the Commission and be charged with giving Executive approvals to proposals for law reforms. A proposal for law reform from the Commission should be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for review and comments which ministry shall have 60days within which to respond. In the event of any delay or default, the Commission shall have the right to forward such proposals to the legislative arm without further recourse to the Ministry of justice.

Last year you launched two books titled Principles of Corporate Law in Nigeria and Company Securities: Law and Practice. What are your comments on the current legal regime for company securities in Nigeria? How can companies minimise corporate malpractice?

The two books have been designed to enrich existing literature on corporate and securities law. They embody a conscious effort to separate securities law from company law strictu sensu.

Principles of Corporate law in Nigeria offers a local compendium on corporate law principles.

Whilst the second edition of Company Securities: Law & Practice expands available literature on securities law and practice. Topical issues like stockbrokers’ liability and liability of professional parties for lax due diligence are explored.

Conceptually, I conceive companies as providing veritable grounds for corporate monsters to abuse investors’ trust. Directors and managers are depicted as monsters that steal or fret away shareholders’ funds. Malpractices by these corporate actors abound and need to be checked by law reform. For example, directors’ expenses including perquisites of office are always written off as costs of doing business, which costs are not regulated by any law; again in many cases, directors’ remuneration are not tied to deliverables in terms of performance or profit indices. When it comes to issues of securities in the primary market, investors are at the mercy of corporate directors who using different stratagem manipulate stock prices and the entire issue process. Do you recall any prosecutions in this regard? Similarly, the accounting profession has failed the trust of shareholders and investors as corporate gate keepers. These and many more areas of the law need reform.

Many codes of corporate governance exist for the regulatory compliance of company administrators. Could you comment on the adequacy of our corporate governance codes?

COVER/9 As an experienced corporate and commercial law practitioner what challenges affect the implementation of these codes and does their multiplicity aid or hamper their effectiveness?

Our corporate governance codes, in the English tradition, are merely prescriptive and compliance is permissive. They are not mandatory except for the SEC code that now prescribes sanctions for non-compliance by public companies. The codes embody best practices set albeit in non-statutory form by government agencies or self-regulatory organisations. The codes should be seen as a dynamic document defining minimum standards of corporate governance expected particularly of public companies with listed securities. A major shortcoming of the codes is that the regulatory institutions charged with the implementation of such codes notably the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission do not have strict oversight functions over private or closely held companies. Public companies are thus favoured at the expense of small corporate entities where the bulk of investible funds are domiciled. If wide spread application of corporate governance codes constitute evidence of an investor friendly legal regime, it will be misleading if such codes do not apply to the rank and file of private and closely held companies. I advocate the codification of the code of corporate governance in statute form. This will elevate code provisions to red letter law that can be enforced not only by regulatory authorities but also by shareholders and other stakeholders in the corporate enterprise.

More worrisome however is the proliferation of codes. SEC has one; CBN has one in form of Prudential Guidelines for banks and other financial institutions; The National Insurance Commission has another for Insurance companies, etc. On the last count the International Reporting Council of Nigeria seeks to introduce another for the entire corporate sector. May be, the Corporate Affairs Commission will come up with another. This makes a ridicule of the regulatory landscape and increases the cost of doing business in Nigeria. It is a misnomer that section 50 of the International Financial Council of Nigeria Act empowers the IFC to prescribe corporate governance standards.

It is contended that the appropriate institution to prescribe a national Corporate Governance Code is the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and not the Financial Reporting Council. All companies have incorporation and reporting obligations to the CAC. Whilst it may be argued that statutory corporations and other entities engaged in financial reporting are outside the supervision of the CAC, many of those are subject to government audit and legislative oversight investigations. Hence such a contention does not justify a better qualification for the FRC to regulate corporate governance generally.

In light of dwindling Oil revenue the

discourse about the structure and allocation of resources from the Federal Government to State Governments has been rekindled.

There have been calls for the regionalisation of revenue generation in Nigeria to make states take greater responsibility for many issues within the purview of the Federal Government. Do you share that view?

I believe that a true federation should incorporate fiscal federalism as well. Whether you call this resource control or not is a matter of linguistics.

There is no region in this country that is bereft of some mineral resource. It is just unfortunate that if a mining lease of limestone or tin or bauxite is granted in the north or middle belt, there is no production sharing agreement beneficial to the commonwealth, only a mining fee. The mineral can then be explored and exploited to any limit by the licensee. Hence it is commonly believed that some states have no economic resources. It is only with respect to oil that we see production sharing agreements. These are socio-politico-economic issues that must be addressed in a balanced federation.

States should be allowed some modicum of financial independence in generation as well as in expenditure. Such independence can then be matched by additional responsibilities (devolution of powers and roles from the federal to the state governments).

It is widely reported and foreign business entrants into our market remark that a difficult business environment is not helped by our laws and regulatory authorities which may

"A PROPOSAL FOR LAW REFORM FROM THE COMMISSION SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE FOR REVIEW AND COMMENTS WHICH MINISTRY SHALL HAVE 60DAYS WITHIN WHICH TO RESPOND. IN THE EVENT OF ANY DELAY OR DEFAULT, THE COMMISSION SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO FORWARD SUCH PROPOSALS TO THE LEGISLATIVE ARM WITHOUT FURTHER RECOURSE TO THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE"

hamper instead of aid economic activities.

What would you advise as the singular most important legal and regulatory area for which reforms are necessary to make doing business in Nigeria more competitive and attractive?

I see three major handicaps to doing business in Nigeria. The first is multiplicity of regulations and permits/approvals involving several agencies with overlapping jurisdictions. The second is the high tariff of fees collected by these agencies which increase the cost of doing business and ultimately the cost of our goods in the local and international market. The third is corruption in all the strata of carrying on business. Corruption plagues all the licensing and permit regimes for registering and doing business in Nigeria. The Buhari regime’s war against corruption is yet to touch these areas.

Recently, the Niger-Delta region has been witnessing some restiveness from militant insurgent groups. What in your view could have precipitated this round of violence with the grounding of key national infrastructure?

I do not advocate violence in the resolution of any grievance but when you have successive governments that would only listen in the face of violence, then you set the stage for recurrent expression of grievances via violence. Successive governments have neglected the Niger Delta area.

Ogoni land, for example, repeatedly drained of oil since 1952 is only now receiving a Government plan to remediation. Oil Cities like Warri have become ghettos whilst other parts of the country flourish. State governments are not free from blame either. Successive state governments in the Niger Delta have neither advanced the welfare of people in the oil producing areas nor provided enough infrastructure, thus fuelling the embers of disaffection and discord between the people and Government as an institution. The solution, I think, is a master plan, to be effectively and visibly pursued, for the development of the entire Niger Delta.

There have also been calls for the establishment of a special court for the expeditious trial of corruption cases. The Special Crimes Court Bill, 2016, proposes that the proposed court will exclusively handle corruption cases including narcotic, human trafficking, kidnapping, cybercrime, money laundering and other related offences. Do you support this proposition?

First we need to identify why the existing courts, with the requisite jurisdiction, have not advanced the establishment of culpability and thus the war against economic crimes. I can list a few: inadequate number of judges and overloaded dockets; inadequate court rooms and investigative infrastructure; inadequate skilled investigators; constrictive court room procedures; etc. If these could be addressed, the present court system will deliver. If new courts are set up without addressing these issues, the new court and systems will be infected by the same diseases.

Do you think the legal framework for fighting corruption in the country is adequate?

Yes, I do believe in the reasonable adequacy of the existing legal regime. In some cases, stiffer penalties and sanctions, sufficiently deterrent, are required but what is mostly lacking is the infrastructural machinery for investigation, prosecution, execution of sanctions and the political will to ensure indiscriminate effectiveness.

The alleged padding of the nation’s 2016 budget by Legislators has continued to bring revelations that threaten to embarrass the Legislature and the Government. It has been revealed that every successive administration has had to contend with this anomaly. The Hon Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara has maintained that padding is not a crime. Do you share this view?

I am of the view that the use of constituency projects in budget padding is an abuse of office; it is illegal and an abuse of the doctrine of separation of powers. The role of the National Assembly in public finance is limited to passing the budget as contained in an Appropriation Bill, and their oversight functions through the Public Accounts Committee. They are not permitted to design, execute and oversee capital projects under any guise. Sections 80 of the Constitution established the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the federation and charged that no moneys shall be withdrawn from the fund or any other public fund of the federation except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly. The roles and responsibilities of the Executive and the legislature in this process are clearly delineated in section 81 thus: The President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year, estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation for

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06.09.2016

Duties and Liabilities of Directors in the Vicinity of Insolvency Kubi Udofia

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Introduction

igeria’s gloomy economic climate is increasingly taking its toll on businesses.

Filings from eighty-five companies to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) reveal that total profit for the first half of 2016 plummeted by 26.6% in comparison with 2015’s. A combination of the protracted fall in oil prices, skyrocketing foreign exchange rate and unfavourable government policies have driven the economy into its worst recession in about three decades. While the International Monetary Fund has projected that the economy will contract by 1.8% this year, recent figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter of 2016 declined by -2.06%, about 1.70% points lower than the growth rate of -0.36% in the first quarter of 2016.

NBS’ report further shows that the Consumer Price Index, which measures the rate of inflation, for July 2016 is at an 11-year high of 17.1%. This is a continuation of a six-month upward trajectory (16.5% in June, 15.6% in May, 13.7% in April, 12.8% in March, 11.4% in February and 9.6% in January). In a bid to curb inflation, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last July increased the monetary policy rate to 14% from 12%. This interest rate hike has put more pressure on domestic companies in an already sombre economic climate. Banks have repriced interest rates on existing loans to reflect the hike and this has increased the cost of servicing existing loans and borrowing.

In the light of the foregoing, the rate of default on existing loans is likely to increase and corporate insolvencies are inevitable. Leading indigenous rating agency, Augusto & Co estimates that non-performing loans are expected to leap to 12.5% of total loans in 2016, well above CBN’s target of 5% in December 2015. Many firms have adopted diverse restructuring and cost-cutting strategies to stay afloat. While these measures are expedient, it is also imperative for directors of companies to give timely consideration to the possible exposures they may face in the vicinity of insolvency or twilight zone. This article examines the duties and potential liabilities of directors in the twilight zone and proffers practical guides on navigating through the vicinity of insolvency.

The vicinity of insolvency The vicinity of insolvency is the period between when a company is factually insolvent and when formal insolvency proceedings commence. It is that period when there is no reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation. Oftentimes, directors may not be certain whether a company is in the twilight zone notwithstanding their intimate knowledge of the company’s affairs.

Directors can ascertain if a company is in the twilight zone through the well-established balance sheet and cash flow insolvency tests. In the balance sheet test, the company will be in twilight zone if the value of its assets is less than

the amount of its liabilities, including contingent and prospective liabilities. In the cash flow test, the company will be in the twilight zone if it is incapable of paying its debts as they fall due.

Other factors that may indicate that a company is in, or approaching, the twilight zone are: going concern opinion by auditors, judgment against the company for an undisputed debt, refusal by creditors to restructure debts or amend credit terms following a request, struggling to pay creditors after issuance of pre-action letters or statutory demands, recurrent defaults on principal and interests payments, inability to settle overdue taxes, violation of loan covenants that can cause acceleration of debt etc.

Directors’ duties in the vicinity of insolvency Sections 279, 280, 282 and 283 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2004 (CAMA) stipulate a number of directors’ duties. Some of these duties are: duty of utmost good faith towards the company in transactions, duty to act at all times in the best interest of the company, duty to exercise powers rightfully and not for a collateral purpose, duty not to fetter discretion to vote in a particular way, duty not to improperly or recklessly delegate powers, duty not to allow personal interest conflict with official duties, duty not to make secret profit or unnecessary benefits, and duty to exercise powers in good faith and in the company’s best interest. These duties are expressed as being owed to the company and shareholders.

Once in the vicinity of insolvency, there is a significant shift in directors’ duties. The interests of creditors gain priority over those of shareholders and directors must seek to minimise losses and maximise value for creditors: WEST MERCIA SAFETYWEAR v DODD (1988) BCLC 250, 253; HLC ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS v CARVALHO (2014) BCC 337 at 362. In BRADY v BRADY (1987) 3 BCC 535 at 552 it was stated that “where the company is insolvent, or even doubtfully solvent, the interests of the company are in reality the interests of the existing creditors alone.” The shift in directors’ duties is discernible in the couching of offences antecedent to winding-up proceedings in sections 502-508 CAMA, where references are made to creditors not shareholders.

Potential liabilities in the vicinity of insolvency Directors who violate sections 279, 280, 282 and 283 of CAMA in relation to the company/ creditors in the twilight zone may be liable for negligence and breach of duty. Directors may also be criminally liable under sections 502, 504, 505 and 507 of CAMA. Under s. 502, a director will be guilty of a criminal offence if he does any of the following within 12 months before winding-up proceedings commence: concealing the company’s property or any debt due to or from it; fraudulently removing the company’s property; concealing, destroying, mutilating or falsifying documents relating to the company’s affairs or property; making a false entry in a document relating to the company’s affairs or property; fraudulently parting with, altering or making an omission in a document relating to the company’s affairs or property; obtaining property for or on behalf of the company through false representation or fraud, which the company does

‘NIGERIAN CORPORATE LAW IS IN DIRE NEED OF REFORM’ the next financial year. The head of expenditure contained in the estimates (other than expenditure charged upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation by this Constitution) shall be included in a bill, to be known as an Appropriation Bill, providing for the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the sums necessary to meet that expenditure and the appropriation of those sums for the purposes specified therein.

In the case of padded projects, the execution of the projects is often shrouded in secrecy. The legislators (in breach of the Public Procurement Act) determine which contractors execute the projects. Furthermore, the legislators, being the executors and beneficiaries of the vote hardly conduct oversight functions in relation to these projects. Between 2004 and 2013, it was estimated

not pay for; dishonestly pawning, pledging or disposing of the company’s property obtained on credit and yet to be paid for.

Section 504 criminalises pre-insolvency acts such as inducing any person to give credit to the company by false pretence or fraud; making or causing any gift/transfer of a charge on the company’s property or levying/causing execution to be levied with the intent to defraud creditors; concealing or removing the company’s property within two months before the date of a judgment/ order for payment of money obtained against the company. Directors will be criminally liable if they neglect to keep proper books of account explaining the company’s transactions and financial position throughout the period of two years immediately preceding the commencement of winding-up proceedings: s. 505. Directors will also be criminally liable if they trade in a reckless manner or with intent to defraud creditors: s.

506. Directors who misapplied, retained or are liable to account for the company’s money or property may be compelled to repay with interest: s. 507(1) CAMA. Practical guides for directors Below are some (and by no means exhaustive) practical guides for directors in the twilight zone.

Professional/expert advice: Professional advice should be promptly sought from legal, financial and insolvency experts. External experts are often well-placed to offer dispassionate or objective opinions in times of internal uncertainty.

Proper documentation: Critical transactions of the company should be properly documented.

All relevant documents and paper trails showing what decisions were made, when they were made, the commercial reasons for the decisions and implementation strategies must be securely preserved. Directors should comply with statutory accounting/reporting/filing procedure(s).

Regular Board meetings: Regular board meetings should be held, with all members endeavouring to attend. Accurate minutes of the meetings should be prepared showing decisions taken, the commercial basis for the decisions and implementation strategies.

Communication with stakeholders: There ought to be regular communication with stakehold-

ers such as creditors, shareholders, regulators, bankers etc. These stakeholders ought to be accurately informed of the company’s affairs.

Maintaining the support of key creditors, where possible, is imperative.

Transactions: Directors should think long and hard before deciding whether or not to continue trading in the twilight zone. Trading is advisable if it will minimise losses and maximise returns to creditors. Deposits for orders received from clients should be paid into a separate (trust) account pending completion of order.

Directors should avoid disposing the company’s assets for less than market value, treating some creditors more preferably than others, incurring credit when the company’s inability to pay back is obvious, topping-up the security collateral of a creditor without a contemporaneous consideration and improper delegation of duties.

Divided board: Where other directors are uncooperative, a director should take proactive steps to minimise losses to creditors. Each director is individually responsible for the actions of the board and absence from board deliberations, unless justified, will not relieve a director of responsibility: s. 282(3) CAMA. The director should requisition board meetings, raise concerns at board meetings and with key shareholders, make useful suggestions at board meetings and through memos. These efforts should be documented.

Resignation is advisable after fruitless efforts.

Conclusion Directors ought to promptly discern when a company is in the vicinity of insolvency so as to diligently perform their duties and avoid liabilities.

Extending directors’ duties to creditors to the twilight zone (as opposed to restricting them to when formal proceedings commence) is justifiable on the ground that important operational and critical financial decisions are often made in the zone. Waiting till the commencement of formal insolvency proceedings will amount to shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. In any event, directors are usually displaced once formal proceedings commence.

Dr. Kubi Udofia is an insolvency law expert and head of corporate and commercial law practice group at Fidelis Oditah & Co.

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that over N900 billion had been appropriated by the National Assembly for constituency projects.

These funds are also not subject to the regular accountability mechanisms for public spending, given that they are executed outside of the normal procurement process, without inherent checks and balances and there is no mechanism for monitoring contract performance and execution.

In addition, the lack of formal oversight means that there is likely to be conflicts of interest in the selection of contractors by National Assembly members. In fact, there are allegations that some National Assembly members own the companies that execute these constituency projects. In some cases, the projects are not visible. This is a breach of the Public Procurement Act 2007, and should a National Assembly member be convicted, he/

she should be liable to imprisonment.

Padding of budgets by Constituency projects enthrones “a culture of legislative corruption”, and in many instances, it is used as a tool for enriching lawmakers at the expense of the public.

Clearly, the Constitution has no room for the legislature to prepare some separate heads of expenditure and estimates to be presented separately or included in the estimates to be laid by the Executive. The practice of including Constituency projects is therefore unconstitutional and fraudulent abuse of legislative powers.

The exposé of Panama Leaks was a global scandal, which revealed the complex and rigorous instruments used to conceal controversial holdings by many politically exposed individuals across the world and here

in Nigeria. The problem is many of these holdings were held legally through these schemes. Do you believe that there should be a tightening of the regulatory requirements for corporate bodies to make shell companies true ownership harder to conceal?

The existence and use of shell companies is a fraudulent stratagem and the product of legal systems that encourage lush funds. The earliest company frauds were perpetuated by faceless promoters or persons of uncertain identity. Shell companies encourage a return of the nefarious practices of yore. I strongly support the tightening or elimination of the practice of using shell companies. The Companies and Allied Matters Act needs to be amended to compel disclosure of beneficial ownership in shares.

06.09.2016

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The Emergency Economic Stabilisation Bill, 2016: An Unnecessary Fifth Wheel to the Coach James Kanyip

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n Monday, 22nd of August, 2016, The Nation Newspaper reported as follows: "President Muhammadu Buhari will be seeking emergency powers from the National Assembly to push his planned stimulus for the economy. The objectives of the action-plan on the economy, which is in recession, include shoring up the value of the naira, creation of more jobs, boosting of foreign reserves, reviving the manufacturing sector and improving power.

"Government sources said the decision to seek emergency powers for the President was based on a proposal from the economic team headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The team reviewed the various policies so far introduced and how they have affected the economy. The economic team, it was learnt, gauged the mood of the polity and decided that unless there is an urgency which some of the extant laws will not permit, 'the recession may be longer than expected and Nigerians will not get the desired respite, which is the goal of this government'.

"An executive bill titled: 'Emergency Economic Stabilisation Bill 2016' is to be presented to the National Assembly when the Senate and the House of Representatives resume from vacation on September 12. In the bill, the executive will be asking for the President to be given sweeping powers to set aside some extant laws and use executive orders to roll out an economic recovery package within the next one year. Buhari will be seeking powers to: “Abridge the procurement process to support stimulus spending on critical sectors of the economy; make orders to favour local contractors/suppliers in contract awards; abridge the process of sale or lease of government assets to generate revenue; allow virement of budgetary allocation to projects that are urgent, without going back to the National Assembly; amend certain laws, such as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, so that states that cannot access their cash trapped in the accounts of the commission because they cannot meet the counterpart funding, can do so; and to embark on radical reforms in visa issuance at Nigeria’s consular offices and on arrival in the country and to compel some agencies of government like the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the National Agency for Foods Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and others to improve on their turn around operation time for the benefit of business…

“The move to get government agencies to fast tract their operations is to enable foreign investors to come into the country without the current bottlenecks.

Consular offices will now be expected to make visas available within 48 hours and visitors, especially tourists who intend to pick up visas at the entry point, will be able to do so. Time wasting at the airport with duplication of agencies screening incoming passengers is to be eliminated. Those leaving the country should go without hassle…

(Source: thenationonlineng.net, posted by Adeniyi Adesina on 22/08/2016) The above summarises the government’s emergency approach to revamp our ailing economy. It is heartwarming that the Federal Government has at last admitted that our economy is in recession. Before now, there were denials, counter-denials and double speaks here and there on the true position of the economic reality of our country.

What purpose will the Emergency Economic Stabilisation Bill, 2016 achieve if passed into Law? Without going into the specifics, it is commonplace that a lot of factors contributed to our present ailing economy traceable to historical antecedents. Before now, Nigeria was the third fastest growing economy in the world; and the fastest in Africa. But now it is not even among the first 15 fastest growing economies in Africa.

The Vanguard Newspaper of 26/04/2016 reported that: “Having enjoyed blissful growth over the past decade, Nigeria was one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but it is not one of the 15 fastest growing economies in Africa for 2016. In 2014 and early 2015, Nigeria was named the third fastest growing economy in the world by CNNMoney, with China and Qatar, taking the lead at 7.3 percent, 7.1 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth. For 2016, however, the coast is cloudy, and Nigeria is nowhere near the fastest growing economies in Africa. According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook for 2016, as revised in April, the fastest growing economy in Africa for 2016 is Cote d’Ivoire and the slowest is Chad, which is expected to record negative growth. Cote d’Ivoire is expected to experience an 8.5 percent rise in GDP, while Nigeria’s neighbour, Chad, would see a -0.4

President Muhammadu Buhari

percent growth. Cote D’Ivoire (8.5%), Tanzania (6.9%), Senegal (6.6%), Djibouti (6.5%), Rwanda (6.3%), Kenya (6.0%), Mozambique (6.0%), Central African Republic (5.7%), Sierra Leone (5.3%) Uganda (5.3%). Madagascar, Zambia and Chad are expected to see a growth of 4.1 percent, 3.4 percent, 3.2 percent respectively.

“The fastest growing economies in Africa by GDP growth rate, as projected by IMF for 2016, are: Cote D’Ivoire (8.5%), Tanzania (6.9%), Senegal (6.6%), Djibouti (6.5%), Rwanda (6.3%), Kenya (6.0%), Mozambique (6.0%), Central African Republic (5.7%), Sierra Leone (5.3%) and Uganda (5.3%). DR Congo expects a GDP growth of 4.9 percent, Cameroon; 4.9 percent, Ethiopia; 4.5 percent, Ghana; 4.5 percent and Republic of Congo; 4.4 percent. Madagascar, Zambia and Chad are expected to see a growth of 4.1 percent, 3.4 percent, 3.2 percent respectively. Major oil exporters, Angola and Nigeria, hard hit by the slump in crude oil prices, are projected to see a growth 2.5 and 2.3 percent. At 2.3 percent, Nigeria is expected to see its poorest GDP growth since the return of Democracy in 1999. This development has become a point of concern for the IMF, and the World Economic Forum (WEF)…”

A lot of negatives may play against the Emergency Economic Stabilisation Bill, 2016. The life span of the potency of the Bill which is to give the President one year to exercise the emergency economic power is not helpful. The President has a constitutional tenure of four (4) years. It took him about six (6) months to inaugurate his cabinet presupposing that he was in charge without any economy team, policy or blue print on ground for six (6) months. This has contributed largely to the economic recession. With the cabinet now on ground and fifteen (15) months into his tenure, the President is now seeking for emergency powers to revamp the economy within one (1) year. This is coming a bit late in the life of this administration. It seems the government has just woken up from its slumber and the reality is staring at it face on.

Will one (1) year be enough to revamp an economy that is in recession? What Nigeria needs now is a sustainable economic policy driven by a long-term plan with the revitalisation of a critical, systemic and institutional framework for economic growth. Will one (1) year of emergency powers be enough to build a sustainable economic policy? What happens to the economy after the expiration of the one (1) year? Does the President need any emergency power to shore up the value of the Naira, create more jobs for our jobless youths, boost foreign reserves, revive the manufacturing sector and improve power supply? The success of economic policy is not in its fire-brigade approach, but in the political will to sustain it. With political activities for 2019 elections around the corner, will this administration have the stamina to sustain the tempo deserving of the emergency powers?

The justification for the Bill according to the Economic Team is that, after gauging the mood of the polity it concluded that “unless there is an urgency which some of the extant laws will not permit, the recession may be longer than expected and Nigerians will not get the desired respite, which is the goal of this government”.

The Economic Team further cited the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, Corporate Affairs

Commission (CAC) Act, and National Agency for Foods Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Act as examples.

These laws and others not cited here but contemplated by the Economic Team as constituting bottle necks in the efforts to revamp the economy have been there for quite a while. If they were there when Nigeria was the 3rd fastest growing economy in the world and the fastest in Africa, what is wrong with them now? Besides, if the Economic Team thinks something is wrong with them, we do not think the Emergency Economic Stabilisation Bill, 2016 will make them any better. A Bill for emergency power will not solve the problems embedded in an Act of the National Assembly by a sweeping executive declaration/order/fiat. What the Economic Team should do is to point out the bottlenecks in these Acts and send them to the National Assembly for immediate amendments.

This way, the bottlenecks are permanently done away with and the amendments become sustainable. After all, the process of, and procedure for amendment are not as cumbersome as those for the passage of a new Bill.

Therefore, for purposes of economy of time and convenience, it is better and cheaper to amend a Law than to pass a fresh Bill into Law. In approaching the National Assembly with the Bill, the President has to be wary of his powers and obligations under the Constitution on the one hand, and those under other extant laws. For instance, virement is a constitutional obligation imposed on the President under section 59 (1) (a) of the Constitution which will require a constitutional amendment to depart or vary it. The Bill does not have the legal competence to do that; only the Constitution can do that. Therefore, the aspect of the Bill that seeks to “allow virement of budgetary allocation to projects that are urgent, without going back to the National Assembly” is unconstitutional. However, in practice, it is acceptable for the President to do virements before sending them later to the National Assembly for ratification.

Does the President really need the approval of the National Assembly to declare a state of emergency and thereby exercise emergency powers on the economy?

What is the purpose of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in Chapter II of our Constitution? All the powers and everything that the President, as the Chief Executive of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, needs to revamp our economy are contained in the Constitution and other extant laws in that respect.

Approaching the National Assembly to grant him emergency power to revamp the economy will not, ipso facto, solve the problems or bring us back as the 3rd fastest growing economy in the world, or the fastest in Africa. The President needs the right people, the right mentality, the right character and the conducive environment for businesses and investments for both nationals and foreigners. A secured, crime-free and corrupt-free environment is a sine qua non to businesses and investments. Even if our visas are granted for free within 24 hours and our ports are wide open for foreigners to come in freely, that will not change anything as long as our country is riddled with security challenges, crimes, corruption, and systemic and institutional decay. These are critical areas begging for more attention. No foreigner will risk his money and life to do business in Nigeria in such an environment. And, happily, the President does not need emergency powers to address all these problems.

If ultimately the Bill is passed by the National Assembly and the emergency powers sought are granted to the President will that guarantee the rehabilitation of old roads and the construction of new ones, the stability of power supply, the creation of jobs and gainful employment for our youths, the creation of wealth, the eradication of poverty and hunger, the improvement in the health care delivery system, the success in crime fighting, the improvement in the security situation, the development of Nigeria from ruralisation to urbanisation, the balancing of the Naira against the Dollar in the foreign exchange market, the success in the war against corruption, the improvement in the country's economy, a working system in the country, etc? These problems will require a meticulous and well-articulated economic plan by bringing in the right people, with the right mentality, the right character and the creation of the conducive environment. These cannot be achieved through the exercise of emergency powers.

The grant of emergency powers in a democracy like ours to solve economic problems may be exercised in a totalitarian, dictatorial and tyrannical manner thereby subjecting it to misuse and abuse. It may also be evidence of a dearth of managerial and administrative resources to contain and solve the problems.

When desperate measures are used to tackle desperate situations, we should expect desperate results.

James Kanyip

12/

06.09.2016

The ACJA: An Albatross or Redeemer in Nigeria’s Criminal Justice Delivery System?

Mike A.A. Ozekhome

I

shall, in this write up, x-ray whether the changes, some call them innovations, inherent in the Administration of Criminal Justice System Act, 2015, have been a blessing, guardian, protector or paladin of our cherished freedom, civil rights and liberties, OR an albatross, hindrance, impediment and handicap to them. I will take up, randomly, some areas that are quite controversial and which Nigerians encounter nearly always.

Arrest by Proxy Prior to the enactment of the ACJA, the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) sort of gave the police, the fiat to make indiscriminate arrests. By section 10(1) of the CPA, the police could arrest without a warrant, any person who has no ostensible means of sustenance and who cannot give a satisfactory account of himself. This particular provision has been greatly abused by the police who use it as a ground to arrest people indiscriminately.

Although the ACJ Act has deleted this provision, indiscriminate arrests without warrants still go on daily. Also, Section 7 of the Act also specifically prohibits the police and other law enforcement agencies from making unlawful and arbitrary arrests. The Section clearly provides that “a person shall not be arrested in place of a suspect”. This, practice of the law enforcement officers still arresting and detaining one person in lieu of another is still rife.

Compensation for the Victims Under Section 319 of the Act, it is provided that the Court may, within the proceedings or while passing judgment, order the convict to pay compensation to any person injured by the offence. This is irrespective of any other punishment or fine that may be imposed on the said convict. This compensation may be recovered by civil suit if the Court deems it fit to so order. This is another laudable innovation in the Act as Courts now order compensation to victims in lieu of or in addition to the penalty or punishment imposed on the Defendant.

Alternative Penalties Under Part 28, section 270 of the ACJA, a person convicted of an offence can instead of a term of imprisonment, be given the alternative of: 1. Plea bargain 2. Payment of cost, compensation/damages 3. Suspended sentence 4.Community service 5.Probation and non-custodial alternatives.

6. Parole Going by the fact that our prison system is over-stretched, the importance of the above alternatives cannot be over-emphasised. I am quite pleased with the modernity of the ACJA in this area. Since the provision will help in no small measure in depopulating the prisons.

Areas I Disagree With Holding Charge However, on the issue of “holding charge”, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, (ACJA), particularly sections 293-299, gives an open cheque to a Magistrate to order the remand without trial of anybody who is the subject of investigation. So far, these sections (to the best of my knowledge), have not been tested at the appellate courts.

Presently, law enforcement agents and the Magistrates’ Courts have been hiding behind these sections to hold an accused forever in the name of carrying out “investigation”.

It must be noted though, that these sections only apply to Magistrates’ Courts, FCT High Courts and the Federal High Court in Abuja until the Act is domesticated by the States.

Notwithstanding, in reality, states’ High Courts also apply it. Magistrates’ Courts of States cannot legally hide under the section to perpetrate the “holding charge” tradition they are known for. This is by virtue of the fact that the Courts are set up by the Magistrates’ Courts’ Laws of the various

States of the Federation. Area Courts are also a creation of the Area Courts’ Laws of the various Northern states. With respect to the High Court of the various States, they were specifically created by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, For the avoidance of doubt, it has been my submission that the ACJA was never enacted to curtail, abridge, whittle down, truncate, abrogate, or take away the much cherished rights, freedoms and liberty duly granted to the citizen by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered. The National Assembly has no fiat or power to abrogate or diminish constitutionally donated rights of any citizen under the guise of making laws. Section 4(2) states that the National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation.

It is a trite principle of law, as copiously replicated in a litany of cases that the National Assembly or a State House of Assembly, in enacting laws, cannot exceed the powers donated to it by the Constitution. It is also trite that in the event that the National Assembly makes laws that are inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution itself, such laws become automatically void to the extent of their inconsistency. I had argued and I reiterate that by virtue of section 35 of the Constitution, the personal liberty of an accused person is sacrosanct. It provides: (1) Every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty save in some case and in accordance with a procedure permitted by law, as outlined in 1(a) to (f).

Section 35(4) provides that: Any person who is arrested or detained in accordance with subsection (1) (c) of this section shall be brought before a court of law within a reasonable time.

The expression “a reasonable time” is defined in Section 35(4) to mean: (a) in any other case of an arrest or detention in any place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of forty kilometers, a period of one day; and (b) in any other case, a period of two days or such longer period as in the circumstances may be considered by the court to be reasonable.

In OHIZE v. COP (2014) LPELR-23012 (CA), the Court of Appeal, Per AKOMOLAFEWILSON, J.C.A, emphasised the sanctity of a citizen’s personal liberty as follows: “The constitutional right to personal liberty of a person is sacrosanct, even for an accused person.”

Coming home, aside from the fact that sections 293-299 of the ACJA violently violate the clear provisions of Section 35(4) and (5) of the Constitution as shown above, they presumptuously also create or constitute a “holding charge”, which has been declared by the highest Courts of the land, to be patently illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

According to Blacks’ Law Dictionary, “holding charge” means a criminal charge of some minor offense filed to keep the accused in custody while prosecutors take time to build a bigger case and prepare more serious charge.”

A “Holding charge” therefore, is a charge brought by the Police or other law enforcement officers against an accused person in an inferior court that lacks jurisdiction to try the offence charged, pending the receipt of legal advice from the office of the DPP to recommend the accused person’s trial in a court of competent jurisdiction, or tribunal, set up to try the particular offence.

But Nigerian courts have consistently declared this “arrest-before-investigation” rather than “investigation-before-arrest” (as done in civilised criminal jurisprudences of the World), as anomalous, unconstitutional and illegal.

Dilating on this in the case of OLAWOYE v C.O.P. (2006) 2 NWLR (Pt. 965) 427 at 442-443, paras H-A (CA), the Court of Appeal, held, per Abdullahi, JCA, as follows: The arraignment before a Magistrates’ Court is tantamount to a holding charge

which has been described as unconstitutional and illegal by this court. In the case of Enwere v. C.O.P. (supra) it was held that a "holding charge" is unknown to Nigeria Law and an accused person detained thereunder is entitled to be released on bail within a reasonable time before trial more so in a non-capital offence.

The intermediate court followed suit in the case of SHAGARI v CO.P. (2007) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1027) 275 at 298 Paras. C - G, 302 Paras. G - H (CA), (Summary judgment of Sanusi and Ogbuagu, J JCA), where it held: "A holding charge is unknown to Nigerian law and any person or an accused person detained thereunder, is entitled to be released on bail within a reasonable time before trial (more so in non-capital offences). A holding charge has no place in the Nigerian judicial system. Persons detained under an 'illegal', 'unlawful' and 'unconstitutional' document tagged 'holding charge', must unhesitatingly be released on bail. In the instant case, the appellants were arraigned before a Chief Magistrate's Court, which certainly lacked jurisdiction in homicide cases/offences and there was no formal charge framed against them accompanied by a proof of evidence as at the time the High Court heard their motion for bail. The above amounted to a special circumstance for the High Court to admit them to bail, but by continuing to detain them on a "holding charge" was not a judicious and judicial exercise of discretion. See ENWERE v CO.P. (1993) 6 NWLR (Pt. 299) 333; JIMOH v C.O.P. (2004) 17 NWLR (Pt. 902) 389; OGORI v KOLAWOLE (1985) 6 NCLR 534; ONAGORUWA v STATE (1993) 7 NWLR (Pt. 303) 49; OSHINAYA v CO.P. (2004) 17 NWLR (Pt. 901) 1."

Similarly, In the case of ONAGORUWA v THE STATE (1993) 7 NWLR (Pt. 303) 49, Justice Niki Tobi, JCA, as he then was, held that: "It is an elementary but most vital requirement of our adjectival law that before the prosecution takes the decision to prosecute, which is a forerunner or precursor to the charge decision, it must have at its disposal all the evidence to support the charge. "In a good number of cases, the police in this country rush to court on what they generally refer to as a holding charge, even before they conduct investigations although there is Furthermore, In BOLA KALE v THE STATE (2006) 1 NWLR ((Pt.962) 507 at p.

765, the Court of Appeal expressed the same sentiments in the following words: "It is an aberration and an abuse of judicial process for an accused person to be arraigned before a magistrate for an offence over which it has no jurisdiction only for the accused person to be

remanded in prison custody and not tried or properly charged before a competent court for trial. It will be an infraction on the rights to fair hearing and liberty of the accused person."

These cases are extant and subsisting, constituting the present legal law of the land, as interpreted by the appellate Courts. The above offending Sections 293-299 must be declared null and void for their inconsistency with the Constitution in accordance with Section 1 (3) of the Constitution.

The further pronouncement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria has further underpinned this in the case of INEC v MUSA (2003) LPELR-1515(SC), where the apex Court, held, Per AYOOLA, J.S.C., that: "the acknowledged supremacy of the Constitution and by which the validity of the impugned provisions will be tested.

First, all powers, legislative, executive and judicial must ultimately be traced to the Constitution. Secondly, the legislative powers of the legislature cannot be exercised inconsistently with the Constitution. Where it is so exercised it is invalid to the extent of such inconsistency. Thirdly, where the Constitution has enacted exhaustively in respect of any situation, conduct or subject, a body that claims to legislate in addition to what the Constitution had enacted must show that it has derived the legislative authority to do so from the Constitution. Fourthly, where the Constitution sets the condition for doing a thing, no legislation of the National Assembly or of a State House of Assembly can alter those Constitution in any way, directly or indirectly, unless, of course the Constitution itself as an attribute of its supremacy expressly so authorised."

The ACJA Act has breach every single pronouncement in the above case and Section 35(4) and (5). In ABACHA & ORS. v FAWEHINMI (2000) LPELR- 14(SC), the Apex court adumbrated, Per ACHIKE, J.S.C , that: "The Constitution is the supreme law of the land; it is the grundnorm.

Its supremacy has never been called to question in ordinary circumstances. For avoidance of doubt, the 1979 (now 1999) Constitution stated categorically in its chapter 1, Section 1(1) as follows: 1(1) "This Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “For purposes of clarity, its Section 1(3) goes further to state: 1(3) “if any other law is inconsistent with the provision of this Constitution, this constitution shall prevail, and the other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void”.

It is therefore submitted, that by virtue of CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

23.08.2016

THE LIGHTER SIDE/13

LEGAL HUMOUR The Lawyer and the Annoying Pedestrian

We Hold Your Brief JUDE IGBANOI jude.igbanoi@thisdaylive.com

Dear Counsel, I am in a great predicament brought about by an unforeseen incident. I bought a plot of land three years ago with a good title. There was no controversy surrounding the transaction whatsoever. In November last year I started to erect a building on the land with a government approved plan. However, two weeks ago, due to torrential rains there was a flood which leveled down the entire structure.

Mine was not the only one affected. Even though the building was situated in a hilly area, there was no indication that the area was prone to floods as previous owners of properties in the area had said that they never experienced any flooding before. According to My papers, the land was acquired as far back as 60 years ago and in fact the previous owner actually used it as a poultry farm.

The government did not tell us about the possibility of flooding before approving our building plan after we paid all the fees and taxes. The entire area is still in a mess and there is a clear possibility that it may happen again.

Should I hold the previous owner ac-

countable?

D.D. Gaye Jos, Plateau State Dear Mr. Gaye, I understand why you may find this situation difficult to accept. But the truth is that I do not see how you can hold the previous owner of the property accountable for the unfortunate incident which can be purely traceable to forces of nature.

This type of event in law is known as Avulsion. It is the loss of one’s land due to the action of water, such as flooding or the new direction of a stream or river that may have washed away the land.

While I agree that it was unforeseen, I would suggest that the only option available to you and others affected is to approach the government and make a case for possible compensation, the government can provide you with an alternative location at a minimal cost.

From your letter, the approving authorities may not have anticipated this sad development. You could get a lawyer to represent you and write to the government with a view to finding a solution to ameliorate your predicament.

“I was driving on Beach Boulevard behind a guy in a beat up truck.

He decides to turn in front of me without indicating with his light.

I accelerate to swerve and avoid him, and this, “overaerobicized” woman jumps in front of my car with her hand up.

She proceeds to yell in my window, "Hey, slow down you jerk!" I'm a well-bred, mellow guy by nature, so I ignore this.

As I drive away, she yells, "*expletives*" at me again.

Twice? I turn around and drive up next to her.

"Do you have a problem?" I ask.

"Yeah, why are you driving like a jerk?"

"I was driving like a jerk? How, exactly."

"You were speeding. I watched you."

"You were? I see. How did you measure my speed?"

(Ever the interrogator, I am.)

"I heard you."

"So, you measured my speed by ear?"

"I can hear."

"How fast did you HEAR me going?"

"Look," she says, "I don't have to take this. Here comes a cop. I'll wave him down."

THE POLICE? This woman is a trip. She waves him down, and proceeds to tell him that she observed me speeding.

"What happened?" he asks. I told him the story, and told him that I accelerated to an indicated 33 mph (the speed limit is 35) to avoid a collision.

"Are those exhaust pipes legal?" the woman says asks.

She's pushing it. I reply, "I have a C.A.R.B. exemption for them." I give the paperwork to the cop.

She tries to find another thing to implicate me with. She says "What about those big tires? They CAN'T be legal." I began feeling little overheated gears in the back of my head start to turn.

"These tires were available on the 1970 Boss 429, "I told the cop," Which makes them street legal as a replacement."

The woman- Ethel, gets angry. She whines, "So you're not going to give out any tickets to this “*expletive*?"

The cop says, "No, I am not."

I've about had it. So I say, "Sir, this woman told you that she left the street at the corner, and she met up with my car here. According to Title 39, pedestrians have to cross the street at a right angle. This woman admitted she crossed at a 45-degree angle, which is a ticketable offense."

"What?" The cop looks confused.

"Also, she told you that she walked in front of my car to stop me. A citizen can't detain someone without probable cause, under Terry v. Ohio (my new favourite case). Since she couldn't measure my speed, she had no probable cause to detain me. That is an indictable offense."

The cop says, "But, I didn't see any of this."

"But," I said, "I did, and, as an officer of the Court, I can demand her arrest. I'll agree to dismiss the Illegal Detention charge, but I want her cited for not crossing at a right angle and Hazardous Conduct on a Public Street."

The cop called his Lieutenant, and after the cop told the story, he authorized the summonses.

She went home with $215.00 worth of traffic tickets, and they are worth a total of four points against her license, as well as the appropriate insurance surcharge!

THE ACJA: AN ALBATROSS OR REDEEMER IN NIGERIA’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE DELIVERY SYSTEM? the above extant and unreversed decisions of the courts of the land and the robust provision of 1(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as (altered), Sections 293-299 of the ACJA are patently null and void to the extent of their inconsistencies with Sections35(4) and (5) of the Constitution.

It is my view that it is inconceivable, and is, indeed, sacrilegious, for the ACJA, to purport to empower a Magistrates’ Court to detain a Nigerian citizen for 28 days where the very Supreme Law of the land, the grundnorm, which is the Constitution, has specifically provided for 48 hours (2days) Maximum period of detention. May such judicial hara-kiri never occur in Nigeria.

Abrogation of Stay of Proceedings Regarding the issue of the abrogation of stay of proceedings under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, Section 306 of the ACJA provides laconically thus: “an application for a stay of proceedings in respect of a criminal matter before the court shall not be granted”. The lucidity and clarity of this prosaically worded provision is too obvious to admit of any ambiguity or hair splitting.

The Law, as robustly enshrined in the Constitution, remains that an accused’s right of appeal is a constitutional right, which cannot be abated, compromised whittled down, or nibbled at. While section 233 (2) (a) of the 1999 Constitution

provides that an appeal shall lie from the decisions of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court as of right where the ground of appeal involves questions of law alone, decisions in any civil or criminal proceedings before the Court of Appeal, section 241 (1) (a) provides for similar provisions in respect of appeals from the Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, High Court of a State, High Court of the FCT, Abuja, Sharia Court of Appeal, etc. an appeal under the Constitution can therefore be interlocutory or substantive.

The Supreme Court in the case of EYESAN v SANUSI (1984) LPELR-1185 (SC), warned that the “right of appeal to the Court of Appeal is a constitutional right exercisable by a party in a civil case. See section 222(a) and (b) of the 1979 Constitution. The right exercisable by a person who has complaints touching his civil rights and obligations against another person, or government is robustly enshrined under section 241 (1) of the 1999 Constitution. Once the exercise of this right of action has commenced, the exercise is not completed until the action is finally and completely determined by the court of 1st instance or the appeal court.

Also, since section 4(8) of the 1999 Constitution (as altered), specifically provides that “the National Assembly or a House of Assembly shall not enact any Law, that ousts or purports to oust the jurisdiction of a Court of law or of a judicial tribunal established by law”. To the extent that

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

section 306 of the ACJA purports to oust the jurisdiction of the Court from entertaining interlocutory appeals, such as stay of proceedings, it is to that extent null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

The powers of the Supreme Court to decide a case to finality therefore cannot be abrogated or ousted by any legislation subordinate to the Constitution. The Supreme Court is not in the habit of making orders in vain and it possesses undoubted powers to correct itself whenever it errs and Counsel approach it for a review.

Once the Legislature has passed laws, the function of interpreting such laws falls within the exclusive precinct of the Courts. Even the High Court or Federal High Court is pre-eminently qualified to strike down the provisions of the ACJA for being inconsistent with section 6(6) and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, the latter of which guarantees fair hearing.

A law that takes away a litigant's right of appeal for whatever reason, and at whatever stage is a bad and anachronistic law that must be struck down. Such a law is dead on arrival.

To wait till a person’s rights have been determined before he appeals at the end of the case is an invitation to anarchy and self-immolation. God forbid a replication of BELLO v A.G, OYO STATE (1986) 5 NWLR (pt 828) 1 where the appellate was whimsically executed while his appeal was pending and extant.

Chief Mike A.A. Ozekhome, SAN, OFR, FCIArb.

06.09.2016

/15

THE WHITE COLLAR IDOWU OLOFINMOYIN

idowu.olofinmoyin@norfolk-partners.com

An Alternative to Today’s Criminal Justice System

A

young American Prosecutor- Adam Foss once told of how he was faced with the life changing decision of charging an 18 year old teenagerChristopher, accused of stealing 30 laptops from a local retailer, with 30 counts of felony each carrying between under a year to a year in prison. He describes the situation that has lead Christopher to stealing those laptops- this teenager was in his last year in Secondary School and hoped to progress on to the University. Unfortunately he did not make enough from his part-time job to fund that dream and so, as teenagers without guidance do, he made a series of bad decisions that led him to steal the 30 laptops and sell them on the Internet.

The Boston Police had arrested Christopher, conducted their investigations and concluded the process by forwarding the case to Adam. Adam explains that although the law is clear on the charges of Larceny that were to be brought against Christopher he would only later come to appreciate what that criminal record would do to the young teenager’s life.

The Legal Theory of Nigerian Criminal Justice In Nigeria our criminal justice system formed in the pre-colonial and colonial eras, was created with the intention of deterring acts found to be intolerable or offensive and criminalising or punishing acts of rebellion, against the local customary head and then against the constituted authority of the British Government. Evidence for this is in the simple fact that nearly all our prison facilities were built before 1960 and many are conversions of old prison fortresses built by traditional rulers. Till today our criminal justice system is based, like our British benefactors’ criminal justice system was, on a Retributive or Punitive theory of justice where the punishment fits the crime committed.

The Cost of the Finest Criminal Justice in the World The American criminal justice system, perhaps one of the most robust and efficient at detecting and punishing crime is based on largely the same idea of justice. Today it has 2.3 million inmates (that is roughly the same population as Botswana). Each single imprisoned inmate costs the American government between $14,286- $60,076 per year to maintain. More than 36% of those male inmates are black African American and statistics collected by America’s hundreds of adult incarceration facilities shows that 77% of those adults who are put in prison reoffend within 5 years.

And yet the US because it is one of the most sophisticated criminal justice systems in the world is able to continue to detect, try and imprison those who break the law.

Breaking Numbers However, even with its strong capabilities to detect and investigate crime and with its expansive penal system infrastructure valued at $72 billion (i.e. nearly four times Nigeria’s

entire national budget or some 371% of it), the American public is gradually becoming exasperated by the cost of keeping prisoners incarcerated. As Adam Foss said, with a cost of $109,000 for locking up young offenders and a 60% chance of re-offending “That is a terrible return on investment”. What you soon realise is that these numbers do not make sense. The most efficient criminal justice system in the world is built on an unsustainable premise, that every offender must be imprisoned.

Lessons to Learn from the American System Lets go back to Christopher the teenager to be charged with 30 counts of Larceny, we learn a number of important facts. Firstly poverty and a lack of education is a significant determinant in the rate of offending.

This means that those parts of the population suffering low literacy rates or little formal education i.e. black adults, black boys are especially at risk of offending. Secondly a criminal record significantly affects a young person’s ability to secure education at secondary and tertiary levels or a job, which in turn increases the likelihood of offending and imprisonment. We also learn that prosecutors, including ours here at home are trained to detect the likelihood of success in their prosecutions.

Therefore they are motivated by their prosecution statistics i.e. the higher the conviction rate the better a prosecutor, the more likely a conviction is the more motivation to prosecute.

The prosecutor’s motivation therefore leads to the continuously swelling American prison system that exists today because the object of the system is to punish offenders. What is wrong with that you may say? At first glance

nothing. It is justice for an offender to be punished of course, but what we do not see is that the system therefore places priority on detection and imprisonment rather than preventing crime.

In a system where all the focus is on catching and punishing criminals, crime becomes a repetitive cycle as we see with the Black American populationlack of education leads to crime and crime leads to more lack of education.

Changing the Status Quo So what do we do? We learn the lesson Adam Foss learnt. You see instead of charging Christopher with 30 counts of Larceny, which would have sent a young naïve teenager to an adult penitentiary where he would have inevitably become more embroiled in more severe crime, Adam Foss didn’t. Instead he began to work with Christopher “ first on being accountable for his actions, and then, putting him in a position where he wouldn't re-offend.” They were able to get back 75% of the computers that Christopher sold and gave them back and arranged a payment plan for those he could not retrieve.

Six years later, while Adam was at a professional gathering a young man across the room from him was waving and smiling at him. The young man walked over and hugged Adam. He then introduced himself as Christopher.

He had in the six years past become a manager of a large bank in Boston, all because someone cared enough to stop and pay attention to the ever-recurring cycle. By deciding not to charge, Christopher Adam had changed his life. He did not go to prison, or get a criminal record which meant he was able to go to University and be a productive member of society who was now giving

back to it.

So Why is All This Important?

Looking critically at the Retributive justice legal theory we currently aspire to i.e. our aspiration to be able to detect, investigate and incarcerate offenders in a way that caters to the current sociocultural priorities of ensuring impunity and graft have consequences, we can see in the example of the best system in the world based on the same premise, that it is a gradually unsustainable premise. We are all learning that it is no longer enough simply to detect, investigate and punish crime, we must now actively begin to prevent it at the source and rehabilitate offenders.

Last week the there were reports of the establishment of a new criminal records database for Nigeria to enable a nationwide record system. Of course such systems should be in place, however they cater to the symptoms of the problem not the wider epidemic.

We need to shift from the punitive focus in our prisons to a value based behavioural reorientation where priority is placed on removing the factors that increase the risk of offending- lack of education and poverty. Prisons need to become more like tertiary institutions where Prison officers are equipped with the training and skill to evaluate the history, of inmates and propose reorientation programs that positively impact their psyche and decision making process. If we do not and we keep treating them like the holding houses for the hardening of criminals and the cesspit of the “condemned” that is exactly what they will remain. We all ought to realise quickly, before it is too late, how much less safe we on the outside will be when those doors are opened.

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06.09.2016

Nigerian Central Bank and International Money Remittance Gbenga Bamodu

S

ome recent decisions and pronouncements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (‘CBN’) affecting international money remittances to Nigeria and the operators of related businesses have raised eyebrows within and beyond Nigeria.

In particular, they have been a source of concern for foreign (non-Nigerian) providers of international remittance services to Nigeria, causing some of them to suspend their remittance operations to Nigeria.

In a recent press release (of 2nd August 2016) which has been widely reported in the press the CBN stated that all “financial service providers” are required to be duly licensed in order to protect customers and the financial system; that international money transfer operators are required to remit foreign currency to their agent banks in Nigeria for disbursement in Naira to beneficiaries; and, that foreign currency proceeds are to be sold to bureau de change operators.

Following the expressions of concern which followed naturally, the CBN has since clarified in another press release that “it has not foreclosed the licensing of interested players in the IMTO space in Nigeria.” The CBN says that interested applicants should forward their request for licensing under the CBN’s Guidelines on International Money Transfer Services in Nigeria of 2014.

In the least consideration the recent CBN statements have caused confusion and disruption, having led to the suspension of operations to Nigeria by some foreign international money remittance service providers. In a very well written piece published on Quartz Africa, Feyi Fawehinmi discusses and provides a critique of the recent moves of the CBN and their effect on international money remittances to Nigeria and the operators of such business.

As Fawehinmi’s piece demonstrates, the approach adopted by the CBN is of questionable soundness from a number of perspectives. The following are some of the potential consequences: 1. it is counterproductive in that it is very unlikely to reduce the serious shortage of foreign currency affecting the Nigerian economy and is in fact more likely to exacerbate it; 2. it is a “forceful narrowing” of choice for Nigerians in diaspora who remit money back to Nigeria; 3. it has the potential to increase the costs of such money remittances for Nigerians in diaspora 4. it has the potential to make the process of money remittances difficult for Nigerians in diaspora as well as for Nigerian resident beneficiary of remittances It is not surprising that some international money transfer operators have already bemoaned the approach of the CBN. It is of course easy to dismiss such protests as turkeys protesting against Christmas or rams protesting against Salah. In truth, considering the present Nigerian economic climate with chronic shortage of foreign currency and demand far outstripping supply, it is surprising that the CBN approach does not evince greater imagination, creativity and clarity.

From a technical perspective, while the recent CBN statements have added to confusion, the root of the problem lies in the provisions of the CBN Guidelines on International Money Transfer Services in Nigeria (2014); (“Approved” version still on CBN’s website) The Guidelines are certainly well intended with the aim inter alia to “provide minimum standards and requirements for International money transfer services operations in Nigeria.”

On the other hand, some aspects of the Guidelines could have been drafted with greater clarity, provided further detail and technical precision.

Licensing Article 2 of the Guidelines requires an ‘international money transfer services’ provider to be duly licensed by the CBN and sets out the necessary requirements, including capital requirements.

It also implies that the entity must be incorporated in Nigeria.

Curiously, the entity seeking licensing is required to show ‘Presence in at least seven (7) different countries’. It should be self-evident that this would be discriminatory and discouraging especially to Nigerian start-ups seeking to enter into the money transfer services sector. It also seems to assume, questionably, that foreign money transfer services operators already operating in a number of countries and who are already licensed in another jurisdiction would find it desirable to seek licensing in Nigeria necessarily.

As reflected in denied accusations directed against the CBN in light of recent developments, the CBN’s approach seems to be aimed at attracting some particular global players. If so, this is short-sighted as it is not reflective of the practices of diasporaNigerians remitting money to family and associates or that of Nigerian beneficiaries of remittances. It also does not reflect an adequate grasp of the operation methodologies of some of the foreign money transfer services operators, especially at the lower value scale level, where they may not themselves have a direct presence in Nigeria and simply remit credit in local currency for disbursement to beneficiaries through a Nigerian based correspondent or ‘partner’. Some of them operate from a particular country (e.g. the UK) and specialise in remittances either to Nigeria alone or to a small number of African countries with historic connections to their base of operation; these are likely to find it difficult to

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele

meet the requirement of presence in at least seven countries.

Money Transfer Operations The Guidelines permit a duly licensed operator to carry out both inbound and outbound money transfer transactions. The CBN press release of 2nd August 2016 appears to suggest that inward bound remittances are to be made to Nigeria by money transfer operators in foreign currency when it says that they “... are required to remit foreign currency to their agent banks in Nigeria ….” It may be that the statement in the press release needed to be worded better but on the face of it, there seems to be apparent disparity and contradiction with the provisions of the Guidelines. The Guidelines do not contain a clear provision that inward remittances are to reach the Nigerian end in foreign currency. It is of course true that in the case of a remittance from overseas, the operator would invariably be paid in foreign currency but this does not necessarily mean that in practice actual foreign currency, rather than credit in Naira, would be remitted to a Nigerian ‘partner’.

When it comes to payment to the Nigerian beneficiary/recipient, the Guidelines are clear that payment is to be made to customers only in Nigerian currency. While this may be informed in part by the shortage of foreign currency in Nigeria, it is doubtful that this is sufficient justification for the restriction of choice for a remitter and/or a beneficiary who prefers the completion of the transaction in a foreign currency. In any event, foreign currency in the hands of individuals is more likely to lead to a reduction in the demand for foreign currency on regular licensed foreign currency dealers and bureaux de change. This is one of the areas where the Central Bank might have been expected to show some greater imagination and better market awareness.

A different approach could, for example, distinguish between transactions where the operator must remit actual foreign currency to its Nigerian ‘partner’ or its own Nigerian end and those very common, especially lower value transactions, where no actual foreign currency is remitted but credit is made available to the beneficiary in Naira. The recent CBN press release seems to only assume the former and if that is the area of particular regulatory concern it may be that some form of allowances or relaxations are possible for the latter.

The Role of Agents The Guidelines contain provisions recognising the role of agents and it defines an agent as ‘a suitable entity engaged by a money transfer service operator to provide money transfer service on its behalf, using the agent’s premises, staff and technology.’

Somewhat indirectly the recognition of the role of agents highlights the shortcomings of the provisions relating to licensing of money transfer operators. It is an indirect recognition of the possibility that a foreign registered and licensed money transfer operator can provide services to beneficiaries in Nigeria without itself actually maintaining a physical presence in Nigeria. Until the suspension of operations following the recent CBN moves, many foreign money transfer operators remitting money to Nigeria operated via arrangements with local entities through whom remittances were channelled to recipients. The problem is that the Guidelines contemplate that “agents” will be acting for money transfer operators who are themselves licensed in Nigeria. On the other hand, a Nigerian entity which acts as an “agent” is not required to be licensed as a money transfer service operator though it is required to “be …. under the regulatory purview of the CBN.” This means that Nigerian licensed and regulated banks for example are able to act as agents for duly licensed money service transfer operators.

The fact that many foreign money transfer operators who operate via arrangements with local entities are not themselves licensed in Nigeria is what has led to the suspension of operations by many of them. This is exacerbated by the fact that many such foreign operators may have difficulty satisfying the licensing conditions even if they wish to be licensed in Nigeria.

The benefits of restricting the operation of agents to acting only for money transfer services operators licensed in Nigeria are questionable. In the first place, these foreign operators (at least the bigger players) are typically already licensed in a jurisdiction with an acceptably sound regulatory regime. Interestingly, a comparable example is that the same banks who are able to act as agents also often act as correspondent banks for letters of credit transactions to Nigeria, without a requirement that the issuing/originating bank be licensed in Nigeria. Second, adequate supervision and effective regulation of the local agent should be sufficient to protect Nigerian customers and to ensure that remittances reach the due recipient.

In a slightly different respect, the Guidelines only require approval of the Central Bank where a money transfer operator wishes to engage a foreign technical partner to provide a global or regional payment or money transfer platform. A way forward might be for the Central Bank to similarly consider an approval regime for foreign money transfer operators who do not seek to be licensed in Nigeria but wish to ‘partner’ with, or engage as agents, local entities in Nigeria. As with technical partners, they will also be required to be licensed in their home jurisdictions.

This proposition is yet worthy of consideration in the longer term of being able to continue to attract foreign exchange inflows, even though the Central Bank has recently granted licences to a number of international money transfer operators in addition to the three that were known to have met the licensing requirements Further Scope for Reform In a number of respects, the Guidelines still presents room for reform and clarity likely to facilitate remittances to Nigeria.

• Receiving only operators: it is worth exploring a unique regime for Nigerian based money transfer operators who wish to only operate receiving and disbursement services i.e. those who do not themselves engage in remittances abroad; this may be based on a revision of the provisions currently applicable to ‘agents’.

• Small Scale and Micro Level Operators: there is scope for consideration of a less stringent regime for operators who handle mainly low value remittances and whose total monthly worth of transactions are relatively low (a level to be set by the CBN); it is noteworthy that the Guidelines says money transfer services shall target individual customers mainly”.

• Capital requirements: the level of paid up share capital required for receiving only operators and small scale and micro level operators could be set at a lower amount than that for bigger operators. Somewhat perplexingly, the Guidelines currently set the paid up capital requirements for Nigerian based operators at N2 billion while that for foreign operators is set at N50 million or equivalent. It may be that this is to attract foreign operators but this would be at the cost of discouraging Nigerian start-ups and operators. Interestingly, a foreign technical partner is required to have ‘a minimum Net Worth of US$1 million.’ In the version of the Guidelines circulated by the CBN on September 26 2014, foreign international money transfer operators are required to have a ‘minimum share capital of US$1.0 million in their own country’ while a foreign technical partner is required to have a minimum net worth of US$10.0 million. Irrespective of the version of the Guidelines, these disparities certainly require a re-examination.

• Disbursement of inbound transfers: the Guidelines stipulate that disbursements to beneficiaries shall be through bank accounts or mobile wallets. A very limited scope is provided for cash payment, requiring the provision of reference from a bank account holder. Even granted the CBN’s cashless society initiative, this restriction is questionable in a country yet with a high level of illiteracy, rural communities and still relatively low level of financial inclusion. The circulated version of the Guidelines ameliorate this to some extent with provisions that (a) the allowable cash withdrawal for inbound transfers shall not be more than US$500, and (b) payment may be made to a beneficiary without a bank account or mobile wallet upon provision of acceptable means of identification as enumerated.

• Send and receive operators within Nigeria only: the Guidelines are concerned with international money transfer services; it is worth considering developing, encouraging and facilitating domestic money remittance services within Nigeria alone irrespective of general improvement in banking services.

In a situation where Nigeria desperately requires foreign currency inflow and an easing of pressure on such foreign currency available, Central Bank policies and directives should be carefully thought out and made in a manner that is not counter-productive.

The current attitude evinced by the Central bank, which has led to the suspension of Nigerian activities by some notable money transfer operators is not helpful. At the risk of being perceived as an institution that makes and reverses policies too frequently, particularly in light of another recent example, a careful reappraisal by the Central Bank is desirable in this particular instance.

Dr. Gbenga Bamodu is a legal practitioner, consultant and academic writing in from Essex, UK.

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

INDUSTRY

Social Investment and Nigeria’s Economic Resuscitation Crusoe Osagie highlights the importance of corporate social investment in revamping the lives of displaced persons and returning a depressed economy to growth The nexus between philanthropy, social investment and the rebound of Nigeria’s economic growth is clearly not sufficiently emphasised, understood and appreciated.

However, to the extent that economic growth is basically an increase in the capacity of an economy to produce goods and services, compared from one period of time to another, which can be measured in terms of gross national product (GNP) or gross domestic product (GDP), good-willed efforts being made by organisations and individuals to empower over three million internally displaced Nigerians has direct impact on the emancipation of the nation’s economy from recession.

Nigeria’s recent descent into recession is not just the consequence of declining crude oil prices and prevailing policies that forced industrial capacity to drop below 20 per cent. It is also the result of about 6 million persons (human capital), most of whom are between the ages of 18 and 64 years, that are directly and indirectly incapacitated by the aftermath of the senseless insurgency and other ethnic crises that have ravaged the country for over six years.

Various pundits and regulators have stated different amounts as the economic cost of the crises in the country.

For example, the North-east Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) team hinted that the impact of the conflict in the region has a cost implication $9 billion.

Placing this figure side by side with only $8.1billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted into the Nigerian economy in 2014 and 2015 provides insight into the enormity of the loss foisted on the country by the crisis.

The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Dr. Mariam Masha, said Borno State was worst hit by the crisis with a loss of $6 billion. According to her, the region suffered damage worth $3 billion in housing alone while it suffered damage in terms of livestock which brought about the need to restore agriculture in the region.

That said, other experts have pointed out that the $9 billion figure is conservative in that it mostly computed the existing infrastructure and enterprises that were scorched by the crisis and not the prospect and potential of the economy which was also extinguished.

According to analysts, it is easier to work out the figures of what was consumed by the mayhem, but far more difficult to fathom what could have been that was never allowed to emerge. The growth in agriculture, tourism, solid mineral prospecting, micro enterprises, artisanal capacity enhancement, among others, which was not given an opportunity to happen due to the conflict.

How many children that carried special potential to be world-renowned economist, medical experts, technology giants, industrialists, farmers, etc had their lives violently snuffed out during the crises?

How many more potential world beaters survived the attacks but unfortunately have been left physically and psychologically damaged, rendered permanently incapable to ever live up to their original, God-given potential? How do experts quantify socio-economic loses such as these?This is the reason why special efforts being made by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, who is now pulling in international rock stars to drive efforts to revamp these crushed parts of the country are not just aimless philanthropy and social engagements, but direct effort and essential social investment that can help the nation’s economy rebound to healthy growth.

Dangote-Bono Partner for North-east Last week, award-winning Paul David Hewson, (aka Bono) and Dangote, met with the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa to discuss the possibilities of a global partnership to address the humanitarian crisis in North-eastern part of the country through international advocacy.

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State (extreme left); Dangote (with child at the middle); Bono( White man next to Dangote) during a visit to displaced persons in Maiduguri At the meeting, Osinbajo who endorsed the effort stated that the federal government would welcome a global partnership that would ensure a concerted and focused international response to the humanitarian crisis in the North-eastern region.

Bono leads the ONE campaign group, an advocacy organisation with more than seven million people around the world taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable diseases especially in Africa.

It has on its board people like Mo Ibrahim, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg among others.

It was founded in 2004.

Addressing members of the delegation that included former UK Development Secretary Douglas Alexander, Osinbajo said: “It is very important that you chose to come and offer some partnership. This is great and we are pleased…Partnership is certainly the way to go.”

He said no matter how prepared a country could be, handling the kind of crisis in the North-east with two million displaced people including children would prove a difficult task.

According to him, a global partnership to address the situation should be coordinated and more focused on what was required to be done, for instance, in addressing the issue of malnourished children and not attempting to do too much things at once.

The Irish-born artist, Bono, in his comments, said he had visited some of the IDPs, noting: “We want to be useful to you.”

Bono added that what he saw in the region was “deeply disturbing.” He also commended the social investment programmes of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, saying: “We have heard of the incredible plans, the social investment funds,” adding also that the level of transparency already seen in the administration is both “very exciting and transforming.”

Meanwhile, Dangote, Monday at the meeting, disclosed that a total sum of N4.5 billion had so far been spent by the Dangote Foundation in trying to provide succour to IDPs in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, which have been ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He added that the foundation would continue to reach out to the victims until the end of the current programme by government to restore normalcy to the people.

Bono, who is currently in the country to draw international support for victims of insurgency in the North-east said funding to the region needed to be scaled up in order to achieve maximum impact.

Bono further lamented that of the estimated $300million required as part of the reconstruction programme, only about $100million had so far been realised, stressing that going by the magnitude of destruction and deprivation in affected areas, there’s need to scale up resources to cope with the humanitarian crisis.

He said working with the Dangote Foundation, he would use his ONE Campaign NGO platform to garner global support towards addressing the plight.

According to both Dangote and Bono, the new partnership will focus on the most marginalised citizens, particularly girls and women, who face the brunt of poverty and help empower those most at risk from extreme poverty, extreme climate and extreme ideology.

Specifically, Dangote said: “I am in ONE and partners across Nigeria to strengthen civil society and help the government respond to our ongoing health needs and the urgent malnutrition crisis in North-east Nigeria. ONE’s extensive network of youth groups and its 2.3 million members will help bring international attention to and action on these issues. All of us can and must do more.”

On his part, Bono, an ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the leader of the rock group, U2, said: ”I am proud to be standing alongside Dangote, whose foundation works for the future of Nigeria and Africa through its young people. The youth of Nigeria, Africa and indeed everywhere are like rocket fuel- there are no limits to how far they can go, they can transform the continent-or they can blow up in your face.

Harnessing their energy requires investment in their education, employment and healthcare.”

Bono said he was particularly heartbroken at the condition of displaced persons-some children never knew their parents and some severely malnourished.

A particular account was painted by Dangote, where Bono asked a woman in Borno State why she had not breastfed her child – only for the woman to strip her chest bare, revealing her breasts and telling Bono she had no milk to give to the child – once again, depicting the horrible condition of the humanitarian crisis at hand.

However, the new partnership will help amplify the calls of million of Nigerian ONE members, who have been campaigning for years on issues including health, anti-corruption and agriculture.

This year’s Make Naija Stronger campaign calls for the government to deliver on its commute,

net to invest more in healthcare.

ONE campaign is a powerful global advocacy group which was instrumental in Nigeria’s debt cancellation, which led to its exit from the Paris Club and it’s incursion into the country at the request of Dangote is expected to produce more concrete results in the rebuilding of the North-east.

Dangote Foundation’s Efforts Chairman, Dangote Group, AlhajiAlikoDangote’s recent pledge to invest N2 billion to create jobs and end hunger for Borno State residents living in Internally Displaced Peoples camps (IDP), no doubt will ameliorate the pains of Boko Haram victims, as well as provide them a means of livelihood.

The Foundation, has since commenced the disbursement of N400million micro-grant to 40, 000 indigent women in all the local governments in Lagos State. The disbursement is a continuation of grassroots poverty alleviation strategy of the Foundation that Dangote set up in 1993. The programme will cost the Foundation N10billion.

A total of six states have so far benefitted from the programme.

During his visit to the Dalori and Bakassi IDP camps in Borno State earlier in the year, Dangote promised to spend N2billion on the IDPs to enable the State government to provide social amenities to residents.

He said: “I am here to see the IDPs by myself.

This is my first time to visit IDPs in Borno but I want to assure you that it will not be the last. We shall continue to work with the State government to make sure the IDP camps are hunger-free.”

Dangote, who assured that his foundation would shoulder the costs of food for the IDPs during the Holy month of Ramadan, added: “Our partnership with Borno State aims to create jobs for our people. Also I assure you that the entire food for IDPs during Ramadan will be given by the Dangote Foundation to assist the State government.”

Dangote said apart from the funds and food items that will be donated by his company through the Dangote Foundation, he would explore avenues to drive investments and production in the war-torn states to promote entrepreneurship and create opportunities for the people to work and earn a decent living in the course of time.

“This is not the first time I am coming here and it will not be the last. So far, we have Continued on page 27

28

T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

PROPERTY & ENVIRONMENT Megamound Retains M.I. Okoro to Market Lekky County Apartments Megamound Investment Company has added a new set of homes, Lekky County Apartments, to its portfolio in response to the market, as the nation struggles with an economy in recession. The CEO, Otunba Olumide Osunsina brings in M.I.Okoro & Associates to drive sales, reports Bennett Oghifo

: L-R: Managing Director, Megamound Investment Company, Otunba Olumide Osunsina; and Principal Consultant, M.I. Okoro & Associates, Dr. Meckson Innocent Okoro, at an agreement signing ceremony for the sale of County Homes... recently

M

egamound Investment Company, renowned for its sturdy Lekky County Homes, developed in the Lekki axis of Lagos, and outside Lagos, has signed a pact with M. I. Okoro & Associates, a firm of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, to market its newest product, the Country Apartments.

Megamound Investment Limited has some high-profile estates: Carlton Gate Estate off Chevron Drive; Carlton Gate Akodo; Carlton Gate Ibadan; Heritage Estate Abeokuta; NICON Town, Lekki, Lagos; and now they plan to begin the development of Lekky County Apartments between October and November, this year.

The concept...

Megamound is known for its town houses and the County Apartments will be its first, said the Managing Director, Otunba Olumide Osunsina, during a presentation of the project and the marketer, M.I. Okoro & Associates, in Lekki, recently.

“We understand the hardship Nigerians are going through at the moment and this might not look like a very good time to introduce new building products but I believe that the way building purchases are done is different.

“People who have planned to buy buildings for a while will still continue to pursue their plan.

We also believe that everybody aspire to have a roof over their heads and they try to achieve this regardless of the situation because it is usually a long-term plan; while some people will be doing it in the hard period, others will be doing it in periods that are much favourable; that is why we are continuing. So, we are not deterred by what is going on in the larger society.”

Osunsina said this was not the first time they would be launching products during a difficult period and that they usually partner their clients to go through with the purchase.

He described the company’s previous estates, Calton Gate and NICON Town as landmarks in the Lekki axis, saying it is one of the most beautiful estates in Africa.

Lekky County Estate, where the County Apartments are being built, is an existing estate, which the Managing Director said is their special project that has duplexes that sold for N10 million on the Lekki axis “at a time when similar houses on the axis were averaging about N40 to N45 million. Some people got discount because of volume and they paid N9 million.”

He said Lekki County Estate, which is before Chevron, was built by Nigerian team of professionals from sand-filling to construction of the homes, taking the peculiar weather and other conditions of the country into play.

The County Apartments development was conceived, he said because they have observed that there are no quality flats in the Lekki axis.

“So, we designed these quality flats to be sold for N24.9 million. Each apartment has a distinctive design with modern innovation to create homes that are unique. Each has balconies visitors’ toilet, fully equipped kitchen and car park.”

Prospective buyers can make outright payment or split it but they are expected to deposit 30 per cent of the money and the rest would be in phases that would match the stages of development. The key to the home would only be presented to the buyer on completion of payment, he said. “We are giving the buyers at least 24 months to pay. Unfortunately, we are not in the business of giving mortgages but we believe a lot of our subscribers will be able to access money because our estate is known. Not only that; from the day you buy this property, you will be making a minimum equity of N10 million because we know that in the market, this property is worth at least N35 million. The truth is we are not just selling a house to you, but we are actually increasing your family’s wealth. We are trying to ensure that people have a positive equity by buying these properties.”

County Apartments are high quality 3-bedroom flats, all ensuite and they are bigger than the company’s town houses, Osunsina said.

Megamound is also a construction company with a facilities/estate management arm. “We

are also a real estate management company to the extent that we do sales, we do a bit of dredging as well and we consult for people who want to develop brand new estates.”

M.I. Okoro & Associates involvement...

Last month, Megamound Investment Limited appointed M.I. Okoro & Associates, (Estate Surveyors & Valuers/Property f onsultants and Corporate Estate Agents), as the main Estate Agent and marketing consultants for the sale of Lekky County Homes, Lekki Lagos, said the Principal Consultant of the company, Dr. Meckson Innocent Okoro.

On Lekky County Apartments, he said Megamound Investment Limited is scheduled to begin the development of County Apartments within the months of November and December 2016. “We are happy to inform you that all the necessary formalities, including approvals have been obtained from the Lagos State Government Physical Planning Authority. They intend to deliver about 120 fiats.”

He said, “Sequel to the said appointment, an Agency Agreement has equally been executed between Megamound Investment Limited and M.I.Okoro & Associates. The main reason for the appointment of M.I. Okoro & Associates is to collaborate effectively with Megamound investment Limited in the sales and marketing of both the finished houses and the serviced plots to the general public. We call on the general public and prospective purchasers to deal with M.I. Okoro & Associates as if they are dealing with owners of the estate because M.I. Okoro & Associates is a very viable brand name in the Nigerian Real Estate subsector.

delivery in the country. Lagos State policy on mega city fits into the vision of Megamound Investment Limited.”

He said the company was preparing to launch different categories of houses that would meet the desires and expectations of the working class.

“This company believes in meeting standard of construction with affordability, aesthetics, safety and functionality. The greatest challenge any developer has in Nigeria is accessibility to land at reasonable cost and lack of finance. Going forward, the only time I will find peace in my heart as a Real Estate professional is when common man would have access to their homes via an efficient mortgage system. “Unfortunately, in the 21st century, Nigeria cannot boast of efficient mortgage system and freedom of access to land. When these twin problems are addressed through deliberate housing policy by the State and Federal government, the hope of common man in acquiring their houses would have been realised. I call on the federal and state government to support Megamound Investment Limited and, if possible, partner with the company via public -private -partnership, so as to deliver houses of different types at reasonable and affordable costs.

“When government makes land available, provide infrastructure and arrange single digit interest on borrowed funds used for strictly providing houses for public purposes, then the price of houses per unit must drop. In the same way, government must invest directly in social housing aimed at helping the small income group to have their homes.

“This class of housing cannot be left in the hands of private developers. The government, The promise... particularly state and federal must invest in Okoro said, “From what we can see and hear, social housing via all the local governments of I am bold to say that Megamound Investment the federation. The idea is for housing to reach Limited is single largest property Development the grass-root people. There is no way the low Company in Lagos and known to develop estates income people could access housing under the that can compete with those in any part of present situation unless the federal and state advanced countries like the Uk and USA. A government intervene and this intervention is time has come for federal and state government long overdue.” to use Megamound as a model for housing

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T H I S D AY • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

PROPERTY & ENVIRONMENT

Nigerite Celebrates one Year of Accident-free Operations Bennett Oghifo Nigerite, a foremost building solutions company in Nigeria, rolled out drums last week to celebrate a year of accident-free operations in its plants and facilities.

It is the first time in the history of the company, which started operations in Nigeria in 1959, for them not to have a single accident, and this was a thing of joy and satisfaction among the company’s staff and management.

According to the Chief Operating Officer of Nigerite, Mr. Bart Verlinden, zero accident in the company’s operations in a year “is a very big achievement,” and that they needed to sustain it. “I am confident we can, because safety is our responsibility towards the workers, towards the community, and also to our shareholders and to ourselves.”

On what could possibly cause

accidents in the company’s operations, Verlinden said, “You know Nigerite is a very industrialised company; we are working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, heavy machinery is dangerous machinery. The risk is always present but to minimize the risks is the reason to take all these precautions.”

He said there are technical precautions and management of the people/workers to ensure that they can do their jobs in a very comfortable way without stress that can cause accidents.

He said operations and safety were inseparable, explaining that they cannot be achieved alone because it is a combination of everything. “If we do any investment, then it has to be safe.”

The management, he said has a task to sustain the zero accident status through commitment by training, guiding them, giving them a plus and take actions when it is

necessary. “It is to motivate people and to put structural systems in place, technology, systems which training, among others; motivation of the people; by leading by example in any way and by continuing walking round to see what the people are doing in terms of safety.”

The Manager, Quality, Safety, Health and Environment, Mr. John Bamigboye said gave statistics of operational accidents, stating that since he joined the company it had never recorded a whole year of accident-free operations.

He said the equipment in Nigerite are sophisticated and that they are dangerous but useful for production. “Men can reduce or eliminate hazards in the operations of the machines.”

Bamigboye said they were able to achieve zero accident status because he had an action plan, which the management endorsed for implementation.

The management of Nigerite

now has a greater role to play in sustaining the zero accident status they have achieved, said the Chairman of the Senior Staff Association, Mr. Segun David. “The safety enjoyed in the company is as a result of what management has been able to do. It shows that if management can maintain peace among the workers, then there wouldn’t be accidents; if management can take time to cultivate the workers, accidents will be a thing of the past. One of the key things for having accident-free period is motivation, if the people are well-motivated, everybody will deliberately stay away from accident. So, management must put aside all policies that can heat-up the system or cause tension.”

The Union at Nigerite known as the NUCRFLANMPE branch thanked the management and described as wonderful the one year accident-free period in the

company.

Represented by Comrade Latif, the Branch Chairman, Comrade Daramola T.O said, “This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without team work, we once again congratulate everybody in Nigerite that made this achievable, let’s continue in such spirit for continuity of many years of celebration of this kind.”

The Union advised everybody that “safety rules are no respecter of anybody; therefore it is mandatory we follow the rules to letter for our own good and for the image of the company. We are advising every member of staff and all affiliates to play by the rules of the game by putting on your PPE fully, Practice LOTOTO every time and report any act or situation that may result into accident for prompt action.

Then, any unsafe act should be discouraged. Avoid using

Nigerite premises as a testing ground for driving, while trailer drivers should keep their keys away from motor boys who are not professionals in driving.

“Driving via unprofessional proxies within the premises should be discouraged to avoid breaking the second journey towards attaining second year accident free celebration like this.”

In a goodwill message, the Secretary, Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria, Lagos State branch, Mr. Harold Echendu lauded the management of Nigerite.

The Institute’s concern, he said was for people to go to work and return without accidents or deaths and that they were eager to collaborate with any organisation to ensure that workers do not suffer any injury at work or anywhere else. Echendu then advised the workers to be safety-conscious always.

Nigeria to Host African Union for Housing Finance Conference Bennett Oghifo The housing sector will once more take centre stage of national discourse as Nigeria plays hosts to a gathering of experts and practitioners of housing and housing finance from across the continent and the rest of the world at the African Union Housing Finance (AUHF) conference.

The conference, which will take place in Abuja from September 14 to 16, this year, is to deliberate on the state of the sector, proffer solutions for its growth to unlock its multiplier effects on national economies.

This will take place as the African Union for Housing Finance, in partnership with the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), hosts its 32nd edition of its conference and annual general meeting at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Centre in Abuja.

The African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF) is a 55-member association, consisting mortgage banks, building societies, housing corporations and other organisations, working on the mobilisation of funds for shelter and housing on the African continent, and with the overarching goal of promoting housing finance on the African continent.

Its annual conferences and annual general meetings are highly in-demand platforms for brainstorming and knowledgesharing on developments in the sector on the continent, for identifying new housing investment opportunities, generate new business, and promote related products and services.

The Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) said it is honoured to have been selected as local hosts for this year’s Conference. The NMRC is a private sector-driven mortgage refinancing company with the public purpose of promoting home ownership for Nigerians by raising long term funds in the capital market to provide

affordable housing finance to Nigerians. Its vision is to be the dominant housing partner in Nigeria, with a mission to break down barriers to home ownership by providing liquidity, affordability, accessibility and stability to the housing market in Nigeria.

NMRC is working with other local partners such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority to ensure a very successful outing for the Nigerian housing sector at the Conference.

The Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, will deliver the keynote address on Day One of the Conference, while the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun will headline the plenary on Day Two, including a unique housing investment marketplace. Other expected Speakers include housing finance experts from Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, and from others like India, China, and Brazil.

These will be complemented by institutional level representatives of the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the China-Africa Development Fund, and UN-HABITAT. The Conference will host a not-to-be missed Housing Investment Marketplace, which will connect development finance institutions, investors, and housing practitioners, offering the opportunity for face-to-face meetings to discuss possible affordable housing finance projects and initiatives.

Investors already registered to attend the marketplace include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), China-Africa Development Fund, UK CDC, Lion’s Head Global Partners, Cantor Fitzgerald LP and the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

L-R: General Manager, Human Resources, Nigerite Ltd., Mr. Joshua Bamigboye; Chief Finance Officer, Mr. Gbolahan Tijani; Chief Operating Officer, Nigerite Ltd., Mr. Bart Verlinden; Quality Safety Health and Environment Manager, Nigerite Ltd., Mr. John Bamigboye; and Secretary, Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria, Lagos State branch, Mr. Harold Echendu, during the one year accident free operations celebration by the company at its premises... recently

CORBON Advocates Professionalism in Built Sector to Avert Building Collapse Dele Ogbodo in Abuja The Registrar, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Dr. Peter Kuroshi has advocated for the entrenchment of the competence of the various professional bodies in the built sector in construction to avert building collapse.

In an interview with THISDAY, in Abuja, the CORBON CEO said investigation by the council in several cases of collapsed building showed that various professionals in the sector were often not engaged, as in the recent case of a collapsed building in Abuja.

He said: “Referring to last week’s incident and many other incidences, often times CORBON discovered that professionals are not engaged.”

People who do not have business in construction, he said, should stay away from the sector and that professionals should limit themselves to what their profession is all about.

“The laws establishing their regulatory bodies define their

professional responsibilities. If you check the National Building Code, you will actually see that the roles and responsibilities in the built environment are clearly defined.

“When we are talking about professionals in the built environment we are not just referring to anybody ....who went to school to study engineering or any other course of study.

“For you to practice as a professional in Nigeria within the building environment, you are expected to be registered and licensed by a professional regulatory body. So, we expect that in any building project site, the production management should be carried out by a registered builder and licensed

by CORBON,” the Registrar said.

He admitted that the Council was aware that most of these buildings that collapsed do not have such professionals, adding that interactions with other professional colleagues in the sector revealed that beyond design, supervision does not take place.

“Often times, contractors and developers are just doing their businesses without engaging the professionals,” Kuroshi averred.

On the recent 4 storey building that collapsed in Abuja, in which two were said to have lost their lives, he said the Council felt sad that these things were happening, adding: “It is really unfortunate that in this time in the life of this country that we are experiencing this with all full compliments of professionals that we do have in the sector.

“You are aware that the professional bodies have been in existence for at least 20 years, but we are still experiencing this. “I expect that by now we would have attained the level of maturity to be able to handle just anything.”

Kurosh added that each of the five professionals in the sector ought to exert its mandate, adding: “Based on certain laws of the federal republic, there are seven professionals bodies that are recognised in the Nigerian built environment, one of them is CORBON.

“In the sector, there are Architecture, Engineering; these have branches; there is Quantity Surveying, there is Town Planning, there is Estate Surveying.

Each of these professions do have the training arm which are more of association and there are also the regulatory bodies like CORBON. “CORBON is established to regulate building technology profession in all its aspects and ramifications. In project delivery in the built environment, there are defined rules and responsibilities. We have the designers and the production managers.

“The designers are Architects and Engineers, while the Quantity Surveyors give information on the cost and other financial information required, the town planners also have their responsibilities clearly defined.”

According to him, whatever other professionals produced as inputs for building production process, such inputs become production process for the builder.

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INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

ISIS Planned for More Operatives,Targets During Paris Attacks The sophisticated ISIS network that plots foreign strikes had planned for the carnage in the November 2015 Paris attacks to be far worse, to occur in other European countries as well and, investigators believe, had planned to follow them up with strikes in several locations, CNN has learned.

CNN has obtained thousands of pages of documents and photos from internal European investigations and gathered information from sources close to the Paris investigation that together provide new details about the highly organized terror group intent on attacking overseas targets.

These documents reveal new information about two captured operatives who investigators believe intended to attack France. They also point, chillingly, to the existence of another suspected terrorist -- never before named publicly -- who authorities claim is linked to the Paris terror cell and was on the loose in Europe for months after that attack. That man, identified by authorities as Abid Tabaouni, was only arrested in July.

And the documents shed new light on the highly organized branch of ISIS devoted to plotting attacks inside Europe where, even now, sources told CNN, operatives await instructions from senior handlers in Syria. “ISIS is increasing its international attack planning,” said Paul Cruickshank, a CNN terrorism analyst who contributed to CNN’s investigation and editor of CTC Sentinel, a publication issued by

the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. “It’s increasingly sophisticated in the way it does this. It’s set up an intricate, logistical support system for these terrorists ... to launch these terrorist attacks.”

A CNN team spent months going through 90,000 pages of documents, most of them in French, that included a trove of interrogations, investigative findings and data pulled from cell phones offering insight into the external operations wing of ISIS known as the Amn al-Kharji.

A senior European counterterrorism official who spoke to CNN said that according to investigations into the network that carried out the Paris attacks, they were a slimmed-down version of an even more ambitious plan to hit Europe. After interrogating suspects and gathering intelligence, European investigators now believe that ISIS initially planned for the operatives it sent last year to also attack the Netherlands, as well as other targets in France including shopping areas and possibly a supermarket in Paris, the official said.

In addition, recently obtained intelligence indicates that ISIS has stepped up efforts to infiltrate operatives into the UK to launch attacks there, an official told CNN. The senior European counterterrorism official told CNN that security services were “uncovering more and more ISIS operatives” on continental European soil. ISIS operatives dispatched back to Europe

Tension Eases in Gabon Capital after Riots Tension eased in Gabon’s capital weekend after days of deadly rioting triggered by an announcement that President Ali Bongo narrowly won re-election in a vote the opposition said was stolen. More than 1,000 others were arrested in the protests that began on Wednesday and the opposition, led by Jean Ping who claims he is now president, said five people also died.

Shops began to re-open on Saturday and some traffic returned to the streets as the government sought to restore stability with mass arrests and a heavy security presence. At the same time some impoverished residents of Libreville who need to buy food every day said they hoped for a return to normality given the hardship caused by closed shops and markets.

“The last few days were really difficult for us. The fact that traffic has started to move is very important ... because our families have really suffered,” said Alex Ndong, 42, a mechanic who lives in the Lalala suburb of south Libreville. “I hope everything goes back to normal as quickly as possible,” he said.

Bongo came to power in 2009 on the death of his father, Omar, who ruled the Central African country for 42 years, relying on patronage fuelled by oil wealth to buy off dissent. France has had a military base in Gabon since independence in 1960 and 450 troops are stationed there, according to the French Defence Ministry.

The disputed election sparked the protests but discontent has

risen in an economy hit by lower global prices for its crude exports and falling production. Major oil producers include Total and Shell.

Many citizens also say the fruits of oil wealth have been shared too narrowly.

Ping appealed to the American people in an op-ed in the New York Times to send a clear signal to Bongo that they would not tolerate a stolen election. He also repeated a call also taken up by the European Union for the electoral commission to release results bureau by bureau to make it easier to detect any potential discrepancies.

“The people of Gabon voted for their leader, they chose me.

They chose a change from the dynastic regime that has ruled our country since 1967,” Ping wrote.

He earlier called for international intervention but there were few signs by Saturday of the kind of decisive external action Ping seeks.

French Foreign Minister JeanMarc Ayrault appealed to all sides in the dispute to use constitutional means and called on the authorities to restore all social media and Internet connections after days of interruptions and cuts.

In several recent African elections the Internet and sometimes cellular phone services have been suspended.

Ayrault also welcomed a decision by the African Union to get involved. The African Union’s Peace and Security Council expressed concern over the violence, saying the situation could affect regional stability.

have taken advantage of encryption, especially the Telegram messenger app, to communicate securely, the official told CNN, frustrating European security services.

“Encrypted messaging groups have the potential to revolutionize terror plot planning by allowing entire cells to coordinate in real time without compromising themselves,” said CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.

Europe’s security agencies have had important successes, though.

One major breakthrough was the capture of two men who authorities believe intended to travel to France alongside the two suicide bombers

who eventually blew themselves up outside a Paris stadium. Those two suspected ISIS operatives are identified in the documents as Algerian-born Adel Haddadi and his Pakistani travel partner, Muhammad Usman.

Documents that detail their capture and extensive interrogations, particularly with Haddadi, show how ISIS supported the attackers throughout their journey from Syria through Europe -- and how future attacks might be organized.

The following account of their journey to Europe is based on those documents, which include

evidence gathered by investigators, and their conclusions.

Haddadi and Usman, who was identified by investigators as a suspected bombmaker for the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, set out from the capital of the self-declared ISIS caliphate in Raqqa, Syria, six weeks before the Paris attacks.

They were part of a team, investigators concluded. The two others, Ahmad al-Mohammad and Mohamad al-Mahmod, would later blow themselves up outside the national stadium in Paris. The team crossed the border from Syria into Turkey in early October and headed for the Turkish coast.

The four men didn’t seem to know each other’s real names, or what their final mission would be. All Haddadi knew, he later told interrogators, was that they were being sent to France to do “something for the good of God.” The documents show that their journey was directed by a shadowy ISIS leader in Syria, known only as Abu Ahmad. Operating like a puppet-master from afar, Abu Ahmad handled their logistics: connecting them with smugglers and cars for transport, providing pre-programmed cell phones and getting them fake Syrian passports.

Mugabe Says Judges Reckless for Allowing Protests Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has accused court judges of being reckless in allowing antigovernment demonstrations that later turned violent, state media reported on Sunday, a day before a legal challenge to last week’s official ban on protests.

The southern African nation on Thursday outlawed all demonstrations for two weeks in the capital Harare, which has witnessed protests against Mugabe’s handling of the economy, cash shortages and high unemployment.

Some political activists have approached the High Court to challenge the ban which they say is unconstitutional. The hearing is set for today. Mugabe told a conference of the ruling ZANU-PF’s youth wing on Saturday that “enough is enough” and he would not allow violent protests to continue, the Sunday Mail newspaper reported.

Violence erupted more than a week ago when police used teargas and water cannon to disperse

Climate Change Threatens to Double Malaria in Africa The number of Africans at risk of malaria who live near dams will nearly double to 25 million by 2080 as areas where the disease is not currently present will become transmission zones due to climate change, researchers said yesterday.

Without prevention measures, the number of malaria cases associated with dams could triple to nearly 3 million a year over the same period, they said in a study published in Malaria Journal.

“While dams clearly bring many benefits ... the role of climate change on malaria around dams will fundamentally alter the current impact,” said Solomon Kibret of the University of California and the paper’s lead author.

“Accurately predicting the impacts of such changes is critical to planning effective disease control,” he said in a statement. Malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, which breed in stagnant water such as shallow puddles along dam shorelines.

marchers. “Our courts, our justice system, our judges should be the ones who understand even better than ordinary citizens. They dare not be negligent in their decisions when requests are made by people who want to demonstrate,” the Sunday Mail quoted Mugabe as saying.

“To give permission again when they are to the full knowledge that

it is going to be violent or (there is) probability that there is going to be violence is to pay reckless disregard to the peace of this country. ‘Police routinely cite lack of manpower and a threat to security as a reason for barring opposition protests, but the decisions have often been overturned by the High Court.

Tendai Biti, leader of the People’s

Democratic Party and the lawyer behind the legal challenge to the latest ban, accused Mugabe of intimidating the judiciary and violating the constitution. “What Mugabe is trying to do is breaching the constitution by assaulting the judiciary and by trying to cause direct and indirect fear into judges,” Biti said.

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FG: 53% of Under-five Children Die of Malnutrition Annually To launch revised national policy on food and Nutrition today WHO confirms third polio case Ndubuisi Francis and Paul Obiin Abuja

The federal government yesterday painted a rather unflattering picture of the state of nutrition in the country, saying about 53 percent of Nigerian children under the age of five die of malnutrition annually.

The disclosure came as the government said it would launch the ‘Revised National Policy on Food and Nutrition’ in Abuja today.

Briefing journalists on the maiden edition of Nutrition Week celebration organised by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the Minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said Nigeria ranks first in Africa and third globally with high burden of malnutrition.

Represented at the briefing by the Minister of State for Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, Udoma said of the 53 per cent of children who die annually due to malnutrition, 1,200 die every day in the country.

According to the minister, the North-east and North-west geo-political zones rank top among the six zones of the country in the malnutrition index.

Quoting the 2013 NDHS report, the minister added that stunting is still as high as 37 per cent, wasting 29 per cent and underweight 18 per cent.

The menace, which he blamed on several factors, include poor infant and young child feeding practices, policy implementation, poor access to healthcare, water and sanitation and high level of poverty.

Although the nutrition-sensitive interventions remain crucial to devising solutions, the minister harped on the necessity of all stakeholders to achieve food and nutrition security to address the major causes of malnutrition in the country.

Udoma, however, assured Nigerians that the revised National Policy on Food and Nutrition which would be launched today by the First Lady would address the problem of malnutrition, increase exclusive breastfeeding, increase the percentage of children who receive complementary feeding as well as reduce stunting rate among under-five children from 37 per cent in 2013 to 18 per cent in 2016, among other things.

While acknowledging the ministry’s collaboration with the Nutrition Society of Nigeria in curbing the menace of food and nutrition insecurity, he solicited the contribution of all stakeholders to ensure optimal nutritional status for all Nigerians.

The Minis of Information and

Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in his remarks, said the nutrition week was initiated to create awareness on the danger of malnutrition, especially in the North-eastern part of the country due to the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the region.

Mohammed said 26,000 children are malnourished in the North-east, a situation he described as a crisis of high magnitude, therefore calling for collaborative effort to stem the crisis. ‘‘The rate of malnutrition in the North-east region is a crisis of high magnitude.

The government has realised this and has decided to create this awareness.

“Every hour, five children die

of malnutrition and 26,000 are malnourished in the North-east region. It must be seen in the North-east region for what it is. However, the truth is that malnutrition rate is higher in the North-western part of the country.

It is the activities of Boko Haram insurgents that made it look as if it is more in the North-east,’’ he minister said.

On the new free school feeding programme, the minister said the programme had been kicked off in some states and was expected to go round the country.

To ensure the sustenance of the programme, Mohammed disclosed that the government was planning to budget another N500 billion for social security in the 2017 budget.

Meanwhile the federal government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday confirmed another case of polio, bringing the total number of new cases to three after nearly two years Nigeria did not witness the outbreak of the Wild Polio Virus.

The third case of the virus, according to the officials, involved a crippled toddler found in an area newly liberated from Boko Haram insurgents.

THISDAY checks revealed that the case is from an IDP Camp in Monguno, Borno State, where the Nigerian military recently took over after intense fighting with the Boko Haram sects.

It was also reported that the new case was confirmed after

thorough laboratory test by the United States Centre for Disease Control international laboratory.

Confirming the case to THISDAY, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said: “Yes a third case in Monguno Ward in Monguno Local Government Area is two-year-old boy with no vaccination history.

“Monguno houses one of the largest IDP camps. Our current outbreak response will cover this.

We shall have no cause to take any additional measure,” Adewole told THISDAY. Health officials had earlier warned of more polio outbreak after two cases were discovered last month among refugees from areas recently won back by Nigerian military.

RegisterYour Hotels Or Face Sanctions, LASG Tells Operators The Lagos State Government has advised operators of hotels, hospitality centres and other recreational facilities to register them or face sanction.

The state Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, which gave the advice, said the registration would afford the state government to monitor activities at such places.

The ministry’s spokesman, Mr. Ganiyu Lawal, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that hotels and facilities centres must comply before the end of the year or face sanctions.

He said the registration was part of the ministry’s efforts to upgrade the present standards of hotels and hospitality groups in the state to an internationally acceptable standard.

He said the exercise would also serve as security-assurance for tourists and users that might want to lodge in them.

The spokesman said the ministry

would invoke the Hotel Licencing Law of the state to ensure that all hotel operators and hospitality groups complied.

“A number of hotels and hospitality groups had refused to comply with the directive before now.

“Sequel to that, the Commissioner, Mr. Folorunso Folarin-Coker, had directed that defaulters be fished out,” he said.

The spokesman said that there had been an increase in the number of registered hotels and hospitality groups from the 450 recorded in May. Nevertheless, the unregistered ones were more than those registered, he said.

“We still have some miles to cover with the current number of unregistered hotels; but we shall continue to appeal to them to comply before the year runs out,” he said.

AIICO Partners Ikoyi Club for Tennis Tournament One of the leading insurers, AIICO, has announced that it will partnering Ikoyi Club 1938 to host its second annual tennis tournament. The tournament commences from September 5 through to September 17, 2016 and is part of the organisations corporate responsibility initiative targeted at promoting sports and wellness in

Nigeria, a fact which is captured in the statement by AIICO’s Managing Director, Mr. Edwin Igbiti, saying “Part of our strategy is to foster closer ties with our customers by active and deliberate engagements through sports, and Ikoyi Club 1938, has provided us with the platform to achieve this and express ourselves through tennis.”

LITERARY GIANT

Renowned poet, Dr. Gabriel Okara (left), presenting a book containing a collection of poems, he authored to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, during his visit to Government House, Yenagoa....yesterday

IoD to Honour Anyaoku, 29 Others as Fellows The Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD Nigeria) will hold its 2016 fellows’ investiture on September 8, 2016 at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, Victoria Island, Lagos, where a former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, will be conferred with the Honorary Fellow along with seven other Distinguished Fellows and 23 Fellows.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, will give the keynote address at the event while Mr. Mutiu Adio Sunmonu, Chairman of the Board, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. is the guest speaker.

A statement from the institute signed by its Director-General, Mr. Victor Banjo, hinted that the fellows’ investiture is one of the prestigious events of IoD Nigeria, where members who have distinguished themselves over the years both in the activities of the institute and the country at large are elevated and conferred with honours.

Those to be invested as Distinguished Fellows include three past presidents of the

institute, Chief Isaac Olusola Dada, Mr. Chike Nwanze and Thomas Awagu, former Vice-Chairman of Lever Brothers, Dr. Michael Omolayole, former Managing Director of UBA Plc, and Chairman of Jaiz Bank International, Alhaji Umar Abdul Mutallab, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceutical Industrial Limited, Dr. Stella Okoli, and Chairman of Juli Plc. and former Minister of Health, Prince Julius AdelusiAdeluyi.

The IoD Nigeria, an affiliate of IoD UK, was founded in 1983 as a prime leadership forum in the organised private sector that helps directors to fulfill their legal and professional responsibilities for the benefit of businesses and society as a whole.

As a full-fledged member of the Institute of Directors Worldwide Network and the African Corporate Governance Network (ACGN), the Institute of Directors Nigeria represents top-level directors, policy makers and business leaders.

Keep Faith with APC, Lalong Appeals to Agitated Plateau Indigenes Seriki Adinoyi in Jos Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, yesterday appealed to the agitated indigenes of the state to keep faith with the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the state and federal levels, acknowledging that “the times are no doubt hard, and the reality of the adjustments we have to make are not doubt tasking.”

He said: “We are not responsible for the challenges we are facing now, but as a responsible government, we are committed to fixing it.”

Lalong stated this yesterday while delivering his speech at the swearing in of four Special Advisers at the Government House Rayfield in Jos. He added: “This however demands patience, because just like for every seed planted, there is a waiting gestation period before the harvest. We are doing our best to ensure that the wealth of opportunities and resources we have identified are fully exploited, so we can improve the quality of life of our citizens.

“We will ensure that the social safety nets that will cushion the

effects of the present economic recessions are strengthened, and that we continue to obligate ourselves to opportunities for wealth creation.

“Be rest assured we will get out of the woods, and together we will reap the benefits derivable from the mandate you have given us.

“The lean finances of government have no doubt called for deliberate adjustments which will reduce the cost of running government bureaucracy, while also not compromising the qualitative service that the wealth of experience of seasoned technocrats and bureaucrats can add to the business of government.”

Lalong noted that the set of advisers that have been sworn in “have no doubt earned their place, having served meritoriously in their various professional callings.

I am not un-mindful of the fact that expectations are high from the array of professionals our state is endowed with.

“The several pieces of advice I have received from senior citizens of the state bear eloquent testimony to the fact that we are running a government that is people-oriented and people monitored.”

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Budget Scandal: Lawmakers Spar on Twitter Abdulmumin disagrees with Melaye over state of economy Damilola Oyedele in Abuja The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement, Hon. Oluwole Oke, and the sacked Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumin, yesterday sparred on social media platform, twitter, over an interview granted

by Oke on the budget padding scandal.

Abdulmumin fired the first salvo at about 9.43 a.m., tweeting his rejoinder to the interview granted to THISDAY by Oke. In a series of tweets, he said Oke belongs to the inner circle of House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara’s corrupt cabal.

He alleged that Oke has been inviting heads of ministries,

departments and agencies (MDAs) to extort money from them, in the name of investigations where he has no mandate.

“This same member was part of the gang that introduced the jumbo allowance and cannot believe that such allowances have finally met a brick wall with my revelation!

Oke was for years on the run and almost became a fugitive in the United States before he was mysteriously brought back to the House for ‘rehabilitation’.

“It is Oke who should be thoroughly investigated for the role he played in the arms deal scandal. He was for many years the past Chairman House Committee on defence and was involved in several arm deals. This is the time for security agencies to act decisively on this saboteur in our system,” he

Adjust to Economic Realities, Okowa Urges Political Office Holders Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has appointed the immediate past Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Chief Edwin Uzor and his deputy, Hon. Emmanuel Ighomena, as Special Advisers with a call on political office holders to adjust to economic realities of the country.

Speaking at the swearing-in of the special advisers yesterday in Asaba, Okowa observed that with the current economic situation of the country where the masses are in pains, political office holders should also adjust their style of living as “it is no longer business as usual.”

According to the governor, “At challenging times such as this, all political office holders should know that they should bear the pains; there is grumbling among the political appointees and those holding elected positions, and it shows that some of them don’t know the economic situation of the country,” the governor said, adding, “as politicians holding positions, we need to submit ourselves to some levels of pains, we have to make sacrifices, we cannot afford to live large when the people are in pains, we cannot afford to live large

when the economy is in recession.”

He continued: “The allocation from the federation accounts to Delta State is less than 50 per cent of what is required to pay salaries, but, we should not despair, we should be strong and give our people hope because in a few months time, we will come out of this situation, stronger.”

The governor disclosed that appointing Uzor and Ighomena as special advisers had become necessary as Chief Emmanuel Ogidi and Kingsley Esiso resigned from their positions as special advisers to enable them contest for different positions in the party which they emerged victorious.

While congratulating the duo, the governor specifically charged them to look beyond party affairs in carrying out their duties, reiterating:“Your duty is to all Deltans and your advice will no longer be restricted to advancing the PDP but, to Deltans as a whole.”

Responding on behalf of his colleague, Uzor, assured Okowa and the people of the state of their loyalty and commitment to ensuring prosperity for all Deltans.

Mo Ibrahim Foundation Announces Winners of MyAfrica The Mo Ibrahim Foundation yesterday announced the winners of MyAfrica, a photography competition to capture the visions of Africa’s future as seen by Africans.

The three winners will each receive a prize of $10,000.

The competition, launched earlier this year on the occasion of the foundation’s 10th anniversary, was open to photographers of all abilities and ages.

It sought to encapsulate what Africans feel will shape their continent over the next decade across the different themes of the foundation’s work.

The winners are: Samar Baiomy from Egypt (amateur); Jeri Muchura from Kenya (professional); Phindulo Tshidzumba from Zambia (Student).

The prize money would be split equally between the student and

his school.

Speaking as the winners were announced, the Founder and Chair of the foundation, Mo Ibrahim, said: “The foundation received thousands of photographs, and I would like to thank all those who submitted entries. The best photographs show a vibrant and dynamic future for Africa and tell a story of opportunity and hope. MyAfrica celebrates Africans - through their own images and words - speaking for themselves rather than being spoken for.”

All the finalists’ photographs would be displayed at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s 10th anniversary celebration, which will take place in London in October and at the Annual Governance Weekend in Marrakech in November

said in his tweets.

Oke responded to the allegations on his twitter handle, accusing Abdulmumin of trying to pull down the National Assemblybecause he lost out in a power game. “…You are yet to present any allegation before the National Assembly to warrant a reply to your allegations or have you?… if you think some of us will keep quiet and allow you to destroy the National Assembly via falsehood, you will be disappointed…go and check your records and facts, I am not a fugitive in any part of the world.

I move freely across the globe,” he said in a series of tweets.

Oke, who was Chairman of House Committee on Defence from 2003 to 2011, said his hands are not soiled, rather, he added value.

“I was not in the House between 2011 and 2015, that is under arms deal gate, so he doesn’t have his facts, and even between 2003 and 20011 when I held sway as Defence Committee Chairman I can walk tall on the streets.

“I have jurisdiction to summon MDAs on their procurements…

His allegations cannot and will not deter me from carrying out my job. Any agency that has been

asked to bring money can report to the security Agencies,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abdulmumin, has disagreed with Senator Dino Mela, ye on his call for the sack of the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, over the state of the economy.

He urged Melaye to look inwards and address the problem as a lawmaker, and also address the budget scandal in the House of Representatives.

Abdulmumin, in a statement yesterday, also said it was wrong to blame President Buhari Muhammadu for the poor state of the economy, as this administration came in barely a year ago.

“Not even a magician can turn around the economy within a period of one year. The biggest spending in our economy, that is the budget, hasn’t even run a full course of one year, yet, some people want to crucify President Buhari,” he said.

The lawmaker said his background as former Chairman of House Committee on Finance and Appropriation qualifies him to contribute and proffer solutions to

the challenging state of the economy.

“The recurrent expenditure, which has escalated and constituted a huge burden on our yearly budget rose from N950.32billion in 2006 to N1.372.20 trillion in 2008 and N2.593.62 trillion in 2015. This was not created by President Buhari,” he added.

He expressed confidence in the ability of Adeosun to turn the economy around, adding that Emefiele is managing the most challenging period the apex bank has ever witnessed.

Abdulmumin’s statement read further: “We all know how badly oil price has gone, a situation that adversely affected our foreign reserves and mounted pressure on the naira. No matter what approach we adopt to manage and deal with the situation, recovery will be slow. It is not President Buhari’s fault. Everyone seems to forget when the whole country was supporting more spending as against saving. But here we are today, soaked in the rainy day. President Buhari should not be used as anybody’s scapegoat!

“Similarly, the total cash call (oil production cost) which rose from about N200 billion in 2006

to about N1.2 trillion in 2015 was not a creation of President Buhari.

The cash call has remained another tale of burden on our yearly budget.

Statutory transfers including that of the National Assembly are not left behind. Statutory transfers rose from just about N100 billion in 2006 to N375.62 billion in 2015. President Buhari was not the president then.

“Debt servicing also rose from about N300 billion in 2006 to N953.62 billion in 2015. These expenditures have over the years constrained the budget and made it difficult to channel sufficient funds towards productive sectors that can sufficiently grow the economy. Domestic borrowing also skyrocketed during this period and created devastating consequences on the economy.

“Government at that time continued to mop up money from commercial banks at a rate considered one of the highest in the world, while the real sector is left with nothing. And even when they were able to access funds, it came with an unbearable interest rate.

President Buhari met this situation on ground. He did not create it, but is doing his very best to take us out of the economic quagmire.

We should all support him.”

TOWARDS PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE

L-R: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh; Ebonyi State Governor, Mr. David Umahi; Minister of Health, Prof.

Issac Adewole; and state Deputy Governor, Kelechi Igwe, at the final signing of peace agreement between Ezillo and Ezza- Ezillo people at the Abakaliki Township Stadium....yesterday

Health Minister Inaugurates Ebonyi’s N350m Lassa Fever Centre The N350million Lassa Fever Virology Diagnostic and Treatment Centre built by the Ebonyi State Government, has been inaugurated by the Minister of Health, Prof.

Isaac Adewole.

Adewole, who was in the company of his Agriculture counterpart, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, during the ceremony, said he was excited that a state government could embark on such a life-saving centre without any prompting by the federal fovernment.

He said the federal government would run the facility in partnership with the state to ensure its success, adding that the centre

would be converted to South-east Diagnostic and Treatment centre.

He said: “I am actually short of words; I am yet to recover from shock over this giant stride. This actually surpasses my expectations and I must say clearly that we should see this as a partnership.

“Let me say clearly, Your Excellency that we will make this hospital functional. We stated in January that we want to build six virology centres in the country and the budget processes were made and was signed by the president in May. “This will be the centre for Southeast. We need to partner the CMD of the FETHA and your state Ministry of Health. We should use the N350million you asked us

to refund for the procurement of more equipment for the centre.”

The minister hailed the governor’s commitment to the health sector, saying he is a star model in the country. ‘’This centre will actually turn things around. Your Excellency, you have shown great interest in health and we are proud of you.

In terms of commitment to health, you are one of our star examples in the country. We will continue to partner you,’’ he said.

Earlier, Umahi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya, said he was moved to build the centre when he saw people die of lassa fever virus.

He said: “The health of our

people is very paramount to our administration.

“We watched helplessly our people dying of this deadly disease and so the CMD told us that for over 10 years, they have been begging that this centre be built and we have to swing into action.

“What we request of you is to make this place South-east diagnosis and treatment. In doing that sir, you will make the hospital to run on its own.

“We spent about N350 million with all the equipment together.

With this N350million, we can treat other people from other states but if you don’t refund us the money, when people come we charge them.’’

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWSEXTRA

FG Moves to Enhance Safety, Prevent Economic Losses on the Highways As the federal government intensifies efforts to reconstruct and rehabilitate highways across the country, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has directed Federal Controllers of Works to ensure the removal of all obstructions on the right of ways in order to promote safety and prevent economic losses on the roads.

The minister also directed that the issuance of permits to erect structures on right of ways on federal highways should no longer be granted and there would be no renewal for those who already have such structures on the highways.

Fashola, who spoke during a meeting in Abuja with Federal Controllers of Works and Sector Commanders of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) from across the federation, said that while those with permit would be allowed to stay till the expiration of such permit, those with no permit should immediately leave the right of way.

Expressing dismay at the ease with which the permits are issued in the name of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Fashola told the controllers, “Our first step is how to secure our Right of Way back.

We have the right of way in this country; 45 metres from the centre

line.”.

The minister pointed out that roads are built to move human beings, goods and services with ease adding, “If after building the roads we issue all sorts of permits on the right of way of the roads we have built in the name of IGR are we not defeating the purpose we set out to achieve?”

He added, “If that road works, you will take personal benefits.

One, you will spend less on food, I assure you, because the average transporter, whether the road is good or bad, will move and by the time he gets to his destination he just calculates how much extra fuel he has burnt and he will pass it into the full cost”.

“Then when you come next month you complain that rice has gone to N20,000; you caused it because he cannot do that business at a loss. If a journey that should take him four hours takes him eight hours instead, he will burn more fuel and he will pass the cost to the trader,” the minister said.

Fashola said although there might not be any scientific measure to put a cost on what the driver had spent, he would like to get as much as he could to cover his cost, adding, “So, you can issue your permit for the Right of Way but

be sure you have diminished the value of your own salary; because price of rice has moved up and you must buy. That is one way that we all undercut ourselves”.

Listing further benefits of unhindered traffic, Fashola declared, “If that road moves freer and faster, even if today you don’t get a reversal, at least prices will stay where they are. You may not get immediate price reduction but you can get a stable price economy you can plan your life with”.

The minister said, however, that although it was in the interest of the government to clear the Right of Way, there was no suggestion to start breaking the structures currently

on them adding, “There is an enlightenment process that we must pursue in doing this. But we must plan it together. Tell the people there is no more renewal of licenses you have given. Stop the renewal”.

He further warned, “So anybody who is still renewing is looking for trouble for himself.

The ones that have no permits then we tell them to go”, adding that he has notified the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to stop issuing permits for petrol stations on Right of Ways.

According to the Minister, although there is need for petrol stations as people have to buy fuel, such fuel stations should not

be built on Right of Way. “So petrol stations must be approved within the appropriate setbacks. This is where you should partner with the state governments because the state is the planning authority. You have to work with them so that when the final permits are given they don’t land on your Right of Way. They must observe the setbacks” he told the controllers.

Fashola, who said the enforcement of the ban would need the cooperation of State Governments as well as the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), urged the controllers to return to their states with a new mind-set that getting it right on the roads and highways would need the cooperation of all the stakeholders.

The minister told them, “You must know the number of roads under you and in how many local governments and how many people. You should know how many of your Right of Ways are obstructed. You need to have that data; you must file that report; is it 10 per cent, 20 per cent or 80 per cent? Which one has the heaviest traffic that we may have to attend to quickly?”

Reiterating the benefits of a free flow of traffic, Fashola, who noted that government would not attend to everything at the same time, added, “I am sure if you free all the right of ways, traffic will move better. Some of the best sides of our roads have been covered up by parking.”

PDP Shuts down Twitter Handle Disowns new media director Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it has formally closed its official twitter handle @pdpnigeria due to frequent unauthorised tweets made on it.

In a statement issued yesterday by on behalf of the National Publicity Secretary by the Head, Publicity Division, Chinwe Nnorom, the party said it would henceforth operate on a new twitter handle, known as @officialpdpnig.

“I am directed by the leadership of our great party, the PDP led

by Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, to announce the immediate closure of the party’s official twitter handle, @pdpnigeria and re-launch of another handle for effective use and control. The new handle is @ officialpdpnig henceforth.”

The party said that the National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye is currently the chief spokesman and image-maker of PDP, in line with the party’s constitution. “Consequently, nobody is allowed to issue official statement or speak for and on behalf of the party except authorised by the party hierarchy to do so. The leadership warns that it will not hesitate to take disciplinary measures accordingly against any member that flouts this directive.

“This decision has once again become necessary due to the frequent unauthorized, and most times embarrassing tweets that emanate from the handle tweeted by the handlers claiming to represent the PDP. You will recall that the party had in the past, announced the shutdown of the handle on two occasions when hackers manipulated it to embarrass the party.

“Following these developments, the party hereby informs all its members, supporters, friends, the

media and general public to ignore and disregard any tweet from the handle @pdpnigeria forthwith.

“In view of the above, the party has immediately re-launched a new handle,@officialpdpnig to form part of the social media platform of our great party for ease of communication, administration and control.

“In addition, the leadership has also frowned at the incessant and unauthorised statements that are being issued by some party members purported to have spoken for and on behalf of the party, the PDP. For the record, you may recall that the National Publicity Secretary on June 17, 2015 issued a statement titled: “PDP disown group over unauthorised statements on Buhari”; and urged members nationwide to desist from making official statement(s) on behalf of the party without authorisation.

“Also, the PDP hereby states unequivocally that the position of Director of New Media is non-existent and alien to the PDP Establishment Manual, and has not appointed Prince Deji Adeyanju as the PDP Director of New Media.

For emphasis, social (new) media is one of the Units in the Publicity Division of the party and not a separate directorate, division or unit.

“However, the leadership welcome members and supporters who may wish to speak in their official or personal capacities to do so,but in tune with the party’s rules of engagement and interest on the subject matter under discourse to avoid speaking at variance with the party.

“Finally, the Party calls on all our membersnationwidetouniteandwork together with the National Caretaker Committee in their quest to achieve harmony,rebrand, rebuild and revitalize the vision, mission and ideals of our founding fathers,” it said.

LET’S DO BUSINESS

L-R: Chief Financial Officer, MainOne, Babatunde Dada; Chief Executive Officer, Funke Opeke; Deputy Managing Director, Jimmy Lee; and Account Manager, Huawei Nigeria, Daniel Ding, during a Data Centre agreement between Huawei and MainOne in Lagos....yesterday

Ondo Guber: APC Leaders Want Election Results Annulled Senatorial chairman resigns James Sowole in Akure Some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State yesterday petitioned the Chairman of the Election Appeal Committee of the last Saturday governorship primary, urging the panel to annul the exercise that produced Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu as the party’s candidate.

The petition was signed by the former APC Central Senatorial Chairman, Mr Adegboyega Adedipe, the Ondo East and West Local Governments, Chairmen, Mr. Akintunde Samuel and Mr. Adeola Ademulegun respectively.

In the petition, the leaders alleged that the exercise was characterised by malpractices.

They urged the committee to conduct a fresh primary.

The leaders also alleged that strange delegates’ list was introduced on the eve of the election after they had all gone to sleep.

They specifically stated that it was the doctored delegate list that was eventually used for the primary election.

The petition read in part, “Names of 47 per cent of the delegates in Ondo East were either deleted or substituted with people who are unknown to the party

as executive members. Some of the injected names are not even aware of the development and so did not come for the primary.

“We wrote a petition to the primary Election Committee Chairman on the morning of the election and it was reiterated that only people that had been voting in previous primaries would be allowed to vote with a promise to stand down the voting process for Ondo East and West Local Government Areas.

“We were shocked that the committee never honoured the pledge. In all, a total number of 64 names were injected into the delegates’ list. The names were unknown to the party.

For instance, somebody who never contested any election, and some even unknown to the party suddenly became ward chairmen in wards four, six, two and seven of Ondo East Local Government.

“Our total valid delegates are 135 out of which 64 were disenfranchised, meaning, 47 of the delegates on the unlawful list were illegal voters.

“The absence of many legitimate voters paved the way for “See and Buy” voters that were eventually used to further corrupt the process. Many voters

were recruited from the road side including okada riders, breadsellers, street hawkers and others who were not party members but just loitering around the venue of the primary election.”

The aggrieved APC members however noted that they were not against the winner of the election but vowed to contest the alleged fraudulent process through which the winner emerged.

They stated that fake delegates were brought in the process of moving them between the accreditation centres and the voting centre.

The petitioners said if the exercise is cancelled, the appeal committee should order that accreditation and voting should take place at the same venue during re-run primary.

Meanwhile, as a fallout from the governorship primary election in Ondo State, the Chairman of the Central Senatorial District of the party, Mr. Gboyega Adedipe, yesterday resigned his position.

The Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Abayomi Adesanya, confirmed the resignation of Adedipe, adding that the official had returned all the party’s property in his care to the party secretariat in Akure,

the state capital.

“I can confirm to you that Adedipe has resigned as chairman of the Ondo Central Senatorial District of the APC. He said he took the decision for peace to reign in the party and also for the progress of the party,” he said.

Though, the senatorial chairman said he took the decision for peace to reign in the party, THISDAY however, gathered that he took the decision sequel to the emergence of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu as the candidate of the party for the governorship election scheduled for November 26.

Similarly, it was gathered that the state Chairman of the party, Mr. Isaac Kekemeke, might soon take the same decision for the same reason. The duo of Kekemeke and Adedipe were not in support of Akeredolu to be the party’s candidate. They were said to have supported Dr. Segun Abraham, which drew the ire of all other aspirants.

It was gathered that Kekemeke had removed his personal effects including his photographs from the secretariat of the party.

“All his photos on the walls of the secretariat have been removed.

This means he has nothing to do with the secretariat again,” a source said.

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T H I S D AY •TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

TUESDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Eagles Grumble over Gov Udom’s N10m Gift Insists it should not have been used to pay camp allowances

Super Eagles stars have been left fuming after a N10 million gift by Akwa State Governor, Emmanuel Udom was converted to pay for their camp allowances.

Cash-strapped Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) reportedly did not pay any win bonus for the Tanzania match, but overseasbased stars were promised their return flight ticket refunds.

Udom gave the team N10 million after their 1-0 win over Tanzania in a final AFCON 2017 qualifier last Saturday.

However, it was gathered that top NFF officials got the governor to say the money will be used to cover their camp allowances.

“I can tell you that the players did not find this funny. They expected that the governor’s cash gift will not have anything to do with their camp allowances, which is $200-a-man a day,” a team source disclosed to Africanfootball.com.

“The NFF needs to live up their responsibilities rather than continue to depend on handouts,” grumbled one of the senior players in the team.

More worrisome to the players now is how the NFF will overcome its financial mess in time for 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Zambia and Algeria in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Olympiacos striker, Brown Ideye, has assured that the Super Eagles will have their shooting boots on when the 2018 World Cup qualifiers begin next month.

Nigeria barely sneaked past Tanzania with a late Kelechi Iheanacho scorcher on Saturday after they squandered a rash of chances.

However, Ideye said he believes the Eagles will be more clinical in front of goal beginning with an October 3 World Cup qualifier in Zambia.

“I believe we were a bit unlucky not to score more than the goal we got against Tanzania. But by the time of the World Cup qualifiers, we will be scoring many goals,” he said.

He also said he was pleased to return to competitive action with the Eagles.

“I am delighted to be back to the national team,” he said.

“It is the dream of every player to play for his country and hopefully, I will improve on what I did previously with the team.”

Interestingly, Ideye was a 73rd minute replacement for Watford striker and childhood

Kelechi Iheanacho (right) blasted the winning goal in the Nigeria versus Tanzania AFCON 2017 clash in Uyo last weekend friend Odion Ighalo.

“I went to school in Ajegunle

with Odion. I am happy for him that he is now doing well

in the Premier League,” said Ideye, whose own time at West

Bromwich Albion was not so successful.

‘AFN Board Cannot Amend 40 Bauchi Schools Get Sports Equipment from Lottery Fund Federation’s Constitution’ Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Nigeria’s foremost athletics statistician and Chairman of Ekiti Athletics Association, Samuel Fatunla, has shot down reports that the board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) headed by Solomon Ogba has amended the constitution of the federation.

Fatunla, the only Nigerian statistician recognised by the Association of Track and Field Statisticians headed by Austria’s Paul Jenes said if indeed the board of the AFN amended the constitution, it was an exercise in futility.

“I don’t want to believe the board members of the AFN with some technically sound people there actually attempted to amend its constitution without recourse to the congress of the federation. The congress or the general assembly of the AFN is its supreme decision

making body and only the congress can amend the federation’s constitution,” said Fatunla who revealed that the AFN constitution is patterned after that of its international governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF).

Fatunla also dismissed comments credited to the General Secretary of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Tunde Popoola, that the sporting federations in Nigeria are under the control of the Olympic committee and has indeed told them to send their guidelines for the forthcoming elections into the various federations.

“With all due respect to Popoola, the AFN that I know of, having worked there for more than 20 years is not under the control or supervision of the NOC.“

Paulson Academy Begins in Lagos, Benin, Kaduna The National Coordinator of Paulson Academy, Oliver Ndigwe, has revealed that screening for talented under -17 boys and girls for the 2016/2017 season is to start in Benin City, Edo State between October 23 and 24, 2016.

Ndigwe who is a former Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles player revealed at the weekend that the Paulson Academy screening is to hold in Awka, Anambra State between October 25 and 26 to give opportunity to talented young boys and girls who

seek career in football.

While revealing that the Lagos leg of the screening is to hold between October 27 and 28, Ndigwe picked Kaduna for the final screening which will take place between October 30 and 31, 2016.

He enjoined interested footballers in Lagos who are desirous of quality training to register at the Lekki Business School Ajah while others in Benin, Awka, Kaduna and Lagos to pay for registration at any GTB Bank.

The National Lottery Trust Fund (NLFT) has donated sports equipment to 40 public primary schools in Bauchi State as part of its commitment towards promoting grassroots sports development in the country.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo officially flaggedoff the distribution of sports equipment to 2,000 public schools nationwide in Abuja on Friday, May 20 2016.

Presenting the equipment to the 40 benefitting schools in Bauchi State yesterday, the Executive Secretary/ CEO of NLTF, Habu Ahmed Gumel, said the intervention programme seeks not only to promote grassroots sports development nationwide but also in tandem with the federal government’s Change Agenda

of transforming the sports sector to enviable heights and in line with best practices of leading nations in sports.

According to him, “we will ensure that government’s objectives to promote grassroots sports development through the application of statutory remittances from lottery proceeds remains sustainable, and we will continue to channel resources to key government projects and programmes that will bring succour to ordinary Nigerians.’’

“This intervention programme seeks to enhance our capacity to grow and expand the nation’s talent base by securing the interest and involvement of our children of primary school age in sporting activities.

“We intend to distribute sports equipment to about 2,000 public primary schools

selected nationwide to cover the six geo-political zones and the programme is expected to improve our future performance in sports at all levels by harnessing the potentials of our young talents and nurturing their transition to world-class athletes, sportsmen and women.’’

He however warned, “lottery operators and licensees and indeed business promoters that engage in any form of promotional lottery should abide by their obligations of remitting lottery proceeds to the Trust Fund, as government will no longer tolerate sharp practices that undermine the growth and development of lottery good causes in the country.’’

The executive secretary then urged stakeholders to continue to work with the NLTF to further raise

awareness of the value of lottery funding to modern life and its transformational legacy to the nation.

In a brief remarks, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, said that by the directive of President Muhammad Buhari that these sporting items be distributed nationwide goes to show the preparedness of the government to positively impact on every sector of the national life.

The SGF who was represented by the Director in-charge of Parastatals in his office, Mr. O. Oyemade explained that “by the distribution of these sporting items, government expects that it will act as a catalyst for the development of future sportsmen and women nationwide, and particularly in the northeast’’.

Lagos Governor’s CupTennis Gets Registration Deadline Date Femi Solaja With a little over a month to the 16th Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship date, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has fixed September 22 registration deadline for the first leg (Futures 5) of the tournament scheduled to hold at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.

The ITF on its website yesterday stated that players willing to take part in the competition should register on or before 14:00GMT September 22 while any of the already registered players willing to withdraw from the tournament can do so on or before 14:00GMT of September

27.

The qualifying matches for Futures 5 (first leg) will be played between 8 and 9 of October while the Main Draws for the singles and doubles events for both men and women’s categories, will be played between 10 and 14 October.

This year, the players coming from major countries of the world will be jostling for a total prize money of 100,000 dollars as against the 80,000 dollars on offer in previous editions.

Meanwhile, preparations for a hitch-free tournament is ongoing with the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Chief Pius Akinyelure stressing

that the city of Lagos is eagerly waiting to host the emerging tennis stars coming from different parts of the world.

President of Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Rotimi Edu, said the facilities in the oldest tennis club in Nigeria have been improved upon, adding that the club will wear a new-look when the competition begins.

The Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship has been organised annually to celebrate the sitting governor in Lagos State since the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

This year’s edition will be the second under the government of Akinwunmi Ambode.

It has over the years attracted over 400 players from more

than 50 countries of the world at every edition.

17-year-old French lady, Tessah Andrianjaftrimo and Aldin Setkic of Bosnia respectively won the women and men’s singles of the first leg of 15th edition held in 2015, while Dutchman Antal Van Der Duim and Conny Perrin of Switzerland respectively won the men and women’s singles of the second leg.

The Governor’s Cup has been sponsored over the years by FCMB and Etisalat Nigeria and others such as Deux Projects Ltd, Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, LIRS, CCECC, Julius Berger Plc, Naston Ltd, LASACO Plc. and a host of other private individuals.

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TUESDAYSPORTS

AFCON 2017 Winners and Losers

Guinea-Bissau winning a group in which they were expected to finish last was the biggest shock of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying competition that ended at the weekend.

The tiny Portuguesespeaking West African country reached the finals for the first time at the expense of former champions Zambia and Congo Brazzaville and Kenya.

They will be at the 16-team tournament in Gabon during January and February while notable absentees include previous title-holders Nigeria and South Africa.

Here are five winners and five losers after from the lot after an elimination process that spanned 16 months produced 363 goals at an average of 2.5 per match.

WINNERS Guinea-Bissau Have no stars and coach Baciro Cande is virtually unknown, but home and away wins over Kenya and a 3-2 triumph over Zambia in Bissau thanks to a stoppage-time Toni Silva goal secured top spot with a fixture to spare.

Uganda After a string of near misses in qualifying competitions, Uganda are going to the finals for the first time since 1978 with a narrow home win over the Comoros securing one of two places reserved for the

best runners-up.

Senegal The only qualifiers to finish with a 100 percent record, after home and away victories over Burundi, Namibia and Niger, is testimony to the organisation and consistency coach and former star Aliou Cisse has developed.

Egypt A stoppage-time equaliser from Mohamed Salah in Nigeria against the run of play proved crucial as record seven-time champions Egypt won the return match in the ‘group of death’ to halt a run of three failed qualifying campaigns.

Zimbabwe A chaotic start induced by a shortage of funds forced the squad to make a 24-hour bus journey to Malawi, but they won 2-1 to set in motion a five-match unbeaten run that secured top spot while favourites Guinea flopped.

LOSERS Nigeria The withdrawal of cashstrapped Chad turned the matches against Egypt into group deciders and after being held at home in a match they dominated, the Super Eagles fell to a Ramadan Sobhy goal in Alexandria and were eliminated.

Elephants of Cote d’ Ivoire were lucky to make the cut to defend their crown in Gabon 2017 South Africa Instead of contesting first place with eventual group winners Cameroun, Bafana Bafana (The Boys) never recovered from a disastrous start in which they were held by Gambia and lost to Mauritania and finished a humiliating third.

Zambia A downward turn by Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) since shocking Ivory Coast to win the 2012 final continued after drawing three and losing one of four qualifiers this year to end third in a group won by no-hopers Guinea-Bissau.

Cape Verde A team ranked No. 1 in Africa for one month this year needed a home victory over modest Libya to seal a third consecutive Cup of Nations appearance, but lost to a stoppage-time goal in a game interrupted by a dog

wandering around the pitch.

Congo Brazzaville The central African country have been unable to sustain progress after reaching the 2015 quarter-finals despite defeating group winners Guinea-Bissau home and away. A shock loss in Kenya proved fatal.